Enter OXFORD and SOMERSET, *Som. Ah, Warwick, Warwick! wert thou as we are, We might recover all our loss again! The queen from France hath brought a puissant power: Even now we heard the news: Ah, could'st thou fly! War. Why, then I would not fly.-Ah, Montague, If thou be there, sweet brother, take my hand, *And with thy lips keep in my soul a while! *Thou lov'st me not; for, brother, if thou didst, Thy tears would wash this cold congealed blood, That glues my lips, and will not let me speak. Come quickly, Montague, or I am dead. Som. Ah, Warwick, Montague hath breath'd And, to the latest gasp, cried out for Warwick, spoke, The friends of France our shrouds and tacklings? -no, *From shelves and rocks that threaten us with wreck. Which sounded like a cannon in a vault,' K. Edw. Thus far our fortune keeps an upward And we are grac'd with wreaths of victory. I mean, my lords,-those powers, that the queen *Glo. The queen is valu'd thirty thousand strong, K. Edw. We are advertis'd by our loving friends, Will thither straight, for willingness rids way; Strike up the drum; cry-Courage! and away. * Q. Mar. Great lords, wise men ne'er sit and * But cheerly seek how to redress their harms. order to dissuade a person from covetousness, drew out with his lance the length and breadth of a man's grave, adding, This is all thou shalt have when thou art dead, if thou canst happily get so much.' * *As good to chide the waves, as speak them fair. rocks. *Why, courage, then! what cannot be avoided, *"Twere childish weakness to lament, or fear. * Prince. Methinks, a woman of this valiant spirit, * Should, if a coward heard her speak these words, *Infuse his breast with magnanimity, * And make him, naked, foil a man at arms. Oxf. Women and children of so high a courage! Som. And he, that will not fight for such a hope, *Prince. And take his thanks, that yet hath (says Steevens,) while they adjust a coffin in a family vault, will abundantly illustrate the preceding simile. Such a peculiar hubbub of inarticulate sounds might have attracted our author's notice; it has too often forced itself on mine.' 2 Arriv'd is here used in an active form. 8 This speech in the original play is expressed in ele. Johnson observes that Warwick's mention of his ven lines. Malone thinks its extraordinary expansion parks and manors diminishes the pathetic of these lines. into thirty-seven lines a decisive proof that the old play It is true that it is something in the strain of the whin-was the production of some writer who preceded Shak ing ghosts of the Mirror for Magistrates; but it was the speare. popular style of the time: Cavendish, in his Metrical 4 Thus Jaques moratizing upon the weeping stag in Legends, introduces Wolsey's shade lamenting to leave As You Like It, Acti. Se. 2 his palaces and gardens. Thou mak'st a testament I cannot but think that cannon is an error of the press A similar thought is found in Shakpeare's Lover's Com in the first folio. 'The indistinc gabble of undertakers plaint Enter a Messenger. 'Mess. Prepare you, lords, for Edward is at band, Ready to fight; therefore be resolute. Orf. I thought no less it is his policy, Q. Mar. This cheers my heart, to see your for- Oxf. Here pitch our battle, hence we will not March. Enter, at a distance, KING EDWARD, K. Edw. Brave followers,' yonder stands the Which, by the heavens' assistance, and your strength, Must by the roots be hewn up yet ere night. * I need not add more fuel to your fire, * For, well I wot, ye blaze to burn them out: * Give signal to the fight, and to it, lords. Q. Mar. Lords, knights, and gentlemen, what I My tears gainsay; for every word I speak, [Exeunt both Armies. SCENE V. Another part of the same. Alarums: Excursions: and afterwards a Retreat. enter KING EDWARD, CLARENCE, GLOSTER, and Forces; with QUEEN MARGARET, OXFORD, and SOMERSET, Prisoners. 'K. Edw. Now, here a period of tumultuous Away with Oxford to Hammes castle straight: Go, bear them hence; I will not hear them speak. words. 'Canst thou not speak?-O traitors! murderers !- Som. Nor I, but stoop with patience to my fortune. [Exeunt OxF. and Som. guarded. * Q. Mar. So part we sadly in this troublous✶ world, To meet with joy in sweet Jerusalem. If this foul deed were by, to equal it. What's worse than murderer, that I may name it? *K. Edw. Is proclamation made,-that who* How sweet a plant have you untimely cropp'd! finds Edward, Enter Soldiers, with PRINCE EDWARD. *K. Edw. Bring forth the gallant, let us hear * What! can so young a thorn begin to prick? Suppose, that I am now my father's mouth; This scene is ill contrived, in which the king and queen appear at once on the stage at the head of oppo. sing armies. It had been easy to make one retire before the other entered.-Johnson. 