AN ESSAY ON THE LEARNING OF SHAKESPEARE: ADDRESSED TO JOSEPH CRADOCK, Eſq

"SHAKESPEARE, ſays a Brother of the Craft, ^a is a vaſt garden of criticiſm:" and certainly no one can be favoured with more weeders gratis.

But how often, my dear Sir, are weeds and flowers torn up indiſcriminately?— the ravaged ſpot is re-planted in a moment, and a profuſion of cri⯑tical thorns thrown over it for ſecurity.

"A prudent man therefore would not venture his fingers amongſt them."

[2]Be however in little pain for your friend, who re⯑gards himſelf ſufficiently to be cautious:—yet he aſ⯑ſerts with confidence, that no improvement can be expected, whilſt the natural ſoil is miſtaken for a hot-bed, and the Natives of the banks of Avon are ſcientifically choked with the culture of exoticks.

Thus much for metaphor; it is contrary to the Statute to fly out ſo early: but who can tell, whe⯑ther it may not be demonſtrated by ſome critick or other, that a deviation from rule is peculiarly happy in an Eſſay of Shakeſpeare!

You have long known my opinion concerning the literary acquiſitions of our immortal Dramatiſt; and remember how I congratulated myſelf on my coincidence with the laſt and beſt of his Editors. I told you however, that his ſmall Latin and leſs Greek ^b would ſtill be litigated, and you ſee very aſſu⯑redly that I was not miſtaken. The trumpet hath been ſounded againſt "the darling project of repre⯑ſenting Shakeſpeare as one of the illiterate vulgar;" and indeed to ſo good purpoſe, that I would by all means recommend the performer to the army of [3] the braying Faction, recorded by Cervantes. The teſtimony of his contemporaries is again diſputed; conſtant tradition is oppoſed by flimſy arguments; and nothing is heard, but confuſion and nonſenſe. One could ſcarcely imagine this a topick very like⯑ly to inflame the paſſions: it is aſſerted by Dryden, that "thoſe who accuſe him to have wanted learn⯑ing, give him the greateſt commendation;" yet an attack upon an article of faith hath been uſually re⯑ceived with more temper and complacence, than the unfortunate opinion, which I am about to defend.

But let us previouſly lament with every lover of Shakeſpeare, that the Queſtion was not fully diſcuſſed by Mr. Johnſon himſelf: what he ſees intuitively, others muſt arrive at by a ſeries of proofs; and I have not time to teach with preciſion: be contented therefore with a few curſory obſervations, as they may happen to ariſe from the Chaos of Papers, you have ſo often laughed at, "a ſtock ſufficient to ſet up an Editor in form." I am convinced of the ſtrength of my cauſe, and ſuperior to any little ad⯑vantage from ſophiſtical arrangements.

General poſitions without proofs will probably have no great weight on either ſide, yet it may not ſeem fair to ſuppreſs them: take them therefore as their authors occur to me, and we will afterward proceed to particulars.

The teſtimony of Ben. ſtands foremoſt; and [4] ſome have held it ſufficient to decide the contro⯑verſy: in the warmeſt Panegyrick, that ever was written, he apologizes^c for what he ſuppoſed the only defect in his "beloved friend,—

whoſe memory he honoured almoſt to idolatry:" and conſcious of the worth of ancient literature, like any other man on the ſame occaſion, he rather carries his acquirements above, than below the truth. "Jealouſy! cries Mr. Upton; People will allow others any qualities, but thoſe upon which they highly value themſelves." Yes, where there is a competition, and the competitor formidable: but, I think, this Critick himſelf hath ſcarcely ſet in op⯑poſition the learning of Shakeſpeare and Jonſon. When a ſuperiority is univerſally granted, it by no means appears a man's literary intereſt to depreſs the re⯑putation of his Antagoniſt.

In truth the received opinion of the pride and malignity of Jonſon, at leaſt in the earlier part of life, is abſolutely groundleſs: at this time ſcarce a play or a poem appeared without Ben's encomium, from the original Shakeſpeare to the tranſlator of Du Bartas.

But Jonſon is by no means our only authority. [5] Drayton the countryman and acquaintance of Shake⯑ſpeare, determines his excellence to the naturall Braine ^d only. Digges, a wit of the town before our Poet left the ſtage, is very ſtrong to the pur⯑poſe,

Suckling oppoſes his eaſier ſtrain to the ſweat of learned Jonſon. Denham aſſures us, that all he had was from old Mother-wit. His native wood-notes wild, every one remembers to be celebrated by Milton. Dryden obſerves prettily enough, that "he wanted not the ſpectacles of books to read Nature." He came out of her hand, as ſome one elſe expreſſes it, like Pallas out of Jove's head, at full growth and mature.

The ever memorable Hales of Eton, (who, notwith⯑ſtanding his Epithet, is, I fear, almoſt forgotten,) had too great a knowledge both of Shakeſpeare and the [6] Ancients to allow much acquaintance between them: and urged very juſtly on the part of Genius in oppo⯑ſition to Pedantry, That "if he had not read the Claſſicks, he had likewiſe not ſtolen from them; and if any Topick was produced from a Poet of antiquity he would undertake to ſhow ſomewhat on the ſame ſubject, at leaſt as well written by Shakeſpeare."

Fuller, a diligent and equal ſearcher after truth and quibbles, declares poſitively, that "his learning was very little,—Nature was all the Art uſed upon him, as he himſelf, if alive, would confeſs." And may we not ſay, he did confeſs it, when he apologized for his untutored lines to his noble patron the Earl of Southampton? —this liſt of witneſſes might be eaſily enlarged; but I flatter myſelf, I ſhall ſtand in no need of ſuch evidence.

One of the firſt and moſt vehement aſſertors of the learning of Shakeſpeare, was the Editor of his Poems, the well-known Mr. Gildon;^f and his ſteps [7] were moſt punctually taken by a ſubſequent labourer in the ſame department, Dr. Sewel.

Mr. Pope ſuppoſed "little ground for the common opinion of his want of learning:" once indeed he made a proper diſtinction between learning and lan⯑guages, as I would be underſtood to do in my Title-page; but unfortunately he forgot it in the courſe of his diſquiſition, and endeavoured to perſuade himſelf that Shakeſpeare's acquaintance with the Ancients might be actually proved by the ſame medium as Jonſon's.

Mr. Theobald is "very unwilling to allow him ſo poor a ſcholar, as many have laboured to repreſent him;" and yet is "cautious of declaring too poſi⯑tively on the other ſide the queſtion."

Dr. Warburton hath expoſed the weakneſs of ſome arguments from ſuſpected imitations; and yet offers others, which, I doubt not, he could as eaſily have refuted.

Mr. Upton wonders "with what kind of reaſoning any one could be ſo far impoſed upon, as to imagine that Shakeſpeare had no learning;" and laſhes with much zeal and ſatisfaction "the pride and pertneſs of dunces, who under ſuch a name would gladly ſhelter their own idleneſs and ignorance."

He, like the learned Knight, at every anomaly in grammar or metre,

[8]How would the old Bard have been aſtoniſhed to have found, that he had very ſkilfully given the trochaic dimeter brachycatalectic, COMMONLY called the ithyphallic meaſure, to the Witches in Macheth! and that now and then a halting Verſe afforded a moſt beautiful inſtance of the Pes proceleuſmaticus!

"But, continues Mr. Upton, it was a learned age; Roger Aſcham aſſures us, that Queen Elizabeth read more Greek every day, than ſome Dignitaries of the Church did Latin in a whole week." This appears very probable; and a pleaſant proof it is of the gene⯑ral learning of the times, and of Shakeſpeare in par⯑ticular. I wonder, he did not corroborate it with an extract from her injunctions to her Clergy, that "ſuch as were but mean Readers ſhould peruſe over before, once or twice, the Chapters and Homilies, to the intent they might read to the better under⯑ſtanding of the people."

Dr. Grey declares, that Shakeſpeare's knowledge in the Greek and Latin tongues cannot reaſonably be call⯑ed in queſtion. Dr. Dodd ſuppoſes it proved, that he was not ſuch a novice in learning and antiquity as ſome people would pretend. And to cloſe the whole, for I ſuſpect you to be tired of quotation, Mr. Whalley, the ingenious Editor of Jonſon, hath written a piece expreſsly on this ſide the queſtion: perhaps from a very excuſable partiality, he was willing to draw [9] Shakeſpeare from the field of Nature to claſſick ground, where alone, he knew, his Author could poſſibly cope with him.

Theſe criticks, and many others their coadjutors, have ſuppoſed themſelves able to trace Shakeſpeare in the writings of the Ancients; and have ſometimes perſuaded us of their own learning, whatever became of their Author's. Plagiariſms have been diſcovered in every natural deſcription and every moral ſenti⯑ment. Indeed by the kind aſſiſtance of the various Excerpta, Sententiae, and Flores, this buſineſs may be effected with very little expenſe of time or ſagacity; as Addiſon hath demonſtrated in his Comment on Chevy-chace, and Wagſtaff on Tom Thumb: and I my⯑ſelf will engage to give you quotations from the elder Engliſh writers (for to own the truth, I was once idle enough to collect ſuch) which ſhall carry with them at leaſt an equal degree of ſimilarity. But there can be no occaſion of waſting any future time in this de⯑partment: the world is now in poſſeſſion of the Marks of Imitation.

"Shakeſpeare however hath frequent alluſions to the facts and fables of antiquity." Granted:—and as Mat. Prior ſays, to ſave the effuſion of more Chriſtian ink, I will endeavour to ſhew, how they came to his acquaintance.

It is notorious, that much of his matter of fact [10] knowledge is deduced from Plutarch: but in what language he read him, hath yet been the queſtion. Mr. Upton is pretty confident of his ſkill in the Ori⯑ginal, and corrects accordingly the Errors of his Copyiſts by the Greek ſtandard. Take a few inſtances, which will elucidate this matter ſufficiently.

In the third act of Anthony and Cleopatra, Octavius repreſents to his Courtiers the imperial pomp of thoſe illuſtrious lovers, and the arrangement of their dominion,

Read Libya, ſays the critick authoritatively, as is plain from Plutarch, [...].

This is very true: Mr. Heath ^g accedes to the cor⯑rection, and Mr. Johnſon admits it into the Text: but turn to the tranſlation, from the French of Amyot, [11] by Thomas North, in Folio 1579;^h and you will at once ſee the origin of the miſtake.

"Firſt of all he did eſtabliſh Cleopatra Queene of Aegypt, of Cyprus, of Lydia, and the lower Syria."

Again in the Fourth Act,

"What a reply is this, cries Mr. Upton? 'tis ac⯑knowledging he ſhould fall under the unequal com⯑bat. But if we read,

We have the poignancy and the very repartee of Caeſar in Plutarch."

