The farmer and mechanic., 1909-10-26

est and power One OF his mOs'
original and striking productions Is
Don Juan a work | cannot com
mend although Of very impressive
scenes and splendid specimens OF
poetic originality ana ardOr. 1t Is
really full Of power and improprlety
and indecenc.es. one English critic
SAYS that never were shining gold
and black 1nien 50 induStrlOuSly
heaped together. 1t IS q poem 70 De
censured and avoided. And Yet II
Gverruns with genius and splendor and
folly and impurities.
A Scotch critic who writes with ap-
probation and insight Of Byron holds
that Byron was 'ultimus Romano
rum'-the last, and with the eXcep-
ton Of Shakespeare and Milton, the
greatse purely English poet WHAT
ever his ultimate rank among the
leading British poets, he viii among
those who really appreciate splendor
and grandeur and clearness always
hold a proper and unmistakable atti-
tude among the foremost poetic great
ness of the very productive nineteenth
century. There are serious defects
open to criticism, and yet that is su-
perb merit. The same Scotch critic
cited above, holds that his poetry
was the mirror of himself" and that
tent reproduced in all Of his poems.
Critics have all along disparaged him
and his works with conceding genius
and unmiStaka bic riches of produc-
ton | have mentioned some Of his
greatest triumphs There are others
of rare quality and high poetic inspi-
ration In Heaven and Earth and
the vision of Judgment you will
find rare wealth and beauty and pow
er. The Corsair" has been most
praised by some critics, and there are
many minor poems OF really superior
quality not to be overlooked. The
proba bilty is that Byron Will never
cease to be read with real poetic in
terest and enthusiasm by thousands
of English and American readers.
There is too nucn Of the brilllancy
and power Of real poetic art and in
spira ton in Byron for his best pro-
ductionS to ever die. An excellent
English scholar and critic, Prof.
Thomas l.. Shaw, eminent and much
read fifty years ago. held that Byron
was q consumInate artist, and al
ways retains q complete conscious
ness and self-command. Whatever his
failures and shortcomings he was
really of high artistic quality and con-
sciouSness. he may have lived d very
unreasonable and censurable life, but
he gave out manifold signs OF genius
in great abundance and interest. Such
was Byron from q somewhat hurried
and doubtless insufficient glance.
Having lived at Oxford most Of
my time in my early days. until [ was
about thirty. and Later still was there
for some six or more years, | am na-
turally partial to that village of mark
ed attractiYeness and culture in the
past. No village Of its size between
1910 and 1850 possessed more gem
uine cultivation, as l am convinced.
and in this L include the whole
South. I have written Of this before,
and refer to it again for q special
purpose. Oxford has had a rather
unique population ever since it was
but a crossroads. in 1856, when Rev.
Hugh McAdden first passed by it, or
perhaps a little later. BY the way he
mentions a Baptist church on Fishing
creek, at which he preached as early
as 1856. a fact that has escaped the
appreciation and attention of Baptist
ministers. MIR McAdden thence went
to another section OF the then great
old country in the same year, and
makes q most striking memora BILE
statement concerning the people in
that section, and at so early time
/ have not his account by me, and it
is many years since ] read it, but
/ recall that he said that he found
the inhabitants intelligent, hospital ble
refined and hungry for the gospel.
That, rem ember, was not far from the
middle of the eighteenth century
But that was not what made me to
take my Faber in hand at this time
/ recently thought OF the fact that
early in the last century Oxford was
we'll equipped for that time with edu-
Gated physicians and other citizens
then Il tiny village. Two Of its physi-
clans were alumni Of the University
of North Carolina. DR.. James Ridley
and DR.. James Young. Their names
appear in the Journal OF the Uniyer-
sity. In their old age, when / was
but q boy [ knew them we'll. Oxford
had fine schools by perhaps 1925, and
the graduates We're met with later T
recall, when | had attained my ma
jority, and they We're to be found all
through the eastern section Of the
State. IIOrnerS great male school did