Hereto it comes when kings will not consent To grave advice, but follow wilful will. This is the end, when in fond princes' hearts Flattery prevails, and sage rede[51] hath no place: These are the plagues, when murder is the mean To make new heirs unto the royal crown.... And this doth grow, when lo, unto the prince, Whom death or sudden hap of life bereaves, No certain heir remains, such certain heir, As not all only is the rightful heir, But to the realm is so made known to be; And troth thereby vested in subjects' hearts, To owe faith there where right is known to rest. This last quotation, interesting in itself as containing a recommendation to Queen Elizabeth to marry, or at least name her successor, will also serve as a specimen of the new verse, Blank Verse, which here, for the first time, finds its way into English drama. Meeting with small favour from writers skilful in the stringing together of rhymes, it suffered comparative neglect for some years until Marlowe taught its capacities to his own and future ages. With Sackville's stiff lines before us we shall be better able to appreciate the later playwright's genius. But we shall also be reminded that the credit of introducing blank verse must lie with the older man. The chief question of all remains to be asked. Does _Gorboduc_, with all its borrowed devices, _and because of them_, rise to a higher level of tragedy than _Cambyses_ and _Appius and Virginia_? To answer this question we must examine the effect of those devices, and understand what is precisely meant by the term tragedy. Let it be first understood that the arrangement of acts and scenes is comparatively unimportant in this connexion, though most helpful in giving clearness to the action. Marlowe's _Doctor Faustus_ (in the earlier edition) dispenses with it; so does Milton's _Samson Agonistes_; and we have just seen that the great Greek dramatists knew nothing of it. What is important is the exclusion of that comic element which, in some form or another, had hitherto found a place in almost every English play; the removal of all action from the stage--for the Dumb Shows stand apart from the play--; and the substitution of stately speeches for natural conversation and dialogue. Of all three the purpose is the same, namely, to impress the audience with a sense of greater dignity and awe than would be imparted by a more familiar style. The long speeches give importance to the decisions, and compel a belief that momentous events are about to happen or have happened. In harmony with this effect is the absence of all comic relief--although Shakespeare was to prove later that this has a useful place in tragedy. A smile, a jest would be sacrilege in the prevailing gloom. Two effects alone are aimed at; an impression of loftiness in the theme, and a profound melancholy. Not warm gushing tears. Those are the outcome of a personal sorrow, small and ignoble