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 checked 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.-After visiting the two chief shrines of Stratford-the birth-place and the grave of Shakspere-the tourist will naturally turn his steps to New Place, the site of his residence 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 peaceful 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 after 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 to be cut down and cleft into pieces for firewood. This was in 1756. The greater part of the wood was, however, bought by Thomas Sharp, a watchmaker of Stratford, who converted it into articles of various kinds-relics of the bard which met a ready and highly-profitable sale. Three years later, Mr. Gastrell, who only lived occasionally in New Place, regarding himself as assessed too highly on this house for poor-rates, peevishly declared that it would never be assessed again. In execution of his threat, he razed New Place to the ground in 1759, and, as Mr. Wheler relates, "left Stratford in the dead of night, amidst the rage and curses of its inhabitants." No traces of the original building remain. Part of the garden ground is appropriately occupied by a small theatre, erected in 1830. It is only occasionally that a dramatic company makes its appearance on the boards. The drama seems to meet with little patronage in the birthplace of him whom Ben Jonson has truly called

"The applause, delight, the wonder of our stage.'

The CHAPEL OF THE HOLY CROSS, called also the Guild Chapel, is opposite New Place. This interesting edifice was founded in 1269 by Robert de Stratford, father of John de Stratford, archbishop of Canterbury, and Robert de Stratford, bishop of Chichester. This Robert de Stratford was the first master of the Guild,* in connection with which the chapel

* The members of the guild were originally of the rule of St. Austin; but Henry IV. granted them the privilege of forming a fraternity "in honour of the Holy Cross and St. John the Baptist."