JTZ/f/^fj-Pfflf^^ ROMAJVCE OF YACHTING boijogc tl)c JTirst- liY JOStl^li C. HART, AUTHOR OF "MIRIAM COFFIN," &r N E W Y O R K : HARPER & BROTHERS, PIBLISIIERS, -: ( LIFF STREET.. TIIK ANCIKXT LF.TIIE. I now took a turn alonnr the hanks of the GuadalfU', •wliicli y tliecoinni(.u Moorish prefix,) to whose waters were aserihcd such potent narcotic (|uahtics, tiiat one ncedeil l)ut to hatlie in it, or to drink of its floods, to be steeped or seah^d up hermetically in for«retfuhiess. Wonderful river ! I wandered for a while on its shores, thinkini; over its history, and suffering my mind to run hack throu^rh tli(> many a;i;es in wliich it had heeii almost an actor, at any rate a pM»ive s])ectat<>r of souie o( tlie most interesting' portions of tlie history of man. The little river hefore lue told a story I'oi- Spain, the pa!.'<'s of whicli extend over seven hundred years of her hi-tory. Imleed, uhere can vou find a spot of ;^roiiiid in Sj)ain th.it i< iiot full of classic story ? Wherever it lacks reality, the. iuia;:iiiatio(» of tlu* ]>oet has ])eoj)led it v.ith celestial heiii;:s, Hinl eoverecl it with heavenly verilure. The lamed (lanlens of till- lle-pcrides wcro, hy some writers, placid in Spain, THE ROMANCE OF VACHTINO. and in this part of Andalusia. And why not ? To a climate most serene, it added a vegetation of unparalleled richness, covering the country and filling the air with sweets for hun- dreds of miles. Some ancient writeTs have given locality to fixe Ilcspcrides in Africa, near Tangier. Others, again, have placed them upon the borders of the Red Sea — "" IJetwixt wliich Places," (saith old Purchas, an obsolete historian,) " is such a World of Distance, it argueth how great Errcurs great SchoUars may fall into, by Want of that so much neglected Studie of Geographic, without which, Historic, that delecta- ble Studie, is sick of a half-dead Palsic." Admirable his- torian ! Shakspeare lived about the same time with Purchas, and made a similar blunder in his reckoning, (that is, if ho wrote the play attributed to him containing it,) by wrtckiug some of his sailors upon the " sea-coast of Bohemia,'' no part of which ever touched the sea by at least a hundred miles. It is worth our while, si.nietiuies, to see how great and learned men, (Pope said Sliakspean^ Avas so.) do tn-at tlitir subji'Ct-mattor ; anil, thereforr, I transcribe tlio pa-;s:i|'t' rr- ferred to. It is taken fr(»ni bis " Winter's '{"ale," ;ind is ahnost the only portion fi<'c from obscene albi-^i<»n<. ^'et. in creating this play, wliat an imagination and invention be nui^t h.ave had — that Swan of Avon I — Kcce signum : '• ScENF, Ronr.MiA. — A tlc^cit cotnitrv mar llie •^oa. — IliiUr Aiiliirnriii«, Willi a rliiM : nml a .Manner' '•Ant — Tlimi ait [icrfcrt llicn. our slii)) liatli lonrli.'d ii|inti [\,r (lesprts of RoliOinia ' " Mah. — Ay, iny Inr.l : ami fear we Iiavp lanj.vl in ill tunc: t!ip skies look grimly, ami tiireatcn urcsent hln-ior-* VOYAOC THE FIRtT. '•Ant. — Go get aboard ; look to thy bark ; I'll not be lonp before I rail upon thee. '•Mar. — Make your best haste; and po not too far i' the land : 'lis like to be loud weather; bosidos this place is famous for tiie creatures of prey that kerj) upon 't. '• Knier Shepherd and flown. '•('i.owN. — I have >vvn two such sifjlit^ liy sea and by land ; — but 1 am not to >ay it is a sea, for it is now the sky; between the firma- ment and it, \t, Imw the jioor ^ of an i^^norant and scurvy manager, awaiting his awftd fiat. They VOVAOE THE FIRST. die in poverty, and some of absolute starvation. Still tlioir pliiys, to the ainoniit of Imndrcds, remain in the hands of the nianaf»er, an for its evil and immoral t<'n- deney. 