im^^^- 
 
PR 
 
WILLIAM HEMINGE AND SHAKESPEARE 
 
 JOSEPH QUINCY ADAMS, Jr. 
 
 Reprinted for private drOulatiott from 
 Modern PHiLOtQcy, Vol. XII, No. i, May 1914 
 
'^!kM0f^ 
 
WILLIAM HEMINGE AND SHAKESPEARE 
 
 No one, so far as I can discover, has suspected that WiUiam 
 Heminge's tragedy. The Fatal Contract, 1637, is in a large measure a 
 plagiarism from the works of Shakespeare. Yet, in the whole scope 
 of the Tudor-Stuart drama, perhaps, there is no such striking case 
 of indebtedness to the great master, for language, imagery, ideas, and 
 even in part for characters and plot. 
 
 This indebtedness, I think, may be directly traced to Heminge's 
 closet study of Shakespeare's collected works as issued in the First 
 Folio.* The influence of the Folio upon contemporary dramatists must 
 have been far greater than is now commonly realized. Although the 
 extent of this influence has not been made the subject of a special 
 investigation, in the case of some authors it has been specifically 
 noted. For example. Professor Neilson, writing in The Cambridge 
 History of English Literature (VI, 212), observes: "The works of the 
 master .... could now be brooded over and assimilated in the 
 study"; and he discovers in the plays of Ford and Shirley evidence 
 of such a closet study. Exactly this seems to have been the case with 
 Heminge. He thoroughly saturated himself with the dramas of 
 Shakespeare; and then, drawing wholly on his memory, adorned his 
 own writing with innumerable quotations and reminiscences of the 
 earlier playwright's work. 
 
 In recording these quotations and reminiscences, I have had to 
 rely almost entirely on my own verbal memory of Shakespeare's 
 plays. My friend Mr. John W. Hebel has called my attention to 
 about a dozen passages that escaped me, and I feel sure that ad- 
 ditional passages could readily be pointed out by anyone familiar 
 with Shakespeare's work. I have, however, gathered enough to 
 show how extensively Heminge borrowed from the great playwright. 
 
 I. Hamlet 
 Hamlet, I, ii, 198-203: 
 
 In the dead waste and middle of the night 
 .... A figure like your father, 
 Armed at- points exactly, cap-a-pe, 
 1 He draws upon plays that were first printed in that volume. 
 51] 51 [MoDBBN FEXLOLoay, May, 1914 
 
^ ' Joseph Qtjinct Adams, Jb. 
 
 Appears before them .... thrice he walk'd 
 By their oppress'd and fear-surprised eyes. 
 
 Fatal C, p. 29 :» 
 
 Thy brother's Ghost, young Clovis Ghost in annes 
 Has thrice appear'd to me this dismall night. 
 
 Handet, I, ii, 255: 
 
 My father's spirit in arms! 
 
 Fatal C, p. 30: 
 
 My brother's spirit in arms. 
 
 Hamktjl, u, 22Q: 
 
 Ham. Arm'd, say you? 
 
 ^^' I Arm'd, my lord. 
 
 Fatal C, p. 30: 
 
 Was it in Armour, said you? 
 
 Hamlet, I, if 60-61: 
 
 Such was the very armour he had on 
 When he the ambitious Norway combated. 
 
 Fatal C, p. 30: 
 
 Yes in that Armor he was us'd to wear 
 When we have run at tilt. 
 
 Hamlet, I, i, 47: 
 
 Together with that fair and warlike form. 
 Fatal C, p. 28: 
 
 Appearing in bis Brother's warlike form. 
 
 Hamlet, I, V, 40: 
 
 O my prophetic soul. 
 FaM C, pp. 19, 48: 
 
 my prophetique soul. 
 
 My prophetique soul. 
 Hamlet, I, ii, 125-26: 
 
 No jocund health that Denmark drinks to-day 
 
 But the great cannon tp the clouds shall tell. 
 FaM C, p. 5: 
 
 And the Canon speaks health. 
 
 Hamlet, I, iv, 7-13: 
 
 [A flourish of trumpets and ordnance shot off miMn.] 
 Hot. What does this mean, my lord ? 
 Ham. The king doth wake to-night and takes his rouse, 
 Keeps wassail, and the swaggering up-epring reels; 
 And as he drains his draughts of Rhenish down, 
 1 The arable numerals after Fatal C. refer to the pages of the first edition, ieS3. 
 
