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in, and very handfomely apply'd to her. She was fo well pleas'd with that admirable character of Falstaff, in the two parts of Henry the fourth, that she commanded him to continue it for one Play more, and to fhew him in love. This is faid to be the occafion of his writing The Merry Wives of Windfor. How well the was obey'd, the play it self is an admirable proof. Upon this occafion it may not be improper to obferve, that this part of Falstaff is faid to have been written originally under the name of * Oldcastle; fome of that family being then remaining, the Queen was pleas'd to command him to alter it; upon which he made ufe of Falstaff. The present offence was indeed avoided; but I don't know whether the Author may not have been fomewhat to blame in his fecond choice, fince it is certain that Sir John Falstaff, who was a Knight of the garter, and a Lieutenant-general, was a name of distinguish'd merit in the wars in France in Henry the fifth's and Henry the fixth's times. What grace foever the Queen conferr'd upon him, it was not to her only he ow'd the fortune which the reputation of his wit made. He had the honour to meet with many great and uncommon marks of favour and friendship from the Earl of Southampton, famous in the hiftories of that time for his friendship to the unfortunate Earl of Effex. It was to that noble Lord that he dedicated his Poem of Venus and Adonis. There is one inftance so fingular in the magnificence of this Patron of Shakespear's, that if I had not been affur'd that the story was handed down by Sir William D'Avenant, who was probably very well acquainted with his affairs, I should not have ventur'd to have inferted, that my Lord Southamp ton at one time gave him a thousand pounds, to enable him to go through with a purchase which he heard he had a mind A bounty very great, and very rare at any time, and almoft equal to that profuse generofity the prefent age has fhewn to French Dancers and Italian Singers.

to.

What particular habitude or friendships he contracted with private men, I have not been able to learn, more than that every one who had a true taste of merit, and could diftinguish men, had generally a juft value and efteem for him.

* See the Epilogue to Henry 4th.

1

His exceeding candor and good-nature muft certainly have inclin'd all the gentler part of the world to love him, as the power of his wit oblig'd the men of the moft delicate knowledge and polite learning to admire him.

His acquaintance with Ben Johnson began with a remarkable piece of humanity and good-nature; Mr. Johnson, who was at that time altogether unknown to the world, had offer'd one of his Plays to the Players, in order to have it acted; and the perfons into whofe hands it was put, after having turn'd it carelefly and fupercilioufly over, were just upon returning it to him with an ill-natur'd answer, that it would be of no fervice to their Company; when Shakespear luckily caft his eye upon it, and found fomething fo well in it as to engage him first to read it through, and afterwards to recommend Mr. Johnson and his writings to the publick. Johnson was certainly a very good fcholar, and in that had the advantage of Shakespear; tho' at the fame time I believe it must bee allow'd, that what Nature gave the latter, was more than a balance for what Books had given the former; and the judgment of a great man upon this occafion was, I think, very juft and proper. In a converfation between Sir John Suckling, Sir William D'Avenant, Endymion Porter, Mr. Hales of Eaton, and Ben Johnson; Sir John Suckling, who was a profefs'd admirer of Shakespear, had undertaken his defence against Ben Jobnfon with fome warmth; Mr. Hales, who had fat ftill for fome time, told 'em, That if Mr. Shakespear had not read the Ancients, be bad likewife not folen any thing from 'em; and that if he would produce any one Topick finely treated by any of them, be would undertake to fhew fomething upon the fame fubjcët at least as well written by Shakespear.

The latter part of his life was spent, as all men of good fenfe will wish theirs may be, in ease, retirement, and the converfation of his friends. He had the good fortune to gather an eftate equal to his occafion, and, in that, to his with; and is faid to have spent some years before his death at his native Stratford. His pleasurable wit, and good-nature, engag'd him in the acquaintance, and entitled him to the friendship of the gentlemen of the neighbourhood. Amongst them, it is a story almost still remember'd in that

country,

country, that he had a particular intimacy with Mr. Combe, an old gentleman noted thereabouts for his wealth and ufury : It happen'd, that in a pleafant converfation amongst their common friends, Mr. Combe told Shakespear in a laughing manner, that he fancy'd he intended to write his Epitaph, if he happen'd to out-live him; and fince he could not know what might be faid of him when he was dead, he defir'd it might be done immediately: Upon which Shakespear gave him these four verses.

Ten in the hundred lyes here ingrav'd,

'Tis a hundred to ten his foul is not fav'd:
If any man afk, Who lyes in this tomb?

Oh! ob! quoth the devil, 'tis my John-a-Combe.

But the fharpness of the Satire is faid to have fung the man fo feverely, that he never forgave it.

