crime; Hamlet is crazed by the crimes of others. Iago has no conscience; Hamlet is burdened with conscience. Iago is the "divinity of Hell," Hamlet is the humanity of earth. Iago is an incarnation of Evil; Hamlet is a master conception of the Human.

We offer Hamlet as Shakespeare's conception of humanity-humanity in its weakness and misery, in its aroused conscience and moral conflict, in its sad failure yet constant struggle toward its goal. Hamlet has dreams that make Denmark a dungeon, the world a prison, life a terrible responsibility. He has visions into malignity and brutality in high places. Hypocrisy and guilt appall him, the woe of sin terrifies him, doubts blind him, hope beckons him, burning passions lead him. Who shall describe it all? But tell me, is Hamlet not human? The immortal Hugo calls him "the epitome of the race." Is he not right? Answer, the countless millions who have lived, struggled and died through unnumbered ages. Can we not hear the disturbing echoes of the past, the rumblings of bloody revolutions, and wars, and carnage? And through it all, do we not catch the agonizing cry of men who have felt speaking in them the terrible voice of Conscience? The heroes of earth, when at life's summit, ever testify to loftier heights as yet unreached. And then behold, the wretched multitude in the deep valleys surging and writhing against the overwhelming forces of passion, doubt

and wrong. Is the terrible conflict past? Listen: do you not catch the deep, hoarse noises of discontent? Do you not feel the doubts and fears? Do you not see the wrong and shame? No, Hamlet is man in our modern age. Lo! before us lies the goal. The voices of the mighty dead rouse us to more arduous tasks. O Hamlet, how near thou art to earth! Thy problems are ours, ours thy doubts, ours thy struggle.

Stand, now, above the terrible climax where "proud Death feasts in his eternal cell." Hamlet's goal is not reached, yet his fire is never quenched. Failure is branded on his brow, yet hope never vanishes, the poisoned sword gives the quietus to a still-tortured soul. Oh, the transcendent fitness of that scene! Evil is vanquished, Claudius is crushed by the tremendous recoil of his own horrible plots, the election lights on brave Fortinbras, the faithful Horatio lives to tell the strange story, and flights of noble angels sing Hamlet to his rest. His struggle is not in vain. Above the awful conflict there is a Guiding Hand. When night falls and the ocean heaves in the darkness, Hamlet sets sail alone upon the boundless sea. The storm is past, the calm has come. This is the pathos of death, not the death of a murderer, not the death of a fiend, but the death of a man. Life's fitful struggle is soon ended; at length death's consummation embraces all. The world is hushed before the open grave. Must we, too, stop? Every mind suffers some

injury, every heart is heavy with some pain. What poet ever utters all his dreams? What martyr ever sees his truth triumphant? But where is the light to disclose life's colossal enigmas? Where is the key to unlock the mysteries? Wherefore the strife and crime, the sin and woe? Wherefore Duty? Whither, Destiny? O Shakespeare, hast thou not a ray of light to cast? Must the clouds still hang, and thought still beat against unopened doors? From earth comes no answer save the brooding quiet of the tomb. To die, to sleep; and in the sleep of death we hear the muffled sound of the infinite sea breaking upon the eternal shores. Hope whispers in her undying, universal note the prophecy of another life, where all wrongs will be righted, and all ideals will be realized, where the sorrowful face will be radiant with joy, and every struggling soul shall gather the fruitage of his toil.

Hamlet is the unsounded, solitary, mysterious soul; chaos of thought and passion all confused; a prince that cannot be king; a hero that cannot be heroic; a genius that cannot stamp his name: "Hamlet, that awful being complete in incompleteness; destiny, society, law, religion brought to trial in the abyss of the mysterious equilibrium." Apart from men, still he represents them all. His is the tragedy of life; his the cry of humanity; his the type of universal man. To conceive a Faust, merging an individual into a sublime symbol, is greatness; but to create a Hamlet to sum up the personality of man, this is genius.

THE GENIUS OF THE REFORMATION.

By OSCAR EDWARD MAURER, of Beloit College.

BIOGRAPHICAL.

Oscar Edward Maurer was born in Garnaville, Iowa, January 22, 1878, of German-Swiss parentage. He received his common and highschool education at that place, graduating in 1894. While in high school he learned the printer's trade, and after graduating engaged with his brother in the publication of the Garnaville Sentinel. He was elected a member of the Northeastern Iowa Press Association, and was known as the youngest practical newspaper man in the State. In 1897 he sold his paper, with the intention of continuing his education. Being delayed for a year, he taught school until the spring of 1898, when he entered Drake University for the summer term. In the fall he came to Beloit and entered the academy, from which he graduated in 1899. He had been interested in public speaking for some time, and was one of the orators at the commencement exercises of the academy. Upon entering Beloit College Mr. Maurer took an active part in the literary and forensic life of the college. In his freshman year he won the inter-collegiate debate with Ripon College. In the sophomore year he was president of his class, and was awarded prize in excellence in Latin and declamation. During his junior year he was a tutor in the academy, instructing in Latin, Greek, and German. During this same year he took first place in the State and Inter-State contests, besides being one of the debating team which won the annual inter-collegiate debate between Beloit and Knox colleges. At the end of his junior year he won the Rice prize for extemporaneous speaking. Mr. Maurer took charge of the Round Table, the college weekly, during his senior year, and also contributed to various other publications. In the senior oratorical contest his oration on Goethe's Faust was first. He graduated second in his class with the degree of bachelor of arts, "Magna cum laude," and was awarded the Bacon fellowship for three years of theological study. In the fall of 1903 Mr. Maurer entered Yale Divinity School, and also registered as a student in philosophy and psychology. In the spring of 1904 he was awarded the Allis scholarship for excellence in class standing, which ( 249 )