Morning journal and courier., 1888-11-15
HERO WORSaIPPERs.

Objections Against Societies Like she
 the Browning Club.
 It might be asked whether societies for the study of particular author do not do more harm than good, says the London Standard in reference to the Browning society. They make "cults'' out of books and gods out of what is often very mortal stuff. It is certain that they do little to help to the better un- derstanding of most of them, and aid in only an infnitesimal degree in popularizing the writings which they discuss behind
 closed doors. AS for true criticism, that is
 impossible in 8 society of hero worshippers.
 The members do not pay their guinea or so a
 year to be told that their idol is made of
 clay, still less do they, after attaining that
 stage in their enthusiasm, meet dozen times year to be instructed in regard to his mer- it's. They are quite above being taught. The papers read to societies are too often not criticisms in the right aeceptation of the term, but ex officio eulogies. The truth seems to be that while such societies | lyle or Shelly, or Browning, they are all much the same-contain few judicious stu dents and competent critics, they swarm l with fassy pretenders, who speedily turn them into 30 many mutual admiration l cliques. Instinctively they recognize the | 1 in the broader world of letters, and there | fore they seize the opportunity of bidding ! for the applause of listeners, which it is 1 quite understood will at an early date be re- l paid in kind. It is idle to force any author | on public. As Wordsworth has said, every | great, every original writer, in proportion as | he is great or original, must himself create
 the taste by which he is to be relished. The | public have never yet been slow to discover
 true genius, though they are somewhat ehary | in crying up pinchbeek in the market. | Goethe-whose weakness was not inappreoi-
 ation of his own abilities-died under the | belief that his works would never become | popular. They were 'fnot written for the | mass," and ''he who thinks the oontrary'- 1 the Goethe society for example-"and labors to make them popular, mistakes" Even | Shelley had his precient doubts as to the value of Shelley societies, for he declared | that it was 'surely far better to investigate l things" than words, and that "polite letters are but vain trifing." Exclusive devotion | to one author may not do much damage to l the majority of those who play at such amusements as have just now set in with l snch vehemenne for the writer. Their origi-
 nality is not sufficiently prominent factor l to be taken into account. But for the young and impressionable minds the disproportion- | ate bestowal of attention any one writer l is apt to affect the mind much as dram l drinking afecrs certain of the internal or gans. The student becomes the bond slave of his fsvorite author; just as the avaricious l prize taker at a university gets so aecus- | toned jurare in verha magistri, that he loses
 the power of originating ideas for himself.
 It is painful to recall the number of young
 Scotchmen who were quite capable of wri-
 ting decent English, but who, by trying to-
 initiate Carlyle, have succeeded only in mak- | ing themselves unintelligible. While only ! very small percentage of the Browning and 1 Goethe societies will ever imbibe much of
 the wisdom or hunger, or tenderness or man
 Illness of these illussrious poets, they are
 sure to catch up the least commendable tricks of style. They will have the reward
 they thirst for of course, for the literary CO.,
 teries of Earl's court and Highgate hill will
 hail as peoets and philosophers the plagia- | rists and poetasters.