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SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


SHAKESPEARE 


AND 


THE     BIBLE: 


SHOWING    HOW  MUCH    THE    GKEAT    DRAMATIST   WAS 

INDEBTED    TO    HOLY  WRIT    FOR  HIS    PROFOUND 

KNOWLEDGE  OF  HUMAN  NATURE. 


BY 

EEV.  T.  E.  EATON,  M.A., 

OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  COLLEGE,  CAMBRIDGE, 
(WHO  DEDICATES  THIS  WORK,  WITH  FILIAL  BEGARD,  TO  HIS  FATHER.) 


"-    •      v 

$fcir&  Sfexrasanfc. 

, 


LONDON  : 
JAMES  BLACKWOOD,  PATERNOSTER  ROW. 

[The  right  of  translation  is  reserved.'} 


I8(,0 


CONTENTS. 


Page 

INTRODUCTORY  REMARKS 9 

A  Quotation  from  Richard  IH 13 

„     Henry  VIII 14 

CHAPTER  I. 
Parallels  from  Macbeth  and  King  John '16 

CHAPTER  II. 
Play— King  John .18 

CHAPTER  III. 
Play— Macbeth 22 

CHAPTER  V. 

Play— Hamlet 26 

A  passage  from  Henry  V 30 

Two  from  Richard  III 31 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Play— Richard  III 34 


vi  CONTENTS. 

Tap* 

CHAPTER  VII. 
Play— Henry  VIII. 40 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
Play—Henry  V 49 

CHAPTER  IX. 
Play— Henry  VI.  (Parts  I.,  II.,  III.) 56 

CHAPTER  X. 
As  You  Like  It 74 

CHAPTER  XL 

Richard  II. 75 

Example  from  Henry  V 78 

CHAPTER  XII. 

Play—Henry  IV.  (Parts  L,  II.) 91 

An  Example  from  the  Two  Gentlemen  of  Verona     .  101 

„         „        „     As  You  Like  It 102 

Play— Merry  Wives  of  Windsor 110 

An  Example  from  Henry  IV 115 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

Play — Troilus  and  Cressida 117 

* 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

Play — Anthony  and  Cleopatra 120 

An  Example  from  Merry  Wives  of  Windsor     .     .     .     122 

CHAPTER  XV. 
Play— Timon  of  Athens 123 


CONTENTS.  Vll 

i'age 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

Coriolanus 125 

Cymbeline 126 

Play— Julius  Cossar 127 

,,      Othello 127 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

Play—Tempest 131 

An  Example  from  Midsummer  Night's  Dream — an 

Example  from  Macbeth 135 

Play — Midsummer  Night's  Dream 136 

,,      King  Lear 137 

„      Borneo  and  Juliet .  138 

„      Twelfth  Night ;  or,  What  you  Will  ....  141 

Example  from  Coriolanus 143 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

An  Example  from  As  You  Like  It 144 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

An  Example  from  The  Comedy  of  Errors    ....  145 

CHAPTER  XX. 

Twelfth  Night ;  or,  What  You  Will 148 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

Play — Two  Gentlemen  of  Verona 148 

„       The  Merchant  of  Venice 150 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

Play— The  Winter's  Tale 170 


Vlll  CONTENTS. 

Page 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 
Play— All's  Well  that  Ends  Well 173 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

Play — Love's  Labour  Lost     .     .     .    - 180 

„      Much  Ado  About  Nothing 196 

„      As  You  Like  It 200 

CHAPTER  XXV. 
Play— Taming  of  the  Shrew 203 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

Measure  for  Measure 205 

Example  from  Midsummer  Night's  Dream ....     209 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

Play — Comedy  of  Errors 210 

Concluding  Remarks  of  a  General  Nature   .     .     .     .     214 


SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE, 


LESS  is  said  to  be  known  of  Shakespeare  than  of 
any  other  writer  who  attained  equal  celebrity 
during  his  lifetime.  This  may  be  partly  owing  to 
the  absence  of  that  periodical  literature  which  is 
now  the  rapid  vehicle  of  information,  and  partly 
to  his  calling  and  the  nature  of  his  great  works, 
which,  however  well  adapted  for  the  closet,  were 
originally  designed  for  the  stage.  We  need  not, 
therefore,  be  much  surprised  that  the  cravings  of 
curiosity  should  have  been  satisfied  with  gossip 
and  scandal,  since  there  was  nothing  better  to  be 
had.  It  is  now  generally  admitted  that  his  parents 
held  a  respectable  position  in  life,  and  that  he 
must  have  had  the  advantage  of  a  good  grammar- 
school  education.  The  stories  of  his  stealing  deer 
from  Sir  Thomas  Lucy's  grounds  at  Charlecote, 
and  of  his  holding  horses  at  the  door  of  one  of 
the  London  theatres,  have  deservedly  fallen  into 
discredit ;  but  it  is  reasonable  to  believe  that  he 


10  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

was  indebted  to  his  mother  for  early  lessons  of 
piety,  and  that  he  was  conversant  with  the  Holy 
Scriptures  from  a  child.  The  Eeformation  could 
not  fail,  from  the  very  nature  of  it,  to  tinge  the 
literature  of  the  Elizabethan  aera.  It  gave  a  logi- 
cal and  disputatious  character  to  the  age,  and  pro- 
duced men  mighty  in  the  scriptures.  The  butcher, 
the  barber,  and  the  baker,  were  in  the  habit  of 
chopping  logic,  each  in  his  own  sphere. 

Hence  we  need  not  wonder  that  the  humour  of 
Shakespeare's  clowns  is  always,  more  or  less,  argu- 
mentative. 

The  argals  of  the  gravedigger  in  Hamlet  are 
probably  no  fictitious  corruption  of  the  ergos  which 
were  then  in  every  body's  mouth.  This  particular 
consequence  of  the  Eeformation  served  to  cramp 
the  genius  of  Shakespeare,  at  least  to  the  extent  of 
giving  a  rough  date  to  the  period  of  his  writings  ; 
the  second  effect,  his  profound  acquaintance  with 
Holy  Writ,  on  the  other  hand,  assisted  to  raise  them 
above  the  trammels  of  place  and  time.  Before 
proceeding  to  the  immediate  matter  in  hand,  which 
is  to  show,  by  new  evidence,  the  vastness  of 
Shakespeare's  Bible  lore,  it  may  be  well  to  point 
out  the  kind  of  benefit  which  he  may  be  fairly  sup- 
posed to  have  thence  derived. 

The  Bible  professes  to  make  men  "  wise  unto 
salvation/'  Such  being  its  end  and  aim,  it  is  for 
this  purpose  a  sufficient  and  infallible  rule  both  of 
faith  and  conduct.  But  since  the  wisdom  here 


INTRODUCTORY  REMARKS.  11 

indicated  is  really  a  concrete,  it  follows  that  the 
man  thus  instructed  is  taught  many  things.  He 
learns,  for  instance,  the  Divine  will  so  far  as  regards 
mankind  ;  he  acquires  such  an  insight  as  is  abso* 
lutely  necessary  into  the  mystery  of  the  re- 
demption by  the  blood  of  the  Saviour;  he  has  a 
just  apprehension  of  the  scope  and  obligation  of 
moral  duty  ;  and  he  has  knowledge  to  some  extent 
of  the  change  wrought  in  human  nature  by  original 
sin.  God  and  man  being  described  as  contracting 
parties  in  a  covenant,  it  was  necessary  that  their 
characters  should  be  mutually  known.  God,  there- 
fore, has  been  mercifully  pleased  to  reveal  himself 
as  fully  as  the  best  and  wisest  of  men  can  be 
rendered  capable  of  apprehending  him  in  this  state 
of  being,  and  he  has  unfolded  all  the  windings  of 
the  heart.  This  last  He  has  done  in  various  ways. 
Sometimes  by  direct  announcement :  sometimes  by 
short  and  pithy  maxims,  as  in  the  Book  of  Proverbs  : 
and  generally  by  dramatic  representations  of  the 
actions  of  men  of  every  variety  of  disposition,  and 
of  every  grade  of  life,  from  the  king  upon  his  throne 
to  the  shepherd  in  the  field  and  the  captive  in  the 
dungeon,  who  have  lived  in  different  ages  of  the 
world.  This  mode  of  teaching  must  have  had  an 
irresistible  charm  to  one  of  Shakespeare's  peculiar 
bent.  We  are  all  affected  in  a  less  lively  manner, 
by  being  told  that  "  the  heart  is  deceitful  above  all 
things,"  than  when  the  same  truth  is  brought  home 
to  us  by  such  exclamations  as  Nathan's — "  Thou 


12  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

art  the  man ;"  or  by  such  a  fall  as  Peter's  in  the 
denial  of  his  Master,  after  the  strong  protestation 
even,  that  he  would  "  sooner  die/'     Neither  would 
any  homily  upon  the  heroism  of  self-denial  make 
so  lasting  an  impression  upon  us,  or  fire  us  with  so 
noble  an  emulation,  as  the  example  of  David,  when 
he  put  the  water  from  his  parched  lips  with — "  Be 
it  far  from  me,  O  Lord,  that  I  should  do  this  :  is 
not  this  the  blood  of  the  men  that  went  in  jeopardy 
of  their  lives?"  (2  Sam.  xxiii.)     It  is  pleasant  to 
\  fancy  the  delight  with  which  young  Shakespeare 
|  must  have  feasted  upon  these  and  like  divine  lessons, 
I  unconscious,  the  while,  that  he  was  strengthening 
;  his  pinions  for  loftier  flights  than  had  ever  been 
attained  by  uninspired  man.     It  is  the  prerogative 
of  genius  to  seem  to  create  what  it  only  receives 
and  reproduces,  as  the  die  converts  bullion  into 
current  coin,  or  the  "  bag  o'  the  bee  "  distils  honey 
from  collected  sweets.     Wisdom  in  selection  and 
power  in_  reproduction   determine  the  quality  of 
genius.     In  storing  his  mind,  Shakespeare  went 
first  to  the  word  and  then  to  the  works  of  God. 
In  shaping  the  truths  derived  from  these  sources, 
he  obeyed  the  instinct  implanted  by  Him  who  had 
formed  him  Shakespeare.     Hence  his  power  of  in- 
spiring us  with  sublime  affection  for  that  which  is 
properly  good,  and  of  chilling  us  with  horror  by  his 
fearful  delineations  of  evil.    Shakespeare  perpetually 
reminds  us  of  the  Bible ;  not  by  direct  quotation, 
indirect  allusion,  borrowed  idioms,  or  palpable  imi- 


INTRODUCTORY  REMARKS.  13 

tation  of  phrase  and  style,  but  by  an  elevation  of  V 
thought  and  simplicity  of  diction  which  are  not  to  be 
found  elsewhere?)  A  passage,  for  instance,  rises  in 
our  thoughts,  unaccompanied  by  a  clear  recollection 
of  its  origin.      Our  first  impression  is,  that  it  must 
belong  either  to  the  Bible  or  to  Shakespeare.     No 
other  author  excites  the  same  feeling  in  an  equal 
degree.  \Jn  Shakespeare's  plays  religion  is  a  vital || 
and  active  principle,  sustaining  the  good,  torment-^ 
ing   the  wicked,  and  influencing  the  hearts  and 
lives  of  all.     What  uninspired  writer  ever  made 
us   feel   the  value  of  prayer,  as  a  privilege,  sou 
affectingly  as  Shakespeare  has  done  in  three  words  ?  ™ 
It  flashes  across  the  brain  of  Othello  the  Moor — 
the  rough  soldier — that  possibly  his  friend  may  be 
practising  upon  him — a  conditional  curse   there- 
fore burst  from  his  lips ;    "  If  thou  dost  slander 
her  and  torture  me,  '  Never  PRAY  more  ! ' : 

The  mysterious  power  of  religion  over  bad  men 
is  thus  displayed  in  Kichard  III.  :-— 

"  Thus,  thus,  quoth  Forrest,  girdling  one  another 

Within  their  alabaster  innocent  arms  : 

Their  lips  were  four  red  roses  on  a  stalk, 

Which,  in  their  summer  beauty,  kiss'd  each  other. 

A  book  of  prayers  on  their  pillow  lay  ; 

Which  once,  quoth  Forrest,  almost  changed  my  mind." 

The  book  of  prayers— the  calm  deep  sleep — give 
such  mute  evidence  of  innocence  and  trust  in  God, 
as  to  suspend  for  an  instant  the  designs  of  heartless 


14  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

villany.  Another  instance  of  the  influence  of 
religion  on  a  proud  man  is  found  in  Cardinal 
Wolsey,  who  knows  the  practical  precepts  of  the 
gospel,  and  their  value. 


THE  PLAY  OF  HENBY  VIII. 

["  So  God  created  man  in  his  own  image,  in  the 
image  of  God  created  he  him.'1     Gen.  i.] 

"  Mark  but  my  fall,  and  that  that  ruin'd  me. 
Cromwell,  I  charge  thee,  fling  away  ambition  ; 
By  that  sin  fell  the  angels,  how  can  man  then, 
Tlw  image  of  his  Maker y  hope  to  win  by't  ? 
Love  thyself  last :  cherish  those  hearts  that  hate  thee; 

["  Do  good  to  them  that  hate  you." — Matt.  v.  44.] 
["In  lowliness  of  mind  let  each  esteem  other  better 
than  themselves" — Philippians  ii.  3.] 

Corruption  wins  not  more  than  honesty — 
Still  in  thy  right  hand  carry  gentle  peace, 
To  silence  envious  tongues.     Be  just  and  fear  not  s 
Let  all  the  ends  thou  aim'st  at  be  thy  country's, 
Thy  God's,  and  truth's ;  then  if  thou  fall'st,  O  Crom- 
well, 

Thou  fall'st  a  blessed  martyr.     Serve  the  king ; 
And  pr'ythee  lead  me  in  : 
There  take  an  inventory  of  all  I  have, 
To  the  last  penny ;  'tis  the  king's  : 
My  robe, 
And  my  integrity  to  heaven,  is  all 


HENRY  VIi,  15 

I  dare  now  call  mine  own.     O  Cromwell,  Cromwell ! 
*  Had  I  but  served  my  God  with  half  the  zeal 
I  served  my  king,  he  would  not  in  mine  age 
Have  left  me  naked  to  mine  enemies." 

Such  language  from  the  Cardinal  is  rendered 
natural  by  the  time  chosen  for  its  utterance.  A 
man  of  his  powerful  and  cultivated  intellect  might 
unbosom  himself  to  a  faithful  and  devoted  servant, 
and  denounce  the  worthlessness  of  worldly  ambi- 
tion, while  smarting  under  the  rod  of  despotic 
wrathj  and  stung  by  the  taunts  of  merited  reproach. 
We  come  now  to  the  consideration  of  parallel 
passages. 


*  [  "  Had  I  but  served  my  God,"  &c,]    This  sentence  was  really 
uttered  by  Wolsey.— JOHNSON. 


SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE, 


CHAPTER  I. 


THE  PLAY  OF  MACBETH. 

ACT  IV.       SCENE  III. 

"Macduf.  My  wife  killed  too  1 
Bosse.  I've  said. 
Malcolm.  Be  comforted : 
Let's  make  us  med'cines  of  our  great  revenge,  to  cure 

this  deadly  grief. 
Macduff.  He  has  no  children  I " 

So    Constance   speaks   to   Pandolph   in    King 
John — 

" Constance.  He  talks  to  me  that  never  had  a  son" 

And  again — 

"  Had  you  such  a  loss  as  I,  I  could  give  better  comfort 
than  you  do." 


MACBETH.  I? 

So  Job— 

« I  also  could  speak  as  ye  do  :  if  your  soul  were  in 
my  sonl'sHrtead,  I  could  heap  up  words  against  you, 
and  shake  mine  head  at  you.  But  I  would  strengthen 
you  with,  my  mouth,  and  the  moving  of  my  lips  should 
assuage  your  grief."  Job  xvi.  4,  5. 


CHAPTER  II. 


THE  PLAY  OF  KING  JOHN. 

ACT  III.        SCENE  I. 

"  Constance.     A.  wicked  day,  and  not  a  holy  day  ! 
What  hath  this  day  deserved,  what  hath  it  done ; 
That  it  in  golden  letters  should  be  set 
Among  the  high-tides  in  the  kalendar  ? 
Nay,  rather  turn  this  day  out  of  the  week  ; 
This  day  of  shame,  oppression,  perjury : 
Or,  if  it  must  stand  still,  let  wives  with  child 
Pray  that  their  burdens  may  not  fall  this  day"  &c. 

Misery  wrings  from  Job  a  similar  malediction  ; 
how  strictly  therefore,  in  such  cases,  does  Shake- 
speare keep  within  the  bounds  of  probability — 

"  Let  the  day  perish  wherein  I  was  born,  and  the 
night  in  which  it  was  said,  There  is  a  man-child  con- 
ceived. As  for  that  night,  let  darkness  seize  upon  it ; 
let  it  not  be  joined  unto  the  days  of  the  year,  let  it  not 
come  into  the  number  of  the  months. "  Job  iii.  3,  6. 


KING  JOHN.  19 

The  play  of  King  John  is  indebted  to  Scrip- 
ture in  several  more  instances;  we  will  notice 
these,  therefore,  before  proceeding  to  other  plays. 


ACT  III.        SCENE  IV. 

"  Constance.     For  since  the  "birth  of  Cain,  the  first 

male  child, 

To  him  that  did  but  yesterday  suspire, 
There  was  not  such  a  gracious  creature  born." 

["Birth  of  Cain,  the  first  male  child."]  -— " And 
Adam  knew  his  wife ;  and  she  conceived  and  bare  Cain, 
and  said,  I  have  gotten  a  man  from  the  Lord."  Gen. 
iv.  1. 

Could  Constance  better  express,  than  by  such 
allusion  to  Eve's  first-born,  how  much  her  hopes 
had  anchored  upon  her  child,  and  how  utterly 
these  hopes  were  shipwrecked? 

ACT  IV.        SCENE  III. 

HUBERT  and  FAULCONBRIDGE,  the  Bastard  of  KICHARD  I. 

"  Hubert.     Do  but  hear  me,  sir. 

The  Bastard.     Ha  !  I'll  tell  thee  what ; 
Thou  art  damn'd  so  black — nay,  nothing  is  so  black ; 
Thou  art  more  deep  damn'd  than  Prince  Lucifer  : 
There  is  not  yet  so  ugly  a  fiend  of  hell 
As  thou  shalt  be,  if  thou  didst  kill  this  child." 

["  More  deep  damn'd  than  Prince  Lucifer."]  "  How 
art  thou  fallen  from  heaven,  O  Lucifer,  son  of  the 


20  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

morning !  how  art  thou  cut  down  to  the  ground, 
which  didst  weaken  the  nations  !  Thou  shalt  be  brought 
down  to  hell,  to  the  sides  of  the  pit"  Isa.  xiv.  12 — 15. 


END  OF  ACT  IV.        SCENE  III. 

In  the  speech  of  Faulconbridge  to  Hubert  over 
the  remains  of  Arthur,  the  king's  nephew,  there 
is  a  passage  parallel  to  a  verse  in  Proverbs  :  there 
is  also  an  idea  obviously  derived  from  a  fact  record- 
ed in  the  18th  chapter  of  1  Book  of  Kings. 

"  Faulconbridge.  Go,  hear  him  in  thine  arms. 
/  am  amazedy  methinks  ;  and  lose  my  way 
Among  the  thorns  and  dangers  of  this  world" 

PAKALLEL  FROM  SCRIPTURE. 

"  Thorns  and  snares  are  in  the  way  of  the  froward  : 
he  that  doth  keep  his  soul  shall  he  far  from  them." 
Prov.  xxii.  5. 

It  is  not  strange  that  Faulconbridge  should  be 
sometimes  lost  among  the  thorns  and  dangers  of  this 
world,  when  we  refer  to  the  character  of  him  in 

ACT  III.        SCENE  IV, 

"  Pandulph.  The  bastard  Faulconbridge 
Is  now  in  England,  ransacking  the  churchy 
Offending  charity  ! 

Faulconbridge.  How  easy  dost  thou  take  all  England 

up ! 
From  forth  this  morsel  of  dead  royalty, 


KING  JOHN.  21 

The  life,  the  right,  and  truth  of  all  this  realm 
Is  fled  to  heaven ;  and  England  now  is  left 
To  tug,  and  scramble,  and  to  part  by  the  teeth 
The  unowed  interest  of  proud  swelling  state. 
Now  for  the  bare-picked  bone  of  majesty, 
Doth  dogged  war  bristle  his  angry  crest, 
And  snarleth  in  the  gentle  eyes  of  peace  : 
Now  powers  from  home,  and  discontents  at  home, 
Meet  in  one  line  ;  and  vast  confusion  waits 
[As  doth  a  raven  on  a  sick,  fallen  beast] 
The  imminent  decay  of  wrested  pomp. 
Now  happy  he,  whose  cloak  and  cincture  can 
Hold  out  this  tempest" 

"  Now  happy  he,"  that  is,  whose  mind  is  fully  pre- 
pared to  surmount  these  difficulties. 

["  Cloak  and  cincture  can  hold  out  this  tempest."] — 
"  And  it  came  to  pass  in  the  meanwhile,  that  the  heaven 
ivas  black  with  clouds  and  wind,  and  there  was  a  great 
rain.  And  Ahab  rode,  and  went  to  Jezreel. 

"  And  the  hand  of  the  Lord  was  on  Elijah  ;  and  he 
girded  up  his  loins,  and  ran  before  Ahab  to  the  entrance 
of  Jezreel"  1  Kings  xviii.  45,  46. 

The  Oriental  custom  of  girding  the  loins,  as 
Elijah  does  in  the  instance  before  us,  is  used  meta- 
phorically here,  as  it  is  in  1  Peter  i.  13 — 

"  Wherefore  gird  up  the  loins  of  your  mind." 

The  play  of  Macbeth  may  be  reproduced,  and 
the  play  of  Hamlet  examined,  before  plays  com- 
posed of  English  history  are  again  referred  to. 


CHAPTER  III. 


THE  PLAY  OF  MACBETH, 

ACT  I.        SCENE  II. 

"King  Duncan.  Dismay'd  not  this  our  captains,  Mac- 
beth and  Banquo 1 

Soldier.  Yes ; 

As  sparrows,  eagles ;  or  the  hare,  the  lion. 
If  I  say  sooth,  I  must  report  they  were 
As  cannons  overcharg'd  with  double  cracks ; 
So  they 

Doubly  redoubled  strokes  upon  the  foe  : 
Except  they  meant  to  bathe  in  reeking  wounds, 

Or  memorize  another  Golgotha, • 

I  cannot  tell."     *     *     *     * 

["  Golgotha,"] — "  And  they  bring  him  unto  the  place 
called  Golgotha,  which  is,  being  interpreted,  the  place 
of  a  skull."  Mark  xv,  22, 


MACBETH.  23 

ACT  II.        SCENE  III. 

Enter  a  PORTER. 

"  Porter.  Here's  a  knocking,  indeed  !  If  a  man  werev 
porter  of  hell-gate,  he  should  have  old  turning  the  key. 
Knock,  knock,  knock !  Who's  there,  i'  the  name  of 
Belzebub  ?  " 

["  Belzebub."] — Shakespeare  is  indebted  for  this 
word  to  the  New  Testament :  in  the  present 
instance,  perhaps,  without  being  aware  of  it,  or  at 
least  without  a  thought  of  detection,  from  llth 
chapter  of  St.  Luke : — 

"Knock,  and  it  shall  be  opened  unto  you. 

To  him  that  knocketh,  it  shall  be  opened.'' 
"  He  casteth  out  devils  through  Beelzebub.'9 

v.  9,  10,  15. 

That  the  words  Knock  and  Beelzebub  should  be 
found  in  the  llth  chapter  of  Luke,  thus  near  each 
other,  and  should  be  thus  connected  by  Shake- 
speare, is  too  strange  to  escape  notice. 

X 

ACT  II.        SCENE  III. 

When  the  Murder  o/KiNG  DUNCAN  is  first  discovered. 

"Macduff.  0  horror!  horror!  horror!  Tongue,  nor 

heart, 
Cannot  conceive  nor  name  thee  ! 

Macbeth  and  Lennox.     What's  the  matter  ? 


24  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

Macd.     Confusion  now  hath  made  his  masterpiece  ! 
Most  sacrilegious  murder  hath  broke  ope 
The  Lord's  anointed  temple,  and  stole  thence 
The  life  o'  the  building." 

Several  extracts  from  the  Bible  that  denounce 
regicide  shall  be  produced,  in  which  King  Saul 
is  called  " The  Lord's  anointed" 

["The  Lord's  anointed."]— " And  David  said  to 
Abishai,  Destroy  him  not :  for  who  can  stretch  forth  his 
hand  against  the  Lord's  anointed,  and  be  guiltless?" 
1  Sam,  xxvi.  9. 

"  The  Lord  forbid  that  I  should  stretch  forth  mine 
hand  against  the  Lord's  anointed'1  1  Sam.  xxvi.  11. 

"  This  thing  is  not  good  that  thou  hast  done.  As  the 
Lord  liveth,  ye  are  worthy  to  die,  because  ye  have  not 
kept  your  master,  the  Lord's  anointed."  1  Sara.  xxvi.  16. 

[" Lord's  anointed  temple"] — The  additional 
word  temple  may  have  been  supplied  by  expres- 
sions which  were  used  by  Him  whom  the  Jews 
crucified — 

"  Destroy  this  temple,  and  in  three  days  I  will  raise 
it  up."  John  ii.  19. 

"  When  he  spake  of  the  temple  of  his  body."  John 
ii.  21. 

Again, 


MACBETH.  25 

ACT  II.        SCENE  III. 

"  Banquo*  Fears  and  scruples  shake  us  : 
In  the  great  hand  of  God  I  stand ;  and  thence 
Against  the  undivulg'd  pretence  I  fight 
Of  treasonous  malice." 

["  Hand  of  God."]—"  Thou  hasb  also  given  me  the 
shield  of  thy  salvation  :  and  thy  right  hand  hath  holden 
me  up"  Psalm  xviii.  35. 

Banquo  confesses  that  he  is  innocent  of  Duncan's 
murder;  but  he  hints  that  he  strongly  suspects  the 
one  who  puts  him  to  death. 

ACTV.        SCENEV. 

"  Macbeth.  And  all  our  yesterdays  have  lighted  fools 

the  way  to  dusty  death." 

• 

"  The  dust  of  death "  is  to  be  met  with  in  the 
22nd  Psalm.  Dusty  death  alludes  to  the  sentence 
pronounced  against  Adam — 

"  Dust  thou  art,  and  unto  dust  shalt  thou  return." 

The  sentence  that  almost  directly  follows  the 
one  just  noticed, 

" Life's  but  a  walking  shadow" 
is  very  similar  to  an  expression  in  Psalm  xxxix.  6, 

"  Man  walketh  in  a  vain  shadow." 

c 


CHAPTER  V. 


THE  PLAY  OF  HAMLET,  PBINCE  OE  DENMAEK. 

ACT  I.        SCENE  I. 

"  Horatio.  A  mote  it  is  to  trouble  the  mind's  eye." 

THIS  idea  is  evidently  taken  from  these  words, 
"Why  beholdest  thou  the  mote  that  is  in  thy 
brother's  eye  ?  "  They  are  to  be  found  in  the  7th 
chapter  of  St.  Matthew. 

ACT  II.        SCENE  II. 

"Hamlet.  0  Jephthah*  judge  of  Israel — what  a 
treasure  hadst  thou ! 

Polonius.  What  a  treasure  had  he,  my  lord  ? 

Hamlet.  Why — one  fair  daughter,  and  no  more,  the 
which  he  loved  passing  well. 


*  A  ballad,  "  Jeffa,  Judge  of  Israel,"  is  said  to  be  here  quoted  by 
Hamlet :  the  remark  may  be  correct — yet  a  writer  unversed  in  Holy 
Writ  would  never  thus  recur  to  such  a  subject  in  a  ballad. 


HAMLET.  27 

Polonius.  Still  on  my  daughter. 
Hamlet.  Am  I  not  i'  the  right,  old  Jephthah  ? 
Polonius.  If  you  call  me  Jephthah,  my  lord,  I  have 
a  daughter  that  I  love  passing  well." 

["0  Jephthah,  judg  e  of  Israel  "~\ — It  is  stated  that 
Jephthah  judged  Israel  six  years.  Judges  xii.  7. 

["  One  fair  daughter."] — "And  Jephthah  vowed  a  vow 
unto  the  Lord,  and  said,  If  thou  shalt  without  fail 
deliver  the  children  of  Ammon  into  mine  hands,  then 
it  shall  be,  that  whatsoever  cometh  forth  of  the  doors 
of  my  house  to  meet  me,  when  I  return  in  peace  from 
the  children  of  Ammon,  shall  surely  be  the  Lord's,  and 
I  will  offer  it  up  for  a  burnt-offering. 

"  So  Jephthah  passed  over  unto  the  children  of  Am- 
mon to  fight  against  them ;  and  the  Lord  delivered 
them  into  his  hands. 

"  And  Jephthah  came  to  Mizpeh  unto  his  house,  and, 
behold,  his  daughter  came  out  to  meet  him  with  tim- 
brels and  with  dances  :  and  she  was  his  only  child ; 
beside  her  he  had  neither  son  nor  daughter.  And  it  came 
to  pass,  when  he  saw  her,  that  he  rent  his  clothes,  and 
said,  Alas,  my  daughter  !  thou  hast  brought  me  very 
low,  and  thou  art  one  of  them  that  trouble  me  :  for 
I  have  opened  my  mouth  unto  the  Lord,  and  I  cannot 
go  back. 

"  And  he  sent  her  away  for  two  months. 

"  And  it  came  to  pass,  at  the  end  of  two  months, 
that  she  returned  unto  her  father,  who  did  with  her 
according  to  the  vow  that  he  had  vowed."  Judges 
xi.  30,  to  end  of  39. 


28  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

Hamlet  detects  the  object  Polonius  has  in  view; 
and  seems  to  hint  that  Polonius  will  as  thoroughly 
ruin  the  prospects  of  Ophelia  by  his  present  folly, 
as  Jephthah  did  those  of  his  daughter  by  a  ra»sh 
vow. 

ACT  III.        SCENE  IV. 

The  next  extract  is  from  the  conference  which 
Hamlet  has  with  his  mother  relative  to  her  mar- 
riage with  his  uncle — the  murderer  of  the  late 
king. 

"  Hamlet.  Look  you  now,  what  follows  : 

Here  is  your  husband  ;  like  a  mildewed  ear, 
Blasting  his  wholesome  brother" 

This  alludes,  says  Steevens,  to  Pharaoh's  dream 
in  Gen.  xli. 

"  And  I  have  dreamed  a  dream,  and  there  is  none 
that  can  interpret  it :  and  I  have  heard  say  of  thee, 
that  thou  canst  understand  a  dream  to  interpret  it. 

*  *  "  I  saw  in  my  dream,  and  behold,  seven  ears  came 
up  in  one  stalk,  full  and  good : 

"  And  behold,  seven  ears,  withered,  thin,  and  blasted 
with  the  east  wind,  sprung  up  after  them  : 

"  And  the  thin  ears  devoured  the  seven  good  ears." 
Gen.  xli.  15,  22-— 24. 


HAMLET.  29 


ACT  V.        SCENE  !, 

A  Churchyard.    THE  CLOWNS  are  digging  OPHELIA'S  Grave. 

"  1st  Clown.  There  is  no  ancient  gentlemen  but 
gardeners,  ditchers,  and  grave-makers ;  they  hold  up 
Adam's  profession. 

2nd  Clown.     "Was  he  a  gentleman  ? 

1st   Clown.     He  was  the  first  that  ever  bore  arms. 
2nd  Clown.     Why,  he  had  none. 

1st  Clown.  "What,  art  a  heathen  ?  How  dost  thou 
understand  the  Scripture  ?  The  Scripture  says,  Adam 
digged ;  could  he  dig  without  arms  ?  " 

["Adam  digged,"]— "The  Lord  God  sent  him 
(Adam)  forth  from  the  garden  of  Eden,  to  till  the 
ground  from  whence  he  was  taken."  Gen.  iii,  23. 

The  CLOWN  throws  up  a  Skull, 

"Hamlet.  That  skull  had  a  tongue  in  it,  and  could 
sing  once  :  How  the  knave  jowls  it  to  the  ground,  as  if 
it  were  Cain  s  jawbone,  that  did  the  first  murder  ! " 

["  Cain's  jawbone."] — "  And  Cain  talked  with  Abel 
his  brother  :  and  it  came  to  pass,  when  they  were  in  the 
field,  that  Cain  rose  up  against  Abel  his  brother,  and 
slew  him."  Gen.  iv.  8. 

A  bitter  comment  this  on  the  effect  of  habit ! 
Hamlet  observes,  with  disgust,  that  even  so  sad 
an  office  as  gravedigging  begets  in  time  a  shock- 


30  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

ing  disregard  for  the  remains  of  the  dead.  In  the 
•3rd  act  and  3rd  scene,  allusion  is  made  to  the 
death  of  Abel,  when  the  king's  conscience  wrests 
from  him  this  secret  confession  of  his  guilt : — 

"  King.    O,  my  offence  is  rank,  it  smells  to  heaven  ; 
It  hath  the  primal  eldest  curse  upon't : 
A  brother's  murder  ! " 

Shakespeare's  knowledge  of  mankind  proved, 
both  directly  and  indirectly,  from  Scripture.  What 
light  the  poet  throws  upon  the  dark  stratagems 
of  kings  to  retain  and  increase  power,  in  the 
speeches  about  to  be  quoted !  By  these  he  shows 
that  princes  who  are  ambitious,  bold,  and  wise, 
are  wont  to  profess  an  anxiety  to  maintain  in  all 
their  actions,  especially  those  of  moment,  godly 
honour  and  Christian  benevolence  before  those 
who  are  to  be  sacrificed,  when  necessary  >  for  their 
aggrandizement.  Thus  Henry  Y.  appears  to  be 
influenced  by  holy  counsel  from  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  concerning  hostility  with  France, 
when,  at  the  same  time,  he  is  inwardly  resolved  to 
wage  war  against  her — 

"King  Henry.   We  charge  you  in  the  name  of  God, 

take  heed  : 

For  never  two  such  kingdoms  did  contend 
Without  much  fall  of  blood  ;  whose  guiltless  drops 
Are  every  one  a  woe — a  sore  complaint, 
'Gainst  him  whose  wrong  gives  edge  unto  the  swords 
That  makes  such  waste  in  brief  mortality. 


HAMLET.  31 

Under  this  conjuration  speak,  my  Lord  : 
For  we  will  hear,  note,  and  believe  in  heart, 
That  what  you  speak  is  in  your  conscience  wash'd 
As  pure  as  sin  with  baptism" 

["Conscience  wash'd."] — "  Be  baptized,  and  wash  away 
thy  sins."     Acts  xxii.  16. 

A  Soliloquy  of  the  notorious  DUKE  OF  GLOSTER, 
afterwards  EICHARD  III. 

"  Gloster.  I  do  the  wrong,  and  first  begin  to  brawl. 
The  secret  mischiefs  that  I  set  abroach, 
I  lay  unto  the  grievous  charge  of  others. 
Clarence,  whom  I  indeed  have  laid  in  darkness, 
I  do  beweep  to  many  simple  gulls, 
Namely,  to  Stanley,  Hastings,  Buckingham ; 
And  tell  them,  'tis  the  queen  and  her  allies 
That  stir  the  king  against  the  duke  my  'brother  : 
Now  they  believe  it ;  and  withal  whet  me 
To  be  revenged  on  Rivers,  Dorset*  Gray. 
But  then  I  sigh,  and  with  a  piece  of  Scripture 
Tell  them,  that  God  lids  us  do  good  for  evil: 
And  thus  I  clothe  my  naked  villainy 
With  old  odd  ends,  stolen  forth  of  holy  writ ; 
And  seem  a  saint  when  most  I  play  the  devil." 

["Do  good  for  evil."  "  Odd  ends,  stolen  forth  of 
Holy  Writ."] — "Love  your  enemies,  bless  them  that 
curse  you,  do  good  to  them  that  hate  you,  and  pray  for 
them  which  despitefully  use  you,  and  persecute  you." 
Matt.  v.  44. 

*  Some  editions  of  Shakespeare  insert  Vaughan  instead  of  Dorset. 


32  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

Shortly  before  Gloster's  speech  in  the  1st  Act 
and  3rd  Scene  of  Kichard  III.,  Rivers  says— 

"  A  virtuous  and  a  christian-like  conclusion, 
To  pray  for  them  that  have  done  scathe  to  us" 

"  Be  not  overcome  of  evil,  but  overcome  evil  with 
good"  Rom.  xii.  21. 

How  much  the  words  spoken  by  Gloster,  and 
those  by  Henry  V.  to  the  Archbishop,  remind 
us  of  the  pithy  sentence  in  the  25th  chapter  of 
Proverbs — 

"  The  heaven  for  height,  and  the  earth  for  depth, 
and  the  heart  of  kings  is  unsearchable." 

And  as  Shakespeare  has,  in  many  instances, 
used  the  Proverbs  of  Holy  Writ,  he  might,  and 
probably  did,  derive  from  these  Proverbs  no  slight 
knowledge  of  men  as  they  appear  in  their  several 
stations,  and  play  their  parts  in  the  great  and 
complicated  drama  of  the  world.  Now  genius, 
thus  developed,  could  draw  real  characters  appa- 
rently true  to  life,  yet  after  its  own  fancy.  And 
this  it  does  in  some  instances  to  the  flagrant 
violation  thereby  of  historical  statements.  Whether, 
however,  the  liberties  taken  with  history,  by  making 
men  better  or  worse  than  they  are  said  to  have 
been  when  alive,  proceeded  from  a  love  of  exercising 
such  power,  or  from  motives  as  base,  we  need  not 
here  determine.  Quotations  from  Proverbs  we 
shall  soon  have  occasion  to  notice  particularly. 


HAMLET.  33 

The  soliloquy  of  the  Duke  of  Gloster  admits  at 
least  of  this  additional  remark;  it  well  answers  the 
description  given  in  Prov.  xxvi.,  of  one  whose 
hatred  is  cloaked  by  policy  : — 

"  He  that  hateth  dissembleth  with  his  lips,  and  layetli 
up  deceit  within  him ;  when  he  speaketh  fair,  believe 
him  not,  for  there  are  seven  abominations  in  his  heart*" 


CHAPTER  VI. 


THE  PLAY  OF  EICHAED  III. 

ACT  II.        SCENE  III. 

A  Street  near  the  Court. 

"  3  Citizen.     Neighbours,  God  speed  ! 

1  Citizen.     Give  you  good-morrow,  sir. 

3  Citizen.     Doth,   the    news    hold    of    good    King 
Edward's  death? 

2  Citizen.     Ay,   sir,  it  is  too  true ;    God  help  the 

while ! 

3  Citizen.     Then,  masters,  look  to  see  a  troublous 

world. 
1  Citizen.     No,  no ;    by  God's  good  grace  his  son 

shall  reign. 
3  Citizen.      Woe  to   that  land  that's  governed  by 

child  r 

"  Woe  to  thee,  O  land  !  when  thy  king  is  a  child." 
Eccles.  x.  16  (Steevens). 


RICHARD  III.  35 


ACT  IV.        SCENE  IV. 

The  widow  of  Edward  IV.  is  unable  to  promote 
the  match  desired  by  Richard  III.  between  himself 
and  his  niece  Elizabeth :  this  princess,  after  her 
uncle's  death,  becomes  the  Queen  of  Henry  VII. 
By  this  alliance  the  houses  of  York  and  Lancaster 
are  united,  and  the  Wars  of  the  Eoses  are  hence- 
forth for  ever  at  an  jend. 

"  Queen  to  Richard.     Under  what  title  shall  I  woo 

for  thee, 

That  God,  the  law,  my  honour,  and  her  love, 
Can  make  seem  pleasing  to  her  tender  years  1 

Richard.     Infer  fair  England's  peace  by  this  alliance. 
Queen.     Which  she  shall  purchase  with  still  lasting 

war. 
Richard.     Tell  her,   the  king,  that  may  command, 

entreats. 

Queen.     That  at  her  hands  which  the  king's  King 
forbids." 

["King's  King  forbids."] — "None  of  you  shall 
approach  [i.  e.,  marry]  any  that  is  near  of  kin  to  him." 
Lev.  xviii.  6. 

And  amongst  the  prohibitions  stated,  we  find 
one  equal,  in  consanguinity,  to  that  of  uncle  and 
niece,  mentioned  in  verse  14  of  this  chapter.  The 
present  authorized  version  of  the  Bible  is  the  one 
referred  to  and  quoted,  although  it  was  not  the 


36  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

version  used  by  Shakespeare.  This  licence  is 
considered  allowable,  because  passages  from  our 
own  version  are  sufficiently  like  the  same  passages 
in  all  other  versions,  to  show  that  no  mistake  can 
well  arise  concerning  their  identity. 


ACT  I.        SCENE  IV. 

The  Murder  of  the  DUKE  OF  CLARENCE. 

"  Clarence.     Are  you  call'd  forth  from  out  a  world  of 

men, 

To  slay  the  innocent  ?  * 

#  *  *  *  #  *  * 

The  deed  you  undertake  is  damnable." 