'I'lie mana;xers are forced to retire ; and one, who "owns all the properties," leaves t!ie hundrelays to the usual fate of nrairet lumber, some y\\\\\ the siij»]posed iiitir/i- of liis "" ^ri'Miiis"" upon them. They are iivch •->, to him. for he is !i playi-r and a manatrer no lon^^er. A huiidreil years pass, and they and their reputed "owner'" are l'nr;.''otteii, and so are the ]>oets who wrote and starved npiiii tin 111. Then eonus the resurrection — " tm sjHcuhilion.'*'' netterioii the playi-r, and Kowe the writer, make a selection from a promiscuous heaj) of plavs found in a garret, name- less as t«i authorship. '" I want a liero !" said Myron, when he eonnnenced a certain poem. " I want an author for this selection of plays !" said Kowe. " I have it !" sailie8 into thin air. Alas, Shakspeare! Lethe i< upon thee ! Ibit if it drown ihccy it will give up anil work the resurrection of hittir mrn and mnrr irort/ii/. Tliou lia^t had tliy century ; tliey are about having theirs. " A singular and nnaceoMiitalile mystery," say-^ Kees, '• is attached to Shak>|)eare's private lil'e ; .-iiiil. by !-t.ine strange fatality, almost every document ei'iH-erning him has either been (lestmyed or still remains in olixiiritv. " TIk' firs/ published memoir of him was drawn tip by Jficholns Howe in IT*'*.', nearly one hundreil ^car-^ aftei- the decease of the poet, and the materials f'T tlii>:, were fiiiiii^beil by lictlcrlnn the player. " And it is not a little reniiirkabje, tli:it .bin^nn seem-; to iiave maintained a liigliei- plaee in the estimation of the piili- lic in treneral, than our poet, (S|i,ilv-|...air.) fur more tlian a V07A0E THE FIRST. century after the death of the hitter. Within that period Jonson's works arc said to have passed tlirou^di several edi- tions, and to liave })een read with avidity, Avhilc Shakspearc's were comparative! v nefrlected till the time of Rowe. " At the time of his l)ec(»miii<; in some (U';;rec a public character, we naturally e:^pected to find many anecdotes recordetl of his /ifn the "J^M of April, l.")()4, and dietlv iiKiiuxious to tlie 'iti/ciis of L(tndon by their satirical, we ml;:lit truly >ay, their licentious rej)ivsenta- tions." "" The wisdom of nieii and the fidelity of women,'' were o|ici'ly anil wautaiioe, the following item occurs. *' IiKM. W. SI)akes])oare asketh for the wnrdrohc and properties of the same play-house, .')i)0/., and for his iour shares tlie same as his fellowes, liurbidge and Fletcher, viz. l»;33/. Ga-. Sr/.— CU-IM. (Iv. Sf/." Ilcminges &. Conth'll had each two j^hares ; ,Jt»s('pIi Tay- lor oiie share and a half; Lowing one shaii' and a lii'li; and " Foin-u imu'e j)laytres \\ith onehalfe share to eehe of them :" — '\\>U\\ l'<> shares. ''.Moreover the hired men of the eoinpanie ilfniannd some reeonipen>e for their gnat losse, and tin' ^^illl^\vs and orjihanes of playeres, who are paiile liv the sharers, at divtre.s rates and propurtinns, so a< in the wln'li- it will eusto the Lt neces^arilv lia\e lieen \rrv ntiMKiou-i, as will be made manife>t bv what sliortlv fnlUnv-. " Of Shakspearc's youth we know nothing," savs one coni- mcutator. \i>\ At years avc know absolutely nothiii<:," says another. " The whole, however,'' nays Alexander Chaluiers, eeni- iiientin^ upon Rcially Pope the poet, who, on the score of the supposed ;];reat learnini;; of Shakspeare, has cou- tributeil not a little to the delusion concerning; him. A writer in Lardner's Cabinet Cyclop«jedia undertakes to ;;ive us the hi>tory of his family ; from which I gather that John Sliak.