Shakspere and Montaigne | Page 3

trumpetts sound to the Stages, whareat
the wicked faction of Rome lawgeth for joy, while the godly weepe for
sorrowe. Woe is me! the play houses are pestered when the churches
are naked. At the one it is not possible to gett a place; at the other
voyde seates are plentie.... Yt is a wofull sight to see two hundred
proude players jett in their silks where five hundred pore people sterve
in the streets.'
Already in the reign of Henry VIII. a 'Master of the Revels' was
required, whose task it was to control the public representations and
amusements. Queen Elizabeth had to issue several special ordinances to
define more closely the functions, and provide with fresh power this
office, which had been created by her father.
Like all other great achievements of the English nation, the drama, too,
developed itself in this country unhampered by foreign influence. Its
rapid growth was owing to the free and energetic spirit of Englishmen,
to their love for public life. Every event which in some way attracted
public attention, furnished the material for a new ballad, or a new
drama.

Among the dramatists of that time, there was a specially active group
of malcontents--men of culture, who had been at the colleges and
universities; such as Peel, Greene, Marlowe, Chapman, Marston, Ben
Jonson, and others. If we ask ourselves how it came about that these
disciples of erudition turned over to a calling so despised in their days
(for the dramatist, with few exceptions, was then mostly held in as low
a repute as the player), the cause will be found in the peculiar
circumstances of that epoch.
The revival of classical studies, and the art of printing, were, in the
hands of the peace-loving citizen, fresh means for strengthening his
position in the State. The handicraftsman or the merchant, who had
gained a small fortune, was no longer satisfied with the modest
prospects which he could offer to his talented son in an ordinary
workshop, or in his narrow store-rooms. Since Rome no longer
exercised her once all-powerful influence in every walk of life,
university men, owing to their superior education, saw before them a
brighter, a more hopeful, future.
In the sixteenth century the number of students in colleges and at
theuniversities increased in an astonishing degree, especially from the
middle classes. The sons of simple burghers entered upon the contests
of free, intellectual aspirations with a zeal mostly absent in those whose
position is already secured by birth. At Court, no doubt, the feudal
aristocracy were yet powerful indeed. They could approach their
sovereign according to their pleasure; influence him; and procure, by
artful intrigue, positions of dignity and useful preferments for
themselves and their favourites. Against these abuses the written word,
multiplied a thousandfold, was a new weapon. Whoever could handle it
properly, gained the esteem of his fellow-men; and a means was at his
disposal for earning a livelihood, however scanty.
Towards the middle and the end of the sixteenth century there were
many students and scholars possessing a great deal of erudition, but
very little means of subsistence. Nor were their prospects very
encouraging. They first went through that bitter experience, which,
since then, so many have made after them--that whoever seeks a home

in the realm of intellect runs the risk of losing the solid ground on
which the fruits for maintaining human life grow. The eye directed
towards the Parnassus is not the most apt to spy out the small tortuous
paths of daily gain. To get quick returns of interest, even though it be
small, from the capital of knowledge and learning, has always been,
and still is, a question of difficult solution.
These young scholars, grown to manhood in the Halls of Wisdom, were
unable, and even unwilling, to return to simple industrial pursuits, or to
the crafty tactics of commerce. Alienated from practical activity, and
too shy to take part in the harder struggles of life, many of them rather
contented themselves with a crust of bread, in order to continue
enjoying the 'dainties of a book.' The manlier and bolder among them,
dissatisfied with the prospect of such poor fare, looked round and saw,
in the hands of incapables, fat livings and lucrative emoluments to
which they, on account of their superior culture, believed they had a
better claim.
There were yet many State institutions which by no means
corresponded to the ideal gathered from Platon, Cicero, and other
writers of antiquity. Men began expressing these feelings of
dissatisfaction in ballads and pamphlets. Even as the many home and
foreign products of industry were distributed by commerce, so it was
also the case with these new products of the intellectual workshop,
which were carried to the most distant parts of the land.