"  Cursed  be  he  that  taketh  reward  to  slay  an  innocent 
person."  Deut.  xxvii.  25. 

"  1  Villain.     "What  we  will  do,  we  do  upon  command. 
2  Villain.     And  he,  that  hath  commanded,  is  our 

king. 

Clarence.    Erroneous  vassal !  the  great  King  of  kings 
Hath  in  the  table  of  his  law  commanded, 
That  thou  shalt  do  no  murder."     Exodus  xx.  13. 

["  King  of  kings."]  This  form  of  expression  is  to 
be  found  in  several  parts  of  the  Bible,  and  of 
Shakespeare.  We  shall  direct  the  reader's  atten- 
tion, for  it,  to  a  passage  in  the  6th  chapter  of 
the  first  Epistle  to  Timothy : — 


RICHARD  III.  37 

-"keep    this    commandment    without    spot, 


unrebukeable,  until  the  appearing  of  our  Lord  Jesus 

Christ : " "  who  is  the  blessed  and  only  Potentate, 

the  King  ofkings"  1  Tim.  vi.  14,  15. 

Again — 


ACT  I.        SCENE  IV. 

"  Clarence.     Tell    him    (Gloster),    when    that    our 

princely  father  York 

Blest  his  three  sons  with  his  victorious  arm, 
And  charg'd  us  from  his  soul  to  love  each  other, 
He  little  thought  of  this  divided  friendship  : 
Bid  Gloster  think  on  this,  and  he  will  weep. 

1  Villain.     Ay,  millstones  ;  as  he  lesson' d  us  to  weep. 

Clarence.     O  do  not  slander  him,  for  he  is  hind  ! 

1  Villain.  As  snow  in  harvest.  You  deceive  yourself ; 
'Tis  he  that  sends  us  to  destroy  you  here." 

["  As  snow  in  harvest."] — "  As  the  cold  of  snow  in 
the  time  of  harvest,  so  is  a  faithful  messenger  to  them 
that  send  him  :  for  he  refresheth  the  soul  of  his  mas- 
ters." Prov.  xxv.  13. 

But  before  more  quotations  containing  Proverbs 
are  introduced  from  Shakespeare,  observe  the  clever 
way  in  which  we  are  ushered,  as  it  were,  into  the 
very  apartment  in  the  Tower  where  the  unhappy 
Clarence  is  imprisoned ;  so  that  we  see  and  hear 
all  that  transpires  relating  to  him  till  the  assassins 
take  their  departure.  Clarence,  when  first  seen, 


38  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

is  relating  to  Brakenbury,  lieutenant  of  the  Tower, 
a  dream  that  has  been  distressing  him. 

Now  what  makes  the  mention  of  a  dream 
worthy  of  notice  here,  is  the  speech  which  falls 
from  the  lips  of  the  second  villain,  as  soon  as  the 
Duke  has  been  murdered  by  the  first. 

"2  Villain.  A  bloody  deed,  and  desperately  despatch'd! 
How  fain,  like  Pilate,  would  I  wash  my  hands 
Of  this  most  grievous  guilty  murder  done !" 

There  is  but  one  chapter  in  the  New  Testament 
(the  27th  of  St.  Matthew)  where  we  read  that 

"  Pilate  took  water,  and  washed  his  hands  before  the 
multitude,  saying,  I  am  innocent  of  the  blood  of  this 
just  person." 

And  there  only  is  it  stated,  that 

"Pilate's  wife  suffered  many  things  in  a  dream, 
because  of  him." 

The  words,  therefore,  which  the  second  villain 
utters  relative  to  Pilate,  seem  to  conduct  us  to  the 
source  whence  the  idea  of  a  troubled  dream  entered 
Shakespeare's  mind,  as  a  prelude  to  the  horrid 
event  that  consigns  Clarence  to  the  tomb. 

More  Proverb-quotations  may  now  be  produced, 
in  defence  of  the  conjectures  that  have  been  made 
relating  to  them. 

The  following  words  burst  from  the  lips  of  the 
devoted  Hastings,  a  short  time  before  he  lays  his 
head  upon  the  block : — 


RICHARD  III.  39 

"Hastings.  O  momentary  grace  of  mortal  men, 
Which  we  more  hunt  for  than  the  grace  of  God  ! 
Who  builds  his  hope  in  air  of  your  fair  looks, 
Lives  like  a  (drunken)  sailor  on  a  mast ; 
Heady  with  every  nod  to  tumble  down 
Into  the  fatal  bowels  of  the  deep." 

["Sailor  on  the  mast."] — "Yea,  thou  shalt  be  as  he 
that  lieth  down  in  the  midst  of  the  sea,  or  as  he  that  lieth 
upon  the  top  of  a  mast."  Prov.  xxiii.  34. 

The  word  drunken,  proves  that  Shakespeare 
derived  the  idea,  "  lives  like  a  drunken  sailor  on  a 
mast/'  from  Proverbs,  as  above  indicated. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


THE  PLAT  OF  HENEY  VIII. 

ACT  V.        SCENE  II. 

Enter  the  Guard. 

"  Oranmer.  For  me  ? 
Must  I  go  like  a  traitor  thitlier  ? 

Gardner.  Receive  him, 
And  see  him  safe  i'  the  Tower. 

Cranmer.  Stay,  good  my  lords, 
I  have  a  little  yet  to  say.     Look  there,  my  lords; 
By  virtue  of  that  ring,  I  take  my  cause 
Out  of  the  gripes  of  cruel  men,  and  give  it 
To  a  most  noble  judge,  the  king  my  master. 

Chamberlain.  This  is  the  king's  ring. 

Surrey.  'Tis  no  counterfeit. 

Suffolk.  'Tis  the  right  ring,  by  Heaven :  I  told  ye  all, 
When  we  first  put  this  dangerous  stone  a  rolling, 
">T would  fall  upon  ourselves'' 

["Stone  a  rolling."] — "He  that   rolleth  a  stone,  it 
will  return  upon  him."    Prov.  xxvi.  27. 


HENRY  VIII.  41 

As  Proverb-quotations  cannot  again  appear  thus 
collectively,  passages  in  the  play  of  Henry  VIII., 
connected  with  our  subject,  which  have  not  yet 
been  noticed,  may  follow  in  their  natural  course. 

ACT  I.        SCENE  I. 

London. 

NORFOLK'S  advice  to  BUCKINGHAM,  who  plans  destruction  to 
CARDINAL  WOLSEY. 

"Norfolk.  Be  advised; 
Heat  not  a  furnace  for  your  foe  so  hot 
That  it  do  singe  yourself." 

["  Furnace  for  your  foe  so  hot."] — "  Then  was  Nebu- 
chadnezzar full  of  fury,  and  the  form  of  his  visage  was 
changed  against  Shadrach,  Meshach,  and  Abednego  : 
therefore  he  spake,  and  commanded  that  they  should 
heat  the  furnace  one  seven  times  more  than  it  was  wont 
to  be  heated. 

"  Therefore,  because  the  king's  command  was  urgent, 
and  the  furnace  exceeding  hot,  the  flame  of  the  fire  slew 
those  men  that  took  up  Shadrach,  Meshach,  and  Abed- 
nego." Dan.  iii.  19,  22. 

ACT  II.        SCENE  II. 

An  Antechamber  in  the  Palace. 

From  a  Dialogue  between  the  LORD  CHAMBERLAIN  and  the 

DUKES  OF  NORFOLK  and  SUFFOLK,  relative  to 

CARDINAL  WOLSEY. 

"  Chamberlain.  Heaven  will  one  day  open 
The  king's  eyes,  that  so  long  have  slept  upon 
This  bold,  bad  man. 

D 


42  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

Suffolk.  And  free  us  from  his  slavery. 

Norfolk.  We  had  need  pray, 
And  heartily,  for  our  deliverance; 
Or  this  imperious  man  will  work  us  all 
From  princes  into  pages :  all  men's  honours 
Lie  like  one  lump  before  him,  to  be  fashion*  d 
Into  what  pitch  he  please" 

["Into  what  pitch."] — This  allusion  seems  to 
be  to  the  21st  verse  of  the  9th  chapter  of  the 
Epistle  of  St.  Paul  to  the  Romans — 

"  Hath  not  the  potter  power  over  the  clay,  of  the  same 
lump  to  make  one  vessel  unto  honour •,  and  another  unto 
dishonour  ?  " — Collins. 

We  may  now  add  the  latter  part  of  Wolsey's 
speech,  which  commences  with  the  words — "So 
farewell  to  the  little  good  you  bear  me/'  in 


ACT  III.      SCENE  II. 

"  Wolsey.  Yain  pomp  and  glory  of  the  world,  I  hate  ye ; 
I  feel  my  heart  new  open'd  :   0  how  wretched 
Is  that  poor  man  that  hangs  on  princes'  favours ! 
There  is,  betwixt  that  smile  we  would  aspire  to, 
That  sweet  aspect  of  princes  and  our  ruin, 
More  pangs  and  fears  than  wars  or  women  have ; 
And  when  he  falls,  he  falls  like  Lucifer, 
Never  to  hope  again" 

["  Falls  like  Lucifer."]—"  How  art  thou  fallen  from 
heaven,  0  Lucifer,  son  of  the  morning  !    How  art  thou 


HENRY  VIII.  43 

cut  down  to  the  ground,  which  didst  weaken  the 
nations  !  For  thou  hast  said  in  thine  heart,  I  will 
ascend  into  heaven,  I  will  exalt  my  throne  above  the 
stars  of  God  :  I  will  sit  also  upon  the  mount  of  the 
cougregation,  in  the  sides  of  the  north  : 

"  I  will  ascend  above  the  heights  of  the  clouds  :  I 
will  be  like  the  Most  High. 

"  Yet  thou  shalt  be  brought  down  to  hell,  to  the 
sides  of  the  pit."  Isa.  xiv.  12,  13,  14,  15. 


ACTV.      SCENE  I. 

"  Cranmer.     I  humbly  thank  your  highness  ; 
And  am  right  glad  to  catch  this  good  occasion 
Most  thorougJdy  to  be  winnow*  d,  where  my  chaff 
And  corn  shall  fly  asunder:  for,  I  know, 
There's  none  stands  under  more  calumnious  tongues 
Than  I  myself,  poor  man  !" 

[u  Most  thoroughly  to  be  winuow'd."] — A  turn 
of  expression,  not  unlike  this,  occurs  in  the  9th 
chapter  of  the  prophet  Amos : — 

"  For  lo,  I  will  command,  and  /  will  sift  t/ie  house  of 
Jsrael  among  all  nations,  like  as  corn  is  sifted  in  a 
sieve,  yet  shall  not  the  least  grain  fall  upon  the  earth." 
Amos  ix.  9. 


44  .   SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


ACT  V.      SCENE  III. 

The  Palace  Yard.     Noise  and  tumult  within. 
Enter  PORTER  and  his  Man. 

"  Porter.  How  got  they  in,  and  be  hanged  1 

Man.  Alas  !  I  know  not ;  how  gets  the  tide  in  ? 
As  much  as  one  sound  cudgel  of  four  foot 
[You  see  the  poor  remainder]  could  distribute, 
1  made  no  spare,  sir, 

Porter.  You  did  nothing,  sir. 

Man.  I  am  not  Samson,     * 

%     #     *     *     *     *     t0  mow  ijiem  down  before  me." 

["  Samson  to  mow  them  down."] — "  Then  the  Philis- 
tines said,  Who  hath  done  this  ?  (when  Samson  had, 
with  foxes  and  firebrands,  burnt  up  their  shocks,  their 
standing  corn,  vineyards,  and  oliveyards.)  And  they 
answered,  Samson,  the  son-in-law  of  the  Timnite, 
because  he  had  taken  his  wife,  and  given  her  to  his 
companion. 

"  And  the  Philistines  came  up,  and  burnt  her  and 
her  father  with  fire. 

"  And  Samson  said  unto  them,  Though  ye  have  done 
this,  yet  will  I  be  avenged  of  you,  and  after  that  I  will 
cease. 

"  And  he  smote  them  hip  and  thigh  with  a  great 
slaughter."  Judges  xv.  6 — 8. 

Though  this  example  is  given,  Shakespeare 
seems  to  refer  to  no  particular  act  of  valour  per- 


HENRY  VIII.  45 

formed  by  Samson ;  but  rather  to  allude  to  that 
quality — strength — which  rendered  him  so  very 
remarkable. 

The  Palace. 

The   Blessing  pronounced   by  CRANMER,  at  the  Baptism 

of  the  infant  Daughter  of  ANN  BULLEN,  aftenvards 

QUEEN  ELIZABETH. 

"  Cranmer.  Let  me  speak,  sir, 
For  Heaven  now  bids  me ;  and  the  words  I  utter 
Let  none  think  flattery,  for  they'll  find  them  truth. 
This  royal  infant,  (Heaven  still  move  about  her !) 
Though  in  her  cradle,  yet  now  promises 
Upon  this  land  a  thousand  thousand  blessings, 
"Which  time  shall  bring  to  ripeness  :  She  shall  be 
(But  few  now  living  can  behold  that  goodness) 
A  pattern  to  all  princes  living  with  her, 
And  all  that  shall  succeed  :   Sheba  was  never 
More  covetous  of  wisdom  and  fair  virtue, 
Than  this  pure  soul  shall  be:  all  princely  graces, 
That  mould  up  such  a  mighty  piece  as  this  is, 
With  all  the  virtues  that  attend  the  good, 
Shall  still  be  doubled  on  her  :  truth  sliall  nurse  her, 
Holy  and  heavenly  thoughts  still  counsel  lier : 
She  shall  be  lov'd  and  fear'd :  Her  own  shall  bless  her: 
Her  foes  shake  like  afield  of  beaten  corn, 
And  hang  their  heads  with  sorrow  :  Good  grows  with 
her." 

As  the  words — they  shall  sit  every  man  under  his 
vine,  &c.«,  are  to  be  found  in  chap.  iv.  of  Micah, 
the  ideas  in  italics,  heavenly  thoughts,  &c.,  foes  shake 


46  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

like  a  field  of  beaten  corn,  &c.,   may  be  derived 
from  verses  11,  12,  and  13  of  this  chapter. 

In  her  days,  every  man  shall  eat  in  safety 
Under  his  own  vine,  what  he  plants ;  and  sing 
The  merry  songs  of  peace  to  all  his  neighbours ; 
God  shall  be  truly  known ;  and  those  about  her 
From  her  shall  read  the  perfect  ways  of  honour, 
And  by  those  claim  their  greatness,  not  by  blood. 
Nor  shall  this  peace  sleep  with  her  :  but  as  when 
The  bird  of  wonder  dies,  the  maiden  phoenix, 
Her  ashes  new  create  another  heir, 
As  great  in  admiration  as  herself; 
So  shall  she  leave  her  blessedness  to  one 
(When  Heaven  shall  call  her  from  this  cloud  of  dark- 
ness) 

Who,  from  the  sacred  ashes  of  her  honour, 
Shall  star-like  rise,  as  great  in  fame  as  she  was, 
And  so  stand  fix'd  :  Peace,  plenty,  love,  truth,  terror, 
That  were  the  servants  to  this  chosen  infant, 
Shall  then  be  his,  and  like  a  vine  grow  to  him  ; 
Wherever  the  bright  sun  of  heaven  shall  shine, 
His  honour,  and  the  greatness  of  his  name 
Shall  be,  and  make  new  nations  ;  he  shall  flourish, 
And,  like  a  mountain  cedar,  reach  his  branches 
To  all  the  plains  about  him  : — Our  children's  children 
Shall  see  this,  and  bless  heaven." 

"  Now  also  many  nations  are  gathered  against  thee, 

that  say,  Let  her  be  defiled,  and  let  our  eye  look  upon 

Zion.     But  they  know  not  the   thoughts  of  the  Lord, 

*     *     *     *     for  he  shall  gather  them  as  the  sheaves 

into  the  floor. 


HENRY  VIII.  47 

"  Arise  and  thresh,  0  daughter  of  Zion :      *      *      * 
*     *     *     thou  shalt  beat  in  pieces  many  people." 
Micahiv.  11,  12,  13. 

["Sheba  was  never  more  covetous  of  wisdom."]  "And 
when  the  queen  of  Sheba  heard  -of  the  fame  of  Solo- 
mon concerning  the  name  of  the  Lord,  she  came  to 
prove  him  with  hard  questions. 

"And  she  came  to  Jerusalem  with  a  very  great 
train,  with  camels  that  bare  spices,  and  very  much 
gold  and  precious  stones  :  and  when  she  was  come  to 
Solomon,  she  communed  with  him  of  all  that  was  in 
her  heart.  And  Solomon  told  her  all  her  questions  : 
there  was  not  anything  hid  from  the  king  which  he 
told  her  not."  1  Kings  x.  1 — 3. 

[uln  her  days  shall  every  man  eat  in  safety 
lender  his  own  vine,  and  sing  the  merry  songs  of 
peace:'] — Shakespeare  might  take  these  ideas 
from  the  1  Book  of  Kings,  iv.,  or  from  1  Book  of 
Maccabees,  xiv.,  as  well  as,  if  proof  already  given 
be  correct,  from  the  prophet  Micah. 

"  Judah  and  Israel  were  many,  as  the  sand  which  is 
by  the  sea  in  multitude,  eating  and  drinking,  and 
making  merry. 

"  And  Judah  and  Israel  dwelt  safely-,  every  man  under 
his  vine,  and  under  his  fig-tree."  1  Kings  iv.,  20,  25. 

"He  made  peace  in  the  land,  and  Israel  rejoiced 
with  great  joy  :  for  every  man  sat  under  his  vine  and 
hisfy-tree^  and  there  was  none  to  fray  them: 


48  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

"  Moreover,  he  strengthened  all  those  of  his  people 
that  were  brought  low  :  the  law  he  searched  out ;  and 
every  condemner  of  the  law  and  wicked  person  he  took 
away."  1  Mac.  xiv.  11,  12,  14. 

v  ["  And  make  new  nations."] — "  And  Solomon  reigned 
over  all  kingdoms,  from  the  river  unto  the  land  of  the 
Philistines,  and  unto  the  border  of  Egypt :  they  brought 
presents,  and  served  Solomon  all  the  days  of  his  life" 
1  Kings  iv.  21. 


CHAPTEE  V1I1. 


PERTINENT    EXTRACTS    FROM 

THE  PLAY  OF  HENKY  V. 

ACT  I.    SCENE  I. 

THE  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  and  Bishop  of 
Ely  are  remarking  the  great  change  already  visible 
in  the  young  king  since  the  death  of  his  father. 

"  Canterbury.  The  king  is  full  of  grace  and  fair  re- 
gard. 

Ely.  And  a  true  lover  of  the  holy  church. 

Canterbury.  The  courses  of  his  youth  promised  it  not. 
The  breath  no  sooner  left  his  father's  body, 
But  that  his  wildness,  mortified  in  him, 
Seem'd  to  die  too  :  yea,  at  that  very  moment, 
Consideration  like  an  angel  came, 
And  whipped  the  offending  Adam  out  of  him  ; 
Leaving  his  body  as  a  paradise. 
To  envelop  and  contain  celestial  spirits." 


50  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

["  Like  an  angel  came,  and  whipped  the  offend- 
ing Adam  out  of  him."] — For  this  figurative 
mode  of  expressing  a  change  from  sin  to  godliness, 
effected  by  the  chastening  hand  of  the  Almighty, 
Shakespeare  is  indebted  to  the  following  extract — 

"  And  the  Lord  God  said,  Behold  the  man  is  become 
as  one  of  us,  to  know  good  and  evil :  and  now,  lest  he 
put  forth  his  hand,  and  take  also  of  the  tree  of  life, 
and  eat  and  live  for  ever :  Therefore  the  Lord  God  sent 
him  forth  from  the  garden  of  Eden,  to  till  the  ground 
from  whence  he  was  taken.  So  he  drove  out  the  man  ; 
and  he  placed  at  the  east  end  of  the  garden  of  Eden 
cherubims,  and  a  flaming  sword  which  turned  every 
way,  to  keep  the  way  of  the  tree  of  life."  Gen.  iii. 
22—24. 


ACT  I.      SCENE  II. 

A  conference  between  King  Henry  and  the 
Archbishop  relative  to  the  validity  of  the  Salique 
law,  which  is  said  to  be  this — 

"  No  woman  shall  succeed  in  Salique  land  : 
Which  Salique  land  the  French  unjustly  gloze," 

Says  the  Archbishop — 

"  To  be  the  realm  of  France,  and  Pharamond 
The  founder  of  this  law  and  female  bar." 

The  archbishop  then  tells  the  king,  that  the 
Salique  land  is  really  between  the  floods  of  Sala 


HENRY  V.  51 

and  Elbe,  in  Germany ;  that  certain  French,  who 
settled  there,  established  a  law  that  no  female 
should  be  an  inheritrix  in  Salique  land  ;  and  that! 
these  French  possessed  this  Salique  land  42 1  years 
after  the  death  of  King  Pharamond,  who  is  said 
to  have  been  the  founder  of  the  Salique  law. 

^  King  Henry.     May  I,  with  right  and  conscience, 
make  this  claim  ? 

Canterbury*  The  sin  upon  my  head,  dread  sovereign  ! 
For  in  the  book  of  Numbers  is  it  writ, 
When  the  son  dies,  let  the  inheritance 
Descend  unto  the  daughter." 

["  Book  of  Numbers  it  is  writ."] — "  And  the  Lord 
spake  unto  Moses,  saying,  The  daughters  of  Zelophehad 
speak  right  :  thou  shalt  surely  give  them  a  possession  of 
an  inheritance  among  their  father's  brethren ;  and  thou 
shalt  cause  the  inheritance  of  their  father  to  pass  to  them. 
And  thou  shalt  speak  unto  the  children  of  Israel, 
saying,  If  a  man  die  and  have  no  son,  then  ye  shall 
cause  his  inheritance  to  pass  unto  his  daughter"  Num. 
xxvii.  6 — 8. 


ACT  II.      SCENE  IV. 

A  turn  of  expression,  remarkably  scriptural, 
occurs  in  the  fourth  scene  of  the  second  act  of 
Henry  V.?  where  Exeter  demands,  in  Henry's 
name,  the  crown  of  France. 


52  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

Exeter  to  French  king  : 

"  He  bids  you,  in  the  bowels  of  the  Lord, 
Deliver  up  the  crown." 

St.  Paul  says,  too,  to  Philemon  : 

"  Let  me  have  joy  of  thee  in  the  Lord  :  refresh  my 
bowels  in  the  Lord."     Epist,  to  Philemon  v.  20. 


ACT  III.        SCENE  III. 

Harfleur. 

The  Governor  and  some  Citizens  on  the  Walls  :  the  English 
Forces  below.    Enter  KING  HENRY  V.  and  his  Train. 

The  king,  in  his  address  to  the  governor  and 
citizens  of  Harfleur — which  commences  with  the 
words, 

"  How  yet  resolves  the  governor  of  the  town  1 " — 

paints,  in  moving  words,  the  misery  which  the 
French  must  see  and  suffer,  if  they  again  provoke 
him  to  attack  the  town :  for  then  adds  the  king — 

"  What  rein  can  hold  licentious  wickedness, 
When  down  the  hill  he  holds  his  fierce  career  ? 
We  may  as  bootless  spend  our  vain  command 
Upon  the  enraged  soldiers  in  their  spoil, 
As  send  precepts  to  the  Leviathan 
To  come  ashore.     Therefore,  you  men  of  Harfleur, 
Take  pity  of  your  town  and  of  your  people, 
Whiles  yet  my  soldiers  are  in  my  command ; 


HENRY  V.  53 

Whiles  yet  the  cool  and  temperate  wind  of  grace 

O'erblows  the  filthy  and  contagious  clouds 

Of  heady  murder,  spoil,  and  villainy. 

If  not,  why,  in  a  moment,  look  to  see 

The  blind  and  bloody  soldier  with  foul  hand, 

Defile  the  locks  of  your  shrill-shrieking  daughters ; 

Your  fathers  taken  by  the  silver  beards, 

And  their  most  reverend  heads  dash'd  to  the  walls  ; 

Your  naked  infants  spitted  upon  pikes  ; 

Whiles  the  mad  mothers  with  their  howls  confused 

Do  break  the  clouds,  as  did  the  wives  of  Jewry 

At  Herod's  bloody-hunting  slaughtermen" 

["  As  send  precepts  to  the  Leviathan  to  come 
ashore."] — This  seems  derived  from  the  41st 
chapter  of  the  Book  of  Job  : — 

"  Canst  thou  draw  out  leviathan  with  an  hook  ?  or 
his  tongue  with  a  cord  which  thou  lettest  down  ?  Will 
he  make  many  supplications  unto  thee  1  Will  he  speak 
soft  words  unto  thee  1  Wul  lie  make  a  covenant  with 
thee  1  wilt  thou  take  him  for  a  servant  for  ever  1  None 
is  so  fierce  that  dare  stir  him  up  :  who  then  is  able  to 
stand  before  me  ? "  Job  xli.  1,3,  10. 

["  As  did  the  wives  of  Jewry  at  Herod's  bloody- 
hunting  slaughtermen."]  —  These  words  surely 
refer  to  the  atrocities  committed  by  Herod  the 
Great  when  his  search  for  the  infant  Jesus  proved 
fruitless.  Of  this  slaughter  of  infants,  the  follow- 
ing account  is  given  in  the  2nd  chapter  of  St. 
Matthew — 


54  SHAKESPEAKE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

"  Then  Herod,  when  he  saw  that  he  was  mocked  of 
the  wise  men,  was  exceeding  wroth,  and  sent  forth, 
and  slew  all  the  children  that  were  in  Bethlehem,  and  in 
all  the  coasts  thereof,  from  two  years  old  and  under, 
according  to  the  time  which  he  had  diligently  inquired 
of  the  wise  men.  Then  was  fulfilled  that  which  was 
spoken  by  Jeremy  the  prophet,  saying,  In  Rama  was 
there  a  voice  heard,  lamentation,  and  weeping,  and 
great  mourning — Rachel  weeping  for  her  children,  and 
would  not  be  comforted,  because  they  are  not."  Matt. 
ii.  16,  17,  18. 


ACT  IV.        SCENE  VII. 

"  King  Henry.  What  think  you,  Captain  Fluellen  \ 
is  it  fit  this  soldier  keep  his  oath  1 

Fluellen.  He  is  a  craven  and  a  villain  else,  an't  please 
your  majesty,  in  my  conscience. 

King  Henry.  It  may  be,  his  enemy  is  a  gentleman  of 
great  sort,  quite  from  the  answer  of  his  degree. 

Fluellen.  Though  he  be  as  goot  a  gentleman  as  the 
tevil  is,  as  Lucifer  and  Belzebub  himself,  it  is  necessary, 
look  your  grace,  that  he  keep  his  vow  and  his  oath." 

["  Lucifer  and  Belzebub  "1 — are  taken,  as  we 
have  already  shown,  from  Holy  Writ:  they  are, 
in  the  present  case,  merely  the  rough  expressions 
of  a  soldier. 

The  king's  joke  is  this:  he  exchanged  gloves 
with  Michael  Williams,  a  common  soldier,  who 
supposed  that  the  king  was  a  soldier  like  himself. 


HENRY  V.  55 

They  each  agree  to  wear  the  glove,  which  each  has 
received  from  the  other,  in  the  bonnet.  The  sol- 
dier then  tells  the  disguised  and  unknown  king, 
"  That  if,  after  to-morrow,  he  comes  to  him  and 
says,  This  is  my  glove,  he  will  take  him  a  box  on 
the  ear/'  The  king  now  traps  Fluellen,  and  sends 
him  with  the  soldier's  glove.  The  soldier  sees  his 
glove  in  Fluellen's  cap,  and  challenges  it  with  a 
blow.  The  king  takes  care  to  be  present  to  explain 
matters,  and  prevent  bloodshed. 


ACT  IV.        SCENE  VIII. 

"  King  Henry.  O  God  !  thy  arm  was  here, 
And  not  to  us,  but  to  Thy  arm  alone, 
Ascribe  we  all." 

PARALLEL  m  PSALM  XLIV. 

"  They  got  not  the  land  in  possession  by  their  own 
sword,  neither  did  their  own  arm  save  them  :  but  Thy 
right  hand  and  thine  arm."  Psalm  xliv.  3. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


THE  PLAY  OF  HENEY  VI. 

THE  play  of  Henry  VI.,  next  to  the  last  in 
historic  order,  affords  several  instances  of  Shake- 
speare's versatility  in  the  use  of  Scripture. 

PART  I.        ACT  I.        SCENE  II. 

"  Alenqon.  Froissart,  a  countryman  of  ours,  records, 
England  all  Olivers  and  Rowlands  bred, 
During  the  time  Edward  the  Third  did  reign. 
More  truly  now  may  this  be  verified ; 
For  none  but  Samsons  and  Goliasses, 
It  sendeth  forth  to  skirmish.     One  to  ten  ! 
Lean  raw-boned  rascals  !  who  would  e'er  suppose 
They  had  such  courage  and  audacity  ? " 

["For  none  but  Samsons."] — "Samson  slew  thirty 
of  the  Philistines  at  Ashkelon."     Judg.  xiv.  19. 


HENRY  VI.  57 

Upon  another  occasion, 

"  Smote  the  Philistines  hip  and  thigh  with  a  great 
slaughter."  Judg.  xv.  8. 

And  upon  another, 

"  Slew  a  thousand  men  with  the  jawbone  of  an  ass." 
Judg.  xv.  15. 

"He  judged  Israel  in  the  days  of  the  Philistines 
twenty  years.  Judg,  xv.  20. 

["  And  Goliasses  it  sendeth  forth  to  skirmish."] — 
"  There  went  out  a  champion  out  of  the  eainp  of  the 
Philistines,  named  Goliath,  of  Gath,  whose  height  was 
six  cubits  and  a  span. 

"  And  the  Philistine  said,  I  defy  the  armies  of 
Israel  this  day  ;  give  me  a  man,  that  we  may  fight 
together. 

"  When  Saul  and  all  Israel  heard  those  words  of  the 
Philistine,  they  were  dismayed,  and  greatly  afraid." 
1  Sam.  xvii,  4,  10,  11. 

["For  none  but  Samsons  and  Goliasses.'*] — 
None  but  men  whose  exploits  astonish  and  amaze 
all  who  know  of  them  ;  though  accounts  of  them 
be  not  exaggerated,  like  those  of  the  deeds  of 
Oliver  and  Rowland,  Charlemagne's  peers,  but  as 
veritable  as  the  histories  of  Samson  and  Goliath. 

ACT  I.    SCENE  IL 

"  Charles,  Dauphin  of  France.  Then  come  o'  God's 
name,  I  fear  no  woman. 

E 


58  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

Joan  la  Pucelle.  And,  while  I  live,  I'll  ne'er  fly  from 
a  man.  (They  fight.) 

Charles.  Stay,  stay  thy  hands  •  thou  art  an  Amazon, 
And  fight est  with  the  sword  of  Deborah" 

[«  Sword  of  Deborah/']— This  is  the  celebrat- 
ed Joan  d'Arc,  who  was  burned  to  death  for 
heresy  and  magic  in  the  market-place  of  Rouen. 
She  was  servant  at  a  small  inn  in  the  village  of  Dom- 
remi,  near  Vaucouleurs,  on  the  borders  of  Lorraine, 
and  had  been  accustomed — till  she  fancied  that  she 
was  destined  by  Heaven  to  re-establish  the  throne 
of  France,  and  thus  drew  upon  her  the  attention 
of  the  French  court  — to  tend  the  horses  of  travel- 
lers, and  to  perform  other  offices  commonly  allotted 
to  men. 

Shakespeare  leads  us  by  the  word  Deborah  to 
conceive  most  exalted  ideas  of  the  prowess  of  this 
remarkable  girl ;  for  facts,  related  in  the  subjoined 
extracts  from  the  book  of  Judges,  directly  recur 
to  our  memories. 

"  And  Deborah,  a  prophetess,  the  wife  of  Lapidoth, 
she  judged  Israel  at  that  time.  And  she  sent  and 
called  Barak  the  son  of  Ahinoam  out  of  Kedesh-naph- 
tali,  and  said  unto  him,  Hath  not  the  Lord  God  of 
Israel  commanded,  saying,  Go  and  draw  toward  mount 
Tabor,  and  take  with  thee  ten  thousand  men  of  the 
children  of  Naphtali  and  of  the  children  of  Zebulun? 
And  I  will  draw  unto  thee,  to  the  river  Kishon,  Sisera, 
the  captain  of  Jabin's  army,  with  his  chariots  and  his 
multitude  ;  and  /  will  deliver  him  into  thine  hand. 


HENRY  VI.  59 

"  And  Barak  called  Zebulimand  Naphtali  to  Kedesh ; 
and  he  went  up  with  ten  thousand  men  at  his  feet  : 
and  Deborah  went  up  with  him."  Judg.  iv.  4,  6,  7,  10. 


ACT  I.    SCENE  III. 

London.     The  Hill  before  the  Tower. 
Enter  to  Tower  Gates,  WINCHESTER,  attended. 

CARDINAL  BEAUFORT,  Bishop  of  Winchester,  thus  addresses 
the  DUKE  OF  GLOSTER,  uncle  to  the  King  and  Protector. 

"  Winchester  (great-uncle  to  the  King.)    Nay,  stand 

thou  back,  I  will  not  budge  a  foot ; 
This  be  Damascus,  be  thou  cursed  Cain, 
To  slay  thy  brother  Abel  if  thou  wilt." 

An  irritating  mode  this  of  claiming  consangui- 
nity, and  at  the  same  time  moral  superiority, 
Gloster  afterwards  acknowledges  their  relationship, 
when  they  renew  their  quarrel  in  the  first  scene 
of  the  third  act,  by  the  bitter  retort — 

"  Thou  bastard  of  my  grandfather  !  " 

["  Cursed  Cain."] — "  And  now  art  thou  (Cain)  cursed 
from  the  earth,  which  hath  opened  her  mouth  to  re- 
ceive thy  brother's  blood  from  thy  hand."  Gen.  iv.  11. 

The  versatility  of  Shakespeare  is  seen  in  his 
method  of  treating  the  same  facts  from  Scripture 
in  various  parts  of  his  works;  for  by  them  he 
contrives  most  vigorously  to  express  either  devo- 
tion, pride,  hatred,  levity,  authority,  or  despair. 


60  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

In  the  present  instance,  tlie  mention  of  Cain's 
crime  is  made  the  most  vengeful  taunt  that  a 
haughty  mind  can  conceive. 

ACT  II.      SCENE  I. 

Enter  TALBOT,  BEDFORD,  and  BURGUNDY,  with  scaling 
ladders,  <&c. 

"  Talbot.  Well,  let  them  practise  and  converse  with 

spirits : 
God  is  our  fortress" 

The  Psalmist's  words  are, 

"The  Lord  is  my  rock  and  my  fortress"  Psalm 
xviii.  2. 

"Thou  art  my  rock  and  my  fortress.'"  Psalm 
xxxi.  3. 

ACT  V.      SCENE  IV. 

Alarum  Excursions.    Enter  JOAN  LA  PUCELLE. 
"  Pucelle.  The  regent  conquers,  and  the  Frenchmen 

%• 

Now  help,  ye  charming  spells,  and  periapts  ; 

And  ye  choice  spirits  that  admonish  me, 

And  give  me  signs  of  future  accidents  !     (Thunder.) 

You  speedy  helpers,  that  are  substitutes 

Under  the  lordly  monarch  of  the  north, 

Appear,  and  aid  me  in  this  enterprise  ! " 

["Ye  charming  spells  and  periapts."] — "Charms 
sow'd  up.  'Woe  to  them  that  sow  pillows  to  all  arm- 
holes,  to  hunt  souls.'"  Ezek.  xiii.  18. 


HENRY  VJ.  61 

["Under  the  lordly  monarch  of  the  north."] — The 
boast  of  Lucifer  in  the  1 4th  chapter  of  Isaiah  is  said  to 
be,  that  he  "will  sit  upon  the  mount  of  the  congrega- 
tion, in  the  sides  of  the  north."  Steevens. 


ACT  V.      SCENE  V. 

"  York.  Use  no  entreaty,  for  it  is  in  vain. 

Joan  of  Arc.  Then  lead  me  hence ;  with  whom  I 

leave  my  curse ; 

May  never  glorious  sun  reflex  his  beams 
Upon  the  country  where  you  make  abode  ! 
But  darkness,  and  the  gloomy  shade  of  death 
Environ  you." 

["  Darkness  and  the  gloomy  shade  of  death."] — 
This  expression,  says  Malone,  is  scriptural — 

"  Whereby  the  day-spring  from  on  high  hath  visited 
us,  to  give  light  to  them  that  sit  in  darkness  and  in  the 
shadow  of  death"  Luke  i.  78,  79. 


THE    PLAY    OF   HENEY   VI. 

PART  II.      ACT  I.      SCENE  III. 

QUEEN  MARGARET  drops  her  fan. 

"Queen  Margaret  to  the  Duchess  of  Gloster.  Give 
me  my  fan  :  What,  minion  !  can  you  not  ?  I  cry  you 
mercy,  madam  !  Was  it  you  ? 

(Gives  the  Duchess  a  box  on  the  ear.) 


62  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

Duchess  of  Gloster.  Was't  I  ?   yea,  I  it  was,  proud 

Frenchwoman  : 

Could  I  come  near  your  beauty  with  my  nails, 
I'd  set  my  ten  commandments  in  your  face." 

["  Ten  commandments."] — The  words  of  the  covenant 
made  by  the  Most  High  with  Moses  and  with  Israel, 
which  are  recorded  in  the  20th  Chapter  of  Exodus,  are 
spoken  of  in  the  Old  Testament  as  the  ten  command- 
ments. Thus — "And  he  (Moses)  wrote  upon  the 
tables  the  words  of  the  covenant,  the  ten  command- 
ments." Exod.  xxxiv.  28. 

We  see  the  use  which  the  angry  duchess  makes 
of  the  words  ten  commandments. 


ACT  II.        SCENE  I 

Saint  Albarfs. 

"  Gloster.  "Why,  Suffolk,  England  knows  thine  inso- 
lence. 

Q.  Margaret.  And  thy  ambition,  Gloster. 

King  Henry.  I  pr'ythee  peace, 
Good  Queen,  and  whet  not  on  these  furious  peers, 
For  blessed  are  the  peacemakers  on  earth." 

["  Blessed  are  the  peacemakers."] — Matt.  v.  9. 


HENRY  VI.  63 

ACT  II.    SCENE  I. 

Enter  an  inhabitant  of  St.  Albarfs,  crying  "A  miracle." 

"  Infiabitant.  A  miracle  !  a  miracle  ! 

Suffolk.  Come  to  the  king,  and  tell  him  what  miracle. 

Inhabitant.    Forsooth,  a  blind  man  at  St.  Alban's 

shrine, 

Within  this  half  hour  hath  received  his  sight ; 
A  man  that  ne'er  saw  in  his  life  before. 

King  Henry.  Now,  God  be  praised  !  that  to  believing 

souls 
Gives  light  in  darkness,  comfort  in  despair ! 

(Enter  the  Mayor  of  St.  Albaris,  attended.) 
Cardinal.  Here  come  the  townsmen  on  procession, 
To  present  your  highness  with  the  man. 

King  Henry.    Great  is  his  comfort  in  this  earthly 

vale, 
Although  by  his  sight  his  sin  be  multiplied. 

Gloster.  Stand  by,  my  masters,  bring  him  near  the 

king, 
His  highness'  pleasure  is  to  talk  with  him. 

King  Henry.  Good  fellow,  tell  us  here  the  circum- 
stance, 

That  we  for  thee  may  glorify  the  Lord, 
What,  hast  thou  been  long  blind,  and  now  restored  ? 
Simpcox.  Born  blind,  an't  please  your  grace. 
Simpcoxs  wife.  Ay,  indeed,  was  he. 
Suffolk.    What  woman  is  this  f 
Wife.  His  wife,  an't  like  your  worship. 
Gloster.  Had'st  thou  been  his  mother,  thou  could'st 
have  better  told. 


64  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

King  Henry.  Where  wert  thou  born  ? 

Simpcox.  At  Berwick  in  the  north,  an't  like  your 

grace. 
King  Henry.  Poor  soul  !  God's  goodness  hath  been 

great  to  thee  : 

Let  never  day  nor  night  unhallowed  pass, 
But  still  remember  what  the  Lord  hath  done." 

The  account  here  giyen  of  this  miracle,  an  im- 
position recorded  in  English  history,  is  thus  far  so 
scriptural  in  sentiment,  and  even  diction,  that 
Shakespeare  seems  as  much  indebted  to  Holy 
Writ  as  to  English  history. 

"  God  be  praised  !  that  to  believing  souls 
Gives  light  in  darkness,  comfort  in  despair ! " 

The  prophet  Micah  says,  too — 

"  When  If  ally  I  shall  arise  ;  when  I  sit  in  darkness, 
the  Lord  shall  be  a  light  unto  me."  Micah  vii.  8. 

King  Henry  says  to  the  man — 

"  Great  is  his  comfort,  although  by  his  sight  his  sin 
be  multiplied." 

Some  of  the  Pharisees  said,  in  the  9th  chapter 
of  St.  John — 

"  Are  we  blind  also  1 " 

And  they  were  thus  answered — 

"  If  ye  were  blind,  ye  should  have  no  sin  :  but  now 
ye  say,  We  see ;  therefore  your  sin  remaineth"  John  ix. 
40,  41. 


