Transcriber's Notes: Words in italics in the original are surrounded
with _underscores_. Words in a Saxon font in the original are surrounded
with +plus+ signs. Words in blackletter in the original are surrounded
with =equal= signs. Characters superscripted in the original are
surrounded by {braces}. Ellipses match the original. In footnotes and
attributions, commas and periods seem to be used interchangeably. They
remain as printed. Variations in spelling, hyphenation, and accents
remain as in the original unless noted. A complete list of corrections
follows the text.
[Illustration: SHAKSPEARE.
Engraved by W. T. Fry after a Cast made by M{r}. George Bullock from the
Monumental Bust at Stratford-upon-Avon.]
SHAKSPEARE
AND
HIS TIMES:
INCLUDING
THE BIOGRAPHY OF THE POET;
CRITICISMS ON HIS GENIUS AND WRITINGS; A NEW CHRONOLOGY OF HIS PLAYS;
A DISQUISITION ON THE OBJECT OF HIS SONNETS;
AND
A HISTORY OF
_THE MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND AMUSEMENTS, SUPERSTITIONS,
POETRY, AND ELEGANT LITERATURE OF HIS AGE_.
BY NATHAN DRAKE, M.D.
AUTHOR OF "LITERARY HOURS," AND OF "ESSAYS ON PERIODICAL LITERATURE."
Triumph my Britain! thou hast one to show,
To whom all scenes of Europe homage owe.—
————— Soul of the age,
The applause, delight, the wonder of our stage,
My Shakspeare, rise! BEN JONSON.
The very age and body of the time, his form and pressure.
SHAKSPEARE.
_IN TWO VOLUMES._
VOL. I.
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR T. CADELL AND W. DAVIES, IN THE STRAND.
1817.
Printed by A. Strahan,
Printers-Street, London.
PREFACE.
Though two centuries have now elapsed, since the death of Shakspeare,
no attempt has hitherto been made to render him the medium for a
comprehensive and connected view of the Times in which he lived.
Yet, if any man be allowed to fill a station thus conspicuous
and important, Shakspeare has undoubtedly the best claim to the
distinction; not only from his pre-eminence as a dramatic poet, but
from the intimate relation which his works bear to the manners,
customs, superstitions, and amusements of his age.
Struck with the interest which a work of this kind, if properly
executed, might possess, the author was induced, several years ago, to
commence the undertaking, with the express intention of blending with
the detail of manners, &c. such a portion of criticism, biography, and
literary history, as should render the whole still more attractive and
complete.
In attempting this, it has been his aim to place Shakspeare in the
fore-ground of the picture, and to throw around him, in groups more or
less distinct and full, the various objects of his design; giving them
prominency and light, according to their greater or smaller connection
with the principal figure.
More especially has it been his wish, to infuse throughout the whole
plan, whether considered in respect to its entire scope, or to the
parts of which it is composed, that degree of unity and integrity, of
relative proportion and just bearing, without which neither harmony,
simplicity, nor effect, can be expected, or produced.
With a view, also, to distinctness and perspicuity of elucidation,
the whole has been distributed into three parts or pictures,
entitled,—"SHAKSPEARE IN STRATFORD;"—"SHAKSPEARE IN LONDON;"—
"SHAKSPEARE IN RETIREMENT;"—which, though inseparably united, as
forming but portions of the same story, and harmonized by the same
means, have yet, both in subject and execution, a peculiar character to
support.
The _first_ represents our Poet in the days of his youth, on the
banks of his native Avon, in the midst of rural imagery, occupations,
and amusements; in the _second_, we behold him in the capital of his
country, in the centre of rivalry and competition, in the active
pursuit of reputation and glory; and in the _third_, we accompany the
venerated bard to the shades of retirement, to the bosom of domestic
peace, to the enjoyment of unsullied fame.
It has, therefore, been the business of the author, in accordancy
with his plan, to connect these delineations with their relative
accompaniments; to incorporate, for instance, with the first, what he
had to relate of the _country_, as it existed in the age of Shakspeare;
its manners, customs, and characters; its festivals, diversions, and
many of its superstitions; opening and closing the subject with the
biography of the poet, and binding the intermediate parts, not only
by a perpetual reference to his drama, but by their own constant and
direct tendency towards the developement of the one object in view.
With the _second_, which commences with Shakspeare's introduction to
the stage as an actor, is combined the poetic, dramatic, and general
literature of the times, together with an account of _metropolitan_
manners and diversions, and a full and continued criticism on the poems
and plays of our bard.
After a survey, therefore, of the Literary world, under the heads
of Bibliography, Philology, Criticism, History, Romantic, and
Miscellaneous Literature, follows a View of the Poetry of the same
period, succeeded by a critique on the juvenile productions of
Shakspeare, and including a biographical sketch of Lord Southampton,
and a new hypothesis on the origin and object of the Sonnets.
Of the immediately subsequent description of diversions, &c. the
Economy of the Stage forms a leading feature, as preparatory to a
History of Dramatic Poetry, previous to the year 1590; and this
is again introductory to a discussion concerning the Period when
Shakspeare commenced a writer for the theatre; to a new chronology
of his plays, and to a criticism on each drama; a department which
is interspersed with dissertations on the _fairy mythology_, the
_apparitions_, the _witchcraft_, and the _magic_ of Shakspeare;
portions of popular credulity which had been, in reference to this
distribution, omitted in detailing the superstitions of the country.
This second part is then terminated by a summary of Shakspeare's
dramatic character, by a brief view of dramatic poetry during his
connection with the stage, and by the biography of the poet to the
close of his residence in London.
The _third_ and last of these delineations is, unfortunately, but too
short, being altogether occupied with the few circumstances which
distinguish the last three years of the life of our bard, with a review
of his disposition and moral character, and with some notice of the
first tributes paid to his memory.
