Puslapio vaizdai
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they were the most vigorous, and had the most fire and strength of Imagination in 'em, were the beft. I would not be thought by this to mean, that his Fancy was fo loose and extravagant, as to be Independent on the Rule and Government of Judgment; but that what he thought, was commonly fo Great, so justly and rightly Conceiv'd in it self, that it wanted little or no Correction, and was immediately approv'd by an impartial Judgment at the first fight. Mr. Dryden feems to think that Pericles is one of his firft Plays; but there is no judgment to be form'd on that, fince there is good Reafon to believe that the greatest part of that Play was not written by him; tho' it is own'd, fome part of it certainly was, particularly the last A&t. But tho' the order of Time in which the feveral Pieces were written be generally uncertain, yet there are Paffages in fome few of them which feem to fix their Dates. So the Chorus in the beginning of the fifth Act of Henry V. by a Compliment very handfomly turn'd to the Earl of Effex, fhews the Play to have been written when that Lord was General for the Queen in Ireland: And his Elogy upon Q. Elizabeth, and her Succeffor K. James, in the latter end of his Henry VIII. is a Proof of that Play's being written after the Acceffion,

of the latter of those two Princes to the Crown of England. Whatever the particular Times of his Writing were, the People of his Age, who began to grow wonderfully fond of Diverfions of this kind, could not but be highly pleas'd to fee a Genius arife amongst 'em of fo e pleasurable, fo rich a Vein, and fo plentifully capable of furnishing their favourite Entertainments. Besides the advantages of his Wit, he was in himself a good-natur'd Man, of great sweetness in his Manners, and a most agreeable Companion; fo that it is no wonder if with so many good Qualities he made himfelf acquainted with the best Conversations of thofe Times. Queen Elizabeth had several of his Plays Acted before her, and without doubt gave him many gracious Marks of her Favour: It is that Maiden Princess plainly, whom he intends by

Afair Veftal, Throned by the Weft.
Midfummer Night's Dream,
Vol. 2. p. 480.

And that whole Paffage is a Compliment very properly brought in, and very handfomly apply'd to her. She was fo well pleas'd with that admirable Character of Falstaff, in the two Parts of Henry the Fourth, that she com

manded

manded him to continue it for one Play more, and to fhew him in Love. This is faid to be the Occafion of his Writing The Merry Wives of Windfor. How well fhe was obey'd, the Play it felf is an admirable Proof. Upon this Occafion it may not be improper to observe, that this Part of Falstaff is faid to have been written originally under the Name of Oldcastle; fome of that Family being then remaining, the Queen was pleas'd to command him to alter it; upon which he made use of Falstaff The present Offence was indeed avoided; but I don't know whether the Author may not have been fomewhat to blame in his fecond Choice, fince it is certain that Sir John FalStaff, who was a Knight of the Garter, and a Lieutenant-General, was a Name of diftinguish'd Merit in the Wars in France in Henry the Fifth's and Henry the Sixth's Times. What Grace foever the Queen confer'd upon him, it was not to her only he ow'd the Fortune which the Reputation of his Wit made. He had the Honour to meet with many great and uncommon Marks of Favour and Friendship from the Earl of Southampton, famous in the Hiftories of that Time for his Friendship to the unfortunate Earl of Effex. It was to that Noble Lord that he Dedicated his Venus and Adonis,

the

the only Piece of his Poetry which he ever publish'd himself, tho' many of his Plays were furrepticiously and lamely Printed in his Lifetime. There is one Instance so fingular in the Magnificence of this Patron of Shakespear's, that if I had not been affur'd that the Story was handed down by Sir William D'Avenant, who was probably very well acquainted with his Affairs, I should not have ventur'd to have inserted, that my Lord Southampton, at one time, gave him a thousand Pounds, to enable him to go through with a Purchase which he heard he had a mind to. A Bounty very great, and very rare at any time, and almost equal to that profufe Generofity the prefent Age has fhewn to French Dancers and Italian Eunuchs.

What particular Habitude or Friendships he contracted with private Men, I have not been able to learn, more than that every one who had a true Taste of Merit, and could diftinguish Men, had generally a just Value and Esteem for him. His exceeding Candor and good Nature must certainly have inclin❜d all the gentler Part of the World to love him, as the power of his Wit oblig'd the Men of the moft delicate Knowledge and polite Learning to admire him. Amongst these was the incomparable Mr. Edmond Spencer, who speaks

of

of him in his Tears of the Muses, not only with the Praises due to a good Poet, but even lamenting his Absence with the tenderness of a Friend. The Paffage is in Thalia's Complaint for the Decay of Dramatick Poetry, and the Contempt the Stage then lay under, amongst his Miscellaneous Works, p. 147.

And he the Man, whom Nature's felf had made To mock her felf, and Truth to imitate With kindly Counter under mimick Shade, Our pleasant Willy, ah! is dead of late: With whom all Joy and jolly Merriment Is alfo deaded, and in Dolour drent.

Instead thereof, fcoffing Scurrility
And fcorning Folly with Contempt is crept,
Rolling in Rhimes of hameless Ribaudry,
Without Regard or due Decorum kept;
Each idle Wit at will prefumes to make,
And doth the Learned's Task upon him take.

But that fame gentle Spirit, from whofe Pen Large Streams of Honey and fweet Nectar flow, Scorning the Boldness of fuch bafe-born Men, Which dare their Follies forth fo rafhly throw; Doth rather choose to fit in idle Cell, Than fo himself to Mockery to fell.

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