86 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 248. 



religion, continued in it. It is more than pro- 

 bable that the enlarged, the inquisitive, the noble 

 mind of Shakspeare, when the effects of the Re- 

 formation were buoyant, became a convert to 

 Protestantism. 



The opinion of Mr. Butler, that he was a Roman 

 Catholic, is more negatively than positively ex- 

 pressed ; it is a suspicion, grounded upon the 

 unfair and erroneous assumption " that none of 

 Shakspeare's works contains the slightest reflections 

 ■upon popery, or any of its practices, or any eulogy 

 •on the Reformation." 



It is therefore from an examination of these 

 -works that he is to be judged ; and I think the 

 following quotations from some of Shakspeare's 

 •dramas will confute Mr. Butler's reasoning, and 

 show us that Shakspeare's mind was fully awa- 

 tened to the superstitions and vices of popery 

 which then prevailed, and that no apprehension 

 of excommunication withheld him from exposing 

 them. 



> Is it probable that a sincere Roman Catholic 

 would have written the following sarcasms upon a 

 Popish Cardinal ? 



First Part Henry VI. Act I. Sc. 3. (Alterca- 

 tion between the Duke of Gloster and Henry 

 Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester, and afterwards 

 Cardinal.) 



" Gloster (to the Bishop). Stand back : thou manifest 

 conspirator ; 

 Thou that contriv'dst to murder our dead lord : 

 Thou that giv'st whores indulgences to sin ! 

 I'll canvass thee in thy broad cardinal's hat, 

 If thou proceed in this thy insolence. 



Win. Nay, stand thou back, I will not budge a foot ; 

 This be Damascus*, be thou cursed Cain, 

 To slay thy brother Abel, if thou wilt. 



Gh. I will not slay thee, but I'll drive thee back: 

 Thy scarlet robes, as a child's bearing-cloth 

 I'll use, to carry thee out of this place. 

 • * • Priest, beware your beard ; 

 I mean to tug it, and to cuff j'ou soundly : 

 Under my feet I stamp thy cardinal's hat ; 

 In spite of pope or dignities of church, 

 Here by the cheeks I'll drag thee up and down." 



(Again in Act III. Sc. 1, this altercation takes 

 place.) 



" Win. Com'st thou with deep premeditated lines, 

 With written pamphlets studiously devis'd, 

 Humphrey of Gloster ? if thou canst accuse, 

 Or aught intend'st to lay unto my charge, 

 Do it without invention suddenly. 



Gh. Presumptuous priest! this place commands my 

 patience. 

 Or thou shouldst find thou hast dishonour'd me. 

 Think not, although in writing I preferr'd 

 The manner of thy vile outrageous crimes, 

 That therefore I have forg'd, or am not able 



• The old travellers believed that Damascus was the 

 scene of the first murder. Maundeville saj's, " And in 

 that place where Damascus was found, Kayne slew Abel 

 his brother." — Knight's Shakspeare. 



Verbatim to rehearse the method of my pen : 

 No, prelate ; such is thy audacious wickedness, 

 Thy iewd, pestiferous, and dissentious pranks. 

 As very infants prattle of thy pride. 

 Thou art a most pernicious usurer : 

 Froward by nature, enemy to peace ; 

 Lascivious, wanton, more than well beseems 

 A man of thy profession, and degree ; 

 And for thy treachery. What's more manifest ? " 



Is it probable that Mr. Butler had never read 

 the following well-known invective of King John 

 to Pandulph, the pope's legate, or had he forgotten 

 it? {K. John, Act III. Sc. 1.) : 



" Pandulph. I Pandulph, of fair Milan cardinal, 

 And from pope Innocent the legate here. 

 Do, in his name, religiously demand. 

 Why thou against the church, our holy mother, 

 So wilfully dost spurn ? 



King John. What earthly name to interrogatories, 

 Can task the free breath of a sacred king ? 

 Thou canst not, cardinal, devise a name 

 So slight, unworthy, and ridiculous, 

 To charge me to an answer, as the pope. 

 Tell him this tale : and from the mouth of England, 

 Add thus much more, — That no Italian priest 

 Shall tithe or toll in our dominions ; 

 But as we under heaven are supreme head, 

 So, under him, that great supremacy. 

 Where we do reign, we will alone uphold. 

 Without the assistance of a mortal hand : 

 So tell the pope ; all reverence set apart. 

 To him, and his usurp'd authority. 



Pand. Then, by the lawful power that I have. 

 Thou shalt stand curst, and excommunicate : 

 And blessed shall he be, that doth revolt , 

 From his allegiance to an heretic ; 

 And meritorious shall that hand be call'd. 

 Canonized, and worshipp'd as a saint. 

 That takes away by any secret course 

 Thy hateful life." 



When Mr. Butler says " nothing can exceed the 

 skill with which Griffith {Hen. VIII.) draws the 

 panegyric of Wolsey," and that " the ecclesiastic 

 is never presented by Shakspeare in a degrading 

 point," he skilfully, I should be sorry to say wil- 

 fully, omits to notice the character which Queen 

 Katherine in the same scene draws of the ambi- 

 tious prelate. I will only quote one passage from 

 this drama, though so many others appear, which 

 convinced me that no sincere and consistent 

 Roman Catholic could have writteii so disparag- 

 ingly of the pope himself and of his representa- 

 tives as Shakspeare has done, without incurring 

 excommunication by " bell, book, and candle." 



Henry VIIL, Act IV. Sc. 2. (Dialogue between 

 Queen Katherine and Griffith on Cardinal Wol- 

 sey's last moments.) 



" Kath. So may he rest ; his faults lie gently on him ! 

 And yet with charity, — He was a man 

 Of an unbounded stomach, ever ranking 

 Himself with princes ; one, that by suggestion 

 Tied all the kingdom : simony was fair play ; 

 His own opinion was his law ; I ' the presence 

 He would say untruths ; and be ever double, 

 Both in his words and meaning : He was never. 