 = 52 
 
William Hbmingb and Shakespeare 53 
 
 The kettle-drum and trumpet thus bray out 
 
 The triumph of his pledge. 
 
 Hot. Is it a custom ? 
 
 Ham. Ay, marry, is't. 
 
 Fatal C, p. 7: 
 
 Dwm. Hark, the thunder of the world, how out of tune. 
 
 This peace corrupting all things makes them speak. ^ 
 
 What means this most adulterate noise ? 
 
 Lam. Why, are you ignorant ? 
 
 This is a niight of jubile, and the King 
 
 Solemnly feasts for his wars happie successe. 
 Hamlet, I, iv, 38: 
 
 Look, my lord, it comes I 
 Fatal C, p. 29: 
 
 Oh see, it comes I 
 
 Hamlet, I, ii, 245: 
 
 I'U speak to it though Hell itself should gape. 
 Fatal C, p. 43: 
 
 What is it. Eunuch ? .... Though death stood gaping wide 
 to swallow me, I would not shrink nor fear. 
 Hamlet, I, i, 46: 
 
 What art thou that usurp'st this time of night ? 
 Fatal C, p. 29: 
 
 What art thou that usurp'st this dead of night? 
 
 Hamlet, I, iv, 84-85: 
 
 Unhand me, gentlemen. 
 
 By heaven, I'll make a ghost of him that lets me. 
 Fatal C, p. 23: 
 
 Unhand me, Charles, and render me my self, 
 
 Lest I forget myself on thee. 
 Hamlet, I, v, 86: 
 
 Leave her to heaven. 
 
 Fatal C, p. 66: 
 
 let her sin 
 Be punish'd from above, i'l wait heavens leisure. 
 Hamlet, II, ii, 627-32; III, ii, 87: 
 
 The spirit that I have seen 
 May be the devil .... 
 Abuses me to damn me. 
 
 It is a damned ghost that we have seen. 
 
 FcOal C, p. 30: 
 
 This is a damned spirit I have seen 
 And comes to work my mine. 
 53 
 
54 Joseph Quinct Adams, Jb. 
 
 Hamlet, II, ii, 576-80: 
 
 Is it not monstrous that this player here. 
 But in a fiction, in a dream of passion. 
 Could force his soul so to his own conceit 
 That from her working all his visage wann'd. 
 Tears in his eyes, etc. 
 
 Fatal C, p. 27: 
 
 As a good Actor in a play would do. 
 Whose fancy works (as if he waking dreamt) 
 Too strongly on the Object that it copes with. 
 Shaping realities from mockeries; 
 And so the Queen did weep. 
 
 HamM, II, ii, 617: 
 
 About, my brain! 
 
 Fatal C, p. 32: 
 
 About, my brain! 
 Hamlet, III, ii, 297: 
 
 I'll take the ghost's word for a thousand pound. 
 Fatal C, p. 49: 
 
 I'l take thy word. Eunuch, for the Kingdom's wealth. 
 [Spoken by the King immediately after having received proof of the Eunuch's 
 
 statement of the Queen's falseness.] 
 Hamlet, III, u,28&-91: 
 
 Ham. Would not this, sir, and a forest of feathers — ^if 
 the rest of my fortimes turn Turk with me — ^with 
 two Provincial roses on my razed shoes, get me a 
 fellowship in a cry of players, sir ? 
 Hot. Half a share. 
 Ham. A whole one, I. 
 Fatal C, p. 27: 
 
 Land. Most true, you wept. 
 Queen. As a good actor in \t, play would do. 
 Whose fancy works (as if he waking dreamt) 
 Too strongly on the Object that it copes with. 
 
 .... By this good night 
 I think I could become the Stage as well 
 As any she that sels her breath in publique. 
 [In each case, the passages quoted were spoken in the exhilaration following 
 
 the success of prearranged acting.] 
 Hamlet, III, iii, 73-95: 
 
 With Hamlet's avowed desire to kill his uncle in his sins ' 'that his soul 
 may be as dam'd and black As hell whereto it goes," compare the following: 
 
 54 
 
William Heminge and Shaeesfeabe 55 
 
 FotaZCi, p. 41: 
 
 If (in her proud desire) I do prevent 
 
 Her lust this second time, before the third / 
 
 She may repent and save her loathed soul, I/ 
 
 Which my revenge would damn. 
 EanM, III, iv, 118: 
 
 And with the incorporal air do hold discourse ? 
 Faial C, p. 28: 
 
 Qu. do not look on me, be gone, be gone. / 
 
 Clot. Whom d'ee hold discourse with, with the air 7 ^ 
 
 [In both cases the question is addressed to a person who was "holding 
 
 discourse" with a ghost.] 
 Hamlet, III, iy, 139-41: 
 
 Ecstasy! 
 
