Chapter 39

[527:B]Vide Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xix. p. 414. and note.

[527:C]Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xix. p. 415. and vol. ii. p. 359.

[528:A]Illustrations of Shakspeare, vol. ii. p. 270.

[528:B]Supplemental Apology, p. 460.

[528:C]Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ii. p. 359.

[528:D]Supplemental Apology, p. 459.

[528:E]Ibid. p. 162.

[528:F]Ibid. p. 459.

[529:A]History of Fiction, 1st edit. vol. ii. p. 365.

[530:A]Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xix. pp. 528, 529.

[530:B]Reynolds's Works apud Malone, vol. i. p. 129., and vol. iii. p. 173., where this"Unrivall'd sovereign of the realms of grace"is characterized in a most masterly manner.

[530:B]Reynolds's Works apud Malone, vol. i. p. 129., and vol. iii. p. 173., where this

"Unrivall'd sovereign of the realms of grace"

is characterized in a most masterly manner.

[531:A]Vide Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ii. p. 366.

[532:A]Reed's Shakspeare, vol. v. p. 373. Act iii. sc. 4.

[532:B]Ibid. vol. v. p. 374.

[532:C]Chalmers's Supplemental Apology, p. 442.

[532:D]Reed's Shakspeare, vol. v. p. 374. note.

[533:A]Howe's Chronicle, 1004, under the year 1613.

[533:B]It was printed by Barker, the King's Printer, the same year.

[533:C]Supplemental Apology, pp. 443, 444.

[533:D]Reed's Shakspeare, vol. v. p. 334. Act ii. sc. 5.

[533:E]Ibid. vol. v. p. 372. Act iii. sc. 4.

[533:F]Supplemental Apology, pp. 444, 445.

[534:A]Reed's Shakspeare, vol. v. p. 306. Act ii. sc. 4.

[535:A]Of these,twentywere published in 4to., (includingPericles, and omittingTitus Andronicus,) and the rest in the first folio, 1623. On this, the earliest complete collection of our author's plays, Mr. Steevens has given us, with the wit and humour which so peculiarly distinguished him, the following interestingjeu d'esprit:—"Of all volumes, those of popular entertainment are soonest injured. It would be difficult to name four folios that are oftener found in dirty and mutilated condition, than this first assemblage of Shakspeare's plays—God's Revenge against Murder—The Gentleman's Recreation—and Johnson's Lives of the Highwaymen."Though Shakspeare was not, like Fox the Martyrologist, deposited in churches, to be thumbed by the congregation, he generally took post on our hall tables; and that a multitude of his pages have 'their effect of gravy,' may be imputed to the various eatables set out every morning on the same boards. It should seem that most of his readers were so chary of their time, that (like Pistol, who gnaws his leek and swears all the while,) they fed and studied at the same instant. I have repeatedly met with thin flakes of pie-crust between the leaves of our author. These unctuous fragments, remaining long in close confinement, communicated their grease to several pages deep on each side of them.—It is easy enough to conceive how such accidents might happen;—how aunt Bridget's mastication might be disordered at the sudden entry of the Ghost into the Queen's closet, and how the half-chewed morsel dropped out of the gaping Squire's mouth, when the visionary Banquo seated himself in the chair of Macbeth. Still, it is no small eulogium on Shakspeare, that his claims were more forcible than those of hunger.—Most of the first folios now extant, are known to have belonged to ancient families resident in the country."Since our breakfasts have become less gross, our favourite authors have escaped with fewer injuries; not that (as a very nice friend of mine observes) those who read with a coffee-cup in their hands, are to be numbered among the contributors to bibliothecal purity."I claim the merit of being the first commentator on Shakspeare who strove, with becoming seriousness, to account for the frequent stains that disgrace the earliest folio edition of his plays, which is now become the most expensive single book in our language; for, what other English volume without plates, and printed since the year 1600, is known to have sold, more than once, for thirty-five pounds fourteen shillings?"—Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ii. pp. 146, 147.Since this note was written, a copy of the first folio has produced the enormous price ofONE HUNDRED POUNDS. See Roxburghe Catalogue, p. 112. No. 3786.

"Of all volumes, those of popular entertainment are soonest injured. It would be difficult to name four folios that are oftener found in dirty and mutilated condition, than this first assemblage of Shakspeare's plays—God's Revenge against Murder—The Gentleman's Recreation—and Johnson's Lives of the Highwaymen.

"Though Shakspeare was not, like Fox the Martyrologist, deposited in churches, to be thumbed by the congregation, he generally took post on our hall tables; and that a multitude of his pages have 'their effect of gravy,' may be imputed to the various eatables set out every morning on the same boards. It should seem that most of his readers were so chary of their time, that (like Pistol, who gnaws his leek and swears all the while,) they fed and studied at the same instant. I have repeatedly met with thin flakes of pie-crust between the leaves of our author. These unctuous fragments, remaining long in close confinement, communicated their grease to several pages deep on each side of them.—It is easy enough to conceive how such accidents might happen;—how aunt Bridget's mastication might be disordered at the sudden entry of the Ghost into the Queen's closet, and how the half-chewed morsel dropped out of the gaping Squire's mouth, when the visionary Banquo seated himself in the chair of Macbeth. Still, it is no small eulogium on Shakspeare, that his claims were more forcible than those of hunger.—Most of the first folios now extant, are known to have belonged to ancient families resident in the country.

