Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1874-03-06

The Baltimore Episcopal Methodist, ?
apaper whichcombines with the best collec-
tion of UNCONVENTIONAL and general re-
ligious intelligence that is made up in
this country. the best intellect i'll it's edi-
torial corps, has an article written by that
| distinguished writer. Hon. O. ?. Baldwin,
| whose name is familiar to us in Virginia,
us for many years the leading editor on
| the Richmond press, and who is now the
| contributing editor Of the episcopal
Methodist" We copy it entire for it's no.
| BILE lesson to those in humble life, and for
it's bringing historic character before us
with a breathing life that one but the
most gifted pens can invest the characters
of the past:
DIR johnson has said that literature is
the chief glory Of a nation. Notwithstand-
/ ing the progress Of liberty in England, this
| was not true of that country, until a late
| period, except as a mere abstract atnun-
| citation. In what did the English
| government ever attempt to distinguish lit
erary merit, except to make Walter Scott
a baronet, and Macauley a Lord, an honor
which it is to be deeply regretted the lat
ter did not Instantly decline. The three
greatest natural geniuses that England
sver produced were a player, a tinker,
md a gauger. Yes, of the divine, poe ical
Inspiration, it may lie said as Of religion,
nat not many great, not many noble are
called, but the poor and the base things Of
the world are chosen to bring to nau5ilt
the mighty and the proud. 1t shows but
little for the Toasted national respect of
England for letters and literary men, that
we know so little Of
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE.
We hear that 'he was u swarthy and Span
.ard-looking man, with a high forehead.
sh~rp ryvS, darntra1r Uurtins vren-his lips
and chin. firm deep cut nostrils y that his
father was a dealer in wool, but unable to
give his son any better education, except
at a free school, than his own employment,
| that he never studied the ancients, as he
| certainly never initiated them, and, but
or certain errors of his early life which
| are partially revealed in his sonnets, he
| night never have produced his immortal
works. That SO little is known of him,
,annot be assigned to his want of popu-
.irity, for though his fame has gradually
crown to it's present world-shadowing pro-
portions, yet, his humor and geniality were
Justly admired in his own time. The his
tory of his works III this respect is but the
history of many works of profound genius
md permanent inf1uences-of Homer, of
%Sophocles, of Dante, of Spencer, works
which, as has been justly observed, "con-
sisting, as all great productions must, Of
yhe splendid and the deep, the light foam
ibove and the strong billow below, their
%orilliance attracts in their own age, while
heir profunder-qualities fascilrate the flu
Jure." Yet, though three centuries havc
passed since the birth of a man whose fame
Gan never die, we know scarcely anything
Of Shakespeare. We know, or may know.
Ill about the mobiles of his time, from whom
they were descended, how they looked and
acted, what were their places Of resort and
IF worship. All this we know, though no.
oles are not uncommon, though every age
las had it's mobiles, though, it may be said
Of them us Of the poor, "These have you
always with you" We know the habi:s
even of the butterfly courtiers Of that
time, with their rich crimson silk doublets.
slashed out and lined with cloth of gold
with baldricsand trimmings to correspond;
the silk Stops with hanging carriers of car.
nation silk in fine, the ribbons, trim
mings, and fringes in which these butter.
flies futtered, but none can tell us aught
even of the daily life and aspect of Shake
speare ! We know something of the pillag-
ing border barons of that era; it is not diff
icult to picture one of them pacing up and
down his hall in his gay cloak, his short
doublet of buff, revealing his light shiri
of mail, his leather belt, sustaining his
large and heavy sword, and we see even hi
retainers with their iron jacks, or coats O.
buff, their highheeled jack-boets, and theil
long swords clashins and changing as they
moved. But what do we know of the mai
whose most wonderful genius rose like thu
sun in that Elizabethan era, yet a sun tina
from the time OF its rising to its setting
was so hidden by earth-born vapors, tina
] no one ever seems to have beheld its face
though it's light penetra ed all, and gildet
all, and shall continue to shine long afte
the c%loud-built %pinnacles, and domes o
rank and title have dissolved in thin air.
Personally and geographically, scarcel.
anything is known of Shakespeare. W
know that under the law he was a vaga
bond, because he was connected with
playhouse. But in vain we look for tn
fountain head of this noble stream, whicl
has enriched every land, beautified ever
dwelling, and brought solace and refresh
i ment to every heart. He was a vagabon
under the law socially he belonged to til
plebian ranks !; he could not sit at til
$ same end Of the table with knights or baro
7 nets. We should like to know how h
bore himself in this position whethe
with the %equanimity Of a great soul, con
scious of it's superiority in those attribute
: which liken man most to the divine imag'
il and confer most dignity and power upon
human nature, and thus as impassiye an
II H. J.ce.-a~k - T. .oa:o1 o,,,oor%iono IF t1