The herald., 1898-04-17
Edited by Enoch Knight.)

NIGHT IN THE REDWOODS
The eyes that all day upward looked
feast
On sloping boughs, nor yet at twiligf
ceased,
Now see in trunk and branch and leaf an
spray
Diviner meanings than were felt by day
The trunks that tower high. look up an
out,
Like Faith above the underground o
doubt;
The stately boughs, the sprays so IA
above,
Encompass Faith with arms Of tende
love;
The little leaves are servants. fond ant
true.
Cup-bearers of the summer sun and dew.
These giant limbs, each spangled with I
star.
Seem spirit-st cps to heavenly lands a1ar,
And these w!de-spreadhg arms. held hgl
in air,
In quiet wait the answer to a prayer.
How still the scene! A century of calm
Lies wrapped within this night of blissfu
balm.
All still, save In tho soul q breath. a call.
~ bllEth VHhI IlO4tuS lIie IiSdib III eoiSAh
thraii,
One swelling pulse, one mighty undertone-
Coda voice down through the redwood
branches blown.
Clarence Urmy.
We learn from Mr.. Doxey, the famous
San Francisco bookseller and publisher
that he viii henceforth make more of a
business of publishing than heretofore,
having added to The field on the coast IA
cil!ties for distributing has books IN the
eastern market.
Mr.. Doxey deserves the large measure OF
success which has come to him, because he
has covered a legitimate field in egiti-
mate way. Success TO all his ventures.
A JUST VIEW OF WHITMAN-Of the
many things that have been said con-
csrning the basis of Walt Whitman's hold
on the people, the article in the Critic by
John Burroughs is one Of the best. His
view Is that Whitmans nobleness Of ma
ture has alwaye been understood and ad-
mired, and that this is the explanation of
the praise Of his poetry. or rather one en-
PLANTATION. We quote portion of the ar
ticle:
How shall We reconcile the personal fol-
lowing which Whitman, the man inspired,
and the personal absorption which Whit
man, the poet, demands and favors, with
the disiutereste edness Of pure letters? We
cannot reconcile them. We cannot simply
admire Whitman as We do the classic poets.
and cannot assume and hold an attitude tc-
ward him of critical impartiaity; we can
not take the work and leave the man out.
The work is not something apart by itself,
detached thoughts, rounded and completed
poems; it Is valuable and significant only
as the incarnation of man, and when we
accept it We are accepting man. a char
acter, personality that will surely influ-
snce our lives. His book does not beget in
US the aesthetic mood. but the human,
sympathetic mood. In his life, in his daily
walks and conversation, Whitman's atti-
tude towards his fellows was that of love
and comradeship; and In his Leaves" 1t
is the same; never the scholar, the critic
the mere thinker, the profess ioual poet
the didact!c teacher, but always the
brother, the lover, the comrade; always
concrete, human and spiritual relations
Hence his personal following; hence the
character of a gospel which his work pos
sesses. the disciplesh!p which it begets.
Here and there II comes to a reader like
revelation-he experiences something Ike
a sudden conversion; and whereas he came
to laugh or to carp, he goes away to love
and rejoice
GAMBLING WITH THE WEATHER.
It is pathetic, this business of the farmer.
He is in partnership with fate, that is his
fortunes are linked with the elements so
closely that he Is never for one day in sure
control of his affairs. Science has helped
him just little these late years, but only
a little. He is still the toy of nature, who
smiles on him and on the whole loves him,
but Is not indulgent for long time at
once, lest he get proud.
One instance of how this is, F. Whitmore
relates in the Atlantic. in an account Of a
Florida frost:
1--WE were in the field, perspirne r lin
ems. when the change came, with an abrupt
overcastng of the sky. A whiff like he
breath from a glacier struck us, the wind
blew each moment keener, and before we
fairly saw how it was our teeth were chat
tering. 1t seemed unbelievable; but pres
emily there was no doubt that a January
porther was upon us, two months out of
season. When we realized this, we set all
hands at work to earth over the half
grown potato vines. Only few hours of
the day were left, but the men worked des-
perately with hoes and plows through The
bleak twilight and much was done. But
not all. When we came out, shivering, in
the first daybreak, we saw that our shor;
harvest was to be lament ably shortened
We perceived now. at last, how it was with
us; we were not farming, but gambling
with the elements. The climate had been
merely toying with us, trump card of
spring frosts lying up its sleeve"
VICTOR sERENUS-A story of the Paul
ine era. By Henry Wood, author of
=, ''Studies in the Thought Word" Ideal
: Suggestion" Gods Image in Man"
. Edward Burton" The Political Econ
+, omy of Natural Law" etc. 12-mo
cloth. SO pp., s1.5O Lee & Shepard.
The scene of this newest piece of fiction
relating 70 the early Christian era is To-
Gated about the field of the Apostle Paurs
life work, and it deals very graphically
with the customs and religious systems of
that time.
The author In his preface declares thai
he has endeavored to respect the ha,lowed
association which cluster around the time
of the great apostle. He protests that. a.
though he has given a very broad and
liberal treatment to the subject, he is not
q breaker of idols. Paul is the main his
toric character, while Victor Serenus is a