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conditions and even to the isolation of individuals . In England , everytliing com-HFHE ^ rr ^^ - zs ^ pfX SFfr ^^ -Ka ^^ ri i ^ eHoSer for the discussion and transaction of their common affairs The rouutv Surts the jury , corporate - associations , and elections of all kind * , ™ dfaphc 4 occas ons of mee ^ ing , and diffused in every direction the habits of public life . That hleraS L " l organization of feudalism , which , on the continent , extended from the forest Satleman to the most powerful monarch , and was incessantly stimulating Evanify of every man to leave his own sphere and pass into the rank of suzerain ™ neve ? completely established in Great Britain . The nob , h £ ^ £ « * ££ order , by separating themselves from the great barons , m order t ^ ake tbe r place at the head of t he commons , returned , so to speak , into the body of ^ the nation , ^ and adopted its manners as well as assumed its rights . It was on his own estate , among his tenants , farmer ,, and servants , that the gentleman establish * d ^ importance ; and he based it upon the cultivation of his lands and the d ^ P > ot those local magistracies which , by placing him in connexion with tbe wh , ale of the population , necessitat ed the concurrence of public opnnon and P \ f ^^^ fc ^ -ss « -55 SS sively from class t o class , were in some sort terminated and sealed in the earth ^/ sTh f ^ tflctt ; letdTto competence and confidence ; and where competence reigns , and confidence is felt , the necessity of common ™ W ™» 1 ™™ ar ises . Men who are accustomed to meet together for business will meet together for pleasure also ; and when the serious life of the landowner is spent among Ins fieldf he does not remain a stranger to the joys of the P ^ VtL ^ S ^ lS surround them . Continual and general festivals gave animation to the country hie of oMEngland What was their primary origin ? What traditions and customs Ived as their foundation ? How did the progress of rustic prosperity lead ^ gradually to this joyous movement of meetings , banquets , and games ? It is ot little use to ' know the cause ; the fact itself is most worthy of our observation , ; and m the sixteenth century , when civil discord had been brought to % ^> ™™ 1 ® EZ& in all its brilliant details . At Christmas , before the gates of the castles , the herald , bearing the arms of the family , thrice shouted Largesse !—" ' Then opened wide the Baron ' s hall To vassal , tenant , serf , and all ; Power laid his rod of rule aside , And ceremony doffed his pride . The heir , with roses in his shoes , That nig ht might village partner choose ; The lord , underogatin £ , share ^ The vulgar game of " post and pair . Who shall describe the general joy and hospitality , the roaring fire in the hall , the well-spread table , the beef and pudding , and the abundance of good cheer which was then to be found in the house of the farmer as well as in the mansion of the gentleman . The dance , when the head began to swim with wassail ; the songs ot minstrels , and talcs of bygone days , when the party had become tired of dancing , — were the pleasures which then reigned throughout England , when , — " ' All hail'd , with unccmtroll'd delight , And general voice , the happy night , That to the cottage , as the crown , Urought tidings oi" salvation down . * * * * "JVas Christinas broach ' d the mightiest alo ; Twns Christmas told the merriest tale ; A Christmas gambol oft could cheer ^ The poor man ' s heart through half the year . Those Christinas festivities lasted for twelve days , varied by a thousand p leasures , kindled by the good wishes and presents of New Year ' s Day , and terminated by ^ the Feast of Kings on Twelfth Day . Hut soon after came Plough Monday , the day on winch work was resumed , and " the first day of labour also was marked by a feast . " ' fiood housewifVs , whom (] iod hath enriched enough , Forget not the feants that belong to the plough , Rivs old Tusser , in hi * quaint rural poems . The . spindle also had its festival The harvest feast was one of equality , and an avowal , as it were , of those mutual necessities ' which bring men into union . On that day , masters and servants collected round the same table , and , mingling in the same conversation , did not appear to be brought into contact will , eaeh other by the complaisance ot a superior desirous oi rewarding hi * inferior , but . by an equal right to the pleasures ol the day : — " ' For all that elenr'd the crop , or till'd the ground , Are gue . stn by rig ht of custom ; old and young ; Here once a year distinction Iow ' ih its crest , The muster , Hcrvnnt , and the merry guest , Are equal all ; and round ( lie happy ring The reaper ' s eyes exulting g lances Ibng , And , vnrin'd with grnlilude , lie quits hm place , With nun-burnt . liandH and idc-enlivcn'd face , Keiill . s the jug bin honour'd host to tend , To nerve at once the mauler and the friend ; I ' roud tlniH to meet his mniles , to _ share bis tale , Him nuts , hi . s convcrHiition , and hi * ale Such were the days of clays long pun ! . I Hing . ' ' Sowing-time , sheap-shearing , indeed , every epoch of interest in rural life , was celebrated l > y similar meetings and banquets , and by games ol nil k . mls . -I * " * - wllllt day could equal the lirst of May , brilliant with thejovh of you t , « n ho | , oi »« -s ofll .. ' year ? Scarce had l . lit , rising sun announce , ! the arrival oi tins festive I | K rn > tIlli ; , ! ,, „ rIIUre youthful population hastened into the woods and ,. «« . < owh to ( he river-l > a » k and hill-side , accompanied by the sounds of music , to gathe , the .. 1 ' vest of ( lowers ; . uhI . returning l . ulen with hawthorn and verdure adorned the , an ,, windows of their bouses with flu- \ r spoils covered w , fh 1 , losson . s tho Mv „ e which they l .. ul « -.. t in th « forest , and . row ,,, , 1 with K arl . u . « s the horns ol Kwthwmft .. drag it in triumph through the villa * ,. Ilornck , a conic ,-pornry of Shakspeare , thu . s invites his mistress to go a-Mayn . g : — " MJot up gel . "i » for slmme , Uio blooming n . oni Upon her wintfH I > m < entn the god un » h . » rn . Men how Aurora . thrown her lair Frebh ( milted coloura through ( ho air ;
