A Literary Evening Members of Union Church Literary and Social Guild, at their meeting on Wednesday, were greatly entertained with a paper by the Rev. A, N. Rowland, a.a., on the subject of "Autographs in Literature." It was, perhaps, necessary for Mr. Rowland to explain that his theme Was not the ingenious sport of finding out a name like that of Francis Bacon distributed at intervals among the lines of Shakespeare's plays. It was, rather, a looking into literature for a personal reflexion of some of the master minds, with the object of discovering not simply what they thought, but what they were. Biography or autobiography was not the fina] measure of a man. The speaker illustrated his theme by noting the distinction drawn by liver Wendell Holmes between the three Johns: (1) the John as his, friends think him to be (biographical); (2) the John as he thinks himself to be (autobiography ical); and (3) the John as he really is) as he appears to his Maker—"the self behind the frontage," as H. G- Wells puts it. This was what he wanted to get by looking for an author's self revelation—his "autograph" in literature.
Did Shakespeare reveal his personality in his plays 1" According to. Mr, Frank Harris, "Hamlet" afforded the clue; but the speaker was of opinion that Shakespeare was not looking through Hamlet's soul, but over hi is shoulder, as iff success. were. And on this interesting point, Dr. George Brandes, the Danish Professor of European fame, observed that Hamlet, Prince that he was, never would have complained of ''the proud man's contumely."" This expression sounded more like @ cry wrung from the creator of Hamlet. Mr. Rowland quoted the German critic, Scharf, who believed that the man Shakespeare could be discovered through study of his fools, whose place of detachment in the dramas permitted them to indulge in irenic comment, who served as a suitable mask for the artist's own opinions. Mr. Rowland concluded that the surest glimpse of Shakespeare's autograph is to be found at the close "The Tempest," where Prospero provides the pivot of the play in fault of a hero.
Tae Parrarte Kyicur.
Similarly, Mr. Rowland discussed a number of literary men, from Spenser to H. G. Wells, giving brief but most interesting analyses of their work and pointing his remarks with many excellent references. Of Spenser he said that his "autograph" was represented in "the very parfaite genti] knight," and by his deepest conviction of beauty for good and evil. Defoe had written himself down as the prototype of "John Bull." Milton's autograph was masterliness and solitariness, admiration of beauty and intolerance of tyranny, Carlyle,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.