, 1873-01-19
PLEASANTLY iii LITERATURE.
pv PROFESSOR WILLIAM MATHEWS, OF TIE UNI
yEnsrTT OF CHICAGO.

~ PROFESSOR N114AA AA41tI"a3 o* ~AA. 49, |
yEns1TY OF CHICAGO
r,.x,,s, 80, +-Aasino nj tha character
# Enc1iah literature at this dme, complains
that periodical writing, which hounshea 80 VIZ
orously ut tho beginning OF thls century, -
poa1ly lost art. This kind OF writing, ne so-
MARKS ;a i literature what conversation Il u
speech; it should not be too poI5ona'' iios se
nor too earnest, but mixture OF Ill
those, the play Ut fancy over Ill Subjects heh'-
ing up here and there their depths, Due nos
grnppIing with them.-pouHng itself aoroao, oae
not contracting itself to any too desermna1o
aim. 4 fatal defect Of English per1odlca
literature to-lay is Its excessive gravity; tho
impulse OF tho English mind being almost en-
tirely toward concentration, and earnesthess,
and defnitencss Of thought. The eject OF TINS
is to quonch all life and spirit, as certainly az
does carbonic acid gas. ."Does laughter OF Aeh1 |
SATIRE" aska the critic, "evor ring through Inc
solemn precincts Of Macmillan? Do tho apos-
ties Of the Fortaightly ever introduce joke into
their evangelical discourses2 Mr. Frederic
Harrison, il we remember right, attempted It
some little time ago; but he did it with 80 pre-
teruatural1y solemn tone, and with sueh ea5@
uestness OF asseyeratioh that he really Gid not
mean to Joke at Ill, that all fear OF the risk TINT
the attempt might be repeated was at once re-
moved"
The justice OF this criticism WILL 90 ao"1tseo'
ne think, by all who are familiar with the peri
odicals Of the old country. Fothing can be
more solemn than their ordinary tone. Il lG
rarely that even the ghost of joke haunts
their pages; and when bit of pleasantly docs
STRAY in, it seems accidental, and rs mnch QUE o1
place as on q graVestone or IN q 4eaeef' tno
periodical writer's OF to-day have plenty OF m
tensity end fiery earnestness' much acuteness Q,
observation and large stores OF knowleaGei on1
they are heavy and elophantlne; thes
lack de1ibility. Atheness, anu sotsasm'J'
aud in the power which ls 80 st11RneV
exemplifed by Shakspeare's fools OF saying "lso
things in 3 sportiye way,-the power 30 olten
seen in Lamb and Hood, OF conveying deep
philosophical verify in jest, uniting the Wudest
merriment with the truest pathos and the deep
est wiedom,-in short, in that genial 1amoen1
humor Of which Shakespeare was the rope anu
sidney Smith the CHIEF cardinal, nuno1 AAo
summer sheet-lightning, that hurts noboas' anu
illuminates everything with soft, bright nasnes,
they seem almost Wholly wanting "o "as4
70 back half century to the Gays OF dofaco
Smith, Maginn, and Leigh hunt, "e
would enjoy in Engiah periodicals that
agreeable trifing which, as Goldsmith
SAYS, often deceives us INTO lnstruc-
tio2. Tho solomnity OF their SUCCESSORS,
which is certainly not the mask OF dulness,
tempts one to cry out with Cicero, ~ Clce11 me
hercutle non put0 esse qu1 his tcapoTaous Tadere
po$sit: on my conscience believe ne have an
t forgotten to lnugh in these days-" History Ia
always repeating itself, and we ind by dolu-
| smiths ''Essay on the Present State OF fohso
! Learning" that the same fault characterized the
literature Of England hundred years ago., Ao
complains bitterly of $ disgusting solemnity OF
manner" as tho besetting sin Of the prose-
writer's and poets of his day. The fnest: sent1-
mcnt and the weighliest truth. he urges,
NAV put on plea:ant faco; but, IN
stead of this, "the most triding performance
among US now assumes all the didactic stiffness
of wisdom. The most diminutiTo son Of fame or
OF famine has his 1ce and his It's, his jrstys and
hin secord.xs, as methodical as it bound in cow
hide and closed ip clasps Of BRASS We're these
monthly reviews and magazines frothy, pert, OF
absurd. they might find some pardon; but to be
| dnll and deoniah is an encroachuent on the pre-
rogatiEo Of folio"
| American literature is not amenable to the
charge ct excessive gravity; our newspapers enc
magazines have plenty Of comic matter, only il
is apt to be OF broad and extravagant klnd
We have professional wits ind humoslate
who furnieh funny articles BY the column,-me'
chanical jokers, who turn out jokes as the pat
Ont bread Observation-Disclosures turns out loaveS
but what We need is, not moro Wits, who ear
spin out jests as jrggler spins endless ribbonf
from his outh,-writors who can make u:
laugh, and nothing more.-but those who cal
treat the grayest themes in o playful manner
interminglc, as did Pascal and Sydney Smith
pleasantly with logic, bind the rod of the moral
ist with the roses Of the muse, and hide with tn
iyy wreath the point Of the Thyrsus. Can an:
man doubt the inestimahle value OF sue!
writer's to acommunitv' Even the coarsest vi
has it's uses. There are men whose risibles eau b.
tickled BY no other. To laugh, they must hca
or reoa something "dreadfully funny, some
thing as irreaist1ably mirth-proVoklns as 81
Toby's catch that could "draw three souls ou1
ono weaver" Charles Lamb teus OF sncn
man,-of such gravity that Nowton might nav
| dadnctai from it the law Of gravltation. But Ill