this fort with the utmost avidity, moft certainly had not feen them, when he published his Typographical Antiquities; as appears from his blunders about them: and poffibly I myself might have remained in the fame predicament, had I not been favoured with a copy by my generous friend, Mr. Lort. Mr. Colman, in the Preface to his elegant tranflation of Terence, hath offered fome arguments for the learning of Shakspeare, which have been retailed with much confidence, fince the appearance of Mr. Johnson's edition. "Befides the resemblance of particular paffages fcattered up and down in different plays, it is well known, that the Comedy of Errors is in great measure founded on the Menæchmi of Plautus; but I do not recollect ever to have feen it obferved, that the difguife of the Pedant in The Taming of the Shrew, and his affuming the name and character of Vincentio, feem to be evidently taken from the difguife of the Sycophanta in the Trinummus of the faid author; and there is a quotation from the 8 8 This obfervation of Mr. Colman is quoted by his very ingenious colleague, Mr. Thornton, in his tranflation of this play: who further remarks, in another part of it, that a paffage in Romeo and Juliet, where Shakspeare fpeaks of the contradiction in the nature of love, is very much in the manner of his author: "Amor-mores hominum moros & morofos efficit. "Minus placet quod fuadetur, quod difuadetur placet. Quom inopia it, cupias, quando ejus copia'ft, tum non velis." &c. Which he tranflates with eafe and elegance, Love makes a man a fool, Let us now turn to the paffage in Shakspeare: Eunuch of Terence alfo, fo familiarly introduced into the dialogue of The Taming of the Shrew, that I think it puts the queftion of Shakspeare's having read the Roman comick poets in the original language out of all doubt, Redime te captum, quam queas, minimo,” With respect to refemblances, I fhall not trouble "Mis-fhapen chaos of well-feeming forms! "Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, fick health! Still-waking fleep! that is not what it is!" 66 Shakspeare, I am fure, in the opinion of Mr. Thornton, did not want a Plautus to teach him the workings of nature; nor are his parallelisms produced with any fuch implication: but, I fuppofe, a peculiarity appears here in the manner of expreffion, which however was extremely the humour of the age. Every fonnetteer characterifes love by contrarieties. Watfon begins one of his canzonets, "Love is a fowre delight, a fugred griefe, "A living death, an euer-dying life," &c. Turberville makes Reason harangue against it in the fame manner: "A fierie froft, a flame that frozen is with ife! "A heavie burden light to beare! a vertue fraught with vice!" &c. Immediately from The Romaunt of the Rofe: "Loue it is an hatefull pees "A free acquitaunce without reles— "And health full of maladie "And charitie full of envie "A laughter that is weping aie "Reft that trauaileth night and daie," &c. This kind of antithefis was very much the tafte of the Provençal and Italian Poets; perhaps it might be hinted by the Ode of Sappho, preferved by Longinus: Petrarch is full of it: "Pace non trovo, & non hó da far guerra, "Et temo, & fpero, & ardo, & fon un ghiaccio, "Et nulla ftringo, & tuttol mondo abbraccio." &c. Sonetto 105. Sir Thomas Wyat gives a tranflation of this fonnet, without any notice of the original, under the title of " Defcription of the contrarious paffions in a Louer," amongst the Songes and Sonettes, by the Earle of Surrey, and Others, 1574. you any further.-That the Comedy of Errors is founded on the Menæchmi, it is notorious: nor is it lefs fo, that a tranflation of it by W. W. perhaps William Warner, the author of Albion's England, was extant in the time of Shakspeare; though Mr. Upton, and fome other advocates for his learning, have cautiously dropt the mention of it. Befides this, (if indeed it were different,) in the Gefta Grayorum, the Christmas Revels of the GraysInn Gentlemen, 1594, "a Comedy of Errors like to Plautus his Menechmus was played by the Players." And the fame hath been fufpected to be the fubject of the goodlie Comedie of Plautus, acted at Greenwich before the King and Queen in 1520; as we learn from Hall and Holinfhed:-Riccoboni highly compliments the English on opening their stage fo well; but unfortunately, Cavendish in his Life of Wolfey, calls