The poet would appear to have taken an active part in developing the prosperity of his native town, and to have found in that work sufficient consolation, if any was needed, for his absence from the scenes of greater activity. In 1611, the year of his retirement, he supported with his purse and influence a Bill before Parliament for the better repair of the highways. He had suffered first-hand acquaintance with their wretched state. Doubtless he took part in much unrecorded work for the betterment of his own estate, and he was frequently found indulging in his undeniable passion for litigation. The purchase of a house in Blackfriars is recorded in 1613, and it led to the seemingly inevitable lawsuit some two years later. Nicholas Rowe, poet-laureate to King George I., wrote a life of Shakespeare in the early years of the eighteenth century, and we owe to him a statement, founded upon such information as a lapse of a century could validate, that Shakespeare spent the last years of his life enjoying "ease, retirement, and the conversation of his friends." We know that Michael Drayton and Ben Jonson visited him at New Place, and it is a tradition that their visits were celebrated in convivial fashion. At the same time there would have been certain restraints upon a very free life, even had the poet been disposed to lead one. Society in small country towns is notoriously inclined to be intolerant, and Shakespeare's son-in-law, Dr. Hall, was one of the great and growing body of Puritans that looked askance at sensual indulgence in any form. Moreover, there was a strong feeling against the stage in Stratford; it found expression only a year after Shakespeare's return, when the Town Council passed a resolution that stage plays were unlawful, and increased the penalties to which players might be subjected. It would be a matter of great interest to know how Shakespeare regarded a resolution that so wantonly decried the profession by which he had lived and thriven. There is no evidence to show that the action of the city fathers was symptomatic of any ill-will towards him, or that he resented it openly. Yet he was a man who could and would stand up for his rights in and out of season. Perhaps in the most of his moods he was gentle and affectionate, for more than once in his career we find his friends leaving him small legacies or gifts or tokens of their affection. These came alike from actors who had shared with him the traffic of the stage, and from fellow-townsmen of Stratford. Even if the recorded references are scanty enough, there is none that may be held unflattering if we except the attack by Greene, for which his publisher went out of his way to apologise. It is hard, if not impossible, to estimate the value of any form of art-work in the lifetime of the worker, and it may well be that of the thousands who applauded Shakespeare's plays there were very few who saw them as we do to-day.