realities or conditions in which the limits of its natural realm wei'e neither defended nor denned. This comedy did not confine itself to the represen- tation of accurately described manners and exact characters, it sought no more to depict men and things in a manner laughable yet true to life, it became a fantastic and romantic spirit-work, 1 a refuge for all delightful improbabilities, which Fantasy, from idleness or inertness, freak or fancy, strings on the thinnest of threads, so as to form all kinds of varied combinations which delight and interest us, without being consistent with the judgment of reason. Pleasant pictures, surprises, jovial intrigues, excited curiosity, disappointed hopes, changes, witty problems, which lead to disguises. Such was the material of those inno- cent, easily combined plays. The fabric of the Spanish pieces, which the English people began to like, gave these plays all kinds of varied frames and patterns, which applied well to those chronicles and ballads from those French and Italian novels which, next to romances of chivalry, were the favourite reading of the public. It is intelligible how this rich mine and this easy style soon attracted the attention of Shakespeare. No 1 Geisteswerk, or work of genius. The very Hibernian mixture of similes in this sentence is neither the fault of the translator, much less of Heine, but of Guizot himself. A spirit- work refuge for improbabilities, strung lVn beads, could only occur to the sublime genius of an academician. Translator.