-peare, th«' father of William, was very poor and very illiterate, hntwithstandini; what the ambitious eonnuen- tators may say to the eontrary. S(j says Lardner, and he ))r<>ves it beyond dispute. The coat of arms and the Iier- aldiy obtained for the family, afterwards, was procured by iVaud : and the ]>roeees ■{)rolific, may be proved by the instances of Anthony .Muuday, Henry Chettle, Robert (Jrcene, C'ristt»pher Marlowe, (Jeorge Peele, and i>tliers, who ■wrote innuuieraMe dranias, tiiougii most of tlieui have not come iliiwn to ouu ilays. But the most ssiriking illustration of this subject is afforded THt ROMANCE OF VACIITINO. by the fact that from 1591 to 1597 one hundred and ten new pieces were performed, and that from 1597 to 1603, one hundred and sixty more Avere added to the list. This places at least 270 manuscript plays in the absolute possession of the theatre at the time Shakspeare was one of its managers, and the owner of its " properties." We have now arrived (sa3-s the writer) at Shakspeare's dramatic cotemporaries — men who be. " Marlowe is positively said by riialmers t<> have written * The true Tragedy of Richard Duke of Yorke,'' which Shakspeare remodelled and transferred into one of the parts VOTAOE THE rni8T. cf Henry VI. He may also have written, (bo says the com- mentator,) the History of Henry the Sixthj and The whole contention between the two famous Houses Lancaster and York. All three were in existence before Shakspcare began to write for the stage, and his (Shakspeare's) additions are few." Thomas Kyd was the author of two plays, one called at first Jeronimo, and afterwards The Spanish Tragedy. Some additions were made to this play, after the author's death, by no less a writer than Ben Jonson. " These additions were considered of greater value tlian the original. The fable of the tragedy is not founded in history : it is entirely a creation. A resemblance between this play and the Ham- let attributed to 8hak8[>care has been discovered. In both a ghost appears to urge revenge on the procrastinating relative ; in both tliere is a play within a play. It shows that Shak- spcare was not so mucii a creator as is supposed. He was frequently satisfied with improving the conceptions of otiiers." Henslowe, as we find in his old Diary, recently dug ap from obscurity, paid the sum of X .v. (probably for refresh- ments) to Drayton, Wilson, Munday and Hathaway, the joint authors of thu play of '" Sir John Oldcast/e,"'' after its first performance. This play was printed as one of Shakspeare's, and is the original of all the '' Sir John Falstaffs'' improperly said to be the creations of Shakspcare. There were four partners, as it appears, in the above play, oO pertinaciously claimed fir Shakspcare from its '^ infernal rrirfrhff,-' upon which those, who have imposed the Shak- spearian fraus lor comirnl ^ The whole literary history of Shakspeare is thus written, without compression, in four lines. VOYAGE THE FIRST. George Peele was one of the persons to whom Greene ad- dressed his impressive farewell letter. '* And thou, no less deserving than the other two" (Marlowe and Lodge). He took his degree at Oxford in l')77. He is the author of " The famous Chronick History of King Edward the First," which Shakspcare is supposed to have borrowed " more suo.^^ He also wrote " The Old Wivc's Tale," from which Milton borrowed his "Comus." Nash calls Peele an "Atlas in poetry ;" and Thomas Campbell sa^'s of him that " we may justly cherish the memory of Peele as the oldest genuine dra- matic poet of our language." Henry Chettle died in IGIO. He was concerned in 38 plays within the short space of seven years. 'J'liomas Lodge, who died in 1(>2<), was a voluminous writer. He is the ''Juvenal" to whom Greene refers in his letter. Loilgo deserves to Ix; knoAvn and remembered from the fact that one of his works, " i?o.va///u/r," was pirated by Shak- spcare, and forms the basis of " .'Is You Like It.