The Calhoun chronicle. [volume] (Grantsville, W. Va.) 1883-1984, 1894-12-11
4 PLEA rnR TIE ON

fall down and worship him, with
hands over their eyes to keep ,ut the
binding light. \ Miss Wilkins
writes story of a Corner Of New En-
gland life, and the magazine editors
Immediately put on their hats and
take the first train for B"ston, with
out waiting for change of linen
a Rider Haggarl tells the most
amazing tales in the most amazing
grammer, and the next week or the
week on enterprising publisher an
uouuces novel by llaggard's brother,
only to he eclipsed by still more en-
ierprising publisher who advertIses
avolume ofpoems by Iiaggard's moth
rr
The adopted daughter of the niece
of Il half sister. by marriage, of Mr..
Gladstone writes novel, Mr. liowells
mentions it. and The book is all the
Iage. Senator Ingalls, is defeated by
Il farmer, and the editor OF a New
York weekly hns;cns to telegraph the
defeated Statesman for II poem, and
Il great daily publishes an interview
with the Farmer Senator on his opin-
ION of the ten greatest novels,
Meanwhile Marcus Aurelius is for
gotten; Homer has n narrow escape
from being crowded out Of the schools;
Pascal and Spinazo and Thomas
attempts are superseded by The Rev.
Howard MacQncary; Sopho is over
Swallowed by Ella Wheeler Wilcox,
Sophcclcse bp Jerome *. Jerome,
and l}alzac ny the "Dulchers"
When Stanley started across Africa
he carried with him many books,
weighing in all 1870 pounds, but ms
his men lc<sened in numbers, and
weakened through famine and fight,
ing and sickness, the books were re-
lnc'antly thrown away, one by one,
until there remained only the Bible,
Shakespeare, "Sar,or Resartus," Il
work on navigation and u Nautical
Almanac. Shakespeare was after
wards burned by demand Of the
foolish people of Zi"ga, mt Bonca
/ CarIyle's "Sarlor Resarlus, the Nav
igation and the Nautical Almanac
we've east aside, and he had left only
/ the old Bible fear there are those
who would have cast it aside and
saved the late Mr.. Roe's "Opcning a
Chestnut Burr"
Such persons would doubtless think
Archdcacon Farrer lacking in good
I literary judgement and taste when he
said: "If all the books of the world
were in Il blaze the first twelve which
| should snatch ont of the flames
would be the Bible, the Imitatio
/ Christi, Homer, eschylees, Thucy-
dides, Tacitus, Virgil, Marcut Azure
Illus, Dante, Shakespeare, Milton and
Wordsworth"
The next time vour scmi.liierarv
lnquisitorial friend asks Won if Won
have read Looking Backward" tell
him, no; hut | have read Plaio's Re
public; YOU are two thousand years
ahead Of me.
1t Is mistake TO say there is moth
ing new in literature under the sun.
There are some books of fiction Of the
last decade so decidedly new as to
have been impossible at any previous
stage Of the worlds progress. And
they always will he new-at least
they will never live to be old. And
these are the books mainly that are
being SO loudly celebrated bv the iii
erary auctioncers. Some of them
may not be bad in one sense. but they
are Of no consequence. They deliver
no message, they do not feed the
intellectual lfc; and, "of all plaques
that effect mortality" says Mr.. Rus.
kin, "thc venom of bad boob, to
weak people, and the charm IF fool
ish one to simple people, are without
question the deaGliest."
Therefore it is that ! make this