Shakespear's Works, when they escaped the Players, did not fall into much better Hands when they came amongst Printers and Bookfellers: who, to fay the Truth, had, at first, but small Encouragement for putting him into a better Condition. The ftubborn Nonsense, with which he was incrufted, occafioned his lying long neglected amongst the common Lumber of the Stage. And when that refiftlefs Splendor, which now shoots all around him, had, by degrees, broke thro' the Shell of thofe Impurities, his dazzled Admirers became as fuddenly infenfible to the extraneous Scurf that still stuck upon him, as they had been before to the native Beauties that lay under it. So that, as then, he was thought not to deferve a Cure, he was now fuppofed not to need any.

His growing Eminence, however, required that he should be used with Ceremony: And he foon had his Appointment, of an Editor in form. But the Bookfeller, whofe dealing was with Wits, having learnt of them, I know not what filly Maxim, that none but a Poet fhould prefume to meddle with a Poet, engaged the ingenious Mr. Rowe to undertake this Employment. A Wit indeed he was; but fo utterly unacquainted with the whole Bufinefs of Criticism, that he did not even collate or confult the firft Editions of the Work he undertook to publifh; but contented himfelf with giving us a meagre Account of the Author's Life, interlarded with fome common-place Scraps from nis Writings. The Truth is, Shakespear's Condition was yet but ill understood. The Nonfenfe, now, by confent, received for his own, was held in a kind of Reverence for its Age and Author: and thus it continued, till another great Poet broke the Charm; by fhewing us, that the higher we went, the lefs of it was ftill to be found.

For the Proprietors, not discouraged by their first unfuccessful Effort, in due time, made a fecond; and, tho' they still stuck to their Poets, with infinitely more VOL. I.

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Success in their Choice of Mr. POPE. Who by the mere force of an uncommon Genius, without any particular Study or Profeffion of this Art, discharged the great Parts of it fo well as to make his Edition the best Foundation for all further Improvements. He feparated the genuine from the fpurious Plays: And, with equal Judgment, tho' not always with the fame Succefs, attempted to clear the genuine Plays from the interpolated Scenes: He then confulted the old Editions; and, by a careful Collation of them, rectified the faulty, and supplied the imperfect Reading, in a great Number of Places: And lastly, in an admirable Preface, hath drawn a general, but very lively, Sketch of Shakespear's poetic Character; and, in the corrected Text, marked out those peculiar Strokes of Genius which were moft proper to fupport and illuftrate that Character. Thus far Mr. PoPE. And altho' much more was to be done before Shakespear could be restored to himself, (fuch as amending the corrupted Text where the printed Books afford no Affiftance; explaining his licentious Phrafeology and obfcure Allufions; and illuftrating the Beauties of his Poetry ;) yet, with great Modefty and Prudence, our illuftrious Editor left this to the Critic by Profeffion.

But nothing will give the common Reader a better Idea of the Value of Mr. Pope's Edition, than the two Attempts which have been fince made, by Mr. Theobald and Sir Thomas Hanmer, in Oppofition to it. Who, altho' they concerned themselves only in the first of these three Parts of Criticism, the restoring the Text, (without any Conception of the Second, or venturing even to touch upon the third) yet fucceeded fo very ill in it, that they left their Au.hor in ten times a worfe Condition than they found him. But, as it was my ill fortune to have fome accidental Connexions with these two Gentlemen, it will be incumbent on me to bę a little more particular concerning them.

The

The One was recommended to me as a poor Man; the Other as a poor Critic and to each of them, at different times, I communicated a great Number of Obfervations, which they managed, as they faw fit, to the Relief of their feveral Diftgefies. As to Mr. Theobald, who wanted Money, I allowed him to print what I gave him for his own Advantage: and he allowed himself in the Liberty of taking one Part for his own, and fequeftering another for the Benefit, as I fuppofed, of fome future Edition. But, as to the Oxford Editor, who wanted nothing, but what he might very well be without, the Reputation of a Critic, I could not fo eafily forgive him for trafficking with my Papers without my Knowledge; and, when that Project failed, for employing a number of my conjectures in his Edition against my exprefs Defire not to have that honour done unto me.

