The campaign. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1866, 1866-10-12
CONCERNING STORIES.

| NDNtEh NlNU DlONl lES,
THE hcwilderingnumbero of new mag
azincs and the camOunt of material, such
a. it is, which goes to fill them, is not
the least wonder of our time. Besides
the leading tale the piece of poetry, the
column of jokes, or the solid article,
which nearly all contain, there is usually
a short sketch or story, and it is with
this branch of periodical catering that
we have to deal. If examined closely.
these stories indicate a great deal more
| than would appear on their own show
ing. First on the score of antiquity,
they can claim priority over the big
novel itself, which prcccdes them in
order of place, and is being slowly con-
| Quoted upon an illustrated career under
the direction of popular author. Be-
fore the novel came thenovclCtte,- ,-h0m-
H2cH'ltS before H0mO. Stories are proba-
bly, a. old as speech but your novel we
use the word in its ordinary acccptation)
always from its length, required to be
booked. The Greeks told stories. and
very good ones. Antonius Diogencs
went in for regular romancc-the loves
of Diuias and Dyrcyilis; but it possesses
nothing in common with our works of
fiction, except, of course, the clement of
tender passions, without which nothing
of the kind could move. But the Greek
tales were excellent. Even in the Greek
Christian times, when Pan was dead,
capital adventures Wcrc struck out,
which, if they dealt rather freely with
sacred subjects, one is inclined to con-
done for their offences on the ground of
no harm done.
In the middle ages these tales were
rc-ccho2d along with others, and enrich
ed, too, with marvels brought from the
East, monsters from the North, and
plenty Of devils from the monastic leg
ends. Then there were the jongleurs,
minncsingcrs, and troubadours, who
Travelled ON the strength of a popular
taste for VerSe-stOries; but if report
speaks true concerning the jongleurs,
they added To their rcperjpjreS an attrac-
'AO'i ~ NlltNl IlIElIlIN
crowds to the ballet music halls of Lon
don. Italy is regarded as the direct
source Of our novels and noVelists.
B&CCacciU's tales We're known under the
latter titlc and to some Italian stories
we are said to be indebted for "Thc
Merchant of Venice" The middle are
narratives were all pretty nearly of one
color, and of rather high flavor for our
generation, but many OF them were both
clever and caustic. LongfellOw gives
an excellent imitation or adoption Of
one in his Martin Franc; or the Monk
of st. Anthony" our English tales of
the Elizabethan age are singularly dull
and pointcss. After the Restoration
they We're liveIier, when, to paraphase Il
haclneyed quotation,
"rho taste bccomo more Gal!e and less NICE"
but in the days of Queen Anne, under
the direction OF Mr.. Addison, the sto-
ries were mere galvanized distractions,
thinly disguised alIcgories, in which
Greeks and lull-bOttomcd Wig of the
"Spectator's" Romans impaired cle-
giant prIccpts in the period. Nor was
the great lcXicographer Il good story
teller. In the Rambler" men and
women are made 10 speak language It's
fine and as improbable as the speeches
which the worthy doctor prescribed for
his tory iaVoritca in the House OF Com
mons. Goldsmith, however, was n de-
lightlul narrator; the "lIiStory Of the
Phiio-ophic Nagabond" is Il gem in this
way. Fielding had heavy manner of
going about story; but Smollet was ii
master in the craft. When the Della
lruscan gushing spoiled our poetry,
stories in that strange tongue appeared
in Amulcts" and Souvenirs" The
plates in those books used to be Della
Cruscan too-tinical, uerveless, and en-
asculatc. \ great Improvement took
placcin the paimy days of Blaciwood," -"
" Fraser" and Bentley" A sort of
Hogarthian humor pcrvaded the shorter
talcS--u humOr Of which the cOntempo-
rancOus artists caught II fair share of the
spirit. NIaginn, Thackerly, Barlum,
and LOckhart We're seldom better than
when confined to chapters instead OF
volumes. Itis remarkable, indeed, that
as stories fast gave rise to novels, we
may notice that every romantic writer
Of original power sends up II few pilot
balloons, fashioned in his own peculiar
style, before Venturing the grand ascent.
Mr., Dickens felt his ground with BOZ
aud the author Of Vanity Fair" In
trusted N.chac! Angelo Iitm&rsA with