SHAKSPEARE. 



fpite of the rceptlcifm of Dr. Farmer, in his «' EfTay on the 

 Learning of Shakfpeare," and of fome othpr writers, the 

 impartial reader mull admit that it allumcs the air of pro- 

 babihty, candour, and truth. Aubrey might have erred in 

 fome points ; particularly in faying, Shakfpeare vifited Lon- 

 don at the age of eighteen, when the regiltry of his own 

 baptifm, and that of his twin-children, fhew that he muft have 

 remained at home till the age of twenty. Again, it is very 

 probable that he met with a conftable at Grendon, or Long- 

 Crendan, in Buckinghamfhire, whofe charafter he dra- 

 matifed, not in " A Midfummer Night's Dream," but in 

 " Much ado about Nothing," or in" Love's Labour's Lolt." 

 The extempore epitaph on John o'Combe is reprefented 

 by Rowe, who gives it different to the above, as having been 

 made during the life-time, and in the prefence of the perfon 

 commemorated, who is alfo faid never to have forgiven the 

 poet. In Aubrey's relation there is nothing improbable, 

 nor unreafonable, in a poet producing fuch Imes fportively 

 over his cups, and among convivial friends : it is a fmart 

 epigram on an ufurious charafter. Inftead of leaving 300/. 

 per annum to a fifter, he bequeathed as much to his daughter, 

 as will be (hewn in the fequel. If there be any lurking 

 prejudice againft the profeffion of a butcher, let it be re- 

 membered, that the proud and oftentatious cardinal Wolfey 

 was the fon of a butcher ; and that the parentage of a 

 Homer, a Milton, and a Shakfpeare, cannot be honoured 

 or degraded by their anceftors. 



" Honour and fame from no condition rife ; 

 Aft well your part, there all the honour lies." 



The houfe in which our poet was born has been occupied 

 by a fucceffion of butchers from time immemorial. Befides, 

 it is not at all improbable that the butcher and the wool- 

 ftapler were united in one perfon. Admitting this, we 

 fhall find Rowe and Aubrey in harmony, and one great 

 difficulty removed. 



The early education of Shakfpeare, a-, well as his pa- 

 rentage, is not afcertained : on this topic all the biographers 

 and commentators have fupplied us with conjeftures and 

 opinions. Chalmers, in his " Apology," is at once inge- 

 nious, intelligent, and learned on this fubjeft. Rowe ob- 

 ferves, and molt of his followers repeat the fame, that he 

 " was bred for fome time at a free fchool, where it is 

 probable he acquired what Latin he was mailer of." 

 They proceed to remark, that " on leaving fchool, he 

 feems to have given entirely into that way of living which 

 his father propofed to him." About the age of eighteen he 

 married Anne Hathaway, daughter of a fubllantial yeoman, 

 then refiding at Shottory, a hamlet to Stratford. In the 

 pariih regifter we find that " Sufanna, daughter of William 

 Shakfpeare, was baptifod May 26, 1583." By the fame 

 record we learn that his wife produced him twins in 1584-3; ; 

 as on the 2d of February in that year, the names of Judith 

 and Hamnet are entered in the regifter. It muft have been 

 foon after this event that our poet vifited the metropolis ; 

 but the caufe of leaving his native place, as well as his 

 objeft, conneftion, and profpcfts in London, are alike un- 

 known. Rowe relates, and others have adopted the opinion, 

 with fome variation as to fentiment and inference, that, 

 " falling into ill company," he was induced, " more than 

 once," to affift his adociatcs in itealing deer from a park 

 belonging " to fir Thomas Lucy, of Charlcote, near 

 Stratford. For this he was profecuted by that gentleman 

 fo feverely," that he was firft impelled to write a fatirical 

 ballad on him, and afterwards fly from his home to avoid 

 arreft and imprifonment. This Itory, however, is not 



entitled to full credence ; for though our young poet 

 might have afTociated with fome idle youths, and have ac- 

 companied them to the neighbouring park, cither for the 

 fake of catching deer, or for fome lefs ilifflcuit and Irfs 

 hazardous enterprife, yet the circumllanee feems impro- 

 bable, and comes in fuch " a quellionable (hap?," that 

 before it be admitted as hiftorical evidence againft an 

 amiable man and fuper-eminent author, it (liould be fup- 

 ported by " confirmations ilrong as proofs of holy writ." 

 Without refting on this circiimftancc, or crediting another 

 abfurd ftory, of his holding horfcs at the door of a tlieatre for 

 his livelihood, we (hill find a rational motive for his vifiting 

 London, and reforting to the theatre, by knowing that lie 

 had a relative and townfman already eftablifiied there, and in 

 fome eftimation. This was Thomas Green, " a celebrated 

 comedian." 



We now come to that era in the life of Shakfpeare, 

 when he began to write his immortal dramas, and to de- 

 vclope thofe powers which have rendered him the delight 

 and wonder of fucccflive age?. At the time of his be- 

 coming, in fome degree, a public charafter, we naturally 

 cxpefted to find many anecdotes recorded of his literary 

 hiftory : but, ftrange to fay, the fame deftitution of au- 

 thentic incidents marks every ftage of his life. Even the 

 date at which his firft play appeared is unknown ; and the 

 greateft uncertainty prevails with refpeft to the chronological 

 order in which the whole feries were written, exhibited, or 

 publifhed. As this fubjeft was juftly confidercd by Ma- 

 lone to be both curious and intcrelting, he has appropriated 

 to its examination a long and laborious elfay. Chalmers, 

 however, in his " Supplemental Apology," and in a recent 

 pamphlet, 18 15, endeavours to controvert fome of Malone's 

 dates, and alTigns them to other eras ; as fpccified in the 

 fecond column, below. Malone fays, the " Firft Part of 

 King Henry VI." publifhed in 1589, and commonly at- 

 tributed to Shakfpeare, was n.it written by him, though it 

 might receive fome correftions from his pen at a fubfequent 

 period, in order to fit it for reprefentation. The " Second 

 Part of Kmg Henry VI." this writer contends, ought there- 

 fore to be confidered as Shakfpeare's firft dramatic piece ; 

 and he thinks that it might have been compofed about the 

 year 1591, but certainly not earlier than 1590. The other 

 dramas are placed in the following order of time by him and 

 by Mr. George Chalmers. 



The Third P..rt of Hj"ry VI. ' 



was written in - - 



A Midfummer Night's Dream 

 Comedy of Errors 

 Taming of the Shrew 

 Love's I..abour's Loft 

 Two Gentlemen of Verona 

 Romeo and Juliet 

 Hamlet . - . . 



King John - . . 



King Richard II. 

 King Richard III. 

 Firft Part of Henry IV. 

 Second Part of Henry IV. 

 Merchant of Venice 

 All's Well that ends WeU - 

 King Henry V. - - 



Much ado about Nothing 

 As you like it - 

 Merry Wives of Windfor 

 King Henry VIII. - 



