As already noticed the Town Hall had been for some time undergoing an extensive enlargement and re-decoration. It was turned to good account by being put in requisition for the display of a splendid collection of Shakespearian and theatrical portraits, collected by Mr. Hogarth, of the Haymarket, in pursuance of an arrangement entered into some time previously with the Committee. There were nearly three hundred of these pictures, comprising some of the happiest efforts of the most eminent masters; including Sir Thomas Laurence's portrait of John Kemble as Hamlet, the property of the Queen, who had been obliged (as Col. Phipps stated in a letter to the Mayor) for some time past to decline to accede to the numerous applications made for the loan of pictures from the Royal Galleries, but her Majesty was "graciously pleased to consider this very remarkable occasion as one in favour of which an exception might be made." There were other works by Sir Thomas; an interesting collection of pictures by the Sketching Club, and another lot by the Etching Club; twenty-five portraits of Shakespeare, including the Jansen and Hunt pictures; portraits of celebrated actors, by Finlayson, Dixon, Faber, Watson, and Stothard; many well-painted scenes from Shakespeare; some admirable specimens of Sir Joshua Reynolds's portraits, and of the works of artistes of our own age, as Maclise, O'Neill, Frith, &c., forming altogether the most admirable

exhibition ever seen in a town so small as Stratford. There was also an exhibition of Shakespeare relics, comprising the mask of Shakespeare, in plaster, alleged to have been taken immediately after death; a miniature in oil, painted from the mask; Shakespeare's walking stick and jug, accompanied by histories to establish the authenticity claimed for them. There were moreover busts of eminent actors; the famous Kean testimonial was exhibited, and a variety of other articles highly interesting to the dramatic amateur. The lower part of the Town Hall was let out in stalls for the sale of photographs, medals, badges, ribbons, statuary, and such wares as form the stock of fancy bazaars, but all having some attraction for visitors to the festival. The trade done, however, was anything but lively, and those manufacturers who had speculated in the production of these seasonable commodities must have shared in the general disappointment produced during the first week by the paucity of visitors.

THE FESTIVAL:

FIRST DAY.

It now becomes my duty, as the lawyers say, to enter at last upon a record of the festival, for which preparation so ample had been made. Perfect success seemed ultimately to depend on but one contingency, the weather; and never was gala or festival so specially favoured in this respect as that at Stratford-upon-Avon in 1864. The morning of the 23rd of April, the day of " our warlike champion, thrice renowned St. George," and of our no less renowned Will Shakespeare, dawned in splendour, and the day continued throughout brilliant with the "universal blaze" of the summer sun; and thus did the propitious sky smile on the festival, from its commencement to its termination.

Flags of greater or less dimensions were hoisted from nearly every house of business, and from many private residences in Stratford. The union jack, royal standard,

the red cross, and Shakespeare's heraldic insignia were to be seen floating on the gentle zephyr in all directions-the display of bunting was superb. Ribbons, medals, busts, pictures, trinkets, all Shakespearian, filled the shop windows, and attracted the attention of the visitor at every step. The town, beautifully clean as it invariably is, never looked better, and presented a genuine holiday appearance. And yet there was a degree of ominous quietude throughout the streets, which on such an occasion was most remarkable. There were no cannon, bands, or bells to be heard, but on the contrary a dread repose" pervaded the town until two o'clock, when the bells of the Holy Trinity Church advertised visitors and inhabitants that the festival had really commenced. At that time old Stratford presented an aspect of unusual excitement and gaiety, but the crowd of visitors was still not nearly so great as had been anticipated, and whilst the principal hotels were doing a flourishing business, "lodgings to let" stared you full in the face at more than one respectable residence.

