The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1893-05-12
PROSE WRITERS OF THE AGE.

Mrs. Oiphant, the novelist, has just
published book which she calls ''rhe
Victorian Age of English Literature"
Judging from the notices which it is re-
ceiving in the papers and reviews it Is
regarded as a standard work on The sup
iect. and it must be admitted that it dis
plays industry, iud gmenf, good taste and
inpartiality. Americans will find fault
with it for excluding American writer's
from its literary roster, but Mrs. 0liphant
does not pretend to 20 outside of England
FOR the books she considers. Her work Is
to that extent defective. No account of
the histories written in this century is
complete without some notice of McAlas-
ter's History of the American People,"
and no collection of biographies is eX-
haustive if it ignores Nicolay and Hays
Life of Lincoln"
Taking the book rs 1t is-a summary of
the prose writings of Englishmen in the
Victorian age-it is interesting as a pre-
monition OF the possible trend of taste in
the future. 1t Is thus curious that Mrs.
Oltphant should place Carlyle at the head
of the list OF historians, above Macaulay,
Froude, Grote, Arnold. Goodwin Smith,
Lecky and Buckle. There are no works in
the language more picturesque aud glow
ing than the French Revolution and the
Frederick the Great" but on the Ques-
tions on which mankind divides it was the
misfortune of Carlyle to be almost invaria-
bly, wrong. He was pessimist, believer
in autocracy, a dis5eliever in popular in-
tellgence, natural iconoclast, without
the capacity of discriminating between the
objects Of his wrath. The tendency of his
works is to discourage ami dishearten the
reader. 1t is hard to believe that such an
author will be placed by p0sierity above
him who threw a steady search-light on
the most interesting portion of English
history. or to him who first made the Athe-
MAN pOlity Ineligible, or those who
brushed away the plumbers OF their pre-
! decessors TO exhibit the European people
in their naked aspect ana to show US what
our forefathers really were.
History differs from pure letters in that
sound taste therein never varies, while in
| fiction and poetry the public taste under
goes a change almost with each generation.
Thucydldes and Tacitus are as delightful
reading and Instructive as they ever we're
But the novels Of past ages and nineteen
twenieths Of the poetry are unread to-day.
Can any young man or young woman re-
peat from memory the plot of Clarissa
Harlow? Who remembers anything by
Dryden, except, perhaps. the ode on ST.
! Cecilia's Day? When Americans settled
California people read Bulwer, G. =. Il.
james. harrison Ainsworth, Lever, Mar
ryatt and Scott, besides Dickens. There
/ has been lately an endeavor to resurrect
the fame OF the author of "WaverIy"; but
he WHO COMPARES his best novels with
The Coister and the Hearth" or West
ward. Fl :" will conclude that his ashes
| had best be left undsturbed. Dickens is
| still read, ana Thackeray will always be
read; but the demand for the novels of
| George Eliot is slackening at the book
stores in spite OF NJ Taine's encomium
| 1t is not that the works of fiction which
! delighted our grandfathers have been Su-
| persedei by better r0manees-foF the race
| of novel-wriJers is at the present time
| quite barren of genius-but taste has
changed. We don't read Bulwer just as
we don't drink Madeira.
One difficulty met with by persons who
undertake the task which Mrs. Olphant
has ACCOMPLISHED arises from the drift of
literary ability into periodical literature
! The ablest writers Of the day produce
| Books do not pay-at least they do not pay
| the writer. though book publishers gener-
! ally grow rich; whereas the great period
icals OF the day can afford to remunerate
! their contributors. The remuneration is not
| princely; a writer must have access to
! several markets to get living; but il he
! acc0mplisheS this his reward IS larger than
! he could expect to derive from copyrights
! on books. Thus most of the ablest writers
! of the day pour the treasures of theii
! knowledge and the grlces Of their style
| into periodicals, in which, unless they are
! published in France, they generally az.
| pear anonymously, and tie writer re.
mains unknown. 1t was by the merest ac-
| cident that the authorship of some of the
abiest articles in the London Times was
| traced to Captain Sterling and certain lit
erary reviews in the same paper which
were masterpieces in their way were found
to be from the pen Of Mr.. Philips. The
| historian of the literature of the Nicto-
risn age would hardly discover these mute,
| inglorious Millions. Yet was partly their
work which gave to that literature the
| chief gl0r y which it may claim.