The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1900-04-21
LITERATURE.
Lecture NJ Pref Hamfsea mssse IN
the Tesehers' Course.

At Assem- bly, hall lass evening Prot.
Hamilton Wright MAbis gave q very in
tsresting lecture on the subject, "I.itsra-
turs - Personal Recourse" This was
the final Of the series which have been de-
livered before the teachers Of the pubii,
schools this spring. and the talk Of Prof.
Mshis was ens OF the most delightful Of
the lot. Principal Marvin Of the hi
school In the Desring district introduced
the speaker OF the svenfns.
"a short tims ago was asked BY
friend," said Prof. Mabie. show I was
able to find so much time to devote to art
ana books when there were 90 many peo-
pie suffering. answered that it seemed
to me that It had never been more Inn
portant or . more wise time TO speak on
arts. aud books than today. There Is NO
more 90 a ,ring now than there has ever
bssn; but now for the first time there IL
Q world consciousness Of sorrow. The
most cultivated Roman could not have
known whss WAS happening In Asia
Minor as We can. There are hosts OF men
and women today who are unhappy be-
cause they have the consciousness OF 90
much sorrow end poverty which thsy
cannot help. am glad Of every eppor-
tunity TO speak Of good books. Our SUI
prsme need II the deepening Of the sense
Of life. What you and I need 10 not az
tended information hut the ability 70 do
what Is In Ne. what else has spoken with
90 much eicousnce a. the great books.
To speak Cor Dante; for Shakespeare dsa1
a -.
Gently gone from rs; for Browning, 10
would be an impe ftinsnce to speak for
suoh voices a. these. Itslieve there lies
In the message VII ich these great voicss
bring us something which we need a.
nothing else. A great book 10 not born In
the Individual consciousness. IL 10 Dor
In the living experisncs. Il has besn
said that the real poet OF the uisd and
Cd yssey was not the man who wrote
these books but the graees In them.
II wanted an expert would summon
Milton, who would tell ~ that the great
books contained . great masters spirit.
The key word Of Q great book 10 lie.
However perfect knowledge may be, 1t
has life aud passss. A mans sou will
live In IL to the end. What makes . book
Is the same element that makes an indi-
vidual, LIE. When the spiritual history
OF the race IL written II will To found
that the most thrilling moments are
those which mark the tran'fr Ct life.
When the old books were written you re-
mem her what happened. What thrill
swept on. The young men lift their Woes
and turned to their books. How has IL
happened that In the little county Of
So I'll and there have bssn fountains OF
poetry flowing century affair esntury.
1t Is not an accident A man Of genius
IL least CT all an accident. He is more
dependents ON his fellows than anybody
elss In this world. He can not work In
solitude. 1t In not what Shakespeare told
about himsslf but about ourselves. How
did he enter into the causes Of othsrsf
What would he have been without Dem
mark and Englandf Homer In Greece
could say anything because he had
fathomabie geniuA shakespeare could
say any thing because he had everything
behind him. Look into the soil and the
lifs bsh,nd him and you win see what In
terprets him. When the imsginations Of
PEOPLE awaken they are bound to come.
Ihs hest imaginable explanation Of the
scotch 10 that their Imagination has be-
come vitalizsd. Our Of their great book
has come the iaspiration Of vitalized
Imagination. What 10 happening to ma
tions and races 10 happening to iudivid-
uals venture to say that In speaking
to the men and women befrre me you
have at some time heard some yoios most
thrilling and from that hour life has
orsned up immeasurably on all sides.
1.-THE most charming quality in the
world Is freshness Of youth. The ex-
preston Of feeling is the quality Of the
great traits Of the interesting man and
woman. You and l know these people,
those souls with wings that fly. What
the artist does Is not to orsats somsthin
out of nothing, but to take something
which We have seen all Of our lives. II
doesn't take q great many characters to
make up human drama. This quality
Is In all great works and In all the great
men. Men and women who grow. carry
the spiritual quality Of each age with
them. This quality Of youth 10 always
women never grow old. visited Oliver
Wendell Holmes four or i've months be.
fore his death, and ! shall never forget
the variety OF talk which he turned out
In those three hours when was with
him. Il seemed to mo that ! had never
heard such q human icing having &C
much to say. As rose to 60 aad looked
upon his fragile figure / never felt 30
much the pathos OF extreme age. When
great race Is in its great moments 1t win
not stop. Because men were healthy and
wholesome they flung them selves into the
arena Of life and were willing to take
their chances. The secret of life Is to
trust ones own powers. The end Of life
Is not to escape experiences but to have
experiences AS long az the world stands
there won't be greater poet Of youtf
than Old Homer. The Odyssey Is the
greatest out door book In the world and