The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-03-28
N ADDRESS ON HAMLET
Delivered by A. B. Keith Before
the Woodmen of the World.
THE PRINCE OF DENMARK
Scholarly Lecture Upon One Of Shakes
psare's Masterpieces-Hamlet of HUI
man Nature Lies Forever in
the Worlds Literature.

AASaa HoNtcCi ~ ID. ntllu Vi the
Woodmen of the World delivered an
address on Hamlet. Prince of Den
mark" before the Butte camp Of that
order recently. the occasion being an in
crease meeting. He spoke in part as
follows:
Il have little faith in the Cryptic
gram of Ignatius Donnelly. written to
rear a slumbering doubt as to poetic
ideals of the past: and / have less pa
aience with the eloquence of an Inger-
soil that would elevate those IDEALS to
p towering height above the Savior of
mankind. Tn works of Shakespeare
must rest upon their merits. regardless
pf their authorship. and invite applause
ar censure as they influence the con-
duct OF men. Upon no sentiment would
] rear a monument too lofty for reason
40 look down upon: n around nc vir-
rue Of the poet would 1 draw the sacred
circle of the church.
Human experience has discovered no
grander truth to defect intelligent eff
fort into pathways of happiness than
the philosophical injunction that shone
in letters of gold from the Grecian tenn
pie long centuries ago-'Know myself
Self-knowledge leads to its sublime sup
plement, so essential to the well round
I'd life-'The proper study of mankind
is man.
whether the characteristics Of the
human mind. ranging from the phe-
nomena of beastly instincts to those
mighty heights electrified by the sacred
thrill of heaven itself. be studied In the
light of science or measured by the
limits of literature the results are much
h same.
Our humanity profits by the lives
that were lived before us. and from the
restless spectres of the past we reap
she problems for our better judgment.
To make the experience of the past our
own. TO imbibe its virtues and permit
ats villainies TO make vicarious atone
ment for u own imp.ous thoughts.
that we may the better live ami die. is
the genius OF scholarship and the art of
righteous appropriation. Thus human
aty. in a sense. inherits what ii other
wise must learn.
From no held can mankind gather
richer harvests of the fruits of human
nature than from that which was fruc-
tilted by the lofty genius of William
Shakespeare. He ran the gamut of hu-
man veal and woe and pictured upon
the walls of time all types of life. Every
impulse. good or bad, throbs through
his measured lines i'm rhythmic splendor.
till the tale of life is told in smiles and
tears.
yet the work of the bard of Avon
will survive him as decade follows de-
caOc anu the centuries toll DN. not alOnt
because he has so wildly bespoken hui
man thought in the conduct of his char
acters. but because he was master of
the art of exposing the extremes inner
ent in the hearts OF all. He has woven
into poetic beauty the warfare OF the
soul with contending emotions. until In
the characters indicted into Immortality
by his pen we see the shadow OF our
selves. They act as we act environed
as they were. teaching us a broader
charity for the race. the logic of noble
purposes in life and emphasizing that
divine truth that he that c~onquereth
himself is greater than he that taketh
a city
Shakespeare has honored mankind
with a faithful portrayal of all the grand
and discordant notes I'm the human soul;
but he has pictured no character whose
genius was great enough To ward on the
result of folly or the fruits Of vice. He
laid no incense upon the altar of the
ideal. but drew from the shivering soul
of humanity its shroud of deceit. Civ
ing to honor its merit. To dishonor its
meet. He wrote problems for the after
Thought of the world to solve.
yet with a genius We must respect
and a command of language we must
admire. we cannot AFFORD to environ
the hero OF the muse with a halo that
obscures his faults. The products of
the great playwright challenge my adj
miration. but they do not invok my
alteration. / love the rhythm OF his facile
pen. the philosophy Of his u~tterances.
the energy with which he probed into
the recesses of the human heart. and
the tireless kill with which he unrav-
eled the web of thought.
HE was a genius-not n model: and
10 garner the best from his well-tilled
field we must analyze mis- work. study
his characters in the light of lunar
xnarianea and measure The author as
m has measured mankind-with the
impartial yardstick of an unpretudiced
Judgment. The creations Of the great
bard have been engrafted upon the
~canonical law of English literature.
and IL becomes not only the privilege,
but the duty. OF scholarship to invad
the empire of the poet unhampered by
ecstatic zeal or unworthy purposes. l
have little patience with the Shake
epearean student whose faith In the
perfection of the poet destroys his power
10 analyze his work
+. THAT student loses much that can
never be recalled who studies the COM
mentaries on Shakespeare instead OF
Shakespeare. and whose conception OF
mis- characters Is drawn from borrowed
logic. From the vulgar pretudices OF
voltaire and the impudence OF Stevens
20 the vigor OF schlegei, the researches
of Coleridge. Hazlitt and Lamb 10 the
gentle Goethe. h student may run the
gauntlet OF Shakespearean scholarship
and end his journey i'm a sea of doubt.
From the standpoint of a man
whose first conceptions of the grandest
Of the poets great creations were gath
cred form its portrayal on the histrionic
stage by the immortal Booth. will l to-
n3giat address myself briefly to the topic.
Hamlet. Prince OF Denmark Call IL
oonviction IL you will. egotism IL You
must. but those first impressions Of the
melancholy Dane have survived the or
0eals of investigation and study: n
tonight ! feel that I pay the Differences
which humility owes to genius when l
nnenk with candor of the man.
'18hakespeare In supposed 10 have
drawn the original materials for his
great play from the history of Hamlet.
written By 8axo Examinations. the DAN
lsh historian. who died about the year
79ol: or from the story of Hamlet. as
Cou.A A RaIleSorenf,a COLLECTION of nov |