EXCHANGE 
 
 

 STRATFORD ON AVON CHURCH. 
 
SHAKESPEARE 
 
 AND 
 
 STRATFOKD-TJPON-AYON, 
 
 A "CHRONICLE OF THE TIME:" 
 
 COSIPBISING 
 
 THE SALIENT FACTS AND TRADITIONS, 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL, TOPOGRAPHICAL, AND HISTORICAL, 
 CONNECTED WITH 
 
 THE POET AND HIS BIRTH-PLACE ; 
 
 TOGETHEB WITH 
 
 A FULL RECORD OF THE 
 
 TERCENTENARY CELEBRATION. 
 
 BY 
 
 EOBEETlS: HUNTED, 
 
 LATE SECBETJLBY TO *CHE 
 
 ;< It should not be overlooked that the Stratford authorities have undertaken an 
 onerous and costly scheme in deference to the public voice of demand. It is 
 also to be remembered that the matter will be discussed a hundred years 
 hence, with sharp curiosity, to discern what the appreciation of Shakespeare 
 really was about the year 1863." Daily Newt. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 WHITTAKBR AND CO., AVE MARIA LANE. 
 STRATFORD-UPON-AVON : EDWARD ADAMS. 
 
BIBM1NGHAM : 
 PBINTBD BY MABTIN BILLING, SON, AND CO., LIYEBY STBBET. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 THE " paragon of all patience " thought he should hear of 
 something to his advantage if his enemy would write a 
 book. Book-making in all forms has been a serious 
 undertaking at all times never more so than at present ; 
 but I am in this work free from many of the anxieties of 
 authorship. I have not written a book : this is only a 
 compilation. The confession will strike the intelligent 
 reader, who may have dipped into these pages before 
 glancing at the preface, as less necessary than that of 
 the very u old master" who, having painted a model 
 specimen of the feline tribe, attached the celebrated 
 inscription " This is a cat." 
 
 To the making of some record of the celebration at 
 Stratford in 1864 I felt myself bound. The festival had 
 no ordinary purpose, neither was it of common magni- 
 tude. It appealed to the sympathies of the nation, and 
 sought support from the entire country. The object was 
 one which engaged the attention, and, to some extent, 
 aroused the enthusiasm of all classes of the community. 
 A very considerable sum of money was involved in the 
 undertaking, and in the carrying of it out an amount of 
 labour, mental and physical, was expended which cannot 
 be over estimated. Without much exaggeration, it may 
 be said that for nearly a year the inhabitants of an entire 
 
 377378 
 
IV PEEFACE. 
 
 town devoted all their leisure, and not a few of their 
 business hours, to what was commonly called " tercentenary 
 affairs ; " and as a very praiseworthy result was achieved, 
 some history of their labours and the fruits thereof 
 beyond that contained in the newspapers of the day 
 appeared desirable and due to the Stratford Committee and 
 to the public. 
 
 Accordingly, as no one else indicated any intention of 
 making such a "chronicle of the time," I undertook the task ; 
 but in the performance of it have travelled considerably 
 outside the boundary to which I originally thought of 
 confining myself. In the first place, some account of the 
 old jubilees appeared requisite, in order to show the more 
 comprehensive character of the tercentenary celebration ; 
 then a history of the four festivals in honour of a poet's 
 memory, without any description of the town in which 
 they took place, or memoir of the man to whom these 
 repeated triumphs were voted, appeared to me likely to 
 prove unsatisfactory. Hence the extent of this volume. I 
 would have willingly avoided the biography of Shakespeare 
 had I thought that the facts in relation to his life and 
 character which, have been ascertained were sufficiently 
 known to the public ; but I had found such startling proofs 
 to the contrary as forced me to venture on a work much 
 more likely to result in censure than applause to the 
 author. 
 
 In detailing the labours of the Committee, reference to 
 documents and public correspondence became unavoidable ; 
 and I have preferred reproducing these documents in 
 extemo rather than giving abstracts, epitomes, or descriptions 
 of them which might engender unpleasant discussion here- 
 after. To the general reader they may not appear very 
 interesting,^but to all who have been connected with the 
 
PEE FACE. V 
 
 festival they will possess some degree of importance. A 
 " Blue Book " may not be a very amusing volume, but it 
 is generally a valuable one; and that occasionally more 
 for future reference than for present information. 
 
 But whether diverting or instructive both or neither 
 this volume owes its existence to the encouragement and 
 assistance I received from Mr. William Greener and Mr. 
 Edward Adams, of Stratford, whose kindness I can never 
 forget until the "warder of this brain shall be a fume, and 
 the receipt of reason as a limbeck only." 
 
 I have only, in conclusion, to express a hope that this 
 " chronicle of the time " will be received amongst readers 
 and critics on the principle laid down by Hamlet, for the 
 reception of " the abstract and brief chronicles " of his 
 time that is "after their own honour and dignity : the less 
 it deserves the more merit is in their bounty." 
 
 London, 1st June, 1864. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGH 
 
 MEMOIR or SHAKESPEARE ....... 1 
 
 STRATFORD : A WALK THROUGH THE TOWN .... 58 
 
 The Church 64 
 
 Anne Hathaway' s Cottage 66 
 
 Shakespeare's Birth-place . . . . . . 67 
 
 Retrospective Glance at the Town .... 70 
 
 THE FORMER JUBILEES 73 
 
 Garrick's, 1769 ^ 73 
 
 Second Celebration, 1827 79 
 
 Third 1830 . 81 
 
 THE TERCENTENARY CELEBRATION : its origin, formation of the 
 
 Committee, and history of their labours ... 87 
 
 Mr. Phelps and the Stratford-upon-Avon Committee . 123 
 
 President and Vice-presidents ..... 135 
 
 Local and Monumental Memorial Committees . . 138 
 
 Fancy Dress Ball. Lady Patronesses, Patrons, and 
 
 Stewards 139 
 
 Preliminary Programme ...... 140 
 
 Fechter Correspondence ...... 149 
 
 The Grand Pavilion ....... 160 
 
 Preparations of the Townspeople .... 163 
 
 The Shakespearian Picture Gallery .... 164 
 
 THE FESTIVAL. First Day 165 
 
 Foreign Sympathy . . . . . . 166 
 
 The Banquet 172 
 
 The Fireworks . . . . . . 198 
 
 Second Day : Sunday 198 
 
 Morning Service ...... 200 
 
 Afternoon Service . ..... 210 
 
CONTENTS. vii 
 
 PAGH 
 
 THE TERCENTENARY CELEBRATION Continued. 
 
 The FESTIVAL. Third Day: Monday .... 217 
 
 The "Messiah" 217 
 
 Miscellaneous Concert . . . . . 218 
 
 Fourth Day : Tuesday 219 
 
 The "Twelfth Night" 221 
 
 "My Aunt's Advice" 222 
 
 Fifth Day: Wednesday 222 
 
 " The Comedy of Errors " .... 223 
 
 "Borneo and Juliet" 224 
 
 Sixth Day: Thursday 225 
 
 Concert 225 
 
 "As You Like It" 226 
 
 Seventh Day: Friday 228 
 
 Fancy Ball 228 
 
 Eighth Day: Saturday 232 
 
 The Pageant 232 
 
 Ninth Day: Monday 236 
 
 Tenth Day: Tuesday 237 
 
 "Othello" 238 
 
 Eleventh Day: Wednesday 238 
 
 "Much Ado About Nothing" ... 238 
 
 "Merchant of Venice" 238 
 
 The Finale 239 
 
 List of Contributions ...'.... 241 
 
 Salo of Pavilion 244 
 
SHAKESPEARE : 
 
 AN OUTLINE OF HIS LIFE, 
 
 WITH EBFEEENCES TO 
 
 HIS FAMILY, HIS FEIENDS, AND HIS CONTEMPORAKIES ; 
 
 ALSO, 
 
 HIS BIOGRAPHERS. 
 
 IT may be safely asserted that the prince of British, 
 biographers could not, under any circumstances, have 
 written a life of Shakespeare that would have been com- 
 parable with that wonderful achievement of personal history 
 which stands unique in our language, the life of Johnson. 
 Gentle, modest, and retiring, "the great heir of fame" 
 would have been no hero after its eccentric writer's heart. 
 But the man who could have worthily played the Boswell 
 to Shakespeare, might have placed himself for ever amongst 
 our principal literary creditors, and performed a work 
 " which the world would not willingly let die." 
 
 We are, however, so far from possessing such a treasure 
 that we know, directly from his contemporaries, nothing of 
 Shakespeare's biography. Strange, indeed, that in an age of 
 great men, "when learning triumphed o'er her barbarous 
 foes," no one seems to have troubled himself to place on 
 record any account of the man whose immortality they 
 foresaw, and whose genius they confessed 
 
 " To be such 
 As neither Man, nor Muse, can praise too much." 
 
2 MEMOIR OF SHAKESPEARE. 
 
 And the strange circumstance is the more deeply to be 
 regretted as we ponder on the treasury of wit and wisdom 
 which might then have made us rich indeed. 
 
 Without supposing that Shakespeare was in his day 
 distinguished as a mighty conversationalist, or given to 
 display, in or out of the social circle, it is easy to 
 believe that maxims of religion, politics, philosophy, and 
 worldly prudence "came mended from his tongue;" that 
 the grandly serene " star of poets " must have been in 
 his serious hours the most sagacious of mentors, and 
 in his lighter moments the most charming of companions. 
 Old John Aubrey, who gave the first brief memoir of 
 him, says, " He was a handsome well-shaped man, very 
 good company, and of a very ready and smooth 
 wit ;" and afterwards adds that he heard Sir William 
 Davenant and Mr. Thomas Shadwell ("who is accounted 
 the best comedian we have now") say Shakespeare "had a 
 most prodigious wit." Amongst his family and guests at 
 New Place, in the circle of his professional corps at the 
 Globe, or taking his ease in his inn "At Bread Street's 
 Mermaid," or elsewhere, it may be readily imagined 
 
 " Aged ears played truant at his tales, 
 And younger hearings were quite ravished, 
 So sweet and voluble his discourse." 
 
 But the records of his life are so meagre, that of what he 
 was or did we know little, and of what he thought (apart 
 from his composition) or said, nothing. 
 
 The literary men of the time would appear prima facie to 
 have been guilty in this matter of most culpable negligence, 
 and himself strangely reckless, touching the name, which 
 things " standing thus unknown should live behind him," 
 Campbell says, " The Genius of Biography neglected him 
 in his own day. She gave records of men comparatively 
 uninteresting and said nothing about the paragon of nature. 
 She embalmed the dwarfs of our literature and left its 
 colossus to be buried in oblivion. Perhaps our baulked 
 curiosity can fix on no individual more strangely respon- 
 sible for this than Shakespeare himself;" and Dr. Johnson 
 
MEMOIR OF SHAKESPEARE. 3 
 
 asserts that "no author ever gave up Ms works to fortune and 
 to time with so little care." " So careless," the same author 
 remarks, " was this great poet of future fame, that, though 
 he retired to ease and plenty, while he was little declined into 
 the vale of years, before he could be disgusted with fatigue 
 or disabled by infirmity, he made no collection of his works, 
 nor desired to rescue those which had been already pub- 
 lished from the depravations that obscured them, or secure 
 to the rest a better destiny by giving them to the world in 
 their genuine state." " Of all trusters to futurity," writes 
 Dr. Warburton, " commend me to the author of the follow- 
 ing poems (Shakespeare), who not only left it to time to do 
 him justice as it would, but to find him out as it could." 
 
 Now, if he left time to find him out as it could, may it 
 not be that time is doing him great injustice in this matter. 
 That he wrote some thirty-seven wondrous plays we know; 
 and that he carried on business and correspondence we feel 
 also assured ; but the mystery that transcends all others, 
 and one of the most unaccountable facts in the whole history 
 of literature, is that not a single scrap of this vast mass of 
 manuscripts has ever been discovered. The whole has 
 vanished and left not " a rack " behind. "All," says Mr. 
 Hallam in his "Literary History," "that insatiable curiosity 
 and unwearied diligence have hitherto detected about 
 Shakespeare serves rather to disappoint and perplex 
 us than furnish the slightest illustration of his character. 
 It is not the register of his baptism, or the draft of his will, 
 or the orthography of his name that we seek. No letter of 
 his writing, no record of his conversations, no character of 
 him drawn with any fulness by a contemporary has been 
 produced." 
 
 How, then, knowing this extraordinary disappearance of 
 all Shakespeare's papers all the MSS. of the plays he wrote, 
 all the letters he received (with one exception) how can 
 we reasonably charge him with total carelessness of his repu- 
 tation with posterity ? May he not have kept a common- 
 place book ? or written an autobiography ? Some of his 
 many admirers may have written his life, and that manu- 
 script being lost, was for anything we know destroyed by 
 
4 MEMOIR OF SHAKESPEAKE. 
 
 the devouring element which may have robbed the world of 
 his own precious writings. No man valued more highly the 
 precious treasure of a goodly reputation than he did. He 
 took heed for to-morrow in worldly affairs ; made hay 
 while the sun shone, and put more money in his purse than 
 any poet who went before or came long after him ; and 
 he who was so careful of that " which has been slave to 
 thousands" was not likely to forget entirely "the fame," 
 which he says, " all men hunt after in their lives." 
 
 Nearly all his heroes Macbeth, Hamlet, Othello, Brutus, 
 Harry V., Richard III. look to future ages with hope or 
 fear, according to the deeds done in the body. The terms 
 of his will indicate a desire to have his name carried down 
 honuorably to future generations. And respecting the 
 condition in which he left his works, it may be in 
 some measure accounted for by the shortness of his life and 
 the suddenness of the attack, which, in a few days, and 
 at the comparatively early age of 53, carried away into 
 " the undiscovered country " the greatest genius " that ever 
 lived in the tide of times ; " and it is here worthy of remark 
 that his professional associates, John Heminge and Henrie 
 Condell, who published the first complete edition of his 
 works seven years after his death, ascribe to this cause 
 his sudden death and too brief candle of life indirectly the 
 fact of his not being the editor and publisher of his own 
 works. "It had bene a thing," they say, "we confesse, 
 worthie to haue bene wished, that the Author himselfe had 
 liu'd to haue set forth, and ouerseen his owne writings; 
 But since it hath bin ordain'd otherwise, and he by death 
 departed from that right, we pray you do not envie his 
 Friends, the office of their care, and paine, to haue collected 
 & publish' d them." I therefore hold that there are not 
 sufficient grounds for the opinion that he left no record of 
 his life and character, and that he designedly trusted to 
 those who might come after him such doubtless loving, 
 if not able editors, as Heminge and Condell to do justice to 
 his works. 
 
 Despite the disheartening account given by Mr. Hallam 
 of Shakespearian explorations, a number of clever, earnest 
 
MEMOIR OF SHAKESPEARE. 5 
 
 labourers have gone forth into the unfertile field in late 
 years, and have returned not altogether empty-handed. 
 It cannot be denied that Mr. Halliwell has added much 
 to our stock of knowledge, however little the whole may 
 be, in relation to the genius of our isle, and given to the 
 public the nearest approach to a satisfactory biography 
 of him we can yet have. Others think there is yet much 
 to be found. " There are possibly in existence," says Mr. 
 Bellew, "many documents, which, if discovered, would 
 throw a flood of light upon the business of his manhood 
 and his authorship that remain for the present shrouded 
 in obscurity." 
 
 It is needless for me to say that I do not profess to have 
 found any one of these precious documents, or to be able to 
 lay before the public one truly original fact touching the 
 subject of this memoir. I am indebted for all I know of 
 him to the researches of others. Neither do I purpose, 
 however I may have amused myself by theoretical specula- 
 tions anent the matter, to trouble the reader with a 
 congeries of surmises and conjectures in lieu of positive 
 information ; and as for rhetoric or fine writing, I have no 
 pretensions to either. The plan of this record requires me 
 to give some account of the man to the honour of whose 
 memory these national triumphs have been voted, with a 
 view of showing that our information concerning him, 
 scanty though it be, is sufficient to prove he was as a man 
 no less worthy of these demonstrations than as a poet he is 
 universally admitted to be above the possibility of undue 
 appreciation by anything that jubilees or monuments can 
 manifest. 
 
 The earliest skeleton of a memoir (it cannot be called 
 anything better) of Shakespeare as yet discovered was put 
 together by John Aubrey many years after the poet's death, 
 1680. The author states (1.) that William Shakespeare 
 was born at Stratford-upon-Avon, in the County of Warwick; 
 (2.) that he was the son of a butcher ; (3.) that he was 
 inclined naturally to poetry and acting ; (4.) did act exceed- 
 ingly well; (5.) that he began early to make essays at 
 dramatic poetry, which at that time was very low, and his 
 
6 MEMOIR OF SHAKESPEARE. 
 
 plays took well. As a proof it may be of tlie truthfulness 
 of his remark touching the condition of poetry at that time, 
 Aubrey gives us the following taste of Shakespeare's quality, 
 " One time," the biographer says, "as he was at the tavern, 
 at Stratford-upon-Avon, one Combes, an old rich usurer 
 was to be buried ; he makes there this extraordinary 
 epitaph:" 
 
 " Ten in the Imndred the devil allows ; 
 But Combes will have twelve, he swears and vows. 
 If any one asks who lies in this tomb, 
 ' Ho ! ' quoth the devil, ' 'tis my John o' Combe.' " 
 
 Having given a deliverance on the poet's personal 
 appearance, and the quality of his art as above quoted, 
 Mr. Aubrey informs his readers that Shakespeare was wont 
 to go to his native county once a year, and that he under- 
 stood Latin pretty well, for he had been in his younger 
 years a schoolmaster in the country. And thus ends the 
 bald disjointed chat of Aubrey, which passed for a " Life of 
 Shakespeare." 
 
 Of the statements it contains the first may be taken as 
 unquestionable ; the second as possible but improbable ; the 
 third is doubtless ; the fourth is very questionable, and 
 positively contradicted ; for Howe says his highest perform- 
 ance was the Gliost in his own "Hamlet," a part certainly 
 calling for considerable innate dignity and elocutionary 
 power, but one which may be played well by an actor devoid 
 of the energy, the enduring flexible voice, feeling, facial 
 expression, and graceful gesticulation essential to the true 
 tragedian. That he began early to make essays in poetry 
 is most likely, but that he wrote the doggerel epitaph for 
 John o' Combe is very doubtful. There are more than one 
 version of the lines. They are very dull and ill-natured, 
 and Shakespeare was neither. I do not believe the gentle 
 and the good Shakespeare ever wrote a line calculated 
 "to make one worthy man his foe," and John Combe 
 appears to have been anything but the foe of his alleged 
 libeller, for he bequeathed him a legacy of 5, and Shakes- 
 peare in turn left his sword to Thomas Combe, John's 
 nephew. The next statement has more truthfulness about 
 
MEMOIR OF SHAKESPEARE. 7 
 
 it. One can readily credit the old gobe-mouche, when he 
 says Shakespeare visited Stratford annually, for here were 
 all his early old associates, and here was his heart with his 
 treasures of wife and children. In conclusion, Aubrey says 
 he knew Latin pretty well ; thus discrediting the dictum of 
 worthy Ben Jonson on this point. 
 
 Naturally dissatisfied with Aubrey's account of Shakes- 
 peare, and unable to find out anything more satisfactory 
 about him in London, Thomas Betterton, the most gifted 
 and accomplished tragedian of his age ; and, according to 
 Pepys, "the best actor in the world," travelled to Strat- 
 ford-upon-Avon to ascertain further particulars. Whatever 
 Betterton learned there when he arrived, towards the end of 
 the seventeenth century, he communicated to Nicholas 
 Howe, a scholar and gentleman poet laureate to George I., 
 but better known by his contribution to our dramatic litera- 
 ture. Rowe worked the materials into what he modestly 
 enough calls " some account of the life, &c., of William 
 Shakespeare," published in 1709. 
 
 Now, one would have expected from the devoted zeal of 
 Betterton and the literary ability of Rowe a respectable 
 biography ought to have been compiled ; but the work 
 deserves no better title than the author bestowed upon it. 
 Its merits have been variously estimated. Johnson, not a 
 rash or lavish dispenser of literary reputation, says, " I have 
 borrowed the author's life from Rowe, though not written 
 with much elegance or spirit, it relates however what is 
 now to be known, and therefore deserves to pass through all 
 succeeding publications" No publication of Shakespeare's 
 works or life has certainly ever been since given to the 
 public without some degree of obligation to Rowe ; but the 
 astute critic was singularly yet duly liberal in his judg- 
 ment on such a production. If, however, overrated by the 
 critics of the past age, Rowe appears to me to be unduly 
 depreciated by those of the present. Mr. Malone confines 
 the information of the life to eleven facts, and in these he 
 asserts that only "two truths are told," not . 
 
 "'As happy prologues to the swelling act 
 Of the imperial theme j" 
 
8 MEMOIR OF SHAKESPEARE. 
 
 but as "the be all and tlie end all " of the certainties to be 
 found in " The Life," by Howe namely, the poet's birth 
 and death. One he says is doubtful (his recommending of 
 Ben Jonson and his writings to the public) and the other 
 eight are altogether false. Adopting the same view, a 
 writer in that most respectable periodical, " Chambers's 
 Journal," a few days ago, says, " The traditions gathered 
 by the gossiping and uncritical Aubrey or mentioned by 
 Howe cannot be depended upon as containing even a germ 
 of fact." Here the credulity of Johnson is fully counter- 
 balanced by the infidelity of Chambers. Truth lies between 
 them. 
 
 Howe, as it appears to me, may be fairly charged with 
 giving full credence and unqualified assertion to things 
 which were in themselves doubtful and utterly without 
 proof, whilst he places before the public, upon mere hearsay 
 evidence, facts which might have been established by incon- 
 trovertible testimony. For instance, we are told by him 
 that Shakespeare was obliged to fly from Stratford for deer 
 stealing. This indictment is sent up to the jury without 
 even the name of a witness to sustain it, and there seems 
 to be no scepticism in the mind of the author upon the 
 subject. But when he comes to narrate matters in relation 
 to which positive proof might have been easily discovered 
 there is no such confidence in his manner of assertion. 
 He makes no question of the deer stealing story ; but 
 Hathaway, Shakespeare's father-in-law, is only said to have 
 been a substantial yeoman a fact of which no one need be 
 sceptical who visits his house in Shottery even at this day. 
 Then we have the language of rumour in nearly every 
 subsequent sentence. " He seems" says the author, " to have 
 given entirely into that way of life," &c. ; " the ballad on 
 Lucy is said to have been," &c. ; "it is upon this accident 
 he is said to have made his first acquaintance," &c. ; "Falstaff 
 is said to have been written," &c. ; " John Combe is said 
 never to have forgiven him," &c. Howe will not even state 
 positively that Shakespeare resided in Stratford-upon-Avon 
 for any considerable period before his death. He tells us 
 that it was " said " he did so. Nearly everything he states 
 
MEMOIR OF SHAKESPEARE. 9 
 
 is of no more certainty than flying report. It would indeed 
 be difficult to find a piece of biography of the same length 
 so provokingly stuffed with " doubtful phrases." 
 
 Could the gifted and accomplished Mr. Betterton find 
 out nothing more of the poet in Stratford ? Dr. Johnson 
 says, " R-owe relates what is now to be known ;" but surely 
 not all that Betterton communicated to him. Did he take 
 any notes of the information he received from the actor ? 
 If so, had he lost them ? or did he attach but little im- 
 portance to the work ? No one can now give answer to 
 either of the first-mentioned queries, but to the third a 
 reply in the affirmative may be given with safety. He 
 introduces the memoir to his reader with a sort of 
 apology. He " fancied that some account of the man him- 
 self might not ~be thought improper to go along with them" 
 (Shakespeare's plays). When he was not certain of the 
 propriety of writing and publishing a life of Shakespeare, 
 we need not be surprised by the barren result of his 
 labours. 
 
 Happily for the memory of the poet, there is at least 
 something more now to be known about Shakespeare than 
 in the days of Nicholas Howe or Dr. Johnson. Mr. 
 Steevens, one of the cleverest of Shakespeare's critics and 
 commentators, despaired of adding an item to the slender 
 stock of facts positively ascertained with respect to him ; 
 but not so Mr. Malone, who laboured with the utmost zeal 
 and energy indefatigable, and if he did not increase our 
 knowledge in a degree corresponding with his efforts, he 
 directed searching and not unprofitable scrutiny into the 
 whole subject. Dr. Drake published two large volumes, 
 with the view of gratifying public curiosity in the matter. 
 Mr. Dyce and Mr. Thomas Campbell have published in- 
 teresting biographies of Shakespeare, but devoid of any 
 novelty in matters of fact ; and Mr. Charles Knight, who 
 has contributed so largely to popular literature and the 
 information of the people, has devoted a considerable 
 portion of his time to Shakespeare and his works, recording 
 not only all that is known of Shakespeare all he was all he 
 said, or did, or knew, but all that he might, could, would, or 
 
10 .MEMOIR OF SHAKESPEARE. 
 
 should have known in the glorious age of enlightenment 
 and rapid progress in which he lived ; Mr. Payne Collier 
 too, has laboured long and earnestly to " nnsphere the divine 
 William, and make him known at our fire- sides ;" and 
 Mr. J. O. Halliwell has published a Life of Shakespeare, 
 of which it may be said with more truth than of Nicholas 
 Howe's brochure, that it " contains all that is now known" 
 of the man who 
 
 " In our wonder and astonishment, 
 " Has built himself a live-long monument." 
 
 " The vast information collected in this work," says Mr. 
 Robert Bell, a the variety of documentary evidence by 
 which its statements are supported and illustrated, and the 
 vast expenditure of time and toil bestowed upon its produc- 
 tion, render it altogether one of the most remarkable monu- 
 ments of industry and intelligence concentrated on a single 
 subject in the whole range of biographical literature," Mr. 
 Howard Staunton, a diligent labourer in the Shakespearian 
 vineyard, has also given the public some account of the 
 great man's life ; and many essays, sketches, and lives, and 
 works of criticism and exposition have been called forth 
 by this Tercentenary Festival ; amongst the principal of 
 which may be mentioned "Shakespeare Commentaries," by 
 Dr. G. Gr. Grervinus, professor at Heidelberg; and in what may 
 be called works of detail, " Shakespeare's Home," by the 
 Rev. J. M. Belle w; "Life Portraits of William Shakespeare: 
 a history of the various representations of the poet, with 
 an examination into their authenticity," by Mr. J. Hain 
 TYiswell; "Shakespeare: his birthplace, home, and grave," 
 by the Rev. J. M. Jephson ; &c., &c. 
 
 I have thus, perhaps, over drawn my space in giving an 
 imperfect sketch of the work already done by earnest and 
 erudite men, to gratify the natural curiosity of all readers 
 to know who and what manner of man this " boast of 
 nature " was. My object has been to direct the attention 
 of the reader, if necessary, to more extensive sources of 
 information than my brief and simple narrative can afford, 
 and at the same time to acknowledge at the outset my obliga- 
 
MEMOIR OF SHAKESPEAEE. 11 
 
 tions to the principal authors above named, for the materials 
 of the subjoined memoir. Indeed I may well imitate the 
 candour of Dr. Johnson, when referring to the critics who 
 went before him. "I can say," observes the great lexico- 
 grapher, " of all my predecessors what I hope will be 
 hereafter said of me, that not one has left Shakespeare 
 without improvement, nor is there one to whom I have not 
 been indebted for assistance and information." 
 
 With the orthography and orthoepy too of Shakespeare's 
 name the biographer's perplexities commence. About the 
 orthoepy the public have come to a pretty general agree- 
 ment. The name is rarely pronounced nowadays other- 
 wise than with the first syllable short, and second long, as 
 Shax-speere ; but the mode of spelling it has been for 
 many years, and still remains, a subject of no slight 
 controversy. According to the entries of the Common 
 Council of the Stratford Corporation, in their book A, 
 John Shakespeare's (William's father) name was in his 
 own day spelled seventeen ways, as Shackesper, Shackes- 
 pere, Shacksper, Shackspor, Shackspere, Shackespere, 
 Shakspayr, Shaksper, Shakspere, Shakspeyr, Shakysper, 
 Shakyspere, Shaxpeare, Shaxper, Shaxpere, Shakxspere, 
 and Shaxspeare. Of the three modes of writing the name 
 which prevail at present, it will be observed that only 
 one occurs in this list, namely, Shakspere ; Shakspeare 
 and Shakespeare are not given. But in the records of 
 Warwickshire, where some curious modes of spelling the 
 name will be found, as of Schakspeire, Chacsper, &c., 
 " Shakspere " is to be discovered. The first of the three 
 prevailing ways of spelling it is adopted by Sir Frederick 
 Madden, Mr. Charles Knight and many others ; Mr. Malone 
 and Dr. Drake the second ; Mr. Collier and the Shakespeare 
 Society the third. "We have now," says the Athenceum- 
 in a paper on the subject, published in 1844, "the six 
 existing signatures of Shakespeare, copied with all the 
 skill the human hand seems capable of arriving at (the 
 glorious art of photography was not then available). The 
 first is from the deed of sale, dated 10th March, 1612, now 
 in the City of London library, already engraved in Malone's 
 
12 MEMOIR OF SHAKESPEARE. 
 
 ' Inquiry ; ' the second from the mortgage, dated the next 
 day, commonly called the Grarrick autograph ; the third is 
 from the autograph on the fly leaf of the first edition of the 
 4 English translation of Montaigne,' by John Florio, in 
 1603, now in the British Museum ; while Nos. 4, 5, and 6 
 are from three briefs of the poet's will, preserved in the 
 Prerogative Court at Doctors' Commons. We have seen 
 the originals of the six several signatures here engraved ; 
 we have stood over them with a curious eye ; and recently 
 as we were from the ingenious pamphlet of Sir Frederick 
 Madden, we came to the conclusion that if any man had 
 endeavoured to write his name in six different ways, he 
 could not have puzzled his correspondent more ingeniously 
 than William Shakespeare has, in these six signatures, 
 puzzled his commentators and admirers. In ~No. 1 and 
 throughout the whole six signatures the Christian name, 
 William, is written clearly and unmistakably, as if the 
 poet had made up his mind and new nibbed his pen for the 
 orthography and caligraphy of that portion of his name. 
 Now let us come to the name so dear in sound and in any 
 kind of spelling to every British ear and eye. We have, it 
 appears to us, in No. 1, Shaksper or ShaJcspea, the strip of 
 parchment on which the signature occurs being un- 
 fortunately too narrow for the full insertion of the name. 
 No. 2 we have apparently Shakspea or Shaksper : no jury 
 of twelve would agree as to which it is. In No. 3 
 (the Florio), we have unquestionably ShaJcespere, but the 
 genuineness of this signature will admit of more than one 
 doubt. In the will we have almost anything, the espeare, 
 speare, or spere, being a complete jumble of penwork, a 
 realisation of one of Ben Jonson's comic characters an 
 in and out ' in and in medley.'" Doctor Drake is 
 persuaded that the third signature to the will is William 
 Shakspeare, and that the intermediate e I use was very 
 seldom used, and more rarely pronounced. How a man 
 can pronounce so definitely as he does on the pronunciation 
 of the word Shakespeare three hundred years ago, I am 
 at a loss to ascertain ; and respecting the spelling of it, 
 the question will probably amuse coming generations of 
 
MEMOIR OF SHAKESPEARE. 13 
 
 critics, as it has past and present, and to as little purpose. 
 The spelling I have adopted is, as above stated, that of the 
 Shakespeare Society and Mr. Collier, also Mr. Howard 
 Staunton and the people of Stratford-upon-Avon, who 
 probably use it from an unwillingness to lose even a letter 
 which might have belonged to the name which has to 
 Stratford bequeathed a name imperishable. It directs the 
 mind moreover most clearly to the derivation of the 
 chivalrous old patronymic which, as has been justly re- 
 marked, was doubtless present in the mind of rare old Ben 
 when he wrote the lines 
 
 " Look how the father's face 
 Lives in his issue ; even so the race 
 Of Shakespeare's mind and manners brightly shines 
 
 In his well-toned and true-filed lines ; 
 In each of which he seems to shake a lance, 
 As brandish'd at the eyes of ignorance." 
 
 However spelled, families of the name had been settled 
 time out of mind in Warwickshire. From these families 
 the poet's first became distinguished by services to " Young 
 Richmond," when he undertook to rid the country and the 
 world of the usurper Richard, "one," as Shakespeare 
 describes him, "rais'd in blood and in blood established." 
 The record connected with the grant of arms to John 
 Shakespeare, dated 1596, attests the fact. But the rolls of 
 Henry VII., having been carefully searched, gave no evi- 
 dence of it. I do not however think the public documents 
 are fabrications which record of the father of William 
 Shakespeare that " his parent and late ancestors were, for 
 their valiant and faithful services, advanced and rewarded of 
 the most prudent prince, King Henry VII., of famous 
 memory." Sundry circumstances go to corroborate the 
 testimony. John Shakespeare was of the third generation 
 succeeding the adherent of Henry of Tudor ; and it is not 
 improbable that his son, the great dramatist, had the 
 traditions of his own family in his mind when he put into 
 the mouth of Richmond the well-known lines 
 
 " For me, the ransom of my bold attempt 
 May be this cold corpse upon earth's cold face ; 
 But if I thrive, the gain of my attempt 
 The least of you shall share his part thereof." 
 
14 MEMOIR OF SHAKESPEAEE. 
 
 Sharing, it may be by hereditary possession, some portion, 
 however trifling, of the gains of the bold enterprize, John 
 Shakespeare about the year 1556 felt emboldened to woo, 
 and in due course of time, about a year afterwards, felt 
 doubtless blessed in wedding Mary Arden, in the pleasant, 
 quiet, Auburn-like village of Willmecote, near Stratford- 
 upon-Avon. She was the youngest daughter, and, as 
 testified by the father's will, favourite child of Robert 
 Arden, a yeoman, who traced his pedigree in an uninter- 
 rupted line to the highest antiquity of any family in 
 Warwickshire. 
 
 The worldly circumstances of Shakespeare's father prior 
 to this marriage are thought to have been somewhat 
 depressed ; and it has been regretted that the first mention 
 we find of his name in the borough of Stratford is 
 connected with an offensive incumbrance in Henley Street 
 (1552), and in the second place (1556), as a defendant 
 in an action brought by one Thomas Siche for the 
 recovery of 8. But as Mr. Halliwell has discovered 
 that the decision of the court was against the plaintiff, it 
 may be reasonably concluded the claim was unjust, 
 and repudiated in consequence. That he was at this period 
 a well-to-do man may be fairly inferred from the fact of 
 his purchasing house property in Stratford. He is vari- 
 ously described as a butcher, a glover, and a considerable 
 dealer in wool. There is some evidence to show that he 
 was engaged in all of these kindred occupations, and may 
 have been at the same time a farmer. As the heiress of 
 Robert Arden, John Shakespeare's wife brought him a 
 respectable dowry in houses and land, so that we are not 
 surprised to find him rising rapidly to positions of trust and 
 public importance amongst his fellow townsmen. In 1556, 
 he was on the jury of the court-leet ; in 1557, an ale-taster ; 
 in 1558, a burgess ; in 1559, a constable ; in 1560, an 
 affeeror ; in 1561, a chamberlain ; in 1565, an alderman ; 
 and in 1568, high bailiff of the town. His education, 
 together with the rise and supposed decline of his worldly 
 prosperity, has formed a subject of controversy amongst 
 biographers. It will perhaps surprise some readers to learn 
 
MEMOIR OF SHAKE SPEAEE. 15 
 
 that it lias been ascertained he governed the borough 
 without assistance from a glimmering of scholarship ; but 
 those who reason on the Baconian principle, from the known 
 to the unknown, will not be astonished to hear that three 
 hundred years ago the chief magistrate of Stratford-upon- 
 Avon could not write his name. 
 
 The thriving burgher knew, however, how to succeed 
 in life, and was perhaps " happy because he knew no 
 more." His respectable wife brought him a respectable 
 family of sons and daughters, who arrived in Stratford, 
 according to the parish register of their baptisms, in the 
 following order : 
 
 Joan, or Jone, " daughter of John Shakespeare," 
 baptized 15th September, 1558. Died young. 
 
 Margaret, baptized 2nd December, 1562. Died in 1563. 
 
 WILLIAM, baptized 26th April, 1564. Died in 1616. 
 
 Gilbert, baptized 13th October, 1566. [Was alive in 
 1609.] 
 
 Joan, or Jone, baptized 15th April, 1569. Died 1646. 
 
 Anne, baptized 28th September, 1571. Died 1579. 
 
 Richard, baptized llth March, 1573-4. Died 1613. 
 
 Edmund, baptized 3rd May, 1580. Died 1607. 
 
 Thus of these eight children three died at a very tender age. 
 The burial of Margaret is recorded on 30th April, 1563, 
 and that of Anne on 4th April, 1579. The evidence of the 
 death of the first-born is contained in the fact of the baptism 
 of another Joan in 1569. The burial is not entered on the 
 register, and some have asserted that the latter child was 
 not the sister of William Shakespeare, but the daughter 
 of another John Shakespeare. Mr. Knight says "the 
 registry of a second Joan leaves no reasonable doubt that 
 the first died, and that a favourite name was preserved 
 in the family;" and as the only second John Shake- 
 speare known in that age was not married till 1584, he was 
 clearly not the father of the child born fifteen years 
 previously. 
 
16 MEMOIR OF SHAKESPEARE. 
 
 It would not be to the purpose to try to trace the lives 
 and fortunes of any of the five children, who survived the 
 death of Anne, with the exception of our subject, the incom- 
 parable William. The only claimant to be a descendant 
 of the stock of John Shakespeare is George Shakespeare, a 
 worthy workman resident at Wolverhampton, who, with 
 the assistance of Mr. George Griffith and other friends, has 
 been for a considerable time endeavouring, at much expense 
 and trouble, to trace his lineage to Edmund Shakespeare. 
 His faith is founded on family tradition, and he believes he 
 could in all probability establish it to the public satisfaction, 
 but that some leaves have been torn out of the middle of 
 an old registry at Charlecote, which breaks the line of 
 his recorded pedigree. He has not, however, abandoned 
 his dry and somewhat hopeless labours, and every 
 Shakespearian must wish him success. 
 
 We have no record of the birth of William Shakespeare, 
 or of the house at which he was born, but both important 
 facts are sufficiently established to justify the universal 
 belief that the " Star of Poets " first appeared on the 23rd 
 of April, 1564, in Henley Street, Stratforid-upon-Avon. The 
 first documentary notice of him is in the parish registry, 
 which informs us in bad Latin that William, the son of John 
 Shakespeare, was baptized April 26th, 1564. No register 
 of birth, singular to say, was kept for ages, and those of 
 baptisms, marriages, and deaths not strictly made until 
 1558, when, by an act of Elizabeth, due attention was 
 enforced to the matter. Baptisms more closely followed 
 the birth, however, in Shakespeare's than in our time, 
 lest death should step in between the events, and the third 
 day after the birth was fixed for the ceremony. The 
 practice is the more likely to have been observed in 
 Shakespeare's case, from the fact that the plague, which 
 raged that year in Stratford, cutting off in six months one- 
 sixth of the population, no doubt created a general appre- 
 hension of sudden dissolution. There was a glorious 
 escape vouchsafed to Shakespeare's family, and a mercy 
 to the great family of mankind, for the poet remained 
 unscathed by the malady. 
 
MEMOIR OF SHAKESPEARE . 17 
 
 The house in Henley Street, which has been shown for 
 generations as the birthplace of Shakespeare, has never 
 been seriously doubted to be the tenement in which he first 
 saw the light. In 1555 John Shakespeare purchased two 
 copyhold houses, one in Henley Street, and the other in 
 Greenhill Street; and as no one has ever disputed the 
 honour on behalf of Greenhill Street, Henley Street has 
 always been the place to which constant tradition has 
 pointed as the residence of John Shakespeare at the time of 
 William's birth. " The best support given to tradition," says 
 Mr. Hunter, "is the entry in the Court Roll of Stratford, 
 by which it appears that, in 1552, John Shakespeare and 
 others were amerced for making a dung heap in Henley 
 Street." And whilst it is thus proved that he lived there 
 for a considerable period before the great dramatist was 
 born, it appears by a document, only discovered at the Branch 
 Public Record Office in 1845, that he had his residence 
 there for many years afterwards. This was the return to 
 a commission issued out of the Exchequer in the 32nd of 
 Elizabeth, 1590, for the survey of the possessions of 
 Ambrose, Earl of Warwick. In that portion of this report 
 which refers to Stratford, the following sentence occurs : 
 " The street called Henley Street, John Shakespeare holdeth 
 one tenement with appurtenances, for the yearly rent of 
 6d. and suit of Court. The same John holdeth freely one 
 tenement with appurtenances, for the yearly rent of 13d. 
 and suit of Court." There is no doubt that this was 
 William Shakespeare's father, for the other John Shake- 
 speare was a shoemaker. Shakespeare's father had also 
 some land at Ingon, a short distance from Stratford by 
 the Warwick road,- to which, from the amount of rent 
 paid, it was supposed that a house was attached, but 
 it has never been hinted that the bard was born there. 
 " Tradition," remarks Mr. Knight, " says that Shakespeare 
 was born in one of the houses in Henley Street ; tradition 
 points out the very room in which he was born. Let us 
 not disturb the belief." To disturb it is impossible, and 
 the author should have said 
 
 " We could not if we would, 
 And would not if we could." 
 
18 MEMOIE OF SHAKESPEARE. 
 
 This tenement, architecturally so humble, but historically 
 so magnificent, long neglected and subjected to mean occu- 
 pations, has been at last secured to the nation and restored 
 to that appearance which, so far as could be ascertained, it 
 bore in the poet's time. A visit to this old house (of which 
 I shall give a fuller account hereafter) bewilders the mind 
 with "thick coming fancies" of Shakespeare's "mewling 
 infancy," childhood innocence, and studious boyhood ; when, 
 under the spacious chimney he pored upon the story of love 
 and chivalry, adventures by flood and field, or read with 
 thoughtful eye "the historic pages of kings and crowns 
 unstable;" for doubtless, like Scott, he devoured all the 
 literature light and solid which came in his way studying 
 with a mind "waxen to receive and marble to retain." 
 
 We have no account of his elementary education, but 
 may fairly conclude that his mother, the favourite of a 
 family of daughters, was not negligent in having her eldest 
 son prepared to take his place creditably in the grammar 
 school amidst the boys of Stratford. That the son of the 
 principal office bearer in the town went to the best seminary 
 there can be no question. He must have been then seven 
 years of age and able to read. Without supposing for a 
 moment that he was an eighth wonder of the world in his 
 family circle, or a prodigy boy out of it, I believe he had 
 read much even before he had reached the age at which he 
 could gain admission to the endowed school of Edward VI., 
 which, according to the assertion of Ben Jonson, he left 
 with " small Latin and less Greek." 
 
 This brings me to the question of what pedants would 
 call his classic attainments. It has been long and labori- 
 ously discussed by the learned ; but the decision is of little 
 moment, for whatever it may be, the poet's transcendent 
 genius and never dying fame remain intact. Johnson and 
 Dr. Farmer have however always appeared to me to under- 
 rate his scholarship. He certainly did not give up his 
 youthful prime, fortunately for his species, to the reading 
 of "words, words, words: " facts, ideas, motives, purposes, 
 the passions, and propensities, and history of mankind; the 
 mysteries of nature, animate and inanimate these were 
 
MEMOIR OF SHAKESPEAEE. 19 
 
 the studies of Ms mighty mind. " Those," says Dryden, 
 "who accuse him to have wanted learning give him the 
 greatest commendation." Samuel Johnson thought the 
 testimony of Ben ought to decide the controversy unless 
 some testimony of equal force could be opposed. We know 
 that Ben was a very warm hearted, out- spoken, fearless 
 man of genius, but in this case I suspect him of prejudice 
 probably unknown to himself. Upton, a man skilled in 
 languages, as Dr. Johnson testifies, and acquainted with 
 books, held a different opinion; and speaking of Ben Jon- 
 son's testimony, says truly that " people will allow others 
 any qualities but those upon which they highly value 
 themselves." Whatever his attainments in Latin and 
 Greek, most readers will agree with Dr. Johnson that " he 
 was possessed of a stock of knowledge sufficient for a mind 
 so capable of appropriating and improving it; " and with 
 Mr. Theobald, that u the result of the controversy must cer- 
 tainly either way terminate to our author's honour: how 
 happily he could imitate them (the classics) if that point be 
 allowed, or how gloriously he could think like them with- 
 out owing them any imitation." His general information 
 was marvellously extensive and no less wonderfully exact. 
 Whatever his knowledge of the classics, it may be 
 affirmed that he knew intimately every important work 
 on subjects of general interest to be found in the English 
 language. He lived in an age remarkable for many 
 things, especially studious and learned men and women ; 
 and I cannot think that the gifted son of alderman Shake- 
 speare was not in every intellectual attainment quite abreast 
 of his age and the scholars with whom he consorted. His 
 works fully prove that all his life it may have been said of 
 him as Caesar does of Cassius : 
 
 " He reads much; 
 
 He is a great observer, and he looks 
 Quite through the deeds of men." 
 
 His religion has formed another question, but one dis- 
 cussed only amongst theological zealots. Shakespeare's 
 father was of the reformed persuasion, else he could not have 
 
20 MEMOIR OF SHAKE SPEAEE. 
 
 held the offices lie did. He made a public affirmation of Ms 
 belief, and the writings of the poet ("Hamlet" and the 
 doctrine of purgatory therein recognised notwithstanding) 
 fully show that the son was reared in the form of religion 
 then established by law. Had it been otherwise he never 
 would have permitted any of his characters to speak of the 
 highest of Roman Catholics as King John does. Were I in 
 any doubt upon the point, his remarkable intimacy with the 
 text, his appreciation of the spirit, and correct views of the 
 doctrine of the Holy Scriptures would convince me that he 
 regarded them as a complete and sufficient guide to mankind 
 for time and eternity. His extensive reading and solid judg- 
 ment, and his prodigious knowledge of the infirmities of 
 humanity must have prevented him from ever yielding that 
 implicit obedience to the commands of the Church which 
 is the first principle of Roman Catholicism. But whilst I 
 am quite satisfied he was not a Roman Catholic, his 
 Christianity was truly Catholic in the highest sense of the 
 term. He was no Protestant, as thousands understand the 
 appellation at the present day. With the greatest of virtues 
 charity, which he truly says, " itself fulfils the law" he 
 was probably as largely endowed as any author of any age 
 or country. There is no trace of sectarianism or intolerance 
 about him. For the adherents of the elder faith he had 
 much respect, and piously regarded some of the doctrines 
 and many of the usages and ceremonies of the Church of 
 More and Fenelon. There blended in him, in short, the 
 best qualities of all sections of Christians, forming a 
 well-balanced character, devoid alike of fanaticism and 
 scepticism, of extravagance or indifference. 
 
 Of the many improbable stories told of Shakespeare, 
 none is more so than that which informs us he was taken 
 from the Grammar School about the age of fourteen to 
 assist his father, who was then in depressed circumstances. 
 For whether we believe with Mr. Malonej that at the period 
 in question John Shakespeare was by no means in affluent 
 or even easy circumstances, or with Mr. Knight, that the 
 proofs of his alleged social downfall are capable of expla- 
 nation leading to a conclusion different from the general 
 
MEMOIR OF SHAKESPEARE. 21 
 
 belief, it is by no means likely that the Chief Magistrate of 
 Stratford had become so reduced in the short space of 
 seven years as to be obliged to withdraw his son a 
 mere boy from school to work for the family at home. 
 The story is coupled with a well ascertained misstatement, 
 that John Shakespeare had ten children, when it is known 
 he had only eight in all, and but three besides William 
 at the period we speak of; for Joan (the first-born), 
 Margaret, and Anne, had died, and Edmund was not born 
 for two years afterwards. 
 
 It is more likely that Shakespeare remained at school 
 till he was sixteen or seventeen, and that ere he attained 
 the latter age his attention was somewhat distracted 
 from Ovid and Homer by the charms of fair Anne 
 of Shottery, and that when removed from his studies 
 it was to be placed apprentice to some tradesman ; 
 or as Malone, Collier, and others believe, and with reason, 
 an attorney. In whatever way he was employed between 
 the period of his leaving school and that of his marriage 
 whether as attorney's clerk, butcher, woolstapler, school- 
 master, or glover, he had no time to become master of any 
 business, for somewhere about November, 1582, he married 
 Anne Hathaway, the substantial yeoman's daughter of 
 Shottery, who was then twenty-five years of age : this 
 has been proved by a document only discovered a few 
 years ago in Worcester. In May following he gave, with 
 corresponding precocity, a hostage to fortune. On the 
 26th of that month, 1583, Susanna, his eldest daughter, 
 was baptized at the same font in Trinity Church, Stratford- 
 on-Avon, where he had himself lain in his mother's arms 
 only nineteen years previously. Thus early did he enter 
 upon the most serious responsibilities of life. Hamnet and 
 Judith (twins), his son and second daughter, were baptized 
 February 2, 1583. 
 
 About three years after this date the young husband and 
 father is represented by E/owe as flying from his native town 
 and home endearments to the great city of London, that he 
 might avoid a criminal prosecution for deer stealing. I 
 wonder if any intelligent reader now believes this fable ? or 
 
22 MEMOIR OF SHAKESPEARE. 
 
 if the notion so long indulged in still exists in any addle- 
 pate, that the fugitive robber was the part which a mys- 
 terious Providence fated Shakespeare to enact before he 
 could become the independent gentleman, the favourite of his 
 sovereign, the idol of his contemporaries, and the dramatist 
 for all time ? That he may have been in some way mixed 
 up in or accused of deer stealing (in that age a very trifling 
 offence) at some time of his life I think by no means 
 incredible, but I totally deny that there is any justification 
 whatever for the calumnies based on the circumstance. It 
 is alleged by the narrator that he was the companion of 
 thieves, and escaped to the city to avoid the consequences 
 of the malpractices into which they led him. The thief 
 and profligate of Stratford was not likely to find London or 
 a London theatre a Noah's ark to save him from the 
 vindictiveness of Charlecote ! If he arrived in London 
 under such circumstances, the offending Adam must have 
 been whipped out of him with miraculous celerity. 
 
 But can his departure from Stratford and from his wife 
 and children be accounted for on no more rational and 
 satisfactory grounds ? He was naturally inclined to poetry 
 and acting. Neither a lawyer's office nor a butcher's stall 
 was likely to have contained attractions for such a mind 
 sufficiently powerful to counteract the magnetic influence of 
 a London stage. It was under the auspices and patronage 
 of his father when the latter was bailiff that plays were 
 occasionally performed at Stratford, as in 1569, when the 
 Queen's players were paid 9s. out of the corporate funds, 
 and this must be considered liberal remuneration, or the 
 Worcester players who acted the same year received but 
 lenten entertainment at the hands of the Stratford Cor- 
 poration, being only paid lOd. for their services. Be that 
 as it may, Shakespeare, then five years old, most likely saw 
 on this occasion the first glimpse of his " field of fame." 
 He may have seen plays frequently acted in his youth, 
 and who can tell at what age " Hamlet," " Lear," 
 "Macbeth," or " Othello," began to loom on that wondrous 
 mind. Greene and Burbage had gone from the fertile valley 
 of the Avon to the busy banks of the Thames, and had 
 
MEMOIR OF SHAKESPEARE. 23 
 
 eminently succeeded. I cannot prove that Shakespeare 
 carried a manuscript copy of a play to town as many poor 
 creatures " hungering and thirsting for scribbling's sake " 
 have done ; but I have no doubt that at that time some 
 of his early works were in embryo if not fully matured. 
 The dates at which his plays are first mentioned in the 
 books of the Stationers' Company are no guide whatever 
 to the time of their production from the brain of the 
 author. 
 
 The absence of all proof for the deer stealing, and its 
 discreditable consequences contrasted with the knowledge 
 we have of the young man's social position and inclination, 
 leads to the inevitable conclusion that it was under a higher 
 and nobler influence than the impulse of fear he quitted 
 Stratford to " catch dame fortune's golden smile " in 
 London. At twenty-two he must have known something 
 of himself, and of his destiny. He had not that passionate 
 and terribly earnest consciousness of his innate greatness 
 which over-mastered every other thought and impelled 
 Kean towards the town; but he looked with a calmer 
 and no less penetrating eye into the seeds of time. He 
 knew it was not for him to live 
 
 " Dully sluggardiz'd at home, and 
 Wear out his youth with shapeless idleness." 
 
 He had a wife and children to provide for, he did not 
 " deny the faith " and become " worse than an infidel," but 
 went forth to do his duty ; and however he left Stratford 
 there is no question he returned to it an independent self- 
 exalted man. 
 
 "He came to London," Dr. Johnson tells us, "a needy 
 adventurer, and lived for a time by very mean employments." 
 How the Doctor satisfied himself as to the truthfulness of 
 this serious statement I am at a loss to discover. He may 
 have been thinking of himself and "Davy," and the circum- 
 stances under which they came to London, and thereby 
 became easily convinced that Shakespeare was still less a 
 
24 MEMOIE OF SHAKESPEAEE. 
 
 curled darling of fortune than themselves. We have however 
 no positive proof of Shakespeare's object in going to London, 
 of the year he went thither, or of his employment for some 
 time after his arrival. But the motive and object are to 
 me sufficiently apparent; the time has been closely enough 
 ascertained (1586), and, as discovered by Mr. Collier, he was 
 in 1589, then twenty-five years of age, joint proprietor in 
 the Blackfriars Theatre, with a fourth of the other proprie- 
 tors below him in the list. Had he been a dissolute deer 
 stealer at twenty-two, subsequently a needy adventurer in 
 London living by very mean employments, " a call boy " 
 and holder of gentlemen's horses at the theatre door as 
 asserted (preposterous rubbish !), his rapid elevation in the 
 social scale would almost suggest that the age of miracles 
 had not terminated with the fifteenth century. Whether 
 Shakespeare acted very well or was only, as has been also 
 stated, a very mediocre histrion, acting was certainly his 
 first source of livelihood at the Blackfriars Theatre. It is 
 not at all credible that he was ever reduced lower. He 
 may have thought himself a gifted comedian. There is 
 nothing about which there is so much self-deception as 
 histrionic ability. Many literary men have thought they 
 could have acquired fame and fortune on the stage if their 
 friends had only let them get the chance in time. The man 
 most worthy to be compared with Shakespeare in the history 
 of dramatic literature is James Sheridan Knowles. He 
 considered himself an actor of no ordinary ability. There 
 was indeed a period of his life when he was prouder of the 
 name of "comedian" than that of "author of Virginius," 
 although by the latter title he linked himself in reputation 
 more closely to the author of "Lear" than any dramatist who 
 went before him or is likely to appear for centuries to come. 
 Shakespeare and Knowles both understood acting well. 
 The latter taught elocution very successfully at the Belfast 
 Royal Academical Institution. He declaimed with power, 
 feeling, and effect, despite his Irish brogue; but an elocu- 
 tionist and an actor are different artists. Shakespeare was 
 no doubt a useful member of the Blackfriars Company, 
 
MEMOIR OF SHAKESPEARE. 25 
 
 might have sustained a portion of the "heavies," as the 
 actors would say, with credit, but could not have under- 
 taken the leading business. Of his Romeo or Richard, I 
 can form no notion whatever. 
 
 He was connected with the Blackfriars Theatre, and 
 a word or two with reference to the playhouse so highly 
 honoured may not be out of place. It was erected in 
 an area called to this day Playhouse Yard, between 
 Apothecaries' Hall and Printing House Square, where the 
 Times office now stands. It was, as contra-distinguished 
 from the " Globe," an enclosed winter house. The foun- 
 dation was laid in 1575 by James and Richard Burbage 
 and the other " servants" of the Earl of Leicester. It had 
 little of the convenience or comfort of a modern theatre ; 
 no scenery, and perhaps no curtain. Mr. Knight conjec- 
 tures from the title " The Curtain " given to another 
 theatre about that period, that the refinement of separating 
 the actors from the audience during the intervals of a 
 representation was at first peculiar to the latter. 
 
 Several of the actors of the company which Shakespeare 
 first joined were authors also ; and the requirements of the 
 theatre, combined with the specimens of dramatic author- 
 ship which he witnessed amongst his " fellows," may have 
 encouraged him to throw forth some of the " strong con- 
 ceptions that he groaned withal." 
 
 The profession of an actor at that age, although quite 
 unfixed, as it still is unfortunately in the social scale, and 
 taking precedence of nothing in heraldic honours, was a 
 profitable calling. Richard Burbage died in 1619, worth 
 300 a year in land, besides personal property. Mr. 
 Collier in his " Memoirs of Edward Alleyn," and in the 
 " Alleyn Papers," has adduced evidence to prove that the 
 founder of Dulwich College was a richer actor at an earlier 
 date. As another proof, if such were wanting, that 
 theatrical speculations were very advantageous during the 
 period that Shakespeare was an actor on and a writer for 
 the stage (from 1590 to 1613), the following was published 
 in the first volume of the Shakespeare Society's papers. 
 It is extracted from a small volume of epigrams printed in 
 
26 MEMOIR OF SHAKE SPEAEE. 
 
 1613, under the title of " Laquier Ridiculosi, or Springes 
 for Woodcocks," and runs thus : 
 
 " Theatnnn licentia, 
 Cotta's become a player most men know, 
 
 And will no longer take such, toyling paines ; 
 For here's the spring, saith he, whence pleasures flow, 
 
 And brings them damnable excessive gaines ; 
 That now are cedars growne from shrubs and sprigs, 
 
 Since Greene's l Tu quoque? and these ' Garlicke Jigs.' " 
 
 The " Garlicke Jigs " were a sort of petty interlude, and 
 seem quoted here to heap contempt on the entertainment. 
 
 The Greene here mentioned was a member of the com- 
 pany of the Blackfriars Theatre in 1581. His name appears 
 fourth on the list and William Shakespeare is the twelfth. 
 He is supposed to have been a native of Stratford-upon- 
 Avon, and to have had the honour of introducing his great 
 townsman to the theatre. He was what is now called a low 
 comedian of considerable ability, like Eobson or Toole, and 
 became so distinguished in the " Tu Quoque," that the 
 comedy was called after his name. This successful actor, 
 Thomas Greene, reminds us of the unfortunate author, 
 Robert Greene, who died in 1592. The profits of dramatic 
 literature were not so great in his day as they subsequently 
 became ; but it is doubtful whether at any time whatever 
 his talents might have enabled him to accomplish, whether 
 his habits would have permitted him to amass wealth, or 
 attain respectability. Reduced to extremities by dissipa- 
 tion, subsisting upon the charity of a poor shoemaker, and 
 dying as Jonathan Swift feared he would depart, "raging 
 like a poisoned rat in a hole," the ill-starred Greene wrote 
 a pamphlet entitled, "A Groat's worth of Wit bought with 
 a Million of Repentance," which I must refer to here as 
 a valuable proof of the position Shakespeare had at that 
 time taken up in London, and as incidentally drawing forth 
 a more valuable piece of testimony bearing on the personal 
 character of the young actor and author. It is addressed 
 " To those gentlemen, his quondam acquaintances (believed 
 to be Marlowe, Lodge, and Peele), that spend their wits in 
 making playes, R.G. wisheth a better exercise and wisedome 
 
MEMOIR OF SHAKESPEARE. 27 
 
 to prevent his extremities." After a lecture not very per- 
 spicuous, but the nature of which the foregoing sentence 
 makes plain, the poor disappointed man raves on as 
 follows : " Base minded men, all three of you, if by my 
 misery yee bee not warned ; for unto none of you (like me) 
 sought those burs to cleave ; those puppits (I meane) that 
 spake from their mouths, those Anticks garnished in our 
 colours. Is it not strange that I to whom they all have 
 bin beholding ; is it not like that you to whom they all 
 have been beholding, shall (were yee in that case that I am 
 now) be both of them at once forsaken ? Yes, trust them 
 not ; for there is an upstart crow beautified with our 
 feathers, that with his Tygres heart wrapt in a players hyde 
 supposes lie is as well able to bombast out a blanke verse as 
 the best of you; and being an absolute Johannes Fac-totum 
 is in his own conceyte the only SHAKE-SCENE in a countrey. 
 Oh that I might intreat your rare wittes to be employed in 
 more profitable courses, and let these apes imitate your 
 past excellence, and never more acquaynte them with your 
 admyred inventions. I know the best husband of you all 
 will never proove an usurer, and the kindest of them all will 
 never proove a kind nurse ; yet whilst you may, seeke your 
 better maisters ; for it is pitty men of such rare wits should 
 be subject to the pleasures of such rude groomes." 
 
 The reference to Shakespeare here is palpable, and has 
 never been doubted. The "upstart crow" who, probably 
 with "the young the initiate fear" of authorship upon him, 
 had commenced his career by altering, and we may say of 
 course vastly improving the plays he found in stock at the 
 Blackfriars Theatre. He felt keenly the injustice and 
 spitefulness of Greene's libel. Marlowe also, whom Greene 
 had called an atheist, was naturally irritated by the insult. 
 I am not aware what mode of resentment, if any, the 
 dramatists so assailed adopted, but in the preface to the 
 "Kind-Heart's Dream," a sort of apology subsequently 
 emanated from Chettle, who had put forth Greene's 
 pamphlet, in which he says, " How I have, all the time of 
 my conversing in printing, hindered the bitter envying 
 against schollers, it hath been well knowne; and how in that 
 
28 MEMOIR OF SHAKESPEAKE. 
 
 I dealt I can sufficiently proove. With neither of them that 
 take offence was I acquainted, and with one of them I care 
 not if I never be : the other whome at that time I did not 
 so much spare, as since I wish I had for that, as I have 
 moderated the heate of living writers, and might have used 
 my owne discretion, especially in such a case, the author 
 being dead. That I did not, I am as sorry as if the originall 
 fault had beene my fault, because myselfe have seene his 
 demeanor no lesse civill than he excelent. in the qualitie he 
 professes ; Besides divers of worship have reported his upright- 
 ness of dealing, which argues his honesty and his facetious 
 grace in writting that approoves his art. For the first, whose 
 learning I reverence, and at the perusing of Greene's booke 
 stroke out what then in conscience I thought he in some 
 displeasure writ, or had it been true, yet to publish it was 
 intollerable ; him I would wish to use me no worse than 
 I deserve. I had onely in the copy this share; it was 
 il written, as sometimes Greenes hand was none of the 
 best ; licensd it must be ere it could bee printed, which 
 could never be if it might not be read : to be briefe, I writ 
 it over, and as neare as I could, followed the copy, onely in 
 that letter I put something out, but in the whole booke 
 not a worde in ; for I protest it was all Greenes, not mine 
 nor Mr. Nash.es, as some unjustly have affirmed." 
 
 The other, "whome I did not so much spare," is clearly 
 Shakespeare, the description of Marlowe leaving him dis- 
 tinctly alone ; and nothing could be more satisfactory or in 
 accordance with our own notions of Shakespeare than the 
 testimony here borne to his "civill demeanor" and the 
 "excelent qualitie he professed." What a contrast the 
 modest, prosperous Shakespeare presents to the arrogant 
 and wretched Greene. But, indeed, the life of this wonderful 
 man is not remarkable for anything more decidedly than its 
 difference from the lives of poets generally. There is a 
 tradition that Homer was a blind beggar the man to 
 whom he is as a poet most closely related amongst the 
 ancients ; and comparing him with poets of our own country 
 his life throughout must be regarded as a singularly happy 
 one. Milton suffered nearly " the whole catalogue of woes 
 
MEMOIR OF SHAKESPEARE. 29 
 
 that sting the heart of man." Otway, who wrote the only 
 tragedy ("Venice Preserved") in the English language, with 
 the exception of " Virginius," worthy to be compared with 
 Shakespeare, died of the poet's form of starvation. "John- 
 son's Lives " is a very melancholy book. Voltaire, in the 
 height of his literary fame, wished he had never been born ; 
 and in onr own generation hearken to the wail of the very 
 author of the "Pleasures of Hope." "I am alone in the world. 
 My wife and the child of my hopes are dead. My old friends, 
 brothers, and sisters are dead all but one, and she too is 
 dying. As for fame it is a bubble." And who could have 
 been more wretched than those children of genius, Byron 
 and Burns. To quote proofs of their misery would require 
 a book for the purpose. Shakespeare, I feel assured, 
 became early a steady and hard-working student, sub- 
 sequently a man of active business habits and indefatigable 
 application to literature, he amassed an ample fortune ; 
 he acquired deathless fame ; he spent the evening of his 
 life in ease, retirement, and in the conversation of his 
 friends ; he died with his children's faces round his bed, and 
 now lies quietly interred in that beautiful sepulchre en- 
 shrined in a fame for which "kings might wish to die." 
 But this is anticipating. 
 
 The date at which he produced his first or any of his 
 works we know not with any degree of certainty. In 
 Spenser's " Teares of the Muses " (1591) complimentary 
 reference is supposed to be made to Shakespeare ; but as 
 he was only 27 years of age then, the date at which some 
 critics believe he commenced the trade of authorship, and 
 but five years at most away from the banks of his loved 
 Avon. The " Pleasant Willy " Spencer speaks of much 
 against inclination we believe to be somebody else. It is 
 seven years afterwards that we find he had made his mark 
 indelibly on the dramatic literature of his country. 
 
 " If," says Mr. Knight, " the instances of the mention 
 of Shakespeare by his contemporaries during his life time 
 be not numerous, we are compensated by the fulness and 
 explicitness of one notice that of Francis Meres, in 
 1598. Short as his notice is, it is by far the most valuable 
 
30 MEMOIR OP SHAKESPEARE. 
 
 contribution which we possess towards the life of Shake- 
 speare." Meres was a niaster of arts at Cambridge, and 
 subsequently entered the church. In 1598 he published 
 a book called " Palladis Tamia " " Wit's Treasury." It 
 is a collection of moral sentences from ancient writers, 
 and it is described by Anthony Wood as a " noted school 
 book." Prefixed to it is a comparative discourse of our 
 English poets. Nothing can be more decisive than this 
 " Comparative Discourse," as to the rank which, in 1598, 
 Shakespeare had taken amongst the most eminent of his 
 contemporaries. 
 
 The master of arts aforesaid pronounces judgment as 
 follows : " As the Greek tongue is made famous and 
 eloquent by Homer, Hesiod, Euripides, ^Eschylus, Sopho- 
 cles, Pindarus, Phocylides, and Aristophanes ; and the 
 Latin tongue by Virgil, Ovid, Horace, Silius Italicus, 
 Lucanus, Lucretius, Ausonius, and Claudianus ; so the 
 English tongue is mightily enriched and gorgeously invested 
 in rare ornaments and splendid habiliments by Sir Philip 
 Sydney, Spencer, Danial, Drayton, Warner, Shakespeare, 
 Marlow, and Chapman. 
 
 " As the soul of Euphorbus was thought to live in 
 Pythagoras, so the sweet witty soul of Ovid lives in melli- 
 fluous and honey-tongued Shakespeare ; witness his Venus 
 and Adonis, his Lucrece, his sugared sonnets among his 
 private friends, &c. 
 
