reſcue thoſe that had been already publiſhed from the depravations that obſcured them, or ſecure to the reſt a better deſtiny, by giving them to the world in their genuine ſtate.
Of the plays which bear the name of Shakeſpeare in the late editions, the greater part were not publiſhed till about ſeven years after his death, and the few which appeared in his life are apparently thruſt into the world without the care of the author, and therefore probably without his knowledge.
Of all the publiſhers; clandeſtine or profeſſed, their negligence and unſkilfulneſs has by the late reviſers been ſufficiently ſhewn. The faults of all are indeed numerous and groſs, and have not only corrupted many paſſages perhaps beyond recovery, but have brought others into ſuſpicion, which are only obſcured by obſolete phraſeology, or by the writer’s unſkilfulneſs and affectation. To alter is more eaſy than to explain, and temerity is a more common quality than diligence. Thoſe who ſaw that they muſt employ conjecture to a certain degree, were willing to indulge it a little further. Had the author publiſhed his own works, we ſhould have ſat quietly down to diſentangle his intricacies, and clear his obſcurities; but now we tear what we cannot looſe, and eject what we happen not to underſtand.
The faults are more than could have happened without the concurrence of many cauſes. The ſtyle of Shakeſpeare was in itſelf ungrammatical, perplexed, and obſcure; his works were tranſcribed for the
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