SHAKSPEARE.

education. As to the precise character and amount as his reason for doing so a mishap which befel him, of this, there has been much controversial conjec- and a little imprudence consequent on it. The ture; some writers maintaining, on the internal future poet, it is said, while out on a nocturnal poachevidence of his works, that he must have enjoyed a ing expedition in the deer-park of a neighbouring thorough classical training, whilst others represent magnate, Sir Thomas Lucy of Charlecote, was him as probably destitute of any such youthful caught by the keepers, kept for the night a prisoner, advantage. The celebrated And though thou and arraigned before Sir Thomas-a justice of peace hadst small Latin and less Greek' of his friend Ben in the morning. What passed is not recorded Jonson, which has been frequently quoted as certify- but -as the old rumour goes whatever it was, it ing his almost utter ignorance, seems, if anything, excited the ire of S., who avenged himself, as a bard to tell the other way. It assures us that, of both naturally might, by circulating a bitter ballad in languages, he knew something; as to how much of which the good knight was satirised. A further either he may have known, it affords us scarce a ray prosecution was for this irreverence directed against of light, inasmuch as it is impossible for us even to him, to escape which it was that he is said to have guess at the amount of classical attainment sufficient, fled to London. No anecdote concerning S. has in the eyes of a scholar, and something of a pedant, been more widely accepted than this, or, on the like Jonson, to entitle a man to the praise of having whole, seems better to deserve acceptance. An much Latin and Greek. What Ben might con- obvious allusion to the Lucies of Charlecote in the temptuously style 'small Latin' was, in all proba- Merry Wives of Windsor, which identifies their coat bility, as it seems to us, a fair working allowance of arms with that of Justice Shallow, would of itself, of it. afford strong confirmation of it. Further, Oldys, an antiquary who died in 1761, and had busied himself much about materials for a life of S., certifies the story on something like fair evidence, and gives the first verse of the obnoxious pasquinade, as remembered in the district. It is more coarse and scurrilous than witty; but inasmuch as it would be easy to adduce passages from the admitted writings of S., in which the coarseness to at least an equal extent preponderates over the wit, this will scarcely of itself amount to proof that he could not possibly have been its perpetrator. The indisposition which more lately has been shewn to attach any credit to the tale, seems to rest entirely on a foolish horror of admitting anything as possible in the conduct of the poet which might any way seem to conflict with the reverence now universally accorded to his genius.

Meantime, misfortune had overtaken, and more and more come to press heavily on John Shakspeare; in consequence of which, William, now somewhat over fourteen, was withdrawn from school, and set to do something for his living. How he was employed from this time till his departure for London, it is impossible to make out with distinctness. One tradition informs us that, for a time, he served as apprentice to a butcher; and it is said that, 'when he killed a calf,' the poetry of his nature prompted him to ennoble the operation as he could to himself, by doing it in a high style, and making a speech.' Unhappily, none of his speeches have come down to us, so that rather more of a mythical atmosphere than might be wished surrounds this pursuit of the ideal under difficulties. But that he was for some time a butcher's assistant, is as likely to be true as not. Another story has it, that for some years he was a schoolmaster; whether or not in birching his boys he dignified the act as in the calf's case, tradition has omitted to inform us. Both stories are not unlikely to be true; the fact of the matter probably was, that in those years young S. lived miscellaneously as he could. Out of the cloud of uncertainty which shrouds this period of his life, two facts, however, emerge as beyond question-his marriage, and the birth of his eldest born. As soon as may be after the 28th November 1582-on which day the licence was procured at Worcester-Shakspeare, a lively lad going nineteen, was married to Anne Hathaway of Shottery, a hamlet some mile or so out of Stratford, a damsel about eight years older than himself; and six months afterwards a daughter was born to him, whose baptism bears record 26th May 1583. The obvious inference from this promptitude on the part of his spouse certain of his admirers have sought to evade. It is said, and we believe it is certain, that a mere betrothal before witnesses, to be followed within some reasonable undefined period by the religious ceremony, was then and there held to constitute a valid marriage; and this, it is conjectured, may in S.'s case have prefaced the more formal sanction. And of course it may; the licence of conjecture is unlimited; and all to whose comfort in admiring a great genius it is essential to regard him at every point of his career as also a pattern of everything that is proper, must of course be made welcome to this one. The only other children born of the marriage were twins, a boy and a girl, baptised 2d February 1585. The boy (Hamnet) did not survive his father, dying in his twelfth year.

