Such is the Jew's preference, and so exactly has Shakspeare worked out his character in accordance with the Scripture narrative! In like manner, when he speaks of the sepulchre in stubborn Jewry,' King Richard II. Act ii. Sc. 1, how accurately in one word does he sum up the character of the whole Jewish nation; while in the Merchant of Venice, again, he depicts no less accurately the fulfilment of antient prophecy, which, by their 'stubbornness,' they have drawn down upon themselves, where Shylock confesses : Sufferance is the badge of all our tribe. Act i. Sc. 3. The fine passage, at the opening of Hamlet, which Shakspeare has put into the mouth of Horatio, owes probably quite as much to S. Matthew or S. Mark as it does to Plutarch, or to Ovid; though the critics have traced it only to the two latter. In the most high and palmy state of Rome, The graves stood tenantless, and the sheeted dead Stars shone with trains of fire; dews of blood fell; Act i. Sc. I. 14. The references made by our poet to the history of the Acts are few and not of much moment; yet they indicate somewhat curiously, if I am not mistaken, the minuteness of his attention to the sacred record. In the First Part of King Henry VI., among other compliments paid by Charles Dauphin of France to Joan of Arc, she is pronounced superior to Saint Philip's daughters,' Act i. Sc. 2, that is the four daughters, virgins, that did prophecy' of Philip the Evangelist, who are mentioned in Acts xxi. 9. In the Comedy of Errors, the scene of which is laid at Ephesus, Pinch the Schoolmaster is represented also as a conjuror. It will be remembered that Ephesus was the place where S. Paul 'disputed daily in the school of one Tyrannus,' and where 'many of them also that used curious arts brought their books together and burned them before all men.' See Acts xix. 9, 19. But previously to this burning of the books we read in the same narrative, v. 13: Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, 'We adjure thee by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.' One is inclined to suspect that the name Antipholus among the characters of this play is a mistake (on the part of author or printer) for Amphibolus; i. e. àμpißoxos, ambiguous, doubtful. + On the union of the occupations of schoolmaster and conjuror, see Drake's Shakspeare and his Times, vol. i. p. 95. Compare with this the exorcism of Pinch in Act iv. Sc. 4. I charge thee, Satan, housed within this man, To this I may add that in Pericles Prince of Tyre, a servant at Ephesus, which was not far from Colossæ, has the name of Philemon. In King Richard III. we read these words of Gloster, who is speaking--first to Hastings, and then to the officers in attendance : Thou art a traitor— Off with his head! Now, by Saint Paul I swear, Act iii. Sc. 4. What are we to understand by this adjuration of S. Paul? Is there an allusion in it to what we read in Acts xxiii. 12? Certain of the Jews banded together, and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. And was there some confusion in our poct's recollection of the circumstances, or remembering them aright, did he still make use of the name of the apostle on their account? It must be stated, however, that the same wicked king is made to use the same oath on other occasions; for instance, in the scene before the Battle of Bosworth : By the Apostle Paul, shadows to-night Have struck more terror to the soul of Richard H Than can the substance of ten thousand soldiers, Act v. Sc. 3. Why this oath should have been assigned no less than five times to King Richard III., but to no one else, in this play, and yet should not be found so much as once in any other, I am unable to explain; nor am I aware that the fact has been noticed by any of the critics. We know how S. Paul has 'protested' of himself with reference to his daily life of mortification, of hardship and self-denial : The same character is given in Macbeth, by Macduff, to the mother of Malcolm, whom he is addressing: Thy royal father Was a most sainted king: the queen, that bore thee, Died every day she lived.* Act iv. Sc. 3. Moreover, we know how the same great apostle has protested also, that neither in his own teaching, nor in the promises of God, through Christ, is there any uncertainty, any vacillation, any saying of both Compare the character of the saintly Queen Margaret as given by her biographer and confessor, Turgot, Bishop of S. Andrews. Shakspeare seems to have confounded, whether purposely or not, the character of Margaret, who was Malcolm's wife, with that of his mother. 'yea and nay.' 2 Cor. i. 17-20. And so king Lear, complaining of the treatment he had received from his unnatural daughter : To say ay, and no, to every thing I said! no good divinity. Ay and no too was Act iv. Sc. 6. Once more: Prospero says to Miranda, in the Tempest: The direful spectacle of the wreck which touch'd The very virtue of compassion in thee, I have with such provision in mine art Which thou heard'st cry, which thou saw'st sink. Act i. Sc. 2. And Ariel afterwards reports, 'Not a hair perished.' In a note upon this passage, it has been suggested, with good reason, by Mr. Holt White, that Shakspeare may have had in his mind the hortatory speech of S. Paul to the ship's company, where he assures them that, though they were to suffer shipwreck : There shall not an hair fall from the head of any of you. Acts xxvii. 34. H 2 |