his Romans wear hats,[1] lets ships land in Bohemia, and suffers Aristotle to be quoted in the time of Troy! Which was more than an English scholar who had graduated Magister Artium at Oxford could endure! The only commentator on Shakespeare whom I cited as an exception, and who is indeed unique in every aspect, was the late Hazlitt, a mind which was as brilliant as deep, a commingling of Diderôt and Börne, combining flaming zeal for the revolution with the most glowing sense of art, ever sparkling with verve and esprit.
The Germans have comprehended Shakespeare better than the English. And here I must again recall that great name which is ever to be found where there is question of a great beginning. Gottlob Ephraim Lessing was the first man who raised his voice in Germany for Shakespeare. He it was who bore the first and greatest stone for a temple to the greatest of all poets, and, what was more praiseworthy, he took the pains to clear the ground on which this temple was to be raised of all its ancient rubbish. Without pity he tore down the light French stage-show which spread wide over the place, so inspired was he with a genial love of building. Gottsched shook the locks of his peruke so despairingly that
- ↑ Which they certainly did, occasionally. The putting on a hat was the ceremony by which a slave was made free."—Translator.