^^ It is more than likely that it is the same play. The facts above stated will serve to illustrate the state of tlie Drama when the commentators suppose Shakspcare to have flourished as a writer. There were ample materials, certiiinly, for a person of tlie very moderate talents he pos- sessed, autl the pirating propensity he evinced, to luxuriate in. They will also account for the circumstance, that puzzles all his biographers, namely, that he should have left no record of his literary labors. With many of these dramatic cotem- poraries around him, I suppose it would have been dangerous to claim their labors as his own which afterwards were attri- buted to him. THE ROMANCE OF YACHTrXO. " The indifference of cotemporarics, and even the genera- tions after his death, (observes one commentator,) to the •personal history of Shakspcare, has often been matter of astonishment. Nobody, indeed, so much as cared for the knowledge. Sir William Dugdalo, a native of Coventry, about twenty miles from Stratford upon Avon, -who published the antiquities of Warwickshire, thirty years only after tho poet's death, and who might liave seen a score of persons once familiar with him, did not trouble himself to make a single enquiry on the subject. Fuller was equally careless. Kd- ward Phillips, author of Theatrum Pocfaruin, just conde- scends to mention such a man. Langbainc, and Blount, and Gildon copy their predecessors. Anthony a Wo.nl, one of the most industrious writers England ever produce 1, who was born only fourteen years after Shak; oeare's decease, and who hved within thirty-six miles of the place where so much information might have been obtained, has not a syllable about the dramatist, though he found room for manv other writ''rs who never saw Oxford. Kven Sliaks])eare's ianiily might have been consulted. In short there never was a ]>( r- son of wliom more might /lavt; heen^ of Avhom so little vas collected, until the attempt was vain. Whence arose this indiflcrence ?■" Had thee furnishes the foregoing extract, recurred to his own writings, immediately before him, lie might easily liave found the reason for th(> indiflerenee he eoinplains of. He has told us prettily satisfactorily where nearlv all tlic Shakspcare (not S/ia/cspeare's) ])Iay< eame from originallv ; and it is hardl\ to be expccte^ of this neglect arc obvious. The frreat body of readers are inrapabh of compichending a master,'*'* How would this writer rank Bon Jonson ? The groat body of rca>r''iHc of our n. Byron, it appears, retarded the Shakspeare mania as a Bort of periodical epidemic THU KUMAnil/E. Ul> lACtlTIAU. "To be, or not to be ! That is the question," Says Shakspeare, who, J i(st iioir, is much in fashion! Byron had not read Plato in the ori<;inal, or ho would have Bubstitutcd that philosophor's name fur Shakspearo's, perhaps. " To speak the laii;;iia<];e of Shakspeare," is a common expression. That expression, applied to Americans, Avas uttered bj our minister in Kin;Ianil on the occasion of a pub- lic dinner at Avhich lie was a ^uest. The words used were that the "Americans speak the lan;^uaf];c of Shakspeare ;" intended, doubtless, to convey the idea that we speak the En<;lish in its purity. But, under favor, he did tis p-eat injustice, and heaped upon us an ef;re;rious wrontr; lor who- ever speaks the lan*ruajre wliich Shakspeare used, speaks in the lan2;ua<^e of the Five P(»ints or of the obscene Fishwumcn of Kntjland. If, how(>ver, he had said that Americans sp«'ak the lan;»iiarro of "^ Hare Hen .buisou," he would have i styli> and ele;rane<> of dictiou, Ben never dcscendrd IVom the hiirh position of a truo jioet, except, perhaps to utt<'r s»)nie inveetive like tlio foiluw iiii;. Hear liim, in tin- n.ost pottieal and iiidi;rnant words, while he speaks of the stolen wares of his vul^rar eotc'iiiporarv fr<.>m Stratford : I ran ajiprove Tlie state of jiofsy, such a-* if is, Blcsseil, etrrnal, and most true tlivine: Indc«'il, if you will look on poesy, As she :i|i|ie.Uh in ni;iii\. |ini)r .nui lame, PalchM ii|i III iciiiiiaiit'- ami old uoiii-niil iai;s, llaif--larv (I lor want ol her peculiar lood, Sacred linrntinn ; then I must conlirm Both your cc nceit and "ensure ot her merit : VOVAUK THL FlttST. But, view her in her plorious ornaments, Attireil in all the majesty <'t art, Set hiph in spirit with tlie preriuiis taste Of sweet ]ihiloso|ihy ; and. winch is most, Crown'd w ilh the lich traditions ot a soul Tlial hates lo