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Show TAXING SHAKESPEARE'S BIRTH- PLACE. .. .-'.j : " ... r l The London Academy gloomily . regards 1 "V it as "typical of the low state of cul- ' ture" In England that the Warwickshire y' ,i ... authorities have decided that the preser- V-v' ' ' vatlon of the Shakespeare relics at 8trat- . wv 1 ford-on-Avon' is not a sufficiently literary 1' object to exempt the buildings in .which m V, they are housed from taxation under the . M : . scientific societies act. "Comment is- . needlees," bitterly says the Academy as 1' 1 it glances across the channel. "Such con-.' , (f, I duct would be impossible in the countries : - v of Moliere, or Dante, or Goethe. There, t I authough the legal aspect of the case I might have been the same aa here, the inquiry would have been conducted with ' intelligence, reverence and dignity." . ' i : "The law Is an ass." said Mr. Pick-' ' wick, when deeply dissatisfied with cer- -. t tain results it ground out. What If the : ' t British statute did not bring The Birthplace Birth-place within the exemption of taxation allowed to scientific societies, is an asinine asin-ine law to stand in the way of giving lit- ' ' erary honor? How tedious it is to be told , , the application of the law! How much ' ' easier it would be if there was Sanche . ", Pansa in the Judgment seat in Warwick , , shire, with an eye to the equity and to , , .. satisfying worthy and unselfish trustee ' rather than to strict and odious legality! ; . . , How foolieh was Shakespeare when he , put into the mouth of Portia the words: . There Is no pdwer m Venice -- Can alter a decree established: 'Twould be recorded as a precedent. ru And many an error by the same example Will rush Into the state; It cannot be. The feelings of disgust entertained by . - , the Academy are natural to the literary ' mind, and on the whole are most creditable cred-itable to its heart But perhaps It Is well, and a proof that England Is still the England of Shakespeare, that the ' tough and literal squlrea of Warwick-- ' " , shire stand by the law as it is 'written rather than as they may privately think' j' it should be. In any event, no great harm Is done. If dishonored in England, as the Academy seems to think, Shakespeare is ' so honored In America that enough pil- grims from this side will continue to pay ' ' ' hillings to see The Birthplace end the ' ' relics easily to make up the tax item. 1 New York Globe. . . . |