Goldsboro weekly argus. [volume] (Goldsboro, N.C.) 1885-1909, 1898-02-03
PROBLEM OF DESTINY.
The Lecture of DIR. Stafford on
Shakespeare's Hamlet.
Washington Post.

evening to listen to Rev. d. J.
Stafford, D. D., in his lecture on
Hamlet. The audience was one
Of the largest that has greeted
Dr.. Stafford in his course of lec-
lures, and more than that, il
was punctual in arriving, every
seat being taken before 8 Of clock
and many of the boxes being oc-
cupied. DR.. Stafford said, in
part:
1.-The world has advanced,
science has made progress, new
continents have been found, new
worlds have been discoyered. the
mind of man has enlarged, great
philosophers thought, great
artists wrought, and yet after
progress, discovery, exploration,
poetry, philosophy, art, and ad-
vancement; in all, Hamlet Is still
King-still the most interesting,
still the most fascinating, still
the most loved of all books, and
the dearest of all the productions
of the human mind. 1t is the
first we read, and the last we
understand. All poets, all writ-
ers, all thinkers have paid tribute
to it, and all minds of great re-
pute or small repute have medi.
tated upon it and loved it.
The work itself and every
word of it haye been the object
OF endless controversy, and there
are men who would rather eluci-
date passage of it than have the
gold of either Ind. Marvellous
book! What is the secret of this
interest? The first indication OF
the plot is in Saxo Grommaticus,
who died in 1904, but it is only a
crNde story of crime to which
Shakespeare is in no wise ln-
debted.
HAMLET WAS SANE.
Everybody must have a the
ory Of Hamlet, but since it is q
question of Interpretation il
ought to be based upon the text
The critics as to the mental con-
dition are divided into many
schools" Here DIR. Stafford gave
the several opinions. DIR. Stafford
stands for the sanity of Hamlet
and argues consistently and log
ically for it throughout. He gave
clear, broad, and satisfactory ex.
plantations of the conduct of Ham.
let in all those passages which
are most relied upon by the crit.
les of the other side, such as
Hamlet's actions after the scene
with the ghost and in his inter.
view with Ophelia. The famous
soliloquy Of Hamlet. DIR. Stat
ford maintains, is a meditation
on destiny and not a question !o1
suicide, and before reading the
lines he gives this explanation
and then reads the lines in such
a way as to prove it.
Hamlet" continued DIR. Stat
ford, ''is not, as some critics
maintain, the over-development
of the speculative faculty ano
the consequent dwarfing of the
practical. On the contrary, the
poet intends that his hero shall
be as great morally as he is intel
lectually sublime. For non-actior
proves the man more than &C
ton. Any fool can act, only the
man can refuse to act, or wait be
fore acting till his conscience i.
clear. Laertes is the foolish man
who 'dares damnation' and send.
all oaths and obligations to tn.
deepest pit. Hamlet waits before
| action. Laertes is the contrast
The poet delights in contrasts.
PICTURE OF SHAKESPEARE
HEART,
| Hamlet is the picture OF
Shakespeare's own heart, AM
signifies that melancholy O
genius which is never absent
from the great. mon est mag
mum engenium sine melancbolia.
It is the Judgment of genius
upon this life, that this life is no
enough to satisfy the soul Of
mao, and therefore man look
for another. It is the intuition o.
genius, Immortality, and this mel
ancholia is never absent from gen
ius. Homer felt it when he sang O
| the light he could not see: Milton
when he described the armament
shut out from his eyes: Alexander,
when he died at thirty, and Cesar
when he fell by the hand he loved
Every poet has sung it, every ar,
tist expressed it, every orato.
spoken, and Hamlet is Shake
speare's discussion of it, telling u
that this life is not enough. sThi
world is but a sterile promontory,
these majestlcal, overhanging heay
lens, fitted with golden FIRE, but
pestilent congregation Of vapors,
and life is not satisfactory, an,
yet what piece of workis man.
This is the meaning of Hamlet,
and it its undying interest. It
the problem of mans destiny
solved, and solved satisfactorily.
!, Af1ar YEARS IF untold snffar;rsr fro,