Nullum fine Venia placuit Ingenium, fays Seneca. The Genius, that gives us the greatest Pleasure, fometimes ftands in Need of our Indulgence. Whenever this happens with regard to Shakespear I would willingly impute it to a Vice of his Times. We fee Complaifance enough, in our Days, paid to a bad Tafte. So that his Clinches, falfe Wit, and defcending beneath himself, may have proceeded from a Deference paid to the then reigning Barbarifm.

I have not thought it out of my Province, whenever Occafion offered, to take notice of fome of our Poet's grand Touches of Nature: Some, that do not appear fuperficially fuch; but in which he feems the most deeply inftructed; and to which, no doubt, he has fo much ow'd that happy Prefervation of his Characters, for which he is justly celebrated. Great Genius's, like his, naturally unambitious, are fatisfy'd to conceal their Art in these Points. 'Tis the Foible of your worfer Poets to make a Parade and Oftentation of that little Science they have; and to throw it out in the most ambitious Colours. And whenever a Writer of this Clafs fhall attempt to copy thefe artful Concealments of our Author, and fhall either think them eafy, or practised by a Writer for his Eafe, he will foon be convinced of his Miftake by the Difficulty of reaching the Imitation of them.

Speret idem, fudet multùm, fruftráque laboret,
Aufus id:m:

Indeed, to point out, and exclaim upon, all the Beauties of Shakespear, as they come fingly in Review, would be as infipid, as endlefs; as tedious, as unneceffary: But the Explanation of thofe Beauties, that are lefs obvious to common Readers, and whofe Illuftration depends on the Rules of juft Criticifm, and an exact knowledge of human Life, fhould defervedly have a Share in a general Critic upon the VOL. I. Author.

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Author. But, to pass over at once to another Subject:

It has been allow'd on all hands, how far our Author was indebted to Nature; it is not fo well agreed, how much he ow'd to Languages and acquir'd Learning. The Decifions on this Subject were certainly fet on Foot by the Hint from Ben Johnson, that he had fmall Latin and lefs Greek: And from this Tradition, as it were, Mr. Rowe has thought fit peremptorily to declare, that, "It is without Controverfy, he had no "Knowledge of the Writings of the ancient Poets,

for that in his Works we find no Traces of any "thing which looks like an imitation of the Ancients. "For the Delicacy of his Tafte (continues He,) and "the natural Bent of his own great Cenius, (equal, "if not fuperior, to fome of the Beft of theirs ;) "would certainly have led him to read and study them "with fo much Pleasure, that fome of their fine "Images would naturally have infinuated themfelves in"to, and been mix'd with his own Writings: and fo his "not copying, at leaft, fomething from them, may "be an Argument of his never having read them." I fhall leave it to the Determination of my Learned Readers, from the numerous Paffages, which I have occafionally quoted in my Notes, in which our Poet feems clofely to have imitated the Claffics, whether Mr. Rowe's Affertion be fo abfolutely to be depended on. The Refult of the Controverfy muft certainly, either way, terminate to our Author's Honour: how happily he could imitate them, if that Point be allowed; or how gloriously he could think like them, without owing any thing to Imitation.

Tho' I fhould be very unwilling to allow ShakeSpear fo poor a Scholar, as Many have labour'd to reprefent him, yet I fhall be very cautious of declaring too pofitively on the other fide of the Question: that is, with regard to my Opinion of his Knowledge in the dead languages. And therefore the Paffages, that

I occafionally quote from the Claffics, fhall not be urged as Proofs that he knowingly imitated thofe Originals; but brought to fhew how happily he has exprefs'd himself upon the fame Topicks. A very learned Critick of our own Nation has declar'd, that a Sameness of Thought and Sameness of Expreffion too, in Two Writers of a different Age, can hardly happen, without a violent Sufpicion of the latter copying from his Predeceffor. I fhall not therefore run any great Rifque of a Cenfure, tho' I fhould venture to hint, that the Refemblances in Thought and Expreffion, of our Author and an Ancient (which we fhould allow to be Imitation in the One, whofe Learning was not queftion'd) may fometimes take its Rife from Strength of Memory, and thofe Impreffions which he owed to the School. And if we may allow a Poffibility of This, confidering that, when he quitted the School he gave into his Father's Profeffion and way of Living, and had, 'tis likely, but a flender Library of Claffical Learning; and confidering what a Number of Tranflations, Romances, and Legends, ftarted about his Time, and a little before; (moft of which, 'tis very evident, he read;) I think, it may eafily be reconciled why he rather schemed his Plots and Characters from these more latter Informations, than went back to those Fountains, for which he might entertain a fincere Veneration, but to which he could not have fo ready a Recourse.,

