Oh! oh! Heaven have mercy on poor Shakspeare, and also on Mr. Warburton's mind's eye! Act v. sc. 1. Theseus' speech:--(Theobald.) And what poor [_willing_] duty cannot do, Noble respect takes it in might, not merit. To my ears it would read far more Shakspearian thus:-- And what poor duty cannot do, _yet would_, Noble respect, &c. 'Ib.' sc. 2. 'Puck.' Now the hungry lion roars, And the wolf behowls the moon; Whilst the heavy ploughman snores All with weary task foredone, &c. Very Anacreon in perfectness, proportion, grace, and spontaneity! So far it is Greek;--but then add, O! what wealth, what wild ranging, and yet what compression and condensation of, English fancy! In truth, there is nothing in Anacreon more perfect than these thirty lines, or half so rich and imaginative. They form a speckless diamond. COMEDY OF ERRORS. The myriad-minded man, our, and all men's, Shakspeare, has in this piece presented us with a legitimate farce in exactest consonance with the philosophical principles and character of farce, as distinguished from comedy and from entertainments. A proper farce is mainly distinguished from comedy by the license allowed, and even required, in the fable, in order to produce strange and laughable situations. The story need not be probable, it is enough that it is possible. A comedy would scarcely allow even the two Antipholises; because, although there have been instances of almost indistinguishable likeness in two persons, yet these are mere individual accidents, 'casus ludentis naturæ', and the 'verum' will not excuse the 'inverisimile'. But farce dares add the two Dromios, and is justified in so doing by the laws of its end and constitution. In a word, farces commence in a postulate, which must be granted. AS YOU LIKE IT. Act I. sc. 1. 'Oli'. What, boy! 'Orla'. Come, come, elder brother, you are too young in this. 'Oli'. Wilt thou lay hands on me, villain? There is a beauty here. The word 'boy' naturally provokes and awakens in Orlando the sense of his manly powers; and with the retort of 'elder brother,' he grasps him with firm hands, and makes him feel he is no boy. Ib. 'Oli'. Farewell, good Charles.--Now will I stir this gamester: I hope, I shall see an end of him; for my soul, yet I know not why, hates nothing more than him. Yet he's gentle; never school'd, and yet learn'd; full of noble device; of all sorts enchantingly beloved! and, indeed, so much in the heart of the world, and especially of my own people, who best know him, that I am altogether misprized: but it shall not be so long; this wrestler shall clear all. This has always appeared to me one of the most un-Shakspearian speeches in all the genuine works of our poet; yet I should be nothing surprized, and greatly pleased, to find it hereafter a fresh beauty, as has so often happened to me with other supposed defects of great men. (1810).