The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-01-28
SOLOMON AND SHAKESPEARE.
The Rev. Bristol Compares the Cen
ius of the Poets.


Solomon and Shakespeare, the genius
and the works of each, were compared in
the address of the Rev. DR.. Bristol last
night at the Metropolitan NJ. E. Church.
The sermon was the irst of a series OF
such addresses which he will deliver on
Sunday evenings. Solomon, he said, be-
longed to line of kings, and was also
the son Of poet; he led his nation to a
spiendor which dazzled the eyes OF his
people, and caused them to forget spiritual
things. Shakespeare was Of humble birth,
the son Of the village butcher. His schol-
agtic attainments could not explain his
literary genius. Solomon was the heir to
a throne. Shakespeare was the heir TO a
meat block. yet he rose to the throne of
the empire OF literature There is in his
success an Inspiration for every son OF
humble parents today. The men Of great
est power have been the mer of greatest
activity. The philosophy of success is
work. Virgil. Dante Milton, are known
TO the world and remembered by single
great masterpiece. yet Shakespeare gave
10 the world thirty-seven great works,
thirty-seven wonderful colossi of literary
statuary, thirty-seven wonderful cathedra!s
OF thought. any one of which would have
made him famous Every creature of his
mind was superletlve.
Both Solomon and Shakespeare were
poets. The best thought of the greatest
minds is expressed ip poetry, it comes
nearest the vital truth of history. it is
the music of the spheres. The prose OF
a nation may die but its poetry never
does. The poet is the most practical
teacher. No man since Solomon has ever
possessed the intellectual and poetic
genius like Shakespeare The Bard Of
Avon was master of man. nature and the
Bible, a wonderful library; he was mas
ter of all sciences, trades. and profess
sions, and therefore It has been said by
some that he must have been Francis
Bacon; but, said the speaker, Bacon
could no more write poetry than | could
Shakespeare was the most moral writer
of his age He did not cater, as did
others of his time, to the depraved tastes
of the public. He never wrote an i'm
moral play, he never gave play an i'm
moral title, he never framed an immoral
plot.
What Solomon condensed into a SEN
tence Shakespeare elaborated into a
drama Solomon was the more original
thinker. He had few to copy or to follow.
Shakespeare had the disadvantage of
singing after other songs had been sung.
History Invented for Shakespeare his
j. u
Pride goeth before destruction and a
naughty spirit before a fail. and Shakes
peare. with this thought in mind, wrote
King Lear Jealousy is cruel as the
grave, jealousy is the rage of man. said
Solomon, and Shakespeare from this text
penned Othello.' to teach the same truth
and illustrate the same warning. The
proverbs of Solomon are germs of truth,
in the fertile soil Of genius they have
been developed into pictures, compost
tons. and dramas. Solomon furnished
the seed of thought for other poets
Shakespeare was a negative teacher He
taught what men ought not to do Solo
mons teachings were both positive and
negative. Solomon and Shakespeare
studied along the same lines, and so have
all the great minds which have been
thinking to solve the problems of origin.
duty, and destiny; of cause, consequence,
and character.