this subject. The poet or the fictionist-and every great fictionist is a true poet-gives us an image of life at large, and not of the narrow and stinted probabilities of everyday life. But real life teems with events which, unless we knew them to have actually happened, would seem as to be next to impossibilities. So that if you chain down the poet from representing every thing that may seem in dry reasoning to be improbable, you will make his fiction cease to be a probable picture of Nature."T. CAMPBELL.

"―he steps me to her trencher"-That the daughter of a duke of Milan should eat her capon from a trencher, may appear somewhat strange. However, the Earl of Northumberland, in 1512, was ordinarily served on wooden trenchers; and plates of pewter, mean as we may now think them, were reserved in his family for great holidays. In the privy-purse expenses of Henry VIII. there are also entries regarding trenchers; as, for example, in 1530,-"Item, paied to the s'geant of the pantrye for certain trenchors for the king, xxiijs. iiijd.”

"A slave that STILL AN END"-"Still an end," and most an end, are old idioms, once used by poets, but now retained only in vulgar use, and mean perpetually, generally.

"And threw her sun-expelling mask away"—An extract from Stubbs's "Anatomie of Abuses," (1595,) will explain this allusion:-"When they use to ride abroad, they have masks or visors made of velvet, wherewith they cover all their faces, having holes made in them against their eyes, whereout they look; so that if a man that knew not their guise before should chance to meet one of them, he would think he met a monster or a devil; for face he can show [see] none, but two broad holes against their eyes, with glasses in them."

— I made her weep A-GOOD”—i. e. In good earnest. The expression is common in old English, and corresponds to the French tout de bon.

"—such a colour'd periwig"-It seems, from various contemporary authorities, that false hair was much worn in Shakespeare's time: the custom, however, had newly arisen. In "Northward Hoe," (1607,) we find this passage: "There is a new trade come up for cast gentlewomen, of periwig making. Let your wife set up in the Strand." There is an allusion to the practice in the MERCHANT OF VENICE.

"Her eyes are grey as glass”— "The glass of Shakespeare's time was not of the colourless quality which now constitutes the perfection of glass, but of a light blue tint; hence as grey as glass.' 'Even as grey as glasse,' in the old romances, expresses the pale cerulean blue of those eyes which usually accompany a fair complexion-a complexion belonging to the 'auburn' and 'yellow' hair of Julia and Silvia."-KNIGHT.

"But I can make RESPECTIVE in myself"-Stevens interprets "respective" as respectful, respectable; but the true meaning of the word, and the context, show that Julia says, "What he respects in her has equal relation to myself."

"My substance should be STATUE in thy stead"—In the time of Shakespeare there was frequently some confusion when writers spoke of statues or paintings; possibly, because it was not unusual to paint statues, in the same way that our Poet's bust was originally painted at Stratford-upon-Avon; and as the statue of Hermione, in the WINTER'S TALE, must be supposed to be painted. Thus Stowe, speaking of Queen Elizabeth's funeral, says, "Her statue or picture upon her coffin."

ACT V.-SCENE II.

"But love will not be spurr'd to what it loaths"This line is given in the old copies to Proteus; but, as Boswell suggested, it seems to belong to Julia, who stands by, and comments on what is said. And this is

exactly in the style of her other sarcastic speeches, while it does not correspond with Proteus's intention.

"For I had rather wink than look on them"-This speech, assigned in the old editions to Thurio, certainly belongs to Julia.

"That they are out by lease"-Lord Hailes suggested that Thurio and Proteus meant different things by the word possessions; Thurio referring to his lands, and Proteus to his mental endowments. If so, the point of the answer would be, that as Thurio's mental endowments were "out by lease," he had none of them in his own keeping. This interpretation seems overstrained, and the meaning of Proteus may be only, that Thurio's possessions were let (as Stevens says) on disadvantageous terms.

SCENE III.

