Rocky Mountain husbandman. [volume] (Diamond City, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1877-05-31

oeslnhihg ana Nhe end of his career. Wil)iom
o'"Aespeare must have done something
'i'o'e 'iian marry Anne Hathaway and steal
deer. Unfortunate it is that wa l,ou so
niue OF the personality Of the man whose
genius a"es us, and whose power the world
acknowledges What rare reading would it
make i'll these latter days if we<could find ,
volume describing Shakespeare's experience
on the stage. Had Newspapers been ia
plenty then asnow. we an,av imaci,a tho+
Oh reaching London, William Shakespeare
"ouio nave inserted an advertisement in
some dramatic journal announciun that ..A
young man desires to adopt the stage as a
procession. Responsible managers. ,U]ease
address w. s." Or, a few wears later. s4
might have read: Mr.. w. Shakespeare can.
DC engaged for the season of 1923 by adj
dressing him care of this o%fice.' Or. still
again, when he had Completed u new p]ay.
the BARD might have printed a notice to the
effect that "a tiye-act tragedy. affordj,o a
superior character for a star, will be sold on
reasonable terms" Whatever OF success
Shakespeare may have achieved as an actor.
1t is pretty certain that we should never
nave heard his name but for his plays.
When or where, or in what order these Won
'derful compositions were written we NAV
only conjecture. Yet their author must have
had an existence apart from that which un-
folds itself on the page. lie had a wife and
children to provide for, and the petty aunoy-
ances OF household affairs came to him. no
doubt, as they GENE to others. We may
picture him seated at his desk, writing
'Friends, Romans, 'country.nen, lend me your
ears"
when the train of lofty thought is inter-
ruptcd by Mrs. Shakespeare's thrusting her
head into the door and remarking,: "\Nil-
liam, you must so down to the butchers
and get some mutton for dinner." Perhaps
such a scene never occurred, and yet it is
certain that the bard Of Stratford must have
eaten and drank, as all bards have lone be-
fore and since. Moreover, Mrs. S. would
have been apt to suggest mutton rather than
venison, since the latter would have recalled
an unpleasant episode in her husbands ear
ly life. OF Shakespeare's personal appear
ance wehave no knowledge save that which
is given 10y Aubrey, who wrote: He was
Il handsome, well-shaped aaan, serie good
compame, and Of 1erie ready and pleas
ant and smooth WITT Verify, the wit OF
this immortal dser-stealer must have been
ready and pleasant and smooth!
Is this, then, ali that we know Of Shake
speare? Let the volume which bears his
tame be the answer From out those pages
o1n a troop of figures familiar as the
faces of close friends. They are not myths :;
they live and breathe and have their being.
Here is Falstaif. We give him a hearty well
come, and the very sight of his round face
serves as a cure for dyspepsia. Here is Shy
lock. Would anyone have us believe that
he is only a myth? Why, he meets us ev-
cry day, and eyes us greedy to make sure
that his bond is good, and that when he
comes to cut the pound of flesh we shall not
escape him! Here is Hamlet. Melancholy,
morose, and yet beloved by lis because of
his very sensible advice to the members Of
the dramatic profession. Here is Iago. His
very name makes the flesh Of honest men
crawl, and awakens an irresistible desire to
strangle him on sight. Here is Othello, who,
had he loved more wisely, would not have
thrown a pearl away richer than all his
tribe. Here is Marc Antony, weeping over
dead Caesars body. Here is Juliet, so fair,
so faithful, that we curse the poison which
failed her and the dagger which entered her
breast. Here is Cordelia, SO young, my
lord, and so true. Here is Macbeth, medi-
tatinu murder and clutclinp at laggers in