QJarttell llniueroitg Sitbrarg 
 
 FROM THE 
 
 BENNO LOEWY LIBRARY 
 
 COLLECTED BY 
 
 BENNO LOEWY 
 
 1854-1919 
 
 BEQUEATHED TO CORNELL UNIVERSITY 
 
Cornell University Library 
 PR 2925.151 
 
 Shakespeare's centurie of prayse; being m 
 
 3 1924 013 152 008 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
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 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
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 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
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Shakespeare's 
 Centurie of Prayse. 
 
Shakespeare's 
 Centurie of Prayse : 
 
 BEING 
 
 Materials for a History of Opinion 
 on Shakespeare and his Works, 
 
 Culled from Writers of the first Century 
 after his Rise. 
 
 Praestanti tibi matures largimur honores, 
 yurandasque tuumper noinen ponimus aras, 
 Nil oriiuriiin alias, nil ortnm tale fatentes. 
 
 Horat. Epist., lib. it, ep. i, I. 73. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 FOR THE EDITOR: 
 
 Printed by Josiah Allen, of Birmingham, 
 
 •^publifhed by Trubner & Co., 57 & 59, Ludgate Hill. 
 
 1874. 
 
 f ALL RIGHTS KESKRVED.] 
 
 5o 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Forespeech 
 
 vii — XX 
 
 Period I. 1592— 1616 
 
 I 
 
 Elucidations to Period I 
 
 - 69 
 
 Period II. 1616—1642 
 
 85 
 
 Elucidations to Period II 
 
 161 
 
 Period III. 1642— 1660 
 
 189 
 
 Elucidations to Period III 
 
 227 
 
 Period IV. 1660— 1693 
 
 237 
 
 Elucidations to Period IV 
 
 313 
 
 Supplementary Extracts 
 
 32s 
 
 Elucidations to Supplementaiy Extracts 
 
 339 
 
 Additions and CoiTections to Elucidations 
 
 345 
 
 Index to Authors 
 
 351 
 
 Index to Authors' Initials 
 
 356 
 
 Index to Anonymous Works 
 
 357 
 
 List of Exclusions 
 
 358 
 
 Postscript 
 
 361 
 
Forespeech. 
 
 LL is not " Prayfe" that is celebrated 
 in the enfuing pages : but the pre- 
 vailing charadler of the parts may 
 fairly be allowed to give defignation to the 
 whole. The experience of the two years 
 during which the editor has been engaged 
 upon this work has prepared him for the 
 difcovery that many links in the chain of 
 allufion to Shakefpeare have been omitted. 
 It were furely unneceflary for him to have 
 undertaken fuch a work to convince himfelf 
 of his liability to overfight and error. Yet as 
 furely, if he had the conceit of regarding 
 himfelf as nothing if not critical, and worfe 
 than nothing if not accurate, as being beyond, 
 not indeed the poffibility, but the danger, of 
 
vLii FORESPEECH. 
 
 making miflakes, there is no furer help for 
 his malady than the attempt to execute a 
 complete catena of extradls relating to one 
 man, flretching through a century of obfolete 
 or obfolefcent literature. The editor never 
 rightly eftimated the difficulty of making an 
 exadl copy or a perfedl collation, to fay 
 nothing of other and greater difficulties that 
 infefl. this kind of work, until he had partly 
 executed Shakefpearis Centurie of Prayfe. 
 At its commencement he felt confidence in 
 his ability to make the colledlion nearly 
 exhauflive : but as it received, from time to 
 time during the procefs of printing, frefli 
 acceffions of material, he gradually allowed 
 refignation to ufurp the place of hope, and 
 looked no longer for "the praife of per- 
 feaion."* 
 
 The difficulty of completing fuch a work on a pre-arranged 
 plan is fhown by the fa(5l fomewhat irregularly recorded on 
 p. 338, and further by the difcovery of a contemporary mention 
 of Shakefpeare, which was brought under our notice after that 
 page had been printed. It occurs in the following pafTage : 
 
 "Our moderne, and prefent excellent Poets which worthely 
 fiorifli in their owne workes, and all of them in my owne 
 knowledge lived togeather in this Qneenes raigne, according to 
 their priorities as neere as I could, I have orderly fet downe 
 (viz) George Gajcoieyie Efquire, ThoJiias Church-yard Efquire, 
 fir Edward Dyer Knight, Edmond Spatcer Efquire^ fir P/ulip 
 Sidney Knight, Sir yohn Harrington Knight, Sir Thomas 
 C ha Uouer Knight, Sir Prawtcis Bacoji Knight, & Sir John 
 Davie Knight, Mafter John Lillie gentleman, Maifter George 
 Cliapman gentleman, M. W. Warner gentleman, M. Willi, 
 
FORESPEECH. IX 
 
 Should this book reach a fecond edition, 
 it may, by renewed refearches, be rendered 
 very nearly complete. The editor does not 
 expedl that much retrenchment is poffible. 
 The number of doubtful extracts included in 
 it does not exceed half a dozen (they occur 
 on pp. 7, lo, 12-13, 19) 20, and 33). But it 
 is impoffible to doubt that there is yet much 
 gleaning to be done on the lefs frequented 
 fields of the relative literature. 
 
 The catena conflituting the Centurie is 
 fupplemented by a fmall coUeflion of extradls 
 which had been overlooked by the editor, 
 or were difcovered too late for infertion in 
 their proper places. His objeft has been 
 to make the colledlion as complete and 
 corredl as poffible; and he has accordingly 
 proclaimed fuch of his own omiffions and 
 miftakes as came to his knowledge before 
 the publication of the book. With all its 
 defedls, it is certainly far in advance of any- 
 
 Shakefpecire gentleman, Sainuell Dajiiell Efqiiire, Michaell 
 Draiton Efquire, of the bath, M. Chrijlopker Mario gen. M, 
 Bettj'ajnine yoHjO ge\emsin,ya/tu Marjion Esquier, M. Adraham 
 Frau7icis gen. mafter Frauncis Mecrs gentle, mafter Jo/ua 
 Sil-vefler gentle, mafter Tliomas Deckers gentleman, M JoJm 
 Flecker gentle. M. John Wehjler gentleman, M. Thomas Hey- 
 •waoe^ gentleman, M. TAomas Mzdtllelou gentleman, M. George 
 WithersJ^ — John Stow'.s Annalcs, 1615, p. 811. (Reign of 
 Queen Elizabeth.) 
 
X FORESPEECH. 
 
 thing of the kind that has hitherto been 
 attempted. Garrick's coUedlion, the firfl that 
 was published, was exceedingly meagre ; and 
 thofe of Drake and Malone not much more 
 extenfive. The extradls given in the lafl. 
 chapter of Book IX and the firft of Book 
 
 XI of Knight's Shakfpere Studies are a mere 
 fele6lion to ferve a purpofe, and are often 
 inaccurately given. The late Mr. Bolton 
 Comey, the Rev. Alexander B. Grofart of 
 Blackburn, and Mr. George Dawfon pf Bir- 
 mingham, have, each at a different time, 
 projedled a Hiftory of Opinion on Shakefpeare 
 and his works : but all their defigns were either 
 fruftrated or delayed, and were not executed. 
 Mr. Grofart's Contemporary Judgments of Poets, 
 announced four years ago, feems to have 
 fhared the fame fate ; but it will fome day, we 
 hope, be carried out. Should that work be 
 publifhed, we may expedl to find in that 
 portion of it which will concern our bard fome 
 of the links miffing from this catena: but 
 alfo (if we may judge from Mr. Grofart's own 
 deliverances) fome extradls which only the 
 moft, indulgent explorer would venture to 
 count among notices of Shakefpeare. 
 
FORESPEECH. XI 
 
 Incomplete as the enfuing coUedlion must 
 be, it is fufficiently extenfive to afiford both 
 pofitive and negative evidence as to the 
 eflimation in which Shakefpeare was held by 
 the writers of the century during which his 
 fame was germinating; viz., 1592 — 1693. It 
 is, in fadl, praife, and in fome few cafes dif- 
 praife, and not yet fame, that is fliown in 
 the fubfequent teflimonies. They bear wit- 
 nefs to fubjellive opinions, preparing the way 
 for the objective judgment which has feated 
 Shakefpeare on the Throne of Poets. The 
 abfence of fundry great names with which no 
 pains of refearch, fcrutiny, or (ludy could con- 
 nedl the mofl trivial allufion to the bard or his 
 works (fuch, e. g., as Lord Brooke, Lord Bacon, 
 Selden, Sir John Beaumont, Henry Vaughan,* 
 and Lord Clarendon) is tacitly fignificant: 
 the iteration of the fame vapid and affedled 
 compliments, couched in conventional terms, 
 
 * The following extradt will ferve at once to exemplify a 
 pojj/ihle allufion to Shakefpeare : which if a£lna.l would relieve 
 Vaughan from the charge of ignoring Shakefpeare. 
 
 *' The firfl: that with any effedlual fuccefs attempted a diveriion 
 of this foul and overflowing ftream, was the blefled man, Mr. 
 George Herbert, whofe holy life and verfe gained many pious 
 converts — of whom I am the leaft — and gave the firft check to a 
 moft flourifliing and advanced wit of his time." — Silex Scintil- 
 lans: or Sacred Poems and Private Ej'aaUaiioiis, by Henry 
 Vaifff/tan. Silurifl. 1650. [izmo.] 
 
Xll FORESPEECH. 
 
 from writers of the firft. two periods, — com- 
 paring Shakefpeare's "tongue," "pen," or 
 "vein," to filver, honey, fugar, or nectar, while 
 they ignore his greater and diflinguifhing 
 quahties, is exprejjly fignificant. It is plain, 
 for one thing, that the bard of our admiration 
 was unknown to the men of that age, though 
 it is undeniable that his fupremacy in fome 
 important refpedls was at length recognifed 
 by Ben Jonfon, and fubfequently by Milton 
 and Dryden. How could it well be other- 
 wife ? Men of genius, like them, could no 
 more be blind to the genius of Shakefpeare 
 than could Wagner and Gounod be infenfible 
 to the orcheflral excellence of Mendelffohn. 
 Differing as the editor does from many of 
 the conclufions of Mr. Gerald Maffey, he is 
 the more pleafed to find himfelf at one with 
 him here.* Affuredly no one during the 
 
 * In allufion to Spenfer's Tearcs of the Mujes^ Mr. Mafley 
 writes thus : 
 
 "But we may fafely fay that no man living in 1500 .... 
 ever faw Shakefpeare as the * man whom Nature's felf had made 
 to mock herfelf, and truth to imitate.' " 
 
 And again — 
 
 " Harvey's lully riveille and Ben Jonfon's eulogy notwith- 
 Itanding, it is quite demonftrable that Shakefpeare s contem- 
 poraries had no adequate conception of what manner of man or 
 majefty of mind were amongft them. We know him better than 
 they did ! " The Secret Drama of Shakefpeare's Sonnets^ <5^V. 
 1872. pp. 511 & 528. 
 
FORESPEECH. Xlll 
 
 "Centurie" had anyfufpicion that the genius 
 of Shakefpeare was unique, and that he was 
 ftd generis — i. e., the only exemplar of his 
 fpecies. Thofe who' ranked him very high 
 compared him to Spenfer, Sidney, Chapman, 
 Jonfon, Fletcher, and even leffer lights, and 
 moft. of the judges of that time affigned the 
 firfl, place to one of them. 
 
 We do not look for Shakefpeare's name 
 in books on poets and poetry which were 
 iffued before 1593, when his Venus and 
 Adonis, "the firfl heir of [his] invention," 
 was iffued : fo that we are not furprifed at 
 the filence of William Webbe (1586), George 
 Puttenham (1589), Sir John Harrington 
 (1591), and Sir Philip Sidney (1595). Shake- 
 fpeare could hardly have been known to any 
 of them. But the cafe is otherwife with works 
 of the fame charadler iffued as late as 1598, 
 the year in which was publifhed a collection 
 of fatires called Skialethia : the fixth of which 
 contains the names of Chaucer, Gower, 
 Daniel, Markham, Drayton, and Sidney, — 
 but not that of Shakefpeare. Ben Jonfon, 
 writing fome forty years later, makes the fame 
 remarkable omiffion : in his Difcoveries (Prm- 
 
XIV FORESPEECH. 
 
 cipiendi modi) he remarks that " as it is fit 
 to read the befl authors to youth first, fo let 
 them be of the openeft. and cleareflj" and 
 he fpecifies Sidney, Donne, Gower, Chaucer, 
 and Spenfer,^but not Shakefpeare. Nafh 
 feems to have divided the palm between 
 Spenfer and Peele ; but he wrote a little too 
 early for Shakefpeare. Richard Carew affigns 
 the firfl place to Sidney, in which judgment 
 he was, perhaps, influenced by their early 
 friendfhip at Oxford. Davifon and a hoft. of 
 others fet an extravagant value on Daniel. 
 The elder Bafle, Taylor (the ferryman), 
 and Edward Phillips feem to put Spenfer 
 and Shakefpeare on an equality. Spenfer 
 himfelf, Webfler, and Camden, after enume- 
 rating various contemporary poets, apologet- 
 ically give the lail place to Shakefpeare, the 
 two former employing the proverbial phrafe 
 " lafl not leafl," or an equivalent. It would 
 be hard to find any grudge or unfairnefs 
 towards him in all this dealing : on the con- 
 trary, if by many he was ignored, he was 
 ignored with other poets of good repute, and 
 affuredly by many he was confidered as a 
 formidable rival to Spenfer and Sidney in 
 
FORESPEECH. XV 
 
 one branch of the art, and to Lilly, Peele, 
 Chapman, and Jonfon in another. Such 
 praife was indeed mofl. inadequate; but it 
 would reverfe the order of natiire if a poet 
 were to attain to fame per faltiitn, to be 
 recognifed for what he is, and appreciated 
 at his true value, before fuch lapfe of time as 
 is fufficient for the formation of a ripe and ob- 
 jecflive fchool of criticifm. If, as Mr. Charles 
 Knight concludes, "he was always in the 
 heart of the people" {Shakfpere Studies, 1851, 
 p. 504), that fadl fpeaks more for Shakefpeare 
 as a Ihowman than for Shakefpeare as a 
 man of genius. Doubtlefs he knew his men ; 
 but affuredly his men did not know him. 
 The drift of his plays was in a manner intel- 
 ligible, or they would not have been enter- 
 taining, to the penny-knaves who peflered the 
 Globe and Blackfriars Theatres. But his pro- 
 found reach of thought and his unrivalled 
 knowledge of human nature were as far 
 beyond the vulgar ken, as were the higher 
 graces of his poetry. It is to men of fenfibility 
 and education that Shakefpeare appeals as a 
 man of genius ; and it is to the literate class 
 we mufl look for the imprefs of that genius. 
 
XVI rORESPEECH. 
 
 Amidil the difcordant voices of praife and 
 of blame, the echoes of antiquated compli- 
 ment mingled with the pedantic cenfure and 
 fanatic eulogy of later times, it has been 
 difficult to bring fobriety of judgment and 
 purity of tafte to bear on Shakefpeare's 
 writings. We are at length flowly rounding 
 to a jufl elliraate of his works; and the 
 time feems to be at hand when men of 
 culture will attribute to the objedl of their 
 admiration a much higher range of powers 
 than were requifite for the produ6lion of 
 the mod popular and fuccefsful dramas in 
 the world. 
 
 A few words in conclufion on the notices 
 which conflitute this catena. Of courfe it 
 begins with the earliefl known allufions to 
 Shakefpeare, viz., thofe in 1592. In flridlnefs 
 it fliould end before the publication of the 
 firfl fyflematic critique on Shakefpeare: for 
 the inclufion of all fuch would be to reprint 
 a library. Now "Dryden," as Samuel John- 
 fon fays (Preface to his Shakefpeare, 1765), 
 " may be properly confidered as the father of 
 Englifli Criticifm, as the writer who firfl. taught 
 us to determine upon principles the merit of 
 
FORESPEECH. XVU 
 
 compofition : " and Dryden's only fyftematic 
 effay on Shakefpeare is the Preface to his own 
 Troilus and Creffida, printed in 1679. But 
 having given fo many of Dryden's remarks 
 on Shakefpeare, the editor thought he was 
 juflified in reprinting, in an abridged form, 
 that remarkable effay, which in the quarto 
 of 1679 occupies fifteen pages. He has fo 
 far, then, departed from his profpedlus, and 
 included in his collecftion a formal and 
 lengthy criticifm. That being fo, Dryden's 
 effay will ferve to make his pofition the 
 clearer: to exhibit an exceptional fample of 
 the work he profeffes to exclude, and thus to 
 bring home to every reader the neceffity of 
 the rule which excludes works of that clafs. 
 After Dryden, the firfl formal critics are 
 Rymer and Dennis. The work of Rymer 
 which Dryden refers to in the Preface to 
 Troilus and Creffida is that from which we 
 have given the only ' extradls referring to 
 Shakefpeare, viz.. The Tragedies of the lajl 
 Age confidered and examined by the PraHice 
 of the Ancients, 1678. His Short View of 
 Tragedy, 1693, and The Impartial Critick oi 
 Dennis, 1693, and all fubfequent publications 
 
XVIU FORESPEECH. 
 
 are excluded. Yet through the editor's de- 
 cifion to admit every work of Dryden's which 
 deals with or alludes to Shakefpeare, this 
 catena extends into the year 1693 ; for the 
 Epijlle to Sir Godfrey Kneller was written in 
 that year : and thus he is enabled to include 
 the important letter of John Dowdall to the 
 Rev. Edward Southwell. This pre-critical 
 century naturally divides itfelf into four 
 periods : the firjl extending from the earliefl 
 allufion to Shakefpeare till his death in 1616 : 
 the fecond from his death to the outbreak 
 of the Civil War in 1642 : the third from 
 the clofing of the theatres to the Reflor- 
 ation: and the fourth extends from the 
 return of the Merry Monarch to the rife of 
 criticifm. After this Shakefpeare's fame as 
 a claffic really began. We are commencing 
 with that century when rumour had hardly 
 begun her work, and when his poems were 
 read, and his plays feen, as matters which 
 belonged to the age, and not as " works " 
 for all time. 
 
 The editor has excluded from the catena 
 all documentary notices of Shakefpeare ; for, 
 befides being foreign to its fcope, they are 
 
FORESPEECH. xix 
 
 fufficiently numerous and extenfive to form 
 a confiderable volume by themfclves.* 
 
 In garnering fo large a harvell he has 
 received kind and efficient help from many 
 friends. He has ufually gone to the fountain- 
 head for the extradl employed : but when 
 occafional impediments — as dillance, pre- 
 occupation, or ficknefs — hindered him in this, 
 he relied on the copy or collation of a friend. 
 For fuch work he is chiefly indebted to 
 AV. S. W. Vaux, Efq., F.R.S., and to W. B. 
 Rye, Efq., the Keeper of the Printed Books 
 of the Britifli Mufeum. To J. O. Phillipps 
 (flALLiwELL), Efq., F.R.S., he is indebted 
 for many references which he would otherwife 
 have overlooked, and for having fo liberally 
 placed at his difpofal the wood-cut form- 
 ing the frontifpice to the large-paper copies. 
 He owes to his lamented friend, the late 
 
 ■* Perhaps the moft curious of thefe is one of the anfwers 
 of Shakefpeare's granddaughter, the widow of Thomas Nafli, 
 to a fuit preferred by Edward Nafh (C/uincery ProceedingSj 
 N. N, 17, No. 65); where we read that New Place was "the 
 Inheritance of William Shakefpear the Defend*; Grandfather 
 whoe waS'feized thereof in Fee fimple long before the Defend*; 
 marriage w*'' the faid Thomas Nafhe." This answer is dated 
 April 17, 24 Caroli. As James died March 26, 1625, the 24th 
 year of Charles would have ended on March 27, 1649 ; but it 
 oHually ended on January 30, 1649, by the king's decapitation; 
 so that the date of the answer is April 17, 1648. 
 
XX FORESPEECH. 
 
 Howard Staunton, Efq., a felicitous amend- 
 ment of the head-title, and three valuable 
 extradls. His thanks are also due to Mr. 
 C. Edmonds and Mr. R. K. Dent (both of 
 Birmingham) for numerous extrafls, and to 
 the Rev. H. A. Holden, LL.D., for revifmg 
 thofe of his notes which deal with the learned 
 languages. 
 
 C. M. INGLEBY. 
 
 Valentines, Ilford, 
 
 Oct. 1 6th, 1874. 
 
ROBERT GREENE, 1592. 
 
 ASE minded men al three of you, if 
 by my miferie ye be not warned: 
 for unto none of you (like me) fought 
 thofe burres to cleave : thofe Puppits (I meane) 
 that fpeake from our mouths, thofe Anticks 
 garnifht in our colours. Is it not flrange that 
 I, to whom they al have beene beholding: is 
 it not like that you, to whome they all have 
 beene beholding, fliall (were ye in that cafe 
 that I am now) be both at once of them 
 forfaken ? Yes trufl them not : for there is 
 an upftart Crow, beautified with our feathers, 
 that with his Tygers heart wrapt in a Players 
 hide, fuppofes he is as well able to bumbafl 
 out a blanke verfe as the bed of you : and 
 being an abfolute Johannes fac totum, is in 
 his owne conceit the onely Shake-fcene in a 
 countrie. O that I might intreate your rare 
 wits to be imployed in more profitable 
 covufes: & let thofe Apes imitate your paft 
 excellence, and never more acquaint them 
 with your admired inventions. I know the 
 befl hufband of you all will never prouve 
 
 B 
 
an Ufurer, and the kindefl of them all wil 
 never proove a kinde nurfe : yet whilfl you 
 may, feeke you better Maiflers ; for it is pittie 
 men of fuch rare wits, fliould be fubjefl to 
 the pleafures of fuch rude groomes. 
 
 In this I might infert two more that both 
 have writ againfl thefe buckram Gentlemen ; 
 but let their owne works ferve to witneffe 
 againfl their owne wickedneffe, if they per- 
 fever to maintaine any more fuch peafants. 
 For other new commers, I leave them to the 
 mercie of thefe painted monflers, who (I 
 doubt not) will drive the befl minded to 
 defpife them; for the reft it (kils not though 
 they make a jeaft at them. 
 
 Greenes Groats-ivorth of Wit ; bought with a 
 Million of Repentaunce. 1596. 
 
HENRY CHETTLE, Sept.— Dec, 1592. 
 
 I T H neither of them that take offence 
 was I acquainted, and with one of 
 them I care not if I never be : The 
 other, whome at that time I did not fo much 
 fpare, as fmce I wifli I had, for that as I have 
 moderated the heate of living writers, and 
 might have ufde my owne difcretion (efpecially 
 in fuch a cafe) the Author beeing dead, that 
 I did not, I am as fory, as if the originall fault 
 had beene my fault, becaufe my felfe have 
 feene his demeanor no lefTe civill than he 
 exelent in the qualitie he profeffes : Befides, 
 divers of worfhip have reported, his upright- 
 nes of dealing, which argues his honefly, and 
 his facetious grace in writting, that aprooves 
 his Art. 
 
 Kind-Harts Dreaine. \it.d. 1600. 4/c.] To 
 the Gentlemen Readers, p. ;:. 
 
HENRY CHETTLE, 1603, 
 
 O R doth the filver tonged Melicert, 
 Drop from his honied mufe one 
 fable teare 
 
 To mourne her death that graced his defert, 
 And to his laies opend her Royall eare. 
 Shepheard remember our Elizabeth, 
 And fmg her Rape, done by that Tar- 
 quiii, Death. 
 
 Englandes Mourning Garment. [Anon. n.d. 
 1603. 4/<p.] 
 
i6o3 — 1604. 
 
 OU Poets all, brave Shakefpeare, 
 Johnfon, Green, 
 Bellow your time to write for 
 England's Queene. 
 
 Lament, lament, &c. 
 
 Returne your fongs and Sonnets and your 
 
 layes 
 To fet forth fweet Elizabeth [a]'s praife. 
 Lament, lament, &c. 
 
 A mourneful Dittie entituUd Elizateth's loffe, 
 together with a welcome to King James. 
 [Anon, ii-d-l 
 
GABRIEL HARVEY, 1592. 
 
 ffllOOD fweete Oratour, be a devine 
 Poet indeede : and ufe heavenly 
 
 =^ Eloquence indeede : and employ 
 thy golden talent with amounting ufance 
 indeede: and with heroicall Cantoes honour 
 right Vertue, & brave valour indeede: as 
 noble Sir Philip Sidney, and gentle Mailler 
 Spencer have done, with immortall Fame : 
 and I will beflow more complements of rare 
 amplifications upon thee, then ever any 
 bellowed uppon them: or this Tounge ever 
 affoorded : or any Aretinifh mountaine of huge 
 exaggerations can bring-foorth. Right arti- 
 ficiality, (whereat I once aimed to the utter- 
 moft, power of my flender capacity,) is not 
 mad-brained, or ridiculous, or abfurd, or 
 blafphemous, or monftrous: but deepe-con- 
 ceited, but pleafurable, but delicate, but 
 exquifite, but gratious, but admirable: not 
 according to the fantaflicall mould of Aretine, 
 or Rabelays, but according to the fine modell 
 of Orpheus, Homer, Findartis, & the excel- 
 lentefl wittes of Greece, and of the Lande, 
 that flowed with milk, and hony. * * » 
 For I dare not name the Honorabler Sonnes 
 & Nobler Daughters of the fweetefl, & 
 divinefl Mufes, that ever fang in Englifh or 
 
other language : for feare of fufpition of that, 
 which I abhorre : and their owne mofl deledl- 
 able, and delicious Exercifes, (the fine handy- 
 worke of excellent Nature, and excellenter 
 Arte combined) fpeake incomparably more, 
 then I am able briefly to infmuate. Gentle 
 mindes, and flourifhing wittes, were infinitely 
 to-blame, if they fliould not alfo for curious 
 imitation, propofe unto themfelves fuch faire 
 Types of refined, and engraced Eloquence. 
 The right Noovice of pregnante, and afpiring 
 conceit, wil not over-flfippe any precious 
 gemme of Invention, or any beautiful floure 
 of Elocution, that may richly adorne, or 
 gallantly bedecke the trimme garland of his 
 budding flile. I fpeake generally to every 
 fpringing wit: but more fpecially to a few: 
 and at this inftante Angularly to one; whom 
 I falute with a hundred bleffings : and en- 
 treate with as many prayers, to love them, 
 that love all good wittes : and hate none, but 
 the Devell, and his incarnate Impes, noto- 
 rioufly profeffed. ***** 
 London: this 8 & 9 of September. 
 
 The frmd of his fr aides, &= foe of none. 
 
 Four Letters, and Certaine Sonnets : e/pecially 
 touching Robert Greene, and other parties, 
 by him abufed. 1592. Third Letter, 
 pp. 48, 49. 
 
GABRIEL HARVEY, 1598. 
 
 HE younger fort take much delight 
 in Shakefpeare's Venus and Adonis ; 
 but his Lucrece, and his tragedy of 
 
 Hamlet Prince of Denmarke, have it in them 
 
 to pleafe the wifer fort, 1598. 
 
 Manufcript Note in Speghd Chaucer. Firft 
 printed in Steeven's Shakfpeare. 1766. 
 (Reed, xviii, 2; BofweWs McUone, vii, 168/ 
 Drake, ii, 391, ^'c.) 
 
RICHARD CAREW, 1595—1600. 
 
 DDE hereunto, that whatfoever grace 
 any other language carrieth in verfe 
 or profe, in Tropes or Metaphors, 
 in Ecchoes and Agnominations, they may all 
 be lively and exactly reprefented in ours: 
 will you have Platoes veine ? reade Sir Tho. 
 Smith. — the lonicke 1 Sir Thomas Moore. — 
 Ciceroes ? Afcham. — Varro ? Chaucer. — 
 Demojlhenes 1 Sir John Cheeke (who in his 
 treatife to the Rebels, hath comprifed all 
 the figures of Rhetorick. Will you reade 
 Virgil ? take the Earle of Surrey. — Catullus ? 
 Shakefpeare snA Barlows fragment, — Ovid? 
 Daniel. — Lucani Spencer, — Martial? Sir 
 John Davies, and others: will you have all 
 in all for profe and verfe ? take the miracle 
 of our age. Sir Philip Sidney. 
 
 The Excelkncie of the Englijh tongue by R. C. 
 of Anthony Efquire to W. C. Camden's 
 Remaines concerning Britaine. (Lan- 
 guages.) 1605. [4/0.] 
 
EDMUND SPENSER, April— 27 Dec, 
 1594- 
 
 ND there, though lad not leafl is 
 Aetion, 
 A gentler fhepheard may no where 
 be found: 
 Whofe Mufe, full of high thoughts invention, 
 Doth like himfelfe heroically found. 
 
 Colin Cloufs Come Home Again. IS9S- \j^o.'\ 
 
m 
 
 IS94- 
 
 N Lavine Land though Livie bojl. 
 There hath beene feene a Conjlant 
 dame: 
 
 Though Rome lament that fhe have loft. 
 The Gareland of her rareft fame, 
 
 Yet now we fee, that here is found, 
 As great a Faith in Englijh ground. 
 
 Though CoUatine have deerely bought, 
 
 To high renowne, a lafting life, 
 
 And found, that moft in vaine have fought, 
 
 To have a Faire and Conjlant wife, 
 
 Yet Tarquyne pluckt his glifl.ering grape. 
 And Shake-fpeare, paints poore Lucrece 
 rape. 
 
 Commendatory verfes prefixed to Willobie his 
 Avifa. 1594. [Anon.] 
 
HENRY WILLOBIE, 1594. 
 
 Cant. XLIIII. 
 
 Henrico Willobego. Italo-Hifpalenfis. 
 
 W. being fodenly infedled with the 
 contagion of a fantafticall fit, at 
 the firfl fight of A, pyneth a while 
 in fecret griefe, at length not able any longer 
 to iiidure the burning heate of fo fervent a 
 humour, bewrayeth the fecrefy of his difeafe 
 unto his familiar frend W. S. who not long 
 before had tried the curtesy of the like paffion, 
 and was now newly recovered of the like 
 infecftion ; yet finding his frend let bloud in 
 the fame vaine, he took pleafure for a tyme 
 to fee him bleed, & in Heed of flopping the 
 iffue, he inlargeth the wound, with the Iharpe 
 rafor of a willing conceit, perfwading him 
 that he thought it a matter very eafy to be 
 compaffed, & no doubt with payne, diligence 
 & fome cofl in time to be obtayned. Thus 
 this miferable comforter comforting his frend 
 with an impoffibilitie, eyther for that he now 
 would fecretly laugh at his frends folly, that 
 had given occafion not long before unto 
 others to laugh at his owne, or becaufe he 
 would fee whether an other could play his 
 
13 
 
 part better then himfelfe, & in vewing afar 
 
 off the courfe of this loving Comedy, he 
 
 determined to fee whether it would fort to 
 
 a happier end for this new adlor, then it did 
 
 for the old player. But at length this Comedy 
 
 was like to have growen to a Tragedy, by the 
 
 weake & feeble eflate that H. W. was brought 
 
 unto, by a defperate vewe of an impoffibility 
 
 of obtaining his purpofe, til Time & Neceffity, 
 
 being his befl Phifitions brought him a plafler, 
 
 if not to heale, yet in part to eafe his maladye. 
 
 In all which difcourfe is lively reprefented the 
 
 unrewly rage of unbrydeled fancy, having the 
 
 raines to rove at liberty, with the dyvers & 
 
 fundry changes of affe6lions & temptations, 
 
 which Will, fet loose from Reafon, can devife. 
 
 &c. 
 
 H. W. 
 
 H. W. 
 
 HAT fodaine chance or change is 
 
 this. 
 
 That doth bewreave my quyet 
 
 reft? 
 
 ***** 
 
 But yonder comes my faythfull frend, 
 
 That like affaultes hath often tryde, 
 
 On his advife I will depend, 
 
 Where I fhall winne, or be denyde,^""''^"""'^ 
 And looke what counfell he (hall give, 
 That will I do, where dye or live.'^'*"'^''^ 
 
14 
 
 Cant. XLV. 
 W. S. 
 Well met, frend Harry, what's the caufe 
 You looke fo pale with Lented cheeks ? 
 Your wanny face & (harpened nofe 
 Shew plaine, your mind fome thing mislikes. 
 If you will tell me what it is, 
 He helpe to mend what is amiffe. 
 
 What is (he, man, that workes thy woe. 
 And thus thy tickling fancy move ? 
 Thy droufie eyes, & fighes do (hoe, 
 This new difeafe proceedes of love, 
 
 Tell what (he is that witch't thee fo, 
 
 I fweare it (hall no farder go. 
 
 A heavy burden wearieth one, 
 Which being parted then in twaine, 
 Seemes very light, or rather none. 
 And boren well with little paine : 
 
 The fmothered flame, too clofely pent, 
 Burnes more extreame for want of vent. 
 
 So forrowes (hrynde in fecret breft, 
 Attainte the hart with hotter rage, 
 Then griefes that are to frendes expreft, 
 Whofe comfort may fome part affwage : 
 If I a frend, whofe faith is tryde. 
 Let this requefl not be denyde. 
 
15 
 
 Exceffive griefes good counfells want, 
 And cloud the fence from fliarp conceits ; 
 No reafon rules, where forrowes plant, 
 And folly feedes, where fury fretes, 
 Tell what (he is, and you fhall fee, 
 What hope and help fhall come from mee. 
 
 Cant. XLVI. 
 H. W. 
 Seed yonder howfe, where hanges the badge 
 Of Englands Saint, when captaines cry 
 Vidlorious land, to conquering rage, 
 Loe, there my hopeleffe helpe doth ly : 
 And there that frendly foe doth dwell. 
 That makes my hart thus rage and fwell. 
 
 Cant. XLVII. 
 W. S. 
 Well, fay no more : I know thy griefe. 
 And face from whence thefe flames aryfe. 
 It is not hard to fynd reliefe, 
 If thou wilt follow good advyfe : 
 She is no Saynt, She is no Nonne, 
 I thinke in tyme fhe may be wonne. 
 
 vcte^ria At firfl. repulfe you mufl. not faint. 
 Nor flye the field though (he deny 
 You twife or thrife, yet manly bent, 
 Again e you mufl, and flill reply: 
 
 When tyme permits you not to talke 
 Then let your pen and fingers walke. 
 
i6 
 
 (cSSi) Apply her dill with dyvers thinges,^^'" 
 •""j^ineBq; (For giftcs the wyfeft. will deceave) 
 Sometymes with gold, fometymes 
 with ringes, 
 No tyme nor fit occafion leave, 
 
 Though coy at firfl flie feeme and wielde, 
 Thefe toyes in tyme will make her yielde. 
 
 Looke what (he likes ; that you mufl, love. 
 And what Ihe hates, you mufl, detefl;. 
 Where good or bad, you mufl. approve. 
 The wordes and workes that pleafe her beft : 
 If fhe be godly, you mufl fweare, 
 That to offend you ftand in feare. 
 
 wEtode- You mufl commend her loving face, 
 
 ceaTe witles t-i • • i . • 
 
 women. For women joy m beauties praise, 
 You mufl admire her fober grace, 
 Her wifdome and her vertuous wayes, 
 
 Say, t'was her wit and modeft flioe,'^""'"'! 
 
 That made you like and love her fo. 
 
 You mufl be fecret, conftant, free, 
 
 Your filent fighes & trickling teares. 
 
 Let her in fecret often fee, 
 
 Then wring her hand, as one that feares 
 To fpeake, then wifh fhe were your wife. 
 And lafl defire her fave your life. 
 
17 
 
 When fhe doth laugh, you mud be glad, 
 And watch occafions, tyme and place, 
 When flie doth frowne, you mud be fad, 
 Let fighes & fobbes requefl her grace : 
 Sweare that your love is truly ment, 
 So fhe in tyme mufl needes relent. 
 
 Willobie his Avisa, or the true picture of a 
 Modejl Maide and of a chaste and conflant 
 ■wife. In hexameter verfe. The ■ like 
 argument whereof was never heretofore 
 publithed. 1594. [•^f-] Sig. L 2. 
 
i8 
 
 [SIR] W[ILLIAM] HAR[BERT], 1594. 
 
 OU that to fhew your wits, have taken 
 toyle 
 In regifl'ring the deeds of noble men; 
 And fought for matter in a forfaine foyle, 
 As worthie fubjedls of your filver pen, 
 Whom you have rais'd from darke oblivion's 
 
 den. 
 You that have writ of chafle Lucretia, 
 Whofe death was witneffe of her fpotleffe life : 
 Or pen'd the praife of fad Cornelia, 
 Whofe blameleffe name hath made her fame 
 
 fo rife, 
 As noble Pompey's mofl. renoumed wife : 
 Hither unto your home diredl your eies, 
 Whereas, unthought on, much more matter 
 lies. 
 
 Epicedium. A fimerall Song, tipon the va-- 
 tuous life and godly death of the right 
 worfhipfull the Lady Helen Branch. 
 Virtus fola manet, catera cuncta rimnt. 
 \_Anon.'\ 1594. 
 
 Reprinted in Brydges' Restiitita, vol. Hi, pp. 
 297—299. 
 
'9 
 
 MICHAEL DRAYTON, 1594. 
 
 UCRECE, of whom proud Rome 
 hath boafled long, 
 Lately reviv'd to live another age. 
 And here arriv'd to tell of Tarquin's wrong. 
 Her chafte denial, and the tyrants rage, 
 Afting her paffions on our (lately ftage. 
 She is remember'd, all forgetting me, 
 Yet I as fair and chafle as ere was (he. 
 
 Matilda, thefaire andchajle Daughter of Lord 
 Robert Fitzwater. 1 594. 
 
ROBERT SOUTH WEI.L, 1594. 
 
 HIS makes my mourning Mufe re- 
 folve in teares, 
 This theames my heavie penne to 
 plaine in profe ; 
 Chrill's theme is fliarpe, no head His garland 
 
 weares ; 
 Stil finefl wits are 'ililUng Venus' rofe, 
 In Paynim toyes the fweetefl vaines are 
 
 fpent ; 
 To Chriflian workes few have their talents 
 lent. 
 
 Saint Peters Complaint, with other Poemes. 
 
 1595- Wo.'l 
 
 The Authour to the Reader. ( Grofarfs 
 Ed., 1872,//. xii, xc & 9.; 
 
AV[ILLIAM] C[LARKE], 1595. 
 
 ET divine Bartaffe eternally praife 
 worthie for his weeks worke, fay the 
 bell thinges were made firll: Let 
 other countries (fweet Cambridge) envie, 
 (yet admire) my Vir^l^ thy petrarch, divine 
 Spenfer, And unleffe I erre, (a thing eafie 
 in fuch fimplicitie) deluded by 
 dearlie beloved Delia, and fortu- 
 natelie fortunate Cleopatra \ Ox- 
 ford thou maifl extoU thy courte- 
 deare-verfe happie Dajiiell, whofe 
 fweete refined mufe, in contradled 
 fhape, were fufficient amongfl 
 men, to gaine pardon of the finne 
 to Rofemond, pittie to diflrelTed 
 Cleopatra, and everliving praife 
 to her loving Delia : 
 
 All praise 
 worthy. 
 Luci'eeia 
 Sweet Shak- 
 speare. 
 Eloquent 
 Gaveston. 
 "Wantou 
 Adonis. 
 "Watsons 
 lieyre. 
 So well gi"a- 
 cetl Antho- 
 nie dcser- 
 Teth immor- 
 tall praise 
 from the hand 
 of that di- 
 vine Lady 
 who like Co- 
 rinna conten- 
 ding with 
 Pin dams 
 was oft Ti- 
 ctoiious. 
 
 Polimanteia or the meanes lawfull and tinla'm- 
 full to judge of the fall of a commontvealth^ 
 agabijl the frivolous and fool i Jit conjetflures 
 of this age, etc. 1595- \A^p\ 
 
I. C. 1604 circa. 
 
 H O ' E ' R E will go unto the preffe may 
 fee, 
 The hated Fathers of vilde balladrie, 
 One fings in his bafe note the River Thames, 
 Shal found the famous memory of noble king 
 
 James 
 Another fayes that he will to his death 
 Sing the renowned worthineffe of fweet Eliza- 
 beth, 
 So runnes their verfe in fuch difordered flraine 
 And with them dare great majefly prophane. 
 Some dare do this, feme other humbly craves, 
 For helpe of Spirits in their fleeping graves, 
 As he that calde to Shakefpeare, Johnfon, 
 
 Greene, 
 To write of their dead noble Queene 
 But he that made the Ballads of oh hone. 
 Did wondrous well to whet the buyer on, 
 Thefe fellowes are the flaunderers of the time, 
 Make ryming hateful! through their baflard 
 rime. 
 
 But were I made a judge in poetry 
 They all (hould burne for their vilde 
 herefie. 
 
 Epigrames. Served out in ^2 feverall DiJIies 
 for every man to fajl without fuffering. 
 (From Malone's Copy in the Bodleian Li- 
 brary.) 
 
 Modicum non nocet. \ii.d. i2/«o] Epig. 12. 
 
23 
 
 JOHN WEEVER, 1595. 
 
 Ad Gulielmitm Shakefpeare. 
 
 O N I E -T O N G ' D Shakefpeare when 
 I faw thine iffue 
 I fwore Apollo got them and none 
 
 other, 
 Their rofie-tainted features cloth'd in "'"*«« 
 
 tiffue, 
 Some heaven born goddeffe faid to be their 
 
 mother : 
 Rofe-checkt Adonis with his amber t'^'"'='"=<'J 
 
 treffes, 
 Faire fire-hot Venus charming him to love 
 
 her, 
 Chafle Lucretia virgine-Iike her dreffes, 
 Prowd luft-flmig Tarquine feeking flill to 
 
 prove her : 
 Romea-Richard ; more whofe names I t-B<»n«.j 
 
 know not. 
 Their fugred tongues, and power attra<flive 
 
 beuty 
 Say they are Saints, althogh that Sts they 
 
 fhew not 
 For thoufands vowes to them fubjeftive '^™"'^ 
 
 dutie : 
 
24 
 
 They burn in love thy childre Shake/pear 
 het the, t"™'"" 
 
 Go, wo thy Mufe more Nymphifh brood 
 beget them. 
 
 Epigratnvies in the oldejl cut, and nnvejl 
 fajliion. A twi/e /even houres (in fo 
 many weekes) Jludie No longer (like 
 the fajliion) not unlike to continue The 
 first f even, John IVeever. 
 
 Sit voluifife, sat valuiffe. 
 '599' [l2;«(J.] The i^h week : Epig. 21. 
 
25 
 
 FRANCIS MERES; 1596. 
 
 S the Greeke tongue is made famous 
 and eloquent by Homer, Hefiod, 
 Euripedes, Aefchilus, Sophocles, Pin- 
 darus, Phocylides and AriJlopha7ies ; and the 
 Latine tongue by Virgill, Ovid, Horace, Silius 
 Italicus, Liicanus, Lucretius, Aufonius and 
 Claudianus : fo the Englifh tongue is mightily 
 enriched, and gorgeoullie invefled in rare 
 ornaments and refplendent abiliments by fir 
 Philip Sidney, Spencer, Daniel, Drayton, 
 Warner, Shakefpeare, Marlow and Chapman. 
 
 tP tF TV tP 
 
 As the foule of Euphorhcs was thought to 
 live in Pythagoras: fo the fweete wittie foule 
 of Ovid lives in mellifluous & hony-tongued 
 Shakefpeare, witnes his Venus and Adonis, 
 his Lucrece, his fugred Sonnets among his 
 private friends, &c. 
 
 As Plautus and Seneca are accounted the 
 befl for Comedy and Tragedy among the 
 Latin es : fo Shakefpeare among y^ Englifh is 
 the mofl. excellent in both kinds for the 
 flage; for Comedy, witnes his Getleme of 
 Verona, his Ei-rors, his Love labors lofl, his 
 Love labours wonne, his Midfummers night 
 dreame, & his Merchant of Venice: for Tragedy 
 his Richard the 2. Richard the 3. Henry the 4. 
 
26 
 
 King John, Titus Andronicus and his Romeo 
 and Juliet. 
 
 As Epius Stolo faid, that the Mufes would 
 fpeake with Plautus tongue, if they would 
 fpeak Latin : fo I fay that the Mufes would 
 fpeak with Shakefpeares fine filed phrafe, if 
 they would fpeake Englifh. 
 
 # # * * 
 As Ovid faith of his worke ; 
 
 Javiq. opus exegi, quod nee yovis ira, nee ignis^ 
 Nee poterit ferrum, uee edax aholere vetujlas. 
 
 And as Horace faith of his; Exegi monu- 
 mentu are perennius ; Regaliq ; fitu pyramidu 
 altius ; Quod non imber edax; Non Aquilo 
 impotens poffit diruere; aut innumerabilis 
 annorum feries &-'c fuga temporum : fo fay 
 I feverally of fir Philip Sidneys, Spencers 
 Daniels, Draytons, Shakefpeares, and Warners 
 
 workes ; 
 
 # # * * 
 
 As Pindarus, Anacreon and Callimachus 
 among the Greekes ; and Horace and Catullus 
 among the Latines are the befl Lyrick Poets : 
 fo in this faculty the bell amog our Poets are 
 Spencer (who excelleth in all kinds) Daniel, 
 Drayton, Shakefpeare, Bretto. 
 
 As fo thefe are our befl for 
 
 Tragedie, the Lorde Buckhurjl, Dodlor Leg of 
 Cambridge, Dodlor Edes of Oxforde, mailler 
 Edward Ferris, the Authour of the LfG^ovse: 
 Mirrour for Magi/lrates, Marlow, Peek, 
 
IP'atfoti, Kid, Shakefpeare, Drayton, Chapman, 
 Decker, and Bmjamin Johnfon. 
 
 # # * * 
 
 . . . fo the befl for Comedy amongft us bee, 
 Edward Earle of Oxforde, Do<ftor Gager of 
 Oxforde, Maifter Rowley once a rare SchoUer 
 of learned Pembrooke Hall in Cambridge, 
 Maifter Edwardes one of her Majefties 
 Chappell, eloquent and wittie John Lilly, 
 Lodge, Gafcoyne, Greene, Shakefpeare, Thomas 
 Najh, Tho7nas Heywood, Anthony Mundye 
 our beft plotter, Chapman, Porter, Wilfon, 
 Hathway, and Henry Chef tie. 
 
 * * « * 
 
 . . . fo thefe are the moft paffionate among 
 us to bewaile and bemoane the perplexities 
 of Love, Henrie Howard Earle of Surrey, 
 fir Thomas Wyat the elder, fir Francis Brian, 
 fir Philip Sidney, fir Walter Rawley, fir 
 Edward Dyer, Spencer, Daniel, Drayton, 
 Shakefpeare, Whetjlone, Gafcoyne, Saniuell 
 Page fometimes fellowe of Corpus Chrijli 
 Colledge in Oxford, Churchyard, Bretton. 
 
 Palladis Tamia. Wits Treafury, Being the 
 Second part of Wits Common wealth. 1598. 
 [i2mo.] Fols. 280, 281-2, 282, 283, 284. 
 
28 
 
 R[OBERT] T[OFTE], 1598. 
 
 OVES labour loll I once did fee, a 
 play 
 Y-cleped fo, fo called to my paine. 
 Which I to heare to my fmall joy did flay, 
 Giving attendance to my froward dame : 
 My mifgiving mind prefaging to me ill, 
 Yet was I drawne to fee it 'gainfl my will. 
 * # * * 
 
 Each adlor plaid in cunning wife his part, 
 But chiefly thofe entrapt in Cupid's fnare; 
 Yet all was fained, 'twas not from the hart. 
 They feeme[d] to grieve, but yet they felt no 
 care: 
 'Twas I that griefe indeed did beare in 
 
 brefl. 
 The others did but make a fhew in jefl. 
 
 The Months Minde of a melancholy Lover, 
 divided into three parts. By R. T. gentle- 
 man. 1598. \_\2tno.\ 
 
29 
 
 RICHARD BARNEFIELD, 1598. 
 A Remembrance of fome Englifh Poets. 
 I V E Spmfer ever in \\\y Fairy Queene; 
 
 Whofe like (for deepe Conceit) was 
 never feene. 
 Crownd mayfl, thou bee, unto thy more re- 
 
 nowne, 
 (As King of Poets) with a Lawrell Crowne. 
 
 And ZJawzV/Zipraifed for thy fweet-chafl Verfe : 
 Whofe Fame is grav'd on Rofamonds blacke 
 
 Herfe. 
 Still mayfl. thou live : and flill be honored 
 For that rare Worke, The White Rofe and the 
 
 Red. 
 
 And Drayton, whofe wel-written Tragedies, 
 And fweete Epiflles, foare thy fame to ikies. 
 Thy karngd Name, is sequall with the reft; 
 Whofe flately Numbers are fo well addreft.. 
 