have her disriiily profaned With any reli*-h ol an eartiily thought, O, then. Iiow proinl a presence o( t : — ihaii wlii< li icvereiid name Nothiii:; can more adorn humanity. O, ravf Ikn Jun.sun ! Can iiny one avf"s nigral « harai-tcr wi- know nothing'," pays the (N-niiii' ntator. anrks of this celehratcJ man THE ROMANCE OF VACHTIN'O. to justify the suspicion of immorality 1 Wlioevcr has looked into the original editions of his dramas, will he disgusted with the obscenity of his allusions. They absolutely teem xoith the grossest impurities — inore gross by far than can be found in any cotemporary dramatist.-^ Another writer says, and with equal truth, that Shak- apeare's obscenity exceeds that of all the dramatists that existed before him, and cotempDraJieonsly with him ; and he might have included all that ever came after him. This was the secret of his success with the play-goers. The plays ho purchased or obtained surreptitiously, which became his " property," and which are now called his, were never set upon the stage in their original state. They were first ppiccd with obscenity, l)lackguardism and impinities, before they were produced ; an" wisliecl to *' avoid " the phMy-hous(> in which he was eonceriied. Whalhy s|»eaks of Shaksjteare's " n'innrknhic tnodrsty.^'' But (Jiflbrd, the best critic Kngland ever had, c>bserves, *" j/t shall hi (it It loss to tlisrovrr /.'." "His oden^ive nutaph<'is and allu^ioii^," says Sti-evens, "are undoubtedly more frequent than those ol' all his prede- cessors iir enfeniporarii's/^ His profanity is thus notieid by (lifl'ord — " He i<, in truth, the CoryplKvus of jn-'ranatinu." " All hi'j sonnets jire lieciiti Kngli^h during the latter part of tlie l, transferred it into KntjUsh verse. Painter, also, in tln^ Palace of Pleasiire, took his story of Kliomeo Mild .Iiilicttn fiom the l-'reneli, and not from the Italian ni>vpeare's'' Konieo anpe supposes he must have been a great scholar. If lie urote llanilet, Pope was probably near the truth ; and it is upon the sup- VOrAOE THE FmST. position that he wrote all the plays attributed to him, that Pope says he must have been conversant with the classics, familiar with Plautus, Dares Phrygius, and Plutarch, and he might have added Plato. What confiding men biogra- phers and historians are, when they have a favorite theory to carry out ! In addition to a printed story called The llistwie of Hamblet then extant, there was a play called Hamlet, (acted as early as l.")^!> ;) and another play of Hamlet was also acted at a rival Theatre in London, in the year 1504, at which old Ilenslowe was treasurer. His entry is thus : — " Received at Hamlet VHI s." A poor night's receipts, that ! Shakspearc proltably got this play afterwards, and inserted the grave-di^rijer's scene to reiuler it popular with the play-goers. That was his vocation. At any rate the Rolilofjiiy of " To be or not be,'' is a literal translation from Plato, and jucr of i»I:iys while they were about it,, and call them new discoveries. Who does not renu-mber the '■' Shakspeare for;^eries," of Ireland, which deceived the very elect ! 17. .Market li. — The iiici;e, and some of the " wits" <»f the day took hi^ hint and produced it. Part of thi:; plav, is bi)rri>wed fmm Miildleton's proiluction entitled The Witch. So says Steevens, or rather he says the '' })ard of Avon" was not the ori;:inator. IH. Tirelft/t .!\'ifr/if. — Dcriveil renintely from the Italian of Bandello and niMve iiiiin«Mliattlv from Belleforest : and THE ROMANCE OF YACHTTNO. partly from The Historie of Appolonius and Silla, a tale in the collection of Bamaby Riche. 