As nearly as can be made out, in the year 1586, S., then 22, left the neighbourhood of Stratford, and betook himself to London. A local tradition assigns

No certain details have come down to us as to S.'s earlier relations with the London theatre. According to one tradition, he was content at first to turn a penny by holding horses at the door. According to another-which seems in a natural sequence with the foregoing-we find him admitted inside on his promotion, though as yet only in the humble capacity of prompter's attendant. What is certain in the matter is this, that if at any time he was thus meanly occupied, it could have been only for a brief period, as very speedily we have note of him as a man of some importance, at once dramatist, actor, and shareholder in the Blackfriars Theatre. As an actor-though we find one contemporary allusion to him as excellent in the quality he professes'-he seems at no time to have shone espe cially, being rather respectable than eminent. As dramatist, his magnificent powers were at once recognised, and in no long time had won for him the very foremost rank among the writers for the stage of his time. The extraordinary rapidity of his rise is shewn in this indubitable reference to him in Spenser's Tears of the Muses, published so early as 1591, only some five years after S.'s arrival in London :

And he, the man whom Nature's self had made To mock herself, and truth to imitate, With kindly counter under mimic shade, Our pleasant Willy, ah, is dead of late. The reference here has indeed been surmised to point at Sir Philip Sidney, by Spenser elsewhere alluded to under the figure of Willy a shepherd; but the surmise is, on various grounds, inadmissible. The first two lines have the closest critical pertinence to the character of S.'s genius; as applied to that of Sidney, they are, by comparison, vague and unmeaning. Further, the 'mimic shade' in the

SHAKSPEARE.

third line, together with the whole context of the
passage, makes it certain a dramatic writer is
alluded to; and this Sidney was not. Moreover,
the stanza which follows, wherein of 'that same
gentle spirit' it is said that he

Doth rather choose to sit in idle cell,
Than so himself to mockery to sell,

must needs be held to indicate a man at the time
living; and Sidney had died in 1586. The Ah,
is dead of late!" which, literally taken, would
suit Sidney, and not S., must, in the light of
the succeeding couplet, be interpreted as referring
to some temporary remission on the part of the
latter of his wonted dramatic productiveness; and
this, if not otherwise to be accounted for, we might
explain by supposing him at this time engaged on
his two elaborate poems, Venus and Adonis, and
The Rape of Lucrece, published not long afterwards.
The year after (1592), we find a contemporary and
brother dramatist, Henry Chettle, making the
amende to S. for an offence given, in terms most
respectfully appreciatory of his excellences at
once as a man and an author; and in 1598,
Francis Meres, in his Wit's Treasury, writes of him
as admittedly the most excellent among the
English for both kinds of tragedy and comedy.'
We have ample evidence besides of the unrivalled
acceptance his works obtained from all classes;
not only were they in the wider sense popular,
but they brought him special marks of favour and
approval from Queen Elizabeth and her successor,
James-who is said to have honoured the poet with
an ‘amicable letter' from his own hand-and pro-
cured him the patronage and friendship of some of
the most accomplished men of rank of the time,
more notably, Henry Wriothesley, Earl of South-
ampton, to whom he dedicated his Venus and
Adonis, and Rape of Lucrece; and William Herbert,
Earl of Pembroke, commonly held to be the
'Mr W. H.,' to whom, as their 'only begetter,' his
Sonnets are addressed.

for Shakspeare died of a fever then contracted;' but that of this drinking the poet's death was a consequence is at best a doubtful inference.