 And Shakefpeare thou, whofe hony-flowing 
 
 Vaine, 
 (Pleafmg the World) thy Praifes doth obtaine. 
 Whofe Venus and whofe Lucrece (fweete, and 
 
 chafle) 
 Thy Name in fames immortall Booke have 
 plac't. 
 
 Live ever you, at leaft in Fame live ever : 
 Well may the Bodye dye, but Fame dies 
 never. 
 
 Poems in Divers humors. 
 Trahit fua qiiemque voluptas. Virgil. 
 1598. [4/<7.] 
 
0^ 
 
 3° 
 JOHN MARSTON, 1598. 
 
 HALL, a hall, 
 Roome for the fpheres, the orbs 
 celeftiall 
 Will daunce Kemps jigge ; they' le revel with 
 
 neate jumps ; 
 A worthy poet hath put on their pumps. 
 
 * * # # 
 
 Lufcus, what's plaid to day? Faith now I 
 
 know 
 I fet thy lips abroach, from whence doth 
 
 flowe 
 Naught but pure JuHet and Romeo. 
 Say who adls beft 1 Drufus or Rofcio 1 
 Now I have him, that nere of ought did fpeake 
 But when of playes or players he did treat — 
 Hath made a commonplace booke out of 
 
 playes, 
 And fpeaks in print: at leall what ere he 
 
 faies 
 Is warranted by curtaine plaudities. 
 If ere you heard him courting Lefbias eyes, 
 Say (curteous fir), fpeakes he not movingly, 
 From out fome new pathetique tragedy 1 
 He writes, he railes, he jefls, he courts (what 
 
 not?) 
 And all from out his huge long fcraped (lock 
 Of well-penn'd Plays. 
 
 ne Scourge of Villanie. 1599. Satire w. 
 (Humours. ) 
 
31 
 
 JOHN MARSTON, 1598. 
 
 M A N, a man, a kingdome for a man, ! 
 Why, how now, currifti, man Athe- 
 nian? 
 Thou Cynick dog, fee'ft not the flreets do 
 
 fwarme 
 With troups of men 1 
 
 The Scourge of Villanie. 1599. Satire "J. (A 
 Cynicke Satyre. ) 
 
\ \ 
 
 32 
 
 JOHN MARSTON, 1607. 
 
 A he mount [s] Chirall on the wings 
 of fame. 
 A horfe, a horfe, my kingdom for 
 a horfe, 
 Looke the I fpeake play fcrappes. 
 
 What You Will. Ad ii, Sc. I. 1607. [4/tf.] 
 
33 
 
 J. M., 1600. 
 
 HO hath a lovinge wife and loves 
 her not, 
 He is no better than a witleffe fotte ; 
 Let fuch have wives to recompenfe their 
 
 merite, 
 Even Menelaus forked face inherite. 
 Is love in wives good, not in hufbands too 1 
 Why doe men fweare they love then when 
 
 they wooe 1 
 It feemes tis true that W. S. faid, 
 When once he heard one courting of a 
 
 mayde, — 
 Beleeve not thou mens fayned flatteryes, 
 Lovers will tell a bufhell-fuU of lyes ! 
 
 The Newe Metamorphofis, or a Feajte of Faiicie, 
 or Poeticall Legendes. 1600. \i^or\ 
 
34 
 
 i6oo. Circa. 
 
 UT ere I farre did goe 
 
 I flunge y^ darts of wounding 
 poetrie 
 Thefe two or three fharpe curfes backe. 
 
 May he 
 Be by his father in his (ludy tooke, 
 At Shakefpeare's Playes inflead of the L'' 
 Cooke. 
 
 A Poetical Revenge. From the manufcrift 
 colkilwn of Clement Paman. 
 
 Printed in Notes and Queries, 2nd S., viii. 
 285. 
 
35 
 JOHN MANNINGHAM, 1601. 
 T our feaft. wee had a play called 
 
 " Twelue Night, or What you Will," 
 much like the Commedy of Errores, 
 or Menechmi in Plautus, but moll like and 
 neere to that in Italian called higanni. A 
 good practife in it to make the Steward be- 
 leeve his Lady widdowe was in love with 
 him, by counterfeyting a letter as from his 
 Lady in generall termes, telling him what fhee 
 liked befl in him, and prefcribing his geflure 
 in fmiling, his apparaile, &c., and then when 
 he came to pradlife making him beleeve they 
 
 tooke him to be mad. 
 
 » # * * 
 
 Vpon a tyme when Burbidge played Richard 
 III. there was a citizen grone foe farr in liking 
 with him, that before fliee went from the play 
 fhee appointed him to come that night unto 
 hir by the name of Richard the Third. Shake- 
 fpeare overhearing their conclufion went 
 before, was intertained and at his game ere 
 Burbidge came. Then meffage being brought 
 that Richard the Third was at the dore, 
 Shakefpeare caufed returne to be made that 
 William the Conqueror was before Richard 
 the Third. Shakefpeare's name William. 
 (Mr. Toufe?) 
 
 Diary of John ManningJiam, of the Middle 
 Temple, and of Bradbourne, Kait, Bar- 
 rifler-at-Law, 1602-1603. Edited from 
 the originall manufcript by fohn Bruce, 
 Efq. 
 1868. i^o.'\ p. 18 (Febr. 1601) and p. 39. 
 
36 
 
 BEN JONSON, IS9S-6. 
 
 O make a child now fwaddled, to 
 proceed 
 Man, and then fhoot up, in one 
 
 beard and weed. 
 Pail threefcore years; or, with three rufly 
 
 fwords. 
 And help of fome few foot and half-foot 
 
 words, 
 Fight over York and Lancaller's long jars, 
 And in the tyring-houfe bring wounds to fears. 
 The rather prays you will be pleas'd to fee 
 One fuch to-day, as other plays fhou'd be ; 
 Where neither chorus wafts you o'er the feas, 
 Nor creaking throne comes down the boys to 
 
 pleafe : 
 
 Every Man in his Humour. 1603. [/(/c. ] 
 Prologue. 
 
37 
 
 BEN JONSON, 1600. 
 
 HARRY, I will not do as Plautus in 
 his Amphytrio, for all this, fumnii 
 Jovis caiifa plaudite; beg a plaudite 
 for God's fake ; but if you, out of the bounty 
 of your good-liking, will beflow it, why you 
 may in time make lean Macilente as fat as 
 Sir John Falftafif. 
 
 Every Man out of his Humour. Act v, 
 feene lo. 1600. [4^] 
 
38 
 
 
 W. J., 1601. 
 
 DARE here fpeake it, and my fpeach 
 
 mayntayne, 
 
 That Sir John Falftaffe was not any 
 
 way 
 
 More groffe in body, then you are in brayne. 
 
 But whether fhould I (helpe me nowe I pray) 
 
 For your groffe brayne, you like J. Falftaffe 
 
 graunt, 
 Or for fmall wit, fuppofe you John of Gaunt 1 
 
 T%e Whipping of the Satyre. 1 601. \\2mo. 
 Sig. D. 3.] 
 
ill 
 
 39 
 
 1602. 
 
 NGENIOSO. What's thy judgment 
 of * * William Shakefpeare. 
 
 Judicio. Who loves Adonis love, or Lucris 
 
 rape, 
 His fweeter verfe containes hart robbing life. 
 Could but a graver fubjedl him content, 
 Without loves foolifti lazy languifhment. 
 # * * * 
 
 Kemp. Few of the univerfity pen plaies 
 well, they fmell too much of that writer Ovid, 
 and that writer MetamorpJiofis, and talke too 
 much of Proferpina & Juppiter. Why heres 
 our fellow Shakefpeare puts them all downe, 
 I, and Ben Jonfon too. O that Ben Jonfon 
 is a peflilent fellow, he brought up Horace 
 giving the Poets a pill, but our fellow 
 Shakefpeare hath given him a purge that 
 made him beray his credit: 
 
 Burbage. Its a flirewd fellow indeed : 
 
 ■7¥" TT TT" 
 
 Bur. I like your face, and the proportion 
 of your body for Richard the 3. I pray, M. 
 Phil, let me fee you adl a little of it. 
 Philomufus. Now is the winter of our dif- 
 
 content, 
 Made glorious fummer by the fonne of Yorke, 
 
 The Returne from Pernajfus ; or the Scourge 
 of Simony, publiqtiely cufled by the Students 
 in St. John^s College in Cambridge- [in 
 1606.] Aifi i, fc. I ; and Aifl iv, fc. 5. 
 {Anon.\ 1606. \ifo.'\ 
 
4° 
 
 I. C, 1603. 
 
 F Helens rape and Troyes befeiged 
 Towne, 
 Of Troylus faith, and Crefflds falfitie, 
 Oi Rychards&.r2Xz.gQTas for the english crown e, 
 Of Tarquins luft, and Lucrece chaftitie, 
 Of thefe, of none of thefe my mufe now 
 
 treates, 
 Of greater conquefts, warres and loves fhe 
 fpeakes. 
 
 Saint Mary Magdalens Converfion. 1603. 
 [4'".] 
 
41 
 
 JOHN DAVIES OF Hereford, 1603 
 
 ' Stage plaiers. 
 
 OME followed her by 
 *adling all mens parts, 
 Thefe on a stage (he 
 raif'd (in fcorne) to fall; 
 And made them Mirrors, by their 
 afling Arts, 
 Ticef orae^tSS. Wherin men faw their + faults, 
 though ne'r fo fmall: 
 Yet fome (he guerdond not, to 
 t W.S.E.B. their J defarts ; 
 
 But, otherfome, were but ill- 
 
 Adlion all: 
 Who while they acTled ill, ill ftaid 
 
 behinde, 
 (By cuftome of their maners,) in 
 their minde. 
 
 T/ie Civile Warres of Death and Fortune. 
 1603. \sm. ^ivo.^ 
 
42 
 
 JOHN DAVIES OF Hereford, 1603. 
 
 LAYERS, I love yee, and 
 your Qualitie, 
 As ye are Men, thai pafs 
 time not abus'd : 
 d simonidBs And '^fome I love for -^ painting, 
 
 fiiiih, that paint- . /> 
 
 ing is a dumb pOeue, 
 
 Poesy, &Poe- 
 
 '''SalStf^* And fay fell Fortune cannot be 
 
 excus'd, 
 That hath for better ufes you 
 
 refus'd : 
 Wit, Courage, good Jhape, good 
 
 partes, and all good. 
 As long as al thefe goods are no 
 
 worfe us'd, 
 And though the Jiage doth llaine 
 « Roscius was purc gentle bloud, 
 
 said for his ex- x^ D ^ 
 
 qSK/.tSbe Yet ^generous yee are in minde 
 
 only worthle j , 
 
 to come on anu moocle. 
 
 the8ta{;e,and 
 for his hone- 
 sty to be more 
 worthy then to 
 come theron. 
 
 Microcofmos. The Difcmery of the Little 
 World, with the Government thereof. 
 MANILIUS. 
 An mintm est hahitare Deum fub pectore noflro ? 
 Exemplumq ; Dei quisq ; eft fub iinagine parv&. 
 1603. into. p. 215. Ff. 3.] 
 
43 
 
 JOHN DAVIES OF Hereford, i6io. 
 
 To our Englifli Terence, Mr. Will. 
 Shake-fpeare. 
 
 I ^> lOME fay (good Will) which I, in 
 
 ' Had'fl thou not plaid fome Kingly 
 
 parts in fport. 
 Thou hadll bin a companion for a king; 
 And, beene a King among the meaner fort. 
 Some others raile ; but, raile as they thinke fit 
 Thou hafl. no rayling, but a raigning wit : 
 
 And honefly f/iou fow^Jl, which they do 
 reape; 
 
 So, to increafe their stocke which they do 
 keepe. 
 
 Tlie Scourge of Folly, coufifting of Satyricall 
 Epigrafiims and others, ^c. 1611. [8z'o.] 
 
44 
 
 JOHN DAVIES OF Hereford, i6io. 
 
 NOTHER, (ah, Lord helpe) mee 
 vilifies 
 With Art of Love and How to 
 
 fubtihze 
 Making lewd Venus, with etemall Lines, 
 To tye Adonis to her loves defigns : 
 Fine wit is fhew'n therein : but finer 'twere 
 If not attired in fuch a bawdy Geare. 
 But be it as it will : the coyefl. Dames, 
 In private reade it for their Cloffet-games : 
 For, footh to fay, the lines fo draw them on 
 To the venerian fpeculation. 
 That will they, nill they (if of flefh they bee), 
 They will tlaink of it, fdh loofe thought is 
 
 free. 
 
 A Scourge for Paper-Perfecutors, or 
 
 Papers Complaint, compiVd in truthfuU Rimes 
 Againjl the paper-fpoylers of thefe Times. 
 
 1611. \jsfo.\ 
 
45 
 
 SIR WALTER COPE, 1604. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 HAVE fent and bene all thys 
 morning huntyng for players Juglers 
 & Such kinde of Creaturs but fynde 
 them harde to finde, wherfore Leavinge notes 
 for them to feeke me, burbage ys come, & 
 Sayes ther ys no new playe that the quene 
 hath not feene, but they have Revyved an 
 olde one, Cawled Loves Lahore lojl, which 
 for wytt & mirthe he fayes will pleafe her 
 excedingly. And Thys ys apointed to be 
 playd to Morowe night at my Lord of 
 Sowthamptons, unlefs yow fend a wrytt to 
 Remove the Corpus Cum Caufa to your howfe 
 in (Irande. Burbage ys my meffenger Ready 
 attendyng your pleafure. 
 
 Yours mofl, humbly, 
 
 WALTER COPE. 
 
 Letter dated " From your Library" written, ly 
 Sir Walter Cope, addreffed " To the right 
 honorable the Lorde Vycoimt Cranborne at 
 the Courte." 
 
 [Endor/ed : 1604, Sir Waller Cope to my 
 L07-d.] 
 
 Third Report of the Royal Commiffion of 
 Hiflorical Maniifcripts, 1872. /. 148. 
 
46 
 
 ANTHONY SCOLOKER, 1604.- 
 
 T fliould be like the Never-too-well 
 read Arcadia, where the Profe and 
 Verce (Matter and Words) are hke 
 his Miftreffes eyes, one flill excelling another 
 and without Corivall: or to come home to 
 the vulgars Element, like Friendly Shake 
 fpear^s Tragedies, where the Commedian 
 rides, when the Tragedian ftands on Tip-toe : 
 Faith it (hould pleafe all, like Prince Hamlet. 
 But in fadneffe, then it were to be feared 
 he would runne mad : Infooth I will not be 
 moone-ficke, to pleafe: nor out of my wits 
 though I difpleafed all. 
 
 Daiphanius or the PaJ/lons of Love. 1604. 
 
47 
 
 WILLIAM CAMDEN, 1605. 
 
 HESE may fuffice for fome Poeticall 
 defcriptions of our ancient Poets; 
 if I would come to our time, what 
 a world could I prefent to you out of Sir 
 Philip Sidney, Ed. Spencer, John Owen, Samuel 
 Daniel, Hugh Holland, Ben. Johnfoti, Thomas 
 Champion, Mich. Drayton, George Chapman, 
 John Marjlon, William Shakefpeare, and 
 other moft pregnant wits of thefe our times, 
 whom fucceeding ages may juflly admire. 
 
 Reinaines concerning Britaine. 1605. [4/c.] 
 (Poems. ) 
 
48 
 
 i6o6. Circa. 
 
 gET thee to London, for, if one man 
 were dead, they will have much 
 need of fuch as thou art: there 
 would be none in my opinion fitter than 
 thyfelf to play his parts. My conceit is fuch 
 of thee, that I durft. all the money in my purfe 
 on thy head to play Hamlet with him for a 
 wager. * * * When thou feelefl thy purfe 
 well lined, buy thee fome place of lordfliip in 
 the country, that growing weary of playing, 
 thy money may there bring thee to high 
 dignity and reputation * * * for, I have 
 heard indeed of some that have gone to 
 London very meanly, and have come in 
 time to be exceedingly wealthy. * 
 
 Ratfeis Ghoji, or the Second Part of his madde 
 Prankes and Robberies. \n.d, 4to. ] 
 
49 
 
 GEORGE PEELE, 1607. 
 How he ferved a Tapfler. 
 
 EORGE was making merry with 
 three or foure of his friends in Pye- 
 corner; where the Tapfler of the 
 houfe was much given to Poetrie ; for he had 
 ingroffed The Knight of the Sunne, Ve7tus 
 and Adonis, and other Pamphlets which the 
 Stripling had colle6led together; 
 
 Mcrrie Conceited Jejls of George Peele: 1607. 
 [1627, /. 27.] 
 
5° 
 
 WILLIAM BARKSTEAD, 1607. 
 
 UT flay my mufe ! in thine owne 
 confines keepe, 
 & wage not warre with fo deere 
 lov'd a neighbor. 
 But having fung thy day fong reft and fleepe 
 preferve thy fmall fame and his greater 
 favor : 
 His fong was worthie merrit {Shakfpeare hee) 
 sung the faire bloffome, thou the withered 
 tree 
 Laurell is due to him, his art and wit 
 
 hath purchast it, Cyprefs thy brow will fit. 
 
 Mirrka, the Mother of Adonis ; or Lujles 
 Prodigies. 1607. [4/0. Last verse.] 
 
51 
 
 LEWIS MACHIN, 1608. 
 
 \E LOURS. This is his chamber, 
 let's enter, here's his clerk. 
 Procedent. Fondling, /aid /he, fince 
 
 I have hemmed thee here. 
 Within the circuit of this ivory pale. 
 
 Draf. I pray you, fir, help us to the fpeech 
 of your mailer. 
 
 Precedent. /'// ie a park, a?td thou /halt 
 be my deer: 
 He is very bufy in his fludy. 
 Feed where thou wilt, in mountain or in dale ; 
 Stay awhile, he will come out anon. 
 Graze on my lips, and when thofe mounts are 
 
 dry, 
 Stray lower, where the pleaf ant fountains lie. 
 Go thy way, thou beft book in the world ! 
 
 Velours. I pray you, sir, what book do 
 you read ? 
 
 Precedent. A book that never an orator's 
 clerk in this kingdom but is beholden unto ; 
 it is called Maid's Philofophy, or Venus and 
 Adonis. Look you, gentlemen, I have divers 
 other pretty books. 
 
 Drap. You are very well flor'd, fir ; but I 
 hope your mafler will not flay long. 
 
 Precedent. No, he will come prefently. 
 
52 
 
 Enter Mediant. 
 
 Velours. Whom have we here ? another 
 client fure, crows flock to carcaffes: O 'tis 
 the lord Mechant. 
 
 Mechant. Save you, gentlemen ; fir, is your 
 mafler at any leifiire ? 
 
 Precedent. Here, fit thee down where never 
 ferpmt hiffes, 
 And being fet, P II /mother thee with kiffes. 
 His bufineffes yet are many, you mud needs 
 attend a while. 
 
 The Dumb Knight. 1608. [4A?.] 
 
S3 
 
 THOMAS HEYWOOD, 1607. 
 
 O WDL E R. Why then, have at her ! 
 "Fondling, I fay, fince I haveheinm'd 
 thee here, 
 Within the circle of this ivory pale, 
 
 I'll be a park " 
 
 Moll. Hands off, fond Sir ! 
 
 Bawdier. " and thou fhalt be my deer. 
 
 Feed thou on me, and I will feed on thee ; 
 And love (hall feed us both." 
 Moll Feed you on woodcocks; I can fafl 
 
 awhile. 
 Bawdier. " Vouchfafe, thou wonder, to alight 
 
 thy deed." 
 Cripple. Take heed, fhe's not on horfeback. 
 Bawdier. Why, then fhe is alighted. 
 " Come, fit thee down, where never ferpent 
 hiffes ; 
 And, being fet, I'll fmother thee with kiffes." 
 
 The Fair Maid of the Exchange. 1607. [4/0.] 
 
54 
 
 THOMAS HEYWOOD, 1612. 
 
 ERE likewife, I mufl necessarily 
 infert a manifefl. injury done me 
 in that worke, by taking the two 
 Epiilles of Paris to Helen, and Helen to 
 Paris, and printing them in a leffe volume, 
 under the name of another, which may put 
 the world in opinion I might fteale them 
 from him; and hee, to doe himfelfe right, 
 hath fmce publifhed them in his owne name : 
 but as I muft acknowledge my lines not 
 worthy his patronage under whom he hath 
 publifht them, fo the author I know much 
 offended with M. Jaggard that (altogether 
 unknowne to him) prefumed to make fo 
 bold with his name. 
 
 for Acflors. l6l2. Epijlle ^^to my 
 approved friend, Mr. Nicholas Okes." 
 
55 
 
 THOMAS THORPE, 1609. 
 
 TO . THE . ONLIE . BEGETTER . OF. 
 
 THESE . INSVING . SONNETS. 
 
 M--. W. H. ALL . HAPPINESSE. 
 
 AND . THAT . ETERNITIE. 
 
 PROMISED. 
 
 BY. 
 
 OVR . EVER-LIVING POET. 
 
 WISHETH. 
 
 THE . WELL-WISHING . 
 
 ADVENTVRER . IN . 
 
 SETTING. 
 
 FORTH. 
 
 T. T. 
 
 Shakespeare's Sonnets. 1609. [4/0.] Dedication. 
 
56 
 
 1609. 
 
 A iiever Writer to an ever Reader. Newes. 
 
 TERNALL reader, you have heere 
 a new play, never flal'd with the 
 Stage, never clapper-clawd with the 
 palmes of the vulgar, and yet paffing full of 
 the palme comicall ; for it is a book of 
 your braine, that never undertooke any'^'"^^ 
 thing commicall vainely : and were but the 
 vaine names of Commedies changde for the 
 titles of commodities, or of Playes for Pleas, 
 you fhould fee all thofe grand cenfors, that now 
 flile them fuch vanities, flock to them for the 
 maine grace of their gravities ; efpecially this 
 author's Commedies, that are fo grain' d'^""'"'^' 
 to the life, that they ferve for the mofl. com- 
 mon Commentaries of all the aflions of our 
 lives, fhewing fuch a dexteritie and power of 
 witte, that the mofl, difpleafed with Playes 
 are pleafd with his Commedies. And all fuch 
 dull and heavy-witted worldlings, as were 
 never capable of the witte of a Commedie, 
 comming by report of them to his reprefen- 
 tations, have found that witte there that they 
 never found in themfelves, and have parted 
 better-witted than they came ; feeling an 
 edge of witte fet upon them, more then ever 
 
57 
 
 they dream'd they had braine to grounde it 
 on. So much and fuch favoured fait of witte 
 is in his Commedies, that they feeme (for 
 their height of pleafure) to be borne in that fea 
 that brought forth Venus. Amongft^'^™'^*^''""* 
 all there is none more witty then this : And 
 had I time I would comment upon it, though 
 I know it needs not, (for fo much as will 
 make you thinke your tefleme well beflowd) 
 but for fo much worth, as even poore I know 
 to be fluft in it. It deferves fuch a labour, 
 as well as the befl Commedie in Terence or 
 Plautus. And beleeve this, that when hee is 
 gone, and his Commedies out of fale, you 
 will fcramble for them, and fet up a new 
 English Inquifition. Take this for a warn- 
 ing, and, at the perrill of your pleafure's loffe, 
 and Judgments, refufe not, nor like this the 
 leffe for not being fullied with the fmoaky 
 breath of the multitude; but thanke fortune 
 for the fcape it hath made amongfl you. 
 Since by the grand poffeffors wills, I beleeve, 
 you fhould have prayd for them rather then 
 been prayd. And fo I leave all fuch to bee 
 prayd for (for the Hates of their wits healths) 
 that will not praife it. — Vale. 
 
 Address prefixed to fome copies of Troilus and 
 CreJJida. 1609. [^Firjt 4(0.'} 
 
58 
 
 1609. 
 
 MAZ'D I flood, to fee a crowd 
 Of civil throats ftretched out fo loud ; 
 As at a new play all the rooms 
 
 Did fwarm with gentles mixt with grooms, 
 
 So that I truly thought all thefe 
 
 Came to fee Shore or Pericles. 
 
 Pimlyco or Run Red-cap. Tis a mad world 
 at Hogsdoti. 1609. [4fo.] 
 
59 
 
 HANS JACOB WURMSSER VON 
 VENDENHEYM, April 30, 1610. 
 
 E. alia au Globe, lieu ordinaire ou 
 
 Ton joue les Commedies ; y fut 
 
 ' represente I'hiftoire du More de 
 
 Venife. 
 
 Manufcripi yournal of His Excellency Louis 
 Frederic, Duke of Wurtemberg-Muvtpel- 
 gard : Reprefentative of the United German 
 Princes to England, Ss'c, in 16 10.- (In 
 the Britifli Mufeum. ) 
 
 See Staunton'' s Edition of Shakefpeare, i860 : 
 Vol. I, p. 689, 6^ Rye's England as feen 
 by Foreigners. 1865. pp. cxii, &= 61. 
 
6o 
 
 JOHN WEBSTER, 1612. 
 
 ETR ACTION is the fworne friend 
 to ignorance : for mine owne part, 
 I have ever truly cheriflit my good 
 opinion of other mens worthy labours, efpe- 
 cially of that full and haightned flile of 
 maifler Chapman, the labor'd and under- 
 (landing workes of maifler Johnfon, the no 
 leffe worthy compofures of the both worthily 
 excellent maifler Beamont and maifler 
 Fletcher; and laflly (without wrong lall to 
 be named), the right happy and copious 
 indullry of m. Shake-fpeare, m. Decker, and 
 m. Heywood, wifliing what I write may be 
 read by their light : protefling that, in the 
 flrength of mine owne judgement, I know 
 thera fo worthy, that though I refl filent in 
 my own worke, yet to mofl of theirs I dare 
 (without flattery) fix that of Martial, 
 — non norunt Hsec monumenta mori. 
 
 The White Devil ; or Vittoria Corombona. 
 1612. [4^.] Dedication (lajl paragraph.) 
 
6i 
 
 [JOSEPH FLETCHER], 1613. 
 
 E di'd indeed not as an aclor dies 
 To die to day, and live again to 
 morrow, 
 
 In fhew to pleafe tiie audience, or difguife 
 The idle habit of inforced forrow : 
 
 The croffe His stage was, and He plaid 
 
 the part 
 Of one that for his friend did pawne his 
 heart. 
 
 His heart he pawn'd, and yet not for His 
 
 friend, 
 For who was friend to Him, or who did love 
 
 Him 1 
 But to His deadly foe ; He did extend ^'-''^ 
 His dearefl. blood to them that did reprove 
 Him, 
 For fuch as tooke His life from Him, He 
 
 gave 
 Such life, as by His life they could not 
 have. 
 
 Chrijl^s Bloodie Sweat, or the Sonne of God 
 in His Agouie. 1613. [4<<'.] (Dedicated 
 to William Herbert, third Earl of Fein- 
 broke. ) 
 
 Kepritited by the liev. A. B. Grofart. 1869. 
 p. 177. 
 
62 
 
 K 
 
 BEN JONSON, 1614. 
 
 F there be never a fervant-monfler in 
 the fan-, who can help it, he fays, 
 nor a nell of antiques ! he is loth to 
 make nature afraid in his plays, like thofe 
 that beget tales, tempefls, and fuch like 
 drolleries, to mix his head with other men's 
 heels ; 
 
 Bariholomew Fair. 1614. [4/c ] Indudion. 
 
63 
 THOMAS FREEMAN, 1614. 
 To Mafler William Shakefpeare. 
 HAKESPEARE, that nimble 
 
 Mercury thy brain e, 
 Lulls many hundred Argus -eyes 
 
 afleepe. 
 So fit, for so thou fafhioneft thy vaine, 
 At th' horfe-foote fountain thou has drunk 
 
 full deepe, 
 Vertues or vice the theame to thee all one is : 
 Who loves chafle life, there's Lucrece for a 
 
 teacher : 
 Who lift read lufl. there's Venus and Adonis, 
 True model of the mofl lafcivious leatcher. 
 Befides in plaies thy wit winds like Meander: 
 When needy new-compofers borrow ^wuencei 
 
 more 
 Thence Terence doth from Plautus or '^™™i 
 
 Menander. 
 But to praife thee aright I want thy flore : 
 
 Then let thine owne works thine owne 
 worth upraife 
 
 And help t' adorn thee with deferved 
 Baies. 
 
 Runne and a Great Cajt. 1614. [4/<'.] 
 
 Epigram 92. 
 The Second Bowie. 
 Horat. yocum tantavit is qiibd 
 
 lUecebris erat et grata novitate mo- 
 randus Lector. 
 (The second part of Rubbe and a Gi-eat Cast. 
 1614.) 
 
64 
 
 ROBERT TAYLOR, 1614. 
 
 N D if it prove fo happy as to pleafe, 
 We'll fay 'tis fortunate like Pericles. 
 
 Tfie Hog hath loft his Pearl. 1614. [4/0.] 
 Prdlogue. 
 
65 
 C[HR1ST0PHER] B[ROOKE], 1614. 
 
 Y tongue in firie dragons' fpleene I 
 fleepe, 
 That afls, with accents, cruelty may 
 found ; 
 
 (Part I. St. via.) 
 
 To him that impt my fame with Clio's quill, 
 Whofe niagick raif'd me from oblivion's den ; 
 That writ my florie on the Mufes hill. 
 And with my adlions dignifi'd his pen : 
 He that from Helicon fends many a rill, 
 Whofe nectared veines, are drunke by thirflie 
 men ; 
 
 Crown'd be his flile with fame, his head 
 with bayes ; 
 
 And none detradl, but gratulate his praife. 
 
 (Part 2. St. i.) 
 
 My working head (my counfell's confiflory) 
 Debates how I might raigne,the princes living: 
 
 (Tbid. St. XXV l.) 
 
 The devlifli fury in my brefl entends, 
 In fpite of danger and all oppofite barrs ; 
 To cut this knot the miflick fates conteyne, 
 And set my life and kingdome on this 
 mayne. '*'""' 
 
 (Part 3. St. xxxviii. ) 
 
 The Ghoji of Richard the Third. 
 Expreffmg himfelfe in thefe three Parts. 
 I. His Charailer 2. His Legend 3. His Tragedie 
 Containing more of him than hath been heretofore 
 fhewed : either in Chronicles, Playes, or Poems. 
 Laurea Defedice prabetur nulla. 1614. [4'<'0 
 K 
 
66 
 
 1 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 RICHARD BRATHWAITE, 1615. 
 
 F I had liv'd but in King Richard's 
 days, 
 Who in his heat of paffion, midfl. 
 the force 
 Of his Affailants troubled rnariy waies, 
 Crying A horfe, a kingdome for a horfe, 
 O I then my horfe, which now at livery flayes, 
 Had beene fet free, where now he's forc't to 
 
 fland. 
 And like to fall into the Ofl-ler's hand. 
 
 A strappado for the Divell. Epigrams and 
 Satyres alluding to the time, with divers 
 measures of no lejfe delight, (Upon a Poets 
 Palfrey.) 1615. [Sot.] Quoted by Mr. 
 y. p. Collier in his "Bibliographical and 
 Critical Account,^^ vol. 1, p. 76. 
 
67 
 
 i6is. 
 
 A Purveiour of Tobacco. 
 
 ALL him a Bi^oker of Tobacco, he 
 fcornes the title, hee had rather be 
 tearmed a cogging Merchant. Sir 
 
 John Faljlaffe robb'd with a bottle of Sacke ; 
 
 fo doth hee take mens purfes, with a wicked 
 
 roule of Tobacco at his girdle. 
 
 New and choice cliaradlers: of feverall authors, 
 with the Wife larilten by Syr Thomas Over- 
 burie. 1615. ( Pennltimate page. ) 
 
68 
 
 April 25, 1616. 
 
 Good frend for Iesvs sake forbeare, 
 to digg the dvst encloased heare : 
 Bleste be y man y spares thes stones, 
 And cvrSt be he y moves my bones. 
 
 Infcription on the Tablet aver Shakefpcarc^ s 
 Grave. 
 
<£Iucttiationje^ 
 
 THE FIRST PERIOD 
 
 SHAKESPEARE'S CENTURIE OF PRAYSK. 
 
ELUCIDATIONS. 
 
 Pages 1-2. 
 
 That Shakespeare was the "upstart crow," and 
 one of the purloiners of Greene's pUxmes, is put 
 beyond a doubt by the following considerations : 
 (i) That there was no such a word as Shake-scene 
 (i.e., a tragedian : c.f. Ben Jonson's lines, 
 
 to heare thy Bufkin tread, 
 Aiid fliake a Stage :) 
 
 (2) That the line in italics is a parody on one which 
 is found in The True Tragedie of Richard Duke of 
 
 Yorke, 1595, and also in Shakespeare's Henry VI, 
 Part III, act i, so. 4, viz. ; 
 
 Oh Tygers hart wrapt in a womans hide. 
 
 (3) That Marlowe and Robert Greene were (pro- 
 bably) the joint authors of The two Parts of the 
 Contention and of The True Tragedie, which furnish 
 Parts II & III of Henry VI with \}a.€\x prima stamina, 
 and a considerable number of their lines. 
 
 Shakespeare, as the "upstart crow," seems to be 
 one of those alluded to by "R. B. Gent." in Greene's 
 Funeralls, 1594 [4to], where he writes: 
 
 Greene gave the ground, to all that went before him 
 Nay, more the men that fo eclipft his fame 
 Purloynde his plumes : can they deny the fame ? 
 
72 
 
 The strange terms huddled upon the players by poor 
 Greene are paralleled by what we find in other works 
 of the time : e. g., 
 
 *'Out on thefe puppets, painted images," &c. 
 
 The Scourge of Villanie^ by Thos. Heywood. 
 Sat. VII, 
 
 "more like Players, Butterflies, Baboons, Apes, Anticks, 
 than men." 
 
 Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy, 1621 [4to]. 
 (Ed. 1676, p. 295.) P. 3, sec. 2, memb. 3, 
 subs. 3. 
 
 As to the extract from The Groaf s-worth of. Wit, 
 knowing no edition earlier than that of 1596, we 
 have followed the text of that. A copy is in the 
 library of Mr. Heniy Huth. The British Museum 
 Library has a copy of the edition of 161 7. The two 
 copies in the Bodleian Library are of the editions of 
 1621 and 1629, the former of which, by a very com- 
 mon error of the press, reads " Tygres head," instead 
 of "Tygers) heart." 
 or Tygres ( 
 
 Page 4. 
 
 It is probable that Chettle had more rhyme than 
 reason in calling Shakespeare Melicert. No allusion 
 could have been intended to the story of Palaemon. 
 
 Page 5. 
 
 A mournfull Dittie, Sec. The author unknown. 
 The Green mentioned here is Thomas Green, not 
 the more famous Robert. This ballad is included by 
 Mr. W. Christie-Miller in his List of Black-Letter 
 Ballads and Broadsides, known as the Heber Collec- 
 tion, 1553-1601. It was first published by Mr. J. P. 
 Collier in his Edition of Shakespeare, 1844, vol. i, 
 p. cxciv, note. 
 
73 
 
 Pages 6-7. 
 
 It is hardly possible to follow the paper-war 
 waged between Thomas Nashe and Gabriel Harvey 
 without arriving at the conclusion that the latter is 
 here signalling the rise of Shakespeare as poet and 
 dramatist. If this conclusion be correct, Gabriel 
 Harvey was the first writer who recognized the poetic 
 excellence of our great bard : in fact, the only one 
 who betrays the least consciousness of Shakespeare's 
 singular genius. If the lines of John Davies of 
 Hereford, which we have given among our Supple- 
 mentary Extracts, be held to apply to Shakespeare 
 (and that is Mr. Gerald Massey's view, not ours), 
 the worthy Puritan will be the second writer who 
 discerned Shakespeare's greatness. But, on the other 
 hand, we sometimes find the most extravagant con- 
 temporary praise bestowed upon mere poetasters. 
 
 Page 10. 
 
 That Spenser's stanza on Action really refers to 
 Shakespeare is established by the fact that no other 
 heroic poet (i. e., historical dramatist, or chronicler 
 in heroic verse) had a surname of heroic sound. 
 Jonson, Fuller, and Bancroft have similar allusions 
 to our bard's warlike name. Mr. J. O. Phillipps 
 (Halliwell) remarks that "the lines [of Spenser] 
 seem to apply with equal propriety to Warner": 
 (Life of Shakespeare : 1848: p. 142.) But Warner 
 is not an heroic but a premonitory name. 
 
 Malone's two attempts (Ed. 1821, vol. ii, p. 274) 
 to explain the meaning of Action are equally unfor- 
 tunate. He seems not to have known that 'Atriiav 
 was a Greek proper name, borne, in fact, by the 
 father of Cypselus of Corinth, and by two famous 
 artists. It should be written Action, and pronounced 
 
74 
 
 (like Tiresias in Milton) with accents on the first and 
 last syllables. Its root is surely deroc, an eagle ; and 
 is, therefore, appropriate to one of "high thoughts'' 
 and heroic invention. 
 
 Pages 12-17. 
 
 Henry Willobie's W. S. is referred to Shakespeare 
 on two distinct grounds : (i) Because W. S. appears 
 in this "imaginary conversation" as a standard 
 authority on Love ; and assuredly Shakespeare was 
 iAe amatory poet of the day, and, to judge by his 
 Sonnets, "had tried the curtesy of the like passion,'' 
 and had come unscathed out of the ordeal ; (2) 
 Because it is said that this W. S. "in vewing the 
 course of this loving Comedy determined to see 
 whether it would sort to a happier end /or this new 
 actor, then it did for the old player," with other 
 theatrical imagery specially applicable to a player 
 and dramatist. Assuredly, no other contemporary 
 poet of the same initials, whether lyrist or dramatist 
 (and five or six might be named), had any claim to 
 this distinction. 
 
 Page 18. 
 
 This Epiccdium is of unknown authorship. The 
 lines — 
 
 " You that have writ of chafte Lucretia, 
 Whofe death was witnefs of her fpotleffe life ; " 
 
 seem to refer to Shakespeare's poem. The line — 
 
 "Hither unto your home dire6t your eies" 
 
 recals two lines in Lycidas ; where, by the way, 
 Milton implicitly compares Lycidas with Melicert 
 (Palsemon), invoking the dolphins to waft his body 
 into port. 
 
75 
 
 In Brydges' Restituta this poem is subscribed W. 
 Hai-. We have adopted a conjecture of Mr. W. B. 
 Rye, that these letters stand for Sir Wilham Harbert. 
 
 Page 19. 
 This passage from Drayton's Matilda is only in the 
 first edition, that of 1594. Shakespeare's Rape of 
 Lucrece was published in that year. Heywood's 
 drama, so named, did not appear till 1608. The 
 second line seems to imply a dramatic representation : 
 and, in confirmation of this view, we find almost the 
 same words in Drayton's Mistress Shore to Ed. V: 
 
 Or paffionate Tragedian, in his rage 
 Adting a Love-fick Pafiion on the Stage. 
 
 Page 20. 
 On the Grenville copy of Polimanteia, 1592, Sig. 
 R. 2, is a pencil note, in the well-known handwriting 
 of Mr. J. P. Collier, which runs thus: "Q if the 
 notice of Shakespeare in this book be not the 
 oldest known." This query must have been long ago 
 answered in the negative by the querist himself. Mr. 
 C. Elliot Browne, in a note on the side-note (Notes 
 and Queries, 4th S. xi. 378), falls into the same eiTor. 
 Shakespeare's name occurs in a work printed in I594- 
 The construction of the side-note is not (as Mr. 
 Halliwell read it in his Life of Shakespeare: 1848 : 
 p. 159) that "all pmise worthy Lucretia [of] sweet 
 Shakespeare," but that "All-praiseworthy [is the] 
 Lucretia [of] sweet Shakespeare." In fact the epithet 
 is used just above of Du Bartas ; and Spenser applies 
 it to nine of his heroines in Colin Clout's come home 
 again. Mr. C. E. Browne would also identify "Wat- 
 son's heyre " with ' ' Sweet Shakespeare, " and give him 
 "Wanton Adonis," as well as "Lucretia." Others 
 contend that the ' ' heyre " was Henry Constable. Prob- 
 ably, it was on the strengtli of this side-note that the 
 
76 
 
 late Rev. N.J. Halpin arrived at the rather hazardous 
 conclusion that Shakespeare -was a member of ' ' one 
 (or perhaps more) of the English Universities." See 
 his Dramatic Unities of Shakespeare, 1849, p. 12, note. 
 
 Page 22. 
 The Editor is indebted to Mr. J. O. Phillipps for 
 this curious epigi-am, which was overlooked by Ma- 
 lone' s continuator ; and had it been received in time, 
 it would have immediately followed A Mourneful 
 Dittie (ante p. 5) to which it refei-s. Malone saw in this 
 epigram an allusion to Englandes Mourning Garment. 
 Though the last, strictly speaking, was "Anon" (ante 
 p. 4), yet the name of "Hen : Clietle " concludes the 
 postscript to The Order and Proceeding of the Funerall, 
 printed with and after Englandes Mourning Garment. 
 
 Page 25-27. 
 Of these extracts from Mere's Palladis Tamia, the 
 second has been repeated ad nauseam, while the other 
 five have been usually ignored. One matter of interest 
 in the second extract is the mention of a play by Shake- 
 speare under the name of Love Labours Wonnc. If 
 this be a superseded or an alternative name for one of 
 those included in our "canon," it is important to 
 identify it, as affording some addition to the scanty 
 evidences on which we have to determine the chrono- 
 logical order of the plays. Farmer identified Love 
 Labours Wonne with AWs well that ends well ; and 
 his dictum has been acquiesced in by all the critics 
 save two. The Rev. Joseph Hunter gave the prefer- 
 ence to The Tempest, which, for his purpose had 
 to be ante- dated some ten or a dozen years ; and Mr. 
 A. E. Brae, in his Collier, Coleridge and Shakespeare, 
 advocates the claims of Mitch ado about Nothing. 
 But as that play was entered on the Stationers' 
 Books on August 23, 1600, Meres could hardly have 
 
77 
 
 referred to it. The language of the first extract from 
 Meres recals two lines in that magnificent eulogy of 
 Poetry, which we believe to be one of Shakespeare's 
 contributions to Ben Jonson's plays. (See our Sup- 
 plaiientary Extracts.) 
 
 But view her in her glorious ornaments, 
 Attired in the majeftie of arte, &c. 
 
 Page 30. 
 The first extract from the eleventh Satire of TVie 
 Scourge of Villanie is a parody on two lines in 
 Romeo and Juliet. 
 
 Capulet. A hall ! a hall ! give room and foot it girls. 
 More light ye knaves. 
 
 "Kemp's jigge'' was one of those diversions, of 
 combined singing and dancing, which were invented 
 and performed by him. (See Dyce's Introduction to 
 Kemp's Nine days wonder, p. xx, and Collier's 
 Memoirs of Actors, pp. 100 — 102.) The "worthy 
 poet" was Sir John Davies, the author of Orchestra 
 or a Poevie on Dauncing, 1596. 
 
 Page 31. 
 The first line in the seventh satire of The Scourge 
 of Villanie is a parody on the well-known line in 
 Shakespeare's King Richard III, literally quoted by 
 Marston in his What you Will. (See p. 32, 1. 3, and 
 p. 66, 1. 5.) Marston also parodies the same line in 
 his Parasitaster, 1606: 
 
 A foole, a foole, my coxcombe for a foole ! 
 where, too, we find another line taken almost literally 
 from Richard III, act i, sc. I : 
 
 Plots ha' you laid, inductions d.ingerous. 
 
 Page 30. 
 In the eleventh satire of The Scourge of Villanie, 
 "Drusus" is Shakespeare, and "Roscio" is the 
 sobriquet of Burbage. This fact convinces Mr, 
 
 M 
 
78 
 
 Gerald Massey that John Davies' epigram entitled 
 Drusus his deere Deere-hunting (No. 50 in T%e 
 Scourge of Folly) was meant to allude to Shake- 
 speare's escapade at Charlecote or Fulbroke. To 
 help his case, however, Mr. Massey has to omit the 
 epigram and to alter its title. ( The Secret Drama of 
 Shakespeare's Sonnets unfolded, 1872 : Supplemental 
 Chapter, p. 40.) 
 
 Shakespeare was called Drusus (by Marston) pro- 
 bably on account of his handsome presence and 
 courtly manners, after Nero Claudius Drusus, a 
 younger brother of the Emperor Tiberius. This vir- 
 tuous prince is described as "free from reserve;" and 
 it is said that "the noble courtesy of his manners was 
 set off by singular beauty of person and dignity of 
 form. He possessed in a high degi-ee the winning 
 quality of always exhibiting towards his friends an 
 even and consistent demeanour, without capricious 
 alternations of familiarity and distance." (See Dr. 
 William Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman 
 Biography, s. n., where we are referred to Tac. Ann. 
 vi, 51 ; & Veil. Pat. iv, 97.) 
 
 Page 33. 
 
 This W. S. must stand for a name which gives two 
 trochees (like William ShakespeSre), and is, pro- 
 bably, identical with the W. S. in Willohie his Avisa, 
 p. 14. It is not wonderful that the concluding couplet 
 is not found in Shakespeare's works, seeing that it is 
 quoted as a conversational impromptu. 
 
 Page 35. 
 
 Mr. J. P. Collier identifies this Italian play with 
 Glinganni Comedia del Sigitor N. S., &c., 1582. 
 See his Further Particulars, 1839, p. 11. 
 
 As to the second extract from Manningham's 
 Diary, if the lady-citizen had such good taste as to 
 
79 
 
 entertain Shakespeare in lieu of Burbage, honi soit qui 
 vial y pense ; for wliat she is represented as doing was 
 in accordance with tlie customs of the day. We read 
 in Micro-cosmographie, 1628, p. 21 (A Player) : 
 
 " The waiting women Spetflators are over-eares in love with 
 him, and Ladies fend for him to adl in their Chambers." 
 
 The "game" referred to by Manningham need'hB.\& 
 been nothing worse than a play-scene. The story is 
 given on the authority of "Mr. Curie," i. e., the Mr. 
 E. Curie whom Manningham so often cites. But the 
 name has been tampered with, to make it appear 
 Toole (or Tooly, the actor). A dark line has been 
 drawn over the top of the C, to suggest a T ; and 
 similar touches are seen in the two succeeding letters. 
 Accordingly Mr. J. P. Collier (Annals of the Stage, 
 &'':■> l> 332, note) gives the name as Tooly. Mr. 
 John Bruce reading the name so touched up, gives it 
 as Tou/e, a name which does occasionally occur in the 
 Diary. He again mistakes tlie name on the next page. 
 
 The same story, in a somewhat different shape, is 
 quoted by Mr. Halliwell from the Saunders Manu- 
 script. (Life of Shakespeare, 1848, p. 196-7, note.) 
 
 Page 36. 
 In the passage from Every Man in his Humour 
 the allusions are to Shakespeare's Henry V and 
 Henry VI. 
 
 Page 37. 
 
 In that from Every Man out of his Humour the 
 allusion is to Shakespeare's Henry IV. 
 
 Page 38. 
 
 Mr. J. P. Collier (New Particulars, Sac, 1836, p. 
 68) remarks on this allusion, "'Small wit' means 
 here weak understanding, which certainly is not a 
 characteristic of Shakespeare's John of Gaunt." But 
 W. J. does not make "small wit" a characteristic of 
 
8o 
 
 John of Gaunt, any more than he makes "gross 
 brain" a characteristic of Sir John Falstaffe. All 
 he does is, with a humorous pun on gross, to suppose 
 a fanciful proportion between the body and the mind_ 
 Page 39-40. 
 
 Judicio's censure on Shakespeare's Poems is reite- 
 rated by John Davies of Hereford : see pp. 39 & 44 ; 
 and justified by Peele, Machin, Hey wood, and Free- 
 man ; see pp. 49, 51-53 and 63. 
 
 If we except such anthologies as England''s Par- 
 nassus, England's Helicon, and Belvedere, all issued 
 in 1600, we may venture on the assertion that these 
 two lines from Richard III constitute the earliest 
 known quotation from Shakespeare. Marston, Machin, 
 and Heywood are all a few years later. (See pp. 38 
 and 54-6.) 
 
 The passage, "O that Ben Jonson is a pestilent 
 fellow; he brought up Horace, giving the poets a 
 pill;'' alludes X.o1oy&QV^% Poetaster, actv, sc. i (1601). 
 (See our Supplementary Extracts.') The subsequent 
 remark, ' ' but our fellow Shakespeare hath given 
 him a purge, that made him beray his credit," is 
 mysterious. Where did our bard put Jonson to his 
 purgation ? Assuredly neither Stephano nor Malvolio 
 could have been a caricature of Jonson, who was 
 neither a sot nor a gull. 
 
 Two editions of The Returne from Parnassus were 
 published in 1606. We have followed the text of the 
 second : the first omits the word "lazy." 
 
