name has been spelt, and that is in "Accounts of the Revels at Court"-a pamphlet republished by the Shakspeare Society, in which it is stated that a play "Mesur for Mesur" was played, and the author of the same is stated to be Shaxberd. We think that he ought to have known the orthography of his own name, and conclude that the entries made in the Stratford registry may be assumed to be the most correct. There is some dispute respecting the precise day on which he was born. Several old authorities fix the date as the 16th of April, though the 23rd is the one generally awarded to him as a birthday: upon what grounds we are unable to say, save that it is St. George's Day. Our authority before alluded to, the Stratford registry, bears the following entry of his birth:-"1564, April 26th, Guilelmus, filius Johannes Shakspere," from which we are to conclude that the date of his birth was three or thirteen days previous; the probability is that it was the latter, and that the 16th was the real date of his nativity. Presuming upon the scanty information and dubious authority at our disposal, we are to conclude that the poet received a very good education. There was a free grammar school at Stratford, the admission to which was guided by the qualification that the boy must be seven years of age and able to read; and no doubt, as the wool-stapler was a well-to-do inhabitant and an alderman, his son became a scholar at this mundane university. We will suppose that he was a hard working student, or followed the erratic course of immemorial genius, and scamped his studies, finding learning such a simple task and so easily acquired that he did not devote the required attention to it. marriage was not a happy one, although the great Shakspearean commentator, Mr. Dyce, is of the reverse opinion. Our own impression is, that the poet married in a hurry and repented at leisure: that he was at the time leading a Bohemian life, and left his lady immediately after the marriage, and went to London to try his fortune. Various are the legends that we have of his first appearance in the metropolis. Some assert that he held the somewhat equivocal position of street cad, and earned a living by holding horses; others contend that he went on to the stage, and eventually turned playwright. The last surmise is much the more likely. It is very probable that he took an engagement at the Blackfriars Theatre, and, having an innate knowledge of dramatic literature, and perhaps a mean opinion of the pieces then produced, took to playwriting, and gradually grew into the great literary fact of the age-and "for all time." We doubt if his pieces have not, like good wine, improved with age. Master William was somewhat of a sensationalist, as the titles of some of his plays attest. For instance--the 1597 quarto edition of Richard the Third bears the following title :-"The Tragedy of King Richard the third, containing, His treacherous Plots against his brother Clarence; the pittieful murther of his innocent nephews: his tyrannical vsurpation : with the whole course of his detested life and most deserved death." This beats "The Colleen Bawn" or "The Peep of Day," and perhaps was instrumental in procuring for its author an equivalent pecuniary result. In 1569 we find him a shareholder in the Blackfriars Theatre, and afterwards in the Globe: and, furthermore, the Bohemian must have become a successful author, for in 1597 we hear of him purchasing property in his native town,- —a fact that clearly proves that he had a wish to hold a position in the place which he had left in a somewhat indefinite manner. Like a sensible man, and one who well knew the ways of the world and the key to the coffers of true happiness, he retired after becoming famous and having accumulated wealth, to the shadow of his own vine and his own fig tree, till his death, which took place on the 23rd of April, 1616. His means would no doubt keep him free from creditorial intolerance. Let us hope he was free from scandal. There is a blank now in the poet's life. Indefatigable and ingenious Mr. Ireland has not been able to throw even the most poetical light upon that portion of his history lying between his school days and his appearance in London. At the age of eighteen or nineteen he evidently took to slightly irregular habits. Nicholas Rowe says that "a misfortune common enough to young fellows, he had fallen into ill company, and amongst them some that made a frequent practice of deer-stalking, engaged him more than once in robbing a park of Sir Thomas Lucy." Mr. Rowe puts it in as mild a form as any of his commentators, but he is as unable as any of the others to pass over this unpleasant episode. in the poet's life. William had evidently His will is as mysterious as his life is to the present fallen into Bohemian habits of a very questionable charac-generation, and strengthens the supposition that he and his ter; and notwithstanding his little satire against the knight on whose preserves he had been trespassing, and though painters of our own time have painted romantic pictures representing him being brought before the justice, the act cannot be glossed over, and tells very much