 My pulse, as yours, doth temperately keep time 
 
 And makes as healthful music. 
 Fatal C, p. 37: 
 
 I am no spirit; tast my active pulse, 
 
 And you shall find it makes such harmony 
 
 As youth and health enjoy. 
 ffa7nfe«,V,i, 99-101: 
 
 Did these bones cost no more the breeding, but to play at 
 loggats with 'em ? 
 FoioIC, p. 31: 
 
 King, thou hadst better far have strook thy Father, 
 
 Dig'd up his bones and plaid at logats with them. 
 
 Harnkt, V, ii, 317: 
 
 Why, as a woodcock to mine own springe, Osric. 
 FaM C, p. 55: 
 
 Behold, my Lord, the Woodcock's in the Gin, / 
 
 Here lies the great Landrey. 
 Hamlet, V, ii, 326: 
 
 Laertes [to Hamlet, whom he has poisoned]. In thee there 
 is not half an hour of life. 
 Fatal C, p. 60: 
 
 Eunuch [to the Queen and Landrey, whom he has poisoned]. 
 
 There's not an hour's life between ye both. V 
 
 Just as Hamlet, on the point of death, requested Horatio to 
 report his "cause aright" lest he leave "a wounded name" behind, 
 so Clothair, dying at the end of the play, makes a somewhat similar 
 request, of his two friends, Brissac and Dumain, "lest you inforce 
 
 55 
 
56 Joseph Qtjinct Adams, Jb. 
 
 posterity to blast My name and Memory with endless curses." The 
 whole concluding scene is reminiscent of Hamlet. 
 
 Hamlet, I, ii, 12: 
 
 With mirth in funeral and dirge in marriage. 
 
 Fatal C, p. 36: 
 
 Your dirges into sprightful wedding airs. 
 
 Hamlet, IV, vii, 86: 
 
 He grew imto his seat, 
 ' And to such wondrous doing brought his horse, 
 
 As had he been incorps'd and demi-natur'd 
 
 With the brave beast. 
 Fatal C, p. 65: 
 
 So Centaur-Uke he's anckor'd to his seat, 
 
 As he had twin'd with the proud steed he rides on; 
 
 He grows unto his saddle, all one piece. 
 
 Hamlet, III, iii, 411-12: 
 
 let not ever 
 The soul of Nero enter this firm bosom. 
 
 Fatal C, p. 55: 
 
 What French Neronian spirit have we here? 
 
 Hamlet, I, ii, 129-30: 
 
 O that this too too solid flesh would melt. 
 
 Thaw and resolve itself into a dew. 
 Fatal C, p. 48: 
 
 And the discreet composure of the world 
 
 Melt and dissolve to nothing. 
 Hamlet, I, ii, 149: 
 
 Like Niobe, all tears. 
 Fatal C, p. 27: 
 
 Did not I seem a Niobe in passion 
 
 A deluge of salt tears ? 
 [Spoken by the Queen, after a false display of love for her sons.] 
 Hamlet, I, v, 29-30: 
 
 As swift as meditation, or the thoughts of love. 
 Fatal C, p. 24: 
 
 As swift as thought. 
 
 Hamlet, III, ii, 408-10: 
 
 now could I drink hot blood. 
 And do such bitter busiaess as the day 
 Would quake to look on. 
 56 
 
William Heminge and Shakespeabe 57 
 
 Fatal C, p. 48: 
 
 create 
 A spirit of horror in me, apt me to look ^ 
 
 Upon such deeds nature would tremble at. 
 
 Hamlet, IV, v, 123: 
 
 There's such divinity doth, hedge a king. 
 
 Fatal C, p. 25: ^ 
 
 as thy king, -y^ 
 
 Divinity doth prop him. 
 
