The Sun.
London, England, 1864-04-25 00:00:00

been anticipated, its delivery was marred by the
nervousness natural to a lady addressing so large
and so public an audience for the first time. At the
conclusion of her address she plentifully sprinkled
the tree from the water of Avon, and christened it
the " Shakspere Oak," amid continued cheering,

during which enthusiastic devotees toot as much of
the water of Avon as they could conveniently carry

away with them by drinking it out of the can.
Mr. Henry Marston then recited the following
ode, written for the occasion by Miss Eliza Cook :

Joyous, yet solemn, is our purpose here :
Claiming, alike, glad smile and tender tear.
The smile—to know our Jubilee is given
To him who left on earth some rays from Heaven.
The tear—to think that he who spread such flame,
Passed from his place too soon to learn his fame.
Yet smile and tear are hallowed as we breathe

The name of Shakspere o'er the bays we wreath;
While glowing spirits in that name unite,
Blending Love's festal with Devotion right,
The world is wide—yet all the world will own
That England's Shakespere fills its noblest throne;
That Wisdom, Wit, Mirth, Feeling, Mind, and Soul
Rule 'neath his sceptre-touch from pole to pole.
bweet Nature tuned his harp of myriad strings,
To rouse an echo in all human things,
Possessor of the strange, magician power—
Heir to Creation's vast and mystic dower,
He held no honours from our schools below;
God gave him more than monarch can bestow;
For Genies—simple, mighty, and sublime—
Stamped him—the Priest and Poet for " All Time,"
Here do we gather—sacredly to raise
Our shouts of triumph and our songs of praise.
Here have we met, in warm and earnest bands,
To twine his Glory-crown with toil-worn hands.
Here do we help to stud his diadem
With Labour's sweat-drop—England's richest gem,
Here do the people write with blazing pen,
" Shakspere was born of ' England's Working Men.' "
Well may our forehead's flush—our hearts rejoice—
While the loud boast is heard from every voice :
For all the tides of all the Caesar's blood
Fade by the side of Avon's rippling flood :
The heroes of Rome, Persia, Greece, and Troy,
Must yield the palm to Stratford's peasant boy;
And England's Princes bend with high regard
To swell the homage paid to England's Bard.
Three hundred years—long years—have rolled away
Since first he saw the world he came to sway ;
And unborn millions—proud as we are now—
In untold ages still will crown his brow.
Time's " Curfew Bell" will ne'er ring but his fire ;
For Truth—Eternal Truth—illumes his lyre.
And while Truth dwells in man's responsive breast
bhakspere shall live—the matchless and the blest

The effect of the ode we s greatly aided by Mr.
Marston's excellent delivery. The proceedings,
which had been enlivened throughout by the ad-
mirable music of the band of the Hon. Artillery
Company, were then brought to a close by a brief
address from • Mr. Marston, and the spectators be-
gan to disperse.
It appears, however, not to be in the nature of any
Shakspere celebration this year to pass off as it
is intended, and the Working Men's Garibaldi
Reception Committee, having accordingly on Sa•
turday sought to improve the occasion of there being
a crowd ready made to hand, at once proceeded
to hold an "indignation" meeting on the bill for
the purpose of " protesting against the manner in
which General Garibaldi had been hurried away
from England, and to demand further explanations
from the Government as to the cause of his hurried