 Pages 41 & 42. 
 Just as DiTisus and Roscio are associated by 
 Marston, so here we find W. S. and R. B. in com- 
 pany ; and the text of both passages is sufficiently 
 explicit to show whom Davies had in mind. Pos- 
 sibly, too, in the former he had been thinking of 
 Hamlet's description of the player's vocation. 
 
Page 43. 
 
 The commencing lines may refer to a fact related 
 in a letter from Chamberlaine to Winwood, dated 
 December 18, 1604. 
 
 '* The Tragedy of Gowry, with all the Action and Adlors hath 
 been twice reprefented by the King's Players, with exceeding 
 Concourfe of all forts of People. But whether the matter or 
 manner be not well handled, or that it be thought unht that 
 Princes fliould be played on the Stage in their Life-time, I hear 
 that fome great Councillors are much difpleafed with it, and fo 
 'tis thought fliall be forbidden." (Winwood's Memorials, 1725, 
 ii, 41.) 
 
 Page 44. 
 
 Tile first line here quoted is thus given by Drake 
 in his Shakespeare and his Times, vol. ii, p. 30 : 
 
 Another (ah, harde happe) me vilifies 
 With art of love, &c. 
 
 Page 48. 
 
 In the Second Vzxi oi Raisey s Ghost, too, we find 
 Burbage and Shakespeare associated, as they were by 
 Marston and by Davies : "if one man were dead" 
 identifies the former ; while, "some that have gone 
 to London," &c., unmistakeably points to the latter. 
 The First Part of Ratsey's Ghost is not extant. 
 
 Pages 51-53. 
 
 He5rvvood is quoting stanzas 39th and 3rd of Ve/ius 
 and Adonis; but the lines — 
 
 Feed thou on me, and I will feed on thee. 
 And love Ihall feed us both, 
 
 are not Shakespeare's, but Heywood's parody ; and 
 "Come, sit thee down," is an error for "Here 
 come and sit." Machin also is quoting stanzas 39th 
 and 3rd; and he also misquotes from both: "on 
 dale" should have been "in dale," "when those 
 
82 
 
 mounts are" should have been "if those hills be,'' 
 and "Here sit thee down," is inaccurate. That 
 Shakespeare may have disseminated a first draft of 
 his poem, differing from that known to us, is, per- 
 haps, countenanced by the varia lectiones in the old 
 copies of Shakespeare's Poems : especially considering 
 that we know one stanza of the Rape of Lttcrece 
 (quoted in the Second Period, p. 154) which is not only 
 different, but in a different measure from ours. 
 
 Page 54. 
 
 Heywood here refers to W. Jaggard's second edition, 
 called the third, (1612), of the Passionate Pilgrim. 
 
 Page 55. 
 
 The entry of this edition of the Sonnets in the 
 Stationers' Registers runs thus : 
 
 2nd May, 1609, 
 Tho. Thorpe. A booke called Shakefpeare's Sonnets. 
 
 Page 58. 
 
 The play referred to under the name of "Shore" 
 may be one by Henry Chettle and John Day, circa 
 1598, entitled Jane Shore. It is mentioned by 
 Henslowe in his Diary (1603), Shakespeare Society's 
 Edition, p. 25 1 ; by Beaumont and Fletcher, in The 
 Knight of the Burning Pestle {1613) : 
 
 " I was nere at one of thefe Playes as they fay, before ; but I 
 fhould have feen Jane Shore once," 
 
 and by Christopher Brooke in The Ghost of Richard 
 the Third (His Legend); 
 
 "But now her fame by a vild play doth grow ; '' 
 the play is not extant. 
 
83 
 Page 59. 
 
 It is not improhable that "cosen garmpmbles" in 
 the first quarto (1602) of the Merry Wives of Windsor 
 (called ' ' Cozen-Jermans " in other editions) is a 
 direct reference to Count Mompelgard (in French 
 Montbeliard), Duke of Wurtemberg, whose visit to 
 the Globe Theatre is recorded by his secretary. In 
 fact, Gar-momble is Mombel-gar by metathesis ; 
 and his designation of the Duke as "cosen" is an 
 evident allusion to Queen Elizabeth's letters to him. 
 In the play the plural " cosen garmombles" seems 
 to be a generic term for the suite of the Duke. In 
 the editor's opinion, Mr. W. B. Rye has perfectly 
 identified the allusions in the Introduction of his 
 capital work, Englmid as Seen by Foreigners, 1865, 
 p. Iv ; and a more interesting bit of Shakespearian 
 illustration has never been recovered than the first 
 visit of the Duke to London, Windsor, Maidenhead 
 and Reading, in 1552. 
 
 Page 61. 
 This IS perhaps the most curious allusion to a work 
 of Shakespeare's made during his lifetime : 
 
 "the part 
 Of one that for his friend did pawn his heart" 
 
 was assuredly the part of Antonio, in the Merchant 
 of Venice. 
 
 Page 62. 
 In the extract from the Induction to Bartholomew 
 Fair, the mention of "a servant monster'' recals 
 Caliban in Shakespeare's Tempest; and the expression 
 "to mix his head with other men's heels" recals a 
 scene in that play where Trinculo takes refuge from 
 the storm Under Caliban's gabardine. There can be 
 no doubt, then, that Jonson was alluding to the 
 Tempest. 
 
84 
 
 Page 65-66. 
 
 Besides the direct allusion to the play of Richard 
 III, in Christopher Brooke's poem, there are several 
 lines caught from Shakespeare's work. The three 
 most striking are here given. The first refers to 
 these lines in act v, sc. 3 : 
 
 Our ancient word of courage, fair St. George 
 rnfpire us with the fpleen of fiery dragons ! 
 
 The second refers to a line in act ii, sc. 2 : 
 
 My other felf, my counfel's confiftory. 
 
 The third refers to these lines in act v, sc. 4 : 
 
 Slave, 1 have fet my life upon a cail:. 
 And I will Hand the hazard of the die. 
 
 Page 67. 
 
 This curious passage is taken from the Edition of 
 1615, a copy of which has been recently acquired by 
 the British Museum. The "characters" were then 
 first added to Sir Thomas Overburie's Wife. It is 
 not in the 7th edition, the first of the five which 
 were published in 1616 : but it is in the Bodleian 
 copy of that date. From 1616 to 1665 nine editions 
 were published ; a. copy of each is in the British 
 Museum ; but the "Purveionr of Tobacco'' does not 
 occur in any of them. 
 
 Page 68. 
 
 The inscription on Shakespeare's grave-stone is 
 feebly parodied in the Apology prefixed to Graves' 
 Spiritual Quixote: (Ed. 1783. Vol. i, p. xi.) 
 
 CORRECTIONS. 
 
 P. 8, 1. 8, for "Steeven's" read Steeven^. 
 
 P. 35, 1. 28, for " TouseV read Curie. 
 
 P. 36, 1. 17, for *• 1603 " read 1601. 
 
 P. 38, 1. 10, for "suppofe" read suppofe. 
 
SHAKESPEARE'S 
 CENTURIE OF PRAYSE. 
 
 SECOND PERIOD. 
 1617 — 1642. 
 
i6i7 — 1622. 
 
 IvDicio Pylivm, genio Socratem, arte 
 Maronem, 
 Terra tegit, popvlvs MiEREX, Olympvs 
 
 HABET. 
 
 Stay Passenger, why goest thou by so 
 
 FAST? 
 READ IF THOV CANST, WHOM ENVIOVS DEATH 
 
 HATH PLAST, 
 WITH IN THIS MONVMENT ShAKSPEARE WITH 
 
 WHOME 
 QVICK NATVRE DIDE : WHOSE NAME DOTH 
 
 DECK Y ToMBE 
 
 Far more then cost : sieh all, y He '^"™^ 
 
 HATH WRITT, 
 
 Leaves living art, bvt page, to serve 
 
 his WITT. 
 
 obiit ano do' 16 1 6 
 ^tatis, s3- die 23 ap. 
 
 Infcriptions upon the Toilet under ShaJiefpeare' s 
 Bujl, in the Chancel-north-wall of Stratford 
 Church. 
 
88 
 
 BEN JONSON, 1618. 
 
 E faid Shakefpear wanted Art, and 
 fometimes Senfe; for, in one of his 
 plays, he brought in a number of 
 men, faying they had fuffered Ship-wrack in 
 Bohemia, where is no fea near by a 100 miles. 
 
 Heads of a Converfation, etc. Sir Wm. 
 DrumvwndU Works: ( Printed Seleilions). 
 1711. IFo.^ 
 
 His cenfure of the Englifli Poets was this. 
 
 * * * * 
 
 That Shakfpeer wanted arte. 
 
 Certain informations and maners of Ben. 
 Johnfon's to W. Drummond. % HI. 
 Shakefpeare Society's Edition, 1842. 
 
89 
 
 EU. H[OOD], 1620. 
 
 On y° death of y' famous A(flor R. Burbadge. 
 
 EE'S gon and with him what a world 
 are dead. 
 Oft have I feene him leape into a 
 grave 
 Suiting y° perfon (wc" hee us'd to have) 
 Of a mad lover, w*"" fo true an eye, 
 That there I would have fworne hee meant to 
 
 dye. 
 Oft have I feene him play this part in jeft. 
 So lively, y' fpe(flators, and the reft 
 Of his crewes, whilft hee did but feeme to 
 
 bleed. 
 Amazed, thought hee had bene deade indeed. 
 
 Gentleman'' s Magazine : June, 1825. Vol. 95. 
 Pa7-t I, /. 498. 
 
90 
 
 WILLIAM BASSE, 1622. circa. 
 
 On Mr. William Shakefpeare. 
 
 |ENOWNED Spencer lie a thought 
 more nigh 
 To learned Beaumont, and rare 
 
 Beaumont ly 
 A little nearer Chaucer, to make rome 
 For Shakefpeare in your threfold, fourfold 
 
 tombe. 
 To lodge all fouer in one bed make a fhifte 
 Until Domes day, for hardly will [a] fifte 
 Betwixt this day and that by fate bee slaine. 
 For whom the curtains shal bee drawne 
 
 againe. 
 But if Precedencie in death doe barre 
 A fourth place in your facred Sepulcher, 
 In this uncarved marble of thy owne, 
 Sleepe, brave Tragedian, Shakefpeare, fleepe 
 
 alone ; 
 Thy unmolefled rest, unfhared cave, 
 Poffeffe as lord, not tenant, to thy grave, 
 
 That unto others it may counted bee 
 
 Honour hereafter to bee layed by thee. 
 
 Manufcript Colletflion of MifceUaneous Poems, 
 temp. Charles I: printed in FenneWs Shake- 
 fpeare RepofUory. p. 10. 
 
 Donnas Poems. 1633. [4/^, omitting II. 13 
 and 14, and with many variations.l 
 
 (Appended, with many alterations, to Shake- 
 fpeare' s Poems. 1 640. J 
 
91 
 
 JOHN HEMINGE, ) 
 HENRY CONDELL, ) ^ ^^" 
 
 Right Honourable. 
 
 HILST we ftudie to be thankful in 
 our particular, for the many favors 
 we have received from your L. L. 
 we are falne upon the ill fortune, to mingle 
 two the mofl diverfe things that can bee, 
 feare, and ralhneffe; rafhneffe in the enter- 
 prize, and feare of the fucceffe. For, when 
 we valew the places your H. H. fuflaine, we 
 cannot but know their dignity greater, then 
 to defcend to the reading of thefe trifles : and, 
 while we name them trifles, we have depriv'd 
 our felves of the defence of our Dedication. 
 But fmce your L. L. have beene pleas'd to 
 thinke thefe trifles fome-thing, heertofore; 
 and have profequuted both them, and their 
 Authour living, with fo much favour: we 
 hope, that (they out-living him, and he not 
 having the fate, common with fome, to be 
 exequutor to his owne writings) you will ufe 
 the like indulgence toward them, you have 
 done unto their parent. There is a great 
 difference, whether any Booke choofe his 
 
92 
 
 Patrones, or finde them: This hath done 
 both. For, fo much were your L. L. likings 
 of the feverall parts, when they were afled, 
 as before they were pubhfhed, the Volume 
 aflc'd to be yours. We have coUedled them, 
 and done an office to the dead, to procure 
 his Orphanes, Guardians; without ambition 
 either of felfe-profit, or fame : onely to keepe 
 the memory of fo worthy a Friend, & Fellow 
 alive, as was our Shakespeare, by humble 
 offer of his playes, to your mofl. noble patron- 
 age. Wherein, as we have juftly obferved, 
 no man to come neere your L. L. but with a 
 kind of religious addreffe; it hath bin the 
 height of our care, who are the Prefenters, to 
 make the prefent worthy of your H. H. by 
 the perfecflion. But, there we must alfo 
 crave our abilities to be confiderd, my Lords. 
 We cannot go beyond our owne powers. 
 Country hands reach foorth milke, creame, 
 fruites, or what they have : and many Nations 
 (we have heard) that had not gummes & in- 
 cenfe, obtained their requefts with a leaven- 
 ed Cake. It was no fault to approch their 
 Gods, by what meanes they could : And the 
 mofl, though meanefl, of things are made 
 more precious, when they are dedicated to 
 Temples. In that name therefore, we mofl 
 humbly confecrate to your H. H. thefe re- 
 maines of your fervant Shakefpeare; that 
 what delight is in them, may be ever your 
 
93 
 
 L. L. the reputation his, & the faults ours, if 
 any be committed, by a payre fo careful! to 
 fliew their gratitude both to the living, and 
 the dead, as is 
 
 Your Lordjhippes mojl bounden. 
 
 The Epijlle Dedicatorie to William, Earle of 
 Pembroke &• Philip, Earle of Montgomery. 
 (Prefixed to the Firfi Folio Edition of 
 Shakef pearls Works.) 
 
94 
 
 JOHN HEMINGE, 
 HENRIE CONDELL 
 
 I 1623. 
 
 To the great Variety of Readers. 
 
 |R O M the mofl able, to him that can 
 but fpell : There you are number'd. 
 We had rather you were weighd. 
 Efpecially, when the fate of all Bookes de- 
 pends upon your capacities : and not of your 
 heads alone, but of your purfes. Well ! it is 
 now publique, & you wil fland for your privi- 
 ledges wee know : to read, and cenfure. Do 
 fo, but buy it firft. That doth befl. commend 
 a Booke, the Stationer faies. Then, how 
 odde foever your braines be, or your wife- 
 domes, make your licence the fame, and 
 fpare not. Judge your fixe-pen'orth, your 
 fliillings worth, your five fhillings worth at a 
 time, or higher, fo you rife to the juft rates, 
 and welcome. But, what ever you do. Buy. 
 Cenfure will not drive a Trade, or make the 
 Jacke go. And though you be a Magillrate 
 of wit, and fit on the Stage at Black-Friers, 
 or the Cock-pit, to arraigne Playes dailie, 
 know, thefe Playes have had their triall 
 alreadie, and flood out all Appeales; and 
 do now come forth quitted rather by a De- 
 
95 
 
 cree of Court, then any purchas'd Letters of 
 commendation. 
 
 It had bene a thing, we confeffe, worthie 
 to have bene wiflied, that the Author himfelfe 
 had liv'd to have fet forth, and overfeen his 
 owne writings ; But fince it hath bin ordain'd 
 otherwife, and he by death departed from that 
 right, we pray you do not envie his Friends, 
 the office of their care, and paine, to have 
 colledled & publifh'd them; and fo to have 
 publifh'd them, as where (before) you were 
 abus'd with diverfe flolne, and furreptitious 
 copies, maimed, and deformed by the frauds 
 and flealthes of injurious impoflors, that 
 expos'd them : even thofe, are now offer'd 
 to your view cur'd, and perfedl of their limbes ; 
 and all the reft, abfolute in their numbers, as 
 he conceived the. Who, as he was a happie 
 imitator of Nature, was a mod gentle ex- 
 preffer of it. His mind and hand went 
 together: And what he thought, he uttered 
 with that eafmeffe, that wee have fcarfe 
 received from him a blot in his papers. But 
 it is not our province, who onely gather his 
 works, and give them you, to praife him. It 
 is yours that reade him. And there we hope, 
 to your divers capacities, you will finde 
 enough, both to draw, and hold you: for 
 his wit can no more he hid, then it could be 
 loll. Reade him, therefore ; and againe, and 
 againe : And if then you doe not like him, 
 
96 
 
 furely you are in fome manifeft danger, not 
 to underiland him. And fo we leave you 
 to other of his Friends, whom if you ■^'""^ 
 need, can bee your guides : if you neede 
 them not, you can leade your felves, and 
 others. And fuch Readers we wilh him. 
 
 Addrefs prefixed to the Firjl Folio Edition of 
 Shake/pearls Works. 
 
97 
 
 B[EN] J[ONSON], 1623. 
 To the Reader. 
 
 HIS Figure, that thou here feefl. put, 
 It was for gentle Shakefpeare cut ; 
 Wherein the Graver had a flrife 
 with Nature, to out-doo the Ufe : 
 O, could he but have drawne his wit 
 
 As well in braffe, as he hath hit 
 His face ; the Print would then furpaffe 
 
 All, that was ever writ in braffe. 
 But, fince he cannot, Reader, looke 
 Not on his Pi(5lure, but his Booke. 
 
 Facing Droejliouf s portrait of Shakefpeare 
 prefixed to the Firfl Folio Edition of his 
 Works. 
 
98 
 
 BEN JONSON, 1623. 
 
 To the memory of my beloved, the Author 
 
 Mr. William Shakespeare: 
 
 and what he hath left us. 
 
 O draw no envy (Shakefpeare) on thy 
 name, 
 Am I thus ample to thy Booke, and 
 Fame: 
 While I confeffe thy writings to be fuch, 
 As neither Man, nor Mufe, can praife too 
 much. 
 'Tis true, and all mens fufFrage. But thefe 
 wayes 
 Were not the paths I meant unto thy praife : 
 For feeliefl Ignorance on thefe may light, 
 Which, when it founds at bed, but eccho's 
 right ; 
 Or blinde Affection, which doth ne're advance 
 The truth, but gropes, and urgeth all by 
 chance ; 
 Or crafty Malice, might pretend this praife. 
 And thinke to ruine, where it feem'd to 
 raife. 
 Thefe are, as fome infamous Baud, or Whore, 
 Should praife a Matron. What could hurt 
 her more ? 
 But thou art proofe againfl. them, and, indeed 
 Above th' ill fortune of them, or the need. 
 
99 
 
 I, therefore will begin. Soule of the Age ! 
 
 The applaufe ! delight ! the wonder of our 
 Stage ! 
 My Shakefpeare, rife ; I will not lodge thee by 
 
 Chaucer, or Spenfer, or bid Beaumont lye 
 A little further, to make thee a roome : 
 
 Thou art a Moniment, without a tombe, 
 And art alive flill, while thy Booke doth live, 
 
 And we have wits to read, and praife to give. 
 That I not mixe thee fo, my braine excufes ; 
 
 I meane with great, but difproportion'd 
 Mufes : 
 For, if I thought my judgement were of yeeres, 
 
 I fliould commit thee furely with thy peeres, 
 And tell, how farre thou didll our Lily out- 
 
 fhine, 
 Or fporting Kid, or Marlowes mighty line. 
 And though thou hadft fmall Latine, and leffe 
 Greeke, 
 
 From thence to honour thee,I would not feeke 
 For names; but call forth thund'ring y£fchilus, 
 
 Euripides, and Sophocles to us, 
 Pcucuvius, Accius, him of Cordova dead, 
 
 To life againe, to heare thy Bufkin tread, 
 And fliake a Stage: Or, when thy Sockes 
 were on, 
 
 Leave thee alone, for the comparifon 
 Of all, that infolent Greece, or haughtie Rome 
 
 fent forth, or fince did from their alhes come. 
 
Triumph, my Britaine, thou haft, one to 
 (howe, 
 
 To whom all Scenes of JEurqpelioraa.ge owe. 
 He was not of an age, tut for all time ! 
 
 And all the Mufes ftill were in their prime, 
 When like Apollo he came forth to warme 
 
 Our eares, or like a Mercury to channel 
 Nature her felfe was proud of his defignes, 
 
 And joy'd to weare the dreffmg of his 
 lines ! 
 Which were fo richly fpun, and woven fo fit, 
 
 As, fmce, Ihe will vouchfafe no other Wit. 
 The merry Greeke, tart Arijiophanes, 
 
 Neat Terence, witty Plautus, now not pleafe ; 
 But antiquated and deferted lye 
 
 As they were not of Natures family. 
 Yet muft. I not give Nature all : Thy Art, 
 
 My gentle Shakefpeare, mufl. enjoy a part. 
 For though the Poets matter. Nature be, 
 
 His Art doth give the fafliion. And, that 
 he. 
 Who cafls to write a Uving line, muft. fweat, 
 
 (fuch as thine are) and ftrike the fecond 
 heat 
 Upon the Mufes anvile : turne the fame, 
 
 (And himfelfe with it) that he thinkes to 
 frame ; 
 Or for the lawrell, he may gaine a fcome. 
 
 For a good Poefs made, as well as borne. 
 
lOI 
 
 And fuch wert thou. I.ooke how the fathers 
 face 
 Lives in his iffue, even fo, the race 
 Of Shakefpeares minde and manners brightly 
 fliines 
 In his well torned, and true-filed lines : 
 In each of which, he feemes to fhake a Lance, 
 
 As brandifh't at the eyes of Ignorance. 
 Sweet Swan of Avon! what a fight it were 
 
 To fee thee in our waters yet appeare, 
 And make thofe flights upon the bankes of 
 Thames, 
 That fo did take Eliza, and ovx James! 
 But ilay, I fee thee in the Hemifphere 
 
 Advanc'd, and made a Conflellation there ! 
 Shine forth, thou Starre oi Poets, and with rage 
 Or influence, chide or cheere the drooping 
 Stage; 
 Which, fmce thy flight fro hence, hath mourn'd 
 like night, 
 And defpaires day, but for thy Volumes 
 light. 
 
 Prefixed to the Fir/i Folio Edition of S/mke- 
 fpear^s Works. 
 
I02 
 
 BEN JONSON, 1625. 
 
 ROLOGUE. We aik no favour from 
 you ; only we would entreat of 
 
 madam Expecflation 
 
 Expefl. What, mafler Prologue? 
 Pro. That your ladyfhip would expedl no 
 more than you underftand. 
 
 Expefl. Sir, I can expedl enough. 
 Pro. I fear, too much, lady; and teach 
 others to do the like. 
 
 Expedl. I can do that too, if I have caufe. 
 Pro. Cry you mercy, you never did wrong, 
 but with jujl caufe. 
 
 Tke Staple 0/ News. 1625. [4^0.] Indttiflion. 
 
I03 
 
 BEN JONSON, 1625 circa. 
 
 De Shakespeai'e 
 nostraf 
 
 espeai 
 ■at 
 
 REMEMBER, the Players have 
 often mentioned it as an honour 
 to Shakefpeare, that in his writing, 
 (whatfoever he penn'd) hee never blotted 
 out line. My anfwer hath beene, would '^"""^ 
 he had blotted a thoufand. Which they 
 thought a malevolent fpeech. I had not 
 told poflerity this, but for their ignorance, 
 who choofe that circumflance to commend 
 their friend by, wherein he mofl faulted. 
 And to juftifie mine owne candor, (for I 
 lov'd the man, and doe honour his memory 
 (on this fide Idolatory) as much as any.) 
 Hee was (indeed) honefl, and of an open, and 
 free nature : had an excellent Phantfie; brave 
 notions, and gentle expreffions : wherein hee 
 flow'd with .that facility, that fometime it 
 was neceffary he fhould be flop'd : Sicfflam- 
 inandus erat; as Augujlus faid of Haterius. 
 His wit was in his owne power; would the 
 rule of it had beene fo too. Many times hee 
 fell into thofe things, could not efcape laugh- 
 ter: As when hee faid in the perfon of Ccefar, 
 one fpeaking to him ; Cafar thou dojl me 
 wrong. Hee replyed ; Cmfar did never 
 wrong, but with jujl caufe: and fuch like; 
 
104 
 
 which were ridiculous. But hee redeemed 
 his vices, with his vertues. There was ever 
 more in him to be prayfed, then to be par- 
 doned. 
 
 Timber; or, Difcaveries ; made upon men and 
 tnatter: as they have flow' d out of his daily 
 readings; or had their refluxe to his peculiar 
 Notion of the Time. PVorks: 1640-1. [Fo.] 
 yol. a, pp. 97-98. 
 
I OS 
 
 HUGH HOLLAND, 1623. 
 
 Upon the Lines and Life of the Favious 
 
 Scenicke Poet, 
 
 Mafler William Shakespeare. 
 
 HOSE hands, which you fo clapt, go 
 now, and wring 
 You Britaines brave; for done are 
 
 Shakefpeares dayes : 
 His dayes are done, that made the dainty 
 
 Hayes, 
 Which make the Globe of heav'n and earth 
 
 to ring. 
 Diy'de is that veine, dry'd is the Thefpian 
 
 Spring, 
 Turn'd all to teares, and Phoebus clouds his 
 
 rayes : 
 That corp's, that coffin now beflicke thofe 
 
 bayes. 
 Which crown'd him Poet firft., then Poets 
 
 King. 
 If Tragedies might any Prologue have, 
 All thofe he made, would fcarfe make one to 
 
 this: 
 Where Fame, now that he gone is to the grave 
 (Deaths publique tyring-houfe) the Nuficius is. 
 
 For though his line of life went foone about, 
 
 The life yet of his hnes fhall never out. 
 
 Prefixed to the Firjl Folio Edition of Shake- 
 fpeare's Works. 
 
io6 
 
 I. M., 1623. 
 To the memorie of M.^Sf. Shake-fpeare. 
 
 E E wondred (Shake-fpeare) that thou 
 went'fl. fo foone 
 From the Worlds -Stage, to the 
 Graves -Tyring -roome. 
 Wee thought thee dead, but this thy printed 
 
 worth, 
 Tels thy Spe6lators, that thou went'fl. but 
 
 forth 
 To enter with applaufe. An Adlors Art, 
 Can dye, and Hve, to adle a fecond part. 
 That's but an Exit of Mortalitie ; 
 This, a Re-entrance to a Plaudite. 
 
 Prefixed to the Firjl Folio Edition of Shake- 
 Jpcare's Works. 
 
ROBERT BURTON, 1624. 
 
 HEN Venus ran out to meet her 
 rofe-cheeked Adonis, as an elegant 
 *Poet of ours fet her out, " stok^"!""''^ 
 
 the busies in the way 
 
 Some catch her necke, fome kiffe her face, 
 Some twine about her legs to make herjlay. 
 And all did covet her for to embrace. 
 
 Part 3. Sec. 2. Memb. 2. Subs. i. 
 
 * * * * 
 
 And many times thofe which at the firfl fight 
 cannot fancy or affeft each other, but are 
 harfh and ready to difagree, offended with 
 each others carriage, [like Benedi^ znd Betteris 
 in the *Comedie], and in whom they ' sn-iie-peare. 
 find many faults, by this living together in a 
 houfe, conference, kiffing, colling, and fuch 
 like allurements, begin atlaft. to dote infenfibly 
 one upon another. 
 
 Part. 3. Sec. 2. Memb. 3. Subs. 4. 
 The words in [ ] appear for the first time in the 
 yd Edition, 1628. \^Fo:\ 
 
 * * * * 
 Who ever heard a flory of more woe. 
 Than that of Juliet and her Romeo ? 
 
 Part 3. Sec. 2. Memb. 5. Subs. I. 
 
 The Anatomy of Melancholy, ind Edition. 
 1624. \_Fo.'\ 
 
 ( Other caufes of Love-Melancholy, Cs'c.; Arti- 
 ficial Allurements ; <Sr" Prognqfticks of Love- 
 Melancholy ; pp. 371, 427, &= 380. Edition 
 1676. [/b.] pp. 284, 298, &' 332.) 
 
io8 
 
 RICHARD JAMES, 1625. circa. 
 
 YOUNG gentle ladie of your ac- 
 quaintance, having read the works of 
 Shakefpeare, made me this queftion : 
 How Sir Jhon Falflaife, or Faflolf, as it is 
 written in the ftatute book of Maudlin Col- 
 ledge in Oxford, where everye daye that 
 focietie were bound to make membrie of his 
 foule, could be dead in Harrie the Fifts time 
 and againe live in the time of Harrie the 
 Sixt to be banifht for cowardize ? Whereto I 
 made anfweare that this was one of thofe 
 humours and miflakes for which Plato banifht 
 all poets out of his commonwealth ; that Sir 
 Jhon Falllaffe was in thofe times a noble 
 valiant fouldier, as apeeres by a book in the 
 Heralds Office dedicated unto him by a 
 herald whoe had binne with him, if I well 
 remember, for the fpace of 25 yeeres in the 
 French warsj that he feemes allfo to have 
 binne a man of learning, becaufe, in a librarie 
 at Oxford, I finde a book of dedicating 
 churches fent from him for a prefent unto 
 Bifshop Wainflete, and infcribed with his 
 owne hand. That in Shakefpeare's firll 
 (hewe of Harrie the Fift, the perfon with 
 which he undertook to playe a buffone 
 was not Falllaffe, but Sir Jhon Oldcaflle, 
 
109 
 
 and that offence beinge worthily taken 
 by perfonages defcended from his title, as 
 peradventure by manie others allso whoe 
 ought to have him in honourable memorie, 
 the poet was putt to make an ignorant fliifte 
 of abufing Sir Jhon Falflophe, a man not 
 inferior of vertue, though not fo famous in 
 pietie as the other, whoe gave witnefTe unto 
 the truth of our reformation with a conflant 
 and refolute martyrdom, unto which he was 
 purfued by the priells, bifhops, moncks, and 
 friers of thofe dayes. 
 
 Dedication to Sir Henrye Bourchier, prefixed 
 to The Legend and Defence of the Noble 
 Knight and Martyr Sir Jhon Oldcafile. 
 
 Manufcript in the Bodleian Library, Oxford. 
 Printed by Mr. J. O. Phillipps (Hallmell) 
 in his work, entitled. On the CharaiHer of 
 Sir John Falflaff, as originally exhibited 
 by Shakefpeare in the two farts of King 
 Henry IV. 1841. [12/wc.] 
 
NATHANIEL FIELD. 
 
 doe heare 
 Your Lordfliip this faire morning is 
 to fight, 
 
 And for your honor. Did you ever fee 
 The play where the fat knight, hight Old- 
 
 caflle, 
 Did tell you tniely what this honor was ? 
 
 Amends for Ladies. 1639. [4/ff.] 
 
Ill 
 
 THOMAS ROBINSON, 1630. 
 
 ND when he is merrily difpofed (as 
 that is not feldom) then mufl his 
 darHng Kate Knightly, play him a 
 merry fit, and fifler Mary Brooke, or fome 
 other of his late-come wags, mufl. fmg him 
 one baudy fong or other to digefl his meat. 
 Then after fupper it is ufual for him to reade 
 a little of 'Venus and Adonis,' the 'Jefts of 
 George Peele,' or fome fuch fcurrilous booke ; 
 for there are few idle pamphlets printed in 
 England which he hath not in the houfe. 
 
 The Anatomie of the Englijh Nunnery at 
 
 Li/bon in Portugal: 
 DiCTeiled and laid open by one that was fome- 
 
 time a younger Brother of the Convent, &•€. 
 
 Published by Authority. 1630. [4/c.] 
 
JOHN TAYLOR, the Water Poet, 1630. 
 
 N Paper many a Poet now furvives 
 Or elfe their lines had perifli'd with 
 their lives. 
 
 Old Chaucer, Gower, and Sir Thomas More, 
 Sir Philip Sidney who the Lawrell wore, 
 Spencer, and Shakefpeare did in Art excel!, 
 Sir Edward Dyer, Greene, Nafli, Daniel, 
 Silvefler, Beaumont, Sir John Harington, 
 Forgetfulneffe their workes would over run. 
 But that in Paper they immortally 
 Doe live in fpight of Death, and cannot dye. 
 
 The Praife of Hemp feed. Works Hi, 1630, 
 p. 72. \Fo.-\ 
 
"3 
 
 JOHN TAYLOR, the Water Poet, 1630. 
 
 ND to conclude, fir Bevis, Afcapart, 
 Gog-magog, or our Englifli fir John 
 Faljlaff, were but fhrimps to this 
 buzzeling Bombards longitude, latitude, alti- 
 tude, and crafTitude, for he paffes, and furpaffes 
 the whole Germane multitude. 
 
 I am no fooner eafed of him, but Gregory 
 Gandergoofe, an Alderman of Gotham, catches 
 me by the goll, demanding if Bohemia be a 
 great Towne, and whether there bee any 
 meate in it, and whether the lafl fleet of fhips 
 be arrived there : 
 
 Taylor's Travels. Works Hi, 1630, //. 80 
 &' 90. [Fo.] 
 
'14 
 JOHN MILTON, 1630. 
 
 An Epitaph on the admirable Dramaticke Poet, 
 W. Shakespeare. 
 
 ]HAT neede my Shakefpeare for his 
 honour'd bones. 
 The labour of an Age, in piled 
 Hones 
 Or that his hallow'd Reliques fhould be hid 
 Under a flarre-ypointing Pyramid % 
 Dear Sonne of Memory, great Heire of Fame, 
 What needfl Thou fuch dull witneffe of thy 
 
 Name? 
 Thou in our wonder and aftonifhment 
 Haft built thy felf a lafting Monument : 
 For whil'ft to th' fhame of flow-en devouring 
 
 Art 
 Thyeafie numbers flow, and thateachpart,'^''^"'^^ 
 Hath from the leaves of thy unvalued Booke, 
 Thofe Delphicke Lines with deepe Impreffion 
 
 tooke 
 Then thou our fancy of her felf bereaving, 
 Doft make us Marble with too much con- 
 ceiving, 
 And fo Sepulcher'd in fuch pompe doft lie 
 That Kings for fuch a Tombe would wifli to 
 
 die. 
 
 Prefixed to the Second Folio Edition of Shake- 
 /pearls Works: appended (with 4 vari- 
 ations) to Shakefpeare' s Poems, 1640, and 
 republished in Milton^s Poems, 1645,/. 27. 
 
115 
 
 THOMAS FULLER, 163 1. 
 
 1 
 
 ILLIAM Shakefpeare was borne at 
 Stratford on Avon in this County; 
 in whom three eminent Poets may 
 feem in fome fort to be compounded. 
 
 1. Martial, in the warlike found of his 
 Surname (whence fome may conjedlure him 
 of a Military extrafiion) Hajlivibrans, or 
 Shake-fpeare. 
 
 2. Ovid, the moft. naturall and witty of 
 all Poets; and hence it was that Queen 
 Elizabeth, coming into a Grammar-School, 
 made this extemporary verfe, 
 
 ^Ferftus a Crab-ftaffe, Bawdy Martial, 
 Ovid a fine Wag.' 
 
 3. Plautus, who was an exadl Comedian, 
 yet never any Scholar, as our Shake-fpeare (if 
 alive) would confeffe himfelf. Adde to all 
 these, that though his Genius generally was 
 jocular and inclining him to fejlivity, yet he 
 could (when fo difpofed) htfolemn znAferious, 
 as appears by his Tragedies ; fo that Heraclitus 
 himfelf (I mean if fecret and unfeen) might 
 afford to fmile at his Comedies, they were fo 
 merry ; and Democritus fcarce forbear to figh 
 at his Tragedies, they were fo mournfull. 
 
 He was an eminent inftance of the truth 
 of that Rule, 'Poeta not fit, fed nafcitur'; one 
 
ii6 
 
 is not made, but bor7i a Poet. Indeed his 
 Learning was very little, fo that, as Cornijh 
 diamonds are not poliflied by any Lapidary, 
 but are pointed and fraoothed even as they 
 are taken out of the Earth, fo Nature itfelf 
 was all the Art which was ufed upon him. 
 
 Many were the Wet-combates betwixt '^^"^ 
 him and Ben Jon/on; which too I behold like 
 a Spani/h great Gallion and an Englijh Man 
 of War: Mailer Jonfon (like the former) was 
 built far higher in Learning ; folid, but flow, 
 in his performances. Shake-fpeare, with the 
 Englijh Man of War, leffer in bulk, but 
 lighter in failing, could turn with all tides, 
 tack about, and take advantage of all winds, 
 by the quicknefs of his Wit and Invention. 
 He died anno domini i6 . . , and was buried 
 at Stratford upon Avon, the Town of his 
 Nativity. 
 
 The Worthies of England: Warwick/hire. 
 1662. iFo.'X pp. 120-126. 
 
117 
 
 BEN JONSON, 1629— 1630. 
 
 O doubt fome mouldy tale, 
 Like Pericles; and ftale 
 As the fhrieve's crusfls, and nafty 
 as his fifli — 
 Scraps, out [of] every difh 
 Throwne forth, and rak't into the common tub, 
 May keep up the Play-club : 
 There, fweepings do as well 
 As the beft order'd meale, 
 For, who the relifh of thefe ghefls will fit, 
 Needs fet them, but, the almes-bafket of wit. 
 
 Ode appended to The New Inn, or The Light 
 Heart. 1 63 1. [4/c.J 
 
ii8 
 
 OWEN FELTHAM, 1630. 
 
 UG, Pierce, Peck, Fly, and all 
 Your Jefts fo nominal, 
 Are things fo far beneath an able 
 Brain, 
 As they do throw a ftain 
 Through all th' unlikely plot, and do difpleafe 
 As deep as Pericles, 
 Where yet there is not laid 
 Before a Chamber-maid 
 Difcourfe fo weigh'd, as might have ferv'd of 
 
 old 
 For Schools, when they of Love & Valour 
 told. 
 
 Luforia or, Occafional Pieces. No. xx. 
 An an/wer to the Ode of, Come leave the 
 loathed Stage, &=€. 1630. [/[to.'] 
 
119 
 
 1632. 
 
 Upon the Effigies of my worthy Friend, 
 
 the Author, 
 
 Majler William Shakefpeare 
 
 and his Workes. 
 
 PECTATOR, this Life's Shaddow 
 is ; To fee 
 The truer image and a livelier he, 
 Tume Reader. But, obferve his Comicke 
 
 vaine, 
 Laugh, and proceed next to a Tragicke flraine, 
 Then weep, So when thou find'fl two con- 
 traries, 
 Two different paffions from thy rapt foule 
 
 rife, 
 Say, (who alone effect fuch wonders could) 
 Rare Shake-fpeare to the life thou dofl 
 behold. 
 
 Prefixed to the Second Folio Edition of Shake- 
 fpeare's Works. \_Arion.'\ 
 
120 
 
 I. M. S., 1632. 
 
 On Worthy Majler Shakefpeare and his 
 Poems. 
 
 MIND refledling ages paft, whofe 
 
 cleere 
 And equall furface can make things 
 
 appeare 
 Dillant a Thoufand yeares, and reprefent 
 Them in their lively colours, jufl extent. 
 To outrun hafty time, retrive the fates, 
 Rowle backe the heavens, blow ope the iron 
 
 gates 
 Of death and Lethe, where (confufed) lye 
 Great heapes of ruinous mortalitie. 
 In that deepe dulkie dungeon to difcerne 
 A royall Ghofl. from Churles : By art to leame 
 The Phifiognomie of fhades, and give 
 Them fuddaine birth, wondring how oft they 
 
 live. 
 What flory coldly tells, what Poets faine 
 At fecond hand, and pidlure without braine 
 Senfeleffe and foulleffe fhowes. To give a 
 
 Stage 
 (Ample and true with life) voyce, adlion, age. 
 As Plato's yeare and new Scene of the world 
 Them unto us, or us to them had hurld. 
 
To raife our auncient Soveraignes from their 
 
 herfe 
 Make Kings his subjedls, by exchanging 
 
 verfe 
 Enlive their pale trunkes, that the prefent age 
 Joyes in their joy, and trembles at their rage : 
 Yet fo to temper paffion, that our eares 
 Take pleafure in their paine; And eyes in 
 
 teares 
 Both weepe and fmile ; fearefull at plots fo fad, 
 Then, laughing at our feare ; abus'd and glad 
 To be abus'd, affedled with that truth 
 Which we perceive is falfe; pleas'd in that 
 
 ruth 
 At which we flart ; and by elaborate play 
 Tortur'd and tickled ; by a crablike way 
 Time pall made paRime, and in ugly fort 
 
 Difgorging up his ravaine for our fport 
 
 • While the Plebeian Impe, from lofty 
 
 throne, 
 Creates and rules a world, and workes upon 
 Mankind by fecret engines ; Now to move 
 A chilling pitty, then a rigorous love: 
 To flrike up and flroake down, both Joy and 
 
 ire J 
 To ileere th' affedlions ; and by heavenly fire 
 
 Mould us anew. Stolne from ourfelves 
 
 This, and much more which cannot be 
 
 exprefl. 
 But by himfelfe, his tongue and his owne 
 
 breft, 
 
Was Shakefpeares freehold, which his cun- 
 ning braine 
 Improv'd by favour of the ninefold traine. 
 The bulkind Mufe, the Commicke Queene, 
 
 the graund 
 And lowder tone of Clio; nimble hand, 
 And nimbler foote of the melodious paire, 
 The Silver voyced Lady ; the rnoft faire 
 Calliope, whofe fpeaking filence daunts. 
 And fhe whofe prayfe the heavenly body 
 
 chants. 
 Thefe joyntly woo'd him, envying one another 
 (Obey'd by all as Spoufe, but lov'd as brother) 
 And wrought a curious robe of fable grave 
 Frefli greene, and pleafant yellow, red mofl 
 
 brave. 
 And conflant blew, rich purple, guiltleffe 
 
 white 
 The lowly Ruffet, and the Scarlet bright; 
 Branch'd and embroydred like the painted 
 
 Spring 
 Each leafe match'd with a flower, and each 
 
 firing 
 Of golden wire, each line of filke; there run 
 Italian workes whofe thred the Sifters fpun ; 
 And there did fmg, or feeme to fmg, the 
 
 choyce 
 Birdes of a forraine note and various voyce. 
 Here hangs a mofley rocke ; there playes a 
 
 faire 
 But chiding fountaine purled : Not the ayre. 
 
123 
 
 Nor cloudes nor thunder, but were living 
 
 drawn e, 
 Not out of common Tiffany or Lawne. 
 But fine materialls, which the Mufes know 
 And onely know the countries where they 
 grow. 
 
 Now, when they could no longer him enjoy 
 In mortall garments pent ; death may 
 
 deflroy 
 They fay his body, but his verfe fliall live 
 And more then nature takes, our hands fhall 
 
 give. 
 In a leffe volumne, but more flrongly bound 
 Shakefpeare fhall breath and fpeake, with 
 
 Laurell crown 'd 
 Which never fades. Fed with Ambrofian 
 
 meate 
 In a well-lyned veflure rich and neate. 
 
 So with this robe they cloath him, bid him 
 weare it 
 
 For time Ihall never flaine, nor envy teare 
 it. 
 
 The friendly admirer of his Endowments. 
 
 Prefixed to the Second Folio Edition of Shake- 
 fpeare's Works. 
 
124 
 
 WILLIAM PRYNNE, 1632. 
 
 * Ben Jolmsons, # 
 
 Shackspeers, and ■ 
 
 others. 
 
 t Shackspeers 
 
 Flaies are 
 
 printed in 
 
 the best 
 
 croTvne 
 
 paper, far 
 
 better than 
 
 most Bibles. 
 
 X Above forty 
 
 thousand 
 
 Play-boolies 
 
 have been 
 
 printed and 
 
 vented within 
 
 these two years. 
 
 OME Play-books fince I 
 firfl undertooke this fub- 
 jedl, are growne from 
 Quarto into Folio; which yet 
 beare fo good a price and fale, 
 that I cannot but with griefe re- 
 late it, they are nowf new-printed 
 in farre better paper than moft 
 OcTlavo or Quarto Bibles, which 
 hardly finde fuch vent as they: 
 And can then one Quarto'Yx2>.€\.'a.t& 
 againfl Stage-playes be thought 
 too large, when as it muil affault 
 fuch ample Play-houfe Volumes ? 
 Befides, our Quarto-V\?cy-\)OQ\ts 
 fmce the firfl fheetes of this my 
 Treatife came unto the Preffe, 
 have come forth in fuchj abund- 
 ance, and found fo many cuflo- 
 mers, that they almofl exceede all 
 number, one fludie being fcarce 
 able to holde them, and two 
 yeares time too little to perufe 
 them all. 
 
 Hijlrio-majlix. The Players Scmirge or A^ors 
 
 Tragcedie. 1633. \.^to.'\ 
 (Addrefs " To the Chrijiian Reader:- fo. i.) 
 
125 
 
 SIR ASTON COKAINE, 1632. 
 
 H O U more then Poet, our Mercuric 
 (that art 
 Apollo's Meffenger, and dofl impart 
 His baft expreffions to our eares) live long 
 To purifie the flighted Englifli tongue, 
 That both the Nymphes of Tagus, and of Poe, 
 May not henceforth defpife our language fo. 
 Nor could they doe it, if they ere had feene 
 The matchleffe features of the faerie Queen e ; 
 ^ta.6./ohnfon, Shakefpeare, Beaumont, Fletcher, 
 
 or 
 Thy neat-limnd peeces, flcilfuU Maffinger. 
 
 Commendatory Ver/es prefixed to Mafflnger's 
 Emperour of the Eqft. 1 632. \.^o.'\ 
 
126 
 
 WILLIAM ROWLEY, 1633. 
 
 LEXA ND E E. Good fir, be fatis- 
 fied ; the widow and my fifler fung 
 both one fong; and what was't, but 
 Crabbed age and youth cati7iot live together. 
 
 A Match at Midnight. Adi v, Sc. I. 1633. 
 
127 
 
 WILLIAM HABINGTON, 1634. 
 
 To a Friend, 
 Invitmg him to a meeting upon promife. 
 
 AY you drinke beare, or that adult'rate 
 
 wine 
 
 Which makes the zeale oi Amjlerdam 
 
 divine ; 
 
 If you make breach of promife. I have now 
 
 So rich a Sacke, that even your felfe will bow 
 
 T' adore my Genius. Of this wine fliould 
 
 Prynne 
 Drinke but a plenteous glaffe, he would 
 
 beginne 
 A health to Shakespeares gholl. 
 
 Cajlara. 1634. The Second Part. [4/y. 
 Wi Poem.'\ 
 
128 
 
 THOMAS HEYWOOD, 1635. 
 
 2'liomas Kid. 
 Ihnm. Wafson. 
 
 Thomas Xaah. 
 
 UR moderne Poets to that paffe are 
 driven, 
 Thofe names are curtal'd which 
 
 they firfl had given; 
 And, as we wilht to have their memories 
 
 drown'd, 
 We fcarcely can aiFord them halfe their 
 found. 
 
 Greene, who had in both Academies ta'ne 
 Degree of Mailer, yet could never gaine 
 To be call'd more than Robin: who had he 
 Profeft ought fave the Mufe, Serv'd, and^^"*"" 
 
 been Free 
 After a feven yeares Prentifefhip ; might have 
 (With credit too) gone Robert to his grave. 
 Mario, renown'd for his rare art and wit, 
 Could ne're attaine beyond the name of Kit; 
 Although his Hero and Leander did 
 Merit addition rather. Famous Kid 
 Was call'd but Tom. Tom Watfon, though he 
 
 wrote 
 Able to make Apollo's felfe to dote 
 Upon his Mufe ; for all that he could flrive, 
 Yet never could to his full name arrive. 
 Tom Najh (in his time of no fmall elleeme) 
 Could not a fecond fyllable redeeme. 
 
129 
 
 I'yaticis Bete- 
 tttont. 
 
 William Shake- 
 speare, 
 
 Senjamin John- 
 
 John Fletcher. 
 John Websier- 
 
 Excellent Bewmont, in the formofl ranke 
 Of the rar'fl Wits, was never more than 
 
 Franck. 
 Mellifluous Shake-fpeare, whofe inchanting 
 
 Quill 
 Commanded Mirth or Paffion, was but Will. 
 And famous Johnfon, though his learned Pen 
 Be dipt in Cajialy, is ftill but Ben. 
 Fletcher and Wehjier, of that learned packe 
 None of the mean'ft,, yet neither was but 
 
 Jacke. 
 Deckers hut Tom; nor May, nor Middleton. 
 And hee's now but Jacke Foord, that once 
 
 was John. 
 
 The Hierarchie of the Blejlfed Angells. 
 1635. p. 206. \_Fo.'\ 
 
 Lib. 4. 
 
13° 
 
 JASPER MAYNE, 1638. 
 