 Two young lords of France, Lamot and Dumain, are represented 
 (p. 9) as having been absent as students at Wittenberg when, before 
 the opening of the play, the Queen's brother was murdered. 
 
 Some of the indebtedness of the plot to Hamlet may be gathered 
 from the passages that have been quoted. I may indicate briefly 
 some further indebtedness. 
 
 Aphelia, as the name indicates, was suggested by Ophelia. She 
 has a father, Brissac, who, like Polonius, is an "old man" and the 
 king's councilor: 
 
 You'r weary of my counsell, and my place 
 May better be supplied by greener heads. 
 
 And in his youth, like Polonius, he had "suffered much ejstremity for 
 love." Aphelia has also one brother, Charles, who seeks to preserve 
 ^his sister's hoixor, and later to avenge her; to this extent he resembles 
 Laertes. Aphelia is beloved by the Prince. At first old Brissac 
 takes this to be a dishonorable love; when, however, he discovers 
 that the Prince is genuinely in love, he behaves very much as did 
 Polonius. He regrets that Aphelia is not at home when the Prince 
 
 calls (p. 20): 
 
 This puling baggage 
 May lose herself for ever, and her fortunes, 
 For this hova's absence. 
 
 Aphelia's kinship to Ophelia is further indicated by various 
 details. For instance, when the Eunuch places Aphelia to wait for 
 the Prince, he says (pp. 20-21) : 
 
 I will go call him, please you rest yourself: 
 Here lies a book will bear you company. 
 
 And the stage direction is: "Aphelia reads in the book." The king 
 enters from behind, sees her reading, and comments on her beauty. 
 
 57 
 
58 Joseph Quincy Adams, Jr. 
 
 In some respects, however, Aphelia resembles Desdemona. 
 
 The general indebtedness of the plot to Othello may be inferred from 
 
 the quotations that follow. 
 
 II. Othello 
 Othello, III, ill, 165: 
 
 bewaxe, my lord, of jealousy. 
 Fatal C, p. 39: 
 
 beware of jealousie; 
 
 1 would not have you nourish jealous thoughts. 
 Othello, I, iii, 293-94; III, iii, 206: 
 
 Look to her. Moor, if thou hast eyes to see: 
 She has deceived her father, and may thee. 
 
 She did deceive her father, marrying thee. 
 Fatal C, p. 39: 
 
 Though she has broke her faith to me, to you 
 Against her reputation shee'l be true. 
 [These words were spoken by the villain with the same purpose that inspired 
 lago: "I have incenst the king with yellowness. With doubtful 
 phrases on Apheha's fame" — ^p. 42.] 
 
 0<^iio, III, iii, 330-31: 
 
 Not poppy, nor mandragora. 
 
 Nor all the drowsy syrups of the world. 
 Fatal C, p. 19: 
 
 The drowsie Poppie, cold Mandragora, 
 
 Or all the sleepie sirrops of the world. 
 Othello, III, iii, 431: 
 
 I'll tear her all to pieces. 
 Fatal C, p. 43: 
 
 I'll tear him all to pieces, then. 
 Othello, III, in, 34cl: 
 
 I found not Cassio's kisses on her lips. 
 Fatal C, p. 44: 
 
 Kiss me, sweet. [Kisses her.] 
 
 There's no deceit hes here. 
 [Moreover the king, though rendered jealous by the villain, is confounded, 
 
 Uke Othello, at the sight of his wife — ^pp. 43-44.] 
 Othello, V, ii, 64-65: 
 
 And makest me call what I intend to do 
 
 A murder, which I thought a sacrifice. 
 Fatal C, p. 67: 
 
 It is not minder, tender-hearted fool. 
 
 Which thou commits, rather a sacrifice. 
 58 
 
WiLLiAU Hemingb and Ssaeesfeabe 59 
 
 Othello, V, ii, 124: 
 
 Commend me to my kind lord. 
 Fatal C, p. 62: 
 
 Commend me to my Lord. 
 [Spoken by Aphelia when dragged in to a cruel death, prepared for her by 
 
 her husband.] 
 OOiello, V, ii, 291-94: 
 
 Ijod. thou, Othello, that wert once so good .... 
 
 What shall be said to thee. 
 
 0th. Why, any thing: 
 
 An honourable murderer, if you will. 
 Fatal C, p. 72: 
 
 Call me an honourable murtherer. 
 
