New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1865-09-07

the question is one which admits OF no sauslhctoIy
decision, and must remain q mere matter OF con-
lecture.
II is remarkable that in his earliest plays. those
written when his Staf0d "reminiscences were freshest
the women are the reverse OF oyabie and se.te pn'
after few years of London life had widened his obser'
alton and initiated his experience, there came sue.
change hs creatures of this kind, thet II is pIase
enough Of any the drest now aud sweetest 70 ~! SIC
is like one of Shakcspeare's women. Surely NOT 10
chance aud surely evolution from the dePlnso
moral consciousness Is Cue the difference between w
women in Henry The StIth, The Comedy Of LrTors' I.zs
Ardr0ricus and LorGs Labor's Lost ana those IN lue
later plys Nor could il have been merely the rult o
maturing Judgment For very young Iuep "rd, most o.
all very yong poets are sure 10 see women WIZ wy
minds only through the soft nster ~ w ~ cnrhs
which beWder even tile better instructed though per
haps not WISER apprehension Of proSalc ace ShhAes
pe0res mind, like RaphaePr, furnished ioith ms own
in the high bred cultivated women into whose society
mis- noble and worshipful admirers took bun that he
found bis female models. From among These women
d,d lie 60 forth with heart uilscdt'edt Among them
MI was there not one who felt that although she per
hars was OF noble birth, that player though not her
lord was master Of her hearth " The many tly
men they loved there not one who knew TIE worth
Of ShakcspCa-cf He with a painters eye Tor oedutv
and poets soul Of passion. who could read womenS
hearts in mirror, alive to OH the charms OF cum
waited society and Illustrating them in his pen son anu
with rustic wife eight years oder than lJmsci away
off in StralforG he with honey non his tongue a. wen
\ H.. o
sv cot and gruf Ben Jcnsons heart won't ont 10 n'-
handsome and wen shaped Tools 1t IN mans nalure,
il il in womans nntuTe thai he sbouIu not nay 49,
and been loved in LunGOnf Let only those Wlo NV
Ithnurhtfuy read his SOnuctr answer. fOr Whhtc'er
may hive been tie motives Of those mysterious coupo
sitons which alternately bernie us with thclf seeB
revelations Of simple fact, and halle Us WIN Nv
sudden presentation Of impOsHnly, there uehIs uo'
meath thrir artificial surface pulse OF pas'l ~ PIo
found there comes from behind their impeneIaDe vil.
CIV Of anguish personal ~ Wen ~ 80 huna, .9tt
| a.. tI..f Int nil
that in them face 10 face and eye 70 eye WIN uo
man Shakespeare. reading, though nut Nague'y eonpv
lending the nmost secrets Of lls heart lhey may
not he the record Of his SOU experience pu c! SUI
ave its witness They NAV posi- y have been Wliuen
for others hut they ere Of HIMSELF They lack utely
tic dramatic element tell ala individual st"ry au
another's Joy, brought ior1A py 'io"rous ou'
fering CO. , i;. ,ro a-o to .ssirn
.cee snnn,ts cannot be decided. lie bad written SON"
o,nets before 1885 because IN that year lleles hen
tions certain "sugared sonnets among n p'".o
friends" Rnt were they 'hesef luese zen ~ &c T.
trusted and faiihless hiend, OF mistress love. IL
s,ite of reason and in the teeth OF CONVICTION Ale
these the sort Of literary exercises thnt onah0peWo
would be likely to haad around among MS curious 9. u
iesipc ficulsf Or II they revealed me sec us Oh an
others heart would he be inclined TO nave theh snD
mted 10 such publicity The date Of Their pu,hcai"h
makes il certain tlnt these fnnLets were al "iliteh
before Shakespeare was fOrtyive years egi HDG 10
probaby were produced between bis lrtielh al his
l1tieth year Thomas TAOfpe's dedication tells Us alb
solncly nothing Of their origin Only that there was a
secret about it that Las never been revealed. 'onld
either Of those other persons whom they concern have
become reduced as 10 make merchandise III t1em OF
have been small soued a. 10 seek Dooety through
their publication Sadder, stranger things have Dhp'
pened The mystery OF these sonnet viii never Dc IN
folded: vet in attempt 10 trace the course OF SNAKES
peares life they cannot be passed BY although ibey zen
MS nothing surely except that the! express Tie Juno
thoughts and feelings Of one who however, wise aud
prudent he might have been. was III his affections anu
bus passions little selrcsran,d than David htte
less wise than Solomon.
