Daily Kennebec journal., 1908-06-23

I IL
1-livetl to disgrace, a noble, and an out
cast, the hero and the traitor"
| The subject of Miss Grace e. Hol-
brooks grafton was "A. Plea for Lady
Macbeth" Her words were to the
effect that the world of today casts
too much blame upon Lady Macbeth;
that people look upon her as a cruel,
| ferocious woman with no scruples
whatever, that the people look upon
Macbeth himself as Il poor misguided,
weak man who was easily led to do
evil by his despicable wife.
! Miss Holbrok did not try to justify
Lady Macbeth's crime but she did try
| to show that the conception of Lady
| Macbeth as a cruel, fierce, woman
brandishing couple of daggers and
| inciting her husband to butchery, was
| too common.
| In rebuttal of what the critics say
of Lady Macbeth, Miss Holbrook tried
to show that there We're women of to-
day just as bad as Lady Macbeth;
women who sacrifice the happiness of
| friends, the honor of children and the
principles of husband-even sell their
own souls-and all for petty baubles
which the beautiful Scottish woman
| WORLD nave ScOrneu.
Miss Holbrook then ran over the de-
tails from beginning to end of the
| crime of which the Macbeth's were the
| actors. She described the great
agony the lady underwent in trying
to bring her mind into that hardened
state which should not hesitate to do
anything that she thought was for
the benefit of her husband. 1t was
for him that she plunged her soul into
the depths of sin; it was on account
of her undying love that she finally
50 hardened her soul that nothing
could turn her from her purpose.
| In conclusion she said, Surely the
world in spite of the involuntary shud-
der il feels in the presence of the
beautiful criminal must give her lit
tie share from it's store of pity. Her
crime was awful, but it was the result
of the over development of grand,
God-givcn powers, not the outpOuring
of vicious, degraded soul. Lady
| Macbeth cold, steely, sclf-contained-
| IN intriguing schemer, was yet a wom-
| an '+t.
Miss Alta Brush, the next speaker,
had for her subject, "Anglo-SaXon Su-
premacy" She told how the Anglo
SaXons settled on the English coast
aboHt the middle of the fifth century;
how they came from Il cold, sterile
tract of land in Lower Germany; how
they vanquishcd the powerful Danes
but We're finally subdued by the Nor
mans. From this period on until
| the 14th century AnglO-SaXon
England was in the background but
then they pushed TO the front again
and now over one-fourth the popula-
tion OF the world is ruled by the Anglo
| Saxon race.
| Miss Brush then went on to dcs-
| cribc their characteristics and custom
of which they have many. In con-
clusion she said, "These are the char
acteristics which have brought the
| Anglo-SaXon race to its acknowledged
pre-cminnce. But there is still oc-
| casion and need for the Old aggressive
energy, the daring, the persistence.
The tasks set by Providence still call
for brave souls. The Old vigor and
fire are wanted to subdua nature, to
beat down public wrongs, to dislodgc
false principles, to plant ir the world
the best AID highest ideals This is
the robler field which is waiting for
the modern Ang;o- Saxon
Joan of Arc was the subject of
Miss Grace E. Haincs' speech. Very
ably indeed did she bring out the
true facts of this great wnman's life.
She paid 70 her memory these glow
ing tributes, ''Thc woman to be most
admired in history the most to be
praised, the most to be vencratr'i.
and yet the woman whose fate is most
to be pitied and deplored
As q queen in single generation,
as the most beloved woman Of all
generations, Miss Haines said Joan "f
Arc had no equal. She said "Wc adj
mire the beautiful Helen of Troy, the
fair and unfortunate Queen of the
SCOTS, furnishes an example of unri-
vailed devotion and sa"rtiC" for her
country, but" she said, "can they COM
pare with this woman of the middle
ages born in a dark, sad. and turbulent
period of strife and suffering?
Miss IIanes went on to show how this
woman came to the rescue of her coun-
try in it's darkest moment; how she by
much pleading succeeded in being placed
at the head of the French army and
how victory after victory followed this
achievement. Her closing words We're
given to describing the sad fate of one
whom the world has since mourned over.
Then in conclusion: "JOan of Arc seems
indeed a being like Jesus, sent from a
higher sphere and like Him endowed with
Divine communication and like Him even
at the last in her final sacrifice and mar
tyrdon Her inspiration WAS sum
mons from God. revcrbcrating through Il
whole people and concentrating its power
in the cXaltation and agony of single
SOUL
William Amos spoke on THE Blessing
of Labor" q subject that was very we'll
developed by him. He said in part that
man was destined and designed for an
active and constructive career That the
peculiar dignity and endowment of this
nature requires for its exercise and OK
5 prcssion that he live a life of positive and
productive activity and usefulness in the
world Suited to these capacities for
industry as though to compel their eX-
ercise. is the world in which We live
} lie said that instinct with the possible
| for ppc