Note return to page 1 1&lblank; the winter of our discontent &lblank;] Thus, in Sidney's Astrophel and Stella: “Gone in the winter of my miserie.” Steevens.

Note return to page 2 2&lblank; this sun of York;] Alluding to the cognizance of Edward IV. which was a sun, in memory of the three suns, which are said to have appeared at the battle which he gained over the Lancastrians at Mortimer's Cross: So, in Drayton's Miseries of Queen Margaret: “Three suns were seen that instant to appear, “Which soon again shut themselves up in one; “Ready to buckle as the armies were, “Which this brave duke took to himself alone,” &c. Again, in the 22d Song of the Polyolbion: “And thankful to high heaven, which of his cause had care, “Three suns for his device still in his ensign bare.” Such phænomena, if we may believe tradition, were formerly not uncommon. In the Wrighte's play in the Chester Collection, MS. Harl. 1013, the same circumstance is introduced as attending on a more solemn event: “That day was seene veramente “Three sonnes in the firmament, “And wonderly together went “And torned into one.” Steevens. See vol. xviii. p. 403, n. 6. Malone.

Note return to page 3 3Now are our brows bound with victorious wreaths: Our bruised arms, &c.] So, in The Rape of Lucrece: “Made glorious by his manly chivalry, “With bruised arms and wreaths of victory.” Malone.

Note return to page 4 4Our stern alarums chang'd to merry meetings, Our dreadful marches to delightful measures. Grim-visag'd war hath smooth'd his wrinkled front; And now,—instead of mounting barbed steeds, &c.] So, in The Tragical Life and Death of King Richard the Third, which is one of the metrical monologues in a collection entitled, The Mirrour of Magistrates. The first edition of it appeared in 1559, but the lines quoted on the present as well as future occasions throughout this play, are not found in any copy before that of 1610, so that the author was more probably indebted to Shakspeare, than Shakspeare to him:   “&lblank; the battles fought in field before “Were turn'd to meetings of sweet amitie;   “The war-god's thund'ring cannons' dreadful rore, “And rattling drum-sounds' warlike harmonie, “To sweet-tun'd noise of pleasing minstrelsie.   “God Mars laid by his launce, and tooke his lute, “And turn'd his rugged frownes to smiling lookes;   “Instead of crimson fields, warre's fatal fruit, “He bath'd his limbes in Cypris warbling brookes, “And set his thoughts upon her wanton lookes.” Steevens. Shakspeare seems to have had the following passage from Lyly's Alexander and Campaspe, 1584, before him, when he wrote these lines: “Is the warlike sound of drum and trump turn'd to the soft noise of lyre and lute? The neighing of barbed steeds, whose loudness filled the air with terror, and whose breaths dimned the sun with smoak, converted to delicate tunes and amorous glances?” &c. Reed. “&lblank; delightful measures.” A measure was, strictly speaking, a court dance of a stately turn, though the word is sometimes employed to express dances in general. So, in Romeo and Juliet, vol. vi. p. 43: “We'll measure them a measure, and be gone.” See vol. iv. p. 414, n. 3. Malone. “&lblank; barbed steeds,” i. e. steeds caparisoned in a warlike manner. I. Haywarde, in his Life and Raigne of King Henry IV. 1599, says,—“The duke of Hereford, came to the barriers, mounted upon a white courser, barbed with blew and green velvet,” &c. Again, in Jarvis Markham's English Arcadia, 1607: “&lblank; armed in a black armour, curiously damask'd with interwinding wreaths of cypress and ewe, his barbe upon his horse, all of black abrosetta, cut in broken hoopes upon curled cypress.” Again, in The Second Part of King Edward IV. by Heywood, 1626: “With barbed horse, and valiant armed foot.” Barbed, however, may be no more than a corruption of barded. Equus bardatus, in the Latin of the middle ages, was a horse adorned with military trappings. I have met with the word barded many times in our ancient chronicles and romances. An instance or two may suffice. “They mounted him surely upon a good and mighty courser, well barded,” &c. Hist. of Helyas Knight of the Swanne, bl. l. no date. Again, in Barrett's Alrearie, or Quadruple Dictionary, 1580: “Bardes or trappers of horses.” Phaleræ, Lat. Again, Holinshed speaking of the preparations for the battle of Agincourt: “&lblank; to the intent that if the barded horses ran fiercely upon them,” &c. Again, from p. 802, we learn, that bards and trappers had the same meaning. Steevens. See “A Barbed horse,” and “Bardes,” in Minsheu's Dict. 1617, the latter of which he defines “horse-trappings.” Malone.

Note return to page 5 5He capers &lblank;] War capers. This is poetical, though a little harsh; if it be York that capers, the antecedent is at such a distance, that it is almost forgotten. Johnson.

Note return to page 6 6Cheated of feature by dissembling nature,] By dissembling is not meant hypocritical nature, that pretends one thing and does another: but nature that puts together things of a dissimilar kind, as a brave soul and a deformed body. Warburton. Dissembling is here put very licentiously for fraudful, deceitful. Johnson. Dr. Johnson hath certainly mistaken, and Dr. Warburton rightly explained the word dissembling; as is evident from the following extract: “Whyle thinges stoode in this case, and that the manner of addyng was sometime too short and sometime too long, els dissembled and let slip together.” Arthur Golding's translation of Julius Solinus, 1587. Henley. I once thought that Dr. Johnson's interpretation was the true one. Dissimulation necessarily includes fraud, and this might have been sufficient to induce Shakspeare to use the two words as synonymous, though fraud certainly may exist without dissimulation. But the following lines in the old King John, 1591, which our author must have carefully read, were perhaps in his thoughts, and seem rather in favour of Dr. Warburton's interpretation: “Can nature so dissemble in her frame, “To make the one so like as like may be, “And in the other print no character “To challenge any mark of true descent?” Feature is used here, as in other pieces of the same age, for beauty in general. See note on Antony and Cleopatra, vol. xii. p. 253, n. 9. Malone.

Note return to page 7 7And descant on mine own deformity;] Descant is a term in musick, signifying in general that kind of harmony wherein one part is broken and formed into a kind of paraphrase on the other. The propriety and elegance of the above figure, without such an idea of the nature of descant, could not be discerned. Sir J. Hawkins. That this is the original meaning of the term, is certain. But I believe the word is here used in its secondary and colloquial sense, without any reference to musick. Malone.

Note return to page 8 8And therefore,—since I cannot prove a lover,] Shakspeare very diligently inculcates, that the wickedness of Richard proceeded from his deformity, from the envy that rose at the comparison of his own person with others, and which incited him to disturb the pleasures that he could not partake. Johnson.

Note return to page 9 9To entertain these fair well-spoken days,] I am strongly inclined to think that the poet wrote—“these fair well-spoken dames,” and that the word days was caught by the compositor's eye glancing on a subsequent line. So, in the quarto copy of this play, printed in 1612, signat. I.: “I, my lord, but I had rather kill two deep enemies. “King. Why, there thou hast it; two deep enemies.” In the original copy, printed in 1597, the first line is right: “&lblank; kill two enemies.” Malone. Mr. Malone's objection to the old reading was principally upon a notion that the epithets fair and well-spoken could not, with propriety, be applied to days. But surely there is nothing very uncommon in such phraseology. In Twelfth-Night we have— brisk and giddy-paced times. In Timon of Athens the poet speaks of “strange times, that weep with laughing, not with weeping;” and in Johnson's Every Man out of his Humour we have the very phrase in the text, “ignorant well-spoken days.” Boswell.

Note return to page 10 1And hate the idle pleasures &lblank;] Perhaps we might read: “And bate the idle pleasures &lblank;.” Johnson.

Note return to page 11 2&lblank; inductions dangerous,] Preparations for mischief. The induction is preparatory to the action of the play. Johnson. Marston has put this line, with little variation, into the mouth of Fame: “Plots ha' you laid? inductions dangerous?” Steevens.

Note return to page 12 3&lblank; Edward be as true and just,] The meaning is, if Edward keeps his word. Johnson. May not this mean—If Edward hold his natural disposition and be true to that? M. Mason.

Note return to page 13 4He hearkens after prophecies, and dreams;] From Holinshed: “Some have reported that the cause of this nobleman's death rose of a foolish prophecie, which was, that after king Edward should raign one whose first letter of his name should be a G; wherewith the king and the queene were sore troubled, and began to conceive a grievous grudge against this duke, and could not be in quiet till they had brought him to his end.” Philip de Comines, a contemporary historian, says that the English at that time were never unfurnished with some prophecy or other, by which they accounted for every event. Malone.

Note return to page 14 5And, for my name of George begins with G, &c.] So, in Niccols's Tragical Life and Death of Richard III.: “By that blind riddle of the letter G, “George lost his life; it took effect in me.” Steevens.

Note return to page 15 6&lblank; toys &lblank;] Fancies, freaks of imagination. Johnson. So, in Hamlet, Act I. Sc. IV.: “The very place puts toys of desperation, “Without more motive, into every brain.” Reed.

Note return to page 16 7That tempers him to this extremity.] I have collated the original quarto published in 1597, verbatim, with that of 1598. In the first copy this line stands thus: “That tempers him to this extremity.” and so undoubtedly we should read. To temper is to mould, to fashion. So, in Titus Andronicus: “Now will I to that old Andronicus: “And temper him, with all the art I have, “To pluck proud Lucius from the warlike Goths.” In the quarto 1598, tempts was corruptly printed instead of tempers. The metre being then defective, the editor of the folio supplied the defect by reading— “That tempts him to this harsh extremity.” Malone.

Note return to page 17 8Humbly complaining, &c.] I think these two lines might be better given to Clarence. Johnson.

Note return to page 18 1The jealous o'er-worn widow, and herself,] That is, the Queen and Shore. Johnson.

Note return to page 19 2Well struck in years;] This odd expression in our language was preceded by others as uncouth though of a similar kind. Thus, in Arthur Hall's translation of the first book of Homer's Iliad, 1581: “In Grea's forme, the good handmaid, nowe wel ystept in yeares.” Again: “Well shot in years he seem'd,” &c. Spenser's Fairy Queen, b. v. c. vi. The meaning of neither is very obvious; but as Mr. Warton has observed in his Essay on The Fairy Queen, by an imperceptible progression from one kindred sense to another, words at length obtain a meaning entirely foreign to their original etymology. Steevens.

Note return to page 20 3And the queen's kindred &lblank;] The old copies harshly and unnecessarily read— “And that the queen's,” &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 21 4&lblank; alone.] Surely the adjective—alone, is an interpolation, as what the Duke is talking of, is seldom undertaken before witnesses. Besides, this word deranges the metre, which, without it, would be regular:—for instance: “Were best to do it secretly. “What one, “My lord?   “Her husband, knave:—Would'st thou betray me?” Steevens. The above note is a good specimen of Mr. Steevens's readiness to suppose an interpolation in the ancient copies, whenever he chose to disturb the text. He does not seem ever to have perceived that many short prosaical sentences are frequently interposed in our poet's metrical dialogues. Of this kind are the words—“What one, my lord?”—and the following line: “Her husband, knave,” &c. Malone. These four speeches were probably all designed for prose. What verse can be made out of this line: “We know thy charge, Brakenbury, and will obey?” Brakenbury's speech, “What one, my lord?” and Gloster's answer, are omitted in quarto 1597. Boswell.

Note return to page 22 5&lblank; the queen's abjects,] That is, not the queen's subjects, whom she might protect, but her abjects, whom she drives away. Johnson. So, in The Case is Alter'd. How? Ask Dalio and Milo, 1604: “This ougly object, or rather abject of nature.” Henderson. I cannot approve of Johnson's explanation. Gloster forms a substantive from the adjective abject, and uses it to express a lower degree of submission than is implied by the word subject, which otherwise he would naturally have made use of. The Queen's abjects, means the most servile of her subjects, who must of course obey all her commands; which would not be the case of those whom she had driven away from her. In a preceding page Gloster had said of Shore's wife— “&lblank; I think, it is our way, “If we will keep in favour with the king, “To be her men, and wear her livery.” The idea is the same in both places, though the expression differs.—In Jonson's Every Man out of his Humour, Puntarvolo says to Swift: “I'll make thee stoop, thou abject.” M. Mason. This substantive was not of Shakspeare's formation. We meet with it in Psalm xxxv. 15: “&lblank; yea, the very abjects came together against me unawares, making mouths at me, and ceased not.” Again, in Chapman's translation of the 21st book of Homer's Odyssey: “Whither? rogue! abject! wilt thou bear from us “That bow propos'd?” Again, in the same author's version of Homer's Hymn to Venus: “That thou wilt never let me live to be “An abject, after so divine degree “Taken in fortune &lblank;.” Steevens.

Note return to page 23 6Were it, to call king Edward's widow—sister,] This is a very covert and subtle manner of insinuating treason. The natural expression would have been, “were it to call king Edward's wife,— sister.” I will solicit for you, though it should be at the expence of so much degradation and constraint, as to own the low-born wife of King Edward for a sister. But by slipping, as it were casually, widow, into the place of wife, he tempts Clarence with an oblique proposal to kill the King. Johnson. “King Edward's widow” is, I believe, only an expression of contempt, meaning the “widow Grey,” whom Edward had chosen for his queen. Gloster has already called her, “the jealous o'er-worn widow.” Steevens.

Note return to page 24 7&lblank; lie for you:] He means, to be imprisoned in your stead To lie was anciently to reside, as appears by many instances in these volumes. Reed.

Note return to page 25 8I must perforce;] Alluding to the proverb, “Patience perforce, is a medicine for a mad dog.” Steevens.

Note return to page 26 9&lblank; should be mew'd,] A mew was the place of confinement where a hawk was kept till he had moulted. So, in Albumazar: “Stand forth, transform'd Antonio, fully mew'd “From brown soar feathers of dull yeomanry, “To the glorious bloom of gentry.” Steevens.

Note return to page 27 9Now, by Saint Paul,] The folio reads: “Now, by Saint John &lblank;.” Steevens.

Note return to page 28 1&lblank; an evil diet &lblank;] i. e. a bad regimen. Steevens.

Note return to page 29 2He is.] Sir Thomas Hanmer very properly completes this broken verse, by reading— “He is, my lord.” Steevens.

Note return to page 30 3&lblank; Warwick's youngest daughter:] Lady Anne, the Widow of Edward Prince of Wales. See Henry VI. Part III. vol. xviii. p. 478, n. 4. Malone.

Note return to page 31 4&lblank; obsequiously lament &lblank;] Obsequious, in this instance, means funereal. So, in Hamlet, Act I. Sc. II.: “To do obsequious sorrow.” Steevens.

Note return to page 32 5&lblank; key-cold &lblank;] A key, on account of the coldness of the metal of which it is composed, was anciently employed to stop any slight bleeding. The epithet is common to many old writers; among the rest, it is used by Decker in his Satiromastix, 1602: “&lblank; It is best you hide your head, for fear your wise brains take key-cold.” Again, in The Country Girl, by T. B. 1647: “The key-cold figure of a man.” Steevens. Again, in our author's Rape of Lucrece: “And then in key-cold Lucrece' bleeding stream “He falls &lblank;.” Malone.

Note return to page 33 *Quarto 1597, holes.

Note return to page 34 †Quarto 1597: “Curst be the hand that made these fatal holes, “Curst be the heart,” &c.

Note return to page 35 *Quarto 1597 omits this line.

Note return to page 36 †Folio, to wolves, to spiders.

Note return to page 37 ‡Quarto 1597 omits this line.

Note return to page 38 6&lblank; to his unhappiness!] i. e. disposition to mischief. So, in Much Ado About Nothing: “Dreamed of unhappiness, and waked herself with laughing.” Steevens.

Note return to page 39 7I'll make a corse of him that disobeys.] So, in Hamlet: “I'll make a ghost of him that lets me.” Johnson.

Note return to page 40 *Folio, stand'st.

Note return to page 41 8&lblank; pattern of thy butcheries:] Pattern is instance, or example. Johnson. So, in The Legend of Lord Hastings, Mirrour for Magistrates, 1587: “By this my pattern, all ye peers, beware.” Malone. Holinshed says: “The dead corps on the Ascension even was conveied with billes and glaives pompouslie (if you will call that a funeral pompe) from the Tower to the church of saint Paule, and there laid on a beire or coffen bare-faced; the same in the presence of the beholders did bleed; where it rested the space of one whole daie. From thense he was carried to the Blackfriers, and bled there likewise;” &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 42 9&lblank; see! dead Henry's wounds Open their congeal'd mouths, and bleed afresh!] It is a tradition very generally received, that the murdered body bleeds on the touch of the murderer. This was so much believed by Sir Kenelm Digby, that he has endeavoured to explain the reason. Johnson. So, in Arden of Feversham, 1592: “The more I sound his name, the more he bleeds: “This blood condemns me, and in gushing forth “Speaks as it falls, and asks me why I did it.” Again, in The Widow's Tears, by Chapman, 1612: “The captain will assay an old conclusion often approved; that at the murderer's sight the blood revives again and boils afresh; and every wound has a condemning voice to cry out guilty against the murderer.” Again, in the 46th Idea of Drayton: “If the vile actors of the heinous deed, “Near the dead body happily be brought, “Oft 't hath been prov'd the breathless corps will bleed.” See also the 7th article in the tenth Booke of Thomas Lupton's Notable Thinges, 4to. bl. l. no date, p. 255, &c. Mr. Tollet observes, that this opinion seems to be derived from the ancient Swedes, or Northern nations from whom we descend; for they practised this method of trial in dubious cases, as appears from Pitt's Atlas, in Sweden, p. 20. Steevens. See also Demonologie, 4to. 1608, p. 79; and Goulart's Admirable and Memorable Histories, translated by Grimeston, 4to. 1607, p. 422. Reed.

Note return to page 43 1Vouchsafe, diffus'd infection of a man,] I believe, diffus'd in this place signifies irregular, uncouth; such is its meaning in other passages of Shakspeare. Johnson. “Diffus'd infection of a man” may mean, &mlquo;thou that art as dangerous as a pestilence, that infects the air by its diffusion.’ Diffus'd may, however, mean irregular. So, in The Merry Wives of Windsor: “&lblank; rush at once “With some diffused song.” Again, in Greene's Farewell to Follie, 1617: “I have seen an English gentleman so diffused in his sutes; his doublet being for the weare of Castile, his hose for Venice,” &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 44 2Why then, they are not dead:] Thus the quarto. The folio reads—“Then say, they were not slain.” Malone.

Note return to page 45 3&lblank; thy soul's throat &lblank;] The folio—“thy foul throat.” Steevens. The quarto 1597 also reads foul. Malone.

Note return to page 46 *Quarto 1597, bloody.

Note return to page 47 4That laid their guilt &lblank;] The crime of my brothers. He has just charged the murder of Lady Anne's husband upon Edward. Johnson.

Note return to page 48 5I grant ye.] Read, to perfect the measure: “I grant ye, yea.” Ritson. One of the quartos, instead of—ye, reads—yea. Steevens.

Note return to page 49 6O, he was gentle, mild, and virtuous. Glo. The fitter for the King of heaven, &c.] So, in Pericles Prince of Tyre, 1609: “I'll do't: but yet she is a goodly creature. “Dion. The fitter then the gods should have her.” Steevens.

Note return to page 50 7Some dungeon.] As most of the measure throughout this scene is regular, I cannot help suspecting that our author originally wrote: “Some dungeon, perhaps. “Your bed-chamber.” Steevens.

Note return to page 51 8&lblank;a slower method;] As quick was used for spritely, so slower was put for serious. In the next scene Lord Grey desires the Queen to— “&lblank; cheer his grace with quick and merry words.” Steevens.

Note return to page 52 9Thou wast the cause, and most accurs'd effect.] Effect, for executioner. He asks, was not the causer as ill as the executioner? She answers, Thou wast both. But, for causer, using the word cause, this led her to the word effect, for execution, or executioner. But the Oxford editor, troubling himself with nothing of this, will make a fine oratorical period of it: “Thou wast the cause, and most accurs'd the effect.” Warburon. I cannot but be rather of Sir T. Hanmer's opinion than Dr. Warburton's, because effect is used immediately in its common sense, in answer to this line. Johnson. I believe the obvious sense is the true one. So, in The Yorkshire Tragedy, 1608: “&lblank; thou art the cause, “Effect, quality, property; thou, thou.” Again, in King Henry IV. Part II.: “I have read the cause of his effects in Galen.” Again, in Sidney's Arcadia, book ii.: “Both cause, effect, beginning, and the end, “Are all in me.” Steevens. Our author, I think, in another place uses effect, for efficient cause. Malone.

Note return to page 53 1'Would they were basilisks, to strike thee dead!] “Among the serpents the Basiliske doth infecte and kill people with his looke.” Summary of Secret Wonders, &c. bl. l. by John Alday, no date. Steevens. So, in The Winter's Tale: “Make me not sighted like the basilisk; “I have look'd on thousands, who have sped the better “By my regard, but kill'd none so.” See also, King Henry VI. Part II. vol. xviii. p. 255, n. 1. Malone. In Cornucopia, &c. 1596, sign. B. 4: “The eye of the Basiliske is so odious to man, that it sleeth man before he come nere him, even by looking upon him.” Reed.

Note return to page 54 2&lblank; they kill me with a living death.] In imitation of this passage, and, I suppose, of a thousand more, Pope writes: “&lblank; a living death I bear, “Says Dapperwit, and sunk beside his chair.” Johnson. The same conceit occurs in The Trimming of Thomas Nash, 1597: “How happy the rat, caught in a trap, and there dies a living death?” Again, in Phineas Fletcher's Locusts, or Apollyonists, 4to. 1627: “It lives, yet's death: it pleases full of paine: “Monster! ah who, who can thy beeing faigne? “Thou shapelesse shape, live death, paine pleasing, servile raigne.” Steevens. So, in Watson's Sonnets, printed about 1580: “Love is a sowre delight, a sugred griefe, “A living death, an ever-dying life.” We have again the same expression in Venus and Adonis: “For I have heard it [love] is a life in death, “That laughs and weeps, and all but with a breath.” Malone.

Note return to page 55 3These eyes, which never, &c.] The twelve following beautiful lines added after the first editions. Pope. They were added with many more. Johnson. They are found only in the folio. Malone.

Note return to page 56 4Not, when my father &lblank;] The old copies read—No, when, &c. The alteration was made unnecessarily by Mr. Pope. The same phraseology occurs in a subsequent passage: “Duch. I hope he is much grown since last I saw him. “Q. Eliz. But I hear, no.” Malone.

Note return to page 57 5My manly eyes did scorn, &c.] Here is an apparent reference to King Henry VI. Part III. Act II. Sc. I. See vol. xviii. p. 406, n. 5. Steevens.

Note return to page 58 6&lblank; sweet soothing word;] Thus the quarto 1598. The folio has—sweet smoothing word. Malone. Smooth is, probably, the true reading. So again, p. 36, line penult.: “Smile in men's faces, smooth, deceive, and cog.” See also, Pericles, Act I. Sc. II. Steevens.

Note return to page 59 *Quarto 1597, bosom.

Note return to page 60 †Quarto 1597, 'Twas I that killed your husband.

Note return to page 61 7But 'twas thy beauty &lblank;] Shakspeare countenances the observation, that no woman can ever be offended with the mention of her beauty. Johnson.

Note return to page 62 ‡Quarto 1597, 'Twas I that killed King Henry.

Note return to page 63 §Quarto 1597, Tush, that.

Note return to page 64 8Then man Was never true.] Old copy— “Then never man was true.” For the sake of measure, I have hazarded this slight transposition. Steevens. I have again and again had occasion to observe, that short prose speeches are perpetually intermingled with the metrical dialogue of our poet and his contemporaries; but I am inclined to think that, in the present instance, these speeches were intended for the short metre of six syllables, as suited to this light and flippant courtship. Malone.

Note return to page 65 *Quarto 1597, suppliant.

Note return to page 66 9&lblank; more cause &lblank;] The folio—most cause. Steevens.

Note return to page 67 1&lblank; Crosby-place:] A house near Bishopsgate Street, belonging to the Duke of Gloster. Johnson. Crosby-place is now Crosby-square in Bishopsgate Street; part of the house is yet remaining, and is a meeting place for a presbyterian congregation. Sir J. Hawkins. This magnificent house was built in the year 1466, by Sir John Crosby, grocer and woolman. He died in 1475. The ancient hall of this fabrick is still remaining, though divided by an additional floor, and incumbered by modern galleries, having been converted into a place of worship for Antinomians, &c. The upper part of it is now the warehouse of an eminent packer. Sir J. Crosby's tomb is in the neighbouring church of St. Helen the Great. Steevens.

Note return to page 68 2&lblank; with all expedient duty &lblank;] Expeditious. See vol. vi. p. 416, n. 7. Malone.

Note return to page 69 3Imagine I have said farewell already.] Cibber, who altered King Richard III. for the stage, was so thoroughly convinced of the ridiculousness and improbability of this scene, that he thought himself obliged to make Tressel say: “When future chronicles shall speak of this, “They will be thought romance, not history.” Thus also, in Twelfth-Night, where Fabian observing the conduct of Malvolio, says: “If this were played upon a stage now, I could condemn it as an improbable fiction.” From an account of our late unsuccessful embassy to the Emperor of China, we learn, indeed, that a scene of equal absurdity was represented in a theatre at Tien-sing: “One of the dramas, particularly, attracted the attention of those who recollected scenes, somewhat similar, upon the English stage. The piece represented a Emperor of China and his Empress living in supreme felicity, when, on a sudden, his subjects revolt, a civil war ensues, battles are fought, and at last the arch-rebel, who was a general of cavalry, overcomes his sovereign, kills him with his own hand, and routs the imperial army. The captive Empress then appears upon the stage in all the agonies of despair, naturally resulting from the loss of her husband and of her dignity, as well as the apprehension for that of her honour. Whilst she is tearing her hair, and rending the skies with her complaints, the conqueror enters, approaches her with respect, addresses her in a gentle tone, soothes her sorrows with his compassion, talks of love and adoration, and like Richard the Third, with Lady Anne in Shakspeare, prevails, in less than half an hour, on the Chinese Princess to dry up her tears, to forget her deceased consort, and yield to a consoling wooer.” Steevens.

Note return to page 70 *Folio omits this speech.

Note return to page 71 4&lblank; whom I, some three months since, Stabb'd in my angry mood at Tewksbury?] Here we have the exact time of this scene ascertained, namely, August 1471. King Edward, however, is in the second Act introduced dying. That King died in April 1483; so there is an interval between this and the next Act of almost twelve years. Clarence, who is represented in the preceding scene as committed to the Tower before the burial of King Henry VI, was in fact not confined nor put to death till seven years afterwards, March 1477–8. Malone.

Note return to page 72 5Fram'd in the prodigality of nature,] i. e. when nature was in a prodigal or lavish mood. Warburton.

Note return to page 73 6&lblank; and, no doubt, right royal,] Of the degree of royalty belonging to Henry the Sixth there could be no doubt, nor could Richard have mentioned it with any such hesitation: he could not indeed very properly allow him royalty. I believe we should read: “&lblank; and, no doubt, right loyal.” That is, true to her bed. He enumerates the reasons for which she should love him. He was young, wise, and valiant; these were apparent and indisputable excellencies. He then mentions another not less likely to endear him to his wife, but which he had less opportunity of knowing with certainty, “and, no doubt, right loyal.” Johnson. Richard is not speaking of King Henry, but of Edward his son, whom he means to represent as full of all the noble properties of a king. No doubt, right royal, may, however, be ironically spoken, alluding to the incontinence of Margaret, his mother. Steevens.

Note return to page 74 7&lblank; a beggarly denier,] A denier is the twelfth part of a French sous, and appears to have been the usual request of a beggar. So, in The Cunning Northerne Beggar, bl. l. an ancient ballad: “For still will I cry, good your worship, good sir, “Bestow one poor denier, Sir.” Steevens.

Note return to page 75 8&lblank; a marvellous proper man.] Marvellous is here used adverbially. Proper in old language was handsome. It occurs perpetually in that sense in our author and his contemporaries. Malone.

Note return to page 76 9&lblank; I'll turn yon' fellow in his grave;] In is here used for into. Thus, in Chapman's version of the 24th Iliad: “&lblank; Mercurie shall guide “His passage, till the prince be neare. And (he gone) let him ride “Resolv'd, ev'n in Achilles tent.” Steevens.

Note return to page 77 1It is determin'd, not concluded yet:] Determin'd signifies the final conclusion of the will: concluded, what cannot be altered by reason of some act, consequent on the final judgment. Warburton.

Note return to page 78 2Here come the lords of Buckingham and Stanley.] [Old copies—Derby.] This is a blunder of inadvertence, which has run through the whole chain of impressions. It could not well be original in Shakspeare, who was most minutely intimate with his history, and the intermarriages of the nobility. The person here called Derby, was Thomas Lord Stanley, Lord Steward of King Edward the Fourth's household. But this Thomas Lord Stanley was not created Earl of Derby till after the accession of Henry the Seventh; and accordingly, afterwards, in the fourth and fifth Acts of this play, before the battle of Bosworth-field, he is every where called Lord Stanley. This sufficiently justifies the change I have made in his title. Theobald.

Note return to page 79 3The countess Richmond,] Margaret, daughter to John Beaufort, first Duke of Somerset. After the death of her first husband, Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond, half-brother to King Henry VI. by whom she had only one son, afterwards King Henry VII. she married first Sir Henry Stafford, uncle to Humphrey Duke of Buckingham. Malone.

Note return to page 80 *Quarto 1597, Madam, we did.

Note return to page 81 4&lblank; to warn them &lblank;] i. e. to summon. So, in Julius Cæsar: “They mean to warn us at Philippi here.” Steevens. The word warn is still used in that sense in Scotland. Boswell.

Note return to page 82 5&lblank; speak fair, Smile in men's faces, smooth, deceive, and cog, Duck with French nods and apish courtesy,] An importation of artificial manners seems to have afforded our ancient poets a never failing topick of invective. So, in A tragical Discourse of the Haplesse Man's Life, by Churchyard, 1593: “We make a legge, and kisse the hand withall, “(A French deuice, nay sure a Spanish tricke) “And speake in print, and say loe at your call “I will remaine your owne both dead and quicke. “A courtier so can give a lobbe a licke, “And dress a dolt in motley for a while, “And so in sleeue at silly woodcocke smile.” Steevens.

Note return to page 83 6&lblank; with lewd complaints.] Lewd, in the present instance, signifies rude, ignorant; from the Anglo-Saxon Laewede, a Laick. Chaucer often uses the word lewd, both for a laick and an ignorant person. See Ruddiman's Glossary to Gawin Douglas's translation of the Æneid. Steevens.

Note return to page 84 7&lblank; of your ill-will, &c.] This line is restored from the first edition. Pope. By the first edition Mr. Pope, as appears from his Table of Editions, means the quarto of 1598. But that, as well as the quarto 1597, and the subsequent quartos, read—and to remove. The emendation was made by Mr. Steevens. The folio has only— “Makes him to send, that he may learn the ground &lblank;.” Here clearly a line was omitted: yet had there been no quarto copy, it would have been thought hardy to supply the omission: but of all the errors of the press omission is the most frequent; and it is a great mistake to suppose that these lacunæ exist only in the imagination of editors and commentators. Malone.

Note return to page 85 9&lblank; may prey &lblank;] The quartos 1597 and 1598, and the folio, read—make prey. The correction, which all the modern editors have adopted, is taken from the quarto 1602. Malone.

Note return to page 86 1Since every Jack became a gentleman,] This proverbial expression at once demonstrates the origin of the term Jack so often used by Shakspeare. It means one of the very lowest class of people, among whom this name is of the most common and familiar kind. Douce.

Note return to page 87 *So quarto 1597; folio, while great promotions.

Note return to page 88 †So quarto 1597; folio, To be so baited, scorn'd, and stormed at.

Note return to page 89 2Tell him, and spare not: look, what I have said &lblank;] This verse I have restored from the old quartos. Theobald. Here we have another proof of a line being passed over by the transcriber, or the compositor at the press, when the first folio was printed, for the subsequent line is not sense without this. Malone.

Note return to page 90 3I dare adventure to be sent to the Tower.] Perhaps our author elliptically omitted the first—to in this line. So, in p. 48: “To help thee curse,” &c. i. e. to curse. See also p. 29, n. 8. Steevens.

Note return to page 91 4&lblank; my pains &lblank;] My labours; my toils. Johnson.

Note return to page 92 5Out, devil!] Mr. Lambe observes, in his notes on the ancient metrical history of The Battle of Floddon Field, that out is an interjection of abhorrence or contempt, most frequent in the mouths of the common people of the north. It occurs again in Act IV.: “&lblank; out on ye, owls!” Steevens.

Note return to page 93 6&lblank; royalize &lblank;] i. e. to make royal. So, in Claudius Tiberius Nero, 1607: “Who means to-morrow for to royalize “The triumphs,” &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 94 7&lblank; Was not your husband In Margaret's battle, &c.] It is said in Henry VI. that he died in quarrel of the house of York. Johnson. The account here given is the true one. See this inconsistency accounted for in vol. xviii. p. 454, n. 3, and in the Dissertation at the end of The Third Part of King Henry VI. Malone. Margaret's battle is—Margaret's army. Ritson. So, in King Henry VI. Part I.: “What may the king's whole battle reach unto?” Steevens.

Note return to page 95 8&lblank;our lawful king;] So the quartos 1597, 1598, and the subsequent quartos. The folio has—sovereign king. In this play the variations between the original copy in quarto, and the folio, are more numerous than, I believe, in any other of our author's pieces. The alterations, it is highly probable, were made, not by Shakspeare, but by the players, many of them being very injudicious. The text has been formed out of the two copies, the folio, and the early quarto; from which the preceding editors have in every scene selected such readings as appeared to them fit to be adopted. To enumerate every variation between the copies would encumber the page with little use. Malone.

Note return to page 96 9Hear me, you wrangling pirates, &c.] This scene of Margaret's imprecations is fine and artful. She prepares the audience, like another Cassandra, for the following tragic revolutions. Warburton. Surely, the merits of this scene are insufficient to excuse its improbability. Margaret bullying the court of England in the royal palace, is a circumstance as absurd as the courtship of Gloster in a publick street. Steevens.

Note return to page 97 1&lblank; which you have pill'd from me:] To pill is to pillage. So, in The Martyr'd Soldier, by Shirley, 1638: “He has not pill'd the rich, nor flay'd the poor.” Steevens. To pill is literally to take off the outside or rind. Thus they say in Devonshire, to pill an apple, rather than pare it; and Shirley uses the word precisely in this sense. Henley.

Note return to page 98 2Ah, gentle villain,] We should read: “&lblank; ungentle villain &lblank;.” Warburton. The meaning of gentle is not, as the commentator imagines, tender or courteous, but high-born. An opposition is meant between that and villain, which means at once a wicked and a low-born wretch. So before:   “Since every Jack is made a gentleman, “There's many a gentle person made a Jack.” Johnson. Gentle appears to me to be taken in its common acceptation, but to be used ironically. M. Mason.

Note return to page 99 3&lblank; what mak'st thou in my sight?] An obsolete expression for—what dost thou in my sight. So, in Othello: “Ancient, what makes he here?” Margaret in her answer takes the word in its ordinary acceptation. Malone. So does Orlando, in As You Like It: “Now, sir, what make you here?— “Nothing: I am not taught to make any thing.” Steevens.

Note return to page 100 4Wert thou not banished, on pain of death?] Margaret fled into France after the battle of Hexham in 1464, and Edward soon afterwards issued a proclamation, prohibiting any of his subjects from aiding her to return, or harbouring her, should she attempt to revisit England. She remained abroad till the 14th of April, 1471, when she landed at Weymouth. After the battle of Tewksbury, in May, 1471, she was confined in the Tower, where she continued a prisoner till 1475, when she was ransomed by her father Regnier, and removed to France, where she died in 1482. The present scene is in 1477–8. So that her introduction in the present scene is a mere poetical fiction. Malone.

Note return to page 101 5&lblank; hath plagu'd thy bloody deed.] So, in King John: “That he's not only plagued for her sin.” To plague, in ancient language, is to punish. Hence the scriptural term—“the plagues of Egypt.” Steevens.

Note return to page 102 6So just is God, to right the innocent.] So, in Thomas Lord Cromwell, 1602: “How just is God, to right the innocent!” Ritson.

Note return to page 103 7Northumberland, then present, wept to see it.] Alluding to a scene in King Henry VI. Part III. vol. xviii. p. 401: “What, weeping ripe, my lord Northumberland?” Steevens.

Note return to page 104 8Could all but answer for that peevish brat?] This is the reading of all the editions, yet I have no doubt but we ought to read— “Could all not answer for that peevish brat?” The sense seems to require this amendment; and there are no words so frequently mistaken for each other as not and but. M. Mason. But is only—“Could nothing less answer for the death of that brat than the death of my Henry and Edward?” Malone.

Note return to page 105 9&lblank; by surfeit die your king,] Alluding to his luxurious life. Johnson.

Note return to page 106 1&lblank; elvish-mark'd,] The common people in Scotland (as I learn from Kelly's Proverbs,) have still an aversion to those who have any natural defect or redundancy, as thinking them mark'd out for mischief. Steevens.

Note return to page 107 2&lblank; rooting hog!] The expression is fine, alluding (in memory of her young son) to the ravage which hogs make, with the finest flowers, in gardens; and intimating that Elizabeth was to expect no other treatment for her sons. Warburton. She calls him hog, as an appellation more contemptuous than boar, as he is elsewhere termed from his ensigns armorial. Johnson. In The Mirror for Magistrates is the following Complaint of Collingbourne, who was cruelly executed for making a rime: “For where I meant the king by name of hog, “I only alluded to his badge the bore: “To Lovel's name I added more,—our dog; “Because most dogs have borne that name of yore. “These metaphors I us'd with other more, “As cat and rat, the half-names of the rest, “To hide the sense that they so wrongly wrest.” That Lovel was once the common name of a dog may be likewise known from a passage in The Historie of Jacob and Esau, an interlude, 1568: “Then come on at once, take my quiver and my bowe; “Fette lovell my hounde, and my horne to blowe.” The rhyme for which Collingbourne suffered was: “A cat, a rat, and Lovell the dog, “Rule all England under a hog.” Steevens. The rhyme of Collingbourne is thus preserved in Heywood's History of Edward IV. Part II.: “The cat, the rat, and Lovell our dog “Doe rule all England under a hog. “The crooke backt boore the way hath found “To root our roses from our ground. “Both flower and bud will he confound, “Till king of beasts the swine be crown'd: “And then the dog, the cat, and rat, “Shall in his trough feed and be fat.” The propriety of Dr. Warburton's note, notwithstanding what Dr. Johnson hath subjoined, is fully confirmed by this satire. Henley. The persons levelled at by this rhyme were the King, Catesby, Ratcliff, and Lovel, as appears in The Complaint of Collingbourn: “Catesbye was one whom I called a cat, “A craftie lawyer catching all he could; “The second Ratcliffe, whom I named a rat, “A cruel beast to gnaw on whom he should: “Lord Lovel barkt and byt whom Richard would, “Whom I therefore did rightly terme our dog, “Wherewith to ryme I cald the king a hog.” Malone.

Note return to page 108 3The slave of nature,] The expression is strong and noble, and alludes to the ancient custom of masters branding their profligate slaves; by which it is insinuated that his mis-shapen person was the mark that nature had set upon him to stigmatize his ill conditions. Shakspeare expresses the same thought in The Comedy of Errors: “He is deformed, crooked, &c. “Stigmatized in making &lblank;.” But as the speaker rises in her resentment, she expresses this contemptuous thought much more openly, and condemns him to a still worse state of slavery: “Sin, death, and hell, have set their marks on him.” Only, in the first line, her mention of his moral condition insinuates her reflections on his deformity: and, in the last, her mention of his deformity insinuates her reflections on his moral condition: And thus he has taught her to scold in all the elegance of figure. Warburton. Part of Dr. Warburton's note is confirm'd by a line in our author's Rape of Lucrece, from which it appears he was acquainted with the practice of marking slaves: “Worse than a slavish wipe, or birth-hour's blot.” Malone.

Note return to page 109 4Thou rag of honour! &c.] This word of contempt is used again in Timon: “If thou wilt curse, thy father, that poor rag, “Must be the subject.” Again, in this play: “These over-weening rags of France.” Steevens.

Note return to page 110 5&lblank; flourish of my fortune!] This expression is likewise used by Massinger in The Great Duke of Florence: “&lblank; I allow these “As flourishings of fortune.” Steevens.

Note return to page 111 6&lblank; bottled spider,] A spider is called bottled, because, like other insects, he has a middle slender, and a belly protuberant. Richard's form and venom, made her liken him to a spider. Johnson. A critick, who styles himself “Robert Heron, Esquire,” (though his title to Esquireship is but ill supported by his language, “puppy, booby, wise-acre,” &c. being the usual distinctions he bestows on authors who are not his favourites,) very gravely assures us that “a bottled spider is evidently a spider kept in a bottle long fasting, and of consequence the more spiteful and venomous.” May one ask if the infuriation of our Esquire originates from a similar cause? Hath he newly escaped, like Asmodeo, from the phial of some Highland sorcerer, under whose discipline he had experienced the provocations of lenten imprisonment? —Mrs. Raffald disserts on bottled gooseberries, and George Falkener warns us against bottled children; but it was reserved for our Esquire (every one knows who our Esquire is) to discover that spiders, like ale, grow brisker from being bottled, and derive additional venom from being starved.—It would be the interest of every writer to wish for an opponent like the Esquire Heron, did not the general credit of letters oppose the production of such another critick.—So far I am from wishing the lucubrations of our Esquire to be forgotten, that I counsel thee, gentle reader, (and especially, provided thou art a hypochondriac,) to peruse, and (if thou canst) to re-peruse them, and finally to thank me as thy purveyor of a laugh.—Every man should court a fresh onset from an adversary, who, in the act of ridiculing others, exposes himself to yet more obvious ridicule. Steevens. A bottled spider is a large, bloated, glossy spider: supposed to contain venom proportionate to its size. The expression occurs again in Act IV.: “That bottled spider, that foul hunch-back'd toad.” Ritson.

Note return to page 112 7Your fire-new stamp of honour is scarce current:] Thomas Grey was created Marquis of Dorset, A. D. 1476. Percy. The present scene, as has been already observed, is in 1477–8. Malone.

Note return to page 113 8Witness my son, &c.] Her distress cannot prevent her quibbling. It may be here remarked, that the introduction of Margaret in this place, is against all historical evidence. She was ransomed and sent to France soon after Tewksbury fight, and there passed the remainder of her wretched life. Ritson. “Witness my son.” Thus the quarto of 1598, and the folio. The modern editors, after the quarto of 1612, which is full of adulterations, read—sun. Malone.

Note return to page 114 9Your aiery buildeth in our aiery's nest:] An aiery is a hawk's or an eagle's nest. So, in Greene's Card of Fancy, 1608: “It is a subtle bird that breeds among the aiery of hawks.” Again, in Heywood's Rape of Lucrece, 1630: “His high-built aiery shall be drown'd in blood.” Again, in Massinger's Maid of Honour: “One aiery, with proportion, ne'er discloses “The eagle and the wren.” Steevens.

Note return to page 115 *Quarto 1597, I will kiss.

Note return to page 116 1Sin, death, and hell,] Possibly Milton took from hence the hint of his famous allegory. Blackstone. Milton might as probably catch the hint from the following passage in Latimer's Sermons, 1584, fol. 79: “Here came in death and hell, sinne was their mother. Therefore they must have such animage as their mother sinne would geue them.” Holt White. As we know that Milton was a diligent reader of Shakspeare, surely Sir William Blackstone's suggestion is the most probable. Malone.

Note return to page 117 2Live each of you the subjects to his hate, And he to yours, and all of you to God's!] It is evident from the conduct of Shakspeare, that the house of Tudor retained all their Lancastrian prejudices, even in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. In his play of Richard the Third, he seems to deduce the woes of the house of York from the curses which Queen Margaret had vented against them; and he could not give that weight to her curses, without supposing a right in her to utter them. Walpole.

Note return to page 118 3&lblank; I muse, why she's at liberty.] Thus the folio. The quarto reads: “&lblank; I wonder she's at liberty.” Steevens.

Note return to page 119 4He is frank'd up to fatting for his pains;] A frank is an old English word for a hog-sty. 'Tis possible he uses this metaphor to Clarence, in allusion to the crest of the family of York, which was a boar. Whereto relate those famous old verses on Richard III.: “The cat, the rat, and Lovel the dog, “Rule all England under a hog.” He uses the same metaphor in the last scene of Act IV. Pope. A frank was not a common hog-stye, but the pen in which those hogs were confined of whom brawn was to be made. Steevens. From the manner in which the word is used in King Henry IV. a frank should seem to mean a pen in which any hog is fatted. “Does the old boar feed in the old frank?” So also, as Mr. Bowle observes to me, in Holinshed's Description of Britaine, b. iii. p. 1096: “The husbandmen and farmers never fraunke them above three or four months, in which time he is dyeted with otes and peason, and lodged on the bare planches of an uneasie coate.” “He feeds like a boar in a frank,” as the same gentleman observes, is one of Ray's proverbial sentences. Malone. Mr. Bowle's chief instance will sufficiently countenance my assertion: for what hogs, except those designed for brawn, are ever purposely lodged “on the bare planches of an uneasie coate?” Steevens.

Note return to page 120 5&lblank; done scatch to us.] Scath is harm, mischief. So, in Soliman and Perseda: “Whom now that paltry island keeps from scath.” Again: “Millions of men opprest with ruin and scath.” Steevens.

Note return to page 121 *Quarto 1597, this deed.

Note return to page 122 6&lblank; to despatch this thing?] Seagars in his Legend of Richard the Third, speaking of the murder of Gloster's nephews, makes him say: “What though he refused, yet be sure you may, “That other were as ready to take in hand that thing.” The coincidence was, I believe, merely accidental. Malone.

Note return to page 123 7Your eyes drop mill-stones, when fools' eyes drop tears:] This, I believe, is a proverbial expression. It is used again in the tragedy of Cæsar and Pompey, 1607: “Men's eyes must mill-stones drop, when fools shed tears.” Steevens.

Note return to page 124 8So full of fearful dreams, of ugly sights,] Thus the folio. The quarto 1597: “So full of ugly sights, of ghastly dreams.” Malone.

Note return to page 125 9&lblank; faithful man,] Not an infidel. Johnson.

Note return to page 126 *Quarto 1597, What was your dream? I long to hear you tell it.

Note return to page 127 †Quarto 1597 omits this line.

Note return to page 128 ‡Quarto 1597, Methought I was embarked.

Note return to page 129 1&lblank; to Burgundy;] Clarence was desirous to assist his sister Margaret against the French king, who invaded her jointurelands after the death of her husband, Charles Duke of Burgundy, who was killed at the siege of Nancy, in January 1476–7. Isabel the wife of Clarence being then dead, (taken off by poison, administered by the Duke of Gloster, as it has been conjectured,) he wished to have married Mary the daughter and heir of the Duke of Burgundy; but the match was opposed by Edward, who hoped to have obtained her for his brother-in-law, Lord Rivers; and this circumstance has been suggested as the principal cause of the breach between Edward and Clarence. Mary of Burgundy however chose a husband for herself, having married in August 1477, Maximilian, son of the Emperor Frederick. Malone.

Note return to page 130 2What dreadful noise of water in mine ears!] See Mr. Warton's note on Milton's Lycidas, v. 157. Milton's Poems, second edit. 1791. Steevens.

Note return to page 131 3What sights of ugly death &lblank;] Thus the folio. The quarto has—What ugly sights of death. Malone.

Note return to page 132 4Inestimable stones, unvalued jewels &lblank;] Unvalued is here used for invaluable. So, in Lovelace's Posthumous Poems, 1659: “&lblank; the unvalew'd robe she wore, “Made infinite lay lovers to adore.” Malone. Again, in Chapman's version of the first Iliad: “&lblank; to buy, “For presents of unvalued price, his daughter's libertie.” Again, in the 15th Iliad: “Still shaking Jove's unvalewed shield &lblank;.” Steevens.

Note return to page 133 *Quarto 1597 omits this line.

Note return to page 134 5That woo'd the slimy bottom &lblank;] By seeming to gaze upon it; or, as we now say, to ogle it. Johnson.

Note return to page 135 *Quarto 1597 omits the words between brackets.

Note return to page 136 6Kept in my soul,] Thus the quarto. The folio—Stopt in. Malone.

Note return to page 137 7To seek the empty, vast, and wand'ring air;] Seek is the reading of the quarto 1598: the folio has find. Malone. “&lblank; empty, and wand'ring air;] Vast, is waste, desolate—vastum per inane. Steevens.

Note return to page 138 8&lblank; within my panting bulk,] Bulk is often used by Shakspeare and his contemporaries for body. So again, in Hamlet: “&lblank; it did seem to shatter all his bulk, “And end his being.” Malone. Bouke is used for the trunk of the body, by Chaucer in the Knighte's Tale, 2748: “The clotered blood, for any leche-craft, “Corrumpeth, and is in his bouke ylaft.” Bouke (i. e. bulk) is from the Saxon buce, venter. Steevens. See vol. vii. p. 261, n. 1. Boswell.

Note return to page 139 9&lblank; grim ferryman &lblank;] The folio reads—sour ferryman. Steevens.

Note return to page 140 1&lblank; with bright hair Dabbled in blood;] Lee has transplanted this image into his Mithridates, Act IV. Sc. I.: “I slept; but oh, a dream so full of terror, “The pale, the trembling midnight ravisher “Ne'er saw, when cold Lucretia's mourning shadow “His curtains drew, and lash'd him in his eyes “With her bright tresses, dabbled in her blood.” Steevens.

Note return to page 141 2&lblank; fleeting, perjur'd Clarence,] Fleeting is the same as changing sides. Johnson. So, in Antony and Cleopatra: “&lblank; now the fleeting moon “No planet is of mine.” Clarence broke his oath with the Earl of Warwick, and joined the army of his brother King Edward IV. See vol. xviii. p. 517. Steevens.

Note return to page 142 *Quarto 1597, Environ'd me about.

Note return to page 143 3&lblank; a legion of foul fiends Environ'd me, &c.] Milton seems to have thought on this passage where he is describing the midnight sufferings of our Saviour, in the 4th Book of Paradise Regain'd: “&lblank; nor yet stay'd the terror there, “Infernal ghosts, and hellish furies, round “Environ'd thee, some howl'd, some yell'd, some shriek'd &lblank;.” Steevens.

Note return to page 144 †Quarto 1597, I promise you, I am afraid.

Note return to page 145 4O God! if my deep prayers, &c.] The four following lines have been added since the first edition. Pope. They are found in the folio, but not in the quarto. Malone.

Note return to page 146 5&lblank; my guiltless wife,] The wife of Clarence died before he was apprehended and confined in the Tower. See p. 54, n. 1. Malone.

Note return to page 147 6I pray thee, gentle keeper, &c.] So the quarto, 1597. The folio reads: “Keeper, I pr'ythee, sit by me a while.” Malone.

Note return to page 148 7Sorrow breaks seasons, &c.] In the common editions, the Keeper is made to hold the dialogue with Clarence till this line. And here Brakenbury enters, pronouncing these words: which seem to me a reflection naturally resulting from the foregoing conversation, and therefore continued to be spoken by the same person, as it is accordingly in the first edition. Pope. The confusion mentioned by Mr. Pope, originated in the folio, where in the beginning of this scene, we find—“Enter Clarence and Keeper;” and after he has spoken this line “I will, my lord,” &c. we have—“Enter Brakenbury, the Lieutenant of the Tower.” But in the quarto 1597, the scenical direction at the beginning of this scene, is, “Enter Clarence and Brakenbury;” and after Clarence reposes himself, and Brakenbury has wished him good night, he naturally makes the observation—“Sorrow breaks seasons,” &c. The keeper and Brakenbury, who was lieutenant of the tower, was certainly the same person. There can be no doubt, therefore, that the text, which is regulated according to the original quarto, 1597, is right. Malone.

Note return to page 149 8Princes have but their titles for their glories, An outward honour for an inward toil;] The first line may be understood in this sense, “The glories of princes are nothing more than empty titles:” but it would more impress the purpose of the speaker, and correspond better with the following lines, if it were read: “Princes have but their titles for their troubles.” Johnson.

Note return to page 150 9&lblank; for unfelt imaginations, They often feel a world of restless cares:] They often suffer real miseries for imaginary and unreal gratifications. Johnson.

Note return to page 151 *Quarto 1597 omits Ho! who's here? and gives Brakenbury's speech thus, In God's name what are you, and how came you hither?

Note return to page 152 1Let him see our commission, &c.] Thus the second folio. Other copies, with measure equally defective— “Show him our commission, talk no more.” Steevens.

Note return to page 153 2Here are the keys, &c.] So the quarto, 1598. The folio reads: “There lies the duke asleep, and there the keys.” Malone.

Note return to page 154 3&lblank; my holy humour &lblank;] Thus the early quarto. The folio has—“this passionate humour of mine,” for which the modern editors have substituted compassionate, unnecessarily. Passionate, though not so good an epithet as that which is furnished by the quarto, is sufficiently intelligible. See vol. xv. p. 256, n. 4. The second murderer's next speech proves that holy was the author's word. The player editors probably changed it, as they did many others, on account of the statute, 3 Jac. I. c. 21. A little lower, they, from the same apprehension, omitted the word 'faith. Malone.

Note return to page 155 4Take the devil in thy mind, and believe him not: he would insinuate with thee, &c.] One villain says, Conscience is at his elbows, persuading him not to kill the duke. The other says, take the devil into thy nearer acquaintance, into thy mind, who will be a match for thy conscience, and believe it not, &c. It is plain then, that him in both places in the text should be it, namely, conscience. Warburton. Shakspeare so frequently uses both these pronouns indiscriminately, that no correction is necessary. Steevens. In The Merchant of Venice we have a long dialogue between Launcelot, his Conscience, and the Devil. But though conscience were not here personified. Shakspeare would have used him instead of it. He does so in almost every page of these plays. Malone.

Note return to page 156 5I am strong-in framd,] Thus the folio. The quarto reads— I am strong in fraud. Malone.

Note return to page 157 6Spoke like a tall fellow,] The meaning of tall, in old English, is stout, daring, fearless, and strong. Johnson. So, in The Merry Wives of Windsor: “&lblank; good soldiers, and tall fellows.” Steevens.

Note return to page 158 *Quarto 1597, to this gear.

Note return to page 159 7&lblank; the costard &lblank;] i. e. the head; a name adopted from an apple shaped like a man's head. So, in Arden of Feversham, 1592: “One and two rounds at his costard.” Hence likewise the term—costar-monger. See vol. iv. p. 327,n. 6. Steevens.

Note return to page 160 8&lblank; we'll reason &lblank;] We'll talk. Johnson. So, in the Merchant of Venice: “I reason'd with a Frenchman yesterday.” Steevens.

Note return to page 161 *Quarto 1597 omits this line.

Note return to page 162 9Are you call'd forth from out a world men,] I think it may be better read: “Are ye cull'd forth &lblank;.” Johnson. The folio reads: “Are you drawn forth among a world of men.” I adhere to the reading now in the text. So, in Nobody and Somebody, 1598: “Art thou call'd forth amongst a thousand men “To minister this soveraigne antidote?” Steevens. The reading of the text is that of the quarto 1597. Malone.

Note return to page 163 1What lawful quest &lblank;] Quest is inquest or jury. Johnson. So, in Hamlet: “&lblank; crowner's quest law.” Steevens.

Note return to page 164 2Before I be convict, &c.] Shakspeare has followed the current tale of his own time, in supposing that Clarence was imprisoned by Edward, and put to death by order of his brother Richard, without trial or condemnation. But the truth is, that he was tried and found guilty by his Peers, and a bill of attainder was afterwards passed against him. According to Sir Thomas More, his death was commanded by Edward; but he does not assert that the Duke of Gloster was the instrument. Polydore Virgil says, though he talked with several persons who lived at the time, he never could get any certain account of the motives that induced Edward to put his brother to death. See p. 54, n. 1. Malone.

