Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1852-1859, 1854-02-23
~ Edward Bu1wer Lytton's Address to
.lIsasrithe University Associated Societies.
,sLll-A . = II =
gv-5 IEConcluied.

aty Every Professor who encourages the young 10
tile study OF the cpsScs will tell them how these
ranclept masterpieces have served modern Europe
with models TO guide the taste and excite the eir-
.enlation- sBntAkete let us distinguish what we
sIould lnean when we spenk of them as models
welnean no check to orginality-no cold nd Ste
Inflammation, more especially of form and dction
The pith and substanceof good English style
be 1t simple and severe, be it copious and adorned
must still be found in the nervous strength of our
tsinailse tongue. CAppause.) We need not Dor
- row from Greek or Roman the art that renders a
'A' noble thought transparent 10 the humblest under
standing, or charms The lastidons ear with the va
ryins music Of elaborate cadence. The classic
s1aatiiors are models in more comprehensive sense
They teach us less how TO handle words than how
10 view thngs;-and first, let recognize the
main Characteristic of the literature of Gre. ce-
1.-The geliuS of Greek letters is essentially soc,al
and human. Far from presenting us with with a
isld aud au>tere ideal, 1t deals with the vivid
pass the largest interests common to tile mass
UtAmankInd. In this IF the word it is pruS*-
ucal-that is, 1t connects itself with the natural
feelings the practical life OF men under all forms
of civilization. That is the reason why it is 80
tidurube--t faStenS hold of sympathy and interest
i'll every nation AMI, every age. Thus Homer Isl
UNNECESSARILY the me 81 popular poet the orld
ever knew. The Had is constructed from nate
rlaiSswlth which the natural human heart has the
most ahnity Our social instincts interest us on
sboth sides, whether in the war of the Greeks
avengng the Dissertation OF the marriage hearth or
The doom OF The TrolanS which takes all its pathos
from The moment we see Hector parting from An
dromacfe, and unbinding his helmet that il NAV
not tettiiy his child. Homer makes attempt al
abstract subtle feelings with which few can sym
pathlse He takes terror aud pity from the most
popular springs of emotoll-yaior, loye,.patriot-
ism, domestic .iafectous--the struggle Of those
with tae-the contrast, as in Achilles, between
glorious youth and early death-between headlong
daring andJpaSSionate sorrow; the contrast, as in
Pnams between all that gives reverence 10 the KING
and all flat moves Compassion for the man. Ho-
lner know no conventional, dignity; his heroes
we=p-his goddesses scold-(a laugh)-Hector
himself knows no fear, and we do moi respect him
the less, though we love him more, when his heart
sinks and his feet fly before Archiles. 81 essen
TALLY human is Homer, that it is said that he first
created the Greek gods-that is, he clothed W hat
before were meagre pLanoms with attributes IA
mllliar TO humanity, and gave them: the power of
dlynitles with The iorms aud hearts OF men. Gap
plauSe. Civilization advances, but the Greek
,literature still preserves this special character of
humanity, and each succeeding critic still ircorpo-
,arates his genius with the actual existence and
warm emotions of the crowd HSschylus stands
forth from the field OF Marathon to give voice to
satGe grand practical ideas that influenced his land
and times. He represents the apotheosis Of free
dom. and the dawn Of philosophy through the mists
of tabi=. Thus, in the victory hymn of PerSes, he
chaunts the defeat OF 8erxes; thus, in the S:ven
before Thebes,' he addresses an audience still hot
from the memories of war, in words thai rekndle
its passions and re-echo its cang; thus, again, in
the tgondrous myth of the "Prometheus Bound,''
he piles up the fragments of that primevei legend
with '[ian's hand, stormilg the very throne of
ZenS with portion of the liberty Of ntelle ctual
: will, opposed to the authority of Iorce. In
aEchelyns, there is always the very form and pres
IRE of an age Characterised hy ieIce emotions, and
The tnDult of new ideas struggling for definite ex-
slnstlng radiance by the genial sympathy with the
minds that thons bit, and the hearts that beat i'll his
own day! The stormy revolution of thought that
succeeded the Persian war gave way 10 a Inilder,
but1not less manly period of serene intelligence.
The lime had come in which " hat we call ..rhe
beautiful" developed its ripe proportions. A SEN
tment oforder, of submission TO the goiS--a de-
sire to embe lsh the social existence secured by
victorious war-peryaded the manners aud inSpr-
ed the gentle emuation. All this is reflected in
thesraitn spendor of Suphocles. 1t seems type
OF the difference between the two that Echyus--
a bearded man-had fought at Marathon, and So
phocles-in the bloom oil youth-had turned his
harp to the paeans that clrced the tropics of
SalaEiS. The PrometheuS of ESchylus is a vim
dIcatiOn OF human wisdom, made with the sublime
arrogance Of a 'Tltans pride. The EdIpuS of So.
phocieS teaches its notEngncss Wisdom, and in
1ict, its blind punishment upon Pride. But observe
how both these great poets inculcate the sentiment
Of Mercy as an element OF Tragic grandeur, aud
how they both seek 10 connect that attribute of
humanity with the fame of their nniive nd. Thus
it is TO Athens that the Otestes of schylus coues
expiaIe his parric de-il is the tuteaIy goddess
of the AthenauS that pleads in his cause, and re-
cnncileS the Fures 10 the reiease OF their hunted
VICTIM. But sti / mole mpressvely does Sophoces
inculcate and adorn this lesson of beautiful hu-'
mainly Ills not only amidst the very grove of the
Furies that CEdipus finds the peaceful goal Of his
wanderings-bnt Found that grove itself the post
has IaviShed all the loyllest images OF his fancy
There ln,the awful ground OF the ghostly sisters,
the nigLdugales sing under the wy-there blooms
the nafcssns--there Smiles the Iiive-there sprins
the fountains that Iced CephSus. Thus teror III.
self he surrounds with beauty, and the nam, less
grace of the outlawed Gdipus becomes TIE guar
fan nj. the benignant state, which gave the last
reCIsr. 10 his woes..,A few years more and a new
phase of civilization develops itself in Athens
that sentiment Tor the beautiful whic III itself
discovers good, flccseds tue desire TO moralise
aud pecuIate. Tie inhuen.e of wonen ON social
NE fiidie' aJnitted-sta:esme and sages gather
round Spasia--pye oeenPlss laEs er space IN the
.ysf3s4gs III 49, s,sil4i1sN :, = - ~"