davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-07-24

Elective and above all, imaginative mind,
which had had first, the grammar school
curriculum. or part of it, and afterwards
loving contact with that rough and tum-
BILE Elizabethan world. Through the lines
there shines the quick remembrance OF
Warwickshre hedge-rows and the banks
of wild flowers. This author has digested
his knowledge Such as it is he makes
use of it, finds strength, not depression,
from it. Now will the Baconians tell us
why, when the actor of Stratford was
buried the parish register recorded him
as Twill. Shakespeare, gent? Was he
impersonating Bacon then? Pity indeed
that the disaster of 1921, when the chan
cellor went down disgraced, had not been
forestalled by few years. But Shakes
peare, though a genuine actor, could not
SO successfully carry the philosopher I'M
der ghostly robes.
And If spelling must be regarded, why
was Shakespeare's mothers death record
ed In the like register as that of Mary
Shaxpere," his fathers as that of John
Shakespeare" and a probable Stratford
relative as "Gilbertus Shakespeare adol-
esceus'? Why does notice of certain
plays intended publication read in the
Stationers Register. July %, 1898, "A
booke of the Merchant of venyse, other
wise called the Jewe of Venise," when
only two years later it's actual publica-
ton In Quarto was entered as, THE Ex-
cellent History of the Merchant of Ven
ice, etc" Three spellings for that famous
city In two pages of "Baconian" text!
isn't 1t very evident that sixteenth CEN
fury photography was as unf1xed and
mutable as the Spanish Main? In such
variation of spelling Shakespeare was in
the excellent company of Sidney, Spen-
ser, Jonson. Decker and others
But we come to Ben Jonson. rare Ben
Jonson Shakespeares contemporary, who
knew both the poet, the actor the play
wright-and the chancellor. Poor Ben is
whipped. even more cruelty than poor
VIII. by these Baconians. They make of
him a sorry cur, whereas he was a fine
critic a loyal friend, and well acquainted
with his own age, which is a real adj
vantage in its way Truly it would be
fair to match the unnamed English Bir-
mingham dogmatist by Carlyle, and all
that others may omit may be offset by
what Richard Barnfield and Francis
Meres have put on record But come to
Ben Jonson, who says that Shakespeare,
the actor author. wanted art" IT re-
member" he says, 1.-The players have
often mentioned it as an honor to Shakes
peare that in his writing whatsoever he
penned) he never blotted out line. Ny
answer hath BEEN Would he had blotted
a thousand which they thought a mall
] evolent speech. I had not told posterity
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-07-24

A STUDY Of Matthew XVI, "a, Then
"a said Jesus unto his disciples, II
y any man will come after me. let
him deny himself, and take up his cross
and follow me-"
Let us critically examine the connection
in which our passage occurs.
In the 18th verse Of this chapter our
Lord has asked the diciples. Whom do
men say that I the Son of man am?"
They report the various answers current
among the people of that day-"Some
say that thou art John the Baptist, some
Elijah, and others jeremiah, or one of
the prophets" The Master then puts
the question:: But whom say we that
| ann" Peter, as spokesman. then makes
his memorable confession of the Messiah
ship of the Master and is applauded for
1t by our Lord-see verses 1911
But Jesus now proceeds to predict his
own sufferings and death. Peter, shocked
out Of all propriety boldly and ignorant
ly rebukes his Master and even goes SO
far as fatty to contradict him: This
shalt not be unto thee" He wishes 1t to
be distinctly understood that suffering
and dying Christ is not the Messiah
whom he had Just now confessed Our
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-07-24

