SHAKERS. of them written under the power of inspiration; they are the simple expressions of an earnest hope and a living faith, and are well adapted to our manner of devotional exercises." A funda- mental part of their religious creed and practice is the confession of sin in the presence of a wit- ness, men and women confessing to an elder of their own sex. They believe in a 'continuous revelation,' and this makes their doctrine as well as their practice plastic and adaptable to chang- ing conditions, and has enabled them to indorse and defend land nationalization, spiritualism, and other modern radical movements. Except in the fundamental doctrines mentioned above they are tolerant and broad-minded. "Our only de- mands," says the Plain Talks Upon Practical Christian Keligion, "are the successful prosecu- tion of a pure life after the Christ pattern; be- lieving and realizing that all other features of Christian communism will immediately succeed." The Shakers regard ostentation, luxury, and private property as sinful and unchristian. They live in groups or 'families.' The government of the fannly is parental. The supreme authority is vested equally in an elder and eldress, or two of each sex when the order is full. Temporal affairs are managed by an equal number of dea- cons and deaconesses acting in counsel with the elders. The two sexes eat in the same halls, and .social intercourse is free and open. Healthful living is regarded as a religious duty, and much attention is given to hygiene; the result is a low death-rate and a large proportion of centenarians. Their income is derived from farming, small manufactures, and the education of children. The latter, however, is in many cases gratuitous and undertaken in the hope of replenishing their membership. The Shakers were the first to establish a com- miuiistic settlement in the United States, and their historical significance rests upon the fact that for more than a century these settlements have been successfully maintained. The oldest and largest commimity is situated at Mount Leb- anon, N. Y., '25 miles southeast of Albany, and is recognized as "the central executive of all the Shaker societies." BiBi.ioGRAPiiT. The following are regarded by the Shakers as their most important publica- tions: Christ's First and Second Appearing and Millennial Church (Albany, 18.56) ; Diinlavy's Manifesto (New York, 1847) ; Green and Wells, Summary Tieio of the Millennial Church, (Al- bany. 1848) ; Eads, Shaker Theology (ib., 1879) ; Precepts of Mother Ann and the First Elders; Evans, Shakers' Compendium (New York, 1859) ; id.. Autohiographj/ of a Shaker (Mount Lebanon. 18fi9) ; Blinn, Concise History of the Shakers (East Canterbury, N. H., 1894); McNeniar. The Kentucky Revival (New York, 1846) ; Hollister and Green, Pearly Gate (Mount Lebanon. 1894) ; Robinson, Concise History of the Shakers (East Canterbury, N. H.. 1893). Most prominent among periodical publications, all of which have ceased to appear, are the Shaker Manifesto (1871-90) and the Shaker and Shakeress. Consult also: Noyes. History of American Socialisms (Philadelphia, 1870) ; Nord- hoff. The Communistic Societies of the United States (New York, 1875) : Ely, Labor Movement in America (New York. 1886) ; Hinds, American Communities (Chicago, 1902). 33 SHAKESPEARE.
- SHAKESPEAR, shak'spfr, John (1774-
1858). An English Orientalist, born at Lount, Leicestershire. He was educated in the schools of the vicinity and then sent by Lord Rawdon (afterwards Marquis of Hastings) to London to study Arabic. In 1S05 he was appointed to an Oriental professorship in the Royal Jlilitary College, Marlow, and upon the institution at Addiscombe of a training school for cadets by the East India Company he was given the post of professor of Hindustani there. He wrote a Hindustani Grammar (1813; 6th ed. 1855), a Dictionary of Hindustani and English (1817; 4th ed. of 1849 enlarged by an English-Hindu- stani dictionary), Muntakhahat-i-Uindi: Selec- tions in Hindustani (1817-18), and an Introduc- tion to the Hindustani Language (1845). SHAKESPEARE, shiik'sper, William (1564- 1616). An English poet and dramatist, born at Stratford-upon-Avon, in tlie County of Warwick, in April, 1564. He was baptized on April '26 (Old Style) ; and, as it was a common practice to christen infants when three days old. the tra- dition which makes his birthday the 23d (May 3d as dates are now reckoned) is generally ac- cepted. Of a family of four sons and four daugh- ters, William was the third child, but eldest son. His father, John Shakespeare, who had been a farmer in the neighboring village of Snit- terfield, came to Stratford about 1553 and adopted the trade of a glover. His mother, Mary Arden, belonged to a younger branch of a good old Warwickshire family, and inherited a considerable estate from her father. John Shakespeare was evidently shrewd, energetic, ambitious, and public-spirited. He made money and was popular with his fellow townsmen. After passing through the lower grades of office he was elected alderman, and in 1568 became high bailiff or mayor. In 1556 he bought two houses in Stratford. John Shakespeare, like his fellows in the town council, appears to have been a lover of the drama. When he was high bailiff in 1569 licenses for local performances were granted to two companies of traveling players. John very likely took the five-year-old William to see them act. When William was seven years old he doubt- less entered the Stratford Grammar School. The masters of the school in Shakespeare's boyhood were university men of at least fair scholarship and ability, as we infer from the fact that they rapidly gained promotion in the Church. The studies were mainly Latin, with writing and arithmetic, and perhaps a mere smattering of other branches. A little Greek was sometimes taught in the grammar schools, and this may have been the case at Stratford. Ben Jonson credits Shakespeare with "small Latin and less Greek," which some critics inter- pret as equivalent to "no Greek:" but Ben was not inclined to overstate Shakespeare's classical attainments. Whatever the boy may have learned in the Stratford school during the six or seven years he probably spent there, we may be quite certain that it was all the regular schooling he ever had : and we have no reason to suppose that he kept up his classical studies after leaving school. Attempts have been made to prove Shake- speare a scholar, but a careful examination of his works proves the contrary. His quotations from Latin authors are confined to those then
