Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1877-11-23
VOL. l.. NEW SERIES. VOL. XIII.



From the Boston Post.
Foreign Sketches.
| sTRATFoRD-oS-AyoS- -FAULTLEss FACTS AND
| FRESH FANCIEs ABOUT THE POETS MECCA -
THE POETRY OF HIsToRy-GREAT BRINGroN,
THE BURIAL PLACE OF WASHINGTON S GREAT
GRANDFATHER, ETC, ETC.
II was noon when we had gone over all
that was exhibited of Warwick Castle, and
getting into one of the "hys' We found IN
waiting outside the Castle gate, we drove to
Stratford. 1t is eight miles from Warwick,
and the road is as smooth and hard rs n table.
The horse trotted over it as fast as he well
could, and without relaxing once that l. re-
member and, indeed, the way the cab horses
do 90 on the other side of the water, with
their comparatively heavy vehicles, is sur
prising. The country in which We were is
the Heart of England, so called, and there
is nothing to be seen on either hand but end
less stretches of green fields with sheep
feeding in them, and with splendid trees
mostly tall and magnificent English elns,
standing singly or in groves here and there
about Seldom do you see house. and sci
domer still a human being, so that sun the
wonder grows, where are all the people
The truth appears to he that all the laborInG
class, and indeed everybody else below the
large farmers, live i'll little or big towns, IN
stead of being strewn all over the land, as
with us. For the first two or three miles, as
We bowled along, it was very pleasant, but
after that very monotonous and if the Eng
lish country was the same in DIR. johnson
day. don't wonder that he said Sir, when
you have seen one green fed you have seen
all green fields Let us walk down Cheap
side.
In about an hour We got to Strattord, and
though it seemed quite like proclamation TO
be eating in Shakespeare's birthplace, We
nevertheless partook Of the eternal British
lunch of three elements at the Red Horse
Inn. and then sailed forth to find the house
where he was born We scorned to take
guide, so we went in exactly the wrong di-
rection but as Stratford Is tiny place, We
were not long in stumbling upon the site OF
Shakespeare's own house, and the spot where
he died. A hundred years ago the vandal
owner of the estate, being annoyed by the
number of visitors to the spot, cut down the
mulberry tree which Shakespeare had planted
with his own hand and still later had pulled
down the house ITSELF out of spite, because
he WAS obliged to pay higher taxes upon 1t
than he thought Just but Shakespeares
grand daughter lived il a house next door to
his, which is known to have been almost
precisely like it, and this, together with ms
grounds at the back, is exhibited by the Gus
todian having the place in charge.
This gentleman, whose name We learned
was Salmon, was a most loving and devoted
guardian of what few "reminiscences oil the
poet relentless fate had spared. The prihcl-
pal museum of ShakeSperean relies Is, OF
course, tie cottage at the other end OF the
town, where he was born, but there was quite
a collection of interesting things even here
The house stood on II corner opposite the
Gothic Guildhall, which, excepting the
church. must have been the handsomest
building i'll Stratford, SO that Shakespeare's
estate was quite the most desirable in the
place The foundations of the house still
exist and there We saw them, protected by
wire MEETINGS, and also the foundation OF his
OtrI stuiy JOtr-lrind0T. which was at the back
of the house and looked ont upon his lawn,
garden and orchard lie had view from II
also down to the river, as he had leased all
the intervening hind and kept 1t open, Just as
Mr. Longfellow in Cambridge keeps open his |
view OF the Charles Shakespeare was evil |
IDENTIFY burgher Of great consideration IN
his later wears, and so his bust in the church |
and also the ''Stratford' portrait represent
him. Indeed, the poet in them Is PAIN
fully conspicuous by its absence; but / dare
sAN Ilul painters anu SNhlIlpiS VI blstAt 10y
were much more likely to be impressed by |
the scarlet robe and general good-dinner |
prosperity of their sitter than by the mighty |
imagination that spun and wove its glltterlng |
webs behind those dreamy eyes. But nobody |
but Raphael or Leonardo da Nlncl could |
have painted Shakespeare
From the house we found our way into |
the rooms where at seven years old he was
sent to school-dear little fascinating pet |
