The Republican journal., 1901-05-09
q exoeedinolx great and hard to bear.


In vOicing our appreciation Of his noble
qualities we know that we express the feel
ings of the entire community, for his sphere
of duty, of friendship and sympathy, was
not confined to his own parish, and his in
fuence and personal interest embraced the
whole.
Resolved, That we extend to his grievous-
ly stricken wife our heartfelt sympathy,
realizing that our SOrrOw-great as it isis
not to be compared with the deep grief that
overwhelms her. May God sustain and
comfort her.
tered upon the. records and copy be
sent to Mrs. Leighton.
The following communication from the
church at Fairhaven. Mass, was read, and
ordered to be placed on the records of the
Parish:
Washington Street Christian Church,
Fairhaven.
Vote of sympathy passed at service April
We, the members of this church, having
heard with deep grief of the death on
April 23rd Of the Rev. j. NJ. Leighton, for
many years our beloved and honOred Pastor,
desire to place upon record an expression
Of our esteem and Of the the
the graces and principles of the Gospel he
preached, proving himself to be, in his in
tercourse with US, a devoted minister, q
Christina gentleman, a public spirited citi-
zenn q a0Yal friend. We extend to Mrs.
Leighton our tenderest sympathy in the ex-
perience which came so suddenly into her
life, and which brought to her heart the
sorrow of great bereavement.
NATHANIEL POPE, Clerk.
The yesper service at the Universalist
church Sunday evening, under the auspices
of the Young Mems Association, was well
attended. The musical features included
4 alone the cross must BEAR" quartette
with tenor solo by Ralph H. Mosher, and
favOrite hymns by the choir and cOngrega-
tion. The address by the pastor, Rev. A.
A. Smith, on ''Good Literature; its choice a
duty of young men and young women"
was both interesting and instructive. He
first defined the word literature, which is
enormously used as including. everything
that is printed; such as agricultural litera-
ture, religious literature, sporting litera-
ture, patent medicine literature, and so on
through the whole scope of printed matter.
Among the many good definitions of litera-
ture he would adopt that of John Morley
"Literature consists of all books, and they
are not so many, where moral truth and hui
man passions are treated with certain large
ness, sanity and attraction of FORM
Under this definition much that now passes
for literature would be discarded. Many
works attain to large sales, but are worth
less as literature He cited authors and
books coming under both classes-the true
literature and that which falls below the
standard. Many persons read along the
lines OF least resistance, and consequently
take the lighter fiction. Ralph Waldo
Emerson once said that when he saw new
book advertised he read an old one. The
average reader reads one book per week.
Fiction occupies larger place in the public
reading than it should. The records of the
larger public libraries show that so per cent.
Of the books taken out are fiction. The Bel
fast library makes a better showing than
this. The proportion here is about Is per cent
1t is an open question whether the public
library is an unmixed public benefit. 1t is
the province of the library to instruct
rather than to amuse; or, as Matthew Arnold
says, ''to form men: to give us an insight
into human life Cicero said: "A home
without books is like a body without a
SOUL" The man who makes a study of one
great book, as the Bible or Shakespeare,
reads hundreds. The Bible stands at the
head of the literature of all ages and all
languages. There is no other book so
worthy of our study. Mr.. Smith then cited
some of the masterpieces of literature in
the Old and New Testaments, as each
standing pre-eminent in its class. How are
we to know good literature? The answer is:
Apply Morley's definition. Of the many
books published very few outlive their
authors, some last year or a few years,
but the great majority fall dead from the
press. Good literature reflects human life;
it deals with moral truths. We should re-
solve that for every modern novel we read
we should read one standard work Good
literature elevates us by giving scope to our
vision, breadth to our lives, and awakening
religious ideas. 1t ennobles life, and should
be sought by all for the advancement it
gives in all the higher and better qualities
of mind and heart.
CENTRE MONTvILLE. Frank B. Jackson
went through a defective scaffold floor last
week and sustained a fracture of the collar
bone. May 1st, Harold f. Cushman cut
his foot severely with an axe. DR.. Ramsay
was called. Your correspondent wishes to
take back all that he said in last weeks
issue of The Journal about Mr.. and Mrs.
W. A. Poland's ''girl." born April I'D, as he
was mis-infOrmed. The child belongs to
the sterner sex and we hope he will live to
be deputy sheriff. Levi Smith of Farm
ingtOn is trimming carriages Nr " ThOmp-
sOn......J. c. Carey's herd of six cows
were all killed last week On account of
tuberculosis. Nv. F. White and family
have moved into Locksley Ness house in
West SearsmOnt. Mrs. f. L. Bennett is
quite sick -. Miss Della Kane is teaching in
South Liberty, and Miss Josie Kane is
teaching in Liberty. 49, William F. White,
who lost his house by fire April 26th, has
sold his farm to Walter J. Bean The
Centre school began May 9Th, with Mrs.
Stephenson as teacher. The school in the
Frye district has been discontinued and the