That S. erred and sinned at times like others, we know from the passionate confessions of his Sonnets, in considerable portions of which the self-reference is too plain to be denied; but that, whatever his occasional frailties, he was essentially a man of noble and estimable character, there is a complete concurrence of testimony. He was obviously of most kindly and lovable dispositions; his 'pleasurable wit and good nature' made him delightful as a companion; and it was as 'gentle Will Shakspeare' that he was familiarly known to his contemporaries. In particular, with his associates and rivals in writing for the stage, his relations would seem to have been of the most cordial and even endearing kind. The gruff Ben Jonson writes of him after his death: 'He was honest, and of an open and free nature,' assures us that in his wellturned and true-filed lines' we see but an authentic reflex of his beautiful 'mind and manners;' and avers that he 'honours his memory only on this side idolatry.' As a slight shadow on this pleasing picture, it has been shrewdly surmised that he was not very happy with his wife. Evidence of this has been sought in certain passages in his dramas; but obviously any inference from these is most precarious. The neglect of her in his will, except in one curt clause interlined, dismissing her with a legacy of 'his second-best bed,' might well seem much more decisive, till Mr Charles Knight greatly reduced its importance by shewing that, the will apart, by the mere operation of the English law, the poet's widow was entitled to dower, and thus amply provided for. There is thus (though the query of why second-best, if a bed at all was to be left her, may perhaps have a certain pertinence) no very firm basis of proof for the domestic unhappiness of Shakspeare. Still, if anything in his life is certain, it is this, that, spending great part of his time in London, the poet did not find it essential to his felicity there to have the society of his wife; as probably she, on the other hand, though her husband had gone to the metropolis, was content to abide in Stratford, since it seemed to him the desirable arrangement. It is fair, we think, to infer from this that the affection subsisting between the two was a little on the hither side of enthusiasm.

S. was plainly-as men of consummate genius mostly are a man of shrewd solid business ability; and throughout, his material prosperity kept pace with the growth of his poetical reputation. He became early, as we saw, a considerable shareholder in the Blackfriars Theatre. In the Globe, subsequently erected, he was also a part proprietor. To both he contributed dramas, and To discourse here at this date of the genius of S. from his gains in the triple capacity of actor, author, would be only to promulgate platitudes. The lofty and sharer of the general profits, he rapidly amassed eulogy of Dryden-He was the man who, of all a fortune. His local attachments were strong, and modern and perhaps ancient poets, had the largest it seems to have become, as his wealth increased, and most comprehensive soul'-has since been one main object of his ambition to settle himself as generally acquiesced in. As dramatist, he is a substantial country gentleman in his native admittedly in the world without a peer; as poet district, to which annually he made a visit. We (abstracting the differential forms), there are but find him, with this view, from time to time making one or two names in literature even to be named purchases there of house and landed property. By beside his; and dismissing his claims in either and by, his visits to Stratford became more and kind, we have in his works such a treasury of more frequent; and it is positively certain that gnomic wisdom on all matters of human concernprevious to the year 1613, he had ceased to reside ment as no other writer has ever bequeathed to the in London, and finally established himself at Strat- world. If we add, that this greatest of writers is ford. Of his last years there spent, further than one of the most unequal-that his works contain that they lapsed peacefully in honour, and the more than might be wished of what, as the product exercise of a liberal and kindly hospitality, nearly of such a mind, we need not scruple to call rubbish nothing is known. There is evidence of his having There is evidence of his having and that nearly every vice in writing might b or less occupied himself in agricultural illustrated from them almost at will, we say simpl pursuits, and good reason to believe that, though what is patent to every reader not blinded by th withdrawn from other active concernment with the stupid and mindless idolatry which too often o stage, he still continued to write for it. His death late in many quarters has displaced a rational took place on his 53d birthday, the 23d April admiration. 1616. In the diary of a Mr Ward, the vicar of Stratford, writing apud 1660, the cause of it is thus given: 'Shakspeare, Drayton, and Ben Jonson had a merry meeting, and, it seems, drank too hard,

more

The only works of S. certainly published under his own hand were the two poems Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece, which appeared in 1593— 1594 respectively. As was naturally to be looked

SHAKSPEARE-SHALE.

