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    properly instanced as a remarkable proof of Shakspeare ' s knowledge of human nature , Chateaubriand proceeds to show the value of his vaunted appreciation of it , by quoting it without its finest passages . He omits the greatest of all , —one of those things which distinguish Shakspeare beyond every other writer , —the friendly expostulation of Malcolm to Macduff : ' What , man ! ne ' er pull your hat upon your brows ! ' In this , we suppose , the French critic only recognised a few indifferent words , and omitted them because they seemed to want dignity . Oh , what a world of silent anguish they contain 3 "

    We cannot say we are surprised at a French critic either seeing nothing in such a passage , or something objectionable on the score of a deficiency of the stilted style , the polished , the distingue . It is very probable that the Viscount feels nothing ridiculous in the well-known joke of " Monsieur Macbeth ! Monsieur Macbeth ! Monsieur Macbeth ! — prenez garde de Monsieur Macduff ! "

    The remarks round-about Shakspeare contain , however , one passage of severe truth as applied to our national appreciation of the great dramatist . We quote it with no pleasant feelings of pride , and should be glad to see it extensively diffused as a lash to our sluggish indifference and gross inconsistency . " In theory , the English are unreserved admirers of Shakspeare : but in practice their zeal is much more circumspect . Why do they not act

    the plays of their deity in a perfect form ? By what presumption do they venture to abridge , mutilate , alter , and transpose the scenes of Hamlet , Macbeth , Othello , the Merchant of Venice , Richard III , &c ? Why have these sacrileges been committed by the most enlightened critics of the three kingdoms ? Dryden observes that Shakspeare ' s language is out of date , and , conjointly with Davenant , he adapted his plays for performance . Shaftesbury declares that the style of the old bard is coarse

    and barbarous , that his expressions and his wit are alike antiquated . Pope remarks that Shakspeare wrote for the populace , without seeking to please persons of more refined taste : that his writings present to the critic materials at once the most agreeable and the most revolting . Tate appropriated to himself King Lear , which was then so completely forgotten that no one detected the plagiarism . Rowe , too , in his life of Shakspeare , utters many blasphemies . Sherlock has ventured to say that

    there is nothing middling in Shakspearo ; that all he has written is either detestable or excellent : that he never kept to or even conceived a plot , though he frequently wrote very good scenes- Lansdowne carried his impiety so far as to re-write the Merchant of Venice . Let us be on our guard against innocent mistakes . When we are thrown into ecstasies at a scene in the denouement of Romeo and Juliet , we imagine that we are burning with pure love for Shakspeare , whilst , in reality , our ardent homage is addressed to Garrick . "—Vol . i . p . 240 .

    The truth , it will be perceived , is somewhat exaggerated , and the writer evidently finds a sarcastic delight in quoting the ignorant impertinences of these no-authorities . r lheir criticism is

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    Sketches ofEnglish Literature . 593

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  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1836, page 593, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2662/page/5/