My lord of Surrey, why look you so sad? Here, most gracious liege. K. Rich. Norfolk, we must have knocks: Ha! must we not? Nor. We must both give and take, my loving lord. K. Rich. Up with my tent: Here will I lie tonight;" [Soldiers begin to set up the King's tent. But where, to-morrow?-Well, all's one for thatWho hath descried the number of the traitors? Nor. Six or seven thousand is their utmost power. K. Rich. Why, our battalia trebles that ac count:3 Besides, the king's name is a tower of strength, Tent. And you, Sir Walter Herbert, stay with me: Blunt. Unless I have mista'en his colours much (Which, well I am assur'd, I have not done,) His regiment lies half a mile at least South from the mighty power of the king. Richm. If without peril it be possible, Sweet Blunt, make some good means" to speak with him, And give him from me this most needful note. [They withdraw into the Tent. Enter, to his Tent, KING RICHARD, NORFOLK, RATCLIFF, and CATESBY. K. Rich. What is't o'clock? It's nine o'clock. It's supper time, my lord: I will not sup to-night.— Give me some ink and paper.What, is my beaver easier than it was ?And all my armour laid into my tent? Cate. It is, my liege; and all things are in rea diness. Richm. The weary sun hath made a golden set, And, by the bright track of his fiery car, Gives token of a goodly day to-morrow.Sir William Brandon, you shall bear my standard.-Ratcliff, Give me some ink and paper in my tent ;I'll draw the form and model of our battle, Limits each leader to his several charge, And part in just proportion our small power. My lord of Oxford, you, Sir William Brandon, 1 Alluding to the proverb, Conscientiæ mille testes.' 2 Richard is reported not to have slept in his tent on the night before the battle, but in the town of Leicester. 3 Richmond's forces are said to have been only five thousand; and Richard's army consisted of about twelve thousand. But Lord Stanley lay at a small dis. Lance with three thousand men, and Richard may be supposed to have reckoned on them as his friends, though the event proved otherwise. 4 i. e. tried judgment, military skill. 5 Appoint. 6 Remains with. 7 i. e. contrive, take some pains or earnest measures. By a watch is most probably meant a watch-light. The nature of which will appear from the following bote of Sir Frances Kinaston upon Chaucer's Troilus and Cressida. in the very curious rhiming Latin Version of that poem which I possess in manuscript. This word [morter] doth plainely intimate Jeffery Chaucer to have been an esquire of the body in ordinary to the king, whose office it is, after he hath chardged and set the watch of the gard, to carry in the morter and to set it by the king's bed-side, for he takes from the cupboard a silver bason, and therin poures a little water, and then sets a round cake of virgin wax in the middest of the bason, in the middle of which cake is a wicke of bumbast, which being lighted burnes as a watch-light all night by the king's bed-side. It hath, as I conceive, the name of morter for the likenes it hath when it is K. Rich. Saw'st thou the melancholy Lord Nor thumberland ?10 Rat. Thomas the earl of Surrey, and himself, Much about cock-shut" time, from troop to troop, Went through the army, cheering up the soldiers. nere consumed unto a morter wherin you bray spices, for the flame first hollowing the middle of the waxe cake, which is next unto it, the waxe by degrees, like the sands in a houre glasse, runs evenly from all sides to the middle to supply the wicke. This royal ceremony Chaucer wittily faines to be in Cresseid's bed-chamber, calling this kind of watch-light by the name of morter, which very few courtiers besides esquires of the body (who only are admitted after all night is served to come into the king's bedchamber,) do understand what is meant by it.' Kinaston was himself esquire of the body to King Charles I. Baret mentions watching lamps, or candles; lucernæ vigiles:' and watching candles are mentioned in many old plays. Steevens says that he has seen them represented in some of the pictures [qu. prints?] of Albert Durer. 9 i. e. the staves or poles of his lances. It was the custom to carry more than one into the field. 10 Richard calls him melancholy because he did not join heartily in his cause. 11 i. e. twilight. A cock-shut was a large net stretched across a glade, and so suspended upon poles as easily to be drawn together, and was employed to catch woodcocks. These nets were chiefly used in the twi light of the evening, when woodcocks 'take wing to go and get water, flying generally low; and when they find any thoroughfare through a wood or range of trees, they venture through. The artificial glade made for K. Rich. So, I am satisfied. Give me a bowl of wine: I have not that alacrity of spirit, Nor cheer of mind, that I was wont to have.