Imatges de pàgina
PDF
EPUB

side to this is a tomb bearing the figures of William Clopton, and Anne, his wife. The male figure is in armour, with a lion at his feet. The magnificent tomb of George Carew, Earl of Totness and Baron of Clopton, and of Joice, his countess, eldest daughter of William Clopton already mentioned, is between these tombs, and against the east end. The figures of the earl and his countess, fashioned of alabaster, and coloured after life, lie under a Corinthian canopy, highly ornamented. An inscription on the tomb gives an account of the services and honours of this earl. He held office under Queen Elizabeth, James I., and Charles I., and died without issue in 1629. In the Transept, and in other parts of the church, are various monuments not deserving of particular mention here. The Latin inscription to the memory of Nathaniel Mason, an eminent attorney of this town, will be observed with some interest, from the fact of its having been composed by the poet Somerville.

The Chancel is regarded as the most perfect and beautiful part of the fabric. It was erected by Thomas Balsall, D.D., Dean of Stratford, between the years 1465 and 1491. Dean Balsall died in the latter year, and a curious monument in the altar shape marks his tomb. It is within the communion rail, and, though sadly defaced by the ignorant violence of former times, will not fail to interest the antiquarian. But that which gives a world-wide interest to this chancel and to the church is

THE GRAVE OF SHAKSPERE. It is a few paces from the wall in front of his famous monument, which is about five feet from the ground, and nearly over Dean Balsall's tomb already mentioned. It is covered by a plain flagstone, and bears the often quoted inscription

GOOD FREND, FOR JESVS SAKE FORBEARE,

TO DIGG THE DVST ENCLOASED HEARE;
BLESTE BE YE MAN YT. SPARES THES STONES,
AND CVRST BE HE YT. MOVES MY BONES.

Though this stone does not bear the name of Shakspere, there can be no doubt that it covers the spot consecrated by his ashes. We have Sir William Dugdale's testimony to this effect, in his "Antiquities of Warwickshire," first published in 1656, only forty years after the death of Shakspere. There are other ancient testimonies to the effect that this is the exact site of the poet's resting place. There is abundant

internal evidence in the lines engraved on the tombstone that Shakspere could not have been their author. Mr. De Quincey observes truly, that they are "below his intellect no

[graphic][subsumed]

less than his scholarship." The Monumental Bust, the only really trustworthy and original representation of the poet, is placed under an arch, between two Corinthian columns of

black marble. The entablature contains the arms of Shakspere, and various monumental devices. Mr. Britton gives the following description of the bust:-"The bust is the size of life; it is formed out of a block of soft stone, and was originally painted over in imitation of nature. The hands and face were of flesh colour, the eyes of a light hazel, and the hair and beard auburn; the doublet or coat was scarlet, and covered with a loose black gown, or tabard, without sleeves; the upper part of the cushion was green, the under half crimson, and the tassels gilt." The poet is represented with a pen in his right hand, and his left resting on a scroll. On the tablet beneath the bust are the following inscriptions:

Jvdicio Pylivm, genio socratem, arte maronem,
terra tegit, popvlvs mæret, olympvs habet.

STAY PASSENGER, WHY GOEST THOV BY SO FAST,
READ, IF THOV CANST, WHOM ENVIOVS DEATH HATH PLAST
WITHIN THIS MONVMENT, SHAKSPERE, WITH WHOME
QVICK NATVRE DIDE; WHOSE NAME DOTH DECK YS. TOMBE
FAR MORE THAN COST; SITH ALL YT. HE HATH WRITT
LEAVES LIVING ART BVT PAGE TO SERVE HIS WITT.

Obiit ano Doi. 1616. Ætatis 53, die 23 Ap.

The

The sculptor of this monument was Gerard Johnson. tradition of Stratford is that it was copied from a cast after nature. It is mentioned by Digges in his verses prefixed to the first edition of Shakspere, in 1623; so that it must have been erected within seven years after the poet's death.* The original colours were preserved till 1793; when, at the request of Mr. Malone, the whole was covered with a coating of white

*An engraved head of Shakspere faces the title page of an early folio edition of his works. It is by Martin Droeshout, a Dutchman, and has under it some lines by Ben Jonson, which seem to testify to its being a correct likeness

"The figure which thou seest here put,
It was for gentle Shakspere cut;
In which the graver had a strife
With nature, to out-do the life.

Oh! could he but have drawn his wit

As well in brass, as he hath hit

His face, the piece would then surpass
All that was ever writ in brass.

