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tells us in a note at the end of William of Worcester, that he had seen " a MS. in the nature of a play or interlude, intitled, The Booke of Sir Thomas Moore."4

And in fact, there is fuch an old anonymous play in Mr. Pope's lift. "A pleasant conceited Hiftory, called, The Taming of a Shrew—sundry times acted by the Earl of Pembroke his Servants." Which feems to have been republifhed by the remains of that company in 1607, when Shakspeare's copy

♦ I know indeed, there is extant a very old poem, in black letter, to which it might have been fuppofed Sir John Harrington alluded, had he not spoken of the discovery as a new one, and recommended it as worthy the notice of his countrymen: I am perfuaded the method in the old bard will not be thought either. At the end of the fixth volume of Leland's Itinerary, we are favoured by Mr. Hearne with a Macaronick poem on a battle at Oxford between the scholars and the townfmen: on a line of which,

"Invadunt aulas bychefon cum forth geminantes,” our commentator very wifely and gravely remarks: " Bychefon, id eft, fon of a byche, ut è codice Rawlinfoniano edidi. Eo nempe modo quo et olim whorfon dixerunt pro fon of a whore. Exempla habemus cum alibi tum in libello quodam lepido & antiquo (inter codices Seldenianos in Bibl. Bodl.) qui infcribitur: The Wife lapped in Morel's Skyn: or the Taming of a Shrew. Ubi pag. 36, fic legimus:

"They wrestled togyther thus they two

"So long that the clothes afunder went.

"And to the ground he threwe her tho,

"That cleane from the backe her smock he rent. "In every hand a rod he gate,

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"And layd upon her a right good pace:

Afking of her what game was that,

"And she cried out, Horefon, alas, alas.”

Et pag. 42:

"Come downe now in this feller fo deepe,
"And morels skin there fhall you fee:
"With many a rod that hath made me to weepe,
"When the blood ranne downe fait by my knee.
"The mother this beheld, and cryed out, alas:
"And ran out of the feller as fhe had been wood.
"She came to the table where the company was,

"And fayd out, horefon, I will fee thy harte blood."

appeared at the Black-Friars or the Globe.-Nor let this feem derogatory from the character of our poet. There is no reafon to believe, that he wanted to claim the play as his own; it was not even printed till fome years after his death: but he merely revived it on his ftage as a manager.-Ravenscroft affures us, that this was really the cafe with Titus Andronicus; which, it may be observed, hath not Shakspeare's name on the title-page of the only edition published in his life-time. Indeed, from every internal mark, I have not the leaft doubt but this horrible piece was originally written by the author of the lines thrown into the mouth of the player in Hamlet, and of the tragedy of Locrine: which likewife from fome affiftance perhaps given to his friend, hath been unjustly and ignorantly charged upon Shakspeare.

But the beet-anchor holds faft: Shakspeare himfelf hath left fome tranflations from Ovid. "The Epiftles," fays one, "of Paris and Helen, give a fufficient proof of his acquaintance with that poet:' "And it may be concluded," fays another," that he was a competent judge of other authors, who wrote in the fame language."

This hath been the univerfal cry, from Mr. Pope himself to the criticks of yesterday. Poffibly, however, the gentlemen will hefitate a moment, if we tell them, that Shakspeare was not the author of thefe tranflations. Let them turn to a forgotten book, by Thomas Heywood, called, Britaines Troy, printed by W. Jaggard in 1609, fol. and they will find thefe identical Epiftles, "which being fo pertinent to our hiftorie," fays Heywood, "I thought neceffarie to tranflate."-How then came they afcribed to Shakspeare? We will tell them that likewife. The fame voluminous writer published an Apology for Actors, 4to. 1612, and in

an Appendix directed to his new printer, Nic. Okes, he accufes his old one, Jaggard, of " taking the two Epiftles of Paris to Helen and Helen to Paris, and printing them in a lefs volume, and under the name of another:-but he was much offended with Mafter Jaggard, that altogether unknowne to him, he had prefumed to make fo bold with his name."s In the fame work of Heywood are all the other tranflations, which have been printed in the modern editions of the poems of Shakspeare.

You now hope for land: We have feen through little matters, but what must be done with a whole book?-In 1751, was reprinted, "A compendious or briefe Examination of certayne ordinary Complaints of diuers of our Countrymen in these our Days: which although they are in fome Parte unjuft and friuolous, yet are they all by way of Dialogue throughly debated and difcuffed by William Shakspeare, Gentleman." 8vo.

