Wilmington daily commercial., 1875-12-21
Daifp Gommertiaf.
4 cMMERCIAL PRINTING COMPANY,
howard n. Jenkins, Wilmer Atkinson
Francis G. Ferris.
The Art of Literature,

sAYAhu fAfLoR's VIEWS UPON II--aIxTa Lsoruai
OF THE cHANSIsG COURSE
H4yaid IayloI's lecture, Literature Id al
Art is the expression of nome of his most car
seat thoughts and convictions, and--following ,
.aiiou which it itself lays down--it tsLea form
Il oiice precise, distinct, and yig0rons. His su
llsnce, last evening, followed linn with degree
u comprehension and enjoyment that ID onl,
100 fars in such cases. and at the conclusion lac
uss warmly congratulated by many OF his
llt asgJ hearers.
considering the general direction Of the liter.
ky effort OF the last len Years, jurt after the
.lress aud strain Of great public trials, the leo
laIer remarked the humorous school of wrlters
most prominent. of these Bret Harte wss
Lest his humnr rested on IT'D true foundation -
lAtLo1. Mark Twain came next, but while he
esr fnu-maker, and caused people
~ laugh, ho never stirred deeper feel
lHg Far below him, were the innumefable
newspaper writer's OF that class who are
lansacklns heaven and earth for grotesqne
llemes who alAe lind opportunity for Iidicnle
~ tho Transit OF Venus or the npsetting oil Il
ract the statue Of Memnon or mother in law
1hli they spring up all over the country. The
INJURY they do ID in exact proportion to their
eitcens They demOralize public taste like
aaiing around II grog shop demoralizes an in-
ulWdual Fortunately, tho mind at last grove
trei OF it, and II only for u change demands
sumething better.
The lowest intellectual element tile speaker
thought had been reached and passed; there is
large aud growing demand for more serious
work, and In response to this he had prepared
tue present lecture. He proposed, in treating
uh subject, to present only those features OF lit
elars art which are generally applicable andthere
fore Of general interest. One OF til 3m is illnstra
led In the difference between tile form OF speech
aud expression ia England and Anlerics. The
former ID precision tending to formaity; here
ls careessness that amounts TO inaccuraoy. In
LIS experience OF reporting public speakers IN
tie Presidential campaign OF 1913, he found that
rhree-fourths OF their addresses were repet-
hong Daniel Webster was one shining excep-
Ion; nothing could safely be omitted from his
tpeeches.
clear and distinct our perception OF out
ward object. In writing, to attain this ID 10 at
tain the highest succeEs Tins the French and
English. producing the best fiction, put CON
ieted novel i'll from one TO three volumes; in
Germany it would be from three to nine; in Ja-
pan hundred and forty-sx We may carry
our Scriptures in onr pocket;.he sacred writings
u the Buddhists weigh three and a.quarter tons.
President Lincon's immortal speech at GettyH
burg WAS written on a single half-sheet Of fools
cap, The first law of literary art il intelligent, Co
Aereut. logical thought. The second is its OK.
PRESTON, which enfornis the thought as the bo-
dy does the soul
SO vital therefore, n the embodiment OF the
thought that Literature becomes distinct and
positive art. 1t is surprising that people OK.
poet to rush to literary work simply because
moved by some enthusiasm or warmth of feel
aug. No one would seize the painters brush
aud eSpect his first essay to be great picture,
uor would the boarding school miss attempt to
entertain audiences as d great planlste. 1t was
sald that poets were born, not made, but It would
Ne better expressed that they are born and
tlade Literary art ie not perversion of nat
'La speech but only its simplsst and most per-
f-ct form. The speaker quoted Lathers clo-
stag words before the Diet of Worms to show
tie.r mai sstlc simplicity. and paraphrased them,
gats.uipe tia exact th9ught. but lowering the
expression inso weakness. art in literature ID
the attaunlent OF the cleBrest, plainest, and
.aoat appropriate expression of the thought, and
this must como by severe technical study. In
eApfsssi1n; a gooa rlle is to consider, frat the
method OF opening, and second, the closing
tue exrenlitles Of concrete expression being
sept steadily in Wow, the movement between
will not wander far ffom straight line from
9ae 10 the other.
Illustrating this, aud the " initiative harmo-
aies" in winch the English language IL especially
rich, the lecturer gave etanza OF the 81 Burial
Of Sir John Moore" I'd rendered In German, re-
ferred to Milton's description of the expulsion
II Vulcan from Heaven, AID quoting briefly
from Thompson and Collins, recited the whole
II byron's Destruction OF fSennacherlb." These
Citations from poetry he made because they
Nsre compact and appoete but to show what
descriptive prose writing may become, after
Years OF stndY, he read from description by
iohn Ruskin OF tbs.Lake OF Lucerne-a grand
snd beautiful piece of word-psintng.
Willie he did not undervslue genius, he held
tdat man muat ezalt himself by toll and patience
md not merely by aspiration, before he can feel
fIle breath OF 0mnipotsnce There must be first
fhe desire to express, then The expression, and
thsid the free, coDgenial, and happy activity or
tls hind IN the expression. In these days OF
I35se tailh and wavenng principle. We have need
u every form of earnent elideayor. one form
u human culture directly helps all others.
At The coee Of the lecture Rev. Mr.. Israel ali
lUnnoei that this closed the Charming Course,
snd thanked the pnblie for its kind support. The
lecture by Roy. Robert Collyer, OF Chicago, has
Rot been definitely iixed but will probably take
tlace late in lie Spring.