TOWARDS the end of March last the Shakespearean world was startled by the appearance in the London and Birmingham papers of an advertisement, offering for sale one of the few remaining buildings which are closely identified with the life of Shakespeare-the house known as Anne Hathaway's cottage, and situated at Shottery, an outlying hamlet in the parish of Stratford-on-Avon. Never, perhaps, since the days when it was rumoured that the great Barnum was in negotiation for the poet's Birthplace with a view to its removal to America, has the proposed sale of any historic building created more intense excitement in the literary world; and this excitement was increased when it was reported that the trustees of Shakespeare's Birthplace had been in treaty with the owner for the acquisition of the property, but had hesitated to sacrifice the sum at which it was offered to them, viz., three thousand three hundred pounds, or three hundred pounds more than had been paid in 1848 for the Birthplace itself.

Meanwhile the trustees, or rather the small number of them who form the executive committee, were fully alive to the gravity of the situation. On the one hand, it was evident that to allow Anne Hathaway's cottage to pass into the hands of strangers, and perhaps to be removed from Stratford, and even from England, was a danger which must be averted at

any cost. On the other hand, it was no less keenly felt that the price demanded was altogether a fancy one; that to accept it was not only to swallow up the whole of the funds at the disposal of the trustees, but also to mortgage the income of the trust for for some time to come; and that in the event of opportunity offering to purchase any other object of Shakespearean interest, such as Mary Arden's cottage at Wilmcote, or a copy of the first folio of 1623, the trustees would find themselves powerless to act.

Under these circumstances it was considered wise, if possible, to gain sufficient time to allow the whole body of the trustees to be convened; and a letter was accordingly sent to Alderman W. Thompson, the owner of the property, who is also one of the trustees of Shakespeare's Birthplace, asking him, if possible, to postpone any negotiations for the sale of the property until after the annual general meeting of the trustees on the fifth of May.

Mr. Thompson's reply was to the effect that, while he would otherwise have been happy to meet the views of the trustees, the fact that the property had been advertised for sale, and that several offers had already been made for it, rendered it necessary for him to proceed at once, and that he could only give the executive committee until the end of the week to come to a decision.

Meanwhile an indirect hint was conveyed to the committee that Mr. Thompson would be willing to accept the sum of three thousand pounds for the property, and this was confirmed by Mr. Thompson himself, when directly appealed to on the subject by the chairman of the trustees, Mr. C. E. Flower.

With this proposal before them, the executive committee met on the thirty-first of March, and, after some discussion, unanimously agreed to accept Mr. Thompson's offer. A memorandum of agreement was at once drawn up by the solicitors acting for the trustees, and as soon as the requisite formalities can be completed, Anne Hathaway's cottage will pass into their hands to be held in trust for the nation. As the advertisement offering the property for sale only appeared in the papers of March twenty-fourth, and the resolution to purchase was adopted on the thirty-first, the executive committee can hardly be accused of having allowed the grass to grow under their feet. It is to be hoped that their prompt action and their

readiness to take upon themselves the responsibility of acting in his emergency, will gam the approval, not only of the whole body of the trustees, but also of the general public.

The house which has thus become the property of the nation has a long and Interesting history. It is known to have been tenanted in the sixteenth century by one Richard Hathaway who died in 1581, and who is supposed to have been the father of the Anne Hathaway of the poet's love After his death it was held by his widow, Joan Hathaway, and after her by her son, Bartholomew, by whom was purchased in 1610, and by him bequeathed to his son John, The male line of the Hathaways became extinct in 1746 but the property remained in the family until 1838, when it was purchased from them by Mr. Barnes of Luddington, under whose will it came into the possession of Mr. Thompson. In spite, however, of the alienation of the property, the representatives of the family have continued to reside in the building as tenants, and its present occupant, Mrs. Baker, is a direct descendant of Richard Hathaway himself. The important question from a Shakespearean point of view is, of course, this Was the Anne Hathaway whom Shakespeare married, the daughter of the Richard Hathaway who occupied the house in 1581?

The evidence on this point has been collected with his usual assiduity by the late J. C. Halliwell-Phillipps, in the second volume of his "Outlines of the Life of Shakespeare;" but as, in the first place, this work is not readily accessible to all the readers of "All the Year Round;" and as, in the second place, the learned author is here, perhaps, not quite free from the reproach of having been unable to see the wood for the trees a succinct statement of the main points may not be unwelcome.

The chain of evidence starts with the marriage bond given to the officers of the Bishop of Worcester, in November, 1582, on behalf of William Shakespeare, on the application for the issue of a licence for the marriage which was shortly to take place between himself and Anne Hathaway. As, to quote the words of Mr. HalliwellPhillipps, this marriage bond "includes the only evidences respecting Anne Hathaway during her maidenhood that have yet been discovered," it will be well to commence by quoting it in extenso.

