, 1874-07-12

I
elaborate their conversation With "Oh dear's!
| 30 1ny's!" "GraciouB me's!" "You don
mean i'll" etc. It must be We use these etacu
lat,ons as sort OF escape-pipes Tor our enthusl
| astic overflow Of soul, an eInotlona! vent 10
| which tha placid John Bull has no need. Occa
| siopallv the mperturbable Britlsher rouses int
| q nerycless Really I" or calm Just iancy !!
| but these are almost the ouly e1c1amatlons TO
whicn his ielly-ish temperament has e1
ieencies. But an American has usually only Il
uttel one OF his somewhat metallic notes IN
chorus of oleaginous and fruity English voice.
to reveal himself at as not to the mnoor porn
Perhaps our hyperboreau winters CONCEAL all III
succulence and flavor OF our voices. OF 1t may 81
it il our fierce wind which chlsel them to tht
shsrpest attenuaaions of sound, for ne certainly
ale not far enough removed from our Engllsf
ancestors By time to hayo 80 lost all vocal cen
sanguinity with our English cousins
4 few days ago our party vent to
sTRATFoRD-oN-AvoN
to do. as il the tourists wont, the Shakespeare
neighborhood. We started early, IN the lo7elie5i
part Of lovely day.-and certainly beautiful
day Of june ia England is the ideal creation
OF color and form, with its tender green OF the
grass, it's moro sombre but glistoning green
Of hedgerows, its turquoise skies across which
heecy argosies float slowly Us ii 10th to leave q
scene 30 fa.r. the perfect roads trimming noble
country seats d elegant villas 9. with broad,
brown borders, and the .lulcot landscape stretch
ing far as eye can reach. and then the tempcra-
ture Of sweet June day in this country ls such aa
must have ripened tho golden fruit in the garden
son the roses OF Elysium, it Is so tender; yet
crisp enough to put to utter shame ono
Of our swoonlng juno days. We
drove slowly so entrnnced were VIC
by the sneet influences Of the day, stopping to
Ioiter awhile in the pretty little church at Hamp-
tou-Sucy, which Is a miniature cathedral, aud
whe1c is the tomb Of Justice Shallow. who, a.
the Lord Of Charlotte, punished Shakspoarea u
Illicit dce1-sLooting. SO it was long past noon
when We reached Stratford Instead Of driving
at ouco, as we should have done had our earnal
natures been less vigorously Essortive, to 1Ae
famous old house whore tho immortal Will was
born. VIC sought aud found the Shakespeare
Hotel, where wo ordered dinner. We
we're shown into q pretty cotfco-room
furnishods more like moderatoy-genteel
parlur in an American village than like the typi-
cal ooiree-Eoo1n Of Dickens novels. Here We
rested till dinner was served And I relate it al
: proof tlat Eo Americans hare Yankee Doodle
written all over us, and that our national caglo
screams in our ver1 voices, that although our
l,nrty Of three grown persons aud two children
WAS clothed entirely in English gar
ments though We ordered Ensllsh vihpds,
sud by unconscious imitation used En-
glsh tricks Of speech, though We never
once mentioned buckwheat cakes or G. WASH
iugtou, nor once said I'VE do thinGs better over
on our eide, yet We overheard the waitress call
to q fellow -servapt within i've minutes OF our
arrival * Be sure to make tea tor them Amer
leans" Later III the day. as we stood in the
church where Shakespeare long ago was turned
into huudful Of dust. VIC overheard party OF
EuGlish people behind Us Hpeculating ooncern-
ing us. The youngest member of our party
wore Scotch suit made by an English tnilor,
so one OF the English ladies' sad: - They arc
Scotch Of course. for see that sweet little laddle.
Tho ''sweet little laddie's" mamma hearing
this, turned her head for an instantis
~ hatf1 a7r1a
when tho lady instantly corrected herself. say
ing: 'Oh, no. tlIcy nre Americans" And yet
not one Of us had spoken word save in whispers
to each other.
In the Shakespeare Hotel we amused ourselves
examining the hotel register and culling. as bees
Gull sweets, the names Of Chlccgoana from the
scauty list OF Americans who have visited STRAIT
ford this year. We wero told that for many
ycArB the American travel to this shrlne has
ncver been 70 light as thus year. We
also spent our time in critical conversations
Oh SAaks:cn.e's plays, taking for our subjects
toe titles which adorned tho entrances Of tue
different rooms. Over tie coffee-room was the
very appropriate inscription. - a. You Like IT.
over tho coGi7aesc.al-roo1n was ''Tne Tempest -
while over the next ceamber, where we relieved
ourselves of our veneer OF WArwieksaire dust,
aud put few ;r.isti: touches to our bach-uair,
was inscribed - Midsummer Nights DEAN"
Everything III Stlat:orI seems to exist relative
ly rather than absolu ely ,-relst:vely to Shak-
sccare. You will san thDe shHt'-Nindoy7B crowd
cd with his bus.s acd sta;uettcs, windows d1ap-
ed With pocket-handkerchiefs printed With SELL
teuccs from his dramas. and with fesivona OF
,ollals called the Shakespeare, or the ''Will"
lou will see his statues IL almost us many inches
~ the town has buildings; everywhere cups and
saucsss, mugs and vases, ornauiented With hia
por.rait. ererywhere pictures without number ct
lis birthplace. There is the Shakespeare HOTEL
tho Shakespeare Hal, Shakespeare street, Shak~
srearo COURT and Shakespeare square. Walking
he stree: to the church where he vas buried,
you seo Shakespeare New Place; elsewhere you
nto an alley, you como to the Shakespeare
md were told, though We did
lot 500 it, that somewhere in the town ir the
Shakespeare Pump. The vhote town seems to
i've upon the fame OF tho immortal bard, as q
,rotano philosophy claims that the spiritual
bodies Of other apheres nourisbed by the
l7oma OF food cooked Oh earth; and so vital is
lis spiritual proaenca in tho places Which know
Hin three centuries ago. that it seemed to me
/. If he ouly yesterday drlfted into tho world of
hadows. So, whenevor saw an old nao OF
;enerablo woman whose thoughts could eEi-
lently float among countless green isles of mem-
,ry, could hardly forbear stopping to ask such
7hat they remembered Of the worlds great poet.
u course we visited the birthplace, where We
sere received by an exceedingly ladylike custo-
lian. but not the Miss Ashwin whom Hawthorne
mentions SO pleas 1ntly, for she long ago went
yherc all intelligent English people seem to de-
ne to go-to radiant country over the sea-
vhere waves the star-spanglcd bannor. or
our5e we noticed the broken floor Of the front |
oom over which Hawthorne speculated so |
u1iousIy. but for which the fact that the room |
FaB long used butchers shop seemed to us
mp!e explanation. OF course We stood in the |
oom where the most divine genius tho
Torld ever knew became -incarnato |
II the flesh Of course we tried to decipher Sir i;
Walter Scott's name on the Hindow-fra.nc, crossed
nd recroEsed as it is with tho scribbhngs OF |