the country. Near the pretty hamlet of Shotteiy lay his own grounds of Bishopton,
then part of the great common field of Stratford. Not far from the ancient chapel of
Bishopton, of which Dugdale has preserved a representation, and the walls of which still




[Bishopton Chapel.]



remain, would he watch the operation of seed-time and harvest. If he passed the church
and the mill, he was in the pleasant meadows that skirted the Avon on the pathway
to Ludington. If he desired to cross the river, he might now do so without going
round by the great bridge ; for in 1599, soon after he bought New Place, the pretty
foot-bridge was erected which still bears that date. His walks and his farm-labours
were his recreations. But they were not his only pleasures. It is at this period
that we can fix the date of " Lear." That wonderful tragedy was first published in
1608 ; and the title-page recites that "It was plaid before the King's Majesty at
White-Hall, uppon S. Stephen's Night ; in Christmas Hollidaies." This most extra-
ordinary production might well have been the first fruits of a period of comparative
leisure ; when the creative faculty was wholly untrammelled by petty cares,. and the
judgment might be employed in working again and again upon the first conceptions,
so as to produce such a masterpiece of consummate art without after labour. The
next season of repose gave birth to an effort of genius wholly different in character ;
but almost as wonderful in its profound sagacity and knowledge of the world, as
" Lear " is unequalled for its depth of individual passion. " Troilus and Cressida "
was published in 1609. Both these publications were probably made without the
consent of the author ; but it would seem that these plays were first produced before



298



WILLIAM SHAKSPERE : A BIOGRAPHY.



[BOOK iv




[Foot-bridge above the Mill.]



the Court, and there might have been circumstances which would have rendered it
difficult or impossible to prevent their publication, in the same way that the publica-
tion was prevented of any other plays after 1603, and during the author's life-time.
We may well believe that the Sonnets were published in 1609, without the consent
of their author. That the appearance of those remarkable lyrics should have
annoyed him, by exposing, as they now appear in the eyes of some to do, the
frailties of his nature, we do not for a moment believe. They would be received by
his family and by the world as essentially fictitious ; and ranked with the produc-
tions of the same class with which the age abounded.

The year 1608 brought its domestic joys and calamities to Shakspere. In the
same font where he had been baptized, forty-three years before, was baptized, on the
21st of February, his grand-daughter, "Elizabeth, daughter of John Hall." In the
same grave where his father was laid in 1601, was buried his mother, "Mary Shak-
spere, widow," on the 9th of September, 1608. She was the youngest daughter of
Robert Arden, who died in 1556. She was probably, therefore, about seventy years
of age when her sons followed her to the " house of all living." Whatever had been
the fortunes of her early married life, her last years must have been eminently happy.
Her eldest son, by the efforts of those talents which in their development might
have filled her with apprehension, had won his way to fame and fortune. Though
she had parted with him for a season, he was constant in his visits to the home of
his childhood. His children were brought up under her care ; his wife, in all like-
lihood, dwelt in affection with her under the same roof. And now he was come to
be seldom absent from her ; to let her gaze as frequently as she might upon the face
of the loved one whom all honoured and esteemed ; whose fame she was told was
greater than that of any other living man. And this was the child of her earliest
cares, and of her humble hopes. He had won for himself a distinction, and a



CHAP. III.] REST. 299

worldly recompense, far above even a, mother's expectations. But in his deep affec-
tion and reverence he was unchangeably her son. In all love and honour did
William Shakspere, in the autumn of 1608, lay the head of his venerable mother
beneath the roof of the chancel of his beautiful parish church.*

* Shakspere was at Stratford later in the autumn of 1608. In his will he makes a bequest to
his godson, William Walker. The child to whom he was sponsor was baptized at Stratford, October
16, 1608.




(.Stratford Church.)



300



WILLIAM SHAKSPERE : A BIOGRAPHY.



[BOOK iv.




[The Bear Garden.]

CHAPTER IV.

VISITS TO LONDON.



