The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1892-07-10

dicates coming elevation in our literary
ideals and aims. Such a tendency has al
ways marked the best periods of national
iiterature-the point of departure at which
u ceasesto be initiative and perfnnctory,
and expands into originality and vitality.
Facts contain no inspiration; skill humor,
Ingenuity may lend charm to their pre-
sentation. but the cheaper springs Of human
interest are left untouched. The story Of
mere fact had It's day and is forgotten, but
the story in which soul shines through
the body has claim to immortality, and it
depends on the art and insight Of the
author how far that claim may be made
good. The greatest literary works come
into being after the same order as divine
crea ions. There is first an interior spirit
nal concepIion-a central, shaping idea
and upon this nucleus OF pernan emit
truth the bodily presentation or manifesto
tion develops itself. The resulting work
Of art is. then, in the broader sense, a
symbol; it is endogenous, it grows from
within outward instead of being plaster
INK or lacking together Of parts, fashioned
more or iess cunninRly into an apparent
symmetry and significance 1t grows like
II tCGIECIOW. IL tAlhbb DJ Innate IlEQL.
instead OF by accident or su1ferance. OF
this species are the works Of Homer, Of
Dante, Of Shakespeare, Of Goethe Of
Hugo, OF Hawthorne. OF Emerson. And
now, after a preparatory season IN the
WORKSHOP Of the Howells school, y here we
have learned 10 hle aud polish our
materials. and to note with extraordinary
accuracy the manifestations of visible
nature, we are beginning to emerge into a
larger and freer environment In which our
apprentice training will furnish US with
the means worthiiy 10 drape the indepeu-
dent conceptions OF our higher thought
The little volume bearing the title Of
"The MISTER Of Silence'' is a favorable
example OF the new tendency TO which /
refer 1t Is the work Of an author hitherto
80 far as am aware, nearly unknown in
literature; but he is obviously man who
has observed kcenly and With humor and
sympathy. who has thought Independently
and beyond the common place shallOws, ana
who can express himself conciselp clearly
aud with a certain distraction which prom
Uses what we call style The theme which
herhas selected is novel and absorbing, and
the treatment is rapid and compact In
deed, l am inclined 10 think that the book
Is too brief rather than too long, and / can
not help r9gretung that character so fun
Of possibilities as is the hero should be for
ever dismissed almost at the opening of his
strange career
The subject Of the book is, philosophic-
ally speaking, the potentialities Of elmer
ffe. the result OF the cultivation Of those
faculties OF the soul which the superficial
and material pursuits of our modern clvili-
zatfoa have rendered almost exaaimRte and
useless. To illustrate this theme, the
suthor has imagined child brought up
under peculiar conditions of isolation and
training. He is protected from contact
with the hypocricies and utilities Of con-
temporary HE; his intellect aud his body
are cultivated TO the highest pitch of ell
cheney, and his emotional nature is. at the
same time, encouraged TO expand in all
humane and loving ways. But his educa-
tion does not stop here. 1t also involves
the revival OF faculties supposed TO have
been always latent in human nature, how 1
ever obscured or crippled hitherto by false I
methods OF development.
The father OF this youth-Rayel--has /
ever aimee the child's birth, lived ia strict 1
necineion in remote part of northern New |
York state. His frst measure was TO edu-
cate him in the practice Of an interior
speech unhampered and unfalsifed By the |
restrictions and conventional nisrepresen-
tntions inevitable to articulate language.
Only music and dozen words OF sanscript
were permitted to approach his ears; for
the rest all communication was carried on
by modification OF facial expression, by the
language OF the eye and by his subtle ges.
lures. A library brought the boy into
mental relations with the robust and
most enduring aspects Of the world which
he had never seen; q gymnasium per
fected his body in all athletic exercises.
and the natural turn of his mind inclined
him to the flne arts, especially to paint
Ing When, therefore. the reader is ii rst
introduced to him, in the prime Of his /
young manhood. he appears a type of the |
nearly perfect human beng--superb in |
beauty, Eonlike IN strength, richly stored I
with learning. and with disposition aiiec-
Tomato, msgnanimous, absolutely truthful. |
simple rs boy, and wise as a sage. The I
story shows us the career and fate of this /
being when brought in contact with mod T
ern civilization; and, In his case, the mat I
ter is complicated by the fact OF his intui-
tive powers. in comparison with which the I
facts o. our telepRthy and mind reading
are mere crude essays. Rayel sees the T
secret thoughts Of tho mind through the +
lace, or even by mere direction Of his at
iention toward the person concerned He
beholds the dreams of others as visible
scenes. and by dint Of his marvellous aftis- +
ic skill Is able 70 depict them on canvas.
A