Gre. "and literary associations that unless Britain is so rich in historic the district. { Stratford-on-Avon Today, the population is varied, some finding occupation at cone diligently "followed a man from | nearby farms, some at the railway sta- a Sok's" 3 resting spots in that ountry. Nearly everyone, however, } for many months, it would] tions and some in the larger mills of impossible to even touch afl the the neighboring - towns. The old delightful | church has been added to and improv- ed. The parsonage has likewise under- 'has his or her own particular prefer-| gone some changes, a new wing hav- ences along literary lines, and it is| ing been added at the one end, but the * "these shrines that they are apt to visit older portion of the house is just as it Ever since the first time, years! was when the Brontes lived there first. ny that 1 discovered that fascindting | "The Black Bull," the public house "Jane Eyre," and followed it up riear the church, still' stands, and we § then devoured "Villette," deeply interested in the Brontes, many years ago made up my mind | the reading of "Shirley," (one of { were told is exactly the same as it was greatest love stories ever written) | in the days when Branwell Bronte us~ 1 have| ed to entertain the "Old Knave of Trumps," "Little Nosey," and the rest of the fraternity that frequented that t if" ever set foot upon English | taproom of this hostelry. "again, one of the first places I d visit would be Haworth, the lit- We visited the church and there found the vicas, who, on learning we Yorkshire village where Charlotte, { were from Canada, went to great pains ily and Ann Bronte grew up and | to show us all the pointy of interest produced their wonderful books. According the day aiter I arrived in Tngland in the spring of 1921, I hifed -~ imler car and with three congen- 'drive for the first part seemed to be 'through one large city, so close are the together in Lancashire. including the handsome new school which had been recently built on the church property. We were also pri- vileged to visit the interior of the par- souls started for Haworth. The | sonage, which had a great interest for us. The room on the right side of the hail where the Rev. Patrick Bronte We | used to spend a great deal of his time, -- sooner out of one town than | is still occupied as a study by the pre- were into another. Passing | sent vicar. The kitchen over which "through Rochdale we stopped to view | "Tabby" presided so long, and about "the monument erected to the memory | which "Aunt Branwell" used to potter "of the Hon. John Bright, that great | in her "pattens," was still the same, as ishy statesman who represented mingham in the British House of pmons for so many years, and who the unique experience, time after , of heing returned without pledge any kind fad with no expense to meelf. So Snxious was the consti- ney to mark '(#% fact that it con- it was receiving and not con- an obligation that it also asked im to feel exempt from any claim to patributions or political organiza- Before leaving Rochdale we peyed out to the house where the lish statesman used to live. It is typical English home. A plain, roomy p storey, red brick house with big windows at each end, a terraced nin front and shrubbery all around. ng Rochdale we soon afterwards d through Littleboro, the home Jessie Fothergil, author of that de- thiful and entertaining story "The first Violin." "A portion of the drive from: here made byer a piece of fine old Ro- road, which has stood the wear d tear of the centuries that have pas- since the days of Julius Caesar. ng the county line into York- e in another hour or so we found es travelling over the moors which the six little Brontes chil- used to toddle alone during the illness that preceded the death their mother, and of which they tired in girlhood or womanhood these days of highly organized rment and desire for excitement long low oblong stone parsonage th its flagged roof, its garden, tree- and bleak, and its background of ¢ "may perhaps seem very b uninteresting, but the genius Brontes flourished on the wind- vept Yorkshire moors, and produced ks that will be read and re-read many of the best sellers of today forgotten. We passed through ower 5 rides (where Branwell fonts, the t tragedy of the little once worked in the railway , then on through Keighley, Haworth. orth "in 18%0 wife is still much the same as when Patrick Bronte of a few years--Miss ell, the gentle Cornish "Penzance and their six lit m to the old stone parsonage. je is still "a singular irregular and stony, built on the with the moors stretch- behind it. Its inhabitants the cen- mostly eir occupation the other smaller mills in was the little room at the back where Mr. Nicholls had his study, but the latter was no longer used. It was the room on the left hand side of the hall however, that we were more particul- arly interested in, for this is the room where the sisters used to sit night after night and weave their romances as they paced up and down the floor. It was in this little room that "Jane Eyre" "Wuthering Heights" and "Agnes Gray" were conceived and put on paper, and it was at the door of this room that old Mr. Bronte used to pause every night on his way to bed with his "Ggod night girls. Don't sit up late." Perhaps no single room in the whole of England is dearer to Eng- lish literature, and perhaps from no other four walls has there come $0 rich and so varied literary entertain- ment, In the days when the Brontes lived at Haworth Vicarage the grounds around were treeless, but such is not now the case, some fine trees having been planted in the church and parson- age grounds. 