, 1875-06-09

terary art will never degenerate into a trades
union, or that mean jealousy Will ever induce
successful men to keep aspiring writers down.
Success, however, is producing It's own crop
of evils, and we desire to say some words upon
a species of literary atfectation which il rapidly
growing upon the men who contribute the
greater portion Of the light literature of the
day. The vice of the man of letters in the
last century was the alteration OF individuals
but some Of us in these enlightened days are
acquiring the bad habit of worshipping classes
and sections of society. Many Il man who
would scorn TO toady TO an individual aristo-
Graf, does not mind t~oadying 20 the a~riStocra-
tic order, or writing the foolish sentiments and
ideas which are SO peculiarly the property of
the idle classes. Take our comic writers as an
example of what we mean. These men affect
10 move in The highest circles Of society they
profess to be ON terms Of familiar intercourse
with Cabinet Ministers they are the boon
companions of Dukes and EaYls. They are
always talking of the upper crust OF society.
and. Ike Mr.. Thackpray, they have a weakness
for titles and officers in the Guards. They are
invited to the best dinners Of The season, and
know everybody q man of fashion ought to
know. It is amusing 10 hear these men talk of
the middle state OF Lie, to which they properly
belong. They affect an imperfect knowledge
Of everything connected withsheir own class,
aud an entire ignorance Of that most important
section Of society, the l~abouring population.
Himself and his " set" form the subject of the
popular writer's lucubratious he is the cynos.
ure Of all eyes and the whole world is interest
cd in his dinners, his elegantly furnished man
sion, and the sublime effects of his genius.
Any hing like merl0IioUs work Is, Of course,
net to be expected from these babblerS, De-
prive them Of This gossip, and their slang talk
Of the town, and they are duoY. Thought, on
anything original, is not in their line. The pub
lie will listen fla man chatters in decent English
about great people, and, while the taste for
such stuff exists, there Will always be men
ready to supply it. This sort Of affeotation,
be it remembered, is not caricature, but genu-
iue imbecility, 1t is the "thing" for tho
literary nomads of the town to appear what
they are not, and the majority Of respectable
people have discovered that it is a crime to
appear to be poor. If a man has no brains,
he must atone for the deficiency by the I'M
sparing use of brog. If be is poor, be must
affect the manner and habits Of a rich man.
lie must hire a horse, and ga!lop in the Row
to be laughed at, of course, by the swells,'
who see through the pretender's snobbish al
~fectation. Many writer's, who make decent
lvings by their profession, openly encourage
thho Aulc 'VI9' lucy ClhC y bpL OK VIII
not see that they are degrading themselves
and Ii erature, and that they are doing their
best to p~rpetuate that disgusting worship of
wealth which is tending to the destruction
of all the manly traits in the English cbarao-
ter. No Que would caro- to see a cynical atd
affected disregard of the advantages which
wealth and position confer upon the leisurely
classes. In avoiding ScyiIa we must not
fall into Charybdis the manly element in
the national character is still strong, and
signs are not wanting that we are entering
upon an epoch in our history when sincerity
and truth will be regarded as above all price.
The time may even come when 'virtue in
bad Clothes as Ben Jonson has it, will be
respected, and when sine raimeut' will no
longer be in ''such high request We shall
welcome anything which offers US a pros
pect of honorable retreat to safer vantage
ground. The working classes are rapidly be-
coming a power in the State, and if there ie
one thing which the intelligent artisan de-
tests, it is cant. He needs instruction,
and he has difficulties to overcome, which
are unknown to his more fortunate fellow
creatures. His class will soon form an inn
portant ssction of the great reading public.
His power to control the elections will make
him formidable, and in this country political
Oowar ia ouarvthtrr