ANNIVERSARY NOTES.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXI, Issue 8444, 11 August 1911, Page 6

ANNIVERSARY NOTES.

August 11 appears to be a blackletter day for men of genius and emiiieneey as quite a number of death anniversaries fall on this date. Among these are the following:—William Blake, poet and mystic, (lied in 1827,

{Jeorge Stephensori/ famous engineer, •died- 18i8, -'»lajnes : .Wilson, financial. statesman, founder of the "Economist" newspaper, died IB6o', Lord Hough ton (Right Hon; R-. Monckton, Milnes), poet, biographer and critic, died in 1885, Cardinal Newman died at the Oratory, Birmingham, in 1890. Among these the most interesting personality wag William Blake. A dreamer and a mystic from his boyhood, Blake showed a precocious talent for drawing and painting^ and it was not long before he sej^i&ketches '.to ; &ome of tho leading . iai|rga^uifvH, aiKJ began Jto illustrate :v.b^fl^^SiAn:ton^ his Vor?^ .is' a superb ,-■•; SQjj^^fc'^SßJVeolrturfed illustrations of ': tfmm&& ■■' i^K^fe /Thoiiglits/-' 'of ■ which 43i subjects were' engraved by Blake ■ hi-K^©^»'His paintings include 'Jacob's « ■Dreajn,V, "The Last Judgment," "The Canterbury Pilgrims," all qf,wliich found wealthy purchasers, and" arenow "highly prized. As a poet, Blake is now accorded a high place, and has been "the subject of otilogy from mxle^ a master than Swinburne. His "Poetical

Sketches," "Songs of Innocence," and "Songs of Experience," contain exquisite examples of spontaneous and imaginative verse. Blake did not come into his own in his life-time, and although he had a circle of devoted and enthusiastic friends, he lived in comparative poverty. He died in his nine-and-sixtieth year, "singing of the things he saw in beaven." A more cheerful anniversary fchat falls on August 11 is that of the hoisting of the British flag at Akaroa by Captain Stanley in 1840. This act secured u ne sovereignty of Great Britain over the whole of the South Island.