2 Know. 3 Unsay, deny. You have no children, butchers! if you had," Look in his youth to have him so cut off, K. Edw. Away with her; go, bear her hence Q. Mar. Nay, never bear me hence, despatch me here; Here sheath thy sword, I'll pardon thee my death: thou do it. Clar. Didst thou not hear me swear, I would not do it? ness; and the poet following nature makes Richard highly incensed at the reproach. 8 See King Henry VI. Part II. Act iv. Sc. 1. 9 That is, thou who art the likeness,' &c, The old copies describe Edward as striking the first blow, and Gloster the next; and this is according to history, which 4 A castle in Picardy, where Oxford was confined for informs us that Edward smote the prince with his many years. 5 See note 4, on p. 83. 6 We have nearly the same words in the Tempest :O, my heart bleeds, To think of the teen that I have turn'd you to. 7 The prince calls Richard Esop for his crooked Q. Mar. Ay, but thou usest to forswear thyself; 'Twas sin before,' but now 'tis charity. "What! wilt thou not? where is that devil's butcher, Hard-favour'd Richard? Richard, where art thou? Thou art not here: Murder is thy alms-deed; Petitioners for blood thou ne'er put'st back. K. Edw. Away, I say; I charge ye, bear her hence. Q. Mar. So come to you, and yours, as to this prince! [Exit, led out forcibly. K. Edw. Where's Richard gone? Clar. To London, all in post; and, as I guess, To make a bloody supper in the Tower. K. Edw. He's sudden, if a thing comes in his Now march we hence: discharge the common sort Glo. Good day, my lord: What, at your book so hard? K. Hen. Ay, my good lord: My lord, I should 'Tis sin to flatter, good was little better: confer. the wolf: *So first the harmless sheep doth yield his fleece, *And next his throat unto the butcher's knife.What scene of death hath Roscius now to act? Glo. Suspicion always haunts the guilty mind; The thief doth fear each bush an officer. K. Hen. The bird, that hath been limed in a With trembling wings misdoubteth every bush: kill'd. Glo. Why, what a peevish fool was that of That taught his son the office of a fowl? his life. * But wherefore dost thou come? is't for my life? didst presume, 1 She alludes to the desertion of Clarence. 2 To misdoubt is to suspect danger, to fear. 3 The word male is here used in an uncommon sense, for the male parent: the sweet bird is evidently his son Prince Edward. 4 Peevish, in the language of our ancestors, was used to signify mad or foolish. See note on Comedy of Errors, Act iv. Sc. 1. 5 Who suspect no part of what my fears presage. 6 To rook or ruck, is to cower down like a bird at roost or on its nest. The word is of very ancient use in our language. Men for their sons, wives for their husbands' fate, The night-crow cried, aboding luckless time; this. O God! forgive my sins, and pardon thee! [Dies. From those that wish the downfal of our house! And seek their ruin that usurp'd our right? That I should snarl, and bite, and play the dog. That Edward shall be fearful of his life; [Exit. K. Edw. Once more we sit in England's royal Repurchas'd with the blood of enemies. Ovid. Met. 1. 7. It was thy crooked mind hunch'd out thy back, 9 Select, choose out. 10 A kindred image occurs in King Henry V. : -mowing like grass Your fresh-fair virgins, and your flow'ring infants.' With them, the two brave bears, Warwick and That in their chains fetter'd the kingly hon, Come hither, Bess, and let me kiss my boy :- THE three parts of King Henry VI. are suspected, by Mr. Theobald, of being supposititious, and are declared by Dr. Warburton, to be certainly not Shakspeare's. Mr. Theobald's suspicion arises from some obsolete words; but the phraseology is like the rest of the author's style; and single words, of which, however, I do not observe more than two, can conclude little. Dr. Warburton gives no reason; but I suppose him to judge upon deeper principles and more comprehensive views, and to draw his opinion from the general effect and spirit of the composition, which he thinks inferior to the other historical plays. From mere inferiority nothing can be inferred: in the productions of wit there will be inequality. Sometimes judgment will err, and sometimes the matter itself will defeat the artist. Of every author's works, one will be the best, and one will be the worst. The colours are Glo. I'll blast his harvest, if your head were laid; For yet I am not look'd or in the world. This shoulder was ordain'd so thick, to heave; And heave it shall some weight, or break my back:--not equally pleasing, nor the attitudes equally graceful, Work thou the way,-and thou shalt execute. [Aside. K. Edw. Clarence, and Gloster, love my lovely queen; And kiss your princely nephew, brothers both. Clar. The duty, that I owe unto your majesty, I seal upon the lips of this sweet babe. K. Edw. Thanks, noble Clarence; worthy ther, thanks.2 in all the pictures of Titian or Reynolds. Dissimilitude of style and heterogeneousness of senbelong to the reputed author. But in these plays no such timent, may sufficiently show that a work does not really marks of spuriousness are found. The diction, the ver sification, and the figures, are Shakspeare's. These plays, considered, without regard to characters and incidents, merely as narratives in verse, are more happily bro-conceived, and more accurately finished than those of King John, King Richard II. or the tragic scenes of King speare, to whom shall they be given What author of Henry IV. and V. If we take these plays from Shakthat age had the same easiness of expression and flu. ency of numbers ?