It will readily be admitted, that the materials for the greater part
of this arduous task are abundant; but it must also be granted, that
they are dispersed through a vast variety of distant and unconnected
departments of literature; and that to draw forth, arrange, and give a
luminous disposition to, these masses of scattered intelligence, is an
achievement of no slight magnitude, especially when it is considered,
that no step in the progress of such an undertaking can be made,
independent of a constant recurrence to authorities.
How far the author is qualified for the due execution of his design,
remains for the public to decide; but it may, without ostentation,
be told, that his leisure, for the last thirty years, has been, in a
great decree, devoted to a line of study immediately associated with
the subject; and that his attachment to old English literature has led
him to a familiarity with the only sources from which, on such a topic,
authentic illustration is to be derived.
He will likewise venture to observe, that, in the style of criticism
which he has pursued, it has been his object, an ambitious one it is
true, to unfold, in a manner more distinct than has hitherto been
effected, the peculiar character of the poet's drama; and, lastly, to
produce a work, which, while it may satisfy the poetical antiquary,
shall, from the variety, interest, and integrity of its component
parts, be equally gratifying to the general reader.
_Hadleigh, Suffolk,
April 7th, 1817._
CONTENTS
OF
_THE FIRST VOLUME_.
PART I.
SHAKSPEARE IN STRATFORD.
CHAP. I.
Birth of Shakspeare — Account of his Family — Orthography
of his Name. _Page_ 1
CHAP. II.
The House in which Shakspeare was born — Plague at Stratford,
June 1564 — Shakspeare educated at the Free-school of
Stratford — State of Education, and of Juvenile Literature
in the Country at this period — Extent of Shakspeare's
acquirements as a Scholar. 21
CHAP. III.
Shakspeare, after leaving School, follows his Father's Trade
— Statement of Aubrey — Probably present in his Twelfth
Year at Kenelworth, when Elizabeth visited the Earl of
Leicester — Tradition of Aubrey concerning him — Whether
there is reason to suppose that, after leaving his Father,
he was placed in an Attorney's Office, who was likewise
Seneschal or Steward of some Manor — Anecdotes of
Shakspeare — Allusions in his Works to Barton, Wilnecotte,
and Barston, Villages in Warwickshire — Earthquake in
1580 alluded to — Whether, after leaving School, he
acquired any Knowledge of the French and Italian
languages. 34
CHAP. IV.
Shakspeare married to Anne Hathaway — Account of the Hathaways
— Cottage at Shottery — Birth of his eldest Child,
Susanna — Hamnet and Judith baptized — Anecdote of
Shakspeare — Shakspeare apparently settled in the
Country. 59
CHAP. V.
A View of Country-Life during the Age of Shakspeare — Its
_Manners and Customs_ — Rural Characters; the
Country-Gentleman — the Country-Coxcomb — the
Country-Clergyman — the Country-Schoolmaster — the Farmer
or Yeoman, his Mode of Living — the Huswife, her Domestic
Economy — the Farmer's Heir — the Poor Copyholder — the
Downright Clown, or Plain Country-Boor. 68
CHAP. VI.
A View of Country-Life during the Age of Shakspeare — _Manners
and Customs continued_ — Rural Holidays and Festivals;
New-Year's Day — Twelfth Day — Rock-Day — Plough-Monday
— Shrove-tide — Easter-tide — Hock-tide — May-Day —
Whitsuntide — Ales; Leet-ale — Lamb-ale — Bride-ale —
Clerk-ale — Church-ale — Whitsun-ale — Sheep-shearing
Feast — Candlemas-Day — Harvest-Home — Seed-cake Feast
— Martinmas — Christmas. 123
CHAP. VII.
A View of Country-Life during the Age of Shakspeare — _Manners
and Customs_, continued — Wakes — Fairs — Weddings —
Christenings — Burials. 209
CHAP. VIII.
View of Country-Life during the Age of Shakspeare, continued —
_Diversions_ — The Itinerant Stage — Cotswold Games —
Hawking — Hunting — Fowling — Fishing — Horse-racing —
The Quintaine — The Wild-goose Chase — Hurling —
Shovel-board — Juvenile Sports — Barley-breake —
Parish-Top. 246
CHAP. IX.
View of Country-Life during the Age of Shakspeare, continued
— An Account of some of its _Superstitions_; Winter-Night's
Conversation — Peculiar Periods devoted to Superstition —
St. Paul's Day — St. Swithen's Day — St. Mark's Day —
Childermas — St. Valentine's Day — Midsummer-Eve —
Michaelmas — All Hallow-Eve — St. Withold — Omens —
Charms — Sympathies — Superstitious Cures — Miscellaneous
Superstitions. 314
CHAP. X.
Biography of Shakspeare resumed — His Irregularities —
Deer-stealing in Sir Thomas Lucy's Park — Account of the
Lucy family — Daisy-hill, the Keeper's Lodge, where
Shakspeare was confined, on the Charge of stealing Deer —
Shakspeare's Revenge — Ballad on Lucy — Severe Prosecution
by Sir Thomas — never forgotten by Shakspeare — this
Cause, and probably also Debt, as his Father was now in
reduced Circumstances, induced him to leave the Country for
London about 1586 — Remarks on this Removal. 401
PART II.
SHAKSPEARE IN LONDON.
CHAP. I.
Shakspeare's Arrival in London about the Year 1586, when
twenty-two Years of Age — Leaves his Family at Stratford,
visiting them occasionally — His Introduction to the Stage
— His Merits as an Actor. 413
CHAP. II.
Shakspeare commences a Writer of Poetry, probably about the
year 1587, by the composition of his Venus and Adonis —
Historical Outline of Polite Literature, during the Age of
Shakspeare — General passion for Letters — Bibliography
— Shakspeare's Attachment to Books — Philology —
Criticism — Shakspeare's Progress in both — History,
general, local, and personal, Shakspeare's Acquaintance with
— Miscellaneous Literature. 426
CHAP. III.