"Since our breakfasts have become less gross, our favourite authors have escaped with fewer injuries; not that (as a very nice friend of mine observes) those who read with a coffee-cup in their hands, are to be numbered among the contributors to bibliothecal purity.

"I claim the merit of being the first commentator on Shakspeare who strove, with becoming seriousness, to account for the frequent stains that disgrace the earliest folio edition of his plays, which is now become the most expensive single book in our language; for, what other English volume without plates, and printed since the year 1600, is known to have sold, more than once, for thirty-five pounds fourteen shillings?"—Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ii. pp. 146, 147.

Since this note was written, a copy of the first folio has produced the enormous price ofONE HUNDRED POUNDS. See Roxburghe Catalogue, p. 112. No. 3786.

[536:A]Vide Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xxi. pp. 4, 5, 6.

[536:B]Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iii. p. 390, 391.

[537:A]See Gentleman's Magazine, vol. lxxxv. p. 219., and Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ii. pp. 154, 155.

[537:B]Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ii. p. 154. note.

[537:C]Ibid. p. 129.

[537:D]Capell's School of Shakspeare, vol. iii. p. 479. See also Gifford's Ben Jonson, vol. i. p. lxx.

[537:E]Gentleman's Magazine, vol. lxxxv. p. 219.

[537:F]On the authority of the title of the first quarto, printed in 1634, eighteen years after the death of Shakspeare.

[538:A]For proof of this, see Gifford's Jonson, vol. i. p. lxx. note.

[538:B]See Gent. Magazine, vol. lxxxv. p. 219., and Biographia Dramatica, 1782, vol. i. p. 118. articleDavenport.

[538:C]Colman's Beaumont and Fletcher, vol. i. p. 118., and Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xxi. p. 401. et seq.

[538:D]"The Two Noble Kinsmen," observes Steevens, "could not have been composed till after 1611, nor perhaps antecedent to the deaths of Beaumont and our author, when assistance and competition ceased, and the poet, who resembled the latter most, had the fairest prospect of success. During the life of Beaumont, which concluded in 1615, it cannot well be supposed that Fletcher would have deserted him, to write in concert with any other dramatist. Shakspeare survived Beaumont only by one year, and, during that time, is known to have lived in Warwickshire, beyond the reach of Fletcher, who continued to reside in London till he fell a sacrifice to the plague in 1625."—Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xxi. p. 407.

[540:A]Lectures on Dramatic Literature, vol. i. pp. 15, 16.

[542:A]Pye's Aristotle, 4to. 1792, p. 22.

[545:A]This expression, and the verses which open some of the leading subjects of this summary, are taken from a poem "On worthy Master Shakspeare," supposed to have been the composition of Jasper Mayne, but which Mr. Godwin, if we recollect aright, for the book is not before us, is desirous of attributing, on account of its singular excellence, to the pen of Milton.—See his Lives of E. and J. Philips, 4to.

[547:A]"The Influence of Literature upon Society," by Madame De Stael-Holstein, vol. i. p. 294. Translation, 2d. edit. 1812.

[548:A]"The Influence of Literature upon Society," by Madame De Stael-Holstein, vol. i. p. 305. Translation, 2d edit. 1812.

[548:B]Of the soothing and delightful effect of thiscontrasted repose, Homer, more than any other writer, affords us abundant examples; perpetually introducing, in the midst of slaughter and contention, similes fraught with pathetic incident or picturesque description. One of these, for the purpose of being followed by an imitation which, in my opinion, greatly transcends the original, I shall now transcribe. The Grecian bard, after mentioning the fall of Simoisius, slain by Ajax, in the bloom of youth and beauty, thus proceeds:—"——————————— Him, what time she wentFrom Ida, with her parents to attendTheir flocks on Simois' side, his mother bore,And thence they named him. But his days were few,Too few to recompense the care that rear'dHis comely growth; for Ajax, mighty Chief,Received him on his pointed spear, and, piercedThrough breast and shoulder, in the dust he fell.So, nourish'd long in some well-water'd spot,Crown'd with green boughs, the smooth-skinn'd poplar falls,Doom'd by the builder to supply with wheelsSome splendid chariot, on the bank it lies,A lifeless trunk, to parch in summer airs."Cowper, Iliad IV.Tender and beautiful as this must be deemed, greatly am I mistaken, if the following lines be not preferred. They are taken from anunpublishedpoem, entitledAlfred, the composition of Mr.John Fitchettof Warrington, whom I have the pleasure of personally knowing, and who, I trust, will pardon the liberty thus assumed, of endeavouring to accelerate the publication of his work, by the production of one of its numerous beauties. Alfred consists of twenty books, ten of which, in a printed form, lie now before me. In the eighth book, Berthun, a brave and youthful thane, is slain by the pagan Amund:—"—————————— Down the hero fell,Riv'n through the brain. Sleep overcast his eyes.Full many a tear his early fate shall mournWhere on the woody side of Axham's valeHis pleasant dwelling stands. In vain shall lookAt dawn or eve his tender wife to hailHis glad return, but hopeless to her heartPress his fair image in her smiling babe.He fell, as by some murm'ring riv'let's sideThe tow'ring poplar, whose broad branches shadeA rural cottage, guardian of its peace,Sinks crashing, and uptears the flow'ry bank,Whelm'd by the tempest; the defenceless cotHowls to the moaning wind: the birds beholdTheir nests, their young, in ruin lost: the brookRolls o'er the tree whose image long it loved."