against Master William, who has only the extenuating circumstance in his favour that deer-stalking may not in those times have been such a serious matter as in these degenerate days, when venison is a luxury known only to the great. There is no question but that this little act was instrumental in driving the poet to London; but we are at a loss to imagine, and can find no clue to assist us, whether he married previous to this poaching affair or afterwards. He was married when nineteen years old, in the year 1582, and he was married "with once asking of the banns.” We are inclined to the theory that Will was deeply engaged to be married to Mrs. Anne Hathaway prior to his escapade at Sir Thomas Lucy's. It has been suggested that this wife were on rather ungentle terms. After disposing of What shall we of the present day do to honour one who possessed a godlike understanding, and obtained a great worldly position by means of untiring industry? All are at present intent upon doing honour to his memory; but everything proposed seems to be too small in comparison with the object to be honoured. We can account for As it wanders through the hallAnd while we alone are sitting With strange fancies o'er us flitting, With one foot the big logs turning, As they crackle, brightly burning; With the other beating time To the fire-flame's fitful rhyme : We find something very soothing As we ponderAnd we wonder How our dreams On the beams Of the ruddy fire-light float, Till they're cast against our heart As we ponder thus, alone, Of the only voice that's speaking; While our thoughts are ever turning And changing them to voices Of those who long have gone, Our hearts meanwhile forgetting, As we watch the flamelets flitting, That, apart from all our fancies, We're alone! And who can break the mystic, To the fire-flame's monotone : Listless, listening to the tone Of the wint'ry fire-logs burning, While from oak to ashes turning, Remembering, yet forgetting, We're alone! LAST MONTH: AN ENTIRELY IMAGINARY CONFABULATION. Time: the 31st March-Place: The Smoking Room of the Promiscuous Club. THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY.-Mr. Cox, did I see you at the christening? THE EDITOR OF THE RECORD.--Might I suggest to your Grace that, in these times of dangerous novelty, the word baptism would be less open to misconstruction? THE ARCHBISHOP-Well, baptism be it; were you not there, Mr. Cox? MR. Cox, M.P.-Sir-I beg pardon-my lord, I mean your grace, I was not; and thereby, as the pious Cuvier said of the first known Chimpanzee, hangs a tale. I am free to confess, sir, that as an humble member of the Commons House of Parliament, I did consider that for the infant prince to receive its cognominums in the absence of the tribune of the people, was a crying evil— KING LEOPOLD OF BELGIUM.-Ah, poor little thing, it did cry above a bit. THE ARCHBISHOP OF YORK.-Yes, and above a whisper. MR. Cox, M.P. (resuming.)—I resolved, at no distant day to make the ministry feel my power. MR. STANSFELD, M. P.-So, so, my little incorruptible, that accounts for your calling attention to my little affair. MR. DISRAELI, M.P. (with sneering emphasis)- Your little affair? Your little affair? Your little affair? MR. OSBORNE, M.P.-That's the best of Dizzy, when he's satirical. He always gives you your choice of emphases. You pay attention, and you take your choice. SIGNOR MAZZINI.-Emphasis is a moral dagger. MR. OSBORNE, M.P.-If so, Dizzy's wont hurt much, for it sticks at nothing. But, seriously, Stansfeld ("Hear, hear," all over the room), it was green of you to take in Mazzini's letters-without opening them. SIGNOR MAZZINI.-Sir James Graham opened my letters with a moral dagger, but the great people of England beat him o'er the mazzard with the hilt of it. SIR ROWLAND HILL.-As you 've brought the conversation from Buckingham Palace to St. Martin's-le-Grand, shall I tell you the true story of my resignation? Have I your permission, my Lord Stanley? THE POSTMASTER-GENERAL. -I think I've got your medical certificate in my pocket. MR. BRIGHT, M.P.-Don't wrangle. MARSHAL VON WRANGEL.-Don't what? PRINCE FRITZ OF PRUSSIA.-Don't forget your manners in the presence of your king's most capable son. The burghers of the Duchies, with all the centuries taking a sight at them, from-from-from the top of the Dannewerk, know a young Napoleon when they see him, and are not to be taken in by antiquated imbecility. KING CHRISTIAN OF DENMARK.-Don't you think you two had better take Fredericia and Dybbol beforeMR. BURNAND.-Goodness knows they 're dibbling away at it. General Grant. -They 've been trying it with us, but Kilpatrick could n't get Richmond; it has got to be done, however, and I have got to do it. EARL RUSSELL. By the way, General, how do you expect to get on with Emperor Max ? MR. BYRON.-Of Maxico. MR. SEWARD.-As the last news is that the Archduke postpones the acceptance of the crown, we may conclude to postpone the difficulty. MR. ROEBUCK, M. P.-In the meantime, my Bedford Cockatoo, suppose you give us just a screech or two. EARL RUSSELL.-Another Sheffield inundation, on my honour as a peer. You've been very leaky lately, Roebuck; I shall get Grey to send Rawlinson, C.E., to you. Mr. ROEBUCK.