brawls and cavillings. Party spirit was unknown to him; polemics distasteful. His works betray neither political nor religious bias; yet they teach, with the force almost of inspiration, the duties we owe to society, and the homage that is due to religion. The advantages and the disadvantages of the democratic, the aristocratic, and the monarchical elements, both in a state and in men, are treated by him with the utmost impartiality. He fights a noble battle against class prejudices. He delights in showing sympathy for the poor and the destitute, and "he makes the mighty of the earth, who have forgotten poverty, remember it in their own adversity." His patriotic love for "our seawalled garden,"

"This precious stone set in the silver sea,"

and the grand words in which he has given expression to the sentiment, have quickened the pulses of hundreds of thousands of his countrymen. His religion is catholic, not sectarian. He teaches that the service of God is above the service of all lords and princes. He never alludes to the great truths of Christianity except with the most profound revWhen Angelo says to Isabella—

erence.

"Your brother is a forfeit of the law,"

the answer is,

"Alas! alas!

Why, all the souls that were, were forfeit once,
And HE that might the 'vantage best have took,
Found out the remedy. How would you be

If He which is the top of judgment should
But judge you as you are? O, think on that,
And mercy then will breathe within your lips,
Like man new made."

Shakespeare contented himself," says his loving and intelligent commentator, Mr. Cowden Clarke, "with the simple mission of teaching mankind a cheerful reliance upon the mercy and benevolence of our good God; to be just and kind to all men; to seek out the good in things evil, and not, after the new philosophy, to ferret out whatever of evil may lurk in things good. He strove to make men wiser and better, and therefore happier."

May we not imagine him once more among the woods round Stratford, or upon the turfy uplands, weaving into shape the scenes of "Macbeth" or "Julius Cæsar," or filling his imagination with "Cleopatra," "Coriolanus," or "Othello?" May we not follow him home to his wife and children, all unconscious of his fine frenzies, his lofty meditations, but looking on with smiles as he takes his granddaughter in his arms, and remembering, perhaps, his lines,

"Thy grandsire lov'd thee well;

Many a time he danc'd thee on his knee,

Sung thee asleep, his loving breast thy pillow;

Many a matter hath he told to thee

Meet and agreeing with thy infancy?”

In such scenes as these may we not fancy him asking himself the question,

"Hath not old custom made this life more sweet
Than that of painted pomp? Are not these woods
More free from peril than the envious court?"
Or saying to some pleasant neighbour,-
"So we'll live,

And pray, and sing, and tell old tales, and laugh
At gilded butterflies, and hear poor rogues
Talk of court news; and we'll talk with them too,
Who loses and who wins; who's in, who's out;
And take upon's the mystery of things,

As if we were God's spies?"

During the four last years of Shakespeare's life few traces of him can be discovered. In 1614 there was a great fire in Stratford, which, aided by a strong wind, consumed in less than two hours fifty-four dwelling-houses; but New Place was not one of them. On the 10th of February, 1616, which was to be the year in which he was to be withdrawn from the world, his younger daughter, Judith, was married to Mr. Thomas Quiney. This event, with other considerations, probably led to his making his Will, which was executed on the 25th March following; he being then "in perfect health and memory."

His Will is one of the very few private and personal writings of Shakespeare which have come down to us, and it has therefore been thought right to give it entire at the end of this Introduction. The following particulars of the document are worthy of note:-First, The devout spirit in which it commences,-"I commend my soul into the

hands of God my Creator, hoping and assuredly believing, through the only merits of Jesus Christ my Saviour, to be made partaker of life everlasting; and my body to the earth whereof it is made." Second, The bequest of a handsome marriage portion to his daughter Judith, and a further bequest of the like amount in the event of her surviving three years from the date of the Will, which she did. Third, A legacy of twenty pounds (equal to about £100 of present money) to his sister Joan Hart, together with all his wearing apparel, and the house in which she dwelt. Fourth, Small legacies to each of Joan Hart's three sons. Fifth, All his plate, except his "broad silver and gilt bowl," to his granddaughter Elizabeth Hall. Sixth, A legacy of a sum of money to the poor of Stratford; of his sword to Mr. Thomas Combe, who was then in his twenty-seventh year, and was the son of an old acquaintance, John Combe; and of ten small sums to ten intimate friends, "to buy them rings," in memoriam, among which friends were Hamlet or Hamnet Sadler, who had been godfather to Shakespeare's only son, William Walker, to whom Shakespeare had himself been godfather,-Anthony Nash, the father of Mr. Thomas Nash, who afterwards married the poet's granddaughter, and "my fellows," that is, his brother actors, John Hemings, Richard Burbage, and Henry Condell. Seventh, A bequest to his daughter Susannah Hall of "that capital messuage or tenement" called the New Place, together with other two tenements in Henley Street,

and "all my barns, stables, orchards, gardens, lands, tenements, and hereditaments whatsoever," in Stratford-upon-Avon, Old Stratford, Bishopton, and Welcombe, and the messuage or tenement "in the Blackfriars in London, near the Wardrobe," and to the oldest lawful son of her body, whom failing, the next oldest in regular succession; whom all failing, to his granddaughter Elizabeth Hall, and the heirs male of her body; whom failing, to his daughter Judith, and the heirs male of her body; whom failing, to his heirs whatsoever. Eighth, A legacy to his wife of his "second-best bed with the furniture." Ninth, A legacy of his "broad silver gilt bowl" to his daughter Judith; and, Tenth, A bequest of all the rest of his "goods, chattels, leases, plate, jewels, and household stuff whatsoever," after payment of his debts, and legacies, and funeral expenses, to his son-in-law John Hall, who, along with his wife Susannah, are appointed executors.

The leading feature of this Will is the desire manifested in it to found a family by a strict entail of almost the whole real estate in favour, first, of the heirs male of his elder, and, next, of his younger daughter, his only son having predeceased. This desire, however, was frustrated by the death of Susannah Hall with no issue except Elizabeth, who died childless, and by all Judith Quiney's children predeceasing her, so that the estates were scattered after the second generation.-There is another peculiarity of the Will which has attracted even more attention-namely, that it bequeathes to