View of Romantic Literature during the Age of Shakspeare —
Shakspeare's Attachment to, and Use of, Romances, Tales,
and Ballads. 518
CHAP. IV.
View of Miscellaneous Poetry during the same period. 594
[Illustration: _Five genuine Autographs of Shakspeare_
_N{o}. 1 is from Shakspeare's Mortgage 1612-13._
_2 is from M{r}. Malone's plate II. N{o}. X._
_3 is from the first brief of Shakspeare's Will._
_4 is from the second brief of the Will._
_5 is from the third brief of the Will._]
SHAKSPEARE AND HIS TIMES.
PART I.
_SHAKSPEARE IN STRATFORD._
CHAPTER I.
BIRTH OF SHAKSPEARE—HIS FAMILY—THE ORTHOGRAPHY OF HIS NAME.
William Shakspeare, the object almost of our idolatry as a dramatic
poet, was born at Stratford-upon-Avon, in Warwickshire, on the 23d of
April, 1564, and he was baptized on the 26th of the same month.
Of his family, not much that is certain can be recorded; but it would
appear, from an instrument in the College of Heralds, confirming
the grant of a coat of arms to John Shakspeare in 1599, that his
great grandfather had been rewarded by Henry the Seventh, "for his
faithefull and approved service, with lands and tenements given to
him in those parts of Warwickshire, where," proceeds this document,
"they have continued by some descents in good reputation and credit."
Notwithstanding this assertion, however, no such grant, after a minute
examination, made by Mr. Malone in the chapel of the Rolls, has been
discovered; whence we have reason to infer, that the heralds have been
mistaken in their statement, and that the bounty of the monarch was
directed through a different channel. From the language, indeed, of two
rough draughts of a prior grant of arms to John Shakspeare in 1596,
it is probable that the service alluded to was of a military cast, for
it is there expressly said, that he was rewarded "for his faithful and
_valiant_ service," a term, perhaps, implying the heroism of our poet's
ancestor in the field of Bosworth.
That the property, thus bestowed upon the family of Shakspeare,
descended to John, the father of the poet, and contributed to his
influence and respectability, there is no reason to doubt. From the
register, indeed, and public writings relating to Stratford, Mr.
Rowe has justly inferred, that the Shakspeares were of good figure
and fashion there, and were considered as gentlemen. We may presume,
however, that the patrimony of Mr. John Shakspeare, the parent of our
great dramatist, was not very considerable, as he found the profits of
business necessary to his support. He was, in fact, a wool-stapler,
and, there is reason to suppose, in a large way; for he was early
chosen a member of the corporation of his town, a situation usually
connected with respectable circumstances, and soon after, he filled the
office of high bailiff or chief magistrate of that body. The record of
these promotions has been thus given from the books of the corporation.
"Jan. 10, in the 6th year of the reign of our sovereign lady Queen
Elizabeth, John Shakspeare passed his Chamberlain's accounts."
"At the Hall holden the eleventh day of September, in the eleventh year
of the reign of our sovereign lady Elizabeth, 1569, were present Mr.
John Shakspeare, High Bailiff."[2:A]
It was during the period of his filling this important office, that
he first obtained a grant of arms; and, in a note annexed to the
subsequent patent of 1596, now in the College of Arms[2:B], it is
stated that he was likewise a justice of the peace, and possessed of
lands and tenements to the amount of 500_l._ The final confirmation
of this grant took place in 1599, in which his shield and coat are
described to be, _In a field of gould upon a bend sable, a speare of
the first, the poynt upward, hedded argent_; and for his crest or
cognisance, _A falcon with his wyngs displayed, standing on a wrethe of
his coullers, supporting a speare armed hedded, or steeled sylver_.[3:A]
Mr. John Shakspeare married, though in what year is not accurately
known, the daughter and heir of Robert Arden, of Wellingcote, in the
county of Warwick, who is termed, in the Grant of Arms of 1596, "a
gentleman of worship." The Arden, or Ardern family, appears to have
been of considerable antiquity; for, in Fuller's Worthies, Rob. Arden
de Bromwich, ar. is among the names of the gentry of this county
returned by the commissioners in the twelfth year of King Henry the
Sixth, 1433; and in the eleventh and sixteenth years of Elizabeth, A.
D. 1562 and 1568, Sim. Ardern, ar. and Edw. Ardrn, ar. are enumerated,
by the same author, among the sheriffs of Warwickshire.[3:B] It is well
known that the woodland part of this county was formerly denominated
Ardern, though, for the sake of euphony, frequently softened towards
the close of the sixteenth century, into the smoother appellation of
Arden; hence it is not improbable, that the supposition of Mr. Jacob,
who reprinted, in 1770, the Tragedy of Arden of Feversham, a play
which was originally published in 1592, may be correct; namely that
Shakspeare, the poet, was _descended by the female line_ from the
unfortunate individual whose tragical death is the subject of this
drama; for though the name of this gentleman was originally Ardern, he
seems early to have experienced the fate of the county district, and to
have had his surname harmonized by a similar omission. In consequence
of this marriage, Mr. John Shakspeare and his posterity were allowed,
by the College of Heralds, to impale their arms with the ancient arms
of the Ardrns of Wellingcote.[3:C]
Of the issue of John Shakspeare by this connection, the accounts
are contradictory and perplexed; nor is it absolutely ascertained,
whether he had only one wife, or whether he might not have had two,
or even three. Mr. Rowe, whose narrative has been usually followed,
has given him _ten_ children, among whom he considers _William_ the
poet, as the _eldest_ son.[4:A] The Register, however, of the parish
of Stratford-upon-Avon, which commences in 1558, is incompatible with
this statement; for, we there find _eleven_ children ascribed to John
Shakspeare, _ten_ baptized, and _one_, the baptism of which had taken
place before the commencement of the Register, buried.[4:B] The dates
of these baptisms, and of two or three other events, recorded in
this Register, it will be necessary, for the sake of elucidation, to
transcribe:
"_Jone_, daughter of John Shakspere, was baptized Sept. 15,
1558.
