Queen Elizabeth was in the theatre on one occasion when Shakspeare was personating a king, and finding him so engrossed in his part that he took no notice of her recognition of him as she crossed the stage, her Majesty returned and dropped her glove, which the poet immediately took up, adding the following couplet to the speech he was then delivering :

And though now bent on this high embassy,
Yet stoop we to take up our cousin's glove.

Upon which he withdrew from the scene and presented the glove to her Majesty. Like all other traditions which cannot be traced to any reliable source, this story must be taken on trust. But there is nothing improbable in it; for Queen Elizabeth is known to have bestowed her patronage on Shakspeare at an early period of his career. It is stated on good authority that her Majesty was so well pleased with the character of Falstaff in the two parts of Henry IV., that she commanded the poet to write a comedy for the express purpose of showing Falstaff in love; and was so eager for the gratification of her whim that she desired the work to be finished in fourteen days, within which time the Merry Wives of Windsor was completed. This was in 1593. The royal favour was continued to him by Elizabeth's successor, and sundry entries in the accounts of the revels show that Shakspeare's plays were frequently performed at Whitehall during the time of James I. Early in that reign he was a member of the King's company of players, and it may be presumed that he was himself a performer at Court in some of his own plays. The King is said, on the authority of Lintot, to have written an amicable letter' to Shakspeare, who is supposed to have committed some offence in the performance of one of his 'kingly parts,' which his Majesty was gracious enough to forgive. Lintot states that the letter had long remained in the hands of Sir William Davenant, and Oldys confirms the statement on the testimony of the Duke of Buckingham. If Downes, the prompter, who flourished towards the middle and latter part of the seventeenth century, may be depended

SHAKSPEARE.

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upon, Taylor and Lowen, two of the original actors in Shakspeare's plays, were taught their parts by Shakspeare; and the special instructions given to them in the characters of Hamlet and the King in Henry VIII. were transmitted through Sir William Davenant to Betterton, who is said, in consequence, to have played those parts with great success. All these circumstances lead to the conclusion that Shakspeare, who thoroughly understood the theory of the art of acting, as he shows in Hamlet's advice to the players, was also master of it in practice.

Shakspeare's rank as an actor is indicated by the place his name occupies in documents connected with the theatre. These documents also show the rapid advance he made from obscurity to wealth and reputation. In 1596 the inhabitants of the Liberty of Blackfriars appealed to the authorities to prohibit the acting of stage plays in that vicinity; in consequence of which the Lord Chamberlain's players petitioned the Privy Council for permission to carry on the repairs of the theatre, in order that they might continue their performances. This petition was signed by the members of the company, who were sharers in the property, and Shakspeare's name is fifth on the list, following those of Pope, Burbage, Heminge, and Phillips. Seven years later, in 1603, considerable changes had taken place in the relative positions of the proprietors, showing still more conclusively the steady progress of the poet in the honours and profits of his profession. The licence granted to the company in that year by James I. enumerates the principal shareholders, and on this occasion Shakspeare's name appears second, succeeded by Burbage, Phillips, and Heminge. Lawrence Fletcher, whose name does not occur in the petition of 1596, had succeeded to the first place, formerly occupied by Pope, who had now retired.

The main sources of Shakspeare's prosperity are sufficiently obvious in the variety of his powers, and the great industry with which he applied them to his objects. The patronage of the Court accelerated his advancement, and he derived

additional advantages from the friendship of Lord Southampton. In 1593, he published the Venus and Adonis, followed in the ensuing year by The Rape of Lucrece, both dedicated to Lord Southampton, who had then scarcely attained his majority. From the terms of the second dedication it may be inferred that he had already received substantial proofs of his lordship's favour; and Rowe informs us that on one occasion his liberal patron presented him with a sum of a thousand pounds, to enable him to effect an investment he wished to make. The anecdote is probably in excess of the fact, and can scarcely, under any circumstances, apply to this early period. Considering the relative value of money, so munificent a gift is in itself incredible; but whatever may have been the tribute which, in this form, Lord Southampton paid to the genius of the poet, it was more likely to have been conferred at a later time, when Shakspeare was increas ing his shares in the theatre, and contemplating the acquisition of property in his native county. His attachmment to Stratford suffered no diminution from the temptations of a London life. Aubrey says that he was in the habit of visiting his family annually; and early in the year 1597 he bought one of the best dwelling-houses in the town, called New Place, which he repaired and improved. His pecuniary cir cumstances must have been ample at this time; for, notwithstanding the expenditure of £60 upon the purchase of New Place, and the further outlay for its renovation, we find Richard Quyney, of Stratford, the father of the Thomas Quyney who afterwards married his younger daughter, applying to him in 1598 for the loan of £30, with perfect confidence in his ability to lend it without inconvenience. Richard Quyney was in London on business for the Corporation when he made this request of his affluent countryman; and it further appears that the Stratford people looked upon Shakspeare as a rich man, and were anxious to induce him to extend his purchases in the neighbourhood. From this period he constantly kept up his relations with the town, investing money in lands, houses, and tithes, and entering

