This indicates clearly that Shakespeare was fined for failing to comply with the Lighting Restrictions.
That he was compelled to pay War Profits out of the “royalties” on his plays is evidenced by these poignant words in Macbeth:—
“Nought’s had, all’s spent,”
and doubtless there was a subtle reference to War taxation in
“Age cannot wither nor custom stale her infinite variety.”
The unfailing hold of Shakespeare on humanity is the fact that he touched upon all phases of life. (This sentence was Virginia’s own literary contribution to the “Anthology.”) For example (she went on), even a sugar shortage was known in his day. To what else could he have been referring when he wrote
“Sweet are the uses of adversity,”
and can anyone doubt that
“Double, double, toil and trouble,
Fire burn and cauldron bubble,”