What, so sounde a Ho, sirha, arise. The conclusion of the old quarto of 1594 is in these terms, a conclusion sometimes subjoined to Shakespeare's play in the old editions, and, therefore, curious. The oeginning of the extract affords a laughable instance of the manner in which the old ignorant printers clipped mere prose into verse. After the characters have retired, Then enter two bearing of Shie in his Tapster. Now that the darksome night is overpast, And dawning day appears in christall skie, this? What, Slice? O wondrous! Hath he laine here all night? Ile wake him. I think hee's starued by this, all the Players gone? Am not I a lord? Come out, thou drunken still. Slie. Who's this? Tapster? O Lord, sirha, I have had the braucst dreame to night that ever thou heardest in all thy life. Tapster. I mary; but you had best you home, get For your wife will course you for dream. ing here to night. Slie. Wil she? I know now how to tame a shrew. I dreamt vpon it all this night till now; And thou hast wakd me out of the best dreame gacity. Mr Steevens assisted in the reprint of the edition of 1607 of the old comedy, but that was considered by no means conclusive. All the praise bestowed by Dr Hurd on Shakespeare for the moral of the induction of this play are due to the dramatist from whom it was borrowed, with the full knowledge and consent of all Shakespeare's auditors. Leaving this question, on which, perhaps, I have said too much, and certainly more than I intended, I will now proceed to trace the origin, progress, and final establishment of blank verse, as the vehicle of thought, passion, or incident upon the stage. In my last article I gave a hasty sketch of the growth of undramatic blank verse, making an important omission, the more pardonable, because it has been made, I believe, by all who have hitherto touched upon the subject. It is true that I mentioned the name of Spenser as a writer of English Hexameters, but in his Ecclogue for August will be found a specimen of blank verse, addressed to Rosalind, upon a very singular construction, the terminations of the lines of every stanza being formed of the same words differently arranged. Before I refer to tragedies or comedies without rhyme, let me observe, that a learned man, and an eminent early critic, Dr Campion, who, in 1602, published " Observations on the Art of English Poesie," points out a Latin measure, as a novelty, which, he says, "will excellently serve for comedies" and theatrical representations, as if he were ignorant that, at the time he published, several hundred plays had been written in that kind of foot which he calls licentiate Iambic. That ever I had in my life; but Ile to my of his lincs, merely to Wife presently, and tame her too. And if she anger me Tapster. Nay tarry, Slie, for Ile home with thee, goe And heare the rest that thou hast dreamt to night. The discovery of this old play makes some of the commentators appear in a light sufficiently ridiculous. Dr Farmer pronounced the whole "induction of the Tinker to be in Shakespeare's best manner, while the play was evidently in his worst ;" and others have bandied the question, now set at rest, backwards and forwards between them with a great deal of self-important sa en such It partments, by Thomas Norton. was played before Queen Elizabeth as early as 1561; but as Warton, in his Hist. Engl. Poet. (III. 355,) has giva minute account of the piece, and has supplied so many quotations, and as it is reprinted in Dodsley's Old Plays, and in Hawkins' Origin of the Drama, I shall not feel myself authorized to dwell at all upon it, excepting for the purpose of noticing a very important circumstance connected with the inquiry upon which I am engaged, viz. that, even in this very early performance, constructed, as far as the mechanical part is concerned, upon the model of the ancients, with the Chorus Nuntius, and the strict observance of some other dramatic proprieties, the unities of time and place are totally disregarded; the scene is transferred to various parts of the kingdom, and the events occupy a much longer period than was allowed by the classic rules. It may not also be improper to add, what may not be found accordant with previous opinions, that the tragedy seems to me to be totally devoid of character and interest; in the general praise bestowed upon the language and poetry I am, in a limited degree, dispos ed to concur. Notwithstanding this " example set, first in English, of ancient liberty recovered" in 1561, plays in rhyme continued to be favoured, and in 1566, we find that the Queen was present at the representation of Edwards' Palemon and Arcite, which was of the same kind as his Damon and Pithias. The Moralities, also, still kept their ground for a time, and it seems probable that Thomas Lupton's All for Money (one of the most humorous and curious on many accounts, though not yet criticised by any writer upon our national poetry) was performed about the time that Gorboduc first appeared; it was not printed until 1578, but the date is pretty nearly ascertained by the following lines from the Epilogue: "Let us praye for the