It is conceded that he could write, but he certainly was a mighty
poor speller. This has been a failing of many well-known writers.
Chaucer was deficient in this regard; and if it were not for a
feeling of personal modesty I could apply the illustration nearer
home.
Two guides accompanied us as we climbed the stairs to the low-roofed
room on the second floor where the creator of Shylock and Juliet
was born--or was not born, if you believe what Ignatius Donnelly
had to say on the subject. But would it not be interesting and
valued information if we could only get the evidence on this point
of old Mrs. Shakspere, who undoubtedly was present on the occasion?
A member of our party, an American, ventured to remark as much to
one of the guides; but the latter did not seem to understand him.
So the American told him just to keep thinking it over at odd
moments, and that he would be back again in a couple of years, if
nothing happened, and possibly by that time the guide would have
caught the drift of his observation. On second thought, later on,
he decided to make it three years--he did not want to crowd the
guide, he said, or put too great a burden on his mentality in a
limited space of time.
If England harbors few guides the Continent is fairly glutted with
them. After nightfall the boulevards of Paris are so choked with
them that in places there is standing room only.
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