in Ease, Retirement, and the Conversation of his
Friends. He had the good Fortune to gather an Estate equal to his
Occasion, and, in that, to his Wish; and is said to have spent some
Years before his Death at his native _Stratford_. His pleasurable Wit,
and good Nature, engag'd him in the Acquaintance, and entitled him to
the Friendship of the Gentlemen of the Neighbourhood. Amongst them, it
is a Story almost still remember'd in that Country, that he had a
particular Intimacy with Mr. _Combe_, an old Gentleman noted thereabouts
for his Wealth and Usury: It happen'd, that in a pleasant Conversation
amongst their common Friends, Mr. _Combe_ told _Shakespear_ in a
laughing manner, that he fancy'd, he intended to write his Epitaph, if
he happen'd to out-live him; and since he could not know what might be
said of him when he was dead, he desir'd it might be done immediately:
Upon which _Shakespear_ gave him these four Verses.

_Ten in the Hundred lies here ingrav'd,
'Tis a Hundred to Ten, his Soul is not sav'd:
If any Man ask, Who lies in this Tomb?
Oh! ho! quoth the Devil, 'tis my_ John-a-Combe.

But the Sharpness of the Satyr is said to have stung the Man so
severely, that he never forgave it.

He Dy'd in the 53d Year of his Age, and was bury'd on the North side of
the Chancel, in the Great Church at _Stratford_, where a Monument, as
engrav'd in the Plate, is plac'd in the Wall. On his Grave-Stone
underneath is,

_Good Friend, for Jesus sake, forbear
To dig the Dust inclosed here.
Blest be the Man that spares these Stones,
And Curst be he that moves my Bones._

He had three Daughters, of which two liv'd to be marry'd; _Judith_, the
Elder, to one Mr. _Thomas Quiney_, by whom she had three Sons, who all
dy'd without Children; and _Susannah_, who was his Favourite, to Dr.
_John Hall_, a Physician of good Reputation in that Country. She left
one Child only, a Daughter, who was marry'd first to _Thomas Nash_, Esq;
and afterwards to Sir _John Bernard_ of _Abbington_, but dy'd likewise
without Issue.

This is what I could learn of any Note, either relating to himself or
Family: The Character of the Man is best seen in his Writings. But since
_Ben Johnson_ has made a sort of an Essay towards it in his
_Discoveries_, tho', as I have before hinted, he was not very Cordial in
his Friendship, I will venture to give it in his Words.

"I remember the Players have often mention'd it as an Honour