The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1903-05-12

MlllOQ, the SuDlluucSl VI oil poStoy A@
been discovered, it was a surprise, ant
was received with almost general in
credulity. But it is now accepted By
critics and scholars as genuine and au'
thentic, a veritable production by the
great poet who put the world under suct
obligations to him by his Paradise Lost
and the best of his lyrical poems and
minor inspirations generally. 1t is in
deed a literary event and a discovery OF
positive interest and value. 1t is called
Nova Solyma," and has been translated
into English by Rev. Walter Begley, OF
England. 1t is regarded as IAN Anony-
nous Romance" was written in the time
OF Charles l., was first published in
1913, and is the workmanship of Milton
when he was a young man, probably not
more than thirty. 1t has obscurities, i'm
Projections, absurdities and other
blemishes, it would seem, and yet it con-
tains not little of power, of excellence,
of true interest. 1t is a romance in prose
and verse. The able, scholarly Professor
T.. w. Hunt, of Princeton University,
discussing with much OF interest this
discovery in the New York Book
Lover" says at the conclusions: "Imper-
feet and inferior as portions of it are,
= no careful student can pursue
these pages without intensest interest in
the author and the teaching, nor can any
one rise from the reading without the
conviction once again renewed, that take
1t all In all, English literature has no
nObler name than that of Milton, and
the cause Of truth in church and State
had no worthier defender in his day"
The extracts in prose given suggest at
once the long known prose essays of the
great poet that no man of culture and
parts can afford to be ignorant of. His
ideas Of teaching, character, duty find fit
confirmation in this newly discovered
book now published in two volumes in
this country. Some Of the verses quoted
are eminently Miltonic in thought, tone,
structure, expression and impressiveness.
i cop a few of these:
'Oh, when shall these poor, longing eyes
OF mine,
Behold thy blessed Face, thy Form di-
vine?"
Read this from an inspiring Ode upon
the Sabbath:
Hail sacred day, forever blest;
Great type of our eternal rest.
Great gift Of Christ, our Lord!
IN Heaven this day our hopes we fix;
Though earth oft claims the other six.
To-day is God adored.'
One more selection from "Joseph's Ode
to the Angelic Choir:
20 young-eye6 choir Of angels blest,
Whn np'pr hv ain Or nriaa roceoccoa
Have perfected your Heavenly Rest.
But kept your first estate,
Come raise your joyful songs on high,
Let all the morning stars draw nigh,
Let antiphons of praise reply,
Our God alone is great"
Prof. Hunt carefully discusses the pre-
clous find" and shows it's character.
quality and interest. He says it has in
one place "a distinctive dramatic ele-
ment, and In the treatise there is IAN
exalted poetic element"
The multiplication Of Children's books
is Some are said by ccmpe-
tent Judges to be clever and good, while
a large majority are very poor. 1 am
sorry for the child with brains who is
FORCED to feed upon trash for children.
was Interested recently in what several
British editors and authors wrote of the
DOCKS they read in childhood. l supposc
all these were very bright children, far
beyond the ordinary children around us.
lney were not prodigious but endowed
with fine natural gifts. Some children
nave oeen marvels of precocity. You will
Ind in English literature such examines
JOhn y Mill road Lott. o~l u
but seven. Thomas De Quincy could
harangue a Greek crowd in Greek at
about eleven or twelve years of age. s11ch
was his astounding proficiency in the best
OIL all languages. But to the recent
writer's as to the books they read when
little boys. Joseph Conrad tells first of
himself, and then says that his little son
out nVe years old has read Grimm's tales,
anu even Lear. Max Pemberton says
ne read Robinson Crusoe and Grimm.
otrachy, who edits the great London lit
erary weekly called ''The Spectator"
says his childish readings were the Bible
shakespeare, Scott, Milton, Pope's trans
lation OF Homer, Waverly, etc. Rev. DR..
W. X. Nicoll. the well known Non-Con-
Iormlst editor in London. read Don
Qu1xote, Arabian Nights, etc. Clement
Scout, before he was six. had read Ara
plan Nights, Don QuiXOte, Heir of Red
clyHe, and Jane Eyre. The novelist. his
torlan and Member of Parliament. Justin
Mccarthy, read Arabian Nights. Robin
son Crusoe, Pope's Had, when quite
Arthur Morrison read Pilgrims
Progress, Grimm and Guy Mannering
1enry Newman read Sanford and Muir
ton. Andrew Lang, poet, critic, historian
ana novelist read Arabian Nights. Scots
rooms, Shakespeare, when a little fellow.
conan Doyle read Robinson Crusoe. Alice
IN wonderland and so on. You can see
from this something of the reading of
little eliow in Great Britain who came
10 something in manhood, and were sue
cess1ul authors. My observation is that
"nen you meet with people of really Gull
tlVated and refined tastes, who love good
literature, who read the greatest liyine
autnorS ana are not neglectful of ..the
great and sceptered sovereigns who sill
rule us from their urns,'' to quote
Byron's immortal and splendid thought
are quite apt to have read works nv n.s
tiers in their youth.