a small carving of Shakespeare's monument stated to be from the mulberry tree planted by Shakespeare at the New Place. The lower room or butcher's shop is first entered by visitors, it is without furniture having a broken pavement, naked walls, and a small kind of a kitchen in the rear, with the ample fire place of olden times. Over the butcher's shop, and approached by a narrow timber staircase in the kitchen, is the celebrated chamber where Shakespeare is said to have been born. The walls of this chamber are literally covered with the names and other memorials of the numerous visitors to this hallowed spot, consecrated as the birth-place of the greatest genius of the age.*

The church (Holy Trinity) in which Shakespeare was buried, stands at the south-eastern extremity of the town, and is supposed to have been erected as early as the eleventh or twelfth century. The approach to this venerable structure from the town is by a paved walk under an avenue of arched lime trees.

At the time Stratford-upon-Avon was visited, October 28th, 1853, the premises were under the charge of an elderly lady employed, as we were informed, by the company now in possession. The ceiling is quite low, and the walls destitute of the wainscoting or hanging of tapestry with which, in the poet's time, they would have been covered. A few articles of furniture were, however, in the room, with a number of guide books, engravings, &c., for sale. Among the names of visitors who had inscribed their names, we observed those of Walter Scott, Schiller, the poet of Germany, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and many others known to fame. The following are said to have been written on the wall in the kitchen by Lucien Buonaparte about 1810. The room having been whitewashed it of course cannot now be seen.

The eye of Genius glistens to admire,

How Memory hails the sound of Shakespeare's lyre,
One tear I'll shed, to form a crystal shrine

For all that's grand, immortal, and divine.

The far-famed mural monument and bust are on the left of the chancel, immediately above the line of graves containing the remains of the poet, his daughter, Susanna, her husband, Dr. Hall, and their daughter, Lady Barnard; and, in all probability, many others of the family. The bust is of the size of life, and stands fixed under an arch between two Corinthian columns of black marble; upon the entablature are the arms of Shakespeare (surmounted by a skull), and two small figures sitting, one holding in his right hand a spade; and the other, whose eyes are closed, having in his left hand an inverted torch, and his right resting upon a skull. The sculptor of the monument, we gather from Mr. Hamper's lately-published "Life and Correspondence of Dug. dale," was Gerard Johnson, and from the verses of Leonard Digger, prefixed to the first edition of Shakespeare's work, it was evidently erected before 1623 :

Shakespeare, at length thy pious fellows give
The world thy works; thy works by which outlive
Thy tomb thy name must: when that stone is rent,
And time dissolves thy Stratford monument,
Here we alive shall view thee still. This book,
When brass and marble fade, shall make thee look
Fresh to all ages.

The hands and

Originally, the bust was colored to resemble life. face were of flesh color, the eyes of a light hazel, and the hair and beard auburn. The doublet, or coat, was scarlet; over which was a loose black tabard or gown without sleeves. The upper part of the cushions, on which his hand rests, was green; the under half crimson, and the tassels gilt. Mr. John Ward, grandfather to Mrs. Siddons and Mr. Kemble, had it repaired, and the original colors preserved, in 1748; but, in 1793, says Britton, "Mr. Malone caused the bust to be covered over with one or more coats of white paint, and thus at once destroyed its original character, and injured the expression of the face."

Upon 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 envious death hath plast
Within this monvment, Shakespeare, with whome
Quick 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 wit.

Obiit ano. doi. 1616. ætatis 53. die 23 ap.

Below the monument, upon the stone covering the poet's grave, are the following extraordinary lines :—

GOOD FRIEND, FOR JESUS SAKE FORBEARE,

TO DIG THE DUST ENCLOASED HEARE:
BLESTE BE YE MAN YT SPARES THES STONES,
AND CVRST BE HE YT MOVES MY BONES.

In a letter from Warwickshire, in 1693, (published by Mr. Rodd, from the original manuscript, 1838,) the writer, after describing the monument, and giving its inscription, says :-" Near the wall where this monument is erected, lies the plain freestone, underneath which his body is buried, with this epitaph, made by himself, a little before his death." He subsequently adds:-"Not one, for fear of the curse above-said, dare touch his grave-stone, though his wife and daughters did earnestly desire to be laid in the same grave with him." We have here authority for the existence of the epitaph seventy-seven years after Shakespear's death; but there is a still earlier authority. In a plate to Dugdale's "Antiquities of Warwickshire," first published in 1656, there is a representation of Shakespeare's tomb, with the following passage:-"Neare the wall where this monument is erected lyeth a plain freestone, underneath which his body is buried, with this epitaph

Good Friend, &c."

It has been conjectured that Shakespeare's anxiety for the repose of his bones might have arisen from there being a door immediately below his bust, which formerly gave access to the charnel-house. And, indeed, from various passages in his plays, it is clear that he looked with horror at the desecration of the bones of the dead.

