FIRST PART OF

KING HENRY VI.

Or this play there is no edition extant previous to the folio, 1623. It is a miserable production; and Malone has distinctly proved, in his ingenious and elaborate Essay on the three parts of King Henry VI. that it has been unjustly ascribed to the hand of Shakspeare.

In the second and third parts of King Henry VI. the pen of our great poet is easily distinguished; but in the present play there is not a single passage marked with the characters of his genius. "It may be asked," says Malone, "if the drama was not written by Shakspeare, why did Heminge and Condell print it with the rest of his works? The only way I can account for their having done so, is by supposing, that they imagined the insertion of this historical drama was necessary to understanding the two pieces that follow it; or, that Shakspeare, for the advantage of his own theatre, having written a few lines in the first part of King Henry VI. after his own second and third parts had been played, they conceived this a sufficient warrant for attributing it, along with the others, to him, in the general collection of his works."a

The historical transactions contained in this play, take in the compass of above thirty years.

a Malone's Dissertation on King Henry VI. Boswell's Shakspeare, vol. xviii. p. 591.

King HENRY the Sixth.

Duke of GLOSTER, uncle to the king, and protector.
Duke of BEDFORD, uncle to the king, and regent of France.
THOMAS BEAUFORT, duke of Exeter, great uncle to the
king.

HENRY BEAUFORT, great uncle to the king, bishop of
Winchester, and afterwards cardinal.

JOHN BEAUFORT, earl of Somerset; afterwards duke. RICHARD PLANTAGENET, eldest son of Richard late earl of Cambridge; afterwards duke of York.

Earl of WARWICK. Earl of SALISBURY. Earl of SUF

FOLK.

Lord TALBOT, afterwards earl of Shrewsbury:
JOHN TALBOT, his son.

EDMUND MORTIMER, earl of March.

Mortimer's Keeper, and a Lawyer.

Sir JOHN FASTOLFE. Sir WILLIAM LUCY.

Sir WILLIAM GLANSDALE. Sir THOMAS GARGRAVE.
Mayor of London. WOODVILLE, lieut. of the Tower.
VERNON, of the White Rose, or York faction.
BASSET, of the Red Rose, or Lancaster faction.
CHARLES, dauphin, and afterwards king of France.
REIGNIER, duke of Anjou, and titular king of Naples.
Duke of BURGUNDY. Duke of ALENÇON.
Governor of Paris. Bastard of Orleans.
Master-Gunner of Orleans, and his son.
General of the French forces in Bourdeaux.
A French Sergeant. A Porter.

An old Shepherd, father to Joan la Pucelle.
MARGARET, daughter to Reignier; afterwards married to
King Henry.

Countess of AUVERGNE.

JOAN LA PUCELLE, commonly called Joan of Arc.

Fiends appearing to La Pucelle, Lords, Warders of the Tower, Heralds, Officers, Soldiers, Messengers, and several Attendants both on the English and French.

SCENE, partly in England, and partly in France.

FIRST PART OF

KING HENRY VI.

ACT I.

SCENE I.-Westminster Abbey.

Dead March. Corpse of King HENRY the Fifth discovered, lying in state; attended on by the Dukes of BEDFORD, GLOSTER, and EXETER; the Earl of WARWICK,' the Bishop of WINCHESTER, Heralds, &c.

Bed. HUNG be the heavens with black, yield day to Comets, importing change of times and states, [night! Brandish your crystal tresses in the sky;

And with them scourge the bad revolting stars,
That have consented unto Henry's death!
Henry the fifth, too famous to live long!
England ne'er lost a king of so much worth.
Glo. England ne'er had a king, until his time.
Virtue he had, deserving to command :

His brandish'd sword did blind men with his beams;
His arms spread wider than a dragon's wings;
His sparkling eyes replete with wrathful fire,
More dazzled and drove back his enemies,

Earl of Warwick,] The earl of Warwick, who makes his appearance in the first scene of this play, is Richard Beauchamp, who is a character in King Henry V. The earl who appears in the subsequent part of it, is Richard Nevil, son to the earl of Salisbury, who became possessed of the title in right of his wife, Anne, sister of Henry Beauchamp, duke of Warwick, on the death of Anne his only child in 1449. Richard, the father of this Henry, was appointed governor to the king, on the demise of Thomas Beaufort, duke of Exeter, and died in 1439. There is no reason to think that the author meant to confound the two characters.-RITSON.

b Hung be the heavens with black,] Alluding to our ancient stage-practice when a tragedy was to be expected.-STEEVENS.