Queenes Maiestie, our soueraigne gouernor, That she may raigne quietly according to God's will; Whereby she may suppresse vyce, and set foorth God's glorie and honour, And as she hath begon godly, so to continue still." This piece is a singularly barbarous compound of the old Morality and the classic drama, with an irregularity in the rhyming and versification probably designed for the sake of greater ease. It is also remarkable for the first song introduced into a dramatic entertainment that I recollect to have scen in our language. It begins with these words: Hoyghe, hoyghe, for money, more sweet. er then honye, Who will not for me take payne; Each Lord and Knight for me will fight, And hazard to be slaine." There is more humour in some scenes than is to be usually found in productions of the kind, with the exception of a few written by old John Haywood. The next dramatic production, in point of date and importance, is the Jocasta of George Gascoigne and Francis Kinwelmersh, presented by them at Gray's Inn (to which they belonged) in 1566. They call it a translation, and so it has been considered by nearly all subsequent writers, but it is, in truth, at once an abridgment, a paraphrase, a translation, and an original composition; with, in some respects, a new arrangement of the scenes of the original of the "Steele Glasse," a satire, by GasEuripides. In my last, I mentioned coigne, in blank verse, printed in 1576, and written most likely after Jocasta; so little has been said upon this tragedy, because it was mistakenly considered a mere translation, and it occupies so prominent a place as the second English dramatic effort in blank verse, that I shall not scruple to supply one or two characteristic extracts. At the end of each act, the name of the author of it is subjoined, and an explanation of the Dumb Shew which preceded the five principal divisions, is prefixed, in the mode in Gorboduc five years before. I should which the example had been set in premise that no alteration has been attempted in the fable of the Phanisse. The subsequent passages will afford a specimen of the mode in which Gascoigne enlarged and paraphrased his original, though it is not, perhaps, a fair sample of the versification: "Joc. And seemes it not a heavy hap my sonne, To be deprived of thy countrey coastes? Shall blazed be in honor of thy name? O sonne, deare sonne, beleeue thy trusty dame, The name of glorie shall thy name refuse, And fly full farre from all thy fond attempts! But if so fall thou shouldst be overcome, Then with what face canst thou returne to Greece, That here hast left so many Greekes on ground? Eche one shal curse and blame thee to thy face, As him that only caused their decay, Poli. In exile, every man, or bond, or And eke condemn Adrastus' simple head, free, Of noble race, or meaner parentage, Is not in this vnlike vnto a slave That must of force obey to each man's wil, And prayse the peeuishnes of each man's pride. Joc. And seemed this so grieuous vnto thee? Poli. What greefe can greater be, then so constraine Slauelike to serue 'gainst right and reason both. Yea much the more to him that noble is By stately line, or yet by vertuous life, And hath a heart like to his noble minde. Joc. What helpeth most in such aduer sitie? Poli. Hope helpeth most to comfort mi serie. Joc. Hope to returne from whence he first was driven ! Poli. Yea, hope that hapneth oftentimes too late, And many dye before such hap may fall." The next is a more favourable extract, in which the translation is not very unfaithful; it is also by Gascoigne, who did not generally adhere to his original so closely as Kinwelmersh, his coadjutor. "Joc. And now to thee my Polinices deare, I say that silly was Adrastus reade, walles ; These walles, I say, whose gates thy selfe should guard. Tell me, I pray thee, if the citie yelde, Or thou take by force in bloody fight, (Which neuer grant the Gods I them beseeke) What spoyles, what palmes, what signe of victorie Canst thou set vp to have thy country woon? What title worthy of immortall fame, That such a pheere had chosen for his childe. So may it fall in one accursed houre, That thou mayst lose thy wife and countrey both, Both which thou may'st with little toyle attayne, If thou canst leaue high minde and darke disdayne." It will be acknowledged, that some good and spirited lines are to be found in this production, from which I forbear to quote more than is necessary to shew the advance which versification of this kind was making at that time. Kinwelmersh's part of the labour is executed with more fidelity, but, perhaps, with less spirit; and, upon the whole, I am of opinion, that, though it is still deficient in many requisites, in point of mere harmony and fullness, as well as of variety, Jocasta is superior to Gorboduc. I cannot at present pursue this subject further, but, in my next article, I shall introduce to the notice of your readers a great literary curiosity, valuable as well from its intrinsic merit, as its excessive rarity. I mean a tragedy played before Queen Elizabeth in 1587, in the preparation of which no less a man than Lord Bacon down to the period when the English was concerned. This will bring me drama began to take its real origin, and when that school was formed of which Shakespeare was, in truth, but a disciple. I. P. C. London, March 1819. LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE. ROYAL SOCIETY. Feb. 25.