 " As Plautus and Seneca are accounted the best for 
 comedy and tragedy among the Latins, so Shakespeare 
 among the English is the most excellent in both kinds for 
 the stage. For comedy witness his ' Gentlemen of Verona,' 
 his c Errors,' his ' Love's Labour Lost,' his ' Love's 
 Labour Won,' his ' Midsummer Mght's Dream,' and his 
 ' Merchant of Venice ;' for tragedy his ' Richard II.,' 
 < Richard III.,' ' Henry IV.,' ' King John,' ' Titus 
 Andronicus,' and his ' Romeo and Juliet.' 
 
 " As Epius Stolo said that the Muses would speak with 
 Plautus' tongue if they could speak Latin, so I say the 
 Muses would speak with Shakespeare's fine-filed phrase if 
 they could speak English." 
 
MEMOIR OF SHAKESPEARE. 31 
 
 Thus we find that in the short space of ten years he 
 had climbed from obscurity to the highest position in the 
 literary world ; and in the estimation of men of ability 
 and scholarship rivalled by the splendour of his genius 
 the Greek and Roman glory. He had acquired some 
 fortune too, as well as fame, for in 1597, a year before the 
 above laudation was published, he had purchased for 60 
 one of the best properties in Stratford New Place sub- 
 sequently his dwelling-house and last earthly mansion. 
 This fact forms one of the many proofs we possess of that 
 beautiful trait in his character his extraordinary attach- 
 ment to the tranquil and lovely scenes of his boyhood, an 
 attachment which all the attractions of the city could not 
 sever, the profits of business, nor the allurements of learned 
 or courtly society in any degree abate. That he visited 
 his beloved Stratford yearly is most probable, and in all 
 likelihood was there in 1596 completing the arrangements 
 for the purchase of New Place, which he afterwards 
 ratified. I shall refer to this acquisition more particularly 
 hereafter. 
 
 He had another errand and a more melancholy one to 
 Stratford in that year. Extending his fame and rapidly 
 accumulating an independent fortune, he was not so for- 
 tunate in his domestic affairs. The death of his only son, 
 Hamnet, which took place in August, 1596, must have been 
 a sad visitation. Hamnet was twelve years of age, and 
 being a twin, his decease gave to the old gossips of 
 Warwickshire confirmation, strong as holy writ, in their 
 superstitious belief that when twins are of different sexes 
 one must die before the age of twenty. The generally 
 delicate constitutions of such children, however, sufficiently 
 accounts for their being short-lived. 
 
 Shakespeare was probably present at the funeral of his 
 son, and the event would naturally make a serious im- 
 pression on the mind of such a father, young as he was. 
 It may have first suggested that withdrawal from " clapping 
 theatres and shouting crowds " which he did not however 
 manage to completely effect for seventeen years afterwards ; 
 but being then a man very little more than in the prime of 
 
32 MEMOIR OF SHAKESPEARE. 
 
 life (48), the course lie adopted shows that lie was not one 
 of those worldlings "who think it solitude to be alone." 
 It suggests to me an anxiety to prepare for the termination 
 of his successful life in a befitting manner by keeping him- 
 self "unspotted from the world." 
 
 An additional link now bound him to his dear Stratford. 
 His father and mother lived there, together with his 
 sister Joan ; and as we have no record of his own family 
 ever having been removed from their native town, there 
 also, doubtless, resided his wife and his daughters, and to 
 these ties was added that of his only son's grave. But 
 whilst bound to Stratford by all this family relationship, 
 and no less perhaps by that intense love which he cherished 
 for the beautiful hills of Welcombe and the picturesque 
 valley of the Avon, he slackened not his labours in the only 
 field where they could have been productive. He had had no 
 children for twelve years his hope of direct descent was= 
 gone his only son was gone ; he lived like Burke in an 
 inverted order, but did not give up the pursuits of life in 
 despair or proclaim like the profoundest of statesmen and 
 most persuasive of orators, that " he would not give a pack 
 of refuse wheat for all that is called fame or riches in the 
 world." Shakespeare's mind was cast in a still more 
 philosophic mould. He not only felt his grief like a man, 
 but bore it like one. 
 
 He was at this period a shareholder in, and of course 
 one of the managing body of two theatres. The Black- 
 friars Company, of which he was a member, had built 
 " The Globe," in 1594, on the south bank of the Thames. 
 He was also an actor and author, so that his head and 
 hands were full of business. He had work to do for 
 himself his family, and the world at large. How well 
 he performed it we have ample testimony. His success 
 was great. In the race for fame and fortune his competitors 
 could not be placed. Shakespeare was first and the rest 
 nowhere. 
 
 " When learning's triumph o'er her barb'rous foes 
 First rear'd the stage, in mortal Shakespeare rose." 
 
MEMOIR OF SHAKESPEARE. 3% 
 
 And as lie ascended the British stage rose with him in 
 popularity. " The people of his age," says Howe, " who 
 began to grow wonderfully fond of diversions of this kind, 
 could not but be highly pleased to see a genius rise from 
 among them of so pleasurable, so rich a vein, and so 
 plentifully capable of furnishing their favourite entertain- 
 ments. Besides the advantage of his wit, he was in 
 himself a good-natured man, of great sweetness in his 
 manners, and a most agreeable companion ; so that it is 
 no wonder if, with so many good qualities, he made himself 
 acquainted with the best conversations of those times." 
 Queen Elizabeth had several of his plays acted before her, 
 and without doubt gave him many precious marks of 
 her favour: it is that maiden princess plainly whom he 
 intends by 
 
 " A fair vestal, throned by tlie west." * * * 
 
 She was so well pleased with that admirable character of 
 Falstaff, in the two parts of " Henry IV.," that she com- 
 manded him to continue it for one play more, and to show 
 him in love. This is said to be the occasion of his writing 
 " The Merry Wives of Windsor." How well she was 
 obeyed the play itself is an admirable proof. Upon this 
 occasion, it may not be improper to observe, that this part 
 of Falstaff, said to have been written originally under the 
 name of Oldcastle, some of that family being then remaining, 
 the queen was pleased to command him to alter it, upon 
 which he made use of Falstaff. The present offence was 
 indeed avoided, but I do not know whether the author may 
 not have been somewhat to blame in his second choice, 
 since it is certain that Sir John Falstaff, who was a Knight 
 of the Garter and a Lieutenant- General, was a name of 
 distinguished merit in the wars in France in Henry the 
 Fifth and Henry the Sixth's times. What grace soever 
 the queen conferred upon him, it was not to her only he 
 owed the fortune which the reputation of his wit made. 
 He had the honour to meet with many great and uncommon 
 marks of favour and friendship from the Earl of South- 
 ampton, famous in the histories of that time for his 
 
34 MEMOIR OF SHAKE SPEAEE. 
 
 friendship to the unfortunate Earl of Essex. It was to that 
 noble Lord he dedicated his poem of " Venus and Adonis." 
 There is one instance, so singular in the magnificence of 
 this patron of Shakespeare, that, if I had not been assured 
 that the story was handed down by Sir William Davenant, 
 who was probably very well acquainted with his affairs, I 
 should not have ventured to have asserted that my Lord 
 Southampton at one time gave him a thousand pounds to 
 enable him to go through with a purchase which he had 
 heard he had a mind to a bounty very great and very 
 rare at any time, and almost equal to that profuse generosity 
 the present age hath shown to French dancers and Italian 
 singers. 
 
 The lines containing the compliment to the queen, one 
 of which is quoted above, are in themselves so beautiful, 
 and evince such courtly tact and refined delicacy on the 
 part of the author, that I shall take leave to transcribe the 
 passage in extenso from "A Midsummer Night's Dream," 
 act ii. scene 2. 
 
 Oberon. My gentle Puck, come hither : thou remember' st 
 Since once I sat upon a promontory, 
 And heard a mermaid, on a dolphin's back, 
 Uttering such dulcet and harmonious breath, 
 That the rude sea grew civil at her song ; 
 And certain stars shot madly from their spheres, 
 To hear the sea-maid's music ? 
 
 Puck. I remember. 
 
 Oberon. That very time I saw (but thou could 'st not), 
 Flying between the cold moon and the earth, 
 Cupid all arm'd : a certain aim he took 
 At a fair vestal, throned by the west ; 
 And loos' d his love- shaft smartly from his bow, 
 As it should pierce a hundred thousand hearts : 
 But I might see young Cupid's fiery shaft 
 Quench' d in the chaste beams of the watery moon ; 
 And the imperial votaress passed on, 
 In maiden meditation, fancy-free. 
 
 We will not call the ghosts of Raleigh, Leicester, or 
 Essex into the witness-box on the point of " fancy-free ; " 
 but no compliment could be conceived likely to make a 
 more favourable impression. No poet laureate ever paid a 
 
MEMOIR OF SHAKESPEARE. 35 
 
 tribute to royalty with a nicer perception of character or 
 in diction more beautifully figurative. The royal favour 
 extended by Elizabeth was continued by James, with whom 
 Shakespeare is said to have been on certain terms of inti- 
 macy. The king had been a warm patron of the drama in 
 Scotland, and some biographers believe there is sufficient 
 proof that Shakespeare was one of his " servants " at 
 Aberdeen; and it is certain, on the 17th of May, 1603, only a 
 few days after the king arrived in London, there was issued 
 a patent authorising " these our servants, Lawrence 
 Fletcher, William Shakespeare, Richard Burbage, Augustine 
 Phillippes, John Hemmings, Henrie Condell, William Sly, 
 Robert Armyn, Richard Cowlye, and the rest of their 
 associates, freely to use and exercise the arte and faculty of 
 playing tragedies, histories, interludes, &c., within theire 
 now usuall house called the ' Globe,' within our county of 
 Surrey, as also within anie towne halls, or mouthalls, or 
 other convenient places within the liberties and freedome of 
 any other citie, university, towne, or borough whatsoever 
 within our said realmes and dominions," &c. 
 
 Thus favoured by royal patronage, and commanding the 
 universal suffrages of the people to whom the stage was the 
 grand source of instruction and recreation, he rapidly ac- 
 quired that competency on which depended the time of his 
 retirement to Stratford- on- Avon. We have seen how the 
 first fruits of his industry were devoted to the purchase of 
 New Place, and as some believe to the repairing of his father's 
 broken fortunes, for in the same year John Shakespeare 
 tendered the redemption money, 40, to recover the estate 
 of the Ashbies, a portion of his wife's dowry, which had 
 been mortgaged. 
 
 This circumstance suggests a retrospective glance at the 
 condition of his father's affairs, which are supposed to have 
 been declining for a number of years before his son removed 
 from Stratford. Mr. Knight, who differed from Malone on 
 this point, states the case as follows : " The corporation 
 books have shown that on particular occasions, such as the 
 visitation of the plague, in 1564, John Shakespeare con- 
 tributed like others to the relief of the poor ; but now, in 
 
36 MEMOIR OF SHAKESPEARE. 
 
 January, 1577-8, lie is taxed for the necessities of the 
 borough only to pay half what other aldermen pay, and in 
 November of the same year, whilst other aldermen are 
 assessed to pay 4d. weekly to the relief of the poor, John 
 Shakespeare ' shall not be taxed to pay anything.' In 1579 
 the sum levied upon for providing soldiers at the charge of 
 the borough is returned amongst similar sums of other 
 persons as 'unpaid and unaccounted for.' Finally, this 
 unquestionable evidence of the books of the borough shows 
 that this merciful forbearance of his brother townsmen was 
 unavailing, for in an action brought against him in the 
 Bailiff's Court, in the year 1586, he during these seven 
 years having gone on from bad to worse, the return of the 
 sergeants at mace upon a warrant of distress is that John 
 Shakespeare has nothing upon which distress can be 
 levied. There are other corroborative proofs of John 
 Shakespeare's poverty brought forward by Malone. In 
 the year 1578 he mortgages his wife's inheritance of 
 Ashbies to Edmund Lambert for 40 ; and in the same 
 year the will of Mr. Roger Sadler, of Stratford, to 
 which is subjoined a list of debts due to him, shows that 
 John Shakespeare was indebted to him 5, for which sum 
 Edward Lambert was a security. 'By which,' says Malone, 
 'it appears that John Shakespeare was then considered 
 insolvent, if not as one depending rather on the credit of 
 others than his own.' It is of little consequence to the 
 present age to know whether an alderman of Stratford, 
 nearly three hundred years past, became unequal to main- 
 tain his social position ; but to enable us to form a right 
 estimate of the education of William. Shakespeare, and of 
 the circumstances in which he was placed at the most 
 influential period of his life, it may not be unprofitable to 
 consider how far these revelations of the private affairs of 
 his father support the case which Malone holds he has so 
 triumphantly proved. The documents which he has brought 
 forward certainly do not constitute the whole case, and 
 without lending ourselves to a spirit of advocacy, we believe 
 that the inferences which have been drawn from them, 
 and adopted by men of higher mark than their original 
 
MEMOIR OF SHAKESPEARE. 37 
 
 promulgates, are altogether gratuitous and incongruous. 
 * # # * w e hold, and we think more reasonably, that 
 in 1578, when he mortgaged Ashbies, John Shakespeare 
 became the purchaser, or rather occupier of lands in the 
 parish of Stratford, but not in the borough ; and that in 
 either case the money for which Ashbies was mortgaged 
 was the capital employed in this undertaking. The lands 
 which were purchased by William Shakespeare of the 
 Combe family in 1601, are described in the deed as c lying 
 or being within the parish fields or town of old Stratford ; ' 
 but the will of William Shakespeare, he having become 
 the heir at law of his father, devises all his lands and 
 tenements within the towns, hamlets, villages, fields, and 
 grounds of Stratford-upon-Avon, Old Stratford, Bishopton, 
 and Welcombe. Old Stratford is a local denomination 
 essentially different from Bishopton or Welcombe ; and 
 therefore whilst the lands purchased by the son in 1601 
 might be those recited in the will as lying in Old Stratford, 
 he might have devised from his father the lands of Bishop- 
 ton and Welcombe, of the purchase of which by himself 
 we have no record. So in the same way the tenements 
 referred to by the will as being in Stratford-upon-Avon, 
 comprised not only the great house (New Place) purchased 
 by him, but the freeholds in Henley Street, which he 
 inherited from his father. Indeed it is expressly stated in 
 the document 1596, a memorandum upon the grant of 
 arms in the Heralds' College to John Shakespeare, ' he 
 hath lands and tenements of good wealth and substance 
 500.' The lands of Bishopton and Welcombe are in 
 the parish of Stratford, but not in the borough. Bishop- 
 ton was a hamlet, having an ancient chapel of ease. 
 We hold then that in the year 1571, John Shakespeare, 
 ceased, though perhaps not wholly so, to reside within the 
 Borough of Stratford. Other aldermen are rated to pay 
 towards the furniture of pikemen, billmen, and archers, six 
 shillings and eightpence ; whilst John Shakespeare is to 
 pay three shillings and fourpence. Why less than other 
 aldermen ? The next entry but one, which relates to a 
 brother alderman, answers the question : ' Robert Pratt, 
 
38 MEMOIR OF SHAKESPEAEE. 
 
 notJimg m THIS PLACE.' Again, ten months after, c it is 
 ordained that every alderman shall pay weekly towards 
 the relief of the poor, fonrpence, save John Shakespeare 
 and Robert Pratt, who shall not be taxed to pay anything.' 
 Here John Shakespeare is associated with Robert Pratt, 
 who, according to the previous entry, was to pay nothing 
 in this place ; that is in the Borongh of Stratford, to which 
 the orders of the Council alone apply. The return in 
 1579, of Mr. Shakespeare as leaving unpaid the sum of 
 three shillings and three pence, was the return upon a 
 Company for the Borough, in which, although the possessor 
 of property, he might have ceased to reside. Seven years 
 after this conies the celebrated return to the warrant of 
 distress, that John Shakespeare has nothing to distrain 
 upon. The jurisdiction of the bailiff's court of Stratford 
 is wholly confined to the Borough ; and out of the Borough 
 the officers could not go. We have traced the course of 
 this action in the bailiff's books of Stratford, beyond the 
 entries which Malone gives us. It continued before the 
 court for nearly five months ; proceeding after proceeding 
 being taken upon it, with a pertinacity upon the part of the 
 defendant which appears more like the dogged resistance 
 of a wealthy man to a demand which he thought unjust, 
 than that of a man in the depths of poverty, seeking to 
 evade payment which must be ultimately enforced by the 
 seizure of his goods, or by a prison. 
 
 But at the Hall on the 6th of September, in the 28th of 
 Elizabeth, is this entry : ' At this Hall William Smythe, 
 and Richard Courte are chosen to be Aldermen in the 
 place of John Wheler and John Shaxpere ; for that Mr. 
 Wheler doth desyer to be put out of the Company, and Mr. 
 Shaxpere doth not come to the Hall when they be warned, 
 nor hath not done of long tyme.' Is it not more credible that 
 from the year 1579 till the year 1586, when he was removed 
 from the Corporation, in all probability by his own consent, 
 John Shakespeare was not dwelling in the Borough of Strat- 
 ford ; that he had ceased to take an interest in its affairs, 
 although he was unwilling to forego its dignities, than that 
 during these seven years he was struggling with hopeless 
 
MEMOIR OF SHAKESPEARE. 39 
 
 poverty ; that lie allowed his brother aldermen and burgesses 
 to sit in judgment on his means of paying the assessments 
 of the Borough ; that they consented to reduce and alto- 
 gether to discharge his assessments, although he was the 
 undoubted possessor of property within the Borough ; that 
 he proclaimed his poverty in the most abject manner, and 
 proclaimed it untruly whilst he held any property at all, 
 and his lands were mortgaged for a very inadequate sum, 
 when the first object of an embarrassed man would have 
 been to have upheld his credit by making an effort to meet 
 every public demand ? " 
 
 Whether the reader rejects Mr. Malone's conclusion, 
 or, taking the number of facts that seem to point in the 
 same direction, regards Mr. Knight's argument as a 
 piece of clever special pleading to save the father of his 
 hero from being classed amongst paupers,- the question is 
 interesting and important, as bearing not only on Shake- 
 speare's education but his motive for leaving Stratford, and 
 the position he is likely to have taken up on arriving in 
 London. 
 
 John Shakespeare's was not like ours, a fast age ; 
 fortunes were not lost and won, nor are they now, rapidly 
 in country villages, and the proceedings which he un- 
 doubtedly took in relation to the grant of arms, are 
 certainly favourable to the view Mr. Knight adopts. 
 
 It has not been established to universal satisfaction that 
 John Shakespeare obtained a " grant of arms" while he 
 was bailiff of Stratford, but he certainly applied for this 
 heraldic honour in 1596, and is at that period described as 
 a man having lands and tenements of good wealth and 
 substance of the value of 500 ; and in the following year, 
 that in which Shakespeare purchased New Place, this grant 
 was conceded, and in 1599, on application, another grant 
 was made, authorising the arms of Shakespeare to be im- 
 paled with those of Arden. This latter application is 
 believed to have been made at the instigation of the 
 successful dramatic author and theatrical manager, whose 
 profession of an actor would have operated fatally against 
 any petition he might have presented to " Garter." 
 
40 MEMOIR OF SHAKESPEARE. 
 
 Shakespeare's father was evidently in comfortable cir- 
 cumstances at this period, but did not long survive such 
 comfort as "grants of arms" could give to his declining 
 years, for he died in September, 1601. Mary Arden, his 
 wife, lived seven years after him, dying also in September, 
 1608. Their famous son was then an independent man. 
 He had purchased and repaired the great house New 
 Place, a title not given to it by him, as generally 
 believed. It is so called in the survey made in 1590. To 
 this possession he added in 1602, four yard lands (107 
 acres), in the Stratford fields, which he purchased for 320. 
 All this property was sold to Sir Edward Walker, Knight, 
 " Principall Garter, King at Armes, ' ' for 1060. Shakespeare 
 also purchased a house in Blackfriars for 140, and he was 
 the owner at the time of his death of three other houses 
 (two of them freehold and one copyhold) in Stratford. 
 The lease of the moiety of the great and small tithes he 
 purchased in 1605 for 440. To the incomes arising from 
 these properties may be added at least 150 per annum 
 from the theatre, and it has been calculated that his personal 
 property was worth 500. The favourite of the Muses, 
 and the darling of fortune, he ought to have been a happy 
 man, and he doubtless was as much so as the majority of 
 mortals. But as we hear throughout all his married life 
 nothing whatever of his wife as the commencement of that 
 relationship was inauspicious, and as it is clear he could 
 not have forgotten his own case when he wrote in " Twelfth 
 Night " 
 
 " Let still the woman take 
 An elder than herself; so wears she to him 
 So sways she level to her husband's heart," 
 
 it is feared there was an incompatibility between the gentle 
 Anne and sweet Will not conducive to domestic felicity. 
 There is no positive proof, however, of this misfortune, and 
 if it existed he was a man " whose blood and judgment 
 were so well commingled " that he was not likely to have 
 permitted it to weigh unduly on the heart. 
 
 That his mind's eye was turned steadily towards Strat- 
 ford from the time he acquired possession of New Place there 
 
MEMOIR OF SHAKE SPEAEE. 41 
 
 can be no question, and that he visited it frequently after- 
 wards seems equally certain. Of his way of life in London we 
 know little. It is stated that in 1598 he resided in St. 
 Helen's, offBishopsgate Street. He appears in that year at 
 the top of the cast of Ben Jonson's comedy, " Every Man in 
 his Humour." He was a member of the Mermaid Club 
 an eminent resort of the day, founded by Walter Raleigh. 
 Brilliant, no doubt, were the dialectical encounters amongst 
 the gifted habitues of the place. Of the relative powers 
 and merits of the two dramatists of the day, the following 
 description is given by Thomas Fuller in the succeeding 
 generation : " Many were the wit combats between him 
 (Shakespeare) and Ben Jonson, which two I behold like 
 a Spanish great galleon and an English man-of-war. 
 Master Jonson, like the former, was built far higher in 
 learning, solid but slow in his performances ; Shakespeare, 
 with the English man-of-war, lesser in bulk but lighter in 
 sailing, could turn with all tides, tack about and take 
 advantage of all winds by the quickness of his wit and 
 invention." 
 
 But neither the profits nor pleasures of the theatre, "the 
 feast of reason," nor "the flow of soul" could wean him from 
 the richly-clad hills and flowery vales of Warwickshire, 
 where, "exempt from public haunt," he, if ever man did, 
 " found tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, 
 sermons in stones, and good in everything." In June, 1607, 
 Susanna-, his eldest daughter was married, at the age of 
 twenty-five, to Mr. John Hall, physician, of great repu- 
 tation and extensive practice at Stratford. Dr. Hall, we are 
 also told, was a scholar of more than ordinary attainments ; 
 " he had been a traveller " too, and being at the time of his 
 marriage only thirty-two years of age, the union with 
 Susanna Shakespeare, " witty above her sex," was a 
 suitable and auspicious one. 
 
 His permanent residence at Stratford was certainly 
 taken up in 1613, if not much sooner. That he had busi- 
 ness transactions there for many years previously is proved 
 by his suing, as recorded, Philip Rogers, to recover the sum 
 of 1 15s. 10d., due for malt sold and delivered at several 
 
42 MEMOIR OF SHAKESPEARE. 
 
 times ; and in 1609, John Addenbroke, for a debt of 6 and 
 costs, in which case he obtained a verdict. It would 
 appear that he had long previously ceased to be " a motley 
 to the view," for we have no record of his acting after 1603, 
 when he played in Ben Jonson's tragedy of " Sejanus." 
 In the month of March, 1612-13, he is in London, but 
 apparently only for a short time on business. At that date 
 he purchased a house with ground attached near the 
 Blackfriars Theatre. In the indenture of the conveyance 
 of this property he is described as William Shakespeare, 
 of Stratford-upon-Avon. 
 
 In 1613, how long soever he may have been previously 
 settled in Stratford, he certainly terminated his connection 
 with London Theatres. The year is memorable as that in 
 which the Globe Theatre, founded in 1593, and built for 
 the most part of wood, was destroyed by fire. The loss 
 Shakespeare sustained by the accident (if any) has not 
 been ascertained. Most probably he had a portion of his 
 wardrobe and precious MSS. stored in the building. If 
 so, it was indeed a calamitous burning. 
 
 On the 9th July, 1614, a similar but much more exten- 
 sive disaster took place in Stratford. On that day a 
 dreadful fire broke out, and " within the space of less than 
 two houres consumed and burnt fifty and foure Dwelling 
 Houses, many of them being very faire houses besides 
 Barnes, Stables and other Houses of office, together with 
 great store of Corne, Hay, Straw, Wood and Timber' therein, 
 amounting to the value of Eight Thousand pounds and 
 upwards." A few months following this catastrophe an 
 attempt was made to enclose some of the Common lands in 
 the neighbourhood of Welcombe. The project was opposed 
 by the Corporation, on the ground that the inhabitants of 
 Stratford had recently suffered from a disastrous fire and 
 would be still further endamaged by the carrying out of 
 this measure. It seems to have been one of those conflicts 
 between the interests and opinions of the town and the 
 country, which occur occasionally in most places, not 
 excepting Stratford, until this day. Shakespeare, who 
 had a deep interest in opposing the scheme, took very 
 
MEMOIR OF SHAKE SPEARE. 43 
 
 prudential means to preserve Ms property from injury by 
 it. The Corporation sent their clerk, Thomas Greene, to 
 London, with a petition to the Privy Council, the prayer of 
 which was granted four years afterwards, and the work of 
 the enclosure, which had been in the meantime accom- 
 plished, was ordered to be undone. It was in connection 
 with this business that Shakespeare is believed to have paid 
 his last visit to London. Greene, who claimed relationship 
 with the great poet, has left a memorandum, under 
 date 17th November, 1614, recording that his cousin 
 Shakespeare coming to town the previous day he went to 
 see him. 
 
 The events of his life during the last seven or eight 
 years are principally marked by lawsuits, and births, mar- 
 riages, and deaths in connection with his family. His 
 brother Edmund died in London, December, 1607, and 
 was buried at St. Saviour's, Southwark. On the 21st of 
 February, 1607-8, Elizabeth, the only daughter of John 
 Hall and Susanna Shakespeare, was baptized at Stratford ; 
 and a few months afterwards, as mentioned above, the poet 
 lost his mother. These events, and a chancery suit in 
 which he became involved connected with the tithes he had 
 purchased, but of which little is known, except that he 
 was one of three plaintiffs in the proceedings, may have 
 disturbed occasionally the serenity of his temper and tran- 
 quillity of life ; but, on the whole, we have reason to believe 
 that, blessed with means sufficient for his condition, he 
 spent the evening of life in the quiet pursuits of the field, 
 in literary recreation, and social enjoyment. 
 
 On the 10th February, 1616, his youngest daughter, 
 Judith, was married to Thomas Quiney, vintner and wine 
 merchant, at Stratford. On the 25th of the next month 
 Shakespeare executed his will. It appears, however, to 
 have been drawn prior to the marriage, as the original 
 date was Viceswno quinto die Januarii, altered afterwards to 
 Vicesimo quinto die Martii. He declares himself to be in 
 perfect health and memory, and within one month of this 
 declaration " angels had winged him to his rest." He died 
 on the 23rd of April (his birth-day), 1616. 
 
44 MEMOIR OF SHAKESPEARE. 
 
 However uninformed of many things concerning him, an 
 account of his fatal illness might have been expected to be 
 on record, faithfully and in full, for his son-in-law, the 
 principal physician of the town, kept memoranda of the 
 cases he attended ; but from the beginning to the end of 
 this wonderful man's life, where we desire particularity of 
 information and trustworthy authority, we are obliged 
 to be contented with generality and hearsay. The earliest 
 case in the only forthcoming note book of Dr. Hall is 
 date 1617, a year after Shakespeare's death. 
 
 Deprived of that which would have been satisfactory 
 evidence, the Rev. John Ward, who was a vicar of Strat- 
 ford in the seventeenth century, kept a diary, now in the 
 library of the Medical Society in London, which contains 
 the following passage: "I have heard that Mr. Shakespeare 
 was a natural wit, without any art at all ; he frequented the 
 plays all his younger time, but in his elder days lived in 
 Stratford, and supplied the stage with two plays every 
 year, and for itt had an allowance so large that he spent att 
 the rate of 1,000 a year, as I have heard. Shakespeare, 
 Drayton, and Ben Jons on had a merrie meeting, and it 
 seems drank too hard, for Shakespeare died of a feavour 
 there contracted." A visit to Shakespeare from two such 
 " cronies " is likely enough ; and that one of them was 
 a " drouthie " one is well known ; but the reader who 
 may be aware of the curse of villages idle tattle, tale 
 bearing, and petty scandals will receive the story cum 
 grano salis. 
 
 On the 25th April, 1616, the mortal coil which the 
 mighty soul of Shakespeare had shuffled off was borne to its 
 last resting place, on the north side of the chancel of the 
 Church of the Holy Trinity, Stratford-upon-Avon. There, 
 under a flat stone, which ought to be better protected, it 
 mingles with its kindred dust. The epitaph is as follows : 
 
 " GOOD FREND FOR JeSUS SAKE FORBEARS 
 To DIGG THE DUST ENCLOASED heare 
 
 BLESTE be ye man yt spares THES stones 
 AND CURST be he yt MOVES my bones." 
 
V 
 
 STRATFORD ON AVON CHURCH. 
 
MEMOIR OF SHAKESPEARE. 45 
 
 The celebrated monument or bust is erected against the 
 wall, immediately above the grave. It is believed to have 
 been executed by Gerard Johnson, very shortly after the 
 poet's death. Leonard Digges refers to it clearly in the 
 following lines of his verses, prefixed to the folio edition of 
 the poet's works, published in 1623 : 
 
 " Shake-speare, at length thy pious fellowes giue 
 The world thy Workes : thy Workes, by which out-liue 
 Thy Tombe, thy name must : when that stone is rent, 
 And Time dissolues thy Stratford Moniment." 
 
 The bust is considered the most authentic likeness extant ; 
 beneath is the following inscription : 
 
 " Judicio Pylium, genio Socratem, arte Maronem, 
 Terra tegit, populus maeret (moeret) Olympus habet." * 
 
 " Stay, Passenger, why goest thou so fast ? 
 Bead, if thou canst, whom envious Death hath plast 
 Within this monument. SHAKESPEARE with whome 
 Quick nature dide : whose name doth deck ye tombe 
 Far more than cost ; sith all yt he hath writt 
 Leaves living Art but page to serve his Witt 
 
 " Obiit Ano Doi 1616 
 " -ffltatis 53, die 23 Ap." 
 
 On Shakespeare's character as a man I have no in- 
 tention of expatiating, but may be permitted to remind the 
 reader that all we positively know of him, with the 
 exception of the circumstance in connection with his 
 marriage, is in his favour. That error he did all that an 
 honourable man could do to correct, and when extreme 
 youth is taken into due consideration, the offence will not 
 be regarded as one excluding him from absolution. Of the 
 deer stealing accusation we have no proof. That nothing 
 of the kind ever occurred with him I will not take upon 
 me to assert. There may have been some foundation for 
 the story, but it is scarcely to be placed above the category 
 of " the three black crows." I am satisfied that he 
 must have been intensely industrious in his youth. When 
 
 * The earth, covers, mankind mourns, Olympus holds, a Nestor in clearness 
 of intellect, a Socrates in intuitive talent, a Virgil in elegance of style. 
 
46 MEMOIR OF SHAKESPEARE. 
 
 as an actor and manager he wrote plays in London lie had 
 no time for reading or study. The vast stores of his 
 mind's common place book were ample for his require- 
 ments, and in laying up the mass of information he 
 possessed, I feel assured that, " like the spirit of a 
 youth that meant to be of note, he began betimes," 
 and if the whole truth were known, instead of our 
 knowledge of his early manhood being confined to an 
 improbable, unauthenticated, and discreditable story, we 
 would be informed that even then his name was " great in 
 mouths of wisest censure." Chettle says of him in London, 
 " Myselfe have seene his demeanor no lesse civill than he 
 excelent in the qualitie he professes ; Besides divers of 
 worship have reported his uprightness of dealing, which 
 argues his honesty and his facetious grace in writting, 
 that approoves his art." And not only was he an in- 
 dustrious man of business-like habits, of "civill demeanor," 
 and " uprightness," but appears to have been a generous 
 man, as the following letter (the only one of all he received 
 which we possess: now to be seen at the Birthplace) would 
 seem to prove : 
 
 " Loveinge Contreyman, I am bold of yow, as of a ffrende, 
 craveinge yowr helpe with xxxli uppon Mr. Bushells and my securytee 
 or Mr. Myttons with. me. Mr. Rosswell is nott come to London as 
 yeate, and I have speciall cawse. You shall ffrende me muche in 
 helpeinge me out of all the debettes I owe in London, I thanck 
 God, and muche quiete my mynde, which wolde not be indebeted. 
 I am nowe towardes the Cowrte in hope of answer for the dispatche 
 of my buysenes. You shall nether loose creddytt nor monney by me, 
 the Lorde wyllinge ; and nowe but perswade yowrselfe soe as I hope, 
 and yow shall nott need to feare, but with all heartie thanckefullnes 
 I wyll holde my tyme and content 1 yowr ffreende and yf we bargaine 
 farther yow shal be the paiemaster yowrself. My tyme biddes me 
 hasten to an ende ande soe I committ thys (to) your care and hope of 
 yowr helpe. I fear I shall nott be backe thys night ffrom the Cowrte. 
 Haste. The Lorde be with yow and with us all, Amen ! ffrom the 
 Bell in Carter Lane, the 25th Oct., 1598. 
 
 " Yours in all kyndenes, 
 
 "RYC. QUYNEY. 
 
 " To my loveinge good flrende and contreyman Mr. Win. Shakespere 
 deliver thees." 
 
MEMOIR OF SHAKESPEARE. 47 
 
 That he was a loving good friend may be readily believed, 
 and those who judge from positive fact, rejecting baseless 
 rumour, must be satisfied with his character. 
 
 Seven years after Shakespeare's death, in 1623, the 
 players, Heminge and Condell, mentioned in his will as 
 " my fellows," published the first complete edition of his 
 plays, and the same year Mrs. Shakespeare died, aged 
 67. The eldest daughter, Susanna, married, as above- 
 mentioned, Dr. Hall. Their only child, Elizabeth, was 
 married to Thomas Nash, son of Anthony Nash, Esq., of 
 Welcombe, and afterwards to Sir John Barnard, Knight, of 
 Abington, in Northamptonshire ; but she died 1669-70 
 without issue by either husband. Judith, who married 
 Mr. Thomas Quiney, had three sons, who all died unmarried. 
 Thus in the direct line Shakespeare's family became extinct 
 in the second generation. 
 
 Respecting his works, the following is the order in 
 which Mr. Malone, who gave much attention to the sub- 
 ject, believed they had been produced : 
 
 1. Titus Andronicus 1589 
 
 2. Love's Labour Lost ... ... ... 1591 
 
 3. First Part of King Henry VI 1591 
 
 4. Second Part of King Henry YI 1592 
 
 5. Third Part of King Henry YI 1592 
 
 6. The Two Gentlemen of Yerona 1593 
 
 7. The Winter's Tale 1594 
 
 8. A Midsummer Night's Dream ... ... 1595 
 
 9. Borneo and Juliet ... ... ... ... 1595 
 
 10. The Comedy of Errors 1596 
 
 11. Hamlet 1596 
 
 12. King John 1596 
 
 13. KingEichardll 1597 
 
 14. King Eichard III 1597 
 
 15. First Part of King Henry IY 1597 
 
 16. The Merchant of Yenice 1598 
 
 17. All's Well that Ends Well 1598 
 
 18. Second Part of King Henry IY 1598 
 
 19. King Henry Y 1599 
 
 20. Much Ado about Nothing 1600 
 
 21. As You Like It 1600 
 
 22. Merry Wives of Windsor 1601 
 
 23. King Henry VIII 1601 
 
48 MEMOIR OF SHAKESPEARE. 
 
 24. Troilus and Cressida 1602 
 
 25. Measure for Measure ... ... ... 1603 
 
 26. Cymbeline 1604 
 
 27. King Lear 1605 
 
 28. Macbeth 1606 
 
 29. The Taming of the Shrew ... ... 1606 
 
 30. Julius Caesar 1607 
 
 31. Antony and Cleopatra 1608 
 
 32. Coriolanus 1609 
 
 33. Timon of Athens 1610 
 
 34. Othello 1611 
 
 35. The Tempest 1612 
 
 36. Twelfth Night 1614 
 
 Augustus William Schlegel, who, at the end of the last 
 century, gave his countrymen a splendid translation of 
 Shakespeare, and thereby naturalised the works of the 
 English dramatist in Grermany, took so just a view and 
 gave so clear an exposition of his fame, genius, and 
 marvellous creations, and the beauties of his style, that I 
 shall be excused for quoting from it here at some length, 
 as the most appropriate conclusion to this memoir : 
 
 " Shakespeare/' says Schlegel, " is the pride of his nation. A late 
 poet has with propriety called him the genius of the British isles. He 
 was the idol of his contemporaries ; and after the interval of puritanical 
 fanaticism which commenced in a succeeding age and put an end to 
 everything like liberal knowledge ; after the reign of Charles the 
 Second, during which his works were either not acted or very much 
 disfigured, his fame began to revive with more than its original bright- 
 ness ; towards the beginning of the last century and since that period 
 it has increased with the progress of time and for centuries to come 
 I speak with the greatest confidence it will continue to gather 
 strength like an Alpine avalance, at every period of its descent. Aa 
 an important earnest of the future extension of his fame, we may 
 allude to the enthusiasm with which he was naturalised in Germany 
 the moment that he was known. The language, and the impossibility 
 of translating him with fidelity, will be ever, perhaps, an invincible 
 obstacle to his general diffusion in the south of Europe. In England the 
 greatest actors vie with each other in the characters of Shakespeare ; 
 the* printers in splendid editions of his works ; and the painters in 
 transferring his scenes to the canvas. Like Dante, Shakespeare has 
 received the indispensable but cumbersome honour of being treated 
 like a. classical author of antiquity. * * * 
 
MEMOIR OF SHAKESPEARE. 49 
 
 "To me Shakespeare appears a profound artist, and not a 
 blind and wildly luxuriant genius. In such, poets as are usually 
 considered careless pupils of nature I have always found, on a 
 closer examination, when they have produced works of real excellence, 
 a distinguished cultivation of the mental powers, practice in art, and 
 views worthy in themselves, and maturely considered. That idea of 
 poetic inspiration which many lyric poets have brought into vogue, as 
 if they were not in their senses, and like Pythia, when possessed by 
 the divinity, delivered oracles unintelligible to themselves, is least of 
 all applicable to dramatic composition one of the productions of the 
 human mind which requires the greatest exercise of thought. It is 
 admitted that Shakespeare reflected and deeply reflected on character 
 and passion, on the progress of events and human destinies, on the 
 human constitution, on all things and relations of this world ; so that 
 it was only respecting the structure of his own pieces that he had no 
 thought to spare. Shakespeare's knowledge of mankind has become 
 proverbial ; in this his superiority is so great that he has justly been 
 called the master of the human heart. His characters appear neither 
 to do nor say anything on account of the spectator ; and yet the poet 
 by means of the exhibition itself, without any subsidiary explanation, 
 enables us to look into the inmost recesses of their minds. How each 
 man is constituted Shakespeare reveals to us in the most immediate 
 manner. He demands and obtains our belief even for what is singular 
 and deviates from the ordinary course of nature. Never, perhaps, was 
 so comprehensive a talent for characterisation possessed by any other 
 man. It not only grasps the diversities of rank, sex, and age, down to 
 the dawnings of infancy ; not only do his kings and beggars, heroes 
 and pickpockets, sages and fools, speak and act with equal truth ; not 
 only have his human characters such depth and comprehension that 
 they cannot be ranged under classes and are inexhaustible, even in 
 conception ; but he opens the gates of the magic world of spirits, calls 
 up the midnight ghost, exhibits witches amidst their unhallowed 
 mysteries, peoples the air with sportive fairies and sylphs ; and these 
 beings existing only in imagination, possess such truth and consistency 
 that even in the case of deformed monsters like Caliban he extorts the 
 conviction that if there should be such beings they would so conduct 
 themselves. If the delineation of all his characters separately taken is 
 inimitably correct he surpasses even himself in so combining and con- 
 trasting them, that they serve to bring out each other. No one ever 
 paintedas he has done the facility of self-deception, the half self-conscious 
 hypocrisy towards ourselves, with which even noble minds attempt to 
 disguise the almost inevitable influence of selfish motives on human 
 nature. Shakespeare's comic talent is equally wonderful with his 
 pathetic and tragic. He is highly inventive in comic situations and 
 motives ; it will be hardly possible to show whence he has taken any 
 of them. His comic characterisation is equally true, various, and 
 profound with his serious. The language is here and there somewhat 
 
 D 
 
50 MEMOIE OF SHAKE SPEAEE. 
 
 obsolete, but much, less so than that of most of the writers of his day 
 a sufficient proof of the goodness of his choice. He drew his language 
 immediately from life, and possessed a masterly skill in blending the 
 element of dialogue with the highest poetical elevation. Certain 
 eritics say that Shakespeare is frequently ungrammatical. To prove 
 this assertion they must show that similar constructions do not occur 
 in his contemporaries ; but the direct contrary can be established. In 
 no language is everything determined upon principle ; much is always 
 left to the caprice of custom, and because this has changed is the poet 
 answerable for it ? In general, Shakespeare's style yet remains the very 
 best model, both in the vigorous and the sublime, the pleasing and the 
 tender. The verse of all his plays is generally the rhymeless iambic 
 of ten or eleven syllables, occasionally intermixed with rhymes, but 
 more frequently alternating with prose. No one piece is wholly 
 written in prose, for even in those which approach the most to the 
 pure comedy there is always something added which elevates them to 
 a higher rank than belongs to this class. In the use of verse and 
 prose Shakespeare observes very nice distinctions, according to the 
 rank of the speakers, but still more according to their characters and 
 dispositions. His iambics are sometimes highly harmonious and full 
 sounding, always varied and suitable to the subject ; they are at one 
 time distinguished for ease and rapidity ; at another they move along 
 with mighty energy. All Shakespeare's productions bear the stamp 
 of his original genius ; but no writer was ever farther removed from a 
 manner acquired from habit and personal peculiarities." 
 
 SHAKESPEARE'S WILL. 
 
 Whilst confessing a Ml appreciation of the value of the 
 entries in the register, Shakespeare's will must be admitted 
 to be the most interesting, trustworthy, important, and 
 altogether the most valuable document we possess relating 
 to the illustrious poet. It consists of three sheets of brief 
 paper. By the direction of the present Judge of the 
 Court of Probate, it has been very carefully cleaned and 
 each sheet placed in an elaborately-polished oak frame, 
 between sheets of plate glass. The frames are made air- 
 tight, and on the top of each is a brass plate, engraved 
 " Shakespeare's Will, 25th March, 1616," and each one is 
 fastened with one of Chubb's patent locks. This excellent 
 plan prevents its being handled when shown to the public, 
 and will very much add to its preservation. It is drawn in 
 % the following terms : 
 
MEMOIR OF SHAKESPEARE. 51 
 
 " Vicesimo quinto die Martii, Anno Regni Domini nostri Jacobi 
 nunc Regis Anglise, &c., decimo quarto, et Scotise xlix o. Annoque 
 Domini 1616. 
 
 " In the name of God. Amen. I, William Shakespeare, of 
 Stratford-upon-Avon, in the county of Warwick, gent., in perfect 
 health and memory (God be praised), do make and ordain this my 
 last will and testament in manner and form following ; that is to say : 
 
 " First. I commend my soul into the hands of God my Creator, 
 hoping and assuredly believing through the only merits of Jesus 
 Christ my Saviour to be made partaker of life everlasting j and my 
 body to the earth whereof that is made. 
 
 " Item. I give and bequeath unto my daughter Judith one 
 hundred and fifty pounds of lawful English money, to be paid unto 
 her in manner and form following ; that is to say, one hundred pounds 
 in discharge of her marriage portion, within one year after my 
 decease, with considerations after the rate of two shillings in the 
 pound for so long a time as the same shall be unpaid unto her after 
 my decease ; and the fifty pounds residue thereof, upon her surrendering 
 of or giving of such sufficient security as the overseers of this my will 
 shall like of, to surrender or grant all her estate and right that shall 
 descend or come unto her after my decease, or that she now hath of, 
 in or to one copyhold tenement, with the appurtenances, lying and 
 being in Stratford-upon-Avon aforesaid, in the said county of 
 Warwick, being parcel or holden of the Manor of Eowington, unto my 
 daughter Susanna Hall and her heirs for ever. 
 
 " Item. I give and bequeath unto my said daughter Judith, one 
 hundred and fifty pounds more if she or any issue of her body be 
 living at the end of three years next ensuing the day of the date of 
 this my will, during which time my executors to pay her con- 
 sideration, from my decease, according to the rate aforesaid; and if 
 she die within the said term without issue of her body, then my will is 
 and I do give and bequeath one hundred pounds thereof to my niece 
 Elizabeth Hall, and the fifty pounds to be set forth by my executors 
 during the life of my sister Joan Harte, and the use and profit thereof 
 coming shall be paid to my said sister Joan, and after her decease 
 the said fifty pounds shall remain among the children of my said 
 sister, equally to be divided amongst them ; but if my said daughter 
 Judith be living at the end of the said three years, or any issue of her 
 body, then my will is and so I devise and bequeath the said hundred 
 and fifty pounds to be set out by my executors and overseers for the 
 best benefit of her and her issue, and the stock not to be paid unto 
 her so long as she shall be married and covert baron ; but my will is 
 that she shall have the consideration yearly paid unto her during her 
 life, and after her decease the said stock and consideration to be paid to 
 her children, if she have any, and if not, to her executors and assigns, 
 she living the said term after my decease ; provided that if such hug- 
 
52 MEMOIR OF SHAKESPEARE . 
 
 band as she shall at the end of the said three years be married unto, 
 or at and after do sufficiently assure unto her and the issue of her 
 body, land answerable to the portion by this my will given unto her, 
 and to be adjudged so by my executors and overseers, then my will 
 is that the said hundred and fifty pounds shall be paid to such husband 
 as shall make such assurance, to his own use. 
 
 " Item. I give and bequeath unto my said sister Joan twenty 
 pounds and all my wearing apparel, to be paid and delivered within 
 one year after my decease; and I do will and devise unto her the 
 house with the appurtenances, in Stratford, wherein she dwelleth, for 
 her natural life, under the yearly value of twelve pence. 
 
 " Item. I give and bequeath unto her three sons, William Hart, 
 Thomas Hart (christian name omitted , in the original will), and 
 Michael Hart, five pounds a piece, to be paid within one year after 
 my decease. 
 
 " Item. I give and bequeath unto the said Elizabeth Hall, all my 
 plate that I now have, except my broad silver and gilt boxes, at the 
 date of this my will. 
 
 " Item. I give and bequeath unto the poor of Stratford aforesaid 
 ten pounds; to Mr. Thomas Combe my sword; to Thomas Russel, Esq., 
 five pounds ; and to Francis Collins, of the Borough of Warwick, in 
 the County of Warwick, gent., thirteen pounds six shillings and eight 
 pence, to be paid within one year after my decease. 
 
 "Item. I give and bequeath to Hamlet (Hamnet) Sadler 
 twenty-six shillings eight pence to buy him a ring; to William 
 Reynolds, gent., twenty- six shillings eight pence to buy him a ring ; 
 to my god-son, William Walker, twenty shillings in gold ; to Anthony 
 Nash, gent., twenty- six shillings eight pence ; to Mr. John Nash 
 twenty-six shillings eight pence ; and to my fellows, John Heminge, 
 Richard Burbage, and Henry Condell, twenty-six shillings eight 
 pence a piece to buy them rings. 
 
 " Item. I give, will, bequeath, and devise unto my daughter 
 Susanna Hall, for the better enabling of her to perform this my 
 will, and towards the performance thereof, all that capital messuage 
 or tenement, with the appurtenances, in Stratford aforesaid, called 
 The New Place, wherein I now dwell, and two messuages or tenements, 
 with the appurtenances, situate, lying, and being in Henley Street, 
 within the borough of Stratford aforesaid ; and all my barns, stables, 
 orchards, gardens, lands, tenements, and hereditaments whatsoever, 
 situate, lying, and being, or to be had, reserved, preserved, or taken, 
 within towns, hamlets, villages, fields, and grounds of Stratford-upon- 
 Avon, Old Stratford, Bushaxton, and Welcombe, or in any of them, in the 
 said county of Warwick ; and also all that messuage or tenement, 
 With the appurtenances, wherein one John Robinson dwelleth, situate, 
 lying, and being in the Blackfriars, in London, near the Wardrobe ; 
 and all other my lands, tenements, and hereditaments whatsoever, to 
 have and to hold all and singular the said premises, with their ap- 
 
MEMOIR OF SHAKESPEARE. 53 
 
 purtenances, nnto the said Susanna Hall, for and during the term of 
 her natural life ; and after her decease to the first son of her body 
 lawfully issuing, and to the heirs males of the body of the said first 
 son lawfully issuing ; and for default of such issue to the second son 
 of her body lawfully issuing, and to the heirs males of the body of the 
 said second son lawfully issuing ; and for default of such heirs to the 
 third son of the body of the said Susanna lawfully issuing, and of 
 the heirs males of the body of the said third son lawfully issuing ; and 
 for default of such issue the same to be and to remain to the fourth, fifth, 
 sixth, and seventh sons of her body lawfully issuing, one after another, 
 and to the heirs males of the bodies of the said fourth, fifth, sixth, and 
 seventh sons lawfully issuing, in such manner as it is before limited 
 to be, and remain to the first, second, and third sons of her body, and 
 to their heirs males ; and for default of such issue, the said premises 
 to be and to remain to my said niece Hall, and the heirs males of her 
 body lawfully issuing ; and for default of such issue, to my daughter 
 Judith, and the heirs males of her body lawfully issuing ; and for 
 default of such issue, to the right heirs of me, the said William 
 Shakespeare, for ever. 
 
 "Item. I give unto my wife my second best bed, with the 
 furniture. 
 
 "Item. I give and bequeath to my said daughter Judith my 
 brown silver gilt bowl. All the rest of my goods, chattels, leases, 
 plate, jewels, and household stuff whatsoever, after my debts and 
 legacies paid and my funeral expenses discharged, I give, devise, 
 and bequeath to my son-in-law, John Hall, gent., and my daughter, 
 Susanna, his wife, who I ordain and make executors of this my last 
 will and testament. And I do entreat and appoint the said Thomas 
 Eussel, Esq., and Francis Collins, gent., to be overseers hereof; and do 
 revoke all my former wills and publish this to be my last will and 
 testament. In witness whereof I have hereunto put my hand, the 
 day and year first above written. 
 
 " By me, 
 
 " WILLIAM SHAKESPEAKE. 
 
 " Witness to the publishing hereof, 
 
 " FRA. COLLYNS, 
 
 " JULIUS SHAW, 
 
 " JOHN EOBINSON, 
 
 " HAMLET (HAMNET) SADLER, 
 
 " ROBERT WHATTCOTT. 
 
 " Probatum coram Magistro Willielmo Byrde, Legum Doctore 
 Comiss, &c., xxjjd die mensis Junii, Anno Domini 1616 ; juramento 
 Johannis Hall, unius executorum, &c., cui, &c., de bene, &c., jurat, 
 reservat potestate, &c., Susannae Hal], alteri executorum, &c., cum 
 venerit petitur (Inv* ex* )." 
 
54 MEMOIR OF SHAKESPEARE. 
 
 Painters and poets have, to some extent, counterbalanced 
 the seeming inattention of biographers to Shakespeare. 
 The following is the summing up of the latest writer 
 (Mr. Friswell) with respect to his portraits : 
 
 "After having closely examined the great number of 
 portraits asserted to be those of William Shakespeare, the 
 mind is somewhat embarrassed. This embarrassment is 
 considerably increased by the fact that for many years 
 the eye has been familiar with a half-dozen of incongruous 
 portraits, the claims of which it has lazily allowed, without 
 taking the trouble of weighing them. The patrons of some 
 of these portraits have evidently considered it sufficient 
 that the picture should be the face of a man, and not of an 
 animal, to give it sufficient chance for the admittance of its 
 claim. A mouth, a moustache, a fair amount of forehead, 
 and two eyes, have been, for a long time, all the sanguine 
 inhabitants of Wardour Street demand, when they wish to 
 christen the most villanous daub of an incompetent and in- 
 conscientious painter with the name of the greatest genius 
 that the world has ever produced. It is in vain that 
 Shakespeare complained, prophetically, that he had ' made 
 himself a motley to the view,' his outward seeming, as well 
 as his inward soul, has become motley. The claimants to 
 the possession of original portraits have indeed been good 
 enough to concede that the poet must have had two eyes 
 and a nose; but, if we believe them equally those eyes 
 must have been at the same time black, hazel, blue, and 
 deep brown; the nose must have been Roman, aquiline, 
 somewhat snub, and 'cogitative;' the upper lip must have 
 been extremely short and extremely long ; the hair and 
 beard straight and curling, black, brown, dark brown, 
 reddish brown, and flaxen ; the complexion of all shades, 
 varying from very dark to very light. 
 
 " Now it needs no consideration to prove that no 
 human individual could, under any circumstances of change 
 of age, or stupidity or want of skill in the painter, have 
 ever presented such extreme variations. We must, there- 
 fore, by finding out the characteristics in which the most 
 authentic portraits agree, endeavour to reconstruct a 
 
MEMOIR OP SHAKESPEARE. 55 
 
 Shakespeare, and from such a reconstruction judge the 
 portraits brought before us. From what we have, there- 
 fore, we may presume that Shakespeare was of the middle 
 height, fairly built and proportioned, broad-chested and 
 upright. His hair was a warm brown, his beard lighter 
 than the hair of his head ; his chin round and full (bust, 
 Droeshout print, and print by Marshall) ; the jaw strong 
 and powerful (Droeshout print, and bust) ; the forehead 
 ample, broad, and high, the supra- orbital ridges oval, and 
 well marked (Felton head, bust, and Droeshout) ; the hair, 
 at an early period, thin, and well off the forehead at the 
 close of his life he was bald, and the forehead seemed very 
 much higher ; his complexion was fair, and the tint of a 
 warm healthy hue, with probably a full colour in the cheeks ; 
 the mouth not very small, the lips full and red, the eyes 
 hazel, and, we may presume, instinct with life and intelli- 
 gence. This is as near an approach to a correct descrip- 
 tion of Shakespeare as we can well form. There can be no 
 reason why he should not have had many portraits painted, 
 but we must remember that we have no direct proof that 
 he ever sat to any artist of the highest excellence." 
 
 Selecting from a large number, I think right to give a 
 place here to the following commendatory verses : 
 
 "To THE MEMORY OF MY BELOVED, THE AUTHOR, 
 MR. WILLIAM SHAKSPERE, 
 
 AND WHAT HE HATH LEFT US. 
 
 " To draw no envy, Shakspere, on thy name, 
 Am I thus ample to thy book, and fame ; 
 While I confess thy writings to be such, 
 As neither man, nor muse, can praise too much ; 
 'Tis true, and all men's suffrage : but these ways 
 Were not the paths I meant unto thy praise ; 
 For seeliest ignorance on these may light, 
 Which, when it sounds at best, but echoes right ; 
 Or blind affection, which doth ne'er advance 
 The truth, but gropes, and urgeth all by chance ; 
 Or crafty malice might pretend this praise, 
 And think to ruin, where it seem'd to raise : 
 These are as some infamous bawd, or whore, 
 Should praise a matron ; what could hurt her more ? 
 
MEMOIE OF SHAKESPEARE. 
 
 But thou art proof against them ; and, indeed, 
 
 Above the ill-fortune of them, or the need : 
 
 I, therefore, will begin : Soul of the age, 
 
 The applause, delight, the wonder of our stage, 
 
 My Shakspere, rise ! I will not lodge thee by 
 
 Chaucer, or Spenser ; or bid Beaumont lie 
 
 A little further, to make thee a room : 
 
 Thou art a monument, without a tomb ; 
 
 And art alive still, while thy book doth live, 
 
 And we have wits to read, and praise to give. 
 
 That I not mix thee so, my brain excuses ; 
 
 I mean, with great, but disproportion'd Muses : 
 
 For, if I thought my judgment were of years, 
 
 I should commit thee surely with thy peers ; 
 
 And tell how far thou didst our Lily outshine, 
 
 Or sporting Kyd, or Marlow's mighty line. 
 
 And, though thou hadst small Latin, and less Greek- 
 
 From thence to honour thee, I would not seek 
 
 For names j but call forth thund'ring JEschylus, 
 
 Euripides, and Sophocles, to us, 
 
 Pacuvius, Accius, him of Cordova dead ; 
 
 To live again, to hear thy buskin tread 
 
 And shake a stage : or, when thy socks were on, 
 
 Leave thee alone for the comparison 
 
 Of all, that insolent Greece, or haughty Rome, 
 
 Sent forth, or since did from their ashes come. 
 
 Triumph, my Britain I thou hast one to show, 
 
 To whom all scenes of Europe homage owe. 
 
 He was not of an age, but for all time, 
 
 And all the Muses still were in their prime, 
 
 When, like Apollo, he came forth to warm 
 
 Our ears, or, like a Mercury, to charm. 
 
 Nature herself was proud of his designs, 
 
 And joy'd to wear the dressing of his lines ; 
 
 Which were so richly spun, and woven so fit, 
 
 As, since, she will vouchsafe no other wit : 
 
 The merry Greek, tart Aristophanes, 
 
 Neat Terence, witty Plautus, now not please j 
 
 But antiquated and deserted lie, 
 
 As they were not of Nature's family. 
 
 Yet must I not give nature all ; thy art, 
 
 My gentle Shakspere, must enjoy a part : 
 
 For though the poet's matter nature be, 
 
 His art doth give the fashion : and that he, 
 
 Who casts to write a living line, must sweat 
 
 (Such as thine are), and strike a second heat 
 
 Upon the Muses' anvil ; turn the same 
 
MEMOIR OF SHAKESPEAEE. 57 
 
 (And himself with it), that he thinks to frame ; 
 
 Or, for the laurel, he may gain a scorn 
 
 For a good poet's made, as well as born : 
 
 And such wert thou : Look, how the father's face 
 
 Lives in his issue ; even so the race 
 
 Of Shakspere's mind, and manners, brightly shines 
 
 In his well-toned and true -filed lines ; 
 
 In each of which he seems to shake a lance, 
 
 As brandish' d at the eyes of ignorance. 
 
 Sweet swan of Avon ! what a sight it were, 
 
 To see thee in our waters yet appear ; 
 
 And make those flights upon the banks of Thames, 
 
 That so did take Eliza, and our James ! 
 
 But stay ; I see thee in the hemisphere 
 
 Advanc'd, and made a constellation there : 
 
 Shine forth, thou star of poets ! and with rage, 
 
 Or influence, chide, or cheer, the drooping stage ; 
 
 Which, since thy flight from hence, hath mourn' d like night, 
 
 And despairs day, but by thy volume's light !" 
 
 BEN JONSON. 
 
 "AN EPITAPH ON THE ADMIRABLE DRAMATIC POET, 
 WILLIAM SHAKSPERE. 
 
 " What needs my Shakspere for his honour' d bones, 
 The labour of an age in piled stones ; 
 Or that his hallow' d reliques should be hid 
 Under a star-ypointing pyramid ? 
 Dear son of memory, great heir of fame, 
 What need'st thou such weak witness of thy name ? 
 Thou, in our wonder and astonishment, 
 Hast built thyself a live -long monument : 
 For whilst, to the shame of slow- endeavouring art, 
 Thy easy numbers flow ; and that each heart 
 Hath, from the leaves of thy unvalued book, 
 Those Delphic lines with deep impression took ; 
 Then thou, our fancy of itself bereaving, 
 Dost make us marble with too much conceiving ; 
 And, so sepulcher'd, in such pomp dost lie, 
 That kings, for such a tomb, would wish to die." 
 
 JOHN MILTON. 
 
58 
 
 STRATFORD : 
 
 A WALK THROUGH THE TOWN. 
 
 OF the many places in our own country from which the 
 ordinary tourist's attention is withdrawn by scenes to 
 which distance lends enchantment, and that very arbitrary 
 deity, " Fashion," their main attraction, no region can, in 
 ordinary times, prefer a stronger complaint of ingratitude 
 than the picturesque town of Stratford-upon-Avon. True, 
 during the last London Exhibition year some seven thou- 
 sand names were enrolled in the visitors' book of the 
 church containing Shakespeare's tomb, but many of these 
 were Germans and Americans ; and in the course of the 
 past fortnight at least one hundred thousand persons came 
 to Stratford. But, generally speaking, tourists have not- 
 taken that interest in the locality which it is to be hoped 
 the late celebration may create. 
 
 Yet Stratford-upon-Avon is the true " British Mecca " 
 to which every thoughtful pilgrim, every man of poetic 
 feeling, every traveller with the slightest tincture of 
 philosophy or philanthropy, must ever delight to wend his 
 way. Here he will find food for meditation a town 
 scarcely surpassed in the beauty of its situation on the 
 lovely 
 
 " Winding Avon's willowed banks," 
 
 and unapproachable in the universal interest of its associa- 
 tions. For here, it can never be forgotten, in Stratford- 
 upon-Avon, William Shakespeare was born ; here the man 
 for whose fame " Kings might wish to die," and which 
 has been for generations "as broad and general as the 
 casing air," first saw the light ; here he received such 
 
STRATFORD : A WALK THROUGH THE TOWN. 59 
 
 education as he possessed ; and from this picturesque spot 
 his young muse, destined to ascend "invention's highest 
 heaven," first began her upward flight. Here his wondrous 
 mind expanded and received glowing impressions of external 
 nature and that marvellous insight into the mysteries of 
 humanity which enabled him to produce those creations 
 "not for an age, but for all time." In this greatly- 
 favoured place occurred all the important events of his 
 life ; and in this spot, so far as a being " born for the 
 universe " could be limited by locality, he may be said, in 
 his own words, to have "garner'd up his heart with his 
 life's dearest treasures." Here his honoured dust lies 
 entombed, and his " sacred relics " are with all due rever- 
 ence preserved ; and, furthermore, in Stratford-upon-Avon 
 has been gleaned all that is known of the personal history 
 of the "genius of our isle." 
 
 Stratford-upon-Avon is a very ancient, very clean, very 
 quiet, and, at the same time, very cosy market town, 
 located nearly in the centre of England, about a hundred 
 miles from London, and to general tourists be it known, 
 not more than twenty or thirty off the direct route from 
 the North to South. It is scarcely possible to proceed 
 with its history without at once touching on Shakespeare, 
 for all the public institutions are more or less mixed up 
 with his name, and some notion may be thereby formed of 
 their antiquity. As the stranger steps out of the train, he 
 may discover that the "iron horse" which has brought 
 him along is called "Will Shakspere." His attention will 
 be next attracted to the portrait of Shakespeare, sur- 
 rounded by certain mystic emblems, appropriately on " the 
 counterfeit presentment " of the man who said, "One touch 
 of nature makes the whole world kin," whether "Will" 
 was "a brother" or not. This tablet informs those whom 
 it concerns that Mr. Fred. Bolton, grandson of an alder- 
 man who officiated at Garrick's Stratford Jubilee in 1769, 
 now keeps the "Shakespeare Hotel." On emerging from 
 the station, half a minute's walk will bring our travelling 
 companion to the Shakespearian Foundry (!) A few steps 
 beyond that point is Garrick Court. Then a hundred 
 
60 STEATFOED : A WALK THEOUGH THE TOWN. 
 
 yards nearer tiie town is the " White Swan," reminding 
 the stranger of Garrick's ode 
 
 " Flow on, silver Avon, in song ever flow ; 
 Be the swan on thy bosom still whiter than snow." 
 
 Whether the enthusiastic actor's aspiration has been 
 realised or not, the swans on the Avon are sufficiently white 
 and stately, and numerous too. But this is by the way. Our 
 tourist will at this point pass the Bother (Cattle) Market, 
 a fine spacious street in which the principal building is 
 Mr. Knight's Shakespearian Needle Works (!) Leaving 
 Henley Street, where Shakespeare's birthplace stands, on 
 the left hand pro temp., and proceeding in the usual course 
 along Wood Street, Bridge Street comes in sight. This is 
 an admirable thoroughfare one of the broadest to be found 
 in any town of similar size and population. The top 
 of it, where five streets converge, has been chosen 
 for the Shakespeare Monument an excellent situation. 
 The principal hotel of the town " The Red Horse " is 
 kept by Mr. Lowry, in this street. It is a large and well- 
 managed establishment, favourably known to many travellers 
 and tourists, particularly Americans, from the compli- 
 mentary references made to it in the charming " Sketch 
 Book " of Washington Irving. Having glanced towards 
 the bridge which spans the Avon, erected by Sir Hugh 
 Clopton, in the reign of Henry VII., the visitor may 
 turn to the right into the principal business thorough- 
 fare High Street. Here he will notice on the left "the 
 Shakespearian bookbinding and printing establishment," 
 opposite to Mr. Adams's Shakespearian book and print 
 warehouse and the Stratford Herald office, where he may 
 also inspect nearly every article to which the name of 
 Shakespeare has been attached by the most ingenious 
 contrivers of bijouterie. A few yards further on he must 
 be attracted by a splendid specimen of Elizabethan street 
 architecture, bearing date 1597. This house, with its 
 fine old carved oaken front, was certainly a familiar 
 object to Shakespeare. It is now in the possession of 
 Mr. Williams, who is engaged in the occupation of a 
 
,. : 
 
 HIGH STREET & TOWN HALL, 
 STRATFORD ON AVOTT. 
 
STRATFORD : A WALK THROUGH THE TOWN. 61 
 
 glover. A number of relics of Shakespeare, and auto- 
 graphs of distinguished visitors to the birthplace, are to be 
 seen at Mrs. James's, corner of Ely Street. Proceeding 
 a few yards, towards the left side of the way, the eye 
 will catch the life-size statue of the great poet in a niche 
 of the Town Hall gable. This is the statue presented 
 by Grarrick to the Corporation, when the building was 
 reconstructed, and dedicated to Shakespeare nearly a 
 hundred years ago. 
 
 The poet is represented in the same attitude as on the 
 cenotaph in Westminster Abbey, resting on some volumes 
 placed on a pedestal, where appear the busts of Henry V., 
 Richard III., and Queen Elizabeth. He points to a scroll on 
 which are the following lines taken from the " Midsummer 
 Night's Dream." 
 
 " The Poet's eye, in a fine frenzy rolling, 
 Doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven, 
 And, as imagination bodies forth 
 The forms of things unknown, the poet's pen 
 Turns them to shapes, and gives to airy nothing 
 A local habitation and a name." 
 
 On the upper border of the plinth are these words : 
 
 " Take him for all in all, 
 We shall not look upon his like again." 
 
 On the plinth is the following inscription : 
 
 "THE CORPORATION AND INHABITANTS OF STRATFORD, 
 ASSISTED BY THE MUNIFICENT CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE 
 NOBILITY AND GENTLEMEN OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD, REBUILT 
 THIS EDIFICE IN 1768. THE STATUE OF SHAKESPEARE 
 WAS GIVEN BY DAVID GARRICK, ESQ." 
 