This correction was firſt made by Sir Thomas Han⯑mer, and Mr. Johnſon hath received it. Moſt indiſ⯑putably it is the ſenſe of Plutarch, and given ſo in the modern tranſlations: but Shakeſpeare was miſled by the ambiguity of the old one, "Antonius ſent again [12] to challenge Caeſar to fight him: Caeſar anſwered, That he had many other ways to die, than ſo."

In the Third Act of Julius Caeſar, Anthony in his well-known harangue to the people, repeats a part of the Emperor's will,

"Our Author certainly wrote, ſays Mr. Theobald, On that ſide Tyber— ‘Travs Tiberim—prope Caeſaris hortos.’ And Plutarch, whom Shakeſpeare very diligently ſtudied expreſsly declares, that he left the publick his gardens and walks, [...], beyond the Tyber."

This emendation likewiſe hath been adopted by the ſubſequent Editors; but hear again the old Tranſlation, where Shakeſpeare's ſtudy lay, "He be⯑queathed unto every citizen of Rome, ſeventy-five drachmas a man, and he left his gardens and arbours unto the people, which he had on this ſide of the river of Tyber." I could furniſh you with many more inſtances, but theſe are as good as a thouſand.

Hence had our author his characteriſtick know⯑ledge of Brutus and Anthony, upon which much ar⯑gumentation for his learning hath been founded: and [13] hence literatim the Epitaph on Timon, which it was once preſumed, he had corrected from the blunders of the Latin verſion, by his own ſuperior knowledge of the Original.ⁱ

I cannot however omit a paſſage of Mr. Pope. "The ſpeeches copy'd from Plutarch in Coriolanus may, I think, be as well made an inſtance of the learning of Shakeſpeare, as thoſe copy'd from Cicero in Catiline, of Ben. Jonſon's." Let us inquire into this matter, and tranſcribe a ſpeech for a ſpecimen. Take the famous one of Volumnia.

I will now give you the old Tranſlation, which ſhall effectually confute Mr. Pope: for our Author hath done little more, than thrown the very words of North into blank verſe.

"If we helde our peace (my ſonne) and determin⯑ed not to ſpeake, the ſtate of our poore bodies, and preſent ſight of our rayment, would eaſely bewray to thee what life we haue led at home, ſince thy exile and abode abroad. But thinke now with thy ſelfe, howe much more unfortunately, then all the women liuinge we are come hether, conſidering that the [15] ſight which ſhould be moſt pleaſaunt to all other to beholde, ſpitefull fortune hath made moſt fearfull to us: making my ſelfe to ſee my ſonne, and my daugh⯑ter here, her huſband, beſieging the walles of his natiue countrie. So as that which is the only com⯑fort to all other in their adverſitie and miſerie, to pray unto the goddes, and to call to them for aide; is the onely thinge which plongeth us into moſt deepe perplexitie. For we cannot (alas) together pray, both for victorie, for our countrie, and for ſafety of thy life alſo: but a worlde of grievous curſes, yea more then any mortall enemie can heape uppon us, are forcibly wrapt up in our prayers. For the bitter ſoppe of moſt harde choyce is offered thy wife and children, to forgoe the one of the two: either to loſe the per⯑ſone of thy ſelfe, or the nurſe of their natiue contrie. For my ſelfe (my ſonne) I am determined not to tar⯑rie, till fortune in my life time doe make an ende of this warre. For if I cannot perſuade thee, rather to doe good unto both parties, then to ouerthrowe and deſtroye the one, preferring loue and nature before the malice and calamitie of warres: thou ſhalt ſee, my ſonne, and truſt unto it, thou ſhalt no ſoner marche forward to aſſault thy countrie, but thy foote ſhall tread upon thy mother's wombe, that brought thee firſt into this world."

The length of this quotation will be excuſed for [16] it's curioſity; and it happily wants not the aſſiſtance of a Comment. But matters may not always be ſo eaſily managed:—a plagiariſm from Anacreon hath been detected!

"This, ſays Dr. Dodd, is a good deal in the man⯑ner of the celebrated drinking Ode, too well known to be inſerted." Yet it may be alleged by thoſe, who imagine Shakeſpeare to have been generally able to think for himſelf, that the topicks are obvious, and their application is different.—But for argument's ſake, let the Parody be granted; and "our Author, ſays ſome one, may be puzzled to prove, that there was a Latin tranſlation of Anacreon at the time Shake⯑ſpeare wrote his Timon of Athens." This challenge is peculiarly unhappy: for I do not at preſent recol⯑lect any other Claſſick, (if indeed, with great deference to Mynheer De Pauw, Anacreon may be numbered amongſt them) that was originally publiſhed with two Latin ^k tranſlations.

[17]But this is not all. Puttenham in his Arte of Eng⯑liſh Poeſie, 1589, quotes ſome one of a "reaſonable good facilitie in tranſlation, who finding certaine of Anacreon's Odes very well tranſlated by Ronſard the French poet — comes our Minion, and tranſlates the ſame out of French into Engliſh": and his ſtric⯑tures upon him evince the publication. Now this identical Ode is to be met with in Ronſard! and as his works are in few hands, I will take the liberty of tranſcribing it.

I know not, whether an obſervation of two rela⯑tive to our Author's acquaintance with Homer, be worth our inveſtigation. The ingenious Mrs. Lenox obſerves on a paſſage of Troilus and Creſſida, where [18] Achilles is rouſed to battle by the death of Patroclus, that Shakeſpeare muſt here have had the Iliad in view, as "the old Story,^l which in many places he hath faithfully copied, is abſolutely ſilent with reſpect to this circumſtance."

And Mr. Upton is poſitive that the ſweet oblivious Antidote, inquired after by Macbeth, could be nothing but the Nepenthe deſcribed in the Odyſſey, ‘" [...]."’ I will not inſiſt upon the Tranſlations by Chapman; as the firſt Editions are without date, and it may be difficult to aſcertain the exact time of their publica⯑tion. But the former circumſtance might have been learned from Alexander Barclay;^m and the latter more fully from Spenſer, ⁿ than from Homer himſelf.

[19]"But Shakeſpeare, perſiſts Mr. Upton, hath ſome Greek Expreſſions." Indeed! —"We have one in Coriolanus,

and another in Macbeth, where Banquo addreſſes the Weïrd-Siſters,

Gr. [...].—and [...], to the Haver."

This was the common language of Shakeſpeare's time. "Lye in a water-bearer's houſe! ſays Maſter Mathew of Bobadil, a Gentleman of his Havings!"

Thus likewiſe John Davies in his Pleaſant Deſcant upon Engliſh Proverbs, printed with his Scourge of Folly, about 1612;

and Daniel the Hiſtorian uſes it frequently. Having ſeems to be ſynonymous with Behaviour in Gawin Douglas ^o and the elder Scotch writers.

[20] Haver, in the ſenſe of Poſſeſſor, is every where met with: tho' unfortunately the [...] of Sophocles, produced as an authority for it, is ſuſ⯑pected by Kuſter, ^p as good a critick in theſe matters, to have abſolutely a different meaning.

But what ſhall we ſay to the learning of the Clown in Hamlet, "Ay, tell me that, and unyoke?" alluding to the [...] of the Greeks: and Homer and his Scholiaſt are quoted accordingly!

If it be not ſufficient to ſay, with Dr. Warburton, that the phraſe might be taken from Huſbandry, without much depth of reading; we may produce it from a Dittie of the workmen of Dover, preſerved in the additions to Holingſhed, p. 1546.

An expreſſion of my Dame Quickly is next faſtened upon, which you may look for in vain in the modern text; ſhe calls ſome of the pretended Fairies in the Merry Wives of Windſor, ‘—"Orphan ^q Heirs of fixed Deſtiny."’ [21] and how elegant is this, quoth Mr. Upton, ſuppoſing the word to be uſed, as a Grecian would have uſed it? [...] ab [...]—acting in darkneſs and obſcurity."

Mr. Heath aſſures us, that the bare mention of ſuch an interpretation, is a ſufficient refutation of it: and his critical word will be rather taken in Greek than in Engliſh: in the ſame hands therefore I will venture to leave all our author's knowledge of the Old Comedy, and his etymological learning in the word, Deſdemona. ^r

Surely poor Mr. Upton was very little acquainted with Fairies, notwithſtanding his laborious ſtudy of Spenſer. The laſt authentick account of them is from our countryman William Lilly;^s and it by no means agrees with the learned interpretation: for the ange⯑lical [22] Creatures appeared in his Hurſt wood in a moſt illuſtrious Glory,—"and indeed, ſays the Sage, it is not given to very many perſons to endure their glo⯑rious aſpects."

The only uſe of tranſcribing theſe things, is to ſhew what abſurdities men for ever run into, when they lay down an Hypotheſis, and afterward ſeek for arguments in the ſupport of it. What elſe could in⯑duce this man, by no means a bad ſcholar, to doubt whether Truepenny might not be derived from [...]; and quote upon us with much parade an old Scholiaſt on Ariſtophanes?—I will not ſtop to confute him: nor take any notice of two or three more Ex⯑preſſions, in which he was pleaſed to ſuppoſe ſome learned meaning or other; all which he might have found in every Writer of the time, or ſtill more eaſily in the vulgar Tranſlation of the Bible, by conſulting the Concordance of Alexander Cruden.

But whence have we the Plot of Timon, except from the Greek of Lucian? — The Editors and Cri⯑ticks have been never at a greater loſs than in their inquiries of this ſort; and the ſource of a Tale hath been often in vain ſought abroad, which might eaſily have been found at home: My good friend, the very ingenious Editor of the Reliques of ancient Engliſh Poetry, hath ſhewn our Author to have been ſome⯑times contented with a legendary Ballad.

[23]The Story of the Miſanthrope is told in almoſt every Collection of the time; and particulary in two books, with which Shakeſpeare was intimately ac⯑quainted; the Palace of Pleaſure, and the Engliſh Plutarch. Indeed from a paſſage in an old Play, called Jack Drums Entertainement, I conjecture that he had before made his appearance on the Stage.

