Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1874-11-19
The He r AID.
PERSONAL RecolIections Of DIstin-
pulshed Men.

at 3 0lBtrlcI eCnOUl 06UiUttlOu WuOu
he was a soy, and breaking down.
He was reciting the familiar lines :
you'd scarce expect one Of my age
To speak 10 public on the stage;
i'll should chance to fall below
Demosthenes orr
At this potnt ne hesltated, put tn
corner of his apron TO his eyes, burst
into tears and sat down, totally over
come by the allason to himself and
by the novelty Of the situation. Cic-
ero, who was lad at the same school,
made fun of Domosthenes, asking
him, derisively, if be had not better
go and hire out for an orator.
The last time | met Socrates he
was on his way to take tea-hemlock
tea, | think-with the sheriff Of his
county. He recognized me, gave me
little hemlock bough and passed on.
We boys felt very bad when we
heard they had soc'd it to old Soc
rates, for we liked him.
l was with Julius Cesar when be
passed the Rubicon He hold a
good hand, and | told him he had
better order it up, but he passed
The result is we'll known he lost
the game.
Alexander the Great ard myself
were schoolmates. We were brought
up little girls together He used to
smuse himself, / remember, by
smashing up all the globes there
were in school, and then sit down
and cry because there were no more
worlds to conquer. | happened to
be with him when he cut the Cord
ian Knot. Many others had tried 10
vain to do it. 1t was GKnot for 10. p"
Smart Aleok came along and cut IL
the first time trying, with patent
cOrn-cutter.
Nero had one of the most sensi
tive organizations | ever knew, and
keenly sympathized with human
woes. | have seen him sit in the
amphitheater at Rome and weep biz
terly when captives were torn 10
pieces by wild beasts II is a base
SANDER to say he fiddled while Rom
was burning H. belonged to fire
engine company, and | saw hin
one saw him as be helped TO break or
down, and in the excitement of the
moment thought he was fiddIing, and
80 reported.
| knew Shakespear az long ago as
when be tended store for the Nor
chant of Venice, and sold the Prints
OF Denmark by the yard. He was
an honest lad with the yard stick
giving Measure for Measure. H. a.
ways wanted to be an actor aud was
perpetually quoting Shakespeare to
customers. People used to leer at
Kim for it; | have even seen the
King Lear. Shakespeare only
isughed, and said they were making
Euch Ado About No. hing. adding
"Yon Gao have it As You Like L.
He was fond Of ladies, and popu-
10 scandal ass0clating hi name Wi n
CO an Merry Wives Of Windsor, his
employers raised such a Tempest
e)3ut MS ears that he ran away and
i1iued variety company. Il ma lie
Gs debut as first grave-digger IN
Othello. He was the first grave
digger | ever saw, and Richard the
Third.
Shakespeare was failure as an
Entor. | asked him all L could, but
he couldn't speak the speech as |
r. oneunced it to him, trippingly on
tho tongue, although he tripped
oesn enough on his feet He sawed
the air too much with his hand (saw)
thus while in the torrent, tempest,
end, bog leave to add, whiriwind
of his passion he neglected to form
aad beget temperance that would
give it smoothness. No, William
wasn't a temperance man. He
never signed the Pledge and got a
medal with other peoples busness).
Failing as an actor, Shakespeare
took to adapting Bouccicaul s lays,
translating them from the original
Choctaw, and soon found himself on
the road to fame and fortune. His
plays have had . great run. | have
seen them when they run every body
out of the theater. Tho least merl-
torious of Shakespeare's plays was
his play upon words. He often used
to tell me that he envied me my tai
ent in that particular
Diogenes was one of the most &C.
centric men | ever knew. His
mother was washerwoman and he
lived in her tub, except on wash days,
whom she had To use it to make a
living tor him. Although he gets q
good deal Of credit now-a-days for
having lived in q tub, be didn't all
the time. The nelghbors used to
call him lazy, shlftless fellow, loll
lFs around in q tub, talking phlloso-
ply to lot of other good for-noth-
inRs, instead of working for living.
A good deal has been said about
bis goiag around the streets of Ath-
ems with lantern to find man"
| saw him at the time lie wanted
to find man VINO would stand treat
The greatest remark OF his that has
been preserved, was when ho SAID ::
If | could like Alexander the Great,
had rather Di-Dgenes I"
Columbus was mild, sweet dis
positloned, but exceedingly thought
tul boy, as | remember him at school
When We boys were out playing, he
would sit and weep for hours over
she incompleteness of the maps Of
the period He felt as though some
thing was wanting. He wasn't sac
ished with three.quarters of Il ne,
such as was employed in the schools
at thst time. lie pined for the other
qusrter. reco let his borrowing
quarter OF me on two or three oc-
CaSI0ns.
lie used to tel us that we were u
continent out, somewhere, and that
when he got big enough he meant to
run away from home, go on the can al
and discover it; but we only laughed
st him, little thlnkinr ne would vet
give his name to the State capital of
nh,0