The Dillon herald. [volume] (Dillon, S.C.) 1894-????, 1921-12-08
EXCURSION IN THOUGHT
The Value of Literature i'm Develop
ing the Emotions.


Ii is very commonplace fact
that practically every man and wo.
man and every boy ard girl is in love
at sometime during their respective
lives. All have alike been created so
that they fall under the universal
sway of that all-compclling power
sooner or later. No one would at any
time like to make the rather unfor-
tunate admission that he or she had
never at any time during their lives
been in love. Some people would pre-
tend to be rather reluctant to admit
that they had ever had such a COM
monplace experience. Yet to deny
having had such an experience is to
really make a self-admission that they
had not had the qualities that make
them attractive to some one. 1t would
be tantamount to an admission that
they were hopelessly mediocre. ire
vCcably commonplace, and without
that power necessary TO win the re
gard of some one. To have loved and
lost is Il far more endurablc fate than
to have never loved or been loved At
all.
And yet while all human beings
are subject 20 the thrall OF love,
there are few who ever make il
their interest to study the vast liter
aturo thar has built M around this
extremely fascina'ing subject Let
some one advertise lecture under
-, title How To Il. HaDpv Tho
Married" and the last sea, will b."
taken and tho "Standing Room Only"
sign will b., hung out. Poorlo are
willing 70 taI,a tro word or son.
itinerant lecturer or some peripatc-
tic rcformor upon this subject. but
they never open their minds 10 the
vast treasurers of literature which
deal with this subject. 1t is quite
true that many people read and en-
- -" finest love poetry but the "o-
"""''"'''- net j. that those are a
..o'l;'r.
f- .--e ,r. saving that tLe
lives of the great lovers of history
are the most irsnirinr or all bior-
i-raphies Once q nreachar Iat mo in -
spect a volume of = set of hooks in
his library entitled Love Affairs of
Great Men" and II proved to be one
of the most fascinating of all the
boe,s en- biocrarfly that have ev-
"r seen. No bov or girl could read
those fascinating accounts without
..7i"v rhat 2f;.r all Love was
something to be taken seriously.
Never shall | forget the accounts of
the love affairs OF that great polit-
cal wizard of France. Gambetta. To
have browsed over the volume was
a privilege that l shall be very slow
ii forgetting.
1t would enhance our appreciation
OF Dante's great poem The Inferno
if we were aware of the fact that il
is n titanic monument to his sweet
heart Beatrice. The ma "nificcnt
works of Goethe would unfold their
hidden beauties to us more rcadi-
ly if we knew through his biography
of his numerous love affairs. The
most interesting book that one could
read is one entitled Love Letters of
Great Men and Women" for therein
we would havt revealed to us the
deepest sentiments Oh IN" human
hcart. 10 nave uhioio"d 10 us the
prolouhuest depths ol human emo
uon coula not but purify our spirits
eEnoDle our minds ana Great" VIII
IN us deeper ana ilrmer resolve 10
i"Ve ."orthilE ana sun more Worthl-
J. should that eNperlehc" laii TO US
Sometime ago it was my exquisite
pleasure to translate from the
French that delightful little memior
of Remains entitled my Sister Hen
rietta." There is something re-
markable about the love that Re
mans sister bore for him. AT times
1t seemed to me that she loved her
brother more than his wife was ever
capable of. AT any rate, she shall
go down in history along with Mary
I,nmh nf those sisters who