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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 <lisein))Ofrucs into the hay of Cadiz at .St. Mary's. Ah I liave said, it is the ancient Lethr (corrupted }>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, \<m cannot tlirn-l a bodkin's point.

"Siir.r. — Why. boy. Iikw is it '

'• Ci.owN - F wouM you did but see how it chafes, how it ra2:e.s, hiiw ii t.ikes to the shore I but ih.il's not to the point: O, the mO'-t ))iteous cry oi ih" poor souls' sometimes to see 'em, and not to sec 'em: now (he ^Inp boi mi; tin' moon with her mainmast; and anou •-wallowed with yi--t and tiuih. as vou'il thru^'v a cork into a lio^' — iiead. — Hut to make an eiul r»f tjie ship: to see how the .sea (la p- draironcd it : but, (ii>t, Imw the jioor ^<luU roared, and the sea mockfd llieiii : -how »h(; prxir ireiilb-man roare<l, aii'i the bear mocked him, t'litli roarinir loudir tli.iii the sea or weallier. The men are not y.'t CI'! I under water.''

Oil, Sli:iks|H';ifc — Iiinn(prt:i] I»nnl — Mi;;lity fronius — Swan (d' .\vnii — tlioii ( iiapproacliahlf ! Aic tliciv iio more fish, no tiinrc krakfiis in tli;it \\iiiiili'iiiis sra IVoin wliicli thou wort taken I Sliall tlicir lie iiu inuic caki's ;iiiil ale ?

Ilnw j.riiiic tlif l^iiLrli-li |if<i|.lc ;ii-f to kill nfl" tliclr rrvt.':)t m.i'M I 'rii'V fif.-t raise tlieiii iip Im the lolti(--t yiiiinaclo of raiiic, ami then, like tlie <'a;,'le witli tlie toi toi.^e, or tlie mon- key wliicli iiioiints tlie liiL'liest tree with lii.s coco;i-init, they • lash their victinis '* all to pieces" upon the rocks hcluw. 'riiiis, al-o, lliev jihiy the lmhk' of nine-pins with all their ^reat statonien. '1,'hi'y :jct them up, ay, '* set thcui up, my boy !"

THE ROMANCE OK lAUMllNO.

for the pleasure of knocking them down. And tlicn, again, they drink to the full, at the Castalian fount, and the incli- nation is irresistible to demolish the vessel that has served

them :

" Sweet the pleasure

After drinking — to break glasses !"

It is thus they have raised up Shakspeare ; and now they arc demolishing him, witliout remorse.

Was he not, in our own time, the " unapproachable,'' tlic ''undying," the "immortal bard,"" the " not for a day but f«j^- all time," the " glorious," the "■ sweet swan of Avon," the " poet of true genius and invention," the '' modest," the " heaven-born," the " creator," the " poet of all climes," the bard who " stole the Promethean fire," the " glass of fashion and the mould of form," the ""man on whom each god did seem to set his seal," in short the " top-saw3'er" of all the poetical geniuses of all ages ? Ay, all tliis, and much more. But where is he now ? Alas ! — where ? 1 (ow the gliosts of old authors would pitch into him, among the Infernals, if Dante had to do Avith him !

After " the bard" had been d(»ad for one jiundred years and utterly forgotten, a player and a writer of the succeed- ing century, turning over the old lumber of a theatrical " proper t}' room," find bushels of neglected plays, and the idfa (tf a " speculation" occurs to them. They dig at haz- ard and promiscuously, and disentomb the literary remains of many a " Wit" of a former centtiry, educated men, men of mind, graduates of universities, yH starving at the <lo(ir of some theatre, Avhih' their plays are 'u\ the hand> 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<l hocdUK' in some way or other his " property/' A '* factotum" is kept to revise, to strike out, to refit, revamp, interpolate, disfiijure, to <lo any tiling to please the vul«,'ar a)ul vieious taste of the nuiltitude. No play will succeed, without it is well peppered with vulgarity and obscenity. 'I'lie "' property -rot )m" becomes lumbered to repletion with the cflorts of fjenius. It was the fashion of the day for all lifcrorv nuii to write for the theatre. There was no other way to u;(.. tlxir pv(tductions licfore the world. In the process of time, thr liraiiis of the " factotum," teeminf» with smut and ovrrflo\viii<r all the wliih- with prurient obseeiiity, the theatre beeonie<< indicted for a nuisance, or it is sou;:;ht to be " avoidetl" by the nia;_'islra te> 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 hundre<ls of ori;:inal or interpolated ]>lays 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 !" sai<I Het- tcrton ; "' call tlu-ui Shakspeare's V And Kowe, the "•' com- nientator," commenced to ])ufl' them as " the bard's,'' and

THE ROMANCE OF TACHTINO.

to write a history of his hero in which there was scarcely a ■word that had the foundation of truth to rest upon.

