The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1870-04-05

English drama. Perhaps amid the crowd
Of spectators lured from his native STRAIT.
ford not far distant, the boy Shakespeare iS
present, filling his young mind with preg.
nant material from SlEhence hereafter
shall be nodded into those won.
drous creations witch are more divine
because q their humanity InthGgolden
light,of his genius these earthly lords and
ladies are transformed into Im0gene or
Juliet, Desdemona or Miranda, Ferdinand
or Hamlet, Benedict or Romeo. Slowly
descending the hill we pass over the
bridge on which TennysOn hung while lie
shaped the cjty's legend into deathless
song. Proceeding onward over the green
we enter into the realms OF the past bodi.
" as,beEoFe we had. done Inauguration
The narrow streets flanked by houses
which have stood Tor centuries, each
quantity carved story projecting beyond
that below, and the fantastic gables and
windows above croWding their heads to-
gether In grotesque eagerness To get .
view OF the strange people from, the New
World beyond the seas. Old men 60 hob.
bling along in the costumes OF centuries
pass, and we see the bush Suspended over
the doors Of the inns as In the days OF
Shakespeare. Soon We come by the an
Gent church whose towers are Cfumbltng
with age, The statues Of the saints have
fallen from their inches or again have SUI
iered martyrdom at the hands Of that most
ruthless Of prosecutors, Time, who hath
stricken tho head from one, the arm nom
another, and mutilated their limbs and
countenances In the mosthoIible manner.
Ali around are the graves Of former gen
eratiOns whose Wondering tombstones In
their dotage have forgotten their names,
or have fallen and mingled With their
kindred dust, but right above them
the tall spirc points q steadhst finger
TO heaven where the spirit hath lied
leaving naught but moulderng dust below.
On tic opposite side Of the street Is the
Wondering front Of the hall Of the ancient
Guilds, pierced with one large Cathedral
like window, whose stained and legcnded
glass melloWs down the outward light into
the twilight hues OF old. The loity roof
Is intersected by antique carved beams p
whose groteSque figures peeTing out from
their ever dim and dusky elevation seem
like fantastic dreams. Fairy and hobgohn
lin, elf and fay, driven from the open air
might well find retreat IN that remote
and inaccessible obscurity. An ancient
tapestry picturing dimly and indistlnctly
the manners Of q remote age Is stretched
beneath the window. At tic other end Of
the hall Is q gallery where the Ministries
were used 10 play for the deleCtaton OF
the stout magistrates who met here on
matters OIL Wcighty import to the State,
who assisted their deliberations with old
English cheer provided by tho capacious
kitchen below. Portraits and etigies Of
forgotten worthless adorn the walls, con-
spiCiOus among which was the csCutcheonl
Of Edward the Black Prince, who Is said
to have made this town his residence and
for whom this building has been named,
the Princes HALL Verify It's no great
punishment to be sent to Coventry we ex'
claim as we issue from the portal. Much
pleasauter 10 US than the whirl OF COM
mercc and the Jar Of machinery It Is 70
lose ourselves in these mlzy streets and
wander back into the medieval world 70
the time when the gentle Henry sixth,
too good 10 be king, dwelt within these
precincts, or casting our eyes upward into
the twilight Of dim tradition. see where
far of and above all else like the golden
pinnacle Of yOn spire whose connection
with the earth Is lost in the dusk Of
ascending night, rises the golden legend Of
Godiva and the stern Earl Leofric toshow
us that noble and heroic virtue could shine
forth even In TINT most bArbarOus age,
converting scorn into alteration and dis
grace into eternal glory. l. G. i.