115 



a concord of sweet sounds, by subtle principles of design, 

 no less wise than mysterious — we must, I think, be con- 

 vinced that reverent criticism is alone admissible. In the 

 great world to which these plays assume to hold the 

 mirror, we frequently perceive the existence of apparent 

 incongruities and defects ; either from a part only of the 

 chain of which these form a link being disclosed, or from 

 inability to understand what is seen without the key of 

 that which is concealed, and our criticism is often tempted 

 into a spirit of doubt as unjust as it is erroneous. A 

 similar disposition and presumption with Shakspere is no 

 less likely to lead us astray. His plays are as truly to me 

 inapproachable in their moral as in their intellectual, 

 poetic, or artistic aspects. 



Nearly all the later dramas will be found to have a dis- 

 tinct theme of religious and Christian import, to indicate 

 their moral dignity. An unceasing purpose runs through 

 their story, disproving absolutely all that the Reviewer 

 urges, and that no consideration of expediency afiected 

 the poet. So far from his life being that of a mere 

 theatrical manager's — writing dramas whose preliminary 

 purpose was to please — I prefer believing, with M. Ulrici, 

 that his was a genuine poet's life, wholly devoted to free 

 poetic creation and the gradual development of his art; 

 and being, moreover, animated by the most heroic reli- 

 gious spirit that the middle ages present to us. If it is 

 legitimate to the most exact reasoning to infer from con- 

 struction the existence of design, it is no less legitimate 

 to infer the character of that design. Accepting such an 

 axiom, we must be convinced, on investigation, that he 

 was not a wild and inexperienced genius, nor a man of 

 weak resolves and ambition ; but that he was the greatest, 

 the most laborious architect, the most noble designer, 

 the most pure-minded and Christian poet, that the world 

 has yet known. 



