the literary public, than the difcovery of another play of Shakspeare; provided the fact of the latter difcovery can be as decifively afcertained, as that of the former. Such an important acquifition Mr. Ireland announces to the literary world; and it is the defign of this fplendid publication, to furnish fufficient documents for judging conBerning the genuineness of the treasure, of which Mr. I. declares himself pof fefied. The volume contains engraved fac fimilia of a part of the mss., faid to be in the hand writing of Shakspeare, together with exact printed copies of other papers, which were too long to admit of an engraved impreffion. The fac fimilia are, of Shakspeare's autographs; queen Elizabeth's letter; extracts from mifcellaneous papers; note of band; letter to Anne Hatherwaye; verfes to the fame; letter to the earl of Southampton, the earl's anfwer; Shakfpeare's profeffion of faith; letter to Cowley: portrait enclofed in the fame, with its reverfe; tributary lines to Ireland; view of Ireland's houfe, and coats of arms; coloured figures of Baffanio and Shylock; the title, and the firft and laft pages of the play of Lear, and a page from a fragment of Hamlet. Without an engraved fac fimile, are given, copied literally in roman chaTacters, a deed of gift to Ireland; agree ment with John Lowine; agreement with Henry Condelle; leafe to Mr. Frafer; deed of truft to John Hemynge; the entire play of king Lear, and a fragment of Hamlet.

Concerning thefe Mss. and legal inftruments, it will be proper to give Mr. I's declaration in his own words:

Preface. The editor of this volume here prefents the public with a part of that valuable treasure of our SHAKSPEARE, which, having been by accident difcovered in Ms., has fince been depofited in his hands. From the first moment of this difcovery to the prefent hour, Mr. Ireland has inceffantly laboured, by every means in his power, to inform himself with refpect to the validity of hete interefting papers,

Throughout this period there has not been an ingenuous character, or difinterested individual, in the circle of

literature, to whofe critical eye he has not been earneft, that the whole fhould be fubjected. He has courted, he has even challenged, the critical judgment of thofe, who are beft fkilled in the poetry and phrafeology of the times in which Shakspeare lived; as well as thofe, whofe profeffion or courfe of ftudy has made them converfant with ancient deeds, writings, feals and autographs. Wide and extenfive as this range may appear, and it includes the fcholar, the man of tafte, the antiqua rian, and the herald, his inquiries have not refted in the clofet of the speculatift; he has been equally anxious that the whole fhould be fubmitted to the practical experience of the mechanic, and be pronounced upon by the papermaker, &c, as well as the author. He has ever been defirous of placing them in any view, and under any light, that could be thrown upon them; and he has, in confequence, the fatisfaction of announcing to the public, that, as far as he has been able to collect the fentiments of the feveral claffes of perfons above referred to, they have unanimously teftified in favour of their au thenticity; and declared, that, where there was fuch a mass of evidence, internal and external, it was impoffible, amidft, fuch various fources of detecti on, for the art of imitation to have hazarded fo much without betraying itself; and, confequently, that these papers can be no other than the production of Shakypeare himself.

It may be expected, that fomething be faid by the editor, of the manner in which thefe papers came into his hands. He received them from his fon, Samuel William Henry Ireland, a young man then under 19 years of age; by whom the difcovery was accidently made at the houfe of a gentleman of confiderable property..

Amongft a mafs of family papers, the contracts between Shakspeare, Lowine, and Condelle, and the leafe, granted by him and Hemynge to Michael Frafer, which was first found, were difcovered; and foon afterwards the deed of gift to William Henry Ireland, (defcribed as the friend of Shakspeare, in confequense of his having faved his

Fife on the river Thames, when in ex treme danger of being drowned) and alto the deed of truft to John Hemynge, were difcovered. In purfuing this fearch he was fo fortunate as to meet with fome deeds very material to the interefts of this gentleman, and fuch as eftablifhed, beyond all doubt, his title to a confiderable property deeds of which this gentleman was as ignorant, as he was of his having in his poffeffion any of the Mss. of Shakspeare. In return for this fervice, added to the confideration that the young man bore the fame name and arms with the perfon who faved the life of Shakspeare, this gentleman promifed him every thing Felative to the prefent fubject, that had been or thould be found either in town, or at his hotfe in the country. At this houfe the principal part of the papers, together with a great variety of books, containing his Ms. notes, and three Ms. plays, with part of another, wete dif

covered.

