The New York herald., 1877-09-02


that John Brown died upon the gallows as
stain upon his memory. Such qualities
as he exhibited will receive admiration SO
long as brave men recognize and value IN
others what constitutes their own best titles
to esteem.
Mr. Boucicaults Compliments TO the
Press.
1t would perhaps be ungracious for the
newspaper press to take no notice OF the
polite attentions SO literally showered upon
it by Mr.. Boucicault in his recent spicy ar
ticle on "The Decline OF the Drama" He
thinks the press exerts noxious influence,
not merely on the drama, but upon all
literature, and that it exhausts and ener-
ploys. We insert the following picture by
this spirited and courteous artist =:
II the drama has descended below the level at
cline TO the destructive influence OF the newspaper
press This literary machine was invented about
by Essay out oil Flying Post A. first It's object was
simply to circulate news Then began to manufacture
opinion. As mankind became more and more busy In
commercial affairs they had less time Tor meditation
and It was very convenient to buy opinions ready
made and TO have their minds made up Tor them
without tho trouble Of consideration SO this machuc
soon came into universal use. and tho slow craftsman
OF literature. tho od-fashIoncd thinker the
weaver OF sound. strong argument, finding no
market for his lsboriousy y-ashioncd brain prod.
ucc, became press man. The inexorable ma.
chine now calls upon him for so much composition,
not whether his faculties Ill nt or well dis.
posed, in VEN or out OF gcar copy must be had This
daily milking OF his brain. this eternal diarrh9a OF
thought, has debitated his mental system. He Is au-
der instructions TO write for commonplace intcects
ncr ''the impression only intended to i've Tor
day. He appreciated not tor the truth OF what he
writes hat Is secondary matter; he is urged to be
racy, and so learns TO covcr with peuess o style bis
badness OF treatment, and to put satin lace upon
saoddy argument
This sprightly arraignment is only the
prelude to Mr. Boucicault's argument. He
maintains that the best intellect Of the age
Twill he accept bow in recognition of the
compliment y is subsidized by the newspa-
pers and is thereby so debilitated 1--WE make
another bowl that it is not only fashy itself,
but the cause Of fashiness in the whole re-
public Of letters. If Mr.. Boucicault in
tended to exhibit himself as an example Of
this pernicious influence he has sue
ceeded He would have discredited his
own thesis if he had written as 'sthe weaver
of sound, strong argument" which he AYERS
that the newspaper press has banshed from
literature.
In the sense we have indicated Mr. Bouci-
cault's article is q clever jeu despqit But
does he really think that the literature Of
this age is as shallow and fippant as he has
tried to make his own article by
way Of specimen? Do such writer's as
Victor Hugo, Balzac, George Sand,
Thackeray, Dickens, George Eliot, Car
lyle, Ruskin, Tennyson, Swinbu1ne and
a host that might be named deserve
the contempt which Mr.. Boucicault pours
upon the literature Of this age? The
immense sale Of their writings proves that
the newspapers do not interfere with the
perusal of works Of genius. The last thirty
years have been richer than any preceding
age in historical literature which combines
exhaustive research with clearness and grace
of composition. Many even of the states
men Of the period have cultivated litenture
with success, like Gladstone and Disraeli in
England and many of the first statesmen
Of France. More books worth reading have
been published since 1910 than in any
equal period in the worlds history. Mr..
Boucicault may pardonably ignore such
writers as Mill and De Tocqueville and
Grote and the whole school of great
scientists, whose labors are so alien to his
pursuits but. can he wish to convey the
impression that he is insensible to the
merits of the great writer's in general litera-
ture? A man must sit serene upon n very
lofty pinnacle Of genius who looks down
with contempt upon the fruitful literature
OF this age.
And, then, as to journalists, does Mr..
Boucicault really think that Mr. Bryant has
s'debilitated his mental system" by an
''eternal diarrhGa of thought" Is John
Lemoinne q man who "writes for common
place intellects ?" Was the late Walter
Bagehot journalist who covered badness
of treatment with pertness of style?" Was
the intellect OF Theirs "debilitated" by his
service as q journalist? Has Louis Blanc
been milking an empty brain for the Inst
forty years? TO be sure, journalism re-
quires great deal of extemporaneous
thought. But SO does the command of
an army on the field of battle; SO
does parliamentary speaking in an ami
mated debate; SO does the examination
of witness by o lawyer, who must decide
on the instant whether he will hazard o
question which may decide the fate of his
client. The value of extemporaneous
judgments depends on whose judgments
they are. As nothing extemporaneous is
risked on the stage, and even the witty
repartees are carefully studied out before
hand, it is not surprising that playwright
cannot understand the value or scarcely
conceive the possibility of impromptu
thinking,
Trickett and Courtney.