Who is there but will allow greater liberty for altering authors, who wrote before the invention of printing, than fince? Blunders upon blunders of

Devil's an afs: and likewise mention'd in his Epigr. CXV.

Being no vitious perfon, but the Vice

About the town.

Acts old Iniquity, and in the fit

Of miming, gets th' opinion of a wit.

But a paffage cited from his play will make the following obfervations more plain. A&t. I. Pug afks the Devil "to lend him a Vice.

"Satan. What Vice?

What kind wouldst thou have it of?

"Pug. Why, any Fraud,

"Or Covetousness, or Lady Vanity,

"Or old Iniquity: I'll call him hither.

"Enter Iniquity, the Vice,

Ini. What is he calls upon me, and would seem to lack "a Vice?

"Ere his words be half spoken, I am with him in a trice.” And in his Staple of News Act. II. "Mirth. How like you the Vice i' the play? Expectation. Which is he? "Mirth. Three or four, old Covetousness, the fordid Peniboy,

the Money-bawd, who is a flesh-bawd too they say. "Tattle. But here is never a Fiend to carry him away.

Befides, he has never a wooden-dagger! I'd not give a "rush for a VICE, that has not a wooden-dagger to fnap at every body he meets. Mirth. That was the old way, Goffp, when Iniquity came in like hokos pokos,

of transcribers—interpolations-gloffes—omiffions various readings and what not? But to try these experiments, without great caution, on Milton

in a juglers jerkin, &c." Some places of Shakespeare will from hence appear more eafy as in the 1ft part of Henry IV. A&t. II. where Hal, humourously characterizing Falstaff, calls him, That reverend VICE, that grey INIQUITY, that father ruffian, that VANITY in years, in allufion to this buffoon character. In K. Richard III. A& III.

Thus like the formal Vice, Iniquity,

I moralize two meanings in one word.

INIQUITY is the formal Vice, Some correct the paffage,

Thus, like the formal wife Antiquity,

I moralize two meanings in one word.

In Hamlet

Which correction is out of all rule of criticism. Act I. there is an allufion, ftill more diftant, to THE VICE; which will not be obvious at first, and therefore is to be introduced with a fhort explanation. This buffoon character was used to make fun with the Devil; and he had feveral trite expreffions, as, I'll be with you in a trice: Ah, ha, boy, are you there, &c. And this was great entertainment to the audience, to see their old enemy fo belabour'd in effigy. In K. Henry V. A&t IV. a boy characterizing Piftol fays, Bardolph and Nim had ten times more valour, than this roaring Devil i' th' old play; every one may pare biş nails with a wooden dagger. Now Hamlet, having been instructed by his father's ghoft, is refolved to break the fubject of the discourse to none but Horatio; and to all others his intention is to appear as a fort of madman :

when

which his brother bards formerly claim'd,` and which claim, if the pretenfions were any ways anfwerable, was generally granted them. However we are well affured from the hiftories of his times, that he was early initiated into the facred company of the Muses, and tho' he might have fmall avocations, yet he foon returned again with greater eagerness to his beloved ftudies. Hence he was poffeffed of fufficient helps, either from abroad, or at home, to midwife into the world his great and beautiful conceptions, and to give them birth, and being. That a contrary opinion has ever prevailed, is owing partly to Ben Johnfon's jealoufy, and partly to the pride and pertnefs of dunces, who, under the umbrage of fuch a name as Shakespeare's, would gladly shelter their own idleness and ignorance.

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divino quodam fpiritu inflari. De Nat. Deor. II. 66. Nemo igitur vir magnus fine aliquo afflatu divino unquam fuit. In Plato's Io, there is a great deal to the fame purpose concerning this poetic rapture and enthusiasm; where a certain poet is mention'd, who having made a number of very bad verfes, wrote one poem which he himself faid was sugnμá vi Merav: the poem happened to be a very extraordinary one; and the people took the poet's word, thinking it impoffible, without inspiration, that fo bad a poet should write fuch fine verfes.

... And though thou hadft small Latin and lefs Greek.

'Tis true Johnson fays very handsome things of him prefently after: for people will allow others any qualities, but those which they highly value themselves for.

He

He was bred in a learned age, when even the 3 court ladies learnt Greek, and the Queen of England among scholars had the reputation of being a scholar. Whether her fucceffor had equal learning and fenfe, is not material to be at

3. See what Afcham writes of Lady Jane Grey, (who lived fome time before Shakespeare) in his Scholemefter p. 37. Edit. Lond. 1743. and afterwards p. 67. of Queen Elizabeth. "It is your fhame (I fpeak to you

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all, you young gentlemen of England) that one maid "fhould go beyond you all in excellency of learning, and knowledge of divers tongues. Point forth fix of the "best given gentlemen of this court, and all they together "fhew not so much good will, fpend not fo much time, "bestow not so many hours daily, orderly and conftantly, "for the increase of learning and knowledge, as doth the Queen's majesty her self. Yea I believe that befide her "perfect readiness in Latin, Italian, French and Spanish, "The readeth here now at Windfor more Greek every day, "than some prebendary of this church doth read Latin in 66 a whole week." Sir H. Savil in his latin speech at Oxford thus compliments her; Illa commemorabo, quæ vulgò minus nota, non minus certe mirabilia ad laudem: te, cum tot literis legendis, tot dictandis, tot manu tua fcribendis fufficias *** te magnam diei partem in gravissimorum autorum fcriptis legendis, audiendifque ponere: neminem nifi fua lingua tecum loqui; te cum nemine nifi ipforum, aut omnium communibus Latina, Graecaque. Omitto plebeios philofophos, quos raro in manus fumis. Quoties divinum Platonem animadverti tuis interpretationibus diviniorem effectum ! quoties Ariftotelis obfcuritates principis philosophorum, à principe foeminarum evolutas atque explicatas!

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prefent

prefent enquir'd into; but thus far is certain, that letters, even then, stood in fome rank of praife. Happy for us, that our poet, and Johnson, came into life fo early; that they lived not in an age, when not only their art, but every thing elfe that had wit, and elegance, began to be despised: 'till the minds of the people came to be difpofed for all that hypocrify, nonsense, and fuperftitious fanaticism, which foon after like a deluge overwhelmed this nation. 'Twere to be wifhed, that with our reftored king, fome of that taft of literature had been restored, which we enjoyed in the days of Queen Elizabeth. But when we brought home our frenchified king, we did then, and have even to this day continued to bring from France our models, not only of letters, but (O fhame to free born Englishmen!) of morals and manners. Hence every thing, unless of French extraction, appears aukward and antiquated. Our poets write to the humour of the age; and when their own little stock is spent, they set themselves to work on new-modelling + Shakespeare's plays,

4 Sir William Davenant, and Dryden, began this just after the restoration. They were fucceded by Shadwell, Rymer, the Duke of Buckingham, and others. The D. of B. made choice of Julius Caefar: which puts me in mind of a painter 1 knew, who told his customer, he had a picture of Claudio of Lorain," and Sir (fays he) "when I have touched up the sky a little, 'twill make a most "excellent piece."

and