THERE is a memorandum existing (to which we shall hereafter more particularly
advert), by Thomas Greene, a contemporary of Shakspere, residing at Stratford,
which, under the date of November 17th, 1614, has this record: "My cousin
Shakspeare coming yesterday to town, I went to see him how he did." We cite
this memorandum here, as an indication of Shakspere's habit of occasionally visiting
London ; for Thomas Greene was then in the capital, with the intent of opposing
the project of an inclosure at Stratford. The frequency of Shakspere's visits to
London would essentially depend upon the nature of his connexion with the theatres.
He was a permanent shareholder, as we have seen, at the Blackfriars ; and no doubt
at the Globe also. His interests as a sharer might be diligently watched over by his
fellows ; and he might only have visited London when he had a new play to bring
forward, the fruit of his leisure in the country. But until he disposed of his ward-



CHAP. IV.] VISITS TO LONDON. 301



robe and other properties, more frequent demands might be made upon his personal
attendance than if he were totally free from the responsibilities belonging to the
charge of such an embarrassing stock in trade. Mr. Collier has printed a memo-
randum in the handwriting of Edward Alleyn, dated April 1612, of the payment of
various sums " for the Blackfryers," amounting to 599?. 6s. 8d. Mr. Collier adds,
" To whom the money was paid is nowhere stated ; but, for aught we know, it was
to Shakespeare himself, and just anterior to his departure from London." The
memorandum is introduced with the observation, " It seems very likely, from evi-
dence now for the first time to be adduced, that Alleyn became the purchaser of our
great dramatist's interest in the theatre, properties, wardrobe, and stock of the Black-
friars." Certainly the document itself says nothing about properties, wardrobe, and
stock. It is simply as follows :

" April 1612.

Money paid by me E. A. for the Blackfryers . 160 li,

More for the Blackfryers 126H

More aga'ne for the Leasse . . . . 310 li

The writings for the same, and other small charges 3 li 6s. 8d."

More than half of the entire sum is paid "again for the lease." If the estimate "For
avoiding of the Playhouse," &c., be not rejected as an authority, the conjecture of
Mr. Collier that the property purchased by Alleyn belonged to Shakspere is wholly
untenable ; for the Fee, valued at a thousand pounds, was the property of Burbage,
and to the owner of the Fee would be paid the sum for the lease. Subsequent
memoranda by Alleyn show that he paid rent for the Blackfriars, and expended
sums upon the building collateral proofs that it was not Shakspere's personal pro-
perty that he bought in April 1612. There is distinct evidence furnished by another
document that Shakspere was not a resident in London in 1613 ; for in an inden-
ture, executed by him on the 10th of March in that year, for the purchase of a
dwelling-house in the precinct of the Blackfriars, he is described as " William Shake-
speare of Stratforde Upon Avon in the Countie of Warwick gentleman ; " whilst his
fellow John Hemings, who is a party to the same deed, is described as " of London,
gentleman." From the situation of the property it would appear to have been
bought either as an appurtenance to the theatre, or for some protection of the inte-
rests of the sharers. In the deed of 1602, Shakspere is also described as of Strat-
ford-upon-Avon. It is natural that he should be so described, in a deed for the
purchase of land at Stratford ; but, upon the same principle, had he been a resident
in London in 1613, he would have been described as of London in a deed for the
purchase of property in London. Yet we also look upon this conveyance as evidence
that Shakspere had in March 1613 not wholly severed himself from his interest in
the theatre. He is in London at the signing of the deed, attending, probably, to
the duties which still devolved upon him as a sharer in the Blackfriars. He is not
a resident in London ; he has come to town, as Thomas Greene describes, in 1614.
But we have no evidence that he sold his theatrical property at all. Certainly the
evidence that he sold it to Edward Alleyn may be laid aside in any attempt to fix
the date of Shakspere's departure from London.

In the November of 1611 two of Shakspere's plays were acted at Whitehall. The
entries of their performance are thus given in the " Book of the Revels ; "

" By the Kings Hallomas nyght was presented att Whithall before y e Kinge
Players : Ma tie a play called the Tempest.

The Kings The 5th of Nouember ; A play called y e winters nighte

Players : Tayle."