It is said that the engraving referred to resembles the Stratford bust as nearly as a picture generally can resemble a statue. However this may be, the Stratford bust has claims to be regarded an authentic likeness of our immortal bard, such as no other portrait or statue can possess.

paint. Malone's conduct in this matter has been often and deservedly condemned. We quote the severe lines which his bad taste induced a visitor to inscribe in the album :

"Stranger, to whom this monument is shown,
Invoke the Poet's curse upon Malone;

Whose meddling zeal his barbarous taste betrays,
And daubs his tombstone as he mars his plays!"

By the side of Shakspere, and nearer the north wall, lies his wife, Anne Hathaway, who died in 1623. On the other side is buried his favourite daughter Susanna Hall. She died in 1649, aged 66. Some verses originally inscribed on her tombstone, but obliterated to make room for the record of a certain Richard Watts, have been preserved by Dugdale. They give an engaging picture of the excellencies of Shakspere's beloved daughter :

Witty above her sexe, but that's not all,
Wise to salvation was good Mistris Hall:
Something of Shakspere was in that, but this
Wholly of Him with whom she's now in blisse.
Then, passenger, ha'st ne're a teare,

To weep with her that wept with all?

That wept, yet set herself to chere

Them up with comforts cordiall.

Her love shall live, her mercy spread,
When thou hast ne'er a teare to shed."

Here are also buried, Judith, Shakspere's younger daughter, and Dr. Hall, Susanna's husband, and Elizabeth, his only child, and Shakspere's grand-daughter.

Another tomb in the chancel is deserving of particular notice. It is a splendid marble monument to the memory of John Combe, the friend of Shakspere. There is a tradition that this man was a great usurer; and some satirical lines are even recorded as having been written on him by Shakspere. The whole story is in itself exceedingly improbable. The majestic figure reclining on this tomb cannot be that of a miser; and it is an absurd libel to suppose Shakspere guilty of writing lines, which, it has been truly said, "would have disgraced a Thames waterman."

The decorations and general arrangements of all parts of the church evince the most correct taste. The ranges of ancient stalls in the chancel are worthy of notice on account of the grotesque carvings in wood on the under part of the seats. The church contains a fine organ.

Adjoining the chancel on the north side, and accessible by an ornamented doorway, was a capacious vault, built in the

plain Saxon style, supposed by some to have been part of the ancient monastic institution. It had formerly been used as a charnel house, and contained an immense quantity of human bones. In 1800 the great collection of human fragments was carefully covered over, and the building demolished.

This notice of Stratford Church cannot be more appropriately concluded than by a few eloquent sentences from Washington Irving's description, already referred to-" The mind refuses to dwell on anything that is not connected with Shakspere. This idea pervades the place: the whole pile seems but as his mausoleum. The feelings, no longer ehecked and thwarted by doubt, here indulge in perfect confidence; other traces of him may be false or dubious, but here is palpable evidence and absolute certainty...... How would it have cheered the spirit of the youthful bard, when, wandering forth in disgrace upon a doubtful world, he cast back a heavy look upon his paternal home, could he have foreseen that, before many years, he should return to it covered with renown; that his name should become the boast and glory of his native place; that his ashes should be religiously guarded as its most precious treasure; and that its lessening spire, on which his eyes were fixed in tearful contemplation, should one day become the beacon, towering amidst the gentle landscape, to guide the literary pilgrim of every nation to his tomb!

NEW PLACE was the residence of Shakspere during the latter part of his life. He purchased the mansion which formerly existed here in 1597, when he was only 33 years of age. Here, in the enjoyment of the tranquil happiness which he had so well earned, he led that quiet country life which he has depicted so exquisitely. It is probable that in this quiet retirement he composed some of his plays. Here he died in 1616. On his death, New Place became the property of his daughter Mrs. Hall, from whom it passed to her only child, Lady Barnard. She dying without issue, it was sold, in 1675, to Sir Edward Walker, and afterwards passed by marriage into the Clopton family. In 1742, Sir Hugh Clopton, who made some alterations on the premises, entertained Macklin, Garrick, and Dr. Delany under the celebrated mulberry tree in the garden, which had been planted by Shakspere's own hand. After Sir Hugh's death, the property was sold, in 1753, to the Rev. Francis Gastrell. This man's memory is execrated by all the admirers of Shakspere. Irritated, probably, by the desire of visitors to see the house and grounds which possessed such a universal interest, he ordered the noble mulberry tree

« AnteriorContinua »