themselves. Ben Johnfon printed his English. Grammar. If Shakespeare and Milton never published their rules, yet they are not difficult to be traced from a more accurate confideration of their writings. Milton's rules I fhall omit at prefent; but fome of Shakespeare's, which favour of peculiarity, I fhall here mention: because when these are known, we fhall be less liable to give a loose to fancy, in indulging the licentious fpirit of criticism; nor fhall we then fo much prefume to judge what Shakespeare ought to have written, as endeavour to discover and retrieve what he did write.

RULE I.

Shakespeare alters proper names according to the English pronunciation.

Concerning this liberty of altering proper names, Milton thus apologizes in Smectymnuus, "If in dealing with an out-landifh name, they "thought it beft not to screw the English mouth "to a harsh foreign termination, so they kept "the radical word, they did no more than the

elegant authors among the Greeks, Romans, and at this day the Italians in fcorn of such a fervility use to do. Remember how they mangle

"mangle our British names abroad; what tref"pafs were it if we in requital fhould as much "neglect theirs? And our learned Chaucer did "not ftick to do fo, writing Semyramus for "Semiramis, Amphiorax for Amphiaraus, K. Seies "for K. Ceyx the hufband of Alcyone, with 66 many other names strangely metamorphis'd "from true orthography, if he had made any "account of that in thefe kind of words." Milton's obfervation is exceeding true; and to this affectation of the Romans is owing the difficulty of antiquarians tracing the original names and places. Our Cafwell, Bowdich and Cotes, in a Roman mouth are Caffivellanus, Boadicia and Cotifo. The Portus Itius mention'd in Cae

1 Chaucer's tranfcribers have plainly corrupted fome words, as AE they have turned into G. In the house of Fame, p. 466. y. 116. Edit.. Urry.

"Yfatte the Harpir Orion,

"And Gacides Chirion."

One may venture I think to write

66 Eacides, and Chirion.”

1. Achilles and Chiron: both famous for their skill in Mufick. Again Senior they have changed into Semor. In the Chanon's Yeman's tale. 1471. p. 127. edit. Urry.

"As in his bokę Semor [r. Senior] will bear witness." Senior de Chemia. viz, Senior Zadith.

far

Vitfan or

far was a port below Calais called

Whitfan. The old German words

at Awe;

i. e. fat or fruitful earth, the Romans called Batavia. When the north-east part of Scotland was pronounced by the natives Cal dun, i. e. a hill of hazel, the Romans foon gave it their Latin termination, and called it Caledonia. Many other names of places our antiquarians and etymologists easily trace, if they can get but the radical word. This rule then is universally true, that all nations make foreign words fubmit to their manner of pronunciation. However our Shakespeare does not abuse proper names like Chaucer or Spencer, tho' he has elegantly fuited many of them to the English mouth."

In his Midfummer-Night's Dream, A& II, he hints at a story told by Plutarch in the life of Thefeus, of one Пgym, daughter of the famous robber Sinis, whom Thefeus flew : he, true hero-like, killed the father and then debauched the daughter. Her he calls very poetically Perigenia.

Cleopatra had a fon by Julius Caefar, whom Plutarch tells us was called Kairagiwu, Shakefpeare in Antony and Cleopatra very properly writes it Cefario, not Cefarion: IIT, does not

make in Latin or English Platon, but Plato. And Prifcian the Grammarian obferves that the Latins omit the n at the latter end of proper names. So * Cicero in his Tufculan disputations: Hinc ille Agamemno Homericus. And Virgil. Aen. VIII, 603.

Haud procul hinc Tarcho, et Tyrrheni tuta

"tenebant."

From whence Aen. X, 290. Instead of

Speculatus litora Tarchon,

we muft write Tarcho.

Perhaps to avoid the meeting of two vowels, he followed the Grecian fpelling, in Aen. VII, 327.

Odit et ipfe pater Pluton, odere forore
Tartareae monftrum.

The Jews name in the Merchant of Venice Scialac, he makes English and calls Shylock. In Romeo and Juliet, Montecchi and Capello, are Montague and Capulet. Sir Johan of Boundis, in Chaucer's legend of Gamelyn, he changes into, Sir Rowland of Boys, in his play called As you

like it. Amleth, he writes Hamlet; and Cunobeline or Kymbeline, he calls Cymbeline.

Macbeth's father is variously written in the Scotish chronicles. Macbeth fil. Findleg: Innes of Scotland p. 791. Macbeth Mac-Finleg: Ibid. p. 803. Machabeus Filius Finele: Johan. de Fordin Scot., L. IV. c. 44. Salve, Maccabaee Thane Glammis; nam eum magiftratum defuncto paulo ante patre Synele acceperat. Hector Boeth. Scot. hift. L. XII.

Sinell thane of Gammis: Holingfh. p. 168. "By Sinel's death, I know, I'm thane of Glamis.” So our author, in Macbeth, A& I.

5.In Cicero's offices B. II. c. ix. is the following paffage, Itaque propter aequabilem praedae partitionem, et BARGULUS ILLYRIUS LATRO, de

quo

5 'Tis very plain if the plays called ift, zd, &c. parts of Henry VI. were written by our poet, that he had red Cicero's offices. I wonder this paffage fhould escape the diligent fearch of Mr. Theobald. I lately turned to the edition printed at Oxford, where I found Bardylis had taken poffeffion of the copy, but no mention made of Cicero. In the last edition indeed I found THE TRUE PI RATE. But Shakespeare seems to me to have had his eye on other paffages of Cicero's offices. In the IIId part of Henry VI. A&t I.

P

"York.