HENRY  VI.  65 

In  this  chapter  of  St.  John  a  man  born  blind  is 
restored  to  sight.  After  this  restoration  to  sight, 
the  parents  of  the  person  made  whole  have  the 
following  question  put  to  them — 

"  Is  this  your  son,  who  ye  say  was  born  blind  ?  " 
They  answer — 

"  We  know  that  this  is  our  son,  and  that  he  was  born 
blind" 

Now  Gloster  says  to  the  impostor's  wife,  when 
she  seconds  the  answer  made  by  him,  that  he  was 
born  blind — 

"  Had'st  thou  been  his  mother,  thou  could'st  have 
better  told." 

"  King  Henry  (to  Simpcox). — God's  goodness  hath 
been  great  to  thee." 

Nahum  the  prophet  says,  too — 

"  The  Lord  is  good,  a  stronghold  in  the  day  of  trouble." 
Nahum  i.  7. 

Again — 

ACT  II.        SCENE  I. 

"  King  Henry.    O    God,  what  mischiefs  work   the 

wicked  ones ; 
Heaping  confusion  on  their  own  heads  thereby!" 

The  idea  in  italics  is  thus  expressed  in  the  7th 
Psalm — 

"His  mischief  shall  return  upon  his  own  head." 
Psalm  vii.  16. 


66  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


ACT  II.        SCENE  III. 

A  Hall  of  Justice. 

[Flourish.]  Enter  King  HENRY,  Queen  MARGARET,  GLOSTER, 
&c.  &c.,  the  DUCHESS,  MOTHER  JOURDAIN,  &c. 

"  King  Henry.  Stand  forth,  dame  Eleanor  Cobham, 
Gloster's  wife  : 

In  sight  of  God  and  us  your  guilt  is  great ; 
Receive  the  sentence  of  the  law,  for  sins 
Such  as  by  God's  book  are  adjudged  to  death.11 

Gloster's  wife  is  impeached  for  dealing  with 
witches  and  with  conjurors,  in  order  to  destroy 
King  Henry,  and  certain  members  of  his  privy 
council.  Such  sins  are  thus  (C  adjudg'd  to  death  " 
by  Scripture — 

"  Thou  shalt  not  suffer  a  witch  to  live."  Exod.  xxii. 
18. 

"  A  man  also  or  woman  that  hath  a  familiar  spirit, 
or  that  is  a  wizard,  shall  surely  be  put  to  death  :  they 
shall  stone  them  with  stones  :  their  blood  shall  be 
upon  them."  Levit.  xx.  27. 


ACT  II.        SCENE  III. 

London.    A  Nail  of  Justice. 

"  King  Henry.  Stay,  Humphrey  Duke  of  Gloster :  ere 

thou  go, 
Give  up  thy  staff;  Henry  will  to  himself 


HENRY  VI.  67 

Protector  be  :  and  God  shall  be  my  hope, 
My  stay,  my  guide,  and  lantern  to  my  feet" 

Here  Shakespeare  breathes  forth,  in  the  person 
of  King  Henry,  the  spirit  and  devotion  of  the 
Psalms — 

"  Thy  word  is  a  lamp  unto  my  feet,  and  a  light  unto 
my  path.91 

"  Thou  art  my  hiding-place  and  my  shield  :  I  hope 
in  thy  word."  Psalm  cxix.  105,  114. 


ACT  III.        SCENE  I. 

In  the  speech  beginning  thus — 

"  Now,  York,  or  never,  steel  thy  fearful  thoughts," 

which  York  utters  in  this  act,  at  the  end  of  the 
first  scene,  we  meet  with  the  following  words— 

"  My  brain,  more  busy  than  the  labouring  spider, 
Weaves  tedious  snares  to  trap  mine  enemies." 

["  Weaves  tedious  snares/'] — Such  words,  at  this 
time,  are  suitable  from  the  mouth  of  York.  They 
are  undoubtedly  taken  from  Scripture. 

The  Book  of  Job  contains  a  passage  which 
shows,  in  like  manner,  the  instability  of  the  most 
keen  and  complex  mundane  policy — 

"  The  hypocrite's  hope  shall  perish  :  whose  hope 
shall  be  cut  off,  and  whose  trust  shall  be  a  spider's  web'' 
Job  viii.  13,  14. 


68  SHAKESPEAEE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

In  the  59th  chapter  of  Isaiah,  hypocrites  are 
said 

"  To  weave  the  spider's  ^veb" 

"  Their  webs"  saith  the  prophet,  "  shall  not  become 
garments,  neither  shall  they  cover  themselves  with 
their  works  :  their  works,"  he  adds  also,  "  are  works 
of  iniquity,  and  the  act  of  violence  is  in  their  hands." 


ACT  III.        SCENE  II. 

In  Queen  Margaret's  appeal  to  Henry  VI., 
Shakespeare  may  be  almost  said  to  quote  a  pas- 
sage from  the  58th  Psalm — 

"  Queen.  Be  woe  for  me  more  wretched  than  he  is. 
What,  dost  thou  turn  away,  and  hide  thy  face  1 
I  am  no  loathsome  leper,  look  on  me. 
What,  art  thou  like  the  adder  waxen  deaf? 
Be  poisonous  too,  and  kill  thy  forlorn  queen." 

["  Adder  waxen  deaf."] — "  They  are  as  venomous  as 
the  poison  of  a  serpent :  even  like  the  deaf  adder" 
Psalm  Iviii.  4. 

Having  done  with  Parts  I.  and  II.  of  the  play 
of  Henry  VI.,  we  pass  on  to  the  2nd  Act  and  5th 
Scene  of  the  Third  Part  of  it. 

The  king's  soliloquy,  which  commences  with 
the  line — 

"  This  battle  fares  like  to  the  morning's  war, 


HENRY  VI.  69 

Contains  the  sentence — 

"To  whom  God  will,  there  be  the  victory!" 

Sentiments  of  this  kind  might  be  suggested  by 
such  a  passage  recurring  to  memory  as  the  watch- 
word of  Judas  "  to  those  about  him/'  in  2  Maccab. 
xiii.  15 : — 

"  Victory  is  of  God." 


ACT  IV.        SCENE  I. 

The  Palace  in  England.- 

GLOSTER  and  CLARENCE  present. 

[Flourish].     Enter  KING  EDWARD,  LADY  GREY,  as  Queen, 
PEMBROKE,  STAFFORD,  HASTINGS  : — 

Edward  addresses  Clarence  touching  the  mar- 
riage of  the  former.  The  king,  by  his  union  with 
the  Lady  Grey,  has  seriously  offended  his  family, 
Warwick,  and  Lewis  King  of  France,  to  whose 
sister,  the  Lady  Bona,  Edward  had  been  affianced 
by  Warwick. 

"  K.  Edivard.  Suppose  they  take  offence  without  a 

cause, 

They  are  but  Lewis  and  Warwick ;  I  am  Edward, 
Your  king  and  Warwick's,  and  must  have  rny  will. 


70  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

Gloster.  And  you  shall  have  your  will,  because  our 

king: 
Yet  hasty  marriage  seldom  proveth  well. 

K.  Edward.  Yea,  brother  Richard,  are  you  offended 

too? 

Gloster.  Not  I : 

No,  God  forbid,  that  /  should  wish  them  severed 
Whom  God  hath  join' d  together" 

"  What  therefore   God  hath  joined  together,  let  not 
man  put  asunder."     Matthew  xix.  6.,  &  Mark  x.  9. 


ACT  V.        SCENE  I. 

Coventry. 
Enter  CLARENCE  with  Drums  and  Colours. 

Clarence  deserts  his  father-in-law,  and  the  Red 
Eose  party  to  which  he  belongs ;  and  thus 
addresses  Warwick — 

"  Clarence.  Father  of  Warwick,  know  you  what  this 
means  ?          (Taking  the  red  rose  out  of  his  cap.) 
Look  here,  1  throw  my  infamy  at  thee  : 
I  will  not  ruinate  my  father's  house, 
Who  gave  his  blood  to  lime  the  stones  together, 
And  set  up  Lancaster.     Why  trow'st  thou,  Warwick, 
That  Clarence  is  so  harsh,  so  blunt,  unnatural, 
To  bend  the  fatal  instruments  of  war 
Against  his  brother  and  his  lawful  king  ? 
Perhaps  thou  wilt  object  my  holy  oath  : 
To  keep  that  oath,  were  more  impiety 
Than  JephthaKs,  when  he  sacrificed  his  daughter." 


HENRY  VI.  71 

[u  More  impiety  than  Jephthah's."] — "  And  Jephtliah 
vowed  a  vow  unto  the  Lord,  and  said,  If  thou  shalt 
without  fail  deliver  the  children  of  Ammon  into  mine 
hands, 

"  Then  it  shall  be,  that  whatsoever  cometh  forth 
of  the  doors  of  my  house  to  meet  me,  when  I  return  in 
peace  from  the  children  of  Ammon,  shall  surely  be 
the  Lord's,  and  I  will  offer  it  up  for  a  burnt-offering. 
So  Jephthah  passed  over  unto  the  children  of  Ammon 
to  fight  against  them  ;  and  the  Lord  delivered  tJiem  into 
his  hands.  ***** 

"  And  Jephthah  came  to  Mizpeh  unto  his  house,  and, 
behold,  his  daughter  came  out  to  meet  him  with  tim- 
brels and  with  dances  :  and  she  was  his  only  child  ; 
beside  her  he  had  neither  son  nor  daughter. 

"  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  he  saw  her,  that  he  rent 
his  clothes,  and  said,  Alas,  my  daughter !  thou  hast 
brought  me  very  low,  and  thou  art  one  of  them  that 
trouble  me  :  for  I  have  opened  my  mouth  unto  the  Lord, 
and  I  cannot  go  back. 

"  And  he  sent  her  away  for  two  months  :  And  it 
came  to  pass,  at  the  end  of  two  months,  that  she 
returned  unto  her  father,  who  did  with  her  according  to 
his  vow  which  he  had  vowed."  Judges  xi.  30 — 35,  39. 

ACT  V.    SCENE  II. 

A  Field  of  Battle  near  BARNET. 

"  Warwick  Ah,  who  is  nigh?  come  to  me  friend  or  foe, 
And  tell  me  who  is  victor,  York  or  Warwick  ? 
Why  ask  I  that  1  my  mangled  body  shows, 
My  blood,  my  want  of  strength,  my  sick  heart  shows, 


72  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

That  I  must  yield  my  body  to  the  earth, 
And,  by  my  fall,  the  conquest  to  my  foe. 
Thus  yields  the  cedar  to  the  axe's  edge, 
Whose  arms  gave  shelter  to  the  princely  eagle, 
Under  whose  shade  the  ramping  lion  slept." 

Steevens  seems  to  consider,  not  unreasonably, 
that  the  31st  chapter  of  the  prophet  Ezekiel  sug- 
gested these  images  to  Shakespeare. 

["  Thus  yields  the  cedar."] — "  Behold  the  Assyrian 
was  a  cedar  in  Lebanon  with  fair  branches,  and  with  a 
shadowing  shroud,  and  of  an  high  stature;  and  his  top 
was  among  the  thick  boughs.  * 

"All  the  fowls  of  heaven  made  their  nests  in  his 
boughs,  and  under  his  branches  did  all  the  beasts  of  the 
field  bring  forth  their  young  ^  and  under  his  shadow 
dwelt  all  great  nations. 

"  Thus  was  he  fair  in  his  greatness,  in  the  length  of 
his  branches  :  for  his  root  was  by  great  waters.  *  * 

"  Therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord  God,  Because  thou 
hast  lifted  up  thyself  in  height,  and  he  hath  shot  up 
his  top  among  the  thick  boughs,  and  his  heart  is  lifted 
up  in  his  height ;  I  have  therefore  delivered  him  into 
the  hand  of  the  mighty  one  of  the  heathen  ;  he  shall 
surely  deal  with  him  :  I  have  driven  him  out  for  his 
wickedness. 

"And  strangers,  the  terrible  of  the  nations,  have  cut 
him  o^  and  have  left  him  :  upon  the  mountains  and  in 
all  the  valleys  his  branches  are  fallen,  and  his  boughs 
are  broken  by  all  the  rivers  of  the  laud  ;  and  all  the 
people  of  the  earth  are  gone  down  from  his  shadow,  and 
have  left  him."  Ezek.  xxxi.  3 — 7,  10 — 12. 


HENRY  VI.  73 


ACT  V.     SCENE  VII. 

"King  Edward  IV.  Clarence  and  Gloster,  love  my 

lovely  queen  ; 
And  kiss  your  princely  nephew,  brothers  both. 

Clarence.  The  duty  that  I  owe  unto  your  majesty, 
I  seal  upon  the  lips  of  this  sweet  babe. 

King   Edward.    Thanks,   noble   Clarence ;    worthy 

brother,  thanks. 
Gloster.  And,  that  I  love  the  tree  from  whence  thou 

sprang'st, 

Witness  the  loving  kiss  I  give  the  fruit  : — 
To  say  the  truth,  so  Judas  kissed  his  Master  ; 
And  cried.  All  hail  !  when  as  he  meant — all  harm" 

(Aside.) 

The  perfidy  of  Judas  will  be  met  with  in  several 
more  instances  :  we  will  here  introduce  an  instance 
from  6i  As  You  Like  It,"  to  show  what  a  different 
shade  of  meaning  is  there  attached  to  it  to  what  is 
here  observable. 


CHAPTER    X. 


AS  YOU  LIKE  IT.-^  Comedy. 

ACT  III.      SCENE  IV. 

A  Cottage  in  the  Forest.    Enter  ROSALIND  and  CELIA. 
ROSALIND  in  Boy's  Clothes  for  GANIMED. 

"  Rosalind.  Never  talk  to  me,  I  will  weep. 

Celia.  Do,  I  pr'ythee  ;  but  yet  have  the  grace  to  con- 
sider, that  tears  do  not  become  a  man. 

Rosalind.  But  have  I  not  cause  to  weep  1 

Celia.  As  good  cause  as  one  would  desire  ;  therefore 
weep. 

Rosalind.  His  very  hair  is  of  the  dissembling  colour. 

Celia.  Something  browner  than  Judas'  :  marry,  his 
kisses  are  Judas'  own  children" 

["So  Judas  kissed  his  Master."] — "And  forthwith 
he  (Judas)  came  to  Jesus,  and  said.  Hail,  Master;  and 
kissed  him."  Matt.  xxvi.  49. 


CHAPTER  XI. 
THE  PLAY  OF  EICHAED  THE  SECOND. 

ACT  I.      SCENE  I. 

The  ominous  charge  made  against  Mowbray, 
Duke  of  Norfolk,  by  Bolingbroke,  in  the  king's 
presence,  is  rendered  most  effective  by  the  way  in 
which  Shakespeare  has  woven  into  it  a  passage  of 
Holy  Writ  relative  to  Abel's  murder. 

"  Bolingbroke.     Further    I    say — and   further   will 

maintain 

Upon  his  bad  life,  to  make  all  this  good — 
That  he  did  plot  the  Duke  of  Gloster's  death  ; 
Suggest  his  soon-believing  adversaries  ; 
And  consequently,  like  a  traitor  coward, 
Sluic'd  out  his  innocent  soul  through  streams  of  blood  : 
Which  blood,  like  sacrificing  Abel's,  cries 
Even  from  the  tongueless  caverns  of  the  earth, 
To  me,  for  justice  and  rough  chastisement." 

["Which  blood,   like   sacrificing   Abel's,  cries."] — 


76  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

"What  hast  thou   done?  the  voice  of  thy   brother's 
blood  crieth  unto  me  from  the  ground. 

"  And  now  art  thou  cursed  from  the  earth,  which 
hath  opened  her  mouth  to  receive  thy  brother's  blood 
from  thy  hand."  Gen.  iv.  10,  11. 


ACT  I.      SCENE  I. 

"  King  Richard.  Hage  must  be  withstood  : 
Give  me  his  gage  :  lions  make  leopards  tame. 
Norfolk.  Yea,  bmt  not  change  their  spots" 

"  Can  the  Ethiopian  change  his  skin,  or  the  leopard 
his  spots  ?  "  saith  the  prophet  Jeremiah,  from  whom 
Shakespeare  took  this  idea  of  the  leopard,  "  Then  may 
ye  also  do  good,  that  are  accustomed  to  do  evil."  Jer. 
xiii.  23. 

In  the  2nd  Scene  of  this  Act,  there  is  a  striking 
passage  in  the  Duchess  of  Gloster's  first  speech  to 
John  o'  Gaunt?  which  may  have  been  furnished 
by  Rev.  xvii. 

The  DUKE  OF  LANO  ASTER'S  Palace. 
Enter  GAUNT  and  the  DUCHESS  OF  GLOSTER. 

"  Gaunt.  Alas  !  the  part  I  had  in  Gloster's  blood 
Doth  more  solicit  me,  than  your  exclaims, 
To  stir  against  the  butchers  of  his  life. 
But,  since  correction  lieth  in  those  hands, 
Which  made  the  fault  that  we  cannot  correct, 
Put  we  our  quarrel  to  the  will  of  heaven ; 
Who  when  he  sees  the  hours  ripe  on  earth, 
Will  rain  hot  vengeance  on  offenders'  heads. 


RICHARD  II.  77 

Duchess.  Finds  brotherhood  in  thee  no  sharper  spur  % 
Hath  love  in  thy  old  blood  no  living  fire  ? 
Edward's  seven  sons,  whereof  thyself  art  one, 
Were  as  seven  phials  of  his  sacred  blood" 

["  Seven  Phials."] — "  And  there  came  one  of  the 
seven  angels  which  had  the  seven  vials,  and  talked  with 
me,  saying  unto  me,  Come  hither."  Rev.  xvii.  L 

Shakespeare  in  the  3rd  Scene,  again,  seems  to 
have  borrowed  an  expression  from  the  same 
chapter  of  Revelation,  when  Norfolk  solemnly 
attests  his  innocence  to  Bolingbroke. 

"  Norfolk.  No,  Bolingbroke  ;  if  ever  I  were  traitor, 
my  name  be  blotted  from  the  book  of  life" 

["  Book  of  life."] — "  Whose  names  were  not  written 
in  the  book  of  life."  Rev.  xvii.  8. 


ACT  III.        SCENE  II. 

Scripture  and  Shakespeare  are  somewhat  alike, 
if  comparison  be  made  between  the  sentiments  in 
these  two  passages — 

"  Scroop.  Men  judge  by  the  complexion  of  the  sky 

The  state  and  inclination  of  the  day  ; 
So  may  you  by  my  dull  and  heavy  eye, 

My  tongue  hath  but  a  heavier  tale  to  say." 
"  Ye  can  discern  the  face  of  the  sky  ;  but  can  ye  not 
discern  the  signs  of  the  times?"     Matt.  xvi.  3. 

The  speech  of  Richard's  unhappy  queen,  when 


78  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

she  hears  "  black  tidings "  relative  to  the  king, 
indebted  for  much  pathos  to  Scripture,  finely  por- 
trays that  violent  grief  which  is  the  prelude  to 
despair. 


ACT  III.        SCENE  IV. 

Langley. — The  Duke  of  York's  Garden. 

"  Queen.  0  I  am  pressed  to  death, 
Through  want  of  speaking  /" 

(Coming  from  her  concealment.} 

So  Job— 

"  Now,  if  I  hold  my  tongue,  I  shall  give  up  the 
ghost."  Job  xiii.  19. 

"  (To  Gardener.)  Thou,  old  A  dam's  likeness, 
Set  to  dress  this  garden,  how  dares 
Thy  harsh-rude  tongue  sound  this  unpleasing  news  1 
What  Eve,  what  serpent  hath  suggested  thee 
To  make  a  second  fall  of  cursed  man  ?  " 

Henry  V.  says  also  of  Scroop,  in  Act  2  Scene 
2:~ 

"  I  will  weep  for  thee  ; 
For  this  revolt  of  thine,  methinks,  is  like 
Another  fall  of  man" 

[a  Adam's  likeness,  set  to  dress  this  garden."} — "  And 
the  Lord  God  took  the  man,  and  put  him  into  the  garden 
of  Eden  to  dress  it,  and  to  keep  it."  Gen.  ii.  15. 

[u  What  Eve,  what  serpent  hath  suggested  thee."] — 


RICHARD  II.  79 

"  And  the  man  said,  The  woman,  whom  thou  gavest  to 
be  with  rne,  she  gave  me  of  the  tree,  and  I  did  eat. 

"  And  the  Lord  God  said  unto  the  woman,  What  is 
this  that  thou  hast  done  ?  and  the  woman  said,  The  ser- 
pent beguiled  me  and  I  did  eat.  * 

"  Because  thou  hast  hearkened  unto  the  voice  of  thy 
wife,  and  hast  eaten  of  the  tree,  of  which  I  commanded 
thee  saying,  Thou  shalt  not  eat  of  it :  cursed  is  the 
ground  for  thy  sake;  in  sorrow  shalt  thou  eat  of  it  all 
the  days  of  thy  life."  Gen.  iii.  12,  13,  17. 


ACT  IV.        SCENE  I. 
BOLINGBROKE  to  BlSHOP  of  CARLISLE. 

"  Bolingbrohe.  "Why,  bishop,  is  Norfolk  dead  ? 

Carlisle.  As  sure  as  I  live,  my  lord. 

Bolingbroke.    Sweet  peace  conduct  his  sweet  soul  to 

the  bosom 
Of  good  Old  Abraham!"* 

["  Bosom  of  good  old  Abraham."] — "  And  it  came 
to  pass  that  the  beggar  died,  and  was  carried  by  angels 
into  Abraham's  bosom"  Luke  xvi.  22. 

It  is  singular  that  Shakespeare  should  have  put 
these  words,  which  are  applied  to  Lazarus  in  the 
parable  of  Dives  aud  Lazarus,  into  Bolingbroke's 


*FROM  RICHABD  III. 

"Richard  III.  The  sons  of  Edward  sleep  in  Abraham's  bosom." 
Here  the  words  "Abraham's  bosom"  are  used  (as  in  the  parable 
and  the  case  above)  to  denote  release  from  an  abject  state  of  exis- 
tence. 


80  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

mouth ;  they  were,  however,  as  applicable  to  Nor- 
folk as  to  Lazarus,  if  a  good  man ;  for  he  had 
been  banished  by  the  king  for  life,  and  was  con- 
sequently stripped  of  all  his  possessions. 


ACT  IV.        SCENE  I. 

These  words  of  Bolingbroke, 

u  In  God's  name  I'll  ascend  the  regal  throne," 

elicit  from  the  Bishop  of  Carlisle  the  following  able 
and  indignant  speech : — 

"  Carlisle.  Marry,  God  forbid  ! 
Worst  in  this  royal  presence  may  I  speak, 
Yet  best  beseeming  me  to  speak  the  truth. 
Would  God,  that  any  in  this  noble  presence 
Were  enough  noble  to  be  upright  judge 
Of  noble  Richard;  then  true  nobless  would 
Learn  him  forbearance  from  so  foul  a  wrong. 
What  subject  can  give  sentence  on  his  king  ? 
And  who  sits  here,  that  is  not  Richard's  subject? 
Thieves  are  not  judg'd,  but  they  are  by  to  hear, 
Although  apparent  guilt  be  seen  in  them  : 
*  And  shall  the  FIGURE  of  God's  majesty, 
His  captain,  steward,  deputy  elect, 
Anointed,  crowned,  planted  many  years, 
Be  judg'd  by  subject  and  inferior  breath, 
And  he  himself  not  present  1  0  forbid  it,  God, 

*  In  the  image  of  God  made  he  man."    Gen.  ix.  6. 


RICHAKD  II.  81 

That  in  a  Christian  clime,  souls  refin'd 
Should  show  so  heinous,  black,  obscene  a  deed  ! 
I  speak  to  subjects,  and  a  subject  speaks, 
Stirr'd  up  by  Heaven  thus  boldly  for  his  king. 
My  lord  of  Hereford  here,  whom  you  call  king, 
Is  a  foul  traitor  to  proud  Hereford's  king  : 
And  if  you  crown  him,  let  me  prophesy — 
The  blood  of  English  shall  manure  the  ground, 
And  future  ages  groan  for  this  foul  act  ; 
Peace  shall  go  sleep  with  Turks  and  Infidels, 
And,  in  this  seat  of  peace,  tumultuous  wars 
Shall  kin  with  kin,  and  kind  with  kind  confound ; 
Disorder,  horror,  fear,  and  mutiny, 
Shall  here  inhabit,  and  this  land  be  call'd 
The  field  of  Golgotha,  and  dead  men's  skulls" 

["  Golgotha,  and  dead  men's  skulls."] — "  And  when 
they  were  come  unto  a  place  called  Golgotha,  that  is  to 
say,  a  place  of  a  skull"  Matt,  xxvii.  33. 

And  Mark  thus — 

"  And  they  bring  him  unto  the  place  Golgotha, 
which  is,  being  interpreted,  the  place  of  a  skull."  Mark 
xv.  22. 

In  Job  xxxiv.  18,  it  is  said — 

"  Is  it  fit  to  say  to  a  king,  Thou  art  wicked?  and  to 
princes,  Ye  are  ungodly  ? " 

"  Oh  !  if  you  rear  this  house  against  this  house, 
It  will  the  woefullest  division  prove"  — 

"  If  a  house  be  divided  against  itself,  that  house 
cannot  stand."  Mark  iii.  25 — 


82  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

"  That  ever  fell  upon  this  cursed  earth  : 

Prevent,  resist  it,  let  it  not  be  so, 

Lest  child,  child's  children,  cry  against  you — woe  ! " 

Thus  does  the  dignified  prelate,  regardless  of 
his  own  safety,  address  the  proud  usurper  of 
Richard's  throne,  with  (all  the  simplicity,  yet 
blighting  energy,  of  eloquence  demanding  justice, 
and  execrating  oppression. 


ACT  IV.        SCENE  I. 

London*     Westminster  Hall. 

The  passages  about  to  follow,  are  uttered  by 
Richard  the  Second  when  he  is  deprived  of  his 
power,  and  they  attest,  like  the  words  of  his  queen, 
this  melancholy  truth — that  lofty  minds,  when 
harassed  by  the  prospect  of  annihilation,  protracted 
by  torture,  are  wont  to  vent  their  agony  in  Scripture 
language ;  sentences  being  passionately  spoken 
which  almost  startle  us  by  their  abrupt  reference 
to  the  obliquity  and  depravity  of  human  nature. 

Re-enter  YORK  with  KING  EICHARD,  and  Officers  bearing 
the  Crown. 

11  King  Richard.  Alack !  why  am  I  sent  for  to  a  king, 
Before  I  have  shook  off  the  regal  thoughts 
Wherewith  I  reign'd  ?  I  hardly  yet  have  learn'd 
To  insinuate,  natter,  bow,  and  bend  my  knee  : 
Give  sorrow  leave  awhile  to  tutor  me 
To  this  submission.     Yet  I  well  remember 
The  favours  of  these  men  :  Were  they  not  mine  ? 


RICHAKD  II.  83 

Did  they  not  sometime  cry,  All  hail!  to  me? 
So  Judas  did  to  Christ :  but  he,  in  twelve, 
Found  truth  in  all,  but  one;   I,  in  twelve  thousand, 
none." 


ACT  III.        SCENE  II. 

When  the  king  asks  for  tidings  relative  to 
Wiltshire,  Bagot,  Bushy,  Green,  and  in  his  agi- 
tation imagines  that  they  have  deserted  him  and 
made  peace  with  Bolingbroke;  and  Scroop  re- 
turns this  vague  answer, 

"  Scroop.  Peace  have  they  made  with  him,  indeed,  my 
lord," 

the  king,  amongst  other  stern  invectives  of 
fiery  wrath,  thunders  forth  this  notable  and  bitter 
sentence — 

"  Three  Judases,  each  one  thrice  worse  than  Judas  !  " 

["  Judas"] — "  And  while  he  yet  spake,  lo,  Judas,  one 
of  the  twelve,  came,  and  with  him  a  great  multitude 
with  swords  and  staves,  from  the  chief  priests  and 
elders  of  the  people. 

"Now  he  that  betrayed  him  gave  them  a  sign, 
saying,  Whomsoever  I  shall  kiss,  that  same  is  he  :  hold 
him  fast. 

"And  forthwith  he  came  to  Jesus,  and  said,  Hail 
Master,  and  kissed  him."  Matt.  xxvi.  47,  48,  49. 

["He,  in  twelve,  found  truth  in  all,  but  one."] — 


84  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

"  Now,  when  the  even  was  come,  he  sat  down  with  the 
twelve. 

"  And  as  they  did  eat,  he  said,  Verily  I  say  unto  you, 
that  one  of  you  shall  betray  me."     Matt.  xxvi.  20,  21. 

Again, 


ACT  IV.        SCENE  I. 

"  King  Richard.  What  more  remains  ? 

Northumberland.  No  more,  but  that  you  read 

(Offering  a  paper) 

These  accusations,  and  these  grievous  crimes, 
Committed  by  your  person  and  your  followers, 
Against  the  state  and  profit  of  this  land  ; 
That,  by  confessing  them,  the  souls  of  men 
May  deem  that  you  are  worthily  depos'd. 

King  Richard.  Must  I  do  so  ?  and  must  I  ravel  out 
My  weav'd  up  follies  ?  Gentle  Northumberland, 
If  thy  offences  were  upon  record, 
Would  it  not  shame  thee  in  so  fair  a  troop, 
To  read  a  lecture  of  them  ?  If  thou  would'st, 
There  should' st  thou  find  one  heinous  article, 
Containing  the  deposing  of  a  king, 
And  cracking  the  strong  warrant  of  an  oath, 
Hark'd  with  a  blot,  damn'd  in  the  book  of  heaven." 

["  Cracking  the  strong  warrant  of  an  oath."] — "  As 
I  live,  saith  the  Lord  God,  surely  in  the  place  where 
the  king  dwelleth  that  made  him  king,  whose  oath  he 
despised^  and  whose  covenant  he  brake,  even  with  him 
in  the  midst  of  .Babylon  he  shall  die. 

"  Neither  shall  Pharaoh,  with  his  mighty  army  and 


RICHARD  II.  85 

great  company,  make  for  him  in  the  war,  by  casting  up 
mounts,  and  building  forts,  to  cut  off  many  persons. 

"  Seeing  he  despised  the  oath  by  breaking  the  covenant, 
when  lo,  he  had  given  his  hand,  and  hath  done  all 
these  things,  he  shall  not  escape. 

"Therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord  God,  As  I  live, 
surely  mine  oath  that  he  hath  despised,  and  my  covenant 
that  he  hath  broken,  even  it  will  I  recompense  upon 
his  own  head."  Ezek.  xvii.  16,  17,  18,  19. 

"  King  Richard.  Nay,  all  of  you,  that  stand  and  look 

upon  me, 

Whilst  that  my  wickedness  doth  bait  myself, 
Though  some  of  you,  with  Pilate,  wash  your  hands, 
Showing  an  outward  pity  ;  yet  you  Pilates 
Have  here  deliver'd  me  to  my  sour  cross, 
And  water  cannot  wash  away  your  sin." 

["  With  Pilate  wash  your  hands,"]— "  When  Pilate 
saw  that  he  could  prevail  nothing,  but  that  rather  a 
tumult  was  made,  he  took  water,  and  washed  his  hands 
before  the  multitude,  saying,  I  am  innocent  of  the 
blood  of  this  just  person  :  see  ye  to  it, 

"Then  answered  all  the  people,  and  said,  His  blood 
be  on  us,  and  on  our  children. 

"  Then  released  he  Barabbas  unto  them  :  and  when 
he  had  scourged  Jesus,  he  delivered  him  to  be  crucified." 
Matt,  xxvii.  24—26. 

Though  some  of  you,  says  the  king,  seem  to 
feel  compassion  for  me,  and  would  fain  be  rid  of 
the  odium  attached  to  these  proceedings ;  you  are 


86  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

notwithstanding,  like  Pilate,  who  washed  his 
hands  before  the  multitude,  but  delivered  up  our 
Lord  to  be  scourged  and  crucified. 


ACT  V.        SCENE  V. 

Pomfret. 
The  Dungeon  of  the  Castle. 

"  King   Richard.     I   have   been   studying  how   to 

compare 

This  prison  where  I  live,  unto  the  world  : 
And,  for  because  the  world  is  populous, 
And  here  is  nob  a  creature  but  myself, 
I  cannot  do  it ; — Yet  I'll  hammer  it  out. 
My  brain  I'll  prove  the  female  to  my  soul ; 
My  soul,  the  father :  and  these  two  beget 
A  generation  of  still  breeding  thoughts, 
And  these  same  thoughts  people  this  little  world ; 
In  humours  like  the  people  of  this  world, 
For  no  thought  is  contented.     The  better  sort — 
As  thoughts  of  things  divine — are  intermixed 
With  scruples,  and  do  set  the  word  itself 
Against  the  word : 

As  thus — Come  little  ones  ;  and  then  again — • 
It  is  as  hard  to  come,  as  for  a  camel 
To  thread  tJie  postern  of  a  needle's  eye." 

Shakespeare  is  indebted  no  little  to  Holy  Writ 
for  a  soliloquy  pregnant  with  philosophy  of  so 
peculiar  yet  devout  a  cast. 


HICHARD  II.  87 

The  passage — 

' '  It  is  as  hard  to  come,  as  for  a  camel 
To  thread  the  postern  of  a  needle's  eye," 

may  be  derived  either  from  Matt.  xix.  24, 

"  And  again  I  say  unto  you,  It  is  easier  for  a  camel 
to  go  through  the  eye  of  a  needle,  than  for  a  rich  man 
to  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God." 

Or  from  Mark  x.  24,  25— 

"  But  Jesus  answereth  again,  and  saith  unto  them, 
Children,  how  hard  is  it  for  them  that  trust  in  riches 
to  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God  ! 

"  It  is  easier,  &c." 

The  same  may  be  said  of  Come,  little  ones.  It 
may  either  be  derived  from  Matt.  xix.  13,  14 — 

"  Then  were  there  brought  unto  him  little  children, 
that  he  should  put  his  hands  on  them,  and  pray  :  and 
the  disciples  rebuked  them.  But  Jesus  said,  Suffer 
little  children,  and  forbid  them  not,  to  come  unto  me; 
for  of  SUCH  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven" 

Or  Mark  x.  13,  14— 

"  And  they  brought  young  children  to  him,  that  he 
should  touch  them  :  and  his  disciples  rebuked  those 
that  brought  them.  But  when  Jesus  saw  it,  he  was 
much  displeased,  and  said  unto  them,  Suffer  the  little 
children  to  come  unto  me,  and  forbid  them  not ;  for  of 
SUCH  is  the  kingdom  of  God" 

The  idea — 

"  My  brain  I'll  prove  the  female  to  my  soul ;  my 
soul  the  father," 


88  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

might  be  suggested  to  the  poet's  fertile  mind  by 
what  is  said  of  marriage  in  either  of  the  chapters 
mentioned,  conjoined  with  the  recent  remark  which 
fell  from  the  king's  lips  when  about  to  bid  a  final 
adieu  to  his  queen : — 

"Richard.  Doubly  divorced — bad  men,  ye  violate 
A  twofold  marriage ;  'twixt  my  crown  and  me; 
And  then  betwixt  me  and  my  married  wife." 

Thus,  Matt.  xix.  3,  4,  5— 

"  The  Pharisees  also  came  unto  him,  tempting  him, 
and  saying  unto  him,  Is  it  lawful  for  a  man  to  put 
away  his  wife  for  every  cause  1  And  he  answered  and 
said  unto  them,  Have  ye  not  read,  that  he  which  made 
them  at  the  beginning,  made  them  male  and  female, 
and  said,  For  this  cause  shall  a  man  leave  father  and 
mother,  and  shall  cleave  to  his  wife;  and  they  twain 
shall  be  one  flesh  ? " 

Or  Mark  x.  2  to  8— 

"  And  the  Pharisees  came  to  him,  and  asked  him,  Is 
it  lawful  for  a  man  to  put  away  his  wife?  tempting  him. 

"  Arid  he  answered  and  said  unto  them,  What  did 
Moses  command  you  ? 

"  And  they  said,  Moses  suffered  to  write  a  bill  of 
divorcement,  and  to  put  her  away. 

"  And  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  them,  For  the 
hardness  of  your  heart  he  wrote  you  this  precept. 

"  But  from  the  beginning  of  the  creation  God  made 
them  male  and  female. 


RICHARD  II.  89 

"For  this  cause  shall  a  man  leave  his  father  and 
mother,  and  cleave  to  his  wife ; 

"  And  the  twain  shall  be  one  flesh :  so  then  they 
are  no  more  twain,  but  one  flesh." 

ACT  V.      SCENE    VI. 

The  following  passage  occurs  in  the  speech 
delivered  to  Ext  on,  Richard's  murderer,  by  Boling- 
broke,  now  King  Henry  IV. : — 

"  Bolingbroke.  The  guilt  of  conscience  take  thou  for 

thy  labour, 

But  neither  my  good  word  nor  princely  favour  : 
With  Cain,  go  wander  through  the  shade  of  night, 
And  never  show  thy  head  by  day  nor  light." 

|  "With  Cain  go  wander."] — Words  of  similar 
import  are  observable  in  the  judgment  pronounced 
upon  Cain  after  the  murder  of  Abel : — 

"  When  thou  tillest  the  ground,  it  shall  not  hence- 
forth yield  unto  thee  her  strength ;  a  fugitive  and  a 
vagabond  shalt  thou  be  in  the  earth."  Gen.  iv.  12. 

The  expressions  of  Richard,  shortly  before  and 
after  his  resignation,  incontestably  prove  how  well 
Shakespeare  knew  the  effects  of  mental  torture, 
and  how  truly  he  could  fathom  the  depths  of 
despair.  In  the  play  of  Henry  IV.,  Sir  John 
Falstaff  is  as  facetiously  true  to  nature  as  Richard 
II.  is  mournfully  so.  Falstaff  is  a  wag,  a  liar,  and 
an  epicure ;  but  he  interests  us  with  his  wit,  his 

G 


90  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

artifice,  and  his  impudence ;  for  we  hear  undis- 
turbed his  racy  jokes  when  he  amuses  the  prince 
and  his  associates  with  mock  pathos  and  bombast 
sentiments.  Falstaff  is  one  of  the  loose  persons 
which  the  profligate  Prince  of  Wales  entertains 
to  aid  and  abet  him  in  all  his  mad  pranks  and 
wanton  follies.  Having  thus  introduced  Falstaff, 
we  proceed  to  the  last  point  to  be  considered 
before  we  investigate  the  play  ;  viz.,  why  we  find 
the  words  of  wisdom  in  his  mouth.  Falstaff  is  the 
reverse  of  Richard  :  what  then  ?  extremes  naturally 
produce  similar  results  :  Shakespeare  knew  it,  and 
has  in  this  respect  drawn  the  characters  truthfully. 
That  which  causes  Eichard  to  quote  Scripture  is 
abject  misery  :  that  which  causes  Falstaff  to  do  it 
is  thoughtless  levity.  Falstaff  is  dead  to  all 
religion  ;  he  acts  up  to  the  false  and,  as  it  proves 
to  him,  ruinous  maxim,  "  Let  us  eat  and  drink, 
for  to-morrow  we  die/'  He  "  glories  in  his  shame/' 
revelling  in  jokes  relating  to  it,  in  the  very  words 
of  Scripture  ;  for  he  delights  to  stray  upon  holy 
ground,  and  seems  never  more  animated  than  when 
indulging  in  such  impiety  himself,  and  encouraging 
it  in  the  prince,  his  master. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


THE  PLiY  OF  HEKRY  IV. 

ACT  I.        SCENE  II. 

London.    Another  Room  in  the  Palace. 

"  Falstaff.  ....  But,  Hal,  I  pr'y thee,  trouble 
me  no  more  with  vanity.  I  would  to  God  thou  and  I 
knew  where  a  commodity  of  good  names  were  to  be 
bought :  An  old  lord  of  the  council  rated  me  the  other 
day  in  the  street  about  you,  sir ;  but  I  marked  him 
not :  and  yet  he  talked  very  wisely ;  but  I  regarded  him 
not :  and  yet  he  talked  wisely ',  and  in  the  street,  too. 

Prince  Henry.  Thou  did'st  well ;  for  wisdom  cries 
out  in  the  streets,  and  no  man  regards  it." 

["  Wisdom  cries  out  in  the  streets,  and  no  man  re- 
gards it."] — "  Wisdom  crieth  without;  she  uttereth  her 
voice  in  the  streets:  she  crieth  in  the  chief  place  of 
concourse,  in  the  openings  of  the  gates :  in  the  city 
she  uttereth  her  words,  saying — 

"  How  long,  ye  simple  ones,  will  ye  love  simplicity  ? 


92  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

And  the  scorners  delight  in  their  scorning,  and  fools 
hate  knowledge  ? 

"  Turn  you  at  my  reproof :  behold,  I  will  pour  out 
my  spirit  unto  you — I  will  make  known  my  words 
unto  you. 

"  Because  I  have  called,  and  ye  refused ;  I  have 
stretched  out  my  hand,  and  no  man  regarded :  but  ye 
have  set  at  naught  all  my  counsel,  and  would  none  of 
my  reproof:  I  also  will  laugh  at  your  calamity;  I  will 
mock  when  your  fear  -corneth  :  When  your  fear  cometh 
as  desolation,  and  your  destruction  cometh  as  a  whirl- 
wind ;  when  distress  and  anguish  cometh  upon  you." 
Prov.  i.  20—27. 

