St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-05-14

worshiped all gods. He knew the
careless shadows and tragic depths.
His giving was boarding, and with him
waste Itself was wealth. His mind was
an intellectual ocean, whose waves
touched all the shores of thought; an
ocean toward which all rivers ran, and
from which the isles and continents of
thought now receive their deWS and
rains.
IngersolIisms.
His soul, like Mazeppa's, was lashed
naked to the horse of love, fear and
hate. In Shakespeare's day but little
attention was given to the biographies
of women. They were born. married,
had children, died. No matter how eel
ebrated their sons became, the mothers
were forgotten. When man achieved
distinction they inquired who was his
father and grandfather. But the truth
is ali great men have had great mothers.
1t has been said the man of genius
must select his ancestors with great
care, and yet there doesn't seem to be
as much in heredity as is supposed,
pygmies are born in palaces, giants in
novels. He was neither a soldier, a
noble nor priest. He neither damned
souls nor killed bodies, nor lived on the
labor of others. We know more of
Shakespeare than we do of auy other
human being, living or dead. because
he poured out the almost infinite treas
ures of the greatest mind. All that is
known of him outside of what he has
written can be written on page. He
was not engaged in reputable busi-
ness. The theater was regarded as a
friend and handmade of perdition. An
actor was looked upon as devil and
one waiting to he damned.
1t has been said that Shakespeare was
unknown by his contemporaries, and in
this day and generation there are some
people endeavoring to show that no such
man ever existed. | will give you my
reasons for thinking otherwise. 1t is a
mistake about his having been so up-
known. In the year 1600 book was
published called" "England's ParnaSSuS, :"
and III that book were ninety poems, eX-
tracts from William Shakespeare. In
the same year another book called "The
Garden of the Muses." containing
thoughts OF his. The same year play
was acted at Cambridge with the words,
land here's our fellow. Shakespeare,
that puts them all down." In 1895 a
book of poems was published. and III
that sonnet addressed to Shakespeare.
In THE Witches Treasure" the poets
are compared and Shakespeare is men
toned. Comparing the writers of come.
dies, Francis Murray mentions Shake
Speare. He compares the lyric poets and
names Shakespeare. TINS same writer
speaking of other countries, shows Eng
land has Sidney, Shakespeare and
others. In twelve years after he
began to write he stood as a
king. 1t is perfectly apparent that
Shakespeare knew but little Of the no.
billty, Of the kings and queens. He
gives to these great people great
thoughts, makes them
Speak Great Words
and not as they really did, but as Shake
speare thought they should. This
demonstrates that he did not know them
personally. The only way L can ac-
count for this man is he was born dur
ing the awakening OF the world. when
Europe emerged from the darkness of
the middle ages, when some of the
greatest men were produced. AT this
time England was prosperous, England
was then laying the foundation for her
future greatness. When men are pros
porous they are in love with life. Then
the poet is born, the stage is erected and
this life with which men are in love is
represented in a thousand forms.
Nature, or fate, or chance prepared the
stage for Shakespeare and Shakespeare
prepared the stage for nature.
When men are prosperous then it is
that the brain bursts into flowers. Fam
Inc aud faith go together. The gaze of
man is fixed on another world. He that
eats crust has creed. Hunger falls
upon its knees, and heaven, looked for
with tears, is the mirage. Prosperity
nd Iaic
beauty are then painted. We cannot ac-
count for this man-we can only say, he
was. The whole civilized world believes
in the theater, asks for some great
dramatist, anxious to give gold and
fame, and yet no great play has been
written since Shakespeare died. That
to me is problem l cannot solve.
Shakespeare pursued the highway of
the right. He did not seek his character
in position where it was right to do
wrong. 1t never occurred to him to
write a play in which wife's
lover should be jealous of her
husband. He did not write ac-
cording to rules, but smaller
men make rules from what he wrote.
How fortunate that Shakespeare was
not educated at Oxford. The winged
god in him never kneeled to the pro-
fessors. How fortunate he was not cap
tured and feathered by the LilliputIans
or his time. He was an ideallst. The
real SuStainS the same relation to the
ideal that stone does to a statue or
that paint does to painting. Realism
degrades and impoyerishes. Shake
speare did not rely On a carpenter or
painter. lie put his scenes in his lines.
There you will find the armament
wreathed in gold and fire. Plots sur
prise only once. There must be some
thing in play besides surprise. Plot is
sort OF stage cunning, aud cunning
does not belong to the higher characters.
Shakespeare belonged to all lands and to
all times. julius Caesar is the perfect
Roman, and as you read, the mighty
ruins rise and the eternal city once
again becomes the mistress of the world.
No play is more Egyptian than "Cleo-
patra." The Nile runs through it and
from its scenes the
Sphinx Gazes Forever
upon outstretched sands. Shakespeare
dealt with the universal. He knew that
locality colorS without changing. In all
surroundings the human heart is sub
stantlally the same.
Those who imagine that universities
furnish capacity, that schools give you
common sense, contend that Lord Bacon
must have been the author of these
plays. We know Bacon; we know he
was scheming politician, a time
server of church and king, cor
rupt judge. We know that he never
admitted the truth of the Copernican
system; went down to the grave think
ing that instruments would be of no adj
vantage in scientific education; that he
added but little to the knowledge of the
human race. 1t seems to be taken for
granted that if Shakespeare was not the
author Lord Bacon was. When it turns
out that Shakespeare did not write the
plays it will also turn out that Bacon
did not write the plays. Bacon pup
lished in his time all the writings he
claimed. Naturally he would have
claimed his best. Is it possible he left
the wondrous
People of His Brain
on the doorstep of Shakespeare, and
kent the Door ones at home? How can