Ambrose Philips [1723], Humfrey, Duke of Gloucester. A Tragedy. As it is Acted at the Theatre-Royal in Drury-Lane, by His Majesty's Servants. By Mr. Philips (Printed: And Sold by J. Roberts [etc.], London) [word count] [S37200].
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Introductory matter
TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE William Pulteney Esq;
SIR,
When your unwearied
Application to the
weighty Concerns of
the Publick, will allow
you the Leisure to peruse
this Tragedy; I am
perswaded, the Choice of the Argument
will meet with your Approbation:
Since, there is not, in English
History, any remarkable Event,
proper for the Stage, that furnishes a
-- --
fairer Occasion of Inculcating those
Principles, which tend to the Service
of the King, and the Welfare of the
Nation. And, notwithstanding your
Discernment in Performances of this
Kind, may deterr the ablest of our
Writers; yet (beside your natural Candour)
the Love of your Countrey
will incline you to indulge the Inabilities
of the Poet, for the Honesty of
his Intentions.
The Duke of Gloucester was
a Man of Singular Goodness; a wise
and upright Statesman; a great Opposer
of teh oppressive Usurpations
of the See of Rome; a generous Favourer
of the, then, poor and distrest
Commons; a powerful Oratour; a
most loyal Subject; a learned Prince;
and an Encourager of Learning:
Which shining Qualities, even without
the Advantage of his Birth, would
render his Memory dear to You.
It is the Happiness of England, that,
in the Age wherein You flourish, the
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Nobles enjoy all heir valuable Privileges;
and yet, the Commons are,
neiher Poor, nor Disrest: Whereby,
Liberty and Property are become universal,
in Great Britain; te Government
acquires a double Support; and
every Representative of the People
has yearly Opportunities to distinguish
Himself as a Patriot.
It is a great Satisfaction to All,
who know the Value of a Free Government,
to see, at the Head of a
Committee appointed to enquire into
the present Conspiracy, a Commoner,
who is placed above all Hopes and
Fears, but those, which regard his Countrey:
A Gentleman, whose Abilities,
whose Integrity, whose unvarying
Conduct, whose Resolution, and whose
ample Circumstances, conspire to make
him equal to so great a Trust.
Your, Sir, can approve, or disapprove,
of Measures relating to the
Publick; can accept, or refuse, Employments
of Dignity; influenced by
-- --
no Motive, but the General Good.
This State of Independency (the Bulwark
of Publick Vertue) has allways
given your Opinions their due Weight,
with equitable Minds. Such an Englishman
was the greatt and good Duke
Humfrey, in his Time: And, if
you are pleased to countenance my
Endeavours to revive his Fame; I
shall (with the utmost Gratitude) acknowledge
it, as the greatest Honour,
and Obligation.
I am,
With the greatest Respect,
SIR,
Your most Humble, and
most Obedient Servant,
Ambr. Philips.
-- --
TO THE READER.
They , who have read Shakespear's
Second Part of Henry VI. may, probably,
recollect most of the Passages, I
have borrowed from Him, either Word
for Word, or with some small Alteration.
Nevertheless, that I may not be thought unwilling
to Acknowledge my Obligation to so great
a Poet; I desire my Readers will place to his Account,
One or Two Hints, and One intire Line,
in the 24th Page, where Eleanor's Penance is
related: Four Lines, in the 38th Page, where
Beaufort speaks of Gloucester's Popularity: Three
Parts in Four of the Description of the Duke's
dead Body, in Page 71: And about Seventeen
Lines in the last Scene; some of which are so
very beautifull, that it may be questioned, whether
there be any Passages, in Shakespear, that deserve
greater Commendation.
-- --
PROLOGUE;
WRITTEN BY Mr. Bartholomew Paman, Of the Middle-Temple.
Spoken by Mr. BOOTH.
As Education moulds the tender Brain,
Or free, or slavish, Doctrines We maintain.
Where Asia's Lord, with Power despotick, reigns,
Whole Nations boast the Privilege of Chains:
Worship some Plant, or Reptile, as a GOD;
And dye with Rapture, at their Tyrant's Nod.
Where never-erring Rome usurps a Sway,
To go by Reason, is to go a-stray.
Freedom of Thought, we Britons justly prize;
Parent of Liberty, and Scourge of Vice.
In vain, Tradition pleads the Force of Years;
At Reason's Touch, the base Alloy appears.
In foreign Climes, let Monkish Tales preside;
Truth is a Briton's never-failing Guide.
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Our free-born Bard a free-born Heroe draws:
Humfrey; the Patron of Learn'd Wickliff's Cause.
View here, the Force of Bigottry in Kings;
View here, the Woes, that Superstition brings.
Behold a Statesman, upright, wise, and good;
Who bravely for his Countrey's Welfare stood:
But, sure Destruction is the Patriot's Doom,
When Kings are Only Ministers of Rome.
In these short Scenes, our Authour has, with Pain,
Sketch'd out the Years of Henry's troubled Reign;
Shewn by What Springs vile Politicians move;
How, Blood and Cruelty, Rome's Prelates love!
Awkward in Plots, They little Cunning show;
Murder's the deepest Policy they know.
Britons, collect this Moral from our Tale:
Should, once again, the Papal Power prevail;
Again, Religious Fires would dreadful shine;
And Inquisitions prove their Right Divine.
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The Persons of the Play.
MEN.
Humfrey, Duke of Gloucester; Uncle to the King; and Lord Protectour of the Realm. Mr. Booth.
His Friends.
Richard Plantagenet; Duke of York. Mr. Mills.
Richard Nevill; Earl of Salisbury. Mr. Thurmond.
Richard Nevill; Earl of Warwick: Son to the Earl of Salisbury. Mr. Williams.
Henry Beaufort; Cardinal, and Bishop of Winchester: Uncle to the Duke of Gloucester; and Great-Uncle to the King. Mr. Cibber.
Of His, and the Queen's, Faction.
William de la Pole; Duke of Suffolk. Mr. Watson.
Humfrey Stafford; Duke of Buckingham. Mr. Mills jun.
WOMEN.
Margaret, Daughter to Reiner, Duke of Anjou; Queen to King Henry the Sixth: Secretly in Love with the Duke of Suffolk. Mrs. Oldfield.
Eleanor, Dutchess of Gloucester, Wife to Duke Humfrey. Mrs. Porter.
An Officer of Justice.
Two Ruffians [Murderer 1], [Murderer 2].
The ACTION passes within the King's Palace, in Westminster.
-- 1 --
HUMFREY, DUKE of GLOUCESTER.
Ambrose Philips [1723], Humfrey, Duke of Gloucester. A Tragedy. As it is Acted at the Theatre-Royal in Drury-Lane, by His Majesty's Servants. By Mr. Philips (Printed: And Sold by J. Roberts [etc.], London) [word count] [S37200].
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