MALONE. 
sC. Eat lie added, that “ he was willing to tranfmit every 
note of that defcription in its laft ftate to Mr. Steevens, 
before it went to prefs ; that he might anfwer it if he 
pleafed ; and that Mr. Malone would even preclude him- 
felf from the privilege of replying.” Mr. Steevens per- 
fifted in requiring that they thould appear with all their 
imperfections on their head; and, on this being refufed, 
declared that “all communication on the fubjeCt of 
Shakefpeare was at an end between them.” In 1790, 
Mr. Malone's edition at Jali appeared ; and was fought 
after and read with the greateft avidity. It is unnecef- 
fary to point out its merits ; the public opinion upon it 
has been long pronounced. It cannot indeed be ItriCtly 
faid that it met with univerfal approbation. Mr. Ritfon 
(of whofe feeming malignity of temper it would be cruel 
to fpeak with harllinefs, as it is now well known that it 
proceeded from a difturbed (late of mind which terminated 
at laft in the moli deplorable calamity that can afflict hu¬ 
man nature) appeared againft it in an angry and fcurrilous 
pamphlet. The mifreprefentations in this performance 
were fo grofs, and fo eafy of detection, though calculated 
to miflead a carelefs reader, that Mr. Malone thought it 
worth his while to point them out in a Letter which he 
publifhed, addreffed to his friend Dr.Farmer. Poor Rit- 
ion, however, has not been the only one who has at¬ 
tempted to perfuade the world that th^y have been mif- 
taken in Mr. Malone’s character as a critic. He was af- 
failed, not many years back, in a fimilar way indeed, but 
by a perfon of a very different defcription. A gentle¬ 
man, high in the law, having unluckily perfuaded himfelf 
that, if a man is ambitious of being witty, nothing more is 
neceffary than that he fliould ceafe to be grave, thought 
proper to defcend from the bench, and indulge himfelf in 
fome unwieldly gambols, which he flattered himfelf were 
at Mr. Malone’s expenfe. To this haplefs piece of plea- 
fantry Mr. Malone made no reply. Mr. Horne Tooke, 
who, whatever were his talents as a grammarian, or his 
knowledge as an Anglo-Saxon, had by no means an ex- 
tenfive acquaintance with the literature of Shakefpeare’s 
age, has mentioned Mr. Malone and Dr. Johnfon with 
equal contempt, and immediately after proceeds to fneer 
at Mr. Tyrwhitt. It may readily be fuppofed that Mr. 
Malone would not feel very acutely the fatire which af- 
fociated him with fuch companions. But, to counterba¬ 
lance thefe puny or peevifh hoflilities, his work gained the 
hio-heft teltimotfies of applaufe from all who were belt 
qualified to judge upon the fubjeCt, and from men whofe 
approbation any one would be proud to obtain. Dr. J. 
Warton, in a molt friendly letter, which accompanied a 
curious volume of old Englifli poetry which had belonged 
to his brother Thomas, and which he prefented to Mr. 
Malone as the perfon for whom its former poffeffor felt 
the highelt efteem and the moft cordial regard, obferves 
to him, that his edition is by far, very far, the beft that 
had ever appeared. Profeffor Porfon, who, as every one 
who knew him can teltify, was by no means in the habit 
of bellowing baity or thoughtlefs praife, declared to the 
writer of this account, that he considered the Effay on the 
three parts of Henry the Sixth as one of the moft con¬ 
vincing pieces of criticifm that he had ever read. 
Having concluded his laborious work, Mr. Malone paid 
a vifit to his friends in Ireland ; but foon after returned to 
his ufual occupations in London. Amidft his own nu¬ 
merous and prefling avocations he was not inattentive to 
the calls of friendfhip. In 1791 appeared Mr. Bofwell’s 
Life of Dr. Johnfon, a work in which Mr. Malone felt at 
all times a very lively intereft, and gave every afliftance 
to its author during its progrefs which it was in his power 
to hellow. His acquaintance with this gentleman com¬ 
menced in 1785, when, happening accidentally at Mr. 
Baldwin’s printing-houfe to be Ihown a flieet of the Tour 
to the Hebrides, which contained Johnfon’s character, he 
was fo much (truck with the fpirit and fidelity of the por¬ 
trait, that he requelted to be introduced to its writer. 
