The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1881-11-23

There Is no creature loves me,
!; And, II die, no soul will pity mel"
Then comes the sword OF judgement ant
cuts of his life on Bosworth field. How
many thousand times have these iateiu
scenes been enacted on the stage, and the
thrilled audiences gone TO their homei
with lesson in their hearts never to b.
forgotten!
Then there is that other kingmurderer
Macbeth, and his scenes OF crime that ex
coed with their terrOrs the Rvenging furie,
OF .Esrhylus, which were so hOrrid US Il
Danish from the theatre the matrOns o
Greece. Macbeth shows heinseperablenes.
OF crime and retributiye punishment. Ii
the transparent soul Of the Scottish usurp
er we can see the demons OF wicked de
sire fighting against his better angels fol
the possession OF his immortal part hiE
judgement all the while condemning crime
and his feet going toward murder.
That but this blow
Might he the be'lll AMI the end'All here
! Bat here, upon thi, biGnk aud ShOal Ol time
| We'd jump the life 10 come. But In these cases
! We sill hay Judgment here that we but teach
| III Ody instructions, which, being taught return
10 plag e the inventor. This eVrrhanded justice
Comments the ingredients Vi our poisoned ChRlico
To our lips"
He knows that punishment-su suffering oil
body and mind-acCOmpaniCs crime, but
goes on rcsOlutely and pesistently to the
accomplishment OF his wicked wishes. We
feel his mental torture in that mystical
sympathy by which the magic OF Shakes,
pcare ties us to the heart OF the murderer
every passionate throb OF that heart,
every terrifying vision OF that brain be-
comes Tor the moment our own. Crime
and punishment! What lesson was ever
more forcebly told than that of this tragedy
What political lesson more plain than this:
that wicked means bring no truesuCCess in
life? With every step in crime Macbeth
finds a new pain, new horror; till, like
unhappy Gloster, his depair burst from his
lips in utteranccs that forever haunts re-
memberanCO.
~ have lived long enough; my way Of lilo
Is fallen Into the sCnr, the yellow leaf;
Aud that which should accompany old Rge,
As honor love, obedience, iEOOPs Of friends,
must not Look To have; but, III their stead,
Curses, not loud, but deep, mOulh.hOnor, breath
Which the poor heart would iaIn deny but dare
not"
And latcr-when his thames have fled,
and he is shut up in his fortress Of Dunsi.
name his wife dead, and his cnraged coun-
trymcn, with English Siward, marching
against him,--ho lNments in words Of
memorable disappointment;
Tomorrow, and tomorrow, aud tomorrow,
CrcCp IN this petty pace from day 10 day,
To the last syllable ut recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. out out, brief candle
liicT but Walking shadow, II poor player
That struts and frcls his hour upon the stage
IL nn ri "A IL "a f.1n
Told hyNn idiot, full OF sound and fury,
Slgniiying- nOthIng,"
BirnNm Wood comes to Dunsinane; his
dem0n'heIpers, the witches, fail him; he
sees impending fate about to fall upon him;
and cries;
"l'gn 10 be n,wcnry Of the sun
And wish the estate D tho world were now
undOnc"
Sharp death comes TO close career on
which happiness never smiled and the
f0rccluI lesson is stamped in gigantic
characters: Crime is failure and misery.
King John Is another example Of the
impoIicy OF dishonest purpose. The evil
acts and intentions Of this weak monarch
rccoil upon him with directncss that reads
us a startling lesson. The chaliCo he has
poisoned is brought to his own lips; nor to
his only; his realm suffers with its mon.
arch for his crimes and weakness; though
out Of all this, us it eventually came to pass,
popular freedom WIS helped. But, in the
extent OF ShNkCspCare's picture, he brings
about crisis that is fatal. The miserable
king, dying, cries to his general, Philip
the Bastard:
Tho tackle Of my heart Is cracked md burned;
And all the ShroIdS, wherrwlh my life should NIl,
AIe turned TO one thread, one little hair
ny heart 3ath one poor string 70 stay II By,
Which holds but tn thy news be uttered;
And then all III Is thou Sccst Is hut clOd
And moduIe Of COnfOundCd royalty"
Ills thread is broken by Philips news;
and, with that news Of further misfortune,
the King cxpires-his life failure for
himself, his country; because his steps Ind
not been guided by the divine light OF
moral rcCtihldc.
We cannot fail to recognize the same
strain Of despair in the closing scenes OF
these three crowned examples Richard
ILL.,, Macbeth, and King J0hn-and the
lesson they teach. Shakespeare goes on
repeating the same impressive lesson; not
three times, not ten times; but many,
many times. FastNH repeats it; he has nm
intellectual activity capable OfCrowning his
life with honor and material success; his
is the controlling mind leading his com.
paniOns in mischief and rCvelry by the fas-
cinHtion of It's wonderful and versatile
powers; his wit and mirth ARE boundlcss-
but alas for all his brilliant and companion
able qualities! he has no sense OF moral
mcttudc, and gives himself up to the
qualification Of his appetitcs. lie would
use to Il place OF enjoyment and dignity by
making himself the young kings ialse
guide and laughing companion in unwar.
rantablc and vulgar pleasures This Is his
politics, his road to prefermcnt built along
foundation Of evil and he has the morti.
Iicati0n to see the Palace OF Pleasure he
would enter sail away in what he deems
the hour of his success. The inevitable
law asserts itself; and his end is inglorious
and unhappy.
1t is 50 with all. Shakespeare teacles
through all his characters and pictures OF
life, the broad truth that undcriiCs all in.
dividual and political action: that the di.
vine principle Of right is the only rule Of
life by which We can come to success
honor or happiness; and any deviation
from it., even BY the help Of tic most bril-.
liant abilities, always ends in disaster and
ruin--a ruin that, in this wonderful mys.
terry Of life, with its waves Of interaction
and Countcraction, reaches out from the
guilty actors, and bCats down beneath its
overwhelming floods many who are limo.
cent Of the fault or crime which procured
the disaster Here is political teaching of
the Notwithstanding that applies to
every political movement however grand
or trivial-the law Of Right.
So we find Shakespeare teaching the law
Of moral rCctitudc, one Of the two funda.
mental elements Of perfect government.
Now let INC show what he teaches in
reference TO that other elemental law,
that n good government must be in
the hands OF wise rulers.
Pope has written in his cynical way
"FOr forms u government let fools contest,
Whnte'Cr Is best administered, ID best"
But ropes "best' did not bear the large
meaning we would give to the best govern.
ment; nor did he look to the lifting up OF
ihn npunln he nliirntinn M II,n ,pnt, IN