That " The Tempest " was a new play when thus performed, it would be difficult to



302 WILLIAM SHAKSPERE : A BIOGRAPHY. [BOOK IV.



affirm, upon this entry alone. In the earlier part of the reign of James we have
seen that old plays of Shakspere were performed before the King ; but at that period
all his plays would be equally novel to the Monarch and to the Court. According
to the accounts of the Treasurer of the Chamber, the performances at Court of the
King's players appear to have been so numerous after the year of the accession, that
it would be necessary to add the attraction of novelty even to Shakspere's stock
plays. At the Christmas and Shrovetide of 1604-5 there were thirteen perform-
ances by Shakspere's company ; in 1605-6, ten plays by the same ; in October, 1606,
upon the occasion of the visit of the King of Denmark, three plays; in 1606-7,
twenty-two plays ; in 1607-8 there is no record of payments, but in 1608-9
there are twelve plays : in 1610-11 fifteen plays ; and in 1611-12 (the holidays to
which we are now more particularly referring) there were six performances by Shak-
spere's company before the King, and sixteen by the same company " before the
Prince's Highness." But however probable it may be that the players would be
ready with novelties for the Court, especially when other companies performed con-
stantly before the royal family, we have a distinct record that the plays of Shakspere
held their ground, even though the Court was familiar with them. At the Easter of
1618, "Twelfth Night " and "The Winter's Tale" were performed before the King.
We are not, therefore, warranted in concluding that in 1611 "The Tempest" was a
new play ; although we have evidence that " The Winter's Tale " was then a new
play. Dr. Forman saw " The Winter's Tale " at the Globe on the 1 5th of May, 1611;
and he describes it with a minuteness which would make it appear that he had not
seen it before. This is not conclusive ; but in 1623 "The Winter's Tale" is entered
in the Office-Book of the Master of the Kevels as an old play, " formerly allowed of
by Sir George Bucke." Sir George's term of office commenced in 1610. This fixes
the date with tolerable accuracy, and shows that it was not an old play when
performed at Court on the 5th of November, 1611. There is a passage in the play
which might be implied to refer to the great event of which that day was the
anniversary :

" If I could find example
Of thousands that had struck anointed kings
And flourish 'd after, I 'd not do 't : but since
Nor brass, nor stone, nor parchment, bears not one,
Let villainy itself forswear 't."

But there was a more recent example of the fate of one who had struck an anointed
king. Henry the Fourth of France was stabbed by Kavaillac on the 14th of May,
1610 ; and certainly the terrible end of the assassin was a warning for "villainy
itself" to forswear such a crime. If " The Tempest " and " The Winter's Tale," and
probably " Cymbeline " also, belong to this epoch and we believe that they were
separated by a very short interval we have the most delightful evidence of the per-
fect healthfulness of Shakspere's mind at this period of his life. To the legendary
tales upon which the essentially romantic drama is built, he brought all the graces
of his poetry and all the calm reflectiveness of his mature understanding. Beauty
and wisdom walked together as twin sisters.

The "Book of the Revels," 1611-12, which thus shows us that the graces of Perdita
and the charms of Prospero had shed their influence over the courtly throngs of
Whitehall, also informs us that on Twelfth Night the " Prince's Masque " was per-
formed. In the margin there is this entry : " This day the King and Prince with
divers of his noblemen did run at the ring for a prize." There was a magnificence
about the Court of James at this period which probably had some influence even
upon the productions which Shakspere presented to the Court and the people. The
romantic incidents of "The Winter's Tale" and "The Tempest," the opportunities



CHAP. IV.] VISITS TO LONDON. 303



afforded by the construction of their plots for gorgeous scenery, the masque so
beautifully interwoven with the loves of Ferdinand and Miranda, all was in har-
mony with the poetical character of the royal revels. Prince Henry in his prema-
ture manhood was distinguished for his skill in all noble exercises. The tourna-
ments of this period were attempts on the part of the Prince to revive the spirit of
chivalry. The young man was himself of a higlr and generous nature ; and if he
was surrounded by some favourites whose embroidered suits and glittering armour
were the coverings of heartless profligacy and low ambition, there were others amongst
the courtiers who honestly shared the enthusiasm of Henry, and invoked the genius
of chivalry,

" Possess' d with sleep, dead as a lethargy,"

to awake at the name Meliadus.* The " Prince's Masque " was one of those elegant
productions of Ben Jonson which have given an immortality to the fleeting pleasures
of the nights of Whitehall. Jonson's own descriptions of the scenery of these
masques show how much that was beautiful as well as surprising was attempted
with imperfect materials. The effects were perhaps very inferior to the scenic dis-
plays of the modern stage, though Inigo Jones was the machinist. But the descrip-
tions of these wonders rocks, and moons, and transparent palaces, and moving
chariots are as vivid as if the early genius of Stanfield had realized the poet's con-
ceptions, t