of all political letters who would have
been able to drive "Junius" out of the
pamphlet controversy.
Perhaps 1 will return to that phase of
the subject before l quit, though l am
now indignant and there is no telling
what 1 am going to say. The man who
boasts his patriotism is he that was the
pharisee, that Christ rebuked. He prayed
long and loud on the street corners. He
was an ingrowing scoundrel from the
crown of his head to the sole of his foot
He wore the badge; he would have ex-
posed to the breeze the flag. If a female
he would have Haunted chastity; II
merchant he would have proclaimed hon
esty; If soldier he would have Wanted
courage Everywhere and everything he
would have been a fraud.
Patriotism is a sentiment, child of the
heart and not of the mind. 1t is never
clothed in the harlot garb of the brazen
and brilliant tulip, but wears the modest
and fragrant decoration of the retiring
violet. 1t is the chastity of st. Paul:
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-07-24


for the word that everybody Is thinking
| Of
| Afrectation of speech In many cases
,r.Lsrs sussest,ors that ware foreign
-, ~.
oeiore' Aiue oeiieaey .iiiaN' nv e'iA no
does 1t seek to be consplcuousiy pruoisn'
while assumed delicacy will strain after
words to hide a spurious modesty
To word used In conversation should
HAPPEN ~ move wv e
fectiy pure and the other questionaoie'
the pure minded will always understand
1t according to its higher Interpretation.
On,v base mind will do otherwise. A
.,.,s n. I. -. ho
pupnsneo MS oic'iohary' tha. ne oseu
so many naughty words He simply re-
piled: so you've been looking for them.
have your" When Boswell asked Jonson,
as they stood before nude classical
statue, DO you not think 1t indecent
The sage replied: mo, but l think your
remark Is.
| There Is an improper use of words IN
conversation of which young women are
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-07-24

mend the daily newspapers. There are
some of these that one should not per-
NIT to be brought to his home. All hail
to the white wings of the press. But out
upon that phase of journalism that reels
off columns of revolving scandal, the min
utest particulars of divorce suits, the let
tiers penned by the hand of Illicit love,
and that revels in disclosures of such
crimes as the pure-minded never dreamed
of until the newspaper made it's entrance
into the home, where it befouled the mind
of the young. For the clean, trustworthy
newspaper we should thank God. 1t is a
benediction in the community. A knowl-
edge Of current events as brought to us
by the newspaper is essential to the man
or woman who talks.
The grace of small talk is a most desir-
able acquisition. 1t is In itself mere
trifie, being composed of little nothings
and current pleasantries, but it wards off
embarrassment and opens the way for
other things. George Eliot says of one
of her characters, HE seemed uncon-
scious that trivialities existed and never
handed round that small talk of heavy
men," This is unfortunate in any one.
There should be play in conversation,
now and then, just as in life. Even a
beautiful lake becomes monotonous with
out an occasional ripple. In the days of
the Rombouillet circle, in France, to
which the credit Is given of having pol
ished the French language and brought it
up to its present excellence. the members
of the select circle talked nothing but the
classics, discussed the private lives of
ancient Romans, and composed and read
aloud sonnets and epigrams. 1t Is no
wonder that a French wit. coming from
a meeting of the circle. caught the arm
of his companion and said, For heavens
sake, let us talk a little bad grammar"
Tallyrand, upon departing from similar
circle, where the conversation was of the
stilted sort, said: IT find nonsense singu-
larly refreshing" 1t Is the mental re-
volt against heaviness in conversation
that has given the world the pun"
which the blue-nosed literateur SO madly
despised, but which SO often acts as a
vent to pent up patience. Reading. in
formation, smal-talk. wit, incident-these
give vivacity and variety to CONVERSE
ton.
Not only should one have something to
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-07-24

hidden in moAals and corrupt in poll
ties
Ben Butler was the chief owner of
that concern in Massachusetts, that fur
nishes the United States with its flags.
He was the author of the law that
flies the flag from the tens of thous-
ands of public buildings in the United
States. That was not patriotism; 1t was
thrift. There's millions in it.
The flag should be sacred, represen-
tative of patriotic sentiment, immacu-
late Justice and exact equality only.
Make 1t that, and I'll salute it; I'll
kneel to 1t.
And Johnson licked Jeffries. I'm glad
of 1t. In the realm of brutality l want
a negro for king. and hope that John
son will knock the block off" any
other white man who lowers himself
to enter upon combat with him. Prac-
tically 1t was a fake fight, for jeff
knew he was all in; but he got tens
of thousands of dollars out of 1t, and
If 1t were possible to associate Alfred
Tennyson with a ruffian 1 might quote:
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-07-24

