Page:An Inquiry into the Authenticity of certain Papers and Instruments attributed to Shakspeare.djvu/25

the name of Shakspeare, or some of his fellows of the theatre, which induced him to proceed further.—Such was the account then circulated by the persons who were the most strenuous partisans for the authenticity of these papers; but whether this relation may not have gained additional circumstances as it rolled along, I am unable to ascertain. I merely state what was then the report of the day. I am sensible I am travelling, as the lawyers call it, out of the record; and therefore shall only advert to one other matter which the statement above-quoted suggests. The discovery of a title to a considerable estate must be acknowledged to be so fortunate and beneficial, that one cannot at all wonder at the great liberality of the unknown gentleman on the present occasion, in giving up to the discoverer all his right to these valuable MSS.; but one naturally wishes to know in what county this estate lies, and whether any suit has been instituted within this last year, in consequence of this discovery; as, on the trial of an Ejectment, the learned Counsel employed by the defendants (who, by themselves, or those under whom they derive their title, must have been in possession for near two