poses. To uphold the honour and defence of the government, was the sole object which he proposed in raising supplies; and what was levied from the necessities or the superabundance of the people, he took care to apply for their honour and advantage. No parasite was gratified with a pension, no venal supporter of his power with a bribe. It was a maxim with him, that when the treasury grew too great, the rest of the national body languished and pined away; he therefore wisely considered private opulence as the surest wealth of the state, and was accustomed to declare that nothing is for a prince's profit which is not for his honour also." 66 His character as drawn by Campden, who saw his meridian and his setting hour, is worthy of a place here: Having lived long enough to nature," says that able historian, and long enough to his own. glory, but not long enough to his country, he resigned his soul to God with so much peace and tranquillity, that the greatest enemy he had freely declared, he envied him nothing but that his sun went down with so much lustre. Certainly he was a most excellent man; for he was so liberally furnished by nature, and so polished and adorned with learning and education, that every way, for honesty, gravity, temperance, industry, and justice, he was a most accomplished person. He had an easy and flowing eloquence: which consisted not in a pomp and ostentation of words, but in a masculine plainness and significancy of sense. He was a master of prudence formed on experience, and regulated by temper and moderation. His loyalty was true, and would endure the test; and was only exceeded by his piety, which indeed was eminently great. To sum up all in a word, the queen was happy in so great a counsellor, and the state of England for ever indebted to him for his sage and prudent counsel. He was one who lived and died with equal glory; and while others regard him with admiration, I am rather inclined to contemplate him with the sacred applause of silent veneration." WILLIAM SHAKSPEARE, THE PRINCE OF DRAMATIC POETS. From 6th Elizabeth, to 10th James I. THOUGH the lives of poets in general are less instructive than their writings, and the eccentricities of genius frequently furnish as much to lament as to ad mire, yet there seems to be no just reason why the highest intellectual endowments, and the warmest poetic inspiration, should not be coupled with judg ment and with prudence; and the union produce its natural fruits, honour, independence, and happiness. An illustrious proof of the most glowing energies of mind, connected with a general though not undeviating observance of those prudential maxims by which the mass of men direct their conduct, will be supplied by contemplating the life of Shakspeare; the immortal poet of nature, the glory of his country and his age. Stratford-upon-Avon had the honour to produce this prodigy of dramatic genius; and, in consequence, will ever be hallowed as classic ground. His father was a considerable wool-stapler, and it appears that his connexions in general ranked with the gentry of the place; but a large family of ten children, of whom our poet was the eldest, proved an incumberance that must have been very sensibly felt. Consequently the education of young Shakspeare, though by no means neglected, was confined to what the grammar-school of his native town could supply. What progress he made there, what indications he gave of his future celebrity, are wholly unknown; but as genius is a gift of nature, and cannot be acquired, it is probable that he early "warbled his wood-notes wild," though unnoticed by the dim eye and unheard by the dull ear of common men. The fancy of Shakspeare was unquestionably pluming its infant wing, even amidst the most ordinary avocations; and his soul darting into distant scenes of glory and of fame, though the path was yet untraced by which he reached them. After a few years of attendance on scholastic instruction, in which it is evident that he acquired a complete acquaintance with his native idiom, and was at least initiated into the Roman tongue, the slender finances of his father, and the want of assistance at home, occasioned his early application to business. To make him an accomplished scholar, seems to have been no part of his father's design; and it is now too late to discover whether the son shewed any particular predilection to general study, or aversion to mercantile engagements. It is certain that while he was still very young, he contracted a marriage with a lady of the name of Hathway, daughter of a substantial yeoman in the vicinity: and became a father before he reached the age of maturity. Having taken upon him the charge of a family before it can be expected that his juvenile years could have taught him prudence, or given him any considerable experience in life, his behaviour in this important character was probably not marked with the requisite economy or attention. That he pursued his father's trade as the means of a subsistence, seems to be pretty well ascertained; but his success and reputation can only be judged from the incident which, however disgraceful in itself, necessarily gave a new direction to his talents, and thus fortunately called forth that latent spark of genius which might otherwise have been smothered for ever. There is a tradition that Shakspeare was of a very gay and convivial disposition; and if we reflect on the warmth of imagination which is so conspicuous in his compositions, we can have little reason to doubt the truth of this report. The same impetuosity and energy of mind which have rendered him the delight and admiration of all posterity, unquestionably displayed themselves, before he had reached the maturity of reason, in frolicsome 'excesses of conduct, and unguarded sallies of wit. Without the society of one congenial soul to cherish his native genius, or draw forth its shining qualities, it is not to be wondered that he associated with the giddy and the thoughtiess; and in the hilarity of his companions, forgot their grossness and their depravity. The fervid and aspiring mind can seldom repose in harmless inactivity if its powers are not directed by patronage or example to some worthy object, they will probably become conspicuous only for more flagrant dereliction of established modes, and greater ingenuity in vicious refinements. Shakspeare's associates were not only gay, but criminal. Sir Thomas Lucy, of Charlecot, near Stratford, whose descendants still support an honourable rank in life, had a deer park, which was frequently robbed by these unruly youths. In whatever design our poet engaged, he was qualified to be a leader; and being detected in the depredations of his gang, he was prosecuted with some severity. Instead, however, of asking pardon for his offence, he heightened it by a most satirical ballad; which so provoked the knight, that he felt himself justified in giving a loose to the vengeance of the law: and Shakspeare was in consequence obliged to relinquish his business and his home, and to take shelter in London. This gentleman, who was thus the cause of his original disgrace, yet the accidental maker of his future fortune, he afterwards ridiculed under the well-known character of Justice Shallow. Being now cast on the wide word, with only wit for his portion, it was natural for him to turn his thoughts towards the stage, and to court the society of the players. By a fatality for which it is impossible to account, the same fortune that seemed to have shipwrecked all his hopes, carried him into a safe port to refit, and then launched him on his proper element. But the pace with which he mounted to eminence was slow. In those days, gentlemen commonly rode to the play and it is said that he was at first glad to take care of their horses during the time of the performance; and that even in this humble station he soon became distinguished, and was enabled by the increase of his business to engage a number of boys as his assistants. By this means he got a little money; and having gradually insinuated himself into the favour of some of the players, he was found to possess such an admirable fund of wit and humour, that they readily incited him to make an attempt on the stage. His celebrity as an actor, however, was not great. It appears that he had only very subordinate characters assigned him; and that the most considerable one he ever performed, was the Ghost in his own play of Hamlet. But though Nature did not form him to shine as a first-rate actor, she had moulded and endowed him for something far superior. Being now acquainted with the business of the theatre, he was animated with a de |