NORRFESHORE Bite Zit 
HOURS WITH OLD WRITERS 
Continued from first page, third column 
sent himself in so untidy appearance, 
Herbert explained by telling how he had 
met on the way a carter whose horse had 
fallen helpless under his load, and assist- 
ed the owner in getting the poor beast 
on his feet, thus accounting for his sorry 
condition, and he continued, “‘if I had 
neglected this act of lndness it would 
have planted thorns in my pillow, but 
now the memory of it will be to me as 
songs in the night, and now let us tune 
our instruments.”” 
Of Herbert’s wedded life, we have 
this pleasing picture drawn o. the same 
loving hand: ‘“The Eternal Lover of 
mankind made them happy in each 
other’s mutual affection and compliance; 
indeed, so happy that there was never 
‘any opposition betwixt them unless it 
were a contest which should most incline 
to a compliance with the other's 
desires.’? Herbert was no less devoted 
a son than a husband, and with the ex- 
ception that he was childless he seems. to 
have enjoyed to the full the cup of 
domestic happiness. 
Herbert’s character was as antithetic 
as his own poetry seriously humorous, 
gravely gay. His nature found natural 
expression in quaint conceits, far-fetched 
analogies, quips and pious puns. He 
reflected the somewhat strained and 
NOTICE. 
All persons desiring Articles inserted in the 
Warrant for the Annual Town Meeting to be 
held on Monday, March 4, 1907, will place them 
in the hands of the Selectmen on or before 
Saturday, February 16, 1907. 
FRED K. SWETT, 
EDWARD S. KNIGHT, 
WALTER R. BELL, 
Selectmen of Manchester. 
NOTICE. 
The Board of Registrars will be in session 
for the purpose of receiving evidence of the 
qualification of persons claiming a right to 
vote, at the Police Station on Wednesday 
evening, Feb. 13, from 7.30 till 8.30; ai the 
office of the Board of Selectmen, Wednesday 
evening, Feb. 20, from 7.30 till 8.380; also at 
the same place on Saturday, Feb. 23, from 
12m. till 10 p. m, at which time registra- 
tion closes. 
WM. J. JOHNSON 
JAS. H. RIVERS | Board of 
CHAS. DANFORTH [| Registrars. 
ALFRED S. JEWETT J 
Manchester, Mass , Feb.5, 1907, 
“any one generation. 
bz ( 
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artificial religion of the 16th century, an 
age of the metaphysical subtlety of 
Donne and Quarles, and of the elegance 
and refinement of Carew and Sandys. 
As a writer, Herbert is best known by 
his poetry. Of his prose writings, 
‘“The Country Parson’’ is deserving of 
more readers than it finds in these days. 
The work, though no doubt unconsci- 
ously to the author, may be regarded as 
the writer’s portrait of himself; the pic- 
sure reproduces the daily life of the 
saintly village rector. He is conscious 
that he sets a very high standard for the 
sacred office, which he justifies, “‘since 
he shoots higher that threatens the moon 
than he that (aims at) ao tree, “y slty is 
Herbert’s poems, however, which have 
won for him the laurel. Even these, it 
is true, are not of a popular cast. Ther 
Sdmniters will not be very numerous in 
To enjoy them 
one must be able to penetrate beneath 
the unfamiliar and sometimes fantastic 
garb in which they are dressed, and to 
seperate the gold from the ore in which 
it is embedded. But if the lines are 
often full of odd fancies, if his versificat- 
ion is sometimes rugged, these are 
blemishes: which we meet with still more 
frequently in other poets of his time. 
And even where the style is involved and 
unnatural, the thought ‘is often replete 
with beauty. If the stuff in which these 
poems are arranged is somewhat antiquat- 
ed and formal, and lacking to our 
modern ideas in flowing ease and grace, 
its stiffness and primness are those of 
heavy embroideries, and stately silks, 
and rich brocades. 
Herbert’ s poetry isfull of the philosophy 
of common sense; it is rich in practical 
wisdom enlivened occasionally by gleams 
of shrewd humor. Its author, though 
naturally a recluse, was evidently a keen 
observer of men and manness, and he 
sharply satirises many of the follies of 
histime. ‘The prevailingtone, however, 
is devotional, and even ._ mystical. Her- 
bert was a churchman to his hearts’ 
core; the name of his principal work, 
anne Temple,’’ the titles of its ae 
divisions, and its structure thoughout, 
reminds one of a treatise on ecclesiology. 
One can hardly open a volume of his 
writings without finding a gem on almost 
every page; as in the aphorisms of the 
‘Church Porch,’ > many single poems of 
great beauty, as ““The Elixir,”’ 
““All may of Thee partake, 
Nothing is low or mean, s 
ays x* * x * 
Who sweeps a room as for thy laws 
Make that and the action fine;”’ 
the verses on Virtue, 
“‘Sweet Day, so cool, so calm, so bright, 
Bridal of the earth and sky;”’ 
on Sunday, 
-“’The Sundaies of man’s life, 
Thredded together on Time’s strung, 
Make bracelets to adorn the wife 
Of the eternal glorious King. 
* i x * * * 
Thou art a day of mirth; 
And, where the week-days trail on ground, 
Thy flight is higher, as thy birth. 
Oh, let me take thee at the bound, 
Leaping with thee from seven to seven; 
Till that we both, being toss’d from earth, 
Fly hand in hand to heaven!’’ 
If some think of Herbert as a dreamer 
and visionary, they must certainly allow 
that there is a practical vein in his poetry; 
‘“By all means use sometimes to be alone; 
Salute thyself, see what thy soul doth wear; 
Dare to look in thy chest, for tis thine own, 
And tumble up and down what thou findest 
there.”’ 
Herbert lived at just that period when 
the English language had not lost its 
freshness and when it had begun to gain 
the power of expressing abstract ideas. 
He was in his young manhood when the 
King James Bible appeared, the standard 
of racy, idiomatic, clear and forceful 
English, soon supplanting earlier and 
ruder versions, and still remaining the 
great movement of English literary prose, 
notwithstanding all that may be said of 
the excellences of modern revisions. 
He felt the intellectual stir of the age, 
and in his quiet parsonage drank deep 
draughts of its poetic and religious spirit. 
His mind was an alembic which distilled 
precious liquors and healing medicines 
from far-gathered herbs and flowers. 
Letters remaining unclaimed at Manchester, 
Mass., P. O. for” weekmendimometchums: 
Fred Bowles, M Cahook, Harry Cox, L P 
Collins, N Doane, Mickael Finn, Mrs. Sarah 
Grifhn, Noyes T Lewis, Miss J Miriam Pope, 
Everett Robbins, Miss Grace Robertson, Mrs. 
Willard Robertson, Mrs K Swanson, Miss 
Amelia Schayer, Mrs T Charles White, Miss 
Gertrude White, D Wagman, Mrs Elizabeth 
Winson. 
SAMUEL L. WueEaTon, P. M. 
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