Were this a proper place for ſuch a diſquiſition, I could give you many caſes of this kind. We are ſent for inſtance to Cinthio for the Plot of Meaſure for Meaſure, and Shakeſpeare's judgement hath been at⯑tacked for ſome deviations from him in the conduct of it: when probably all he knew of the matter was from Madam Iſabella in the Heptameron of Whetſtone. ^t Arioſto is continually quoted for the Fable of Much ado about Nothing; but I ſuſpect our Poet to have been ſatisfied with the Geneura of Turberville. ^u As you like it was certainly borrowed, if we believe Dr. Grey, and Mr. Upton, from the Coke's Tale of Gamelyn; which by [24] the way was not printed 'till a century afterward: when in truth the old Bard, who was no hunter of MSS. contented himſelf ſolely with Lodge's Roſalynd or Euphues' Golden Legacye. 4to. 1590. The Story of All's well that ends well, or, as I ſuppoſe it to have been ſometimes called, Love's labour wonne, ^x is ori⯑ginally indeed the property of Boccace, ^y but it came immediately to Shakeſpeare from Painter's Giletta of Narbon. ^z Mr. Langbaine could not conceive, whence the Story of Pericles could be taken, "not meeting in Hiſtory with any ſuch Prince of Tyre;" yet his le⯑gend [25] may be found at large in old Gower, under the name of Appolynus. ^a

Pericles is one of the Plays omitted in the later Editions, as well as the early Folio's, and not im⯑properly; tho' it was publiſhed many years before the death of Shakeſpeare, with his name in the Title-page. Aulus Gellius informs us, that ſome Plays are aſcribed abſolutely to Plautus, which he only retouch⯑ed and poliſhed; and this is undoubtedly the caſe with our Author likewiſe. The revival of this perform⯑ance, which Ben. Jonſon calls ſtale and mouldy, was probably his earlieſt attempt in the Drama. I know, that another of theſe diſcarded pieces, the Yorkſhire Tragedy, hath been frequently called ſo; but moſt certainly it was not written by our Poet at all: nor indeed was it printed in his life-time. The Fact on which it is built, was perpetrated no ſooner than 1604:^b much too late for ſo mean a performance from the hand of Shakeſpeare.

[26]Sometimes a very little matter detects a forgery. You may remember a Play called the Double Falſhood, which Mr. Theobald was deſirous of palming upon the world for a poſthumous one of Shakeſpeare: and I ſee it is claſſed as ſuch in the laſt Edition of the Bodleian Catalogue. Mr. Pope himſelf, after all the ſtrictures of Scriblerus, ^c in a Letter to Aaron Hill, ſuppoſes it of that age; but a miſtaken accent de⯑termines it to have been written ſince the middle of the laſt century.

And in another place, ‘"You have an Aſpect, Sir, of wondrous wiſdom."’ The word Aſpect, you perceive, is here accented on the firſt Syllable, which, I am confident, in any ſenſe of it, was never the caſe in the time of Shakeſpeare; though it may ſometimes appear to be ſo, when we do not obſerve a preceding Eliſion. ^d

Some of the profeſſed Imitators of our old Poets have not attended to this and many other Minutiae: [27] I could point out to you ſeveral performances in the reſpective Styles of Chaucer, Spenſer, and Shakeſpeare, which the imitated Bard could not poſſibly have either read or conſtrued.

This very accent hath troubled the Annotators on Milton. Dr. Bentley obſerves it to be "a tone different from the preſent uſe." Mr. Manwaring, in his Treatiſe of Harmony and Numbers, very ſolemnly informs us, that "this Verſe is defective both in Accent and Quantity, B. 3. V. 266.

Here, ſays he, a ſyllable is acuted and long, whereas it ſhould be ſhort and graved!"

And a ſtill more extraordinary Gentleman, one Green, who publiſhed a Specimen of a new Verſion of the Paradiſe Loſt, into BLANK verſe, "by which that amazing Work is brought ſomewhat nearer the Summit of Perfection," begins with correcting a blunder in the fourth book, V. 540.

Enough of ſuch Commentators.—The celebrated [28] Dr. Dee had a Spirit, who would ſometimes conde⯑ſcend to correct him, when peccant in Quantity: and it had been kind of him to have a little aſſiſted the Wights abovementioned. —Milton affected the Antique; but it may ſeem more extraordinary, that the old Accent ſhould be adopted in Hudibras.

After all, the Double Falſhood is ſuperior to Theobald. One paſſage, and one only in the whole Play, he pretended to have written:

Theſe lines were particularly admired; and his vanity could not reſiſt the opportunity of claiming them: but his claim had been more eaſily allowed to any other part of the performance.

To whom then ſhall we aſcribe it? — Somebody hath told us, who ſhould ſeem to be a Noſtrum⯑monger by his argument, that, let Accents be how they will, it is called an original Play of William Shakeſpeare in the King's Patent, prefixed to Mr. Theobald's Edition, 1728, and conſequently there could be no fraud in the matter. Whilff, on the con⯑trary, the Iriſh Laureat, Mr. Victor, remarks, (and were it true, it would be certainly deciſive) that the [29] Plot is borrowed from a Novel of Cervantes, not publiſhed 'till the year after Shakeſpeare's death. But unluckily the ſame Novel appears in a part of Don Quixote, which was printed in Spaniſh, 1605, and in Engliſh by Shelton, 1612. — The ſame reaſoning however, which exculpated our Author from the Yorkſhire Tragedy, may be applied on the preſent oc⯑caſion.

But you want my opinion: —and from every mark of Style and Manner, I make no doubt of aſcribing it to Shirley. Mr. Langbaine informs us, that he left ſome Plays in MS. — Theſe were written about the time of the Reſtoration, when the Accent in queſtion was more generally altered.

Perhaps the miſtake aroſe from an abbreviation of the name. Mr. Dodſley knew not that the Tragedy of Andromana was Shirley's, from the very ſame cauſe. Thus a whole ſtream of Biographers tell us, that Marſton's Plays were printed at London, 1633, "by the care of William Shakeſpeare, the famous Come⯑dian."—Here again I ſuppoſe, in ſome Tranſcript, the real Publiſher's name, William Sheares, was ab⯑breviated. No one hath protracted the life of Shake⯑ſpeare beyond 1616, except Mr. Hume; who is pleaſed to add a year to it, in contradiction to all manner of evidence.

Shirley is ſpoken of with contempt in Mac Flecknoe; [30] but his Imagination is ſometimes fine to an extraordi⯑nary degree. I recollect a paſſage in the fourth book of the Paradiſe Loſt, which hath been ſuſpected of Imita⯑tion, as a prettineſs below the Genius of Milton: I mean, where Uriel glides backward and forward to Heaven on a Sun-beam. Dr. Newton informs us, that this might poſſibly be hinted by a Picture of Annibal Car⯑racci in the King of France's Cabinet: but I am apt to believe that Milton had been ſtruck with a Portrait in Shirley. Fernando, in the Comedy of the Brothers, 1652, deſcribes Jacinta at Veſpers:

You muſt not think me infected with the ſpirit of [31] Lauder, if I give you another of Milton's Imitations:

"The ancient Poets, ſays Mr. Richardſon, have not hit upon this beauty; ſo laviſh as they have been in their deſcriptions of the Swan. Homer calls the Swan long-necked, [...]; but how much more pittoreſque, if he had arched this length of neck?"

For this beauty however, Milton was beholden to Donne; whoſe name, I believe, at preſent is better known than his writings:

Thoſe highly finiſhed Landſcapes, the Seaſons, are indeed copied from Nature: but Thomſon ſometimes recollected the hand of his Maſter:

[32]But to return, as we ſay on other occaſions. — Per⯑haps the Advocates for Shakeſpeare's knowledge of the Latin language may be more ſucceſsful. Mr. Gil⯑don takes the Van. "It is plain, that He was ac⯑quainted with the Fables of antiquity very well: that ſome of the Arrows of Cupid are pointed with Lead, and others with Gold, he found in Ovid; and what he ſpeaks of Dido, in Virgil: nor do I know any tranſlation of theſe Poets ſo ancient as Shakeſpeare's time." The paſſages on which theſe ſagacious remarks are made, occur in the Midſummer Night's Dream; and exhibit, we ſee, a clear proof of acquaintance with the Latin Claſſicks. But we are not anſwerable for Mr. Gildon's ignorance; he might have been told of Caxton and Douglas, of Surrey and Stanyhurſt, of Phaer and Twyne, of Fleming and Gol⯑ding, of Turberville and Churchyard! but theſe Fables were eaſily known without the help of either the ori⯑ginals or the tranſlations. The Fate of Dido had been ſung very early by Gower, Chaucer, and Lydgate; Marloe had even already introduced her to the Stage: and Cupid's arrows appear with their characteriſtick differences in Surrey, in Sidney, in Spenſer, and every Sonetteer of the time. Nay, their very names were exhibited long before in the Romaunt of the Roſe: a work, you may venture to look into, notwithſtand⯑ing Maſter Prynne hath ſo poſitively aſſured us, on [33] the word of John Gerſon, that the Author is moſt certainly damned, if he did not care for a ſerious re⯑pentance.^f

Mr. Whalley argues in the ſame manner, and with the ſame ſucceſs. He thinks a paſſage in the Tempeſt,

a remarkable inſtance of Shakeſpeare's knowledge of ancient Poetick ſtory; and that the hint was furniſh⯑ed by the Divûm incedo Regina of Virgil. ^g

[34]You know, honeſt John Taylor, the Water-poet, declares that he never learned his Accidence, and that Latin and French were to him Heathen-Greek; yet by the help of Mr. Whalley's argument, I will prove him a learned Man, in ſpite of every thing, he may ſay to the contrary: for thus he makes a Gallant addreſs his Lady,

"Moſt ineſtimable Magazine of Beauty — in whom the Port and Majeſty of Juno, the Wiſdom of Jove's braine-bred Girle, and the Feature of Cytherea, ^h have their domeſtical habitation."

In the Merchant of Venice, we have an oath "By two-headed Janus;" and here, ſays Dr. Warburton, Shakeſpeare ſhews his knowledge in the Antique: and [35] ſo again does the Water-poet, who deſcribes Fortune, ‘"Like a Janus with a double-face."’

But Shakeſpeare hath ſomewhere at Latin Motto, quoth Dr. Sewel; and ſo hath John Taylor, and a whole Poem upon it into the bargain.

You perceive, my dear Sir, how vague and inde⯑terminate ſuch arguments muſt be: for in fact this ſweet Swan of Thames, as Mr. Pope calls him, hath more ſcraps of Latin, and alluſions to antiquity than are any where to be met with in the writings of Shakeſpeare. I am ſorry to trouble you with trifles, yet what muſt be done, when grave men inſiſt upon them?

It ſhould ſeem to be the opinion of ſome modern criticks, that the perſonages of claſſick land began only to be known in England in the time of Shakeſpeare; or rather, that he particularly had the honour of in⯑troducing them to the notice of his countrymen.

For inſtance, — Rumour painted full of tongues, gives us a Prologue to one of the parts of Henry the Fourth; and, ſays Dr. Dodd, Shakeſpeare had doubtleſs a view to either Virgil or Ovid in their deſcription of Fame.

