Visit To Stratford-On-Avon And Its Vicinage.

a place well worth visiting on its own account , as well as on that of its Shaksperian associations . The sun was shining overhead with great brilliancy ; but beneath the umbrage of the giant trees which compose this noble park , there were pleasant shady spots , where one could loiter iu glorious reverie , and listen to the merry birds carolling their sweet strains on every hand ; and audible

above all was "The lark , whose notes do beat The vanity heaven so high above our heads . " —Borneo and Juliet , act iii ., sc . 5 . Herds of deer— "being native burghers "—swept by , "full of the pasture , " in these , "their own confines , " their " forked heads " everywhere conspicuous , so that I could easily fancy myself in the Forest of Arden , with the

banished Duke and his " co-mates and brothers in exile ;" and I half expected to meet with " the melancholy Jaques , " as the First Lord and Amiens found him"As he lay along Under an oak , whose antique roof peeps out Upon tho brook that brawls along this wood . " —As You , Iiilc-e It , actii ., sc . 1 .

Only , instead of a brawling brook , I had the quiet Avon , moving as gently along as a river of Paradise . And on its banks stands Charlcote House , a quaint-looking red brick building , with stone quoins , erected by Sir Thomas Lucy in the year 155 S ( only six years before the birth of Shakspere ) , and still inhabited by the Lucy family .

IlikethoseElizabethan buildings , with theirpeaked gables , square-headed bay windows , curious chimneys , and many projections . It is here that the youthful Shakspere was brought , as tradition says , on the charge of deer-stealing , which was not generally considered much of a crime in that day . I should have much liked to have seen over

the house , although I was informed that they are now very shy of showing it to strangers , in consequence of its having , been some years ago broken into by burglars . Mrs . Lucy , its present owner , was from home , and the butler hael just gone off in a gig to spend the day , ancl taken the keys with him , else I should have endeavoured

to satisf y them that I went with no burglarious motives , nor yet as a mere sightseer . I had , however , the pleasure of visiting the village of Charlcote , with its quiet cottages , each with its goodly-sized garden ; and a trifling present to the woman who cleans the church soon sent her , key in hand , to show me the tombs of the Lucys . Charlcote Church , which may be said to have been built in a corner of the Park , i ' s a neat , new structure ,

having been recently rebuilt , —if I remember right , at the expense of the Lucy family . 'The Lucy monuments are such as one only sometimes sees in a village church , — that of the Sir Thomas before whom Shakspere is said to have been brought as an offender , of course attracted my attention the most . "Whilst I was examining these tombs , a number of swallows entered the church by the open

door , and twittered overhead apparently as much at home as any of the swallow tribe ever were at any " straw-roofed cot . " It was in the family of Sir Thomas Lucy at Charlcote that John Fox , the Martyrologist , was at one time tutor . Eeturning by way of Hampton Lucy and Hatton Eock , I had a delightful ramble by the banks of the Avon , often pausing to look upon the pleasant landscape ,

or to pluck the wild flowers which grew in such profusion at my feet , that at times I could not hel p trampling upon them , — a thing ivhich , when I can avoid it , I do not like to do . Once more arrived at Stratford , I determined that I would see Shakspere ' s House before it closed that day ,

and therefore I -went to it before refreshing myself at my inn ; for 1 had arranged to spend the following day with Mr . Mark Phillips , at Snitterfield , aud to accompany him to the anniversary of their village benefit club ; it was therefore imperative upon me to see all I could of Stratford that day .

I found the birth place of Shakspere , after being used for a butcher ' s shop and other purposes , at last bought as a national treasure , and the houses which adjoined it pulled down iu order the better to secure it from risk of fire ; and the butcher ' s-shop window , with its crooks for legs of mutton , and other joints of meat , replaced by a

large square of strong plate glass . The strong oak beams and rafters have doubtless stood ever since the birth of Shakspere ; they are too substantial for modern times , —the fashion being now-a-days to run up houses in so slab a fashion that no one can live in them with any degree of safety . But how miserabl y altered this

house has become to what it was in Shakspere ' s day the accompanying wood-engraving , copied from a drawing in the King ' s Library , British Museum , will show . It is the most ancient view of the birth place of Shakspere extant ; and the engraving ( which is by Langton , of Manchester ) is well executed . Had the building been , secured before the alterations took place , it would indeed have been worthy of roofing over with glass ancl iron ¦ as it is , it really is not . Alas ! the projecting porch