As manifested in the plays, this legal knowledge and learning had therefore a special character which places it on a wholly different footing from the rest of the multifarious knowledge which is exhibited in page after page of the plays.

At every turn and point at which the author required a metaphor, simile, or illustration, his mind ever turned _first_ to the law.

He seems almost to have _thought_ in legal phrases, the commonest of legal expressions were ever at the end of his pen in description or illustration.

That he should have descanted in lawyer language when he had a forensic subject in hand, such as Shylock's bond, was to be expected, but the knowledge of law in 'Shakespeare' was exhibited in a far different manner: it protruded itself on all occasions, appropriate or inappropriate, and mingled itself with strains of thought widely divergent from forensic subjects." Again: "To acquire a perfect familiarity with legal principles, and an accurate and ready use of the technical terms and phrases not only of the conveyancer's office but of the pleader's chambers and the Courts at Westminster, nothing short of employment in some career involving constant contact with legal questions and general legal work would be requisite.

But a continuous employment involves the element of time, and time was just what the manager of two theatres had not at his disposal.