mired, he did not wish them to be imputed to himself'. We have entered into this point more at large in the proper place (Vol. vi. p. 674), but we mention it here, not only because it frees W. Jaggard from an unjust accusation, but because, what is much more important, it enables us to receive with confidence certain pieces as the authorship of Shakespeare, which, until the discovery of the edition of Barnfield's Poems in 1605, were generally believed to have proceeded from the pen of the latter. A fraud was thought more likely to have been committed, because another distinguished poet of that day had good ground to complain of the conduct of W. Jaggard in relation to a subsequent edition of "The Passionate Pilgrim” in 1612. In it, probably to swell the bulk of the little volume, the publisher inserted some translations from Ovid, which had been printed by Thomas Heywood as his own in 1609: these also were assigned to Shakespeare, and against this act Heywood seems to have remonstrated, and to have compelled the publisher to reprint the title-page of "The Passionate Pilgrim," omitting the name of our great dramatist. It is singular, if we rely upon several coeval authorities, ▾ Barnfield's admiration is evident from what he says of Shakespeare under the title of "A Remembrance of some English Poets," in which he includes also applauses of Spenser, Daniel, and Drayton: we copy the poem from the unique copy of the edition of 1605 in the library of the Earl of Ellesmere : "Live, Spenser, ever in thy Fairy Queene, Whose like (for deepe conceit) was never seene: "And Daniell, praised for thy sweet-chast verse, For that rare worke, the White Rose and the Red. "And Drayton, whose well-written Tragedies, Well may the Body die, but Fame die never." The differences between the above and the same poem in the edition of 1598 are merely literal, and it deserves remark that it is the only one of the smaller pieces that Barnfield allowed to remain, when he reprinted his "Encomion of Lady Pecunia" in 1605. The rest were, therefore, clearly not his own. how little, even at this period, Shakespeare was known and admired for his dramas. Barnfield, as we have seen, only applauds his "Venus and Adonis" and "Lucrece," although Francis Meres in 1598 had published the names of no fewer than twelve of his plays; and in 1605 nothing was added to the praises of Barnfield, although Shakespeare had added so prodigiously to his reputation as the author of theatrical productions, not only of the loftiest rank, but of the highest popularity. Shakespeare's celebrity as "pleasing the world," is noticed by Barnfield; but the proofs of it are not derived from the stage, where his dramas were in daily performance before crowded audiences, but from the success of his "Venus and Adonis" and "Lucrece," which had gone through various editions. Precisely to the same effect, but as a still stronger instance, we may refer to a play in which both Burbadge and Kempe are introduced as characters, the one of whom had obtained such celebrity in the tragic, and the other in the comic parts in Shakespeare's dramas: we allude to "The Return from Parnassus," which was acted not long before the death of Queen Elizabeth. In a scene where two young students are discussing the merits of particular poets, one of them speaks thus of Shakespeare: "Who loves Adonis love or Lucrece rape, His sweeter verse contains heart-robbing life; Without love's foolish, lazy languishment." Not the most distant allusion is made to any of his dramatic productions, although the poet criticised by the young students immediately before Shakespeare was Ben Jonson, who was declared to be "the wittiest fellow, of a bricklayer, in England," but "a slow inventor." Hence we might be led to imagine that, even down to as late a period as the commencement of the seventeenth century, the reputation of Shakespeare depended rather upon his poems than upon his plays; almost as if productions for the stage were not looked upon, at that date, as part of the recognised literature of the country. It was not printed until 1606; and it had probably been preceded by a lost comedy called "The Pilgrimage to Parnassus." See the conclusion of the Prologue to "The Return from Parnassus." VOL. I. k CHAPTER XIII. New Place, or "the great house," in Stratford, bought by Shakespeare in 1597. Removal of the Lord Admiral's players from the Bankside to the Fortune theatre in Cripplegate. Rivalry of the Lord Chamberlain's and Lord Admiral's company. Order in 1600 confining the acting of plays to the Globe and Fortune: the influence of the two associations occupying those theatres. Disobedience of various companies to the order of 1600. Plays by Shakespeare published in 1600. The "First Part of the Life of Sir John Oldcastle," printed in 1600, falsely imputed to Shakespeare, and the cancelling of the titlepage. The partisans of Lord Essex, and the players at the Globe. Ir will have been observed, that, in the document we have produced, relating to the quantity of corn and malt in Stratford, it is stated that William Shakespeare's residence was in that division of the borough called Chapel-street ward. This is an important circumstance, because we think it may be said to settle decisively the disputed question, whether our great dramatist purchased what was known as "the great house," or "New Place," before, in, or after 1597. It was situated in Chapel-street ward, close to the chapel of the Holy Trinity. We are now, therefore, certain that he had a house in the ward in February, 1597-8, and that he had ten quarters of corn there; and we need not doubt that it was the dwelling which had been built by Sir Hugh Clopton in the reign of Henry VII.: the Cloptons subsequently sold it to a person of the name of Botte, and he to Hercules Underhill, who disposed of it to Shakespeare. We thus find him, in the beginning of 1598, occupying one of the best houses, in one of the best parts of Stratford: he who had quitted his native town, about twelve years before, poor and comparatively friendless, was able, by the profits of his own exertions, and the exercise of his own genius and talents, to return to it, and to establish his family in more comfort and opulence than, as far as is known, they had ever before enjoyed 1o. We consider the point that Shakespeare had • Botte probably lived in it in 1564, when he contributed 4s. to the poor who were afflicted with the plague: this was the highest amount subscribed, the bailiff only giving 38. 