ow well he hath succeeded in this, as likewise in his
Conjectures which are properly his own, will be seen in the course of my
Remarks: Tho', as he hath declined to give the Reasons for his
Interpolations, he hath not afforded me so fair a hold of him as Mr.
_Theobald_ hath done, who was less cautious. But his principal Object was
to reform his Author's Numbers; and this, which he hath done, on every
Occasion, by the Insertion or Omission of a set of harmless unconcerning
Expletives, makes up the gross Body of his innocent Corrections. And so,
in spite of that extreme Negligence in Numbers which distinguishes the
first Dramatic Writers, he hath tricked up the old Bard, from Head to
Foot, in all the finical Exactness of a modern Measurer of Syllables.

For the rest, all the Corrections which these two Editors have made on any
_reasonable_ Foundation, are here admitted into the Text, and carefully
assigned to their respective Authors: A piece of Justice which the _Oxford
Editor_ never did; and which the _Other_ was not always scrupulous in
observing towards me. To conclude with them in a word, They separately
possessed those two Qualities which, more than any other, have contributed
to bring the Art of Criticism into disrepute, _Dulness of Apprehension_,
and _Extravagance of Conjecture_.

I am now to give some Account of the present Undertaking. For as to all
those Things which have been published under the titles of _Essays_,
_Remarks_, _Observations_, &c. on _Shakespear_, (if you except some
critical Notes on _Macbeth_, given as a Specimen of a projected Edition,
and written, as appears, by a Man of Parts and Genius) the rest are
absolutely below a serious Notice.

The whole a Critic can do for an Author who deserves his Service, is to
correct the faulty Text; to remark the Peculiarities of Language; to
illustrate the obscure Allusions; and to explain the Beauties and Defects
of Sentiment or Composition. And surely, if ever Author had a Claim to
this Service, it was our _Shakespear_: Who, widely excelling in the
Knowledge of Human Nature, hath given to his infinitely varied Pictures of
it, such Truth of Design, such Force of Drawing, such Beauty of Colouring,
as was hardly ever equalled by any Writer, whether his Aim was the Use, or
only the Entertainment of Mankind. The Notes in this Edition, therefore,
take in the whole Compass of Criticism.

I. The first sort is employed in restoring the Poet's genuine Text; but in