The San Francisco call., 1896-05-30

one hundred and sixteenth anniversary of
the birth of Thomas Moore. There was a
large audience which listened with great
interest and applauded 10 both the musical
part of the programme and the address by
John Mcknight.
There might be doubt as to the genuine
Americanism of some of the composers
represented on the programme. Raft and
Gottschalk, for instance. could scarcely be
claimed under that cad, but there was no
doubt about the poet of whom Mr.. Nc
Naugbt lectured, for it was Longfellow.
Mr.. Mcknight, who was introduced in
few appropriate remarks by the president,
I. r. Bahnerman, and was received with
applause, began his address by bearing a
high tribute, to Thomas Moore. II es-
TEEN it" he said, mo light honor that l
have been assigned part in celebrating
the anniversary of Thomas Moore by
programme of American music and song.
"He has sung a new sweetness into the
hearts of all of US. When we recall how
much of the music and poetry Uf our
American life has come from him, we
realize how much he has done for Amer
ica"
The remarks on Longfellow were pre-
faced by humorous ailusion to the fact
that while the Greeks gave winged steed
10 the poet. they had provided no Pegasus
for the critic, who has to get to the poets
height every time on foot, if he wants to
see what he is doing there.
"Longfellow's life" said Mr. McNaught,
''coincided with one of the great epochs
OF American liberty. 1t had to be deter
mined whether America should remain
one great indivisible country or be split
up into number of factionaI States"
The speaker described in a stirring way
how often poets and writers such as
Lowell had been spurred on by the emer-
gency OF the occasion to plunge into Jour-
nalism or politics, but of Longfellow he
said:
Through all the conflicts of that time
he went on writing sweet, beautiful poems,
comforting to the souls of men," In
stancing some of the poems written dur
ing that stirring period, the speaker al
luded to THE Village Blacksmith" saw
ing that in such stuff as was to be found in
that little blacksmith's shop at Cambridge
the poet saw the true strength of the coun-
try,
aloof from party patriotism sprang from
any indifference to the fate of this Republic.
Longfellow always had its interests at
heart, and in support of this Mr.. Nc
Naught quoted from ''The Building of
the Ship:
Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee,
Our hearts, our hopes. our prayers, our tears.
Looking back we can see how hight he
"oos AhC SlCdt luy-LnC huOS6
graves we are to decorate eto-morrow-were
all men of the village blacksmith type
'toiling. rejoicing, sorrowing.'"
After alluding to Longfellow's treatment
OF the problems of his age in relation to
his own county, the speaker turned his
attention to the relation his poetry bears
to the problems of thought and faith
around him. ut was an age of changes.
Old-established temples of faith seemed to
be crumbling into ruins. Carlyle could
hnd nothing In that age but shams aud
shadows, falsehood and hypocrisies. AL
fred Tennyson, when he was called upon
to solve the riddle, could only cry, Behold;
we know not anything Through all the
conflicts of that time Longfellow walked
| as sereneiy as through the war troubles.
he was not Indifferent to the skepticisms
ana doubts, but he looked at them with q
clear eye, for he believed that every con-
| hict and doubt would vanish when the
hght OF Gods truth dawned upon them.
Longfellow was poet charged to make