 The substantial stone building, which is of the Tuscan 
 order, underwent extensive alterations and improvements 
 prior to the Tercentenary Festival, according to the plans of 
 Messrs. Hawkes, Architect, Birmingham. The doorway is 
 now under the Shakespeare statue, in the gable instead of 
 being as formerly in the front street. A spacious apartment 
 has been formed on the ground floor, which will be used for 
 
62 STRATFORD : A WALK THROUGH THE TOWN. 
 
 public meetings and in transacting the business of the Cor- 
 poration. Another smaller apartment has been constructed 
 parallel with the principal room in the upper story, which is 
 approached by three nights of solid oaken stairs. The visitor 
 passes from the smaller hall through a very handsome arch- 
 way, supported by Corinthian pillars, into the main assembly 
 room or the Shakespeare Hall. The floors are of oak, 
 and, like the majority of the ancient buildings in Stratford, 
 oak enters largely into the structure. The size of the hall is 
 60 ft. by 30 ft. in breadth and height. The stucco decorations 
 and cut glass gasaliers give it a handsome appearance, but 
 its chief decorations are the life-size portraits of Shake- 
 speare, by Wilson; the "British Roscius," by Gainsborough 
 (a splendid picture) ; The Duke of Dorset, who was Lord 
 of the Manor, and High Steward of the Borough in 1769 
 (the year of the jubilee) ; and, on the same side of the 
 room, a full-length painting of Queen Anne, which formerly 
 belonged to Stratford College, and was purchased and placed 
 here a short time before that building was taken down. The 
 view of the hall in the Illustrated London News will convey 
 a very correct idea of its splendid appearance during the 
 late exhibition of paintings which formed so attractive a 
 feature in the celebration. 
 
 The Shakespeare Hotel, above referred to, adjoining 
 the Town Hall, is an ancient hostelry, with oaken stairs 
 and floors and many marks of antiquity. The rooms 
 are entitled and known by names derived from Shake- 
 speare's plays, w^hich are placed above each door. On the 
 left of the spacious hall is the commercial room, not 
 inappropriately named " The Tempest ;" opposite it is a 
 private coffee room, called " As You Like It." " Romeo and 
 Juliet," " Taming of the Shrew," " Midsummer Night's 
 Dream," and " Love's Labour's Lost," are sleeping apart- 
 ments. In the hall stands an antique clock, which is stated 
 to have belonged to Shakespeare, enclosed in an extra glass 
 case to preserve it from " decay's effacing fingers." 
 
 Leaving " The Shakespeare," the next Shakespearian 
 object of attraction is the site of New Place, where stood the 
 poet's dwelling. It is situated at quite an interesting corner. 
 
STRATFORD ON AVON. 
 
STRATFORD : A WALK THROUGH THE TOWN. 63 
 
 The Guild Chapel the school to which Shakespeare went, 
 not, let us hope, unwillingly ; the Falcon Inn, where 'tis 
 said "he took his ease," and all that serves for a Theatre in 
 the town being clustered in the immediate neighbourhood. 
 No authentic drawing of Shakespeare's house is known to be 
 in existence. It was built, we know, by Sir Hugh Clopton 
 in the reign of Henry VII., not later than 1490. Another 
 Sir Hugh Clopton utterly demolished this fabric. " An 
 entirely new house," says Mr. Bellew, " was erected about 
 1720 ; and it was this structure (of the Dutch William or 
 Queen Anne's style of building) which the ruthless 
 Gastrell rased to the ground." The " Vandalic priest " is 
 thus far exonerated from the more serious charge of de- 
 stroying the actual house in which Shakespeare lived ; but 
 his organ of destructiveness is nevertheless accountable 
 for the pulling down of the house erected on the site of 
 Shakespeare's, and the uprooting of the mulberry tree 
 which Shakespeare had planted. The boundaries of 
 Shakespeare's garden have been ascertained, and the whole 
 of ISTew Place estate, with the exception of the plot occu- 
 pied by the Theatre, has been purchased by general 
 subscription, and secured to the public mainly by the 
 instrumentality of Mr. Halliwell. The foundation stones of 
 the poet's house " the very stones that prate of his where- 
 abouts " are now laid bare. Shakespeare's well, still in 
 good order, was discovered in the grounds. Portions of 
 rooms, believed to have been his offices, kitchen, &c., 
 have been found out. It is proposed to preserve these 
 interesting excavations and to put the garden in appro- 
 priate order in accordance with the deep importance that 
 must ever be attached to the spot where Shakespeare lived, 
 laboured, and died. 
 
 A few hundred yards from the geographical point at 
 which we have now arrived, at the extreme end of the town, 
 stands the venerable edifice in which the precious dust of 
 Shakespeare lies entombed. And thus from end to end of 
 Stratford-upon-Avon, by objects insignificant and titles not 
 very significant as well as by institutions of the highest 
 dignity and importance, the visitor is reminded at every 
 
64 STRATFORD : A WALK THROUGH THE TOWN. 
 
 step that this is the town rendered all classic and in some 
 places sacred by the memory and associations of Shake- 
 speare. And now let us take a view of the places with 
 which his name is specially connected, commencing with 
 that which is nearest to us in this imaginary tour, and 
 at the same time the most important. 
 
 THE CHURCH. 
 
 The heart must be divested of all feelings of things at 
 once sacred and beautiful that can approach the church of 
 the Holy Trinity, at Stratford-upon-Avon, unmoved by 
 thoughts too deep and too high for expression. Here in- 
 deed is a rare combination of objects and associations to 
 charm, elevate, and solemnize the soul. The eye is first 
 delighted by the picturesque. The avenue, under whose 
 broad flagway lie that which no following spring 
 revives "the ashes of the urn," whilst over head inter- 
 lace in the Grothic arch of beauty the entwining branches 
 and lovely green leaves of the graceful lime trees ; on either 
 side " the forefathers of the hamlet sleep ; " towards the 
 river the sable-suited crows build in the tall old trees, and 
 sweep croaking about on heavy wing, fit tenants of the 
 scene ; the nightingale's delightful note at eve is heard ; 
 the little small birds have made in " the jutty frieze and 
 coigne of vantage their pendant bed and procreant cradle." 
 But not the music of the grove, the beauty of the flowers, 
 all the features of the landscape, or the solemn temple that 
 stands in grey majesty before the visitor, can impress him 
 with that sentiment of awe and reverence which must arise 
 as he contemplates the fact that here verily lies the awful 
 dust of the man whose genius outstripped time and 
 " exhausted worlds." 
 
 The cruciform building of " perpendicular Gothic " 
 containing the poet's precious ashes is almost of cathedral 
 dimensions. The windows rise above the trees, and the 
 square Norman tower supports a tall and graceful spire, 
 which may be observed an object of beauty and solemn 
 interest for miles all around the country. Having arrived 
 
STRATFORD ON AVON CHURCH. 
 
STEATFOKD : A WALK THROUGH THE TOWN. 65 
 
 at the porch, I must borrow the beautiful description of 
 the interior from Mr. Lee's "Stratford in connection with 
 Shakespeare." "As we progress," he says, "up the nave, 
 we perceive that the hand of discriminating taste has been 
 at work, for its whole interior, and the chancel also, has 
 been recently carefully restored, and the carved timber 
 roofs renewed. The nave is divided from the aisles by 
 hexagonal pillars supporting six early English pointed 
 arches, and above this is the clerestory, forming a continual 
 range of windows, two above each arch, admitting almost 
 an excess of light. The windows of the aisles belong to 
 the fourteenth century, the south aisles being erected by 
 John de Stratford at that period. The north aisle is 
 probably of earlier date. The chancel and choir is the 
 most remarkable part of the fabric, and from its height and 
 simplicity has a beautiful effect. Five elegantly- shaped 
 windows rise to the roof on either side, while above the 
 altar is a lofty east window, once brilliant with stained 
 glass, of which, until recently, a few imperfect and jumbled 
 relics only could be seen. The pristine glory of this noble 
 window is now, however, through the exertions of the 
 estimable vicar, being gradually restored. Against the 
 northern wall of this splendid chancel is the monumental 
 bust of Shakespeare, and beneath it his undisturbed ashes 
 rest in peace. We silently approached the hallowed spot, 
 and, forgetting for a moment aught else encaustic pave- 
 ment, glittering altars, emblazoned arms, sedilia, stalls, 
 and modern tombs, contemplated that placid countenance 
 and lofty brow. Immediately beneath the stone receding 
 from the wall are the gravestones of Shakespeare, his wife, 
 and some members of his family." The recumbent figures 
 of the Cloptons in white marble, and that of John Combe, 
 and other monuments, impart quite a Westminster Abbey 
 sort of effect to the striking beauty of the general interior ; 
 and since Mr. Lee's description was written additional 
 improvements and adornments have been made, and others 
 are projected, which I fervently hope the Rev. Mr. Granville, 
 the revered vicar, and his universally esteemed curate, the 
 Rev. Mr. Morton, will live to see carried out to their 
 
 E 
 
66 STRATFORD : A WALK THROUGH THE TOWN. 
 
 complete satisfaction. Five thousand six hundred persons 
 visited the church during the late celebration. 
 
 ANNE HATHAWAY' s COTTAGE. 
 
 Passing from the church to " Old Town," the tourist 
 may proceed into Bree Street, and thence strike into the foot 
 road which crosses the Great Western Railway and leads to 
 the village of Shottery, where stands Anne Hathaway 's 
 picturesque cottage. Like the birth-place, it is a residence 
 of much interest in itself, apart from its associations. How 
 still, and quiet, and retired the scene is ! a place for lovers 
 and lovers only. The antiquated cottage is situated in a 
 beautifully secluded nook, surrounded by every object 
 suggestive of Arcadian times. The gable is towards the 
 road. A vine, which bore grapes until three years ago, 
 and appears to have become exhausted through age, still 
 decorates the front of the house. Sundry flowering plants 
 are also trained up the walls ; the thatch is very thick, and 
 the little dormer windows manifest great antiquity. An old 
 well, moss-grown, is also an object of much interest in the 
 garden. The interior is in many respects like the poet's 
 birth-place. The kitchen, and, no doubt, principal sitting 
 apartment, has a stone floor, a low ceiling, and a very large 
 fire-place. Oaken wainscotting surrounds it; and the whole 
 place indicates the fact that the Hathaways were a well- 
 to-do family in their time. On the left of the capacious 
 fire-place is the old cupboard, with grated door, where many 
 a good flitch of bacon was smoke-dried. On this venerable 
 adjunct of the cuisine the initials of two Hathaways, 
 I.H. E.H., are carved. The family long continued to 
 reside here. Passing up the narrow stairs to the bed- 
 chambers, a remarkably old bedstead is shown. It is of 
 carved oak, four-post, and said to be as old as Anne's 
 time. Some linen, appearing to correspond with the bed- 
 stead in age, is also exhibited. Of Anne Hathaway herself 
 we know nothing, except that she was a yeoman's daughter, 
 five and twenty years of age when she entered into a 
 relationship which imparted an abiding interest to herself 
 
STRATFORD: A WALK THROUGH THE TOWN. 67 
 
 and her cottage. Passing through green lanes, where the 
 peasant lives undangered and at ease, the pedestrian will 
 return to Stratford by Alcester road, proceeding through 
 Grreenhill and Meer Street, and arriving at the spot, 
 which, but that a general view of the town was taken 
 before examining particular places, should have been 
 visited first. 
 
 SHAKESPEARE'S BIRTH-PLACE. 
 
 It is a very old house in very good condition, stands 
 alone, and cannot be mistaken, not because the country has 
 been lately flooded with admirable photographs of it, but 
 that its antiquity and style of building claim for it in 
 unmistakable terms the honour it possesses. Some fifty 
 years ago it was purchased by a far-sighted though very 
 humble man for 140, and some ten years ago was 
 "knocked down" the Fates forbid! I mean sold, by George 
 Robins to the "nation" for 3,820! Since then it has 
 undergone general repairs and a thorough cleaning the 
 whole renovation being carried out in proper spirit, and 
 with a view to preserve its original appearance as much as 
 possible. The houses formerly adjoining on both sides have 
 been pulled down to preserve it from fire. The solidity of 
 the structure is, fortunately, sufficiently guaranteed by 
 the massive beams of oak that gird it and strengthen it in 
 all directions. No fire is allowed on the premises ; damp 
 and consequent dilapidation are kept away by steam pipes. 
 The kitchen floor is of stone, the fire-place being ample, and 
 with the large cosy corners reserved for the head of the 
 family and distinguished guests to sit and smoke and drink 
 in. "If," says a late writer, "the fire is out now, our 
 feelings, sparkling back upon the past, must re-kindle it. 
 That Shakespeare himself has stood here before the cheerful 
 blaze no one can doubt. Perhaps as a boy he may have sat 
 in the corner feasting his galloping imagination from a 
 spark in the ashes. His father, at any rate, lived and died 
 here, and he must have often walked in when in Stratford 
 to see the old man." The chief apartment is the room in 
 
68 STRATFORD : A WALK THROUGH THE TOWN. 
 
 which Shakespeare was born, approached by a flight of ten 
 solid oaken stairs, which having been ascended, the most 
 thoughtless or the boldest may "hold his breath for a 
 time." The walls are whitewashed, but there is "not an 
 inch of nameless plaster." The window contains sixty 
 small square panes, every bit covered with autographs 
 indeed, that of the great Walter Scott, who resembled 
 Shakespeare in more than the initials of his name, has been 
 scribbled over by the impudent diamond of some snobbish 
 nobody. No more signatures are permitted to be written, 
 for many reasons, one of which may be mentioned there is 
 no room. Many interesting autographs are effaced or can- 
 not be traced from amongst others of less importance. 
 But amongst those still to be discovered, in addition to 
 Walter Scott, above-mentioned, are Alfred Tennyson and 
 Sam. Rogers to the immediate right of the entrance. On 
 the same side of the room, lower down, may be seen Chas. 
 Dickens, Mark Lemon, Augustus Egg; and W. M. Thackeray 
 is on the ceiling. Amongst actors, whose autographs are 
 principally to be observed about the fire-place, are Edmund 
 Kean, Helen Faucit, Madame Yestris, Chas. Kean, J. B. 
 Buckstone, Mrs. Fitzwilliam, Robert Elliston (whose much 
 respected son died in Leamington a few days ago), Albert 
 Smith, Gustavus V. Brooke, Chas. Mathews, &c. 
 
 Behind this interesting room is another curious old 
 apartment crossed by heavy oaken beams. Old portraits 
 of Shakespeare decorate the walls. The principal of these 
 is a life-size bust in oil. It is kept in an iron safe, which 
 is thrown open during the day and closed at night. This 
 portrait was in the family of W. O. Hunt, Esq., for 
 upwards of a century. On the frame of the safe a brass 
 plate bears the following inscription : 
 
 " This portrait of Shakespeare, after having been in the posses- 
 sion of Mr. William Oakes Hunt, Town Clerk of Stratford-upon-Avon, 
 and his family, for upwards of a century, was restored to its original 
 condition by Mr. Simon Collins, of London, and being considered a 
 portrait of much interest and value, was given by Mr. Hunt to the 
 town of Stratford-upon-Avon, to be placed and preserved in Shake- 
 speare's house. April 23, 1860." 
 
STRATFORD: A WALK THROUGH THE TOWN. 69 
 
 In an autograph book now prepared for visitors one 
 thousand six hundred and sixty names and addresses w r ere 
 entered during the ten days over which the late festival 
 extended. Amongst the first names signed in this volume 
 are the E/ev. Henry Ward Beecher (Brooklyn), and "ton 
 Seyers " (Pugilist !). The total number of visitors during 
 the period referred to was two thousand eight hundred. 
 The gardens at the rear of the house are laid out very 
 neatly and planted with flowers mentioned in Shake- 
 speare's plays. And in the Museum may be seen : 
 
 Deed made in 1596, proving that John Shakespeare, 
 father of the poet, resided in the house called the 
 birth-place. 
 
 MS. document. The original fine levied on the purchase 
 of New Place by Shakespeare Easter Term, 1597. 
 
 The celebrated letter from Mr. Richard Quyney to 
 Shakespeare, 1598, asking for a loan of 30; the only letter 
 addressed to Shakespeare known to exist: quoted in the above 
 biography. 
 
 Original grant of four yard lands in Stratford fields 
 William and John Combe to Shakespeare, 1602. 
 
 Copy of court roll, 1602. Surrender by Walter Getley 
 to William Shakespeare of premises in Chapel Lane, Strat- 
 ford (copyhold of the Manor of B/owington), which the 
 poet specifically devised by his will. 
 
 Declaration in an action in the Borough Court 
 William Shakespeare v. Philip Rogers, to recover the price 
 of malt sold by Shakespeare, 1604. 
 
 Assignment of lease of a moiety of the tithes of Strat- 
 ford-upon-Avon Ralph Huband to William Shakespeare, 
 1605. 
 
 Deed with the autograph of Gilbert Shakespeare, 
 brother of the poet, 1609. 
 
 Original precepts in the Borough Court in Shakespeare's 
 suit against John Addenbrooke, 1609. 
 
 Settlement of Shakespeare's estates in 1639 by his 
 daughter, Susanna Hall; his grand- daughter, Elizabeth 
 Nash ; and her husband, Thomas Nash. 
 
 Declaration of uses relating to New Place and other 
 Shakespearian property, 1647. Susanna Hall, daughter, 
 
70 STKATFOKD : A WALK THROUGH THE TOWN. 
 
 and Elizabeth Nash, grand- daughter of the poet ? are 
 parties to this deed. 
 
 Disposition of New Place and other estates of Shake- 
 speare, made by his grand- daughter, Elizabeth Barnard, 
 in 1653. 
 
 Probate of Lady Barnard's will, 1669. 
 
 Shakespeare's gold signet ring, with the initials E5E,<S 
 and a true-lover's knot between. 
 
 Charter of foundation, 22 Edwd. IV., 1482, by Thomas 
 Jolyffe, of the Free Grammar School at Stratford, at which 
 Shakespeare was educated. 
 
 Ancient desk, said to have been Shakespeare's, removed 
 from the Grammar School. 
 
 Cast, considered to be the best, from the bust in the 
 Chancel, by G. Bullock two only were taken. 
 
 The old sign of the Falcon at " Drunken Bidford," 
 where Shakespeare is said to have drunk too deep. 
 
 Model, in plaster, of Shakespeare asleep under the crab- 
 tree, by E. Gh-ubl. 
 
 Shakespeare's jug, from which Garrick sipped wine at 
 the jubilee in 1769. 
 
 A phial, hermetically sealed, containing juice from 
 mulberries gathered from Shakespeare's mulberry tree. 
 The tree was cut down in 1758. 
 
 Specimen from an original copy of " The Merry Wives 
 of Windsor." 
 
 Portrait of Garrick, in the character of Kiteley. Sir J. 
 Reynolds. 
 
 Portrait of Mrs. Garrick supposed to be by Gains- 
 borough. 
 
 A variety of interesting articles discovered in making 
 the excavations at New Place, the last residence of 
 Shakespeare. 
 
 Having now hastily disposed of the principal places 
 associated with the immortal name of Shakespeare, I will 
 take a hurried 
 
 RETROSPECTIVE GLANCE AT THE TOWN. 
 
 Stratford-upon-A'von is, I need hardly say, a thoroughly 
 English town in its appearance, manners, and customs. 
 
STRATFORD : A WALK THROUGH THE TOWN. 71 
 
 There is a sort of Gradgrind description of it in the " Post 
 Office Directory," which, for those who delight to " con- 
 descend upon particulars," I had better quote. That 
 charming little official brochure says : 
 
 " Stratford-on-Avon is a municipal borough, market and union 
 town and railway station, on the junction line of the West Midland and 
 Great Western Bailways in old Stratford parish, division and union of 
 its own name, Barlichway, diocese and archdeaconry of Worcester, and 
 deanery of Kineton, South Warwickshire. It is the centre of several 
 turnpike roads, and on the old road from London to Holyhead, eight 
 miles south-west of Warwick, eight south-east from Henley-in-Arden, 
 ten north-east from Kineton, ten and a half north-east from Shipston- 
 on-Stour, and ninety-four from London by the road, and one hundred 
 and two by rail." 
 
 Its antiquity is discovered by the visitor at a glance. 
 Variety of gables form the fa9ade of some important 
 buildings. Few houses have been constructed in accordance 
 with fashionable principles of street architecture. Oaken 
 floors are fco be found in many of them, and massive beams of 
 oak strengthen the walls. They are placed in horizontal and 
 vertical positions, whilst diagonal stays of oak tie up these 
 beams substantially in all directions. The windows are bay 
 not a few the genuine bow, many dormer. In the very 
 old houses, the " sashes" are of lead, very small panes, dia- 
 mond and square. The customs of old English towns still 
 prevail. Here are to be found the stocks which raised the 
 ready ire of Lear not the identical pair, let me observe, 
 but looking sufficiently antiquated to suggest the idea of 
 their having done active service on the ankles of knaves at 
 the somewhat misty period when that choleric worthy 
 reigned in Britain " every inch a King." Here is that 
 terror of very small farmers and cottagers who keep goats, 
 
 igs, and horned cattle of a vagrant character the pound. 
 
 n Stratford, the matin bell is rung, and " the curfew tolls 
 the knell of parting day." Here may be seen the beadle 
 resplendent in scarlet and gold. And last, but not least, in 
 our dear love, as the aforesaid Lear remarks, here, calling 
 away at his lawful calling, is the town crier a direct 
 descendant of, and true heir-at-law, for aught I know, of 
 
 p 
 I 
 
72 STRATFORD : A WALK THROUGH THE TOWN. 
 
 tlie gentleman whom the poet had as lief hear speak his 
 lines as a "mouthing player." 
 
 The manufactures and trade of Stratford are not ex- 
 tensive, although the inhabitants are naturally business-like 
 and formal in their habits anything but ideal, poetical, or 
 artistic. Staid, regular, and temperate; squalid poverty, 
 theft, and drunkenness are almost unknown amongst them ; 
 and if cleanliness be next to godliness, as has been well be- 
 thought, no people can be more adjacent to that which 
 "is profitable unto all things." Public worship church 
 going, at least is nearly universally observed. I hope it 
 does not "fulfil the law" with some; but certainly John 
 Milton would have been suspected of something worse than 
 Unitarianism or polygamy by not a few Stratfordians. 
 
73 
 
 THE FORMES JUBILEES. 
 
 GAREICK'S: 1769. 
 
 THE first jubilee in honour of Shakespeare, which took 
 place at Stratford-upon-Avon, in 1769, is generally called 
 " Garrick's." He originated and carried out that much 
 ridiculed somewhat unfortunate but, on the whole, 
 successful and praiseworthy celebration. Garrick had been 
 at that time no less than twenty-eight years on the stage, un- 
 precedentedly successful as actor and manager. He was not 
 a profound student of Shakespeare, nor had he unqualified 
 reverence for his genius. In compliment to the greatest 
 if not only detractor of Shakespeare in the literary world 
 Voltaire he maimed " Hamlet " by cutting out the 
 grave scene and "burking" Osric. The rapidity and 
 intensity of his style enabled him to give a novel and 
 spirited picture of Richard and his wonderful mimetic 
 faculties account to me largely for the effects he created 
 in Lear; but as a tragedian, in the strict sense of the 
 term, he was almost as mentally dwarfed as he was 
 physically stunted, however otherwise his biographers, the 
 Irish dramatist and barrister, Murphy, or " the author," 
 as Johnson said, " engendered from the corruption of a 
 bookseller," Davies, may describe him. He had not the 
 dignity of Quin, the power of Mossop, or the physical 
 endowments of Barry. Certainly he was nowhere with 
 Barry in Othello, and came up to him in only the 
 banishment scene of Romeo. His Hamlet, I feel per- 
 suaded, was not equal to that of Betterton or Charles 
 Mayne Young, or his Macbeth to that of William Charles 
 Macready. 
 
74 JUBILEES. 
 
 This, I am aware, is not tlie traditional opinion of 
 Garrick in tragedy, and acting will, it is true, ever be a 
 matter of opinion, even amongst those who judge from per- 
 sonal knowledge, whilst it is almost impossible from descrip- 
 tions in books to form, a positive notion of what an actor was 
 on the stage ; but the authority which fortifies me in the 
 foregoing opinions happily warrants me in believing that 
 Garrick was, nevertheless, beyond all question, the greatest 
 histrionic artist of his time, or perhaps of any time, because 
 the most original and most comprehensive. He was the 
 author of excellent farces and prologues, and acquainted not 
 only with books but men as they are or were in his time. 
 Full of tact and the peculiar cleverness of a showman, he 
 was a thorough man of the world, so that " as deep as 
 Garrick " was a phrase of the times. Although Dr, 
 Johnson affected occasionally to despise both the actor and 
 his art, he lamented Garrick' s death as " that stroke which 
 had eclipsed the gaiety of nations and robbed the public 
 stock of harmless pleasure ; " and Goldsmith describes him 
 as "a medley of all that is pleasant in man." Take him for 
 all in all, therefore, no one could have been more thoroughly 
 qualified to manage a national jubilee than he who under- 
 took it in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1769. 
 
 I have thought it well to occupy thus much of the 
 reader's attention with some account of the man whose 
 name is to be seen on the walls of Stratford, whose picture 
 is the handsomest ornament of the principal building in 
 the town, and whose name will ever be remembered in 
 Warwickshire. Happy would it have been for the Stratford 
 Committee, during the late celebration, if an actor so 
 accomplished and generous had been forthcoming and 
 permitted to take full charge of the dramatic portion of the 
 business. They would have been spared vast labour, no 
 end of anxiety, and enormous pecuniary expenditure. The 
 celebration which made him famous in this county 
 (Warwick) is stated to have originated under the following 
 circumstances : 
 
 Towards the latter end of the year 1768, a jollification 
 took place amongst congenial spirits at the White Lion 
 
JUBILEES. 75 
 
 Hotel, then the principal hostelry in Stratford-upon-Avon, 
 Naturally mixing up the ever recurring Stratfordian topic 
 of Shakespeare with the local events of the day, the con- 
 versation turned on the newly erected Town Hall, the then 
 vacant niche in the northern gable, and the desirability of 
 having it filled up by a statue of the immortal dramatist 
 Ben Jonson and Jack Milton to the contrary notwithstand- 
 ing. One of the party, the celebrated George Steevens, who 
 happened to be the chief guest of the evening, suggested 
 an application to the great actor and successful manager, 
 David Garrick, for assistance in giving practical effect to 
 this happy idea. Now nothing could have been more 
 natural than to seek the aid of the English Hoscius in 
 carrying out the notion. 
 
 Accordingly Mr. Steevens was deputed to communicate 
 with him upon the subject, and he did so with more hope 
 of working effectively upon Garrick 's love of money and 
 fame, than of Shakespeare's memory. That Roscius did go 
 in for glory there is no doubt, but in such a man a degree 
 of self was natural and pardonable under the circumstances: 
 he was an artist and an author ; he had some knowledge 
 and "feeling of his business." Besides, there appears to 
 have been no one ready and willing to share with him 
 the honours and responsibilities of the undertaking. But 
 however mingled the motives that stimulated Garrick, 
 Steevens received in the course of a few days a favour- 
 able answer from him. A correspondence subsequently 
 arose between Garrick and the Stratford Corporation, 
 in which the " wit if not first, in the very first line " 
 succeeded in raising himself to the highest position in 
 the esteem and admiration of the "potent, grave, and 
 reverend seigniors." They voted him a triumph. In other 
 words presented him with the freedom of the borough in a 
 box made of Shakespeare's mulberry tree. Garrick was 
 delighted, and in turn voted them, himself and Shakespeare 
 a national jubilee. He submitted his programme to the 
 Corporation, it was approved of, and he mentally at once 
 commenced operations; and when winding up his season 
 
76 JUBILEES. 
 
 the following summer, announced to his audience the grand 
 work in hand in the following terms : 
 
 " My eyes till then (his next season) no sights like this will 
 
 see, 
 
 Unless we meet at Shakespeare's jubilee 
 On Avon's banks, where flowers eternal blow ; 
 Like its full stream our gratitude shall flow. 
 There let us revel, show our fond regard ; 
 On that loved spot first breathed our matchless bard. 
 To him all honour, gratitude is due, 
 To him we owe our all to him and you." 
 
 This of course was but another way of saying "be in time, and 
 take your places" in the amphitheatre, subsequently erected 
 on the banks of the Avon. This magnificent octagonal 
 building was erected upon the Bancroft, close to the river 
 Avon, at the expense of the Corporation, assisted by the 
 neighbouring gentry. It was constructed on the model of 
 the Ranelagh Rotunda, and measured 70 feet diameter, 
 and was calculated to hold one thousand persons ; the 
 orchestra giving accommodation to one hundred per- 
 formers. It was supported by a circular colonnade of 
 Corinthian columns, the capitals and bases of which were 
 richly gilt. From the centre of the dome, which was 
 beautifully painted, was suspended a splendid chandelier, 
 containing eight hundred wax lights; in various compart- 
 ments of the wainscotting were tasteful and appropriate 
 devices richly executed. 
 
 The jubilee began at five o'clock on Wednesday morning, 
 the 6th September, 1769, not in a "mighty genteel " tepid 
 indecisive way, but vigorously and heartily amid the roar- 
 ing of cannon, relieved by the concord of sweet sounds. 
 The leading lady visitors were serenaded by a company of 
 comedians in full professional costume. They sung an 
 appropriate song with full band accompaniment. The Cor- 
 poration assembled at eight o'clock, and having appointed 
 Mr. Garrick master of the revels or of ceremonies, or to 
 stick to the text of our authority (Mr. Wheler) " steward," 
 invested him with the insignia of his office, namely, a 
 medal (on which was carved a bust of Shakespeare, richly 
 
JUBILEES. 77 
 
 set in gold) and a wand, both formed of the celebrated 
 mulberry tree. At nine o'clock a public breakfast was 
 held at Shakespeare's Hall, during which a band played 
 martial and popular music. At half-past ten o'clock the 
 company proceeded in regular order to the church, where 
 the oratorio of "Judith," composed by Dr. Arne, was 
 performed under his direction, in a temporary orchestra 
 erected under the organ. The choruses were fall, and the 
 band, which comprised the whole of Drury Lane orchestra, 
 was excellent. A sumptuous dinner, to which upwards of 
 seven hundred ladies and gentlemen sat down, in the 
 amphitheatre, formed the next item of the ample pro- 
 gramme. At night there was a brilliant ball, the town 
 was illuminated, and there was a grand display of fire- 
 works, under the management, we are told, of "M. (not 
 Michael, surely) Angelo." Thus the curtain was rung 
 down, amid enthusiastic applause, on the first act of this 
 national three-act melo- drama. 
 
 On the second day the festive proceedings commenced 
 as before, with the firing of cannon, the ringing of bells, and 
 the serenading of ladies. After another public breakfast 
 the company repaired to the amphitheatre, where an ode 
 on the dedication of the newly- erected Town Hall to the 
 memory of Shakespeare, and the erection of the statue 
 presented by Garrick, was performed. The music was by 
 Dr. Arne. The recitative portions were very effectively de- 
 livered by Garrick, so that music it is said was forced to 
 yield the palm to elocution on this occasion. Garrick also 
 delivered a very impressive and eloquent oration. At three 
 o'clock a public dinner was given, which was numerously 
 attended, and in the evening the town was again very 
 brilliantly illuminated. Transparencies were invented for 
 the five front windows in Shakespeare's Hall. In the centre 
 window was a whole-length figure of Shakespeare, turning 
 with animation to a person holding Pegasus, and ex- 
 claiming, " for a muse of fire ! " Falstaff and Pistol 
 decorated the windows on his left hand, and in those on his 
 right were Lear in the execration passage, and Caliban 
 drinking from Trinculo's keg. The birth-place of the bard 
 was covered with a curious emblematical transparency, 
 
78 JUBILEES. 
 
 depicting the sun struggling through the clouds to enlighten 
 the world, and underneath was this motto : " Thus dying 
 clouds contend with growing light," a figurative repre- 
 sentation of the fate and fortunes of the much-admired 
 bard. In front of the amphitheatre were three well- 
 executed allegorical paintings, after designs by the cele- 
 brated Sir Joshua Reynolds. In the centre, Time was 
 leading Shakespeare to immortality ; a figure of Tragedy 
 graced him on one side, and Comedy on the other. His 
 bust in the chancel had not been neglected, being adorned 
 with festoons of laurel, bays, &c., and at the head of his 
 gravestone some pious hand had placed a garland of flowers 
 and evergreens. 
 
 At night the masquerade at the amphitheatre was 
 attended by nearly one thousand persons, of whom many 
 were well-dressed, and sustained their parts with great 
 propriety ; but some who could not hire dresses, or did not 
 choose to pay extravagantly for their use, were admitted 
 with masks only ; and there were many present even with- 
 out masks, and some with their faces blackened or other- 
 wise coloured. Amongst the company was James Boswell, 
 in a Corsican " make up," armed with a gun and pistols 
 and having " Paoli and Liberty " as a motto for his cap. 
 
 On the 8th (Friday) the festival was continued with 
 unabated spirit after the fashion of the preceding days ; 
 but as the weather continued unpropitious the pageant, 
 which was expected to be one of the most effective out- door 
 features of the jubilee, was abandoned. The race, however, 
 upon Shottery Meadow, for the jubilee cup, value fifty 
 guineas, was largely attended. Five colts ran. " Pratt 
 the groom," who rode his own horse, won. Pratt declared 
 he never would part with the prize, though, as he honestly 
 avowed, "he knew very little about plays or Master 
 Shakespeare." 
 
 There was a grand ball in the evening, at which Mrs. 
 Garrick distinguished herself by her inimitably graceful 
 dancing, as may be readily believed, the lady having been 
 a professor of the art prior to her marriage. The night of 
 this third day was fine, and the fireworks went off with 
 great success. 
 
JUBILEES. 79 
 
 Thus terminated the first of Shakespearian jubilees a 
 great undertaking the design of which was creditable to 
 the manager, who was in no way responsible for any 
 disappointments which arose from a cause over which he 
 had no control. 
 
 In the following year an effort was made to get up a 
 jubilee on a smaller scale, but it failed. In 1794 Mr. 
 Malone contemplated a celebration of the poet's memory, 
 but the unsettled state of our national affairs at that period 
 frustrated his intentions, and it was not till 1827 that any 
 imitation of Garrick's great jubilee took place. 
 
 THE SECOND CELEBRATION, 1827. 
 
 Of the history of this jubilee the Times lately published 
 the following admirable abridgment : 
 
 In April, 1824, a Shakespearian Club was established, the mem- 
 bers of which, nearly two hundred in number, comprised the most 
 respectable inhabitants of the borough. These determined to hold a 
 Triennial Commemoration Festival on St. George's Day, which is 
 likewise the birthday of Shakespeare, and this intention was first 
 carried into effect in April, 1827. 
 
 The festival of 1827 lasted three days, on the first of which (the 
 23rd) a pageant such as Garrick had projected nearly sixty years before, 
 but which weather did not permit, moved from the Guildhall to the 
 poet's birth-place in Henley Street. The committee of the club, with 
 Mr. John Mills, the Mayor, at their head, and carrying their banner, 
 marched in front, and was followed by a procession in this order : 
 The Eoyal Standard of England; a Military Band; St. George, on horse- 
 back, bearing a sword of the time of Edward III.; St. George's Banner, 
 carried by his Esquire ; the Banner of the Borough ; Melpomene, the 
 Tragic Muse, in a car drawn by four fiends ; Lear and Edgar ; 
 Richard III. and the Prince of Wales; Macbeth, Banquo, and the 
 Three Witches ; King John, the Cardinal, and Faulcoribridge ; Othello 
 and lago ; Hamlet, the King, the Ghost, and the Gravediggers ; 
 Romeo, Juliet, and Friar Laurence. Thus was completed the tragic 
 series, which was followed by the Banner of Shakespeare's Arms. Now 
 comes the turn of comedy. Thalia, the Comic Muse, in a car drawn 
 by four satyrs, led the way, and was followed by Caliban, Trinculo, 
 Ariel, and Prospero ; Autolycus and the Shepherd ; Touchstone and 
 Audrey ; Oberon, Titania (in a car drawn by Puck and fairies), and 
 
80 JUBILEES. 
 
 Bottom, with the ass's head; Shylock and Portia (as Doctor of Laws) ; 
 Sir John Falstaff and the Two Merry Wives; Henry V., Bardolph, 
 and Pistol ; the Union Flag concluding the whole. 
 
 On reaching the house in Henley Street the procession halted, and 
 Melpomene and Thalia, descending from their cars, crowned with 
 laurel a bust of Shakespeare that had been placed on a pedestal. An 
 address in blank verse, written by Mr. Serle, then of Covent Garden, 
 was delivered by Mr. Bond, one of the theatrical company engaged 
 by Mr. Raymond, who hoped that a day was approaching in which 
 Stratford would become an arena for the development of histrionic 
 talent. Indeed, one of the objects of the festival was to lay the 
 foundation-stone of a new theatre. To the site of this projected 
 edifice the pageant now proceeded, and the stone was duly laid, a plate 
 with the following inscription being inserted in the cavity : 
 
 " Genio loci 
 Hoc Theatrum, 
 
 D. D. D. 
 Consocintis Shakspeareana, 
 
 Die Aprilis xxm, 
 A.D. MDCCCXXVIL 
 
 Natali Poetse, 
 Stratfordia idcirco jubilante." 
 
 A vocal performance, the music from " Macbeth," followed the 
 ceremony on the spot. 
 
 At four o'clock a dinner, at which two hundred gentlemen sat down, 
 was held in the large room of the Town Hall, a scroll, inscribed " We 
 ne'er shall look upon his like again," being suspended over the painting 
 of Shakespeare, and another, "He suited the action to the word," over 
 the portrait of Garrick. Over the entrance was a transparency repre- 
 senting the head of Shakespeare surrounded with a radiant glory dis- 
 sipating the previous darkness. The speeches on the occasion were 
 numerous and long, the chief orator apparently being the Eev. Dr. 
 Wade, vicar of St. Nicholas's, Warwick. A public breakfast at the 
 White Lion Hotel, a large house in Henley Street, adjacent to the birth- 
 place, and a masquerade held in a temporary amphitheatre, erected in 
 Rother Market, were the chief amusements of the second day, 
 which terminated with a display of fireworks. Garrick's amphi- 
 theatre, it seems, had been erected close to the Avon, but the Rother 
 Market, which looks like a large village green, long since destitute of 
 verdure, was again selected for the pavilion of 1830. The wooden 
 edifice of the present festival is in quite a different part of the town, 
 the chief entrance being in a narrow street called Southern's Lane, 
 situated near the church and river. A concert at the White Lion con- 
 tributed the principal entertainment of the third day, the musicians 
 being amateurs and members of Mr. Raymond's company. 
 
JUBILEES. 81 
 
 The festival of 1827 is still recollected with pleasure by the older 
 inhabitants of the town, and the pageant seems to have been exceed- 
 ingly well contrived. Mr. Kaymond had already taken a lease of the 
 projected theatre, and its opening was eagerly anticipated as likely to 
 prove a lasting source of amusement. Those sanguine expectations 
 were never realised, and, though the theatre was indeed completed, and 
 now stands an unsightly edifice in Chapel Lane, not far from the 
 Grammar School where Shakespeare is supposed to have learnt Latin, 
 it is rarely used at present for dramatic purposes. 
 
 THE THIRD CELEBRATION, 1830. 
 
 At the termination of the jubilee of 1827, it was 
 publicly announced that a triennial celebration of the poet's 
 birthday would take place at Stratford-upon-Avon. In 
 pursuance of this determination the Shakespearian Club 
 began in the autumn of 1829 to make preparations for 
 the celebration to take place in 1830. The applications 
 from the Committee to many distinguished individuals 
 having been favourably received, it was determined that 
 Royalty itself should be solicited to patronise the celebra- 
 tion. A petition was accordingly drawn out and presented 
 by the then Right Honourable Robert Peel to George IV., 
 praying for the countenance and support of His Majesty in 
 the undertaking. An immediate assent was conveyed in the 
 most gracious terms to the anxious expectants. Thus 
 honoured, the gala was invested with regal importance. 
 The co-operation and contributions of the nobility and 
 gentry throughout the country followed as a matter of 
 course, and the preparations being at last completed the 
 jubilee commenced on Friday, the 23rd of April the day 
 sacred to Shakespeare and St. George. 
 
 A dull and unpropitious morning was ushered in by the 
 customary firing of cannon from the Bancroft and the 
 heights of Welcombe, the hoisting of flags and the ringing 
 of bells. Rain fell copiously, but, despite that misfortune, 
 by nine o'clock all the roads leading to the town were 
 thronged with all sorts of people pedestrians, equestrians, 
 and carriage folk. The fine old English gentleman, " who 
 
82 JUBILEES. 
 
 entertained the rich, and ne'er forgot the poor," was alive 
 in the land. In Rother Street a pavilion had been erected, 
 in which the business of the day commenced with a public 
 breakfast. The characters for the Shakespearian proces- 
 sion (which formed a portion of the programme) were all 
 ready about anid-day, but the weather continued so unpro- 
 pitious that the Committee issued orders for a postpone- 
 ment until the following day, when the clouds suddenly 
 dispersed, the sun shone forth, and the day continued fair 
 for several hours. 
 
 Exactly at two o'clock a royal salute from the cannon, 
 the ringing of bells, and the shouts of the multitude 
 announced to eager expectants that the procession had left 
 the pavilion, from which it issued in the following order : 
 Mr. Ashneld, on horseback, attired as a Chief Constable 
 of the Elizabethan period ; Mr. Palmer, Tavistock Street, 
 Covent Garden, Costumier, on horseback. The Royal 
 Standard of England, borne by Messrs. Tomkins and 
 William Morris ; the Band of the Second Warwickshire 
 Local Militia ; a Banner, on which the arms of Shakespeare 
 and the borough of Stratford were embroidered ; the Com- 
 mittee of the Shakespearian Club, on horseback, headed 
 by the Mayor (T. Ashwin, Esq.), each wearing the jubilee 
 scarf and a medal suspended from the neck by the jubilee 
 or rainbow tinted ribbon ; St. George (the tutelar saint of 
 England), seated on a grey horse, richly caparisoned : the 
 hero was personated by Mr. Charles Kean (then about 
 twenty years of age) ; St. George's Esquire (Mr. Goodwin, 
 of Stratford), with his Banner ; the Banner of the Borough, 
 borne by F. Findon and J. Paine ; Melpomene (Miss Harvey 
 of Mr. Raymond's company), with dagger and chalice, 
 seated on a dark-coloured car, surrounded by fiends ; Lear 
 and Cordelia, by Mr. W. Williams and Miss Churchill, of 
 Stratford ; Edgar (as mad Tom), by Mr. Timberley, of 
 Warwick ; Heralds bearing Eagles ; Coriolanus, by Mr. 
 Gardner, of Kingsthorpe, Northamptonshire ; Cominus, by 
 John Warner, of Charlecote ; Titus Lartius, by Mr. 
 Pittaway ; twelve Lictors ; a Banner ; a Herald, carrying 
 the Roman Eagle ; Julius Ccesar, by Mr. Chas. Wright, of 
 
JUBILEES. 83 
 
 London ; Brutus and Cassius, by (respectively) Mr. Win- 
 chester, of London, and Mr. James Keeley, of "Warwick ; 
 Herald, with Black Eagle ; Anthony and Cleopatra, by 
 George Heritage, of Stratford, and Miss Turnbnll, of 
 Warwick ; Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, by Mr. Morris, of 
 Leamington, and Mrs. Granby, of Mr. Raymond's com- 
 pany ; Banquo, by Mr. Samuel Hodgkinson, of Stratford ; 
 the Three Witches, by John Penn, Joseph West, and J. 
 Drury ; King John, by Mr. Granby, of Mr. Raymond's 
 company; Prince Arthur, by Master Grossmith ("the 
 Young Roscius") ; Faulconbridge, by Mr. John Keeley, of 
 Stratford ; Henry the Fourth, by Mr. Rogers, of Leaming- 
 ton ; Prince of Wales, by Mr. T. Arkell, jun., of Stratford ; 
 Hotspur, on horseback, by Mr. Raymond ; Douglas, on 
 horseback, by Mr. Jos. Sheldon, of Stratford ; Eomeo and 
 Juliet, by Mr. Harris and Miss Newman, of Mr. Raymond's 
 company ; Peter and Nurse, by Mr. and Mrs. Watson, of 
 Mr. Raymond's company ; the Apothecary, by Mr. Geo. 
 Mann, of Stratford ; Richard the Third and Lady Anne, by 
 Mr. Harrison and Mrs. Gifford, of Mr. Raymond's 
 company ; Hamlet, by Mr. Biddle, of Mr. Raymond's 
 company ; the Ghost, by J. Norton, of Stratford ; Polonius, 
 by Mr. Mantle; Ophelia, by Mrs. Booth; Henry the Eighth, 
 by Mr. Thomas Mansell, of Preston ; Queen Katharine, by 
 Mrs. Goodwin, of Stratford ; Page, by J. Bishop, of 
 Warwick; Earl of Surrey, by Mr. Street, of London; 
 Ladies in Waiting, Miss Plumb and Miss Robbins, of 
 Stratford ; Cardinal Wolsey, by Mr. Cherry, of Stratford ; 
 Cromwell, by Mr. W. Rose, of Warwick ; Othello, by 
 Chas. Bolette (a man of colour), of Warwick ; Desdemona, 
 by Miss E. Box, of Stratford ; lago, by Mr. Allan, of 
 Leamington ; Cassio, by Mr. S. J. King, of Stratford ; 
 Eoderigo, Mr. Obbard, of London; Banner of Shakespeare's 
 Arms; Thalia, by Miss Bailey ; Satyrs; the Banner of the 
 Kensington Shakespearian Club ; Prospero, by Mr. Simpson ; 
 Ariel, by Miss Wright, of Stratford; Caliban, by Mr. 
 W. Buckingham, of Stratford ; Trinculo, by Mr. Turner, of 
 Warwick; Sir John Falstaff, by Mr. Rowland Green, of 
 Birmingham ; Mrs, Ford, by Mrs. Mantle ; Mrs. Page, by 
 
84 JUBILEES. 
 
 Miss Robbins, of Stratford ; Antipholi of Ephesus and 
 Syracuse, by Mr. Thomas Hyde, of Stratford, and Mr. 
 Joseph Hyde, of Kyon Hill, twin brothers ; the two 
 Dromios, by twin brothers, the Messrs. Smith, of Bidford ; 
 PetrucMo and Katharine, by Mr. Edward Ashwin and 
 Mr. Isaac Cory, of Stratford ; Grumio, by Mr. Charles 
 Gill, of Mr. Raymond's company ; Orlando, by Mr. James 
 Bearley, of Stratford ; Adam, by Mr. Morris ; Touchstone 
 and Audrey, by Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds, of the Stratford 
 Theatre; ShylocJc and Portia, by Mr. Gilford (actor) and 
 Miss Bierley, of Stratford ; Oberon and Titania, by Master 
 Mills and Miss White, of Stratford ; Bottom the Weaver, by 
 Thomas Lay, of Stratford. 
 
 The dresses and appointments are described as of great 
 splendour. Banners were carried in the procession, an- 
 nouncing the plays to which each pair or group of characters 
 belonged. Minor characters, not mentioned above, were in- 
 troduced to give a completeness to the representation, and 
 the whole pageant appears to have been managed in a most 
 praiseworthy manner. " However brilliant," says the 
 author from whom I have made the foregoing condensed 
 description, " the success which attended the first jubilee 
 of the Shakespearian Club, it fell far short of the triumph 
 they achieved on this occasion ; upwards of seventy-five of 
 the more prominent characters of Shakespeare burst upon 
 the sight at one view, with a vividness and splendour 
 really astonishing." Certainly it made a lasting impression 
 on the minds of the people of Stratford. Many inhabitants, 
 not forty years of age, can give a graphic description of it, 
 and it was not to be wondered at if under such circum- 
 stances they felt disappointed to find the pageant formed 
 no part of the programme of the Tercentenary Celebration 
 Committee, by whom it was pooh poohed as tomfoolery 
 calculated to bring them into public ridicule, forgetful 
 that Garrick, who was no fool, introduced it, and that the 
 same spirit of criticism scouted a fancy ball nay, that 
 Diogenes, raising his lamp and extending his ken, joined 
 wifch Mawworm and Cantwell in denouncing the whole 
 celebration as an absurd turmoil pf profane and idly busy 
 craziness ! 
 
 
JUBILEES. 85 
 
 The pageant, however, arranged as above stated, having 
 quitted the pavilion, proceeded through Wood Street to 
 Henley Street, and halted in front of the birth-place, where 
 a temporary stage had been erected. The ceremony of 
 crowning a bust of Shakespeare was then gone solemnly 
 through, amid the acclamations of the thousands who 
 blocked up the thoroughfare. An appropriate address 
 was then recited by Mr. Booth (comedian), which had 
 been written for the occasion by A. Wright, Esq. The 
 procession then passed through the town by the Post 
 Office, along the Guild Pits, John Street, Payton Street, 
 Warwick Road, Back Bridge Street, High Street, Chapel 
 Street, Church Street, Old Town, to the Church Gates. 
 Shakespeare's epitaph, set to solemn music, was here, we 
 are told, very impressively sung ! The procession then 
 moved through Southern's Lane, along Lower Water Side, 
 Sheep Street, High Street, Front Bridge Street, Upper 
 Water Side, Sheep Street, Ely Street, and Rother Street 
 to the pavilion. 
 
 In the afternoon a dinner took place at Shakespeare's 
 Hall, at which about three hundred attended. The loyal 
 and patriotic toasts having been proposed and drunk with 
 enthusiasm the memory of Shakespeare was duly honoured, 
 and the health of the Mayor was drunk and that of the 
 Secretary, Mr. S. Gwiimett. Some of the speeches were 
 very good, especially that of the Rev. Dr. Wade (above 
 mentioned). A loyal and dutiful address to the King, who 
 was prevented by indisposition from being present, was 
 read and adopted. A dramatic performance at the theatre, 
 in which Mr. Kean appeared, and a bed masque in the 
 pavilion terminated the first day of the jubilee of 1830. 
 
 The second day, Saturday, April 24th, was ushered in 
 with firing of cannon and joy bell-ringing. There was a 
 public breakfast at the White Lion. To the breakfast suc- 
 ceeded recitations and songs. Between two and three 
 there was a miscellaneous concert, which was opened with 
 an ode written expressly for the occasion by Isaac Cowen, 
 Esq., and set to music by the author's nephew, Mr. Charles 
 Salaman, whose name appears on the Committee of the 
 
86 JUBILEES. 
 
 tercentenary celebration. In the evening the theatre proved 
 again attractive, and there was another masquerade and 
 fancy ball. 
 
 Sunday appears to have been both legally and so far as 
 the jubilee was concerned a dies non in 1830 : not so in 
 1864, we are thankful to say. 
 
 The third day, Monday, April 26th, was favoured with 
 delightful weather, and it was calculated that from twenty- 
 five to thirty-five thousand persons assembled in Stratford. 
 The pageant took place under the most favourable circum- 
 stances. There was a public dinner, attended principally 
 'by the Shakespearian Club and their friends, at which the 
 health of Dr. Conolly was drunk. Theatrical performances 
 and dancing in masks wound up the third day ; and the 
 fourth day was like its predecessors, the beauty of the 
 weather contributing to the brilliancy of the concluding 
 festivities. 
 
 The anonymous analyst to whom I am indebted for 
 the foregoing particulars of this jubilee winds up his nar- 
 rative in the following terms : " We close with observing 
 that a small band of men have raised up a spirit in their 
 native town which will perhaps never be destroyed, and 
 long after they are slumbering under the turf which sur- 
 rounds the sacred edifice where lie interred the hallowed 
 ashes of the great dramatist himself, their children's children 
 may justly exclaim in his own inspired language 
 
 ( How many ages hence 
 Shall this our lofty scene be acted o'er 
 By men unborn, and accent yet unknown.' " 
 
87 
 
 THE 
 
 TEKCENTENABY FESTIVAL. 
 
 No people can appreciate more highly the possession of an 
 honourable distinction than the inhabitants of Stratford- 
 upon-Avon. Not encumbered with the questionable blessing 
 of poetic propensities in themselves, they, nevertheless, 
 view with keen perception and enlarged comprehension the 
 genius of Shakespeare. Proud of their town, to which his 
 great name has bequeathed a world-wide celebrity, they 
 have invariably felt that as inhabitants thereof they had 
 special duties to discharge towards his memory. His 
 remarkable attachment to Stratford contributes not a little 
 to their estimate of the honour he conferred upon the town, 
 and largely accounts for their abiding anxiety to prove to 
 the empire and the world that they understand the respon- 
 sibilities as well as the honours of their position. Such 
 seems to me to have been the feeling of Stratfordians time 
 out of mind, although it is not many years since active 
 steps began to be taken for securing to the nation and pre- 
 serving from decay the place of his birth and residence. 
 The feeling of respect for his memory has ever been deep, 
 broad, and general. It only required Garrick to unfurl the 
 flag of Shakespeare in order to arouse the town and attract 
 around him the county a hundred years ago. The jubilee 
 of 1827 formally transferred from the adherents of Garrick 
 to their children that Shakespearian enthusiasm they had 
 witnessed amongst their relatives, and which blended with 
 their earliest recollections ; and the celebration of 1830, 
 with its royal, although nominal patronage, and its splendid 
 pageantry, is treasured with pleasurable remembrance by 
 every inhabitant of Stratford whose memory extends to the 
 event. 
 
O TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 It would, therefore, have been singular indeed if the 
 great epoch of the poet's three hundredth natal day had 
 been allowed to pass away in his birth and burial place, 
 where his memory is so revered, without a demonstration 
 in some degree corresponding with the occasion. That 
 many looked for years forward to 1864, and beheld in their 
 mind's eye an unprecedented demonstration in Stratford, I 
 feel quite assured. The Burns' centenary suggested a 
 national celebration of a similar description to Shake- 
 speare. It was, however, the good fortune of the late 
 excellent actor and estimable man, Mr. Harries Tilbury, 
 to give the first expression to the feeling upon the subject. 
 He happened to take the chair at the Shakespeare Club 
 dinner, in Stratford, on the 23rd of April, 1859, and in 
 proposing the toast of the evening made the following 
 observations on the approaching event : " ' Time,' " he 
 said, " c with his stealing steps ' will quickly bear to 
 you the year 1864. In that year prove that Scotia's 
 educated sons are not alone enough clannish to honour 
 native genius, as they so creditably did by the Burns' 
 centenary, but show an English, a British spirit of clanship, 
 and such, if possible, with triple energy and impressive- 
 ness, upon the tercentenary of great Shakespeare's nativity. 
 [Loud cheers.] Time changes most things ; but it has not 
 affected the appreciation of Shakespeare, unless indeed, it 
 be to multiply and extend it. Invite then all the lands to 
 display their fervour, and send their deputations at the 
 tercentenary, and who can doubt the sublimity of the 
 response ? That would be another thrilling stamp of 
 honour to your town, and to the memory of the ' sweet 
 swan of Avon.' And I will not hesitate to suggest another 
 and a lofty mode to perpetuate honour to him, which 
 I cannot but think is practicable, and would confer upon 
 your town of Stratford an additional, a gravely significant, 
 record to the bard, and which would establish a dignified 
 advantage. At this tercentenary festival, nay, before it, 
 solicit contributions ; extend your askings to the county 
 Shakespeare's county nay, to the kingdom ; even peti- 
 tion our deservedly-beloved Sovereign, who is so frequently 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 89 
 
 an enjoyer of the representations of your great bard's 
 plays, and her illustrious Consort, the elegant and liberal 
 patron of art and pen ; add to these any balance which 
 may be available from the munificent bequests of that 
 glorious, generous deviser, the noble John, who boasted 
 privilege of fellowship in the poet's name, and, with the 
 gathered proceeds of these and any other means which may 
 be enlisted to advance the noble purpose, found at one of the 
 Universities an exhibition to be periodically competed for 
 by the scholars of your Grammar School ; that school 
 which, established by the sixth Edward, the beneficent to 
 education, did under the wise and mighty Elizabeth con- 
 tain as pupil beneath its roof, as student at its desk, that 
 very youth whose after successes and celebrity have in- 
 vested the fabric with a halo which will assuredly survive 
 in history, even when its perishable materials have 
 succumbed to the slow but certain inroads of all-powerful 
 time. [Applause.] With such an exhibition established 
 you would not only boast the birth house, now renovated 
 by public and individual liberality, and his hallowed 
 sepulchre, but possess an educational memorial, such as 
 similar to, and dear with, and of frequent institution in our 
 age, as they earlier marked the enlightened liberality of good 
 and considerate men in centuries which have preceded us, 
 and which may serve to enhance the acquirements attained 
 by successful labourers in your local school, and by their 
 passage through more severe and elevated classes, fit future 
 men of Stratford to be, when drafted into the world, not 
 only honours to him whose name their exhibition should 
 wear, but to be shining lights and true advantages in their 
 particular periods." 
 
 These admirable sentiments, and the no less admirable 
 practical suggestion by which they were accompanied, 
 obtained general approval. The matter was taken up by the 
 Committee of the Shakespeare Club, and at the next meeting, 
 in April, 1860, Dr. Kingsley, the President, stated that 
 " at the request of the Committee, the Rev. Mr. Granville 
 and himself had an interview with the Lord-Lieutenant of 
 the county, in order to obtain his co-operation in the due 
 
90 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 celebration of tlie tercentenary which was to take place there 
 in 1864. No person could have evinced more interest in 
 the project than did Lord Leigh on that occasion. His 
 Lordship assured them both that he was quite willing to 
 take any part in the proceedings for doing honour to the 
 day. [Applause]. He now wished to remark that although 
 some persons in the neighbourhood might consider that the 
 members of the Committee were somewhat lukewarm in the 
 matter, yet they were nevertheless working silently but 
 steadily, and he hoped successfully, in the matter. There 
 were many circumstances to be taken into consideration. 
 Their primary object was to obtain the sanction of royalty, 
 and secure the patronage of the leading celebrities of the 
 day to their proceedings in Stratford. They would make it 
 known that the object intended was not alone a grand 
 celebration in honour of the master- spirit of a former age. 
 They desired to accomplish what Mr. Tilbury suggested the 
 previous year, by devoting funds pbtained from subscriptions, 
 donations, &c., to the foundation of Shakespeare scholar- 
 ships at the Universities. A direct benefit would thus accrue 
 to the town of Stratford-upon-Avon ; for the fact that 
 scholarships were free to the children of resident parents 
 would induce many to take up their abode on that account." 
 Subsequently, in the same year, Dr. Kingsley succeeded in 
 obtaining the consent of the amiable and accomplished Earl 
 of Carlisle, K.Gr., Lord- Lieutenant of Ireland, to accept the 
 office of President of the Committee, to be formed for the 
 celebration of the Shakespeare tercentenary. A list of 
 Vice-presidents was afterwards opened, to which names of 
 eligible parties were added from time to time up till the end 
 of February, 1864. [See programme.] And at the dinner, 
 which took place in the afternoon of the birthday this 
 year (1860), the Rev. Julian Young, who was chairman, 
 referred to the contemplated celebration in the following 
 terms : " Nearly three hundred years have gone by since 
 the birth of him whose memory and reputation are cherished 
 by the civilised world ; and what has hitherto been done 
 by his own countrymen to mark their obligation to the man 
 who has elevated their tastes, enriched their literature, and 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 91 
 
 shed more unperisliable renown on his land than any who 
 have gone before or followed after him ? I need not say, 
 because I am sure you feel that the glory which the literary 
 immortality of this great sun in the intellectual hemisphere 
 has reflected on the country at large shines with especial 
 effulgence on this, the town of his birth, his education, his 
 earliest and latest memories, and his death. Now this day 
 four years hence, those of us who may be spared so long 
 shall hope to witness the celebration of his tercentenary ; 
 [applause] and, that it may be fittingly observed, I would 
 suggest that we should not regard it as an event merely of 
 local, or provincial, or metropolitan, or national, or European 
 but of world- wide significance ; and I believe that in such 
 a cause every enlightened foreigner Italians by their tens, 
 Frenchmen by their hundreds, Germans by their thousands, 
 and Americans by their hundreds of thousands would 
 gladly and proudly identify themselves with it. I would 
 therefore suggest that, by circulars transmitted abroad as 
 well as at home, the formation of committees in different 
 large towns abroad as well as at home, by every person of 
 literary, aristocratic, and artistic distinction, especially by 
 those professing love for Shakespeare who should show 
 their sincerity by exerting themselves in behalf of the cause 
 we have at heart by the powerful agency of the press ; 
 by the theatres, provincial and metropolitan, which should 
 be induced to devote certain nights to the purpose by all 
 these means I say we should work, and then I cannot help 
 thinking that a celebration, which shall far eclipse in 
 splendour the jubilee of Grarrick, will be obtained." 
 
 It was in this enlarged and comprehensive spirit the 
 late celebration was conceived and projected. If it has 
 failed to realise all the early anticipations indulged with 
 regard to it, no blame can attach to the Stratford Committee, 
 who could not have done more than they accomplished in 
 the eight or nine months they were really at work in the 
 matter. The agitation was to comprehend the civilised 
 globe ; and pity 'tis that those who took a view of the 
 matter so properly extensive did not think of the time 
 necessary for the purpose. It was a mistake not to com- 
 
92 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 mence the great work on the very night when Mr. Young 
 fore-shadowed its magnitude. Rome was not built in a day; 
 neither was the world to be stirred in any cause, substantial 
 sympathy obtained, a great project developed, and all the 
 details perfected in the little time at the Committee's dis- 
 posal ; for it is but now some nine moons wasted since 
 the object to be aimed at, and a plan of operations, were 
 settled with any degree of unanimity and certainty. 
 
 In 1860, several of the leading men in the business were 
 solicited to take immediate action in it, but they did not see 
 the necessity of despatch. They had the whole four years 
 before them, little thinking how soon " Time with his 
 stealing steps" would claw that slice of our brief existence 
 in his clutch. Procrastination prevailed and nothing was 
 done or said publicly on the subject till 14th September, five 
 months after Mr. Young's speech, when a letter on the 
 subject appeared in the Herald, from a member of the old 
 Shakespearian Club. The writer said he had heard that 
 a gentleman had gone to London to enquire how far proba- 
 bilities were in favour of obtaining royal patronage to the 
 tercentenary celebration, and that having had interviews 
 with the noblest of the land, one and all were of his opinion, 
 that it was too early to moot the question. " What, in the 
 name of common sense," asks the old Shakespearian, "do 
 these people imagine the festival is to consist of? one act 
 from an Italian opera ? a masquerade ? a Shakespearian 
 procession ? If that be the extent of the programme, a very 
 short period will suffice for the preparations." Having 
 deprecated that view of the matter, the correspondent says, 
 " Let a town meeting be called immediately, that the feeling 
 of the inhabitants upon the subject may be ascertained, and 
 if favourable, let an active and energetic Committee be 
 formed at once." 
 
 The suggestion was not acfled upon. With the restor- 
 ation of the bust and the birth-place, and the opening of 
 the railway, the public mind was so occupied that the 
 projected tercentenary celebration was allowed to fall into 
 abeyance. Singular to say, it seems to have been forgotten 
 even by the members of the Shakespearian Club, as the 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 93 
 
 report of the Committee for 1861 makes no reference to 
 the subject. The establishing of the Shakespeare Fund in 
 the October of this year, disclosed a scheme so comprehen- 
 sive as to make ample demands on the public purse for 
 some time to come, involving as it did 1. The purchase 
 of the garden at New Place. 2. The purchase of the 
 remainder of the birth-place estate. 3. The purchase of 
 Anne Hathaway's cottage. 4. The purchase of Getby's 
 copyhold, Stratford-upon-Avon. 5. The purchase of any 
 other properties at or near Stratford-upon-Avon, &c. The 
 matter was not however entirely lost sight of, A begin- 
 ning was made in this year by the Shakespearian Club, 
 who held a meeting on the 22nd July, at the Town Hall, 
 under the presidency of Dr. Kingsley, " for the purpose of 
 considering the propriety of taking preliminary steps for 
 the celebration of the tercentenary of Shakespeare in 
 1864." The question was decided in the affirmative, and a 
 Committee was formed consisting of Sir Robert Hamilton, 
 Bart., C. H. Bracebridge, Esq., Rev. G. Granville, Rev. 
 Julian C. Young, Dr. Thomson, William 0. Hunt, R. H. 
 Hobbes, E. F. Flower, Mark Philips, F. Kendal, and J. S. 
 Craig, Esq., with Dr. Kingsley as Hon. Sec. The Com- 
 mittee may have worked from this period forward, as Dr. 
 Kingsley said the Shakespearian Club had done previously, 
 " silently but steadily " in the business, but it was then 
 full time to commence the public agitation. France and 
 Germany, America and Australia, ought to have been made 
 thus early acquainted with the intentions of Stratford- 
 upon-Avon, so as to give time for their co-operation. 
 Prompt and decided action at this time might moreover 
 have completely forestalled London in public attention, and 
 prevented that confusion of ideas and rivalry of interests so 
 injurious to both parties. But the apparent inertness of 
 Stratford gave an opening to the town, and hence we heard 
 in June of this year (1861), of a national monument, to 
 which subscriptions were invited, Mr. Macready's name 
 being mentioned in connection with the project, but certainly 
 without his authority, for the great tragedian does not 
 approve of the monumental idea, as I clearly perceive by 
 
94 TERCENTENAEY FESTIVAL. 
 
 his directing the ten guineas he sent through me, as Sec- 
 retary to the tercentenary Committee, to be appropriated 
 to the scholarship. 
 
 Little progress was however made at Stratford beyond 
 the appointment of the Committee in 1861. The opening 
 of 1862 was rendered sadly memorable by the dreadful 
 calamity of the Hartley Colliery, and the distress in Lan- 
 cashire. These melancholy events rendered any general 
 collection for a national festival utterly impossible, whilst 
 the people of Stratford and the county were being strongly 
 urged to contribute to the Shakespeare fund for the pur- 
 poses above-mentioned. The Shakespeare Club met on the 
 23rd April, when a report was submitted from the birth- 
 place Committee, but no mention made of the tercen- 
 tenary celebration. It was referred to at the dinner by 
 Mr. James Bennett, who occupied the chair, and by other 
 speakers, but beyond the obtaining consent from a small 
 number of gentlemen to enrol themselves as Vice-presi- 
 dents, no " tercentenary work" appears to have been done 
 in 1862. Hence the day and night work of the Committee 
 during the past six months, and the limits to which the 
 movement was ultimately confined, no action having been 
 taken on behalf of Stratford by three-fourths of the towns 
 of England. 
 