 LSE (though wee all confpir'd to 
 make thy Hearfe 
 Our Works) fo that 't had beene but 
 
 one great Verfe, 
 Though the Priell had tranflated for that time 
 The Liturgy, and buried thee in Rime, 
 So that in Meter wee had heard it faid, 
 Poetique duft, is to Poetique laid : 
 And though that dufl being Shakfpear's, thou 
 
 might'll have 
 Not his roome, but the Poet for thy grave ; 
 So that, as thou didfl Prince of Numbers dye 
 And live, fo now thou mightfl. in Numbers lie, 
 'Twere fraile folemnity; Verfes on Thee 
 And not like thine, would but kind Libels be ; 
 * * * * * * 
 
 Who without Latine helps had'fl. beene as 
 
 rare 
 As Beaumont, Fletcher, or as Shakefpeare 
 were: 
 And like them, from thy native Stock 
 
 could'fl fay, 
 Poets and Kings are not borne every day. 
 
 Jonfonus Virbius. 1638. ff . 2<) &">,■},. \ifo\ 
 
131 
 
 OWEN FELTHAM, 1638. 
 
 O in our Halcyon dayes, we have had 
 now 
 Wits, to which, all that after come, 
 
 must bow. 
 And fliould the Stage compofe her felf a 
 
 Crowne 
 Of all thofe wits, which hitherto fh'as knowne : 
 Though there be many that about her brow 
 Like fparkling ftones, might a quick luflre 
 
 throw : 
 Yet Shakefpeare, Beaumont, Johnfon, thefe 
 
 three (hall 
 Make up the Jem in the point Verticall. 
 And now fince Jonsons gone, we well may 
 
 fay. 
 The Stage hath feene her glory and decay. 
 
 yon/omis Virbius. 1638. [4^1'.] 
 
132 
 
 RICHARD WEST, 1638. 
 
 HAKESPEARE may xaske: grief e 
 merry, Beaumonts llile 
 Ravifh and melt anger into a fmile ; 
 In winter nights, or after meales they be, 
 I mufl. confeffe very good companie : 
 But thou exadl'fl our beft houres in- i^''™*"'^ 
 
 duflrie ; 
 We may read them; we ought to fludie thee: 
 
 yon/onus Virbius. 1638. [4/".] 
 
133 
 
 H. RAMSAY, 1638. 
 
 HAT are his fauls (O Envy!) that 
 you speake [jonson-s&mts] 
 
 EngHfh at Court, the learned Stage 
 adls Greeke? 
 
 That Latine Hee reduc'd, and could com- 
 mand 
 
 That which your Shakefpeare fcarce could 
 understand ? 
 
 yonfomis Virbius. 1638. [4''»-] 
 
134 
 
 T. TERRENT, 1638. 
 
 AUD aliter noftri praemiffa in piin- 
 cipis ortum 
 Ludicra Chauceri, claffifq; incompta 
 fequentum ; 
 Nafcenti apta parutn divina haec machina 
 
 regno, 
 In noflrum fervanda fuit tantseq; decebat 
 Praelufiffe Deos asvi certamina famse ; 
 Nee geminos vates, nee Te Shakfpeare filebo, 
 Aut quicquid facri nollros conjeeit in annos 
 Confilium Fati : 
 
 Jonfonus Virbius. 1638. [4C1'.] 
 
135 
 
 JAMES MERVYN, 1638. 
 
 HERE are fome men doe hold, there 
 is a place 
 Cal'd Limbus Patrum, if fuch have 
 
 the grace 
 To wave that Schifme, and Poetarum':'""-^"'"™^ 
 
 faid 
 They of that faith had me a member made, 
 That Limbus I could have beleev'd thy braine 
 Where Beamont, Fletcher, Shakefpeare, & a 
 
 traine 
 Of glorious Poets in their adlive heate 
 Move in that Orbe, as in their former feate. 
 When thou began'fl, to give thy Mafler life, 
 Me thought I faw them all, with friendly 
 
 flrife 
 Each calling in his dofe, Beamont his weight, 
 Shakefpeare his mirth, and Fletcher his conceit, 
 With many more ingredients, with thy ikill 
 So fweetely tempered, that the envious quill 
 And tongue of Criticks mud both write and 
 
 fay, 
 They never yet beheld a fmoother Play. 
 
 Lines ' ' On Mr. James Shirley his Royall 
 Ma/ier.'' Prefixed to the Edition of 1638. 
 
136 
 
 WILLIAM CHILLINGWORTH, 1638. 
 
 O that as a foolifh fellow who gave 
 a Knight the Lye, defiring withall 
 leave of him to fet his Knighthood 
 afide, was anfwered by him, that he would 
 not fuffer any thing to be fet afide that 
 belonged unto him : So might we juflly take 
 it amiffe, that conceiving as you doe ignor- 
 ance and repentance fuch neceffary things 
 for us, you are not more willing to confider 
 us with them, then without them. 
 
 The Religion of Protejiants a Safe Way to 
 Salvation, &'e. Chap. I. Part I. § 5. 
 /. 33. 1638. {Fo.^, 
 
137 
 
 1639- 
 
 N E travelling through Stratford upon 
 Avon, a towne mofl. remarkeable for 
 the birth of famous William Shake- 
 fpeare, and walking in the church to doe his. 
 devotion, efpied a thing there worthy obferva- 
 tion, which was a tombeflone laid more than 
 three hundred yeeres agoe, on which was 
 engraven an epitaph to this purpofe, I Thomas 
 fuch a one, and Elizabeth my wife here under 
 lie buried, and know, reader, I R. C. and I 
 Chrifloph. Q. are alive at this howre to 
 witneffe it. 
 
 A Banquet of Jefls or Change of Ckeare. 
 1639. [izmo-l 
 
138 
 
 R[OBERT] C[HAMBERLAIN], 1639. 
 194. 
 
 NE alked another what Shakefpeares 
 Works were worth, all being bound 
 together. He anfwered, not a 
 farthing. Not worth a farthing ! faid hej 
 why fo? He anfwered that his plays were 
 worth a great deale of mony, but he never 
 heard, that his works were worth any thing 
 
 at all. 
 
 Conceits, Clinches, Flajhes, and Whimzies. 
 
 Newly Jiudied, with fame Collecflions, but 
 
 thofe never publijhed befoi-e in this kinde. 
 
 1639. [izmo.] 
 l^Reprinted in Hazlitfs Shakefpeare yeft-Books. 
 
 Third feries. 1864. Extrail, f. 49.] 
 
139 
 
 THOMAS BANCROFT, 1639. 
 
 To Shakespeare. 
 H Y Mufes fugred dainties feeme to us 
 
 Like the fam'd Apples of old Tan- 
 talus: 
 
 For we (admiring) fee and heare thy flraines, 
 But none I fee or heare, thofe fweets attaines. 
 
 To the fame. 
 
 Thou hafl fo ufd thy Pen, (or fliooke thy 
 
 Speare) 
 That Poets ftartle, nor thy wit come neare. 
 
 Two Bookes of Epigrammes, and Epitaphs. 
 1639. [4/c.] JVbs. iiB ami 119- 
 
I40 
 
 1640. 
 
 To Mr. William Shake-fpeare. 
 
 HAKE-SPEARE,wemuftbefilent 
 in thy praife, 
 'Caufe our encomion's will but blafl 
 thy Bayes, 
 Which envy could not, that thou didll fo well ; 
 Let thine own hiflories prove thy Chronicle. 
 
 Witts Recreations SeleiHed from the finejl Fan- 
 cies of Moderne Mufes. With A Thoufand 
 outLandi/h Proverbs. Epigram 25. Anoii. 
 1640. [l2mo.] 
 
141 
 
 
 RICHARD BROME, 1638. 
 
 HESE lads can a6l the Emperor's 
 lives all over, 
 And Shakefpeare's Chronicled 
 Hiilories to boot; 
 And were that Csefar, or that Englifh Earl, 
 That lov'd a play and player fo well, now 
 
 living, 
 I would not be outvyed in my delights. 
 
 Antipodes. 1640. [4/0.] 
 
142 
 
 JOHN BENSON, 1640. 
 To the Reader. 
 
 HERE prefume (under favour) to 
 prefent to your view, fome excellent 
 and fweetely compofed Poems, of 
 Mafler William Shakefpeare, Which in them- 
 felves appeare of the fame purity, the Authour 
 himfelfe then living avouched ; they had not 
 the fortune by reafon of their Infancie in his 
 death, to have the due accommodatio of 
 proportionable glory, with the refl of his 
 everliving Workes, yet the lines of themfelves 
 will afford you a more authentick approbation 
 than my affurance any way can, to invite your 
 allowance, in your perufall you fliall find them 
 Seren, cleere and eligantly plaine, fuch gentle 
 (Iraines as fhall recreate and not perplexe 
 your braine, no intricate or cloudy fluffe to 
 puzzell intelledl, but perfefl eloquence ; fuch 
 as will raife your admiration to his praife: 
 this affurance I know will not differ from 
 your acknowledgment. And certaine I am, 
 my opinion will be feconded by the fufficiency 
 of thefe enfuing Lines; I have beene fome- 
 what folicitus to bring this forth to the perfefl 
 view of all men ; and in fo doing, glad to be 
 ferviceable for the continuance of glory to 
 the deferved Author in thefe Poems. 
 
 Addrefs prefixed to Shakefpeare' s Poems. 1640. 
 [ 1 2mo. ] 
 
143 
 
 LEONARD DIGGES, 1623. 
 
 To THE MeMORIE 
 
 of the deceafed Author Maijler 
 W. Shakespeare. 
 
 HAKE-SPEARE, at length thy 
 pious fellowes give 
 The world thy Workes : thy Workes, 
 
 by which, out-live 
 Thy Tombe, thy name mufl : when that (lone 
 
 is rent, 
 And Time diffolves thy Stratford Moniment, 
 Here we alive (hall view thee dill. This 
 
 Booke, 
 When Braffe and Marble fade, (hall make 
 
 thee looke 
 Frefh to all Ages : when Poileritie 
 Shall loath what's new, thinke all is prodegie 
 That is not Shakefpeares ; ev'ry Line, each 
 
 Verfe, 
 Here (hall revive, redeeme thee from thy 
 
 Herfe. 
 Nor Fire, nor cankring Age, as Nafo faid, 
 Of his, thy wit-fraught Booke fhall once 
 
 invade. 
 Nor (hall I e're beleeve, or thinke thee dead 
 (Though mid) untill our bankrout Stage be 
 
 fped 
 (Impoffible) with fome new drain t' out-do 
 
144 
 
 Paffions of Juliet^ and her Romeo ; 
 
 Or till I heare a Scene more nobly take, 
 
 Then when thy half-Sword parlying Romans 
 
 fpake, 
 Till thefe, till any of thy Volumes reft 
 Shall with more fire, more feeling be expreft, 
 Be fure, our Shake-fpeare, thou canft never 
 
 dye, 
 But crown'd with Lawrell, live eternally. 
 
 Prefixed to the Firji Folio Edition of Shake- 
 fpeare's Works. 
 
145 
 
 LEONARD DIGGES, 1640. 
 
 Upon Mafter William Shakespeare, the 
 deceafed Authour, and his Poems. 
 
 GETS are borne not made, when I 
 would prove 
 This truth, the glad rememberance 
 
 I muil love 
 Of never dying Shakefpeare, who alone, 
 Is argument enough to make that one. 
 Firfl, that he was a Poet none would doubt, 
 That heard th' applaufe of what he fees fet 
 
 out 
 Imprinted; where thou haft. (I will not fay 
 Reader his Workes for to contrive a Play : 
 To him twas none) the patterne of all wit. 
 Art without Art unparaleld as yet. 
 Next Nature onely helpt him, for looke thorow 
 This whole Booke, thou fhalt find he doth not 
 
 borrow, 
 One phrafe from Greekes, nor Latines imitate, 
 Nor once from vulgar Languages Tranflate, 
 Nor Plagiari-like from others gleane, 
 Nor begges he from each witty friend a Scene 
 
146 
 
 To peece his Adls with, all that he doth write 
 Is pure his owne, plot, language exquifite, 
 But oh ! what praife more powerfuU can we 
 
 give 
 The dead, then that by him the Kings men 
 
 live, 
 His Players, which fliould they but have 
 
 fliar'd the Fate, 
 All elfe expir'd within the (hort Termes date; 
 How could the Globe have profpered, fince 
 
 through want 
 Of change, the Plaies and Poems had growne 
 
 fcant, 
 But happy Verfe thou flialt be fung and heard. 
 When hungry quills fhall be fuch honour 
 
 bard. t""''"' 
 
 Then vanifti upflart Writers to each Stage, 
 You needy Poetaflers of this Age, 
 Where Shakefpeare liv'd or fpake, Vermine 
 
 forbeare, 
 Leafl with your froth you fpot them, come 
 
 not neere ; 
 But if you needs mud write, if poverty 
 So pinch, that otherwife you flarve and 
 
 die. 
 On Gods name may the Bull or Cockpit have 
 Your lame blancke Verfe, to keepe you from 
 
 the grave : 
 Or let new Fortunes younger brethren fee. 
 What they can picke from your leane induflry. 
 I doe not wonder when you offer at 
 
147 
 
 Blacke-Friers, that you fuffer : tis the fate 
 Of richer veines, prime judgements that have 
 
 far'd 
 The worfe, with this deceafed man compar'd. 
 So have I feene, when Cefar would appeare, 
 And on the Stage at halfe-fword parley were, 
 Brutus and Caffius : oh how the Audience 
 Were'ravifh'd, with what wonder they went 
 
 thence, 
 When fome new day they would not brooke 
 
 a line, 
 Of tedious (though well laboured) Catiline; 
 Sejanus too was irkfome, they priz'de more 
 Honefl. lago, or the jealous Moore. 
 And though the Fox and fubtill Alchimifl, 
 Long intermitted could not quite be mifl, 
 Though thefe have (ham'd all the Ancients, 
 
 and might raife, 
 Their Authours merit with a crowne of Bayes. 
 Yet thefe fometimes, even at a friends defire 
 A6led, have fcarce defrai'd the Seacoale fire 
 And doore-keepers : when let but Faljlaffe 
 
 come. 
 Hall, Poines, the refl you fcarce fhall have a 
 
 roome 
 All is fo pefter'd : let but Beatrice 
 And Benedicke be feene, loe in a trice 
 The Cockpit Galleries, Boxes, all are full 
 To hear Malvoglio, that croffe garter'd Gull. 
 Briefe, there is nothing in his wit fraught 
 
 Booke, 
 
148 
 
 Whofe found we would not heare, on whofe 
 
 worth looke 
 Like old coynd gold, whofe lines in every 
 
 page, 
 Shall paffe true currant to fucceeding age. 
 But why doe I dead Sheakfpeares praife recite. 
 Some fecond Shakefpeare mufl of Shakefpeare 
 
 write ; 
 For me tis needleife, fmce an hoft of men, 
 Will pay to clap his praife, to free my Pen. 
 
 Prefixed to Shakefpeare' s Poems. 1640. \\2mo.^ 
 
149 
 
 JOHN WARREN, 1640, 
 
 Of Mr. William Shakefpeare. 
 
 HAT, lofty Shakefpeare, art again e 
 reviv'd ? 
 And Virbius like now fhow'fl thy 
 felfe twife liv'd, 
 Tis [Benson's] love that thus to thee is fhowne, 
 The labours his, the glory flill thine owne. 
 Thefe learned Poems amongft thine after- 
 birth. 
 That makes thy name immortall on the earth, 
 Will make the learned flill admire to fee, 
 The Mufes gifts fo fully infus'd on thee. 
 Let Carping Momus barke and bite his fill, 
 And ignorant Davus flight thy learned flcill : 
 Yet thofe who know the worth of thy defert, 
 And with true judgement can difcerne thy 
 
 Art, 
 Will be admirers of thy high tun'd ftraine, 
 Amongfl whofe number let me flill remaine. 
 
 Prefixed to Shakefpeare' s Poems. 1640. \\zmo.\ 
 
i 
 
 1 
 
 
 150 
 
 1637 circa. 
 
 An Elegy on the Death of that famous Writer 
 and Actor Mr. William Shakefpeare. 
 
 DARE not doe thy Memory that 
 wrong, 
 Unto our larger griefes to give a 
 
 tongue ; 
 lie onely figh in earned, and let fall 
 My folemne teares at thy great Funerall ; 
 For every eye that raines a fliowre for thee, 
 Laments thy lofle in a fad Elegie. 
 Nor is it fit each humble Mufe fliould have, 
 Thy worth his fubjecfl, now th' art laid in 
 
 grave ; 
 No its a flight beyond the pitch of thofe, 
 Whofe worthies Pamphlets are not fence in 
 
 Profe. 
 Let learn ed_/tf //«/<;« Cng a Dirge for thee, 
 And fill our Orbe with moumefull harmony : 
 But we neede no Remembrancer, thy Fame 
 Shall flill acco^mpany thy honoured Name, 
 To all poflerity ; and make us be, 
 Senfible of what we lofl in lofing thee : ' 
 Being the Ages wonder whofe fmooth Rhimes, 
 Did more reforme than lafli the loofer Times. 
 Nature her felfe did her owne felfe admire. 
 As oft as thou wert pleafed to attire 
 
Her in her native lullure, and confeffe, 
 Thy dreffing was her chiefefl comelineffe. 
 How can we then forget thee, when the age 
 Her chiefefl. Tutor, and the widdowed Stage 
 Her onely favorite in thee hath loft, 
 And Natures felfe, what flie did bragge of 
 
 moft. 
 Sleepe then rich foule of numbers, whilfl 
 
 poore we, 
 Enjoy the profits of thy Legacie ; 
 And thinke it happineffe enough we have, 
 So much of thee redeemed from the grave. 
 As may suffice to enlighten future times, 
 With the bright luftre of thy matchlefle 
 
 Rhimes. 
 
 Anon. Appended to Shake/peare's Poems 
 
 1640. [l2/«ff.] 
 
152 
 
 JOHN JOHNSON, 1641. 
 
 HERE was alfo Shakeffeere, who 
 (as CV/«a? informed me) creepes into 
 the Women's Closets about bed 
 time ; and if it were not for fome of the 
 old out-of-date Grandames (who are fet ovei: 
 the refl. as tutoreffes) the young Sparkish 
 Girles would read in Shakefpeere day and 
 night, fo that they would open the Book or 
 Tome, and the men with a Fefcue in their 
 hands (hould point to the Verfe. 
 
 The Academy of Love, defcribing the Folly of 
 younge-men and the Fallacie of Women, 
 (Love's Library), 1641, /. 99. [^o.'\ 
 
153 
 
 SIR WILLIAM D'AVENANT, 1636—1642 
 
 circa. 
 
 In Remembrance of Majler William 
 
 Shakefpeare. Ode. 
 
 I. 
 EWARE (delighted Poets!) when 
 you fing 
 To welcome Nature in the early 
 Spring : 
 Your num'rous feet not tread 
 The banks oi Avon; for each Flowre 
 (As it nere knew a Sun or Showre) 
 Hangs there, the penfive head. 
 2. 
 Each Tree, whofe thick and fpreading growth 
 
 hath made 
 Rather a Night beneath the Boughs, then 
 fhade, 
 (Unwilling now to grow,) 
 Looks like the Plume a Captain weares, 
 Whofe rifled Falls are fteept i' th teares 
 Which from his lafl rage flow. 
 
 3- 
 The piteous River wept it felf away 
 Long fmce (Alas !) to fuch a fwift decay, 
 
 That reach the Map, and look 
 If you a River there can fpie : 
 And for a River your mock'd Eye, 
 
 Will finde a fliallow Brooke. 
 
 Works, 1673. [/■;'.] //. 21S-219. 
 
154 
 
 SIR JOHN SUCKLING, 1636— 1642 
 circa. 
 
 A Supplement of an Imperfeil Copy of Verfes 
 of Mr. Wil. Shakefpeares. 
 
 I 
 NE of her hands, one of her cheeks 
 lay under. 
 Cozening the pillow of a lawfull 
 kiffe, 
 
 Which therefore fwel'd and feem'd to part 
 afunder. 
 As angry to be rob'd of fuch a bliffe : 
 The one lookt pale, and for revenge did 
 
 long, 
 Whilfl t'other blufli't, caufe it had done 
 the wrong. 
 
 2 
 Out of the bed the other fair hand was 
 
 On a green fattin quilt, whofe perfefl white 
 Lookt like a Dazie in a field of graffe, 
 * And (hew'd like unmelt fnow unto the fight, 
 There lay this pretty perdue, fafe to keep 
 The reft o th' body that lay faft afleep. 
 
 *' Thus far Shake-fpear. 
 
155 
 
 3 
 
 Her eyes (and therefore it was night) clofe 
 laid, 
 Strove to imprifon beauty till the morn. 
 But yet the doors were of fuch fine flufFe made, 
 That it broke through, and fhew'd itfelf in 
 fcom. 
 Throwing a kind of light about the place, 
 Which turn'd to fmiles flil as 't came 
 near her face. 
 
 4 
 Her beams (which fome dul men call'd hair) '"""^ 
 divided 
 Part with her cheeks, part with her lips did 
 fport. 
 But thefe, as rude, her breath put by ftill ; 
 some 
 Wifelyer downwards fought, but falling 
 fliort, 
 Curl'd back in rings, and feem'd to turn 
 
 agen 
 To bite the part fo unkindly held them in. 
 
 Fragmenta Aurea. A colleiflion of all the 
 Incomparable Peeces, written by Sir John 
 Suckling. And publijhed by a Priend to 
 perpetuate his memory. Printed by his 
 owne copies. 1646. /. 29-30. \?>vo.'\ 
 
156 
 
 SIR JOHN SUCKLING, 1636— 1642 
 circa. 
 
 HE fweat of learned Johnfon's brain, 
 And gentle Shakefpear's eaf'er 
 drain, 
 
 A hackney-coach conveys you to, 
 In fpite of all that rain can do : 
 And for your eighteen pence you fit 
 The Lord and Judge of all frefli wit. 
 
 Fragmenta Aurea: &'c. 1646. p. 35. [Svo.] 
 
157 
 
 JAMES SHIRLEY, April, 1642. 
 
 OES this look like a Term? I cannot 
 tell. 
 Our Poet thinks the whole Town 
 
 is not well, 
 Has took fome Phyfick lately, and for fear 
 Of catching cold dares not falute this Ayr. 
 But ther's another reafon, I hear fay 
 London is gone to York, 'tis a great way ; 
 Pox o' the Proverb, and of him fay I, 
 That look'd ore Lincoln, caufe that was, mud 
 
 we 
 Be now tranflated North ? I could rail to "°°^ 
 On Gammar Shiptons Ghofl, but 't wo' not 
 
 doe, 
 The Town will flill he flecking, and a Play 
 Though ne'r fo new, will flarve the fecond 
 
 day : 
 Upon thefe very hard conditions, 
 Our Poet will not purchafe many Towns ; 
 And if you leave us too, we cannot thrive, 
 I'l promife neither Play nor Poet live 
 Till ye come back, think what you do, you fee 
 What audience we have, what Company 
 " To Shakefpear comes, whofe mirth did once 
 
 beguile 
 " Dull hours, and bujkind, made even forrow 
 fmile. 
 
158 
 " So lovely were the wotmds, thai men would 
 
 fay 
 
 " TTiey could endure the bleeding a whole day : 
 He has but few friends lately, think o' that, 
 Heel come no more, and others have his 
 
 fate. 
 " Fletcher the Mufes darling, and choice love 
 " Q/" Phoebus, the delight of every Grove; 
 " Upon whofe head the Laurel grew, whofe 
 
 wit 
 " Was the Times wonder, and example yet, 
 'Tis within memory, Trees did not throng, 
 As once the Story faid to Orpheus fong. 
 " Johnfon, /' whofe name, wife Art did bow, 
 
 and Wit 
 " Is only jujlified by honouring it : 
 " To hear whofe touch, how would the learned 
 
 Quire 
 " With fdence Jloop 1 and wheti he took his 
 
 Lyre, 
 " Apollo dropt his Lute, ajliam^d to fee 
 " A Rival to the God of Harmonic. 
 You do forfake him too, we muft. deplore 
 Tliis fate, for we do know it by our door. 
 How mufl this Author fear then, with his 
 
 guilt 
 Of weaknefs to thrive here, where late was 
 
 fpilt 
 The Mufes own blood, if being but a few. 
 You not confpire, and meet more frequent 
 
 too? 
 
159 
 
 There are not now nine Mnfes, and you may 
 Be kind to ours, if not, he bad me fay. 
 
 Though while you carelefs kill the refl, 
 and laugh, 
 
 Yet he may live to write your Epitaph. 
 
 The Sifters. 1652. [Sz-o.] Prologue at the 
 Black-Fryers. 
 
oEIucttiattonje^ 
 
 TO 
 
 THE SECOND PERIOD 
 
 OF 
 
 SHAKESPEARE'S CENTURIE OF PRAYSE. 
 
ELUCIDATIONS. 
 
 Page 87. 
 
 Steevens conjectured that the scribe wrote Sophochm, 
 not Socratem. Assuredly one who had scholarship 
 enough to compose the verses could hardly have 
 believed that the o in the latter word had a common 
 quantity. Besides the comparison of Shakespeare to 
 Sophocles is significant: to Socrates trifling: Ben 
 Jonson and Samuel Sheppard compare Shakespeare 
 to Sophocles. (See pp. 99, 203, & 206.) If Sheppard 
 wrote Sophkles in an English verse, that would be 
 irrelevant; for he would not have written it in a Latin 
 one. 
 
 Page 88. 
 
 Sir William Drummond was evidently a weak- 
 minded man, whose memory had the knack of 
 retaining only what was trivial or worthless. We 
 may be quite sure that Jonson's assertions were not 
 given in this naked form. No one understood 
 Shakespeare's art better than Jonson ; and he could 
 hardly have based the charge of wanting art on 
 geographical or on chronological errors, which Shake- 
 speare took, not ignorantly; but as he found them in 
 the current stories. Ben, certainly, meant to say, that 
 the art of Shakespeare would have been finer had 
 he exercised a more jealous censorship on his own 
 writings. Dmmmond's report of his friend's censure, 
 
164 
 
 like most broad statements involving antithesis, found 
 ready acceptance and currency. In 1 63 1 Fuller asserts 
 that " Nature itself was all the Art which was used 
 upon him." (p. 116): which Cartwright echoes in 
 1651: "Nature was all his art:" Dryden expands 
 the Jonson-Drummond censure in his Defence of the 
 Epilogue; and forty-two years after its utterance we 
 meet it once more in the Diary of the Rev. John 
 Ward, who had "heard that Shakspeare was a 
 natural wit without any art at all." But Ben Jonson 
 and L. Digges allow Shakespeare a sort of art. The 
 former writes : 
 
 ** Yet mull I not give Nature all : Thy Art, 
 My gentle Shakespeare^ muft enjoy a part." p. 100. 
 
 and Digges assigns him : 
 
 "Art without Art unparaleld as yet." p. 145. 
 
 Page 89. 
 Painfiil as the avowal may be, the readers of 
 this catena are advised that, in the editor's judgment, 
 all the additions (to these lines) published by Mr. J. P. 
 Collier in his New Particulars, 1836, p. 29-31, are 
 spurious, and of modem coinage. (See also Collier's 
 History of Dramatic Poetry and of the Stage, I, 430, 
 note. ) The allusion in lines 2-5 seems to be to Hamlet's 
 leaping into Ophelia's grave, to outface Laertes; and 
 to his bidding the gravediggers to pile upon them 
 "millions of acres." The remainder, however, has 
 no bearing on the play of Hamlet. 
 
 Page 90. 
 These lines, which are usually attributed to the 
 elder W. Basse, have come down to us in so many 
 discrepant versions, manuscript as well as printed, 
 that it is difficult to determine their original or their 
 finished form. The version selected for this work is 
 derived, at second-hand, from a manuscript which. 
 
i65 
 
 unfortunately, the editor has not had an opportunity 
 of inspecting. But the choice was made for cogent 
 reasons. The. original was certainly a sonnet, of the 
 usual number of lines; to which two lines (now 
 standing as the 13th and 14th) were subsequently 
 added. The addition, probably, occasioned changes in 
 other luies ; and some of the manuscript and printed 
 versions we possess are merely experimental ways of 
 making the augmented elegy hold together. The 
 couplet 
 
 Thy ) unmolefted rest,/ ,, ""'Jif'ljl 
 
 .. tZ4 or peace; | JV^^ JSK j^^^"^' 
 
 Poffefs as lord, not tenant, to f thy \ „ 
 
 ^AofWthe/S>^^™' 
 
 introduced an absurdity, which the lines in Donne's 
 Poems do not contain : for, iirst, Shakespeare's peace 
 would not be unmolested simply because his grave 
 was unshared ; and secondly, it would not be unmo- 
 lested at all, if others were in after time to be laid by 
 him. Why not, then, adopt the version in Donne's 
 Poems? Because it is evident that at least one line 
 in it was altered from one in a version which had the 
 additional couplet: viz. line II. The Ashmole 
 copyist had written curved for carved, as the word 
 stands in the Brander copy, and in both the Rawlinson 
 copies : and it was evidently from a version like that 
 or the Ashmole copy, which read curved, that 
 the Donne copyist obtained his singular blunder 
 of curled. We believe that the Fennell version 
 (adopted as our text), "In this uncarved marble," is 
 an earlier, as it is unquestionably a much finer, reading 
 than either " Under this carved marble," or " Under 
 this sable marble,'' which last occurs in the Sloane 
 copy. As much might be said in defence of the other 
 portions of the Fennell version. Yet it is quite 
 certain that it is not the original, but the finished 
 form of the elegy. 
 
 Y 
 
i66 
 
 None of the versions comport with the status quo 
 in Westminster Abbey, where Chaucer's tomb is 
 pretty central between Spencer's and Beaumont's: 
 whereas, in the Fennell copy and Donne's version 
 Beaumont is the central figure, and in all the rest 
 Spencer lies between Beaumont and Chaucer. 
 
 In the original draft it is most likely that lines 5-9 
 ran (as in the Sloane copy, with one exception, ) thus : 
 
 If your precedencie in death doeth barre 
 
 A fourth to have place in your fepulchre, 
 
 Under this facred marble of thy owne 
 
 Sleep, rare Tragedian, Shakefpeare, Heepe alone. 
 
 That unto others, &c. 
 
 Perhaps Donne or Basse improved upon them, thus : 
 
 But if precedencie in death doe \ 1 „ , 
 
 A fourth place in yOMx facred fepulchre. 
 
 Under this [ ] marble of thy owne 
 
 Sleep, rare Tragedian, Shakefpeare, fieep alone, &c. 
 
 and further it seems not improbable that the third of 
 these lines became. 
 
 In this 2tnJ]iar£d marble of thy owne, 
 
 before the additional couplet was added, when 
 unshared was supplanted by uncarved. 
 
 Of the following early manuscript copies, known, 
 or believed to be extant, the first is that which has 
 been adopted in the text; the second and third are 
 cited by Malone, but the editor has not had an oppor- 
 tunity of consulting either. A diligent and redoubled 
 search among the Rawlinson manuscripts has failed 
 to discover the third. 
 
 (i.) A collection of Miscellaneous Poems in a 
 handwriting of the early part of the reign of Charles 
 I; from which these verses are printed in Fennell's 
 Shakespeare Repository, p. 10. 
 
 (2.) A collection of manuscript poems, formerly 
 in the possession of Gustavus Brander, Esq., con- 
 
i67 
 
 taining these verses. Malone dates this version 
 "soon after the year 1621," because he thinks it 
 likely "that these lines were written recently after 
 Shakespeare's death;" as if Shakespeare had died 
 in 1621 ! 
 
 (3.) A volume of manuscript poems composed by 
 W . Herrick and others, and inter alia Basse's lines ; 
 in the Rawlinson Collection, Bodleian Library, 
 Oxford. 
 
 (4.) A volume of manuscripts, containing poems 
 by Bishop Corbet, and inter alia Basse's lines ; also in 
 the Rawlinson Collection. 
 
 (5.) A volume of manuscripts, bearing on the 
 title-page, "J. A. Christchurch, " and " Robert 
 Killigrew his booke writen [ or witnes ] by his 
 Majesties ape Gorge Harison ; " where Basse's lines 
 are on p. 114. Nq. 1792 (not 1702, as Malone quotes 
 it) in the Sloane Collection, British Museum. 
 
 (6.) A volume of manuscripts, containing six 
 poems by W. Herrick, and also Basse's lines. Vol. 
 38, No. 185, original (black) numbering, 421 in 
 modem (red) numbering, in the Ashmole Collection : 
 Bodleian Library, Oxford. 
 
 To these may be added the following four early printed 
 versions. 
 
 I. Donne's Poems. 1633. [4to.] 
 
 II. Verses appended to Shakespeare's Poems. 
 1640. [i2mo.] 
 
 III. Witt's Recreations: selected, &c, 1640 
 [l2mo.], where Basse's lines are numbered 5. 
 
 IV. Witt's Recreations Augmented, &c. 1641 
 [i2mo.], where Basse's lines are numbered 144. 
 
 Of these, II, III, and IV are substantially the same, 
 and follow, in the main, No. (4). 
 
 As to the evidence of authorship: In (i) the lines 
 are headed "Mr. Basse "^ (2) "Basse his elegie one 
 Poett Shakespeare, who died in April, 1616:" (3) 
 
i68 
 
 "Shakespeare's Epitaph," without author's name." 
 (4) Basse his elegye on Shakespeare :" (5) No heading, 
 nor author?s name. (6) Subscribed "finis. Dr. 
 Donne.'' In I they are assigned to Dr. Donne ; but 
 they are omitted from the next edition of his Poems. 
 In II they are subscribed W. B. : in III and IV they 
 are anonymous. 
 
 Page 92. 
 The peroration of this address is so good as to 
 evoke the suspicion that it is not original. Malone 
 quotes fiom Morley's Dedication of a Book of Songs 
 to Sir Robert Cecil, 1595, a very similar passage. 
 But in truth the peroration is literally translated from 
 Pliny's dedicatory epistle to Vespatian, prefixed to 
 his Natural History, (§ ii ed. Sillig) vifhich runs thus : 
 
 diis ladle ruftici multaeque gentes fupplicant, et mola tantum 
 falfa lltant qui non habent tura ; nee ulli fuit vitio decs colere 
 quoquo modo poffet. 
 
 That is, 
 
 country people and many nations offer milk to their gods ; 
 and they who have not incenfe obtain their requefts with only 
 meal and fait ; nor was it imputed to any as a fault to worlhip 
 the gods in whatever way they could. 
 
 The translator of 1623 added " cream and fruits " in 
 one place, and ' ' gummes " in another : and for mola 
 salsa appears to have, not unskilfully, caught up 
 Horace's "fane pio " (Odes III, 23 11. 17-20). He 
 adds, too, very gracefully, that "the meanest things 
 are made more precious when they are dedicated 
 to temples." If he employed Philemon Holland's 
 translation (1 635) he did not reproduce its words. 
 
 Page 95. 
 The boast of these editors "that what he [Shakes- 
 peare] thought, he uttered with that easiness, that 
 wee have scarce received from him a blot [liturd] in 
 his papers," is seemingly confirmed by Ben Jonson 
 
169 
 
 (p. - 103) : but it certainly involves a, suppressio veri; 
 for the greater part of the folio of 1623 could not 
 have been printed from manuscript. 
 
 Page 97. 
 The editor cannot accept this epigram as a serious 
 commendation of the portrait. It seems to say that 
 the graver had been worsted in his strife with nature : 
 and that, since he had so failed, the reader must turn 
 from the picture to the book. But after all it may be 
 mere conventional compliment. Mr. Grosart (Ed : of 
 Sir John Beaumont's Poems, pp. 194 & xxv) hears 
 in Ben's lines "an echo" of some in Beaumont's 
 £legiac Memorials of Worthies: 
 
 Or had it err'd, or inade fome ftrokes amilTe, 
 
 For who can pourtray Vertue as it is 2 
 
 Art might with Nature have maintain'd her ftrife, 
 By curious lines to imitate true life. 
 But now thofe pidlures want their lively grace, 
 As after death none can well draw the face : 
 
 Mr. Hain Friswell notices the resemblance ' ' with a 
 certain back twist" (as he writes it) of Ben's lines to 
 the elegiac couplet under an old portrait (1588) of Sir 
 Thomaii More, in the Tres Thorns of Stapleton : 
 
 Corporis effigiem dedit aenea lamina. At 6 fi 
 EfBgiem mentis lie daret ilte lahor. 
 
 and in Venus and Adonis, we read, 
 
 Look, where a painter would furpafs the life, 
 His arts* with nature's workmanlhip at ftrife. 
 
 which Dryden echoes in his Epistle to Sir Godfrey 
 
 Kneller! 
 
 Such are thy pieces, imitating life 
 
 So near, they almoft conquer in the ftrife. 
 
 We need not, however, go out of Shakespeare's 
 "Booke" to find an instance of this common conceit : 
 
 the cutter 
 Was as another Nature, dumb, outwent her. 
 Motion and breath left out. 
 
 Cyinhelhie, ii, 4. 
 
170 
 
 Mat. Smalwood, in his commendatory verses pre- 
 fixed to Cartwright's Works, 165 1, thus comments on 
 the wretched print of Cartwright's face, which serves 
 as fi-ontispiece to the volume. 
 
 Then, do not blame his ferious Brow and Look, 
 'Twill be thy Pidlure if thou read his Book : 
 
 Page 98. 
 
 It has not, hitherto, been observed, that Ben 
 Jonson's forty couplets have a regular structure. The 
 editor has ventured upon an innovation to indicate 
 this. @SSSS© Fortunately the three marks of 
 division, to which he has had recourse, fall on the 
 top of each page, so that they serve indifferently as 
 paginal decorations, or as the headings of the second, 
 third, and fourth divisions. By virtue of the latter 
 function, they indicate the following constituent parts 
 of the poem. 
 
 (I.) An Introduction ■) ^^^^ ^^ ^.^^ ^^ j^^^ 
 
 (4.) A Peroration ) 
 
 (2. ) An Address to Shakespeare ) each of twelve 
 
 (3.) An Address to Britain ) couplets. 
 
 In the third, however, is a passing deviation, viz. 
 " Thy Art, my Shakespeare,'' &c. A few obscurities 
 in the course of this piece may be noted. "To draw 
 no envy," &c., certainly does not mean what the editor 
 of Brome's Five New Plays, 1658-9, imputes to it; as 
 if Ben thought to lower Shakespeare by extravagantly 
 praising him. He meant to say, that while Ignorance, 
 Affection, or Malice, by excessive, indiscriminate or 
 unjust praise, would be sure to provoke the detraction 
 of Envy, 
 
 thefe ways 
 Were not the paths I meant unto thy praife ; 
 
 for he could with full knowledge and strict impar- 
 tiality award him the highest praise that could be 
 
171 
 
 expressed. One is reminded (especially by the seventh 
 couplet) of what Ben wrote in CynthicCs Revels, where 
 Crites is made to say, 
 
 So they be ill men. 
 If they fpake worfe, 'twere better : for of fuch 
 To be difpraifed, is the moft perfe(ii praife. 
 
 "I will not lodge thee," &c., refers to Basse's lines, 
 and means that he will not class Shakespeare with 
 Chaucer, Spenser, and Beaumont, because he is out 
 of all proportion greater than they — men "of yeeres" 
 or " for an age.'' Nor will he praise him by declaring 
 how far he excelled Lily, Kid, and Marlow. Shakes- 
 peare, indeed, like them (yet beyond them) was, for 
 the age in which he flourished ; but he was also for 
 all time, and not of an age. It is worth remarking, 
 that on the occasion of the Tercentenary Celebration, 
 in London, when "blinde Affection" worshipped the 
 gigantic bust of Shakespeare, at the Agricultural 
 Hall, "seeliest Ignorance" had surmounted the pros- 
 cenium with the abominable travestie, HE was not 
 FOR AN AGE, BUT FOR ALL TIME ; and the Same evil 
 genius presided over Mr. John Leighton's " Official 
 Seal for the National Shakespeare Committee,'' when 
 he engraved on the scroll at the base of the device 
 the same discreditable perversion, not for an age 
 BUT FOR ALL TIME. Mr. Frederick Brett Russell is 
 to be congratulated on his fidelity and sense in sur- 
 rounding his memorial salver with the actual line of 
 Jonson. 
 
 "Leave thee alone for the comparison,''^ &c., is almost 
 repeated verbatim in Jonson's Timber, where he 
 points to Bacon as 
 
 "he who hath filled up all numbers, and performed that in 
 our tongue which may be compared or preferred either to infolent 
 Greece, or haughty Rome." 
 
 It is indeed as applicable to Bacon's prose as to 
 Shakespeare's verse. Mr. W. H. Smith endeavours 
 
172 
 
 to make capital out of the coincidence in his Bacon 
 and Shakespeare. 1857. pp. 35-36. 
 
 " fi;r though thou had'st," &c. Here Aa^ri is the 
 subjunctive. The passage may be thus paraphrased. 
 
 " Even if thou hadA little fcholarlhip, I would not feek to 
 honour thee by calling thee, as others have done, Ovid, Plautus, 
 Terence, &c., i.e., by the names of the claflical poets, but would 
 rather invite them to witnefs how far thou doft outihine them." 
 
 Ben does not assert that Shakespeare had "little 
 Latine and less Greek,'' as the editor of Brome, as 
 Aubrey, and others understand him : though doubtless, 
 compared with Ben's finished scholarship, Shakes- 
 peare's was small : but that the lack of that accom- 
 plishment could only redound to Shakespeare's honour, 
 who could be Greek or Roman, according to the 
 requirements of the play and the situation. 
 
 After all, one could wish that Ben had said all this 
 in Shakespeare's lifetime ; and one is reminded of what 
 Horace says of the great poet (Epist. II, i 13-14). 
 
 Urit enim fulgore fuo, qui preegravat artes 
 Infra fe politas : extindlus amabitur idem. 
 
 In some verses prefixed to Cartwright's Wm-ki, 1651, 
 signed W. Towers, it is said. 
 
 Thy Ikill in wit was not fo poorely meek 
 As theirs, whofe little Latin and no Greek 
 Confin'd their whole difcourfe to a ftreet phrafe. 
 Such diale(5l as their next neighbour's was. 
 
 This was in allusion to Jonson's critique on 
 Shakespeare. 
 
 Page 103. 
 
 In the remarks de Shakespeare nostrati we have, 
 doubtless, Ben's closet-opinion of his friend, opposed 
 as it seems to be to that in his address to Britain 
 (p. 100), where Ben appears to praise him for that 
 very quality " wherein he most faulted : " for evidently 
 
173 
 
 Shakespeare did not dream of conforming to the 
 Horatian precept, (Sat. I, x. 72-73.) 
 
 Ssepe Hylum vertas, iterum quae digna legl funt 
 Scriptunis. 
 
 Though Ben regretted and condemned his friend's 
 rapidity of execution, it does not appear that he 
 assumed (like Cowley, in a passage quoted in the Third 
 Period, ) the right ' ' to prune and lop away " what did 
 not square with his canons of criticism. 
 
 In his Timber, under the head, De Stylo, et optima 
 scribendi generis, Ben expatiates on the duty of self- 
 restraint in composition. He says (inter alia dicta), 
 "No matter how slow the style be at first, so it 
 be laboured and accurate ; " and again, "So that 
 the sum of all is, ready writing makes not good 
 writing ; but good writing brings on ready writing : 
 yet, when we think we have got the faculty, it is even 
 then good to resist it ; " &c. 
 
 Ben's critique on the passage (as it must have 
 originally stood) in yulius Caesar is captious. The 
 justice of the cause is not inconsistent with wrong 
 inflicted on others beside the expiator. Mr. J. O. 
 Phillips (Halliwell) rightly observes, "If wrong is 
 taken in the sense of injury or harm, as Shakespeare 
 sometimes uses it, there is no absurdity in the line, 
 [cf.] ' He shall have wrong.' 2 Henry VI, v, i." 
 (Life of Shakespeare, 1848, p. 185. ) Again, in 
 A Winter's Tale, v, i, Paulina, speaking of the 
 
 hapless Queen, says, 
 
 Had one fuch power. 
 She had juft caufe. 
 Leontes. She had, and would incenfe me 
 
 To murther her I marryed. 
 
 That is, she had just cause to incite him to do 
 another a grievous wrong. This is even more amen- 
 able to Jonson's censure than the passage which fell 
 under it. That the line in yulius Ccesar did sound 
 Z 
 
174 
 
 ridiculous can well be credited ; whence the alteration 
 (by whom made we know not) which was so in- 
 juriously foisted into the playhouse copies, and which 
 the editors, in deference to the over-venerated text 
 of the first folio, still blindly follow. It is to the 
 censured line that Ben alludes in the precedent 
 extract (p. 102). 
 
 Page 106. 
 
 These lines have been attributed to John Marston, 
 Jaspar Mayne, and James Mabbe. They are bad 
 enough for Mayne, and good enough for Marston. 
 Mr. Bolton Comey, who first preferred a claim on 
 behalf of Mabbe, supported it by the following extract 
 from Mabbe's translation of Guzman de Alfarache, 
 Part I, p. 175; a work published by Blount, and 
 attributed to Mateo Aleman. (see Notes and Queries ; 
 and S., XI, 4.) 
 
 It is a miferable thing, and much to be pitied, that fuch an 
 idol as one of thefe [a proud courtier], fhould affeift particular 
 adoration ; not conlidering that he is but a man, a reprefentant, 
 a poor kind of comedian that oEls his part upon tliejiage of the 
 •world, and comes forth with this or that office, thus and thus 
 attended, or at leaft refembling fuch a perfon, and that when 
 the play is done (which cannot be long) he must prefently enter 
 into the tyring-hmtfe of the ^ave, and be turned to duft and 
 aOies as one of the fons of the earth, which is the common 
 mother of us all. 
 
 Is there not, in I. M.'s poor lines, an allusion to the 
 last words of Augustus? Vos omnes plauditet 
 
 Page 107. 
 
 For the lines quoted in the first extract Burton 
 trusted to his memory, for in his own copy in the 
 Bodleian Library, they run thus: 
 
 the bufhes in the way 
 Some catch her neck, some kiffe her face. 
 Some twine about her thigh to make her ftay : 
 She wildly breaketh from their ftrict embrace. 
 
 Venus and Adonis, 1602. 4to. St. 146. 
 
175 
 
 The second line, which is exactly as Burton quotes 
 it, has lost the words "by the." In the British 
 Museum copy of the same edition, that line runs 
 tlius : 
 
 Some catch her by the neck, fome kiffe her face. 
 
 The omission was probably detected after a few 
 copies had been pulled, and corrected before the 
 edition was worked off. The Edinburgh edition 1627 
 was evidently printed from one of the uncorrected 
 copies of the edition of 1602, for it reads 
 
 Some catch her neck, and fome doe kifTe her face, 
 
 eking out the line by the addition of "and" and 
 "doe." 
 
 In the second extract, the parenthesis, "like 
 Benedict and Betteris in the comedie," was added in 
 the third edition of Burton's book, issued in 1628. 
 This is the earliest allusion to Much ado about nothing. 
 "Betteris" is phonetic spelling: Beatrice was doubt- 
 less vulgarly so pronounced. The M archioness of 
 Newcastle, in one of her Sociable Letters, printed in 
 the Third Period, spells the name Bettrice. Leonard 
 Digges, however, (ante, p. 147) gives her three 
 syllables. 
 
 The third exti-act quotes the concluding couplet of 
 Romeo and Juliet. They run thus in the old folio : 
 
 For never was a ftory of more woe 
 Than this of Juliet and her Romeo. 
 
 The old editions of The Anatomy of Melancholy, 
 bear the dates, 1621, 1624, 1628, 1632, 1638, 1651-2, 
 1660 and 1676. The British Museum has copies of 
 the first three and the last. That of 1651-2 was the 
 first published after Burton's death (Jan. 7, 1639). 
 The first edition (1621) does not contain any of the 
 passages quoted. 
 
176 
 
 Page 108. 
 
 Compare this extract with the following ; 
 
 One word more, I befeech you ; if you be not too much cloid 
 with Fat Meate, our humble Author will continue the Story 
 (with Sir John in it) and make you merry, with faire Katherine 
 of France : where (for any thing I know) Faljlaffe fhall dye of 
 a fweat, unlefle already he be kill'd with your hard Opinions : 
 For Old-Cajlle dyed a Martyr, and this is not the man. 
 
 Epilogue to 2 Henry IV. 
 
 According to Mr. J. P. Collier, John Weaver, in 
 the dedication of his Mirror of Martyrs, 1601, dis- 
 tinguishes between "this first true Oldcastle" (his 
 own) and " the second false Oldcastle ; " viz., that of 
 Shakespeare's creation. (Ed. of Shakespeare, 1858, 
 iii, 317, 423.) 
 
 Page iio. 
 
 Nathaniel Field (like Richard Brome, in his Merrie 
 Beggars 1653, in a passage quoted in the Third Period) 
 here refers to the speech of Falstaff, which concludes 
 the first scene of 2 Henry IV, act v. 
 
