Salt Lake evening Democrat. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1885-1887, 1886-10-18
ROSE ELIZABETH CLEVELAND.

The news reaches us that Miss Rose
Elizabeth Cleveland will soon sever her
connection with Literary Life, and re-
sumo her wonted place in the school
room Of some institution for the teaching
OF her own sex. In view of the record
the lady has made, and of the fact of be-
ing handicapped by manager who has
proven himself anything but a good
business man, it is not strange. In the
first place the lady accepted a position,
which, no matter how able she was,
would expose her to the shafts of gang
OF the most sarcastic writers in the
country, who are located in Chicago, and
run the daily papers there. Again, her
national prominence as the sister of the
President, made her writings target for
all who politically differed with him, and
there were not wanting, those who gave
to her structures on certain encroachments
by the church on state matters, a con-
struction which indirectly attacked her
brothers position before the people.
Again, the lady!has been unfortunate in
her class of subjects selected, notably the
labor subject, for the reason that no mat
ter how true she wrote nor how forcibly,
her very belongings and training turned
the popular ear against her reasoning.
and what was conceived and written in a
spirit OF justice and kindness to working
men, was by them construed as an at
tempt to still further oppress them. But
above and away from these causes is the
primal one, and the most potent, of as
suming dictatorial tone toward her CO.
laborers in the field of literature. At the
most, Miss Cleveland is Young woman
yet, and the following from her pen in
the columns of Literary Life must have
Jared upon the sensibilities of the great
army OF poetic writers, the major portion
OF whom are old enough to be her father:
LET American writer's abandon un-
worthy motives; let them sink forever
that corroding jealousy and selfshness
which corrupts the brain as much as it
does the heart, which defiles literature
as much as it does life; let them set
their faces resolutely in the direction of |
the good quality as their goal, rather
than the great quantity let them cease
to pile Pelion of words on an Ossa of |
words; let them sink this hydra verbos-
Ity IN the quiet depths Of thought; let
work take the place of worry let patience
take the place of hurry land then will the
seeds of future of literature in America
be planted, the character of whose har-
rest none can doubt" The foregoing
paragraph will be held by all writer's to
De afflicted with the very thing the lady
alls against-verbosity-and carries
With 1t too much of the censor to pass
he eagle eyes of hundreds of men and
women at whom it is aimed, and will call
Iown, therefore, on her devoted head
many shafts which will not be sent on an
rand OF kindness or mercy. From the
tart, her own sex ignored her position.
nd not one lady conductor of a literary
'urnal in the land has extended the
and OF kindness to her. After all. it
lust be acknowledged that Miss Cleve-
md made good fight, and did her best
nder the circumstances, but the task
as too much for her, and needed the
lclslVe pen of an old horse in the traces.
dig up and show to the world. what a
md OF egotistical vanity exists under
lie guise of literary training in America.
lss Cleveland aimed at being critic
hike all other critics in the world. as
e latter criticize work which they them
Ives do not claim to be able to do.
hile the literary critic mustlneeds brand
e opinions of the literary world in print
his or her own writing, and success
lly, too, before attacking others, with a
pc of making them improve their style.
le bright minds of American literature
IL be sorry to see Miss Cleveland leave
tripod, while the pleased malice with
hch others will hail her resignation
mot harm mind SO truly defended
alnst the weaknesses and littlenesses
human nature