And hang their heads with sorrow: Good grows with her: In her days, every man shall eat in safety 71 every man shall eat in safety Under his own vine,] The original thought 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. From 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: 66 Wolsey, that once trod the ways of glory." 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. 9 [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. 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. 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 The bird of wonder dies, the maiden phoenix, As great in admiration as herself; So shall she leave her blessedness to one, (When heaven shall call her from this cloud of darkness) Who, from the sacred ashes of her honour, Shall star-like rise, as great in fame as she was, Shall be, and make new nations:1 He shall flourish, To all the plains about him :— -Our children's children K. Hen. Thou speakest wonders.] Cran. She shall be, to the happiness of England, An aged princess; 2 many days shall see her, 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): •quanta sub nocte jaceret Nostra dies. Steevens. 1 His 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. Malore. 2 She 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 yet no day without a deed to crown it. To the ground, and all the world shall mourn her. Thou hast made me now a man; never, before This oracle of comfort has so pleas'd me, That, when I am in heaven, I shall desire To see what this child does, and praise my Maker.- And ye shall find me thankful. Lead the way, lords;— And by those claim their greatness, not by blood. [Exeunt. 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, 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. And 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, i. e. the lord mayor's brethren, which is properly their style. Theobald. 4 The 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. 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. * Chetwood says that, during one season, it was exhibited 75 times. Steevens. "Tis ten to one, this play can never please 5- such a one we show'd them;] In the character of Katha. rine. Johnson. 6 - If they smile, &c.] This thought is too much hacknied It had 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 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 friendship 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; 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. 196, 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. All the best men are ours; for 'tis ill hap, 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. 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, 66 Fight over York and Lancaster's long wars, "And in the tyring-house," &c. Steevens. 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 are 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. END OF VOL. XI. T. S. Manning, Printer, No. 143, North Third Street. |