e on his arrival with
the quip that "William the Conqueror was before Richard the
Third."

Such gossip possibly deserves little more acceptance than the
later story, in the same key, which credits Shakespeare with the
paternity of Sir William D'Avenant. The latter was baptized at
Oxford, on March 3, 1605, as the son of John D'Avenant, the
landlord of the Crown Inn, where Shakespeare lodged in his
journeys to and from Stratford. The story of Shakespeare's
parental relation to D'Avenant was long current in Oxford, and
was at times complacently accepted by the reputed son.
Shakespeare is known to have been a welcome guest at John
D'Avenant's house, and another son, Robert, boasted of the kindly
notice which the poet took of him as a child. It is safer to
adopt the less compromising version which makes Shakespeare the
godfather of the boy William instead of his father. _But the
antiquity and persistence of the scandal belie the assumption
that Shakespeare was known to his contemporaries as a man of
scrupulous virtue._'

All the extracts I have here quoted are from writers who admit no
question as to the authorship of the Shakespearean plays. And there is
nothing which they or any biography or tradition bring to us which
presents any act or characteristic at all at variance with the
indications of these quotations. And it is very remarkable how strong
is the concurrence of indications, from the slab above his grave, from
old, musty, and otherwise forgotten records of court proceedings, and
from traditions, whether from the hamlet of his birth or the city
where he wrought and succeeded.

I have not quoted the lines which have been variously handed down as
those which the young Shakespeare affixed to the gate of the wealthy
and powerful Sir Thomas Lucy. Their authenticity is doubtful.[31] But
that the boy Shakespeare, weak and helpless for such a struggle,
resented his treatment and answered back with the only weapon he had,
risking and enduring being driven from his home and birthplace, and
kept good the grudge in the days of his success, I think cannot be
doubted. The records of court proceedings, the imprecation above his
grave, both indicate a man of strong will and not unaccustomed to
mastery. We may reject one or another of the retorts or sallies in
verse, but we must, I think, agree, that the fact that they are
brought to us