The Dominion. MONDAY, APRIL 17, 1916. HOMAGE TO SHAKESPEARE

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2748, 17 April 1916, Page 4

The Dominion. MONDAY, APRIL 17, 1916. HOMAGE TO SHAKESPEARE

If the Empire had been at peace, it is probable that the , Shakespeake Tercentenary celebrations would have been more magnificent and elaborate than the festivities outlined in a London cablegram which appears in another part of this issue. Nevertheless, the programme seems to be a fairly comprehensive one, and it is satisfactory to know that preparations are being made for the appropriate observance of the festival in our own City. It is entirely in accordance with the fitness of things that even in the midst of this great war something should be done to show our gratitude for tho wholesome joy whioh the English-speaking peoples have derived from the works of Shakespeare. Sunday next will be the three-hundredth anniversary of the poet's death, but as that will bo Easter Day, it has been deemed advisable in England to postpone the commencement of the festivities for a week. The celebrations will begin with a service in the historic Abbey of Westminster. Shakespeare was not a saint, but he was a great moral teacher, and it is meet and right that we should thank Godfor Shakespeare. Opinions may differ as to the poet's theological beliefs; but it is quite certain that, broadly speaking, he was "on the side of the angels." In the course of an illuminating discussion "of Shakespeaee's moral ideals, Canon Ainger remarks that in his whole treatment of life and conduct the poet never leaves us in doubt as to which si le he is on; "he never juggles with the mojal law or sophisticates the loader's conscience." Nothing can be gained by endeavouring to force Sha'kespeaiir to take sides in religious controversy. Let us rather regard him as an interpreter of human life who saw deep into the heart of man, and understood the joys and sorrows, the hopes and fears, the strength and tho weakness, of'ordinary men and women like ourselves. Let us act on the advice of a recent writer, who suggests that we should not think of Shakespeare as a teacher of dry dogmas or a sayer of hard sayings, but as

A priest to us all Of the wonder and bloom of the world. The desire to "praise famous men" —to give thanks for the' noble works done in the days of our fathers and _in the old time • before them—is an indication of a healthy national spirit, and what name is more worthy than that of Shakespeare "on Fame's eternall beadroll to be fyled" 'I. A generation which does not remember with gratitude its debt to the past is not likely to achieve much for which the future will have cause to bo grateful.

The men of Shakespeare's day helped to lay the foundations of the great Empire for the preservation of which we are now fighting with all the might—spiritual and material— which we possess. Tho Shakespeare Tercentenary should fix our thoughts for a while on our responsibilities as trustees of a great Imperial heritage. The Empire is not our own. We re« ceived it from our forefathers, and it is our duty and privilege to hand it on, enriched by our own contribution, to those who will come after us. Elizabethan Englishmen had to smash the power of Spain, in order that Britain might be saved from the humiliation of having to "bow at tho proud foot of a conqueror," and their valiant deeds should be an inspiration to us who in our day and generation have been compelled to engage in an even moro tremendous struggle for the independence of this Greater Britain, and also for tho freedom of the world. "Wo must bo free or die who speak the tongue that Shakespeare spoke." Sir Sidney Lee voices the opinion of Britishers in all parts of the world when he states that the imperative need for concentrating our national energy on the. prosecution of the \i ar till victory is assured gives no just ground for passing by the Shakespeare Tercentenary in silence. In a recent lecture he declared that

A fitting appreciation of a country's past 'triumphs -stimulates confidence in tho future. A slight acquaintance with the recent intellectual history of the lyorld makes it clear that Shakespeare constitutes the high-water mark oi our country's achievements in the sphere of the mind. To fows public attention on the dominion-he hns exercised and is exercising over the intelligence his fellowcountrymen and countrywomen 1 ) to remind ourselves at this juncture of the sway which this Englishman wields over tho thought of the civilised world, would only tend to strengthen our faith in our country's cause and to confirm us in our re. soke to preserve it from ovory peril.

American admirers of Shakespearh arc making preparations for ■ a memorial festival by which they will pay their homage to "the frienrl whom ,Heaven has given to the unhappy of every age and country." How, then, could we, Shakespeaee'3 own countrymen, neglect to give fit expression to our appreciation of his great gift to us, and through us to the rest of the world? Until tho middle of the , eighteenth' century Shakespeare was all our own. Sii; Sidney Lee, reminds us that it. was not till then that ho. received substantial recognition outside of Britain,

and that the foreign worship, which has steadily widened and deepened, did not commence till the end of the eighteenth or the beginning of the nineteenth century. The Germans are now telling us that wo.have disowned Shakespeare, and are not worthy of him. The idea that Germany is Shakespeare's spiritual home is a strange, form of Teutonic madness. Shakespeare's cwn reply to the German writer who impudently claims him as a kindred spirit might well bo 1 know thee not, old man; fall to thy prayers. How' ill whito hairs become a fool and jester! 1 oft dream'd of such a Mnd of man,. So surfeit-swollen, so old, and so profane, But being awake I do despise my dieam. But Englishmen are glad to share the enjoyment of Shakespeare with men of good will of all nations. He was ono of those supreme men of poetic genius who wrote for all men and all times, and it would be a good thing lor themselves and for the rest of the world if the Germans, who profess to reverence Shakespeare more than we do, should take to heart his teaching about that "even-handed justice" which commends the poison, ed chalice to tho poisoner's own lips, and makes crime its own avenger.