90 



1. — That he published no edition of his plays ; and, as 

 far as they are concerned, expressed no known desire or 

 intention to do so. 



2. — That if his sonnets are to be considered in any 

 sense autobiographical, he entertained a belief in the 

 immortality of his verse, which belief we know did not 

 extend to his dramas. From this, and fi.-om the dedica- 

 tion to the " Venus and Adonis," in which he speaks of 

 that poem as the first heir of his invention, it is presumed 

 that he did not value his di'amas for their literary merits, 

 or found on them his claim to immortality. 



3. — That he allowed piratical and incorrect editions of 

 his plays to be issued, as far as evidence is afibrded, 

 without protest. 



4. — That he adopted the plays of other authors — was 

 content to patch, mend, and alter what he could, in a 

 literary sense alone, so much better have accompHshed 

 wholly. That he accej)ted literary partnership with men 

 of very inferior ability, not only in early life from neces- 

 sity, but in the very latest period of his career from 

 indifference or choice. In the " Timon of Athens," for 

 example, first published in 1623, and "Hemy VIII." 

 The former play is bracketted with "Measure for 

 Measure," by M. Ulrici, as one of his last plays, and its 

 date of composition is assigned to the years 1613 or 14, 

 Mr. Knight fixing it as late as 1610 or 11. In " Henry 

 VIII." he adopted, as Malone first pointed out, whole 

 speeches and scenes with little more than rythmical 

 alterations. 



5. — That apart from the doubtful estimation in which 

 dramatic writing and dramatic authors were held, as is 

 proved by the well-known anecdote of Ben Jonson being 

 ridiculed in an epigram for publishing his plays as works. 

 By Shakspere's touching allusion to the degradation of 

 his profession, and by the wording of public documents 