-A paper, by Sir H. Davy, was read, on the formation of mists in particular situations. The author commenced by observing, that the fall of temperature after sun-set is greater on land than on water; and referred to the well-known peculiarity in the expansibility of water at temperatures below 40°, as the cause by which both the water and the superincumbent air are preserved at a superior temperature. When, therefore, according to Sir H. Davy, the cold and comparatively dry land air mixes with the warmer and moister air resting upon the water, the diminution of the temperature of the latter occasioned by this mixture has a tendency to separate a portion of its moisture in the form of mist. At this meeting also, a paper, by Capt. E. Sabine, was read, entitled, "Observations on the Dip and Variation of the Magnetic Needle, and on the Intensity of the Magnetic Force, made during the late Voyage in search of a North-West Passage." March 4-A paper, by Dr Brewster, was read, with numerous experimental de tails, on the action of crystallized surfaces upon light. At this meeting there was also read a paper, by Sir E. Home, giving an account of the fossil skeleton of an animal, several parts of which have been already laid before the Society. The author, after referring to his former papers, proceeded to describe, in general terms, and principally with the view of correcting his previous account, a specimen recently found nearly in an entire state. The only parts wanting were some of the bones of the pelvis and the lower part of the sternum. A beautiful drawing of the animal of its natural size accompanied the paper, which rendered minute description unnecessary. March 11.-A paper, by C. Bonnycastle, Esq. was read, entitled, "On the Pressures which sustain a heavy Body in Equilibrium when the Points of Support are more than three." The Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, has awarded its premium of the gold medal to our countryman, Mr Denovan, for his method of curing herrings. Mr Denovan having resided for a long time in Holland, and witnessed the methods used there in curing their celebrated herrings, was at the pains of repeatedly bringing over Dutch fishermen and curers to instruct the Highland fishermen in those processes, in which he has completely succeeded. VOL. IV. Remarkable Mineral Spring in Java.Mr Clarke Abel, in his Narrative of a Journey in the Interior of China," lately published, gives the following account of a mineral spring in Java: "These springs are in the midst of a jungle on the right hand side of the road from Sirang to Batavia, and the country for many miles round is a perfect flat. On approaching them, I smelled the sulphu reous gas, which they throw out in immense quantities. They are situated on a piece of barren ground, about 50 yards square, composed of a hard rock, which seemed to have been formed by deposition from the springs. In the midst of this space were several small pools of water in great commotion. They so exactly exhibited the appearance of boiling, that I immersed my hand in them with considerable caution, and scarcely credited my feeling when I found them of the temperature of the surrounding atmosphere. The central pool was the largest, having an area of eight or ten feet. The water bubbled up from several parts of its surface. For the sake of ascertaining the cause of these phenomena, I walked in, and discovered its greatest depth to be about three feet. Its bottom was formed of rock, broken into masses of different shapes. On searching immediately under the place where the agitation of the water was most violent, I found a small funnel-shaped aperture, the lower part of which was not more than an inch in diameter. Through this sulphureted hydrogen gas rushed up in such quantity, and with so much force, that 1 could with great difficulty keep my hand on its orifice." "On examining the sensible properties of the water on the spot, I found it to be of a dirty white colour, containing a considerable portion of earthy matter in suspension. The smell was that of Harrowgate water. The soil on the margin and at the bottom of these pools is soft, and of a yellowish-grey colour on the surface; but a few inches beneath, it becomes of a rocky hardness, and red. At the distance, however, of two or three feet from the pools, the surface itself is equally hard, but of a blue colour, and bearing evident marks of having been at some distant period the seat of agitated water. A loud bubbling noise is distinctly heard on placing the car close to any part of the barren spot in which they are situated. The natives believe that the water possesses medicinal properties, and that it is especially effica cious in cutaneous diseases."