The marriage, in accordance with the general practice, no doubt took place within two or three days after the execution of the bond on November the 28th, 1582, the "once asking of the bans" being included in the cere monial service. The name of the parish in which the nuptials were celebrated has not been ascertained, but it must have been one of those places in the diocese of Worcester the early registers of which have been lost.

Early marriages are not, however, at least with men, invariably preceded by a dispersion of the wild oats; and it appears that Shakespeare had neglected to complete that desirable operation. Three or four years after his union with Anne Hathaway, he had, observes Rowe, by a misfortune common enough to young fellows, fallen into ill company, and, amongst them, some, that made a frequent practice of deer-stealing, engaged him with them more than once in robbing a park that belonged to Sir Thomas Lucy of Charlecote, near Stratford ;-for this he was prosecuted by that gentleman, as he thought, somewhat too severely, and, in order to revenge that ill-usage, he made a ballad upon him; and though h this, probably the first essay of his poetry, be lost, yet it is said to have been so very bitter that it redoubled the prosecution against him to that degree, that he was obliged to leave his business and family in Warwickshire for some time, and shelter himself in London." If we accept this narrative, which is the most reliable account of the incident that has been preserved, the date of the port's departure from his native town may be assigned

a period shortly after the births of his youngest childeen, the twin Hamnet and Judith, who were baptized or Stratford on Avon on February the 2nd, 1585.

61

Se teang & they wanted met wat many discouraging

the light on

erstry, who, though

of sureties for his fidelity,
he had (but ten pounds) was

to what he used to receive with
- his discreet account he gave of
mitives which put him upon that course,
compensate with diligent and faithfull
reer else was short of his expectation, he
receive him upon trial, in which he so well

mself that he accepted him into his service,

which he bound him for eight years." It is to be
thered from the account given by Rowe, that Shake-
sware, a fugitive, leaving his native town unexpectedly,
most have reached London more unfavourably circum-
stanced than Sadler, although the latter experienced so
much trouble in finding occupation. At all events, there
would have been greater difficulty in the poet's case in
accounting Sat & Actorily to employers for his sudden
departure Pan bone. That he was also nearly, if not

quite, moneyless, is to be inferred from tradition, the latter supported by the ascertained fact of the adverse circumstances of his father at the time rendering it impossible for him to have received effectual assistance from his parents; nor is there reason for believing that he was likely to have obtained substantial aid from the relatives of his wife. Johnson no doubt accurately reported the tradition of his day, when in 1765, he stated that Shakespeare "came to London a needy adventurer, and lived for a time by very mean employments." To the same effect is the earlier testimony given by the author of Ratseis Ghost, 1605, where the strolling player, in a passage reasonably believed to refer to the great dramatist, observes in reference to actors, "I have heard, indeede, of some that have gone to London very meanly, and have come in time to be exceeding wealthy." The author of the last-named tract was evidently well acquainted with the theatrical gossip of his day, so that his nearly contemporary evidence on the subject may be fairly accepted as a truthful record of the current belief.

It has been repeatedly observed that the visits of theatrical companies to the poet's native town suffice to explain the history of his connexion with the stage, but it is difficult to understand how this could have been the case. There is no good evidence that a single one of the actors belonged to his neighbourhood, and even if he had casually made the acquaintance of some of the itinerants, it is extremely unlikely that any extent of such intimacy would have secured the admission of an inexperienced person into their ranks. The histrionic art is not learnt in a day, and it was altogether unusual with the sharers to receive into the company men who had not had the advantage of a very early training in the profession. It

might, therefore, have been reasonably inferred, even in the absence of tradition, that at this time Shakespeare could only have obtained employment at the theatre in a very subordinate capacity, nor can it be safely assumed that there would have been an opening for him of any kind. The quotations above given seem to indicate that his earlier occupation was something of a still lower character. A traditional anecdote was current about the middle of the last century, according to which it would appear that the great dramatist, if connected in any sort of manner with the theatre immediately upon his arrival in London, could only have been engaged in a servile capacity, and that there was, in the career of the great poet, an interval which some may consider one of degradation, to be regarded with either incredulity or sorrow. Others may, with more discernment and without reluctance, receive the story as a testimony to his practical wisdom in accepting any kind of honest occupation in preference to starvation or mendicancy, and cheerfully making the best of the circumstances by which he was surrounded. The tale is related by several writers, but perhaps the best version is the one recorded by Dr. Johnson, in 1765, in the following terms,-"in the time. of Elizabeth, coaches being yet uncommon and hired coaches not at all in use, those who were too proud, too tender or too idle to walk, went on horseback to any distant business or diversion ;—many came on horseback to the play, and when Shakespeare fled to London from the terror of a criminal prosecution, his first expedient was to wait at the door of the play-house, and hold the horses of those that had no servants that they might be ready again after the performance;-in this office he became so conspicuous for his care and readiness, that