dance. It is mere hemlock. "By my troth," they "cannot abide the smell of it." The appearance, therefore, of a companion volume to that of Mrs. Clarke is really a memorable

event.

The new volume is in shape uniform with the valuable "Variorum Shakespeare" now issuing by the husband of the compiler. In point of topography there is nothing to be desired.

It contains a short record of every word occurring in the Poems, even of prepositions and conjunctions; in short, of every word without exception. The tabulation of the, for instance, occupies no less than twenty columns.

"As it is impossible," runs the preface, "to limit the purposes for which the language of Shakespeare may be studied, or to say that the time will not come, if it has not already, when his use of every part of speech, down to the humblest conjunction, will be criticized with as much nicety as has been bestowed upon Greek and Latin authors, it seems to me that in the selection of words to be recorded no discretionary powers should be granted to the 'harmless drudge' compiling a Concordance.

"Within a year or two a German scholar has published a pamphlet of some fifty pages on Shakespeare's use of the auxiliary verb to do, and Abbott's Grammar shows with what success the study of Shakespeare's language in its minutest particulars may be pursued. I have therefore cited in the following pages every word in his Poems."

Also the number of the line, not only the number of the poem, in which each word occurs is given, a detail which will save the explorer many a minute. In these two respects, Mrs. Furness's work is more exact than that of Mrs. Cowden Clarke. In one way it is less complete; but no one will grudge the difference.

"Having adopted," says Mrs. Furness, "the rule of recording every word, I thought it needless expenditure of space to insert in every instance the entire line in which a word occurs. I have given the clause in which the word stands, and the number of the line, and then, that nothing may be wanting to the convenience of the student, the Poems themselves are reprinted at the end. If in any case the citations appear meagre, the original is instantly accessible."

Mrs. Furness's design is most satisfactory; happily the execution is no less so. Of course it is improbable that there are not some few errors, both of omission and commission. Mrs. Furness is as conscious of this possibility as her "dearest foe"—only there cannot be any such monster -could be. "As the pages are stereotyped," she writes, "corrections.can be made at any time of misprints, against which it seems no human vigilance can guard, and I shall be grateful to the kindness that will notify me of them." It would indeed be a marvel if every entry was faultless, or if no claimant for enrolment had been overlooked; for there are some thirty-three thousand entries, each one consisting of several words, and from one to five figures. Surely the most "hanging " judge in the world would be lenient in such a case, and wink with the utmost readiness at an occasional slip of the pen or the compositor's fingers.

"Ubi plura nitent in carmina, non ego paucis Offendar maculis quas aut incuria fudit,

Aut humana parum cavit natura."

We say that everybody would be willing to show indulgence towards such a minute register. Mrs. Cowden Clarke, with all her excellence, is not independent of indulgence. we must not speak as if Mrs. Furness stood in special need

But

of consideration. So far as we have at present used her work, we have only found reason to be astonished at the accuracy with which it is executed.

We may just add, that by the "Poems," Mrs. Furness means the pieces usually printed along with Shakespeare's plays. Some of them are not by Shakespeare; but Mrs. Furness has done well, we think, in following the popular attribution. Those to whom her Concordance will be most useful are in no danger of being misguided.

We heartily thank Mrs. Furness for her work. It is a credit to herself, to her sex, and to her nation. Properly considered, it is a most valuable contribution to true Shakespearian study, by the side of which much of what passes for Shakespearian lore is shown in its full worthlessness.

XI.

SHAKESPEARE-LEXICON.1

(From the Academy for March 20, 1875.)

`HE time has long gone by when it was the fashion to

T1

speak of a German as some inferior being. With us of to-day to say that "Hermann" was "a German" would rather exalt than lower the claims of the said Hermann to be listened to with all attention and respect. With regard to Shakespeare particularly, to whose highest interpretation Germans have already contributed so nobly, one cannot but receive with especial interest any fresh offering of German scholarship. It is easy to laugh at certain features in their criticism, and occasionally to wish for an explanation of their explanations; but it is not easy to over-estimate our obligations to them for raising the general tone of Shakespearian study, and helping to rescue us from a danger that seems ever imminent in England of forgetting the spirit in the letter. Textualism, and verbiage, and archæology are pursuits whose importance none would deny; but we want continually reminding that for the real comprehension of Shakespeare these, taken altogether, do not constitute the end, but are only the means, or rather some of the means, to the end. Certainly, whatever mistakes the German may

1 Shakespeare-Lexicon. A complete Dictionary of all the English Words, Phrases, and Constructions in Works of the Poet. By Dr. Alexander Schmidt. Vol. I. A-L. (Berlin: Georg Reimer. London: Williams and Norgate, 1874 and 1875.)

make concerning our great poet, in whatever mists he may Seem to enfold him

σε ἐκάλυψε δ ̓ ἄρ ̓ ἠέρι πολλῇ,”

as the bewildered Briton so commonly cries-however impossible may be his exegeses in the vulgar opinion, he does not commit the fatal blunder of treating the plays as mere mortua corpora, and ignoring the living soul that burns with greater or less intensity in every one of them. And this fact is at last gaining a full recognition. Also we are beginning to see that the German school is not antagonistic to the English, but supplementary to it, and to value more fairly efforts and achievements in a line of investigation we have ourselves too much neglected.

The more these two great schools understand each other, the better must be the result. Undoubtedly each has something to learn from the other. Perhaps the work, or instalment of the work, whose appearance we have to notice in this paper may be taken as a sign that Germany is purposed not to neglect the methods hitherto more particularly followed in this country and the United States. Dr. Schmidt's work in the first place aims at being a complete concordance. But it does more than the excellent works of Mrs. Cowden Clarke and Mrs. Howard Furness: it classifies the occurrences of each word according to the sense, so that it is, in short, a concordance and a glossary combined. Assuredly no work could be less liable to the charge of nebulosity. It may be well or ill executed; but there is no mysticism about it. It is as matter of fact as the multiplication table.

We are glad to say that the work is executed with great care and accuracy. It is no wonder if the English is not always quite faultless-e.g., s.v. Catercousins, Dr. Schmidt speaks of " persons who peaceably feed together"--but even