dge of French may be estimated to have
equalled his knowledge of Latin, while he doubtless possessed just
sufficient acquaintance with Italian to enable him to discern the drift
of an Italian poem or novel. {16}

Shakespeare and the Bible.

Of the few English books accessible to him in his schooldays, the chief
was the English Bible, either in the popular Genevan version, first
issued in a complete form in 1560, or in the Bishops' revision of 1568,
which the Authorised Version of 1611 closely followed. References to
scriptural characters and incidents are not conspicuous in Shakespeare's
plays, but, such as they are, they are drawn from all parts of the Bible,
and indicate that general acquaintance with the narrative of both Old and
New Testaments which a clever boy would be certain to acquire either in
the schoolroom or at church on Sundays. Shakespeare quotes or adapts
biblical phrases with far greater frequency than he makes allusion to
episodes in biblical history. But many such phrases enjoyed proverbial
currency, and others, which were more recondite, were borrowed from
Holinshed's 'Chronicles' and secular works whence he drew his plots. As
a rule his use of scriptural phraseology, as of scriptural history,
suggests youthful reminiscence and the assimilative tendency of the mind
in a stage of early development rather than close and continuous study of
the Bible in adult life. {17a}

Withdrawal from school.

Shakespeare was a schoolboy in July 1575, when Queen Elizabeth made a
progress through Warwickshire on a visit to her favourite, the Earl of
Leicester, at his castle of Kenilworth. References have been detected in
Oberon's vision in Shakespeare's 'Midsummer Night's Dream' (II. ii.
148-68) to the fantastic pageants and masques with which the Queen during
her stay was entertained in Kenilworth Park. Leicester's residence was
only fifteen miles from Stratford, and it is possible that Shakespeare
went thither with his father to witness some of the open-air festivities;
but two full descriptions which were published in 1576, in pamphlet form,
gave Shakespeare knowledge of all that took place. {17b} Shakespeare's
opportunities of recreation outside Stratford were in any case restricted
during his schooldays. His father's financial difficulties grew
steadily, and they caused his removal from school at an unusually early
age. Probably in 1577, when he was thirteen, he was enlisted by his
father