Dallas herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1849-1873, 1871-11-25
THE yoice of The souih,

The Southern people have beeI
urged 50 oilen aud 80 vainly 10 en-
courage aud build up their own
literature, that we fear our renewed
eXhortatidn 10 the same effect will
meet ut their hands similar M,
IT neglect and failure, Tho educa
ted classes of the South are rOnspic,
uously II reading, thinking and
studious people; and have alway,
been glad aud proud 10 extend II
liberal patronage TO bellies -lcttrcs
and arts, Perhaps il has been u
defect in our political and social
systems that tile people thought and
read too much and luborud lou little,
that they let their energies run Ia
waste in vague dreaming and air
castle architecture, AID that the
moro practical and material inter,
sstS Of their section were allowed
to dctay nnd dc,nhc through their
inaltehtiUn. but the studious hab
its of the Southern people never led
them to patronisc the literary men
and literary enterprises of their own
prGdnrtion. Srch prophets have
always been Hiiiioat hunor in their
own land; and for that reason many
have been without honor in other
lands. The estimate put upon II
mans character and genius by his
own fricnds and neie~bcrs' is likely
to be reflected by he virdict of more
remote jurics and auditorics, There.
fore tho Southern poets novcIiSts
and cssayists, neglected anl deprc,
ciatcd among their own kin and
associates, have received the same
treatment at the hands bfthc critics
away from home. Not that their
claims to merit have been first cx.
amincd and then rejected; they
have generally been severely let
alone. They have been passed over
as not worthy of the time and trou,
bic of analyst. which is, rs many
sore author will testify, the most
cruel and mordant of all "unkindcsl
cuts" And so Southern literature,
until recently, has been for the most
part growth devoid Of sound and
deep roots, of vigorous trunk. Of
green and graceful irondagc. The
soil in which it was planted was far
too mcngrc and ungencrous; and the
insects, it mny be added, which
prcycd upon IL were too vcnomons
and active to admit of its -four.
ishing like tho traditional green
bay-trcc, or the trcu which the
PsaIm;st pictured by the rivcrs Of
water, whose loaf did not w thcr
and whose fruit was brought forth
in season.
The real masters Of song, as Poe
has said in one ofhis critical essays,
sing as tho birds sing, because they
cannot help singing; the song utters
itself. Poetry, for them, is no "high
ly-complcS egg. dance; their thoughts
take tic Shape and cXpression Of
verse. not so much in accordance
with the canons Of prosody as in
obedience to an inspiration Of d.
vine origin and virtue; an impulse
like that which uphenves the tides,
a process like the changing Of tho
leaves, the return Of the early and
latter rains. But there are few
such masters and the muse they
warblo, rnrc and thrilling as it is,
md full Of delight for the entrnnccd !
,ars winch catch it, while il may be /.
he "lood Of love-" does not consti.
ute pabulum sufficiently substan-
iaI for the use and tastes Of the !
world. There must be laborers in
he pleasant garJenr Of literature :
Is we'll as sweet fhlIolnels in the ,
of the trees. And the !
gardeners will have to be clothed I
md fed and paid else the gardens :
will run waste in weeds and bram-
lies, and the song OF the birds viii
lot save or reclaim them. Chatter {,
on died of starvation ; Otway chok
ID himself to death with n trust of
,rcad which he dcvourDd, says
in the rage of hunger.
Goldsmith was almost II bcgSnr, and
many times actually subsiStcd on
harity ungrucouSly and tardiIy c~
ended. DR.. johnson was so deep
y Impressed 10y his own early strug-
lies in literature that in his satire
ntitied LondOh. he gave the EN-,
'hnsis of capital letters TO the line
"slow rises worth by poverty dcprtssed
The history Of literature is lrplcte
With such melancholy and affecting
tories of want and suffering, and
he sickness Of hope disappointed
n deferred. In these times, thanks
o the improvement and multipli-
alton ofcllccmosynary foundations, J
ot many persons perish from the
'angs of actual hunger; but literary
ncn, who have something to say
Which thc'world would be wiser aud
etter for hearing, bcsct and dis
eartcncd and batlictl by the difli.
ulties around thcrt, fprsakcn and
Drswsar their calling, and bctakc
to other pursuits which
cward them more amply and
romptly. Thus in the South our
Iiltons are mute and ingloriohsj
ihile Oh writers Of far less origin.
Iity aud merit abroad, the "mob of
cntlemen who write with ease,
ur people bestow full need Of praise
nd "affiuent fortune empties all her
onOr." And yet they lament that
&c have no literature worthy os the
anne, and that such attempts rs are
lade TO publish periodicals distInc-
vely Southern IN tCne and ghHrac-
sr, reflect no credit on the rCntrtsi-
Jrs aud publishers, or on the section
-hich they represent.
Our people are waiting for the
teraturc of the South 10 improve
cfOre they consent ID encourage
cd support il. They will wait a
,ng time unlcss they perceive the
rrOr and amend their practice. IN