Manasseh [bowing to the ground.
We kiss your feet, my lord!
[Aside.] These despicable Christians!
Cromwell. Live in peace.
[Aside.] Vile Jew, fit to be hanged between two dogs!
[Exit Manasseh by the low door, which closes behind him.
Thurloe.My lord!—pray will you deign to hear me now?—
This foreign ship, the money that it brings
To scatter amongst them who wish you ill,
The cursèd Jew's advice—doth not all this
Accord with what I've said?—Open your eyes.
Cromwell.Whereon?
Thurloe. On these detestable intrigues
Of whose concocting a devoted friend
Doth me advise. I shudder even now,
Thinking upon the little that we know.
Cromwell.Whenever such reports come to my hands,
If I had given all my thought to them,
My time to seeking out the plot denounced,
Would all my days, my whole life have sufficed?
Thurloe.The present case seems perilous, my lord.
Cromwell.Fie, Thurloe! blush to be so timorous.
I know my rule is tyrannous to some,
That certain generals would fain not see
Yesterday's equal in to-morrow's King.
And yet the army's on my side. The gold
Whereof the dog Jew spoke, the gold's a gift
Bestowed upon me by my good friend Charles,
Which at this moment is most opportune
To pay the outlay for my coronation.
