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Show C. E. W. GRIFFITH AT ST. MARY'S ACADEMY. One of the greatest treats literary and elocutionary, ever enjoyed by the students of St. Mary's academy was Mr. Griffith's dramatic impersonation of Dante's "Divina Comedia," and Shakespeare's dramas, on Saturday last. In his artistic and realistic rendition rendi-tion of Dante's "Inferno," and Shakespeare's Shakes-peare's dramas, "As You Like It," "The Taminj of the Shrew" and "King Lear," C. E. W. Griffith of Chicago has fullir ctictainc.l Viict mm: t a t irm ilf heinp' America's greatest Shakespearean reader. read-er. Amid the glow of his personal devotion de-votion to the sage of Stratford, the thought of Shakespeare which. Mr. Griffith maintains, had its source in the philosophy of Francis of Assisi, in the theology of Thomas Aquinas, and the "inspired book." the Bible became crystalized, reflecting only the good, the beautiful and the true. His beautiful coloring, his delicate shading, his warm svmnathv and tender nathos: his ever- changing facial expression imparted life to the characters he portrayed. His personal magnetism electrified his auditors audi-tors so that for nearly two hours he held their rapt attention. In Mr. Griffith, Grif-fith, the immortal bard of Stratford-on-Avon has his most enthusiastic exponent, expon-ent, not only of the beauties of his literary lit-erary creations, but in unfolding the "messages" they contain. In rendering the beautiful lyric frag- ments scattered through the speeches ! of Shakespeare's characters, Mr. Griffith Grif-fith proved his undisputed right to the claim of being, par excellence, a born educator, a consummate master, an oracle or-acle in the Shakespearean drama. His versatility, augmented by his marvelous intellect and the gift of a colossal mem-, ory, renders him the object of enthusiastic enthusi-astic admiration. Stage settings, costuming and other accessories are superfluous, the lack. of them being amply supplied by the impersonation im-personation of the man who understands under-stands and loves Shakespeare as no other oth-er man does. With the noble Ideals Mr. Griffith placed before his hearers, and illumined by the effulgence of his genius, gen-ius, the study of literature, especially of Dante and Shakespeare, has received a new impetus; and the appreciation of his audience was. shown by the numerous numer-ous bursts of applause which greeted him. |