quantum in te est permovere, ne necligas, hoc enim et sibi et nobis maximi erit momenti. Hic labor, hoc opus esset eximiæ et gloriæ et laudis sibi."

A letter endorsed "To my lovynge sonne Rycharde Qwyney, at the Belle in Carter Leyne, deliver thesse in London"-without date or signature, but probably written in 1598, and ascertained to be from the pen of Adrian Quiney,-contains a not very intelligible allusion to some pecuniary transaction with Shakespeare:

"You shalle, God willyng, receve from youre wyfe by Mr. Baylye thys brr. asowrance of x.s., and she wold have yow to bye sume grocerye, yff yt be resonable yow maye have carryage by a woman who I wyllyd to com to you. Mr. Layne by report hath receved a great summ of money of Mr. Smyth of Wotten, but wylle not be knowyn of hyt, and denyd to lend your wyff any, but hys wyffe sayd that he had receved v.li. which was gevyn hyr, and wysshd hym to lent that to your wyff, which he dyde; she hopyth to mayk provyssy on to paye Mr. Combes and alle the rest. I wrot to yow concernyng Jhon Rogerss; the howsse goythe greatlye to dekaye; ask secretli therein, and doo somewhat therein, as he ys in doubt that Mr. Parsonss wylle not paye the 3li. 13s. 4d. Wherfor wryte to hym yff yow maye have carryage to bye some such warys as yow may selle presentlye with profet. Yff yow bargen with Wm. Sh or receve money therfor, brynge your money home that yow maye. And see howe knite stockynes be sold; ther ys gret byinge of them at Ayssham. Edward

Wheat, and Harrye youre brother man, were both at Evysham thys daye senet, and, as I harde, bestow 20li. ther in knyt hosse; wherfor I thynke yow maye doo good, yff yow can have money."

Great interest is attached to the following letter as being addressed to the dramatist himself, and the only one remaining of the many letters which he must have received. The writer, Richard Quiney,-father of the Thomas Quiney who afterwards became the husband of Shakespeare's youngest daughter, was then in London on the business of the Stratford Corporation ;14 and it is plain that when he requests the loan of thirty pounds,— no trifling sum in those days, he does not anticipate a refusal:

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Loveinge contreyman, I am bolde of yow, as of a ffrende, craveinge yowr helpe with xxx.li. uppon Mr. Bushells and my securytee, or Mr. Myttons with me. Mr. Rosswell is nott come to London as yeate, and I have especiall cawse. Yow shall ffrende me muche in helpeing me out of all the debettes I owe in London, I thanck God, and muche quiet my mynde, which wolde nott be indebeted. I am nowe towardes the Cowrte, in hope of answer for the dispatche of my buysenes. Yow shall nether loose creddytt nor monney by me, the Lorde wyllinge; and nowe butt perswade yowrselfe soe, as I hope, and yow shall nott need to feare butt with all heartie thanckefullnes I wyll holde my tyme, and content yowr ffreende, and yf we bargaine farther, yow shalbe the paie-master yowrselfe. My tyme biddes me

hasten to an ende, and soe I committ thys [to] yowr care and hope of yowr helpe. I feare I shall nott be backe thys night ffrom the Cowrte. Haste. The Lorde be with yow and with us all, Amen! ffrom the Bell in Carter Lane, the 25. October 1598.

Yowrs in all kyndenes,

Ryc. Quyney.

To my loveinge good ffrend and con

treyman Mr. Wm. Shackespere

deliver thees."

The next quotation is the beginning of a letter dated Nov. 4th, 1598, written by Abraham Sturley at Stratford, "to his most lovinge brother, Mr. Richard Quinei, att the Bell in Carter lane att London:"

"All health, happines of suites and wellfare, be multiplied unto u and ur labours in God our Father bi Christ our Lord!

