And damned be him that first cries, Hold, enough!"_

A whirlwind of applause echoed through the royal halls at the conclusion of
the great Scotch historical drama, and Shakspere was loudly called before
the footlights, making a general bow to the audience, and paying deep, low
courtesy to the King, who beckoned him to the throne chair, and placed
about his neck a heavy golden chain with a miniature of His Majesty
attached. William was glorified.

_"Murder, though it have no tongue, will speak
With most miraculous organ!"_

CHAPTER XVIII.

SHAKSPERE AS MONOLOGIST. KING JAMES.

_"He lives in fame that died in virtue's cause."_

_"The king-becoming graces
Are justice, verity, temperance, stableness,
Bounty, perseverance, mercy, lowliness,
Devotion, patience, courage, fortitude."_

Shakspere became a prime favorite of King James, and occasionally he
entertained the Bard at Whitehall Palace, introducing him to the bishops,
cardinals and lords, who were interested in the revision of the Bible. They
were astonished at the detailed knowledge of Shakspere, touching the "Word
of God;" and when he entered into a dissertation of the Hebrew, Greek and
Latin philosophers and "divines" who concocted the history of the ancients,
they marveled at his native erudition.

These modern preachers had been educated and empurpled in the classical
ruts of ancient superstitious divinity, while William communed with
immediate nature, and taught lessons of virtue and vice on the dramatic
stage that impresses the rushing world, far more than dictatorial dogmas or
pulpit platitudes.

Shakspere was a constant searcher of all religious bibles, and particularly
pondered on the Christian story of the creation, prophecies, crucifixion
and revelation. Paganism was the advanced guard of Christianity!

Monks, priests, preachers, bishops, cardinals, popes, princes, kings,
emperors and czars had exercised their minds and hands as commentators on
the old philosophy of an unknown God; and William saw no reason why he
should not extract from or paraphrase the best logical phrases and
sentences of the Bible.

His sonnets and plays are filled with the hidden meaning of the scriptures,
and those who read closely and delve deeply into the works of the Bard of
Avon will need no better moral teacher. His axioms and epigrams are used
to-day as the proverbial philosophy of practical life, and the whole world
is indeb