When a fuperiority is universally granted, it by no means appears a man's literary interest to depress the reputation of his antagonist.

In truth the received opinion of the pride and malignity of Jonson, at least in the earlier part of life, is absolutely groundless: at this time scarce a play or a poem appeared without Ben's encomium, from the original Shakspeare to the tranflator of Du Bartas.

But Jonson is by no means our only authority. Drayton, the countryman and acquaintance of Shakspeare, determines his excellence to the naturall braine only. Digges, a wit of the town, before our poet left the stage, is very strong to the purpose,

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- Nature only helpt him, for looke thorow "This whole book, thou shalt find he doth not borow, "One phrafe from Greekes, not Latines imitate, "Nor once from vulgar languages translate." 5

Suckling opposed his easier ftrain to the sweat of the learned Jonfon. Denham assures us, that all he had was from old mother-wit. His native woodnotes wild, every one remembers to be celebrated by Milton. Dryden observes prettily enough, that " he wanted not the spectacles of books to read nature." He came out of her hand, as some one else expresses it, like Pallas out of Jove's head, at full growth and mature.

The ever memorable Hales of Eton, (who, notwithstanding his epithet, is, I fear, almost forgotten,) had too great a knowledge both of Shakspeare and the ancients to allow much acquaintance between them: and urged very justly on the part of genius in oppofition to pedantry, that " if he had not read the classicks, he had likewise not stolen from them; and if any topick was produced from a poet of antiquity he would undertake to show somewhat on the same subject, at least as well written by Shakspeare."

Fuller a diligent and equal fearcher after truth and quibbles, declares positively, that "his learning was very little, -nature was all the art used upon him, as he himself, if alive, would confess." And may we not say, he did confess it, when he apologized for his untutored lines to his noble patron the Earl of Southampton?-this lift of witnesses might be easily enlarged; but I flatter myself, I shall stand in no need of such evidence.

One of the first and most vehement affertors of the learning of Shakspeare, was the editor of his poems, the well-known Mr. Gildon; and his steps

were most punctually taken by a subsequent labourer in the fame department, Dr. Sewell.

Mr. Pope supposed, "little ground for the commou opinion of his want of learning:" once indeed he made a proper distinction between learning and languages, as I would be understood to do in my title-page; but unfortunately he forgot it in the course of his disquifition, and endeavoured to persuade himself that Shakspeare's acquaintance with the ancients might be actually proved by the fame medium as Jonfon's.

Mr. Theobald is "very unwilling to allow him fo poor a fcholar, as many have laboured to represent him;" and yet is " cautious of declaring too pofitively on the other fide of the question."

Dr. Warburton hath exposed the weakness of some arguments from fufpected imitations; and yet offers others, which, I doubt not, he could as eafily have refuted.

Mr. Upton wonders " with what kind of reasoning any one could be so far imposed upon, as to imagine that Shakspeare had no learning;" and lashes with much zeal and fatisfaction " the pride and pertness of dunces, who, under such a name would gladly shelter their own idleness and ignorance."

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He, like the learned knight, at every anomaly in

grammar or metre,

"Hath hard words ready to show why,
" And tell what rule he did it by."

How would the old bard have been aftonished to have found, that he had very skilfully given the trochaic dimeter brachycatalectic, COMMONLY called the ithyphallic measure to the Witches in Mасbeth! and that now and then a halting verse afforded. a most beautiful instance of the pes proceleusmati

cus!

"But," continues Mr. Upton, " it was a learned age; Roger Afcham assures us, that Queen Elizabeth read more Greek every day, than some dignitaries of the church did Latin in a whole week." This appears very probable; and a pleasant proof it is of the general learning of the times, and of Shakspeare in particular. I wonder, he did not corroborate it with an extract from her injunctions to her clergy, that "fuch as were but mean readers should peruse over before, once or twice, the chapters and homilies, to the intent they might read to the better understanding of the people."

Dr. Grey declares, that Shakspeare's knowledge in the Greek and Latin tongues cannot reasonably be called in question. Dr. Dodd supposes it proved, that he was not fuch a novice in learning and antiquity as some people would pretend. And to clofe the whole, for I suspect you to be tired of quotation, Mr. Whalley, the ingenious editor of Jonson, hath written a piece expressly on this fide the question: perhaps from a very excusable partiality, he was willing to draw Shakspeare from the field of nature to claffick ground, where alone, he knew, his author could poffibly cope with him.

These criticks, and many others their coadjutors, have supposed themselves able to trace Shakspeare in the writings of the ancients; and have sometimes perfuaded us of their own learning, whatever became of their author's. Plagiarisms have been discovered in every natural description and every moral sentiment. Indeed by the kind afssistance of the various Excerpta, Sententiæ, and Flores, this business may be effected with very little expence of time or fagacity; as Addison hath demonftrated in his comment on Chevy-chafe, and Wagstaff on Tom Thumb; and I myself will engage to give you quo tations from the elder English writers (for to own the truth, I was once idle enough to collect such,) which shall carry with them at least an equal degree of fimilarity. But there can be no occafion of wasting any future time in this department: the world is now in poffeffion of the Marks of Imitation.

"Shakspeare, however, hath frequent allufions to the facts and fables of antiquity.' Granted: and as Mat. Prior says, to fave the effusion of more Christian ink, I will endeavour to show, how they came to his acquaintance.

It is notorious, that much of his matter of fact knowledge is deduced from Plutarch: but in what language he read him, hath yet been the question. Mr. Upton is pretty confident of his skill in the original, and corrects accordingly the errors of his copyists by the Greek standard. Take a few instances, which will elucidate this matter sufficiently.

In the third Act of Antony and Cleopatra, Octavius represents to his courtiers the imperial pomp of those illuftrious lovers, and the arrangement of their dominion,

"He gave the 'stablishment of Egypt, made her
"Of lower Syria, Cyprus, Lydia,

"Absolute queen."

Read Libya, says the critick authoratively, as is plain from Plutarch,

This is very true: Mr. Heath' accedes to the

? It is extraordinary, that this gentleman should attempt so voluminous a work, as the Revisal of Shakespeare's Text, when,