 Early in 1863 the Amateur Dramatic, Literary, and 
 Debating Society, recalled the attention of the people of 
 Stratford to the subject by debates held in relation to it, 
 and the Shakespearian Committee, in their annual report 
 on the 23rd April, submitted a sketch of the programme 
 which comprised (1) Dramatic Reading ; (2) a Shake- 
 spearian Fancy Ball ; (3) an Inaugural Address by the 
 President, the Earl of Carlisle (this was a mistake, as his 
 Lordship had not consented to deliver any special address) ; 
 
 (4) the Ceremony of opening New Place Gardens ; and 
 
 (5) a Banquet. The Oratorio, Concert, and Dramatic 
 Performances, which subsequently caused so much trouble 
 and expense, were not, it appears, contemplated at that 
 period. " This scheme," said the Stratford Herald in an 
 article on the subject, published 22nd May, " has been 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 95 
 
 pronounced rather meagre, but in justice to the Committee 
 it must be admitted that the difficulties which presented 
 themselves in every direction during the past twelve 
 months, particularly upon the primary question of raising 
 funds while distress pervaded the manufacturing districts 
 to such an alarming extent, were sufficient to damp the 
 ardour of the most enthusiastic, and at one time were 
 considered all but insurmountable." The condition of the 
 people of Lancashire had however become reconciled, and 
 a "county meeting" was convened in the Town Hall, on 
 the 28th May. To that meeting the Herald solicited the 
 attention of the town in the following terms : " We 
 earnestly entreat every inhabitant of the borough and 
 neighbourhood to attend that meeting. Let us not subject 
 ourselves to the reproach of having settled in this locality 
 with a view of snaring the advantages with which the 
 prestige of Shakespeare's name and fame has endowed it, 
 while we shirk the responsibility connected with the be- 
 coming celebration of the three hundredth anniversary of 
 his birth." 
 
 This appeal was not made in vain, for the attendance at 
 the meeting was very large and highly influential. The 
 chair was taken by Lord Leigh ; and amongst others pre- 
 sent on the occasion and taking part in the proceedings, 
 were Sir Robert N". C. Hamilton, Bart., the Rev. the Vicar, 
 C. H. Bracebridge, Esq., E. F. Flower, Esq. (Mayor), J. J. 
 Nason, Esq., Rev. J. C. Young, Dr. Kingsley, J. Jaffray, 
 Esq., Samuel Timmins, Esq., Birmingham, R. H. Hobbes, 
 Esq., James Bennett, Esq. (Tragedian), Mark Phillips, 
 Esq., Mr. R. M. Bird, Mr. James Cox, &c. Sir Robert 
 Hamilton, Bart., submitted for the consideration of the 
 meeting the recommendations of the Committee. An 
 Oratorio, a Concert, and Theatrical Performance were now 
 suggested for the first time, and met with the approval of 
 the meeting. 
 
 With respect to the permanent results of the celebra- 
 tion the following propositions were submitted : 
 
 " That the names of persons subscribing one shilling and upwards 
 to a National Memorial of Shakespeare should have their names in- 
 
96 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 scribed on rolls of parchment, to be collected, deposited, and carefully 
 preserved, bound in volumes, and placed in the Museum at the 
 birth-place. That the money thus obtained should be applied as 
 follows : Firstly, towards extending the educational advantages of 
 the Free Grammar School of King Edward VI., in which Shakespeare 
 received instruction. Secondly, in founding and establishing one or 
 more scholarships or exhibitions at the English Universities in con- 
 nection with the above school. Thirdly, in giving a triennial prize for 
 the best poem or essay on Shakespeare, open to public competition. 
 And, fourthly, in laying out the gardens at New Place ; opening them 
 to the public, and otherwise celebrating the tercentenary/' 
 
 After a somewhat desultory discussion on these topics, 
 Lord Leigh put the first resolution to the meeting as 
 follows : " That the .roll of subscribers inserting their 
 names and contributions of one shilling and upwards 
 towards raising a fund for a National Memorial to Shake- 
 speare in the town of his birth shall be carefully bound in 
 volumes and deposited and preserved in the Museum at the 
 birth-place." Mr. James Bennett then rose, and after some 
 preliminary remarks said : " The scheme laid before them 
 by Sir Robert Hamilton embraced objects that were highly 
 worthy of adoption. Still, the scheme was headed 
 'National Memorial,' though it was not such. To submit 
 it to the country in its present narrow and local shape, with- 
 out any addition, and to ask the nation to support it, would 
 ensure nothing but a cold and chilling reception. There 
 was nothing national in it. [Hear, hear.] To be national 
 it must be general. It must be something the nation could 
 participate in and enjoy [applause] something of a sub- 
 stantial nature in return for the nation's money. [Applause.] 
 JSTo tribute, in his opinion, could be offered to Shakespeare 
 more appropriate than a statue in his native town, as mag- 
 nificent as could be a work of art, which should be admired 
 by the succeeding generations a lasting memorial to the 
 transcendent genius of Shakespeare. [Cheers.] Mr. 
 Bennett concluded by moving that the words, " And that a 
 memorial statue be erected on an appropriate spot in 
 Shakespeare's native town of Stratford- upon- Avon," be 
 added to the foregoing resolution. This proposal having 
 been seconded by Mr. William Harding, and supported in 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 97 
 
 an admirable speech, by Mr. James Cox, the Mayor of 
 Stratford (Mr. E. F. Flower) said "he thought that they 
 were now only called upon to decide upon a certain 
 scheme, and it would depend upon the funds at their 
 disposal whether the Committee were able to carry out 
 all the suggestions. With respect to a statue, he knew the 
 liberality of the Corporation of Stratford was such that 
 they would give the ground for its erection, but he could 
 not himself give preference to a statue before the school. 
 As Mayor of the town, he should be happy to assist in 
 carrying out any scheme that might be decided upon." 
 To these views the Mayor has rigidly adhered, and acted 
 upon them steadily throughout the business. Mr. Ben- 
 nett's proposal, after some discussion, was submitted to 
 the meeting as a substantive motion, when thirty- two voted 
 for, and thirty-two against it. The noble Chairman sup- 
 ported the latter division, and the motion was lost by his 
 casting vote. The propositions of the Committee having 
 been confirmed, it was announced that Lord Leigh's sub- 
 scription would be a hundred guineas, and Sir Robert 
 Hamilton's twenty guineas, towards the scholarship. The 
 proceedings of this important meeting then terminated ; but 
 the people of Stratford were by no means satisfied with the 
 result of the motion in relation to the monument. Deter- 
 mined not to let matters rest where they were, or the 
 important question of monument or no monument to be 
 decided by a single vote, a number of influential promoters 
 of the celebration went vigorously to work, got up a 
 numerously signed requisition to the Mayor requesting him 
 to convene a town's meeting "to discuss the propriety of 
 appealing to the tercentenary Committee, asking them to 
 re-consider their decision " with respect to the monument. 
 Public feeling at this time ran very high on the subject. 
 The Mayor convened the meeting but declined to take the 
 chair, and regarded the movement as a mistake in point of 
 order. "He was," he said, "Mayor of the town, and 
 wanted to serve the towns-people, but he was also one of 
 the tercentenary Committee, and he must obey the order 
 of the public meeting. He felt himself bound by what that 
 
98 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 meeting (of the 28tli May) did. It would be painful to 
 himself and to many others to disregard the expressions of 
 the public meeting of the town, but it would be impossible 
 for them, to disregard the instructions received from a 
 public meeting which had been already held, and in which 
 the town took part." Finding it impossible to change the 
 Mayor's view of the case, or bring him to see that the town 
 meeting had a right to ask a re- consideration of a decision 
 come to by the narrowest possible majority, it was moved, 
 seconded, and carried, that Mr. Councillor Stephenson take 
 the chair. Mr. Stephenson at once acceded to the wishes 
 of the meeting, and, having taken the chair, Mr. James 
 Cox, jun., in an eloquent speech which elicited loud cheers, 
 moved, " That this meeting being of opinion that no scheme 
 for the commemoration of the three hundredth anniversary 
 of our great national poet can be considered complete that 
 does not embrace as a prominent feature a statue or 
 monumental memorial, to be erected in this his native town, 
 strongly recommends the tercentenary festival Committee 
 to take this matter into its most serious consideration with a 
 view, if possible, to add to the scheme already adopted, and 
 suggests that separate subscription lists should be opened 
 to receive such donations as may be offered by the public 
 for this object." Mr. John Lane seconded the motion in the 
 absence of Mr. Robert Walker, who was to have done so. 
 Messrs. Hobbes and Kendall dissented from the proceedings 
 and expressed their concurrence in the course taken by the 
 Mayor. Mr. E. T. Craig, phrenologist, Warwick (who had 
 previously promulgated the idea of the exhibition of 
 portraits, which was ultimately carried out and formed a 
 handsome feature in the late celebration), ably supported the 
 motion, which was carried unanimously, and addressed to 
 Dr. Kingsley, Honorary Secretary of the Committee. 
 
 To show that they meant all they said, the promoters 
 of the monument proceeded to collect funds for the pur- 
 pose, and succeeded so well (having obtained in a very short 
 time subscriptions amounting to nearly 1,000), that the 
 Committee felt constrained to accept as part of their scheme 
 the erection of a monumental memorial at Stratford-upon- 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 99 
 
 Avon. It proved far and away the most popular item of 
 the programme, shoved the prize poem idea aside, and 
 obtained five times as much support as any project of the 
 Committee ; and it may be here remarked that, as the 
 money then and subsequently subscribed cannot be ap- 
 plied to any other object without the permission of the 
 subscribers, the monument is not yet by any means " past 
 praying for." 
 
 The next move of the promoters of the monumental 
 memorial was made in the Corporation, on the 4th of 
 August, when, after some discussion, the following reso- 
 lution was carried : " That the Corporation, highly con- 
 curring in the objects of the tercentenary Committee, offer 
 a subscription of 50 for each of the three objects 
 announced, on the same conditions as the other sub- 
 scribers." On the 26th of the same month, a general 
 meeting of the Committee was held at the Town Hall, 
 presided over by Sir R. ~N. C. Hamilton, Bart., K.C.B. 
 The minutes of the meeting held in June having been 
 read, the report of the finance Committee was submitted by 
 Mr. R. H. Hobbes, by which it appeared that 253 for the 
 school, 931 for the monumental memorial, and 231 for 
 the general expenses had been promised to be subscribed. 
 Of these sums 61 Us. had only been paid, and 31 
 Us. 4<d. expended. The report then suggested several 
 matters for the consideration of the meeting, among others, 
 that of a paid Secretary, the appointment of a working 
 Committee, &c. This report was adopted, and it was 
 agreed that a paid Secretary should be appointed. A letter 
 to the Chairman from Dr. Kingsley, tendering his resig- 
 nation as Honorary Secretary was read. The resignation 
 was accepted, and a vote of thanks passed to Dr. Kingsley 
 for his services. Mr. J. S. Leaver, who had been acting 
 Secretary with Dr. Kingsley, remained in office for a fort- 
 night longer. The business terminated after the adoption 
 of the following resolutions : Moved by the Rev. GK 
 Granville, seconded by Mr. F. Kendall, and resolved : 
 " That the Secretary be authorised to call meetings of the 
 tercentenary Committee at the request of any of the 
 
100 TEECENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 Sub-committees, and that the Mayor be appointed a Vice- 
 chairman of the tercentenary Committee, and that meetings 
 of the Committee be held every alternate Monday, at the 
 Town Hall, at eleven o'clock." Proposed by Mr. B. H. 
 Hobbes, seconded by the Rev. G. Granville, and resolved : 
 " That all subscribers be requested to pay the amount of 
 their subscriptions into the banks, upon the assurance that 
 if the separate objects cannot be carried out the amount of 
 subscriptions, after a pro rata deduction for the expenses, 
 shall be repaid to the respective subscribers." Proposed by 
 Mr. W. O. Hunt, seconded by Mr. Hobbes, and resolved: 
 " That no resolution passed at any meeting shall be re- 
 scinded but at a special meeting called for the purpose, of 
 which notice shall be given to each member. That Mr. 
 R. H. Hobbes, as Chairman of the finance Committee, be 
 requested to write to Mr. R,. E. Hunter, and ascertain 
 his terms for his services as Secretary to the Committee." 
 
 The Sub- committees referred to in the first resolution 
 comprised, as originally named, the Finance, Building, 
 Dejeuner, Miscellaneous Concert, Dramatic Representa- 
 tions, Dramatic Readings, Excursion, Fancy Ball, General 
 Amusement, Oratorio, Prize Poem, Scholarships, Railway, 
 Address and Advertisement, and New Place Gardens 
 Committees. Subsequently a Site and Memorial Com- 
 mittee was appointed, and all the small Committees having 
 charge of any of the amusements were broken up and a 
 General Entertainment Committee formed to carry out the 
 programme. On the 7th of September I received the 
 appointment of Secretary, an office which I held until the 
 23rd of March following, when I resigned, and subsequently 
 rapidly recovered my health and spirit, both impaired by 
 domestic calamities and the toils and anxieties of my 
 situation. Enough of self. 
 
 On the Committee at the date of my advent, I found 
 the following gentlemen : 
 
 Sir ROBERT N. C. HAMILTON, Bart., K.C.B., Chairman. 
 The Rev. G. GRANVILLE, Vicar of Stratford, Vice-chawmom. 
 E. F. FLOWER, Esq., the Mayor (ex-officio), Vice-chwirmcm. 
 Mr. W. J. Harding, Baraset (Gen- I Mr. C. H. Bracebridge (Gentle- 
 tleman) . man) . 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 101 
 
 Dr. Thomson, Leamington. 
 
 Mr. M. Philips (Gentleman). 
 
 The Rev. W. Morton (Curate of 
 Stratford). 
 
 Mr. Robert H. Hobbes (Solicitor). 
 
 Mr. J. S. Craig (Surgeon). 
 
 Mr. W. 0. Hunt (Solicitor). 
 
 Dr. Kingsley, Stratford. 
 
 The Rev. Julian C. Young (Rector 
 of Ilinington) . 
 
 Mr. C. E. Flower (Brewer). 
 
 Mr. F. Kendal (Dispensing 
 Chemist) . 
 
 Mr. E. Adams (Bookseller, &c.). 
 
 Mr. W. Stephenson (Watch- 
 maker). 
 
 Mr. Edgar Flower (Brewer). 
 
 Mr. Bird (Wine and Spirit 
 Merchant). 
 
 Mr. Edward Gibbs (Architect). 
 
 Mr. W. G. Colbourne (Architect). 
 
 Mr. W. Thompson (Architect). 
 
 Mr. William Gibbs, Alveston 
 (Farmer). 
 
 Mr. H. Mathews (Professor of 
 Music). 
 
 Mr. J. Archer (Maltster). 
 
 Mr. W. G. F. Bolton (Shakespeare 
 Hotel). 
 
 Mr. W. Lowry (Red Horse 
 Hotel). 
 
 Mr. James Cox (Timber Mer- 
 chant) . 
 
 Mr. Atkinson (Second Master of 
 the Grammar School). 
 
 Mr. J. J. Nason (Surgeon). 
 
 Mr. H. Samman (Draper, &c.). 
 
 Mr. M. Lucy, Malvern. 
 
 Mr. J. Morgan (Bookseller, &c.). 
 
 Mr. E. Nason, Leamington. 
 
 Mr. E. R. Hartley (Commercial 
 Traveller). 
 
 Mr. James Bennett (Tragedian). 
 
 Mr. J. C. Warden (Attorney). 
 
 Mr. H. Lane (Surgeon). 
 
 Mr. C. F. Loggin (Chemist). 
 
 Mr. W. L. Norris (Family Grocer). 
 
 Sir Robert Hamilton, Bart., although not in the habit of 
 attending the committee meetings, was ever ready when 
 called upon to give his advice and co-operation ; to which, 
 it is needless for me to say, his character and distinguished 
 position imparted no ordinary value. The Vicar occupied 
 the chair occasionally, and always to the advantage and 
 general gratification of the members present, by whom his 
 dignity and courtesy were fully appreciated. His spare 
 time was always at the command of the Committee. Mr. 
 E. F. Flower (the Mayor), on his return from a tour in 
 Germany, became, in theatrical language, the " stock" 
 Chairman. He almost invariably conducted the proceed- 
 ings ; and his labours in travelling on deputations, in the 
 writing of public and private letters, the making of 
 speeches, and in the consultations and negotiations con- 
 nected with the arduous undertaking, are matters of general 
 notoriety. Whether a division of labour, by which deputa- 
 tions from the general Committee, selected weekly, would 
 
102 TERCENTENAKY FESTIVAL. 
 
 have made the movement known throughout the provinces, 
 and delegated authority, being thus more generally shared, 
 would have conduced to a more lively festival or a more for- 
 tunate denouement than I shall have it in my power to record, 
 I will not take upon myself in this place to affirm, inas- 
 much as the prodigious activity of the Mayor received not 
 only the fiat, but the high commendation of the Committee. 
 Touching the general body, I may remark that although 
 warmly interested in the cause, Messrs. W. J. Harding, C. 
 H. Bracebridge, and M. Philips, were but occasionally in 
 attendance. Messrs. W. O. Hunt, Edward Gibbs, E. ISTason, 
 and Mr. H. Lane I never saw in the committee room. 
 The Rev. Mr. Young's attendance was interrupted by 
 indisposition. When present he took every occasion to 
 impress the members with his own lively apprehension of 
 unwarrantable pecuniary liabilities. The Rev. Mr. Morton 
 was always ready to discharge his share of the duties of 
 membership, and rendered good service in getting up the 
 musical department of the entertainments. Messrs. C. and 
 E. Flower were energetic lieutenants, as well as sons of 
 the Mayor. Dr. Kingsley acted as Hon. Secretary at first 
 and last, and had his full share of the troubles and fatigues of 
 office. Mr. F. Kendall was a useful member, whose opinions, 
 being those of a magistrate of the borough, and ex-mayor, 
 always commanded the attention of the Committee. Mr. 
 Edward Adams officiated prior to my advent as Secretary 
 to the finance Committee, and as the proprietor of the 
 Stratford Herald extended to the movement those advantages 
 which the newspaper press alone can confer. Mr. Stephenson 
 and Mr. Cox had clear and lofty views of the rights and duties 
 of Stratford-upon-Avon on the tercentenary of Shake- 
 speare's birthday. They never feared an agitation in London, 
 or the prestige of any name as against Stratford, and worked 
 earnestly, particularly the latter mentioned gentleman, to 
 secure the success of the festival. Mr. R. H. Hobbes acted as 
 Chairman of the finance Committee, a post of sufficient 
 trouble and difficulty. Mr. R. M. Bird and J. Archer were 
 in constant attendance at all meetings, general and com- 
 mittee, and indefatigable in their exertions, especially in the 
 
TEBCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 103 
 
 business connected with the erection of the pavilion. Mr. 
 Atkinson was a clear headed and sound counsellor. Mr. 
 Nason, a member of the finance Committee, and very regular 
 in his attendance, as became a medical practitioner. Mr. 
 James Bennett must be always a useful coadjutor in every 
 matter involving dramatic performances, and when 
 authorised by the Committee, discharged the duties allotted 
 to him conscientiously. Mr. Morgan, as correspondent of 
 the Birmingham Post, and proprietor of the Stratford 
 Chronicle, gave full and regular publicity to the proceedings, 
 and as assistant Hon. Secretary worked for a period night 
 and day in forwarding the business. Messrs. Thompson 
 and Colbourne were generally present at the weekly 
 meetings, but as architects of the building their time and 
 attention were fully occupied. The other members either 
 resided at a distance, or were so engaged in their own 
 affairs, as to have little time to devote to the public 
 service. To the above list several valuable members were 
 subsequently added. Amongst these the first place must 
 be assigned to Mr. William Greener, gunmaker, whose 
 constant attendance and active services made it a matter of 
 regret that the Committee had not had the benefit of his 
 co-operation from the commencement. Messrs. Langford 
 and Chance, of the Birmingham Gazette, came also rather 
 late into the field, but made up for that in some measure by 
 the regularity of their attendance, and the interest they 
 took in the proceedings. 
 
 Amongst those who, whilst not connected with the 
 Committee, were amongst the most active and useful 
 friends of the cause, I am bound to record the names of Mr. 
 Robert Walker (ex-mayor), and Mr. John Lane, Solicitor, 
 whose absence from the roll of the Committee must be 
 regarded as a serious loss to the celebration. By their 
 exertions the fund was first established, and by their 
 ability as financiers, had they been on the Committee, the 
 exchequer would have been much benefited, whilst grave 
 mistakes might have been prevented in the important 
 business of expenditure. 
 
 As some curiosity will probably exist hereafter to know 
 not only the names but the occupations of the Committee, 
 
104 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 and the part enacted by each, or the degree of service 
 rendered to the memory of Shakespeare in 1864, I have 
 thought it not irrelevant to make this brief notice here of 
 the respective claims of the members on the gratitude of 
 those who, looking back to the memorable year, may regard 
 their labours with approval ; and I now return to the 
 narrative. 
 
 On the 7th September, the date last mentioned, the 
 building Committee brought up their first report, in which 
 they stated that having taken into consideration the 
 various purposes for which a building would be required 
 in the celebration of the Shakespeare tercentenary, they 
 recommended the erection of a structure capable of ac- 
 commodating five thousand persons, and the immediate 
 advertising for tenders. At the next meeting, on the 21st 
 September, a difficulty which might have become serious 
 was removed, when Mr. R. H. Hobbes informed the meeting 
 that an excellent site had been obtained for the erection 
 of a spacious decagon building for the festival, Mr. T. Mason 
 having in the kindest manner consented to place his paddock 
 in Southern's Lane at the disposal of the Committee. It 
 was then proposed by Mr. Hobbes, seconded by Mr. Charles 
 Flower, and resolved : " That the best thanks of the Com- 
 mittee be given to Mr. T. Mason for his liberality in 
 granting the use of the field in Southern's Lane for the 
 tercentenary festival, and the Committee engage to make 
 compensation, and to repair all damage that may be done, 
 and to give up possession as soon as possible after the 31st 
 April next." 
 
 That matter of somewhat important detail having been 
 disposed of, it was moved by Mr. Bennett, seconded by Mr. 
 Kendall, and resolved: " That steps be immediately taken 
 to form branch Committees at Birmingham and other towns, 
 to co-operate with the general Committee in Stratford, in 
 making arrangements for the tercentenary celebration." 
 Messrs. Cox, Bennett, and the Secretary, were authorised 
 to act in the matter, and to proceed to the neighbouring 
 towns for the purpose mentioned in the resolution. 
 
 This was the first step taken towards obtaining the 
 co-operation of the country. As authorised, we proceeded 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 105 
 
 to Birmingham a few days afterwards. At this period the 
 London Committee were " making the running ;" every 
 copy of the Athenaeum contained the names of magnates of 
 all descriptions added to their lists. The hopes of Stratford 
 were, comparatively speaking, anything but brilliant. I 
 never, however, despaired of the attractions of the birth and 
 burial place of Shakespeare, and, in an article I published 
 at this period, prophesied that wherever a statue might be 
 founded the festival would be in Stratford-upon-Avon. 
 
 It so happened, however, that on the evening prior to the 
 visit of the Stratford deputation to Birmingham a public 
 meeting had been held there, on behalf of London the 
 Rev. Dr. Miller in the chair. We thought the field pre- 
 occupied, but determined nevertheless to call upon Dr. 
 Miller. He received us with courtesy, admitted the claims 
 of Stratford upon Birmingham under all the circumstances, 
 and suggested that a conference, to which he kindly offered 
 accommodation in his own house, should be held by the 
 friends of the celebration, with a view of coming to a com- 
 mon understanding respecting the somewhat conflicting 
 interests of London and Stratford, to see what amount of 
 support could be extended to both by the people of Birming- 
 ham, keeping at the same time in view their own project of 
 a Shakespearian library. 
 
 We at once adopted the Doctor's suggestions, and waited 
 upon a number of influential gentlemen, who all consented 
 to attend the conference on receiving timely notice to that 
 effect. The holding of this conference was, however, post- 
 poned from time to time, for one reason and another, 
 and ultimately Dr. Miller, not approving of some portions of 
 the Stratford Committee's programme, declined to have any- 
 thing to do with the conference. It was not therefore till 
 the 18th December that any action was really taken in Birm- 
 ingham on behalf of Stratford, when Mr. HolKday, the Mayor, 
 convened a town's meeting, which was attended by Mr. E. F. 
 Flower, Mr. Cox, and Mr. W. Greener. Speeches having 
 been made by the Mayors of Birmingham and Stratford, it 
 was moved by Alderman Hawkes, seconded by Mr. S. 
 Timmins, and resolved : " That this meeting fully recognises 
 
106 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 the strong claims which the local Committee of Stratford- 
 upon-Avon have upon the public generally throughout the 
 kingdom, and especially upon Birmingham, for co-operation 
 and assistance in their determination to celebrate the 
 tercentenary of Shakespeare's birth." Stratford has now 
 celebrated with some splendour, and at considerable expense, 
 the tercentenary of Shakespeare's birth; and, as Birm- 
 ingham has sanctioned all the proceedings of the local 
 Committee, it is to be hoped the metropolis of Warwick- 
 shire will really give that " co-operation and assistance " 
 necessary to not only balance the ledger, as matters now 
 stand, but carry out the programme in its entirety. 
 
 A commencement having been thus made in the agitation 
 of the country, other modes were adopted for obtaining 
 support and patronage to the undertaking. Early in October 
 a circular letter was published by the Committee. I was 
 amongst a few who thought the address from Stratford to 
 the public, even if a little florid in style, ought to be drawn 
 up with a view to excite a degree of enthusiasm on the 
 subject in the general mind, but a brief and bald statement 
 of facts was preferred, and the Committee issued the fol- 
 lowing epistle : 
 
 * " Tercentenary of the Birth of Shakespeare. 
 
 " Committee Room, 
 " Sir, " Town Hall, Stratford-upon-Avon, 1863 
 
 "As tlie town in which Shakespeare was born, bred, and educated; 
 which he chose for his home in the decline of life, and in which he 
 died and was buried, Stratford-upon-Avon is assuredly the most 
 appropriate spot for a tercentenary celebration in his honour. The 
 better to secure this object in 1864, the following noblemen and 
 gentlemen have agreed to act as President and Vice-presidents, and 
 a local Committee has been appointed with power to add to its 
 numbers. [Here the list of the Vice-presidents and local Committee, 
 which appears in full hereafter, was given, as it stood at this early 
 stage of the business.] 
 
 " The festival will be extended over four or five days. 
 
 " On Saturday, the 23rd of April, there will be a banquet for ladies 
 and gentlemen, at which the Earl of Carlisle will preside, and deliver 
 an address. He will be supported on the occasion by many Members 
 of both Houses of Parliament, and others eminent in the walks of art, 
 literature, and science. 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 107 
 
 " On other days there will be Excursions to various places in the 
 vicinity of Stratford-upon-Avon, illustrative of incidents in Shake- 
 speare's life, under the guidance of gentlemen well qualified for the 
 task ; Critical Analyses of Shakespeare's Plays ; a Grand Oratorio (to 
 which many of our leading vocalists have already consented to 
 contribute their services), and a Miscellaneous Concert. The comedy 
 of ' As You Like It/ and one of Shakespeare's tragedies will be repre- 
 sented by a combination of metropolitan and provincial talent. There 
 will also be a Shakespearian Fancy Ball. 
 
 " One day will be devoted exclusively to popular amusements. 
 
 " Each day's proceedings will be fully specified in a subsequent 
 prospectus. 
 
 " The substantial objects to which the pecuniary results of the 
 festival will be devoted, are 
 
 " 1st The Endowment of one or more Scholarships to one of the 
 Universities, open to the competition of those who have received their 
 education at the same school at which Shakespeare received his, viz., 
 The Free Grammar School founded by King Edward VI. 
 
 "2nd The Erection of a Monumental Memorial at Stratford- 
 upon-Avon. 
 
 " The Committee respectfully solicit your favourable consideration 
 of their enterprise, and trust that with your countenance and co-opera- 
 tion the issue may be worthy of the cause. 
 
 " While they reserve to themselves the privilege of expanding or 
 modifying their programme according to circumstances, they beg to 
 assure you that the larger the funds with which they may be en- 
 trusted the more energetic will be their efforts to render the occasion 
 august and memorable. 
 
 " Signed on behalf of the Committee, 
 
 " ROBERT E. HUNTER, 
 
 " Secretary. 
 
 e * Donations and subscriptions will be received by Messrs. Glyn 
 and Co., Messrs. Smith, Payne, and Smith, and Messrs. Hanbury and 
 Co., Bankers, London; Messrs. Greenway, Smith, and Greenway, 
 Bankers, Warwick ; the Stourbridge and Kidderminster Banking- 
 Company, and the Warwick and Leamington Banking Company, 
 Stratford-upon-Avon. 
 
 " Subscribers are requested to specify the object for which they 
 desire their subscriptions to be appropriated, viz., M for the Monu- 
 mental Memorial ; S for the Scholarship ; and F for the Festival 
 Fund." 
 
 Of this document no less than twenty thousand were cir- 
 culated, the greater number through the post office. 
 
 It was also deemed advisable and desirable that the 
 co-operation of the great societies and organisations of the 
 
108 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 country, as the Masons, Odd-Fellows, Foresters, Trade 
 Societies, &c., should be enlisted, but the time for all this mass 
 of work was extremely limited. A beginning was however 
 made with the Odd-Fellows, from whom one penny each 
 would have realised upwards of 1,300. The following cir- 
 cular letter was addressed to nearly four thousand lodges : 
 
 " Tercentenary of the Birth of Shakespeare. 
 
 " Committee Boom, 
 " Sir, " Town Hall, Stratford-upon-Avon, December, 1863. 
 
 " As instructed, I have the pleasure of addressing to you a copy of 
 the following resolution, unanimously adopted by the Shakespeare 
 and Bank of Avon Lodges of Odd- Fellows : 
 
 c That having had a full official statement of the intentions and 
 plans of the Stratford Committee, organised for the celebration of the 
 Shakespeare tercentenary, laid before us, we fully approve of the same, 
 and subscribe each one penny towards the fund for the erection of a 
 monument to the memory of Shakespeare in this town, and respect- 
 fully but earnestly recommend the brethren of the Unity to do like- 
 wise ; and that application be made to the next District Committee, 
 and to the Board of Directors for leave to circulate the address 
 throughout the Unity.' 
 
 " I have also to acquaint you that the above-named lodges con- 
 ferred an additional favour on the tercentenary Committee by sending 
 a deputation to the Quarterly Meeting of the Birmingham District Com- 
 mittee, held on the 5th Oct., and their representations to that important 
 body resulted, I am happy to say, in the following resolution : 
 
 1 That the memorial from the Shakespeare and Bank of Avon 
 Lodges, on behalf of the Shakespearian tercentenary Committee, be 
 received and adopted, and that they be allowed to circulate it through- 
 out the district ; and that this meeting recommend it to the next 
 A.M.C. for general adoption.' 
 
 " Thus accredited I take leave to request that you would have the 
 great kindness to lay these resolutions before the next meeting of your 
 lodge, and trust that they will have the goodness to give their patron- 
 age and pecuniary support in a similar manner to this national effort 
 to do honour to the memory of Shakespeare. I enclose a copy of the 
 Committee's programmes for the festival, and 
 
 " I am, Sir, very faithfully yours, 
 
 "EGBERT E. HUNTER, 
 
 " Secretary. 
 
 " N.B. The names of the lodges with the amounts respectively 
 contributed will be recorded on parchment, and deposited at Shake- 
 speare's birth-place. 
 
 "P.S. Since the lodges were first addressed as above, several 
 generous responses have been received." 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 109 
 
 The responses to this appeal came in very slowly indeed ; 
 and as I knew the Odd-Fellows to be a highly intelligent body 
 of men, who must have perceived that with very little exer- 
 tion on their part they had it in their power to contribute 
 largely to the funds of a laudably national demonstration, 
 I could not account for their apathy. At last it was dis- 
 covered there was an informality in the mode of procedure. 
 The Odd-Fellows who stimulated the Committee to address 
 the body at large misunderstood the extent of authority 
 requisite for the purpose. A counter circular was issued 
 by, I believe, the "A.M.C.," and a very few pounds came 
 in towards the defraying of the expenses incurred by an 
 appeal to the Odd-Fellows. Surely they must know that 
 the informality of the procedure was a mere error of judg- 
 ment on the part of one of their own Order, and I trust it 
 is not yet too late to induce them to do themselves the 
 honour of contributing to the tercentenary celebration at 
 Stratford-upon-Avon. 
 
 Reverting to the labours of the Committee in the form- 
 ing of branch Committees in the neighbouring towns, I find 
 that, after Birmingham, their efforts were next directed to 
 Worcester, whither Mr. Charles Flower, the Rev. Mr. 
 Morton, and I, proceeded about the middle of October. We 
 were very well received by the Mayor, Mr. F. Parker, and 
 a number of other gentlemen, who all consented to act on 
 a Committee to collect funds, and co-operate with Stratford 
 in the celebration. A public meeting was afterwards held, 
 which was attended by the Mayor of Stratford, at which 
 this Committee was regularly constituted, and subsequently 
 a considerable number of parchment documents (provided 
 for the enrolment and preservation of the names of sub- 
 scribers, as mentioned in the first proposition of the Com- 
 mittee to the public meeting) were sent to Mr. Parker 
 (local Secretary) at his request ; but the amount realised 
 in Worcester towards the object has not yet been ascer- 
 tained. 
 
 Having thus enlisted Worcester in the service, a depu- 
 tation consisting of Mr. Nason, Mr. Bird, and myself, as 
 requested by the Committee, visited Warwick on the 4th of 
 
110 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 November. We were received by the Mayor (Mr. Smith), 
 Mr. C. D. Greenway, Mr. C. Redfern, and some other gentle- 
 men at the Court House. Having explained our mission, the 
 Mayor and other gentlemen present expressed their hearty 
 sympathy with the movement. Mr. Smith said that in 
 consequence of his term of office having nearly expired, 
 his retirement from the position of Chief Magistrate would 
 prevent him giving that official prestige and support to the 
 undertaking which it was desirable it should receive, and 
 to which it was fairly entitled. However, he hoped his 
 successor would extend his patronage to the laudable move- 
 ment, and take an interest in the labours of any Committee 
 which might be formed in the town, and he (Mr. Smith) 
 would certainly give in his own name as a member of such 
 Committee. The cause, so far as the co-operation of War- 
 wick was concerned, was committed to these gentlemen; but 
 the full fruits of their labours have not yet been ascertained. 
 Having made a move in Birmingham and Warwick, the 
 Committee lengthened their cords, and the Mayor, duly 
 accredited, visited Manchester as an ambassador from 
 Stratford. A meeting of the Committee, previously formed 
 " for the purpose of promoting some worthy commemoration 
 of our great poet," took place in the Mayor's parlour on 
 the 14th of December. This Committee had no special 
 purpose in their mind's eye, or any plan of action drawn up. 
 They were in communication with the London Committee, 
 then very popular the Thackeray fiasco had not come to 
 light and they contemplated a Shakespeare scholarship at 
 Owen's College and the Grammar School. Mr. Mower having 
 made a lucid statement of the case of Stratford-upon-Avon, 
 several gentlemen (I quote from the Examiner and Times 
 of the following day) said the Manchester Committee was 
 agreed about not sending money to the London Committee. 
 It was also stated that the Manchester scholarships would 
 cost about 2,500, and the bust 120 ; and to render the 
 desired assistance to the Stratford Committee, it would be 
 necessary to collect a sum of 4,000. The raising of this 
 sum was agreed to. Mr. Ashton then proposed the 
 following resolution : 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. Ill 
 
 " That this Committee fully recognises the strong claims which 
 the local Committee of Stratford-upon-Avon has upon the public 
 generally throughout the kingdom for co-operation and assistance in 
 their determination to secure at Stratford a national monument; 
 and that this Committee undertakes, in such a manner as may be 
 hereafter determined, to give their cordial assistance to such local 
 Committee." 
 
 Tlie motion was seconded by Mr. Oliver Heywood. Mr. 
 Walker and Dr. Watts were added to the list of Honorary 
 Secretaries, and Mr. Crossley was appointed Treasurer. 
 The Committee then adjourned. The "cordial assistance " 
 undertaken to be given has not yet appeared, but there is 
 no doubt it will come in good time. The people of Man- 
 chester would be the last in the world to waive any 
 legitimate responsibility or forget any public engagement. 
 
 Proceeding on his mission in the north the Mayor 
 visited Liverpool on the 21st of this month (Dec.), where 
 he found the minds of the influential inhabitants pre- 
 occupied with the London scheme and the splendour of its 
 list of Vice-presidents. The Mayor, however, and a num- 
 ber of the leading men of the great commercial entrepot 
 were present at the meeting, and subsequently enrolled 
 their names amongst the Vice-presidents of the Stratford- 
 upon-Avon Committee. Early in January a public meeting 
 was held in Leamington, pursuant to arrangement for 
 some time in formation. The chair was taken by 
 J. Haddon, Esq., and the following resolution, proposed by 
 Mr. Alexander Campbell, and seconded by Mr. Muddeman, 
 was carried unanimously : 
 
 " That this meeting recognises the propriety of celebrating the 
 tercentenary of the birth of Shakespeare in the town of Stratford- 
 upon-Avon, where he was born, where he passed a great part of his 
 early and late life, where he died, and where his remains have been 
 interred, and which has become the resort of pilgrims of all the 
 civilised nations of the earth." 
 
 The next resolution was moved by the Rev. G. F. Clark, 
 seconded by Dr. Thomson, and also carried unanimously: 
 
 " That this meeting, acknowledging the strong claims Stratford- 
 upon-Avon has upon the public generally for co-operation and sup- 
 
112 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 port, and recognising the peculiar obligations of this county to take 
 part in properly celebrating the tercentenary of the birth of the 
 Warwickshire poet, readily accepts the call now made upon the town 
 of Leamington and the neighbourhood for its sympathy and cordial 
 support." 
 
 A Committee to carry out these resolutions was next 
 formed, to consist of J. Haddon, Esq., Chairman, the 
 Revds. Dr. Bickmore and T. B. Whitehurst, Drs. Thomson 
 and Jeaffreson, Signor Brezzi, Messrs. P. W. Martin, M.P., 
 A. Campbell, F. Dinsdale, F. Manning, J. Hitchman, 
 J. Glover, J. Biddle, Bushby, T. Muddeman, W. Cookes, 
 T. Wilson, L. Bishop, Grascoyne, Watkin, H. Uppleby, 
 and J. Leech. A considerable sum was subscribed in the 
 room, and it was resolved to open lists at the various 
 banks, to receive further subscriptions. The pecuniary 
 result of this canvas of Leamington was two hundred 
 odd pounds, some time afterwards lodged to the credit 
 of the tercentenary Committee, and although the sum 
 did not quite realise the expectations of Stratford, it 
 is, I regret to say, about the only instance of prompt and 
 business-like action as yet worked out to completion by any 
 of the branch Committees. 
 
 The next important step taken towards securing the 
 co-operation of the country was in Newcastle- on- Tyne, 
 where the Press had prepared the way for a deputation from 
 Stratford. On Monday, the 1st February, an influential 
 meeting was convened by the Mayor (Thomas Hedley, 
 Esq.), at which Mr. Flower attended. A Committee had 
 been previously formed to arrange a local demonstration, 
 but after hearing a statement from the Mayor of Stratford, 
 and subsequent explanation of matters of detail connected 
 with the festival, it was moved by Mr. Bainbridge, seconded 
 by Mr. John Clayton, and resolved: " That in the opinion 
 of this meeting, Stratford-upon-Avon is the proper place for 
 the erection of a monumental memorial to Shakespeare," 
 and with the view of extending substantial sympathy to their 
 undertaking, it was moved by Mr. Cowen, jun., seconded 
 by Mr. William Lockey Harle, and resolved : " That a 
 subscription list be opened for contributions in aid of the 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 113 
 
 Stratford Committee, with liberty for any subscriber to 
 allot his subscription to any one or more of the proposed 
 objects the Stratford Festival the Scholarship, or the 
 Memorial." Arrangements were then made for the carry- 
 ing out of this resolution in a business like manner, and 
 the proceedings terminated. 
 
 The Mayor subsequently visited Edinburgh, Glasgow, 
 and other towns, and addressed public meetings. He 
 elicited expressions of individual sympathy and promises of 
 support, but not those positive pledges of co-operation 
 which the occasion might have called forth, and which 
 would have been more encouraging to the Stratford Com- 
 mittee. Efforts were made in London too, at sundry times 
 and in various ways, on behalf of Stratford, but to little 
 purpose. 
 
 In farther pursuance of the plan of organisation adopted, 
 Mr. James Bennett, who was proceeding to the south of 
 England on professional business, was authorised to promote 
 the ventilation of the subject in Southampton, Portsmouth, 
 Brighton, and other towns which he purposed visiting. He 
 did so and obtained the cordial support of the gentlemen of 
 the press, by whom the agitation was made familiar to the 
 wide circle of their readers. 
 
 That no other city or town disposed to assist Stratford 
 in the effort being made to do honour to Shakespeare's 
 memory should have any reason to hold back from so 
 doing, the following circular letter was addressed to mayors 
 and chief magistrates throughout England and Scotland : 
 
 " Tercentenary of the Birth of Shakespewe. 
 " Committee Koom, Town Hall, 
 
 " Stratford-upon-Avon, December, 1863. 
 "Sir (or My Lord), 
 
 "At the request of the Committee I have the honour to apprise 
 you that the movement having for its object the celebration of the 
 tercentenary of Shakespeare's birth, and which has existed at 
 Stratford-upon-Avon with more or less activity for two years, has 
 so far realised the expectations of the Committee as to assume a 
 truly national character. 
 
 " The Committee are in communication with London, Edinburgh, 
 Dublin, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Worcester, Gloucester, 
 
 H 
 
114 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 Leicester, Warwick, Leamington, Kugby, Southampton, Portsmouth, 
 Brighton, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Banbury, Redditch, West Bromwich, 
 Stroud, &c., &c., at many of which places auxiliary Committees have 
 already been formed. 
 
 " The erection of a grand national monumental memorial in the 
 town where Shakespeare was born, lived, and died, will necessarily 
 involve considerable outlay. Several thousand pounds have already 
 been subscribed, and it is fully expected that adequate funds will be 
 realised for the purpose. 
 
 "The Committee meet weekly, and Sub-committees daily, to 
 carry out the necessary arrangements for the celebration. A pavilion 
 to accommodate between five and six thousand persons is now in course 
 of construction. 
 
 "The dramatic performances will be supported by the most 
 eminent metropolitan and provincial actors. The oratorio and con- 
 cert by the first artistes of the musical world, a number of whom have 
 already promised their gratuitous services. 
 
 " All the arrangements are being rapidly perfected, so as to make 
 the celebration one of truly national grandeur, and worthy of the 
 transcendent genius whose memory it is designed to honour. 
 
 "As it is important to enlist the active sympathies of all the 
 principal towns in the United Kingdom, permit me to request that 
 you will kindly acquaint me with your views as to the best means of 
 securing the co-operation of the town over which you preside. 
 " I remain, Sir, 
 
 " Your obedient Servant, 
 
 "R. E. HUNTER, Secretary." 
 
 Whilst tlms struggling to bring about the joint opera- 
 tion of all England in discharging the national duty of 
 doing homage to the memory of the "genius of the isle," 
 anxious eyes were cast daily to the press to see what 
 amount of support was likely to come from that quarter. 
 The Mayor sent the following letter to the Times : 
 
 " To the Editor of the TIMES. 
 " Sir, 
 
 " The small borough of Stratford-upon- Avon, of which I am 
 Mayor, appeals to you in a difficulty. As the town where Shakespeare 
 was born and bred, where he lived his last days, and where he lies 
 buried, it is a sort of Mecca, which many pilgrims visit, and which, 
 without any choice in the matter, is forced to undertake a great work 
 in view of the next anniversary of the poet's birthday. Months ago 
 we believed that if there would be any national celebration of that 
 day it would, in these railway times, be held at Stratford, and with the 
 help of our Lord- Lieutenant we formed a Committee, under the presi- 
 dency of Lord Carlisle, to make preparations accordingly. No sooner 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 115 
 
 was tliis done than a Committee was formed in London, not to assist 
 us, but to get up a national celebration in the metropolis. This cut to 
 pieces the nationality of our undertaking. We accepted our altered 
 circumstances with the greatest humility, and set to work upon a 
 smaller scale, content if we could but make a good local celebration of 
 our great townsman's birthday. A few weeks elapsed and we found 
 the provincial towns generally looking to Stratford-upon-Avon as their 
 centre, applying to us to know what we were doing, and offering to 
 aid us if we would undertake what might be regarded as a national 
 celebration. In fear and trembling we again accepted the altered cir- 
 cumstances, and have put forth a scheme much too comprehensive to 
 be met alone by local labour and money. Now, therefore, we want a 
 metropolitan organisation to help us in carrying out this vast under- 
 taking the arrangement of a festival worthy of a nation, the erection 
 of a monument to the world's greatest poet, and the application of a 
 fund to some useful educational purpose. 
 
 " I have nothing to say against the London Committee ; on the 
 contrary, I wish them God- speed ; but I find that a number of eminent 
 men have joined that Committee in ignorance that we at Stratford are 
 engaged in a similar work ; and we appeal to you as the leader of the 
 press to give that publicity to our design which the London Com- 
 mittee enjoy through many channels. 
 
 " I know that London is willing to help us. In one day's canvas 
 there I obtained more names as Vice-presidents of our Committee and 
 more money than I expected to find in many days, and already we 
 have had more than 2,000 subscribed. 
 
 " And now, Sir, we appeal to you to favour us by publishing this 
 letter. Circumstances have forced the little town of Stratford to under- 
 take duties and responsibilities which, without assistance, it cannot 
 fulfil. Provincial assistance we obtain without stint, but we desire also 
 the sympathy of the metropolis. 
 
 " We are plain men of business, engaged in a simple duty which 
 we have not sought. As such, however, we have claims which are 
 entitled to respect. It was only the other day that Punch accused 
 various persons who propose to build monuments to Shakespeare of 
 only wishing to raise pedestals to their own glory. I do not know 
 whether this sarcasm is merited, but at all events it cannot apply to 
 us. We have no selfish object to serve ; we have no literary reputa- 
 tion to buoy up by pushing ourselves needlessly forward. 
 
 " We are in a peculiar position from which we cannot escape, and 
 we now desire the co-operation and advice of all men men of rank, 
 men of wealth, men of letters, men of influence, in any class who 
 think that Stratford-upon-Avon, as the birth-place, the chosen 
 residence, and the burial place of Shakespeare, is the most appropriate 
 spot for a national celebration of the tercentenary of his birth. 
 " I remain, Sir, your obedient servant, 
 
 " E. F. FLOWER, 
 " The Hill, Dec. 8." " Mayor of Stratford-upon-Avon. 
 
116 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 As a matter of course this letter attracted the general 
 attention of the country to the movement for the celebra- 
 tion of Shakespeare's three hundredth birthday, and 
 procured adherents to Stratford from various quarters. 
 
 The local newspapers, the press of Birmingham, and 
 several provincial journals had given steady support to 
 Stratford. The London press apparently, and naturally 
 too, expecting something overwhelming and all-absorbing 
 from the labours of the London Committee and their 
 formidable list of Vice-presidents, for several months 
 ignored the exertions of the Committee here to celebrate 
 the memory of Shakespeare ; but on the 29th of October, 
 the Morning Post (the early and steady friend of the 
 Stratford celebration) declared, in an article on the subject, 
 " it was impossible that Stratford could be left out in any 
 adequate commemoration of the great bard." One might 
 say that was a very safe platitude at any time, but at the 
 period in question it was a very startling deliverance to 
 many a metropolitan lover of "the poet of all circles," 
 who had never thought of a rival celebration. 
 
 Expectation was on tip-toe respecting the performance 
 of the London or "National Committee," and I know that 
 their own anticipations were in the zenith of hope touching 
 the achievement of the 23rd of April ; but throughout 
 November they did nothing save add names to their list of 
 Vice-presidents, and the public became impatient to see 
 something practical projected. Stratford was then some 
 months in the field with a well- digested programme. 
 Early in December occurred the wretched blunder by 
 which that marvellous compound of genius and literary 
 acquirements the author of "Vanity Fair" was excluded 
 from the office of Vice-president. On the morning of the 
 24th of the same month the country heard with sad con- 
 sternation that William Makepeace Thackeray was no 
 more. The fatal event was also fatal to the National 
 Committee. Previously complained of for slowness and mis- 
 management, they were now universally denounced for 
 something worse. I have frequently thought they were a 
 body of literary gentlemen " more sinned against than 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 117 
 
 sinning ; " but be that as it may, they were most unfor- 
 tunate in the management of their undertaking. 
 
 As the London Committee declined in public confidence 
 and esteem, the Stratford Committee rose in popularity. 
 The London press discovered their existence, and directed 
 attention to their labours. Articles more or less favourable 
 appeared in the Daily Neivs, the Telegraph, and Sta/r, and 
 on the 20th of January the Times declared for Stratford in 
 the following terms : 
 
 " In honour of Shakespeare there are two Committees at work 
 the one in Stratford, the other in London. Both claim to be regarded 
 as national both declare that they are powerfully supported and yet 
 both cannot succeed. There may be in the public mind enough of 
 sympathy for one : there is not enough for two. One of the two must 
 either be extinguished altogether or become auxiliary to the other. 
 See what is wanted. Each of the Committees proposes as the principal 
 object of its scheme to build a monument. We do not like the idea of 
 a monument at all. There are monuments enough. Above all, we 
 stare at the suggestion that the foundation of the monument is to be 
 laid on the 23rd of April. In three months the money is to be 
 collected, the site chosen, the artist appointed, the design drawn, and 
 the first stone laid. It must be a wonderful Committee that will do all 
 this. And we are to have two magnificent monuments, worthy of the 
 nation, worthy of Shakespeare. Where are they to come from ? It 
 would be a task of no ordinary difficulty to get one ; two are impossible. 
 We warn our literary friends not to be over sanguine. They may 
 deem themselves lucky if they get money enough for one good monu- 
 ment, and the question is, shall this monument be at Stratford or in 
 London. Our sympathy, in so far as we have any sympathy with the 
 movement, goes to Stratford, both as a matter of necessity and from 
 a sense of justice. 
 
 The necessity lies herein that London stands for itself almost alone. 
 The provincial towns are supporting Stratford, and will continue to sup- 
 port it. Against the metropolis the ciy of centralisation has been raised. 
 Manchester, Birmingham, and, if we mistake not, Liverpool, have all 
 declared for Stratford ; and this is but a sign of what the provinces 
 intend. They, and not only they, but all Europe and all America, 
 when they give to Shakespeare a local habitation, think of him not in 
 connection with London, but in connection with Stratford, where he was 
 born, where he was educated, where he married and had children, 
 where his family seem always to have lived even when he himself was 
 in London, where he visited them from year to year, where as he grew 
 in wealth he bought house and lands, where he retired in the fulness 
 of his strength to enjoy his days, where he died, and where he now 
 
118 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 lies buried. He came to London to push, his fortune and to make his 
 reputation ; but he left it soon, there was a prospect of long days 
 before him in his native town, and he died there in his prime, one year 
 younger than Mr. Thackeray. Stratford, then, is the locality with 
 which Shakespeare's name is chiefly associated. We of the metropolis 
 are bound to remember this, and must not be selfish. The country 
 towns have often assisted London, and it would be a graceful thing for 
 London now to assist a small country town Shakespeare's town. All 
 things conspire to this end. For not only, if London acted differently, 
 would it fail to obtain in any important degree the support of the 
 provinces ; it is divided against itself. We cannot take part in the 
 feuds which distract what is elegantly called the National Shakespeare 
 Committee of London ; but there is no doubt that this Committee has 
 been badly managed, that its executive has not been wisely chosen, and 
 that it has lost, if it ever possessed, the public confidence. To this 
 day the Committee of Management is unknown to the public. It is 
 true that in various circulars which we have all seen the Committee 
 is described as made up of four hundred persons, some of high 
 station and repute. But these are mere names. Who are the 
 working Committee ? At a meeting of the large Committee of 
 four hundred held the other day to decide upon a report not a fifth 
 part of the grand list attended ; those who did attend were at 
 daggers drawn; the acting Committee could not get their report 
 passed ; they were not allowed even to withdraw it ; and they had 
 to submit to the ignominy of its rejection by vote. After a vote of 
 this kind, equivalent to a vote of censure, the acting Committee, 
 whoever they are, ought to re-consider their position and their 
 objects. There is nothing left for them but either to abandon their 
 original project, or to constitute themselves into a London Committee, 
 auxiliary to the one at Stratford. In point of fact, a number of the 
 names in their general Committee, such as those of Lord Carlisle, Lord 
 Houghton, and Mr. Tennyson, have already appeared on the Stratford 
 list, and to-day it is announced that such men as Mr. Tom Taylor, Mr. 
 Theodore Martin, and Mr. Shirley Brooks, refuse to have anything more 
 to do with the London Committee. Their example is sure to be followed ; 
 the London Committee seem doomed to failure, and should be warned 
 in time. In whatever is done for the honour of Shakespeare unanimity 
 is required, and our counsels are for peace and unanimity. We speak 
 with perfect impartiality, for we must repeat that the scheme of a 
 monument finds no favour in our eyes, from whomsoever it comes." 
 
 It was now determined to appeal to the general press of 
 the country, and the following letter was issued : 
 " Tercentenary of the Birth of Shakespeare. 
 
 " Comipittee Room, Town Hall, 
 " Sir, " Stratford-upon-Avon, January 7th, 1864. 
 
 "I have the pleasure of enclosing several documents con- 
 nected with the Shakespeare tercentenary celebration in this town. 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 119 
 
 The Committee will feel much obliged by your giving space in your 
 journal to those portions of these papers most calculated to interest 
 your readers ; and should you think well to draw public attention to 
 this important event in your leading columns, they feel you will 
 materially assist the efforts now being made to do honour to the 
 memory of Shakespeare, in the place of his birth, residence, and 
 burial. 
 
 " I am, Sir, yours faithfully, 
 
 " EGBERT E. HUNTER, 
 
 " Secretary. 
 " To the Editor of " 
 
 This request was complied with by a considerable 
 number of newspapers, and the paragraphs announcing in 
 brief terms the doings of the Committee, which were for- 
 warded weekly to every journal of influence throughout 
 the empire, obtained general insertion ; and that the special 
 attention of the great and wealthy of the land might be 
 drawn to the movement, the Mayor addressed the sub- 
 joined brief and business-like note to the Peers and 
 Members of Parliament : 
 
 " Stratford-upon-Avon, 
 
 " 30th December, 1863. 
 " Dear Sir (or my Lord), 
 
 " Since the insertion, on the 12th inst. in the Times, of a 
 letter written by me on the subject of the forthcoming celebration of 
 the tercentenary of Shakespeare's birth, in this his native town, 
 several noblemen and gentlemen have given our Committee their aid, 
 and permitted their names to be added to our list of Vice-presidents. 
 
 " If you will kindly allow your name to be placed on our list, and 
 can in any way forward our undertaking, you will oblige our Com- 
 mittee. 
 
 " I am your obedient servant, 
 
 "E. F. FLOWER, 
 " To" " Mayor and Vice-chairman. 
 
 Whilst the Mayor, the Vicar, and other members of the 
 Committee were labouring by personal exertions abroad, 
 and letters were being dispatched in thousands by the 
 Secretary (whose office at this period was no sinecure), 
 with a view of arousing the sympathy and obtaining the 
 support of the country at large, the general body at home 
 
120 TERCENTENAEY FESTIVAL. 
 
 were busily engaged, to the exclusion of their own business, 
 in the collecting of subscriptions, and in perfecting the 
 arrangement for the festival. 
 
 An address to the managers of theatres throughout the 
 provinces had been thought of, and being strongly urged 
 by Mr. Buckstone, and Miss Cushman, who happened to be at 
 Stratford in October, the subjoined, together with a parch- 
 ment roll, was sent to every theatre then open in the 
 country : 
 
 " Tercentenary of the Birth of Shakespeare. 
 
 " Committee Koom, Town Hall, 
 
 " Stratford-upon-Avon, December, 1863. 
 "Sir, 
 
 " At the request of tlie tercentenary Committee, I enclose 
 a copy of their address, and am desired to express, on their behalf, a 
 hope that you will, as soon as convenient, have the great kindness to 
 devote a night at your theatre to a performance in aid of the funds 
 now being raised for a truly national celebration at Stratford-upon- 
 Avon in honour of Shakespeare's three hundredth birthday. 
 
 " A parchment document, with necessary information, is herewith 
 forwarded, and you will confer a favour by permitting this to be so 
 placed as to attract notice in your box-office. 
 
 " Box-keepers are allowed ten per cent, on the amount collected. 
 " I am, Sir, very faithfully yours, 
 
 " ROBERT E. HUNTER, 
 
 " Secretary." 
 
 Mr. Charles Gill sent a subscription, Mr. Swanborough, of 
 Birmingham, devoted a night to the festival. Of further 
 proceeds from the appeal to the provincial managers, 
 deponent has nothing to testify. 
 
 But this disappointment was small indeed compared 
 with that which arose in the negotiations with actors. 
 The Committee probably thought this was to be a light 
 matter of detail, but it proved from beginning to end a 
 source of ever-recurring annoyance, and that not so much 
 from the alleged peculiarities of this class of artistes as 
 from the fact that those who undertook to arrange with 
 them knew nothing at all of the business. The consequence 
 was the loss of several of the most eminent comedians of 
 the age, whose services might have been available, and, 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 121 
 
 despite gratuitous services rendered, the entailment of an 
 amount of pecuniary outlay which, when the balance sheet 
 appears, will astonish the public. 
 
 The toils and troubles of stage management were 
 certainly not anticipated when, on the 18th November, the 
 Vicar made the agreeable announcement that, through the 
 influence of the Rev. Mr. Belle w, the valuable and gra- 
 tuitous services of Madame Tietjens, Madame Sainton- 
 Dolby, Mr. Santley, Mr. Sims Reeves, and Mr. Alfred 
 Mellon had been secured for the oratorio. All seemed then 
 likely to be plain, calm, and economical sailing ; but 
 breakers were ahead, and shipwreck at one time not im- 
 possible. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Bellew, referred to, came down shortly 
 afterwards to Stratford, and was elected a member of 
 Committee, a Vice-president, member of the entertainments 
 Committee, and Corresponding Secretary in London. He 
 was endowed with large discretionary power in relation to 
 all the management of the entertainments, and had, "in his 
 effect, a voice potential, as double as the Duke's" for a time 
 in casting the characters, and settling all the details of 
 stage management. If this proved an unfortunate arrange- 
 ment for the Committee, it was no less an unhappy one for 
 Mr. Bellew. I shall not further expatiate on the topic, 
 which may possibly be discussed by those more deeply 
 interested in it hereafter. 
 
 Amongst the eminent artistes whose services were 
 solicited for the occasion was Mrs. Fanny Kemble, who 
 was asked to read "A Midsummer Night's Dream." 
 The lady replied that she was going to the continent, 
 and should not be in England in April. Miss Faucit 
 (Mrs. Theodore Martin) was requested to act. She at 
 once consented to assist, but before giving a definite 
 answer desired to know the character, and whether there 
 would be any other performance on the same evening 
 except that in which she appeared. Mr. Webster and 
 Mr. Phelps placed their services at the disposal of the 
 Committee. Mr. Fechter was thought of, but it was 
 stated that he could not close the Lyceum the business 
 
122 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 was so great to come to Stratford. However, some time 
 after te enlistment of Mr. Bellew, that is about the 
 middle of December, it was discovered that Mr. Fechter 
 might be obtained, and the entertainments Committee, not 
 without some apprehension as to the prejudice which the 
 step they were taking might create, invited Mr. Fechter to 
 play Samlet. They were led to do so by the fact that the 
 performance was regarded as a novelty, and had had an 
 unprecedented run at the Princesses' Theatre, and was 
 therefore likely to prove more attractive than the Hamlet 
 of any other tragedian. There was no intention of in- 
 sulting Mr. Phelps, however the selection may have seemed 
 to imply a forgetfulness of him, or an ignorance of the 
 fact that since Mr. Macready's retirement he has been the 
 foremost man of his profession. Hamlet was not supposed 
 to be his greatest favourite in the tragedy role ; and as for 
 the memory of Shakespeare, it was regarded as so cosmo- 
 politan that it mattered little what countryman was 
 selected to represent his hero. 
 
 These were the views of the Committee, not so a large 
 section of the British public ; and as for the British actors, 
 "indignation " is but a feeble word to express the feelings 
 with which they heard the news that a Frenchman, who had 
 only succeeded in one of Shakespeare's characters and 
 although one of his greatest, yet a part so effective in the 
 language and telling in the situations, that amateurs and 
 ladies play it with success, and nobody ever signally failed in 
 it had been selected to play Hamlet at the great celebration 
 of the three hundredth natal day in Stratford-upon-Avon. 
 But Mr. Fechter had complied with the request of the 
 Committee, and reconsideration of the matter, certainly 
 never thought of by the Committee, was impossible. 
 
 A month elapsed before the effect of appropriating 
 Hamlet to Mr. Fechter was discovered in the news 
 that Mr. Phelps had "struck." The history of this 
 unfortunate incident is so fully detailed in the corres- 
 pondence which took place in relation to it that I am 
 induced to re-produce it here, at the risk of becoming 
 tedious and extending this compilation much beyond the 
 dimensions originally contemplated. 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 123 
 
 MR. PHELPS AND THE STRATFORD-UPON-AYON 
 COMMITTEE. 
 
 IN wishing (said Mr. Phelps, in Ms pamphlet), that 
 the ensuing correspondence between myself and certain 
 individuals acting officially on behalf of the Stratford- 
 upon-Avon Committee for the celebration of the ter- 
 centenary of the birth of Shakespeare should be made 
 public, I have no other desire than that I may set myself 
 right not only with my personal friends, many of whom 
 have already applied to me for an explanation of the causes 
 which have induced me to refuse to take any part in the 
 proposed performance to take place at Stratford in con- 
 nection with the approaching celebration, but also that the 
 motives which have induced me to this refusal, to vindicate 
 my professional position in this country may not appear in 
 a false light, either through misconception or misrepre- 
 sentation, to that public whose approval has been my great 
 encouragement and reward during the many years of study 
 and exertion I have devoted to the cultivation of the higher 
 drama, and more especially to the illustration of the genius 
 of Shakespeare ; and which approval I should be unwilling 
 to forfeit in a matter which, if it involve to a certain extent 
 considerations which may be regarded as purely private 
 and personal, in a much greater degree affects the esti- 
 mation which I won from the public in the exercise of my 
 profession on the one hand, and on the other the respect 
 and deference due from me in the same capacity to the 
 public. 
 
 Not deeming, when this correspondence opened, that 
 its course would be otherwise than simple, natural, and 
 satisfactory, as had been its commencement, I made no 
 copies of my own letters, and therefore must appear most 
 reluctantly as a narrator ; for however brief and few the 
 sentences needed to link the sequence of letters, I should 
 have infinitely preferred leaving the correspondence to tell 
 its own tale. 
 
124 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 Tercentenary of the Birth of Shakespeare. 
 
 (No. 1.) 
 
 Committee Room, Town Hall, 
 
 Stratford-upon-Avon, 7th December, 1863. 
 Sir, 
 
 As instructed, I take leave respectfully to address to you the 
 annexed copy of a resolution adopted unanimously at the above date 
 by the Committee organised here for the celebration of the Shake- 
 speare tercentenary in Stratford-upon-Avon. 
 
 As time is now very precious to the Committee, and an accident 
 has detained the despatch of this letter for a couple of days, would 
 you have the great kindness to favour me with your reply by return 
 of post. 
 
 I am, Sir, 
 
 Truly yours, 
 
 ROBT. E. HUNTER, 
 Samuel Phelps, Esq. Secretary. 
 
 Moved by J. J. Nason, Esq., M.B., seconded by E. F. Flower, Esq. 
 (the Mayor of Stratford-upon-Avon), and unanimously resolved : 
 " That the Secretary be instructed to write to Samuel Phelps, Esq., 
 requesting that gentleman to take part in the dramatic performances 
 at the festival in Stratford-upon-Avon, in April next." 
 
 To this letter I replied, that I believed it was intended 
 to give a Shakespearian performance at Drury Lane 
 Theatre on the 23rd of April, and in that case that my 
 services would be required in London, but that if it should 
 prove otherwise, I should be happy to assist the Committee. 
 To this came the following counter reply : 
 
 (No. 2.) 
 
 Committee Room, Town Hall, 
 
 Stratford-upon-Avon, 12th December, 1863. 
 Sir, 
 
 In reply to your kind note of yesterday, consenting to take 
 part in the Shakespeare tercentenary celebration here, " if not in 
 requisition in Drury Lane Theatre," permit me to say that it is not 
 intended to have any dramatic performance in Stratford on the 23rd 
 of April. According to present arrangements "Hamlet" will be 
 played on Tuesday, the 26th of that month. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. J. C. M. Bellew, who is a Vice-president and 
 member of the local Committee, has, however, kindly undertaken to 
 see you on the subject, and will probably do so on Monday next. 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 125 
 
 I take leave to inclose you a copy of our programme, a revised 
 edition of which, will be published in a few days, and I hope you will 
 do the Committee the honour of adding your name to the list of Vice- 
 presidents. 
 
 I am, Sir, 
 
 Your most obedient servant, 
 
 BOBT. E. HUNTER, 
 Samuel Phelps, Esq., &c. Secretary. 
 
 From the day on which. I received this letter until the 
 16th of January, 1864, a space of more than one calendar 
 month, I waited in daily and patient expectation to see the 
 Reverend Mr. Bellew, or to hear from the Committee. At 
 length, on that day, I wrote to Stratford-upon- Avon, asking 
 whether the Rev. Mr. Bellew, not having appeared, as 
 announced, in the capacity of spokesman for the Com- 
 mittee, I was to consider that the offer of my services, 
 elicited by their request, had been rejected. On the 
 evening of the same day, and before, of course, I could 
 receive any reply to this question, the following came to 
 hand : 
 
 (No. 3.) 
 
 Bedford Chapel, New Oxford Street, 
 
 January 16th, 1864. 
 
 My Dear Sir, 
 
 A short time back you would receive a communication from 
 our Secretary at Stratford, asking you to favour the tercentenary 
 festival with your presence and support. 
 
 I have delayed writing to you until I could know definitely what 
 play of Shakespeare's the Committee proposed to present. 
 
 It is now arranged that " Cymbeline" will be produced at Stratford- 
 upon- Avon, on the evening of Tuesday, April 26th. 
 
 This therefore is the proper time for me to address you, and convey 
 the invitation of the Stratford Committee to take part in their 
 performance. 
 
 I hope it is unnecessary for me to add, that I should think the 
 programme incomplete unless both you and Miss Faucit could be 
 included in it. 
 
 I sincerely trust that you will feel disposed to favour the Stratford 
 festival with your support and assistance ; and I can assure you that 
 if you will undertake the part of lachimo, your consent to play that 
 part will bo received by all concerned in promoting the festival with 
 the liveliest satisfaction. 
 
126 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 You will greatly oblige me if you will let me hear from you at your 
 early convenience ; and I hope your engagements will not prevent you, 
 as the foremost of English tragedians, from taking part in the 
 performances of a festival got up to do honour to Shakespeare's 
 memory. 
 
 Believe me, 
 
 My dear Mr. Phelps, 
 
 Yours very faithfully, 
 S. Phelps, Esq. J. M. BELLEW. 
 