"_Margaret_, daughter of John Shakspere, was buried April 30,
1563.
"WILLIAM, son of John Shakspere, was baptized April 26, 1564.
"_Gilbert_, son of John Shakspere, was baptized Oct. 3, 1566.
"_Jone_[4:C], daughter of John Shakspere, was baptized April
15, 1569.
"_Anne_, daughter of Mr. John Shakspere, was baptized Sept. 28,
1571.
"_Richard_, son of Mr. John Shakspere, was baptized March 11,
1573-4.
"_Edmund_, son of Mr. John Shakspere, was baptized May 3, 1580.
"_John Shakspere_ and Margery Roberts were married Nov. 25,
1584.
"_Margery_, wife of John Shakspere, was buried Oct. 29, 1587.
"_Ursula_, daughter of John Shakspere, was baptized March 11,
1588.
"_Humphrey_, son of John Shakspere, was baptized May 24, 1590.
"_Philip_, son of John Shakspere, was baptized Sept. 21, 1591.
"Mr. _John Shakspere_ was buried Sept. 8, 1601.
"_Mary Shakspere_, widow, was buried Sept. 9, 1608."
Now it is evident, that if the ten children which were baptized,
according to this Register, between the years 1558 and 1591, are to
be ascribed to the father of our poet, he must necessarily have had
_eleven_, in consequence of the record of the decease of his daughter
Margaret. He must also have had three wives, for we find his second
wife, Margery, died in 1587, and the death of a third, Mary, a widow,
is noticed in 1608.
It was suggested to Mr. Malone[5:A], that very probably, Mr. John
Shakspeare had a son born to him, as well as a daughter, before the
commencement of the Register, and that this his eldest son, was, as is
customary, named after his father, John; a supposition which, (as no
other child was baptized by the Christian name of the old gentleman,)
carries some credibility with it, and was subsequently acquiesced in by
Mr. Malone himself.
In this case, therefore, the marriage recorded in the Register, is that
of John Shakspeare the _younger_ with Margery Roberts, and the three
children born between 1588 and 1591, Ursula, Humphrey, and Philip, the
issue of this John, not by the first, but by a second marriage; for as
Margery Shakspeare died in 1587, and Ursula was baptized in 1588-9,
these children must have been by the Mary Shakspeare, whose death is
mentioned as occurring in 1608, and as she is there denominated a
_widow_; the younger John must consequently have died before that date.
The result of _this_ arrangement will be, that the father of our poet
had only _nine_ children, and that WILLIAM was not the eldest, but the
_second_ son.
On either plan, however, the account of Mr. Rowe is equally inaccurate;
and as the introduction of an elder son involves a variety of
suppositions, and at the same time nothing improbable is attached to
the consideration of this part of the Register in the light in which it
usually appears, that is, as allusive solely to the father, it will,
we think, be the better and the safer mode, to rely upon it, according
to its more direct and literal import. This determination will be
greatly strengthened by reflecting, that old Mr. Shakspeare was, on the
authority of the last instrument granting him a coat of arms, living
in 1599; that on the testimony of the Register, taken in the common
acceptation, he was not buried until September 1601; and that in no
part of the same document is the epithet _younger_ annexed to the name
of John Shakspeare, a mark of distinction which there is every reason
to suppose would have been introduced, had the father and a son of the
same Christian name been not only living at the same time in the same
town, but the latter likewise a parent.
That the circumstances of Mr. John Shakspeare were, at the period
of his marriage, and for several years afterwards, if not affluent,
yet easy and respectable, there is every reason to suppose, from
his having filled offices of the first trust and importance in his
native town; but, from the same authority which has induced us to draw
this inference, another of a very different kind, with regard to a
subsequent portion of his life, may with equal confidence be taken. In
the books of the corporation of Stratford it is stated, that—
"At the hall holden Nov. 19th, in the 21st year of the reign of our
sovereign lady Queen Elizabeth, it is ordained, that every Alderman
shall be taxed to pay weekly 4_d._, saving _John Shakspeare_ and Robert
Bruce, who shall not be taxed to pay any thing; and every burgess to
pay 2_d._" Again,
"At the hall holden on the 6th day of September, in the 28th year of
our sovereign lady Queen Elizabeth:
"At this hall William Smith and Richard Courte are chosen to be
Aldermen in the places of John Wheler and John Shakspeare, for that Mr.
Wheler doth desire to be put out of the company, and Mr. Shakspeare
doth not come to the halls, when they be warned, nor hath not done of
long time."[6:A]
The conclusion to be drawn from these memoranda must unavoidably be,
that, in 1579, ten years after he had served the office of High
Bailiff, his situation, in a pecuniary light, was so much reduced,
that, on this account, he was excused the weekly payment of 4_d._; and
that, in 1586, the same distress still subsisting, and perhaps in an
aggravated degree, he was, on the plea of non-attendance, dismissed the
corporation.
The causes of this unhappy change in his circumstances cannot now,
with the exception of the burthen of a large and increasing family, be
ascertained; but it is probable, that to this period is to be referred,
if there be any truth in the tradition, the report of Aubrey, that
"William Shakspeare's father was a butcher." This anecdote, he affirms,
was received from the neighbours of the bard, and, on this account,
merits some consideration.[7:A]
We are indebted to Mr. Howe for the first intimation concerning the
trade of John Shakspeare; his declaration, derived also from tradition,
that he was a "considerable dealer in wool," appears confirmed by
subsequent research. From a window in a room of the premises which
originally formed part of the house at Stratford, in which Shakspeare
the poet was born, and a part of which premises has for many years been
occupied as a public-house, with the sign of the Swan and Maidenhead,
a pane of glass was taken, about five and forty years ago, by Mr.
