Chapter C: Forbes

Temple.

* * * * *

SHAKSPEARE CORRESPONDENCE.

In reply to J. M. G. of Worcester, who inquires for a MS. volume of English poetry containing some lines attributed to Shakspeare, and which is described in Thorpe's _Catalog_ of MSS. for 1831, I can supply some particulars which may assist him in the research. The MS., which at one period had belonged to Joseph Hazlewood, was purchased from Thorpe by the late Lord Viscount Kingsborough; after whose decease it was sold, in November, 1842, at Charles Sharpe's literary sale room, Anglesea Street, Dublin. It is No. 574. in the auction catalogue of that part of his lordship's library which was then brought to auction.

The volume has been noticed by Patrick Fraser Tytler, in his _Life of Sir Walter Raleigh_, Edinburgh, 1833 (in Appendix B, p. 436., of 2nd edit.), where, citing the passage from Collier, which is referred to by J. M. G., he asserts that the lines are not Shakspeare's, but Jonson's. But he does not appear to me to have established his case beyond doubt; as the lines, though found among Jonson's works, may, notwithstanding, be the production of some other writer: and why not of Shakspeare, to whom they are ascribed in the MS.? Some verses by Sir J. C. Hobhouse originally appeared as Lord Byron's: and there are {524} numerous instances, both ancient and modern, of a similar attribution of works to other than their actual authors.

ARTERUS.

Dublin.

_The Island of Prospero._--We cannot assert that Shakspeare, in the _Tempest_, had any particular island in view as the scene of his immortal drama, though by some this has been stoutly maintained. Chalmers prefers one of the Bermudas. The Rev. J. Hunter, in his _Disquisition on the Scene, &c. of the Tempest_, endeavours to confer the honour on the Island of Lampedosa. In reference to this question, a statement of the pseudo-Aristotle is remarkable. In his work "[Greek: peri thaumasiôn akousmatôn]," he mentions Lipara, one of the Æolian Islands, lying to the north of Sicily, and nearly in the course of Shakspeare's Neapolitan fleet from Tunis to Naples. Among the [Greek: polla teratôdê] found there, he tells us:

"[Greek: Exakouesthai gar tumpanôn kai kumbalôn êchon gelôta te meta
thorubou kai krotalôn enargôs. legousi de ti teratôdesteron gegonenai
peri to spêlaion.]"

If we compare this with the aerial music heard by Ferdinand (_Tempest_, I. 2.), especially as the orchestra is represented by the genial burin of M. Retsch in the fifth plate of his well-known sketches (_Umrisze_), it will appear probable that Shakspeare was acquainted with the Greek writer either in the original or through a translation. As far as I am aware, this has not been observed by any of the commentators.--From _The Navorscher_.

J. M.

_Coincident Criticisms._--I shall be obliged if you will allow me through your pages to anticipate and rebut two charges of plagiarism. When I wrote my Note on a passage in _The Winter's Tale_ ("N. & Q.," Vol. vii., p. 378.), I had not seen the _Dublin University Magazine_ for March last, containing some remarks on the same passage in some respects much resembling mine. I must also declare that my Note on a passage in _All's Well that ends Well_ ("N. & Q.," Vol. vii., p. 426.) was posted for you some time before the appearance of A. E. B.'s Note on the same passage ("N. & Q.," Vol. vii., p. 403.). The latter coincidence is more remarkable than the former, as the integrity of the amended text was in both notes discussed by means of the same parallel passage. _Apropos_ of A. E. B.'s clever Note, permit me to say, that though at first it appeared to me conclusive, I now incline to think that Shakspeare intended Helen to address the _leaden messengers_ by means of a very hyperbolic figure: "wound the still-piecing air that sings with piercing" is a consistent whole. If, as A. E. B. rightly says, _to wound the air_ is an impossibility, it is equally impossible that the air should utter any sound expressive of sensibility. The fact of course is, that the cannon-balls _cleave_ the air, and that by so cleaving it a shrill noise is produced. The cause and effect may, however, be metaphorically described, by comparing air to Bertram. I believe it is a known fact that every man who is struck with a cannon-ball cries out instinctively. Shakspeare therefore might, I think, have very poetically described the action and effect of a cannon-ball passing through the air by the strong figure of _wounding the air that sings with the piercing which it is enduring_.

In concluding this Note, I beg to express what is not merely my own, but a very general feeling of disappointment in respect of MR. COLLIER'S new edition of Shakspeare. To it, with a new force, may be applied the words of A. E. B. in "N. & Q.," Vol. vi., p. 296.:

"But the evil of these emendations is not in this instance confined to
the mere suggestion of doubt; the text has absolutely been altered in
all accessible editions, in many cases _silently_, so that the ordinary
reader has no opportunity of judging between _Shakspeare_ and his
improvers."

That MR. COLLIER should be the greatest of such offenders, is no very cheering sign of the times.