Times."]

[Footnote 50: Voltaire's references to Shakespeare were made in his
"Letters on England." From them dates the beginning of French interest
in the English poet.]

At the present day all controversy regarding Shakespeare's genius and
glory has come to an end. No one ventures any longer to dispute them;
but a greater question has arisen--namely, whether Shakespeare's
dramatic system is not far superior to that of Voltaire. This question
I do not presume to decide. I merely say that it is now open for
discussion. We have been led to it by the onward progress of ideas. I
shall endeavor to point out the causes which have brought it about;
but at present I insist merely upon the fact itself, and deduce from
it one simple consequence, that literary criticism has changed its
ground, and can no longer remain restricted to the limits within which
it was formerly confined.

Literature does not escape from the revolutions of the human mind; it
is compelled to follow it in its course, to transport itself beneath
the horizon under which it is conveyed, to gain elevation and
extension with the ideas which occupy its notice, and to consider the
questions which it discusses under the new aspects and novel
circumstances in which they are placed by the new state of thought and
of society....

When we embrace human destiny in all its aspects, and human nature in
all the conditions of man upon earth, we enter into possession of an
exhaustless treasure. It is the peculiar advantage of such a system
that it escapes, by its extent, from the dominion of any particular
genius. We may discover its principles in Shakespeare's works; but he
was not fully acquainted with them, nor did he always respect them. He
should serve as an example, not as a model. Some men, even of superior
talent, have attempted to write plays according to Shakespeare's
taste, without perceiving that they were deficient in one important
qualification for the task; and that was to write as he did, to write
them for our age just as Shakespeare's plays were written for the age
in which he lived. This is an enterprise the difficulties of which
have, hitherto, perhaps, been maturely considered by no one.

We have seen how much art and effort were employed by Shakespeare to
surmount those which are inherent in his system. They are still
greater in our times, and would unveil themselves much more completely
to the spirit of criticism which now accompanies the boldest