Three London Theatres of Shakespeare's Time 39 



prooue as this ho. ble court shall award & humblie prayeth to be 

 Dismissed w th there reasonable costs & charges in this behalf 

 wrongfully susteyned./ Robert Wolrych 



Appearance Book, 16-iJ James I. [Not numbered nor paged. 

 Found among the uncalendered Proceedings and miscellaneous 

 papers. Labeled " Liber Emptae."] 



[18 November, 17 James I.] 



Xpofer Beston p^rsonaliter comparet coram consil/o regis per 

 mandatuw nuncij Ad sectom Johannis Smithe postea viz xxiij 

 die mensw instant AdmissttJ est per Langley consilio magistri 

 Gosnolde 



beeston's answer 



xxiij die Novembris Anno Regni Regis Jacobi Angliae ffranc et Hibernise 

 xvij° et Scotise quinquagessimo tertio./ 1619./ 



Langley pro defendt 



The answere of Christopher Beston one 

 of the defendants to the bill of Comp. 1 

 of Iohn Smyth Comp.* 



The said Defendant (for somuch as concernes himself) saith, that 

 the said bill of Complaint, is soe vncertein, and otherwise insuffi- 

 cient in lawe, as it is vnpossible to make any Direct answere there- 

 vnto, f.or many respects; and namely in that the Complaynant 

 chargeth the said Defend 1 ; or his assignes in the Disiunctive, and 

 vncerteinly, (not nameinge or putting any of them in certein) to 

 haue had and received certen tinsell stuffs and other stuffs of 

 the Complayn 1 , not settinge Downe what other stuffs, nor how 

 much of every kind nor the severall prices thereof, which him- 

 self (having best notice of (if any such had ben) ought to haue 

 ben Declared in Certeintye ; Soe that the defendant cannot con- 

 ceive that the Complaynant hath any other scope or intention in 

 this suite, but onely to vex, and molest this Defendant (havinge 

 had a long tyme of sicknes, and at this tyme being very sickely 

 and vnfitt to followe suyts; and therefore the more likely in 



325 



