_Shakspeare and the Bible._--Has it ever been noticed that the following
passage from the Second Part of _Henry IV._, Act I. Sc. 3., is taken from
the fourteenth chapter of St. Luke's Gospel?
"What do we then, but draw anew the model
In fewer offices; or, at least, desist
To build at all? Much more, in this great work,
(Which is almost to pluck a kingdom down,
And set another up) should we survey
The plot, the situation, and the model;
Consult upon a sure foundation,
Question surveyors, know our own estate,
How able such a work to undergo.
A careful leader sums what force he brings
To weigh against his opposite; or else
We fortify on paper, and in figures,
Using the names of men, instead of men:
Like one that draws the model of a house
Beyond his power to build it."
The passage in St. Luke is as follows (xiv. 28-31.):
"For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first,
and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?
"Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to
finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him,
"Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.
"Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down
first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him
that cometh against him with twenty thousand?"
I give the passage as altered by Mr. Collier's Emendator, because I think
the line added by him,
"A careful leader sums what force he brings,"
is strongly corroborated by the Scripture text.