Certainly  such  was  very  far  from  the  lady's
intention ;  and  who  knows  to  what  extent
they  are   true  ?

The  frolic  of  Shakspeare  in  deer-stealing  was
the  cause  of  his  Hegira ;  and  his  connection
with  players  in  London  was  the  cause  of  his
writing  plays.  Had  he  remained  in  his  native
town,  his  ambition  had  never  been  excited  by
the  applause  of  the  intellectual,  the  popular,
and  the  powerful,  which,  after  all,  was  hardly
sufficient  to  excite  it.  He  wrote  from  the
same  motive  as  he  acted,  —  to  earn  his  daily
bread.     He  felt  his  own  powers  ;  but  he  cared


X  Edilor's  Preface.
little  for  making  them  felt  by  others  more  than
served  his  wants.
The  malignant  may  doubt,  or  pretend  to
doubt,  the  authenticity  of  the  Examination  here
published.  Let  us,  who  are  not  malignant,  be
cautious  of  adding  anything  to  the  noisome  mass
of  incredulity  that  surrounds  us  ;  let  us  avoid
the  crying  sin  of  our  age,  in  vvhich  the  "  Me-
moirs of  a  Parish  Clerk,"  edited  as  they  were
by  a  pious  and  learned  dignitary  of  the  Estab-
lished Church,  are  questioned  in  regard  to  their
genuineness  ;  and  even  the  privileges  of  Parlia-
ment are  inadequate  to  cover  from  the  foulest
imputation  —  the  imputation  of  having  exercised
his  inventive  faculties — the  elegant  and  accom-
plished editor  of  Eugene  Aram's  apprehension,
trial,  and  defence.
Indeed,  there  is  little  of  real  history,  except-
ing in  romances.  Some  of  these  are  strictly
true  to  nature  ;  while  histories  in  general  give  a
di'^torted  view  of  her,  and  rarely  a  faithful  record
either  of  momentous  or  of  common  events.
Examinations  taken  from  the  mouth  are
surely  the  most  trustworthy.  Whoever  doubts
it  may  be  convinced   by  Ephraim  Barnett.
