The following Instrument was transmitted to us by John Anftis, Efq; Garter King at Arms: It is mark'd, G. 13. p. 349.

[There is also a Manuscript in the Herald sOffice, marked W.2. p. 276; where Notice is taken of this Coat, and that the Person to whom it was granted, had born Magistracy at Stratford upon Avon.]

TO all and fingular Noble and Gentlemen of all

Estates and Degrees, bearing Arms, to whom these Presents shall come: William Dethick, Garter Principal King of Arms of England, and William Cambden, alias Clarencieulx, King of Arms for the South, East, and West Parts of this Realm, fend Greetings. Know ye, that in all Nations and Kingdoms the Record and Remembrance of the valiant Facts and virtuous Difpofitions of worthy Men have been made known and divulged by certain Shields of Arms and Tokens of Chivalrie; the Grant or Testimony whereof apperteineth unto us, by virtue of our Offices from the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, and her Highness's most noble and victorious Progenitors: Wherefore being follicited, and by credible Report informed, that John ShakeSpere, now of Stratford upon Avon in the County of Warwick, Gentleman, whose Great Grandfather for his faithful and approved Service to the late most prudent Prince, King Henry VII. of famous Memory, was advanced and rewarded with Lands and Tenements, given to him in those Parts of Warwickshire, where they have continued by some Defcents in good Reputation and Credit; And for that the faid John Shakespere having married the Daughter and one of the Heirs of Robert Arden of Wellingcote in the said County, and also produced this his ancient Coat of Arms, heretofore affigned to him whilst he was her Majesty's Officer and Bailiff

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of that Town. In confideration of the Premises, and for the Encouragement of his Pofterity, unto whom fuch Blazon of Arms and Atchievements of Inheritance from their faid Mother, by the ancient Custom and Laws of Arms, may lawfully defcend; We the said Garter and Clarencieulx have at affigned, granted, and confirmed, and by these Presents exemplified unto the faid John Shakespere, and to his Pofterity, that Shield and Coat of Arms, viz. In a Field of Gold upon a Bend Sables a Spear of the first, the Point upward, headed, Argent: and for his Creft or Cognifance, A Falcon, Or, with his Wings displayed, standing on a Wreathe of his Colours, Supporting a Spear armed headed, or steeled Silver, fixed upon an Helmet with Mantles and Taffels, as more plainly may appear depicted in this Margent; And we have likewise impaled the fame with the ancient Arms of the said Arden of Wellingcote; fignifying thereby, that it may and shall be lawful for the faid John Shakespere, Gent. to bear and use the fame Shield of Arms, fingle or impaled, as aforesaid, during his natural Life; and that it shall be lawful for his Children, Issue, and Posterity, lawfully begotten; to bear, ufe, and quarter, and thew forth the fame, with their due Differences, in all lawful warlike Feats and civil Use or Exercises, according to the Laws of Arms, and Custom that to Gentlemen belongeth, without Let or Interruption of any Person or Perfons, for use or bearing the fame. In Witness and Testimony whereof we have subscribed our Names, and fastned the Seals of our Offices. Given at the Office of Arms, Lon

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Day of

don, the
in the Forty Second
Year of the Reign of our most Gracious Sovereign
Lady Elizabeth, by the Grace of God, Queen of
England, France, and Ireland, Defender of the
Faith, &c. 1599.

:

TO THE

MEMORY of my Beloved the AUTHOR, Mr. WILLIAM SHAKESPEAR;

And what he hath left us.

To draw no envy (Shakespear) on thy Name,
Am I thus ample to thy Book, and Fame :

While I confess thy writings to be such,
As neither Man, nor Muse can praise too much.
'Tis true, and all mens fuffrage. But these wayes.
Were not the paths I meant unto thy praife:
For feelieft Ignorance on these may light,
Which, when it sounds at best, but ecchoes right;
Or blind Affection, which doth ne're advance
The truth, but gropes, and urgeth all by chances
Or crafty malice might pretend this praise,
And think to ruine, where it seem'd to raise.
These are, as some infamous Baud, or Whore,
Should praise a Matron. What could hurt her more?
But thou art proof against them, and indeed
Above th' ill fortune of them, or the need.
I therefore will begin. Soul of the Age!
Th' applause! delight! the wonder of our Stage!
My Shakespear rife! I will not lodge thee by
Chaucer, or Spenser, or bid Beaumont lie
A little further, to make thee a room :
Thou art a Monument without a Tomb,
And art alive still, while thy Book doth live,
And we have wits to read, and praise to give.
That I not mix thee so, my brain excuses;
I mean with great, but disproportion'd Muses:
For if I thought my judgment were of years,
I should commit thee surely with thy Peers,

And

And tell how far thou didst our Lily out-shine,
Or Sporting Kid, or Marlow's mighty Line.
And though thou hadst small Latin and less Greek,
From thence to honour thee, I would not seek
For names; but call forth thund'ring Æschylus,
Euripides, and Sophocles to us,

+ Paccuvius, Accius, him of Cordova dead,
To live again, to hear thy Buskin tread,
And jhake a Stage: Or, when thy Socks were on,
Leave thee alone for the comparison
Of all, that infolent Greece, or haughty Rome
Sent forth, or jince did from their ashes come.
Triumph, my Britain! thou hast one to show,
To whom all Scenes of Europe homage owe.
He was not of an age, but for all time !
And all the Muses still were in their prime,
When like Apollo he came forth to warm
Our ears, or like a Mercury to charm.
Nature her felf was proud of his designes,
And joy'd to wear the dressing of his Lines :
Which were so richly spun, and wove so fit,
As, fince, she will vouchsafe no other wit.
The merry Greek, tart Ariftophanes,
Neat Terence, witty Plautus, now not please;
But antiqusted, and deserted lie,
As they were not of Natures family.
Yet must I not give Nature all: Thy Art,
My gentle Shakespear, must enjoy a part.
For though the Poet's matter Nature be,
His Art doeth give the Fashion. And, that he
Who cafts to write a living line, must sweat,
(Such as thine are) and strike the second heat
Upon the Mules Anvile; turn the same,
(And himself with it) that he thinks to frame;
Or for the Lawrel he may gain a scorn,
For a good Poet's made, as well as born.

1

And fuch wert thou. Look how the Father's face Lives in his Ifsue, even so the race

Of Shakespear's mind and manners brightly shines

In his well torned, and true filed lines :

In each of which he seems to shake a Lance,
As brandish'd at the eyes of Ignorance.
Sweet Swan of Avon! what a fight it were
To see thee in our water yet appear,
And make those flights upon the Banks of Thames,
That so did take Eliza and our James!
But stay, I see thee in the Hemisphere
Advanc'd, and made a Constellation there!
Shine forth, thou Starre of Poets, and with rage,
Or influence, chide or chear the drooping Stage,
Which, fince thy flight from hence, hath mourn'd like night,
And despairs day, but for thy Volume's light.