Q. MAR. Let me give humble thanks for all at once. K. LEW. Then England's meffenger, return in poft; And tell falfe Edward, thy fuppofed king,- *Thou feeft what's paft, go fear thy king withal. BONA. Tell him, In hope he'll prove a widower fhortly, I'll wear the willow garland for his fake. Q. MAR. Tell him, My mourning weeds are laid afide, And I am ready to put armour on.' WAR. Tell him from me, That he hath done me wrong; And therefore I'll uncrown him, ere't be long. There's thy reward; be gone. K. LEW. [Exit Meff. But, Warwick, thou, And Oxford, with five thousand men, Shall cross the feas, and bid falfe Edward battle :3 gofear thy king-] That is, fright thy king. JoHNSON, So, in King Henry IV. P. II: I to put armour on.] It was once no unusual thing for queens smfelves to appear in armour at the head of their forces. The fuit which Elizabeth wore, when the rode through the lines at Tilbury to encourage the troops, on the approach of the armada, may be still feen in the Tower. STEEVENS. 2thy reward;] Here we are to fuppofe that, according to ancient custom, Warwick makes a prefent to the Herald or Metlenger, whom the original copies call-a Poft. See Vol. XII. p. 405, n. 8. STEEVENS. 3 and bid falfe Edward battle :] This phrafe is common to many of our ancient writers. So, in The Misfortunes of Arthur, a dramatick performance, 1587: queen *And, as occafion ferves, this noble * And prince fhall follow with a fresh supply. Yet, ere thou go, but anfwer me one doubt ;"What pledge have we of thy firm loyalty? WAR. This fhall affure my conftant loyalty :That if our queen and this young prince agree, I'll join mine eldest daughter, and my joy, To him forthwith 4 in holy wedlock bands. my flesh abhors "To bid the battle to my proper blood." STEEVENS. 4 I'll join mine eldest daughter, and my joy, To him forthwith-] Surely this is a mistake of the copy. ifts. Hall, in the ninth year of King Edward IV. says: “Ēdward prince of Wales wedded Anne fecond daughter to the earl of Warwick." And the Duke of Clarence was in love with the elder, the Lady Ifabel; and in reality was married to her five years before Prince Edward took the Lady Anne to wife. And, in King Richard the Third, Glofter, who married this Lady Anne when a widow, fays: "For then I'll marry Warwick's youngest daughter. "What though I kill'd her husband and her father?" i. e. Prince Edward, and King Henry VI. her father-in-law. See likewife Holinfhed, in his Chronicle, p. 671 and 674. THEOBALD, This is a departure from the truth of history, for Edward Prince of Wales (as Mr. Theobald has obferved,) was married to Anne, fecond daughter of the Earl of Warwick. But notwithstanding this, his reading [youngest daughter] has, I think, been improperly adopted by the fubfequent editors; for though in fact the Duke of Clarence married Ifabella, the eldest daughter of Warwick, in 1468, and Edward Prince of Wales married Anne, his fecond daughter, in 1470; neither of his daughters was married at the time when Warwick was in France negociating a marriage between Lady Bona and his King: fo that there is no inconfiftency in the prefent propofal. Suppofing, however, that the original author of this play made a mistake, and imagined that the youngest daughter of Warwick was mar Q. MAR. Yes, I agree,5 and thank you for your motion : Son Edward, the is fair and virtuous, Therefore delay not, give thy hand to Warwick; And, with thy hand, thy faith irrevocable, "That only Warwick's daughter fhall be thine. * PRINCE. Yes, I accept her, for she well deferves it; * And here, to pledge my vow, I give my hand. [He gives his hand to WARWICK. 'K. LEW. Why ftay we now? Thefe foldiers fhall be levied, And thou, lord Bourbon, our high admiral, ried to Clarence, I apprehend he, and not his editor, ought to anfwer for it. This is one of the numerous circumstances which prove that Shakspeare was not the original author of this play; for though here, as in a former paffage, (p. 112, n. 4.) he has followed the old drama, when he afterwards wrote his King Richard III. and found it neceffary to confult the ancient hiftorians, he reprefented Lady Anne, as the in fact was, the widow of Edward, Prince of Wales, and the youngest daughter of the Earl of Warwick. MALONE. Is it improbable then that Shakspeare should have become more accurate as he grew older? Might he not, previous to the compofition of a later play, have furnished himself with that knowledge of hiftory which was wanting in his dramatick performance of an earlier date? STEEVENS. Yes, I agree, &c.] Inftead of this fpeech, the quarto has only the following: "With all my heart; I like this match full well. STEEVENS. And thou, lord Bourbon, &c.] Inftead of this and the three following lines, we have these in the old play : 66 And you, lord Bourbon, our high admiral, 'Shall waft them over with our royal fleet.- WAR. I came from Edward as embaffador, 7 [Exit. "And chafe proud Edward from his flumb'ring trance, "For mocking marriage with the name of France." MALONE. to make a ftale,] i. e. ftalking-horfe, pretence. So, in The Comedy of Errors: poor I am but his ftale." See A& II. fc. i. ACT IV. SCENE I. London. A Room in the Palace. Enter GLOSTER, CLARENCE, SOMERSET, MONTAGUE, and Others. 'GLO. Now tell me, brother Clarence, what think you "Of this new marriage with the lady Grey? * Hath not our brother made a worthy choice? *CLAR. Alas, you know, 'tis far from hence to France; * How could he stay till Warwick made return? *SOM. My lords, forbear this talk; here comes the king. Now tell me, brother Clarence,] In the old play the King enters here along with his brothers, not after them, and opens the scene thus: "Edw. Brothers of Clarence and of Glocefter, "What think you of our marriage with the lady Grey? "Edw. Suppofe they do, they are but Lewis and Warwick; "And I am your king and Warwick's; and will be "Glo. And fhall, because you are our king; MALONE. |