P. 194, c. 2.—“Voss.” (1751-1826.) A German scholar. He was early in life a tutor, and afterward an editor at Göttingen. In 1778 he became rector of the gymnasium at Ottendorf. In 1781 he published a translation of the Odyssey, which has been the standard German translation ever since. He followed this by many original poems, an edition of Virgil’s Georgics, a translation of the Iliad, and in 1799 a translation of the Æneid. Besides these he made translations from many other Latin and Greek writers, as well as from the French and English. He engaged in several controversies with Heyne on literary subjects, and in 1819 an essay in which he attacked the Roman Catholic and the Protestant mystics, caused much discussion.
P. 195, c. 1.—“Faustus.” Dr. Johann Faustus, or Faust, is a character belonging to German tradition. “He was a celebrated Franconian, born about 1480. He is said to have studied magic at Cracow. Having mastered all the secret sciences, and being dissatisfied at the shallowness of human knowledge, he made an agreement with the evil one, according to which the devil was to serve Faust for full twenty-four years, after which Faust’s soul was to be delivered to eternal damnation. The contract, signed by Faust with his own blood, contained the following conditions: ‘(1) He shall renounce God and all celestial hosts; (2) he shall be an enemy of all mankind; (3) he shall not obey priests; (4) he shall not go to church or partake of the holy sacraments; (5) he shall hate and shun wedlock.’” Faust now is attended by a spirit, Mephistopheles, who invents all sorts of dissipation to attract him. He wearies of his life, but can not escape. Toward the end of the period he seeks the church, but all flee from him. At last he is carried away by the evil spirit. It is said that a man who was believed to have sold himself to the devil did live during the time of Melancthon and Luther. Goethe, in his poem, attempts to solve the mystery of the legend. He represents his hero as under the influence of evil that his longing for knowledge has caused, but does not permit the evil to gain the mastery in the end. Faust is represented as seeking and finding in a work which is for the benefit of others, the relief which learning, pleasure, art and culture have denied him. The selection here given is from the first part of the poem, where Faust is watching the sunset at the close of Easter Sunday.
P. 195, c. 2.—“Wagner.”—“Is a very dull pedant. All that Faust disdains as the dry bones and mere lumber of erudition, is choice meat and drink for the intellectual constitution of Wagner. No amount of our modern preparations for examinations would have been too great for him. He is charmed with dead formulas, and can not have too many of them impressed upon his memory. * * * The character of this ‘dry-as-dust’ pedant is admirably contrasted with that of Faustus.”—Gostwick and Harrison.
“Propagandist,” prop´a-gan´dist. One who devotes himself to extending any system or principles.
P. 196, c. 1.—“Rose.” In the Gothic system not only the rose was copied, but the oak, oak leaves, thistle, the ivy, the holly, and all leaves and vegetable forms that could be copied.
“Foliated.” Where the mullions or bars which separate the lights in windows are broken into curves, arches and flowing lines, and leaf-like ornaments are added, we have foliated tracery.
SUNDAY READINGS AND POLITICAL ECONOMY.
P. 201, c. 1.—“Forensic,” fo-rĕn´sic. Derived from forum. A place where court was held; hence, used in courts; appropriate to argument or debate.