Sadness with me, not I with any one.

What, is the king acquainted with my cause?
Nor. He is; and he hath answer'd us, my lord.
Crom. How shall I come to speak with him myself?
Gard. The king is so advertised of your guilt,
He'll by no means admit you to his presence.
Crom. No way admit me! am I so soon forgot?
Did he but yesterday embrace my neck,

And said that Cromwell was even half himself?
And are his princely ears so much bewitch'd
With scandalous ignomy,* and slanderous speeches,
That now he doth deny to look on me?

Well, my lord of Winchester, no doubt but you
Are much in favour with his majesty:

Will you bear a letter from me to his grace?

Gard. Pardon me; I will bear no traitor's letters.

Crom. Ha!-Will you do this kindness then? Tell him

By word of mouth what I shall say to you?

Gard. That will I.

Crom. But, on your honour, will you ?

Gard. Ay, on my honour.

Crom. Bear witness, lords. Tell him, when he hath known

you,

And tried your faith but half so much as mine,

He'll find you to be the falsest-hearted man

In England: pray, tell him this.

Bed. Be patient, good my lord, in these extremes.
Crom. My kind and honourable lord of Bedford,
I know your honour always loved me well:
But, pardon me, this still shall be my theme;
Gardiner's the cause makes Cromwell so extreme.
Sir Ralph Sadler, I pray a word with you;
You were my man, and all that you possess
Came by my means: Sir, to requite all this,
Say will you take this letter here of me,
And give it with your own hands to the king?
Sad. I kiss your hand, and never will I rest
Ere to the king this be delivered.

[Exit SADLER.

Crom. Why then yet Cromwell hath one friend in store.
Gard. But all the haste he makes shall be but vain.

Here is a discharge for your prisoner,

To see him executed presently:

My lord, you hear the tenure of your life.+

[To the LIEUTENANT.

Crom. I do embrace it; welcome my last date,
And of this glistering world I take last leave:
And, noble lords, I take my leave of you.
As willingly I go to meet with death,

As Gardiner did pronounce it with his breath.
From treason is my heart as white as snow;
My death procured only by my foe.

* I. e. ignominy.

†I. e. you hear how short a period you have to live.

I pray commend me to my sovereign king,
And tell him in what sort his Cromwell died,
To lose his head before his cause was tried;
But let his grace, when he shall hear my name,
Say only this: Gardiner procured the same.

Enter young CROMWELL.

Lieu. Here is your son, Sir, come to take his leave
Crom. To take his leave? Come hither, Harry Cromwell.
Mark, boy, the last words that I speak to thee:
Flatter not Fortune, neither fawn upon her;
Gape not for state, yet lose no spark of honour;
Ambition, like the plague, see thou eschew it;
I die for treason, boy, and never knew it.
Yet let thy faith as spotless be as mine,
And Cromwell's virtues in thy face shall shine:
Come, go along, and see me leave my breath,
And I'll leave thee upon the floor of death.

Son. O father, I shall die to see that wound,
Your blood being spilt will make my heart to swound.
Crom. How, boy! not dare to look upon the axe?
How shall I do then to have my head struck off?
Come on, my child, and see the end of all;
And after say, that Gardiner was my fall.

Gard. My lord, you speak it of an envious heart;
I have done no more than law and equity.

Bed. O, my good lord of Winchester, forbear:
It would have better seem'd you to have been absent,
Than with your words disturb a dying man.

Crom. Who, me, my lord? no: he disturbs not me.
My mind he stirs not, though his mighty shock
Hath brought more peers' heads down unto the block.
Farewell, my boy! all Cromwell can bequeath,—
My hearty blessing;-so I take my leave.

Exec. I am your death's-man; pray, my lord, forgive me. Crom. Even with my soul. Why, man, thou art my doctor, And bring'st me precious physic for my soul.

My lord of Bedford, I desire of you

Before my death a corporal embrace.

Farewell, great lord; my love I do commend,
My heart to you; my soul to heaven I send.
This is my joy, that ere my body fleet,

Your honour'd arms are my true winding-sheet.

Farewell, dear Bedford; my peace is made in heaven.
Thus falls great Cromwell, a poor ell in length,

To rise to unmeasured height, wing'd with new strength,
Hail, land of worms, which dying men discover!