Note return to page 165 3&lblank; as you hope for any goodness,] The quarto reads: “As you hope to have redemption.” I have adopted the former words, for the sake of introducing variety; the idea of redemption being comprized in the very next line. Steevens. This arbitrary alteration was made, and the subsequent line was omitted, by the editors of the folio, to avoid the penalty of the stat. 3 Jac. c. 21. For the sake of variety, however, Mr. Steevens follows neither copy. To obtain variety at the expense of the author's text, is surely a very dear purchase. Nor is the variety here obtained worth having; for the words, “as you hops to have redemption,” do not supersede, but naturally introduce, the following line. I adhere, therefore, to Shakspeare's words, in preference to the arbitrary alteration made by a licenser of the press. The reading adopted by Mr. Steevens is entirely his own. For the reviser of the folio, as I have observed above, got rid of all the words that might be construed as offending against the statute, and substituted—“as you hope for any goodness,” instead of them; but Mr. Steevens, by inserting the substituted words, and also retaining the latter part of what had been struck out, has formed a sentence, not only without authority, but scarcely intelligible, at least if the preposition by is to be connected with the word goodness. If, on the other hand, he meant that the words—“as you hope for any goodness,” should be considered as parenthetical, (as he seems to have intended, by placing a point after goodness,) and that the construction should be—“I charge you, by Christ's dear blood, that you depart,” then his deviation from our author's text is still greater. Malone.

Note return to page 166 *Quarto 1597, Thou didst receive the holy sacrament, To fight in quarrel of the house of Lancaster.

Note return to page 167 4&lblank; dear &lblank;] This is a word of mere enforcement, and very frequently occurs, with different shades of meaning, in our author. So, in Timon of Athens: “And strain what other means is left unto us, “In our dear peril.” Steevens.

Note return to page 168 *So quarto 1597. First folio omits Why, sirs.

Note return to page 169 †Quarto 1597 omits this line.

Note return to page 170 5O, know you, that, &c.] The old copies—“O, know you yet &lblank;,” but we should read—that instead of yet. In the MS. copy that would naturally have been written yt. Hence the mistake, which I have corrected, by the advice of Dr. Farmer. Steevens.

Note return to page 171 6&lblank; springing, &lblank; Plantagenet,] Blooming Plantagenet; a prince in the spring of life. Johnson. So, in Spenser's Shepherd's Calendar, 1579: “That wouldest me my springing youth to spill.” Malone. “When gallant, springing.” This should be printed as one word, I think;—gallant-springing. Shakspeare is fond of these compound epithets, in which the first adjective is to be considered as an adverb. So, in this play, he uses childish-foolish, senseless-obstinate, and mortal-staring. Tyrwhitt.

Note return to page 172 7&lblank; novice,] Youth, one yet new to the world. Johnson.

Note return to page 173 8If you are hir'd for meed,] Thus the quarto 1597 and the folio. The quarto 1598, reads—“If you be hired for need;” which is likewise sense: &mlquo;If it be necessity which induces you to commit this murder.’ Malone.

Note return to page 174 9&lblank; your brother Gloster hates you.] Mr. Walpole, some years ago, suggested from the Chronicle of Croyland, that the true cause of Gloster's hatred to Clarence was, that Clarence was unwilling to share with his brother that moiety of the estate of the great Earl of Warwick, to which Gloster became entitled on his marriage with the younger sister of the Duchess of Clarence, Lady Anne Neville, who had been betrothed to Edward Prince of Wales. This account of the matter is fully confirmed by a letter from Sir John Paston to his brother, dated Feb. 14, 1471–2, which has been lately published. Paston Letters, vol. ii. p. 91: “Yesterday the king, the queen, my lords of Clarence and Gloucester, went to Shene to pardon; men say, not all in charity. The king entreateth my lord of Clarence for my lord of Gloucester; and, as it is said, he answereth, that he may well have my lady his sister-in-law, but they shall part no livelihood, as he saith; so, what will fall, can I not say.” Malone.

Note return to page 175 1&lblank; he will weep. 1 Murd. Ay, mill-stones;] So, in Massinger's City Madam: “&lblank; He, good gentleman, “Will weep when he hears how we are used.— “Yes, mill-stones.” Steevens.

Note return to page 176 2&lblank; and save your souls, &c.] The six following lines are not in the old edition [i. e. the quarto]. Pope. They are not necessary, but so forced in, that something seems omitted to which these lines are the answer. Johnson.

Note return to page 177 3&lblank; what beggar pities not?] I cannot but suspect that the lines, which Mr. Pope observed not to be in the old edition, are now misplaced, and should be inserted here, somewhat after this manner: “Clar. A begging prince what beggar pities not? “Vil. A begging prince! “Clar. Which of you, if you were a prince's son,” &c. Upon this provocation, the villain naturally strikes him. Johnson. Mr. Pope's note is not accurately stated. I believe this passage should be regulated thus: “Clar. Relent and save your souls. “1 Vil. Relent! 'tis cowardly and womanish. “Clar. Not to relent is beastly, savage, devilish. “Which of you if you were a prince's son, “Being pent— “If two such— “Would not entreat for life? “My friend, I spy— “O, if thine eye— “Come thou on my side, and entreat for me, “As you would beg, were you in my distress. “A begging prince what beggar pities not?” Tyrwhitt. In the quarto 1597, after the last line of the preceding speech, we find only the following dialogue: “2. What shall we do? “Cla. Relent, and save your soules. “1. Relent! 'tis cowardly and womanish. “Cla. Not to relent, is beastly, savage, devilish. “My friend, I spy some pity in thy looks: “O, if thy eye be not a flatterer, “Come thou on my side, and entreate for me. “A begging prince what beggar pities not? “1. Ay, thus and thus; if this will not suffice,” &c. In the folio the passage is thus exhibited; five lines being added here; and the second murderer's speech [Look, behold you, my lord]: “2. What shall we do? “Cla. Relent and save your soules. “Which of you, if you were a prince's son, “Being pent from liberty, as I am now, “If two such murderers, as yourselves, came to you, “Would not entreat for life, as you would beg, “Were you in my distress? “1. Relent! 'tis cowardly and womanish. “Cla. Not to relent, is beastly, savage, devilish. “My friend— “O, if— “Come thou— “A begging— “1. Look behind you, my lord. “2. Take that, and that &lblank;”. I think, with Mr. Tyrwhitt, that the added lines have been inserted in the wrong place, and have therefore adopted his arrangement. Malone. I have regulated the text according to Mr. Tyrwhitt's instruction. Steevens. “A begging prince what beggar pities not?” To this, in the quarto, the Murderer replies: “I, thus and thus: if this will not serve “I'll chop thee in the malmesey but in the next roome &lblank;.” and then stabs him. Steevens.

Note return to page 178 4And now in peace &lblank;] So the quarto. The folio—more to peace. Malone. Mr. Steevens forms a reading from both,—more in peace. Boswell.

Note return to page 179 5Dissemble not your hatred,] i. e. do not gloss it over. Steevens. I suppose he means, Divest yourselves of that concealed hatred which you have heretofore secretly borne to each other. Do not merely, says Edward, conceal and cover over your secret ill will to each other by a show of love, but eradicate hatred altogether from your bosoms. Malone.

Note return to page 180 *So quarto 1597; first folio, yourself is.

Note return to page 181 6&lblank;here comes the noble duke.] So the quarto. The folio reads: “And in good time “Here comes Sir Richard Radcliffe and the duke.” Malone.

Note return to page 182 7If I unwittingly, or in my rage,] So the quarto. Folio— unwillingly. This line and the preceding hemistich are printed in the old copies, as one line: a mistake that has sometimes happened in the early editions of these plays. Mr. Pope, by whose licentious alterations our author's text was much corrupted, omitted the words—“or in my rage;” in which he has been followed by all the subsequent editors till my edition in 1790. Malone.

Note return to page 183 8&lblank; frown'd on me;] I have followed the original copy in quarto. The folio adds— “Of you, lord Woodville, and lord Scales, of you &lblank;:” The eldest son of Earl Rivers was Lord Scales; but there was no such person as Lord Woodville. Malone.

Note return to page 184 9I do not know, &c.] Milton in his &gre;&gri;&grk;&gro;&grn;&gro;&grk;&grl;&gra;&grs;&grt;&gre;&grst;, has this observation: “The poets, and some English, have been in this point so mindful of decorum, as to put never more pious words in the mouth of any person, than of a tyrant. I shall not instance an abstruse author, wherein the king might be less conversant, but one whom we well know was the closet companion of these his solitudes, William Shakspeare; who introduced the person of Richard the Third, speaking in as high a strain of piety and mortification as is uttered in any passage in this book, and sometimes to the same sense and purpose with some words in this place: &mlquo;I intended, (saith he), not only to oblige my friends, but my enemies.’ The like saith Richard, Act II. Sc. I.: “‘I do not know that Englishman alive, “‘With whom my soul is any jot at odds, “‘More than the infant that is born to-night; “‘I thank my God for my humility.’ “Other stuff of this sort may be read throughout the tragedy, wherein the poet used not much licence in departing from the truth of history, which delivers him a deep dissembler, not of his affections only, but of religion.” Steevens.

Note return to page 185 1Some tardy cripple, &c.] This is an allusion to a proverbial expression which Drayton has versified in the second canto of The Barons' Wars: “Ill news hath wings, and with the wind doth go; “Comfort's a cripple, and comes ever slow.” Steevens. These lines are quoted from the edition in 1619. If the reader should look for them in any preceding edition, he will be disappointed. Drayton's poems vary very considerably as they first and subsequently appeared. Malone.

Note return to page 186 *So quarto 1597; first folio, and.

Note return to page 187 *So quarto 1597; first folio, and.

Note return to page 188 2Nearer in bloody thoughts, and not in blood,] In Macbeth we have the same play on words: “&lblank; the near in blood, “The nearer bloody,” Steevens.

Note return to page 189 †So folio; quarto 1597, demand'st.

Note return to page 190 3The forfeit,] He means the remission of the forfeit. Johnson.

Note return to page 191 4Have I a tongue to doom my brother's death,] This lamentation is very tender and pathetick. The recollection of the good qualities of the dead is very natural, and no less naturally does the King endeavour to communicate the crime to others. Johnson.

Note return to page 192 5Who sued to me for him? &c.] This pathetick speech is founded on this slight hint in Sir Thomas More's History of Edward V. inserted by Holinshed in his Chronicle: “Sure it is, that although king Edward were consenting to his death, yet he much did both lament his infortunate chance, and repent his sudden execution. Insomuch that when any person sued to him for the pardon of malefactors condemned to death, he would accustomablie say, and openlie speake, O infortunate brother, for whose life not one would make suite! openly and apparently meaning by suche words that by the means of some of the nobilitie he was deceived, and brought to his confusion.” Malone.

Note return to page 193 6be advis'd?] i. e. deliberate; consider what I was about to do. So, in The Paston Letters, vol. ii. p. 279: “Written in haste with short advisement,” &c. See also, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, vol. iv. p. 56, n. 7. Malone.

Note return to page 194 7Come, Hastings, help me to my closet.] Hastings was Lord Chamberlain to King Edward IV. Malone.

Note return to page 195 8Enter the Duchess of York,] Cecily, daughter of Ralph Neville first Earl of Westmoreland, and widow of Richard Duke of York, who was killed at the battle of Wakefield in 1460. She survived her husband thirty-five years, living till the year 1495. Malone.

Note return to page 196 9My pretty cousins,] The Duchess is here addressing her grand-children, but cousin was the term used in Shakspeare's time, by uncles to nephews and nieces, grandfathers to grandchildren, &c. It seems to have been used instead of our kinsman and kinswoman, and to have supplied the place of both. Malone.

Note return to page 197 *Quarto 1597, lost labour to weep for one.

Note return to page 198 1Incapable and shallow innocents,] Incapable, is unintelligent. So, in Hamlet: “His form and cause combined preaching to stones “Would make them capable.” Malone. So, in Hamlet: “As one incapable of her own distress.” Steevens.

Note return to page 199 *Quarto 1597, And hug'd me in his arms.

Note return to page 200 1Yet from my dugs] This word gave no offence to our ancestors; one instance will suffice to show that it was used even in the most refined poetry. In Constable's Sonnets, 16mo. 1594, Sixth Decade, Son. 4: “And on thy dugs the queene of love doth tell, “Her godheads power in scrowles of my desire.” Malone.

Note return to page 201 2&lblank; my uncle did dissemble,] Shakspeare uses dissemble in the sense of acting fraudulently, feigning what we do not feel or think; though strictly it means to conceal our real thoughts or affections. So also Milton in the passage quoted in p. 73, n. 9. Malone.

Note return to page 202 *Quarto 1597, now the roote is wither'd.

Note return to page 203 3&lblank; of perpetual rest.] So the quarto. The folio reads— of ne'er changing night. Malone.

Note return to page 204 4&lblank; his images:] The children by whom he was represented. Johnson. So, in The Rape of Lucrece, Lucretius says to his daughter: “O, from thy cheeks my image thou hast torn.” Malone.

Note return to page 205 5But now, two mirrors of his princely semblance Are crack'd in pieces by malignant death;] So, in our author's Rape of Lucrece: “Poor broken glass, I often did behold “In thy sweet semblance my old age new born; “But now, that fair fresh mirror, dim and old, “Shows me a bare-bon'd death by time out-worn.” Again, in his 3d Sonnet: “Thou art thy mother's glass,” &c. Malone.

Note return to page 206 †Quarto 1597, children.

Note return to page 207 6&lblank; being govern'd by the watry moon,] That I may live hereafter under the influence of the moon, which governs the tides, and by the help of that influence drown the world. The introduction of the moon is not very natural. Johnson. The same thought has already occurred in King Henry IV. Part I.: “&lblank; being governed, as the sea is, by the moon.” Steevens.

Note return to page 208 7&lblank; and so do I:] So the quarto. The variation of the folio is remarkable. It reads—so do not they. Malone.

Note return to page 209 8I for an Edward weep, so do not they:] When I formerly revised this play I had seen no earlier copy than the second quarto, 1598, which read: “These babes for Clarence wept, and so do I: “I for an Edward weep; and so do they.” I had no doubt that the second line was corrupt, and that the true reading was that now in the text— “These babes for Clarence weep, and so do I; “I for an Edward weep, so do not they.” and the original quarto of 1597 confirms my conjecture, for such is the reading of that copy. In the MS. from which the folio was printed, or in a corrected quarto copy, the two lines undoubtedly were right: “These babes for Clarence weep, [and so do I; “I for an Edward weep,] so do not they.” But the compositor's eye passing over two half lines, the passage was printed thus in the folio, in one line: “These babes for Clarence weep, so do not they.” I have stated this matter thus particularly, because it confirms an observation that I have more than once had occasion to make in revising these plays; that there is reason to suspect that many of the difficulties in our author's works have arisen from the omission of either single words, single lines, or the latter half of one line with the half of the next; a solution which readers are very slow to admit, and generally consider as chimerical. One week's acquaintance with the business of the press (without those proofs which a collation of the quartos with each other and with the first folio affords,) would soon convince them that my supposition is not a mere offspring of imagination. In the plays of which there is no authentick copy but the first folio, there is no means of proving such omissions to have happened; but the present and other proofs of their having actually happened in the other plays, lay surely a reasonable ground for conjecturing that similar errors have happened in those pieces of which there is only a single ancient copy extant, and entitle such conjectures to indulgence. See my note, vol. ix. p. 7. Malone.

Note return to page 210 9Comfort, dear mother, &c.] This line and the following eleven lines are found only in the folio. Malone.

Note return to page 211 1&lblank; to be thus opposite with heaven,] This was the phraseology of the time. See vol. xi. p. 425, n. 8. Malone.

Note return to page 212 2For it requires &lblank;] i. e. because. So, in Othello: “Haply, for I am black &lblank;.” Steevens.

Note return to page 213 *Quarto 1597, splinter'd.

Note return to page 214 3The broken rancour of your high-swoln hearts, But lately splinted, knit, and join'd together, Must gently be preserv'd, cherish'd, and kept:] As this passage stands, it is the rancour of their hearts that is to be preserved and cherished.—But we must not attempt to amend this mistake, as it seems to proceed from the inadvertency of Shakspeare himself. M. Mason. Their broken rancour recently splinted and knit, the poet considers as a new league of amity and concord; and this it is that Buckingham exhorts them to preserve. Malone.

Note return to page 215 4Forthwith from Ludlow the young prince be fetch'd &lblank;] Edward the young prince, in his father's life-time, and at his demise, kept his household at Ludlow, as Prince of Wales; under the governance of Antony Woodville, Earl of Rivers, his uncle by the mother's side. The intention of his being sent thither was to see justice done in the Marches; and, by the authority of his presence, to restrain the Welshmen, who were wild, dissolute, and ill-disposed, from their accustomed murders and outrages. Vid. Hall, Holinshed, &c. Theobald.

Note return to page 216 5Why with, &c.] This line and the following seventeen lines are found only in the folio. Malone.

Note return to page 217 6Riv. And so in me;] This speech (as a modern editor has observed,) seems rather to belong to Hastings, who was of the Duke of Gloster's party. The next speech might be given to Stanley. Malone.

Note return to page 218 7&lblank; your censures &lblank;] To censure formerly meant to deliver an opinion. So, in Heywood's Golden Age, 1611: “&lblank; yet if I censure freely, “I needs must think that face and personage “Was ne'er deriv'd from baseness.” Again, in Marius and Sylla, 1594: “Cinna affirms the senate's censure just, “And saith, let Marius lead the legions forth.” Again, in Orlando Furioso, 1594: “Set each man forth his passions how he can, “And let her censure make the happiest man.” Steevens.

Note return to page 219 8I'll sort occasion, As index to the story &lblank;] i. e. preparatory—by way of prelude. So, in Hamlet, vol. vii. p. 391, n. 3: “That storms so loud and thunders in the index.” See the note on that passage. Malone. Again, in Othello: “&lblank;an index and obscure prologue to the history of lust and foul thoughts.” Steevens.

Note return to page 220 *Quarto 1597, king.

Note return to page 221 9Towards Ludlow then.] The folio here and a few lines higher, for Ludlow reads—London. Few of our author's plays stand more in need of the assistance furnished by a collation with the quartos, than that before us. Malone.

Note return to page 222 *Quarto 1597, Neighbour, well met, whither away so fast!

Note return to page 223 1Yes; the king's dead.] Thus the second folio. The first, without regard to measure— “Yes, that the king is dead.” Steevens. The quarto 1597 is equally faulty, according to Mr. Steevens. It reads— “I [ay] that the king is dead.” Malone.

Note return to page 224 2&lblank; seldom comes the better:] A proverbial saying, taken notice of in The English Courtier and Country Gentleman, 4to. bl. l. 1586, sign. B: “&lblank; as the proverbe sayth, seldome come the better. Val. That proverb indeed is auncient, and for the most part true,” &c. Reed. The modern editors read—a better. The passage quoted above proves that there is no corruption in the text; and shows how very dangerous it is to disturb our author's phraseology, merely because it is not familiar to our ears at present. Malone.

Note return to page 225 †Quarto 1597, troublous.

Note return to page 226 ‡For these two speeches, the quarto 1597 has only—Good morrow, neighbours.

Note return to page 227 3Woe to that land, that's govern'd by a child!] “Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child.” Ecclesiastes, ch. x. Steevens.

Note return to page 228 4That, in his nonage, council under him,] So the quarto. The folio reads—Which in his nonage.—Which is frequently used by our author for who, and is still so used in our Liturgy. But neither reading affords a very clear sense. Dr. Johnson thinks a line lost before this. I suspect that one was rather omitted after it. Malone. I see no difficulty. We may hope well of his government under all circumstances: we may hope this of his council while he is in his nonage, and of himself in his riper years. Boswell.

Note return to page 229 *Quarto 1597, And the queen's kindred haughty and proud.

Note return to page 230 5You cannot reason almost with a man &lblank;] To reason, is to converse. So, in The Merchant of Venice, vol. v. p. 65: “I reasoned with a Frenchman yesterday.” So, in King John, vol. xv. p. 232: “Our griefs, and not our manners, reason now.” See note on that passage. Malone.

Note return to page 231 6Before the days of change, &c.] This is from Holinshed's Chronicle, vol. iii. p. 721: “Before such great things, men's hearts of a secret instinct of nature misgive them; as the sea without wind swelleth of himself some time before a tempest.” Tollet.

Note return to page 232 7Last night, I hear, they lay at Northampton: At Stony-Stratford will they be to-night:] Thus the quarto 1597. The folio reads: “Last night, I heard, they lay at Stony-Stratford, “And at Northampton they do rest to-night.” An anonymous remarker, who appears not to have inspected a single quarto copy of any of these plays, is much surprised that editors should presume to make such changes in the text, (without authority, as he intimates,) and assures us the reading of the folio is right, the fact being, that “the prince and his company did in their way to London actually lye at Stony-Stratford one night, and were the next morning taken back by the duke of Glocester to Northampton, where they lay the following night. See Hall, Edw. V. fol. 6.” Shakspeare, it is clear, either forgot this circumstance, or did not think it worth attending to.—According to the reading of the original copy in quarto, at the time the Archbishop is speaking, the King had not reached Stony-Stratford, and consequently his being taken back to Northampton on the morning after he had been at Stratford, could not be in the author's contemplation. Shakspeare well knew that Stony Stratford was nearer to London than Northampton; therefore in the first copy the young King is made to sleep on one night at Northampton, and the Archbishop very naturally supposes that on the next night, that is, on the night of the day on which he is speaking, the King would reach Stony-Stratford. It is highly improbable that the editor of the folio should have been apprized of the historical fact above stated; and much more likely that he made the alteration for the sake of improving the metre, regardless of any other circumstance. How little he attended to topography appears from a preceding scene, in which he makes Gloster, though in London, talk of sending a messenger to that town, instead of Ludlow. See p. 85, n. 9. By neither reading can the truth of history be preserved, and therefore we may be sure that Shakspeare did not mean in this instance to adhere to it. According to the present reading, the scene is on the day on which the King was journeying from Northampton to Stratford; and of course the Messenger's account of the peers being seiz'd, &c. which was on the next day after the King had lain at Stratford, is inaccurate. If the folio reading be adopted, the scene is indeed placed on the day on which the King was seized; but the Archbishop is supposed to be apprized of a fact which before the entry of the Messenger he manifestly does not know, and which Shakspeare did not intend he should appear to know; namely, the Duke of Gloster's coming to Stony-Stratford the morning after the King had lain there, taking him forcibly back to Northampton, and seizing the Lords Rivers, Grey, &c. The truth is, that the Queen herself, the person most materially interested in the welfare of her son, did not hear of the King's being carried back from Stony-Stratford to Northampton till about midnight of the day on which this violence was offered him by his uncle. See Hall, Edward V. fol. 6. Historical truth being thus deviated from, we have a right to presume that Shakspeare in this instance did not mean to pay any attention to it, and that the reading furnished by the quarto was that which came from his pen: nor is it possible that he could have made the alteration which the folio exhibits, it being utterly inconsistent with the whole tenour and scope of the present scene. If the Archbishop had known that the young King was carried back to Northampton, he must also have known that the lords who accompanied him were sent to prison; and instead of eagerly asking the Messenger, in p. 92, “What news?” might have informed him of the whole transaction. The truth of history is neglected in another instance also. The Messenger says, the Lords Rivers, Grey, &c. had been sent by Gloster to Pomfret, whither they were not sent till some time afterwards, they being sent at first, according to Sir Thomas More, (whose relation Hall and Holinshed transcribed,) “into the North country, into diverse places to prison, and afterwards all to Pontefract.” The reading of the text is that of the quarto 1597. The arguments here adduced being, as I conceive, unanswerable, Mr. Steevens has not attempted to discuss them, and, without regard to them, adopts the reading of the folio, forsooth! as the smoother of the two. He asserts, indeed, that sense here cannot claim a preference; but I think I have shown the contrary. Malone. I have followed the folios; the historical fact being as there represented. The Prince and his company did, in their way to London, actually lie at Stony-Stratford one night, and were the next morning taken back by the Duke of Gloucester to Northampton, where they lay the following night. See Hall, Edward V. fol. 6. See also, Remarks, &c. on the last edition of Shakspeare, [that of 1778,] p. 133. Reed. Shakspeare does not always attend to the propriety of his own alterations. As historical truth, therefore, whichever reading be chosen, must be violated, I am content with such an arrangement as renders the versification smoothest. Where sense cannot claim a preference, a casting vote may be safely given in favour of sound. Steevens.

Note return to page 233 8&lblank; the wretched'st thing,] Wretched is here used in a sense yet retained in familiar language, for paltry, pitiful, being below expectation. Johnson. Rather, the weakest, most puny, least thriving. Ritson.

Note return to page 234 9&lblank; been remember'd,] To be remembered is, in Shakspeare, to have one's memory quick, to have one's thoughts about one. Johnson.

Note return to page 235 *Quarto 1597, That should have nearer toucht his growth than he did mine.

Note return to page 236 1A parlous boy:] Parlous, is keen, shrewd. So, in Law Tricks, &c. 1608: “A parlous youth, sharp and satirical.” Steevens. It is a corruption of perilous, dangerous; the reading of the old quartos. The Queen evidently means to chide him. Ritson. Mr. Steevens is right. Shakspeare himself has shown what he meant by parlous, in the very next scene, where Gloster, speaking of the Duke of York, says: “&lblank; O, 'tis a parlous boy, “Bold, quick, ingenious, forward, capable.” Malone.

Note return to page 237 2Pitchers have ears.] Shakspeare has not quoted this proverbial saying correctly. It appears from A Dialogue both Pleasaunt and Pietifull, by William Bulleyn, 1564, that the old proverb is this: “Small pitchers have great ears.” Malone. This proverb has already occurred in The Taming of the Shrew: “Pitchers have ears, and I have many servants.” Ritson.

Note return to page 238 3Enter a Messenger.] The quarto reads—Enter Dorset. Steevens. And the speech following this—“Here comes your son,” &c.: “M. Dorset. What news, &c. Marquis?” Boswell.

Note return to page 239 4For what offence?] This question is given to the Archbishop in former copies, but the Messenger plainly speaks to the Queen or Duchess. Johnson. This question is given in the quarto to the Archbishop (or Cardinal, as he is there called,) where also we have in the following speech, “my gracious lady.” The editor of the folio altered lady to lord; but it is more probable that the compositor prefixed Car. (the designation there of the Archbishop,) to the words, “For what offence?” instead of Qu. than that lady should have been printed in the subsequent speech instead of lord. Compositors always keep the names of the interlocutors in each scene ready-composed for use; and hence mistakes sometimes arise. Malone.

Note return to page 240 5The tiger now hath seiz'd the gentle hind;] So, in our author's Rape of Lucrece: “&lblank; While she, the picture of pure piety, “Like a white hind under the grype's sharp claws &lblank;.” Malone.

Note return to page 241 6&lblank; awless &lblank;] Not producing awe, not reverenced. To jut upon is to encroach. Johnson. The quarto reads, I think preferably, to jet, to be ostentatious. See vol. xi. p. 414, n. 4. Boswell.

Note return to page 242 *Quarto 1597, Make war upon themselves; blood against blood, Self against self.

Note return to page 243 †Quarto 1597, outrage.

Note return to page 244 7Or let me die, to look on death no more!] Earth is the reading of all the copies, from the first edition put out by the players, downwards. But I have restored the reading of the old quarto in 1597, which is copied by all the other authentic quartos, by which the thought is finely and properly improved: “Or let me die, to look on death no more.” Theobald.

Note return to page 245 8&lblank; I'll resign unto your grace The seal I keep; &c.] Afterwards, however, this obsequious Archbishop [Rotheram] to ingratiate himself with K. Richard III. put his majesty's badge, the Hog, upon the gate of the Publick Library, Cambridge. Steevens.

Note return to page 246 9Cardinal Bourchier,] Thomas Bourchier was made a Cardinal, and elected Archbishop of Canterbury, in 1464. He died in 1486. Malone.

Note return to page 247 1&lblank; to your chamber.] London was anciently called Camera Regis. Pope. So, in Heywood's If You Know Not Me You Know Nobody, 1633, Part II.: “This city, our great chamber.” Steevens. This title it began to have immediately after the Norman conquest. See Coke's 4 Inst. 243, where it is styled Camera Regis; Camden's Britannia, 374; Ben Jonson's Account of King James's Entertainment in passing to his Coronation, &c. Reed.

Note return to page 248 2&lblank; jumpeth with the heart.] So, in Soliman and Perseda, 1599: “Wert thou my friend, thy mind would jump with mine.” Steevens.

Note return to page 249 3&lblank; in good time,] De bonne heure. Fr. Steevens.

Note return to page 250 4Anon expect him here: &c.] The word—anon, may safely be omitted. It only serves to vitiate the measure. Steevens.

Note return to page 251 5Too ceremonious, and traditional:] Ceremonious for superstitious; traditional for adherent to old customs. Warburton.

Note return to page 252 6Weigh it but with the grossness of this age,] But the more gross, that is, the more superstitious the age was, the stronger would be the imputation of violated sanctuary. The question, we see by what follows, is whether sanctuary could be claimed by an infant. The speaker resolves it in the negative, because it could be claimed by those only whose actions necessitated them to fly thither; or by those who had an understanding to demand it; neither of which could be an infant's case: It is plain then, the first line, which introduces this reasoning, should be read thus: “Weigh it but with the greenness of his age,” i. e. the young Duke of York's, whom his mother had fled with to sanctuary. The corrupted reading of the old quarto is something nearer the true: “&lblank; the greatness of his age.” Warburton. This emendation is received by Hanmer, and is very plausible; yet the common reading may stand: “Weigh it but with the grossness of this age, “You break not sanctuary &lblank;.” That is, compare the act of seizing him with the gross and licentious practices of these times, it will not be considered as a violation of sanctuary, for you may give such reasons as men are now used to admit. Johnson. Dr. Warburton is not accurate. The original quarto, 1597, and the two subsequent quartos, as well as the folio, all read— grossness. Greatness is the corrupt reading of a late quarto of no authority, printed in 1622. Malone.

Note return to page 253 6Oft have I heard of sanctuary men; &c.] These arguments against the privilege of sanctuary are taken from Sir Thomas More's Life of King Edward the Fifth, published by Stowe; “&lblank; And verily, I have heard of sanctuary men, but I never heard earst of sanctuary children,” &c. Steevens. More's Life of King Edward V. was published also by Hall and Holinshed, and in the Chronicle of Holinshed Shakspeare found this argument. Malone.

Note return to page 254 7He did, &c.] I suppose this and the following line, (the useless epithet—gracious, omitted,) should be read thus: “He did, my lord, begin that place; which, since, “Succeeding ages have re-edify'd.” Steevens.

Note return to page 255 8As 'twere retail'd to all posterity,] And so it is; and, by that means, like most other retailed things, became adulterated. We should read: “&lblank; intail'd to all posterity;” which is finely and sensibly expressed, as if truth was the natural inheritance of our children; which it is impiety to deprive them of. Warburton. Retailed may signify diffused, dispersed. Johnson. Retailed means handed down from one to another.—Goods retailed, are those which pass from one purchaser to another.— Richard uses the word retailed in the same sense in the fourth Act, where speaking to the Queen of her daughter, he says— “To whom I will retail my conquests won.” M. Mason. Minsheu in his Dictionary, 1617, besides the verb retail in the mercantile sense, has the verb “to retaile or retell, G. renombrer, à Lat. renumerare;” and in that sense, I conceive, it is employed here. Malone.

Note return to page 256 9So wise so young, they say, do ne'er live long.] Is cadit ante senem, qui sapit ante diem—a proverbial line. Steevens. Bright, in his Treatise on Melancholy, 1586, p. 52, says—“I have knowne children languishing of the splene, obstructed and altered in temper, talke with gravitie and wisdome, surpassing those tender yeares, and their judgement carrying a marvellous imitation of the wisdome of the ancient, having after a sorte attained that by disease, which other have by course of yeares; whereon I take it, the proverbe ariseth, that they be of short life who are of wit so pregnant.” Reed.

Note return to page 257 1Thus, like the formal vice, Iniquity, I moralize two meanings in one word.] By vice, the author means not a quality, but a person. There was hardly an old play, till the period of the Reformation, which had not in it a devil, and a droll character, a jester; (who was to play upon the devil;) and this buffoon went by the name of a Vice. This buffoon was at first accoutred with a long jerkin, a cap with a pair of ass's ears, and a wooden dagger, with which (like another Harlequin) he was to make sport in belabouring the devil. This was the constant entertainment in the times of popery, whilst spirits, and witchcraft, and exorcising held their own. When the Reformation took place, the stage shook off some grossities, and encreased in refinements. The master-devil then was soon dismissed from the scene; and this buffoon was changed into a subordinate fiend, whose business was to range on earth, and seduce poor mortals into that personated vicious quality, which he occasionally supported; as, iniquity in general, hypocrisy, usury, vanity, prodigality, gluttony, &c. Now, as the fiend, (or vice,) who personated Iniquity, (or Hypocrisy, for instance) could never hope to play his game to the purpose but by hiding his cloven foot, and assuming a semblance quite different from his real character; he must certainly put on a formal demeanour, moralize and prevaricate in his words, and pretend a meaning directly opposite to his genuine and primitive intention. If this does not explain the passage in question, 'tis all that I can at present suggest upon it. Theobald. That the buffoon, or jester of the old English farces, was called the vice, is certain: and that, in their moral representations, it was common to bring in the deadly sins, is as true. Of these we have yet several remains. But that the vice used to assume the personages of those sins, is a fancy of Mr. Theobald's, who knew nothing of the matter. The truth is, the vice was always a fool or jester; and, (as the woman, in The Merchant of Venice, calls the Clown, alluding to the character,) a merry devil. Whereas these mortal sins were so many sad serious ones. But what misled our editor was the name, Iniquity, given to this vice: But it was only on account of his unhappy tricks and rogueries. That it was given to him, and for the reason I mention, appears from the following passage of Jonson's Staple of News, second intermeane: “M. How like you the vice i' the play? “T. Here is never a fiend to carry him away. Besides he has never a wooden dagger. “M. That was the old way, gossip, when Iniquity came in, like Hocas Pocas, in a jugler's jerkin, with false skirts, like the knave of clubs.” And, in The Devil's an Ass, we see this old vice, Iniquity, described more at large. From all this, it may be gathered, that the text, where Richard compares himself to the formal vice, Iniquity, must be corrupt: and the interpolation of some foolish player. The vice or iniquity being not a formal but a merry, buffoon character. Besides, Shakspeare could never make an exact speaker refer to this character, because the subject he is upon is tradition and antiquity, which have no relation to it; and because it appears from the turn of the passage, that he is apologizing for his equivocation by a reputable practice. To keep the reader no longer in suspence, my conjecture is, that Shakspeare wrote and pointed the lines in this manner: “Thus like the formal-wise Antiquity, “I moralize: Two meanings in one word.” Alluding to the mythologick learning of the ancients, of whom they are all here speaking. So that Richard's ironical apology is to this effect, You men of morals who so much extol your all-wise antiquity, in what am I inferior to it? which was but an equivocator as I am. And it is remarkable, that the Greeks themselves called their remote antiquity, &grD;&gri;&grx;&groa;&grm;&gru;&grq;&gro;&grst;, or the equivocator. So far as to the general sense; as to that which arises particularly out of the corrected expression, I shall only observe, that formal-wise is a compound epithet, an extreme fine one, and admirably fitted to the character of the speaker, who thought all wisdom but formality. It must therefore be read for the future with a hyphen. My other observation is with regard to the pointing: the common reading— “I moralize two meanings &lblank;” is nonsense: but reformed in this manner, very sensible: “Thus like the formal-wise Antiquity “I moralize: Two meanings in one word.” i. e. I moralize as the ancients did. And how was that? the having two meanings to one word. A ridicule on the morality of the ancients, which he insinuates was no better than equivocating. Warburton. This alteration Mr. Upton very justly censures. Dr. Warburton has, in my opinion, done nothing but correct the punctuation, if indeed any alteration be really necessary. See the dissertation on the old vice at the end of this play. To this long collection of notes may be added a question, to what equivocation Richard refers? The position immediately preceding, that fame lives long without characters, that is, without the help of letters, seems to have no ambiguity. He must allude to the former line: “So young so wise, they say, do ne'er live long,” in which he conceals under a proverb, his design of hastening the Prince's death. Johnson. The Prince having caught some part of the former line, asks Richard what he says, who, in order to deceive him, preserves in his reply, the latter words of the line, but substitutes other words at the beginning of it, of a different import from those he had uttered.—This is the equivocation that Gloster really made use of, though it does not correspond with his own description of it: “I moralize—two meanings in one word.” Word is not here taken in its literal sense, but means a saying, a short sentence, as motto does in Italian, and bon-mot in French. —So, in Jonson's Every Man out of his Humour, Puntarvolo says: “Let the word be, Not without mustard; thy crest is rare.” M. Mason. From the following stage direction, in an old dramatick piece, entituled, Histriomastrix, or The Player Whipt, 1610, it appears, that the Vice and Iniquity were sometimes distinct personages: “Enter a roaring devil, with the Vice on his back, Iniquity in one hand, and Juventus in the other.” The devil likewise makes the distinction in his first speech: “Ho, ho, ho! these babes mine are all, “The Vice, Iniquitie, and Child Prodigal.” The following part of this note was obligingly communicated by the Rev. Mr. Bowle, of Idmestone near Salisbury. I know no writer who gives so complete an account of this obsolete character, as Archbishop Harsnet, in his Declaration of Popish Impostures, p. 114, Lond. 1608: “It was a pretty part (he tells us) in the old church-playes, when the nimble Vice would skip up nimbly like a jackanapes into the devil's necke, and ride the devil a course, and belabour him with his wooden dagger, till he made him roare, whereat the people would laugh to see the devil so vice-haunted.” Steevens. Dr. Warburton has endeavoured to support his capricious and violent alteration of the text by a very long note which in my apprehension carries neither conviction, nor information with it. The Vice, Iniquity, cannot with propriety, be said to moralize in general; but in the old Moralities he, like Richard, did often “moralize two meanings in one word.” Our author has again used moralize as a verb active in his Rape of Lucrece: “Nor could she moralize his wanton sight, “More than his eyes were open to the light.” In which passage it means, “to interpret or investigate the latent meaning of his wanton looks,” as in the present passage, it signifies either to extract the double and latent meaning of one word or sentence, or to couch two meanings under one word or sentence. So moral is used by our author in Much Ado About Nothing, for a secret meaning: “There is some moral in this Benedictus.” See vol. vii. p. 100, n. 1; and vol. xvii. p. 478, n. 9. The word which Richard uses in a double sense is live, which in his former speech he had used literally, and in the present is used metaphorically. Mr. Mason conceives, because what we now call a motto, was formerly denominated the mot or word, that word may here signify a whole sentence. But the argument is defective. Though in tournaments the motto on a knight's shield was formerly called The word, it never at any period was called “One word.” The Vice of the old moralities was a buffoon character, [See Cotgrave's Dict. “Badin, A foole or Vice in a play.—Mime, a vice, foole, jester, &c. in a play.”] whose chief employment was to make the audience laugh, and one of the modes by which he effected his purpose was by double meanings, or playing upon words. In these moral representations, fraud, iniquity, covetousness, luxury, gluttony, vanity, &c. were frequently introduced. Mr. Upton in a dissertation which, on account of its length, is annexed at the end of the play, has shown, from Ben Jonson's Staple of News, and The Devil's an Ass, that Iniquity was sometimes the Vice of the Moralities. Mr. Steevens's note in the foregoing page, shows, that he was not always so. The formal Vice perhaps means, the shrewd, the sensible Vice. —In The Comedy of Errors, “a formal man” seems to mean, one in his senses; a rational man. Again, in Twelfth-Night, vol. xi. p. 423, n. 2: “&lblank; this is evident to any formal capacity.” Malone.

Note return to page 258 2&lblank; of this conqueror;] For this reading we are indebted to Mr. Theobald, who derived it from the original edition in 1597. All the subsequent ancient copies read corruptly—of his conqueror. Malone.

Note return to page 259 3&lblank; lightly &lblank;] Commonly, in ordinary course. Johnson. So, in the old Proverb: “There's lightning lightly before thunder.” See Ray's Proverbs, p. 130, edit. 3d. Again, in Penny-wise and Pound-foolish, &c.—“Misfortunes seldome walke alone; and so when blessings doe knocke at a man's dore, they lightly are not without followers and fellowes.” Again, Holinshed, p. 725, concerning one of King Edward's concubines: “&lblank; one whom no one could get out of the church lightly to any place, but it were to his bed.” Again, in Ben Jonson's Cynthia's Revels: “He is not lightly within to his mercer.” Steevens. “Short summers lightly have a forward spring.” That is, short summers are usually preceded by a forward spring; or in other words, and more appositely to Gloster's latent meaning, a premature spring is usually followed by a short summer. Malone.

Note return to page 260 4&lblank; dread lord;] The original of this epithet applied to kings has been much disputed. In some of our old statutes the king is called Rex metuendissimus. Johnson.

Note return to page 261 5Too late he died;] i. e. too lately, the loss is too fresh in our memory. Warburton. So, in our author's Rape of Lucrece: “&lblank; I did give that life, “Which she too early, and too late hath spill'd. Again, in King Henry V.: “The mercy that was quick in us but late,” &c. Malone.

Note return to page 262 6I pray you, uncle, then, give me this dagger.] Then was added by Sir Thomas Hanmer for the sake of metre. Steevens. Upon this system, five syllables must be added to the next speech but one to make it metre. Malone.

Note return to page 263 7And, being but a toy, which is no grief to give.] The reading of the quartos is—gift. The first folio reads: “And, being but a toy, which is no grief to give.” This reading, made a little more metrical, has been followed, I think, erroneously, by all the editors. Johnson. The quarto 1612 reads: “&lblank;no grief &lblank;.” Steevens. “&lblank; which is no grief to give.” Which to give, or the gift of which, induces no regret. Thus the authentick copies, the quarto 1598, and the first folio. A quarto of no authority changed grief to gift, and the editor of the second folio capriciously altered the line thus: “And being a toy, it is no grief to give.” Malone. In conformity to our old elliptical mode of speaking and writing, the words—which is, might be omitted. They hurt the measure, without advancement of the sense. Perhaps, however, the correction in the second folio (which was received by Sir Thomas Hanmer) is preferable. Steevens.

Note return to page 264 8I weigh it lightly, &c.] i. e. I should still esteem it but a trifling gift, were it heavier. But the Oxford editor reads: “I'd weigh it lightly &lblank;.” i. e. I could manage it, though it were heavier. Warburton. Dr. Warburton is right. So, in Love's Labour's Lost, Act V. Sc. II.: “You weigh me not,—O, that's you care not for me.” Steevens.

Note return to page 265 9Because that I am little, like an ape,] The reproach seems to consist in this: at country shows it was common to set the monkey on the back of some other animal, as a bear. The Duke therefore in calling himself ape, calls his uncle bear. Johnson. To this custom there seems to be an allusion in Ben Jonson's Masque of Gypsies: “A gypsy in his shape, “More calls the beholder, “Than the fellow with the ape, “Or the ape on his shoulder.” Again, in The First Part of the Eighth liberal Science, entituled Ars Adulandi, &c. devised and compiled by Ulpian Fulwel, 1576: “&lblank; thou hast an excellent back to carry my lord's ape.” See likewise Hogarth's Humours of an Election, plate iv. York also alludes to the protuberance on Gloster's back, which was commodious for carrying burdens, as it supplied the place of a porter's knot. Steevens. I do not believe that the reproach is what Johnson supposes, or that York meant to call his uncle a bear. He merely alludes to Richard's deformity, his high shoulder, or hump-back, as it is called. That was the scorn he meant to give his uncle. In the third Act of the Third Part of King Henry VI. the same thought occurs to Richard himself, where describing his own figure, he says: “To make an envious mountain on my back, “Where sits deformity, to mock my body.” M. Mason. Little, like an ape, wat a common comparison in our author's time. So, Nashe, in one of his pamphlets: “When I was a little ape at Cambridge.” Malone.

Note return to page 266 8My lord protector needs will have it so.] Thus the quarto of 1597. In all the subsequent ancient copies the word needs is omitted. Malone.

Note return to page 267 2Why, sir, &c.] The word—sir, was added by Sir Thomas Hanmer. Without it this half line is harsh, and quite unmetrical. Steevens. Mr. Steevens reads, after Sir Thomas Hanmer—“Why, sir, what should you fear?” and observes, without it [the added word, sir,] “this half line is harsh, and quite unmetrical.” Certainly unmetrical, and why not?—Here Mr. Steevens again falls into the errour which I have so often had occasion to mention,—that every word, and every short address of three or four words, are to be considered as parts of metrical verses, a notion which has already been again and again confuted. But if any addition were to be made to this line, a more improper word than sir could scarcely be found. Sir Thomas Hanmer should seem to have been thinking of the court of George the Second. In our days, we address the princes of the blood by the title of sir; but I have found no instance of such an address eing used to a prince in the time of Shakspeare. Malone.

Note return to page 268 3Was not incensed by his subtle mother,] Incensed means here, incited or suggested. So, in King Henry VIII. Gardiner says of Cranmer: “&lblank; I have “Incens'd the lords of the council, that he is “A most arch heretick.” And in Much Ado About Nothing, Borachio says to Pedro: “&lblank; how Don John your brother incensed me to slander the lady Hero.” M. Mason.

Note return to page 269 4&lblank; capable;] Here, as in many other places in these plays, means intelligent, quick of apprehension. See p. 77, n. 1. Malone. So again, in Troilus and Cressida: “Let me carry another to his horse, for that's the more capable creature.” Ritson.

Note return to page 270 5&lblank; gentle Catesby;] I have [following Mr. Capell], supplied the epithet—gentle, for the same reasons urged by Mr. Malone in the foregoing page, n. 1, in defence of a similar insertion. Steevens. In the preceding play, l. 6, Mr. Malone read “my gracious lord;” but has since withdrawn his insertion. Boswell.

Note return to page 271 *Quarto 1597 omits the two lines between brackets.

Note return to page 272 6&lblank; divided councils,] That is, a private consultation, separate from the known and publick council. So, in the next scene, Hastings says; “Bid him not fear the separated councils.” Johnson. This circumstance is conformable to history. Hall, p. 13, says, “When the protectour had both the chyldren in his possession, yea, and that they were in a sure place, he then began to threst to se the ende of his enterprise. And, to avoyde all suspicion, he caused all the lords which he knewe to bee faithfull to the kynge, to assemble at Baynardes Castle, to comen of the ordre of the coronacion, whyle he and other of his complices, and of his affinitee, at Crosbies-place, contrived the contrary, and to make the protectour kyng: to which counsail there were adhibite very fewe, and they very secrete.” Reed. Mr. Reed has shown from Hall's Chronicle that this circumstance is founded on historical fact. But Holinshed, Hall's copyist, was our author's authority: “But the protectoure and the duke after they had sent to the lord Cardinal,—the lord Stanley and the lord Hastings then lord Chamberlaine, with many other noblemen, to commune and devise about the coronation in one place, as fast were they in another place, contriving the contrarie, and to make the protectour king.”—“&lblank; the lord Stanley, that was after earle of Darby, wisely mistrusted it, and said unto the lorde Hastings, that he much mislyked these two several councels.” Malone.

Note return to page 273 7&lblank; will do:] The folio reads—will determine. Steevens.

Note return to page 274 8Scene II.] Every material circumstance in the following scene is taken from Holinshed's Chronicle, except that it is a knight with whom Hastings converses, instead of Buckingham. Steevens.

Note return to page 275 *Quarto 1597, He dreamt to-night the boare had raste his helm.

Note return to page 276 9&lblank; the boar had rased off his helm:] This term rased or rashed, is always given to describe the violence inflicted by a boar. So, in King Lear, 4to. edit.: “In his anointed flesh rash boarish fangs.” Again, in Warner's Albion's England, 1602, b. vii. ch. xxxvi.: “&lblank; ha, cur, avaunt, the bore so rase thy hide!” By the boar, throughout this scene, is meant Gloster, who was called the boar, or the hog, from his having a boar for his cognizance, and one of the supporters of his coat of arms. Steevens. So Holinshed, after Hall and Sir Thomas More: “The selfe night next before his death the lorde Stanley sent a trustie secret messenger unto him at midnight in all haste, requiring him to rise and ride away with him, for he was disposed utterlie no longer to byde, he had so fearful a dreame, in which him thought that a boare with his tuskes so rased them both by the heades that the bloud ran about both their shoulders. And forasmuch as the Protector gave the boare for his cognizance, this dreame made so fearful an impression in his heart, that he was thoroughly determined no longer to tarie, but had his horse readie, if the lord Hastings would go with him,” &c. Malone.

Note return to page 277 1His honour,] This was the usual address to noblemen in Shakspeare's time. So, in our poet's Dedication of his Venus and Adonis, to Lord Southampton, 1593: “I leave it to your honourable survey, and your honour to your heart's content. Malone. See note on Timon of Athens, Act I. Sc. I. where the same address ccurs: “All happiness to your honour!” Steevens.

Note return to page 278 2And, at the other, is my good friend Catesby, &c.] So, in the Legend of Lord Hastings, Mirrour for Magistrates, 1575: “I fear'd the end; my Catesby being there “Discharg'd all doubts; him hold I most entyre.” Malone.

Note return to page 279 3&lblank; wanting instance:] That is, wanting some example, or act of malevolence, by which they may be justified: or which, perhaps, is nearer to the true meaning, wanting any immediate ground or reason. Johnson. This is the reading of the quarto 1597. Malone. The folio reads—without instance. Steevens. Instance seems to mean, symptom or prognostick. We find the word used in a similar sense, in The Comedy of Errors, where Egeon, describing his shipwreck, says: “A league from Epidamnum had we sail'd, “Before the always wind-obeying deep “Gave any tragick instance of our harm.” M. Mason.

Note return to page 280 4&lblank; so fond &lblank;] i. e. so weak, silly. Thus, in King Lear: “I am a very foolish, fond old man.” Steevens.

Note return to page 281 *Quarto 1597, Upon my life, my lord.

Note return to page 282 *Quarto 1597, I tell thee, Catesby. Cat. What, my lord? ere, &c.

Note return to page 283 †Quarto 1597, What, my lord?

Note return to page 284 5&lblank;and good morrow,] And was supplied by Sir Thomas Hanmer, to assist the measure. Steevens.

Note return to page 285 6&lblank; the holy rood,] i. e. the cross. So, in the old mystery of Candlemas-Day, 1512: “When hir swete sone shall on a rood deye.” Again, in Spenser's Fairy Queen, b. vi. c. v.: “And nigh thereto a little chapell stoode “Which being all with yvy overspred, “Deck'd all the roofe, and shadowing the roode, “Seem'd like a grove fair branched overhed.” Steevens.

Note return to page 286 7I do not like these several councils,] See p. 108, n. 6. Malone.

Note return to page 287 8My lord, I hold my life as dear as yours;] Thus the first folio. The quartos—(profoundly ignorant of our author's elliptical mode of expressing himself, and in contempt of metre,)— “&lblank; as dear as you do yours.” Steevens. The printer of the original copy in quarto, it is perfectly true, knew nothing of these elliptical expressions, and merely contented himself with exhibiting what he found in the manuscript before him. The verse in the text is, like many others, an alexandrine. But in the folio copy this line was curtailed to the standard measure, with an entire disregard to the author's sense; for the plain and direct meaning of the words there found, and adopted by Mr. Steevens, is, “My lord, I hold my life as dear as your life; I estimate them both at the same rate;” which is very different from what Hastings means to say. “I hold my own life as dear as you do your life.” This latter is the assertion which the argument of Hastings requires, and no critical chymistry can extract such a meaning out of the words found in the folio copy. Calling it an elliptical expression, will certainly not serve the purpose. Malone.

Note return to page 288 9&lblank; I misdoubt;] i. e. suspect it of danger. So, in King Henry VI. Part III.: “&lblank; the bird “With trembling wings misdoubteth every bush.” Steevens.

Note return to page 289 1&lblank; have with you.] A familiar phrase in parting, as much as, “take something along with you, or I have something to say to you.” Johnson. This phrase so frequently occurs in Shakspeare, that I wonder Johnson should, in his fourteenth volume, mistake its meaning. It signifies merely “I will go along with you;” and is an expression in use at this day. In The First Part of King Henry VI. when Suffolk is going out, Somerset says—“Have with you;” and then follows him. In Othello, Iago says: “Captain, will you go? “Oth. Have with you.” In The Merry Wives of Windsor, Mrs. Ford says: “Will you go, Mrs. Page?” To which she replies: “Have with you.” And in the same scene, the Host afterwards says— “Here, boys, shall we wag?” To which the Page replies—“Have with you.” M. Mason.

Note return to page 290 *Quarto 1597, I go: but stay, heare you not the newes? This day those men you talk of, are beheaded.

Note return to page 291 2They, for their truth,] That is, with respect to their honesty. Johnson.

Note return to page 292 3&lblank; hold it,] That is, continue it. Johnson.

Note return to page 293 4&lblank; good sir John,] Sir was formerly the usual address to the inferior clergy. See vol. viii. p. 7, and p. 210. Malone.

Note return to page 294 5&lblank; exercise;] Performance of Divine service. Johnson. I rather imagine it meant—for attending him in private to hear his confession. So, in Sc. VII.: “To draw him from his holy exercise.” Malone. Exercise, I believe, means only religious exhortation, or lecture. So, in Othello: “Much castigation, exercise devout.” Steevens.

Note return to page 295 6Enter Buckingham.] From the Continuation of Harding's Chronicle, 1543, where the account given originally by Sir Thomas More is transcribed with some additions, it appears that the person who held this conversation with Hastings was Sir Thomas Howard, who is introduced in the last Act of this play as Earl of Surrey: “The same morning ere he [Hastings] were up from his bed where Shore's wife lay with him all night, there came to him Sir Thomas Haward, [Howard] sonne to the lord Haward,—as it were of courtesaie, to accoumpaignie him to the counsaill; but forasmuche as the lord Hastings was not ready, he taried a while for him, and hasted him away. This sir Thomas, while the lord Hastings stayed a while commonyng with a priest whom he met in the Tower strete, brake the lordes tale, saying to him merily, ‘What, my lorde, I pray you come on; wherefore talke you so long with the priest? You have no nede of a priest yet:’ and laughed upon him, as though he would saye, you shall have nede of one sone.” Fol. 59. Malone.

Note return to page 296 7&lblank; shriving work in hand.] Shriving work is confession. Johnson. So, in Hamlet: “&lblank; the bearers put to sudden death, “Not shriving time allow'd.” Steevens.

Note return to page 297 8Grey,] Queen Elizabeth Grey is deservedly pitied for losing her two sons; but the royalty of their birth has so engrossed the attention of historians, that they never reckon into the number of her misfortunes the murder of this her second son, Sir Richard Grey. It is as remarkable how slightly the death of our Earl Rivers is always mentioned, though a man invested with such high offices of trust and dignity; and how much we dwell on the execution of the Lord Chamberlain Hastings, a man in every light his inferior. In truth, the generality draw their ideas of English story, from the tragick rather than the historick authors. Walpole.

Note return to page 298 9Come, bring forth the prisoners.] This speech is wanting in the folio, and might (as it has neither use, nor pretensions to metre,) be as well omitted as retained. Steevens.

Note return to page 299 1&lblank; the limit &lblank;] For the limited time. See vol. xvi. p. 184, n. 9. Malone.

Note return to page 300 2Make haste, the hour of death is expiate.] Thus the folio. The quarto furnishes a line that has occurred already: “Come, come, despatch; the limit of your lives is out.” Expiate is used for expiated; so confiscate, contaminate, consummate, &c. &c. It seems to mean, fully completed, and ended. Shakspeare has again used the word in the same sense in his 22d Sonnet: “Then look I death my days should expiate.” So, in Locrine, 1595: “Lives Sabren yet, to expiate my wrath.” The editor of the second folio, who altered whatever he did not understand, reads arbitrarily— “Despatch; the hour of death is now expir'd.” and he has been followed by all the modern editors. Malone. “&lblank; the hour of death is expiate.” As I cannot make sense of this, I should certainly read, with the second folio: “&lblank; the hour of death is now expired.” meaning the hour appointed for his death. The passage quoted by Mr. Malone from Locrine, is nothing to the purpose, for there, to expiate means to atone for, or satisfy. M. Mason. I do not well understand the reading which Mr. Malone prefers, though I have left it in the text. Perhaps we should read: “&lblank; the hour of death is expirate,” which accords with Shakspeare's phraseology, and needs no explanation. Thus, in Romeo and Juliet: “&lblank; and expire the term “Of a despised life &lblank;.” Steevens. Mr. Mason, who, I believe, was not possessed of any of the ancient copies, seems always to set them at defiance. Even if the passage quoted from Locrine did not apply, that from our author's own Sonnets appears to me decisive of the meaning with which he used the word. Malone.

Note return to page 301 3&lblank; Bishop of Ely,] Dr. John Morton; who was elected to that see in 1478. He was advanced to the see of Canterbury in 1486, and appointed Lord Chancellor in 1487. He died in the year 1500. This prelate, Sir Thomas More tells us, first devised the scheme of putting an end to the long contest between the houses of York and Lancaster, by a marriage between Henry Earl of Richmond, and Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of Edward IV. and was a principal agent in procuring Henry when abroad to enter into a covenant for that purpose. Malone.