Tliis is about tlie sum and substance of the mannc jf set- ting up Shakspeare : and the manner of pulling him down, may be gathered from the succeeding commentators — not ono of whom, perhaps, dreamed of such a possibility while he was trying to immortalize his idol. Hut each one, as they suc- ceeded one another, thought it necessary to outdo his prede- cessor in learning and reseaveli, and <levelope<l some start- ling anti<|uarian fact, wliieh, by aecuniulatit»n, worked the light of truth out of darkness, until, one after the other, the leaves of the chapiet, woven for Shakspeare "the immortal," ^ .1, withered, to the ground ; his monument, high as huge Olympus, crumbles into dust ; and his apotheosis vani>lie8 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 /if<rari/ history: but, stran;];(' to sa}', the same destitution of authentic incidents marks every stage of his life.

'* Kvcn the date at wliieh his first play appeared is unkjiown ; an<l the greatest lujcertainty prevails in respect to the ehn)nf)lo;rical order in which the whole series were written, exhibited, or puVilishcil.'''

Shakspoare was b(»rn <>n the "J^M of April, l.")()4, and die<l on the 'I'^A <if April, ItlltJ. His aije was therefore 'yl years at the time of liis dentil. In l.")S'.t he luul been some tim(^ it is suppostMl about four years, in London. In the latter year he was one of the 1«I shareholders in the "• HIaek-friars '' 'riieatri', his name bein;^ the liith on the list. In 1»)03 his name a|)|»ears amon;^ others in a lieense of Janii's I., to perform not merely in Ltmdon but in any part of the kiiiL'ddiii.

" llir-'- aetov.-," says a eonnnentator, "" rendered them- selves ju>tlv 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 waut<nily attacked on the sta^e.

'' A com[)laint was formally made to the royal council " :iccordin^dy.

THE ROMANCE OF FACHTfNO

Instead of abating the nuisance at once, a petition is received from the managers, and entertained by the authori- ties having charge of tlie comphiint. Compensation for the estabhshment threatened with demoHtion, and for its ''properties," is prayed fur with earnestness, and a ncgd- tiation en.sues, in the course of which the I'olluwing facts appear.

In an estimate " for avoiding the plav-house in tlic pre- cinct of the BhickfiiiMs/' or ahaliiig it as a nui>aiioe, 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 L<i. Mayor and the citizens at the lea<t T"'"'/."'

Fl'nm this dt)eument the material fact is oKtaineil, that

Sliakspeare was the mrnt r ot" all the ''' /tro/h rfiis" ni' the

rinatic, wliieh imlildes the /t/iii/.\- pos-c-^cd hv the estalilish-

nitnt. Tiny iiiu>t 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>\ A<iK TliK IlllM

" Of Shakppcarc\s la>t years avc know absolutely nothiii<:," says another.

" The whole, however,'' nays Alexander Chaluiers, eeni- iiientin^ upon R<jue, Malone and Slceveiis* labored allenipts to Ibllow Shakspraie in his eareer, '^^ is unsatisfactory. Shakspearc in his ])rivatc character, in his friendships, in his anniseuicnts, in his closet, in his family, is nuw/ure before us/''

Yet notwithstamlinj; all this ni3'sterv, and the absence of any positive inlbrniation, learned and voluminous commenta- tors aiitl bio;rraphers, in (jreat luimbers, have been led to sii/)/tiisr and tt\.s( rf a tliou^and thin^^s in re;]jard to Shak- speare's history, jmrsuits and attainments, which cannot be sulistantiated by a jtartich- of proof. Anion;; these is the initliorsliij) of the plays ^q-oii])ed uu'ler his name, -whieli they assume its his for a certainty and beyond dispute. This e;;re;;ious folly is be^innin;:; to leaet upon those who have been enjLra;:ed in it. and some of them are placed in a very ridieultjus position — es])'>cially 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 ]>roeee<lin^ is pronounc<'d discreditable to " the bard"' who had u hani.1 in it. But the poverty of the

THE ROMANCE OF TACHTINO.

family is nothing in this case, oxcopt to show that William Shakspeare must necessarily have been an uneducated boy. He grew up in ignorance and viciousness, and became a common poacher — and the latter title, in literary matters, ho carrie<i to his grave. He was not the mate of the literary characters of the daj', and no one knew it better than him- self. It is a fraud upon the world to thrust his surreptitious fame upon us. He~had none that was worthy of beiiip: trans- mitted. The enquiry Avill be, u'ho icere the able literary vien who tcrote the dramas imputed to him ? The pbiys themselves, or rather a small portion of them, will live as long as English literature is regarded worth pursuit. The muthorship of the plays is no otherwise material to us, than as a matter of curiosity and to enable us to render exact justice ; but they should not be assigned to Shakspeare alone, if at all.

