Page:A tour through the northern counties of England, and the borders of Scotland - Volume II.djvu/287

 [ 275 ]

characters, his pow t .-. as a writer soon gained the ad- miration of hi*: own profession, and the unbounded approbation of the public. Now \\ as the meridian of Shakespeare's life, and for some years his sun .shone with noontide glory; pouring upon him praise, popularity, and opulence. Still more plea- sing, howi ver, was the evening of his day, when it beamed with weaker, indeed, but with steadier light; when returning full of honour, and blessed with competence, to his native place Stratford- upon-Avon, he built a handsome house, and passed some few remaining years in social intercourse and kind reciprocities. Here he died on his birth-day, having exactly completed the fifty-third year of his age, as universally lamented as he was generally beJoved. Good-nature was the chief ingredient in his disposition; and if ever he bordered upon any thing severe, the satire was always justified by the worthlessness of the object at which he levelled it. Some instances of his poetical sarcasms are upon re- cord, but local tradition confirms the assertion now made of their just application. They are written on John Coombe and h's brother Tom, both noto- rious tor penury and usury. The former, in a party at which Shakespeare was present, had sport- ively observed, that he apprehended the port meant to write his epitaph in case he outlived him,

�� �