In touching on another Part of his Learning, as it related to the Knowledge of Hiftory, and Books, I fhall advance something, that, at first fight, will very much wear the Appearance of a Paradox. For I fhall find it no hard Matter to prove, that, from the groffeft Blunders in Hiftory, we are not to infer his real Ignorance of it: Nor from a greater Ufe of Latin Words, than ever any other English Author ufed, muft we infer his intimate Acquaintance with that Language.

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A Reader of Tafte may easily obferve, that tho Shakespear, almoft in every Scene of his hiftorical Plays, commits the groffeft Offences against Chronology, Hiftory, and Ancient Politicks; yet This was not thro' Ignorance, as is generally fuppofed, but thro' the too powerful Blaze of his Imagination; which, when once raised, made all acquired Knowledge vanish and disappear before it. But this Licence in him, as I have faid, muft not be imputed to Ignorance : fince as often we may find him, when Occasion serves, reafoning up to the Truth of Hiftory; and throwing out Sentiments as juftly adapted to the Circumftances of his Subject, as to the Dignity of his Characters, or Dictates of Nature in general.

Then to come to his Knowledge of the Latin Tongue, 'tis certain, there is a furprifing Effufion of Latin Words made English, far more than in any one Englifh Author I have seen; but we must be cautious to imagine, this was of his own doing. For the English Tongue, in his Age, began extremely to fuffer by an inundation of Latin: And this, to be fure, was occafion'd by the Pedantry of those two Monarchs, Elizabeth and James, Both great Latinifts. For it is not to be wonder'd at, if both the Court and Schools, equal Flatterers of Power, fhould adapt themselves to the Royal Tafte.

But now I am touching on the Queftion, (which has been fo frequently agitated, yet fo entirely undecided) of his Learning and Acquaintance with the Languages; an additional Word or two naturally falls in here upon the Genius of our Author, as compared with that of fobnfon his Contemporary. They are confeffedly the greatest Writers our Nation could ever boaft of in the Drama. The firft, we fay, owed all to his prodigious natural Genius; and the other a great deal to his Art and Learning. This, if attended to, will explain a very remarkable Appearance in their Writings. Befides thofe wonderful Masterpieces of

Art and Genius, which each has given us; They are the Authors of other Works very unworthy of them: But with this Difference; that in Johnson's bad Pieces we don't discover one fingle Trace of the Author of the Fox and Alchymift: but in the wild extravagant Notes of Shakespear, you every now and then encounter Strains that recognize the divine Compofer. This Difference may be thus accounted for. Johnfon, as we faid before, owing all his Excellence to his Art, by which he fometimes ftrain'd himfelf to an uncommon Pitch, when at other times he unbent and play'd with his Subject, having nothing then to fupport him, it is no wonder he wrote fo far beneath himself. But Shakespear, indebted more largely to Nature, than the Other to acquired Talents, in his moft negligent Hours could never so totally diveft himself of his Genius, but that it would frequently break out with aftonishing Force and Splendor.

As I have never propos'd to dilate farther on the Character of my Author, than was neceffary to explain the Nature and Ufe of this Edition, I fhall proceed to confider him as a Genius in Poffeffion of an everlasting Name. And how great that Merit must be, which could gain it again't all the Disadvantages of the horrid Condition in which he has hitherto appear'd! Had Homer, or any other admir'd Author, first started into Publick fo maim'd and deform'd, we cannot determine whether they had not funk for ever under the Ignominy of fuch an ill Appearance. The mangled Condition of Shakespear has been acknowledg'd by Mr. Rowe, who publifh'd him indeed, but neither corrected his Text, nor collated the old Copies. This Gentleman had Abilities, and fufficient Knowledge of his Author, had but his Induftry been equal to his Talents. The fame mangled Condition has been acknowledg'd too by Mr. Pope, who publifh'd him likewife, pretended to have collated the old Copies, and yet feldom has corrected the Text but to its In

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jury.