19. Julius Cesar. — From Plutarch, inaccessible to Shak- speare's "genius." He could not read it in the original, nor in the French translation of it by Amiot. The Earl of Stirling had already written a tragedy of that title. The Julius Cesar attributed to Shakspeare is undoubtedly the following, as noticed by old Hcnslowe, the theatrical trea- surer : " 22d of May, 1002. Lent unto the Companyc to geve unto Antoney Monday and Mikcll Drayton, Wcbester, Mydelton, and the Rest, in earneste of a Boockc called severs Falle, the some of V //." It is possible that Shakspeare's managers purchased this play, and set it upon their stage. 20. Antony and Cleopatra. — The foundation of tliis play is derived from the same sources as Julius Cesar — namely, the classic historians. There were two tragedies in being when the above was produced ; one callcon in his place." The play of Sir John Oldcastle, refeiTcd to before, was printed and claimed as one of ShakHpcarc'H, with as much pertinacity as the rest ; but was withdrawn and given up to the owners, Drayton and company, notwithstanding the " in- ternal evidence of Shakspeare \s genius" with which it was thought to be imbued. Let FalwtafT change his name to Oldcastle, and he is no lunger Sliakspeare's. Oli, those " Six Old Plays ! " " Sir Juhn Oldcastle " ceased to receive encomium, as soon as it ceased to be claimed for Siiak^poare. 29. King Henry V. — Founded, by universal couoeesion, VOYAOE TH£ »IR«T. on preceding dramas with the same title. Nash refers to one as early as 1.392, well known on the stage, which had been represented prior to 1588. In 1594 was another — " probably the same." Several others appeared afterwards. In the " Six Old Plays " there is a drama with the same title, " pro- bably the one to which Nash alluded." Hen^lowe records having ^^ received at hary the K.," several sums of consider- able amount, on its ropresentation at his theatre. That fact alone is quite sufficient to show that it was none of Sbak- speare's. 30. King Henry VI. — " The three parts of King Henry VI. were assuredly not the work of Shakspeare, though he retouched all of them, except, perhaps the first," so says his commentator. They were founded on the old dramas of the " First part of the Contention of the two Houses of Yorke and Lancaster ;" and the " True Tragedy of Richard Duke of York, and the Death of good King Henry the Sixth." The former of these old dramas was printed in 1594, and the latter in 1595, but both were represented long before. To dreene, Peele and Marlowe, their authorship is attributed. Hence Greene's expression, on his dying bed, already refcn-ed to, in his letter to Marlowe, Lodge and Peele, of " upstart crow beautified with our feathers," and a parodied (juotation from the First Part of the Contention of the two Houses, " O tiger's heart, wrapt in a player's hide ! " Shakspeare had used their plays probably without paying for them, "more suo," and they still form part of Shakspeare's list of plays ; at least his editors still print them as such. 31. King Richard HI. — This great drama, one that has kept the st&ge longest and with the greatest popularity, seems THE ROMANCE OF YACHTINO. to be given up vithout a struggle, notwithstanding the " in- ternal evidence." "Here," the commentator says, " Shak- speare had also prior dramas before him. Some of them are enumerated in the last edition of Malono by BoswcU : and a mutilated copy of one, which our dramatist had certainly in view, is printed in the 19th volume of that laborious work." Henslowo has this entry in his diary : '■'■ Lent unto bcjijaiyiy Johnsone, in earneste of a Boocke called Richard crookbakc, and for new adicyons for Jeronyme, the some of X /*"." It should be remembered, however, that the playing copy of Richard, now used, is greatly altered from the original. All the most striking and beautiful passages arc the work of modern hands. Garrick first undertook to romodol it, and several professional hands have since boon at work at it. Indeed this is the case with all the " Shakspeare" acting dramas. The originals, with their obsolete and obscene de- fects and blemishes, would not be tolerated for a moment upon the present Knglish or