- and RECORD my woes"-"To 'record' anciently signified to sing. So, in 'The Pilgrim,' by Beaumont and Fletcher:-

O sweet, sweet, how the birds record too. Sir John Hawkins informs me, that to 'record' is a term still used by bird-fanciers, to express the first essays of a bird in singing."--STEVENS.

"Who should be trusted Now, when one's right hand"-With Stevens and Collier, this edition follows the reading of the folio of 1632: the folio of 1623 omits "now." Malone and other editors read, on their own authority, thus:—

Who should be trusted, when one's own right hand.

"All that was mine in Silvia I give thee"-" This passage has much perplexed the commentators. Pope, naturally enough, thinks it very odd, that Valentine should give up his mistress at once, without any reason alleged; and consequently the two lines, spoken by Valentine, after his forgiveness of Proteus,

And, that my love may appear plain and free, All that was mine in Silvia I give thee,are considered to be interpolated or transposed. Sir W. Blackstone thinks they should be spoken by Thurio. But why then, it is said, if the lines are omitted or removed, should Julia faint? Now it must be observed, that the stage-direction, Faints, is entirely modern; it is not so old as Rowe's edition. The words, 'O me unhappy,' and, Look to the boy,' do not imply any fainting. The exclamation of Julia is to draw the attention of Proteus to her story of the rings, after the affair of Valentine and Silvia is completed. But how is that completed, according to the present reading? Silvia has not said one word since Valentine has rescued her from Proteus. This is almost as unnatural as the conduct of Valentine in handing her over to the man who had insulted her. But let us, with an extremely slight alteration, put the two disputed lines in the mouth of Silvia, without changing their place. Valentine has forgiven his false friend :

:

whose penitence touches him, and whose happiness he believes to require the sacrifice. Such romantic generosity is not uncommon in fiction, and probably not altogether unknown in actual life. One of Goldsmith's best serious essays, called Alcander and Septimius,' is founded on a similar incident: whether derived from fact, we are not prepared to say. The editor of the 'Pictorial' edition of SHAKESPEARE offers the very ingenious suggestion, that these remarkable lines should be given to Silvia, and addressed to Valentine; but, on a general view of his character, we have no doubt of the genuineness of the present reading."-Illust. Shak. This is the light in which Charles Lamb and his sister understood the passage, which is thus paraphrased in the "Tales from Shakespeare:"—

"Proteus was courting Silvia, and he was so much ashamed of being caught by his friend, that he was all at once seized with penitence and remorse; and he expressed such a lively sorrow for the injuries he had done to Valentine, that Valentine, whose nature was uoble and generous, even to a romantic degree, not only forgave and restored him to his former place in his friendship, but in a sudden flight of heroism he said, 'I freely do forgive you; and all the interest I have in Silvia, I give it up to you.' Julia, who was standing beside her master as a page, hearing this strange offer, and fearing Proteus would not be able with this new-found virtue to refuse Silvia, fainted, and they were all employed in recovering her: else would Silvia have been offended at being thus made over to Proteus, though she could scarcely think that Valentine would long persevere in this overstrained and too generous act of friendship.”

It is very likely that the young Poet had intended to expand this idea, which would have been much in the taste of the romantic heroism of the poetry of his age; but that, finding himself too much cramped by the narrow limits left him in the last act, or for some other cause, he was content to leave this slight intimation of his thought as it first occurred to him, without dwelling upon it in detail.

"Behold her that GAVE AIM to all thy oaths"-Stevens confounded the phrases of to cry aim (MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR, act iii. scene 2) and to give aim, both terms in archery. He who “ gave aim" appears to have been called the mark, and was stationed near the butts, to inform the archers how near their arrows fell to the butt. We are indebted to Mr. Gifford for distinguishing the terms.-(Vide " Massinger," vol. ii.)— Julia means to say that she was the mark that gave direction to his vows.

