MULBERRY TREE. 



263 



of which he hoped to escape by residing a part of the 

 year at Lichfield ; his servants, however, still hving at 

 New Place in his absence ;) he declared, in the violence 

 of his anger, that that house should never be assessed 

 again, " and,'' says Mr. Drake, " wishing, as it seems, to 

 be damned to everlasting fame, the demohtion of the 

 New Place soon followed ; for, in 1759, he rased the 

 building to the ground, disposed of the materials, and 

 left Stratford amidst the rage and the curses of its in- 

 habitants 



* Drake's Shakespeare, vol. ii. p. 584. 



