PROPERTIES. Act I., Sc. 2.

"I will draw a bill of properties."

The person who has charge of the wooden swords, pasteboard shields, and other such materials necessary for the business of the stage, is still called the property-man. The technicalities of the theatre are very enduring.

QUERN. Act II., Sc. 1.

"Sometimes labour in the quern."

Quern is a mill, from the Anglo-Saxon cweorn or cwyrn, generally used for a handmill.

REAR-MICE.

Act II., Sc. 2.

"Some, war with rear-mice."

Rear-mice are bats.

SCRIP. Act I., Sc. 2.

Scrip, script, is a written paper. Locke calls bills of exchange scrips of paper," and the term is still in use upon the Stock Exchange.

SQUARE. Act II., Sc. 1.

Nothing,' Act I., Sc. 1.

SPOTTED. Act I., Sc. 1.

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To quarrel. See Much Ado about

'Upon this spotted and inconstant man.' Stained, or impure; the opposite of spotless.

Vild, for vile, is repeatedly used by Shakspere, as well as by Spenser and others, and we are, therefore, not justified in substituting vile, as has been done by modern editors.

WOOD. Act II., Sc. 2.

"And here am I, and wood within this wood."

Wood is mad. The word is still used in this sense in Scotland, under the form of wud.

PLOT AND CHARACTERS.

SCHLEGEL has happily remarked upon this drama, that “the most extraordinary combination of the most dissimilar ingredients seems to have arisen without effort by some ingenious and lucky accident; and the colours are of such clear transparency, that we think the whole of the variegated fabric may be blown away with a breath." It is not till after we have attentively studied this wonderful production that we understand how solidly the foundations of the fabric are laid. The 'Midsummer-Night's Dream' exhibits all that congruity of parts, that natural progression of scenes, that subordination of action and character to one leading design, that ultimate harmony evolved out of seeming confusion, which constitute the dramatic spirit. With "audience fit, though few," with a stage not encumbered with decorations, with actors approaching (if it were so possible) to the idea of grace and archness which belong to the fairy troop, the subtle and evanescent beauties of this drama might not be wholly lost in the representation. But under the most favourable circumstances much would be sacrificed. It is in the closet that we must not only suffer our senses to be overpowered by its "indescribable profusion of imaginative poetry," but trace the instinctive felicity of Shakspere in the "structure of the fable."

But, nevertheless, this is not a drama for analysis. It is too subtle and ethereal. To tell this fairy-tale in plain narrative, would be to destroy its exquisite beauty to dissect its characters, with all their caprices and illusions, would be "wasteful and ridiculous excess." It is "a dream throughout," of which the fairy machinery has been truly described by Mr. Hallam, as 66 one of the most beautiful conceptions that ever visited the mind of a poet." This "dream," however, is not an incoherent one. drama is not "such stuff as dreams are made of." Malone has

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endeavoured to show that it was one of our author's "earliest attempts in comedy." He derives the proof of this from "the poetry of this piece, glowing with all the warmth of a youthful and lively imagination, the many scenes which it contains of almost continual rhyme, the poverty of the fable, and want of discrimination among the higher personages."

We wholly dissent from this opinion. The poetry of this piece, the almost continual rhyme, and even the poverty of the fable, are to us evidences of the very highest art having obtained a perfect mastery of its materials after years of patient study. Of all the dramas of Shakspere there is none more entirely harmonious than 'A Midsummer-Night's Dream.' All the incidents, all the characters, are in perfect subordination to the will of the poet. "Throughout the whole piece," says Malone, "the more exalted characters are subservient to the interests of those beneath them." Precisely so. An unpractised author-one who had not "a youthful and lively imagination" under perfect control,— when he had got hold of the Theseus and Hippolyta of the heroic ages, would have made them ultra-heroical. They would have commanded events, instead of moving with the supernatural influence around them in harmony and proportion. "Theseus, the associate of Hercules, is not engaged in any adventure worthy of his rank or reputation, nor is he in reality an agent throughout the play." Precisely so. An immature poet, again, if the marvellous creation of Oberon, and Titania, and Puck could have entered into such a mind, would have laboured to make the power of the fairies produce some strange and striking events. But the exquisite beauty of Shakspere's conception is, that, under the supernatural influence, "the human mortals" move precisely according to their respective natures and habits. Demetrius and Lysander are impatient and revengeful; Helena is dignified and affectionate, with a spice of female error; Hermia is somewhat vain and shrewish. And then Bottom! Who but the most skilful artist could have given us such a character? Malone says, that in Bottom, Shakspere intended to ridicule "the ambition of a theatrical candidate for applause." Why, Bottom the weaver is the representative of the whole human race; the personification

of that self-love which the simple cannot conceal, and the wise can with difficulty suppress.

There is, perhaps, no play of Shakspere that demands such an entire surrender of the mind to its poetical spirit. We believe that if any single composition were required to exhibit the power of the English language for purposes of poetry, that composition would be the 'Midsummer-Night's Dream.'