The  above  example  from  Henry  IV.  is  part  of 
the  first  dialogue  between  Falstaff  and  Prince 
Henry :  they  playfully  refer  in  it  to  the  disgrace- 
ful pastimes  and  outrages  which  they  are  in  the 
habit  of  perpetrating  by  night,  and  make  the  ruin 
to  which  such  conduct  leads  men,  matter  for  wit 
and  repartee. 


ACT  II.        SCENE  IV. 

EastcJieap.     A  Room  in  the  Boar's  Head  Tavern* 

FalstafF  again  notes  Scripture  when,  personating 
the  King,  he  describes  himself  (FalstafF)  as  a 
suitable  companion  for  the  young  prince. 

******** 
"  Falsta/.    There  is  a  thing,  Harry,  which  thou  hast 


HENRY  IV.  93 

often  heard  of,  and  is  known  to  many  in  our  land  by 
the  name  of  pitch:  this  pitch,  as  ancient  writers  do 
report,  doth  defile ;  so  doth  the  company  thou  keepest : 
for,  Harry,  now  I  do  not  speak  to  thee  in  drink,  but 
in  tears ;  not  in  pleasure,  but  in  passion ;  not  in  words 
only,  but  in  woes  also  :  And  yet  there  is  a  virtuous 
man  whom  I  have  often  noted  in  thy  company,  but  I 
know  not  his  name." 

Ecclus.  xiii.  1,  is  in  part  quoted  in  the  third  act 
and  third  scene  of  Much  ado  about  Nothing : — 

"  2nd  Watch.  If  we  know  him  to  be  a  thief,  shall  we 
not  lay  hands  on  him  1 

Dogberry.  Truly,  by  your  office  you  may  ;  but,  I 
think,  they  that  touch  pitch  will  be  defiVd" 

In  Second  Part  of  Henry  VI.,  act  ii.  scene  i.,  we 
also  find  this  example  : — 

"  Glos.  Noble  she  is ;  but,  if  she  have  forgot 
Honour,  and  virtue,  and  conversed  with  such 
As,  like  to  pitch,  defile  nobility" 

["Pitch  doth  defile."]— "He  that  toucheth pitch  shall 
be  defiled  therewith;  and  he  that  hath  fellowship  with 
a  proud  man,  shall  be  like  unto  him."  Ecclus.  xiii.  1. 

"Prince  Henry.  What  manner  of  man,  an  it  like 
your  Majesty? 

Falstaff.  A  good  portly  man,  i'  faith,  and  a  corpulent ; 
of  a  cheerful  look,  a  pleasing  eye,  and  a  most  noble  car- 
riage ;  and,  as  I  think,  his  age  some  fifty,  or,  by V  lady, 
inclining  to  threescore ;  and,  now  I  remember  me,  his 


94  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

name  is  Falstaff :  If  that  man  should  be  lewdly  given, 
he  deceiveth  me;  for,  Harry,  I  see  virtue  in  his  looks. 
If  then,  the  tree  may  be  known  by  the  fruit,  as  the  fruit 
by  the  tree,  then,  peremptorily  I  speak  it,  there  is  virtue 
in  that  Falstaff:  him  keep  with,  the  rest  banish." 

["As  the  tree  by  the  fruit."] — "Either  make  the 
tree  good  and  his  fruit  good;  or  else  make  the  tree 
corrupt  and  his  fruit  corrupt :  for  the  tree  is  known 
by  his  fruit."  Matt.  xii.  33. 

After  this  Prince  Henry  says  to  Falstaff — 

"Dost  thou  speak  like  a  king?  Do  thou  stand  for 
me,  and  I'll  play  my  father. 

Falstaff.  Depose  me?  if  thou  dost  it  [i.e.,  act  the  part 
of  your  father]  half  so  gravely,  so  majestically  both  in 
word  and  matter,  hang  me  up  by  the  heels  for  a  rabbet- 
sucker,  or  a  poult er's  hare. 

Prince  Henry.   Well,  here  I  am  set. 

Falstaff.  And  here  I  stand:— judge,  my  masters. 

Prince  Henry.  Now,  Harry 3  whence  come  you? 

Fahtaff.  My  noble  lord,  from  Eastcheap. 

Prince  Henry.  The  complaints  I  hear  of  thee  are 
grievous. 

Falstaff.  'Sblood,  my  lord,  they  are  false  !    .     .     .     •' 

Prince  Henry.  Swearest  thou,  ungracious  boy? 
henceforth  ne'er  look  on  me.  Thou  art  violently 
carried  away  from  grace :  there  is  a  devil  haunts  thee 
in  the  likeness  of  a  fat  old  man;  a  tun  of  man  is  thy 
companion.  Why  dost  thou  converse  with  * 
*  *  that  roasted  Manningtree  ox, 

that  grey  iniquity,  that  father  ruffian,  that  vanity  in. 
years?  Wherein  is  he  good,  but  to  taste  sack  and  drink 


HENRY  IV.  95 

it?  wherein  neat  and  cleanly,  but  to  carve  a  capon  and 
eat  it?  wherein  cunning,  but  in  craft?  wherein  crafty, 
but  in  villainy  ?  wherein  villainous,  but  in  all  things  ? 
wherein  worthy,  but  in  nothing? 

F alstaff.  I  would  your  grace  would  take  me  with 

you; 
Whom  means  your  grace? 

Prince   Henry.    That   villainous,    abominable    mis- 
leader  of  youth, 
Falstaff,  that  old  white-bearded  Satan. 

Falstaff.  My  lord,  the  man  I  know. 

Prince  Henry.  I  know  thou  dost. 

Falstaff.  But  to  say  I  know  more  harm  in  him  than 
in  myself,  were  to  say  more  than  I  know.  That  he 

is  old  (the  more  the  pity),  his  white  hairs  do  witness 
ilj.  *  *  *  *  *  * 

If  to  be  old  and  merry  be  a  sin,  then  many  an  old  host 
that  I  know  is  damn'd:  if  to  be  fat  be  to  be  hated,  then 
Pharaotis  lean  kine  are  to  be  loved.  No,  my  good  lord ; 
banish  Peto,  banish  Bardolph,  banish  Poins:  but  for 
sweet  Jack  Falstaff,  kind  Jack  Falstaff,  true  Jack 
Falstaff,  valiant  Jack  Falstaff,  and  therefore  more 
valiant,  being,  as  he  is,  old  Jack  Falstaff,  banish  not 
him  thy  Harry's  company — banish  not  him  thy  Harry's 
company;  banish  plump  Jack,  and  banish  all  the  world. 
Prince  Henry.  I  do,  I  will." 

|  "  Pharaoh's  lean  kine  are  to  be  loved."] — This 
thought  may  be  supposed  to  spring  from  the  com- 
parison made  when  the  Prince,  speaking  of  Falstaff, 
says  that  roasted Manningtree  ox.  "If/'  says  Falstaff, 
"  to  be  fat  be  to  be  hated,  then  Pharaohs  lean  kine, 


96  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

which  devoured  the  fat  kine,  are  to  be  loved.''  The 
retort  seems  to  be  to  this  effect :  "  The  wicked 
devour eth  the  man  that  is  more  righteous  than  he/' 
Habak.  i.  13. 

["  Pharaoh's  lean  kine."] — u  And  Pharaoh  said  unto 
Joseph,  In  my  dream,  behold,  I  stood  upon  the  bank 
of  the  river  :  and,  behold,  there  came  up  out  of  the 
river  seven  kine,  fat-fleshed  and  well-favoured ;  and 
they  fed  in  a  meadow  : 

"  And,  behold,  seven  other  kine  came  up  after  them, 
poor  and  very  ill-favoured,  and  lean-fleshed,  such  as  I 
never  saw  in  all  the  land  of  Egypt  for  badness  :  and 
the  lean  and  the  ill-favoured  kine  did  eat  up  the  first 
seven  fat  kine  :  and  when  they  had  eaten  them  up>  it 
could  not  be  known  that  they  had  eaten  them ;  but  they 
were  still  ill-favoured,  as  at  the  beginning."  Gen.  xli. 
17—21. 


ACT  III.     SCENE  1 1 

In  the  speech  which  opens  thus,  "  God  pardon 
thee/'  are  the  words — 

"  They  surfeited  with  honey ;  and  began 
To  loathe  the  taste  of  sweetness." 

So  Proverbs — 

"  The  full  soul  loatheth  an  honeycomb ;  but  to  the 
hungry  soul  every  bitter  thing  is  sweet."  Proverbs 
xxvii.  7. 


HENEY  IV.  97 

The  King  here  cautions  the  Prince  of  Wales 
against  the  habit  of  making  himself — 

"  So  stale  and  cheap  to  vulgar  company." 

An  error  which   the   late   king   committed,  and 
thereby  lost  the  respect  of  his  subjects. 

ACT  III.      SCENE  III. 

Eastcheap.    A  Room  in  the  Boar's  Head  Tavern. 
FALSTAFF  to  BARDOLPH. 

"  Falstaff.  Do  thou  amend  thy  face,  and  I'll  amend 
my  life  :  Thou  art  our  admiral,  thou  bearest  the  lan- 
tern in  the  poop — but  'tis  in  the  nose  ofthee;  thou  art 
the  knight  of  the  burning  lamp. 

Bardolph.  Why,  Sir  John,  my  face  does  you  no 
harm. 

Falstaff.  No,  I'll  be  sworn  ;  I  make  as  good  use  of 
it  as  many  a  man  doth  of  a  death's  head,  or  a  memento 
mori :  I  never  see  thy  face  but  I  think  upon  hell-fire, 
and  Dives  that  lived  in  purple ;  for  there  he  is  in  his 
robes,  burning,  burning." 

["  And  Dives  that  lived  in  purple."] — There  was  a 
certain  rich  man,  which  was  clothed  in  purple  and  fine 
linen,  and  fared  sumptuously  every  day  : 

"  And  there  was  a  certain  beggar  named  Lazarus, 
ivhich  was  laid  at  his  gate,  full  of  sores, 

"  And  desiring  to  be  fed  with  the  crumbs  which  fell 
from  the  rich  man's  table :  moreover,  the  dogs  came  and 
licked  his  sores. 

"  And  it  came  to  pass  that  the  beggar  died,  and  was 


98  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

carried  by  the  angels  into  Abraham's  bosom  :  the  rich 
man  also  died,  and  was  buried ; 

"  And  in  hell  he  lifted  up  his  eyes,  being  in  torments, 
and  seeth  Abraham  afar  off,  and  Lazarus  in  his  bosom. 

"  And  he  cried,  and  said,  Father  Abraham,  have 
mercy  on  me,  and  send  Lazarus,  that  he  may  dip  the 
tip  of  his  finger  in  water,  and  cool  my  tongue ;  for  I 
am  tormented  in  this  flame  "  Luke  xvi.  19 — 24. 

Falstaff  says  to  Bardolph,  who,  by  the  way, 
brings  these  remarks  upon  himself,  "I  make  as 
good  use  of  it  [thy  face,  which  reminds  me  of  thy 
vices]  as  many  a  man  doth  of  a  death's  head,  or  a 
memento  mori:  I  never  see  thy  face  but  I  think 
upon  hell-fire,"  &c. 

A  death's  head,  or  a  memento  mori,  makes,  doubt- 
less, many  a  man  think  upon  hell-fire ;  but  if  men 
derive  no  solid  benefit,  if  they  amend  not  their  lives, 
what  doth  it  profit  them  ?  Falstaff  renders  him- 
self, as  many  profligate  wits  do,  amenable  to  this 
censure,  "  As  a  thorn  goeth  up  into  the  hand  of  a 
drunkard,  so  is  a  parable  in  the  mouth  of  fools/7 
Prov.  xxvi.  9. 


ACT  III.      SCENE  III. 

Reference  is  now  made,  by  the  hostess  of  the 
Boar's  Head  Tavern,  to  a  conversation  that  has 
passed  between  Falstaff  and  herself  respecting  the 
knight's  ring. 


HENRY  IV.  99 

The  subject  of  the  ring  was  started  by  the 
knight  in  the  following  manner  : — 

"  Shall  I  not  take  mine  ease  in  mine  inn,  but  I 
shall  have  my  pocket  pick'd  ?  I  have  lost  a  seal-ring 
of  my  grandfather's,  worth  forty  marks. 

Hostess.  Nay,  my  lord  [to  Prince  Henry,]  he  called 

you  Jack,  and  said  he  would  cudgel  yon. 
Falstaf.  Did  I,  Bardolph  ? 
Bardolph.  Indeed,  Sir  John,  you  said  so. 
Falstaff.  Yea ;  if  he  said  my  ring  was  copper. 
P.  Henry.  I  say,  'tis  copper  :  Dar'st  thou  be  as  good 

as  thy  word  now  ? 
Falstaff.  Why,  Hal,  thou  know'st,  as  thou  art  but 

man,  I  dare  :  but,  as  thou  art  prince,    I  fear 

thee,  as  I  fear  the  roaring  of  the  lion's  whelp. 
P.  Henry.  And  why  not,  as  the  lion  ? 
Falstaff'.  The  king  himself  is  to  be  feared  as  the  lion." 

The  ideas,  as  /  fear  the  roaring  of  the  lion's 
whelp,  and  why  not  as  the  lion?  the  king  himself  is 
to  be  feared  as  the  lion,  evidently  take  their  origin 
from  the  second  verse  of  the  twentieth  chapter  of 
Proverbs — "The  fear  of  a  king  is  as  the  roaring 
of  a  lion."  We  can  best  defend  this  statement  by 
supplying  the  ellipsis  to  the  words — and  why  not 
as  the  lion?  and  why  not  (i.e.) /ear  me  as  the  roar 
ing  of  the  lion  ? 


100  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

Again, 

ACT  III.      SCENE  III. 

"  Falstaft*  Dost  thou  hear,  Hal  ?  Thou  knowest,  in 
the  state  of  innocency,  Adam  fell ;  and  what  should 
poor  Jack  Falstaff  do,  in  the  days  of  villainy  ?  Thou 
seest  I  have  more  flesh  than  another  man;  and  there- 
fore more  frailty." 

[u  State  of  innocency,  Adam  fell."] — It  is  surely 
allowable  in  this  case  to  refer  the  reader  to  the 
play  of  Richard  II.  Falstaff 's  wit  needs  no  com- 
ment. 

PART  I.     ACT  IV,     SCENE  II. 

"Falstaff.  I  pressed  me  none  but  such  toasts^  and 
butter,  with  hearts  in  their  bellies  no  bigger  than  pins' 
heads,  and  they  have  bought  out  their  services ;  and 
now  my  whole  charge  consists  of  ancients,  corporals, 
lieutenants,  gentlemen  of  companies,  slaves  as  ragged 
as  Lazarus  in  the  painted  cloth,  where  the  gluttons  dogs 
licked  his  sores ;  and  such  as,  indeed,  were  never  sol- 
diers ;  but  discarded  unjxist  serving-men,  younger  sons 
to  younger  brothers,  revolted  tapsters,  and  ostlers  trade- 
fallen  ;  the  cankers  of  a  calm  world,  and  a  long  peace  ; 
ten  times  more  dishonourably  ragged  than  an  old-faced 
ancient ;  and  such  have  I  to  fill  up  the  rooms  of  them 
that  have  bought  out  their  services,  that  you  would 
think  that  /  had  a  hundred  and  fifty  tattered  prodigals, 
lately  come  from  swine-keeping,  from  eating  draff  and 
husks" 


HE>s7RY  IV.  101 

i 

[a  Prodigals,  lately  come  from  swine- keeping."] — fc  A 
certain  man  had  two  sons  :  and  the  younger  of  them 
said  to  his  father,  Father,  give  me  the  portion  of  goods 
thatfalleth  to  me.  And  he  divided  unto  them  his  living. 
And  not  many  days  after,  the  younger  son  gathered  all 
together,  and  took  his  journey  into  a  far  country,  and 
there  wasted  his  substance  with  riotous  living.  Ajid 
when  he  had  spent  all,  there  arose  a  mighty  famine  in 
that  land ;  and  he  began  to  be  in  want.  And  he  went 
and  joined  himself  to  a  citizen  of  that  country  ;  and  he 
sent  him  into  his  fields  to  feed  swine.  And  he  would  fain 
have  filled  his  belly  with  the  husks  that  the  swine  did  eat  ; 
and  no  man  gave  unto  him."  Luke  xv.  11 — 15. 

The  graphic  descriptions  given,  by  Shakespeare's 
allusions  to  the  parables  of  Dives  and  Lazarus,  and 
the  prodigal  son,  have  the  intended  effect  upon 
us ;  they  render  the  mean  appearance  of  these 
wretches  as  despicable  as  poverty  can  make  it, 
because  it  is  said  to  spring  from  a  course  of 
deliberate  iniquity.  Such  creatures  were,  in  one 
sense,  suitable  soldiers  for  Falstaff;  they  were  not 
likely  to  blush  for  their  leader's  professional  defects. 

The  parable  of  the  prodigal  son  is  mentioned 
in  the  Two  Gentlemen  of  Verona. 


ACT  II.        SCENE  111 

A  Street.    Launce,  a  clownish  servant. 

"  Launce.  Kay,  'twill  be  this  hour  ere  I  have  done 
weeping ;  all  the  kind  of  the  Launces  have  this  very 


102  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

fault :  I  have  received  my  proportion,  like  the  prodigious 
son,  and  am  going  with  Sir  Protheus  to  the  imperial's 
court." 

The  parable  of  the  prodigal  son  is  alluded  to 
again  in  As  You  Like  It ;  severe  reproof  is,  how- 
ever, given  by  it  in  this  instance ;  petty  tyranny 
could  hardly  be  put  in  a  more  contemptible  light. 
Thus, 


ACT  I.        SCENE  I. 

OLIVER  and  ORLANDO,  sons  of  SIR  EOWLAND  DE  Bois. 

"  Oliver.  Now,  sir  !  what  make  yon  here  ? 
Orlando.  Nothing  :  I  am  not  taught  to  make  any 

thing. 

Oliver.  What  mar  you  then,  sir  ? 
Orlando.  Marry,  sir,  I  am  helping  you  to  mar  that 
which  God  made,  a  poor  unworthy  brother  of  yours, 
with  idleness. 

Oliver.    Marry,    sir,    be    better    employed,    and   be 

naught  awhile. 
Orlando.  Shall  I  keep  your  hogs,  and  eat  husks  with 

them  ? 

What  prodigal  portion  have  I  spent,  that  I  should  come 
to  such  penury  ? " 

We  now  turn  our  attention  to  the  Second  Part 
of  the  play  of  Henry  IV. 


HENRY  IV.  103 


ACT  I.        SCENE  I. 

In  Traverses  answer  to  the  Earl  of  Northum- 
berland's question — 

"  Now,  Travers,  what  good  tidings  come  with  you  ? " 
is  this  passage — 

"  With  that,  he  gave  his  able  horse  the  head, 
And,  bending  forwards,  struck  his  armed  heels 
Against  the  panting  sides  of  his  poor  jade 
Up  to  the  rowel-head  ;  and  starting  so, 
He  seeirid  in  running  to  devour  the  way? 

[uHe  seemed  in  running."] — It  is  said  of  the 
war-horse,  in  39th  chapter  of  the  book  of  Job — 

"  He  swalloweth  the  ground  in  fierceness  and  rage" 

Steevens. 


ACT  I.        SCENE  I. 

The  words  of  Northumberland,  introduced  be- 
low, reveal  his  agony  of  heart  when  he  hears 
that  his  rebel  army  is  cowed;  and  that  his  son. 
Henry  Percy,  is  slain  by  the  Prince  of  Wales. 
Thoroughly  roused  from  his  apathy,  both  by  grief 
and  desperation,  he  now  resolves  to  hazard  what 
remains — to  welcome  ruin. 


104  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

"  Northumberland.  For  this  I  shall  have  time  enough 

to  mourD. 

In  poison  there  is  physic ;  and  these  news, 
Having  been  well,  that  would  have  made  me  sick, 
Being  sick,  have  in  some  measure  made  me  well : 
And  as  the  wretch  whose  fever- weaken'd  joints, 
Like  strengthless  hinges,  buckle  under  life, 
Impatient  of  his  fit,  breaks  like  a  fire 
Out  of  his  keeper's  arms  ;  even  so  my  limbs, 
Weaken'd  with  grief,  being  now  enrag'd  with  grief, 
Are   thrice    themselves :    hence,  therefore,    thou    nice 

crutch ; 

A  scaly  gauntlet  now,  with  joints  of  steel, 
Must  glove  this  hand  ;  and  hence,  thou  sickly  quqif, 
Thou  art  a  guard  too  wanton  for  the  head 
Which  princes,  flesh'd  with  conquest,  aim  to  hit. 
Now  bind  my  brows  with  iron ;  and  approach 
The  rugged' st  hour  that  time  and  spite  dare  bring, 
To  frown  upon  the  enrag'd  Northumberland ! 
Let  heaven  kiss  earth  !  Now  let  not  nature's  hand 
Keep  the  wild  flood  confin'd  !  let  order  die  ! 
And  let  this  world  no  longer  be  a  stage, 
To  feed  contention  in  a  lingering  act ; 
But  let  one  spirit  of  the  first-born  Cain 
Reign  in  all  bosoms" 

Mark  the  vent  that  this  fell  swoop  of  morbid 
vengeance  must  needs  seek  out,  or  lose  the  form 
of  utterance — "  But  let  one  spirit  of  the  first-born 
Cain  reign  in  all  bosoms."  That  is.  May  wrath  as 
fierce  as  Cain's  when  he  slew  his  brother,  pre- 
vail amongst  mankind,  arid  cause  such  sudden 


HENRY  IV.  105 

and  universal  carnage,  that  there  be  no  man 
to  bury  the  slain !  With  what  tremendous  effect 
does  Shakespeare  introduce  Cain's  wrath,  and  its 
consequences  :  "  Let  the  spirit  of  the  first-born 
Cain  reign  in  all  bosoms ! "  The  whole  force  of  the 
speech  seems  centred  in  these  few  words — 

["Spirit  of  the  first-born  Cain."]— « The  Lord  had 
respect  unto  Abel  and  his  offering  :  but  unto  Cain  and 
his  offering  he  had  not  respect. 

"  And  Cain  was  very  wroth,  and  Ms  countenance  fell. 

"  And  Cain  talked  with  Abel  his  brother  :  and  it 
came  to  pass,  when  they  were  in  the  field,  that  Cain 
rose  up  against  Abel  his  brother,  and  slew  him."  Gen.  iv. 
4,  5,  6,  8. 

ACT  I.    SCENE  II. 

London.    A  Street. 

Enter  SIR  JOHN  FALSTAFF,  with  his  Page  bearing  his  Sword 
and  Buckler. 

"  Falstaff.  What  said  Master  Dombledon  about  the 
satin  for  my  short  cloak  and  slops  1 

Page.  He  said,  sir,  you  should  procure  him  better 
assura-nce  than  Bardolph  :  he  would  not  take  his  bond 
and  yours  ;  he  liked  not  the  security. 

F alstaff.  Let  him  be  damrfd  like  the  glutton  !  may  his 
tongue  be  hotter  !  a  whoreson  Achitophel  !  " 

["  Tongue  be  hotter."] — An  allusion  to  the 
request  made  by  Dives  to  the  patriarch — 

"And  lie  cried,  and  said,  Father  Abraham,  have 
mercy  on  me,  and  send  Lazarus,  that  he  may  dip  the 

H 


106  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

tip  of  his  finger  in  water,  and  cool  my  tongue  ;  for  I 
am  tormented  in  this  flame."  Luke  xvi.  24. 

The  character  of  a  scoffer,  libertine,  and  brilliant 
wit,  in  this  short  dialogue,  is  thrown  out  by  the 
poet  in  bold  relief;  yet  the  bounds  of  nature  are 
by  no  means  overstepped.  TFalstafF,  by  his  use  of 
" Achitophel,"  states,  in  a  characteristic  way,  that 
the  tailor  is  more  politic  than  honest.  But  this 
is  not  all.  The  very  word  "  Achitophel "  is  armed 
with  a  sting ;  for  it  signifies  "  Brother  of  ruin"\ 

[Achitophel  or  Ahithophel.] — "  And  one  told  David, 
saying,  Ahithophel  is  among  the  conspirators  with  Ab- 
salom. And  David  said,  O  Lord,  I  pray  thee  turn  the 
counsel  of  Ahithophel  into  foolishness."  2  Sam.  xv.  31. 

"  And  Absalom  and  all  the  men  of  Israel  said,  The 
counsel  of  Hushai  the  Archite  is  better  than  the  coun- 
sel of  Ahithophel  :  for  the  Lord  had  appointed  to 
defeat  the  good  counsel  of  Ahithophel,  to  the  intent 
that  the  Lord  might  bring  evil  upon  Absalom."  2  Sam. 
xvii.  14. 

"And  when  Ahithophel  saw  that  his  counsel  was 
not  followed,  he  saddled  his  ass,  and  arose,  and  gat  him 
home  to  his  house,  to  his  city,  and  put  his  household 
in  order,  and  hanged  himself,  and  died,  and  was  buried 
in  the  sepulchre  of  his  father."  2  Sam.  xvii.  23. 

Men  too  often  derive  wit  from  Scripture ;  men 
who  are  good  as  well  as  brilliant  are  thus  prone  to 
fall  into  error.  Falstaff,  however,  is  not  a  good 
man,  and  we  see  the  result ;  his  wit  is,  in  several 
instances,  utterly  .indefensible. 


HENRY  IV.  107 

ACT  I.    SCENE  III. 

SHAKESPEARE  and  SCRIPTURE  compared. 

"  Bwrdolph.  When  we  mean  to  build, 
We  first  survey  the  plot,  then  draw  the  model ; 
And  when  we  see  the  figure  of  the  house, 
Then  must  we  rate  the  cost  of  the  erection  " 

"  For  which  of  you,  intending  to  build  a  tower,  sit- 
teth  not  down  first,  and  counteth  the  cost,  whether  he 
have  sufficient  to  finish  it  ?  "  Luke  xiv.  28. 

ACT  I.    SCENE  III. 

SHAKESPEARE  and  SCRIPTURE  again  compared. 

"  Archbishop  of  York.  Let  us  on  ; 
And  publish  the  occasion  of  our  arms. 
The  commonwealth  is  sick  of  their  own  choice, 
Their  over-greedy  love  hath  surfeited  : 
A  habitation  giddy  and  unsure 
Hath  he,  that  buildeth  on  the  vulgar  heart. 
O  thoti  fond  many  7  with  what  loud  applause 
Did'st  thou  beat  Heaven  with  blessing  Bolingbroke, 
Before  he  was  what  thou  would' st  have  him  be  1 
And  being  now  trimm'd  in  thine  own  desires, 
Thou,  beastly  feeder,  art  so  full  of  him, 
That  thou  provottst  thyself  to  cast  him  up. 
So,  so,  thou  common  dog,  didst  thou  disgorge 
Thy  glutton  bosom  of  the  royal  Richard ; 


108  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

And  now  thou  wouldst  eat  thy  dead  vomit  up, 
And  howl'st  to  find  it." 

[<<Eat  thy  dead  vomit  up."] — The  above  meta- 
phorical idea  probably  owes  its  origin  to  this  pas- 
sage of  Scripture  : — 

"  But  it  happeneth  unfco  them  according  to  the  true 
proverb,  The  dog  is  turned  to  his  own  vomit  again." 
2  Peter  ii.  22. 

In  the  3rd  Act,  7th  scene  of  Henry  V.,  the 
passage,  2  Peter  ii.  22,  is  introduced  in  the  fol- 
lowing way — 

"  Dauphin.  I  tell  thee,  constable,  my  mistress  wears 

her  own  hair. 
Constable.  I  could  make  as  true  a  boast  as  that,  if  I 

had  a  sow  to  my  mistress. 

Dauphin.  Le  chien  est  retourn6  a  son  propre  vomis- 
sement,  et  la  truie  lavee  au  bourbier." 


ACT  II.      SCENE  II. 

"  Poins  [reads],  John  Falstaff,  knight.  Every  man 
must  know  that,  as  offc  as  he  has  occasion  to  name 
himself.  Even  like  those  that  are  kin  to  the  king  ; 
for  they  never  prick  their  finger,  but  they  say,  There 
is  some  of  the  king's  blood  spilt !  How  comes  that  ? 
says  Le  that  takes  upon  him  not  to  conceive  :  the  an- 
swer is  as  ready  as  a  borrower's  cap — /  am  the  Idngx 
poor  cousin,  sir. 

Prince  Henry.  Nay,  they  will  be  kin  to  us,  or  they 
will  fetch  it  from  Japhet" 


HENRY  IV.  109 

["Nay,  they  will  be  kin  to  us."] — No  matter, 
says  the  prince,  how  distant  their  relationship  to 
us  is,  they  will  contrive  to  speak  of  it  whenever 
they  can  find  occasion  for  so  doing. 

["  Japhefc."] — "  Now  these  are  the  generations  of  the 
sons  of  Noah,  Shem,  Ham,  and  Japheth  :  and  unto 
them  were  sons  born  after  the  flood. 

"The  sons  of  Japheth;  Gomer,  and  Magog,  and 
Madai,  and  Javan,  and  Tubal,  and  Meschech,  and 
Tiras. 

"  And  the  sons  of  Gomer ;  Ashkenaz,  and  Biphath, 
and  Togarmah. 

"  And  the  sons  of  Javan ;  Elishah,  and  Tarahish, 
Kittim,  and  Dodanim, 

"By  these  were  the  isles  of  the  Gentiles  divided  in 
their  lands ;  every  one  after  his  tongue,  after  their 
families,  in  their  nations."  Gen.  x.  1 — 5, 


ACT  III.      SCENE  II. 

Court  before  JUSTICE  SHALLOW'S  House  in  Gloucestershire. 

"  Justice  Shallow.  O  the  mad  days  that  I  have  spent ! 
and  to  see  how  many  of  my  old  companions  are  dead  ! 

Justice  Silence.  We  shall  all  follow,  cousin. 

Justice  Shallow.  Certain,  'tis  certain;  very  sure, 
very  sure  :  death,  as  the  Psalmist  saith,  is  certain  to  all ; 
all  shall  die." 

["  As  the  Psalmist  saith."] — "  The  days  of  our  age 
are  threescore  years  and  ten ;  and  though  men  be  so 
strong  that  come  to  fourscore  years  :  yet  is  their 


110  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

strength  then  but  labour  and  sorrow ;  so  soon  passeth 
it  away,  and  we  are  gone."     Psalm  xc.  10. 

As  the  Merry  Wives  of  Windsor  is  said  to  have 
been  written  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  the  cha- 
racter of  Falstaff  again  before  the  public,  we  have 
placed  this  play  next  to  Henry  IV.,  where  the 
character  is  drawn  with  masterly  effect. 


ACT  i.    SCENE  in. 

A  Room  in  the  Garter  Inn. — Enter  FALSTAFF,  HOST, 
BARDOLPH,  NYM,  PISTOL,  and  EOBIN. 

Falstaff,  in  the  course  of  conversation,  artfully 
contrives  to  make  Ford's  wife  the  subject  of  it — 

"  Falstaff:  Now,  the  report  goes,  she  has  all  the  rule 
of  her  husband's  purse  ;  she  hath  legions  of  angels. 

Pistol*  As  many  devils  entertain ;  and,  To  her,  boy, 
say  I." 

"  They  have  in  England,"  says  Shakespeare,  in 
"The  Merchant  of  Venice  "— 

"A  coin  that  bears  the  figure  of  an  angel 
Stamped  in  gold ; " 

an  angel,  when  current,  was  worth  ten  shillings, 

Pistol's  reply,  as  many  devils  entertain,  makes 
the  play  upon  the  words  legions  of  angels  most 
obvious. 


THE  MERRY  WIVES  OF  WINDSOR.  Ill 

["  Legions  of  angels."] — "  Thinkest  thou  that  I  can- 
not now  pray  to  my  Father,  and  he  shall  presently 
give  ine  more  than  twelve  legions  of  angels  ?  "  Matt, 
xxvi.  53. 

ACT  II.      SCENE  I. 

Enter  FORD,  PISTOL,  PAGE,  and  NYM. 

"  Ford.  Well,  I  hope  it  be  not  so. 

Pistol.  Hope  is  a  curtail  dog  in  some  affairs  :  Sir 
John  affects  thy  wife. 

Ford.  Why,  sir,  my  wife  is  not  young. 

Pistol.  He  woos  both  high  and  low,  both  rich  and 
poor,  both  young  and  old,  one  with  another'' 

The  words  in  italics  seem  to  have  been  by 
memory  transferred  from  Psalm  xlix. ;  in  this 
Psalm  there  is  a  similar  mode  of  expression — 

"  High  and  low,  rich  and  poor,  one  with  another." 
Psalm  xlix,  2. 

ACT  IV.      SCENE  V. 

A  Room  in  the  Garter  Inn. — Enter  HOST  and  SIMPLE. 

"  Host.  What  wouldst  thou  have,  boor  ?  what,  thick- 
skin  *?  speak,  breathe,  discuss  j  brief,  short,  quick,  snap. 

Simple.  Marry,  sir,  I  come  to  speak  with  Sir  John 
Falstaff,  from  Master  Slender. 

Host.  There's  his  chamber,  his  house,  his  castle,  his 
standing-bed,  and  truckle-bed ;  'tis  painted  about  with 
the  story  of  the  prodigal,  fresh  and  new" 

["  Story  of  the  prodigal."] — "  Not  many  days  after,    •«*• 
the  younger  son  gathered  all  together,  and  took  his 


112  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

journey  into  a  far  country,  and  there  wasted  his  sub- 
stance with  riotous  living. 

"  And  when  he  had  spent  all,  there  arose  a  mighty 
famine  in  that  land ;  and  he  began  to  be  in  want. 

"  And  he  went  and  joined  himself  to  a  citizen  of  that 
country ;  and  he  sent  him  into  his  fields  to  feed  swine. 

"And  he  would  fain  have  filled  his  belly  with  the 
husks  that  the  swine  did  eat :  and  no  man  gave  unto 
him.  And  when  he  came  to  himself,  he  said,  How 
many  hired  servants  of  my  father's  have  bread  enough, 
and  to  spare,  and  I  perish  with  hunger  !  I  will  arise, 
and  go  to  my  father,  and  will  say  unto  him,  Father,  I 
have  sinned  against  heaven,  and  before  thee,  and  am  no 
more  worthy  to  be  called  thy  son  :  make  me  as  one  of 
thy  hired  servants. 

"  And  he  arose,  and  came  to  his  father.  But  when 
he  was  yet  a  great  way  off,  his  father  saw  him,  and  had 
compassion,  and  ran,  and  fell  on  his  neck  and  kissed 
him."  Luke  xv.  13  to  end  of  20. 

["  Painted  about  with  the  story  of  the  prodigal."] 
— The  story  may  be  supposed  to  be  delineated 
from  the  departure  of  the  young  man,  including 
his  excesses  and  want,  to  the  period  of  his  return, 
in  abject  misery,  to  implore  a  father's  forgiveness. 

Falstaffis  addicted  to  riotous  living,  and  is  by 
no  means  ignorant  of  Scripture  :  the  story  of  the 
prodigal  is  painted  about  his  bed,  so  FRESH  and 
NEW  that  it  must  arrest  attention,  and  well  does 
he  understand  its  meaning.  Yet  such  a  subject — 
such  a  lesson  before  his  eyes  when  he  is  alone,  and 
should  come  to  himself,  has  no  salutary  effect 


THE  MERRY  WIVES  OF  WINDSOR.  113 

upon  him.     "  He  that  is  froward,  remains  froward 
still." 

Falstaff  is  a  character  from  which  we  should 
derive  more  than  mere  amusement.  A  warning, 
indeed,  it  should  be  to  those  whose  desires  are 
well-nigh  limited  to  gross  pleasures  and  debasing 
objects. 


ACT  V.      SCENE  I. 

A  Room  in  the  Garter  Inn. 

Dialogue  between  FORD,  who  assumes  the  name  of  BROOK, 
and  SIR  JOHN  FALSTAFF. 

"  Ford.  Went  you  not  to  her  yesterday,  sir,  as  you 
told  me  you  had  appointed  ? 

Falstaff.  I  went  to  her,  Master  Brook,  as  you  see, 
like  a  poor  old  man ;  but  I  came  from  her,  Master 
Brook,  like  a  poor  old  woman.  That  same  knave, 
Ford  her  husband,  hath  the  finest  mad  devil  of  jea- 
lousy in  him,  Master  Brook,  that  ever  governed  frenzy. 
I  will  tell  you.  He  beat  me  grievously  in  the  shape 
of  a  woman  -}  for  in  the  shape  of  a  man,  Master  Brook, 
I  fear  not  Goliath  with  a  weaver's  beam;  because  I  If  now 
also,  life  is  a  shuttle." 

In  the  present  instance,  a  passage  taken  from 
historic  narrative  is  blended  with  one  taken  from 
a  moral  reflection  on  the  brevity  and  vanity  of 
life :  A  smart  bit  of  humour  is  the  result. 

["  Goliath  with  a  weaver's  beam."] — "  And  there 
went  out  a  champion  out  of  the  camp  of  the  Philistines, 


114  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

named  Goliath  of  Grath,  whose  height  was  six  cubits 
and  a  span. 

"  And  he  had  an  helmet  of  brass  upon  his  head,  and 
he  was  armed  with  a  coat  of  mail ;  and  the  weight  of 
the  coat  was  five  thousand  shekels  of  brass. 

"  And  he  had  greaves  of  brass  upon  his  legs,  and  a 
target  of  brass  between  his  shoulders. 

"  A  nd  the  staff  of  his  spear  was  like  a  weaver's  beam ; 
and  his  spear's  head  weighed  six  hundred  skekels  of 
iron  :  and  one  bearing  a  shield  went  before  him."  \ 
Sam.  xvii.  4 — 7. 

["Life  is  a  shuttle."] — "My  days  are  swifter  than  a 
weaver's  shuttle,  and  are  spent  without  hope/'  Job  vii.  6. 


ACT  V.      SCENE  V. 

Another  part  of  Windsor  Park* 

Enter  PAGE,  FORD,  MRS.  PAGE,  MRS.  FORD. 

They  lay  hold  on  Falstaff. 

"  Mrs.  Page.  Why,  Sir  John,  do  you  think,  though 
we  would  thrust  virtue  out  of  our  hearts  by  the  head 
and  shoulders,  and  have  given  ourselves  without  scruple 
to  hell,  that  ever  the  devil  could  have  made  you  our 
delight  ? 

Ford    What,  a  hodge-pudding  1  a  bag  of  flax  ? 

Mrs.  Page.  A  puffd  man  ? 

Page.  Old,  cold,  wither'd,  and  of  intolerable  entrails? 

Ford.  And  one  that  is  as  slanderous  as  Satan  ? 

Page.  And  as  poor  as  Job  ? 

Ford.  And  as  wicked  as  his  wife.91 


THE  MERRY  WIVES  OF  WINDSOR.  115 

In  the  first  act  and  second  scene  of  Henry  IV., 
attention  is  arrested  by  the  following  example : — 

Enter  the  LORD  CHIEF  JUSTICE  and  FALSTAFF. 

"  Chief  Justice.  To  punish  you  by  the  heels,  would 
amend  the  attention  of  your  ears ;  and  I  care  not  if  I 
do  become  your  physician. 

Falstaff.  I  am  as  poor  as  Job,  my  Lord  ;  but  not  so 
patient." 

["As  slanderous  as  Satan,  as  poor  as  Job,  as 
wicked  as  his  wife."] — The  extract  from  the  second 
chapter  of  elob,  which  embraces  these  particulars, 
is  somewhat  long,  though  the  substance  of  it  is 
brought  to  our  remembrance  in  so  few  icords  by 
means  of  dialogue  : — 

"  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Satan,  Hast  thou  consi- 
dered my  servant  Job,  that  there  is  none  like  him  in 
the  earth,  a  perfect  and  an  upright  man,  one  that 
feareth  God,  and  escheweth  evil  1  and  still  he  holdeth 
fast  his  integrity,  although  thou  movedst  me  against 
him,  to  destroy  him  without  cause.  And  Satan  an- 
swered the  Lord,  and  said,  Skin  for  skin,  yea,  all  that 
a  man  hath  will  he  give  for  his  life. 

"  But  put  forth  thine  hand  now,  and  touch  his  bone 
and  his  flesh,  and  he  will  curse  thee  to  thy  face. 

"  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Satan,  Behold,  he  is  in 
thine  hand;  but  save  his  life.  So  went  Satan  forth 
from  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  and  smote  Job  with 
sore  boils  from  the  sole  of  his  foot  unto  his  crown. 


116  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

"And  he  took  him  a  potsherd  to  scrape  himself 
withal ;  and  he  sat  down  among  the  ashes. 

"  Then  said  his  wife  unto  him,  Dost  thou  still  retain 
thine  integrity  1  Curse  God,  and  die.  But  he  said  unto 
her,  Thou  speakest  as  one  of  the  foolish  women  speak- 
eth.  What !  shall  we  receive  good  at  the  hand  of 
God,  and  shall  we  not  receive  evil  1  In  all  this  did 
not  Job  sin  with  his  lips."  Job  ii.  3 — 10. 