 Before I replied to this, I deemed it advisable to wait 
 for an answer to my letter to the Stratford Committee. It 
 came on the 20th, informing me simply that a gentleman 
 would call on me. I then replied to Mr. Bellew, explaining 
 why I had not answered immediately, and concluding with 
 a plain statement that I declined assisting at the Stratford 
 festival. I must here observe, in order to render the next 
 communication from Mr. Bellew intelligible, that I had 
 received at the same time, with the first official letter from 
 the Secretary of the Stratford Committee, a private note 
 from that gentleman, expressing a personal desire on his 
 part to see me act in " Hamlet," " Othello," or " Macbeth," 
 at the approaching Stratford performances. Unintention- 
 ally I mixed up the private note, mentioning three 
 characters, with the official letter, mentioning only one- 
 the first. I regret this mistake, as it has brought blame 
 on the Secretary, but the confusion lends no strength to 
 the case of the Committee or of Mr. Bellew, as the case 
 may be, for the play of "Hamlet" is distinctly mentioned 
 in the second official letter ; and why is it mentioned in a 
 letter to me, if at that time, and before Mr. Bellew's 
 announced but never paid visit, it had been contemplated 
 to offer the part of Hamlet to another person ? 
 
 (No. 4.) 
 
 Bedford Chapel, New Oxford Street, 
 
 January 20, 1864, 5 p.m. 
 My Dear Sir, 
 
 Your note is just received, and I send an instant reply, 
 because I feel assured there must be some error. The facts you state 
 as communicated to you by Mr. Hunter are utterly unknown to me ; 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 127 
 
 and tlie delays occasioned in my writing to you were simply because I 
 pressed upon the Committee the folly of asking a variety of persons to 
 play, not being able distinctly to propose to them what to play. 
 
 There cannot be any possible difference of opinion and desire 
 among any of the Committee at Stratford upon the one point, viz. to 
 produce a play in which you can appear to the satisfaction of yourself 
 and the public. I am quite certain you are labouring under some 
 misapprehension, therefore I write again to beg you to re-consider 
 your decision, with the perfect confidence that if you would prefer 
 a night specially devoted to a play for you, and the parts cast as you 
 might advise, the Committee would do all in their power to produce it 
 with proper effect. I know it was their wish to combine you and 
 Miss Faucit in one play, and with this view " Cymbeline" was selected. 
 As I write in perfect ignorance regarding Mr. Hunter's letter to you, 
 or who directed him to specify " Hamlet," " Macbeth," and " Othello," 
 I can say nothing on that matter; but it certainly surprises me, 
 particularly as the Committee specially requested another gentleman 
 to appear as Hamlet. I can only say (feeling certain they will support 
 my request), that if "Macbeth," or "Othello," or any other play 
 of Shakespeare's will be more acceptable to you than joining in 
 " Cymbeline," it shall be got up for you; and got up as far as possible 
 according to your wishes. Whatever you may decide, let me beg you 
 to dismiss any misconception as to their wish, for it would indeed be 
 grievous if you were misled by any private letter from Stratford, and 
 in consequence of it to form a final decision which every one concerned 
 would regret. 
 
 I feel certain that five minutes' conversation would set the matter 
 straight, and if agreeable to you I will call anywhere convenient. 
 
 Believe me, 
 
 Yours faithfully, 
 
 S. Phelps, Esq. J. M. BELLEW. 
 
 Now, for the first time, I made a record of the words 
 used by me in the letter subsequently addressed to the 
 representatives of the Stratford Committee. Here, there- 
 fore, is what I wrote in reply to the above : 
 
 (No. 5.) 
 My Dear Sir, 
 
 I claim the right, upon the following grounds to be considered the 
 foremost man in my profession in a demonstration meant to honour 
 Shakespeare. I have produced worthily thirty-four of his plays, 
 which no individual manager ever did before. They were acted in my 
 theatre four thousand times, during a period extending over eighteen 
 years. I acted to the satisfaction of a large English public all his 
 
128 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 heroes tragic and comic and to that public I shall appeal, and 
 publish this correspondence. The Stratford Committee have insulted 
 me by asking any man in this country to play Hamlet on such an 
 occasion, without having first offered a choice of characters to 
 
 Yours faithfully, 
 
 S. PHELPS. 
 
 (No. 6.) 
 Committee Boom, Town Hall, 
 
 Stratford-upon-Avon, 22nd January, 1864. 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 Your letter to Mr. Bellew, dated January 21st, has been 
 handed to me, and in my capacity of Vice-chairman of the Stratford 
 Committee, I beg to offer the following reply. 
 
 The communications addressed to you on our behalf will, I trust, 
 sufficiently prove that we have most earnestly desired to present you 
 before the public as the foremost English tragedian, at our coming 
 celebration. 
 
 To you we first wrote, inviting your co-operation. 
 Your assertion that the Stratford Committee have insulted you, 
 because, in the exercise of their discretion, they have "claimed the 
 right" to "ask any man in this country but you to play Hamlet" while 
 they have freely given you the whole range of Shakespeare's plays to 
 choose from, and undertaken to get up any tragedy for you that you 
 might prefer, seems to need no further remark than for me to protest 
 against your attributing to a body of gentlemen an intent of which 
 they are innocent, and of which they find themselves accused by you 
 with as much amazement as I do. 
 
 If you publish the correspondence, be good enough to append this 
 letter. 
 
 I am, dear Sir, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 E. F. FLOWER, 
 Mayor of Stratford-upon-Avon, and Vice-chairman to the Committee. 
 
 P.S. I do not lose sight of the fact that the Committee wish to 
 combine your services with Miss Faucit's in their first performance, 
 and after long discussion were induced to select " Cymbeline ; " but 
 the letters addressed to you will show that they were prepared to 
 consult your wishes if you preferred some other play. 
 
 (No. 7.) 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 When I wrote to Mr. Bellew a few days since, simply 
 declining to "assist at the Stratford festival," I hoped to hear no 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 129 
 
 more on the subject; but his subsequent letter, and your own of 
 yesterday's date, which I beg to acknowledge the receipt of, have 
 aggravated the affront already offered me. I will quote your own 
 words : " To you we first wrote, inviting your co-operation." I in all 
 courtesy acceded. One would have supposed that in common decency 
 the next step would have been to consult my inclination with regard 
 to the character I should (at all events) wish to appear in. Instead 
 of which, I hear no more on the subject for weeks, and when I do, I 
 find that another gentleman has been solicited to act the part of 
 Hamlet, which I should certainly have chosen, and that " Cymbeline " 
 had been selected for me without one word having been addressed to 
 me on the subject. If this is the courtesy due from the body of 
 gentlemen you speak of, to another gentleman whose assistance they 
 had sought, I can only say that the sooner our dictionaries find another 
 definition of the term the better. I will comply with your request, by 
 adding your letter to this correspondence, when the time shall have 
 arrived for its publication. 
 
 Faithfully yours, 
 E. F. Flower, Esq. S. PHELPS. 
 
 Mr. HUNTER, the Secretary of the Committee, having 
 been selected to bear the burthen of the miscarriage which 
 had befallen the negotiations he had first opened with me 
 at their request, and having written to me to vindicate him 
 from the blame unjustly thrown on him, I wrote the last of 
 the two following, with which happily terminates a cor- 
 respondence which I content myself with leaving to the 
 judgment of all impartial readers : 
 
 (No. 8.) 
 
 Stratford-upon-Avon, 
 
 22nd January, 1864. 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 I have received to-day a letter from the Kev. Mr. Bellew, 
 informing me that he has written to you, asking if you would like a 
 play specially got up for you, during the festival week at Stratford- 
 upon-Avon. As a brother actor and member of the tercentenary 
 Committee, I beg most earnestly that you will consent to the proposi- 
 tion. Without you the dramatic performances would be incomplete. 
 Mr. Fechter has been selected to play Hamlet (I was absent from 
 Stratford when this arrangement was made). You are the acknow- 
 ledged head of the English tragedians, and therefore you have aright 
 and ought to appear in one of your favourite Shakespearian parts upon 
 such an occasion. 
 
130 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 I am sure that my feeling will be reciprocated by the profession 
 and the English public generally. 
 
 I am, dear Sir, 
 
 Yours faithfully, 
 
 JAMES BENNETT. 
 
 (No. 9.) 
 
 8, Canonbury Square, 
 
 26th January, 1864. 
 My Dear Sir, 
 
 But that you seem likely to be annoyed by the blundering, 
 or something worse, of other people, I really would not trouble myself 
 to write another line upon this subject. I have had enough indeed, 
 something too much of it already. The few lines you privately 
 addressed to me on the 12th of December have nothing to do with it. 
 Thus stands the case : On the 7th of December you sent me officially 
 the copy of a resolution adopted unanimously by the Stratford Com- 
 mittee, requesting me to take part in the dramatic performances at 
 the festival in April next. I wrote you acceding to that request. I 
 concluded, as a matter of course, that no other tragedian had previously 
 been applied to, and that I was right in my conclusion appears from 
 the following passage contained in a letter addressed to me by Mr. 
 Flower, on the 22nd inst. : " To you we first wrote, inviting your co- 
 operation." On the 12th of December you wrote thanking me for 
 consenting to take part in the Shakespeare celebration in April, and 
 saying, " according to present arrangements, ' Hamlet ' will be played 
 on the 26th of that month," and then, " The Rev. J. C. M. Bellew, 
 who is a Vice-president, and member of the local Committee, has, 
 however, kindly undertaken to see you on the subject, and will probably 
 do so on Monday next." I neither saw nor heard from Mr. Bellew 
 until the 16th of January. Could I suppose, from your official com- 
 munication of the 12th of December, that Mr. Fechter had been 
 solicited to play Hamlet at that time ? Does not Mr. Flower's letter 
 assert that I was the first whose co-operation had been invited ? Is it 
 not plain etiough that I have been grossly insulted ? Your private 
 letter to me of the 12th of December contains the following passage, 
 which, as I have said before, has nothing to do with the affair as it 
 stands between me and Mr. Bellew or the Committee : " I cannot 
 resist the temptation which this correspondence holds out to me of 
 expressing the great gratification I should experience personally in 
 seeing you play Hamlet, Macbeth, or Othello, at the great national 
 Shakespeare tercentenary celebration at Stratford-upon-Avon, in 
 1864." There is not in your letter another word which concerns the 
 Committee in any way, and only refers to what would have taken 
 place after the festival should be over. Will you kindly tell Mr. 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 131 
 
 James Bennett that I intended writing him by this post, but am pre- 
 vented; he will know by this time how the matter stands, and I am 
 sure will sympathise with, 
 
 Faithfully yours, 
 Robert E. Hunter, Esq. SAML. PHELPS. 
 
 This correspondence having been widely circulated 
 afforded to a number of the morning papers excellent matter 
 for leaders. Several of them espoused Mr. Phelps's 
 quarrel, and condemned the Committee for having cast 
 Hamlet to Mr. Fechter, or solicited any foreigner to play 
 Shakespeare's sublime Prince of Denmark before a great 
 British audience and on an ever-to-be-remembered occasion. 
 The Morning Herald, of the 8th of February, having given 
 a summary of the correspondence, proceeded as follows : 
 
 " Now, with every desire to assist the object in view, we must 
 here record our belief that the Stratford Committee have been guilty 
 of what must at the best be considered a very serious blunder. There 
 are playgoers and playgoers. Some may be more enthusiastic in 
 their admiration of Mr. Phelps than others ; but few will deny him 
 the honour of being our best English tragedian, and all must admit 
 that he is the first representative of the Shakespearian drama on the 
 stage. Mr. Fechter is a great actor nobody doubts his ability 
 and in one Shakespearian part he has established a certain position 
 among us. But, except in Hamlet, Mr. Fechter has acquired only a 
 comparative claim to the delineation of Shakespeare. For the rest he 
 is a thoroughly admirable artist, but no more entitled to represent the 
 Shakespearian drama at Stratford than Mr. Toole or Mr. Paul Bedford. 
 Mr. Phelps, on the other hand, is an actor whose whole dramatic 
 career has been identified with the works of the great poet. Not only 
 has he played Shakespearian parts in preference to all others, but he 
 has run the risk no small risk, as managers know of keeping 
 Shakespeare before the public. The vanity of many men might have 
 induced an equal amount of devotion ; but Mr. Phelps has backed up 
 his principles in the sincerest way known to managers. He has 
 risked his fortune in the maintenance of Shakespeare on the stage ; 
 and if he has not lost his fortune in the attempt, the result is due to 
 his own sterling merits, which, to the credit, be it said, of the public 
 to whom he appealed, have been recognised as they deserved to be. 
 Mr. Macready and others have made sacrifices to the cause of the 
 legitimate drama represented by the greatest of English dramatists 
 but although they may have made larger ventures for a time they 
 have never offered the sustained support afforded by Mr. Phelps. 
 That gentleman, of late years, indeed, may be considered to have kept 
 
132 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 the cause alive, and as its worthy representative he is recognised by 
 all sections of the play going public. To him should have been 
 accorded the highest honours within the gift of the Stratford Com- 
 mittee. Yet, through a want of judgment, or some not very creditable 
 intrigue, we find at almost the last moment that the foremost among 
 those who desired to honour Shakespeare upon this national occasion 
 have managed matters so badly as to have lost the support of our 
 greatest Shakespearian actor. As a general rule we have little 
 sympathy with the jealousies of players, any more than the jealousies 
 of any other class. When Flimkins throws up his part in the melo- 
 drama at the Surrey, and Boozle declines it positively declines it 
 on the ground that Flimkins had been put up in it first, and that no 
 earthly power shall induce him to take it at second hand, we have no 
 sympathy beyond a smile at Mr. Dickens' s ' Theatrical Young 
 Gentleman,' who rushes about with the news, thinking that it will 
 produce a revolution in town. But upon a great national occasion 
 like the present and it will be a great national occasion unless it be 
 made an absurdity an actor of Mr. Phelps's eminence has a right to 
 consider his position, and cannot forfeit that position if he properly 
 respects his art. Any jesting, therefore, upon this matter will be but 
 a sorry exhibition. For the question is not a merely personal one 
 between Mr. Phelps and the Stratford Committee, or between Mr. 
 Phelps and Mr. Fechter. It is a national question between the repre- 
 sentatives of the English public and the representative of the 
 Shakespearian drama." 
 
 These remarks were too strong to be passed over in 
 silence. The Committee, feeling that they had offered no 
 intentional insult to Mr. Phelps, and had acted in the entire 
 business with a single eye to the success of the celebration, 
 had determined to take no notice of the publication of the 
 correspondence; but when the Herald talked of "a not very 
 creditable intrigue" they felt bound to show that if intrigue 
 existed they were innocent of it. Accordingly the follow- 
 ing explanation of the motives and grounds on which they 
 had proceeded was issued by the Mayor and entertainments 
 Committee, with the fall concurrence of the general 
 body : 
 
 "The Shakespearian Tercentenary Celebration at Stratford-upon-Avon. 
 " To the Editor of the ERA. 
 
 " Sir, "Committee Room, llth February, 1864. 
 
 " As Chairman of the General Committee, I write to 
 request the favour of your inserting in your paper the Report of the 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 133 
 
 entertainments Committee relating to the correspondence Mr. 
 Phelps has seen fit to publish. 
 
 " I will only add that onr Committee has undertaken a large 
 amount of labour, and a large amount of money-risk in our efforts to 
 achieve a great work, and if we fail, we shall have to pay for such 
 failure out of our own pockets, and also bring upon ourselves the 
 censure failure ever produces. Therefore, while Mr. Phelps ' claims 
 the right to be the foremost man in his profession,' we ' claim the 
 right,' and exercise the right also, of using every means in our power 
 to place before the public successfully three of Shakespeare's plays, 
 and I think we should have committed a great blunder if we had con- 
 tracted our theatrical representations to the small dimensions we 
 must have done had we yielded to the professional jealousy of ' the 
 foremost man in his profession,' instead of availing ourselves of the 
 generous support of the numerous talented ladies and gentlemen who 
 put aside all personal considerations in rendering their valuable and 
 valued assistance. 
 
 " I am, Sir, your obedient servant, 
 
 "E. F. FLOWER, 
 " Mayor of Stratford-upon-Avon." 
 
 " Report of the Entertainments Committee. 
 
 " In accordance with a resolution passed by the General Com- 
 mittee, we now lay before the public the facts alluded to in a corres- 
 pondence recently published by Mr. Phelps. 
 
 " Upon its being decided to have three evenings devoted to 
 dramatic entertainments at the forthcoming festival, we considered it 
 desirable that three of Shakespeare's plays should be produced; in the 
 cast of which every actor of note, willing to assist, might take a part. 
 
 " We accordingly put ourselves into communication with several 
 of the leading performers, Mr. Phelps and Mr. Fechter among others, 
 and from each of these gentlemen we received a ready response. We 
 then considered that as Ha/mlet was the character in which Mr. Fechter 
 had made his first and greatest impression, it would be most desirable 
 that he should sustain that part, leaving to Mr. Phelps the whole 
 range of Shakespeare's plays, in most of which we know that he had 
 taken the leading characters. We accordingly wrote to Mr. Fechter, 
 requesting that he would act Hamlet. He at once responded to our 
 request, and in a most handsome manner placed the whole resources 
 of the Lyceum Theatre at our disposal. 
 
 " Mr. Buckstone having, in the same liberal style, undertaken to 
 produce ' Twelfth Night,' we congratulated ourselves that, with Mr. 
 Phelps, and other distinguished performers in a play on the third 
 night, we should be in a position to arrange a most attractive pro- 
 gramme. 
 
134 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 " The public are aware, through the correspondence published by 
 Mr. Phelps, that "Cymbeline" was suggested as being one of the least 
 known, though most beautiful of Shakespeare's plays, and one in 
 which the talents of Miss Helen Faucit and Mr. Phelps could be com- 
 bined. The public are also aware that an offer was made to produce 
 any other play which Mr. Phelps might prefer, but that he declined 
 to appear in any character or take any part in the proceedings because 
 Mr. Fechter's aid had also been invited. 
 
 " We had hoped that upon such an occasion every actor would 
 have thought only of the great name in whose honour the festival is 
 to be held, and we deplore that a gentleman whose reputation as an 
 actor is connected with so many of Shakespeare's works should have 
 allowed personal feelings to interfere. 
 
 " But while we deeply regret that, amid the toil and anxiety and 
 the many difficulties continually arising in making arrangements 
 attendant upon the preparation of so great a festival, we should have 
 received a check from a quarter in which we least expected it, we are 
 happy to add that, through the generous spirit evinced by Miss Faucit 
 and others, we shall be able to produce, on the third evening, a 
 play in which the whole of the characters will be most worthily 
 sustained. 
 
 " Signed on behalf of the entertainments Committee, 
 
 " R. H. HOBBES. 
 " Stratford-upon-Avon, February llth, 1864." 
 
 This reply of the Committee set the matter substan- 
 tially at rest. Mr. Phelps was severely criticised for 
 putting forth his claims to recognition in the terms adopted, 
 but ably defended, "in speaking of himself" as he did 
 under the circumstances, by Mr. Charles Lamb Kenney and 
 others. 
 
 In the meantime the Committee toiled on in making the 
 best possible arrangements for the now rapidly-approaching 
 festival ; but at nearly every step in the theatrical depart- 
 ment of their labours they were traversed by the Mr. 
 Fechter appointment. Mr. Webster, who had consented 
 to co-operate personally and from the resources of the New 
 Adelphi, took such offence at the prominence given to the 
 foreigner that he declined to have any connection with the 
 celebration ; and a delegate sent to London by the Com- 
 mittee to solicit the aid of a number of ladies and gentle- 
 men of the profession found himself 'so encumbered and 
 embarrassed that he wrote to the Committee requesting 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 135 
 
 them, if possible, to get out of the unpopular engagement, 
 as lie could come to no speed in his mission while it existed. 
 The proposal was received with the utmost surprise and most 
 ge'neral disapprobation ; a strong resolution was passed re- 
 questing him to desist from further action in the business. 
 In fact the Committee, as in honour bound, gtuck to Mr. 
 Fechter through good and evil report. Old Kmg Duncan 
 did not place in Cawdor who betrayed him a trust more 
 absolute. 
 
 Still, despite these drawbacks, the work went on with 
 unflagging energy and spirit. A " central ticket office " 
 was opened in January, at No. 2, Exeter Hall, where in- 
 formation as to the general arrangements for the tercen- 
 tenary celebration might from time to time be obtained, 
 and contributions in aid of the memorial or the endow- 
 ment of scholarships might be paid to Mr. John Carmichael, 
 who was authorised to receive them. Considerable expense 
 attended this metropolitan establishment, and for the per 
 contra of profits I must refer the reader to the balance sheet 
 when the finance Committee promulgate the document. 
 
 Ultimately, on the 1st of March, the Committee were 
 enabled, by great exertions, to lay before the public, as 
 the result of their labours in gathering around them 
 supporters of wealth and fame, and in preparing for a 
 celebration of befitting magnitude and splendour, the 
 following list of patrons, parties on the Committees, and 
 subjoined preliminary programme : 
 
 PRESIDENT : 
 
 The Et. Hon. The Earl of Carlisle, K.G., Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. 
 
 VICE-PRESIDENTS : 
 
 Aylesford, The Earl of 
 American Minister, His Excellency 
 
 The 
 Attye, James, Esq. 
 
 Bourke, The Hon. Robert 
 Brewer, Professor, S, S. 
 Byng, The Hon. Frederick 
 Badham, The Eev. Dr. 
 
 Bath, The Mayor of 
 Battam, Thomas, Esq., F.S.A. 
 Buxton, Charles, Esq., M.P. 
 Bazley, Thomas, Esq., M.P. 
 Bell, Eobert, Esq., F.E.S.L., &c. 
 Bellew, The Eev. J. C. M. 
 Bowyer, Lieut. -Colonel, H. A. 
 Bowles, Eev. J., D.D., LL.D. 
 Birmingham, The Mayor of 
 
136 
 
 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 Blackburn, The Mayor of 
 Bracebridge, C. Holte, Esq. 
 Brooks, Shirley, Esq. 
 Bohn, Henry G., Esq. 
 Buckstone, J. B., Esq. 
 
 Clarendon, The Earl of, K.G. 
 Coventry, The Earl of 
 Craven, The Earl of 
 Campden, Viscount 
 Crossley, Sir Francis, Bart., M.P. 
 Copeland, Alderman, M.P. 
 Cabbell, B. Bond, Esq., F.E.S., 
 
 F.S.A. 
 
 Cameron, The Rev. D. 
 Chambers, Eobert, Esq., LL.D., 
 
 F.E.S.E., &c. 
 
 Clark, The Eev. W. G., M.A. 
 Child, W. H., Esq. 
 Cobb, Timothy Ehodes, Esq. 
 Collier, J. Payne, Esq. 
 Colmore, Thomas, Esq. 
 Conolly, J., Esq., M.D., D.C.L. 
 Cox, W. Sands, Esq., F.E.S. 
 Creswick, T., Esq., E.A. 
 Creswick, W., Esq. 
 Crosskey, The Eev. H. W. 
 
 Dartmouth, The Earl of 
 
 Delawarr, The Earl 
 
 Duflerin, Lord, K.C.B. 
 
 Drax, John S.W.S.E., Esq., M.P. 
 
 Dickins, W., Esq. 
 
 Dinsdale, F., Esq., LL.D., F.S.A. 
 
 Dobie, Alexander, Esq. 
 
 Dugdale, James, Esq. 
 
 Dyce, The Eev. Alexander 
 
 Elton, Sir Arthur Hallam, Bart. 
 Ewart, W., Esq., M.P., F.E.G.S. 
 Ewart, Joseph, Esq., M.P. 
 Ellis, Joseph, Esq. 
 Evesham, The Mayor of 
 Elmore, Alfred, Esq., E.A. 
 
 Feversham, Lord 
 Flower, E. F., Esq. 
 
 Frith, W. P., Esq., E.A. 
 
 Graves, Sir Maxwell Steele, Bart. 
 
 Godwin, George, Esq. 
 
 Graves, The Very Eev. Charles, 
 
 Dean of the Chapel Eoyal, 
 
 Dublin 
 
 Greaves, Eichard, Esq. 
 Greenway, Kelynge, Esq. 
 Gruneisen, Charles Lewis, Esq., 
 
 F.E.G.S. 
 
 Harrowby, The Earl of, K.G. 
 
 Houghton, Lord 
 
 Hamilton, Sir Eobert N. C., Bart., 
 
 K.C.B. 
 
 Holland, Edward, Esq., M.P. 
 Halifax, The Mayor of 
 Hardy, Duffus, Esq. 
 Hall, S. C., Esq., F.S.A. 
 Harding, W. J., Esq. 
 Heath, E. C., Esq. 
 Hodgson, Joseph, Esq., F.E.S. 
 Holbech, The Eev. C. W. 
 Hoskyns, Chandos Wren, Esq. 
 Hugo, Mons. Victor 
 Hume, The Eev. Dr., F.E.S., 
 
 D.C.L. 
 
 Ingestre, Viscount, M.P. 
 
 Jaffray, John, Esq. 
 Jephson, H., Esq., M.D. 
 Jones, J. C., Esq., F.S.A. 
 
 Kaye, J. W., Esq. 
 Knight Charles, Esq. 
 
 Lichfield, The Earl of 
 
 Leigh, Lord, Lord- Lieutenant of 
 
 Warwickshire 
 Lyttelton, Lord, F.E.S. 
 Leigh, Hon. E. Chandos 
 Langton, G., Esq., M.P., F.G.H.S. 
 Ledger, Frederick, Esq. 
 Leigh, P A., Esq. 
 Leigh, J. W. Boughton, Esq. 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 137 
 
 Liverpool, The Mayor of 
 Lloyd, Sampson S., Esq. 
 Lucas, Samuel, Esq., M.A. 
 
 Manchester, The Duke of 
 
 Masson, Professor 
 
 Mordaunt, Sir Chas., Bart., M.P. 
 
 Moon, Sir F. Graham, Bart., F.S.A. 
 
 Machen, John, Esq. 
 
 Macready, W. C., Esq. 
 
 Manchester, The Mayor of 
 
 Martin, Theodore, Esq. 
 
 Mellon, Alfred, Esq. 
 
 Meyrick, Lieut. -Col. Augustus 
 
 Mom TTI sen, Herr 
 
 Moore, The Ven. Archdeacon 
 
 Mordaunt, J. Murray, Esq. 
 
 Morrison, Alfred, Esq. 
 
 Muntz, P. H., Esq. 
 
 Northumberland, The Duke of, 
 
 K.G. 
 
 Newport, Viscount, M.P. 
 North, Lieut.-Col. J. Sidney, M.P. 
 Newcastle^ The Mayor of 
 Nichol, Professor John 
 Nichols, J. Gough, Esq., F.S.A. 
 
 Owen, Professor 
 
 O'Hagan,The Eight Hon. T., Q.C., 
 M.P. 
 
 Palk, Sir Laurence, Bart., M.P. 
 Padmore, E., Esq., M.P. 
 Paxton, Sir Joseph, M.P., F.L.S. 
 Powell, John, Esq., M.P. 
 Pears, A. H., Esq. 
 Philips, Mark, Esq. 
 Philips, E. N., Esq. 
 Planche, J. E., Esq., Rouge Croix 
 Prichard, The Eev. E. 
 Plumptre, E. J., Esq. 
 
 Eanelagh, Viscount 
 Eochdale, The Mayor of 
 Eussell, W. W., Esq., LL.D. 
 
 Shrewsbury and Talbot, The Earl 
 
 of, P.O., C.B. 
 Sherborne, Lord 
 
 Salt, Thomas, jun., Esq., M.P. 
 Scholefield, William, Esq., M.P. 
 Sheridan, E. B., Esq., M.P. 
 Shirley, Evelyn P., Esq., M.P., 
 
 F.S.A. 
 
 Smith, Gustavus T., Esq. 
 Smyth, Admiral W. H., K.S.F., 
 
 D.C.L., F.E.S., &c. 
 Stack, J. Herbert, Esq. 
 Stanley, The Very Eev. Dr,, Dean 
 
 of Westminster. 
 Starkey, J. F., Esq. 
 Staunton, Howard, Esq. 
 Staunton, J., Esq. 
 Sudeley, Viscount 
 Swansea, The Mayor of 
 
 Talbot de Malahide, Lord 
 Taylor, P. A., Esq., M.P. 
 Thornhill, W. P., Esq., M.P. 
 Tamworth, The Mayor of 
 Taylor, Tom, Esq. 
 Temple, The Eev. Dr., Rugly. 
 Tennyson, Alfred, Esq., D.C.L., 
 
 Poet Laureate 
 Townsend, The Eev. Henry 
 Trinity College, Oxford, The 
 
 President of 
 Tite, Wm., Esq., M.P. 
 
 Vernon, Lord 
 Vizetelly, Henry, Esq. 
 
 Warwick, The Earl of 
 Wrottesley, Lord, F.E.S., F.E.A.S. 
 Worcester, The Eight Eev. the 
 
 Lord Bishop of 
 
 Wyld, James, Esq., M.P.,F.E:G.S. 
 Warwickshire, The High Sheriff of 
 Webster, Benjamin, Esq. 
 West, J. E., Esq. 
 Wilmot, Sir J. Eardley, Bart. 
 Worcester, The Mayor of 
 Worcestershire, The High Sheriff 
 
 of 
 Wright, Wm. Aldis, Esq., M.A. 
 
 York, The Lord Mayor of 
 
138 
 
 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 LOCAL COMMITTEE. 
 
 Sir ROBERT N. C. HAMILTON, Bart., K.C.B., Chairman. 
 
 The Rev. G. GRANVILLE, Vicar, 
 E. F. FLOWER, Esq., Mayor, 
 
 Vice-chairmen. 
 
 Adams, Mr. E. 
 Archer, Mr. J. 
 Atkinson, Mr. 
 Bellew, The Rev. J. C. M. 
 Bennett, Mr. J. 
 Bird, Mr. R. M. 
 Bolton, Mr. W. G. F. 
 Bracebridge, C. Holte, Esq. 
 Chance, T. H., Esq. 
 Colbourne, Mr. W. G. 
 Conolly, Dr. 
 Cox, Mr. James 
 Craig, J. S., Esq. 
 Flower, C. E., Esq. 
 Flower, Edgar, Esq. 
 Gibbs, Mr. Edward 
 Gibbs, Mr. William 
 Greener, W., Esq. 
 Hansard, The Rev. Septimus 
 Hobbes, Robert H., Esq. 
 Harding, W. J., Esq. 
 Hartley, Mr. E. R. 
 Hunt, W. O., Esq. 
 Kingsley, Dr. 
 
 Kendall, F., Esq. 
 Knights, Mr. W. 
 Lane, H., Esq. 
 Langford, J. A., Esq. 
 Leaver, Mr. J. S. 
 Lowry, Mr. 
 Loggin, Mr. C. F. 
 Lucy, Mr. M. 
 Mathews, Mr. 
 Morgan, Mr. John 
 Morton, The Rev. W. 
 Nason, J. J., Esq., M.B. 
 Norris, Mr. W. L. 
 Philips, Mark, Esq. 
 Puttick, J. F., Esq. 
 Salaman, Charles, Esq. 
 Samman, Mr. H. 
 Stephenson, Mr. W. 
 Stewart, J., Esq. 
 Thomson, Dr. 
 Thompson, Mr. W. 
 Warden, Mr. J. C. 
 Young, The Rev. Julian C. 
 
 Robt. E. Hunter, Secretary. 
 
 MONUMENTAL MEMORIAL COMMITTEE. 
 
 The Earl of Carlisle, K.G. 
 The Earl of Somers, F.R.G.S. 
 Sir Robert N. C. Hamilton, Bart., 
 
 K.C.B. 
 
 Sir Coutts Lindsay, Bart. 
 Robert Bell, Esq., F.R.S.L. 
 C. Buxton, Esq., M.P. 
 C. L. Gruneisen, Esq. 
 Theodore Martin, Esq. 
 
 Gambier Parry, Esq. 
 
 John Ruskin, Esq. 
 
 Tom Taylor, Esq. 
 
 Alfred Tennyson, Esq., D.C.L., 
 
 Poet Laureate. 
 William Stirling, Esq., M.P. 
 Austen H. Layard, Esq., M.P. 
 J. Beresford Hope, Esq. 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL, 
 
 139 
 
 GEAND FANCY DRESS BALL. 
 LADY PATRONESSES. 
 
 The Countess of Aylesford 
 The Countess of Lichfield 
 The Countess of Warwick 
 Lady Willoughby de Broke 
 Lady Yernon 
 Lady Wrottesley 
 Lady Conyers 
 Lady Gwendoline Petre 
 Lady Charles Paulet 
 Lady Mordaunt 
 
 Lady Steele Graves 
 Hon. Mrs. Adderley 
 Mrs. West, Alscot 
 Mrs. Wise, Woodcote 
 Mrs. Hamilton Yatman 
 Mrs. Keighley Peach 
 Mrs. Eyton 
 
 Mrs. Dickins, Cherington 
 Mrs. Flower 
 
 PATRONS AND STEWARDS. 
 
 Lord Leigh, Lord- Lieutenant of 
 
 Warwickshire 
 
 ' The High Sheriff of Warwickshire 
 The Earl of Lichfield 
 The Earl of Craven 
 The Earl of Warwick 
 The Earl of Aylesford 
 The Earl of Shrewsbury and 
 
 Talbot 
 
 The Earl Delaware 
 The Earl of Coventry 
 Lord Wrottesley 
 Lord Dufferin 
 Lord ISTorthwick 
 The Hon. E. Chandos Leigh 
 Col. the Hon. H. H. Clifford 
 Sir N. W. Throckmorton, Bart. 
 Sir M. Steele Graves, Bart. 
 Sir J. Eardley Wilmot, Bart. 
 T. Bazley, Esq., M.P. 
 W. Scholefield, Esq., M.P. 
 Attwood, T. Aurelius, Esq. 
 Atty, James, Esq., Rugby 
 Arkwright, J. T., Esq. 
 Bill, John, Esq., Coventry 
 Caldecott, C. M., Esq., Rugby 
 Clarke, Colonel, Scots Greys 
 Flower, E. F., Esq. 
 
 Galton, Darwin, Esq. 
 
 Greenway, Kelynge, Esq. 
 
 Granville, Major 
 
 Hartopp, Major 
 
 Hamilton, Captain 
 
 Harding, W. J., Esq., 
 
 Hodge, Maj.-Gen.,C.B.,J.Mers7) 
 
 Lucy, H. Spencer, Esq., Charle- 
 
 cote 
 
 Machen, Major 
 Mason, Lieut. -Col. 
 Muntz, P. H., Esq., Edstone 
 Minster, R. H., Esq., Mayor of 
 
 Coventry 
 
 Musgrave, C., Esq. 
 Parker, Francis, Esq., Worcester 
 Philips, R. N., Esq., Manchester 
 Peach, Captain Keighley 
 Peel, A. Robert, Esq., Worcester 
 Starkey, J. F., Esq. 
 Smith, Gustavus T., Esq. 
 Thomson, Dr. 
 
 Vaughton, R. Dymock, Esq. 
 West, J. R., Esq., Alscot 
 Wise, H. C., Esq. 
 Wright, T., Esq., Tidmington 
 Yatman, W. Hamilton, Esq. 
 
140 TEKCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 ACTING STEWARDS. 
 
 Lord Willoughby de Broke 
 The Hon. Hugh Somerville 
 Sir Charles Mordaunt, Bart., M.P. 
 Sir R. N. C. Hamilton, Bart., 
 KC.B. 
 
 Child, W. Henry, Esq. 
 Flower, Edgar, Esq. 
 Kingsley, Dr. 
 Lomax, Captain 
 Mordaunt, J. Murray, Esq. 
 
 PRELIMINARY PROGRAMME. 
 
 IN accordance with the expectations manifested through- 
 out the country, that the ordinary marks of respect and 
 rejoicing with which the birthday of Shakespeare is annually 
 commemorated in his native town should, on this, the three 
 hundredth anniversary, be extended to a national celebra- 
 tion, a Committee was formed in the early part of 1863 to 
 suggest and carry out a scheme which might, so far as 
 possible, meet the requirements of the occasion. After 
 many months of unceasing exertion, rendered more onerous 
 by their entire inexperience, and by the difficulty of selecting 
 amongst the vast number of suggestions which have been 
 offered from all parts of the world, the Committee are 
 now in a position to announce the general features of their 
 programme. 
 
 Although the festival will only extend over a few 
 days, a spacious pavilion has been erected of a character 
 unusually substantial, decorated in the Elizabethan style, 
 with stage and orchestra for the dramatic and musical 
 entertainments, and with ample accommodation for the 
 banquet and ball. Many of the most eminent dramatic 
 and vocal artistes have given their gratuitous services, and 
 have heartily joined in the earnest endeavour to make the 
 entertainment as attractive as possible. 
 
 The substantial objects to which the pecuniary results 
 of the festival will be devoted, are 1st. The erection of 
 a National Monumental Memorial to Shakespeare in the 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 141 
 
 town of Ms birth.. 2nd. The extension of the educa- 
 tional advantages of the Free Grammar School of King 
 Edward VI., Stratford-upon-Avon, at which Shakespeare 
 was educated, and to found one or more Scholarships or 
 Exhibitions to the Universities of the United Kingdom, 
 open to the competition of those who have received their 
 education at that school. 
 
 THE FESTIVAL WILL COMMENCE AT NOON 
 
 On SATURDAY, April the 23rd. 
 
 The President, Vice-presidents, Committee, and others 
 officially connected with the proceedings, will meet at the 
 Town Hall, and should the arrangements of the monumental 
 Committee be sufficiently advanced, they will proceed to the 
 site fixed upon for the erection of the national memorial, 
 and the ceremony of laying the first stone will take place. 
 
 At three p.m. there will be a BANQUET in the pavilion, 
 at which the EARL OF CARLISLE will preside, supported by 
 many members of both Houses of Parliament, and others 
 eminent in literature, science, and art. Ladies are parti- 
 cularly invited to attend, and the tickets issued will be 
 strictly limited to the number of guests that can be accom- 
 modated with comfort. 
 
 In the evening there will be a grand display of Fireworks, 
 by Mr. Darby, the celebrated pyrotechnist. 
 
 On SUNDAY, April the 24th, 
 
 Sermons will be preached in the Parish Church in the 
 morning and afternoon, and a collection will be made at the 
 close of each service, for the purpose of restoring and beau- 
 tifying the chancel, where the poet's remains are interred. 
 
 On MONDAY, April the 25th, at noon, 
 
 Handel's Oratorio of the "MESSIAH," will be per- 
 formed in the pavilion, by an orchestra and chorus of 
 
142 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 five hundred performers, conducted by Mr. Alfred Mellon, 
 the Musical Director of the festival, the solo parts will be 
 sustained by Mdlle. Tietjens, Madame Sainton-Dolby, Mr. 
 Sims Reeves, Mr. Santley, &c. 
 
 IN THE EVENING, at Seven o'clock, 
 
 There will be a GRAND MISCELLANEOUS CON- 
 CERT of Music associated with the Works of Shakespeare. 
 Artistes : Mesdames Parepa, Sainton-Dolby, Arabella 
 Goddard ; Messrs. Sims Reeves, C. Santley, G. Perren, and 
 full Orchestra. 
 
 On TUESDAY, April the 26th, 
 
 There will be an EXCURSION to CHARLECOTE, 
 and other places of Shakespearian interest. Carriages will 
 be provided for those who apply for tickets before April 
 the 9th. H. Spencer Lucy, Esq., has consented to open 
 the grounds and house of Charlecote on that day to holders 
 of tickets. 
 
 IN THE EVENING, at Seven o'clock, 
 
 There will be a representation of Shakespeare's Comedy of 
 "TWELFTH NIGHT," or "WHAT YOU WILL," by 
 the Company of the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, London, 
 including Mr. Buckstone, Mr. Compton, Mr. Chippendale, 
 Mr. Howe, Mr. W. Farren, Mr. Rogers, Mr. Walter 
 Gordon, Mr. Braid, Mr. Weatherby, Mr. Cullenford, Miss 
 Louisa Angel, Miss H. Lindley, and Mrs. E. Fitzwilliam. 
 After the Comedy, Mr. Sothern (Lord Dundreary) has 
 promised to appear in a short one-act Entertainment of 
 a peculiar construction. 
 
 On WEDNESDAY, April the 27th, 
 
 In the morning, there will be a Reading or other Enter- 
 tainment of a similar character at the Shakespeare Rooms. 
 
 IN THE EVENING, at Seven o'clock, 
 
 Shakespeare's Tragedy of "HAMLET" will be per- 
 formed by the Company of the Royal Lyceum Theatre. 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 143 
 
 The part of Hamlet by Mr. Fechter, who will be supported 
 by Messrs. J. Brougham, Emery, Widdicomb, G. Jordon, 
 Shore, Mmes. Elsworthy, K. Terry, &c. 
 
 On THUESDAY, April the 28th, 
 
 In the morning, at the Shakespeare Rooms, there will 
 be a CONCERT of Instrumental Music, and Glees from 
 Shakespeare's Plays. 
 
 IN THE EVENING, at Seven o'clock, 
 
 Shakespeare's Comedy of "AS YOU LIKE IT" will 
 be produced. The part of Rosalind by Miss Ellen Faucit. 
 The other characters will be sustained by Mrs. Keeley, 
 Mr. Creswick, Mr. W. Farren, Mr. Compton, Mr. Chippen- 
 dale, Mr. James Bennett, &c. 
 
 The DROP CURTAIN will be painted by Mr. W. Telbin. 
 
 Assistant Musical Director, Mr. Coote. 
 The Scenery will be under the direction of Mr. O'Connor. 
 The Fireworks by Mr. Darby. 
 
 These gentlemen, as well as the Vocal and Dramatic 
 Artistes, have given their gratuitous services. 
 
 On FRIDAY, April the 29th, 
 
 There will be a GRAND FANCY DRESS BALL in 
 the pavilion, to which no one will be admitted except in 
 fancy dress, court dress, or uniform. (Although costumes 
 will not be strictly limited to those of a Shakespearian 
 character, yet it is requested that so far as possible they 
 may be adopted.) 
 
 No masks, dominos, or pantomime characters will be 
 admitted. 
 
 Coote and Tinney's Band has been engaged. 
 
 Dancing will commence at nine o'clock. 
 
 Tickets (not transferable) will be issued only on pro- 
 duction of a voucher, or letter, signed either by the 
 
144 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 President, one of the Vice-presidents, or local Committee, 
 or by a Lady Patroness or Steward. 
 
 During the festival there will be an EXHIBITION in 
 the Town Hall of many of the well-known portraits of 
 Shakespeare, and eminent actors of his plays, under the 
 superintendence of Mr. Hogarth, Haymarket. 
 
 THE PRICES OF ADMISSION TO THE VARIOUS ENTER- 
 TAINMENTS WILL BE AS FOLLOWS: 
 
 SATURDAY, April the 23rd. 
 
 s. d. 
 
 Banquet (including wine) 1 1 
 
 Spectators (to the Gallery) 5 
 
 MONDAY, April the 25th. 
 
 THE " MESSIAH." Reserved Seats, Area 1 1 
 
 Gallery ... 10 6 
 
 Unreserved Seats 5 
 
 EVENING. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS CONCERT. Reserved Seats, Area 10 6 
 
 Gallery 050 
 
 Unreserved Seats . 026 
 
 TUESDAY, April the 26th. 
 
 Charlecote Excursion Tickets 5 
 
 EVENING. 
 
 " TWELFTH NIGHT." Reserved Seats, Area ... 110 
 
 Gallery 10 6 
 
 Unreserved Seats 5 
 
 WEDNESDAY, April 27th. 
 
 MORNING READING. Reserved Seats 5 
 
 (Shakespeare Rooms.) Unreserved 2 6 
 
 EVENING. 
 
 "HAMLET." Reserved Seats, Area 1 1 
 
 Gallery 10 6 
 
 Unreserved 050 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 145 
 
 THURSDAY, April the 28th. 
 
 s. d. 
 
 MORNING CONCERT. Reserved Seats 5 
 
 (Shakespeare Rooms) . Unreserved 2 6 
 
 EVENING. 
 
 " As You LIKE IT." Reserved Seats Area 110 
 
 ... Gallery 10 6 
 
 Unreserved 5 
 
 FRIDAY, April the 29th. 
 
 GRAND FANCY DRESS BALL. 
 
 Tickets (including Refreshments and Supper) 110 
 
 (Issued on production of a voucher) . 
 Spectators in the Galleries (Evening Dress), 10/6 and 5/- 
 
 Tickets for the reserved places may be had, and plans 
 of the pavilion seen, at the Ticket Offices, New Place, 
 Stratford-upon-Avon, and at No. 2, Exeter Hall, London. 
 Office hours from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. An early application 
 is earnestly requested. 
 
 All orders for tickets must be accompanied by a re- 
 mittance for the amount. Cheques and P. O. Orders 
 should be made payable to Mr. John Dickie, Stratford- 
 upon-Avon, or Mr. John Carmichael, No. 2, Exeter Hall, 
 London. 
 
 Early in April, a detailed programme will be issued, 
 giving the names of all the performers, words of the songs, 
 arrangements for visitors, times of trains, police and other 
 arrangements, with plans and description of the pavilion. 
 
 In order to afford accommodation for visitors at 
 moderate charges, registers of lodgings at Stratford-upon- 
 Avon and the neighbouring towns will be opened at the 
 undermentioned places : 
 
 Stratford-upon-Avon Mr. MORGAN, High Street. 
 
 Warwick Messrs. COOKE & SON, High Street. 
 
 Leamington Mr. GLOVER, Victoria Terrace. 
 
 Birmingham Mr. THOS. HARRISON, Colemore Row. 
 
 Worcester... 
 
146 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 It is requested that, in order to prevent excessive 
 charges being demanded, all applications from a distance 
 may be made at either of the above offices. 
 
 Special trains will start at the close of the per- 
 formances each night to London, Birmingham, Worcester, 
 Leamington, &c. Return tickets will be available for any 
 day during the continuance of the festival. 
 
 The following appointments have been made in con- 
 nection with the festival : 
 
 Messrs. Mulloney and Johnson, and Mr. Browett, of 
 Coventry, have manufactured a badge and ribbon, which 
 the Committee recommend should be worn on the occasion. 
 
 Professor Miller, of the Government School of Design, 
 has produced a bust of Shakespeare, which has the 
 approval of the Committee. Copies may be obtained from 
 the publishers, Messrs. Howell and James, Regent Street, 
 London, or their agents. 
 
 Messrs. Burton and Sons have been appointed pho- 
 tographers during the festival. 
 
 Messrs. Simmons and Sons, ISTo. 4, Tavistock Street, 
 Covent Garden, London, are appointed costumiers for the 
 ball. 
 
 A medal has been struck by Mr. Brown, Crystal 
 Palace, Sydenham, which the Committee recommend 
 should be worn. 
 
 The banquet and refreshments will be supplied by 
 Mr. J. H. Mountford of Worcester. 
 
 Architects of the pavilion Messrs. Thompson and 
 Colbourne, Stratford-upon-Avon. 
 
 Contractors Messrs. Branson andMurray, Birmingham. 
 
 Decorator Mr. Charles Brothers, Leamington. 
 
 On SATURDAY, April 30, and MONDAY, May 2, 
 
 AND THE TWO FOLLOWING DAYS, 
 
 There will be a series of Popular Entertainments in the 
 pavilion, the particulars of which will be announced in a 
 further programme, and arrangements will then be made 
 for excursion trains from the neighbouring towns. 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 147 
 
 " The best laid schemes of mice and men gang afb a 
 gley," or as Hamlet puts it in more exalted terms 
 
 " There is a divinity that shapes our ends, 
 Rough hew them how we may." 
 
 The scheme of the Committee was not exactly realised. 
 But before adverting to the departures from the preliminary 
 programme it will be necessary to notice the discontent 
 which arose in the minds of the tradespeople and working 
 classes as the plans of the Committee became developed and 
 published. This large and respectable section of society had 
 subscribed their shillings towards a general festival, and they 
 found no provision for them in the bill of fare. The people 
 went in for a pageant and the Committee came out against 
 it. So early as the 22nd of January the Stratford Herald 
 pronounced for the people and the time-honoured pageant : 
 " Much dissatisfaction," said our respected contemporary, 
 " is daily manifested by a large portion of our townspeople, 
 in consequence of the one idea of a jubilee festival a 
 procession of some of the principal characters of Shake- 
 speare's plays being entirely ignored by those who have 
 taken upon themselves the onerous duties of carrying out 
 the forthcoming festivities in this town. Without intending 
 any doggerelism, we all know that both high and low are 
 fond of show, and the arguments in opposition to this 
 popular view appear to us to be of the very weakest. In 
 the pride of assumed intellectual superiority, some persons 
 assert that a pageant would not be in accordance with the 
 spirit of the age. If, as we believe, the spirit of the age is 
 manifested by the prevailing taste of society, then pageantry 
 has nothing in common with spirit-rapping, sensational 
 dramas, and perhaps what is felt to be, in the domestic 
 circle, worse than all, sensational novels of the most 
 questionable morality. Others say that the Committee 
 would not be justified in spending any part of the public 
 money for such a purpose ; but we have heard rumours of 
 torchlight processions, fireworks, rural sports, &c., to which 
 the Committee appear disposed to give countenance ; and 
 if the general festival fund can be taxed for these, what 
 tangible reason can be advanced for not supporting a 
 
148 TEKCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 pageant, the distinguishing characteristic of all Shake- 
 spearian festivals of any extent since the days of Garrick. 
 * * * Should the first stone of a monumental 
 memorial be laid, a procession of some sort will be in- 
 evitable ; but who cares to go out of their way to see a 
 procession composed of the body Corporate, the ' Odd- 
 Fellows,' 'Becher,' or any other friendly society ? If we wish 
 to present to the popular mind an idea of the vastness of 
 Shakespeare's genius, we know of no better method than 
 to produce, on such an occasion as the laying of the first 
 stone of a monumental memorial to his honour, an em- 
 bodiment of the characters through whom he imparted to 
 this benighted world such a blaze of intellectual light." 
 
 Still the Committee could not see the philosophy or 
 propriety of a pageant ; and furthermore they expected 
 such a tremendous influx of genteel visitors that they 
 apprehended a boxing night crush must take place in every 
 street of Stratford if any strong attraction were held out 
 to the million on the first week of the celebration. But the 
 upper ten did not come In the numbers expected, and the 
 second week's entertainments, got up that the gentry might 
 not be incommoded, protracted the festival and entailed 
 pecuniary outlay, the amount of which has not yet been 
 published, or perhaps ascertained. The preliminary pro- 
 gramme, which promised popular entertainments in the 
 pavilion on the second week, induced the admirers of the 
 pageant to hope that their favourite spectacle would also be 
 got up under the auspices of the Committee ; but when the 
 official programme appeared, without any announcement of 
 out-door amusements except the ascent of Mr. CoxwelTs 
 new balloon, the people found that they must depend upon 
 themselves, and they did so successfully, at the eleventh 
 hour, as will appear in the sequel. 
 
 Returning to the preliminary programme, no less than 
 six thousand six hundred and fifty copies of it were 
 put into circulation from the 23rd of February to the 
 24th of March, and during this time alterations were 
 being made in it almost daily, as changes took place in 
 the arrangements or additions were made to the corps 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 149 
 
 dramatique. At last an event occurred which caused a 
 serious change, and spread general consternation. Mr. 
 Fechter, the dramatic sheet-anchor, gave way ! He now 
 refused to play Hamlet ! Mr. Phelps had been lost under 
 the circumstances fully stated in the correspondence. Mr. 
 Webster declined on the same or somewhat similar grounds ; 
 and no doubt the Committee were at the same time de- 
 prived of the services of my friends Paul Bedford, John 
 Lawrence Toole, and others, who would have been forth- 
 coming if required. Mdlle. Tietjens retired on some mis- 
 understanding which I never heard clearly stated ; Mrs. 
 Keeley could not appear in consequence of delicate health ; 
 and then et tu ~brute Mr. Fechter abandoned the labouring- 
 barque and left her to the Fates. It was "too horrible for 
 reality." Few could credit the news for a time, but it 
 proved too true ; and as there lay no power in the tongue 
 of man to change the Frenchman's determination it became 
 necessary to make the public aware of the misfortune. 
 Accordingly the following correspondence was published : 
 
 " SJiakespearian Tercentenary at Stratford-ivpon-Avon. 
 
 " To the Editor of the MORNING STAR. 
 " Sir, 
 
 "It is with sincere regret that the Stratford-upon-Avon ter- 
 centenary festival Committee are compelled to announce to the public 
 that Mr. Fechter has broken faith with them by declining to put the 
 play of ' Hamlet ' upon the stage on the 27th inst., and to take the 
 part of Hamlet. 
 
 " At this late period it is totally impracticable for the Committee 
 to place any tragedy upon the stage, as forming part of the tercen- 
 tenary celebration, which they much deplore, both on account of the 
 public and the occasion. 
 
 " The Committee, however, deem it right that the public should 
 be made acquainted with the circumstances attending Mr. Fechter' s 
 breach of his engagement, entered into with the Committee in 
 December last. 
 
 " The announcement in the preliminary programme was drawn 
 up by Mr. Fechter himself, and most expensive preparations made, 
 and the stage enlarged under his directions, expressly to allow of the 
 scenic effects which he required ; and up to the day of his unfortunate 
 accident he was in most friendly communication with the Committee. 
 
 " Judge then of the consternation and surprise of the Committee, 
 when, on the 26th of March last, they received the letter from Mr. 
 
1513 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 Barnett (No. 1), dated the 23rd, and posted at Vetnor, in the Isle of 
 Wight, on the 24th. The Vice-chairman, Mr. Mower, wrote at once 
 in reply the letter (No. 2). 
 
 " On Monday morning (the 28th) a paragraph appeared in one 
 paper only (the Stcvr), stating the withdrawal of Mr. Fechter from 
 Stratford, whereupon a meeting of the Committee was held, and the 
 resolution (No. 3) was passed, and forwarded to Mr. Fechter through 
 Mr. Barnett. 
 
 " This has produced no alteration in his determination, and now, 
 at the eleventh hour, we are placed in our present difficulty, without 
 any fault of our own ; and are driven to the necessity of offering to 
 those who have already taken tickets for the performance of ' Hamlet ' 
 a return of their money or an exchange of tickets for other entertain- 
 ments. 
 
 " I have the honour to be, Sir, 
 
 " Your obedient servant, 
 
 "HENRY KINGSLEY, M.D. 
 " Hon. Sec. of the Stratford-upon-Avon tercentenary 
 
 Committee. 
 
 " Committee Room, Town Hall, Stratford-upon-Avon, 
 " April 4th, 1864." 
 
 (No. 1.) 
 
 " March 23rd, 1864. 
 
 " To the tercentenary Committee, Stratford-upon-Avon. 
 " Gentlemen, 
 
 " Mr. Fechter, prevented by his accident from writing 
 himself, requests me to inform you of the painful necessity your late 
 resolution has placed him under, namely, declining the honour of 
 appearing at the Stratford celebration. 
 
 " The said resolution giving the force of truth to the false and 
 injurious statement spread about by one of your members, and pub- 
 lished by unfriendly papers, viz., that Mr. Fechter, by ' under- 
 current and trickery ways, forced on the choice of his Hamlet.' 
 
 " Mr. Fechter would have felt proud to serve in his humble way 
 to the celebration of the immortal master, but he cannot afford to lose 
 his reputation as loyal artist and honest man through thoughtless 
 resolutions or personal vanities, over which he cannot, nor will not, 
 have any control. 
 
 " I am desired by Mr. Fechter to add, that the scenery is at the 
 disposal of the Committee, he having no wish to prevent the carrying 
 out certain proposals so honourably made by the already-mentioned 
 member still sitting in your Committee, and simply retires, forced to 
 such decision by your own will and resolution. 
 
 " I am, Gentlemen, your obedient servant, 
 
 "H. BARNETT." 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 151 
 
 (No. 2.) 
 
 " The Hill, Stratford-upon- Avon, March 26th, 1864. 
 t( Dear Sir, 
 
 " A letter received from you this morning, dated the 23rd 
 inst., addressed to the Committee, and opened by me, as Vice- 
 chairman, is most incomprehensible to me. 
 
 " Should Mr. Fechter break his engagement, after his repeated 
 pledges to the Committee, he would be doing us a wrong, which, at 
 this late hour, would be irreparable, to say nothing of the still greater 
 wrong Mr. Fechter would do to himself. 
 
 " Your letter has not been shown to the Committee, but to a few 
 members of it, privately, for I cannot imagine that Mr. Fechter, after 
 having in so straightforward a manner acceded to the request of the 
 Committee, will really break faith with them at the eleventh hour ; 
 now that they have pledged themselves to the public, and have, with 
 great exertions, made their difficult and expensive arrangements to 
 suit his views and many of them under his own directions; besides 
 which we have in the country sold largely of tickets, with a prospect 
 of speedily selling the whole. 
 
 " It is my opinion that the Committee cannot accept Mr. Fechter's 
 resignation, or in any way be a party to such a breach of faith with 
 the public, the consequences of which must rest with him alone. 
 
 " Mr. Fechter's engagement with us is not, and cannot be affected 
 by gossip and ' unfriendly papers/ and there is not the slightest 
 foundation for saying that the Committee have by resolution, or in 
 any other way, given any sanction to the false reports to which you 
 allude ; in fact, we are quite at a loss to know to what resolution you 
 refer, or who are the members of the Committee meant in your letter. 
 Do lay this letter before Mr. Fechter at once, and let me have a reply 
 by return of post, as I hope that, upon reconsideration, he will prevent 
 the matter going before the Committee. 
 " Yours truly, 
 
 " (Signed) E. F. FLOWER. 
 
 " H. Barnett, Esq." 
 
 (No. 3.) 
 
 " That the reasons assigned by Mr. Barnett for the withdrawal 
 of Mr. Fechter from the part of Hamlet are wholly unintelligible to 
 this Committee, who have hitherto worked with cordiality and in 
 harmony with him. The Committee, who cannot be parties to any 
 breach of faith with the public, are still prepared to co-operate with 
 Mr. Fechter in the same spirit, and under these circumstances they 
 trust that Mr. Barnett' s letter may be withdrawn, and Mr. Fechter's 
 engagement for the performance of Hamlet fulfilled." 
 
152 TERCENTENAEY FESTIVAL. 
 
 "P.S. It now appears that the following resolution, passed by 
 the entertainments Committee on the 22nd of February, is the one 
 referred to by Mr. Fechter as his reason for breaking his engagement 
 with the Committee : ' That Mr. Bellew be requested not to make 
 any more arrangements on behalf of the Committee until further 
 communicated with.' The Committee, however, cannot see how a 
 resolution affecting a third person can bear upon the subject, or in any 
 way excuse or palliate Mr. Fechter' s forfeiture of his own written and 
 oral engagement, confirmed as that engagement was by words and 
 acts of his both before and after the passing of such resolution. 
 Neither can it be said that Mr. Fechter himself, at the time the reso- 
 lution was passed, placed any such construction upon it, for, after its 
 adoption, he was in Stratford, and personally gave directions for an 
 extension of the stage to meet his own peculiar views and require- 
 ments ; and up to the 12th of March, when his accident occurred, 
 he was in friendly communication with members of the Committee 
 upon that and other matters. 
 
 " It may be necessary to add, in explanation, that there has been 
 no other resolution bearing upon the same subject, except one, on the 
 2nd of March, confirmatory, by the general Committee, of that which 
 had been unanimously passed by the entertainments Committee, 
 namely, that ' Mr. Bellew be requested to desist from acting further 
 on behalf of the Committee.' 
 
 "H. K." 
 
 The following letter appeared in the Star of April 8th : 
 
 "Sir, 
 
 " The grossly unfair statements embodied in a letter from the 
 Secretary of the Stratford-upon-Avon tercentenary Committee, which 
 appeared in your paper of Tuesday, would have been brought at once 
 under the notice of Mr. Fechter if the state of his health had per- 
 mitted him to attend to any kind of business. But the severe shock 
 which his system sustained from his late accident, aggravated in 
 its effects by the annoyance to which he has been most undeservedly 
 subjected by those with whom he loyally co-operated until secession 
 became the only course compatible with honour, has brought on so 
 serious an illness that his medical advisers have forbidden his re- 
 appearance on his own stage for at least a month to come. It is, 
 therefore, no longer a question whether he will or will not play Hamlet 
 at the approaching festival. It would be impossible for him to act, 
 even if he saw reason for abandoning the resolution which he has 
 already communicated to the Committee. But that resolution rests 
 upon grounds so substantial that the public will, I am satisfied, feel 
 that no other course would have been consistent with the maintenance 
 of his own self-respect. 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 153 
 
 " First, however, allow me to point out some passages in the letter 
 of the Secretary to the Committee which are calculated grievously to 
 mislead the public. ' The announcement in the preliminary pro- 
 gramme,' he says, ' was drawn up by Mr. Fechter himself.' This is 
 not true ; Mr. Fechter merely had one of these documents handed to 
 him for perusal in common with all other interested parties. ' Most 
 expensive preparations,' he asserts, 'were made' for the representation 
 of ' Hamlet.' This is true, but surely it would have been only honest 
 to add that the outlay was incurred, not by the Committee, but by 
 Mr. Fechter himself, who has laid out more than 300 on scenery, 
 dresses, and properties for the occasion all of which he offered to 
 place at the disposal of the Committee when he avowed his own in- 
 ability to appear. Mr. Fechter, it is averred, ' had the stage enlarged 
 under his directions, expressly to allow of the scenic effects which he 
 required.' This, again, is not true ; in fact any one at all conversant 
 with such matters must be aware that it would be absurd to dream of 
 producing any scenic effects whatever in such a structure. When 
 Mr. Fechter went down to Stratford, by invitation, to see the tempo- 
 rary theatre, he found that it had been so constructed that a large 
 proportion of the audience could not possibly see the performance, and 
 the stage was advanced and the proscenium widened at his suggestion 
 in order to remedy this defect. So little, indeed, were Mr. Fechter' s 
 special requirements kept in view in these arrangements that the 
 stage and grooves as at present constructed are fitted to the scale of 
 the Haymarket scenery and would have had to be altered to fit the 
 larger Lyceum scenery for the night of Mr. Fechter' s performance. 
 Lastly, it is alleged that the Committee ' are driven to the necessity 
 of offering to those who have already taken tickets for the perfor- 
 mance of ' Hamlet ' a return of their money or an exchange of tickets 
 for other entertainments.' It is impossible to understand how this can 
 be, since Mr. Fechter' s determination not to play was made known to 
 the Committee before the definitive programme was issued. 
 
 " It now remains for me to state the reasons which induced him 
 to form this resolution. On the 21st of January Mr. Phelps addressed 
 a letter to the Rev. Mr. Bellew, then Secretary to the Stratford Com- 
 mittee, declaring that this body had insulted him by asking any man 
 in this country to play Hamlet at the festival without first giving 
 him the refusal of the part. On the 2nd of March the Committee dis- 
 missed the Eev. Mr. Bellew from his office, and Mr. E. F. Flower, 
 the proposer of the resolution to that effect at the same time wrote to 
 him a letter imputing to him responsibility for the affront offered to 
 Mr. Phelps, and adding that the evil springing from having incurred 
 the enmity of that artist ( far more than outbalances any advantages 
 that could accrue to us from the most zealous advocacy of yourself or 
 any other person. 3 The contents of this letter remained unknown to 
 Mr. Fechter for some little time, which will account for his not having 
 taken immediate action in the matter ; but when its purport was com- 
 
154 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 mnnicated to him it appeared to Mm that he had but one course to 
 pursue. The Committee had by this act, the motive of Which was 
 plainly avowed by its instigator, recognised the justice of Mr. Phelps' 
 complaint that he had been insulted, and the only insult of which 
 that gentleman complained was the assignment of Hamlet to Mr. 
 Fechter, who did not choose the part but was asked to play it, and 
 consented to do so. Under these circumstances Mr. Fechter felt it to 
 be his duty to himself as well as to the Committee, to relieve that 
 body from the responsibility of an act of which its members avowedly 
 repented, by removing his name from the programme. There is one 
 curious fact connected with this transaction which ought not to escape 
 notice. Mr. Fechter' s withdrawal was communicated by me to the 
 Committee on the 26th of March. On the evening of the 4th of April 
 the Rev. G. J. Granville, Chairman of that body and Yicar of Stratford- 
 upon-Avon, called upon Mr. Fechter, in London, to make an effort to 
 induce him to reverse his decision. They remained in conversation 
 until past midnight, and when the Rev. Mr. Granville found that his 
 efforts were fruitless, his parting words to Mr. Fechter expressed the 
 hope that this affair would in no wise affect their mutual esteem and 
 friendly relations. The Chairman of the Committee clearly did not 
 think that Mr. Fechter had acted dishonourably or in bad faith. But 
 the strangest circumstance has yet to be told. The letter addressed 
 to you by the Secretary of the Stratford Committee, denouncing Mr. 
 Fechter for having violated his pledge, was dated April 4th, and must 
 have been posted early on that day, as it appeared in your paper of 
 the 5th. It must, therefore, have been signed and despatched some 
 hours before the Chairman of the Committee saw Mr. Fechter and was 
 made aware of his final determination. No one who is aware of the 
 high reputation and noble qualities of the Rev. Mr. Granville will 
 suppose that he was aware of this proceeding ; but the mystery is one 
 which certainly calls for a solution. 
 
 " Apologising for the unavoidable length of this letter, I have the 
 honour to be, Sir, your obedient servant, 
 
 " H. BARNETT, Acting Manager. 
 " Lyceum Theatre, April 7th." 
 
 " To the Editor of the MORNING STAR. 
 11 Sir, 
 
 " The letter in the Morning Stcvr, signed by Mr. Barnett, 
 and dated April 7, contains allegations and imputations so inaccurate 
 that the Stratford Committee feel bound in self -justification to answer 
 them seriatim. 
 
 " In the first place, the Committee regret sincerely that the 
 effects of Mr. Fechter's accident should have been aggravated by any 
 additional cause, but must attribute such effect to his own keen 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 155 
 
 susceptibility to an imaginary wrong, rather than to any act of 
 theirs. 
 
 " Secondly. The fact of Mr. Fechter's having ' drawn up the 
 announcement in the preliminary programme' is denied. It is 
 true that he did not originate the programme, but it is equally so, that 
 when it was submitted to him he added to it, then approved of it, 
 and thereby virtually adopted it as his own. 
 
 " Thirdly. That the Secretary's statement that the ' most ex- 
 pensive preparations were made ' for the representation of ' Hamlet ' 
 was disingenuous, inasmuch as it implied that the outlay was the 
 Committee's, whereas it was Mr. Fechter's. Now the phrase used by 
 the Secretary did not apply to ' scenery, dresses, and properties,' but 
 to the enlargement of the stage in the first instance, under the direction 
 and dictation of Mr. Bellew (to whom great latitude of action was 
 conceded by the Committee under the impression they were led by 
 him to form of his influence with Mr. Fechter), and, secondly, under 
 the suggestions of Mr. Fechter himself. 
 
