[Illustration: CAESAR'S TOWER, WARWICK CASTLE.]
At the end of the hospital stood St. James's Chapel, built over the West
Gate of the town, which we left by the footpath leading both under the
church and its tower, on our way to Stratford-on-Avon.
[Illustration: SHAKESPEARE'S HOUSE (Before Restoration).]
We walked the eight miles which separated the two towns at a quick
speed, and, leaving our luggage at the "Golden Lion Inn" at the entrance
to Stratford, we went to explore that town, and soon arrived at the
birthplace of Shakespeare, one of the few houses in England where no
fire is ever lit or candle lighted. It was a very old-fashioned house
built with strong oak beams, the ceiling of the room in which
Shakespeare was born in 1564 being so low that visitors could easily
reach it, and they had written their names both on it and the walls
until there was scarcely an available space left. Written with lead
pencil, some of the autographs were those of men distinguished in every
rank of life both past and present, and would doubtless have become very
valuable if they had been written in a book, but we supposed Visitors'
Books had not been thought of in those days.
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