The anti-monopolist. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1874-1878, 1875-12-30
SC1ENcE+
ON AVON AND THE SHAKE.
SPEARE RELICS.

We fortunately brought q letter to Mr.
Edgar Flower, a Stratford .'citizen Of credit
and renown," to whom we are indebted for
kindly courtesy and valuable Information
on many point of interest 10 Shakespear
ian enthusiasts. He first escorted us to the
Shakespearian House, where we spent an
hour or two. could scarcely believe it the
same building had visited nearly quarter
of century ago. Since it become the pro-
perty Of the nation it has been tidied up and
preserved and seems to have grown myster-
ously The fact is, the old house on the
right, long supposed to be separate struct
ure has been found to be = part Of the or
has been added to the modest, not to say
shabby, tenement Of three rooms, which
was all saw in my first visit and all Wash
ington Irving and Walter Scott saw. This,
with various other pious restorations and i'm
lprovements-such as the reclamation and
cultivation Of the old garden-makes the
place more worthy to have been the resid-
ence of respectable householder Of the
Elizabethan age, Of lady of gentle descent,
and the birthplace Of the poet Of poets. This
newly restored wing il used for museum Of
all the attainable relics Of Shakespeare.
Here, also, are copies Of all tho strangely
| various portraits ami busts of this marvel
ous, many-sided, multitudinous man. Here
we found hung in . corner, As though
worthy Of little consideration, photograph
of the mysterious Dermstidt Mask, which
haze a strong conviction is the truest thing
among them all. II is my ideal of the deal
Shakespeare. There is upon the worn but
still manly and most noble face no,
only the grand seal Of death, but the
grander seal Of life-such . life as he
must have Known-strong in human pas
sions intense, ye; broad, in human affections
and sympathies. There are TO me about this
face marks Of the peculiar impersonality Of
Shakespeare genius of that element
which has baffled the world in its attempt
to track the man and his fortunes through
the wonderful creation Of the poet-of !
something which even he must have felt in
bis moments Of highest exaltation to be a.
len, prophet like and immortal. Observ-
ing the strong character Of the mouth and
chin, the generous orbit Of the eye, the
ample yet compact forehead, one can almost
realize how this Shakespeare could have
been both the author and actor Of the great
plays; in bodily presence . modest house
holder Of Stafford, in spirit . citizen Of the
world, . loyal coursier for the golden age
Of Elizabeth, king maker for all succeeding
ages, . practical man Of business, . divine
philosopher. In the portrait indsrsed By
Ben Jonson. and pre6xed % th. earliest edi-
tons Of Sbakespeare's plays-tne ugly pic
ture with the dubious forehead and Puri-
tanic face-one sees evidence u : morbid in
tellectual development and . meager physi-
sal nature; in the Stratford monumental
bust s il stands, restored to the original
high colors, can see little besides the
ply steal man, full blooded and fond Of
I..creature comforts There are in il more
traces Of the deep drinker who slept Of his
beerv debauch under the crab tree, - fond
legend tells. than Of the deep thinker who
thought out that magnificent metaphysical
puzzle, the mad, wise Hamlet"
OF the relics If Shakespeare the most in
lteresting is the sgnet ring 50 niraculously
turned up in the ground Of New Place, .
and with his initials plainly graved upon it.
We are glad to believe that it once encircled
his fingers, and to fancy that while pacing
up AMI down his garden in the long, odor-
Gus twilight, and playing with it. pulling il
of and on as he studied out the story Of con-
slant Helena or eloquent Portia, he dropped
ii, in dreamy ecstasy Of invention, among
the daisies Or the thick growing pansies, and
50 lost it. Next il the desk from the old
namnar-school-,al u Shakespeaa'z, though
probably his master's-but which he nal
often have stoed By = he recited his Latin,