But why ſo? Stephen Hawes in his Paſtime of Plea⯑ſure had long before exhibited her in the ſame manner,

[36] and ſo had Sir Thomas More in one of his Pageants, ^k

not to mention her elaborate Portrait by Chaucer, in the Boke of Fame; and by John Higgins, one of the Aſſiſtants in the Mirour for Magiſtrates, in his Legend of King Albanacte.

A very liberal Writer on the Beauties of Poetry, who hath been more converſant in the ancient Lite⯑rature of other Countries, than his own, "cannot but wonder, that a Poet, whoſe claſſical Images are compoſed of the fineſt parts, and breath the very ſpirit of ancient Mythology, ſhould paſs for being illiterate:"

Illiterate is an ambiguous term: the queſtion is, whether Poetick Hiſtory could be only known by an Adept in Languages. It is no reflection on this inge⯑nious Gentleman, when I ſay, that I uſe on this oc⯑caſion the words of a better Critick, who yet was not willing to carry the illiteracy of our Poet too far:— [37] "They who are in ſuch aſtoniſhment at the learning of Shakeſpeare, forget that the Pagan Imagery was familiar to all the Poets of his time; and that abun⯑dance of this ſort of learning was to be picked up from almoſt every Engliſh book, that he could take into his hands." For not to inſiſt upon Stephen Bate⯑man's Golden booke of the leaden Goddes, 1577, and ſeveral other laborious compilations on the ſub⯑ject, all this and much more Mythology might as perfectly have been learned from the Teſtament of Creſeide, ^l and the Fairy Queen, ^m as from a regular Pantheon or Polymetis himſelf.

Mr. Upton, not contented with Heathen learning, when he finds it in the text, muſt neceſſarily ſuper-add it, when it appears to be wanting; becauſe Shake⯑ſpeare moſt certainly hath loſt it by accident!

In Much ado about Nothing, Don Pedro ſays of the inſenſible Benedict, "He hath twice or thrice cut Cupid's bow-ſtring, and the little Hangman dare not ſhoot at him."

This mythology is not recollected in the Ancients, and therefore the critick hath no doubt but his Au⯑thor wrote "Henchman,—a Page, Puſio: and this word ſeeming too hard for the Printer, he tranſlated the [38] little Urchin into a Hangman, a character no way belonging to him."

But this character was not borrowed from the Ancients; — it came from the Arcadia of Sir Philip Sidney:

I know it may be objected on the authority of ſuch Biographers, as Theophilus Cibber, and the Writer of the Life of Sir Philip, prefixed to the modern Editions; that the Arcadia was not publiſhed before 1613, and conſequently too late for this imitation: but I have a Copy in my own poſſeſſion, printed for W. Ponſonbie, 1590, 4to. which hath eſcaped the notice of the induſtrious Ames, and the reſt of our typographical Antiquaries.

Thus likewiſe every word of antiquity is to be cut down to the claſſical ſtandard.

In a Note on the Prologue to Troilus and Creſſida, (which, by the way, is not met with in the Quarto) Mr. Theobald informs us, that the very names of the gates of Troy, have been barbarouſly demoliſhed by the Editors: and a deal of learned duſt he makes in [39] ſetting them right again; much however to Mr. Heath's ſatisfaction. Indeed the learning is modeſtly withdrawn from the later Editions, and we are quiet⯑ly inſtructed to read,

But had he looked into the Troye boke of Lydgate, inſtead of puzzling himſelf with Dares Phrygius, he would have found the horrid demolition to have been neither the work of Shakeſpeare nor his Editors.

[40]Our excellent friend Mr. Hurd hath born a noble teſtimony on our ſide of the queſtion. "Shakeſpeare, [41] ſays this true Critick, owed the felicity of freedom from the bondage of claſſical ſuperſtition, to the want of what is called the advantage of a learned Educa⯑tion.—This, as well as a vaſt ſuperiority of Genius hath contributed to lift this aſtoniſhing man to the glory of being eſteemed the moſt original thinker and ſpeaker, ſince the times of Homer." And hence in⯑diſputably the amazing Variety of Style and Manner, unknown to all other Writers: an argument of itſelf ſufficient to emancipate Shakeſpeare from the ſuppo⯑ſition of a Claſſical training. Yet, to be honeſt, one Imitation is faſtened on our Poet: which hath been inſiſted upon likewiſe by Mr. Upton and Mr. Whalley. You remember it in the famous Speech of Claudio in Meaſure for Meaſure: ‘"Ay, but to die and go we know not where! &c."’

Moſt certainly the Ideas of a "Spirit bathing in fiery floods," of reſiding "in thrilling regions of thick-ribbed ice," or of being "impriſoned in the viewleſs winds," are not original in our Author; but I am not ſure, that they came from the Platonick Hell of Virgil. ^o The Monks alſo had their hot and their cold Hell, "the fyrſte is fyre that ever brenneth, [42] and never gyveth lighte, ſays an old Homily: ^p— The ſeconde is paſſyng colde, that yf a grete hylle of fyre were caſten therin, it ſholde torne to yce." One of their Legends, well remembered in the time of Shakeſpeare, gives us a Dialogue between a Biſhop and a Soul tormented in a piece of ice, which was brought to cure a grete brenning heate in his foot: ^q take care you do not interpret this the Gout, for I remember M. Menage quotes a Canon upon us, ‘"Si quis dixerit Epiſcopum PODAGRA laborare, Ana⯑thema ſit."’

Another tells us of the Soul of a Monk faſtened to a Rock, which the winds were to blow about for a twelvemonth, and purge of it's Enormities. In⯑deed this doctrine was before now introduced into poetick fiction, as you may ſee in a Poem "where the Lover declareth his pains to exceed far the pains of Hell," among the many miſcellaneous ones ſub⯑joined to the Works of Surrey. Nay, a very learned and inquiſitive Brother-Antiquary, our Greek Pro⯑feſſor, hath obſerved to me on the authority of Blef⯑kenius, that this was the ancient opinion of the inha⯑bitants [43] of Iceland;^r who were certainly very little read either in the Poet or the Philoſopher.

After all, Shakeſpeare's curioſity might lead him to Tranſlations. Gawin Douglas really changes the Pla⯑tonick Hell into the "punytion of Saulis in Purgatory:" and it is obſervable, that when the Ghoſt informs Hamlet of his Doom there,

the Expreſſion is very ſimilar to the Biſhop's: I will give you his Verſion as conciſely as I can; "It is a nedeful thyng to ſuffer panis and torment— Sum in the wyndis, Sum under the watter, and in the fire uthir Sum: — thus the mony Vices—

It ſeems however, that "Shakeſpeare himſelf in the Tempeſt hath tranſlated ſome expreſſions of Virgil: witneſs the O Dea certe." I preſume, we are here directed to the paſſage, where Ferdinand ſays of Mi⯑randa, after hearing the Songs of Ariel,

and ſo very ſmall Latin is ſufficient for this formidable tranſlation, that if it be thought any honour to our [44] Poet, I am loth to deprive him of it; but his honour is not built on ſuch a ſandy foundation. Let us turn to a real Tranſlator, and examine whether the Idea might not be fully comprehended by an Engliſh reader; ſuppoſing it neceſſarily borrowed from Virgil. Hex⯑ameters in our own language are almoſt forgotten; we will quote therefore this time from Stanyhurſt:

Gabriel Harvey deſired only to be "Epitaph'd, the Inventor of the Engliſh Hexameter," and for a while every one would be halting on Roman feet; but the ridicule of our Fellow- Collegian Hall, in one of his Satires, and the reaſoning of Daniel, in his Defence of Rhyme againſt Campion, preſently reduced us to our original Gothic.

But to come nearer the purpoſe, what will you ſay, if I can ſhew you, that Shakeſpeare, when, in the favourite phraſe, he had a Latin Poet in his Eye, moſt aſſuredly made uſe of a Tranſlation.

Proſpero in the Tempeſt begins the Addreſs to his attendant Spirits, ‘"Ye Elves of Hills, of ſtanding Lakes, and Groves."’

This ſpeech, Dr. Warburton rightly obſerves to be borrowed from Medea in Ovid: and "it proves, ſays [45] Mr. Holt, ^s beyond contradiction, that Shakeſpeare was perfectly acquainted with the Sentiments of the Ancients on the Subject of Inchantments." The original lines are theſe.

It happens however, that the tranſlation by Arthur Golding ^t is by no means literal, and Shakeſpeare hath cloſely followed it;

I think it is unneceſſary to purſue this any fur⯑ther; eſpecially as more powerful arguments await us.

In the Merchant of Venice, the Jew, as an apology for his cruelty to Anthonio, rehearſes many Sympa⯑thies and Antipathies for which no reaſon can be ren⯑dered,

[46]This incident, Dr. Warburton ſuppoſes to be taken from a paſſage in Scaliger's Exercitations againſt Car⯑dan, "Narrabo tibi jocoſam Sympathiam Reguli, Vaſconis Equitis: Is dum viveret audito Phormingis ſono, urinam illico facere cogebatur." And, proceeds the Doctor, to make this jocular ſtory ſtill more ridi⯑culous, Shakeſpeare, I ſuppoſe, tranſlated Phorminx by Bagpipes.

Here we ſeem fairly caught; — for Scaliger's work was never, as the term goes, done into Engliſh. But luckily in an old tranſlation from the French of Peter Le Loier, entitled, A treatiſe of Specters, or ſtraunge Sights, Viſions and Apparitions appearing ſenſibly unto men, we have this identical Story from Scaliger: and what is ſtill more, a marginal Note gives us in all probability the very fact alluded to, as well as the word of Shakeſpeare, "Another Gentleman of this quality liued of late in Deuon neere Exceſter, who could not endure the playing on a Bagpipe." ^u

We may juſt add, as ſome obſervation hath been made upon it, that Affection in the ſenſe of Sympathy was [47] formerly technical; and ſo uſed by Lord Bacon, Sir Kenelm Digby, and many other Writers.

A ſingle word in Queen Catherine's Character of Wolſey, in Henry the 8th, is brought by the Doctor as another argument for the learning of Shakeſpeare.

The word Suggeſtion, ſays the Critick, is here uſed with great propriety, and ſeeming knowledge of the Latin tongue: and he proceeds to ſettle the ſenſe of it from the late Roman writers and their gloſſers. But Shakeſpeare's knowledge was from Holingſhed, whom he follows verbatim:

"This Cardinal was of a great ſtomach, for he compted himſelf equal with princes, and by craftie Suggeſtion got into his hands innumerable treaſure: he forced little on ſimonie, and was not pitifull, and [48] ſtood affectionate in his own opinion: in open pre⯑ſence he would lie and ſeie untruth, and was double both in ſpeech and meaning: he would promiſe much and performe little: he was vicious of his bodie, and gaue the clergie euil example." Edit. 1587. p. 922.

