Visit To Stratford-On-Avon And Its, Vicinage.

of the redoubtable Sir Thomas Lucy ( doubtless a little king in his own neig hbourhood ) , and making all the wiseheads of Stratford fear that he would one day come to the gallows—Avhich Avas the easiest thing in the world in those days—Avould reign a monarch in , the realms of mind for ei-erand alone preserve the names of

, Arden , Shakspere , and Lucy from eternal oblivion . Yet so it was ; for John , the son of this Richard Shakspere , remoA * ed to Stratford ; and Mary , the youngest daughter of this Robert Arden—haA'ing lost her father in December , 1556 , and having only a stepmother for a parent—gaA * e her hand and heart to the son of her

father ' s tenant , and amongst their children was William Shakspere . As Shakspere ' s mother possessed property in Snitterfield , and his uncle , Henry Shakspere , resided there , and we find his father selling an interest in some property there in 1579—our poet's fifteenth year —I felt

assured that eA en other causes than its contiguity ancl rural beauty would often cause the bard in his younger years , accompanied by his father , mother , and their other children , to take their holiday Avalk across the green hills ancl dells of Welcombe to this rustic spot . HaA'ing reached SnitterfieldI was about to inquire

, for the club-house , when I was saved the trouble of doing so b y noticing a public-house , in front of which , tlie sellers of nuts , oranges , gingerbread , and such like , had placed tlieir stalls . I think there Ai-as a banner hanging from the inn window , but of that I am not sure ; at all events , if there was ' nt one , there ought to

have been , so let us put it in ; and , as I have no recollection of it , the reader can . imagine ifc of any colour he chooses . But there Avere men donned in their holiday attire , AA * ifch floivers in their coat button-holes , standing about the door , and musicians popping in and out with their instruments , looking very red in the face , and those who ivere coming out of the inn were most of

them wiping their mouths with their pocket-handkerchiefs . The band , I afterwards learnt , were from . Stratford , so probably they ivere thirsty with travelling in the hot sun , —as I must confess 1 was , until I droAvned my thirst in a cup of prime portsr which had lain bottled in Mr . Philips ' s cellar for three years , and which on

such a day , to a really good cigar , Avas nectar fit for the gods . Leaving my portmanteau with mine host , I was soon at Mr . Philips ' s hospitable residence , Snitterfield Park , ivhich is as nice a- place as a bachelor could wish for , surrounded oy tastefully arranged pleasure-grounds , where the poet might constantly commune with the sacred Nine , and the philosopher indulge in his fine

speculations undisturbed . At the end of one of the gravelled paths stood the figure of a bagpiper , sculptured by a clei'er brother and ruler of our Craft , Caius Gabriel Cibber . Mr . Philips informed me that he had only just got it set up before my visit , having purchased ifc at the Duke of Buckingham ' s sale , at Stowe . I had intended going forward to Warwick by walking

there in the cool of the evening ; but Mr . Philips would insist on my accepting a bed ivith him , aucl at once despatched his valet for my " traps ; " promising that we Avould have a quiet weed and a cup of coffee after the meeting , and a good chat , and that he would send me forward to tlie gates of Warwick Castle as soon

as Ave had breakfasted in the morning , so that I should not lose time : for I had promised to be back again to Bury by Friday morning , and as I Avished to see the castles of Warwick and Kenilworth before I returned , I had no time to lose . Of course , I had no wish to refuse this courtesy ; for one of the rewards of honest authorship is , to find men far above one in the social scale

setting aside that tyranny of caste which binds English society far too much in its Pagan fetters , and meeting one , for one ' s OAVU merits as a man , " on the level . " We are told in our lodges that " the internal , and not the external , qualifications of a man are what Masonry regards" and thatas we increase in knowledgewe will

, , , consequently improve in social intercourse ; and . it is a source of great joy to find the seed which Freemasonry has always been jilanting in the world constantly bearing fruit amongst those who have never sought to partake of our mystic rites . Pity thafc , as in every other good thing , the men least of all fitted in heart and

intellect to ever "become true and faithful brothers amongst us , "— -men who really neA'er sought Masonry from " a general desire of knowledge and a sincere wish to render themselves more serviceable to their fellowcreatures , "—men into ivhose sapient brains the idea never once seems to have entered" that by the secrets

, of this , our Masonic art , they may he the better enabled to display the beauties of true godliness , "—pity , I say , that so many of such " caterpillars of the commonwealth " should be alloAved to crawl through our ballotboxes , and then flutter on painted wings in the sunshine , so that , instead of our lodges being regarded by all

sensible men as hives to which every bee is anxious to bring the honey which he can collect from every flower , we are too often regarded as a community of butterflies . This seems to me to be the cause why so many excellent men , who are thoroughly prepared in their hearts for the sublime teachings of our Order , stumble through life without ever becoming "brothers of the mystic tie . "

Reader , let not the perfidy of false brethren , however painful to us it may be , prevent thee and me from liumbly beseeching the Almighty Father and Supreme GoA'ernor of the Universe to vouchsafe us His aid , that Ave may be enabled faithfully to devote our lives to His seri'ice , and that of our fellow-travellers through the

Valley of the Shadow of Death , by which alone we cau truly keep our Masonic obligations . Mr . Philips , who is one of the merchant-princes of the earth , to whom civilisation in all ages has owed so much , was for fifteen years the representative of Manchester in parliament ; and he now ivondersin his quiet

, retirement , Avhat on earth induced him to give so many years of the prime of his manhood to the heat and turmoil of the House of Commons . He has an excellent library , of which one mi ght say , as Prince has sung of afc of anoth er merchant : —¦

And there were books of mental life , in studenfc-like array , More for the solace of the soul , than splendour and display . And as I sat on a cosy arm-chair , my left arm . actually touched three valuable works which I had longed for many a year to see ; so that , by rising early next morning , I contrived to get a few hours reading in them

before I left . But the members of the Snitterfield Benefit Club are returning from church— -tlie chancel of which , edifice had recently been rebuilt at Mr . Philips's sole expense—and AA * e must have a look at them ; for it ahvays makes me happy to see other people so . HOAV SAveetly the music

salutes one ' s ears in such a fine atmosphere ! I thought of Lorenzo and Jessica , * in the avenue to Portia's house at Belmont ; of the lovely Imogen , whom Clotenf sought to win by giving her " music o' mornings ; " of Ariel , in the Tempest ; and of the various scenes which fertile Fancy can so easily conjure up when one listens to the