"Harry and I, in youth long since,

Did doughty deeds, but some nonsense:
We read our books, we sang our song,
We stole a deer, who thought it wrong?
To cut a purse deserves but hanging,

To steal a deer deserves but banging."

Shakspere may therefore have stolen a deer; Sir Thomas may have treated the matter a little more seriously than was generally the wont with those who only judged of other's property; but the vindictiveness and ill-feeling of the whole story is the invention of more modern times. Sir Thomas appears to have been an exemplary country gentleman. He died Aug. 18, 1600, and is buried in Charlecote Church, a short distance from the family seat. His effigy, and that of his wife, are sculptured there. They are executed in a masterly manner, and may be