 Page hi. 
 
 By the use of the expression "idle pamphlets" 
 Brother Robinson did not necessarily intend (as Mr. 
 Collier supposes, Bibliog. and Crit. Account, ii, 274) 
 to depreciate Shakespeare's poem. An "idle pam- 
 phlet," at that time of day, meant one which afforded 
 diversion rather than edification. Surely " scurrilous 
 booke" (to which Mr. Collier takes no exception) 
 implies a much graver charge ; and Sir Aston Cokaitie 
 imputes the same evil quality to Shakespeare's 
 writings. 
 
 Page 112. 
 
 By an oversight the editor gave this passage from 
 the folio 1630 instead of from the quarto 1620. It 
 should properly have preceded the extract on p. 89. 
 
177 
 
 Farmer says it is "impossible to give the original 
 dates " of John Taylor's pieces. "He may be traced 
 as an author for more than half a century." (Boswell's 
 Malone, 1821, vol. i, p. 367.) 
 
 Page 114. 
 
 We have the choice of three early printed versions 
 of Milton's lines : I. The commendatory verses pre- 
 fixed to the Folio Edition of Shakespeare, 1632. 
 2. Those appended to the unauthorised edition of 
 Shakespeare's Poems, published in 1640. 3. The 
 edition of Milton's poems published in 1645. We 
 have preferred the first and least pleasing of the three, 
 as being, unquestionably, Milton's first draft of the 
 line : allowing, of course, that pari is a press-error for 
 "hart" (i.e., heart). The other versions correct that 
 error, and also have "weake" for dull, and "live- 
 long " for lasting. The second, by a press-error, reads 
 "our selfe" instead of her selfe. The third has "it 
 selfe. " In the Folio Shakespeare and Fatne are in Italics. 
 
 The expression " star-ypointing pyramid" was 
 doubtless intended to signify, pointing to the stars : 
 and the prefix y is similarly used by Sackville, in 
 his legend, entitled. The Complaint of Henry Duke 
 of Buckingham. ( Sackville-West's Ed., p. 140.) 
 
 ** Sans earthly guilt ycauiing both be flain." 
 
 (See Notes and Queries, 4th S., iv, p. 331.) Had the 
 line in Milton run 
 
 " Under a ftar-ypointed pyramid," 
 
 the sense would have been, under a pyramid sur- 
 mounted with a star. (See Marsh's Lectures by Dr. Wm. 
 Smith, 1866, Lecture xv, p. 232, note.) One is re- 
 minded of some lines attributed to Shakespeare, quoted 
 by many editors and biographers of Shakespeare. 
 
 "Not monumentall ftone preferves our fame, 
 Nor flcye-afpiring piramids our name," 
 
178 
 
 and the assertion, that each heart hath 
 
 " Thofe delphic lines with deep impreflion toolc," 
 
 recals a passage in Shakespeare's Lucrece, where he 
 speaks of 
 
 "The face, that map which deep impreflion bears, 
 Of hard misfortune carved in it with tears." 
 
 Coleridge wrote the last four lines on the margin 
 of one of Donne's letters to the Lady G., opposite 
 the following passage : 
 
 ' No prince would be loth to die that were affured of fo fair a 
 tomb to preferve his memory.' (Notes Th. Pol. and Mifc, 1853, 
 p. 258.) 
 
 Milton's meaning, however, is this. Every heart, 
 by the plastic power of fancy, takes deep impression 
 of Shakespeare's lines. Then, by deprivation of fancy, 
 we are turned to marble ; and we thus become an 
 inscribed monument to Shakespeare. But the conceit 
 is affected, and the conjugate use of "whilst" and 
 " then " in these verses is, to say the least, very 
 unusual. 
 
 Page hj. 
 
 We find Shakespeare treated as a name of "high 
 qualitie,'' («'. e., a heroic name) in a work called 
 Polydoron, n.d. but of the relative period. 
 
 Names were firfl: queftionlefle given for diftintHiion, facultie, 
 confanguinitie, defert, qualitie: for Smith, Taylor, Joyner, 
 Saddler, &c., were doubtleffe of the trades ; Johnfon, Robinfon, 
 Williamfon, of the blood ; Sackville, Saville, names of honorable 
 defert ; Armeftrong, Shakefpeare of high qualitie : 
 
 Shakespeare, as Fuller says, is Hastivibrans in 
 Latin. In Greek it is AopiTraXroc and 'Eyx* ""■"^of- 
 of. Spenser's Faery Queen, b. iv, t. iii, st. 10. 
 
 He, all enraged, his (hivering fpeare did (hake. 
 And charging him afrelh thus felly him befpake. 
 
179 
 
 Mr. 'SM.^\ii(Fors Clavigera : 15, 12) notes as a curious 
 coincidence, " that the name of the chief poet of pas- 
 sionate Italy [was] ' the bearer of the wing,' and that 
 of the chief poet of practical England, the bearer or 
 shaker of the spear." 
 
 Page 117 and 118. 
 
 Ben Jonson's verses were written as a vent for his 
 indignation, after the failure of TTie Nem Inn had left 
 him straitened and discomfited. 
 
 Owen Feltham's verses are a clever parody on 
 Jonson's : Jug, Pierce, Peck, and Fly, are characters 
 in Jonson's play. "Discourse so weighed" refers to 
 the third and fourth acts of The New Inn. 
 
 T. Randolph, T. Carew, and J. Cleveland, all 
 wrote odes to console Ben for his disappointment, 
 and to win him back to his work. What an irritable, 
 sdf-seeking, praise-loving old genius he was ! 
 
 Page 120. 
 
 The editor has followed the example of all his 
 predecessors in treating the letters, I. M. S. as the 
 initials of the author's name : so he has placed them 
 at the head of this noble composition. But it has 
 not been without compunction that he has made this 
 concession: for he is inclined to believe that those 
 letters signify the words In Memoriam Scriptoris. 
 The fact is — what has been often recognised — that 
 this magnificent tribute to Shakespeare's worth is a 
 sort of rival to that of Ben Jonson, thus ennobling 
 the second folio, as Jonson's had graced the first. 
 Now Jonson declared his poem to be In Memory of 
 the (deceased) Author, &c. ; so it is natural to look for 
 some echo of this description in the rival poem: 
 and these words might be precisely rendered by In 
 Memoriam Scriptoris (decessi), the last word being 
 
quite unimportant. This reading leaves the field 
 clear for conjecture on the identity of the Friendly 
 Admirer. Apart from all attempt to fit the initials on 
 a poet's name, only one conjecture has been made; 
 viz., that of Boaden, in his Inquiry, 1824, p. 106. 
 After dismissing the view that I. M. S. meant Jasper 
 Mayne (Student), John Marston (Student, or Satirist), 
 or John Milton (Senior), he advocates the claims of 
 John Chapman, and makes out a plausible case for 
 that admirable poet. A correspondent in Notes and 
 Queries (2nd S : vii, 123) suggests J. M. (Scotus), 
 identifying I. M. S. with the person who presented 
 Chapman with the plate prefixed to his Iliad, and the 
 probable author of the subscribed couplet, signed 
 " Scotiae Nobilis." Some time back the editor 
 privately proposed to father this poem on Dr. John 
 Donne. There are similarities of diction which 
 countenance this view, and surely Donne was 
 equal to the effort. On the other hand, it is im- 
 possible to extract from Donne's poems a piece of 
 equal length which is not disfigured by some lines of 
 amazing harshness ; while in the poem of the Friendly 
 Admirer there is little or no interruption to the majestic 
 flow and delicious smoothness of the verse. Its reigning 
 fault is a certain looseness of metaphor. It might 
 serve to lament and praise any great dramatic poet ; 
 nothing is accurately significant of Shakespeare's pecu- 
 liar genius : in this view the " curious robe " woven by 
 the muses is an eye-sore : but the description of it is so 
 exquisitely beautiful, that it provides the compensating 
 eye-salve. William Godwin, {Life of E. 6^ J. Phillips, 
 1815, p. 170) suggested that I. M. S. meant John 
 Milton Senior: Mr. Collier in 1844 attributed the 
 poem to John Milton, Sttident. The latter view has 
 found an able advocate in Professor Henry Morley. 
 But it is easily shown that the structure of the verse 
 belongs to an earlier period than that of Milton. 
 
i8i 
 
 The late Mr. Dyce (Ed. of Shakespeare, 1867) 
 appears to favour the claim preferred for Jasper 
 Mayne : but such an opinion only serves to show how 
 little reliance can be placed upon Mr. Dyce's critical 
 deliverances. The best of Mayne's verses, such as 
 those pointed out by Mr. Dyce, and that praised by 
 the late Mr. Bolton Comey {Notes and Queries, 4th S., 
 II. 147) are merely respectable. His worst verses 
 make us wonder what could have been the vanity 
 that prompted them, and the flattery that praised 
 them ! Mayne might just as weU have composed a 
 poem comparable to Paradise Lost, as have, written 
 the elegy of the Friendly Admirer. But Mr. Dyce had 
 as little sensibility to the higher graces of poetry as 
 Samuel Johnson. Mr. Hunter's guess, that I. M. S. 
 were the consonants of the name of some poet James, 
 was the veriest trifling. If such a poet were to be 
 discovered, the conjecture would still be out of court, 
 for it is not a poet that we require, but a very great 
 poet. Besides, in the editor's judgment, " T/ieFriendly 
 Admirer," implies that the author was an eminent 
 rival of Shakespeare's, who bore him no envy. 
 
 A few notes on the text of this poem may be 
 helpful. The first sixteen couplets consist of six 
 substantive clauses (neither governed by nor governing 
 any verb), terminated by full points, or signs of 
 aposiopesis. These serve to convey the finest possible 
 description of the dramatic function. 
 
 P. 121. Read: 
 
 *' Make Kings his fubjeifls by exchanging verfe : " 
 
 i. e. , by verse which effects the exchange. The last 
 couplet on this page is echoed by Digges : 
 
 '* Some fecond Shakefpeare muft of Skakefpeare write." 
 
 P. 122. Though "the ninefold tr'ain" is mentioned, 
 only eight Muses seem to be specified : unless, indeed, 
 AA 
 
l82 
 
 "the melodious pair" be intended to designate 
 Euterpe, Erato and Terpsichore. A paclc of cards 
 used to be called " a pair of cards"; and we still say 
 " a pair of stairs " : pair being a set of matched things. 
 
 Ibid: "Purled": not ptirfled {i.e., embroidered, 
 as Boaden understood by it), but rippled ; the poet 
 could not say of a -^yticaxe. purling. 'Bui purled seems 
 to have had also the sense of embroidered. See Gower's 
 Confessio Amantis and Hall's Henry VIII for 
 examples. 
 
 P. 123, "Living drawne" — i. t., drawn as if they 
 were substantial things. 
 
 It may be safely asserted that no English encomiastic 
 poem has ever come near this for graceful melodious 
 verse and mastery of language. It is, besides, so free 
 ?nd unstudied, that one might well believe it was 
 written "without blot." 
 
 Pages 124 and 127. 
 
 Habington refers to William Prynne, the author of 
 the Histrio-mastix of 1633, from which we have 
 given an extract. He supposes Prynne, under the 
 genial stimulus of his rich sack, to put off the Puritan, 
 and to toast the prince -of playwrights. This Prynne 
 is probably the second saint described in Hudibras, 
 Part III, C. ii, 11. 421-4 & 11. 1065-6. 
 
 There was a former Histrio-mastix, published in 
 1610, which is said to contain an allusion to Shake- 
 speare's Troilus and Cressida, I, 3 : but there is 
 evidence to prove that the book had, by some years, 
 precedence of the play. Some critics have seen in 
 the expression "mastick jaws" an allusion by Shake- 
 speare to the Histrio-mastix of l6io: others an 
 allusion to Decker's Satyro-mastix. Such fancies are 
 wholly without foundation. The word "mastick " in 
 Troilus and Cressida means either slimy, or gnashing, 
 in either case conveying a singularly forcible and 
 
1 83 
 
 offensive image of Thersites' jaws. "Mastick" is either 
 from the Greek /latTrixri, the gum of the lentisk tree, 
 or from the Latin mastico, the equivalent of the Greek 
 liaaTix&ia, from fiaara?,, the jaws : certainly not from 
 mastix, which means a whip or scourge. 
 
 Page 126. 
 These are the first two lines of the tenth song in 
 Shakespeare's Passionate Pilgrim. The song is in- 
 cluded in Percy's Reliques, Vol. Ill, Book ii, 16,- 
 
 Page 130. 
 It is the author of this finger-counting doggrel who 
 is credited by some with the splendid elegy on Shake- 
 speare, which we have given on pages 120-3. ^^ 
 had some compunction in reproducing Mayne's trashy 
 verses at all : but we have not reproduced the italics, 
 which could have had no possible meaning : e.g. , " Not 
 his roome, but the Poet for thy grave." The lines on 
 page II may serve, once for all, as a sample of this 
 kind of printing. It was a fantastical trick of the time. 
 See, for instances. Sir Roger L'Estrange's lines pre- 
 fixed to Beaumont and Fletcher's Works, 1647.: those 
 of Alexander Brome on Richard Brome, in the Five 
 New Plays, 1653: and the first edition, 1682, of 
 Dryden's Religio Laid. 
 
 Page 132. 
 
 West was probably thinking of A Winter's Tale: 
 "A sad tale's best for winter," ii, i, and "Upon a 
 barren mountain, and still winter," iii, 2. 
 
 Page 133. 
 
 " Faul," for fault, occurs in The Meny Wives of 
 Windsor, i, I. "His faul is in the 'ort dissolutely." 
 In the mention of Jonson's command of Latin, 
 Ramsay is probably thinking of his reflection on 
 Shakespeare's "small Latin and less Greek.'' 
 
i84 
 
 Page 134. 
 
 This obscure but excellent poet writes that 
 
 the tales of Chaucer heralded the rife of our Chief (Jonfon), as 
 did alfo the unpolifhed band (of poets) who fucceeded him. 
 This god-like device (the Jonfonian comedy), but little fuited to 
 (the tafte of) an early age, was to be referved for ours ; and it 
 was fitting that the gods fhould rehearfe the contefts of that 
 age, as a preparation for fo' great a genius ; nor will I pafs 
 over in filence the twin-bards (Beaumont and Fletcher) nor 
 Thee Shake/peare, or whatever (other) facred (name) the plan 
 of Fate has caft upon our times. 
 
 It was in Comedy that Jonson professed to have 
 introduced new laws. He compliments Richard 
 Brome, in verses prefixed to The Northern, Lass, 1632 
 (acted in July, 1629), on the applause he had gained 
 
 " By obfervation of thofe comick laws 
 
 Which I, your matter, lirft did teach the age." 
 
 Some years later Sir John Suckling (Sessions of the 
 Poets) represents Ben asserting that 
 
 he had purg'd the ftage 
 Of errors that had laited many an age ; 
 
 ^ Page 136. 
 
 ChilUngworth refers to 2 Henry IV, i, 2, where 
 the Chief Justice's attendant says, 
 
 " I pray you Sir, then fet your knighthood and your foldier- 
 ihip aiide ; and give me leave to tell you, you lie in your 
 throat," &c., to which Falftaff replies, " I pve thee leave to tell 
 me fo ! I lay afide that which grows to me ! " &c. 
 
 Page 137. 
 
 The editor has not obtained a. sight of this work. 
 He gives the extract from Mr. Halliwell's Life of 
 Shakespeare. Mr. Collier, however, quotes the 
 passage from an edition of 1630. [8vo.] See his 
 I}iog: df Cri Account, vol. ii, pp. 33S-6- 
 
i85 
 
 Pages 143 & 146. 
 
 In his first copy of verses Leonard Digges speaks 
 twice of Shakespeare's Works. In his second he 
 refuses that term to the plays, because it was to Shakes- 
 peare no work "to contrive a play." H. Fitzgeoffrey 
 thus writes in his Certaine Elegies, 1620 (Book i, 
 Sat. i.) ! 
 
 Bookes made of Ballades, Workes of Playes, 
 
 and Sir John Suckling, in his Sessions of the Poets, 
 
 writes, 
 
 The firil that broke filence was good old Ben, 
 
 Prepar'd before with Canary wine, 
 
 And he told them plainly he deferv'd the bays. 
 
 For his were call'd works, where others were but plays. 
 
 The fact is that Jonson had in l6l6 issued his Plays 
 under the title of Workes, Perhaps the joke at page 
 139, in the extract from Conceits, Clinches, &c., had 
 no reference to this ; the works there referred to seem 
 to be Shakespeare's ^W(/ works : still there is the same 
 opposition to plays and books. In 1640 the second 
 edition of Conceits, Clinches, &c., was published under 
 the name of Jocabella, or a Cabinet of Conceits where- 
 unto are added Epigrams and other poems. [4to.] 
 
 When Digges writes 
 
 Vermine forbeare, 
 Leaft with your froth you fpot them, come not neere ; 
 But if you needs muft write, if poverty 
 So pinch, that otherwife you ftarve and die, &c. 
 
 he is specially referring to Ben Jonson's Poetaster, 
 
 where Ben says of the Marston faction, 
 
 If it gave 'em Meat, 
 Or got 'em Clothes, 'tis well. 
 
 and there is also a remembrance of A Midsummer 
 Night's Dream, and in particular of the words 
 
 Newts and blindworms do no wrong. 
 Come not near our fairy queen. 
 
 Digges' verses are curious and valuable, as a testimony 
 
i86 
 
 to the supreme popularity of Julius Casar, Othello, 
 Henry IV, Much Ado About Nothing, and Twelfth 
 Night. They also show that Ben Jonson had reason 
 for viewing Shakespeare's success with jealousy. We 
 know that his New Inn was a complete failure, as it 
 deserved to be. We learn from Digges, that even 
 Catiline and Sejanus were found tedious and irksome. 
 
 Page 149. 
 And ViRBlus like: Virbim is the name borne by 
 Hippolytus, after his revival. See Virgil's yEneid, 
 lib. vii. Conington (1867, p. 257) thus renders the 
 relative passage : 
 
 But Trivia kind her favourite hides, 
 And to Egeria's care coniides. 
 To live in woods obfcure and lone. 
 And lofe in Virbius* name his own. 
 
 There may be an allusion to the little volume called 
 yonsonus Virbius (Jonson Revived), a collection of 
 verses in praise of Ben Jonson, published in the next 
 year after his death, and two years before the publica- 
 tion of Warren's verses. The title, Jonsonus Virbius, 
 was, according to Aubrey, given to this little work by 
 Lord Falkland, cf., the couplet, 
 
 Whofe Pious Coemetery fhall ftill keep 
 
 Thy Virbius waking, though thy AJlies fleep. 
 
 which occur in a copy of verses by Robert Gardiner 
 prefixed to Cartwright's works, ed. 1 65 1. 
 
 'Tij- \^Bensoiis'\ love, &c. The publisher's name 
 has been conjecturally added, to eke out the verse, and 
 complete the sense. 
 
 Page 150. 
 
 This is a creditable copy of verses, reminding one 
 of Ben Jonson. The line 
 
 Let learned Jonfoti fing a Dirge for thee, 
 proved that they were written in Jonson's lifetime : 
 and he died 1637. The best lines in it, " Nature 
 
i87 
 
 herself," &c., closely resemble a couplet in Ben's 
 
 elegy : 
 
 Nature herfelf was proud of his defigns, 
 And joy'd to weare the drefTing of his lines. 
 
 Page 153. 
 
 In the last Ime of the first verse, D'Avenant seems 
 to be recalling a line in Milton's Lycidas : 
 
 And cowflips wan that hang the penfive head. 
 The third verse is sufficient to prove that D'Avenant 
 had an ear. 
 
 Page 154. 
 
 Suckling would appear to have employed a version 
 of Shakespeare's poem which materially differs from 
 that known to us. Each stanza of The Rape of Lucrece, 
 in all the old copies, has seven lines : the complete 
 one given by Suckling has but six. But it is more 
 likely that he curtailed and otherwise altered Shakes- 
 peare's lines. The relative stanzas ran thus iaEngiand's 
 Parnassus, 1600 [4to], p. 460 : 
 
 Her lilly hand her rofie cheeke lies under, 
 Coofning the pillow of a lawful kifle. 
 Who, therefore angry, feemes to part in funder. 
 Swelling on eyther fide to want his bliffe, 
 Betweene whofe hills her head entombed is ; 
 Where, like a vertuous monument, flie lyes. 
 To be admirde of lewd unhallowed eyes. 
 
 Without the bed, her other fayre hand was 
 On the greene coverlet, whofe perfe<5t white 
 Shewd like an Aprill daifie on the gralTe, 
 With pearhe fweat, refembling dew of night. 
 
 It is almost impossible to date many of Suckling's 
 pieces. Even the exact date of his death is unknown. 
 We know, however, that he died in the year 1642. 
 Like Raphael and Mozart, he lived but thirty-four 
 years. 
 
 ERRA TUM. 
 P. no, 1. 3 of extract, for "ever" read "never.'' 
 
SHAKESPEARE'S 
 CENTURIE OF PRAYSE. 
 
 THIRD PERIOD. 
 1642 — 1660. 
 
i644- 
 
 U Lie US keeps to the old way of 
 devotion, and that is the offering 
 up the incenfe of fo many lies and 
 intelligence every Sunday morning : one 
 would thinke that the Judgements which 
 have been fent from heaven againft. the 
 prophanation of that day, recorded by our 
 protomartyr, Mafler Burton, fliould be able 
 to deterre a Diurnall maker, a paper-intelli- 
 gencer, a penny worthe of newes, but the 
 creature hath writ himfelfe into a reprobate 
 fenfe, and you may fee how it thrives with 
 him, for his braines have been wonderfully 
 blafled of late, and plannet-flrucke, and he 
 is not now able to provoke the meanefl 
 Chrillian to laughter, but lies in a paire of 
 foule flieets, a wofull fpectacle and object of 
 dullneffe, and tribulation, not to be recovered 
 by the Proteflant or Catholique liquour, 
 either ale or flrong beer, or Sack or Claret, 
 or Hippocras, or Mufcadine, or Rofafplis, 
 which has been reputed formerly by his 
 Grandfather Ben Johnfon and his uncle 
 Shakefpeare, and his Cowzen Germains, 
 
ig2 
 
 Fletcher a,nd Beaumont, and nofe-leffe 
 Davenant, and Frier Sherley the Poets, the 
 onely bloffoms for the brain, the refloratives 
 for the wit, the bathing for the wine mufes, 
 but none of thefe are now able either to 
 warme him into a quibble, or to inflame him 
 into a fparkle of invention, and all this be- 
 caufe he hath prophaned the Sabbath by 
 his pen. 
 
 Mercurius Britannicus : Numb. 20 (Jamtmy 
 4-H, 1644^. Communicating the affaires 
 of Great Britaine : For the better Informa- 
 tion of the People. 
 
193 
 
 THOMAS PRUJEAN, 1644. 
 The Argument of Romeos and Juliets ; 
 
 OMEO and Juliet iffues of two 
 enimies, Montague and Capulet, 
 Citizens of Verona, fell in love one 
 with the other : hee going to give her a vifit 
 meetes Tybalt her kinfman, who urging a 
 fight was flaine by him : for this Romeo was 
 banifhed and refided at Mantua, where he 
 received an Epiftle from Juliet. 
 
 Love's Looking Glajfe Divine and f/umane. 
 [The fecond part of " Aurorata."'\ 
 ( Epiftles from Juliet to Romeo, and from 
 Romeo to Juliet.) 1644. [ ivo. ] 
 
194 
 
 [JAMES SHIRLEY], 1647. 
 
 UT directed by the example of fome, 
 who once steered in our qualitie, 
 and fo fortunately afpired to choofe 
 your Ifouour, joyned with your (now glorified) 
 Brother, Patrons to the flowing compofitions 
 of the then expired fweet Swan of Avon 
 Shakespeare ; * * we have prefunied 
 to offer to your Selfe, what before was never 
 printed of thefe Authours. 
 
 The dedicatmy epijlle of ten players ' ' to Philip 
 Marie of Pembroke and Mountgomery." 
 Prefixed to the firfl edition of Beaumont 
 and Fletcher's Works: 1647. \_Fo.'\ 
 
I9S 
 
 SIR JOHN DENHAM, 1647. 
 
 HEN was wits Empire at the fatall 
 height, 
 When labouring and finking with 
 
 its weight, 
 From thence a thoufand leffer Poets fprong, 
 Like petty Princes from the Fall of Rome, 
 When Johnson, Shakespeare, and thy felfe 
 
 did fit. 
 And fway'd in the Triumvirate of Wit — 
 Yet what from Johnson's oyle, and fvveat did 
 
 flow, 
 Or what more eafie nature did beflow 
 On Shakespeares gentler Mufe, in thee full 
 
 growne 
 Their Graces both appeare, yet fo, that none 
 Can fay here Nature ends, and Art begins 
 But mixt like th' Elements, and borne like 
 
 twins, 
 So interweav'd, fo like, fo much the fame, 
 None this meere Nature, that meere Art can 
 
 name: 
 
 Commendatory Verfes on John Fletcher, pre- 
 fixed to the firjl edition of Beaumont and 
 Fletcher's Works. 
 
196 
 
 JAMES HOWELL, 1647. 
 
 AD now grim Ben bin breathing, with 
 what rage 
 And high-fwolne fury had he lafli'd 
 the age, 
 Shakespeare with Chapman had grown 
 
 madd, and torn 
 Their gentle Sock, and lofty Bujkins worne, 
 To make their Mufe welter up to the chin 
 In blood; 
 
 Commendatory Verfes " upon Mafter Fletchei's 
 Dramatic Works.'' Prefixed to the firjl 
 edition of Beaumont and Fletcher's Works. 
 
197 
 
 SIR GEORGE BUCK, 1647. 
 
 ET Shakefpeare, Chapman, and ap- 
 plauded Ben, 
 Weare the Eternall merit of their 
 Pen, 
 Here I am love-ficke : and were I to chufe, 
 A Miftris corrivall 'tis Fletcher's Mufe. 
 
 Prefixed to the firjl edition of Beaumont and 
 Fletcher's Works. 
 
198 
 
 WILLIAM CARTWRIGHT, 1647. 
 
 IWIXT /o/ui/on's grave, and Shake- 
 
 fpeares lighter found 
 
 His Mufe fo fleer'd that fomething 
 
 Hill was found, 
 
 Nor this, nor that, nor both, but fo his owne, 
 
 That 'twas his marke, and he was by it known e. 
 
 ff 'fr tt tp 
 
 Shakefpeare to thee was dull, whofe beft. jeft. 
 
 lyes 
 r th' Ladies queflions, and the Fooles replyes; 
 Old fafhion'd wit, which walkt from town to 
 
 town 
 In turn'd Hofe, which our fathers call'd the 
 
 Clown ; 
 Whofe wit our nice times would obfceannefs 
 
 call, 
 And which made Bawdry pafs for Comicall : 
 Nature was all his Art, thy veine was free 
 As his, but without his fcurility ; 
 
 ' ' Upon the Dramatick Poems of Mr. yohn 
 Fletcher:'''' prefixed to the firft edition of 
 Bcaninont ajid Fletcher's Works, and in- 
 cluded (unda' that title) in Cartwright's 
 Comedies, Tragi-comedies, and Poems, 1651 
 \_sm. Si^u], pp. 270 and 273. 
 
199 
 
 J. BERKENHEAD, 1647. 
 
 HAKESPEAR was early up, and 
 went fo drefl. 
 As for thofe dawning houres he 
 knew was bed ; 
 But when the Sun flione forth, You Two 
 
 thought fit 
 To weare juft Robes, and leave off Trunk- 
 hofe-Wit. 
 
 # * # * 
 
 Brave Shakefpearc flow'd, yet had his Ebbings 
 
 too, 
 Often above Himfelfe, fometimes below ; 
 Thou Always Befl ; if ought feem'd to decline, 
 'Twas the unjudging Rout's miftake, not ^""'''^ 
 Thine : 
 
 Prefixed to the Firjl Folio Edition of Bcmtmont 
 and Fletcher'' s Works. 
 
JOHN MILTON, 1645. 
 
 HEN to the well-trod llage anon, 
 If Jonfons learned Sock be on. 
 Or fweetefl Shakefpear fancies 
 child, 
 Warble his native Wood-notes wilde. 
 
 Poems. 1645. [l2mo.] V Allegro, p. 36. 
 
201 
 
 JOHN MILTON, 1649. 
 
 ROM Stories of this nature both 
 Ancient and Modern which abound, 
 the Poets alfo, and fome Englifti, 
 have been in this Point fo mindful oi Decorutn, 
 as to put never more pious Words in the 
 Mouth of any Perfon, then of a Tyrant. I 
 fliall not inflance an abflrufe Author, wherein 
 the King might be lefs converfant, but one 
 whom we well know was theClofet Companion 
 of thefe his Solitudes, William Shakefpeare; 
 who introduces the Perfon of Richard the 
 Third, fpeaking, in as high a flrain of Piety, 
 and mortification, as is uttered in any paffage 
 of this Book [ EiKwi' BaffiXtKi) ] and fometimes 
 to the fame fenfe and purpofe with fome 
 words in this Place, / intended, faith he, not 
 only to oblige my Friends, hut mine Enemies. 
 The like faith Richard, A£l 2, Seen. i. 
 
 "/ do not know that Englijh Man alive. 
 With whom my Said is any jot at odds, 
 More than the Infant that is born to night; 
 I thank my God for my JIt(mility." 
 
 Other fluff of this fort may be read throughout 
 the whole Tragedy, wherein the Poet ufd not 
 much Licence in departing from the Truth of 
 Hiflory, which delivers him a deep Diffembler, 
 not of his affedlions only, but of Religion. 
 
 'EiKovoKKauTtiQ, § I. 1690 [sm. ^0], pp. 
 9-10. 
 
J. COOKE, 1649 Circa. 
 
 AD King Charles but fludied fcripture 
 half fo much as Ben Jonfon or 
 Shakefpeare, he would have learned 
 
 that when Amaziah [&c.J 
 
 Ccf. 2 Kings xiT I 
 2 Chron. xxv.] 
 
 Appeal to all Rational Men on King Charles's 
 Trial. 
 
203 
 
 SAMUEL SHEPPARD, 1646. 
 
 EE him whofe Tragic Sceans Euri- 
 pides 
 Doth equal, and with Sophocles we 
 may 
 Compare great Shakespeare— Aristophanes 
 Never like him, his Fancy could difplay ; 
 Witnefs the Prince of Tyre, his Pericles, 
 His fweet and his to be admired lay 
 He wrote of luflful Tarquins rape fhews he 
 Did underfland the depth of Poefie. 
 
 Tlie Times Difplay ed in Six Se/lyads. 1646. 
 [4'"- J 
 
 The fixth Sejlyad: St. 9. 
 
 i Apollo grieves to fee the times 
 So peflered with mechanic flavifli rimes. 
 
 Scribimus indoctiqiie Poemata paffim. 
 
204 
 
 SAMUEL SHEPPARD, 1651. 
 
 To Mr. Davenport on his Play called the 
 Pirate. 
 
 AKE all the cloth you can, hafle, 
 
 haae away, '^'ctviS' 
 
 The Pirate will o'retake you if you 
 
 (lay: 
 
 Nay, we will yeeld our felves,and this confeffe. 
 
 Thou Rival'fl Shakefpeare, though thy glory's 
 
 leffe. 
 
 Epigrams T/teological, Philofophical, and 
 Romantick. Six Books, &'c. 1651. [sm. 
 8w.] Book 2. Epig. 19, /. 27. 
 
205 
 
 SAMUEL SHP:PPARD, 165 1. 
 
 On Mr. Davenants moji excellent Tragedy of 
 Albovinek of Lombards. 
 
 HAKESPEARES Othello, John- 
 fons Cataline, 
 Would lofe the their luller, were thy 
 Albovine 
 Placed betwixt them, and as when the Sunne, 
 Doth whirling in his fiery Chariot runne, 
 All other lights burn dim, fo this thy play, 
 Shall be accepted as the Sun-lhine day : 
 While other witts (like Tapers) onely feems 
 Good in the want of thy Refulgent beames. 
 This Tragedy (let who hft dare diffent) 
 Shall be thy everlafling Monument. 
 
 Epigrams Theological, PJiilofopkical, and 
 Romantick. Six Books, &'c. 1651. [sm. 
 8z/£>.] Book 4, Epig. 30, /. 98. 
 
 DD 
 
2o6 
 
 SAMUEL SHEPPARD, 1651. 
 
 In Memory of our Famous Shakespeare. 
 
 I. 
 ACRED Spirit, while thy Lyre 
 Ecchoed o're the Arcadian Plaines, 
 Even Apollo did admire, 
 Orpheus wondered at thy Straines. 
 
 2. 
 Plautus Sigh'd, Sophocles wept 
 Teares of anger, for to heare 
 After they fo long had slept, 
 So bright a Genius fhould appeare : 
 
 3- 
 
 Who wrote his Lines with a Sunne-beame, 
 More durable then Time or Fate, 
 Others boldly do Blafpheme, 
 Like thofe that feeme to Preach, but prate. 
 
 4- 
 Thou wert truely Pried Elect, 
 Chofen darling to the Nine, 
 Such a Trophey to erect 
 (By thy wit and fkill Divine). 
 
207 
 
 5- 
 That were all their other Glories 
 (Thine excepted) torn away, 
 By thy admirable Stories, 
 Their garments ever fhall be gay. 
 
 6. 
 
 Where thy honoured bones do lie 
 (As Statins once to Maro's Urne) 
 Thither every year will I 
 Slowly tread, and fadly mourn. 
 
 Epigrams Theological, Philofophical, and 
 
 Romantick. Six Books, &'c. 1651. [sm- 
 
 Svo.l Book 6, Epig. 17, //. 150, 152, 
 and 154- 
 
208 
 
 1650 circa. 
 
 R. Ben : Johnfon and Mr. Wm. Sliake- 
 flili fp^^''^' Being Merrye att a Tavern 
 Mr. Jonfon haveing begune this for 
 his epitaph. 
 
 ■1 
 
 Here lies Ben Johnfon that once was one [ones sun] 
 
 he gives ytt to Mr. Shakfpear to make uppe 
 who pfently wrighte 
 
 Whp while hee livede was a flioe thing 
 and now being dead is Nothing. 
 
 Maimfcnpl, vol. 38,/. 181. AJltmolean Col- 
 leclion, Fivji printed in CapelPs Notes on 
 Shakeffeare. \. 94. 
 
209 
 
 SIR NICHOLAS L'ESTRANGE, 1650-60. 
 
 HAKE -SPE ARE was Godfather 
 to one of Ben: Johnfons children, 
 and after the chriflning being in a 
 deepe fludy, Johnfon came to cheere him up, 
 and afkt him why he was fo Melancholy ? 
 no faith Ben: (fays he) not I, but I have 
 been confidering a great wliile what (liould 
 be the fittefl. gift for me to beflow upon my 
 God-child, and I have refolv'd at laft.; I 
 pry'the what, fayes he i I faith Ben : I'le e'en 
 give him a douzen good Lattin Spoones, and 
 thou fhalt tranflate them. 
 
 MiTiy Paffages and Jeajls. No. 11. Har- 
 leyiait Manufcripts, No. 6395. Firji printed 
 hi CapelPs Azotes on Shakefpeare. i. 94. 
 
WILLIAM BELL, 165 1. 
 
 j OW had we loft both Mint, and Coyn 
 too, were 
 That falvage love ftill fafhionable 
 here, 
 To facrifice upon the Funerall Wood 
 All, the deceaf'd had e'r held deer and good? 
 We would bring all our fpeed to ranfome 
 
 thine 
 With Don's rich Gold, and Johnfon's filver 
 
 Mine ; 
 Then to the pile add all that Fletcher writ, 
 Stamp'd by thy Charadler a currant Wit : 
 Suckling's Ore, with Sherley's fmall mony, by 
 Heywood's old Iron, and Shakefpear's Al- 
 chemy. 
 
 Prefixed to Wm. Carhorighfs Comedies, Tragi- 
 comedies, and Poems. CJuiie 23J 1651. 
 
JASPER MAYNE, 1651. 
 
 OR thou to Nature had'ft joyn' Ai-t 
 and flcill, 
 In Thee Ben Johnfon still held 
 Shakefpear's Quill : 
 
 Prefixed to Wm. Carlwright s Comedies, Tragi- 
 comedies, and Poems. 1651. \sm. 8vo.} 
 
i6si. 
 
 OETA is her Minion, to whom flie 
 [Eloquentia] refignes the whole 
 government of her Family. * * 
 Ovid fhe makes Major-domo. Homer becaufe 
 a merrie Greek, Mafler of the Wine-Cellars. 
 Aretine (for his fkill in Poflures) growing old, 
 is made Pander, Shack-Spear, Butler. Ben 
 Johnfon, Clark of the Kitchin, Fenner his 
 Turn-fpit, And Taylor his Scullion. 
 
 A Hermeticall Banquet, drejl by a Spagiricall 
 Cook : for the better Prefervation of the 
 Microcofme. 1652. [l2mo.] p. 35. 
 
213 
 
 JO. TATHAM, 1652. 
 
 HERE is a Fa6lion (Friend) in 
 Town, that cries, 
 Down with the Dagon-Poet, Johtifon 
 dies. 
 His Works were too elaborate, not fit 
 To come within the Verge, or face of Wit^ 
 Beaumont and Fletcher (they fay) perhaps, 
 
 might 
 Paffe (well) for currant Coin, in a dark night : 
 But Shakefpeare the Plebean Driller, was 
 Founder'd in 's Pericles, and mufl. not pafs. 
 And fo, at all men flie, that have but been 
 Thought worthy of Applaufe ; therefore, their 
 
 fpleen, 
 Ingratefull Negro-kinde, dart you your Rage 
 Againfl. the Beams that warm'd you, and the 
 Stage ! 
 
 Prefixed to A yoviall Crew : or The Merry 
 Beggars, by Richard Brome. (Prefented 
 &'c. in yeer 1641.^ 1652. [4/ci.] 
 
 £S 
 
214 
 
 ALEXANDER BROME, 1653. 
 
 UT in Epiftles of this nature, fome- 
 thing is ufually begg'd, and I would 
 do fo too, but, I vow, am puzzled, 
 what. Tis not acceptance, for then youle 
 expedl I fliould give it; 'tis not Money, for 
 then I fhou'd lofe my labour; 'tis -aotpraife, 
 for the Author bid me tell you, that now he 
 is dead, he is of Faljlaffs minde, and cares 
 not for Honour; 'tis not pardon, for that fup- 
 pofes a fault, which (I beleeve) you cannot 
 finde. 
 
 Five New Flays by Richard Brome. 1653. 
 [4^(j.] {To the Readers.) 
 
215 
 
 SIR ASTON COKAINE, 1653. 
 
 UDICIOUS Beaumont, and th' In- 
 genious Soule 
 Of Fletcher too may move without 
 controule. 
 Shakefpeare (more rich in Humours) entertaine 
 The crowded Theaters with his happy veine. 
 Davenant and Maffinger, and Sherley, then 
 Shall be cry'd up again for Famous men. 
 
 "A Preludium to Mr. Richard Brome's 
 Playes.'' Prefixed to Five New Playes, 1653 
 r4fe], aiid inchtded in Cokaine's Small 
 Poems, 1658. [121110.'] Pp. io8-g. 
 
2l6 
 
 SIR ASTON COKAINE, 1658. 
 
 OW Stratford upon Avon, we would 
 choofe 
 Thy gentle and ingenuous Shake- 
 fpeare Mufe, 
 (Were he among the living yet) to raife 
 T' our Antiquaries merit fome jufl, praife : 
 And fweet-tongu'd Drayton (that hath given 
 
 renown 
 Unto a poor (before) and obfcure town, 
 HarfuU) were he not fal'n into his tombe, 
 Would crown this work with an Encomium. 
 Our Warwickshire the H&axt oi England is, 
 As you moil evidently have prov'd by this; 
 
 Small Poems of Divers Sorts. 1658. [sin. 
 ^o.'\ To William Dugdale. /. 111-112. 
 
217 
 
 SIR ASTON COKAINE, 1658. 
 To Mr. John Honyman. 
 
 N hopeful! youth, and let thy happy 
 flrain 
 Redeem the Glory of the Stage again : 
 LeiTen the Lofs of Shakefpeares death by thy 
 Succefsful Pen, and fortunate phantafie. 
 He did not onely write but aft; And fo 
 Thou dofl not onely a6l, but writefl too : 
 Between you there no difference appears 
 But what may be made up with equal years. 
 This is my Suffrage, and I fcorn my Pen 
 Should crown the heads of undeferving men 
 
 Small Poems of Divers Sorts. 1658. [siii. 
 Svo.'] Book I, Epig. 10, p. 140-141. 
 
2l8 
 
 SIR ASTON COKAINE, 1658. 
 
 To Mr. Clement Fifher i^/" VVincott. 
 
 HAKESPEARE your Wincot Ale 
 hath much renown d, 
 That fo'xd a Beggar fo (by chance 
 was found 
 Sleeping) that there needed not many a word 
 To make him to believe he was a Lord : 
 But you affirm (and in it feem moil eager) 
 'Twill make a Lord as drunk as any Beggar. 
 Bid Norton brew fuch Ale as Shakefpeare 
 
 fancies 
 Did put Kit Sly into fuch Lordly trances : 
 And let us meet there (for a fit of Gladnefs) 
 And drink our felves merry in fober fadnefs. 
 
 Small Poems of Divers Sorts. 1658. \sm. 
 8w.] Book II, Epig. 69, p. 224 \tnis- 
 paged 124]. 
 
219 
 
 SIR RICHARD BAKER, 1653. 
 
 I'FTER fuch men, it might be thought 
 ridiculous to fpeak of Stage-players ; 
 but feeing excellency in the meanefl 
 things deferve remembring, and Rofcius the 
 Comedian is recorded in Hiflory with fuch 
 commendation, it may be allowed us to do 
 the like with fome of our Nation. Richard 
 Bourbidge and Edward Allen, two fuch 
 Aflors as no age mud ever look to fee the 
 like : and, to make their Comedies compleat, 
 Richard Tarkton, who for the Part called the 
 Clowns Part, never had his match, never will 
 have. For Writers of Playes, and such as 
 had been Players themfelves, William Shake- 
 fpeare, and Benjamin John/on, have fpecially 
 left their Names recommended to poflerity. 
 
 Sir Richard Bakers Chronicle. 1653. [fo.] 
 /. 581. C£(/. 1665,/. 424.; 
 
SIR WILLIAM DUGDALE, 1653. 
 
 HAKESPEARES and John 
 Combes Monum'^, at Stratford sup' 
 Avon, made by one Gerard John- 
 
 Si'i- IVm. Dugdale's Diary. The first entry in 
 1653. Printed in The Life, Diary, and 
 Correspondence of Sir Wm, Dugdale, edited 
 by Wm. Hamper. 1827. /. 99. 
 
i6s6. 
 
 On the Time-Poets. 
 
 NE night, the great Apollo, pleaf'd 
 with Ben, 
 Made the odde number of the 
 Mufes ten ; 
 The fluent Fletcher, Beaumont rich in fenfe, 
 In complement and courtfhips quinteffence ; 
 Ingenious Shakefpeare ; Maffmger,thatknowes 
 The ftrength of plot to write in verfe or profe, 
 Whofe eafie Pegaffus will amble ore 
 Some threefcore miles of fancy in an hour ; 
 Cloud-grapling Chapman, whofe aerial minde 
 Soares at philofophy, and (Irikes it blinde ; 
 &c. 
 
 Clioyce Drollery, Songs, and Sonnets, being a 
 colledlion of divers excellent pieces of poetry 
 of feverall eminent authors, never before 
 printed. Anon, 1656. \\2vio.\ 
 
 FF 
 
SAMUEL HOLLAND, 1656. 
 
 H E fire of emulation burnt fiercely 
 in every angle of this paradise : 
 The Brittifli Bards (forfooth) were 
 alfo ingaged in quarrel for fuperiority ; and 
 who think you threw the apple of difcord 
 amongft. them, but Ben John/on, who had 
 openly vaunted himfelf the firfl and befl. of 
 Englifh Poets : this Brave was refented by 
 all with the highefl. indignation : for Chawcer 
 (by mofl there) was efleemed the Father of 
 Englifh Poefie whofe onely unhappines it 
 was, that he was made for the time he lived 
 in, but the time not for him : Chapman was 
 wondroufly exafperated at Ben^s boldnefs, 
 and fcarce refrained to tell (his own Tale of 
 a Tub) that his Isabel and Mortimer was now 
 compleated by a knighted poet whofe foul 
 remained in flefh : hereupon Spencer (who 
 was very bufie in finifhing his Fairy Qiteai) 
 thrufl himfelf amid the throng, and was re- 
 ceived with a fhowt by Chapman, Harrington, 
 Owen, Conjlable, Daniel, and Drayton, fo 
 that fome thought the matter already decided 
 but behold Shake/pear and Fletcher (bringing 
 with them a flrong party) appeared, as if 
 
223 
 
 they meant to water their bayes with blood, 
 rather then part with their proper right, whicli 
 indeed Apollo and the Mufes had (with much 
 juflice) conferred upon them, fo that now 
 there is likely to be a trouble in Triplex ; 
 Skdton, Gower and the Monk of Bury were 
 at daggers-drawing for Chawcer : Spencer 
 waited upon by a numerous troop of the beR 
 book-men of the world: Shakefpear and 
 Fletcher furrounded with their Life-Guard 
 viz. Goffe, Maffinger, Decker, Webjter, Sucklin, 
 Cartrighi, Carew, oi^c. 
 
 ll^it ami Fancy in a Maw. (Von Zara del 
 Fogo.) London. 1 656. [8t/o.] Book 
 II, chapter iv. 
 
224 
 
 1658. 
 
 N D for this purpofe we have here 
 prefixt Ben Johnfon's own teflimony 
 to his Servant our Author; we grant 
 it is (according to Berts own nature and 
 cuflome) magiflerial enough ; and who looks 
 
 for other, fmce he faid to Shakefpeare / 
 
 will draw envy on thy name (by writing in his 
 praife) and threw in his iz.c&—fmall Latine 
 and lefs Greek ; 
 
 Five -Vew Playes, by Richard Brome. To the 
 Readers. 1658-9. ]%vo.'\ (Anon.) 
 
225 
 
 ILT thou be fatt, He tell thee how 
 Thou flialt quickly do the feat, 
 And that fo plump a thing as thou 
 Was never yet made up of meat. 
 Drink off thy Sack ! 'twas onely that 
 Made Bacchus and Jack Falflafe fatt, fatt. 
 
 A Catch : (Stanza I.) occnrriug on p. 72 of An 
 Antidote againjl Melancholy : Matte up in 
 Pills, compounded of Witty Ballads, Jmial 
 Songs and Merry Catches. 1 66 1. [4/0.] 
 ( The Catch anon, and of earlier date. ) 
 
(iEIucitiattonjer 
 
 TO 
 
 THE THIRD PERIOD 
 
 or 
 SHAKESPEARE'S CENTURIE OF PRAYSE. 
 
ELUCIDATIONS. 
 
 Page 191. 
 
 The Third Period o^e.ns,^&. a curious extract from 
 one oiih^ Mercuries, or Newspapers, of the Rebellion. 
 This extract is a Puritanical attack on ' ' the old way 
 of devotion," viz., the publication of a Sunday News- 
 paper. It must be borne in mind that the Theatres 
 were now closed by order of the Parliament, though 
 in point of fact the prohibition had not succeeded in 
 wholly putting down theatrical performances. The 
 Theatres had been temporarily closed in June, 1600, 
 and again on May j§' 1836, on account of the plague. 
 Civil war broke out in August, 1642 ; the first 
 battle being fought on September 22 in that year. 
 The first order of Parliament for closing the Theatres 
 was dated September 2, 1642 ; and this being found 
 ineffectual to suppress stage-plays, a more stringent 
 order was promulgated in 1647, bearing date Oct. 22. 
 The first play performed after this time was the Siege 
 of Rhodes, fourteen years after. Our Third Period, 
 however, is continued till the Restoration, 1660 : when 
 the floodgates of pleasure were once more opened, and 
 the stage was deluged with theatrical licentiousness. 
 
 The "Master Burton" here referred to was the Rev. 
 Henry Burton, the Puritan author, who suffered (with 
 Prynne and Dr. Bastwicke) in 1636, for publishing a 
 tract entitled " For God and the King." See A New 
 Discovery of the Prelates Tyranny. 1641. [4to.] 
 GG 
 
23° 
 
 Restored to liberty in 1 640, he wrote his life, published 
 in 1643. He died in 1648. 
 
 Page 193. 
 
 This extract and those on pp. 48, III, and 225 1 have 
 derived from Mr. Collier's Biog. and Cr. Account of 
 Rare Books. 1865. 
 
