"I pass by the nonsense that the greatest master of the English
language did not heed the distinction between the past and the
present participles, as not worth second thought."
I trust I am not trespassing on courtesy when I express a fear that a
sentence like this exhibits the writer's entire want of acquaintance
with the grammatical system employed by the great poet and the writers
of his age. We must not judge Shakspeare's grammar by Cobbett or Murray,
but by the vernacular language of his own times. It is perfectly well
known that Shakspeare constantly uses the passive for the active
participle, in the same manner that he uses the present tense for the
passive participle, and commits numerous other offences against correct
grammar, judging by the modern standard. If MR. HICKSON will read the
first folio, he will find that the "greatest master of the English
language" uses plural nouns for singular, the plural substantive with
the singular verb, and the singular substantive with the plural verb. In
fact, so numerous are these instances, modern editors have been
continually compelled to alter the original merely in deference to the
ears of modern readers. They have not altered _delighted_ to
_delightful_; but the meaning is beyond a doubt. "Example is better than
precept," and perhaps, if MR. HICKSON will have the kindness to consult
the following passages with attention, he may be inclined to arrive at
the conclusion, it is not so very dark an offence to assert that
Shakspeare did use the passive participle for the active; not in
ignorance, but because it was an ordinary practice in the literary
compositions of his age.
"To your _professed_ bosoms I commit him."
_King Lear_, Act i. Sc. 1. {140}
"I met the youthful lord at Laurence' cell,
And gave him what _becomed_ love I might.
Not stepping o'er the bounds of modesty."
_Romeo and Juliet_, Act iv. Sc. 3.
"Thus ornament is but the _guiled_ shore
To a most dangerous sea."
_Merchant of Venice_, Act iii. Sc. 2.
"Then, in despite of _brooded_ watchful day,
I would into thy bosom pour my thoughts."
_King John_, Act iii. Sc. 3.
"And careful hours, with time's _deformed_ hand,
Have written strange defeatures in my face."
_Comedy of Errors_, Act v. Sc. 1.
In all these passages, as well as in that in _Measure for Measure_, the
simple remark, that the poet employed a common grammatical variation, is
all that is required for a complete explanation.