It is not my design to enter into a Criticism upon this Author; tho’ to do
it effectually and not superficially would be the best occasion that any
just Writer could take, to form the judgment and taste of our nation. For
of all _English_ Poets _Shakespear_ must be confessed to be the fairest
and fullest subject for Criticism, and to afford the most numerous as well
as most conspicuous instances, both of Beauties and Faults of all sorts.
But this far exceeds the bounds of a Preface, the business of which is
only to give an account of the fate of his Works, and the disadvantages
under which they have been transmitted to us. We shall hereby extenuate
many faults which are his, and clear him from the imputation of many which
are not: A design, which, tho’ it can be no guide to future Criticks to do
him justice in one way, will at least be sufficient to prevent their doing
him an injustice in the other.
I cannot however but mention some of his principal and characteristic
Excellencies, for which (notwithstanding his defects) he is justly and
universally elevated above all other Dramatic Writers. Not that this is
the proper place of praising him, but because I would not omit any
occasion of doing it.
If ever any Author deserved the name of an _Original_, it was
_Shakespear_. _Homer_ himself drew not his art so immediately from the
fountains of Nature; it proceeded thro’ _Ægyptian_ strainers and channels,
and came to him not without some tincture of the learning, or some cast of
the models, of those before him. The Poetry of _Shakespear_ was
Inspiration indeed: he is not so much an Imitator, as an Instrument, of
Nature; and ’tis not so just to say that he speaks from her, as that she
speaks thro’ him.
His _Characters_ are so much Nature her self, that ’tis a sort of injury
to call them by so distant a name as Copies of her. Those of other Poets
have a constant resemblance, which shews that they receiv’d them from one
another, and were but multiplyers of the same image: each picture, like a
mock-rainbow, is but the reflexion of a reflexion. But every single
character in _Shakespear_ is as much an Individual as those in Life
itself; it is as impossible to find any two alike; and such as from their
relation or affinity in any respect appear most to be Twins, will upon
comparison be found remarkably distinct. To this life and variety of
Character, we must add the wonderful Preservation of it; which is such
throughout his plays, that had all the Speeches been printed without the
very names of the Persons, I believe one might have apply’d them with
certainty to every speaker.
The _Power_ over our _Passions_ was never possess’d in a more eminent
degree, or display’d in so different instances. Yet all along, there is
seen no labour, no pains to raise them; no preparation to guide our guess
to the effect, or be perceiv’d to lead toward it: But the heart swells,
and the tears burst out, just at the proper places: We are surpriz’d, the
moment we weep; and yet upon reflection find the passion so just, that we
shou’d be surpriz’d if we had not wept, and wept at that very moment.
How astonishing is it again, that the passions directly opposite to these,
Laughter and Spleen, are no less at his command! that he is not more a
master of the _Great_, than of the _Ridiculous_ in human nature; of our
noblest tendernesses, than of our vainest foibles; of our strongest
emotions, than of our idlest sensations!
Nor does he only excel in the Passions: In the coolness of Reflection and
Reasoning he is full as admirable. His _Sentiments_ are not only in
general the most pertinent and judicious upon every subject; but by a
talent very peculiar, something between Penetration and Felicity, he hits
upon that particular point on which the bent of each argument turns, or
the force of each motive depends. This is perfectly amazing, from a man of
no education or experience in those great and publick scenes of life which
are usually the subject of his thoughts: So that he seems to have known
the world by Intuition, to have look’d thro’ humane nature at one glance,
and to be the only Author that gives ground for a very new opinion, That
the Philosopher, and even the Man of the world, may be _Born_, as well as
the Poet.
It must be own’d that with all these great excellencies he has almost as
great defects; and that as he has certainly written better, so he has
perhaps written worse, than any other. But I think I can in some measure
account for these defects, from several causes and accidents; without
which it is hard to imagine that so large and so enlighten’d a mind could
ever have been susceptible of them. That all these Contingencies should
unite to his disadvantage seems to me almost as singularly unlucky, as
that so many various (nay contrary) Talents should meet in one man, was
happy and extraordinary.