3 The people,of Haworth are proud of the Brontes, no prouder than thou- sands of other lovers of English liter- ature. A Bronte museum has been es- tablished there which contains some very interesting mementoes of Char lotte Bronte and her sisters. One could spend many hours in this little mus- eum looking at the different things that were so intimately associated with the lives of that little family many years ago. Among other things that are preserved is the dress worn by Char- lotte Bronte on her wedding tour and the little boots that she wore on her wedding day, with their cloth tops and side lacings. There is also'a copy of a tiny manuscript magazine comtaining twelve pages about two inches square produced by Charlotte in 1820. A toy smoothing iron, a sovereign scales be- longing to Patrick Bronte, a letter written by Charlotte Bronte on her Wedding day to her life-long friend llen Nussey, were also among the many other things to be seen there But perhaps the most interesting was the litt'e piano or spinet, which belong ed to Charlotte Bronte, when she was a girl. It is a quaint Jittle thing with a silk top. Not for from it was a trunk purchased by Charlotte in Brussels while teaching there in the Pension of M. Heger, whom many people connect with the "Paul Emanuel" of Villette. One of the quaint things in this mus- eum was a pew out of the old church in which a half, the f evidently being for a child. Everyone who is at all interest- ed in the Brontes knows of théW effort to establish a private school at Ha- Jesse's Popular Priced Store (Next to Woolworth's) ¢ ERARY PILGRIMAGES Being Some Little Journeys to Haworth, Grasmere, Dumfries and were thiree sittings and | fag worth to help out the family income, and in the museum is a copy of the little prospectus in which the Misses Bronte announced the establishment of their school and offered to teach writing, arithmetic, history, grammar, geography and needle work and such extras as French, German, Latin, mu- sic and drawing. Here too is the tes- timonial presented to Wm. Cartwright of Rawfolds, by influential residents of the west riding of Yorkshire, on May 27th, 1823. Wm. Cartwright is/ lowing: supposed to be the Robt. Moore of Hollow's Cottage, the hero of "Shir- ley," and the testimonial was present- ed for his bravery in resisting the at- tempts of the weavers to prevent him from bringing in labor saving mach- inery. A pleasant afternoon was concluded with tea at the Bronte Tea Rooms, just across the street from the Black Bull, in front of which still stands the old-fashioned stocks in which people used to be punished years ago. As we sat in that upstairs window looking across the churchyard to that plain, uninviting ' parsonage we could not help thinking how much joy and en- tertainment, the brave spirits that Hv- ed in the frail bodies of the Bronte sisters had brought to the world in the last sixty.years. Currer, Ellis and Ac- ton Bell as they were known at first to Messrs. Smith, Elder & Co., their publishers, lived a life in which there 'was very little sunshine and much shadow, but although their lives were darkened, first, by the death of the Mother, then by the death of the two little sisters, and for years by the reckless and dissolute living of a bro- ther, who was once their hope and joy, their faith in God never wavered. The three sisters drank deep of the cup of bitterness during their short lives, but their spirit was never broken. Although there were days of darkness, days of fear, and days of dread in the little stone vicarage, they faced it all with the confidence which 'prompted the death-bed poem of Emily, begin- ning: ' No coward soul is mine, No trembler in the world's storm- troubled sphere. I see heaven's glories shine, And faith shines equal, arming me from fear, and Anne Bronte just before she laid aside the pen forever, to write-- I hoped that with the brave and ; strong i My portioned task might lie-- To toil among the busy throng, With purpose pure and high. But God has fixed another part, And he has fixed it well, I said so with my bleeding heart, When first the anguish fell. Thus fet me serve Thee from my heart, Whate'er may be my written fate-- Whether thus early to depart, Or yet awhile to wait. Should death be standing at the gate, Thus should I keep my vow; But Lord, whatever be my fate, Oh, let me serve Thee now! At the Grave of Wordsworth. To reach the grave of William Wordsworth from Manchester, one can journey up to Bowness, and there take a boat up Lake Windermere to Ambleside, which is not far from Bowness as we count distance in Can- ada, but owing to the network of rail- ways in Lancashire, it involves some- thing of a journey. First, we changed at Bolton, then we changed at Pres ton, then again at Lancaster the capi- tal of the county. Here we had to wait an hour for a train, so had an oppor- tunity of seeing something of this old- hioned, yet bustling