Shakespeare among many others, mends, for amends: fend, for defend: force, for inforce, reinforce point, for appointments: fconce, for enfconce, &c. Hailful, for availful: In Measure for Measure, A& IV.

"He fays to 'vailful purpose."

i. e. toa purpose which will fully availl. Serving, for obferving: In Timon of Athens, A& IV. "Apem. What a coil's here,

"Serving of becks and jetting out of bums? i. c. obferving one another's nods and bows. So fervans for obfervans, among the Latins.

Nor is it unusual with Shakespeare to strike off a syllable, or more, from the latter part of words. So he uses aftent, for oftentation: re verbs, for reverberates: intrince, for intrinficate, or intricate

In King Lear, A& I.

"Nor are thofe empty hearted, whofe low "found

"Reverbs no hollowness."

i. e. reverberates, à Lat. reverbero.

I Chaucer has, vailable, for available. Vailed, for availed. à Lat. VALERE. So that a is prefixed according to our ufual manner. As, mate, amate; mazed, amazed; down, adown; &c. And this word hailful for availful fhould not (perhaps) have been brought here as an inftance.

In King Lear, A& II.

"Like rats oft bite the holy cords atwaine, "Which are too' intrince t' unloofe.

i. e. too intrinsicate, too perplext. Mr. Theobald prints it thus,

"Like rats oft bite the holy cords in twain "Too' intrinficate t' unloofe."

And lets us fairly know the old books of authority read,

"Like rats oft bite the holy cords atwaine, "Which are t' intrince, to unloofe."

How came Mr. Theobald, who valued himself for being a critic, to give us the glofs, for the original word? Atwain, is an old word used by Chaucer, for in two, afunder, in twain. And then his other correction is too bold: he comes like an unskilful furgeon to cut and flash, when he should heal. This fhortening of words is too much the genius of our language and from hence the etymologifts know how eafy 'tis to trace porpoife from porcus piscis: ofrich, from sexdoxáμnλ: to rap, from panin, &c. and many more of the like fort, too numerous here to be mention'd.

On the other hand he lengthens words by giving them a Latin termination. In Hamlet, A& III.

“Oh,

"Oh, fuch a deed,

"As from the body of contraction plucks "The very foul, and fweet religion makes "A rhapsody of words."

contraction, i. e. contract.

This lengthening of words, and giving them terminations, was the firft improvement of languages, which originally, perhaps chiefly, confifted of undeclined monofyllables. This feems to be the cafe of the politeft language in the world, the Greek language. The old Greek word for a boufe was AO, afterwards they added the termination, and called it pa. Barley was KPI, afterwards xgion and xgíμvov; in vain, MAITE, afterwards μαψιδίως : again, or backwards, ΑΠΣ i. e. origw: eafily PA i. e. pádiov. BPI, afterwards βρεθὺ and βριαρόν. ΑΛΠΗΙ i. e. άλφιον. And fo of many other words, which are not by any abbreviations fhortened, as the grammarians tell us; but were the old original words, brought again into fashion and use by the poets, just as our Shakespeare and Milton often chofe the Saxon and obfolete words.

TO these rules many others may easily be added; but what has already been faid, may lead the way to a right reading of our author.

Concerning

Concerning the ftrict propriety of all these rules, as being exactly fuitable to the genius of our language, I am not at all concerned: 'tis fufficient for my purpose if they are Shakespeare's rules. But one thing more ftill remains of no little confequence to our poet's honour, and that is the settling and adjusting his metre and rhythm. For the not duly attending to this, has occafion'd strange alterations in his plays: now profe hobbles into verse, now again verse is degraded into profe; here verses are broken, where they fhould be continued; and there joined, where they should be broken. And the chief reason of these alterations of his verses seems to proceed from the fame caufe, as the changing his words and expreffions; that is, the little regard we pay to our poet's art.

I

Dryden says that Milton acknowledged to him, that Spencer was his original: but his original in what, Mr. Dryden does not tell us: certainly he was not his original in throwing aside that Gothic bondage of jingle at the end of every line; 'twas the example of our BEST ENGLISH TRAGEDIES here he followed;

I Dryden's preface to his Fables.

3

2

2 Milton's preface to his Paradife loft.

HIS HONOURED

3 Milton's poem on Shakespeare, ann. 1630.

SHAKESPEARE.

SHAKESPEARE. And from him, as well as from Homer and Virgil, he faw what beauty would refult from variety.

Our smootheft verses run in the iambic foot: pes citus, as Horace terms it; because we haften from the first to the fecond fyllable, that chiefly ftriking the ear. And our epic verse consists of five feet or measures, according to common fcanfion.

It fa děd on the crowing of the cock

faded

Verfes all of this measure would foon tire the ear, for want of variety: he therefore mixes the * trochaic foot.

Nature seems dead and wicked dreams'ǎbufe

I

dead

wicked

4 This Measure Milton ufes in the fecond foot, B. X,

936.

"The fentence from thy head remov'd may light

"On me fole cause to thee of all this woe,

mē, mēónly juft object of his ire.

4

The repetition me, me, as in Virgil [IX, 427.] Me, Me adfum, &c. is highly pathetic, and the trochaic following the spondee makes the pathos more perceptible.-'Tis furprifing how Dr. Bentley should think of any alteration.

And