Note return to page 302 4&lblank; and wants but nomination.] i. e. the only thing wanting, is appointment of a particular day for the ceremony. Steevens.

Note return to page 303 5&lblank; inward &lblank;] i. e. intimate, confidential. So, in Measure for Measure: “Sir, I was an inward of his.” Steevens.

Note return to page 304 6Had you not come upon your cue,] This expression is borrowed from the theatre. The cue, queue, or tail of a speech, consists of the last words, which are the token for an entrance or answer. To come on the cue, therefore, is to come at the proper time. Johnson. So, in a Midsummer-Night's Dream, Quince says to Flute— “You speak all your part at once, cues and all.” Steevens.

Note return to page 305 6Hast. I thank your grace.] This little speech I have restored from the original quarto 1597. Malone.

Note return to page 306 7I saw good strawberries &lblank;] The reason why the bishop was despatched on this errand, is not clearer in Holinshed, from whom Shakspeare adopted the circumstances, than in this scene, where it is introduced. Nothing seems to have happened which might not have been transacted with equal security in the presence of the reverend cultivator of these strawberries, whose complaisance is likewise recorded by the author of the Latin play on the same subject, in the British Museum: Eliensis antistes venis? senem quies, Juvenem labor decet: ferunt hortum tuum Decora fraga plurimum producere. Episcopus Eliensis. Nil tibi claudetur hortus quod meus Producit; esset lautius vellem mihi, Quo sim tibi gratus. This circumstance of asking for the strawberries, however, may have been mentioned by the historians merely to show the unusual affability and good humour which the dissembling Gloster affected at the very time when he had determined on the death of Hastings. Steevens.

Note return to page 307 *First folio, Where is the Duke of Gloster?

Note return to page 308 8There's some conceit or other likes him well,] Conceit is thought. So, in Pericles, Prince of Tyre, 1609: “Here is a thing too young for such a place, “Who, if it had conceit, would die.” Malone. Conceit, as used by Hastings, I believe signifies—pleasant idea or fancy. So Falstaff, speaking of Poins,—“He a good wit?— there is no more conceit in him, than is in a mallet.” Steevens.

Note return to page 309 9&lblank; likelihood &lblank;] Semblance; appearance. Johnson. So, in another of our author's plays: “&lblank; poor likelihoods, and modern seemings.” Steevens. The passage referred to by Mr. Steevens is in Othello: “&lblank; To vouch this is no proof, “Without more certain and more overt test, “Than these thin habits and poor likelihoods “Of modern seeming.” Thus the quarto. The folio reads—livelihood. Malone.

Note return to page 310 1I pray God he be not, I say.] This speech I have restored from the quarto 1597. Malone.

Note return to page 311 1I pray you all, tell me what they deserve, &c.] This story was originally told by Sir Thomas More, who wrote about thirty years after the time. His History of King Richard III. was inserted in Hall's Chronicle, from whence it was copied by Holinshed, who was Shakspeare's authority: “Between ten and eleven he returned into the chamber among them with a wonderful soure, angrie, countenance, knitting the browes, frowning and fretting, and gnawing on his lippes, and so sette him downe in his place.—Then when he had sitten still awhile, thus he began: What were they worthie to have that compasse and imagine the destruction of me, being so neere of bloud unto the king, and protectour of his royal person and his realme?—Then the lord Chamberlaine, as he that for the love betweene them thought he might he boldest with him, answered and sayd, that they were worthy to be punished for hainous traytors, whatsoever they were; and all the other affirmed the same. That is, quoth he, yonder sorceresse, my brother's wife, and other with her, meaning the queene:—ye shall all see in what wise that sorceresse, and that other witch of her counsell, Shore's wife, with their affinitie, have by their sorcerie and witchcraft wasted my body. And therewith he plucked up his doublet slieve to his elbow upon the left arme, where he shewed a werish withered arme and small, as it was never other.—No man but was there present, but well knewe his arme was ever such since his birth. Naythelesse the lord Chamberlaine (which from the death of king Edward kept Shore's wife, on whom he somewhat doted in the king's life, saving, as it is saide, he that while forbare her of reverence toward the king, or else of a certain kind of fidelity to his friend) aunswered and said, Certainly, my lord, if they have so heinously done, they be worthy heinous punishment. What, quoth the protectour, thou servest me I wene with ifs and with ands: I tell thee they have so done; and that I will make good on thy bodie, traitour; and therewith, as in great anger, he clapped his fist upon the boord a great rap. At which token given, one cried, traison, without the chamber. Therewith a dore clapped, and in came there rushing men in harnesse, as many as the chamber might holde. And anone the protectour sayd to the lord Hastings, I arrest thee traitor.—Then were they all quickely bestowed in diverse chambers, except the lord Chamberlaine, whom the protectour bade speede him and shrive him apace, for by S. Paul, quoth he, I will not to dinner till I see thy head off. So was he brought forth into the greene beside the chappell within the Tower, and his head laid downe upon a long log of timber, and there stricken off: and afterward his body with the head enterred at Windsor, beside the body of king Edward.” M. D. i. e. Maister John Dolman, the author of the Legend of Lord Hastings, in The Mirrour for Magistrates, 1575, has thrown the same circumstance into verse. Morton, bishop of Ely, was present at this council, and from him Sir Thomas More, who was born in 1480, is supposed to have had his information. Polydore Virgil, who began his history in 1505, tells the story differently. Malone.

Note return to page 312 2If! &c.] For this circumstance see Holinshed, Hall, and The Mirrour for Magistrates. Farmer.

Note return to page 313 3Lovel, and Catesby, look, that it be done;] In former copies: “Lovel, and Ratcliff, look, that it be done.” The scene is here in the Tower; and Lord Hastings was cut off on that very day, when Rivers, Grey, and Vaughan suffered at Pomfret. How then could Ratcliff be both in Yorkshire and the Tower? In the scene preceding this, we find him conducting those gentlemen to the block. In the old quarto we find it, Exeunt: Manet Catesby with Hastings. And in the next scene, before the Tower walls, we find Lovel and Catesby come back from the execution, bringing the head of Hastings. Theobald. Mr. Theobald should have added, that, in the old quarto, no names are mentioned in Richard's speech. He only says— “some see it done.” Nor, in that edition, does Lovel appear in the next scene; but only Catesby, bringing the head of Hastings. The confusion seems to have arisen, when it was thought necessary that Catesby should be employed to fetch the Mayor, who, in the quarto, is made to come without having been sent for. As some other person was then wanted to bring the head of Hastings, the poet, or the players, appointed Lovel and Ratcliff to that office, without reflecting that the latter was engaged in another service on the same day at Pomfret. Tyrwhitt. I have adopted the emendation, because in one scene at least it prevents the glaring impropriety mentioned by Mr. Theobald. But unfortunately, as Mr. Tyrwhitt has observed, this very impropriety is found in the next scene, where Ratcliff is introduced, and where it cannot be corrected without taking greater liberties than perhaps are justifiable. For there, in consequence of the injudicious alteration made, I think, by the players, instead of —“Here comes the Mayor,” the reading of the quarto, we find in the folio— “Rich. But what, is Catesby gone? “He is, and see he brings the Mayor along.” Catesby being thus employed, he cannot bring in the head of Hastings; nor can that office be assigned to Lovel only; because Gloster in the folio mentions two persons: “Be patient, they are friends; Ratcliff, and Lovel.” Malone.

Note return to page 314 4The rest, that love me, rise, and follow me.] So, in The Battle of Alcazar, 1594: “And they that love my honour, follow me.” Malone.

Note return to page 315 5Three times to-day my foot-cloth horse did stumble, &c.] So, in The Legend of Lord Hastings, by M. D. 1563 [Master Dolman]: “My palfrey in the playnest paved streete, “Thryse bow'd his boanes, thryse kneled on the flower, “Thryse shonnd (as Balams asse) the dreaded tower.” To stumble was anciently esteem'd a bad omen. So, in The Honest Lawyer: “And just at the threshold Master Bromley stumbled. Signs! signs!” The housings of a horse, and sometimes a horse himself, were anciently denominated a foot-cloth. So, in Ben Jonson's play called The Case is Altered: “I'll go on my foot-cloth, I'll turn gentleman.” Again, in A fair Quarrel, by Middleton, 1617: “&lblank; thou shalt have a physician, “The best that gold can fetch upon his foot-cloth.” Again, in Ram-Alley, or Merry Tricks, 1610: “&lblank; nor shall I need to try “Whether my well-greas'd tumbling foot-cloth nag “Be able to out-run a well-breath'd catchpole.” Steevens. “Stanley did dream, the boar did rase his helm;— “Three times to-day my foot-cloth horse did stumble.” So Holinshed, after Sir Thomas More; “A marvellous case it is to heare, either the warnings of that he should have voided, or the tokens of that he could not voide, for the selfe night next before his death the L. Stanley sent a trustie secret messenger unto him at midnight, in all the haste, &c. [See p. 110, n. 9.]—Certain it is also, that in riding towards the Tower the same morning in which he [Hastings] was beheaded, his horse twise or thrise stumbled with him, almost to the falling: which thing, albeit each man wot well daily happeneth to them to whome no such mischance is toward: yet hath it beene of an old rite and custome observed as a token oftentimes notablie foregoing some great misfortune.” I question if there is any ground for Mr. Steevens's assertion that a foot-cloth ever signified a horse; a foot cloth nag, is a nag covered with a foot cloth. Malone.

Note return to page 316 *Quarto 1597, As 'twere triumphing at mine enemies, How they at Pomfret.

Note return to page 317 6Who builds, &c.] So, Horace: Nescius auræ fallacis. Johnson.

Note return to page 318 †Quarto 1597 omits the lines between brackets.

Note return to page 319 7Come, lead me to the block,] William Lord Hastings was beheaded on the 13th of June, 1483. His eldest son by Catharine Neville, daughter of Richard Neville Earl of Salisbury, and widow of William Lord Bonville, was restored to his honours and estate by King Henry VII. in the first year of his reign.—The daughter of Lady Hastings by her first husband was married to the Marquis of Dorset, who appears in the present play. Malone.

Note return to page 320 8They smile at me, who shortly shall be dead.] i. e. those who now smile at me, shall be shortly dead themselves. Malone.

Note return to page 321 9&lblank; in rusty armour, &c.] Thus Holinshed: “The protector immediately after dinner, intending to set some colour upon the matter, sent in all haste for many substantial men out of the citie into the Tower; and at their coming, himselfe with the duke of Buckingham, stood harnessed in old ill-faring briganders, such as no man should weene that they would vouchsafe to have put upon their backes, except that some sudden necessitie had constreined them.” Steevens.

Note return to page 322 *Quarto 1597 omits this line.

Note return to page 323 1Intending deep suspicion:] i. e. pretending. So, in Much Ado about Nothing: “Intend a kind of zeal both to the Prince and Claudio.” Steevens. See vol. v. p. 469, n. 7. Malone.

Note return to page 324 2Hark, hark! a drum.] I have repeated the interjection— hark, for the sake of metre. Steevens.

Note return to page 325 3Enter Lovel and Ratcliff,] The quarto has—“Enter Catesby, with Hastings' head,” and Gloster, on his entry, says— “O, O, be quiet, it is Catesby.” For this absurd alteration, by which Ratcliff is represented at Pomfret and in London at the same time, I have no doubt that the player-editors are answerable. Malone.

Note return to page 326 4&lblank; harmless't creature,] The old copies read harmless; but grammar requires harmless't, (i. e. harmlessest,) a common contraction, as I am assured, both in Leicestershire and Warwickshire. So afterwards, p. 131, we have covert'st for covertest. Steevens. See the Essay on Shakspeare's phraseology. Malone.

Note return to page 327 5&lblank; the earth a Christian;] Here the quarto adds: “Look you, my lord mayor.” This hemistich I have inserted in the following speech of Buckingham, to which I believe it originally belonged; as without it we meet with an imperfect verse: “Well, well he was the covert'st shelter'd traitor “That ever liv'd. “Would you imagine,” &c. I have since observed, that Mr. Capell has the same transposition. Steevens.

Note return to page 328 6&lblank; his conversation &lblank;] i. e. familiar intercourse. The phrase —criminal conversation, is yet in daily use. Malone.

Note return to page 329 7But since you came too late of our intent,] Perhaps we should read—“too late for our intent.” M. Mason. The old reading I suppose to be the true one. We still say “to come short of a thing,” and why not “come late of an intent?” Steevens.

Note return to page 330 *Quarto 1597, Yet witnesse what we did intend, and so, my lord, adieu.

Note return to page 331 8&lblank; put to death a citizen,] This person was one Walker, a substantial citizen and grocer at the Crown in Cheapside. Grey. All these topics,—Edward's cruelty, lust, unlawful marriage, &c. are dilated upon in that most extraordinary invective against his person and government contained in the petition presented to Richard before his accession, and afterwards turned into an act of parliament: Among other articles is the following—“so that no man was sure of his life, land or livelihood, nor of his wife, daûr or servant, every good maiden and woman standing in fear to be ravished and deflowered.” Parl. Hist. v. 2, p. 396. Blakeway.

Note return to page 332 9&lblank; his raging eye,—listed &lblank;] The former is the reading of the folio, the latter of the quarto. The quarto has—lustful eye, and the folio—lusted instead of listed. Modern editors without authority—ranging eye. Steevens. I have followed the quarto. Malone.

Note return to page 333 1Tell them, &c.] Whatever reason W. Wyrcester might have for being so very particular, he expressly tells us that Edward was conceived in the chamber next to the chapel of the palace of Hatfield. York was regent of France at that time, and had come over, it would seem, to visit his lady. Ritson.

Note return to page 334 *Quarto 1597 omits and so, my lord, adieu.

Note return to page 335 2&lblank; to Baynard's castle;] It was originally built by Baynard, a nobleman who (according to Stowe's account) came in with the conqueror. This edifice, which stood in Thames Street, has long been pulled down, though parts of its strong foundations are still visible at low water. The site of it is now a timber-yard. Steevens.

Note return to page 336 3&lblank; to doctor Shaw, &lblank;] This and the two following lines are not in the quarto. Shaw and Penker were two popular preachers. —Instead of a pamphlet being published by the Secretary of the Treasury, to furnish the advocates for the administration of the day, with plausible topicks of argument on great political measures, (the established mode of the present time) formerly it was customary to publish the court creed from the pulpit at Saint Paul's Cross. As Richard now employed Doctor Shaw to support his claim to the crown, so, about fifteen years before, the great Earl of Warwick employed his chaplain Doctor Goddard to convince the people that Henry VI. ought to be restored, and that Edward IV. was an usurper. Malone.

Note return to page 337 4This Pinker or Penker was provincial of the Augustine friars. See Speed. Steevens.

Note return to page 338 5&lblank; the brats of Clarence &lblank;] Edward Earl of Warwick, who the day after the battle of Bosworth, was sent by Richmond from Sherif-hutton Castle (where Gloster had confined him,) to the Tower, without even the shadow of an allegation against him, and executed with equal injustice on Tower-hill on the 21st of November, 1499; and Margaret, afterwards married to Sir Richard Pole, the last Princess of the house of Lancaster; who was restored to blood in the fifth year of Henry VIII. and in the 31st year of his reign (1540), at the age of seventy, was put to death by the sanguinary king then on the throne, as her unfortunate and innocent brother had before fallen a victim to the jealous policy of that crafty tyrant Henry VII. The immediate cause of his being put to death was, that Ferdinand King of Spain was unwilling to consent to the marriage of his daughter Katharine to Arthur Prince of Wales, while the Earl of Warwick lived, there being during his life-time (as Ferdinand conceived) no assurance of the Prince's succession to the crown. The murder of the Earl of Warwick (for it deserves no other name) made such an impression on Katharine, that when she was first informed of Henry the Eighth's intention to repudiate her, she exclaimed, “I have not offended, but it is a just judgment of God, for my former marriage was made in blood.” Malone.

Note return to page 339 6&lblank; no manner of person &lblank;] The folio reads—“no manner person,” which is nonsense. I suppose the true reading is—no man, or person; as in the latter term females are included. Steevens. The folio reads—“no manner person,” which I conceive is right: and it is rather extraordinary that Mr. Steevens, so well versed in our ancient language, should forget that this is a very common idiom. The widow of whom Chaucer speaks in the Nun's Priests' Tale, was—a maner dey;—i. e. a kind of dairy woman. So, in the Man of Law's Tale: “A maner Latin corrupt was hire speche;” i. e. a kind of corrupt Latin. See other instances in Mr. Tyrwhitt's Glossary, v. Maner. Thus too, in the “Composition of the Company of Weavers of Shrewsbury,” 28 Henry VI. it is ordained, that “no maner foreyn mon of no foreyn schyr of Engelond that ys to wite no mon dwellyng in no schyr of Engelond except thoo yt dwellyn in Schropschyr herfordschir or the marche of Wales selle no maner of lynnen cloth except canvas cloth within the ton ny franchise of Schrobysbury.” Lib. A. in scacc. Salop. And examples much nearer Shakspeare's time might easily be produced. Blakeway. Though my ingenious friend has here shown that “no manner person” was the phraseology of ancient days, yet, as the reading of the original quarto copy of 1597 is—“no manner of person,” and is perfectly unobjectionable, I think it ought to be adhered to. Malone.

Note return to page 340 7&lblank; read o'er in Paul's.] The substance of this speech is from Hall's Chronicle, p. 10: “Nowe was thys proclamation made within twoo houres after he was beheaded, and it was so curiously endyted, and so fayre writen in parchement, in a fayre sette hande, and therewith of itselfe so long a processe, that every chyld might perceyve that it was prepared and studyed before, (and as some men thought, by Catesby,) for all the tyme betwene his death and the proclamacion—coulde scant have suffyced unto the bare writyng along, albeit that it had bene in paper scribeled furthe in haste at adventure.—And a marchaunte that stoode by— sayed that it was wrytten by inspiracyon and prophesye.” Steevens. So Holinshed, after Sir Thomas More: “Now was this proclamation made within two houres after that he was beheaded, and it was so curiously indited, and so faire written in parchment, in so well a set hand, and therewith of itself so long a processe, that every child might well perceive that it was prepared before, for all the time between his death and the proclaiming could scant have sufficed unto the bare writing alone, had it been but in paper, and scribbled forth in haste.” A by-stander observed, that it must have been dictated by a spirit of prophecy.” Mr. Steevens, who has quoted a similar passage from Hall, has subjoined to his remark, in his latter editions, the following words: “Mr. Malone adds, ‘So Holinshed, after Sir Thomas More;’ and then repeats the same quotation.” But though this passage introduced by me agrees in substance with that adduced by Mr. Steevens, it is not the same quotation, for there are variations; and it is taken from Holinshed, who was Shakspeare's historian, in preference to Hall, whom he does not appear to have consulted. Malone.

Note return to page 341 8The precedent &lblank;] The original draft from which the engrossment was made. Malone.

Note return to page 342 *Quarto 1597, blind.

Note return to page 343 9&lblank; seen in thought.] That is, seen in silence, without notice or detection. Johnson.

Note return to page 344 1Baynard's Castle.] A castle in Thames Street, which had belonged to Richard Duke of York, and at this time was the property of his grandson King Edward V. Malone.

Note return to page 345 2&lblank; with his contráct with Lady Lucy,] The King had been familiar with this lady before his marriage, to obstruct which his mother alledged a pre-contract between them: “Whereupon,” says the historian, “dame Elizabeth Lucye was sente for, and albeit she was by the kyng hys mother, and many other, put in good comfort to affirme that she was assured to the kynge, yet when she was solempnly sworne to saye ye truth, she confessed she was never ensured. Howbeit, she sayd his grace spake suche loving wordes to her, that she verily hoped that he would have maried her; and that yf such kinde woordes had not bene, she woulde never have showed such kindnesse to him to lette hym so kyndely gette her with chylde.” Hall, Edward V. fo. 18. Ritson. This objection to King Edward's marriage with Lady Grey, is said by Sir Thomas More to have been made by the Duchess Dowager of York, Edward's mother, who was averse to the match, before he espoused that lady. But Elizabeth Lucy, the daughter of one Wyat, and the wife of one Lucy, being sworn to speak the truth, declared that the King had not been affianced to her, though she owned she had been his concubine. Philip de Comines, a contemporary historian, says that Edward, previous to his marriage with Lady Grey, was married to an English lady by the Bishop of Bath, who revealed the secret; and according to the Chronicle of Croyland this Lady was Lady Eleanor Butler, widow of Lord Butler of Sudley, and daughter to the great Earl of Shrewsbury. On this ground the children of Edward were declared illegitimate by the only parliament assembled by King Richard III.; but no mention was made of Elizabeth Lucy. Shakspeare followed Holinshed, who copied Hall, as Hall transcribed the account given by Sir Thomas More. Malone. These two lines are omitted in the quarto, a circumstance in favour of the superior accuracy of the folio. Boswell.

Note return to page 346 *Quarto 1597 omits this line.

Note return to page 347 3&lblank; his own bastardy, &lblank; As being got, your father then in France;] This tale is supposed to have been first propagated by the Duke of Clarence, soon after he, in conjunction with his father-in-law the Earl of Warwick, restored King Henry VI. to the throne; at which time he obtained a settlement of the crown on himself and his issue, after the death of Henry and his heirs male. Sir Thomas More says, that the Duke of Gloucester soon after Edward's death revived this tale; but Mr. Walpole very justly observes, that it is highly improbable that Richard should have urged such a topick to the people; that he should “start doubts concerning his own legitimacy, which was too much connected with that of his brothers to be tossed and bandied about before the multitude.” The same ingenious writer has also shown, that Richard “lived in perfect harmony with his mother, and lodged with her in her palace at this very time. Historick Doubts, quarto, 1768. Malone.

Note return to page 348 †Quarto 1597 omits they spake not a word.

Note return to page 349 4But, like dumb statuas, or breathless stones,] See Mr. Reed's very decisive account of the word—statua, in a note on The Two Gentlemen of Verona, vol. iv. p. 119, n. 6. The eldest quartos, 1597 and 1598, together with the first folio, read—breathing. The modern editors, with Mr. Rowe,— unbreathing. Breathless is the reading of the quarto 1612. Steevens. I adhere to the old copies. ‘They had breath, and therefore could have spoken; but were as silent as if they had been stones.’ Malone.

Note return to page 350 *Quarto 1597, Gazde each on other.

Note return to page 351 5&lblank; intend some fear;] Perhaps, pretend; though intend will stand in the sense of giving attention. Johnson. One of the ancient senses of to intend was certainly to pretend. So, in Sc. V. of this Act, p. 129: “Tremble and start at wagging of a straw, “Intending deep suspicion.” Steevens.

Note return to page 352 *Quarto 1597, I'll build.

Note return to page 353 6As I can say nay to thee &lblank;] I think it must be read: “&lblank; if you plead as well for them “As I must say, nay to them for myself.” Johnson. Perhaps the change is not necessary. Buckingham is to plead for the citizens; and ‘if (says Richard) you speak for them as plausibly as I in my own person, or for my own purposes, shall seem to deny your suit, there is no doubt but we shall bring all to a happy issue.’ Steevens.

Note return to page 354 *Quarto 1597, I'll tell him what you say, my lord.

Note return to page 355 7&lblank; day-bed,] i. e. a couch, or sofa. See vol. xi. p. 417, n. 9. Steevens.

Note return to page 356 8&lblank; to engross &lblank;] To fatten, to pamper. Johnson.

Note return to page 357 9&lblank; God defend, his grace should say us nay!] This pious and courtly Mayor was Edmund Shaw, brother to Doctor Shaw, whom Richard had employed to prove his title to the crown, from the pulpit at Saint Paul's Cross. Malone.

Note return to page 358 1&lblank; between Two Bishops.] “At the last he came out of his chamber, and yet not downe to theim, but in a galary over theim, with a bishop on every hande of hym, where thei beneth might see hym and speake to hym, as though he woulde not yet come nere theim, til he wist what they meant,” &c. Hall's Chronicle. Farmer. So also Holinshed after him. The words “with a bishop on every hande of hym,” are an interpolation by Hall, or rather by Grafton, (see his Continuation of Harding's Chronicle, 1543, fol. 75, and quarto 1812, p. 513,) not being found in Sir Thomas More's History of King Richard III. folio, 1557, from whom the rest of the sentence is transcribed. Malone.

Note return to page 359 *Quarto 1597, See where he stands between two clergymen.

Note return to page 360 †Quarto 1597 omits the lines between brackets.

Note return to page 361 2&lblank; to know a holy man.] i. e. to know a holy man by. See vol. xii. p. 23, n. 6; vol. xiii. p. 390, n. 3; vol. xiv. p. 131, n. 4. Several instances of a similar phraseology occur in our author. Malone.

Note return to page 362 *Quarto 1597 omits this line.

Note return to page 363 3&lblank; her proper limbs;] Thus the quarto 1597. The folio has —“his limbs,” and in the following lines—“his face and his royal stock;” an error which I should not mention, but that it justifies corrections that I have made in other places, where, for want of more ancient copies than one, conjectural emendation became necessary. See vol. vi. p. 506, n. 4. Malone.

Note return to page 364 4Her royal stock graft with ignoble plants,] This line is found only in the folio. Shakspeare seems to have recollected the text on which Dr. Shaw preached his remarkable Sermon at Saint Paul's Cross: “Bastard slips shall never take deep root.” Malone.

Note return to page 365 5And almost shoulder'd in the swallowing gulf Of dark forgetfulness &lblank;] What it is to be shoulder'd in a gulf, Hanmer is the only editor who seems not to have known; for the rest let it pass without observation. He reads: “Almost shoulder'd into th' swallowing gulf.” I believe we should read: “And almost smoulder'd in the swallowing gulf.” That is, almost smother'd, covered and lost. Johnson. I suppose the old reading to be the true one. So, in The Barons' Wars, by Drayton, canto i.: “Stoutly t' affront and shoulder in debate.” In is used for into. So before in this play: “But first I'll turn yon fellow in his grave.” Again, ibid.: “Falsely to draw me in these vile suspects.” Shoulder'd has the same meaning as rudely thrust into. So, in a curious ancient paper quoted by Mr. Lysons in his Environs of London, vol. iii. p. 80, n. 1.: “&lblank; lyke tyraunts and lyke madde men helpynge to shulderynge other of the sayd bannermen ynto the dyche,” &c. Again, in Arthur Hall's translation of the second Iliad, 1581: “He preaseth him, him he again, shouldring ech one his feere.” Steevens. Shoulder'd is, I believe, the true reading:—not, thrust in by the shoulders, but, immersed up to the shoulders. So, in Othello: “Steep'd me in poverty to the very lips.” “This passage in Othello,” says Mr. M. Mason, “is nothing to the purpose. Had Othello used the word lipp'd, to signify immersed up to the lips, that indeed would justify our supposing that shoulder'd might mean immersed up to the shoulders.” But the critick mistook the purpose for which the passage was adduced. It was quoted, not to support the word, “shoulder'd,” but to show that the same idea had been elsewhere introduced by Shakspeare; that, as in Othello he had spoken of being plunged in poverty to the lips, so here he might have intended to describe the royal stock as immerged up to the shoulders in oblivion. The word shoulder'd, in the following lines of Spenser's Ruins of Rome, 1591, may certainly only have been used in its more ordinary signification; but I am not sure that the author did not employ it as it is here used by Shakspeare: “Like as ye see the wrathful sea from farre, “In a great mountaine heapt with hideous noise, “Eftsoones of thousand billows shoulder'd narre, “Against a rock to break with dreadful poyse &lblank;.” However the word may have been employed in the foregoing passage, its existence in our author's time is ascertained by it. Malone.

Note return to page 366 6Which to recure,] To recure is to recover. This word is frequently used by Spenser; and both as a verb and a substantive in Lyly's Endymion, 1591. Steevens.

Note return to page 367 *Quarto 1597, Your gratious self to take on you the soveraigntie thereof.

Note return to page 368 7If, not to answer,] If I should take the former course, and depart in silence, &c. So below: “If, to reprove,” &c. The editor of the second folio reads—“For not to answer;” and his capricious alteration of the text has been adopted by all the subsequent editors. This and the nine following lines are not in the quarto. Malone.

Note return to page 369 8As my ripe revenue and due of birth;] So quarto 1597. The quarto 1598 thus: “As my right, revenue, and due by birth.” The folio: “As the right, revenue, and due by birth.” Malone.

Note return to page 370 9And much I need to help you,] And I want much of the ability requisite to give you help, if help were needed. Johnson.

Note return to page 371 1&lblank; are nice and trivial,] Nice is generally used by Shakspeare in the sense of minute, trifling, of petty import. So, in Romeo and Juliet: “The letter was not nice, but full of charge.” Malone.

Note return to page 372 2To Bona, sister to the king of France.] See K. Henry VI. Part III. Act III. Sc. III. Bona was daughter to the Duke of Savoy, and sister to Charlotte, wife to Lewis XI. King of France. Malone.

Note return to page 373 3&lblank; a poor petitioner,] See King Henry VI. Part III. Act III. Malone.

Note return to page 374 *Quarto 1597, of a many children.

Note return to page 375 4&lblank; loath'd bigamy:] Bigamy, by a canon of the council of Lyons, A. D. 1274, (adopted in England by a statute in 4 Edw. I.) was made unlawful and infamous. It differed from polygamy, or having two wives at once; as it consisted in either marrying two virgins successively, or once marrying a widow. Blackstone. “&lblank; loath'd bigamy:” So Sir T. More, copied by Hall and Holinshed: “&lblank; the only widowhead of Elizabeth Grey, though she were in all other things convenient for you, should yet suffice, as me seemeth, to restraine you from her marriage, sith it is an unfitting thing, and a verie blemish and high disparagement to the sacred majestie of a prince, (that ought as nigh to approach priesthood in cleanness, as he doth in dignity,) to be defouled with bigamie in his first marriage.” Malone.

Note return to page 376 5More bitterly could I expostulate, Save that, for reverence to some alive,] The Duke here hints at a topick which he had touched upon in his address to the citizens, the pretended bastardy of Edward and Clarence. By “some alive,” is meant the Duchess of York, the mother of Edward and Richard. Malone.

Note return to page 377 *Quarto 1597, Yet to draw out your royal stocke.

Note return to page 378 †Quarto 1597 omits this line.

Note return to page 379 6&lblank; effeminate remorse,] i. e. pity. See our author, passim. Thus also, in The Miseries of Enforced Marriage, 1607: “Be all his days, like winter, comfortless; “Restless his nights, his wants remorseless.” i. e. unpitied. Steevens.

Note return to page 380 7Come, citizens, &c.] The quarto: “Come, citizens, zounds, I'll intreat no more. “Glo. O, do not swear, my lord of Buckingham.” Boswell.

Note return to page 381 8&lblank; I am not made of stone,] The quarto and folio have— stones. Mr. Pope made the emendation. Malone.

Note return to page 382 9&lblank; you sage, grave men.] So the quarto 1597. In the folio, the word you is omitted probably with a view to metre; but the reviser does not seem to have been aware that cousin and many similar words were employed as monosyllables. Malone.

Note return to page 383 1Farewell, good cousin;—farewell, gentle friends.] To this Act should, perhaps, be added the next scene, so will the coronation pass between the Acts; and there will not only be a proper interval of action, but the conclusion will be more forcible. Johnson.

Note return to page 384 1&lblank; Anne, Duchess of Gloster,] We have not seen this lady since the second scene of the first Act, in which she promised to meet Richard at Crosby-place. She was married about the year 1472. Malone.

Note return to page 385 2Who meets us here!—my niece Plantagenet Led in the hand of her kind aunt of Gloster?] Here is a manifest intimation, that the Duchess of Gloster leads in somebody in her hand; but there is no direction marked in any of the copies, from which we can learn who it is. I have ventured to guess it must be Clarence's young daughter. The old Duchess of York calls her niece, i. e. grand-daughter; as grand-children are frequently called nephews. Theobald. So, in Othello, nephews for grand-children: “&lblank; you'll have your daughter covered with a Barbary horse, you'll have your nephews neigh to you.” Malone. See note on Othello, Act I. Sc. I. Steevens.

Note return to page 386 *For these seven lines quarto 1597 has only— “Duch. Who meets us here?—my niece Plantagenet. “Queen. Sister, well met; whither away so fast?”

Note return to page 387 3&lblank; their sights;] This was the phraseology of Shakspeare's time. So, in Macbeth: “And night's black agents to their preys do rouse.” See note on that passage, vol. xi. p. 160, n. 5. Malone.

Note return to page 388 *Quarto 1597, Then fear not thou; I'll bear thy blame.

Note return to page 389 4&lblank; I may not leave it so;] That is, “I may not so resign my office,” which you offer to take on you at your peril. Johnson.

Note return to page 390 4Nor mother, wife, &c.] See p. 45. Steevens.

Note return to page 391 5A cockatrice &lblank; Whose unavoided eye is murderous!] So, in Romeo and Juliet: “&lblank; the death-darting eye of cockatrice.” The cockatrice is a serpent supposed to originate from a cock's egg. Steevens.

Note return to page 392 6Were red hot steel, to sear me to the brain!] She seems to allude to the ancient mode of punishing a regicide, or any other egregious criminal, viz. by placing a crown of iron, heated redhot, upon his head. See Respublica et Status Hungariæ, ex Offic. Elziv. 1634, p. 136. In the tragedy of Hoffmann, 1631, this punishment is also introduced: “Fix on thy master's head my burning crown.” Again: “And wear his crown made hot with flaming fire. “Bring forth the burning crown there.” Again: “&lblank; was adjudg'd “To have his head sear'd with a burning crown.” Thus also, in A. Wyntown's Cronykil, b. viii. c. xliiii. v. 40: “Til this Jak Bonhowme he mád a crown “Of a brandreth all red hate &lblank; “And set it swá on his hevyd, “That it frá hym the lyf thare revyd.” Again, in Looke About You, a comedy, 1600: “Ere on thy head I set a burning crowne, “Of red hot yron, that shall seare thy braines.” In some of the monkish accounts of a place of future torment, a burning crown is likewise appropriated to those who deprived any lawful monarch of his kingdom. Steevens. So Marlowe, in his King Edward II.: “&lblank; if proud Mortimer do wear this crown, “Heaven turn it to a blaze of quenchless fire.” Malone. Marlowe's allusion is to the fatal crown which Creusa received, as a nuptial gift, from Medea: &grX;&grr;&gru;&grs;&gro;&gruc;&grst; &grm;&greg;&grn; &gras;&grm;&grf;&grig; &grk;&grad;&grt;&grig; &grk;&grea;&gri;&grm;&gre;&grn;&gro;&grst; &grp;&grl;&groa;&grk;&gro;&grst;, &grQ;&gra;&gru;&grm;&gra;&grs;&grt;&grog;&grn; &grira;&gre;&gri; &grn;&grac;&grm;&gra; &grp;&gra;&grm;&grf;&graa;&grg;&gro;&gru; &grp;&gru;&grr;&gro;&grst;. Euripidis Medea, v. 1183. Steevens. John, the son of Vaivode Stephen, having defeated the army of Hungarian peasants, called Croisadoes, in 1514, caused their general, “called George, to be stript naked, upon whose head the executioner set a crown of hot burning iron.” Goulart's Admirable and Memorable Histories, 1607. This is the fact to which Goldsmith alludes: “Luke's iron crown, and Damien's bed of steel.” Though it was George, and not his brother Luke, who was so punished: but George's would not suit the poet's metre. The Earl of Atholl, who was executed on account of the murder of James I. King of Scots, was, previous to his death, “crowned with a hot iron.” See Holinshed. Ritson. See also Boswell's Life of Johnson; from which Mr. Ritson's note is taken almost verbatim. Boswell.

Note return to page 393 6For never yet one hour in his bed &lblank;] Hour is here, as in many other places, used by Shakspeare as a dissyllable. Malone.

Note return to page 394 7But with his timorous dreams &lblank;] 'Tis recorded by Polydore Virgil, that Richard was frequently disturbed by terrible dreams: this is therefore no fiction. Johnson. Perhaps the narratives of Polydore Virgil, like those of Hector Boethius, are of slight authority. Such at least, respecting the former of these writers, was the opinion of Owen, our epigrammatist: Virgilii duo sunt; alter Maro; tu, Polydore,   Alter; tu mendax, ille poeta fuit. Steevens.

Note return to page 395 8Eighty odd years, &c.] Shakspeare has here, I believe, spoken at random. The present scene is in 1483. Richard, Duke of York, the husband of this lady, had he been then living, would have been but seventy-three years old, and we may reasonably suppose that his Duchess was younger than he was. Nor did she go speedily to her grave. She lived till 1495. Malone.

Note return to page 396 9And each hour's joy wreck'd with a week of teen,] Teen is sorrow. So, in Romeo and Juliet: “And yet to my teen be it spoken,” &c. Again, in The Return from Parnassus, 1606: “Flies have their spleen, each silly ant his teens.” Steevens. So, in The Rape of Lucrece: “Who buys a minute's mirth, to wail a week?” “Short pleasure, long lament,” is one of Ray's proverbial sentences. Malone.

Note return to page 397 1Stay yet; &c.] This speech is not in the quarto. Malone.

Note return to page 398 2Rude ragged nurse! old sullen play-fellow &lblank;] To call the Tower nurse and play-fellow is very harsh: perhaps part of this speech is addressed to the Tower, and part to the Lieutenant. Johnson. The last line of this speech— “So foolish sorrow bids your stones farewell,” proves that the whole of it is addressed to the Tower, and apologizes for the absurdity of that address, by attributing it to sorrow. M. Mason. When Shakspeare described the Tower as the nurse and play-fellow of these children, he was only thinking of the circumstance of their being constrained to carry on their daily pastime, and to receive their daily nutriment within its walls; and hence, with his usual licentiousness of metaphor, calls the edifice itself their play-fellow and nurse. I may add, that the poet never could intend to apologize for a practice, of which numerous examples are found in his plays, and in which, assuredly, he perceived no impropriety. Malone.

Note return to page 399 3So foolish sorrow bids your stones farewell.] Hither the third Act should be extended, and here it very properly ends with a pause of action. Johnson. The folio has—sorrows. Corrected by Mr. Rowe. Malone.

Note return to page 400 4&lblank; now do I play the touch,] To “play the touch” is to ‘represent the touchstone. So, in the 16th Song of Drayton's Polyolbion: “With alabaster, tuch, and porphyry adorn'd.” Again, in the epistle of Mary the French Queen to Charles Brandon, by Drayton: “Before mine eye, like touch, thy shape did prove.” Again, in Spenser's Fairy Queen, b. i. c. iii.: “Though true as touch, though daughter of a king.” Steevens.

Note return to page 401 5&lblank; see, he gnaws his lip.] Several of our ancient historians observe, that this was an accustomed action of Richard, whether he was pensive or angry. Steevens.

Note return to page 402 6And unrespective boys;] Unrespective is inattentive to consequences, inconsiderate. So, in Daniel's Cleopatra, 1599: “When dissolute impiety possess'd “The unrespective minds of prince and people.” Steevens. “Unrespective” is, ‘devoid of cautious and prudential consideration.’ Malone. See note on the following passage in the Rape of Lucrece, edit. 1790, p. 102: “Respect and reason wait on wrinkled age.” Steevens.

Note return to page 403 7&lblank; close exploit &lblank;] Is secret act. Johnson.

Note return to page 404 8&lblank; witty &lblank;] In this place signifies judicious or cunning. A wit was not at this time employed to signify a man of fancy, but was used for wisdom or judgment. So, in Daniel's Cleopatra, 1599: “Although unwise to live, had wit to die.” Again, in one of Ben Jonson's Masques: “And at her feet do witty serpents move.” Steevens.

Note return to page 405 9Know, my loving lord,] Surely we should adopt Sir Thomas Hanmer's regulation, and give the passage thus: “How now, lord Stanley? what's the news? “My lord,” &c. Are the omitted words—know and loving, of so much value, that measure must continue to be sacrificed for their preservation? Steevens.

Note return to page 406 1I will take order for her keeping close.] i. e. I will take measures that shall oblige her to keep close. So, in Marlowe's and Nashe's Dido, 1594, Jupiter says: “I will take order for that presently.” The same phrase occurs in Othello, vol. ix. p. 470. Steevens.

Note return to page 407 2The boy is foolish,] Shakspeare has here perhaps anticipated the folly of his youth. He was, at this time, I believe, about ten years old, and we are not told by any historian that he had then exhibited any symptoms of folly. Being confined by King Henry VII. immediately after the battle of Bosworth, and his education being consequently entirely neglected, he is described by Polydore Virgil at the time of his death (in 1499) as an idiot; and his account (which was copied by Hall and Holinshed,) was certainly a sufficient authority for Shakspeare's representation: “Edouardus Varvici comes in carcere ab incunabulis extra hominum ferarumque conspectum nutritus, qui gallinam ab ansere non facile internosceret, cum nullo suo delicto supplicium quærere posset, alieno ad id tractus est.” Malone.

Note return to page 408 3&lblank; it stands me much upon,] i. e. it is of the utmost consequence to my designs. The same phrase occurs in The Comedy of Errors: “Consider how it stands upon my credit. See also Antony and Cleopatra, vol. xii. p. 219, n. 7. Steevens.

Note return to page 409 4&lblank; But I am in So far in blood, that sin will pluck on sin.] The same reflections occur in Macbeth: “&lblank; I am in blood “Step'd in so far, that should I wade no more, “Returning were as tedious,” &c. Again: “Things bad begun make strong themselves by ill.” Steevens.

Note return to page 410 5Is thy name—Tyrrel?] It seems, that a late editor (who boasts much of his fidelity in “marking the places of action, both general and particular, and supplying scenical directions,”) throughout this scene, has left King Richard on his throne; whereas he might have learnt from the following passage in Sir John Harrington's Metamorphosis of Ajax, 1596, that the monarch appeared, during the present interview with Tyrrel, on an elevation of much less dignity. “The best part (says Sir John) of our chronicles, in all men's opinions, is that of Richard the Third, written as I have heard by Moorton, but as most suppose, by that worthy and incorrupt magistrate Sir Thomas More, sometime lord chancellor of England, where it is said, how the king was devising with Teril to have his nephews privily murdred; and it is added, he was then sitting on a draught; a fit carpet for such a counsel.” See likewise Holinshed, vol. ii. p. 735. Steevens. Sir James Tyrrel was executed for high treason in the beginning of the reign of Henry the VIIth. See Fuller's Worthies, Cornwall, p. 210. Malone.

Note return to page 411 6&lblank; deal upon:] i. e. act upon. We should now say—deal with; but the other was the phraseology of our author's time. Malone. So, in Have With You to Saffron Walden, &c. by Nashe, 1596: “At Wolfe's he's billeted, sweating and dealing upon it most intentively.” See also my note on Antony and Cleopatra, vol. xii. p. 311, n. 1. Steevens.

Note return to page 412 7&lblank; prefer thee for it.] The quarto here has a passage very characteristic: “King. Shall we hear from thee, Tirril, e'er we sleep.” Boswell.

Note return to page 413 8The earldom of Hereford, &c.] Thomas Duke of Gloster, the fifth son of Edward the Third, married Anne the eldest daughter and coheir of Humphrey de Bohun Earl of Hereford. The Duke of Gloster's nephew, Henry Earl of Derby, (the eldest son of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, the fourth son of Edward the Third,) who was afterwards King Henry IV. married Mary the other daughter of the Earl of Hereford. The moiety of the Hereford estate, which had been possessed by that King, was seized on by Edward IV. as legally devolved to the crown, on its being transferred from the house of Lancaster to that of York. Henry Stafford Duke of Buckingham was lineally descended from Thomas Duke of Gloster, his only daughter Anne having married Edmund Earl of Stafford, and Henry being the great grandson of Edmund and Anne. In this right he and his ancestors had possessed one half of the Hereford estate; and he claimed and actually obtained from Richard III. after he usurped the throne, the restitution of the other half, which had been seized on by Edward; and also the carldom of Hereford, and the office of Constable of England, which had long been annexed by inheritance to that earldom. See Dugdale's Baronage, vol. i. p. 168, 169. Many of our historians, however, ascribe the breach between him and Richard to Richard's refusing to restore the moiety of the Hereford estate; and Shakspeare has followed them. Thomas Duke of Gloster was created Earl of Hereford in 1386, by King Richard II. on which ground the Duke of Buckingham had some pretensions to claim a new grant of the title; but with respect to the moiety of the estate, he had not a shadow of right to it; for supposing that it devolved to Edward IV. with the crown, it became, after the murder of his sons, the joint property of his daughters. If it did not devolve to King Edward IV. it belonged to the right heirs of King Henry IV. Malone.

Note return to page 414 9A king!—perhaps—] From hence to the words, “Thou troublest me, I am not in the vein”—have been left out ever since the first editions: but I like them well enough to replace them. Pope. The allusions to the plays of Henry VI. are no weak proofs of the authenticity of these disputed pieces. Johnson. These allusions, I trust, have been sufficiently accounted for in the Dissertation annexed to the Three Parts of Henry VI. Malone.

Note return to page 415 9&lblank; I being by,] The Duke of Gloster was not by when Henry uttered the prophecy. See vol. xviii. p. 501. Our author seldom took the trouble to turn to the plays to which he referred. Malone.

Note return to page 416 1&lblank; Rouge-mont:] Hooker, who wrote in Queen Elizabeth's time, in his description of Exeter mentions this as a “very old and antient castle, named Rugemont; that is to say, the Red Hill, taking that name of the red soil or earth whereupon it is situated.” It was first built, he adds, as some think, by Julius Cæsar, but rather, and in truth, by the Romans after him. Reed.

Note return to page 417 2Well, let it strike.] This seems to have been a proverbial sentence. So, in Pierce's Supererogation, &c. by Gabriel Harvey, 4to. 1593: “Let the clock strike: I have lost more howers, and lose nothing if I find equity.” Malone.

Note return to page 418 3Because that, like a Jack, &c.] An image, like those at St. Dunstan's church in Fleet Street, and at the market-houses at several towns in this kingdom, was usually called a Jack of the clock-house. See Cowley's Discourse on the Government of Oliver Cromwell. [vol. ii. p. 650, edit. 1710.] Richard resembles Buckingham to one of those automatons, and bids him not suspend the stroke on the clock-bell, but strike, that the hour may be past, and himself be at liberty to pursue his meditations. Sir J. Hawkins. So, in The Fleire, a comedy, 1610:—“their tongues are, like a Jack o' the clock, still in labour.” Again, in The Coxcomb, by Beaumont and Fletcher: “&lblank; Is this your Jack o' the clock-house? “Will you strike, sir?” Again, in a pamphlet by Deckar, called the Guls Hornbook, 1609: “&lblank; but howsoever, if Powles Jacks be once up with their elbowes, and quarrelling to strike eleven, as soon as ever the clock has parted them, and ended the fray with his hammer, let not the duke's gallery conteyne you any longer.” Perhaps these figures are called Jacks, because the engines of that name which turn the spit were anciently ornamented with such a puppet. In The Gentleman Usher, a comedy, by Chapman, 1606, they are alluding to a roasting Jack, and a man says: “&lblank; as in that quaint engine you have seen “A little man in shreds stand at the winder, “And seem to put all things in act about him, “Lifting and pulling with a mighty stir, “Yet adds no force to it, nor nothing does.” In Lantern and Candle-light, or The Bellman's Second Nightwalk, &c. by Deckar, is a passage “of a new and cunning drawing of money from gentlemen,” which may tend to a somewhat different explanation of the word—strike: “There is another fraternitie of wandring pilgrims, who merrily call themselves Jackes of the clock-house. The jacke of a clock house goes upon screws, and his office is to do nothing but strike: so does this noise (for they walke up and down like fidlers) travaile with motions, and whatever their motions get them, is called striking.” Steevens. A Jack with such a figure as Chapman hath described, was for many years exhibited, as a sign, at the door of a White-Smith's shop in the narrowest part of the Strand. Henley. These automatons were called Jacks of the clock-house, because Jack in our author's time was a common appellation for a mean, contemptible fellow, employed by others in servile offices. Malone.

Note return to page 419 4To Brecknock,] To the Castle of Brecknock in Wales, where the Duke of Buckingham's estate lay. Malone.

Note return to page 420 5O thus, quoth Dighton, lay the gentle babes,— Thus, thus, quoth Forrest, girdling one another Within their alabaster innocent arms:— A book of prayers on their pillow lay;] These circumstances were probably adopted from the old song of The most cruel Murther of Edward V. &c. in The Golden Garland of Princely Delight. The thirteenth edition of this collection was published in 1690: “When these sweet children thus were laid in bed, “And to the Lord their hearty prayers had said, “Sweet slumbring sleep then closing up their eyes, “Each folded in the other's arms then lies.” It must be owned, however, that there is nothing to assist us in ascertaining the exact date of this and many other of our ancient ballads. Steevens.

Note return to page 421 *Quarto 1597, til soon.

Note return to page 422 6The son of Clarence have I pen'd up close;] In Sheriff Hutton Castle, Yorkshire; where he remained till the coming of Henry VII. who immediately after the battle of Bosworth sent him to the Tower, and some few years after, most treacherously and barbarously put him to death; being, from a total want of education and commerce with mankind, so ignorant, that he could not, according to Hall, discern a goose from a capon. With this unfortunate young nobleman ended the male line of the illustrious house of Plantagenet. Ritson.

Note return to page 423 7His daughter meanly have I match'd in marriage;] To Sir Richard Pole, Knt. This lady, at seventy years of age, without any legal process, and for no crime but her relation to the crown, was beheaded in the Tower by that sanguinary tyrant Henry VIII. Her son, Lord Montague, had been put to death a few years before, in the same manner, and for the same crime; and the famous Cardinal Pole, another of her children only escaped the fate of his mother and brother, by keeping out of the butcher's reach. Ritson.

Note return to page 424 8&lblank; the Bretagne Richmond &lblank;] He thus denominates Richmond, because after the battle of Tewksbury he had taken refuge in the court of Francis II. Duke of Bretagne, where by the procurement of King Edward IV. he was kept a long time in a kind of honourable custody. See note on Sc. IV. Malone.

Note return to page 425 9&lblank; fearful commenting Is leaden servitor &lblank;] Timorous thought and cautious disquisition are the dull attendants on delay. Johnson.

Note return to page 426 1&lblank; fiery expedition &lblank;] So, in Hamlet:   “&lblank; must send thee hence “With fiery quickness.” Steevens.

Note return to page 427 2&lblank; begins to mellow, &c.] The same thought occurs in Marston's Antonio and Mellida, 1602: “&lblank; now is his fate grown mellow, “Instant to fall into the rotten jaws “Of chap-fall'n death.” Steevens. Richard the Third was printed in 1597, and therefore Marston must have copied from it. Malone.

Note return to page 428 3&lblank; dire induction &lblank;] Induction is preface, introduction first part. It is so used by Sackville in our author's time. Johnson.

Note return to page 429 4&lblank; say, that right for right &lblank;] This is one of those conceits which our author may be suspected of loving better than propriety. “Right for right” is ‘justice answering to the claims of justice.’ So, in this play: “&lblank; That forehead “Where should be branded, if that right were right &lblank;.” Johnson. In the third scene of the first Act, Margaret was reproached with the murder of young Rutland, and the death of her husband and son were imputed to the divine vengeance roused by that wicked act: “So just is God to right the innocent.” Margaret now perhaps means to say, The right of me, an injured mother, whose son was slain at Tewksbury, has now operated as powerfully as that right which the death of Rutland gave you to divine justice, and has destroyed your children in their turn. Malone.

Note return to page 430 5When didst thou sleep, &c.] That is, When, before the present occasion, didst thou ever sleep during the commission of such an action? Thus the only authentick copies now extant; the quartos 1597 and 1598, and the first folio. The editor of the second folio changed When to Why, which has been adopted by all the subsequent editors; though Margaret's answer evidently refers to the word found in the original copy. Malone. I have admitted this reading, though I am not quite certain of its authenticity. The reply of Margaret might have been designed as an interrogatory echo to the last words of the Queen. Steevens. This appears to be the true reading, as Margaret's next speech is an answer to that question that was not addressed to her. M. Mason.

Note return to page 431 6&lblank; seniory,] For seniority. Johnson. So in Stowe's Chronicle, edit. 1615, p. 149: “&lblank; the son of Edmund, the son of Edward the seignior, the son of Alured,” &c. Steevens. The word in the quarto is signorie, in the folio signeury, and it has been printed signiory in the late editions: but as in general modern spelling has been adopted, I know not why the ancient mode should be adhered to in this particular instance. In The Comedy of Errors, Act I. Sc. the last, senior has been properly printed by all the modern editors, though the words in the old copy are—“We'll draw cuts for the signior.” The substantive in the text is evidently formed by our author from hence. Malone.

Note return to page 432 7And let my griefs frown on the upper hand.] So, in our author's Rape of Lucrece: “By this starts Collatine as from a dream, “And bids Lucretius give his sorrows place.” Malone.

Note return to page 433 8I had a Henry,] For this emendation I am answerable. The quarto has—a Richard, which the editor of the folio corrected by substituting—a husband. In a subsequent speech in this scene, p. 192, n. 6: “my brother” being printed in the quarto by mistake, instead of “thy brother,” the editor of the folio corrected the wrong word, and printed—my husband. It is clear that a christian name was intended here, though by a mistake in the original copy Richard was substituted for Henry. Malone.

Note return to page 434 9That reigns, &c.] This and the preceding line have been omitted by all the modern editors, Rowe excepted. Steevens. These two lines, which were capriciously omitted by Mr. Pope, are found only in the folio, and are there transposed. They were rightly arranged by Mr. Capell. Malone.

Note return to page 435 1&lblank; carnal &lblank;] This word, in the present instance, may signify carnivorous, though in Hamlet it is used for slaughterous: “Of carnal, bloody, and unnatural acts.” Steevens.

Note return to page 436 2And makes her pew-fellow &lblank;] Pew-fellow seems to be companion. We have now a new phrase, nearly equivalent, by which we say of persons in the same difficulties, that they are in the same box. Johnson. Pew-fellow is a word yet in use. Sir J. Hawkins. I find this compound word in Northward Hoe, a comedy, by Decker and Webster, 1607: “He would make him pue-fellow with a lord's steward at least.” Again, in Westward Hoe, by the same author, 1606: “&lblank; being both my scholars, and your honest pue-fellows.” I remember to have seen in ancient Flemish prints representing Schools, certain inclosures holding different classes of boys, who, probably, from this circumstance, were styled pew-fellows. In our places of worship perhaps pews in general are modern conveniences, compared with the age of the buildings that contain them. Our hardy ancestors chiefly sat on open benches, such are still remaining in the Pit at Great Saint Mary's, Cambridge. Steevens.

Note return to page 437 3Young York he is but boot,] Boot is that which is thrown in to mend a purchase. Johnson.

Note return to page 438 4The adulterate Hastings,] I believe Shakspeare wrote: “The adulterer Hastings &lblank;.” Warburton. Adulterate is right. We say metals are adulterate; and adulterate sometimes means the same as adulterer. In either sense, on this occasion, the epithet will suit. Hastings was adulterate, as Margaret has tried his friendship and found it faithless; he was an adulterer, as he cohabited with Jane Shore during the life of her husband. So, the Ghost in Hamlet, speaking of the King, says: “&lblank; that incestuous, that adulterate beast.” Steevens.

Note return to page 439 5Earth gapes, hell burns, fiends roar, saints pray,] This imperfect line is not injudiciously completed by some former editor [Mr. Capell]: “Earth gapes, hell burns, fiends roar for him; saints pray, “To have,” &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 440 6The flattering index of a direful pageant,] Pageants are dumb shows, and the poet meant to allude to one of these, the index of which promised a happier conclusion. The pageants then displayed on publick occasions were generally preceded by a brief account of the order in which the characters were to walk. These indexes were distributed among the spectators, that they might understand the meaning of such allegorical stuff as was usually exhibited. The index of every book was anciently placed before the beginning of it. Steevens.

Note return to page 441 *Quarto 1797: “A dream of which thou wert a breath, a bubble, “A sign of dignity, a garish flag.”

Note return to page 442 7&lblank; a garish flag, To be the aim of every dangerous shot;] Alluding to the dangerous situation of those persons to whose care the standards of armies were entrusted. Steevens.

Note return to page 443 8Where be the bending peers that flatter'd thee?] Mr. Rowe has transferred this question to Alicia in Jane Shore: “&lblank; where is the king— “And all the smiling cringing train of courtiers, “That bent the knee before thee?” Steevens.

Note return to page 444 9Decline all this,] i. e. run through all this from first to last. So, in Troilus and Cressida: “I'll decline the whole question.” This phrase the poet borrowed from his grammar. Malone.