that he must have been They are over the |
Guild-room, three in number, very roughly |
finished, and with open roots showing the |
beams, like a church, SO that the ventilation, |
as my companion remarked, must have been |
excellent. The rooms probably lOok much
as they did in Shakespeare's day. There
were no backs to the seats, and the furni-
ture was far more primitive than with US. l
peeped into one of Johnnie Rose $ text
books, and they were refreshing-being brief,
rational and to the point, instead of embody
ing tine pedagogy run-to-seed with which |
children are top often afflicted. In |
the vestibule an old oak desk far ruder than
the plain wooden ones III the school-rooms,
is preserved as possibly being one of those
in use III Shakespeares time. lhe present
set was all cut up, boy-tashion. and as like
to see them, for believe thai this pervading
.'hard finish" of our schoo-rooms and the
rigid mechanism OF our school
routine have destroyed the spontaneity and
originality and self-poise OF oar last two gem
erations at least. If the American public
school system develops high personal honor,
force of character, dauntless moral courage,
marked and diverse intellectual gifts, | only
ask "Where are they" Our most striking
trait to-day is this existing dead
level of universal intelligence" that lays
hold on nothing and goes TO the bottom OF
nothing. We see no strength, no greatness.
Nobody towers above anybody else, and
believe that even the mighty pennons OF
would have been dwaried or
broken had they been subjected for eight
tender wears to the vice-like cramp OF sys-
TEN which, for fear of being "sectarian, re-
fuses to teach the children daily that there Is
a God to Whom they are directly responsible
and, instead of bestowing the only high IN
erHdl motive which at once stimulates and
has for fifty years bent every effort
Df an omnipotent organization toward max
ny every boy as precisely like every other
boy ertcrndlg as possible. OF course, ndi-
Viduality, the most precious attribute OF the
human soul, is beng etlrctually extirpa-
ted IA though We lived under despotisn
From the rooms where Shakespeare went to
school our nearest point WAS the church
where he is buried, which Is little way from
the town, picturesquely built on the bank of
the Avon. It is large gothic and very beau
tiful bright and cheerful inside, with bril-
liant stalned-glass windows, and nothing
gloomy or dImly religious about IT. For my
self don't like ''dim religious light, but
Joyous and inspiring, as II rehg
ion were really the happy thing that 1t IS.
bust Is on the chaucel wall,
sidewise, all painted in staring colors. though
10 - OF, I,.,lrtn,r / tn. truth |
must be told, as much like one OF those to-
bacconist figures as anything fat, double
chm, smooth, sleek cheeks, and dull eyes
rather ordinary forehead, too. / cannot be-
lieve il was good for him, aud yet hls family
appear to have been satisfied with 1t. If one
were 10 step inside the chancel rail one would
tread on his daughters memorial stone ; to
the left of hers Is his, and beyond his is his
wife's Between these slabs aud the altar
are two magnificent brass candelahra ten
feet high. with ONYX and agate let III IN great
round balls. They were given by the curate.
and can imagine Inn spending his little all
fondly upon them. The altar ghttcrs with
brass candestcksando other ornaments. tor this
Is a ritualistc church, though not, as the
sexton explains, 'as high ns some. We do
not have vestments or incense" The tree
shaded graveyard outside Is very spacious
and lovely, and, in short, the worlds "dar-
ling could not have q more beautiful and
fitting place TO lie III and since the world
certainly took no pains OF interest about II
at the time. one can hardly help feeling that
the same High Bcnignant Power that made
and placed this transcendint genius watched |
also over his burial, and gave up one of Its |
own temples for the repose of his remains
The local guide-book told me OF one thing |
in this church of which ! had not been |
aware and which | think will interest the |
feminine reader nt least much rs it did /
me it is the epitaph which one IF Shakes
peare's daughters probably his favorite, the |
lovely and spirituelle Susannah, inscribed
to that mother of whom We know
nothing, save that she was seven or eight
ynnrs nllDr thnn her nI.ichlnss husband |