"Stratford-upon-Avon,  the  home  of  Shakespeare,  is  situated  upon
the  Avon,  a  beautiful  river,  quietly  flowing  through  a  broad  and  fertile
valley,  in  the  southwest  border  of  Warwickshire,  that  shire  which,  in
olden  time,  was  well  called  the  heart  of  England.  Stratford  is  a  quaint
old  town,  the  reddest  town  I  ever  set  eyes  on.  Being  built  of  a  very
light  red  brick,  and  free  from  the  smoke  and  smut  of  manufacturing
towns,  the  houses  have  a  wonderfully  bright  and  cheery  aspect.  It
would  be  a  very  dull  town,  the  inhabitants  say,  if  it  were  not  for  Shakes-
peare. His  constantly  widening  fame  and  influence  draw  an  ever-
increasing  stream  of  travel  here,  the  great  majority  of  whom  are  Ameri-
cans and  Germans.  The  hotel  registers  show  eight-tenths  of  all  the
visitors  at  present  to  be  from  America.
"The  people  of  Warwickshire,  including  Stratford,  are  physically  the
finest  we  have  seen  in  England,  and  speak  English  freest  from  brogue.
It  has  a  vibrant  roll  and  resonance  that  are  very  pleasing  to  the  ear.
"The  house  in  which  Shakespeare  was  born,  after  having  passed
through  many  changes  and  uses,  was,  in  1847,  bought  in  by  a  national
subscription,  for  some  $16,000,  and  placed  in  the  hands  of  trustees  in
behalf  of  the  nation.  Under  the  direction  of  the  Birthplace  Committee,
it  has  been  restored,  as  near  as  possible,  to  its  original  condition.  The
restoration  of  the  exterior  is  regarded  as  'the  most  careful  and  successful
work  of  the  kind  ever  accomplished.'  The  internal  portion,  where  the
family  lived,  remains  essentially  the  same  as  when  the  Shakespeare  family
resided  here.  The  whole  building  is  in  the  Elizabethan  style  of  family
residences.
134  LIFE    OF    PRESIDENT    ALLEN.
