Page:The Plays of William Shakspeare (1778).djvu/78

66 upon him; while the reading was yet not rectified, nor his alluions undertood; yet then did Dryden pronounce, “that Shakepeare was the man, who, of all modern and perhaps ancient poets, had the larget and mot comprehenive oul. All the images of nature were till preent to him, and he drew them not laboriouly, but luckily: when he decribes any thing, you more than ee it, you feel it too. Thoe, who accue him to have wanted learning, give him the greater commendation: he was naturally learned: he needed not the pectacles of books to read nature; he looked inwards, and found her there. I cannot ay he is every where alike; were he o, I hould do him injury to compare him with the greatet of mankind. He is many times flat and inipid; his comick wit degenerating into clenches, his erious welling into bombat. But he is always great, when ome great occaion is preented to him: no man can ay, he ever had a fit ubject for his wit, and did not then raie himelf as high above the ret of poets,

It is to be lamented, that uch a writer hould want a commentary; that his language hould become obolete, or his entiment obcure. But it is vain to carry wihes beyond the condition of human things; that which mut happen to all, has happened to Shakepeare, by accident and time; and more than has been uffered by any other writer ince the ue of types, has been uffered by him through his own negligence of fame, or perhaps by that riority