-Don't, darling. THE CONSULTING ENGINEER OF THE SHEFFIELD WATERWORKS.-There's nothing like Leather. (Universal dissent.) MR. FERRAND, M.P.- What's his name? DR. PUSEY.-I object to the application of nicknames either to the fiend or any of his minions. It is not DR. M'NEILE.-Brief? Lucus a non! Three columns. PIO NONO.-It was weak, though, both in Pusey and you (addressing the Editor of the Record) to agree to give that pagan Jowett his salary. The country parsons did well to defeat your compromise. I wish it were orthodox to bless them. THE RECTOR OF TAN-Y-BWLCH.-We don't expect blessings from our ecclesiastical superiors. THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY.-I'm aware that my reverend friend suspected me of too indulgent an idea of the future of the wicked; but I trust my last manifesto was sufficiently comminatory. MR. GLADSTONE, M.P.-The future state is naturally divided into three courses MR. SHERIDAN, M.P.-Let's change the subject. What about your assurance affair? MR. GLADSTONE.-I have already given you my assur ance that, if I insulted you, it was because you did not previously inform me that my doing so would be unpleasant to you; but, at the same time, the country agrees with me that, if members of Parliament will lend their names to rot en companies, or if promoters of rotten companies will become members of Parliament, it will naturally devolve upon a man in my position_to-(Loud cheers, in which the end of the sentence, if there was an end, was gloriously lost.) MR. BRIGHT-Well, I hope you'll carry your bill. I was talking to some working men the other day at the opening of a show of amateur models, and I had a good mind to tell them that, till they could make a model Friendly Society, they 'd better depend upon our model Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ah, mon Empereur, I'm sincerely sorry to find the Paris canaille have elected two such democrats as Garnier Pagès and Carnot. NAPOLEON III.-Who better qualified than yourself, Mons. Bright, to expound the evils of democracy and the advantages of absolutism? I, who have suppressed absolutism at Naples, and crushed democracy at Rome, am also a little of an authority; and, to tell truth, I can keep Pagès and Carnot quiet more easily than I can get my soldiers at Rome into barracks when there is a chance of baiting a few of our venerable Pio's gensd'armes. Talking of our occupation of Rome, has anybody seen the "Comedy of Errors?" MR. CHARLES KENNY.-Oh, that's an old affair now. The new sensation is the battle of Shrewsbury, at Drury Lane, and Phelps' Falstaff. MR. CHARLES KEAN.-That will dever "lard the lead earth." Is it true the Stratford people are without a Hablet? MR. FECHTER. -For me, I shall to décline. (Tableau.) MR. PHELPS.-Like the stick of a sky-rocket. (Scowls.) MR. EDMUND YATES. -Oh, Mr. Christie, who bought Thackeray's paper knife? I want to know before post time. up. (And they break up accordingly.) Printed and Published for the Proprietors, by ALFRED WHITTY, of 8, Catharine Street, and 18, Cable Street, in the Parish of Liverpool. No. 2.-VOL. I. A Periodical devoted to Miscellaneous Literature. WANTED-A PEG! MAY, 1864. I Do not know whether my mental temperament would be accurately described as the bilious-cynical; but I have always doubted that enthusiasm which is a source of profit, pecuniary or otherwise, to the enthusiast. Who can forget the fable where the currier, ardent admirer of dressed hides that he was, advised the fortification of the town with leather? No question of his sincerity-of his ardent belief in the article he dealt in—or of his.entire patriotism; but then, unfortunately, evil-minded men, censorious backbiters, and sordid worldlings, would remark that the worthy currier, at one and the same stroke, gratified his patriotism and his pocket. It is, doubtless, very agreeable when inclination and interest point the same way. What boy would not receive a sovereign for sucking a bonbon? Yet, in this material, matter-of-fact, money-making concrete called society, it is permitted to the experienced to be sceptical. When that nicest of young men, and barley-sugariest of servant girls' heroes, Claude Melnotte, in Bulwer's play of the "Lady of Lyons,' "makes up" to Pauline, the rich banker's daughter, we cannot help thinking that it will not be a bad match for him, and the metaphorical babble and scented gruel that he utters fail to remove the impression. And, apropos of | that half dancing-master, half deity-who, to my poor thinking, would have been a far better member of society had he married a girl of his own rank in life, and taken the first prize for artichokes at the Lyons Horticultural Show-it is wonderful how his originally clownish nature betrays itself in the speech in which he "paints the home, could love fulfil its prayers," that he would lead his bride to. It is quite a French peasant's notion of "the swell thing!" It is the fete outside the barrier, with the municipal allowance for illuminations-Cremorne, with ten thousand additional lamps. The grocer who made the famous speech at the famous meeting of the Brick-lane Branch