Shakespeare and Architecture 



between Warwickshire and London, its architec- 

 tural beauties had no charm for him ; it is simply 

 mentioned, with Ipswich, as one of the *' twins of 

 learning " raised by Wolsey, which " shall ever 

 speak of his virtue." In one place it would have 

 seemed that he must have spoken of the beauty 

 of ecclesiastical architecture, if it had any charm 

 for him ; but he passed it by. The messengers 

 sent to Delos in The Winter's Tale, when report- 

 ing the beauties of Delos, speak, according to 

 Shakespeare's custom, of " the climate delicate, 

 the air most sweet, fertile the isle," and they 

 report " the celestial habits, and the reverence of 

 the wearers," and the solemnity of the sacrifice ; 

 but all they report of the Temple is, " much 

 surpassing the common praise it bears." 



And if he is silent about English cathedrals, 

 abbeys, and churches, he is equally silent about 

 the solemn services which were carried on in 

 them. He was a religious man, and certainly no 

 Puritan ; but there is little or nothing to show 

 that he had any respect for solemn religious 

 services, or that they formed any part of his life. 

 He makes it one of the marks of " gentleness " to 

 " have with holy bell been knoll^d to church "; 

 but it would not appear that he had often obeyed 

 the bell's summons, though we can never suppose 

 that he had got as low as Falstaff, and " have 

 forgotten what the inside of a church is made of"; 

 and almost the only passage which shows any 

 acquaintance with Church services is the one 

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