Mr. Black's Lecture.

Sever 11 was crowded to its utmost capacity last evening when Prof. Francis J. Child introduced Mr. E. Charlton Black, late of the University of Edinburgh. The subject for discussion was: "Shakspere; the Man." Recent talk about Shakspere, -Mr. Black began, has lead me to go over again the slender story of his life. He was a poet, an artist and a dramatist; the author of some forty works. Mr. Ruskin in his second Lecture on Art at Oxford said: "The highest thing that Art can do is to set before us the figure of a man." It is very proper then that we should turn to Shakspere, the glory of English and universal literature. The facts of his life are derived from authorities of two kinds; the records left by contemporary writers and the personal elements which the author puts into his works. It is a mistaken idea that we know almost nothing of Shakspere's life; we have many interesting and important particulars. The history of his life naturally divides itself into three periods as follows: the Stratford period covering the years from 1564-1586; the London period, lasting from 1586-1604 and the later Stratford period from 1604 until his death in 1616. He was born in Stratford in Warwickshire in the month of April, 1564. The day of his birth is not certain but he was baptised on the 26th and there is a tradition that he was born on St. George's day which came on the 23rd.

He was the son of a well-to-do burgess and it is probable that his education was the best that the Stratford grammar school could afford. When only 18 years of age he married a woman eight years his senior, the daughter of a farmer who lived in the country near Stratford. Three children were born to them, Suzanna and the twins, Hamnet and Judith. Hamnet, the similarity of whose name to that of "the Dane" will at once be noticed, was Shakspere's only son and it is probable that the father's affections were strongly centred on him. However, he died when only eleven years of age.

Shakspere's London period is one of great literary activity. He was an actor in the Blackfriars Theatre and was engaged in writing and recasting plays. By 1598 he had written at least 12 and perhaps 16 plays and two non-dramatic poems. In 1603 six more plays had appeared and in the reign of James the additional works were produced. He probably never sent any of his writings to the printer's except Venus and Adonis and Lucrece. It has been many times asserted that his objects in writing were purely mercenary. This is not true. He was making a great- deal of money and was deriving an income from three sources; viz., his acting, the copyright plays and his shares in two theatres. He became the owner of the best residence in Stratford which was known as the "Great House." Shakspere's fondness for his native place is very noticeable, and he has even gone so far as to introduce the names of persons in Stratford and throughout Warwickshire into his plays. It was in 1604 that he returned to his home and there on St. George's day, 1616, he died.

It is a somewhat surprising fact that in his will no mention whatever is made of any books, papers or literary remains. He evidently had no anxiety about the future of his works although long before his death he was considered the "prince of dramatists." It is a false idea that there was no appreciation of him during his lifetime, but it was only after the publication of the first folio in 1623 that an adequate realization of his talents was arrived at. In society his reputation was great. He possessed the quality which we now call personal magnetism and he had the love and esteem of companions He moved in a Bohemian world, but he was not of it. He was closely connected with his celebrated contemporaries and he was in favor at court. His unobtrusiveness is a noticeable trait. He had an unusual shyness of all publicity and was a quiet stately actor. His favorite parts were those of the Ghost, in Hamlet, and Old Adam, in As You Like It. He was, in fine, "a fantastical fellow of dark corners." He was devoted to his sacred art but the author disappeared in the work. Ruskin has said: "An artist has done nothing until he has concealed himself." If the converse be true, Shakspere is truly a master.