From the Cabinet Cyclopocdia already roforrod to, con- ducted by the Rev. Dr. Lardner, assisted by eminent Lite- rary and Scientific men, \'ol. :?, London edi(ion, 18.S7, we may gather many particulars concerning this subject, which I have condensed below.

The writer commences by observing tli:it our ancient Drama is, indeed, a rich mine ; but the dross outweighs the ore ii the proportion of at least a thousand to one. A per- son may dig long days before he discovers anything worth the t -ouble of pi( king up.

Of the stage ami dr.iiiiiitic writers immediately preceili'ig the appearance of Sliakspe.-ire, and eotempuraneouslv witli him, the writer observes : —

The custom indeed of later dramatists — Shakspeare amona:

VOVAGE THE FIRST.

the rest — was to adopt old pieces as the bases of their labors, to add or curtail, to condense or expand, as nii^^t seem best suited to the time.

The tragedy of Tancred and Gismundy which was exhib- ited (1568) before Elizabeth, at the Inner Temple, was the first play in our language founded on an Italian -^-iginal : — t. source soon to become fruitful enough. It was taken from one of Boccaccio's nDvels, and was the composition of five different persona.

Another play, The J)Iisforfuncs of .Arthur, was written by Thomas Hughes, and seven other persons, one of w^hom was Lord Bacon,

The Yorkshire Tragedy some critics have not hesitated to ascribe to Shakspcare, and also many others which he prob- ably never heard of even by name. Two plays, notoriously not his, were published with his name on the title-page in his life-time, and no effort appears to have been made on his part to set the matter right.

It is evident that the intellectual activity, so couipicuous in the h.tter half of the sixteenth century, has never been surpassed. We (the writer continues) have already alluded to fifty-tii'o picc<*s, of which no vestige now remains, unless the substanee of them lives in njore recent ])roductions : and these arose and i'ell in twelve years, vi/. from l.llJM to 1580.

That the later years were not le>s ■{)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<Tan to write before he did, who not only lived at the same time, but divided with him the attention of the play-going world.

Rol)ert Greene is mentioned, who, at one time, was one of th« Queen's chaplains, and had taken the Master's degree at a University. It was suflicient for tho world to know that he was a popular writer.

In a letter which Greene wrote in his last illness, in fact on his death-bed, to his boon-companions and brother play- writers, or dramatists, as they were called, Marlowe, Lodge, and Peele, appears the first autlieutic information mc have of Shakspeare's literary thievery. The youthful propensity for stealing deer and game, which drove him from Stratford, seems to have remained in the bone and ripened into a con- firmed habit.

" To those gentlemen" the letter of the dying Greene begins, " his luondam acquaintance, that spend their wit m making plays, Robert Greene wishoth a better exoreis(\ Wonder not, (for with thee will I first begin,) thou fnninus gracer of tragedies," &.c. This allusion is to Marlowe. " With thee," continues Green(\ '''' I join young Juvenal, (Lodge) that biting satirist, that Justly with me together writ a comedy. Might I advise thee," &c. The letter then

▼OYAOI. THE FIRST.

proceeds, " And thou no less deserving than the other two, (Pcele) in some things rarer, in nothing inferior, driven (like ni^'self) to extreme shifts," &c. — '' Base minded men, all three of you, if by my misery ye be not warned ; for unto none ol' you, like me, sought those burs to cleave — those pup- pets, '. mean, that speak from our mouths — those antics garnislied in our colors. Is it not strange that I, to whom they a 1 have been beholding, shall be left of them at once forsaken? Yes, trust them not; for there is an upstart croir^ iteautijied xoith our feathers^ that with \i\Btiger^s heart wrapt in a player'' s hide., supposes he is as well able to bom- bast out a blank verse as the best of 3'ou ! And, being an absolme Jo/tn Factotuynj is,, in his own conceit, the ouly Shake- scejie in a country. Oh that I might entreat your rare wits tc be employed in more profitable courses : and let these apes imitate your past excellence, and never more acquaint them with your admiied inventions."

By the '•'■ upstart crow, beautified with our feathers," and '' he is, in his own conceit, the only Shake-scene in a coun- try," a Mr. Tynvhitt thinks, (and the facts prove it,) Shak- epeare is meant.

