Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1861-05-31

A. Essay en- Euphulsm-Eendenoiea 81
trft naedern Hi~terasurosh n-
A pleasant review Of the Dramatic Works
Of John Lyiy, the E6phuist with some ac-
count Of his Life and Writings" IN the last
number Of the London Quarterly, closes
with these hits Al the tendencies Of modern
literature:
Modern Writefs.-Tn our own dag, Il is
curious to observe that for q reason nearly
opposite 10 hat which produced such q re-
suit IN the days Of Queen klizabeth, popular
English writing has again q tendency TO
euphuism. When authors, following the
path opened TO them by Defoe, Quilted their
place Of waiting in the ante chambers Of THE
Prince and found their way 70 the great
body Of the people, when there arose with
the growth Of Journalism = sense among
writers that for q more perfect sympathy,
and even for the more substantial payment
Of their labor, they must look not to the
courtiers but to the great public that does
nOtgo TO court twas inevitable that a Saxon
English should be addressed more aud more
hAbitually 10 q people Saxon in Its homes.
The attainment BY the literature OF Ger
many, Of it's point Of the highest strength
and European influence, happened to coin
eide with and to strengthen this new ten
dency toward the German element in eur
own tongue; and now, therefore, our litera-
ture is almost every. where marked by a
wise preference for homely AnglO-Sexon
speech. Mean while readers have multiplied,
and writers with them. Extension of the
reading circle has reduced the average Of its
school knowledg e. The classical illusions
and the scraps Of learning that pleased
Lyly's limited and courtly circle, never
could interest the million whom a writer
seeking popularity in these days will en-
deavor 70 attract Yet the reader without
scholarship also expects to be entertained by
one who can put forward some claim to par
ticultr regard
An immense region Of print has to be oe-
cupied by men who can not all have the
originality that will enable them 20 win an
audience to the unaffected speaking of their
thoughts. Men who have nothing TO say
write copiouely. Declared from the old
way Of asserting their right to be heard by
a forced show Of learning, they fall back
upon the other old way of a forced display
OF wit. What else is TO be done by one who
has no natural truth to express which is
sufficiently raised above mems every. day
thoughts to appear worth especial notice
when il is presented also in mems every
day language 2 Denied the artificial aid Of
pedantry, he strives to be thought smart,
and hides his poverty Of mind under a fus.
tian tinselled with c%onceits. There Is a dis
position even to revert to the old affected
Pap with a Ratchet manner Of title for the
lucubrstions Of the hour. 1t may betrue,
rs Lyly said, that speech neither adofned
with fine figures, neither sprinkled with
choice phrases, bringeth tediousuess." But
figures ard quick .witted phrases are to mind
in its activity only what flush Of cheek and
fash of eye are TO the body. Even Putten-
ham, regarding them as rouge, observed
that rouge is not an ornament for all parts
OF the face.
The Life of Observation-Disclosures is good
reason, then, for the oblivion into which
those books have fallen, which, like Lyly's
Euphues and the Divine Weeks Of Du Bsrtas,
appealed by their affected manner to a trans
itory taste. They illustrate Ben Johnson's
rule, Nothing is lasting that is feigned."
Both LILY and Du Bartas were in earnest,
often utteriDg thoughts sacred TO them
selves; and yet 8 turn in the course of taste
shuts them at once from sight. So it has
been, and ever will be, with all the writers
who look beyond or beside the simple wish
to give exact expression to their thoughts.
Absolute truth o fmanner is the life of htera
ture. In as far as books of rhetoric nave
any value, they are not manuals of artihce,
but natural systems Of discourse-intellec-
tual anatomies or botanies that do not con
Germ themselves with wigs or artificial
flowers. 1t is found, by study of the COM
mon speech of man, that energy of thought
produces certain variations from the unim-
FASHIONED style. By comparison of these
lvelier forms of expression, classification
is obtained of trcpes and figures of speech;
certain Datural facts also are elected; and
these, reduced to formula, are rules of rhe-
toric. A rule of rhetoric informs US, for ex-
ample, that we should not, unless meaning
to degrade, compare great things with
small. That is the rule only because a man,
hastily uttering his sense of what is noble,
speaks of it inevitably in the highest terms
within his reach. No man of sound mind,
in the moment when he is seriously i'm
pressed with the beauty of snow on a leaf
less tree, could possibly err with Du Bartas
in likeniDg the treetop to a bald pate in a
periwig. Affected ornaments are those
which can lot arise out of the stir of a mind
wholly intent upon its subject. They are
introduced, not for the exact expression OF
the writer's thoughts, but for parade of his
invention. Instead of proving that he is,
they prove he is not wholly concerned about
his subject; and it even seems to be regarded
as an object of desire by some of our young
writers, that they should not appear to be
themselves more than half interested in
that for which they ask the full attention oil
the public.
Tie End Of Literary Diseipliae.-To at
tain power of exact expression is the one
end of true literary discipline. To put his
whole thought and express his actual emo
ton in his words, not 70 ~interpolate clever
embellishments, is the object even of the
careful writer when he takes pains to revise
what be has written. 1t is true that men
write fetbly who write as they speak.
Spoken language has eyes, hands, every
movement Of the face, every gesture of the
body, every tone of the SPEAKERS voice, to
Illustrate il as it flows. To written Language
all these aids are wanting, and the want OF
all must be supplied by special care for the
right use of words. The written words
have, of course, their advantage in their
peImanence. Readers differ from ers,
in having power to look back, pause where
they will, vary at will tine pace of the
thoughts entering their minds; and writers
find strength in the liberty of concentration
thus acquired. But it is the strength of exact
fitness that has to be sought Even 10 the
most lsboriOus shaping and reshaping of his
verses the true poet does but struggle to
change words imperfectly expressive of his
thought, for others that shall reproduce il
clearly in the minds of strangers.
General Duty OTtbe Surgeon on the Battle.
Field
The general duty of the surgeon OF the
battle field is briefly indicated in a late vol
ume, as follows:
While the battle is progressing il is the
duty Of the surgeon and of his assistants "a
remain in the rear of the combatants, as much
as possible out of harms way, buLat the same
time ready and on the watch to render the
promptest possible aid. They must be Argus.
eyed, and in the full possession oftheir wits.
One of the leading differences between mil
itary and civil practice is the instantaneous
action so often demanded by the one and the
delay so frequently admitted by the other.
The first DUTY of every surgeon is to the
officers and men of his own corps; but on the
he'd of battle, or coon after the b title il over