put into writing an anecdote for
which he made Dr. Donne responsible, attesting the amicable relations
that habitually subsisted between Shakespeare and Jonson. 'Shakespeare,'
ran the story, 'was godfather to one of Ben Jonson's children, and after
the christening, being in a deep study, Jonson came to cheer him up and
asked him why he was so melancholy. "No, faith, Ben," says he, "not I,
but I have been considering a great while what should be the fittest gift
for me to bestow upon my godchild, and I have resolv'd at last." "I
pr'ythee, what?" sayes he. "I' faith, Ben, I'll e'en give him a dozen
good Lattin spoons, and thou shalt translate them."' {177}

The Mermaid meetings.

The creator of Falstaff could have been no stranger to tavern life, and
he doubtless took part with zest in the convivialities of men of letters.
Tradition reports that Shakespeare joined, at the Mermaid Tavern in Bread
Street, those meetings of Jonson and his associates which Beaumont
described in his poetical 'Letter' to Jonson:

'What things have we seen
Done at the Mermaid? heard words that have been
So nimble, and so full of subtle flame,
As if that every one from whence they came
Had meant to put his whole wit in a jest,
And had resolved to live a fool the rest
Of his dull life.'

'Many were the wit-combats,' wrote Fuller of Shakespeare in his
'Worthies' (1662), 'betwixt him and Ben Jonson, which two I behold like a
Spanish great galleon and an English man of war; Master Jonson (like the
former) was built far higher in learning, solid but slow in his
performances. Shakespear, with the Englishman of war, lesser in bulk,
but lighter in sailing, could turn with all tides, tack about, and take
advantage of all winds by the quickness of his wit and invention.'

Mere's eulogy, 1598.

Of the many testimonies paid to Shakespeare's literary reputation at this
period of his career, the most striking was that of Francis Meres. Meres
was a learned graduate of Cambridge University, a divine and
schoolmaster, who brought out in 1598 a collection of apophthegms on
morals, religion, and literature which he entitled 'Palladis Tamia.' In
the book he interpolated 'A comparative discourse of our English poets
with the Greek, Latin, and Italian poets,' and there exhaustively
surveyed contemporary literary effort in England. Shakespeare figured in
Meres's pages as the greatest man of le