49 
LONGFELLOW. 
(With Choral Illustrations). 
By Rev. A. CHADWICK. March 31 st, 1908. 
Besides giving a biographical sketch of the poet and his life’s 
association, the Lecturer, in a racy and interesting manner, 
analysed and cited many of the poems. 
It was clear, he said, that Longfellow’s most popular poems 
were his best. He had always been a popular poet and 
appealed to the masses of readers from the first. His popular- 
ity was by no means waning but waxing and to-day he was 
more widely read and revered than ever. No fewer than 
twenty-four publishing houses in England had issued all or 
part of his works. Evangeline had been translated three 
times into German. Hiawatha could now be read in Latin. 
The poet always cherished a beautiful ideal of life, and the gist 
of his teaching may be summed up in the importance of 
a right purpose in life. Purpose is the science of living, and 
character is the purpose crystallised. That is the message 
that every age needs as illustrated in St. Augustine’s ladder. 
We are not obliged to separate the poet’s life from his work 
nor use flabby apologies for what are often called indiscretions 
and irregularities of life. There is no necessity to draw a 
veil over his life. His nature was essentially poetic and 
his life was incomparably grander than any poem he ever 
wrote. Whittier said of him on his death “ It seemed as if 
I could never write again ; a feeling of intolerable sorrow 
and loneliness oppresses me. He was beloved by us all,” 
and Gorrell’s testimony was “ never have I known a more 
beautiful character and I was familiar with it daily. His 
nature was consecrated ground into which no unclean spirit 
could enter.” One writer said “ life is thatched with 
illusions ” and there was a good deal of truth in the aphorism, 
but the power of a good life is no illusion. 