"Noverint universi per presentes nos Falconem Sandells de Stratford in comitatu Warwicensi, agricolam, et Johannem Rychardson, ibidem agricolam, teneri et firmiter obligari Ricardo Cosin, generoso, et Roberto Warmstry, notario publico, in quadraginta libris bone et legalis monete Anglie solvendis eisdem Ricardo et Roberto, heredibus, executoribus vel assignatis suis, ad quam quidem solucionem bene et fideliter faciendam obligamus nos et utrumque nostrum, per se pro toto et in solidum, heredes, executores, et administratores nostros, firmiter per presentes sigillis nostris sigillatas. Datum 28 die Novembris anno regine domine nostre Elizabethe, Dei gratia Anglie Francie, et Hiberniè regine, dei defensoris, etc., 25°. The condicion of his obligacion ys such that, if herafter there hall not appere any lawfull lett or impediment, by reason of any precontract, consanguinitie, affinitie, or by any other lawfull meanes whatsoever, but that William Shagspere one thone partie, and Anne Hathwey, of Stratford in the dioces of Worcester, maiden, may lawfully solemnize matrimony together, and in the same afterwards remaine and continew like man and wiffe, according unto the lawes in that behalf provided; and, moreover, if there be not at this present time any action, sute, quarrell or demaund moved or depending before any judge, ecclesiasticall or temporall, for and concerning any suche lawfull ett or impediment; and moreover, if the said William Shagspere do not proceed to solemnizacion of mariadg with the said Anne Hathway without the consent of hir frindes; and also if the said William do, upon his owne proper costes and expenses defend and save harmles the right reverend Father in God, Lord John Bushop of Worcester and his offycers, for licencing them the said William and Anne to be maried together with once asking of the bannes of matrimony betwene them, and for all other causes which may ensue by reason and occasion therof that then the said obligacion to be voyd and of none effect, or els to stand and abide in full force and vertue."

The first point to notice about this bond is that it stipulates for the consent of the friends of "Anne Hathwey, and does not stipulate for the consent of the friends of William Shagspere. This implies not only that the marriage was being urged on by her friends and not by his, but also that the bondsmen felt themselves to be in a position to secure the consent of her

Now the bondsmen in this case are Fulk Sandells and John Richardson, both of Shottery; and of these, Fulk Sandells is one of the executors of the will of Richard Hathaway in September, 1581, and John Richardson is one of the witnesses to the same will.

More than this, the bond is said to be "sigillis nostris sigillatas "-" sealed with our seals"; it is in effect sealed with two seals, one of which bears the letters "R. H." It is almost impossible to avoid the inference that this is the seal of Richard Hathaway, used by Fulk Sandells as his representative under his will.

Again, the phrase "without the consent of hir frindes," where we should expect "of her parents," may fairly be taken as establishing a probability that Anne Hathaway's father was not living at the time of the marriage; and this also would fit in with the facts relating to Richard Hathaway, who had been dead over a year when the marriage took place.

As collateral pieces of evidence, it may be noted

1st. That John Shakespeare, the father of the poet, is known to have been on intimate terms with a Richard Hathaway as early as 1566.

2nd. That, whereas in Richard Hathaway's will of 1581 there is an acknowledgement of his indebtedness in the sum of "fower poundes sixe shillinges fower pence," to one Thomas Whittington, whom he describes as "my sheepherd," the poet's wife is shown to have been in friendly relations, and to have owed money to the same Thomas Whittington at his death in April, 1601; for by his will, dated March of the same year, he bequeaths "unto the poore people of Stratford xls., that is in the hand of Anne Shakspere, and is due debt unto me."

It would be at least curious that these relations should have existed between Anne Shakespeare and a man in the position of Thomas Whittington, unless there were something in the previous history of her family to account for them.

3rd. John Hall, Anne Shakespeare's sonin-law, is the executor of the will of Bartholomew Hathaway, eldest son of Richard, in 1621, and trustee of the marriage settlement of Bartholomew's grand-daughter in 1625.

These facts, though each of them taken

relationship of Anne Hathaway with the family of Richard Hathaway, and therefore her connection with the house known as Anne Hathaway's cottage, form, when taken together, a body of cumulative evidence, the cogency of which it is very hard to resist. For on any other hypothesis than the generally accepted one that Anne Hathaway was a daughter of Richard, we should have to assume that the facts in question are merely a number of chance coincidences which have come together over a series of years, although the antecedent probability against each of them is very great, and the antecedent improbability of their concurrence almost infinite.

Against this body of evidence the only important fact to be set is the omission of Anne's name from the will of Richard in 1581.

Now it is quite true that this fact, thus baldly stated, appears to be in itself an important reason for hesitating to connect Anne Hathaway with the family of Richard. But, on the other hand, Mr. Halliwell-Phillipps has abundantly proved, in the second volume of his "Outlines," that the names Anne and Agnes were at this time treated as convertible, and that even in the same register the same person appears at one time as Agnes and at another as Anne; and in the will of Richard Hathaway the name of his eldest daughter appears as Agnes.

This objection being thus set aside, if, indeed, it be not converted into a positive argument for the affirmative, and the remaining objections not being of sufficient weight seriously to weigh against the conclusion to which we have arrived, we may safely conclude that there is a very high degree of probability, amounting, indeed, to something very like certainty, that the house which has just been acquired for the nation is that in which Anne Hathaway was born, and in which the days of her maidenhood were spent; and, consequently, that it was also the scene of Shakespeare's courtship.

It has been already stated that Anne Hathaway's cottage is situated at Shottery, an outlying hamlet of the parish of Stratford-on-Avon. The way to it lies either along the well-wooded road which leads out of the town in the direction of Alcester, or by a footpath across the sunny pasture lands which were formerly the "Shottery open fields." As the pilgrim passes from these through the little hamlet itself, his