ever again be to him
what she had been. During his stay in this neighborhood he found himself
impelled to a species of submission to one of the old agricultural
magnates whom he had insulted in his unregenerate days, and through whom
he was glad to obtain some momentary employment. But his present
position is very distasteful to him, and he is eager to try his fortunes
in the West. As yet, however, he has lacked even the means to get as far
as St. Louis. He drinks no more than is good for him. To speak of
Gertrude's impressions of Richard would lead us quite too far. Shortly
after his return she broke up her household, and came to the bold
resolution (bold, that is, for a woman young, unmarried, and ignorant of
manners in her own country) to spend some time in Europe. At our last
accounts she was living in the ancient city of Florence. Her great
wealth, of which she was wont to complain that it excluded her from
human sympathy, now affords her a most efficient protection. She passes
among her fellow-countrymen abroad for a very independent, but a very
happy woman; although, as she is by this time twenty-seven years of age,
a little romance is occasionally invoked to account for her continued
celibacy.

THE GROWTH, LIMITATIONS, AND TOLERATION OF SHAKESPEARE'S GENIUS.

In an article on Shakespeare in the June number of this Magazine, we
spoke of his general comprehensiveness and creativeness, of his method
of characterization, and of the identity of his genius with his
individuality. In the present article we purpose to treat of some
particular topics included in the general theme; and as criticism on him
is like coasting along a continent, we shall make little pretension to
system in the order of taking them up.

The first of these topics is the succession of Shakespeare's works,
considered as steps in the growth and development of his powers,--a
subject which has already been ably handled by our countryman, Mr.
Verplanck. The facts, as far as they can be ascertained, are these.
Shakespeare went to London about the year 1586, in his twenty-second
year, and found some humble employment in one of the theatrical
companies. Three years afterwards, in 1589, he had risen to be one of
the sharers in the Blackfriars' Theatre. In 1592 he had acquired
sufficient reputation as a dramatist, or at least as a recaster of the
plays of others, to excite the jealousy of the leading playwrights,
whose crude dramas he condescend