El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1917-12-06


I factions, feudalism, conquest, caste,
! dynastic wars, ans splendid eXcep-
{ tiOnal characters and affairs, which
{ have been great; but the new world
/ needs the poems Of realities and sci
! ence and Of the democratic average
: and basic equality. which shall be
! greater" wrote Whitman. And DIT.
I Bradley showed how the man dared
/ to be himself in life and poetry liv-
ing on serenely and unfette-ed
! midst Of q society not ready for him;
I a world Of conventions and artificiali-
/ ties and unnatural morals: called by
I critics a ''mOssback' and likened to
hound yapping along-standing
amid all our false conventions,
I natural, simple and true.
Perhaps his only come back" was
I in the beautiful poem dedicated to
: him who also had been crUcified and
prosecuted. oh to be Selfbalanced
| for contingencies. To confront night,
storms, hunger, ridicule. accidents.
reDuffs, as the trees and animals do"
cried he in Me ImpertUrbe-"
We have gone a long way since
" hltmauS death. p years ago, ana
! think more about liberty declared
the well known local minister. 1.-THE
beauty OF his song is greater than
that of TennySOn. And as d religious
Z interpreter, there is none greater in
the world. In the poets own words.
4 say the whole earth and all the
stars in the sky are for religions
sake
I say that the real and perman-
. eut grandeur or these states must be
their religion;
otherwise there is no real and
permanent grandeur;
Nor character nor life worthy
the name without religion Nor land
nor man or woman without relig-
iou.)'"
Why should I wish to see God
better than this day2 I see something
OF God each hour of the u, and each
moment then. In the faces Of men
and women see God, and in my own
face in the glass. / find letters from
God dropt in the street and every
one IS signed by Gods name.
ana l leave them where they are. for
/ know that wheresOe'er 1 20, others
VIII punctually come for ever and
ever
And yet neither he nor Abraham
Lincoln belonged to "A church.
NO one has struck the keynote OF
democracy in America in so few
words or greater force than has Walt
Whitman
4 speak the password primeval. 7
give the sign of democracy. BY God.
1 viii accept nothing which all can
not have their counterpart Of on the
same terms"
said Mr.. Bradley: whitman. the
poet Of the American ideal, was great
enough TO associate with the rich and
poor the farmer mechanic, artist,
gentleman. sailor. quaker. prisoner,
rowdy, lawyer, physician, priest He
moved IN all strata of society with
out being embarrassed he could IN
derstand the soul He also believed
in equality of seX-he stood for wom-
ans justice and declared himself to
be the poet OF the woman the same as
n D. IA Tsa "a Z
the belief that men and women were
human beings and stood on a plane
Of equality. He also believed in
equality of race-the divine right Of
all men 10 stand on their own feet
ana hold their heads erecr-"the dear
love Of man for his cOmrade. the at
traction Of friend TO friend, Of the
well married husband and wife, Of
children and parents, Of city for city
and land for land"
That the poet ecognized the dan
gers threatening America, the cor
ruDtiou, decadeuce. aFtificiaiity. DR..
Bradley proved by reading certain
prophetic lines that struck the birth
pangs OF a great spiritual thrOb that
would unite the nation Lines writ
ten so many years ago and yet be-
speaking America in 1917:
Long, too long America
Travelling roads all even and peace
ful you learn'd from joys and
prosperity only,
But now. ali. now, to learn from
crisis Of anguish. advancing.
graphing with direst fate and
recoiling not
And now TO conceive and show to the
world what your children en- Eaasse
really are"
At the conclusion Of the mastery
address, Mr.. Bradley was given an
ovation. second only to that extended
his charming wife, who spoke to the
club a week before
Mrs. D. V. Fennessy. a favOrite in
FL PSsO's musical circles, opened the
program with a violin selection. skill
fully playing "Kinawiak," with Miss
! Julia Pool at the piano.
At the conclusion Of the afternoon.
1 the audience listened rapturously TO
/ Miss Eva CrOsby's rendition Of Tsch-
/ aiskOwsky's Caprice Espa gnol."
which this young school girl played
/ with captivating nuance and technical
/ skill that would have done credit to
. one far her senior and which reflected
special credit TO the guiding hand Of