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London; Brutus and Cassius, by (respectively) Mr. Winchester, of London, and Mr. James Keeley, of Warwick; Herald, with Black Eagle; Anthony and Cleopatra, by George Heritage, of Stratford, and Miss Turnbull, of Warwick; Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, by Mr. Morris, of Leamington, and Mrs. Granby, of Mr. Raymond's company; Banquo, by Mr. Samuel Hodgkinson, of Stratford; the Three Witches, by John Penn, Joseph West, and J. Drury; King John, by Mr. Granby, of Mr. Raymond's company; Prince Arthur, by Master Grossmith ("the Young Roscius"); Faulconbridge, by Mr. John Keeley, of Stratford; Henry the Fourth, by Mr. Rogers, of Leamington; Prince of Wales, by Mr. T. Arkell, jun., of Stratford; Hotspur, on horseback, by Mr. Raymond; Douglas, on horseback, by Mr. Jos. Sheldon, of Stratford; Romeo and Juliet, by Mr. Harris and Miss Newman, of Mr. Raymond's company; Peter and Nurse, by Mr. and Mrs. Watson, of Mr. Raymond's company; the Apothecary, by Mr. Geo. Mann, of Stratford; Richard the Third and Lady Anne, by Mr. Harrison and Mrs. Gifford, of Mr. Raymond's company; Hamlet, by Mr. Biddle, of Mr. Raymond's company; the Ghost, by J. Norton, of Stratford; Polonius, by Mr. Mantle; Ophelia, by Mrs. Booth; Henry the Eighth, by Mr. Thomas Mansell, of Preston; Queen Katharine, by Mrs. Goodwin, of Stratford; Page, by J. Bishop, of Warwick; Earl of Surrey, by Mr. Street, of London; Ladies in Waiting, Miss Plumb and Miss Robbins, of Stratford; Cardinal Wolsey, by Mr. Cherry, of Stratford; Cromwell, by Mr. W. Rose, of Warwick; Othello, by Chas. Bolette (a man of colour), of Warwick; Desdemona, by Miss E. Box, of Stratford; Iago, by Mr. Allan, of Leamington; Cassio, by Mr. S. J. King, of Stratford; Roderigo, Mr. Obbard, of London; Banner of Shakespeare's Arms; Thalia, by Miss Bailey; Satyrs; the Banner of the Kensington Shakespearian Club; Prospero, by Mr. Simpson; Ariel, by Miss Wright, of Stratford; Caliban, by Mr. W. Buckingham, of Stratford; Trinculo, by Mr. Turner, of Warwick; Sir John Falstaff, by Mr. Rowland Green, of Birmingham; Mrs. Ford, by Mrs. Mantle; Mrs. Page, by

Miss Robbins, of Stratford; Antipholi of Ephesus and Syracuse, by Mr. Thomas Hyde, of Stratford, and Mr. Joseph Hyde, of Ryon Hill, twin brothers; the two Dromios, by twin brothers, the Messrs. Smith, of Bidford; Petruchio and Katharine, by Mr. Edward Ashwin and Mr. Isaac Cory, of Stratford; Grumio, by Mr. Charles Gill, of Mr. Raymond's company; Orlando, by Mr. James Bearley, of Stratford; Adam, by Mr. Morris; Touchstone and Audrey, by Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds, of the Stratford Theatre; Shylock and Portia, by Mr. Gifford (actor) and Miss Bierley, of Stratford; Oberon and Titania, by Master Mills and Miss White, of Stratford; Bottom the Weaver, by Thomas Lay, of Stratford.

The dresses and appointments are described as of great splendour. Banners were carried in the procession, announcing the plays to which each pair or group of characters belonged. Minor characters, not mentioned above, were introduced to give a completeness to the representation, and the whole pageant appears to have been managed in a most praiseworthy manner. "However brilliant," says the author from whom I have made the foregoing condensed description, "the success which attended the first jubilee of the Shakespearian Club, it fell far short of the triumph they achieved on this occasion; upwards of seventy-five of the more prominent characters of Shakespeare burst upon the sight at one view, with a vividness and splendour really astonishing." Certainly it made a lasting impression on the minds of the people of Stratford. Many inhabitants, not forty years of age, can give a graphic description of it, and it was not to be wondered at if under such circumstances they felt disappointed to find the pageant formed no part of the programme of the Tercentenary Celebration Committee, by whom it was pooh poohed as tomfoolery calculated to bring them into public ridicule, forgetful that Garrick, who was no fool, introduced it, and that the same spirit of criticism scouted a fancy ball-nay, that Diogenes, raising his lamp and extending his ken, joined with Mawworm and Cantwell in denouncing the whole celebration as an absurd turmoil of profane and idly busy craziness!

