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Yet heaven bear witness,
And if I have a conscience, let it sink me
Even as the ax falls, if I be not faithful!
The law I bear no malice for my death;
’T has done, upon the premises, but justice.
But those that sought it I could wish more Christian.
Be what they will, I heartily forgive ’em.
Yet let ’em look they glory not in mischief,
Nor build their evils on the graves of great men,
For then my guiltless blood must cry against ’em. (2.1.76–85)
After Buckingham has been found guilty of treason and sentenced to death, he delivers a moving speech to the crowd that greets him in the street on the way to his execution. Addressing the people, the fallen duke announces that he accepts the decision reached by the law and that he forgives his accusers. That said, he doesn’t exonerate his accusers of wrongdoing, and in fact he insists that he “could wish [them] more Christian.” His use of understatement here may be tied to his reluctance to name his chief accuser, Wolsey. Perhaps Buckingham sees no point in stirring up further trouble in a moment when he’s attempting to console himself and others. He therefore keeps quiet about Wolsey and instead urges his audience to remember him well.
After my death I wish no other herald,
No other speaker of my living actions,
To keep mine honor from corruption
But such an honest chronicler as Griffith.
Whom I most hated living, thou hast made me,
With thy religious truth and modesty,
Now in his ashes honor. Peace be with him! (4.2.76–82)
Throughout the first three acts of the play, Katherine makes no secret of her hatred for Cardinal Wolsey. She has seen him enact various schemes at court and encroach on Henry’s power. She has also suffered directly from his intervention in her marriage, the dissolution of which has reduced her from queen to princess dowager. Later, however, her attendant Griffith tells her about how the recently disgraced cardinal has succumbed to a tragic illness. Katherine, herself now sick unto death, is reluctant to forgive Wolsey until Griffith gives a moving speech about the late cardinal’s virtues. Upon hearing this speech, Katherine responds with the words quoted here, where she forgives Wolsey his trespasses against her and wishes him peace. This shift in attitude is deeply consoling for Katherine, who immediately has a dream vision suggesting that she will enjoy a triumphant afterlife in heaven.
Well, well, my lords, respect him.
Take him, and use him well; he’s worthy of it.
I will say thus much for him: if a prince
May be beholding to a subject, I
Am, for his love and service, so to him.
Make me no more ado, but all embrace him.
Be friends, for shame, my lords. (5.2.227–33)
When the newly appointed bishop of Winchester schemes to take Archbishop Cranmer down for his allegedly Protestant views, Henry intervenes to save his friend. The king gives Cranmer his ring as a symbol of support, and when the members of the Privy Council threaten to strip Cranmer of his title and imprison him in the Tower, he shows them the ring. At this point, Henry enters the council chambers and defuses the situation. He then speaks the lines quoted here, insisting on Cranmer’s worthiness and commanding the quarrelsome men to embrace each other in forgiveness. With this act, Henry finally takes an active role in quelling the dissension in his court, restoring peace and creating suitably peaceful conditions for celebrating the birth of his newborn daughter, the future Queen Elizabeth.
