The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1902-02-19
LECTURE ON HAWTHORNE
Earl Evans Delivers Sixth Lecture
in Classic Coerse.

The sixth lecture OF the classic literary
course was delivered at Plymouth Con-
gregationai church Monday night by Earle
Evans, who spoke or Hawthorne" The
lecture was an able ore and the speaker
held the attention 70 his auditors through
out the evening. He said in part:
Whether read more or less il is certain
! that Hawthorne is less understood than
any of the distinguished writer's whose
praises have been more too completely
sounded since this course began. He was
! born in Salem, Mass, July 4, 1904. and
early displayed a pre-disposition to color
all writing and conversation with the Pc
culiarly solemn thought summary con-
duct of his Puritan ancestors.
His chief occupation at school seems
TO have been to walk out into the woods
and write, as he said for amusement. but
as he always insisted that ever the sight
OF pen was obnoxious, l believe his writ
ing was inherent genius crowdng Tor ex-
preston.
1T would be tediously improbable TO
| take UP each one OF his romances and
shorter stories and show how the idea Of
guilt and conscience runs like a sombre
thread through them all. Beginning with
the very first and ending with his death
everything bore TINS mark prominently.
NO writer ever had more or severe
critics than had Hawthorne and no writer
OF note was ever criticised for so many
and so contradictory faults. First. he has
always been charged with being pessi-
mistic because of the lonely and in some
instances uncanny feeling his romances
produce, but his ability to harrow the
mind is not because of that but is en-
tlrely due to the vividness with which he
presented spiritual situations. 1t must be
remem bered that he was by Inheritance.
dfcnOcirfnv s1s,,
mad all of the intolerance and austerity
by which Puritans have always been
known.
The other criticism is his alleged lack
OF naturalness. The plots of his tales and
the situations of characters are arrayed
naturally enough in his mind but in writ
ing 1t is his custom to leave out all pas
Sion.''
Before beginning minute examina-
ton of Hawthorne's work we must study
the conditions with which he was envir-
oned- We must see New England, not
as che stands today, serene in her
matchless development, but shrivelled
and dry pf sympathy, dull of comprehen-
sion, superstitious by inheritance. there
was little to bespeak the present day
New England except their religion and
economy, which was no doubt the seed.
The hardships of daily life and their
needy financial condition combined to
make society anything but an elaborate
AFFAIR The country's general history
though important, exciting and even
spectacular, was brief and, compared 10
that of the older countries, from which
other writers drew, offered scant oppor-
tunity for literary establishment Dur
ing the formative period Of Hawthorne's /
life the population of the United States
was centered in New England. There I
was the American tte; the American
character and indeed everything else
American. Some New Englanders of this |
day Influenced no doubt by former COM I
parative greatness, or from an inherited
faith, believe that everything and every /
body worth mentioning now is in New
England. or at least originated there"
The speaker then took up 4 lengthy .
but interesting review of each of the (
sketches or books of Hawthorne. and /
from one to the other showed the charac-
ter of the man. 1t was the speakers
opinion that in no other works of litera-
ture was the character of the man so
clearly shown as in Hawthorne. From
The history of his life it was learned that
while at school he wandered away from /
the students. caring nothing for society,
but rather desired to be alone in the
woods. Hawthorne was man who was
given much to meditation, even while at
he Brook farm, where he spent the
greater portion of his time in the woods
Even by this he broke one of the princi-
)les of the colony, as it was organized
or the benefit of society.
Through all of the works Of Hawthorne
his meditative tendency was shown by
he speaker. The famous author would
mood.
Mr.. Evans had made an exhaustive
tudy of the life and works of Hawthorne.
'ut he thought this author would stand
great deal more thought and study
han he was usually given credit for