DRAMATIS PERSONÆ.

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Lords, Ladies, Bishops, Judges, Lord Mayor and Aldermen, Barons of the Cinque Ports, Doctors of Divinity, Doctors of Law, Chaplains, Priests, Monks, Gentlemen, Choristers, Citizens, Pursuivants, Vergers, Rowers, Tipstaves, Guards, Trumpeters, Henchmen, Torch Bearers, Drummers, Fifers, Mace-bearers, Gentlemen Ushers, Pillar-bearers, Cross-bearers, and Footmen.

[Gentleman 1], [Gentleman 2], [Scribe], [Crier].

King Henry the Eighth	Mr. WALTER LACY.
Cardinal Wolsey	Mr. CHARLES KEAN.
Cardinal Campeius	Mr. F. COOKE.
Capucius (Ambassador from the Emperor Charles V.)	Mr. PAULO.
Cranmer (Archbishop of Canterbury)	Mr. GRAHAM.
Duke of Norfolk	Mr. JAMES VINING.
Duke of Suffolk	Mr. H. MELLON.
Duke of Buckingham	Mr. RYDER.
Earl of Surrey	Mr. G. EVERETT.
Lord Chamberlain	Mr. DAVID FISHER.
Gardiner (afterwards Bishop of Winchester)	Mr. MEADOWS.
Lord Sands [Lord Sandys]	Mr. ADDISON.
Lord Abergavenny	Mr. ROLLESTON.
Sir Henry Guildford	Mr. BRAZIER.
Sir Thomas Lovell	Mr. RAYMOND.
Sir Nicholas Vaux	Mr. CORMACK.
Secretary to Wolsey [Secretary 1],	Mr. JOHNSON and Mr. JONES.
Cromwell (Servant to Wolsey)	Mr. J. F. CATHCART.
Griffith (Gentleman Usher to Queen Katharine)	Mr. COOPER.
Two other Gentlemen	Mr. J. CHESTER and Mr. STOAKES.
Garter King at Arms [Garter, King at Arms]	Mr. EDMONDS.
A Serjeant at Arms [Sergeant at Arms]	Mr. MORRIS.
Surveyor to the Duke of Buckingham	Mr. TERRY.
Brandon	Mr. COLLETT.
Messenger	Mr. DALY.
Servant	Mr. BARSBY.
Queen Katharine (Wife to King Henry—afterwards divorced)	Mrs. CHARLES KEAN
Anne Boleyn [Anne Bullen], (her Maid of Honour—afterwards Queen)	Miss HEATH.
An Old Lady (Friend to Anne Boleyn)	Mrs. WINSTANLEY.
Patience (Woman to Queen Katharine)	Miss DALY.
Ladies in Waiting (with the duet of “Orpheus with his lute”)	Miss BROUGHAM and Miss E. BROUGHAM.

The Scenery, under the Direction of Mr. Grieve, and Painted by Mr. Grieve, Mr. W. Gordon, Mr. F. Lloyds, Mr. F. Fenton, Mr. Seward, Mr. Jones, Mr. Morgan, and numerous Assistants. The Overture and Music composed for the occasion by Mr. J. L. Hatton. The Dances and Action by Mr. Oscar Byrn. The Dresses by Mrs. and Miss Hoggins. The Machinery by Mr. G. Hodsdon. The Properties by Mr. E. W. Bradwell. Perruquier, Mr. Asplin, of No. 13, New Bond Street. ^note

PREFACE.

In continuing the series of historical illustrations successively presented to the public at the Princess's Theatre, I have on this occasion selected Shakespere's King Henry the Eighth, as not only offering a marked contrast to the remote and gorgeous antiquity of Sardanapalus, the barbaric wildness of Macbeth, the feudal pomp of King John, and the exciting variety of Richard the Third; but as embracing a period and a chain of events more recent and more familiar, connected with a higher civilization, intimately associated with our strongest national feelings, and above all, productive of that wonderful and controlling change in the destinies of England—the Reformation.

This play is supposed to have been written in 1601, fifty-five years after the death of the monarch, a portion of whose life is therein delineated. The five acts occupy twelve years of a busy and most important reign (commencing in 1521, and ending with the christening of the infant Elizabeth in 1533); and include those leading incidents which were the human means of establishing the standard religion of our country.

The interest of the subject is also peculiarly increased, when we reflect that this dramatic history was moulded by the master mind of England's

poet, so near the time when his principal personages occupied the stirring scene in animated reality; and that the entire generation of their contemporaries had not passed away, inasmuch as some yet survived who had known and could describe them.

Cavendish, the faithful usher of Wolsey, and the recorder of his deeds, died only two or three years before Shakespere was born. The poet, who came to London in very early youth, might have formed the personal acquaintance of more than one grey-headed elder, who remembered the trial, divorce, and death of Katharine of Arragon; the favor and fall of the great Cardinal; the marriage, coronation, and execution of Anne Boleyn; the christening of her daughter Elizabeth; and the first dawn of the recently established faith.

