times perused its pages. In England, John Bunyan read the Bible until his language grew to be the language of the Bible, as may be seen in the "Pilgrim's Progress," an allegory in which human thought arose on angelic wings and took on the robes of Holy Writ. In Oregon a large majority` of the people have been Bible-readers; and the ratio has been steadily increasing; hence the Bible element or Saxon element bids fair to grow in prominence in the language of our people. Furthermore, the experience and the culture of our people tend to mellow the feelings and warm the hearts of the masses and bring about a constantly growing demand for the language of the heart, the language of sentiment and sense, the language of those who use the best vehicle of expression in talking direct from the heart to a point.

CLIMATIC INFLUENCE.

It is an indisputable fact that climate has always exerted an influence upon a truly great literature, and there are those who believe they have already noticed marked indications of climatic influence upon what has been written in our state; and they pretend to believe that this influence will continue in its development so that it will be more noticeable and more influential as the years go by.

It is known that in an extreme temperature the best intellectual results are seldom attained. Human energies are exhausted in the effort to sus

FIRST PRINTING PRESS ON THE PACIFIC COAST. (On this press was printed the Oregon City "Spectator," February 5, 1846the first newspaper west of the Missouri River)

tain life; hence we do not expect great books and intellectual triumphs to come from those who received their growth in the torrid or in the frigid zones. It has also been observed that those climates, in which it is too easy to obtain a livelihood, impede intellectual progress. It has, therefore, been believed that no stirring thought will come from the nations of equatorial Africa nor from our cherished Philippines. In these lands, those who have palaces leave them to live in groves, gondolas, chariots, theaters, fashionable clubs, popular resorts, the racing circle, and the bull-fight ring; everything succumbs to pleasure, until pleasure becomes licentious in its influence-an influence which is never truly literary. Accordingly, we look to the more temperate climes for literary achievement at its zenith and human endeavor in its glory; and men of attainment have come to believe that Oregon, which is centrally located as to mildness of temperature will produce a superior literature; and that it has two distinct climates, each of which is favorable to the growth and development of a particular literature, peculiarly pure, perspicuous and powerful.

Of the Saxon motherland the scholarly Taine said, "Thick clouds hover above, being fed by thick exhalations. They lazily turn their flanks, grow dark, and descend in showers; oh, how easily." Is not that Western Oregon? The Saxons of Europe have left their climate to find a sim

ilar climate here. The western Oregonian should, therefore, be the true type, the typical Saxon of the century that is about to dawn. This is not boasting, but prophecy. Indeed, this is a foggy land with its seasons of sombre scenery, where moss is not uncommon, and the gray mists creep under a stratum of motionless vapor. While Eastern Oregon is a land of sunshine and lofty skies, where silently float great gleaming bars of steel, and silver, and gold, until, perchance, they are disturbed by the bolts of Jove that come booming o'er the mountain into the valley below. All nature is suddenly quickened; and the people have, instead of the gentle shower that floats in on the heavy atmosphere of the sea coast, the drenching rain of the highland clouds that were torn loose by the thunderbolt and their waters spilled upon parching grain and thirsting herds. In the one the air is purified by the gentle, falling raindrops; in the other by the swift, sweeping showers from the thundercloud. Observe the effect of this upon the life of those dwelling in these different sections. Notice the difference between the measured tread of the one and the quick step of the other, as well as the habits of thought of the two peoples.

Then there will always be as marked difference between the literature of Eastern Oregon and the literature of Western Oregon as if they were two different states on two different coasts. Think of