Connects Himself with the London Stage.—­The next scene of Shakespeare’s life is laid in London.  In 1592 Robert Greene, a London poet, dramatist, and hack-writer, wrote:—­

“There is an upstart Crow, beautified with our feathers, that with his Tyger’s heart wrapped in a Player’s hide, supposes he is as well able to bumbast out a blank verse as the best of you; and being an absolute Iohannes fac-totum, is in his owne conceit the only Shake-scene in a countrie."[21]

The best critics agree that the “upstart Crow” and “Shake-scene” refer to Shakespeare.  The allusion to “Tyger’s heart” is from the third part of King Henry VI. and is addressed by the Duke of York to Queen Margaret of Anjou:—­

  “O tiger’s heart wrapped in a woman’s hide!”

Greene’s satiric thrust shows that Shakespeare was becoming popular as a playwright.  We can only imagine the steps by which he rose to his ascendancy as a dramatist.  Perhaps he first served the theater in some menial capacity, then became an actor, and assisted others in revising or adapting plays before he acquired sufficient skill to write a play entirely by himself.

In 1593 he published the non-dramatic poem, Venus and Adonis, which he dedicated to the Earl of Southampton.  This nobleman is said to have given Shakespeare, on one occasion, “a thousand pounds to enable him to make a purchase which he heard he had a mind to.”  This would show that Shakespeare had a capacity for attracting people and making lasting friendships.  In 1597 he purchased “New Place,” the stateliest house in Stratford, and we hear no more of his father’s financial troubles.

Twentieth-century Discoveries.—­In the first decade of the twentieth century, Professor C.W.  Wallace discovered in the London Record Office a romantic story in which Shakespeare was an important figure.  This story opens in the year 1598 in the London house of a French Huguenot, Christopher Mountjoy, wig-maker, with whom Shakespeare lived.  Mountjoy took as apprentice for six years, Stephen Bellott, a young Frenchman.  Beside him worked Mary Mountjoy, the proprietor’s only daughter, who looked with favor upon the young apprentice.  At the end of his apprenticeship Stephen left without proposing marriage to Mary; but on his return Mrs. Mountjoy asked Shakespeare to make a match between Stephen and Mary,—­a task in which he was successful.

Seven and a half years later Shakespeare was called into court to testify to all the facts leading to the marriage.  After a family quarrel, Mr. Mountjoy declared that he would never leave Stephen and Mary a groat, and the son-in-law brought suit for a dowry.  Shakespeare’s testimony shows that he remembered Mrs. Mountjoy’s commission and the part that he played in mating the pair, but he forgot the amount of the dowry and when it was to be paid.  The puzzled court turned the matter over for settlement to the French church in London, but it is not known what decision was reached.