New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-08-30
lEsoN srAvF COMMENCEMENT oy rnE rKnuskl

worcester. Enghnu, July 23.-lnc present
derer came early yesterday morning TO " The Faith.
full City, and this letter TO you is written IN a
midnight hour at the Unicorn Hotel Many sgits
and incidents have been crowded into n few hours.
II under such exciting circumstances you withhold
to write until you can completely digest all that
you have seen, the chances are that you will NOT
write at all. This place is redolent OF the wan
| OF the Stuarts and the moment you enter il yonr
mind is filled with the presence of Charles the
Martyr. Charles the Merry, Prince Ruper. ana
Oliver Cromwell. From the top of Red Hill an
the margin OF Perry Wood-now sleeping in ebsS
starlight or momentarily vocal with the rustic of
| leaves and the note Of half-awakened brds-Crom.
well looked down over the ancient walled city
which he had beeaguered Upon the summit o.
The great tower of Worcester Cathedral Chsrles
ana Rupert held their last council Of var. Here
was Fought and lost II 6jl) the battle that mads
the merry monarch hunted fugitive and AN exile
"Hhlh TWO days now ending your pilgrim has ram
bled along those heights: traversed the whole
battlefield; walked in every part of the Cathe.
dral; twice attended divine service there: rev
eed in the antiquities Of Edgar Tower: roamed
through most Of the city streets: traced all tina,
can lie traced of the old wal-there is very It,l.
remaining Of it now, and no part that can Ia
walked upon explored the Royal Porcelain
Works, for which Worcester is famous: viewed sew
eral of its old churches and It's one theatre lin
Angel-st): entered its Guildhall where they pre
serve fine piece of artillery and. nine suits OF
black armor that were left by Charles the Second
when he fed from Worcester; paced the dusty and
empty Trinity Hall, now abandoned and condemned
TO demolition, where once Queen Elizabeth was
feasted; and visited tire old COmmandery-a rare
piece of antiquity, remaining from the tenth
his wounds, after Cromwelrs browning mercr.'
and beneath the floor of which he was laid IN
temporary grave The Commandery Is now owned
and occupied by Mr.. Littlebnry, a printer Of
directories and guide-books, and here, as every.
where else in stored Worcester the arts of peace
prevail over all the scenes and all the traces Of
"old forgotten, far-oG things
And battles long ago"
In the Edgar Tower they keep the original Of
the marriagc-bond so often reprinted, that was
given, as preliminary to the marriage OF William
Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway by Fulk San
dells and John Richardson Of Shottery. IL iss
lone and narrow striY Of parchment, and 1t has
been glazed and framed. Two seals. Of hght-col
ored wax were originally attached TO il, dependent
by strings, but these were removed-apparensy
for the convenience OF the mechanic who put this
relict into its present frame. The handwriting Is
Grabbed and obscure. There are bur few persons
who can read the handwriting in old documents Of
this kind and thousands of such documents exist
In the chuIch-archIves and elsewhere il this coun-
try that have never been examined. The name
of Hathaway in this marriage-bond much re-
sembles the name of Whateley The contract
vouches that there was no impediment through
consanguinity or otherwise to the marriage Of
William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway. 1t
md IL d
posed that the marriage took place immedbtely-
since the first child of it. Susanna Shakespeare, was
baptized in the Church of the Holy Trinity, at
Stratford, en- May 26 1888. No registration Of
the marriage has ever been found. but that is
no proof that IL does not exist. The law in these
days prescribed that the marriage-bond should
designate three parishes, within the residential
diocese. In either one OF which the marriage night
be made but the custom IN those days permitted
the contracting parties. when they had compiled
with this legal requirement 10 be married in
whatever parish within the diocese they might
prefer Three parishes named in the Shake
speare marrage-bond. The registers of two Of
them have been searched-and searched IN vain.
The register of the tlId that Of Luddnston,
which Is close by Shottery destroyed long
go in "a fire that burnt down Luddington Church;
and conjecture therefore assumes that Shakespeare
was married at Luddington. 1t may be so. bat
there is no certainty about il, and until every
old church-resiste in the ancient diocese OF
Worcester has been examined the quest of the
registration OF his marriage ought not 10 be
abandoned. Mr. Richard Savage, the learned and
diligent Librarian Of the Shakespeare Birthplace,
has long been occupied with this inquiry and, in
deed has personally transcribed several Of the old
church-regisers in the vicinity OF Stratfcrd The
Do Mn Wa1la
great learning and inccssant industry has also
taken part in this labor. The lonI-
desired entry Of the marriage Of Will
lam and Anne remains undiscovered. but
one gratifying and valuable result of these In
vestgations is the disclosure that many Of the
names used in ShalSespeare's works are the names
of persons who were residents of Warwickshire IN
his time. 1t has pleased various crazy sensation
mOngers, of late, TO aScribe the authorship VI
Shakespeares writings 20 Lord Bacon. his, OF
course, could only be done by ignoring positive
evidence, namely, OF Ken Jonson,
who knew Shakespeare personally, and who has
left 10 us a written description OF the manner IN
which Shakespeare composed his plays. Impudeut
effrontery was 10 be expected from the advocates
of this preposterous Bacon theory. But when they
have ignored the positive evidence, and the in
ternal evidence, and the circumstantial evidence,
and every other sort of evidence they have still
an ugly obstacle to surmount,-an obstacle which
the researches of such patient scholars as Mr..
Savage and Mr.. Wadley are strengthening day by
lay. The man who wrote Shakespeare knew War
wickShire as it could only be known TO native
Of it and there is no proof that Bacon ever knew
1t or was in it.
With reference TO the Shakespeare Marriage
Bond, and, indeed, with reference to all the
records that are kept in the Edgar Tower at Wor-
Dester, il should perhaps be said that they are not
preserved with the scrupuous care TO which such
treasures are entitled. The Towers gray and
venerable relic, in fact, an ancient gate OF the
Monastery, dating back 10 the time Of King John
affords an appropriate receptacle for these docu-
ments; but it would not Withstand FIRE, and IL