The fable of As you like it, which is supposed to be copied from Chaucer's Gamelyn, was a little pamphlet of those times; and old Mr. Cibber remembered the tale of Hamlet in plain English prose, which the criticks have now to feek in Saxo Grammaticus.

His English histories he took from English chronicles and English ballads; and as the ancient writers were made known to his countrymen by verfions, they supplied him with new subjects; he dilated fome of Plutarch's lives into plays, when they had been translated by North.

His plots, whether hiftorical or fabulous, are always crouded with incidents, by which the attention of a rude people was more easily caught than by sentiment or argumentation; and such is the power of the marvellous even over those who despise it, that every man finds his mind more strongly seized by the tragedies of Shakespeare than of any other writer; others please us by particular speeches, but he always makes us anxious for the event, and has perhaps excelled all but Homer in securing the first purpose of a writer, by exciting restless and unquenchable curiofity, and compelling him that reads his work to read it through.

The shows and bustle with which his plays abound have the fame original. As knowledge advances, pleasure passes from the eye to the ear, but returns, as it declines, from the ear to the eye. Those to whom our authour's labours were exhibited had more skill in pomps or processions than in poetical language, and

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and perhaps wanted some visible and discriminated events, as comments on the dialogue. He knew how he should most please; and whether his practice is more agreeable to nature, or whether his example has prejudiced the nation, we still find that on our stage fomething must be done as well as faid, and inactive declamation is very coldly heard, however musical or elegant, passionate or fublime.

Voltaire expresses his wonder, that our authour's extravagancies are endured by a nation, which has seen the tragedy of Cato. Let him be answered, that Addison speaks the language of poets, and Shakespeare, of men. We find in Cato innumerable beauties which enamour us of its authour, but we fee nothing that acquaints us with human fentiments or human actions; we place it with the fairest and the noblest progeny which judgment propagates by conjunction with learning, but Othello is the vigorous and vivacious offspring of observation impregnated by genius. Cato affords a splendid exhibition of artificial and fictitious manners, and delivers just and noble sentiments, in diction easy, elevated and harmonious, but its hopes and fears communicate no vibration to the heart; the composition refers us only to the writer; we pronounce the name of Cato, but we think on Addison.

The work of a correct and regular writer is a garden accurately formed and diligently planted, varied with shades, and scented with flowers; the compofition of Shakespeare is a foreft, in which oaks extend their

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their branches, and pines tower in the air, interspersed sometimes with weeds and brambles, and fometimes giving shelter to myrtles and to rofes; filling the eye with awful pomp, and gratifying the mind with endless diversity. Other poets display cabinets of precious rarities, minutely finished, wrought into shape, and polished unto brightness. Shakespeare opens a mine which contains gold and diamonds in unexhaustible plenty, though clouded by incrustations, debased by impurities, and mingled with a mass of meaner minerals.

It has been much disputed, whether Shakespeare owed his excellence to his own native force, or whether he had the common helps of scholaftick education, the precepts of critical science, and the examples of ancient authours.

There has always prevailed a tradition, that Shakespeare wanted learning, that he had no regular education, ner much skill in the dead languages. Jobnfon, his friend, affirms, that he had small Latin, and no Greek; who, befides that he had no imaginable temptation to falsehood, wrote at a time when the character and acquisitions of Shakespeare were known to multitudes. His evidence ought therefore to decide the controversy, unless some teftimony of equal force could be opposed.

Some have imagined, that they have discovered deep learning in many imitations of old writers; but the examples which I have known urged, were drawn from books tranflated in his time; or were fuch fuch easy coincidencies of thought, as will happen to all who confider the same subjects; or such remarks on life or axioms of morality as float in converfation, and are tranfmitted through the world in proverbial fentences.

I have found it remarked, that, in this important fentence, Go before, I'll follow, we read a tranflation of, I prae, fequar. I have been told, that when Ca-+ liban, after a pleasing dream, says, I cry'd to fleep again, the authour imitates Anacreon, who had, like every other man, the fame wish on the fame occafion.

There are a few passages which may pass for imitations, but fo few, that the exception only confirms the rule; he obtained them from accidental quotations, or by oral communication, and as he used what he had, would have ufed more if he had obtained it.

The Comedy of Errors is confefsedly taken from the Menæchmi of Plautus; from the only play of Plautus which was then in English. What can be more probable, than that he who copied that, would have copied more; but that those which were not translated were inacceffible ?

Whether he knew the modern languages is uncertain. That his plays have fome French scenes proves but little; he might easily procure them to be written, and probably, even though he had known the language in the common degree, he could not have written it without assistance. In the story of Romeo and Juliet he is observed to have followed the English tranflation, where it deviates from the Italian

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lian, but this on the other part proves nothing againft his knowledge of the original. He was to copy, not what he knew himself, but what was known to his audience.

It is most likely that he had learned Latin sufficiently to make him acquainted with conftruction, but that he never advanced to an easy perusal of the Roman authours. Concerning his skill in modern languages, I can find no fufficient ground of determination; but as no imitations of French or Italian authours have been difcovered, though the Italian poetry was then high in esteem, I am inclined to believe, that he read little more than English, and chose for his fables only fuch tales as he found tranflated.

That much knowledge is scattered over his works is very justly observed by Pope, but it is often fuch knowledge as books did not fupply. He that will understand Shakespeare, must not be content to study him in the closet, he must look for his meaning fometimes among the sports of the field, and fometimes among the manufactures of the shop.

There is however proof enough that he was a very diligent reader, nor was our language then so indigent of books, but that he might very liberally indulge his curiosity without excurfion into foreign literature. Many of the Roman au hours were tranflated, and fome of the Greek; the reformation had filled the kingdom with theological learning; most of the topicks of human disquifition had found English writers; and poetry had been cultivated, not only