able bundle of
documents--twenty-six in all. They concern a lawsuit in which the
family of Christopher Mountjoy, Shakespeare's landlord in London, was
engaged; and in which the poet himself appeared as a witness.
Mountjoy, it appears, was a prosperous wigmaker and hairdresser, and,
no doubt, had good custom from the London actors. Shakespeare had
lodgings in Mountjoy's house in the year 1604, and at Madame Mountjoy's
request acted as intermediary in proposing to young Stephen Bellott, a
young French apprentice of Mountjoy's, that if he should marry his
master's daughter Mary, he would receive L50 as dowry and "certain
household stuff" in addition. The marriage took place, and the quarrel
which led to the lawsuit in 1612 was chiefly about the fulfillment--or
non-fulfillment--of the marriage settlements. Shakespeare's testimony
on the matter is clear enough in regard to his services as the friend
of both parties; but his memory leaves him when specific information is
required touching the exact terms of the dowry. Evidently he had no
mind that his old landlord should suffer from the claims of his unruly
son-in-law.

Mountjoy's house was situated in an ancient and most respectable
neighborhood in Cripplegate ward, on the corner of Silver Street and
Mugwell, or Muggle Street. Near by dwelt many of Shakespeare's
fellow-actors and dramatists. St. Paul's Cathedral, the heart {14} of
London, lay five minutes' walk to the southwest. The length of
Shakespeare's residence with the worthy Huguenot family is not to be
learned from the recent discoveries; but his testimony to Bellott's
faithful service as apprentice throughout the years of
apprenticeship--1598-1604--makes it strongly probable that during these
years, when the poet was writing his greatest plays, he lodged with
Mountjoy. In 1612 Mountjoy, according to another witness, had a
lodger--a "sojourner"--in his house; this may mean that Shakespeare was
still in possession of his rooms in the house on Silver Street. If it
be so, no spot in the world has been the birthplace of a greater number
of masterpieces.

It is interesting to note, in passing, that the various witnesses in
the Mountjoy lawsuit who have occasion to speak of Shakespeare always
refer to him most respectfully. The poet was evidently high in the
esteem of his neighbors.

+Shakespeare's Income and Business Transactions+.--Shakespeare was a
shrewd and sensible man of business. He amassed during h