Perhaps after this quotation, you may not think, that Sir Thomas Hanmer, who reads Tyth'd — in⯑ſtead of Ty'd all the kingdom, deſerves quite ſo much of Dr. Warburton's ſeverity. — Indiſput⯑ably the paſſage, like every other in the Speech, is intended to expreſs the meaning of the parallel one in the Chronicle: it cannot therefore be credit⯑ed, that any man, when the Original was produced, ſhould ſtill chuſe to defend a cant acceptation; and inform us, perhaps, ſeriouſly, that in gaming language, from I know not what practice, to tye is to equal! A ſenſe of the word, as far as I have yet found, unknown to our old Writers; and, if known, would not ſure⯑ly have been uſed in this place by our Author.

But let us turn from conjecture to Shakeſpeare's authorities. Hall, from whom the above deſcription is copied by Holingſhed, is very explicit in the de⯑mands of the Cardinal: who having inſolently told the Lord Mayor and Aldermen, "For ſothe I thinke, that halfe your ſubſtaunce were to litle," aſſures them by way of comfort at the end of his harangue, that [49] upon an average the tythe ſhould be ſufficient; "Sers, ſpeake not to breake that thyng that is concluded, for ſome ſhal not paie the tenth parte, and ſome more." — And again; "Thei ſaied, the Cardinall by Viſi⯑tacions, makyng of Abbottes, probates of teſtamentes, graunting of faculties, licences, and other pollyngs in his Courtes legantines, had made his threaſore egall with the kynges." Edit. 1548. p. 138. and 143.

Skelton, ^x in his Why come ye not to Court, gives us, [50] after his rambling manner, a curious character of Wolſey:

Mr. Upton and ſome other Criticks have thought it very ſcholar-like in Hamlet to ſwear the Centinels on a Sword: but this is for ever met with. For inſtance, in the Paſſus primus of Pierce Plowman,

And in Hieronymo, the common Butt of our Author, and the Wits of the time, ſays Lorenzo to Pedringano,

We have therefore no occaſion to go with Mr. Gar⯑rick as far as the French of Brantôme to illuſtrate this [52] ceremony:^y a Gentleman, who will be always allow⯑ed the firſt Commentator on Shakeſpeare, when he does not carry us beyond himſelf.

Mr. Upton however, in the next place, produces a paſ⯑ſage from Henry the ſixth, whence he argues it to be very plain, that our Author had not only read Cicero's Offices, but even more critically than many of the Editors:

So the Wight, he obſerves with great exultation, is named by Cicero in the Editions of Shakeſpeare's time, "Bargulus, Illyrius latro;" tho' the mo⯑dern Editors have choſen to call him Bardylis: — "and thus I found it in two MSS." — And thus he might have found it in two Tranſlations, before Shake⯑ſpeare was born. Robert Whytinton, 1533, calls him, "Bargulus, a Pirate upon the ſee of Illiry;" and Nicholas Grimald, about twenty years afterward, "Bargulus, the Illyrian Robber."^z

But it had been eaſy to have checked Mr. Upton's exultation, by obſerving, that Bargulus does not ap⯑pear in the Quarto.— Which alſo is the caſe with [53] ſome fragments of Latin verſes, in the different Parts of this doubtful performance.

It is ſcarcely worth mentioning, that two or three more Latin paſſages, which are met with in our Au⯑thor, are immediately tranſcribed from the Story or Chronicle before him. Thus in Henry the fifth, whoſe right to the kingdom of France is copiouſly demonſtrated by the Archbiſhop.

Archbiſhop Chichelie, ſays Holingſhed, "did much in⯑ueie againſt the ſurmiſed and falſe fained law Salike, which the Frenchmen alledge euer againſt the kings of England in barre of their juſt title to the crowne of France. The very words of that ſuppoſed law are theſe, In terram Salicam mulieres nè ſuccedant, that is to ſaie, Into the Salike land let not women ſucceed; which the French gloſſers expound to be the realm of France, and that this law was made by King Pharamond: [54] whereas yet their owne authors affirme, that the land Salike is in Germanie, between the rivers of Elbe and Sala, &c." p. 545.

It hath lately been repeated from Mr. Guthrie's "Eſſay upon Engliſh Tragedy," that the Portrait of Macbeth's Wife is copied from Buchanan, "whoſe ſpirit, as well as words, is tranſlated into the Play of Shakeſpeare: and it had ſignified nothing to have pored only on Holingſhed for Facts." — "Animus etiam, per ſe ferox, prope quotidianis conviciis uxoris (quae omnium conſiliorum ei erat conſcia) ſtimula⯑batur."— This is the whole, that Buchanan ſays of the Lady, and truly I ſee no more ſpirit in the Scotch, than in the Engliſh Chronicler. "The wordes of the three weird Siſters alſo greatly encouraged him [to the Murder of Duncan], but ſpecially his wife lay ſore upon him to attempt the thing, as ſhe that was very ambitious, brenning in unquenchable de⯑ſire to beare the name of a Queene." Edit. 1577. p. 244.

This part of Holingſhed is an Abridgment of Johne Bellenden's tranſlation of the noble clerk, Hector Boece, imprinted at Edingburgh, in Fol. 1541. I will give the paſſage as it is found there. "His wyfe im⯑pacient of lang tary (as all wemen ar) ſpecially quhare they ar deſirus of ony purpos, gaif hym gret artation to purſew the thrid weird, that ſche micht be ane [55] quene, calland hym oft tymis febyl cowart and nocht deſyrus of honouris, ſen he durſt not aſſailze the thing with manheid and curage, quhilk is offerit to hym be beniuolence of fortoun. Howbeit ſindry otheris hes aſſailzeit ſic thinges afore with maiſt terribyl jeopardyis, quhen thay had not ſic ſickernes to ſuc⯑ceid in the end of thair laubouris as he had." p. 173.

But we can demonſtrate, that Shakeſpeare had not the Story from Buchanan. According to him, the Weïrd-Siſters ſalute Macbeth, "Una Anguſiae Tha⯑num, altera Moraviae, tertia Regem."—Thane of Angus, and of Murray, &c. but according to Holing⯑ſhed, immediately from Bellenden, as it ſtands in Shakeſpeare, "The firſt of them ſpake and ſayde, All hayle Makbeth Thane of Glammis, — the ſecond of them ſaid, Hayle Makbeth Thane of Cawder; but the third ſayde, All hayle Makbeth, that hereafter ſhall be king of Scotland." p. 243.

Here too our Poet found the equivocal Predictions, on which his Hero ſo fatally depended. "He had learned of certain wyſards, how that he ought to [56] take heede of Macduffe;—and ſurely hereupon had he put Macduffe to death, but a certaine witch whom he had in great truſt, had tolde, that he ſhould neuer be ſlain with man borne of any woman, nor vanquiſhed till the Wood of Bernane came to the Caſtell of Dun⯑ſinane." p. 244. And the Scene between Malcolm and Macduff in the fourth act is almoſt literally taken from the Chronicle.

Macheth was certainly one of Shakeſpeare's lateſt Productions, and it might poſſibly have been ſug⯑geſted to him by a little performance on the ſame ſubject at Oxford, before King James, 1605. I will tranſcribe my notice of it from Wake's Rex Platonicus: "Fabulae anſam dedit antiqua de Regiâ proſapiâ hiſtoriola apud Scoto-Britannos celebrata, quae narrat tres olim Sibyllas occurriſſe duobus Scotiae proceribus, Macbetho & Banchoni, & illum praedixiſſe Regem fu⯑turum, ſed Regem nullum geniturum; hunc Regem non futurum, ſed Reges geniturum multos. Vatici⯑nii veritatem rerum eventus comprobavit. Banchonis enim è ſtirpe Potentiſſimus Jacobus oriundus." p. 29.

A ſtronger argument hath been brought from the Plot of Hamlet. Dr. Grey and Mr. Whalley aſſure us, that for this, Shakeſpeare muſt have read Saxo Gram⯑maticus in Latin, for no tranſlation hath been made into any modern Language. But the truth is, he did not take it from Saxo at all; a Novel called the [57] Hyſtorie of Hamblet was his original: a fragment of which, in black Letter, I have been favoured with by a very curious and intelligent Gentleman, to whom the lovers of Shakeſpeare will ſome time or other owe great obligations.

It hath indeed been ſaid, that "IF ſuch an hiſtory ex⯑iſts, it is almoſt impoſſible that any poet unacquainted with the Latin language (ſuppoſing his perceptive faculties to have been ever ſo acute) could have caught the characteriſtical madneſs of Hamlet, deſcribed by Saxo Grammaticus, ^a ſo happily as it is delineated by Shakeſpeare."

Very luckily, our Fragment gives us a part of Hamlet's Speech to his Mother, which ſufficiently re⯑plies to this obſervation. —"It was not without cauſe, and juſte occaſion, that my geſtures, countenances and words ſeeme to proceed from a madman, and that I deſire to haue all men eſteeme mee wholy de⯑priued of ſence and reaſonable underſtanding, bycauſe I am well aſſured, that he that hath made no con⯑ſcience to kill his owne brother, (accuſtomed to mur⯑thers, and allured with deſire of gouernement with⯑out [58] controll in his treaſons) will not ſpare to ſaue himſelfe with the like crueltie, in the blood, and fleſh of the loyns of his brother, by him maſſacred: and therefore it is better for me to fayne madneſſe then to uſe my right ſences as nature hath beſtowed them upon me, The bright ſhining clearnes therof I am forced to hide vnder this ſhadow of diſſimulation, as the ſun doth hir beams vnder ſome great cloud, when the wether in ſummer time ouercaſteth: the face of a mad man, ſerueth to couer my gallant countenance, and the geſtures of a fool are fit for me, to the end that guiding my ſelf wiſely therin I may preſerue my life for the Danes and the memory of my late deceaſed father, for that the deſire of reuenging his death is ſo ingrauen in my heart, that if I dye not ſhortly, I hope to take ſuch and ſo great vengeance, that theſe Countryes ſhall for euer ſpeake thereof. Neuerthe⯑leſſe I muſt ſtay the time, meanes, and occaſion, leſt by making ouer great haſt, I be now the cauſe of of mine owne ſodaine ruine and ouerthrow, and by that meanes, end, before I beginne to effect my hearts deſire: hee that hath to doe with a wicked, diſloyall, cruell, and diſcourteous man, muſt vſe craft, and po⯑litike inuentions, ſuch as a fine witte can beſt imagine, not to diſcouer his interpriſe: for ſeeing that by force I cannot effect my deſire, reaſon alloweth me by diſ⯑ſimulation, ſubtiltie, and ſecret practiſes to proceed therein."

