152                CHURCH REVIEW.

all, terming his books as their classics and expending
as great amount of labor and time on them as that ex-
pended on some of our best modern productions.
  As to the influence of literature in Greece, and the
stress that was laid upon it, we may safely quote an-
 other, who says: " In, ancient Greece the form of litera-
ture prevailing at any given period was the expression
and outcome of the form of society existing, at that
time."
  The one was the parent of the other. The idea of
culture in letters gradually took hold of the people
and literature was encouraged in every phase, from one
form to another-from epic to lyric, from lyric to
dramatic; then out from the poetic into the prose, ex-
panding into history, oratory and philosophy.      All
Greece was permeated; they thronged the streets,
crowded the porches, gathered in the groves, frequented
the public assemblies, in theatres and on the hills, to
drink anew the spirit of Hellenistic lore and cultured
sentiment.
  The battles fought and the victories won today are
repeated tomorrow, and the glories shared by one gen-
eration are handed down to another.
  The productions of their poets were the pillars on
which they founded life and all; such was to them as
their Bible, and all of Grecian life was absorbed in the
teachings of that Bible.  "From here," says William
Burnet Wright, "sentiment was generated and diffused
which counted mental more precious than material
riches, and realized that a man's life consists, not in
the abundance of things he possesses, but in that which
he is." Because of their superiority, their cultivation
of art, music and speech, they became the teachers of
the race, and every revelation or translation from them
flew over the land as if blessed with wings.
 Among all the things exerting an influence upon




			

African Methodist Episcopal Church Review, Vol. 10, Num. 1

Literature a Pillar of Strength

R.

Volume:  10
Issue Number:  01
Page Number:  146
Date:  07/1893