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The Guild Chapel-the school to which Shakespeare went, not, let us hope, unwillingly;-the Falcon Inn, where 'tis said "he took his ease," and all that serves for a Theatre in the town being clustered in the immediate neighbourhood. No authentic drawing of Shakespeare's house is known to be in existence. It was built, we know, by Sir Hugh Clopton in the reign of Henry VII., not later than 1490. Another Sir Hugh Clopton utterly demolished this fabric. "An entirely new house," says Mr. Bellew, was erected about 1720; and it was this structure (of the Dutch William or Queen Anne's style of building) which the ruthless Gastrell rased to the ground." The "Vandalic priest" is thus far exonerated from the more serious charge of destroying the actual house in which Shakespeare lived; but his organ of destructiveness is nevertheless accountable for the pulling down of the house erected on the site of Shakespeare's, and the uprooting of the mulberry tree which Shakespeare had planted. The boundaries of Shakespeare's garden have been ascertained, and the whole of New Place estate, with the exception of the plot occupied by the Theatre, has been purchased by general subscription, and secured to the public mainly by the instrumentality of Mr. Halliwell. The foundation stones of the poet's house" the very stones that prate of his whereabouts"—are now laid bare. Shakespeare's well, still in good order, was discovered in the grounds. Portions of rooms, believed to have been his offices, kitchen, &c., have been found out. It is proposed to preserve these interesting excavations and to put the garden in appropriate order in accordance with the deep importance that must ever be attached to the spot where Shakespeare lived, laboured, and died.

A few hundred yards from the geographical point at which we have now arrived, at the extreme end of the town, stands the venerable edifice in which the precious dust of Shakespeare lies entombed. And thus from end to end of Stratford-upon-Avon, by objects insignificant and titles not very significant as well as by institutions of the highest dignity and importance, the visitor is reminded at every

step that this is the town rendered all classic and in some places sacred by the memory and associations of Shakespeare. And now let us take a view of the places with which his name is specially connected, commencing with that which is nearest to us in this imaginary tour, and at the same time the most important.

THE CHURCH.

The heart must be divested of all feelings of things at once sacred and beautiful that can approach the church of the Holy Trinity, at Stratford-upon-Avon, unmoved by thoughts too deep and too high for expression. Here indeed is a rare combination of objects and associations to charm, elevate, and solemnize the soul. The eye is first delighted by the picturesque. The avenue, under whose broad flagway lie that which no following spring revives" the ashes of the urn," whilst over head interlace in the Gothic arch of beauty the entwining branches and lovely green leaves of the graceful lime trees; on either side "the forefathers of the hamlet sleep; towards the river the sable-suited crows build in the tall old trees, and sweep croaking about on heavy wing, fit tenants of the scene; the nightingale's delightful note at eve is heard; the little small birds have made in "the jutty frieze and coigne of vantage their pendant bed and procreant cradle." But not the music of the grove, the beauty of the flowers, all the features of the landscape, or the solemn temple that stands in grey majesty before the visitor, can impress him with that sentiment of awe and reverence which must arise as he contemplates the fact that here verily lies the awful dust of the man whose genius outstripped time and "exhausted worlds."

The cruciform building of "perpendicular Gothic " containing the poet's precious ashes is almost of cathedral dimensions. The windows rise above the trees, and the square Norman tower supports a tall and graceful spire, which may be observed an object of beauty and solemn interest-for miles all around the country. Having arrived