Preface to the Works of Shakespeare (1734) | Page 7

Sir Hugh was Sheriff of London in
the Reign of Richard III, and Lord Mayor in the Reign of King Henry
VII. To this Gentleman the Town of Stratford is indebted for the fine
Stone-bridge, consisting of fourteen Arches, which at an extraordinary
Expence he built over the Avon, together with a Cause-way running at
the West-end thereof; as also for rebuilding the Chapel adjoining to his
House, and the Cross-Isle in the Church there. It is remarkable of him,
that, tho' he liv'd and dy'd a Batchelor, among the other extensive
Charities which he left both to the City of London and Town of
Stratford, he bequeath'd considerable Legacies for the Marriage of poor
Maidens of good Name and Fame both in London and at Stratford.
Notwithstanding which large Donations in his Life, and Bequests at his
Death, as he had purchased the Manor of Clopton, and all the Estate of
the Family, so he left the same again to his Elder Brother's Son with a
very great Addition: (a Proof, how well Beneficence and Oeconomy
may walk hand in hand in wise Families:) Good part of which Estate is
yet in the Possession of Edward Clopton, Esq; and Sir Hugh Clopton,
Knt. lineally descended from the Elder Brother of the first Sir _Hugh_:
Who particularly bequeathed to his Nephew, by his Will, his House, by
the Name of his _Great-house_ in Stratford.
The Estate had now been sold out of the Clopton Family for above a
Century, at the Time when Shakespeare became the Purchaser: who,
having repair'd and modell'd it to his own Mind, chang'd the Name to
_New-place_; which the Mansion-house, since erected upon the same
Spot, at this day retains. The House and Lands, which attended it,
continued in _Shakespeare_'s Descendants to the Time of the
_Restoration_: when they were repurchased by the Clopton Family, and
the Mansion now belongs to Sir Hugh Clopton, Knt. To the Favour of
this worthy Gentleman I owe the Knowledge of one Particular, in
Honour of our Poet's once Dwelling-house, of which, I presume, Mr.
ROWE never was appriz'd. When the Civil War raged in England, and
K. Charles the _First's_ Queen was driven by the Necessity of Affairs
to make a Recess in Warwickshire, She kept her Court for three Weeks
in _New-place_. We may reasonably suppose it then the best private

House in the Town; and her Majesty preferr'd it to the College, which
was in the Possession of the _Combe_-Family, who did not so strongly
favour the King's Party.
How much our Author employ'd himself in Poetry, after his Retirement
from the Stage, does not so evidently appear: Very few posthumous
Sketches of his Pen have been recover'd to ascertain that Point. We
have been told, indeed, in Print, but not till very lately, That two large
Chests full of this Great Man's loose Papers and Manuscripts, in the
Hands of an ignorant Baker of Warwick, (who married one of the
Descendants from our _Shakespeare_) were carelesly scatter'd and
thrown about, as Garret-Lumber, and Litter, to the particular
Knowledge of the late Sir William Bishop, till they were all consumed
in the general Fire and Destruction, of that Town. I cannot help being a
little apt to distrust the Authority of this Tradition; because as his Wife
surviv'd him seven Years, and as his Favourite Daughter Susanna
surviv'd her twenty six Years, 'tis very improbable, they should suffer
such a Treasure to be remov'd, and translated into a remoter Branch of
the Family, without a Scrutiny first made into the Value of it. This, I
say, inclines me to distrust the Authority of the Relation: but,
notwithstanding such an apparent Improbability, if we really lost such a
Treasure, by whatever Fatality or Caprice of Fortune they came into
such ignorant and neglectful Hands, I agree with the Relater, the
Misfortune is wholly irreparable.
[Sidenote*: His Character as a Writer.]
To these Particulars, which regard his Person and private Life, some
few more are to be glean'd from Mr. ROWE's Account of his Life and
_Writings_: *Let us now take a short View of him in his publick
Capacity, as a _Writer_: and, from thence, the Transition will be easy
to the State in which his Writings have been handed down to us.
No Age, perhaps, can produce an Author more various from himself,
than Shakespeare has been universally acknowledg'd to be. The
Diversity in Stile, and other Parts of Composition, so obvious in him, is
as variously to be accounted for. His Education, we find, was at best
but begun: and he started early into a Science from the Force of Genius,

unequally assisted by acquir'd Improvements. His Fire, Spirit, and
Exuberance of Imagination gave an Impetuosity to his Pen: His Ideas
flow'd from him in a Stream