Brown and White Vol. 5 no. 30

              the fourth lecture of the series on early english literature was delivered by mr emery tuesday evening jan 25 the title of the lecture was " langland's visions of piers the plowman a brief synopsis of the lecture is as follows : in the fourteenth century english society was on the arti ficial basis of the feudal system the composite character of the population norman french nobles and english peasantry did not tend to unify the interests of the inhabitants of the island as a result of the social discontent of the lower classes caused by op pressive legislation the common alty rose in open revolt contem porary with this democratic assertion of insubordination were increasing enlightenment and moral earnestness which produced a genuine improvement among all classes and prepared the way for the coming reformation we may reasonably expect to find this state of affairs mirrored in the unique literature of the time and we actually do in the productions of wycliffe gower chaucer and langland in the latter especially do we have pictured to us the oppressed con dition of the lower classes " langland's poem is but little known even to students of litera ture the majority are satisfied to take chaucer as their guide and journey with him from the tabard to canterbury incidentally noting on the way the various genial characters and here and there catching a glimpse of the apparently joyous and splendid english social life of the time ; but the ease pleasure and luxury of chaucer's world are far different from the poverty and misery por trayed by langland little is known of langland himself even his name is uncer tain he was born probably in 1332 later than gower but before chaucer he took minor orders in the church but preferred to wander about the country in sol emn contemplation doubtless the fact that he was married and the unsparing sarcasm with which he exposed ecclesiastical corruption checked his advance in the church his poem was essentially his life it was first completed in 1362 but was twice revised ; of the three versions the middle or b text as it is generally called is the most typical here followed a brief analysis of the poem the author's purpose was evi dently to portray the actual evils of the day emphasis being placed on civil and ecclestical corruption this he does by means of a con sistent and perfectly intelligible allegory according to the conven tional french model arriving at an ethical conclusion he next shows the means of reformation and develops his philosophy of a consistent religious life together with wycliffe and gower langland saw an.d severely criticised the faults of the clergy lamented at the decay of the church and strove by his writings to check it unlike wycliffe he nowhere utters an opinion antagon istic to catholic doctrine as then formulated with all of his bold ness he exhibits a remarkable con servatism whenever he is at all anti-papal it is the actual and not the ideal pope he opposes in spite of theoretical submission to cathol icism however the mendicant monks are incessantly scourged as dissolute hypocritical arrogant " langland's political views are largely the reflection of the time in which he lived although vehemently favoring the lower classes he nowhere recommends revolution but the contrary in regard to the individual life of man is langland most out spoken he emphazes the duty of every man to live in simplicity and temperance work uncomplaining ly have a firm religious faith and above all live in perfect charity with all men far ahead of his age he teaches that true religion is to be sought by each man under the sole guidance of reason and conscience and not through any intermediate human being or even sacrament " langland's style at times is really heavy and tedious ; the in cidents are seldom artistically ar ranged ; the plan is frequently altered ; in short as lowell says the style is homely,but the thought underlying the disguised super structure of allegory is sound " the whole poem deserves the careful attention of all the students there are few single books in english literature from which more benefit can be derived the true temper of the english mind at a time when , english character was rapidly developing the earnestness with which our fore fathers strove for truth amidst the corruptions of their times may here be learned much better than from many formal histories one who studies literature studies social history at its origin and knowledge thus obnained is the best prof skeat says : ' it is not too much to say that when we speak of the great poets of england of chaucer spenser shakespeare and milton there are few who better deserve to be named together with these than minstrel show the enthusiastic reception ac corded the preliminary trials of the minstrel show held on last saturday evening has prompted the promoters of the scheme to go right ahead with the completion of their plans another meeting will be held on tuesday evening february 11 at 7.30 o'clock at which final arrangements will be made and date selected the evening of february 21 has been suggested by a number for various reasons as the best possible date will in all likelihood be the one upon which the management will decide a further call is made for men who can handle bones and tambourines addition to the chor us and any specialties that could be introduced the management is particularly anxious to have a good supply of witty gags and local puns for the use of the end men these should be handed in as soon as possible as the time at hand before the date mentioned above is so short considering the amount of work necessary to pro duce a first class performance the mandolin and guitar club has consented to furnish music during the performance and will be under the direction of jackson 99 farnham 99 will have charge of the specialties and all communi cations should be addressed to him notices on friday evening feb 11 the junior class will give its annual promenade at the gymnasium all upper classmen are invited without further notice subscription 2 chairman honor system — the faculty hereby announces that the honor system is to be regarded as in force in all departments of the university if the honor court has not yet been organized in accordance with the provisions of the modified system adopted by the students at the recent mass meeting such organization should be effected at once summer school — in accordance with the announcements made in the eegister for 1896-97 a sum mer school will be held at the close of the present year june 1898 in the following subjects topographical surveying re quired for c e and mining stu dents class of 1900 mechanical technology required for m e and e e students class of 1900 land surveying optional for a limited number on payment of fee shop visits optional for m e and metallurgy students class of 1901 the mathematical department has decided to give a re examina tion in junior mathematics in four or five weeks to those students who passed the analytical me chanics creditably but failed in differential equations in order to gain this privilege the men must see professor thornburg and make arrangements for a thorough review in that subject the examination will cover differential equations only epitome blanks epitome blanks must be in not later than feb 12 there will be a meeting of the members of the new honor court in christmas hall at 7.15 o'clock tuesday feb 8 a meeting to consider advisabil ity of giving a minstrel show all interested please attend sigma chi house tuesday evening 7.30 lehigh university south bethlehem pa monday february 8 1898 vol y no 30 the brown and white one whose very name we scarcely know the author of ' the vision of piers the plowman william langland " calendar tuesday feb 8 — meeting mins trel show sigma chi house at 7.30 lecture on the unpro ductive period after the death of chaucer and early scottish poetry evening thursday feb 10 — a meeting of the agora in saucon hall friday feb 11 meeting of 9 banquet committee at christ mas hall at 12.30 sunday feb 12 meeting of y m c a evening baseball schedule the following schedule of games arranged by manager wetlaufer for the baseball team has been approved by the athletic com mittee rutgers at south bethlehem april 3 athletics at allentown april 4 georgetown at georgetown april 6 university of virginia at charlottesville va , april 7 washington and lee at staunton va april 8 washington and lee at lexington va , april 9 virginia military institute at lexing ton va april 11 catholic university at washington d c april 12 new york university at south bethle hem april 16 athletic at south bethlehem april 19 manhattan college at south bethlehem april 20 cornell at ithaca april 28 pennsylvania at philadelphia april 27 orange a c at orange april 30 princeton at princeton may 4 lafayette at south bethlehem may 14 wesleyan at south bethlehem may 19 oritani f c at hackensack n j may 21 :; \ ill.inova at villanova pa may 25 foraham at new york may 28 pennsylvania at south bethlehem may 80 indians at south bethlehem june 1 i lafayette at easton june 4 catholic university at south bethlehem april 11 lafayette at south bethlehem june 14 president drowns condition president drown who is at at lantic city recovering from his recent illness is according to latest reports gaining strength from day to day and his condition is entirely satisfactory to his attending physi cian mr emery's lecture