three o'clock in the afternoon of the 24th of December, 1592
The poison vine that climbs the tree , Is just as great in Nature 's plan As every mount and every sea Displayed below for little man . And every ant and busy bee Shall teach us how to build and toil If we would mingle with the free , Who plough the seas or till the soil . _ I shall never forget the visit Shakspere and myself paid to the cloistered , columned , pinnacled proportions of Westminster Abbey . It was three o'clock in the afternoon of the 24th of December , 1592 . The living London world was rushing in great multitudes by alley , lane , street and park preparing for the celebration of Christmas Eve . Vanity Fair was decked off with palm , spruce , pine , myrtle , ivy and holly to garnish home , hall and shop in honor of Jesus , who had been crucified nearly sixteen hundred years before for telling the truth and tearing down the vested arrogance of religious tyranny . A bright winter sun was gilding the tall towers of the Abbey with golden light , and the mullioned windows were blazing over the surrounding buildings like flashes of fire .