New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-05-11
LITERARY NOTES.

The Sarecen's Head, the tavern WHICH was the
headquarters in London of that remarkable
pedagogue, Mr.. Wackford Squeers, is to be sold.
Tradition says that 1t is the representative Of a
house which originally owed its name to the
wars in the Holy Land. It stands near the site
OF Newgate, and its gateway. as described by
Dickens. is guarded by two Saracens heads ana
shoulders which il was once the pride and glory
of the choice spirits of the metropolis to pun
down at night. THE inn itself garnished with
another Saracen's head, frowns upon you from
the top of the yard. while from the door of the
hind boot Of all the red coaches that are stand
ing therein there glares a small Saracen's head
with a twin expression to the large Saracens
heads below that the general appearance OF
the pile is decidedly of the Saracenic order"
shakespeare's birthday was celebrated in
England this year with unusual ardor. At
stratford- on-Avon the great ceremony of the
day, the laying of flowers on the poets grave,
took place al noon The procession. headed by
the Mayor, was the longest ever seen, and al
most equal numbers, not of it, followed into the
church. carrying flowers. and filling not only all
the seats but the standing room at the back.
The Rev. r. s. de Courcy Laffan speaking from
the choir stalls said they were come together to
thank God for His great gift in Shakespeare,
for the happy hours they had spent with him IN
the study and the theatre. All that influence
they thanked God for; God made it all. and He
made it very good. But they thanked Him also
for something deeper than that-for the teach
ing and guidance of life, for insight into the
springs of conduct, for the vision of how
cording as we dealt with conduct we moulded
for ourselves the character that was ours. At
the close Of the address the ceremony of de-
posting the flowers in the chancel was pro-
ceeded with, the floral offering being one of
the largest and finest made since the festival
he fec OP
the Stratford celebration was the resuscitation
OF the old morris dances which for centuries
were popular at parochial festivals in oldtme
England. The London Standard" says:
There h were ere some nine performers in all of
green STOCKINGS cross-gartered in colors. white
enWned with 6 5ssa f8bo foph Ate
1Clizabethan variety with the nastebosrS 30 IS
neck and the light frame of wicker-work cloth
Vhitened and SMASHED with cbron5 ms I Laee T Th
cancers were genuine countrymen with healthy
sun-orowned faces. end their practice or their
@ ugut the veong daS t 3se2 we're we're g Gand
stems yi aiInost nlnclng but accurately timed
S gown a d5 across in symmetrical evolutions
In London one Of the most interesting episodes
OF the DAY was the "Ramble" about all the
places associated with Shakespeare and his
plays The party first visited ST I,4onard's
Church, Shoreditch, where the Queens Jester.
Tarleton who may have served as the proto-
type of Yorrick and the Burbages, father and
son, were buried The church the poet knew was
pulled down in 1886 and the present building
erected in 1740. The pilgrims next went To the
site of the old theatre, and afterward TO Cur
tain Road TO view the window inserted over the
west door Of st. Janes's Church in 1856. to COM
memorate the tercentenary of Shakespeare's ar
rival in London. At the old Curtain Theatre.
a little northward the opposite side of the
road, Romeo and julie was produced in 1895
The next point Of interest was St Helen's
Bishopsgate, which at one period must have
been shakespeare's parish church, for he lived
here in 1895. Crosby Hall--the Crosby Place of
Richard IIT'-which dates from about 1906.
came next The party went TO the Cuildhall
where the deed Of Shakespeare's property at
Blackfriars is preserved and then inspected the
monument in the churchyard of St Mary AL
dermanbury to Heminge and Condeu, who su-
perintended the collection of the plays and the
publication Of the first folio in 1923 Thence the
route was over London Bridge to ST. Saviour's
Southwark. the burial place OF Edmund Shake
speare, the younger brother Of the poet and of
Laurence Fletcher. who belonged to the Cham
berlain's company OF players. Bankside was
next explored the neighborhood is rich in Shake
spearian assOciatons-the Globe Theatre the
Bear Garden, and Paris Garden Returning
by Blackfriars Bridge some OF the party went
east to Playhouse-yard. where the Blackfriars
Theatre stood. and d few to the Middle Temple
Hall. in which Twelfth Night was played on
February 2 1902. The route up the Chancery
Lane allowed of view Of the fine Tudor gate |
way OF Lncoln's Inn, erected in 1918; on the |
other side, Southampton buildings recalled the |
TACT that here Shakespeares great patron had |
his town house. In the Hall Of Gray's Inn Mrs |
Carmichael stopes delivered a short address |
in which she considered the performance Of
the Comedy Of Errors in the hall in December
1924. At the commemoration dinner held in the
evening by the London Shakespeare League,
the toast in honor Of Shakespeare was drunk
IN silence.
Another ceremony In honor Of the birthday |
took place IN Germany. At Weimar a marble |
statue Of the poet unveiled in the presence |
Of the Grand Duke The sculptor Herr Otto |
Leasing has represented Shakespeare sitting on |
a block of granite holding in one hand scroll
and in the other rose. The face years smile
which German critics say expresses the spirit Of
the author Of the comedies rather than the
loftier moods Of the creator Of Hamlet and
Lear. At the foot of the statue lie skull in
cap and bells, encircled with a laured wreath a
dagger and a fools bauble
Concerning the ceremonies of the occasion a
correspondent of The London Times" writes:
The president OF the German Shakespeare So
ciety, Professor Brandt, Of Berlin, delivered a
speech in which he drew attention to the fact that
the Shakespeare statue was the first monument
erected in Germany 10 the memory Of any foreign
poet, whereas in London itsf there was no memo
rial IN the open air worthy of Shakespeare The
debt OF inspiration which men like Tessing. Her
Aieianl. ed Gbalya