118 
the Friar of Orders Gray, from Percy’s 
Collection, are among them: The fcene 
of adventere has uniformly been tran{- 
ferred to Germany. Of his mere tran- 
flations, the Pervigilium Veneris is the 
moft diftinguifhed: it is more animated 
than that of Parnell. His {pecimens 
toward a verfion of the Iliad, in rimelefs 
lambic, are not comprehended in thefe 
two volumes of Poems, and will pro- 
bably remain incomplete, now that Vofs 
has fo perfectly naturalized Homer, in 
German hexameter. Biirger is every 
where diftinguifhed for manly fentiment 
and force of ftyle. His extraordinary 
powers of language are founded on a re- 
jection of the conventional phrafeology 
of regular poetry, in favour of popular 
forms of expreffion, caught by the 
liftening artift from the voice of agitated 
nature, Imitative harmony he purfues 
almoft to excefs: the onomatopcia is 
his prevailing figure; the interjeétion, 
his favourite part of f{peech: arrange- 
ment, rhythm, found, rime, are always 
with him, an echo tothe fenfe. The hur- 
rying vigour of his impetuous diétion is 
unrivalled; yet, it is fo natural, even in 
its {ublimity, that his poetry is fingularly 
fitted to become national popular fong. 
A few of his thorter poems, and two 
of his wholly original ballads, may give 
fome idea of his peculiarity to the Eng- 
lith readers. (For thefe, our readers are 
referred to our poetical department of 
this, and the following months.) 
TS ae 
OBSERVATIONS RELATIVE TO THE 
SHAKSPEARE MSS. 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, : 
THE Shak{peare MSS. in the poffeffion 
of Mr. Ireland, of the controverly 
concerning which you have given fome 
account In your laft Magazine, are natu- 
rally an objeét of great literary curlofity. 
“He has long,”’ as Johnfon fays, “ out- 
lived his century ;”’ and “ may now begin 
to aflume thé dignity of an ancient, and 
claim the privilege of eftablifhed fame and 
‘prefcriptive veneration.” Any manu- 
icripts of -his, or which are fuppofed to be 
his, have a juft claim to the moft relpett- 
ful attention, and the moft accurate exa- 
mination. Nor ought they hattily to be 
rejected, or confidered as {purious, 77 con- 
Sequence of the mere opinions of any men, 
who have not themfelves accurately ex 
amined them, whatever may be their li- 
teraty charadier, er critical fagacity, 
The reputed Shak/peare MSS. 
[March 
Some of the circumftances attendant on 
their difcovery, might excite fufpicion ; but 
the examination into their authenticity 
ought to be made with the ftri€teft impar- 
tiality. Though Mr. Ireland for reafonis 
which he has ftated, has not publifhed the 
name of the gentleman, among whofe fa- 
mily papers thefe manufcripts are faid to 
have been found, yet it appears, that he has 
fubmitted them to the moft rigorous exa- 
mination of perfons the beft qualified to 
judge of their authenticity. I have feen 
thefe manuicripts, and have difcovered no 
fufficient reafon to queftion their being 
really the produétions of Shak {peare. Itap- 
pears to me, that their authenticity receives 
a {trong corroboration from the various 
books of Shak{peare, part of his library, 
confifting of nearly eighty volumes, and 
many of them {fo rare that even the titles are 
not Known. One, in particular, “ A true 
Report of the Imprifonment, the Arraign- 
ment, and Execution of the late Traitors 
—Guy Faulkes, &¢—dated 1606.—The 
MS. notes to this traét, breathe through- 
out that fpirit of humanity and philan- 
thropy, which we have ever had reafon 
to believe was the characteriftic of our 
great bard, even before thefe papers made 
their appearance. Among other curious. 
MSS. is a lift, in his own*hand, of his li- 
brary, which confifted of near 1100 vols, 
—Letters of Correfpondence between him 
and his friends—a great variety of deeds, 
fome witneffed by himfelf, others figned 
by him as the. principal—tIn fhort, the 
whole of the manufcripts, all in the fame 
hand writing, extend to-nearly 10,000 
lines, poetry and profe—a quantity too 
immenfe and too various to be fuppofed 
for a moment the work of imitation! [ 
have infpected fome of thefe printed books, 
{aid to be part of Shak{peare’s library, and 
a comparifon of the notes written in them 
with the. manufcript letters and plays, 
ftrongly confirms me in the opinion, that 
they are the genuine productions of Shak- 
{peare. 
I have long thought, that Shak{peare 
was probably a better player than he is 
commonly fuppofed to have been. Some 
of the MSS.-in Mr. Ireland’s poffediion, 
confirm this opinion. Aubrey, in a ma- 
nufcript in the Afhmolean Mufeum, 
quoted by Mr. Thomas Warton, fpeak- 
ing of Shakipeare, as an.actor at one of the 
playhoutes, fays, that he “ did a& ex- 
ceedingly well.’ As Aubrey lived nearer 
the time of Shak{peare than Rowe, who 
wrote the life of him that has repeatedly 
been reprinted, it was more eafy for him 
to obtain authenticinformation. But what- 
ever 
