north and getting in position to press her on occasion from the south. To establish a naval and military station on the Isthmus, as you must now do to defend it against Colombia, will be dangerous business for the United States. You may gain a few paltry millions in all this seizure of the Isthmus, but it will cost many times more millions in South American trade.'"

Thus the Monroe Doctrine may kick back at ourselves, and unless all Europe is composed of a set of cowards we certainly shall find ourselves at war with two-thirds of the nations of the old world within one year from this date, November 10th, 1903.

Meanwhile, here, of the same date, is a brief word indicating just where and how the row may begin, and with this and a brief comment thereon, we will leave the President with both his feet in Panama, and wait for further news.

"St. Thomas, D. W. L, Nov. 9.—The German steamer Athen having been refused permission to land her passengers and cargo at San Domingo, returned here Saturday and reported the facts to the German flagship Vineta, whereupon the commander dispatched the cruisers Panther and Gazelle to San Domingo.

"The Athen returned to San Domingo yesterday, and it is reported that she will ignore the blockade, under the protection of the German warships.

"Berlin, Nov. 9.—It was officially admitted to-day that German cruisers had been ordered to Santo Domingo, in compliance with the request of the German Consul there.

"San Domingo, Republic of Santo Domingo, Friday, Nov. 5.— The United States cruiser Baltimore arrived here yesterday, and subsequently left for Samana, to protect the Clyde Line Steamer Cherokee and convoy her to Puerto Plata, to discharge her cargo. Puerto Plata is held by the forces of the revolution.

"The political situation is unchanged. Macoris and Bani are in the hands of the revolutionists. A Dominican gunboat, which returned here Thursday night from Macoris, reports having bombarded that town. The damage done is not know.

"The forces of the revolutionists are approaching San Domingo. There was firing, which only lasted a short time this morning outside the city."

While we were writing this article, Roosevelt was entertaining Congress by his message to the extra session. We may notice it later, but whichever way Congress acts, the President and his Cabinet have created a history of infamy for this nation that no amount of Congressional action and no war can wipe out forever. The only honorable way out would be to turn the whole question over to the Hague for arbitration.

A day or two after this writing it was made dear to everybody that, as Secretary Hay had said, our efforts toward a treaty with Colombia had failed, and that phase of the subject was as good as dead. Now the Spooner bill provided that in case of failure of said negotiations the President should go ahead and build the Nicaragua Canal, but Roosevelt is now determined to build the Panama gutter, and he and his Secretary of State and all the legal power of Congress seems bent, at this date, November 14th, toward the position that spite of our failure to negotiate terms with Colombia, and spite of the Spooner Act, which directs the President what to do under such circumstances, the President has the right, without further negotiation, first, to steal Panama from the Colombian Republic; second, to defy Colombia to prevent the steal, or to touch the stolen property; third, to go on, contrary to law, and dig and build a canal through the stolen property, without right of way or leave from anybody. Such is law as regarded by the Roosevelt Cabinet.

Now, as confirming our statements at the opening of this article, I quote once more a short paragraph from the leading editorial of the Ledger of November 15th, showing that Roosevelt will fight anybody lawfully or unlawfully that it is safe to fight, and plans to do it in advance.

"The law of force. The portion of the President's message to Congress relating to the Panama Canal, which he had prepared before the 'revolution,' and which is now given out for publication, indicates that the resort to forcible possession of the Isthmus was already formulated in his mind when the more plausible alternative presented itself. The message is to the effect that the United States had waited long enough for Colombia's consent to the occupation of her territory, and the time had come to act without her consent. 'We must forthwith take the matter into our own hands,' was the President's conclusion."

Plainly, our strenuous "Whoope!" is as wild as ever and more so.

Robin Hood, of English fame, and Rob Roy, of Scotch notoriety, never stole their neighbor's cattle or personal property with

■sl bolder face or more soiled hands. Nothing that Alexander or Uero ever did had a coarser touch of infamy, the depredations of Frederick the Great, and all the depredations of the English in Ireland, in Africa or India have been gentlemanly and heroic compared with this sleek and underhanded piece of national bank robbery.

But again I say, if our Government can and will carry this matter through, we shall certainly be the greatest and most feared, vagabond and outlaw nation on the earth, and shall have so many coaling stations in various parts of the world, and have with all so many ships and so many seamen, marines and whatnot that we can make the world a series of targets and sail on a! shooting match compared with which the regular fall duck shooting of Grover Cleveland will be as smooth and slow as a parade of lame chickens going down to the pond for a soft drink—on—Sunday.