"——————————— Him, what time she wentFrom Ida, with her parents to attendTheir flocks on Simois' side, his mother bore,And thence they named him. But his days were few,Too few to recompense the care that rear'dHis comely growth; for Ajax, mighty Chief,Received him on his pointed spear, and, piercedThrough breast and shoulder, in the dust he fell.So, nourish'd long in some well-water'd spot,Crown'd with green boughs, the smooth-skinn'd poplar falls,Doom'd by the builder to supply with wheelsSome splendid chariot, on the bank it lies,A lifeless trunk, to parch in summer airs."

"——————————— Him, what time she went

From Ida, with her parents to attend

Their flocks on Simois' side, his mother bore,

And thence they named him. But his days were few,

Too few to recompense the care that rear'd

His comely growth; for Ajax, mighty Chief,

Received him on his pointed spear, and, pierced

Through breast and shoulder, in the dust he fell.

So, nourish'd long in some well-water'd spot,

Crown'd with green boughs, the smooth-skinn'd poplar falls,

Doom'd by the builder to supply with wheels

Some splendid chariot, on the bank it lies,

A lifeless trunk, to parch in summer airs."

Cowper, Iliad IV.

Tender and beautiful as this must be deemed, greatly am I mistaken, if the following lines be not preferred. They are taken from anunpublishedpoem, entitledAlfred, the composition of Mr.John Fitchettof Warrington, whom I have the pleasure of personally knowing, and who, I trust, will pardon the liberty thus assumed, of endeavouring to accelerate the publication of his work, by the production of one of its numerous beauties. Alfred consists of twenty books, ten of which, in a printed form, lie now before me. In the eighth book, Berthun, a brave and youthful thane, is slain by the pagan Amund:—

"—————————— Down the hero fell,Riv'n through the brain. Sleep overcast his eyes.Full many a tear his early fate shall mournWhere on the woody side of Axham's valeHis pleasant dwelling stands. In vain shall lookAt dawn or eve his tender wife to hailHis glad return, but hopeless to her heartPress his fair image in her smiling babe.He fell, as by some murm'ring riv'let's sideThe tow'ring poplar, whose broad branches shadeA rural cottage, guardian of its peace,Sinks crashing, and uptears the flow'ry bank,Whelm'd by the tempest; the defenceless cotHowls to the moaning wind: the birds beholdTheir nests, their young, in ruin lost: the brookRolls o'er the tree whose image long it loved."

"—————————— Down the hero fell,

Riv'n through the brain. Sleep overcast his eyes.

Full many a tear his early fate shall mourn

Where on the woody side of Axham's vale

His pleasant dwelling stands. In vain shall look

At dawn or eve his tender wife to hail

His glad return, but hopeless to her heart

Press his fair image in her smiling babe.

He fell, as by some murm'ring riv'let's side

The tow'ring poplar, whose broad branches shade

A rural cottage, guardian of its peace,

Sinks crashing, and uptears the flow'ry bank,

Whelm'd by the tempest; the defenceless cot

Howls to the moaning wind: the birds behold

Their nests, their young, in ruin lost: the brook

Rolls o'er the tree whose image long it loved."

[550:A]Douce's Illustrations of Shakspeare, vol. ii. p. 327.

[550:B]Of court-fools, it is observed by Mr. Douce, that "Muckle John, the fool of Charles the First, and the successor of Archee Armstrong, is perhaps the last regular personage of the kind."—Illustrations, vol. ii. p. 308.We also find an epitaph by Dean Swift, on Dicky Pierce, the Earl of Suffolk's fool, who was buried in Berkeley church-yard, June 18. 1728, in the same ingenious essay. Vide Dissertation on the Clowns and Fools of Shakspeare,—Illustrations, vol. ii. p. 309.

We also find an epitaph by Dean Swift, on Dicky Pierce, the Earl of Suffolk's fool, who was buried in Berkeley church-yard, June 18. 1728, in the same ingenious essay. Vide Dissertation on the Clowns and Fools of Shakspeare,—Illustrations, vol. ii. p. 309.

[554:A]Essay on the Dramatic Character of Falstaff, pp. 69, 70, 71. and 64, 65.

[554:B]In hisBlättern von deutscher Art und Kunst.

[554:C]In hisWilhelm Meister.

[554:D]Poetisches Journal, 1800.

[554:E]For just and discriminative characters of Schlegel and his writings, see the Germany of Madame De Stael, and the Monthly and Edinburgh Reviews.

[555:A]In the year 1795. Printed and sold by Bioren and Madan.—Vide Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ii. p. 149.

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