It must be allowed that Stage-Poetry of all other is more particularly
levell’d to please the _Populace_, and its success more immediately
depending upon the _Common Suffrage_. One cannot therefore wonder, if
_Shakespear_, having at his first appearance no other aim in his writings
than to procure a subsistance, directed his endeavours solely to hit the
taste and humour that then prevailed. The Audience was generally composed
of the meaner sort of people; and therefore the Images of Life were to be
drawn from those of their own rank: accordingly we find that not our
Author’s only but almost all the old Comedies have their Scene among
_Tradesmen_ and _Mechanicks_: And even their Historical Plays strictly
follow the common _Old Stories_ or _Vulgar Traditions_ of that kind of
people. In Tragedy, nothing was so sure to _Surprize_ and cause
_Admiration_, as the most strange, unexpected, and consequently most
unnatural, Events and Incidents; the most exaggerated Thoughts; the most
verbose and bombast Expression; the most pompous Rhymes, and thundering
Versification. In Comedy, nothing was so sure to _please_, as mean
buffoonry, vile ribaldry, and unmannerly jests of fools and clowns. Yet
even in these our Author’s Wit buoys up, and is born above his subject:
his Genius in those low parts is like some Prince of a Romance in the
disguise of a Shepherd or Peasant; a certain Greatness and Spirit now and
then break out, which manifest his higher extraction and qualities.
It may be added, that not only the common Audience had no notion of the
rules of writing, but few even of the better sort piqu’d themselves upon
any great degree of knowledge or nicety that way, till _Ben Johnson_
getting possession of the Stage brought critical learning into vogue: And
that this was not done without difficulty, may appear from those frequent
lessons (and indeed almost Declamations) which he was forced to prefix to
his first plays, and put into the mouth of his Actors, the _Grex_,
_Chorus_, &c. to remove the prejudices, and inform the judgment of his
hearers. Till then, our Authors had no thoughts of writing on the model of
the Ancients: their Tragedies were only Histories in Dialogue; and their
Comedies follow’d the thread of any Novel as they found it, no less
implicitly than if it had been true History.
To judge therefore of _Shakespear_ by _Aristotle_’s rules, is like trying
a man by the Laws of one Country, who acted under those of another. He
writ to the _People_; and writ at first without patronage from the better
sort, and therefore without aims of pleasing them: without assistance or
advice from the Learned, as without the advantage of education or
acquaintance among them: without that knowledge of the best models, the
Ancients, to inspire him with an emulation of them; in a word, without any
views of Reputation, and of what Poets are pleas’d to call Immortality:
Some or all of which have encourag’d the vanity, or animated the ambition,
of other writers.
Yet it must be observ’d, that when his performances had merited the
protection of his Prince, and when the encouragement of the Court had
succeeded to that of the Town, the works of his riper years are manifestly
raised above those of his former. The Dates of his plays sufficiently
evidence that his productions improved, in proportion to the respect he
had for his auditors. And I make no doubt this observation will be found
true in every instance, were but Editions extant from which we might learn
the exact time when every piece was composed, and whether writ for the
Town or the Court.
Another Cause (and no less strong than the former) may be deduced from our
Author’s being a _Player_, and forming himself first upon the judgments of
that body of men whereof he was a member. They have ever had a Standard to
themselves, upon other principles than those of _Aristotle_. As they live
by the Majority, they know no rule but that of pleasing the present
humour, and complying with the wit in fashion; a consideration which
brings all their judgment to a short point. Players are just such judges
of what is _right_, as Taylors are of what is _graceful_. And in this view
it will be but fair to allow, that most of our Author’s faults are less to
be ascribed to his wrong judgment as a Poet, than to his right judgment as
a Player.
By these men it was thought a praise to _Shakespear_, that he scarce ever
_blotted a line_. This they industriously propagated, as appears from what
we are told by _Ben Johnson_ in his _Discoveries_, and from the preface of
_Heminges_ and _Condell_ to the first folio Edition. But in reality
(however it has prevailed) there never was a more groundless report, or to
the contrary of which there are more undeniable evidences: As, the Comedy
of the _Merry Wives_ of _Windsor_, which he entirely new writ; the
_History of_ Henry _the 6th_, which was first published under the Title of
the _Contention of_ York _and_ Lancaster; and that of Henry _the 5th_,
extreamly improved; that of _Hamlet_ enlarged to almost as much again as
at first, and many others. I believe the common opinion of his want of
Learning proceeded from no better ground. This too might be thought a
Praise by some; and to this his Errors have as injudiciously been ascribed
by others. For ’tis certain, were it true, it would concern but a small
part of them; the most are such as are not properly Defects, but
Superfœtations: and arise not from want of learning or reading, but from
want of thinking or judging: or rather (to be more just to our Author)
from a compliance to those wants in others. As to a wrong choice of the
subject, a wrong conduct of the incidents, false thoughts, forc’d
expressions, &c. if these are not to be ascrib’d to the foresaid
accidental reasons, they must be charg’d upon the Poet himself, and there
is no help for it. But I think the two Disadvantages which I have
mentioned (to be obliged to please the lowest of the people, and to keep
the worst of company), if the consideration be extended as far as it
reasonably may, will appear sufficient to mis-lead and depress the
greatest Genius upon earth. Nay the more modesty with which such a one is
endued, the more he is in danger of submitting and conforming to others,
against his own better judgment.