Peyton, the then master of the adjoining Inn called The White Lion.
This pane, now in the possession of his son, is nearly six inches in
diameter, and perfect, and on it are painted the arms of the merchants
of the wool-staple—_Nebule on a chief gules, a lion passant or_. It
appears, from the style in which it is finished, to have been executed
about the time of Shakspeare, the father, and is undoubtedly a strong
corroborative proof of the authenticity of Mr. Rowe's relation.[7:B]
These traditionary anecdotes, though apparently contradictory, may
easily admit of reconcilement, if we consider, that between the
employment of a wool-dealer, and a butcher, there is no small affinity;
"few occupations," observes Mr. Malone, "can be named which are more
naturally connected with each other."[8:A] It is highly probable,
therefore, that during the period of John Shakspeare's distress, which
we know to have existed in 1579, when our poet was but fifteen years of
age, he might have had recourse to this more humble trade, as in many
circumstances connected with his customary business, and as a great
additional means of supporting a very numerous family.
That the necessity for this union, however, did not exist towards the
latter part of his life, there is much reason to imagine, both from the
increasing reputation and affluence of his son William, and from the
fact of his applying to the College of Heralds, in 1596 and 1599, for
a grant of arms; events, of which the first, considering the character
of the poet, must almost necessarily have led to, and the second
directly pre-supposes, the possession of comparative competence and
respectability.
The only remaining circumstance which time has spared us, relative to
the personal conduct of John Shakspeare, is, that there appears some
foundation to believe that, a short time previous to his death, he
made a confession of his faith, or spiritual will; a document still
in existence, the discovery and history of which, together with the
declaration itself, will not improperly find a place at the close of
this commencing chapter of our work.
About the year 1770, a master-bricklayer, of the name of Mosely, being
employed by Mr. Thomas Hart, the fifth in descent, in a direct line,
from the poet's sister, Joan Hart, to new-tile the house in which he
then lived, and which is supposed to be that under whose roof the bard
was born, found hidden between the rafters and the tiling of the house,
a manuscript, consisting of six leaves, stitched together, in the
form of a small book. This manuscript Mosely, who bore the character
of an honest and industrious man, gave (without asking or receiving
any recompense) to Mr. Peyton, an alderman of Stratford; and this
gentleman very kindly sent it to Mr. Malone, through the medium of
the Rev. Mr. Davenport, vicar of Stratford. It had, however, previous
to this transmission, unfortunately been deprived of the first leaf,
a deficiency which was afterwards supplied by the discovery, that
Mosely, who had now been dead about two years, had copied a great
portion of it, and from his transcription the introductory parts were
supplied.[9:A] The daughter of Mosely and Mr. Hart, who were both
living in the year 1790, agreed in a perfect recollection of the
circumstances attending the discovery of this curious document, which
consists of the following fourteen articles.
1.
"In the name of God, the Father, Sonne and Holy Ghost, the most holy
and blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, the holy host of archangels,
angels, patriarchs, prophets, evangelists, apostles, saints, martyrs,
and all the celestial court and company of heaven: I John Shakspear,
an unworthy member of the holy Catholic religion, being at this my
present writing in perfect health of body, and sound mind, memory,
and understanding, but calling to mind the uncertainty of life and
certainty of death, and that I may be possibly cut off in the blossome
of my sins, and called to render an account of all my transgressions
externally and internally, and that I may be unprepared for the
dreadful trial either by sacrament, pennance, fasting, or prayer, or
any other purgation whatever, do in the holy presence above specified,
of my own free and voluntary accord, make and ordaine this my last
spiritual will, testament, confession, protestation, and confession of
faith, hopinge hereby to receive pardon for all my sinnes and offences,
and thereby to be made partaker of life everlasting, through the only
merits of Jesus Christ my saviour and redeemer, who took upon himself
the likeness of man, suffered death, and was crucified upon the crosse,
for the redemption of sinners.
2.
"_Item_, I John Shakspear doe by this present protest, acknowledge,
and confess, that in my past life I have been a most abominable and
grievous sinner, and therefore unworthy to be forgiven without a true
and sincere repentance for the same. But trusting in the manifold
mercies of my blessed Saviour and Redeemer, I am encouraged by relying
on his sacred word, to hope for salvation, and be made partaker of
his heavenly kingdom, as a member of the celestial company of angels,
saints, and martyrs, there to reside for ever and ever in the court of
my God.
3.
"_Item_, I John Shakspear doe by this present protest and declare,
that as I am certain I must passe out of this transitory life into
another that will last to eternity, I do hereby most humbly implore
and intreat my good and guardian angell to instruct me in this my
solemn preparation, protestation, and confession of faith, at least
spiritually, in will adoring and most humbly beseeching my Saviour,
that he will be pleased to assist me in so dangerous a voyage, to
defend me from the snares and deceites of my infernal enemies, and to
conduct me to the secure haven of his eternal blisse.
4.
"_Item_, I John Shakspear doe protest that I will also passe out of
this life, armed with the last sacrament of extreme unction: the which
if through any let or hindrance I should not then be able to have,
I doe now also for that time demand and crave the same; beseeching
his Divine Majesty that he will be pleased to anoynt my senses both
internall and externall with the sacred oyle of his infinite mercy,
and to pardon me all my sins committed by seeing, speaking, feeling,
smelling, hearing, touching, or by any other way whatsoever.
5.
"_Item_, I John Shakspear doe by this present protest, that I will
never through any temptation whatsoever despaire of the divine
goodness, for the multitude and greatness of my sinnes; for which,
although I confesse that I have deserved hell, yet will I steadfastly
hope in God's infinite mercy, knowing that he hath heretofore pardoned
many as great sinners as myself, whereof I have good warrant sealed
with his sacred mouth, in holy writ, whereby he pronounceth that he is
not come to call the just, but sinners.