Lord rebukes him sharply for this pure
ly human view Of the Messiah; and then
comes our text in Matthew xvi, a.
Let us first settle the meaning of the
words here used 1. ''If any man." The
warning Is not to, nor for the disciples
alone Mark tells us-viii, "a, that Jesus
had called the people to him with his
disciples Also"
mot only is Jesus himself determined to
go forward in a path which leads to
suffering and death, undeterred by
Peters remonstrance, and not only must
his II disciples be willing to follow in
such a path, but this holds true of any
and every one who wishes to be his fol-
lowers at all"-Broadus' commentary on
the passage.
2 Twill come after me-" The will
here is not the mere sign of the future
tense; in the original it is a separate
verb, with an independent meaning Of
it's own. Nor does it mean merely "to
have a disposition. or DESIRE" 1t Is a
much stronger word, and expresses will
combined with choice and purpose" II
you will" to follow the Master, you have
determined to do it-you have made your
choice. No mere vague desire to do
better;s no intention to quit your mean
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-07-24

erature. Complaint is made that Shakes
peare is not included in certain contem-
porary lists of Eliza authors. 1t
would be easy to answer that he Is GER
tainly included in other lists. But that in
clusion is on the ground of his poems
rather than his plays.
8. Equal Indifference to the whirling
intensity of a rough and tumble time be-
sets the Baconians when they learnedly
discuss whether the player knew Latin.
whether he knew law, whether he was an
adept in sea-faring. May we not fall
back on such a picture of the time as
Charles Kingsley gives a time of uni
versal stirring, when ideas and learning
were being spattered abroad outside the
schools, when the conquerors of Spanish
armadas splashed French and Latin and
Spanish with every sentence, when Italy
was as close to London as once was the
coast of France, when ships and their
cargoes and their cost were the familiar
jargon of the streets. Those were times
when the streets. and above all. the the
|atres, were quick with imported knowl-
edge. Whoever wrote the plays of
Shakespeare was one of the nimble wits
of the day. His work is not scholarly.
1t reeks of the woodland, indeed, but
much more of the London throng, and
much more of both woodland and throng
than of the midnight oil or philosophic
lucubrations. knowledge of law for
sooth! Any lawyers prentice hand could
have put In practically all the legal tech
nique the plays hold knowledge of ge-
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-07-24

say before he attempts to converse, but
he should understand that much depends
upon the way in which he says it. Inele-
gancies of speech are very offensive to
some nervous people. While everybody
enjoys the sentence composed of proper
and precise terms, unless one is convinced
that they are unnatural In the conversion
of him who uses them.
oliver Wendell Holmes wrote a letter
to John Lathrop Motley in which he said:
IT sat by the side of Emerson, who al
ways charms me with his delicious voice.
his fine sense of wit, and the delicate way
he steps samong the words of his vocabu-
larry" 1t Is scarcely to be expected that
the average person shall take such de-
liberate pains in conversation, but even
a slight regard for elementary principles
will beget the habit of carefulness.
When refer to proper terms in speech
l do not mean to favor In the remotest
way that fictitious modesty and absurd
prudery that one hears expressed in
words sometimes, and to which the news
papers now and then treat us, such as
this: when the automobile turned over
1t threw the occupants to the street. The
little boy had one leg broken and the
little girl had one limb badly bruised"
Now why should such vulgarism be
upon a reading public? 1t is
wrong in language and Is physiologtcolly
indefinite, for the arm is much limb as
the leg. This same reporter would ask. I
suppose, for the Limb Of the chicken;
and he is entirely too modest to say that
he prefers THE breast Of the turkey; he
would call 1t 1.-The bosom of the turkey"
A modest young minister announced to
his congregation In a sermon, speaking
of Jonah. that, He spent three days and
nights in the whales, In the whales, in
the whales society" All such is an affec-
tation of modesty and is sheer nonsense.
There is simple rule that 1 venture
to glve namely: If person, place or
thing may be spoken of with propriety in
general conversation the proper name
should not be withheld. Some things
should have no place In conversation of a
general character; but when 1t is right
to speak of them 1t is worse than nom
sense to assume f1nical finery Of prud-
cry, and hem and haw, and finally stam-
mer out some wretched verbal substitute
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-07-24