Note return to page 445 *Quarto omits the two lines between brackets.

Note return to page 446 1&lblank; wheel'd about,] Thus the quartos. The folio—whirl'd about. Steevens.

Note return to page 447 2Forbear to sleep &lblank; and fast &lblank;] Fast has no connection with the preceding word forbear; the meaning being,—Sleep not at night, and fast during the day. The quarto reads—to sleep the nights, and fast the days. Malone.

Note return to page 448 3&lblank; were fairer &lblank;] So the quarto. the folio reads—sweeter. Malone.

Note return to page 449 4Bettering thy loss makes the bad-causer worse;] We must either read this line thus: “Bettering thy loss, make the bad-causer worse;” which I believe to be the true reading, or include it in a parenthesis. M. Mason. Bettering is amplifying, magnifying thy loss. Shakspeare employed this word for the sake of an antithesis, in which he delighted between better and loss. Malone.

Note return to page 450 5Duch. Why should calamity be full of words? Q. Eliz. Windy attorneys to their client woes,] So, in our author's Venus and Adonis: “So of concealed sorrow may be said: “Free vent of words love's fire doth assuage; “But when the heart's attorney once is mute, “The client breaks as desperate of his suit.” The quarto reads—your client woes. The folio—their clients woes. Malone.

Note return to page 451 6Airy succeeders of intestate joys,] As I cannot understand the reading of the folio—intestine, I have adopted another from the quarto in 1597: “Airy succeeders of intestate joys:” i. e. ‘words, tun'd to complaints, succeed joys that are dead;’ and unbequeathed to them, to whom they should properly descend. Theobald. The metaphor is extremely harsh. The joys already possessed being all consumed and passed away, are supposed to have died intestate, that is, to have made no will, having nothing to bequeath; and more verbal complaints are their successors, but inherit nothing but misery. Malone.

Note return to page 452 7&lblank; though what they do impart Help nothing else, yet do they ease the heart.] So, in Macbeth: “Give sorrow words; the grief that does not speak, “Whispers the o'er-fraught heart, and bids it break.” The quarto reads—Help not at all &lblank;. Malone.

Note return to page 453 *Quarto 1597, A she.

Note return to page 454 †Quarto 1597, graven.

Note return to page 455 8&lblank; that ow'd that crown,] i. e. that possessed it. So, in King John: “Which owe the crown that thou o'ermasterest.” Steevens.

Note return to page 456 9&lblank; a touch of your condition,] A spice or particle of your temper or disposition. Johnson. So, in Chapman's translation of the 24th Iliad: “&lblank; his cold blood embrac'd a fiery touch “Of anger,” &c. Again, in the thirteenth Iliad: “&lblank; if any touch appear “Of glory in thee &lblank;.” Steevens.

Note return to page 457 *Quarto 1597 omits the words between brackets.

Note return to page 458 1Tetchy &lblank;] Is touchy, peevish, fretful, ill-temper'd. Ritson. So, in Romeo and Juliet: “To see it tetchy, and fall out with the dug &lblank;.” Steevens.

Note return to page 459 †Quarto 1597, proud, subtile, bloody, treacherous.

Note return to page 460 ‡Quarto 1597 omits this line.

Note return to page 461 2That ever grac'd me &lblank;] To grace seems here to mean the same as to bless, to make happy. So, gracious is kind, and graces are favours. Johnson. We find the same expressionin Macbeth: “Please it your highness “To grace us with your royal company.” Steevens.

Note return to page 462 3&lblank; Humphrey Hour,] This may probably be an allusion to some affair of gallantry of which the Duchess had been suspected. I cannot find the name in Holinshed. Surely the poet's fondness for a quibble has not induced him at once to personify and christen that hour of the day which summon'd his mother to breakfast. So, in The Wit of a Woman, 1604: “Gentlemen, time makes us brief: our old mistress, Houre, is at hand.” Shakspeare might indeed by this strange phrase (Humphrey Hour) have designed to mark the hour at which the good Duchess was as hungry as the followers of Duke Humphrey. The common cant phrase of “dining with Duke Humphrey,” I have never yet heard satisfactorily explained. It appears, however, from a satirical pamphlet called The Guls Horn-booke, 1609, written by T. Decker, that in the ancient church of St. Paul, one of the aisles was called “Duke Humphrey's Walk;” in which those who had no means of procuring a dinner, affected to loiter. Decker concludes his fourth chapter thus: “By this, I imagine you have walked your bellyful, and thereupon being weary, or (which is rather, I beleeve,) being most gentleman-like hungry, it is fit that as I brought you unto the duke, so (because he followes the fashion of great men in keeping no house, and that therefore you must go seeke your dinner,) suffer me to take you by the hand and leade you into an ordinary.” The title of this chapter is, “How a gallant should behave himself in Powles Walkes.” Hall, in the 7th Satire, b. iii. seems to confirm this interpretation: “'Tis Ruffio: Trow'st thou where he din'd to-day? “In sooth I saw him sit with duke Humfray: “Manie good welcoms, and much gratis cheere, “Keeps he for everie stragling cavaliere; “An open house haunted with greate resort, “Long service mixt with musicall disport,” &c. Hall's Satires, edit. 1602, p. 60. See likewise Foure Letters and certain Sonnets, by Gabriel Harvey, 1592: “&lblank; to seeke his dinner in Poules with duke Humphrey: to licke dishes, to be a beggar.” Again, in The Return of the Knight of the Post, &c. by Nash, 1606: “&lblank; in the end comming into Poules, to behold the old duke and his guests,” &c. Again, in A Wonderful, Strange, and Miraculous Prognostication, for this Year, &c. 1591, by Nash: “&lblank; sundry fellowes in their silkes shall be appointed to keepe duke Humfrye company in Poules, because they know not where to get their dinners abroad.” If it be objected that duke Humphrey was buried at St. Albans, let it likewise be remembered that cenotaphs were not uncommon. Steevens. It appears from Stowe's Survey, 1598, that Sir John Bewcampe, son to Guy, and brother to Thomas, Earls of Warwick, who died in 1358, had “a faire monument” on the south side of the body of St. Paul's Church. “He,” says Stowe, “is by ignorant people misnamed to be Humphrey Duke of Gloster, who lyeth honourably buried at Saint Albans, twentie miles from London: And therefore such as merily professe themselues to serue Duke Humphrey in Powles, are to bee punished here, and sent to Saint Albons, there to be punished againe, for theyr absence from theyr maister, as they call him.” Ritson. Humphrey Hour is merely used in ludicrous language for hour, like Tom Troth, for truth, and twenty more such terms. So, in Gabriel Harvey's Letter to Spenser, 1580: “Tell me in Tom Trothe's earnest.” Malone.

Note return to page 463 *Quarto 1597, your grace.

Note return to page 464 †For the words between brackets, the quarto 1597 has: Duch. O, hear me speak, for I shall never see thee more. King. Come, come, you are too bitter.

Note return to page 465 4Shame serves thy life,] To serve is to accompany, servants being near the persons of their masters. Johnson.

Note return to page 466 5Stay, madam,] On this dialogue 'tis not necessary to bestow much criticism, part of it is ridiculous, and the whole improbable. Johnson. I cannot agree with Dr. Johnson's opinion. I see nothing ridiculous in any part of this dialogue; and with respect to probability, it was not unnatural that Richard, who by his art and wheedling tongue, had prevailed on Lady Anne to marry him in her heart's extremest grief, should hope to persuade an ambitious, and, as he thought her, a wicked woman, to consent to his marriage with her daughter, which would make her a queen, and aggrandize her family. M. Mason.

Note return to page 467 6&lblank; she is of royal blood.] The folio reads—she is a royal princess. Steevens. The reading in the text is that of the quarto 1597. Malone.

Note return to page 468 7Lo, at their births &lblank;] Perhaps we should read—No, at their births &lblank;. Tyrwhitt.

Note return to page 469 8All unavoided, &c.] i. e. unavoidable. So, before: “Whose unavoided eye is dangerous.” Malone.

Note return to page 470 *All between brackets is omitted in quarto 1597.

Note return to page 471 9Thy head, all indirectly, gave direction:] This is a jingle in which Shakspeare perhaps found more delight than his readers. So, in Hamlet: “By indirections find directions out.” The same opposition of words occurs also in King John. Steevens.

Note return to page 472 1Till it was whetted on thy stone-hard heart,] This conceit seems also to have been a great favourite of our author. We meet with it more than once. So, in King Henry IV. Part II.: “Thou hid'st a thousand daggers in thy thoughts, “Which thou hast whetted on thy stony heart, “To stab,” &c. Again, in The Merchant of Venice: “Not on thy sole, but on thy soul, harsh Jew, “Thou mak'st thy knife keen &lblank;.” Steevens.

Note return to page 473 2&lblank; still use &lblank;] i. e. constant use. So, in King Richard II.: “A generation of still breeding thoughts.” Steevens.

Note return to page 474 3The high imperial type &lblank;] Type is exhibition, show, display. Johnson. I think it means emblem, one of its usual significations.—By the imperial type of glory, Richard means a crown. M. Mason. The canopy placed over a pulpit is still called by architects a type. It is, I apprehend, in a similar sense that the word is here used. Henley. Bullokar, in his Expositor, 1616, defines Type—“A figure, form, or likeness of any thing.” Cawdrey, in his Alphabetical Table, &c. 1604, calls it—“figure, example, or shadowe of any thing.” The word is used in King Henry VI. Part III. as here: “Thy father bears the type of king of Naples.” Malone.

Note return to page 475 4Canst thou demise &lblank;] To demise is to grant, from demittere, to devolve a right from one to another. Steevens. The constant language of leases is, “&lblank; demised, granted, and to farm let.” But I believe the word is used by no poet but Shakspeare. For demise, the reading of the quarto, and first folio, the editor of the second folio arbitrarily substituted devise. Malone.

Note return to page 476 5So in the Lethe of thy angry soul Thou drown the sad remembrance of those wrongs,] So, in King Henry IV. Part II.: “May this be wash'd in Lethe and forgotten?” Steevens.

Note return to page 477 *Quarto 1597, thy kindness doe.

Note return to page 478 6I, even I: what think you of it, madam?] Thus the quarto. I am not sure whether it should not be printed—Ay, even I. Malone. “Even so; What think you of it, madam?” Thus the folio, except that it reads—how instead of what. The quarto, without attention to the broken verse preceding: “I, even I: what think you of it, Madam?” Steevens.

Note return to page 479 7Madam, with all my heart.] I suppose the word—Madam, may be safely omitted, as it violates the measure. Steevens. No doubt that or any other word may be omitted, but not safely, unless it can be shown that we are at liberty to re-write our author's plays, and convert into verse what he has left us as prose. Malone.

Note return to page 480 8&lblank; as sometime Margaret &lblank;] Here is another reference to the plays of Henry VI. Johnson.

Note return to page 481 †Quarto 1597, a storie of thy noble acts.

Note return to page 482 *Quarto 1597 omits the words between brackets.

Note return to page 483 9Say, that I did, &c.] This and the following fifty-four lines, ending with the words tender years, in p. 190, l. 1, are found only in the folio. Malone.

Note return to page 484 1Nay, then indeed, she cannot choose but have thee,] The sense seems to require that we should read: “&lblank; but love thee,” ironically. Tyrwhitt. As this is evidently spoken ironically, I agree with Tyrwhitt, that the present reading is corrupt, but should rather amend it by reading “have you,” than “love you;” as the word have is more likely to have been been mistaken for hate, the traces of the letters being nearly the same. M. Mason. As this conjecture is, in my opinion, at once fortunate and judicious, I have placed it in the text. A somewhat corresponding error had happened in Coriolanus, last speech of Scene IV. Act IV. where have was apparently given instead of—hate. Steevens. It is by no means evident that this is spoken ironically, and, if not, the old reading affords a perfectly clear meaning. A virtuous woman would hate the man who thought to purchase her love by the commission of crimes. Boswell.

Note return to page 485 2&lblank; bloody spoil.] Spoil is waste, havock. Johnson.

Note return to page 486 3Even of your mettle, of your very blood;] The folio has— mettal. The two words are frequently confounded in the old copies. That mettle was the word intended here, appears from various other passages. So, in Macbeth: “&lblank; Thy undaunted mettle should compose “Nothing but males.” Again, in King Richard II.: “&lblank; that bed, that womb, “That mettle, that self-mould that fashion'd thee, “Made him a man.” Again, in Timon of Athens: “&lblank; Common mother, thou, “Whose womb unmeasurable, and infinite breast, “Teems and feeds all, whose self-same mettle “Whereof thy proud child, arrogant man, is puff'd, “Engenders the black toad,” &c. Malone.

Note return to page 487 4Endur'd of her,] Of in the language of Shakspeare's age was frequently used for by. Malone.

Note return to page 488 5&lblank; bid like sorrow.] Bid is in the past tense from bide. Johnson.

Note return to page 489 6Advantaging their loan, with interest Of ten-times-double gain of happiness.] [The folio— love.] My easy emendation will convince every reader that love and lone are made out of one another only by a letter turned upside down. “The tears that you have lent to your afflictions, shall be turned into gems; and requite you by way of interest,” &c. Theobald. How often the letters u and n are confounded in these copies, has been shown in various places. See vol. xviii. p. 176, n. 3. Malone.

Note return to page 490 7To whom I will retail my conquest won,] To retail (as Mr. M. Mason has observed in a note on Act III. Sc. I. p. 370, n. 8,) is to hand down from one to another. Richard, in the present instance, means to say he will transmit the benefit of his victories to Elizabeth. Steevens. To retail means to recount. ‘He will relate to her his conquest, and then will acknowledge her to be conqueror over him, though the conqueror of others, Cæsar's Cæsar.’ Malone.

Note return to page 491 8&lblank; which the king's King forbids.] Alluding to the prohibition in the Levitical law. See Leviticus, xviii. 14. Grey. She rather means that her crimes would render such a marriage offensive to Heaven. This is consistent with the rest of the dialogue. Boswell.

Note return to page 492 9But how long shall that title, ever, last?] Young has borrowed this thought in his Universal Passion: “But say, my all, my mistress, and my friend, “What day next week th' eternity shall end?” Steevens.

Note return to page 493 1&lblank; am her subject low.] Thus the folio. The quarto reads: “&lblank; her subject love.” Steevens.

Note return to page 494 2Then, in plain terms tell her my loving tale.] So the quarto. The folio reads: “Then plainly to her tell my loving tale.” Malone.

Note return to page 495 3Harp not, &c.] In the regulation of these short speeches I have followed the quarto 1597. Steevens. “K. Rich. Harp not on that string, madam; that is past. “Q. Eliz. Harp on it still shall I,” &c. So the quarto 1597. In the quarto 1598, the first of these two lines is wanting. The passage stands thus: “Qu. O, no, my reason, &c. “Too deep and dead, poor infants, in their graves. “King. Harp on it still shall I, till heart-strings break. “Now by my george,” &c. The printer of the next quarto saw that the line—“Harp on it still shall I,” &c. could not belong to Richard, and therefore annexed it to the Queen's former speech, but did not insert the omitted line. The editor of the folio supplied the line that was wanting, but absurdly misplaced it, and exhibited the passage thus: “Qu. O, no, my reasons are too deep and dead; “Too deep and dead, poor infants, in their graves. “Harp on it still shall I, till heart-strings break. “King. Harp not on that string, madam, that is past. “Now by my george,” &c. Malone.

Note return to page 496 4Thy George, profan'd, hath lost his holy honour; Thy garter, &c.] The quarto reads—“The George,” &c. The folio—“Thy George,” &c. and, afterwards,—lordly instead of—holy. Steevens.

Note return to page 497 *Quarto 1597, thy self thy self misusest.

Note return to page 498 5God's wrong is most of all. If thou had'st fear'd to break an oath by him, &c.] I have followed the quarto 1597, except that it reads in the preceding speech, “Why then, by God &lblank;.” The editors of the folio, from the apprehension of the penalty of the Statute, 3 Jac. I. c. 21, printed “Why then by heaven,” and the whole they absurdly exhibited thus: “Rich. Why then, by heaven. “Qu. Heaven's wrong is most of all. “If thou didst fear to break an oath with him, “The unity,” &c. “If thou hadst fear'd to break an oath by him. “The imperial metal,” &c. By their alteration in the first line of the Queen's speech, they made all that follows ungrammatical. The change in the preceding speech, not having that consequence, I have adopted it. Malone.

Note return to page 499 6&lblank; the king thy brother made, Had not been broken, nor my brother slain.] The quarto, by an error of the press, has—“my brother,” which the editor of the folio corrected thus: “The unity the king, my husband, made, “Thou had'st not broken, nor my brothers died.” Malone.

Note return to page 500 7Which now, two tender bed-fellows, &c.] Mr. Roderick observes, that the word two is without any force, and would read: “Which now too tender,” &c. Steevens. Thus the folio. The quarto—“two tender play-fellows,” Malone.

Note return to page 501 8&lblank; a prey for worms.] So the quarto. Folio—“the prey.” Malone.

Note return to page 502 9By the time to come.] So the quarto. By is not in the folio. Malone.

Note return to page 503 1&lblank; to wail it in their age:] So the quarto 1598. The quarto 1602, &c. and the folio, read—“with their age.” Malone.

Note return to page 504 2&lblank; in my dangerous attempt &lblank;] So the quarto. Folio— “dangerous affairs.” Malone.

Note return to page 505 3Heaven, and fortune, bar me happy hours!] This line is found only in the folio. Malone.

Note return to page 506 4And be not peevish found &lblank;] Thus the folio. Peevish in our author's time signified foolish. So, in the second scene of this Act: “When Richmond was a little peevish boy &lblank;.” See also Minsheu's Dict. in v. The quarto reads—“peevish fond,” and I am not sure that it is not right. A compound epithet might have been intended, peevish-fond. So childish-foolish, senseless-obstinate, foolish-witty, &c. Malone. I believe the present reading is the true one. So, in King Henry VIII.: “&lblank; have great care “I be not found a talker.” Steevens.

Note return to page 507 5&lblank; in that nest of spicery, they shall breed &lblank;] Alluding to the phœnix. Steevens. So the quarto. The folio reads—“they will breed.” Malone.

Note return to page 508 6&lblank; shortly.] This adverb, in the present instance, is employed as a trisyllable. See Mr. Tyrwhitt's note, vol. iv. p. 137. Steevens.

Note return to page 509 7Relenting fool, and shallow, changing—woman!] Such was the real character of this Queen dowager, who would have married her daughter to King Richard, and did all in her power to alienate the Marquis of Dorset, her son, from the Earl of Richmond. Steevens.

Note return to page 510 8Some light-foot friend post to the duke &lblank;] Richard's precipitation and confusion is in this scene very happily represe by inconsistent orders, and sudden variations of opinion. Johnson.

Note return to page 511 9Ratcliff, come hither:] The folio has—Catesby, come hither. The words are not in the quarto. It is obvious that they are addressed to Ratcliff. The correction was made by Mr. Rowe. Malone.

Note return to page 512 1White-liver'd runagate,] This epithet, descriptive of cowardice, is not peculiar to Shakspeare. Stephen Gosson in his School of Abuse, 1579, speaking of the Helots, says: “Leave those precepts to the white-livered Hylotes.” Steevens.

Note return to page 513 2What heir of York &lblank;] Richard asks this question in the plenitude of power, and no one dares to answer him. But they whom he addresses, had they not been intimidated, might have told him, that there was a male heir of the house of York alive, who had a better claim to the throne than he; Edward Earl of Warwick, the only son of the Usurper's elder brother, George Duke of Clarence; and Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of Edward IV. and all her sisters, had a better title than either of them. Malone. The issue of King Edward had been pronounced illegitimate, the Duke of Clarence attainted of high treason,—and the usurper declared “the undoubted heir of Richard duke of York,”—by act of parliament: so that, as far as such a proceeding can alter the constitution, and legalize usurpation and murder, he is perfectly correct and unanswerable. Ritson.

Note return to page 514 3No, mighty liege;] So the quarto. Folio—No, my good lord. Malone.

Note return to page 515 4I will not trust you, sir.] So the quarto. Folio—But I'll not trust thee. Malone.

Note return to page 516 5&lblank; more competitors &lblank;] That is, more opponents. Johnson. Competitors do not here mean opponents, but associates. See a note on this subject in The Two Gentlemen of Verona, where Sir Proteus, speaking of Valentine, says: “Myself in council his competitor.” That is, his associate. M. Mason. See vol. iv. p. 61, n. 1. Steevens.

Note return to page 517 6The news I have, &c.] So the folio. The quarto reads: “Your grace mistakes; the news I bring is good; “My news is, that, by sudden flood and fall of waters, “The Duke of Buckingham's army is dispers'd and scatter'd; “And he himself fled no man knows whither.” Malone.

Note return to page 518 7&lblank; and made his course again for Bretagne.] Henry Tudor Earl of Richmond, the eldest son of Edmund of Hadham Earl of Richmond, (who was half-brother to King Henry VI.) by Margaret, the only daughter of John the first Duke of Somerset, who was grandson to John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster, was carried by his uncle Jasper Earl of Pembroke immediately after the battle of Tewksbury into Britany, where he was kept in a kind of honourable custody by the Duke of Bretagne, and where he remained till the year 1484, when he made his escape and fled for protection to the French court. Being considered at that time as nearest in blood to King Henry VI. all the Lancastrian party looked up to him even in the life-time of King Edward IV. who was extremely jealous of him; and after Richard usurped the throne, they with more confidence supported Richmond's claim. The claim of Henry Duke of Buckingham was in some respects inferior to that of Richmond; for he was descended by his mother from Edmund the second Duke of Somerset, the younger brother of Duke John: by his father from Thomas Duke of Gloster, the younger brother of John of Gaunt: but whatever priority the Earl of Richmond might claim by his mother, he could not plead any title through his father, who in fact had no Lancastrian blood whatsoever; nor was his maternal title of the purest kind, for John the first Earl of Somerset was an illegitimate son of John of Gaunt. Malone.

Note return to page 519 8&lblank; landed at Milford,] The Earl of Richmond embarked with about 2000 men at Harfleur in Normandy, August 1st, 1485, and landed at Milford Haven on the 7th. He directed his course to Wales, hoping the Welsh would receive him cordially, as their countryman, he having been born at Pembroke, and his grandfather being Owen Tudor, who married Katharine of France, the widow of King Henry V. Malone.

Note return to page 520 9&lblank; they must be told.] This was the language of Shakspeare's time, when the word news was often considered as plural. See note on Antony and Cleopatra, vol. xii. p. 167, n. 9. All the modern editors, however, read—it must be told. Malone.

Note return to page 521 1&lblank; while we reason here,] i. e. while we talk here. See vol. v. p. 65, n. 6. Malone.

Note return to page 522 2&lblank; A royal battle might be won and lost:] So, in Macbeth: “When the battle's lost and won.” This antithetical phrase is found in several of our ancient writers. Steevens.

Note return to page 523 3Sir Christopher, tell Richmond this from me:] The person who is called Sir Christopher here, and who has been styled so in the Dramatis Personæ of all the impressions, I find by the Chronicles to have been Christopher Urswick, a bachelor in divinity; and chaplain to the countess of Richmond, who had intermarried with the Lord Stanley. This priest, the history tells us, frequently went backwards and forwards, unsuspected, on messages betwixt the Countess of Richmond, and her husband, and the young Earl of Richmond, whilst he was preparing to make his descent on England. Theobald. This Christopher Urswick was afterwards Almoner to King Henry VII. and retired to Hackney, where he died in 1521. On his tomb, still to be seen in that church, it is said “Ad exteros reges undecies pro patria Legatus; Deconatum Eboracensem, Archidia conatum Richmundie, Decanatum Windesoriæ, habitos vivens reliquit. Episcopatum Norwicensem oblatum recusavit.”— Weaver, who has printed this inscription, concludes his eulogium thus: “here let him rest as an example for all our great prelates to admire, and for few or none to imitate.” Reed. This circumstance is also recorded by Burton in his Anatomy of Melancholy, 4th edit. p. 187: “But most part they are very shamefast; and that makes them with Pet. Blesensis, Christopher Urswick, and many such, to refuse honours, offices, and preferment.” Dr. Johnson has observed, that Sir was anciently a title assumed by graduates. This the late Mr. Guthrie disputes; and says, it was a title sold by the pope's legates, &c. that his holiness might be on the same footing with the king. Steevens. In The Scornful Lady of Beaumont and Fletcher, Welford says to Sir Roger, the curate, “I acknowledge you to be your art's master.”—“I am but a bachelor of art, sir,” replies Sir Roger. Mr. Guthrie would have done well to have informed us, how Sir Roger could possibly have bought his title of the pope's nuncio; when, as Abigail tells us, he had only “twenty nobles de claro, besides his pigges in posse.” Farmer. See vol. viii. p. 7, n. l, and p. 110. Steevens. The title of Sir is still appropriated to Bachelors of Arts in the University of Dublin; and the word Bachelor evidently derived from the French bas Chevalier, that is, a lower kind of Knight. —This accounts for the title of Sir being given to Bachelors. M. Mason.

Note return to page 524 4&lblank; my present aid.] Thus the quarto. After these words three lines are added in the folio, in substance the same as the first three lines of Stanley's concluding speech. Instead of the concluding speech of the quarto, which is here followed, the folio reads thus: “Well, hie to thy lord; I kiss his hand; “My letter will resolve him of my mind, “Farewell.” Malone.

Note return to page 525 5&lblank; valiant crew;] This expression (which sounds but meanly in modern ears) has been transplanted by Dryden into his Alexander's Feast: “Give the vengeance due “To the valiant crew.” Steevens.

Note return to page 526 6Salisbury.] There is great reason to believe that Buckingham's execution took place at Shrewsbury; but this is not the place for such a discussion. Blakeway.

Note return to page 527 7Will not king Richard let me speak with him?] The reason why the Duke of Buckingham solicited an interview with the King, is explained in King Henry VIII. Act I.: “&lblank; I would have play'd “The part my father meant to act upon “The usurper Richard: who, being at Salisbury, “Made suit to come in his presence; which, if granted, “As he made semblance of his duty, would “Have put his knife into him.” Steevens. See also Hall's Chronicle, Richard III. fo. 16. Reed. See also Holinshed, vol. ii. p. 1403, edit. 1577. Malone.

Note return to page 528 8Is the determin'd respite of my wrongs.] Hanmer has rightly explained it, the time to which the punishment of his wrongs was respited. Wrongs in this line means wrongs done, or injurious practices. Johnson.

Note return to page 529 9&lblank; blame the due of blame.] This scene should, in my opinion, be added to the foregoing Act, so the fourth Act will have a more full and striking conclusion, and the fifth Act will comprise the business of the important day, which put an end to the competition of York and Lancaster. Some of the quarto editions are not divided into Acts, and it is probable, that this and many other plays were left by the author in one unbroken continuity, and afterwards distributed by chance, or what seems to have been a guide very little better, by the judgment or caprice of the first editors. Johnson. In the original copy of this play, 4to. 1597, there is no division into Acts and Scenes. As several alterations were made in this play, evidently unauthorized by Shakspeare, in the folio copy, it is highly probable that the division of the Acts was made merely to suit the convenience of exhibition. The fourth scene of the present Act, being, I believe, the largest scene in any of these plays; it was perhaps thought expedient on that account, not to lengthen the Act still farther; and hence the short scene between Shirley and Sir Christopher was thrown into the fourth Act. Malone.

Note return to page 530 9&lblank; Oxford,] John de Vere, Earl of Oxford, a zealous Lancastrian, who after a long confinement in Hames Castle in Picardy, escaped from thence in 1484, and joined the Earl of Richmond at Paris. He commanded the Archers at the battle of Bosworth. Malone.

Note return to page 531 1&lblank; Sir James Blunt,] He had been captain of the Castle of Hames, and assisted the Earl of Oxford in his escape. Malone.

Note return to page 532 2Thus far into the bowels of the land.] This, which appears to us now rather a harsh metaphor, was formerly used in common language. Poetical phraseology is not to be looked for in law proceedings, but in Carthew's Reports, Iveson versus Moor, Anno 10 Willielmi 3: “The plaintiff declared that he was possessed of a colliery, and mine of coals, for a term of years yet to come, lying in the bowels of such a close.” Boswell.

Note return to page 533 3That spoil'd your summer fields, and fruitful vines, Swills your warm blood, &c.] This sudden change from the past time to the present, and vice versâ, is common to Shakspeare. So, in the argument prefixed to his Rape of Lucrece: “The same night he treacherously stealeth into her chamber, violently ravished her,” &c. Malone.

Note return to page 534 4&lblank; embowell'd bosoms,] Exenterated; ripped up; alluding, perhaps, to the Promethean vulture: or, more probably, to the sentence pronounced in the English courts against traitors, by which they are condemned to be hanged, drawn, that is, embowelled, and quartered. Johnson. Drawn, in the sentence pronounced upon traitors only, signifies to be drawn by the heels or on a hurdle from the prison to the place of execution. So, Dr. Johnson has properly expounded it in Measure for Measure, Act II. So Holinshed, in the year 1569, and Stowe's Chronicle, edit. 1614, p. 162, 171, 418, 763, 766. Sometimes our historians use a colloquial inaccuracy of expression in writing, hanged, drawn, and quartered; but they often express it—drawn, hanged, and quartered; and sometimes they add—bowelled, or his bowels taken out, which would be tautology, if the same thing was implied in the word drawn. Tollet. Drawn in the sense of embowelled, is never used but in speaking of a fowl. It is true, embowelling is also part of the sentence in high treason, but in order of time it comes after drawing and hanging. Blackstone.

Note return to page 535 5Lies now &lblank;] i. e. sojourns. See vol. xvii. p. 132, n. 5.— For lies, the reading of the quarto, the editors of the folio, probably not understanding the term, substituted—Is. See p. 109, n. 1. Malone.

Note return to page 536 6&lblank; conscience is a thousand swords,] Alluding to the old adage, “Conscientia mille testes.” Blackstone. Thus the quarto. The folio reads—a thousand men. Malone.

Note return to page 537 6&lblank; and flies with swallow's wings,] Drayton calls joy: “&lblank; the swallow-winged joy.” Steevens.

Note return to page 538 7Up with my tent: Here will I lie to-night;] Richard is reported not to have slept in his tent on the night before the battle, but in the town of Leicester. Steevens.

Note return to page 539 8&lblank; our battalia trebles that account:] Richmond's forces are said to have been only five thousand; and Richard's army consisted of about twelve thousand men. But Lord Stanley lay at a small distance with three thousand men, and Richard may be supposed to have reckoned on them as his friends, though the event proved otherwise. Malone.

Note return to page 540 9&lblank; sound direction:] True judgment; tried military skill. Johnson.

Note return to page 541 1&lblank; Oxford, and other Lords.] The direction in the folio is —“Enter Richmond and Sir William Brandon, Oxford and Dorset.” In the quarto only, “Enter Richmond, with the lordes.” This is one of numerous proofs that many of the alterations in the folio edition of this play were made by the players, and not by Shakspeare; for Shakspeare had been informed by Holinshed that Dorset was not at the battle of Bosworth: Richmond before his leaving Paris having borrowed a sum of money from the French King, Charles the Eighth, and having left the Marquis of Dorset and Sir John Bouchier as hostages for the payment. Malone.

Note return to page 542 2Give me some ink and paper &lblank;] I have placed these lines as they stand in the first editions: the rest place them three speeches before, after the words “Sir William Brandon, you shall bear my standard;” interrupting what there follows; “The Earl of Pembroke,” &c. I think them more naturally introduced here, when he is retiring to his tent; and considering what he has to do that night. Pope. I have followed the folio, which, of this play, is by far the most correct copy. I do not find myself much influenced by Mr. Pope's remark. Steevens. In the quarto, this and the three following lines are introduced immediately before the words— “&lblank; Come, gentlemen, “Let us consult,” &c. Malone.

Note return to page 543 3Limit &lblank;] i. e. appoint. So, in Macbeth: “I'll make so bold to call, “For 'tis my limited service.” Steevens.

Note return to page 544 *Quarto 1597 omits the lines between brackets.

Note return to page 545 4&lblank; keeps his regiment;] i. e. remains with it. Thus we say of a person confined by illness—he keeps his chamber, or his bed. Steevens.

Note return to page 546 5&lblank; make some good means &lblank;] i. e. adopt some convenient measure. So, in The Two Gentlemen of Verona: “To make such means for her as thou hast done.” Steevens.

Note return to page 547 †Quarto 1597, Beare my good night to him, And give him from me this most needeful scrowle.

Note return to page 548 ‡Quarto 1597 omits this line.

Note return to page 549 6&lblank; the air is raw &lblank;] So the quarto. Folio—the dew. Malone.

Note return to page 550 7It is six o'clock.] So the quarto. The folio reads—“It's supper time, my lord; it's nine o'clock.” Malone. I think we ought to read—six instead of nine. A supper at so late an hour as nine o'clock, in the year 1485, would have been a prodigy. Steevens.

Note return to page 551 8&lblank; Give me a watch:] A watch has many significations, but I should believe that it means in this place not a sentinel, which would be regularly placed at the king's tent; nor an instrument to measure time, which was not used in that age; but a watch-light, a candle to burn by him; the light that afterwards burnt blue; yet a few lines after, he says: “Bid my guard watch,” which leaves it doubtful whether watch is not here a sentinel. Lord Bacon mentions a species of light called an all-night, which is a wick set in the middle of a large cake of wax. Johnson. The word give shows, I think, that a watch-light was intended. A watch, i. e. guard, would certainly be placed about a royal tent, without any request of the King concerning it. I believe, therefore, that particular kind of candle is here meant which was anciently called a watch, because, being marked out into sections, each of which was a certain portion of time in burning, it supplied the place of the more modern instrument by which we measure the hours. I have seen these candles represented with great nicety in some of the pictures of Albert Durer. Barrett, in his Alvearie, 1580, mentions watching lamps or candles. So, in Love in a Maze, 1632: “&lblank; slept always with a watching candle.” Again, in The Noble Soldier, 1634: “Beauty was turn'd into a watching-candle that went out stinking.” Again, in The Return from Parnassus, 1606: “Sit now immur'd within their private cells, “And drink a long lank watching candle's smoke.” Again, in Albumazar, 1610: “Sit up all night like a watching candle.” Steevens. Cole has in his Dictionary, 1679, Watch-candle. Malone.

Note return to page 552 9Saddle white Surrey for the field to-morrow.] So, in Holinshed's Chronicle, (copied from Hall's Sig. II. iiii. b.) “Then he (inuironed with his gard) with a frowning countenance and cruell visage, mounted on a great white courser, and followed with his footmen,” &c. p. 754. Steevens.

Note return to page 553 1Look that my staves be sound, and not too heavy.] Staves are the wood of the lances. Johnson. As it was usual to carry more lances than one into the field, the lightness of them was an object of consequence. Hall informs us, that at the justs in honour of the marriage of Mary, the younger sister of King Henry VIII. with the King of France, that “a gentleman called Anthony Bownarme came into the feld all armed, and on his body brought in sight x speres, that is to wyt, ii speres set in every styroppe forward, and under every thigh ii speres upwarde, and under his left arme was one spere backward, and the 10th in his hand,” &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 554 2&lblank; the melancholy lord Northumberland?] Richard calls him melancholy, because he did not join heartily in his cause. “Henry the fourth earle of Northumberland,” says Holinshed, “whether it was by the commandement of King Richarde putting diffidence in him, or he did it for the love and favour he bare unto the earle [of Richmond], stood still with a great company, and intermixed not in the battaile; which was [after the battle] incontinently received into favour, and made of the counsayle.” Malone.

Note return to page 555 3Much about cock-shut time,] Ben Jonson uses the same expression in one of his entertainments: “For you would not yesternight, “Kiss him in the cock-shut light.” Again, in The Widow, by Ben Jonson, Fletcher, and Middleton, 1652: “Come away then: a fine cockshut evening.” Again, in Arden of Feversham, 1592: “In the twilight, cock-shut light.” In The Treatyse of Fishynge with the Angle, by dame Julyana Bernes, 1496, among the directions to make a fishing rod is the following: “Take thenne and frette him faste with a cockeshote corde,” &c. but I cannot interpret the word. Steevens. “Cock-shut time,” i. e. twilight. In Mr. Whalley's note upon Ben Jonson, vol. v. p. 204: “A Cockshut is said to be a net to catch woodcocks; and as the time of taking them in this manner is in the twilight, either after sun-set or before its rising, cock-shut light may very properly express the evening or the morning twilight.” The particular form of such a net, and the manner of using it, is delineated and described in Dictionarium Rusticum, 2 vols. 8vo. 3d edit. 1726, under the word cock-roads. It is the custom of the woodcock to lie close all day, and towards evening he takes wing, which act of flight might anciently be termed his shoot or shot. So, the ballast of a ship is said to shoot, when it runs from one side to the other. This etymology gives us, perhaps, the original signification of the word, without any recourse for it to the name of a net, which might receive its denomination from the time of the day, or from the occasion on which it was used; for I believe there was a net which was called a cock-shot. Holinshed's Description of Britain, p. 110, calls a stone which naturally has a hole in it, “an apt cocke-shot for the devil to run through;” which, I apprehend, alludes to the resemblance of the hole in the stone to the meshes of a net. Tollet. Mr. Tollet's opinion may be supported by the following passage in a little metrical performance, called, No Whipping nor Trippinge: but a kinde friendly Snippinge, 1601: “A silly honest creature may do well “To watch a cocke-shoote, or a limed bush.” Steevens. I must support my interpretation against Mr. Tollet. He in part admits, and then proceeds to overthrow it. And I will support it by the very instance Mr. Steevens adduced in his favour. The ballast of a ship may be said to shoot; as we now say, to shoot coals, or corn out of a sack; but it was never yet said that a wood-cock shoots, when he takes his evening flight. Cocke-shoote, in the passage Mr. Steevens cites, is certainly a substantive, and the accusative case after the verb watch, which is confirmed by what follows, or a limed bush. And when the cock-shut net is fixed, a person always stands by to watch and manage it. A similar expression is in Hall's Satires: “To watch a sinking cock, upon the shore &lblank;.” Whalley. The passage from Hall is misquoted. He alludes to Fishing, and says— “Or watch a sinking corke upon the shore.” Edit. 1602, Virgidemiarum, lib. iv. p. 33. Steevens. That cockshut time meant twilight, is ascertained by Minsheu's Dictionary, 1617. See the latter word. Malone. Ogilby, in his Paraphrase of Æsop's Fables, 4to. 1651, p. 6, introduces this expression in a way which perhaps strengthens Mr. Tollet's opinion that cock-shoot was taken from the flight of the woodcock. He makes the pine boast: “&lblank; when loud winds make cock-shoots thro' the wood, “Rending down mighty okes, I firme have stood.” Here, I apprehend, Ogilby means to describe hurricanes which, by blowing down the trees, made glades or partial openings in the woods. Holt White.

Note return to page 556 4So, I am satisfied, &c.] Mr. Pope has omitted the word So in this line; which is found both in the original quarto of 1597, and in the folio; and in the fourth line from this, printed—There set it down. In imitation of that editor Mr. Capell, and after him Mr. Steevens, also omitted So in the present line, and placed it afterwards instead of Mr. Pope's There, at the beginning of the lines above-mentioned—So, set it down. I have followed the ancient copies: because, in speeches of this description, where minute orders are given about trifles, the poet appears to have paid little attention to metre, and to have frequently interposed sentences of mere prose, of which I have given several examples in the course of this tragedy. Malone.

Note return to page 557 5I have not that alacrity of spirit, &c.] So, in Holinshed, p. 775: “&lblank; not using the alacritie of mirth and mind and countenance as he was accustomed to doo before he came toward the battell.” Steevens.

Note return to page 558 6All comfort that the dark night can afford, Be to thy person,] So, in Measure for Measure: “The best and wholesomest spirits of the night “Envelop you &lblank;.” Steevens.

Note return to page 559 7&lblank; by attorney,] By deputation. Johnson.

Note return to page 560 8&lblank; mortal-staring war,] Thus the old copies. I suppose, by “mortal-staring war” is meant—‘war that looks big, or stares fatally on its victims.” Steevens. Perhaps the poet wrote—mortal-scaring war. Malone. I adhere to the old reading. So, in Antony and Cleopatra, Enobarbus says of Antony, who is issuing out to battle— “Now he'll out-stare the lightning.” Again, in The Tempest: “&lblank; why stand you “In this strange stare!” Steevens.

Note return to page 561 9I, as I may, &lblank; With best advantage will deceive the time,] I will take the best opportunity to elude the dangers of this conjuncture. Johnson.

Note return to page 562 1Lest, being seen, thy brother tender George Be executed &lblank;] So Holinshed after Hall: “When the said lord Stanley would have departed into his country to visit his familie, and to recreate and refreshe his spirits, as he openly said, (but the truth was to the intent to be in a perfite readinesse to join the earle of Richmonde at his first arrival in Englande,) the king in no wise would suffer him to depart before he had left as an hostage in the court, George Stanley, lord Strange, his first begotten son and heir.”— “The lord Stanley lodged in the same town, [Stafford] and hearing that the earle of Richmond was marching thitherward, gave to him place, dislodging him and his,—to avoid all suspicion, being afraide least if he should be seen openly to be a factor or ayder to the earle, his son-in-law, before the day of battayle, that king Richard, which yet not utterly put him in diffidence and mistrust, would put to some evil death his son and heir apparent.” The young nobleman whom the poet calls George Stanley, was created Baron Strange, in right of his wife, by King Edward IV. in 1482. Malone.

Note return to page 563 2&lblank; The leisure and the fearful time Cuts off the ceremonious vows of love,] We have still a phrase equivalent to this, however harsh it may seem, “I would do this, if leisure would permit,” where leisure, as in this passage, stands for want of leisure. So again: “&lblank; More than I have said,— “The leisure and enforcement of the time “Forbids to dwell upon &lblank;.” Johnson.

Note return to page 564 3Lest leaden slumber &lblank;] So, in our author's Rape of Lucrece: “Now leaden slumber with life's strength doth fight.” Malone.

Note return to page 565 4&lblank; peise me down to-morrow,] Thus the old copies. The modern editions read—poize. To peise, i. e. to weigh down, from peser, French. I meet with this word in the old play of The Raigne of King Edward the Third, 1596: “And peize their deeds with heavy weight of lead.” Again, in All for Money, 1574: “Then if you counterpeaze me learning with money.” Again, in Christopher Middleton's Legend of Humphrey Duke of Gloster, 1600: “Nor was her schooles peis'd down with golden waights.” See The Merchant of Venice, vol. v. p. 79, n. 8. Steevens.

Note return to page 566 5&lblank; bruising irons &lblank;] The allusion is to the ancient mace. Henley.

Note return to page 567 6Ere I let fall the windows of mine eyes;] So, in Romeo and Juliet: “&lblank; thy eyes' windows fall “Like death &lblank;.” Steevens.

Note return to page 568 7The Ghost, &c.] This circumstance is likewise found in Nichols's Legend of King Richard III. (inserted in The Mirrour for Magistrates, edit. 1610,) and was apparently imitated from Shakspeare:   “As in my tent on slumbring bed I lie,   “Horrid aspects appear'd unto mine eye: “I thought that all those murder'd ghosts, whom I   “By death had sent to their untimely grave, “With baleful noise about my tent did crye, “And of the heavens, with sad complaint, did crave “That they on guilty wretch might vengeance have.” His terror on waking is likewise very forcibly described. Drayton, in the 22d Song of his Polyolbion, may likewise have borrowed from our author: “Where to the guilty king, the black forerunning night, “Appear the dreadful ghosts of Henry and his son, “Of his own brother George, and his two nephews, done “Most cruelly to death; and of his wife, and friend “Lord Hastings, with pale hands prepar'd as they would rend “Him piece-meal; at which oft he roareth in his sleep.” Steevens. Mr. Steevens has here quoted a passage from Nichols's Legend of King Richard III. inserted in The Mirrour for Magistrates, and another from the 22d Song of Drayton's Polyolbion, both descriptive of the visions supposed to have been seen by Richard the night before the battle of Bosworth. He added the following observation: “It is not unpleasant to trace the progress of a poetical idea. Some of our oldest historians had informed us that king Richard was much disturbed in his dreams. The author of a metrical legend [Nichols,] who follows next in succession, proceeds to tell us the quality of these ominous visions. A poet [Drayton] who takes up the story, goes further, and acquaints us with the names of those who are supposed to have appeared in them; and last of all comes the dramatick writer, who brings the phantoms, speaking in their particular characters, on the stage.” The annotations of my ingenious predecessor seldom require animadversion or revision; but I am here obliged to remark, as I did on a former occasion, where the learned Bishop of Worcester had made a similar attempt to trace a thought from one poet to another, [see vol. xvii. p. 181, n. 5,] that this supposed progress of a poetical idea is in the present instance merely imaginary, as a few dates will at once demonstrate. Shakspeare's K. Richard III. was printed in 1597. Nichols's Legend of King Richard III. first appeared in that edition of The Mirrour for Magistrates which was published in 1610, thirteen years after our author's play had appeared; and the 22d Song of Drayton's Polyolbion was not published till twenty-five years after the tragedy of King Richard III. had been printed, that is, in 1622. Our ancient historians have said more than that Richard was disturbed by dreams; they have mentioned the nature of them, and particularly of his dream on this night. The account given by Polydore Virgil, which was copied by Hall and Holinshed, is as follows. “The fame went, that he had the same night [the night before the battle of Bosworth] a dreadful and a terrible dream; for it seemed to him being aslepe, that he saw diverse ymages like terrible devilles, which pulled and haled him, not sufferynge him to take any quiet or reste. The which straunge vision not so sodaynly strake his heart with a sodayne feare, but it stuffed his head and troubled his mind with many busy and dreadful imaginations. And least that it might be suspected that he was abashed for fear of his enemies, and for that cause looked so piteously, he recited and declared to his familiar friends, of the morning, his wonderfull vysion, and fearefull dreame.” I quote from Holinshed, because he was Shakspeare's authority. Since this note was written, Mr. Steevens has suppressed the foregoing remark, but has preserved his citation from the poem of Nichols. Polydore Virgil, as I have already observed, began to write his history about twenty years after Richard's death. Malone. See p. 154, n. 7. Steevens.

Note return to page 569 8Let me sit heavy on thy soul to-morrow!] So, in King Richard II.: “Be Mowbray's sins so heavy in his bosom.” Steevens.

Note return to page 570 9By thee was punched full of deadly holes:] The word punched, which sounds but meanly to our ears, is also employed by Chapman in his version of the sixth Iliad: “&lblank; with a goad he punch'd each furious dame.” Steevens.

Note return to page 571 1Harry, that prophecy'd thou should'st be king,] The prophecy, to which this allusion is made, was uttered in one of the parts of Henry the Sixth. Johnson. See vol. xviii. p. 501, n. 3. Malone.

Note return to page 572 2Doth comfort thee in thy sleep; Live, and flourish!] Surely, we should read, with Sir Thomas Hanmer: “Doth comfort thee in sleep; Live thou and flourish!” Steevens.

Note return to page 573 3&lblank; with fulsome wine,] Fulsome was sometimes used, I think, in the sense of unctuous. The wine in which the body of Clarence was thrown, was Malmsey. Malone. If Clarence had been choked by this wine, he might fairly enough have employed the epithet fulsome in its vulgar and accepted sense.—Shakspeare, however, seems to have forgot himself. The Duke (as appears from Act I. Sc. ult.) was killed before he was thrown into the Malmsey butt, and consequently could not be washed to death. Steevens.

Note return to page 574 4And fall thy edgeless sword;] Fall, in the present instance, is a verb active, signifying to drop, or let fall. So, in Othello: “If that the earth could teem with woman's tears, “Each drop she falls would prove a crocodile.” Steevens.

Note return to page 575 5Let us be lead within thy bosom, Richard,] [The first folio, &c.—laid.] This is a poor feeble reading. I have restored from the elder quarto, published in 1597, which Mr. Pope does not pretend to have seen: “Let us be lead within thy bosom, Richard.” This corresponds with what is said in the line immediately following: “And weigh thee down to ruin, shame, and death.” Theobald.

Note return to page 576 6That never slept a quiet hour with thee,] Shakspeare was probably here thinking of Sir Thomas More's animated description of Richard, which Holinshed transcribed: “I have heard (says Sir Thomas) by credible report of such as were secret with his chamberlaine, that after this abominable deed done [the murder of his nephews] he never had quiet in his mind. He never thought himself sure where he went abroad; his eyes whirled about; his body privily fenced; his hand ever upon his dagger; his countenance and manner like one always readie to strike againe. He tooke ill rest a-nights; lay long waking and musing, sore wearied with care and watch: rather slumbered than slept, troubled with fearfull dreames; sodainely sometime start up, leapt out of bed, and ran about the chamber; so was his restless heart continually tost and tumbled with the tedious impression and stormy remembrances of his abominable deede.” With such a companion well might Anne say, that she never slept one quiet hour. Malone.

Note return to page 577 7I died for hope,] i. e. I died for wishing well to you. But Mr. Theobald, with great sagacity, conjectured holpe or aid; which gave the line this fine sense, ‘I died for giving thee aid before I could give thee aid.’ Warburton. Sir Thomas Hanmer reads: “I died forsook &lblank;.” and supports his conjecture, as follows: “This, as appears from history, was the case of the Duke of Buckingham: that being stopped with his army upon the banks of Severn by great deluges of rain, he was deserted by his soldiers, who, being in great distress, half famished for want of victuals, and destitute of pay, disbanded themselves and fled.” Sir Thomas Hanmer's emendation is very plausible; but may not the meaning of the expression be, ‘I died for only having hoped to give you that assistance, which I never had it in my power to afford you in reality?’ It may, however, be observed, that fore or for, when joined to a verb, had anciently a negative signification. So, in Macbeth: “&lblank; He shall live a man forbid.” As to bid was to pray, so to forbid had the meaning directly opposite, i. e. to curse. In Antony and Cleopatra, to forspeak is to speak against. In Hamlet, and The Midsummer-Night's Dream, to fordo is the very reverse of to do. Holpen or holp is the old participle passive of help, and is used in Macbeth: “&lblank; his great love, sharp as his spur, hath holp him “To his home before us.” Instead of for hope, we may therefore read forholpe, which would mean unaided, abandoned, deserted, unhelped, which was the real misfortune of the Duke of Buckingham. The word holp has occurred likewise in this play: “Let him thank me that holp to send him thither.” Again, in Coriolanus: “Have holp to make this rescue.” Steevens. Perhaps we should read: “I died fore-done,” &c. So, in Hamlet, Act V.: “Fore-do its own life.” Tyrwhitt. Buckingham's hopes of aiding Richmond induced him to take up arms; but, being unsuccessful, he lost his life in consequence of the hope which led him to engage in that enterprize. Malone.

Note return to page 578 8Give me another horse,] There is in this, as in many of our author's speeches of passion, something very trifling, 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 tragioal. Johnson.

Note return to page 579 9The lights burn blue.] So, in Lyly's Galathea, 1592: “I thought there was some spirit in it because it burnt so blue; for my mother would often tell me when the candle burnt blue, there was some ill spirit in the house.” It was anciently supposed that fire was a preservative against evil spirits; “because,” says Nash, in Pierce Penniless's Supplication to the Devil, 1595, “when any spirit appeareth, the lights by little and little goe out as it were of their own accord, and the takers are by degrees extinguished.” The takers are the spirits who blast or take. So, in King Lear: “&lblank; strike her young bones, “Ye taking airs, with lameness!” Steevens.

Note return to page 580 1&lblank; it is now dead midnight.] So the original quarto 1597. In a subsequent quarto, 1598, this was corruptly printed— “&lblank; It is not dead midnight.” for which the revisor of the copy printed in folio in 1623, to obtain some sense, gave us— “&lblank; Is it not dead midnight?” which was followed by all the subsequent editors, including Mr. Steevens, till my first edition of this work had appeared. And here we have a decisive proof of the progress of corruption, and of the licentious and arbitrary manner in which emendations were made, even in the first folio, when a passage in the quarto that was printed from appeared corrupt. Some idle conjecture was formed and adopted, instead of resorting to the original copy, where the true reading would have been found; and, in like manner, when errors were found in the first folio, the revisor of the second endeavoured to amend them, merely by conjecture, without resorting to the earliest quarto copy of these plays, where that aid might have been obtained; and, in the other plays, where there was no quarto, without attempting to find any other manuscript copy than the one which that copy followed. This I have asserted and proved again and again; and it has again and again been denied. Malone. The reading of the quarto 1597, could it be supposed to need support, might meet with it in the following observation of Hamlet: “'Tis now the very witching time of night.” Steevens.

Note return to page 581 2&lblank; that is, I am I.] Thus the quarto 1598, and the folio. The quarto 1597 reads—I and I. I am not sure that it is not right. Malone.

Note return to page 582 3I love myself.] The old copies redundantly read—Alack, I love, &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 583 4Methought, the souls, &c.] These lines stand with so little propriety at the end of this speech, that I cannot but suspect them to be misplaced. Where then shall they be inserted? Perhaps after these words: “Fool, do not flatter.” Johnson. I agree with Johnson in supposing that this and the two following lines have been misplaced, but I differ from him with respect to their just situation.—The place, in my opinion, in which they might be introduced with the most propriety, is just ten lines further on, after the words— “Ratcliff, I fear, I fear,— “Methought,” &c. And then Ratcliff's reply— “Nay, good my lord, be not afraid of shadows.” would be natural; whereas, as the text is now regulated, Ratcliff bids him not to be afraid of shadows, without knowing that he had been haunted by them: unless we suppose that the idea of shadows is included in what Richard calls a frightful dream. M. Mason. “Cold fearful drops stand on my trembling flesh. What do I fear? &c.— “Methought, the souls of all that I had murder'd &lblank;” Either the two and twenty intermediate lines are not Shakspeare's, or are so unworthy of him, that it were to be wished they could with propriety be degraded to the margin. I wonder that Dr. Johnson, who thought the subsequent lines misplaced, did not perceive that their connection with the preceding part of the speech, ending at—“trembling flesh,” was interrupted solely by this apparent interpolation, which is in the highest degree childish and unnatural. Ritson. I rather suppose these lines (though genuine) to have been crossed out of the stage manuscript by Shakspeare himself, and afterwards restored by the original but tasteless editor of his play. Burbage, the first performer of Richard, might, for obvious reasons, have requested their dismission; or the poet discovering how aukwardly they stood, might, “without a prompter,” have discarded them. Steevens.

Note return to page 584 5&lblank; 'tis I.] Surely, these two syllables, serving only to derange the metre, should be omitted; or we ought to read: “My lord, 'tis I. The early village-cock &lblank;.” Steevens.

Note return to page 585 6O, Ratcliff, &c.] This and the two following lines are omitted in the folio. Yet Ratcliff is there permitted to say— “be not afraid of shadows,” though Richard's dream has not been mentioned; an additional proof of what has been already suggested in p. 209, n. 1. Malone.

Note return to page 586 7One that made means &lblank;] To make means was, in Shakspeare's time, often used in an unfavourable sense, and signified— “to come at any thing by indirect practices.” Steevens.

Note return to page 587 8&lblank; by the foil Of England's chair,] It is plain that foil cannot here mean that of which the obscurity recommends the brightness of the diamond. It must mean the leaf (feuille) or thin plate of metal in which the stone is set. Johnson. Nothing has been, or is still more common, than to put a bright-coloured foil under a cloudy or low-prized stone. The same allusion is common to many writers. So, in a Song published in England's Helicon, 1614: “False stones by foiles have many one abus'd.” Steevens. England's chair means England's throne. Set is used equivocally. Malone.

Note return to page 588 9&lblank; quit &lblank;] i. e. requite. So, in Antony and Cleopatra: “To let a fellow who will take rewards, “And say, God quit you &lblank;!” Steevens.

Note return to page 589 1&lblank; the ransom of my bold attempt &lblank;] The fine paid by me in atonement for my rashness shall be my dead corse. Johnson.

