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works, printed in 1616; in which caſe, though it ſhould be admitted to have been a ſneer at Shakſpeare, it would not affect the date now attributed to Twelfth Night. It is certain that Jonſon made alterations in ſome of his pieces, when he collected and reprinted them. Every Man in his Humour, in particular, underwent an entire reform; all the perſons of the drama, to whom Engliſh names were given on its republication, having in the former edition appeared as natives of Italy, in which country the ſcene originally was bid.
If the dates here aſſigned to our author’s plays ſhould not, in every inſtance, bring with them conviction of their propriety, let it be remembered, that this is a ſubject on which conviction cannot at this day be obtained: and that the obſervations now ſubmitted to the publick, do not pretend to any higher title than that of “An Attempt to aſcertain the chronology of the dramas of Shakſpeare.”
Should the errors and deficiencies of this eſſay invite others to deeper and more ſucceſsful reſearches, the end propoſed by it will be attained: and he who offers the preſent arrangement of Shakſpeare’s dramas, will be happy to transfer the ſlender portion of credit that may reſult from the novelty of his undertaking, to ſome future claimant, who may be ſupplied with ampler materials, and endued with a ſuperior degree of antiquarian ſagacity.
To ſome, he is not unapprized, this enquiry will appear a tedious and barren ſpeculation. But there are many, it is hoped, who think nothing that relates to the brighteſt ornament of the Engliſh nation, wholly unintereſting; who will be gratified by obſerving, how the genius of our great poet gradually expanded itſelf, till, like his own Ariel, it flamed amazement in every quarter, blazing forth with a luſtre, that has not hitherto been equalled, and perhaps will never be ſurpaſſed.