TT suffereth long and Is kind; charity
envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself
is not puffed up.
Doth not behave itself unseemly, seek
eth not her own is not easily provoked,
thinketh not evil;
"Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth
in the truth
''Beareth all things, believeth all things,
hopeth all things, endureth all things
And that, too, is patriotism. The two
words are twin. They mean the same
thing and are the same thing.
Alfred the Great was a patriot. So was
William the Silent. John Hampden was
a patriot; so was George Washington.
Jefferson Davis was patriot; so was
Abraham Lincoln. Robert E. Lee was a
patriot; SO was Ulysses 8. Grant.
Patriotism is a matter of birth, and in
our country We never had but a single
traitor, and his name was Benedict Ar
mold. He was as brave as Caesar, and
after our war for independence was sue
cessful he fought duel with Lord Craw-
ford of the Scotch peerage, who. doubt
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-07-24
DID JESUS MEAN?-By J. c. Hidden,

to entertain and to exercise the spirit
of self-denunciation and self-sacrifce.
Christ pleased not himself. The re-
proaches of them that reproached thee
fell on me-" Romans XIV, 3.
In the light of our passage. as thus
expounded, what a word Is loyalty? The
superintendent of the Sunday school, sad
ly lacking in competent teachers, begs
you, an educated" young man, to take
charge of q class. You reply: 1T is not
convenient for me to get breakfast and
get to Sunday school by half past nine"
My dear brother, consider. Was 1t con-
venient for the Son of God to leave His
home in glory, to live a weary life upon
this sin-cursed earth; to be arrested and
insulted by ruffians; to wear that crown
of thorns; to have coarse rowdes spit
In His face; to be scourged, reviled,
mocked deserted by God and man, and
with a wild wall of anguish. perish on
that Roman cross that you, poor. ruin
ed soul, might be saved?
confess that am ashamed of our
modern self-indulgent. easy-going Chris
tianity CD when hear church members
talking about convenience" In the pres
ence of the cross.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-07-24

less, was a direct lineal descendant of
that Crawford who commanded the Scotch
Guards of the household troops OF Louis
XI. / When they came on the field of
honor Arnold fired and missed. Then
Crawford threw down his pistol and, with
scorn in his eye and vitriol on his tongue,
said II leave you to the hangman"
That same Crawford paid big forged
check with the remark, my name shall
not go to protest. There is patriotism
for you, which is honor.
I read of a military commander in
one of the states of the middle west.
He was a fool and a scamp and it
would have taken a platoon to get him
into a place of danger. But o, how
he, did reek with the dross of patriot
ism. The still slop, SO to speak, that we
used to feed the hogs in old Kentucky
when I was boy.
Well, this fellow marched his COM
pany of cornstalk militia out on the
grounds at drill one July T. He ordered
that every man there present of the
thousands of spectators should salute
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-07-24