Note return to page 590 2God, and Saint George!] Saint George was the common cry of the English soldiers when they charged the enemy. The author of the old Arte of Warre, printed in the latter end of Queen Elizabeth's reign, formally enjoins the use of this cry among his military laws, p. 84: “Item, that all souldiers entring into battaile, assault, skirmish, or other faction of armes, shall have for their common cry and word, Saint George, forward, or upon them, saint George, whereby the souldiour is much comforted, and the enemy dismaied by calling to minde the ancient valour of England, which with that name has so often been victorious; and therefore he, who upon any sinister zeale, shall maliciously omit so fortunate a name, shall be severely punished for his obstinate erroneous heart, and perverse mind.” Hence too the humour of the following lines in Marston's nervous but neglected satires, entitled The Scourge of Villanie, printed in 1599, lib. iii. sat. viii.: “A pox upon't that Bacchis' name should be “The watch-word given to the souldierie. “Goe troupe to field, mount thy obscured fame, “Cry out Saint George, invoke thy mistresse' name; “Thy Mistresse and Saint George,” &c. In Beaumont and Fletcher's Knight of the Burning Pestle, that admirable and early ridicule of romance-writing, where the champion Ralph is going to attack the Barber, or the huge giant Barboroso, the burlesque is heightened, when, with much solemnity, and as if a real heroick encounter had been going forward, he cries out, “Saint George! set on before, march squire and page.” Act III. Sc. I. And afterwards, when the engagement begins, Ralph says, “St. George for me;” and Barbaroso, “Garagantua for me.” T. Warton.

Note return to page 591 3&lblank; brav'd the east &lblank;] i. e. made it splendid. So, Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew, says to the Tailor: “&lblank; thou hast braved many men [i. e. invested them with finery] brave not me.” The common signification of the verb—to brave, will, in my apprehension, hardly suit the passage before us; for with what propriety can the sun be said to challenge or set the East at defiance? Steevens.

Note return to page 592 4My foreward shall be drawn out all in length,] So Holinshed: “King Richard havyng all things in a readiness went forth with the army out of his tentes, and began to set his men in array: first the forward set forth a marvellous length, both of horsemen and also of footemen,—and to the formost part of all the bowmen as a strong fortresse for them that came after; and over this John duke of Norfolk was head captain. After him followed the king with a mighty sort of men.” The words out all are only found in the original quarto of 1597. Malone.

Note return to page 593 5&lblank; we ourself will follow &lblank;] The word—ourself was judiciously supplied by Sir Thomas Hanmer, to complete the verse. Steevens.

Note return to page 594 6This, and Saint George to boot!] That is, this is the order of our battle, which promises success; and over and above this, is the protection of our patron saint. Johnson. To boot is (as I conceive) to help, and not over and above. Hawkins. Mr. Hawkins is certainly right. So, in King Richard II.: “Mine innocence, and Saint George to thrive.” The old English phrase was, Saint George to borrow. So, in A Dialogue, &c. by Dr. William Bulleyne, 1564: “Maister and maistres, come into this vallie,—until this storme be past: Saincte George to borrowe, mercifull God, who did ever see the like?” Signat. K. 7. b. Malone. Dr. Johnson is undoubtedly right against both his opponents, one of whom has adduced the phrase “St. George to borrow,” unintentionally in support of him. To borrow is no more a verb than to boot; it means as a pledge or security, borrow being the Saxon term for a pledge. The phrase is an invocation to the saint to act as a protector. “Saint George to thrive” is evidently a misconceived paraphrase of the old mode of expression, by improperly changing the substantive to a verb. Holinshed, in the speech of Richard before the battle, introduces “St. George to borrowe.” Douce.

Note return to page 595 7This found I on my tent this morning.] Sir Thomas Hanmer supplies the deficiency in the metre of this line, by reading: “This paper found I,” &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 596 8&lblank; be not too bold,] The quartos 1597 and 1598, and the folio, read—so bold. But it was certainly an error of the press; for in both Hall and Holinshed, the words are given as in the text. Malone.

Note return to page 597 9Dickon thy master, &c.] Dickon is the ancient vulgar familiarization of Richard. In Gammer Gurton's Needle, 1575, Diccon is the name of the Bedlam.—In the words—bought and sold, I believe, there is somewhat proverbial. So, in The Comedy of Errors: “It would make a man as mad as a buck, to be so bought and sold.” Again, in King John: “Fly, noble English, you are bought and sold.” Again, in Troilus and Cressida, with an addition that throws more light on the phrase: “&lblank; Thou art bought and sold among those of any wit, like a Barbarian slave.” Steevens. Again, in Mortimeriados, a poem, by Michael Drayton, no date: “Is this the kindnes that thou offerest me? “And in thy country am I bought and sold?” Again, in Skelton's Colin Clout, 1568: “How prelacy is sold and bought, “And come up of nought.” Again, in Bacon's History of King Henry VII.: “&lblank; all the news ran upon the duke of Yorke, that he had been entertained in Ireland, bought and sold in France,” &c. The expression seems to have signified that some foul play has been used. The foul play alluded to here, was Stanley's desertion. Malone.

Note return to page 598 1Let not our babbling dreams, &c.] I suspect these six lines to be an interpolation; but if Shakspeare was really guilty of them in his first draught, he probably intended to leave them out when he substituted the much more proper harangue that follows. Tyrwhitt.

Note return to page 599 2Conscience is but a word &lblank;] So the quartos 1597 and 1598. But being accidentally omitted in a later quarto, the editor of the folio supplied the omission by reading—“For conscience is a word,” &c. Malone.

Note return to page 600 3If not to heaven, then hand in hand to hell.] So, in Macbeth: “That summons thee to heaven, or to hell.” Again, in King Henry VI. Part II.: “If not in heaven, you'll surely sup in hell.” Steevens.

Note return to page 601 4A sort of vagabonds,] A sort, that is, a company, a collection. Johnson.

Note return to page 602 5&lblank; ventures &lblank;] Old copies—adventures. Steevens.

Note return to page 603 6&lblank; they bring to you unrest;] So the quarto 1597. All the subsequent copies read: “&lblank; bring you to unrest.” Malone.

Note return to page 604 7They would restrain the one,] i. e. they would lay restrictions on the possession of your lands, impose conditions on the proprietors of them. Dr. Warburton for restrain substituted distrain, which has been adopted by all the subsequent editors. “To distrain,” says he, “is to seize upon;” but to distrain is not to seize generally, but to seize goods, cattle, &c. for nonpayment of rent, or for the purpose of enforcing the process of courts. The restrictions likely to be imposed by a conquering enemy on lands, are imposts, contributions, &c. or absolute confiscation. —“And if he [Henry Earl of Richmond] should atchieve his false intent and purpose,” (says Richard in his circular letter sent to the Sheriffs of the several counties in England on this occasion; Paston Letters, ii. 321,) “every man's life, livelihood, and goods, shall be in his hands, liberty, and disposition.” Malone.

Note return to page 605 8Long kept in Bretagne at our mother's cost?] This is spoken by Richard, of Henry Earl of Richmond; but they were far from having any common mother, but England: and the Earl of Richmond was not subsisted abroad at the nation's public charge. During the greatest part of his residence abroad, he was watched and restrained almost like a captive; and subsisted by supplies conveyed from the Countess of Richmond, his mother. It seems probable, therefore, that we must read: “Long kept in Bretagne at his mother's cost.” Theobald. “Our mother's cost?” Mr. Theobald perceives to be wrong: he reads, therefore, and all the editors after him: “Long kept in Bretagne at his mother's cost.” But give me leave to transcribe a few more lines from Holinshed, and you will find at once, that Shakspeare had been there before me: “You see further, how a company of traitors, theeves, outlaws, and runagates be aiders and partakers of this feate and enterprize. —And to begin with the erle of Richmond, captaine of this rebellion, he is a Welch milksop—brought up by my moother's meanes and mine, like a captive in a close cage in the court of Francis Duke of Britaine.” P. 756. Holinshed copies this verbatim from his brother chronicler, 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 ought to be in Shakspeare. Farmer. See a Letter of King Richard III. persuading his subjects to resist Henry Tydder, &c. in Sir John Fenn's Collection of the Paston Letters, vol. ii. p. 318. Henley. Henry Earl of Richmond was long confined in the court of the Duke of Britaine, and supported there by Charles Duke of Burgundy, who was brother-in-law to King Richard. Hence Mr. Theobald justly observed that mother in the text was not conformable to the fact. But Shakspeare, as Dr. Farmer has observed, was led into this error by Holinshed, where he found the preceding passage in an oration which Hall, in imitation of the ancient historians, invented, and exhibited as having been spoken by the King to his soldiers before the battle of Bosworth. If, says a Remarker, [Mr. Ritson,] it ought to be so in Shakspeare, why stop at this correction, and why not in K. Henry V. print præcarissimus instead of præclarissimus? And indeed if brother is to be substituted for mother here, there can be no reason why all other similar errors should not be corrected in like manner. But the Remarker misunderstood Dr. Farmer's words, which only mean—as it is in the original, and as Shakspeare ought to have written. Dr. Farmer did not say—“as it ought to be printed in Shakspeare.” In all the other places where Shakspeare had been led into errors by mistakes of the press, or by false translations, his text has been very properly exhibited as he wrote it; for it is not the business of an editor to new-write his author's works. Thus, in Antony and Cleopatra, Act IV. Sc. I. we have—“Let the old ruffian know, I have many other ways to die;” though we know the sense of the passage in Plutarch there copied is,—that “he [the old ruffian] hath many other ways to die.” Again, in Julius Cæsar, Antony is still permitted to say, that Cæsar had left the Roman people his arbours and orchards “on this side Tyber,” though it ought to be—“on that side Tyber:” both which mistakes Shakspeare was led into by the ambiguity and inaccuracy of the old translation of Plutarch. In like manner in King Henry V. præclarissimus is exhibited as it was written by Shakspeare, instead of præcarissimus; and in the same play I have followed our author in printing in vol. xvii. p. 270, Lewis the tenth, though Lewis the ninth was the person meant: an error into which he was led, as in the present instance, by a mistake of the press. For all such inaccuracies, the poet, and not his editor, is responsible: and in the passage now under our consideration more particularly the text ought not to be disturbed, because it ascertains a point of some moment; namely, that Holinshed, and not Hall, was the historian that Shakspeare followed. Of how much consequence this is, the reader may ascertain by turning to the Dissertation on the Plays of King Henry VI. where this circumstance, if I do not deceive myself, contributes not a little in addition to the other proofs there adduced, to settle a long-agitated question, and to show that those plays were re-written by Shakspeare, and not his original composition. Malone. It has been already stated by Dr. Farmer that the mistake here of mother for brother must be placed to the account of the book which Shakspeare followed, viz. Holinshed's chronicle; but the doctor has omitted to notice that in the first edition of Holinshed the word is rightly printed brother. It is no otherwise worth while to mention this fact, than that it points out the particular edition of the above historian which Shakspeare used. Nothing can be more judicious nor decisive than Mr. Malone's argument for retaining the historical errors of Shakspeare, and Mr. Ritson's desire of changing the text does not correspond with those principles of accuracy on which he laid so much stress. Douce.

Note return to page 606 9A milk-sop, &c.] So, in The Mirrour for Magistrates, already quoted: “First with our foe-mens captaine to begin, “A weake Welch milksop &lblank;.” Alluding perhaps to goat's milk, of which anciently the Welsh were fonder than they are at present. Steevens.

Note return to page 607 1&lblank; bold yeomen!] So the quarto 1597. All the other ancient copies—boldly. Malone.

Note return to page 608 9Amaze the welkin with your broken staves!] That is, fright the skies with the shivers of your lances. Johnson. So, in Soliman and Perseda: “Now by the marble face of the welkin.” A similar idea is more tamely expressed in W. Smith's Palsgrave, 1613: “Spears flew in splinters half the way to heaven.” The same imagery is justified by the following passage in Froissart's Chronicle, vol. ii. cap. lxxviii.: “Syr Raynolde du Roy brake his spere in iiii peces, and the shevers flewe a grete hyght in to the ayre.” Steevens.

Note return to page 609 1Off instantly, &c.] The word—instantly, was supplied by Sir Thomas Hanmer. Without it, this line has no pretensions to metre. Steevens.

Note return to page 610 2&lblank; the enemy is pass'd the marsh;] There was a large marsh in Bosworth plain between the two armies. Henry passed it, and made such a disposition of his forces that it served to protect his right wing. By this movement he gained also another point, that his men should engage with the sun behind them, and in the faces of his enemies: a matter of great consequence when bows and arrows were in use. Malone.

Note return to page 611 3Advance our standards, &c.] So again, in The Mirrour of Magistrates; and apparently borrowed from Shakspeare:   “Advance then captaines, forward to the fight, “Draw forth your swords, each man address his sheeld;   “Hence faint conceites, die thoughts of coward flight, “To heaven your hearts, to fight your valours yeeld: “Behold our foes do brave us in the field. “Upon them, friends; the cause is yours and mine; “Saint George and conquest on our helmes doth shine.” Steevens. So Holinshed after Hall: “&lblank; like valiant champions advance forth your standardes, and assay whether your enemies can decide and try the title of battaile by dint of sword; avaunce, I say again, forward, my captaines.—Now Saint George to borrow, let us set forward.” Malone.

Note return to page 612 4Daring an opposite to every danger;] Perhaps the poet wrote: “Daring and opposite to every danger.” Tyrwhitt. Perhaps the following passage in Chapman's version of the eighth book of Homer's Odyssey may countenance the old reading: “&lblank; a most dreadful fight “Daring against him.” Steevens. The old reading is perhaps right. An opposite is frequently used by Shakspeare and the contemporary writers, for adversary. So, in Twelfth-Night: “&lblank; your opposite hath in him what youth, strength, skill, and wrath, can furnish man withal.” Again: “&lblank; and his opposite the youth bears in his visage no presage of cruelty.” So, in Blurt Mr. Constable, a comedy, by Middleton, 1602: “&lblank; to strengthen us against all opposites.” Again, more appositely, in Marston's Antonio and Mellida, 1602: “Myself, myself, will dare all opposites.” The sense then should seem to be, that King Richard enacts wonders, “daring the adversary he meets with to every danger attending single combat.” Malone. To dare a single opposite to every danger, is no very wonderful exploit.—I should therefore adopt Tyrwhitt's amendment, which infers that he flew to oppose every danger, wherever it was to be found, and read with him, “and opposite.” M. Mason.

Note return to page 613 5A horse! a horse!] In The Battle of Alcazar, 1594, the Moor calls cut in the same manner: “A horse, a horse, villain a horse! “That I may take the river straight, and fly! “&lblank; Here is a horse, my lord, “As swiftly pac'd as Pegasus.” This passage in Shakspeare appears to have been imitated by several of the old writers, if not stolen. So, Heywood, in the Second Part of his Iron Age, 1632: “&lblank; a horse, a horse! “Ten kingdoms for a horse to enter Troy.” Steevens. Marston seems to have imitated this line in his Satires, 1599: “A man, a man, a kingdom for a man!” Malone. This line is introduced into Marston's What You Will, Act II. Sc. I. 4to. 1607: “Ha! he mounts Chirall on the wings of fame, “A horse! a horse! my kingdome for a horse! “Looke thee, I speake play scraps,” &c. Reed. It is thus given in the old interlude (see the end of this play): “A horse! a horse! a fresh horse.”

Note return to page 614 6Five have I slain to-day, instead of him:] Shakspeare had employed this incident with historical propriety in The First Part of King Henry IV. Steevens. Shakspeare had good ground for this poetical exaggeration; Richard, according to Polydore Virgil, was determined, if possible, to engage with Richmond in single combat. [See p. 240, 1. 2.] For this purpose he rode furiously to that quarter of the field where the Earl was; attacked his stand-bearer, Sir William Brandon, and killed him; then assaulted Sir John Cheny, whom he overthrew: having thus at length cleared his way to his antagonist, he engaged in single combat with him, and probably would have been victorious, but that at that instant Sir William Stanley with three thousand men joined Richmond's army, and the royal forces fled with great precipitation. Richard was soon afterwards overpowered by numbers, and fell, fighting bravely to the last moment. Malone.

Note return to page 615 7A horse! a horse!] Some enquiry hath been made for the first performers of the capital characters of Shakspeare. We learn, that Burbage, the alter Roscius of Camden, was the original Richard, from a passage in the poems of Bishop Corbet; who introduced his host at Bosworth describing the battle: “But when he would have said king Richard died, “And call'd a horse, a horse, he Burbage cried.” Farmer.

Note return to page 616 8&lblank; of this bloody wretch &lblank;] It is not necessary to suppose that Richmond points to the dead body of Richard, when he speaks of him. According to an ancient idiom in our language, the demonstrative pronoun is often used instead of the prepositive article. So, in King Henry IV. Part I.: “&lblank; but for these vile guns “He would himself have been a soldier.” Steevens.

Note return to page 617 9But, tell me first, &c.] The word—first was introduced by Sir Thomas Hanmer, to complete the verse. Steevens.

Note return to page 618 1&lblank; as we have ta'en the sacrament,] So, in Holinshed, p. 745: “The earle himselfe first tooke a corporall oth on his honor, promising that incontinent after he shuld be possessed of the crowne and dignitie of the realme of England, he would be conjoined in matrimonie with the ladie Elizabeth, daughter to king Edward the Fourth.” Steevens.

Note return to page 619 2All this divided York and Lancaster, Divided, in their dire division.] I think the passage will be somewhat improved by a slight alteration: “All that divided York and Lancaster, “Divided in their dire division, “O now let Richmond and Elizabeth, “The true succeeders of each royal house, “By God's fair ordinance conjoin together!” Let them unite all that York and Lancaster divided. Johnson.

Note return to page 620 3Abate the edge &lblank;] To abate, is to lower, depress, subdue. So, in Coriolanus: “&lblank; deliver you, as most “Abated captives &lblank;.” Steevens.

Note return to page 621 4&lblank; reduce &lblank;] i. e. bring back; an obsolete sense of the word. So, in The goodly History of the moste noble and beautiful Ladye Lucres of Scene in Tuskan, and of her louer Eurialus, &c. 1560: “The mornynge forsakyng the golden bed of Titan, reduced the desyred day &lblank;.” Steevens.

Note return to page 622 5This 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 exhibition, cannot be denied. But some parts are trifling, others shocking, and some improbable. Johnson. I agree entirely with Dr. Johnson in thinking that this play from its first exhibition to the present hour has been estimated greatly beyond its merit. From the many allusions to it in the books of that age, and the great number of editions it passed through, I suspect it was more often represented and more admired than any of our author's tragedies. Its popularity perhaps in some measure arose from the detestation in which Richard's character was justly held, which must have operated more strongly on those whose grand-fathers might have lived near his time; and from its being patronized by the Queen on the throne, who probably was not a little pleased at seeing King Henry VII. placed in the only favourable light in which he could have been exhibited on the scene. Malone. 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 compass. No wonder, therefore, that the discriminating powers of a Burbage, a Garrick, and a Henderson, should at different periods have given it a popularity beyond other dramas of the same author. Yet the favour with which this tragedy is now received, must also in some measure be imputed to Mr. Cibber's reformation of it, which, generally considered, is judicious: for what modern audience would patiently listen to the narrative of Clarence's dream, his subsequent expostulation with the Murderers, the prattle of his children, the soliloquy of the Scrivener, the tedious dialogue of the Citizens, the ravings of Margaret, the gross terms thrown out by the Duchess of York on Richard, the repeated progress to execution, the superfluous train of spectres, and other undramatick incumbrances, which must have prevented the more valuable parts of the play from rising into their present effect and consequence?—The expulsion of languor, therefore, must atone for such remaining want of probability as is inseparable from an historical drama into which the events of fourteen years are irregularly compressed. Steevens.

Note return to page 623 I shall here subjoin two Dissertations, one by Dr. Warburton, and one by Mr. Upton, upon the Vice. ACT III. SCENE I. “Thus like the formal vice, Iniquity, &c.” As this corrupt reading in the common books hath occasioned our saying something of the barbarities of theatrical representations amongst us before the time of Shakspeare, it may not be improper, for a better apprehension of this whole, to give the reader some general account of the rise and progress of the modern stage. The first form in which the drama appeared in the west of Europe, after the destruction of learned Greece and Rome, and that a calm of dulness had finished upon letters what the rage of barbarism had begun, was that of the Mysteries. These were the fashionable and favourite diversions of all ranks of people both in France, Spain, and England. In which last place, as we learn by Stow, they were in use about the time of Richard the second and Henry the fourth. As to Italy, by what I can find, the first rudiments of their stage, with regard to the matter, were prophane subjects, and, with regard to the form, a corruption of the ancient mimes and attellants: by which means they got sooner into the right road than their neighbours; having had regular plays amongst them wrote as early as the fifteenth century. As to these mysteries, they were, as their name speaks them, a representation of some scripture-story, to the life: as may be seen from the following passage in an old French history, intitled, La Chronique de Metz composée par le curé de St. Euchaire; which will give the reader no bad idea of the surprising absurdity of these strange representations: “L'an 1437 le 3 Juillet (says the honest Chronicler,) fut fait le Jeu de la Passion de N. S. en la plaine de Veximiel. Et fut Dieu un sire appellé Seigneur Nicolle Dom Neufchastel, lequel etoit Cure de St. Victour de Metz, lequel fut presque mort en la Croix, s'il ne fut eté secourus; et convient qu'un autre Prêtre fut mis en la Croix pour parfaire le Personnage du Crucifiment pour ce jour; et le lendemain le dit Curé de St. Victour parfit la Resurrection, et fit très hautement son personage; et dura le dit Jeu—Et autre Prêtre qui s'appelloit Mre. Jean de Nicey, qui estoit Chapelain de Metrange, fut Judas: lequel fut presque mort en pendent, car le cuer li faillit, et fut bien hâtivement dependu et porté en Voye. Et etoit la bouche d'Enfer tresbien faite; car elle ouvroit et clooit, quand les Diables y vouloient entrer et isser; et avoit deux gross Culs d'Acier,” &c. Alluding to this kind of representations Archbishop Harsnet, in his Declaration of Popish Impostures, p. 71, says: “The little children were never so afraid of Hell-mouth in the old plays, painted with great gang teeth, staring eyes, and foul bottle nose.” Carew, in his Survey of Cornwall, gives a fuller description of them in these words, “The Guary Miracle, in English a Miracle Play, is a kind of interlude compiled in Cornish out of some scripture history. For representing it, they raise an earthen amphitheatre in some open field, having the diameter of an inclosed playne, some 40 or 50 foot. The country people flock from all sides many miles off, to hear and see it. For they have therein devils and devices, to delight as well the eye as the ear. The players conne not their parts without book, but are prompted by one called the ordinary, who followeth at their back with the book in his hand,” &c. &c. There was always a droll or buffoon in these mysteries, to make the people mirth with his sufferings or absurdities: and they could think of no better a personage to sustain this part than the devil himself. Even in the mystery of the Passion mentioned above, it was contrived to make him ridiculous. Which circumstance is hinted at by Shakspeare (who had frequent allusions to these things) in The Taming of the Shrew, where one of the players asks for a little vinegar, (as a property) to make the devil roar* [Subnote: *This is not in Shakspeare's play, but in the old play entitled The Taming of a Shrew. Malone.] . For after the sponge with the gall and vinegar had been employed in the representation, they used to clap it to the nose of the devil; which making him roar, as if it had been holy-water, afforded infinite diversion to the people. So that vinegar, in the old farces, was always afterwards in use to torment their devil. We have divers old English proverbs, in which the devil is represented as acting or suffering ridiculously and absurdly, which all arose from the part he bore in these mysteries, as in that, for instance, of—Great Cry and Little Wool, as the Devil said when he sheered his Hogs. For the sheep-shearing of Nabal being represented in the Mystery of David and Abigail, and the devil always attending Nabal, was made to imitate it by shearing a hog. This kind of absurdity, as it is the properest to create laughter, was the subject of the ridiculous in the ancient mimes, as we learn from these words of Saint Austin: “Ne faciamus ut mimi solent, et optemus à Libero aquam à lymphis vinum* [Subnote: *Civ. D. l. iv.] . These mysteries, we see, were given in France at first, as well as in England, sub dio, and only in the provinces. Afterwards we find them got into Paris, and a company established in the Hôtel de Bourgogne to represent them. But good letters and religion beginning to make their way in the latter end of the reign of Francis the first, the stupidity and prophaneness of the mysteries made the courtiers and clergy join their interest for their suppression. Accordingly, in the year 1541, the procureur-general, in the name of the king, presented a request against the company to the parliament. The three principal branches of his charge against them were, that the representation of the Old Testament stories inclined the people to Judaism; that the New Testament stories encouraged libertinism and infidelity: and that both of them lessened the charities to the poor. It seems that this prosecution succeeded; for, in 1548, the parliament of Paris confirmed the company in the possession of the Hôtel de Bourgogne, but interdicted the representation of the mysteries. But in Spain, we find by Cervantes, that they continued much longer; and held their own, even after good comedy came in amongst them: as appears from the excellent critique of the canon, in the fourth book, where he shows how the old extravagant romances might be made the foundation of a regular epic (which, he says, tambien puede escriverse en prosa como en verso† [Subnote: †B. iv. c. 20.] ;) as the mystery-plays might be improved into artful comedy. His words are, “Pues que si venimos à las comedias divinas, que de milagros falsos fingen en ellas, que de cosas apocrifas, y mal entendidas, attribueyendo a un santo los milagros de otro‡ [Subnote: ‡Ibid. 21.] ;” which made them so fond of miracles that they introduced them into las comedias humanas, as he calls them. To return: Upon this prohibition, the French poets turned themselves from religious to moral farces. And in this we soon followed them: the publick taste not suffering any great alteration at first, though the Italians at this time afforded many just compositions for better models. These farces they called moralities. Pierre Gringore, one of their old poets, printed one of these moralities, intitled La Moralité de l'Homme Obstiné. The persons of the drama are l'Homme Obstiné—Pugnition Divine—Simonie—Hypocrisie —and Demerites-Communes. The Homme Obstiné is the atheist, and comes in blaspheming, and determined to persist in his impieties. Then Pugnition Divine appears, sitting on a throne in the air, and menacing the atheist with punishment. After this scene, Simonie, Hypocrisie, and Demerites-Communes appear and play their parts. In conclusion, Pugnition Divine returns, preaches to them, upbraids them with their crimes, and, in short, draws them all to repentance, all but the Homme Obstiné, who persists in his impiety, and is destroyed for an example. To this sad serious subject they added, though in a separate representation, a merry kind of farce called Sottié, in which there was un Paysan [the Clown] under the name of Sot-Common [or Fool]. But we, who borrowed all these delicacies from the French, blended the Moralité and Sottié together: So that the Paysan or Sot-Commun, the Clown or Fool, got a place in our serious moralities: Whose business we may understand in the frequent allusions our Shakspeare makes to them: as in that fine speech in the beginning of the third Act of Measure for Measure, where we have this obscure passage: “&lblank; merely thou art Death's Fool, “For him thou labour'st by thy flight to shun, “And yet runn'st tow'rd him still.” For, in these moralities, the Fool of the piece, in order to show the inevitable approaches of Death, (another of the Dramatis Personæ,) is made to employ all his stratagems to avoid him; which, as the matter is ordered, bring the Fool, at every turn, into the very jaws of his enemy: So that a representation of these scenes would afford a great deal of good mirth and morals mixed together. The very same thing is again alluded to in these lines of Love's Labour's Lost: “So Portent-like I would o'er-rule his state, “That he should be my Fool, and I his Fate.” Act IV. Sc. II. But the French, as we say, keeping these two sorts of farces distinct, they became, in time, the parents of tragedy and comedy; while we, by jumbling them together, begot, in an evil hour, that mongrel species, unknown to nature and antiquity, called tragi-comedy. Warburton. To this, when Mr. Upton's Dissertation is subjoined, there will, perhaps, be no need of any other account of the Vice. “Like the old Vice.” The allusion here* [Subnote: *i. e. p. 3, of Mr. Upton's book, where the words—“like the old Vice”—occur. Malone.] is to the Vice, a droll character in our old plays, accoutred with a long coat, a cap with a pair of ass's ears, and a dagger of lath. Shakspeare alludes to his buffoon appearance in Twelfth-Night, Act IV.: “In a trice, like to the old Vice;— “Who with dagger of lath, in his rage and his wrath, “Cries, ah, ha! to the Devil.” In The Second Part of King Henry IV. Act III. Falstaff compares Shallow to a Vice's dagger of lath. In Hamlet, Act III. Hamlet calls his uncle: “A vice of kings.” i. e. a ridiculous representation of majesty. These passages the editors have very rightly expounded. I will now mention some others, which seem to have escaped their notice, the allusions being not quite so obvious. The iniquity was often the Vice in our moralities; and is introduced in Ben Jonson's play called The Devil's an Ass: and likewise mentioned in his Epigr. cxv.: “Being no vitious person, but the Vice “About the town, “Acts old Iniquity, and in the fit “Of miming, gets th' opinion of a wit.” But a passage cited from his play will make the following observations more plain. Act I. Pug asks the devil “to lend him a Vice:” “Satan. What Vice? “What kind would thou have it of? “Pug. Why, any Fraud, “Or Covetousness, or lady Vanity, “Or old Iniquity: I'll call him hither.” Thus the passage should be ordered: “Pug. Why any: Fraud, “Or Covetousness, or lady Vanity, “Or old Iniquity. “Pug. I'll call him hither.” “Enter Iniquity the Vice.” “Ini. What is he calls upon me, and would seem to lack a Vice? “Ere his words be half spoken, I am with him in a trice.” And in his Staple of News, Act II.: “Mirth. How like you the Vice i' th' play? “Expectation. Which is he? “Mirth. Three or four; old Covetousness, the sordid Penny-Boy, the Money-Bawd, who is a flesh-bawd too, they say. “Tattle. But here is never a Fiend to carry him away. Besides, he has never a wooden dagger! I'd not give a rush for a Vice, that has not a wooden dagger to snap at every body he meets. “Mirth. That was the old way, gossip, when Iniquity came in, like hokos pokos, in a jugler's jerkin,” &c. He alludes to the Vice in The Alchymist, Act I. Sc. III.: “Sub. And, on your stall, a puppet, with a Vice* [Subnote: *“&lblank; a puppet, with a Vice.” Mr. Upton has misinterpreted this passage. A vice in the present instance means a device, clock-work. Coryat, p. 251, speaks of a picture whose eyes were moved by a vice. Farmer.] .” Some places of Shakspeare will from hence appear more easy, as in The First Part of King Henry IV. Act II. where Hal humorously characterizing Falstaff, calls him, “That reverend Vice, that grey Iniquity, that father Ruffian, that Vanity in years,” in allusion to this buffoon character. In King Richard III. Act III.: “Thus like the formal Vice, Iniquity, “I moralize two meanings in one word.” Iniquity is the formal Vice. Some correct the passage: “Thus like the formal-wise antiquity, “I moralize: Two meanings in one word.” Which correction is out of all rule of criticism. In Hamlet, Act I. there is an allusion, still more distant, to the Vice; which will not be obvious at first, and therefore is to be introduced with a short explanation. This buffoon character was used to make fun with the Devil; and he had several trite expressions, as, I'll be with you in a trice: Ah, ha, boy, are you there? &c. And this was great entertainment to the audience, to see their old enemy so belaboured in effigy. In King Henry V. Act IV. a boy characterizing Pistol, says, “Bardolph and Nym had ten times more valour, than this roaring Devil i' the old play: every one may pare his nails with a wooden dagger.” Now, Hamlet, having been instructed by his father's ghost, is resolved to break the subject of the discourse to none but Horatio; and to all others his intention is to appear as a sort of madman; when therefore the oath of secrecy is given to the centinels, and the Ghost unseen calls out, swear; Hamlet speaks to it as the Vice does to the Devil. “Ah, ha, boy, say'st thou so? Art thou there, Truepenny?” Hamlet had a mind that the centinels should imagine this was a shape that the devil had put on; and in Act. III. he is somewhat of this opinion himself: “The spirit that I have seen “May be the devil.” The manner of speech therefore to the Devil was what all the audience were well acquainted with: and it takes off, in some measure, from the horror of the scene. Perhaps too the poet was willing to inculcate, that good humour is the best weapon to deal with the Devil. Truepenny, either by way of irony, or literally from the Greek, &grt;&grr;&grua;&grp;&gra;&grn;&gro;&grn;, veterator. Which word the Scholiast on Aristophanes' Clouds, ver. 447, explains, &grt;&grr;&grua;&grm;&grh;, &gro; &grp;&gre;&grr;&gri;&grt;&gre;&grt;&grr;&gri;&grm;&grm;&grea;&grn;&gro;&grst; &gres;&grn; &grt;&gro;&gri;&grst; &grp;&grr;&graa;&grg;&grm;&gra;&grs;&gri;&grn; &grora;&grn; &grhr;&grm;&gre;&gric;&grst; &grT;&grR;&grU;&grP;&grA;&grN;&grO;&grN; &grk;&gra;&grl;&gro;&gruc;&grm;&gre;&grn;. Several have tried to find a derivation of the Vice: if I should not hit on the right, I should only err with others. The Vice is either a quality personalized, as &grB;&grI;&grH; and &grK;&grA;&grR;&grT;&grO;&grST; in Hesiod and Æschylus; Sin and Death in Milton; and indeed Vice itself is a person, b. xi. 517: “And took his image whom they serv'd, a brutish Vice.” his image, i. e. a brutish Vice's image: the Vice, Gluttony; not without some allusion to the Vice of the plays: but rather, I think, 'tis an abbreviation of vice-devil, as vice-roy, vice-doges, &c. and therefore properly called the Vice. He makes very free with his master, like most other vice-roys, or prime ministers. So that he is the Devil's Vice, and prime minister; and 'tis this that makes him so saucy. Upton. Mr. Upton's learning only supplies him with absurdities. His derivation of vice is too ridiculous to be answered. I have nothing to add to the observations of these learned criticks, but that some traces of this antiquated exhibition are still retained in the rustick puppet-plays, in which I have seen the Devil very lustily belaboured by Punch, whom I hold to be the legitimate successor of the old Vice. Johnson.

Note return to page 624 I have not thought it necessary to point out the particular passages in which a resemblance may be traced between the foregoing drama, and our author's Richard the Third; but, I think, the reader will be satisfied that Shakspeare must have seen it when he sat down to the composition of his own play. Who the author was of the original performance, is a question of minor importance; but I am inclined to think it was the same person who wrote Locrine, which has been absurdly ascribed to Shakspeare himself. If the reader will turn back to p. 291, and compare Richard's soliloquy with the following lines from the play I have mentioned, he will be able to judge how far I am justified in ascribing both to the same person: “The boysterous Boreas thundreth forth revenge “The stonie rocks crie out on sharpe revenge Sound the alarme. “Now Corineus staie and see revenge!” &c. Again: “What said I falshood? I that filthie crime, “For Locrine hath forsaken Guendoline. “Behold the heavens do waile for Guendoline. “The shining sunne doth blush for Guendoline. “The liquid aire doth weep for Guendoline. “The verie ground doth grone for Guendoline. “I. they are milder then the Brittaine King. “For he rejecteth lucklesse Guendoline.” The lamentable Tragedie of Locrine, 1595. Boswell.

Note return to page 625 1&lblank; or to see a fellow In a long motley coat,] Alluding to the fools and buffoons, introduced in the plays a little before our author's time: and of whom he has left us a small taste in his own. Theobald. In Marston's 10th Satire there is an allusion to this kind of dress: “The long foole's coat, the huge slop, the lugg'd boot, “From mimick Piso all doe claime their roote.” Thus also Nashe, in his Epistle Dedicatory to Have with you to Saffron Walden, or Gabriel Harvey's Hunt is up, 1596: “&lblank; fooles, ye know, alwaies for the most part (especiallie if they bee naturall fooles) are suted in long coats.” Steevens.

Note return to page 626 2&lblank; such a show As fool and fight is,] This is not the only passage in which Shakspeare has discovered his conviction of the impropriety of battles represented on the stage. He knew that five or six men with swords, gave a very unsatisfactory idea of an army, and therefore, without much care to excuse his former practice, he allows that a theatrical fight would destroy all opinion of truth, and leave him never an understanding friend. Magnis ingeniis et multa nihilominus habituris simplex convenit erroris confessio. Yet I know not whether the coronation shown in this play may not be liable to all that can be objected against a battle. Johnson. See the notes at the end of the epilogue. Boswell.

Note return to page 627 3&lblank; the opinion that we bring, (To make that only true we now intend,)] These lines I do not understand, and suspect them of corruption. I believe we may better read thus: “&lblank; the opinion that we bring, “Or make; that only truth we now intend. Johnson. To intend, in our author, has sometimes the same meaning as to pretend. So, in King Richard III.: “The mayor is here at hand: Intend some fear &lblank;.” Again: “Tremble and start at wagging of a straw, “Intending deep suspicion.” Steevens. If any alteration were necessary, I should be for only changing the order of the words, and reading: “That only true to make we now intend:” i. e. that now we intend to exhibit only what is true. This passage, and others of this Prologue, in which great stress is laid upon the truth of the ensuing representation, would lead one to suspect, that this play of Henry the VIIIth. is the very play mentioned by Sir H. Wotton, [in his Letter of 2 July, 1613, Reliq. Wotton, p. 425,] under the description of “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 VIIIth.” The “extraordinary circumstances of pomp and majesty,” with which, Sir Henry says, that play was set forth, and the particular incident of “certain cannons shot off at the King's entry to a masque at the Cardinal Wolsey's house,” (by which the theatre was set on fire and burnt to the ground,) are strictly applicable to the play before us. Mr. Chamberlaine, in Winwood's Memorials, vol. iii. p. 469, mentions “the burning of the Globe, or playhouse, on the Bankside, on St. Peter's-day [1613,] which (says he) fell out by a peale of chambers, that I know not on what occasion were to be used in the play.” Ben Jonson, in his Execration upon Vulcan, says, they were two poor chambers. [See the stage-direction in this play, a little before the King's entrance: “Drum and trumpet, chambers discharged.”] The Continuator of Stowe's Chronicle, relating the same accident, p. 1003, says expressly, that it happened at “the play of Henry the VIIIth.” In a MS. Letter of Tho. Lorkin to Sir Tho. Puckering, dated London, this last of June, 1613, the same fact is thus related: “No longer since than yesterday, while Bourbage his companie were acting at the Globe the play of Henry VIII. and there shooting of certayne chambers in way of triumph, the fire catch'd,” &c. MS. Harl. 7002. Tyrwhitt. I have followed a regulation recommended by an anonymous correspondent, and only included the contested line in a parenthesis, which in some editions was placed before the word beside. Opinion, I believe, means here, as in one of the parts of King Henry IV. character. [“Thou hast redeem'd thy lost opinion.” King Henry IV. Part I. vol. xvi. p. 400.] To realize and fulfil the expectations formed of our play, is now our object. This sentiment (to say nothing of the general style of this prologue) could never have fallen from the modest Shakspeare. I have no doubt that the whole prologue was written by Ben Jonson, at the revival of the play, in 1613. Malone.

Note return to page 628 4The first and happiest hearers of the town,] Were it necessary to strengthen Dr. Johnson's and Dr. Farmer's supposition, (see notes on the epilogue,) that old Ben, not Shakspeare, was author of the prologue before us, we might observe, that happy appears, in the present instance, to have been used with one of its Roman significations, i. e. propitious or favourable: “Sis bonus O, felixque tuis!” Virg. Ecl. 5; a sense of the word which must have been unknown to Shakspeare, but was familiar to Jonson. Steevens.

Note return to page 629 5&lblank; Think, ye see The very persons of our noble story,] Why the rhyme should have been interrupted here, when it was so easily to be supplied, I cannot conceive. It can only be accounted for from the negligence of the press, or the transcribers; and therefore I have made no scruple to replace it thus: “&lblank; Think, before ye.” Theobald. This is specious, but the laxity of the versification in this prologue, and in the following epilogue, makes it not necessary. Johnson. Mr. Heath would read: “&lblank; of our history.” Steevens. The word story was not intended to make a double, but merely a single rhyme, though, it must be acknowledged, a very bad one, the last syllable, ry, corresponding in sound with see. I thought Theobald right, till I observed a couplet of the same kind in the epilogue: “For this play at this time is only in “The merciful construction of good women.” In order to preserve the rhyme, the accent must be laid on the last syllable of the words women and story. A rhyme of the same kind occurs in The Knight of the Burning Pestle, where Master Humphrey says: “Till both of us arrive, at her request, “Some ten miles off in the wild Waltham forest.” M. Mason. See the Essay on Shakspeare's Versification, where I have attempted to shew that such rhymes were sometimes admitted in our author's time, in compositions which were not intended to be ludicrous, as The Knight of the Burning Pestle, or written with intended laxity of versification, as Dr. Johnson seems to have supposed was the case with the Prologue and Epilogue to this play. Boswell.

Note return to page 630 1Lord Abergavenny.] George Nevill, who married Mary, daughter of Edward Stafford, Duke of Buckingham. Reed.

Note return to page 631 2&lblank; a fresh admirer &lblank;] An admirer untired; an admirer still feeling the impression as if it were hourly renewed. Johnson.

Note return to page 632 3Those suns of glory,] That is, those glorious suns. The editor of the third folio plausibly enough reads—Those sons of glory; and indeed as in old English books the two words are used indiscriminately, the luminary being often spelt son, it is sometimes difficult to determine which is meant; sun or son. However, the subsequent part of the line, and the recurrence of the same expression afterwards, p. 314, l. 1. are in favour of the reading of the original copy. Malone. Pope has borrowed this phrase in his Imitation of Horace's Epistle to Augustus, v. 22: “Those suns of glory please not till they set.” Steevens.

Note return to page 633 4&lblank; Guynes and Arde:] Guynes then belonged to the English, and Arde to the French; they are towns in Picardy, and the valley of Ardren lay between them. Arde is Ardres, but both Hall and Holinshed write it as Shakspeare does. Reed.

Note return to page 634 5&lblank; as they grew together;] So, in All's Well that Ends Well: “I grow to you, and our parting is as a tortured body.” Again, in A Midsummer-Night's Dream: “So we grew together.” Steevens. “&lblank; as they grew together;” That is, as if they grew together. We have the same image in our author's Venus and Adonis: “&lblank; a sweet embrace; “Incorporate then they seem; face grows to face.” Malone.

Note return to page 635 6Till this time, pomp was single; but now married To one above itself.] The thought is odd and whimsical; and obscure enough to need an explanation. Till this time (says the speaker) pomp led a single life, as not finding a husband able to support her according to her dignity; but she has now got one in Henry VIII. who could support her, even above her condition, in finery. Warburton. Dr. Warburton has here discovered more beauty than the author intended, who only meant to say in a noisy periphrase, that “pomp was encreased on this occasion to more than twice as much as it had ever been before.” Pomp is no more married to the English than to the French King, for to neither is any preference given by the speaker. Pomp is only married to pomp, but the new pomp is greater than the old. Johnson. Before this time all pompous shows were exhibited by one prince only. On this occasion the Kings of England and France vied with each other. To this circumstance Norfolk alludes. M. Mason.

Note return to page 636 7&lblank; Each following day Became the next day's master, &c.] Dies diem docet. Every day learned something from the preceding, till the concluding day collected all the splendor of all the former shows. Johnson.

Note return to page 637 8All clinquant,] All glittering, all shining. Clarendon uses this word in his description of the Spanish Juego de Toros. Johnson. It is likewise used in A Memorable Masque, &c. performed before King James at Whitehall in 1613, at the marriage of the Palsgrave and Princess Elizabeth: “&lblank; his buskins clinquant as his other attire.” Steevens.

Note return to page 638 9&lblank; him in eye, Still him in praise:] So, Dryden: “Two chiefs “So match'd, as each seem'd worthiest when alone.” Johnson.

Note return to page 639 1Durst wag his tongue in censure.] Censure for determination, of which had the noblest appearance. Warburton.

Note return to page 640 2That Bevis was believ'd.] The old romantic legend of Bevis of Southampton. This Bevis, (or Beavois,) a Saxon, was for his prowess created by William the Conqueror Earl of Southampton: of whom Camden in his Britannia. Theobald.

Note return to page 641 3&lblank; the tract of every thing, &c.] The course of these triumphs and pleasures, however well related, must lose in the description part of that spirit and energy which were expressed in the real action. Johnson.

Note return to page 642 4&lblank; All was royal; &c.] This speech was given in all the editions to Buckingham; but improperly: for he wanted information, having kept his chamber during the solemnity. I have therefore given it to Norfolk. Warburton. The regulation had already been made by Mr. Theobald. Malone.

Note return to page 643 5&lblank; the office did Distinctly his full function.] The commission for regulating this festivity was well executed, and gave exactly to every particular person and action the proper place. Johnson.

Note return to page 644 6&lblank; certes,] An obsolete adverb, signifying—certainly, in truth, So, in The Tempest: “For, certes, these are people of the island.” It occurs again in Othello, Act I. Sc. I. It is remarkable, that, in the present instance, the adverb certes must be sounded as a monosyllable. It is well understood that old Ben had no skill in the pronunciation of the French language; and the scene before us appears to have had some touches from his pen. By genuine Shakspeare certes is constantly employed as a dissyllable. Steevens.

Note return to page 645 7&lblank; element &lblank;] No initiation, no previous practices. Elements are the first principles of things, or rudiments of knowledge. The word is here applied, not without a catachresis, to a person. Johnson.

Note return to page 646 8&lblank; no man's pie is free'd From his ambitious finger.] To have a finger in the pie, is a proverbial phrase. See Ray, 244. Reed.

Note return to page 647 9&lblank; fierce vanities?] Fierce is here, I think, used like the French fier for proud, unless we suppose an allusion to the mimical ferocity of the combatants in the tilt. Johnson. It is certainly used as the French word fier. So, in Ben Jonson's Bartholomew Fair, the Puritan says, the hobby horse “is a fierce and rank idol.” Steevens. Again, in The Rape of Lucrece: “Thy violent vanities can never last.” In Timon of Athens, we have— “O the fierce wretchedness that glory brings!” Malone.

Note return to page 648 1That such a keech &lblank;] A keech is a solid lump or mass. A cake of wax or tallow formed in a mould, is called yet in some places, a keech. Johnson. There may, perhaps, be a singular propriety in this term of contempt. Wolsey was the son of a butcher, and in The Second Part of King Henry IV. a butcher's wife is called—Goody Keech. Steevens.

Note return to page 649 2Out of his self-drawing web,] Thus it stands in the first edition. The latter editors, by injudicious correction, have printed: “Out of his self-drawn web.” Johnson.

Note return to page 650 3&lblank; he gives us note,] Old copy—“O gives us,” &c. Corrected by Mr. Steevens. Malone.

Note return to page 651 4A gift that heaven gives for him, which buys A place next to the king.] It is evident a word or two in the sentence is misplaced, and that we should read: “A gift that heaven gives; which buys for him “A place next to the king.” Warburton. It is full as likely that Shakspeare wrote: “&lblank; gives to him &lblank;.” which will save any greater alteration. Johnson. I am too dull to perceive the necessity of any change. What he is unable to give himself, heaven gives or deposits for him, and that gift, or deposit, buys a place, &c. Steevens. I agree with Johnson that we should read: “A gift that heaven gives to him:” for Abergavenny says in reply, “I cannot tell “What heaven hath given him:” which confirms the justness of this amendment. I should otherwise have thought Steevens's explanation right. M. Mason.

Note return to page 652 5&lblank; I can see his pride Peep through each part of him:] So, in Troilus and Cressida: “&lblank; her wanton spirits look out “At every joint and motive of her body.” Steevens.

Note return to page 653 6&lblank; the file &lblank;] That is, the list. Johnson. So, in Measure for Measure: “The greater file of the subject held the Duke for wise.” Again, in Macbeth: “&lblank; I have a file “Of all the gentry &lblank;.” Steevens.

Note return to page 654 7&lblank; council out,] Council not then sitting. Johnson. The expression rather means, “all mention of the board of council being left out of his letter.” Steevens. That is, left out, omitted, unnoticed, unconsulted with. Ritson. It appears from Holinshed, that this expression is rightly explained by Mr. Pope in the next note: “without the concurrence of the council.” “The peers of the realme receiving letters to prepare themselves to attend the king in this journey, and no apparent necessarie cause expressed, why or wherefore, seemed to grudge that such a costly journey should be taken in hand—without consent of the whole boarde of the Counsaille.” Malone.

Note return to page 655 8Must fetch him in he papers.] He papers, a verb; his own letter, by his own single authority, and without the concurrence of the council, must fetch him in whom he papers down.—I don't understand it, unless this be the meaning. Pope. Wolsey published a list of the several persons whom he had appointed to attend on the King at this interview. See Hall's Chronicle, Rymer's Fœdera, tom. xiii. &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 656 9Have broke their backs with laying manors on them For this great journey.] In the ancient Interlude of Nature, bl. l. no date, but apparently printed in the reign of King Henry VIII. there seems to have been a similar stroke aimed at this expensive expedition: “Pryde. I am unhappy, I se it well, “For the expence of myne apparell “Towardys this vyage— “What in horses and other aray “Hath compelled me for to lay “All my land to mortgage.” Chapman has introduced the same idea into his version of the second Iliad: “Proud-girle-like, that doth ever beare her dowre upon her backe.” Steevens. So, in King John: “Rash, inconsiderate, fiery voluntaries, “Have sold their fortunes at their native homes, “Bearing their birth-rights proudly on their backs, “To make a hazard of new fortunes here.” Again, in Camden's Remains, 1605: “There was a nobleman merrily conceited, and riotously given, that having lately sold a mannor of an hundred tenements, came ruffling into the court, saying, am not I a mighty man that beare an hundred houses on my backe?” Malone. See also Dodsley's Collection of old Plays, edit. 1780, vol. v. p. 26; vol. xii. p. 395. Reed. So also Burton, in his Anatomy of Melancholy: “'Tis an ordinary thing to put a thousand oakes, or an hundred oxen, into a sute of apparell, to weare a whole manor on his back.” Edit. 1634, p. 482. Whalley.

Note return to page 657 1What did this vanity, But minister, &c.] What effect had this pompous show, but the production of a wretched conclusion. Johnson.

Note return to page 658 2Every man, After the hideous storm that follow'd, &c.] From Holinshed: “Monday the xviii. of June was such an hideous storme of wind and weather, that many conjectured it did prognosticate trouble and hatred shortly after to follow between princes.”—Dr. Warburton has quoted a similar passage from Hall, whom he calls Shakspeare's author; but Holinshed, and not Hall, was his author: as is proved here by the words which I have printed in Italicks, which are not found so combined in Hall's Chronicle. This fact is indeed proved by various circumstances. Malone.

Note return to page 659 3The ambassador is silenc'd?] Silenc'd for recalled. This being proper to be said of an orator; and an ambassador or publick minister being called an orator, he applies silenc'd to an ambassador. Warburton. I understand it rather of the French ambassador residing in England, who, by being refused an audience, may be said to be silenc'd. Johnson.

Note return to page 660 4A proper title of a peace;] A fine name of a peace. Ironically. Johnson. So, in Macbeth: “O proper stuff! “This is the very painting of your fear.” Steevens.

Note return to page 661 5&lblank; this business Our reverend cardinal carried,] To carry a business was at this time a current phrase for to conduct or manage it. So, in this Act: “&lblank; he'd carry it so, “To make the scepter his.” Reed.

Note return to page 662 6&lblank; comes that rock,] To make the rock come, is not very just. Johnson.

Note return to page 663 7&lblank; butcher's cur &lblank;] Wolsey is said to have been the son of a butcher. Johnson. Dr. Gray observes, that when the death of the Duke of Buckingham was reported to the Emperor Charles V. he said, “The first buck of England was worried to death by a butcher's dog.” Skelton, whose satire is of the grossest kind, in Why come you not to Court, has the same reflection on the meanness of Cardinal Wolsey's birth: “For drede of the boucher's dog, “Wold wirry them like an hog.” Steevens.

Note return to page 664 8&lblank; A beggar's book Out-worths a noble's blood.] That is, the literary qualifications of a bookish beggar are more prized than the high descent of hereditary greatness. This is a contemptuous exclamation very naturally put into the mouth of one of the ancient, unlettered, martial nobility. Johnson. It ought to be remembered that the speaker is afterward pronounced by the King himself a learned gentleman. Ritson.

Note return to page 665 9He bores me with some trick:] He stabs or wounds me by some artifice or fiction. Johnson. So, in The Life and Death of Lord Cromwell, 1602: “One that hath gull'd you, that hath bor'd you, sir.” Steevens.

Note return to page 666 1&lblank; Anger is like A full-hot horse:] So, Massinger, in The Unnatural Combat: “Let passion work, and, like a hot-rein'd horse, “'Twill quickly tire itself.” Steevens. Again, in our author's Rape of Lucrece: “Till, like a jade, self-will himself doth tire.” Malone.

Note return to page 667 2&lblank; from a mouth of honour &lblank;] I will crush this base-born fellow, by the due influence of my rank, or say that all distinction of persons is at an end. Johnson.

Note return to page 668 3Heat not a furnace, &c.] Might not Shakspeare allude to Dan. iii. 22.? “Therefore, because the king's commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.” Steevens.

Note return to page 669 4If with the sap of reason you would quench, Or but allay, the fire of passion.] So, in Hamlet: “Upon the heat and flame of thy distemper “Sprinkle cool patience.” Steevens.

Note return to page 670 5&lblank; sincere motions,] Honest indignation, warmth of integrity. Perhaps name not, should be blame not. “Whom from the flow of gall I blame not.” Johnson.

Note return to page 671 6&lblank; for he is equal ravenous,] Equal for equally. Shakspeare frequently uses adjectives adverbially. See King John, vol. xv. p. 365, n. 6. Malone.

Note return to page 672 7&lblank; his mind and place Infecting one another,] This is very satirical. His mind he represents as highly corrupt; and yet he supposes the contagion of the place of first minister as adding an infection to it. Warburton.

Note return to page 673 8&lblank; suggests the king our master &lblank;] Suggests, for excites. Warburton. So, in King Richard II.: “Suggest his soon-believing adversaries.” Steevens.

Note return to page 674 *First folio, wrenching.

Note return to page 675 9&lblank; our count-cardinal &lblank;] Wolsey is afterwards called king cardinal. Mr. Pope and the subsequent editors read— court-cardinal. Malone.

Note return to page 676 1He privily &lblank;] He, which is not in the original copy, was added by the editor of the second folio. Malone.

Note return to page 677 2&lblank; thus the cardinal Does buy and sell his honour as he pleases,] This was a proverbial expression. See King Richard III. p. 233, n. 9. Malone. The same phrase occurs also in King Henry VI. Part I.: “&lblank; from bought and sold lord Talbot.” Again, in The Comedy of Errors: “It would make a man as mad as a buck, to be so bought and sold.” Steevens.

Note return to page 678 3&lblank; he were Something mistaken in't.] That is, that he were something different from what he is taken or supposed by you to be. Malone.

Note return to page 679 4&lblank; practice.] i. e. unfair stratagem. So, in Othello, vol. ix. p. 487: “Fallen in the practice of a cursed slave.” And in this play, Surrey, speaking of Wolsey, says: “How came his practices to light?” Reed.

Note return to page 680 5I am sorry To see you ta'en from liberty, to look on The business present:] I am sorry that I am obliged to be present and an eye-witness of your loss of liberty. Johnson.

Note return to page 681 6&lblank; lord Montacute;] This was Henry Pole, grandson to George Duke of Clarence, and eldest brother to Cardinal Pole. He had married the Lord Abervagenny's daughter. He was restored to favour at this juncture, but was afterwards executed for another treason in this reign. Reed.

Note return to page 682 7&lblank; John de la Car,] So the first folio. The modern editors, I know not why, have altered it to “John de la Court.” Boswell. The name of this monk of the Chartreux was John de la Car, alias de la Court. See Holinshed, p. 863. Steevens.

Note return to page 683 8One Gilbert Peck, his chancellor,] The old copies have it—his counsellor; but I, from the authorities of Hall and Holinshed, changed it to chancellor. And our poet himself, in the beginning of the second Act, vouches for this correction: “At which, appear'd against him his surveyor, “Sir Gilbert Peck, his chancellor.” Theobald. I believe [in the former instance] the author wrote—And Gilbert, &c. Malone.

Note return to page 684 9&lblank; Nicholas Hopkins?] The old copy has—Michael Hopkins. Mr. Theobald made the emendation, conformably to the Chronicle: “Nicholas Hopkins, a monk of an house of the Chartreux order, beside Bristow, called Henton.” In the MS. Nich. only was probably set down, and mistaken for Mich. Malone.

Note return to page 685 1&lblank; my life is spann'd already:] To span is to gripe, or inclose in the hand; to span is also to measure by the palm and fingers. The meaning, therefore, may either be, that “hold is taken of my life, my life is in the gripe of my enemies;” or, that “my time is measured, the length of my life is now determined.” Johnson. Man's life, in scripture, is said to be but a span long. Probably, therefore, it means, when 'tis spann'd 'tis ended. Reed.

Note return to page 686 2I am the shadow of poor Buckingham;] So, in the old play of King Leir, 1605: “And think me but the shadow of myself.” Steevens.