 " Fourthly. It is denied by Mr. Barnett, in Mr. Fechter's behalf, 
 that Mr. Fechter 'had the stage enlarged under his directions, 
 expressly to allow of the scenic effects which he required ; ' and the 
 very idea of 'producing any scenic effects whatever in such a 
 structure ' is indignantly scouted. In answer to that, the Committee 
 can only say that experienced actors who have seen the theatre have 
 pronounced the stage to be one inferior to few in England ; and if the 
 production of scenic effects was never contemplated, why was it ever 
 attempted ? Will Mr. Fechter, under his own sign manual, deny that 
 he announced to the members of the Committee that he would put 
 the play on the Stratford boards as it had never been put on any 
 stage before ? 
 
 " Fifthly. The Committee's assertion that ' they are driven to 
 the necessity of offering to those who have already taken tickets for 
 the performance of 'Hamlet' a return of their money, or an exchange 
 of tickets for other entertainments,' is broadly denied, on the plea 
 that 'Mr. Fechter's determination not to play was made known to the 
 Committee before the definitive programme was issued.' It is perfectly 
 true that the only programme as yet issued is called on the title page 
 ' Preliminary,' and really is, as Mr. Barnett styles it, ' definitive,' for 
 it is the one on the faith of which our tickets have been selling since 
 the 3rd of March ; and the programme about to be published, with 
 the exception of some expansion of details, will be essentially 
 identical with it ; and the proof that it is not true that Mr. Fechter's 
 determination was made known to the Committee rests on the fact 
 that the programme was issued on the 22nd of February, whereas Mr. 
 Fechter's determination was not known till the 26th of March. 
 
 " Sixthly. And now to meet the reasons advanced by Mr. 
 Fechter for his breach of faith. It is stated that on 2nd of March 
 Mr. Bellew was ' dismissed ' from ' office/ and that ' Mr. E. F. Flower, 
 the proposer of the resolution to that effect, at the same time wrote 
 
156 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL.' 
 
 him a letter imputing to Mm responsibility for the affront offered to 
 Mr. Phelps, and adding, that the evil springing from having incurred 
 the enmity of that artist, ' far more than outbalanced any advantages 
 that could accrue to the Committee from the most zealous advocacy of 
 himself or any other person.' It would seem that Mr. Fechter 
 appropriates to himself most mistakenly the impersonation of the 
 imaginary ' other person.' Now the letter from whence these expres- 
 sions were cited was one addressed by Mr. Flower to Mr. Bellew, in 
 answer to an apology tendered by Mr. Bellew to Mr. Flower, for a 
 false charge preferred by him against Mr. Flower; and the plain purport 
 of the passage is, that nothing that Mr. Bellew could say, or any 
 other skilful advocate advance, could make the Committee amends 
 for the loss of the services of Messrs. Phelps and Webster. What has 
 all that to do with Mr. Fechter ? 
 
 " Seventhly. There is an insinuation thrown out that there was 
 an unseemly interval allowed to elapse between the announcement 
 of Mr. Fechter' s withdrawal on the 26th of March, and the visit of 
 Mr. Granville, on the 4th of April, to Mr. Fechter. Now, on the 26th 
 of March, and on the 2nd of April, letters were written to, and inter- 
 views subsequently obtained of Mr. Fechter, with the view of 
 disabusing his mind of the erroneous impressions which had been 
 instilled into it. Moreover, on the 29th of March, the following 
 resolution was passed by the Committee and forwarded to Mr. 
 Fechter through Mr. Barnett : 
 
 ' That the reasons assigned by Mr. Barnett for the withdrawal of 
 Mr. Fechter from the part of Hamlet, are wholly unintelligible to this 
 Committee, who have hitherto worked with cordiality and in harmony 
 with him. The Committee, who cannot be parties to any breach of 
 faith with the public, are still prepared to co-operate with Mr. Fechter 
 in the same spirit ; and, under these circumstances, they trust that 
 Mr. Barnett' s letter may be withdrawn, and Mr. Fechter' s engage- 
 ment for the performance of Hamlet fulfilled.' 
 
 " Finally. The mystery which Mr. Barnett says requires solution 
 is easily cleared up. The letter, which he says must have been posted 
 early on the 4th of April, was not sent to the papers till the morning 
 of the 5th, after the interview of Mr. Granville with Mr. Fechter ; 
 and, as a reference to the files of the Morning Star itself will show, 
 did not appear on the 5th in that paper, but on the 6th. 
 
 " The Committee, in drawing up this bare statement, have confined 
 themselves strictly to facts, and leave their case with confidence to the 
 discernment of the public at large. 
 
 " I have the honour to be, Sir, 
 
 " Your obedient servant, 
 
 "H. KlNGSLEY, M.D., 
 
 " Hon. Sec. to the Stratford-upon-Avon 
 
 " Tercentenary Committee. 
 " Committee Eoom, Town Hall, 
 
 " Stratford-upon-Avon, April 8th, 1864." 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 157 
 
 " P.S. As soon as the Committee are relieved of the heavy 
 pressure which their preparations for the forthcoming festival entails 
 upon them, they will, if necessary, publish in extenso the whole 
 correspondence with Messrs. Bellew and Fechter." 
 
 " To the Editor of the STAR. 
 "Sir, 
 
 "But that I have been until now too ill to write I should have 
 sooner addressed these few lines to you on the subject of Dr. Kingsley's 
 letter, on behalf of the Stratford tercentenary Committee, published 
 in your paper of Monday, the llth instant. 
 
 " Any unprejudiced person who will compare that letter with Mr. 
 Bamett's, published in your paper of Friday, the 8th, I think can 
 hardly fail to see that Mr. Barnett's statements remain untouched. 
 
 " But, as Dr. Kingsley asks, ' Will Mr. Fechter, under his own 
 sign manual, deny that he announced to members of the Committee 
 that he would put the play of ' Hamlet' on the Stratford boards as it 
 had never been put on any stage before?' I beg to state that Mr. 
 Fechter does ' under his own sign manual ' most positively deny it. 
 
 " If Dr. Kingsley were to substitute the Lyceum stage for the 
 Stratford boards, he would be nearer the truth. 
 
 " Dr. Kingsley offers, when the Committee shall be quite disen- 
 gaged, and, ' if necessary,' to publish ' in extenso, the whole of the 
 correspondence between Messrs. Bellew and Fechter.' These words 
 (so far as I know English) should lead your readers to suppose that 
 there has been some correspondence 'between Messrs. Bellew and 
 Fechter' on this subject. 
 
 " There is no such thing on the face of the earth, and there never 
 was not a line, not a word. 
 
 " I required the Stratford Committee, when they had passed a 
 resolution expressive of their regret for giving offence* to Mr. Phelps, 
 to do me the plain justice of declaring that it was not the offence 
 spread about, and nightly set forth by Mr. Phelps on the bills of Drury 
 Lane Theatre namely, the having allowed me to be foisted, by some 
 intrigue or other, into the character of Hamlet. 
 
 " I required them to do me the justice of declaring that they, 
 themselves, without any friendly interference, had proposed to me to 
 play Hamlet, and that I had readily consented to do so, and to place 
 the tragedy on their stage at my own cost. Upon their refusal to 
 withdraw the resolution, and thus evading their duty, I withdrew, and 
 they placarded most of the chief railway stations with my ' breach of 
 faith.' 
 
 " I now leave my case with confidence to the discernment of the 
 public, and beg to remain, Sir, your obedient servant, 
 
 "C. FECHTER. 
 
 " 18, Marlborough Place, St. John's Wood, 
 April 15, 1864." 
 
158 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 I have not undertaken the responsibility of giving the 
 complaint of the Committee or Mr. Fechter's defence in 
 my own words for obvious reasons. Doubtless the whole 
 case could be stated in much shorter time than is required 
 to read the foregoing correspondence ; but as the subject 
 has been so warmly discussed, and may be still further and 
 more minutely overhauled in time to come, I have pre- 
 ferred to place on record the facts, allegations, and entire 
 controversy, as published by the parties themselves, so that 
 those who hold with one or two of the morning journals, 
 that under the circumstances Mr. Fechter had no other 
 course open to him than that which he adopted, may have 
 before them all that he has been able to write or get written 
 for him in justification of his coup d'etat; whilst, on the 
 other hand, the large section of society who sympathise with 
 the Committee, and regard Mr. Fechter's conduct as utterly 
 indefensible and inexcusable, may see their view of the 
 matter put forth in extenso by the parties aggrieved. 
 
 Shortly before the occurrence of this disaster one of 
 national importance took place in the bursting of the great 
 reservoir at Sheffield. Hitherto the Committee had been 
 most fortunate in not having their great undertaking 
 interfered with by the existence of war, famine, pestilence, 
 or any general trouble of protracted consequence in the 
 land. The distress in Lancashire had been relieved, and 
 the trade returns indicated increasing prosperity ; but the 
 calamity at Sheffield, occurring as it did, almost on the eve 
 of the celebration, threatened to absorb public sympathy, 
 divert from Stratford-upon-Avon the current of contri- 
 butions, and cast a cloud over the festival. That it had 
 to some extent this effect there can be no question. 
 Happily, however, the drawback was not of the magnitude 
 originally apprehended. 
 
 But the Fechter apostacy was felt like a blow 
 irrecoverable as regards the night in question. The 
 closing of the pavilion on that evening was at first con- 
 templated as unavoidable, but subsequently wiser counsels 
 prevailed. Offers of substitutes and assistance came in 
 from various quarters, and the advice of Mr. Buckstone, 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 159 
 
 who, from his first interview at Birmingham with me as a 
 delegate from Stratford, early in October, had been the 
 warm friend of the Committee, was sought in the dilemma. 
 A deputation, composed of Sir Robert Hamilton, the Rev. 
 Gr. Granville, the Rev. Julian Young, and Dr. Kingsley 
 (who on my retirement had consented to resume his 
 position as Honorary Secretary), waited upon him at the 
 Haymarket. Mr. Buckstone felt as a member of the Com- 
 mittee, and the result of the interview was a determination 
 to get up the best possible performance in lieu of "Hamlet," 
 and at this crisis Mr. Vining, of the Princesses' Theatre, 
 came nobly to the rescue, and by his generosity and energy 
 the Committee were enabled to produce two of Shake- 
 speare's plays on the night in question, and that too with 
 attractive histrionic talent which embraced the greatest 
 novelties of the season. Miss Stella Collas in Juliet, and 
 the Messrs. Henry and Charles Webb in the Dromios. On 
 returning to Stratford the proceedings and arrangements 
 of the deputation were fully approved by the Committee, 
 and a vote of thanks, proposed by Mr. William Greener, 
 and seconded by Mr. ISTorris, was passed by acclamation to 
 the gentlemen whose mission had been so successful. 
 
 But the Committee's troubles in stage management were 
 not quite at an end. Mrs. Theodore Martin, who had only 
 given a conditional promise to play Rosalind, declined to 
 appear. The accepting of Mdlle. Collas as Juliet was said 
 to be connected with her declinature ; and as Miss Faucit 
 (Mrs. Martin) is the tragedienne par excellence of the 
 British stage, whose delineation of Gapulefs fair daughter 
 must be ever remembered by those who have witnessed 
 that exquisitely graceful and terribly grand piece of tragic 
 acting, one cannot be much surprised by the view she took 
 of her own professional position and dignity. It was not 
 for the Siddons of the age to come forth in comedy, after a 
 French lady had played Juliet and but the lady requires 
 no justification of her withdrawal at my hand, nor am I 
 aware that the Committee make any complaint in the 
 matter. The very handsome contribution made to the 
 funds by Mrs. Martin, evinced the interest she took in the 
 success of the festival. 
 
160 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 About the period at which I have arrived in this 
 narrative, the services of Mr. Creswick had been fortunately 
 secured for the part of Jaques; and that excellent actress 
 Mrs. Hermann Yezin (late Mrs. Charles Young) took the 
 place of Miss Faucit as Rosalind. Ultimately, the Com- 
 mittee found themselves in calm water, and might have 
 exclaimed with lago 
 
 " If consequence do but approve my dream, 
 My boat sails freely, both with wind and stream." 
 
 "The last meeting," says the Stratford Herald, of the 
 22nd April, " of the commemorative Committee previous to 
 the coming off of the event which has absorbed their 
 time and attention for a period of nearly three years, took 
 place on Wednesday last. The heavy labours which have 
 been undertaken by the Committee, if they cannot command 
 success, eminently deserve it. Very few of the outer world 
 can form an idea of the labours which have been gone 
 through ; and although natural anxiety may be felt at this 
 period as to the result, there is no lack of confidence that 
 the public will come forward and generously support the 
 commemorative festival . ' ' 
 
 And now, before " ringing up" for the performance, let 
 us take a peep, as stage managers and nervous beneficiaires 
 will do, at the house, alias 
 
 THE GRAND PAVILION. 
 
 This structure was, early in the business, a matter of 
 serious concern to the Committee. After careful examina- 
 tion, a special meeting being called for the purpose, they 
 accepted the plans of Messrs. Thompson and Colbourne, 
 Architects, Stratford-upon-Avon. Tenders for the erection 
 of the building having been advertised for, the following were 
 received on the 18th November : Messrs. Branson and 
 Murray, of Birmingham, 1,300 ; Messrs. James Cox and 
 

TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL, 161 
 
 Son, of Stratford-upon-Avon, 1,475 ; Messrs. Clarke and 
 Son, Wootten Wawen, 1,799; Messrs. Eassie and Co., 
 Gloucester, 2,449. These proposals were fully discussed 
 and then Mr. Cox arose, and in a very honourable manner 
 proposed that the tender of Messrs. Branson and Murray 
 be accepted. The motion was seconded and carried 
 unanimously . 
 
 The builders selected got their engagement perfected, 
 and set to work. The alteration on, and additions to, the 
 original plan (no fault of the architects) were so extensive, 
 that it is believed they will cost as much as the amount of 
 the original tender. But the work was remarkable no less 
 for the rapidity of its execution than the substantiality of 
 its character. Within five months from the laying of the 
 foundation stone the pavilion was erected, fitted up 
 internally, and completely decorated. 
 
 The building thus rapidly erected challenged general 
 admiration. It was a duodecagon on the plan, 152 ft. 
 in diameter, and constructed of timber on foundations of 
 masonry, with galleries, orchestra, and stage. 
 
 The area or pit was 100 ft. diameter, the floor of 
 which was carefully, laid down for the dancing. The 
 orchestra was constructed to accommodate five hundred 
 and thirty performers, the lower part of which was re- 
 moved during the theatrical performances ; and the stage 
 was 74 ft. X 56 ft. deep, with nine dressing rooms, green 
 room, and other rooms. The stairs leading to galleries 
 were 10 ft. in width, with quarter spaces. They were 
 placed outside the building, not to interfere with the floor 
 entrances. The main roof over area, or inner hall, was 
 constructed of twelve trussed principals bolted to the up- 
 right timbers, which supported the same, and had a strong 
 wrought iron band round the whole circumference to resist 
 "the thrust," and was surmounted by a lantern 15 ft. 
 diameter, the lower part of which was filled in with per- 
 forated zinc for ventilation. The height from the floor to 
 the top of the lantern was 74 ft. The whole of the roofs 
 were covered with asphalte felt, on one-inch deal boards. 
 The vestibule and covered entrances were 20 fb. wide, with 
 
 L 
 
162 
 
 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 refreshment rooms, cloak rooms, stalls for opera glasses, &c., 
 on each side. Twenty thousand cubic feet of timber, twelve 
 tons of wrought iron, and upwards of four tons of nails were 
 used in the construction of this building, which no one 
 could have entered without a feeling of regret that an 
 . edifice so spacious, handsome, and substantial, was so soon 
 to be demolished. By reference to the annexed plan and 
 subjoined note, a pretty clear and correct notion may be 
 formed both of the internal arrangements, and of the 
 approaches to the building. 
 
 The Committee voted 300 towards the decorating of 
 the building. Advertisements for tenders were widely 
 published. The proposal of Messrs. Brothers, Leamington, 
 was accepted. Nothing could have been in better taste or 
 more effective than the decorations, the Elizabethan style 
 prevailing throughout. The principal seats were covered 
 with scarlet cloth, the ledges being cushioned, and covered 
 with silk velvet. An ingenious monogram of Shakespeare's 
 name formed a prominent feature in the beautifully painted 
 canvas on the back wall. The front of the boxes was 
 decorated with scroll work, interspersed with Shakespearian 
 medallions and quotations ; and the well known passage in 
 the " Tempest," " The cloud-capped towers, &c.," was 
 inscribed around the building, sadly suggestive of the 
 temporary existence of the structure. 
 
 EXPLANATION OF GROUND PLAN OF PAVILION. 
 
 1 The Stage. 
 
 2 Lower part of the Orchestra, re- 
 
 moved during theatrical per- 
 formances and ball. 
 
 3 Gentlemen's Retiring Room during 
 
 oratorio and ball, but used for 
 spectators during the theatrical 
 representations. 
 
 4 Ladies' ditto, ditto, ditto. 
 
 5 Retiring Room. 
 
 6 Ladies. 
 
 7 Gentlemen. 
 
 8 Stairs to Gallery. 
 
 9 Refreshment Rooms. 
 
 10 Omces for Opera Glasses. 
 
 11 Cloak Rooms. 
 
 12 Stairs to Orchestra. 
 
 13 Committee Room. 
 
 14 Ladies' Dressing Rooms. 
 
 15 Gentlemen's Dressing Rooms. 
 
 16 Stairs to Ladies' Dressing Rooms. 
 
 17 Stairs to Gentlemen's ditto. 
 
 18 Green Room. 
 
 19 General Dressing Room. 
 
 20 Entrance to Ground Floor of 
 
 Building. 
 
 21 Covered Vestibule and Corridors to 
 
 various entrances of building. 
 
 22 Carriage Platform. 
 
 23 Office for Sale and Exchange of 
 
 Tickets. 
 
 24 Covered Way. 
 
 25 Church Street Approach to 
 
 Pavilion. 
 
 26 Burton and Son's Photographic 
 
 Studio. 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 163 
 
 The lighting by a large centre gasalier, branches, and the 
 foot and wing jets, was very complete, and to their credit it 
 must be here recorded, the local company supplied the gas 
 free of charge. 
 
 The stage, than which there never was a better con- 
 structed for histrionic purposes, was fitted up under the 
 direction of Mr. Wales, stage carpenter of the Haymarket ; 
 the scenery, which had been painted principally by Mr. 
 O'Connor, of the same establishment, was under his super- 
 intendence. Mr. Fenton painted the proscenium, and Mr. 
 Telbin the drop curtain a representation of the statue of 
 Shakespeare in a sort of vestibule, surrounded with pillars 
 and curtains, the Stratford church appearing in the dis- 
 tance. Some of these artistic works, although effective, 
 were hurriedly executed, and conveyed no adequate idea 
 of the talent possessed by their authors. 
 
 PREPARATIONS OF THE TOWNSPEOPLE. 
 
 Whilst the building was receiving the finishing touch at 
 the hands of the artistes, the town of Stratford-upon-Avon 
 was undergoing a complete overhaul and renovation ; 
 masons, plasterers, painters, glaziers, and paper-hangers 
 were at work all over it. The front of nearly every house 
 in the town was painted or in some way improved, and 
 specially decorated for the auspicious occasion ; vacant 
 houses were taken and fitted up as temporary hotels ; the 
 historic old White Lion was resuscitated and filled with fur- 
 niture ; and it is much to be regretted that the inhabitants 
 should have thus taken a great amount of unnecessary 
 trouble in preparing for the reception of a multitude who 
 never arrived. In point of the numbers who visited 
 Stratford on the occasion the festival was a failure, 
 that is compared with anticipations ; and this I largely 
 attribute to bad management in the advertising. The 
 first " poster" was necessarily small, in order to have it 
 placed in the railway stations; but for the second there 
 was no such excuse. It was well enough printed on a 
 mere four-sheet bill, crammed with announcements of 
 
164 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 eight entertainments, and all their details. As an adver- 
 tisement for such an occasion it was about as useful as an 
 old newspaper on the walls ; and in dimensions looked no 
 better than an ordinarily fortnightly concert room or casino 
 placard. Such a poster was scarcely magnetic enough to 
 attract a visitor from Shottery, much less to arouse the 
 attention of the world to the fete at Stratford-upon-Avon. 
 It was, in short, inconceivably shabby, and of itself suf- 
 ficient to account for the failure which took place in the 
 attendance. 
 
 THE SHAKESPEARIAN PICTURE GALLERY. 
 
 As already noticed the Town Hall had been for some 
 time undergoing an extensive enlargement and re- decora- 
 tion. It was turned to good account by being put in 
 requisition for the display of a splendid collection of 
 Shakespearian and theatrical portraits, collected by Mr. 
 Hogarth, of the Haymarket, in pursuance of an arrange- 
 ment entered into some time previously with the Committee. 
 There were nearly three hundred of these pictures, 
 comprising some of the happiest efforts of the most 
 eminent masters ; including Sir Thomas Laurence's portrait 
 of John Kemble as Hamlet, the property of the Queen, 
 who had been obliged (as Col. Phipps stated in a letter to 
 the Mayor) for some time past to decline to accede to the 
 numerous applications made for the loan of pictures from 
 the Royal Galleries, but her Majesty was " graciously 
 pleased to consider this very remarkable occasion as one in 
 favour of which an exception might be made." There 
 were other works by Sir Thomas ; an interesting collection 
 of pictures by the Sketching Club, and another lot by the 
 Etching Club ; twenty-five portraits of Shakespeare, 
 including the Jansen and Hunt pictures ; portraits of 
 celebrated actors, by Finlayson, Dixon, Faber, Watson, 
 and Stothard; many well-painted scenes from Shakespeare ; 
 some admirable specimens of Sir Joshua Reynolds's portraits, 
 and of the works of artistes of our own age, as Maclise, 
 O'Neill, Frith, &c., forming altogether the most admirable 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 1(55 
 
 exhibition ever seen in a town so small as Stratford. 
 There was also an exhibition of Shakespeare relics, com- 
 prising the mask of Shakespeare, in plaster, alleged to 
 have been taken immediately after death ; a miniature in 
 oil, painted from the mask ; Shakespeare's walking stick 
 and jug, accompanied by histories to establish the authenti- 
 city claimed for them. There were moreover busts of 
 eminent actors ; the famous Kean testimonial was exhibited, 
 and a variety of other articles highly interesting to the 
 dramatic amateur. The lower part of the Town Hall was 
 let out in stalls for the sale of photographs, medals, badges, 
 ribbons, statuary, and such wares as form the stock of 
 fancy bazaars, but all having some attraction for visitors to 
 the festival. The trade done, however, was anything but 
 lively, and those manufacturers who had speculated in the 
 production of these seasonable commodities must have 
 shared in the general disappointment produced during 
 the first week by the paucity of visitors. / 
 
 THE FESTIVAL: 
 
 FIEST DAY. 
 
 It now becomes my duty, as the lawyers say, to enter at 
 last upon a record of the festival, for which preparation so 
 ample had been made. Perfect success seemed ultimately 
 to depend on but one contingency, the weather ; and never 
 was gala or festival so specially favoured in this respect as 
 that at Stratford-upon-Avon in 1864. The morning of the 
 23rd of April, the day of " out* warlike champion, thrice 
 renowned St. George," and of our no less renowned Will 
 Shakespeare, dawned in splendour, and the day continued 
 throughout brilliant with the "universal blaze" of the 
 summer sun ; and thus did the propitious sky smile on the 
 festival, from its commencement to its termination. 
 
 Mags of greater or less dimensions were hoisted from 
 nearly every house of business, and from many private 
 residences in Stratford. The union jack, royal standard, 
 
166 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 the red cross, and Shakespeare's heraldic insignia were to 
 be seen floating on the gentle zephyr in all directions the 
 display of bunting was superb. Ribbons, medals, busts, 
 pictures, trinkets, all Shakespearian, filled the shop windows, 
 and attracted the attention of the visitor at every step. 
 The town, beautifully clean as it invariably is, never looked 
 better, and presented a genuine holiday appearance. And 
 vet there was a degree of ominous quietude throughout the 
 streets, which on such an occasion was most remarkable. 
 There were no cannon, bands, or bells to be heard, but on 
 the contrary "a dread repose" pervaded the town until 
 two o'clock, when the bells of the Holy Trinity Church 
 advertised visitors and inhabitants that the festival had 
 really commenced. At that time old Stratford presented an 
 aspect of unusual excitement and gaiety, but the crowd of 
 visitors was still not nearly so great as had been anticipated, 
 and whilst the principal hotels were doing a nourishing 
 business, "lodgings to let" stared you fall in the face at 
 more than one respectable residence. 
 
 A few minutes after two o'clock a carriage drawn by four 
 grey horses drove up to the Town Hall. It contained Lord 
 Leigh and his honoured and distinguished guests, the Earl 
 of Carlisle, K.G., and his Grace the Archbishop of Dublin. 
 They were saluted by the Volunteers, who were drawn up 
 in Chapel Street, and received at the entrance to the Hall 
 by the Mayor and members of the Corporation, who, in 
 addition to their official robes, also wore ribbons, badges, 
 and medals, prepared for the festival. The noble visitors 
 were thence conducted up to the picture gallery, where, 
 for a short time, they inspected with considerable interest 
 the splendid exhibition just opened, and subsequently drove 
 to the pavilion. But before the Mayor and Committee 
 proceeded to the banquet an interesting ceremony took 
 place, in the reception of the deputation from Germany. 
 
 FOREIGN SYMPATHY. 
 
 The expressions of sympathy with the objects of the 
 festival which have been received by the Mayor from 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 167 
 
 foreign countries formed an interesting feature of the pro- 
 ceedings. Late on Saturday evening a telegram was 
 received from Moscow, of which the following is a copy : 
 
 "The Imperial University of Moscow, recognising the great 
 influence of Shakespeare on the Russian literature and stage, this 
 day publicly celebrates the three hundredth anniversary of the 'birth- 
 day of that great genius, equally dear to the whole civilised world, and 
 hereby congratulates his countrymen on the occasion." 
 
 From Kharkov, in the south of Russia, came the 
 telegram: 
 
 "Sympathising with your festival, we forward our congratu- 
 lations." 
 
 The deputation from the German Hochstifb afforded 
 additional evidence of the interest felt in the occasion. The 
 Hochstift is an association which has purchased the house 
 of Goethe with the view of preserving it from destruction, 
 just as in this country the house of Shakespeare has been 
 secured. In connection with the duty of preserving the 
 house the Hochstiffc has also established lectures and other 
 means of instruction for the youth of Germany. The depu- 
 tation from this body consisted of Professor Max Miiller, 
 Taylorian Professor of Modern Languages at Oxford ; and 
 Professor G. W. Leitner, Professor of Arabic, &c., at King's 
 College, London. These gentlemen called at once on the 
 Mayor, and made him officially acquainted with the pur- 
 port of their visit. The Mayor immediately proceeded to 
 convene the Corporation of Stratford at the Guildhall, and 
 as soon as a sufficient number was present to form a quorum 
 Professor Max Miiller said : " Mr. Mayor and gentlemen 
 of the Town Council, the city of Frankfort, the birth-place 
 of Goethe, sends her greeting to the town of Stratford- 
 upon-Avon, the birth-place of Shakespeare. The old town 
 of Frankfort, which, since the days of Frederick Barbarossa, 
 has seen the Emperors of Germany crowned within her 
 walls, might well at all times speak in the name of Ger- 
 many ; but to-day she sends her greeting, not as the proud 
 mother of German emperors, but as the prouder mother of 
 the greatest among the poets of Germany : and it is from 
 
168 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 the very lionse in which. Goethe lived, and which has since 
 become the seat of the ' Free German Institute for Science 
 and Art,' that this message of the German admirers of 
 Shakespeare has been sent across, which we are asked to 
 present to you the Mayor and Council of Stratford-upon- 
 Avon. When honour was to be done to the memory of 
 Shakespeare, Germany could not be absent ; for, next to 
 Goethe and Schiller, there is no poet so truly loved by us, 
 so thoroughly our own, as your Shakespeare. He is no 
 stranger with us, no more classic like Homer, or Yirgil, or 
 Dante, or Corneille, whom we read and admire and then 
 forget. He has become of ourselves, holding his own place 
 in the history of our literature, applauded in our theatres, 
 and in our cottages studied, known, loved, 'as far as 
 sounds the German tongue.' There is many a student in 
 Germany who has learnt English solely in order to read 
 Shakespeare in the original, and yet we possess a trans- 
 lation of Shakespeare in German with which few translations 
 of any work can vie in any language. What we in Germany 
 owe to Shakespeare must be read in the history of our 
 literature. Goethe was proud to call himself the pupil of 
 Shakespeare. I shall at this moment allude to one debt of 
 gratitude only which Germany owes to the poet of Stratford- 
 upon-Avon. I do not speak of the poet only, and of his 
 art, so perfect because so artless ; I think of the man with 
 his large warm heart, with his sympathy for all that is 
 genuine, unselfish, beautiful, and good ; with his contempt 
 for all that is petty, mean, vulgar, and false. It is from 
 his plays that our young men in Germany form their first 
 ideas of England and the English nation ; and in admiring 
 and loving him, we have learned to admire and to love the 
 people that may proudly call him their own. And it is 
 right that this should be so. As the height of the Alps is 
 measured by Mont Blanc, let the greatness of England be 
 measured by the greatness of Shakespeare. Great nations 
 make great poets ; great poets make great nations. Happy 
 the nation that possesses a poet like Shakespeare. Happy 
 the youth of England whose first ideas of this world in 
 which they are to live are taken from his pages. That 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 169 
 
 silent influence of Shakespeare's poetry on millions of 
 young hearts in England, in Germany, in all the world, 
 shows the superhuman power of human genius. If one 
 looks at that small house in a small street of a small town 
 of a small island, and then thinks of the world- embracing, 
 world- quickening, world-ennobling spirit that burst forth 
 from that small garret, one has learnt a lesson and carried 
 off a blessing for which no pilgrimage would have been too 
 long. Though the great festivals which, in former days, 
 brought together people from all parts of Europe to worship 
 at the shrine of Canterbury exists no more, let us hope, for 
 the sake of England more than for the sake of Shake- 
 speare, that this will not be the last Shakespearian festival 
 in the annals of Stratford-upon-Avon. In this cold critical 
 age of ours the power of worshipping, the art of admiring, 
 the passion of loving what is great and good, are fast dying 
 out. May England never be ashamed to show to the world 
 that she can love, that she can admire, that she can worship 
 the greatest of her poets. May Shakespeare live on in the 
 love of each generation that grows up in England. May 
 the youth of England long continue to be nursed, to be 
 fed, to be reproved, and judged by his spirit. With that 
 nation, that truly English, because truly Shakespearian 
 nation, the German nation will always be united by the 
 strongest sympathies ; for, superadded to their common 
 blood, their common religion, their common battles and 
 victories, they will always have in Shakespeare a common 
 teacher, a common benefactor, a common friend. Mr. 
 Mayor, Professor Leitner, Professor of Arabic at King's 
 College, London, has the address from the German nation, 
 and will present it to you." 
 
 Professor Leitner then presented the address, in the 
 name of the Hochstift, to the Corporation of Stratford. 
 He said it had been suggested to him that since the Hoch- 
 stift represented on this occasion the nation of Goethe, and 
 the Mayor and Council of Stratford the nation of Shake- 
 speare, it would be right to present this document in a more 
 public, though less formal, manner. With that suggestion 
 he saw no difficulty of complying, and would therefore take 
 
170 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 the opportunity at the banquet of presenting it to the 
 Corporation before the assembled public. Till then he 
 would have it thoroughly understood that the Hochstiffc, 
 proprietors of the house of Goethe, looked to the Stratford 
 Corporation, trustees of the house of Shakespeare, as the 
 most worthy representatives of the nation of Shakespeare 
 on the present occasion. Professor Leitner then conveyed 
 the greeting of the Hochstiffc to the Corporation, and amid 
 considerable applause formally deposited the address, 
 without reading it, in the hands of the Mayor and the 
 Corporation. 
 
 The following is a translation of the address : 
 
 " The Free German Hochstift for the spread of Sciences, 
 Arts, and General Enlightenment, from their seat in the 
 House of Goethe, sends its voice to the whole German 
 nation by congratulating on the tercentenary of Shake- 
 speare's birth, through this document, and addresses this 
 letter to the Mayor and Council of the town of Stratford- 
 upon-Avon. 
 
 " Once, as their blood, so was the language of the nations 
 of the Saxons on this and that side of the German Ocean, 
 the same. Sprung from one stem, two separate branches 
 have developed into a separate and perfect growth. On the 
 one side was formed that English tongue which enabled the 
 greatest poet and painter of the human heart and of its 
 passions, whose cradle stood on the banks of the Avon, to 
 give expression to the creations of his mind ; on the other 
 side grew that German mother tongue in which Goethe, 
 the greatest among the host of admirers of Shakespeare, 
 described with graphic touches, as before him no mortal, 
 the macrocosm the universe, together with the microcosm 
 man. Once our country sent to Britain's shores that heroic 
 youth which came as deliverers and successfully established 
 a new Saxon nationality against the invasion of Latin races 
 and influence. Shakespeare's poems, in return, restored to 
 us the mothers' travail of Germania, at a time when, in a 
 century of civil revolution, they were almost forgotten in 
 their own country. Old Teutonic virtues gained their 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 171 
 
 footing as emancipators and expellers of Latin corruption, 
 and, establishing themselves victoriously, gave birth to a 
 new heroic youth ; but this time one of the intellects which 
 forced its way through storm and oppression into light, and 
 grouped the brilliant host of our writers round the bold 
 forms of Schiller and Goethe. As England's sons, wherever 
 they be on this globe, so do all Germans thankfully praise 
 the one and only William Shakespeare. May the kindred 
 of blood once more assert its power by uniting into one 
 fellow-feeling all the members of the race of the Saxons 
 on this or that side of every sea. This we wish by our 
 greeting : 
 
 " Hail to the memory of William Shakespeare ! 
 " Hail to the town of Stratford-upon-Avon ! 
 " Hail to the people of England ! 
 
 (Signed by the Executive of the Hochstift.) 
 
 " VOLGER, President. 
 " KRELS, ) TT . . -, 
 
 "HEYDEN, | Vice-presidents. 
 
 " SCHIDECK, Secretary. 
 " Given in Goethe's House on Sunday Jubilate." 
 
 The address was tastefully illuminated, the vignette 
 displaying a medallion of Shakespeare in gold and blue ; at 
 the foot is a scroll, at either end of which is a wreath, 
 enclosing a sketch of Goethe's house, and another of 
 Shakespeare. On the scroll at the foot is inscribed a 
 sentence from Kiickert " This is my people, the great 
 people, which out of its bosom daily sends its sons. They 
 carry back to its bosom the nations of every tongue ; and 
 at the banquet mingle, in wonderful oneness of song, the 
 varied languages of the world." 
 
172 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 THE BANQUET. 
 
 This appropriate commencement of a series of holidays 
 entitled the " Festival Week," took place pursuant to 
 arrangement in the pavilion. On the floor, or central part 
 of the building, there were placed ten rows of tables ; of 
 these one was a cross or head table, at which the President 
 and more distinguished of the guests were seated. Three 
 other rows of tables were arranged on the stage, and these, 
 set off with the wings and side scenes, made a very pleasing 
 picture. In the lower tier, or what might be called the 
 "pit boxes," tables were also placed, at which, as in other 
 parts of the building, ample justice was done to the 
 " Shakespearian dishes." The upper galleries were occupied 
 by spectators, who looked on with all that gratification 
 that is to be derived from witnessing enjoyments which 
 one is not permitted to share. The decorations of the 
 pavilion were in good taste, but several of the mottoes around 
 the building were not very happily selected. The following 
 from " Julius Csesar," for instance, were somewhat ominous 
 and apologetic : 
 
 " that a man might know 
 The end of this day's business ere it come." 
 
 And 
 
 " In such a time as this 
 It is not meet that every nice offence 
 Should bear its comment." 
 
 The tables were, however, very beautifully decorated 
 with flowers mentioned by Shakespeare, and there were also 
 a number of busts and statuettes which formed appropriate 
 and agreeable objects of decoration. On one was placed a 
 bronze representing Op Mm in her "brainish apprehension" 
 distributing flowers for "thoughts and remembrance." 
 Another was occupied by the pendant to this, a figure 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 173 
 
 of Hamlet a thoroughly artistic representation of the 
 character. Romeo and Juliet, the details of the dress, 
 jewels, &c., being most minutely carved, were on a third 
 table. On the centre was placed the beautiful memorial 
 bust of Shakespeare a copy in bronze the exact size of the 
 original having been expressly produced for this occasion. 
 This bust is the work of Mr. Felix M. Miller, professor of 
 sculpture, Government School of Art, London, and is 
 believed by many to be one of the most successful likenesses 
 ever produced. It formed, tpgether with the Ophelia, 
 Samlet, &c., above-named, a portion of the collection 
 illustrative of Shakespeare's plays, which Messrs. Howell, 
 James, and Co., of Regent Street, London, had arranged for 
 exhibition during the festival. 
 
 Lord Carlisle, accompanied by Lord Leigh and several 
 others, arrived as above stated, at Stratford-upon-Avon 
 shortly after two o'clock. On his entrance to the town, 
 and when on his way to the pavilion, Lord Carlisle was 
 enthusiastically cheered. Within the pavilion a very 
 hearty reception was also given to his lordship, and on 
 his taking the chair he was cheered by repeated rounds 
 of applause. 
 
 Amongst the company present, who numbered seven 
 hundred and fifty, the following were observed : The 
 Earl of Carlisle, K.G., Lord- Lieutenant of Ireland (the 
 President), his Grace the Archbishop of Dublin, the 
 Lord Bishop of St. Andrews, the Earl of Shrewsbury, 
 Lord Leigh (Lord- Lieutenant of Warwickshire), the 
 Earl of Warwick, Lord Wrottesley, the Hon. F. Byng, 
 the Earl of Harrowby, the Right Hon. C. B. Adderley, 
 M.P., Mr. C. "N. ISTewdegate, M.P., General Ainslie, Mr. 
 J. C. Ewart, M.P., Sir Charles Mordaunt, M.P., Sir 
 R. N. C. Hamilton, Bart., Mr. E. F. Flower (Mayor of 
 Stratford), Dr. Brockhaus, Professor Max Miiller, Dr. 
 Leitner, Sir William Fraser, M.P., Hon. Chandos Leigh, 
 Lord Houghton, Sir J. Paxton, M.P., Sir Lawrence Palk, 
 M.P., Hon. F. Ponsonby, Mr. C. M. Caldecott, Mr. W. 
 Holliday (Mayor of Birmingham), the Lord Mayor of 
 York, Mr. Charles Swain, Mr. Martin F. Tupper, Sir N. W. 
 
174 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 Throckmorton, Bart., Mr. E. A. Cook, R.A., Dr. Ward, 
 Mr. S. Muntz, Colonel Tomlinson, Rev. G. Granville, Rev. 
 W. Morton, Mr. P. H. Muntz, the Mayor of Tamworth, 
 Dr. Kingsley (Hon. Sec.), the Mayor of Coventry, Mr. T. 
 Gillow (Foxcote House), Mr. Philip H. Howard (Corley 
 Castle, Carlisle), Mr. Geo. Eyston (Overbury), Mrs. and 
 Miss Bellasis, Mr. C. Holte Bracebridge, Mr. C. W. 
 Hoskyns, Mr. J. Staunton, Sir A. Hallam Elton, Bart., 
 Mr. J. R. West, Sir Maxwell Steele Graves, Bart., 
 and Lady Graves, Mr. M. Philips, Mr. R. ~N. Philips, Mr. 
 Creswick, Rev. Julian Young, the Mayor of Evesham, Mr. 
 F. T. Dinsdale (Leamington), Rev. John Lucy, Mr. W. H. 
 Child, Mr. W. J. Harding, Rev. T. R. Medwin, Rev. G. 
 Bourne, Rev. J. Cadogan, Mr. J. F. Tempest, Mr. G. F. 
 Muntz, Rev. G. St. John, Sir J. Anson, Bart., Rev. W. 
 Barnard, Dr. Thomson, Sir Eardley Wilmot, Bart., Dr. 
 John Tibbits, Mr. F. Tibbits (Warwick), Mr. J. Wright, 
 (Leamington), Mr. H. O. Hunt, Mr. T. Hunt, Mr. H. S. 
 Lucy (Charlecote Park), Mr. Joseph Glover (Leamington), 
 Mr. J. J. Watkin (Leamington), Mr. S. Gwinnett 
 (Warwick), Mr. R. Chambers, LL.D. (Edinburgh), Mr. 
 C. Redfern (Warwick), Mr. Elihu Burritt, the Rev. W. C. 
 Tompson (Alderminster), Mrs. Granville, Mr. P. C. 
 Cleasby (Worcester), Mr. J. Gamble, Mr. John Baldwin, 
 the Rev. H. B. Faulkner (Budbroke), Mr. Leigh (Birming- 
 ham), the Rev. C. E. Kennaway, the Rev. A. H. Lea 
 (Loxley), Mr. T. H. England (Snitterfield), Mr. and Mrs. 
 J. J. Nason, Mr. Nason (Nuneaton), Mr. R. M. Bird, 
 Mr. R. Colbourne (Great Marlow), Mr. G. Fosbroke 
 (Bidford), Mr. T. S. Ashwin (London), Mr. Thomas 
 Slatter, Mr. and Mrs. Hobbes, Mr. Albert Hobbes, Mr. W. 
 Flower, Lieut. Flower (S.R.V.C.), Mrs. Charles Flower, 
 Mr. T. Starkey (Rhine Hill House), Mr. W. J. Harding 
 (Baraset), Mr. Fielding Harding (The Elms), Major Machen 
 (Leamington), Mr. D. Deighton, Mr. Amery (of Worcester), 
 Mr. E. Gibbs, Mr. Cox (Kineton), Dr. Fayrer (Henley- 
 in-Arden), Mr. J. B. Freer, Mr. Holroyd (Worcester), 
 Mr. Summerfield (Leamington), Mr. Elvins (Warwick), the 
 Rev. J. Knipe (Wellesbourne), the Rev. H. L. Freer, Mr. 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 175 
 
 and Mrs. W. Knights, Mr. W. Dickie, Mr. T. Croft, 
 Mr. H. Sanman Wyman (Alcester), Mr. and Mrs. Henry 
 Lane, Mr. John Tarleton (Wootten Wawen), Mr. John 
 Morgan, Mr. E. Adams, Mr. James Rose (Warwick), 
 Mr. William Lane (Warwick), Mrs. Handley (Warwick), 
 Mr. Thomas Lane (Edgbaston), Mr. W. Lane (Warwick), 
 Mr. John Archer, Mr. Bentley (Worcester), Mr. and Mrs. 
 Beale (Worcester), Mr. R. Wolff, Mr. and Mrs. Adcock 
 (Worcester), Mr. and Miss Wilson (Worcester), Mr. 
 Grierson (London), Mr. Frederick Ferrar (London), Mr. 
 W. Hetherington (Lancashire), Mr. Buxton Morrish 
 (London), Mr. W. Greener, Mr. James Cox, Mr. W. L. 
 Norris, Mr. Atkinson, Mr. W. Gibbs (Alveston), Mr. E. R. 
 Hartley, Mr. F. Kendall, Mr. H. Lane, Mr. C. F. Loggin, 
 Mr. M. Lucy (Malvern), Mr. H. Samman, Mr. W. 
 Stephenson, Mr. J. C. Warden, Mr. William Thompson 
 and Mr. William Colbourne (architects of the building), 
 Mr. Branson and Mr. Murray (contractors), &c. 
 
 Mr. Mountford, of Worcester, the purveyor, had very 
 little time allowed him to make his extensive preparations. 
 It was only a few days previously that he got an ap- 
 proximate idea of the number for whom he was to provide. 
 His bill of fare contained nearly all the good things 
 necessary for the sustainment of the earthly tabernacle ; 
 and as a rare specimen of cuisine literature, thrown off for 
 the occasion, may be here recorded : 
 
 " Ladies, a general welcome." Henry VIIL, I., 4. 
 " Pray you bid ohese unknown friends to us welcome ; for it is a 
 way to make us better friends, more known." Winter's Tale, iv., 3. 
 
 ROAST TURKEYS. 
 
 " Why here he comes swelling like a turkey cock." Henry T 7 "., v., 1. 
 
 PEA FOWL. 
 " A very, very peacock." Hamlet, m., 2. 
 
 ROAST FOWLS. 
 
 " There is a fowl without a feather." Comedy of Errors, in., 1. 
 
 CAPONS. 
 " Item, a capon, 2s. 2d." L Henry IV., n., 4. 
 
 DUCKS. 
 " dainty duck ! " Midsummer Nightfs Dream, v., 7. 
 
176 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL! 
 
 BOAR'S HEAD. 
 " Like a fall-acorn' d boar." CymbeUne, n., 5. 
 
 YORK HAMS. 
 
 " Sweet stem from York's great stock." I. Henry VL, n., 5. 
 
 " Silence is only commendable in a neat's tongue dried." 
 Merchant of Venice, i., 1. 
 
 FRENCH RAISED PIES. 
 
 " They are both baked in that pie." Titus Andronicus, v., 3. 
 
 MAYONAISE OF SALMON. 
 
 " Epicurean cooks sharpen with cloyless sauce his appetite." 
 
 Anthony and Cleopatra, n., 2. 
 
 MAYONAISE OF LAMB. 
 
 " Was never gentle lamb more mild." Richard II., n., 1. 
 
 BRAISED LAMB AND BEEF. 
 
 " What say you to a piece of beef and mustard ? 
 A dish that I do love to feed upon." Taming of the Shrew, iv., 3. 
 
 ROAST LAMB. 
 
 " Come you to seek the lamb here ? " Measure for Measure, v., 1. 
 
 GALANTINES OF TURKEYS AND FOWLS. 
 
 " The Turkish preparation." Othello, i., 3. 
 
 LOBSTER AND MAYONAISE SALADS. 
 
 " Sallet was born to do me good." II. Henry IV., iv., 10. 
 
 DRESSED LOBSTERS AND CRABS. 
 
 " There's no meat like them; I could wish my best friend at such 
 a feast." Timon of Athens, i., 2. 
 
 POTTED MEATS. 
 
 " Mince it sans remorse." Timon of Athene, iv., 3. 
 
 POTTED LAMPERNS AND LAMPREYS. 
 
 " From the banks of Wye and sandy-bottom'd Severn." 
 I. Henry IV., m., 1. 
 
 ASPICES OF EELS, SOLES, AND SALMON. 
 
 "Cry to it, nuncle, as the Cockney did to the eels when she put 
 them i' the paste alive." Lear, n., 4. 
 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 177 
 
 DESSERT CAKES, JELLIES, AND CEEAMS. 
 
 " The queen of curds and cream." Winter's Tale, iv., 3. 
 
 TOURTES, MERINGUES, AND CHARLOTTES DE RUSSE. 
 
 " They call for dates and quinces in the pastry." Romeo <wd 
 Juliet, iv., 4. 
 
 BEE HIVES. 
 
 " For so work the honey bees." Henry V., I., 2. 
 
 FRUIT. 
 
 " Hercules did shake down mellow fruit." Coriolanus, iv., 6. 
 
 DINNER ROLLS. 
 
 " The roll ! where's the roll ? "II. Henry IV., m., 2. 
 
 DRESSED POTATOES. 
 
 " Let the sky rain potatoes." Merry Wives of Windsor, v., 5. 
 
 BITTER ALE. 
 
 " And here's a pot of good double beer, neighbour : 
 Drink, and fear not your man." II. Henry VI., IL, 3. 
 
 CHAMPAGNE, HOCK, CLARET, PORT, AND SHERRY. 
 
 " He calls for wine ; ' A health,' quoth he." Turning of the 
 Shrew, in., 2. 
 
 Grace before meat was said by the Eev. G. Granville, 
 Vicar of Stratford. Part of Ms prayer was in the words 
 of Shakespeare, " May good digestion wait on appetite and 
 health on both." 
 
 The cloth having been removed, 
 
 The noble President (Lord Carlisle) rose to propose 
 the first toast, and was received with loud cheers. He 
 said: Ladies and gentlemen, I give you "The health of the 
 Queen." [Cheers.] It will, I am sure, be received with 
 all the feelings which invariably attend the mention of that 
 name. [Renewed cheers.] I am unwilling even in giving 
 this toast to diverge from the immediate purpose of the 
 day. But Shakespeare, as is his wont, supplies the most 
 fitting words to be used on this as on almost every other 
 occasion. [Applause.] Speaking of the Queen of his day, 
 he says: "She shall be a pattern to all princes living with 
 her, and those that shall succeed. [Cheers.] All princely 
 
 M 
 
178 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 graces, with all the virtues that attend the good, shall still 
 be doubled on her. Truth shall nourish her ; holy and 
 heavenly thoughts still counsel her." [Applause.] Ladies 
 and gentlemen, let us drink " The health of her Majesty 
 the Queen." [Loud cheers.] 
 
 " The National Anthem." 
 
 The noble President again rose, and said: Ladies and 
 gentlemen, the next toast is that of " The health of the 
 Prince and Princess of Wales, and the rest of the Royal 
 Family." [Applause.] With respect to the illustrious 
 couple who are the subject of that toast, it is not inappro- 
 priate to resort to the court of Denmark for a description 
 of them. [Applause.] We shall characterise them as 
 
 " The expectancy and rose of the fair State, 
 The glass of fashion and the mould of form [applause] 
 The observ'd of all observers." [Cheers.] 
 
 Let us drink " The health of the Prince and Princess of 
 Wales, and the rest of the Royal Family." The toast, 
 f which was drunk with much applause, was followed by the 
 new song by B. Richards " God bless the Prince of 
 Wales." 
 
 The noble President next gave " The Memory of 
 Shakespeare." His Lordship said I come now to what 
 we here call "the toast of the evening" yes, and the toast of 
 the year ; and I may with truth call it the toast of my life. 
 [Great cheering.] This may give a hint to me before I say 
 one word more, that I ought in some way to account for 
 being where I am. I will make no excuse for my own un- 
 worthiness, because if we come to that, who can be deemed 
 worthy to speak in behalf of Shakespeare ? [Cheers.] 
 Plato might write of Socrates, but who could be the 
 interpreter of Shakespeare? I believe that I am wholly 
 indebted for the signal honour I am now possessed of, to 
 the circumstance of my having filled the office of Chief 
 Commissioner of Woods and Forests when some nego^ 
 tiations were being carried on respecting the purchase of 
 Shakespeare's house in this town, which apparently estab- 
 lished a kindly feeling between me and the inhabitants of 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 179 
 
 Stratford-upon-Avon, which may have naturally led to their 
 recurring to their previous recollections in connection with 
 the present celebration. In my case, it is a distinction 
 which, as it was the last I should have anticipated for my- 
 self, I also thought it the last that ought to be declined. 
 I pass on to worthier themes. I heartily approve the idea 
 of this festival. I think the leading events, epochs, persons 
 of this our earth, require their occasional commemoration. 
 [Cheers.] Life is stagnant enough men and women are 
 commonplace enough to avoid the risk of such disturbances 
 cropping up too frequently. Least of all can the nation 
 which boasts of Shakespeare fear to misplace her homage ; 
 and as I think it right that such a celebration should be 
 held, I am not less clear that the right place to hold it in was 
 Stratford-upon-Avon his own Stratford-upon-Avon that 
 Stratford-upon-Avon around which all we know of Shake- 
 speare all except his undying works, is exclusively clustered 
 here, on about the most central ground of his own fair 
 England, where I cannot but fancy that the whole impress 
 of the scenery and rural life around is so unmistakably 
 English, that we like to be reminded how home-like, and 
 special, and insular was the cradle of that poet for whom we 
 claim the mastery over the universal heart of man, the pass- 
 word overthe earth, and the many worlds beyond it. [Cheers.] 
 We are following, too, the good English rule of precedent, 
 which was set for us by the celebration at Stratford in the 
 last century, mainly under the auspices of him who seems to 
 be universally acknowledged out of the long line of illustrious 
 players of either sex, dead or living, who have distinguished, 
 and in some instances identified themselves with the lead- 
 ing characters of Shakespeare, to have held the foremost 
 place as the interpreter of Shakespeare, David Garrick. 
 [Cheers.] But since that well-timed homage of the Eng- 
 land of the 18th century to the memory of Shakespeare, 
 with what colossal strides has his fame advanced in the 
 estimation of mankind. In our own country, at the pre- 
 vious period, the public taste still allowed the representation 
 of his plays to be overlaid by the clumsy alterations and 
 tinsel additions of Dry den, of Cibber, and of Garrick 
 
180 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 himself Et tu brute ! [A laugh.] I need not point out the 
 gratifying contrast which the reverential and affectionate 
 retention and restoration of the original text, and let me 
 add the scrupulous attention to the whole keeping and 
 chronology of the minutest accessories of the representa- 
 tion, supplies in our days. Then abroad, the middle of the 
 last century was the time when fast and fierce new the 
 arrows against the alleged barbarism of Shakespeare, 
 aimed from the sarcastic armory of Voltaire, which did 
 not spare higher things than Shakespeare himself; consult 
 the first living names in the brilliant literature of France, 
 and mark not how altered, but how reversed the tone 
 now is in which Shakespeare is now spoken of and judged. 
 As to Germany, I believe her boast is that she reveres, 
 understands, and fathers him even more thoroughly than 
 ourselves. [Cheers and laughter.] I believe I may cite 
 Goethe as the most representative name in the varied and 
 teeming range of German literature. How does he desig- 
 nate Shakespeare .? As the greatest traveller in the 
 journey of life. Happily, any endeavour to define or gauge 
 the genius of Shakespeare would be as much beyond my 
 mark as it would be beyond the limits and requirements of 
 a scene like this. I think he would be a very clumsy 
 worshipper at his immortal shrine who would not admit 
 that his merits and beauties, while they are transcendent, 
 are still unequal, and that in the whole range of his thirty- 
 six admitted plays in some of these he not only falls below 
 his own level, but that of several of his contemporaries and 
 successors. But take him in his height, and who may 
 approach him ? Presumptuous as the idea may appear to 
 classify, there would seem, to be few great tragedies which 
 occupy summits of their own " Macbeth," " Hamlet," 
 " Lear," " Othello ;" I feel we may take our stand within 
 that unassailable quadrilateral, and give our challenge to all 
 the world. [Cheers.] I feel, indeed, tempted to upbraid 
 myself when I think of all the outlying realms of strength 
 and comeliness which I thus seem to leave outside ; the 
 stately forms of Roman heroes, the chivalry marshalled 
 around our Plantageiiet kings, the wit of Mercutio, Beatrice, 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 181 
 
 and Falstaff, the maiden grace of Imogen and Mircmda, 
 Ariel, the dainty sprite, Oberon, and his elfin court, the 
 memories which people the glades of the Ardennes, the 
 Rialto of Venice, the garden of Verona, giving to each 
 glorious scene and sunny shore a stronger lien upon our 
 associations than is possessed even by their own native 
 land. It is time that 1 should call upon you, in the right 
 of all the recollections which must throng in your own 
 breasts far more copiously and vividly than I could hope 
 to present them to you by the thrill you have felt in 
 the crowded theatre, amid all the splendour of dramatic 
 pageantry by the calmer enjoyment of your closet leisure 
 by the rising of the soul you must have known that the 
 lines which breathe and warm have led you to recognise 
 and adore the Giver of such gifts to men, to join me in 
 drinking, not with the solemn silence which a more recent 
 death might have enjoined, but with the reverential love 
 and the admiring fervour due to the day and the man 
 " The Memory of Shakespeare ! " 
 
 The toast was drank with repeated rounds of cheering, 
 and was followed by the choir singing Arne's fine composi- 
 tion, " Thou soft-flowing Avon." 
 
 Sir L. Palk then rose and said: I have been requested 
 to propose a toast, one which gives me great pleasure in 
 offering to your notice. It is " The health of the Arch- 
 bishops, and the Bishops and Clergy." [Applause.] My 
 lord, I know of no occasion when the presence of arch- 
 bishops, the bishops, and the clergy, at festive meetings, 
 and where ladies and gentlemen congregate, can be un- 
 welcome [hear, hear] but perhaps there never was an 
 occasion when their presence was more welcome than at 
 this moment [hear, hear] when they come to render 
 their homage and their praise to that great name which 
 has been made illustrious by the noblest sentiments that 
 can emanate from the heart or the mind of man, clothed 
 in the finest language that the English tongue is capable 
 of supplying. Upon such an occasion, when we are met 
 together to honour the memory of our greatest man and 
 our greatest poet, who has illustrated the history of 
 
182 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 England as no other man has done, and whose works 
 alone would make her great and illustrious name known 
 to all the nations of the world [applause] no one can 
 be more welcome than the archbishops, the bishops, and 
 the clergy of this country. [Hear, hear.] My lords, ladies, 
 and gentlemen, I ask you to drink their health and thank 
 them for their presence upon this occasion. [Much 
 applause.] 
 
 His Grace the Archbishop of Dublin responded to the 
 toast, and said: My lords, ladies, and gentlemen, neither 
 I nor my brethren here regard even foV an instant this 
 toast merely as a formal one, for we do feel that there is a 
 most intimate connection between all true art and, there- 
 fore, before all, between the art of Shakespeare and that 
 Christian faith whereof we are ministers. But, seeing the 
 special purpose for which you are assembled here to-day 
 seeing as I do around me the many distinguished guests 
 who have gathered around his Excellency in the chair, and 
 for my own part remembering that I shall have to chal- 
 lenge your attention for some little time before very long, 
 I feel that I shall act wisely if I refrain from occupying 
 time to-day, which you may better employ in listening to 
 others. I shall satisfy myself, therefore, with thanking you in 
 the name of my brethren and myself for the honour you 
 have done us, and the kindness you have shown us. I 
 heartily thank you in their name and my own. 
 
 The Hon. F. Byng proposed " The health of the Army, 
 Navy, Yeomanry, and Volunteers." He said, as he was 
 addressing an assembly of people who were acquainted with 
 the history, the achievements, and the gallantry of the 
 army and navy, and therefore even had he the eloquence of 
 the noble lord in the chair, it would be unnecessary for 
 him to speak of all the admirable qualities they possessed. 
 He might say that they were now in a state of efficiency 
 which had never been excelled. [Hear, hear.] It was 
 gratifying to know that such was the case ; but still he 
 thought the nation's volunteer force was essentially the 
 means of preserving the peace of the country. [Hear, 
 hear.] They were an important auxiliary force, and he 
 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 183 
 
 had no doubt that they as well as the army would be ready 
 in turn of time to seek not so much "the bubble repu- 
 tation" as the safety of their country, "in the cannon's 
 mouth." [Applause.] He wished to state that the reason 
 why that toast was intrusted to him was the very melan- 
 choly one that he was supposed to be the oldest volunteer 
 in the three kingdoms. [Laughter and applause.] He hoped 
 the toast would be cordially responded to. He coupled 
 with it the names of General Ainslie and the Earl of 
 Shrewsbury. The toast having been duly honoured, 
 General Ainslie rose and said he wished the three services, 
 for which he had the honour of returning thanks, were 
 represented on that occasion by some one who could more 
 adequately express their gratitude for the honour that had 
 been conferred upon them. He returned thanks for the 
 army, the yeomanry, and the volunteers ; and he assured 
 the meeting that those services valued very highly such 
 marks of regard as that which had just been paid to 
 them. 
 
 The Earl of Shrewsbury said he should be wanting in 
 the respect which he felt was due to that occasion and also 
 to his own feelings with regard to the service in which he 
 was brought up, did he not on the part of that service 
 return his most grateful thanks for the honour which 
 had been done the navy. Without any disparagement of 
 the other three services of which the country was very 
 proud he flattered himself that the navy was the popular 
 service in England. [Hear, hear.] Our wooden walls were 
 disappearing, and being replaced by iron, but the same 
 spirit animated the seamen of the present day which 
 made them the darlings of the people in years gone by. 
 He felt that the time of an assembly like that was too 
 valuable for him to occupy a great portion of it, but he 
 could not forbear saying these few words with respect to 
 the gallant and noble service in which he was brought up. 
 [Hear, hear.] He might add one word of a personal 
 character. As an Englishman, and still more as a Talbot, 
 he could not forbear taking advantage of the request that 
 was kindly made that he should become a member of the 
 
184 TEKCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 Committee. The immortal bard whose birth they had met 
 that day to commemorate had inscribed in his pages the 
 name of Talbot in a way that was honourable to him who 
 bore that name in generations past. [Hear, hear.] As a 
 descendant of that illustrious man, who well deserved the 
 honour that had been done him in the immortal pages of 
 Shakespeare, it was with a feeling of great pride that he 
 took part in that celebration. In conclusion, he had a 
 task to perform which was of a very agreeable nature. It 
 was to propose the health of his noble friend the Lord- 
 Lieutenant of Warwick. [Cheers.] He was sure that toast 
 would be received as it always was, with acclamation, and 
 it would not be drunk with the less pleasure because he 
 should give in conjunction with it the health of the magis- 
 trates of the county. [Hear, hear.] In the neighbouring 
 county, in which he had the honour and pleasure of living, 
 he knew the way in which the duties of the magistrates 
 were performed, and he was sure they were performed in 
 Warwickshire in a not less honourable and creditable 
 manner. [Hear, hear.] He could not forbear speaking of 
 his noble friend for a moment in his individual capacity. 
 [Hear, hear.] When great distress prevailed in a neigh- 
 bouring town, his noble friend distinguished himself by his 
 kindness, his sympathy, and his liberality in the cause of 
 charity [hear, hear,] and he was happy to say that his 
 labours had not been in vain [hear, hear,] but the fruit of 
 those exertions was already reaped. [Cheers.] 
 
 Lord Leigh, in acknowledging the compliment, said : 
 Lord Carlisle, ladies, and gentlemen, in the name of the 
 magistrates of the county and in my own name I beg to 
 tender you my best thanks for the very kind manner in 
 which you have drunk our health, and to thank my noble 
 friend, the noble earl on my left, for the very kind manner 
 in which he proposed it. I feel it out of place on such 
 an occasion as this to inflict upon you a long speech, and 
 I intend, therefore, simply to return thanks for myself and 
 my brother magistrates. I am quite sure you are all 
 anxious to listen to the eloquence of the many distinguished 
 speakers whom I am happy to see around this table, and 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 185 
 
 therefore I shall be as brief as possible. I am quite sure 
 my brother magistrates would blame me if I did not, in 
 common with the Mayor and Corporation and the inhabi- 
 tants of the old town of Stratford-upon-Avon, express my 
 own thanks and the thanks of the magistrates of the 
 county to the noble earl who presides at this banquet for 
 having honoured this festival with his presence, and 
 thereby lent additional lustre to the brilliant meeting 
 assembled in Stratford-upon-Avon to celebrate the ter- 
 centenary of Shakespeare's birth. [Applause.] 
 
 Sir William Eraser then proposed " The Drama." He 
 said : My Lord Carlisle, ladies, and gentlemen, when this 
 toast was placed in my hands an hour ago by your worthy 
 Secretary I confess I felt considerable apprehension with 
 respect to the ground I was treading on, for the toast is 
 one upon which a man might reflect for ten years before 
 making a speech of ten minutes. [Laughter.] I was, 
 however, induced to take charge of the toast by the 
 assurance of your Secretary that the audience which I 
 would have the honour of addressing would be lenient 
 enough to make allowances for my shortcomings, seeing 
 that I came into town yesterday evening, and have not had 
 time for reflection. The toast which I have the honour to 
 propose is " The Drama," not the British Drama, but 
 " The Drama." Not to speak of what I have already 
 acknowledged, that I have not had much time to reflect 
 upon what I should say on the occasion, I feel that I 
 cannot so far disregard your feelings as to detain you on a 
 hot summer's afternoon with a speech of an hour's length 
 on the drama. If you have not studied for yourself nothing 
 that I can say about the drama will quicken your appre- 
 hension of its beauties. I have heard people, but can 
 hardly believe them, who say that their early associations 
 are connected with green lanes, violets, primroses, and 
 honeysuckles. For my own part, I have all my life been 
 an enthusiastic playgoer, and all my earliest reminiscences 
 are of the theatre ; and whatever other people may think, 
 to me the perfume of the honeysuckle is not half so sweet 
 as the smell of the orange peel in the pit of a theatre. 
 [Laughter.] 
 
186 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 The toast having been drunk amid great applause, -^j 
 Mr. Creswick (tragedian, London) rose to reply, and 
 was received with hearty cheers. When silence was 
 obtained, he addressed the assembly as follows : My lords, 
 ladies, and gentlemen, upon this never-to-be-forgotten day, 
 when the memory of the drama's great high priest is 
 receiving the heart homage of not only a nation, but 
 almost an universe when the eyes and hearts of all are 
 turned towards his birth-place, his home, and his grave 
 I find myself, an humble professor of the poet player's art, 
 in the absence of more distinguished merit, called upon to 
 discharge a duty requiring the most gifted eloquence to do 
 it justice. The knowledge of that truth cannot but 
 seriously and almost painfully impress me with the weight 
 and importance of the task your kindness has imposed 
 upon me. There is, however, the happy and gratifying 
 circumstance in connection with this toast, that in these 
 days of liberal enlightenment it is not necessary to advance 
 or defend the claims of the drama. [Cheers.] They are 
 now generally and generously admitted ; but such was not 
 the case when the first wailing of an infant's voice was 
 heard in the yeoman's house in Henley Street, when the 
 mother thanked her Maker that a man-child was born into 
 the world. [Cheers.] The drama of England was then 
 oppressed by dense clouds of ignorance and prejudice. 
 The sun arose in the small, and then almost obscure, town 
 of Stratford, which has dispelled those clouds, and which 
 has given to the drama of England its strength, its vigour, 
 and enduring brightness. [Cheers.] Then who can forget 
 or cease to be grateful for the glorious work that man- 
 child has done for the world? Who can forget that kings, 
 princes, conquerors, mighty wielders of the pen and of the 
 sword, have entered with reverence that lowly house ? Or 
 that the neighbouring chancel which holds his sacred dust, 
 equally with the room which echoed his first cry, have 
 been transformed to fanes and altars where the world doth 
 worship ? [Loud applause.] We remember these things 
 with a grateful spirit of loving admiration, and this 
 wonderful gathering to-day speaks trumpet-tongued to 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 187 
 
 that truth. [Cheers.] You will therefore pardon, I am 
 sure, at such a time as this, a confession of a little extra 
 feeling of honest pride in his profession from one who in 
 its pursuit has had the happy privilege of making the 
 study of Shakespeare's matchless works the pleasant 
 labour of his life. [Cheers.] Indeed, I feel that such an 
 emotion will this day fill the hearts of all my brother 
 students ; for though having practised my profession for 
 full thirty years, concerning Shakespeare I proudly own 
 I am but a student still. And, believe me, this pride is 
 not a vain or useless thing, for I do assure you from 
 experience, that whatever crosses, neglects, disappoint- 
 ments, vexations, or rebuffs the true-hearted actor may 
 meet in his chequered career, he finds his great refuge, 
 consolation, and strength, next to that which religion 
 teaches [cheers] in the knowledge and remembrance 
 that his art is the one for which great Shakespeare wrote 
 that his art is the one which gentle Shakespeare practised 
 and his art is the one by which good Shakespeare lived. 
 [Renewed cheering.] To the unreflecting mind it doubt- 
 less seems strange and curious that the great Ruler should 
 inspire the greatest genius, humanly speaking, the world 
 has known not to advise men from the senate, not to 
 judge men from the bench, not to dictate to them from the 
 closet, not to admonish them from the pulpit, but to touch, 
 soften, mould, and instruct them from the stage [cheers] 
 to pierce their hearts with glowing eloquence, to fire them 
 with ambition, to warm them into love, to move them with 
 the soft presence of beauty and goodness, to place before 
 them the true nobleness of virtue ; to establish the strong, 
 to sustain the weak, to fright the guilty, and uphold the 
 free ; to thrill their hearts with new delights, and to 
 
 f entry chide them to repentant tears. [Great cheering.] 
 b is a proud, a happy and fortunate circumstance for me, 
 that I can make Shakespeare himself answer for the 
 drama ; that I can invoke his glorious memory to vindicate, 
 if it were necessary, that which he has ennobled and im- 
 mortalised, to answer the cavil of the formalist and the 
 sneer of the hypocrite ; and to prove by an appeal to Him 
 
188 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 without whom not a sparrow falleth to the ground, and by 
 whom the arm of the warrior, the limb of the peasant, and 
 the brain of the poet equally are made, that there is an 
 eternal fitness of things, from the cedar which binds the 
 mountain with its giant roots to the hyssop that hangs upon 
 the wall; so, for his own wise and good purposes, he caused 
 a poet-prophet to be born amongst us, whose voice should 
 be heard, not in the chapel or the wilderness, but where 
 it could most reach great masses, mixed multitudes of men, 
 and stir them to good and gentle thoughts, and to the 
 noble deeds which good and gentle thoughts produce. 
 [Cheers.] Ladies and gentlemen, I thank you for the 
 drama, and in the name of my profession, I beg to thank 
 the people of Stratford for what they are so nobly doing, 
 and the Committee of the festival for the honourable 
 position they have accorded in their programme to the 
 actor's art that art which, rightly understood, is a calling 
 to be proud of, and, when nobly practised, repays a portion 
 of man's obligation to his fellow men. But we actors shall 
 best show our appreciation of the honour you have done us 
 by our deeds by the conscientious and honourable fulfil- 
 ment of our mission. When Shakespeare first drew 
 breath, we had barely escaped from the miracle plays of 
 Coventry and the mysteries of the travelling monks ; now 
 we have passed through three centuries of glorious names, 
 and perhaps for both dramatic author and actor we have 
 culminated. If so, the drama may languish, as it has done 
 before ; but can it ever die ? No. For while glorious 
 Shakespeare lives, it will endure until 
 
 " The cloud-capt towers, the gorgeous palaces, 
 The solemn temples, the great globe itself, 
 Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve, 
 And like this unsubstantial pageant faded, 
 Leave not a wreck behind." 
 
