the poetry of the author's beloved friend and patron, his admired Shakspeare, several of whose best plays had been brought forward anterior to the appearance of the Poetaster.

That which he hath writ

Is with such judgment labor'd and distill'd
Through all the needful uses of our life,
That could a man remember but his lines,
He should not touch on any serious point
But he might breathe his spirit out of him.—
His learning savours not the school-like gloss
That most consists in echoing words and terms,
And soonest wins a man an empty name;
Nor any long or far-fetch'd circumstance;-
But a direct and analytic sum

Of all the worth and first effects of arts:
And for his poesy, 'tis so ramm'd with life,
That it shall gather strength of life with being,
And live hereafter more admir'd than now.

Next to the history of the individual who, by his actions or his writings, has contributed to the moral and intellectual improvement of his species, there is implanted in the human breast a natural desire to be made acquainted with what had been his aspect and his features, and in no instance has this been more powerfully felt than in relation to Shakspeare; yet, from among the numerous efforts which have been made to gratify this inclination as to the person of our bard, there are but two or three which have any pretensions to consideration, and of these the bust at Stratford seems entitled to the

Poetaster, Act. v. Scene 1st.

foremost place. On this interesting relique, which had hitherto not been adequately estimated, there appeared, in the year 1616, some very ingenious observations from the pen of one of the most accomplished antiquaries of the present day. This little brochure, entitled "Remarks on the Monumental Bust of Shakspeare, at Stratford-upon-Avon, by J. Britton, F. S. A.," had the merit of recalling and fixing the attention of the public on certainly a most pleasing and highly authenticated representation of the poet; a representation which has since furnished frequent employment both for the pen of the critic, and the burine of the engraver.

66

The subsequent year produced a work in relation to our dramatist on a very comprehensive scale, as will be immediately perceived from its title, which runs thus: Shakspeare and his Times including the Biography of the Poet; Criticisms on his Genius and Writings; a New Chronology of his Plays; a Disquisition on the Object of his Sonnets, and a History of the Manners, Customs, and Amusements, Superstitions, Poetry, and Elegant Literature of his age. By Nathan Drake, M. D." Two volumes 4to.

As a farther illustration of the plan on which these volumes are constructed, the following extract from the author's preface may prove perhaps acceptable :

Though two centuries," he observes, "have now elapsed since the death of Shakspeare, no attempt has hitherto been made to render him the

medium for a comprehensive and connected view of the times in which he lived.

"Yet, if any man be allowed to fill a station thus conspicuous and important, Shakspeare has undoubtedly the best claim to the distinction; not only from his pre-eminence as a dramatic poet, but from the intimate relation which his works bear to the manners, customs, superstitions, and amusements of his age.

"Struck with the interest which a work of this kind, if properly executed, might possess, the author was induced, several years ago, to commence the undertaking, with the express intention of blending with the detail of manners, &c. such a portion of criticism, biography, and literary history, as should render the whole still more attractive and complete.

"In attempting this, it has been his aim to place Shakspeare in the foreground of the picture, and to throw around him, in groups more or less distinct and full, the various objects of his design; giving them prominency and light, according to their greater or smaller connection with the principal figure.

"More especially has it been his wish to infuse. throughout the whole plan, whether considered in respect to its entire scope, or to the parts of which it is composed, that degree of unity and integrity, of relative proportion and just bearing, without which neither harmony, simplicity, nor effect, can be expected or produced.

"With a view also to distinctness and perspicuity of elucidation, the whole has been distributed into three parts or pictures, entitled,-SHAKSPEARE IN STRATFORD;-SHAKSPEARE IN LONDON ;-SHAKSPEARE IN RETIREMENT ;—which, though inseparably united, as forming but portions of the same story, and harmonized by the same means, have yet, both in subject and execution, a peculiar character to support.

"The first represents our poet in the days of his youth, on the banks of his native Avon, in the midst of rural imagery, occupations, and amusements; in the second, we behold him in the capital of his country, in the centre of rivalry and competition, in the active pursuit of reputation and glory; and in the third, we accompany the venerated bard to the shades of retirement, to the bosom of domestic peace, to the enjoyment of unsullied fame."

Feeling myself precluded from giving any opinion on this production, which could scarcely indeed be divested of partiality, I must beg leave to refer those of my readers, who may wish to ascertain in what manner it has been executed, to the various Reviews mentioned in the note below.** The year 1817 seems to have been fertile in

* Vide Literary Gazette, Nov. 22nd, and Dec. 13th, 1817.— Monthly Magazine, Jan. 1818.-Edinburgh Magazine, Jan. 1818. British Critic, April, 1818.-Gentleman's Magazine, Sept. and Octob. 1818.-Edinburgh Monthly Review, April, 1819.-Monthly Review, August, 1819, &c. &c.

Shakspearian literature; for within a few months after the appearance of the volumes just mentioned, came forth Mr. Hazlit's "Characters of Shakspeare's Plays," one motive for the production of which, he tells us, was "some little jealousy of the character of the national understanding; for we were piqued that it should be reserved for a foreign critic (Schlegel) to give reasons for the faith which we English have in Shakspeare. Certainly no writer among ourselves has shown either the same enthusiastic admiration of his genius, or the same philosophical acuteness in pointing out his characteristic excellencies."

This is just and liberal praise, nor can the spirit of emulation from which he admits his undertaking to have partly originated, be in any degree blamed. The confession, in fact, is only hazardous to himself, for it immediately throws his labours into a field of dangerous comparison. From the free and unreserved manner, indeed, in which Mr. Hazlitt has spoken of his contemporaries, he has been almost necessarily subjected to much harsh censure; but of the work before us, it may, I think, be justly said that it is written with great taste and feeling, and exhibits, for the most part, a judicious, spirited, and correct analysis of the characters of our great bard. Nor will the enthusiastic admiration with which it abounds, though strongly, and sometimes rather quaintly, expressed, be estimated by any poetical mind as out of place; for, as the