The conclusion Of the Memoir, in which Mr..
White takes rapid glance at tho position Of
Shakespeare in the intellectual history Of his day
is Just and delicious, and in itself alone is sufficient
TO confirm the high opinion We have expressed OF
the merits of the essay.
Unlike Dante unlike Milton. unlike Goethe mike
the greet poets ana trageGians Of Greece and loWe
Shakespeare left trace upon the political Ut even the
social life Of his OF his eminent country men, la
leigh SIDNEY Spencer, Bacon. Cecil. Wns.ngham,
Coke Camden. Hooker. Drake Hobbies, lingo JONES'
Herbert Of Cherbury Laud Pym, Hamplen' sei.en;
Walton Woton, and Donns may be properly Ieck"he'
as his emporaries; and yet there IL no PROOF WHAT
ever that he personally known ~ either oil teese
men, OF any others If less note among the statesmen
scholars soldiers and artists of hs day except the few
of his fellow craftsmen whose acquaintance WIN BIN
has been heretofore mentioned 10 these Mcmoirs ms
partly from the loss of evidence, and partly perhaps,
because be was not personally acquainted WIN any oi
these men, II is q common mistake TO suppose that,
even in these days Of free intercourse, e1nei Sons
who contemporaries dnu cOuutf men must hceus oe
brought into cont tact Their personal relations, IKE
those of other persons, are governed by pruden feh
sons and social inf1ences,greaily also b mere ac-
cdent
Sbakespeare's character entirely free from those
irregularities which are usually but nnreasorebly re-
carued almost the necessary conc0mtantS OF genus
seems 10 have been OF singular completeness ana OF PIT
feet balance OF Lis transcendcnt mental giits' The
results OF the daily labor by which be INST eTnd us
b. cad and then made MIS- .otune remain as evidence;
l.. al. Es.sr ,f
cmmOn business and intercourse Of LIE, ulTEht lru
dent Sclrrsrectng-a man TO be respected al9 Feisd
upon An actor Vi time when actoIs we're led 10 Tie
Lowest possible esteem no NOn Tue Nina Fctdlu hhu
consideration Of those who held high Iank and station
q poet lie not only thrifty but pr"vldcni. Though
careful Of his own he was hot ony Just bnt generous
10 others. His integrity was euy bDced and Jun,Ol
saws lie indeed honest. AID OF an open ana free
nature" SlrpGssng Gil his rivals, ailer the leeil o
the Tet surprise lie was Oved ~ IA except inc n'aheh
sous among them; and such men only love themselves
"Sweet" and "gcnte" are the endcarIng epitlctl
which they delighted to apply g him. In lis position
10 have produced this effect uVon high and low hc mus
have united native digny TO singular kinfbcss 0
heart eveInesS OF temper 0nd gIuclOusuc,s OF MANNER
His ready wit ADD bis cheeruness IN hool recourse
are particularly mentioned IN tradition To these qaal
tiles il is plain that he added sympathy that "h'
unycrsa-a Gift which more than any other WINS III,
love Of ali mankind. And indeed, 1t Is o. the ELECT
this NOR quality that the con p"te and multi
fudnous manifestation Of his intellectual greatness
The Rev prend Mr Davies writing aitcI lbs says that
be died a Papst." II he became member 81 thC
Church Of Rome, 1t must have been alIer he "fo',
P9fsto and JRiid In which he speaks ~ evening uhssi
Gr the Aumblcst member Of that Chnich knows tha
there is no mass yesPers The e1persion use4 b'
| davies implies, indeed, that Shakespeare died Ia
faith in which he had not been educated But his re
nnrt e. inlprobah,e In the oVermuch righteousness
The purtanica period in which Shakespeare last yca'
we're passed a molcrnte degree Of cbcerinness me
Christian charity 10 say hoihinG 81 cOn"'n! 20 VIZ
Church Of Engifnd might easiy have brought the 70
proach of Papisy upon less open TO thai suspicion
than retired player Shakespeare although he seon'
20 have been man Of tinceic pIety srem' h' 10 ihl
heen wi,bout religious convictions His works im
hued with high and heartfelt appreciation Of tie vita