- Rat. It is, my lord. [KING RICHARD retires into his Tent. Enter STANLEY. Stan. Fortune and victory sit on thy helm! Stan. I, by attorney,' bless thee from thy mother, Richm. Good lords, conduct him to his regiment: Ghost. Let me sit heavy on thy soul to-morrow! them to pass through were called cock-roads. Hence 1 i. e. by deputation. The Ghost of King Henry the Sixth rises. By thee was punch'd' full of deadly holes: 2 This is from Holinshed. The young nobleman, whom the poet calls George Stanley, was created Lord Strange in right of his wife by Edward IV. in 1492. 3 We have still a phrase equivalent to this, however harsh it may seem. 'I would do this if leisure would permit,' where leisure stands for want of leisure. 4 Weigh. 5 Thus in Romeo and Juliet : thy eyes' windows fall Like death." Ghost. Let me sit heavy on thy soul to-morrow! pray And fall thy edgeless sword; Despair, and die !- 6 The hint for this scene is furnished by Holinshed, who copies from Polydore Virgil. It seemed to him being asleepe, that he saw diverse ymages like terrible devilles which pulled and haled him, not sufferynge him to take any quiet or reste. The which strange vision Let fall thy lance! Despair, and die! bosom [To KING RICHARD. Arm, fight, and conquer, for fair England's sake! Let us be lead within thy bosom, Richard, Sleep, Richmond, sleep in peace, and wake in joy; The Ghost of Queen Anne rises. And fall thy edgeless sword; Despair, and die !— but it stuffed his head with many busy and dreadful not so sodaynely strake his heart with a sodayne feare, imaginations. And least that it might be suspected that he was abashed for fear of his enemies, and for that familiar friends of the morning his wonderfull vysion cause looked so piteously, he recited and declared to his and feareful dreame.' The Legend of King Richard III. in the Mirror for Magistrates, and Drayton in the twenty-second Song of his Polyolbion, have passages found. ed upon Shakspeare's description. 7 The verb to punch, according to its etymology, was formerly used to prick or pierce with a sharp point. 8 See the prophecy in King Henry VI. Part III. Act iv. Sc. 6. seems to have forgot that Clarence was killed before he 91. e. teeming or superabundant wine. Shakspeare was thrown into the Malmsey butt, and consequently could not be washed to death. 10 Fall is here a verb active, signifying to drop or les fall. Thou, quiet soul, sleep thou a quiet sleep; Dream of success and happy victory; crown; The Ghost of Buckingham rises. [The Ghosts vanish. KING RICHARD K. Rich. Give me another horse,-bind up my Have mercy, Jesu!-Soft; I did but dream.- Lest I revenge. What? Myself on myself? Fool, of thyself speak well:-Fool, do not flatter. Nay, wherefore should they? since that I myself Methought, the souls of all that I had murder'd Rat. My lord, Enter RATCLIFF. K. Rich. Who's there? RICHMOND wakes. Enter OXFORD and others. That you men, have ta'en a tardy sluggard here. Lords. How have you slept, my lord? Richm. The sweetest sleep, and fairest-boding dreams, That ever enter'd in a drowsy head, Have I since your departure had, my lords. Methought, their souls, whose bodies Richard murder'd, Came to my tent, and cried-On! victory! I promise you, my heart is very jocund One rais'd in blood, and one in blood establish'd; A base foul stone, made precious by the foil Rat. Ratcliff, my lord; 'tis I. The early village Re-enter KING RICHARD, RATCLIFF, Attendants, cock Hath twice done salutation to the morn: What thinkest thou? will our friends prove all true? K. Rich. [Exeunt KING RICHARD and RATCLIFF. Buckingham's hope of aiding Richmond induced him to take up arms; he lost his life in consequence, and therefore may be said to have died for hope; hope being the cause which led to that event. 2 There is in this, as in many of the poet's speeches of passion, something very triffing, and something very striking. Richard's debate, whether he should quarrel with himself, is too long continued; but the subsequent exaggeration of his crimes is truly tragical.-Johnson. ૨ and Forces. He should have brav'd' the east an hour ago: Rat. My lord? Nor. Arm, arm, my lord; the foe vaunts in the K. Rich. Come, bustle, bustle ;-Caparison my Call horse ; up Lord Stanley, bid him bring his power: My foreward shall be drawn out all in length, In the main battle; whose puissance on either side Nor. A good direction, warlike sovereign.