The useless,
lifeless criticism vanishes quietly away into chaos; the good remains
quietly to be useful: and it is in reliance upon the justice and
certainty of this law that I aim at bringing before the mind, as clearly
as may be, a phase of belief that was continually and powerfully
influencing Shakspere during the whole of his life, but is now well-nigh
forgotten or entirely misunderstood. If the endeavour is a useless and
unprofitable one, let it be forgotten--I am content; but I hope to be
able to show that an investigation of the subject does furnish us with a
key which, in a manner, unlocks the secrets of Shakspere's heart, and
brings us closer to the real living man--to the very soul of him who,
with hardly any history in the accepted sense of the word, has left us
in his works a biography of far deeper and more precious meaning, if we
will but understand it.
10. But it may be said that Shakspere, of all men, is able to speak for
himself without aid or comment. His works appeal to all, young and old,
in every time, every nation. It is true; he can be understood. He is,
to use again Ben Jonson's oft-quoted words, "Not of an age, but for
all time." Yet he is so thoroughly imbued with the spirit and opinions
of his era, that without a certain comprehension of the men of
the Elizabethan period he cannot be understood fully. Indeed,
his greatness is to a large extent due to his sympathy with the men
around him, his power of clearly thinking out the answers to the
all-time questions, and giving a voice to them that his contemporaries
could understand;--answers that others could not for themselves
formulate--could, perhaps, only vaguely and dimly feel after.
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