 Othelio, V, i, 12-14: 
 
 Now, whether he kiU Cassio, ' 
 
 Or Cassio him, or each do kill the other, 
 
 Every way makes my gain. 
 Fatal C, p. 20: 
 
 Clovis inrag'd perhaps wiU kill the king 
 
 Or by the king will perish; if both fall, 
 
 Or either, both waies make for me. 
 Othello, III, iii, 355-56: 
 
 And, O you mortal engines, whose rude throats 
 
 The immortal Jove's dread clamours counterfeit. 
 
 Fatal C, p. 7: 
 
 Hark, the thunder of the world. 
 
 Othello, I, i, 91: 
 
 Or else the devil will make a grandsire of you. 
 
 Fatal C, p. 11: 
 
 They had the Devil [i.e.. Moor] to their Grand-father. 
 
 Othelio, II, iii, 160: 
 
 Who's that that rings the bell ? [A bell rings.] 
 Fatal C, p. 24: 
 
 Ring out the larum Bell. [Rings the beU.] 
 [Shouted by the villain, when Clovis and Clothair fall to fighting.] 
 
 III. Miscellaneous Plays^ 
 
 Romeo and Jrdiet, II, ii, 119: 
 
 Too like the lightning, which doth cease to be . 
 Ere one can say "It lightens." 
 
 1 1 omit a number of passages in which the verbal similarity is not striking. I feel 
 sure, however, that these omitted passages were Inspired by Shakespeare. 
 
60 Joseph Quinct Adams, Jb. 
 
 FffltaZC, p. 31: 
 
 like lightning 
 
 Flash and away, dead e'er we say it is. 
 
 Romeo and Jtdiet, I, i, 117-18: 
 
 He swung about his head, and cut the winds, 
 Who, nothing hurt withal, hiss'd him in scorn. 
 
 Fatal C, p. 64: 
 
 I'l force a gentler nature in the Steele .... 
 Which as it dies, should hiss it self to scorn. 
 
 King Lear, III, iv, 21-22: 
 
 0, that way madness lies, let me shun that; 
 
 No more of that. 
 Fatal C, p. 63: 
 
 No more of that, it tends to madness. 
 
 King Lear, III, iv, 30-36: 
 
 Poor naked wretches, wheresoe'er you are, 
 
 That bide the pelting of this pitiless storm. 
 
 How shall your houseless heads and unfed sides 
 .... 0, 1 have ta'en 
 
 Too little care of this! 
 Fatal C.,T?.. 59: 
 
 Poor unfed sides that passe along the street, 
 
 I now am sensible of what ye want. 
 King Lear, III, iv, 140: 
 
 The prince of darkness is a gentleman. 
 Fatal C, p. 54: 
 
 The Prince of darknesse is a Gentleman. 
 Richard III, I, ii, 1 : 
 
 Set down, set down your honoiu'able load. 
 Fatal C, p. 35: 
 
 Set down, set down your honourable load. 
 Richard III, I, ii, 12-13: 
 
 1^0, in these windows [i.e., wounds] that let forth thy life, 
 
 I pour the helpless balm of my poor eyes. 
 Fatal C, p. 35: 
 
 Let me bedew thy Herse [= corpse] with pious tears. 
 
 Balm to wounds. 
 Richard III, IV, iv, 231: 
 
 Till that my nails were anchored in thine eyes. 
 Fatal C, p. 11: 
 
 Within the cloathed circle of mine eyes, 
 
 Anchor thy fingers; alas, thy nails are pax'd. 
 60 
 
William Heminge and Shakesfeabe 61 
 
 Richard II, II, iii, 85-87: 
 
 Baling. My gracious uncle — 
 
 York. Tut, tut! 
 
 Grace me no grace, nor uncle me no uncle. 
 Faid C, p. 18: 
 
 Cha. My noble Fathei^ 
 
 0. Bris. Tut, tut, tutl Noble me [no] nobles, nor Father 
 me 
 
 No Fathers. 
 Richard II, III, ii, 155-57: 
 
 Let us sit upon the ground. 
 
 And tell sad stories of the death of kings: 
 
 How some have been depos'd; some slain in war. 
 