of the Ebenezer Junction Temperance Society, is described by the author of Pickwick as a "disinterested vessel who sold tea to the members." That grocer is a representative man; he wanted a peg whereon to hang an enthusiasm that sold tea-coffee and sugar are, of course, understood. All the good folks of Stratford-upon-Avon have recently been in a whirl of excitement and enthusiasm about Shakspeare; and, though there can be no doubt of their genuine admiration for the genius of the poet, it must not be forgotten-at least I cannot forget-that Shakspeare is a magnificent "leading article" for Stratford, and sells for Stratford enormous quantities of meat, bread, vegetables, eggs, butter, beds, wines, spirituous liquors, and tobacco. The same remark will apply to those actors who played the principal parts in the recent tercentenary celebration; PRICE 2D. but the most fortunate of the Shakspearian enthusiasts have been the managers of the theatres; for, by testifying their reverence for the great dramatic poet and stageplayer, they have secured crowded houses, and thus, at one coup, basked in the smiles of Mammon and the Muses. But the writings of William Shakspeare are favourite works with managers of theatres, not only on account of their exquisite poetry and wonderful effect, but for another and equally weighty reason: the performance of his plays does not require the payment of dramatic authors' fees. Bear with me, dear reader, while for a moment I displace the trunk hose by modern trousers, the doublet by a morning lounging coat of not dissimilar shape to the Elizabethan garment, the broad collar and tassels by a small "lay down" and cravat, and request you to imagine the greatest of Englishmen an unknown young author, in the possession of hope and several manuscripts, in this present year of grace 1864. Let us suppose that, after frequent calls at the stage door, where he was scowled at by carpenters and looked down upon by supernumeraries, he was at last admitted to an audience with the manager. "Good morning, Mr. Shakspeare. Scridd, this is the young gentleman from Stratford whose pieces you and I have looked over. Mr. Scridd, my stage-manager, Mr. Shakspeare." Mr. Scridd, a very smiling gentleman, with a polite, patronising air. "Be seated. We have read your pieces carefully, Mr. Shakspeare, both I and Mr. Scridd.” "Both of us!" "And I'm afraid we can do nothing with them, though there are some very good notions in them." "Some very good notions," from the stage-manager. "Now, here is this manuscript, 'Hamlet, Prince of Denmark.' It was a good idea to write a piece about Denmark, as that country is, of course, very interesting to the public since the Prince of Wales's marriage; but 'Hamlet, or the Fair Maid of Denmark,' would have been a happier title: it would have provoked more curiosity. Eh, Scridd ?" "Quite so!" I've had thirty years' "But the piece itself won't do. experience, and I know. I don't like to discourage young authors, but it has radical faults. First and foremost, you bring on your ghost in the first scene. You should have reserved him for the last, for an effect." "For an effect," from the stage manager. "Then, Hamlet is a bad name. The word 'Hamlet' means a village, you know, and this happens at a court; besides, it has a bad sound has Ham-Ham-let. Why not Porklet? Then, again, why should your ghost appear to what's their names?-Horatio, Marcellus, and so on? A ghost is immaterial, and, if he wanted, could go right straight to his son, past the guard and all. Eh, Scridd?" A fact. See a London play-bill of the date of March, 1863. "Past everything!" from the stage manager. "Then the dialogue is here and there objectionable. The very first thing Hamlet says is, 'A little more than kin and less than kind.' That's the sort of language now-a-days they put into burlesque. It's only a pun, and a bad one. The part of the queen mother is highly unpleasant, and I have n't an actress in my company who would go on for such a wretch. The scene where heHamlet I mean-upbraids her would send every lady out of the stalls: it's nasty! That speech beginning 'To be or not to be' is very nicely written." "Very nicely," from the stage-manager. "But it must come out. Why, if it were spoken, all the newspapers would say the play was brought out as a setting for an excuse for the non-commission of suicide! And, my dear sir, what can you mean by crooking 'the pregnant hinges of the knee?' You have, evidently, not been educated for the medical profession." Mr. Scridd here laughs heartily. "The wind-up is clumsy-there are too many persons killed. I pass over the horror of the churchyard scene, and the impossib.lity of a funeral. Who, my dear sir, but you would think of extracting fun and philosophy out of the calling of a grave-digger? I think the changing of the foils a too transparent artifice. The natural and effective end of the piece would be this :-In Ophelia's mad-scene, Laertes must rush on. Hamlet, at the same time, must return from sea. Mutual quarrel between the two young men they fight. Ophelia rushes between them, and is stabbed by one or the other-or both if you likeand dies. Laertes calls on