37But to give the finishing hand to Shakespeare, Mr. Warburton, a professed critic, undertook him; and from the reputation he had acquired from fome other writings, and his known industry, many perfons expected, that the genuine text of our author would have been restored to a tittle; every obfcure paffage cleared up; every real, or feeming difficulty rendered eafy, even to his readers of the loweft clafs; and (to ufe an expreffion of his own) cloathed properly, " when such a critic had the dreffing of him.

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to the forlorn hope; and this is call'd emending. Vol. 6. p. 63. The Oxford editor alters charitable title, * into character, and title: he did not know that charitable fignifies dear, endearing. p. 481.] The Oxford.editor, who does all he can to make the poet unpoetical, alters virtues, to advices. 485. The Oxford editor alters ignorant, to impotent; not knowing, that ignorant at that time fignified impotent. 523. The Oxford editor, not knowing, that memory at that time was used for A memorial, alters it to memorial. Vol. 7. p. 219. The "Oxford editor is here again at his old work of altering what he did not understand. 253. He's frange and peevish.] The Oxford editor with great acumen, alters it to, he's firange and sheepish. Vol. 8. p. 191. The Oxford editor despised an emendation so easy, and reads Sit thus, Nay let the devil wear black, I'll have a fuit of termin. And you could expect no lefs, when fuch a

critic had the dreffing of him. 396. But the Oxford editor, not understanding his author's phraseology any better when he ended, than when he had begun with him, altered: &c." With many more civil and palite remarks, much to the fame purpose.

How he has fucceeded must be left to the reader to judge, from the (a) Remarks of two learned, and very ingenious gentlemen, Thomas Edwards Elq Barrister of Lincoln's Inn; and the reverend Mr. Upton, Prebendary of Rochester. And I fhall defpair of feeing the genuine text of Shakespeare restored, till the publication of his works is undertaken by one, or both thefe ththefe gentlemen, who, from what they have pub-is lifh'd upon the fubject, have fhewn, that I they are duly qualified to perform the task with great credit to themfelves, and advantage to their readers.

I have never heard any other objections made to the writings of this excellent poet, but that he has here and there an abfcene expreffion; or, for his unfkilfulnefs in the dead languages, re markable anachronifms, or blunders in chronology, and the jingles, puus, and quibbles, which frequently occur in his plays,

As to the firft, he is certainly indefenfible, and cannot by any means be justified; thoughs Ovid, Horace, and others of the antient poets, and Ben Johnson, and other cotemporary writers, have taken as great (if not greater) liberties inci that refpect. As to his ignorance in the Greek and Latin tongues, though that point has been

(a) The firft, intitled, Canons of Criticifm, and a Glofary. Being a fupplement to Mr. Warburton's edition of Shakespeare. The fifth edition was publish'd in 1753.

The fecond, intitled, Critical Obfervations on Shakespeare, See Preface to the fecond edition.

more than once difcuffed, and much faid on both fides of the question; I cannot but think from his exact imitation of many of the antient poets and biftorians, (of which there were no tolerable tranflations in his time,) that his knowledge in that refpect cannot reafonably be call'd in queftion. Nay, from the fingle play of Hamlet, which feems in many places to be an exact translation of Saxo Grammaticus, (which I believe was never tranflated into any other language) it cannot be doubted, but that he had a competent fkill in the Latin tongue.Dory Sun

His mistakes in chronology are fo notorious, and numerous, that I fhall not pretend to vin dicate them.

And as to the laft particular, his jingles, puns, and quibbles, they were certainly owing to the falfe tafte of the times in which he lived,

King James the First was by fome perfons thought to be a Prince of great learning; but he affected to fhew it fo much in his fpeeches, that by others, he has been charged with pedantry; which I fuppofe occafioned Gondomar's faucy freedom, in telling his Majesty, that he fpoke Latin like a pedant, but he himself like a gentleman.

Nay, this Prince difcover'd in his writings fo much of this low (but then fashionable) kind of wit, that it is not to be wondered at, if he was follow'd by the generality of writers of thofe times.

Bishop

Bishop Andrews, the moft learned Prelate of that age, in all his fermons before the King, abounds but too much in jingles, &c. I fhall exhibit to the reader a few paffages, out of many, in proof., 185

In his fermon before the King at White-Hall, on Christmas Day, 1607. on 1 Timothy, vi. I. He begins with the following words.

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50P17. The mystery (here mentioned) is "the mystery of this feaft, and this feast the feaft "of this mystery for, as at this feaft God was "manifested in the flesh, in that it is a great “mystery, it maketh the feast great; in that

it is a mystery of godliness, it should likewife "make it a feaft of godliness; great we grant, " and godly too we truft; would God, as godly as great, and no more controverfie of one, than of the other."

In another fermon before the King, on Chrift mas Day 16236 on Ephefians, i. 10.

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- P. 148,“ Seeing the text is of feafons, it "would not be out of feafon itself: and tho' "it be never out of feafon to fpeak of Christ,

yet Chrift hath his feafons. Your time is al"ways (faith he, John vii.) fo is not myne; I "have my feafons, one of which feafons is this, the "feafon of his birth, by which all were recapi"tulate in heaven and earth; which is the fea“fon of the text, and fo this a text of the feafon.". And in a fermon preach'd before the King, the fifth of August 1615. (on the confpiracy of the Gowries) on Psalm xxi. 1, 2, 3, 4.

P. 830.

P. 830, Upon a day of joy, here is a lext "of joy, upon a day of joy for the King, a text of a King in joy. For, fo we fee there is in "the text a King, and hee joyful and glad waxs

P, 835. And upon these two, (namely, fas tisfaction to the heart and lips) there is a fela. "For thefe two, one would think, were able to content any. But this fela is no fela to God, "he hath a fela, or an ela above this sela,—and *this is the prævenisti of his goodness.

Satisfie the lips; petite, et dabitur, speak, and speed: Satifie the heart, ave et babe, with and have. Not only open thy mouth; but enlarge thy heart never fo wide, and I will *fill it; this is able to fatisfie David, I think, "and make him fing fela, which is their Ala

od come now to give an account of what I have done in the following notes,

I have with tolerable care collated the two firft folio editions of 1623, and 1632. (efpecial ly the latter) with Mr. Theobald's, Sir Thomas Hanmer's, and Mr. Warburton's: (whofe text I have generally made ufe of) by which I think it will appear, that there are many alterations for the worfe, in thefe modern editions. I have read over the works of Chaucer, Skelton, and Spenser, and have endeavoured to point out thofe paffages, which Shakespeare probably borrowed from thence, and to fhew what things have been copied from him by the dramatic writers who lived in, or -near his own time.