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HISTORICAL NOTICE

OF

KING HENRY VI.-PART III.

The second part of the old drama which supplied our author with materials for the present production, is intitled 'The true Tragedie of Richarde Duke of Yorke, and the Death of good King Henrie the Sixt; with the whole Contention between the two Houses Lancaster and Yorke; as it was sundry times acted by the Right Honourable the Earle of Pembrooke his servants.' Both this and the preceding play were reprinted together in 1600, which Malone considers as a strong proof that they cannot be ascribed to the author of the first part of this sovereign's history.

The present historical drama was altered by Crowne, and brought on the stage in the year 1680, under the title of The Miseries of Civil War. The works of Shakspeare could have been little read at that period; for the author, in his prologue, declares the play to be intirely his own composition; whereas the very first scene is that of Jack Cade, copied almost verbatim from the Second Part of King Henry VI. and several others from his Third Part with as little variation.

The action of this play comprehends a period of sixteen years. It commences with the events immediately succeeding the first battle of Saint Albans in 1455, and concludes with the murder of King Henry

VI. and the birth of prince Edward, afterwards Edward V, in 1471.

Of these three plays,' says Dr. Johnson, I think the second the best. The truth is, that they have not sufficient variety of action, for the incidents are too often of the same kind; yet many of the characters are well discriminated. King Henry and his queen, King Edward, the duke of Gloster, and the earl of Warwick are very strongly and distinctly painted.'

ARGUMENT.

The duke of York enters London in triumph, and extorts from the imbecile Henry a recognition of his succession to the throne in return for an undisturbed possession of his regal dignity during life. The conflicting interests of each party soon lead to an infraction of this treaty: Richard is defeated and taken prisoner in a battle near Wakefield in Yorkshire, and soon after put to death; while the infant duke of Rutland, his son, is barbarously murdered in cold blood by Lord Clifford. The powerful assistance of the earl of Warwick enables the depressed Yorkists in their turn to defeat their opponents at Towton in Yorkshire, and place Edward duke of York on the throne. King Henry escapes to Scotland, but is at length committed to the Tower, while his queen and son repair to Paris to implore the aid of the French king, whose sympathy is weakened by the presence of Warwick, who is commissioned by his master to solicit the hand of the princess Bona, the sister of Lewis; when a messenger from England suddenly arrives with the intelligence of Edward's marriage with Lady Elizabeth Grey. Exasperated at this insult, Warwick forms a treaty of alliance with Margaret and Lewis, and speedily dethrones his sovereign, who effects his escape to Burgundy, where he obtains a supply of troops, and soon after lands at Ravenspurg: a great number of his adherents flock to his standard, and Warwick is routed and slain in a general engagement near Barnet. A still more decisive action at Tewkesbury destroys the relics of the Lancastrian forces: the prince of Wales is stabbed to the heart by the three royal brothers in the presence of his mother; while the captive monarch is himself assassinated in the Tower by Richard, duke of Gloster.

278

PERSONS REPRESENTED.

KING HENRY THE SIXTH.

EDWARD, prince of Wales, his son.

LEWIS XI. king of France.

DUKE OF SOMERSET,

DUKE OF Exeter,

EARL OF OXFORD,

EARL OF NORTHUMBERLAND,
EARL OF WESTMORELAND,

LORD CLIFFORD,

lords on King Henry's side.

RICHARD PLANTAGENET, duke of York.
EDWARD, earl of March, afterwards King-
Edward IV.

EDMUND, earl of Rutland,

GEORGE, afterwards duke of Clarence,
RICHARD, afterwards duke of Gloster,
DUKE OF Norfolk,

MARQUIS OF MONTAGUE,

EARL OF WARWICK,

EARL OF PEMBROKE,
LORD HASTINGS,

LORD STAFFord,

SIR JOHN MORTIMER,

SIR HUGH MORTIMER,

his sons.

of the duke of York's party.

uncles to the duke of York.

HENRY, earl of Richmond, a youth.
LORD RIVERS, brother to Lady Grey. SIR WILLIAM STANLEY
SIR JOHN MONTGOMERY. SIR JOHN SOMERVILLE.
TUTOR to Rutland. MAYOR OF YORK. LIEUTENANT
OF THE TOWER. A NOBLEMAN. Two KEEPERS. A
HUNTSMAN. A Son that has killed his father. A
Father that has killed his son.

QUEEN MARGARET.

LADY GREY, afterwards queen to Edward IV.
BONA, sister to the French queen.

Soldiers, and other Attendants on King Henry and King
Edward, Messengers, Watchmen, &c.

SCENE, during part of the third act, in France; during all the rest of the play, in England.

KING HENRY V I.

PART III.

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Drums.

ACT I

SCENE I.

London. The Parliament-house.

Some soldiers of York's party break in. Then, enter the DUKE OF YORK, EDWARD, RICHARD, NORFOLK, MONTAGUE, WARWICK, and others, with white roses in their hats.

War. I wonder, how the king escaped our hands. York. While we pursued the horsemen of the north,

He slily stole away, and left his men :

Whereat the great lord of Northumberland,

Whose warlike ears could never brook retreat,

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Cheer'd up the drooping army; and himself,

Lord Clifford, and lord Stafford, all abreast,

Charged our main battle's front, and, breaking in, • Were by the swords of common soldiers slain.

Ed. Lord Stafford's father, duke of Buckingham,

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