SHALE, or SLATE-CLAY, an indurated clay, which often forms beds in the coal measures. It is chiefly composed of silica and alumina, in variable proportions, but also frequently contains a considerable amount of carbonate of lime and of oxide of iron. It is of a gray or grayish-black colour, or brownishred when containing much iron. Its structure is more or less slaty. It is soft, and easily reduced to powder. It is used for making slate-pencils. When free from lime and iron, it is reduced to powder, and used for making fire-bricks, for which it affords an excellent material. S. very often contains a notable quantity of bitumen, and when this is so much the case that the mineral has a shining resinous streak, and crackles and blazes in the fire, emitting a black smoke and a bituminous odour, it is known as Bituminous Shale. This variety sometimes passes on the one hand into common S., and on the other into coal. Impressions of ferns and other plants are very frequently found in shale.

for in the case of pieces on the stage so popular, was that of a genius in power and plenitude certain of his dramas found their way from time to unrivalled, but licentious in its modes of operation, time into print, but no authoritative edition of any of and more or less chaotic in its results; 'wild above them was issued during his lifetime. The first col- rule or art, enormous bliss.' The new German lected edition of his dramas was issued in 1623, by criticism exhibited in the chaos the orderly outlines Heminge and Condell, his friends and co-proprietors of a world; co-ordinated the confusion under rules in the Blackfriars and Globe theatres. A second till then unsuspected, and shewed in what before edition followed in 1632; a third, in 1664; and a had seemed irregular exercise of power admitted fourth in 1685. In 1709, appeared the edition of to be magnificent, obedience not less magnificent to Rowe, with a prefatory sketch of the poet's life. Of a law of artistic evolution. It made calculable, in a the 'Shakspearian literature' which followed, and word, the orbit of a luminary which had somewhat the various re-issues of the dramas, with such masses uncomfortably seemed to be sweeping at random of critical commentary and emendation as no other through space. But the English people did not writer has ever perhaps been made the subject of, need it to reveal the luminary to them; throughout it would be hopeless to attempt an account. It and from the first, they had seen and devoutly wormust suffice to mention as successive editors Pope, shipped it. Also, to a great extent, it is due to the Theobald, Sir Thomas Hanmer, Warburton, Capell, German enthusiasm of exposition, that over the whole Stevens, Malone, and Dr Johnson, whose elaborate continent, and wherever literature is intelligently stuintroductory essay-whatever may be thought of the died-some little lingering, dying remnant of French insolence of much of his criticism of the plays in prejudice excepted-the poet par excellence of England detail-is perhaps on the whole, as an estimate of is now finally enthroned as the poet also par excelthe genius of the poet, as satisfactory as any lence of our whole modern world and civilisation. For that has since been written. Down to our own numerous critical notices, list of editions, and Shaktime, there has been no remission of activity in this speareana, see a remarkable article in Allibone's Critical field of literary labour. More recently, the intelli- Dictionary of English Literature (Philada., 1871). gent industry of Mr Charles Knight specially deserves mention; and along with his may be given the names of Mr Dyce, Mr John Payne Collier, and Mr Singer-all of whom have put forth elaborate and valuable editions of the dramas. In 1864-1865 an important edition (the Globe) was issued from Cambridge (Eng.), Boston, and Philada., under the superintendence of those competent scholars, W.G. Clark and W. A. Wright, with a glossary by Rev. J. M. Jephson. In Germany, S. has long been thoroughly naturalised; and the German enthusiasm in regard of him is, if possible, even greater than our own. It was the celebrated Lessing who first decisively introduced him to notice in a series of essays, exhibiting the immeasurable superiority of his art to that of the pseudo-classical models of the French stage. Since his time, many of the most gifted of his countrymen have devoted themselves to the work of Shakspearian criticism and elucidation. From Goethe we have some exquisite fragments, most notably the criticism of Hamlet, occurring in his Wilhelm Meister; and after his, the names of Tieck, A. W. Schlegel (whose Lectures, of date 1809 -1811, almost constitute an era in this special department of literature), Franz Horn, and Gervinus (an English translation of whose elaborate Commentaries has been published), occur as the most illustrious in connection with the present topic. By Tieck and Schlegel together, the work of translation was undertaken; and the result of their joint labours, which takes rank as the standard German S., ranks also, in the opinion of competent judges, as a consummate and almost unique specimen of excellence in the translator's art. It has not unfrequently been alleged that, till the Germans made the discovery for them, the English people knew nothing of the greatness of Shakspeare. This is on the face of it ridiculous. The single sentence we have cited from Dryden, and the practical acceptance of it implied in the unexampled attention and industry which never ceased to be directed to the subject, sufficiently of themselves confute so idle a notion. What the Germans really did (and along with their services in the matter, must be included those of our countryman Coleridge, whose impulse and point of view, at least, if not something considerably more, were derived from German sources) was somewhat to methodise and enlighten for us an admiration never deficient, but always, like Jonson's regard for the memory of his friend, 'only on this side idolatry.' The old notion of S.