My soul is shrined with heaven's celestial cover.

Exeunt CROMWELL, Officers, &c. Bed. Well, farewell Cromwell! sure the truest friend

That ever Bedford shall possess again.

Well, lords, I fear that when this man is dead,

You'll wish in vain that Cromwell had a head.

Enter an OFFICER, with CROMWELL's head. Offi. Here is the head of the deceased Cromwell. Bed. Pray thee go hence, and bear his head away Unto his body; inter them both in clay.

Enter SIR RALPH SADLER.

[Exit OFFICER.

Sad. How now, my lords? What, is Lord Cromwell dead? Bed. Lord Cromwell's body now doth want a head. Sad. O God, a little speed had saved his life. Here is a kind reprieve come from the king, To bring him straight unto his majesty.

Suf. Ay, ay, Sir Ralph, reprieves come now too late. Gard. My conscience now tells me this deed was ill. Would Christ that Cromwell were alive again!

Nor. Come, let us to the king, who, well I know,

Will grieve for Cromwell, that his death was so. [Exeunt omnes.

LONDON PRODIGAL.

"This play, if Shakspeare's at all," says Hazlitt, in his Lectures, "must have been among the sins of his youth."

SCENE I-London. A Room in FLOWERDALE JUNIOR'S

House.

Enter FLOWERDALE SENIOR and FLOWERDALE JUNIOR.

Flow. Sen. Brother, from Venice, being thus disguised,

I come, to prove the humours of my son.

How hath he borne himself since my departure,

I leaving you his patron and his guide?

Flow. Jun. I' faith, brother, so, as you will grieve to hear,

And I almost ashamed to report it.

Flow. Sen. Why, how is't, brother? What, doth he spend beyond the allowance I left him?

Flow. Jun. How! beyond that? and far more. Why, your exhibition is nothing. He hath spent that, and since hath borrowed protested with oaths, alleged kindred, to wring money from me,-by the love I bore his father, by the fortunes might fall upon himself,-to furnish his wants: that done, I have had since, his bond, his friend and friend's bond. Although I know that he spends is yours, yet it grieves me to see the unbridled wildness that reigns over him.

Flow. Sen. Brother, what is the manner of his life? how is the name of his offences? If they do not relish altogether of damnation, his youth may privilege his wantonness. I myself ran an unbridled course till thirty, nay, almost till forty:-well, you see how I am. For vice once looked into with the eyes of discretion, and well balanced with the weights of reason, the course passed seem so abominable, that the landlord of himself, which is the heart of his body, will rather entomb himself in the earth, or seek a new tenant to remain in him; which once settled, how much better are they that in their youth have known all these vices, and left them, than those that knew little, and in their age run into them? Believe me, brother, they that die most virtuous, have in their youth lived most vicious; and none knows the danger of the fire more than he that falls into it.But say, how is the course of his life? let's hear his particulars. Flow. Jun. Why, I'll tell you, brother; he is a continual swearer, and a breaker of his oaths; which is bad.

Flow. Sen. I grant indeed to swear is bad, but the not keeping those oaths is better; for who will set by a bad thing? Nay, by my faith, I hold this rather a virtue than a vice. Well, I pray proceed.

Flow. Jun. He is a mighty brawler, and comes commonly by the worst.

Flow. Sen. By my faith, this is none of the worst neither; for if he brawl, and be beaten for it, it will in time make him shun it; for what brings man or child more to virtue than correction? -What reigns over him else?

Flow. Jun. He is a great drinker, and one that will forget himself.

Flow. Sen. O best of all! vice should be forgotten: let him drink on, so he drink not churches. Nay, an this be the worst, I hold it rather a happiness in him, than any iniquity. Hath he any more attendants ?

Flow. Jun. Brother, he is one that will borrow of any man. Flow. Sen. Why, you see, so doth the sea; it borrows of all the small currents in the world to increase himself.

Flow. Jun. Ay, but the sea pays it again, and so will never your son.

Flow. Sen. No more would the sea neither, if it were as dry as my son.

Flow. Jun. Then, brother, I see you rather like these vices in your son, than any way condemn them.

Flow. Sen. Nay, mistake me not, brother; for though I slur

* Allowance.

† (What).

$ (Store by).