SOME NEW EMENDATIONS IN SHAKESPEARE. 389' 



is in truth a corollary of the proposition, which is I think unques- 

 tionable, " That nothing which is obscure is Shakespeare." 



As to the third, it is only another way of stating that Shake- 

 speare was such a master of rhythm, his musical ear was so correct, 

 that he could not write any thing which was harsh or unmusical. 



When, therefore, we are startled by any line which lacks the 

 usual melody and rhythmical flow of Shakespeare, we cannot but 

 regard it with grave suspicion, and if we hesitate to pronounce it as 

 ipso facto corrupt, we must at least place it in the category of those- 

 which are soupgonnes d'etre suspects. 



But besides the obscure and unmusical lines there are no doubt 

 many others which are corrupt. The accomplished editors of the 

 Cambridge -Shakespeare truly remark : " There are many passages, 

 easily construed and scanned, and therefore not generally suspected 

 of corruption, which nevertheless have not been printed exactly as 

 they were written. Some ruder hand has effaced the touch of the 

 master." Some of these unsuspected corruptions have been dealt 

 with in this paper. 



When I consider the scholarship and learning expended during 

 the last quarter of a century, both in Europe and America, upon the 

 works of Shakespeare, the volumes which have been written on his- 

 genius, mind, art and influence, the subtle sometimes perhaps too 

 subtle — analysis to which the principal plays and characters have 

 been subjected, to say nothing of the recent contribution to Shakes- 

 pearean literature in connection with what has been well called the 

 Bacon-Shakespeare craze, I cannot but be sensible of the compara- 

 tively humble field of enquiry to which my Shakespearean labours 

 have been directed. Indeed, I feel that to speak of what I have 

 done as " labour" at all may be to give to it a dignity to which it 

 has no claim. But if it may be so designated, it has assuredly been 

 a labour of love, where the labour was its own reward. If I could 

 hope by my suggestions to remove even one or two of the blem- 

 ishes or obscurities which mar and disfigure the bright page of 

 Shakespeare, I shall have the further satisfaction of feeling that I 

 have done something to mark, however feebly, my gratitude for the 

 infinite enjoyment and instruction which I have derived from his- 

 plays. 