Note return to page 687 3I am the shadow of poor Buckingham; Whose figure even this instant cloud puts on, By dark'ning my clear sun.] These lines have passed all the editors. Does the reader understand them? By me they are inexplicable, and must be left, I fear, to some happier sagacity. If the usage of our author's time could allow figure to be taken, as now, for dignity or importance, we might read: “Whose figure even this instant cloud puts out.” But I cannot please myself with any conjecture. Another explanation may be given, somewhat harsh, but the best that occurs to me: “I am the shadow of poor Buckingham, “Whose figure even this instant cloud puts on,” whose port and dignity is assumed by the Cardinal, that overclouds and oppresses me, and who gains my place “By dark'ning my clear sun.” Johnson. Perhaps Shakspeare has expressed the same idea more clearly in The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Antony and Cleopatra, and King John: “O, how this spring of love resembleth “Th' uncertain glory of an April day, “Which now shows all the beauty of the sun, “And, by and by, a cloud takes all away.” Antony, remarking on the various appearances assumed by the flying vapours, adds: “&lblank; now thy captain is “Even such a body: here I am Antony, “But cannot hold this visible shape, my knave.” Or yet, more appositely, in King John: “&lblank; being but the shadow of your son “Becomes a sun, and makes your son a shadow.” Such another thought occurs in The famous History of Thomas Stukely, 1605: “He is the substance of my shadowed love.” There is likewise a passage similar to the conclusion of this, in Rollo, or the Bloody Brother, of Beaumont and Fletcher: “&lblank; is drawn so high, that, like an ominous comet, “He darkens all your light.” We might, however, read—pouts on; i. e. looks gloomily upon. So, in Coriolanus, Act V. Sc. i.: “&lblank; then “We pout upon the morning, are unapt “To give, or to forgive.” Again, in Romeo and Juliet, Act III. Sc. iii.: “Thou pout'st upon thy fortune and thy love.” Wolsey could only reach Buckingham through the medium of the King's power. The Duke therefore compares the Cardinal to a cloud, which intercepts the rays of the sun, and throws a gloom over the object beneath it. “I am (says he) but the shadow of poor Buckingham, on whose figure this impending cloud looks gloomy, having got between me and the sunshine of royal favour.” Our poet has introduced a somewhat similar idea in Much Ado About Nothing: “&lblank; the pleached bower, “Where honeysuckles, ripen'd by the sun, “Forbid the sun to enter;—like favourites “Made proud by princes &lblank;.” To pout is at this time a phrase descriptive only of infantine sullenness, but might anciently have had a more consequential meaning. I should wish, however, instead of “By dark'ning my clear sun, to read— “Be-dark'ning my clear sun. So, in The Tempest: “&lblank; I have be-dimm'd “The noontide sun.” Steevens. The following passage in Greene's Dorastus and Fawnia, 1588, (a book which Shakspeare certainly had read,) adds support to Dr. Johnson's conjecture: “Fortune, envious of such happy successe, —turned her wheele, and darkened their bright sunne of prosperitie with the mistie cloudes of mishap and misery.” Mr. M. Mason has observed that Dr. Johnson did not do justice to his own emendation, referring the words whose figure to Buckingham, when, in fact, they relate to shadow. Sir W. Blackstone had already explained the passage in this manner. Malone. By adopting Dr. Johnson's first conjecture, “puts out,” for “puts on,” a tolerable sense may be given to these obscure lines. “I am but the shadow of poor Buckingham: and even the figure or outline of this shadow begins now to fade away, being extinguished by this impending cloud, which darkens (or interposes between me and) my clear sun; that is, the favour of my sovereign.” Blakstone.

Note return to page 688 4&lblank; and the best heart of it,] Heart is not here taken for the great organ of circulation and life, but, in a common, and popular sense, for the most valuable or precious part. Our author, in Hamlet, mentions the heart of heart. Exhausted and effete ground is said by the farmer to be out of heart. The hard and inner part of the oak is called heart of oak. Johnson.

Note return to page 689 5&lblank; stood i' the level Of a full-charg'd confederacy,] To stand in the level of a gun is to stand in a line with its mouth, so as to be hit by the shot. Johnson. So, in our author's Lover's Complaint: “&lblank; not a heart which in his level came “Could scape the hail of his all-hurting aim.” Steevens. Again, in our author's 117th Sonnet: “Bring me within the level of your frown, “But shoot not at me,” &c. Again in the Winter's Tale, vol. xiv. p. 312: “My life stands in the level of your dreams. Malone.

Note return to page 690 6&lblank; as putter-on Of these exactions,] The instigator of these exactions; the person who suggested to the King the taxes complained of, and incited him to exact them from his subjects. So, in Macbeth: “&lblank; The powers above “Put on their instruments.” Again, in Hamlet, vol. vii. p. 518: “Of deaths put on by cunning and forc'd cause.” Malone.

Note return to page 691 7The many to them 'longing,] The many is the meiny, the train, the people. Dryden is, perhaps, the last that used this word: “The kings before their many rode.” Johnson. I believe the many is only the multitude, the &gro;&gris; &grp;&gro;&grl;&grl;&gro;&grig;. Thus, Coriolanus, speaking of the rabble, calls them— “&lblank; the mutable rank-scented many.” Steevens.

Note return to page 692 8And Danger serves among them.] Could one easily believe that a writer, who had, but immediately before, sunk so low in his expression, should here rise again to a height so truly sublime? where, by the noblest stretch of fancy, Danger is personalized as serving in the rebel army, and shaking the established government. Warburton. Chaucer, Gower, Skelton, and Spenser, have personified Danger. The first, in his Romaunt of the Rose; the second, in his fifth Book, De Confessione Amantis; the third, in his Bouge of Court— “With that, anone out start dangere;” and the fourth, in the 10th Canto of the 4th Book of his Fairy Queen, and again in the fifth Book and the ninth Canto. Steevens.

Note return to page 693 9&lblank; front but in that file &lblank;] I am but primus inter pares. I am but first in the row of counsellors. Johnson. This was the very idea that Wolsey wished to disclaim. It was not his intention to acknowledge that he was the first in the row of counsellors, but that he was merely on a level with the rest, and stept in the same line with them. M. Mason.

Note return to page 694 1You know no more than others, &c.] That is, you know no more than other counsellors, but you are the person who frame those things which are afterwards proposed, and known equally by all. M. Mason.

Note return to page 695 2&lblank; tractable obedience, &c.] i. e. those who are tractable and obedient, must give way to others who are angry. Musgrave. The meaning, I think, is—Things are now in such a situation, that resentment and indignation predominate in every man's breast over duty and allegiance. Malone. The meaning of this is, that the people were so much irritated by oppression, that their resentment got the better of their obedience. M. Mason.

Note return to page 696 3There is no primer business.] In the old edition— “There is no primer baseness.” The queen is here complaining of the suffering of the commons, which, she suspects, arose from the abuse of power in some great men. But she is very reserved in speaking her thoughts concerning the quality of it. We may be assured then, that she did not, in conclusion, call it the highest baseness; but rather made use of a word that could not offend the Cardinal, and yet would incline the King to give it a speedy hearing. I read therefore: “There is no primer business.” i. e. no matter of state that more earnestly presses a dispatch. Warburton. Dr. Warburton (for reasons which he has given in his note) would read: “&lblank; no primer business:” but I think the meaning of the original word is sufficiently clear. No primer baseness is no mischief more ripe or ready for redress. So, in Othello: “Were they as prime as goats, as hot as monkies &lblank;” Steevens.

Note return to page 697 4If I am traduc'd by tongues, which neither know My faculties, nor person.] The old copy—by ignorant tongues. But surely this epithet must have been an interpolation, the ignorance of the supposed speakers being sufficiently indicated by their knowing neither the faculties nor person of the Cardinal. I have, therefore, with Sir T. Hanmer, restored the measure, by the present omission. Steevens.

Note return to page 698 5We must not stint &lblank;] To stint is to stop, to retard. Many instances of this sense of the word are given in a note on Romeo and Juliet, vol. vi. p. 36, n. 5. Steevens.

Note return to page 699 6To cope &lblank;] To engage with, to encounter. The word is still used in some counties. Johnson. So, in As You Like It, vol. vi. p. 384: “I love to cope him in these sullen fits.” Steevens.

Note return to page 700 7&lblank; once weak ones,] The modern editors read—or weak ones; but once is not unfrequently used for sometime, or at one time or other, among our ancient writers. So, in the 13th Idea of Drayton: “This diamond shall once consume to dust.” Again, in The Merry Wives of Windsor: “I pray thee, once to-night give my sweet Nan this ring.” Again, in Leicester's Commonwealth: “&lblank; if God should take from us her most excellent majesty (as once he will) and so leave us destitute &lblank;.” Steevens.

Note return to page 701 8&lblank; or not allow'd;] Not approved. See vol. viii. p. 33, n. 5; and vol. x. p. 125, n. 6. Malone.

Note return to page 702 9&lblank; what worst, as oft, Hitting a grosser quality,] The worst actions of great men are commended by the vulgar, as more accommodated to the grossness of their notions. Johnson.

Note return to page 703 1For our best act.] I suppose, for the sake of measure, we should read—action. Perhaps the three last letters of this word were accidentally omitted by the compositor. Steevens.

Note return to page 704 2Things done well,] Sir T. Hanmer, very judiciously in my opinion, completes the measure by reading: “Things that are done well.” Steevens.

Note return to page 705 3From every tree, lop, bark, and part o' the timber;] Lop is a substantive, and signifies the branches. Warburton.

Note return to page 706 4That, through our intercession, &c.] So, in Holinshed, p. 892: “The cardinall, to deliver himself from the evill will of the commons, purchased by procuring and advancing of this demand, affirmed, and caused it to be bruted abrode that through his intercession the king had pardoned and released all things.” Steevens.

Note return to page 707 5Enter Surveyor.] It appears from Holinshed that his name was Charles Knyvet. Ritson.

Note return to page 708 6The gentleman is learn'd, &c.] We understand from “The Prologue of the translatour,” that the Knyghte of the Swanne, a French romance, was translated at the request of this unfortunate nobleman. Copland, the printer, adds, “&lblank; this present history compyled, named Helyas the Knight of the Swanne, of whom linially is descended my said lord.” The duke was executed on Friday the 17th of May, 1521. The book has no date. Steevens.

Note return to page 709 7And never seek for aid out of himself.] Beyond the treasures of his own mind. Johnson. Read: “And ne'er seek aid out of himself. Yet see &lblank;.” Ritson.

Note return to page 710 8&lblank; noble benefits &lblank; Not well dispos'd,] Great gifts of nature and education, not joined with good dispositions. Johnson.

Note return to page 711 9&lblank; is become as black As if besmear'd in hell.] So, in Othello: “&lblank; Her name, that was as fresh “As Dian's visage, is now begrim'd and black “As mine own face.” Steevens.

Note return to page 712 1&lblank; he'd carry it &lblank;] Old copy—he'l. Corrected by Mr. Rowe. Malone.

Note return to page 713 2This dangerous conception in this point.] Note this particular part of this dangerous design. Johnson.

Note return to page 714 3By a vain prophecy of Nicholas Hopkins.] In former editions: “By a vain prophecy of Nicholas Henton.” We heard before from Brandon, of one Nicholas Hopkins; and now his name is changed into Henton; so that Brandon and the surveyor seem to be in two stories. There is, however, but one and the same person meant, Hopkins, as I have restored it in the text, for perspicuity's sake; yet it will not be any difficulty to account for the other name, when we come to consider that he was a monk of the convent, called Henton, near Bristol. So both Hall and Holinshed acquaint us. And he might, according to the custom of these times, be called Nicholas of Henton, from the place; as Hopkins from his family. Theobald. This mistake, as it was undoubtedly made by Shakspeare, is worth a note. It would be doing too great an honour to the players to suppose them capable of being the authors of it. Steevens.

Note return to page 715 4The duke being at the Rose, &c.] This house was purchased about the year 1561, by Richard Hill, some time master of the Merchant Tailors company, and is now the Merchant Tailors school, in Suffolk-lane. Whalley.

Note return to page 716 5&lblank; under the confession's seal &lblank;] All the editions, down from the beginning, have—commission's. But what commission's seal? That is a question, I dare say, none of our diligent editors asked themselves. The text must be restored, as I have corrected it; and honest Holinshed, [p. 863,] from whom our author took the substance of this passage, may be called in as a testimony.— “The duke in talk told the monk, that he had done very well to bind his chaplain, John de la Court, under the seal of confession, to keep secret such matter.” Theobald.

Note return to page 717 6To gain the love &lblank;] The old copy reads—To the love. Steevens. For the insertion of the word gain I am answerable. From the corresponding passage in Holinshed, it appears evidently to have been omitted through the carelessness of the compositor: “The said monke told to De la Court, neither the king nor his heirs should prosper, and that I should endeavour to purchase the good wills of the commonalty of England.” Since I wrote the above, I find this correction had been made by the editor of the fourth folio. Malone. It had been adopted by Mr. Rowe, and all subsequent editors. Steevens. Certainly not all. Mr. Steevens, in his editions 1773 and 1778, has not adopted it, but reads—For the love of the commonalty. Boswell.

Note return to page 718 7&lblank; for him,] Old copy—for this. Corrected by Mr. Rowe. Malone.

Note return to page 719 8&lblank; so rank?] “Rank weeds,” are ‘weeds grown up to great height and strength.’ “What, (says the King,) was he advanced to this pitch?” Johnson.

Note return to page 720 9&lblank; Being my servant sworn, &c.] Sir William Blomer, (Holinshed calls him Bulmer,) was reprimanded by the King in the star-chamber, for that, being his sworn servant, he had left the King's service for the duke of Buckingham's. Edwards's MSS. Steevens.

Note return to page 721 1Have put his knife into him.] The accuracy of Holinshed, if from him Shakspeare took his account of the accusations and punishment, together with the qualities of the Duke of Buckingham, is proved in the most authentick manner by a very curious report of his case in East. Term. 13 Hen. VIII. in the year books published by authority, fol. 11 and 12, edit. 1597. After, in the most exact manner, setting forth the arrangement of the Lord High Steward, the Peers, the arraignment, and other forms and ceremonies, it says: “Et issint fuit arreine Edward Duc de Buckingham, le derrain jour de Terme le xij jour de May, le Duc de Norfolk donques estant Grand seneschal: la cause fuit, pur ceo que il avoit entend l' mort de nostre Sñr. le Roy. Car premierment un Moine del' Abbey de Henton in le countie de Somerset dit a lui que il sera Roy et command' luy de obtenir le benevolence del' communalte, et sur ceo il doña certaines robbes a cest entent. A que il dit que le moine ne onques dit ainsi a lui, et que il ne dona ceux dones a cest intent. Donques auterfoits il dit, si le Roy morust sans issue male, il voul' estre Roy: et auxi que il disoit, si le Roy avoit lui commis al' prison, donques il voul' lui occire ove son dagger. Mes touts ceux matters il denia in effect, mes fuit trove coulp: Et pur ceo il avoit jugement comme traitre, et fuit decolle le Vendredy devant le Feste del Pentecost que fuit le xiij jour de May avant dit. Dieu à sa ame grant mercy—car il fuit tres noble prince et prudent, et mirror de tout courtesie.” Vaillant.

Note return to page 722 2&lblank; By day and night,] This, I believe, was a phrase anciently signifying—at all times, every way, completely. In The Merry Wives of Windsor, Falstaff, at the end of his letterto Mrs. Ford, styles himself: “Thine own true knight, “By day or night,” &c. Again, (I must repeat a quotation I have elsewhere employed,) in the third book of Gower, De Confessione Amantis: “The sonne cleped was Machayre, “The daughter eke Canace hight, “By daie bothe and eke by night.” The King's words, however, by some criticks, have been considered as an adjuration. I do not pretend to have determined the exact force of them. Steevens.

Note return to page 723 3&lblank; Lord Chamberlain &lblank;] Shakspeare has placed this scene in 1521. Charles Earl of Worcester was then Lord Chamberlain; but when the King in fact went in masquerade to Cardinal Wolsey's house, Lord Sands, who is here introduced as going thither with the Chamberlain, himself possessed that office. Malone. “Lord Chamberlain &lblank;.” Charles Somerset, created Earl of Worcester 5 Henry VIII. He was Lord Chamberlain both to Henry VII. and Henry VIII. and continued in the office until his death, 1526. Reed.

Note return to page 724 4Lord Sands.] Sir William Sands, of the Vine, near Basingstoke, in Hants, was created a peer 1524. He became Lord Chamberlain upon the death of the Earl of Worcester in 1526. Reed.

Note return to page 725 5Is it possible, the spells of France should juggle Men into such strange mysteries?] Mysteries were allegorical shows, which the mummers of those times exhibited in odd fantastick habits. Mysteries are used, by an easy figure, for those that exhibited mysteries; and the sense is only, that the travelled Englishmen were metamorphosed, by foreign fashions, into such an uncouth appearance, that they looked like mummers in a mystery. Johnson. That mysteries is the genuine reading, [Dr. Warburton would read—mockeries] and that it is used in a different sense from the one here given, will appear in the following instance from Drayton's Shepherd's Garland: “&lblank; even so it fareth now with thee, “And with these wisards of thy mysterie.” The context of which shows, that by wisards are meant poets, and by mysterie their poetick skill, which was before called “mister artes.” Hence the mysteries in Shakspeare signify those fantastick manners and fashions of the French, which had operated as spell or enchantments. Henley. Mysteries are arts, and here artificial fashions. Douce.

Note return to page 726 6A fit or two o' the face;] “A fit of the face” seems to be what we now term ‘a grimace,’ an artificial cast of the countenance. Johnson. Fletcher has more plainly expressed the same thought in The Elder Brother: “&lblank; learnt new tongues &lblank; “To vary his face as seamen do their compass.” Steevens.

Note return to page 727 7That never saw them &lblank;] Old copy—see 'em. Corrected by Mr. Pope. Malone.

Note return to page 728 8A springhalt reign'd among them.] The stringhalt or springhalt, (as the old copy reads,) is a disease incident to horses, which gives them a convulsive motion in their paces. So, in Muleasses the Turk, 1610: “&lblank; by reason of a general spring-halt and debility in their hams.” Again, in Ben Jonson's Bartholomew Fair: “Poor soul, she has had a stringhalt.” Steevens. Mr. Pope and the subsequent editors, without any necessity, I think, for A springhalt, read—And springhalt. Malone.

Note return to page 729 9&lblank; cut too,] Old copy—cut to't. Corrected in the fourth folio. Malone. Both the first and second folio read—cut too't, so that for part of this correction we are not indebted to the fourth folio. Steevens.

Note return to page 730 1&lblank; leave these remnants Of fool, and feather,] This does not allude to the feathers anciently worn in the hats and caps of our countrymen, (a circumstance to which no ridicule could justly belong,) but to an effeminate fashion recorded in Greene's Farewell to Folly, 1617: from whence it appears that even young gentlemen carried fans of feathers in their hands: “&lblank; we strive to be counted womanish, by keeping of beauty, by curling the hair, by wearing plumes of feathers in our hands, which in wars, our ancestors wore on their heads.” Again, in his Quip for an upstart Courtier, 1620: “Then our young courtiers strove to exceed one another in vertue, not in bravery; they rode not with fannes to ward their faces from the wind,” &c. Again, in Lingua, &c. 1607, Phantastes, who is a male character, is equipped with a fan. Steevens. The text may receive illustration from a passage in Nashe's Life of Iacke Wilton, 1594: “At that time [viz. in the court of King Henry VIII.] I was no common squire, no undertroden torch-bearer, I had my feather in my cap as big as a flag in the foretop, my French doublet gelte in the belly, as though (lyke a pig readie to be spitted) all my guts had been pluckt out, a paire of side paned hose that hung down like two scales filled with Holland cheeses, my long stock that sate close to my dock,—my rapier pendant like a round sticke, &c. my blacke cloake of black cloth, ouerspreading my backe lyke a thornbacke or an elephantes eare; —and in consummation of my curiositie, my handes without gloves, all a more French,” &c. Ritson. In Rowley's Match at Midnight, Act I. Sc. I. Sim says: “Yes, yes, she that dwells in Blackfryers, next to the sign of The Fool laughing at a Feather.” But Sir Thomas Lovell's is rather an allusion to the feathers which were formerly worn by fools in their caps. See a print on this subject from a painting of Jordaens, engraved by Voert; and again, in the ballad of News and no News: “And feathers wagging in a fool's cap.” Douce.

Note return to page 731 2&lblank; fireworks;] We learn from a French writer quoted in Montfaucon's Monuments de la Monarchie Françoise, vol. iv. that some very extraordinary fireworks were played off on the evening of the last day of the royal interview between Guynes and Ardres. Hence, our “travelled gallants,” who were present at this exhibition, might have imbibed their fondness for the pyrotechnic art. Steevens.

Note return to page 732 3&lblank; blister'd breeches,] Thus the old copy; i. e. breeches puff'd, swell'd out like blisters. The modern editors read—“bolster'd breeches,” which has the same meaning. Steevens.

Note return to page 733 4&lblank; wear away &lblank;] Old copy—“wee away.” Corrected in the second folio. Malone.

Note return to page 734 *First folio, Held.

Note return to page 735 5&lblank; My barge stays;] The speaker is now in the King's palace at Bridewell, from which he is proceeding by water to York-place, (Cardinal Wolsey's house,) now Whitehall. Malone.

Note return to page 736 6&lblank; noble bevy,] Milton has copied this word: “A bevy of fair dames.” Johnson. Spenser had, before Shakspeare, employed this word in the same manner: “And whither runs this bevy of ladies bright?” Shepheard's Calendar. April. Again, in his Fairy Queen: “And in the midst thereof, upon the flowre, “A lovely bevy of faire ladies sate.” The word bevy was originally applied to larks. See the Glossary to the Shepheard's Calender. Malone.

Note return to page 737 7As first-good company, &c.] As this passage has been all along pointed, [“As first, good company,”] Sir Harry Guildford is made to include all these under the first article; and then gives us the drop as to what should follow. The poet, I am persuaded, wrote: “As first-good company, good wine, good welcome,” &c. i. e. he would have you as merry as these three things can make you, the best company in the land, of the best rank, good wine, &c. Theobald. Sir T. Hanmer has mended it more elegantly, but with greater violence: “As first, good company, then good wine,” &c. Johnson.

Note return to page 738 8&lblank; a running banquet &lblank;] A running banquet, literally speaking, is a hasty refreshment, as set in opposition to a regular and protracted meal. The former is the object of this rakish peer; the latter, perhaps, he would have relinquished to those of more permanent desires. Steevens. A running banquet seems to have meant a hasty banquet. “Queen Margaret and Prince Edward, (says Habingdon, in his History of King Edward IV.) though by the Earle recalled, found their fate and the winds so adverse, that they could not land in England, to taste this running banquet to which fortune had invited them.” The hasty banquet, that was in Lord Sands's thoughts, is too obvious to require explanation. It should seem from the following lines in the prologue to a comedy called The Walks of Islington, 1657, that some double meaning was couched under the phrase, a running banquet: “The gate unto his walks, through which you may “Behold a pretty prospect of the play; “A play of walks, or you may please to rank it “With that which ladies love, a running banquet.” Malone.

Note return to page 739 9&lblank; if I make my play.] i. e. if I make my party. Steevens. Rather—‘if I may choose my game.’ Ritson. As the measure, in this place, requires an additional syllable, we may, commodiously enough, read, with Sir T. Hanmer: “Yes, if I may make my play.” Steevens. Perhaps it would be better to give two hemistichs to Lord Sands, and throw Anne Bullen's speech into one verse: “You are a merry gamester, my lord Sands.” Boswell.

Note return to page 740 1&lblank; Chambers discharged.] A chamber is a gun which stands erect on its breech. Such are used only on occasions of rejoicing, and are so contrived as to carry great charges, and thereby to make a noise more than proportioned to their bulk. They are called chambers because they are mere chambers to lodge powder; a chamber being the technical term for that cavity in a piece of ordnance which contains the combustibles. Some of them are still fired in the Park, and at the places opposite to the parliament-house when the king goes thither. Camden enumerates them among other guns, as follows: “&lblank; cannons, demi-cannons, chambers, arquebuse, musquet.” Again, in A New Trick to cheat the Devil, 1636: “&lblank; I still think o' the Tower ordinance, “Or of the peal of chambers, that's still fir'd “When my lord-mayor takes his barge.” Steevens.

Note return to page 741 2&lblank; they have left their barge,] See p. 347,n. 5. Malone.

Note return to page 742 3Enter the King, and twelve Others, as Maskers,] For an account of this masquerade, see Holinshed, vol. ii. p. 921. Steevens. The account of this masquerade was first given by Cavendish, in his Life of Wolsey, which was written in the time of Queen Mary; from which Stowe and Holinshed copied it. Cavendish was himself present. Before the King, &c. began to dance, they requested leave (says Cavendish) to accompany the ladies at mumchance. Leave being granted, “then went the masquers, and first saluted all the dames, and then returned to the most worthiest, and then opened the great cup of gold filled with crownes, and other pieces to cast at.—Thus perusing all the gentlewomen, of some they wonne, and to some they lost. And having viewed all the ladies, they returned to the Cardinal with great reverence, pouring downe all their gold, which was above two hundred crownes. At all, quoth the Cardinal, and casting the die, he wonne it; whereat was made great joy.” Life of Wolsey, p. 22, edit. 1641. Malone.

Note return to page 743 4&lblank; take it.] That is, take the chief place. Johnson.

Note return to page 744 5You have found him, cardinal:] Holinshed says the Cardinal mistook, and pitched upon Sir Edward Neville; upon which the King laughed, and pulled off both his own mask and Sir Edward's. Edwards's MSS. Steevens.

Note return to page 745 6&lblank; unhappily,] That is, unluckily, mischievously. Johnson. So, in A Merye Jeste of a Man called Howleglas, bl. l. no date: “&lblank; in such manner colde he cloke and hyde his unhappinesse and falsnesse.” Steevens. See vol. vii. p. 50, n. 2. Malone.

Note return to page 746 7I were unmannerly, to take you out, And not to kiss you.] A kiss was anciently the established fee of a lady's partner. So, in A Dialogue between Custom and Veritie, concerning the Use and Abuse of Dauncing and Minstrelsie, bl. l. no date, “Imprinted at London, at the long shop adjoining unto saint Mildred's church in the Pultrie, by John Allde:” “But some reply, what foole would daunce,   “If that when daunce is doon, “He may not have at ladyes lips   “That which in daunce he woon?” Steevens. This custom is still prevalent, among the country people, in many, perhaps all, parts of the kingdom. When the fiddler thinks his young couple have had musick enough, he makes his instrument squeak out two notes which all understand to say— kiss her! Ritson.

Note return to page 747 8&lblank; a little heated.] The King, on being discovered and desired by Wolsey to take his place, said that he would “first go and shift him: and thereupon, went into the Cardinal's bed-chamber, where was a great fire prepared for him, and there he new appareled himselfe with rich and princely garments. And in the king's absence the dishes of the banquet were cleane taken away, and the tables covered with new and perfumed clothes.—Then the king took his seat under the cloath of estate, commanding every person to sit still as before; and then came in a new banquet before his majestie of two hundred dishes, and so they passed the night in banqueting and dancing untill morning.” Cavendish's Life of Wolsey. Malone.

Note return to page 748 9&lblank; Let the musick knock it.] So, in Antonio and Mellida, Part I. 1602: “Fla. Faith, the song will seem to come off hardly. “Catz. Troth, not a whit, if you seem to come off quickly. “Fla. Pert Catzo, knock it then.” Steevens. We have a similar phrase in the Tempest: “Would I could see this labourer, he lays it on.” Malone.

Note return to page 749 1O,—God save you!] Surely, (with Sir Thomas Hanmer,) we should complete the measure by reading: “O, sir, God save you!” Steevens.

Note return to page 750 2To him brought, vivâ voce, to his face:] So the old copy. This is a clear error of the press. We must read—have instead of—him. M. Mason.

Note return to page 751 3Was either pitied in him, or forgotten,] Either produced no effect, or produced only ineffectual pity. Malone.

Note return to page 752 4&lblank; he sweat extremely,] This circumstance is taken from Holinshed: “After he was found guilty, the duke was brought to the bar, sore-chafing, and sweat marvelously.” Steevens.

Note return to page 753 5&lblank; will find employment.] That is, will find employment for. Of this kind of suppression many instances occur in our author's works and in those of his contemporaries. Thus in The Merchant of Venice: “How good a gentleman you sent relief [to].” Again, in Julius Cæsar: “Thy honourable metal may be wrought “From that it is dispos'd [to].” We find even Dryden falling into this inaccuracy. “God, it is true, with his Divine Providence overrules and guides all actions to the secret end he has ordained them.” Life of Plutarch, Dryden's Prose Works, 1800, vol. ii. p. 398. Malone.

Note return to page 754 6The mirror of all courtesy;] See the concluding words of n. 1, p. 341. Steevens.

Note return to page 755 7&lblank; Sir William Sands,] The old copy reads—Sir Walter. Steevens. The correction is justified by Holinshed's Chronicle, in which it is said that Sir Nicholas Vaux and Sir William Sands, received Buckingham at the Temple, and accompanied him to the Tower. Sir William Sands was, at this time, (May, 1521,) only a knight, not being created Lord Sands till April 27, 1527. Shakspeare probably did not know that he was the same person whom he has already introduced with that title. He fell into the error by placing the King's visit to Wolsey, (at which time Sir William was Lord Sands,) and Buckingham's condemnation, in the same year; whereas the visit was made some years afterwards. Malone.

Note return to page 756 8Nor build their evils on the graves of great men;] Evils, in this place, are foricæ. So, in Measure for Measure: “&lblank; having waste ground enough, “Shall we desire to raze the sanctuary, “And pitch our evils there?” See vol. ix. p. 70, n. 8. Steevens.

Note return to page 757 9&lblank; You few that lov'd me, &c.] These lines are remarkably tender and pathetick. Johnson.

Note return to page 758 9&lblank; the long divorce &lblank;] So, in Lord Sterline's Darius, 1603: “Scarce was the lasting last divorcement made “Betwixt the bodie and the soule,” &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 759 1And lift my soul to heaven.] So, Milton, Paradise Lost, book iv.: “&lblank; their songs “Divide the night, and lift our thoughts to heaven.” Malone.

Note return to page 760 2&lblank; no black envy Shall make my grave.] Shakspeare, by this expression, meant no more than to make the Duke say, No action expressive of malice shall conclude my life. Envy, by our author, is used for malice and hatred, in other places, and, perhaps, in this. Again, in the ancient metrical romance of Syr Bevys of Hampton, bl. l. no date: “Traytoure, he sayd with great envy, “Turne thee now, I thee defye.” Again: “They drew their swordes hastely, “And smot together with great envy.” And Barrett, in his Alvearie, or Quadruple Dictionary, 1580, thus interprets it. To make a grave, however, may mean to close it. So, in The Comedy of Errors: “Why at this time the doors are made against you.” i. e. closed, shut. The sense will then be, (whether quaintly or poetically expressed, let the reader determine) “no malicious action shall close my grave,” i. e. ‘attend the conclusion of my existence, or terminate my life; the last action of it shall not be uncharitable.’ Steevens. Envy is frequently used in this sense by our author and his contemporaries. See vol. v. p. 108, n. 9; and p. 166, 1. 6. I have therefore no doubt that Mr. Steevens's exposition is right. Dr. Warburton reads—mark my grave; and in support of the emendation it may be observed that the same error has happened in King Henry V.; or at least that all the editors have supposed so, having there adopted a similar correction. See vol. xvii. p. 312, n. 1. Dr. Warburton's emendation also derives some support from the following passage in The Comedy of Errors: “A vulgar comment will be made of it; “And that supposed by the common rout “Against your yet ungalled estimation, “That may with foul intrusion enter in, “And dwell upon your grave, when you are dead.” Malone.

Note return to page 761 3&lblank; forsake me,] The latter word was added by Mr. Rowe. Malone.

Note return to page 762 4Nay, sir Nicholas, Let it alone; my state now will but mock me.] The last verse would run more smoothly, by making the monosyllables change places: “Let it alone, my state will now but mock me.” Whalley.

Note return to page 763 5&lblank; poor Edward Bohun:] The Duke of Buckingham's name was Stafford. Shakspeare was led into the mistake by Holinshed. Steevens. This is not an expression thrown out at random, or by mistake, but one strongly marked with historical propriety. The name of the Duke of Buckingham, most generally known, was Stafford; but the History of Remarkable Trials, 8vo. 1715, p. 170, says: “it seems he affected that surname [of Bohun] before that of Stafford, he being descended from the Bohuns, earls of Hereford.” His reason for this might be, because he was lord high constable of England by inheritance of tenure from the Bohuns: and as the poet has taken particular notice of his great office, does it not seem probable that he had fully considered of the Duke's foundation for assuming the name of Bohun? In truth, the Duke's name was Bagot; for a gentleman of that very ancient family married the heiress of the barony of Stafford, and their son, relinquishing his paternal surname, assumed that of his mother, which continued in his posterity. Tollet. Of all this probably Shakspeare knew nothing. Malone.

Note return to page 764 6&lblank; I now seal it, &c.] I now seal my truth, my loyalty, with blood, which blood shall one day make them groan. Johnson.

Note return to page 765 7&lblank; be not loose;] This expression occurs again in Othello: “There are a kind of men so loose of soul, “That in their sleeps will mutter their affairs.” Steevens.

Note return to page 766 8And when you would say something that is sad, &c.] So, in King Richard II.: “Tell thou the lamentable tale of me, “And send the hearers weeping to their beds.” Steevens.

Note return to page 767 9&lblank; strong faith &lblank;] Is great fidelity. Johnson.

Note return to page 768 1&lblank; and held for certain,] To hold, is to believe. So, in Lord Surrey's translation of the fourth Æneid: “I hold thee not, nor yet gainsay thy words.” Steevens.

Note return to page 769 2Well met, my good Lord chamberlain.] The epithet—good, was inserted by Sir Thomas Hanmer, for the sake of measure. Steevens.

Note return to page 770 3Turns what he list.] So the old copy. The modern editors have altered it to lists, but the original reading was the phraseology of Shakspeare. So, a few lines after this: “&lblank; All men's honours “Lie in one lump before him to be fashion'd “Into what pitch he please.” Malone.

Note return to page 771 4That, like a jewel, has hung twenty years, &c.] See vol. xiv. p. 264, n. 2. Malone.

Note return to page 772 5&lblank; see this main end,] Thus the old copy. All, &c. perceive this main end of these counsels, namely, the French king's sister. The editor of the fourth folio and all the subsequent editors read—his; but yt or this were not likely to be confounded with his. Besides, the King, not Wolsey, is the person last mentioned; and it was the main end or object of Wolsey to bring about a marriage between Henry and the French king's sister. End has already been used for cause, and may be so here. See p. 357: “The cardinal is the end of this.” Malone.

Note return to page 773 6The French king's sister.] i. e. the Duchess of Alençon. Steevens.

Note return to page 774 7From princes into pages:] This may allude to the retinue of the Cardinal, who had several of the nobility among his menial servants. Johnson.

Note return to page 775 8Into what pitch he please.] The mast must be fashioned into pitch or height, as well as into particular form. The meaning is, that the Cardinal can, as he pleases, make high or low. Johnson.

Note return to page 776 8The stage direction, in the old copy, is a singular one. “Exit Lord Chamberlain, and the King draws the curtain, and sits reading pensively.” Steevens. This stage direction was calculated for, and ascertains precisely the state of, the theatre in Shakspeare's time. When a person was to be discovered in a different apartment from that in which the original speakers in the scene are exhibited, the artless mode of our author's time was, to place such person in the back part of the stage, behind the curtains, which were occasionally suspended across it. These the person who was to be discovered, (as Henry, in the present case,) drew back just at the proper time. Mr. Rowe, who seems to have looked no further than the modern stage, changed the direction thus: “The scene opens, and discovers the King,” &c. but, besides the impropriety of introducing scenes when there were none, such an exhibition would not be proper here, for Norfolk has just said—“Let's in,”—and therefore should himself do some act, in order to visit the King. This, indeed, in the simple state of the old stage, was not attended to; the King very civilly discovering himself. See An Account of our old Theatres, vol. iii. Malone.

Note return to page 777 9&lblank; have great care I be not found a talker.] I take the meaning to be, &mlquo;Let care be taken that my promise be performed, that my professions of welcome be not found empty talk.’ Johnson. So, in King Richard III.: “&lblank; we will not stand to prate, “Talkers are no good doers.” Steevens.

Note return to page 778 1&lblank; so sick though,] That is, so sick as he is proud. Johnson.

Note return to page 779 2I'll venture one have at him.] So afterwards, Surrey says: “&lblank; have at you, “First that without the King,” &c. Malone. “&lblank; one heave at him.” So, in King Henry VI. Part II.: “To heave the traitor Somerset from hence.” The first folio gives the passage thus: “Ile venture one; haue at him.” The reading in the text [Mr. Steevens's] is that of the second folio. Steevens.

Note return to page 780 3Have their free voices;] The construction is, ‘have sent their free voices;’ the word sent, which occurs in the next line, being understood here. Malone.

Note return to page 781 4Kept him a foreign man still:] Kept him out of the king's presence, employed in foreign embassies. Johnson.

Note return to page 782 5&lblank; which so griev'd him, That he ran mad and died.] This is from Holinshed. “Aboute this time the king received into favor doctor Stephen Gardiner, whose service he used in matters of great secrecie and weighte, admitting him in the room of Doctor Pace, the which being continually abrode in ambassades, and the same oftentymes not much necessarie, by the Cardinalles appointment, at length he toke such greefe therwith, that he fell out of his right wittes.” Douce.

Note return to page 783 6To leave is &lblank;] The latter word was added by Mr. Theobald. Malone.

Note return to page 784 7To give her the avaunt!] To send her away contemptuously; to pronounce against her a sentence of ejection. Johnson.

Note return to page 785 8Yet, if that quarrel, fortune,] She calls Fortune a quarrel or arrow, from her striking so deep and suddenly. Quarrel was a large arrow so called. Thus Fairfax: “&lblank; twang'd the string, out flew the quarrel long.” Warburton. Such is Dr. Warburton's interpretation. Sir Thomas Hanmer reads: “That quarreller Fortune.” I think the poet may be easily supposed to use quarrel for quarreller, as murder for the murderer, the act for the agent. Johnson. Dr. Johnson may be right. So, in Antony and Cleopatra: “&lblank; but that your royalty “Holds idleness your subject, I should take you “For Idleness itself.” Like Martial's—“Non vitiosus homo es, Zoile, sed Vitium.” We might, however, read: “Yet if that quarrel fortune to divorce “It from the bearer &lblank;.” i. e. if any quarrel happen or chance to divorce it from the bearer. To fortune is a verb used by Shakspeare in The Two Gentlemen of Verona: “&lblank; I'll tell you as we pass along, “That you will wonder what hath fortuned.” Again, in Spenser's Fairy Queen, b. i. c. ii.: “It fortuned (high heaven did so ordaine),” &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 786 9&lblank; panging As soul and body's severing.] So Bertram, in All's Well That Ends Well: “I grow to you, and our parting is a tortur'd body.” Steevens. Again, in Antony and Cleopatra: “The soul and body rive not more at parting, “Than greatness going off.” Malone. To pang isused as a verb active by Skelton, in his Boke of Philip Sparow, 1568, sig. R. v.: “But when I did behold “My sparow dead and cold “No creature but that wold “Have rewed upon me “To behold and see “What heavines did me pange.” Boswell.

Note return to page 787 9&lblank; stranger now again.] Again an alien; not only no longer queen, but no longer an Englishwoman. Johnson. It rather means, ‘she is alienated from the King's affection, is a stranger to his bed;’ for she still retained the rights of an Englishwoman, and was princess Dowager of Wales. So, in the second scene of the third Act: “&lblank; Katharine no more “Shall be call'd queen; but princess dowager, “And widow to prince Arthur.” Tollet. Dr. Johnson's interpretation appears to me to be the true one. Malone. I agree with Mr. Tollet. So, in King Lear: “Dower'd with our curse, and stranger'd with our oath &lblank;.” i. e. the revocation of my love has reduced her to the condition of an unfriended stranger. Steevens.

Note return to page 788 1&lblank; our best having.] That is, our best possession. So, in Macbeth: “Of noble having and of royal hope.” In Spanish, hazienda. Johnson.

Note return to page 789 2&lblank; cheveril &lblank;] Is kid-skin, soft leather. Johnson. So, in Histriomastix, 1610: “The cheveril conscience of corrupted law.” Steevens.

Note return to page 790 3&lblank; Pluck off a little, &c.] What must she pluck off? I think we may better read: “&lblank; Pluck up a little.” Pluck up! is an idiomatical expression for take courage. Johnson. The old lady first questions Anne Bullen about being a queen, which she declares her aversion to; she then proposes the title of a duchess, and asks her if she thinks herself equal to the task of sustaining it; but as she still declines the offer of greatness, “&lblank; Pluck off a little,” says she; i. e. let us still further divest preferment of its glare, let us descend yet lower, and more upon a level with your own quality; and then adds: “I would not be a young count in your way,” which is an inferior degree of honour to any before enumerated. Steevens.

Note return to page 791 4In faith, for little England You'd venture an emballing: I myself Would for Carnarvonshire,] Little England seems very properly opposed to all the world; but what has Carnarvonshire to do here? Does it refer to the birth of Edward II. at Carnarvon? or may not this be the allusion? By little England is meant, perhaps, that territory in Pembrokeshire, where the Flemings settled in Henry First's time, who speaking a language very different from the Welsh, and bearing some affinity to the English, this fertile spot was called by the Britons, as we are told by Camden, Little England beyond Wales; and, as it is a very fruitful country, may be justly opposed to the mountainous and barren county of Carnarvon. Whalley. So, in A Short Relation of a Long Journey, &c. by John Taylor the Water Poet: “Concerning Pembrookshire, the people do speak English in it almost generally, and therefore they call it Little England beyond Wales, it being the farthest south and west county in the whole principality.” Steevens. Surely she means,—You would for little England. I would for a single Welsh county. Boswell. “You'd venture an emballing.” You would venture to be distinguished by the ball, the ensign of royalty. Johnson. Dr. Johnson's explanation cannot be right, because a queen-consort, such as Anne Bullen was, is not distinguished by the ball, the ensign of royalty, nor has the poet expressed that she was so distinguished. Tollet. Mr. Tollet's objection to Johnson's explanation is an hypercriticism. Shakspeare did not probably consider so curiously his distinction between a queen consort and a queen regent. M. Mason. Might we read— “You'd venture an empalling;” i. e. being invested with the pall or robes of state? The word occurs in the old tragedy of King Edward III. 1596: “As with this armour I impall thy breast &lblank;.” And, in Macbeth, the verb to pall is used in the sense of enrobe: “And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell.” Malone. The word recommended by Mr. Malone occurs also in Chapman's version of the eighth book of Homer's Odyssey: “&lblank; such a radiance as doth round empall “Crown'd Cytherea &lblank;.” Steevens. Might we not read—“an embalming?” A queen consort is anointed at her coronation; and in King Richard II. the word is used in that sense: “With my own tears I wash away my balm.” Dr. Johnson properly explains it, the oil of consecration. Whalley.

Note return to page 792 5Commends his good opinion to you,] Thus the old copy and subsequent editors. Mr. Malone proposed to read: “Commends his good opinion of you.” The phrase I found in the text I have not disturbed, as it is supported by a passage in Antony and Cleopatra: “Commend unto his lips thy favouring hand.” Again, in King Lear: “I did commend your highness' letters to them.” Steevens.

Note return to page 793 6More than my all is nothing:] Not only my all is nothing, but if my all were more than it is, it were still nothing. Johnson. So, in Macbeth: “More is thy due than more than all can pay.” Steevens.

Note return to page 794 7&lblank; nor my prayers Are not words duly hallow'd, &c.] It appears to me absolutely necessary, in order to make sense of this passage, to read: “&lblank; for my prayers “Are not words duly hallow'd,” &c. instead of “nor my prayers.” Anne's argument is this: “More than my all is nothing, for my prayers and wishes are of no value, and yet prayers and wishes are all I have to return.” M. Mason. The double negative, it has been already observed, was commonly used in our author's time. For my prayers, a reading introduced by Mr. Pope, even if such arbitrary changes were allowable, ought not to be admitted here, this being a distinct proposition, not an illation from what has gone before. I know not, (says Anne,) what external acts of duty and obeisance I ought to return for such unmerited favour. All I can do of that kind, and even more, if more were possible, would be insufficient: nor are any prayers that I can offer up for my benefactor sufficiently sanctified, nor any wishes that I can breathe for his happiness, of more value than the most worthless and empty vanities. Malone.

Note return to page 795 8I shall not fail, &c.] I shall not omit to strengthen, by my commendation, the opinion which the King has formed. Johnson.

Note return to page 796 9&lblank; I have perus'd her well;] From the many artful strokes of address the poet has thrown in upon Queen Elizabeth and her mother, it should seem that this play was written and performed in his royal mistress's time: if so, some lines were added by him in the last scene, after the accession of her successor, King James. Theobald.

Note return to page 797 1&lblank; a gem, To lighten all this isle?] Perhaps alluding to the carbuncle, a gem supposed to have intrinsick light, and to shine in the dark: any other gem may reflect light, but cannot give it. Johnson. So, in Titus Andronicus: “A precious ring, that lightens all the hole.” Steevens. Thus, in a palace described in Amadis de Gaule, Trans. 1619, fol. b. iv. p. 5: “In the roofe of a chamber hung two lampes of gold, at the bottomes whereof were enchafed two carbuncles, which gave so bright a splendour round about the roome, that there was no neede of any other light.” With a reference to this notion, I imagine, Milton, speaking of the orb of the sun, says: “If stone, carbuncle most or chrysolite.” Paradise Lost, b. iii. v. 596. And that we have in Antony and Cleopatra: “&lblank; were it carbuncled “Like holy Phœbus' car.” Holt White.

Note return to page 798 2&lblank; is it bitter? forty pence, no.] Mr. Roderick, in his appendix to Mr. Edwards's book, proposes to read: “&lblank; for two-pence, &lblank;” The old reading may, however, stand. Forty-pence was, in those days, the proverbial expression of a small wager, or a small sum. Money was then reckoned by pounds, marks, and nobles. Forty pence is half a noble, or the sixth part of a pound. Forty pence, or three and four pence, still remains, in many offices, the legal and established fee. So, in King Richard II. Act V. Sc. V.: “The cheapest of us is ten groats too dear.” Again, in All's Well That Ends Well, Act II. the Clown says: “As fit as ten groats for the hand of an attorney.” Again, in Green's Groundwork of Coneycatching: “&lblank; wagers laying, &c. forty pence gaged against a match of wrestling.” Again, in The Longer Thou Livest, the more Fool Thou Art, 1570: “I dare wage with any man forty pence.” Again, in The Storye of King Darius, 1565, an interlude: “Nay, that I will not for forty pence.” Steevens.

Note return to page 799 3For all the mud in Egypt:] The fertility of Egypt is derived from the mud and slime of the Nile. Steevens.

Note return to page 800 4&lblank; Sennet,] Dr. Burney (whose General History of Musick has been so highly and deservedly applauded) undertook to trace the etymology, and discover the certain meaning of this term, but without success. The following conjecture of his should not, however, be withheld from the publick: “Senné or sennie, de l'Allemand sen, qui signifie assemblee. Dict. de vieux Language: “Senne, assemblee a son de cloche.” Menage. “Perhaps, therefore, (says he,) sennet may mean a flourish for the purpose of assembling chiefs, or apprizing the people of their approach. I have likewise been informed, (as is elsewhere noted,) that senestie is the name of an antiquated French tune.” See Julius Cæsar, Act I. Sc. II. Steevens. In the second part of Marston's Antonio and Mellida&lblank; “Cornets sound a cynet.” Farmer. A senet appears to have signified a short flourish on cornets. In King Henry VI. Part III. after the King and the Duke of York have entered into a compact in the parliament-house, we find this marginal direction: “Senet. Here they [the lords] come down [from their seats].” In that place a flourish must have been meant. The direction which has occasioned this note should be, I believe, ‘Sennet on cornets.’ In Marlowe's King Edward II. we find “Cornets sound a signate.” Senet or signate was undoubtedly nothing more than a flourish or sounding. The Italian Sonata formerly signified nothing more. See Florio's Italian Dict, 1611, in v. That senet was merely the corrupt pronunciation of signate, is ascertained by the following entry in the folio MS. of Mr. Henslowe, who appears to have spelt entirely by the ear: “Laid out at sundry times, of my own ready money, abowt the gainynge of ower comysion, as followeth, 1597. “Laid out for goinge to the corte to the Master of the Requeasts, xii d. “Item. Paid unto the clerk of the Senette, 40s.” Malone.

Note return to page 801 5&lblank; Archbishop of Canterbury,—Bishops of Lincoln, Ely, Rochester, and Saint Asaph;] These were, William Warham, John Longland, Nicholas West, John Fisher, and Henry Standish. West, Fisher, and Standish, were counsel for the Queen. Reed.

Note return to page 802 6&lblank; Pillars;] Pillars were some of the ensigns of dignity carried before cardinals. Sir Thomas More, when he was speaker to the commons, advised them to admit Wolsey into the house with his maces and his pillars. More's Life of Sir T. More. Johnson. So, in The Treatous, a satire on Cardinal Wolsey, no date, but published between the execution of the Duke of Buckingham and the repudiation of Queen Katharine. Of this curiosity the reader will find a particular account in Herbert's improved edition of Ames's Typographical Antiquities, vol. iii. p. 1538, &c. The author of this invective was William Roy. See Bale de Script. Brit. edit. 1548, p. 254, b.:   “With worldly pompe incredible, “Before him rydeth two prestes stronge: “And they bear two crosses right longe,   “Gapynge in every man's face: “After them folowe two laye men secular, “And each of theym holdyn a pillar,   “In their hondes steade of a mace.” Steevens. At the end of Fiddes's Life of Cardinal Wolsey, is a curious letter of Mr. Anstis's, on the subject of the two silver pillars usually borne before Cardinal Wolsey. This remarkable piece of pageantry did not escape the notice of Shakspeare. Percy. Wolsey had two great crosses of silver, the one of his archbishoprick, the other of his legacy, borne before him withersoever he went or rode, by two of the tallest priests, that he could get within the realm. This is from vol. iii. p. 920, of Holinshed, and it seems from p. 837, that one of the pillars was the token of a cardinal, and perhaps he bore the other pillar as an archbishop. Tollet. One of Wolsey's crosses certainly denoted his being Legate, as the other was borne before him either as cardinal or archbishop. “On the—day of the same moneth (says Hall) the cardinall removed out of his house called Yorke-place, with one crosse, saying, that he would he had never borne more, meaning that by hys crosse which he bore as legate, which degree-taking was his confusion.” Chron. Henry VIII. 104, b. Malone.

Note return to page 803 7&lblank; goes about the court,] “Because (says Cavendish) she could not come to the king directlie, for the distance severed between them.” Malone.

Note return to page 804 8Sir, I desire you, do me right and justice; &c.] This speech of the Queen, and the King's reply, are taken from Holinshed, with the most trifling variations. Steevens.

Note return to page 805 9At all times to your will conformable:] The character Queen Katharine here prides herself for, is given to another Queen in The Historie of the Uniting of the Kingdom of Portugall to the Crowne of Castill, fo. 1600, p. 238: “&lblank; at which time Queene Anne his wife fell sicke of a rotten fever, the which in few daies brought her to another life; wherewith the King was much grieved, being a lady wholly conformable to his humour.” Reed.

Note return to page 806 1&lblank; nay, gave notice &lblank;] In modern editions: “&lblank; nay, gave not notice &lblank;.” Though the author's common liberties of speech might justify the old reading, yet I cannot but think that not was dropped before notice, having the same letters, and would therefore follow Sir T. Hanmer's correction.” Johnson. Our author is so licentious in his construction, that I suspect no corruption. Malone. Perhaps this inaccuracy (like a thousand others) is chargeable only on the blundering superintendants of the first folio.—Instead of—nay, we might read: “&lblank; nor gave notice “He was from thence discharg'd?”

Note return to page 807 2&lblank; or my love and duty, Against your sacred person,] There seems to be an error in the phrase “Against your sacred person;” but I don't know how to amend it. The sense would require that we should read, “Towards your sacred person,” or some word of a similar import, which against will not bear: and it is not likely that against should be written by mistake for towards. M. Mason. In the old copy there is not a comma in the preceding line after duty. Mr. M. Mason has justly observed that, with such a punctuation, the sense requires—Towards your sacred person. A comma being placed at duty, the construction is—‘If you can report and prove aught against mine honour, my love and duty, or aught against your sacred person, &c.’ but I doubt whether this was our author's intention; for such an arrangement seems to make a breach of her honour and matrimonial bond to be something distinct from an offence against the king's person, which is not the case. Perhaps, however, by the latter words Shakspeare meant, against your life. Malone. “&lblank; against my honour aught,— “My bond to wedlock, or my love and duty “Against your sacred person,” &c. The meaning of this passage is sufficiently clear, but the construction of it has puzzled us all. It is evidently erroneous, but may be amended by merely removing the word or from the middle of the second line to the end of it. It will then run thus— “&lblank; against my honour aught,— “My bond to wedlock,—my love and duty,—or “Against your sacred person,” &c. This slight alteration makes it grammatical, as well as intelligible. M. Mason. The word or may very well be understood. Mr. Malone's remark that a breach of her honour and matrimonial bond cannot be represented as “something distinct from an offence against the king's person,” might be applied with equal or greater force to what precedes; for a breach of her honour would certainly be a breach of her bond to wedlock, and her love and duty; but lesser violations of the respect she owed to his person would not necessarily infer that she had broke her marriage vow. Boswell.

Note return to page 808 3That longer you desire the court;] That you desire to protract the business of the court; that you solicit a more distant session and trial. “To pray for a longer day,” i. e. ‘a more distant one, when the trial or execution of criminals is agitated, is yet the language of the bar.—In the fourth folio, and all the modern editions, defer is substituted for desire. Malone.

Note return to page 809 4I am about to weep; &c.] Shakspeare has given almost a similar sentiment to Hermione, in The Winter's Tale, on an almost similar occasion: “I am not prone to weeping, as our sex “Commonly are, &c.—but I have “That honourable grief lodg'd here, which burns “Worse than tears drown;” &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 810 5&lblank; and make my challenge You shall not be my judge:] Challenge is here a verbum juris, a law term. The criminal, when he refuses a juryman, says —“I challenge him.” Johnson.

Note return to page 811 6I utterly abhor, yea, from my soul Refuse you for my judge;] These are not mere words of passion, but technical terms in the canon law. Detestor and Recuso. The former, in the language of canonists, signifies no more, than—I protest against. Blackstone. The words are Holinshed's: “&lblank; and therefore openly protested that she did utterly abhor, refuse, and forsake such a judge.” Malone.

Note return to page 812 7&lblank; gainsay &lblank;] i. e. deny. So, in Lord Surrey's translation of the fourth book of the Æneid: “I hold thee not, nor yet gainsay thy words.” Steevens.

Note return to page 813 8&lblank; But if &lblank;] The conjunction—But, which is wanting in the old copy, was supplied, for the sake of measure, by Sir T. Hanmer. Steevens.

Note return to page 814 9You sign your place and calling,] Sign, for answer. Warburton. I think, to sign, must here be to show, to denote. By your outward meekness and humility, you show that you are of an holy order, but, &c. Johnson. So, with a kindred sense, in Julius Cæsar: “Sign'd in thy spoil, and crimson'd in thy lethe.” Steevens.

Note return to page 815 1Where powers are your retainers: and your words, Domesticks to you, serve your will,] You have now got power at your beck, following in your retinue; and words therefore are degraded to the servile state of performing any office which you shall give them. In humbler and more common terms: “Having now got power, you do not regard your word.” Johnson. The word power, when used in the plural and applied to one person only, will not bear the meaning that Dr. Johnson wishes to give it. By powers are meant the Emperor and the King of France, in the pay of one or the other of whom Wolsey was constantly retained; and it is well known that Wolsey entertained some of the nobility of England among his domesticks, and had an absolute power over the rest. M. Mason. Whoever were pointed at by the word powers, Shakspeare, surely, does not mean to say that Wolsey was retained by them, but that they were retainers, or subservient, to Wolsey. Malone. I believe that—powers, in the present instance, are used merely to express persons in whom power is lodged. The Queen would insinuate that Wolsey had rendered the highest officers of state subservient to his will. Steevens. I believe we should read: “Where powers are your retainers, and your wards, “Domesticks to you,” &c. The Queen rises naturally in her description. She paints the powers of government depending upon Wolsey under three images; as his retainers, his wards, his domestick servants. Tyrwhitt. So, in Storer's Life and Death of Thomas Wolsey, Cardinal, a poem, 1599: “I must have notice where their wards must dwell; “I car'd not for the gentry, for I had “Yong nobles of the land,” &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 816 2&lblank; could speak thee out,)] If thy several qualities had tongues to speak thy praise. Johnson. Rather—had tongues capable of speaking out thy merits; i. e. of doing them extensive justice. In Cymbeline we have a similar expression: “You speak him far.” Steevens.

