The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-10-02
.HOSMER At
STRATFORO
Sees Shrine of the
immortal
Bard.

B erature," Henry Hallam tells US, and
q yet we know less of the life OF this
king of poets than of any other great
s. character in history. Stratford shows
US only his birthplace and his tomb
it is but a step from the cradle to the
grave-and still, somehow we feel more
impressed with his personality when
3 we walk the streets once frequented
! by the boy Shakespeare.
With his satcheI
And shining morning face, creeping
sri like snail
Unwillingly 90 to school"
Warwickshire has been called the
garden of all England, and it certainly
shows to advantage in August. The
rich valleys of the Avon and the Sew
ern with the low hills and wide mead
ows present an ever changing scene.
Here the varying landscape is best de-
scribed by the word mellow" for it
seems as if time had softened every
line in the panorama about US. After
securing rooms at the old Red Horse
Hotel" made famous by Washington
Irving in his ''Sketchbook," we set out
for the parish church by the river side.
The immediate approach is through a
| long and handsome avenue of lime
trees. The churchyard, long since
closed for burials, contains many fine
old elms beautifully developed, and
there are occasional oaks and yews
Holy Trinity is much like other old
parish churches, mixture of Norman
and Gothic architecture and, also like
others, it has suffered from the hand
of time. Immediately on entering the
nave one sees under glass the ancient
parish register, opened to the follow
ing baptismal entry in 1864:
April 26th, Gulielmus, filius johann
mes Shakespeare" and also of the
burial in 1916.
April 25th, Will Shakespeare Gent"
But we FASTENED on to the chancel
where north of the altar is the cele-
brated mural tablet made familiar 10
all by photographs. The bust of the
poet is life-size and the original col
oring has been restored. The eyes are
brown and the hair auburn. He wears
| a loose black gown over a scarlet
| doublet. 1t is the work of Gerard jan
| sen, or Johnson, a Dutch sculptor, and
| is known to have been in position as
| early as 1923. Hence the inference
that as it was satisfactory to friends
and relatives. it must have been good
| likeness. The inscriptions are so well
| known that l refrain from quoting
them. Immediately below the tablet is
a slab marking the resting place of the
poets wife, Anne Hathaway Shake
spears, who died in 1928 and adjoining
| is another slab with no inscription. but
| the crudely carved lines:
| Good friend, for Jesus sake forbeara,
To dig the dust encloased heare;
Blest be We man vt spares these /
stones,
And curst be he vt moves my bones
Tradition assigns this grave to |
Shakespeare. Next are stones in mem
DRY of Thomas Nash, who married the /
poets granddaughter, of Dr. John Hall,
son-in-law of the poet, and of ST.
sannah Shakespeare Hall, the poets
oldest daughter. East of the Shakes
peare tomb and close to the altar is
the carved effigy of John a Combe, the
money-lender, a friend and neighbor
of Shakespeare. The story is told that
once at a merry gathering Combe ask
ed Shakespeare to compose his cpl
taph. The poet after moments ru-
mination, gave the following:
Ten in a hundred lies in this grave:
'Tis a hundred to ten his soul is not
saved.
If any one asks who lies in this tomb,
% no. quoth the devil, tits my john
a Combe.'"
The statement often made that this
caused a rupture of their friendship
is absurd Combe died two years be
q
money by will.
Returning to the Red Horse" which
we ought to say is one of the finest
old hostelries in England, we had an
excellently prepared dinner a matter
worthy of record in this island, where
good cooking is rare and variety Of
menu almost unknown. Our 'landlady
asked us if we were to attend the illu-
mination on the Avon that evening (
given by Marie Correlli, the novelist !
and explained that the public had
been invited. Upon Dame Quickly d
suggestion We went down to the RIVER y
near the old CloptOn bridge, of honor
ed memory, and there found poth
banks of the stream brilliant with !
torches, electric light, and Japanese
lanterns The water was alive with
boats and one, the George Washington,
was at the landing. This was the boat
for us, and for a shilling apiece we !
obtained excellent seats in the DOW, =
finding ourselves in the midst If Il
party of English ladies who were kind q
enough to consider us one OF their
and throughout the evening
pointed out to US the different par
Elephants in the festivities. II seems /
that Marie Corelh who resides IN t
Stratford often gives public entertain {
ments on the river or adjacent lawns
and we were fortunate enough to hap !
pen upon one Prizes had been Of |
fered for Illuminated barges represent l
ing scenes from Shakespeare's plays. |
Many entries had been made, and 1 Y
think there were about twenty floats
in the procession. An orchestra located !
near the old church furnished music
at intervals, and Miss Corelli's barge
was attended by another containing a :
professional quintet, which sang selec- s
lions from Midsummer Nights !
Dream" THE Tempest" and other {
plays. The first prize was awarded to !
the rising young Shakespearean actress
Lily Brayton, who appeared as Cleo $
patra sailing down the Nile" her hus- Z
band, Mr.. Oscar Ashe, attended as a 7
Nubian slave and a number of OK !
ford students were at the oars. The
second prize came to a boat with an
artistic transparency representing
Oberon and Titania. The entertain
ment closed with dance upon the
lawn.
The next morning we visited the
poets birthplace in Henley street. If
the parish church is the shrine, this t
old house is the Mecca, and thousands s
of pilgrims. most of them Americans, I