But as to his _Want of Learning_, it may be necessary to say something
more: There is certainly a vast difference between _Learning_ and
_Languages_. How far he was ignorant of the latter, I cannot determine;
but ’tis plain he had much Reading at least, if they will not call it
Learning. Nor is it any great matter, if a man has Knowledge, whether he
has it from one language or from another. Nothing is more evident than
that he had a taste of natural Philosophy, Mechanicks, ancient and modern
History, Poetical learning, and Mythology: We find him very knowing in the
customs, rites, and manners of Antiquity. In _Coriolanus_ and _Julius
Cæsar_, not only the Spirit, but Manners, of the _Romans_ are exactly
drawn; and still a nicer distinction is shewn, between the manners of the
_Romans_ in the time of the former and of the latter. His reading in the
ancient Historians is no less conspicuous, in many references to
particular passages: and the speeches copy’d from _Plutarch_ in
_Coriolanus_ may, I think, as well be made an instance of his learning, as
those copy’d from _Cicero_ in _Catiline_, of _Ben Johnson_’s. The manners
of other nations in general, the _Egyptians_, _Venetians_, _French_, &c.,
are drawn with equal propriety. Whatever object of nature, or branch of
science, he either speaks of or describes, it is always with competent, if
not extensive knowledge: his descriptions are still exact; all his
metaphors appropriated, and remarkably drawn from the true nature and
inherent qualities of each subject. When he treats of Ethic or Politic, we
may constantly observe a wonderful justness of distinction, as well as
extent of comprehension. No one is more a master of the Poetical story, or
has more frequent allusions to the various parts of it: Mr. _Waller_ (who
has been celebrated for this last particular) has not shown more learning
this way than _Shakespear_. We have Translations from _Ovid_ published in
his name, among those Poems which pass for his, and for some of which we
have undoubted authority (being published by himself, and dedicated to his
noble Patron the Earl of _Southampton_). He appears also to have been
conversant in _Plautus_, from whom he has taken the plot of one of his
plays: he follows the _Greek_ Authors, and particularly _Dares Phrygius_,
in another (altho’ I will not pretend to say in what language he read
them). The modern _Italian_ writers of Novels he was manifestly acquainted
with; and we may conclude him to be no less conversant with the Ancients
of his own country, from the use he has made of _Chaucer_ in _Troilus_ and
_Cressida_, and in the _Two Noble Kinsmen_, if that Play be his, as there
goes a Tradition it was (and indeed it has little resemblance of
_Fletcher_, and more of our Author than some of those which have been
received as genuine).
I am inclined to think, this opinion proceeded originally from the zeal of
the Partizans of our Author and _Ben Johnson_; as they endeavoured to
exalt the one at the expence of the other. It is ever the nature of
Parties to be in extremes; and nothing is so probable, as that because
_Ben Johnson_ had much the more learning, it was said on the one hand that
_Shakespear_ had none at all; and because _Shakespear_ had much the most
wit and fancy, it was retorted on the other, that _Johnson_ wanted both.
Because _Shakespear_ borrowed nothing, it was said that _Ben Johnson_
borrowed every thing. Because _Johnson_ did not write extempore, he was
reproached with being a year about every piece; and because _Shakespear_
wrote with ease and rapidity, they cryed, he never once made a blot. Nay
the spirit of opposition ran so high, that whatever those of the one side
objected to the other, was taken at the rebound, and turned into Praises;
as injudiciously as their antagonists before had made them Objections.
Poets are always afraid of Envy; but sure they have as much reason to be
afraid of Admiration. They are the _Scylla_ and _Charybdis_ of Authors;
those who escape one, often fall by the other. _Pessimum genus inimicorum
Laudantes_, says _Tacitus_: and _Virgil_ desires to wear a charm against
those who praise a Poet without rule or reason.
——Si ultra placitum laudarit, baccare frontem
Cingito, ne Vati noceat——.
