holding the babe in his arms before the font, and taking the vows which, no doubt, as is the usual way in such cases, he never thought of again. But this, as in all matters relating to Shakspere, is once more mere presumptive evidence. Shakspere himself did not sign the registry of Davenant's birth, and his name, if it be his name, was probably in the handwriting of the parish-clerk.
Of the original St. Martin's Church nothing now remains but a renewed, and restored, tower, looking as modern and fresh as chisel can make it. And little is left in Oxford which is associated with Shakspere, but the name of the most famous and familiar of his heroes.
On a dead wall, in the summer of 1899, near to The Crown Inn, and near to the Church of Shakspere's St. Martin's, was posted a notice to the effect that certain household goods would be sold publicly at the Corn Exchange by Hamlet & Dulake, Auctioneers. And the natural query of the Shaksperean student was: "Why Dulake?"
The front of St. Martin's, as being at the junction of four of the most important thoroughfares of Oxford, to wit, High Street, Queen Street, St. Aldate Street, and Cornmarket Street, was, not infrequently, the scene of those famous Town and Gown encounters which have become historic;
