The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1873-07-17

,er.oE.fsot sbectscles. Here Is . deScrip-
ton Of 1t by one Of tha most scuts SnHBS
liable Of observers: -. ~ ~ II
/ ,sTbS feSturoI d thli plee 9! Icllpt9 ~ =.
tntiTrly unlike any portrait Of M ~ ssSS,SIs5
INV nnnS.O;SIpI iofiy bFoWed, and noble picture d
liz S,SbIch hRs hitherto huhg In my mental pot
iyRIt gallery. Tho bust cannot DO SAID 70 LepTS'
snnt beautiful face or an cmipenly noble heaq
sTt Il clItcheS dEmy hold Of ones sense OF real
Nv Nv AMI inFiSts upon your accepting It'll not u
| gkSkSptAre the poet, yet ~ tho wealthy hAFGhdr
| If gtrstfOTd the liCnd Of John a C0Inbe, who
| lies yonIler In tho EOrneE. know notB nc
phrcnOloglstAOSy 10 the bust. Tho iGl0heAd y
but moderately developed, and rsiFeSis come
what, the upper part OF the skull rising pyramid
ally; the eyes arc prominent almost beyond the
penthouse Of The BROW tho upper Up - 70 Ioul'
that II must have been almost dcIormity, ~
less the sculptor aftistieauy exaggerated "
length, In consideration that, on the pedestal, II
must DO GorGhUEton0d BY being looked q from
below. On TllO whole, ehAkSpcare mnst1 haVe
had GIngulAt rather thin 4 representing tacei
and 1t Is wonderful how, With this bust before
its eyes, the world has pu1iBted In main Timing
an erroneous notion Of hiBappearance..a allowing
painters and Bculptors 70 f0lBt thcir ideal non
sense on Us all, instead Of the genuine man. F9t
my part tho Shakespeare Of my mlnde eye u
hCncCIOEth 70 DO . parsonage OF ruddy RnHllah
complexion, with reasonably cApaclouS brow
luIelikHouE HpQ uulCkly VuHEINAub ClN1A . ASNS
curved eighty outward, . long, queer upper Up
with the mouth . little unelosed beneath IT. and
checks considerably developed In tho lower part
and beneath tho chin. But when bhAkGpeAiC
WaB himself Cor nine -tenthS OF the time, accord
ing TO al Appearances. he was but INC D1rEhGI y
OF HtEAtiordl he doubtless BhOne through thlA
dull mask and tIanslgur0d 1t Into tho lace OF ~
With this "dull mask"-which Ia moth
inp better. after all, than the counterfeit
presentment Of the ordinary John Bull
we have brief history the man tacts Of
which might be written on the most di-
minutiye sheet Of note paper. We know
that Shakespeare was born April ~, 1864
the third child in family Of four sons
and four daughters; VIC know-Or think
WeIkpoW-L hat he received an Indifferent
education. at the grammar school a. STRAIT.
ford from whence he Igas AIKEN an
early ageto assist his impeculi0us father;
pR0 know that at nineteen he married
Anne Hathaway, q country dRnsel eight
years his senior, who presented him with
a daughter six months after marriage; we
know that when about twenty-five he
abandoned his vile and children and went
up TO London, where, after beginning by
holding horses at the theatre door, he
gradually worked himself inside, and be-
came prompter's assistant, actor, play
writer and finally manager and part pro-
prietor; we know that he accumulated q
moderate fortune, went back to StrattOrd
10 spend it, and there died on the ed Of
April, 1916, from the effects, 1t Is said, oil
what VIC should call nowadays "a hard
Spree" II we may Judge from the fact
that he mentions his vile in his will only
to bequeath To her his "seCond.best bed"
his. domestic life was not particularly
plcasant;4au1 II We may judge from the
gossip Of the time, the witc had ample
cause TO be Jealous Of her husband.
Can 1t be that this jolly ,amOrouS, liquor
loving, money-making English yeoman
wrote Hamlet, Mdcbcth, Ih0- Merchant Of
Veniee and Midsummer Nighfs Dream?
Did he coDjure up out Of that sturdy,
beef.Ied, ale.soaked composition Of his the
fairest company Of spirits that ever peO--
pied this mundane sphere9 From the
loins OF such a sire did OhelI0 and DeStle.
mona, ObST0n and 1TtGniG, Romeo and
Juliet, Jacques and ROSGlind, P0TtiG and
ImCgen spring? Did this bluff, burly ar
tist-who, TO all human appearance, was
built oil the commaneSt clsy-paint these
pictures which demi-gOd
might be proud to own as his hGndiWork2
u. 80, then the age Of miracles did not,end
with tho apostolic era, but. reserved its
crowning triumph for period only three
centuries past. .;,.-~r..L " Is.t
torical fact can be established, that
Shakespeare did write the plays which
bear his name. We know, as certainly as
anything can be known, that the might
lest genius the literature oil this planet can
boast was lodged In the bosom. Of an in
dividual, in whose physical and moral lin.
Garments we can detect absolutely nothing
but he most commonplace clements, and
in whose outer life we search in vain for
either very great or very noble,
or very worthy Of Imitation. 4
There Is one key and only one which
will unlock the mystery. There abode in
the man Shakespeare spirit entirely sep
arate and distinct from his personality; q
spirit the uttCrances of which we doubt II
he fully COmprehended; spirit as much
above and beyond the ordinary level Of
humanity as that which spoke through
the Hebrew proPhets-a spirit which was
as much divine inspiration as any ever
committed to'tthe Keeping OF a mortal.
Shakespeare was. simply tho channel
through which heaven pOHfed out upon
the earth the proioundCst lessons Of hui
man wisdom-lcssons mot Of an age, but
for all time" ...r-, .,.. rs.,i