The couinientator then proceeds : " But in what manner, the ini|iiisitive reader may en(|uire, was Shakspeare indebted to Greene and his ilramatic frieiuls ? To understand the subject more clearly, we must observe, that in the beginning of his (ShaksjJeare's) career, ^br years indeed, after he became connected icith the stage, that extraordinary [?J man was satisfied with reconstructing the pieces wliich others had com- posi'd; he was not the author, but the adapter of ihcirx to the Btage. Indeed, we are of opinion that the number of plays

THE KOBIANCE OF TACHTINO.

which he thus recast^^as well as those in which he made very slight alterations, is greater than any of his commentators have supposed.^'

" The second and third parts of King Henry VI. were, we all know, founded on two old pieces, viz., ' The two famotis Houses of Yorke and Lancaster^'' and ' The true Tragedie of Richarde Duke of Yorke. ^ Hence the allusion of Greene has been thought confirmatory of the suspicion that he or some of his friends had written one, at least, of these trage- dies ; and that Shakspeare, more suo^ [and a manner pecu- liar to himself it turns out to be,] had adapted them to the stage. This may very well have been the case ; and it is also probable that Greene may allude to another fable of his, which the bard of Avon dramatised. ' The Winter's TaW is entirely founded on ' Pandosto^ or the Triumph of Time^'* which Greene published in 1588. Sufl5cient is the fact, that the play scrupulously follows the tale, so' closely, indeed, as to make Bohemia a maritime country, and vessels to reach the capital.

" But this is not all : — Sixteen, at least, of the dramas ascribed to Shakspeare, are, beyond alt question, derived from more ancient pieces .'"

Thtre were also " Six Old Plays,'''' on which Shakspeare founded his Measure for Measure — Corned v of Krrors — Taming the Shrew — King John — King Henry IV. — Kin;; Henry V. — and King Lear. They were afterwards gath- ered into two volumes and published in London in 1771>.

" 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 frau<l upon us, always aflfect to rely. They know Shakspcare bv instinct !

THE ROMANCE OF TACHTINO.

Drayton, Chettle and Decker wrote the " Famous Wars of Henry I."

Ben Jonson and Decker wrote the " Page of Plymoutli," for which the very highest price of that day was given, namely eleven pounds.

Ttese facts I gather from Henslowe : and it appears from another authority that Beaumont and Fletcher wrote in con- junction, or in partnership ; one furnishing the funds and the other the brains. This was the taste of the age. During the last thirteen years of Elizabeth's reign, and during all that of James I., partnerships of two, three, or four, and even five writers, in the same dramatic piece, were more common than single laboi-s of the kind. One authority assorts that Shakspeare wrote in that way. It is very likely. We can easily discover the part he wrote by its filth. By that mark you may invariably know where his hand has been at v,ork.

Cartwright, who wrote thirty years after Shakspeare's death, is the only early writer who has said any thing of Shakspeare's peculiar (|uality ; that (juality for which alone lie is celebrated, nanu'Iy, vulgarity ainl "(il)seone wit." Here is the only true and tangibh' record of Shakspearf'H character, as an author, e.\tant, written by one almost his cotempovary :

" Shakspe.irp, wliosc best jest lies r the lady's questions ami tlie fool's replies; Whose wit our nicer tunes would olnccnene.ss call, And which made ihe bairdry \r,i>s 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<litor w^ > 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<l that a man who merely adapte*! r .her people'.'- works to the playinn; sfarc, like a 'J'heatrical

■'^.A'lK THE MRST.

Factotum, as Greene calls him, (and he was nothing else,) is worthy of any furtlier remembrance tlian such fact would warrant. He has ^hown us conclusively that he scarcely deserves the name of duf/ior. But the lame answer of this editor, insulting to the intellis^ence of the age about which ho writes, is as follows : *' The causo>^ 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<lors couiprc'hcn<lod him then, and compre- hend him now ; and many, not without good reason, suppose that ho has no ei|ual as a dramatic poet. But, perhaps, the logical point of tlie above writer consists in a man's being a master only in proportion to the difficulty of understanding him. It certainly has taken a liundred commentators to elucidate Shoksjjcare, where scarcely one has been neo<led to tell .IS what the un<lcfilcd English of Junson means. Even Milton studied .J.Mison's styU^ intently as the most pei'foct of any ihon existing in the English language.

The lingular and pertinacious endeavors of Pope to worK. out a ."-n^tiiious literary reputation for Shakspeare, by declar- ing that 'ic must necessarily have beoii well versed in classic lori\ iind c'.ting the authors which he miist hav(^ read to pro- duce some (.' li'.s plays, is tlius summarily and conclusivel\ disj)ose<l of bv .le writer iu Lardner : '' All this,"" he says, " shows, what n^-- Hd not ex|)eet to find in Pitpv, namely, on almost Off ire ii'-'>>r''iHc of our <ar/t/ litrrdfurc'''' — whence, in fact, the plays .v?) •» mostly derived, sometimes Avithout alteration or emendatl >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 <xiv«Mi us the idea <»f perfect i)urity <>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 <hitl» she hear !

