The Dickinson press. (Dickinson, Stark County, D.T. [i.e. N.D.]) 1883-1927, 1889-09-21
ILLusTRIoUS SECONDS.
Some Notable Reproductions of Ideas in
Observation-Disclosures 1ncxorable.

Somc Notable Reproductions of Ideas In
Observation-Disclosures 1ncxorable.
All great writers have initiated here
and there, but always consciously and
for their own amusement solely. Many
of these reproductions have been very
brilliant, but upon no one of them has
the fame of All author ever rested. When
Coleridge wrote his remarkable para
phrase of the Bible, 1.-The Wandcrincs of
CAIN it was undoubtedly an event in
the literary world, and brought him
great praise; but if Coleridge had never
written "Cristabcl," or "'rho Ancient
Mariner" or "Kubla Khan" what niche
in literature's temple would Coleridgc
occupy today? Byron, in his "lIcavcn
and Earth" wrote Il description of The
flood which for dramatic power. vivid
portrayal and stupendous strength far
exceeds the Bibles picture: but because
the flood had been the Bibles peculiar
property for hundreds of years before
Byron was born, SO it will continue to
hold its rights to the end of time.
To como down i'll the scale, "St. Elmo
and "Rutlcdge" owed their great vogue
to the popularity of "Janc Eyre" and
the inspiration their authors drew from
that famous novel. The duchess and
Helen Mathers pressed their lips to the
fever stricken mouth of Rhola Brough,
ton and took the disease in u mildcr
form. Rita and Amelic Rivcs have
snatchcd the falling mantle of Ouida,
divided it i'll half and wound it soclosclv
about themselves that it has become an
extra cuticlc and could only be removed
by surgical operation.
Great original genius is only rccog-
nized and admitted after Il desperate
fight, because there is no greater coward
than the intellectual public. The we'll
furnished and critical brain has every
shelf of its cells fitted up with the lore
upon which centuries or generations of
public approval have set their seal. 1t
knows that to admire that choice library
is both safe and proper; it gives ono dig
nifty and it gives one pleasure Any
thing, therefore, which is radically diff
fcrcnt from tho inhabitants of those
precious shelves must perforce be worth
less.
People do not stop to compare or even
to remember the difference hctwcen the
succeeding litcraturcs of past gcncr-
ations. Think of the monotony of the
worlds letters if no original minds had
ever come to break loose from traditions
imauguratc new schools and plant new
ideas! Suppose the glorious galaxy now
Illuminating our past had succumbc,l tt
tho inevitable fire of public protcstation
what sort of Il literature would we hav.
today? unquestionably the literature OF
one generation, even of one decade, l.
the natural result of the literature i'm
mcdiatcly preceding it; evolution is in
exorable. But upon This force of hcrcdit,
operate tho great and complex forces OF
the times, and the man who is thrust
head and shoulders above the mass. Il.
tho target of his generation and {;
landmark for postcrty, is he in whom
both forces have met and been ignite,
by the divine spark that shot in his un
born brain, whence no man can tell
Gertrude Franklin Athcrton in Nortl
American Review.