_10th Ass't Sub-Secretary._
The money having been forwarded, I received in due time the copies. At
the first date, 1593, Shakespeare was a young dramatist and actor
struggling for recognition, poor and almost unknown; in 1602 he had won
an assured position among his fellows, and, with the thrift which
characterized him, had secured an interest in the Globe Theatre, where
his plays were performed; in 1609 he was in the fulness of his
contemporary fame, had bought valuable property in Stratford, and was
contemplating retirement to his country home.
The following are the letters from the Southampton collection which
serve to throw light upon the insomnia of Shakespeare. They are given in
their chronological order, and verbatim, but not literatim, the
orthography having been modernized. The first of the letters, dated in
1593, is from a firm of lawyers, Messrs. Shallow & Slender, and is as
follows:--
INNER TEMPLE, LONDON, Feb. 15, 1593.
To WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE:
Mr. Moses Solomons, an honored client of our firm, has placed with
us, that payment may be straightway enforced, a bill drawn by John
Heminge, for £10, due in two months from the date thereof, and the
payment of which was assured by you in writing. This bill has been
for some days overdue, and Mr. Solomons is constrained to call upon
you for payment at once. Your prompt attention to this will save the
costs and annoyance of an arrest.
The second letter is from the same parties, and bears date four days
later than the first.
Inner Temple, Feb. 19, 1593. Mr. William Shakespeare:
Recurring to certain statements made by yourself at our chambers
yesterday, we have considered the same, and have likewise the
opinion thereon of our client, Mr. Solomons. As we do now recall
them, you nominated three principal grounds why you should not be
pressed to pay the bill drawn by Mr. Heminge. First, that you
received no value therefor, having put your name to the bill upon
the assurance that it was a matter of form, and to oblige a friend.
To this we rejoin, that by the law of estoppel you are precluded to
deny the consideration after the bill hath passed into the holding
of a discounter unnotified of the facts.
Second, That, as our client paid but £1 for the bill, he should not
exact £10 thereon. To the which we reply, that, so a valuable
consideration was passed for the bill, the law looketh not to its
exact amount. It is also asserted by our client that, beyond actual
coin given for the bill, he did further release to John Heminge
certain tinsel crowns, swords, and apparel appurtenant to the
representation of royalty, which had before then--to wit, two weeks
before--been pledged to him for the sum of 8 shillings, borrowed by
the said Heminge.
Third, That it was impossible for you to pay the bill, you having no
money, and receiving no greater income than 22 shillings per week,
all of which was necessary to the maintenance of yourself and
family. We regret again to call to your notice the Statute of 16
Eliz., entitled, "Concerning the Imprisonment of Insolvent Debtors,"
which we trust you will not oblige us to invoke in aid of our
suffering client's rights. To be lenient and merciful is his
inclination, and we are happy to communicate to you this most
favorable tender for an acquittance of his claim. You shall render
to us an order on the Steward of the Globe Theatre for 20 shillings
per week of your stipend therein. This will leave to you yet 2
shillings per week, which, with prudence, will yield to you the
comforts, if not the luxuries, of subsistence. In ten weeks the face
of the bill will be thus repaid. For his forbearance in the matter
of time, which hath most seriously inconvenienced him, he requires
that you shall pay him the further sum of £2 as usury, and likewise
that you do liquidate and save him harmless from the charges of us,
his solicitors, which charges, from the number of grave and
complicated questions which have become a part of this case and
demanded solution, we are unable to make less than £4. We should say
guineas, but your evident distress hath moved us to gentleness and
mercy. These added sums are to be likewise embraced in the Steward's
order, and paid at the same rate as the substance of the bill, and
should you embrace this compassionate tender, in the brief period of
sixteen weeks you will be at the end of this indebtedness.
The next letter is dated the following month, and is from Henry Howard,
an apparent pawnbroker.
QUEER STREET, LONDON, 10 March, 1593.
To WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, Actor:
These presents are to warn you that the time has six days since
passed in which you were to repay me 8 shillings, and thereby
redeem the property in pledge to me; namely, one Henry VIII. shirt
of mail and visor, and Portia's law book, and the green bag
therefor. Be warned that unless the 8 shillings and the usance
thereof be forthcoming, the town-crier shall notify the sale of the
sundry articles named.
The next letter, and the last in this period of the poet's career
(1593), is from Mordecai Shylock.