The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-05-06


court twhcret), us different procedure inter-
rsted him and caught his attention so TINT
years uitcrwLrd he could reproduce II "r'
accuracy 10 serve u passing need,
The case Of lIales w. Petit has been referred
TO. II is analysed by Lord Chief } Justice Camp
bell. and n synopsis Of hs remarks by Judge
Holmes, sometime professor In the Dane Law
school OF Harvard University. will serve to
exhibit the u%ndoubtcd fact that Shak"Spear"
had mastered the tec'nicalitics of the case
and that hr used them in Hamlet" Plowden :
report Of this case was printed IN ljIs tShake-
speare was then II years Of agel, and the play
81 Hamlet" dates from 1902 or therenbouis.
The poet might readily have mastered the
points from the Published reports therefore
The wonder l. thai he pHid such attention as to
have them nj his tongue, end. as We shall see,
Sir james Hale, II APPEARS, in distress OF
mind. Lad drowned himself. The toroner'S
jury found "a verdict Of i"lo De ~. The effect
Of THIS was that the body was not entitled 10
Christian burial and that his estates were for
iel,sd 10 the Crown. And nov comes the wild
oW suing for IN estate by elrylvorship IN io'nt-
%enancy, setting forth that the forfeiture could
NOT be considered 10 have taken place IN the
lifetime Of Sir james, and that, If II did not,
she took tie estate 10y surviyor-hip,
On this y WAS subtly argued for the Lady that
30 long n Sir Jane, was alive he had not killed
himself. and that ~" moment he died the es-
tate vested in tn" plaintiff Q.Gdy haleS). He
could moi have been frlO de 50 iii the death was
fully consummats, So that the death preceded
the felony and the forfeiture. II was argued
Tor the Crown that the forfeiture had relation to
the act done. and that the act consists of three
parts. 6c. The Chief Justice. giving the opin-
ion Of himself and his colleague, among other
things, said: 1t Is an offence against nature,
against God, and against the King. Against
nature. for every living thing docs. BY instinct
OF nature, defend I,selr from destruction - =
against God. In that II is a breach of His COM
mundment : " : against the King. in that he
has hereby lost a subject" 1t was agreed by
all the Judges that the King should have the
estate not because the suicide was out Of HOLY
Church. but Tor los Of his subject and the
breach Of his peace: and IL was further I'D judged
that the suicide was no member of Holy
Church-aud hence not entitled 10 Christian
burial.
This report, here much abridged, Is trav-
estied IN the melancholy scene Of the two
clowns dispu'irg Of OpheIid's death. Opheiid's
death waa not suicide Tor else she could have no
Christian hurial), but consequent on an insane
act.
There, with fantastic g%arlands, did She come,
As one Incapable Of her own distress"
The Priest says of it;
g." her death was doubtful;
And but that great command o'rrsNays the order
She ,hnuld In ground un5aoAned have lodged
TN the last trumpet.
vi here she is allowed her maiden rights
VI bell and burial
The clowns say:
FIRST Clovn- Is she to he buried II Christian burial
that wilfully seeks her own SdiyaAon'
Second tIOttn-l tell the, SO is, and therefore
make her gray straight; lie CsowEer hath set on her,
and nnds Il Christian burial .
First ClOUrn- How can that be unless she drowned
herself IN her own deienCey
Second C.OHn- Why us found vi.
First CIoun II must We Sc orerdendo: It cannot
Willingly. 1t argues an act, and an act hath ihtss
branches: 10 ech TO do and TO perform; argal, she
drowned herself Willingly" &c.
There are other points oil resemblance worthy
Of notice.
1t is IN the same scene. says Judge Holmes.
that Shaker peare 70 easily empties the skull of a
lawyer of his quiddits now, his outlets. his
cases, his tenures and his tricks . . his
action Of battery, his statutes, his recogniz-
hutts, MS lltltS, ms NOUDle-N OutUelS, IlS TtCON-
cries. now that the fine OF his fines and there
covery of his recoverics' is TO have his fine pate
full Of fine dirt. =, Scores OF similar instances,
only less striking than this one. have been COL
lected from the plays by skilled hands. They
prove that Shakespeare knew The law even to
its niceties. Lord Campbell is Of the opinion
that no must have spent seven years as a law
yer's clerk.
ilarvey's discovery Of the general %circula-
ton Of the blood was first publicly announced
in England in 1919, three years after the poets
death. In the universities Of Italy, however.
the doctrine Of a circulation Of the blood between
neart and lungs, dc, had been taught for half
a century. The enthusiasm with which HHr-
vey's announcement was received proves that
England was In utter Ignorance at the time
u8OD when the ghost tells Hamlet. that the
polSon in hrs blood swift as quicksilver = :
courses through the natural gates and allpya
of the body" Qiamlet, Act l., scene q, or when
in Coriolanus tAct J.. scene ~ 1t IS said:
y send !, through the rivers Of your blood.
Even To the heart. to n seat D tn brain.
And through the crankS' and oficcS 81 man
The strDnges, nerves. ava small inferior veins.
From me receive tina, natural competency
Whereby they I've.
or again tOthello. Act ". scene %;
"----my heart .
The fountain from the which my current runs"
DR.. Bucknill Of London in his volume Shake
ttili : VIVA u u NNtsN ~ NiAah NV
poet was not acquainted with flaIvey's dis
covery, and that these citations, convincing
a. they seem 10 be, can all be explained on the
doctrines taught by iiippOcrates. However this
may be, Dr, Buokntll declares that the dram
ati;t paid almost rs much attention IL medi-
cine AS 10 Law. hnd Lord Chic! Justice Camp
must have devoted seven good years, at least,
20 the practice Of tn. law! DR.. Bncknill eX-
amines shSke'Ttafos pict,rss ,s OF msdne1S
-. aa,lt,,,,, a. mind Md nttrYytaI slnl,
s%rcare's diligent observation and had been his
~favorita study" he adduccs scores Of distances
that prove the poet 10 have read widely in
medical Literature ana d]e eel 2 IN condu.
great author, not himself q physician, In whose
works the healing art Is referred TO more fro
qnen'ly and more resreCtiuily, than ia those
of Shlkesu care" The point 10 be noted is that,
in general, the art IL referred TO respectfully.
MoliNrr, two generations later, knew only the
surface OF the subject, and has nothing but
gihes end sneers for physicians. shakespeare
knowledge is declared by experts to be- extern
siye, minute and accurate
Shakespeare was q sailor, too. The boat
SWANS orders IN "The Tempest" Act |, scene y
when his shin j, on Il leo shore are pronounced
bv naval officers. familiar with the ships Of
those days, to be exactly. appropriate, lie
takes in TIA. topsai, sends down the topmast.
brings he ship TO Try with maiu-coupee, lays
of 70 sci again-or attempts i
tie was al GA navigator. In the famous sonnet
Let me not to the marriage Of true minds admit
imp 'dlntnts ne compares love 10 tne polar star
"an ever-fxed mark. whose worth's unknown,
although his helRh. be- taken" To take the
height OF star AZ sea was TO measure its angular
altitude above the horizon, and the altitude oil
the y lar star was then. as now, the measure OF
the latitude of the ships place. In Shakes
prar-'s day before tie invention of chronom-
etrrs. Of course ships were navigltpd by daily
observations Of the latitude. Moreover he
was q hydrosrapher.
"l.Ik 10 he POptic Sea
Whose icy current lnG propulsiye cour>r
Nt'er feels retring chb. but Ferps straight on
L. ~ Arnn-Atic I'D ihD lIelnsnnnI--n