Get up , sweet slue-a-bed , and see The dew bespangled herb and tree . Each flower has wept , and bow'd toward the east , Above an hour since , yet you are not drest , If ay , not so much as out of bed ; When all the birds have matins said , And sung their thankful hymns : 'tis sin , Nay , profanation , to keep in , When as a thousand virgins on this day , , Spring sooner than the lark to fetch in May . " ' Come my Corinna , come ; and , coming , mark How each field turns a street each street a P «* Made green , and trimm'd with trees , eee how Devotion gives each house a bough , Or branch ; each porch , each door , ere this , ] An ark , a tabernacle is , Made up of white thorn neatly interwove ; ^ As if here were those cooler shades ot love . « The elegance of the cottages on May-morning was imitated by the castles ; and the young gentlefolks , as well as the lads and maulens of the village went forth hito ^ fields in search of flowers . Joy is sure to introduce equality mto pleasures ; " he symbol of joy never vary , and are changed as little by difference of rank as by difference of selson . Here enjoyment , led by abundance , seems to spend the year in contTnual festivities . Just as the first of May displays its profusion of verdure , Ts sheep-shearino- fills the streets with flowers , and harvest-home 1 S adorned with ^ s of corn so ChristmaS will decorate the walls with ivy , holly , and evergreen jS as dances , races , shows , and rustic sports , cause the sky of spring to resound with their joyous tones , so games in
which" ' White shirts supplied the masquerade , And smutted cheeks the visors made , will waken the echoes , on the cold December nights , with shouts of gaiety ; and the May-pole and Christmas-log will alike be borne in triumph and extolled m " ^ Amidst these games , festivals , and banquets , at these innumerable friendly meetings , and in this joyous and habitual conviviality ( to use the national expression ) , the minstrels took their place and sang their songs . The subjects of these ong were the traditions of the country , the adventures of popu lar heroes as well as of noble champions , the exploits of Robin Hood against the Sheriff of Nottingham , Z well as the conflicts of the Femes with the Douglas clan . Thus the public manners called for poetry ; thus poetry originated in the manners of the people , and oecaTe connected with all the interests , and with the entire existence , of a population accustomed to live , to act , to prosper , and to rejoice in common .
shakspeare ' s comedy and tr agedy . « Thus at the advent of Shakspeare , the nature and destiny of man , which constitute the materials of dramatic poetry , were not divided or classified into different branches of art . When art desired to introduce them on the stage , it accepted them in their entirety , with all the mixtures and contrasts which they present to observation ; nor was the public taste inclined to complain of this . The comic portion of human realities had a right to take its place wherever its presence was demanded or permitted by truth ; and such was the character of civdr / ation , that tragedy , by admitting the comic clement , did not derogate from truth in the slightest degree . In such a condition of the stage and of the public mmd what could be the state of comedy , properly so called ? How could it be permitted to claim to bear a particular name , and to form a distinct style ? It succeeded in which its natural domain
this attempt by boldly leaving those realities in was neither respected nor acknowledged ; it did not limit its efforts to the delineation of settled manners or of consistent characters ; it did not propose to itsolf to represent men and things under a ridiculous but truthful aspect ; but it became a fantastic and romantic work , the refuge of those amusing improbabilities which , in its idleness or folly , the imagination delights to connect together by a slight thread , in order to ' form from them combinations capable of affording diversion or interest , without calling for the judgment of the reason . Graceful pictures surprises the curiosity which attaches to the progress of an intrigue , mistakes , quulpro-quos , all the witticisms of parody and travestie , formed the substance oi this inconsequent diversion . The conformation of the Spanish plays , a taste for winch was beaming to prevail in England , supplied these gambols of the imagination with abundant frameworks and alluring models . Next to their chronicles and ballads , collections of French or Italian tales , together with the romances oi rhivalry , formed the favourite reading of the people , is it strange that so productive " u minennd so easy a style , should lirst have attracted the attention oi
, Shakspeare ? Can we feel astonished that his young and brilliant imagination hastened to wander at will among such subjects , free from the yoke , oi probabilities , and excused from seeking after serious and vigorous combinations { ho great pout , whose mind and band proceeded , it , is ml , with such equal rapidity that his manuscript scarcely contained n single erasure , doubtless yielded with delight to those unrestrained gambols in which he could display without labour bis rich and varied faculties . Jle could put anything he pleased into his coined . es , and he has , in liiet , put everything into them , with tins exception ot one flung which was incompatible with such a system , namely , the rnsnnbltt which , making every part concur towards the , same end , reveals at , every step the depth of the plan , and the grandeur of the work . It would be difficult to find in Sliakspnue'H tragedies a single ; conception , position , act , or passion , or degree of vice or virtue , which may not also be met with in some one . of his comedies ; but that which in his tragedies is carefully thought out , fruitful in result , and intimately connected with tin ; series of causes and effects , is in his comedies only just indicated , and
offered to our sight for a moment to dazzle us with a passing gleam , and soon to disappear in a , new combination . In Measure for Mrasurc , Angelo , the unworthy governor of Vienna , alter having condemned Clmidio to death for the crime ol having seduced a young girl whom ho iuleii
Untitled Article
686 THE LEADER . [ Saturday ,
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), July 17, 1852, page 686, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1943/page/18/
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