A few minutes after two o'clock a carriage drawn by four grey horses drove up to the Town Hall. It contained Lord Leigh and his honoured and distinguished guests, the Earl of Carlisle, K.G., and his Grace the Archbishop of Dublin. They were saluted by the Volunteers, who were drawn up in Chapel Street, and received at the entrance to the Hall by the Mayor and members of the Corporation, who, in addition to their official robes, also wore ribbons, badges, and medals, prepared for the festival. The noble visitors were thence conducted up to the picture gallery, where, for a short time, they inspected with considerable interest the splendid exhibition just opened, and subsequently drove to the pavilion. But before the Mayor and Committee proceeded to the banquet an interesting ceremony took place, in the reception of the deputation from Germany.

FOREIGN SYMPATHY.

The expressions of sympathy with the objects of the festival which have been received by the Mayor from

foreign countries formed an interesting feature of the proceedings. Late on Saturday evening a telegram was received from Moscow, of which the following is a copy:

"The Imperial University of Moscow, recognising the great influence of Shakespeare on the Russian literature and stage, this day publicly celebrates the three hundredth anniversary of the birthday of that great genius, equally dear to the whole civilised world, and hereby congratulates his countrymen on the occasion."

From Kharkov, in the south of Russia, came the telegram:

The deputation from the German Hochstift afforded additional evidence of the interest felt in the occasion. The Hochstift is an association which has purchased the house of Goethe with the view of preserving it from destruction, just as in this country the house of Shakespeare has been secured. In connection with the duty of preserving the house the Hochstift has also established lectures and other means of instruction for the youth of Germany. The deputation from this body consisted of Professor Max Müller, Taylorian Professor of Modern Languages at Oxford; and Professor G. W. Leitner, Professor of Arabic, &c., at King's College, London. These gentlemen called at once on the Mayor, and made him officially acquainted with the purport of their visit. The Mayor immediately proceeded to convene the Corporation of Stratford at the Guildhall, and as soon as a sufficient number was present to form a quorum Professor Max Müller said:- "Mr. Mayor and gentlemen of the Town Council, the city of Frankfort, the birth-place of Goethe, sends her greeting to the town of Stratfordupon-Avon, the birth-place of Shakespeare. The old town of Frankfort, which, since the days of Frederick Barbarossa, has seen the Emperors of Germany crowned within her walls, might well at all times speak in the name of Germany; but to-day she sends her greeting, not as the proud mother of German emperors, but as the prouder mother of the greatest among the poets of Germany: and it is from

the very house in which Goethe lived, and which has since become the seat of the 'Free German Institute for Science and Art,' that this message of the German admirers of Shakespeare has been sent across, which we are asked to present to you the Mayor and Council of Stratford-uponAvon. When honour was to be done to the memory of Shakespeare, Germany could not be absent; for, next to Goethe and Schiller, there is no poet so truly loved by us, so thoroughly our own, as your Shakespeare. He is no stranger with us, no more classic like Homer, or Virgil, or Dante, or Corneille, whom we read and admire and then forget. He has become of ourselves, holding his own place in the history of our literature, applauded in our theatres, and in our cottages studied, known, loved, 'as far as sounds the German tongue.' There is many a student in Germany who has learnt English solely in order to read Shakespeare in the original, and yet we possess a translation of Shakespeare in German with which few translations of any work can vie in any language. What we in Germany owe to Shakespeare must be read in the history of our literature. Goethe was proud to call himself the pupil of Shakespeare. I shall at this moment allude to one debt of gratitude only which Germany owes to the poet of Stratfordupon-Avon. I do not speak of the poet only, and of his art, so perfect because so artless; I think of the man with his large warm heart, with his sympathy for all that is genuine, unselfish, beautiful, and good; with his contempt for all that is petty, mean, vulgar, and false. It is from his plays that our young men in Germany form their first ideas of England and the English nation; and in admiring and loving him, we have learned to admire and to love the people that may proudly call him their own. And it is right that this should be so. As the height of the Alps is measured by Mont Blanc, let the greatness of England be measured by the greatness of Shakespeare. Great nations make great poets; great poets make great nations. Happy the nation that possesses a poet like Shakespeare. Happy the youth of England whose first ideas of this world in which they are to live are taken from his pages. That