 The close of the speech was followed by the most rapturous 
 applause. The admirable manner in which the address was 
 delivered was worthy of the noble sentiments which it em- 
 bodied, and it fairly divided with the speech of the Earl of 
 Carlisle, the honour and applause of the evening. 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 189 
 
 Professor Leitner, in formally presenting the address 
 (above mentioned), said: Mr. Mayor, ladies and gentle- 
 men, when great responsibilities are publicly undertaken 
 by constituted bodies it is both right with regard to the 
 public feeling, and fitting in itself, that the reason of 
 the assumption of these responsibilities should be pub- 
 licly given. It therefore remains to be explained why 
 we consider you as the representatives of the nation 
 of Shakespeare, and ourselves as not unworthily ad- 
 dressing you in the name of the nation of Goethe. 
 Mr. Mayor and Council, between us there has been a 
 community of action ; we have both felt the influence 
 of the same associations ; we are therefore driven to the 
 expression of a fellow feeling. [Cheers.] With you, the 
 highest civic body in the town which has given birth to 
 your greatest poet, as with us, an eminent body in that 
 town where was born our greatest poet, the associations 
 connected with Goethe or Shakespeare's life, labours, and 
 name (whilst with all our respective fellow-countrymen 
 they evoke intense admiration) call forth, because speaking 
 to the hearts of fellow-citizens, the most pronounced 
 forms of enthusiasm and worship. It were vain that great 
 men should bequeath a legitimate source of pride to their 
 countrymen for all succeeding ages by their name and life, 
 if, in their own native towns, they were not regarded with 
 the deepest national veneration, personal affection, and 
 personal gratitude. The birth-place of Goethe fitly there- 
 fore sends its greeting to that of Shakespeare. You again, 
 as we, have rescued the house of our respected greatest 
 poet from falling into the hands of the stranger, and what 
 has been successfully acquired by private energy has in both 
 instances been ratified by public approval. The house of 
 Shakespeare is national property delivered into your trust. 
 [Cheers.] The Hochstift have their seat in the house of 
 Goethe, and throw its many appliances open to every 
 teacher or student of literature. We have chosen you, in 
 addition to the above reasons, because of the permanence 
 of your Corporation ; we have chosen you because we con- 
 sider that your antecedents have shown you to possess 
 
190 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 every qualification for national representation, and we 
 address you because, for the reasons stated, we believe that 
 the Hochstift can worthily speak in the name of the nation 
 of Goethe on the present occasion. [Cheers.] Consider 
 this address, therefore, as a tribute of respect from a kindred 
 race to your and the world's greatest poet. [Cheers.] We 
 almost grudge you the accident of his birth. With us he 
 is a national poet. Shakespeare's writings first roused the 
 Germans to a consciousness of their powers, and made us 
 enter the lists with you in a race of literary emulation. 
 [Cheers.] We have read Shakespeare, we have criticised 
 Shakespeare, we have perused everything bearing on him 
 and his times, till, when we thoroughly understood him, 
 we fell down and worshipped. Our missionaries for 
 Shakespeare have proselytised the whole civilised world for 
 him, until, wherever intelligence has any voice in the 
 education of men, admiration for Shakespeare and a know- 
 ledge of his writings have become synonymous for the 
 possession of mind, of judgment, and of qualities of the 
 heart. Yet have we not neglected the development of our 
 specific national literature. We have entered a race against 
 you, and we have not disgraced either you or ourselves by 
 want of energy, want of candour, or want of success. 
 [Great applause.] We believe that in the distribution of 
 national duties the one specially assigned to Germans is the 
 empire over the thought and literary labours of the whole 
 of this globe. Whenever any nation from one pole to the 
 other exhibits dawnings of literary development, German 
 scholars will investigate them, and add the results of their 
 labours to the general stock of information for the common 
 property, the common knowledge, the common good, of the 
 whole of the civilised world. The statutes of the Hochstift 
 again bind every one of its masters and members to the 
 advancement of his speciality, and of knowledge irrespective 
 of prejudice, favour, or emolument. Whatever treasures 
 we may, however, find in other quarters, deserving as the 
 labours of other nations may be, they will in our estimation 
 unless we degenerate be necessarily always subordinate 
 to the giant form and overwhelming genius of William 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 191 
 
 Shakespeare. At any rate, in our House of Goethe 
 Shakespeare will be considered to be what Goethe con- 
 fessed him to be, "his great teacher," and the Hochstift 
 will never change in their loyalty to both Shakespeare and 
 Goethe. The two united we consider not as English and 
 German poets respectively, but as the "most perfect 
 embodiment of the highest aspirations of Saxon poetry." 
 Let Frankfort also occupy a place in your minds. A free 
 city, the cradle of our emperors, the possible capital of a 
 future united Germany, whose noble and enlightened citizens 
 are the pride of our country, is worthy to speak through 
 its Hochstift to the free, progressive, and yet God be 
 thanked for it- conservative and Saxon people of England. 
 [Great applause.] 
 
 In reply to this address, 
 
 Mr. Flower, the Mayor of Stratford, said : I regret that 
 pressure of business has been so great with me that I have 
 not had five minutes to arrange a few sentences in order to 
 properly acknowledge this gift. We have all of us been 
 busy doing, and have had no time to think of words. This 
 token of a great nation's sympathy for us I receive with 
 satisfaction, pleasure, and pride satisfaction at receiving 
 this proof of the love of the German nation for a kindred 
 race ; pleasure at receiving such a deputation as this ; and 
 pride that the Corporation of Stratford should be the 
 recipients of and trustees for such a gift. Yet we receive 
 it not for ourselves only ; it is for the whole English nation 
 that we intend to keep it in trust. This document will 
 become the nation's property. This morning it was formally 
 presented by Professors Max Miiller and Leitner from the 
 Hochstift at Frankfort to the Corporation of Stratford ; 
 now it is formally presented to the nation of Shakespeare 
 by the nation of Goethe. [Cheers.] This most artistically 
 elaborated address is not only valuable because it proves 
 how thoroughly Shakespeare is appreciated and understood 
 in Germany, but because it shows tha-t there is a sincere 
 fellow-feeling between the two countries, because it may be 
 prophetic of a still warmer fellow-feeling, and because it 
 gives our own worship of Shakespeare a stimulus of foreign 
 
192 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 example. And it is not Germany only although wherever 
 Shakespeare is spoken of the name of Germany should be 
 heard with respect which pays a tribute of respect to our 
 Shakespeare. From another foreign source a similar grate- 
 ful compliment nas just reached me. A gentleman of the 
 name of Hartenowski telegraphed to me a few hours ago in 
 his own name and that of his fellow- citizens and admirers 
 of Shakespeare, from Kharkov, in south-eastern Russia, 
 to the following effect: "Sympathising with your festival, 
 we forward you our congratulations." [Cheers.] Gentle- 
 men of the deputation, assure the illustrious body which 
 you represent that every care will be taken of their valuable 
 address. We, indeed, the members of the Corporation, are 
 getting old, and are liable to decay, but the Corporation 
 itself, which has already existed for six hundred years, bids 
 fair, as far as certainty in things human is attainable, to last 
 for many hundred years more. The address from the German 
 nation, will, therefore, be scrupulously handed down through 
 the agency of our Corporation from one generation to 
 another, will foment the sympathies of each successive age 
 which sees it between England and the Fatherland, and will 
 prove to posterity that on the tercentenary of Shakespeare's 
 birth English and Germans united in one fellow-feeling. 
 [Loud cheers.] I am also glad that you represent a body 
 which has its seat in the free city of Frankfort. Yes, it is 
 indeed that appreciation of free cities of guilds, and of 
 corporations, which has stamped the Saxon civilisation of 
 the world. We thank the Hochstift, and we hope that 
 through them our thanks will reach the whole German 
 nation, for the address. We thank them for having chosen 
 men known in both countries to represent them ; and I now 
 promise, in the name of the Corporation, that the document 
 will be deposited in Shakespeare's house, and there reli- 
 giously preserved. [Cheers.] And, lastly, I must say that 
 the English nation are indebted to the two spokesmen of 
 the deputation, Professor Max Miiller and Professor 
 Leitner, for speaking English so well, which they evidently 
 owe to their studies of Shakespeare, " that Saxon poet," 
 whom all Saxons, whether of English or German hom.es, 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 193 
 
 are agreed in placing on the loftiest pinnacle ever attained 
 by man in poetic grandeur. [Cheers.] 
 
 To render complete the element of German devotion to 
 Shakespeare, as evidenced on the occasion, I may add that 
 Professor Leitner, in reference to the toast of " The Poets 
 of all Nations," made some fitting allusions to the country 
 which he represented. He said : 
 
 " Invidious distinctions are both morally wrong and 
 logically erroneous when they are sought to be established 
 between national excellencies in their varied, and yet of its 
 kind, perfect character. Yet the application of antiquity 
 in the estimate of a poet, though in itself absurd, at any 
 rate gives us a hint towards the right step in forming an 
 estimate ; for the superstition of antiquity represents the 
 confusion of the term between the greater experience 
 gained by age, and the veneration paid to the distant and 
 unknown. Not the ages in which man was in his child- 
 hood are the ancient ages ; it is each successive century 
 and year as it rolls on, that gathers the hoary hairs of 
 experience from the dying head of the preceding one ; 
 and those are the ancient writers who, either from their 
 genius or from the experience they gathered by tradition, 
 study, or actual labour, have shown us an intimate ac- 
 quaintance with the workings of the world and of man. 
 Now, as a German, I ought perhaps not to say it, but in 
 due honesty I must deliberately and emphatically declare 
 that, according to that definition, Shakespeare would be the 
 first poet that the world has ever produced, Goethe the 
 second, and Homer the third. [Cheers.] And, now, when 
 you have had abundant proof of the readiness of Germans 
 to pay their debt of gratitude to Shakespeare, may I ask 
 you to devote something of the literary determination and 
 acumen, something of the same enthusiasm for our Goethe, 
 which we have shown for your Shakespeare. [Great cheer- 
 ing.] We would draw the bonds of fellowship even closer 
 than they are now. We are already connected by every 
 possible tie of common descent, language, religion, and 
 feelings, which can bind men and nations together. We 
 read each other's works with profit and pleasure ; but we 
 
 K 
 
194 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 should see, hear, and read more of one another. The 
 friendship of our more than forty millions of Germans for 
 the kindred English ought never to be shaken. We love 
 one another, and in every way are necessary to one another. 
 Perish, therefore, all attempts that would sever the nation 
 of Goethe from that of Shakespeare." [Cheers.] 
 
 Sir R. N". C. Hamilton, Bart., said he had to propose 
 the next toast, and it was one which he was satisfied would 
 be received by the meeting with the loudest acclamations. 
 It was the health of their noble President, the Earl of 
 Carlisle. [Applause.] He might truly say that they were 
 greatly indebted to him for the admirable address with 
 which he had favoured them, and in which he had, as an 
 eminent scholar, alluded to the various points in the works 
 of the great poet to the honour of whose memory they were 
 assembled that day. England had great reason to be proud 
 that she had men like Lord Carlisle, who, while they shared 
 the toils and the cares of office, were equally eminent in 
 council and in literature. On the part of the Committee, he 
 thanked Lord Carlisle for presiding, and for the intellectual 
 treat with which he had favoured the meeting. [Cheers.] 
 
 Chorus " Come thou monarch of the vine." Bishop. 
 
 The President : Ladies and gentlemen, I thank you 
 very sincerely for the honour you have done me in drinking 
 my health. After the indulgence with which you have 
 already listened to me, I should not think of making any 
 further trespass on your patience. But I would not have 
 you believe that I am not deeply impressed with your kind- 
 ness, and more especially for showing me that you have 
 not thought my presence in my present capacity so much 
 out of place as I thought might have been the case. 
 [Applause.] 
 
 Sir Charles Mordaunt proposed " The Poets of Eng- 
 land." [Applause.] After some remarks he coupled with 
 the toast the name of Lord Houghton. [Cheers.] 
 
 Lord Houghton in replying said : Lord Carlisle, ladies 
 and gentlemen, I am very grateful to Sir Charles Mordaunt 
 for the kind manner in which he has mentioned me per- 
 sonally. I am the more so because when I looked at this 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 195 
 
 toast list I saw that the toast of the poets of England, 
 Ireland, and Scotland, was to be followed by a glee, " Ye 
 spotted snakes." [Laughter.] I did not think the con- 
 nection was altogether flattering. [Laughter.] The 
 kindness with which Sir Charles Mordaunt has spoken has 
 taken away all the bitterness from my mind, and I am 
 willing to tell you that I am delighted to appear on this 
 occasion, and am much obliged to the Committee for 
 inviting me to this great festival. [Hear, hear.] I only 
 wish that the poets of England could have been collected 
 around this table ; but we must take things as they are, and 
 as my name has been connected with this toast, I would 
 have been, glad if I could at an earlier time have occupied 
 your attention, that I might in some degree have illustrated 
 the relation in which Shakespeare stands to the poetry of 
 this country. But I must say I am perfectly conscious that 
 whatever time I had been allowed, the result must have 
 been unsatisfactory. You remember the Arabian tale of 
 the great Genie who came out of a small bottle and spread 
 over the whole heavens ; but the wonder of the beholders 
 was greater when he returned into the bottle than when he 
 emerged from it. Now, if I attempted to treat in the short 
 time at my disposal, the subject on which I am expected to 
 speak, to show how the genius of Shakespeare has influenced 
 the literature of this country and made itself felt all over 
 the world, it would be like trying to get into a bottle. 
 [Laughter.] I might have done it, although imperfectly, 
 in an hour or even half an hour's lecture ; but to concen- 
 trate it within an after-dinner speech of a few minutes' 
 duration is quite impossible. What are called the poems of 
 Shakespeare are a portion of his works less known to the 
 public than his dramas. They are wonderful works, with 
 a riot of fancy, a gaiety, and an ingenuity unsurpassed. 
 They are very interesting in themselves from the biogra- 
 phical facts connected with them ; but nevertheless they 
 would have never made Shakespeare what he was. The 
 world of poetry, as poetry, was not enough for him, and so 
 he took to dramatic life, where he could produce in a tangible 
 form on the stage the qualities and the characteristics 
 
196 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 winch lie would illustrate. The immense influence which 
 Shakespeare has had on the literature of this country it is 
 difficult to estimate. Dear old Groethe said that the reading 
 of Shakespeare was most dangerous to any man who had 
 any productive genius. Let any man know Shakespeare 
 thoroughly well he said, and he will despair of doing any- 
 thing himself; and he ventured the extravagance of recom- 
 mending men who had any productivity not to read more 
 than one play of Shakespeare every year. What he meant 
 was that the poetry of Shakespeare had that wonderful 
 power, that it was not the poetry of a man, but the poetry 
 of the human race, the poetry of the world. Thus it is 
 that the influence of Shakespeare on the language of this 
 country has been most beneficial. It has given the poetry 
 of England a variety which perhaps no other literature in 
 the world has ever attained. It has enabled our poets to 
 see that poetry is not a mere talent given to this man or 
 that man which he is to produce occasionally, and which 
 shows itself in a spasmodic and visionary manner, but an 
 enormous power of imagination which is spread over the 
 whole of mankind, embracing every form of society, and all 
 the institutions of the world, and thus enabling the poet, 
 instead of being a visionary somnambulist, to be the one 
 most active and vigilant, amid the contending phantoms 
 of a world of dreams. [Applause.] Shakespeare was no 
 visionary in the ordinary sense of the term, but a plain 
 practical man a simple, godly man. Spenser said of 
 him 
 
 " And he, the man whom Nature's self hath made 
 
 To mock herself, and Truth to imitate, 
 With kindly counter under mimic shade, 
 Our pleasant Willie, ah ! is dead of late." 
 
 That was all. He was a graceful, gentle, delightful man 
 that was the recollection he left behind him. What did 
 Ben Jonson say of him ? He said : "I love and do revere 
 his memory, on this side idolatry, as much as any, for he 
 was honest, and of a free and simple nature." [Applause.] 
 These are the things which make the memory of Shake- 
 speare so dear to Englishmen on the one side his 
 
TEKCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 197 
 
 cosmopolitan variety, and on the other his intense personal 
 reality. These are the things that make his poetry as true 
 to-day as it was 300 years ago, and as it will be 300 years 
 hence. Now and 300 years hence the boy and girl who 
 make love will make it in the spirit of "Romeo and Juliet." 
 Great tragedies will occur like that of " Lear ; " the states- 
 man and the politician will learn wisdom from the tragedies 
 of " Coriolanus " and "Julius Caesar" the wisdom which 
 teaches how politics should be self-contained and yet 
 sympathise entirely with the people. [Hear, hear.] I 
 thank you for the patience with which you have listened 
 to me. I thank you for drinking to " The Poets of 
 England," and I will only add that a thought of the great 
 shade of him, whom our fervent imaginations may picture 
 as here amongst us, should prevent us from naming any 
 other poet. [Applause.] 
 
 Lord Wrottesley proposed " The Poets of Ireland." He 
 referred to " Lalla Rookh" and to several other poems by 
 Irish authors ; but after a few observations on this head he 
 said that on that occasion he preferred confining his atten- 
 tion chiefly to one poet. He was unable to express the 
 pleasure which he felt in being present at that year's 
 commemoration. This pleasure was the greater because 
 he had observed that although his countrymen were always 
 ready, to award the due amount of praise to warriors and 
 sailors, they were not always so willing to recognise the 
 triumphs of mind. He had no reason to think so any 
 longer, after having seen that great assembly gathered 
 together to commemorate the birth of Shakespeare. If he 
 asked himself which of his countrymen had attained to the 
 greatest eminence, two names presented themselves to his 
 mind, the names of Newton and Shakespeare. To use the 
 words of our immortal poet, they " did not go about to 
 cozen fortune ; they were not honourable without the 
 stamp of merit; they did not wear a dignity undeserved." 
 He had seen an attempt made to weigh the merits of these 
 two men Newton and Shakespeare the one the greatest 
 astronomer and mathematician that ever lived, and the 
 other the prince of poets. 
 
198 TERCENTENAKY FESTIVAL. 
 
 Sir Eardley Wilmot proposed "The Poets of Scotland," 
 and the Right Hon. C. B. Adderley proposed " The Poets 
 of America." 
 
 Professor Leitner responded to the latter toast. 
 
 The Rev. Julian Young proposed "The Visitors," which 
 was responded to by the Lord Mayor of York. 
 
 The Mayor and Corporation of the borough of Stratford 
 were next toasted, and Mr. Flower, the Mayor, responded. 
 This was the concluding toast of the evening, and the 
 proceedings terminated. 
 
 THE FIKE WORKS. 
 
 About an hour after the termination of the banquet, 
 Mr. Darby sent up the first rocket of his pyrotechnic display 
 which had been looked forward to as a grand wind up to 
 the first day's proceedings. The site chosen for the fire- 
 works was a field adjoining the Warwick Road. Thousands 
 assembled to witness the holiday mimicry of fire, and to 
 many of the spectators it must have been a rare and grand 
 exhibition. Two large fire balloons one inscribed " Strat- 
 ford " were sent up with good effect ; and after a display, 
 which lasted for upwards of an hour, an illuminated portrait 
 of Shakespeare, surrounded by pyrotechnic devices was 
 exhibited as a grand climax ; but the brilliancy of the finale 
 was sadly marred by the density of the smoke, which only 
 permitted occasional glimpses of Mr. Darby's chef-d'oeuvre. 
 In the meantime there was a luminous display overhead to 
 which that of the celebrated pyrotechnist was poor indeed. 
 Cynthia had arisen in her full majesty, the chaste stars 
 became revealed in the dark blue canopy, the nightingale 
 charmed the listener's ear, whilst the full and soft Avon 
 flowed on, paying its bountiful tribute to the gentle Severn ; 
 and thus closed without a contretemps calmly and beautifully 
 the first day of the festival. 
 
 SECOND DAY: SUNDAY. 
 
 I have already had the pleasure of noticing the admirable 
 observance of public worship which prevails amongst the 
 
w g . a 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 199 
 
 people of Stratford-upon-Avon ; and if regular in their 
 attendance at church on ordinary occasions, it will be easily 
 supposed there would be a crowded auditory to hear such 
 distinguished orators as the Archbishop of Dublin, and Dr. 
 Wordsworth, the Lord Bishop of St. Andrew's, who were 
 on this day to occupy the pulpit ; and accordingly for some 
 time previous to the commencement of the service the 
 Holy Trinity Church was thronged to inconvenience. 
 
 There were full choral services at 11 a.m. and 3-30 p.m. 
 Immediately before service in the morning the clergy and 
 choir (about forty in number) passed out of the door in 
 the north transept, and met the Bishops, and Mayor, and 
 Corporation at the end of the avenue, whom they pre- 
 ceded into church the organ (a fine instrument built by 
 Hill, but lately much enlarged and improved by Mr. T. 
 He win's, of Stratford-upon-Avon) playing the National 
 Anthem. 
 
 The first part of the service (Tallis's) was chanted by the 
 Rev. C. H. Rice, M.A., Vicar Choral of Armagh Cathedral, 
 and the Rev. W. Morton, M.A., Sub- vicar, sung the Litany ; 
 the Rev. G. Granville, Vicar, reading the Lessons, Communion 
 Service, and Gospel ; the Bishop of St. Andrew's read the 
 Epistle. The service, morning and afternoon, was Nare's 
 in F. The Anthem in the morning was, " O where shall 
 wisdom be found?" Boyce. The Introit, " Jesu, refuge 
 of my soul," set to a beautiful tune composed by Mr. E. 
 Flood, organist, London. The "Kyrie Eleeson," which was 
 much admired, was set to music by Mr. E. A. Sydenham, 
 assistant organist of Holy Trinity Church. 
 
 In the afternoon the first part of the service was 
 chanted by the Rev.W. Morton, the last part by the Rev. C. H. 
 Rice ; and the Lessons were read by the Rev. G. Granville. 
 The Anthem, " It came even to pass," was by Sir F. A. G. 
 Ouseley, Bart. ; and the Hymn before the sermon, " Holy, 
 holy, holy, Lord God Almighty," was set to an appropriate 
 tune in the possession of the Rev. W. Morton. 
 
 After the sermon, during the collecting of the alms, 
 the Hymn used in the morning as the Introit was again 
 sung. 
 
200 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 MORNING SERVICE. 
 
 The sermon was preached in the morning by Richard 
 Chenevix Trench, D.D., Archbishop of Dublin. 
 
 The Archbishop having entered the pulpit, the sun at 
 the moment breaking with summer brilliancy through the 
 clouds, he selected as his text, JAMES I. 17: "Every good 
 gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down 
 from the Father of lights." His Grace commenced his dis- 
 course with some remarks on the propriety of connecting 
 the services of the day with the celebration of the week 
 of remembering the Giver whilst they extolled the gift 
 of especially rendering praise to God for "His most excellent 
 creature man ;" and having humbly expressed his desire 
 that on some other, more equal to the occasion, had de- 
 volved the task of tracing the connection between the 
 sacred services of the day, and the festal solemnities of 
 the time, he proceeded to the following effect : 
 
 One fitness, indeed, I possess namely, that I am not 
 wholly unaware of the difficulties of my task. To this I 
 shall address myself now ; only first on one or two points 
 challenging your considerate forbearance. 
 
 Thus, if I preach about Shakespeare, and that method 
 of treatment sound somewhat novel and unusual in your 
 ears, you will still remember that this is the very thing 
 which I am set to do ; which thus in my office as a minister 
 of Christ, and in His holy house, I could alone consent to 
 do. And then, if in so doing I pass over innumerable 
 aspects on which he presents himself to us, and contemplate 
 him only upon one though that, indeed, the most important 
 of all, namely, the directly moral it is not because others 
 are indifferent to me, or as supposing them indifferent to 
 you ; but because here I have no right, as certainly I have 
 no desire, to contemplate him in any other aspect than this. 
 
 What reason have we then to celebrate with a jubilee 
 the fact that three hundred years ago Shakespeare was 
 born ? or, to put the question in the form and fashion which 
 this hour and this house will suitably suggest, Why do we 
 thank God, wherein have we just ground to praise Him, 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 201 
 
 that sncli a man has been among us ? what is there in his 
 writings to render them an enduring benefit to us, a posses- 
 sion for ever ; such as we feel makes us richer, wiser, and 
 using it aright, better than we should have been without 
 it ? This is the question which I propose a little to con- 
 sider this morning. 
 
 If indeed the literature of a nation were merely an 
 amusement of the cultivated few, the ornament of their 
 idler hours, then indeed what the fashion of it was, or what 
 manner of men they were who bequeathed it to us, would 
 be of very slight importance indeed ; could scarcely at the 
 best afford matter of serious thanksgiving. We might de- 
 sire that it should be graceful, as we should desire that the 
 garniture of our houses or of our persons should be graceful, 
 that it should entertain without corrupting: our desires 
 could scarcely extend further. But a nation's literature is 
 very much more than this. The work of its noblest and 
 most gifted sons, the utterance of all which is deepest and 
 nearest to their hearts, it evokes and interprets the un- 
 uttered greatness which is latent in others, but which, 
 except for them, would never have come to the birth. By 
 it the mighty heart of a people may be animated and 
 quickened to heroic enterprise and worthiest endeavour. 
 With the breath of strong and purifying emotions it should 
 stir to a healthy activity the waters of a nation's life, which 
 would else have stagnated and putrefied and corrupted. 
 Having such offices, being capable of such effects as these, 
 of what vast concern it is that it should deal with the 
 loftiest problems which man's existence presents solve 
 them, so far as they are capable of solution here, point to a 
 solution behind the veil where this only is possible ; that, 
 whatever it handles, things high or things low, things 
 eternal or things temporal, spiritual or natural, it should be 
 sound, should be healthy ; clear, so far as possible, of 
 offence ; enlisting our sympathies on the side of the just, 
 the pure, and the true. Of what supreme concern it is that 
 those who do so much to form and fashion a nation's life, 
 should be men reconciled with God's scheme of the universe, 
 cheerfully working in their own appointed sphere the work 
 
202 TEKCENTENAEY FESTIVAL. 
 
 which, has been assigned them there, accepting God's world, 
 because it is His, with all its strange riddles and infinite 
 perplexities, with all the burdens which it lays upon each 
 one of us not fiercely dashing and shattering themselves, 
 like imprisoned birds, against the bars of their prison-house, 
 or moodily nourishing in their own hearts, and in the hearts 
 of others, thoughts of discontent, revolt, and despair. 
 
 Such a poet, I am bold to affirm, we possess in Shake- 
 speare. For must we not, first of all, thankfully acknow- 
 ledge a healthiness, a moral soundness in all, or nearly all, 
 which he has written? that on his part there is no palter- 
 ing with the everlasting ordinances on which the moral 
 estate of man's life reposes, no challenging of the fitness of 
 these, no summoning of God to answer for Himself at the 
 bar of man for the world which He has created ? Then, 
 too, if he deals with enormous crimes and he could not do 
 otherwise, for these, alike in fiction and in reality, constitute 
 the tragedy of life yet the crimes which he deals with 
 travel the common road of human guilt, with no attempt 
 upon his part to extend and enlarge the domain of possible 
 sin ; and certainly with no desire to paint it in any other 
 colours than its own. He dallies not with forbidden things. 
 All which the Latins, with so just a moral instinct, styled 
 infanda and nefanda, things not to be spoken of any more 
 than to be done, these, which thus declare themselves un- 
 utterable, remain with rarest exception unuttered by him. 
 
 And in his dialogue, if we put him beside those of his 
 age and time, how little, by comparison with them, is there 
 which we wish away from him, would fain that he had 
 never written. There are some of his contemporaries whose 
 jewels, when they offer such, must be plucked out of the 
 very mire ; who seem to revel in loathsome and disgusting 
 images, in all which for poor human nature's sake we would 
 willingly put out of sight altogether. What an immeasur- 
 able gulf in this matter divides him from them ! while of 
 that which we must regret even in him, a part we have a 
 right to ascribe to an age, I will not say of less purity, but 
 of less refinement and coarser than our own ; and of that 
 which cannot be thus explained, let us at all events remark 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 203 
 
 how separable almost always it is from the context, leaving, 
 when thus separated, all which remains perfectly whole- 
 some and pure. There are writers whose evil is inwoven 
 with the texture of their writings, their very web and woof ; 
 writers who defile everything which they touch; for whom, 
 and ere long for whose readers, nothing is pure, one foul 
 exhalation and miasma of corruption presently enveloping 
 them both. 
 
 But Shakespeare if he has wrought any passing wrong, 
 or given any just occasion of offence in the matters of which 
 we speak, let us not forget the compensations which he has 
 made that we owe to him those ideals of perfect woman- 
 hood, which are the loveliest, perhaps the most transcendent, 
 creations of his art. Shakespeare's women we have but 
 to mention them, and what a procession of female forms, 
 whose very names make music in our ears, move at once 
 before the eyes of our mind. Surely if the woman be in 
 God's intention the appointed guardian of the sanctities of 
 home, the purities of domestic life, we owe him much who has 
 peopled the world of our "imagination with shapes " so per- 
 fect and so peerless" as are these. True it is that we want 
 much more than art, much more than the highest which art 
 can yield, to keep us holy, to preserve us from the sin of 
 our own hearts, from the sin of the world around us ; and 
 there is no more fatal mistake than to forget this. Neither 
 dare we affirm of Shakespeare himself that he was always 
 true to those ideals of female loveliness which he had 
 created, that he never broke faith with them. We have 
 evidence he himself supplies it evidence, as I think not 
 to be gainsayed, that there was a period of his life when he 
 laid up much matter of after-sorrow and self-reproach for 
 himself, in his own wonderful words, " gored his own 
 thoughts, sold cheap what is most dear ;" for what so dear 
 as innocency and self-respect ? he, too, a diamond only to 
 be polished in its own dust ; and, like so many a meaner man, 
 making in one part of his life work of repentance for another. 
 But with all this we dare affirm an habitual delight in the 
 purest, the noblest, and the fairest on the part of one who, 
 in the workshop of his imagination, forged a Miranda and 
 
204 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 an Imogen. " Filth savours but itself," feeds, and would 
 fain lead others to feed, on the garbage in which alone it 
 finds pleasure. Of Shakespeare be it said, that he who has 
 painted his long gallery of women holy, and pure, and 
 good, walking in fearless chastity through the world, has 
 painted, in anything like full length, only one wanton 
 woman throughout all the ample range of his art, and her 
 only for scorn and contempt. 
 
 Having spoken of Shakespeare's enlarged Christian 
 charity towards the church of Rome, and towards the sect 
 of Puritans, despite the excitement of party strife which 
 marked the transition period in which he lived, his Grace 
 proceeded to reply to the charge preferred against Shake- 
 speare of writing without a moral purpose, of making no 
 just distinction of good or evil. 
 
 It is, the learned divine said, a shallow view of art, as 
 of life, which could alone have given birth to this accusa- 
 tion. It is true that the moral intention of Shakespeare's 
 poetry does not lie on the surface, is not obtruded ; it may 
 and will often escape the careless reader. But it is there, 
 lying deep as do nearly all the lessons which God teaches 
 us through our own lives, or through the lives of others. 
 To no one of the uninspired writers of the world has it been 
 granted, I believe, so strongly to apprehend, so clearly to 
 make visible, that men reap as they have sown, that the 
 end lies in the beginning, that sooner or later " the wheel 
 will come full circle," and "the whirligig of time bring 
 round its revenges." Who else makes us so, and with 
 such a solemn awe, to feel that justice walks the world 
 " delaying," it may be, but "not forgetting," as is ever the 
 manner with the divine avengers ? Even faults compara- 
 tively trivial, like that of Cordelia, he does not fear to show 
 us what a train of sorrows, for this life at least, they may 
 entail. Certainly we shall look in vain in him, as we look 
 in vain through the moral universe, for that vulgar distri- 
 bution of rewards and punishments in which some delight ; 
 neither is death, which may be an euthanasia, the divine 
 cutting of some tangled knot which no human skill could 
 ever have untied not death but dishonoured life, is, in his 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 205 
 
 estimate, tlie worst of ills. So, too, if we would recognise 
 tliese footsteps of God in the world, this Nemesis of life, 
 which he is so careful to trace, we must watch his slightest 
 hints, for in them lies oftentimes the key to, and the ex- 
 planation of, all. In this, if I may say it with reverence, he 
 often reminds us of Scripture, and will indeed repay almost 
 any amount of patient and accurate study which we may 
 bestow upon him. Let me illustrate what I say. They 
 are but a few idle words dropt at random, which, in the 
 opening scene of " King Lear," make only too evident that 
 Gloster had never looked back with serious displeasure at 
 the sin of his youth, which stood embodied before him 
 in the person of his bastard son ; that he still regarded it 
 with complacency, rolled it as a sweet morsel under his 
 tongue. This son, his whole being corroded, poisoned, 
 turned to gall and bitterness, by the ever present conscious- 
 ness of the cleaving stain of his birth, is made the instru- 
 ment to undo him, or rather to bring him through bitterest 
 agonies, through the wreck and ruin of his whole worldly 
 felicity, to a true repentance. Indeed for once Shakespeare 
 himself points the moral in those words, so often quoted, 
 but not oftener than they deserve 
 
 " The gods are just, and of our pleasant vices 
 Make instruments to plague us." 
 
 But for once that he draws the moral of a life, a hundred 
 times he leaves us to draw it ; as indeed is almost always 
 the manner in that Book of books, which, like Joseph's 
 kingly sheaf, stands up in the midst of the field, that even 
 the chiefest among the others may make obeisance to it. 
 
 Let me note, in connection with what has just been 
 spoken, that the ideal characters of his art, just as the real 
 characters of actual life, never stand still. They are rising 
 or falling, growing better or growing worse, and ripening 
 thus for their several dooms. Some we behold working out 
 their lives into greater clearness and nobleness, making 
 steps of their dead selves by which they are mounting to 
 higher things. Summoned to the more stern and serious 
 business of life, or brought into the school of adversity, we 
 
206 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 see tliem taking shame to themselves that they have played 
 the truant hitherto, learning to look at life as something 
 more than a jest, girding themselves in earnest to its tasks 
 and toil, and leaving for ever behind them the frivolity and 
 the vanity, it may be the folly and the sin, in which hitherto 
 their years were spent. There is no dearer argument with 
 Shakespeare than this, nor one to which he oftener returns. 
 
 And then, on the other side, he shows us them who will 
 not use aright the discipline of life, who welcome and allow 
 those downward- dragging temptations which beset us all ; 
 these waxing worse and worse, forfeiting what good they 
 once possessed, strengthening in their evil, and falling from 
 one wickedness to another. He shows us a Macbeth, met in 
 that most dangerous hour, the hour of his success, giving 
 place to the devil, allowing the wicked suggestion of the 
 Evil One room in his heart, and then the dread concatena- 
 tion of crime, one ever drawing on, and in a manner render- 
 ing necessary, another, till the end is desolation and despair, 
 the blackness of darkness for ever. Where, I sometimes 
 ask myself as I read, where is there a sermon on the need 
 of resisting temptations at the outset, of treading out the 
 sparks of hell before they have set on fire the whole course 
 of nature, like that ? 
 
 Having spoken of the perfect sober-mindedness of 
 Shakespeare the man of the absence of eccentricity or 
 extravagance in his character, and adverted to the oppor- 
 tunity which the occasion afforded of testifying that it was 
 no lip homage which they rendered to his name, by 
 contributing to the restoring and beautifying of the chancel 
 in which the dust of Shakespeare mingles with the common 
 clay, his Grace concluded his splendid sermon in the 
 following terms : 
 
 I will only ask you, as you prepare your offering, each 
 to imagine to himself this England of ours without her 
 Shakespeare ; in which he had never lived or sung. What 
 a crown would be stricken from her brow ! How would 
 she come down from the pre-eminence of her place as nursing 
 mother of the foremost poet whom the world has seen, whom, 
 we are almost bold to prophesy, it ever will see ! Think how 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 207 
 
 much, poorer intellectually, yea, and morally, every one of 
 us would be ; what would have to be withdrawn from cir- 
 culation, of wisest sayings, of profoundest maxims of life- 
 wisdom, which have now been absorbed into the very tissue 
 of our hearts and minds ! what regions of our fancy, peopled 
 now with marvellous shapes of strength, of grace, of beauty, 
 of dignity, with beings which have far more reality for us 
 than most of those whom we meet in our daily walk, would 
 be empty and depopulated ! And remember that this which 
 we speak of would not be our loss alone, or the loss of those 
 who have lived already, but the disappearance as well of all 
 that delight, of all that instruction, which, so long as the 
 world endures, he will diffuse in circles ever larger, as the 
 recognition of him in his unparagoned and unapproachable 
 greatness becomes every day more unquestioned, as he 
 moves in ages vet to come " through ever wider avenues of 
 
 J? 
 
 fame. 
 
 But of this enough. Cease we from man. Let no 
 word be uttered by us here, which shall even seem to imply 
 that the praise and honour, the admiration and homage, 
 which a man may receive from his fellows are, or can be, 
 the best, the crowning glory of life. Good they are ; but 
 they are not the best. Few, in the very nature of things, 
 can be those illustrious sons of memory, dwelling apart from 
 their fellows on the mountain peaks of their solitary 
 grandeur, and dominating from these their own age, and 
 the ages to come. To very few it can be granted, that their 
 names shall resound through the centuries, that men shall 
 make long pilgrimages to the place of their birth, gather up 
 the smallest notices of them as infinitely precious, chide an 
 incurious age which suffered so much about them, that 
 would have been priceless to us, to perish for ever, or 
 celebrate with secular solemnities the returning period of 
 their birth. All this must be the heritage of the fewest; 
 but because such, it cannot be the best of all ; for a righteous 
 God would never have put his best and fairest beyond the 
 reach of well-nigh all among his children. This is not the 
 best. That is the best which all may make their own, those 
 with the smallest gifts as certainly as those with the 
 
208 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 greatest faithfully to fulfil humble duties ; to follow 
 Christ, it may be by lowliest paths, unseen of men, though 
 seen of angels and approved of God ; and so to have names 
 written not on earth, but in heaven, not on the rolls 
 of earthly fame, but in the Lamb's book of life. For, 
 brethren beloved, I should be untrue to that solemn trust 
 which I bear, untrue to those responsibilities from which I 
 can never divest myself, if I did not remind you, above all 
 if I did not remind you on such a day as this, that goodness 
 is more than greatness, and grace than gifts ; that men 
 attain to heaven not soaring on the wings of genius, but 
 patiently climbing by the stairs of faith, and love, and 
 obedience ; that the brightest crowns, if all their brightness 
 is of earth and none from heaven, are doomed to wither ; 
 that there is but one amaranthine crown, even that which 
 Christ gives to them, be they high or low, wise or simple, 
 emperors or clowns, who have loved, and served, and 
 obeyed Him. 
 
 This crown they have obtained, the serious and sage 
 poets who have consecrated their divine faculty to the 
 service of Him who lent it. For myself, I am strong to 
 believe that from one so gentle, so tender, so just, so true, 
 as was Shakespeare, the grace to make this highest conse- 
 cration was not withholden that we have a right to number 
 him with Dante, with Spenser, with Milton, and that august 
 company of poets 
 
 " Who sing, and singing in their glory move." 
 
 His intimate, in one sense his profound, acquaintance with 
 Scripture, no one can deny, or the strong grasp which he 
 had of its central truths. He knew the deep corruption of 
 our fallen nature, the desperate wickedness of the heart of 
 man ; else he would never have put into the mouth of a 
 prince of stainless life such a confession as this : " I am 
 myself indifferent honest, but yet I could accuse me of such 
 things that it were better my mother had not borne me, 
 # # * with more offences at my beck than I have 
 thoughts to put them in, imagination to give them shape, 
 or time to act them in." He has set forth the scheme of 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 209 
 
 our redemption in words as lovely as have ever flowed from 
 the lips of uninspired man : 
 
 " Why, all the souls that were, were forfeit once, 
 And He that might the vantage best have took 
 Found out the remedy." 
 
 He has put home to the holiest here their need of an infinite 
 forgiveness from Him who requires truth in the inward 
 
 parts : 
 
 " How would you be, 
 
 If He, which is the top of judgment, should 
 But judge you as you are ?" 
 
 He was one who was well aware what a stewardship was his 
 own in those marvellous gifts which had been entrusted to 
 him, for he has himself told us : 
 
 " Heaven does with us as we with torches do 
 Not light them for themselves ; for if our virtues 
 Did not go forth of us, 't were all alike 
 As if we had them not. 51 
 
 And again has told us that 
 
 " Spirits are not finely touched 
 But for fine issues;" 
 
 assuredly not ignorant how finely his own had been touched, 
 and what would be demanded from him in return. He was 
 one who certainly knew that there is none so wise that he 
 can "circumvent God;" that for a man, whether he be 
 called early or late, 
 
 " Ripeness is all." 
 
 Who shall persuade us that he abode outside of that holy 
 temple of our faith, whereof he has uttered such glorious 
 things admiring its beauty, but not himself entering to 
 worship there ? One so real, so truthful, as all which we 
 learn about Shakespeare declares him to have been, 
 assuredly fell in with no idle form of words, when in that 
 last testament which he dictated so shortly before his 
 death, he first of all, and before all, commended his soul 
 to God his Creator ; and this (I quote his express words), 
 
 o 
 
210 TEECENTENAEY FESTIVAL, 
 
 " hoping and assuredly believing through the only merits 
 of Jesus Christ my Saviour to be made partaker of life 
 everlasting." 
 
 Yes, brethren, he has shown us here the one gate of 
 heaven, and there is no other gate by which any man may 
 enter there. 
 
 AFTEENOON SEEVICE. 
 
 At Three o'clock in the afternoon Charles Wordsworth, 
 D.C.L., Bishop of St. Andrews, delivered a sermon to 
 another crowded auditory on " Man's excellency a cause of 
 praise and thankfulness to God," selecting as his text, Psalm 
 cxlv. 10: "All Thy works praise Thee, Lord; and Thy 
 saints give thanks unto Thee" (Prayer Book version). 
 The Right Rev. Doctor, after a few preliminary remarks 
 on the order and excellency of creation, proceeded as 
 follows : The Church of Christ has ever considered it a 
 part of true piety to give thanks for kings and governors ; 
 and rich men have received from the gratitude of posterity a 
 religious commemoration of the benefits which their charity 
 has bestowed. It needs, therefore, no apology if something 
 be said even in this sacred place respecting one whom God 
 raised up three centuries ago from among the inhabitants 
 of the neighbouring town, to be at once a mighty prince 
 over the thoughts of men, through the pre-eminence of his 
 intellectual powers ; and through the richness of his genius 
 a munificent benefactor, for ages upon ages, not to his own 
 country and nation only, but to the world at large. 
 
 And as this place, though consecrated to God's glory, 
 is not unsuitable, so neither is the time, even of this holy 
 day, at all improper for such a commemoration. For what 
 is it that every Christian Sabbath is designed most 
 especially to bring home to our thoughts and meditations ? 
 It is the resting of the Creator after the making of all His 
 works, man included ; but it is also the rising of Christ out 
 of the grave, and His sending down the Holy Spirit upon 
 His Church, both as on this day ; in other words, it is not 
 only the creation, but the redemption and the sanctification 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 211 
 
 of man. And what would the first, our creation, have 
 availed us unless it had been followed by these other two ? 
 What satisfaction could we have had in thinking of our- 
 selves or of our fellow-men ? what real or lasting pleasure 
 could we have enjoyed in contemplating the very best and 
 noblest of mankind, unless it had been permitted us to 
 regard him, not only as a work of God, but as a work, not 
 created for nothingness, or for woe, but redeemed and sancti- 
 fied for an immortality of happiness through Jesus Christ ? 
 Entering then upon the subject before us with no mis- 
 trust, I shall, in the first place, be fully justified, I believe, 
 in assuming that this celebration would not have taken 
 place would not certainly have been promoted so generally, 
 or conducted on so grand a scale unless it had been com- 
 monly felt that the works of Shakespeare are plainly on the 
 right side ; the side of what is true, and honest, and just, 
 and pure, and lovely, and of good report in a word, on 
 the side of virtue and of true religion. Nor can it be said, 
 in this case at least, that the popular voice has erred. It 
 is in accordance with the voice of one whose testimony 
 upon such a point will be accepted as of the highest and 
 most unquestionable authority; I allude to the revered 
 author of the " Christian Year." In the lectures which he 
 delivered as Professor of Poetry in the University of 
 Oxford, and which were published twenty years ago, while 
 specifying the notes or characteristics by which poets of 
 the first rank are to be discerned, the distinguishing mark 
 which he requires, first of all, is CONSISTENCY. The first 
 class poet, he remarks, is throughout consistent, and in har- 
 mony with himself. And where does the critic look for his 
 examples in proof of this proposition ? He brings forward 
 two poets, who flourished in the same, that is our own, 
 country, and at the same time. First, he produces Spenser, 
 in whom he sees everywhere sustained the same very form and 
 look of true nobility ; and next he produces Shakespeare. 
 We need not wonder that the former should have been 
 chosen; but when we consider the disadvantage under 
 which a dramatic poet lies in regard to a point like this, 
 we may feel well assured that no such example would have 
 
212 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 been appealed to except from the conviction that it was 
 singularly a just one. And this consistency of character 
 which, as a first and most decisive test, assigns our poet to 
 the highest rank, in what is it to be found ? It is to be 
 found in the universal impression ivhich his works convey. 
 And for this the lecturer confidently appeals to the memory 
 of his hearers. " Recollect," says he, " I beseech you, how 
 you each felt when you read those plays for the first time. 
 Do you not remember that all along, as the drama proceeded, 
 you were led to take the part of whatever good and worthy 
 characters it contained ; and more especially, when you 
 reached the end and closed the book, you felt that your 
 inmost heart had received a spur, which was calculated to 
 urge you on to virtue ; and to virtue, not merely such as 
 is apt, without much reality, to warm and excite the feelings 
 of the young, but such as consists in the actual practice of 
 a stricter, more pure, more upright, more industrious, more 
 religious life ? And as for the passages of a coarser sort, 
 liere and there to be met with in those plays, any one may 
 perceive that they are to be attributed, in part, not to the 
 author but to the age in which he lived ; and partly they 
 were introduced as slaves in a state of intoxication were 
 introduced into the presence of the Spartan youth to 
 serve as warnings and create disgust. We need not 
 hesitate, therefore, to conclude ilium Virtuti ex animo favisse 
 that he favoured virtue from his very soul ; more especially 
 when we consider how widely different is the case with most 
 of his contemporaries, who devoted themselves, as he did, 
 to writing for the stage." 
 
 This, my brethren, is lofty commendation ; and I should 
 not have rehearsed it here unless I had been persuaded that 
 it is just. Nor do I scruple to consent to the still higher 
 praise which the same unexceptionable judge has bestowed 
 in another part of his work upon the same two poets whom 
 I just now named ; and which brings the mention of them 
 still more closely within the legitimate range of a discourse, 
 delivered upon this holy day, and in this sacred place. 
 "Not only," he says, "did they measure everything by a 
 certain innate sense of what is virtuous and becoming ; not 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 213 
 
 only did they teach to hate all profaneness, but they trained 
 and exercised men's minds to virtue and religion, inasmuch 
 as each of them is wont to refer all things which the eye 
 beholds to the heavenly and the true, whether as occurring 
 in the actions of men and upon the stage of life, or as seen 
 in the glorious spectacle everywhere presented in the 
 heavens and the earth ; precisely as does the Church 
 Catholic, only, as it is her province to do, in a manner 
 mystical and divine. And hence it is that the poetry we 
 speak of led the way, as I believe, to sounder views even 
 upon sacred things, and to juster sentiments concerning 
 God himself." 
 
 But there is another consciousness no less generally felt, 
 which has tended to give to this celebration its comprehen- 
 sive character. I mean the consciousness of our poet's 
 nationality. Like Homer to the Greeks, he is the poet of us 
 Englishmen. And as we look for no better, so we desire 
 no other. * * * * And now, my brethren, I think it 
 may be said we see the first rude outline of a character 
 which, in paying honour to the man, we shall do well to 
 contemplate. For it is not (let me repeat), it is not merely 
 as a poet, or even as a poet who wrote, in a high and genu- 
 ine sense of the word, religiously, but as a man, a Christian 
 man. that we, as a congregation of Christians, should be 
 content to honour Shakespeare. Let us see, then, what he 
 was as such. Undazzled by the world, and coveting nothing 
 which the world can give, we find him. indifferent to the 
 fate even of the produce of his own immortal mind, and 
 throwing his pearls with child-like simplicity, into the lap 
 of time, as if unconscious of their amazing worth. A man 
 of a less simple or less sober temper, after he had attained 
 to prosperity and to fame, would never have chosen, when 
 not yet fifty years old, to settle down for the remainder of 
 his days, in rural quietude, and in the place which had 
 known him, not only in obscurity, but in poverty and dis- 
 tress. But seeking, as he did, to shun rather than to court 
 distinction, the fact that " a prophet is not without honour 
 save in his own country and in his own house," tended 
 rather to recommend this choice to him the more ; happy 
 
214? TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 if only he might be allowed to study nature, and to culti- 
 vate his own moral being, in order that he might be "ripe," 
 in God's good time which proved to be a very early time 
 might be " ripe," I say, for being gathered into a far more 
 joyful and more glorious abode. 
 
 But there is a farther point of view, which combines in 
 one the poet and the man, and which, if we look with a wise 
 and patriotic interest upon the destinies of our country and 
 of the human race, cannot fail to raise him still higher in 
 our esteem. Born within four years after Francis Bacon, 
 that gigantic intellect, and worthy to be so reckoned in an 
 age of giants (such was the bounty of God towards our 
 land and people in the first half-century after the Reform- 
 ation ! ), it was, shall I say, the vocation of William Shake- 
 speare to live and to write as if protesting against the undue 
 claims of that physical philosophy which received a new 
 life from the genius of Bacon, and against the evils to which 
 an excessive cultivation of it will be apt to lead. It is im- 
 possible to calculate how much we owe to our poet on this 
 account. We are pre-eminently a practical, and are 
 becoming more and more a mechanical nation; and in 
 proportion as we become so, the works of Shakespeare 
 will be to us more and more invaluable. Not that there is 
 to be found in his pages any unworthy jealousy of the 
 powers which physical studies are calculated to evoke, or 
 of the triumphs which, as time rolled on, they might be 
 expected to achieve. Far otherwise. Not that he has 
 betrayed any faithless fear of the progress of science, or of 
 the activity of the human intellect to whatever subjects 
 it might be applied. No ; to him 
 
 Ignorance is the curse of God; 
 Knowledge, the wing wherewith we fly to heaven. 
 
 But what is there in those pages ? There is the very anti- 
 dote we need to guard and to strengthen our moral system 
 against the prevailing epidemic the epidemic which has 
 arisen out of devotion to mechanical pursuits, and to the 
 study of material phenomena in relation to the luxuries 
 and conveniences of life. On the one hand, there is every- 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 215 
 
 thing to refine, to elevate, to enlarge ; on the other hand, 
 there is nothing to make us impatient of acquiescence in 
 imperfect knowledge, which is a necessary condition of our 
 existence here. In a word, Shakespeare, more than any 
 other writer in our native tongue, gives to Englishmen, 
 who are debarred, as he himself had been, from the higher 
 classical education, what such an education gives still more 
 eminently to those who have enjoyed it, and turned it to its 
 full account. Debarred, I say, he himself had been from 
 direct access to the great intellectual treasuries of Greece 
 and Rome. And yet, how much of the highest and purest 
 sentiment, how many of the noblest thoughts and images, 
 for which the best authors of antiquity are distinguished, 
 lie scattered also over the pages of his works ; just as in the 
 vegetable world, specimens of the same plants have been 
 found growing in widely distant regions of the globe, be- 
 tween which no certain channel of communication has been 
 known to exist ! 
 
 Having adverted to the common topic of complaint our 
 ignorance of Shakespeare's life the eloquent Divine said, 
 We know his " unwearied diligence " and the blessing which 
 attended it. We know how he has written. What truth 
 has he not taught? What duty has he not enforced? 
 What relation of life, and of living things, rational or 
 irrational, has he not illustrated? How has he looked 
 through nature, and above all into the heart of man, with 
 the intuitive knowledge with which the skilful artisan 
 inspects the mechanism of the watch which he himself has 
 made! 
 
 And knowing these things, we know enough to teach 
 us how little true greatness is dependent upon external 
 circumstances. We know enough to shame us, if any of 
 us should complain of the difficulties and disadvantages in 
 which God has placed him. The theatre itself, which 
 received those masterpieces of Shakespeare's genius, what 
 was it but a hovel, all rude, and shapeless, and unadorned ? 
 The father of Shakespeare was so little able to instruct his 
 son, that he could not so much as write his own name ; so 
 little able to advance his son that, for a time, he could not 
 
216 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 even appear in this church on the Lord's day, from liability 
 to arrest for debt. Yet Shakespeare lived to make the 
 stage worthy of the utmost contrivance and embellishment 
 of art. Shakespeare lived to relieve his father from distress 
 in his old age. Shakespeare lived to become a teacher of 
 the world, so long as time shall last. And, what deserves 
 to be commemorated more especially in this place, Shake- 
 speare lived to receive, as a benefactor, the blessings of the 
 poor, not forgetting them, we may be sure, while he lived, 
 inasmuch as he remembered them when he died. 
 
 Having taken up and expatiated on several other topics 
 in relation to his subject, Dr. Wordsworth concluded his 
 memorable sermon in the following terms : Shakespeare 
 is one of whom, judged of in the character up to which he 
 grew, the Church of Christ has no need to be ashamed; 
 because in him, as a poet, poetry has fulfilled every purpose 
 for which in the mercy of Grod she was given to our fallen 
 race as, next to Revelation, His most precious boon ; and 
 because in him as a man, the Grospel has exemplified that 
 truest element of the Christian character, of which it is 
 written and fulfilled as on this day "Blessed are the 
 meek, for they shall inherit the earth." And, therefore, 
 though this tercentenary commemoration points confessedly 
 to the year of his birth, yet it was the day of his death 
 which we celebrated yesterday; as the Church has ever 
 been wont to celebrate not the birth- day, but the death- day 
 as being the truer and more glorious nativity of her 
 saints and confessors. 
 
 But, my brethren, if, not having seen, we honour and 
 we love our departed brother for his works' sake, how 
 greatly how infinitely more ought we to love and to 
 bless HIM who made our brother what he was, and gave 
 him to us ; not to become (as human genius, alas ! has 
 sometimes proved) an instrument of desolation, but of cul- 
 ture, refreshment, of fruitfulness ; not to resemble the full 
 but faithless reservoir, which, when it has burst its barriers, 
 carries death and ruin in its course, but the varying, yet 
 ever-faithful Nile ; which, while it is the grandest of all 
 rivers, and while it is subject no less than the feeblest rivulet 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 217 
 
 to the law which regulates its boundless floods, is at the 
 same time the most beneficent in its influence, and the 
 sweetest in its taste. And as in the surface of that majestic 
 stream the traveller sees a true reflection of the heavens 
 which are above his head, so in the poetry of Shakespeare 
 the reader may behold no uncertain image of the word 
 of God ; may behold shining in its depths the starlike 
 truths of the Bible ; may behold and may adore the SUN OF 
 RIGHTEOUSNESS, overclouded, we must confess, from time to 
 time, with the mists of earth, but still shedding around 
 His divine rays, and lighting up all with faith and hope, 
 with love and joy. 
 
 THIRD DAY: MONDAY. 
 THE "MESSIAH." 
 
 The event of this day was the performance of Handel's 
 " Messiah," in the pavilion, to the enjoyment of which nearly 
 two thousand auditors assembled. The leading artistes who 
 had given their services were Madame Parepa, Madame 
 Laura Baxter (in the unavoidable absence of Madame 
 Sainton-Dolby, who was unfortunately seized with sudden 
 indisposition), Mr. Sims Reeves, Mr. George Perren, Mr. 
 Patey, and Mr. Santley ; and Mr. Alfred Mellon as leader. 
 There was a band and chorus of five hundred performers. 
 The chorus had been selected from the following celebrated 
 societies : The Festival Choral Society and Amateur Har- 
 monic Society, Birmingham ; the Sacred Harmonic Society 
 (who sent down entirely at their own expense fifty picked 
 members of their chorus), London ; the Festival Choral 
 Society, Worcester ; and Holy Trinity Church, Stratford- 
 upon- Avon. The orchestra comprised a hundred and twenty 
 instrumentalists, including Mr. Blagrove as leader, and Mr. 
 Harper, the celebrated trumpeter. 
 
 " The ' Messiah, 5 " the Times said on the following day, 
 "went off admirably. A larger assemblage of voices has 
 often been heard, but the magnificent choruses could 
 scarcely have been executed with greater vigour and pre- 
 cision. Mr. Sims Reeves, recovered from his indisposition, 
 
218 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 was in excellent voice, and sang to perfection, c Comfort ye 
 my people,' and 'Thou shalt break them with a rod of 
 iron.' The consummate execution of Mademoiselle Parepa, 
 the steady artistic singing of Mr. Santley, the powerful 
 organ of Madame Laura Baxter were thoroughly appreciated 
 by a most attentive audience, and, under the masterly 
 conduct of Mr. Alfred Mellon, the vast musical machine 
 moved on without hitch or impediment. 
 
 "It might be objected that there is little apparent 
 connection between Shakespeare and Handel's 6 Messiah,' 
 and that the performance of the latter is, therefore, some- 
 what out of place at a Shakespearian festival. But it is 
 always to be borne in mind that among the literary admirers 
 of Shakespeare are many persons who, from various reasons, 
 would not choose to attend theatrical performances, and 
 that in an universal collection it is as well to consult the 
 greatest number of tastes. Besides, the work which the 
 English place at the head of musical classics may be 
 reasonably thought worthy of association with the chief 
 classic of English literature. At the Grarrick jubilee of 
 1769 the oratorio of 'Judith ' was performed." 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS CONCERT. 
 
 In the evening there was a miscellaneous concert, 
 which was more numerously attended than the oratorio of 
 the morning, the prices being considerably lower, whilst 
 the vocal artistes were the same as above mentioned, with 
 the addition of the gifted pianiste, Madame Arabella 
 Goddard, and Mr. Charles Coote as pianoforte accompanist. 
 The programme was drawn out with strict regard to the 
 occasion, the melodies selected being those associated with 
 the words of Shakespeare. The Daily Telegraph noticed 
 the audience and concert in the following terms : 
 
 "The amphitheatre presented a brilliant appearance from the 
 strict observance of evening costume by all who entered the area, 
 and the elite of the county may be said to have graced the concert 
 with their presence. Macfarren's overture to ' Romeo and Juliet/ 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL, 219 
 
 Mendelssohn's expressive overture and incidental mnsic to ' A Mid- 
 summer Night's Dream," so wonderfully illustrative of the subject, 
 and Allridge's Shakespearian overture, re-arranged for this festival by 
 Mr. Alfred Mellon, and introducing the airs, ' Soft flowing Avon/ 
 ' Sweet Willie, 0,' and ' Ye Warwickshire lads and ye lasses,' were 
 included in the instrumental portion of the programme. Madame 
 Arabella Goddard charmed her hearers with her pianoforte fantasia of 
 ' Where the bee sucks,' and this being enthusiastically encored, the 
 fair executant paid a delicate compliment to the natives of Stratford 
 by showing them the treasures of harmony enshrined in ' Home, sweet 
 home.' Mr. Sims Eeeves having evoked an encore by his charming 
 rendering of 'Blow, blow, thou winter's wind,' repeated the last verse; 
 Mr. Santley gave the recitative and aria, 'Pieta rispetto,' from Yerdi's 
 ' Macbeth ;' Madame Parepa contributed Weber's grand scena, ' Portia,' 
 and, still more to the delight of the company, f Bid me discourse ;' 
 and Mr. George Perren sung in his best style, ' Come live with me and 
 be my love.' The duet, ( I know a bank,' by Madame Parepa and 
 Madame Laura Baxter, and Stevens' s glee, c Ye spotted snakes,' by 
 Mesdames Parepa and Baxter, and Messrs. Perren and Patey elicited 
 the warmest applause. The concert terminated a little before eleven." 
 
 The third day of the festival was thus brought to a 
 close amid universal satisfaction. 
 
 FOURTH DAY: TUESDAY. 
 
 The programme for to-day comprised excursions to 
 Charlecote in the morning, and a performance of the " Twelfth 
 Night" by the Haymarket Company in the evening. 
 Through the kindness of H. Spencer Lucy, Esq., the Com- 
 mittee were enabled to announce that the picturesque 
 grounds and hall so associated with the deer stealing story, 
 would be thrown open to visitors holding excursion tickets, 
 which were sold at 5s. each. As already observed, the 
 weather was fine throughout the entire festival, and on this 
 day specially brilliant and favourable to the excursionists. 
 A very considerable number consequently availed them- 
 selves of the opportunity of inspecting the fine old mansion 
 and park, highly interesting in themselves, and doubly so 
 by reason of the Shakespearian associations. The worn and 
 grey park paling constructed without an iron nail the 
 soft winding Avon, the lime tree, the elm, the spreading 
 
220 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 oak and sycamore, the herds of deer, " full of the pasture/' 
 skudding timidly away on the approach of a stranger 
 Jaques' " fat and greasy citizens" attracted the attention 
 and delighted the excursionists as they drew near to the 
 venerable mansion. The house itself, an architectural 
 curiosity, built in 1558 the first year of the reign of 
 Elizabeth by the Sir Thomas Lucy, of alleged perse- 
 cuting memory, contains much to interest the antiquary 
 and virtuoso. On being ushered into the hall which 
 brings at once to mind the olden time of pikes and bows, 
 and bucklers, profuse hospitality, and hearty revelry the 
 strangers inspected a fine collection of portraits of the 
 Lucy family, who have been settled at Charlecote for nearly 
 seven centuries. On proceeding to the drawing room, they 
 found another set of pictures valuable works of the old 
 masters decorating the walls ; the ceilings beautifully 
 gilded, the floors of polished oak, and the furniture in fine 
 keeping with the solidity and proportions of the mansion. 
 The library was next visited, and found stored with the 
 best and oldest editions of Shakespeare, and amongst the 
 furniture, a set of nine chairs and two cabinets made of 
 ebony, inlaid with ivory, which were presented by Queen 
 Elizabeth to the Earl of Leicester, at Kenilworth, at which 
 place they had been purchased for Charlecote. After 
 examining lots of other curious furniture and objects of 
 interest, and fully satisfying themselves with their visit to 
 the hall, a number of the party proceeded to view the 
 magnificent little church of Charlecote, erected by Mrs. 
 Lucy, on the site of the old one pulled down some fifteen 
 years ago. Several splendidly executed monuments, in 
 white marble, are here to be seen, including that of the 
 famous justice, Sir Thomas Lucy, and of another Sir 
 Thomas, who was killed by a fall from his horse, in the 
 time of Oliver Cromwell. The latter, a marvellous work of 
 sculpture by Bernini, was erected by the widow of the 
 unfortunate cavalier. 
 
 Having " done " Charlecote and the charming neigh- 
 bourhood, the excursionists found it nearly time to return 
 to dinner, and prepare for witnessing the performance of 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 221 
 
 "THE TWELFTH NIGHT" 
 
 at the pavilion. The curtain was drawn up for this 
 Shakespearian treat, at seven o'clock in the evening, before 
 a very large audience, comprising the Earl of Carlisle, K.Gr., 
 the Earl of Shrewsbury, Lord Leigh, Lord Wrottesley and 
 the Hon. Mrs. Wrottesley, the Hon. F. Byng, Sir W. 
 Eraser, Sir M. S. Stewart, Sir K C. Hamilton, Bart., K.G., 
 Sir L. Palk, Bart., and Lady Palk, Sir H. Elton, and the 
 Hon. and Rev. F. Leigh. The piece was cast as follows : 
 
 Orsino Duke of Illyria .... Mr. HOWE. 
 
 a -L , (A Young Gentleman, I , r ^ r 
 
 Sebastian . . . ] brother to Viola f Mr ' WEATHERSBY. 
 
 Antonio . A Sea Captain, friend to Sebastian . Mr. BRAID. 
 Roberto . A Sea Captain, friend to Viola . Mr. WALTER GORDON. 
 
 ^7,. } Lords attending on the Duke I ^ r ' ^ A11K ' 
 Valentine ) \ Mr. WORRELL. 
 
 Sir Toby Belch . . Uncle to the Lady Olivia . Mr. EOGERS. 
 