 Page 194. 
 
 Shirley here adopts Ben Jonson's gi'aceful sobriquet 
 for Shakespeare: "Sweet Swan of Avon" (p. loi). 
 
 Page 198. 
 
 Canon Kingsley calls Cartwright a "wondrous 
 youth." (Essays. 1872. p. 58.) The fact is, he was 
 not a good poet ; but for his manifold and precocious 
 accomplishments he might have been nicknamed 
 Drusus, and in one respect the name would have fitted 
 him better than it did Shakespeare, for Cartwright 
 died young. Like Jaspar Mayne, he was a dramatist 
 in Holy Orders ; but he wrote tvrice as many plays 
 as Mayne : viz. , four. 
 
 Page 201. 
 
 In the editor's judgment Malone was in error in 
 taking these remarks to imply a rebuke to Charles I 
 for making Shakespeare his closet-companion. Milton 
 merely takes a book which he knew was a favourite 
 with the king, and out of it reads him a lesson. Apart 
 from the single word "stuff," there is nothing like 
 disparagement of Shakespeare in his remarks ; and 
 the contemptuous use of that word is the growth of a 
 later age, Milton uses it also in the Introduction to 
 Samson Agonistes, 1671. Having alluded to a tragedy 
 named Christ Suffering, attributed to St. Gi-egory 
 Nazianzen, Milton writes. 
 
231 
 
 This is mention'd to vindicate Tragedy from the fmall efteem, 
 or rather infamy, which in the account of many it undergoes at 
 this day with other common Interludes ; hap'ning through the 
 Poets error of intermixing Comic ftuff with Tragic fadnefs and 
 gravity ; or introducing trivial and vulgar perfons, which by all 
 judicious hath bin counted abfurd ; and brought in without dif- 
 cretion, corruptly to gratifie the people. 
 
 Of that fort of Dramatic Poetn which is calVd Tragedy. 
 
 It can hardly be pretended that "stuff" is here used 
 as antithetic to "sadness" or "gravity." 
 
 Page 206. 
 
 The first line of the second verse almost requires us 
 to read "Sophocles." The lyric, as a whole, is very 
 weak : but it has one good line — the last. 
 
 Page 208. 
 
 Mr. Halliwell, after Capell, misprints "slow thing" 
 for "shoe thing": shoe is the early orthography of 
 show (see ante, p. 16). "A shoe thing" meant a 
 player (q. d. a poor thing that lives by show). Ac- 
 cording to this view "shoe thing" (show-thing), like 
 " Shake-scene," is a neologism, and a term of reproach 
 and contempt. Both coinages, then, bear witness to 
 the low estate of the actor before the Restoration. 
 John Davies' Microcosmos (from which we have given 
 an extract on p. 42) was published in the same year 
 as the first quarto edition of Hamlet, when, one may 
 suppose, the player was at his lowest. Davies thus 
 comments on the mixture of pride and baseness ex- 
 hibited in such an one — 
 
 Good God! that &f ox pride Ihould ftoop fo low, 
 That is by nature fo exceeding hie : 
 Bafe/«ife, didft thou thy felfe, or others know, 
 Wouldft thou in harts of Apifh A Hors lie. 
 That for a Cue wil fei their Qualitie ? 
 Yet they through thy perfwafion (being ftronff) 
 Doe weene they merit immortality, 
 
232 
 
 Onely becaufe (forfooth) they ufe their Tongtte^ 
 To fpeake as they are taught, or right or wronge. 
 
 \i Pride afcende i^^ftage (8 bafe afcent) 
 
 Al men may fee her, for nought comes thereon 
 
 But to be feene, and where Vice fhould be flient, 
 
 Yea, made moft odious to ev'ry one, 
 
 In blazing her by demonftration 
 
 Then pride that is more than moft vicious, 
 
 Should there endure open damnation. 
 
 And fo (hee doth, for ftiee's moft odious 
 
 In Men moft bafe, that are ambitious. 
 
 Microcofmos, Ss^c. 1603. [410.] Sig. Ff 3. pp. 214-5. 
 
 Mr. Halliwell writes, 
 
 "The conclufion of the firft line of the epitaph fhould prob- 
 ably be 'that was one's/on^* for in an early MS. common-place 
 book I have feen the following lines : — 
 
 B. Johnfon in feipfum,— 
 
 Heere lies Johnfon, 
 
 Who was one's fonne : 
 
 Hee had a little hayre on his chin, 
 
 His name was Benjamin ! " 
 
 Life of Shakespeare. 1848. p. 186. 
 
 Page 209. 
 
 It has been inferred from L*Estrange's note on this 
 anecdote that he had derived it from Dr. John Donne. 
 At the end of this first book is a list of authorities 
 for 603 of the anecdotes, there being a few additional 
 ones without any authorities : this list is at foot of 
 fol. 89-91 b. In this we find that No. 4 is referred 
 to "Mr. Dunn," Nos. II and 12 to '*Mr. Dun:" 
 (where the : is doubtless — as in all other cases — a 
 sign of abbreviation); Nos. 26, 56, and others to 
 **Mr. Donne." One of the authorities is Captain 
 Duncombe : whence it would appear that *'Dun:" 
 may be an abbreviation of Duncombe. Dr. John 
 Donne is not mentioned at all. 
 
233 
 
 Page 212. 
 
 Here are associated, Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, 
 Fennor, and John Taylor. In Certaine Elegies, &'e. , 
 by H. Fitzgeoffrey, 1620, we have 
 
 Taylor the Ferriman, 
 Fennor with his Unisounding eare word ; 
 
 whatever that may mean. (Collier's J/ist. of Dramat. 
 Poetry, iii. 388.) The association of Taylor and 
 Fennor was due to their wit-combats in 1614. See, 
 A cast crver the Water to William Fennor. Taylor's 
 Works. 1630. [Fo. ] 
 
 Page 213. 
 
 Of course it is the faction opposed to Tatham who 
 thus denounces Jonson, Beaumont, Fletcher, and 
 Shakespeare. As to Shakespeare being "foimder'd 
 in 's Pericles" the libel is disproved by the extract 
 from Pimlyco and that from The Hog hath lost his 
 Pearl (pp. 58 and 64). But Owen Feltham's testimony 
 (p. 118) may be taken for the fact that the Gower 
 interlude and the brothel-scenes in Pericles had 
 scandalised, and caused "deep displeasure" to, the 
 friends of public morality. 
 
 Page 218. 
 
 Cokaine alludes, of course, to the Induction of The 
 Taming of the Shrew: naturally so, if, as appears, the 
 scene of that is Wincot, or Wilnecote. See Sly's 
 third speech, Induction : sc. 2. 
 
 Page 220. 
 
 For an account of Shakespeare's monument and 
 tombstone, with plates, see Dugdale's Antiquities of 
 Warwickshire. 
 
234 
 
 Mr. Hamper, in a Note to Dugdale's Diary, (^c, 
 refers to "a notice of this sculptor (Gerard Johnson) 
 in the Certificate of Foreigners in London, A.D. 1593 : 
 printed in Appendix II." 
 
 In Dugdale's collection of monumental inscriptions : 
 Salop : [1663] he calls Shakespeare " the late famous 
 Tragedian." 
 
 Page 221. 
 
 The lines 5—8 are quoted by Gerard Langbaine 
 (s. n. Massinger) in his Account of the English Dra- 
 matick Poets, 1691 ; where they are assigned to "an 
 old poet" : so he knew no more than we who was 
 the author of the poem. His version has "ramble" 
 for amble; an error which we conjecturally set right, 
 before we had collated it with the text reprinted in 
 the Shakespeare Society's Papers, vol. iii, p. 172. It 
 is in this piece that we meet with a couplet on Ben 
 Jonson's servant and collaborateur, Richard Brome, 
 or Broom, which in another form did duty for W. 
 Broome, Pope's assistant. Here we have, 
 
 Sent by Ben Johnfon, as fome authors fay, 
 Broom went before, and kindly fwept the way ; 
 
 which a century later assumed this form : 
 
 Pope came off clean with Homer ; but they fay, 
 Broome went before, and kindly fwept the way. 
 
 I. D'Israeli supposed this epigram to be borrowed 
 from a line in Owen Feltham's Ode, "Ben, do not 
 leave the stage," &c., st. iv, 1. 4. 
 
 Page 222. 
 
 The scene of this strange romance is laid in Elysium, 
 where the poets take sides with Chaucer, Spenser, 
 Shakespeare and Fletcher, against the arrogant self- 
 assertion of Ben Jonson. 
 
235 
 
 Page 224. 
 
 See our remarks on p. 170. Perhaps, however, this 
 writer takes Jonson to mean, 
 
 I am fo ample to your book and fame, that I may make others 
 envious of you, for the honour of my encomium, who am ulually 
 fo fpariiig of praife ; but I do not write with that objedt. 
 
SHAKESPEARE'S 
 CENTURIE OF PRAYSE. 
 
 FOURTH PERIOD. 
 1660 — 1693. 
 
 HH 
 
^s^ ■ "Mil 
 
 mm 
 
 RICHARD FLECKNOE, 1660. Ctua. 
 
 N this time were Poets and Adlors 
 in their greatefl flourifh, Johnfon, 
 Shakefpear, with Beaumont and 
 Fletcher, their Poets, and Field and Bur- 
 bidge their Aflors. 
 
 For Playes Shakefpear was one of the firfl 
 who invented the Dramatick Stile, from dull 
 Hiftory to quick Comedy, upon whom John- 
 fon refin'd, as Beaumont and Fletcher firil 
 writ in the Heroick way, upon whom Suck- 
 ling and others endeavoured to refine agen ; 
 one faying wittily of his Aglaurs, that 'twas 
 full of fine flowers, but they feem'd rather 
 fluck, then growing there; as another of 
 Shakefpear's writings, that 'twas a fine Gar- 
 den, but it wanted weeding. 
 
 * ,U. j^ tjL j^ j^ 
 
 TP TP ^ TP TP 
 
 To compare our Englifh Dramatick Poets 
 together (without taxing them) Shakefpear 
 excelled in a natural Vein, Fletcher in Wit, 
 and Johnfon in Gravity and ponderoufnefs 
 of Style ; whofe onely fault was, he was too 
 elaborate ; and had he mixt lefs erudition 
 with his Playes, they had been more pleafant 
 
240 
 
 and delightful then they are. Comparing 
 him with Shakefpear, you fliall fee the differ- 
 ence betwixt Nature and Art ; and with 
 Fletcher," the difference between Wit and 
 Judgement : Wit being an exuberant thing, 
 like Nilus, never more commendable than 
 when it overflowes ; but Judgement a flayed 
 and repofed thing, alwayes containing it felf 
 within its bounds and limits. 
 
 A Difcourfe of the Englijli Stage, by Richard 
 Flecknoe. Attached to '^ Levis Kingdom, 
 a Pajloral Tragi- Comedy." 1664. [Sz/c] 
 
241 
 
 JOHN WARD, 1662. 
 
 Shakspeare. 
 
 H AKSPEAR had but two daughters, 
 one whereof Mr. Hall, the phyfitian, 
 married, and by her had one 
 daughter married, to wit, the Lady Bernard 
 of Abbingdon. 
 
 I have heard that Mr. Shakfpeare was a 
 natural wit, without any art at all ; hee fre- 
 quented the plays all his younger time, but 
 in his elder days lived at Stratford, and fup- 
 plied the flage with two plays every year, 
 and for itt had an allowance fo large, that 
 hee fpent att the rate of 1,000/. a-year, as I 
 have heard. 
 
 Shakefpeare, Drayton, and Ben Jonfon, 
 had a merie meeting, and itt feems drank too 
 hard, for Shakespear died of a feavour there 
 contradled. 
 
 Remember to perufe Shakefpeare's plays, 
 and bee much verfed in them, that I may 
 not bee ignorant in that matter. 
 
 Whether Dr. Heyhn does well, in reckon- 
 ing up the dramatick poets which have been 
 famous in England, to omit Shakefpeare. 
 
 A letter to my brother, to fee Mrs. Queeny, 
 to fend for Tom Smith for the acknowledg- 
 ment. 
 
 Diary of the Rev. John Ward, A.M., Vicar 
 of Stratford-upon-Avon, extending from 
 1648 to 1679. 1839. /. 183-4. 
 
242 
 
 SAMUEL PEPYS, 1660— 1669. 
 
 1660. 
 
 IJCTOBER II.— Here, in the Park, 
 we met with Mr. Salifbury, who 
 took Mr. Creed and me to the 
 Cockpitt to fee "The Moore of Venice," 
 which was well done. Burt adled the Moore ; 
 by the fame token, a very pretty lady that 
 fat by me, called out, to fee Defdemona 
 fmothered. 
 
 1661-2. 
 March i. — To the Opera, and there faw 
 "Romeo and Juliet," the firfl. time it was 
 ever adled, [but it is a play of itfelf the worfl 
 that ever I heard, and the worfl adled that 
 ever I faw thefe people do, and] I am re- 
 folved to go no more to fee the firfl. time of 
 adling, for they were all of them out more or 
 lefs. 
 
 1662. 
 September 29. — To the King's Theatre, 
 where we faw " Midfummer's Night's dream," 
 which I had never feen before, nor fhall ever 
 again, for it is the mofl. infipid ridiculous play 
 that ever I faw in my life. 
 
243 
 [1662-3. 
 January 6'. — To the Duke's Houfe, and there 
 faw Twelfth-Night adled well, though it be 
 but a filly play, and not relating at all to the 
 name or day.] 
 
 1663. 
 
 May 28.— By water to the Royall Theatre ; 
 but that was fo full they told us we could 
 have no room. And fo to the Duke's houfe ; 
 and there faw "Hamlett" done, giving us frefli 
 reafon never to think enough of Betterton. 
 
 December 10. — To St. Paul's Church 
 Yard, to my bookfeller's, and could not tell 
 whether to lay out my money for books of 
 pleafure, as plays, which my nature was mod 
 earneft. in ; but at laft, after feeing Chaucer, 
 Dugdale's Hiflory of Paul's, Stow's London, 
 Gefner, Hiilory of Trent, befides Shakefpeare, 
 Jonfon, and Beaumont's plays, I at lafl chofe 
 Dr. Fuller's Worthys, the Cabbala or Col- 
 lections of Letters of State, and a little book, 
 Delices de HoUande, with another little book 
 or two, all of good ufe or ferious pleafure ; 
 and Hudibras, both parts, the book now in 
 greatefl falhion for drollery, though I cannot, 
 I confefs, fee enough where the wit lies. 
 
 1663-4. 
 
 January i. — Went to the Duke's houfe, the 
 
 firft play I have been at thefe fix months, 
 
 according to my laft vowe, and here faw the 
 
 fo much cried-up play of " Henry the Eighth;" 
 
244 
 
 which, though I went with refolution to like 
 it, is fo fimple a thing made up of a great 
 many patches, that, befides the fhows and 
 proceffions in it, there is nothing in the world 
 good or well done. 
 
 1664. 
 November 5. — To the Duke's houfe to fee 
 " Macbeth," a pretty good play, but admirably 
 afted. 
 
 1666. 
 
 Augull 20. — To Deptford by water, reading 
 Othello, Moore of Venice, which I ever here- 
 tofore elleemed a mighty good play, but 
 having fo lately read The Adventures of Five 
 Houres, it feems a mean thing. 
 
 Augufl 29. — To St. James's, and there Sir 
 W. Coventry took Sir W. Pen and me apart, 
 and read to us his anfwer to the Generall's 
 letter to the King, that he read lafl night; 
 
 * * * * And then, fpeaking of the 
 fupplies which have been made to this fleet, 
 more than ever in all kinds to any, even 
 that wherein the Duke of York himfelf was, 
 "Well," fays he, "if this will not do, I will 
 fay, as Sir J. FalllafFe did to the Prince, ' Tell 
 your father, that if he do not like this, let 
 him kill the next Piercy himfelf.' " 
 
 December 28. — I to my Lord Crewe's, * 
 
 * * * From hence to the Duke's houfe, 
 and there faw "Macbeth" mofl excellently 
 
245 
 
 a£led, and a mod excellent play for variety. 
 I had fent for my wife to meet me there, who 
 did come: fo I did not go to White Hall, 
 and got my Lord Bellaffes to get me into the 
 playhoufej and there, after all flaying above 
 an hour for the players (the King and all 
 waiting, which was abfurd,) faw " Henry the 
 Fifth " well done by the Duke's people, and 
 in moft excellent habit, all new vefls, being 
 put on but this night. But I fat fo high and 
 far off that I miffed mofl of the words, and 
 fat with a wind coming into my back and 
 neck, which did much trouble me. The play 
 continued till twelve at night ; and then up, 
 and a mofl horrid cold night it was, and frofly, 
 and moonfhine. 
 
 1666-7. 
 January 7 . — To the Duke's houfe, and faw 
 " Macbeth," which though I faw it lately, yet 
 appears a mofl excellent play in all refpedls, 
 but efpecially in divertifement, though it be a 
 deep tragedy ; which is a flrange perfedlion in 
 a tragedy, it being mofl proper here, and 
 fuitable. 
 
 1667. 
 Augufl 15. — Sir W. Pen and I to the Duke's 
 houfe; where a new play. The King and 
 Court there : the houfe full, and an a<fl begun. 
 And fo we went to the King's, and there faw 
 "The Merry Wives of Windforj" which did 
 not pleafe me at all, in no part of it. 
 1 1 
 
246 
 
 Oaober 16.— To the Duke of York's 
 houfe ; and I was vexed to fee Young (who 
 is but a bad adlor at befl) adl Macbeth, in 
 the room of Betterton, who, poor man ! is 
 fick : [but Lord ! what a prejudice it wrought 
 in me againft. the whole play, and every body 
 elfe agreed in difliking this fellow. Thence 
 home, and there find my wife gone home; 
 becaufe of this fellow's adling of the part, fhe 
 went out of the houfe again.] 
 
 November 2. — To the King's playhoufe, 
 and there faw " Henry the Fourth ;" and, con- 
 trary to expedlation, was pleafed in nothing 
 more than in Cartwright's fpeaking of Fal- 
 flaffe's fpeech about " What is Honour ? " 
 
 [November 6. — With my wife to a play, 
 and the girl — " Macbeth," which we Hill 
 like mightily, though mighty fliort of the con- 
 tent we ufed to have when Betterton adled, 
 who is flill fick.] 
 
 November 7. — At noon refolved with Sir 
 W. Pen to go to fee " The Tempeft," an old 
 play of Shakefpeare's, adled, I hear, the firfl 
 day. * * The houfe mighty full ; the King 
 and Court there : and the moft, innocent play 
 that ever I faw ; and a curious piece of mufique 
 in an echo of half fentences, the echo repeating 
 the former half, while the man goes on to 
 the latter; which is mighty pretty. The 
 play has no great wit, but yet above ordinary 
 plays. 
 
247 
 
 i668. 
 
 [Auguft 12. — After dinner, I and wife, and 
 Mercer, and Deb., to the Duke of York's 
 houfe, and faw " Macbeth," to our great con- 
 tent, and then home, where the women went 
 to the making of my tubes.] 
 
 Auguft 31. — To the Duke of York's play- 
 houfe, and faw " Hamlet," which we have not 
 feen this year before, or more ; and mightily 
 pleafed with it, but above all with Betterton, 
 the beft part, I believe, that ever man adled. 
 
 December 21. — Went into Holborne, and 
 there faw the woman that is to be feen with 
 a beard. * * * Thence to the Duke's 
 playhoufe, and faw " Macbeth." 
 
 1668-9. 
 February 6. — To the King's playhoufe, and 
 there in an upper box * * * did fee 
 "The Moor of Venice:'' but ill adled in 
 moft parts, Moone (which did a little furprize 
 me) not adling lago's part by much fo well 
 as Clun ufed to do : nor another Hart's, which 
 was Caffio's ; nor indeed Burt doing the 
 Moor's fo well as I once thought he did. 
 
 Memoirs of Samuel Pepys, E/q., F.Ii.S. 
 Comprising his Diary from 1659 to 1669, 
 &•*". Edited by Richard Lord Braybrooke, 
 2 vols. 1825. [4/(1. ] 
 
248 
 
 JOHN EVELYN, 1661. 
 
 OVEMBER 26.— I faw Hamlet 
 Prince of Denmark played, but now 
 the old plays began to difgufl this 
 refined age, fmce his Majesties being fo long 
 abroad. 
 
 Kalendarium (or Diary). 
 Memoirs: Edited by William Bray. 1819. 
 [Sw.] Vol. 2, /. 342. 
 
249 
 
 JOHN EVELYN, 1689. 
 
 UGUST 12. — For there were the 
 Piaures of Fifher, Fox, S' Thomas 
 More, Tho. Lord Cromwell, Dr. 
 Nowell, &c. And what was rnofl agreeable 
 to his Lo"" general humour, Old Chaucer, 
 Shakfpere, Beaumont and Fletcher, who were 
 both in one piece, Spencer, Mr. Waller, 
 Cowley, Hudibras, which lafl he plac'd in the 
 roome where he us'd to eate & dine in publiq, 
 mofl of which, if not all, are at the prefent at 
 Cornebury, in Oxfordfhire ; 
 
 Letter " To Mr. Pepys," defcribing the 
 then late Lord ClarendoiUs Iioufe, 
 Memoirs I Edited by William Bray. 1819. 
 [Sto.J Vol. 2, p. 242. 
 
250 
 
 THOMAS JORDAN, 1664. 
 
 HE word was brought unto the 
 Duke 
 His wife was newly dead, 
 And that her lafl words were (her eyes waxing 
 dim) 
 Commend me to the Duke, 
 I ne'er knew any man but him. 
 
 A Royal Arbor of Loyal Poefie. 1664. [4/tf.] 
 Riprint edited by y. P. Collier, p. 124. 
 
 The Jealous Duke and the Injur' d Dutchefs ; 
 A Story. Tune, The Dream . End of St. 6,. 
 
^51 
 
 %mi 
 
 MARGARET CAVENDISH, 1664. 
 
 WONDER how that perfon you 
 mention in your letter, could either 
 have the confcience, or confidence 
 to difpraife Shakefpear'% playes, as to fay they 
 were made up onely with clowns, fools, watch- 
 men, and the like; but to anfwer that perfon, 
 though Shakefpear's wit will anfwer for him- 
 felf, I fay, that it feems by his judging, or 
 cenfuring, he underftands not playes, or wit; 
 for to exprefs properly, rightly, usually, and 
 naturally, a clown's, or fool's humour, expres- 
 fions, phrafes, garbs, manners, adlions, words, 
 and courfe of life, is as witty, wife, judicious, 
 ingenious, and obferving, as to write and ex- 
 prefs the expreffions, phrafes, garbs, manners, 
 adlions, words, and courfe of life, of kings _■: 
 and princes; and to exprefs naturally, to the *^ 
 
 life, a mean country wench, as a great lady, a 
 courtefan, as a chafle woman, a mad man, as 
 a man in his right reafon and fenfes, a drunk- 
 ard, as a fober man, a knave, as an honed 
 man, and fo a clown, as a well-bred man, and 
 a fool, as a wife man; nay, it expreffes and 
 declares a greater wit, to exprefs, and deliver 
 to poflerity, the extravagances of madnefs. 
 
252 
 
 the fubtilty of knaves, the ignorance of clowns, 
 and the fimplicity of naturals, or the craft of 
 feigned fools, than to exprefs regularities, 
 plain honefly, courtly garbs, or fenfible dis- 
 courfes, for 'tis harder to exprefs nonfenfe 
 than fenfe, and ordinary converfations, than 
 that which is unufual; and 'tis harder, and 
 requires more wit to exprefs a jefler, than a 
 grave flatefman; yet Shakefpear did not 
 want wit, to exprefs to the life all forts of 
 perfons, of what quality, profeffion, degree, 
 breeding, or birth foever; nor did he want 
 wit to exprefs the divers and different hu- 
 mours, or natures, or feveral paflions in man- 
 kind; and fo well he hath exprefs'd in his 
 playes all forts of perfons, as one would think 
 he had been transformed into every one of 
 thofe perfons he hath defcribed; and as 
 fometimes one would think he was really 
 himfelf the clown or jefler he feigns, fo one 
 would think, he was alfo the king, and privy- 
 councillor; alfo as one would think he were 
 really the coward he feigns, fo one would 
 think he were really the moft valiant and 
 experienced fouldier ; Who would not think 
 he had been fuch a man as ^\x John Falflaffi 
 and who would not think he had been Harry 
 the Fifth? SzceriairAy Julius CeEfar,Augu/ius coct«iriu»] 
 Cmfar, and Antonius, did never really adl 
 their parts better, if fo well, as he hath des- 
 cribed them, and I believe that Antonius and 
 
253 
 
 Brutus did not fpeak better to the people, 
 than he had feign'd them ; nay, one would 
 think that he had been metamorphofed from 
 a man to a woman, for who could defcribe 
 Cleofatra better than he has done, and many 
 other females of his own creating, as Nan 
 Page, Mrs. Page, Mrs. Ford, the dodlors maid, 
 Bettrice, Mrs. Quickly, Doll Tearjheet, and 
 others, too many to relate 1 and in his tragick 
 vein, he prefents paffions fo naturally, and 
 misfortunes fo probably, as he peirces the 
 fouls of his readers with fuch a true fenfe and 
 feeling thereof, that it forces tears through 
 their eyes, and almoft. perfuades them, they 
 are really adlors, or at leafl prefent at thofe 
 tragedies. Who could not fwear he had been 
 a noble lover, that could woo fo well ? and 
 there is not any perfon he hath defcribed in 
 his book, but his readers might think they 
 were well acquainted with them; indeed 
 Shakefpear had a clear judgment, a quick 
 wit, a fpreading fancy, a fubtil obfervation, a 
 deep apprehenfion, and a mofl eloquent elo- 
 cution ; truly, he was a natural orator, as well 
 as a natural poet, and he was not an orator to 
 fpeak well only on fome fubje(fls, as lawyers, 
 who can make eloquent orations at the bar, 
 and plead fubtilly and wittily in law-cafes, or 
 divines, that can preach eloquent fermons, or 
 difpute fubtilly and wittily in theology, but 
 take them from that, and put them to other 
 
 KK 
 
254 
 
 fubje<rts,and they will be to feek; but Shake- 
 fpear's wit and eloquence was general, for and 
 upon all fubjedls, he rather wanted fubjedls 
 for his wit and eloquence to work on, for 
 which he was forced to take fome of his plots 
 out of hiflory, where he only took the bare 
 defigns, the wit and language being all his 
 
 own; &c. 
 
 * * * * 
 
 Remember, when we were very young 
 maids, one day we were difcourfing about 
 lovers, and we did injoyn each other to con- 
 fefs who profefs'd to love us, and whom we 
 loved, and I confefs'd I only was in Love 
 with three dead men, which were dead long 
 before my time, the one was Cafar, for his 
 valour, the fecond Ovid, for his wit, and the 
 third was our countryman Shake/pear, for his 
 comical and tragical humour; but foon after 
 we both married two worthy men, and 1 will 
 leave you to your own hulband, for you bed 
 know what he is ; As for my hufband, I know 
 him to have the valour of Cce/ar, the fancy, 
 and wit of Ovid, and the tragical, efpecially 
 comical art of Shake/pear; in truth he is as 
 far beyond Shakefpear for comical humour, 
 as Shakefpear beyond an ordinary poet in 
 that way; &c. 
 
 CCXI Sociable Letters of the Duchcfs of Ne'w- 
 
 cajile. 1664. \Fo.\ 
 Letters CXXLLL and CLXIL 
 
255 
 
 JOHN DRYDEN, 1668. 
 
 |0 begin, then, with Shakefpeare : he 
 was the man who of all modern, 
 and perhaps ancient poets, had the 
 largefl and mod comprehenfive foul. All the 
 images of nature were dill prefent to him, and 
 he drevv them not laborioufly, but luckily : 
 when he defcribes any thing, you more than 
 fee it, you feel it too. Thofe who accufe him 
 to have wanted learning, give him the greater 
 commendation : he was naturally learned ; 
 he needed not the fpedlacles of books to read 
 nature ; he looked inwards, and found her 
 there. I cannot fay he is everywhere alike ; 
 were he fo, I fliould do him injuiy to compare 
 him with the greateft of mankind. He is many 
 times flat, infipid ; his comic wit degenerating 
 into clenches, his ferious fwelling into bombafl,. 
 But he is always great when fome great occa- 
 fion is prefented to him : no man can fay he 
 ever had a fit fubjedl for his wit, and did not 
 then raife himfelf as high above the refl of 
 the poets, 
 Quantmn lentafoleiit, inter viburna cuprejfi. 
 
 Of dramatick poefie, an effay. 1668. [4/ci ] 
 /• 47. 
 
256 
 
 JOHN DRYDEN, 1669. 
 
 , when a Tree's cut clown, the fecret 
 
 Root 
 Lives underground, and thence new 
 
 branches fhoot ; 
 So, from old Shake/pear's honour'd dufl, this 
 
 day 
 Springs up and buds a new reviving play. 
 Shakefpear, who (taught by none) did firfl 
 
 impart 
 To Fletcher wit, to labouring yb/^;//(7;z Art. 
 He Monarch-like, gave thofe his fubjedls Law, 
 And is that Nature that they paint and draw. 
 Fletcher reach'd that which on his heights did 
 
 grow, 
 Whilfl_/(7-4;{/(?« crept and gathered all below. 
 This did his Love, and this his Mirth digefl : 
 One imitates him mofl, the other befl. 
 If they have fmce out-writ all other Men, 
 'Tis with the drops which fell from Shake- 
 fpear'^ pen. 
 The Storm which vanifli'd on the neighb'ring 
 
 fhore. 
 Was taught by Shakefpear''^ Temped firfl. to 
 
 roar. 
 That Innocence and Beauty which did fmile 
 In Fletcher, grew on this Enchanted Iflc. 
 
257 
 
 But Shake/pearls Magic could not copy'd be, 
 Within that Circle none durll walk but he. 
 I mufl confefs 'twas bold, nor would you now 
 That liberty to vulgar wits allow, 
 Which works by Magic fupernatural things : 
 But Shakef pear's power is Sacred as a King's. 
 Thofe Legends from old Prieflhood were re- 
 
 ceiv'd, 
 And he then writ, as People then believ'd. 
 
 Prologue to The Tempejl or The Enchanted 
 IJlaiid, by Sir William D' Avenant and 
 John Dryden. 1669. 
 
258 
 
 [JOHN DRYDEN] 1672. 
 
 N country beauties as we often fee 
 Something that takes in their sim- 
 plicity, 
 Yet while they charm they know not they are 
 
 fair, 
 And take without their fpreading of the fnare — 
 Such artlefs beauty lies in Shakefpear' s wit ; 
 'Twas well in fpite of him whate'er he writ. 
 His excellencies came, and were not fought. 
 His words like cafual atoms made a thought ; 
 Drew up themfelves in rank and file, and writ, 
 He wondering how the devil it were, fuch wit. 
 Thus, like the drunken tinker in his play. 
 He grew a prince, and never knew which way. 
 He did not know what trope or figure meant, 
 But to perfuade is to be eloquent ; 
 So in this Ccefar which this day you fee, 
 Tully ne'er fpoke as he makes Anthony. 
 Thofe then that tax his learning are to blame, 
 He knew the thing, but did not know its name ; 
 GreaX John/on did that ignorance adore. 
 And though he envied much, admir'd him more. 
 The faultlefs John/on equally writ well ; 
 Shakefpear made faults — but then did more 
 
 excel. 
 
259 
 
 One clofe at guard like fome old fencer lay, 
 T'other more open, but he fliew'd more play. 
 In imitation Johnfmis wit was fhown, 
 Heaven made his men, but Shakefpear made 
 
 his own. 
 V^'iie/ohnfon's talent in obferving lay, 
 But others' follies flill made up his play. 
 He drew the like in each elaborate line, 
 But Shakefpear like a mafler did defign. 
 Johnfon with (kill diffedled human kind, 
 And fhew'd their faults, that they their faults 
 
 might find ; 
 But then, as all anatomifls mufl do, 
 He to the meaneft. of mankind did go, 
 And took from gibbets fuch as he would fhow. 
 Both are fo great, that he mufl. boldly dare 
 Who both of them does judge, and both com- 
 pare ; 
 If amongfl. poets one more bold there be, 
 The man that dare attempt in either way, is he. 
 
 Prologue to Julius Casar, by Sir William 
 ZfAvenant and John Dryden. Cmeiit 
 Garden drolery. 1672. [8wo.] /. 9. 
 
26o 
 
 JOHN DRYDEN, 1673. 
 
 O begin with Language. That an 
 alteration is lately made in ours, or 
 fince the writers of the lail age (in 
 which I comprehend Shakefpeare, Fletcher, 
 and Jonfon,) is manifefl. Any man who 
 reads thofe excellent poets, and compares 
 their language with what is now written, will 
 fee it almoft in every line ; but that this is an 
 improvement of the language, or an alteration 
 for the better, will not fo eafily be granted. 
 * * * * One teflimony of 
 
 this is undeniable, that we are the firfl who 
 have obferved them [their improprieties of 
 language] ; and certainly to obferve errors 
 is a great flep to the corredling of them. 
 But, malice and partiality fet apart, let any 
 man, who underftands Englifh, read diligently 
 the works of Shakefpeare and Fletcher, and 
 I dare undertake, that he will find in every 
 page either fome folecifm of fpeech, or fome 
 notorious flaw in fenfe ; and yet thefe men 
 are reverenced, when we are not forgiven. 
 That their wit is great, and many times their 
 expreffions noble, envy itfelf cannot deny. 
 
 Neque ego illis detrahere aufim 
 Hrerentem capiti niulta cum lande coi'onam. 
 
26l 
 
 but the times were ignorant in which they 
 Hv'd. Poetry was then, if not in its infancy 
 among us, at leaft not arriv'd to its vigor 
 and maturity : witnefs the lamenefs of their 
 plots : many of which, efpecially thofe which 
 they writ firfl, (for even that age refin'd itfelf 
 in fome meafure,) were made up of fome 
 ridiculous incoherent ftory, which in one play 
 many times took up the bufmefs of an age. 
 I fuppofe I need not name Pericles, Prince 
 of Tyre, nor the hiflorical plays of Shake- 
 fpeare : befides many of the reft, as the 
 Winter's Tale, Lmie's labour lofl, Meafure 
 for Meafure, which were either grounded 
 on impoffibilities, or at leaft fo meanly 
 written, that the comedy neither caufed your 
 mirth, nor the ferious part your concern- 
 ment. * # * * 
 In reading fome bombaft fpeeches of Mac- 
 beth, which are not to be underftood, he 
 \^Johnfon\ ufed to fay that it was horrour. 
 
 and I am much afraid that this is fo. 
 
 * # * # 
 
 But I am willing to clofe the book \Catiline\, 
 partly out of veneration to the author, partly 
 out of wearinefs to purfue an argument which 
 is fo fruitful in fo fmall a compafs. And 
 what corredlnefs, after this, can be expedled 
 from Shakefpear or from Fletcher, who wanted 
 that learning and care which Johnfon had? 
 I will therefore fpare my own trouble of 
 
 LL 
 
262 
 
 enquiring into tlieir faults : who had they hv'd 
 
 now, had doubtlefs written more corredlly. 
 
 * * * * 
 
 By this graffing, as I may call it, on old 
 words, has our tongue been beautified by 
 the three fore-mentioned poets, Shakefpear, 
 Fletcher, and Johnfon : whose excellencies I 
 can never enough admire, and in this they 
 have been follow'd, efpecially by Sir John 
 Suckling and Mr. Waller, who refin'd upon 
 
 them. 
 
 * * * * 
 
 I fhould now fpeak of the refinement of wit : 
 but I have been fo large on the former fub- 
 jedl that I am forc'd to contradl myfelf in 
 this. I will therefore onely obferve to you, 
 that the wit of the lafl age was yet more in- 
 correfl than their language. Shakefpear, 
 who many times has written better than any 
 poet, in any language, is yet fo far from 
 writing wit always, or expreffing that wit 
 according to the dignity of the fubjefl, that 
 he writes, in many places, below — the dulleft. 
 writer of ours, or any precedent age. Never 
 did any author precipitate himfelf from fuch 
 heights of thought to fo low expreffions, as he 
 often does. He is the very Janus of poets ; 
 he wears almoft. everywhere two faces : and 
 you have fcarce begun to admire the one, e're 
 you defpife the other. Neither is the luxu- 
 riance of Fletcher, (which his friends have 
 
263 
 
 taxed in him,) a lefs fault than the careleffnefs 
 of Shake/pear. 
 
 # # * * 
 Shake/pear fliow'd the befl of his fkill in his 
 Mercutio, and he faid himfelf, that he was 
 forc'd to kill him in the third Adl, to prevent 
 being kill'd by him. But, for my part, I 
 cannot find he was fo dangerous a person : 
 I see nothing in him but what was fo ex- 
 ceeding harmlefs, that he might have liv'd 
 to the end of the play, and dy'd in his bed, 
 without offence to any man. 
 
 * * * * 
 
 Let us therefore admire the beauties and the 
 heights of Shake/pear, without falling after 
 him into a careleffnefs, and (as I may call 
 it) a lethargy of thought for whole fcenes 
 together. 
 
 Defence of the Epilogue (appended to thefecond 
 part of Almanzor and Almahide, or tJie 
 Conqnefi of Granada. By Joint Dryden. 
 1672.; 
 
264 
 
 JOHN DRYDEN, 1674. 
 
 ITH joy we bring what our dead 
 authors writ, 
 And beg from you the value of their 
 wit; 
 That Shakefpeare's Fletcher's and great Jon- 
 
 fon's claim, 
 May be renew'd from thofe who gave them 
 
 fame. 
 
 Prologue to the Univerfity 0/ Oxford. Pro- 
 lo;^ lie and Epilogues. \TJf). 
 
265 
 
 JOHN DRYDEN, 1677. 
 
 |OUR Ben and Fletcher, in their firfl 
 young flight, 
 Did no Volpone, nor no Arbaces 
 
 write, 
 But hopped about and fhort excurfions made 
 From bough to bough, as if they were afraid. 
 And each was guihy of fome Slighted Maid. 
 Shakefpeare's own mufe her Pericles firfl bore ; 
 The Prince of Tyre was elder than the Moor, 
 'Tis miracle to fee a firfl good play; 
 All hawthorns do not bloom on Chriflmas-day. 
 A flender poet mufl have time to grow, 
 And fpread and burnifh as his brothers do. 
 Who Hill looks lean, fure with fome pox is 
 
 curfl, 
 But no man can be Falflafif-fat at firfl.. 
 
 Prologue to Circe, by Charles Daveuavt. 
 \_Written in 1675] 1677. [4/c.] 
 
266 
 
 JOHN DRYDEN, 1678. 
 
 N my Stile I have profefs'd to imitate 
 the Divine Shakefpeare; which that 
 I might perform more freely, I have 
 dis-incumber'd my felf from Rhyme. I hope 
 I need not to explain my felf, that I have not 
 Copy'd my Author fervilely : Words and 
 Phrafes mufl of neceffity receive a change in 
 fucceeding Ages: but 'tis aim oft a Miracle 
 that much of his Language remains fo pure ; 
 and that he who began Dramatique Poetry 
 amongfl us, untaught by any, and, as Ben 
 Johnfon tells us, without Learning, fliould by 
 the force of his own Genius perform fo much, 
 that in a manner he has left no praife for any 
 who come after him. 
 
 Preface to All for Love ; or, the World well 
 Lofl. 1678. [4/'c.] 
 
267 
 
 JOHN DRYDEN, 1679. 
 
 |HE Poet ^fchylus was held in the 
 same veneration by the Athenians 
 of after Ages as Shakefpear is by 
 us ; » * « though the difficulties of 
 altering are greater, and our reverence for 
 Shakefpear much more jull, then that of the 
 Grecians for ^fchylus, * * * yet it 
 mud be allow'd to the prefent Age, that the 
 tongue in general is so much refin'd since 
 Shakefpear' s time, that many of his words, 
 and more of his Phrafes, are scarce intelli- 
 gible. And of thofe which we underfland 
 fome are ungrammatical, others courfe ; and c™""''! 
 his whole flile is fo pefler'd with Figurative 
 expreffions, that it is as affedled as it is 
 obfcure. 'T is true, that in his later Plays he 
 had worn off fomewhat of the rufl ; but the 
 Tragedy which I have undertaken to corredl, 
 was, in all probability, one of his firfl en- 
 deavours on the Stage. 
 
 * * # * 
 
 Shakefpeare, (as I hinted) in the Aprentice- 
 fliip of his Writing, model'd it into that Play, [Ch""<:"'s story] 
 which is now call'd by the name of Troilus 
 and Creffida; but so lamely is it left to us, 
 that it is not divided into Afls : which fault 
 
268 
 
 I afcribe to the A6lors, who Printed it after 
 Shake/pear's death ; and that too, fo carelefly, 
 that a more uncorredl Copy I never faw. 
 For the Play it felf, the Author feems to have 
 begun it with fome fire ; the Characters of 
 Pandarus and Therfdes, are promifing enough ; 
 but as if he grew weary of his task, after ah 
 Entrance or two, he lets ' em fall : and the 
 later part of the Tragedy is nothing but a 
 confufion of Drums and Trumpets, Excuriions 
 and Alarms. The chief perfons, who give 
 name to the Tragedy, are left alive : Creffida 
 is falfe, and is not punifhed. Yet after all, 
 becaufe the Play was Shake/pear's, and that 
 there appear'd in fome places of it, the ad- 
 mirable Genius of the Author ; I undertook 
 to remove that heap of Rubbilh, under which 
 many excellent thoughts lay wholly bury'd. 
 * * * * 
 
 I will not weary my Reader with the Scenes 
 which are added [&c.] : but I cannot omit the 
 lall Scene in it, which is aimed half the Adl, 
 betwixt Troilus and Hedor. The occafion of 
 raifmg it was hinted to me by Mr. Betterton : 
 the contrivance and working of it was my 
 own. They who think to do me an injury, 
 by saying that it is an imitation of the Scene 
 betwixt Brutus and Cafflus, do ffie an honour, 
 by suppofmg I could imitate the incomparable 
 Shakefpear : but let me add, that if Shake- 
 fpears Scene, or that faulty copy of it in 
 
269 
 
 Amintor and Melatitius had never been, yet 
 Euripides had furnifh'd me with an excellent 
 example in his Ipigenia, between Agamemnon 
 and Menelaus : and from thence indeed, the 
 lafl turn of it is borrow'd. The occafion 
 which Shakefpear, Euripides, and Fletcher, 
 have all taken, is the fame ; grounded upon 
 Friendfliip: and the quarrel of two virtuous 
 men, raifed by natural degrees, to the ex- 
 tremity of paffion, is conducted in all three, 
 to the declination of the fame paffion ; and 
 concludes with a warm renewing of their 
 Friendfliip. But the particular ground-work 
 which Shakefpear has taken, is incomparably 
 the beft. : Becaufe he has not only chofen two 
 the greatefl Heroes of their Age ; but has 
 likewife interefled the Liberty of Rome, and 
 their own honors, who were the redeemers of 
 it, in this debate. And if he has made 
 Brutus, who was naturally a patient man, to 
 fly into excefs at firft. ; let it be remembered 
 in his defence, that juft, before, he has re- 
 ceived the news of Portia's death, whom the 
 Poet on purpofe negle6ling a little Chro- 
 nology, suppofes to have dy'd before Brutus, 
 only to give him an occafion of being more 
 eafily exafperated. Add to this, that the 
 injury he had received from Caffius, had long 
 been brooding in his mind ; and that a melan- 
 choly man, upon confideration of an affront, 
 efpecially from a Friend, would be more eager 
 
 MM 
 
270 
 
 in his paffion, than he who had given it, 
 though naturally more cholerick. 
 
 * * * * 
 
 How defedlive Shake/pear and Fletcher have 
 been in all their Plots, Mr. Rymer has dis- 
 cover'd in his Criticifms : * * * 
 
 The difference between Shakefpear and 
 Fletcher in their Plottings feems to be this ; 
 that Shakefpear generally moves more terror, 
 and Fletcher more compaffion : For the firfl 
 had a more Mafculine, a bolder and more 
 fiery Genius ; the Second a more foft and 
 Womanifh. In the mechanic beauties of the 
 Plot, which are the Obfervation of the three 
 Unities, Time, Place, and Adlion, they are 
 both deficient; but Shakefpear mofl. Ben 
 Johnfon reform'd thofe errors in his Comedies, 
 yet one of Shakefpear' s was Regular before 
 him : which is, The Merry Wives of Windfor. 
 For what remains concerning the defign, you 
 are to be refer'd to our Englifla Critic. 
 
 * * # * 
 
 A chara(fler, or that which diflinguifhes 
 one man from all others, cannot be suppos'd 
 to confifl of one particular virtue, or vice, or 
 paffion only ; but 't is a compofition of qual- 
 ities which are not contrary to one another 
 in the fame perfon : thus the fame man may 
 be liberal and valiant, but not liberal and 
 covetous; fo in a Comical charadler, or hu- 
 mour, (which is an inclination to this, or that, 
 
271 
 
 folly) Faljlaff is a lyar, and a coward, a 
 Glutton, and a Buffon, becaufe all thefe 
 qualities may agree in the same man ; 
 
 # # * * 
 
 To return once more to Shakefpear; no man 
 ever drew fo many chara<5lers, or generally 
 diflinguifhed ' em better from one another, 
 excepting only John/on : I will inflance but 
 in one, to fhow the copioufnefs of his Inven- 
 tion; 'tis that of Calyban, or the Monfler 
 in the Tetnpejl. He feems to have created a 
 perfon which was not in Nature, a boldnefs 
 which at firfl fight would appear intolerable : 
 for he makes him a Species of himfelf, be- 
 gotten by an Incubus on a Witch ; but this as 
 I have elfewhere prov'd, is not wholly beyond 
 the bounds of credibility, as leafl the vulgar 
 flill believe it. We have the feparated no- 
 tions of a fpirit, and of a Witch ; (and Spirits 
 according to Plato, are vefled with a fubtil 
 body; according to fome of his followers, have 
 different Sexes) therefore as from the diflincfl 
 apprehenfions of a Horfe, and of a Man, 
 Imagination has form'd a Centaur, fo from 
 thofe of an Incubus and a Sorcerefs, Shakefpear 
 has produc'd his Monfler. Whether or no 
 his Generation can be defended, I leave to 
 Philofophy ; but of this I am certain, that the 
 Poet has mofl judicioufly furnifhed him with 
 a perfon, a Language, and a charadler, which 
 will fuit him, both by Fathers and Mothers v.^tw\ 
 
272 
 
 fide: he has all the difcontents, and malice 
 of a Witch, and of a Devil ; befides a con- 
 venient proportion of the deadly fms; Glut- 
 tony, Sloth, and Lufl, are manifefl; the 
 dejeflednefs of a flave is likewife given him, 
 and the ignorance of one bred up in a Defart 
 Ifland. His perfon is monflrous, as he is the 
 produfl of unnatural Lufl ; and his language 
 is as hobgoblin as his perfon : in all things 
 he is diflinguifhed from other mortals. The 
 charadlers of Fletcher are poor and narrow, 
 in comparifon of Shake/pears ; I remember 
 not one which is not borrow'd from him; 
 unlefs you will except that flrange mixture of 
 a man in the King and no King: So that in 
 this part Shake/pear is generally worth our 
 Imitation ; and to imitate Fletcher is but to 
 Copy after him who was a Copyer. 
 m * * * 
 
 If Shakefpear be allow'd, as I think he 
 rauft, to have made his Chara6lers diftindl, 
 it will eafily be infer'd that he underflood the 
 nature of the Paffions : becaufe it has been 
 prov'd already, that confus'd Paffions make 
 undiflinguiftiable Charadters: yet I cannot 
 deny that he has his failings ; but they are 
 not fo much in the paffions themfelves, as 
 in his manner of expreffion : he often obfcures 
 his meaning by his words, and fometimes 
 makes it unintelligible. I will not say of fo 
 ijreat a Poet, that he diflinguifli'd not the 
 
273 
 
 blown puffy ftile, from true fublimity; but I 
 may venture to maintain that the fury of his 
 fancy often tranfported him, beyond the 
 bounds of Judgment, either in coyning of 
 new words and phrafes, or racking words 
 which were in ufe, into the violence of 
 Catachresis : 'T is not that I would explode 
 the ufe of Metaphors from paffions, for 
 Longinus thinks 'em necelfary to raife it ; but 
 to ufe 'em at every word, to fay nothing 
 without a Metaphor, a Simile, an Image, or 
 defcription, is I doubt to fmell a Httle too 
 flrongly of the Buflcin. I muft be forc'd to 
 give an example of expreffing paffion figur- 
 atively; but that I may do it with refpedl to 
 Shakefpear, it fhall not be taken from any- 
 thing of his: 'tis an exclamation againll 
 Fortune, quoted in his Hamlet, but written by 
 fome other Poet. 
 
