But howfoever thou purfu'ft this act,
Taint not thy mind, nor let thy foul contrive
Against thy mother aught; leave her to heav'n,
And to thofe thorns that in her bofom lodge,
To prick and fting her.-
Vol. 8. p. 106.
This is to diitinguish rightly between horror and terror.
The latter is a proper paffion of tragedy; but the for-
mer ought always to be carefully avoided. And.cer-
tainly no dramatic writer ever fucceeded better in raising
terror in the minds of an audience than Shakespear has
done. The whole tragedy of Macbeth, but more espe-
cially the fcene where the King is murdered, in the fe-
cond act, as well as this play, is a noble proof of that
manly fpirit with which he writ; and both fhew how
powerful he was in giving the ftrongest motions to our
fouls that they are capable of. I cannot leave Hamlet,
without taking notice of the advantage with which we
have feen this masterpiece of Shakespear diftinguish it-
felf upon the ftage, by Mr Betterton's fine performance
of that part: A man, who though he had no other
good qualities, as he has a great many, muft have made
his way into the esteem of all men of letters by this on-
ly excellency. No man is better acquainted with Shake-
fpear's manner of expreffion; and indeed he has stu-
died him fo well, and is fo much a mafter of him, that
whatever part of his he performs, he does it as if it had
been written on purpose for him, and that the author
had exactly conceived it as he plays it.
I must own a
particular obligation to him, for the moft confiderable
part of the paffages relating to this life, which I have
here tranfmitted to the public; his veneration for the
memory of Shakefpear having engaged him to make a
journey into Warwickshire, on purpose to gather up
what remains he could of a name for which he had fo
great a veneration,
The following inftrument was tranfmitted to the editors of Shakespear's works, by John Anftis, Efq; Garter King at Arms. It is marked, G. 13. P. 349.
There is alfo a manuscript in the heralds office, marked W. 2. p. 276.; where notice is taken of this coat, and that the person to whom it was granted, had borne magiftracy at Stratford upon Avon.
T° O all and fingular noble and gentlemen of all
eftates and degrees, bearing arms, to whom these presents shall come: William Dethick, Garter Principal King of Arms of England, and William Camden, alias Clarencieulx, King of Arms for the fouth, eaft, and weft parts of this realm, fend greetings. Know ye, that in all nations and kingdoms the record and remembrance of the valiant facts and virtuous difpofitions of worthy men, have been made known and divulged by certain fhiel's of arms and tokens of chivalry; the grant or teftimony whereof apperteinith unto us, by virtue of our offices from the Queen's Moft Excellent Majefty, and her Highnefs's moft noble and victorious progenitors: Wherefore being folicited, and by credible report informed, that John Shakefpere, now of Stratford upon Avon, in the county of Warwick, Gentleman, whofe great-grandfather, for his faithful and approved fervice to the late moft prudent prince, King Henry VII.. of famous memory, was advanced, and rewarded with lands and tenements, given to him, in those parts of Warwickshire, where they have continued by fome defcents in good reputation and credit; and for that the faid John Shakefpere having married the daughter, and one of the heirs of Robert Arden of Wellingcote in the faid county, and alfo produced this his ancient coat of arms, heretofore affigned to him whilst he was her Majefty's officer and bailiff of that town: in confideration of the premiffes, and for the encouragement of his pofterity, unto whom fuch blazon of arms and atchievements of inheritance from their faid mother, by the aneient cuftom and laws of arms, may lawfully defcend;,
we the faid Garter and Clarencieulx have affigned, granted, and confirmed, and by these prefents exemplified unto the faid' John Shakefpere, and to his pofterity, that shield and coat of arms, viz. In a field of gold upon a bend fables a fpear of the firft, the point upward, headed argent; and for his creft or cognifance, Afalcon, Or, with his wings displayed, ftanding on a wreath of his colours, fupporting a spear armed headed, or fteeled filver, fixed upon an helmet with mantles and taffels ; as more plainly may appear depicted in this margent : and we have likewise impaled the fame with the ancient arms of the faid Arden of Wellingcote; fignifying thereby, that it may and fhall be lawful for the faid John Shakefpere, Gent. to bear and use the same shield of arms, fingle or impaled, as aforefaid, during his natural life; and that it fhall be lawful for his children, iffue, and pofterity, lawfully begotten, to bear, ufe, and quarter, and fhew forth the fame, with their due differences, in all lawful warlike feats and civil ufe or exercifes, according to the laws of arms, and custom that to gentlemen belongeth, without let or interruption of any perfon or perfons for ufe or bearing the fame. In witness and teftimony whereof, we have fubfcribed our names, and faftened the feals of our offices. the office of arms, London, the the forty-fecond year of the reign of our Moft Gracious Sovereign Lady, Elifabeth, by the Grace of God, Queen of England, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c. 1599.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEAR, and what he hath left us.
