The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-09-24

- -- -------- Atlantic so qualified by experience, edu- cation, and a knowledge of the higher politics of two continents to discuss pres- ent-day questions.
 It Is not to be wondered at therefore, that this distinguished son of Oxford should still hold the ear of the cultured public, but 1t Is a matter of remark that one so far advanced in years should re- tain such a keen interest in contemporary events and movements and wield such an Influence by pen and voice. The aged professor Is occasionally seen on a public platform, though with less frequency as the relentless years take their toll. He has often spoken on behalf of the farmer at agricultural gatherings, and has fur ther evinced his sympathy with labor by appearing at conventions. such as that of the Typographical Union, which met in Toronto in Augusta of 1905. In his opinion war seems to have commenced between capital and labor, 'and who." he asks, "can forecast the morrow7"
 It is rich privilege to hold intercourse with such a man, in his sanctuary of books, in his Temple of Peace-he who speaks with a master voice on so many themes-"the friend and champion of democracy, liberty, and peace among the nations," as Prof. Schurman has char acterized him.
 Naturally the conversation will drift to subjects literary. Asked for his opin- ion of American literature, he replied that one could hardly say that there is an American literature as distinct from an English or a Canadian literature. Of course there are always local themes to
 be treated, such as the historical. Tho writing of Amrican history has vastly improved in his recollection; it has, inc deed, reached the English standard. Admires Poe.
 Among dstinctively American writers Edgar Allan Poe had, in his opinion, tho poetic spirit and temperament developed more than any other. Have you noticed" my host asked, that there is no poet anywhere at the present time-certainly none in the first class? In fact, there is no living poet of high rank in any na- ton. There have been similar eclipses l before. Tn spirit bloweth where it lis- teth. You can never tell when or from 1 where a great writer of verse will ap- pear. Imagination seems of late to have found It's voice in novel writing"
 Among his favorite authors are Thack-
 cray and Balzac; Scott, with whom in reading you enjoy intercourse with a
 truly noble gentleman" Jane Austen,
 "a little female Shakespeare" and, to a lesser degree, George Eliot. Bacon's "Es- says" he regards as marvellous conden- sations of wisdom in language the most majestic Macaulay's Essays are un- riyaled too cock-sure. Melbourne said he 1 wished he were as cock-sure of anything as Tom Macaulay was cock-sure of every thing.
 | If you want perfect rest counsels the 1 professor, turn to Cowper's Task" All AScotchmen should, in his opinion, cherish Burns, and he would join them if they would let him take the poetry without ha val fnr many reasons, but chiefly for the glimpses he affords of a passed-away generation. For political and theological novels. Dr. Smith has no liking. Let us have our politics and theology straight" he pleads ] Lambs Essays of Ella are ever charming. In English history he gives high place to Knights Popular History. In biogra- 1 phy. Boswells Johnson Is supreme. In ] poetry Chaucer scars, singing joyously as a skylark In the literary dawn. Never be tired of reading Shakespeare, further l counsels the master of the Grange" The more you read him the more you will find ! in him. The first six books of Paradise Lost are about the most sublime of hu- man compositions. With the stirring age
 of the revolution came a galaxy of poets
 of the deeper kind-Byron, Wordsworth.
 Shelley. Coleridge and Keats. And last we had Tennyson. supreme in art and the mirror of our own age, with its science, l
 And as the learned scholar thus chats
 pleasantly about the master of litera- 1 ture. past and present, the eye catches l sight of shelf full of books with his own l imprint, the produce of nearly half a century of literary activity. His "Polit- | ical History of the United Kingdom was
 described at the time of its publication ] as tho most notable volumes ever written j on Canadian soil, in the preparation of i which the author collected material for forty years.
 A Worker at 82.
 Goldwin Smith has been worker; he | is worker at S2. The forenoons have been specially devoted to his literary la
 bors in his library, and this is among 1 the regular habits of his life that ac- count for his well-preserved health. He | is assisted by T. Arnold Haultain. himself master of refined English and we'll known contributor to the best English and American magazines. My excel | lent secretary knows every book in my 1 library" was the professors compliment for his efficient helper.
 1 Adjoining the library prUper is smaller one, the original one of the Grange. and in line herewith the Cromwell room. the dining apartment of the old mansion. | Here the Lord Protector looks down from above the mantel on the mahogany table. | The portrait Is replica of the we'll known f1OTentlne picture or the com monweath King. Other famous faces peer from massive frames. notably the | four great Johns, Hampden and Pym, Milton ana Bunyan, quartette of men who have constituted historical subjects for the owner of the canvasses For neighbors in oils they have the Earl of Essex, Fairfax, Yane, Andrew Marvell and many another worthy of the olden | time.
 | Other portraits there are, specially in- teresting because they represent Gold win Smith in his earlier years. One