into numerous pecuniary transactions. Throughout these affairs he displayed a practical vigilance and sagacity rarely found in combination with the poetical character. But this knowledge of the world, and good sense in the conduct of ordinary affairs, was one of the great secrets of his genius.

In the meanwhile, he was pursuing his career in the metropolis with increasing success. Meres enumerates, in 1598, no less than twelve plays he had then produced; and this list evidently does not include the whole of his dramatic pieces up to that date. The facility of composition which this surprising catalogue evinces, is testified by Heminge and Condell, who tell us that he wrote without a blot in his papers, and by Ben Jonson, who says of him, 'I loved the man, and do honour to his memory, on this side idolatry, as much as any. He was (indeed) honest, and of an open and free nature; had an excellent phantsie, brave notions, and gentle expressions, wherein he flowed with that facility, that sometimes it was necessary he should be stopped.'

It is stated by Rowe that Jonson owed to Shakspeare his introduction to the stage. Jonson, at that time altogether unknown, had submitted a play to the actors, which they were about to reject, when Shakspeare interfered on his behalf. The story is discredited by Gifford; but it derives a sort of collateral support from its accordance with the kindness and gene, rosity of Shakspeare's nature, and from the close friendship which afterwards subsisted between the two poets. Of all Shakspeare's London associates, Ben Jonson was the most intimate, and the 'wit-combats' that took place between them at their meetings are specially recorded by Fuller, who compares Jonson to a Spanish great galleon, and Shakspeare to an English man-of-war; the former 'built far higher in learning, solid but slow in his performances,' the latter 'lesser in bulk, lighter in sailing,' and capable of turning with all sides, tacking about and taking advantage of all winds, by the quickness of his wit and invention.' These 'wit-combats' are supposed to have passed at the convivial meetings of a club established by Sir Walter Raleigh at the Mermaid in Friday-street-a tradition for which there is no

positive authority. The reliques of the wit that have come down are by no means remarkable for brilliancy, and consist chiefly of snatches of impromptu doggrel, amusing enough at the moment of utterance, but yielding a very inadequate notion of the humours of a society of which such men as Beaumont and Fletcher, Selden and Donne were members.

The company Shakspeare originally joined at the Blackfriars, he continued in throughout the whole period of his connection with the stage. They afterwards built the Globe, on the Bankside, which they used for their performances in summer, opening the Blackfriars in the winter time. There were, besides these, several other theatres in London; the principal being the Curtain, in which Pope was one of the sharers, the Paris Garden, the Red Bull, in St. John-street, the Whitefriars, and the Fortune. It would be interesting to trace the improvements which we may presume were introduced upon the stage by Shakspeare; but there is no record of the direct influence he exercised in the management. We can only infer the advance that was made in the art of acting, from the impulse he gave to the literature of the drama. The arrangements of the playhouse were simple and primitive. What were called the private theatres were covered over with a roof; but in the other houses the pit was open to the weather. The prices of admission were much on the same scale, allowing for the difference in the value of money, as in our own time: the boxes were usually a shilling, and the scale descended to sixpence, twopence, and a penny. The performance commenced at three o'clock, and the drawing of the curtain, which opened in the centre, was announced by a flourish of trumpets. At the third flourish, the audience were apprized that the play was about to begin. The stage was strewn with rushes, and it was customary for young gallants to take up their station at the sides, upon stools provided for the purpose. In the intervals between the acts, the audience amused themselves playing at cards or dice, and smoking and drinking. The only contrivances that were employed in the way of scenery were traverses, or curtains, at the back of the stage, which were opened or closed as occasion