But however this contention might be carried on by the Partizans on either
side, I cannot help thinking these two great Poets were good friends, and
lived on amicable terms and in offices of society with each other. It is
an acknowledged fact, that _Ben Johnson_ was introduced upon the Stage,
and his first works encouraged, by _Shakespear_. And after his death, that
Author writes _To the memory of __ his beloved Mr._ William Shakespear,
which shows as if the friendship had continued thro’ life. I cannot for my
own part find any thing _Invidious_ or _Sparing_ in those verses, but
wonder Mr. _Dryden_ was of that opinion. He exalts him not only above all
his Contemporaries, but above _Chaucer_ and _Spenser_, whom he will not
allow to be great enough to be rank’d with him; and challenges the names
of _Sophocles_, _Euripides_, and _Æschylus_, nay all _Greece_ and _Rome_
at once, to equal him: And (which is very particular) expressly vindicates
him from the imputation of wanting _Art_, not enduring that all his
excellencies shou’d be attributed to _Nature_. It is remarkable too, that
the praise he gives him in his _Discoveries_ seems to proceed from a
_personal kindness_; he tells us that he lov’d the man, as well as
honoured his memory; celebrates the honesty, openness, and frankness of
his temper; and only distinguishes, as he reasonably ought, between the
real merit of the Author, and the silly and derogatory applauses of the
Players. _Ben Johnson_ might indeed be sparing in his Commendations (tho’
certainly he is not so in this instance) partly from his own nature, and
partly from judgment. For men of judgment think they do any man more
service in praising him justly, than lavishly. I say, I would fain believe
they were Friends, tho’ the violence and ill-breeding of their Followers
and Flatterers were enough to give rise to the contrary report. I would
hope that it may be with _Parties_, both in Wit and State, as with those
Monsters described by the Poets; and that their _Heads_ at least may have
something humane, tho’ their _Bodies_ and _Tails_ are wild beasts and
serpents.
As I believe that what I have mentioned gave rise to the opinion of
_Shakespear_’s want of learning; so what has continued it down to us may
have been the many blunders and illiteracies of the first Publishers of
his works. In these Editions their ignorance shines almost in every page;
nothing is more common than _Actus tertia_, _Exit Omnes_, _Enter three
Witches solus_. Their French is as bad as their _Latin_, both in
construction and spelling: Their very _Welsh_ is false. Nothing is more
likely than that those palpable blunders of _Hector_’s quoting
_Aristotle_, with others of that gross kind, sprung from the same root: It
not being at all credible that these could be the errors of any man who
had the least tincture of a School, or the least conversation with such as
had. _Ben Johnson_ (whom they will not think partial to him) allows him at
least to have had _some Latin_; which is utterly inconsistent with
mistakes like these. Nay the constant blunders in proper names of persons
and places, are such as must have proceeded from a man who had not so much
as read any history, in any language: so could not be _Shakespear_’s.
I shall now lay before the reader some of those almost innumerable Errors
which have risen from one source, the ignorance of the Players, both as
his actors, and as his editors. When the nature and kinds of these are
enumerated and considered, I dare to say that not _Shakespear_ only, but
_Aristotle_ or _Cicero_, had their works undergone the same fate, might
have appear’d to want sense as well as learning.
It is not certain that any one of his Plays was published by himself.
During the time of his employment in the Theatre, several of his pieces
were printed separately in Quarto. What makes me think that most of these
were not publish’d by him, is the excessive carelessness of the press:
every page is so scandalously false spelled, and almost all the learned
and unusual words so intolerably mangled, that it’s plain there either was
no Correcter to the press at all, or one totally illiterate. If any were
supervised by himself, I should fancy the two parts of _Henry the 4th_ and
_Midsummer-Night’s Dream_ might have been so: because I find no other
printed with any exactness; and (contrary to the rest) there is very
little variation in all the subsequent editions of them. There are extant
two Prefaces, to the first quarto edition of _Troilus_ and _Cressida_ in
1609, and to that of _Othello_; by which it appears, that the first was
publish’d without his knowledge or consent, and even before it was acted,
so late as seven or eight years before he died: and that the latter was
not printed till after his death. The whole number of genuine plays which
we have been able to find printed in his life-time, amounts but to eleven.
And of some of these, we meet with two or more editions by different
printers, each of which has whole heaps of trash different from the other:
which I should fancy was occasion’d by their being taken from different
copies, belonging to different Playhouses.
