The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1890-03-02

ycrsy: and anhly, the absence Of reading
nnhlic at the south for American authoff,
dine in part TO the conservatism Of the South
crn people"
OF the causes which Mr.. Page has thus
enumerated in detail in explanation OF the
literary storility Of the South before the late
ar.the most powerful, unquestionably, was
the absence ofcitios. which was couspicu-
Gus result Of the plantation system prevail
ing in the Southern States. so far as the
inclination which the southern people had
for political life and the genius which they
exhibited in their participation in II, 10 does
not appear that they were more marked Ia
their possession Of either characteristic than
the English people Of the same period.
These characteristics were more notable in
them than IN the latter, inasmuch as poiiu-
cal life was the only direction in which they
showed any special intellectual activity
probably because in this direction alone,
they enjoyed the advantage Of that imme-
date mental contact, the absence Of which,
Mr.. Page notes as one cause for the literary
iorpidity Of the Southern people under the
Old Regime.
The absorption Of the best talents Of the
south in political affairs was an effect OF
prevailing conditions rather than cause.
II is easy 20 understand that men who
could compose historical, philosophical and
polemical works might be diverted from
their inherent bent into the arena Of poll
tics. but how about the men Of an infeu-
tive and imaginative turn. those who should
properly have developed into poets and
writers Of fiction, men Of a radically differ
ent mental and moral disposition which
rendered them totally unequal TO the de-
mands of political lfes Above all, how
could the political inclinations Of the South
ern men repross the literary genius of the
Southern women and yet the female writers
Of great distinction who appeared in the
South in anto-bellm times are yet TO be
discovered
We have never been inclinedto think That
slavery in itself exercised direct influence
in discouraging the growth Of literature eN-
ccpt so far as it produced a plantation sys-
tenn which was attended by that lack of
stimulus from mental contact 90 which Mr..
Page referred. lfslayery had been consist
ent in It's existence with such agricultural
conditions as now prevail in England, it is
doubtful whether it would have been the
deadly upas tree 20 literature which MI
Glider i'm his essay, read ON the same occa-
sion as Mr. Pages, was disposed 90 consider
it. It's evil effect lay in that wide diffusion
of the Southern people, that isolation of in-
diyiduals from inspiring crowds which 10
made inevitable under the plantation sis-
TEN Of the Southern states. Ii is 20 this lso-
lation Of individuals % that we must look
for the principal explanation Of the literary
barrenness Of the South before the war;
As Mr.. Page very justly declared cities
are foci Of literary production. and the
South practically had no cities. Being
without cities. il was essentially provincial.
It is question open 20 debate whether the
literature Of England would be as rich and
copious as 10 is if its largest cities had
never exceeded Charleston, Richmond and
New Orleans in population. The various
writer's Of talent and genius who have apr
peared in the SOC since the war have been
residents Of cities. who have no doubt been
stimulated by the bonds that now unite the
south far more intimately % the North and
Europe, than was the case before the war.
The intellectual class Of the South under the
old system have been driven from the coun-
try 10 town. and have thus been brought
into the closet contact with crowds and
into the most rapid communication with
the metropolitan centres Of the world.
There is but one thing which is likely TO
cast cloud upon the great literary future
Of the South under the present regime,
namely, the growth of the materialistic
spirit, which viii De content with purely
acknowledgements, e9t f4i5atgB6ageS
wealth in our communities as viii permit
an ever increasing number Of persons 20
devote their time and thoughts exclusively
to literary culture and production. In the
meantime, the South has reason to be proud
that in the course of two decades only, she
has given 10 American literature such
names Of enduring distinction as those of
Johnston, Cable, Page, Murree, Harris and
Iapiar