Forespeech. H LL is not "Prayfe" that is celebrated in the ensuing pages: but the pre vailing character of the parts may fairly be allowed to give defignation to the whole. The experience of the two years during which the editor has been engaged upon this work has prepared him for the discovery that many links in the chain of allufion to Shakespeare have been omitted. It were furely unneceffary for him to have undertaken fuch a work to convince himself of his liability to oversight and error. Yet as furely, if he had the conceit of regarding himself as nothing if not critical, and worfe than nothing if not accurate, as being beyond, not indeed the poffibility, but the danger, of making mistakes, there is no furer help for his malady than the attempt to execute a complete catena of extracts relating to one man, ftretching through a century of obsolete or obfolefcent literature. The editor never rightly estimated the difficulty of making an exact copy or a perfect collation, to say nothing of other and greater difficulties that infeft this kind of work, until he had partly executed Shakespeare's Centurie of Prayfe. At its commencement he felt confidence in his ability to make the collection nearly exhaustive but as it received, from time to time during the process of printing, fresh acceffions of material, he gradually allowed resignation to ufurp the place of hope, and looked no longer for "the praise of perfection."* * The difficulty of completing fuch a work on a pre-arranged plan is shown by the fact fomewhat irregularly recorded on p. 338, and further by the discovery of a contemporary mention of Shakespeare, which was brought under our notice after that page had been printed. It occurs in the following passage: "Our moderne, and prefent excellent Poets which worthely florish in their owne workes, and all of them in my owne knowledge lived togeather in this Queenes raigne, according to their priorities as neere as I could, I have orderly fet downe (viz) George Gascoigne Efquire, Thomas Church-yard Esquire, fir Edward Dyer Knight, Edmond Spencer Elquire, fir Philip Sidney Knight, Sir John Harrington Knight, Sir Thomas Challoner Knight, Sir Francis Bacon Knight, & Sir John Davie Knight, Mafter John Lillie gentleman, Maifter George Chapman gentleman, M. W. Warner gentleman, M. Willi. |