It was in the spirit of a high literature that the Masques of the courts of
Elizabeth and James were conceived. The dramatic entertainments Shakspere's
especially

" those flights upon the banks of Thames

That so did take Eliza and our James," ;

were open to all the world ; and the great showed then- good sense in cherishing
those wonderful productions, which could not have been what they are if they had
been conceived in a spirit of exclusiveuess. But the Masque was essentially courtly
and regal. It was produced at great expense. It was, like the Italian Opera, con-
ceived in that artistical spirit which makes its own laws and boundaries. It did not
profess to be an imitation of common life. To be understood, it assumed that a
certain portion of classical knowledge and taste existed in the spectator. Hurd, in
his " Dialogues," says, " I should desire to know what courtly amusements even of
our time are comparable to the shows and masques which were the delight and
improvement of the court of Elizabeth." The masques of the time of Elizabeth
were, however, not in the slightest degree comparable with those produced in the
reign of James ; in which such men as Jonson, and Daniel, and Fletcher, were the
artificers " artificer" is the expression which Jonson applies to himself in connexion
with these performances. The masques of Elizabeth were little more than the old
pageants, in which heathen deities walked in procession amidst loud music ; and
the cloth of gold and the silver tinsel constituted a far higher attraction than -the
occasional speeches of the performers.

Bacon, whose own mind was essentially poetical, has an essay "Of Masques
and Triumphs." His notions are full of taste : " It is better they should be graced
with elegancy than daubed with cost. Dancing to song is a thing of great state
and pleasure." Choirs placed one over against another, scenes abounding with

* The name adopted by the Prince. Drummond called him Mceliades, an anagram of Miles a
Deo.

f See Mr. Peter Cunningham's "Life of Inigo Jones;" one of those performances,^ which is
shown how accuracy and dulness are not essential companions; how taste and antiqnarianism may
co-exist.



304 WILLIAM SHAKSPERE : A BIOGRAPHY. [BOOK IV.



Light, colours of white, carnation, and a kind of sea-water green, graceful suits,
not after examples of known attires, sweet odours suddenly coming forth ; these
are Bacon's notions of the chief requisites of a masque. His ideas were realized in
the masques of Jonson.

The refinements of the Court extended to the people. The Bear-Garden was
adapted to theatrical performances ; and rendered " convenient in all things both
for players to play in, and for the game of bears and bulls to be baited in the
same."* The gorgeousness of the scenic displays of Whitehall became at this period
a subject of imitation at the public theatres. Sir Henry Wotton thus writes to his
nephew on the 6th of July, 1613 ; "Now to let matters of state sleep, I will
entertain you at the present with what happened this week at the Bankside. The
King's players had a new play, called, ( All is True,' representing some principal pieces
of the reign of Henry the Eighth, which was set forth with many extraordinary cir-
cumstances of pomp and majesty, even to the matting of the stage ; the knights of
the order, with their Georges and Garter, the guards with their embroidered coats
and the like ; sufficient, in truth, within a while to make greatness very familiar, if
not ridiculous." This description, as we believe, applies to the original representa-
tion of Shakspere's play of " Henry VIII." t We believe also that Shakspere on this
occasion introduced such a compliment to the government of the King as was con-
sistent with the independence of his character and the genuine patriotism that was
a part of his nature :

" Wherever the bright sun of heaven shall shine,
His honour, and the greatness of his name,
Shall be, and make new nations."

This is somewhat different from Jonson's compliment to the man :

" His meditations, to his height, are even :
All, all their issue is akin to heaven
He is a god o'er kings." J

And yet it has been said, either that Shakspere condescended to be a flatterer, or
that he did not write the compliment to James implied in Cranmer's prophecy. We
believe that he did write the lines ; that they are not an interpolation ; and that,
although they may have been written in the spirit of gratitude for personal favours,
it is gratitude of the loftiest kind, honourable alike to the giver and to the receiver,
because wholly free from adulation.

