104
Shakespeare of Stratford
When eloquent Mark Antony had shown
His virtues, who but Brutus then was vicious?
His virtues, who but Brutus then was vicious?
V. Henry IV, 1599, 1600.
(A) Prologue to Sir John Oldcastle, 1599.[1]
It is no pamper’d glutton we present,
Nor aged counselor to youthful sin,
But one whose virtue shone above the rest,
A valiant martyr and a virtuous peer
. . . Let fair truth be grac’d,
Since forg’d invention former time defac’d.
Nor aged counselor to youthful sin,
But one whose virtue shone above the rest,
A valiant martyr and a virtuous peer
. . . Let fair truth be grac’d,
Since forg’d invention former time defac’d.
(B) Letter from Sir Charles Percy to a London friend, 1600?[2]
Mr. Carlington,
I am here so pestered with country business that I shall not be able as yet to come to London. If I stay here long in this fashion, at my return I think you will find me so dull that I shall be taken for Justice Silence or Justice Shallow; wherefore I am to entreat you that you will take pity of me, and as occurrences shall serve to send me such news from time to time as shall happen—the knowledge of which, though perhaps they will not exempt me from the opinion of a Justice Shallow at London, yet, I assure you, they will make
- ↑ Acted in this year and published in 1600. The prologue gibes at Falstaff in his original name of Oldcastle. The text of the play contains two references to Falstaff: ‘King [Henry V] . . . Where the devil are all my old thieves that were wont to keep this walk? Falstaff, the villain, is so fat he cannot get on’s horse, but methinks Poins and Peto should be stirring hereabouts.’
‘. . . Because he [the King] once robbed me before I fell to the trade myself; when that foul villainous guts that led him to all that roguery was in’s company there, that Falstaff.’ - ↑ Sir Charles Percy was probably a personal acquaintance of Shakespeare. He was one of the chief conspirators in Essex’s insurrection in 1601, and seems to have been the person who arranged for the performance of Richard II as a prelude to the rising. See documents quoted in VI, below.
