The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1866-06-06
Southern Literature.

why Is IL Cnav uCerary perlOulcalS,
reviews aud magazines have not nou-
rished in the South? Why is it that
we have depended so long upon Eng
land and the North for the litera-
ture afforded by the monthly and
quarterly issues OF tho press? With
a people keenly appreciative OF let
ters; recognizing literary merit
wherever it exists, and extending q
generous patronage to all publica-
tions deserving encouragement, the
South has no literature self-sustaining
and standing upon pedestal of its
own creation. The fact is All anoma-
lous one, and to q proud and scnsi-
tive people it has always been a source
of regret and disappointment. Va
rious explanations and excuses have
been presented as an apology for n
disagreeable reality, but they have
not been sufficient to explain the
cause.
While it is true that literature fol-
lows in the wake of commerce, and
takes root most vigorously near great
commercial centres, while a dense
population is most favorable for its
development and support, yet these
considerations do not adequately ac-
count for the want of native litcra-
ture in our midst. Other causes
must be sought.
At the threshold of our inquiry,
we find that we have among us no
corps Of lie,'ati, and, consequently,
no esprit de corps, such as character
lied England md France during
their greatest periods of literary pros
perity. All other occupations and
pursuits have their distinctive organi-
cations and interests, save literature,
which is left, like q volunteer plant,
to its own fate, when, above all
others, it needs the most tender md
assiduous care. In fact, literature Gf
we except editorial contributions to
the daily press, which scarcely merit
the name,) is not followed in the
South as an occupation or pursuit.
How can We expect success and
healthfnl vigor in q department
Which is committed to the special
care Of no one, when it requires every
care and attention which can be be
slowed upon it even to attain medi-
ocrity? Literature will have to he
followed as trade, and lpracicel as
an art, before it can rise and expand
in the South to the dignity and
beauty OF a we'll proportional science.
Another cause Of the debility of
our literature is to be ascribcd to the
fact that all of our finest minds are
devoted to law and politics Occa-
sionally you will find q lawyer with
out practice or a politician without
Office, who is seized temporarily with
literary spasm, but it does not last
long. And when literature is in this
manner used merely as % recreation,
it does not generally make the ficklo
author famous, nor does it electrify
mankind by the careless labors OF Il
leisure hour. Literature is jealous
and exclusive science, and it needs
something more than the efforts of
briefess lawyers and broken down
politicians to sustain it. OF course
we have isolated and brilliant exam
pies of literary merit, to which we
point with pride, but such men are
not properly supported. What both
they and we want is n literary class =
men devoting themselves to literature
and to that alone We want no legal
or political dabblers in the pure fonn-
tain of letters, who leave when they
have muddied tho waters sufficiently
to disgust all who quaf after them.
But we want priests, whose liz ,.s and
services shall be consecrated to the
noblest Of all the sciences. Until We
build temples to the MI scs erect
affairs in the temples. and appoint
priests over the altars. the future OF
our literature will he like its past.
Let men of letters in the Sontl
band themselves together in n grca,
corporation of literature, till, by
means Of this brotherhood, they hav.
enlisted the sympathy and secured
the aid of all kindred spirits.
Starting as the South does unde1
new auspices. it would seem that The
period for the development Of on
literature was peculiarly favorable
When will such rich materials a