In  Troilus  and  Cressida,  Anthony  and  Cleo- 
patra, and  Timon  of  Athens,  Shakespeare's  know- 
ledge of  the  Bible  is  indicated ;  although  these 
plays  relate  to  historical  matter  concerning  heathen 
nations. 


CHAPTEE  Xin. 


THE  PLAY  OF  TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA. 

ACT  I.      SCENE  III. 

The  Grecian  Camp. 

This  passage,  from  a  speech  of  Ulysses,  is  in  a 
measure  parallel  with  a  passage  which  shall  be  pro- 
duced from  the  21st  chapter  of  St.  Luke's  gospel. 

"  Ulysses.  But  when  the  planets, 
In  evil  mixture,  to  disorder  wander. 
What  plagues  and  what  portents?  what  mutiny? 
What  raging  of  the  sea  ?  shaking  of  earth  ? 
Commotions  in  the  winds?  frights,  changes,  horrors, 
Divert  and  crack,  rend  and  deracinate 
The  unity  and  married  calm  of  states 
Quite  from  their  fixture  ? " 

Quotation  from  St.  Luke — =• 

"And  there  shall  be  signs  in  the  sun,  and  in  the 
moon,  and  in  the  stars ;  and  upon  the  earth  distress 
of  nations,  with  perplexity;  the  sea  and  the  waves 


118  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

roaring;  men's  hearts  failing  them  for  fear,  and  for 
looking  after  those  things  which  are  coming  on  the 
earth :  for  the  powers  of  heaven  shall  be  shaken." 
Luke  xxi.  25. 


ACT  I.        SCENE  III. 


"  JEneas.  But  peace, 
Peace,  Trojan  ;  lay  thy  finger  on  thy  lips  ! 
The  worthiness  of  praise  distains  his  worthy 
If  that  the  prais'd  himself  bring  the  praise  forth." 

In  the  27th  chapter  of  Proverbs  we  meet  with 
the  same  sentiment  :  — 

"  Let  another  man  praise  thee,  and  not  thine  own 
mouth  ;  a  stranger,  and  not  thine  own  lips."  Prov. 
xvii.  2. 


ACT  U.        SCENE  II. 

From   Hectorys   answer  to   Paris  and   Troilus3 
who  are  both  disposed  to  retain  Helen  : — 

"  Hector.  Paris  and  Troilus,  you  have  both  said  well : 
And  on  the  cause  and  question  now  on  hand 
Have  gloz'd — but  superficially;  not  much 
Unlike  young  men,  whom  Aristotle  thought 
Unfit  to  bear  moral  philosophy: 
The  reasons  you  allege,  do  more  conduce 
To  the  hot  passion  of  distemper'd  blood, 
Than  to  make  up  a  free  determination 
'Twixt  right  and  wrong ;  For  pleasure  and  revenge 


TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.  119 

Have  ears  more  deaf  than  adders  to  the  voice 
Of  any  true  decision." 

["Ears  more  deaf  than  adders"] — For  this, 
Shakespeare  seems  indebted  to  the  4th  and  5th 
verses  of  the  58th  Psalm — 

"  Their  poison  is  like  the  poison  of  a  serpent :  they 
are  like  the  deaf  adder  that  stoppeth  her  ear; 

"  Which  will  not  hearJcen  to  the  voice  of  charmers, 
charming  never  so  wisely."  Psalm  Iviii.  4,  5. 


ACT  III.        SCENE  I. 

Troy. 

11  Pandarus.  Is  this  the  generation  of  love  1  hot  blood, 
hot  thoughts,  and  hot  deeds  ? — Why,  ili&y  are  vipers : 
Is  love  a  generation  of  vipers  ?  " 

["  Generation  of  vipers."] — There  is  the  same 
form  of  expression  in  the  3rd  chapter  of  St. 
Matthew — 

"But  when  he  saw  many  of  the  Pharisees  and 
Sadducees  come  to  his  baptism,  he  said  unto  them, 
0  generation  of  vipers,  who  hath  warned  you  to  flee 
from  the  wrath  to  come  ? "  Matt.  iii.  7. 

The  use  of  Amen  by  Pandarus,  Troilus,  and 
Cressida,  is  singular.  Amen  is,  however,  found  in 
several  plays  which  seem  least  to  favour  its  ad- 
mission— in  Timon  of  Athens,  for  instance :  it  is 
found,  too,  in  Cymbeline  and  Coriolanus. 


CHAPTER   XIV. 


THE  PLAY  OF  ANTHONY  AND  CLEOPATKA. 


In  this  play,  Herod  of  Jewry  is  several  times 
to  be  met  with.  Herod  is  first  mentioned  in  the 
dialogue  between  the  Soothsayer  and  Charmian, 
one  of  Cleopatra's  attendants. 

ACT  I.        SCENE  II. 

"  Charmian.  Good  now,  some  excellent  fortune !  Let 
me  be  married  to  three  kings  in  a  forenoon,  and  widow 
them  all :  let  me  have  a  child  at  fifty,  to  whom  Herod 
of  Jewry  may  do  homage." 

Herod  of  Jewry  was  an  Idumean  by  birth,  but 
professed  the  Jewish  religion.  He  was  declared 
King  of  the  Jews  about  thirty-eight  years  before 
our  Lord  was  born  at  Bethlehem.  He  was  after- 
wards called  Herod  the  Great,  The  words  of 


ANTHONY  AND  CLEOPATRA.  1 21 

Charmian,  "  Let  me  have  a  child,  to  whom  Herod  of 
Jewry  may  do  homage"  seem  in  substance  abstracted 
from  a  circumstance  relative  to  Herod,  that  hap- 
pened soon  after  the  birth  of  Christ. 

"Then  Herod,  when  he  had  privily  called  the  wise 
men,  inquired  of  them  diligently  what  time  the  star 
appeared. 

"  And  he  sent  them  to  Bethlehem,  and  said,  Go  and 
search  diligently  for  the  young  child;  and  when  ye  have 
found  him,  bring  me  word  again,  that  I  may  come  and 
worship  him  also."  Matt.  ii.  7,  8. 

The  flight  of  Joseph  with  the  Virgin  Mary  and 
the  child  Jesus  into  Egypt,  that  the  child  might 
not  be  destroyed  by  Herod;  and — "that  it  might  be 
fulfilled  which  was  spoken  of  the  Lord  by  the  pro- 
phet, saying.  Out  of  Egypt  have  I  called  my  son" — 
might  lead  Shakespeare  to  put  such  words,  con- 
nected with  Herod's  search  for  our  Lord,  into  the 
mouth  of  Charmian,  an  Egyptian,  with  the  sense 
which  Steevens  has  given  them  : — "  Charmian 
wishes  for  a  son,  who  may  arrive  to  such  power 
and  dominion  that  the  proudest  and  fiercest 
monarchs  of  the  earth  may  be  brought  under  his 
yoke." 

The  addition  of  the  word  fifty — a  Let  me  have  a 
child  at  fifty,  to  whom  Herod  of  Jewry  may  do 
homage,"  and  the  context,  cover  Shakespeare's 
retreat;  but  after  research,  cause  the  evidence,  in 
favour  of  the  source  whence  Shakespeare  culled 
the  notion,  to  be  very  presumptive. 


122  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE* 

Herod  of  Jewry  is  mentioned  by  Mistress  Page 
in  The  Merry  Wives  of  Windsor,  in  Act  II., 
Scene  I. 


Before  Pagers  House. 
Enter  MISTRESS  PAGE  with  Falstafs  Love-letter. 

"  Mistress  Page.  What  a  Herod  of  Jewry  is  this  !  0, 
wicked,  wicked  world  !  " 

She  implies,  doubtless,  that  Falstaff,  like  Herod, 
hesitates  not  to  violate  the  most  sacred  bonds  of 
love  and  friendship,  in  order  to  gain  his  own  sel- 
fish ends. 

But  to  return  again  to  the  play  of  Anthony  and 
Cleopatra  :— 


ACT  III.    SCENE  XI. 

"  Cleopatra.  Wherefore  is  this  ? 

Anthony.  To  let  a  fellow  that  will  take  rewards, 
And  say,  God  quit  you  !  be  familiar  with 
My  playfellow,  your  hand ;  this  kingly  seal, 
And  plighter  of  high  hearts  !  0  that  I  were 
Upon  the  hill  of  Hasan,  to  outroar  the  horned  herd!" 

["Hill  of  Basan,  to  outroar  the  horned  herd."] — 
"  Many  bulls  have  compassed  me :  strong  bulls  of 
Bashan  have  beset  me  round.  They  gaped  upon  me 
with  their  mouths,  as  a  ravening  and  a  roaring  lion." 
Psalm  xxii.  12,  13. 


CHAPTER  XV. 


THE   PLAY  OF  TIMON  OF  ATHENS, 


The  pertinent  extracts  about  to  be  introduced, 
relate  to  Timon  when  reduced  by  his  extreme 
liberality  to  penury :  the  first  one  refers  to  the  in- 
gratitude manifested  by  Lord  Lucius  when  called 
on  to  assist  his  benefactor,  now  in  the  greatest 
distress. 


ACT  III.    SCENE  II. 

"  1st  Stranger.  Do  you  observe  this  Hostilius  1 

2nd  Stranger.  Ay,  too  well. 

1st  Stranger.  Why,  this  is  the  world's  sport ; 
And  just  of  the  same  piece  is  every  flatterer's  soul. 
Who  can  call  him  his  friend 
That  dips  in  the  same  dish  ?  " 


124  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

["Who  can  call  him  friend  that  dips  in  the 
same  dish?"] — Thoughts  evidently  borrowed  from 
23rd  verse  of  26th  chapter  of  Matthew,  where  the 
Eastern  mode  of  eating  is  mentioned. 

"  And  he  answered  and  said,  He  that  dippeth  his  hand 
with  me  in  the  dish,  the  same  shall  betray  me."  Matt, 
xxvi.  23. 


ACT  V.        SCENE  II. 

The  Woods.     Timorts  Cave. 

"  The  Poet.  Then  this  breaking  of  his  has  been  but 
a  try  for  his  friends? 

The  Painter.  Nothing  else :  you  shall  see  him  a 
palm  in  Athens  again,  and  flourish  with  the  highest." 

[«  A  palm  and  flourish." — The  same  sentiment 
is  to  be  found  in  the  92nd  Psalm  : — 

"  The  righteous  shall  flourish  like  a  palm-tree :  he 
shall  grow  like  a  cedar  in  Lebanon."  Psalm  xcii.  12. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


THE  PLAY  OE  COEIOLANUS, 

ACT  II.        SCENE  I. 

Rome. 
Enter  MENENIUS  with  the  Tribunes,  SICINIUS  and  BRUTUS, 

"  Menenius.  The  augurer  tells  ine,  we  shall  have 
news  to-night. 

Brutus.  Good,  or  bad  ? 

Menenius.  Not  according  to  the  prayer  of  the  peo- 
ple, for  they  love  not  Marcius. 

Sicinius.  Nature  teaches  beasts  to  know  their  friends. 

Menenius.  Pray  you,  who  does  the  wolf  love? 

Sicinius.  The  lamb 

Menenius.  Ay,  to  devour  him." 

The  ideas  in  italics  seem  borrowed  from  the 
13th  chapter  of  Ecclesiasticus. 

"  Every  beast  loveth  his  like,  and  every  man  loveth 
his  neighbour. 


126  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

"All  flesh  consorteth  according  to  kind,  and  a  man 
will  cleave  to  his  like. 

"  What  fellowship  hath  the  wolf  with  the  lamb?" 
Ecchis.  xiii,  15,  16,  17. 


ACT  II.        SCENE  I. 

From  the  conference  which  the  tribunes,  Sici- 
nius  and  Brutus,  hold  relative  to  Coriolanus : — 

"  Brutus.  For  an  end, 

We  must  suggest  the  people  in  what  hatred 
He  still  hath  held  them.          .... 

Sicinius.  This,  as  you  say,  suggested 
At  some  time  when  his  soaring  insolence 
Shall  reach  the  people  (which  time  shall  not  want, 
If  he  be  put  upon't;  and  that's  as  easy 
As  to  set  dogs  on  sheep),  will  be  the  fire 
To  kindle  their  dry  stubble;  and  their  blaze 
Shall  darken  him  for  ever" 

["Will  be  the  fire  to  hindle  their  dry  stubble;  and 
their  blaze  shall  darken  him"  &c.] — A  passage  very 
parallel  in  metaphor  to  this,  is  to  be  found  in  the 
18th  verse  of  the  book  of  the  prophet  Obadiah : — 

"The  house  of  Jacob  shall  be  a  fire,  and  the  house 
of  Joseph  aflame,  and  the  house  of  Esau  for  stubble,  and 
they  shall  kindle  in  them,  and  devour  them." 

No  instance  important  enough  to  warrant  notice 
is  to  be  found  in  Cymbeline;  perhaps  for  this 


& 


CORIOLANUS.  127 

reason,  because  Shakespeare  adheres  literally  to 
the  details  from  which  the  subject  was  composed. 
In  the  play  of  Julius  Caesar,  the  great  master 
gives  us  very  clear  and  correct  notions  of  Roman 
manners  ;  but,  by  confining  himself  strictly  to  the 
story,  furnishes  us  with  little  connected  with  the 
object  of  our  research. 

ACT  I.        SCENE  II. 

"  Cassius.  Therefore,  good   Brutus,  be  prepared  to 

hear  : 

And,  since  you  cannot  see  yourself 
So  well  as  by  reflection,  I,  your  glass, 
Will  modestly  discover  to  yourself. 
That  of  yourself  which  you  yet  know  not  of." 

To  the  above  there  is  a  parallel  in  Proverbs  : — 

"  As  in  water,  face  answereth  to  face,  so  the  heart 
of  man  to  man."  Prov.  xxvii.  19. 

In  the  play  of  Othello,  Shakespeare  trammels 
his  genius  less  than  in  the  plays  just  noticed ;  if 
several  pertinent  examples  may  be  considered  suf- 
ficient evidence  for  such  conclusion. 


ACT  IV.        SCENE  II. 

Another  Apartment  in  the  Castle. 

"  JZmilia.  I  durst,  my  lord,  ,to  wager  she  is  honest, 
Lay  down  my  soul  at  stake  :  if  you  think  other, 
Remove  your  thought ;  it  doth  abuse  your  bosom. 


128  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

If  any  wretch  hath  put  this  in  your  head, 
Let  heaven  requite  it  with  the  serpent's  curse!" 

-ZEmilia,  the  wife  of  lago,  endeavours  thus  to 
persuade  Othello  that  Desdemona  is  indeed  as 
virtuous  as  he  would  fain  believe  her  to  be. 

["  Let  heaven  requite  it  with  the  serpent's  curse." — • 
"Let  him  suffer  at  once  the  curse  which  the  serpent 
brought  upon  man — viz.,  death :  may  he  be  visited  with 
instant  death,  whoever  invented  so  wicked  a  lie ! "] 

["Serpent's  curse."] — "And  the  woman  said  unto 
the  serpent,  we  may  eat  of  the  fruit  of  the  trees  of  the 
garden  : 

"  But  of  the  fruit  of  the  tree  which  is  in  the  midst 
of  the  garden,  God  hath  said,  Ye  shall  not  eat  of  it, 
neither  shall  ye  touch  it,  lest  ye  die. 

"  And  the  serpent  said  unto  the  woman,  Ye  shall  not 
surely  die :  for  God  doth  know  that  in  the  day  ye  eat 
thereof,  then  your  eyes  shall  be  opened,  and  ye  shall  be 
us  gods,  knowing  good  and  evil."  Gen.  iii.  2 — 5. 

JEniilia  fails,  however,  to  eradicate  the  fatal 
jealousy  which  poisons  the  Moor's  mind,  and 
drinks  up  his  spirit ;  for,  says  Othello — 

"  Had  it  pleased  Heaven 
To  try  me  with  affliction ;  had  it  rain'd 
All  kinds  of  sores,  and  shames,  on  my  bare  head; 
Steep' d  me  in  poverty  to  the  very  lips; 
Given  to  captivity  ine  and  my  utmost  hopes ; 
I  should  have  found  in  some  place  of  my  soul 
A  drop  of  patience." 


OTHELLO.  129 

For  the  substance  of  these  lines,  Shakespeare 
appears  to  be  indebted  to  the  1st  and  2nd  chapters 
of  Job.  Thus : — 

["All  kinds  of  sores  and  shames  on  my  bare  head."] — 
"  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Satan,  Behold,  he  is  in  thine 
hand  ;  but  save  his  life. 

"  So  went  Satan  forth  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord, 
and  smote  Job  with  sore  boils  from  the  sole  of  his  foot 
unto  his  crown.91  Job  ii.  6,  7. 

Thus,  again : — 

["  Steep'd  me  in  poverty  to  the  very  lips ;  given  to 
captivity  me  and  my  utmost  hopes."] — "  And  the  Lord 
said  unto  Satan,  Behold,  all  that  he  Lath  is  in  thy 
power  j 

"  And  there  came  a  messenger  unto  Job,  and  said, 
The  oxen  were  ploughing,  and  the  asses  feeding  beside 
them : 

"  And  the  Sabeans  fell  upon  them,  and  took  them 
away ;  yea,  they  have  slain  the  servants  with  the  edge  of 
the  sword ;  and  I  only  am  escaped  alone  to  tell  thee. 

"  While  he  was  yet  speaking,  there  came  also  another, 
and  said,  The  fire  of  God  is  fallen  from  heaven,  and  hath 
burned  up  the  sheep,  and  the  servants,  and  consumed 
them  ;  and  I  only  am  escaped  alone  to  tell  thee. 

"  While  he  was  yet  speaking,  there  came  also  another, 
and  said,  The  Chaldeans  made  out  three  bands,  and  fell 
upon  the  camels,  and  have  carried  them  away,  yea,  and 
slain  the  servants  ivith  the  edge  of  the  sword ;  and  I  only 
am  escaped  alone  to  tell  thee."  Job  i.  12 — 17. 

Othello.  The  same  speech  continued — 


130  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

"  But  there,  where  I  have  garner'd  up  my  heart ; 
Where  either  I  must  live,  or  bear  no  life ; 
Th  e  fountain  from  which  my  current  runs, 
Or  else  dries  up,  to  be  discarded  thence  ; 
Or  keep  it  as  a  cistern  for  foul  toads,"  &c. 

In  the  lines  just  quoted,  Othello  speaks  of  his 
wife  as  a  fountain — a  cistern  :  expressions  which  we 
shall  again  have  occasion  to  notice  hereafter.  The 
expressions  &  fountain — a  cistern — may  be  taken  in 
the  present  instance  from  Prov.  v.  15,  18. 

"  Drink  waters  out  of  thine  own  cistern,  and  running 
waters  out  of  thine  own  well. 

"  Let  thy  fountains  be  dispersed  abroad,  and  rivers  of 
waters  in  the  streets. 

"  Let  them  be  only  thine  own,  and  not  strangers  with 
thee. 

"Let  thy  fountain  be  blessed  :  and  rejoice  with  the 
wife  of  thy  youth."  Prov.  v.  15 — 18. 


CHAPTEK    XVII. 


THE  PLAY  OF  THE  TEMPEST. 

ACT  I.        SCENE  II. 

The  Characters.  Prospero,  an  inhabitant  of  the 
enchanted  island,  but  the  rightful  Duke  of  Milan, 
and  the  monster  Caliban. 

"  Caliban.  I  must  eafc  my  dinner. 
This  island's  mine,  by  Sycorax  my  mother, 
Which  thou  tak'st  from  me.     When  thou  cam'st  first, 
Thou  stroak'st  me,  and  mad'st  much  of  me  \  would' st 

give  me 

Water  with  berries  in't ;  and  teach  me  how 
To  name  the  bigger  light,  and  how  the  less, 
That  burn  by  day  and  night ;  and  then  I  lov'd  thee, 
And  show'd  thee  all  the  qualities  o'  the  isle, 
The  fresh  springs,  brine-pits,  barren  place,  and  fertile ; 
Curs'd  be  I  that  I  did  so  !     All  the  charms 
Of  Sycorax,  toads,  beetles,  bats,  light  on  you, 


132  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

For  I  am  all  the  subjects  that  you  have, 
Who  first  was  mine  own  king  :  and  here  you  sty  me 
In  this  hard  rock,  whiles  you  do  keep  from  me 
The  rest  of  the  island." 

["  To  name  the  bigger  light."] — This  is  evidently 
taken  from  Gen.  i,  16. 

"  And  God  made  two  great  lights ;  the  greater  light  to 
rule  the  day,  and  the  lesser  light  to  rule  the  night :  he 
made  the  stars  also"  Gen.  i.  16. 

"  Prospero.  Thou  most  lying  slave,. 
Whom  stripes  ma}'  move,  not  kindness :  I  have  used  thee, 
Filth  as  thou  art,  with  human  care ;  and  lodg'd  thee 
In  mine  own  cell,  till  thou  did'st  seek  to  violate 
The  honour  of  my  child." 

We  here  quote  thus  fully  that  the  character  of 
Caliban  may  be  known,  and  the  reader  be  thus 
prepared  for  the  example  in  the  third  act,  which 
owes  much  of  its  point  to  this  uncouth  monster. 


ACT  III.        SCENE  II. 

Caliban  plots  against  Prosperous  life. 

l-  Caliban.  I  say  by  sorcery  he  got  this  isle ; 
From  me  he  got  it.     If  thy  greatness  will 
Revenge  it  on  him  [for  I  know  thou  dar'st, 
But  this  thing  dare  not " — ] 

These    words    are   addressed   to    Stephano,   a 
drunken  butler,  who  has  made  Caliban  drunk. 


THE  TEMPEST.  133 

"  Stephano.  That's  most  certain. 

Caliban.  Thou  shalt  be  lord  of  it,  and  I'll  serve  thee. 

Stephano.  How  now  shall  this  be  compass' d  1   Canst 

thou  bring  me  to  the  party  1 

Caliban.  Yea,  yea,  my  lord  ;  Til  yield  him  thee  asleep, 
Where  thou  mayst  knock  a  nail  into  his  head" 

["I'll  yield  him  thee  asleep,  where  thou  may'st 
knock  a  nail  into  his  head."] — In  Judges  iv.,  we 
find  that  Sisera,  captain  of  the  host  of  Jabin,  king 
of  Canaan,  when  discomfited  by  Israel,  fled  away 
on  his  feet  to  a  tent  for  safety,  but  was  there  put 
to  death  in  the  manner  devised  by  Caliban. 

[Death  of  Sisera,  captain  of  Jabin's  host.] — "  Then 
Jael,  Heber's  wife,  took  a  nail  of  the  tent,  and  took  a 
hammer  in  her  hand,  and  went  softly  unto  him,  and 
smote  the  nail  into  his  temples,  and  fastened  it  into  the 
ground :  for  he  was  fast  asleep  and  weary.  So  he  died. 

"And  behold,  as  Barak  pursued  Sisera,  Jael  came 
out  to  meet  him,  and  said  unto  him,  Come,  I  will  show 
you  the  man  whom  thou  seekest. 

"  And  when  he  came  into  her  tent,  behold  Sisera  lay 
dead,  and  the  nail  ivas  in  his  temples"  Judges  iv. 
21,  22. 

ACT  V.        SCENE  I. 

[uThy  dukedom  I  resign."] — The  duchy  of  Milan 
being,  through  the  treachery  of  Anthonio  ( Prosperous 
brother),  made  feudatory  to  the  crown  of  Naples, 
Alonso  promises  to  resign  his  claim  of  sovereignty  for 
the  future.  Steevens. 


134  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

" Alonso.  Thy  dukedom  I  resign,  and  do  entreat 
Thou  pardon  me  my  wrongs ;  but  how  should  Prospero 
Be  living,  and  be  here  ? 

Prospero.  First,  noble  friend, 
Let  me  embrace  thine  age ;  whose  honour  cannot 
Be  measur'd  or  confin'd. 

Gonzalo.  Whether  this  be, 
Or  be  not,  I'll  not  swear. 

Prospero.  You  do  yet  taste 
Some  subtilties  o'  the  isle,  that  will  not  let  you 
Believe  things  certain  :  Welcome,  my  friends  all ; 
But  you,  my  brace  of  lords,  were  I  so  minded, 

(Aside  to  Sebastian  and  Anthonio) 
I  here  could  pluck  his  highness'  frown  upon  you, 
And  justify  you  traitors  ;  at  this  time 
I'll  tell  no  tales." 

[Sebastian.  "  The  devil  speaks  in  him."] — Shake- 
speare might  abstract  this  notion,  which  in  few 
words  expresses  so  much,  from  such  a  passage  of 
Scripture  as  this — 

"And  he  healed  many  that  were  sick  of  divers 
diseases,  and  cast  out  many  devils,  and  suffered  not  the 
devils  to  speak,  because  they  knew  him/'  Mark  i.  34. 

Amen  occurs  twice  in  the  fifth  act  of  the  Tem- 
pest ;  it  is  put  in  the  mouth  of  the  drunken 
Stephano — Thus,  in  act  2nd,  scene  2nd — 

"  Stephano.  If  all  the  wine  in  my  bottle  will  recover 
him,  I  will  help  his  ague  :  come,  Amen  I " 

In   the   Midsummer  Night's  Dream,  Amen  is 


THE  TEMPEST.  135 

introduced  in  such  a  way  as  to  indicate  the  exclusive 
use  to  which  it  should  be  applied. 


ACT  II.        SCENE  III. 

"  Ly  sunder.  Amen,  Amen,  to  thaty^Y  prayer,  say  I." 
So  also  in  Macbeth  is  the  same  thing  noticeable. 

"  One  cried,  God  bless  us  !  and  Amen  the  other ;  I 
could  not  say  Amen,  when  they  did  say  God  bless  us  ! 

*     *     I  had  most  need  of  blessing,  and  Amen  stuck 
in  my  throat." 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


MIDSUMMEB    NIGHT'S   DEEAM. 

ACT  III.      SCENE  II. 

u  Hermia.  An  adder  did  it ;  for  with  doubler  tongue 
Than  thine,  thou  serpent,  never  adder  stung." 

["An  adder  did  it,"]— The  play  of  King  Lear 
furnishes  us  with  a  similar  form  of  expression. 

"  Lear.  Struck  me  with  her  tongue,  most  serpent-like, 
upon  the  very  heart" 

Both  plays  derive  the  idea  from  the  same  source, 
it  appears — viz,,  140th  Psalm. 

"  They  have  sharpened  their  tongues  like  a  serpent ; 
adders  poison  is  under  their  lips."     Psalm  cxl.  3. 

Another  sentence  in  Lear,  parallel  with  a  verse 
in  this  Psalm,  confirms  this  opinion. 

"Lear.  All  the  stored  vengeances  of  heaven  fall  on 
her  ingrateful  top." 


KING  LEAK.  137 

The  140th  Psalm- 

"  As  for  the  head  of  those  that  compass  me  about, 
let  the  mischief  of  their  own  lips  cover  them.'*  Psalm 
cxl.  9. 

The  play  of  King  Lear  contains  one  more  ex- 
ample; where  the  King  is  deserted,  because  he 
is  in  adversity,  by  many  of  those  who  were  his 
attendants* 


ACT  II.      SCENE  IV. 

"  Kent.  How  chance  the  king  comes  with  so  small  a 

train  ? 
Fool.  An  thou  hadst  been  set  f  the  stocks  for  that 

question,  thou  hadst  well  deserv'd  it. 
Kent.  Why,  fool? 

Fool.  We'll  set  thee  to  school  to  an  ant,  to  teach  thee 
there  s  no  labouring  in  the  winter." 

["  Set  thee  to  school  to  an  ant,"  &c.] — Either  from 
Proverbs  vi.  6,  7,  8 — 

"  Go  to  the  ant,  thou  sluggard ;  consider  her  ways, 
and  be  wise : 

"  Which  having  no  guide,  overseer,  or  ruler,  provid- 
eth  her  meat  in  the  summer,  and  gathereth  her  food  in 
the  harvest." 

Or,  Proverbs  xxx.  25 — 

"  The  ants  are  a  people  not  strong,  yet  they  prepare 
their  meat  in  the  summer." 


138  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

The  evidence  from  the  play  of  Borneo  and 
Juliet,  in  which  the  Montagues  and  Capulets,  two 
hostile  families,  are  brought  together  by  a  common 
calamity,  is  not  unimportant,  though  it  may  have 
been  hitherto  unnoticed. 


ACT  I.         SCENE  111. 

A  Room  in  Capulefs  House.    Enter  LADY  CAPULET 

and  NURSE. 

"  Lady  Gap.  Nurse,  where' s  my  daughter  ?  call  her 

forth  to  me. 
Nurse.    Now,  by  my   maidenhead  at   twelve   year 

old, 

I  bade  her  come. — What,  lamb  !  what,  lady  bird  ! 
God  forbid  ! — where' s  this  girl  ? — what,  Juliet ! " 

It  may  be  presumed  that  Shakespeare,  when  he 
uses  the  expression  God  forbid,  adopts  St.  Paul's 
strong  form  of  deprecation.  When  Measure  for 
Measure  is  introduced,  God  forbid  will  be  found  in 
the  passage  from  the  9th  chapter  of  St.  Paul's 
Epistle  to  the  Romans,  which  we  shall  then  have 
occasion  to  quote. 


FROM  ACT  II.      SCENE  II. 

"  Juliet.  Romeo,  doff  thy  name  ; 

And  for  that  name,  which  is  no  part  of  thee, 
Take  all  myself. 


KOMEO  AND  JULIET.  139 

Romeo.  I  take  thee  at  thy  word  : 
Call  me  but  love,  and  Til  be  new  baptized." 

["Be  new  baptized/'] — With  such  knowledge  of 
Holy  Writ  as  Shakespeare  had,  it  is  not  surprising 
that  thoughts  derived  from  certain  passages  therein 
should  involuntarily  arise  in  his  mind. 

Shakespeare  was  for  instance  well  versed  in  all 
such  passages  as  these  : — 

"  /  indeed  baptize  you  with  water  unto  repentance  : 

but  he  that  cometh  after  me he 

shall  baptize  you,"  &c.  Matt.  iii.  1 1 . 

"  For  John  truly  baptized  with  water  j  but  ye  shall 
be  baptized,  &c.  .  .  not  many  days  hence."  Acts  i.  5. 

Again,  also,  from 

ACT  II.      SCENE  II. 

"  Romeo.  What  shall  I  swear  by  ? 

Juliet.  Do  not  swear  at  all ; 
Or,  if  thou  wilt,  swear  by  thy  gracious  self, 
Which  is  the  god  of  my  idolatry, 
And  I'll  believe  thee." 

Shakespeare  seems  indebted  for  this  striking 
form  of  expression — 

" Swear  by  thy  gracious  self,  which  is  the  god"  &c. — 

to  the  6th  chapter  of  Hebrews,  13th  verse ;  it  is 
there  stated — 

"  When  God  made  promise  to  Abraham,  because  lie 
could  sivear  by  no  greater,  lie  sware  by  himself.11 


140  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

But  he  has  contrived,  notwithstanding  this  sus- 
picious circumstance,  to  keep  the  proper  train  of 
thought  in  the  reader's  mind — "  Swear  by  thy 
gracious  self;"  i.  e..  Promise  me,  beloved  one,  that 
you  will  indeed  be  true  to  me.  The  passage  may 
be  said  to  glow  with  the  youthful  fervour  of  pure 
affection. 


ACT  II.      SCENE  VI. 

Friar  Lawrence's  Cell.     The  FRIAR  and  EOMEO. 

"Romeo.  Do  thou  but  close  our  hands  with  holy 

words, 

Then  love-devouring  death  do  what  he  dare, 
It  is  enough  I  may  but  call  her  mine. 

Friar.  These  violent  delights  have  violent  ends, 
And  in  their  triumph  die  ;  like  fire  and  powder, 
Which,  as  they  kiss,  consume  :  The  sweetest  honey 
Is  loathsome  in  his  own  deliciousness, 
And  in  the  taste  confounds  the  appetite  : 
Therefore,  love  moderately;  long  love  doth  so  ; 
Too  swift  arrives  as  tardy  as  too  slow." 

["The  sweetest  honey  is  loathsome/'  &c.] — 
In  the  Proverbs  there  is  a  passage  to  the  same 
effect — 

"  Hast  tliou  found  honey?  eat  so  much  as  is  sufficient 
for  thee,  lest  thou  be  filled  therewith,  and  vomit  it." 
Prov.  xxv.  16. 


TWELFTH  NIGHT;  OB,  WHAT  YOU  WILL, 


The  rich  and  beautiful  Olivia,  beloved  by  the 
Duke  Orsino,  takes  a  fancy  to  Viola,  a  lady  who 
loves  the  Duke,  but  is  ostensibly  his  page.  Finally, 
mistakes  are  rectified ;  Sebastian,  Viola's  long- 
lost  brother,  marries  Olivia ;  and  Viola  becomes 
the  wife  of  Orsino. 

Our  examples  from  this  play  do  not  belong  to 
any  of  these  leading  characters  ;  but  are  no  mean 
additions  to  the  evidence  already  collected. 

ACT  I.      SCENE  V. 

Enter  MARIA  and  CLOWN. 

"  Maria.  You  are  resolute,  then  1 

Clown.  Not  so  neither ;  but  I  am  resolv'd  on  two 
points. 

Maria.  That  if  one  break,  the  other  will  hold ;  or, 
if  both  break,  your  gaskins  fall. 

Clown.  Apt  in  good  faith ;  very  apt !  "Well,  go  thy 
way ;  if  Sir  Toby  would  leave  drinking,  thou  wert  as 
witty  a  piece  of  Eve^s  flesh  as  any  in  Illyria." 

[UA  piece  of  Eve's  flesh/'] — A  humorous  de- 
duction from  the  20th  verse  of  the  3rd  chapter  of 
Genesis — 

"  And  Adam  called  his  wife's  name  Eve ;  because 
she  was  the  mother  of  all  living" 


142  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

ACT  II.      SCENE  V. 

Malyolio,  a  fantastical  steward  to  Olivia,  is 
induced  to  believe  that  this  lady  loves  him,  by  a 
letter  which  Maria,  her  woman,  throws  in  his 
way. 

"  Malvolio.  There  is  example  for't ;  the  lady  of  the 
strachy  married  the  yeoman  of  the  wardrobe. 

Sir  Andrew  (who  in  ambush  hears  this  soliloquy). 
Fie  on  him,  Jezebel !  " 

["  Jezebel"] — Sir  Andrew,  who  says  this,  is  of 
weak  intellect.  We  shall  hereafter  have  occasion 
to  speak  particularly  of  Jezebel  and  Ahab :  the  1st 
Book  of  Kings  furnishes  us  with  their  history. 
Again — 


ACT  II.      SCENE  V. 

Enter  MARIA,  who  has  been  gulling  MALVOLIO. 

"Sir  Toby.  I  could  marry  the  wench  for  this  device. 
Sir  Andrew.  So  could  I,  too. 

Sir  Toby.  And  ask  no  other  dowry  with  her  but 
such  another  jest. 

Sir  Andrew.  Nor  I  neither. 
Fabian.  Here  comes  my  noble  gull -catcher. 
Sir  Toby.    Wilt  thou  set  thy  foot  o9  my  neck  ? 
Sir  Andrew.  Or  0'  mine  either  ?  " 

This  seems  traceable  to  a  passage  in  the  10th 
chapter  of  Joshua — 


TWELFTH  NIGHT.  145 

"  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  they  brought  out  those 
kings  unto  Joshua,  that  Joshua  callecf  for  all  the  men 
of  Israel,  and  said  unto  the  captains  of  the  men  of  war 
which  went  with  him,  Come  near,  put  your  feet  upon 
the  necks  of  these  kings.  And  they  came  near,  and  put 
their  feet  upon  the  necks  of  them"  Josh.  x.  24. 

Words  to  this  effect  are  put  into  the  mouth  of 
Volumnia,  in  the  third  scene  and  first  act  of  the 
play,  entitled  ^  Coriolanus  :" — 

"  Volum.    He'll  beat  Aufidius'  head  below  his  knee, 
And  tread  upon  his  neck" 


ACT  III.      SCENE  II. 

"  Fabian.  I  will  prove  it  legitimate,  sir,  by  the  oaths 
of  judgment  and  reason. 

Sir  Toby.  And  they  have  been  grand-jurymen  since 
before  Noah  was  a  sailor'9 

["  Before  Noah  was  a  sailor."] — Shakespeare 
may  derive  this  allusion  to  the  deluge,  either  from 
the  7th  chapter  of  Genesis — the  3rd  chapter  of 
the  1st  Epistle  of  St.  Peter — or  the  2nd  chapter 
of  the  2nd  Epistle  of  this  writer.  There  are  two 
more  extracts  from  plays  which  contain  allusions 
to  the  deluge ;  one  in  As  You  Like  It,  and 
another  in  the  Comedy  of  Errors.  These  cases 
shall  be  here  brought  together,  followed  by  a  per- 
tinent passage  from  the  Book  of  Genesis. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 
AS    YOU    LIKE    IT, 

ACT  V.      SCENE  IV. 

Enter  TOUCHSTONE  and  AUDREY. 

"  Jacques.  There  is,  sure,  another  flood  toward,  and 
these  couples  are  coming  to  the  ark  !  Here  comes  a  pair 
of  very  strange  beasts,  which  in  all  tongues  are  called 
fools." 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


THE  COMEDY  OF  EBBOBS, 

ACT  III.       SCENE  II. 

"  Antip.  of  Syracuse.  What  complexion  is  she  of] 

Dromio  of  Syracuse.  Swart,  like  my  shoe,  but  her 
face  nothing  like  so  clean  kept ;  for  why  ?  she  sweats, 
a  man  may  go  over  his  shoes  in  the  grime  of  it. 

Antip.  of  Syracuse.  That's  a  fault  that  water  will 
inend. 

Dromio  of  Syracuse.  No,  sir,  'tis  in  grain  j  Noah's 
flood  could  not  do  it." 

["  Noah's  flood,"  &c/j — "  And  the  rain  was  upon  the 
earth  forty  days  and  forty  nights.  In  the  selfsame  day 
entered  Noah,  and  Shem,  and  Ham,  and  Japheth,  the 
sons  of  Noah,  and  Noah's  wife,  and  the  three  wives  of 
his  sons  with  them,  into  the  ark ; 

"  They,  and  every  beast .  after  his  kind,  and  all  the 
cattle  after  their  kind,  and  every  creeping  thing  that 
creepeth  upon  the  earth  after  his  kind,  and  every  fowl 
after  his  kind,  every  bird  of  every  sort.  And  they 
went  in  unto  Noah  into  the  ark,  two  and  two  of  all  flesh, 
wherein  is  the  breath  of  life. 

"  And  the  flood  was  forty  days  upon  the  earth  ;  and 
the  waters  increased,  and  bare  up  the  ark,  and  it  was 
lift  up  above  the  earth."  Gen.  vii.  12—15,  17. 


CHAPTEE    XX. 


TWELFTH    NIGHT. 

ACT    II!.      SCENE   IV. 

"  Sir  Toby.   Which  way  is  he,  in  the  name  of  sanctity  ? 
If  all  the  devils  of  hell  be  drawn  in  little, 
And  Legion  himself  possess*  d  him,  yet  I'll  speak  to  him." 

[uThe  devils  be  drawn  in  little,  and  Legion 
himself  possess'd  him/']  — For  this  strong  language, 
applied  to  Malvolio,  because  he  had  been  making 
himself  ridiculous  before  Olivia,  see  the  30th  verse 
of  8th  chapter  of  St.  Luke  : — 

<c.  What  is  thy  name  1  and  he  said,  Legion  :  because 
many  devils  were  entered  into  him." 

The  9th  verse  of  the  5th  chapter  of  St.  Mark  is 
very  similar  to  the  one  here  put  down. 


TWELFTH  NIGHT.  147 


ACT  V.       SCENE  I. 

The  CLOWN  derides  MALVOLIO'S  passion  for  OLIVIA. 

"  Clown.  Truly,  madam,  lie  holds  Bdzebub  at  the 
stave's  end,  as  well  as  any  man  in  his  case  may  do  : 
h'as  here  writ  a  letter  to  you,  I  should  have  given't  you 
to-day  morning  ;  but,  as  a  madman  s  epistles  are  no 
gospels,  so  it  skills  not  much  when  they  are  delivered. 

Olivia.     Open't,  and  read  it." 

St.  Paul,  from  whose  writings  our  poet  selects 
passages,  is  declared  by  Festus  to  be  mad : — 

"Paul,  thou  art  beside  thyself;  much  learning  doth 
make  thee  mad. 

"  But  he  said,  I  am  not  mad,  most  noble  Festus, 
but  speak  forth  the  words  of  truth  and  soberness." 
Acts  xxvi.  24,  25. 

This  false  charge  against  St.  Paul,  and  the 
peculiar  circumstances  which  call  forth  Malvolio's 
epistle,  might  give  rise  to  the  humorous  remark — 
A  madman  s  epistles  are  no  gospels. 


CHAPTER    XXI. 


THE   TWO   GENTLEMEN  OF  VEEONA. 


Launce  and  Speed,  the  awkward  servants  of 
the  two  gentlemen,  Proteus  and  Valentine,  furnish 
minor  additions  to  the  matter  now  before  us. 