* Glo. And, that I love the tree from whence thou sprang'st, Witness the loving kiss I give the fruit :To say the truth, so Judas kiss'd his master; And cried-all hail! when as he meant all harm. Aside. K. Edw. Now am I seated as my soul delights, Having my country's peace, and brothers' loves. Clar. What will your grace have done with Margaret? Reignier, her father, to the king of France K. Edw. Away with her, and waft her hence to And now what rests, but that we spend the time With stately triumphs, mirthful comic shows, Such as bent the pleasures of the court? Sound, drums and trumpets!-farewell, sour annoy! For here, I hope, begins our lasting joy. [Exeunt. 1 Gloucester may be supposed to touch his head and look significantly at his hand. 2 The old quarto play appropriates this line to the queen. The first and second folio, by mistake, have given it to Clarence. In Steevens's copy of the second folio, which had belonged to King Charles the First, his majesty had erased Cla, and written King in its stead. Shakspeare, therefore, in the catalogue of his restorers, may boast a royal name. Of these three plays I think the second is the best. The truth is, that they have not sufficient variety of action, for the incidents are too often of the same kind; yet many of the characters are well discriminated. King Henry, and his Queen, King Edward, the Duke of Gloster, and the Earl of Warwick, are very strongly aud distinctly painted. The old copies of the two latter parts of King Henry VI. and of King Henry V. are so apparently mutilated and imperfect, that there is no reason for supposing them the first draughts of Shakspeare. I am inclined to be. down during the representation what the time would lieve them copies taken by some auditor, who wrote permit; then, perhaps, filled up some of his omissions at a second or third hearing, and, when he had by this method formed something like a play, sent it to the printer. JOHNSON. This note by Dr. Johnson has been preserved notwithstanding the full answer to his arguiment which is given in the abstract of Malone's dissertation prefixed to these plays, which discriminates between what is and what is not from the hand of our great poet. 'No fraudulent copyist (says Malone) or short-hand writer would have invented circumstances totally different from those which appear in Shakspeare's new modelled draughts, as exhibited in the folio, or insert whole speeches of which scarcely a trace is to be found in that edition.' THE LIFE AND DEATH OF KING RICHARD THE THIRD. PRELIMINARY REMARKS. THIS Tragedy, though called in the original edition 'The Life and Death of King Richard the Third,' | comprises only fourteen years. The second scene commences with the funeral of King Henry VI, who is said to have been murdered on the 21st of May, 1471. The imprisonment of Clarence, which is represented previ ously in the first scene, did not, in fact, take place till 1477-8. Several dramas on the present story had been written before Shakspeare attempted it. There was a Latin play on the subject, by Dr. Legge, which had been acted at St. John's College, Oxford, some time before the year 1589. And a childish imitation of it, by one Henry Lacey, exists in MS. in the British Museum; (MSS. Harl. No. 6926;) it is dated 1586. In the books of the Stationers' Company are the following entries:- Aug. 15, 1596, A Tragical Report of King Richard the Third: a ballad.' June 19, 1594, Thomas Creede made the following entry: 'An enterlude, intitled the Tragedie of Richard the Third, wherein is shown the Deathe of Edward the Fourthe, with the Smotheringe of the Two Princes in the Tower, with the lamentable Ende of Shore's Wife, and the Contention of the Two Houses of Lancaster and Yorke. A single copy of this ancient Interlude, which Mr. Boswell thinks was written by the author of Locrine, unfortunately wanting the title-page, and a few lines at the beginning, was in the collection of Mr. Rhodes, of Lyon's Inn, who liberally allowed Mr. Boswell to print it in the last Variorum edition of Shakspeare. It appears evidently to have been read and used by Shakspeare. In this, as in other instances, the bookseller was probably induced to publish the old play, in consequence of the success of the new one in performance, and before it had yet got into print. Say they are saints, althogh that saints they shew rot, set the murderous Machiavel to school.' 