Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1886-04-10

new authors are almost daily Springlng up IN
every direction, and nine-tenths OF them are
authors only from vanity or in sanity.
have come across several instances that GER
tainly have to be included in this record.
Here Is one OF them.
| WAS conversing with an author who has
made for himself quite name in the realm
of fiction, and has already reached place at
least in the third, or perhaps second rank Of
American novelists. He will, however, never
be either a Howells or a Cable Nor does he
aspire to be,-as little probably as the fox Of
old aspired to the possession of the grapes
that hung above him. For he expressly
told me that Cable was insutferable to him,
while the whole art of the James HOwells
school was a sheer trick of style, which any
clever writer could initiate. / confess that
opened my eyes almost to a blank stare at
this When / was further vouchsafed the
information by this modest author that he
could without any trouble produce novel
that would pass for a work of James,
quickly closed my eyes again that 1 might
be spared the sight of his blushes,-whCh
was, however, wholly unnecessary He did
not blush He simply went on heaping Ossa
on Pelion by naively contiding 10 me that he
was so imbued with the spirit and method of
Thackersy, that it he chose he could at any
time produce a novel that would be accepted
by all as a posthumous work of the great
Englishman /! This nearly took my breath.
l gasped ana lett IN silence. More deeply
than ever ielt "hat great PITY II was ILat
book on "The Vanity and Insanity of
Authors" had already been written.
II IS Dut just 10 thls autnor 10 note, now
ever that his vanity has not yet led him to
handicap any OF his books with his portrait
nor virtually to dedicate them to himself, nor
80 w -, 80 'N '"o'' NJ
yet 70 iiiahe 49,. n'insei' the net" VI Ihouli aiIu
50 " III thea "tsii ~ " ~ scr "nu ms r.
PiSsseu VII VIII tue ousnt tna' 'ugy VIZ We.
the antbor md bis daads 7, wss snG,he2
writer who did that. The future reyiser of
"The Vanity and Insanity OF Authors " is
herewith respectfully referred to him also
The work will afford abundant rich material
ior '''o he" e'i'ioh'
HAT Is vanity hhSHp" are We 10 pity
or TO blame II, or both? sometimes think
il must be a kind of disease incident to the
human mind AT a certain stage of its develor-
n,ant somotbing iii a the rnnr,ns or ,,,oosIos
- -. ,-''i''i., ~ - .r'
" winch 'Ho Puy So VI is"nt,'n - Pai''u
larry llanie at certain stages oil oouily grown
from childhood to youth, or youth to man.
hood. Certain ii is that the persons who
entirely escape its attacks in one form or
another, are few and fortunate. Perhaps II
is owing to some spiritually malariOus in
tiuence in our educational methods. At
least l notice that not one in hundred Of
our youths and maidens whom We graduate
from our high schools IS Tree from IT. and that
as small proportion OF our young men and
women whom we send to our normal schools
and colleges escape it. Indeed they are
there scarcelya year before they are swollen
ludicrous II II were not so painful 10 those
truly Interested IN theun Whlie by the tlme
tney ty sfauua'e many Vi 'he"' "'e feauy ''
O'''~
Irs being so common is possibIv the reason
wbv we neglect its proper treatment and
fall into the Vrisyous error of NOT only nor
mittinu the disease TO be carried into on,
-, "a = ,a,io,,, oi.l,. -, =. -,
' oo'"i a'i' r'' ous VI i."I =
lug anu noufishins ~ lhefe' tanning lts IeNei
with hattery and feeding II with shallow
dishonest compliments, unul II becomes
chronic, and IKE an incuraOie, growing
cancer, undermlnes the whole character and
ruins all possibility OF the Victlm's ever at
tanning to anything like true manhood ol
lasting usefulness FOR that Is precisely
what vanity and seli-conceit inevitably do.
While we may therefore pity and even good
naturedly laugh at the pulled up, Tapping
fiedgelings whom our schools and colleges
with their system OF public entertainments
and commencements annually lot loose upon
the world, we must draw the line righ
there we have no right TO let the mump'
become permanent swelling of the glands
young graduates TO grow into an abiding
debilitatlng ana disgusting vanity. 1t surel
,Se 1oi 1no ass W po 'olu pS fieilu
.nat tno i'oti shiIi uoes hot coger nun, than
to allow ms bray TO expose him before al
'no WIN
| -, AT, = ,
b' 'hls 1 mean mat VIC o"o 10 ti
young ana owe IL 10 one another' 100 u