New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1878-08-03
Gift Of woodbine and roses from the porch of Anne


In England it is living, moro than writing about
IT, that is esteemed by the best persons They PRIZE
good writing, of course but they prize good living
far more This is an ingrained principle and not an
artificial habit and this principle, doubtless, was as
potent in Shakespeares age as IL is to-day. Moth
ing could be more natural than that this great
writer should think less of his works than OF the es
tablishment of his home. he would desire, having
made his fortune to dwell in his native place. TO en-
ioy the companionshlp and esteem of his nelghDors
to participate in their pleasures, to help them IN
their troubles to aid in the Improvement ana cur
bellishment Of the town. to deepen his hold upon
the affections of all around him, and to feel that, at
last honored and lamented his ashes would be laid
in the village church where he had worshipped-
"Among familiar names TO rest,
And IN the places OF his youth"
II was about dozen years after he went to Lon
don that the poet began 10 buy property in STRAIT
ford, and it was about eight years after his nrst
purchase that he finally settled there. at New Place.
This mansion, as all readers know, was altered py
Sir Hugh Clopton, its owner about tho middle OF
the eighteenth century, and was destroyed by the
Rev. Mr.. Gastrell in 1857 There is modern struc-
ture on the estate now but the grounds, wllch
have been retained,-chiefy through the zeal Oh
HaUiweIl-are laid out according to the model
they are supposed to have presented when Snakes
peare owned them. His lawn, his orchard, and his
garden are indicated; and the grandson OF his
mulberry is growing on the very spot where that
famous tree once flOurished. You can see part OF
the foundations of the old house. 1t seems to have
had gables, and, no doubt, it was made OF stone,
and fashoned with the beautiful curves and bro
ken lines of the Tudor architecture. They still
show upon the lawn, a stOne of considerable SIZE
which surmounted ITS door, The site-still the most
- IA the of High
ST. and Chapel-st and on the opposite corner stands
now, as it has stood for 500 years, the Chapel of
the Holy Cross with square gray tower and fretted
battlement, and arched easements and Norman
porch-one of the most romantic and picturesque
churches in England. 1t was easy, when standing
on that stored spot, to fancy Shakespeare, In the
cleaning of a Summer day, strolling on the lawn
beneath his elms, and listening to the soft and SOL
emn music of the chapel organ or to think OF him
as stepping forth from his study, i'll the late and
lonesome hours of the night and pausing to count
the clockn or note " the exhalatiOns whizzing in
the air"
The funeral train Of Shakespeare, on that dark
day when it moved from New Place TO Stratford
Church. had but little way TO co. The nver,
surely must have seemed to hush its murmurs, the
trees to droop their branches the sunshine to grow
dim-as that sad procession passed. His grave is
under the gray pavement of the chancel, within the
rail- and his wife and two daughters are buried be-
side him. The pilgrim who reads, upon the grave
stone ITSELF those rugged lines of grevous entreaty
and awful imprecation which guard the poets rest,
feels no doubt that he is listening to his living voice
for he has now seen the enchanting beauty OF the
place. and he has now felt what passionate afec-
ton it lie able to inspire. Feeling and not manner
would naturally have commanded that sudden, ago
,,,,1f Anag auQh n
grim doubt when gazing on the painted bust,
above the grave, that was made by Gerard John
son the stonecutter that he beholds the authentic
face of Shakespeare. II is not the heavy
face of the portraits that represent 1t. There
is a rapt, TRANSPORTED quality in it which these do
not convey. 1t is thoughtful, austere, and yet
benign. Shakespeare was q hazel-eyed man, with
auburn hair and the cOors that he were scarlet
and black Being painted, aud also being set up at
a considerable height on the church wall, the bust
does not disclose what is sufficiently perceptbe in
cast from t--that it u.s. in fact the literal copy Of
a cast from the dead face. One Of the cheeks is a
little swollen and the tongue is very slightly pro-
truded and is caught between the lips. 1t need not
be said that the old theory that the poet was not
a gentleman of great consideration in his own time
and place, falls utterly and forever from the
mind when you stand at his grave. No man
could have a more honorable OF sacred spot of sep
ultue and while it illustrates the profound esteem
of the community in which he lived, it testfes to
the high religious character by which that esteem
was confirmed. 81 commend my soul into the
hands of God, my creator hoping and assuredly be-
lievng through the only merits of Jesus Christ my
Saviour to be made partaker Of life everlasting"
SO wrote Shakespeare, in his last will-bowing in
humbest reverence the mightiest mind-as vast
and lmitless in the power to comprehend as to ex-
press-that ever wore the garments of mortality.
Once again there is a sound of organ-mus:c, very
low and soft, in Stratford Church, and the dim
light. broken by tho riehly-stained windows,
streams across the duslty chance, filling the still
air with opal haze and flooding those gray grave
stones with it's mellow radiance. Not a word is
spoken but at intervals the rustic of the leaves is
audible in a signing wind. What visions are these
that suddenly fill the region What royal faces Of
monarchs, proud with power palld with
anguish What sweet, imperial women, glee-
full with happy youth and love, or wide
eyed and rigid in fearless woe! What war
riors, with serpent diadems, defiant Of
death and hell The mOurnful eyes of Hamlet /;
the wild cOuntenance of Lear Ariel with his
harp, and Prospero with his wandl Here is no
death! All these, and more, are immortal shapes !;
and he that made them so, though his mortal part
be but handful of dust in yonder crypt is a
glorious angel beyond the stars. W. W.
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