This extraordinary piece was originally published in 4to. 1581, and dedicated by the author, "To the most vertuous and learned lady, his most deare and foveraigne princeffe, Elizabeth; being inforced by her Majefties late and fingular clemency in pardoning certayne his unduetifull mifdemeanour." And by the modern editors, to the late King; as "a treatife compofed by the most extenfive and fertile genius, that ever any age or nation produced."

5 It may feem little matter of wonder, that the name of Shakfpeare should be borrowed for the benefit of the bookfeller; and by the way, as probably for a play as a poem: but modern criticks may be furprifed perhaps at the complaint of John Hall, that " certayne chapters of the Proverbes, tranflated by him into English metre, 1550, had before been untruely entituled to be the doyngs of Mayiter Thomas Sternhold."

Here we join iffue with the writers of that excellent though very unequal work, the Biographia Britannica: " If," say they," this piece could be written by our poet, it would be abfolutely decifive in the difpute about his learning; for many

6 I must however correct a remark in the Life of Spenfer, which is impotently levelled at the first criticks of the age. It is obferved from the correfpondence of Spenfer and Gabriel Harvey, that the plan of The Fairy Queen, was laid, and part of it executed in 1580, three years before the Gierufalemme Liberata was printed: hence appears the impertinence of all the apologies for his choice of Ariofto's manner in preference of Taffo's!"

But the fact is not true with refpect to Taffo. Manfo and Niceron inform us, that his poem was published, though imperfectly, in 1574; and I myself can affure the biographer, that I have met with at least fix other editions, preceding his date for its firft publication. I fufpect, that Baillet is accountable for this mistake: who in the Jugemens des Scavans, Tom. III. p. 399, mentions no edition previous to the quarto, Venice, 1583.

It is a question of long ftanding, whether a part of The Fairy Queen hath been loft, or whether the work was left unfinished: which may effectually be answered by a fingle quotation. William Browne published fome Poems in fol. 1616, under the name of Britannia's Paftorals," esteemed then," fays Wood, written in a fublime ftrain, and for fubject amorous and very pleafing."."-In one of which, Book II. Song 1, he thus speaks of Spenfer :

"He fung th' heroicke knights of faiery land
"In lines fo elegant, of fuch command,

"That had the Thracian plaid but halfe fo well,
"He had not left Eurydice in hell.

"But e're he ended his melodious fong,

"An hoft of angels flew the clouds among,

"And rapt this fwan from his attentive mates,

"To make him one of their affociates

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"In heauens faire quire: where now he fings the praise "Of him that is the first and laft of daies."

It appears, that Browne was intimate with Drayton, Jonson, and Selden, by their poems prefixed to his book: he had therefore good opportunities of being acquainted with the fact abovementioned. Many of his poems remain in MS. We have in our library at Emmanuel à mafque of his, prefented at the Inner Temple, Jan. 13, 1614. The fubject is the ftory of Ulyffes and

quotations appear in it from the Greek and Latin clafficks."

The concurring circumftances of the name, and the misdemeanor, which is fuppofed to be the old ftory of deer-fealing, seem fairly to challenge our poet for the author: but they hefitate.-His claim may appear to be confuted by the date 1581, when Shakspeare was only feventeen, and the long experience, which the writer talks of.-But I will not keep you in fufpenfe: the book was not written by Shakspeare.

Strype, in his Annals, calls the author sOME learned man, and this gave me the first suspicion. I knew very well, that honest John (to use the language of Sir Thomas Bodley) did not wafte his time with fuch baggage books as plays and poems; yet I must suppose, that he had heard of the name of Shakspeare. After a while I met with the original edition. Here in the title-page, and at the end of the dedication, appear only the initials, W. S. Gent. and prefently I was informed by Anthony Wood, that the book in queftion was written, not by William Shakspeare, but by William Stafford, Gentleman: which at once accounted for the misdemeanour in the dedication. For Stafford had been concerned at that time, and was indeed afterward, as Cainden and the other annalifts inform us, with fome of the confpirators against Elizabeth; which he properly calls his unduetifull behaviour.

I hope by this time, that any one open to conviction may be nearly satisfied; and I will promise to give you on this head very little more trouble.

7 Fafti, 2d edit. v. 1, 208.-It will be feen on turning to the former edition, that the latter part of the paragraph belongs to another Stafford.-I have fince obferved, that Wood is not the firft, who hath given us the true author of the pamphlet.

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