The sun., 1916-04-16

~ the same day, April 20, 1878, that
Shakespeare died in England
~ Cervantes passed away in Spain.
The death Of Cervantes was es-
teemed a. great q loss to the Spanish
people a. was that Of Shakespeare to
the English. All through Spain there will
he celebrations Of this tercentenary. and
were II not for the overshadowing great
ness Of Shakespeare the United States
also would pay due tribute to the memory
Of the great author Of Don Quxote."
As II is America is contributing her full
share TO the permanent memorial estab-
ltshed in Spain on this occasion. Tho old
house in Nal'adol'd in which Miguel de
Cervantes Saavedra lived has been def
nitely identified. and purchased az n lasting
memorial through the cooperation Of the
Iiispanic Society Of New York. OF which
Archer NJ. Huntington !s president.
nhis house was built. according to the
records. early in the seventeenth century
hy Juan de las Navas. and there Cervantes
lived shortly after Il was finished. possibly
as early as 1903 when the Spanish court
was removed to Valadolid and hc was
summoned thither. The little house has
now been acquired. together with the
houses on either side. for any future de-
velopment which may Ne desired. All are
fNisu III tHt udIIc vi tHe MIX OI SPAN,
and the restoration Is being carefully and
Conservatively made.
Parts Of tho Cervantes house are being
set aside as library. reading room. &C..
and one room on the frst floor is being
made large enough to accommodate a
hundred persons. In this room II Is ex-
pected that some professor from the Uni
versity OF Valladolid will give a daily read
ing from the works OF Cervantes.
small printing Office Is being installed for
repr!nting some OF the little known works
Of the master. and IN the library will be
found many OF the oldest and rarest copies
OF the books known to have been written
by Cervantes.
Cervantes was we'll entitled to far more
than this belated honor. He was genius.
and recognition came 10 him very late III
life. He had indeed. an adventurous career
Born In 1547. he soon caught the military
fever Of his time and became soldier
fighting against the Turks. He had been
especially fond OF reading and OF the stage.
and he mentions in the preface to his
Comedies" how delighted he was when he
saw Lope de Rueda and his company set
up their rude stage In the plaza OF his
native city. Alcala de Henares. where they
acted the country farces which he initiated
in some Of his plays. He must have been
voracious reader. to Judge from Don
Quixote'' alone. for It shows an intimate
knowledge of the romances OF chvalry,
ballads. popular poetry and chronicles.
Little is known OF his education. and 1t
is very doubtful II he ever attended a uni
versity, although there was one in his ma
tive town. He was one OF that company
which mled from Messina In September,
1871, under the command Of Don John Of
Austria, and in the first battle with the
Turkish feet he was wounded severely In
the breast and left a-m. He lay seven
months in the hospital OF Messina before
he was discharged with his left hand per-
manently disabled perhaps. az he was told,
for the greater glory of his right"
In 1879 he Joined the regiment Of Manuel
Ponce de Leon and took part In the cap