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Of this play there is no copy earlier than that of the folio in 1623, though the two succeeding parts are extant in two editions in quarto. That the second and third parts were published without the first, may be admitted as no weak proof that the copies were surreptitiously obtained, and that the printers of that time gave the publick those plays, not such as the author designed, but such as they could get them. That this play was written before the two others is indubitably collected from the series of events; that it was written and played before HENRY the FIFTH is apparent, because in the epilogue there is mention made of this play, and not of the other parts:

"Henry the sixth in swaddling bands crown'd king,
"Whose state so many had the managing,

"That they lost France, and made his England bleed :

"Which oft our stage hath shown."

FRANCE IS LOST in this play. The two following contain, as the old title imports, the contention of the houses of York and Lancaster.

The second and third parts of HENRY VI. were printed in 1600. When HENRY V. was written, we know not, but it was printed likewise in 1600, and therefore before the publication of the first and second parts. The first part of HENRY VI. had been often shown on the stage, and would certainly have appeared in its place, had the author been the publisher. JOHNSON,

KING HENRY VI.

PART II.

"The Contention of the two famous Houses of Yorke and Lancaster," in two parts, was published in quarto, in 1600; and the first part was entered on the Stationers' books, (as Mr. Steevens has observed,) March 12, 1593-4. On these two plays, which I believe to have been written by some preceding author, before the year 1590, Shakspeare formed, as I conceive, this and the following drama; altering, retrenching, or amplifying, as he thought proper. The reasons on which this hypothesis is founded, I shall subjoin at large at the end of the third part of King Henry VI.* At present it is only necessary to apprize the reader of the method observed in the printing of these plays. All the lines printed in the usual manner, are found in the original quarto plays (or at least with such minute variations as are not worth noticing): and those, I conceive, Shakspeare adopted as he found them. The lines to which inverted commas are prefixed, were, if my hypothesis be well founded, retouched, and greatly improved by him; and those with asterisks were his own original production; the embroidery with which he ornamented the coarse stuff that had been aukwardly made up for the stage by some of his contemporaries. The speeches which he new-modelled, he improved, sometimes by amplification, and sometimes by retrenchment. MALONE.

* Octavo editions.

King Henry the Sixth:

Humphrey, Duke of Gloster, his uncle.

Cardinal Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester, great uncle to the king.

Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York:

Edward and Richard, his sons.

Duke of Somerset,

Duke of Suffolk,
Duke of Buckingham,
Lord Clifford,

Young Clifford, his son,

Earl of Salisbury,

Earl of Warwick,

}

of the King's party.

} of the York faction.

Lord Scales, Governour of the Tower.. Lord Say. Sir Humphrey Stafford, and his Brother. Sir John Stanley.

A Sea-captain, Master, and Master's Mate, and Walter Whitmore.

Two Gentlemen, prisoners with Suffolk.

A Herald.

Vaux.

Hume and Southwell, two Priests.

Bolingbroke, a conjurer. A Spirit raised by him.
Thomas Horner, an armourer. Peter, his man.
Clerk of Chatham. Mayor of Saint Alban's.
Simpcox, an impostor. Two Murderers.

Jack Cade, a rebel:

George, John, Dick, Smith, the weaver, Michael, &c. his followers.

Alexander Iden, a Kentish gentleman.

Margaret, Queen to King Henry.

Eleanor, Duchess of Gloster.

Margery Jourdain, a witch. Wife to Simpcox. Lords, Ladies, and Attendants; Petitioners, Aldermen, a Beadle, Sheriff, and Officers; Citizens, Prentices, Falconers, Guards, Soldiers, Messengers, &c.

SCENE, dispersedly in various parts of England.

SECOND PART

OF

KING HENRY VI.

ACT I.

SCENE I. London. A Room of State in the Palace.

Flourish of Trumpets: then Hautboys. Enter, on one side, King HENRY, Duke of GLOSTER, SALISBURY, WARWICK, and Cardinal BEAUFORT; on the other, Queen MARGARET, led in by SUFFOLK; YORK, SOMERSET, BUCKINGHAM, and Others, following.

Suffolk.

As by your high imperial majesty

I had in charge at my depart for France,
As procurator to your excellence,

To marry princess Margaret for your grace;
So, in the famous ancient city, Tours,-
In presence of the kings of France and Sicil,

The dukes of Orleans, Calaber, Bretaigne, and

Alençon,

Seven earls, twelve barons, twenty reverend bi

shops,

I have perform'd my task, and was espous'd:
And humbly now upon my bended knee,

In sight of England and her lordly peers,
Deliver up my title in the queen

To your most gracious hands, that are the substance Of that great shadow I did represent;

The happiest gift that ever marquess gave,

The fairest queen that ever king receiv'd.

K. Hen. Suffolk, arise.-Welcome, queen Margaret:

I can express no kinder sign of love,

Than this kind kiss.-O Lord, that lends me life,
Lend me a heart replete with thankfulness!
For thou hast given me, in this beauteous face,
'A world of earthly blessings to my soul,

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* If sympathy of love unite our thoughts.

'Q. Mar. Great king of England, and my gracious lord;

'The mutual conference that my mind hath had'— By day, by night; waking, and in my dreams; In courtly company, or at my beads,With you mine alder-liefest sovereign, Makes me the bolder to salute my king 'With ruder terms; such as my wit affords, And over-joy of heart doth minister.

‹ K. Hen. Her sight did ravish: but her grace in

speech,

Her words y-clad with wisdom's majesty,

Makes me, from wondering fall to weeping joys; 'Such is the fulness of my heart's content.

Lords, with one cheerful voice welcome my love.

I am the bolder to address you, having already familiarized you to my imagination.

2 Beloved above all things.

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