had offered one of his plays to the players to have it acted; and the persons into whose hands it was put, after having turned it carelessly and superciliously over, were just on the point of returning it to him with an ill-natured answer, that it would be of no service to the company, when Shakspeare luckily cast his eye on it, and found something so well in it, as to engage him first to read it through, and afterwards to recommend Mr. Jonson and his writings to the public.'

That this kind office was in perfect unison with the general character of Shakspeare will readily be admitted; yet there is much reason to conclude that the whole account is without foundation. Both Mr. Malone and Dr. Drake concur in disbelieving the story; and that Jonson was altogether un known to the world,' remarks Mr. Gifford, is a palpable untruth. At this period, 1598, Jonson was as well known as Shakspeare, and perhaps better. He was poor indeed, and very poor, and a mere retainer of the theatres; but he was intimately acquainted with Henslowe and Alleyn, and with all the performers at their houses: he was familiar with Drayton, Chapman, Rowley, Middleton, and Fletcher; he had been writing for three years, in conjunction with Marston, Decker, Chettle, Porter, Bird, and with most of the poets of the day; he was celebrated by Meres as one of the principal

writers of tragedy; and he had long been rising in reputation as a scholar and poet among the most distinguished characters of the age. At this moment he was employed on 'Every Man out of his Humor,' which was acted in 1599; and, in the elegant dedication of that comedy to the gentlemen of the Inns of Court, he says, 'When I wrote this poem, I had friendship with divers of your societies, who as they were great names in learning, so were they no less examples of living. Of them, and then, that 1 say no more, it was not despised.' And yet Jonson was, at this time, altogether unknown to the world!' and offered a virgin comedy, which had already been three years on the stage, to a player, in the humble hope that it might be accepted!'

Neither are the charges of enmity, which have been so often preferred against Jonson by Rowe and others, better deserving of credit. Mr. Gifford, after successfully overthrowing the long prevalent stories of the hostility which is said to have subsisted between these two great men, thus remarks:

It is my fixed persuasion, not lightly adopted, but deduced from a wide examination of the subject, that Jonson and Shakspeare were friends and associates till the latter finally retired;-that no feud, no jealousy ever disturbed their connexion;-that Shakspeare was pleased with Jonson, and that Jonfon loved and admired Shakspeare.'

It appears not a little remarkable, that Jonson seems to have maintained a higher place in the estimation of the public in general than our reet, for more than a century after the death of the latter. Within that period Jonson's works are said to nave passed through several editions, while Shakspeare's were comparatively neglected till the time of Rowe. This circumstance is in a great measure to be accounted for on the principle that classical literature and collegiate learning were regarded in those days as the chief criterions of merit.

In 1599, Shakspeare's sister, Joan, was united to Mr. William Hart, a hatter in Stratford ;—an occurrence, which, in the great dearth of events unfortunately incident to our subject, is of some importance and on the 8th of September, 1601. his father, Mr. John Shakspeare, expired, leaving a name immortalized by the celebrity of his offspring.

In 1602, no other trace of our author is discoverable, independent of his literary exertions, than that, on the first day of May, in that year, he purchased, in Stratford, 107 acres of land, for 32ul. which lands appear to have been connected with his former purchase of New Place, and to have descended with it.

On the last day of 1607, our poet buried, at St. Saviour, Southwark, his brother Edmond. wno with singular precision is entered in the register of toat

parish as Edmond Shakspeare, a player;' so that, as Mr. Chalmers has observed, there were two Shakspeares on the stage during the same period.'

Though Shakspeare continued to write till 1611 or 1613, he had probably declined appearing as an actor long before that period; as no mention of his name can be found among the list of players subsequent to the production of Ben Jonson's Sejanus in 1603, in which year he succeeded in obtaining a license from King James, to exhibit comedies, tragedies, histories, &c. at the Globe theatre; and was enabled to acquire, during his dramatic career from this period, a considerable accumulation of property. Gildon, in his Letters and Essays, 1694, estimated the amount at 3007. per annum, a sum at least equal to 10007. in our days; but Mr. Malone thinks that it could not exceed 2007., which yet was a considerable fortune in those times. Being thus in possession of an independence adequate to his wishes, he quitted the business of the theatre, and passed the remainder of his life in honorable ease, at his native town.

The exact period at which Shakspeare quitted the metropolis has not been ascertained; but as his name does not occur in the accounts of the Globe theatre for 1613, and no mention is made of it in his will; it seems reasonable to infer, that he disposed of his interest in that concern previous to

leaving London, which event probably took place in the summer of that year.

That he was greatly honored and respected at Stratford, we are induced to credit, not only from tradition, but from the tone and disposition of heart and intellect which his works everywhere evince; and, accordingly, Rowe has told us, that his pleasurable wit and good nature engaged him in the acquaintance, and intitled him to the friendship, of the gentlemen of the neighborhood.'

Shortly after the retirement of Shakspeare from public life, his residence narrowly escaped a dreadful conflagration, which, on July 9th, 1614, destroyed 54 houses at Stratford, and consumed much valuable property.

It is not known what particular malady terminated the life and labors of this incomparable genius. He died on the 23d of April, 1616, his birth-day, when he had exactly completed his 52d year. It is remarkable, that on the same day expired, in Spain. his great and amiable contemporary, Cervantes; the world being thus deprived, at nearly the same moment, of the two most original writers which modern Europe has produced.

On the second day after his decease the remains of Shakspeare were committed to the grave, within the chancel of the parish church; where a flat stone and monument were afterwards placed to point out