Then she is like hersell, lit to he seen

Of none Imt j^rave and ronsecraleil eyes.

Nur IS ii any iileniish to Ikt lame,

That «nch lean, ifriiorant, and blasted wits.

Such hrain'i'-s trulls, should iitf'-r their .stolen wares

AVith such applaii-es in our vulijar ears;

Or that then slulihercd lines have current pass

From the fat juilirmenls of the multituile ; —

But that this barren and inUrted a^e

Should set IK) dill'-reiire twixt these empty spirits

And a Inn' ]>o( t : — ihaii wlii< li icvereiid name

Nothiii:; can more adorn humanity.

O, ravf Ikn Jun.sun ! Can iiny one <loulit that " Big Ben" meant Shaksjx'aiv, that snialhst ot" poeta.stcrs, in the.^e hi.s fofeihh" anil niaiilv ccnsnrt's ? 'I'hc gfcatrst dramatic poet of IjiL'hiii'l, spcakiiiLT <d' tho nuancsl an<l the h'ast !

*• Of Shnks]((>avf"s nigral « harai-tcr wi- know nothing'," pays the (N-niiii' ntator. an<l then shortly inf"rnis ns that ho kejit a fiiisti-f-s ill Lojiil.iii. Ill fact hi- iii'Vrr went l)aek hut twice to Slratloril to sc- l.is wi!"r, (Aniir llatha'.\ay, wlio was ei;jrlit years <il"hr than hinisclt.) v. hunt ln' nianinl vhcn lie was «'i':;htc'en. The .^anic writer then asks the fullowin^ •(ne?tion — to whiih he ajtplies an answer of un«|in'stionahh' truth : —

" Ihit is there nothiiiLr in tlio w<;>rks 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<l this business he voluntarily assumed, and faithfully did lie pcrfirni his sliiire of tlie man- agi-ment in flmt respect. It brought //mniy to the house. No v.tinder the '' Lord M.iyer and the ( 'iti/eii.>" 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<tns," says another, and quotes the libidinous lines to his mistress.

Many of the plays attributed by the moderns to Shak-

VOTAOE THE FIRST.

spcare were acted at a rival Theatre, of which Old Ilcnslowe was treasurer or proprietor. A most sin^ijular discovery of facts, tending positively to disprove the authorship of Shak- spearc to several of the dramas imputed to him, is found in llcnslowc's Diary. It was discovered but a few years ago, (1S4"),) and is now in possession of the Shakspeare society of London, but is the ))ropcrty of Dulwich college. The orthography of Honslowe is exceedingl}' '' cramp" — but it is sufllcient evidence to be brouglit into court. Its date runs from 1 ')i»l to ItJOO. The name of Shakspeare is not men- tioned therein, while those of nearly all tlie writers of mark of tliat day are repeatedly tipokcn of. I have extracted sev- eral passages from it.

"■ If Shakspeare," observes the commentator in Lardner, "• liad liltlv of what the world calls learning, he had less of invention, so far us reganls the fa)»les of his plays. For every one of thrin tic iras iiuhbted to n prercdin<x /)/crr."

1. Ttie Two (ientlfnu n of Virona. — The writer of this play is indebted for many of its incidents to two works, the Areadia of Sydney, ami the Diana of Montemayor : the latter work translated int<> Kngli^h during the latter part of tlie l<U!i eentuvv. By some commentators this drama is held nnt t.. lie Sliak-peare"<. The commentator adds, "■ we should bv no 111' ans con'eiid t'.at lie wrote the v.hole, or even the greater pait ol" tiii< il:Miua. During the earlier years of his profe-^siona.l eareer, lie ratlier improved the inventions of others tlian invt-nted himself. It was easier for him to remodel old pieces, than to write new ones. Hence the reproach of Greene that he was beautified by the feathers of others."

THE ROMANCE OP TACHTINO.

2. The Comedy of Errors. — Whoever wrote this play was indebted to the Menoechmi of Plautus, which was trans- lated into English some years before Shakspeare left Strat- ford. Yet whether Shakspeare (if he is the author) was immediately indebted to it, or to a Comedy founded upon it, entitled the " History of Error," and performed before Queen Elizabeth in 1576, is doubtful. It is supposed he did no more than slightly retouch the old comc<ly ; and some com- mentators reject the play as being Shakspeare's altogother. " He retouched it," says one, " probably at the recjuost of the manager !" This commentator has hit the fact exactly, not only in regard to this play but to all the others attrib- uted to him, except perhaps one, "The Merry Wives of Windsor,", which is probably Shakspeare's from its obscene "internal evidence." In a note at the bottom of the page where some of the above,facts arc stated, the following words appear :

" Six old plays, on which Shakspeare founded his Measure for M^'asuro, Comedy of Err<u-s, Taming the Shrow, King John, King Henry IV., King Henry V\, King Leiir."

