The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-01-17


himself alludes 60 il, with his usual sopbis- /
try, where he speaks Of 'ihis eye in q me
frenzy rolling" Rowe sheds a significant
light ON these periods, by telling us that
about those times shakespeare was drunk
day after day with Ben J0nson, Marlowe, etc.
A day or two after the birth Of her
first child, Susanna, Mr.. Shakespeare
came suddenly into Mrs. Shakespearos
room, and told her that her mother, good
Mistress Hathaway, was dead. day or two
after the birth of the second child, Hamnet,
he came with still greater suddenness into her
room, and told her that her father, the vene-
rable Master Hathaway, Was dead; and day
or two after the birth of the third child Ju-
dith, he came with greater suddenness than
ever into the chamber, and narrowed her feel
ings by announcing the death Of worthy Mas
ter John a Combe.
Never has more divine strength of love ex-
listed in woman. Her conduct in these try
ing circumstances displays the breadth of
Mrs Shakespeares mind, and, above all, her
clear divining, moral Discrimination never
mistaking wrong for right in the slightest
degree; fully alive to the criminality of Mr..
Shakespeare and his guilty daughters mur-
derous proceedings; yet with mercifulness
that made allowance for every weakness and
pitied every sin. On one occasion, after their
removal to New Place, she came upon him.
sitting with the partner of his guilt, beneath
the fatal mulberry tree. She went up to
them, and he, looking down upon the grave
among the nettIes, with sarcastic smile, said:
when will those three down there meet us
again 2" te ae5aa
She answered, "Not in Heaven, FEAR "a
During all this trial, strange to say her be-
lief that the good in Mr.. Shakespeare would
finally conquer, remained unshaken She
forgave him even the cruelty with which he
strove to make her ridiculous in the eyes of
the world, by his constant illusions to her
being older than himself, and his false and
unmanly attacks upon her disposition
".Too old, by Heavenl still let the woman take
An elder than herself" grE
"Crabbed age and youth cannot live together
cage, ] do abhor thee
Age, do defy thee"
20 spite too old to be engaged to youngn
"Curster than shes why, 'tis impossibe!r
Gas old as Sibyl, and curst and shrewd
As Socrates Xantippe, or worse.p
All these and more ribald and unmanly in
suits and obscenity fell at her pitying feet
unheeded.
1t has been thought by some friends who
have read the proof-sheets of the foregoing
pages, that the author should give more spe-
officially her authority for these statements.
The great -great-grandmother of the present
writer was one of those pilgrim mothers, de-
voted companion of certain less widelyknown
but surely not less deserving pilgrim fathers,
| who were despatched at the expense of an
| effete mother country to assist in colonizing
| the British possessions of the American con-
| tinent. The writer's venerable ancestor and
namesake, Mistress H b. Cherstow, had
occasion, before quitting her native land, to
| visit Warwickshire, and the circumstances
| which led her there at that time originated q
| friendship and correspondence with Mistress
| Shakespeare, which was always regarded as
one of the greatest acquisitions of that visit
| She there received q letter from Mrs. Shake
| speare indicating that she wished to have
| some private, confidential communication
| upon important subjects, and inviting her for
that purpose to spend day with her at her
| country-seat near Stratford. r
| Mrs. H-B. Cherstow went, and spent a
day with Mrs. Shakespeare alone, and the
| object of the invitation was explained to her.
Mrs. Shakespeare was in such a state of health
that her physician, worthy DR.. Hall (the hus-
band of the abnormal offspring ''born in
bitterness and nurtured in convulsion') had
warned her that she had very little time to
live. She was engaged in those duties and
retrospections, which every thoughtful person
fms necessary when coming deliberately and
with open eyes to the boundaries of this
| mortal life, .9af afla
At that period some cheap performances of
| Mr.. Shakespeare's plays at the Globe Theatre
were in contemplation, intended to bring his
works before the eyes of the masses Under
these circumstances, some of Mrs. Shakes
peares friends had proposed the question to
her qchetter she had not a resp0nsibtgtty to
society for tie truth, whether she did 1sqht
to allow those dramas to gain influence over
the popular mind, by giving silent consent
to what she knew to be utter falsehoods. s..
Mrs Shakespeares whole life had been
| passed in the most heroic self-abnegation and
self sacrifice, and she had now to consider
| whether one more act of self-denial was not
required of her before leaving this world
namely, to declare the absolute truth, no
matter at what expense to her feelings.
l r For this reason it was her desire to recount
the whole history to person wholly out of
the sphere of theatrical or local feelings,
which might be supposed to influence those
| belonging to the county, or to the profession
in life in which the events really happened:
in order that he might she helped by such a
persons views in making up an opinion as to
her own duty.
The interview had almost the solemnity of a
death-bed avowal. Mrs. Shakespeare stated
the facts which have been embodied above,
and gave to the writer's revered ancestor
the first to bear the henceforth immortal
name of H b. Cherstow-a brief memo
randum of the whole, with the dates affixed.
The words and actions of Mrs. Shakespeare
during the last part of her life seemed more
like those of blessed being, detached from
earth, than those of an ordinary mortal
What impressed Mrs. H b. Cherstow
more strongly than anything else, was Mrs.
Shakespeare's conviction that Mr.. Shake
speare was now redeemed spirit, and that
he looked back with shame and regret on the