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Article WILLIAM SHAKSPERE. ← Page 6 of 17 →
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William Shakspere.
Avould necessarily have created much gossip in Warwickshire , coupled with the words of part of the libel , ' killed my deer , ' and thus might tradition have converted tho whole story into a prosecution against Shakespeare himself for deer-stealing . Had the tradition never been treated otherwise than in the pleasant , good-humoured , honest vein of the author of the ' Citation and Examination of William Shakespeare , and Others , touching Deer-stealing , ' I should not have attempted a refutation . "
We are , however , inclined to regard the whole story as an invention , perhaps a remnant of the inveterate animosity which existed against our poet during the great rebellion ; for , had such a trial as that Avhich Mr . BroAvn supposes taken place , most probably either some clearer tradition of it would haA'e been preserved , or the remembrance of it would haA'e entirely
passed away . A vicar of Stratford asserts that " Shakespear , Drayton , and Ben Jonson had a merry meeting , and itt seems drank too hard , for Shakespear dyed of a feavour there contracted . " Although this account of his death has attracted favour in the eyes of many , we are not inclined to regard it as being in any degree more worthy of credit than the other
" shallow follies" to wliich Ave have alluded . Unsupported by other evidence , it would , at the most , prove nothing more than that about half a century after the death of the poet such a rumour Avas current . Let any one who has lived in a small country town call to mind the gossip that is circulated in such a place whenever a birth , a death , or a marriage occurs . Will any conscientious man , Avho reflects upon the eagerness
displayed by the inhabitants of small places for tittle-tattle , believe that the death of Shakspere would not furnish a theme for the gossip-mongers of his native place ? The only serious part of the whole matter is that people should have taken the trouble to pick up fragments of these idle tales , and to copy them into memorandum-books and letters , as if they Avere entitled to the
most implicit reliance . HOAV many absurd stories have Ave respecting the poet's occupation in his earlier clays ? We are told that he Avas a farmer , a schoolmaster , a butcher , a lawyer's clerk , and a glover . It is very eA'ident that , in the short interval which elapsed betAveen his leaving school and his departure for London , he could not have run the gauntlet through so many
trades and professions . One authority gravely informs us that his delinquencies in deer-stealing expeditions led to his sudden flight from the parental roof , and that in spite of himself he acquired feme . Another declares that he ran aAvay from his master the butcher , hot feeling any great inclination for that unpoetical trade . We learn , also , from another quarter that he came to London , as many men both before and since his time
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
William Shakspere.
Avould necessarily have created much gossip in Warwickshire , coupled with the words of part of the libel , ' killed my deer , ' and thus might tradition have converted tho whole story into a prosecution against Shakespeare himself for deer-stealing . Had the tradition never been treated otherwise than in the pleasant , good-humoured , honest vein of the author of the ' Citation and Examination of William Shakespeare , and Others , touching Deer-stealing , ' I should not have attempted a refutation . "
We are , however , inclined to regard the whole story as an invention , perhaps a remnant of the inveterate animosity which existed against our poet during the great rebellion ; for , had such a trial as that Avhich Mr . BroAvn supposes taken place , most probably either some clearer tradition of it would haA'e been preserved , or the remembrance of it would haA'e entirely
passed away . A vicar of Stratford asserts that " Shakespear , Drayton , and Ben Jonson had a merry meeting , and itt seems drank too hard , for Shakespear dyed of a feavour there contracted . " Although this account of his death has attracted favour in the eyes of many , we are not inclined to regard it as being in any degree more worthy of credit than the other
" shallow follies" to wliich Ave have alluded . Unsupported by other evidence , it would , at the most , prove nothing more than that about half a century after the death of the poet such a rumour Avas current . Let any one who has lived in a small country town call to mind the gossip that is circulated in such a place whenever a birth , a death , or a marriage occurs . Will any conscientious man , Avho reflects upon the eagerness
displayed by the inhabitants of small places for tittle-tattle , believe that the death of Shakspere would not furnish a theme for the gossip-mongers of his native place ? The only serious part of the whole matter is that people should have taken the trouble to pick up fragments of these idle tales , and to copy them into memorandum-books and letters , as if they Avere entitled to the
most implicit reliance . HOAV many absurd stories have Ave respecting the poet's occupation in his earlier clays ? We are told that he Avas a farmer , a schoolmaster , a butcher , a lawyer's clerk , and a glover . It is very eA'ident that , in the short interval which elapsed betAveen his leaving school and his departure for London , he could not have run the gauntlet through so many
trades and professions . One authority gravely informs us that his delinquencies in deer-stealing expeditions led to his sudden flight from the parental roof , and that in spite of himself he acquired feme . Another declares that he ran aAvay from his master the butcher , hot feeling any great inclination for that unpoetical trade . We learn , also , from another quarter that he came to London , as many men both before and since his time