654

Slate, Schist, and Shale are names employed to denote those kinds of rock which are laminated or fissile-that is, which possess a structure readily splitting into thin layers. Shale and schist are almost synonymous, although the latter should be restricted to rocks with their layers irregular or foliated. True slate differs from them in not having its lamination produced by bedding. See SLATE. Nevertheless, all three names are often applied to the same substance.

Shale varies much in its composition. Clay, sand, lime, bitumen, and other bodies, either singly or any mixture of them, are included under the name, if they form rocks which split into layers in the direction of their bedding; clay, however, being an ingredient in most shales. Strange as it may seem, the line between even coal and some kinds of shale is not well defined; and in the case of the Torbanehill mineral, found near Bathgate, the question by which of the two names it should be called, led to a lengthened and costly litigation.

through which sulphuret of iron is disseminated, The importance of certain decomposing shales, for the manufacture of alum, has been long known, and the quantity raised for that purpose from the carboniferous beds of Lancashire and Lanarkshire and the lias beds of Yorkshire is very considerable, yielding about 16,000 tons of manufactured alum annually. Shales of a similar kind are worked in France, Germany, and North America.

Bituminous shales-that is, shales more or less

SHALLOON-SHAMMAI.

rich in carbon and hydrogen-form another class of those bodies which have, in recent years, attracted much notice as sources of oil for illuminating purposes. It is now (1871) more than twenty-five years since a Frenchman, named Du Buisson, introduced a method of distilling certain bituminous shales in France, at a comparatively low temperature, so as to obtain burning oil and other products. The process was afterwards tried in England, being used for a time in distilling a Dorsetshire bituminous shale, sometimes called' Kimmeridge coal.' From this mineral, a burning oil, a lubricating oil, and a naphtha for dissolving caoutchouc, were obtained. But neither in France nor in England did the attempt to make a profitable manufacture succeed: in the former country, the poverty of the shales was the chief drawback; in the latter, the disagreeable smell of the oil, which could not be effectually removed, prevented it from obtaining favour in the market.

SHAʼLLOP (Fr. chaloupe), a large, open, oldfashioned boat, carrying two masts, rigged as in a schooner. Its principal use was in the fisheries, but it has now nearly given place to luggers and yawls.

SHAʼLLOT (Allium Ascalonicum), a species of Allium (q. v.), a native of the East, introduced into Europe by the Crusaders-from Ascalon, it is said -and much cultivated for its bulbs, which are used like those of the onion, and sometimes for its leaves, which are used like those of the chive. The leaves grow in tufts like those of the chive, but are larger. The S. is generally propagated by the cloves, which are planted just beneath the surface of the ground, or only partially beneath it, in spring, and the crop is ready for gathering in July or August. The flavour resembles that of garlic, but is much milder. In the vineyards of Italy the S. is naturalised.

