was most likely present" when they executed the bond, for one of the seals has the initials R. H. upon it. The marriage took place rather obscurely, for no register has ever yet been found in which it appears. In the present day it is generally admitted that there is the fairest chance of happiness when the wife is younger than her husband, and Shakespeare himself if not afterwards complaining in person, has in various passages of his writings inveighed against a material disparity of years between man and wife, especially in the case of the latter being the elder of the two. Thus in his "Twelfth Night" he makes the duke exclaim against the choice of Viola, who disguised as a page, had said she would like one of "his complexion" and of "his years," he being many years older than the supposed boy :

"Too old by heaven! Let still the woman take

An elder than herself; so wears she to him;

So sways she level in her husband's heart."

Now it appears from Anne Hathaway's monumental inscription in Stratford church that she was eight years older than her husband. It is further discoverable that all the legitimate children that Shakespeare ever had were born to him ere he left Warwickshire for London, viz. Susanna, born in Stratford, May 1583, and Hamnet and Judith, twin children, born also at Stratford early in 1585, the son dying at Stratford in 1596. Thus before he was twenty-one we find Shakespeare a family man in Stratford, with the attendant liabilities, and as it is

*

clear from Mr. Halliwell's researches into the history of Shakespeare's father that he was in debt and difficulty at this time, we may rest assured that whatever credence may be given to the deer-stealing story as a still further pressure-that Shakespeare at the early age of twentytwo was driven from Stratford by the self same demons —TROUBLE and ANXIETY, that are still ever afflicting the children of men.

It is remarkable that although our dramatist continued his residence in London up to 1597, when he purchased New Place, no contemporary evidence has ever been produced to show that his family ever resided with him in the metropolis. May we not suggest that Mrs. Shakespeare (no longer the gentle Anne) had her opinion about players, and would not go! At all events we only hear of Shakespeare's annual or occasional visits to Stratford, and therefore, as Halliwell suggests, "the probability may be in favour of his never having relinquished whatever establishment he may have possessed in Stratford, and if so, his association with the drama

* In 1578 John Shakespeare mortgaged the estate of Asbies, that came to him with his wife, for £40; and in 1579 sold other property in Snitterfield. In 1580 he got involved in a Chancery suit about Asbies, which was undetermined in 1597; in 1586 in an action for debt in the bailiff's court, there is a record of a warrant of distress issued against him, with "nothing to distrain upon," as the return to it, and the same year his name was struck off the roll of the corporation! Thus woes cluster about a sinking man-and just at this calamitous time the incipient dramatist disappears from Stratford.Surely there was more than enough to make him "run his country."

H

may have commenced almost as early as the date of his marriage with Anne Hathaway."

But we have crossed the fields by the well-frequented footpath to the little hamlet of Shottery. Rural and secluded it once was, with its green lane, picturesque timber-ribbed thatched cottages, babbling rush-fringed brook, and wooden bridge. A recent new house, and abominable brick-built row in modern utilitarian style, have some-what disfigured it, and the old timber bridge is exchanged for a worse-that is, artistically. But the scene of the youthful Shakspeare's love-suit, and the residence of the rustic beauty, Anne Hathaway, whose wiles ensnared him, still remain-altered of course in some degree. The house is of timber and brick, in two storeys, with thatched roof, and appears like two joined together, the lowest division being the longest. It is built upon a foundation of squared slabs of lias shale, and is now subdivided into three tenements. Originally it must have been a good farm house of the olden time, fit for the abode of a substantial yeoman, and stands upon a bank, having in front a rudely paved terrace, to which there is an ascent by steps. On looking up at the central chimney, the letters I. H., and date 1697, stand unpleasantly prominent, but only record the reparation of the house and chimney by John Hathaway, at that date. We might have looked with much interest on the old garden of the house had that remained, but it has been perversely rooted up, and the present one is of yesterday. Still the path up to the door Shakspeare must have trodden, and lingered perhaps at the gate into

the road, or down the green lane, while a younger daughter (for old Hathaway had many of the breed,)* might run out to say how the gaffer was chafing that Anne had not come in to go to bed.-Willie certainly tarried too long at night.

Within the dwelling, divided as it is, the old kitchen yet shows traces of the "good old times," in its rude stone floor, low ceiling, heavy beams, and portions of the oaken wainscot with which its rough plastering was formerly covered. Then there is the wide fireplace, with its cozy chimney corners and supporting beams where the wood fires must have often crackled and blazed on the ample hearth. On the opposite side of the passage is the parlour, also ceiled with strong beams of timber, and with a huge fire-place, with recesses on either side. Initials of the Hathaways, who long continued to reside here, appear on the bacon cupboard on the left of the fire-place, and on an old table, but they are of a later period than Shakespeare's visitations. A "courting-chair" said to have been used by the poet, and large enough for two, used to be shown here; but we strongly opine that old Hathaway had a piece of oak of another description at Mr. Will's service when he showed himself in that quarter, and that the courting was performed "under the green-wood tree."

Richard Hathaway, father of Anne, died in 1582, but makes no mention of her in his will, although he leaves "sixe poundes thirtene shillings fowr pence," as marriage portions to each of his daughters Agnes, Catherine, and Margarett. Whether Shakspeare had this slender portion or not with the fair Anre is nowhere stated.

The old man makes no mention of Anne in his will, and Shakespeare himself in his never alludes to the Hathaways, so that to say the least of it a coolness had arisen and continued between the families. In the room above the parlour an old carved bedstead of the Elizabethan period is still shown, handed down as an heir-loom with the house, it is stated, and this may probably be the case. There is also an old chest, with some home-spun linen preserved in it, marked E. H.

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Taking our course from the Hathaway cottages up the lane, the gurgling brook is seen hastening to hide itself among vagabond flags," much as it was wont to do of yore, and beyond it are some old structures, thatched and timbered, that may have met Shakspeare's view when sauntering about he waited for Anne's dismissal from the milk-pail. One that now bears the name of "The Shakespeare Tavern," particularly attracts attention, and is a good specimen of the old picturesque timber-framed cottage. In its garden pansies still grow "for thought," if the wanderer likes to look in.

In crossing the fields by the footpath to the left a very remarkable and large WILLOW appears in a damp meadow not far from the National School Rooms. This tree, hitherto unnoticed, might deserve to be dedicated to Shakespeare, and we invite attention to it. It is so swollen above its base that a measure of 24 feet is necessary to encompass it, and it must be of considerable age. Unquestionably it is the only tree existing close to Stratford that can by possibility have existed when Shakespeare lived. All others have been remorselessly