'Besides the uniform aversion with which he inspires us, he occupies us in the greatest variety of ways, by his profound skill in dissimulation, his wit, his prudence, his presence of mind, his quick activity, and his valour. He fights at last against Richmond like a desperado, and dies the honourable death of the hero on the field of battle.'-But Shakspeare has satisfied our moral feelings:-'He shows us Richard in his last moments already branded with the stamp of reprobation. We see Richard and Richmond on the night before battle sleepShakspeare's play was first entered at Stationers' ing in their tents; the spirits of those murdered by the Hall, Oct. 20, 1597, by Andrew Wise; and was then tyrant, ascend in succession and pour out their curses published with the following title: The Tragedy of against him, and their blessings on his adversary. King Richard the Third: Containing his treacherous These apparitions are, properly, merely the dreams of Plots against his Brother Clarence; and the pitiful Mur- the two generals made visible. It is no doubt contrary ther of his innocent Nephewes; his tyrannical Usurpato sensible probability, that their tents should only be tion: with the whole course of his detested Life, and separated by so small a space; but Shakspeare could most deserved Death. As it hath been lately acted by reckon on poetical spectators, who were ready to take the Right Honourable the Lord Chamberlaine his ser- the breadth of the stage for the distance between the two vants. Printed by Valentine Sims, for William Wise, camps, if, by such a favour, they were to be recom. 1597. It was again reprinted, in 4to, in 1598, 1602, 1612 pensed by beauties of so sublime a nature as this series or 1613, 1622, and twice in 1629. of spectres, and the soliloquy of Richard on his awak. ing.t This play was probably written in the year 1593 or 1594. One of Shakspeare's Richards, and most probably this, is alluded to in the Epigrams of John Weever, published in 1599; but which must have been written in 1595. AD GULIELMUM SHAKESPEARE. Steevens, in part of a note, which I have thought it best to omit, observed that the favour with which the tragedy has been received on the stage in modern times 'must in some measure be imputed to Cibber's reformation of it. The original play was certainly too long for representation, and there were parts which might, with advantage, have been omitted in representation, as 'dramatic encumbrances;' but such a clumsy piece of patchwork as the performance of Cibber, was surely any thing but judicious;' and it is only surprising, that the taste which has led to other reformations in the performance of our great dramatic poet's works, has not given to the stage a judicious abridgment of this tragedy in his own words, unencumbered with the superfluous transpositions and gratuitous additions which have been so long inflicted upon us. 6 (in so many Weekes) Studie. No longer (like the Fashion) not unlike to continue. The first seven, John Weever. Sit voluisse sit valuisse. At London: printed by V. S. for Thomas Bushele; and are to be sold at his shop, at the great north doore of Paules. 1599. 12. There is a portrait of the author, engraved by Cecill, prefixed. According to the date upon this print, Weever was then twenty-three years old; but he tells us, in some introductory stanzas, that when he wrote the Epigrams, which compose the volume, he was not twenty years old; that he was one A complete copy of Creed's edition of this curious ley. The title is as follows:-'Epigrammes in the old Interlude, (which upon comparison proved to be a difest Cut and newest Fashion. A twise seven Houres ferent impression from that in Mr. Rhodes's collection,) was sold by auction by Mr. Evans very lately. The title was as follows: The true Tragedie of Richard the Third, wherein is showne the death of Edward the Fourth, with the smothering of the two yoong Princes in the Tower: With a lamentable end of Shore's wife, an example for all wicked women; and lastly, the con junction of the two noble Houses Lancaster and Yorke, as it was playd by the Queenes Maiesties players. London, printed by Thomas Creede; and are to be sold by William Barley at his shop in Newgate Market, neare Christ Church door, 1594; 4to.' It is a circumstance sufficiently remarkable that but a single copy of each of the two editions of this piece should be known to exist. This very curious little volume, which is supposed to be unique, is in the possession of Mr Comb, of Hen- p. 246. That twenty twelvemonths yet did never know.' Consequently, these Epigrams must have been written in 1595. Schlegel's Lectures on Dramatic Literature, vol. ii. |