The pageant, however, arranged as above stated, having quitted the pavilion, proceeded through Wood Street to Henley Street, and halted in front of the birth-place, where a temporary stage had been erected. The ceremony of crowning a bust of Shakespeare was then gone solemnly through, amid the acclamations of the thousands who blocked up the thoroughfare. An appropriate address was then recited by Mr. Booth (comedian), which had been written for the occasion by A. Wright, Esq. The procession then passed through the town by the Post Office, along the Guild Pits, John Street, Payton Street, Warwick Road, Back Bridge Street, High Street, Chapel Street, Church Street, Old Town, to the Church Gates. Shakespeare's epitaph, set to solemn music, was here, we are told, very impressively sung! The procession then moved through Southern's Lane, along Lower Water Side, Sheep Street, High Street, Front Bridge Street, Upper Water Side, Sheep Street, Ely Street, and Rother Street to the pavilion.

In the afternoon a dinner took place at Shakespeare's Hall, at which about three hundred attended. The loyal and patriotic toasts having been proposed and drunk with enthusiasm the memory of Shakespeare was duly honoured, and the health of the Mayor was drunk and that of the Secretary, Mr. S. Gwinnett. Some of the speeches were very good, especially that of the Rev. Dr. Wade (above mentioned). A loyal and dutiful address to the King, who was prevented by indisposition from being present, was read and adopted. A dramatic performance at the theatre, in which Mr. Kean appeared, and a bal masque in the pavilion terminated the first day of the jubilee of 1830.

The second day, Saturday, April 24th, was ushered in with firing of cannon and joy bell-ringing. There was a public breakfast at the White Lion. To the breakfast succeeded recitations and songs. Between two and three there was a miscellaneous concert, which was opened with an ode written expressly for the occasion by Isaac Cowen, Esq., and set to music by the author's nephew, Mr. Charles Salaman, whose name appears on the Committee of the

tercentenary celebration. In the evening the theatre proved again attractive, and there was another masquerade and fancy ball.

Sunday appears to have been both legally and so far as the jubilee was concerned a dies non in 1830: not so in 1864, we are thankful to say.

The third day, Monday, April 26th, was favoured with delightful weather, and it was calculated that from twentyfive to thirty-five thousand persons assembled in Stratford. The pageant took place under the most favourable circumstances. There was a public dinner, attended principally by the Shakespearian Club and their friends, at which the health of Dr. Conolly was drunk. Theatrical performances and dancing in masks wound up the third day; and the fourth day was like its predecessors, the beauty of the weather contributing to the brilliancy of the concluding festivities.

The anonymous analyst to whom I am indebted for the foregoing particulars of this jubilee winds up his narrative in the following terms:"We close with observing that a small band of men have raised up a spirit in their native town which will perhaps never be destroyed, and long after they are slumbering under the turf which surrounds the sacred edifice where lie interred the hallowed ashes of the great dramatist himself, their children's children may justly exclaim in his own inspired language

'How many ages hence

Shall this our lofty scene be acted o'er
By men unborn, and accent yet unknown.""

87

THE

TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL.

No people can appreciate more highly the possession of an honourable distinction than the inhabitants of Stratfordupon-Avon. Not encumbered with the questionable blessing of poetic propensities in themselves, they, nevertheless, view with keen perception and enlarged comprehension the genius of Shakespeare. Proud of their town, to which his great name has bequeathed a world-wide celebrity, they have invariably felt that as inhabitants thereof they had special duties to discharge towards his memory. His remarkable attachment to Stratford contributes not a little to their estimate of the honour he conferred upon the town, and largely accounts for their abiding anxiety to prove to the empire and the world that they understand the responsibilities as well as the honours of their position. Such seems to me to have been the feeling of Stratfordians time out of mind, although it is not many years since active steps began to be taken for securing to the nation and preserving from decay the place of his birth and residence. The feeling of respect for his memory has ever been deep, broad, and general. It only required Garrick to unfurl the flag of Shakespeare in order to arouse the town and attract around him the county a hundred years ago. The jubilee of 1827 formally transferred from the adherents of Garrick to their children that Shakespearian enthusiasm they had witnessed amongst their relatives, and which blended with their earliest recollections; and the celebration of 1830, with its royal, although nominal patronage, and its splendid pageantry, is treasured with pleasurable remembrance by every inhabitant of Stratford whose memory extends to the event.

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