40. Wotton, Sir Henry. This elegant scholar and accomplished gentleman was forty-eight years of age when Shakspeare died, being born at Boughton-Hall in Kent, in 1568. His correspondence with Milton on the subject of Comus in 1638, is on record, and it is highly probable that, on his return from the continent in 1598, after a long residence of nine years in Germany and Italy, he would not long remain a stranger either to the reputation or the person of the great Dramatic Luminary of his times.
Having mentioned these great poets as contemporaries of Sir Henry Wotton, it may be a subject of pleasing speculation to conjecture how far they could be personally known to each other. The possibility of some intercourse of this kind, though transient, seems to have forcibly struck the mind of an elegant poet and critic of the
present day; speaking of Comus, presented at Ludlow-Castle in 1634, he remarks,—"Much it has appeared to me of the Shaksperean diction and numbers and form of sentiment may be traced in this admirable and delightful Drama: in which the streams of the Avon mix with those of the Arno, of the Mincius, and the Ilissus. Part of Milton's affectionate veneration, beside what arises from congenial mind, may have arisen from personal respect. At the death of Shakspeare, Milton was in his eighth year.
——— "Heroum laudes et facta Parentum
Jam legere, et quæ sit poterat cognoscere Virtus."
"It is hardly probable that they never met. Shakspeare, if they did see each other, could not but be charmed with the countenance and manners of a boy like Milton: and Milton, whose mind was never childish, and whose countenance at ten has the modest but decisive character of his high destiny, would feel the interview: his young heart would dilate, and every recollection would bring Shakspeare, once seen and heard, to his remembrance and imagination with increasing force."[672:A]
The most powerful circumstance which militates against this interesting supposition, is, that, if such an interview had taken place, we should, in all probability, have found it recorded in the minor poems, Latin or English, of Milton, who has there preserved many of the occurrences of his youthful days, and would scarcely have failed, we think, to put the stamp of immortality on such an event.
The poetry of Wotton, though chiefly written for the amusement of his leisure, and through the excitement of casual circumstances, possesses the invaluable attractions of energy, simplicity, and the most touching morality; it comes warm from the heart, and whether employed on an amatory or didactic subject, makes its appropriate impression with an air of sincerity which never fails to delight. Of
this description are the pieces entitled, "A Farewell to the Vanities of the World;" the "Character of a Happy Life," and the Lines on the Queen of Bohemia. One of his earliest pieces, being "written in his youth," was printed in Davison's "Poetical Rapsody," 1602, and his Remains were collected and published by his amiable friend Isaac Walton. Sir Henry died, Provost of Eton, in December 1639, in the seventy-third year of his age.
In drawing up these Critical Notices of the principal poets who, independent of the Drama, flourished during the life-time of Shakspeare, we have been guided chiefly by the consideration of their positive merit, or great incidental popularity; and few, if any, who, on these bases, call for admission, have probably been overlooked. There is one poet, however, whose memory has been preserved by Phillips, and of whom, from the high character given of him by this critic, it may be necessary to say a few words; for if the following eulogium on the compositions of this writer be not the result of a marked partiality, it should stimulate to an ardent enquiry after manuscripts so truly valuable.