The folio edition (in which all the plays we now receive as his were first
collected) was published by two Players, _Heming_ and _Condell_, in 1623,
seven years after his decease. They declare that all the other editions
were stolen and surreptitious, and affirm theirs to be purged from the
errors of the former. This is true as to the literal errors, and no other;
for in all respects else it is far worse than the Quarto’s:
First, because the additions of trifling and bombast passages are in this
edition far more numerous. For whatever had been added, since those
Quarto’s, by the actors, or had stolen from their mouths into the written
parts, were from thence conveyed into the printed text, and all stand
charged upon the Author. He himself complained of this usage in _Hamlet_,
where he wishes that _those who play the Clowns wou’d speak no more than
is set down for them_ (Act 3. Sc. 4.). But as a proof that he could not
escape it, in the old editions of _Romeo_ and _Juliet_ there is no hint of
a great number of the mean conceits and ribaldries now to be found there.
In others, the low scenes of Mobs, Plebeians, and Clowns, are vastly
shorter than at present: And I have seen one in particular (which seems to
have belonged to the Playhouse, by having the parts divided with lines,
and the Actors names in the margin) where several of those very passages
were added in a written hand, which are since to be found in the folio.
In the next place, a number of beautiful passages which are extant in the
first single editions, are omitted in this: as it seems, without any other
reason than their willingness to shorten some scenes: These men (as it was
said of _Procrustes_) either lopping or stretching an Author, to make him
just fit for their Stage.
This edition is said to be printed from the _Original Copies_; I believe
they meant those which had lain ever since the Author’s days in the
playhouse, and had from time to time been cut, or added to, arbitrarily.
It appears that this edition, as well as the Quarto’s, was printed (at
least partly) from no better copies than the _Prompter’s Book_ or
_Piece-meal Parts_ written out for the use of the actors: For in some
places their very(38) names are thro’ carelessness set down instead of the
_Personæ Dramatis_: And in others the notes of direction to the
_Property-men_ for their _Moveables_, and to the _Players_ for their
_Entries_,(39) are inserted into the Text, thro’ the ignorance of the
Transcribers.
The Plays not having been before so much as distinguish’d by _Acts_ and
_Scenes_, they are in this edition divided according as they play’d them;
often when there is no pause in the action, or where they thought fit to
make a breach in it, for the sake of Musick, Masques, or Monsters.
Sometimes the scenes are transposed and shuffled backward and forward; a
thing which could no otherwise happen, but by their being taken from
separate and piece-meal-written parts.
Many verses are omitted intirely, and others transposed; from whence
invincible obscurities have arisen, past the guess of any Commentator to
clear up, but just where the accidental glympse of an old edition
enlightens us.
Some Characters were confounded and mix’d, or two put into one, for want
of a competent number of actors. Thus in the Quarto edition of
_Midsummer-Night’s Dream_, Act 5, _Shakespear_ introduces a kind of Master
of the Revels called _Philostratus_: all whose part is given to another
character (that of _Ægeus_) in the subsequent editions: So also in
_Hamlet_ and _King Lear_. This too makes it probable that the Prompter’s
Books were what they call’d the Original Copies.
From liberties of this kind, many speeches also were put into the mouths
of wrong persons, where the Author now seems chargeable with making them
speak out of character: Or sometimes perhaps for no better reason than
that a governing Player, to have the mouthing of some favourite speech
himself, would snatch it from the unworthy lips of an Underling.
Prose from verse they did not know, and they accordingly printed one for
the other throughout the volume.
Having been forced to say so much of the Players, I think I ought in
justice to remark, that the Judgment, as well as Condition, of that class
of people was then far inferior to what it is in our days. As then the
best Playhouses were Inns and Taverns (the _Globe_, the _Hope_, the _Red
Bull_, the _Fortune_, &c.), so the top of the profession were then meer
Players, not Gentlemen of the stage: They were led into the Buttery by the
Steward, not plac’d at the Lord’s table, or Lady’s toilette: and
consequently were intirely depriv’d of those advantages they now enjoy, in
the familiar conversation of our Nobility, and an intimacy (not to say
dearness) with people of the first condition.
From what has been said, there can be no question but had _Shakespear_
published his works himself (especially in his latter time, and after his
retreat from the stage) we should not only be certain which are genuine;
but should find in those that are, the errors lessened by some thousands.