—(P. 40.) Y y As a spur to the exertions of the ships about to sail on a voyage of Arctic Discovery, the Privy-Council have announced a reward of L. 5000 for reaching Hearne's or Copper-mine River; L.10,000 for reaching the Whale Island of Mackenzie ; L. 15,000 for reaching 150° west longitude; and L. 20,000 for reaching the Pacific Ocean by a north-west passage. They also offer L. 1000 for reaching the lat. of 83°; L. 2000 for the lat. of 85°; L.3000 for 87°; L.4900 for 88°; and L.5000 for 89° and upwards. A new society is formed, consisting of the chief musical talent of the country, for the purpose of printing and editing their own works, and of other eminent composers who may not belong to the society. They intend also printing the works of every classical author, which will be got up in the best possible manner, upon a new plan. The Argyll Rooms are taken for this purpose, where they intend opening their music warehouse. Some exquisitely beautiful water-colour Drawings, by M. Poussin, on inlaid wood, representing the Seven Sacraments, which were formerly at Rome, in the chapel of the late Cardinal Albany, are now on sale in London, at No. 25, Lower Thornhaughstreet. Mr West considers them next in beauty to the Cartoons of Raphael, some of the heads being even superior in excellence. ses are of 1000 flues, 910 are of the first class, 50 of the second, 30 of the third, and only 10 of the fourth. It seems, therefore, extremely wanton and barbarous to permit helpless children to be so employ. cd. The Interrogative System of Education, or the system of teaching by Questions, on Text-Books without answers, which has been so successfully introduced in England, has recently been adopted in France. A society of 1500 members, represented by a committee of the most enlightened men in Paris, has undertaken to compose and publish no less than seventy-two Elementary Books, on the plan of the several works so well known in the schools of the British Empire. Cambridge.-Porson Prize.-The passage fixed upon for the present year is, Shakspeare, Coriolanus, Act V. Scene 3, part of Volumnia's speech, beginning with "Thou know'st, great son, The end of war's uncertain." And ending with "Let us shame him with our knees.” Which is to be translated into Iambic Acatalectic Trimeters, according to the laws laid down by the professor in his preface to the Hecuba of Euripides. The valuable Oriental MSS. bequeathed to the university of Cambridge by the celebrated African traveller Burckhardt, consisting of upwards of 300 volumes, have safely arrived, and are now deposited in the public library. A lizard, four feet long, of the species described in Count De la Cepede's History of Oviparous Quadrupeds, by the name of Tupinambus in America, and Gallate in Africa, was found on the beach by Hordle Cliff, near Milford, Hants, the morning after the ship British Tar, from Sierra Leone, was wrecked. It appears this animal is the largest of the kind ever brought to Europe-the one in the Royal Cabinet of Paris measuring 3 ft. 8 in. and one in the Cabinet at Lisbon 3 ft. 4 in. These are the only two to be found in any public exhibition in Europe. Mr Bennet's humane bill to prevent the use of climbing boys in sweeping chimneys has been lost; but, among the facts collected, it appears that the whole of the flues at present in use may be comprised in four classes; the first, and most numerous, are those which are carried up in a perpendicular stack, the only bend in these flues being just sufficient to clear the opening of the flue above. The second, far less numerous, are those in which the fire-place is in a wall, not continued higher than the next floor, and turning off with one bend (making two angles in the elevation) to a partition wall, in which the shaft is continued to the top. The third, still less numerous, are those in which the shaft is at some distance from the fire-place, having, Literary Curiosities.-R. Watson, Esq. at least, one angle on the plan, and which, who purchased the Stuart MSS. at Rome, of necessity, forms two bends in the eleva- is arrived in London from Paris, and has tion. The fourth class, which forms a brought with him a valuable collection of very small proportion of the total number literary curiosities: among which is the ce already constructed, are those having more lebrated MS. Hebrew Bible, that long orthan one angle on the plan, and being, for namented the library at Constantinople. It a part of the length, entirely horizontal. is For the first class, the machines already in use are quite cfficient; they are also competent to sweep part of the second class. In the third class, where the ascent is at all preserved, the ball and brush still acts effectually; as it will also do in the fourth class, where there are no parts entirely level. The proportions of the different clas beautifully written on vellum, and is supposed to be a work of the fifth century. After the fall of the Greek empire, it was carried to Vienna, where it was preserved for ages in the private cabinet of the house of Austria, until the capture of that capital by the French troops, when it was transported to Paris by a general officer, wha did not know its value, and sold it to the |