Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1886-12-01
A GREAT ENGLSIHMAN.
Short Biographical Sl< stch of Mr..
William Shakespeare.
The Man who Wro's francis Dacon's
, Works for IIiui-IIls struggle and sue
\ e~sses - Why Hs Deserves the Re-
s1ret OF All Patriotic Americans.
MN NYe. In Grnp,,Io yew.1

IbiA wv bEhPllo
Perhaps the void has never had het-
ter example Of IA cess from a small boz
ginning than We fin in the history Of
William Shakespeare, the man whj wrote
Yrancis Bacon's works for him.
vii lain was barn three hundred and
twenty-five yeats rgo on the 20 Of last
April. His father. John Shakespeare, was
ayeom1n, or luck whsate-, and as we
run our eyo' over the bios raphIes Of the
Tmin,nt in oil prof ,ssiuns, we are struck
with the wonderful frequency Of tho farm
er loy. aud The son Of tho labcr.ng man.
John SIR ksspcare was popular among
his neighbors, however. anil was frequent
ly elccte 10 ollie. Among other cfilc,s
held by him was that OF justice OF the
peace, and should n son Of mine ever rise
20 be great poet, and write tragedies
that would make n mans hair stand up on
his head, bope he will not forget that his
father was tnce n justice Of the peace,
thus giving him a start which he could not
ov rsstimate.
At the age % eighteen, william b came
entanrled with Anns Hathaway, Accord
ing 20 the Liorraphcr, aud, though sho
WIS eight years his senior, married her in
another parish ons day, unter special
license. Three children lle.sed this uni H.
We may r." Oily see that Shakespeare
lot, nj the age OF twenty nc, with n vie
eight years his senior. three snail chill
dren nnd n father who was uUnLlc tu poo
vile for his wants, was any thing but .
cheerful one.
Shakespeare now got into trouble with
Sir Thomas Lucy by killing me OF Lucy's
deer, anil writing poem about IL, which
Ne nailed % tho gate. As a result Of this
Incident, bo resolved 10 go away from
ftraifOrd.
4. lie sail that the ri CO was not big
enough for Sir Thomas anil himself, and
ns Sir 1hQ1aak hal a great many ties TO
bind him 10 the plac', walls Ia, hal no.h-
ing but his little family an a sh wi strap,
he thou IA II would be let or that he should
20 away. lie, therefore, went to Lon Ion.
On his arrival, ho founl that he had
BrOught the shawl strap, but had over
lookcd his family.
lie soon got "A situ1ti IN in tbs theatcr Mt
london. Ho nrst appeared on the English
sthRoNsith a roll Of carpet under his arm,
an ProsSelej to fast,n IL down. IL was
customary at that timo To nail the
stage carp,t down with tacks, aud while
nail of his favorite thumb. n, then burst
fcTtbih,o an impromp;u torrent of pas
sion 10 re ils ic tina: h, was greeted with
applause and an encore, whercupon ho
came forward AMI knoc'Sel OF the other
thumb nail with great success.
He now began 10 write plays day times,
and act out on the stage nj .hts 10 crowded
houses. He was poor penman, but soon
earned to write we'll aud rapidly, after
which he was engaged by Sir Francis Ba-
ron 60 do some writing for him. Shakes
peare Is sail 20 have played the Ghost in
Ills own Hamlet" thou n this is not vet
fully established. After play ing one sht
stands for few weeks, and coming home
with Hamlcrs feet tiol up in the grave
yard scene. and Ophelia's toes sticking out
ot her shoes, William, no doubt looked
like man who had been PLAYING Ghost,
and this, no doubt, was tue origin OF thc
report.
''enu nrl Adouis' was one OF the
Nr-st 70 nio written h. ~ shakespearc.
lle tool " 10 tho editor of the Strntford
fpp' al, who printed y in order TO encour.
age him, sent Shakespeare the parer n year
free, and toll him that. should any other
item OF new come his way, lie wished that
he woul send 1, in.
Shakespeare wrote large nu mber of
plays, oil ~ which wcro we'll received.
though he never got just remuneration
for his work. Could he have received
royalty on his plays up 10 the pre.enttimc
he could have spent his summers hy the
side Of the scum ling sea-dowu 10y the
sh'mmering, suulit sea.
Its singular thu Shake el~e sh3ulI
have written So well, when We stop 20
consider that he III 1 MT s'rivs Tor fame.
He did not seem 10 banker fer fame at all.
He wrote his plays just a. the circus man
Of To-day writes his gorgeous posters
simply 10 order, nnl yot Sh tk,pears will
I've quoted nd repro luce I cen uries aftor
tho pictures OF tho hipp ,potamus, with the
Iarg, 70 mouth, shall have pass,l in, O
oblivi n.
y but there Is a lesson in the lie Of Will
lam Shakesp 'ace. VIII le we can not In
dorse his manner Of going 70 Lon Ion in a
brown stu ly, an | forgetting TO take his
family with him, we must al nire the
truth aud siren yth shown in his works.
aud, above all, his grit an perseverance.
MI men are create for some place in the
great economy Of nature, AMI they are
largely succ ss.1l or I'M successful as they
drop into, or fail TO drop into, that place.
We realize this when we s,e man cross
questioning his superiors on the witness
stand, or talking jary into general de-
NY, when ho ought TO he a janitor at
the pound. We realize II every day when
We see round men in square hole.
Shakespeare did In 1916, leaving n
wonderful dramatic monument by which
20 perpetuatc his name, an | an autograph
which looks like the rise and FALL Of Billy
lnVorson. go
Shakesponrc's dust lies ur.od in n, n
OF the ehancel Of Stratford Church; but.
20 use the words Of n more modern p3et.
his soul goe' marching ON. lie was
great Eaglishmrn. aud respect him all
the more because he reframei from riding
through America on a night train, aud
iheu'writing hook cntitle |: "The United
Staies'of America. It's People. its Soil.
Products, Politics. Social Customs, In.
Sects, Nam IaiN PuIlic Buildings, Emf.
nent Men, and o her Fauna"