"VERONA shall not hold thee"-" Valentine had only seen Thurio, till now, in Milan, and Milan ought, perhaps, to have been the word, and not 'Verona." However, we may imagine Valentine to be thinking of his native city; and, at all events, it is better to leave 'Verona' as an oversight of the Poet, (duly pointed out,) than to make so violent a change as Theobald adopted when he printed

Milan shall not behold thee, etc. which quite perverts the meaning of the passage."COLLIER.

"that I have KEPT WITHAL"-i. e. "With whom I have been living-that I have remained with," explains Collier; from which it would seem that this use of keep has become obsolete in England. It is still used, colloquially, in many parts of the United States; and was common in good English writers as late as Pope and Addison.

"we will INCLUDE all jars"-Hanmer arbitrarily substituted conclude for " include;" but all the old copies agree in the text; and "include" seems used here as Spenser has a similar usage,--" So hut up all in friendly love."

"With TRIUMPHS," etc.--This term wa applied, in Shakespeare's day, to shows, pageants, and processions of a serious nature.

"It is observable (I know not for what cause) that the style of this comedy is less figurative, and more natural and unaffected, than the greater part of this author's, though supposed to be one of the first he wrote."-POPE.

"To this observation of Mr. Pope, which is very just, Mr. Theobald has added, that this is one of Shakespeare's worst plays, and is less corrupted than any other.' Mr. Upton peremptorily determines, that "if any proof can be drawn from manner and style, this play must be sent packing, and seek for its parent elsewhere. How otherwise,' says he, 'do painters distinguish copies from originals? And have not authors their peculiar style and manner, from which a true critic can form as unerring judgment as a painter ?' I am afraid this illustration of a critic's science will not prove what is desired. A painter knows a copy from an original, by rules, somewhat resembling those by which critics know a translation, which, if it be literal, and literal it must be to resemble the copy of a picture, will be easily distinguished. Copies are known from originals, even when the painter copies his own picture; so, if an author should literally translate his work, he would lose the manner of an original.

"Mr. Upton confounds the copy of a picture with the imitation of a painter's manner. Copies are easily known; but good imitations are not detected with equal certainty, and are, by the best judges, often mistaken. Nor is it true, that the writer has always peculiarities equally distinguishable with those of the painter. The peculiar manner of each arises from the desire, natural to every performer, of facilitating his subsequent work, by recurrence to his former ideas; this recurrence proThe duces that repetition which is called habit. painter, whose work is partly intellectual and partly manual, has habits of the mind, the eye, and the hand; the writer has only habits of the mind. Yet, some painters have differed as much from themselves, as from any other; and I have been told, that there is little resemblance between the first works of Raphael and the last. The same variation may be expected in writers; and if it be true, as it seems, that they are less subject to habit, the difference between their works may be yet greater.

"But, by the internal marks of a composition, we may discover the author with probability, though seldom with certainty. When I read this play, I cannot but think, that I find, both in the serious and ludicrous scenes, the language and sentiments of Shakespeare. It is not, indeed, one of his most powerful effusions-it has neither many diversities of character, nor striking delineations of life; but it abounds in gnomai, beyond most of his plays; and few have more lines or passages which, singly considered, are eminently beautiful. I am yet inclined to believe, that it was not very successful, and suspect that it has escaped corruption only because, being seldom played, it was less exposed to the hazards of transcription."-JOHNSON.

"The Two GENTLEMEN OF VERONA ranks above the COMEDY OF ERRORS, though still in the third class of Shakespeare's plays. It was probably the first English comedy in which characters are drawn at once ideal and true; the cavaliers of Verona and their lady loves are graceful personages, with no transgression of the probabilities of nature, but they are not exactly the real man and woman of the same rank in England. The imagination of Shakespeare must have been guided by some familiarity with romances before it struck out this play. It contains some very poetical lines.

"Though this play and the COMEDY OF ERRORS could not give the slightest suspicion of the depth of thought which LEAR and MACBETH were to display, it was already evident that the name of Greene, and even of Marlowe, would be eclipsed, without any necessity for purloining their plumes."-HAL.I.AM.