ACT    II.      SCENE  V. 

"  Speed.     But  tell  me  true,  will't  be  a  match  ? 

Launce.  Ask  my  dog  :  if  he  say  Ay,  it  will  j  if  he 
say  No,  it  will ;  if  he  shake  his  tail  and  say  nothing,  it 
will. 

Speed.     The  conclusion  is,  then,  that  it  will. 

Launce.  Thou  shalt  never  get  such  a  secret  from 
me,  but  by  a  parable" 

["  But  by  a  parable."] — "  Without  a  parable  spake 
he  not  unto  them."  Matt.  xiii.  34. 

"  I  will  open  my  mouth  in  a  parable."  Psalm 
Ixxviii.  2. 


THE  TWO  GENTLEMEN  OF  VERONA.  149 


ACT  II.      SCENE  V. 

"  Speed.     I  tell  thee  my  master  is  become  a  hot  lover. 

Launce.  Why,  I  tell  thee,  I  care  not  though  he  burn 
himself  in  love.  If  thou  wilt  go  with  me  to  the  ale- 
house, so  ;  if  not,  thou  art  an  Hebrew,  a  Jew,  not  worth 
the  name  of  a  Christian, 

Speed.     "Why  ] 

Launce.  Because  thou  hast  not  so  much  charity  in 
thee  as  to  go  to  the  ale-house  with  a  Christian" 

["  If  not,  thou  art  an  Hebrew,  a  Jew."] — A 
playful  allusion,  perhaps,  to  the  prejudices  of  the 
first  Jewish  Christians,  of  which  we  subjoin  an 
instance  : — 

"  And  when  Peter  was  come  up  to  Jerusalem,  they 
that  were  of  the  circumcision  contended  with  him, 
saying, 

"  Thou  wentest  in  to  men  uncircumcised,  and  didst 
eat  with  them."  Acts  xi.  2,  3. 


ACT  III.      SCENE   I, 

"Speed.    Item.     She  is  proud. 
Launce.     Out  with  that  too  ;  it  was  Eve's  legacy, 
and  cannot  be  taken  from  her." 

["Pride,  Eve's  legacy."] — From  this  passage — 

"  When  the  woman  saw  that  the  tree  was  good  for 
food,  and  that  it  was  pleasant  to  the  eyes,  and  a  tree 


150  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

to  be  desired  to  'make  one  wise,  she  took  of  the  fruit 
thereof."     Gen.  iii.  6. 


We  now  pass  on  to  The  Merchant  of  Venice  ; 
from  this  play  we  aggregate  impressive  evidence 
of  Shakespeare's  biblical  lore  : — 


ACT  i.    SCENE  in. 

"  Shylock.  But  ships  are  but  boards,  sailors  but 
men  :  there  be  land  rats  and  water  rats,  water  thieves 
and  land  thieves — I  mean  pirates  ;  and  then  there  is 
the  peril  of  waters,  winds,  and  rocks.  The  man  (An- 
thonio)  is  notwithstanding  sufficient  : — three  thousand 
ducats  ; — I  think  I  may  take  his  bond. 

Bassanio.    Be  assur'd  you  may. 

Shylock.  I  will  be  assur'd  I  may  ;  and,  that  I  may 
be  assur'd,  I  will  bethink  me.  May  I  speak  with 
Anthonio  *? 

Bassanio.  If  it  please  you  to  dine  with  us. 

Shylock.  Yes,  to  smell  pork ;  to  eat  of  the  habitation 
which  your  prophet  the  Nazarite  conjured  the  devil  into : 
I  will  buy  with  you,  sell  with  you,  talk  with  you, 
walk  with  you,  and  so  following ;  but  I  will  not  eat 
with  you,  drink  with  you,  nor  pray  with  you." 

["  To  eat  of  that  which  your  prophet  the  Naza- 
rite."]— The  word  Nazarite,  in  this  instance,  merely 
means  Nazarene,  or  inhabitant  of  Nazareth,  a  town 
of  Galilee.  Our  Saviour  was  despised  and  rejected 
by  the  Jews,  because  he  was  conceived  and 


THE  MERCHANT  OF  VENICE.  151 

brought  up  at  Nazareth.  The  ill  name  which 
Nazareth  had  amongst  the  Jews,  is  clear  from! the 
following  extract — 

"  Philip  findeth  Nathaniel,  and  saith  unto  him,  We 
have  found  him  of  whom  Moses  in  the  law,  and  the 
prophets,  did  write,  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  the  son  of 
Joseph.  And  Nathaniel  said  unto  him,  Can  any  good 
thing  come  out  of  Nazareth  1  Philip  saith  unto  him, 
Come  and  see."  John  i.  45,  46. 

Samson  and  Samuel  were  Nazarites  in  a  different 
sense.  The  word  Nazarite,  applied  to  these  cha- 
racters, denotes  a  particular  sort  of  separation  and 
devotedness  to  God.  The  Nazarite  was  u  to  drink 
no  wine  nor  strong  drink,  and  to  let  no  razor 
touch  his  head/'  in  token  of  this  separation.  Of 
these  Nazarites  there  were  two  kinds  :  those  who 
were  devoted  to  God  for  life ;  and  those  who  were 
Nazarites  only  for  a  limited  time.  Samson  and 
Samuel  belonged  to  the  former  kind,  which  was, 
in  some  respects,  lest  strict  than  the  latter. 

["  Your  prophet  the  Nazarite  conjured  the  devil 
into."] — This  miracle  is  recorded  in  the  8th  chapter 
of  St.  Luke — 

"  And  they  arrived  at  the  country  of  the  Gadarenes, 
which  is  over  against  Galilee.  And  when  he  went 
forth  to  land,  there  met  him  out  of  the  city  a  certain 
man  which  had  devils  long  time,  and  ware  no  clothes, 
neither  abode  in  any  house,  but  in  the  tombs. 

"  When  he  saw  Jesus,  he  cried  out,  and  fell  down 


152  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

before  him,  and  with  a  loud  voice  said,  What  have  I  to 
do  with  thee,  Jesus,  thou  son  of  God  Most  High  ?  I 
beseech  thee,  torment  me  not.  (For  he  had  command- 
ed the  unclean  spirit  to  come  out  of  the  man.)  And 
Jesus  asked  him,  saying,  What  is  thy  name  ?  And  he 
said,  Legion :  because  many  devils  were  entered  into 
him. 

"  And  they  besought  him  that  he  would  not  command 
them  to  go  out  into  the  deep. 

u  And  there  was  there  an  herd  of  many  swine  feeding 
on  the  mountain  :  and  they  besought  him  that  he  would 
suffer  them  to  enter  into  them.  And  he  suffered  them. 

"  Then  went  the  devils  out  of  the  man,  and  entered  into 
the  swine :  and  the  herd  ran  violently  down  a  steep 
place  into  the  lake,  and  were  choked."  Luke  viii. 
26—33. 

As  Shylock  says,  however,  in  reference  to  this 
miracle,  "  conjured  the  devil  into,"  not  devils ;  the 
thought  might  arise  from  the  account  given  in  the 
5th  chapter  of  St.  Mark :  the  parable  there  ends 
thus — 

"  And  they  come  to  Jesus,  and  see  him  which  was 
possessed  with  the  devil,  and  had  the  legion,  sitting,  and 
clothed,  and  in  his  right  mind  :  and  they  were  afraid. 

"  And  they  that  saw  it  told  them  how  it  befell  to  him 
that  was  possessed  with  the  devil,  and  also  concerning 
the  swine.  And  they  began  to  pray  him  to  depart  out 
of  their  coasts. 

"And  when  he  was  come  into  the  ship,  he  that  had 
been  possessed  with  the  devil  prayed  him  that  he  might 
be  with  him."  Mark  v.  15— -18. 


THE  MERCHANT  OF  VENICE.          153 


ACT  I.  SCENE  III. 

"  Shylock.  What  news  on  the  Rialto  ?  Who  is  he 
comes  here  ? 

Enter  ANTHONIO. 

Bassanio.  This  is  signior  Anthonio. 

Shylock  (aside).    How  like  a  fawning  publican  he 

looks ! 
I  hate  him  for  he  is  a  Christian" 

["  Afawning  publican  he  looks."] — Such  a  temper 
is  shown  in  three  extracts  which  we  will  produce, 
e.g.— 

t(  Why  eateth  your  master  with  publicans  and  sin- 
ners ?"  Mat.  ix.  11. 

«  Why  do  ye  eat  and  drink  with  publicans  and  sin- 
ners?" Luke  v.  30. 

And  again,  in  the  Pharisee's  prayer  to  the  Most 
High- 

"  I  thank  thee,  that  I  am  not  as  other  men  are, 
extortioners,  unjust,  adulterers,  or  even  as  this  publican >." 
Luke  xviii.  11. 

But  we  cannot  determine  from  what  source  the 
notion,  "How  like  a  fawning  publican  he  looks/' 
without  doubt,  comes. 

[u  I  hate  him  for  he  is  a  Christian."] — On  the 
supposition  that  the  notion  "fawning  publican" 
was  taken  from  any  or  all  of  the  passages  above 


154  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

quoted,  the  term  Christian  would  still  be  correct 
in  Shylock' s  mouth ;  for  Shylock  may  be  said  to 
live  now.  The  word  Christian  was  not  known 
till  after  our  Lord's  departure  from  the  world :  our 
proof  of  this  is  negative  in  the  Gospels,  but  positive 
in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  :  "  The  disciples  were 
called  Christians  first  at  Antiocb."  Acts  xi.  26. 


ACT   I.    SCENE  III. 

"  Shylock.  "When   Jacob   grazed   his  uncle  Laban's 

sheep, 

This  Jacob  from  our  holy  Abraham  was 
(As  his  wise  mother  wrought  in  his  behalf) 
The  third  possessor  ;  ay,  he  was  the  third" 

["  As  his  wise  mother  wrought  in  his  behalf— the 
third  possessor."] — Jacob,  instigated  by  his  mother, 
Eebekah,  obtains  from  Isaac,  his  father,  the  bless- 
ing designed  for  the  first-born  Esau.  He  obtains 
from  Esau  his  birthright ;  and  consequently  gains 
both  the  birthright  and  the  blessing.  He  was,  as 
Shylock  states,  inheritor  of  the  promise  which  had 
been  made  by  the  Most  High  to  Abraham  and  to 
his  son  Isaac. 

"  And  Hebekah  spake  unto  Jacob  her  son,  saying, 
Behold,  I  heard  thy  father  speak  unto  Esau  thy  brother, 
saying, 

"  Bring  me  venison  and  make  me  savoury  meat,  that  I 
may  eat,  and  bless  thee  before  the  Lord  before  my  death. 


THE  MERCHANT  OP  VENICE.  155 

"  Now  therefore,  my  son,  obey  my  voice  according  to 
that  which  I  command  thee.  Go  now  to  the  flock,  and 
fetch  me  from,  thence  two  good  kids  of  the  goats ;  and 
I  will  make  them  savoury  meat  for  thy  father,  such  as 
he  loveth  :  and  thou  shalt  bring  it  to  thy  father,  that 
he  may  eat,  and  that  he  may  bless  thee  before  his  death. 
And  Jacob  said  unto  E/ebekah  his  mother.  Behold,  Esau 
my  brother  is  a  hairy  man,  and  I  am  a  smooth  man. 

"  My  father  perad venture  will  feel  me,  and  I  shall 
seem  to  him  as  a  deceiver ;  and  I  shall  bring  a  curse 
upon  me,  and  not  a  blessing. 

"And  his  mother  said  unto  him,  Upon  me  be  thy 
curse,  my  son :  only  obey  my  voice,  and  go  fetch  me 
t/iem"  Gen.  xxvii.  6 — 12. 

We  know,  too,  what  follows — Rebekahput  goodly 
raiment  of  her  son  Esau  upon  Jacob,  and  put  the 
skins  of  the  goats  upon  his  hands  and  upon  the 
smooth  of  his  neck,  and  dressed  for  him  savoury 
meat  such  as  Isaac  loved.  The  device  was  suc- 
cessful: yet  the  blind  and  infirm  Isaac  was  not 
easily  deceived;  for  after  examination  he  says  to 
Jacob — 

"  The  voice  is  Jacob's  voice,  but  the  hands  are  the 
hands  of  Esau." 

He  also  adds  even  then — 

0  Art  thou  my  very  son  Esau  1  and  he  said,  I  arn," 

Isaac  then  partakes  of  the  savoury  meat  brought 
by  Jacob,  and  blesses  him  in  these  words — 


156  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

"  God  give  thee  of  the  dew  of  heaven,  and  the  fatness 
of  the  earth,  and  plenty  of  corn  and  wine. 

"  Let  people  serve  thee,  and  nations  bow  down  to 
thee  :  be  lord  over  thy  brethren,  and  let  thy  mother's 
sons  bow  down  to  thee  :  cursed  be  every  one  that 
curseth  thee,  and  blessed  be  he  that  blesseth  thee." 
Gen.  xxvii.  28,  29. 

"Antonio.  And  what  of  him;  did  he  [i.  e.,  Jacob] 
take  interest  ? 

Shylock.  No,  not  take  interest ;  not,  as  yon  would  say, 
Directly  interest :  mark  what  Jacob  did. 
When  Laban  and  himself 'were  compromised, 
That  all  the  eanlings  which  were  streatid  and  pied 
Should  fall,  as  Jacob's  hire  ;  the  ewes,  being  rank 
In  the  end  of  autumn,  turned  to  the  rams  : 
And  when  the  work  of  generation  was 
Between  these  woolly  breeders  in  the  act, 
The  skilful  shepherd  peel'd  me  certain  wands, 
And  in  the  doing  of  the  deed  of  kind, 
He  stuck  them  up  before  the  fulsome  ewes  ; 
Who,  then  conceiving,  did  in  eaning  time 
Fall  party-coloured  lambs,  and  those  were  Jacob's. 
This  was  a  way  to  thrive,  and  he  was  blest ; 
And  thrift  is  blessing,  if  men  steal  it  not" 

["  The  skilful  shepherd  peel'd  me  certain  wands."] — 
"  And  Laban  said  unto  him,  I  pray  thee,  if  I  have 
found  favour  in  thine  eyes,  tarry  : 

"And  he  said,  Appoint  me  thy  wages,  and  I  will 
give  it. 

"  And  he  said,  What  shall  I  give  thee  ?  and  Jacob 
said,  Thou  shalt  not  give  me  any  thing :  if  thou  wilt 


THE  MERCHANT  OF  VENICE,  157 

do  tliis  thing  for  me,  I  will  again  feed  and  keep  thy 
flock. 

"  I  will  pass  through  all  thy  flock  to-day,  removing 
from  thence  all  the  speckled  and  spotted  cattle,  and  all 
the  brown  cattle  amongst  the  sheep,  and  the  spotted 
and  speckled  among  the  goats  :  and  of  such  shall  be 
my  hire. 

"  So  shall  my  righteousness  answer  for  me  in  time  to 
come,  when  it  shall  come  for  my  hire  before  thy  face  : 
every  one  that  is  not  speckled  and  spotted  among  the 
goats,  and  brown  among  the  sheep,  that  shall  be  counted 
stolen  with  me. 

"Arid  Laban  said,  Behold,  I  would  it  might  be 
according  to  thy  word. 

"  And  he  removed  that  day  the  lie- goats  that  were 
ring-stroked  and  spotted,  and  all  the  she-goats  that  were 
speckled  and  spotted,  and  every  one  that  had  some  white 
in  it,  and  all  the  brown  among  the  sheep,  and  gave  them 
into  the  hand  of  his  sons. 

"And  he  set  three  days'  journey  betwixt  himself 
and  Jacob :  and  Jacob  fed  the  rest  of  Laban's  flocks. 

"  And  Jacob  took  him  rods  of  green  poplar,  and  of 
the  hazel  and  chestnut  tree ;  and  pilled  white  strokes  in 
them,  and  made  the  white  appear  which  was  in  the  rods, 

"  And  he  set  the  rods  which  he  had  pilled  before  the 
Jlocks  in  the  gutters,  in  the  watering- troughs  when  the 
flocks  came  to  drink,  that  they  should  conceive  when 
they  came  to  drink. 

a  And  the  Jlocks  conceived  before  the  rods,  and  brough 
forth  cattle  ring-straked,  speckled,  and  spotted. 

"And  Jacob  did  separate  the  lambs,  and  set  the  faces 
of  the  Jlocks  toward  the  ring-straked,  and  all  the  brown. 


Io8  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

in  the  flock  of  Laban ;  and  he  put  his  own  flocks  by 
themselves,  and  put  them  not  unto  Laban's  cattle. 

"  And  it  came  to  pass,  whenever  the  stronger  cattle 
did  conceive)  that  Jacob  laid  the  rods  before  the  eyes  of 
the  cattle  in  the  gutters,  that  they  might  conceive  among 
the  rods. 

"  But  when  the  cattle  were  feeble,  he  put  them  not 
in :  so  the  feebler  were  Laban's  and  the  stronger 
Jacob's."  Gen.  xxx.  27-42. 

Anthonio  then  adds  in  answer  to  Shylock — 

"  Anthonio.    This   was   a   venture,    sir,    that   Jacob 

served  for  ; 

A  thing  not  in  his  power  to  bring  to  pass, 
But  sway'd,  and  fashion'd,  by  the  hand  of  Heaven. 
Was  this  inserted  to  make  interest  good  ? 
Or  is  your  gold  and  silver,  ewes  and  rams  ? 

Shylock.  I  cannot  tell ;  I  make  it  breed  as  fast : — 
But  note  me,  signior. 

Anthonio.  Mark  you  this,  Bassanio, 
The  devil  can  cite  scripture  for  his  purpose." 

Satan  cites  scripture  for  his  purpose  in  4th 
chapter  of  Matthew,  when  he  says  to  Christ — "  If 
thou  be  the  Son  of  God,  cast  thyself  down  [from 
this  pinnacle  of  the  temple]  ;  for  it  is  written, 
"  He  shall  give  his  angels  charge  concerning  thee: 
and  in  their  hands  they  shall  bear  thee  up,  lest  at 
any  time  thou  dash  thy  foot  against  a  stone." 
See  llth  and  12th  verses  of  91st  Psalm. 

["  A  thing  not  in  his  power  to  bring  to  pass,  but 


THE  MERCHANT  OF  VENICE.  159 

sway'd,  and  fashion'd,  by  the  hand  of  Heaven."] — "  And 
Jacob  beheld  the  countenance  of  Laban,  and,  behold,  ifc 
was  not  towards  him  as  before. 

"  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Jacob,  Return  unto  the 
land  of  thy  fathers,  and  to  thy  kindred ;  and  I  will  be 
with  thee. 

"  And  Jacob  sent  and  called  Each  el  and  Leah  to  the 
field  unto  his  flock. 

"And  said  unto  them,  I  see  your  father's  coun- 
tenance, that  it  is  not  toward  me  as  before ;  but  the 
God  of  my  father  hath  been  with  me. 

"  And  ye  know,  that  with  all  my  power  I  have  served 
your  father. 

"  And  your  father  hath  deceived  me,  and  changed 
my  wages  ten  times ;  but  God  suffered  him  not  to  hurt 
me. 

"  If  he  said  thus,  The  speckled  shall  be  thy  wages ; 
then  all  the  cattle  bare  speckled:  and  if  he  said  thus, 
The  ring-straked  shall  be  thy  hire ;  then  bare  all  the 
cattle  ring-straked. 

"  Thus  God  hath  taken  away  the  cattle  of  your  father, 
and  given  them  to  me."  Gen.  xxxi.  2 — 9. 


ACT    II.        SCENE    V. 

Shyloctts  House.    Enter  SHYLOCK  and  LAUNCELOT,  and 
then  JESSICA. 

"  Shyloch  What !    are  there  masques  ?  .  Hear  you 

me,  Jessica  : 

Lock  up  my  doors ;  and  when  you  hear  the  drum, 
And  the  vile  squeaking  of  the  wry-neck'd  fife, 


160  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

Clamber  not  you  up  to  the  casements  then, 
Nor  thrust  your  head  into  the  public  street, 
To  gaze  on  Christian  fools  with  varnish'd  faces  : 
But  stop  my  house's  ears,  I  mean  my  casements; 
Let  not  the  sound  of  shallow  foppery  enter 
My  sober  house. — By  Jacob's  staff,  I  swear, 
I  have  no  mind  of  feasting  forth  to-night : 
But  I  will  go. — Go  you  before  me,  sirrah ; 
Say  I  will  come. 

Launcelot.  I  will  go  before,  sir. — 
Mistress,  look  out  at  window,  for  all  this ; 
There  will  come  a  Christian  by, 
Will  be  worth  a  Jewess'  eye. 
ShylocL  What  says  that  fool  of  Hagar's  offspring, 

ha? 

Jessica.  His  words  were,  Farewell,  mistress ;  nothing 
else." 

["By  Jacob's  staff,  I  swear."] — By  a  word  some- 
times, Shakespeare  shows  how  thoroughly  he  must 
have  read  the  Bible.  Jacob  mentions  his  staff  in 
the  10th  verse  of  the  32nd  chapter  of  Genesis. 

"And  Jacob  said,  O  God  of  my  father  Abraham, 
-and  God  of  my  father  Isaac,  the  Lord  which  saidst 
unto  me,  Return  unto  thy  country,  and  to  thy  kindred, 
and  I  will  deal  well  with  thee  : 

"  I  am  not  worthy  of  the  least  of  all  the  mercies,  and 
of  all  the  truth,  which  thou  hast  shewed  unto  thy 
servant ;  for  with  my  staff  I  passed  over  this  Jordan  ; 
and  now  I  am  become  two  bands."  Gen.  xxxii.  9,  10. 

["That  fool  of  Hagar's  offspring."]— " And  Sarah 


THE  MERCHANT  OP  VENICE.  161 

saw  the  son  of  Hagar  the  Egyptian,  which  she  had 
born  unto  Abraham,  mocking. 

"  Wherefore  she  said  unto  Abraham,  Cast  out  this 
bondwoman  and  her  son : — Arid  God  said  unto  Abra- 
ham, let  it  not  be  grievous  in  thy  sight  because  of,  the 
lad,  and  because  of  thy  bondwoman;  in  all  that  Sarah 
hath  said  unto  thee,  hearken  unto  her  voice ;  for  in 
Isaac  shall  thy  seed  be  called. 

"  And  also  of  the  son  of  the  bondwoman  will  I  make 
a  nation,  because  he  is  thy  seed."  Gen.  xxi.  9,  10 — 
12,  13. 


ACT  111.    SCENE  I. 

A  Street  in  Venice. 

"  TubaL  There  came  divers  of  Anthonio's  creditors 
in  my  company  to  Venice,  that  swear  he  cannot  chuse 
but  break. 

Shylock.  I  am  glad  of  it. ;  I'll  plague  him  ;  I'll  tor- 
ture him  j  I  am  glad  of  it. 

TubaL  One  of  them  showed  me  a  ring,  that  he  had 
of  your  daughter  for  a  monkey. 

Shylock.  Out  upon  her!  Thou  torturest  me,  Tubal: 
it  was  my  torquoise  ;  I  had  it  of  Leah,  when  I  was 
a  bachelor ::  I  would  not  have  given  it  for  a  wilderness 
of  monkeys*" 

Leah  and  Tubal  are  both  names  found  in  scrip- 
ture ;  we  have  already  quoted  passages  which  con- 
tain them.  Leah  is. found  in  a  passage  quoted  in 
this  play,  and  Tubal  in  one  quoted  in  the  play  of 
Henry  IV. 


162  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

["Tubal."]— "The  sons   of  Japheth ;   Gomer,   and 
Magog,  and  Madai,  and  Javan,  and  Tubal.    Gen.  x.  2. 


ACT  III.        SCENE  V. 

Enter  LAUNCELOT  and  JESSICA. 

" Launcelot.  Yes,  truly; — for,  look  you,  the  sins  of 
the  father  are  to  be  laid  upon  the  children;  therefore, 
I  promise  you,  I  fear  you." 

["  Sins  of  the  father  to  be  laid  upon  the  children."] — 
"  Visiting  the  iniquity  of  the  fathers  upon  the  children 
unto  the  third  and  fourth  generation  of  them  that  hate 
me."  Exodus  xx.  5. 


ACT  IV.       SCENE  I. 

"  Shylock.  These  be  the  Christian  husbands  :  I  have 

a  daughter — 

'Would  any  of  the  stock  of  Barrabas 
Had  been  her  husband,  rather  than  a  Christian  ! " 

(Aside.) 

Shylock  thus  mutters  to  himself,  when  Bassanio 
and  Gratiano  protest  that  they  would  sacrifice 
their  wives,  dear  as  they  are  to  them,  to  deliver 
Anthonio  from  his  implacable  enemy.  These  words 
of  Shylock  are,  of  necessity,  introduced  before 
matter  which,  in  the  play,  will  be  found  to  precede 
them. 

["  The  stock  of  Barrabas  or  Barabbas." — "They  had 
then  a  notable  prisoner,  called  Barabbas. 


THE  MERCHANT  OF  VENICE.  163 

"  The  chief  priests  and  elders  persuaded  the  multi- 
tude that  they  should  ask  Par  abbas,  and  destroy  Jesus . 

"  The  governor  answered  and  said  unto  them, 
Whether  of  the  twain  will  ye  that  I  release  unto  you  ? 
They  said,  Barabbas"  Matt,  xxvii.  16,  20,  21. 

"  They  cried  out  all  at  once,  saying,  Away  with  this 
man,  and  release  unto  us  Barabbas  : 

("  Who  for  a  certain  sedition  made  in  the  city,  and 
for  murder ,  was  cast  into  prison."  Luke  xxiii.  18,  19. 

"  Then  cried  they  all  again,  saying,  [release]  Not  this 
man,  but  Barabbas.  Now  Barabbas  was  a  robber." 
John  xviii.  40. 


ACT  IV.        SCENE  I. 

"  Portia.  Do  you  confess  the  bond  ? 

Anthonio.'Ido. 

Portia.  Then  must  the  Jew  be  merciful. 

ShylocJc.  On  what  compulsion  must  I  ?  tell  me  that. 

Portia.  The  quality  of  mercy  is  not  strained  ; 
It  droppeth,  as  the  gentle  rain  from  heaven 
Upon  the  place  beneath  :  it  is  twice  bless' d; 
It  blesseth  him  that  gives,  and  him  that  takes  : 
9Tis  mightiest  in  the  mightiest ;  it  becomes 
The  throned  monarch  better  than  his  crown  : 
His  sceptre  shews  the  force  of  temporal  power, 
The  attribute  to  awe  and  majesty, 
Wherein  doth  sit  the  dread  and  fear  of  kings  ; 
But  mercy  is  above  this  sceptr'd  sway, 
It  is  enthroned  in  the  hearts  of  kings, 
It  is  an  attribute  to  God  himself; 


164  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

Arid  earthly  power  doth  then  shew  likest  God's, 
When  mercy  seasons  justice  :  Therefore,  Jew, 
Though  justice  be  thy  plea,  consider  this, — 
That  in  the  course  of  justice,  none  of  us 
Should  see  salvation  :  we  do  pray  for  mercy  ; 
And  that  same  prayer  doth  teach  us  all  to  render 
The  deeds  of  mercy? 

["  It  droppeth,  as  the  gentle  rain  from  heaven."] 

This  splendid  idea  might  have  been  derived  from 
the  32nd  chapter  of  Deuteronomy,  or  from  the 
29th  chapter  of  Job,  or  from  a  vague  recollection 
of  both  passages,  where  a  similar  sentiment  is  to 
be  found. 

"my  doctrine  shall  drop  as  the  rain,  my 

speech  shall  distil  as  the  dew,  as  the  small  rain  upon  the 
tender  herb,  and  as  showers  upon  the  grass." — Deut. 
xxxiL  chap,,  2  v. 

[«  It  is  twice  bless'd."] 

"  Blessed  are  the  merciful :  for  they  shall  obtain 
mercy." — Matthew  v.  chap.,  7  verse. 

["  It  blesseth  him  that  gives,  and  him  that  takes."] 

"  The  merciful  man  doeth  good  to  his  own  soul." — 
Prov.  xi.  chap.,  17  verse. 

As  well  as  '  blesseth  him '  upon  whom  he  exercises 
benignity. 

["  'Tis  mightiest  in  the  mightiest."] 

" As  his  [the  Lord's]  majesty  is,  so  is  his  mercy'' — 
Ecclesiasticus  ii.  chap.,  18  verse. 


THE  MERCHANT  OF  VENICE.  165 

[ "  it  becomes 

The  throned  monarch  better  than  his  crown."] 

"  Mercy  and  truth  preserve  the  king  :  and  his  throne 
is  npholden  by  mercy." — Proverbs  xx.  chap.,  28  verse. 

Job  says,  too — 

"  The  blessing  of  him  that  was  ready  to  perish  came 
upon  me  : 

"  I  put  on  righteousness,  and  it  clothed  me :  my 
judgment  was  as  a  robe  and  a  diadem" 

["  Mercy  droppeth  as  the  gentle  rain."] 

"  Unto  me  men  gave  ear." 

•  ft  my  speech  dropped  upon  them, 

and  they  waited  for  me  as  for  the  rain,  &c. 

"  I  chose  out  their  way,  and  sat  chief,  and  dwelt  as 
a,  king  in  the  army,  as  one  that  comforteth  the  mourners" 
Job  xxix.  chap,,  13,  14,  21,  22,  23,  and  25  verses. 

["  It  is  an  attribute  to  God  himself."] 

"  Blessed  be  God     ....     the  Father  of  mer- 
cies, and  God  of  all  comfort" — 2  Cor.  1  chap.,  3  verse. 
"  His  mercy  endureth  for  ever." — cxxxvi.  Psalm. 

["  Earthly  power  doth  then  shew  likest  God's, 
When  mercy  seasons  justice"] 

"What  doth  the  Lord  require  of  thee,  but  to  do 
justly  and  to  love  mercy" — Micah  vi.  chap.,  8  verse. 

["  In  the  course  of  justice,  none  of  us  should  see 
salvation"] 

"  Not  by  works  of  righteousness  which  we  have  done, 


166  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

but  according  to  his  mercy  lie,  saved  us."  —  Epistle  to 
Titus,  iii.  chap. 

["  We  do  pray  for  mercy  ; 

And  that  same  prayer  doth  teach  us  all  to  render  the 
deeds  of 


An  allusion,  surely,  to  that  passage  in  the  Lord's 
prayer  —  "  Forgive  us  our  sins  ;  for  we  also  forgive 
every  one  that  is  indebted  to  us."  —  Luke  xi.  chap., 
4  verse. 


ACT  IV.        SCENE  I. 

"  JBassanio.  Wresb  once  the  law  to  your  authority  : 
To  do  a  great  right,  do  a  little  wrong ; 
Arid  curb  this  cruel  devil  of  his  will. 
>    Portia  (in  the  character  of  a  Doctor  of  laws.)  It  must 

not  be ;  there  is  no  power  in  Venice 
Can  alter  a  decree  established  : 
'Twill  be  recorded  for  a  precedent ; 
And  many  an  error  by  the  same  example, 
Will  rush  into  the  state  :  it  cannot  be. 

Shylock.  A  Daniel  come  to  judgment !  yea,  a  Daniel ! 
O  wise  young  judge,  how  do  I  honour  thee  ! " 

Gratiano  says  too,  when  he  hears  that  the  Jew 
must  not  shed  a  drop  of  blood,  or  take  more  than 
a  just  pound  of  flesh,  otherwise  by  law  he  dies, 
and  his  goods  are  confiscate — 

61 A  second  Daniel,  a  Daniel,  Jew  ! 
Now,  infidel,  I  have  thee  on  the  hip." 


THE  MERCHANT  OF  VENICE.  167 

Also  again — 

"  A  Daniel,  still  say  I ;  a  second  Daniel ! 
I  thank  thee,  Jew,  for  teaching  me  that  word." 

When  Portia  says — 

"  He  hath  refused  it  (his  principal)  in  the  open  court ; 
He  shall  have  merely  justice,  and  his  bond." 

["  A  Daniel  come  to  judgment !  0  wise  young 
judge — a  second  Daniel,  a  Daniel,  Jew." — These 
expressions  in  praise  of  Portia,  Bassanio's  wife,  in 
the  habit  of  a  doctor  of  laws,  evidently  arose  from 
a  knowledge  of  the  history  of  Susanna.  For  a 
young  man  named  Daniel  takes  as  prominent  a 
part  there  in  delivering  Susanna  from  the  doom  of 
incontinence — a  crime  with  which,  though  inno- 
cent, she  is  charged  by  two  elders,  as  Portia  does 
in  protecting  Anthonio,  her  husband's  friend,  from 
the  malice  of  Shylock.  We  will  now  give  ex- 
tracts of  this  history  from  the  Apocrypha — 

"Therefore  when  she  (Susanna)  was  led  to  be  put  to 
death,  the  Lord  raised  up  the  holy  spirit  of  a  yoimg  youth, 
whose  name  was  Daniel"  Hist.  Susanna,  45th  verse. 

"  So  he,  standing  in  the  midst  of  them  (the  people), 
said,  Are  ye  such  fools,  ye  sons  of  Israel,  that,  without 
examination  or  knowledge  of  the  truth,  ye  have  con- 
demned a  daughter  of  Israel  1 "  48th  verse. 

"  Return  again  to  the  place  of  judgment,  for  they  (the 
two  elders)  have  borne  false  witness  against  her."  49th 
verse. 


1G8  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

Success  was  soon  the  result — 

"  And  Daniel  convicted  them  of  false  witness  by  their 
own  mouth."  61st  verse. 

"  Thus  the  innocent  blood  was  saved  the  same  day." 
Part  of  the  62nd  verse. 

"  And  from  that  day  forth  was  Daniel  had  in  great 
reputation  in  the  sight  of  the  people."  Hist,  Susanna, 
64th  verse. 


ACT  V.      SCENE  I. 

"  Nerissa.  There  do  I  give  to  you,  and  Jessica, 
From  the  rich  Jew,  a  special  deed  of  gift, 
After  his  death,  of  all  he  dies  possess'd  of. 

Lorenso.  Fair  ladies,  you  drop  manna  in  the  way  of 
starved  people" 

["  Drop  manna  in  the  way  of  starved  people."] 
— This  idea  is  clearly  to  be  traced  to  the  book  of 
Exodus,  from  which  we  abstract  our  proof: — 

"And  the  whole  congregation  of  the  children  of 
Israel  murmured  against  Moses  and  Aaron  in  the  wil- 
derness : 

"And  the  children  of  Israel  said  unto  them  * 
Ye  have  brought  us  forth  into  this  wilder- 
ness, to  kill  this  whole  assembly  with  hunger. 

"  Then  said  the  Lord  unto  Moses,  Behold,  I  will  rain 
bread  from  heaven  for  you ;  and  the  people  shall  go  out 
and  gather  a  certain  rate  every  day,  that  I  may  prove 
them,  whether  they  will  walk  in  my  law,  or  no. 


THE  MERCHANT  OF  VENICE.  169 

"  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  on  the  sixth  day 
they  shall  prepare  that  which  they  bring  in  j  and  it 
shall  be  twice  as  much  as  they  gather  daily.  *  *  * 

"  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying, 

"I  have  heard  the  murmurings  of  the  children  of 
Israel :  speak  unto  them,  saying,  At  even  ye  shall  eat 
flesh,  and  in  the  morning  ye  shall  be  filled  with  bread. 

"  And  it  came  to  pass,  that  at  even  the  quails  came  up, 
and  covered  the  camp ;  and  in  the  morning  the  dew  lay 
round  about  the  host. 

"  And  when  the  dew  that  lay  was  gone  up,  behold, 
upon  the  face  of  the  wilderness  there  lay  a  small  round 
thing,  as  small  as  the  hoar  frost,  on  the  ground. 

"And  when  the  children  of  Israel  saw  it,  they  said 
one  to  another,  It  is  manna"  Exod.  xvi.  2 — 15. 


M 


CHAPTER    XXII. 


THE  WINTEE'S  TALE. 

ACT  I,       SCENE  II. 

Leontes,  King  of  Sicilia,  unjustly  suspects  that 
his  Queen,  Hermione,  has  been  dishonoured  by 
Polixenes,  King  of  Bohemia. 

"  Camilla.  I  am  appointed  him  to  murder  you. 

Polixenes.  By  whom,  Camillo  ? 

Camilla.  By  the  king. 

Polixenes.  For  what  ? 

Camillo.    He   thinks,  nay,   with    all   confidence   he 

swears, 

As  he  had  seen't,  or  been  an  instrument 
To  vice  you  to't — that  you  have  touch'd  his  queen 
forbiddenly. 

Polixenes.  Oh  !  then  my  best  blood  turn 
To  an  infected  jelly  ;  and  my  name 
Be  yottd  with  his,  that  did  betray  the  best  I " 

["Be    yok'd    with    his,   that    did   betray   the 


THE  WINTER'S  TALE.  171 

best !"] — What  a  strong  repudiation  of  guilt  have 
we,  in  this  allusion  to  the  betrayal  of  our  Lord  by 
Judas  Iscariot ! 


ACT  111.        SCENE  II. 

From  the  defence  which  Hermione  makes  in  a 
court  of  justice,  when  arraigned  there  by  the 
jealous  Leontes : — 

"Hermione.  You,  my  lord,  best  know 
(Who  leasb  will  seem  to  do  so)  my  past  life 
Hath  been  as  continent,  as  chaste,  as  true, 
As  I  am  now  unhappy  ;  which  is  more 
Than  history  can  pattern,  though  devis'd, 
And  play'd,  to  take  spectators  :  For  behold  me, 
A  fellow  of  the  royal  bed,  which  owe 
A  moiety  of  the  throne,  a  great  king's  daughter, 
The  mother  to  a  hopeful  prince, — here  standing, 
To  prate  and  talk  for  life,  and  honour,  'fore 
Who  please  to  come  and  hear.     For  life,  I  prize  it 
As  I  weigh  grief,  which  I  would  spare  :  for  honour, 
'Tis  a  derivative  from  me  to  mine, 
And  only  that  I  stand  for" 

["For  honour,  'tis  a  derivative  from  me  to 
mine/'] — This  sentiment,  which  is  probably  bor- 
rowed from  Ecclus.  iii.  11,  cannot  be  too  often  im- 
pressed upon  the  female  mind  : 

"The  glory  of  a  man  is  from  the  honour  of  his 
father ;  and  a  mother  in  dishonour  is  a  reproach  to  the 
children. ' ' — S  tee  vens. 


172  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


ACT  III.        SCENE  111. 

The  clown  says  to  the  shepherd,  who  has  just 
found  the  infant  Perdita — 

"  You're  a  made  old  man ;  if  the  sins  of  your  youth 
are  forgiven  you,  you're  well  to  live.  Gold  !  all  gold  !  " 

["If  the  sins  of  your  youth  are  forgiven  you."] 
— In  the  Psalms,  from  whence  this  thought  comes, 
the  words  are — 

"Remember  not  the  sins  of  my  youth"  Psalm 
xxv.  7. 


ACT  V.      SCENE  III. 

Paulina  to  Hermione,  when  she  presents  to  her 
Perdita,  the  daughter  of  Leontes,  who  was  taken 
from  her  mother  w^hen  an  infant,  exposed  in  the 
woods,  and  brought  up  by  a  shepherd : — 

"  Turn,  good  lady ; 
Our  Perdita  is  found.         (Perdita  kneels  to  Hermione  ) 

Hermione.  You  gods,  look  down, 
And  from  your  sacred  vials  pour  your  graces 
Upon  my  daughters  head !  " 

In  the  5th.  chapter  of  Revelation  and  the  8th 
verse,  the  prayers  of  saints  are  said  to  be  the  con- 
tents of  golden  vials  : — 

"  Having  every  one  of  them  harps,  and  golden  vials 
full  of  odours,  ichich  are  the  prayers  of  saints." 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 


ALL'S  WELL  THAT  ENDS  WELL, 

Helena,  the  daughter  of  Gerard  de  Narbon,  a 
famous  physician,  some  time  since  dead,  that  she 
may  claim  Bertram,  Count  of  Rousillon,  for  a  hus- 
band, undertakes  to  cure  the  King  of  France  of  a 
fistula,  by  means  of  a  particular  recipe,  given  her 
by  her  father  on  his  deathbed. 

"  King.  "We  thank  you,  maiden ; 
But  must  not  be  so  credulous  of  cure, 
When  our  most  learned  doctors  leave  us  j  and 
The  congrega-ted  college  have  concluded, 
That  labouring  art  can  never  answer  nature 
From  her  inaidable  estate — >I  say  we  must  not 
So  stain  our  judgment,  or  corrupt  our  hope, 
To  prostitute  our  past-cure  malady 
To  empericks ;  or  to  dissever  so 
Our  great  self  and  our  credit,  to  esteem 
A  senseless  help,  when  help  past  sense  we  deem. 


174  SHAEESPEAEE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

Helena.  My  duty  then  shall  pay  me  for  my  pains  : 
I  will  no  more  enforce  mine  office  on  you ; 
Humbly  entreating  from  your  royal  thoughts 
A  modest  one,  to  bear  me  back  again. 

King.  I  cannot  give  thee  less,  to  be  call'd  grateful : 
Thou  thought'st  to  help  me ;  and  such  thanks  I  give, 
As  one  near  death  to  those  that  wish  him  live : 
But,  what  at  full  I  know,  thou  know'st  no  part ; 
I  knowing  all  my  peril,  thou  no  art. 

