@ A nn DEVOTED TO THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE NORTH SHORE ||@) 
Vol. IV. No. 26 
MANCHESTER, MASS., SATURDAY, DEC. 29, 1906. 
20 Pages. Three Cents. 
HOURS WITH OLD AUTHORS. 
BY D. F. LAMSON. 
Sir Walter Raleigh(1552—1618) was 
one of the most accomplished men of 
his age—the typical Elizabethan—gentle- 
man, poet, historian, soldier, courtier, 
explorer, philosopher. His name _ is 
associated with all that was most brave, 
adventurous and chivalrous in the court 
of the Virgin Queen. For her. he 
named the portion of America which he 
discovered Virginia; and though his 
colonizing schemes were destined to 
failure, he became the pioneer of more 
successful attempts to transfer the in- 
stitutions of the Old World to the New. 
His later voyages to Guiana became 
memorable in his _ history, although his 
failure to discover a gold mine exasper- 
ated his royal patron, James I., and 
led on his return from his second ex- 
pedition to his arrest on an old charge 
of treason and his execution. It was 
during his imprisonment of twelve years 
in the Tower, before his last unfortunate 
expedition that he wrote his great work, 
‘‘The History of the World.’’ This 
work places its writer in the front rank 
of English authors. It begins with the 
Creation, and ends with the Fall of the 
Macedonian Empire, 168 B. C. It is 
written in vigorous English, and has an 
antique richness of ornarment reminding 
one at times of Milton’s prose; it is 
laborious and learned, without being 
heavy or dry. 
Besides his great work, Raleigh wrote 
on a variety of subjects, Crh as ‘‘Max- 
ims of State,’ “The Chief Arts of 
Empire,’’ The Invention of Ships, 
Anchors, Compass, etc.’? a ‘“Treatise 
on Mines and Minerals,’’? and between 
thirty and forty others. Nor did this 
fertile genius confine himself to prose; 
while not to be ranked with the great 
poets of his time, there is evidence that 
had he made poetry a serious pursuit he 
might have excelled asa warbler in verse. 
His poetry shows wit and feeling; Spenser 
had a high opinion of it. In his ““De- 
scription of the Country’s Recreations’’ 
is this stanza: 
“‘Blest silent groves! O may ye be 
Forever mirth’s best nursery! 
May pure contents 
For ever pitch their tents 
Upon these downs, these meads, these 
’ rocks, these mountains, 
And peace still slumber by these purl- 
ing fountains! 
Which we may every year 
Find when we come a-fishing here.”’ 
Some of his Sonnets are find in tone, 
imagery and expression. Milton was 
evidently familiar with them, and in 
more than one instance reproduced the 
construction as well as cast of thought 
of these earlier models. Perhaps one of 
Raleigh’s most characteristic conceits is 
contained in the lines worthy of a devout 
hymn-writer of the Middie Ages: 
“*Give me my scallop-shell of quiet, 
My staff of faith to lean upon, 
My scrip of joy, immortal diet, 
My bottle of salvation; 
My gown of glory, hope’s true gage; 
And thus I take my pilgrimage.”’ 
If Sir Walter never went to the Holy 
Land, he was a true knight of the Red 
Cross. 
From the death of Elizabeth, Raleigh’s 
star waned; with undiminished courage 
and energy, with his old love of adven- 
ture and passion for books, he still bore . 
on; but the man who combined the 
versatile gifts and graces of the English 
Renascence, who was the most striking 
figure of the age, was hounded to his 
death by jealous and implacable enemies, 
and came to the block after a trial which 
was a mockery of justice and which has 
loaded with infamy the memory of 
James. He died in the spirit of his 
famous apostrophe to death at the end of 
his History. Inanage of shows and 
simulacra, he was himself the great sub- 
lime he drew. His beautiful letter to 
his wife, written after his condemnation, 
is one of the most heroic and pathetic of 
human compositions; it is full of man- 
liness, tenderness, practical wisdom and 
serene and lofty faith. His enemies 
might inflict upon him imprisonment and 
death, but they could not daunt the regal 
spirit, or quench the immortal hope with 
which he calmly faced his doom. 
To Americans the life of Sir Walter 
Raleigh will always be one of romantic 
Continued on page J3 
CARD 
Guar Ss COLT RE, . 
CHRISTMAS AT 
THE CHURCHES 
Story of the Birth of Christ told in Sermons at 
Merning Services and by the Children at 
Concerts in the Evening. Storm of 
Night Before Kept many away 
from Church Sunday. 
The story of the Birth of the Saviour, 
and of the first Christmas was told at the 
churches last Sunday, in sermons by the 
pastors in the morning and in recitation 
and song by the children at the concerts 
in the evening. Many were kept from 
church by the storm of the night before 
which left the roads covered with more 
than half a foot of snow. 
AT THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH 
At the Congregational church the pas- 
tor, RevC, Arthur Lincoln, preached 
from the text: “‘and, lo, the star, which 
they saw in the east, went before them, 
till it came and stood over where the 
young child was.’’ (Matt. 2:9.) 
Mr. Lincoln reviewed the story of the 
wise men seeking him who was ‘‘born 
king of the Jews,’’ and how Herod, then 
the king of the Jews, was startled by the 
story of the wise men. ‘‘Critics have 
been inclined to question whether there 
was ever any star, or any light of any 
kind,’’ he said. ‘““They claim it must 
have been a light only in the minds of 
the wise men themselves. I do not care 
. what men say, I am absolutely sure there 
is a profound significance in the wise 
men and their following up this star. 
‘‘Wise men still see the star. Wise 
men have always followed shining ideals; 
they perceived it before Jesus and since 
then. Since Jesus came upon earth not 
only men like Abraham and Moses, but 
even the way-faring man perceives the 
shining ideals and in following it they be- 
come wise. Men who are ernest 
seekers after truth always come finally to 
their Star of Bethlehem. Not only is 
this true of those who have had a know- 
ledge of Christ inbred in them, through 
the generations past, but it is true of 
men who have first learned of the com- 
ing of this great truth in the world. 
“*The light that shone over Bethlehem 
Continued on page 17 