If I may judge from all the distinguishing marks of his style, and his
manner of thinking and writing, I make no doubt to declare that those
wretched plays, _Pericles_, _Locrine_, _Sir John Oldcastle_, _Yorkshire
Tragedy_, _Lord Cromwell_, _The Puritan_, and _London Prodigal_, cannot be
admitted as his. And I should conjecture of some of the others
(particularly _Love’s Labour’s Lost_, _The Winter’s Tale_, and _Titus
Andronicus_), that only some characters, single scenes, or perhaps a few
particular passages, were of his hand. It is very probable what occasion’d
some Plays to be supposed _Shakespear_’s was only this; that they were
pieces produced by unknown authors, or fitted up for the Theatre while it
was under his administration: and no owner claiming them, they were
adjudged to him, as they give Strays to the Lord of the Manor: A mistake
which (one may also observe) it was not for the interest of the House to
remove. Yet the Players themselves, _Hemings_ and _Condell_, afterwards
did _Shakespear_ the justice to reject those eight plays in their edition;
tho’ they were then printed in his name, in every body’s hands, and acted
with some applause (as we learn from what _Ben Johnson_ says of _Pericles_
in his Ode on the _New Inn_). That _Titus Andronicus_ is one of this class
I am the rather induced to believe, by finding the same Author openly
express his contempt of it in the _Induction_ to _Bartholomew-Fair_, in
the year 1614, when _Shakespear_ was yet living. And there is no better
authority for these latter sort, than for the former, which were equally
published in his lifetime.
If we give into this opinion, how many low and vicious parts and passages
might no longer reflect upon this great Genius, but appear unworthily
charged upon him? And even in those which are really his, how many faults
may have been unjustly laid to his account from arbitrary Additions,
Expunctions, Transpositions of scenes and lines, confusion of Characters
and Persons, wrong application of Speeches, corruptions of innumerable
Passages by the Ignorance, and wrong Corrections of ’em again by the
Impertinence, of his first Editors? From one or other of these
considerations, I am verily perswaded, that the greatest and the grossest
part of what are thought his errors would vanish, and leave his character
in a light very different from that disadvantageous one, in which it now
appears to us.
This is the state in which _Shakespear_’s, writings lye at present; for
since the above-mentioned Folio Edition, all the rest have implicitly
followed it, without having recourse to any of the former, or ever making
the comparison between them. It is impossible to repair the Injuries
already done him; too much time has elaps’d, and the materials are too
few. In what I have done I have rather given a proof of my willingness and
desire, than of my ability, to do him justice. I have discharg’d the dull
duty of an Editor to my best judgment, with more labour than I expect
thanks, with a religious abhorrence of all Innovation, and without any
indulgence to my private sense or conjecture. The method taken in this
Edition will show it self. The various Readings are fairly put in the
margin, so that every one may compare ’em; and those I have prefer’d into
the Text are constantly _ex fide Codicum_, upon authority. The Alterations
or Additions which _Shakespear_ himself made, are taken notice of as they
occur. Some suspected passages which are excessively bad (and which seem
Interpolations by being so inserted that one can intirely omit them
without any chasm or deficience in the context) are degraded to the bottom
of the page; with an Asterisk referring to the places of their insertion.
The Scenes are mark’d so distinctly that every removal of place is
specify’d; which is more necessary in this Author than any other, since he
shifts them more frequently: and sometimes, without attending to this
particular, the reader would have met with obscurities. The more obsolete
or unusual words are explained. Some of the most shining passages are
distinguish’d by comma’s in the margin; and where the beauty lay not in
particulars but in the whole, a star is prefix’d to the scene. This seems
to me a shorter and less ostentatious method of performing the better half
of Criticism (namely the pointing out an Author’s excellencies) than to
fill a whole paper with citations of fine passages, with _general
Applauses_, or _empty Exclamations_ at the tail of them. There is also
subjoin’d a Catalogue of those first Editions by which the greater part of
the various readings and of the corrected passages are authorised (most of
which are such as carry their own evidence along with them). These
Editions now hold the place of Originals, and are the only materials left
to repair the deficiences or restore the corrupted sense of the Author: I
can only wish that a greater number of them (if a greater were ever
published) may yet be found, by a search more successful than mine, for
the better accomplishment of this end.
I will conclude by saying of _Shakespear_, that with all his faults, and
with all the irregularity of his _Drama_, one may look upon his works, in
comparison of those that are more finish’d and regular, as upon an ancient
majestick piece of _Gothick_ Architecture, compar’d with a neat Modern
building: The latter is more elegant and glaring, but the former is more
strong and more solemn. It must be allow’d that in one of these there are
materials enough to make many of the other. It has much the greater
variety, and much the nobler apartments; tho’ we are often conducted to
them by dark, odd, and uncouth passages. Nor does the Whole fail to strike
us with greater reverence, tho’ many of the Parts are childish,
ill-plac’d, and unequal to its grandeur.