Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-01-09
DR.. j. w. Hancher, President of I
w. u, Thus Treats Job.
AUDIENCE is GREATLY IMPRESSED
Successful Session of Brotherhood of
st. Paul of First Methodist Church
Held Last Evenins-A Short Must.
cal Program is Rendered.
tFron Tuesdays Daily.l

dramas or life God is all and in all,
are the closing words of Dr. j. w. Han
cher in his paper delivered before the
brotherhood of st. Paul at it's meet
ing held last evening at the home OF
j. H. Morrell, on North Market street
JOB was taken as the subject of the
theme which HAD for it's principal OBJ
lect the study of the book, not for its
literary worth or genuineness, but as
character study. About Job
the interest of the story all
centers, with the favor Of men upon
him and the confidence of God in him
he is a mighty character. The story
OF his suffering, his steadfastness of
character amid trials, his perfect sub.
mission to the will of his God his
prayers to God in behalf of his friends,
and his reward were all told in most
clear and forceful manner and as the
tetnng OF it proceeded new ideas as to
the character Itself and new conce;,-
tons of the justice with which God
deals with the human race were I'M
folded to the listeners by the eloquent
words of the speaker.
Successful Meeting.
There was large number of the
members Of the Brotherhood present
at the meeting held last evening. w.
A. Work as president of the organiza-
ton called the meeting to order and
after the opening prayer by Dr. A E..
craig a short business session was
held. Reports of the various commit
tees showed that considerable work
mad been accomplished since the last
meeting. Several committee meetings
were arranged that they might better
consider the plan, the work to be
done by the Brotherhood. An instru.
mental solo by Mrs. ]. H. Morrell fol-
lowed by vocal selection by Miss
Esther Work were very greatly appre.
ciated. At the close of the address
by DR.. Hancher a social time was in.
dulged in during which refreshments
We're served.
Dr.. J. w. Hancher's Address.
At the close of the musical numbers
w. A. Work in few fitting words in
troduced DR.. j. w. Hancher, president
of the Iowa Wesleyan University, who
addressed the meeting as follows:
These are days of evolution in lit
erary thinking, and especially in
American literary thinking. The Eliz-
'abethean Age gave to the world lit
erature far-reaching and comprehen-
sive; rich in historic allusion, climatic
In Nits dramatic touch and flow It's
fault was the too oft lack of delicacy.
1t was complete but lacking in dis
elimination. The strides of advance.
ment have been rapid in many things
and the Victorian Age must needs ex-
purgate ere it indulge review C much
that did not offend the most aesthetic
sense Of the illustrious predecessor.
The Bard of Avon, fully abreast of the
advantage, need, habits of thought and
forms of expression of his time lives
Today the master dramatist of the En-
gnsh tongue of any and every age, de.
spite the attainments of the Victorian
evolution. The modern Anglo-Saxon
press teens with the hack work of
many, the mediocre thinking of some
and the mellowed, ripened products of
the few; but none has surpassed and
none has equalled the lover of Anne
Hathaway. Intellectual hunger turns
still to the genius of Shakespeare
Whether he shall ever have a peer or
be surpassed let others debate; mean
time let us inquire of the ages long
ago:
There was man in the land of w,
whose name was Job; and that man
was perfect and upright, and one that
reared God and eschewed evil" Just
when this man was and where he was
and who he was, the book that bears
his name has not defined. Job he
was, but of his ancestry naught we
know. OF Uz he was, but what was
w or where? Hebrew poetry makes
him live in literature because of in
spiration; and he himself makes green
his life in history because of charac-
ter. Critics say he was of the Patri-
archs, or with them contemporaneous.
Again they say he lived long ago as
Moses; still others think him late as
David's wise and wealthy son; while
many think him not to have been at
all, except in the creation of some He
brew poet, who gave his name to the
of living dramas. Significant
inquiry points the story as IAN old
legend wrought up and sustained
throughout with poetic freedom" TITS
significant that the Hebrew scholars
regarded Job as a character historic.
It's only in later times that the legen-
dary theories are advanced. AS to
literary merit, what matter if the sto- /
ry of Juliet had been given by Luigi
de Porto or Bandello long before the |
Bard of Avon wrote Romeo and Juliet
Is there less of literary merit or dra-
matte power in it because of that +? |
That SaxoGrammaticus who died in |
the dawn of the thirteenth century
(about 1904 had written the history
of Hamlet or "Hamleth," does not de-
tract from Shakespeare's mighty crea-
ton of the Prince of Denmark. "But
that am forbid to tell the secrets of
my prison house I could a tale unfold
whose lightest words would harrow ,1p
thy soul, freeze thy young blood, make
thy knotted and combined locks to part. 4
and each particular hair to stand ON
end like quilts upon the frctful porcu- |
pine" as much doth thrillethe marrow
of ones bones as though the original |
lty of Shakespeare's genius had not
been called in question; and know
thou noble youth the serpent that
stung away thy fathers life now wears
his crown" as bitter penge to human
hearts doth carry, as though unoues,
TONED history it We're and true.
IF the