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16-is shakespeare dead-第10章

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which; if true; positive and irrefragable evidence in his own

handwriting might have been forthcoming to establish it。  Not

having been actually enrolled as an attorney; neither the records

of the local court at Stratford nor of the superior Court at

Westminster would present his name as being concerned in any suit

as an attorney; but it might reasonably have been expected that

there would be deeds or wills witnessed by him still extant; and

after a very diligent search none such can be discovered。〃



Upon this Lord Penzance commends:  〃It cannot be doubted

that Lord Campbell was right in this。  No young man could have

been at work in an attorney's office without being called upon

continually to act as a witness; and in many other ways leaving

traces of his work and name。〃  There is not a single fact or

incident in all that is known of Shakespeare; even by rumor or

tradition; which supports this notion of a clerkship。  And after

much argument and surmise which has been indulged in on this subject;

we may; I think; safely put the notion on one side; for no less

an authority than Mr。 Grant White says finally that the idea of

his having been clerk to an attorney has been 〃blown to pieces。〃



It is altogether characteristic of Mr。 Churton Collins that

he; nevertheless; adopts this exploded myth。  〃That Shakespeare

was in early life employed as a clerk in an attorney's office may

be correct。  At Stratford there was by royal charter a Court of

Record sitting every fortnight; with six attorneys; besides the

town clerk; belonging to it; and it is certainly not straining

probability to suppose that the young Shakespeare may have had

employment in one of them。  There is; it is true; no tradition to

this effect; but such traditions as we have about Shakespeare's

occupation between the time of leaving school and going to London

are so loose and baseless that no confidence can be placed in

them。  It is; to say the least; more probable that he was in an

attorney's office than that he was a butcher killing calves 'in a

high style;' and making speeches over them。〃



This is a charming specimen of Stratfordian argument。  There

is; as we have seen; a very old tradition that Shakespeare was a

butcher's apprentice。  John Dowdall; who made a tour of

Warwickshire in 1693; testifies to it as coming from the old

clerk who showed him over the church; and it is unhesitatingly

accepted as true by Mr。 Halliwell…Phillipps。  (Vol。 I; p。 11; and

Vol。 II; pp。 71; 72。)  Mr。 Sidney Lee sees nothing improbable in

it; and it is supported by Aubrey; who must have written his

account some time before 1680; when his manuscript was completed。

Of the attorney's clerk hypothesis; on the other hand; there is

not the faintest vestige of a tradition。  It has been evolved out

of the fertile imaginations of embarrassed Stratfordians; seeking

for some explanation of the Stratford rustic's marvelous

acquaintance with law and legal terms and legal life。  But Mr。

Churton Collins has not the least hesitation in throwing over the

tradition which has the warrant of antiquity and setting up in

its stead this ridiculous invention; for which not only is there

no shred of positive evidence; but which; as Lord Campbell and

Lord Penzance pointed out; is really put out of court by the

negative evidence; since 〃no young man could have been at work in

an attorney's office without being called upon continually to act

as a witness; and in many other ways leaving traces of his work

and name。〃  And as Mr。 Edwards further points out; since the day

when Lord Campbell's book was published (between forty and fifty

years ago); 〃every old deed or will; to say nothing of other

legal papers; dated during the period of William Shakespeare's

youth; has been scrutinized over half a dozen shires; and not one

signature of the young man has been found。〃



Moreover; if Shakespeare had served as clerk in an attorney's

office it is clear that he must have served for a considerable

period in order to have gained (if; indeed; it is credible that

he could have so gained) his remarkable knowledge of the law。

Can we then for a moment believe that; if this had been so;

tradition would have been absolutely silent on the matter? 

That Dowdall's old clerk; over eighty years of age;

should have never heard of it (though he was sure enough

about the butcher's apprentice) and that all the other

ancient witnesses should be in similar ignorance!



But such are the methods of Stratfordian controversy。

Tradition is to be scouted when it is found inconvenient; but

cited as irrefragable truth when it suits the case。  Shakespeare

of Stratford was the author of the Plays and Poems; but the

author of the Plays and Poems could not have been a butcher's

apprentice。  Anyway; therefore; with tradition。  But the author

of the Plays and Poems MUST have had a very large and a very

accurate knowledge of the law。  Therefore; Shakespeare of

Stratford must have been an attorney's clerk!  The method is

simplicity itself。  By similar reasoning Shakespeare has been

made a country schoolmaster; a soldier; a physician; a printer;

and a good many other things besides; according to the

inclination and the exigencies of the commentator。  It would not

be in the least surprising to find that he was studying Latin as

a schoolmaster and law in an attorney's office at the same time。



However; we must do Mr。 Collins the justice of saying that

he has fully recognized; what is indeed tolerable obvious; that

Shakespeare must have had a sound legal training。  〃It may; of

course; be urged;〃 he writes; 〃that Shakespeare's knowledge of

medicine; and particularly that branch of it which related to

morbid psychology; is equally remarkable; and that no one has

ever contended that he was a physician。  (Here Mr。 Collins is

wrong; that contention also has been put forward。)  It may be

urged that his acquaintance with the technicalities of other

crafts and callings; notably of marine and military affairs; was

also extraordinary; and yet no one has suspected him of being a

sailor or a soldier。  (Wrong again。  Why; even Messrs。 Garnett

and Gosse 〃suspect〃 that he was a soldier!)  This may be

conceded; but the concession hardly furnishes an analogy。  To

these and all other subjects he recurs occasionally; and in

season; but with reminiscences of the law his memory; as is

abundantly clear; was simply saturated。  In season and out of

season now in manifest; now in recondite application; he presses

it into the service of expression and illustration。  At least a

third of his myriad metaphors are derived from it。  It would

indeed be difficult to find a single act in any of his dramas;

nay; in some of them; a single scene; the diction and imagery of

which are not colored by it。  Much of his law may have been

acquired from three books easily accessible to himnamely;

Tottell's PRECEDENTS (1572); Pulton's STATUTES (1578); and

Fraunce's LAWIER'S LOGIKE (1588); works with which he certainly

seems to have been familiar; but much of it could only have come

from one who had an intimate acquaintance with legal proceedings。

We quite agree with Mr。 Castle that Shakespeare's legal knowledge

is not what could have been picked up in an attorney's office;

but could only have been learned by an actual attendance at the

Courts; at a Pleader's Chambers; and on circuit; or by

associating intimately with members of the Bench and Bar。〃



This is excellent。  But what is Mr。 Collins's explanation?

〃Perhaps the simplest solution of the problem is to accept the

hypothesis that in early life he was in an attorney's office (!);

that he there contracted a love for the law which never left him;

that as a young man in London he continued to study or dabble in

it for his amusement; to stroll in leisure hours into the Courts;

and to frequent the society of lawyers。  On no other supposition

is it possible to explain the attractio

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