, , . „ , , * , .
jA. ibf : , L - . * . v
Conservative.
LACK OF HARMONY.
Dr. Henry Van Dyke of Princeton ,
lecturer in the Y. M. C. A. Star course ,
spoke in Detroit recently upon
' \ "The relation of life and literature in
the nineteenth'century. . " ' - Dr. Van
Dyke confined himself , in his lecture ,
to the literature produced by the Eng
lish-speaking people , British and Ameri
can.
can.He
He said that there should be unity
between them , that Americans should
claim Chaucer , Milton and Shakespeare ,
that Emerson , Longfellow and Lowell
Were 'merely transplanted , and that
' 'Kipling did his best work in'America.
He thinks that what English literature
lacks is harmony between the two Eng
lish nations , and that they should work
hand in hand for the progress of the
human family. Here are a few of his
sayings in epigram :
"Literature takes its local' coloring
from the place where it is produced , .but
its great spirit is universal. ' .
"Any one who cuts himself off from
Shakespeare as an inspiration , outs
himself off from all literature.
"Literature is that art that stands
closest to the people , and has the most
direct influence upon life.
"A man cannot study books by jbhe
laboratory method ; books that are
written solely for art's sake , are not
books at all.
"Bead books that have 'a ; living mes-
I sage ; that express life and reveal it ;
that cheer and console and encourage.
* "There is something wrong about the
young man or woman who cannot enjoy
the works of Walter Scott. "
Dr. Van Dyke dwelt upon three
schools of writers , the romancer , the
irl ' realist and the idealist , and said that
1 * every good book contains all three ele
ments. He classed Sir Walter Scott as
the first real .writer of historical ro
mance , and called Thackeray and Dick
ens t\yin stars of English literature.
Criticise Too Severely.
Dr. Van Dyke thinks that Cooper lias
fallen too much into disrepute , and that
v
if ' many small-souled critics pick him to
pieces , when they could not write a
story as good as "The Spy , " or "The
Last of the Mohicans" to. save their
lives. Hawthorne , he calls , "that
strange , mystic genius , " and Carlyle , a
writer who descended upon society with
many mutterings and lightning flashes ,
but who preached the gospel of "Do
your duty and do it today , " and that
John Buskin's creed was "Buy nothing
that has been produced by the shame or
; ' * ' degradation of any human being ; noth-
tf \ \ ing that is not useful , or that you do
not believe to be beautiful. " He said
that the works of such men * as Herbert
Spencer and Darwin did not have th'e
same'demand-as novels , but that they
were germinal , and their seed spread
from one mind to another.
Dr. Van Dyke paid a ihigh tribute to
ho women writers of the nineteenth
century , including George Eliot , Mrs.
Ward , Octavo Tlmnet , Miss Jew.ettMiss
Willdnsand others. , Ho likes the old-
fashioned novel , with the hero and
neroine , and that ends happily , but says
that he never read a scientific .novel that
was not cranky.
"Poetry , " said Dr. Van Dyke , "is the
fairest flower on the tree of literature ,
and if I had to choose whether my chil
dren should be taught mere foots or
should possess a sensibility for poetry ,
I'd rather they would believe the world
was flat , and that electricity is an insect ,
than to have them lack the ideal as it is
expressed in real poetry. " He classed
Wordsworth , Browning and Tennyson
together among the poets of the past
century , and calling Tennyson the last
great poet , saying that the message that
he taught was the harmony of life.
Detroit Tribune.
"WINTER QUARTERS. "
The above name was given to the
village which was formerly located
on the. present site of Florence , in
Douglas county , Nebraska. The ac
companying extracts , bearing upon
tlie rise and fall of ' ' Winter Quar
ters , " are taken from an old book
published by the ' ' Latter Day Saints' '
and placed in our hands by Mr. H.
*
H. Harder , of St. George , Utah.
Readers of the Conservative will re
member descriptive notes from this
book published in our issue of March
6. The author says :
" ' . ' This
'Winter Quarters. name
was given to the place , by the Latter
Day Saints who wintered there in
1846-7 , in their progress from Illinois
to the West. At that time it formed
patft of the lands belonging to the
Omaha Indians , an insignificant tribe
of the Grand Prairie , who then did
not""number more than 300 families.
Upwards of 1,000 houses were soon
built 700 of them in about three
months , upon a pretty plateau over
looking the river , and neatly laid out
with highways and byways , and forti
fied with breastwork and stockade.
'It had too its place sof worship ,
' Tabernacle of the Congregation , ' and
various large workshops , mills and
factories provided with water'power. '
At this time the powerful Sioux.were
at war with the Omahas , and.it . is
said that the latter hailed with joy
the temporary settlement of the
journeying saints among them. At
any rate the encampment served as
a sort of breakwater between them
and the destroying rush of their
powerful and devastating foes. The
saints 'likewise harvested and stbrec
away for them their crops of maize , '
and with all their own poverty fre-
* *
qnently spared them food , and kept
them from absolutely starving ; Al
ways'capricious , and in this case in
stigated by white men , .the Indians ,
lotwithstanding they hart formally
given the Saints permission to settle
upon their lands , complained to the
Indian Agents that they wore tres
passing upon them , and they were
requested to remove. From this cir
cumstance is attributable the rise and
rapid growth of Kanesvillo , leaving
Winter Quarters again entirely to . 'its
savage inhabitants , and only its ruins
to point out its former prosperity , and
now its situation.
"In the annals of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints ,
this halting place in the wilderness
must always fill an important and in
teresting page. It was from this spot
that the Pioneers took their depart
ure on tlie 14th of April , 1847 , in
search of a location west of tlie Rocky
Mountains , upon which the exiled
Saints might re-assemble themselves ,
far from the haunts of persecuting
Christendom , and where the foot
prints of a white man had scarcely
ever before been seen. While tarry
ing here 'the first General Epistle of
the Council of the Twelve Apostles ,
written after the expulsion from Nau-
voo , and dated December 23 , 1847 , was
addressed to the Saints of all the
world ; and lastly the re-organization
of the principal authorities of the
Church was effected on the Gth of
April , 1848 , at the Log Tabernacle in
Iowa Brigham Young being acknowl
edged President of the Church , and
Heber C. Kimball and Willard Rich
ards , his counsellors. The Presidency
left Winter Quarters for Great Salt
Lake Valley in the .following May ,
many of the Saints having previously
left for that place , and others haviiig
re-crossed the river into Iowa. Since
the organization of Nebraska Terri
tory , an effort has been made , owing
to the desirable situation of Winter
Quarters , and its good ferriage and
water facilities , to build a city by tlie
name of Florence upon the old site. ' '
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