Ben Jonson, or of an inferior writer (which is to me the more
probable authorship), I am most desirous to respect them; not that I
stand in awe of Shakespeare's curse, but because I think they
proceeded from a natural and laudable fear. I have no more doubt
that "moves," in the quatrain, means "REmoves," than I have that
"stones" means "GRAVEstones." The fear which dictated these curious
lines, was, I believe, lest Shakespeare's remains should be carried,
whither so many of his predecessors in the churchyard had been
carried, to the common charnel-house hard-by. I do not read in
those lines a prohibition against an examination of the grave, say
for purposes of knowledge and history, but against the despoiling of
that grave, to make room for some local knight, squire, or squireen,
who might have been deemed a worthier tenant of the Chancel room.
Shakespeare's body was carried to the grave on Thursday, April 25,
1616 (O. S.); and, beyond question, his son-in-law, Dr. John Hall,
made all the arrangements, and bore all the expenses. We have no
proof whatever that the grave has remained closed from that time:
on the contrary there is some slight scintilla of proof that it has
been explored; and it would never astonish me to learn that
Shakespeare's skull had been abstracted! There may yet be some
among us who have a personal interest in preventing such an
exploration, and in thus maintaining the general belief, that
Shakespeare's relics still rest in the mould in which they were
buried.

Be that as it may: in the year 1796, the supposed grave was
actually broken into, in the course of digging a vault in its
immediate proximity; and not much more than fifty years ago the slab
over the grave, having sunk below the level of the pavement, was
removed, the surface was levelled, and a fresh stone was laid over