New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-03-20
MR. STEDMANS LAST LECTURE.
ON TILE Faculty DIVINE.


the old faith to the new based on the new knowledge;
fourtb whether Imagination is and Will remain
force" as Of old. Concerning the ehJoy mcIlV Vi
tragedy the lecturer said:
"The keen satisfaction VIC take in an exhibition,
not of the joy and triumph alone but of the tragedy,
the crime the failure Of lives that ape our own,
Is not morbid, but elevatlng. We know by instinct
that they arc right who declare all passion good per
sc: We feel that ii Is good servant If BAD
master, and only bad when it goes awry, ana that
the exhibition Of its force both enhances and intructS
the force within each soul Of Us. Again, the poet
who broods on human passion and its consequent
action attains his highest creative power he rises,
NC We saw at each outbreak and crisis. and the
actor impersonang his conception must rise accord
ingIy or disappont the audience. who know tliat
such EXAMINATIONS are his opportunities, above INC
realistic level Of we'll conceived play. More than
all and as ! have suggested in a former lecture
the soul looks TRANQUILITY knowing that it, no more
than its prototypes, can be harmed by any mschahce'
'Agonies merely its changes of garments.
They are forms of experience. The soul desires al
experiences; 10 touch this planetary life at all points
to drink. not Of triumph and delight Alone u
must needs drain its portion of anguish, lalnie'
wrong 1t would SET like the nightingale. its breast
against the thorn Its greatest victory Is when IL Is
most agonzed. When all is lost, when the dark
tower IS reached then Chide Roland dauntess winds
his blast upon the slug horn. It's arms scattered
It's armor torn away. the soul, the victorvlctm'
slips from mortal encumbrance and scars freer than
ever Victor atque victima. ateque ideo victor quia
victima. This is the constant lesson OF the Tyres
and plays and studies OF Browning the most red
blooded and imprisoned Of modern dramatic poets;
a wise ard great master, whose imagination If it DO
less strenuous than his insight and feeling was yet
sufficient TO derive from History and experience moro
types OF human passion than have been marSlalled
by any cOmpeer have been struck by critics
quotation of a passage from Stendhal written IN
uhiph aft
IL must be the Office Of the coming artist to express
states of soul that that is what Michael Angelo
would do with modern sculpture. In tru'h INC
potent artist, the great poet, is he who makes us
realize the emotions Of those who experience august
extremes OF fortune For what can be OF more NalUe
than intense and memorable sensations! What else
make I'D that history which alone is worth the name
OF hfc7
"The most dramatic effects often those which
Indicate suppressed passion-that the hounds are
ready TO slip the leash
one of the most interesting portions Of the lecture
dealt with Genius W.. Taste. "lt Is wise TO dis
crininae also. said the lecturer between genius and
natural fneness of taste. The latter, joined with
equally natural ambition. has made many HE IN
happy that had peculiar opportunities for delight
For surely it is precious thing to discern and ENJOY
the beautiful. Taste in art, in selection, in conduct
is the charm that makes for true ariSOcracy, Sit
unspoled but rather advanced, by gentle breeding.
grace in man. and adorable in woman. ii is some
thing to rest content with, the happier inasmuch as
you add 10 the happiness of Others. II is the nmous
of many household identifying the speech ana
hearing of the members; who. if they are wise
realize that its chief compensation IS more Tranquil
sudy and possession Of the beautiful than per
mittcd 70 those who create it. iephaist0s. the GRIM
sooty halt artifcer of all things fair. found small
comfort even in the possession OF Apllrodite the
goddess who inspired him. The secret OF happiness
for refined nature, is just measure of limitations
Taste is not always original, creative There are no
more pathetic than the lives of those who know
and love the beautiful and who surrender it, enjoyment
in q vain struggle to produce it. Their failures re
act upon finely sensitive natures. and often END In
sadness even msanthropy, and establishment when
the best OF life is over
"In our day. when talent is so highly skilled and
industry so habitual, people detect the genius OF a
poet or tile-wrer through its originality, perhaps
first of all. II has a different note, even in its
formative and initiative period, and it soon mas
different message-perhaps from new field The note
Is its STYLE the message involves an exhibition OF
creative power Genius does not borrow lis nam
conceptions. As | have said ii reveals more or
less populous world of which it is the maker and
Snowman. Here it rises above taste. furnishing new
conditions, TO the stJdy Of which taste may proit@bly
apply itself 1t is neither passion nor imaSlnaton
but il takes on the and makes language OF tile
other Genius. of the universal kind, is never greater
than in impartng the highest interest TO good and
ordinary and admirable characters: while limited
faculty can design only vicious eccentric peronages
effectively. depending their dramatic vlllany or
their grOtesiueness for hold upon our interest.
yeron has pointed this infcriorty OF Ealzac and
Dickens TO shakespeare and MoeTe-and he might
have added to Thackeray also. In another way the
genius of many poets j, lmited-that OF Ros'Ctu OF
Poe, for exampe-poets Of few, though striking,
tones and Of isolated tempemmentS. Genius OF the
moro universal type is marked by sound and healthy
Judgment. What term cOmInon-sensc Is the
of
The least ratiocinatlve. Nearly every man has thus
spark of genius in the conduct OF life Just balahce
between instinct. understanding and reason or IN
telectual method, is truc wisdom IL requires years
for "A man Of constructive talcnt-a writer who forms
his pans in adyancc-for such man to learn to be
Oa>ite IN he obedient TO his sudden munitions and
TO modify his design accordingly You Will usually
do well to follow Clcw that comes to Non III IN"
heat OF worin fact, to lay aside for the moment the
mart that YOU had designed TO complete AT once
and 10 Law hold of the new matter before that es'
capes YOU. The old oacle-follow thy genius-holds
good in every walk Of life. Everything then, goe' to
show that gen!uS is that force of the soul which
works at it, own seemingly capricous VIII and season.
and without conscious effort; that it's utteianccN de
Glaze what is learned by spiritual and involuntary
discovery.
The clcarncsS of the poets or artists vision Is
so much beyond his skill to reproduce IT, and 50 in
crease with each advance that he never cutie contents
himself with his work Hence the ceasecss unrest ana
dissatisfaction of the best workman His ideal Is con-
stantly out of pach-a 1.-the perpetual escape
Mr. Stedman declared that an ounce OF the original
work of genius is worth pound OF comment ana
criticism
II will he remembered that Mr.. ChauEcey NJ Depcw
made some despairing observations IN regard 10
modern poctrv al the recent dinner Of the Federal
Club In Ncw-Nork. TO these observations Mr..
stedman referred as follows in the OF his lecture
Poetry think is 10 retain as OF old its literary
import and from time To time to prove hsch
force in national life, and this in spite OF the pro
nunciamentO Of the distinguished knckcrOucher WIN
whose epig and elcquencc the Baltimore Journalists
next month VIII be cnjOyaby regalci snare me
pride with which all Manhattanesc. and TIC sons OF
Yale especially, regard the chief OF our 'spelblndes.
but | read with equanmity MS GnenJ,is and