Que scais je?  In some plays, says Mr. Castle, Will’s law is all right, in other plays it is all wrong.  As to Will’s law, when Mr. Greenwood and Mr. Castle differ, a layman dare not intervene.

Concerning legend and tradition about our Will, it seems that, in each case, we should do our best to trace the Quellen, to discover the original sources, and the steps by which the tale arrived at its late recorders in print; and then each man’s view as to the veracity of the story will rest on his sense of probability; and on his bias, his wish to believe or to disbelieve.

There exists, I believe, only one personal anecdote of Will, the actor, and on it the Baconians base an argument against the contemporary recognition of him as a dramatic author.  I take the criticism of Mr. Greenwood (who is not a Baconian).  One John Manningham, Barrister-at-Law, “a well-educated and cultured man,” notes in his Diary (February 2, 1601) that “at our feast we had a play called Twelve Night or What you Will, much like the Comedy of Errors, or Menaechmi in Plautus, but most like and near to that in Italian called Inganni.”  He confides to his Diary the tricks played on Malvolio as “a good practice.” {0c} That is all.

About the authorship he says nothing:  perhaps he neither knew nor cared who the author was.  In our day the majority of people who tell me about a play which they have seen, cannot tell me the name of the author.  Yet it is usually printed on the playbill, though in modest type.  The public does not care a straw about the author’s name, unless he be deservedly famous for writing letters to the newspapers on things in general; for his genius as an orator; his enthusiasm as a moralist, or in any other extraneous way.  Dr. Forman in his queer account of the plot of “Mack Beth” does not allude to the name of the author (April 20, 1610).  Twelfth Night was not published till 1623, in the Folio:  there was no quarto to enlighten Manningham about the author’s name.  We do not hear of printed playbills, with author’s names inserted, at that period.  It seems probable that occasional playgoers knew and cared no more about authors than they do at present.  The world of the wits, the critics (such as Francis Meres), poets, playwrights, and players, did know and care about the authors; apparently Manningham did not.  But he heard a piquant anecdote of two players and (March 13, 1601) inserted it in his Diary.

Shakespeare once anticipated Richard Burbage at an amorous tryst with a citizen’s wife.  Burbage had, by the way, been playing the part of Richard iii.  While Will was engaged in illicit dalliance, the message was brought (what a moment for bringing messages!) that Richard iii was at the door, and Will “caused return to be made that William the Conqueror was before Richard iii.  Shakespeare’s name William.” (My italics.) Mr. Greenwood argues that if “Shakspere the player was known to the world as the author of the plays of Shakespeare, it does seem extremely remarkable” that Manningham should have thought it needful to add “Shakespeare’s name William.” {0d}