almost nothing about him, while at the
same time it is very positive, for in
stance, that "he never was on any body
of water larger than the River Thames"
1t forces on us the conviction that Shake
speare, the actor, was a literary thief, a
coxcomb, a greedy money-lender, de-
spised by the best men who knew him,
and dying in dishonorable exile from the
scenes of his rapacious rascality. Yet 1t
admits that his daughter was the wife of
DR.. John Hall and was the hostess of
Stratford, In the year 1913, New Place
having been purchased by the alleged
poet and playwright in 1902 and occupied
as residence by him in 1911. Evidently
the daughter of this inconspicuous actor
had both money and social standing The
daughter of a malefactor, friend of Eng
lands queen! The Baconians must also
admit that the granddaughter, Elizabeth
Hall, married Thomas Nashe, a Stratford
man Of education, and, being widowed
married John Barnard, who was knighted
by Charles II; so that the last direct de-
scendant of Shakespeare was known as
Lady Barnard" and died in 1910. In the
Inscription over her mothers grave both
DR.. Hall and William Shakespeare are
described as gentlemen which means
that they were possessed of Independent
wealth and good social position.
That is to say, we are asked to believe
that one who was despised in London by
his associates was accepted in Stratford
as social leader. The prrloiner of other
mems plays, lampooned by Greene, Is
venerated his dust Is guarded with zeal
GUS care, his daughter married to a fore
most citizen and made hostess to the
queen, his granddaughter become a
knights lady
But the final absurdity Is that the plays
which Greene says Shakespeare stole
from various sources the Baconans now
wish to prove were stolen not by Shakes
peare, but by Bacon.
Now, where is the source of all this
confusion? How was 1t that SO smart a
woman as Miss Della Bacon. sister of
that talented Congregational minister
Leonard Bacon, could ingenuiously con-
meet the works of Shakespeare with the
name of Lord St. Adams?
The reply is not hattering, but it must
of poetic nsensibility) clear that. #: !:
be made. 1t is clear that excepting the
influence of poetic insensibility) almost
all the evidence adduced comes from
reading into sixteenth century conditions
the usages of the nineteenth century. 1t
| is this lack of historic perspective that
gives an unfortunate impression of stu
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-07-24

this. but for their ignorance, who chose
that circumstance to commend their friend
by wherein he most faulted and to justify
mine own candour, for I loved the man,
and do honor his memory. on this side
idolatry, as much as any. He was In
deed honest, and of an open and free
nature; had an excellent phantasy, brave
notions, and gentle expression, wherein
he flowed with that facility that some
times it was necessary he should be
stopped: "Sufflaminandus erat,' as Au-
gustus said of Haterius. His wit was
In his own power; would the rule of 1t
had been so too! Many times he fell into
those things could not escape laughter. as
when he said, in the person of Caesar,
one speaking to him, Caesar, thou dost
me wrong" he replied, Caesar did never
wrong but with just cause. which were
ridiculous But he redeemed his vices
with his virtues There was ever more
in him to be praised than to be par
doned. Ben Jonson's Discoveries
If Ben Jonson Is to be credited-and
who dare doubt him?-he knew that
Shakespeare, the actor, was also Shakes
peare, the writer of plays, sunny, over
flowing lovable man, with the faults OF
those who produce easily, mellhuous
speech that sank its way like brook
and flooded too easily. winning his victo-
ries not by pedantry, nor by art so much
as by generous nature. And that is the
man that looks at us from the Jonson
bust in Stratford church, and from the
portrait in the first folio of the collected
works, printed In 1923. Ben Jonson was
a brother poet, brother playwright, and
much more of a scholar than Shakes
peare. He was ten years his junior and
outlived both him and Bacon. His own
plays were pirated by others, just as
lShakespeares were, unauthorized publ
cation was made of them, and he thought
lit wise to issue authorized and COM
plete edition. but he was rdiculed for
considering the plays permanent litera-
lture. Shakespeare reckoned his plays as
his contemporaries did. part OF the
were presented. The printing of them
was merely an after-thought. Anyone
who would might change a play and use
lit as his own. In this the plays that got
handed down as Shakespeares have had
adventures, suffered injury, perhaps ac-
qured much that is not Shakespearean.
Plays may be among them hardly Shakes
perean at all. But the critical work of
determining the text and the authenticity
of any play Is, and long has been in very
competent hands. 1t were an imperti-
roll of Shakespeare scholars who adorn
old critical literature. For me, salts, SUI
perqUe.