[59]But to put the matter out of all queſtion, my com⯑municative Friend above-mentioned, Mr. Capell, (for why ſhould I not give myſelf the credit of his name?) hath been fortunate enough to procure from the Col⯑lection of the Duke of Newcaſtle, a complete Copy of the Hyſtorie of Hamblet, which proves to be a tranſla⯑tion from the French of Belleforeſt; and he tells me, that "all the chief incidents of the Play, and all the capital Characters are there in embryo, after a rude and barbarous manner: ſentiments indeed there are none, that Shakeſpeare could borrow; nor any ex⯑preſſion but one, which is, where Hamlet kills Polonius behind the arras: in doing which he is made to cry out, as in the Play, "a rat, a rat!"—So much for Saxo Grammaticus!

It is ſcarcely conceivable, how induſtriouſly the puritanical Zeal of the laſt age exerted itſelf in de⯑ſtroying, amongſt better things, the innocent amuſe⯑ments of the former. Numberleſs Tales and Poems are alluded to in old Books, which are now perhaps no where to be found. Mr. Capell informs me, (and he is in theſe matters, the moſt able of all men to give information) that our Author appears to have been beholden to ſome Novels, which he hath yet only ſeen in French or Italian: but he adds, "to ſay they are not in ſome Engliſh dreſs, proſaic or metrical, and perhaps with circumſtances nearer to his ſtories, [60] is what I will not take upon me to do: nor indeed is it what I believe; but rather the contrary, and that time and accident will bring ſome of them to light, if not all."—

W. Painter, at the concluſion of the ſecond Tome of his Palace of Pleaſure, 1567, advertiſes the Reader, "bicauſe ſodaynly (contrary to expectation) this Volume is riſen to greater heape of leaues, I doe omit for this preſent time ſundry Novels of mery de⯑viſe, reſeruing the ſame to be joyned with the reſt of an other part, wherein ſhall ſucceede the remnant of Bandello, ſpecially ſutch (ſuffrable) as the learned French man François de Belleforreſt hath ſelected, and the choyſeſt done in the Italian. Some alſo out of Erizzo, Ser Giouanni Florentine, Paraboſco, Cynthio, Straparole, Sanſouino, and the beſt liked out of the Queene of Nauarre, and other Authors. Take theſe in good part, with thoſe that haue and ſhall come forth."—But I am not able to find, that a third Tome was ever publiſhed: and it is very probable, that the Intereſt of his Bookſellers, and more eſpe⯑cially the prevailing Mode of the time, might lead him afterward to print his ſundry Novels ſeparately. If this were the caſe, it is no wonder, that ſuch fu⯑gitive Pieces are recovered with difficulty, when the two Tomes, which Tom. Rawlinſon would have called juſta Volumina, are almoſt annihilated. Mr. Ames, [61] who ſearched after books of this ſort with the ut⯑moſt avidity, moſt certainly had not ſeen them, when he publiſhed his Typographical Antiquities; as appears from his blunders about them: and poſſibly I myſelf might have remained in the fame predica⯑ment, had I not been favoured with a Copy by my generous Friend, Mr. Lort.

Mr. Colman, in the Preface to his elegant Tranſla⯑tion of Terence, hath offered ſome arguments for the Learning of Shakeſpeare, which have been retailed with much confidence, ſince the appearance of Mr. Johnſon's Edition.

"Beſides the reſemblance of particular paſſages ſcattered up and down in different plays, it is well known, that the Comedy of Errors is in great meaſure founded on the Menaechmi of Plautus; but I do not recollect ever to have ſeen it obſerved, that the diſ⯑guiſe of the Pedant in the Taming of the Shrew, and his aſſuming the name and character of Vincentio, ſeem to be evidently taken from the diſguiſe of the Sycophanta in the Trinummus of the ſaid Author;^b and [62] there is a quotation from the Eunuch of Terence alſo, ſo familiarly introduced into the Dialogue of the [63] Taming of the Shrew, that I think it puts the queſtion of Shakespeare's having read the Roman Comick Poets in the original language out of all doubt, ‘Redime te captum, quam queas, minimo."’

With reſpect to reſemblances, I ſhall not trouble you any further.—That the Comedy of Errors is founded on the Menaechmi, it is notorious: nor is it leſs ſo, that a Tranſlation of it by W. W. perhaps William Warner, the Author of Albions England, was extant in the time of Shakeſpeare;^c tho' Mr. Upton, [64] and ſome other advocates for his learning, have cau⯑tiouſly dropt the mention of it. Beſides this, (if in⯑deed it were different) in the Geſta Grayorum, the Chriſtmas Revels of the Gray's-Inn Gentlemen, 1594, "a Comedy of Errors like to Plautus his Menechmus was played by the Players." And the ſame hath been ſuſpected to be the Subject of the goodlie Comedie of Plautus acted at Greenwich before the King and Queen in 1520; as we learn from Hall and Holingſhed: — Riccoboni highly compliments the Engliſh on opening their ſtage ſo well; but unfortunately, Cavendiſh in his Life of Wolſey, calls it, an excellent Interlude in Latine. About the ſame time it was exhibited in Ger⯑man at Nuremburgh, by the celebrated Hanſſach the Shoemaker.

"But a character in the Taming of the Shrew is borrowed from the Trinummus, and no tranſlation of that was extant."

Mr. Colman indeed hath been better employ'd: but if he had met with an old Comedy, called Suppoſes, tranſlated from Arioſto by George Gaſcoigne, ^d he cer⯑tainly [65] would not have appealed to Plautus. Thence Shakeſpeare borrowed this part of the Plot, (as well as ſome of the phraſeology) though Theobald pronounces it his own invention: there likewiſe he found the quaint name of Petruchio. My young Maſter and his Man exchange habits and characters, and perſuade a Scenaeſe, as he is called, to perſonate the Father, ex⯑actly as in the Taming of the Shrew, by the pretend⯑ed danger of his coming from Sienna to Ferrara, con⯑trary to the order of the government.

Still, Shakeſpeare quotes a line from the Eunuch of Terence: by memory too, and what is more, "pur⯑poſely alters it, in order to bring the ſenſe within the compaſs of one line."—This remark was pre⯑vious to Mr. Johnſons; or indiſputably it would not have been made at all. — "Our Author had this line from Lilly; which I mention that it may not be brought as an argument of his learning."

But how, cries an unprovoked Antagoniſt, can you take upon you to ſay, that he had it from Lilly, [66] and not from Terence? ^e I will anſwer for Mr. John⯑ſon, who is above anſwering for himſelf. — Becauſe it is quoted as it appears in the Grammarian, and not as it appears in the Poet. — And thus we have done with the purpoſed alteration. Udall likewiſe in his "Floures for Latin ſpeaking, gathered oute of Terence, 1560," reduces the paſſage to a ſingle line, and ſub⯑joins a Tranſlation.

We have hitherto ſuppoſed Shakeſpeare the Author of the Taming of the Shrew, but his property in it is extremely diſputable. I will give you my opinion, and the reaſons on which it is founded. I ſuppoſe then the preſent Play not originally the work of Shake⯑ſpeare, but reſtored by him to the Stage, with the whole Induction of the Tinker, and ſome other occa⯑ſional improvements; eſpecially in the Character of Petruchio. It is very obvious, that the Induction and the Play were either the works of different hands, or written at a great interval of time: the former is in our Author's beſt manner, and the greater part of the latter in his worſt, or even below it. Dr. Warburton declares it to be certainly ſpurious: and without doubt, ſuppoſing it to have been written by Shakeſpeare, it muſt have been one of his earlieſt productions; yet it is not mentioned in the Liſt of his Works by Meres in 1598.

[67]I have met with a facetious piece of Sir John Har⯑rington, printed in 1596, (and poſſibly there may be an earlier Edition) called, The Metamorphoſis of Ajax, where I ſuſpect an alluſion to the old Play; "Read the booke of Taming a Shrew, which hath made a number of us ſo perfect, that now every one can rule a Shrew in our Countrey, ſave he that hath hir." —I am aware, a modern Linguiſt may object, that the word Book does not at preſent ſeem dramatick, but it was once almoſt technically ſo: Goſſon in his Schoole of Abuſe, contayning a pleaſaunt inuective againſt Poets, Pipers, Players, Jeſters, and ſuch like Cater⯑pillars of a Common-wealth, 1579, mentions "twoo proſe Bookes plaied at the Belſauage;" and Hearne tells us in a Note at the end of William of Worceſter, that he had ſeen a MS. in the nature of a Play or In⯑terlude, intitled, the Booke of Sir Thomas Moore." ^f

[68]And in fact, there is ſuch an old anonymous Play in Mr. Pope's Liſt. "A pleaſant conceited Hiſtory, called, The Taming of a Shrew— ſundry times acted by the Earl of Pembroke his Servants." Which ſeems to have been republiſhed by the Remains of that Com⯑pany in 1607, when Shakeſpeare's copy appeared at the Black-Friars or the Globe. — Nor let this ſeem derogatory from the character of our Poet. There is no reaſon to believe, that he wanted to claim the Play as his own; it was not even printed 'till ſome [69] years after his death: but he merely revived it on his Stage as a Manager. — Ravenſcroft aſſures us, that this was really the caſe with Titus Andronicus; which, it may be obſerved, hath not Shakeſpeare's name on the Title-page of the only Edition publiſh⯑ed in his life-time. Indeed, from every internal mark, I have not the leaſt doubt but this horrible Piece was originally written by the Author of the Lines thrown into the mouth of the Player in Hamlet, and of the Tragedy of Locrine: which likewiſe from ſome aſſiſt⯑ance perhaps given to his Friend, hath been unjuſt⯑ly and ignorantly charged upon Shakeſpeare.

But the ſheet-anchor holds faſt: Shakeſpeare himſelf hath left ſome Tranſlations from Ovid. The Epiſtles, ſays One, of Paris and Helen give a ſufficient proof of his acquaintance with that poet; and it may be concluded, ſays Another, that he was a competent judge of other Authors, who wrote in the ſame lan⯑guage.

This hath been the univerſal cry, from Mr. Pope himſelf to the Criticks of yeſterday. Poſſibly, how⯑ever, the Gentlemen will heſitate a moment, if we tell them, that Shakeſpeare was not the Author of theſe Tranſlations. Let them turn to a forgotten book, by Thomas Heywood, called Britaines Troy, printed by W. Jaggard in 1609, Fol. and they will find theſe identical Epiſtles, "which being ſo [70] pertinent to our Hiſtorie, ſays Heywood, I thought neceſſarie to tranſlate."—How then came they aſcrib⯑ed to Shakeſpeare? We will tell them that likewiſe. The ſame voluminous Writer publiſhed an Apology for Actors, 4to. 1612, and in an Appendix directed to his new Printer Nic. Okes, he accuſes his old One, Jaggard, of "taking the two Epiſtles of Paris to Helen, and Helen to Paris, and printing them in a leſs vo⯑lume under the name of Another:— but he was much offended with Maſter Jaggard, that altogether un⯑knowne to him, he had preſumed to make ſo bold with his Name."^g In the ſame work of Heywood are all the other Tranſlations, which have been printed in the modern Editions of the Poems of Shakeſpeare.

