[To which it may be added that the bricks with which the house has lately been repaired have also 'a Shakespearian association,' bricks being no doubt somewhere mentioned by the dramatist in his works,' although the present annotator has not time to look out a passage.] 'Site of New Place, the end of Chapel Street. "This was the retired residence of the Bard of Avon, and the scene of his last hours. Also the spot where he planted his celebrated mulberrytree, which was ordered to be cut down by the Rev. F. Gastrell, to the great annoyance of the inhabitants and the numerous admirers of the matchless bard. It was converted into goblets, boxes, tobacco-stoppers, &c.' [We do not observe that the tercentenary programme provides for the utterance of a solemn groan in memory of the Rev. Francis Gastrell. This seems to be an omission.] 'Ann Hathaway's Cottage, Shottery, three-quarters of a mile from the town. 'Shakespeare's wife, the daughter of a substantial yeoman, was born at this rural village in 1556, the house being still in a good state of preservation. Anne Hathaway (eight years older than her husband) married Shakespeare in his nineteenth year, with whom she passed some years of her life in domestic obscurity, till an extravagance that he was said to have been guilty of, forced him out of Warwickshire, and he sought refuge in London, where being thrown into the company of theatricals, first gave him a taste for the drama, and thereby produced those works which have immortalized his name.' [Visitors could hardly choose a pleasanter walk than that across the fields to Shottery. It will afford them a charming view of Stratford church. They will find, too, that Anne Hathaway's cottage was not only, as the above extract implies, in a good state of preservation,' when she was born there, but that it is so to this day.] VOL. V.-NO. XXX. The Visitors' Guide does not mention the Church of the Holy Trinity. But this also is thought by many to be well worthy of a cursory inspection. By not a few, indeed, it is thought better worthy of inspection than anything else in the way of a shrine within the bounds of Europe. For it is here, in front of the altar, that we see the stone which covers all that is mortal of Shakespeare-the stone which bears the famous inscription which has probably been oftener quoted than any other epitaph ever written ;*here, side by side with that of Shakespeare, are, as every one knows, the tombs of his wife, his daughter, and others of his family. There from above looks down the bust, addressing the reader— 'Stay, passenger; why goest thou by so fast?'† Around are the tombs of the Combe family, the Cloptons, not a few others of unusual interest, the church being surprisingly rich in its epitaphs and monuments. In the vestry the parish register opens of itself at the pages which record the birth and death of Gulielmus filius Johannes Shakspere.' The birth is The other day a German gentleman, type, we suppose, of the intelligent foreigner' of whom we frequently hear, after haranguing with much enthusiasm, though not in very good English, on the excellences of Shakespeare, asked the writer to recite to him this inscription, which he wished to take down in writing. He had been in the church, but had forgotten to copy it, perhaps forgotten to look at it, and, now he had got back to the hotel, he wanted it. He took it down from our dictation, and when he had finished we looked at his note-book. The memoranda which he had made for his own misguidance ran thus: 'Good fren for Jesus sake for bare Blest be the man what spare these stone And cursed be he what move my bone.' He said his wife would be delighted with it. (We assure the reader this is not exag gerated, and we are sorry for it.) We don't like foot-notes, but we must make another. It is curious to notice how this word passenger has altered. Any one who had missed his train, and arrived footsore at the end of his journey, would now feel it satirical if he were addressed, 'Stay, passenger.' 2 E |