Than mid-day sun, fierce bent against their faces.
What should I say? his deeds exceed all speech:
He ne'er lift up his hand, but conquered.

Exe. We mourn in black; Why mourn we not in blood? Henry is dead, and never shall revive:

Upon a wooden coffin we attend;
And death's dishonourable victory
We with our stately presence glorify,
Like captives bound to a triumphant car.
What? shall we curse the planets of mishap,
That plotted thus our glory's overthrow?
Or shall we think the subtle-witted French
Conjurers and sorcerers, that, afraid of him,
By magick verses have contriv'd his end?

Win. He was a king bless'd of the King of kings.
Unto the French the dreadful judgment day
So dreadful will not be, as was his sight.
The battles of the Lord of hosts he fought:

The church's prayers made him so prosperous.

Glo. The church! where is it? had not church-men

His thread of life had not so soon decay'd:
None do you like but an effeminate prince,
Whom, like a school-boy, you may over-awe.

[pray'd,

Win. Gloster, whate'er we like, thou art protector;
And lookest to command the prince, and realm.
Thy wife is proud; she holdeth thee in awe,
More than God, or religious churchmen, may.

Glo. Name not religion, for thou lov'st the flesh;
And ne'er throughout the year to church thou go'st,
Except it be to pray against thy foes.

Bed. Cease, cease these jars, and rest your minds in

Let's to the altar :-Heralds, wait on us :

Instead of gold, we'll offer up our arms;

Since arms avail not, now that Henry's dead.-
Posterity, await for wretched years,

[peace!

When at their mothers' moist eyes babes shall suck;

the subtle-witted French, &c.] There was a notion prevalent a long time, that life might be taken away by metrical charms. As superstition grew weaker, these charms were imagined only to have power on irrational animals. In our author's time it was supposed that the Irish could kill rats by a song.-JOHNSON.

Our isle be made a nourish of salt tears,
And none but women left to wail the dead.-
Henry the fifth! thy ghost I invocate;

Prosper this realm, keep it from civil broils!
Combat with adverse planets in the heavens!
A far more glorious star thy soul will make,
Than Julius Cæsar, or bright-

Enter a Messenger.

Mess. My honourable lords, health to you all!
Sad tidings bring I to you out of France,
Of loss, of slaughter, and discomfiture:
Guienne, Champaigne, Rheims, Rouen, Orleans,

Paris, Guysors, Poictiers, are all quite lost.

Bed. What say'st thou, man, before dead Henry's corse?

Speak softly; or the loss of those great towns
Will make him burst his lead, and rise from death.
Glo. Is Paris lost? is Roüen yielded up?

If Henry were recall'd to life again,

These news would cause him once more yield the ghost. Exe. How were they lost? what treachery was us'd? Mess. No treachery; but want of men and money. Among the soldiers this is mutter'd,

That here you maintain several factions;

And, whilst a field should be despatch'd and fought,
You are disputing of your generals.

One would have ling'ring wars, with little cost;
Another would fly swift, but wanteth wings;
A third man thinks, without expence at all,
By guileful fair words peace may be obtain❜d.
Awake, awake, English nobility!
Let not sloth dim your honours, new-begot;
Cropp'd are the flower-de-luces in your arms;
Of England's coat one half is cut away.

a nourish-] i. e. Nourice, French. A nurse was anciently spelt many different ways, among which nourish was one.-STEEVENS.

• Guienne, Champaigne, Rheims, Rouen, Orleans,] Rouen is omitted in all the copies, but the propriety of Steevens' observation, that "this verse might be completed by the insertion of Rouen among the places lost, as Gloster in his next speech infers that it had been mentioned with the rest," is so evident, that we have inserted it in the text.