The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1896-03-19
PRoF. MINIS on SOUTHERN LITER
ATLj RE-

large audience, composed OF MEM
hers of all denominations was present
at Trinity church on Tuesday evening
to hear Prof. Minis lecture on Southern
literature. Very few towns in the
State could furnish such an audience
for d purely literary lecture. The grow
ING interest of the people of Durham
in literary matters is frequently noted
by her citizens nowadays.
Prof. Minis started off by saying that
the South was naturally the home OF
literature. The fire and passion Of the
Suthern hearts, the beauty OF Southern
landscapes, and the dauntless chivalry
Of Southern wives, lend themselves with
Deculiar force to the artist. New Eng
land has furnished TO the world almost
all of the distinctly American ltera-
ture. This demands some explanation,
which can be only suggested IN such
a brief time The lecturer referred TO
the differences between the foundation
of New England and the Southern
States. The unit of New England so
ciety was the village; the community
life asserted itself in church, local gov
eminent, public school system, colleges,
libraries. etc The unit of Virginia
society at first was the plantation; peo-
pie lived far apart: richSouthern plant
ers were a world unto themselves.
They had the finest culture to be had
they sent their sons to England or the
North to be educated, but built up no
system of education for the poorer
classes. This gave rise to individual
prosperity and refinement, but pre-
Guided development of community and
state life. In public libraries, in maya
zines, in publishing houses. III all that
fosters the love of literature and affords
a market for Literary products, the
South was behind the North. Letters
were read from William fillmore
Simms, Sidney Lanier, Poe. Hayne and
others, to show the lack OF literary att
mosphere in the South. The speaker
spoke enthusiastically of life in the
old South, of the elements of refine
ment to be found there, but said that
we must realize that the South has not,
as a whole, developed the culture life.
Speaking of the need Of public libraries
in the South, he urged upon Durham
the necessity of having ones and hoped
that it would soon come.
After speaking Of the hindrances in
the way of the development Of South
ern literature, Prof. Minis referred to
the leading authors Of the South.
While, in a sense, Poe belonged to no
section, we might claim him as South
ern. His wild, reckless life, with all
its passion and agony had one redeem
ing feature-his love for Virginia
Cleum. This love, supplemented by the
woe that came to him as he watched
her aging year by year, became the
theme of his poetry that unsatisfied,
uncomfortable sense of the fate that
awaited him. Poe's theory Of poetry
was that it must express beauty, and
that beauty was at it's best when there
was "a certain faint of sadness" Upon
this theory Poe wrote his wonderful
strains of melody and sadness. a NUM-
Der of his poems were referred to.
Besides Poe, the lecturer read charac-
teristic productions Of Timrod, Hayne,
and Lanier. He then spoke of the new
school of story writer's that had come
into prominence since the war-authors
that had made the South known in
England and America--Cfaddock Ca
Bile, Page, Johnson, Harris and Allen,
He said that Uncle Remus was perma-
nent contribution to the worlds char
acters of fiction. These authors have
revealed great powers in developing
different aspects of Southern life.
The lecturer closed by saying that
there was great hope now that with the
waking up to new life in all lines, with
more and more attention paid to the
aesthetic, the South win some day have
literature that shall take it's place
with the literature of other countries.
Song passes not away and all our
struggles and misfortunes, our raptures
and joys, will find expression in the
author of the future.