The next thing we can be really certain of is, that about the time William was twenty-three he went to London and soon became connected with a company of actors. Here the genius of the poet began to make itself felt. He wrote some plays, he recast others, and by the time he had been five years in the city, he was prominent among the bright men of his time, and was recognized as a rising man. Unlike most actors and writers of that period, Shakespeare was not a dissipated man, but attended carefully to his duties, saved his money, and ten years after he left Stratford was able to return to his native town and buy a fine estate, to which he added from time to time. His money had not all come from his writings and his acting, however, for he owned a large part of the stock in the two leading theaters in London. About 1604 he ceased to be an actor, although he continued to write for the stage, and in fact produced his greatest plays after that date. Seven years later he returned finally to Stratford, and there lived a quiet and delightful home life until 1616, when on the anniversary of his birth he died suddenly of a fever. He was buried in the little parish church at Stratford, where his remains rest beside those of his wife. On the flat stone that covers his body is inscribed this epitaph: "Good frend for Iesus sake forbeare, To digg the dvst encloased heare: Blesse be ye man yt spares thes stones, And Cvrst be he yt moves my bones." Such are the principal facts that we know concerning the great man, and a simple biography it certainly is. We must not, however, think that he was not popular among his fellows, or that he was merely a successful business man. He counted among his friends the wisest and best men of his time, and some of them have written their impressions of him. Ben Jonson, a rough but sincere and honest man, says: "I loved the man, and do honor his memory, on this side idolatry, as much as any. He was indeed honest, and of an open, free nature; had an excellent phantasy, brave notions and gentle expressions." THE PLAY. _The Tempest_ was one of the last of the poet's dramas, though not the last, as some writers have contended. It was not printed until 1623, after the poet's death, but it was written, according to Hudson, between 1603 and 1613, and probably between 1610 and 1613. The story seems to have been original with Shakespeare; at least no satisfactory evidence has been given to show that he borrowed it. This is rather unusual, for Shakespeare showed a fine contempt for originality, and borrowed the plots of his plays from a great variety of sources. His own version of each story, however, was so masterly that no one regrets that he availed himself of all the assistance he could get. The scene of the play is laid on an island; what island we do not know. Probably it is as mythical as the events that happened on it.