 Fatal C, p. 71: 
 
 Yet we may sit 
 
 And gaze upon each other, tell sad tales of ruin'd Princes. 
 Richard II, V, i, 74-75: 
 
 Let me imkiss the oath 'twixt thee and me; 
 
 AJid yet not so, for with a kiss 'twas made. 
 Fatal C, p. 39: 
 
 A long farewell to love, thus do I break 
 
 Your broken pledge of faith; and with this kiss. 
 
 The last that ever Clovis must print here, 
 
 Unkiss the kiss that seal'd it on thy lips. 
 Richard II, V, ii, 7-9: 
 
 Mounted upon a hot and fiery steed. 
 
 Which his aspiring rider seem'd to know. 
 FaM C, p. 65: 
 
 A bounding Courser, who is therefore proud 
 
 To be so back'd, as knowing whom he bears. 
 Coriolanus, IV, v, 240: 
 
 Peace is .... a getter of more bastard children than war 
 is a destroyer of men. 
 Fatd C, p. 6: 
 
 This bastard getting peace. 
 Coriolanua, I, ix, 42-43: 
 
 When drums and trtunpets shall 
 
 I' the field prove flatterers. 
 Fatal C, p. 8: 
 
 The Drums and Trumpets are tum'd flatterers. 
 
 As You Like It, III, iv, 16-17: 
 
 He hath bought a pair of cast lips of Diana. 
 61 
 
62 Joseph Qttincy Adams, Jb. 
 
 Fatal C, p. 12: 
 
 sure thou hast bought 
 
 A paire of cast lips of the chast Diana's. 
 Jtilitis Caesar, II, i, 166: 
 
 Let us be sacrificers, not butchers. 
 Fatal C, p. 25: 
 
 Let thy [hand]' sacrifice not butcher him. 
 
 Heming's other extant play, The Jewes Tragedy, of an earlier date, 
 is also indebted to Shakespeare, although to a much less extent. 
 The Shakespeare Allusion Book (which fails to mention The Fatal 
 Contract) prints two scenes from The Jewes Tragedy, one a faint 
 echo of Hamlet's soliloquy " To be, or not to be," the other an imita- 
 tion of the watch in Much Ado. It fails to observe that the clownish 
 soldier, Peter, imitates Falstaff in a soliloquy on the battlefield (p. 51) : 
 
 Call ye this Honour ? a pox of honor. 
 
 Nor does it observe that throughout the text there are frequent echoes 
 of Shakespearian passages.* 
 
 This extensive plagiarism (if the word be not too harsh) we may 
 readily pardon when we consider the intimate relations that existed 
 between Shakespeare and the Heminge family. 
 
 The long friendship between William's father, John Heminge, and 
 Shakespeare is one of the pleasant chapters in the all too slender 
 biography of the great dramatist. For a period of nearly twenty 
 years these two men were closely associated in the same theatrical 
 organization, and acted on the same stage; and Heminge, beyond a 
 doubt, assumed a conspicuous r61e in virtually all of Shakespeare's 
 plays.' Moreover, just as Shakespeare was prominent in the troupe 
 for touching up and writing plays, Heminge was prominent in 
 managing its pecuniary affairs.* It was natural, therefore, for these 
 two men, in their common interests, in their rehearsals and per- 
 formances, and in their travels about the country, to develop for each 
 
 1 The word "hand" Is Inserted in the third edition printed In 1687 with the title 
 The Eunuch. This edition was printed from a diflerent original manuscript. I am In- 
 debted to Mr. John W. Hebel for this note. 
 
 > Since this article was written, The Jewea Tragedy has been reprinted by Mr. Eein- 
 rich A, Cohn in Bang's Materialien zur Kunde dea dUeren Englischen Dramas. 
 
 ' Malone says that in a certain tract (the name of which, unfortunately, he has 
 failed to preserve) Heminge is stated to have been the original performer of Falstaff. 
 
 < He was commonly named first In documents of the day, as in the following: "To 
 John Hemynges and the rest of his companle." 
 
 62 
 
William Heminge and Shakespeare 63 
 
 other a warm friendship. Evidence of this is not lacking. We find 
 Shakespeare in his will leaving to Heminge the sum of 26s. 8d., 
 with which to buy a memorial ring;* and some years later we find 
 Heminge, with the assistance of Shakespeare's other actor-friend, 
 Condell (but Heminge seems to have been the leader), collecting and 
 publishing the dead poet's work, "without ambition either of selfe- 
 profit, or fame: onely to keepe the memory of so worthy a Friend & 
 Fellow alive, as was our Shakespeare." Ben Jonson, in his Timber, 
 said of Shakespeare: "I loved the man and do honor his memory, 
 on this side idolatry as rnuch as any." The final clause, " as much as 
 any," is significant, for it implies the existence of some who loved 
 Shakespeare over well. May we not suspect that Heminge was 
 among those whom Jonson had in mind ? 
 
