LESSONS IN FBI 



passional" spirit <>f |...ri-.t. ! -i:: 1 national pride which 



:iii( is Hub- 



ana period 



us tlio preceding two ; it was fir-it printod, though in a very 

 .foot form, in 10UO. 



i.lays on tho events of Wars of the 



Boca* the first, second, and third Henry VI." hare 



been always attributed to Shakos) "Vor inco tho firnt 



:.l, nlw:i\ i<>ng his works ; and for 



ison we can hardly Shakonpiro had some 



mtion of tho playa as they now stand. Hut 



t that can bo mii<l for thorn in that Shakospcnro 



adapted and mndo somo alterations in <>Mcr plays npon tho 



. have no claim to take rank with tho*o 



. ivo gone boforo 



III." contains passages of equal merit with any in 



Shakespeare'.) playa. Hut, as a whole, it can scarcely bo placed 



vrith his greatest historiaal plays. It is not 



;iiat it was among tho earliest of bis works. It 



was e iuted in 1597. 



III." concludes the series of the histories. Most 



ibly place this play on a much higher level 



nl III.," and tho episode of the fall of Wolsoy 



.inter of tho great cardinal are wonderfully painted. 



\v would be inclined to class it with "King John," 



ifrnry IV.," or "Henry V." It was probably the latest 



written play of it3 class, and was first printod in tho folio of 



TRAGEDIES. 



Tho tragedies of Shakespeare, including in tho number a few 



of which the authorship remains a matter of eomo doubt, aro 



thirteen in number. Tho earliest among them, as far as can be 



lined, and one of tho earliest, probably, of Shakespeare's 



Komeo and Juliet." This, while one of the most 



lv:i itiful and affecting, and one of the most profoundly tragio 



of p'.ays, differs from tho later and grander tragedies of tho 



poet much in tho same way that tho class of comedies which 



-i most of tho earlier ones does from " Aa You Like 



It " and " Measure for Measure :" it has not the same profound 



analysis of character ; the passion with which it deals is but tho 



>sion of love. Tho sorrows of the lovers interest us, 



not their characters. Their fate moves us to pity, but it excites 



r.oither awe nor horror. 



"Troilus and Cressida" is founded on a story supposed to 

 have occurred during tho siege of Troy, which had often before 

 boon used by poets, and notably by Chaucer. But Shakespeare's 

 treatment of tho story and his conception of tho characters is 

 essentially original. There is scarcely any one of his plays in 

 which the characters stand out from the canvas with more 

 thoroughly marked individuality. The date of this play cannot 

 bo fixed, but it is certainly not later than 1609. 



Four tragedies aro founded upon events in the history of 

 Borne. " Coriolanus," "Julius Caesar," and "Antony and 

 Cleopatra" are, no doubt, all late plays, though their dates 

 cannot be fixed. Few of Shakespeare's plays have acquired a 

 more general popularity than these, especially "Julius Caesar." 

 In them Shakespeare has followed for the most part tlio transla- 

 tions of classical authorities within his reach with the same 

 fidelity with which, in his histories, he followed Holinshcd and 

 the other chroniclers, but without ever losing bis own originality 

 of treatment, or sacrificing the life-likeness of tho characters. 

 "Titus Andronicns " was published as early as 1600; but, 

 though always attributed to Shakespeare, its authorship is very 

 doubtful. 



The tragedy of "Pericles, Prince of Tyre," was ascribed to 

 Shakespeare by Meres as early as 1598, and it is difficult, there- 

 fore, to deny that he took some part at least in modifying or 

 improving it. But the character and style of the play support 

 tho view which most readers would wish to adopt, that Shake- 

 speare was not its author. 



" Timon of Athens " is a masterly study of character, and 

 a most powerful play upon tho well-known story of tho prodigal 

 turned misanthrope. "Cymbeline" is founded on a story 

 borrowed from that source to which Shakespeare was fond of 

 turning the early legendary history of Celtic Britain. Both of 

 these were probably late plays. 