Mr. Theobald was naturally turned to Industry and Labour. What he read he could tranfcribe: but, as what he thought, if ever he did think, he could but ill exprefs, fo he read on; and, by that means got a Character of Learning, without rifquing, to every · Obferver, the Imputation of wanting a better Talent. By a punctilious Collation of the old Books, he corrected what was manifeftly wrong in the latter Editions, by what was manifeftly right in the earlier. And this is his real Merit; and the whole of it. For where the Phrafe was very obfolete or licentious in the common Books, or only flightly corrupted in the other, he wanted fufficient Knowledge of the Progrefs and various Stages of the English Tongue, as well as Acquaintance with the Peculiarity of Shakespear's Language to understand what was right; nor had he either common Judgment to fee, or critical Sagacity to amend, what was manifeftly faulty. Hence he generally exerts his conjectural Talent in the wrong Place: He tampers with what is found in the common Books;

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Books; and, in the old ones, omits all Notice of Variations the Senfe of which he did not understand.

How the Oxford Editor came to think himself qualified for this Office, from which his whole Course of Life had been fo remote, is ftill more difficult to conceive. For whatever Parts he might have either of Genius or Erudition, he was abfolutely ignorant of the Art of Criticifm, as well as of the Poetry of that Time, and the Language of his Author. And fo far from a Thought of examining the first Editions, that he even neglected to compare Mr. Pope's, from which he printed his own, with Mr. Theobald's; whereby he loft the Advantage of many fine Lines which the other had recovered from the old Quartos. Where he trufts to his own Segacity, in what affects the Sense, his Conjectures are generally abfurd and extravagant, and violating every Rule of Criticifm. Tho', in this Rage of Correcting, he was not abfolutely deftitute of all Art. For, having a number of my Conjectures before him, he took as many of them as he faw fit, to work upon; and by changing them to fomething, he thought, fynonymous or fimilar, he made them his own; and fo became a Critic at a cheap Expence. But how well he hath fucceeded in this, as likewise in his Conjectures which are properly his own, will be seen in the courfe of my Remarks: Tho', as he hath declined to give the Reafons for his Interpolations, he hath not afforded me fo fair a hold of him as Mr. Theobald hath done, who was lefs cautious. But his principal Object was to reform his Author's Numbers; and this, which he hath done, on every Occafion, by the Infertion or Omiffion of a fet of harmless unconcerning Expletives, makes up the grofs Body of his innocent Corrections. And fo, in fpite of that extreme Negligence in Numbers, which diftinguishes the firft Dramatic Writers, he hath tricked up the old Bard, from Head to Foot, in all the finiçal Exactness of a modern Measurer of Syllables.

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For the reft, all the Corrections which these two Editors have made on any reasonable Foundation, are here admitted into the Text; and carefully affigned to their refpective Authors. A piece of Juftice which the Oxford Editor never did; and which the Other was not always fcrupulous in obferving towards me. To conclude with them in a word, They feparately poffeffed those two Qualities which, more than any other, have contributed to bring the Art of Criticifm into difrepute, Dulness of Apprehenfion, and Extravagance of Conjecture.

I am now to give fome Account of the prefent Undertaking. For as to all thofe Things, which have been published under the titles of Effays, Remarks, Obfervations, &c. on Shakespear, (if you except fome critical Notes on Macbeth, given as a Specimen of a projected Edition, and written, as appears, by a Man of Parts and Genius) the rest are abfolutely below a ferious Notice.

The whole a Critic can do for an Author who deferves his Service, is to correct the faulty Text; to remark the Peculiarities of Language; to illuftrate the obscure Allufions; and to explain the Beauties and Defects of Sentiment or Compofition. And furely, if ever Author had a Claim to this Service, it was our Shakespear: Who, widely excelling in the Knowledge of Human Nature, hath given to his infinitely varied Pictures of it, fuch Truth of Defign, fuch Force of Drawing, fuch Beauty of Colouring, as was hardly ever equalled by any Writer, whether his Aim was the Ufe, or only the Entertainment of Mankind. The Notes in this Edition, therefore, take in the whole Compafs of Criticifm.

I. The first fort is employed in reftoring the Poet's genuine Text; but in thote Places only where it labours with inextricable Nonfenfe. In which, how much foever I may have given Scope to critical Conjecture, where the old Copies failed me, I have inh 3

dulged