Like himself, most of his colleagues were men of
substance, sharers with him in the two most fashionable theatres of
the metropolis, occupiers of residences in both town and country,
owners of houses and lands, and bearers of coat-armour of that
questionable validity which commonly attaches to the heraldry of the
_nouveaux riches_. Two of these affluent associates predeceased
Shakespeare; and one of them, Augustine Phillips, attested his
friendship in a small legacy. Three of Shakespeare's fellow-actors
were affectionately remembered by him in his will, and a fourth, one
of the youngest members of the company, proved his regard for
Shakespeare's memory by taking, a generation after the dramatist's
death, Charles Hart, Shakespeare's grand-nephew, into his employ as a
"boy" or apprentice. Grand-nephew Charles went forth on a prosperous
career, in which at its height he was seriously likened to his
grand-uncle's most distinguished actor-ally, Richard Burbage. Above
all is it to be borne in mind that to the disinterested admiration for
his genius of two fellow-members of Shakespeare's company we owe the
preservation and publication of the greater part of his literary work.
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