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 Lite, 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 position,
which, no matter how able she was,
would expose her TO the shafts of gang
Of the most sarcastic writer's 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, con-
struction which indirectly attacked her
brothers position before the people.
Again, the ladyshas 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
| ~ L. -.
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 Litc 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 quai'y as their goal, rather
than the great quantity; let them cease
to pile Il 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 and then will the
seeds OF future OF literature in America
be planted, the character OF whose har-
vest none can doubt" The foregoing
paragraph will be held by all writer's to
be afflicted with the very thing the lady
rails against-Yerbosity carries
with it too much OF the censor to pass
the eagle eyes OF hundreds OF men and
women at whom it is aimed, and will call
down, therefore, on her devoted head
many shafts which will not be sent on an
errand OF Kindness or mercy. From the
start, her own sex ignored her position.
and not one lady conductor OF literary
journal in the land has extended the
hand OF kindness to her. After all, it
must be acknowledged that Miss Cleve-
land made good fight, and did her best
under the circumstances, but the task
was too much for her, and needed the
incisive pen OF an old horse in the traces,
to dig up and show TO the world, what a
fund OF egotistical vanity exists under
the guise OF literary training in America.
Miss Cleveland aimed at being a critic
unlike all other critics in the world, as
the latter criticize work which they them
selves do not claim to be able to do,
while the literary critic mustIneeds brand
the opinions OF the literary world in print
of his or her own writing, and success
fully, too, before attacking others, with
hope of making them improve their style.
The bright minds OF American literature
will be sorry to see Miss Cleveland leave
the tripod, while the pleased malice with
which others will hail her resignation
cannot harm mind SO truly defended
against the weaknesses and littlenesses
of human nature.