Shakespeare and the Bible were almost synonymed. Shortly after he had succeeded to the English throne, at a conference of divines held at Hampton Court in 1603, James expressed a strong opinion on the importance of having a correct version of the Holy Bible, in consequence of the many imperfections of the existing translations of the Scriptures. "I wish," said he, 66 some special pains were taken for a uniform translation, which should be done by the best learned in both universities, then revised by the bishops, presented to the Privy Council, and lastly ratified by royal authority, to be read in the whole church, and no other."

Out of this speech of the king's arose the present English Bible, which has now for nearly two hundred and seventy years been the Bible universally used in dissenting communities. It was originally (1611) published under the following title:

"The Holy Bible, conteyning the Old Testament and the New newly translated out of the original Tongues, and with the former translations diligently compared and revised, by his Majesty's special commandments."

We have said that a gap of several years in the life of Shakespeare has not been accounted for. Shakespeare's Day-Book, posted up in the great ledger (folio) 1623, fully explains this mystery. It informs us how this gap was filled up and his time occupied. Let a learned writer speak for us:

"During such a period of observation Shakespeare

might spend a few weeks or months in different vocations, one after the other; and, if domiciled with an attorney, an apothecary, or of any other calling, he would learn more of those arts in six months than he found occasion in after years to put in his dramas. Let us, therefore, intelligently, admire Shakespeare's varied knowledge of the common affairs of life, by considering his vast capacity, in connection with the fact that this knowledge of his, at which we are so much astonished, is of that kind and degree that comes from observation, and not by any special study or daily practice."

In the year 1865, Charles W. Stearns, M.D., of New York, published a small work, entitled "Shakespeare's Medical Knowledge."

In 1859, there was published by D. Appleton & Co., a volume of 146 pages, entitled "Shakespeare's Legal Acquirements Considered," by John Lord Campbell, LL.D. It is in the form of a letter addressed to J. Payne Collier, Esq., F.S.A.

Following the example of these learned gentlemen, we have endeavored, by a series of parallel passages, to show that his knowledge of the Bible was fully equal, if not far surpassing, that of his medical and legal acquirements. Attempts have been made by

some writers to connect Shakespeare's name with that of the Catholic faith. There is not a particle of evidence to support this. Whether his father was or was not a member of the Protestant Reformed Church, it is not to be disputed that his children, all of whom were born between 1533 and 1580, were baptized at

the ordinary and established place of worship in the parish. That his son William was educated, lived, and died a Protestant, we have no doubt, the evidence of which is to be found in several of his plays.

We have in our possession an engraving of the font used at the christening of Shakespeare. It is but a fragment- the upper part only. The same style was adopted with singular good taste for the new font in the church, which may therefore be considered as a restoration of it. Mr. Knight has thus given its history: "The parochial accounts of Stratford show that about the middle of the seventeenth century a new font was set up. The beautiful relic of an olden time, from which William Shakespeare had received the baptismal water, was, after many years, found in the old chancel-house. When that was pulled down, it was thrown into the church-yard, and, half a century ago, was removed by the parish-clerk to form a trough of a pump at his cottage. It was bought by the late Captain Saunders, and from his possession came into that of the present owner, Mr. Heritage, a builder at Stratford." It is still in possession of the family.

The life of William Shakespeare was an extraordinary one, and in the contemplation of it we are lost in wonder and surprise. It is seldom the historian has to record instances of such locomotive powers of genius springing from an humble source, and of one who obtained in so short a time a position in the world of letters, which has never been equalled.

He planted in the garden of literature new and

rare plants; they bloomed in all their pride of beauty, and perfumed with their sweets the civilized world. The wilderness yielded its gloom and silence to his power, and notes of sweet music, conjured up by his art, are now heard wherever the foot of civilization treads—his, was the magic of the heart, the pulsation of which harmonized with that of the earth, and they throbbed together in unison. It was the glory of Columbus that he discovered a new world for Castile and Aragon; but Shakespeare has discovered a new universe a universe of truth and beauty for the contemplation of mankind in every age. Life, with its stern realities, the realms of fancy peopled by genii and fairies; Nature in all her grandeur, and art in its refinement, are all presented to us in his writings encircled by the attributes of genius.

Charming in youth, instructive in age, he addresses himself to all — he has a voice for every human feeling-he is, in fact, the universal teacher. The Abbé Le Blanc, in his letters on the English nation, written to his friend, speaking of Shakespeare, says: "He is, of all writers, ancient or modern, the most of an original. He is truly a great genius, and Nature has endowed him with powers to show it. His imagination is rich and strong; he paints whatever he sees, and embellishes whatever he describes. The Loves in the train of Venus are not represented with more grace in the pictures of Albanus, than this poet gives to those that attend on Cleopatra, in his description of the pomp with which that queen presents herself to Mark Antony, on the banks of the Cydnus."

Is it not strange that a poor boy, who came to London a total stranger, should become the master spirit of the world of letters; the magician to rule the minds of men, and give to every nation a key to unlock the prison-doors of ignorance, and bid it forth to learn the words of wisdom? But so it was. He was a link-boy about the theatres, then a "call-boy," then an actor, author, and finally the Shakespeare of all time. But here let us pause, and ask the question, where did he get his biblical knowledge? where did he receive the first lessons which led him on, step by step, to become in time one of the best students of the Bible in his day? Was it while acting in the capacity of a "link-boy," or was it while engaged within the walls of a theatre? No! He received those lessons from one whose love added a bright charm to the holy passages she taught him to read and study-to his mother was Shakespeare indebted for early lessons of piety, and a reverence for a Book, from whose passages in after life, he wove for himself a mantle of undying fame. She lived in an age when books were rare things in the dwellings of the poor; he lived in an age when the Bible was looked upon as the "Book of Books," and read for the good things it contained, and not for the purpose of controversy, as, we regret to say, is in a great measure the case at the present day.

In arranging our passages from Shakespeare, parallel with those of the Bible, we have not given them in the order of the folio edition of his plays (1623), but as they presented themselves in our reading and researches.