Tieck and Ulrici, proceeding mainly upon internal evi-
dence, fix the date somewhere between 1609 and 1612; and
it is quite curious to observe how confident and positive
they are in their inferences: Ulrici, after stating the rea-
sons of Tieck for 1612, says--"The later origin of the
piece--certainly it did not precede 1609--is vouched still
more strongly by the profound masculine earnestness which
pervades it, and by the prevalence of the same tone of feel-
ing which led Shakespeare to abandon the life and pursuits
of London for his native town."

Until since these conclusions were put forth, the Eng-
lish critics, in default of other data, grounded their rea-
sonings upon certain probable allusions to contemporary
matters; especially those passages which express the Duke's
fondness for "the life remov'd," and his aversion to being
greeted by crowds of people: and Chalmers, a very con-
siderable instance of critical dullness, had the sagacity to
discover a sort of portrait-like resemblance in the Duke
to King James I. As the King was undeniably a much
better theologian than statesman or governor, the circum-
stance of the Duke's appearing so much more at home in
the cowl and hood than in his ducal robes certainly lends
some credit to this discovery. The King's unamiable re-
pugnance to being gazed upon by throngs of admiring
subjects is thus spoken of by a contemporary writer: "In
his public appearance, especially in his sports, the accesses
of the people made him so impatient, that he often dis-
persed them with frowns, that we may not say with curses."
And his unhandsome bearing towards the crowds which,
prompted by eager loyalty, flocked forth to hail his ac-
cession, is noted by several historians. But he was a pretty
liberal, and, for the time, judicious encourager of the
drama, as well as of other learned delectations; and with
those who sought or had tasted his patronage it was nat-
ural that these symptoms of weakness, or of something
worse, should pass for tokens of a wise superiority to the
dainties of popular applause.

All which renders it quite probable that the Poet may

-xi-