From this period a friendlhip took place between them, 
Vol. XIV. No, 968. 
209 
which ripened into the ftriCteft and moll cordial intimacy, 
and lafted without interruption as long as Mr. Bofvvell 
lived. After his death, in 1795, Mr. Malone continued 
to fliow every mark of affectionate attention towards his 
family; and in every fuccellive edition of Dr. Johnfon’s 
Life took the moft unwearied pains to render it as much 
as poflible correft and perfeCt. He illuftrated it with 
many notes of his own, and procured many valuable com¬ 
munications from his friends. 
In 1795 Mr. Malone was again ca\led forth to difplay his 
zeal in defence of Shakefpeare, againft the contemptible 
fabrications with which the Irelands endeavoured to de¬ 
lude the public. Mr. Malone law through the falfehood 
of the whole from its commencement; and laid bare the 
fraud, in a pamphlet, which was written in the form of a 
Letter to Lord Charlemont, a nobleman with whom he 
lived on the moft intimate footing, and maintained a con- 
ftant correfpondence. • It has been thought by lome that 
the labour which he bellowed upon this performance was 
more than commenfurate with the importance of thefub- 
jeCt; and it is true that a (lighter effort would have been 
fufficient to have overthrown this wretched fabrication ; 
but we have reafon to rejoice that Mr. Malone was led 
into a fuller difeuflion than was his intention at the outfet; 
we owe to it a work which, for acutenefs of reafoning, 
and the curious and interefting view which it prefents of 
Englifh literature, will retain its value long after the tralh 
which it was defigned to expofe (hall have been configned 
to oblivion. 
Mr. Malone, in the year 1792, had the misfortune to 
lofehis admirable friend fir Jolhua Reynolds, whofe death 
has left a chafm an fociety which will not eafily be (up- 
plied ; and his executors, of whom Mr. Malone had the 
honour to be one, having determined in 1797 to give the 
world a complete collection of his works, he fuperintended 
the publication, and prefixed to it a very pleafing biogra¬ 
phical Iketch of their author. 
Although his attention was Hill principally directed to 
Shakefpeare, and he was gradually accumulating a moft 
valuable mafs of materials for a new edition of that poet, 
he found time to do juftice to another. He drew together, 
from various fources, the Profe Works ofDryden, which, 
as they had lain fcattered about, and fome of them ap¬ 
pended to works which were little known, had never im- 
prefted the general reader with that opinion of their excel¬ 
lence which they deferved, and publifhed them in 1800, 
The narrative which he prefixed is a moft important ac- 
ceflion to biography. Byatlive enquiry, and induftrious 
and acute relearch, he afcertained many particulars of his 
life and character that had been fuppofed to be irrecover¬ 
ably loft, and deteCled the falfehood of many a traditi¬ 
onary tale that had been carelefsly repeated by former 
writers. 
In 1808 he prepared for the prefs a few productions of 
his friend, the celebrated William Gerard Hamilton, with 
which he had been entrufted by his executors; and pre¬ 
fixed to this alfo a brief but elegant Iketch of his life. 
In 1B11 his country was deprived of Mr. Windham.. 
Mr. Malone, who equally admired and loved him, drew 
lip a fliort memorial of his amiable and illultrious friend, 
which originally appeared in the Gentleman’s Magazine ; 
and was afterwards, in an enlarged and corrected ftate, 
printed in a finall pamphlet, and privately diftributed. 
But, alas 1 the kind biographer was too foon to want 
“the generous tear he paid.” A gradual decay appears 
to have undermined his conftitution ; and, when he was 
juft on the point of going to the prefs with his new edi¬ 
tion of Shakefpeare, he was interrupted by an illnefs, 
which proved fatal; and, to the irreparable, lofs of all who 
knew him, he died on the 25th of May, 1812, in the 70th 
year of his age. He left no directions about his funeral ; 
but His brother, lord Sunderlin, who was anxious, to exe¬ 
cute every willi he had formed, having inferred, from fome- 
thing that dropped from him, that it was his defire to be 
buried among his anceftors in Ireland, liis remains were 
3, II conveyed 
