New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-07-18

Inc ~ the Professor constitutes the noveists pup
lie 81 confess" he says. Il have never written
book without helplessly deploring the lac' 'nA'
Young ladies were to be the arbiters OF It's ia'S'
that young persons whose opinions on any o'"e'
subject involving the need Of thought or experience
ua should probably hold in light esteem constitute
collectively an Areopagus from whose judgment III
matters relating to fiction there Is no appeal 10 oe
a purveyor OF amusement especially Il o"e
meets that he has the stuff in him for something
better, is not at all amusing. To be obliged 10 r.
nress that which Is best In him. and to oner 'h''
which is of slight consequence. Is the pik"' ~
which MANY a novelist in this paradise OF women i
reduced Nothing less is demanded OF him Dy 'na'
inexorabe force called public taste, as ehooueu III
the editors OF the paying magazines pehihu "io
sits arrayed in stern and bewidering loVeHheSS' Ms
final nudge the young American girl. she Is 'he
Iron Madonna who stranglcs In her fohd elh"'"'V
Two American novelist; the Mooch upon whose affair
he sacrifices willingly unwlingly MS chances
of greatness In :he vast majority OF cases J." ""''
the chances do not exist. there Is OF COURSE 'o
sacrifice But In the cases Where theI w ''''t
there IL n distinct half-unconscious lowering or
standard q distinct descent 10 a lower pane VI
thought or thoughtlessness. A weak lemonade MKT
ure harmless and mildly exhlarating. adapted lot
the palates OF ngenues, Is poured OUT Ill a s'e'uH
stream from presses. and we all drink II, anu
from patriotic motives declare II to he good. Nheh'
however we read novel Ike Tolstois Anna
perhaps, the difference between literature al
dressed n girls and a literature intended for men
and women" We note this confession with ueep
sympathy for those authors who are Dapohhs anu
bursting with repressed greatness. The deluslon
has been abroad that these novelsts producei WEAK
lemonade mixtures because they could not DO any
better. that they were not Daudets because they
were-somebody else. This, however II appears, Is
a mistake They birds who can sing. but whose
feminine keepers will let them sing They are
only allowed to twitter. They have suppressed their
best thoughts to please the American GILL prefer
ring their present wide fame, without good works 10
Daudet's obscure greatness. These botted-up men
OF genius should not be without hope. Even from
the unndivldualized mass OF femnity there nave
arisen now and then persons who have not thought
themselves bound 10 be Colorless and weak. IL IS
true there are young womens seminaries which 10
not recommend their students 10 read OF Maggie
Tullivers Elopement: but the mill on the Floss
has had a success which even the magazine nov
elst might put up with for the sake OF encouraging
literature Nine. Grand has not escaped adverse
criticism for weighing her recent book with 4 S'i'-
Gus social question. but good many copies OF Il
have been sold nevertheless Mrs. Humphry Ward
has long been attacking problems with the ardor OF
n Don Ouxote and has not yet broken her lance
on a windmill. Various men. too. have been willing
N brave oblivion for the sake Of writing something
worth reading. Mr.. Boyesen might himself try 10
prove that he Is the stuff that heroes are made or
Even though his efforts cut loose from the GIN
and address men and women should prove failure
yet his previous writings remain and they VIII IN
sure Immortality with the denzens or the hoteI
yeranda