 [Out, out, thou Strumpet, &c., down to As 
 low as to the Fiends.] 
 And immediately after fpeaking of Hecuba, 
 when Priam was kill'd before her eyes : 
 
 [The mobbled Queen, &c., down to And 
 paffion in the Gods.] 
 
 * * * * 
 
 But Shakefpear does not often thus ; for the 
 paffions in his Scene between Brutus and 
 Coffins are extreamly natural, the thoughts are 
 fuch as arife from the matter, and the expres- 
 fion of 'em not vicioufly figurative. I cannot 
 
274 
 
 leave this Subjedl before I do juftice to that 
 Divine Poet, by giving you one of his pas- 
 fionate defcriptions : 't is of Richard the 
 Second when he was depos'd, and led in 
 Triumph through the Streets of London by 
 Henry of Btdlingbrook : the painting of it is 
 fo lively, and the words fo moving, that I 
 have fcarce read any thing comparable to it, 
 in any other language. Suppofe you have feen 
 already the fortunate Ufurper pafling through 
 the croud, and foUow'd by the fhouts and ac- 
 clamations of the people; and now behold 
 King Richard entring upon the Scene : con- 
 fider the wretchednefs of his condition, and 
 his carriage in it; and refrain from pitty if 
 you can. 
 
 [As in a Theatre, &c., down to have pity'd 
 him.] * « * * 
 
 If Shakefpear were ftript of all the Bom- 
 baft in his paffions, and drefs'd in the moft 
 vulgar words, we fliould find the beauties of 
 his thoughts remaining; if his embroideries 
 were burnt down, there would ftill be filver 
 at the bottom of the melting-pot ; but I fear 
 (at leaft, let me say it for my felf ) that we who 
 Ape his founding words, have nothing of his 
 thought, but are all out-fide; there is not fo 
 much as a dwarf within our Giants cloaths. 
 Therefore, let not Shakefpear fuffer for our 
 fakes; 'tis our fault, who fucceed him in an 
 Age which is more refin'd, if we imitate him 
 
275 
 
 fo ill, that we coppy his failings only, and 
 make a virtue of that in our Writings, which 
 in his was an imperfedlion. 
 
 For what remains, the excellency of that 
 Poet was, as I have faid, in the more manly 
 paffions; FkUher's in the fofter: Shakefpear 
 writ better betwixt man and man ; Fletcher, 
 betwixt man and woman : confequently, the 
 one defcrib'd friendfhip better; the other 
 love : yet Shakefpear taught Fletcher to write 
 love J sxiAJulietydxiA Defdemona,3xt Originals. 
 'Tis true, the Scholar had the fofter foul; 
 but the Mafter had the kinder. Friendfliip 
 is both a virtue, and a PaiTion effentially; 
 love is a paffion only in its nature, and is not 
 a virtue but by Accident : good nature makes 
 Friendfhip; but effeminacy Love. Shakefpear 
 had an Univerfal mind, which comprehended 
 all Charaflers and Paffions ; Fletcher a more 
 confin'd and limited : for though he treated 
 love in perfeflion, yet Honour, Ambition, 
 Revenge, and generally all the flronger Pas- 
 fions, he either touch'd not, or not Maflerly. 
 To conclude all; he was a Limb of Shake- 
 fpear. 
 
 Pre/ace to Troilus and Crejffuia or Truth 
 found too late, by John Dry den. 1679. 
 
276 
 
 JOHN DRYDEN, 1679. 
 
 EE, my lov'd Britons, fee your Shake- 
 fpear rife, 
 An awful ghoft. confefs'd to human 
 eyes ! 
 Unnam'd, methinks, diflinguifli'd I had been 
 From other fhades, by this eternal green. 
 Above whofe wreaths the vulgar poets flrive, 
 And with a touch their wither'd bays revive. 
 Untaught, unpraflis'd, in a barbarous age, 
 I found not, but created firfl, the flage. 
 And if I drain'd no Greek or Latin flore, 
 'Twas that my own abundance gave me more. 
 On foreign trade I needed not rely. 
 Like fruitful Britain, rich without fupply. 
 In this my rough-drawn play you fhall behold 
 Some mafter-llrokes, fo manly and fo bold. 
 That he, who meant to alter, found 'em fuch, 
 He fhook ; and thought it facrilege to touch. 
 Now, where are the fucceffors to my name 1 
 What bring they to fill out a poet's fame t 
 Weak, fhort-liv'd iffues of a feeble age ; 
 Scarce living to be chriflen'd on the flage ! 
 
 Prologue to Troilus and Crefflda or Truth 
 foimd too late, by yo/in Dryden. 1679. 
 (Spoken by Betterton as the Ghoji of Shake- 
 J'peare). 
 
277 
 
 DB 
 
 JOHN DRYDEN, 1675. 
 
 ' U T fpite of all his pride a fecret fhame 
 I Invades his Breafl at Shake/fear's 
 ■ facred name. 
 
 Aw'd when he hears his God-like Romans 
 Rage. 
 
 Prologue to Aureng-zebe, or the Great Mogul, 
 by John Dryden. 1692. 
 
 NN 
 
278 
 
 JOHN DRYDEN, 1681 circa. 
 
 NE nymph, to whom fat Sir John 
 Falftaff's lean 
 There with her fmgle perfon fills 
 
 the fcene. 
 
 Prologue to the UniverCdy of Oxford. Pro- 
 logues and Epilogues. 1779. 
 
279 
 
 JOHN DRYDEN, 1690. 
 
 O W'S this, you cry ? an adlor write ? 
 we know it ; 
 ^ But Shakefpeare was an adlor and 
 a poet. 
 Has n«t great Jonfon's learning often fail'd ? 
 While Shakefpeare's greater genius flill pre- 
 vail'd. 
 
 Prologue to The Mi/lakes, by Jofeph Harris. 
 1690. 
 
280 
 
 JOHN DRYDEN, 1693. 
 
 HAKESPEARE, thy gift I place 
 before my fight, 
 With awe I a(k his bleffing as I 
 write ; 
 With reverence look on his majeftick face, 
 Proud to be lefs, but of his godlike race.- 
 His foul infpires me, while thy praife I write. 
 And I like Teucer under Ajax fight : 
 Bids thee, through me, be bold ; with daunt- 
 
 lefs breaft 
 Contemn the bad, and emulate the beft. : 
 Like his, thy criticks in the attempt are loft. 
 When moft they rail, know then they envy 
 most. 
 
 Epijlle to Sir Godfrey Kneller. (Miscellany 
 Poems.) 1694. 
 
EDWARD PHILLIPS, 1669. 
 
 OC feculo[fc. temporibus Elizabethae 
 reginse et Jacobi regis] floruerunt — 
 Gulielmus Shacfperus, qui prseter 
 opera dramatica, duo poemata Lucretia 
 Jiuprum a Tarquinio, et Amoves Veneris in 
 Adonidem, lyrica carmina nonnuUa com- 
 posuit : videtur fuiffe, fiquis alius, re vera 
 poeta natus. Samuel Daniel non obfcurus 
 hujus setatis poeta, etc. 
 
 * * * Ex eis quis dramatic^ fcripferunt, 
 primas fibi vendicant Shacfperus, Jonfonus 
 et Fletcherus, quorum hie facundi et polita 
 quadam familiaritate fermonis, ille erudito 
 judicio et ufu veterum authorum, alter nativa 
 quidam et poetica fublimitate ingenii excel- 
 luiffe videntur. Ante hos in hoc genera 
 poefeos apud nos eminuit nemo. Pauci qui- 
 dem an tea fcripferunt, at parum foeliciter ; 
 hos autem tanquam duces itintris plurimi 
 faltem agmulati funt, inter quos prseter Sher- 
 leium, proximum k fupra memorato trium- 
 viratu, Suclingium, Randolphium, Davenan- 
 tium et Carturitium — enumerandi veniunt 
 Ric. Bromeus, Tho. Heivodus, etc. 
 
 Tractatiilus de Carmine draniatko Poetarum, 
 et compendiofa Etmmeratio Poelanim a 
 Tempore Dantis Aligerii ttfqite ad hanc 
 yECatem. Added to the feventeenth edition of 
 Thefnurus jf. BiuMeri. 1669. 
 
EDWARD PHILLIPS, 1675. 
 
 I T, Ingenuity, and Learning in Verfe, 
 even Elegancy it felf, though that 
 comes neerefl, are one thing, true 
 Native Poetry is another ; in which there is 
 a certain Air and Spirit, which perhaps the 
 moft. Learned and judicious in other Arts do 
 not perfeflly apprehend, much lefs is it 
 attainable by any Study or Indullry; nay 
 though all the Laws of Heroic Poem, all the 
 Laws of Tragedy were exadlly obferved, yet 
 flill this tour entrejeant, this Poetick Energie, 
 if I may fo call it, would be required to give 
 life to all the refl, which fliines through the 
 roughefl moH unpolifh't and antiquated Lan- 
 guage, and may happly be wanting, in the 
 moft. polite and reformed : let us obferve 
 Spencer, with all his Ruftic, obfolete words, 
 with all his rough-hewn clowterly Verfes ; 
 yet take him throughout, and we fliall find 
 in him a gracefuU and Poetic Majefly : in 
 like manner Shake/pear, in fpight of all his 
 unfiled expreffions,his rambling and indigefted 
 Fancys, the laughter of the Critical, yet muft 
 be confefs't a Poet above many that go be- 
 yond him in Literature fome degrees. All 
 this while it would be very unreafonable 
 that thofe who have been learned, judicious 
 
283 
 
 or Ingenuous in Verfe fliould be forgotten 
 and left out of the circuit of Poets^ in the 
 larger acceptation. 
 
 -ff -JF tP ^ 
 
 Benjamin Johnfon, the mofl learned, judi- 
 cious and corredl, generally fo accounted, of 
 our Englijh Comedians, and the more to be 
 admired for being fo, for that neither the 
 height of natural parts, for he was no Shake- 
 fphear, nor the coft. of Extraordinary Educa- 
 tion ; for he is reported but a Bricklayers 
 Son, but his own proper Induflry and Addic- 
 tion to Books advandl him to this perfedlion : 
 
 # * * * 
 Chrijlopher Marlow, a kind of a fecond 
 
 Shakefphear (whofe contemporary he was) 
 not only becaufe like him he rofe from an 
 A6lor to be a maker of Plays, though in- 
 feriour both in Fame and Merit ; but alfo 
 becaufe in his begun Poem of Ifero and 
 Leattder, he feems to have a refemblance of 
 that clean and unfophiflicated Wit, which is 
 natural to that incomparable Poet ; 
 
 * * * * 
 
 John Fletcher, one of the happy Triiimvirat 
 (the other two \>€vag Johnfon and Shakefpear) 
 of the Chief Dramatic Poets of our Nation, 
 in the lafl foregoing Age, among whom there 
 might be faid to be a fymraetry of perfedlion, 
 while each excelled in his peculiar way : Ben. 
 
284 
 
 John/on in his elaborate pains and know- 
 ledge of Authors, Shake/pear in his pure vein 
 of wit, and natural Poetic heighth ; Fletcher 
 in a courtly Elegance, and gentile familiarity 
 of flyle, and withal a wit and invention fo 
 overflowing, that the luxuriant branches there- 
 of were frequently thought convenient to be 
 lopt off by his almofl infeparable Companion 
 Fratuis Beaumont. 
 
 * * * # 
 
 William Shakefpear,iht Glory of the Englifh 
 Stage; whofe nativity at Stratford \x^on Avon, 
 is the higheft. honour that Town can boail of : 
 from an Adlor of Tragedies and Comedies, 
 he became a Maker; and fuch a Maker, that 
 though fome others may perhaps pretend to 
 a more exa6l Decorum and xconomie, efpeci- 
 ally in Tragedy, never any exprefs't a more 
 lofty and Tragic heighth ; never any repre- 
 fented nature more purely to the life, and where 
 the polifhments of Art are moR wanting, as 
 probably his Learning was not extraordinary, 
 he pleafeth with a certain wild and native 
 Elegance ; and in all his Writings hath an 
 unvulgar flyle, as well in his Venus and 
 Adonis, his Rape of Lucrece and other various 
 Poems, as in his Dramatics. 
 
 Thealrum Poetarum. 1675. [i2/«o.] Pre- 
 face, pp. 27 and 28, and the Modern 
 Poets, pp. 19, 24, 108 — 9, and 194. 
 
^85 
 
 SIR CARR SCROPE, 1677-8. 
 
 HEN Shakefpeare, Jonfon, Fletcher, 
 ruled the flage, 
 They took fo bold a freedom with 
 the age, 
 That there was fcarfe a knave or fool in town 
 Of any note, but had his portrait fliown. 
 
 In Defenfe of Satyr. (Quoted by the Earl of 
 Rochefier in An Allufion to the Tenth Satyr 
 of the Firfi Book of Horace. 1678. /. 96.^ 
 
 00 
 
286 
 
 EARL OF ROCHESTER, 1678. 
 
 UT does not Dryden find even Jonfon 
 duin 
 Beaumont and Fletcher uncorre£l, 
 
 and full 
 Of lewd lines, as he calls them ? Shakefpeare's 
 
 ftyle 
 Stiff and afFedled 1 To his own the while 
 Allowing all the juflice that his pride 
 So arrogantly had to thefe denied 1 
 And may I not have leave impartially 
 To fearch and cenfure Dryden's works, and 
 
 try 
 If thofe grofs faults his choice pen doth 
 
 commit. 
 Proceed from want of judgment, or of wit ? 
 Or if his lumpifh fancy does refufe 
 Spirit and grace to his loofe flattern mufe ? 
 Five hundred verfes every morning writ. 
 Prove him no more a poet than a wit. 
 
 A)i Allufion to the Tenth Satyr of the First 
 Book of Horace. 1678. 
 
287 
 
 THOS. SHADWELL, 1678. 
 
 AM now to prefent your Grace with 
 the Hiflory of Timon, which you 
 were pleafed to tell me you liked; 
 and it is the more worthy of you, fmce it has 
 the inimitable hand of Shake/pear in it, which 
 never made more Maflerly (Irokes than in 
 this. 
 
 The Epijlle Dedicatory of the Hijlory of Timon 
 of At/tens the Man-Hater, l>y Thos. Shad- 
 welt. 1678. [4/f.] 
 
288 
 
 THOMAS RYMER. 1678. 
 
 UT I grow weary of this Tragedy : In ["A^KtoBandno 
 the former I took Latorch by his 
 mouth, and ranting air for a copy of 
 
 Coffins in Shakefpear : and that you may fee 
 
 Arbaces here, is not without his Cafflan flrokes. 
 Thus Coffins in Shakefpear. 
 
 Caff. .... Brutus ««^ Csefar! what Jhould 
 there be in that Cxfar ! 
 
 Why Jhould that name be founded more than 
 yours ? 
 
 Write them together, yours is as fair a name: 
 
 Sound them; it doth become the mouth as well: 
 
 Weigh them, it is as heavy ; conjure with them, 
 man : 
 
 Brutus willflart a Spirit as well as Csefar. 
 
 Now, in the name of all the Gods at once. 
 
 Upon what meat doth this our Cxinr feed, 
 
 That he is grown fo great 1 . . . 
 
 Thus Arbaces. Arb Ihaveliv'd 
 
 To co7iquer men, and now ain overthrown 
 
 Only by words, Brother and Sifler : where 
 
 Have thofe words dwelling 1 I will find'' e7n out. 
 
 And utterly deftroy 'em: but they are 
 
 Not to be graffd : let 'em be meji or beafls, 
 
 I will cut 'em from the earth; or Tozvns, 
 
 And I will raze 'em, and then blow 'em up : 
 
 Let 'em be Seas, and I will drink 'cm off, 
 
 And yet hove unquench' d fire within my breafl : 
 
 Lei 'em be any thing but meerly voice. 
 
 The Tragedies of The Lajl Age confidei'd and 
 Exainiu\{ by the PraiHice of the Ancients, 
 and by the Common Senfeof all Ages. 1678. 
 [//«. 8tw.]//.ioi — 3. 
 
289 
 
 JOHN MARTYN, 
 HENRY HERRINGMAN, 
 RICHARD MARIOT, 
 
 1679. 
 
 F our care and endeavours to do our 
 Authors right (in an incorrupt and 
 genuine Edition of their Works) and 
 thereby to gratifie and oblige the Reader, be 
 but requited with a fuitable entertainment, 
 we fliall be encourag'd to bring Ben Jo hnf on' s 
 two volumes into one, and publifli them in 
 this form ; and alfo to reprint Old Shakefpear: 
 both which are defigned by 
 
 yours, 
 Ready to ferve yon, 
 
 The BookJ'ellers to the Reader. Prefixed to the 
 Second Edition of Beaumont and Fletcher^ s 
 Works. 1679. [Fo.\ 
 
290 
 
 THOMAS OTWAY, 1680. 
 
 U R Shakfpeare wrote, too, in an age 
 as bleft, 
 The happiefl poet of his time, and 
 
 bea; 
 A gracious prince's favour cheer'd his mufe, 
 A conflant favour he ne'er fear'd to lofe, 
 Therefore he wrote with fancy unconfin'd, 
 And thoughts that were immortal as his mind. 
 And from the crop of his luxuriant pen 
 E'er fince fucceeding poets humbly glean. 
 Though much the mofl unworthy of the 
 
 throng, 
 Our this day's poet fears he's done him 
 
 wrong. 
 Like greedy beggars that fleal fheaves away, 
 You'll find he's rifled him of half a play. 
 Amidft his bafer drofs you'll fee it fhine 
 Mofl beautiful, amazing, and divine. 
 Whilfl we both wit's and Csefar's abfence 
 
 mourn 
 Oh ! when will he and poetry return ? 
 When fhall we there again behold him fit, 
 Midfl fliining boxes and a courtly pit, 
 The lord of hearts and prefident of wit ? 
 
 Prologue to Caius Mariiis (altered from Romeo 
 and yttliet.) 1 680. \/^o. ] 
 
291 
 
 ABRAHAM COWLEY, 1680. 
 
 ROM this which has happened to 
 myfelf, I began to refledl on the 
 fortune of almofl all writers, and 
 efpecially poets, whofe works (commonly 
 printed after their deaths) we find fluffed out, 
 either with counterfeit pieces, or with fuch 
 [fluff] which, though of their own coin, they 
 would have called in themfelves, for the bafe- 
 nefs of the alloy ; whether this proceed from 
 the indifcretion of their friends, or by the un- 
 worthy avarice of fome flationers, who are 
 content to diminifh the value of the author, fo 
 they may increafe the price of the book. 
 This hath been the cafe with Shakfpeare, 
 Fletcher, Johnfon, and many others, part of 
 whofe poems I fhould take the boldnefs to 
 prune and lop away, if the care of replanting 
 them in print did belong to me; neither would 
 I make any fcruple to cut off from fome the 
 unnecefTary young fuckers, and from others 
 the old withered branches, &c. 
 
 Preface to Poems. £d. 16S0. (iTlO, p- iZ-) 
 
292 
 
 SIR WILLIAM TEMPLE, 1680- 1690. 
 
 HAKESPEAR was the firfl that 
 opened this vein upon our Stage, [tue oomic vein: 
 which has run fo freely and fo 
 pleafantly ever fince, that I have often won- 
 dered to find it appear fo little upon any 
 others, being a fubjedl fo proper for them; 
 fince Humour is but a Pidlure of Particular 
 Life, as Comedy is of General. 
 
 Mlfcellanea, Part it. On Pactiy. 1680- 1 690. 
 [8ot.] 
 
-'93 
 
 JOHN AUBREY, i6So circa. 
 
 R. William Shakefpeare was wont to 
 goe into Warwickftiire once a yeare, 
 and did coinonly in his journey lye 
 at this houfe in Qxon. [the Crowne Taverne 
 kept by John Davenant] where he was ex- 
 ceedingly refpefted. I have heard parfon 
 Robert fay that Mr. Wm. Shakefpeare having 
 given him a hundred kiffes — Now Sr. Wm. 
 would fometimes, when he was pleafant over 
 a glaffe of wine with his mofl intimate friends, 
 — e.g. Sam : Butler, (author of Hudibras) 
 &c., — fay, that it feemed to him that he writt 
 with the very fpirit that Shakefpear [did], and 
 was contented enough to be thought his Son : 
 he would tell them the ftory as above. 
 
 4t * Tf 4f 
 
 Mr. William Shakefpear was borne at Strat- 
 ford upon Avon, in the County of Warwick; 
 his father was a Butcher, and I have been 
 told heretofore by fome of the neighbours, 
 that when he was a boy he exercifed his 
 father's Trade, but when he kill'd a Calfe he 
 would doe it in a high Ilyle, and made a 
 Speech. There was at that time another 
 Butcher's fon in this Towne that was held not 
 at all inferior to him for a naturall witt, his 
 acquaintance and coetanean, but dyed young. 
 This Wm. being inclined naturally to Poetry 
 pp 
 
2 94 
 
 and atting, came to London, I gueffe, about 
 i8: and was an Adlor at one of the Play- 
 houfes, and did a6l exceedingly well. Now 
 B. Johnfon was never a good Adlor, but 
 an excellent Inftrudlor. He began early to 
 make effayes at Dramatiq : Poetry, w'^'^ at that 
 time was very lowe, and his Playes tooke 
 well. He was a handfome well fhap't man ; 
 very good company, and of a very readie and 
 pleafant fmooth Witt. The Humour of . 
 the Conflable, in a Midfomer-Nighf s Dreame, 
 he happened to take at Grendon,* in Bucks, 
 w<^h is the roade from London to Stratford, 
 and there was living that Conflable about 
 1642, when I firfl came to Oxon. Mr. Jos. 
 Howe is of y' parifli, and knew him. Ben 
 Johnfon and he did gather Humours of men 
 dayly wherever they came. One time as he 
 was at the Tavern, at Stratford fup: Avon, 
 one Combes, an old rich Ufurer, was to be 
 buryed, he makes there this extemporary 
 Epitaph, 
 
 Ten in the Hundred the Devill allowes. 
 But Combes will have twelve, he fweares 
 
 and vowes: 
 If any one alkes who lies in this Tombe, 
 ' Hoh ! ' quoth the Devill, ' 'Tis my John 
 
 o Combe.' 
 
 then 
 
 * I thiiike it was Midfomer night that he happened to lye 
 
295 
 
 He was wont to goe to his native Country 
 once a yeaie. I thinke that I have been 
 told that he left 2 or 300 t g annu there 
 and thereabout to a filler. I have heard S"' 
 Wm. Davenant and Mr. Thomas Shadwell 
 (who is counted the bell Comoedian we have 
 now) fay, that he had a moft, gdigyous Witt, 
 and did admire his naturall parts beyond all 
 other Dramaticall writers. He was wont to 
 fay, that he never blotted out a line in his 
 life ; fayd Ben Johnfon, ' I wifh he had blotted 
 out a thoufand.' His Comcedies will remaine 
 writt as long as the Englifh tongue is under- 
 (lood ; for that he handles mores hominum : 
 now our gfent writers refledl fo much upon 
 pticular perfons and coxcombeities, that 20 
 yeares hence they will not be underflood. 
 Though, as Ben Johnfon fayes of him, that 
 he had but little Latine and leffe Greek, He 
 underflood Latine pretty well: for he had 
 been in his younger yeares a fchoolmafler in 
 the Country.* 
 
 Aubrey Manu/cripts; No. 4. //. 27 or 78. 
 Bodleian Library, Oxford. Printed in 
 "Letters written by Eminent person.-:." 
 1813. 
 
 From Mr. Bceflon, 
 
296 
 
 GEORGE SCUDERY, 1681. 
 
 can't, without infinite ingratitude to 
 the Memory of thofe excellent per- 
 fons, omit the firll Famous Mailers 
 in't, of our Nation, Venerable Shake/pear and 
 the great Ben John/on : I have had a par- 
 ticular kindnefs always for mofl. of Shake- 
 fpear's Tragedies, and for many of his 
 Comedies, and I can't but fay that I can 
 never enough admire his Stile (confidering 
 the time he writ in) and the great alteration 
 that has been in the Refineing of our Lan- 
 guage fmce) for he has expreffed himfelf fo 
 very well in't that 'tis generally approv'd of 
 flill; and for maintaining of the Charadlers 
 of the perfons, defign'd, I think none ever 
 exceeded him ; 
 
 Amaryllis to Tityrus. Being the Firjl Heroick 
 Harangue of the Excellent Pen of Monfieur 
 Scudery. A Witty and Pleafant Novel. 
 Engliflied by a Perfon of Honour. 1681. 
 [iS>«.' ?>vo.'\ 
 
 Containing "An E (fay on Draiiialick Poetry.^' 
 pp. 66-67. 
 
297 
 
 J. CROWN, 1681. 
 
 O day we bring old gather'd Herbs, 
 'tis true, 
 But fuch as in fweet Shake/pears 
 Garden grew. 
 And all his Plant's immortal you efteem. 
 Your Mouthes are never out of tafle with him. 
 Howe're to make your Appetites more keen, 
 Not only oyly Words are fprinkled in ; 
 But what to pleafe you gives us better hope, 
 A little Vineger againft. the Pope. 
 
 For by his feeble Skill 'tis built alone, 
 
 The Divine Shakefpear did not lay one ftone. 
 
 Prologues to Henry the Sixth, by J. Crown. 
 [4/0.] 1681. Parts I &= II. 
 
298 
 
 SIR GEORGE RAYNSFORD, 1682. 
 
 ET he prefumes we may be fafe to 
 Day, 
 Since Shakefpear gave Foundation 
 to the Play: 
 'Tis alter'd — and his facred Ghofl appeas'd; 
 I wifli you All as eafily were pleas'd : 
 
 Prologue to tlie riigialitudeofa Coinmonwcalt/i, 
 by NaJiinii Tate. 1682. [4/0.] 
 
299 
 
 JOHN SHEFFIELD, Earl of Mulgrave, 
 1682. 
 
 LA TO and Luciati are the befl. 
 Remains 
 Of all the wonders which this art 
 
 contains ; 
 Yet to our felves we Juflice mufl allow, 
 Shake/pear and Fletcher are the wonders now : 
 Confider them, and read them o're and o're. 
 Go fee them play'd, then read them as before. 
 For though in many things they grofly fail, 
 Over our Paffions flill they fo prevail, 
 That our own grief by theirs is rockt afleep, 
 The dull are forc'd to feel, the wife to weep. 
 Their Beauties Imitate, avoid their faults ; 
 
 # * # * 
 
 The other way's too common, oft we fee 
 A fool derided by as bad as he; 
 Hawks fly at nobler game, but in his way, 
 A very Owl may prove a Bird of prey ; 
 Some Poets fo will one poor Fop devour ; 
 But to CoUedl, like Bees from every flower. 
 Ingredients to compofe that precious juice. 
 Which ferves the world for pleafure and for 
 
 ufe, 
 In fpite of fadlion this will favour get. 
 But Fal/ta^ ieems unimitable yet. 
 
 An Effay upon Poetry. 1682. Anon. {^\to.'\ 
 pf. 14 6-= 16. 
 
300 
 
 JOHN BANKS, 1682. 
 
 S AY not this to derogate from thofe 
 excellent Perfons, who, I ought to 
 believe, have written more to pleafe 
 their Audiences, than themfelves ; but to per- 
 fwade them, as Homer, and our Shakefpear 
 did, to Immortalize the Places where they 
 were born ; 
 
 Dedication Verttie Betray' d, or Anna Sullen, 
 1682, 
 
301 
 
 KNIGHTLY CHETWOOD, 1684. 
 
 UCH was the cafe when Chaucer's 
 early toyl 
 Founded the Mufes Empire in our 
 Soyl. 
 Spencer improv'd it with his painful hand 
 But loft a Noble Mufe in Fairy-land. 
 Shakfpeare fay'd all that Nature cou'd impart, 
 And John/on added Induftry and Art. 
 Cowley, and Denham gain'd immortal praife ; 
 And fome who merit as they wear, the Bays. 
 
 Commendatory Verfes prefixed to An EJfay on 
 Tranjlated Verfe, by the Earl of Rofcom- 
 mon. 1684. S_^o.'\ 
 
 QQ 
 
302 
 
 WILLIAM \VINSTANLEY, 1684. 
 The Life of Mr. JVi/. Shakefpeare. 
 HIS worthy Poet Mr. Shakefpeare, 
 
 the glory of the Englifli Stage, was 
 born at Stratford upon Avon in 
 Warwick/hire, and is the highefl. honour that 
 Town can boaft. of; in whom three eminent 
 Poets may feera in feme fort to be com- 
 pounded. I. Martial, in the warhke found 
 of his Surname, HaJU- Vibrans or Shakefpeare, 
 whence fome have conjedlured him of Mili- 
 tary extra<flion. 2. Ovid, the mofl natural 
 and witty of all Poets; and hence it was that 
 Queen Elizabeth comiiig into a Grammar- 
 School made this extemporary Verfe. 
 
 Perfms a crab-Jlaff, Bawdy Martial, Ovid a fine Wag. 
 
 3. Plautus, a very exadl Comedian, and yet 
 never any Scholar, as our Shakefpeare (if alive) 
 would confefs himfelf ; but by his converfmg 
 with jocular Wits, whereto he was naturally 
 enclined, he became fo faraoufly witty, or 
 wittily famous, as without learning, he attained 
 to an extraordinary height in the Comique 
 drain; yet was lie not fo much given to 
 Feflivity, but he could (when fo difpofed) be 
 folemn and ferious ; fo that Heraclitus himfelf 
 might afford to fmile at his Comedies they 
 were fo merry,and Democritus fcarce forbear to 
 figh at his Tradgedies, they were fo mournful. 
 
3°3 
 
 From an Acftor of Tradgedies and Come- 
 dies, he became a Maker; and fuch a Maker, 
 that though fome others may perhaps pretend 
 to a more exacfl decorum and Oeconomie, 
 efpecially in Tradgedy, never any expred a 
 more lofty and Tragick height; never any 
 reprefented Nature more purely to the life, 
 and where the polifhments of Art are mofl. 
 wanting, (for as we faid before, his learning 
 was not extraordinary) he pleafeth with a 
 certain wild and native Elegance; and in all 
 his writings hath an unvulgar Style, as well in 
 his Ventts and Adonis, his Rape of Lucrece, 
 and other various Po^ms, as in his Dram- 
 maaticks. 
 
 He was an eminent inflance of the truth 
 of that Rule, Poeta non fit fed nafcHer, one is 
 not Made but Born a Poet, fo that as Cornifli 
 Diamonds are not Poliflied by any Lapidary, 
 but are pointed and fmoothed even as they 
 are taken out of the Earth, fo Nature it felf 
 was all the Art which was ufed on him. 
 
 To enumerate his Comedies, they are fo 
 many, would be too tedious, that of his Henry, 
 the fourth though full of fublime Wit, is very 
 much blamed by fome, for making Sir John 
 FalkflafF the property of pleafure for King 
 Henry to abufe, as one that was a Thrafonical 
 Puff, and Emblem of mock-valour; though 
 indeed he was a man of Arms, every inch of 
 him, and as Valiant as any in his Age. 
 
304 
 
 Many were the Wit Combats betwixt him 
 and Ben /ohnfoH,'w\i\ch. two we may compare 
 to a Spanijh great Gallion, and an Englijh- 
 ma?i of War, Mr. John/on (like the former) 
 was built far higher in Learning; foiled but 
 flow in his performances; Shakefpeare with 
 the EngliJIi-man of War, leffer in bulk, but 
 lighter in failing, could turn with all Tides, 
 tack about and take advantage of all Winds, 
 by the quicknefs of his Wit and invention. 
 This our famous Comedian died, Aiino Domini 
 i6 . . . and was buried at Stratford upon Avon, 
 the Town of his Nativity, upon whom one 
 hath bellowed this Epitaph. 
 Renowned Spenfer, lye a thought move nigh 
 To learned Chaucer, and rare Beaumont lye, 
 A little nearer Spenfer, to make room \Tomb, 
 For Shakefpear, in your threefold, fourfold 
 lb lodge allfo2tr in one Bed make afliift 
 Vntil Dooms-day, for hardly will a fifth 
 Betwixt this day and that, by Fates beflain, 
 For whom your Curtains may be drawn again. 
 If your precedmcy in death do bar, 
 A fourth place in your f acred Sepulchar ; 
 Vnder this f acred Marble of thine own. 
 Sleep rare Tragedian Shakefpear ! fle^ alone, 
 Thy unmolefled peace in an unfliar'd Cave. 
 Poffefs as Lord not Tenant of thy Grave, 
 That unto us, and others it may be, 
 Honour hereafter to be laid by thee. 
 
 England's Worthies. Select Lives Of tlic mqft 
 Eminent Perfons of tlie EngliJIi A'atioii, Cs'c. 
 ByWill.mnflaiiley. 1684.//. 345-7. [8iv.] 
 
3°S 
 
 EDWARD RAVENSCROFT, 1686. 
 
 think it a greater theft to rob the 
 dead of their praife, then the living 
 of their money. That I may not 
 appear guilty of fuch a crime, 'tis neceflary 
 that I fhould acquaint you that there is a 
 play in Mr. Shakefpeare's Volume under the 
 name of Titus Andronicus, from whence I 
 drew part of this. I have been told by fome 
 anciently converfant with the flage, that it 
 was not originally his, but brought by a 
 private Author to be a6led, and he only gave 
 fome mafler-touches to one or two of the 
 principal parts or charadlers; this I am apt 
 to believe, becaufe 'tis the moll incorre6l and 
 indigefled piece in all his Works. It feems 
 rather a heap of rubbifli then a flrucflure. 
 
 Preface to Titus Andronicus, or the Rape of 
 Lavinia. 1686. [4i'c.] ■ 
 
3o6 
 
 NAHUM TATE, 1689. 
 
 OTHING but the Power of your 
 Perfuafion, and my zeal for all the 
 remains of Shake/pear, cou'd have 
 wrought me to fo bold an Undertaking. I 
 found that the New-modelling of this Story, 
 wou'd force me fometimes on the difficult Talk 
 of makingthe chiefefl Perfons fpeak fomething 
 like their Charadler, on Matter whereof I had 
 no Ground in my Author. Lear's real and 
 Edgar's pretended Madnefs have fo much of 
 Extravagant Nature, (I know not how elfe to 
 exprefs it,) as cou'd never have llarted but 
 from our Shakefpear's Creating Fancy. The 
 Images and Language are fo odd and fur- 
 prizing, and yet fo agreeable and proper, that 
 whilft. we grant that none but Shake/pear cou'd 
 have form'd fuch Conceptions ; yet we are 
 fatisfied that they were the only Things in the 
 World that ought to be faid on thofe Occa- 
 fions. 
 
 Dedication ("To my efteeiiied Friend Tho. 
 Boteler, E/q." ) of the Hijlory of Kin^ Lear, 
 liy iV. Tate. 1689. [4/0.] 
 
307 
 
 NAHUM TATE. 1689. 
 
 E hopes fince in rich Shakefpeare's 
 foil it grew 
 'Twill relifli yet, with thofe whofe 
 
 Tads are true, 
 And his Ambition is to pleafe a Few. 
 If then this Heap of Flow'rs fliall chance to 
 
 wear 
 Frefli beauty in the Order they now bear, 
 E'en this is Shakefpear's P.raife ; each ruflick 
 
 knows 
 'Mongfl plenteous Flow'rs a Garland to 
 
 Compofe 
 Which ftrung by this Courfe Hand may 
 
 fairer (how. 
 But 'twas a Power Divine firfl made 'em 
 
 grow. . 
 
 Prologue to the Hijiory of King Lear, by N. 
 Tate. 1689. [4^.] 
 
3o8 
 
 WILLIAM FULMAN. 
 [RICHARD DAVIES], 1690 circa. 
 
 ILLIAM Shakefpeare was born at 
 Stratford upon Avon in Warwick- 
 ftiire, about 1563-4. [Much given 
 to all unluckineffe in Healing venifon and 
 Rabbits particularly from S"'Lucy, who had 
 him oft whipt and fometimes imprifoned and 
 at lail made Him fly his native country to his 
 great advancem' but His revenge was fo great, 
 that he is his Juflice Clodpate, and calls 
 him a great man & y' in allufion to his name 
 bore three lowfes rampant for his arms.] 
 
 From an acflor of playes he became a com- 
 pofer. He dyed Apr. 23, 1616, setat. 53, 
 probably at Stratford, for there he is buryed 
 and hath a monument. Dugd. p. 520. [on 
 w'*" he lays a Heavy curfe upon any one 
 who fhal remoove his bones. He dyed a 
 Papifl] _ 
 
 Fuhnan Manufcripts (1670 — 1688) vol. xv, 
 No. 7, p. 22. In the Library of Corpus 
 Chrifti College, Oxford. (The portions 
 here in brackets are those attributed to 
 Davies. ) 
 
309 
 WILLIAM LANGBAINE. 1691. 
 
 NE of the mofl Eminent Poets of his 
 Time; « * * * 
 
 His Natural Genius to Poetry was 
 fo excellent, that like thofe Diamonds*, which 
 are found in Cornwall, Nature had little, or 
 no occafion for the Affiflance of Art to pohfh 
 it. The Truth is, 't is agreed on by moll, that 
 his Learning was not extraordinary; and I am 
 apt to believe, that his SkiH in the French and 
 Italian Tongues, exceeded his Knowledge in 
 the Roman Language : * * * 
 
 fo I Ihould think I were guilty of an Injury 
 beyond pardon to his Memory, fhould I fo 
 far difparage it, as to bring his Wit in compe- 
 tition with any of our Age. * I fhall * take the 
 Liberty to fpeak my Opinion, as my prede- 
 ceffors have done, of his Works ; which is this, 
 That I efleem his Plays beyond any that have 
 ever been publifhed in our Language : and 
 tho' I extreamly admire JbAnf on, and Fletcher; 
 yet I mufl flill aver, that when in competition 
 with Shakefpear, I mufl apply to them what 
 Jujlus LipfMs writ in his Letter to Andrceas 
 Schottus, concerning Terence and Plaiitus, 
 when compar'd ; Terentium amo, admirer, fed 
 Plaiitum magis. 
 
 An Account of the Englifh Dramatick Pods, 
 
 Oxford. 1691. \%vo.'\ pp. 453—4. 
 * Dr. Fuller in his Account of Shakefpear. 
 RR 
 
310 
 
 JOHN DOWDALL. APRIL lo, 1693. 
 
 HE firfl remarkable place in this 
 County that I vifitted was Stratford 
 super Avon, where I faw the effigies 
 of our Englifh tragedian Mr. Shakefpeare ; 
 parte of his epitaph I fent Mr. Lowther, and 
 defired he would impart it to you, which I 
 finde by his lafl, letter he has done : but here 
 I fend you the whole infcription. 
 
 Jujl under his Effigies hi the wall of the 
 Chancell is this written. 
 
 [Here follows the Infcription, as on page 87 
 ante.\ 
 
 Neare the wall where his monument is 
 erected lyeth a plaine free flone, underneath 
 which his bodie is buried with this epitaph, 
 made by himfelfe a little before his death. 
 
 [Here follows the Infcription, as on page 68 
 ante^ 
 
 The clarke that fliew'd me this church is 
 above 80 years old ; he fays that this Shake- 
 fpear was formerly in this towne bound ap- 
 prenti[c]e to a butcher, but that he run from 
 his mafler to London,' and there was received 
 into the playhoufe as a ferviture, and by this 
 meanes had an oppertunity to be what he 
 afterwards prov'd. He was the befl of his 
 family, but the male line is extinguifhed : not 
 one for feare of the curfe abovefaid dare touch 
 
3" 
 
 his grave-flone, though his wife and daughters 
 did earneflly defire to be layd in the fame 
 grave with him. 
 
 Autograph letter, Jigneil ''* yohn at Stiles," and 
 endorfed " lo. Aprill. 1693. From Mr. 
 Dmodall. Defcriptiov of Severall places in 
 Wai~wickjlure ;" and in Do'iudaWs hand- 
 writing, ' ' Thejefor Mr. Southwell, p' Sent." 
 Firjl printed under the title of " Traditionary 
 Anecdotes of Shakefpeare, colleded in ll^ar- 
 wickshirc, in the year MDCXCIII." 1838. 
 1 87'P. ] 
 
31^ 
 
 SHAKESPEARE UPON THE KING. 
 
 ROWNES have their compaffe, length 
 of days their date, 
 Triumphes their tombs, felicity her 
 fate; 
 Of more then earth cann Earth make none 
 
 partaker, 
 But knowledge makes the King mofl like his 
 Maker. 
 
 From a volume of inaniifcript poems, in a 
 handwriting of about the time of the Res- 
 toration, which belonged to the late Sir 
 Alexander Bofwell. 
 
(lEiucitiatton^f 
 
 TO 
 
 THE FOURTH PERIOD 
 
 OF 
 
 SHAKESPEARE'S CENTURIE OF PRAYSE. 
 
ELUCIDATIONS. 
 
 Page 241. 
 
 This "Mrs. Queeny". is Judith Quiney, Shake- 
 speare's daughter. She died in 1662. 
 
 Page 242. 
 
 Under date 1667, April 9 and Nov. 1, Pepys re- 
 cords his going to the King's House (tlie Lord 
 Chamberlain's men were now the King's men) and 
 seeing "The Tameing of a Shrew," which he calls 
 " a mean play," and " a silly play ;" though on both 
 occasions he allows that it "hath some very good 
 pieces in it." He also complains of its archaic phrase- 
 ology. This is the older play. 
 
 We have excluded these entries from our text, be- 
 lieving that Mr. Richard Simpson is in error in 
 recei'i'ing this as an early work of our great drama- 
 tist. (See TAe School of Shakespeare: p. vi, pre- 
 fixed to Mr. Simpson's edition of A Lamm for 
 London, 1872.) 
 
 Pepys' first notice of "Macbeth" (January 7, 1666- 
 7) is sensible and to the point. It is a "strange per- 
 fection in a tragedy," that the divertisement prevails 
 over the horror which it is its purpose to evoke. 
 
3i6 
 
 Page 250. 
 
 Two other ballads of Thomas Jordan are founded 
 on Shakespeare : viz., The Forfeiture : a Romance, 
 and The Revolution : a Love-story ; the former on The 
 Merchant of Venice, the latter on Mtich Ado about 
 Nothing. 
 
 Page 251. 
 
 The writer of the Sociable Letters was the second 
 wife of William, Marquess of Newcastle, the patron 
 of Ben Jonson. In the preface she writes : 
 
 '* I have Endeavoured under the Cover of Letters to Exprefs 
 the Humors of Mankind, and the A(5tions of Man's Life by the 
 correfpondence of two Ladies living at fome Ihort diftance from 
 each other, &c." 
 
 Margaret Cavendish was a woman of sense and ac- 
 complishment ; but, while her thoughts are usually 
 common-place, she conveys them by an apparatus of 
 phraseology which is clear rather than forcible, and 
 disproportionately diffuse. Her summary of Shake- 
 speare's virtues is little more than an inventory, and is 
 tautologically particular. Yet we must allow that the 
 occasion called for the critique ; and at that day it 
 was not superfluous to insist upon the identity of the 
 poet with each and every of his great characters. The 
 paradox, "'tis harder to express nonsense than sense," 
 is a great truth, singularly applicable to Shakespeare's 
 art. What she says as to the effect of his tragedy on 
 readers is also felicitous : and her remark on the 
 Roman plays — "that Antouius and Brutus did not 
 speak better to the people than he had [has] feigned 
 them" — is reiterated with excellent effect by Arch- 
 bishop Trench, in his Lectures on Plutarch. Tliat she 
 imitated Shakespeare, in her poems, is countenanced 
 by similarities of diction : e. g., in 1656 she writes : 
 
 *' Had finews room fancy therein to breed, 
 
 Copies of verfes might from the heel proceed." 
 
3^7 
 
 which appears to be imitated from King Lear, where 
 the fool says : 
 
 "If a man's brains were in his heels, were't not in danger of 
 kibes?" 
 
 Some account of this admirable woman is given in 
 Pepys' Diary, vol. iii, pp. 139 — 140 (Ed. 1848, in 5 
 vols.), and in Evelyn's Diary and Correspondence, vol. 
 ii, p. 26 (Ed. 1859, in 4 vols.). 
 
 Page 257. 
 
 There is no doubt D'Avenant, whatever may have 
 been his parentage or his morals, had very consider- 
 able poetical abilities. Kemembering the tradition 
 recorded by Aubrey (page 293), it is interesting to 
 read the testimony of Dryden to his dramatic excel- 
 lence. It is prefixed to the play written by them 
 jointly upon the suggestion of Shakespeare's Tempest, 
 and runs thus : 
 
 "In the time I writ with him, I had the opportunity to 
 obferve fomewhat more nearly of him than I had formerly done, 
 when I had onely a bare acquaintance with him : I found him 
 then of fo quick a fancy, that nothing was propof *d to him on 
 which he could not fuddenly produce a thought extreamly plea- 
 fant and furprifing : and thofe firft thoughts of his, contrary to 
 the old Latine Proverb, were not always the leaft happy. And 
 as his fancy was quick, fo likewifewere the produ6ls of it remote 
 and new. He borrowed not of any other : and his imaginations 
 were such as could not eafily enter into any other man. His 
 correiSions were fober and judicious : and he corrected his own 
 writings much more feverely than thofe of another man, bellow- 
 ing twice the time and labour in polifhing, which he uf'd in 
 invention." 
 
 Prefctce to The Tempest or The Enchanted Island. 1674. 
 
 Page 258. 
 
 This clever Prologue was identified by Mr. Bolton 
 
 Corney (Notes and Queries, 1st S. ix, 95). Boaden 
 
 {Inquiry, 1824, p. 38) regretted "that Dryden did 
 
 not let out more of his mighty spirit in the verses" 
 
 SS 
 
3i8 
 
 addressed to Kneller. "He might have rendered 
 them the vehicle of a discriminated character of 
 Shakespeare, such as should rival that written by 
 himself in such admirable prose." Boaden did not 
 know that Dryden had done this in his Prologue to 
 Julms Ct2sar. 
 The line — 
 
 *' 'Twas well in fpite of him whate'er he writ," 
 reminds us of Pope's assertion that Shakespeare 
 " grew immortal in his own defpite." 
 
 Page 260. 
 
 This page of our extracts from Dryden's Defence 
 of the Epilogue was unfortunately worked off before 
 it had been collated with the edition of 1679. 
 The chief differences are these : In that edition, 1. I, 
 Language; 11. 4 and 18, Shakespear and Fletcher ; 1. 
 5, Jonsoii ; 1. 9, improvement, and 1. 20, solecism, are 
 printed in italics. For spelling, 1. 21, it is " sence ; " 
 1. 22, "reverenc'd" ; and 1. 26, "multa." For 
 punctuation, 1. 8, "line. But"; 1. 17, dele comma 
 after "man," and 1. 19, insert comma after "find." 
 
 Page 265. 
 
 The Slighted Maid is a comedy by Sir R. Stapylton, 
 first edition [sm. 4to], 1663. It is not recorded in 
 Halliwell's Dictionary of Old English Plays. Diyden 
 again mentions it in the Preface to his Troiltts and 
 Cressida, 1679: " Of this nature is the Slighted Maid ; 
 where there is no scene in the first Act, which might 
 not by as good reason be in the fifth." 
 
 Page 276. 
 
 As Dryden here calls up the Ghost of Shakespeare, 
 so does Bevill Higgons, a score of years later, call up 
 "The Ghosts of Shakespear and Dryden Crown'd with 
 
319 
 
 Lawrel " to speak his prologue to George Granville's 
 (Lord Lansdowne's) adaptation of the Merchant of 
 Venice. See The yew of Venice, A Comedy as it is 
 acted at the Theatre in Little Lincolns - Inn - Fields 
 By His Majesty's Servants. 1713 (ist Ed. 1701). This 
 is perhaps the worst of the series of plays adapted from 
 Shakespeare. 
 
 Page 283. 
 We have here Shakesphear, twice. It is not a mis- 
 print, but a recognised form of spelling our great 
 bard's name. We find it in some editions of Camden's 
 Remaines Concerning Britaine : c g., the Ed. of 1614 
 and 1637, which have Shakespheare. (See ante, p. 9, 
 where, however, 1605 should be 1614.) Again, in the 
 deed under which Shakespeare purchased, for ;£440, 
 the unexpired term in a moiety of the tithes of Stratford, 
 Old Stratford, Bishopton, and Welcombe, we find 
 
 Shakespeare once, 
 
 Shackesphere thrice, 
 
 Shakespear once, 
 
 Shakesphere five times, 
 
 Shacksphare once, 
 
 Shaksphere once, 
 and once he is referred to under his initials. 
 (Halliwell's Life of Shakespeare, 1848, jip. 210—216.) 
 