it, an excellent Interlude in Latine. About the fame time it was exhibited in German at Nuremburgh, by the celebrated Hanffach, the Shoemaker. "But a character in The Taming of the Shrew is borrowed from the Trinummus, and no translation of that was extant." Mr. Colman indeed hath been better employed: but if he had met with an old comedy, called Supposes, tranflated from Ariofto by George Gafcoigne; 2 he certainly would not have appealed to 9 It was published in 4to. 1595. The printer of Langbaine, p. 524, hath accidentally given the date, 1515, which hath been copied implicitly by Gildon, Theobald, Cooke, and several others. Warner is now almoft forgotten, yet the old criticks efteemed him one of "our chiefe heroical makers."-Meres informs us, that he had heard him termed of the beft wits of both our Universities, our English Homer." 2 His works were first collected under the fingular title of Plautus. Thence Shakspeare borrowed this part of the plot, (as well as fome of the phrafeology,) though Theobald pronounces it his own invention: there likewife he found the quaint name of Petruchio. My young mafter and his man exchange habits and characters, and perfuade a Scenæse, as he is called, to perfonate the father, exactly as in the Taming of the Shrew, by the pretended danger of his coming from Sienna to Ferrara, contrary to the order of the government. Still, Shakspeare quotes a line from the Eunuch of Terence: by memory too, and what is more, purposely alters it, in order to bring the fenfe within the compafs of one line."-This remark was previous to Mr. Johnson's; or indifputably it would not have been made at all." Our author had this line from Lilly; which I mention that it may not be brought as an argument of his learning." "But how," cries an unprovoked antagonist, "can you take upon you to fay, that he had it from Lilly, and not from Terence?" I will anfwer for Mr. Johnson, who is above answering for himself. -Because it is quoted as it appears in the grammarian, and not as it appears in the poet.-And thus we have done with the purposed alteration. Udall likewife in his Floures for Latin Speaking, "A hundredth fundrie Flowres bounde up in one fmall Poefie. Gathered partly (by tranflation) in the fyne outlandish gardins of Euripides, Ouid, Petrarke, Arifto, and others: and partly by inuention, out of our own fruitefull orchardes in Englande: yelding fundrie fweet fauors of tragical, comical, and morall difcourfes, bothe pleafaunt and profitable to the well fmellyng nofes of learned readers." Black letter, 4to. no date. 3 W. Kenrick's Review of Dr. Johnfon's edit. of Shakspeare, 1765, 8vo. p. 105. gathered out of Terence, 1560, reduces the paffage to a fingle line, and fubjoins a tranflation. We have hitherto fuppofed Shakspeare the author of the Taming of the Shrew, but his property in it is extremely difputable. I will give you my opinion, and the reafons on which it is founded. I fuppofe then the prefent play not originally the work of Shakspeare, but restored by him to the ftage, with the whole Induction of the Tinker, and fome other occafional improvements; efpecially in the character of Petruchio. It is very obvious, that the induction and the play were either the works of different hands, or written at a great interval of time: the former is in our author's best manner, and the greater part of the latter in his worst, or even below it. Dr. Warburton declares it to be certainly fpurious: and without doubt, fuppofing it to have been written by Shakspeare, it must have been one of his earliefl productions; yet it is not mentioned in the lift of his works by Meres in 1598. I have met with a facetious piece of Sir John Harrington, printed in 1596, (and poffibly there may be an earlier edition,) called, The Metamorphofis of Ajax, where I fufpect an allufion to the old play: "Reade the booke of Taming a Shrew, which hath made a number of us fo perfect, that now every one can rule a fhrew in our countrey, fave he that hath hir."-I am aware, a modern linguift may object, that the word book does not at prefent feem dramatick, but it was once almost technically fo: Goffon, in his Schoole of Abufe, contayning a pleafaunt inuective against Poets, Pipers, Players, Fefters, and fuch like Caterpillars of a common-wealth," 1579, mentions "twoo profe bookes plaied at the Belfauage," and Hearne |