There was a catastrophe at this representation of the new play " Henry VIII."
which may possibly have had some influence upon the future life of Shakspere.
Sir Henry Wotton thus describes the burning of the Globe Theatre : " Now King
Henry, making a mask at the Cardinal Wolsey's house, and certain cannons being
shot off at his entry, some of the paper, or other stuff wherewith one of them was
stopped, did light on the thatch, where, being thought at first but an idle smoke, and
their eyes being more attentive to the show, it kindled inwardly, and ran round
like a train, consuming, within less than an hour, the whole house to the very ground."
The Globe was re-built in the ensuing spring. The conflagration was so rapid that
Prynne wished to show it was a judgment of Providence upon players "The
sudden fearful burning even to the ground." Jonson, in his "Execration upon
Vulcan," says the Globe was

" Raz'd, ere thought could urge, this might have been."

* Collier's " Annals of the Stage," vol. iii., p. 285.
t See " Studies," Book vin., c. v. J " Masque of Oberon."



CHAP. IV.] VISITS TO LONDON. 305



It appears likely that this calamity terminated the direct and personal connexion of
Shakspere with the London stage. We do not find him associated with the rebuild-
ing of the Globe, nor with any of the schemes for new theatres with which Alleyn
and Henslowe were so busy. We have no record whatever of any new play of Shak-
spere's being produced after this performance of " Henry VIII." at the Globe. Was
he wholly idle as a writer ? We apprehend not. Of the three Roman plays we have
yet to speak.

Every one agrees that during the last three or four years of his life Shakspere
ceased to write. Yet we venture to think that every one is in error. The opinion
is founded upon a belief that he only finally left London towards the close of 1613.
We have shown, from his purchase of a large house at Stratford, his constant acqui-
sition of landed property there, his active engagements in the business of agriculture,
the interest which he took in matters connected with his property in which his
neighbours had a common interest, that he must have partially left London before
this period. There were no circumstances, as far as we can collect, to have pre-
vented him finally leaving London several years before 1613. But his biographers,
having fixed a period for the termination of his connexion with the active business
of the theatre, assume that he became wholly unemployed ; that he gave himself up,
as Howe has described, to " ease, retirement, and the conversation of his friends."
His income was enough, they say, to dispense with labour ; and therefore he did not
labour. They have attained to " a perfect conviction, that when Shakspere bade
adieu to London, he left it predetermined to devote the residue of his days exclu-
sively to the cultivation of social and domestic happiness in the shades of retire-
ment." These are Dr. Drake's words, who repeats what he has found in Malone and
the other commentators. Mr. De Quincey, a biographer of a higher mark, gives a
currency to a very similar opinion : "From 1591 to 1611 are just twenty years,
within which space lie the whole dramatic creations of Shakspeare, averaging nearly
one for every six months. In 1611 was written ' The Tempest,' which is supposed
to have been the last of Shakspeare's works."* " The Tempest" has been held by
some to be Shakspere's latest work ; as "Twelfth Night" was held by others to be
the latest. The conclusion in the case of the " Twelfth Night" had been proved
to be far wide of the truth. There was poetry, at any rate, in the belief that he
who wrote

"I '11 break my staff,
Bury it certain fathoms in the earth,
And deeper than did ever plummet sound
I '11 drown my book,"

was "inspired to typify himself ;"t for ever to renounce the spells by which he
had bound the subject mind. This is, indeed, poetical ; but it is opposed to all
the experience of the course of a great intellect. Shakspere had to abjure no " rough
magic," such as his Prospero abjured. His "potent art" was built on the calm
and equal operations of his surpassing genius. More than half of his life had been
employed in the habitual exercise of this power. The strong spur, first of necessity,
and secondly of his professional duty, enabled him to wield this power, even amidst
the distractions of a life of constant and variable occupation. But when the days of
leisure arrived, is it reasonable to believe that the mere habit of his life would not
assert its ordinary control ; that the greatest of intellects would suddenly sink to
the condition of an every-day man cherishing no high plans for the future, looking

* " Encyclopaedia Britannica " Article, "Shakspeare."
f Campbell Preface to Moxon's Edition of Shakspeare.

x 2



306 WILLIAM SHAKSPERE : A BIOGRAPHY. [BOOK IV.



back with no desire to equal and excel the work of the past 1 At the period of life
when Chaucer began to write the " Canterbury Tales," Shakspere, according to his
biographers was suddenly and utterly to cease to write. We cannot believe it. Is
there a parallel case in the career of any great artist who had won for himself com-