The

Nor are there fixed

SHA'MANISM is the ancient religion of the On account of these failures, the process fell into Tartar, and some of the other Asiatic, tribes. It abeyance, until it was revived again by the success is a belief in sorcery, and a propitiation of evil of the well-known patent of Mr James Young (see demons by sacrifices and frantic gestures. NAPHTHA), secured in 1850 for the production of following account of it is extracted from the Asiatic paraffin and paraffin oil from coal. With the excep- Journal. The priests are men or women, married tion of the solid paraffin, which Mr Young was the or single. The character is acquired by pretending first to obtain on the large scale, and the employ- that the soul of a deceased priest has appeared to ment of coal instead of shale, the processes of Du the individual in a dream, appointing him or her Buisson and Young are essentially the same. The his successor. If the priests are in function, they merit of this process is very great, because not only wear a long robe of elk-skin, hung with small has it created a new and rapidly-increasing branch and large brass and iron bells; moreover, they of industry, in the case of the distillation of carry staves carved at the top into the shape paraffin oils from coal, but it has within these few of horses' heads, also hung with bells; and with years been applied again, and with great success, to the assistance of these staves, they leap to an the obtaining of the same products from shale. extraordinary height. The followers of the Shaman Those who have paid any attention to the various religion have neither altars nor idols, but perform beds of minerals which go to form what is geologi- their sacrifices in a hut raised on an open space cally called the Coal Measures, are aware that in a forest or on a hill. it is only the seams of coal, ironstone, fire-clay, periods for the performance of their ceremonies; sandstone, and limestone, which until very lately births, marriages, and sickness, uncommon appearhave been looked upon as of any industrial importances in the atmosphere, or public calamities, are ance. Interstratified between these and the other generally the occasions which call for them. The minerals of the series, are numerous hitherto un- animal to be sacrificed is generally fixed upon by cared-for beds of carbonaceous or bituminous shale. the Shaman or the donor; and after the persons Many of these shales were found upon trial to yield uniting in the ceremony have assembled, the Shaman from 30 to 50 gallons of crude oil per ton; and enters the hut, chanting certain words, sprinkles on works-several of them of great size-have accord- all the sides of the hut, and over the fire, spirits and ingly been started in many places over the entire milk, and then orders the animal to be killed, which area of the coal formation in Scotland, and also at is done by its heart being torn out. The skin of various localities in England and Wales, for the the victim is then stripped off, and its flesh, with manufacture of paraffin and paraffin oil from this the exception of a few pieces which are thrown into material. These products, moreover, happen to be the fire, is consumed by the persons assembled. See obtained with greater facility in a pure state from also LAMAISM. shale than from coal, so that it is not unlikely the use of coal, as a source of them, will sooner or later be abandoned. Some of the lias shales have likewise been profitably distilled for oil, as well as those of the carboniferous age; and it is thought highly probable that several of the older Silurian and Old Red Sandstone shales may also prove valuable for this purpose. Quite recently, a shale, very rich in oil, has been sent from a country so distant as Brazil for trial in England. It happens that in the manufacture of paraffin oil from coal or shale a good deal of coal-gas is unavoidably produced and wasted; and proposals have already been made to convey this from various large oil-works for consumption in towns. In these days of the wondrous utilisation of waste materials, the obtaining of an illuminating gas as a collateral product of the manufacture of mineral oil, will probably prove before long to be not the least curious.

SHALLOO'N, a light worsted cloth, said to have been first made at Chalons in France, and to have derived its now corrupted name from that place.

SHAMMAI (not, as has often been done, to be confounded with Sammeas), an eminent doctor of the Jewish law at the time of Herod, head of a most important school, and supreme judge of the Sanhedrim (Ab-Beth-Din) during the presidency of Hillel (q. v.), along with whom he is, indeed, generally mentioned, and of whom he was, as it were, the very counterpart. Very little is known of the history of his life. He most probably was born in Palestine, and most energetically participated in all the political and religious complications of the country. There was a harshness and rigidity in his character, which contrasts most strikingly with Hillel's proverbial patience. His religious views were painfully strict, and he even tried to extend the rigour which he imposed upon himself, to the youngest children; but the zealotism with which later times have charged him, is not his, but his school's, the House of Shammai,' as it was called. This seems, under the adverse circumstances of the commonwealth-sedition within, and the approaching enemy without-to have developed a fanatical zeal that at times surpassed all bounds,

SHAMMOY-SHAMYL.