 Heminge at his death in 1630 left one surviving son, William (the 
 author of our plays), as the sole executor of his will and inheritor of 
 his shares in the Globe and the Blackfriars playhouses. Yet William 
 was not, it would seem, an actor; and shortly after his father's death 
 he sold his shares in the playhouses to the actor John Shanks. In a 
 lawsuit which resulted from this sale, the specific statement is made 
 regarding the younger Heminge that " he never had anything to do 
 with the said stage."* We know that he had been well educated, 
 first at Westminster School, and later at Christ Church, Oxford, 
 where he received his Master's degree in 1628. The two actors* 
 who published The Fatal Contract in 1653 say in their preface: "This 
 Poem was composed by a worthy Gentleman at hours of his recess 
 from happier employments." It seems obvious from this that 
 Heminge was not a common actor; but what his "happier employ- 
 ments " were we cannot now determine. We know only that he took 
 enough " hours of recess " to compose several plays. One, The Cours- 
 ing of a Hare, or the Mad Cap (licensed for the Fortune Playhouse, 
 March, 1632-33), was destroyed by Warburton's cook. But two 
 others. The Fatal Contract and The Jewes Tragedy, were printed 
 
 1 Perhaps It ia slgnlflcant that Heminge Is named first: " To my fellowes John 
 Hemynges, Blchard Burbage, and Henry Cundell, zxvj.' viil.' a peece to buy them 
 rlnges." 
 
 > Halllwell-PhUllpps, Outlines, ed. 1885, p. 276. 
 
 > Afndrew] P[ennycuicke] and Afntony] T[umer]. For the identification of these 
 persons I am Indebted to Mr. John W. Hebel, who is preparing to pubUsh ttiis play shortly. 
 
 63 
 
64 Joseph Quinct Adams, Jb. 
 
 shortly after his death; and these remain as the sole literary monu- 
 ments of the Heminge family. It should be observed, however, 
 that the editors of The Fatal Contract say further of the author: 
 "At his death he left greater Monuments of his worth and abilitie." 
 What works are here referred to we do not know; apparently they 
 have not come down to posterity. 
 
 When Shakespeare died, William Heminge was a lad of fourteen. 
 Doubtless he had spent much of his time about the playhouse, and 
 perhaps he had occasionally assisted in the presentation of a play. 
 It is likely, therefore, that he came to know his father's friend per- 
 sonally; and it is even possible that he formed a boyish attachment 
 for the "gentle" playwright. If this be so, we may readily beheve 
 that his later intensive study of Shakespeare's work was in some 
 measure inspired by a personal liking. 
 
 Is it too rash to inquire why in 1602 the actor, John Heminge, 
 should christen one of his sons with the name "William"? We 
 might suspect that Heminge intended this as a compliment to his 
 "Friend & Fellow," who was now at the summit of his fame. If 
 so, we might further suspect that at the christening, Shakespeare 
 played the genial r61e of godfather. If he had been chosen as god- 
 father for one of Ben Jonson's sons, why not also for one of Heminge's ? 
 That he performed this r61e with good-nature, we may infer from a 
 smaU item in his will: "To my god son, William Walker, xx.* 
 in gold." William Heminge's devoted study of Shakespeare's plays 
 in later years may lend some plausibility to this supposition. 
 
 Whether these surmises be true or not, the friendship of the 
 Heminge family, father and son, to the "gentle Shakespeare" caimot 
 be well doubted. And the history of that friendship as revealed in 
 this paper furnishes pleasant thought for those "sweet silent" ses- 
 sions in which we attempt to "summon up" the shadowy London 
 life of the great poet. 
 
 Joseph Quinct Adams, Jb. 
 
 COBNBLL UniVBBSITT 
 
 64 
 
Cornell University Library 
 PR 2S49.H8Z65 
 
 William Hemlnge and Shakespeare. 
 
 3 1924 013 129 972