Helena.  What  I  can  do,  can  do  no  hurt  to  try, 
Since  you  set  up  your  rest  'gainst  remedy  : 
He  that  of  greatest  works  is  finisher, 
Oft  does  them  by  the  weakest  minister  : 
So  holy  writ  in  babes  hath  judgment  shown, 
When  judges  have  been  babes.     Great  floods  have  flown 
From  simple  sources;  and  great  seas  have  dry'd, 
When  miracles  have  by  the  greatest  been  denyd. 
Oft  expectation  fails,  and  most  oft  there 
Where  most  it  promises ;  and  oft  it  hits, 
Where  hope  is  coldest,  and  despair  most  sits." 

["He  that  of  greatest  works  is  finisher,  oft  does 
them  by  the  weakest  minister."] — "But  God  hath 
chosen  the  foolish  things  of  the  world  to  confound  the 
wise;  and  God  hath  chosen  the  weak  things  of  the 
world  to  confound  the  things  which  are  mighty." 
1  Cor.  i.  27. 

["  So  holy  writ  in  babes  hath  judgment  shown,  when 
judges  have  been  babes."] — "And  when  the  chief 
priests  and  scribes  saw  the  wonderful  things  that  he 
did,  and  the  children  crying  in  the  temple,  and  saying, 
Hosanna  to  the  Son  of  David ;  they  were  sore  dis- 
pleased, 


ALL'S  WELL  THAT  ENDS  WELL.  1 75 

"  And  said  unto  him,  Hearest  thou  what  these  say  1 
And  Jesus  saith  unto  them,  Yea ;  have  ye  never  read, 
Out  of  the  mouth  of  babes  and  sucklings  thou  hast 
perfected  praise?"'  Matt.  xxi.  15,  16. 

["  Great  floods  have  flown  from  SIMPLE  SOURCES;  and 
great  seas  have  dry'd."J — "  Oh  that  men  would  praise 
the  Lord  for  his  goodness,  and  for  his  wonderful  works 
to  the  children  of  men  ! 

"  He  turneth  rivers  into  a  wilderness,  and  the  water- 
springs  into  a  dry  ground.  *  *  * 

"  He  turneth  the  wilderness  into  a  standing  water ,  and 
DRY  GROUND  into  water  springs."  Psalm  cvii.  31,  33,  35. 

Again,  in  Psalm  cxiv.: — 

["  Great  seas  have  dryd,  when  miracles  have  by  the 
greatest  been  denied."] — "When  Israel  went  out  of 
Egypt,  the  house  of  Jacob  from  a  people  of  strange 
language ; 

"  Judah  was  his  sanctuary,  and  Israel  his  dominion. 

"  The  sea  saw  it,  and  fled:  Jordan  was  driven  back. 

"  Tremble  thou  earth,  at  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  at 
the  presence  of  the  God  of  Jacob." 

["  Great  floods  have  flown  from  simple  sources."] — 
"Which  turned  the  rock  into  a  standing  water,  THE 
FLINT  into  a  fountain  of  waters"  Psalm  cxiv.  1,  2,  3, 

7,8. 

ACT  IV.      SCENE  V. 

Lafeu,  an  old  lord,  thus  speaks  of  Helena,  \vho 
has  been  deserted  by  Bertram,  Count  of  Rousillon : 


176  SHAKESPEAKE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

"  Lafeu.  'Twas  a  good  lady,  'twas  a  good  lady :  we 
may  pick  a  thousand  salads,  ere  we  light  on.  such 
another  herb. 

Clown.  Indeed,  sir,  she  was  the  sweet-marjoram  of 
the  salad,  or,  rather,  the  herb  of  grace. 

Lafeu.  They  are  not  salad-herbs,  you  knave,  they 
are  nose-herbs. 

Clown.  I  am  no  great  Nebuchadnezzar,  sir,  I  have 
not  much  skill  in  grass" 

["No  great  Nebuchadnezzar;  I  have  not  much 
skill  in  grass."] — An  allusion  to  the  punishment 
inflicted  by  the  Almighty  upon  this  haughty  king 
for  his  pride  : — 

"  The  king  spake,  and  said,  Is  not  this  great  Baby- 
lon, that  I  have  built  for  the  house  of  the  kingdom,  by 
the  might  of  my  power,  and  for  the  honour  of  my 
majesty  2 

"  While  the  word  was  in  the  king's  mouth,  there  full 
a  voice  from  heaven,  saying,  0  king  Nebuchadnezzar,  to 
thee  it  is  spoken;  The  kingdom  is  departed  from  thee. 

"And  they  shall  drive  thee  from  men,  and  thy 
dwelling  shall  be  with  the  beasts  of  the  field:  they 
shall  make  thee  to  eat  grass  as  oxen,  and  seven  times 
shall  pass  over  thee,  until  thou  know  that  the  Most 
High  ruleth  in  the  kingdom  of  men,  and  giveth  it  to 
whomsoever  he  will. 

"  The  same  hour  was  the  thing  fulfilled  upon  Nebu- 
chadnezzar :  and  he  was  driven  from  men,  and  did  eat 
grass  as  oxen,  and  his  body  was  wet  with  the  dew  of 
heaven,  till  his  hairs  were  grown  like  eagles'  feathers, 
and  his  nails  like  birds'  claws."  Dan.  iv.  30-33. 


ALL'S  WELL  THAT  ENDS  WELL.  177 


Again — 


ACT  IV.      SCENE  V. 

CLOWN  to  LAFEU,  an  old  Lord. 

"  Clown.  Why,  sir,  if  I  cannot  serve  you,  I  can  serve 
as  great  a  prince  as  you  are. 

Lafeu.  Who's  that  ?  a  Frenchman  ? 

Clown.  Faith,  sir,  he  has  an  English  name  ;  but  his 
phisnomy  is  more  hotter  in  France,  than  there. 

Lafeu.  What  prince  is  that  % 

Clown.  The  black  prince,  sir ;  alias  the  prince  of 
darkness  ;  alias  the  devil. 

Lafeu.  Hold  thee,  there's  my  purse :  I  give  thee  not 
this  to  suggest  thee  from  thy  master  thou  talk'st  of; 
serve  him  still. 

Clown.  I  am  a  woodland  fellow,  sir,  that  always 
loved  a  great  fire;  and  the  master  I  speak  of,  ever 
keeps  a  good  fire.  But,  sure,  he  is  the  prince  of  the 
world,  let  his  nobility  remain  in  his  court.  /  am  for 
the  house  with  the  narrow  gate,  which  I  take  to  be  too 
little  for  pomp  to  enter  :  some  that  humble  themselves 
may;  but  the  many  will  be  too  chill  and  tender ;  and 
they'll  be  for  the  flowery  wayy  that  leads  to  the  broad 
gate,  and  the  great  fire." 

These  words  of  the  servant  are  very  tart — show 
the  wide  gap  that  may  exist  between  men  of  high 
and  low  degree,  and  the  feelings  that  are  awakened 
in  the  bosom  of  the  latter  class,  if  they  think  that 
they  are  held  in  contempt  by  those  that  sit  in 
high  places. 


178  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

["  But,  sure,  he  is  the  prince  of  the  world"] — From 
the  14th  chapter  of  St.  John.  "Peace  I  leave  with 
you,  my  peace  I  give  unto  you :  not  as  the  world 
giveth,  give  I  unto  you. 

"  Hereafter  I  will  not  talk  much  with  you  :  for  the 
prince  of  this  world  cometh,  and  hath  nothiDg  in  me." 
John  xiv.  27,  30. 

["  I  am  for  the  house  with  the  narrow  gate ;  but  the 
many,  theijll  be  for  the  flowery  way,  that  leads  to  the 
broad  gate}  and  the  great  fire."] — "  Enter  ye  in  at  the 
strait  gate  :  for  wide  is  the  gate,  and  broad  is  the  way, 
that  leadeth  to  destruction,  and  many  there  be  which  go 
in  thereat : 

"  Because  strait  is  the  gate,  and  narrow  is  the  way, 
which  leadeth  unto  life,  and  few  there  be  that  find  it." 
Matt.  vii.  13,  14. 

["  The  many  will  be  too  chill  and  tender;  and  they'll 
be  for  the  flowery  way"] — These  thoughts  seem  to  have 
sprung  from  some  recollection  of  passages  in  the 
2nd  chapter  of  the  Wisdom  of  Solomon  :  the  words  of 
the  ungodly  are  there  said  to  be — "  Let  us  enjoy  the 
good  things  that  are  present :  and  let  us  speedily  use 
the  creatures  like  as  in  youth. 

*(Let  us  fill  ourselves  with  costly  wine  and  oint- 
ments :  and  let  no  flower  of  the  spring  pass  by  us" 
ii.  6,  7. 

As  it  is  not  our  intention  to  investigate  any  of 
the  plays  of  Shakespeare  which  have  been  pro- 
nounced doubtful,  six  more  of  them,  viz.,  Love's 
Labour  lost;  Much  Ado  About  Nothing;  As 


ALL'S  WELL  THAT  ENDS  WELL.  179 

You  Like  It ;  Taming  of  the  Shrew ;  Measure  for 
Measure  ;  and  Comedy  of  Errors — will  complete 
the  list  of  those  which  are  universally  allowed  to 
be  emanations  of  his  genius. 


CHAPTER   XXIV. 


THE  PLAY  OE  LOVE'S  LABOUE  LOST. 

The  King  of  Navarre,  and  the  Lords  Biron, 
Dumain,  and  Longaville,  make  a  vow  that  no 
woman  shall  approach  them  at  the  court  of 
Navarre  till  they  have  passed  three  years  in  deep 
and  painful  study.  They  are  soon,  however,  all 
forsworn ;  for  the  King  makes  love  to  the  Princess 
of  France,  a  short  time  after  he  and  his  lords  sub- 
scribed their  names  to  the  schedule  touching  their 
oath,  and  the  three  lords  become  suitors  to  the 
ladies  who  attend  the  princess.  Thus  Biron  sues 
Rosaline ;  LongaviUe,  Maria;  and  Dumain,  Katha- 
rine. Yet  in  this  play  Shakespeare  intersperses, 
besides  other  biblical  examples,  several  characters 
that  are  connected  with  sacred  history.  The 
characters  are  these — Adam,  Eve,  Cain,  Judas 
Iscariot,  Holofernes,  Nathaniel,  Judas  Maccabeus, 
Samson,  and  Solomon. 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  LOST.  181 


ACT  I.   SCENE  II. 

DON  ADRIANO  DE  ARMADO,  a  fantastical  Spaniard,  and 
MOTH,  his  Page. 

"  Armado.  "What  great  men  have  been  in  love  ? 

Moth.  Hercules,  master. 

Armado.  Most  sweet  Hercules ! — More  authority, 
dear  boy,  name  more;  and,  sweet  my  child,  let  them  be 
men  of  good  repute  and  carriage. 

Moth.  Samson,  master  :  he  was  a  man  of  good  car- 
riage, great  carriage ;  for  he  carried  the  town  gates  on 
his  bac^  like  a  porter:  and  he  was  in  love. 

Armado.  O  well-knit  Samson !  strong-jointed  Sam- 
son !  I  do  excel  thee  in  my  rapier,  as  much  as  thou 
didst  me  in  carrying  gates.  I  am  in  love  too — Who 
was  Samson's  love,  iny  dear  Moth  ? 

Moth.  A  woman,  master. 

Armado.  Of  what  complexion  ? " 

["  As  thou  didst  me  in  carrying  gates.  I  am  in  love 
too — Who  was  Samson's  love  ? "] — "  Then  went  Sam- 
son to  Gaza,  and  saw  there  an  harlot,  and  went  in  unto 
her. 

"  And  it  was  told  the  Gazites,  saying,  Samson  is 
come  hither.  Ajid  they  compassed  him  in,  and  laid 
wait  for  him  all  night  in  the  gate  of  the  city,  and  were 
quiet  all  the  night,  saying,  In  the  morning,  when  it  is 
day,  we  shall  kill  him. 

"And  Samson  lay  till  midnight,  and  arose  at  mid- 
night, and  took  the  doors  of  the  gate  of  the  city,  and  tlw 


182  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

two  posts,  and  went  away  with  them,  bar  and  all,  and 
put  them  upon  his  shoulders,  and  carried  them  up  to  the 
top  of  an  hill,  that  is  before  Hebron."  Jud.  xvi.  1 — 3. 


ACT  I.       CLOSE   OF  SCENE  II. 

"  Armado.  Love  is  a  familiar  ;  love  is  a  devil :  there 
is  no  evil  angel  but  love.  Yet  Samson  was  so  tempted ; 
and  he  had  excellent  strength  :  yet  was  Solomon  so 
seduced;  and  he  had  a  very  good  wit." 

["  Yet  was  Solomon  so  seduced  ;  and  he  had  a  very 
good  wit."] — "  So  king  Solomon  exceeded  all  the  kings 
of  the  earth  for  riches  and  for  wisdom. 

"  And  all  the  earth  sought  to  Solomon,  to  hear  his 
wisdom,  which  God  had  put  in  his  heart."  1  Kings 
x.  23,  24. 

"But  King  Solomon  loved  many  strange  women, 
(together  with  the  daughter  of  Pharaoh,)  women  of 
the  Moabites,  Ammonites,  Edomites,  Zidonians,  and 
Hittites ; 

"  Of  the  nations  concerning  which  the  Lord  said  unto 
the  children  of  Israel,  Ye  shall  not  go  in  to  them, 
neither  shall  they  come  in  unto  you  :  for  surely  they 
will  turn  away  your  heart  after  their  gods :  Solomon 
clave  unto  these,  in  love. 

"  And  he  had  seven  hundred  wives,  princesses,  and 
three  hundred  concubines  :  and  his  wives  turned  away 
his  heart. 

"  For  it  came  to  pass,  when  Solomon  was  old,  that 
his  wives  turned  away  his  heart  after  other  gods  :  and 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  LOST.  183 

his  heart  was  not  perfect  with  the  Lord  his  God,  as 
was  the  heart  of  David  his  father."     1  Kings  xi.  1 — 4. 


ACT  III.      SCENE  I. 

"  Biron.  O  ! — and  I,  forsooth,  in  love  ! 
I,  that  have  been  love's  whip ; 
A  very  beadle  to  a  humorous  sigh  ; 
A  critic ;  nay,  a  night-watch  constable ; 
A  domineering  pedant  o'er  the  boy, 
Than  whom  no  mortal  so  magnificent ! 
This  wimpled,  whining,  purblind,  wayward  boy." 

["  This  wimpled.9'] — The  wimple  was  a  hood  or 
veil  which  fell  over  the  face. 

In  Isaiah  iii.  22,  we  find,  "  The  mantles,  and  the 
wimples,  and  the  crisping-pins." — Steevens. 


ACT  IV.        SCENE  II. 

DULL,  a  Constable,  SIR  NATHANIEL,  a  Curate,  and 
HOLOFERNES,  a  Schoolmaster. 

"  Dull.   You  two  are  book-men ;   Can  you  tell  by 

your  wit, 

What  was  a  month  old  at  Cain's  birth,  that's  not  five 
weeks  old  as  yet  ? " 

Shakespeare  makes  a  shrewd  hit  here.  For  to 
this  day,  how  delighted  are  the  iinlearned  if  they 
can  pose  their  parson  or  parish  schoolmaster  (both, 


184  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

perhaps,  thought  to  be  powerful  in  the  Scriptures) 
with  some  such  humorous  device  as  the  one  just 
mentioned. 

The  glory  of  conquest  is  great  if  such  a  riddle 
should  be  unsolved ;  because  either  parson  or 
schoolmaster  is  then  beaten  on  his  own  ground. 
Dull,  an  unlettered  man,  puts  this  puzzle  relative 
to  Cain's  birth  to  Sir  Nathaniel,  a  curate,  and 
Holofernes,  a  schoolmaster ;  and  with  playful 
malice  hopes  to  baffle  them,  in  spite  of  their 
acknowledged  superiority  as  book-men  to  himself. 
The  replies  made  to  Dull  are  very  characteristic 
of  the  persons  who  make  them ;  each  is  pedantic 
in  his  own  way. 

"Dull.  You  two  are  book-men;  Can  you  tell  by 

your  wit, 
What  was  a  month  old  at  Cam's  birth,  that's  not  five 

weeks  old  as  yet  ? 
Holof ernes.    Dictynna,  good  man  Dull ;   Dictynna, 

good  man  Dull. 
Dull  What  is  Dictynna  ? 
Sir  Nathaniel.  A  title  to  Phoebe,  to  Luna,  to  the 

moon. 
Holof ernes.  The  moon  was  a  month  old,  when  Adam 

was  no  more ; 

And  raught  not  five  weeks,  when  he  came  to  fivescore. 
The  allusion  holds  in  the  exchange." 

Thus  is  Master  Dull  driven,  contrary  to  his 
expectation,  from  his  position;  and  thus  is  he 
worsted  by  these  "book-men/'  as  he  calls  them. 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  LOST.  185 

The  schoolmaster,  not  content  with  giving  the 
poor  constable  a  perplexing  answer,  next  substi- 
tutes, in  a  triumphant  couplet,  the  word  Adam  for 
Cain ;  and  then  sums  up  the  case  by  stating,  with 
the  calm  dignity  of  intellectual  superiority,  that 
the  "  allusion  "  (which  Dull  calls  "  collusion  "  and 
"pollusion"  in  assenting  to  the  remark)  " holds 
in  the  exchange/' 

The  name  Nathaniel  seems  to  be  taken  from  the 
8 th  chapte^  and  the  name  Holof ernes  from  the 
llth  chapter  of  the  Book  of  Judith.  Nathaniel, 
there  written  Nathanael,  was  a  forefather  of  the 
pious  and  beautiful  Hebrew  widow,  Judith,  who 
smote  Holofernes  at  his  servant's  feast,  when  she 
was  left  alone  with  him  in  his  tent. 

["  Nathaniel."] — "Now  at  that  time  Judith  heard 
thereof,  which,  was  the  daughter  of  Merari,  the  son  of 
Ox,  the  son  of  Joseph,  the  son  of  Oziel,  the  son  of 
Elcia,  the  son  of  Ananias,  the  son  of  Gedeon,  the  son. 
of  Raphaim,  the  son  of  Acitho,  the  son  of  Elm,  the  son 
of  Eliab,  the  son  of  Nathanael,  the  son  of  Samael,  the 
son  of  Salasadai,  the  son  of  Israel."  Judith  viii.  1. 

Holofernes,  the  chief  captain  of  Nabuchodonosor, 
king  of  the  Assyrians,  intended  to  enslave  the  Jews, 
and  to  put  an  end  to  their  religion.  He  was  on 
this  account  deceived  by  Judith,  and  slain  by  her, 
when,  "  lying  along  filled  writh  wine,"  under  the 
canopy  of  his  bed,  and  then  by  her  decapitated. 

[Holofernes/'] — In    the   llth   chapter,  Judith 

V 


186  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

flatters  Holofernes,  and  thus  paves  the  way  to  his 
ruin.  We  will  introduce  a  passage  from  this 
chapter,  which,  with  the  story  to  which  it  belongs, 
might  induce  Shakespeare  to  call  the  pedant  in 
Love's  Labour  Lost,  Holofernes. 
Judith  says  to  Holofernes — 

"  We  have  heard  of  thy  wisdom  and  thy  policies,  and 
it  is  reported  in  all  the  earth,  that  thou  only  art  excel- 
lent in  all  the  kingdom,  and  mighty  in  knowledge,  and 
wonderful  in  feats  of  war."  Judith  xi.  8« 


ACT  IV.        SCENE  III. 

"  Longaville.  Dumain,  thy  love  is  far  from  charity, 
That  in  love's  grief  desir'st  society :  (Coming  forward.) 
You  may  look  pale,  but  I  should  blush,  I  know, 
To  be  o'erheard,  and  taken  napping  so. 

King.   Come,  sir,  you  blush  j    as  his,  your  case  is 
such;  (Coming  forward.} 

You  chide  at  him,  offending  twice  as  much : 
You  do  not  love  Maria ;  Longaville 
Did  never  sonnet  for  her  sake  compile ; 
Nor  never  lay'd  his  wreathed  arms  athwart 
His  loving  bosom,  to  keep  down  his  heart ; 
I  have  been  closely  shrouded  in  this  bush, 
And  mark'd  you  both,  and  for  you  both  did  blush." 

The  King  adds  a  little  further  on — 

"  What  will  Biron  say,  when  that  he  shall  hear 
A  faith  infringed,  with  such  zeal  did  swear  ? 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  LOST.  187 

How  will  he  scorn  ?  how  will  he  spend  his  wit  1 
How  will  he  triumph,  leap,  and  laugh  at  it? 
For  all  the  wealth  that  ever  I  did  see, 
I  would  not  have  him  know  so  much  by  me. 

Biron.  Now  step  I  forth  to  whip  hypocrisy — 
Ah  !  good  my  liege,  I  pray  thee  pardon  me  : 

(  Coming  forward.. ) 

Good  heart,  what  grace  hast  thou,  thus  to  reprove 
These  worms  for  loving,  that  art  most  in  love  ? " 

The  Psalmist  says,  too — 

" I  am  a  worm  and  no  man"     Psalm  xxii.  6. 

See  also  Job  xxv.  6. 

"  Tour  eyes  do  make  no  coaches  ; 

[Here  BIRON  alludes  to  a  passage  in  the 
KING'S  sonnet  to  the  PRINCESS.] 

in  your  tears, 

There  is  no  certain  princess  that  appears  ? 
You'll  not  be  perjur'd,  'tis  a  hateful  thing ; 
Tush,  none  but  minstrels  like  of  sonneting. 
But  are  you  not  asharn'd  1  nay,  are  you  not, 
All  three  of  you,  to  be  thus  much  o'ershot  1 
You  found  his  mote  ;  the  king  your  mote  did  see; 
But  la  beam  do  find  in  each  of  three. 
Oh  !  what  a  scene  of  foolery  I  have  seen, 
Of  sighs,  of  groans,  of  sorrow,  and  of  teen  ! 
O  me,  with  what  strict  patience  have  I  sat, 
To  see  a  king  transformed  to  a  gnat ! 
To  see  great  Hercules  whipping  a  gigg, 
And  profound  Solomon  tuning  ajigg." 

["  You  found  his  mote;  the  king  your  mote  did  see ; 


188  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

But  I  a  learn  do  find  in  each  of  three."] — "  Judge  not, 
that  ye  be  not  judged. 

"For  with  what  judgment  ye  judge,  ye  shall  be 
judged  :  and  with  what  measure  ye  mete,  it  shall  be 
measured  to  you  again. 

"And  why  beholdest  thou  the  mote  that  is  in  thy 
brother's  eye,  but  considerest  not  the  beam  tJiat  is  in 
thine  own  eye  ? 

"  Or  how  wilt  thou  say  to  thy  brother,  Let  me  pull 
out  the  mote  out  of  thine  eye ;  and,  behold,  a  beam  is  in 
thine  own  eye  ? 

"  Thou  hypocrite,  first  cast  out  the  beam  out  of  thine 
own  eye ;  and  then  shalt  thou  see  clearly  to  cast  out 
the  mote  out  of  thy  brother's  eye."  Matt.  vii.  1 — 5. 

["And  profound  Solomon  tuning  a  jigg*"] — This 
thought  may  have  been  taken  from  a  passage  in 
the  3rd  chapter  of  Ecclesiastes — 

"  There  is  a  time  to  weep,  and  a  time  to  laugh  ;  a 
time  to  mourn,  and  a  time  to  dance"  Eccles.  iii.  4. 

Or  perhaps  from  a  passage  in  Ecclesiastes,  2nd 
chapter — 

"  I  gat  me  men  singers  and  women  singers,  and  the 
delights  of  the  sons  of  men,  as  musical  instruments, 
and  that  of  all  sorts'1  Eccles.  ii.  8. 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  LOST.  189 


ACT  IV.        SCENE  III. 

In  Biron's  speech,  which  begins  thus— 

"  OK  !  'tis  more  than  need  ! — • 
Have  at  you  then,  affection's  men  at  arms  : 
Consider  what  yon  first  did  swear  unto  • — 
To  fast — to  study — and  to  see  no  woman  ; — 
Flat  treason  'gainst  the  kingly  state  of  youth." 

We  find,  with  one  slight  omission,  the  following 
termination — 

"  From  women's  eyes  this  doctrine  I  derive : 
They  sparkle  still  the  right  Promethean  fire ; 
They  are  the  hooks,  the  arts,  the  academes, 
That  show,  contain,  and  nourish  all  the  world ; 
Else  none  at  all  in  aught  proves  excellent: 
Then  fools  you  were,  these  women  to  forswear; 
Or,  keeping  what  is  sworn,  you  will  prove  fools. 
***** 

Let  us  once  lose  our  oaths  to  find  ourselves, 

Or,  else  we  lose  ourselves  to  keep  our  oaths : 

It  is  religion,  to  be  thus  forsworn  : 

For  charity  itself  fulfils  the  law  ; 

And  who  can  sever  love  from  charity  ? " 

["  Charity  itself  fulfils  the  law."]— «  Love  is  the  ful- 
filling of  the  law."  Rom.  xiii.  10. 

This  scene  terminates  with  remarks  which  may 
have  been  suggested  by  certain  parts  of  the  31st 
chapter  of  Job — 


190  SHAKESPEAKE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

"  Sir  on.    Aliens  !   Aliens  !   sow'd    cockle  reaped  no 

corn  ; 

And  justice  always  whirls  in  equal  measure  : 
Light  wenches  may  prove  plagues  to  men  forsworn  ; 
If  so,  our  copper  buys  no  better  treasure." 

"  Sow'd  cockle  reap'd  no  corn  ;  justice  always  whirls 
in  equal  measure"] — "  If  I  have  walked  with  vanity, 
or  if  my  foot  hath  hasted  to  deceit ; 

"  Let  me  be  weighed  in  an  even  balance,  that  God 
may  know  mine  integrity. 

"  If  my  step  hath  turned  out  of  the  way,  and  mine 
heart  walked  after  mine  eyes,  and  if  any  blot  hath 
cleaved  to  mine  hands; 

"  Then  let  me  sow,  and  let  another  eat ;  yea,  let  my 
offspring  be  rooted  out "  Job  xxxi.  5 — 8. 

"  If  my  land  cry  against  me,  or  that  the  furrows 
likewise  thereof  complain  ; 

"  If  I  have  eaten  the  fruits  thereof  without  money,  or 
have  caused  the  owners  thereof  to  lose  their  life  : 

"  Let  thistles  grow  instead  of  wheat,  and  cockle  in- 
stead of  barley  "  Job  xxxi.  38 — 40. 


ACT  V.        SCENE  I. 

DON  ADRIANO  DE  ARMADO,  and  HOLOFERNES,  a  School- 
master^ also  NATHANIEL,  the  Curate. 

"  Armado.  The  very  all  of  all  is — but,  sweetheart, 
I  do  implore  secresy — that  the  king  would  have  me 
present  the  princess,  sweet  chuck,  with  some  delightful 
ostentation,  or  show,  or  pageant,  or  antic,  or  fire- work. 
Now,  understanding  that  the  curate,  and  your  sweet 


LOVERS  LABOUR  LOST.  191 

self,  are  good  at  such,  eruptions,  and  sudden  breakings 
out  of  mirth,  as  it  were,  I  have  acquainted  you  withal, 
to  the  end  to  crave  your  assistance. 

Holof ernes.  Sir,  you  shall  present  before  her  the  nine 
worthies. — Sir  Nathaniel,  as  concerning  some  entertain- 
ment of  time,  some  show  in  the  posterior  of  this  day, 
to  be  rendered  by  our  assistance — at  the  king's  com- 
mand ;  and  this  most  gallant,  illustrate,  and  learned 
gentleman — before  the  princess  j  I  say,  none  so  fit  as 
to  present  the  nine  worthies. 

Nathaniel.  Where  will  you  find  men  worthy  enough 
to  present  them  ? 

Holofernes.  Joshua,  yourself ;  myself,  or  this  gallant 
gentleman,  Judas  Maccabceus" 

["  Joshua,  yourself;  myself,  Judas  Maccabceus."] 
For  these  names  see  1st  Book  of  Maccabees,  2nd 
chapter. 

"  Jesus  [i.  e.,  Joshua]  for  fulfilling  the  word,  was 
made  a  judge  in  Israel."  1  Mac.  ii.  55. 

"  As  for  Judas  Maccabeus,  he  hath  been  mighty  and 
strong,  even  from  his  youth  up  :  let  him  be  your 
captain,  and  fight  the  battle  of  the  people."  1  Mac* 
ii.  66. 

This  Judas,  surnamed  Maccabaeus,  one  of  the 
Asmoneans.  by  bravery  and  skill  vanquished  the 
Syrians,  cleared  the  temple  of  heathen  profanation, 
and  restored  to  the  Jews  their  ancient  religion. 


192  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


ACT  V.        SCENE  II. 

"  King.  Farewell,  mad  wenches ;    you  have  simple 

wits. 

Exeunt  KING  and  his  Lords,  BIRON,  LONGAVILLE,  and 
DUMAIN,  disguised  like  Muscovites. 

"  Princess.  Twenty  adieus,    my  frozen   Muscovites. 
Are  these  the  breed  of  wits  so  wonder' d  at  ? 

Boyet.  Tapers  they  are,  with  your  sweet   breaths 

puffd  out. 

Rosaline.    Well-liking  wits  they  have ;   gross,  gross  ; 
fat,  fat." 

["  Well-liking  wits."]— Well-liking  is  the  same 
as  embonpoint.     So  in  Job  xxxix.  4. 

"  Their  young  ones  are  in  good  liking" — Steevens. 


ACT  V.        SCENE  II. 

Where  the  KING,  BIRON,  LONGAVILLE,  and  DUMAIN,  enter 
in  their  own  habits. 

"  King.  Fair  sir Where  is  the  princess  ? 

Boyet.  Gone  to  her  tent :  Please  it  your  majesty, 
Command  me  any  service  to  her  ? 

King.  That  she  vouchsafe  me  audience  for  one  word. 
Boyet.  I  will ;  and  so  will  she,  I  know,  my  lord." 

(Exit.) 

Biron  says  of  Boyet,  amongst  other  remarks 
which  he  now  makes  upon  him — 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  LOST.  193 

"  This  gallant  pins  the  wenches  on  his  sleeve  ; 
Had  he  been  Adam,  he  had  tempted  Eve  :" 

in  his  speech  which  terminates  with  the  couplet — 

"  And  consciences,  that  will  not  die  in  debt, 
Pay  him  the  due  of  honey-tongued  Boyet." 

["  Had  he  been  Adam  he  had  tempted  Eve/'] — 
A  sly  bit  of  humour,  and  fantastic  transposition 
of  the  historical  fact,  alluded  to  by  Adam  in  the 
12th  verse  of  the  3rd  chapter  of  Genesis — 

"  And  the  man  said,  The  woman  whom  thou  gavest 
to  be  with  me,  she  gave  Hie  of  the  tree,  and  I  did  eat." 

Again — 


ACT  V.      SCENE  II. 

"  King.  Here  is  like  to  be  a  good  presence  of  worthies  : 
He  presents  Hector  of  Troy  j  the  swain,  Pompey  the 
Great  ;  the  parish  curate,  Alexander  ;  Armado's  page, 
Hercules  ;  the  pedant,  Judas  Maccabceus. 

Enter  HOLOFERNES  for  JUDAS. 

Holofernes.  Judas  I  am  - 
Dumain.  A  Judas  ! 
Holofornes.  Not  Iscariot,  sir. 
Judas  I  am,  ycleped  Maccabceus. 

Dumain.  Judas  Maccabseus  dipt,  is  plain  Judas. 
Biron*  A  kissing  traitor  :  —  How  art   thou   prov'd 

Judas  ? 
Holofernes.  Judas  I  am  - 


oar 

,  ..  .  -    •  ',." 


194  SHAKESPEAKE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

Dumain.  The  more  shame  for  you,  Judas. 

Holofernes.  What  mean  you,  sir  ? 

Boyet,  To  make  Judas  hang  himself. 

Holofernes.  Begin,  sir ;  you  are  my  elder. 

Biron.  Well  follow' d :  Judas  was  hang'd  on  an  elder." 

["  Dumain.  A  Judas  !  Holofernes.  Not  Iscariot, 
sir."] — Shakespeare  evidently  remembers  the  words 
relative  to  Judas,  the  brother  of  James,  in  the 
22nd  verse  of  the  14th  chap,  of  St.  John — 

"  Judas  saith  unto  him,  not  Iscariot." 

["  Judas  I  am,  ycleped  Maccabaeus.  Judas 
Maccabeus  dipt,  is  plain  Judas."] — Judas,  for 
Judas  Maccabceus,  occurs  several  times  in  the  1st 
Book  of  Maccabees,  chapter  iii. 

"  Then  his  (Mattathias)  son  Judas,  called  Maccabeus, 
rose  up  in  his  stead."  1  Mac.  iii.  1. 

"  Apollonius  gathered  the  Gentiles  together,  and  a 
great  host  out  of  Samaria,  to  fight  against  Israel. 

"  Which  thing,  when  Judas  perceived,  he  went  forth 
to  meet  him,  and  so  he  smote  him,  and  slew  him :  many 
also  fell  down  slain,  but  the  rest  fled. 

"  Wherefore  Judas  took  their  spoils,  and  Apollonius' 
sword  also,  and  therewith  he  fought  all  his  life  long." 
1  Mac.  iii.  10—12. 

"  Then  began  the  fear  of  Judas  and  his  brethren, 
and  -an  exceeding  great  dread,  to  fall  upon  the  nations 
round  about  them  :  Insomuch  as  his  fame  came  unto 
the  king,  and  all  nations  talked  of  the  battles  of  Judas.'1 
1  Mac.  iii.  25,  26. 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  LOST.  195 

"And  Judas  said,  Arm  yourselves,  and  be  valiant 
men,  and  see  that  ye  be  in  readiness  against  the  morn- 
ing, that  ye  may  fight  with  these  nations  that  are 
assembled  together  against  us,  to  destroy  us  and  our 
sanctuary."  1  Mac.  iii.  58. 

[u  A  kissing  traitor  :  How  art  thou  prov'd  Judas  ? 
Judas  1  am.  The  more  shame  for  you,  Judas"] — 
"  Then  one  of  the  twelve,  called  Judas  Iscariot,  went 
unto  the  chief  priests, 

"  And  said  unto  them,  What  will  ye  give  me,  and  I 
will  deliver  him  unto  you  1  And  they  covenanted  with 
him  for  thirty  pieces  of  silver."  Matt.  xxvi.  14,  15. 

"  Now  he  that  betrayed  him  gave  them  a  sign,  saying. 
Whomsoever  I  shall  kiss y  that  same  is  he  :  hold  him  fast." 
Matt.  xxvi.  48. 

["  A  kissing  traitor."] — Judas  is  called  traitor 
in  Luke  vi.  16 — 

"  And  Judas  Iscariot,  which  also  was  the  traitor" 

["  What  mean  you,  sir  ?  To  make  Judas  hang  him- 
self"] — "  Then  Judas,  which  had  betrayed  him,  when 
he  saw  that  he  was  condemned,  repented  himself,  and 
brought  again  the  thirty  pieces  of  silver  to  the  chief 
priests  and  elders, 

"  Saying,  I  have  sinned,  in  that  I  have  betrayed  the 
innocent  blood.  And  they  said,  What  is  that  to  us  1 
See  thou  to  that. 

"  And  he  cast  down  the  pieces  of  silver  in  the  temple, 
and  departed,  and  went  and  hanged  himself"  Matt. 
xxvii.  3 — 5. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 
MUCH  ADO  ABOUT.  NOTHING. 

LEONATO,  Governor  of  Messina,  and  BEATRICE  his  Niece, 

"  Leonato.  Well,  niece,  I  hope  to  see  you  one  day 
fitted  with  a  husband. 

Beatrice.  Not  till  God  make  men  of  some  other 
metal  than  earth.  Would  it  not  grieve  a  woman  to  be 
over-master  d  with  a  piece  of  valiant  dust  ?  to  make  an 
account  of  her  life  to  a  clod  of  wayward  marl  ?  No, 
uncle ;  I'll  none  :  Adams  sons  are  my  brethren,  and 
truly,  I  hold  it  a  sin  to  match  in  my  kindred" 

It  is  evident  to  what  parts  of  Holy  Writ  this 
humorous  speech  has  reference. 

["  To  be  over-master'd  with  a  piece  of  valiant  dust.v] 
— "  In  the  sweat  of  thy  face  shalt  thou  eat  bread,  till 
thou  return  unto  the  ground  ;  for  out  of  it  wast  thou 
taken:  for  dust  thou  art,  and  unto  dust  shalt  thou 
return." 


MUCH  ADO  ABOUT  NOTHING.          197 

["  Adam's  sons  are  my  brethren."] — "  And  Adam 
called  his  wife's  name  Eve;  because  she  was  the  mother 
of  all  living"  Gen.  iii.  19,  20. 

["  A  sin  to  match  in  my  kindred."]-—"  None  of  yon 
shall  approach  to  any  that  is  near  of  kin  to  him."  Lev. 
xviii.  6, 


ACT  II.        SCENE  I. 

"  Don  Pedro.  Now,  signior,  where's  the  count  1  Did 
you  see  him  ? 

Benedick.  Troth,  my  lord,  I  have  played  the  part  of 
lady  Fame.  I  found  him  here  as  melancholy  as  a  lodge 
in  a  warren" 

["Lodge  in  a  warren/'] — A  parallel  thought 
occurs  in  the  first  chapter  of  Isaiah,  where  the  pro- 
phet, describing  the  desolation  of  Judah,  says — 

"  The  daughter  of  Zion  is  left  as  a  cottage  in  a  vine- 
yard,  as  a  lodge  in  a  garden  of  cucumbers" — Steevens. 


ACT  I.        SCENE  II. 

DON  PEDHO  and  BEKEDICK. 

"  Don  Pedro.  The  lady  Beatrice  hath  a  quarrel  to 
you ;  the  gentleman  that  danced  with  her,  told  her, 
that  she  is  much  wronged  by  you. 

Benedick.  Oh  !  she  misused  me  past  the  endurance 
of  a  block ;  an  oak,  but  with  one  green  leaf  on  it,  would 
have  answered  her ;  my  very  visor  began  to  assume 


198  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

life,  and  scold  with  her  :  she  told  me,  not  thinking  I 
had  been  myself,  that  I  was  the  prince's  jester;  that  I 
was  duller  than  a  great  thaw;  huddling  jest  upon  jest, 
with  such  impossible  conveyance,  upon  me,  that  I  stood 
like  a  man  at  a  mark,  with  a  whole  army  shooting  at 
me  :  she  speaks  poniards,  and  every  word  stabs  :  if  her 
breath  were  as  terrible  as  her  terminations,  there  were 
no  living  near  her,  she  would  infect  to  the  north  star. 
/  would  not  marry  her,  though  she  were  endowed  with  all 
that  Adam  had  left  him  before  he  transgressed" 

[  *  *  *  «  that  Adam  had  left  him  before  he 
transgress'd."] — This  assertion  owes  its  pungency 
to  the  effect  it  has  upon  our  imagination ;  for  it 
really  means,  no  wealth  that  she  might  possess 
would  induce  me  to  marry  her. 

"  O  Lord,  who  bearest  rule,  thou  spakest  at  the  be- 
ginning, when  thou  didst  plant  the  earth,  and  that 
thyself  alone.  *  *  * 

"  And  gavest  a  body  unto  Adam  without  soul,  which 
was  the  workmanship  of  thine  hands,  and  didst  breathe 
into  him  the  breath  of  life,  and  he  was  made  living 
before  thee. 

"  And  thou  leddest  him  into  paradise,  which  thy  right 
hand  had  planted,  before  ever  the  earth  came  forward. 

"  And  unto  him  thou  gavest  commandment  to  love 
thy  way  :  which  he  transgressed."     * 
2  Esdras  iii.  4—7. 


MUCH  ADO  ABOUT  NOTHING.  199 


ACT  III.        SCENE  III. 

"  Borachio. Thou  knowest,  that  the  fashion  of 

a  doublet,  or  a  hat,  or  a  cloak,  is  nothing  to  a  man, 

Conrade.  Yes,  it  is  apparel. 

BoracMo.  I  mean,  the  fashion. 

Conrade.  Yes,  the  fashion  is  the  fashion. 

Borachio.  Tush !  I  may  as  well  say,  the  fool's  the 
fool.  But  see'st  thou  not,  what  a  deformed  thief  this 
fashion  is  ? 

Watch.  I  know  that  Deformed ;  he  has  been  a  vile 
thief  these  seven  years ;  he  goes  up  and  down  like  a 
gentleman  :  I  remember  his  name. 

Borachio.  Didst  thou  not  hear  somebody  ? 

Conrade.  No ;  'twas  the  vane  on  the  house. 

