Grand Rapids herald. [volume] (Grand Rapids, Mich.) 1892-1959, 1893-03-26

KATE FIELD.
Sym crinhis 90 Liserssars and the Drama
What viii b. shr condition IL literature
and drama 100 years hennrs
To keep the answer 10 this question out
of the category Of mere guesses ca the oas
hand and save il from the fnputafion Of
rash prediction on the other. II must b. de-
dgced fruIn the Indication. Of the present
There il a fcssri.h energy 10 every de
p@rtmens u intellectual life just NV that
i symptomasic. Every person Of fairly
coed education and Of restless mind writes
a book As rule. IL Is superficial book.
but IL swelis the balk and IL Indicates the
cerebral unrest that Is trying 10 express It
self We have arrived at condition in
which more bo0ks arr printed than the
world can read This Is true not only Of
books that are not worth reading. but il Is
true u the books that are.
All tins | take - be the result OF an in
t-Ilectual afrs1chisement that Is new, and
OF a di-ssmination % knowledge instead Of
concentration Of culture Everybody
wants - say something But II Is slowly
growing upon the world that everybody
has not got something TO say.
Therefore one may even at this moment
detect the causes which will produce reac-
ton. In TOD years there will not be ~ many
books printed. but there will be more said.
That seofns % ne 10 be inevitable. IL is
certainly ia tho dir~cfion Of intellectual de-
Velopment, whsch implies that man reaches
condition individually and socially, II he
Progresses AZ all, in shich be CARES less
about talking than abbat doing.
But, taking the whole bulk Of current
literature. good. bad and indifferent. and
acknowledging thss as n mass IL Is more
active than profound. there Is nevertheless
an observable tendency IN lit l. measur-
ably moving toward "a somewhat
IL We can ~ The direction and the ratio
we may reasonably measure its progress
during the next century.
Now what il that tendency;
l do not 80 how any one can diligently
investigate the material without pcrceiving
that is slow advance l. toward a better
humanity. a closer fraternity. a broader
charity. These signs are unnistakable even
in 10 lighter veins Of cynicism and persi-
fags.
Sine-tenths Of all the imaginative writers
are jibing az the wrongs of society. The
other tcsth are jibins at the political short
co<uinlcs. Ofeour>~ they have ideals. against
which they adjust the real. some n these
wildly imprnssicabie. others are fantasies
on Piato's notion or travesties Of More's
dresn. But the incentive - a restless sense
Of lmpafecthDn aud a growing conscious
ne~s OF central sun somewhere In the
neral AMI intellectual universe which is
pulling al thlass % IL. Whea this Is not
a DISTINCTLY thsissto fssling. it II vague
philo~ophio COUNTERPART 81 H.
- far a. this j. gam Ia unity and rca-
sonsbieness. IL l. a permanent gain | can
conceive q 40 political or social disaster
that viii destroy IL.
The philosopher who undertakes 10 sur
vcy this ground neois n0t te III extreme
opsimist 10 SO that Their - "A distinct cthic-
Al gain iu the aggregate 81 intellectual
work. " hs1l u dos no< lez.i IL reflects. IL
hrosen and uncertain CLEANS. the spirit %
the AZ, and that spirit stands for better
solidarity and nobler destiny for man.
Cnslsr al The factor- that must Influence
The intellectual future. biva.ier and deeper
than sny q them lies education. n you
want - fni oast What he future man viii
Say yuu viii have In ak. What viii he
know
A. this moment The whole educational
energy - ,he ooentry i entering itseH on
The want n al eshicas hs~i- - destruction.
II - not alone the Ca holsc chnrvh that Oh
jerts 90 the system Which MAKES ssnart men
instead q good men. Snsae - the wi-~st q
T'ros.~ssnt teach~rS have conceded that our
pahlsc sehossi system l. fatally deficient In
~. eleuseulal tsacAin< which develops the
moral -euse anil make. bonest eitizers
This protest. I take 4. - another form
~ The rssstson against the inten~e rnafsri-
siisfn q ~ time Bas it 4. also a sign q
intellectual development No one who
studies Il can doai< that he eslseation q
ear Youth DURING TIE ncxt ffsy years will
- IN nnssesre freed from The rsathsmat-
icai re~srtc-sooS n The Yr~-<ut cosrsee
II - now 0<pixe the fact hist lafcr
everywhere l. in-is,xng thar rnore tire 20
study sud rsst shall p sak~n frura tesi. ard
sd this - the fsc- shss The studies promise
o. improve IN ths dir~sfaaa - ethics. DO
uot - hev~ ~ can avoid The conclusion
thss BARRING -onas zress snd incalraisiss
euavui<icn shss soaA thFp~ mankind
h<k~srt hand--d ys<rs. the cusuinS IN
t-sghssusi ~ors~- viil - ies- superficial.
NOR sh-p<poxhly sguspped &c thsir work.
II lsr<er vi<v~ ADD brss<ir cs<holb syirt.
~ifA i~-- sx-~d N sbrsr rsiizion ard rS<re
cf ficd snd asEosnffy. The enryclafst.a
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