T feems to be a kind of respect due to the mem IT ory of excellent men, especially of those whom their wit and learning have made famous, to deliver fome account of themselves, as well as their works, to posterity. For this reason, how fond do we fee fome people of discovering any little personal story of the great men of antiquity! Their families, the common accidents of their lives, and even their shape, make, and features have been the fubject of critical enquiries. How trifling foever this curiofity may seem to be, it is certainly very natural; and we are hardly fatisfied with an account of any remarkable person, till we have heard him defcribed even to the very cloaths he wears. As to what relates to men of letters, the knowledge of an author may sometimes conduce to the better understanding his book and though the works of Mr. Shakspere may feem to many not to want a comment, yet I fancy some little account of the man himself may not be thought improper to go along with them. 5 : 392 a 2 (RECAP) |