The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-08-04
NOVELS WE READ.
Prof. David Swings Pertinent observations
Concerning Current Literature and Other

In the afternoon Prof David Swing, the dstin-
guished Chicago divine, lectured to a very large
audience on 1.-THE Novels We Read" the subject
being treated In that gentleman's usual attract
i've and entertaining manner. The audience
which had received large sccessiOns from the
city, was unusually attentive and appreciative
The exercises were begun with the hymn, Stand
Up for Jesus" and Governor Cumback briefly
introduced MIR. Swing, who said, in brief:
have not come here to either abuse or eulO
gize the novel or the novel-reader, but simply
want to ask you to examine into the philosophy
of that kind of book called novel, The novel
is gradually working its way into your libraries,
| and its seems therefore that practical inquiry
concerning its use and advantages may be in
teresting 1t is said that everything contains
in it the reason of its existence, and the novel
certainly does. Let me advance some general
principles. All literature is picture of the SOUL
and as the soul may sit for several pictures, so
this literature presents to us various attitudes
of the human mind. Religious works represent
ing the soul looking upward toward it's Creator,
history representing 1t looking back
over the ages, and romance looking toward
the beautiful. Mrs. Scott siddons, who Is, or
was said to have been the most beautiful woman
OF the world, had over fifty photographs taken
of herself, and all were beautiful Similarly lit
Va
we shall discuss one-the novel.
There five fine arts-for their mission Is
the beautiful Observation-Disclosures, painting,
sculps music and literature, and Of the latter
the novel is a branch, golden branch 1Edeed.
You are all capable of judging quite accurately
OF all this array of the beautiful by following
two lava, viz: first, what ideas are
offered me by this work, and second.
how many of themf 1t is questions
of ideas and sentiment. People instiNctively
recognize IA work of art, whatever it may be, but
this power is stronger in some than others. The
average musician is carried away by q perform
ANGELS wrapt up III the execution, ana he for
gels that his music does not convey many ideas
to his hearers, ana thus his art falls. Comparing
the fine arts together that will be the greatest
art which can throw into your minds and hearts
the most ideas and the best Music is not sound,
for II 1t were merely that should set myself up
as a singer. Music is the union of beauty and
SO many of us are left ont when
chOirs are made up. Laughter A man who
builds shed is not an arohi ect, unless he
adOrns it and beauties it, Painting is color,
but the beautiful spreading of color. Literature
is truth. merely, for If 1t were the dictiou
ary would be literature, the Congressional Globe
would be literature, and the multiplication table
would be a literary gem. Literature is beauti-
full truth-OrnRmented Thought. Music can only
say few things to us. It Is the most powerful
art but the narrOwest the most limited, but the
sweetest Two young lovers in Germany tiied
to carry on cOurtship by music alone, but
failed entirely; the art was too narrow.
When they brauched out, however,
they were more successful Architecture
has only few grand thoughts, but by means of
literature the soul enters every thought. 1t Is
the great gateway through which the soul pass
es. Think of the Greek language-80 900 words,
only 80, 600 i'll common use, and all capable of
unlimiI ed development. The simple verb mean
ing "to love" has 500 different parts, and fire.
quently only of these has broken a young
mans heart, and the other 1,499 did him no
good. The words of literature are all beautiful,
and literary art is always Ornamented by i'm
agination and fancy. The other great orRa-
mentation of literature ia it's breadth. When a
Calvinist breaches mis- words are distastefnl,
probably, to MethOdists. and consequently his
sermon is not literature, it is Calvinism. Litera-
ture pleases Everybody, and rolls before
infinite the Homer, Virgil, Shak-
speare all wrote for the human race
There is always an ideal something, and 1
am going to speak of the ideal novel. What Is
the Ornalnentatlon of ii Let us go back in the
past for our answer. Four thousand years ago
there began to be an image of the human face,
carved in a rock or painted in canvass, and that
was the origin of the novel. The conception was
developed into symmetrical proportions by the
Greeks, but they did not fluid the perfect image
OF this being. Ii took the world 5000 years to
| learn where the human nose should set in
and how long it should continue. That
image of beauty was called differently by differ
ent nations, bus you may call her what you
please. She was the origin of the novel. Let me
iel you how the novel is literature with an
ideal woman in it, not the real women mind you.
She has not yet reached the villages and cities
and camp grounds. but she is coming. | might
say In this connection that in my opinion the
ideal man is still further away. [Laushterl The
| ideal woman ia the essence, the reason of the
| novel. The philosophy of the novel Is human
| thought ornamented by beautiful woman. All
races decorate, we are all children of the
beautiful. If Il clergyman IN this audience should
go to some strange city, he would follow
brass band around, and stand on the corner
and listen TO a hand organ Laughter God
has ordained IL that there shah always be a win
dow open through which may come some light.
Woman is the inspiration of the novel, and we
all follow that hook for that reason.
have another proof of this: In those savage
nations where the women were slaves and
drudges, there were no novels. But when
Greece emancipated women from n slavery
hon nnf han wall ,nIlf
beauty. In the dark ages for loo years
there were no novels because the
women were in the background, and
there were only men, and they
were all theologians. But i'll the revival of let
tiers, back caIne women aud back came the
novel; but the work was crude. The work of de-
vclopment was slow, and now the good novel is
Just beginning to appear. 1t has only been re-
Gently that we have had good machinery iu our
fields good railroads. good steamboats,, and it is
only at the present time that are beginning
to have good sermons from our pupits; aud thus
it is with novels. The entire effort of the old
novelist was to get couple of young people
tangled IN love, and then find all sorts of obsta-
Giles 20 their marriage. When he had invented
enough indians, pirates ami mothers-,n-law to
fill two volumes, he wrote the story and wound
IL up either with a wedding a funeral, gener-
ally the latter, and everybody was glad of it.
There has been great Improvement in novel
writing since then. The standard works of to-
day expressive of ideas and beautiful
Thought. Around central figure grouped
people of strong individuality. ladies and gentle
men whose words and actions are conducive to
healthy thought and nobler conduct. Woman ia
the iuspiratlOn--the guiding OF the true
nOvel-a fact that VIII be apparent TO you if you
carefully review the standard novels you have
read. Recall Jean Paul Richter's, who for over
half century had been worshiper
of God and student of men. He was familiar
with history, with science, and he could have
written philosophy whose profundity would
nave astonished the world, had they stopped to
read it. But he knew n better way TO reach the
hearts aud minds of men and women and he
took advantage of it. He wrote novel when he
was comparatively an old man. not romantic
love tale, with nothing further to commend it,
but powerful story that set people to thinking
all over the world The Countess Linda was in
vented by him, and threw II beautiful light over
all those pages. III he had written philosophy
he would have needed only thirteen vol
umes, for each of the mem.
beers of the Concord School of Philosophy, and
for his wife to file ay for future reference.
Charles Dckens's great idea not love
FIJI 10 a of hog ifIii