his mob of conspirators. Combat between the rival factions. Laertes' party is overpowered, and Laertes taken off, guarded. Then Hamlet appeals to the people, who elect him King. Confusion of the usurper Claudius, who rushes at the Prince to kill him, but is held back by Horatio. Then, the great sensation of the piece. The appearance of the Ghost, through plenty of gauzes, and all that. Discomfiture of Claudius. The Ghost pardons the Queen Mother. Tableau, and Curtain!" two comedians and Miss Dora Silvertone, why-" &c., &c., &c. Perhaps my readers may say that this is the spite of a would-be dramatist, whose manuscripts have been all rejected. It is not improbable it may be. Neither is it improbable that, if William Shakspeare had been born upon the 23rd of April, 1864, instead of the 23rd of April, 1564, he would have either pursued some other branch of literature, or that his pieces would not have been accepted or played. If they had been, they might not have succeeded: public taste changes in three centuries. And, in this case, there could have been no tercentenary festival on the 23rd of April, in the year 2164, and, therefore, no London Committee, no statue, no Stratford celebration, no Shakspearian performances, no crowded houses: consequently, no peg whereon to hang Shakspearian enthusiasm. THE NATIONAL PEACEMAKER. SECOND ARTICLE. THE broad principles which govern the construction of guns, spoken of in our former paper, apply generally to guns of all classes; but the various purposes for which they are required have brought about specialities to which we may refer with advantage before passing on to the subject of rifling. It was thought, at one time, that all guns required strengthening by a ring of thicker metal at the muzzle, especially light field pieces, which were consequently developed almost into a trumpet form at the mouth, and, moreover, occasional rings of extra thickness were cast as belts to "reinforce" the gun at several intervals of its length. At first sight, it appears an incredible assertion that these strengthening rings positively injure the gun; yet such is the case, and the stronger they are the worse for the piece. To illustrate this, take a smooth barrel, having a slight taper from breech to muzzle; put round it a ring of lead tightly, and then discharge the piece; the lead ring will be found larger than before, and may be slipped further up the "Beautiful! beautiful!" from Mr. Scridd, enthusias- barrel, proving that the tube had expanded. Now, suppose tically. "If you like to adopt these suggestions, cutting the piece down into three acts, I might think of it. Understand, I do not pledge myself. As it is, why, I'm afraid"— Afraid," from Mr. Scridd. the ring to be cast round the middle of the piece, and so strong as to resist the expansion; it will follow that, on again discharging the gun, there will be two expansionsone behind the ring and another before it—the ring, as it were, choking the attempt to bulge out, like a string The repeated flexure and reflexure of the parts nearest the ring, however, act in time almost like bending a bit of wire backwards and forwards, and in the end produces fraction; these rings are, therefore, found to do more harm than good, and are consequently abolished, which accounts for the smooth, wicked look of the modern It's impossible. As to 'Othello,' I could not enter-round a sausage, though, of course, to a very slight extent. tain it; no audience would hear it out. There could be no interest in Desdemona, for who could relish the idea of a high-born patrician lady rejecting a white man for a black one. As for Iago, he is too unnatural a villain, as Othello is too big a fool even for a love-sick nigger. The other piece, 'Do You Like It'-I mean 'As You Like It' but they would n't like it." "Ca-pi-tal!" "Be quiet, Scridd. How you can make out that Nolando would n't know Rosabelle because she went into a page's dress I cannot make out. That won't do. I have n't read 'Twelfth Night,' but the cast seems a queer jumble. The scene, I see, is laid in Illyria, and the characters are called Orsino, Malvolio, Antonio, Sir Toby Belch, Sir Andrew Egnerbeck. I suppose those two last are Englishmen. What are they doing in Italy? Illyria in Italy-eh, Scridd ?" "I don't know!" Is "So, I fear, Mr. Shakspeare, we must return you your pieces. If you like to try your hand at a farce for my weapon. Even the belt to which the trunnions are attached would be better away, if it could be dispensed with; but it cannot, for the trunnions have to stand both the weight of the gun and the recoil or kicking strain. Guns with trunnions are seldom fired at a greater elevation than ten or twelve degrees; and, indeed, few castiron guns would stand fifty rounds when elevated forty-five degrees. To meet this difficulty, "mortars" were invented. These have their trunnions at the breech, and sit as it were on their haunches against the earth itself, which must therefore stand the whole shock. Petards were something like mortars, but were chiefly used to hang up against gates or walls which it was intended to blow down; but they are really of little use, and it is now found that |