 Sir Andrew Aguecheek . . Mr. BUCKSTONE. 
 Malvolio . . . Steward to Olivia . . . Mr. CHIPPENDALE. 
 Fabian ( I Mr. W. FAEKEN. 
 
 Clown ( ) Mr. COMPTON. 
 
 A Priest . . Mr. CULLENFORD. 
 First Officer . . Mr. COE. Second Officer . . Mr. JAMES. 
 
 Olivia . A Kich Countess . Miss H. LINDLEY. 
 Viola .... In love with the Duke . Miss LOUISA ANGEL. 
 
 Maria . . Olivia's Woman . Mrs. E. FITZWILLIAM. 
 Ladies, Priests, Sailors, Officers, Musicians, and other Attendants. 
 
 The entire performance was remarkable for that perfect 
 smoothness and harmony which talent, intimate acquaint- 
 ance with each other on the part of the company, and 
 careful rehearsals can alone ensure. Touching the respective 
 merits of the different portraitures in the comedy, I may 
 adopt the language of the London Standard's correspondent, 
 and say 
 
 . " I need hardly tell you that Mr. Buckstone played to perfection 
 Sir Andrew Aguecheek ; that Mr. Rogers was an admirable make-up as 
 Sir Toby Belch; that Mr. Chippendale made a very fair Malvolio; 
 and that Mr. Howe was a very effective Duke', while Mr. Farren as 
 Fabian and Mr. Compton as the Clown made more out of their part 
 than could have been made by any other members of the company. 
 
222 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 But I must tell you that Miss H. Lindley was an exceedingly 
 satisfactory Olivia, while Miss Louisa Angel, as Viola, charmed every 
 one who had the pleasure of listening to her delivery and watching the 
 well-studied grace of her acting. I was sorry that the song was 
 omitted at the close; for those who can remember its introduction 
 a dozen years ago at the Princesses' can bear witness to its effective- 
 ness, with Hatton's music; but after all the matter is not a great one, 
 and I find that the majority of theatrical folks are in favour of its 
 excision." 
 
 After the " Twelfth Night " was performed a Comedietta 
 in one act, adapted from the French of M.M. Pierron and 
 Laferriere, by Mr. Sothern, entitled 
 
 "MY AUNT'S ADVICE." 
 
 Mr. Charles Arundel MR. HOWE. 
 
 Captain Howard Leslie MR. SOTHERN. 
 
 Mrs. Charles Arundel Miss NELLY MOORE. 
 
 Jane Miss COLEMAN. 
 
 This trifle was not much admired, either for its literary 
 merit, or the acting to which it gave scope, the general 
 opinion being that it was not a happy selection for such an 
 occasion by an actor of Mr. Sothern's distinguished 
 professional position. 
 
 The above named were the principal events of the day, 
 but there was a variety of minor amusements got up by 
 private caterers, of which the people partook. There were 
 trips down the Avon to Luddington, and a number of 
 shows in the Market-place, from the renowned but 
 diminutive Punch and Judy, up to the extensive menagerie 
 of Wombwell. The puppet performance only requiring one 
 animal, besides the manager, which entails any expenditure 
 for "wittles" Toby, to wit seemed to thrive and prosper 
 by reason of the limited expenditure ; but the menagerie 
 found itself in the wrong town, and had to make a speedy 
 exit, as the expected multitude had not arrived in Stratford. 
 
 FIFTH DAY: WEDNESDAY. 
 
 This day it was apprehended at one time would be a 
 dies non so far as dramatic performances were concerned, 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 223 
 
 but it proved quite the reverse, being the most important 
 of the week. The proceedings commenced with a dramatic 
 reading in the theatre or Shakespeare Rooms, by Mrs. 
 Macready, who has acquired some celebrity in the art. 
 The attendance was not very large, nor the entertainment 
 remarkably successful. Had it been given in the evening 
 it might have been otherwise, as the programme was 
 judiciously drawn out, and the lady is possessed of more 
 than ordinary ability. 
 
 Small excursions to Anne's Cottage, and visits to the 
 picture gallery, and to places in the town and neighbourhood 
 not previously seen, occupied the afternoon, and in the 
 evening the largest auditory which had up to this period 
 assembled in the pavilion was collected to witness the 
 " Comedy of Errors," and " Borneo and Juliet " the prin- 
 cipal characters in these plays being undertaken by artistes 
 who had made something of a " sensation " in them, and 
 obtained the highest patronage in London. The unusual 
 course of playing the tragedy after the comedy became 
 necessary, in order to permit some members of the Princess' 
 Company to proceed early to town. The first piece was 
 announced in the programme and played with the following 
 cast from the Princesses' Company : 
 
 "THE COMEDY OF ERRORS," 
 
 Performed from the text of Shakespeare. 
 
 The new and splendid Scenery by Messrs. F. Lloyds, Fenton, Hann, 
 and Gray. 
 
 Solinus . . . Duke of Ephesus . . . Mr. ROBINS. 
 JEgeon . . A Merchant of Syracuse . . Mr. H. NELSON. 
 
 ( Twin Brothers and Sons to ) , r T ,.- 
 Ant^holus of Ephesus I ^ and ^ mili but ( Mr. J. MELLON. 
 
 Antipholus of Syracuse ] un \ nown to each o ^ her ) Mr. VINING. 
 
 Dromio of Ephesus ( Twin Brothers and Attendants) Mr. HY. WEBB. 
 Dromio of Syracuse \ on the Antipholi. ) Mr. CHAS. WEBB. 
 
 Balthazar . . Mr. TAPPING. Angela . . Mr. C. SEYTON. 
 A Merchant . Mr. CHAPMAN. Dr. Pinch . Mr. E. CATHCART. 
 
 Officer .... Mr. TRESSIDDER, 
 
 JEmiUa . . Wife to .^Egeon, an Abbess at Ephesus . . Miss STAFFORD. 
 Ad/nana, . Wife to Antipholus of Ephesus . Miss CAROLINE CARSON. 
 
224 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 Luciano, . . her Sister . . Miss HELEN HOWARD. 
 
 Luce . her Servant . Miss SYDNEY. Lesbia . Miss EMMA BARNETT. 
 
 Officers, Lords, Merchants, Male and Female Citizens, Executioner, 
 
 Nuns, Attendants, 8fc. 
 ? Manager Mr. GEORGE ELLIS. 
 
 The Messrs. Webb, who enacted the Dromios, after 
 playing the parts frequently with success at Mr. Henry 
 Webb's theatres, in Dublin and Belfast, essayed the 
 characters in other towns with equally good fortune, and 
 ultimately obtained an engagement at the Princesses', in 
 London, where, on their first night, they had the honour of 
 sustaining the Twin Brothers in presence of the Prince 
 and Princess of Wales. The performance subsequently 
 drew large audiences and obtained the encomiums of the 
 press. Indeed, if Mr. H^rry Webb was not an actor of 
 considerable ability, or his brother capable of sustaining 
 the part as well as he does, the extraordinary resemblance 
 of the brothers must impart peculiar interest to the revival 
 of the comedy. It may be fairly questioned whether the 
 Dromios were ever so correctly embodied as by these 
 artistes. The audience are for the time completely puzzled, 
 much diverted, and in the concluding scene thrown into 
 loud fits of laughter. The Antiplioli were well made up, 
 and the comedy altogether creditably put on the stage 
 and performed to the general gratification of all present. 
 The cast of 
 
 "ROMEO AND JULIET" 
 
 was only remarkable for the presence of Miss Stella 
 Colas. It stood thus : 
 
 Prince Escalus, Mr. ROBINS. 
 Paris, Mr. BROOKE. 
 Montague, Mr. LICKFOLD. 
 Capulet, Mr. H. MELLON. 
 Romeo, Mr. J. NELSON. 
 Mercutio, Mr. VINING. 
 Tybalt, Mr. C. SEYTON. 
 
 Friar Laurence, Mr. FORRESTEB. 
 Apothecary, Mr. CATHCART. 
 Peter, Mr. D. FISHER. 
 Balthasar, Mr. CHAPMAN. 
 Abram, Mr. TRESSIDDER. 
 Sampson, Mr. TAPPING. 
 Gregory, Mr. ALLEN. 
 
 Lady Capulet, Miss STAFFORD. Juliet, Mdlle. STELLA COLAS. 
 
 Nurse, Mrs. H. MARSTON. 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 225 
 
 The young French lady had made a very decidedly 
 successful stand at the Princess', in Juliet, last summer, 
 and on returning to London, in April, met with a hearty 
 reception. As I have so strong an aversion from hearing 
 the sublime and beautiful language of Shakespeare read 
 with a foreign and broken accent, I cannot say anything 
 of the performance myself. The correspondent of the 
 Standard declined entering into any criticism, as he " did 
 not understand Miss Stella Colas." But I have heard 
 no mean judges of acting speak in very high terms of the 
 histrionic capabilities of the young tragedienne. Mr. Nelson 
 looked Romeo very well albeit a little too stout. Mr. 
 Yining and Mrs. Marston received high commendation in 
 their respective parts, and on the fall of the curtain the 
 Committee felt that, so far as performances in the 
 pavilion could make the festival a success, it was to be 
 a distinct triumph throughout. 
 
 SIXTH DAY : THURSDAY. 
 CONCERT. 
 
 The festivities were revived with unflagging spirit to- 
 day in the Shakespeare Rooms, where an excellent concert 
 of instrumental music, and glees from Shakespeare's plays 
 was given, under the conductorship of Messrs. Coote and 
 Stockley, according to the following programme : 
 
 PART I. 
 
 OVERTURE . . . " The Merry Wives of Windsor " . . . Nicolai. 
 
 PART SONG . . . " The Cloud-capped Towers "... Stevens. 
 
 GLEE From " Oberon " Stevens. 
 
 INSTRUMENTAL FANTASIA on Shakespearian Airs, with Solos 
 for Pianoforte, Flute, Clarionet, Cornet-a-Pistons, Violin, 
 Violoncello, Contra-Basso, and Euphonium. Arranged 
 expressly for this occasion by C. Coote. 
 
 " SHAKESPEARE," An Ode, written expressly by John 
 
 Brougham, Esq., for the Tercentenary Festival . . . Mellon. 
 
 OVERTURE . ..." As You Like It " . , Harold Thomas. 
 
 PART SONG : . . . " When Daisies pied " . . . . Macfarren. 
 PART SONO . . . . " Who is Silvia ? " ..... Macfarren. 
 
 P 
 
226. TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 DUET. Cornet-a- Pistons, and Euphonium, " Merry Wives of 
 Windsor." Performed by C. Coote, jun., and Alfred 
 Phasey Percy. 
 
 GLEE "Hark! the Lark!" Kucken. 
 
 FINALE . . "Wedding March" "Midsummer Night's 
 
 Dream " Mendelssohn. 
 
 The ode mentioned above, which had been written by 
 Mr. Brougham, and set to music by Mr. Alfred Mellon, was 
 as follows : 
 
 " What shall his crown be ? not the laurel leaf, 
 That blood be-sprinkled decks the warrior's head ; 
 Who grasps a glory, as destruction's chief, 
 A living monument to thousands dead ; 
 Bequeathing one vast legacy of grief; 
 Some pest incarnate, fed with human life, 
 Born of ambition or the lust of strife. 
 In regal coronet shall we proclaim 
 Him monarch ? That would circumscribe his worth; 
 A kingly diadem would only shame 
 The kinglier thought whose realm is the whole earth. 
 Such petty vanities but mock his fame. 
 Profane it not ! He is all crowns above 
 Hero of Peace, Evangelist of Love." 
 
 This was the only production of the kind during the 
 festival. An application had been made to the Poet 
 Laureate for an ode, but it was not successful. However, 
 this concert was, and formed an agreeable item amongst 
 the other entertainments. 
 
 The performance in the evening was the beautiful 
 comedy of 
 
 "AS TOU LIKE IT," 
 
 under the management of Mr. Ores wick, who was so 
 fortunate as to be able to cast it as undermentioned : 
 
 -r* i , f ,i i T -i TA i (Mrs. HERMANN VEZIN, 
 Rosalind . Daughter of the banished Duke | ^ Q Mrg c YOUNG) 
 
 CeUa . Daughter of Frederick . Miss REBECCA POWELL. 
 Pliebe A Shepherdess . . .' . . Miss BUFTON. 
 
 Aucbrey . A Country Wench . Miss CHARLOTTE SAUNDERS. 
 The J>uke . . . Living in exile . . . Mr. JAMES BENNETT. 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 227 
 
 Jaques } . Lords attending upon the f . Mr. CRESWICK. 
 Amiens ) . Duke in his banishment \ . Mr. W. H. CUMMINGS. 
 Orlando . Youngest Son of Sir Rowland de Bois . Mr. W. FARREN. 
 Adam . . Servant to Oliver . . Mr. CHIPPENDALE. 
 
 Touchstone ... A Clown . . . Mr. COMPTON. 
 
 Le Beau . A Courtier attending upon Frederick . Mr. BELFORD. 
 
 Oliver ...... Mr. EGBERT DOLMAN. 
 
 Charles .... A Wrestler .... Mr. H. PAYNE. 
 
 Jaques de Bois . Son of Sir Kowland . Mr. SIDDONS. 
 
 Eustace, Mr. POYNTER. Louis, Mr. ELDRED. Dennis, Mr. CONCANNEN. 
 
 Corin 1 a , -, ^ f Mr. WILLIAMS. 
 
 Sylvius ' j Shepherds J . Mr WARNER . 
 
 WilUam . A Country Fellow in love with Audrey . Mr. WORBOYS. 
 
 Lords belonging to the two Dukes, Ladies, Pages, Foresters, and other 
 Attendants. 
 
 The Play produced under the superintendence of Mr. CRESWICK. 
 
 Costumes gratuitously supplied by Mr. S. MAY. 
 
 Scenery under the direction of Mr. 0' CONNOR. 
 
 No performance gave more general satisfaction than 
 the above, as a glance at the cast will readily explain. "Mrs. 
 'Charles Young," said the Morning Post, "was warmly 
 cheered during the performance, and enthusiastically called 
 for at its close. Mr. Creswick had full scope for his great 
 abilities in the part of Jaques, and did full justice to the 
 character. Mr. Compton, as Touchstone, was full of quiet 
 drollery and humour. Miss Saunders', in the part of Audrey, 
 was an excellent performance, and the by-play and humour 
 of the country wench created an immense amount of 
 laughter. The piece was in every respect well put on the 
 stage. The scenery of the Forest of Arden left but little 
 to be desired, and the whole of the other portions was 
 highly creditable, considering the difficulties under which 
 the play was produced. The attendance was not quite so 
 large as on the previous night, but all present were well 
 pleased with the entertainment." 
 
228 TEECENTENAEY FESTIVAL. 
 
 SEVENTH DAY: FRIDAY. 
 FANCY BALL. 
 
 The Committee wisely gave their patrons and supporters 
 a rest during to-day, that they might be more lively and 
 agile at the ball in the evening. Time was also necessary 
 to look after dresses, and settle that most arduous under- 
 taking for the novice the getting into fancy costume and 
 making up for a character. Young ladies had bored their 
 friends and relatives for weeks, nay, months, on the im- 
 portant question of " What ought I to go as ?" They had 
 cudgelled their brains and tortured their ingenuity to dis- 
 cover the characters to be assumed by others, and the 
 garments to be adopted for the purpose. Young gentlemen 
 were perhaps equally nervously anxious on the subject. 1 
 know one who changed his mind about the character of his 
 adoption at least twenty times, ranging through " the 
 juveniles" from Romeo to Rosencrantz. Messrs. Simmonds 
 and Sons were the costumiers to the ball under the 
 patronage of the Committee, but Messrs. Nathan and May 
 did a fair share of the business. 
 
 The pavilion was put into admirable order, the floor 
 being waxed and well prepared for the dancers. Nothing 
 could exceed the efficiency of Messrs. Coote and Tinney's 
 quadrille band. The programme of the dances and music 
 was as follows : 
 
 1 ENGLISH COUNTRY DANCE . . 
 
 2 QUADRILLE . . . . " Cologne'* Coote. 
 
 3 VALSE "Ariel" Gung'l. 
 
 4 LANCERS " Original" Uor. 
 
 5 GALOP . . . -. . . " Locomotive" . . T. Browne. 
 
 6 QUADRILLE . . . . " Shakespeare" 
 
 (Arranged expressly for this occasion. 
 
 7 VALSE "Faust" . , 
 
 8 LANCERS " Old English" 
 
 9 VALSE " Humming Bird" 
 
 Coote. 
 
 Gounod. 
 Coote. 
 Coote, jwi. 
 A. Mellon. 
 Coote. 
 
 10 QUADRILLE . . . . " Dramatic College" 
 
 11 GALOP ......" Prince Imperial" . 
 
 12 LANCERS Tinney. 
 
 13 VALSE " Kate Kearney" .... Coote. 
 
 14 QUADRILLE . . . . " Faust" Goivnod. 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL . 229 
 
 15 GALOP ' Bel Demonic" .... Montgomery. 
 
 16 LANCEKS ' The Cure" . . . . . . Coote. 
 
 17 VALSE ' Fairy Fountain" . . . Frewin. 
 
 18 GALOP 'Tuberose" Balfe. 
 
 19 QUADRILLE . . . . ' She Stoops to Conquer" . Macfarren. 
 
 20 VALSE ' Village Rose" .... Coote. 
 
 21 GALOP ' Extravaganza" .... Coote. 
 
 The company were not limited to Shakespearian 
 characters, but in accordance with the recommendation of 
 the Committee they were generally adopted. About nine 
 o'clock, the hour appointed, there was an opening "sound of 
 revelry," and the dancers began to appear upon the floor, 
 and very shortly afterwards "motley was the only wear." 
 The warlike Britannia, with trident, helmet, and shield, was 
 followed by several delicate and dainty Perditas. A North 
 American Indian had happily foregathered on his travels 
 with a fair water nymph, and escorted her to the ball. 
 Hamlet had coted Othello on the way, and both picked up 
 with a party of jolly huntsmen, all of whom, with a sprink- 
 ling of Turkish Pachas, and a few Ophelias, keeping 
 naturally in the wake of the Prince of Denmark, got into 
 the room in a ruck. All sorts of characters began to arrive 
 in rapid succession, some very plain, almost divested of any 
 character in their exterior, others fantastic to a degree 
 heroes of peace and war, heroines ancient and modern, 
 ladies and gentlemen from the Pantheon in sandals con- 
 gregated amongst others in the latest court costume. A 
 couple of Shylocks, a Touchstone, and a solemn Egyptian 
 dignitary held a counsel on some grave question probably 
 of obtaining partners for the first set. "Mght," as was 
 observed, entered into confidential conversation with 
 " Morning " touching some rare toilette, doubtless, or the 
 aforesaid question of partners. The pretty innocent 
 Mirandas, and the gentle Desdemonas and fair Ophelias 
 mingled with brigands, Zouaves, and bearded warriors. 
 Benedict, Owen Glendower, a "nutty" little jockey, Edgar 
 of Ravenswood, and Harry the Eighth escorted Cordelia, 
 Rosalind, Ceres, " Spring," Portia, Juno, Mrs. Ford, and 
 Anne Page. In short, as the song says 
 
230 
 
 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 " There were warriors, and statesmen, priests, courtiers and pages, 
 All costumes, all grades, from all climes and all ages ; 
 And the eye sought in vain to dispel the illusion, 
 Mid the glitter and glare of that splendid confusion." 
 
 Amongst the company the following were observed : 
 
 Lord Leigh, as Lord-Lieutenant. 
 
 Sir W. Eraser, Bart., M.P., Garibaldi. 
 
 Sir J. Maxwell Stetch Graves, Bart., 
 in his Deputy -Lieutenant's Uniform. 
 
 Sir Lawrence Palk, Bart. , in Ms Deputy - 
 Lieutenant's Uniform. 
 
 Lady Palk, a Lady of the Sixteenth 
 Century. 
 
 Lady Hampson, Marie Antoinette. 
 
 Colonel Holdsworth. 
 
 The Hon. F. Byng, in his Deputy-Lieu- 
 tenant's Costume. 
 
 E. F. Flower, Esq., Mayor of Stratford, 
 in his Official Robes. 
 
 Colonel Bourne, Royal Lancashire 
 Artillery Militia. 
 
 Captain Hamilton, Stratford Rifles. 
 
 Mrs. Stanley Baldwin, Nerissa. 
 * Miss Bird, Spanish Lady. 
 
 Mrs. Brown, Lady of Louis Quatorze 
 period. 
 
 Miss Badger, Shipston, a Water 
 Nymph. 
 
 Mr. Bissel, Wolverhampton, Manrico, 
 "Trovatore." 
 
 Miss Lauri Brown, Leamington, 
 " Morning." 
 
 Mr. S. Bird, Mercutio. 
 
 Miss Baldwin, Portia. 
 
 Miss E. F. Burbury, Perdita. 
 
 Mr. G. G. Brown, Bassanio. 
 
 Mr. G. Baldwin, Shylock. 
 
 Mr. S. Baldwin, Antonio. 
 
 Mr. H. H. Burn, Lord Hastings. 
 
 Miss Bourne, Rosalind. 
 
 Miss H. Bourne, Celia. 
 
 Mr. D. G. Bourne, Court Dress. 
 
 Mrs. Bourne, Countess de Rosselin. 
 
 Mr. Alfred Baldwin, Lorenzo. 
 
 Mr. C. H. BraceTbridge, Deputy-Lieu- 
 tenant. 
 
 Lieutenant Baker, Birmingham Volun- 
 teers. 
 
 Mr. P. Butt, an Albanian Prince. 
 
 Miss Buller, "Spring." 
 
 Miss Booth, Juliet. 
 
 Mrs. R. Cox, Edinburgh, Don Caezar. 
 
 Mr. B. Campbell, Edgar do of Ravens- 
 wood. 
 
 The Miss Clifford, Perdita. 
 
 Mr. Cumberland, a Zouave. 
 
 Miss Calcraft, Cordelia. 
 
 Miss F. Calcraft, Anne Page. 
 
 Miss M. A. Cook, Jessica. 
 
 Mr. W. H. Child, Court Costume. 
 
 Mr. Corston, Lorenzo. 
 
 Mr. W. Colbourne, lachimo. 
 
 Mr. Alexander Carter, Benedict. 
 
 Miss Corrie, Lady of the time of Xing 
 George II. 
 
 Mr. W. Creswick, lago. 
 
 Mr. Dowson, a Brigand. 
 
 Mr. Davis, Bickmarsh, Charles II. 
 
 Mr. Dighton, the Duke Vicentio. 
 
 Mrs. Dighton, Olivia. 
 
 Miss Duke, Perdita. 
 
 Miss F. Duke, Helena. 
 
 Mr. Dadley, Cassio. 
 
 Miss Ellen Dennis, Titania. 
 
 Mr. Fielding, Capucious. " Henry 
 VIII." 
 
 Miss Featherstone, Juno, *' Tem- 
 pest." 
 
 Miss E. Featherstone, Ceres. 
 
 Mrs. Fielding, Mrs. ford. 
 
 Mr. Charles Flower, Lieutenant of 
 Volunteers. 
 
 Mr. E. Flower, Longaville, " Love's 
 Labour's Lost." 
 
 Mrs. E. Flower, Hermione. 
 
 Mrs. Greenway, Lady Capulet. 
 
 Mr. Kelynge Greenway, Benedict. 
 
 Mr. C. Durfort Greenway, Owen Glen- 
 dower. 
 
 Mr. J. Garner, jun., Tatchbrooke, 
 Turkish Officer. 
 
 Miss Gibbs, Miranda. 
 
 Mr. Guy, Charles I. 
 
 Mr. Win. Greener, a Gentleman of the 
 Elizabethan period. 
 
 Mrs. F. Gibbs, The Princess Catharine. 
 
 Miss Gibbes, Ophelia. 
 
 Miss Steele Graves, Jessica. 
 
 Mrs. F. T. Gill, a Spanish Countess. 
 
 The Misses Guy, Shepherdesses. 
 
 Mr. Wm. Gibbs, Court Costume. 
 
 Miss C. D. Greenway, Beatrice. 
 
 Miss C. M. Greenway, Mrs. Wisis. 
 
 Miss P. N. Greenway, Quadrille. 
 
 Mr. Honner, of the King's School, 
 Warwick, Elizabethan Character. 
 
 Mr. Hobbs, Bickmarsh, Edward, Page 
 to Charles II. 
 
 Mr. O. Hunt, a Spanish Medator. 
 
 Mr. Hammond, Wm. Shakespeare. 
 
 Mr. Gilbert Hamilton, Leamington, 
 one of George IPs Guards. 
 
 Mr. Handford, 1st Middlesex Artillery. 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 231 
 
 Miss Hamilton, Fancy Dress. 
 
 Mr. Gilbert Hamilton, Sir Roger de 
 
 Coverley. 
 
 Mrs. Hamilton, Countess of Essex. 
 Mr. Wm. Hteherington, Manchester, 
 
 Captain of Volunteers. 
 Mr. Wm. Hartley, Hamlet. 
 Mr. E. R. Hartley, Mercutio. 
 Miss Hartley, " Night." 
 Miss J. Hartley, 'Morning.'* 
 Miss Hartley, Yorkshire, Helena. 
 Miss Hawkes, Tolton, Fl-ower Girl. 
 Miss M. Holbech, Lady Macbeth. 
 Miss Hobbes, Silvia. 
 Miss M. Hobbes, Scotch Girl. 
 Mr. E. W. Jones, Deputy-Lieutenant. 
 Mr. J. Jervoise, Stretton, Prince 
 
 Ferdinand. 
 Mr. J. H. L. Jones, Lieutenant, City of 
 
 Worcester Rifles. 
 Mr. Jell, Liverpool, Malvolio. 
 Mrs. Kingsley, "Night." 
 Miss Keating, Birmingham, Lady 
 
 Capulet. 
 
 Miss Kendall, a Shepherdess. 
 Mr. T. B. Lucy, Naval Captain. 
 Mrs. T. B. Lucy, Beatrice. 
 Mr. E. J. Lucy, an Ensign in the 
 
 Volunteers. 
 
 Miss L. Lowe, Maid of Honour. 
 Mr. Lea, Birmingham, a Gentleman 
 
 of the Court of Queen Elizabeth. 
 Mrs. Lea, a Lady of the Court of Queen 
 
 Elizabeth. 
 Mr. H. Lane, Assistant Surgeon. 
 
 S.R.V.C. 
 
 Mrs. Henry Lane, a Lady of the Six- 
 teenth Century. 
 
 Mr. Margetts, jun., Turkish Pacha. 
 Mr. Moore, jun., Warwick, Sir Walter 
 
 Raleigh. 
 
 Lady Mordaunt, Fancy Dress. 
 Mr. John Morgan, an Elizabethan 
 
 Courtier. 
 
 Mr. E. G. Muntz, Radford, an Eliza- 
 bethan Courtier. 
 Miss Mills, Katharine. 
 Mr. A. A. March, a Florentine Noble. 
 Mr. Buxton Morrish, Valentine. 
 Miss Newman, Juliet. 
 Mr. Nichol, Brighton, Charles I. 
 Miss D. Neill, Lucetta. 
 Mr. Nason, Court Costume. 
 Mr. Peyton, Turkish Pacha. 
 Miss Peyton, Lady of Louis Quatorze 
 
 period. 
 
 Miss Pearce, Grantham, "Spring." 
 Mr. W. Pearce, one of the Attendants 
 
 at the Court of Henry VIII. 
 Miss Plowright, Ophelia. 
 Mr. John Paget, Prospero. 
 
 Miss Paget, a Peasant in Brittany. 
 
 Mr. Guy Paget, a Neapolitan. 
 
 Mr. E,. N. Philips, Deputy -Lieutenant 
 
 of Lancashire. 
 Mrs. R. N. Philips, Katharine of 
 
 Aragon. 
 
 Miss Philips, a Shepherdess. 
 Dr. Porter, Birmingham, Court Cos- 
 tume. 
 
 Mrs. Prideux, "Night." 
 Mr. D. Rice, Volunteer. 
 Mr. R. Scott, The Earl of Rochester. 
 Miss L. Smith, Bruton, Perdita. 
 Miss M. Sale, Shipston, Ceres. 
 Miss Sharshaw, Guernsey, a Water 
 
 Nymph. 
 
 Mrs. Smith, a Polish Lady. 
 Mr. G. Shepherd, Othello. 
 Mrs. G. Shepherd, Desdemona. 
 Mr. Gus. T. Smith, Uniform W.H.C. 
 Mr. T. Smith, Prince Ferdinand. 
 Mr. Sims, Staffer dshire, Lord Leicester. 
 Mrs. Sims, Ophelia. 
 Miss Synge, Anne Boleyn. 
 Miss Simpson, Birmingham, Miranda. 
 Miss Schmidt, a Gipsy Queen. 
 The Misses Shelley, Ladies of the 
 
 Court of Louis XIV. 
 Mr. Spicer, an Officer in the Militia. 
 Mrs. Simpson, Birmingham, Lady 
 
 Capulet. 
 Mrs. J. Tibbits, Warwick, a Lady of 
 
 Queen Elizabeth's time. 
 Mr. J. W. Thomson, a Huguenot. 
 Mr. Wm. Thompson, Charles II. 
 Mr. Tanner, Hamlet. 
 Miss Thompson, a Spanish Girl. 
 Mr. G. Unett, Leamington, The Earl 
 
 of Essex. 
 Mrs. J. A. Tompson, Gondomar, Spanish 
 
 Ambassador. 
 
 Mr. Unett, Henry, Prince of Wales. 
 Mrs. Unett, Portia. 
 Mrs. Wood, Anne Boleyn. 
 Mr. C. Williams, Touchstone. 
 Miss A. Watson, a Lady of Louit 
 
 Quatorze period. 
 
 Mrs. Washbourn, Swiss Peasant. 
 Miss West, a Hungarian Peasant. 
 Mr. W. Warrilow, Valentine. 
 Mr. Augustus Wise, an Elizabethan. 
 
 Character. 
 
 Mr. C. Warden, Henry VIII. 
 Mrs. Williams, Hereford, Britannia. 
 Mr. Williams, Hereford, Indian Chief. 
 Master Williams, Jockey. 
 Mr. R. N. Ward, Manchester Volunteers. 
 Mr. R. Walker, jun., Bassanio. 
 Mr. E. C, Webber, Costume of James II. 
 Miss Gertrude Young, Miranda. 
 
232 TEECENTENAEY FESTIVAL. 
 
 The entire company numbered between three and four 
 hundred ; but there were more than twice as many spectators 
 in evening costume in the gallery. Dancing commenced 
 about ten o'clock, and the scene became indescribably 
 beautiful novel ever varying, as brilliant, gay, and 
 delightful as the hundreds of jets that illumined the pavilion, 
 the rainbow-hued costumes, and the host of gaudy figures 
 could make it. 
 
 " A thousand hearts beat happily : 
 And when music arose with its voluptuous swell, 
 Soft eyes looked love to eyes which spake again, 
 And all went merry as a marriage bell." 
 
 Dancing was kept up with indefatigable vigour till five 
 o'clock in the morning, when, as was generally observed, 
 the Shakespeare tercentenary celebration proper had come 
 to a magnificent conclusion. 
 
 EIGHTH DAT : SATUEDAY. 
 THE PAGEANT. 
 
 Saturday was spent generally in resting after the enjoy- 
 ments and fatigues of the week, especially by all who had 
 taken part in the scene of the previous evening, but by 
 a number in preparing for the popular entertainments 
 originally intended to commence forthwith, but as the 
 pavilion was not quite ready for the second series of per- 
 formances, a postponement till Monday became unavoidable. 
 The programme for the people's week, prepared by the 
 Committee, comprised a promenade concert, a balloon ascent, 
 for which Mr. Coxwell was engaged, a public ball, and the 
 performances of Shakespeare's plays. Still the absence of the 
 pageant appeared to many to be "a mar in the great feast, 
 and all things unbecoming." For some time it was doubtful 
 whether this section of the community would carry their 
 point, and in fact a week before the birthday nothing had 
 been done in the matter. On the 14th of April, however, 
 the often discussed question came up again at a convivial 
 meeting in "the Shakespeare." Mr. Ginnett, the equestrian 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 233 
 
 manager, who had just come off a journey in South Wales, 
 happened to be present, and took part in the conversation. 
 Time and money seemed wanting, when Mr. Grinnett made 
 a generous proposal, in relation to both requirements. 
 " If," he said, "you get up a pageant, I'll find you horses, 
 carriages, and all my company to take part in it at my own 
 expense." This settled the question. A provisional Com- 
 mittee was formed at once, and several guineas there and 
 then subscribed. A deputation waited the following day 
 on the Mayor, who, after some discussion of the subject, 
 granted permission for the pageant to pass through the 
 principal streets of the town, and contributed 5 towards 
 the funds. Subsequently a public meeting was held, and a 
 Committee formed consisting of 
 
 Mr. John Talbot, Chairman, 
 
 Mr. J. E. H. Greves, 
 F. Ginnett, 
 W. G. F. Bolton, 
 Hy. Coombs, 
 Thomas Birch, 
 Moses Hands, 
 John Court, Church Street, 
 John Walker, 
 
 Mr. James Coles, 
 John Louch, 
 Russell, 
 Alfred Wilson, 
 Win. Hutchings, 
 Thomas Bobbins, 
 Jelleyman, 
 John Inns. 
 
 Messrs. J. E. H. Greves, and W. G. F. Bolton were appointed 
 Hon. Secretaries to the Committee, and Mr. John Court, of Church 
 Street, was named as Treasurer. The town -was then divided into 
 districts, and duly canvassed for contributions. A sum more than 
 adequate for the purpose was raised. 
 
 Posters were then got out and well circulated, and 
 ultimately the following programme was issued : 
 
 " SALUTATION AND GREETING TO YOU ALL ! " 
 
 As You Like It. Act 5, s. 4. 
 
 STRATFORD-UPON-AVON TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 A Grand Pageant and Jubilee Procession, in honour of the natal 
 day of Shakespeare, on Monday and Tuesday, May 2nd and 3rd, 1864, 
 
234 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 and which will start from the Grand National Pavilion, near the 
 Unicorn Hotel, each morning at eleven o'clock. 
 
 " 'Tis well : the citizens have shown at full their royal minds, as they are 
 
 ever forward, 
 In celebration of this day, with shows, pageants, and sights of honour." 
 
 Henry VIII. Act 4, s. 1. 
 
 PROGRAMME OF THE PAGEANT. 
 
 Two Heralds, with trumpets, on horseback; Boy with Union Jack; 
 the Boyal Standard of England (borne by two men) ; Boy with Union 
 Jack; Boy with Banner; Bellman; Boy with Banner; Flag; Flag 
 (Red, White, and Blue) ; Boy with Flag ; the Band of the Stratford- 
 upon-Avon Rifle Corps ; Boy with Flag. 
 
 " The spirit-stirring drum, the piercing fife. 
 The royal banner, and all quality, 
 
 Pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war." 
 
 Othello. Act 3, s. 3. 
 
 Banner of the Arms of Stratford-upon- Avon ; the Device of Shake- 
 speare ; Banner of the Arms of Shakespeare (carried by two men) ; 
 the Device of Shakespeare; Ginnett's Band in Carriage (drawn by 
 four cream-coloured horses) ; St. George, on horseback, in full armour ; 
 St. George's Banner, borne by his Esquire, on horseback; Page with 
 Prince of Wales' Feather ; Banner of the Arms of the Prince of 
 Wales ; Page with Prince of Wales' Feather ; Melpomene, the Tragic 
 Muse (in a black draped car, drawn by four black and white horses, 
 with four Furies in position on the car); Banner; "King Lear" 
 Xing Lear, Edgar, as Mad Tom; Banner; "Richard the Third" 
 King Richard the Third, on horseback ; Banner ; " Macbeth " Three 
 Witches, with cauldron, and many-coloured fires, Macbeth, General of 
 the King of Scotland; Banner; "Othello" Othello, lago ; Banner; 
 "King John" King John (on horseback), Faulconbridge (on horse- 
 back) ; Banner; "Hamlet" Hamlet, The Ghost; Banner; Page 
 with Flag; "Romeo and Juliet" Romeo and Juliet, in a chariot, 
 drawn by two white ponies, Friar Laurence; Page with Flag; 
 Banner; Anthony and Cleopatra, in a car, drawn by two ponies 
 abreast; Banner; Page with Flag ; " Henry the Eighth " Henry the 
 Eighth (on horseback) ; Banner of the Ancient Arms of England; 
 Page with Flag ; Banner of the Prince and Princess of Wales ; the 
 Stratford-upon- Avon Brass Band; Boy with Flag; Boy with Flag; 
 Thalia, the Comic Muse, on a car draped with fantastic devices, 
 surrounded by four Harpies, and drawn by four spotted horses; 
 Banner; "The Tempest" Prosper o, Caliban, Ariel, Miranda; 
 Banner ; " Winter's Tale " Shepherd, Autotycus ; Banner ; Page with 
 Flag; "A Midsummer Night's Dream" Oberdn and Titania, in a 
 fairy car, drawn by two ponies abreast, Bottom ye Weaver; Page 
 with Flag ; Banner ; " Merchant of Venice " Shylock, Portia ; Ban- 
 ner; "The Merry Wives of Windsor" Sir John Falstaff, Mrs. Ford, 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 235 
 
 and Ifrs. Page; Banner; "Henry the Fifth" King Henry the Fifth 
 (on horseback) ; Banner of the Ancient Arms of England ; Heralds ; 
 Pistol and Bardolph (on two ponies) ; a Grand Triumphal Car, deco- 
 rated with armorial bearings and devices, Shakespeare on an eminence, 
 surrounded by Desdemona, Ophelia, Beatrice, and Queen Anne, Car- 
 dinal Wolsey, Prince of Wales, Richmond, and Benedict. 
 
 " He was a man, take him for all in all, 
 I shall not look upon his like again." 
 
 Samlet. Aet 1, 8. 2. 
 
 Banner, the Eoyal Standard of England; Grand Military Band. 
 
 Ye Warwickshire lads and ye lasses, 
 See what at pur jubilee passes ; 
 Come revel away, rejoice and be glad, 
 For the lad of all lads was a Warwickshire lad, 
 Warwickshire lad - } 
 All be glad, 
 For the lad of all lads was a Warwickshire lad. 
 
 ROUTE OF THE PAGEANT. 
 
 From Ginnett's Grand National Pavilion, near the Unicorn Hotel, 
 along Bridge Street and Henley Street to the Birth-place of the Bard 
 of Avon, where solemn and appropriate Shakespearian music, by 
 Dr. Arne, will be played. It will then proceed round the corner of the 
 Old Post Office, along the Guild Pits, Union Street, High Street, 
 Chapel Street, Church Street, Bull Lane, Sanctus Street, College 
 Street, Old Town, Bree Street, Eother Street, Ely Street, Sheep 
 Street, Upper Water Side, the left side of Bridge Street, Wood 
 Street, Eother Street, Windsor Street, Guild Street, Tyler Street, 
 Payton Street, Warwick Eoad, to the National Pavilion. 
 
 Mr. Ginnett, the celebrated equestrian, has most handsomely placed 
 the whole of his magnificent stud of horses and equestrian troupe, 
 properly caparisoned in appropriate Shakespearian costumes, at the 
 service of the pageant Committee free of charge. 
 
 The dresses, armour, &c., for the procession, will be supplied by 
 Messrs. J. Nathan and Winter, costumiers to Her Majesty's court 
 balls, Castle Street, Leicester Square, London; and the procession 
 will be marshalled by Mr. Joseph Tyrrell, stage manager, Liverpool. 
 
 Donations received by members of the pageant Committee, and 
 by the Treasurer, JOHN COURT, Church Street. 
 
 JOHN TALBOT, Chairman. 
 J. E. H. GREVES, ) TT 
 W. G. P. BOLTON, j Hon - Secs - 
 
 CoxwelTs monstre Balloon will ascend on Monday, May 2nd. 
 
 " GOD SAVE THE QUEEN ! " 
 
 Richard III. Act 4, *. 1. 
 
236 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 NINTH DAY: MONDAY. 
 
 ^ 
 
 The weather, so long fine, began to show signs of change. 
 Rain fell heavily on Sunday night, but despite this unpro- 
 pitious appearance the news of the pageant, which .had got 
 abroad, had so roused the country people that they crowded 
 in thousands to Stratford-upon-Avon. Every train brought 
 hundreds, whilst vehicles of all shapes and designs poured 
 laden with visitors into the town. Mr. Ginnett had arrived 
 with his circus. A number of other parties were engaged 
 for impersonation of characters in the pageant, and the 
 whole strength of the company, having mustered about ten 
 o'clock, were arranged and marshalled in about an hour 
 afterwards. 
 
 By this time it had pleased the aerial potentates to 
 grant fair weather to the people's festival, and amid the 
 crashing of martial music the procession started from 
 " Ginnett 's Grand National Pavilion," near the Unicorn 
 Hotel. The streets at the time were crowded to in- 
 convenience; the flags still floated and glittered from the 
 house tops and windows, and the pageant presented no 
 such ridiculous appearance as may have been supposed by 
 those who only read descriptions of it. Of course there is 
 always in the best of such displays something to laugh at, 
 and the cynic, like the jealous, makes the meat he feeds on ; 
 but those who are best acquainted with the getting up of 
 such spectacles are well aware that however absurd they 
 may appear to the grave or sour, the true philosopher 
 knows they amuse the people, and make lasting impressions 
 on their memories and feelings. 
 
 Having set out from the Unicorn, the pageant, arranged 
 according to the programme above quoted, passed up 
 Bridge Street, and along Henley Street to the birth-place 
 of Shakespeare, "where solemn and appropriate Shake- 
 spearian music" by Dr. Arne was played. It then passed 
 round the corner of the Old Post Office, along the Guild 
 Pits, Union Street, Higji Street, Chapel Street, Church 
 Street, Bull Lane, Sanctus Street, College Street, Old 
 Town, Bree Street, Rother Street, Ely Street, Sheep 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 237 
 
 Street, Upper Water Side, the left side of Bridge Street, 
 Wood Street, Rotter Street, Windsor Street, Guild Street, 
 Tyler Street, Payton Street, Warwick Road, and so back 
 to the " National Pavilion." 
 
 Some of the characters were very fairly represented 
 the dresses were good, and considering the short time at 
 the disposal of the Committee, their labours were meritorious, 
 and must have been useful to their fellow tradesmen by the 
 crowds which they attracted to Stratford. A funny incident 
 occurred as the procession passed through the town. Mad 
 Tom, in "Lear," was personated by a very clever Irish 
 ballad singer, who happened to be amongst the illustrious 
 strangers in Stratford at the period in question. He was 
 representing the character admirably, when one of the 
 police force who doubtless thought the part ought to be 
 sustained with "all the nice conduct of a clouded cane " 
 went up to him and cautioned him to "keep step," and 
 refrain from his disorderly deportment in the ranks ! 
 
 At two o'clock there was a concert at the great pavilion, 
 and a performance at Ginnett's pavilion. The latter, a 
 very large and beautiful tent, was attended by some 
 fifteen hundred spectators. The band of the Royal 
 Scots Greys attracted a good audience at the Committee's 
 pavilion, and several fantasias on the flute by Master J. C. 
 Arlidge elicited loud applause. There was a ball in the 
 evening which was well attended. 
 
 TENTH DAY : TUESDAY. 
 
 The weather remained steadily fine. The procession 
 again passed through the town by the route above named. 
 As on the previous day the streets were crowded. Indeed, 
 it was said that a greater number of people visited Stratford 
 on these two days than had been present during the whole 
 week before. Equestrian and other performances and 
 entertainments amused the people. The balloon had 
 proved a failure. Gas in sufficient quantity could not be 
 obtained to inflate it, and it had to be taken down, packed 
 up and carried back to London. In the evening the tragedy 
 
238 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 of " Othello" was played to a very large audience in the 
 pavilion. The principal characters were cast as follows : 
 
 Othello Mr. CRESWICK. 
 
 lago Mr. JAMES BENNETT. 
 
 Brabantio Mr. VOLLAIRE. 
 
 Cassia Mr. VANDENHOFF. 
 
 Roderigo Mr. WARBOYS. 
 
 Desdemona Miss BUFTON. 
 
 Emelia Miss A. BOWERING. 
 
 This performance gave general satisfaction. 
 
 ELEVENTH DAT: WEDNESDAY. 
 
 Old Stratford to-day began to resume something of her 
 wonted quietude. The flags and banners had coiled them- 
 selves round their staves, as if weary of the fluttering and 
 flapping they had had for nearly a fortnight. People 
 talked of the tercentenary celebration as over at last, but 
 there was still a concluding and very respectable perform- 
 ance to take place. 
 
 " MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING " 
 
 was played at the pavilion this evening. 
 
 Benedick Mr. CRESWICK. 
 
 Don Pedro Mr. JAMES BENNETT. 
 
 Claudio Mr. HERMANN VEZIN. 
 
 Leonato Mr. NANTON. 
 
 Dogberry Mr. VOLLAIRE. 
 
 Verges . . . . Mr. WARBOYS. 
 
 Beatrice Mrs. HERMANN VEZIN. 
 
 (Late Mrs. CHARLES YOUNG.) 
 
 Hero Miss BUFTON. 
 
 After which the " Trial Scene" from the 
 
 "MERCHANT OF VENICE."^ 
 
 Shylock Mr. JAMES BENNETT. 
 
 Bassanio Mr. HERMANN VEZIN. 
 
 Oratiano Mr. SIDDONS. 
 
 Portia Mrs. HERMANN VEZIN. 
 
 (Late Mrs. CHARLES YOUNG.) 
 Nerissa Miss TURNER. 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 239 
 
 Prices of Admission to these performances were Lower Tier and Pit, 
 One Shilling ; Upper Tier, Two Shillings ; Reserved Seats and Area 
 Stalls, Three Shillings. The doors opened at Six o'clock, the curtain 
 rose at Seven precisely. Excursion Trains ran on the Great Western, 
 and London and North Western Railways from Birmingham, Wolver- 
 hampton, and Worcester. 
 
 For these performances the ladies and gentlemen were 
 engaged professionally, the gratuitous services being con- 
 fined to the first week. Entrusted to the management of 
 Mr. Ores wick, it is needless to say the "mounting" of the 
 plays on the last three evenings was as perfect as possible 
 under the circumstances, or that the characters in which 
 he appeared were sustained in a manner worthy of the 
 position he occupies. Mr. Bennett's lago and Sliylock have 
 been long favourably known in the provinces ; and in the 
 present state of the profession, Mrs. Young can scarcely be 
 said to have a rival. Amongst the other members of the 
 company several well known names bear their own com- 
 mendations, so that these concluding entertainments, as may 
 be readily supposed, elicited as much applause and proved 
 fully as successful as any of their predecessors during the 
 celebration. 
 
 THE FINALE. 
 
 With the fall of the curtain over the fourth act of the 
 "Merchant of Venice," the Shakespeare tercentenary cele- 
 bration terminated. The event of the year 1864 in Strat- 
 ford was fortunate in many respects. It was favoured with 
 glorious weather ; it was a splendid, a peaceful, and most 
 orderly demonstration a petty squabble implicating but 
 one individual, being the only case during the entire 
 festival calling for magisterial enquiry. But the festival 
 was specially blessed in this, that of the many thousands 
 engaged as promoters or patrons of it not one sustained 
 the slightest personal injury. JSTo widow or orphan 
 associates his or her bereavement with this joyful occasion. 
 
 The magnitude of the conception and the indomitable 
 energy with which, despite hindrances and irritating dis- 
 appointments, the great undertaking was carried out, are 
 
240 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 worthy of high and abiding commendation. Stratford-upon- 
 Avon has certainly earned for itself the lasting admiration 
 of the country, for never did any town of its size and 
 resources plan and realise so grand a festival. Some clever 
 discerning people beheld in the speculative eye of the 
 Stratfordians nothing throughout the business but self- 
 aggrandisement ; others charitably thought they were all 
 mad ! But these legitimate descendants of the old gentle- 
 man who " hung out in a tub," never felt a throb of pure 
 patriotism, and never were gifted with the power of appre- 
 ciating " the genius of our isle," or they would have known 
 that no jubilee, however stupendous or magnificent, could 
 adequately honour the memory of the man whose works 
 will live when those of kings, emperors, poets, philosophers, 
 and heroes have faded away like the mirage of the desert. 
 His works, I am thankful to say, are growing more popular 
 daily ; and one great result of the late celebration will be 
 to increase the number of their readers, and, let me hope, 
 the patrons also of the theatres at which they shall be 
 worthily performed. For my own part, my knowledge of 
 them is but limited and superficial. There is employment 
 for the leisure of my life in reading and studying them, 
 and at last I shall probably feel with ISTewton, " I have only 
 been playing with pebbles on the strand, whilst before me 
 lay the unexplored ocean." But from what I do know of 
 his works, I can say with all due reverence, blessed be (rod 
 for Shakespeare. 
 
 In subjoining a list of the contributors to the late 
 festival and the ulterior objects contemplated, I regret that 
 I have not been able to attach the Committee's balance 
 sheet, although I have detained the issue of this book in 
 hopes of being able to do so. In the meantime, rumours 
 have got abroad that there will be a serious deficit in the 
 exchequer, arising, in some measure, from unexpected 
 demands on the part of those eminent artistes who were 
 announced as giving their services gratuitously on the 
 occasion. I am not aware of a case of the kind, nor do I 
 think any has occurred save one, arising out of a supposed 
 slight or want of appreciation on the part of the Committee, 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 241 
 
 all of which has been explained away. But the expenses of 
 carriage, of railway fare, board and lodging, workmen, 
 servants, London managers' " costs out of pocket," will 
 form an aggregate amount of startling magnitude. The 
 sum expended in advertising is something which ere now 
 has, in all probability, drawn a few hasty expletives from 
 the Chairman of the finance Committee ; and, to descend 
 from great to small things, I know the postage stamps 
 cost, in one quarter of the year, nearly forty pounds. I 
 do not " for a' that, and mickle mair than a' that" believe 
 that the financial condition of the Committee is nearly as 
 bad as it seems. And, furthermore, I believe a national 
 monument will yet be raised to Shakespeare in Stratford- 
 upon-Avon. To make a remark which is quite original 
 if I have not made it before, as I strongly suspect 
 " Rome was not built in a day." That the aspirations 
 of the Committee deserve to be realised none will deny, 
 and that they shall be so, we are not without reason to 
 believe from the following 
 
 LIST OF CONTRIBUTIONS. 
 
 The Right Hon. Lord Leigh 
 
 Sir R. N. C. Hamilton, Bart, K.C.B. 
 
 The Rev. GranviUe Granville 
 
 E. F. Flower, Esq. 
 
 C. Holte Bracebridge, Esq. 
 
 Robert Hiorne Hobbs, Esq. 
 
 Mark Philips, Esq. 
 
 The Rev. J. C. Young 
 
 W. O. Hunt, Esq. 
 
 Mr. E. Adams 
 
 Mr. W. Stephenson 
 
 Charles E . Flower, Esq. ... 
 
 Edgar Flower, Esq. 
 
 Mr. R. M. Bird 
 
 Mr. E dwar d Gibbs 
 
 Mr. W. G. F. Colbourne ... 
 
 Mr. W. Thompson 
 
 Mr. W. Gibbs 
 
 Mr. W. Lowry 
 Messrs. J. Cox and Son 
 J. J. Nason, Esq., M.B. 
 
 -_ ., To the 
 Monumental 
 SchooL Memorial. 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 d. 
 
 
 
 s. 
 
 d. 
 
 105 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 25 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 50 
 
 "6 
 
 
 
 50 
 
 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 50 
 
 
 
 
 
 10 io 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 50 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 20 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 20 
 
 
 
 o 
 
 5 
 
 "o 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 o 
 
 To the 
 
 Festival 
 
 Fund. 
 
 s. d. 
 
 10 10 
 
 10 
 
 500 
 
 500 
 
 10 
 
 500 
 
 40 
 
 10 10 
 
 10 
 
 100 
 
 110 
 
 500 
 
 110 
 
 220 
 
 500 
 500 
 200 
 500 
 
242 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 Tothp To the To the 
 
 Monumental Festival 
 
 Memorial. Fund 
 
 s. d. s. d. s . d. 
 
 Mr. H. Samman ... ... 10 500 30 
 
 W . J. Harding, Esq., Baraset ... ... 30 00 500 
 
 Mr. J. Bennett ... ... ... .... 550 110 
 
 H. Lane, Esq. ... ... ... 500 ... 50 
 
 Mr. C. F. Loggin ... ... ... ... 10 110 
 
 Mr. W. L. Norris ... ... ... ... 10 110 
 
 C. T. Warde, Esq. ... ... ... 10 10 52 10 10 10 
 
 W. Greener, Esq. ... ... ... ... 25 110 
 
 John Lane, Esq. ... ... ... ... 20 200 
 
 Mr. Robert Walker ... ... ... 20 220 
 
 Mr. John New ... ... ... ... 10 10 110 
 
 Mr. John Morgan ... ... ... ... 440 11 (> 
 
 Mr. John Bachelor... ... ... ... 10 10 110 
 
 John Baldwin, Esq., Luddington ... ... 10 10 
 
 Mr. Robert Gibbs ... ... ... ... 10 110 
 
 Mr. M. C. Ashwin ... ... ... ... 10 
 
 Messrs. J. and G. Callaway ... ... 10 200 
 
 Mr. Charles Thomas ... ... ... 10 110 
 
 J. Cove Jones, Esq. ... ... ... 10 
 
 T. S. Burman, Esq. ... ... ... 10 300 
 
 Mr. H. Downing ... ... ... ... 550 
 
 Mr. John Moss ... ... ... ... 550 
 
 Messrs. J. Bebb and Co. ... ... ... 550 
 
 Mr. G. Lindsay ... ... ... ... 550 110 
 
 Mr. F. Winter ... ... ... ... 550 
 
 Mr. H.W. Newton... ... ... ... 550 110 
 
 Mr. John Walker ... ... ... ... 650 100 
 
 Mr. W. Ennals ... ... ... ... 550 110 
 
 Mr. W. K. Bwen ... ... ... ... 550 110 
 
 Mr. W. Holtom ... ... ... 10 500 10 
 
 Mr. S. Bromley ... ... ... ... 500 
 
 Mr. T. Humphriss ... ... ... ... 500 
 
 Mr. W. H. Haden ... ... ... ... 500 
 
 The Rev. T. R. Medwin ... ... 500 500 200 
 
 The Rev. F. Annesley, Clifford ... ... 500 
 
 Mr. E. H. Hawkes ... ... ... ... 500 
 
 Mr. C. D. Pratt ... ... ... ... 500 100 
 
 The Rev. W. Morton ... ... ... 500 
 
 Mr. R. Lapworth ... ... ... ... 500 
 
 Mr. W. Pearce ... ... ... ... 500 500 
 
 Mr. Joseph Holtom ... ... ... 600 
 
 J. C. Adkins, Esq., Milcote... ... ... 500 
 
 The Rev. A. H. Lea, Loxley ... ... 500 500 
 
 Joseph Townsend, Esq., Alveston ... ... 600 
 
 The Rev. M. C. Tompson, Alderminster ... 5 o 
 
 Mr. T. Hutchings ... ... ... 550 100 
 
 J. Gamble, Esq. ... ... ... ... 500 100 
 
 Mr. J. Court ... ... ... 110 220 220 
 
 Mr. T. Adams, Birmingham /... ... 500 
 
 Gustayus T. Smith, Esq. ... ... ... 10 
 
 Captain Peach, Idlicote ... ... ... 10 
 
 Arthur Crowdy, Esq., Billesley ... 600 500 100 
 
 H. J. Starkey, Esq. ... ... ... 10 
 
 Mr. W. Knights ... ... ... 600 110 
 
 J. R. West, Esq., Alscot Park ... ... 25 
 
 Charles Lucy, Esq.... ... ... ... 25 600 
 
 T. B. Lucy, Esq. ... ... ... 10 
 
 The Rev. W. Baesett 600 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 243 
 
 H. D. Dighton, Esq. 
 
 John Hardy, Esq. 
 
 E. P. Shirley, Esq., M.P., F.S.A. 
 
 H. O. Hunt, Esq. ... 
 
 Mrs. G. Holbech ... 
 
 The Corporation of Stra 
 
 Miss Newland 
 
 Messrs. Price and Co., Gloucester ... 
 
 Messrs. Hillhouse and Son, London 
 
 Mr. Martin Lucy, Malvern 
 
 Sir Charles Mordaunt, Bart., M.P. ... 
 
 Chas. Gassiott, Esq., London 
 
 J. F. Cosens, Esq., London 
 
 Messrs. Willis and Sotheran, London 
 
 Admiral Smyth, K.S.F., 
 
 M. T. Bass, Esq., M.P. 
 
 R. N. Philips, Esq., Manchester 
 
 The Hon. Charles Lennox Butler 
 
 Sir Francis Graham Moon, Bart., F.S.A. 
 
 J, G. Nichols, Esq., F.S.A. 
 
 T. R. Cobb, Esq., Banbury 
 
 Alfred Morrisson, Esq., Fonthill 
 
 H. G. Bohn, Esq., London 
 
 H. Edwards, Esq., London 
 
 W. M. Neill, Esq., Hampstead 
 
 Sampson Lloyd, Esq., Birmingham 
 
 Richard Greaves, Esq., Warwick 
 
 The Rev. R. Prichard, Newbold 
 
 The Corporation of Boston 
 
 W. Hepworth Dixon, Esq. 
 
 Messrs. Cunliffe, Dobson, and Co. 
 
 Charles M. Caldecott, Esq., Rugby... 
 
 R. C. Heath, Esq., Warwick 
 
 The Right Rev. The Lord Bishop of 
 
 Worcester 
 
 Robert Leech, Esq., Leamington . 
 His Grace The Duke of Manchester 
 Eaton Hall, Esq., Bebington, Cheshire 
 Joseph Ellis, Esq., Brighton 
 Mitchell Henry, Esq., London 
 Frederick Dinsdale, Esq., LI 
 
 Leamington 
 
 Messrs. S. and W. H. Teulon 
 Captain Lomax 
 J. Dugdale, jun., Esq. 
 J. E. Todd, Esq., Bayswater 
 The Right Hon. The Earl of Harrowby 
 H. A. Bowyer, Esq. 
 A. Morrison, Esq., London... 
 John Faurie, Esq., London 
 Edward Wood, Esq. 
 Charles Knight, Esq. 
 Lord Wrottesley ... 
 Earl of Dartmouth 
 A. Penizzi, Esq. 
 Mayor of Liverpool 
 W. Tite, Esq., M.P. 
 J. Bazley, Esq. 
 
 
 To the 
 School. 
 
 To the 
 Monumental 
 Memorial. 
 
 To the 
 
 Festival 
 Fund. 
 
 
 8. d. 
 
 s. d. 
 
 s. d. 
 
 
 
 500 
 
 
 
 i "i o 
 
 550 
 
 5 5 
 
 S.A. '.'.'. 
 
 
 25 
 
 
 
 2 "2 
 
 220 
 
 2 2 
 
 
 
 500 
 
 
 upon-Avon 
 
 50 "6 
 
 50 
 
 50 '6' 
 
 
 10 10 
 
 330 
 
 330 
 
 ster ... 
 
 
 500 
 
 
 Dndon 
 
 
 500 
 
 
 
 
 500 
 
 
 M.P. !.'.' 
 
 
 25 
 
 
 
 5 "S 
 
 
 5 '5 
 
 
 
 
 500 
 
 London 
 
 
 5 6 
 
 
 L., F.R.S., &c 
 
 
 10 10 
 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 er 
 
 
 
 25 
 
 }ler ... 
 
 
 10 'o 
 
 
 irt., F.S.A. 
 
 
 
 10 10 
 
 
 
 
 10 10 
 
 
 
 
 10 10 
 
 ill '.'.'. 
 
 
 
 10 10 
 
 
 
 
 10 10 
 
 
 
 
 550 
 
 
 
 10 '6 o 
 
 110 
 
 gham 
 
 10 "6 o 
 
 10 
 
 
 ick ... 
 
 550 
 
 10 10 
 
 5 *6 
 
 Id ... 
 
 
 
 600 
 
 
 
 
 10 10 
 
 
 10 10 
 
 
 
 Co. '.'.'. 
 
 
 
 5 0* 
 
 agby... 
 
 5 "S 
 
 5 "5 
 
 550 
 
 
 
 
 500 
 
 Bishop of 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 n ... 
 
 
 
 500 
 
 icster 
 
 
 
 500 
 
 Cheshire 
 
 6 "5 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 10 10 
 
 
 
 
 10 10 
 
 xD., F.S.A., 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 10 10 
 
 
 10 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 10 ib o 
 
 
 
 10 ib o 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 26 6 
 
 [arrowby 
 
 15 6 
 
 10 "o 
 
 
 
 
 
 10 10 
 
 
 
 
 10 10 
 
 
 
 
 10 10 
 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 20 
 
 
 10 6 o 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 5 
 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 500 
 
244 
 
 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 To the 
 School. 
 
 a. d. 
 
 To the 
 
 Monumental 
 Memorial. 
 . d. 
 
 To the 
 Festival 
 
 Fund. 
 s. d. 
 10 
 10 
 10 
 10 
 
 500 
 10 10 
 10 
 10 
 10 
 
 R. Padmore, Esq. M.P. 
 
 W. Schoefield, Esq. 
 
 Lord Feversham ... 
 
 Lord Willoughby de Broke 
 
 H. Ewart, Esq., M.P. 
 
 Sir W. Page Wood 
 
 Sir J. Maxwell Steele Graves, Bart. 
 
 Henry Spicer, Esq. 
 
 W. H. Child, Esq. 
 
 P. H. Muntz, Esq. ... ... 10 
 
 W. Charles Macready, Esq. ... 10 10 
 
 Hepworth Dixon, Esq. ... ... 1010 
 
 The Earl of Clarendon, K.G. ... ... 500 
 
 The Earl of Carlisle, K.G. ... ... ... ... 50 
 
 LordVernon ... ... ... ... ... 500 
 
 Lord Sudeley ... ... ... 10 10 a 
 
 Sir J. Eardley Wilmot, Bart. ... ... ... 500 
 
 ColonelJ. Sidney North, M.P. ... ... 500 
 
 J. Hutton Wilkinson, Esq. ... ... 10 10 
 
 Earl of Delaware ... ... ... ... ... 25 
 
 Earl of Craven ... ... ... 50 
 
 Sir G. R. Philips .. ... ... 25 
 
 Alderman Copeland, M. P. ... ... ... ... 10 10 
 
 Rev. H. Incks ... ... ... ... ... 10 
 
 Sir J. Anson, Bart. ... ... ... 500 
 
 Lord Houghton ... ... ... ..". ... 10 
 
 Mrs. Theodore Martin .. ... ... 25 
 
 T. Martin, Esq. ... ... ... ... 1010 
 
 Dr. Kingsley ... ... ... ... ... 1515 
 
 W. Dickens, Esq. ... ... ... ... 500 
 
 Sir James East, Bart. ... ... ... ... 500 
 
 Hon. F. Byng ... ... ... ... ... 500 
 
 Sums under 5, about '600. 
 
 The above list is exclusive of the subscriptions being collected in towns where 
 
 branch committees are formed. 
 
 On the first of June, the Times published the following 
 account of the sale at the pavilion : 
 
 " The last act but one of the Shakespearian tercentenary drama 
 was performed on Tuesday in the spacious and beautiful pavilion 
 erected at Stratford for the musical and dramatic specialities of the 
 late festival. On Tuesday, Messrs. Puttick and Simpson, of Leicester 
 Square, sold by public auction the effects belonging to the Committee, 
 consisting of an elegant act drop, painted by Mr. Telbin, of Her 
 Majesty's Theatre; a proscenium, designed by Mr. O'Connor, of the Hay- 
 market; fly -borders of drapery, sky, &c.; stage machinery and appliances 
 
TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. M5 
 
 of snch a perfect and expensive kind that one would have supposed the 
 building was to be permanently used as a theatre, with drawing-room 
 furniture and other et ceteras to match. There was a good attendance 
 of persons engaged in theatrical speculations from Liverpool, London, 
 Leeds, Birmingham, Bradford, &c., bidding for the act drop, which 
 is exquisitely painted, and represents Shakespeare standing before an 
 architectural design, with the church of Stratford in the distance ; 
 medallions of Thalia and Melpomene, &c. This was accompanied by 
 the most complete machinery for working the drop. The lot was 
 bought by Mr. Shepherd, of the Surrey Theatre, for 26. The pro- 
 scenium, with inner proscenium, borders, and wing, with royal arms 
 surmounting the whole, was purchased by Mr. Hobson, of the Amphi- 
 theatre, Leeds, for six guineas. The gas-fittings offered for sale were 
 costly, including wing lights, batten lights, shadowless argand burners, 
 brackets throughout the building, and a range of footlights for the 
 stage, having forty-five shadowless burners, with shades and glasses 
 complete ; they were knocked down to Mr. Shepherd for 3 15s. The 
 principal item here was the centre chandelier or corona of above three 
 hundred jets, arranged in two rings, with groups of jets and six- star 
 burners, bearing treble lights, &c., and this lot was bought by Mr. 
 Clapham, of the Royal Park, Leeds, for 46s. Among the other pur- 
 chasers of theatrical properties were Mr. Simpson, Theatre, Bir- 
 mingham ; Mr. Wild, of Bradford ; Mr. Day, Crystal Palace Music 
 Hall, Birmingham ; Mr. Montague, Secretary to Christy's Minstrels, 
 &c. There were not less than one thousand seven hundred official 
 programmes of the late festival, published at Is., selling in lots of 
 fifty at about 4s., and about three thousand chairs in sets of six, 
 twelve, and two dozen, ranging from 2s. to Is. 6cZ. each. The result 
 of the sale cannot have materially benefited the fund. The last act 
 of the festival is yet to be performed namely, the presentation of 
 the Committee's balance-sheet. It is discouraging and disappointing 
 to them to know that a very considerable deficiency will be shown ; 
 whether from mismanagement, or the local unpopularity of a section 
 of the Committee, with whom the county and resident families would 
 have no connection, it is useless to dwell upon. The Lord- Lieutenant 
 of the County (Lord Leigh) has acted generously, and marked his 
 appreciation of the labours of the Committee and his desire to lessen 
 the deficit, by voluntarily transferring his subscription of one hundred 
 guineas from the scholarship to the festival fund. Lord Leigh's 
 example will, in all probability, be followed by the county gentry and 
 residents of Stratford generally, who are contributors in some form to 
 the threefold objects of the tercentenary, although not to the fund 
 wholly appropriated to the payment of festival expenses, and many 
 Vice-presidents at a distance are only waiting the publication of a 
 balance-sheet to co-operate with the Committee in relieving the latter 
 body from all pecuniary responsibility and loss." 
 
246 TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL. 
 
 The loss spoken of will not, in my opinion, be of 
 the magnitude apprehended, and time will show that the 
 labours of the Stratford-upon-Avon Committee to do 
 honour to the memory of Shakespeare have not been in 
 any respect in vain. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 BIRMINGHAM : 
 MAETIN BILLING, SON, AND CO., PEINTBES, LIVEBY STBEBT. 
 
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