other i ets, well conon of the the famed Elizabeth; and it, SHAKESPEARE AT NONSUCH. As an appendix to the foregoing extracts, we give a brief notice of Shakespeare as connected with the high personages who, when living, appreciated his works, and patronised his genius; and, foremost, of Queen Elizabeth, by whose gracious commands he was, at times, summoned to attend her Majesty, at her palace of Nonsuch. The accompanying engraving represents Queen Elizabeth seated in a bower, or "Cabinet of Verdure," at her palace of Nonsuch, attended by the Earl of Essex, listening to her favourite dramatist reading to her one of his plays (probably "The Merry Wives of Windsor"), with which the Queen appears to be well pleased. The artist has presented a favourable portraiture of our immortal bard, in the highest state of his personal elevation, enjoying the distinguished notice of that intellectual Sovereign, the famed Elizabeth; and it is, in other respects, well conceived, as it affords a most pleasing representation of the graciousness of the Queen, while irresistibly smiling at the comic passages of the play, preserving the dignity of her nature and station in domestic retirement. The delineation of the appropriate deportment of Shakespeare also does credit to the imagination of the artist, and is equally calculated to excite our admiration, and to draw forth a feeling of gratification in possessing so pleasing a portrait of the individual of whom England is so justly proud. |