6.
"_Item_, I John Shakspear do protest, that I do not know that I have
ever done any good worke meritorious of life everlasting: and if I have
done any, I do acknowledge that I have done it with a great deale of
negligence and imperfection; neither should I have been able to have
done the least without the assistance of his divine grace. Wherefore
let the devill remain confounded: for I doe in no wise presume to merit
heaven by such good workes alone, but through the merits and bloud of
my Lord and Saviour Jesus, shed upon the cross for me most miserable
sinner.
7.
"_Item_, I John Shakspear do protest by this present writing, that I
will patiently endure and suffer all kind of infirmity, sickness, yea,
and the paine of death itself: wherein if it should happen, which God
forbid, that through violence of paine and agony, or by subtilty of the
devill, I should fall into any impatience or temptation of blasphemy,
or murmuration against God, or the Catholic faith, or give any signe
of bad example, I do henceforth, and for that present, repent me, and
am most heartily sorry for the same: and I do renounce all the evill
whatsoever, which I might have then done or said; beseeching his divine
clemency that he will not forsake me in that grievous and paignefull
agony.
8.
"_Item_, I John Shakspear, by virtue of this present testament, I do
pardon all the injuries and offences that any one hath ever done unto
me, either in my reputation, life, goods, or any other way whatsoever;
beseeching sweet Jesus to pardon them for the same; and I do desire
that they will doe the like by me whome I have offended or injured in
any sort howsoever.
9.
"_Item_, I John Shakspear do here protest, that I do render infinite
thanks to his Divine Majesty for all the benefits that I have received,
as well secret as manifest, and in particular for the benefit of my
creation, redemption, sanctification, conservation, and vocation to the
holy knowledge of him and his true Catholic faith: but above all for
his so great expectation of me to pennance, when he might most justly
have taken me out of this life, when I least thought of it, yea, even
then, when I was plunged in the durty puddle of my sinnes. Blessed be
therefore and praised, for ever and ever, his infinite patience and
charity.
10.
"_Item_, I John Shakspear do protest, that I am willing, yea, I do
infinitely desire and humbly crave, that of this my last will and
testament the glorious and ever Virgin Mary, mother of God, refuge and
advocate of sinners, (whom I honour specially above all saints,) may be
the chiefe executresse, togeather with these other saints, my patrons,
(Saint Winefride,) all whome I invoke and beseech to be present at the
hour of my death, that she and they comfort me with their desired
presence, and crave of sweet Jesus that he will receive my soul into
peace.
11.
"_Item_, In virtue of this present writing, I John Shakspear do
likewise most willingly and with all humility constitute and ordaine my
good angell for defender and protector of my soul in the dreadfull day
of judgment, when the finall sentence of eternall life or death shall
be discussed and given: beseeching him that, as my soule was appointed
to his custody and protection when I lived, even so he will vouchsafe
to defend the same at that houre, and conduct it to eternall bliss.
12.
"_Item_, I John Shakspear do in like manner pray and beseech all my
dear friends, parents, and kinsfolks, by the bowells of our Saviour
Jesus Christ, that since it is uncertain what lot will befall me, for
fear notwithstanding least by reason of my sinnes I be to pass and stay
a long while in purgatory, they will vouchsafe to assist and succour
me with their holy prayers and satisfactory workes, especially with
the holy sacrifice of the masse, as being the most effectual means to
deliver soules from their torments and paines; from the which, if I
shall by God's gracious goodnesse, and by their vertuous workes, be
delivered, I do promise that I will not be ungratefull unto them for so
great a benefitt.
13.
"_Item_, I John Shakspear doe by this my last will and testament
bequeath my soul, as soon as it shall be delivered and loosened from
the prison of this my body, to be entombed in the sweet and amorous
coffin of the side of Jesus Christ; and that in this life-giving
sepulcher it may rest and live, perpetually enclosed in that eternall
habitation of repose, there to blesse for ever and ever that direful
iron of the launce, which, like a charge in a censore, formes so sweet
and pleasant a monument within the sacred breast of my Lord and Saviour.
14.
"_Item_, Lastly I John Shakspear doe protest, that I will willingly
accept of death in what manner soever it may befall me, conforming my
will unto the will of God; accepting of the same in satisfaction for my
sinnes, and giving thanks unto his Divine Majesty for the life he hath
bestowed upon me. And if it please him to prolong or shorten the same,
blessed be he also a thousand thousand times; into whose most holy
hands I commend my soul and body, my life and death: and I beseech him
above all things, that he never permit any change to be made by me John
Shakspear of this my aforesaid will and testament. Amen.
"I John Shakspeare have made this present writing of protestation,
confession, and charter, in presence of the blessed Virgin Mary, my
angell guardian, and all the celestial court, as witnesses hereunto:
the which my meaning is, that it be of full value now presently and for
ever, with the force and vertue of testament, codicill, and donation in
course of death; confirming it anew, being in perfect health of soul
and body, and signed with mine own hand; carrying also the same about
me, and for the better declaration hereof, my will and intention is
that it be finally buried with me after my death.
"Pater noster, Ave maria, Credo.
"Jesu, son of David, have mercy on me.—Amen."[14:A]
If the intention of the testator, as expressed in the close of this
will, were carried into effect, then, of course, the manuscript which
Mosely found, must necessarily have been a copy of that which was
buried in the grave of John Shakspeare.
Mr. Malone, to whom, in his edition of Shakspeare, printed in 1790, we
are indebted for this singular paper, and for the history attached to
it, observes, that he is unable to ascertain, whether it was drawn up
by John Shakspeare the father, or by John his _supposed_ eldest son;
but he says, "I have taken some pains to ascertain the authenticity
of this manuscript, and, after a very careful inquiry, am perfectly
satisfied that it is genuine."[15:A] In the "Inquiry," however, which
he published in 1796, relative to the Ireland papers, he has given
us, though without assigning any reasons for his change of opinion,
a very different result: "In my conjecture," he remarks, "concerning
the writer of that paper, I certainly was mistaken; for I have since
obtained documents that clearly prove it could not have been the
composition of any one of our poet's family."[15:B]
In the "Apology" of Mr. George Chalmers "for the Believers in the
Shakspeare-Papers," which appeared in the year subsequent to Mr.
