The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1898-09-24

If the Globe is to yield large gains it
must procure new and attractive plays.
The time was suspicious. England un-
der Elizabeth, like France under Louis
XIV, was prolific of mind. But under
the ascetic despOtism of Puritanism
mind could not afford to identify it
self with the odiOus playhouses Many
a mind was teeming with thoughts
which it burned to express, but dared
not. What can be done? The man of
enterprise is equal to the occasion. He
seeks men of genius and says to each
of them: You write me play [ will
do the copying with my own hand:
will in the printed copy give myself
as the author, and | pledge myself that
you shall not be known. The bargain
is at once struck, and soon several OF
the first intellects and a gOodly num-
Der secOnd-raUe and third-rate intel
lects are secretly writing plays which
are successfully published at the Globe
playhouse as written by William
Shakespeare. One can ea>Ily see sew
eral motives that Shakespeare had for
keeping the secret. First he was
bound by honor; secondly, the sup
posed authorship brought him high
credit, and that, too, among the most
gifted minds in England-MiltOn, Ben
JonsOn, Beaumont, Selden, Carew,
Fletcher, Dome and hosts of such:
thirdly, to break faith would not only
publish his own infamy, but would
stop utterly the labor of such as were
then engaged in producing plays for
him, and would reduce the gains of the
playhouse Acting on this plan, the
willy manager could defy Puritanism,
and enlisted the best minds in Eng
land, best in native vigor and in cul-
ture, in producing those odiOus things
plays. Notice some of the cOnse-
quences of this drawing talent from
every quarter. Shakespeare is called
myrial- minded. He is equally great
in tragedy and comedy. No one mort
al can he named who could produce
Macbeth and Midsummer Nights
Dream, King Lear and the first part
of Henry ". The qualities of mind
that produce Hamlet can not by pos
produce Twelfth Night, just
as the author of Rasselas could not
have written the Vicar of Wakefield.
1t is the combination of Incompatible
qualities that evoked from Macaulay
that phrase whose absurdity strikes
every mind that reflects: The SUI
Excellence at once SUI
preme and universal does not belong |
to earth. Miracles are still demanded |
Consider the question of learning /
If we Judge by the plays we may prop |
erly call the author myriad minded |
and impute to him supreme md uni
versal excellence" The man Shake /
speare did not have universal excel
ence. The writer of some of the plays
was a lawyer. Shakespeare was not.
The writer of some was familiar with
he French tongue. Shakespeare was
not The writer of some was versed in
italian. Shakespeare was not. The
writer of some had more than a lay
mans knowledge of anatomy and
Shakespeare had no med
cal learning. Let us inquire into his
knowledge of Latin. In the absence of
TO the contrary, it is safe
o presume that 800 years ago Latin
vas not taught in his native village.
nd that, if it was, he was too busy
andling wool and the butchers knife
o study il. AS player and especially
S manager his quick mind rapidly s
licked up the stock Latin words of the {
playhouse. Doubtless it was the fire. I
uency with which he used them that I
Induced his rival and companion, Ben
onsOn. to say that he had small I
attn and less Greek" the less Greek s
eing added partly to apologize for the I
cant Latin by ascribing a little Greek t
nd partly to give SmartneSS to the 5
9ntence. His knowledge or. rather. @
TEX of knowledge, of Latin appears Y
ON the fact that he tacitly approved r
Ich phrases as (nOt "eXeunt." butt =
exit omnes:" "Actus mot ''tertius." .
It) tertia" This shows. not small \
attn, but no Latin. "
As to general learning, il is not pos I
bic that he could have accumulated u
ny. Probably there was not a library n
Stratford containing five books f,
lille player and manager of the n
lobe, his reading must of necessity
ave been scant and fitful Yet if the o.
lthOr Of the Shakespeare plays. he ;,
ust have known history, ancient and 9
odern, pretty critically, and that. =,
o, before history had been gathered :.
ON its original sources by the dill -
nee of a Grote and Arnold, a Glib a.
N and Hume But England had NJ
en- of learning and genius, each Of ~
lOm could furnish his special share Ut
all that the Shakespeare plays con- d
in. Only a sailor could have pro- III
ced the nautical phrases and w
Oughts of The Tempest and Shake We
care never set foot on board a ship he
who wrote The Tempest must also Oh
We been familiar with the ancient lee
ssics But Shakespeare was fgnor- co
of the classics. But there was one