written about 1585, though not printed till five years later. He so withdrew himself from authorship that Spenser mourns him as dead, while he already pronounces him the oracle of the Muses

"And he, the man whom Nature's self hath made

To mock herself, and Truth to imitate

With kindly counter under mimic shade,
Our pleasant Willy, ah! is dead of late!"

Spenser presently explains that he is not really dead, but that the public could only be attracted by "scoffing scurrility," "scornful folly," and "shameless ribaldry,' themes not to the taste of Shakespeare, and this kept him silent :

"But that same gentle spirit, from whose pen
Large streams of honey and sweet nectar flow,
Scorning the boldness of such base-born men
Which dare their follies forth so rashly throw,
Doth rather choose to sit in idle cell

Than so himself to mockery to sell."

We are told in the present day that Shakespeare looked to his Muse only as a means of making money, yet here one of his contemporaries records that he threw down his penlived in idleness, in a time of scarcity and at a moment of great family distress, rather than pander to a corrupt public taste. This corresponds with his own assertion; for he declares that he loved poetry, just as if poetry were his mistress. His love for it was like his love for Anne-like

the passion Anne cherished for music:

"If music and sweet poetry agree,

As they must needs, the sister and the brother,

Then must the love be great 'twixt thee and me,

Because thou lov'st the one and I the other."

What money he acquired came, in fact, by gift, and could never have been in his thoughts when he wrote. His inspiration was from Nature, not Mammon; it came in the glance that he threw from heaven to earth, from earth to

heaven, from the forms of things unknown! He did not woo the Muse, as Fenton first wooed Anne Page-for her gold. He was drawn to her by a fascination before he could dream that poetry was a treasure, which would buy him honour, station, and troops of friends. Fame he disdained to pick up, when it lay at his feet. It would seem as though, in respect to himself, he was ever looking beyond this little life rounded with a sleep, and the great globe itself. Coronation in the capitol, by the vote of the people, compensated Tasso for a blasted existence; Shakespeare neglected even to give his works to the printer. He knew, indeed, they were to live for ever:—

"So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee."

But they were not to owe their preservation to himself, or to any interference on his part; it was to be the effect of their own merit.

There is nothing so great in Shakespeare as this contempt for fame, unless it be his acceptance at all times of his position. Never does he breathe a word of complaint, but always utters the same sentiments, expressive of brave endurance, coupled with incessant exertion. He speaks of adversity in terms almost of affection, as of a counsellor and friend. Instead of brooding over reverses and railing at fate, he sets himself to overcome all obstacles, be they ever so great, but gives up the contest when, as in the period of his life we are now reviewing, his way is barred by principle. He will not hire his talents to what Spenser calls "scoffing scurrility, scornful folly, and shameless ribaldry." "Our pleasant Willy" prefers the sharpest pinch of poverty to such

baseness.

His patron was about the same time encountering difficulties on a greater stage, and here he lost his friend Sir Philip Sidney, who was killed at the battle of Zutphen, on

the 22nd of September, 1586. His death was followed by a succession of reverses, culminating in the fall of Sluys; and this was such a disaster, that it destroyed all confidence in Leicester, who was angrily called home. On his arrival the council assembled in glee to witness his disgrace, as he had sunk so low with the Queen, that she grew furious at the mention of his name. But though now fifty-four, he was still her "sweet Robin," and came, saw, and conquered. The council were expecting him to appear on his knees, when he took his seat at the table, and Lord Buckhurst received a reprimand from the Queen for having counselled his recall. He was again master of the situation.

It requires some faith to accept the stories of his crimes, when we find him retaining this ascendency over Elizabeth through his whole life. Bearing in mind that it raised endless cabals against him at court, and combined with his haughty manners to render him odious to the people, while the Roman Catholics regarded him with intense hatred, it is easy to conceive that he was a constant mark for detraction. The scandals about him could have received no credit from the Queen, or her attachment for him must have declined; and he could hardly have lived on the friendliest terms with his step-son Essex, if he was believed to have poisoned his father. This, indeed, is not the place to vindicate his character, but we may be pardoned a word of digression in favour of the patron of Spenser and Shakespeare.

Leicester never displayed more arrogance than now. He took up his abode at a splendid mansion, near Temple Bar, long since superseded by Essex Street and Devereux Court, and changed its name of Paget Place to Leicester House. It obtains a grateful remembrance from Spenser :

The note in the Lucy pedigree affirms that he required Sir Thomas Lucy to adopt his badge of the bear and ragged staff, which he wished to see worn by the servants of all the gentry of Warwickshire, and the Charlecote Knight refused to comply, at the same time calling him an upstart. But it is dangerous to hurl opprobrious names at the friend of a poet. Leicester remembered Justice Shallow, and according to the Lucy note, he now applied to Shakespeare to take up his quarrel, by bringing Sir Thomas Lucy again on the stage. We could hardly obtain a stronger proof that the poet was not connected with the ancient Ardens, for Edward Arden, the representative of that family, who was executed in 1583 for his share in the Throckmorton conspiracy, declared that he was brought to the scaffold by Leicester because he had refused to wear his badge; and it is incredible that Shakespeare could be persuaded to gibbet Sir Thomas Lucy on such a ground, by the man who had thus hanged his kinsman. The state assumed by Leicester in 1587, points to that year as the time at which he undertook this task, nor could we well assign an earlier date to The Merry Wives of Windsor.' No commentator has yet ranged it before 1595, but it is generally placed after 1596, as it was not till then that Dover established the Cotswold games, referred to by Slender in Scene I. But these were merely a revival, and Shakespeare is speaking of the original games, which existed in the reign of Henry IV. We have now established that the play was produced at least seven years earlier than any one has surmised, since Leicester, at whose behest it was written, died in 1588, and the reasons we have adduced point indeed to the previous year as the date of its production. What Mr. Collier justly considers a surreptitious copy, found its way to the press in 1602, and another surreptitious edition was printed in 1619. We have already remarked that a copy of the latter edition was lately discovered in the Lucy

archives at Charlecote, showing how it had been sought at the time by the family; and as it is extremely rare,' we subjoin a transcription of the title-page :

A Most Pleasant and excellent Comedy of Sir John Falstaffe and the merry Wives of Windsor,

With the Swaggering Voice of Ancient Pistol and Corporal

Nym.

Written by W. Shakespeare.

Printed for Arthur Johnson,
1619.

6

1

It has always been said that The Merry Wives' was written to please Elizabeth, who had expressed a wish to see Falstaff in love. This is a tradition we cannot relinquish, and it is quite consistent with the statement in the Lucy note, which must otherwise have set it aside. It accounts, too, for the scene being laid at Windsor, an unlikely resort for a Gloucestershire Justice, unless the design were to compliment Royalty. The Benediction of Windsor Castle, and the Notice of the Forest and of the Order of the Garter, confirm this impression, and were assuredly meant for the Queen's ear "Search Windsor Castle, elves, within and out: Strew good luck, ouphes, on every sacred room; That it may stand till the perpetual doom,

In state as wholesome, as in state 'tis fit;

Worthy the owner, and the owner it.

The several chairs of order look you scour

With juice of balm, and every precious flower:

1 A reprint of the edition of 1602 has been produced by the Shakespeare Society. The edition of 1619 was known to Theobold and Steevens.

2 The tradition first appeared in print in 1702, when we learn from Denwes, the critic, in an epistle prefixed to a transversion of The Merry Wives,' that" this play was written at he command of Queen Elizabeth." Seven years later it is repeated by Rowe, who adds that the Queen, having seen the Two Parts of King Henry IV.' desired to see Falstaff in another play, which should represent him in love.