American stage. The authors that wrote tliem originally, could not, by any possibility, recognise them in the present text. 32. Kinff Henry \ III. — It has heretofore boon believed, upon pretty good gruunds, that Rowley was autli<^r of this play, or at loast funiislu-d tlio f n'jidatiou and material f<>r its construction. The titlo <>f his drama is Tlic Famous Chro- nicle History of King Ilonry the Kiglith. Huwloy was cotomporary with Shakspearo. But, rooriilly, a ])artiiorsliip with Howloy in its autlutrsliip has been (liscoNcicd. Ilcns- lowr's Diarv lias tin- fullowiii;; «tit\v : ".")/// .liiin. Itidl. Lent unto SnmirtU Rturli/c fo pay ii /i/n han/f Chvllvll, for writtinge the Boocke of Carnalt ^Volseye h/fr, the some of VOYAGE THE FIRST. XX 5." The inferoiico is irrosistihle lliat Sliakspeare "13 as innocent of tlie proilnf^tion of this phiy, as of those which aro more pluniply denied because they are "" unwortliy of his genius." It is idle to speculate in the face of such positive testimony. Ik- v,as the mere '"" factotum" of a tlieatre-— a copyist for the promjjter — antl an arraiif^er of the parts with the cues copied out for the actors : a very respoijsihlc and laborious station, certainly — but it does not make an author, nor give him any title to the authorship of the pieces lie scti upon the stage. JiO. Pericles. — The " bard's" chronicler says that "Peri- cles is i'ortainly not the offspring of Shakspcare's genius. No ingenuity can show that there is the Irast aflinity between the mind which produced it and that of our author. It •would disgrace even the third rate dramatist of Shakspeare's age." This is no proof one way or the other. But the denial of his chronicler would seem to establish the fact, if assertion goes for any thing, that it was absolutely Shak- epeare's, except that Sliakspeare does not come up to the level of a third rate dramatist of any age. When his admirer asserts that a play belongs alisolutcly to Sliakspeare, he funis himself negatived liy ])()sitive |)ru()f : and it is fair to presume if there is the usual '' internal evidence" of blackguanlism in Pericles, it is Sliakspeare's, or at least that part, which is thus marked, is his. .^4. TKus ,'Indrouicus. — TJie same remarks precisely, both of chronicler and underwriter, as above given, apply here. This play, ho\\ever' like that of Pericles, continues to be presented as Shakspeare's, iMid is claimed for Shak- Fpeare. The fullowincr entries, however, in the books of THE ROMAM'b OK VAdlilNC. rival Theatre, or rather in old Ilcnslowc's diarj, settle tlic question as to its 710/ being Shakspeare's. " lom" at several dates, '* received at tifus and ondronicus^ >]{. Hs. ; — 2/. ; — XII ^. ; — Tjt." The audiences must have been slim in those days ! Verily that " speculiUion" of Rowoand Botterton has been tlie eauso of ini;.'hty coiitontion anion;^ the learned comnu'iita- tors of this n^e. How ninch f^ood Christian ijik has boon fipent in writing up a worthless Pubjoet, I mean Shakspeare in person, and how much srholarship and research have been exhauste, doulitless, without a word being uttererinciple tliat the Shaksjieare series of T 'ays selected by Kowe and Bettcrton are called Shakspeare's, niiglit we call the rar<' old tracts an;;raphy of our industrious and respectable Mr. Pete; Rieliin;;s will be recognised, in perhaps an huntlred plays prepaix'd by him for the prompter; and perhaps the music of a score of operas copied in his own hajid-writinfr, will bj found as well. Then will the forirotten play-writers of our day have a resurrection, and Mr. Kiehiii^rs an uncovetcd innnortality. Mozart aii«l Jlos-ini, too, sunk perhaps in the ni;;ht of the intervcniii;; J'^^e, will come forth anew, and the hand-writinrr of that useful attache <»f tlie Park, will be encjuired a])out, and identifinl after lon;^ and indefatif^abio i-esearch. Tiie ojx'ras and tlie nuinuscri])t plays tcill he his by the same token, and that '' internal evidence," (the hand- wriliii;:;) Avill ])e the jiroof by vhich to test the identity and autliorsliip of nil those cotfinpnniry prtiductions. Kich- in^s ! — Your fate is posthumous fame, by this process — and even little OlitVe, tlie krej)er of the '" property room"" and player of all the ]>i^'-«oldier parts, %\ill have a glorious run iur iinmurtalily ! 