inquish'd the Stage. I know, it has been mistakenly thought by
some, that _Spenser_'s _Thalia_, in his _Tears of his Muses_, where
she laments the Loss of her _Willy_ in the Comic Scene, has been
apply'd to our Author's quitting the Stage. But _Spenser_ himself,
'tis well known, quitted the Stage of Life in the Year 1598; and,
five Years after this, we find _Shakespeare_'s Name among the Actors
in _Ben Jonson_'s _Sejanus_, which first made its Appearance in the
Year 1603. Nor, surely, could he then have any Thoughts of retiring,
since, that very Year, a Licence under the Privy-Seal was granted
by K. _James_ I. to him and _Fletcher_, _Burbage_, _Phillippes_,
_Hemmings_, _Condel_, &c. authorizing them to exercise the Art of
playing Comedies, Tragedies, &c. as well at their usual House call'd
the _Globe_ on the other Side of the Water, as in any other Parts of
the Kingdom, during his Majesty's Pleasure: (A Copy of which Licence
is preserv'd in _Rymer_'s _Foedera_.) Again, 'tis certain, that
_Shakespeare_ did not exhibit his _Macbeth_, till after the _Union_
was brought about, and till after K. _James_ I. had begun to touch
for the _Evil_: for 'tis plain, he has inserted Compliments, on both
those Accounts, upon his Royal Master in that Tragedy.

Nor, indeed, could the Number of the Dramatic Pieces, he produced,
admit of his retiring near so early as that Period. So that what
_Spenser_ there says, if it relate at all to _Shakespeare_, must
hint at some occasional Recess he made for a time upon a Disgust
taken: or the _Willy_, there mention'd, must relate to some other
favourite Poet. I believe, we may safely determine that he had not
quitted in the Year 1610. For in his _Tempest_, our Author makes
mention of the _Bermuda_ Islands, which were unknown to the
_English_, till, in 1609, Sir _John Summers_ made a Voyage to
_North-America_, and discover'd them: and afterwards invited some
of his Countrymen to settle a Plantation there. That he became the
private Gentleman at least three Years before his Decease, is pretty
obvious from another Circumstance: I mean, from that remarkable and
well-known Story, which Mr. _Rowe_ has given us of our Author's
Intimacy with Mr. _John Combe_, an old Gentleman noted thereabouts
for his Wealth and Usury: and upon whom _Shakespeare_ made the
following facetious Epitaph.

Ten in the hundred lies here in-grav'd,
'Tis a hundred to ten his Soul is not sav'd;
If any Man ask who lies in thi