Northern Ohio journal. [volume] (Painesville, Ohio) 1872-1896, 1873-06-28
EFFECT OF DEMOCRACY ON lit
ERATURE.

Every mother who has carefully
watched and trained her children at
home, has noticed that when they are
first placed in school there is certain
leveling process commenced. Their
neatness, their order, their manners,
in short, their refined home expressions
change, and certain roughness seems
to take theirplace. The child drops down
to nearly the average of its mates, and
yet perhaps IncOnsciously pulls them
up 4 little. But what the child loses in
elegance he may gain in force, natural
ness and directiiess. =.
Now this leveling of the public taste,
this democracy Of intellect, may have its
compensations. If magazine writers
please the public even with sentimental
mush they will be read; and if they do
not please they will not be read. Leav-
ing the bread and butter question-by
which we all live-out of. sight, they
may really do good work by catering
to the public taste, and raising it gradu-
ally; when, if they remained entirely in
a plane of thought and feeling above it,
they would have little attention and no
fostering influences. For sentimental
commonplace at one extreme, and sem
sational writing at the other--that is,
either weakness or cOarseneSs--sOon
wears out the taste its creates; and who
has not seen wild stuff or tawdry orna-
ment lose its popularity even in years
time, and substantial quality take its
place? More people read now than ever
before, and this true and fortunate state
of things, though leveling, has also its
good side, in promoting interest and dis
cussion. 1t is great thing to sow
broadcast in some fields, and to make a
subject popular is to prepare the way for
something better by and by.
For example, we think Handel would
have torn. his full-bottomed wig off and
stamped on it in one of his fits of rage,
if he could have heard his great air iii
fRinaldo'' travestied and lebilitated to
"Juniata," and sung everywhere as a
soft. Spanish love song. But "Juniata,'
prepared the way for the welcome of
''Lacia chic pianga," and named it at
| once beloved, when we ali heard Miss
| Adelaide Phillips rendition of it.. So the
hand-organ has its offices Of intro.
| ducing the airs from the opera to the
| populace, who, when they see and hear
the opera. will like it better because Of
the hand-organ. Miss Sterling has sung
the new and rare songs of the modern
| German schools, Liszt, Rubenstein and
the elder ones of Schumann and Chd-
| bert for four years; and at the last phil
| harmonic of the last season even, daret
to offer her audience Bach's "Cradlt
Song" And now comes Osgood, thu
new tenor, and enters into her labors ant
helps to perpetuate them. He awaken'
enthusiasm where she but ELECTED sur
prise, and in a few years everybody who
knows and loves music will know al
these songs and rightly measure them
No, there must be democratic witt
breadth and full-bloodedness; there
must be broad sympathies to create life
vigor and health; and democracy is ne
cessary to wide and hearty literature
Not to strive for this is too much like tn
languid, shallow woman who talks abo,i
"our set'' and prides herself on ''gen
teel acquaintance"