[7]
An Answer to Mr. Whateley's Remarks was published immediately on their appearance. There the debate died away; and no thought was
critics might fairly be told, that their right to what they claim is not thoroughly clear: However,—let Mr. Hume's opinion have been what it might, when he wrote the History of the Stuarts; still, it is very certain, from one of his letters to the Comtesse de Boufflers, (dated Compeigne, July 14, 1769,) that he was, afterwards, a sound Shakspearean; and, consequently, the sentiments of these writers are no longer supported by the concurrence of so powerful a confederate. In answer to his fair correspondent's objections to the tragedy of Douglas, Mr. Hume says:—"The value of a theatrical piece can less be determined by an analysis of its conduct, than by the ascendant which it gains over the heart, and by the strokes of nature which are interspersed through it."—This is all that the most devoted admirers of Shakspeare contend for.
Literary Gazette, and Journal of the Belles Lettres. No. 8. 4to. 1817. London.