BY-LAWS. 1. THIS Society shall be called the DANTE SOCIETY. Its object shall be the encouragement of the study of the Life and Works of Dante. 2. Any person desirous to become a member of this Society may do so by signifying his or her wish in writing to the Secretary, and by the payment of an annual fee of five dollars. 3. An Annual Meeting for the election of officers shall be held at Cambridge on the third Tuesday of May, of which due notice shall be given to the members by the Secretary. 4. Special Meetings may be held at any time appointed by vote of the members at the Annual Meeting, or by call from the President and Secretary. 5. The officers shall be a President, a Vice-President, a Secretary and Treasurer, and a Librarian, who, together with three members thereto chosen, shall form the Council of the Society. All these officers shall be chosen at the Annual Meeting, and their term of service shall be for one year, or until their successors are elected. Vacancies in the Council shall be filled for the remainder of the year by the Council. 6. The President, or, in his absence, the Vice-President, or, in the absence of both, any member of the Council, shall preside at all meetings of the Society and of the Council. 7. The Secretary and Treasurer shall keep a record of the meetings of the Society and of the Council, shall collect and receive all dues, and keep accounts of the income and expenditure of the Society, shall give notice of meetings, and shall perform all other duties appropriate to his office. 8. The Council shall hold meetings at such times as it may appoint, shall determine on the use to be made of the income of the Society, shall endeavor to promote the special objects of the Society in such ways as may seem most appropriate, and shall make an annual report of their proceedings, including a full statement of accounts, at each Annual Meeting. This report shall be made in print for distribution to the members. 9. No officer of the Society shall be competent to contract debts in the name of the Society, and no expenditure shall be made without a vote of the Council. 10. A majority of the Council shall form a quorum for the transaction of business. 11. Any person distinguished for his interest in the purposes of the Society, or who has rendered it valuable service, may be chosen an Honorary Member at any regular meeting of the Society, and shall be entitled to all its privileges without annual assessment. 12. The preceding rules may be changed at any time by unanimous vote of the Council. ANNUAL REPORT. AT T the annual meeting of the Society in May, 1893, Mr. Norton, reviewing the incidents of the year of interest to the Society, spoke substantially as follows. "Since the foundation of our Society, twelve years ago, we have had to deplore the death of but few of its members. But it is a grievous and remarkable fact that we have lost from our roll the most illustrious names: first, that of our first President, Mr. Longfellow; then, that of our second President, Mr. Lowell; and in the past year that of Dr. Parsons, the three most eminent lovers and disciples of Dante in America; three poets who had each devoted a large part of his life to the study of Dante's work, and contributed as no other scholars have done to diffuse his influence in this country. Our Society has been dignified by their part in it. We cannot hope for future distinction such as their presence has lent to us in the past. Fifty years ago a little pamphlet, in stiff brown covers, was issued in Boston, of which the title page reads: The first Ten Cantos of the Inferno of Dante Alighieri. Newly translated into English Verse.' It bore no author's name. The translation was preceded by a poem in seven stanzas 'On a Bust of Dante.' The poem long since became deservedly familiar to the lovers of poetry. Its opening verses, strong, simple, direct, are worthy of the master who inspired them, and set the key of the whole poem: 'See, from this counterfeit of him 'Faithful if this wan image be, No dream his life was but a fight; A lover in that anchorite?' "The little book attracted scanty attention, save from a few persons of scholarly taste. Among those who encouraged Dr. Parsons to proceed with his translation, it is pleasant to me to recall, was my father, and almost the earliest of my own associations with Dante are connected with the friendly criticism and discussion between him and the young translator. "As time went on Dr. Parsons added to his work. Dante was his continual study. But almost twentyfive years had passed since the publication of the ་ 'Ten Cantos' before he printed the complete translation of the First Canticle' of the Divine Comedy. He had greatly revised his original essay, and a comparison of the cantos printed in 1843 with the same cantos as they appeared in the volume of 1867 is interesting as a study of style and of experiments in translation. The scheme of verse is not changed, but everywhere a firmer hand is felt and a more perfected art is manifest. Nine years later, in 1876, Dr. Parsons published a further portion of his work, under the title of The Ante-Purgatorio of Dante Alighieri. Translated by T. W. Parsons.' And in later years, from time to time, he printed one canto after another of the Purgatory in the pages of the Catholic World. Now and then he did me the honor to send me his manuscript or his proof-sheet for such remark as I might venture to make upon it. Our opinions as to the best method of translation differed, but the quality of his work made my task of criticism even more helpful to myself than it could have been to him, while his open-mindedness and his scholarship were such that he gave even more heed than they deserved to my friendly suggestions. His fastidious taste, his conscientious effort not to fall short of his own ideal standard of accomplishment, made his progress slow, and he has left the translation of the Purgatory incomplete, and that of the Paradise little more than begun. "So far as his work has gone, I believe that it is safe to assert that as a rhymed version in English |