New-York tribune., 1879-04-26

When In 1864 the third Shakespeare centenary was
celebrated plan had been for some timo foot Tor
the building Of A national memorial site had peHh
chosen but II does not appear that much progress hiu
been made. Four or five years ago, Wheh 'ho
project was revived, it had fallen into such neglect Us
TO be in danger Of abandOnment The site OF Tue pres
eu structure is not the one which had been fixed upon
in 1891 that being at the market place IN the eeho VI
the town. where Henley-s the street in which the poet
was born terminates the market square The present
one is on the banks Of the Avon near the southern
tremity Of the town, only little distance lro" INC
church. and was contributed 10y one OF the wealthy c'
zens OF stratf0rd. Contributions OF money were lne
asked and Americans "a well EGglishmen have gwen
literally performance arranged by Miss Kate fIeid'
took place in London last May and considerable SUN
WAS raised by it, Ony a part Of the building Is now
completed. This is the theatre. The library and pct
ure alery remain unfinished. 1t Is the intention 'h''
the plays of Shakespeare shall from time 10 tIho NC
represented IN the theatre, while In the library anu
picture gallery will be preserved all the booAS anu
choice paintings that can DE oDlalnou u iiu'H"' ~
life and genius.
Within the past hundred or go years seVerai cee-
brations have been held at Stratford, the most
memorable Of which the one OF l'OV' orI.r
mated by David Garrck, and largely due to his enor's
for its splendid For mat occasion iarS' anu
costly amphiihcatrc temporarily erccted e'ose "
tbe Avon and so great the popular enthusiasm th''
course of erection the cbncourse OF sigh'eers 'on
All parts of the country to Sratford such aH The
highways Of Warwiclsrc had not seen since the dh!S
in which the aspiring Leicester entertained MS Q'e'"
with masque and revel within the proud walls OF heh
worth" In recognition Of hls services Hrrlch ""'
voted the freedom OF the borough, and the dona "'
presented him III n casKct made OF wood rom tue
mulberry tree Of New Place In lS27 and 1880 ceebr
fpDs of some magnitude were held. That Of lsOl Is
within the memory II almost every reader Al eral
ford tht 23d OF April has come 10 be reaaro'u H'
day, and pigImagos thither Of actors ana H'eIa"S
men aud women from London ana other towns are VI
yearly occurrence That this day is the anniversary '
snakespeares birth is. a. Is we'll known, by no means
certain That he died on the 23I Of April is matter o
record IN, Of the exact day OF his Drth there Is 10 "
tcr testimony than this; Toe register Oh lho C'i'H
bears witness that he was baptized tIere ch
the 2G,h Of April, 1854 and m those days II
wa. nc custom 70 bapt.zs infants the third day
after they born. Presumng that THIS custom was
followed IN the case of "Naturcs Darling 1t Is SET
down tnat he was born on the 23I OF April st1tiord
snow town Of nearly 10000 souls, being much larger
than ii was IN the poets time. Probably It's nabah'S
did not number more than 1900 when he knew then
Tie antiquity Of the town carries its history BACK 10
period three hundred years before the Conquest Inc
cburchs far older than Shakespeare. II was bult by
an Archbishop Of Canterbury in the reign o. Edward
III Q321-7 so that il had already reached The age o.
200 yeass when the poet was Daptiz IN 1t. Sirford
in these days is of the most quiet and lieless o
small English towns, \ traveller one day In NI"'cf
asked shop girl if it always quiet IN stratIoFd
"Ycs," she replied 90 do not know what We would do
without our Shakespeare"
The festival began Wednesday. dtJeuner-liher
was given in The afternoon with the Mayor OF srafofd
in tie chair. and during the evening Much Ado ABOUT
Nothing was acted the theatre. Barry Sullivan ana
Mrs Theodore Martin UIeen FauciD played BenedtcE
and Beatrice Thursday evening Hamlet was 10 De
given, with Barry Sullivan the melancholy Dane,
and the play TO be repeated tonight Inc enter tam
mcnt for last evening concert conducted py or
,Juns Benedict with Madame ATdbelg Goddard, Mo.
Osgood, Miss Kate Field Madame Antonette sterllng'
". Shakespeare, W. IL. Cummings ana MG. oabtry
among those would take part. Monday afternoon
- The Tempest" " will be read. and during the week
" Hamet" -" Much Ado ABOUT Nothing ana " AS 1uu
Like 1t " viii be played.