Borachio.  See'st  thou  not,  I  say,  what  a  deformed 
thief  this  fashion  is  ?  how  giddily  he  turns  about  all 
the  hot  bloods,  between  fourteen  and  five-and-thirty  1 
sometime  fashioning  them  like  PharaoJis  soldiers  in 
the  reechy  painting  ;  sometime,  like  god  Bel's  priests  in 
the  old  church  window" 

Borachio  thus  ridicules  the  fashions  of  his  day. 
The  fear  lest  he  should  be  overheard  when  speak- 
ing of  such  matters  to  his  friend,  is  laughably  true 
to  nature.  His  sarcasm  is  also  very  natural.  A 
man  in  his  vein  might  advert  to  the  primitive 
garbs  in  the  painting,  and  the  odd  vestments  on 
the  church  window ;  for  such  subjects  as  Pharaoh's 
soldiers,  and  god  Bel's  priests,  would  probably  be 
felt,  being  sacred,  to  give  zest  to  the  raillery. 


200  SHAKESPEAEE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

The  14th  chapter  of  Exodus  might  be  supposed 
to  supply  the  subject  of  the  picture. 

"  And  the  Lord  hardened  the  heart  of  Pharaoh  king 
of  Egypt,  and  he  pursued  after  the  children  of  Israel  : 
and  the  children  of  Israel  went  out  with  an  high  hand, 

"But  the  Egyptians  pursued  after  them,  (all  the  horses 
and  chariots  of  Pharaoh,  and  his  horsemen,  and  his 
army.")  Exod.  xiv.  8,  9. 

["  God  Bel's  priests."]  — Might  be  representa- 
tions taken  from  the  story  of  Bel  and  the  Dragon. 

We  produce  from  As  You  Like  It  the  following 
apposite  evidence — 

ACT  II.        SCENE  I. 

The  Forest  of  Arden. 
Enter  the  DUKE  senior,  and  several  LORDS. 

"  Duke  senior.  Now,  my  co-mates,  and  brothers  in 

exile, 

Hath  not  old  custom  made  this  life  more  sweet 
Than  that  of  painted  pomp  ?     Are  not  these  woods 
More  free  from  peril  than  the  envious  court  ? 
Here  feel  we  but  the  penalty  of  Adam,      + 
The  season's  difference." 

["  Here  feel  we  but  the  penalty  of  Adam,  the 
season's  difference."] — In  these  woods,  where  we 
escape  the  envy  of  mankind,  our  ills  are  limited  to 
unpleasing  effects  of  weather,  the  penalty  of  Adarn^ 


AS  YOU  LIKE  IT.  201 

when  the  fall  brought  a  curse  upon  the  earth,  and 
rendered  him  amenable  to  the  sentence — 

"  Thou  shalt  surely  die."     Gen.  ii.  17. 


ACT  Ii.        SCENE  III. 

ADAM  and  ORLANDO. 

What  Christian  magnanimity  adorns  the  charac- 
ter of  Adam  !  To  give  the  speech  of  old  Adam 
its  due  weight,  the  words  of  Orlando,  his  young 
master,  are  here  inserted — 

"  Orlando.  What,  wouldst  thou  have  me  go  and  beg 

my  food  ? 

Or,  with  a  base  and  boisterous  sword,  enforce 
A  thievish,  living  on  the  common  road  1 
This  I  must  do,  or  know  not  what  to  do  : 
Yet  this  I  will  not  do,  do  how  I  can  ; 
I  rather  will  subject  me  to  the  malice 
Of  a  diverted  blood,  and  bloody  brother. 

Adam.  But  do  not  so  :  I  have  five  hundred  crowns, 
The  thrifty  hire  I  sav'd  under  your  father, 
Which  I  did  store  to  be  my  foster-nurse, 
When  service  should  in  my  old  limbs  lie  lame, 
And  unregarded  age  in  corners  thrown ; 
Take  that  :  and  He  that  doth  the  ravens  feed, 
Yea,  providently  caters  for  the  sparrow, 
Be  comfort  to  my  age  ! " 

["  He  that  doth  the  ravens  feed."] — "  Consider  the 
ravens  :  for  they  neither  sow  nor  reap  ;  which  neither 
have  storehouse  nor  barn  ;  and  God  feedeth  them  : 

o 


202  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

How  much  more  are  ye  better  than  the  fowls  ? "    Luke 
xii.  24. 

["  Yea  providently  caters  for  the  sparrow."] — "  Are 
not  five  sparrows  sold  for  two  farthings,  and  not  one  of 
them  is  forgotten  before  God  ?  But  even  "the  very 
hairs  of  your  head  are  all  numbered.  Fear  not,  there- 
fore :  ye  are  of  more  value  than  many  sparrows." 
Luke  xii.  6,  7. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 


THE  TAMING  OF  THE  SHREW. 

ACT  V.        SCENE  IJ. 

44  Kate,  the  Shrew.  A  woman  mov'd  is  like  a  fountain 

troubled, 

Muddy,  ill-seeming,  thick,  bereft  of  beauty  ] 
And,  while  it  is  so,  none  so  dry  or  thirsty 
Will  deign  to  sip,  or  touch  one  drop  of  it." 

In  this  extract  from  the  lecture  of  the  shrew,  on 
the  duties  of  wives  towards  their  husbands,  and  in 
the  5th  chapter  of  Proverbs,  the  word  fountain 
denotes  a  wife — 

E.  6r.,  "  Let  thy  fountain  be  blessed  :  and  rejoice 
with  the  wife  of  thy  youth."  Prov.  v.  18. 

But  nowhere  in  the  Proverbs  does  "  a  fountain 
troubled  "  denote  a  shrew.  Shakespeare,  it  seems, 
met  with  the  words  a  troubled  fountain  in  the  25th 
chapter  of  Proverbs — 


204  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

E.  G.)  "A  righteous  man  falling  down  before  the 
wicked  is  as  a  troubled  fountain,  and  a  corrupt  spring  " — 

transferred  them  from  thence  into  the  play,  and 
affixed  to  them  their  present  meaning. 

A  like  metaphorical  way  of  speaking  to  this, 
"  None  so  dry  or  thirsty,  will  deign  to  sip  or  touch 
one  drop  of  it,"  is  to  be  found  in  the  5th  chapter  of 
Proverbs — 

JE.  6r.,  "  Drink  waters  out  of  thine  own  cistern." 
Prov.  v.  15. 

We  may  now  place  before  the  reader  the  results 
obtained  from  an  investigation  of — 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 


MEASUEE  FOE  MEASUBE. 

ACT  I.        SCENE  II. 

The  Street. 
Enter  Lucio  and  two  Gentlemen. 

"  Lucio.  If  the  duke,  with  the  other  dukes,  come 
not  to  composition  with  the  king  of  Hungary,  why, 
then  all  the  dukes  fall  upon  the  king. 

1  Gent.  Heaven  grant  us  its  peace,  but  not  the  king 
of  Hungary's  ! 

2  Gent.  Amen. 

Lucio.  Thou  concludest  like  the  sanctimonious  pirate, 
that  went  to  sea  with  the  ten  commandments,  but 
scraped  one  out  of  the  table. 

2  Gent.  Thou  shalt  not  steal?     (See  Exod.  xx.  15.) 

Lucio.  Ay,  that  he  raz'd." 


206  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

ACT  I.        SCENE  II!. 

Enter  PROVOST,  CLAUDIO. 

"  Claudia.  Fellow,  why  dost  thou  shew  me  thus  to 

the  world  ? 
Bear  me  to  prison,  where  I  am  committed. 

Provost.  I  do  it  not  in  evil  disposition, 
But  from  Lord  Angelo  by  special  charge. 

Claudio.  Thus  can  the  demigod,  authority, 
Make  us  pay  down  for  our  offence  by  weight. 
The  words  of  heaven ; — on  wJwm  it  will,  it  will ; 
On  whom  it  will  not,  so  ;  yet  still  'tis  just" 

["  On  whom  it  will,  it  will ;  on  whom  it  will  not, 
so;  yet  still  'tis  just."]— Shakespeare  evidently 
derives  this  passage  from  the  9th  chapter  of  St. 
Paul's  epistle  to  the  Eomans — 

"  What  shall  we  say  then  ?  Is  there  unrighteousness 
with  God  ?  God  forbid. 

"  For  he  saith  to  Moses,  I  will  have  mercy  on  whom 
I  will  have  mercy,  and  I  will  have  compassion  on  whom 
I  will  have  compassion. 

"  So  then  it  is  not  of  him  that  willeth,  nor  of  him 
that  runneth,  but  of  God  that  showeth  mercy. 

"  For  the  scripture  saith  unto  Pharaoh,  Even  for 
this  same  purpose  have  I  raised  thee  up,  that  I  might 
show  my  power  in  thee,  and  that  my  name  might  be 
declared  throughout  all  the  earth. 

"  Therefore   hath  he  mercy  on  whom  he  will  have 


MEASURE  FOR  MEASURE,  207 

mercy )  and  whom  he  will  he  hardeneth."     Rom.  ix. 
14—18. 


ACT  II.        SCENE  II. 

ANGELO,  Lord  Deputy  in  the  absence  of  YINCENTIO,  Duke  of 
Vienna;  ISABELLA,  Sister  to  CLATTDIO  ;  and  Luoio. 

ANGELLO'S  house. 

"  Angela.  Pray  you,  begone. 

Isabella.  I  would  to  Heaven  I  had  your  potency, 
And  you  were  Isabel !  should  it  then  be  thus  ? 
No ;  I  would  tell  what  'twere  to  be  a  judge, 
And  what  a  prisoner. 

Lucio.  Ay,  touch  him  :  there's  the  vein,        (Aside.) 

Angela.  Your  brother  is  a  forfeit  of  the  law, 
And  you  but  waste  your  words. 

Isabella.  Alas  !  alas  ! 

Why,  all  the  souls  that  were,  were  forfeit  once ; 
And  He  that  might  the  vantage  best  have  took, 
Found  out  the  remedy  :  How  would  you  be, 
If  He,  which  is  the  top  of  judgment,  should 
But  judge  you,  as  you  are  1     Oh  !  think  on  that, 
And  mercy  then  will  breathe  within  your  lips, 
Like  man  new  made." 

The  substance  of  this  passage — 

"  Why,  all  the  souls  that  were,  were  forfeit  once ; 
And  He  that  might  the  vantage  best  have  took, 
Found  out  the  remedy  " — 

is  contained  in  the  9th  chapter  of  St.  Paul's  epistle 
to  the  Hebrews,  the  27th  and  28th  verses. 


208  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

"  As  it  is  appointed  unto  men  once  to  die,  but  after 
this  the  j  udgment : 

"  So  Christ  was  once  offered  to  bear  the  sins  of  many ; 
and  unto  them  that  look  for  him  shall  he  appear  the 
second  time  without  sin  unto  salvation.'* 

And  of  this — 

"  How  would  you  be, 

If  He,  which  is  the  top  of  judgment,  should 

But  judge  you  as  you  are  ? " 

in  the  3rd  and  4th  verses  of  the  130th  Psalm— 

"  If  thou,  Lord,  shoulds't  mark  iniquities,  0  Lord,, 
who  shall  stand  ? 

"  But  there  is  forgiveness  with  thee,  that  thou 
mayest  be  feared." 

"  Oh  !  think  on  that, 

And  mercy  then  will  breathe  within  your  lips, 
Like  man  new  made." 

"  Put  on  the  new  man,  which  after  God  is  created  in 
righteousness  and  true  holiness. 

"  And  be  ye  kind  one  to  another,  tender-hearted,  for- 
giving one  another,  even  as  God  for  Christ's  sake  hath 
forgiven  you."  Eph.  iv.  24,  32. 


ACT  II.      SCENE  IV. 

"  Angela.  Redeem  thy  brother 

By  yielding  up  thy  body  to  my  will  ; 
Or  else  he  must  not  only  die  the  death." 


MEASURE  FOR  MEASURE.  209 

We  find  this  expression  in  Act  I.  of  Midsummer 
Night's  Dream — 

"  Theseus.  Either  to  die  the  death,  or  to  abjure 
For  ever  the  society  of  men." 

["  Die  the  death."]—"  It  is,"  says  Steevens,  "  a 
phrase  taken  from  Scripture."  We  here  quote 
passages  in  which  it  is  found — 

"  Whoso  curseth  father  or  mother,  let  him  die  the 
death."  Mark  vii.  10. 

Also— 

"  All  flesh  waxeth  old  as  a  garment :  for  the  covenant 
from  the  beginning  is,  Thou  shalt  die  the  death." 
Ecclus.  xiv.  17. 


END  OF  ACT  III.       SCENE  II. 

To  this  short  metre  couplet — 

"  He,  who  the  sword  of  Heav'ii  will  bear, 
Should  be  as  holy  as  severe  " — 

there  is  a  parallel  in  the  2nd  Book  of  Samuel, 
xxiii.  3 — 

"  The  God  of  Israel  said,  the  Rock  of  Israel  spake 
to  me,  He  that  ruleth  over  men  must  be  just,  ruling  in 
the  fear  of  God." 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 


THE   COMEDY  OF  EBBOBS 

supplies  us  with  more  evidence  than  might,  perhaps, 
be  expected  from  the  nature  of  the  subject. 


ACT  II.      SCENE  II. 

ANTIPHOLIS  of  Syracuse,  and  DROMIO  of  Syracuse. 

"  Antipholis.  Well,  sir,  learn  to  jest  in  good  time  ; 
There's  a  time  for  all  things? 

Parallel  thoughts  are  expressed  in  the  3rd 
chapter  of  Ecclesiastes — 

"  To  every  thing  there  is  a  season,  and  a  time  to  every 
purpose  under  the  heaven.'*  Eccles.  iii.  1. 

"  A  time  to  weep,  and  a  time  to  laugh."  Eccles.  iii.  4> 
(part  of  it.) 


THE  COMEDY  OF  ERRORS.  211 


ACT  IV.      SCENE  III. 

DROMIO  of  Syracuse  mistakes  the  twin  ANTIPHOLIS  for 
ANTIPHOLIS  of  Ephesus,  who  was  arrested* 

11  Dromio  of  Syracuse.  Master,  here's  the  gold  you 
sent  me  for :  What,  have  you  got  the  picture  of  old 
Adam  new  appareWd  ? 

Antip.  of  Syracuse.  What  gold  is  this  ?  What  Adam 
dost  thou  mean  ? 

Dromio  of  Syracuse.  Not  that  Adam,  that  kept  the 
paradise,  but  that  Adam,  that  keeps  the  prison  :  he 
that  goes  in  the  calfs-skin  that  was  JciWd  for  the 
prodigal ;  he  that  came  behind  you,  sir,  like  an  evil 
angel,  and  bid  you  forsake  your  liberty. 

Antip.  of  Syracuse.  I  understand  thee  not." 

["  The  picture  of  old  Adam  new  apparell'd."] — 
The  allusion,  says  Theobald,  is  to  Adam  in  his 
state  of  innocence  going  naked ;  and  immediately 
after  the  fall,  being  clothed  in  a  frock  of  skins. 
Thus  he  was  new  apparell'd — 

["  Not  that  Adam  that  kept  the  paradise."] — It  is 
stated  in  the  loth  verse  of  the  2nd  chapter  of  Genesis, 
that  Adam  was  placed  in  "  the  garden  of  Eden  to  dress 
it  and  to  keep  it." 

The  word  paradise  is  several  times  to  be  found 
in  the  Apocrypha,  e.  g.,  the  2nd  Book  of  Esdras, 
but  not  in  the  Old  Testament. 

In  the  3rd  chapter  and  6th  verse  of  2nd  Book 
of  Esdras — 


212  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

u  Thou  leddest  him  into  paradise,  which  thy  right 
hand  had  planted.'1 

Again,  in  the  6th  chapter  and  2nd  verse  of  2nd 
Book  of  Esdras — 

"  Before  it  thundered  and  lightened,  or  ever  the  foun- 
dations of  paradise  were  laid" 

Also,  in  the  7th  chapter  and  53rd  verse  of  2nd 
Book  of  Esdras — 

"  And  that  there  should  be  shewed  a  paradise, 
whose  fruit  endurethfor  ever." 

["  He  that  goes  in  the  calf  s-skin  that  was 
kilPd  for  the  prodigal."] — In  the  parable  of  the 
Prodigal  Son,  it  is  stated  that  the  father  of  the 
prodigal  said  to  his  servants — 

"  Bring  hither  the  fatted  calf,  and  kill  it ;  and  let  us 
eat,  and  be  merry:  For  this  my  son  was  dead,  aod  is 
alive  again;  he  was  lost,  and  is  found."  Luke  xv.  23,  24. 


ACT  IV.       SCENE  III. 

Enter  a  COURTESAN. 

"  Dromio  of  Syracuse.  Master,  is  this  mistress  Satan  ? 
Antip.  of  Syracuse.  It  is  the  devil." 

Dromio  of  Syracuse,  amongst  other  remarks, 
says  of  such  characters — "  It  is  written,  They  appear 
to  men  like  angels  of  light." 


THE  COMEDY  OF  ERRORS.  213 

["  Like  angels  of  light."] — There  is  a  sentence 
very  similar  to  this  in  the  2nd  epistle  to  the 
Corinthians,  the  llth  chapter  and  14th  verse — 

"  Satan  himself  is  transformed  into  an  angel  of  light." 


ACT  IV.        SCENE  IV. 

PINCH,  a  Conjurer,  and  ANTIPHOLIS,  of  Ephesus. 

"Pinch.  Give  me  your  hand,  and  let  me  feel  your 

pulse. 

Antip.  There  is  my  hand,  and  let  it  feel  your  ear. 
Pinch.  I  charge  thee,  Satan,  hous'd  within  this  man, 
To  yield  possession  to  my  holy  prayers." 

["  Satan,  housed  within  this  man."] — "  /  will  return 
into  my  house,  from  whence  I  came  out,"  says  the  unclean 
spirit  in  Matt.  xii.  44,  when  he  seeketh  rest  in  dry 
places,  after  his  departure  out  of  a  man,  *'  but  findeth 
none." 


ACT  IV.        SCENE  IV. 

"  Pinch.  Mistress,  both  man  and  master  is  possessed  ; 
I  know  it  by  their  pale  and  deadly  looks  : 
They  must  be  bound,  and  laid  in  some  dark  room." 

Again — 

"  Pinch.  More  company ; — the  fiend  is  strong  within 
him." 


214  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

It  seems  likely  that  the  miracle  wrought,  when 
the  devil  was  ejected  from  a  man  and  sent  into  a 
herd  of  swine,  recurred  to  the  mind  of  Shakespeare 
at  the  time  he  wrote  these  lines.  The  sufferer  is 
said,  in  the  5th  chapter  of  Mark,  to  be  possessed  (the 
word  used  in  the  play)  with  the  devil;  he  is  said  to 
inhabit  the  tombs,  and  to  be  so  fierce  "  that  no  man 
could  bind  him." 


Having  done  with  strictly  parallel  passages,  it 
remains  to  notice  resemblances  of  a  general  cha- 
racter. The  stories  of  Jacob  and  Esau — of  Joseph 
and  his  brethren — many  passages  in  the  life  of 
David — and  the  parable  of  the  Prodigal  Son — 
portray  those  passions  and  affections,  emphatically 
styled  in  Scripture  "  yearnings  of  the  bowels," 
much  after  the  manner  in  which  Shakespeare  is 
found  to  exhibit  them.  They  belong  alike  to 
every  age  and  every  nation.  The  very  images  of 
Scripture  are  sometimes  the  images  of  Shakespeare. 
Nothing  is  more  common  in  the  former  than  the 
comparison  of  good  to  light,  and  evil  to  darkness. 
Bad  men  hate  the  light  lest  their  evil  deeds  should  be 
reproved.  How  tremendously  is  this  feeling  dis- 
played by  Lady  Macbeth  ! — 

"  Come,  thick  night, 

And  pall  thee  in  the  dunnesfc  smoke  of  hell ! 
That  my  keen  knife  see  not  the  wound  it  makes  ; 
Nor  Heart n  peep  through  the  blanket  oftfa  dark, 
To  cry,  Hold,  hold  ! " 


GENERAL  REMARKS.  215 

Light  to  Shakespeare  suggests  the  idea  of  good- 
ness— 

"  How  far  that  little  candle  throws  his  beams  ! 
So  shines  a  good  deed  in  a  naughty  world." 

This  is  the  scriptural,  not  the  common  com- 
parison ;  the  latter  likens  darkness  to  sorrow,  and 
light  to  joy. 

Mr.  Euskin  notices,  in  the  4th  volume  of  his 

"  Modern  Painters/'  page  382,  that  "  Shakespeare 

almost  always  implies  a  total  difference  in  nature 

between  one  human  being  and  another ;  one  being 

from  the  birth  pure  and  affectionate,  another  base 

and  cruel ;  and  he  displays  each  in  its  sphere  as 

having  the  nature  of  the  dove,  wolf,  or  lion,  never 

much  implying  the  government  or  change  of  nature 

by  any  external  principle/'     It  is  very  remarkable 

that   scripture,  which  teaches  us  more  by  things 

than  by  words,  though  it  recognizes  a  change  of 

disposition  through  force  of  an  external  principle^ 

does  yet  not  only  paint  men  as  of  different  natures, 

but   describes   those  natures  under  the  forms  of 

different  kinds  of  animals.     Thus  the  good  and  the 

bad  are  generally  typified  by  the  figure  of  "  sheep  '' 

and  of  "  goats."     Our  Saviour  calls  the  Pharisees 

a  "generation  of  vipers."     He  himself  is  described 

as   the   "LAMB   of  God/'     The   natures  of  the 

heathen  about  to  be  converted  to  the  gospel,  are 

described  by  the  prophet  as  those  of  wild  beasts. 

"The   wolf  shall   dwell   with  the  lamb,  and  the 

leopard  shall  lie  down  with  the  kid,  and  the 


216  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

the  young  lion,  and  the  failing  together/'  &c.  &c. 
The  kindly  affections  and  inherent  purity  of  Shake- 
speare's best  women,  have  their  type  in  the  character 
of  Ruth.  The  difference  between  Ruth  and  Orpah 
was  simply  a  difference  in  degree  of  dutiful  affec- 
tion. 

"  Orpah  kissed  her  mother-in-law,  but  Ruth 
clave  unto  her,"  passionately  beseeching  leave  to 
follow  her  fortunes,  in  the  sweetest  words  which 
the  power  of  language  could  supply.  But  there 
are  parallels  of  individual  character.  JL&dyJVfac-^ 
beth,  for  instance,  the  most  terrible  of  Shake- 
speare's heroines,  has  her  perfect  counterpart  in 
Jezebel,  j  The  very  mind  and  being  of  the  latter 
seem  to  be  infused  into,  and  to  animate,  the  former. 
Holinshed's  details  of  Scottish  history  connected 
with  this  play,  do  not  render  these  ideas  untenable. 
The  same  may  be  said  with  respect  to^Vhab  and 
Macbeth  till  the  death  of  Duncan  :  the  latter  then 
resembles  Saul,  delivered  up  to  the 


Ahab  had  his  "compunctious  visitings,"  and 
short-lived  repentance  ;  Macbeth  his  "  milk  of 
human  kindness/'  and  his  religious  awe  ;  so  that  — 
"  what  he  would  highly,  that  would  he  holily." 
Ahab,  whom  his  wife  stirred  up,  and  Macbeth,  seem 
both,  while  desiring  the  fruits,  similarly  to  shrink 
from  the  perpetration,  of  cold-blooded  murder. 
Hence  the  former  was  content  to  be  used  as  a 
the  murder  of  Naboth,  and  the  latter 


GENERAL  REMARKS.  217 

became  little  more  than  an  instrument  in  that  of 
the  King. 

It  was  Jezebel  who  bestowed  upon  Ahab  the 
vineyard,  as  it  was  Lady  Macbeth  who  gave  her 
husband  the  kingdom.  Both  these  women  began 
by  taunting  their  husbands  into  acquiescence  with 
their  measures,  but  both  resolve  to  act  for  them- 
selves. 

Hear  Jezebel — c'Dost  thou  now  govern  the 
kingdom  of  Israel  ?  Arise  and  eat  bread,  and  let 
thy  heart  be  merry ;  /  will  give  thee  the  vineyard 
of  Naboth,  the  Jezreelite."  Lady  Macbeth,  when 
informed  by  letter  of  the  predestined  throne,  is 
at  first  ready  to  put  an  end  to  Duncan  herself,  a 
purpose  from  which  she  was  diverted  by  his 
resemblance  to  her  " father >  as  he  slept." 

"  Lady  Macbeth.  He  that's  coming 

Must  be  provided  for,  and  you  shall  put 
This  night's  great  business  into  my  despatch. 

[Here  Macbeth  betrays  irresolution. 

Macbeth.  We  will  speak  further. 

Lady  M.  Only  look  up  clear  ; 
To  alter  favour,  ever,  is  to  fear — 
Leave  all  the  rest  to  me." 

Thus  Jezebel  and  Lady  Macbeth  went  on  spur- 
ring their  husbands  in  their  guilty  career,  till  the 
two  latter  expiated  their  crimes  upon  the  field  of 
battle ;  whilst  they  themselves  came  to  an  equally 
untimely  end.  But  Macbeth  resembles  Saul  when 
reprobate,  after  the  murder  of  the  ill-starred  Dun- 


218  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 


can.  Thus  Macbeth  lam^g^j^a^JJieJsMie'-of  the 
slaughtered  Banquo  must  ascend  his  throne  ;  Saul, 
that  "the  kingdom  has  been  rent  out  of  his  hand/' 
and  given  to  David  (whom  he  has  repeatedly  en- 
deavoured to  slay)  and  his  descendants.  When 
the  witch  of  Endor  had  called  up  Samuel,  she  ex- 
claimed —  "  /  saw  gods  ascending  out  of  the  earth  I  " 
Samuel  was,  however,  the  only  ghost.  Now  it  13 
evident  that  the  spirits  of  Banquo'  s  line,  fyc.,  could 
not  have  been  ghosts  in  the  common  acceptation 
of  the  term,  but  mere  typical  shadows  ;  there  is, 
in  fact,  no  ghost  but  Banquo's  throughout  the 
play:  a  circumstance  which  did  not  escape  the 
penetration  of  Mrs,  Montague.*  Saul  saw,  it 
seems,  only  Samuel;  but  he  heard  the  witch's 
remark,  "  I  saw  gods  ascending  out  of  the  earth  "  — 
and  Samuel's  rebuke,  "  Why  hast  thou  disquieted 
me,  to  bring  me  up  ?  "  he  heard,  too,  the  very 
words  again  which  Samuel,  when  a  prophet  of  the 
Lord,  had  addressed  to  him  —  and,  though  he  was 
"  sore  afraid  because  of  these  words"  yet  so  hardened 
had  he  become,  that  he  could  even  be  induced  to 
partake  of  food  which  the  witch  of  Endor  had  pre- 
pared for  him.  This  demonstration  of  depravity 
satisfies  us  that  Macbeth's  character,  when  at  its 
worst  stage,  is  not  untrue  to  nature.  Hence  the 
effect,  both  physically  and  mentally,  of  witchcraft 
upon  Macbeth,  constrains  our  very  feelings  to  a 
tacit  acknowledgment  of  its  truthfulness.  More- 

*    Vide  Essay  on  Genius  of  Shakespeare. 


GENERAL  REMARKS.  219 

over,  the  apparitions  that  were  seen,  and  the  words 
that  were  heard  by  Macbeth — (the  prediction  rela- 
tive to  Banquo's  issue  twice) — were  not  more  ter- 
rific or  overwhelming  than  the  things  which  were 
revealed  to  the  eyes  and  ears  of  Saul. 

Let  us  now  direct  our  attention  to  Hamlet's  con- 
duct after  he  had  received  instructions  from  the 
ghost  of  his  father  :  a  quotation  from  scripture  shall 
be  produced  to  account  for  it.  The  deaths  of 
Polonius  and  the  King  may  be  said  to  be  acci- 
dental effects  ;  Hamlet  having  been  roused  to  the 
committal  of  them,  by  circumstances  which  hurried 
him  from  the  motive  that  should  have  led  to  the 
King's  death.  Hamlet  speaks  of  being  <c  prompted 
to  his  revenge  by  heaven  and  hell : "  by  heaven, 
which  considered  life  forfeited  by  him  who  had 
committed  murder,  and  had  merely  fixed  on  Ham- 
let as  the  person  who  should  execute  this  righteous 
doom  :  by  hell,  inasmuch  as  Hamlet's  worst  feelings 
urged  him  to  commit  the  act.  The  futility  of  a  les- 
son from  the  tomb  is  here  shown  ;  as  if  the  words — - 
"  If  th' ey  hear  not  Moses  and  the  prophets,  nei- 
ther will  they  be  persuaded  though  one  rose  from 
the  dead/'  were  the  source  from  whence  Shake- 
speare derived  hints  in  this  case  :  for  Hamlet's  con- 
duct after  the  interview  with  his  father  was  such 
as  might  be  expected,  especially  of  one  who  could 
say — "  We  defy  augury ;  there  is  a  special  provi- 
dence in  the  fall  of  a  sparrow,"  (see  Act  V.)  he 
endeavours  to  find  out  what  this  vision  might 


220  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

mean.  Perplexed  at  first  by  doubts  and  scruples 
as  to  what  he  ought  to  believe  or  to  do,  because  "  the 
spirit  which  he  had  seen  might  be  the  devil/'  who 
had  perhaps  assumed  a  pleasing  shape,  taking  ad- 
vantage of  Hamlet's  weakness  and  his  melancholy 
(for  Hamlet  was  not  before,  nor  had  he  become, 
since  the  interview  with  the  ghost,  a  religious  man), 
in  order  to  damn  him.  He,  therefore,  determines 
to  have  "  some  players  play  something  like  the 
murder  of  his  father,"  before  the  King  "  his  uncle," 
that  he  may  prove  the  veracity  of  the  story  alleged 
by  the  ghost.  The  plot  succeeds,  and  Hamlet  has 
only  to  strike  the  blow  of  vengeance — as  Samuel 
did  when  he  slew  Agag — in  obedience  to  the  will 
of  Heaven.  He  seems,  however,  by  this  time, 
from  the  effects  of  grief,  doubt,  and  contemplation, 
incapable  of  taking  the  vengeance  required,  though 
clearly  prompted  to  do  so  by  one  "  who  rose  from 
the  dead/'  The  course  taken  by  Hamlet  to  satis- 
fy himself  concerning  the  ghost,  is  probably  quite 
original.  Thus  he  first  establishes  the  credibility 
of  the  ghost  with  regard  to  real  existence,  by  the 
information  which  he  gains  from  others  respecting 
it :  he  then  establishes  the  credibility  of  the  ghost 
with  regard  to  words,  by  means  of  scenic  represen- 
tations. And  so  anxious  is  he  then  to  arrive  at  right 
conclusions  respecting  his  uncle,  that  he  particu- 
larly requests  Horatio,  the  man  on  whose  integrity 
and  judgment  he  can  best  rely,  to  watch  the  king 
narrowly  when  that  scene  of  the  play,  which  comes 


GENERAL  REMARKS.  221 

near   the   circumstance   of  his  father's  death,  is 
brought  before  them  : — 

"  I  pr'ythee,  when  thou  see'st  that  act  a-foot, 
Even  with  the  very  comment  of  thy  soul 
Observe  my  uncle  :  if  his  occulted  guilt 
Do  not  itself  unkennel  in  one  speech, 
It  is  a  damned  ghost  that  we  have  seen ; 
And  my  imaginations  are  as  foul 
As  Vulcan's  stithy  ;  Give  him  heedful  note  : 
For  I  mine  eyes  will  rivet  to  his  face  ; 
And  after,  we  will  both  our  judgments  join 
In  censure  of  his  seeming." 

What  should  have  been  the  result,  when  both 
their  judgments  did  join  in  censure  of  his  seeming? 
Why,  Hamlet  should  have  killed  the  king,  because 
that  king  was  a  usurper  and  a  murderer,  in  obe- 
dience to  the  ghost's  commands.  Had  the  ghost's 
account  of  the  torments  which  he  suffered,  in  con- 
sequence of  having  been  u  cut  off  in  the  blossoms 
of  his  sin,  and  sent  to  his  account  with  all  his  im- 
perfections on  his  head/'  really  brought  conviction 
home  to  Hamlet,  and  led  him  to  eschew  wicked- 
ness, since  any  man  may  be  so  cut  off  and  sent  to  his 
account,  he  would  have  inflicted  punishment  upon 
his  uncle  in  a  right  spirit,  have  satisfied  the  world 
of  his  uncle's  guilt,  and  have  made  a  pious  and 
good  king. 

But  men  are  not  to  be  persuaded  by  those  who 
rise  from  the  dead.  Hamlet,  therefore,  must  not 
be  persuaded  by  such  supernatural  agency. 


222  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

Now,  it  is  clear  that  the  parable  of  Dives  and 
Lazarus  had  made  particular  impression  on  Shake- 
speare's mind,  for  it  is  mentioned  several  times  in 
the  play  of  Henry  IV.  by  the  same  character;  and, 
as  hints  are  sufficient  for  genius  of  a  high  order, 
it  is  probable  that  the  parable  above  noticed  aided 
him  in  this  case. 

But  it  may  be  said,  such  genius  as  Shakespeare's 
would  want  no  aid  to  enable  it  either  to  place  the 
characters  of  Hamlet  and  Macbeth  in  the  circum- 
stances which  have  been  already  scanned,  or  to 
make  their  subsequent  conduct  spring  so  naturally 
from  them.  Yet  the  circumstances  in  which  these 
men  are  placed,  and  the  conduct  which  so  naturally 
results  from  them  (if  the  sources  from  whence  his 
ideas  are  said  to  flow  be  not  correct),  seem  as 
likely  to  be  fictions  of  unaided  genius  as  a  statue, 
perfectly  correct  in  its  detail,  and  gracefully  natural 
in  its  attitude,  could  be  thought  to  be  produced 
by  one  who  was  both  ignorant  of  anatomy  and 
the  rules  of  correct  taste. 

"Shakespeare/'  says  Mr.  Ruskin,  at  the  place 
before  quoted — u  Shakespeare  always  leans  on  the 
force  of  fate,  as  it  urges  the  final  evil ;  and  dwells 
with  infinite  bitterness  on  the  power  of  the  wicked, 
and  the  infinitude  of  results  dependent  seemingly 
on  little  things.  A  fool  brings  the  last  piece  of 
news  from  Verona,  and  the  dearest  lives  of  its 
noble  houses  are  lost;  they  might  have  been 
saved  if  the  sacristan  had  not  stumbled  as  he 


GENERAL  REMARKS.  226 

walked.  Othello  mislays  his  handkerchief,  and 
there  remains  nothing  for  him  but  death.  Hamlet 
gets  hold  of  the  wrong  foil,  and  the  rest  is  silence. 
Edmund's  runner  is  a  moment  too  late  at  the 
prison,  and  the  feather  will  not  move  at  Cordelia's 
lips.  Salisbury  a  moment  too  late  at  the  Tower, 
and  Arthur  lies  on  the  stones  dead.  Goneril  and 
lago  have  on  the  whole,  in  this  world,  Shakespeare 
sees,  much  of  their  own  way,  though  they  come  to 
a  bad  end.  It  is  a  pin  that  Death  pierces  the 
king's  fortress  wall  with;  and  carelessness  and 
folly  sit,  sceptred  and  dreadful,  side  by  side,  with 
the  pin-armed  skeleton." 

If  it  be  thus  in  Shakespeare,  and  in  the  world, 
it  is  assuredly  the  same  in  the  Bible.  Jezebel  and 
Judas  have  it  all  their  own  way,  though  they  come 
to  a  bad  end.  In  that  sacred  book,  from  beginning 
to  end,  good  men  lament  that  the  wicked  "  flou- 
rish "  here,  "  like  a  green  bay-tree/'  That  "  they 
come  not  into  peril  like  other  folk,  neither  are  in 
trouble  like  other  men."  To  witness  this  was  the 
sorest  trial  of  <;the  man  after  God's  own  heart;  '• 
and  has  been  one  of  the  severest  trials  of  the  faith- 
ful  in  all  ages  of  the  Church.  David  could  not 
understand  this  till  he  "  went  into  the  house  of 
God,"  and  understood  "  the  END  of  these  men." 
Granting  a  superintending  providence,  which 
Shakespeare  ever  recognizes,  things  come  to  pass  in 
the  Bible,  and  in  the  world,  as  by  chance.  "  The 


224  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

lot  is  cast  into  the  lap,  but  the  disposal  is  with 
the  Lord/' 

The  most  solemn  predictions  in  Scripture,  be  it 
remembered,  are  fulfilled  seemingly  by  accident. 
In  the  Bible,  if  any  where,  we  might  be  led  to 
expect  the  gradual  development  of  a  plot  or  prin- 
ciple ;  whereas  we  meet  with  the  very  reverse  of 
this.  It  was  foretold  that  Ahab  should  not  return 
in  peace.  He  accordingly  perishes  in  battle.  But 
how  does  he  perish?  The  command  of  the  king 
of  Syria  to  the  captains  of  his  chariots,  to  "fight 
neither  with  small  nor  great,  but  only  with  the 
king  of  Israel,"  seems  at  first  sight  ordained  by 
God  himself  for  the  fulfilment  of  prophecy.  We 
should  therefore  expect  that  Jehoshaphat,  to 
secure  his  own  safety,  would  have  somehow  be- 
trayed the  disguise  of  Ahab,  that  the  death  of  the 
latter  might  appear  to  proceed  from  design.  Such, 
however,  was  not  the  case.  "A  certain  man 
draws  a  bow  at  a  venture,  and  pierces  the  king  be- 
tween the  joints  of  his  harness."  It  was  also  pre- 
dicted that  "  dogs  should  lick  his  blood/'  How 
is  this  prophecy  fulfilled  ?  Is  the  body  exposed  to 
purposed  indignity  I  No,  it  was  buried,  we  have 
reason  to  believe,  with  respect.  But  "  one  washed 
the  chariot  in  the  pool  of  Samaria ; "  and  then 
the  "  dogs  came  and  licked  up  the  blood,"  in  the 
usual  course  of  events. 

Jehu,  indeed,  affected  to  fulfil  the  prediction 
concerning  Joram,  by  casting  his  body  into  the 


GENERAL  REMARKS.  225 

plot  of  Naboth,  the  Jezreelite.  But  Jehu  forgot, 
and  would  have  left  unfulfilled,  what  had  been 
foretold  in  the  case  of  Jezebel.  He  gave  orders 
to  bury  this  "  cursed  woman,"  because  "  she  was  a 
king's  daughter."  But  he  first  went  in  to  eat  and 
drink.  Before  he  had  finished  Ms  meal,  the  dogs 
had  had  theirs ;  and  then  he  remembered  the  word 
which  the  Lord  had  spoken  by  the  mouth  of 
Elijah  the  Tishbite. 

Since,  then,  what  we  call  accident  seems  to  be 
the  ruling  power,  where  divine  interposition  is 
clearly  exerted  (if  we  allow  it  ever  to  be  exerted 
at  all),  it  follows  that  Shakespeare,  in  representing 
the  lives  of  the  greatest  and  best  of  human  beings 
as  the  sport  of  chance,  does  literally  follow  the 
order  of  God  and  nature.  He  is  bitter,  and  we  are 
bitter  at  this  state  of  things,  because  we  find  it 
hard  to  realize  the  truth,  that  it  is  neither  a  man's 
worldly  fortunes,  nor  the  adherence  of  his  friends, 
nor  the  fidelity  of  his  wife,  nor  the  time,  nor  the 
manner  of  his  death,  but  the  tenor  of  his  life, 
which  determines  whether  he  be  properly  an  object 
of  envy  or  of  pity.  Humanly  speaking,  what  is 
there  more  horrible,  or  more  unjust  in  Shakespeare, 
than  that  a  good  man,  after  a  life  of  mortification 
and  obedience  to  his  Maker's  will,  should  be  secretly 
murdered  in  a  dungeon  at  the  pleasure  of  a  light 
dancer?  The  wicked  "have  done  to  him  what  they 
listed  !  "  Had  this  been  narrated  merely  in  a  novel 
or  a  play,  the  author's  morality  had  doubtless  been 


226  SHAKESPEARE  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

questioned,  and  he  had  been  accused  of  setting  an 
injurious  example.  All  other  means  failing,  better 
have  introduced  an  angel  to  burst  the  prison  door, 
than  that  this  should  have  been.  But  God  teaches 
otherwise.  He  leaves  his  faithful  servant  to  perish, 
if  this  be  to  perish.  And  because  it  is  God  who 
thus  acts  and  teaches,  mankind,  whether  good  or 
bad,  are  not  hereby  offended*  With  the  former 
it  is,  "  Though  he  slay  me,  yet  will  I  trust  in  him." 
With  the  latter,  "Let  me  die  the  death  of  the 
righteous,  and  let  my  last  end  be  like  his/'  So 
long  as  any  hope  remains,  this  will  ever  be  the  wish 
of  the  human  heart. 

Mr.  Kuskin  thinks  that  it  was  necessary  for 
Shakespeare's  special  work  "  that  he  should  be  put, 
as  it  were,  on  a  level  with  his  race,  on  those  plains 
of  Stratford."  True ;  and  it  was  equally  necessary 
that  he  should  be  so  placed  at  that  particular  time, 
when  the  Reformation  had  excited  in  men's  minds 
great  curiosity  concerning  the  Scriptures,  which 
had  been  a  sealed  book  to  them.  We  have  given 
much  evidence  that  Shakespeare  must  have  shared 
and  gratified  this  curiosity— for  hence  his  genius 
imbibed  and  assimilated  that  wisdom  whereat  the 
world  marvels. 


THE  END. 


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