New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1859-06-02
WAR AND LETTERS.

Among the many speculatons concerning the
war in Europe to which Journals both at home and
abroad" says contemporary, give currency, we no.
tice that there come from several respectable quar-
tiers very sombre views Of its probable effects on the
literature Of the age. There to be quite gem
eral apprehension that the fine bloom Of genius and
taste must necessarily be checked and depressed by
the rude blasts Of political revolution and nterna-
tonal hostility" Having thus stated the case the
contemporary takes adverse grounds and goes on to
argue that stormy times Of war are most pregnant of
progress In letters, citing history copousy to show
that most OF the great Of literature of the
tenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries uprose
and fourshed during hostile commotons-er
they were the consequence Of hostile connections.
Such is the whole point of an article of length
in the Washington Constitution, the writer of which,
| doubtless beginning to agree with everybody else
that he is not strong politics. ancies that after all
he is considerable dab at literature, and so
| changes the tune of the great Buchanan organ by
turning on another stop key and treating the Demo
cratic straghtouters to an unwonted dsqusition,
which at least varies the monotony Of its declama
tory ponderosity. 1t might have selected subject
which would have afforded stronger food for its argu
mentative appetite for it attacks mere speculation
which Is absolutely undemonstrabe by facts or logic
and attempts to forfy adverse position as unten
able as that Of the enemy.
As to the war having bad effect upon literary
progress, though journals, both at home and
abroad contend that it will, we do not allow for
we do not believe that one author of note will be
slain, will write one line less though about one
in ten thousand real patrons of literature may be
killed off As to the war having decided contrary ef
fect-to help by producing great writer's we
do not allow, though the Constitution shows
that illustrious authors have won fame witt their
pens, while illustrious soldiers were wn6,ug = with
their swords It is a reasonable opinion u the
wars occurred while they lived, and that theys lived
while the wars were occurring and that thela no
circumstance of connection between wars and writers
other than that of their being contemporaneons but
that they would have been born and would have
written if there had not been battle fought on
earth during their existence. The pens of Dickens,
Of Thackeray and Others will not be laid by because
Of war, and no new Dickens or Thackeray will en-
rich the world because of it.
We will grant the Constitution though, that the
war aids the cause of newspaper literature somewhat
for there is greater rush than for the Crescent
especially on Monday mornings, when it is tremen.
dous Yet the authors thus encouraged not those
who add to the wealth Of standard literature, but
those celebrated romancists, the telegraph reporters
But nowadays the reportoral body are losing their
reputation as famous writers Of fiction, for at pre-
sent efficiently organized the Associated Press ar
rangement is retrieving the reputation of almost the
whole class by the uniform reliability and ulness of
its dispatches. The customary abuse of telegraph
reporters be longer general justice must make
exceptions, and except those in the employ of the
"New Orleans and New York Associated Press