Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 10.pdf/336

 William Shakespeare, Attorney at Law. have always been liberal patrons of the stage. Such was peculiarly the case in the age of Elizabeth. Thomas Nash, a contemporary of Shakespeare, in his " Pierce Penniless" has this to say in vindication of the theatre : — "Whereas the afternoon being the idlest time of the day wherein men that are their own masters (as gentlemen of the court, the innes of court and a number of captains and soldiers about London) do wholly bestow themselves upon pleasure and that pleasure they divide either in gaming, following of har lots, drinking and seeing a play; is it not fitter that they should betake them to the least, which is plays?" No doubt many gentlemen of the innes of court who thus " betook themselves to the plays," were there attracted by the talent and ability of the author of the plays pro duced, and sought an acquaintance with Shakespeare. From such associates and associations the poet acquired scraps of legal learning which he subsequently wove into the larger fabric of his works. Again, the authorities from which Shake speare secured his plots and historical data contain many law references. When the dramatist obtained the story he took the legal expressions as well, without noting an indebtedness or acknowledging a credit. The legal experiences of his father was another and a richer source of information which flowed a current of law into the mind of the youth, destined to reign per petually over earth's choicest province, the realm of literature. John Shakespeare was, during the poet's boyhood, a man of considerable property and much influence in Stratford. He was for many years an office-holder in the town and frequently served on the manorial jury. In the days of his prosperity the elder Shakespeare was connected with many tran sactions calling for the advice and assistance of a lawyer. He bought and sold real estate as the records of Warwick indicate. Thus in 1575, John Shakespeare purchased

307

two houses in Stratford, paying therefor, forty pounds, a considerable sum of money at that time. In 1578 the father's fortune began to de cline, and with business reverses came law suits and litigation. In the year mentioned, John Shakespeare mortgaged his most con siderable property, the estate of the Asbies for a debt of forty pounds. Eleven years afterwards a suit is instituted in the court of Queen's Bench by John and William Shake speare vs. Edward Lambert, the mortgagee in the above conveyance, to recover the property. Nothing seems to have been done in this matter until 1597 when another bill based on the same cause of action was filed. To the last petition, Lambert filed an answer, to which the Shakespeares re plied. No decree was ever entered, the case very probably being settled out of court. The old gentleman in 1579 was forced to sacrifice his reversionary interest in the estate at Snittcrfield, receiving for the valuable property only forty pounds. Three suits for debt were filed against John Shakespeare in 1585, which were followed in the next year by other actions of a similar kind. These cases make John Shakespeare's in solvency a matter of record, the sheriff's return of" no property found " being a con spicuous part of many of them. In 1587 the dramatist's father is sum moned to answer a bill seeking a recovery of ten pounds on an obligation entered into by John Shakespeare as surety for his brother. From this time on the ex-chief bailiff of Stratford must have been a regular and constant visitor at the office of his legal adviser. Suits, many in number and varied in character, had to be defended; mortgages were executed; conveyances made, and assessments resisted. The effect of these proceedings on the family of the unfortunate John can be im agined. Nothing creates such consternation in the houses of the poor as a legal process. The despair and apprehensions of parents