wife: it may be that, in this revolting monster of inconsistency, Shakespeare deliberately designed to draw a man whose moral character was so weakened by old age, or by inherent blemishes, that he was unable to make up his mind to be either a loyal subject, or an honest rebel. If we accept York as a political satire, and not as a dramatic character with whom we are supposed in any way to sympathize, we must admit that he is a very masterly creation, and one to whom it would be easy to find a parallel in more modern history. Certain it is that every one who has attempted 400