destroyed the
Rebelles. And afterwards for want of Issue of the Prince, wherby the
Succession of the Crowne became uncertayne, they fell to Ciuill warre,
in whiche both they and many of their Issues were slayne, and the
Lande for a longe tyme almoste desolate, and myserablye wasted."

The argument shows plainly enough the didactic intention of the whole,
and points the moral of the evils of civil discord. The story is taken
from Book II. chap. xvi. of Geoffrey of Monmouth's history. It was first
printed (1565) in an unauthorized edition as _The Tragedie of Gorboduc_
"whereof three Actes were wrytten by Thomas Nortone, and the two laste
by Thomas Sackvyle." Norton's share has been generally minimized, and it
seems safe to assume that Sackville is responsible for the general
design. In 1570 appeared an authentic edition, _The Tragedie of Ferrex
and Porrex_, with a preface from the printer to the reader stating that
the authors were "very much displeased that she (the tragedy) so ran
abroad without leave." The tragedies of Seneca were now being
translated, and the play is conceived on Senecan lines. The plot was no
doubt chosen for its accumulated horrors from analogy with the tragic
subjects of Oedipus and Thyestes. None of the crimes occur on the stage,
but the action is described in lofty language by the characters. The
most famous and harrowing scene is that in which Marcello relates the
murder of Porrex by his mother (Act IV. sc. ii.). The paucity of action
is eked out by a dumb show to precede each act, and the place of the
Chorus is supplied by four "ancient and sage men of Britain." In the
variety of incident, however, the authors departed from the classical
model. The play is written in excellent blank verse, and is the first
example of the application of Surrey's innovation to drama. Jasper
Heywood in the poetical address prefixed to his translation of the
Thyestes alludes to "Sackvylde's Sonnets sweetly sauste," but only one
of these has survived. It is prefixed to Sir T. Hoby's translation of
Castiglione's _Courtier_. Sackville's poetical preoccupations are
sufficiently marked in the subject matter of these two works, which
remain the sole literary productions of an original mind.

The best edition of the _Mirror for Magistrates_ is that of Joseph
Haslewood (1815). _Gorboduc_ was edited for the Shakespeare Society by
W. D. Cooper in 1847; in 1883 by Miss L. Toulmin Smith for C.
Vollmoller's _En