Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-12-04
THE ORIENT'S POET.

H"h-Dr. HO1lands NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
From the Light OF Asia and Other
Poetic Works Enjoyed by Large Au-
dience.
Inc people who struggled into Carnegie
nan last night about o'clock saw two gen.
tlemen seated on the platform before the
Dig organ; in one they recognized DR.. W. j..
Holland. the Chancellor of the Western Uni
verslty,and the other they knew must be the
1ar-famed poet and the lion of the evening"
Sir Edwin Arnold. The current portraits Of
o1r Eowm IN the newspapers and Htho-
graphs are not good, and singular to
say they do him injustice. His por-
traits mentioned reproduce his beard,
his forehead and his nose, but they do not,
perhaps they cannot, show you the brilliancy
OF his eyes, or the wonderful mobility of his
mouth. Presently when Sir Edwin rose to
address the audience they saw that he was
rather below than above the middle height:
little stopped, yet of a vigorous, sturdy
build. Though the hair on top of his head is
somewhat thin, his circumambient whiskers
are full and his eyebrows are bushy. There
are signs of toll and much life in the deep
lines which corrugate his face. He
wore conventional evening dress, and
it is fortunate that fashion has decreed
that spiketail coats shall have pockets, for
the poets left hand found solace apparently
in one of them every now and again.. AS a
lecturer, Sir Edwin Arnold is little like his
fllustrous namesake and predecessor on the
platform, the Arnold who gave the world
sweetness and light, but not through
oratory. The Arnold who spoke last night
Is not an orator, and his voice is not very
power full. He didn't use all of 1t, either, and
at times his words were inaudible 20 rods
from the stage; indeed, a call of "Louder?'
came from the gallery, and with reason. For
the most part, he trusted to his memory for
the poems he recited, holding the book in
readiness Tor "cue'' here and there. Some
of his reading, especially the first selection
monotonous recitative: but in the lighter
pieces which followed, dramatic force and q
variety OF tone were not wanting. He nc
companied everything he said with the
movement OF his arms appropriately; he
was even daring enough to give decided
kick as an illustration of the line about the
feet Of the modern Egyptian girls in that
many, however, the fa; e of the poet, with its
strange lines and wondrous illumination.
was most eloquent assistant to the beauty
OF the poetry.
DIR. Hollands Introduction.
It was s:15 when DR.. Holland arose, and ad-
dressing first the lecturer and then the 700
or 800 people in the hall said: "Sir Edwin,
by the distinguished courtesy Of the Press
Club of this city, have been assigned the
pleasurable duty of introducing to you the
audience which is before us.
Il take opportunity to remind you that the
ground upon which we stand is historic.
Yonder, where the waters of the Allegheny
and Monongahela wed in the deep bed of the
Ohio, began that great struggle between
France and England, which ended in the
permanent dominion of the Saxon upon the
soil of the new world, and the supremacy
of England upon the seas.
But the spot is not only interesting because
of its past. This is the Birmingham of Amer
lea. the center of some of the most gigantic
industries of the continent. In the audience
before you are iron kings, coal barons,
princes of industry who control great reser-
voirs of impalpable fuel, in the alchemy Of
which are fabricated huge sheets of glass
and who own rivers of subterranean Oil,
which are supplying with material light not
only Asia but Europe. America, Africa, Aus
tralia-the world. in fact. Associated with
this industry and its consequent wealth, we
witness to-day the developments of culture
and of philan thropy. and the beautiful
building in which we are met this evening Is
the stately proof of the generous philan-
thropy of one of the grea. captains of the
worlds industry, whom you and ], sir. claim
it an honor to reckon as a personal friend.
A Glowing Definition.
"Ladies and gentlemen, have the great
pleasure OF introducing to you this evening
Sir Edwin Arnold, Knight Commander of
the Indian Empire, who represents in him
self the majesty OF. the British press: the
learning of the Occident and the Orient, and
who has achieved for himself foremost
place among the poets of the Victorian age.
1t gives me peculiar pleasure to be allowed
to introduce him to you, for have just fin
ished with utmost qualification the perusal
of his last book upon that charming land of
the farthest East, which was opened to the
world by our own immortal Perry, in which
- hoe haa JNls n hot
win has seen and hear what he mas heard,
and, therefore, for the beautiful felicity of
all his descriptions am able most cordially
to testify
Then Sir Edwin Arnold, after modently
observing that he wished he deserved a
very small portion of what had been said in
his favor, and thanking DR.. Holland all the
same for saving it, expressed his pleasure at
being in Pittsburg, which he assured his
audience was famous the world over and
especially dear to him as the home of his
valued friend, Mr.. Carnegie. Without more
ado he took up copy of his Light of
Asia" and read from the last book of that
beautiful work, "The Discourse OF Buddha,"
which is essentially & an exposition OF the
same time the casket for many exquisite
gems OF poetry. Truth to tell the weighty
philosophy Of this discourse struck one as
better in the book than spoken.
The Mohamm-dans' Faith Defended.
At the conclusion of this reading the
lecturer called the audiences attention to
the fact that the great religions never con-
tradict each other in vital points, but that
the Mohammedan faith had been woefully
by most Christians. To show
how much there is tender, loveable nature
in NIahomet's creed he read several extracts
from his poetic rendering of Arabian
legends. "Ism's RosArg." This book had
been hailed as truly representing Mohamme-
dan doctrines by many of that faith, the
lecturer said, and had induced the Sultan of
Turkev to send him the highest order in his
gift. The stories are exquisite in form and
moral and the audience applauded all three.
"The Equitable" "The Bestower,"
and the pathetic legend of the condemned |
Maydalen who on her way to the place of |
stoning had mercy on a dog and saved her |
life at her sovereign's hands by so doing.
From this the lecturer passed to the anus |
ing little bit of verse, which THE DISPATCH |
has published, called "a Pair Of Shoes
the wearer of the little pairof shoes-Egyp-
tian 3s-which he finds in the mummy case.
There was great deal of laughter when the
dignified poet executed neat KICK at one
point ill the reading of this poem.
From Laughter to Tears.
A Persian poem, apt to be obscure to any
one who had not read it before, came next;
md it was succeeded by that delightfu,and,
It is said, wonderfully accurate picture of
.he young japanese girl of the day,
called "The Etusmee," which THE Dis
PATCH printed some months ago. This
vas highly appreciated, but as far as NOV
ng the audience was concerned the poem
succeeded it, called "Ile and She,"
vas the most effective feature Of the lect-
lre 1t is sweet, melodious, and painful
study OF death, in the concrete. and Sir Ed
vim Arnold explained that he had been
Lsked to read it. He gave it a dramatic in
and brought out the pa thOS of