The Portland daily press., 1895-04-04
ME-. BELLOWS LAST TALK.
The Relation of Literature to Religion.

In the last lecture of his course on the
Relation of Literature to Life, given yes
terday afternoon. at the First Parish house,
Mr.. Bellows sought to show that, though
literature did not and could not have a
special religious purpose, yet indirectly
and very powerfully the greatest writer's
of the world have served the cause of true
religion. Because all life is moral. he great
authors. who interpret lite TO us, cannot
fail to teach many - profound moral and
spiritual lessons.
Attention was called to the five literary
forms of some parts of the Bible, where,
as in the story of Ahabs and JezabeI there
is much dramatic power. Certain passages
of the Psalms and Prophets and the Book
of JOB are splendid pieces of literature as,
well as natchless words Eof the spiritual
life. The hymns now sung in our churches
are better, from literary standpoint, than
the hymns of Watts. Doddridge and others.
In the dialogues of Plato there is high relig-
ious inspiration as well as wonderful lite
raiy form. The plays of Aeschylls and Sop
hocles enforced tremendous moral lessons.
particularly the inevitable certainty of the
doom which falls upon sin. n comparison
made here with Mrs. Wilkins story
of ''Jane Bipld.'' where the New England
womans conscience takes the place of an
avenging Nemesis to hound her to her
doom, although wrought out with subtle
skill by Hawthorne in Tho Scarlet hetter'
The Romans had less of the religious
genius, nut in Lucretious 'Nobler than his
mood, and in the dialogues of Cicero we
ind the out cropping of the religious ma
ture. Oantes peculiar attribute is holiness.
Even the punishment OF the wicked is
'the vindication of Gods ways to man, and
some of the lovely passages of the Purga-
torio show the more tender'attrihutes of
the poet saturnine. Goethe. though he
"apprehends the spiritual, is not spir-
itual but in the Faust he is far
too wise to ignore the great laws
of the development of the oul.and, in the
conclusion. Faust redeems himself by his
unselfish service to humanity.
Shakespeare,th though not first of all re-
Jieious teacher. teaches the terrible conse-
quences the that follow every swerving from
the right path, as the disolations that
comes Into Macbeth's life and the horror
of himself that 5efalls the king in Ham
let. so that he cannot pray. In the So
called "dramas of Reconciliation, Shake
against ourselves that we could aad should.
not forgive. Balzac, sometimes tcalled ethe
French Shakespeare. as the secretary of
society, depicts much of vice and cruelty,
but his books not therefore immoral
Wickedness is never made attractive, nor
the end of evil pleasant The same could
be said OF the two plays we have recently
had acted and read in this city. The Sec
ond Mrs. Tanqueray and A Dolls House. In
both there is the inevitable punishment of
sin. coming sssure and certain.and even mis-
takes are punished as they are often like
sins.
In modern fiction there is the same ap-
rearance of the religious element. Though
George Eliot woman she is one
of the great teachers Of human needs, rhe
certainty of punishment for every sin, no
matter howsslight; Mrs ssWard is-conspicuous
for ber fairness to every shade of creed.
and in her novels introduced much of
theology.
in poetry, the religious note is struck by
many a modern, poet. led by WoIdsw ortb.
There is much of doubt and questioning in
Tennyson. Arnolds and Clayton. though
all seek earnestly after Faith. Browning is
the greatest poet of Faith, and the very
note OF his writing is Goods in His heaven.
Alls right with the world He does not
ignore evil, but holds fast to spiritual reali-
ties in spite OF it. Another optionists is
Walt Whitman; and with the reading of
this poets hymn of Heavenly Death, the
lecture closed.