Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIV.djvu/843

 SHAKESPEARE 817 the grantee's "parents and late antecessors" "were for their valiant and faithful services advanced and rewarded of the most prudent prince Henry the Seventh." But no record of such advancement, or of the original grant of arms, has been discovered ; and as these alle- gations were true of William Shakespeare's " antecessors " on the mother's side, it has been reasonably conjectured that the " confirma- tion " of arms was applied for by John Shake- speare at his son's instance, and procured by his influence. Tradition tells us that Shake- speare's memory clung to Stratford in the midst of his metropolitan triumphs and suc- cesses, and that he visited his family once a year. His townsmen respected and looked up to him, and in some cases leaned confidently upon his good offices in the way of influence and the advancement of money. We know nothing of his intercourse with actors and men of letters in London, save that he won gruff Ben Jonson to say in his "Discover- ies:" "I loved the man, and do honor his memory on this side idolatry as much as any." And indeed, according to the tradition fur- nished by Betterton to Rowe, Jonson was in- debted to Shakespeare for the reception and performance of his first play at the Blackfriars theatre. It had been tossed aside as the pro- duction of an unknown writer, when Shake- speare read, admired, and recommended it. Fuller says in his " Worthies " that the two friends had many " wit combats " together, in which he compares Jonson to " a Spanish great galleon," " solid but slow in his performances," and Shakespeare to an " English man-of-war, lesser in bulk but lighter in sailing." It has been supposed that these encounters took place at the Mermaid tavern, where a club met which Sir Walter Raleigh had founded, and of which Jonson, Beaumont, Fletcher, Selden, Donne, and others of their sort were members. There is no evidence whatever to show that Shake- speare ever met with this club' ; but it is ex- tremely improbable that he was not a member of it. There is a tradition that King James was so much his admirer that he wrote him " an amicable letter " in autograph. It is not very improbable that James should have done so ; and there is evidence of some weight to show that the letter was in the possession of Sir William Davenant, although at the begin- ning of the last century it had been lost. Shakespeare is supposed to have abandoned the stage about 1604, and to have returned to Stratford to live at some time between 1610 and 1613. No record or noteworthy tradition of any event of importance or interest in this part of his Stratford life has reached us. Rowe says that he spent it " in ease, retirement, and the conversation of his friends," who were "the gentlemen of the neighborhood." We have no account of the manner of his death except the following entry in the diary of the Rev. John Ward, who was appointed vicar of Stratford in 1662, nearly 50 years after the event to which it relates : " Shakespeare, Drayton, and Ben Jonson had a merie meet- ing, and it seems drank too hard, for Shake- speare died of a feavour there contracted." It is not impossible that this piece of gossiping tradition is true. Shakespeare was buried on the second day after his death, on the north side of the chancel of Stratford church. Over his grave there is a flat stone with this inscrip- tion, said to have been written by himself : Good frend for lesus sake forbears To dig-g the dust encloased heare : Blest be y man y' spares thes stones, And curst be he y' moves my bones. By whomsoever these lines were written, they have happily been effectual in keeping at Strat- ford what might otherwise have been carried to Westminster. Against the north wall of the chancel is a monument which was erected be- fore 1623, and in which the poet's bust appears under an arch ; his right hand holds a pen, and he appears to be in the act of writing upon a sheet of paper placed on a cushion before him. This bust, which is of life-size, was originally colored after nature. The eyes were of light hazel, the hair and beard auburn. The same Rev. Mr. Davies who records his " unluckinesse in stealing venison and rabbits," also writes that he died a papist; but, considering the extreme puritanical notions then prevalent, a very moderate degree of high churchmanship would be likely to be stigmatized among the people as papistry, especially in an actor. His works are imbued with a high and heartfelt appreciation of the vital truths of Christianity, without leaning toward any form of religious observance or of church government, or any theological tenet or dogma. His character seems to have been one of singular complete- ness, and of perfect balance. An actor at a time when actors were held in the lowest pos- sible esteem, he won respect and consideration from those who held the highest rank and sta- tion ; a poet, he was yet not only thrifty but provident. Surpassing all his rivals among his social equals, he was, after the recoil of the first surprise, loved by all of them. " Sweet" and " gentle " are the endearing epithets which they delighted to apply to him. His integ- rity was early noticed, as has already been remarked; and Jonson, in his "Discoveries," says he was "indeed honest, and of an open and free nature." In person he appears to have been no less agreeable than in mind. Aubrey heard that he was " a handsome, well shapt man." With this report the bust at Stratford, and the portrait engraved by Droes- hout for the first collected edition of his works, agree. They are the only existing authentic portraits of him ; and hard and poorly drawn as the latter is, there is a conformity between the two which sustains the authenticity of both. Both show a somewhat unusual length of up- per lip ; otherwise the features are remarkably well shaped and proportioned, and the head i