town. From Lancaster we went to Oxenholme, and changed once again for Bowness. We left Manchester about eight o'clock in 'the morning, but it was after noon when we got to Browness. Browness is a very pretty little town situated in the heart of the District, In about an hour a little steamer came along 'made our journey up beautiful Lake the very clear idea how we were going to get to Grasmere, but when we got on |- the dock at we found there Fi 28 ji i ii 3 "BRITISH headstone. In the same grave is buried his wife, Mary Wordsworth, who was { born at Penrith on August 16th, 1770, {and died at Rydal Mount on January 17th, 1859, Several bther Wordsworth's, { are buried near the poet, and not far away, is the grave of Hartley Col- peridge. Inthe same churchyard is the | grave of the Greens who "perished in the snow." Their sad story is told by Wordsworth in that beautiful little | poem "Lucy Gray," so well known to | everyone. { The interior of Grasmere church is {Very impressive. The main features | of its "rude and antique majesty" have been described by Wordsworth in the | fifth book of "The Excursion." It has | many features about it that attract a | visitor, but probably the most striking is the tower built of unhewn boulders, ; the walls being from three to four feet { thick. On one of the pillars of the | church-is a tablet on which is the fol- To. the Memory cof WILLIAM WORDSWORTH A True Philosopher and Poet. Who by a special gift and calling of Almighty God whether he discoursed on man or nature, failed not to lift' up the heart to Holy things. Tired not of maintaining the cause of the pure and simple. And so in peril- ous times was raised up to be a chief minister, not only of the noblest poesy, but of high and sacred truth. This memorial is placed here by his Friends and Neighbors in testimony of respect and affection and gratitude. The ride back from Grasmere was made in the same vehicle but this time we went direct to Windermere where we took a charabanc for Oxenholme where we got a late train for Carlisle. Where Bobbie Burns is Buried. After the day on Lake Windermere we had spent the night at Carlisle. It was during the coal strike and although we tried both bribing and coaxing the chamber-maid in order to get a little fire in our room our efforts were un- availing. We went to bed cold and we got up cold, and did not sleep very much in the interval. As a consequence we were sound asleep when we crossed the border from England into Scot- land, but were aroused from our stum- bers by hearing the guard calling Gret- na Green. So we stuck our head out of the window and looked to see what really looked like. We were not long in arriving at Dumfries whither we our maternal ancestors who lie buried in old St. Michael's churchyard, within a few yards of the grave of Robert Burhs, the great Scotch poet. In com- esting morning. We visited the house where Robt. Burns spent his last days and where he died. There were many uated on a little 'side street more like which he died is used as a museum in which many things are displayed con- ing a walking stick, a snuff box and from this house is a place called Burns Houf. This % the place where he spent a great déal of his fime during his later years. The chair and the lit: tle corner table are there just the same as they were when he frequented the place. A sort of cupboard has been built around them, but our friend and guide knowing the ropes, and evident- ly just How many drinks it was neces- ing the cupboard unlocked and we had the privilege of sitting in Burns' chair at the little table and partaking of our refreshment. The monument erected to Burns in St. Michael's churchyard is a very handsome one and a man is continu- ally on duty there to gward it. Inside The Mausoleum is & monument of urns at the plow depicting the little poem "To a Rouse." The | inscription on the monument reads as follows: In Memory of ROBERT BURNS Who died on the 21st of July, 1796. MAXWELL BURNS Who died the 25th of April, 1799 Aged 3 Years and 9 Months. FRANCIS WALLACE BURNS Who Died the 7th of July, 1803 : Aged 14 Years. ; 'The remains of Burns were removed into the' vault below on the 19th of the remains of Jean Armors, relict of t J Born February, 1765. Died 26th of March, 1834. this place famed in song and story f were bound for the purpose of visiting || some relatives and also the graves of ||} pany with a relative we spent an inter- | |i things there to remind one of the poet. | |i The house in which Burns died is sit- |i an alley, than a street. The room in il nected with the life of the poet, includ- some original manuscripts. Not far} sary to buy, had no difficulty in hav- | jji September 1815, and two sons. Also! Es # WHIGC most comfortable hotels that we dis- covered in the whole of our wander- ings. The rooms instead of being numi- bered, are pamed, each room being called after some Shakesperean char- acter. We slept in "Othello" and slept soundly, the dark deed which the Moor of Venice committed after Desdemona had'retired, worrying us not at all. The accommodation at the Shakespeare hotel is splendid, sixteen century archi- tecture not interfering in any way with twentieth century service. The birthplace of Shakespeare pre- served by the nation as a buseum, is situated in Henley street, and