Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1854-08-24

dcalions in his plays; but whether he
would have taken any practical interest IN
the worlds movements is fair question:
The poetic mind is not always The progress
i've one; it has, like moss and ivy, need
for something old to cling to and germinaIe
upon. The artistic temperament, too, is
soft and sensitive so there are ell these
reasons for thinking that perhaps he would
have been for keeping out Of the way of the
hea, and dust Of modern progress. 1t does
no, follow because man has penetration 10
see an evil. he has energy toTeform il.
Erasmus saw ell ,ha, Luther saw just as
clearly, but he said that he had rather never
have truth st all, than contend for it with
The world in such tumult. However, on
the other hand, England did, in Milton, have
one poe. who cir. himself up 10 the rough
est and stormiest work Of reformation; so
it is not quite certain, after all, that Shaks-
peare nigh. not have been reformer in our
times. One thing is quite certain, .ha! he
would have said very shrewd things about
all the matters that move the world now, as
he certainly did abou, ell matters that he
was cognizan, of in his own day.
|. was little before noon when we drove
into S.ra,ford, by which time, with our usu-
al fatality in visiting poetic shrines, the day
had melted of into kind Of drizzling mist,
strongly suggestive Of downright rain. It
is common trick these English days have;
| the weather here seems TO be possessed Of
water spirit. This constan. Grizzle is good
for ivies, and ba ihnrns, and ladies' COM
pIeXions, as whoever travels here will OBJ
serve, but i. is certainly very bad for tourists.
This S,ra,ford is small town, of between
three and four thousand inhabitants, and has
in i. good many quain, old houses, and is
characterized (so ! sboughD by an air Of re-
spectacle, s,and-s,il, and ned,a.ive repose,
| which, am afraid, will entirely give wa,
efore the railroad demon, for ] understand
tha! il is soon to be connected by the Ok
ford, Worcester, and Wolverhampion line
with oil parts of The kingdom. Just think
Of lha. bl'ck liule screecbing imp rushing
through these fields which have inspired SO
many fancies; how every thing poeicaI
will fly before il Think Of such sweet
snalches as these set 10 the tune Of rail-
road whistle:
ssIIark! -hark! the lark at hcayen,s gate sings
ana fnCPDuS gins 10 rise,
His steeds to water at those springs
On chaliced flowers that lies.
And winking Mary buds begin
To ope their golden eyes,
With every thing that pretty bin
My lady sweet to rise"
And again:
ssPhilomel with melody sing in our sweet lullaby,
Lula, lula, lullaby.
| Never harm nor spell, nor charm,
Come our lovely lady nigh.'
suppose the meadows, with their "wink-
ing Mary buds" will be ell Gu. up into bull
ding lots in the good times coming, and
Philomel ceugh, and put in cage to sing
10 tourists al ,hreepence head.
We wen, 10 the White Lion, and soon had
a little quiet par!or 10 ourselves, neatly car
peted, with sofa drawn up to cheerful
coal fire, goodtoned piano, and in short
every thing cheerful and comfortable.
Shakspeare's father, j. seems, was man
of some position and substance in his day.
being high sheriff and justice of the peace
in his borough; and this house, therefore.
| suppose, may be considered specimen
of the respectable class Of houses in The
times of Queen Elizabeth.
We saw good many old houses some
what similar to this on The road, particular
Iy resembling j, in this manner Of paslering.
which shows all the timber on the outside
Parts of the house have been sold, altered,
and used for various purposes; butchers
stall having been KEEP, in part Of it, end a
tavern in another portion, being new-front-
ed with brick.
The ohjec. of this Shakespeare Club has
been to repurchase all these parts, and re
store them as nearly as possible TO their
primeval condition. The part Of the house
which is shown consists of lower room,
which is hoored with fla. stones very much
broken. 1t has a wide, old-fashioned chin
ney on one side, and opens into smaller
room back of it. From thence you 90 up
rude fgh, Of stairs 10 low studded room.
with upholstered walls, where the poe,
was born.
The prints of this room, which are gene
rally sold, allow themselves in considerable
poetic license, representing it in fac, as quite
an elegant apartment, whereas, though j. is
kept scrupulously neat and clean, the air oI
i! is ancien. and rude. This is somewha,
fa..ered likeness. The roughly plas,ered
walls are so covered with names ,ha, il
seemed impossible to add another. The
name of almos. every modern genius. names
Of kings, princes, dukes, are shown here
and it is really curious TO zee by wha. de.
vices some very insignificant. personeges
have endeavored to make their own names
conspicuous in the crowd. Generally speak
ing the inscription books and walls of dis.
ling guished places tend to give grea. force to
the Vulga,e rendering of Ecclesastes i. Is
"The number of fools is Infinite"
/ Back of this room were some small bed
rooms, and what interested me much, a stair.
case leading up into dark garre'. lcould