Posted on 08/05/2005 12:29:59 AM PDT by Brian_Baldwin
Selections from the Last Will and Testament of William Shakespeare 1616
Because we love our culture, and our heritage, our Forefathers, and the gifts they have given us, I do not think we need to be reminded of why we need to defeat this enemy the Islamic Terrorist and their Fascism. But to remind us perhaps of our great culture now challenged by those whose holy book Quran says “there is evil in every berry of the grape” and would take our cup of wine from our Oak dinner tables and put a burqa on our women, let us read a few words from the Last Will and Testament of William Shakespeare to be reminiscent of the depth and height of such literacy and the pedigree of our laws and the mind of the men that have taken us all over the world and to the moon:
On the 25th day in the year of the reign of our lord James, King of England and all, the 14th and of Scotland the 49th in the year of our Lord 1616. In the name of God, Amen. I, William Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon in the county of Warwick, gent., in perfect health and memory, God be praised, do make and ordain this my last will and testament in manner and form following. That is to say, first, I commend my soul into the hands of God my Creator, hoping and assuredly believing, through the only merits of Jesus Christ my Saviour, to be made partaker of life everlasting, and my body to the earth whereof it is made. Item, I give and bequeath unto my son in L daughter Judith one hundred and fifty pounds of lawful English money ( … ) Item, I give and bequeath to Mr. Richard Tyler the elder Hamlet Sadler 26 s. 8 d. to buy him a ring; to William Reynolds, gent., 26 s. 8 d. to buy him a ring; to my godson, William Walker, 20 s. in gold; to Anthony Nashe, gent., 26 s. 8 d. and to Mr John Nashe 26 s. 8 d., and to my fellows John Hemings, Richard Burbage, and Henry Condell, 26 s. 8 d. a piece to buy them rings ( … ) Item, I give and bequeath to my said daughter Judith my broad silver gilt bowl ( … ) to Mr. Thomas Combe my sword ( … ) Item, I give and bequeath unto the poor of Stratford aforesaid ten pounds ( … )
In witness whereof I have hereunto put my seal hand, the day and year first above written by me, William Shakspeare.
Witnesses to the publishing hereof: Fra: Collins Julyus Shawe John Robinson Hamnet Sadler Robert Whattcott
. . . I suppose 150 pounds of lawful English money was a respectable sum in the early 1600’s. And a man’s sword was something to give, and pass on, to another man upon one’s death. And ten pounds to the poor. And, touching, not to give just money to a few good men, but money so that they can buy themselves rings. And they would have been handsome rings at that. And, there were other bequeaths, but I noted only some that rang out for me. A few hundred pounds of lawful English money. A priceless treasure of words and authorship for us in return from his works. And signed and witnessed by men with names such as John, and Julius, Hamnet, and Robert, and that our sons will never have the name Mohammed, it will be that our sons will have the name Harry, and Bill, and Peter, and Paul, and Henry.
And never Muhammed.
And keep your swords. And your guns. And your gold coins. And give them to the next man, and your sons, and your daughters. Don’t let them take away your sword. It is something you take to your death, and then pass on to be held in the next man’s hand. Keep your God. Keep you own Kings, not theirs. Keep your silver and gold goblets. And fill them with wine. Don’t let them take your berry away. Don’t let them take your Shakespeare away.
They are proving to be the same troublemakers today that they have always been.
I thought you would appreciate this because you are a "Literate Infidel" ping!
Share the wealth with other preferred Literate Infidels.
Don't shoot until you confuse the muzzis with Iambic pentameter!
A.A.C.
"Let the Final Crusade commence!"
BTW: I STILL think "A Midsummer Nights Dream" sucked!
Didn't he leave his wife his "second-best bed?"
Did he leave anyone a stack of plays, poems, books...how about a pen? Interest in the theatre? Nada. What happened, did the authorities crack down on pop culture and he had to distance himself from all evidence that he was the world's greatest writer?
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date...
I always like Henry V.
Yep, nothing like Shakespeare to remind us to keep our powder dry.
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