Hazlett, in one of his essays, truly says: “No really great man ever thought himself to be one,” and I doubt if Shakespeare in his wildest dreams ever imagined that the world would credit him with the sublime genius that it now justly acknowledges. We find no memoirs or autobiographic notes to enlighten us as to his hopes, his fears, his ambitions, the thoughts that occupy his mind, or the details of his daily life. It is greatly to be deplored that we have so little authentic information as to the life of Shakespeare. The facts, however, that have been gleaned from the meagre records of the period, conflicting though they be, enable us to arrive, with some degree of accuracy, at the probabilities, if not the actual facts of his history. Supplementing these facts with some imagination, intelligently directed, I think we are justified in the conclusion that there is nothing inconsistent with the conditions of his birth, parentage, education, the environment of his youth, and the universality of the genius subsequently displayed. The father of Shakespeare was legally a gentleman, by a license from King Henry VII, granting him a crest and a coat of arms, and the privilege of bearing arms for substantial services rendered his sovereign; and it is recorded that this honor was not only bestowed for his own individual services, but was renewed by inheritance from his father and grandfather; so that, engaged in peaceful pursuits himself, he was honorably descended from warriors and fighting men, almost the sole means of obtaining distinction in those days. We have no means of discovering if John Shakespeare was a man of any education. The fact that he made his mark instead of signing his name to public documents being no evidence to the contrary, for at the period in which he lived, the art of pencraft was almost entirely limited to clerks and scholars; even gentlemen and men of quality holding it “a baseness to write fair.” Yet Sidney Lee assures us there is evidence in the Stratford archives that he (John Shakespeare) could write with facility. The offices held by him in the Borough of Stratford indicate that he was a man of more than average intelligence among his fellows, and of considerable executive ability. After holding several minor offices he was elected successively one of the Chamberlains (1561), Alderman (1565), Borough Bailiff (1569), and Chief Alderman (1571), and by the county records was possessed at various times of considerable property, principally real estate. In the deeds relating to the transfer of this property he is sometimes described as “yeoman,” at others as a “glover,” and it is known that he dealt in cattle, corn and country produce generally.