- Go, gentlemen, every man unto his charge: A milk-sop, one that never in his life selves : If we be conquer'd, let men conquer us, Fight, gentlemen of England! fight, bold yeomea! What says Lord Stanley? will he bring his power? K. Rich. Off instantly with his son George's head. K. Rich. A thousand hearts are great within my bosom: Advance our standards, set upon our foes; Cate. Rescue, my lord of Norfolk, rescue, rescue! His horse is slain, and all on foot he fights, Alarum. Enter KING RICHARD. K. Rich. A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse! Cate. Withdraw, my lord, I'll help you to a horse. I think, there be six Richmonds in the field; [Exeunt. 1 Steevens's notion is a strange one, that brav'd here means made it splendid or fine. The common signifi. position of his forces that it served to protect his right cation of the old verb to brave was not what he states it wing. By this movement he gained also another point, to be to challenge or set at defiance; but to look that his men should engage with the sun behind them, aloft, and go gaily, desiring to have the preeminence.and in the faces of his enemies; a matter of great conThis is old Baret's definition, which explains the text sequence when bows and arrows were in use. 9 i. e. daringly opposing himself, or offering himself better than Mr. Steevens has done. as an opponent to every danger. 2 i. e. this, and superadd to this, Saint George on our side. The phrase, like Saint George to borrow, which Holinshed puts into the mouth of Richard before the battle, is a kind of invocation to the saint to act as protector: Saint George to borrow meaning Saint George be our pledge or security. 3 Dickon is the ancient familiarization of Richard. 4 Company. 5 To restrain is to abridge, to diminish, to withhold from. 10 Shakspeare had employed this incident with histo. in single combat with him, and probably would have 6 Thus Holinshed:- You see further, how a com-length cleared his way to his antagonist, he engaged pany of traitors, thieves, outlaws, and runagates, be aiders and partakers of this feate and enterprise. And to begin with the earl of Richmond, captaine of this rebellion, he is a Welsh milksop, brought up by my moother's means and mine, like a captive in a close cage in the court of Francis duke of Britaine,' p. 756. Holinshed copied this verbatim from Hall, edit. 1548, fol. 54; but his printer has given us by accident the word moother instead of brother; as it is in the original, and A horse! a horse! a fresh horse! ought to be in Shakspeare. In the first edition of Holinshed the word is rightly printed brother. So that this Burbage, the alter Roscius of Camden, appears to have circumstance not only shows that the poet follows Ho-been the original Richard. Bishop Corbet, in his Iter Boreale, introduces his host at Bosworth describing the linshed, but points out the edition used by him. battle, and when he would have say'd King Richard died, And call'd A horse' a horse !—he Burbage cried,' 7 Fright the skies with the shivers of your lances. 8 There was a large marsh in Bosworth plain between the two armies. Henry passed it, and made such a dis Alarums, Enter KING RICHARD and RICHMOND; and exeunt fighting. Retreat and flourish. Then enter RICHMOND, STANLEY, bearing the Crown, with divers other Lords, and Forces. Richm, God, and your arms, be prais'd, victorious friends; The day is ours, the bloody dog is dead. Stan. Courageous Richmond, well hast thou acquit thee! Lo, here, this long usurped royalty, From the dead temples of this bloody wretch THIS is one of the most celebrated of our author's performances; yet I know not whether it has not happened to him as to others, to be praised most when praise is not most deserved. That this play has scenes noble in themselves, and very well contrived to strike in the ex Richm. Great God of heaven, say, amen, to all!-hibition, cannot be denied. But some parts are trifling, But, tell me first, is young George Stanley living? Stan. He is, my lord, and safe in Leicester town; Whither, if it please you, we may now withdraw us. Richm. What men of name are slain on either side? Stan. John duke of Norfolk, Walter Lord Ferrers, O, now, let Richmond and Elizabeth, others shocking, and some improbable.