He dy'd in the 53d year of his age, and was bury'd on the north fide of the chancel, in the great Church at Stratford, where a monument, as engray'd in the plate, is plac'd in the wall. On his Grave-ftone underneath is,

Good friend, for Jesus' fake forbear
To dig the duft inclofed bere,

Bleft be the man that spares these ftones,
And surft be be that moves my bones.

He had three daughters, of which two liv'd to be marry'd; Judith, the elder, to one Mr. Thomas Quiney, by whom the had three Sons, who all dy'd without children; and SuJannab, who was his favourite, to Dr. John Hall, a physician of good reputation in that country. She left one child only, a daughter, who was marry'd first to Thomas Nash, Efq; and afterwards to Sir John Bernard of Abbington, but dy'd likewife without issue.

This is what I could learn of any note, either relating to himself or family: The character of the man is best seen in his writings. But fince Ben Johnson has made a fort of an effay towards it in his Difcoveries, I will give it in his words,

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"I remember the Players have often mention'd it as an honour to Shakespear, that in writing (whatsoever he penn'd) he never blotted out a line. My answer hath "been, Would be bad blotted a thoufand! which they

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thought a malevolent fpeech. I had not told pofterity "this, but for their ignorance, who chofe that circum"ftance to commend their friend by, wherein he most "faulted: and to justify mine own candor, (for I lov'd the 86 man, and do honour his memory, on this fide idolatry, as much as any.) He was, indeed, honeft, and of an 66 open and free nature, had an excellent fancy, brave no❝tions, and gentle expreffions; wherein he flow'd with "that facility, that fometimes it was neceffary he should "be ftopp'd: Sufflaminandus erat, as Auguftus faid of "Haterius. His wit was in his own power, would the "rule of it had been fo too. Many times he fell into "thofe things which could not efcape laughter; as when "he faid in the perfon of Cafar, one fpeaking to him,

"Cæfar thou doft me wrong.

"He reply'd:

"Cæfar did never wrong, but with juft caufe.

"and fuch like, which were ridiculous. But he redeem'd "his vices with his virtues: There was ever more in him 66 to be prais'd than to be pardon'd.

As for the paffage which he mentions out of Shakespear, there is fomewhat like it in Julius Cæfar, but without the abfurdity; nor did I ever meet with it in any edition that I have feen, as quoted by Mr. Johnson. Befides his plays in this edition, there are two or three afcrib'd to him by Mr. Langbain, which I have never feen, and know nothing of. He writ likewife Venus and Adonis, and Tarquin and Lucrece, in ftanzas, which have been printed in a late collection of Poems. As to the character given of him by Ben Johnson, there is a good deal true in it: But I believe it may be as well exprefs'd by what Horace fays of the first Remans,

who

who wrote Tragedy upon the Greek models, (or indeed tranflated 'em) in his epistle to Auguftus.

Natura fublimis & acer,

Nam fpirat Tragicum fatis & feliciter Audet,
Sed turpem putat in Chartis metuitque Lituram.

As I have not propos'd to myself to enter into a large and compleat collection upon Shakespear's Works, fo I will only take the liberty, with all due fubmiffion to the judg→ ments of others, to obferve fome of those things 1 have been pleas'd with in looking him over.

His Plays are properly to be diftinguifh'd only into Comedies and Tragedies. Thofe which are called Hiftories, and even fome of his Comedies, are really Tragedies, with a run or mixture of Comedy amongst 'em. That way of Tragi-comedy was the common mistake of that age, and is indeed become fo agreeable to the English taste, that tho' the feverer Criticks among us cannot bear it, yet the generality of our audiences feem to be better pleas'd with it than with an exact Tragedy. The Merry Wives of Windfor, the Comedy of Errors, and the Taming of the Shrew, are all pure Comedy; the reft, however they are call'd, have fomething of both kinds. 'Tis not very easy to determine which way of writing he was most excellent in. There is certainly a great deal of entertainment in his comical humours; and tho' they did not then ftrike at all ranks of people, as the Satire of the present age has taken the liberty to do, yet there is a pleafing and a well-distinguish'd variety in those characters which he thought fit to meddle with. Falftaff is allow'd by every body to be a mafter-piece; the Character is always well-fuftain'd, tho' drawn out into the length of three Plays; and even the account of his death, given by his old landlady Mrs. Quickly, in the first act of Henry V. tho' it be extremely natural, is yet as diverting as any part of his life. If there be any fault in the draught he has made of this lewd old fellow, it is, that tho' he has made him a thief, lying, cowardly, vain-glorious, and in fhort every way vicious, yet he has given him so much wit as to make him almost too agreeable; and I don't know whether

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