Fortified as he is with the opinion of the unprejudiced and intelligent, the editor will not allow that it can be prefumption in him to fay, that he has no doubt of the truth and authenticity of that, which he lays before the public. Of this fact he is as fully fatisfied, es he is with the honour that has been ob ferved towards him throughout the whole communication made to him upon this fubject. So circumftanced, he fhould not feel juftified in importuning or any way requefting a gentle-1 man, to whom he is known only by obligation, and not perfonally, to fubject himself to the impertinence and licentioufnefs of literary curiofity and cavil, unless he fhould himself volunta-' rily come forward. But this is not all. It was not till after the mafs of papers received became voluminous, that Mr. Ireland had any idea of printing them he then applied to the original poffeffor for his permiffion fo to db; and this was not obtained but under the ftrongest injunction, that his name thould not appear -This injunction has, throughout all the ftages of this bufinefs, been uniformly declared and, as this gentleman has dealt moft liberally with the editor, he can confi *Hib. Mag. April, 1796.

dently fay, that in his turn he has with equal openness and candour conducted himfelf towards the public; to whom, immediately upon every communication made, every thing has been fubmitted without referve.'

Mr. I. appeals to the judgment of the antiquarian and the critic for the authenticity of these papers, and in order to obtain the fair and free fuffrage of the literary world, publishes this volume; at the fame time expreffing an intention, fhould the prefent publication meet with that encouragement, to which, as a national concern, it is entitled, to bring forward the remainder of thefe Mss. in two volumes, of the fame fize as the prefent, printed verbatim et literatim from the originals, at a price not exceeding, for both volumes, four guineas. Among the Mss. not copied in this volume are, a play entitled Vortigern, now preparing for reprefentation at Drury Lane theatre, and another, and more interesting hiftorical play, which has been difcovered among the other papers in the hand writing of Shakspeare, and will in due time be laid before the public. We have it not in our power to gratify our readers with any ipecimen of the fac fimilia, but will extract, for their amufement, the love-letter to Anne Hatherwaye.

As thou hafte alwaye founde mee toe my Worde mofte trewe fo thou shalt fee I have ftrictlye kepte my promyfeI praye you pertume thys mye poore Locke withe thye balmy Kyffes forre thenne indeede fhalle Kynges themmefelves bowe ande paye homage toe itté I doe affure thee no rude hande hathe knotted de itte thye Willys alone hathe done the worke Neytherre the gyldedde bawble thatte envyronnes the heade of Majeftye noe notre honourtes mofte weyghtye wulde give mee halfe the joye as didde thyffe mye lyttle worke forre thee The feelinge thatte dydde neareste approache untoe itte was thatte whiche commethe nyghefte untoe God meeke ande Gentle Charytey! forre thatte Virtue O Anna doe I love Xx

doe

doe I cheryfhe thee inne mye hearte for re thou arte afs a talle Cedarre ftretchynge forthe its branches ande fuccour ynge the fmallere Plants fromme nyppynge Winneterre orr the boy fteroufe Wyndes Farewelle toe Morrowe bye tymes I wille fee thee tille thenne Adewe fweete Love

Thyne everre
Wm Shakspeare

Anna Hatherrewaye

II. A Letter to George Steevens, Efq. containing a critical Examination of the Papers of Shak/peare; published by Mr Samuel Ireland. To which are added, Extracts from Vortigern. By James Boaden, Efq. Author of Fontainville Foreft, &c. 8vo. 72 pages. Price 2s. 6d.

Mr. Boaden, informs the public, that when he firft obtained a fight of these Mss. he thought them genuine, but that, upon farther examination, doubts arose, which terminated in a conclufion the reverfe of his first impreflion. The principal circumftances on which Mr. B. grounds his opinion are the following.

The orthography of Mr. Ireland's copy of the play of Lear differs widely from that of other books of the fame period, and particularly from the moft ancient printed copies of Shakspeare's plays.

It is not eafy to conceive that the players, in their alterations, could produce paffages fuperior to thofe in the correfponding parts of this Ms. Let the reader compare with the well known execration of Lear," Hear, nature, hear", &c. the following lines from Mr. Ireland's Lear.

"Itte maye hee foe karke Nature

heare deare Goddeffe

Sufpende thy purpose iffe thou wouldst made thys

Creature fruitefulle intoe herre wombe

conveye

Steryltye drye uppe inne herre the organnes offe Ianecreafe ande lette noe babe fprynge toe honorre herre butte iffe the mufte teeme create herre chylde of fpleene

ande lette itte channelle rynkles onne herre browe

of youthe with accente teares turne alle herre paynes

toe rude laughterre ande comtempte Thatte the maye

knowe howe fharp ande lyke a ferpentes toothe it is

toe have a thankleffe childe."

Paffages of diftinguished merit are not found in Mr. Ireland's play, which it is not very probable that the players fhould have interpolated. On the other hand many hold and hazardous interpolations are found in Mr. I.'s Lear, among which is the following speech of Kent.