Malone's "Inquiry," a new light is thrown upon the origin of this
confession. "From the sentiment, and the language, this confession
appears to be," says this gentleman, "the effusion of a Roman Catholic
mind, and was probably drawn up by some Roman Catholic priest.[15:C]
If these premises be granted, it will follow, as a fair deduction,
that the family of Shakspeare were Roman Catholics; a circumstance
this, which is wholly consistent with what Mr. Malone is now studious
to inculcate, viz. "that this confession could not have been the
composition of any of our poet's family." The thoughts, the language,
the orthography, all demonstrate the truth of my conjecture, though Mr.
Malone did not perceive this truth, when he first published this paper
in 1790. But, it was the performance of a _clerke_, the undoubted work
of the family-priest. The conjecture, that Shakspeare's family were
Roman Catholics, is strengthened by the fact, that his father declined
to attend the corporation meetings, and was at last removed from the
corporate body."[16:A]
This conjecture of Mr. Chalmers appears to us in its leading points
very plausible; for that the father of our poet might be a Roman
Catholic is, if we consider the very unsettled state of his times with
regard to religion, not only a possible but a probable supposition: in
which case, it would undoubtedly have been the office of the spiritual
director of the family to have drawn up such a paper as that which
we have been perusing. It was the fashion also of the period, as Mr.
Chalmers has subsequently observed, to draw up confessions of religious
faith, a fashion honoured in the observance by the great names of
Lord Bacon, Lord Burghley, and Archbishop Parker[16:B]. That he
declined, however, attending the corporation-meetings of Stratford from
religious motives, and that his removal from that body was the result
of non-attendance from _such a cause_, cannot readily be admitted;
for we have clearly seen that his defection was owing to pecuniary
difficulties; nor is it, in the least degree, probable that, after
having honourably filled the highest offices in the corporation without
scruple, he should at length, and in a reign too popularly protestant,
incur expulsion from an avowed motive of this kind; especially as we
have reason to suppose, from the mode in which this profession was
concealed, that the tenets of the person whose faith it declares, were
cherished in secret.
From an accurate inspection of the hand-writing of this will, Mr.
Malone infers that it cannot be attributed to an earlier period than
the year 1600[16:C], whence it follows that, if dictated by, or drawn
up at the desire of, John Shakspeare, his death soon sealed the
confession of his faith; for, according to the register, he was buried
on September 8th, 1601.
Such are the very few circumstances which reiterated research has
hitherto gleaned relative to the father of our poet; circumstances
which, as being intimately connected with the history and character
of his son, have acquired an interest of no common nature. Scanty as
they must be pronounced, they lead to the conclusion that he was a
moral and industrious man; that when fortune favoured him, he was not
indolent, but performed the duties of a magistrate with respectability
and effect, and that in the hour of adversity he exerted every nerve to
support with decency a numerous family.
Before we close this chapter, it may be necessary to state, that the
very orthography of the name of Shakspeare has occasioned much dispute.
Of Shakspeare the father, no autograph exists; but the _poet_ has left
us several, and from these, and from the monumental inscriptions of
his family, must the question be decided; the latter, as being of the
least authority, we shall briefly mention, as exhibiting, in Dugdale,
three varieties,—_Shakespeare_; _Shakespere_, and _Shakspeare_. The
former present us with _five_ specimens which, singular as it may
appear, all vary, either in the mode of writing, or mode of spelling.
The first is annexed to a mortgage executed by the poet in 1613, and
appears thus, _W{m} Shakspe{a}_: the second is from a deed of bargain
and sale, relative to the same transaction, and of the same period, and
signed, _William Shaksper̄_: the third, fourth, and fifth are taken from
the _Will_ of Shakspeare executed in March 1616, consisting of three
_briefs_ or sheets, to each of which his name is subscribed. These
signatures, it is remarkable, differ considerably, especially in the
surnames; for in the first brief we find _William Shackspere_; in the
second, _Willm Shakspe re_, and in the third, _William Shakspeare_.
It has been supposed, however, that, according to the practice in
Shakspeare's time, the name in the first sheet was written by the
scrivener who drew the will.
In the year 1790, Mr. Malone, from an inspection of the mortgage,
pronounced the genuine orthography to be _Shakspeare_[17:A]; in 1796,
from consulting the deed of sale, he altered his opinion, and declared
that the poet's own mode of spelling his name was, beyond a possibility
of doubt, that of _Shakspere_, though for reasons which he should
assign in a subsequent publication, he should still continue to write
the name _Shakspeare_.[18:A]
To this decision, relative to the genuine orthography, Mr. Chalmers
cannot accede; and for this reason, that, "when the testator subscribed
his name, for the _last time_, he _plainly_ wrote Shakspe_a_re."[18:B]
It is obvious, therefore, that the controversy turns upon, whether
there be, or be not, an _a_ introduced in the second syllable of
the last signature of the poet. Mr. Malone, on the suggestion of an
anonymous correspondent, thinks that there is not, this gentleman
having clearly shown him, "that though there was a superfluous stroke
when the poet came to write the letter _r_ in his last signature,
probably from the tremor of his hand, there was no _a_ discoverable in
that syllable; and that this name, like both the other, was written
_Shakspere_."[18:C]
From the annexed plate of autographs, which is copied from Mr.
