and a scroll, which tells us that Fletcher was the son of the Bishop of London, is gently lifted up by two figures, anxious to be seen, called Tragedy and Comedy, studied from the antique, and yet infinitely more like Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, than the two Muses whom they are intended to represent.

All this 'vanity of art,' as Prospero terms it, being bestowed by Marshall, on a smaller scale upon Milton and Shirley and others, I again infer strongly, that nothing could have preserved Shakspeare himself from the Bedlam or Parnassus of Marshall's allegorical powers, but the circumstance of his being employed to copy the head of the poet by Payne. With many thanks to him, therefore, for his forbearance upon the present occasion, I am happy to put the public in possession of an imitation, which is absolutely perfect, of Marshall's engraving, now one of the rarest prints in England.

This series of engravings, therefore, is to be held as containing, in this writer's opinion, every thing that on any authority can be called Shakspeare; and they each of them, alone, possess very strong evidence of authenticity. Droeshout's print is attested by Ben Jonson, and by his partners in the Theatre. The Stratford Monument was erected by his son-in-law, Dr. Hall, and executed probably by Thomas Stanton, who could not but know his person, and probably had some cast to work from. The Chandos picture is traced up to Taylor, the poet's Hamlet, and was no doubt painted by Burbage. The head

by Cornelius Jansen, is marked by that painter decidedly Shakspeare, and every reasonable presumption assures us that it was painted for Lord Southampton. The head by Marshall seems to have been copied by him from a head by Payne, who reduced that by Droeshout, with some variations in the dress and attitude.

What light these portraits throw upon each other, and thus verify the whole, I have brought most strikingly before the spectator, by shewing the heads as nearly as was practicable, in the same size, and in the same direction. I feel them to be executed in a manner which has not often been equalled, and will never, I believe, be surpassed. The expence has of course been great; but the Pubfisher would withhold nothing, where the perfect exhibition of Shakspeare was the object. I have thus contributed my effort, to make our great and amiable poet's person more accurately known among us. Every man whom his wit has exhilarated, his wisdom guided, his passion purified, may look with delight and thankfulness in the countenance of his master and his friend, and find the perfections of his nature residing there in mild and unforced, in clear and unquestionable intelligence.

MISCELLANEOUS HEADS.

Those dreams, that Fantasie

Takes from the polisht Ivory Port, delude
The Dreamer ever, and no truth include.

CHAPMAN'S HOMER, B. 19, ODYSSEY.

I was about to close my subject, I remember, with a very brief enumeration of the spurious, or rather falsely ascribed portraits, when the late Mr. Boswell brought a miniature to shew me, with which Sir James Bland Burges had entrusted him. It struck me to have been unquestionably painted by Hilliard, and to merit attentive examination. The account given of it by Sir James, is such as was to be expected from his candour and his taste. As no one can more truly appreciate such a possession, so no man could possibly say less to enforce its claim, and no other POET perhaps so little. I cannot do better, than transcribe here the letter which Sir James wrote to Mr. Boswell, giving the history of the miniature which he had so fortunately recovered.