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occasions, high poetic sanction. Gray, who knew the value of this verse, has inserted it in one of his elegant poems:

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Mr. Steevens, upon a general revisal of The Comedy of Errors, tells us, he is convinced the whole of it was not written by Shakspeare; an observation which, though delivered, apparently, with the apprehension of risk, might safely be applied to almost any, even the best play in the catalogue of our poet's works. The truth is, that very little of it can, by a discriminating reader, be fairly ascribed to Shakspeare. His hand, indeed, is incidentally conspicuous; but the general style of thinking, diction and versification, is utterly unlike him; and rather resembles, sometimes, the manner of the author of Titus Andronicus; and sometimes his who furnished to our meliorating poet The Taming of a Shrew.

F

TITUS ANDRONICUS.

This tragedy, originally printed without the name of its author, has no title to the place it holds among the works of Shakspeare, except what it may derive from Messrs. Hemings and Condell's having chosen to insert it in the folio publication of our poet's plays. The motive of those editors for such insertion is obvious. Their known professional intimacy with our poet was likely to procure for them, with the public, a ready acceptance of whatever they should pronounce as the production of a favourite author, become now more endeared by death; and studious of their own profit rather than their friend's fame, their only care was, to swell out the bulk of their volume; and any trash, which the rude taste of the age had received with applause, and was not notoriously elsewhere appropriated, they would, without scruple, have ascribed to the bard of Avon.

ACT I. SCENE II.

14. "Wilt thou draw near the nature of the gods?

"Draw near them then in being merciful." This sentiment, taken, as Mr. Steevens re

marks, from the quoted passage of Cicero, occurs in the Merchant of Venice:

"And earthly pow'r doth then shew likest God's, "When mercy seasons justice."

15. "Patient yourself."

This is no phrase of Shakspeare's.

ACT II. SCENE III.

52. "O Tamora! thou bear'st a woman's face." This is almost the only passage, in the vile play before us, that exhibits any thing like just or natural sentiment, and it is remarkable that we find it again in the Third Part of K. Henry VI.

"How could'st thou drain the life-blood of the child,

"And yet be seen to wear a woman's face?"

If Shakspeare could be supposed to have written one line of Titus Andronicus, and only one, I should assign this to him.

53. "The raven doth not hatch a lark."

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Nec imbellem feroces

Progenerant Aquila columbam.”

Hor. Ode IV. V. 31, 32.
LORD CHEDWORTH.

ACT IV. SCENE II.

94. "Coal-black is better than another hue, "In that it scorns to bear another hue.

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This poor conceit was thought, by Southerne, worthy of being repeated by the noble Oroonoko: Honest black

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"Disdains to change its colour.”

It is high time this execrable tragedy were deposed from the station which it has been suffered to usurp among the Plays of Shakspeare, ever since the fraudulent artifice of the folio publishers (for the first quarto was anonymous) inserted it in their edition. Where those "masterly touches," alluded to by Theobald, or that "improvement with a few fine touches," perceived by Dr. Percy are lurking, I can, by no means, discover; there is not, according to my observation, the slightest resemblance of our author's manner, in any part of the composition.

PERICLES,

PRINCE OF TYRE.

This play was not admitted into the catalogue of those published by Hemings and Condell; a pretty sufficient proof, I think, that it was not, at that time, imputable to Shakspeare.

ACT I. SCENE I.

164. "Graces her subjects, and her thoughts

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the king

Of every virtue gives renown to men."

Graces are her subjects; and her thoughts, or inclinations, the sovereign of those Graces.

"Of every virtue gives," &c.

Is elliptical:

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She comes,

(Made up) of every virtue (that) gives renown," &c.

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King," for "sovereign," merely, is used with greater licence in K. Henry V. where the queen bee is meant and more appositely still, we find

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