Chalmers's Apology, and presents us with very perfect fac-similes
of the signatures, it is at once evident, that the assertion of the
anonymous correspondent, that the last signature, "_like both the
other_, was written Shakspere," cannot be correct; for the surname in
the first brief is written Sha_c_kspere, and, in the second, Shakspe
re. Now the _hiatus_ in this second signature is unaccounted for in the
fac-simile given by Mr. Malone[18:D]; but in the plate of Mr. Chalmers
it is found to have been occasioned by the intrusion of the word _the_
of the _preceding line_, a circumstance which, very probably, might
prevent the introduction of the controverted letter. It is likewise,
we think, very evident that something more than _a superfluous stroke_
exists between the _e_ and _r_ of the last signature, and that the
variation is, indeed, too material to have originated from any
supposed tremor of the hand.
Upon the whole, it may, we imagine, be safely reposed on as a fact,
that Shakspeare was not uniform in the orthography of his own name;
that he sometimes spelt it _Shakspere_ and sometimes _Shakspeare_;
but that no other variation is extant which can claim a similar
authority.[19:A] It is, therefore, nearly a matter of indifference
which of _these two_ modes of spelling we adopt; yet, as his last
signature appears to have included the letter _a_, it may, for the sake
of consistency, be proper silently to acquiesce in its admission.
FOOTNOTES:
[2:A] Communicated to Mr. Malone by the Rev. Mr. Davenport, vicar of
Stratford-upon-Avon.
[2:B] Vincent, vol. clvii. p. 24.
[3:A] See the instrument, at full length, Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p.
146, edit. of 1803.
[3:B] The History of the Worthies of England, part iii. fol. 131, 132.
[3:C] See Shakspeare's coat of arms, Reed's Shaksp. vol. i. p. 146.
[4:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 58, 59.
[4:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 133.
[4:C] "It was common in the age of Queen Elizabeth to give the same
Christian name to two children successively. This was undoubtedly
done in the present instance. The former Jone having probably died,
(though I can find no entry of her burial in the Register, nor indeed
of many of the other children of John Shakspeare) the name of Jone, a
very favourite one in those days, was transferred to another new-born
child."—Malone from Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 134.
[5:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 136.
[6:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 58.
[7:A] MS. Aubrey, Mus. Ashmol. Oxon. Lives, p. 1. fol. 78, a. (Inter
Cod. Dugdal.) Vide Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iii. p. 213.
[7:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iii. p. 214. and Ireland's Picturesque
Views on the Upper or Warwickshire Avon, p. 190, 191. Since this
passage was written, however, the proof which it was supposed to
contain, has been completely annihilated. "If John Shakspeare's
occupation in life," observes Mr. Wheeler, "want confirmation, this
circumstance will unfortunately not answer such a purpose; for old
Thomas Hart constantly declared that his great uncle, Shakspeare Hart,
a glazier of this town, who had the new glazing of the chapel windows,
where it is known, from Dugdale, that such a shield existed, brought it
from thence, and introduced it into his own window."—Wheeler's Guide
to Stratford, pp. 13, 14.
[8:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iii. p. 214.
[9:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iii. p. 197, 198.
[14:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iii. p. 199. et seq.
[15:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iii. p. 197.
[15:B] Malone's Inquiry, p. 198, 199.
[15:C] As a specimen, let us take the beginning of this declaration
of faith, and see still stronger terms in the conclusion of this
protestation, _confession_, and charter.
[16:A] "The place too, the roof of the house where this confession was
found, proves, that it had been therein concealed, during times of
persecution, for the holy Catholick religion." Apology, p. 198, 199.
[16:B] Chalmers's Apology, p. 200.
[16:C] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iii. p. 198.
[17:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 149.
[18:A] Malone's Inquiry, p. 120
[18:B] Chalmers's Apology, p. 235.
[18:C] Malone's Inquiry, p. 117, 118.
[18:D] Inquiry, Plate II. No. 12.
[19:A] A want of uniformity in the spelling of names, was a species of
negligence very common in the time of Shakspeare, and may be observed,
remarks Mr. Chalmers, "with regard to the principal poets of that age;
as we may see in _England's Parnassus_, a collection of poetry which
was published in 1600: thus,
S_y_dney S_i_dney.
Spen_s_er Spen_c_er.
Jonson Johnson Jhonson.
Dekker Dekkar.
Markeham Markham.
Sylv_i_ster Sylv_e_ster S_i_lvester.
Sackwill Sackuil.
Fitz Geffrey Fitzjeffry Fitz Jeffr_a_y.
France Fraunce.
Mid_l_eton Mid_d_leton.
G_u_ilpin G_i_lpin.
Achelly Achely Achilly Achillye.
Dra_y_ton Dra_i_ton.
Danie_l_ Daniel_l_.
Dav_i_s Davi_e_s.
Marlo_w_ Marlo_we_.
M_a_rston M_u_rston.
Fair_e_fax Fa_ir_fax.
K_i_d K_y_d.
Yet, it is remarkable, that in this collection of diversities, our
dramatist's name is uniformly spelt Shakespeare: in whatever manner
this celebrated name may have been pronounced in Warwickshire, it
certainly was spoken in London, with the _e_ soft, thus, Shak_e_speare:
in the registers of the Stationers' Company, it is written,
Shakes_pere_, and Shakes_peare_." Chalmers's Supplemental Apology, p.
129, 130.
A curious proof of the uncertain orthography of the poet's surname
among his contemporaries and immediate successors, may be drawn from
a pamphlet, entitled, "The great Assizes holden in Parnassus by
Apollo and his Assessours: at which Sessions are arraigned, Mercurius
Britannicus, &c. &c. London: Printed by Richard Cotes for Edward
Husbands, and are to be sold at his shop in the Middle Temple. 1645.
qto. 25 leaves."
In this rare tract, among the list of the jurors is found the name
of our bard, written William _Shakespeere_; and in the body of the
poem, it is given _Shakespeare_, and _Shakespear_. _Vide_ British
Bibliographer, vol. i. p. 513.