'lUv lliivor (tf tli«^ Sherry fiiriiisIuMl nie at my Posaila, was tlic liiu'st I t'vor tasted. It Mas aromatic. I carried the rcmcnibraiicc of it alxxit luc fs ii>t remcTuher the Slierris-sack of Falstaff ? — " Giis hniv nu a [H>tflc of Sark .'" Fai.stakk — (solu-i.) A jrooil Shcriis sack halh a twofold ojitTalion in it. It ascends inc into tlu* brain ; dries me tliere all the foolisli, and lUili, ami rrndy vapours vliich environ it : makes it apprehensive, quick, loriietive, full of nimble, fierv, and delectable shapes; which delivered o'er to the voice (the tonfjue), which is the birth, becomes THE ROMANCE OF YACItTIXO. excellent wit. The second property of your excellent Sheiris is, — the •warming of the blood ; which, before cold and settled, left the liver white and pale, which is the badge of pusillanimity and cowardice ; but the Sherris warms it and makes it course from the inwards to the parts extreme. It iliumineth the face ; wliich as a beacon, gives warning to all the rest of this little kingdom, man, to arm ; and then the vital commoners, and inland petty spirits, muster me all to their captain, the heart; who, great and puflTed up with this retinue, doth any deed of courage ; and this valor comes of Slrorris : So that skill in the 'veapon is nothing, without Sack ; for that sets it awork ; and learning, a mere hoard of gold kept by a devil, till Sack commences upon it, jind sets it in act and use. Hereof comes it that prince Hal is valiant : for the cold blood he did naturally inherit of his father, he hath, like lean, steril, and bare land, manured, husbanded and tilled, with excellent endeavour of drinking good, and good store of fertile Sherris; that he '• very hot and valiant. If I had a thousand sons, the first human principle I would teach them, should be — to forswear tliin potations and addict themselves to Sack. Falstaff — Bardolph, I say ! — [Enter Bardolph] Bardolfh. — Here, sir. Falsvaff. — Co fetch me a qiinrt of Sack ; put a toa'^t in"t. [Exit Bardolph, and he returns with the wine ] Falstaff. — Come, let me pour in some Sack to this Thames water; for my belly's as cold as il I had swallowed snow-halls for pills to cool the reins. [Empties the can.] (io to. knave, titere's Itme tiCt ! Take away the."«e chalices : (lo brew mc a pottle of Sack, finely. Bardolph. — With eggs, sir ? Falstaff. — Simple, of itself; I'll no piillot-spcrm in mv lievcrage. [Exit Bardolph.] I am in tlic land of Sluri v, and tliereOtre a word or two more about it, while " my f<><'t is npun tlic hill." Tlio quality of the " Sliorri.-^-.'^ack," of the time of SLak.«peare, upon whose virtues Falstaff so learnedly descants, has escaped VOVAOE THE FIRST. the notice of the commentators ; whereat I greatly marvel, for scarcely a passage which would ailuiit of a page or two of learned comment has been suft'ered to explain itself. Sherris-sack is another name for dry wine, or sec ; such, in fact, as is the Sherry of the present day. It is a favorite wine in England, introduced there under the name of Sack ; and the greater portion, if not all the best Sherry is sent there from the wine-merchants, formerly of Xeres, but now • f Port St. Mary, where tlieir in^mense vaults, or warehouses are established for the greater convenience of superintending their exportations. The allusion to '* ////jr'' being in the bottom of the can, will suflieiently be accounted for by the fact that lime is, or was, fovinorly, used as a rectifying bath, or llux, through which to pass the wine in or