You now hope for land: We have ſeen through little matters, but what muſt be done with a whole book?—In 1751, was reprinted "A compendious or briefe examination of certayne ordinary complaints of diuers of our Countrymen in theſe our days: which although they are in ſome parte unjuſt and friuolous, yet are they all by way of Dialogue [71] throughly debated and diſcuſſed by William Shake⯑ſpeare, Gentleman." 8vo.

This extraordinary piece was originally publiſhed in 4to, 1581, and dedicated by the Author, "To the moſt vertuous and learned Lady, his moſt deare and ſoveraigne Princeſſe, Elizabeth; being inforced by her Majeſties late and ſingular clemency in par⯑doning certayne his unduetifull miſdemeanour." And by the modern Editors, to the late King; as "a Treatiſe compoſed by the moſt extenſive and fertile Genius, that ever any age or nation produced."

Here we join iſſue with the Writers of that excel⯑lent, tho' very unequal work, the Biographia Bri⯑tannica: ^h if, ſay they, this piece could be written by [72] our Poet, it would be abſolutely deciſive in the diſ⯑pute about his learning; for many quotations ap⯑pear in it from the Greek and Latin Claſſicks.

The concurring circumſtances of the Name, and the Miſdemeanor, which is ſuppoſed to be the old Story of Deer-ſtealing, ſeem fairly to challenge our Poet for the Author: but they heſitate. — His claim may appear to be confuted by the date 1581, when Shake⯑ſpeare was only Seventeen, and the long experience, [73] which the Writer talks of. — But I will not keep you in ſuſpenſe: the book was not written by Shakeſpeare.

Strype, in his Annals, calls the Author SOME learned Man, and this gave me the firſt ſuſpicion. I knew very well, that honeſt John (to uſe the lan⯑guage of Sir Thomas Bodley) did not waſte his time with ſuch baggage books as Plays and Poems; yet I muſt ſuppoſe, that he had heard of the name of Shake⯑ſpeare. After a while I met with the original Edi⯑tion. Here in the Title-page, and at the end of the Dedication, appear only the Initials, W. S. Gent. and preſently I was informed by Anthony Wood, that the book in queſtion was written, not by William Shakeſpeare, but by William Stafford, Gentleman:ⁱ which at once accounted for the Miſdemeanour in the Dedication. For Stafford had been concerned at that time, and was indeed afterward, as Camden and the other Annaliſts inform us, with ſome of the conſpi⯑rators againſt Elizabeth; which he properly calls his unduetifull behaviour.

I hope by this time, that any One open to con⯑viction may be nearly ſatisfied; and I will promiſe to give you on this head very little more trouble.

[74]The juſtly celebrated Mr. Warton hath favoured us, in his Life of Dr. Bathurſt, with ſome hearſay particulars concerning Shakeſpeare from the papers of Aubrey, which had been in the hands of Wood; and I ought not to ſuppreſs them, as the laſt ſeems to make againſt my doctrine. They came originally, I find, on conſulting the MS. from one Mr. Beeſton: and I am ſure Mr. Warton, whom I have the honour to call my Friend, and an Aſſociate in the queſtion, will be in no pain about their credit.

"William Shakeſpeare's Father was a Butcher, — while he was a Boy be exerciſed his Father's trade, but when he killed a Calf, he would do it in a high ſtile, and make a ſpeech. This William being in⯑clined naturally to Poetry and Acting, came to Lon⯑don, I gueſs, about eighteen, and was an Actor in one of the Playhouſes, and did act exceedingly well. He began early to make Eſſays in dramatique Poetry.— The humour of the Conſtable in the Midſummer Night's Dream he happen'd to take at Crendon ^k in Bucks.— I [75] think, I have been told, that he left near three hun⯑dred pounds to a Siſter. — He underſtood Latin pretty well, FOR he had been in his younger yeares a Schoolmaſter in the Country."

I will be ſhort in my animadverſions; and take them in their order.

The account of the Trade of the Family is not only contrary to all other Tradition, but, as it may ſeem, to the inſtrument from the Herald's office, ſo frequently reprinted.— Shakeſpeare moſt certainly went to London, and commenced Actor thro' neceſ⯑ſity, not natural inclination. —Nor have we any rea⯑ſon to ſuppoſe, that he did act exceedingly well. Rowe tells us from the information of Betterton, who was inquiſitive into this point, and had very early op⯑portunities of Inquiry from Sir W. Davenant, that he was no extraordinary Actor; and that the top of his performance was the Ghoſt in his own Hamlet. Yet this Chef d' Oeuvre did not pleaſe: I will give you an original ſtroke at it. Dr. Lodge, who was for ever peſtering the town with Pamphlets, publiſhed in the year 1596, Wits miſerie, and the Worlds mad⯑neſſe, diſcovering the Devils incarnat of this Age. 4to. One of theſe Devils is Hate-virtue, or Sorrow for another mans good ſucceſſe, who, ſays the Doctor, is "a foule lubber, and looks as pale as the Vi⯑ſard [76] of the Ghoſt, which cried ſo miſerably at the Theatre, like an Oiſter-wife, Hamlet revenge." Thus you ſee Mr. Holt's ſuppoſed proof, in the Appendix to the late Edition, that Hamlet was written after 1597, or perhaps 1602, will by no means hold good; whatever might be the caſe of the particular paſſage on which it is founded.

Nor does it appear, that Shakeſpeare did begin early to make Eſſays in Dramatique Poetry: the Arraign⯑ment of Paris, 1584, which hath ſo often been aſcribed to him on the credit of Kirkman and Winſtanley, ^l was written by George Peele; and Shakeſpeare is not met with, even as an Aſſiſtant, 'till at leaſt ſeven years afterward.^m — Naſh in his Epiſtle to the Gentlemen Students of both Univerſities, prefixed to Greene's Arcadia, 4to. black Letter, recommends his Friend, Peele, "as the chiefe ſupporter of pleaſance now living, the Atlas of Poetrie, and primus Verborum artifex: whoſe firſt in⯑creaſe, the Arraignment of Paris, might plead to their [77] opinions his pregnant dexteritie of wit and manifold varietie of inuention."ⁿ

In the next place, unfortunately, there is neither ſuch a Character as a Conſtable in the Midſummer [78] Night's Dream: nor was the three hundred pounds Le⯑gacy to a Siſter, but a Daughter.

And to cloſe the whole, it is not poſſible, accord⯑ing to Aubrey himſelf, that Shakeſpeare could have been ſome years a Schoolmaſter in the Country,: on which circumſtance only the ſuppoſition of his learn⯑ing is profeſſedly founded. He was not ſurely very young, when he was employed to kill Calves, and he commenced Player about Eighteen!—The truth is, that he left his Father, for a Wife, a year ſooner; and had at leaſt two Children born at Stratford before he retired from thence to London. It is therefore ſufficient⯑ly clear, that poor Anthony had too much reaſon for his character of Aubrey: You will find it in his own Ac⯑count of his Life, publiſhed by Hearne, which I would earneſtly recommend to any Hypochondriack;

"A pretender to Antiquities, roving, magotie-headed, and ſometimes little better than craſed: and being exceedingly credulous, would ſtuff his many Letters ſent to A. W. with folliries and miſinforma⯑tions." p. 577.

Thus much for the Learning of Shakeſpeare with reſpect to the ancient languages: indulge me with an obſervation or two on his ſuppoſed knowledge of the modern ones, and I will promiſe to releaſe you.

"It is evident, we have been told, that he was not unacquainted with the Italian:" but let us in⯑quire into the Evidence.

[79]Certainly ſome Italian words and phraſes appear in the Works of Shakeſpeare; yet if we had nothing elſe to obſerve, their Orthography might lead us to ſuſpect them to be not of the Writer's importation. But we can go further, and prove this.

When Piſtol "chears up himſelf with ends of verſe," he is only a copy of Hanniball Gonſaga, who ranted on yielding himſelf a Priſoner to an Engliſh Cap⯑tain in the Low Countries, as you may read in an old Collection of Tales, called Wits, Fits, and Fancies, ^o

And Sir Richard Hawkins, in his Voyage to the South-Sea, 1593, throws out the ſame jingling Diſtich on the loſs of his Pinnace.

"Maſter Page, ſit; good Maſter Page, ſit; Pro⯑face. What you want in meat, we'll have in drink," ſays Juſtice Shallow's Fac totum, Davy, in the 2d Part of Henry the 4th.

Proface, Sir Thomas Hanmer obſerves to be Italian from profaccia, much good may it do you. Mr. Johnſon rather thinks it a miſtake for perforce. Sir Thomas [80] however is right; yet it is no argument for his Au⯑thor's Italian knowledge.

Old Heywood, the Epigrammatiſt, addreſſed his Readers long before,

And Dekker in his Play, If it be not good, the Diuel is in it, (which is certainly true, for it is full of Devils) makes Shackle-ſoule, in the character of Friar Ruſh, tempt his Brethren with "choice of diſhes" ‘"To which proface; with blythe lookes ſit yee."’ Nor hath it eſcaped the quibbling manner of the Water-poet, in the title of a Poem prefixed to his Praiſe of Hempſeed, "A Preamble, Preatrot, Prea⯑gallop, Preapace, or Preface; and Proface, my Maſters, if your Stomacks ſerve."

But the Editors are not contented without coining Italian. "Rivo, ſays the Drunkard," is an Expreſſion of the madcap prince of Wales; which Sir Thomas Hanmer corrects to Ribi, Drink away, or again, as it ſhould rather be tranſlated. Dr. Warburton accedes to this; and Mr. Johnſon hath admitted it into his Text; but with an obſervation, that Rivo might poſſibly be the cant of Engliſh Taverns. And ſo in⯑deed it was: it occurs frequently in Marſton. Take a quotation from his Comedy of What you will; 1607.

In Love's Labour loſt, Boyet calls Don Armado,

Here too Sir Thomas is willing to palm Italian upon us. We ſhould read, it ſeems, Mammuccio, a Mam⯑met, or Puppet: Ital. Mammuccia. But the alluſion is to a fantaſtical Character of the time. — "Popular applauſe, ſays Meres, dooth nouriſh ſome, neither do they gape after any other thing, but vaine praiſe and glorie, — as in our age Peter Shakerlye of Paules, and MONARCHO that liued about the Court." p. 178.

