The Complete Works of William Shakespeare - Israel Gollancz William Shakespeare [1903]
And being hanged until the wretch be dead,
His body after shall be handed in chains
Near to the place where he did act the murder.
IRISHMAN.
Prethee, Lord shudge, let me have mine own clothes, my strouces there, and let me be hanged in a with after my cuntry—the Irish—fashion.
[Exit.]
JUDGE.
Go to; away with him. And now, sir John,
Although by you this murther came to light,
And therein you have well deserved, yet upright law,
So will not have you be excused and quit,
For you did rob the Irishman, by which
You stand attainted here of felony.
Beside, you have been lewd, and many years
Led a lascivious, unbeseeming life.
SIR JOHN.
Oh but, my Lord, he repents, sir John repents, and he will mend.
JUDGE.
In hope thereof, together with the favour,
My Lord of Rochester entreats for you,
We are content you shall be proved.
SIR JOHN.
I thank you good Lordship.
JUDGE.
These other falsely here accused, and brought
In peril wrongfully, we in like sort
Do set at liberty, paying their fees.
LORD POWIS.
That office, if it please ye, I will do,
For countries sake, because I know them well.
They are my neighbours, therefore of my cost
Their charges shall be paid.
LEE.
And for amends,
Touching the wrong unwittingly I have done,
There are a few crowns more for them to drink.
[Gives them a purse.]
JUDGE.
Your kindness merits praise, sir Richard Lee:
So let us hence.
[Exeunt all but Lord Powis and Old-castle.]
LORD POWIS.
But Powis still must stay.
There yet remains a part of that true love
He owes his noble friend unsatisfied,
And unperformed, which first of all doth bind me
To gratulate your lordship's safe delivery,
And then entreat, that since unlooked for thus
We here are met, your honor would vouchsafe,
To ride with me to Wales, where to my power,
(Though not to quittance those great benefits,
I have received of you) yet both my house,
My purse, my servants, and what else I have,
Are all at your command. Deny me not;
I know the Bishop's hate pursues ye so,
As there's no safety in abiding here.
COBHAM.
Tis true, my Lord, and God forgive him for it.
LORD POWIS.
Then, let us hence: you shall be straight provided
Of lusty geldings, and once entered Wales,
Well may the Bishop hunt, but, spite his face,
He never more shall have the game in chase.
[Exeunt.]
FINIS.
THOMAS LORD CROMWELL
This history play details the life of Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex, the minister of King Henry VIII of England. The play was entered into the Stationers' Register on August 11, 1602, and was published in quarto later the same year by bookseller William Cotton. The title page specifies that the play was acted by The Lord Chamberlain's Men, and attributes the play to a "W. S." The "W. S." was first identified as Shakespeare when publisher Philip Chetwinde added the play to the second impression of his Shakespeare Third Folio in 1664. Modern scholars reject the attribution to Shakespeare, but have disagreed on almost every other aspect of the play, and it has been dated as early as 1582–3 and as late as 1599–1600. The text is viewed as primarily political commentary or religious propaganda.
Title page of the 1613 Quarto printing
CONTENTS
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
ACT I. SCENE I. Putney. The entrance of a smith's shop.
ACT I. SCENE II. The same.
ACT I. SCENE III. London. A street before Frescobald's house.
ACT II.
ACT II. SCENE I. Antwerp.
ACT II. SCENE II. A street in Antwerp.
ACT II. SCENE III. Another street in the same.
ACT III. SCENE I. The principal bridge at Florence.
ACT III. SCENE II. A room in an hotel.
ACT III. SCENE III. London. A room in Sir Christopher Hales's house.
ACT IV.
ACT IV. SCENE I. The same. A public walk.
ACT IV. SCENE II. London. A street before Cromwell's house.
ACT IV. SCENE III. The same. Another street.
ACT IV. SCENE IV. The same. A room in Cromwell's house.
ACT IV. SCENE V. The same. A room in the Bishop of Winchester's house.
ACT V. SCENE I. A street in London.
ACT V. SCENE II. A street near the Thames.
ACT V. SCENE III. Lambeth.