Morning journal and courier., 1883-04-18
NEW YORh.

PapeE By Drs A0AHneSs
 
 NE" Ao'N-H' Brilliant paper on the charac- ter of Emerson's poetry this evening before the Nineteenth Century club and 8 distin- guished assembly. He said he would put and try to answer four questions First, what are the chief merits and defects of MT. En- erson's poetry, what is it's prevailing charac- ter and of what other poets does he most re- mind us? Second, why does MT. Emerson, master of harmonious and beautiful prose style, write poetry? Third, why does anyone who can express himself without the hindrances of rhythm and rhyme write poetry? Fourth, what is poet ry that it should exercise such au attraction for those who read it or listen to it and more especially for those who write it. Poetry, he said, was the natural flowing out of eloquence. Highly excited thought becomes imaginative and under certain con- ditions rhythmical. He illustrated this by the sing song whine of certain preachers which develops into intoning and then into chants and hymns. Why persons who can write well in prose choose verse is accounted for in various ways Many do it because they are less wise than their neighbors; in plain English, fools. The delight which versifers have in tagging rhymes together, and the satls- ine''0H ing the i diaaoulties s' of versifcation, is most intense. No infatuation surpasses that of the person who believes himself 8 poet. Another reason why so many write in verse is because it brings such reward of popularity when it meets the feelings and tastes of the community. Next to the sue
 
 the poet is the popular idol. He illus trated this by examples of Burns and of John Howard Payne, author of single popular lyric, He applied the same question to the case of Mir. Elmer son and gave the reasons which he supposed led him to write in verse occasionally. He supposed it was partly an inStinct1ve move I ment, partly because he wanted greater free dom than prose allowed him. The fascina- | tion of Emerson's poems is in their spiritual depth and sincerity and their allpervad1ng symbolism. Nothing is vulgar if he touches it.; give him milking stool or an alehouse bench t sit upon, he throws his imperial After summing up the character of MT. Emerson's intellectual and spiritual nature Dr. Holmes closed by saying: "His writings | in prose and verse are worthy of all hon. 1 or and admiration, but his manhood was | the noblest of all his high endow- m6DtS. A D19OE neEe ana Gu6E0 may have avoided meeting him, but | if he who knew what was in men had wan dered from door to door in New England as of old in Palestine I cannot help believing that one of the thresholds which those blessed feet would have crossed to hailow and re | ceive it's hospitality would have been that | of the lovely and quiet home of Emerson" A Mean Swfndle.
 NEW YORK, April 17.-Louise Rothsckel appeared at Castle Garden yesterday with 6 bundle of liniment companys advertise ments printed in imitation of government 1 notes She had received them from an Ant werp broker in exchange for 43O marks ID German money and only found that sne was penniless and helpless when she attempted to | buy bread with one of them.
 An Actors Wife Suing for Divorce. NEW YORK, April 17.-Fannie Mordaunt will begin suit for limited divorce against her husband Frank A. Mordaunt The causes alleged are habitual drunkenness and l failure to support her, accompanied by per I sonal violence and abuse
 A Cartridge Iseaded with Sawdust. 1 BROOKLYN, April 1.-The supposed dy- namite cartridge found in the factory of Ro- | mold Go. was analysed 10 oay ana Iouno tC I contain nothing more terrible than glucos l and sawdust.
 A Jealous Husband's Deed-He Shoots Hfi | Friend for Whom He Suspects His Wife Is too Fond.
 BRookLYN, April 17.--soon after three o'clock this afternoon Diedrich Stefans, 6 prosperous lager beer dealer, aged thirty-hve of No 1os Wythe avenue, was instantly shot dead by Dietrich Mahnken, wealthy grocer l in front of the latters store at the corner oi Vanderbilt and Park avenues. The cause O the tragedy was apparently unfounded jeal ousy on the part of Mahnken, who is thirty nine years old, whose wife is a young and at tractiye woman and the mother of five child ren. The men were intimate frlends TO years and Stefans frequently visited MaHH