at the rear of it, is a very pretty, well-kept flower garden, On the all of Shakes- peare's birth room are to be seen the signatures of such great men as Sir Walter Scott; Charles Dickens, and Thackeray. . There are many things connected » the life of Shakespeare, preserved iff this house, and one can spend an hour quite interestingly look- ing them over. Fium Shakespeare's birthplace, we went to the Memorial Theatre, beautifully situated on the banks of the river. The first stone of this memorial building was laid by the Right Honorable Lord Leigh with full Masonic ceremonial, on April 23rd, 1877, the three hundred and twelfth sggniversary of the poet's birth. The memorial comprises a theatre, library, picture gallery and a central tower, The building is a very handsome structure Bothjinside and out. "The staircase we were told was constructs ed of Caen stone and Purbeck marble. It is very handsome. The Memorial theatre was opened April 23rd, 1879 with a performance of "Much Ado About Nothing." -It had accommoda- tion for nearly nine hundred people and a Shakesperean celebration is held there during Shakespeare's birthday week every April.' The library is situ- ated upon the ground floor, and. con- tains many rare volumes of Shakes- peare's plays. The picture gallery is situated above the library and in it are many celebrated paintings of well- known actors, and also 'a collection of Irving relics. Trinity Church of Stratford-on- Avon, where Shakespeare lies buried in the chancel is thus described by Washington Irving: "That church stands on the banks 1 = JA ------ of the Avon, on an embowered point, and sepatated by adjoining gardens from 'the suburbs of the town. The situation is quiet and retired and the tiver runs murmuring at the foot of the churchyard, and the elms which grow upon its banks, drogp their branches into its clear bosom. Small birds have built their nests among cornices and fissures of the walls, and keep up a continual flutter and chirp- ing and rooks are sailing and cawing about its lofty gray spire." There was a service in the parish church, so we spent half an hour or so. wandering around the churchyard. In it are many tombstones that were erected in sixteen and seventeen hun- dred. Later on we entered the church for the last part of the service. The closing hymn being that grand old favorite "The church's one foundation Is Jesus Christ her Lord." which the sweet-voiced choir boys sang with an enthusiasm that was in- spiring. Over the grave of Shakespeare is the famous inscription: : Good friend, for Jesus' sake forbeare To dig the dust enclosed here, Blest be the man that spares these stones, And curst be he that moves my bones. This church is well worth seeing for its own sake. It is a fine piece of Got- hic architecture. It has a beautiful or- gan and fine stained glass windows. It is visited by thousands of strangers every year, solely because it is the last resting place of William Shakespeare. After tea, we walked across the fields to Shottery, where Anne Hathaway lived. It is a short walk of about a mile or so and in the pleasant evening was most enjoyable. One of the fields was divided up into garden plots, dur- ing the war and dozens of men, women and children were busy making a gar- den. Anne Hathaway's cottage with-its wood and plaster construction and thatched roof is a pretty romantic lit- tle place. The garden is abloom with flowers, and it was just such a balmy April evening as centuries ago would doubtless have tempted Will Shake- speare to go courting Anne, "Now came still evening on, and twi- light gray a = RESST---- Had in her sober livery all things clad, $0 we wended our way back by the road to Stratford, going a roundabout way to the hotel, and' passing the home of Marie Corelli, which is situ ated on one of the main streets, Next day we left for Birmingham again. The visit had been short, but "a crowded hour of joy," and one long to be res membered. W.R, D, THE STAR. In the cold heavens, before the dawn, A star of wondrous beauty shone. Earth still slept on; the winds were still; No murmur from the frozen rill The starry throng o'erspread the sky, An innumerable company. But, brightest far of all the host, This bo of promise charmed me most, It told the night was nearly done; It heralded the coming sun. Itdheld my gaze; I watched it long, As listening for the angel's song. The song that still with sweetness fills The memory of Judea's hills, I thought of those wise men of old, Whose lives are wrapped in mystery's fold; And of the star that guided them To the dear Child of Bethlehem; Whose life had taught to every clime That lowly paths may be sublime. Again returns to glad the earth, The day made sacred by His birth. Again from out the ages dim f Comes echoing sweet the angel's hyma; & Joy-bringing now, with promise bright - To cheer the watches of the night; Though marred are its seraphic tones By clamor of discordant thrones, Yet nearer now the time than then Of peace and good-will unto men. --J. E. Caldwell. ar ity. ICE wr COLLIN'S BAY, ONT. TO our many friends who have partaken of our product during the past year--may we offer the sea- son's Greetings in all sincerity, also wishing upon them twelve months of Health, Happiness and Prosper- CREAM and BUTTER W. L. GRASS, Prop.