Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-10-30
LIVING SHAKESPEARES.
A Remarkable Incident That Occurred In
an English School-IIouse.

an English School-Housc.
There is q tradition that John Shake
speare, the father of the immortal Will
liam, had a brother who was q respect-
able woman, and resided in Gloucester
street. A gentleman of literary emil
nence ace asserted that he could select
the descendants of John Shakespeare,
the Worcestershire yeoman, by the re-
semblance of the contour of their heads
or facial outline to that of the bust of
William Shakespeare in the church of
Standardization. His power or ability
to do so was disputed, and he volun-
teered to put it to a practical test.
This happened more than fifty years
ago. The gentleman heard that there
were several boys of the name of
Shakspcre or Shakespear who went to
the public school of the neighborhood.
The two gentlemen visited the school
master. The interview occurred out
side the porch. II have heard" said
the literary gentleman, you have sew
eral boys attending your school OF the
name Of Shakespcarc?" 81 have, sir"
''They are children of parents who re-
side in the neighborhood?a ''They are,
sir" the schoolmaster replied affirma=
lively. ''Ihey are of different ages
and belong to different families or
parents of the same name:?" "They
do, sir" "Now," said the gentleman,
''these children have the traditional
reputation Of being the descendants Of
Shakespeare, the great dramatist-col-
lateral descendants, or they are sup
posed to be descended from
the uncle of the great dramatist
who lived somewhere in this immediate
neighborhood. l have a theory. or a
hypothetical idea, or fancy, that by OBJ
serving or comparing the shape of the
head and the face lean select every boy
in your school. numerous as it ISL who
bears the name of Shakespeare. "Per-
haps," said the schoolmaster, "you
have seen them before" No." re-
piled the gentleman, 81 am q perfect
strangerto the neighborhood, and have
never seen you nor your school before
to-day. Well,' continued the gentle
man, ''this is what ! want you to do
to permit me to walk into your school,
from form to form, to look steadfastly
at every boy, and for you to send up to
your desk every boy whom | may touch
on the head, and as soon as have con-
cluded my facial and cranial scrutiny
to inform me how MANY S~hakespeares
| have found or selected from your
promiscuous assemblage of boys" The
schoolmaster asserting to this, the gen
tleman in the most studious and con
templative manner walked from bench
to bench. The boys were in a state of
nSlous suspense; some imagined the
gentleman was trying to mesmcrize
them, and some of them thought they
had been committing some terrible Of
Tense, and were being sent up for pun
ishment. As soon as the gentleman
had completed his examination, he
walked up to the desk. accompanied by
the schoolmaster and his incredulous
friend. Now" said the gentleman
to the pedagogue, ''please tell me how
many Shakespeares l have found"
"Well," responded the schoolmastcr,
with asmile, ''all the boys you have Sc
lected are Shakespeares, and they CON-
prise the WHOLE of the boys of that pat
ronymic attending my school"
The gentleman could not dis
guise his delight, but his incredulous
companion was a little chagrined.
''Allow me-" said the gentleman, ''to
ask you Il more question:" Ger
tainly, sir" care they all of one fam
ily?" mo, sir. Some are brothers
and some are cousins" The gentle
man relieved the anxiety of the boys by
a profusion Of compliments a:d by sin
pence a head. It is said that William
Hewitt was the person who visited the
school.
An extract taken from the notebook
of a gentleman formerly connected
with the shipping trade at Gloucester
runs: 81 was once sitting in a mer-
chants office, waiting for Il boatman
to sign his waybill or consignment
note. 1t was during the dinner hour.
| had a volume of Shakespeare open on
the desk, exhibiting his vignette or
portrait, and Il facsimile Of his auto
graph. The boatman took off his hat.
/ was struck with his remarkable face
and ead 1t bore some resemblance
to the portrait before my eyes. The
face and head OF the boatman bore
some resemblance to what ! imagined
Shakespeare's bust az Stratford would
be if it had been thrown from its pedes-
tai, scratched and bruised, and be-
grimed with dirt, tar and coal dust.
What meeks ee stare at M. gaffer?
Amt yu never zed me afore?' / felt
rather ashamed, but l laughed. and he
followed my example. Can you
writer l inquired. Yes, gatler, OF
max me cross We'll, then. write
your name: there is a good fellow ]
read my book while he wrote his name
in two places. He aroused me from
my reverie by exclaiming: Wool that
do, gaffer?' looked up for the II
pose of tearing off and giving him the
counterfeit, and you may imagine nv
amazement when l saw he had written
'Willum Shakspere.' My establishment
was intensified from the resemblance
to the autograph before me. l again
gazed at him and said: Are you any
relation to the celebrated William
Shakespeare, the poet? l found l had
spoken Greek to him, for he did not
understand me. I tried again: Are
you any kith or kin to any big man of
that name who lived at Stratford-on-
Avon?' No, 1 da live at Tewkesbury.
We ha always lived som ur %thereabuts;
IA