O draw no envy, Shakespear, on thy name,
Am I thus ample to thy book, and fame;
While I confefs thy writings to be fuch,
As neither man nor mufe can praife too much.
'Tis true, and all mens' fuffrage. But thefe wayes
Were not the paths I meant unto thy praise :
For feelieft Ignorance on thefe may light,
Which, when it founds at best, but echoes right:
Or blind Affection, which doth ne'er advance
The truth, but gropes, and urgeth all by chance;
Or crafty Malice might pretend this praife,
And think to ruin where it feem'd to raife.
Thefe are, as fome infamous bawd or whore
Should praife a matron. What could hurt her more?
But thou art proof against them, and indeed
Above th' ill fortune of them, or the need.
I therefore will begin. Soul of the age!
Th' applaufe! delight! the wonder of our stage!
My Shakespear, rife. I will not lodge thee by
Chaucer or Spencer, or bid Beaumont lie
A little further to make thee a room :
Thou art a monument without a tomb b;
And art alive ftill, while thy book doth live,
And we have wits to read, and praise to give.
That I not mix thee fo, my brain excufes ;
I mean with great, but difproportion'd muses:
For if I thought my judgment were of years,
Ifhould commit thee furely with thy peers,
And tell how far thou didst our Lily outshine,
Or Sporting Kid, or Marlow's mighty line.
And though thou hadft fmall Latin, and lefs Greek,
From thence to honour thee, I would not feek
For names; but call forth thund'ring Æfchylus,
Euripides, and Sophocles to us,
Pacuvius, Accius, him of Cordova dead,
To live again, to hear thy bufkin tread,
And shake a stage or, when thy focks were on,
Leave thee alone for the comparison
Of all that infolent Greece or haughty Rome
Sent forth, or fince did from their afhes come.
Triumph, my Britain, thou haft one to show,
To whom all fcenes of Europe homagè owe.
He was not of an age, but for all time!
And all the mufes ftill were in their prime,
When like Apollo he came forth to warm
Our ears, or like a Mercury to charm!
Nature herself was proud of his defigns,
And joy'd to wear the dressing of his lines!
Which were fo richly fpun, and woven fo fit,
As, fince, he will vouchsafe no other wit.
The merry Greek, tart Aristophanes,
Neat Terence, witty Plautus, now not pleases
But antiquated, and deserted lie,
As they were not of Nature's family.
Yet muft I not give Nature all: thy Art,
My gentle Shakespear, muft enjoy a part.
For though the poet's matter Nature be,
His Art doth give the fashion. And, that he
Who cafts to write a living line, must fweat,
(Such as thine are), and strike the fecond heat
Upon the mufes anvile; turn the fame,
And himself with it, that he thinks to frame ;
Or for the laurel, he may gain a fcorn,
For a good poet's made, as well as born.
And fuch wert thou. Look how the father's face
Lives in his iffue, even fo the race
Of Shakespear's mind and manners brightly shines
In his well torned and true filed lines?
In each of which he seems to shake a lance,
As brandifh'd at the eyes of Ignorance.
Sweet fwan of Avon! what a fight it were
To fee thee in our water yet appear,
And make thofe flights upon the banks of Thames,
That fo did take Eliza, and our James!
But ftay, I fee thee in the hemifphere
Advanc'd, and made a conftellation there!
Shine forth, thou ftar of poets, and with rage,
Or influence, chide, or cheer the drooping ftage;
Which, fince thy flight from hence, hath mourn'd like night,
And defpairs day, but for thy volume's light.
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