The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-06-17
Hoot Mon

L y / 4
w G. Parsons, in the Atlantic Monthly, raises the
question " Do we love Shaksperef and decides it in
the negative. The big noise that is made over big
production Of the poet by star he denies refutes
alleged Indifference to the bard of Avon It refutes
nothing in his estimation and proves only that Ameri
cans love bigness. Glove of Shakspere would be
by the of frequent ordinary per-
1ormances In every town large enough for high
school and theater.' In Germany this is the case
with both Wagner and shakspere and proves that it
the work that is loved.
1t is hard saying that Shakspere is not loved in
Engshspeaking lands, but if the price of affection is
frequent amateur performances perhaps we may be
Ieeoncled TO the situation Frequent amateur produc
tlons of the poet is something that has its serious
aspect. Besides must acknowledge that the talent
to be amateurs is departing from America We are
fast becoming professionalism in the sense that we no
longer lovers Of the exercise of any faculty merely
for the love Of exercising it except it may be the
exercise of making money. Amateur baseball, the
football has fallen into such poor repute that some
of the colleges have suppressed it and other are making
desperate efforts to keep the professional element
within bounds The world used to have women
amateurs in needlework and embroidery. Where are
they now7 Gentlemen amateur writer's Of a former
day have furnished with of most delight
full literature. But there letter writers now
except those who of set purpose sit down to write
them to imaginary sons. II Horace Walpole
back earth could scarcely imagine him gossipng
as he did without first syndicating his letters
There are some amateur actors nowadays, but they
are most on the professional stage. The only real
amateurs we have connected with the drama
amateur playwrights and amateur critics But these
are not to be despised. The playwright must have
his training The main difficulty with them is that
they are SO for monetary that they learn
nothing but the mechanical conventions
and consequently produce nothing but plays for the
season They are not as honest as the man who
called in to provide the music for dance western
town The host doubtful of his skill and asked
him: rE ..
sfAre You a frst-class fddlers"
"No,b he said, 81 not"
care you a second-c class fddlerf''
''No, cannot claim that either; but IL tell you
what do claim, and that is that high UP among
the third-class fddlers.'
How few Of are honest enough to own our class
and to sustain our claim to eminence in IT.
Talking Of amateurs leads straight to the con-
sderation Of muckrakers who the amateur critics
Of government. The genesis Of the muckraker be
explained. When father used to 60 driving and took
hands he unconsciously making class Of
citizens That boy always thought be driving the
horse and when he grew up and became centa-word
magazine writer he believed he driving the uni
An old lumberman who used to drive logs down
the Rum river has another illustration which appears
to illuminate the same thought: He says that when
the logs come down in the spring there each
log about million ants and each ant looks and acts
as if was directing the log. He never
vention Of reformers but he thinks of those ants.
Reformers the world must have or it would stag
nate, yet people like to have information before
formation. There good many people in the world
who try to reform it by jumping in front of an echo
and making a noise like prosecuting attorney. Some
of them stop awfully quick when there is counter
noise made. Possibly they like the who
shouts stop thief the bishop that Robert Bonner
told Of. Bonner claimed that every man had
skeleton in his closet. This bishop the
pious'looking man he ever saw One night friend
of the bishop In fun sent him telegram reading:
"'An is discovered; fly at once
''What happenedf' Mr.. Bonner asked.
s'Nothing,'' he replied, except that the bishop
Z was never seen again.
Criticism seems to be the only profession in which
gains by not having his profession understood.
the heart of his jury by plain analysis the business
: man, whatever you may say about him, knows he
H. cannot permanently succeed by disappearing his
goods Even the insurance man has learned that the
way to get results is put his proposition in
. which would not stump Mahatna. But the critic
gets there by foong all the people all the tine A.
Lincoln the contrary Notwithstanding. In of
. the works of the higher critics you will find the
Books of Moses dissected like child's map and in
other books you find painful effort to put them to-
gether again Often it does not succeed and then
the critic gets out of it by declaring that there
named Moses, that he never wrote any
books and that the books he wrote did amount to
shucks any way It is something like the defense Of
the who sued for the return Of borrowed
kettle and for damages to the same. He defended
first that had borrowed the kettle, second that
- he returned it good new; third that it was
cracked when he got it. .E
s-z.f.. --~ szFE&~ - 80
All Of which leads us, by rather indirect course
it must be admitted, back to the consideration OF
Shakspere. The decay Of the Of great poet is
deplorable And while amateur production of Mac
beth might tend to peaceful and vrtuous life in
the community, yet it would make people familiar
with the lines and would tend to eliminate such
delicious mistakes credited to the American woman
who went to see Hamlet and complained afterwards
that the play rank steal It just full Of
familiar quotations. 49,. james Gray.
FouR AND HALF MILLION STARS