father, in Fifteen Hundred Sixty-three, owned a certain house in Henley
Street, Stratford-on-Avon. Hence we infer that William Shakespeare was
born there. And in all our knowledge of Shakespeare's early life (or
later) we prefix the words, "Hence we infer."

That the man knew all the sciences of his day, and had such a knowledge
of each of the learned professions that all have claimed him as their
own, we realize.

He evidently was acquainted with five different languages, and the range
of his intellect was worldwide; but where did he get this vast erudition?
We do not know, and we excuse ourselves by saying that he lived three
hundred years ago.

George Eliot lived--yesterday, and we know no more about her youthful
days than we do of that other child of Warwickshire.

One biographer tells us that she was born in Eighteen Hundred Nineteen,
another in Eighteen Hundred Twenty, and neither state the day; whereas a
recent writer in the "Pall Mall Budget" graciously bestows on us the
useful information that "William Shakespeare was born on the Twenty-first
day of April, Fifteen Hundred Sixty-three, at fifteen minutes of two on a
stormy morning."

Concise statements of facts are always valuable, but we have none such
concerning the early life of George Eliot. There is even a shadow over
her parentage, for no less an authority than the "American Cyclopedia
Annual," for Eighteen Hundred Eighty, boldly proclaims that she was not a
foundling and, moreover, that she was not adopted by a rich retired
clergyman who gave her a splendid schooling. Then the writer dives into