Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1872-05-18
Literature of To-Day.

The intense activity of this present
age is not alone confined to discoveries
in mechanics, ingenious inventions, ap-
plications of steam IN place OF human
power, and the like, bu. all departments
OF thought, as well as action, possess
their devoted followers, and literature is
by no means behind the rest. Indeed
the facilities of communicating with the
public are so great, that nine persons
of culture out OF ten are authors or Jour
nalists, while the luxury has become so
common that the public have grown Gas-
tidious, and excellent judges, too, as TO
style and real merit. The moralist must
clothe his arguments in fitting garb, and
represent his theories with certain at
fuence of thought, if he would retain
the attention of reader or hearer. The
philosopher must not forget TO add the
grace of metaphor to his profoundest cf
forts, and in the sturdy steps of the his
torian must be strewn the fragrant way
side flowers Of narrative style 10 capti-
vate the general reader. In olden times
literay men were so scarce as TO form a
class by themselves, and indeed, not far
back, even kings could not write, but
like Charlemagne, made his mark upon
the parchment. The soldier of those
days scorned to familiarize his hand with
the pen, while to-day we have subalterus
and prlvates writing their commentaries
like Caesar, the consequence being that
we have a vast number of books of
most Indifferent character; still there is
scarcely one written in pure and con-
scientious spirit, which does not possess
some value, and contribute its mite to
swell the great aggregate OF knowledge.
Condensation Of thought is the one
great virtuo OF literature; the compress
ed ideas are those that are remembered.
We have not time or room TO carry
about loose thoughts and rambling fan
cies the philosophic writer who under
stands the spirit of our times, will use
sort of hydrostatic press to get his re-
hections into portable shape before he
spreads them upon paper. 1t is easy
enough for any one 10 be complicated
and obscure; simplicity and directness
are far more difficult and much more
rarely attained, while the use of words
bigger than the thing expressed deceives
no one IN these intelligent times, when
eveIv other man or woman is a writer,
and all are critics. Yet the elder Dis
raeli contended that there was rs much
a fashion to our literature as to our
coats, and that both We're amendable to
certain arbitrary rules Of the day. We
can illustrate our own idea of style by
no smile so well as that OF the writer
who declared the Gothic school tosbe the
thing, the pointed style, both as applied
to literature and to churches. And yet,
because painting is not by Raphael or
Guido, we do not turn away from it,
neither should we despise or fail to learn
from even the humble literary advenlur-
er. Doubtless from some point of view,
by means Of the right light, we should
see hidden merit aud beauty there; pos
sibly, when the sun shall fall upon it, as
on the Greek statue, music will greet us.
Sometimes, perhaps, it is because we
have not the rosy fingers OF Aurora,
that Melnnon yields no sweetness to our
touch elf.
The literature Of to-day, we humbly
conceive, has kept pace with the marked
progress in all departments OF intelli-
gence. Authors, from addressing o
more cultivated audience than hereto
fore, have themselves set up higher
standard OF excellence, endowing their