-JOHNSON. Malone says, he agrees with Dr. Johnson in think. ing that this play, from its first exhibition to the present He attributes (but I think erroneously) its popularity to hour, has been estimated greatly beyond its merits.' the detestation in which Richard's character was held at the time that Shakspeare wrote, and to the patronage of Queen Elizabeth, who was pleased at seeing King Henry VII. placed in the only favourable light in which he could be placed on the scene.' Steevens, in the fol lowing note, has stated the true grounds of the perpetual popularity of the play, which can only be attributed to one cause-the wonderful dramatic effect produced by the character of Richard.-S. W. S. I most cordially join with Dr. Johnson and Mr. Malone in their opinions; and yet, perhaps, they have overlooked one cause of the success of this tragedy. The part of Richard is, perhaps beyond all others, variegated, and consequently favourable to a judicious performer. It comprehends, indeed, a trait of almost every species of character on the stage: the hero, the lover, the statesman, the buffoon, the hypocrite, the hardened and repenting sinner, &c. are to be found within its com. pass. No wonder, therefore, that the discriminating powers of a Burbage, a Garrick, and a Henderson, should at different periods have given it a popularity be yond other dramas of the same author.-STEEVENS. 1 i. e. diminish, or take away. 2 To reduce is to bring back; an obsolete sense of the word, derived from its Latin original, reduco. KING HENRY THE EIGHT H. PRELIMINARY REMARKS. I is the opinion of Johnson, Steevens, and Malone, this revival took place on the very day, being St. Peter's, that this play was written a short time before the on which the Globe Theatre was burnt down. The fire death of Queen Elizabeth, which happened on the 24th was occasioned, as it is said, by the discharge of some of March, 1602-3. The eulogium on King James, small pieces of ordnance called chambers in the scene which is blended with the panegyric of Elizabeth in the where King Henry is represented as arriving at Cardilast scene, was evidently a subsequent insertion, afternal Wolsey's gate at Whitehall, one of which, being the succession of the Scottish monarch to the throne: injudiciously managed, set fire to the thatched roof of for Shakspeare was too well acquainted with courts to the theatre *. Dr. Johnson first suggested that Ben compliment, in the lifetime of Queen Elizabeth, her Jonson might have supplied the Prologue and Epilogue presumptive successor; of whom, history informs us, to the play upon the occasion of its revival. Dr. Far. she was not a little jealous. That the prediction con- mer, Steevens, and Malone, support his opinion; and cerning King James was added after the death of the even attribute to him some of the passages of the play. queen, is still more clearly evinced, as Dr. Johnson has remarked, by the awkward manner in which it is connected with the foregoing and subsequent lines. Mr. Gifford has controverted this opinion of Jonson having been the author of the Prologue and Epilogue of this play, and thinks the play which was performed After having lain by some years, unacted, probably under the title of All is True was a distinct performon account of the costliness of its exhibition, it was re-ance, and not Shakspeare's Henry the Eighth. To vived in 1613, under the title of 'All is True,' with new decorations, and a new Prologue and Epilogue: and * The circumstance is recorded by the continuator of Stowe; and in a MS. Letter of Thomas Lorkin to Sir Thomas Puckering,dated London, this last of June, 1613, is thus mentioned: No longer since than yesterday, while Bourbage his company were acting at the Globe the play of Henry VIII. and there, shooting of certayne chambers in the way of triumph, the fire catched,' &c. --MS. Harl. 7002. So in a letter from John Chamberlaine to Sir Ralph Winwood, dated London, 8th July, 1613: But the burning of the Globe, or Playhouse, on the Bankside, on St. Peter's day, cannot escape you; which fell out by a peale of chambers (that I know not upon what occa. this it has been answered, That the Prologue, which has always accompanied Shakspeare's drama from its sion were to be used in the play), the tampin or stopple of one of them lighting in the thatch that covered the house, burn'd it to the ground in less than two hours, with a dwelling-house adjoining; and it was a great marvaile and faire grace of God that the people had so little harm, having but two narrow doors to get out as Winwood's Memorials, vol. iii. p. 469. The event is also recorded by Sir Henry Wotton, in his letter of the 2d of July, 1613, where he says, it was at a new play, acted by the king's players at the Bank's Side, called All is True, representing some principal pieces of the reign of Henry the Eighth.'-Reliquia [Wotton, p. 425. Ed. 2d, |