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Thomas Bendish, Edward Newport, and the other petitioners. The houses and lands involved in the dispute are sufficiently described for legal purposes; but specific detail, which would render their exact sites identifiable, is wanting. It is uncertain whether Shakespeare were a party to the litigation in respect of property owned by the acting company at Blackfriars Theatre, of which he was long a leading member and shareholder, or in regard to that house in the neighbourhood which he privately acquired in 1613. But Mr. Wallace's discovery makes it clear that Shakespeare's retirement from the active business of life in his last years was less complete than has been hitherto assumed. He could not have been a party to this suit against Matthew Bacon without his specific consent and some active correspondence with his co-plaintiffs.

February 1, 1909.