Kente. "Thanks Sir butte I goe toe thatte unknowne Land Thatte chaynes each Pilgrim fafte within its foyle

Bye livynge menne moufte hunnd moufte dreadedde

Kente livd moufte true Kente dyes moufte lyke a manne."

With refpect to the fmaller papers; it is not probable that queen Elizabeth would addrefs Shakspeare under the familiar appellation of "goode Maf terre William :" the Globe theatre, of which he is addreffed as mafter, did not exift till 1596 [See the works of Taylor the water poet, and a contract to build a theatre in 1599, fimilar to the newly erected globe theatre], whereas Leicester, whom he was fummoned to entertain, died in 1588; the love-letter, and the letter to lord Southampton are utterly diffimilar in ftyle from the profe of the times, and from Shakipeare's other epiftles ;-the profeffion of faith is exquifite nonfenfe, as will appear from a fpecimen.

O Man, where are thy great, thy boafted attributes, buried, lolt for ever in cold DEATH. O Man, why attempteft thou to fearch the greatnefs of the Almighty? thou doft but lose thy labour, more thou attempteft, more thou art loft, till thy poor weak thoughts

are

are elevated to their fummit, and then as snow from the leafy Tree, drop and diftill themselves till they are no

more."

In the deed of gift to Ireland of the plays, Lear is given, before it was written, according to Mr. Malone.

Mr. B's. general conclufion is, that the Lear in Mr. Ireland's poffeffion bears undoubted marks of forgery, and that the fmaller pieces have neither the character of the poet's ftyle, nor the manners of the age, are at variance with ad mitted fact, and are inconfiftent with chronology.

The pamphlet concludes with fome fictitious extracts from Vortigern, in which the author attempts, not very fuccefsfully, to fhow, that it is not a difficult talk to imitate the ftyle of Shakspeare.

III. A Comparative Review of the Opinions of Mr. James Boaden (Editor of the Oracle, in February, March, and April, 1795; and of James Boaden, Efq. (Author of Fontainville Foreft, and of a Letter to George Stee vens, Efq.) in February, 1796, relative to the Shakspeare Mss. By a Friend to Confiftency. 8vo. 59 pages. Price 23.

THIS advocate for the Shakspeare Mss. fairly detects fome inconfiftencies between the accounts given of thefe Mss. in the Oracle, and in Mr. Boaden's letter to Mr. Steevens. This circumftance, however, does not affect the queftion of their authenticity. The fum of this reply to Mr. Boaden's ob, jections is as follows.

Mr. Ireland courts a rigorous fcrutiny. The question is not how Mr. I. came by the Mss., but whether they be genuine family reafons of delicacy might require the concealment of their fource. In the time of Shakspeare a great diverfity of orthography prevailed; but a vaft fuperfluity of letters was generally obfervable. It was a common practice for the printers to correct the orthography of Mss, as may be feen by comparing any manufcript with a print ed book of that age.-The drawings of Baffanio and Shylock perfectly refem

ble the inferior productions of the time. The fignatures have not the ftudied uniformity of a copyift, but the general refemblance of carelefs hafte. The number and variety of the Mss. afford a ftrong corroboration of their genuineness; even their defects confirm their authenticity; for a forger would not expofe himfelf to detection by unneceffary fuperfluities or omiffions. The moft unfinished paffages bear evident marks of the author's genius. -The earl of Leicester attended queen Elizabeth in the proceffion after the difperfion of the Spanish armada; it is probable it was, on this occafion, in 1588, that Shakspeare received the letter from the queen: the Globe theatre might have been built before that time, and yet be called newly erected in 1599; a promiffory note mentions work at the Globe by Heming in 1589.-Lear was probably written before Oct. 25, 1604, the date of the bequeft to Ireland; and this, even though Mr. Malone be right in his conjecture, that it was not write ten till after the acceffion of James I, for this happened March 24, 1603.

In conclufion, the writer of this pamphlet pronounces Mr. B. incompetent to the undertaking of deciding the queftion in difpute: he does not, however, prefume to affert the authenticity of the mss., till they fhall have fully paffed the ordeal of deep fcientific investigation; yet he ventures to fay, that the proofs corroborate each other, and give to the whole a spirit of conliftency and firmnefs, fcarcely ever attainable by falfehood.

IV. Vortigern under Confideration; with general remarks on Mr. James Boaden's Letter to George Steevens, Efq. relative to the Manufcripts, Drawings, Seals, &c. afcribed to ShakeSpeare, and in the Poffeffion of Samuel Ireland, Efq. 8vo. 67 pages.

THE ground, taken by this defender of the authenticity of Mr. Ireland's collection of Mss. afcribed to Shakspeare, is lower than that of the author of the preceding article; he only undertakes to fhow, that the play of Vortigern may be Shakspeare's. The general arXx 2

gumer