departure."
At a little before 6 o'clock the committee, to the
number of about 60 or 79, came on the ground
and took up their position on the top of the hill
amid loud cheers. The proceedings, which were
very brief, commenced by calling Mr. Beales to the
chair, and he at once began by expressing his dis-
satisfaction at the mysterious manner in which the
visit of their friend General Garibaldi had been cut
short. He believed that the mein and true facts
connected with the departure of the General had
been suppressed, :and, with great respect for Mr.
Gladstone and Lord Shaftesbury, he did not think
they had stated all they knew.
The speaker had proceeded thus far when an in-
spector of the S division, supported by a strong
body of police, made his way to the centre of the
meeting, and the inspector informed the chairman
that his orders were not to allow any political meet-
ing to take place on Primrose-hill, and added, in
reply to a question, that if the meeting was persisted
in he would be compelled to use force to carry out
his orders. Upon this strong hint great groans and
hissings arcs) among the crowd, which now num-
bered about 4,000 persons, but which, beyond this
noisy ebuiliti, nof feeling, was very orderly. Mr.
Hartwell, the secretary of the committee, implored
the meeting to be perfectly quiet, adding, amid
loud cheers, that the suspension of the meeting by
th►e police would reflect move discredit on the Go-
verment than anything that could have been said
by the speakers, or any resolution they may have
carried, however strong.
Mr. Cremer then, without making any speech,
moved the adjournment of the meeting, which was
seconded and carried, and the committee prepared
to retire. By this time, however, the police had
been largely reinforced, and their somewhat rough
manner of pushing the people to make them " move
on" created at last a feeling of anger in the crowd,
which soon began to show itself, and nothing but
the constant appeals of the committee to preserve
order prevented a serious breach of the peace.
Eventually the committee left the hill amid loud
cheers, and proceeded to the Adelaide Arms, Chalk
Farm-gate, where they held a meeting, attended by
about 60 m-mbers, Mr. Wiseass in the chair. The
following resolutions were there unanimously
adopted ;
That this committee, representing the trade, friendly
societies, and other organised bodies of working men of
London, protest in the strongest manner possible against the
fircible suppression by the police of the Garibaldi meeting
on Primrose-hill, as an unjustifiable interference with the
liberties of the people and.the rights of public meeting.
That a deputation be appointed from this committee to
wait upon the Home Secretary to ascertain whether any
special instructions were given by the Government or the
Police Commissioners to prevent the above meeting, and
whether it is intended by the Government to prohibit open-
air meetings of the people, having a political object, and
that the city committee be invited to co-operate with the
committee in sending a similar deputation from theirbody."
In the evening there was a grand Shaksperian
musical and dramatic fete at the Agricultural-hall,
at which the ode was again recited, and at which
some music and excellent singing were given. But,
though the admission was only a shilling, the hall
was very poorly attended; in fact, the entertain-
ment was almoSt a failure. With these efforts
ended the attempt in London to got up a Shaks-
pere jubilee and great national festival, and this
generation have only the comfort of knowing that
another attempt will not be made in their time.

STRATFORD -ON -AvON, Saturday Night,

The town did not completely wear the appearance of a
festival till yesterday evening, when the principal streets
were rendered gay by the suipension of banners on both
sides of the way. Though Stratford is a small place, its
streets, it may be observed, are remarkably. wide, and
therefore singularly well adapted to popular demon-
strations.

This afternoon, at two o'clock, the festival actually began
with the banquet, and while the bells of the church of the
Holy Trinity rang a merry peal, the doors of the Pavilion
were thrown open, and the guests and spectators were alike
admitted.

As I have already said, the Pavilion, which stands in a
paddock adjoining Southen's-lane, was erected to serve the
several purposes of a banquetting hall, a ballroom, and a
theatre.; This afternoon the front of the movable orchestra,
which stands at the back of the Balle, and consequently
faces the stage, was occupied by the table of honour as-
signed to the president and the more distinguished guests,
who were thus raised on a dais of unusual elevation. Im-
medately behind them was a table for the reporters of the
press, who were thus nearer to the speakers than any of
the other guests, though it is questionable whether the po-
sition was altogether advantageous for hearing, and the
seats behind these were assigned to the sub-vicar, the pa-
rish clerk, and the boys of the choir, by whom were exe-
cuted the very few pieces of vocal music by which the Fes-
tival was enlivened. From the ochestra, which presented
a curved front, and with the seats behind it occupied nearly
three sides of the dodecagon, a series of eight tables ex-
tended to opposite sides of the building, placed, of course,
at right angles of the table occupied by the President.
These covered the arena, which will be the pit during the
theatrical performances, and accommodate, the majority of
the guests. Other tables were, however, placed on the
stage, the centre of which had been raised, and even the
boxes on the grand tier, which is on a level with
,the pit,
were converted into supplemental banquet-rooms, the
cloths being on the front ledge.

The Earl of Carlisle, president of the festival, who with
the vice-presidents, the committee, and the other persons
connected with the proceedings, had already been received
at the Town-hall, and had inspected the site selected forithe