To give full effect to this noble play, information has been sought from every source which could contribute to the realization of what may be almost termed the domestic habits of the English Court, three hundred years ago. Shakespere has so closely followed Cavendish in several of the most important scenes, that they become in fact a dramatized transcript from the pages of that interesting and honest biographer. The grand festival at York Place is so clearly described by the early historian, and so minutely copied by the poet, that there is no difficulty in

conveying an exact picture of the order of the entertainment as it actually occurred; with the interruption caused by the arrival of the king and his twelve attendant nobles, masqued and disguised as shepherds, escorted by sixteen torch bearers, and accompanied by drums and fifes.

In the disposition of the stage at the trial of Queen Katharine, I have again followed Cavendish, as well as the corresponding account in D'Aubigne's “History of the Reformation.”

The christening of the future Protestant Queen Elizabeth was solemnized with all the rites of the Church of Rome, at the Grey Friars, Greenwich (not a vestige of which now remains); and I have taken advantage of the historical fact of the Lord Mayor and City Council proceeding to the royal ceremonial in their state barges, to give a panoramic view of London, as it then appeared, concluding with the old Palace of Greenwich, where Queen Anne Boleyn resided at the time.

These views have been copied from a drawing by Antony Van Den Wynyrerde, A.D. 1543 (Sutherland Collection, Bodleian Library, Oxford), which is indeed the only authority we possess on the subject. The scene in which the two Cardinals, Wolsey and Campeius, visit Queen Katharine in the Palace of Bridewell after the trial, so graphically described by Cavendish, is now restored for the first time. The “Vision” in the

chamber of the dying Katharine, at Kimbolton Castle, replaces the introduced song of Patience, and the comparatively recent air of Handel; which change, I trust, will be considered more appropriate, as bearing out the Queen's description of her dream, and preserving the original idea of Shakespere.

The fifth act has of late years been entirely omitted. The portions relating to the announcement of the birth of Elizabeth and the christening of the royal infant are now restored. Any further addition would extend the representation beyond reasonable limits.

Strutt observes, in his “Manners and Customs of the English,” that the whole life of Henry the Eighth (especially during the time when that pompous prelate, Cardinal Wolsey, was in favor), abounded with processions and princely shows of grandeur and magnificence. This pageantry, Shakespere has vivified with the inspiration of his poetic genius, and has thus produced, as Coleridge says, “a sort of historical masque or show play.”

Where it has been possible to find music sufficiently ancient to coincide with the period of the play, it has been introduced. The remaining portions, together with the overture, entre-actes, and duet of “Orpheus with his Lute,” have been composed by Mr. J. L. Hatton, with a view to correspond expressly with the earlier selections.

The air that accompanies the king's dance at the festival, and called “Wolsey's Wild or Wile,” is taken from Wm. Ballet's Lute Book; a MS. in the library of Trinity College, Dublin. The tunes therein bear evidence of being collected in the reign of Queen Mary, and are considered to be as old as the time of Henry the Eighth. The dance of the torch bearers (which is adopted from a French print, illustrating a masque in the age of Francis the First) is accompanied by the music of the oldest Morris Dance known to exist; while “Lightie Love Ladies,” supposed to be the favorite air of Shakespere himself, precedes and follows the dream of Queen Katharine.

In the revival of Henry the Eighth, under its present form, it will be perceived that I have ventured to differ from the stage arrangements of my predecessors. Although in their time fine scenic effects were produced, and much pageantry was displayed, the management did not attempt, nor did the public require, that scrupulous adherence to historical truth in costume, architecture, and the multiplied details of action, which modern taste demands, and is so capable of appreciating, when employed in the service of the monarch of dramatic poetry.

It has been my endeavor in this, as in former productions of a similar kind, to act upon the advice of the celebrated antiquarian, Francis

Douce, so far as is compatible with theatrical effect; and “by exhibiting times as they were, to render the stage what it should be—a true and perfect mirror of history and manners.”

Let me here freely acknowledge the advantages I have derived from various sources in the illustration of this play: more especially do I take this opportunity of expressing my obligations to Charles Hamilton Smith, Esq., author of “Ancient Costume of Great Britain and Ireland,” &c. &c.; to Henry Shaw, Esq., F.S.A., author of “Dresses and Decorations of the Middle Ages;” and also to Sir Charles Young, of the College of Arms. For the architectural portion I am indebted to the valuable assistance of George Godwin, Esq., F.R.S., of the Royal Institute of Architects.

I cannot conclude this notice without an allusion to Mrs. Charles Kean's return to the stage, after a long secession, occasioned by severe illness. It is only thus that I can record my appreciation of the compliment she has received in the voluntary proposal of the ladies of the company, not representing characters in the play, to appear as her “Ladies in waiting.” Such an offer is the more valuable, as it combines a graceful expression of personal esteem, with a zealous desire to uphold the interests of the theatre.

KING HENRY THE EIGHTH.

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