But, whoever may have been the author of the lines, we owe him gratitude for the effectual preservation of these sacred relics, for upwards of two hundred years; and we trust the simple but impressive denunciation will still secure them undisturbed.

Between Shakespeare's grave and the north wall, Anne, the wife of the poet, lies buried; she died 6th August, 1623, aged sixty-seven. The stone has a brass plate, with the following inscription :

Here lyeth interred the Bodye of ANNE, Wife of Mr. William Shakespeare, who dep'ted this life the 6th of August, 1623, being of the age of 67 yeares.

On the other side of Shakespeare's grave is a flat stone, bearing the inscription:

Here lyeth ye Body of SUSANNA, Wife to John Hall, Gent., ye Daughter of William Shakespeare, Gent. She deceased ye 11th of July, ao. 1649. Aged 66.

Then follow some verses, which were formerly obliterated to make room for an inscription to a Richard Watts, a person in no way related to the family, but which the good taste and feeling of the Rev. W. Harness have latterly restored:

Witty above her sexe, but that's not all,
Wise to salvation, was good Mistress Hall;
Something of Shakespeare was in that, but this
Wholly of him with whom she's now in blisse.
Then, passenger, hast ne're a teare

LINCOLN, the capital of Lincolnshire, stands on an elevated situation on the north bank of the river Witham, 120 miles north of London, with a population of about 16,000. As early as the Domesday survey, it was one of the richest and most populous cities in the kingdom. As the place is approached upon the railway from the south west, it is discerned at a considerable distance. Its magnificent Cathedral, is seen on the summit of the hill, towering above all other structures in the city, which on a nearer view of its majestic front is even more imposing than that of St. Paul's Cathedral or Westminster Abbey.

The Cathedral of Lincoln is scarcely secondary in extent and magnificence to any English edifice of a similar description. It was commenced in 1086 by the Anglo-Norman bishop Remigius; but the structure raised by him and his immediate successor was destroyed by fire early in the twelfth century. The whole was, however, speedily rebuilt, but was much enlarged and improved

in subsequent ages, the part last erected being finished about 1380. Each division of the exterior is distinguished by great elegance of design; but the grand western front is considered the finest. This superb façade consists of a central elevation, comprising three doors of entrance, and two lateral parts. Windows, arcades, niches, and numerous pieces of curious sculpture, form its principal embellishments, and above the whole rise two lofty towers. The beauty of the edifice is considerably augmented by a tower which proceeds from the center, and rises in its loftiest part to the height of 300 feet. Every thing about this Cathedral is grand and highly ornamented, and its western front has been denominated the noblest specimen of that species of architecture in Europe. Besides the magnificence displayed in the separate parts of the building, which defy abridged description, it is also said to have once possessed more riches than almost any church in the nation. Henry VIII, according to some authors, took from it not less than 2621 ounces of gold, and 4285 ounces of silver, besides an innumerable quantity of precious stones. Some of its shrines were of pure gold, others of silver; and the mitre of the bishop had not its equal for the richnesss of its jewels. Several very curious monuments ornament different parts of the aisles and cloisters; and the chapels, chapter-house, and library, are all highly interesting. Besides the Cathedral, Lincoln contains several parish churches, and other public edifices.

"In grandeur of its site it can scarcely be surpassed. It does not merely shoot its towers and pinnacles above a crowd of roofs, which, nevertheless, (in the case of many such edifices,) often succeed in hiding it from view; so happily is it placed, that the entire building developes itself to the spectator, clear, almost from base to summit. The visitor entering by the High-street, of above a mile long, has his eye fixed-whether he will or no-on those majestic twins of the conquest, the Castle and the Cathedral, towering above him, and closing up one of the finest city landscapes in Europe; when bathed in the sunshine of a summer day it is a scene that prints itself in the stranger's memory, "The entrance into Lincoln from the south," says a native writer, well known to the Antiquarian world, "presents an interesting succession of picturesque scenery; the distant buildings appearing interspersed with orchards and gardens, irregularly arranged on the side of the hill, which rise gradually at first, and then more precipitously, from the valley in which the lower town is situated, up to the lofty site of the Minster, which towers over the whole scene in chaste and beautiful elevation. The situation is worthy of the edifice, which in internal grandeur, admits of no rival among all the varied beauties of the Eng lish Cathedrals." Nor is the situation less happy in its character of seclusion and religious repose. It is not like some of its sisters, in the very heart of a bustling city. The lower town is naturally the chief seat of trade; the Cathedral Close in many directions, opens into the country, or upon the houses and gardens of the Residentiaries, the still quadrangle of the Vicar's College, or the majestic ruins of the Palace; as yet, the smoothly kept lawns of the Minster Green are clear of the din of merchandise, or of the tables of the money-changers. It still answers to its description in the charter of Rufus, “terram in urbis sinu quietam, et ab omni garrulitatis cujuslibet strepitu liberam."

Newport Gate in Lincoln, is precious in the eyes of the venerator of antiquity. No other gateway remains to any of the Roman cities of England, except possibly in some instance closed up and hidden from