Excerpt from Henry of Monmouth: Or Memoirs of the Life and Character of Henry the Fifth, Vol. 1 of 2: As Prince of Wales and King of England

By the standard of truth those delineations of Henry's character which have contributed to im mortalize our great historical dramatist. The Au thor, indeed, is willing to confess that he would gladly have withdrawn from the task of assaying the substantial accuracy and soundness of Shak speare's historical and biographical views, could he have done so safely and without a compromise of principle. He would have avoided such an inquiry, not only in deference to the acknowledged rule which does not suffer a poet to be fettered by the rigid shackles of unbending facts; but from a dis inclination also to interfere, even in appearance, with the full and free enjoyment of those exquisite scenes of humour, wit, and nature, in which Henry is the-hero, and his riotous, reckless companions are subordinate in dramatical excellence only to himself. The Author may also not unwillingly grant, that (with'the majority of those who give a tone to the form and pressure of the age) Shakspeare has done more to invest the character of Henry with a never-dying interest beyond the lot of ordinary monarchs, than the bare records of historical verity, could ever have effected. Still he feels that he had no alternative. He must either have ascertained the historical worth of those scenic representations, or have suffered to remain in their full force the deep and prevalent impressions, as to Henry's principles and conduct, which owe, if not theirorigin, yet, at least, much of their universality.

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