somewhat lame, and occasionally suffering much pain, ventured, with the permission of his friendly physician, Dr. Hall, to leave his chamber. On reaching the vestibule, he was shown by a servant into the library, with information that his master, who was at present engaged, would be with him in a short time.

This room, which Shakspeare called his own, had, together with an eastern aspect, a pleasant look out into the garden, and was very neatly fitted up in the Gothic style, with carved oaken presses well stored with books, of which the leaves, and not the backs, being placed in front, and these decorated with silken strings, and occasionally with gold and silver clasps, in order to confine the sides of the covers, not only contrasted well with the dark hue of the oak, but gave a light and cheerful appearance to the apartment. Over the mantle-piece, which was of the same material as the presses, massy, and richly sculptured into flowers, hung a portrait, in oil colours, of Lord Southampton, by

For a more minute account of the mode of arranging and decorating books in a library, at this period, see " Shakspeare and his Times," vol.i. p. 436.

Cornelius Jansen; and on the side opposite the fire-place, and immediately over a very old and curious cabinet of walnut-tree wood, were two pictures of Chaucer and Spenser. A beautiful though somewhat ponderous desk, inlaid with ebony and silver, and which had been a present to the poet from his noble and munificent patron, together with a high-backed arm-chair of rather cumbrous workmanship, with a triangular seat and cushion, and a few other chairs of similar form, but smaller dimensions, completed the furniture of the room, the floor of which was strewed with rushes, whilst in the hearth of the ample chimney stood an antique vase of sweet-scented shrubs.

Montchensey, with an eagerness and curiosity proportioned to the admiration which he felt for the owner of this apartment, almost immediately commenced a survey of its literary contents, and was astonished to perceive how rich and ample were its stores, not only in the departments of Poetry and Romance, where he had expected to find a large and curious fund, but in those of History, Biography, and Criticism; and such were the intimations in nearly every

volume which he examined, of its having been placed there not for ostentation, but for use, that the variety and extent of Shakspeare's reading appeared to him, taking into consideration how busy had been the tenor of his past life, almost as extraordinary as the depth and originality of his genius.

Whilst thus engaged, and at the moment occupied in turning over a copy of the English Gesta Romanorum of Richard Robinson, the bard of Avon entered; and here we may be allowed to introduce the sketch which Montchensey, in writing shortly afterwards to a friend in town, gave of the personal appearance of the poet on this occasion. "Pain and sickness," he observes," had hitherto disinclined me, notwithstanding all my enthusiasm on the subject, for any very critical consideration of the features and person of the bard; but on this auspicious morning, comparatively free from suffering, and animated by the scene around me, I felt an eager and anticipated delight in the opportunity I was about to enjoy, not only of contemplating, under more favourable circumstances as to myself, the manners and person of

my generous host, but of unburthening my heart of the deep and almost overwhelming sense which it entertained of his kindness and benevolence. Conceive then, my dear Charles, for I know thou art an admirer, almost as ardent as myself, of the author of Hamlet and Macbeth, conceive the door of this interesting little study opening, and Shakspeare coming forward with a smile of the most fascinating good humour, to congratulate your friend on his recovery. There was, indeed, an expression of so much sweetness and benignity in his features, that I thought I had never beheld a more interesting countenance. You will tell me this was partly owing to irresistible prepossession in his favour; it may have been so; but I will endeavour to be more particular. He appeared to me in height about the middle size, not corpulent, but rather full in his person, which, notwithstanding he is in his fifty-second year, may be still justly termed handsome, as well as correctly and finely formed. His forehead, high and unusually ample in its dimensions, is nobly expanded, and his hair, which is thinly scattered on the top of his head, clusters thickly about his temples and neck, and

is of a beautiful auburn colour. His eyes, in a most remarkable degree pleasing in their expression, yet, at the same time, profoundly indicatory of the mighty mind within, are of a light and lively hazel, with brows that form nearly a complete arch. To this description, if I add the undulating outline of the nose, the dimpled expression of the cheeks, the perfect symmetry of the mouth, and the open sweetness of the lips, you may form to yourself a pretty accurate picture of the bard, more especially when I further remark, that the contour of his face is oval, the upper lip surmounted by a mustachio with the extremities slightly elevated, and the chin covered by a pointed beard. It may be necessary, also, in order to render my portrait more striking, to say something of his dress, which, at this morning's interview, consisted of a loose black gown, or tabard, without sleeves, a rich doublet of scarlet cloth, hose of dark grey, and boots or buskins of russet-coloured leather." *

I have endeavoured, both in this instance, and in every other, during the course of the narrative, which admits of any appeal to record or tradition, to adhere with scrupulous accu