3. Love''s Labor Lost. — " We rend of an old play of //o/o- /prwtfA-, acted before the Princess Elizabeth as early as l')o6 ; and on this the comedy before us was based. In fact there is no one drama of our author prior to IGOO, perhaps not one after that year, that was not derived from some other play '" " During the earlier years of his dramatic career he did little more than alter a piece that had become obsolete."

4. The Merchant of Venice. — This play was derived partly from the Pecorone of Giovanni Fiorentino ; partly from the Gesta Romanorum, an old Etiglish ballad, and

VOYAGE THE FIRST.

Marlowe's Jew of Malta. In Gosson's School of Altusc, published as early as loTi', there iw a distinct allusion to a play containiuf^ the characteristic incidents in this Merchant of Venice.

/). .^ Midsummer J\^if^ht''s Dream. — The fable of this play is not now considered Slinkspcare's. Mr. Tyrwhitt sup- poses one part of it to he taken from the Pluto and Proserpina of Chaucer : hut Greene \s James the Fourth is doubtless the foundation of the play ; and both (.'haucer and (Jrecne are supposed to have had Home common current le;];end of the day from which they derive<l their materials.

H. T/ie Tninhifr of the S/irew. — This play is founded entirely on an old ('oin«'dy of the same name, inserted in the published book of the "" Six Old Plays/' which existed before the day of Shakspeare.

7. Honieo and Julie/. — the story of this play was first related by a novelist of Vicenza, as early as I't'A'i. It also formed the subject of a novel of Biuuli-Jio, ]»i'iiit(Ml in l.'hA. Bristcau, a French novelist, soon ;^avo it a I'reiich form ; and lirook«', in 1. ')•»:>, 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>v<l. The writer of '* Sliak>peare's'' Konieo an<l Juliet followed Hrooke, but availed biniself of some thiiif^s from Painter. W'itliall this knowledi^e before one commen- tator, who is determined to hear iiothin;^ a<xainst the ''jrenius" cf "the bard," he says — " 'I'lie ;:enins of Shak- speare cannot suffer from the fact that he borrowctl the foun- dati.in of all liis ))!uts. What others left unfinished, he perfected : he tuni< (1 the .Iross (.f others into fine ^old." I

THE ROMANCE OF TACHTINO.

am forced to the opinion that he, or the one who wrote the play in question, took the gold itself, " more suo," without resort to the process of transmutation by the crucible of his *' genius."

8. Jis You Like It. — This play has no greater originality than the preceding. It is taken from a novel of Thomas Lodge, entitled liosalinde. The " crow in borrowed feath- ers," spoken of by Greene, refers to this piracy as well as to others. " Shakspearc," says Malone, " has followed Lodge's novel more exactly than is his general custom." " Whole sentences, besides the plot, are taken from it."

9. Much Jldo about A^ot/iing. — The original is from Ari- osto ; but Shakspeare knew nothing of Italian, and it is therefore to be presumed that this play is written by some other hand. A novel of Belleforest, translated from Ban- dello, contains the same story of the play, and in default of a reference to these, the Genevra of Tubcrvillo could well furnish the material. The story is an old one ; and drama- tising a novel, using the materials freely, was as commoji a thing then as now. But who at thi.< day thinks of claiming credit, or laying claim to '' genius" for such paltry " literary fishery ?"

10. Hamht. — Willi the exception of the grave-digger's scene, inserted to catch the groundings, wliich may possibly be the production of the " genius of Shakspeare," this ])lav owes its paternity elsewhere. The foundation of llanilft is notoriously to l)e foiiii'l in S;i\o (iiaiiiiiiaticMis, whirh Sbak- ppearo could not read, notwillistanding Mr. ]\>pe 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 ju<lging from that, and the deep philosophy of tlio whole piece, (always excepting the Shaks])earian blot upon it,) it nmst have been the creation of an educated man, which Shakspearc was not. It is probal)ly a partnership concern. The only man of that day, of poetical power suflicii'nt to write the higiier parts of this tragedy, was Ben. Jonsoiiy the greatest Dramatic Poet England ever produced. Langhorne, in his prefjxce to Plutarch, refevring to the time of Shak- spearc, says — '' The celebrated solilo(|uy, ' To be or not to be,' is.takrn almost verbatim from that philosopher, (Plato) ; yet we have never found that Plato was translated in those times."

