New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-01-07
BOSTON ON MODERN LITERATURE.

From, The Boston Transcript
The return of The atlantic TO lts hIsU ''eteiS
loves Is the startling confession OF lact "niTu
good observers have for some time notlceu. ~
have Just lived through generation OF cIcd,iNe
literature. ana the men who made tue genera Ioi
illustrious by their originality nave etner parseu
away or are standing one inch from HES saie
hem II needs no reflection tna', II an equaIS
strong series of writer's pressing INTO tn9 va
Gated places the editors Of The itdRitc would nave
conteptch themselves with new talent IN the nav
ural sequence OF things But their actOn Is WI n,
tual proclamation of tho intellectual ueartn w
inst now marks New-Eugland authorship. 30
have dey elcped gene alton OF ciitlGs anu CRU.
cism has superscded creation. a chel ohplol nhehU
of our ne v,r writers has been to talk ahout the
qTeAter men who went before them. me process Is
n natural ono aud has occurred III the literary us
tOry of other countries. Germany resteu IuAui'-
ously tor long time upon the iauie' Won ~ .o
Goethe Schiller era and her SCHOLARS are sun an
alyzing the great dramas and ictoDs OF these TWO
creative minds, instead OF producing ne" VIA
There is To he sure a new les OF GERMAN mover
ISIS and poets but they compare with the carrier
giants as water with wire. IL seems "a II ne, vi
Ncw-England were repeating TINS ola story Oh Ino
blossom, fTuitage aud Cecline ul a"thofSnlp. TOT
need ye con fine the statement TO NcW-Eng anu l0l
we NAV look with strained VISION over tue WuoIo
field of American talent Tor single powerful non
est essay list or poet, unless perhaps. we except
the coarse democratic genius OF " hitinan' We arc
DONG much in tne iinesse OF criticism ana huI"uo
dcscrtptiOu: we are holding Arguments ana hhlass-
ING statistics: but are not producing SERIOUS
oripiunl work One of the largest literary acuN-
ittrs of our day is the ltineIunt typr-hooks OF
travel ana comments bul NIiS' wv -" "N'N
portOrial profession. ,,,,
1t Is worth while to look for some OF the probable
canses for this changed quality ot our literature.
How comes 10 that see 40 men ukcll 10 Dccoiho
the spirtua ana artistic Successors ~ IRVING Dry
ant Hawthorne. Emerson and Lougiellow now.
ellis and lleJry James, IT,, are the Two slonles 80
writers 20 whom can point among younger men.
We are thankful Tor these. ana hedse them ABOUT
with discreet praise. lest tnev. TOO. HAY IAN Us
But the grea' number OF uo'elisis poets au1 10y
lists who must feed such magazines - Ihc tchiWg
and The atlantic area weak fraternity. mus. very
naturally. the magazines ate stretching thelr h"hl7
toward England or reaching back INTO our own
n,sf II AN uiincitls of protection cOuld be ap-
rlicd here IL ia certainly 10 be prayed Tor ut our
literary talent of good class Is so well pald td' no
reason can bc lOuud here. a.,
ing rest essnc~s anu lack Of seriousness IN the pres
cnt American nA.ure. l.ct one rrad tue Sweet
thoughtful measures Oi LcngCllcWs poslhuhouH
poem. Michael Angelo and he viii at once see
that the tine penetration which makes sncn .
poem possibility eau oulA be tue evolution OF -,
least two OF three generations OF drep-naturod Hhu
rarncss ancestry. Bret Ilarte. Walt Within IN ANA
JOAQUIN Miller are better eXponcnts OF our con,
temporary spiut than the genial auh huc-Rraiheu
men who have either vanished or are last Vanishing
Whittier speaks TO Us now only IN the hlfcP"cnt III
tprvns OF n fnuty, but his song has lost mono oil -
| simple power. here j. 10 siRu OF decfepltuuc IN
| Uol,urs's new paper and we TejOccd TO hnd IN
| II the old nCghbUIluess which MS didacIc VIZ
| never u.rurrs There i not Que OF new writers
J who spenks 20 M with this old glow ot aH'"tloh
We feel like Clinglng To the hands tnht nave MN.
lstercd ~ ns long and certain sense oil aplrluA
Orphauage falls uppn us ~ lhnklnS barN upon tne
| tenderness a. well as the intellectual insight Oh
| these men of the past. The new writers 90 MOI
| stand in the same relation To US; ana IL - pu''
| tinuable whether that almost prothcrly INTEREST
| which men ike Emerson aud Long'cllow cherished
| toward their felows can Icappear ~ generation
| so immersed in sensat,nndilsm Is ours. IL aAe'
| much more than Information, ambition ana Mchth
| activity 10 constitute a grett writer.
| Moreover our political life OF the pnst twenty
years has not favored mental repo7e' ne elNi
| war created and left for us legacy OF not emo
| tons which are but Just diving away. social ana
| economical problems nave acquired compieNity Rnd
| have absorbed energy. We are stlH IN the tuImo
| of these largo, Immediate questions; aud hrt and
| literature can scarcely flourish In soil which u
| being continually plOughcd by antagonl-ns 81
debates. Just now sociological matters hid FAR to
! make large demand n on our best minus Tor
good while TO come. But we can hardly make
full excuse for Uui selves ia THIS way since Ehgsl
| nationality has developed IN q corresponding tur
| MOL and yet has given life To the rich aud deel
| temperament of IennysOn, Bfownlng ahd George
| Eliot ~ the Ve:y heat oi such upheaYals. Alter al
| we can only say that VIC have somehow missed th'
| golden conditions which give lie 10 great literary
art and il ~ doubtful If any studied Obsrry ancc o
| conditions will give us what We have missed. Oh'
| thing IN plan, however: that carnestucss 81 NE
| and "a fine moral rectlIude arc ingredients oil
| worthy literature. The inmonsc Increase OF Amer
| lean literature is but Il sorry condensation for it'
| lowered quality There arc those who doubt II the
materials for great poem or nance eau be found
III the United States. Drama and lc ion, 10 ~ SAID
| EXPRESS the traredy and suffering OF humHnty
| and the study OF mudein CIVILIZATION II 10 ohHtr
rate suffering. There - truth ~ tins but without
| being pessmists we can see That some struggle ano
| suffering IL inevitable. MOTeoyc. 'e drama O
| personal development ALWAYS oiei. uring mate
rial to the artist OF human nature. 10 Is not belirv
| able that dearth of material can explain tht
dearth of writers. IL is more cIeditable that the
snread Of the scientific spirit which brings all the
| phenomena Of lite within the reign of law may
have ind;sposed the stronger intellects TO poetic,
| brman experience. That such IOetizatiOD Is com
patible with keen psychologist analysis we have
| demonstration in Thackeray and George Eliot
| But whatever the causes uf this lowered quality
of American authorship 1t is impossible not to fee
| q regret at the undOubtcd fact