I fancy, you will be ſatisfied with one more in⯑ſtance.

"Baccare, You are marvellous forward, quoth Gremio to Petruchio in the Taming of the Shrew.

"But not ſo forward, ſays Mr. Theobald, as our Editors are indolent. This is a ſtupid corruption of the preſs, that none of them have dived into. We muſt read Baccalare, as Mr. Warburton acutely ob⯑ſerved to me, by which the Italians mean, Thou ig⯑norant, preſumptuous Man." — "Properly indeed, adds Mr. Heath, a graduated Scholar, but ironically and ſarcaſtically, a pretender to Scholarſhip."

This is admitted by the Editors and Criticks of [82] every Denomination. Yet the word is neither wrong, nor Italian: it was an old proverbial one, uſed fre⯑quently by John Heywood; who hath made, what he pleaſes to call, Epigrams upon it.

Take two of them, ſuch as they are,

Howel takes this from Heywood, in his Old Sawes and Adages: and Philpot introduces it into the Proverbs collected by Camden.

We have but few obſervations concerning Shake⯑ſpeare's knowledge of the Spaniſh tongue. Dr. Grey indeed is willing to ſuppoſe, that the Plot of Romeo and Juliet may be borrowed from a COMEDY of Lopes de Vega. But the Spaniard, who was cer⯑tainly acquainted with Bandello, hath not only changed the Cataſtrophe, but the names of the Characters. Neither Romeo nor Juliet; neither Montague nor Ca⯑pulet appears in this performance: and how came they to the knowledge of Shakeſpeare? — Nothing is more certain, than that he chiefly followed the Tranſ⯑lation by Painter from the French of Boiſteau, and hence ariſe the Deviations from Bandello's original Italian. ^p [83] It ſeems however from a paſſage in Ames's Typogra⯑phical Antiquities, that Painter was not the only Tranſlator of this popular Story: and it is poſſible therefore, that Shakeſpeare might have other aſſiſtance.

In the Induction to the Taming of the Shrew, the Tinker attempts to talk Spaniſh: and conſequently the Author himſelf was acquainted with it, ‘"Paucus pallabris, let the World ſlide, Seſſa."’ But this is a burleſque on Hieronymo; the piece of Bombaſt, that I have mentioned to you before:

Mr. Whalley tells us, "the Author of this piece hath the happineſs to be at this time unknown, the remembrance of him having periſhed with himſelf:" Philips and others aſcribe it to one William Smith: but I take this opportunity of informing him, that it was written by Thomas Kyd; if he will accept the authority of his Contemporary, Heywood.

More hath been ſaid concerning Shakeſpeare's ac⯑quaintance with the French language. In the Play of Henry the fifth, we have a whole Scene in it: and in other places it occurs familiarly in the Dialogue.

We may obſerve in general, that the early Edi⯑tions have not half the quantity; and every ſentence, or rather every word moſt ridiculouſly blundered. Theſe, for ſeveral reaſons, could not poſſibly be pub⯑liſhed by the Author;^q and it is extremely probable, [85] that the French ribaldry was at firſt inſerted by a dif⯑ferent hand, as the many additions moſt certainly were after he had left the Stage. — Indeed, every [86] friend to his memory will not eaſily believe, that he was acquainted with the Scene between Catharine and the old Gentlewoman; or ſurely he would not have admitted ſuch obſcenity and nonſenſe.

Mr. Hawkins, in the Appendix to Mr. Johnſon's Edition, hath an ingenious obſervation to prove, that Shakeſpeare, ſuppoſing the French to be his, had very little knowledge of the language.

"Eſt-il impoſſible d'eſchapper la force de ton Bras?" ſays a Frenchman.— "Braſs, cur?" replies Piſtol.

[87]"Almoſt any one knows, that the French word Bras is pronounced Brau; and what reſemblance of ſound does this bear to Braſs?" —

Mr. Johnſon makes a doubt, whether the pro⯑nunciation of the French language may not be changed, ſince Shakeſpeare's time, "if not, ſays he, it may be ſuſpected that ſome other man wrote the French ſcenes:" but this does not appear to be the caſe, at leaſt in this termination, from the rules of the Grammarians, or the practice of the Poets. I am certain of the former from the French Alphabeth of De la Mothe, ^r and the Orthoepia Gallica of John Eliot;^s and of the latter from the Rhymes of Marot, Ronſard, and Du Bartas. — Connections of this kind were very common. Shakeſpeare himſelf aſſiſted Ben. Jonſon in his Sejanus, as it was originally written; and Fletcher in his Two noble Kinſmen.

But what if the French ſcene were occaſionally in⯑troduced into every Play on this Subject? and per⯑haps [88] there were more than one before our Poet's. — In Pierce Penileſſe his Supplication to the Diuell, 4to. 1592. (which, it ſeems, from the Epiſtle to the Printer, was not the firſt Edition,) the Author, Naſh, exclaims, "What a glorious thing it is to have Henry the fifth repreſented on the Stage leading the French King priſoner, and forcing both him and the Dolphin to ſweare fealty!" — And it appears from the Jeſts of the famous Comedian, Tarlton, 4to. 1611. that he had been particularly celebrated in the Part of the Clown in Henry the fifth; but no ſuch Character exiſts in the Play of Shakeſpeare. — Henry the ſixth hath ever been doubted; and a paſſage in the above-quoted piece of Naſh may give us rea⯑ſon to believe, it was previous to our Author. "How would it haue joyed braue Talbot (the terror of the French) to thinke that after he had lyen two hundred yeare in his Toomb, he ſhould triumph again on the Stage; and haue his bones new em⯑balmed with the teares of ten thouſand ſpectators at leaſt (at ſeuerall times) who in the Tragedian that repreſents his perſon, imagine they behold him freſh bleeding."—I have no doubt but Henry the ſixth had the ſame Author with Edward the third, which hath been recovered to the world in Mr. Capell's Proluſions.

It hath been obſerved, that the Giant of Rabelais [89] is ſometimes alluded to by Shakeſpeare: and in his time no tranſlation was extant. — But the Story was in every one's hand.

In a Letter by one Laneham, or Langham, for the name is written differently, ^t concerning the Enter⯑tainment at Killingwoorth Caſtle, printed 1575, we have a liſt of the vulgar Romances of the age, "King Arthurz book, Huon of Burdeaus, Friar Rous, Howle⯑glaſs, and GARGANTUA. Meres ^u mentions him as equally hurtful to young minds with the Four Sons of Aymon, and the Seven Champions. And John Taylor [90] hath him likewiſe in his catalogue of Authors, pre⯑fixed to Sir Gregory Nonſence. ^x

But to come to a concluſion, I will give you an irrefragable argument, that Shakeſpeare did not un⯑derſtand two very common words in the French and Latin languages.

According to the Articles of agreement between the Conqueror Henry and the King of France, the latter was to ſtile the former, (in the corrected French of the modern Editions,) "Noſtre tres cher filz Henry Roy d' Angleterre; and in Latin, Praeclariſſimus Filius, &c." What, ſays Dr. Warburton, is tres cher in French, praeclariſſimus in Latin! we ſhould read praecariſſimus. — This appears to be exceedingly true; but how came the blunder? it is a typographical one [91] in Holingſhed, which Shakeſpeare copied; but muſt in⯑diſputably have corrected, had he been acquainted with the languages. — "Our ſaid Father, during his life, ſhall name, call, and write us in French in this maner: Noſtre tres chier filz, Henry Roy d' Engleterre — and in Latine in this maner, Praeclariſſimus filius noſter." Edit 1587. p. 574.

To corroborate this inſtance, let me obſerve to you, though it be nothing further to the purpoſe, that another error of the ſame kind hath been the ſource of a miſtake in an hiſtorical paſſage of our Author; which hath ridiculouſly troubled the Criticks.

Richard the third ^y harangues his army before the Battle of Boſworth,

"Our Mother," Mr. Theobald perceives to be wrong, and Henry was ſomewhere ſecreted on the Continent: he reads therefore, and all the Editors after him, ‘"Long kept in Bretague at his mother's coſt."’

But give me leave to tranſcribe a few more lines from Holingſhed, and you will find at once, that Shakeſpeare had been there before me: — "Ye ſee further, how a companie of traitors, theeves, out⯑laws and runnagates be aiders and partakers of his feat and enterpriſe. — And to begin with the erle of Richmond captaine of this rebellion, he is a Welſh milkſop — brought up by my Moother's meanes and mine, like a captive in a cloſe cage in the court of Francis duke of Britaine." p. 756.

Holingſhed copies this verbatim from his Brother Chronicler Hall, Edit. 1548. fol. 54. but his Printer [93] hath given us by accident the word Moother inſtead of Brother; as it is in the Original, and ought to be in Shakeſpeare. ^z

I hope, my good Friend, you have by this time acquitted our great Poet of all piratical depredations on the Ancients, and are ready to receive my Con⯑cluſion. — He remembered perhaps enough of his ſchool-boy learning to put the Hig, hag, hog, into the mouth of Sir Hugh Evans; and might pick up in the Writers of the time, ^a or the courſe of his con⯑verſation [94] a familiar phraſe or two of French or Italian: but his Studies were moſt demonſtratively confined to Nature and his own Language.

In the courſe of this diſquiſition, you have often ſmiled at "all ſuch reading, as was never read:" and poſſibly I may have indulged it too far: but it is the reading neceſſary for a Comment on Shakeſpeare. Thoſe who apply ſolely to the Ancients for this pur⯑poſe, may with equal wiſdom ſtudy the TALMUD for an Expoſition of TRISTRAM SHANDY. Nothing but an intimate acquaintance with the Writers of the time, who are frequently of no other value, can point out his alluſions, and aſcertain his Phraſeology. The Reformers of his Text are for ever equally po⯑ſitive, and equally wrong. The Cant of the Age, a provincial Expreſſion, an obſcure Proverb, an obſo⯑lete Cuſtom, a Hint at a Perſon or a Fact no longer remembered, hath continually defeated the beſt of our Gueſſers: You muſt not ſuppoſe me to ſpeak at random, when I aſſure you, that from ſome forgot⯑ten book or other, I can demonſtrate this to you in many hundred Places; and I almoſt wiſh, that I had not been perſuaded into a different Employment.

[95]Tho' I have as much of the Natale Solum about me, as any man whatſoever; yet, I own, the Prim⯑roſe Path is ſtill more pleaſing than the Foſſe or the Watling Street:

And when I am fairly rid of the Duſt of topogra⯑phical Antiquity, which hath continued much longer about me than I expected; you may very probably be troubled again with the ever fruitful Subject of SHAKESPEARE and his COMMENTATORS.