Note return to page 817 3&lblank; although not there At once and fully satisfied,)] The sense, which is encumbered with words, is no more than this—I must be loosed, though when so loosed, I shall not be satisfied fully and at once; that is, I shall not be immediately satisfied. Johnson.

Note return to page 818 4&lblank; might &lblank;] Old copy, redundantly—“that might.” Steevens.

Note return to page 819 5Desir'd it to be stirr'd;] The useless words—to be, might, in my opinion, be safely omitted, as they clog the metre, without enforcement of the sense. Steevens.

Note return to page 820 6The passages made toward it:] i. e. closed, or fastened. So, in The Comedy of Errors, Act III. Sc. I.: “Why at this time the doors are made against you.” For the present explanation and pointing, I alone am answerable. A similar phrase occurs in Macbeth: “Stop up the access and passage to remorse.” Yet the sense in which these words have hitherto been received may be the true one. Steevens. The old reading is perfectly clear. Mr. Steevens put a colon after hinder'd. Boswell.

Note return to page 821 7&lblank; on my honour, I speak my good lord cardinal to this point,] The King, having first addressed to Wolsey, breaks off; and declares upon his honour to the whole court, that he speaks the Cardinal's sentiments upon the point in question; and clears him from any attempt, or wish, to stir that business. Theobald.

Note return to page 822 8Scruple, and prick,] Prick of conscience was the term in confession. Johnson. The expression is from Holinshed, where the King says: “The special cause that moved me unto this matter was a certaine scrupulositie that pricked my conscience.” &c. See Holinshed, p. 907. Steevens.

Note return to page 823 9A marriage,] Old copy—And marriage. Corrected by Mr. Pope. Malone.

Note return to page 824 1&lblank; This respite shook The bosom of my conscience,] Though this reading be sense, yet, I verily believe, the poet wrote: “The bottom of my conscience &lblank;.” Shakspeare, in all his historical plays, was a most diligent observer of Holinshed's Chronicle. Now Holinshed, in the speech which he has given to King Henry upon this subject, makes him deliver himself thus: “Which words, once conceived within the secret bottom of my conscience, ingendred such a scrupulous doubt, that my conscience was incontinently accombred, vexed, and disquieted.” Vid. Life of Henry VIII. p. 907. Theobald. The phrase recommended by Mr. Theobald occurs again in King Henry VI. Part I.: “&lblank; for therein should we read “The very bottom and soul of hope.” It is repeated also in Measure for Measure, All's Well that Ends Well, King Henry VI. Part II. Coriolanus, &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 825 2&lblank; hulling in The wild sea &lblank;] That is, floating without guidance; tossed here and there. Johnson. The phrase belongs to navigation. A ship is said to hull when she is dismasted, and only her hull, or hulk, is left at the direction and mercy of the waves. So, in The Alarum for London, 1602: “And they lye hulling up and down the stream.” Steevens.

Note return to page 826 3I then mov'd you,] “I moved it in confession to you, my lord of Lincoln, then my ghostly father. And forasmuch as then you yourself were in some doubt, you moved me to ask the counsel of all these my lords. Whereupon I moved you, my lord of Canterbury, first to have your licence, in as much as you were metropolitan, to put this matter in question; and so I did of all of you, my lords.” Holinshed's Life of Henry VIII. p. 908. Theobald.

Note return to page 827 4That's paragon'd o' the world.] Sir T. Hanmer reads, I think, better: “&lblank; the primest creature “That's paragon o' the world.” Johnson. So, in The Two Gentlemen of Verona: “No: but she is an earthly paragon.” Again, in Cymbeline: “&lblank; an angel! or, if not, “An earthly paragon.” To paragon, however, is a verb used by Shakspeare, both in Antony and Cleopatra and Othello: “If thou with Cæsar paragon again “My man of men.” “&lblank; a maid “That paragons description and wild fame.” Steevens.

Note return to page 828 3They rise to depart.] Here the modern editors add: [The King speaks to Cranmer.] This marginal direction is not found in the old folio, and was wrongly introduced by some subsequent editor. Cranmer was now absent from court on an embassy, as appears from the last scene of this Act, where Cromwell informs Wolsey that he is returned and installed Archbishop of Canterbury: “My learn'd and well-beloved servant, Cranmer, “Pr'ythee, return!” is no more than an apostrophe to the absent bishop of that name. Ridley.

Note return to page 829 4&lblank; at work.] Her majesty (says Cavendish,) on being informed that the cardinals were coming to visit her, “rose up, having a skein of red silke about her neck, being at work with her maidens.” Cavendish attended Wolsey in this visit; and the Queen's answer, in p. 491, is exactly conformable to that which he has recorded, and which he appears to have heard her pronounce. Malone.

Note return to page 830 5Wait in the presence.] i. e. in the presence-chamber. So, in Peacham's Compleat Gentleman: “The Lady Anne of Bretaigne, passing thorow the presence in the court of France,” &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 831 6They should be good men; their affairs as righteous:] Affairs for professions; and then the sense is clear and pertinent. The proposition is they are priests. The illation, they are good men; for being understood: but if affairs be interpreted in its common signification, the sentence is absurd. Warburton. The sentence has no great difficulty: Affairs means not their present errand, but the business of their calling. Johnson. Being churchmen they should be virtuous, and every business they undertake as righteous as their sacred office: but all hoods, &c.—The ignorant editor of the second folio, not understanding the line, substituted are for as; and this capricious alteration (with many others introduced by the same hand,) has been adopted by all the modern editors. Malone.

Note return to page 832 7&lblank; all hoods make not monks.] Cucullus non facit monachum. Steevens. To this proverbial expression Chaucer alludes in his Romaunt of the Rose, 6190: “This argument is all roignous, “It is not worth a crooked brere; “Habite ne makith Monke ne Frere; “But a clene life and devotion, “Makith gode men of religion.” Grey.

Note return to page 833 8Envy and base opinion set against them,] I would be glad that my conduct were in some publick trial confronted with mine enemies, that envy and corrupt judgment might try their utmost power against me. Johnson. Envy, in Shakspeare's age, often signified malice. So, afterwards: “Ye turn the good we offer into envy.” Malone.

Note return to page 834 9Seek me out, &c.] I believe that a word has dropt out here, and that we should read: “&lblank; If your business “Seek me, speak out, and that way I am wife in;” i. e. in the way that I can understand it. Tyrwhitt. The metre shows here is a syllable dropt. I would read: “I know my life so even. If 'tis your business “To seek me out,” &c. Blackstone. The alteration proposed by Sir W. Blackstone injures one line as much as it improves the other. We might read: “Doth seek me out &lblank;.” Ritson.

Note return to page 835 1&lblank; and that way I am wife in,] That is, if you come to examine the title by which I am the King's wife; or, if you come to know how I have behaved as a wife. The meaning, whatever it may be, is so coarsely and unskilfully expressed, that the latter editors have liked nonsense better, and contrarily to the ancient and only copy, have published: “And that way I am wise in.” Johnson. This passage is unskilfully expressed indeed; so much so, that I don't see how it can import either of the meanings that Johnson contends for, or indeed any other. I therefore think that the modern editors have acted rightly in reading wise instead of wife, for which that word might easily have been mistaken; nor can I think the passage so amended, nonsense, the meaning of it being this: “If your business relates to me, or to any thing of which I have any knowledge.” M. Mason.

Note return to page 836 2O, good my lord, no Latin;] So, Holinshed, p. 908: “Then began the cardinall to speake to her in Latine. Naie good my lord (quoth she) speake to me in English.” Steevens.

Note return to page 837 3(And service to his majesty and you,)] This line stands so very aukwardly, that I am inclined to think it out of its place. The author perhaps wrote, as Mr. Edwards has suggested: “I am sorry my integrity should breed “So deep suspicion, where all faith was meant, “And service to his majesty and you.” Malone.

Note return to page 838 4&lblank; to your cause.] Old copy—our cause. Corrected by the editor of the second folio. Malone.

Note return to page 839 5For her sake that I have been, &c.] For the sake of that royalty which I have heretofore possessed. Malone.

Note return to page 840 6(Though he be grown so desperate to be honest,)] Do you think that any Englishman dare advise me; or, if any man should venture to advise with honesty, that he could live? Johnson.

Note return to page 841 7&lblank; weigh out my afflictions.] This phrase is obscure. To weigh out, is, in modern language, to deliver by weight; but this sense cannot be here admitted. To weigh is likewise to deliberate upon, to consider with due attention. This may, perhaps, be meant. Or the phrase, to weigh out, may signify to counterbalance, to counteract with equal force. Johnson. To weigh out is the same as to outweigh. In Macbeth, Shakspeare has overcome for come over. Steevens.

Note return to page 842 8The more shame for ye;] If I mistake you, it is by your fault, not mine; for I thought you good. The distress of Katharine might have kept her from the quibble to which she is irresistibly tempted by the word cardinal. Johnson.

Note return to page 843 9&lblank; superstitious to him?] That is, served him with superstitious attention; done more than was required. Johnson.

Note return to page 844 1Ye have angels' faces,] She may perhaps allude to the old jingle of Angli and Angeli. Johnson. I find this jingle in The Arraygnment of Paris, 1584. The goddesses refer the dispute about the golden apple to the decision of Diana, who setting aside their respective claims, awards it to Queen Elizabeth; and adds: “Her people are ycleped angeli, “Or if I miss a letter, is the most.” In this pastoral, as it is called, the Queen herself may be almost said to have been a performer, for at the conclusion of it, Diana gives the golden apple into her hands, and the Fates deposit their insignia at her feet. It was presented before her Majesty by the children of her chapel. It appears, from the following passage in The Spanish Masquerado, by Greene, 1585, that this quibble was originally the quibble of a saint: “England, a little island, where, as saint Augustin saith, there be people with angel faces, so the inhabitants have the courage and hearts of lyons.” Steevens. See also Nashe's Anatomie of Absurditie, 1589: “For my part I meane to suspend my sentence, and let an author of late memorie be my speaker; who affirmeth that they carry angels in their faces, and devils in their devices.” Malone.

Note return to page 845 2&lblank; the lily, That once was mistress of the field,] So, in Spenser's Fairy Queen, book ii. c. vi. st. 16: “The lily, lady of the flow'ring field.” Holt White.

Note return to page 846 3The hearts of princes kiss obedience, So much they love it; but, to stubborn spirits, They swell, and grow as terrible as storms.] It was one of the charges brought against Lord Essex, in the year before this play was probably written, by his ungrateful kinsman, Sir Francis Bacon, when that nobleman, to the disgrace of humanity, was obliged, by a junto of his enemies, to kneel at the end of the council-table for several hours, that in a letter written during his retirement, in 1598, to the Lord Keeper, he had said, “There is no tempest to the passionate indignation of a prince.” Malone.

Note return to page 847 4If I have us'd myself unmannerly;] That is, if I have behaved myself unmannerly. M. Mason.

Note return to page 848 5And force them &lblank;] Force is enforce, urge. Johnson. So, in Measure for Measure: “&lblank; Has he affections in him “That thus can make him bite the law by the nose, “When he would force it?” Steevens.

Note return to page 849 6&lblank; or at least Strangely neglected?] Which of the peers has not gone by him contemned or neglected? Johnson. Uncontemn'd, as I have before observed in a note on As You Like It, must be understood, as if the author had written not contemn'd. See vol. vi. p. 374, n. 7. Malone. Our author extends to the words, strangely neglected, the negative comprehended in the word uncontemn'd. M. Mason.

Note return to page 850 7&lblank; when did he regard The stamp of nobleness in any person, Out of himself?] The expression is bad, and the thought false. For it supposes Wolsey to be noble, which was not so: we should read and point: “&lblank; when did he regard “The stamp of nobleness in any person; “Out of't himself?” i. e. When did he regard nobleness of blood in another, having none of his own to value himself upon? Warburton. I do not think this correction proper. The meaning of the present reading is easy. When did he, however careful to carry his own dignity to the utmost height, regard any dignity of another? Johnson.

Note return to page 851 8&lblank; contrary proceedings &lblank;] Private practices opposite to his publick procedure. Johnson.

Note return to page 852 9And hedges, his own way.] To hedge, is to creep along by the hedge: not to take the direct and open path, but to steal covertly through circumvolutions. Johnson. Hedging is by land, what coasting is by sea. M. Mason.

Note return to page 853 1Trace the conjunction!] To trace, is to follow. Johnson. So, in Macbeth: “&lblank; all unfortunate souls “That trace him in his line.” The form of Surrey's wish has been anticipated by Richmond in King Richard III. Sc. ult.: “Smile heaven upon this fair conjunction!” Steevens.

Note return to page 854 2&lblank; but young,] The same phrase occurs again in Romeo and Juliet, Act I. Sc. I.: “Good morrow, cousin. “Is the day so young?”? See note on this passage, vol. vi. p. 17, n. 8. Steevens.

Note return to page 855 3In it be memoriz'd.] To memorize is to make memorable. The word has been already used in Macbeth, vol. xi. p. 23, n. 6. Steevens.

Note return to page 856 4He is return'd, in his opinions; which Have satisfied the king for his divorce, Together with all famous colleges Almost in Christendom:] Thus the old copy. The meaning is this: Cranmer, says Suffolk, ‘is returned in his opinions,’ i. e. with the same sentiments which he entertained before he went abroad, ‘which (sentiments) have satisfied the king, together with all the famous colleges’ referred to on the occasion.— Or, perhaps the passage (as Mr. Tyrwhitt observes) may mean— He is return'd in effect, having sent his opinions, i. e. the opinions of divines, &c. collected by him. Mr. Rowe altered these lines as follows, and all succeeding editors have silently adopted his unnecessary change: “He is return'd with his opinions, which “Have satisfied the King for his divorce, “Gather'd from all the famous colleges “Almost in Christendom &lblank;.” Steevens.

Note return to page 857 5To his own hand, in his bedchamber.] Surely, both the syllable wanting in this line, and the respect due from the speaker to Wolsey, should authorize us to read: “To his own hand, sir, in his bedchamber.” And again, in Cromwell's next speech: “Was in his countenance: you, sir, he bade &lblank;.” or with Sir Thomas Hanmer: “&lblank; and you be bade &lblank;.” Steevens.

Note return to page 858 6Enter the King, reading a Schedule;] That the Cardinal gave the King an inventory of his own private wealth, by mistake, and thereby ruined himself, is a known variation from the truth of history. Shakspeare, however, has not injudiciously represented the fall of that great man as owing to an incident which he had once improved to the destruction of another. See Holinshed, pp. 796 and 797: “Thomas Ruthall, bishop of Durham, was, after the death of King Henry VII. one of the privy council to Henry VIII. to whom the king gave in charge to write a book of the whole estate of the kingdom, &c. Aftewards, the king commanded cardinal Wolsey to go to this bishop, and to bring the book away with him.—This bishop having written two books, (the one to answer the king's command, and the other intreating of his own private affairs,) did bind them both after one sort in vellum, &c. Now, when the cardinal came to demand the book due to the king, the bishop unadvisedly commanded his servant to bring him the book bound in white vellum, lying in his study, in such a place. The servant accordingly brought forth one of the books so bound, being the book intreating of the state of the bishop, &c. The cardinal having the book went from the bishop, and after, (in his study by himself,) understanding the contents thereof, he greatly rejoiced, having now occasion (which he long sought for) offered unto him, to bring the bishop into the king's disgrace. “Wherefore he went forthwith to the king, delivered the book into his hands, and briefly informed him of the contents thereof; putting further into the king's head, that if at any time he were destitute of a mass of money, he should not need to seek further therefore than to the coffers of the bishop. Of all which when the bishop had intelligence, &c. he was stricken with such grief of the same, that he shortly, through extreme sorrow, ended his life at London, in the year of Christ 1523. After which, the cardinal, who had long before gaped after his bishoprick, in singular hope to attain thereunto, had now his wish in effect,” &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 859 7&lblank; then, stops again,] Sallust, describing the disturbed state of Catiline's mind, takes notice of the same circumstance: &lblank; citus modo, modo tardus incessus. Steevens.

Note return to page 860 8Strikes his breast hard; and anon, he casts &lblank;] Here I think we should be at liberty to complete a defective verse, by reading, with Sir Thomas Hanmer: “&lblank; and then, anon, he casts &lblank;.” Steevens. We might adopt the following arrangement, which would restore the metre without the aid of any interpolation: “Strikes his breast hard; and anon, he casts his eye “Against the moon: in most strange postures we “Have seen him set himself.” Malone.

Note return to page 861 9&lblank; with his deed did crown His word &lblank;] So, in Macbeth: “To crown my thoughts with acts &lblank;.” Steevens.

Note return to page 862 1Beyond all man's endeavours:] The sense is, ‘my purposes went beyond all human endeavour. I purposed for your honour more than it falls within the compass of man's nature to attempt.’ Johnson. I am rather inclined to think, that which refers to “royal graces;” which, says Wolsey, no human endeavour could requite. Malone.

Note return to page 863 2Yet, fil'd with my abilities:] My endeavours, though less than my desires, have fil'd, that is, have gone an equal pace with my abilities. Johnson. So, in a preceding scene: “&lblank; front but in that file “Where others tell steps with me.” Steevens.

Note return to page 864 3&lblank; my hand has open'd bounty to you, My heart dropp'd love, my power rain'd honour, more On you, &c.] As Ben Jonson is supposed to have made some alterations in this play, it may not be amiss to compare the passage before us, with another, on the same subject, in the New Inn: “He gave me my first breeding, I acknowledge; “Then shower'd his bounties on me, like the hours “That open-handed sit upon the clouds, “And press the liberality of heaven “Down to the laps of thankful men.” Steevens.

Note return to page 865 4&lblank; notwithstanding that your bond of duty,] Besides the general bond of duty, by which you are obliged to be a loyal and obedient subject, you owe a particular devotion of yourself to me, as your particular benefactor. Johnson.

Note return to page 866 5&lblank; that am, have, and will be.] I can find no meaning in these words, or see how they are connected with the rest of the sentence; and should therefore strike them out. M. Mason. I suppose the meaning is, ‘that, or such a man, I am, have been, and will ever be.’ Our author has many hard and forced expressions in his plays; but many of the hardnesses in the piece before us appear to me of a different colour from those of Shakspeare. Perhaps, however, a line following this has been lost; for in the old copy there is no stop at the end of this line; and, indeed, I have some doubt whether a comma ought not to be placed at it, rather than a full point. Malone.

Note return to page 867 6As doth a rock against the chiding flood.] So, in our author's 116th Sonnet: “&lblank; it is an ever-fixed mark, “That looks on tempests, and is never shaken.” The chiding flood is the resounding flood. So, in the verses in commendation of our author, by J. M. S. prefixed to the folio 1632: “&lblank; there plays a fair “But chiding fountain.” So, in King Henry V. vol. xvii. p. 332: “He'll call you to so hot an answer for it, “That caves and womby vaultages of France “Shall chide your trespass.” Malone. See also vol. v. p. 297, n. 6. Steevens. Ille, velut pelagi rupes immota, resistit. Æn. vii. 586. S. W.

Note return to page 868 7I have touch'd the highest point of all my greatness;] So, in Marlowe's King Edward II.: “Base fortune, now I see that in thy wheel “There is a point, to which when men aspire, “They tumble headlong down. That point I touch'd; “And seeing there was no place to mount up higher, “Why should I grieve at my declining fall?” Malone.

Note return to page 869 8Re-enter the Dukes, &c.] It may not be improper here to repeat, that the time of this play is from 1521, just before the Duke of Buckingham's commitment, to the year 1533, when Queen Elizabeth was born and christened. The Duke of Norfolk, therefore, who is introduced in the first scene of the first Act, or in 1522, is not the same person who here, or in 1529, demands the great seal from Wolsey; for Thomas Howard, who was created Duke of Norfolk, 1514, died, we are informed by Holinshed, p. 891, at Whitsuntide, 1525. As our author has here made two persons into one, so, on the contrary, he has made one person into two. The Earl of Surrey here is the same with him who married the Duke of Buckingham's daughter, as appears from his own mouth: “I am joyful “To meet the least occasion that may give me “Remembrance of my father-in-law, the duke.” Again: “Thy ambition, “Thou scarlet sin, robb'd this bewailing land “Of noble Buckingham, my father-in-law: &lblank; “You sent me deputy for Ireland; “Far from his succour &lblank;.” But Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey, who married the Duke of Buckingham's daughter, was at this time the individual above mentioned Duke of Norfolk. The reason for adding the third or fourth person as interlocutors in this scene is not very apparent, for Holinshed, p. 909, mentions only the Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk being sent to demand the great seal, and all that is spoken would proceed with sufficient propriety out of their mouths. The cause of the Duke of Norfolk's animosity to Wolsey is obvious, and Cavendish mentions that an open quarrel at this time subsisted between the Cardinal and Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk. Reed.

Note return to page 870 9To Asher-house.] Thus the old copy. Asher was the ancient name of Esher; as appears from Holinshed: “&lblank; and everie man took their horses and rode strait to Asher.” Holinshed, vol. ii. p. 909. Warner.

Note return to page 871 1&lblank; my lord of Winchester's,] Shakspeare forgot that Wolsey was himself Bishop of Winchester, unless he meant to say, you must confine yourself to that house which you possess as Bishop of Winchester. Asher, near Hampton-Court, was one of the houses belonging to that Bishoprick. Malone. Fox, Bishop of Winchester, died Sept. 14, 1528, and Wolsey held this see in commendam. Esher therefore was his own house. Reed.

Note return to page 872 2&lblank; so weighty.] The editor of the third folio changed weighty to mighty, and all the subsequent editors adopted his capricious alteration. Malone. I believe the change pointed out was rather accidental than capricious; as, in the proof sheets of this republication, [Mr. Steevens's,] the words—weighty and mighty have more than once been given instead of each other. Steevens.

Note return to page 873 3Till I find more than will, or words, to do it, (I mean, your malice,) know, &c.] Wolsey had said: “&lblank; words cannot carry “Authority so weighty.” To which they reply: “Who dare cross them?” &c. Wolsey, answering them, continues his own speech, “Till I find more than will or words (I mean more than your malicious will and words) to do it;” that is, ‘to carry authority so mighty; I will deny to return what the King has given me.’ Johnson.

Note return to page 874 4Within these forty hours &lblank;] Why forty hours? But a few minutes have passed since Wolsey's disgrace. I suspect that Shakspeare wrote—“within these four hours,”—and that the person who revised and tampered with this play, not knowing that hours was used by our poet as a dissyllable, made this injudicious alteration. Malone. I adhere to the old reading. Forty (I know not why) seems anciently to have been the familiar number on many occasions, where no very exact reckoning was necessary. In a former scene, the Old Lady offers to lay Anne Bullen a wager of “forty pence;” Slender, in the Merry Wives of Windsor, says—“I had rather than forty shillings—;” and in The Taming of the Shrew, “the humour of forty fancies” is the ornament of Grumio's hat. Thus also, in Coriolanus: “&lblank; on fair ground “I could beat forty of them.” Steevens.

Note return to page 875 5That I, in the way, &c.] Old copy—“That in the way.” Steevens. Mr. Theobald reads: “That I, in the way,” &c. and this unnecessary emendation has been adopted by all the subsequent editors. The construction is, ‘I, that dare mate a sounder man than Surrey, tell you, you have as little honesty as honour.’ Malone. As this passage is to me obscure, if not unintelligible, without Mr. Theobald's correction, I have not discarded it. Steevens.

Note return to page 876 6To be thus jaded &lblank;] To be abused and ill-treated, like a worthless horse: or perhaps to be ridden by a priest;—to have him mounted above us. Malone. The same verb (whatever its precise meaning may be) occurs in Antony and Cleopatra, Act III. Sc. I.: “The ne'er-yet-beaten horse of Parthia “We have jaded out o' the field.” Steevens.

Note return to page 877 7And dare us with his cap, like larks.] So, in Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy, edit. 1632, p. 656: “never Hobie so dared a lark.” It is well known that the hat of a cardinal is scarlet; and that one of the methods of daring larks was by small mirrors fastened on scarlet cloth, which engaged the attention of these birds while the fowler drew his net over them. The same thought occurs in Skelton's Why Come Ye Not to Court? i. e. a satire on Wolsey: “The red hat with his lure, “Bringeth al thinges under cure.” Steevens.

Note return to page 878 8Who,] Old copy—Whom. Corrected in the second folio. Malone.

Note return to page 879 9Worse than the sacring bell,] The little bell, which is rung to give notice of the Host approaching when it is carried in procession, as also in other offices of the Romish church, is called the sacring, or consecration bell; from the French word, sacrer. Theobald. The Abbess, in The Merry Devil of Edmonton, 1608, says: “&lblank; you shall ring the sacring bell, “Keep your hours, and toll your knell.” Again, in Reginald Scott's Discovery of Witchcraft, 1584: “He heard a little sacring bell ring to the elevation of a to-morrow mass.” The now obsolete verb to sacre, is used by P. Holland, in his translation of Pliny's Natural History, book x. ch. vi. And by Chapman, in his version of Homer's Hymn to Diana: “Sacring my song to every deity.” Steevens.

Note return to page 880 1&lblank; when the brown wench, &c.] The amorous propensities of Cardinal Wolsey are much dwelt on in the ancient satire already quoted, p. 382. n. 6: “By his pryde and faulce treachery, “Whoardom and baudy leachery,   “He hath been so intollerable.” Again: “The goodes that he thus gaddered “Wretchedly he hath scattered   “In causes nothynge expedient. “To make wyndowes walles and dores, “And to mayntayne baudes and whores   “A grett parte thereof is spent.” And still more grossly are his amours spoken of in many other parts of the same poem. Steevens. This seems to have been a common topick of invective against the clergy. In Fabian's Chronicle, p. 326, edit. 1559, we read of “a chaste Cardinal,” who ‘in the evening after he had lewdlie blowen his horne, and said it was a detestable sinne to aryse from ye side of a strumpet and sacre the body of Christ, he was taken with a strumpette to his open shame and rebuke.” Boswell.

Note return to page 881 *First folio, Cassado.

Note return to page 882 2Your holy hat to be stamp'd on the king's coin.] In the long string of articles exhibited by the Privy Council against Wolsey, which Sir Edward Coke transcribed from the original, this offence composed one of the charges: “40. Also the said Lord Cardinal of his further pompous and presumptuous minde, hath enterprised to joyn and imprint the Cardinal's hat under your armes in your coyn of groats made at your city of York, which like deed hath not been seen to be done by any subject in your realm before this time.” 4 Inst. 94. Holt White. This was certainly one of the articles exhibited against Wolsey, but rather with a view to swell the catalogue, than from any serious cause of accusation; inasmuch as the Archbishops Cranmer, Bainbrigge, and Warham, were indulged with the same privilege. See Snelling's View of the Silver Coin and Coinage of England. Douce.

Note return to page 883 3&lblank; to the mere undoing &lblank;] Mere is absolute. So, in The Honest Man's Fortune, by Beaumont and Fletcher: “&lblank; I am as happy “In my friend's good, as if 'twere merely mine.” Steevens. It is very frequently used in this sense by Shakspeare. Malone.

Note return to page 884 4Fall into the compass, &c.] The harshness of this line induces me to think that we should either read, with Sir Thomas Hanmer—“Fall in the compass,” or “Fall into compass,” omitting the article. Steevens.

Note return to page 885 5&lblank; of a præmunire,] It is almost unnecessary to observe that præmunire is a barbarous word used instead of præmonere. Steevens.

Note return to page 886 6Chattels, and whatsoever,] The old copy—castles. I have ventured to substitute chattels here, as the author's genuine word, because the judgment in a writ of præmunire is, that the defendant shall be out of the king's protection; and his lands and tenements, goods and chattels, forfeited to the king; and that his body shall remain in prison at the king's pleasure. This very description of the præmunire is set out by Holinshed, in his Life of King Henry VIII. p. 909. Theobald. The emendation made by Mr. Theobald, is, I think, fully justified by the passage in Holinshed's Chronicle, on which this is founded; in which it is observable that the word chattels is spelt cattels, which might have been easily confounded with castles: “After this, in the King's Bench his matter for the præmunire being called upon, two attornies which he had authorised by his warrant signed with his own hand, confessed the action, and so had judgment to forfeit all his landes, tenements, goods, and cattels, and to be put out of the king's protection.” Chron. vol. ii. p. 909. Malone.

Note return to page 887 *First folio, hopes.

Note return to page 888 7This is the state of man; To-day he puts forth The tender leaves of hope, &c.] So, in our author's 25th Sonnet: “Great princes' favourites their fair leaves spread, “But as the marigold in the sun's eye; “And in themselves their pride lies buried, “For at a frown they in their glory die.” Malone.

Note return to page 889 8&lblank; nips his root,] “As spring-frosts are not injurious to the roots of fruit-trees,” Dr. Warburton reads—shoot. Such capricious alterations I am sometimes obliged to mention, merely to introduce the notes of those, who, while they have shewn them to be unnecessary, have illustrated our author. Malone. Vernal frosts, indeed, do not kill the root, but then to nip the shoots does not kill the tree or make it fall. The metaphor will not, in either reading, correspond exactly with nature. Johnson. I adhere to the old reading, which is countenanced by the following passage in A. W.'s Commendation of Gascoigne and his Poesies: “And frosts so nip the rootes of vertuous-meaning minds.” See Gascoigne's Works, 1587. Steevens.

Note return to page 890 9&lblank; and their ruin,] Most of the modern editors read—our ruin. Steevens. “Their ruin” is, ‘their displeasure,’ producing the downfall and ruin of him on whom it lights. So before: “He parted frowning from me, as if ruin “Leap'd from his eyes.” Malone.

Note return to page 891 1And when he falls, he falls like Lucifer,] So, in Churchyard's Legend of Cardinal Wolsey, Mirrour for Magistrates, 1587: “Your fault not half so great as was my pride, “For which offence fell Lucifer from the skies.” Malone. In The Life and Death of Thomas Wolsey, &c. a poem, by Tho. Storer, student of Christ-church, in Oxford, 1599, the Cardinal expresses himself in a manner somewhat similar: “If once we fall, we fall Colossus-like, “We fall at once, like pillars of the sunne,” &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 892 2&lblank; I am able now, methinks, (Out of a fortitude of soul I feel,) To endure more miseries, and greater far, Than my weak-hearted enemies dare offer.] So, in King Henry VI. Part II.: “More can I bear, than you dare execute.” Again, in Othello: “Thou hast not half the power to do me harm, “As I have to be hurt.” Malone.

Note return to page 893 3&lblank; a tomb of orphans' tears wept on 'em!] The chancellor is the general guardian of orphans. “A tomb of tears” is very harsh. Johnson. This idea will appear not altogether indefensible to those who recollect the following epigram of Martial: Flentibus Heliadum ramis dum vipera serpit,   Fluxit in obstantem succina gemma feram: Quæ dum miratur pingui se rore teneri,   Concreto riguit vincta repente gelu. Ne tibi regali placeas Cleopatra sepulchro,   Vipera si tumulo nobiliore jacet. The Heliades certainly “wept a tomb of tears” over the viper. The same conceit, however, is found in Drummond of Hawthornden's Teares for the Death of Moeliades: “The Muses, Phœbus, Love, have raised of their teares “A crystal tomb to him, through which his worth appeares.” Steevens. A similar conceit occurs in King Richard II. Act. III. Sc. III. Henley. The old copy has—on him. The error, which probably arose from similitude of sounds, was corrected by Mr. Steevens. Malone.

Note return to page 894 4&lblank; in open, &lblank;] A Latinism, [in aperto] perhaps introduced by Ben Jonson, who is supposed to have tampered with this play. Et castris in aperto positis: Liv. i. 33. i. e. in a place exposed on all sides to view. Steevens.

Note return to page 895 5Or gild again the noble troops that waited Upon my smiles.] The number of persons who composed Cardinal Wolsey's household, according to the printed account, was eight hundred. “When (says Cavendish in his Life of Wolsey,) shall we see any more such subjects, that shall keepe such a noble house?—Here is an end of his household. The number of persons in the cheyne-roll [check-roll] were eight hundred persons.” But Cavendish's work, though written in the time of Queen Mary, was not published till 1644; and it was then printed most unfaithfully, some passages being interpolated, near half of the MS. being omitted, and the phraseology being modernised throughout, to make it more readable at that time; the covert object of the publication probably having been, to render Laud odious, by shewing how far church-power had been extended by Wolsey, and how dangerous that prelate was, who, in the opinion of many, followed his example. The persons who procured this publication, seem to have been little solicitous about the means they employed, if they could but obtain their end; and therefore, among other unwarrantable sophistications, they took care that the number “of troops who waited on Wolsey's smiles,” should be sufficiently magnified; and, instead of one hundred and eighty, which was the real number of his household, they printed eight hundred. This appears from two MSS. of this work in the Museum; MSS. Harl. No. 428, and MSS. Birch, 4233. In another manuscript copy of Cavendish's Life of Wolsey, in the Publick Library at Cambridge, the number of the Cardinal's household, by the addition of a cypher, is made 1800. Malone.

Note return to page 896 6&lblank; make use &lblank;] i. e. make interest. So, in Much Ado About Nothing: “&lblank; I gave him use for it.” Steevens.

Note return to page 897 7&lblank; fling away ambition;] Wolsey does not mean to condemn every kind of ambition; for in a preceding line he says he will instruct Cromwell how to rise, and in the subsequent lines he evidently considers him as a man in office: “&lblank; then if thou fall'st,” &c. Ambition here means a criminal and inordinate ambition, that endeavours to obtain honours by dishonest means. Malone.

Note return to page 898 8By that sin fell the angels,] See p. 428, n. 1. Steevens.

Note return to page 899 9&lblank; cherish those hearts that hate thee;] Though this be good divinity, and an admirable precept for our conduct in private life, it was never calculated or designed for the magistrate or publick minister. Nor could this be the direction of a man experienced in affairs to his pupil. It would make a good christian, but a very ill and very unjust statesman. And we have nothing so infamous in tradition, as the supposed advice given to one of our kings, “to cherish his enemies, and to be in no pain for his friends.” I am of opinion the poet wrote: “&lblank; cherish those hearts that wait thee;” i. e. thy dependants. For the contrary practice had contributed to Wolsey's ruin. He was not careful enough in making dependants by his bounty, while intent in amassing wealth to himself. The following line seems to confirm this correction: “Corruption wins not more than honesty.” i. e. You will never find men won over to your temporary occasions by bribery, so useful to you as friends made by a just and generous munificence. Warburton. I am unwilling wantonly to contradict so ingenious a remark, but that the reader may not be misled, and believe the emendation proposed to be necessary, he should remember that this is not a time for Wolsey to speak only as a statesman, but as a christian. Shakspeare would have debased the character, just when he was employing his strongest efforts to raise it, had he drawn it otherwise. Nothing makes the hour of disgrace more irksome, than the reflection, that we have been deaf to offers of reconciliation, and perpetuated that enmity which we might have converted into friendship. Steevens.

Note return to page 900 1&lblank; Pr'ythee, lead me in: There take an inventory of all I have,] This inventory Wolsey actually caused to be taken upon his disgrace, and the particulars may be seen at large in Stowe's Chronicle, p. 546, edit. 1631. Among the Harl. MSS. there is one intitled, “An Inventorie of Cardinal Wolsey's rich Housholde Stuffe. Temp. Henry VIII. The original book, as it seems, kept by his own officers.” See Harl. Catal. No. 599. Douce.

Note return to page 901 2Had I but serv'd my God, &c.] This sentence was really uttered by Wolsey. Johnson. When Samrah, the deputy governor of Basorah, was deposed by Moawiyah the sixth caliph, he is reported to have expressed himself in the same manner: “If I had served God so well as I have served him, he would never have condemned me to all eternity.” A similar sentiment also occurs in The Earle of Murton's Tragedy, by Churchyard, 1593: “Had I serv'd God as well in euery sort, “As I did serue my king, and maister still; “My scope had not this season beene so short, “Nor world haue had the power to doe me ill.” Steevens. Antonio Perez, the favourite of Philip the Second of Spain, made the same pathetick complaint; “Mon zele etoit si grand vers ces benignes puissances [la cour de Turin,] que si j'en eusse eu autant pour Dieu, je ne doubte point qu'il ne m'eut deja recompensé de son paradis.” Malone. This was a strange sentence for Wolsey to utter, who was disgraced for the basest treachery to his King in the affair of the divorce: but it shows how naturally men endeavour to palliate their crimes even to themselves. M. Mason. There is a remarkable affinity between these words and part of the speech of Sir James Hamilton, who was supposed by King James V. thus to address him in a dream: “Though I was a sinner against God, I failed not to thee. Had I been as good a servant to the Lord my God, as I was to thee, I had not died that death.” Pinscottie's History of Scotland, p. 261, edit. 1788, 12mo. Douce.

Note return to page 902 3&lblank; once again.] Alluding to their former meeting in the second Act. Johnson.

Note return to page 903 4And so are you.] The conjunction—And was supplied by Sir Thomas Hanmer, to complete the measure. Steevens.

Note return to page 904 5&lblank; their royal minds;] i. e. their minds well affected to their King. Mr. Pope unnecessarily changed this word to loyal. In King Henry IV. Part II. we have “royal faith,” that is, faith due to kings; which Sir T. Hanmer changed to loyal, and I had too hastily followed Dr. Johnson and the late editions, in adopting the emendation. The recurrence of the same expression, though it is not such a one as we should now use, convinced me that there is no error in the text in either place. See vol. xvii. p. 156, n. 8. Malone. Royal, I believe, in the present instance, only signifies—noble. So, Macbeth, speaking of Banquo, mentions his “royalty of nature.” Steevens.

Note return to page 905 6&lblank; this day &lblank;] Sir Thomas Hanmer reads: “&lblank; these days &lblank;.” But Shakspeare meant such a day as this, a coronation day. And such is the English idiom, which our author commonly prefers to grammatical nicety. Johnson. Perhaps we should put the words—“As, let them have their rights, they are ever forward” in a parenthesis, and then—this day will be employed in its usual sense. ‘They have celebrated this day with shows;’ and the answer is, “Never greater.” Boswell.

Note return to page 906 6&lblank; beholden &lblank;] The old copy reads—beholding; and this is the word which constantly occurs in Shakspeare, but has throughout been considered as a corruption, and altered as in the text. But Butler, in his English Grammar, 1633, is of a contrary opinion: “Beholding to one, of to behold or regard: which by a synecdoche generis, signifyeth to respect and behold, or look upon with love and thanks for a benefit received, &c. yet some now adays had rather write it—beholden, i. e. obliged, answering to that teneri et firmiter obligari: which conceipt would seem the more probable, if to behold did signify to hold; as to bedek, to dek; to besprinkle, to sprinkle. But indeed neither is beholden English; neither are behold and hold any more all one, than become and come, or beseem and seem.” Boswell.

Note return to page 907 7&lblank; not appearance,] I suppose, our author wrote—non-appearance. So, in The Winter's Tale: “&lblank; the execution did cry out “Against the non-performance.” Steevens.

Note return to page 908 8&lblank; the late marriage &lblank;] i. e. the marriage lately considered as a valid one. Steevens.

Note return to page 909 *First folio, Kymmalton.

Note return to page 910 9&lblank; in his coat of arms,] i. e. in his coat of office, emblazoned with the royal arms. Steevens.

Note return to page 911 1&lblank; coronal &lblank; circlets &lblank;] I do not recollect that these two words occur in any other of our author's works; a circumstance that may serve to strengthen Dr. Farmer's opinion—that the directions for the court pageantry throughout the present drama, were drawn up by another hand. Steevens.

Note return to page 912 2&lblank; when he strains that lady:] I do not recollect that our author, in any other of his works, has used the verb—strain in its present sense, which is that of the Latin comprimere. Thus Livy, i. 4: “Compressa vestalis, quum geminum partum edidisset,” &c. Again, in Chapman's version of the 21st Iliad: “Bright Peribæa, whom the flood, &c. “Compress'd.” I have pointed out this circumstance, because Ben Jonson is suspected of having made some additions to the play before us, and, perhaps, in this very scene which is descriptive of the personages who compose the antecedent procession. See Dr. Farmer's note on the Epilogue to this play. Steevens.

Note return to page 913 3&lblank; and I am stifled &lblank;] And was introduced by Sir T. Hanmer, to complete the measure. Steevens.

Note return to page 914 4&lblank; The rich stream, &c.] &lblank; ingentem foribus domus alta superbis Mane salutantum totis vomit ædibus undam. Virg. Georg. ii. 461. Malone. Again, in the second Thebaid of Statius, v. 223: &lblank; foribus cum immissa superbis Unda fremit vulgi. So, in Timon of Athens, vol. xiii. p. 254: “&lblank; this confluence, this great flood of visitors.” Steevens.

Note return to page 915 5&lblank; to go,] i. e. to continue in their pregnancy. So, afterwards: “&lblank; the fruit she goes with “I pray for heartily.” Steevens.

Note return to page 916 6&lblank; like rams &lblank;] That is, like battering rams. Johnson. So, in Virgil, Æneid ii.: &lblank; labat ariete crebro Janua &lblank;. Steevens.

Note return to page 917 7But 'pray, what follow'd?] The word—'pray was added, for the sake of the measure, by Sir Thomas Hanmer. Steevens.

Note return to page 918 8Scene II.] This scene is above any other part of Shakspeare's tragedies, and perhaps above any scene of any other poet, tender and pathetick, without gods, or furies, or poisons, or precipices, without the help of romantick circumstances, without improbable sallies of poetical lamentation, and without any throes of tumultuous misery. Johnson.

Note return to page 919 9&lblank; child of honour,] So, in King Henry IV. Part I.: “That this same child of honour and renown &lblank;.” Steevens.

Note return to page 920 1I think,] Old copy—I thank. Corrected in the second folio. Malone.

Note return to page 921 2&lblank; he stepp'd before me, happily, For my example.] Happily seems to mean on this occasion— peradventure, haply. I have been more than once of this opinion, when I have met with the same word thus spelt in other passages. Steevens. Mr. M. Mason is of opinion that happily here means fortunately. Mr. Steevens's interpretation is, I think, right. So, in King Henry VI. Part II.: “Thy fortune, York, hadst thou been regent there, “Might happily have prov'd far worse than his.” Malone.

Note return to page 922 3&lblank; the stout earl Northumberland &lblank;] So, in Chevy Chase: “The stout earl of Northumberland “A vow to God did make,” &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 923 4He could not sit his mule.] In Cavendish's Life of Wolsey, 1641, it is said that Wolsey poison'd himself; but the words— “at which time it was apparent that he had poisoned himself,” which appear in p. 108 of that work, were an interpolation, inserted by the publisher for some sinister purpose; not being found in the two manuscripts now preserved in the Museum. See a former note, p. 430, n. 5. Malone. Cardinals generally rode on mules. “He rode like a cardinal, sumptuously upon his mule.” Cavendish's Life of Wolsey. Reed. In the representation of the Champ de Drap d'Or, published by the Society of Antiquaries, the Cardinal appears mounted on one of these animals very richly caparisoned. This circumstance also is much dwelt on in the ancient Satire quoted p. 382, n. 6: “Wat. What yf he will the devils blisse? “Jef. They regarde it no more be gisse “Then waggynge of his mule's tayle, “Wat. Doth he then use on mule's to ryde? “Jef. Ye, and that with so shamful pryde “That to tell it is not possible.” Again: “Then foloweth my lorde on his mule “Trapped with golde under her cule   “In every poynt most curiously.” Again: “The bosses of his mulis brydles “Myght bye Christ and his disciples   “As farre as I coulde ever rede.” Steevens.

Note return to page 924 5&lblank; with easy roads,] i. e. by short stages. Steevens.

Note return to page 925 6Of an unbounded stomach,] i. e. of unbounded pride, or haughtiness. So, Holinshed, speaking of King Richard III.: “Such a great audacitie and such a stomach reigned in his bodie.” Steevens.

Note return to page 926 7&lblank; one, that by suggestion Ty'd all the kingdom:] The word suggestion, says the critick, [Dr. Warburton] is here used with great propriety and seeming knowledge of the Latin tongue: and he proceeds to settle the sense of it from the late Roman writers and their glossers. But Shakspeare's knowledge was from Holinshed, whom he follows verbatim: “This cardinal was of a great stomach, for he computed himself equal with princes, and by craftie suggestions got into his hands innumerable treasure: he forced little on simonie, and was not pitifull, and stood affectionate in his own opinion: in open presence he would lie and seie untruth, and was double both in speech and meaning: he would promise much and perform little: he was vicious of his bodie, and gave the clergie euil example.” Edit. 1587, p. 922. Perhaps, after this quotation, you may not think, that Sir Thomas Hanmer, who reads tyth'd—instead of ty'd all the kingdom, deserves quite so much of Dr. Warburton's severity.—Indisputably the passage, like every other in the speech, is intended to express the meaning of the parallel one in the chronicle; it cannot therefore be credited, that any man, when the original was produced, should still choose to defend a cant acceptation, and inform us, perhaps, seriously, that in gaming language, from I know not what practice, to tye is to equal! A sense of the word, as I have yet found, unknown to our old writers; and, if known, would not surely have been used in this place by our author. But, let us turn from conjecture to Shakspeare's authorities. Hall, from whom the above description is copied by Holinshed, is very explicit in the demands of the cardinal: who having insolently told the lord mayor and aldermen, “For sothe I thinke, that halfe your substance were too little,” assures them, by way of comfort, at the end of his harangue, that, upon an average, the tythe should be sufficient: “Sirs, speake not to breake that thyng that is concluded, for some shall not paie the tenth parte, and some more.” And again: “Thei saied, the cardinall by visitacions, makyng of abbottes, probates of testamentes, graunting of faculties, licences, and other pollyngs in his courtes legantines, had made his threasure egall with the kynges.” Edit. 1548, p. 138, and 143. Farmer. In Storer's Life and Death of Thomas Wolsey, a poem, 1599, the Cardinal says: “I car'd not for the gentrie, for I had “Tithe-gentlemen, yong nobles of the land,” &c. Steevens. “Ty'd all the kingdom.” i. e. he was a man of an unbounded stomach, or pride, ranking himself with princes, and by suggestion to the King and the Pope, he ty'd, i. e. limited, circumscribed, and set bounds to the liberties and properties of all persons in the kingdom. That he did so, appears from various passages in the play. Act II. Sc. II.: “free us from his slavery,” “or this imperious man will work us all from princes into pages; all men's honours,” &c. Act III. Sc. II.: “You wrought to be a legate, by which power you maim'd the jurisdiction of all bishops.” See also Act I. Sc. I. and Act III. Sc. II. This construction of the passage may be supported from D'Ewes's Journal of Queen Elizabeth's Parliaments, p. 644: “Far be it from me that the state and prerogative of the prince should be tied by me, or by the act of any other subject.” Dr. Farmer has displayed such eminent knowledge of Shakspeare, that it is with the utmost diffidence I dissent from the alteration which he would establish here. He would read—tyth'd, and refers to the authorities of Hall and Holinshed about a tax of the tenth, or tythe of each man's substance, which is not taken notice of in the play. Let it be remarked that it is Queen Katharine speaks here, who, in Act I. Sc. II. told the King it was a demand of the sixth part of each subject's substance, that caused the rebellion. Would she afterwards say that he, i. e. Wolsey, had tythed all the kingdom, when she knew he had almost double-tythed it? Still Dr. Farmer insists that “the passage, like every other in the speech, is intended to express the meaning of the parallel one in the Chronicle:” i. e. The cardinal “by craftie suggestion got into his hands innumerable treasure.” This passage does not relate to a publick tax of the tenths, but to the Cardinal's own private acquisitions. If in this sense I admitted the alteration, tyth'd, I would suppose that, as the Queen is descanting on the Cardinal's own acquirements, she borrows her term from the principal emolument or payment due to priests; and means to intimate that the Cardinal was not content with the tythes legally accruing to him from his own various pluralities, but that he extorted something equivalent to them throughout all the kingdom. So, Buckingham says, Act I. Sc. I.: “No man's pie is freed from his ambitious finger.” So, again, Surrey says, Act III. Sc. ult.: “Yes, that goodness of gleaning all the land's wealth into one, into your own hands, cardinal, by extortion;” and ibidem: “You have sent innumerable substance (by what means got, I leave to your own conscience) to the mere undoing of all the kingdom.” This extortion is so frequently spoken of, that perhaps our author purposely avoided a repetition of it in the passage under consideration, and therefore gave a different sentiment declarative of the consequence of his unbounded pride, that must humble all others. Tollet. The word tythes was not exclusively used to signify the emolument of priests. So, in Beaumont and Fletcher's Queen of Corinth: “Why, sir, the kingdom's his; and no man now “Can come to Corinth, or from Corinth go, “Without his licence; he puts up the tithes “Of every office through Achaia.” Boswell.

Note return to page 927 8&lblank; as he is now, nothing,] So, in Massinger's Great Duke of Florence: “&lblank; Great men, “Till they have gain'd their ends, are giants in “Their promises; but those obtain'd, weak pygmies “In their performance.” Steevens.

Note return to page 928 9Of his own body he was ill,] A criminal connection with women was anciently called the vice of the body. Thus, in The Manciple's Tale, by Chaucer: “If of hire body dishonest she be.” Again, in Holinshed, p. 1258: “&lblank; he laboured by all meanes to cleare mistresse Sanders of committing evill of her bodie with him.” Steevens. So, the Protector says of Jane Shore, Hall's Chronicle, Edw. IV. p. 16: “She was naught of her bodye.” Malone.

Note return to page 929 1&lblank; their virtues We write in water.] Beaumont and Fletcher have the same thought in their Philaster: “&lblank; all your better deeds “Shall be in water writ, but this in marble.” Steevens. This reflection bears a great resemblance to a passage in Sir Thomas More's History of Richard III. whence Shakspeare undoubtedly formed his play on that subject. Speaking of the ungrateful turns which Jane Shore experienced from those whom she had served in her prosperity, More adds, “Men use, if they have an evil turne, to write it in marble, and whoso doth us a good turne, we write it in duste.” More's Works, bl. l. 1557, p. 59. Percy. In Whitney's Emblemes, printed at Leyden, 4to. 1586, p. 183, is the following: “Scribit in marmore læsus. “In marble harde our harmes wee alwayes grave, “Because, wee still will beare the same in minde: “In duste wee write the benefittes wee have, “Where they are soone defaced with the winde.   “So, wrongs wee houlde, and never will forgive;   “And soone forget, that still with us shoulde live. Again, as Mr. Ritson quotes from Harrington's Ariosto: “Men say it, and we see it come to pass, “Good turns in sand, shrewd turns are writ in brass.” To avoid an unnecessary multiplication of instances, I shall just observe, that the same sentiment is found in Massinger's Maid of Honour, Act V. Sc. II. and Marston's Malcontent, Act II. Sc. III. Reed.

Note return to page 930 2This cardinal, &c.] This speech is formed on the following passage in Holinshed: “This cardinal, (as Edmund Campion, in his Historie of Ireland, described him,) was a man undoubtedly born to honour; I think, (saith he,) some prince's bastard, no butcher's sonne; exceeding wise, faire-spoken, high-minded, full of revenge, vitious of his bodie, loftie to his enemies, were they never so bigge, to those that accepted and sought his friendship wonderful courteous; a ripe schooleman, thrall to affections, brought a bed with flatterie; insaciable to get, and more princelie in bestowing, as appeareth by his two colleges at Ipswich, and Oxenford, the one overthrown with his fall, the other unfinished, and yet as it lyeth, for an house of studentes, (considering all the appurtenances,) incomparable throughout Christendome.— He held and injoied at once the bishoprickes of Yorke, Duresme, and Winchester, the dignities of Lord Cardinall, Legat, and Chancellor, the abbaie of St. Albons, diverse priories, sundrie fat benefices in commendam; a great preferrer of his servants, an advauncer of learning, stoute in every quarrel, never happy till this his overthrow: wherein he shewed such moderation, and ended so perfectlie, that the houre of his death did him more honour than all the pomp of his life passed* [Subnote: *So, in Macbeth: “&lblank; nothing in his life “Became him like the leaving it &lblank;.” Steevens.] .” When Shakspeare says that Wolsey was “a scholar from his cradle,” he had probably in his thoughts the account given by Cavendish, which Stowe has copied: “Cardinal Wolsey was an honest, poor man's sonne—who, being but a child, was very apt to learne; wherefore by means of his parents and other his good friends he was maintained at the university of Oxford, where in a short time he prospered so well, that in a small time, (as he told me with his owne mouth,) he was made bachelour of arts, when he was but fifteen years of age, and was most commonly called the boy batchelour.” See also Wolsey's Legend, Mirrour for Magistrates, 1587.

Note return to page 931 [3] I have here followed the punctuation of the old copy, where there is a full point at honour, and “From his cradle” begins a new sentence. This punctuation has likewise been adopted in the late editions. Mr. Theobald, however, contends that we ought to point thus: “Was fashion'd to much honour from his cradle.” And it must be owned that the words of Holinshed, here thrown into verse, “This cardinall was a man undoubtedly born to honour,” strongly supports his regulation. The reader has before him the arguments an each side. I am by no means confident that I have decided rightly. Malone. The present punctuation, “&lblank; From his cradle “He was a scholar &lblank;,” seems to be countenanced by a passage in King Henry V.: “Never was such a sudden scholar made.” Steevens. I have made no alteration in the text, but I am convinced that Theobald was right. “To be a scholar from his cradle,” is being a very sudden scholar indeed. Boswell.

Note return to page 932 4&lblank; fair spoken, and persuading:] Eloquence constituted a part of the Cardinal's real character. In the charges exhibited against him, it was alledged that at the Privy Council “he would have all the words to himself, and consumed much time with a fair tale.” See 4 Inst. 91. Holt White.

Note return to page 933 5Ipswich,] “The foundation-stone of the College which the Cardinal founded in this place, was discovered a few years ago. It is now in the Chapter-house of Christ-Church, Oxford.” Seward's Anecdotes of distinguished Persons, &c. 1795. Steevens.

Note return to page 934 6Unwilling to outlive the good that did it;] Unwilling to survive that virtue which was the cause of its foundation, Mr. Pope and the subsequent editors read—the good he did it; which appears to me unintelligible. “The good he did it,” was laying the foundation of the building and endowing it; if therefore we suppose the college unwillingly to outlive the good he did it, we suppose it to expire instantly after its birth. “The college unwilling to live longer than its founder, or the goodness that gave rise to it,” though certainly a conceit, is sufficiently intelligible. Malone. Good, I believe, is put for goodness. So, in p. 447: “&lblank; May it please your highness “To hear me speak his good now?” Steevens.

Note return to page 935 7&lblank; solemnly tripping one after another,] This whimsical stage direction is exactly taken from the old copy. Steevens. Of this stage-direction I do not believe our author wrote one word. Katharine's next speech probably suggested this tripping dumb-show to the too busy reviver of this play. Malone.

Note return to page 936 8&lblank; golden vizards &lblank;] These tawdry disguises are also mentioned in Hall's account of a maske devised by King Henry VIII.: “&lblank; thei were appareled, &c. with visers and cappes of golde.” Steevens.

Note return to page 937 9And leave me here in wretchedness behind ye?] Perhaps Mr. Gray had this passage in his thoughts, when he made his Bard exclaim, on a similar occasion, (the evanescence of visionary forms): “Stay, O stay! nor thus forlorn “Leave me unbless'd, unpitied, here to mourn!” Steevens.

Note return to page 938 1&lblank; Mark you her eyes?] The modern editors read— “Mark her eyes.” But in the old copy, there being a stop interrogation after this passage, as after the foregoing clauses of the speech, I have ventured to insert the pronoun—you, which at once supports the ancient pointing, and completes the measure. Steevens.

Note return to page 939 2&lblank; go to, kneel.] Queen Katharine's servants, after the divorce at Dunstable, and the Pope's curse stuck up at Dunkirk, were directed to be sworn to serve her not as a Queen, but as Princess Dowager. Some refused to take the oath, and so were forced to leave her service; and as for those who took it and stayed, she would not be served by them, by which means she was almost destitute of attendants. See Hall, fol. 219. Bishop Burnet says, all the women about her still called her Queen. Burnet, p. 162. Reed.

