Entered at the Post Office at Richmond, Va., as Second Class matter. Address all business communications and remittances to WM. ELLIS JONES, Business Manager, RICHMOND, VA. Subscription price $1.00 in advance. Specimen copies 10 cents. WM. ELLIS JONES, PRINTER, TWELFTH ST. 169 TEACHERS WANTED! Send stamps for FREE REGISTRATION Plan and American College Directory Supplement. AMERICAN TEACHERS' BUREAU, Evans Buildings, St. Louis. Venable's Arithmetics, Maury's Geographies, and Holmes' United States History. Books will be mailed on receipt of above prices whenever they cannot be obtained of local dealers. UNIVERSITY PUBLISHING CO., Feb. 90-tf 19 Murray street, New York, JOSEPH GILLOTT'S THE MOST PERFECT OF PENS. FOR FINE WRITING, Nos. 303, 604, and Ladies', FOR BROAD WRITING, Nos. 294, 389, and Stub FOR GENERAL WRITING, Nos. 404, 332, 390, and [Outlines of two lectures delivered at Richmond College by Professor H. H. Harris, L.L. D.*] The so-called University-extension movement, which was set on foot in England some years ago, has nowhere in the South met with a warmer reception than at the hands of trustees and faculty of Richmond College. For several years the professors have been inviting the general public to sit with their classes at certain periods of the course, and they have always had the pleasure of lecturing to large and attentive audiences. By influence and example Professor Harris has been among the most active promoters of this potent scheme for disseminating classical knowledge, and his lectures have been better attended and have awakened more general interest than any others of the learned and entertaining series. His public lectures in 1888-'89 discussed "Greek Orators " last year "Epic Poetry" was the inviting theme, and this session the lecturer related the history of "Lyric and Melic Poetry" and their impassioned singers. 1 Epic poetry reached its zenith as early as 850 B. C. and then rapidly declined, to be succeeded about 700 B. C. by new and more varied forms. Epic recitation had been supported by the twanging of a solemn harp. This new species was accompanied by the lighter and more graceful lyrewhence its name. The causes of the change, though deep-rooted, are not hard to ascertain. There was a change in government from regal to aristocratic and then to democratic. Even at Sparta the kings preserved only the name, for their power was hampered and overruled by the Ephors. Priam, Hector, Achilles and Odysseus were no longer the models of proud nobles who had lost respect for Zeus-born kings, nor could their exploits interest the assemblies of people rioting in new-found freedom. The time was one of intense activity. Commerce was extending, colonies were springing up, civil and barbarian wars were waging, and the mighty *Reported for the JOURNAL by Prof. F. W. Boatwright. contest with Asiatic powers was fast approaching. It was not an hour when men could look quietly back at a glorious past, for all their energies were absorbed in social and political questions pressing for immediate solution. This was the period of the nation's youth. In childhood the Greeks had loved the stately hexameters of heroic verse; in manhood they would learn to appreciate dramatic presentation; between these must come the period of surging passion, intense self-consciousness-the days of tumultuous love and daring ambition. Epic poetry is objective, impersonal-the poet hides behind his work and draws inspiration from his theme. Lyric is subjective, personalthe poet pours out the present emotions of his own soul. The masterpieces of Burns and Father Ryan afford unrivaled illustrations of these characteristics. There is no great breadth of thought, but profound depth of feeling. The sources of lyric poetry are found in the early hymns used on religious occasions. Such were the Paeans or Nomes in worship of Apollo; and the Dithyrambs in honor of Dionysus. Early in the seventh century these old popular forms of poetry began to be taken up and cultivated by men of higher rank and better intellect. DIVISIONS OF LYRIC POETRY. Comparatively little of the great mass of Greek lyrics have come down to us. They were composed for the times and naturally perished with what gave them birth. They may be conveniently grouped under two heads as Transitional and Genuine Melic. The former is subdivided into Elegiac, which was written in distichs and adapted to laments and epigrams; and Iambic, written in verses and adapted to satire and symposia. The divisions of Melic poetry are Lesbian, which was written in stanzas and sung of love and wine; and Choral written in strophes and used for worship. The dialect of the first two divisions was Ionic, of the last two Aeolic and Doric respectively. The dialect was permanent, irrespective of the nationality of the writer. All sorts of themes are treated in each kind, but those mentioned are most usual and characteristic. I. ELEGIAC POETRY. The origin of the name is doubtful. Probably it is a Lydian or Phrygian word-imported, as the music certainly was. This poetry was used originally at funerals, then made a vehicle for all sorts of strong emotion. In form it departs very slightly from Epic. The longer Elegies seem to have opened in a strain of wildest excitement and gradually cooled down to the point for vigorous action. Solon's Elegy on the recapture of Salamis is an admirable illustration of this. At this point Professor Harris with realistic description sketched the Elegiac writers: Callinus, the reputed inventor of rythm; Tyrtaeus, the lame schoolmaster; Mimnermus of Smyrna; Solon, the poet, lawgiver, statesman, and founder of the Athenian republic; Theognis, the blueblooded Bourbon of Megara; and lastly, Simonides of Ceos, the celebrated epigrammatist. 2. IAMBIC POETRY was first and most frequently written in trimeters. In several respects it is antipodal to Elegiac, for that descends and this ascends. The interest, slight at first, rises as we approach the end of the poem. Its rythm is very familiar, being that of the great body of English poetry. It was especially adapted to satire, but was used for many other purposes. Archilocus, its reputed inventor, born on Paxos, a mountain of purest marble, went in early manhood to hunt for gold amid the Black Hills of Thrace, encountered all the vicissitudes of frontier life, loved with intensest passion the girl he left behind him, returned poor, was rejected by her father, had all his passion turned to gall, and poured it out in bitterest invective. His later years were equally turbulent, and he fell in battle, bemoaned as one of the brightest wits ever known, and ranked by the Greeks as second only to Homer. Simonides, of Amorgos, was a respectable merchant of narrow views and morose temper. Two of his works survive—a piece of shrewd advice · to his son, and a fearful satire on woman. This lecture closed with a brief reference to the Fables of Æsop and the fashion of impromptu toasts at feasts, both of these being commonly in Iambic verse. The second lecture discussed MELIC OR SONG POETRY. Genuine Lyric or Melic poetry may be roughly divided into personalsuitable in form and sentiment for a solo; and choral-suited for a group of voices, accompanied among the Greeks by dancing or graceful movements in harmony with the thoughts expressed. 3. EOLIC SCHOOL. This species sprang up at Mitylene, on the island of Lesbos, under the genius of Alcæus and Sappho, and was successfully imitated by Anacreon of Teos, resident mainly at Athens. Its character is best explained by sketching the lives of its principal authors. Alcæus lived in troublous times. The oligarchy to which he belonged was twice overthrown by tyrants, who in turn fell by assassination; and |