It remains only to mention the four greatest of Shakespeare's 

 tragedies, the four which stand out from among hia plays as he 



himself does among the dramatists. 

 " Kn,, r Laar." and " Macbeth " . I. 



works of th*fr kind in the Engliah langaefe They 1 

 fulUwt maturity of ^Shakespeare's 



Hamlet," "Othello." 

 iparabljthe gnt.t 

 TVy all belong 



to the period of the t ,,-^- 



" Hamlet," in its first form, was printed in 1*J3 ; "Othello " 

 can be traced to about the earn* date ; M King T^tsr " to eoax 

 five years later j and thoogh the date of " Macbeth " has not 

 been Moertained, it can hardly be doabted that it Detain to 

 the same period. Different as their subjects are the meatej 

 confli.-t of the DanUh prince, the jealousy and erime of the 

 bravo Moor, the wrongs and madnees of the aged king, the MJH 

 the Scottish usurper they are alike in the power 

 lay, tho skill to depict every phase of passion, to 



human soul. They are alike in truth to nature, irtsstto 

 judgment, in mastery over all the element* of pity, of horror, of 

 fear, in boundless fertility of imagination, aad in the irrMMfbi* 

 spell which they exorcise over every mind. We *nMrt in theee 

 lessons criticise or examine them. We can only impram* upon 

 our readers that, more than any other of the works we have had 

 occasion to mention in the course of those lessons, they most 

 be read and re-read, diligently and patiently studied, by every 

 genuine student of English literature. 



LESSONS IN FRENCH. LX XI II. 



76. THE Noux PLACK OF MOCKS (continued). 



(10.) IK Englinh the name of the possessor frequently pre- 

 cedes the name of the object possessed ; and the two are con- 

 nected by means of ' (the old Saxon genitive termination). 

 In French the order is always different. The name of the 

 object possessed precedes that of the possessor, and the con- 

 necting link is a preposition : 



Jfy frU*d't look*. 



I'ou hart MM my bUr / 



Lea livres de inon ami. 

 Vous avez vu la niontro da ma 

 sceur. 



(11.) The name of an object always precedes tho name of 

 the substance of which it is formed, or which it contains. 

 The preposition de comes between them : 



Uue table de marbre. 

 La France a beaucoup de car- 

 rierea de marbre. 



Une bouteille de vin. 



Prune* fcuwMy aisrtli yaerrio. 

 A bottle of vm. 



(12.) The word representing an individual always precedes 

 that describing his particular occupation, or the merchandise of 

 which he disposes : 



Un maltre <le danse. 

 Un maltre <ic langues. 

 Uu marchand dc drap. 



A teachfr of languayrt. 



A dnjxr, or dtclrr i clotk:* 



(13.) Tho name of a vehicle, -boat, mill, etc., always precede* 

 the noun representing the power by which it is impelled, or 

 the purpose to which it ie adapted. The connecting proposition 

 is generally a: 



A vind-miU. 



A paper-mill. 



A tico-fcom carriag*. 



Un mouliu a vent. 



Uu mouliu a papior. 



Dea moulius & can. 



Un bateau a vapour. 



Uue voituro & deux chevmnx. 



(14.) Tho name of an object precedes the nonn 

 its particular produce, use, or appendages, etc. ; the proposition 

 a generally connects these nouns : 



Le gout du fruit de I'arbre a 

 pal a ressemble a celui de 1'arti- 

 chaut. 



UmSARDIS DE ST. PlBRBE. 



Le noni de vert u. d*ns la bonche 

 tie certaiacH person us. fait tn-s- 

 sailii~ comuie le grelot du MT- 



psnt .1 sonnettes. 



MKK. MECXX&. 



Lea betes a cornet n wat pss 



si nombreuses que les bete* "< *> nnmrniu 



mssMla). 



Tttf wtm of 

 of certain fMnw 

 Jik* tlU NOiM e/ lk* rxitM*. mi. 