4d., and the head alderman 28. 8d. See p. 50]. 10 That Shakespeare was considered a man who was in a condition to lend a considerable sum, in the autumn of 1598, we have upon the evidence of Richard Quyney (father to Thomas Quyney, who subsequently married Shakespeare's become owner of New Place in or before 1597 as completely made out, as, at such a distance of time, and with such imperfect information upon nearly all matters connected with his history, could be at all expected ". youngest daughter Judith), who then applied to him for a loan of 301., equal to about 150%. of our present money, and in terms which do not indicate any doubt that our poet would be able to make the advance. This application is contained in a letter which must have been sent by hand, as it unluckily contains no direction: it is the only letter yet discovered addressed to Shakespeare, and it was first printed by Boswell from Malone's Papers, Vol. ii. p. 485. "Loving Contryman, I am bolde of yow, as of a frende, craveing your helpe wth xxx1b, uppon Mr Bushell & my securytee, or M2 Mytteus with me. Mr Rosswell is not come to London as yeate, & I have especiall cawse. Yow shall frende me muche in helpeing me out of all the debeits I owe in London, I thanck god, and muche quiet to my mynde wch wolde not be indebited. I am now towards the Cowrte, in hope yr answer for the dispatche of my Buysenes. You shall nether loose creddytt nor monney by me, the Lorde wyllinge; & nowe butt pswade your selfe soe as I hope & yow shall nott need to feare; but with all hartie thanckfullness I wyll holde my tyme & content yowr frend, & yf we Bargaine farther, yow shall be the paie mr your selfe. My tyme bidds me to hasten to an ende, & soe I comitt thys [to] your care & hope of your helpe. I feare I shall nott be backe this night from the Cowrte. haste. the Lorde be with yow & wth us all. From the Bell in Carter Lane, the 25 october 1598. amen. "Yowra in all kyndenes, "RYC. QUYNEY. The deficiency as regards the direction of the letter, lamented by Malone, is not of so much importance, because we have proved that Shakespeare was resident in Southwark in 1596; and he probably was so in 1598, because the reasons which, we have supposed, induced him to take up his abode there, would still be in operation, in as much force as ever. 11 In the garden of this house it is believed that Shakespeare planted a mulberry tree, about the year 1609: such is the tradition, and we are disposed to think that it is founded in truth. In 1609, King James was anxious to introduce the mulberry (which had been imported about half a century earlier) into general cultivation, and the records in the State Paper Office show that in that year letters were written upon the subject to most of the justices of peace and deputy lieutenants in the kingdom: the plants were sold by the State at 6s. the hundred. On the 25th November, 1609, 9351. were paid out of the public purse for the planting of mulberry trees "near the palace of Westminster." The mulberry tree, said to have been planted by Shakespeare, was in existence up to about the year 1755; and in the spring of 1742, Garrick, Macklin, and Delane the actor (not Mr. Delany, the friend of Swift, as Mr. Dyce, in his "Memoir," in the Aldine Poets, p. lix, incautiously states) were entertained under it by Sir Hugh Clopton. New Place remained in possession of Shakespeare's successors until the Restoration; it was then re-purchased by the Clopton family: about 1752 it was sold by the executor of Sir Hugh Clopton to a clergyman of the name of Gastrell, who, on some offence taken at the authorities of the borough of Stratford on the subject of rating the house, pulled it down, and cut down the mulberry tree. According to a letter in the Annual Register of 1760, the wood was bought by a silversmith, who "made many odd things of it for the curious." We apprehend likewise, as we have already remarked, that the confirmation of arms in 1596, obtained, as we believe, by William Shakespeare, had reference to the permanent and substantial settlement of his family in Stratford, and to the purchase of a residence there consistent with the altered circumstances of that family-altered by its increased wealth and consequence, owing to the success of our great poet both as an actor and a dramatist. The removal of the Lord Admiral's players, under Henslowe and Alleyn, from the Rose theatre on the Bankside, to their new house called the Fortune, in Golding-lane, Cripplegate, soon after the date to which we are now referring, may lead to the opinion that that company did not find itself equal to sustain the rivalship with the Lord Chamberlain's servants, under Shakespeare and Burbadge, at the Globe. That theatre was opened, as we have adduced reasons to suppose, in the spring of 1595: the Rose was a considerably older building, and the necessity for repairing it might enter into the calculation, when Henslowe and Alleyn thought of trying the experiment in a different part of the town, and on the Middlesex side of the water. Theatres were at this date merely wooden structures, and if much frequented, they would soon fall into decay, especially in a marshy situation like that of the Bankside: so damp was the soil in the neighbourhood, that the Globe was surrounded by a moat to keep it dry; and, although we do not find the fact any where stated, it is most likely that the Rose was similarly drained. The Rose was in the first instance, and as far back as the reign of Edward VI., a house of entertainment, or inn, with that sign, and it was converted into a theatre, by Henslowe and a grocer of the name of Cholmley, about the year 1584; but it seems to have early required considerable reparations, and they might be again necessary prior to 1599, when Henslowe and Alleyn resolved to abandon Southwark. However, it may be doubted whether they would not have continued where they were, recollecting the convenient proximity of Paris Garden, (where bears, bulls, &c. were baited, and in which they were also jointly interested,) but for the success of the Lord Chamberlain's players at the Globe, which had been in use four or five years '. Henslowe and Alleyn seem to : We may be disposed to assign the following lines to about this period, or a little earlier they relate to some theatrical wager in which Alleyn, of the Lord Admiral's players, was, for a part not named, to be matched against Kempe, of |