tions more alive and interesting, but which should yield new light, also, of great worth to any more special study undertaken.
Preventing the mere desultoriness which might be the result of ill-planned general study of literature, the Woodland club has put this idea of the relation of a liberal view, with special inquiry, into practice by carrying on, along with its general study of periods in the history of literature, the special study and reading of the text of Shakespeare. The club meets each alternate Tuesday evening; the Shakespeare Reading Class, composed of the same members, meets every Saturday afternoon. The afternoon club meetings, however, are attended by the ladies of the club, mostly the wives of the other members, who read and study but do not meet with the class except at an occasional evening meeting. Mrs. S. E. Peart, the secretary of the club, is the leader of the class.
The Browning Society of the New Century Club.—At the meeting of February 11, Miss Campbell read an original poem, which was followed by the paper of the evening, on the "Tragedy of Luria," by Professor Henry S. Pancoast. The speaker found in "Luria" "a contrast between the man who thinks and the man who feels." He asserted that "'Luria' has had scant justice done to it, as it bears an important relation to the general teaching scattered through Browning's works." This robs it of a dramatic interest, but Professor Pancoast was content to relinquish that characteristic for the sake of the lessons apparently hinted. These he found to be: "that the soul is immeasurably above the most expert and agile of intellects," and "that the living great man, who embodies the fresh original impulse, is of more value than any institution."
Mr. H. H. Hay was called on to give his views of "Luria," and made some adverse criticisms upon it. He regarded it as "an epitome of all Browning's virtues and nearly all his defects. It is not a tragedy, it is an essay on a tragedy. It has no atmosphere. There is no reason why it should not have been written on top of the Rocky Mountains. Browning is said to have created more characters than Shakespeare. He has created one wonderful character: Browning." Mr. Hay likened the reading of Browning to
