It is simply impossible that this drama, in its present shape,
should have been given in that theatre as long as Shakspere
was actively connected with it. We therefore must assume that
Shakspere--as Delius holds it to be probable--had at that time
already withdrawn to Stratford, or that the biting allusions which
are contained in _Volpone_ against the great Master, had been added
between 1605 (the year of its first performance) and 1607 (the year
of its appearance in print). We consider the latter opinion the
likelier one, as we suspect, from allusions in _Epicoene_,
that Shakspere, when this play was published, still resided in
London. However, it is also probable that in 1605 he may for a
while have withdrawn from the stage.
2: In this enumeration, Jonson seems to have the various Qualities of the
Essays in view which Florio calls 'Morall, Politike, and Millitarie.'
3: Against Montaigne, '_the teacher of things divine no less than
human_,' Shakspere's whole argumentation in 'Hamlet' is directed.
4: Here we have the noble Knight of the Order of St. Michael, as well
as the courtier and Mayor of Bordeaux.
5: Montaigne was Knight of the Order of St. Michael, and
Chamberlain of Henry III. He was on terms of friendship with
Henry IV. Both Kings he had as guests in his own house. In his
_Essai de Vanitie_, Montaigne also relates with great pride
and satisfaction, that during his sojourn at Rome he was made a
burgess of that city, 'the most noble that ever was, or ever shall
be.
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