11. The Merry Wives of Windsor. — If any play of the whole catalogue is Shakspeare's, this comes nearest the mark. The impress of his vulgar and impure mind is ujjou every

THE JIOMANCL OF YACHTINO

page. Tradition asserts tliat it was composed at the express command of Queen Elizabeth, who " wished to see Falstaff in love." It is probaMv, like all the other traditions relating to the " genius" of Shakspeare, without foundation, except in the brain of his admiring commentators. But he has no originality even in this revolting piece of trash. The author was intlobted to a translation of Pccorino, and to 'J'arleton\s News out of Purgatory, for his jilot and incidents ; ami his iSV;- John Falstajf\^ the Sir Jo/in Oldiustlr o't Dray- ton, Wilson, Munday and Hathaway.

12. Troilus and ('/■cssiiln. — Wliocver wrote tliis play took the plot ami materials from the Italian, and from Chaucer, anil from Lydgate's Hoke of Trove. 'I'ho arthor- ship is settled l)y an entry in llenslowe's Diary on the Tth of April, l.")'.!'.!, in these words ; '" Lmf \nito TItninns Doi. iifon, to Irndr unto .Mr. I)i(/,t'rs and /nircf/ c/n'otr//, in ran rstc of thrir boockc callid Troj/c/cs and ('riasscdaye^ the some of iij //.■'

I'}. Aicasurc for .\U nsiirc. — Founded on and taken from \Vlietst(tne"s play of Pninins ami Cassandra, one of the '' Six Old J^lays" already relerred to.

14. Othdio. — Was derive'l entirely from the Italian of one of Cinthio'rt novels : but as Shakspeare knew nothing of Italian, even the translation could not be his, independent of tlie structure of the play. A French translati<m appeared in \.tS\ ; but of the French Shakspeare was as ignorant as of the Flalian.

li. hinr Lar. — 'IIm^ story of Lear is drawn from (ieoflrey ofMonmouth ; but the play is one of the " Six Old Play»," to which something was contributed by way of

VOYAOE THE nRST. .

amendment, perhaps, from the Arciidia, and the Mirror of Mn^iKtratos. Henslowc had the \)\a.y at his Theatre, as is evident from an entry in his hook : " 8</i of JlprH\, lolU, received at h'infr Icare XXV'I .v." It is therefore not Shakspeare's — for he had no interest in tlie rival phiy- hoi'se, and Henslowc must have owned the play as his *' property."

1<). Jiir.f well that ends wel/. — May he found in Boccaceio. Ill Painter's Palace of Pleasure the story is called Giletta of Niirbon. This ])lay uiay have been anion;^ the "properties" of thi- Tiu'titre to whieh Sh:iks|)care was attached, upon the sup])res.siim of that dramatic nuisance, hy tlie Lord '" Mayor and citizens."' 'ilie ordy wonder is that Hetterton and Rowe, in getting up their '^'Shakspeare speculation," did not give us a se<'niid seri«'s of a like iiiiiid>cr 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<lents of the story, founded on Scottish history, are all in Hector Boece ; " but of Hector," observes one critic, '' Shakspt-are knew as much as he ditl of llesiod." Could he ri-iid I lesiod, think you? The writer of the play jirobably consulted Hollinshed for a n;uide. Buchanan thuM;,dit the subject a fit one for the sta;>;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 callc<l Antony, by Lady Pembroke, and the other Cleopatra, by Daniel. Both Dan- iel and her ladyship were indebted to a translation ofCar- nier, whose tragedy had great cclo))rity. The writer of Antony and Cleopatra, is greatly indebted to all three of the above-named authors.

21. Cymbcline. — This play is derived from three sources, a novel of Boccaccio, an English tale called Westward- for Smelts, and Geoffrey's British Chronicle. Tlie common riTuark of the commentators, when a poor thing turns up, which is said to })e Shakspeare's, is a sereotype phrase. Here is one: " Cymbcline is a poor drama, and perhaps one that Shaks- peare did not compose, but nirn-ly iinj)roved !'' Very likely.

22. Timon of Athens. — The commentator Bays this play

VOYAGE THE FIRST.

is of the " same stamp" as the foregoing. " It was certainly indebted to a former tragedy of the name, never printed, but ■well known in MS. The incidents are taken from Painter's Palace of Pleasure, and Plutarch."

23. Coriolanus. — This play is also derived from Plutarch. It is therefote none of Shakspeare's — not because it was derived from Plutarch, but because it must have been written by some writer of classic mind and education, who could look into tiie original. It is as far beyond Shakspeare's powers as Hamlet. Shakspeare was a vulgar and unlettered man — or his commentators and biographers belie him in their facts. What they suppose, is another thing.

24. The IViyiter's Tale. — The paternity of this play be- longs to Robert Greene ; the obscenity tc Shakspeare. The commentator, seeing that the play is unworthy of a passing thought, except unmitigated contempt, says " it is unworthy of Shakspeare's genius." He is wrong there, it smells of his "genius" all over. "The substance of it," lie continues, " must have appeared in some earlier drama."

