s not find it delectable, he may
well suspect some fault in himself.

The contents of the volume are, first, "Memoirs of the Life of William
Shakespeare"; second, "An Essay toward the Expression of Shakespeare's
Genius"; third, "An Account of the Rise and Progress of the English
Drama to the Time of Shakespeare."

In his "Memoirs," the author of course adds nothing to what was already
known of the poet's life. But his presentation of the matter is
eminently readable, and, in parts, decidedly interesting; which is as
much as can fairly be looked for in any writing on that subject. Some
readers may think, we _do_ think, that the author is a little at fault
on one or two points. For instance, he overworks certain questions
touching the poet's wife, worrying up the matter against her to the
utmost, and, in fact, tormenting the poor woman's memory in such a way
as to indicate something very like spite. Now this is not fair; and Mr.
White's general fairness on other subjects makes his proceeding the less
excusable in this case.

Of course everybody knows that Mrs. Anne Shakespeare was some eight
years older than her husband; that the circumstances of the marriage
were not altogether what they should have been; and that the oldest
daughter was born a little too soon for the credit of either parent.
This is all, all, there is known about the matter. And if conjecture or
inference must be at work on these facts, surely it had better run in
the direction of charity, especially of charity towards the weaker
vessel. We say weaker vessel, because in this case the man must, in all
fairness, be supposed to have had the advantage, at least as much in
strength of natural understanding as the woman had in years. And as
Shakespeare was, by all accounts, a very attractive person, it does not
well appear but that the woman had as good a right to lose her heart in
his company as he had to lose his head in hers. Yet our author
insinuates, perhaps we should say more than insinuates, that the lady
immodestly angled for and seduced the youthful lover, and entangled his
honor in an obligation of marriage; and he seems quite positive that the
poet afterwards hated her, and took refuge in London partly to escape
from her society. Moreover, he presumes her to have been a coarse, low,
vulgar creature, such as, the fascination of the honeymoon once worn
off, the poet could not choose but loathe and detest. Now all this is
sheer conjecture; it has n