_Dennis_ is offended, that _Menenius_, a senator of _Rome_, should play the buffoon; and _Voltaire_ perhaps thinks decency violated when the _Danish_ Usurper is represented as a drunkard.

But _Shakespeare_ always makes nature predominate over accident; and if he preserves the essential character, is not very careful of distinctions superinduced and adventitious.

His story requires Romans or kings, but, he thinks only on men.

He knew that _Rome_, like every other city, had men of all dispositions; and wanting a buffoon, he went into the senate-house for that which the senate-house would certainly have afforded him.
He was inclined to shew an usurper and a murderer not only odious but despicable, he therefore added drunkenness to his other qualities, knowing that kings love wine like other men, and that wine exerts its natural power upon kings.

These are the petty cavils of petty minds; a poet overlooks the casual distinction of country and condition, as a painter, satisfied with the figure, neglects the drapery.
The censure which he has incurred by mixing comick and tragick scenes, as it extends to all his works, deserves more consideration.