The San Francisco call., 1899-10-16

Of Englands literature, if not OF the
worlds, but shall content mySeiI WIFI
mentioning few Of the more obvious
a the same time they represent Iuhua-
mental aspects Of the poets work and are
profitable subjects for prolonged conslu-
Grafton.
!. 1t is related by St Augustine that,
upon the recitation in the theater or the
famous line of Terence, Il am man, ana
/ consider naught that IS human oeheaLa hTei,a
my regard, the whole audience pr9ke
out into thunderous acclamation- snake
speare might have adopted the line as MS
motto. Beyond any other writer ne mas
exemplified Pope's sentiment: The proper
study Of mankind Is man.. lie was
hero woTshiper when hero worship was
possible: when he could not approve ne
yet loved. and when he could not love ne
scrutinized, he analyzed, he revealed. Inc
individual soul is to him infinitely at
tractiVe-nay. engrOSSinS; ne IS appleclal-
i've OF its virtues and aspirations, tolerant
Of its foibes and amused by its harmless
or delightful eccentricitics; he SOUNDS us
springs Of its activity: ana, whl!e Watcn-
ing how it IS impelled by desire or preclp-
itated by circumstance toward an lhescaP-
able future, he Is touched by us patHos
and its tragedy. or eNIIltS in its attain
raeut and its iOy Partake Shakespeare
delight in life and in the play OF lie upon
life if YOU would derive Impulse ana IN
structiOn from the vast spectacle OF man.
il you would find a village rife with mo-
mentous mystery and make the clrcle ol
your acquaintance thedter Feplete with
the curious and the wonderful. Begin TINS
study in any play of Shakespeare; Count
up it's distinct characters; note their IN
dIVidual traits; see TO what types they
sevepally belong and to what classes OF
society; observe how they behave in Diff
ferent situations and how they react one
upon another, and discover now lar they
resemble the men and women that you
know OF that YOU have read about. When
you have done this with half dozen
dramas try to form some conception of
the range Of interest the closeness or OBJ
servation and the quickness and versatil,,
ity OF sympathy Of the man who coula
beings lou VIII thus have begun TO
study Shakespeare and perhaps 10 ind
new meaning IN the world about you.
, Notwithstanding Shakespeare ab-
. sOrptiOn in the Individual soul, notwith-
standing his sympathetic Interpretation
Of the DeSgar, the serving man. the thief,
the drunkarG, or the monster lower than
mauf any monster can be lower than
! degraded man-yet he IS never at a loss
to exhibit q scale Of values for his person
| ages. They are not equal in spiritual
rank. and he never pretends they are. We
feel with Caliban, as more righteous be-
inCs than ourselves would feel with Indi-
ans and other barbarians, when he says:
when thou camest FIRST
Thou strolSest me and made much Of me,
wouldst give me
Water with berries In = and teach ne how
TO name the bigger light and how the less
That burn by day and night, and then 1 loved
And showed thee all the qualities O. the isle
The fresh springs, brine pits. barren place and
fertile
Cursed be that did sol All the charms
OF Sycorax, toads beetles, bats light on youi
For ain all the subjects that You have.
which first was mine own king and here you
sty me
The rest o the island.
Yet though we resent the apparent Unjust
ice which he suffers We never suppose
him to be the peer OF Miranda or Pros
perO We may make merry with Falstaff
and find his wit, his roguery and resource
infinitely divert!ng. vet Shakespeare con-
vinces US of his essential Vileness and fu-
tility and even causes US in some meas
IRE to despise ourselves for our laughing
condonation Of his vices, when Prince Hal
now king indeed, touches him as with the
spear of Ithuriel and causes him to appear
in his true aspect. ((''2 Hen. w. 51-74).
s. Shakespeare has the greatest respect
for the civic virtues, for those which hold
together the framework of society. 1t
follows that he brands with his abhor-
renee all treachery, disloyalty and ingrat-
itude, all ruthless and insoient tyranny
and all deliberate failure TO cooperate in
the advancement of the common veal
Almost every one of the more serious
plays and even some of the comedies, Will
furnish instances in proof In King
Lear he stigmatzes flial ingratitude; in
Macbeth" regicide and oppression; in
1.-THE Tempest treason; and these are but
specimens Now and again the whole
tempest of his eloquence is poured out in
1ood on the unsocial vices, on lawless-