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done towards their elucidation, during that period[1], than perhaps in a century before. All the ancient copies of his plays, hitherto diſcovered, have been collated with the moſt ſcrupulous accuracy. The meaneſt books have been carefully examined, only becauſe they were of the age in which he lived, and might happily throw a light on ſome forgotten cuſtom, or obſolete phraſeology: and, this object being ſtill kept in view, the toil of wading through all ſuch reading as was never read, has been chearfully endured, becauſe no labour was thought too great, that might enable us to add one new laurel to the father of our drama. Almoſt every circumſtance that tradition or hiſtory has preſerved relative to him or his works, has been inveſtigated, and laid before the publick; and the avidity with which all communications of this kind have been received, ſufficiently proves that the time expended in the purſuit has not been wholly miſemployed.
However, after the moſt diligent enquiries, very few particulars have been recovered, reſpecting his private life, or literary hiſtory: and while it has been the endeavour of all his editors and commentators, to illuſtrate his obſcurities, and to regulate and correct his text, no attempt has been made to trace the progreſs and order of his plays. Yet ſurely it is no incurious ſpeculation, to mark the gradations[2]
NOTES.
- ↑ Within the period here mentioned, the commentaries of Warburton, Edwards, Heath, Johnſon, Tyrwhitt, Farmer, and Steevens, have been publiſhed.
- ↑ It is not pretended that a regular ſcale of gradual improvement is here preſented to the publick; or that, if even Shakſpeare himſelf had left us a chronological liſt of his dramas, it would exhibit ſuch a ſcale. All that is meant, is, that, as his knowledge increaſed, and as he became more converſant with the ſtage and with life, his performances in general were written more happily and with greater art; or (to uſe the words of Dr. Johnſon) “that however favoured by nature, he could only impart what he had learned, and as he muſt encreaſe his ideas, like other mortals, by gradual acquiſition, he, like them, grew wiſer as he grew older, could diſplay life better as he knew it more, and inſtruct with more efficacy, as he was himſelf more amply inſtructed.” Of this opinion alſo was Mr. Pope. “It muſt be obſerved, (ſays he) that when his performances had merited the protection of his prince, and when the encouragement of the court had ſucceeded to that of the town, the works of his riper years are manifeſtly raiſed above thoſe of his former.—And I make
