204 



Centaur ; 



SHAKESPEARE A HORSEMAN. 



And speak his very heart." — Winters Tale, Act iv., Scene iii. 



^E would still further " Centaur's " cause 

 by holding up a few of the pictures 

 drawn by the great master. 



Of Shakespeare's knowledge, experi- 

 ence, and love for the horse, and good 

 feeling and kindness towards the dumb 

 creation generally, there can be no 

 doubt ; in fact it is said that Shakes- 

 peare's earliest occupation in London 

 was the care of horses outside the 

 theatres, and in his writings for the 

 play the horse is frequentlj^ introduced and enlarged upon, 

 and its trappings and surroundings most vividly described in 

 poetry and prose. We have noticed that it is, and has been 

 for years pai=;t, the one great study and pleasure of many 

 students of Shakespeare to associate his name and writings 

 with all trades and professions, and their own in particular. 

 Much instruction as well as amusement is derived from the 

 various lines of argument laid down in the quotations selected 

 from his works. We have spent many happy evenings 

 listening to " Shakespeare, a Surgeon," " Shakespeare, a 

 Lawyer," &c., &c., by those whose ambition has been to 

 connect the great poet with their particular trade or profession. 



Our most prominent and permanent experience being a 

 paper written and re^d by a well-known gentleman in 

 Birmingham, viz., "Shakespeare, a Builder;" and a builder 

 he was made to all intents and purposes, though not in the 

 sense intended by this section of his worshi]ipers. Were it 

 not a known fact that Shakespeare was nothing of the kind, 

 really the arguments laid down, and the selections from his 

 writings brousht so vividly and continuously to the front 

 and so strongly to bear, one would be inclined to feel that, 

 if IShakespeare was not apprenticed to a builder, he must 



