The Brookhaven leader., 1888-11-08

and appropriate for discussion. 1t is
we'll known that the authoress Is n
devout member of the Church and
Jealous believer in the Protestant re-
ligion, which teaches us that eve
shall meet our loved ones in the
Beautiful Beyond" Why then should
she not say that woman of certain
beliefs, certain tcmperments and Ger
tain sensibilities, whose devotion for
her dead husband is undying, will re-
main true to his memory, hoping to
meet him on that other shore, and re-
fuse to wed another even in the face
of the most powerful temptations 1t
is nothing less than pure and adulter-
ated prudery, and that alone, which
induces the majority of her most in
tclligCnt detTactOrs to elevate their
eyebrows and shake their solemn
heads at what exists only in their I'M
arination. Ii is this alone which has
singled her out from among all the
writer's of the past and present that
have created works worth remember
ing as being worthy of nothing so
much as vituperatiOn and abuse, and
it is this alone and Alterations worse
than this which have sought to bring
contempt and obloquy upon her name,
II is what Cable calls the ''cry of ma
ture" coming from that study and
that tragedy which CRATES upon the
ears of pcdantic Sophistry, and has
about the same effect upon him that
the sight of holy water is said to have
upon the devil "But," says one,
"even if there be in these works no
evil lesson to moral mind, the meth
cd of teaching, which the authoreSs
has employed, is an evil one" 1t is
the realism which James and Howells
have attempted iii vain to initiate,
and which has brought to every writ
er in this and other ages that has en-.
ployed it successfully lasting fame
and h0nors and reputation. 1t is the
belief of some intelligent authorities
that the reason why her earlier works
only met with praise and applause
was because they dealt more with the
ideal than the real world, and that
the only cause to be assigned for the
objections to her latest writings is
that there is more of truth in them
than Imagination.
1t is hoped that Mrs. Chanler will
not be deferred from continuing her
already illustrious career by the vul-
gar obstacles which few prudes and
pedants have attempted to throw In
her path, and it is gratifying to see
that she is not only being substantially
appreciated by the common herd, but
that sire is receiving the greatest en-
enlargement from those whose opin-
ions are held in the highest esteem by
/ the literary world. One competent
critic has asserted that her tragedy
is the greatest composition of the
kind, excepting the works of one au-
thor, that has appeared since the
time of Shakespeare. 1t has been
conceded everywhere that her style Is
always original and appropriate to the
subject, her painting is vivid and nat
ural, and she sweeps the strings of the
human harp with il hand that is mas
terly. As poetess she has displayed
wonderful versatility and power OF
imagination. and il is admitted that
there was never more gorgeous
coloring. II more exquisite mimicry,
and more faithful imitation com
bined in one metrical creation than
are contained in the Story Of ArnOn,
every line of which is poem and
every syllable a symphony.-ThoS. f..
POwel, IN the Memphis Sunday Times