Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1883-04-29


that have made their authors everlasting
fame.
He himself describes the darkness of his
spirit and the loneliness OF his heaI { In one
Of his sonnets, the 73d., referring, however,
not 10 the time of his most painful suffer
ings, but to a season when acute heart-pains
bad subsidized into feelings OF bitter desola-
ton:
THAT time OF yea- thou maySt In me behold
When yellow leaves or none, or few. do nanS
Upon those boushs which shake against the
Fare. Tuin'd choirs, where late the sweet birds
sang"
must not occupy our time now in trac.
ing this unhappy spirit through the plays
in which its presence is evident. 1t IS ap-
parent to whoever reads them; and we
have all felt the shadow of its gloom:
But the last work OF the great poet shows
that he Iegained serenity of mind. which
vas denied 10 him for several years: and
that happiness came again TO crown
him with it's charms, and brighten
his ending life with a golden sunset. l
have already referred TO the sOftening OF
the bitter spirit that tOrmented hlm, as
shown in" CoriOlanus" and Anatomy and
Cleopatra" After these plays the change
became more evident. The TeM pest" and
The Winters Tale" have many scenes
ard passages that breathe sweetness and
conteDtment, and recall the j0yousness OF
his happy period; though, through them,
are found traces OF the wounds that disap-
pOintment had left on his heart. Indeed
the pastoral spirit resppaars in the fourth
act of The Winters Tale" and charms
us with images and thoughts allied to those
that found locality in 1.-The forest OF Ar
den," what time that marvellous country
was the refuge and habitati"n OF the
banished duke" aud his train of fancy-lov-
ing followers, living like the old X Ioin
Hood, Of England" and letting the time
fleet Carelessly Is they did IN the golden
world"
So let me close with recollections OF that
sweet play, than which none other may so
surely claim that its author snail be loving.
ly remembered, net as the sailor scholar
Raleigh, nor as The politician and phil0.o-
pher Bacon, but as the gentle player, WLi'
liam Shakespeare.
mr.. Crosby's Address
Mr.. Joseph Crosby, the well.
Shakesperean student of Idnesyilie, next
responded TO the toast:
Who is Shakespeare
Though dead, yet alive,
He lives IMMORTAL in the heart OF man.
Mr.. PRESIDENTS sentiment or ques-
ton you have assigned me | reply To-,
though il would seem more easy OF solu-
ton than the one you have yourself grap-
pied with - well, is in truth fully as dtiil'
cult, but for the very opposite reason; that
whereas you were hampered by the lack
of biographical material, l am hampered
and bewildered by the excessive proper
toGs of the field | cover, embarrassed by
the very richness OF the subject. who
is Shakespeare" He is a spirit, an inhu-
ence a power, that is to say coordinate
with the entire intellectual universe. The
mortal temple that Contained his spirit
which We worship, and whose birth We
are met to night 10 celebrate, has long since
Crumbled into its kindred elements On the
banks of the beautiful Avon which he
loved; but the indestructibe SpHH-the
priceless legacy he has left uS-aa5 never
ceased TO p ryaie the world, disseminating
ipv and geutieneSs, beneliceuce and happi-
ness wherever il i entertained. As when
the pebble is cast in the pool, the benign
influences of his spirit are constantly wi
denirg, until now its circles comprehend
every nation and people wherever an in
teIigent language is spoken. But il is a
spirit that is Jealous OF Its reverence. With
The narrow minded, and bigJted and Skcp'
teal, il holds no communication, but
upon those who court il with love aud as.
>Iduity, with humility and reverence. it
ling over all they say, and do, and think, its
rich income of happiness; doubling their
joys and soothing them in aitIictiOn and adj
versity. "WhO is Shakespeare" TOapprOI-
innate in some manner mis- value TO us, let
US estimate for a moment what We should
have been without him. That hard headed
old SCOtchman, Thomas Carlyle, man
that INDUCES in no eCStatc eulOgieS, 4
regular Gradgrind for facts and reality, has
told US, and it sometimes makes me
tremble when | think how narrow an es-
cape our Wa-wiCkshlre boy had. But Tor
that dear stealing frOliC. when Sir Thomas
Lucy, thinking to send him TO the tread
mill, really sent him 10 London, he might
have spent his days in his humble home,
and never been the dramatist, poet, phil
oSOpher We are all so proud OF. But be-
lieve the Almighty had a place preparcdfur
him in the world, and him prepared for the
place. lie says himself
There Is a tide in the affairs or men
Which taken THE flood leads on TO fOrtune;
And Notwithstanding his apparent neglect
Of his imperishable works, believe he felt
that they would be immortal.
"How many
Ages hence shall t&is our lofty Sceue be acted
Ger,
In states unborn and accents yet unknown
Carlyle unquesuonably spoke his sincere
sentiments when he said: Consider what
this Shakespeare has actually become
among us. Which ERglishman we ever
made in this land of ours, which million OF
EngliShmen, would We not rather give up
than the StratfOrd peasant? There is no
regiment Uf highest diPnltarles that we
would sell hun for. He is the grandest
thirg We have yet done. For our honor
amorg foreign nations, as an ornament to
our English household, what item is there
that we would not surrender rather than
him. Consider now if they asked us, Will
Won give up your Indian empire, or your
Shakespeare, you English; never have
had any indian empire, or never have
had any Shakespeare? Really it were a
grave question. Official persons would an
Swpr doubtless IN official language; but We,
COR our part too, should not We be forced TO
answer: luJidn empire, or no Indian EN-
pire. We cannot DO without Shakespeare.
In dian empire will &C, at any rate. some
day; but this Shakespeare of ours does not
g., e lasts forever with us; we cannot
give up our Shakespeare
WHO is Shakespeare" Why, he is to-
day the queen bee, the great bond OF broth
erhcod between sll the Eaglish-speaking
peOple of the wOrld-,he King of Anglo
Saxundom. England itself contains but a
fraction of these. Think Of the sixty nil
lions in America, the other millions in
Australia, East and West, and the very an
tipodes, where SaxOndOm covers great
spaces OF the globe. And now, what is it
that can keep all these together into virtu-
ally one nation, so that they do not fall out
and fight, but live at peace, in brotherllke
intercourse, helping one another? This IS
Justly regarded as the greatest practical
problem, the thing all manner of soyer-
eighties and governments are here 10 &C.
com lish. WHAT is it that will accomplish
this3 Acts OF Parliament or Congress, ad-
ministrative Prime Ministers can not.
But here is monarch whom no tine or
chance, Parliament or Congress, or com
binatien of them can dethrone, This
King Shakespeare, loes he not shine, in
crowned sovereignty, over us all as the
poblest, gentleSt, yet strongest OF rallyfng
signs: indestruCtible, really more valuable
in that point Of view than any other means
or appliance whatsoever? We can fancy
him rs radiant, alOft over all the nations OF
English speaking people; thousand years
hence, wherever they are, men and wo-
men, they will sag to one another: yes,
This Shakespeare is ours; we prcdu' him;
We speak aud think By him; We are OF one
blood and of one kind with him.
"Who is Shakespeare" de IS to-day the