Doubtless the fascinating pleasures of the stage, to which the supposed writings of this man have so powerfully contributed, will remain; and a public evil will continue to receive the public patronage. Doubtless in all future time the heroes of the buskin will declaim with the most affecting and fervent eloquence, all the injuries and emotions of the sable Othello; while fairer charmers will utter in tones as soft and as moving as angels use, the loves, the hopes, and the fears of the confiding Desdemona. Doubtless in all coming time, the ardent Romeo will continue to contrive his tricks of love, and the willing Juliet will second them,

"Till envious streaks

Do lace the severing clouds in yonder east,

And jocund day stands tiptoe on the misty
Mountain tops."

The ghost of Banquo will still arise and sit with fearful visage in Macbeth's place at the festive board. Queen Katharine will still protest her innocence and point upward for protection to that "Judge whom no king can corrupt." The peerless Cleopatra will still display her oriental charms, and re-enact the scenes with which a glowing fancy has invested her history, her beauty, and her misfortunes; while admiring thousands will be sure to "bless her when she is riggish?” The gentle Imogen will still affirm her honesty, though compelled in her wanderings to take refuge in a cave and plunder its contents. The daughters of Lear will often again exhibit their ingratitude, and the base Iago be cursed for his perfidy. The graceful dance and the mellifluous song, the potent charms of beauty and

the brilliant fascinations of genius, will all be enlisted as heretofore in perpetuating this profitable, as well as most acceptable deceit. But the truth will still remain unshaken, though disregarded. Thus men will continue to be the willing dupes of a fascinating imposition; yet while they bestow upon it their admiration, and vote it the incense of their praise, they will present a melancholy spectacle of simplicity and weakness; to say nothing of those moral turpitudes which are inseparably connected with the amusements of the stage.

We have now reached the termination of our argument. We have presented such evidence in this case as seems to be required, in order to accomplish the purpose which we have in view. Before we close it, however, there are several reflections of importance which seem to us to deserve attention, which naturally result from the preceding discussion, and without which, indeed, it would remain very incomplete.

The first point is, that we are justly astonished that men, claiming to possess the first order of intelligence, can quote and admire an author, the evidence of whose reality and identity is so inconclusive. By thus quoting him, they profess to admit that they grant his claims, and yet these claims are thus granted in opposition to the plainest dictates of what is reasonable. The possession of superior intelligence, we would suppose, would enable and dispose them to detect all such impostures; and at any rate would prevent them from receiving as worthy of confirmed respect, a supposition which is manifestly so unfounded and absurd. If the ignorant and unlearned cannot fathom this de

lusion, they at least should be able to do it. But on the contrary, we hear such persons refer to this supposed author with all the confidence and simplicity imaginable; and speaking of a phantom with all the assurance for which an uneducated person alone should be excused.

A second point is, that we are still more justly surprised that any persons of such superior discernment, should be disposed to chime in with the prejudices of the vulgar multitude on this subject, whether true or false. The opinions of the uncultivated are usually founded in error. It is almost certain that men possessing penetration superior to that of the crowd will differ necessarily from them. To the attainment of clear views on such a subject as the present one, considerable light is necessary. This the unlearned have not, and hence their general conclusions must be erroneous. Yet it is with these very conclusions so entertained by the vast masses of men, that the most cultivated profess to agree. Surely this is strange enough. When we consider how much and how generally mankind who possess no superior instruction do err; how rarely the mass arrive at truth; it is almost a weakness for those elevated above the multitude to harmonize and agree with them. Yet strange to say, in this difficult instance, we for once find the rude mass and the refined few, entirely harmonious in their opinions, the one relying perfectly on the decisions and the conclusions of the other. This fact we hold to be a stain upon the intellectual character of those who should know better; who should be elevated above vulgar prejudices; who should scorn

what the vulgar revere, on that very account, if on no other; whose tastes and pleasures, whose hopes and fears should in every case be far elevated above those of the more ignoble portion of mankind.

A third point is, that we are much astonished when we behold the same men, who thus exhibit on this subject a most credulous spirit, charging the crime of folly upon others who, in reference to other subjects, exhibit the same weakness. They should doubtless be consistent; and if they are guilty of a strange weakness in one respect, they should exercise charity for the similar weakness of others in another respect. Never more let them deride the superstition of the Hindoo, the mythology of the Greek, or the idolatry of the Mohammedan. Never more let them jest upon the terror of ghosts, which tormented other men and other generations. Wherever they see the existence and results of credulity, let them exercise a spirit of forbearance, lest their own equal weakness may attract attention, and expose them to equal disgrace. Men find it hardest to forgive that delinquent, who has no bowels of compassion for those who have committed a crime of which he himself is guilty. Men find it much easier to forgive those who, though guilty themselves, view those who are in like condemnation with sympathy and pity.

With reference to this supposed Shakspeare himself, one remark remains to be made. Although this imposture may have accomplished some good; though it may have promoted a literary taste among some classes of people; yet it should never be respected at all for the little good it has done, inasmuch as its principal

it.

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If this fabrication has been claims are impostures.* the means of promoting the welfare not merely of those directly connected with the stage, but also of those who witness its performances; especially if it has produced good results on the printed page, which thousands have read with profit and delight, it all signifies nothing, because based on an imposture. The guilt involved in this one deceit is so great, that it counterbalances other good which may have been associated with every Hence, when persons who do not defend this fabrication as a genuine work, commend the good it is supposed to have accomplished, it must be regarded as a strange instance of mental obtuseness. If Shakspeare be a fabricated hero, let all the good which has been achieved through him be forgotten; and let the baseness of this imposture be alone held up to the public derision. No motive of benevolence on the one hand, or of self-interest on the other, should prevent men from administering full and ample justice in the case.

CONCLUSION.

As the object of the preceding discussion was to illustrate the more important objections which modern infidelity has urged against the records of the New Testament respecting Christ, we are prepared in pursuance of this object, to draw the following inferences.

* The allusion is here made to those absurd objections against Christ, by which he is represented as unworthy of any esteem as a wise and good teacher, simply because, according to the opinions of those concerned, his claims as a divine messenger are denied.