Note return to page 940 3This to my lord the king.] So, Holinshed, p. 939: “&lblank; perceiving hir selfe to waxe verie weak and feeble, and to feele death approaching at hand, caused one of hir gentlewomen to write a letter to the king, commending to him hir daughter and his, beseeching him to stand good father unto hir; and further desired him to have some consideration of hir gentlewomen that had served hir, and to see them bestowed in marriage. Further that it would please him to appoint that hir servants might have their due wages, and a yeares wages beside.” Steevens. This letter probably fell into the hands of Polydore Virgil, who was then in England, and has preserved it in the twenty-seventh book of his history. The following is Lord Herbert's translation of it: “My most dear lord, king, and husband, “The hour of my death now approaching, I cannot choose but, out of the love I bear you, advise you of your soul's health, which you ought to prefer before all considerations of the world or flesh whatsoever: for which yet you have cast me into many calamities, and yourself into many troubles,—But I forgive you all, and pray God to do so likewise. For the rest, I commend unto you Mary our daughter, beseeching you to be a good father to her, as I have heretofore desired. I must entreat you also to respect my maids, and give them in marriage, (which is not much, they being but three,) and to all my other servants a year's pay besides their due, lest otherwise they should be unprovided for. Lastly, I make this vow, that mine eyes desire you above all things. Farewell.” Malone. The legal instrument for the divorce of Queen Katharine is still in being; and among the signatures to it is that of Polydore Virgil. Steevens.

Note return to page 941 4The model of our chaste loves,] Model is image or representative. See vol. x. p. 440, n. 2; and vol. xv. p. 372, n. 7. Malone.

Note return to page 942 5A right good, &c.] I would read this line (not with a semicolon, as hitherto printed,) but with only a comma: “A right good husband, let him be a noble;” i. e. though he were even of noble extraction. Whalley. “Let him be,” I suppose, signifies, ‘even though he should be;’ or, admit that he be. She means to observe, that ‘nobility superadded to virtue, is not more than each of her women deserves to meet with in a husband.’ The same phraseology is found in King Richard II.: “Setting aside his high blood's royalty, “And let him be no kinsman to my liege.” Steevens. This is, I think, the true interpretation of the line; but I do not see why the words “let him be a noble,” may not, consistently with this meaning, be understood in their obvious and ordinary sense. We are not to consider Katharine's women like the attendants on other ladies. One of them had already been married to more than a noble husband; having unfortunately captivated a worthless king. Malone.

Note return to page 943 6Not for delights;] Gardiner himself is not much delighted. The delight at which he hints, seems to be the King's diversion, which keeps him in attendance. Johnson.

Note return to page 944 7These should be hours &lblank; &lblank; times to repair our nature With comforting repose,] Hence, perhaps, the following passage in the fifth Act of Rowe's Fair Penitent. Sciolto is the speaker: “This dead of night, this silent hour of darkness, “Nature for rest ordain'd and soft repose.” Steevens.

Note return to page 945 8&lblank; at primero &lblank;] Primero and Primavista, two games at cards, H. I. Primera, Primavista. La Primiere, G. Prime, f. Prime veue. Primum, et primum visum, that is, first, and first seen: because he that can show such an order of cards first, wins the game. Minsheu's Guide into Tongues, col. 575. Grey. So, in Woman's a Weathercock, 1612: “Come will your worship make one at primero?” Again, in the Preface to The Rival Friends, 1632: “&lblank; when it may be, some of our butterfly judgments expected a set at maw or primavista from them.” Steevens.

Note return to page 946 9Some touch of your late business:] Some hint of the business that keeps you awake so late. Johnson.

Note return to page 947 1&lblank; mine own way;] Mine own opinion in religion. Johnson.

Note return to page 948 2&lblank; he's made &lblank;] The pronoun, which was omitted in the old copy, was inserted by Mr. Theobald. Malone.

Note return to page 949 3Stands in the gap and trade of more preferments,] Trade is the practised method, the general course. Johnson. Trade has been already used by Shakspeare with this meaning in King Richard II.: “Some way of common trade.” See vol. xvi. p. 112, n. 5. Steevens.

Note return to page 950 4&lblank; I have Incens'd the lords o' the council, that he is, &c. A most arch heretick,] This passage, according to the old elliptical mode of writing, may mean—I have incens'd the lords of the council, for that he is, i. e. because. Steevens. I have roused the lords of the council by suggesting to them that he is a most arch heretick: I have thus incited them against him. Malone. Incensed, I believe, in this instance, and some others, only means prompted, set on. So, in King Richard III.: “Think you, my lord, this little prating York “Was not incensed by his subtle mother?” Steevens.

Note return to page 951 5&lblank; broken with the king;] They have broken silence; told their minds to the king. Johnson. So, in Much Ado About Nothing: “I will break with her.” Again, in The Two Gentlemen of Verona: “I am to break with thee of some affairs.” Steevens.

Note return to page 952 6&lblank; he hath commanded,] He, which is not in the old copy, was inserted by Mr. Pope. He hath was often written contractedly h'ath. Hence probably the error. Malone.

Note return to page 953 7He be convented.] Convented is summoned, convened. See vol. ix. p. 186, n. 5. Steevens. So also in Coriolanus, vol. xiv. p. 79: “&lblank; We are convented “Upon a pleasing treaty &lblank;.” Boswell.

Note return to page 954 8&lblank; her sufferance made Almost each pang a death.] We have had nearly the same sentiment before, in Act II. Sc. III. p. 373: “&lblank; it is a sufferance panging “As soul and body's severing.” Malone.

Note return to page 955 9Enter Sir Anthony Denny.] The substance of this and the two following scenes is taken from Fox's Acts and Monuments of the Christian Martyrs, &c. 1563: “When night came, the king sent Sir Anthonie Denie about midnight to Lambeth to the archbishop, willing him forthwith to resort unto him at the court. The message done, the archbishop speedily addressed himselfe to the court, and comming into the galerie where the king walked and taried for him, his highnesse said, Ah, my lorde of Canterbury, I can tell you newes. For divers weighty considerations it is determined by me and the counsaile, that you to-morrowe at nine of the clocke shall be committed to the Tower, for that you and your chaplaines (as information is given us) have taught and preached, and thereby sown within the realme such a number of execrable heresies, that it is feared the whole realme being infected with them, no small contention and commotion will rise thereby amongst my subjects, as of late daies the like was in divers parts of Germanie; and therefore the counsell have requested me for the triall of the matter, to suffer them to commit you to the Tower, or else no man dare come forth, as witnesse in those matters, you being a counsellor. “When the king had said his mind, the archbishop kneeled down, and said, I am content, if it please your grace, with al my hart, to go thither at your highness commandment; and I most humbly thank your majesty that I may come to my triall, for there be that have many waies slandered me, and now this way I hope to trie myselfe not worthy of such reporte. “The king perceiving the mans uprightnesse, joyned with such simplicitie, said; Oh Lorde, what maner o' man be you? What simplicitie is in you? I had thought that you would rather have sued to us to have taken the paines to have heard you and your accusers together for your triall, without any such indurance. Do you not know what state you be in with the whole world, and how many great enemies you have? Do you not consider what an easie thing it is to procure three or foure false knaves to witness against you? Thinke you to have better lucke that waie than your master Christ had? I see by it you will run headlong to your undoing, if I would suffer you. Your enemies shall not so prevaile against you; for I have otherwise devised with my selfe to keep you out of their handes. Yet notwithstanding tomorrow when the counsaile shall sit, and send for you, resort unto them, and if in charging you with this matter, they do commit you to the Tower, require of them, because you are one of them, a counsailer, that you may have your accusers brought before them without any further indurance, and use for your selfe as good persuasions that way as you may devise; and if no intreatie or reasonable request will serve, then deliver unto them this my ring (which then the king delivered unto the archbishop,) and saie unto them, if there be no remedie, my lords, but that I must needs go to the Tower, then I revoke my cause from you, and appeale to the kinges owne person by this token unto you all, for (saide the king then unto the archbishop) so soone as they shall see this my ring, they knowe it so well, that they shall understande that I have reserved the whole cause into mine owne handes and determination, and that I have discharged them thereof. “The archbishop perceiving the kinges benignity so much to him wards, had much ado to forbeare teares. Well, said the king, go your waies, my lord, and do as I have bidden you. My lord, humbling himselfe with thankes, tooke his leave of the kinges highnesse for that night. ”On the morrow, about nine of the clocke before noone, the counsaile sent a gentleman usher for the archbishop, who, when hee came to the counsaile-chamber doore, could not be let in, but of purpose (as it seemed) was compelled there to waite among the pages, lackies, and serving men all alone. D. Buts the king's physition resorting that way, and espying how my lord of Canterbury was handled, went to the king's highnesse, and said; My lord of Canterbury, if it please your grace, is well promoted; for now he is become a lackey or a serving man, for yonder hee standeth this halfe hower at the counsaile-chamber doore amongste them. It is not so, (quoth the king,) I trowe, nor the counsaile hath not so little discretion as to use the metropolitane of the realme in that sorte, specially being one of their own number. But let them alone (said the king) and we shall heare more soone. ”Anone the archbishop was called into the counsaile-chamber, to whom was alleadged as before is rehearsed. The archbishop aunswered in like sort, as the king had advised him; and in the end when he perceived that no maner of persuasion or intreatie could serve, he delivered them the king's ring, revoking his cause into the king's hands. The whole counsaile being thereat somewhat amazed, the earle of Bedford with a loud voice confirming his words with a solemn othe, said, when you first began the matter, my lordes, I told you what would come of it. Do you thinke that the king would suffer this man's finger to ake? Much more (I warrant you) will he defend his life against brabling varlets. You doe but cumber yourselves to hear tales and fables against him. And incontinently upon the receipt of the king's token, they all rose, and carried to the king his ring, surrendring that matter as the order and use was, into his own hands. ”When they were all come to the king's presence, his highness, with a severe countenance, said unto them; ah, my lordes, I thought I had wiser men of my counsaile than now I find you. What discretion was this in you thus to make the primate of the realme, and one of you in office, to wait at the counsaille-chamber doore amongst serving men? You might have considered that he was a counsailer as wel as you, and you had no such commission of me so to handle him. I was content that you should trie him as a counsellor, and not as a meane subject. But now I well perceive that things be done against him maliciouslie, and if some of you might have had your mindes, you would have tried him to the uttermost. But I doe you all to wit, and protest, that if a prince may bee beholding unto his subject (and so solemnlie laying his hand upon his brest, said,) by the faith I owe to God I take this man here, my lord of Canterburie, to be of all other a most faithful subject unto us, and one to whome we are much beholding, giving him great commendations otherwise. And, with that, one or two of the chiefest of the counsaile, making their excuse, declared, that in requesting his indurance, it was rather ment for his triall and his purgation against the common fame and slander of the worlde, than for any malice conceived against him. Well, well, my lords, (quoth the king,) take him, and well use him, as hee is worthy to bee, and make no more ado. And with that, every man caught him by the hand, and made faire weather of altogethers, which might easilie be done with that man.” Steevens.

Note return to page 956 1&lblank; happily &lblank;] The present instance, and another in p. 468, L. 19. seem to militate against my former explanation of—happily, and to countenance that of Mr. M. Mason. See p. 442, n. 2. Steevens.

Note return to page 957 2&lblank; You a brother of us, &c.] You being one of the council, it is necessary to imprison you, that the witnesses against you may not be deterred. Johnson.

Note return to page 958 3Than I myself, poor man.] Poor man probably belongs to the King's reply. Grey.

Note return to page 959 4&lblank; indurance,] i. e. confinement. Dr. Johnson, however, in his Dictionary, says that this word (which Shakspeare borrowed from Fox's narrative already quoted) means—delay, procrastination. Steevens.

Note return to page 960 5&lblank; the good I stand on &lblank;] Though good may be taken for advantage or superiority, or any thing which may help or support, yet it would, I think, be more natural to say: “The ground I stand on &lblank;.” Johnson. The old copy is certainly right. So, in Coriolanus: “Your franchises, whereon you stand, confin'd “Into an augre's bore.” Malone. Again, in The Merry Wives of Windsor: “Though Page be a secure fool, and stands so firmly on his wife's frailty &lblank;.” Steevens.

Note return to page 961 6&lblank; I, with mine enemies,] Cranmer, I suppose, means, that whenever his honesty fails, he shall rejoice as heartily as his enemies at his destruction. Malone.

Note return to page 962 7&lblank; I weigh not,] i. e. have no value for. So, in Love's Labour's Lost: “You weigh me not,—O that's, you care not for me.” See King Richard III. Act III. Sc. I. Steevens.

Note return to page 963 8&lblank; and not ever &lblank;] Not ever is an uncommon expression, and does not mean never, but not always. M. Mason.

Note return to page 964 9&lblank; Ween you of better luck,] To ween is to think, to imagine. Though now obsolete, the word was common to all our ancient writers. Steevens.

Note return to page 965 1&lblank; an old Lady.] This, I suppose, is the same old cat that appears with Anne Bullen, p. 372. Steevens.

Note return to page 966 2&lblank; good angels Fly o'er thy royal head, and shade thy person Under their blessed wings!] So, in Hamlet, Act III. Sc. IV.: “Save me, and hover o'er me with your wings, “You heavenly guards!” Steevens.

Note return to page 967 3&lblank; bless her!] It is doubtful whether her is referred to the Queen or the girl. Johnson. As I believe this play was calculated for the ear of Elizabeth, I imagine, her relates to the girl. Malone. The humour of the passage consists in the talkative old lady, who had in her hurry said it was a boy, adding bless her before she corrects her mistake. Boswell.

Note return to page 968 4Lovell,] Lovell has been just sent out of the presence, and no notice is given of his return: I have placed it here at the instant when the King calls for him. Steevens.

Note return to page 969 5&lblank; at a window above,] The suspicious vigilance of our ancestors contrived windows which overlooked the insides of chapels, halls, kitchens, passages, &c. Some of these convenient peep-holes may still be found in colleges, and such ancient houses as have not suffered from the reformations of modern architecture. Among Andrew Borde's instructions for building a house, (see his Dietarie of Health,) is the following: “Many of the chambers to have a view into the chapel.” Again, in a Letter from Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1573: “And if it please her majestie, she may come in through my gallerie, and see the disposition of the hall in dynner time, at a window opening thereunto.” See Mr. Seward's Anecdotes of some Distinguished Persons, vol. iv. p. 270. Without a previous knowledge of this custom, Shakspeare's scenery, in the present instance, would be obscure. Steevens.

Note return to page 970 6They had parted, &c.] We should now say—“They had shared,” &c. i. e. ‘had so much honesty among them.’ Steevens.

Note return to page 971 7&lblank; draw the curtain close;] i. e. the curtain of the balcony, or upper-stage, where the King now is. See The Historical Account of the English Stage, vol. iii. Malone.

Note return to page 972 8Chan. Speak to the business,] This Lord Chancellor, though a character, has hitherto had no place in the Dramatis Personæ. In the last scene of the fourth Act, we heard that Sir Thomas More was appointed Lord Chancellor: but it is not he whom the poet here introduces. Wolsey, by command, delivered up the seals on the 18th of November, 1529; on the 25th of the same month, they were delivered to Sir Thomas More, who surrendered them on the 16th of May, 1532. Now the conclusion of this scene taking notice of Queen Elizabeth's birth, (which brings it down to the year 1534,) Sir Thomas Audlie must necessarily be our poet's chancellor; who succeeded Sir Thomas More, and held the seals many years. Theobald. In the preceding scene we have heard of the birth of Elizabeth, and from the conclusion of the present it appears that she is not yet christened. She was born September 7, 1533, and baptized on the 11th of the same month. Cardinal Wolsey was Chancellor of England from September 7, 1516, to the 25th of October, 1530, on which day the seals were given to Sir Thomas More. He held them till the 20th of May, 1533, when Sir Thomas Audley was appointed Lord Keeper. He therefore is the person here introduced; but Shakspeare has made a mistake in calling him Lord Chancellor, for he did not obtain that title till the January after the birth of Elizabeth. Malone.

Note return to page 973 9&lblank; noble lords?] The epithet—noble should be omitted, as it spoils the metre. Steevens.

Note return to page 974 1Your grace may enter now.] It is not easy to ascertain the mode of exhibition here. The inside and the outside of the council-chamber seem to be exhibited at once. Norfolk within calls to the Keeper without, who yet is on the stage, and supposed to be with Cranmer, &c. at the outside of the door of the chamber. The Chancellor and counsellors probably were placed behind a curtain at the back part of the stage, and spoke, but were not seen, till Cranmer was called in. The stage-direction in the old copy, which is, “Cranmer approaches the council-table,” not, “Cranmer enters the council-chamber,” seems to countenance such an idea. With all the “appliances and aids” that modern scenery furnishes, it is impossible to produce any exhibition that shall precisely correspond with what our author has here written. Our scrupulous ancestors were contented to be told, that the same spot, without any change of its appearance, (except perhaps the drawing back of a curtain,) was at once the outside and the inside of the council-chamber. See the Account of our old Theatres, vol. iii. Malone. The old stage direction at the commencement of this scene is, “A Councell table brought in with chayres and stooles, and placed under the state.” Boswell. How the outside and inside of a room can be exhibited on the stage at the same instant, may be known from many ancient prints in which the act of listening or peeping is represented. See a famous plate illustrating the Tale of Giocondo, and intitled Vero essempio d' Impudicitia, cavato da M. L. Ariosto; and the engraving prefixed to Twelfth-Night, in Mr. Rowe's edition. Steevens.

Note return to page 975 2&lblank; incapable; Of our flesh, few are angels: &c.] The old copy reads— and capable. For the emendation now made I am answerable. The word capable almost every where in Shakspeare means intelligent, of capacity to understand, or quick of apprehension. So, in King Richard III.: “&lblank; O, 'tis a parlous boy, “Bold, quick, ingenious, forward, capable!” Again, in Hamlet: “His form and cause conjoin'd, preaching to stones, “Would make them capable!” In the same play Shakspeare has used incapable nearly in the sense required here: “As one incapable [i. e. unintelligent] of her own distress.” So, Marston, in his Scourge of Villanie, 1599: “To be perus'd by all the dung-scum rabble “Of thin-brain'd ideots, dull uncapable.” Minsheu, in his Dictionary, 1617, renders the word by indocilis. The transcriber's ear, I suppose, deceived him, in the passage before us, as in many others; and the Chancellor, I conceive, means to say, the condition of humanity is such, that we are all born frail in disposition, and “weak in our understandings.” The subsequent words appear to me to add such support to this emendation, that I have ventured, contrary to my general rule, to give it a place in my text; which, however, I should not have done, had the original reading afforded a glimmering of sense: “&lblank; we are all men, “In our own natures frail, incapable; “Of our flesh, few are angels; out of which frailty, “And want of wisdom, you,” &c. Mr. Pope, in his licentious method, printed the passage thus, and the three subsequent editors adopted his supposed reformation: “&lblank; we are all men, “In our own natures frail, and capable “Of frailty, few are angels; from which frailty,” &c. Malone. If this passage [according to the old reading] means any thing, it may mean, “few are perfect, while they remain in their mortal capacity;” i. e. ‘while they are capable [in a condition] of being invested with flesh. A similar phrase occurs in Chapman's version of the sixteenth Iliad: “That is no city libertine, nor capable of their gown.” Shakspeare uses the word capable as perversely in King Lear: “&lblank; and of my land, “Loyal and natural boy, I'll work the mean “To make thee capable.” Steevens. I cannot extort any kind of sense from the passage as it stands. Perhaps it should be read thus: “&lblank; we are all men, “In our own natures frail and culpable: “Of our flesh, few are angels.” That is, few are perfect. M. Mason.

Note return to page 976 3The upper Germany, &c.] Alluding to the heresy of Thomas Muntzer, which sprung up in Saxony in the years 1521 and 1522. Grey.

Note return to page 977 4&lblank; a single heart,] A heart void of duplicity or guile. Malone. It is a scriptural expression, See Acts, ii. 46. Reed.

Note return to page 978 5Defacers of a publick peace,] Read,—the publick peace. M. Mason.

Note return to page 979 6&lblank; your painted gloss, &c.] Those that understand you, under this painted gloss, this fair outside, discover your empty talk and your false reasoning. Johnson.

Note return to page 980 7&lblank; 'tis a cruelty, To load a falling man.] This sentiment had occurred before. The Lord Chamberlain, checking the Earl of Surrey for his reproaches to Wolsey, says: “&lblank; O, my lord, “Press not a falling man too far.” Steevens.

Note return to page 981 8Chan. Then thus for you, &c.] This, and the little speech above—“This is too much,” &c. are in the old copy given to the Lord Chamberlain. The difference between Cham. and Chan. is so slight, that I have not hesitated to give them both to the Chancellor, who on Cranmer's entrance first arraigns him, and therefore, (without any consideration of his high station in the council,) is the person to whom Shakspeare would naturally assign the order for his being committed to the Tower. The Chancellor's apologizing to the King for the committal in a subsequent passage, likewise supports the emendation now made, which was suggested by Mr. Capell. Malone.

Note return to page 982 9This is the king's ring.] It seems to have been a custom, begun probably in the dark ages, before literature was generally diffused, and before the regal power experienced the restraints of law, for every monarch to have a ring, the temporary possession of which invested the holder with the same authority as the owner himself could exercise. The production of it was sufficient to suspend the execution of the law; it procured indemnity for offences committed, and imposed acquiescence and submission to whatever was done under its authority. Instances abound in the history of almost every nation. See Procopius de Bell. Vandal. l. i. p. 15, as quoted in Farnworth's Machiavel, vol. i. p. 9. The traditional story of the Earl of Essex, Queen Elizabeth, and the Countess of Nottingham, long considered as an incident of a romance, is generally known, and now as generally credited. See Birch's Negotiations, p. 206. Reed.

Note return to page 983 1They are too thin, &c.] i. e. the commendations above mentioned. Mr. Pope, in the former line, changed flattery to flatteries, and this unnecessary emendation has been adopted by all the subsequent editors. I believe our author wrote— “They are too thin and bare;” and that the editor of the first folio, not understanding the word, changed it to base, as he did in King Henry IV. Part I. See vol. xvi. p. 217, n. 2. Malone.

Note return to page 984 2&lblank; But know, I come not To hear such flattery now, and in my presence; They are too thin and base to hide offences, &c.] I think the pointing of these lines preferable to that in the former edition, in which they stand thus: “&lblank; I come not “To hear such flatteries now: and in my presence “They are too thin,” &c. It then follows: “To me you cannot reach: you play the spaniel, “And think with wagging of your tongue to win me.” But the former of these lines should evidently be thus written: “To one you cannot reach you play the spaniel,” the relative whom being understood. Whalley. In the second instance, I think the old copy is right. Malone. Surely, the first of these lines should be pointed thus: “To me you cannot reach, you play the spaniel &lblank;.” That is, you fawn upon me, who am above your malice. M. Mason. In the punctuation of this passage I have followed the concurring advice of Mr. Whalley and Mr. M. Mason. Steevens.

Note return to page 985 3Than but once think his place becomes thee not.] Who dares to suppose that the place or situation in which he is, is not suitable to thee also? who supposes that thou art not as fit for the office of a privy counsellor as he is. Mr. Rowe and all the subsequent editors read—this place. Malone.

Note return to page 986 4That is, &c.] My suit is, that you would be a godfather to a fair young maid, who is not yet christened. Mr. Rowe reads— “There is,” &c. and all the subsequent editors have adopted this unnecessary alteration. The final word her, we should now consider as superfluous; but we have many instances of a similar phraseology in these plays:—or, the construction may be—‘A fair young maid, &c. you must be godfather [to], and answer for her.’ So before in this play: “&lblank; whoever the king favours, “The cardinal instantly will find employment [for], “And far enough from court too.” See the note on that passage, p. 358, n. 5. Malone. The superfluous pronoun in the text (if it be superfluous) may be justified by the following passage in Romeo and Juliet: vol. vi. p. 192. “&lblank; this reverend holy friar, “All our whole city is much bound to him.” Steevens.

Note return to page 987 5You must be godfather,] Our prelates formerly were often employed on the like occasions. Cranmer was godfather to Edward VI. See Hall, fo. 232. Archbishop Warham to Henry's eldest son by Queen Katharine; and the Bishop of Winchester to Henry himself. See Sandford, 479, 495. Reed.

Note return to page 988 6&lblank; you'd spare your spoons;] It was the custom, long before the time of Shakspeare, for the sponsors at christenings to offer gilt spoons as a present to the child. These spoons were called apostle spoons, because the figures of the apostles were carved on the tops of the handles. Such as were at once opulent and generous, gave the whole twelve; those who were either more moderately rich or liberal, escaped at the expence of the four evangelists; or even sometimes contented themselves with presenting one spoon only, which exhibited the figure of any saint, in honour of whom the child received its name. In the year 1500 we find entered on the books of the Stationers' company, “a spoyne, of the gyfte of master Reginold Wolfe, all gylte with the pycture of St. John.” Ben Jonson also, in his Bartholomew Fair, mentions spoons of this kind: “&lblank; and all this for the hope of a couple of apostle spoons, and a cup to eat caudle in.” So, in Middleton's comedy of A chaste Maid of Cheapside, 1620: “2 Gos. What has he given her?—what is it, gossip? “3 Gos. A faire high standing cup, and two great 'postle spoons, one of them gilt. “1 Pur. Sure that was Judas then with the red beard.” Again: “E'en the same gossip 'twas that gave the spoons.” Again, in Sir Wm. D'Avenant's comedy of The Wits, 1639: “&lblank; my pendants, carcanets, and rings, “My christ'ning caudle-cup, and spoons, “Are dissolv'd into that lump.” Again, in The Maid of the Mill, by Beaumont and Fletcher: “Didst ask her name? &lblank; “Yes, and who gave it her; “And what they promis'd more, besides a spoon, “And what apostle's picture.” Again, in The Noble Gentleman, by the same authors: “I'll be a gossip, Bewford, “I have an odd apostle spoon.” Mr. Pegge, in his preface to A Forme of Cury, a Roll of Ancient English Cookery, compiled about A. D. 1390, &c. observes, that “the general mode of eating must either have been with the spoon or the fingers; and this, perhaps, may have been the reason that spoons became the usual present from gossips, to their godchildren, at christenings.” Steevens. As the following story, which is found in a collection of anecdotes, entitled Merry Passages and Jeasts, MSS. Harl. 6395, contains an allusion to this custom, and has not, I believe, been published, it may not be an improper supplement to this account of apostle spoons. It shows that our author and Ben Jonson were once on terms of familiarity and friendship, however cold and jealous the latter might have been at a subsequent period: “Shakspeare was godfather to one of Ben Jonson's children, and after the christening, being in deepe study, Jonson came to cheer him up, and ask'd him why he was so melancholy: No 'faith, Ben, says he, not I; but I have been considering a great while what should be the fittest gift for me to bestow upon my godchild, and I have resolv'd at last. I pr'ythee, what? says he. —I' faith, Ben, I'll give him a douzen good latten [Latin] spoons, and thou shalt translate them.” The collector of these anecdotes appears to have been nephew to Sir Roger L'Estrange. He names Donne as the relater of this story. The pactice of sponsors giving spoons at christenings continued to the latter end of the last century, as appears from a pamphlet written against Dryden, entitled The Reason of Mr. Bayes's Conversion, &c. p. 14. At one period it was the mode to present gifts of a different kind. “At this time,” [the first year of Queen Elizabeth] says the continuator of Stowe's Chronicle, “and for many yeeres before, it was not the use and custome, as now it is, [1631,] for godfathers and godmothers generally to give plate at the baptism of children, (as spoones, cups, and such like,) but only to give christening shirts, with little hands and cuffs wrought either with silk or blue thread; the best of them for chief persons weare edged with a small lace of blacke silke and golde; the highest price of which for great men's children were seldom above a noble, and the common sort, two, three, or four and five shillings a piece.” Whether our author, when he speaks of apostle-spoons, has, as usual, attributed the practice of his own time to the reign of Henry VIII. I have not been able to ascertain. Probably, however, he is here accurate; for we know that certain pieces of plate were, on some occasions, then bestowed; Hall, who has written a minute account of the christening of Elizabeth, informing us that the gifts presented by her sponsors were a standing cup of gold, and six gilt bowls, with covers. Chron. Hen. VIII. fol. 218. Malone.

Note return to page 989 7&lblank; thy true heart.] Old copy—hearts. Corrected by the editor of the second folio. Malone.

Note return to page 990 8&lblank; Paris-garden?] The bear-garden of that time. Johnson. This celebrated bear-garden on the Bankside was so called from Robert de Paris, who had a house and garden there in the time of King Richard II. Rot. claus. 16 R. II. dors. ii. Blount's Glossograph. Malone. So, in Sir W. D'Avenant's News from Plimouth: “&lblank; do you take this mansion for Pict-hatch? “You would be suitors: yes, to a she-deer, “And keep your marriages in Paris-garden?” Again, in Ben Jonson's Execration on Vulcan: “And cried, it was a threatning to the bears, “And that accursed ground the Paris-garden.” The Globe theatre, in which Shakspeare was a performer, stood on the southern side of the river Thames, and was contiguous to this noted place of tumult and disorder. St. Mary Overy's church is not far from London Bridge, and almost opposite to Fishmongers' Hall. Winchester House was over against Cole Harbour. Paris-garden was in a line with Bridewell, and the Globe playhouse faced Blackfriars, Fleet-ditch, or St. Paul's. It was an hexagonal building of stone or brick. Its roof was of rushes, with a flag on the top. See a south view of London, (as it appeared in 1599,) published by T. Wood, in Bishop's Court, in Chancery Lane, in 1771. Steevens.

Note return to page 991 9&lblank; gaping.] i. e. shouting or roaring: a sense which this word has now almost lost. Littleton, in his Dictionary, has however given it in its present signification as follows: “To gape or bawl, vociferor.” So, in Roscommon's Essay on translated Verse, as quoted in Dr. Johnson's Dictionary: “That noisy, nauseous, gaping fool was he.” Reed. Such being one of the ancient senses of the verb—to gape, perhaps the “gaping pig” mentioned by Shylock in The Merchant of Venice, has hitherto been misinterpreted. Steevens.

Note return to page 992 1Pray, sir, be patient;] Part of this scene in the old copy is printed as verse, and part as prose. Perhaps the whole, with the occasional addition and omission of a few harmless syllables, might be reduced into a loose kind of metre; but as I know not what advantage would be gained by making the experiment, I have left the whole as I found it. Steevens.

Note return to page 993 2On May-day morning;] It was anciently the custom for all ranks of people to go out a maying on the first of May. See vol. v. p. 296, n. 3. It is on record that King Henry VIII. and Queen Katharine partook of this diversion. Steevens. Stowe says, that, “in the month of May, namely, on May-day in the morning, every man, except impediment, would walk into the sweet meadows and green woods; there to rejoice their spirits with the beauty and savour of sweet flowers, and with the noise [i.e. concert] of birds, praising God in their kind.” See also Brand's Observations on popular Antiquities, 8vo. 1777, p. 255. Reed.

Note return to page 994 3&lblank; sir Guy, nor Colbrand,] Of Guy of Warwick every one has heard. Colbrand was the Danish giant, whom Guy subdued at Winchester. Their combat is very elaborately described by Drayton, in his Polyolbion. Johnson.

Note return to page 995 4&lblank; Moorfields to muster in?] The train-bands of the city were exercised in Moorfields. Johnson.

Note return to page 996 5&lblank; some strange Indian &lblank;] To what circumstance this refers, perhaps, cannot now be exactly known. A similar one occurs in Ram-Alley, or Merry Tricks, 1611: “You shall see the strange nature of an outlandish beast lately brought from the land of Cataia.” Again, in The Two Noble Kinsmen, by Beaumont and Fletcher: “The Bavian with long tail and eke long tool.” Collins. Fig. I. in the print of Morris-dancers, at the end of King Henry IV. Part I. has a bib which extends below the doublet; and its length might be calculated for the concealment of the phallic obscenity mentioned by Beaumont and Fletcher, of which perhaps the Bavian fool exhibited an occasional view for the diversion of our indelicate ancestors. Tollet.

Note return to page 997 6&lblank; he should be a brazier by his face,] A brazier signifies a man that manufactures brass, and a reservoir for charcoal occasionally heated to convey warmth. Both these senses are understood. Johnson.

Note return to page 998 7&lblank; That fire-drake &lblank;] A fire-drake is both a serpent, anciently called a brenning-drake, or dipsas, and a name formerly given to a Will o' the Wisp, or ignis fatuus. So, in Drayton's Nymphidia: “By the hissing of the snake, “The rustling of the fire-drake.” Again, in Cæsar and Pompey, a tragedy, by Chapman, 1607: “So have I seen a fire-drake glide along “Before a dying man, to point his grave, “And in it stick and hide.” Again, in Albertus Wallenstein, 1640: “Your wild irregular lust, which like those fire-drakes “Misguiding nighted travellers, will lead you “Forth from the fair path,” &c. A fire-drake was likewise an artificial firework. So, in Your Five Gallants, by Middleton, 1608: “&lblank; but like fire-drakes, “Mounted a little, gave a crack, and fell.” Steevens. A fire-drake is thus described by Bullokar, in his Expositor, 8vo. 1616: “Fire-drake. A fire sometimes seen flying in the night, like a dragon. Common people think it a spirit that keepeth some treasure hid; but philosophers affirme it to be a great unequal exhalation, inflamed betweene two clouds, the one hot, the other cold, which is the reason that it also smoketh; the middle part whereof, according to the proportion of the hot cloud, being greater than the rest, maketh it seeme like a bellie, and both ends like unto a head and taile.” Malone.

Note return to page 999 8&lblank; to blow us.] Read—to blow us up. M. Mason. I believe the old reading is the true one. So, in Othello: “&lblank; the cannon, “When it hath blown his ranks into the air &lblank;.” In another of our author's plays (if my memory does not deceive me) we have “&lblank; and blow them to the moon.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1000 9There was a haberdasher's wife of small wit &lblank;] Ben Jonson, whose hand Dr. Farmer thinks may be traced in different parts of this play, uses this expression in his Induction to The Magnetick Lady: “And all haberdashers of small wit, I presume.” Malone.

Note return to page 1001 1&lblank; till her pink'd porringer fell off her head,] Her pink'd porringer is her pink'd cap, which looked as if it had been moulded on a porringer. So, in The Taming of the Shrew: “Hab. Here is the cap your worship did bespeak. “Pet. Why this was moulded on a porringer.” Malone.

Note return to page 1002 2&lblank; the meteor &lblank;] The fire-drake, the brazier. Johnson.

Note return to page 1003 3&lblank; who cried out, clubs!] Clubs! was the outcry for assistance, upon any quarrel or tumult in the streets. So, in The Renegado: “&lblank; if he were “In London among the clubs, up went his heels “For striking of a prentice.” Again, in Greene's Tu Quoque: “&lblank; Go, y' are a prating jack; “Nor is't your hopes of crying out for clubs, “Can save you from my chastisement.” Whalley. So, in the third Act of The Puritan, when Oath and Skirmish are going to fight, Simon cries, “Clubs, clubs!” and Aaron does the like in Titus Andronicus, when Chiron and Demetrius are about to quarrel. Nor did this practice obtain merely amongst the lower class of people: for in The First Part of Henry VI. when the Mayor of London endeavours to interpose between the factions of the Duke of Gloster, and the Cardinal of Winchester, he says: “I'll call for clubs, if you will not away.” M. Mason.

Note return to page 1004 4&lblank; the hope of the Strand,] Sir T. Hanmer reads—the forlorn hope. Johnson.

Note return to page 1005 5&lblank; to the broomstaff with me,] The old copy has—to me. Corrected by Mr. Pope. Malone.

Note return to page 1006 6&lblank; loose shot,] i. e. loose or random shooters. See vol. xvii. p. 131, n. 3. Malone.

Note return to page 1007 7&lblank; the work:] A term of fortification. Steevens.

Note return to page 1008 8&lblank; that thunder at a play-house, and fight for bitten apples;] The prices of seats for the vulgar in our ancient theatres were so very low, that we cannot wonder if they were filled with the tumultuous company described by Shakspeare in this scene. So, in The Gul's Hornbook, by Decker, 1609: “Your groundling and gallery commoner buys his sport by the penny.” In Wit Without Money, by Beaumont and Fletcher, is the following mention of them: “&lblank; break in at plays like prentices, for three a groat, and crack nuts with the scholars in penny rooms again.” Again, in The Black Book, 1604, sixpenny rooms in play-houses are spoken of. Again, in The Bellman's Night Walks, by Decker, 1616: “Pay thy twopence to a player in this gallery, thou may'st sit by a harlot.” Again, in the Prologue to Beaumont and Fletcher's Mad Lover: “How many twopences you've stow'd to-day!” The prices of the boxes indeed were greater. So, in The Gul's Hornbook, by Decker, 1609: “At a new playe you take up the twelvepenny room next the stage, because the lords and you may seeme to be haile fellow well met,” &c. Again, in Wit Without Money: “And who extoll'd you in the half-crown boxes, “Where you might sit and muster all the beauties.” And lastly, it appears from the Induction to Bartholomew Fair, by Ben Jonson, that tobacco was smoked in the same place: “He looks like a fellow that I have seen accommodate gentlemen with tobacco at our theatres.” And from Beaumont and Fletcher's Woman Hater, 1607, it should seem that beer was sold there: “There is no poet acquainted with more shakings and quakings towards the latter end of his new play, when he's in that case that he stands peeping between the curtains so fearfully, that a bottle of ale cannot be opened, but he thinks somebody hisses.” Steevens. See the Account of our Old Theatres, vol. iii. Malone.

Note return to page 1009 9&lblank; the Tribulation of Tower-hill, or the limbs of Limehouse,] I suspect the Tribulation to have been a puritanical meeting-house. The Limbs of Limehouse I do not understand. Johnson. Dr. Johnson's conjecture may be countenanced by the following passage in “Magnificence, a goodly Interlude and a mery, devised and made by Mayster Skelton, Poete Laureate, lately deceasyd.” Printed by John Rastell, fol. no date: “Some fall to foly them selfe for to spyll, “And some fall prechynge on toure hyll.” Steevens. Alliteration has given rise to many cant expressions, consisting of words paired together. Here we have cant names for the inhabitants of those places, who were notorious puritans, coined for the humour of the alliteration. In the mean time it must not be forgotten, that “precious limbs” was a common phrase of contempt for the puritans. T. Warton. Limehouse was, before the time of Shakspeare, and has continued to be ever since, the residence of those who furnish stores, sails, &c. for shipping. A great number of foreigners having been constantly employed in these manufactures (many of which were introduced from other countries) they assembled themselves under their several pastors, and a number of places of different worship were built in consequence of their respective associations. As they clashed in principles they had frequent quarrels, and the place has ever since been famous for the variety of its sects, and the turbulence of its inhabitants. It is not improbable that Shakspeare wrote—“the lambs of Limehouse.” A limb of the devil, is, however, a common vulgarism; and in A New Trick to Cheat the Devil, 1639, the same kind of expression occurs: “I am a puritan; one that will eat no pork, “Doth use to shut his shop on Saturdays, “And open them on Sunday: a familist, “And one of the arch limbs of Belzebub.” Again, in Every Man out of his Humour: “I cannot abide these limbs of sattin, or rather Satan,” &c. Steevens. The word limb, in the sense of an impudently vicious person, is not uncommon in London at this day. In the north it is pronounced limp, and means a mischievous boy. The alteration suggested by Mr. Steevens is, however, sufficiently countenanced by the word tribulation, if in fact the allusion be to the puritans. Ritson. It appears from Stowe's Survey that the inhabitants of Tower-Hill were remarkably turbulent. It may, however, be doubted, whether this passage was levelled at the spectators assembled in any of the theatres in our author's time. It may have been pointed at some apprentices and inferior citizens, who used occasionally to appear on the stage, in his time, for their amusement. The Palsgrave, or Hector of Germany, was acted in 1615, by a company of citizens at the Red Bull; and The Hog hath Lost his Pearle, a comedy, 1614, is said, in the title-page, to have been publickly acted by certain London 'prentices. The limbs of Limehouse, their dear brothers, were, perhaps, young citizens, who went to see their friends wear the buskin. A passage in The Staple of News, by Ben Jonson, Act III. Sc. last, may throw some light on that now before us: “Why, I had it from my maid Joan Hearsay, and she had it from a limb of the school, she says, a little limb of nine years old.—An there were no wiser than I, I would have ne'er a cunning school-master in England. —They make all their scholars play-boys. Is't not a fine sight, to see all our children made interluders? Do we pay our money for this? We send them to learn their grammar and their Terence, and they learn their play-books.”—School-boys, apprentices, the students in the inns of court, and the members of the universities, all, at this time, wore occasionally the sock or the buskin.—However, I am by no means confident that this is the true interpretation of the passage before us. Malone. It is evident that The Tribulation, from its site, must have been a place of entertainment for the rabble of its precincts, and the limbs of Limehouse such performers as furnished out the show. Henley. The Tribulation does not sound in my ears like the name of any place of entertainment, unless it were particularly designed for the use of Religion's prudes, the Puritans. Mercutio or Truewit would not have been attracted by such an appellation, though it might operate forcibly on the saint-like organs of Ebenezer or Ananias. Shakspeare, I believe, meant to describe an audience familiarized to excess of noise; and why should we suppose the tribulation was not a puritanical meeting-house because it was noisy? I can easily conceive that the turbulence of the most clamorous theatre, has been exceeded by the bellowings of puritanism against surplices and farthingales; and that our upper gallery, during Christmas week, is a sober consistory, compared with the vehemence of fanatick harangues against Bel and the Dragon, that idol Starch, the anti-christian Hierarchy, and the Whore of Babylon. Neither do I see with what propriety the limbs of Limehouse could be called “young citizens,” according to Mr. Malone's supposition. Were the inhabitants of this place (almost two miles distant from the capital) ever collectively entitled citizens? The phrase, dear brothers, is very plainly used to point out some fraternity of canters allied to the Tribulation both in pursuits and manners, by tempestuous zeal and consummate ignorance. Steevens.

Note return to page 1010 1&lblank; in Limbo Patrum,] He means, in confinement. In limbo continues to be a cant phrase, in the same sense, at this day. Malone. The Limbus Patrum is, properly, the place where the old Fathers and Patriarchs are supposed to be waiting for the resurrection. See note on Titus Andronicus, Act III. Sc. I. Reed.

Note return to page 1011 2&lblank; running banquet of two beadles,] A publick whipping. Johnson. This phrase, otherwise applied, has already occured, p. 394: “&lblank; some of these “Should find a running banquet ere they rested.” A banquet, in ancient language, did not signify either dinner or supper, but the desert after each of them. So, in Thomas Newton's Herbal to the Bible, 8vo. 1587: “&lblank; and are used to be served at the end of meales for a junket or banquetting dish, as sucket and other daintie conceits likewise are.” To the confinement, therefore, of these rioters, a whipping was to be the desert. Steevens.

Note return to page 1012 3&lblank; here ye lie baiting of bumbards,] A bumbard is an ale-barrel; to bait bumbards is to tipple, to lie at the spigot. Johnson. It appears from a passage already quoted in a note on The Tempest, Act II. Sc. II. out of Shirley's Martyr'd Soldier, 1638, that bumbards were the large vessels in which the beer was carried to soldiers upon duty. They resembled black jacks of leather. So, in Woman's a Weathercock, 1612: “She looks like a black bombard with a pint pot waiting upon it.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1013 4&lblank; get up o' the rail;] We must rather read—get up off the rail,—or,—get off the rail. M. Mason.

Note return to page 1014 5&lblank; I'll pick you o'er the pales else.] To pick is to pitch. “To pick a dart,” Cole renders, jaculor. Dict. 1679. See a note on Coriolanus, Act I. Sc. I. where the word is, as I conceive, rightly spelt. Here the spelling in the old copy is peck. Malone. To pick and to pitch were anciently synonymous. So, in Stubbes's Anatomy of Abuses, 1595, p. 138: “&lblank; to catch him on the hip, and to picke him on his necke.” Again, ibid: “to picke him on his nose,” &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 1015 6The Palace.] At Greenwich, where, as we learn from Hall, fo. 217, this procession was made from the church of the Friars. Reed.

Note return to page 1016 7&lblank; standing-bowls &lblank;] i. e. bowls elevated on feet or pedestals. So, in Chapman's version of the 23d Iliad: “&lblank; a great new standing-bowl, “To set downe both ways.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1017 8Heaven, from thy endless goodness, &c.] These words are not the invention of the poet, having been pronounced at the christening of Elizabeth. See Hall's Chronicle, Henry VIII. fol. 218. Malone.

Note return to page 1018 9Thank you, good lord archbishop;] I suppose the word archbishop should be omitted, as it only serves to spoil the measure. Be it remembered also that árchbishop, throughout this play, is accented on the first syllable. Steevens.

Note return to page 1019 1&lblank; every man shall eat in safety Under his own vine,] This part of the prophecy seems to have been burlesqued by Beaumont and Fletcher in The Beggar's Bush, where orator Higgin is making his congratulatory speech to the new king of the beggars: “Each man shall eat his stolen eggs, and butter, “In his own shade, or sunshine,” &c. The original thought, however, is borrowed from the 4th chapter of the first book of Kings: “Every man dwelt safely under his vine.” Steevens. A similar expression is in Micah, iv. 4: “But they shall sit every man under his vine, and under his fig tree, and none shall make them afraid.” Reed.

Note return to page 1020 2From her shall read the perfect ways of honour,] The old copy reads—way. The slight emendation now made is fully justified by the subsequent line, and by the scriptural expression which our author probably had in his thoughts: “Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.” Malone. Thus, already in this play: “&lblank; Wolsey, that once trod the ways of glory &lblank;.” Steevens. By those, in the last line, means by those ways, and proves that we must read ways, instead of way, in the line preceding. Shall read from her, means, shall learn from her. M. Mason.

Note return to page 1021 3[Nor shall this peace sleep with her: &c.] These lines, to the interruption by the King, seem to have been inserted at some revisal of the play, after the accession of King James. If the passage, included in crotchets, be left out, the speech of Cranmer proceeds in a regular tenour of prediction, and continuity of sentiments; but, by the interposition of the new lines, he first celebrates Elizabeth's successor, and then wishes he did not know that she was to die; first rejoices at the consequence, and then laments the cause. Our author was at once politick and idle; he resolved to flatter James, but neglected to reduce the whole speech to propriety; or perhaps intended that the lines inserted should be spoken in the action, and omitted in the publication, if any publication was ever in his thoughts. Mr. Theobald has made the same observation. Johnson. I agree entirely with Dr. Johnson with respect to the time when these additional lines were inserted. See An Attempt to Ascertain the Order of Shakspeare's Plays, vol. ii. I suspect they were added in 1613, after Shakspeare had quitted the stage, by that hand which tampered with the other parts of the play so much, as to have rendered the versification of it of a different colour from all the other plays of Shakspeare. Malone. Such indeed were the sentiments of Mr. Roderick, though the examples adduced by him in support of them are, in my judgment, undecisive. See Canons of Criticism, edit. 1763, p. 263. But, were the fact as he has stated it, we know not how far our poet might have intentionally deviated from his usual practice of versification. If the reviver of this play (or tamperer with it, as he is styled by Mr. Malone,) had so much influence over its numbers as to have entirely changed their texture, he must be supposed to have new woven the substance of the whole piece; a fact almost incredible. The lines under immediate consideration were very probably furnished by Ben Jonson; for “When heaven shall call her from this cloud of darkness,” (meaning the “dim spot” we live in,) is a seeming imitation of the following passage in the 9th book of Lucan (a poet from whose stores old Ben has often enriched himself): &lblank; quanta sub nocte jaceret Nostra dies &lblank;. Steevens.

Note return to page 1022 4His honour and the greatness of his name Shall be, and make new nations:] On a picture of this contemptible king, which formerly belonged to the great Bacon, and is now in the possession of Lord Grimston, he is styled imperii Atlantici conditor. The year before the revival of this play (1612) there was a lottery for the plantation of Virginia. These lines probably allude to the settlement of that colony. Malone.

Note return to page 1023 5She shall be, to the happiness of England, An aged princess;] The transition here from the complimentary address to King James the First is so abrupt, that it seems obvious to me, that compliment was inserted after the accession of that prince. If this play was wrote, as in my opinion it was, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, we may easily determine where Cranmer's eulogium of that princess concluded. I make no question but the poet rested here: “And by those claim their greatness, not by blood.” All that the bishop says after this, was an occasional homage paid to her successor, and evidently inserted after her demise. How naturally, without this insertion, does the king's joy and satisfactory reflection upon the bishop's prophecy, come in! “King. Thou speakest wonders. O lord archbishop, “Thou'st made me now a man. Never, before “This happy child, did I get any thing,” &c. Whether the king would so properly have made this inference, upon hearing that a child of so great hopes should die without issue, is submitted to judgment. Theobald.

Note return to page 1024 6And your good brethren,] Old copy—you. But the aldermen were never called brethren to the king. The top of the nobility are but cousins and counsellors. Dr. Thirlby, therefore, rightly advised: “And your good brethren &lblank;.” i. e. the lord mayor's brethren, which is properly their style. Theobald. So, in King Henry V.: “The mayor and all his brethren in best sort.” Malone.

Note return to page 1025 7This little one shall make it holiday.] The old comedy of Grim the Collier of Croydon concludes with a similar idea: “And all hell o'er, we'll make it holiday.” Hence, perhaps, the following stroke of infernal jocularity in Dryden's Œdipus: “&lblank; we play, “For hell's broke up, and ghosts have holiday.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1026 1&lblank; in The merciful construction of good women;] A verse, with as unmusical a close, may be found in Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy, Part III. sect. ii.: “Rose, the pleasure of fine women.” In Ben Jonson's Alchemist, there is also a line in which the word women is accented on the last syllable: “And then your red man, and your white woman.” Act II. Sc. III. Steevens.

Note return to page 1027 2&lblank; such a one we show'd them;] In the character of Katharine. Johnson.

Note return to page 1028 3&lblank; If they smile, &c.] This thought is too much hacknied. It has been used already in the Epilogues to As You Like It and The Second Part of King Henry IV. Steevens. Though it is very difficult to decide whether short pieces be genuine or spurious, yet I cannot restrain myself from expressing my suspicion that neither the Prologue nor Epilogue to this play is the work of Shakspeare; non vultus, non color. It appears to me very likely that they were supplied by the frïendship or officiousness of Jonson, whose manner they will be perhaps found exactly to resemble. There is yet another supposition possible: the Prologue and Epilogue may have been written after Shakspeare's departure from the stage, upon some accidental revival of the play, and there will then be reason for imagining that the writer, whoever he was, intended no great kindness to him, this play being recommended by a subtle and covert censure of his other works. There is, in Shakspeare, so much of fool and fight: “&lblank; the fellow, “In a long motley coat, guarded with yellow,” appears so often in his drama, that I think it not very likely that he would have animadverted so severely on himself. All this, however, must be received as very dubious, since we know not the exact date of this or the other plays, and cannot tell how our author might have changed his practice or opinions. Johnson. Dr. Johnson's conjecture, thus cautiously stated, has been since strongly confirmed by Mr. Tyrwhitt's note, p. 306, by which it appears that this play was revived in 1613, at which time, without doubt, the Prologue and Epilogue were added by Ben Jonson, or some other person. On the subject of every one of our author's historical pieces, except this, I believe a play had been written, before he commenced a dramatick poet. See the Essay at the end of The Third Part of King Henry VI. Malone. I entirely agree in opinion with Dr. Johnson, that Ben Jonson wrote the Prologue and Epilogue to this play. Shakspeare had, a little before, assisted him in his Sejanus; and Ben was too proud to receive assistance without returning it. It is probable, that he drew up the directions for the parade at the christening, &c. which his employment at court would teach him, and Shakspeare must be ignorant of. I think, I now and then perceive his hand in the dialogue. It appears from Stowe, that Robert Greene wrote somewhat on this subject. Farmer. See the Preliminary Remarks. Malone. In support of Dr. Johnson's opinion it may not be amiss to quote the following lines from old Ben's Prologue to his Every Man in his Humour: “To make a child new swaddled, to proceed “Man, and then shoot up, in one beard and weed, “Past threescore years: or with three rusty swords, “And help of some few foot-and-half-foot words, “Fight over York and Lancaster's long wars, “And in the tyring-house,” &c. Steevens. That Jonson was the author of the Prologue and Epilogue to this play, has been controverted by Mr. Gifford. That they were not the composition of Shakspeare himself, is, I think, clear from internal evidence. But whoever wrote them, if the conjecture which I am about to hazard should meet with the reader's acquiescence, there will appear to be no ground for Dr. Johnson's suspicion that a covert censure of Shakspeare's other works was designed. It is, indeed, highly improbable, that even the most careless author should not have perceived and resented such an attack upon his literary character prefixed to his own play. According to my hypothesis, in the lines referred to neither Shakspeare nor the general practice of the stage in his time were the objects of satire; but the intention of the writer was to contrast the historical truth and taste displayed in our author's Henry VIII. with the performance of a contemporary dramatist, “When You See Me You Know Me, or the famous Chronicle Historie of King Henry the Eighth, &c. by Samuel Rowley.” In the Prologue which we are speaking of, great stress is laid upon the truth of the representation “&lblank; Such as give “Their money out of hope they may believe “May here find truth too.” A few lines further he speaks of “our chosen truth.” But in Rowley's play the incidents of Henry's reign are thrown together in the most confused manner. It commences with the death of Queen Jane Seymour in child-birth; and a few scenes afterwards, the two following marriages of the King are thus for the first time succinctly stated: “Commend me to the Ladie Katharine Parry, “Give her this ring, tell her on Sunday next “She shall be queene, and crownd at Westminster: “And Anne of Cleave shall be sent home again.” The danger which Queen Catherine Parry incurred by meddling with polemical divinity, and her adroit escape, are narrated as we find them in history; and soon after, that is to say, when he had been dead about sixteen years, Cardinal Wolsey begins to be suspected by the king, whose opinions on this subject are principally influenced by Will Summers, his jester. This personage, whom I take to be the “&lblank; fellow “In a long motley coat guarded with yellow,” is one of the most important characters in the play; and that the audience might have enough of that species of humour in this merry bawdy play, for the second of these epithets is still more applicable to it than the first, Wolsey's fool Patch is also introduced to be a foil to the superior jocularity of the royal jester. The noise of targets, I imagine, refers to an incident in this drama. The king goes out in disguise at night to ascertain whether the police of London is well conducted, and in the course of his adventures meets with a highwayman called Black Will, with whom he thus enters into conversation. “King. Well overtaken, sir. Black Will. 'Sblood, come before me, sir: What a Divell art thou? King. A man at least. Black. And art thou valiant? King. I carry a sword and buckler, you see!” After a friendly dialogue they resolve to fight in order to try their manhood with sword and buckler, and, after a contest with the watchmen who interfere to part them, are both taken into custody. This play was first printed in 1605; but the second edition appeared in 1613, the very year in which Mr. Tyrwhitt supposes that Shakspeare's Henry VIII. was revived under the new title of All is True. Boswell. The historical dramas are now concluded, of which the two parts of Henry the Fourth, and Henry the Fifth, are among the happiest of our author's compositions; and King John, Richard the Third, and Henry the Eighth, deservedly stand in the second class. Those whose curiosity would refer the historical scenes to their original, may consult Holinshed, and sometimes Hall: from Holinshed Shakspeare has often inserted whole speeches, with no more alteration than was necessary to the numbers of his verse. To transcribe them into the margin was unnecessary, because the original is easily examined, and they are seldom less perspicuous in the poet than in the historian. To play histories, or to exhibit a succession of events by action and dialogue, was a common entertainment among our rude ancestors upon great festivities. The parish clerks once performed at Clerkenwell a play which lasted three days, containing The History of the World. Johnson. It appears from more than one MS. in the British Museum, that the tradesmen of Chester were three days employed in the representation of their twenty-four Whitsun plays or mysteries. The like performances at Coventry must have taken up a longer time, as they were no less than forty in number. The exhibition of them began on Corpus Christi day, which was (according to Dugdale) one of their ancient fairs. See the Harleian MSS. No. 2013, 2124, 2125, and MS. Cot. Vesp. D. viii. and Dugdale's Warwickshire, p. 116. Steevens.

Note return to page 1029 10219001[8] 8The play of Henry the Eighth is one of those which still keeps possession of the stage by the splendour of its pageantry. The coronation, about forty years ago, drew the people together in multitudes for a great part of the winter* [Subnote: *Chetwood says that, during one season, it was exhibited 75 times. See his History of the Stage, p. 68. Steevens.] . Yet pomp is not the only merit of this play. The meek sorrows and virtuous distress of Katharine have furnished some scenes, which may be justly numbered among the greatest efforts of tragedy. But the genius of Shakspeare comes in and goes out with Katharine. Every other part may be easily conceived and easily written. Johnson.

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