William Henry Thorne.

THE STUDY OF SHAKESPEARE.

As this is the age of specialties it is well to carry the idea even into methods of self-improvement. No person has time to read everything that pours from the prolific press of the day, so it is wise to determine to be rooted and grounded in at least one good book. There is so much virtue in knowing some one thing well that there is a saying which advises to "Beware of the man of one book." "Beware" being used in the good sense that such a mind is well nigh invulnerable, at least along the chosen line, as any subject may lead everywhere it is safe to say that the person of any one idea, one hobby, one book, need not necessarily lack a wide culture.

Especially may this be the case if the author chosen be the supreme of writers, Shakespeare, as this wide-brained, largesouled man teaches lessons which enrich the fancy, strengthen the virtue, and elevate character in every way, besides turnishing a treasure trove of ideas for the use of those who would improve the social condition of the people, for he has chronicled the light and shade of human passion from the vantage ground of universal comprehension. The manhood of the Anglo-Saxon is no idle theme, and the singer is no "poet of an empty day."

"The folk who lived in Shakespeare's day

And saw that gentle figure pass
By London's bridge—his frequent way—
They little knew what man he was!
Yet twas the king of England's kings!

The rest, with all their pomps and trains,
Are mouldered, half remembered things—
'Tis he alone that lives and reigns!"

And why? Simply because he is so inconceivably wise, especially in that most desirable direction, a true wisdom of life. His ideas now permeate modern literature and his repute shows no signs of decadence. After three hundred years his writings exhibit no marks of decline but are strong and fresh as if imbued with the spirit of immortal youth.

"If I say," writes Carlyle, "that Shakespeare is the greatest of intellects, I have said all concerning him." And yet not so, for Shakespeare was not simply possessed of a great intellect. Many men have been thus endowed, he was also a great moral power, and his chief virtue lies in the fact that as a moral as well as intellectual guide he is so supreme.

It is true that when Shakespeare wrote, it was to produce a play and not a sermon. Simply to point out a moral was not his object. Yet so truly does he picture life without warning, exhorting or condemning that the moral is self-evident. He may not himself have fully appreciated how much his plays revealed to others.

Some one suggests, that, like Columbus, he may not have seen all the wealth that belonged to the new world of his discovery, yet his achievement loses no claim upon our gratitude. One secret of the potency of the Shakespearian drama is the fact that it portrays the life as a whole so that it is seen in the mutual relations of its parts.

Of the poet himself it is certainly true that the world knew no more of him than that he was born at Stratford, married, had three children, went to London when he commenced as actor, wrote poems and plays, returned to Stratford, died and was buried. That he was a poacher, intimate with bad women, died of exposure after a drunken bout, are the traditions about this author which make it impossible for some minds, such as Emerson's, for instance, to reconcile the poet with his work. Other men have lived lives, he says, in some sort of keeping with their thoughts, but this man in wide contrast. But with all due deference to Mr. Emerson's opinion can we think that any man lives a life in opposition to his prevailing thought?

Look above the gossip about Shakespeare and consider how much character he reveals in his writings, the calm, profound wisdom, in utter dissonance to foolish and unseemly living.

But leaving the man Shakespeare to that undisturbed rest the epitaph upon his tomb demands, consider in what ways we learn of him. The successful study and appreciation of so great an author as Shakespeare requires certain previous qualifications. He is so many-sided that he lays a tribute upon all departments of knowledge. This makes it incumbent upon the reader who would follow him intelligently to know something of everything, from psychology down to ornithology with all the other "ologies" sandwiched between.

If the reader knows nothing of metaphysics what shall he do when he comes to the profound meditations of Hamlet? If he has paid no attention to one of the most fascinating of studies, ornithology, how shall he understand, for instance, the lines the fool uses in King Lear as an example of shameless ingratitude?

"The hedge sparrow fed the cuckoo so long
That it's had it head bit off by it young."

Here we have not only the orinthological fact that other birds hatch the eggs of the cuckoo, and become foster parents to the young birds, but also the folk-lore embodied in the old German superstition that as soon as the young cuckoo is grown it devours its foster parents. There is the additional item that in Shakespeare's time the pronoun "its" was seldom used, so, in the text line, "it" occurs twice.

To follow Shakespeare easily and understanding^ one must know not only history, psychology, science, ethics, religion, and literature, but must also have acquaintance with Anglo-Saxon and early English, together with some knowledge of astrology, alchemy, and other occult sciences of the middle ages.