25. The Tempest. — Founded on an Italian novel ; and on Robert Greene's Alphonsus. The commentator says " there is more invention in this piece than in any other that Shak- speare has k'ft us." Doubtless — but Shakspeare was no inventor, nor did ho write this piece, though he may have had it among his " properties."

2G. Kinrr John. — Founded on a f«n-nier play of that name, and, in fact, written by Rowley. If it was ever the " prop- erty" of Shakspeare, he paid the usual fee for it, to wit " from 5 to 10/." It is founded on one of the " Six Old Plays" of that name.

THE ftOMANCX OF TACMTINO.

2Y. Richard II. — There was a play of this title, which id referred to by Camden, long prior to the time of Shakspeare. The commentator gives this play up also, thus : " probably Shakspeare did no more than alter the one already in posses- sion of the stage. This supposition is confirmed by internal evidence. It is decidedly inferior to some of his other his- torical plays ; and the manner seems to be difterent." As to " manner," all of the serios may be said to differ from each other ; they were all written by different hands.

28. Henry IV. — " The two parts of Henry IV. were cer- t*inly founded on preceding dramas : the old play of The famous Victories of King Henry V., which appeared in 1519, furnished our author with many of his characters and inci- dents ; and secondly, the play of Sir John Oldcastle." Thus much for the confession of the critic. Fuller says, " Stage poets have been very bold with, and others very sorry at the memory of Sir John Oldcastle, whom they have fancied a boon companion, a jovial royster, and a coward to boot. The best is, Sir John Falstaff has relieved the memory of Sir John Oldcastle, and of late is substituted l)ufrt>on 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<l to furnish the means of sencUng him to " quod /"

The (piestion put into the mouth of Lady Betty's waiting- luaid in High Life below Stairs, " Who wrote Shakspeare V was laughed at, as a good theatrical joke, some 3'ears ago ; but, when it is now asked, there is *"' not so much laughing ns formerly." And the thcMdical j)lea.'=aiitry of playing ono of Shakspeare's plays without speaking a wonl from Shak- speare, was aotnnlly carried nut by Jolm Kendjle, wjio, in petting llaiiilet upon the st;ig(', left out t lie grave-digger 's scene, as unworthy of tlie f»lay ; and tlius th«' play was played, and well played U*<>, doulitless, without a word being uttere<l fn»m Shakspeare — for that seejie is all that is his.

I pon the same ]>rinciple tliat the Shaksjieare series of T 'ays selected by Kowe and Bettcrton are called Shakspeare's, niiglit we call the rar<' old tracts an<l papers of the llaileiaii Miscellany, the l-'nr/ of OxfoiuVs, because they were found in his library, an<l ^onie of tlieni cofiicd in liis liand-writing. If tlu-y had been buri< d a ct iitury <»r two, he ccrtaiidy would ■ luive been tln'ir author with the connnentators of the calibro of those, cenerallv, who have written upon Shakspeare.

VOVAOK THt KlUsr

About a century hence, when our oM Metropolitan Theatre of the Park shall be turne<l into a brewery of beer, or a hu;^o nianufactory of some future Solomon's Halm of Gileatl, or some lifc-preserviuj; Panacea of an unborn Swaim, those who corae after us may fuul its " properties" barrelletl up and stowed away in some lumber <!;arret. 'i'lien will some " s|K'C- ulatin^ Rowc and IJetterton'- ;;loat over the tons of plays ami operas that have l)ei'n acted in our day, and the ehi- r<>;;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 f<jr many days afterwards, ami " The scent of the roses hau^is round me still." Do we ever ;ret Ptich Siierry in America ? I fear we seldom get a tasto <.rSt. Petri-

Who <lo(>s 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<lt.r to deprive it of its crude (juailties. The phrase, " (lo to, knave, there's lime in't," is an interpolation of the players. I have not been able to fnid it in the older editions of the p^ay.

The" finer pale Sherries are nearly pure, and are all made from the Xeres grape, liaving the ailmixture only of about a gallon of brandy to a butt. The d;irk brown is made by boiling down the pale Sherry to its utmost strength, and mixing this with the paler kinds as coloring matter, and as a prtv^ervative insteail of brandy. The Amontillado is said to be the driest of Sherries, and is made from the grape plucked before it is (piite ripe. It is also said to be the purest, having the least infusion either of brandy or boiled wine. The ' burnt Sack'' referred to in the " Merry Wives," — (•' I'll give you a pottle of burnt Sack to give me recourse to liim,'') is nothing more tlian the brown Sherry of our own timp.

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