The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1891-06-11
LITERATURE.
By ALLEN MILLER.

| Literature comes from q Latin noul
litera, letter.
!. Literature Is the collective body
literary productions and writings III
on single subject or upon the eli
tire results Of knowledge.
BY the word literature, we som,
times take into consideration ths
class Of writings distinguished for II
elegence OF style or expression; q
essays, poetry, and profane histor,
Addison, an English poet, In SPEAK
ing Of literature, once remarked
Men give reputation to literatur
and convince the world of its usefu
ness" During ancient times, itera
ture Of any kind was very limited.
Its limitedness could be attribute
to number Of causes: Firstly, whel
any one made any advancement o
discovery in science or in any brancl
of learning, he was liable to be perse
cuted ii his discovery was in direc
opposition to the accepted belief an,
teaching of the day. Numerous in
stances are on record to show tn
prosecutions Of earlier times, and ais,
of times comparatively modern.
Secondly. Up to the eighth cen
fury the only material on which Il
write was papyrus, material manu-
featured from q paper-reed, which
grew along the banks Of the Nile.
As the cultivation OF this reed wa.
in the hands Of the. government, i
was very expensive; and, Thirdly
Writers were not SO plentiful durin,
ancient times as in later years. Thi
resulted, mainly, fromlthe :ignoranc,
OF the human race during earle
periods of time.
Education and learning were con
fined, principally, to the Abbots
Priests, Bishops, and q few others
heads Of the Churches.
In Egypt, up to the twelfth dyn
asty, quite few noted pieces Of lit
erature had been written. One O
the most important Of these was Z
book known as the Book Of thu
Manifestation to Light or, as it il
commonly called, THE Book of the
Dead" This book contains the flu.
neral rites Of the Egyptians.
During the fifth dynasty o certain
Prince wrote book on morals and
advice to the young. A popular
poem, known as the 1'Epic of Pen.
taur,' was written sometime during
the twelfth dynasty.
There was also written quite q
number of works on law, lnathe.
matics, rhetoric, medicine, science
and politics.
Numerous hymns, and writings on
religion formed the chief literature
of Persia.
The Phoenicians made great pro-
gress in literature. Their alphabet
differed from the alphabets which
had existed previous to their own in
this respect; it was more complete,
and, in place OF pictures of objects,
the elementary sounds were repre-.
sented. All modern alphabets were
either directly or indirectly derived
from that of the PhOenicians.
The literature Of China is consider
ed as one Of the most extensive Ol
any OF the nations. 1t is com
posed, mainly Of numerous essays,
poems, and writings on classical sci.
ections. The literature of the Greeks
is more complete and more interest.
ing than that OF any other nation,
and exists AZ model to this day.
The alphabet OF the Greeks is based
upon that Of the Phoenicians.
Two OF the most noted Grecian
poets were Homer and Archilochus.
The name Of Homer has become
immortal. 1t is familiar to nearly all
Of the civilized races Of the world.
He was at one time q school master,
but, being wearied Of constant con.
finement, began to travel. During
the course Of his travels, he became
-
town, he composed his two famous
poems, the lliad and the Odyssey.
The Iliad is an epic poem giving q
vivid description Of the siege Of Troy
The Odyssey is also an epic poem
giving narrative of the wanderingi
OF King Ulysses on his return FROM
the Trojan Conquest.
The poems of Homer. besides be.
ing very descriptive and effectine
enable us to obtain 4 pretty good
idea Of the manners and customs oil
the Greeks during the twelfth cen.
fury, b. c. Demosthenes, the great.
est orator Of Greece, and in all proba
bility, the greatest the world MAJ
ever seen, was born 1856 B. c., and
lived to be about sixty years OF age.
When he made his first appearance
before the public, his awkward man
ners, sickly appearance, and STAN
mering speech, made him an object
OF ridicule and derision. Although
his first attempt was SO unsuccessful,
he was still determined to become an
orator. By care and proper culture,
he soon overcame his disagreeable
manner and was rewarded with elo.
quence.
Papyrus was the principal writing
material OF the Greeks for q long
time until parchment came into use.
The literature Of the Romans was
also quite extensive.
The two most famous Roman poets
were Virgil and Horace.
Their names are familiar to nearly
all lovers OF poetry. The writing
materials of the Romans differed but
little from that OF the Greeks.
Papyrus was used to q greater extent
than parchment, because it was less
expensive. Their libraries were very
numerous, and contained q great
many volumes. There il quite q
marked difference between the litera
ture of ancient and that OF modern
times.
"A 6lC0t AsSAy pCVeAC 0CCA W AC'
gard the writings of modern authors
as super ior to those Of the ancients
but they should take into considera
ton the different times in which
these authors lived.
Perhaps the writings of ancient
authors would be considered better
In their day, than the writings of late
years: On the other hand, there are
quite a few who regard modern pro
auctions, especially poetry, as in
ferior to that of ancient times.
As people become more and more
interested in the study of literature
the number Of authors steadily in
creased, and, rs must be expected
rivalry soon sprung up among them
The principal fault with the author,
OF the present time lies in their try
ing to hurry out their productions
one right after the other. This i.
probably due to the rivalry existing