A Life of William Shakespeare Author:William James Rolfe Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: vived his day. Upon the accession of Charles I. only a few years after Shakespeare's death, and but two years after the publication of his works [in the folio of... more » 1623], the political affairs of the country assumed so serious and threatening an aspect that all other considerations were thrust into the background — more especially everything connected with the drama, which, as is well known, was one of the first things attacked by the fanaticism of the Puritans. The appreciation of and interest in literature— especially in dramatic literature — which had shortly before risen to an unparalleled height, and which had affected all the different strata of the nation, died out, or rather was stifled by main force; and this change was accomplished with extraordinary rapidity and with a force that hurled down everything that came in its way. . . . The neglect into which Shakespeare was allowed to fall can be accounted for only by the fact that the political revolution was also a complete upturning of the whole social fabric, and of the moral, literary, and aesthetic ideas which affected the very character of the nation." Besides these political events, other causes, as already stated, helped in the destruction. Chief among these was a series of fires, which, by a strange coincidence, destroyed all the buildings where any papers of Shakespeare's, or records of his life, might have been obtained. In 161.3, during a performance of Henry VIII., the Globe theatrewas burned, and in all probability manuscripts of the poet, or other written records relating to the history and management of this theatre, were destroyed at that time. In the following year, a second conflagration devastated a large portion of Stratford, and although New Place was spared, it may be assumed, as fifty-four houses fel...« less