"Ur letter of the 25. of Octobr came to mi handes the laste of the same att night per Grenwai, which imported a stai of suites by Sr. Ed. Gr. [Edward Greville's] advise, untill, &c. and that onli u should followe on for tax and sub.15 presentli, and allso ur travell and hinderance of answere therein, bi ur longe travell and thaffaires of the Courte: and that our countriman Mr. Wm. Shak. would procure us monei, wc. I will like of, as I shall heare when and wheare and howe; and I prai let not

15 "The borough of Stratford at this time were soliciting the Lord Treasurer Burghley to be exempted from the subsidies imposed in the last Parliament, on the plea of poverty and distress occasioned by two recent fires." Malone's Life of Shakespeare, Appendix (note), p. 569.

go that occasion, if it mai sorte to ani indifferent condicions. Allso that if monei might be had for 30 or

407., a lease, &c. might be procured. Oh howe can u make dowbt of monei, who will not beare xxx.tie or xl.s. towardes sutch a match!"

At the Carlton Ride Record Office is preserved a subsidy roll, dated October 1st, 1598, which shows that our poet was at that period assessed on property in the parish of St. Helen's, Bishopsgate:

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Affid. William Shakespeare, vli.-—xiijs. iiijd.'

"16

Ben Jonson himself records that his Every Man in his Humour was originally played in 1598 by the Lord Chamberlain's Servants; and in a list of the "principal comedians" which is subjoined to it (but does not enable us to appropriate the characters to the actors respectively) the name of Shakespeare stands first. 17-That a sincere friendship existed between Shakespeare and Jonson will never again be doubted after the excellent memoir of the latter by Gifford ;18

16 Mr. Halliwell thinks that "the memorandum affid. attached to his name may possibly exhibit him as one of the parties who did not live in the district, and were consequently compelled to produce certificates or affidavits of non-residence. If the poet ever did reside in that part of London, it must only have been for a very short period." Life of Shakespeare, p. 153, folio ed.

17 He probably acted Old Knowell.

18 It is, however, right to mention that Octavius Gilchrist's Examination of the Charges maintained by Messrs. Malone, Chalmers, and others, of Ben Jonson's enmity &c. towards Shakespeare, was published a few years before Gifford's edition of Jonson's Works.

As Jonson had no claim to the epithet which he, as well as others, has applied to our poet,-"gentle,"-it may be presumed that the fault was his, if any thing ever occurred to ruffle for a time the friendship between him and Shakespeare: and I am hardly disposed to agree

and, indeed, it is surprising that the alleged enmity of Jonson towards Shakespeare should not have had an earlier refutation, especially as Jonson's writings exhibit the most unequivocal testimony of his affectionate admiration of Shakespeare. A more glowing eulogy than the verses To the memory of MY BELOVED, the author, Mr. William Shakespeare, was never penned; and one of the latest of Jonson's labours contains these words concerning him, "I loved the man, and do honour his memory, on this side idolatry, as much as any.'

"19

with Gifford (Memoirs of Ben Jonson, p. lx.) that in the following passage the word "purge" alludes merely to the effects of Shakespeare's overpowering genius:

“Kemp. Few of the vniuersity pen plaies well; they smell too much of that writer Ovid, and that writer Metamorphosis, and talke too much of Proserpina and Juppiter. Why, heres our fellow Shakespeare puts them all downe; I, and Ben Jonson too. 0, that Ben Jonson is a pestilent fellow he brought vp Horace giuing the poets a pill; but our fellow Shakespeare hath giuen him a purge that made him beray his credit." The Returne from Pernassus, &c. Publiquely acted by the Students in Saint Johns Colledge in Cambridge, 1606, Sig. G 2. (Though not printed till 1606, it was acted before the death of Queen Elizabeth.)

19 The entire notice of Shakespeare in the Discoveries is too interesting to be omitted. "I remember, the players have often mentioned it as an honour to Shakespeare, that in his writing (whatsoever he penned) he never blotted out a line. My answer hath been, Would he had blotted a thousand! Which they thought a malevolent speech. I had not told posterity this, but for their ignorance, who chose that circumstance to commend their friend by, wherein he most faulted; and to justify mine own candour: for I loved the man, and do honour his memory, on this side idolatry, as much as any. He was (indeed) honest, and of an open and free nature; had an excellent phantasy, brave notions, and gentle expressions; wherein he flowed with that facility, that sometimes it was necessary he should be stopped: Sufflaminandus erat, as Augustus said of Haterius. His wit was in his own power: would the rule of it had been so too! Many times he fell into those things could not escape laughter: as when he said in the person of Cæsar, one speaking to him, 'Cæsar, thou dost me wrong,' he replied, 'Cæsar did never wrong but with just cause,' and such like; which were ridiculous.