 In view of all these and other variations in the 
 spelling of his name, and the fact that in five authen- 
 tic signatures the bard himself adopts three different 
 styles, what is the force of Mr. F. J. Furnivall's de- 
 mand on the members of the Neiv Shackespheare 
 Society, viz., the concession that Shackespheare knew 
 how to spell his own name ? It is proved that there 
 was no fixed orthography of the name ; and we 
 know that the printers of his works uniformly give it 
 Shakespeare : the style which he had himself adopted 
 in his two dedications. 
 
320 
 
 Page 285. 
 This poet was the last baronet of the name, and 
 author of some poetical things, principally transla- 
 tions from Ovid, {e. g., the Epistle of Sappho to 
 Phaon) and Horace. The passage we have given 
 corresponds to the first five lines of Horace's Satire 
 iv of Book I, from which we infer that the Defence 
 of Satyr is imitated from that satire. We do not know 
 whether Sir Carr Scrope's entire poem is extant. In 
 the Earl of Rochester's Works (Tonson), 1714, p. 87, 
 will be found his Allusion, &c. ; and the extract men- 
 tioning Shakespeare is quoted at p. 96. Rochester's 
 reply at p. 100 ends with these personalities : 
 
 Half-witty and half-mad, and fcarce half-brave, 
 Half-honeft (which is very much a knave) 
 Made up of all thefe halfs, thou can'll not pafs 
 For anything intirely but an afs. 
 
 Page 291. 
 In the edition of Cowley's works, 1680, we observe 
 an addition to the text as we have given it : viz. , for 
 "I should take the boldness," we find, "I shouH 
 presume to take the boldness." Had his sense of his 
 own audacity grown in the meanwhile ? 
 
 Page 293. 
 We have the testimony of Pope to the prevalence 
 of this story in his day. We read under date 1 780 in 
 Spence's Obsenvatioits, Anecdotes, and Characters (Ed. 
 1820, p. 82), 
 
 " That notion of Sir William D'Avenant being more than a 
 poetical child only of Shakefpeare was common in town, and 
 Sir William himfelf feemed fond of having it taken for truth." 
 
 Again, under date 1744, we have the following 
 anecdote attributed to Pope (pp. 82 — 83) : 
 
 "Shakfpeare, in his frequent journeys between London and 
 his native place, Stratford-upon-Avon, ufed to lie at D'Avenant's, 
 at the Crown in Oxford. He was very well acquainted with 
 
321 
 
 Mrs. D'Avenant : and her fon, afterwards Sir William, was fup- 
 pofed to be more nearly related to him than as a godfon only. 
 One day, when Shakefpeare was juft arrived, and the boy fent 
 for from fchool to him, a head of one of the Colleges, who was 
 pretty well acquainted with the affairs of the family, met the 
 child running home, and aflced him whither he was going in fo 
 much hafte ? the boy faid, * to my godfather, Shakespeare ' — 
 'Fie, child,' fays the old gentleman, 'why are you fo fuper- 
 fluous ; have you not learnt yet that you fliould not ufe the 
 name of God in vain ? ' " 
 
 Probably this story is but a renovated version of one 
 recorded by John Taylor {PVor^es^ Ed. 1630, ii, 184) : 
 where the "godfather" in question was "goodman 
 Digland the gardiner." 
 
 Oldys writes : 
 
 "If tradition may be trufted, Shakefpeare often baited at the 
 Crown Inn or Tavern in Oxford, in his journey to and from 
 London. The landlady was a woman of g[reat beauty and 
 fprightly wit ; and her hufband, Mr. John Davenant (after- 
 wards mayor of that city), a grave, melancholy man ; who, as 
 well as his wife, ufed much to delight in Shakefpeare's pleafant 
 company. Their fon, young Will Davenant (afterwards Sir 
 William), was then a little fchool-boy in the town, of about 
 feven or eight years old, and fo fond alfo of Shakefpeare that 
 whenever he heard of his arrival, he would fly from fchool to fee 
 him. One day an old townfman obferving the boy running 
 homeward almofl: out of breath, alked him whither he was poll- 
 ing in that heat and hurry. He anfwered to fee his ^oif-father 
 Shakefpeare. There's a good boy, faid the other, but have a 
 care that you don't take God's name in vain. This ftory Mr. 
 Pope told me at the Earl of Oxford's table . ... and 
 
 he quoted Mr. Betterton the player for his authority." — O^cfys 
 Ma7tujcripts : Brit, Mus. 
 
 Page 296. 
 George Scudery and his sister were once popular 
 French writers, whose works were translated for the 
 English public. The former wrote a work called 
 Curia Polities, and many poems and plays, as Alaric, 
 V Amour Tyrannique, VArcde Triomphe, &c. Boileau 
 thus refers to the brother and sister : 
 
 Bien heureux Scudery, dont la fertile plume 
 Peut tous les raois sans peine enfanter un volume. 
 
322 
 
 Page 299. 
 Sheffield was Earl of Mulgrave from 1658 to 1694, 
 and not Duke of Buckinghamshire till 1 703. 
 
 Page 301. 
 
 Winstanley takes the bulk of his biography from 
 Fuller. See Warwickshire Worthies. 1662. Part iii, 
 p. 220. [fo. ] Ante p. 115. 
 
 Page 308. 
 
 This annotator on the adversaria of the Rev. Wm. 
 Fulman is believed to have been the Rev. Richard 
 Davies, Rector of Sapperton in Gloucestershire : but 
 his name does not appear on the manuscript. It is 
 in five or six different hands; and only two other 
 annotations, both very short, are in Davies' supposed 
 autograph. Little is known of him. He died in 
 1708. By "Justice Clodpate" Davies designates 
 Shakespeare's Shallow. We observe that Dowdall, 
 at the end of his letter to Southwell (quoted ante 
 p. 310), applies the same nickname to one of the 
 sitting judges of the Spring Assize at Warwick, in 
 
 1693- 
 Page 309. 
 
 Langbaine, too, makes free with Fuller's Worthies. 
 Two copies of his Account were annotated by Oldys. 
 The one which received his second annotations is 
 in the British Museum Library. A propos of this 
 book, we venture to suggest that it would be a. 
 very great convenience if the Chief Librarian of the 
 British Museum would issue a hand-list of printed 
 books which have manuscript annotations ; such as 
 Dr. Thomas Warton's copy of Spenser's works, and 
 Tieck's copy of Ben Jonson's works, with the mar- 
 ginalia and other notes in full. 
 
 Oldys' notes on Langbaine belong to a period later 
 
323 
 
 than our Cenlurie. There is, however, a well-known 
 epigram, said to be by Jonson and Shakespeare, which 
 according to George Steevens, Oldys puts forth as if 
 he had derived it from an authentic source of some 
 antiquity. We have not been able to recover the 
 particular manuscript in which he is said to have 
 given it. In Johnson and Steevens' 2nd Edition of 
 Shakespeare 1778, pp. 204-5 (see also Malone's 
 Edition, 1790, vol. i, p. 163), the following is given : 
 
 " Verfes by Ben Jonfon and Shakefpeare, occafioned by the 
 motto to the Globe Theatre. — Totus jnutidus a^lt hijlrionem, 
 Jon/on. If but Jlage a6lors all the world difplays, 
 
 Where (hall we find fpe£laiors of their plays ? 
 Sfuikefpeare. Little or much of what we fee we do ; 
 
 We're all both aRors axii /pedlaiors too." 
 
 According to Steevens, Oldys' authority for these 
 verses is "Poetical Characteristicks, 8vo MS., vol. i, 
 some time in the Harleian Library ; which volume 
 was returned to its owner." 
 
 The whole story is suspicious. The alleged ' ' motto 
 to the Globe Theatre'' is altered from the Fragnienta 
 of Petronius Arbiter. See Trajeili, 1709, p. 673. 
 The original words are "quod fere totus mundus 
 exerceat histrionem." 
 
 Then again, on the title page of Oldys' second copy 
 of Langbaine, we have evidence that Oldys himself 
 wrote the verses : for there we read 
 
 Totus mundus agit hiftrionem. 
 
 If all the world the adlor plays, 
 Who are SpeSlaiors of its Plays ? 
 
 This is again altered by Oldys into 
 
 If but Stage-Adlors all the World difplays, 
 Who are allowed SpeRators of their Plays ? 
 
 and finally he has written on the left side margin. 
 
 Little or much of what we fee we do, 
 We are both A(5lors and Spe(ftators too. 
 
324 
 
 Not a word of Ben Jonson or Shakespeare. Can it 
 be that these two verses were dished up by George 
 Steevens, and assigned by him to Jonson and Shake- 
 speare, as a hoax on his credulous public. 
 
 For a full account of Oldys' annotated Langbaine, 
 see Notes and Queries, 3rd S., vol. i, p. 81. 
 
 
SHAKESPEARE'S 
 CENTURIE OF PRAYSE. 
 
 SUPPLEMENTARY EXTRACTS. 
 
 TT 
 
THOMAS NASH, 
 
 1592- 
 
 OW would it have joy'd brave Talbot 
 (the terror of the French) to thinke 
 that after he had lyne two hundred 
 yeare in his tomb, he fhould triumph againe 
 on the flage, and have his bones new em- 
 balmed with the teares of ten thoufand fpefla- 
 tors at leafl, (at feverall times) who, in the 
 tragedian that reprefents his perfon, imagine 
 they behold him frefli bleeding 1 
 
 Pierce Penile[fe His fupplication to the Devill. 
 Defcribing the over-fpreading of Vice, and 
 the/tipprej/lon of Vertne, iSfc. 1592. [4^c.] 
 
328 
 
 FRANCIS MERES, 1596. 
 
 ICHAEL DRAYTON (quern 
 toties honoris &= amoris cauf a nomino ) 
 among fchollers, fouldiours, Poets, 
 and all forts of people, is helde for a man of 
 vertuous difpofition, honefl converfation, and 
 vvel governed cariage, which is almofl. mira- 
 culous among good wits in thefe decUning 
 and corrupt times, when there is nothing but 
 rogery in villanous man, and when cheating 
 and craftines is counted the cleanefl wit, and 
 foundefl wifedome. 
 
 Palladis 7"amia. Wits Treafury Being the 
 Second paii of Wits Commonwealth. 1598, 
 fol. 281. [i2mo.1 
 
 Cl Hen. IV, ii, 3.: 
 
329 
 
 THOMAS DECKER, 1602. 
 
 E mufl have falfe fiers to amaze thefe 
 fpangle babies, thefe true heires of 
 Ma. Juftice Shallow. 
 
 Satiro - Majlix, or the UiitriiJJing of the 
 Humorous Poet. 1602. [4/1?.] 
 
33° 
 
 BEN JONSON, 1605. 
 
 ASTLY I would informe you, that 
 this Booke, in all nubers, is not the 
 fame with that which was afted on 
 the publike Stage, wherein a fecond Pen had 
 good fliare : in place of which I have rather 
 chofen, to put weaker (and no doubt leffe 
 pleafing) of mine own, then to defraud fo 
 happy a Genius of his right, by my lothed 
 ufurpation. 
 
 Ben. Johnson, and no fuch. 
 Quem Palma negata macrum, donata reducit 
 opimum. 
 
 Sejaiuis his Fall. 1605. r4'"'] '!'" '^'^ 
 Kearlers. 
 
331 
 
 1607. 
 
 E'LL ha' the ghoR i' th' white Iheet 
 fit at the upper end o' th' table. 
 
 The Puritan, or the IVidow of Watling Street, 
 1607. [Anon, /{to.'] 
 
332 
 
 SIR WILLIAM DRUMMOND, 1614. 
 
 HE authors I have feen on the fub- 
 je(ft of love are, — Sidney, Daniel, 
 Drayton, Spenfer, — the laft we have 
 
 ill 
 
 are Sir W. Alexander and Shakefpeare, who 
 have lately publifhed their works. 
 
 Works: Fo: 1656. /. 226. 
 
333 
 
 ROBERT ANTON, 1616. 
 
 |R why are ivomen rather growne fo 
 mad, 
 That their imniodejt feete like J>/anets 
 gad 
 With such irregular motion to base Playes, 
 Where all the deadly finnes keepe hollibaits. ihoiiwiues] 
 There (hall they fee the vices of the times, 
 Orejles incefl, Cleopaires crimes. 
 
 # * * * 
 
 Sooner may fhameleffe wives hate Braindford 
 
 feajls, 
 Albertus Magnus, or the pilfred Jejls 
 Of feme fpruce Skipiack Citizen from Playes, 
 A Coach, the fecret Baudihoufe for waies. 
 And riotous wajie of fome new Freeman made, 
 That in one yeere to peices breakes his trade. 
 Then walh the toad-like fpeckles of defame. 
 That fwell the world with poyfon of their 
 
 Jhame : 
 What Comedies of errors fwell ^&Jlage 
 With your rao^publike vices, when the age 
 Dares perfonate in aSlion, for, your eies 
 Ranke Sceanes of your /«f/?-fweating qualities. 
 
 The P/Ulo/opher's Satyrs. 1616. [4^1?. ] Pp. 
 466^51. Fifth Satyr. Of Venus. 
 
 VV 
 
334 
 
 SIR WILLIAM CORNWALLIS, 1617. 
 
 ET neither can his blood redeem 
 him [Richard III] from injurious 
 tongues, nor the reproch oifered 
 his body be thought cruell enough, but that 
 we muil ftill make him more cruelly infamous 
 in pamphlets and plays. 
 
 The Prayfe of King Richard the Third. 1617, 
 being part of a Colleilion of Scarce and 
 Valuable Trails, &^c., of the late Lord 
 Soiiiers. 1810. [4fe 1 Vol. 3. /. 328. 
 
335 
 
 MICHAEL DRAYTON, 1627. 
 
 HAKESPEARE thou hadR as 
 fmooth a Comicke vaine, 
 Fitting the focke, and in thy natural 
 braine, 
 As ilrong conception, and as Cleere a rage, 
 As any one that trafiqu'd with the flage. 
 
 " To my inojl dearely-loved frimd Henery 
 Reynolds, Esquire, ^Poets and Poefie." 
 From Elegies appended to the Battaile of 
 Agincourt : dr=r. 1627. [sm. for\ 
 
336 
 
 i644- 
 
 LTHOUGH he came with con- 
 fidence to the fcafiFold, and the 
 blood wrought lively in his cheeks, 
 yet when he did lye down upon the block he 
 trembled every joint of him ; the fenfe of 
 fomething after death, and the undifcovered 
 country unto which his foul was wandering 
 flartling his refolution, and poffeffing every 
 joint of him with an univerfal palfey of fear. 
 
 London Pojl, January, 1644. (On the 
 Execution of Archbijliof Laud.) 
 
337 
 
 i6S5- 
 
 NO W- WELL. Upon a rainy day, 
 or when you have nought elfe to do, 
 you may read Sir Walter Raleigh, 
 Lord Bacon's Natural Hiflory, the Holy 
 Warre, and Brown's Vulgar Errors. You 
 may find, too, fome flories in the Englifh 
 Eufebius and the Book of Martyrs, to hold 
 difcourfe with the Parfon on a Sunday dinner. 
 Mrs. Love-wit. Sometimes to your wife 
 you may read a piece of Shak-fpeare, Suck- 
 ling, and Ben Jonfon too, if you can under- 
 (land him. 
 
 Know. You may read the Scout and 
 Weekly Lntelligence, and talk politickly after 
 it. And if you get fome fmattering in the 
 Mathematicks, it would not be amiife, the 
 Art of dyalling, or to fet your clock by a 
 quadrant, and Geography enough to meafure 
 your own land. 
 
 The Hectors ; or, the Falfe Challenge. 1656. 
 (Notes and Queries : ^th S. i, 304. ) 
 
338 
 
 f* 7%,? two following extraSls reached lis 
 after the foregoing had been printed. 
 
 T. M., 1604. 
 OME you to fearch an honefl Bawdie- 
 houfe, this feven and tvventie yeares 
 in fame and fhame ? goe too then, 
 you fliall fearch ; nay, my very Bootes too : 
 are you well now ? the leafl hole in my houfe 
 too, are you pleafde now? can we not take 
 our eafe in our Inne, but we mufl come out 
 fo quickly? Nawd, goe to bed, fweet Nawd, 
 thou wilt coole thy greafe anon, and make 
 thy fat cake. 
 
 The Blacke Booke. 1604. [4^.] Sig. B d,. 
 
 J. S., 1651. 
 HE true and primary intent of the 
 Tragedians and Commedians of old, 
 was to magnifie Virtue, and to deprefs 
 Vice ; And you may obferve throughout the 
 Works of incomparable Johnfon, excellent 
 Shakefpear, and elegant Fletcher, &c., they 
 (however vituperated by fome flreight-laced 
 brethren not capable of their fublimity,) aim 
 at no other end. 
 
 An excellent Comedy, called the Prince of Priggs 
 revels; or, t/ie Practices of t/tat grand T/iief 
 Captain James Hinds, relating Divers of 
 /lis pranks and exptoits, nei'er Iieretoforepub- 
 tified by any. Replent wiilt various conceits 
 and Tarltonian viirtti,fnitabletot/iefnbjecl. 
 1651. [4/0.] Addrefs " To t/ie Reader." 
 
Clucitiationjef 
 
 SUPPLEMENTARY EXTRACTS 
 
 SHAKESPEARE'S CENTURIE OF PRAVSE. 
 
ELUCIDATIONS. 
 
 Page 327. 
 
 We have here doubtless an allusion to the play of 
 Henery the vi mentioned in Henslowe^s Diary (March 3, 
 1591-2) : and this may be identical with the First Part 
 of Henry the Sixth in the Folio Edition of Shakespeare, 
 1 623. Whether Shakespeare had any share in this play 
 is, to say the least, problematical. Nash's work was 
 reprinted for the Shakespeare Society in 1842 under 
 Mr. J. P. Collier's superintendence. That gentleman 
 reprinted it again for his Yellow Series. It is remarkable 
 that these two reprints manifest many discrepancies. 
 
 Page 328. 
 
 We have here an expression quoted from the First 
 Part of Henry IV, ii, 3, where Falstaff says : 
 
 "You Rogue, heere's Lime in this Sacke too : there is nothing 
 but Roguery to be found in Villanous man." 
 
 Page 329. 
 A slight allusion to Henry IV. 
 
 Page 330. 
 
 We apprehend that it would not be difficult to ex- 
 tract from some of Ben Jonson's earlier plays the lines 
 contributed by "so happy a Genius" as Shakespeare. 
 The most notable is that transcendently majestic pas- 
 sage on poetry, which appears in the first edition of 
 WW 
 
342 
 
 Every Man in his Humour, but is omitted from every 
 subsequent edition. We have no doubt that it was 
 written by Shakespeare. These are the lines : 
 
 Lorenzo junior. 
 
 Opinion, O God let grofle opinio finck and be damnd 
 
 As deep as Barathrum, 
 
 If it may ftand with your moft wifht content, 
 
 I can refell opinion and approve, 
 
 The ftate of poesie, fuch as it is, 
 
 BlefTed, seternall, and moft true devine : 
 
 Indeede if you will looke on Poefie, 
 
 As file appeares in many, poore and lame, 
 
 Patcht up in remnants and old worne [out] ragges, 
 
 Halfe ftarvd for want of her peculiar foode : 
 
 Sacred invention, then I muft conferme, 
 
 Both your conceite and cenfure of her merrite, 
 
 But view her in her glorious ornaments. 
 
 Attired in the majeftie of arte, 
 
 Set high in fpirite with the precious tafte, 
 
 Of fweet philofophie, and which is moft, 
 
 Crownd with the rich traditions of a foule. 
 
 That hates to have her dignitie prophand, 
 
 With any relifli of an earthly thought : 
 
 Oh then how proud a prefence doth flie beare 
 
 Then is flie like her felfe, fit to be feene, 
 
 Of none but grave and confecrated eyes : 
 
 Nor is it any blemifh to her fame, 
 
 That fuch leane ignorant, and blafted wits, 
 
 Such brainleffeguls, fliould utter their ftolne wares 
 
 With such aplaufes in our vulgar eares : 
 
 Or that their flubberd lines have currant paffe. 
 
 From the fat judgements of the multitude, 
 
 But that this barren and infefted age. 
 
 Should fet no difference twixt thefe empty fpirits, 
 
 And a true Poet : then which reverend name. 
 
 Nothing can more adome humanitie. 
 
 Every Man in his hujjior. 1601 (lajlfcejie). 
 
 The motto affixed to Ben's signature to this epistle 
 is most happily chosen. It is from Horace's Ep : II, 
 i, an epistle which he must have well conned. 
 
 Page 331. 
 A slight aUusion to the ghost of Banquo in Macbeth. 
 
343 
 
 Page 332. 
 
 This note of Drummoncl's must belong to the period 
 of 1614-1616; for Alexander was not knighted till 
 1614, and Shakespeare, who died in 1616, is here 
 spoken of as a living avithor. The word "lately" 
 induces us to give the earliest date possible to the note. 
 Page 334. 
 
 When we prepared the copy of our Third Period we 
 deliberately excluded this extract, because we saw 
 nothing whatever in it constituting an allusion to 
 Shakespeare. But observing that Mr. Bohn (Lowndes' 
 B. M., 2312^ remarks, "This work contains the Prayse 
 [sic] of Richard the Third, in which are some curious 
 references to plays on the history of that Sovereign 
 by Shakespeare," we have given the only passage in 
 it which can be supposed to refer to Shakespeare. 
 If there be anything else to the point in this essay, 
 it has escaped our search. 
 
 Page 335. 
 Professor David Masson in his admirable Life of 
 Sir Wm. Drummond, 1874, appears to refer this 
 epistle to the date 1619-1620. There is a copy of 
 the Edition of Drayton's "Poems collected into one 
 volume," with title bearing date 1620, in the Grenville 
 Library, and a, copy of the same Edition, with title 
 bearing date 1619, in the British Museum Liljraiy: 
 but the Epistle "on Poets and Poesie" is not in 
 either. We believe it was first printed in 1627. 
 
 Page 336. 
 This forcible passage contains an evident quotation 
 from Hamlet, ii, 3 : 
 
 But that the dread of lomething after death, 
 The undifcovered Countrey, from whofe Borne 
 No Traveller retumes, Puzels the will, &c. 
 
 (Fo., 1623.) 
 
 It is quoted in the Academy, January 31, 1874, p, 121. 
 
344 
 
 Page 338. 
 
 The allusion is to the well-known question of 
 Falstaff in / Henry IV^ iii, 3. 
 
 Page 338. 
 
 This is the latest discovered mention of Shakespeare 
 that has turned up since we commenced our Centiirie. 
 It was communicated to the Athenccmii (September 
 19, 1874) by its discoverer, Mr. George Bullen, the 
 courteous Superintendent of the Reading Room at the 
 British Museum, to whom we are indebted for vahiable 
 aid in our search for extracts. From the Athen<BU7)i 
 notice we take the following remarks. 
 
 " This being a comedy, fo called, and by J. S., one is at firft 
 inclined to think that it was moft likely written by James Shirley ; 
 but upon examination, it will be feen not to bear any traces of 
 Shirley's ftyle. It is, in fadl, more in the nature of a droll, 
 fuch as thofe publifhed by Kirkman in 1673, — 'The Wits or fport 
 upon fport, '—as fpecimens of the mutilated fort of ftage-plays 
 that were exhibited by ftealth during the time (1642-60) in which 
 ftage-plays were prohibited by ordinance of the Lords and 
 Commons. Although in five adls, the play is very brief, contain- 
 ing only fourteen pages altogether. The hero of it, Capt. Hinde, 
 a famous highwayman, was faid, at the time when it was pub- 
 lifhed, to have accompanied Charles the Second in his wander- 
 ings after the Battle of Worcefter, and to have adlually efcorted 
 the Prince and Wilmot to London itfelf. At leaft, fo it was put 
 forth, but with no ground of truth, in the newfpapers of the 
 time. In accordance with this belief, Charles the Second is 
 introduced as one of the charadlers in the play, under the title 
 of the ' King of Scots.' This is almoft conclufive againft the 
 fuppofition that Shirley, who was a devoted Cavalier, was the 
 author of the piece, as he would fcarcely have deemed it refpedl- 
 ful to his fovereign to introduce him as the companion of a 
 notorious highwayman. Moreover, Dyce, in his edition of 
 Shirley, takes no notice of this piece, although he took pains to 
 colle(5l everything that might fairly be attributed to his author. 
 Hinde was afterwards hung, drawn, and quartered, not for his 
 highway robberies, but for his high treafon, and there are feme 
 verfes upon him, 'by a poet of his own time,' inferted in John- 
 fon's * Lives of the Highwaymen,' which remind one ftrongly of 
 Wordfworth's lines on Rob Roy." 
 
TO THE 
 
 ELUCIDATIONS. 
 
 — — 
 
 Page 3. 
 
 Kind-Harts Dreaine is undated: but the address 
 "To the Gentlemen Readers" and the entry in the 
 Stationers' Books prove that the tract was written 
 between the date of Robert Greene's death and 
 December in the same year, i. e., 1592. It was, 
 probably, published in the following year. We were 
 under the impression that the British Museum copy 
 which we used was not the first edition. We are now 
 disposed to believe that it is. 
 
 Page 4. 
 
 Strictly speaking Englandes Moimiing Garment is 
 undated and anonymous. But The order and proceeding 
 at the Funerall, &'c. (which follows the main work), 
 has the date of Queen Elizabeth's burial, " 28 of April, 
 1603;'' and the postscript thereto, "To the Reader," 
 is signed " Hen : Chetle." 
 
 Page 5. 
 The entire refrain is as follows : 
 
 " Lament, lament, lament, you English Peeres, 
 Lament your lofle f pofleffl: ) fo many yeares." 
 
 \ 
 
 cnjoyd 
 
346 
 
 Page 8. 
 We are unable to verify Steevens' note, or collate 
 his copy: for the book which contained Harvey's note 
 (a copy of Speght's Chaucer, 1598) passed into the 
 collection of Bishop Percy; and his library was burnt 
 in the fire at Northumberland House. The editors of 
 the Clarendon Press edition of Hamlet (Preface, p. ix) 
 remark: "Steevens attributed to the note the date 
 of the book, but Malone has shown that, although 
 Harvey may have purchased the volume in 1598, 
 there is nothing to prove that he wrote the note till 
 after 1600, in which year Fairfax's translation of Tasso, 
 mentioned in another note, was published." 
 
 Page 9. 
 
 Carew's discourse was first piinted in the edition of 
 Camden's Remaines which has the date 1614. Our 
 date 1605 (that of the first edition of the Retnaines) 
 was an inadvertence. In the extract "Barlow " is the 
 old misprint for Marlcfw. The fragment is his Hero 
 and Leander, completed by Chapman at one time, 
 and by Pettowe at another. 
 
 Page 10. 
 
 Three verses in Colin Clojifs come home againe, 
 viz., those on Amyntas (who is Ferdinando Earl of 
 Derby), must have been written April 16, 1594, when 
 Lord Derby (formerly Lord Strange) died. Todd and 
 others have inferred from this that the poem, which 
 was first printed in 1595, was really written in the 
 l^receding year : and that in the date appended to the 
 dedication 1591 is a press-error for 1594. We adopted 
 this view; but we are now convinced that Spenser 
 had finished the first draft of his poem in January, 
 1591, and subsequently amplified it. Some have seen 
 a discrepancy between the date appended to that 
 dedication, and that appended to the dedication of 
 
347 
 
 Daphnaida: but if, as Mr. Hales believes, the latter 
 work is alluded to in the former, January and Decem- 
 ber, 1591 must be legal old style dates, the year 
 beginning with the former and ending with the latter 
 month. 
 
 Page 29. 
 
 Poems in divers humors is the fourth tract in a 
 volume of which the first bears Richard Barnefield's 
 name. We should have given it in brackets. 
 
 Pages 30 & 31. 
 
 The passages are in the edition of the Scourge of 
 Villaitie published in 1598, but less correctly printed. 
 
 Page 45. 
 
 " The quene" here mentioned is Anne of Denmark, 
 the Queen of James I. A wood-cut facsimile of this 
 letter, traced by Mr. E. W. Ashbee, forms the frontis- 
 piece of the large-paper copies of our work. 
 
 Page 74 (on page 18). 
 
 Sir Egerton Brydges assigns this "Epicedium" to 
 Harbert; Mr. W. B. Rye simply corroborated the 
 suggestion of Brydges {Restituta, 1815, vol. iii, p. 298). 
 
 Page 75 (on page 19). 
 
 We hastily accepted Drake's assertion, that Drayton's 
 reference to the Rape ofLucrece (if it be that) was "in 
 this impression (1594) and solely in this impression" 
 (S/iakspeare and his Times, vol. iii, p. 39). As a 
 matter of fact it is in the edition of 1596. 
 
 Page Si (on page 48). 
 
 We might have quoted as a pendant to the extract 
 from Ratseis Ghost, the following from The Returne 
 from Pernassiis, 1606 : 
 
348 
 
 Stiidiqfo. Fayre fell good OrfiJieus, that would rather be 
 King of a mole hill, then a Keyfars flave : 
 Better it is mongft fidlers to be chiefe, 
 Then at [aj plaiers trencher beg reliefe. 
 But ift not ftrange this fthefe] mimick apes fliould prize 
 Unhappy Schollers at a hireling rate. 
 Vile world, that lifts them up to hye degree. 
 And treades us downe in groveling mifery. 
 Eyigland affordes thofe glorious vagabonds. 
 That carried earft their fardels on their backes. 
 Coursers to ride on through the gazing ftreetes, 
 Sooping it in their glaring Satten futes. 
 And Pages to attend their Maifterftiips : 
 With mouthing words that better wits have framed, 
 They purchafe lands, and now Efquires are made. 
 
 Philomufns. What ere they feeme being even at the beft 
 They are but fporting fortunes fcomfuU jefts. 
 
 Stud, So merry fortune is wont from ragges to take, 
 Some ragged grome, and him some gallant make. 
 
 (Actus 5, fcena i.) 
 
 This will also serve to strengthen our assertions on 
 pages 72 and 231. 
 
 Page, 163 (on page 87), 
 
 The converse misprint occurs in The Playhouse 
 Pocket Companion^ ^779 [ i2mo], in the first line of 
 which *' Sophocles" is an error for Socrates. (See 
 Biog. Dram : 1812, Int : Ixxiii.) 
 
 Page 164 (on page 89). 
 
 After the first line of our extract, Mr. Collier's 
 version {History of the Stage, I, 430, note) has the 
 following four lines : 
 
 Which he reviv'd to be revived foe 
 No more — young Hamlett, old Hieronymoe, 
 King Lear, the creuel Moore, and more befide 
 That lived in him have now for ever dyde. 
 
 This interpolation is, to us, evidently spurious. 
 Other differences in Mr. Collier's copy are these : 
 
349 
 
 "us'd" is altered to seem'd 
 
 ' ' crewes " . sad crew 
 
 " did but seeme'' 6ut seemed 
 
 ' ' he had bene deade " . even then hee dyed. 
 
 All the further additions in the expanded version 
 given by Mr. Collier, New Particulars, pp. 29-31, are 
 in our opinion modern fabrications. 
 
 Page 178 (on page 115). 
 
 As we have given an example of the heroic employ- 
 ment of the phrase to shake a spear, we add one of 
 the mock-heroic, from Histrio-mastix, or the Player 
 Whipt, 4to, 1610, the work mentioned on page 182 
 (Elucidations to the extracts on pages 124 & 127). 
 
 Ejtter Troy lies and CreJJida. 
 
 Troy. Come Crejftda my Creflet light, 
 Thy face doth fliine both day and night, 
 Behold, behold, thy garter blue. 
 Thy knight his valiant elboe weares. 
 That When he fhakes his furious Speare, 
 The foe in fhivering fearefull fort. 
 May lay him downe in death to fnort. 
 
 Cres. O Knight with vallour in thy face, 
 Here take my Ikreene weare it for grace. 
 Within thy Helmet put the fame. 
 Therewith to make thine enemies lame. ^ 
 
 Land. Lame ftuffe indeed the like was never heard. 
 
 ( Sig. C. 4 recto^ 
 
 The knight is Post-haste, in whom Mr. Richard 
 Simpson sees a caricature of Shakespeare. The four 
 lines here spoken by Troylus contain the supposed 
 allusion to an incident in Shakespeare's Troilus and 
 Cressida, which we believe to be rebutted by the 
 dates. 
 
 Page 232 (on page 209). 
 
 In the third line of this note, "first" is a press 
 error for jest. 
 
 X X 
 
35° 
 Page 312, 
 
 We must not omit to notice the tradition of a letter 
 written by the King to Shakespeare. 
 
 In the Advertisement to Lintot's Edition of Shake- 
 speare's Poems, 1709 [8vo], we read : 
 
 "That moft learned prince, and great patron of learning. King 
 James the Firft, was pleafed with his own hand to write an 
 amicable letter to Mr. Shakefpeare ; which letter, though now 
 loft, remained long in the hands of Sir William D'Avenant, as a 
 credible perfon, now living, can teftify." 
 
 Oldys, in a manuscript note on his copy of Fuller's 
 Worthies, says, that "the story came from the Duke 
 of Buckingham, [i.e. Sheffield] who had it from Sir 
 William D'Avenant." 
 
 \'^mm^, 
 
S\n1itx to 511ut^oritf. 
 
 Anton, Robert 
 Aubrey, John 
 
 Baker, Sir Richard 
 Bancroft, Thomas 
 Banks, John 
 Barkstead, William 
 Barnefield, Richard 
 Bass, William 
 Bell, William - 
 Benson, John 
 Berkenhead, J. 
 Brathwaite, Ricliard 
 Brome, Alexander 
 Brorae, Richard 
 Brooke, Christopher 
 Buck, Sir George 
 Burton, Robert 
 
 PAGE 
 
 333 
 
 293 
 
 219 
 
 139 
 300 
 
 50 
 
 29 
 
 90 
 
 210 
 
 142 
 
 199 
 
 66 
 
 214 
 
 141 
 
 65 
 
 197 
 
 107 
 
 Camden, William 
 Carew, Richard 
 Cartwright, William 
 Cavendish, Margaret 
 Chamberlain, Robert 
 Chettle, Henry 
 Chetwood, Knightly 
 Chillingvvorth, William 
 Clarke, William 
 
 47 
 9 
 198 
 251 
 138' 
 3&4 
 301 
 
 136 
 
352 
 
 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Cokaine, Sir Abton - 
 
 
 125- 
 
 -218 
 
 To Philip Massenger 
 
 
 I2S 
 
 
 A Preludium to Richard Brome's 
 
 i Plays 
 
 2IS 
 
 
 To William Dugdale 
 
 
 216 
 
 
 To John Honyman 
 
 
 ZI7 
 
 
 To Clement Fisher 
 
 
 218 
 
 
 Cooke, J. 
 
 - 
 
 
 202 
 
 Cope, Sir Walter 
 
 
 
 45 
 
 Cornwallis, Sir William 
 
 
 
 334 
 
 Cowley, Abraham 
 
 
 
 291 
 
 Crown, J. 
 
 
 
 297 
 
 Davenant, Sir William 
 
 
 
 153 
 
 Davies, John (of Hereford) 
 
 
 41. 
 
 -44 
 
 The Civile Wanes of Death and Fortune 
 
 41 
 
 
 Microcosmos 
 
 
 42 
 
 
 The Scourge of Folly 
 
 
 43 
 
 
 Papers Complaint 
 
 
 44 
 
 
 Davies, Richard 
 
 
 
 308 
 
 Dekker, Thomas 
 
 
 
 329 
 
 Denham, Sir John 
 
 
 
 195 
 
 Digges, Leonard 
 
 
 143 & 
 
 145 
 
 Dowdall, John 
 
 
 
 310 
 
 Drayton, Michael 
 
 
 19 & 
 
 335 
 
 Drummond, Sir William 
 
 
 88 & 
 
 332 
 
 Dryden, John 
 
 
 
 
 Of Dramalick Poesie 
 
 
 25s 
 
 
 Prologue to The Tempesi - 
 
 
 256 
 
 
 Prologue to Julius Caesar - 
 
 
 258 
 
 
 Defence of the Epilogue - 
 
 
 260 
 
 
 Prologue to the University of Ox 
 
 ford 
 
 264 
 
 
 Prologue to Charles D'Avenant's 
 
 Circe 
 
 265 
 
 
 Preface to All for Love 
 
 
 266 
 
 
 Preface to Troilus and Cressida 
 
 
 267' 
 
 
 Prologue to Troilus and Cressida 
 
 
 276 
 
 
 Prologue to Aureng-zebe - 
 
 
 277 
 
 
 Prologue to the University of Ox 
 
 ford 
 
 278 
 
 
 Prologue to The Mistakes 
 
 
 279 
 
 
 Epistle to Sir Godfrey Kneller - 
 
 
 280 
 
 
 Dugdale, Sir William 
 
353 
 
 PAGE 
 
 KVELVN, John 248 & 249 
 
 Feltham, Owen 118 & 131 
 
 Field, Nathaniel 
 
 Flecknoe, Richard - 
 
 Fletcher, Joseph 6 
 
 Freeman, Thomas g. 
 
 no 
 
 239 
 
 Fuller, Thomas 
 
 "5 
 
 Fulman, William ,q3 
 
 Greene, Robert , 
 
 Habington, William 127 
 
 Harbert, Sir William jg 
 
 Harvey, Gabriel 6 & 8 
 
 Heminge, John and Condell, Henrie 91 & 94 
 Heywood, Thomas 
 
 The Fair Maid of the Exchange 53 
 
 Apology for Actors ^^ 
 
 The Hierarchic of the Blessed Angels 128 
 
 Holland, Hugh 105 
 
 Holland, Samuel 222 
 
 Hood, Eu. 8q 
 
 Howell, James 196 
 
 James, Richard - 106 
 
 Johnson, John 152 
 
 Jonson, Ben 
 
 Every Man in his Humour, Prologue 36 
 Every Man out of his Humour 37 
 Bartholomew Fair - 62 
 Conversations : pgr Drumniond 88 
 Lines on Droeshout's Print 97 
 "To the Memory of my Beloved," &c. 98 
 The Staple of News, Induction 102 
 Timber, or Discoveries, &c., De Shake- 
 speare nostrati 103 
 Ode appended to The New Inn 117 
 Sejanus his Fall. To the Readers 330 
 
354 
 
 Jordan, Thomas 
 
 
 fAGE 
 
 Langbaine, William 
 L'Estrange, Sir Nicholas 
 
 
 309 
 209 
 
 Machin, Lewis 
 Manningham, John 
 Marston, John 
 
 SI 
 
 35 
 
 30—32 
 
 The Scourge of Villanie { |^J|'' " " 
 What you will 
 
 30 
 31 
 32 
 
 
 Martyn, John and others 
 Mayne, Jasper 
 Meres, Francis 
 
 130 
 25 
 
 289 
 
 &2n 
 & 328 
 
 Mervyn, James 
 Milton, John 
 
 
 13s 
 
 Epitaph on Shakespeare 
 L'Allegro - 
 'EiKOVOic\aaTt]C 
 
 114 
 200 
 201 
 
 
 Nash, Thomas 
 
 
 327 
 
 Otway, Thomas 
 
 - 
 
 290 
 
 Peele, George 
 Pepys, Samuel 
 Phillips, Edward 
 Prujean, Thomas 
 Prynne, William 
 
 - 281 
 
 49 
 242 
 
 &282 
 
 193 
 124 
 
 Ramsay, H. 
 Ravenscroft, Edward 
 Raynsford, Sir George 
 Robinson, Thomas 
 Rochester, Earl of 
 Rowley, William 
 Rymer, Thomas 
 
 
 133 
 305 
 298 
 III 
 286 
 126 
 288 
 
3SS 
 
 PACE 
 
 Shakespeare, William 
 
 Epitaph on Ben Jonson 208 
 
 Upon the King- 312 
 
 Upon Poesy 342 
 
 Scoloker, Anthony 46 
 
 Scrope, Sir Carr - - 288 
 
 Scudery, George - 296 
 
 Shadwell, Thomas - 287 
 
 Sheffield, John 299 
 
 Sheppard, Samuel - 203 — 206 
 
 The Times Displayed 203 
 Epigrams - - 204, 205, & 206 
 
 Shirley, James 157 & 194 
 
 Southwell, Robert - 20 
 
 Spenser, Edmund 10 
 
 Stow, John viii 
 
 Suckling, Sir John 154 & 156 
 
 Tate, Nahum 306 & 307 
 
 Tatham, Jo. 213 
 
 Taylor, John (the Water-Poet) 112 & 113 
 
 Taylor, Robert 64 
 
 Temple, Sir William 292 
 
 Terrent, T. I34 & 184 
 
 Thorpe, Thomas 55 
 
 Tofte, Robert 28 
 
 Vendenheym, Hans Jacob Wurmsser von - 59 
 
 Ward, John 241 
 
 Warren, John - '49 
 
 Webster, John 6° 
 
 Weever, John 23 
 
 Willobie, Henry 12 
 
 Winstanley, William 302 
 
3S6 
 
 Snlie); to %VLt^ot0* Slnitiaiisr. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 B. (C.) [Christopher Brooke] "The Ghost of 
 
 Richard the third" 65 
 
 B. (W.) [William Bass] "On Mr. William 
 
 Shakespeare" 90 
 
 C. (I.) " Epigrames" - - 22 
 C. (I.) " Saint Mary Magdalens Conversion " - 40 
 C. (R.) [Richard Carew] 9 
 C. (R.) [Robert Chamberlain] "Conceits," &c. 138 
 C, (W.) [probably William Clarke] ' ' Polimanteia" 2 1 
 H.(Eu.)[Eu.Hood]«Onyedeath of R.Burbadge" 89 
 Har. (W. ) [probably Sir William Harbert] " Epi- 
 
 cedium" - 18 
 I. M. S. "On Worthy Master Shakespeare and 
 
 his Poems" - 120 
 
 J. (W.) "The Whipping of the Satyre " 38 
 
 M. (J.) "The Newe Metamorphosis" 33 
 
 M.(I.)"To the Memorie of M.W. Shake-speare" 106 
 
 M. (T.) "The Blacke Book" - 338 
 
 S. (J.) " The Prince of Priggs revells" 338 
 
 T. (R.) [ Robert Tofte] 28 
 
 T. (T.) [Thomas Thorpe] 55 
 
357 
 (/AT THE ORDER OF QUOTATION). 
 
 A MournefuU Dittie 5 
 Commendatory Verses prefixed to "Willobie 
 
 hisAvisa'' - - - n 
 
 A Poetical Revenge 34 
 The Returne from Pernassus 39 & 347 
 
 Ratseis Ghost 48 
 Address prefixed to Shakespeare's " Troilus 
 
 and Cressida," 1609 - - 56 
 
 Pimlyco - 58 
 
 Christe's Bloodie Sweat - 61 
 
 New and Choice Characters - 67 
 
 Inscription on Shakespeare's Tombstone - 68 
 
 Inscription under Shakespeare's Bust 87 
 
 Commendatory Verses prefixed to the Foho 1623 119 
 
 A Banquet of Jests, &c. 137 
 
 Witts Recreations, selected &c. 140 
 
 An Elegy on the Death of Shakespeare 150, 
 
 Mercurius Britannicus - - 191 
 Dedication of Beaumont and Fletcher's Works, 
 
 1647 194 
 
 Epitaph on Ben Jonson (Ashmole MS.) 208 
 
 A Hermeticall Banquet 212 
 
 Choyce Drollery 221 
 
 Address prefixed to Brome's Plays 224 
 
 A Catch 22s 
 
 The Puritan, or the Widow of Watlmg Street 331 
 
 The London Post - 336 
 
 The Hectors, or the False Challenge - 337 
 Y Y 
 
3S8 
 
 Iti^eft of (!E]Cc!u3BttoiiiS. 
 
 /. IRRELEVANT ALLUSIONS. 
 
 The Schoole of Abuse : by Stephen Gosson 1579 
 ( "Some plaiers modest, if I be not deceived.") 
 
 Letter from Sir Philip Sidney to Secretary 
 Walsingham, dated "Utrecht, this 24th 
 of March" 1586 
 
 (Mentioning " Will, my lord of Lester's jesting 
 plaier.") 
 
 The Anatomie of Absiirditie : by Thomas Nash 1 589 
 An Epistle to the Gentlemen Students of the 
 
 Two Universities : by Thomas Nash 1 589 
 
 (This is prefixed to Robert Greene's Menaphon. 
 It contains the famous passage on " £nglish 
 Seneca" ^-aA "whole Juiinlets ; I should say, 
 handfuls, of tragical speeches." Compare an 
 epigram "of one y* had stolne much out of 
 Seneca," in the Dr. Farmer Chetham MS. ed. 
 Grosart, vol. i, p. 84.) 
 
 The Teares of the Muses : by Edmond Spenser 1 590 
 
 (Mentioning " Our pleasant Willy.") 
 Wits Miseiie and the Worlds Madnesse : by 
 
 Thomas Lodge '596 
 
 The Poetaster : by Ben Jonson 1601 
 
 Paper's Complaint: by John Davies, of Hereford 161 1 
 Sir Thomas Smithe's Voiage and Entertainment 
 
 in Rushia 1605 
 
 Bel-man's Night Walkes : by Thomas Dekker i6l2 
 
 The Night Raven : by Samuel Rowlands 1620 
 
 (In each of the last three works is a Hamlet 
 allusion.) 
 
359 
 
 Essayes and Characters : by J. Stephens 1615 
 
 ( He was friend to Ben Jonson, and himself the 
 author of one long tragedy, Cyihia's Reveiige. 
 See Notes aitd Queries, 4th S., iii, 550. We have 
 rejected this work from our catena with great 
 hesitation and regret.) 
 
 //. SPURIOUS ALLUSIONS. 
 
 The Two Maids of Moreclack : by Thomas Greene. 
 
 (Containing lines mentioning "our swan of Avon:" 
 attributed by Steevens to the editor, William 
 Chetwood.) 
 
 I^etter from Macklin the comedian. 
 
 (Containing verses subscribed Thomas May and 
 Endymion Porter, mentioning "Shakspeare" 
 and "Avon's Swan," attributed by Malone to 
 Macklin.) 
 
 Song on Sir Thomas Lucy, attributed to John Jordan 
 of Stratford-upon-Avon. 
 
 (The Oldys Manuscripts are said to contain one 
 stanza : other verses are quoted by William 
 Chetwood in a Manuscript History of the Stage 
 1730. This man stood sponsor to Tonson's 
 edition of Shakespeare, 1735-) 
 
 Epigrams by Ben Jonson and Shakespeare : quoted, 
 and nostro judicio fabricated, by Steevens (see 
 ante, p. 323). 
 
 Lines on the Death of Burbage : pubhshed by Mr. 
 J. P. Collier (see p. 164 & 348). 
 CuT?i vuiltis aliis. 
 
^OjEftiefcrigt. 
 
 UT little has been done towards 
 tracing the influence of Shake- 
 speare's works on his successors of 
 the seventeenth century. As a very small con- 
 tribution to such a work take the following : 
 
 I. — Don Quijote, Parte II, 1615, has traces oi Asyou 
 like it and MacBeth. 
 
 (See Mr.Rawdon Brown's letter in theAiAeK{zii»t, 
 July 5th, 1873.) 
 
 2. — The Two Angrie Women of Abington, by Henry 
 Porter, 1599, seems to quote from Romeo and 
 yiiliet, and has a trace of Hamlet. 
 
 (See Rimbault's edition, 1841, pp. 73 & 81.) 
 
 3. — Acolastus his After- witte, by S. N., 1600, imitates 
 a line in 3 Henry VI, and appropriates whole 
 passages out of Shakespeare's Lucrece. 
 
 (See Collier's .5. *&* C. Account, \o\. i, additions, 
 p. xxviii*.) 
 
 4. — 'Tis Merrie when Gossips meet, by Samuel Row- 
 lands, 1602, has traces of The Two Gentlemen of 
 Verona and Romeo and Jidiel. 
 
 5, — The Insatiate Countess, 1603, imitates a line in 
 King John. 
 
362 
 
 6. — The Legend of Cupid and Psyche, by Shakerley 
 Marmion, 1637, imitates a passage in Hamlet, 
 and bears the trace of another. 
 
 ( See Singer's edition, 1820, pp. 32 & 33.) 
 
 7. — ^Lucrecia, part of The Heroinse, 1639, by G. Rivers, 
 appropriates many phrases from Shakespeare's 
 Lucrece. 
 
 8. — ^The Jews Tragedy, by William Heminge, 1662, 
 imitates a line in Hamlet. 
 
 (See Collier's B. &> C. Accmmt, vol. i, additions, 
 p. xix*.) 
 
 FINIS. 
 
 mimm 
 
 Printed by Josiah Allen, Birmingham, 
 
' 
 
 /