New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1886-09-16
THE CRAVE OF SHAKESPEARE.

Tho nroservation of tombs has always been
difficult Nothing is more striking In REGARD :"
the Pyramids than the utter failure oi 'n'
,,or.rarv nurnose with which they were con-
a.,notod The edifces remain to impress pass
inc generations, but where are the m'shty
80 ,,,hoso corafnllv embalmed bodies should
have reposed in their central chambers iho
Pharaohs are scattered. The one Dest known
IN the Western nations, the one whose heai'
was hardened against the children OF israel
is to-day duly catalogued and Labelled eXhloit
i, Tho museum at Boulak. Others are exposed
a. the nrofane gaze Of English AIRY, ut the
british Museum. Not few are In private
collections all over Europe. And some nave
served the plebean purpose OF boiling AtaO
camn kettles on the sand wastes overlooked
Inv the Sphinx "Where" asks the poet Vilion,
d" is the doughty Charlemagne = And In
another balade he may be said to answer the
ouestion with another" Where are last years
SHOWS ~ The kings Of France were borne one
by one. in royal fashion to the vaults OF
Dorobert's great cathedral of st. Denis. There
they were to repose in silence and majesty TO
tbc end of time. But the Revolution came,
and 70 the savage chanta of the Carmagnole
and the Marseillaise the royal remains were
with studied ignominy into the common ditcli.
Not only dynastic changes and revolutions,
conquest and invasion, have been hostile 10 the
preservation of the tombs OF rulers ana great
men. Ignorance and fanatlclsm have PASSED
| their destructive bosom over many Janus
| and ef1lced monuments which more enllSht-
| enod ages would have deemed precious
| When the IcOnOclasts ralded Europe
| the mischief done was appalling. Art
and Beauty everywhere aroused the
ire Of these pcstilcnt fanatics. and under their
hammers hundreds Of richly adorned structures
were reduced to The raw baroness OF
| "a ,habi mosque or round-hcad meeting
,ouse But ignorance and stupidity have
moved little less dangerous than bigotry, and
!, &c = cuiious fac, that England's chief intel
lcctual bride, tic great Shakespeare, has since
| his death Lccn almost continually exposed 10
| The injurious fantasies of imbccllcs IN au-
| thori,y at Stratfold. First came the idiot or
| IDIOTS whether rector or chufchwaucns OF
| both is not ccrlain) who sought to Improve
a bust Of the poet, painted to rescmole hll'''
| NV embarrassing it. Then came the FOOLISH
| rector who boosted If his own obstinate sac
| righteousness in cutting down the mulberry
tree which grew in Shakcspcarcs garden
| As to the dull cods nha1ting Stratford, they
wonld have removed every vestige of New
| Place wears ago if they had had their way.
And now We learn that innovations are threat
cncd which involve lasting and rrcparaolc
injury to the church itself.
Mr.. Halliwell- Philips is authority for this
| statement, and he is good authority. The
| worst of it is that there does not seem to bc
| any effective means Of stopping the mischief
| I'm almost any other country than England
the task of caring for the memorials of Shake
spcarc would long since have been assumed by
the Government, which would have jealousy
guarded every relic and preserved whatever
was in danger of decay from exposure. But
though the glory Of the poet is a possession
shared by the nation and by the race, the
dury-scarccly recognized rs such-of cherish
| ing the few tangible reminders OF HIM which
survive is rclegacd TO a handful of chur
and boobies who are us witeSs rs they az
irresponsible, and who, according TO Mr.. HALL
well. are proceeding rs rapidly as possible u
DESTROY the value of that shrine to which al
Fngl sh speaking men and women Journey Wit
cver-incrcasing enthusiasm. 1t may be idle Il
cyucct appreciation from the STAFFORD author
ties or people. Even at Mecca familiarity
| with the Kaaba has produced indifference
| But since the credit of William Shakespeare
is the credit Of England, it is not honorable
| to the country, or other than dcrogatoly to IL
| intelligence, that the danger Of such VANDALISM
should be possible. still less that it should IL
so imminent as Mr.. lIalliwcl represents it to be
|