Telegram-herald., 1890-11-13

Ifepfstsee - A.4essosa Prs.s Aasoclaaas4l
Nas Aokz. Nck. 4I-tsas of ths most
extras5fsilEarY t8iazs 4ooas ths Hi1st ex-
tzssr.ila.lry Elxl. " f4tAaza shakespesre,
= tAat. ~oaasrfal - his GENES =.
ossFs1atewinx - Ais Fepat41len, ws
know asxs - nothins II hlzn PER
sl1a-iy We are svsa iznarzas ~ ths
dats n his 1irtA. sut the trahuen
= Esaf be va bora "a ths dsy q Ihs
E.oath CO ~hlsh ss died-Aprl ~4-aad
Ira it s tEEse hUA1Fsd aud teenty-slx
ysAe slAea lAAt sFelt i wgal1 uet -
- strsass II the poss hs1 t1ils1 - ap-
EFeeiatiah daFiag ais he. aat his great
uess had been discovered ~ FCs1erty.
Bat 30 vas regarded - ths 1Fsl drama
EsG ~ hls osu tiuis, uot ~ critics alone.
Mo are generally above taslr olutfllg ~
FAriss bas ~ tbs people VIC hocked co
49, an4 enjoy his plAys.
Nos antl nsariy = century aftsz kis
death sss there 4ny regular coAscnon
90 s.iitas x his worzs, bat slnee then
be aas b-sn ssnted. corrected and inter
preted 4s 40 other mortsl has ever beva-
Thai there has been anything iutolhgi.
Die left " hin = she best evidence Il
his marvellous power and significance.
Despite almost Two hundred years ~ IN
eeosall investigation oI everything even
remotely oonnaetsd with him. the mys-
terY ~ Shskespe are. tho mAa. i not
wait a5ated Not a has Of hls manu-
SCRIPT Is extsnt beyoai four u his ixna-
tures an n Whioh are ssl.sredly preserved
ia London. and which viii De remera-
bere1 0y mozt Americans II culture and
travel Evea ths spelling Of his name
- in dog5s-his blind signature does not
remove it-but be himself. as well "a his
rFieud Ben Jousou appears 10 have writ
tea &c Shakespeare when they printed L.
a. bis aaF men wrote taeir names vari-
ously. he sometimes wrote hrs surname
ShaEspere. and his contemporaries
spelled lt In dozen different ways.
What claim % DO portraits OF him are
familiar % every Body. but the bulk of
these are copies ~ the Chanlos picture,
which has no relation to the original
Ths only representations that can lay
claim % authenticity are the well known
bust 80 Stratf0rd snd the Iroeshout en-
craving They are both very hard and
stu, not answering at al 70 our ideal OF
ths post. bat they have a striking SIM
altitude. which IustiGes their c!aim. They
WHO have STUFFED Saakespcare have q
feeling and a half belief that he was
sngularly handsome and distinguished
II We could see him as be Was In the
fesh We shoald doubtless fnd that be
looked very unlike the man ought 70
look who had created Hamlet. Othello,
Lear. Eminent characters very seldom
bear the appearance we ascrioe T. them.
Alcibiades Aspasia. julius Cesar. Cleo
patra must have been very different in
form aud feature fTon what we fancy
them.
The facts q shakespeare's life are poor
aud few-that hs was born at Suatford:
married at Is. for urgent reasons. Anne
Hathaway, eight years his senior; hao
three children. one son and two daugh-
ters; that he went q London to better
his fortunes; became an actor and q
dramatist: succeeded. returned To mis-
native place. died in few years. and
was buried there. What meager rec
ord this FOR the mighty master. whose
name Is immortal, whose fams, beyond
that q al others. fills every part OF civil
ssu0ni A ~s detect almost nothing OF
his personality ia his plays-in this ne
was supremely dramatic-so he man
aged - hide his personality from the
world IL must have considered life
drama bs certainly treated it object
fvely AT the indications are that he
bad no concern for his plays after they
had sarved him in the theatre. There is
every reason % believe tnat ne had no
hand In their pubicsf.on; that they often
appeared without nls consent. even with
ous h.s lnOgle1 ~. Yet he does not aD-
Qsr 60 have been wholly Indifferent 70
Fame. for he seems ~ have looked after
the printing ~ "Venus and Adonis'
and "Lacrece.r a. well as his sounets.
Remarkable ~ these are. or would be
we're they by Any BODY else. they are
caezp and ,ommonplscs compared with
hls matchlsss dramas.
This strange apparent want Of dis
elimination. = literary Judgment, has
been accounted Tor by his editors and
Commentators - ths ground that during
the Sixteenth aid early IN the Seven
teentn century plays and PLAYERS weve
held In no esteegn. while poems proper
we're very differently regarded But
tbs fact harily explains 50 incompre-
heashls neglect Notwithstanding all
that his beer s,id % the contrary.
genias IS. an must be. self recognizing.
an whT shoald ths greatest genius of
nll time fail to appreciate work that had
neve~ been equsled5 The question ~
bard 81 snswer The necessary infer
snca is taa- be was either consciously
capaa's. up believed himsef capable. =
90 much higher achievements thst what
hs haf achieved seesaed ~ small copse-
qusnca Aad this theory gives rs more
szaised idea ~ ass genils than 90 the
imperishsble menameRts he has eft "a
It makes the mind yi3dy - eoussmplats
she posi- ailities Of as performance. IF
he sslt tast he couii Afford 20 forsgo shs
profizious. desthless reputation which
he f-rnas must certainly secure bin
An that = known al shsxespears >
method ~ composition svstains this
view r. sesrns - have been spontsneit ?
itse'f dashinE eT his msrvs'ous hnes az
whit- hest - ins-irasion. which melted
thought. iusszinaGoa. learning snd oe-
zervation into q stream ~ vital. Pictar-
d.