The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1894-10-27

other writers OF lesser degree although OF prolific
pens have written nothing that promises TO be
held In continued favor by the coming generation.
George du Maurier Is merely the hero Of the hour.
% Jerome was az one time, and as Kipling was at
another.
Generally, il must be admitted, that
this writer is correct in his conclusions.
This is time of inferior literature. But
that does not prove that literature is
doomed TO decadence. Specifically,
It may be said lhatgreat injustice is done
to current authorship in the paragraph
quoted. II is perfectly true that none
of the English authors of today ''wears
the mantle" OF DICKENS or THAcKERAY.
Neither caniit be said that either DICK
EMS or THACKERAy ever wrote
book comparable TO MEREDITH's latest,
Lord Ormont," or BLACKMoRE's best,
=" Lorna Doone," or to DU MAURIERs
" Trllby.' Mrs. WARD must be at once
granted to be only ephemeral GossE
and LANG are only essayists SWIM
BURNE has written pretty good poetry,
aud England's best poet, TENNYsoN, has
only just finished his work.
If another line Of literary work be
considered - the analytical and the
scientific and the ethical-it needs but
the briefest glance to observe the un-
approachabe superiority of the present
writers. But it may be that they are
not considered as truly belonging to the
!iterateurs, or contributing to the ltera'
ture.
While il Is certainly debatable
question il genius is actually doing
nowadays, the whole contention Of the
mournful gentlemen whose doorons
article is under consideration may be
granted for arguments sake. and yet
his gloomy deduction be avoided.
There are two propositions, both
strictly philosophic, that may be stated,
and the statement of either ought to
cure the mental dyspepsia of the writer
of the article that has attracted this
attention.
The wave theory Of progress. which
has been SO abundantly proven as to
need no word of explanation. even, re-
comedies us at once to the ebb-tides that
occur in all relations of life. A high
tide Of literary excellence must be fol-
lowed by a low tide that reveals the
weeds and the expanses of marsh. That
is law of nature dominating all things,
material aud mental and sentimental.
1t is rather more satisfying, however,
to account for the lack of shining liter.
airy beacon lights by consideration of
the literary perspective. The great mass
of the people have. so to speak, moved
toward the middle-distance from the
remoter foreground, and the figures
that were heroic in the long
perspective diminish their COM
parative size as the crowd moves
nearer to them. Mediocrity is becom-
ing SO universal that the exceptional
genius is not such phenomenon to us;
and so rs familiarity with the poetic
conception grows within us the poet him
self shrinks to nearer our own stature.
The more general diffusion of an edu-
Gated and critical literary taste enables
exalted authors to speak in more fa-
miliar tones, and compels the dissipation
of the atmosphere of the gods which
the alteration Of less acute and apprecia-
tive masses had surrounded them with.
Whoever makes statements like this
writer's-and many do-take far too
much respecting the merits of the
writers of the past on trust and may
also be assumed to be unacquainted
with the merits OF the writers of today.
This newspaper has no disposition to
contend that there are compeers of
DICKENS and THAcKERAY, or of LONG
FELLOW, EMERSON. WHITTIER and
HOLMES, among the writers of today.
There are not. Yet, if all the good
writers of today were to be averaged
against all the good writers of any
other period in the history of the
world, THE NEWS ventures to make
the claims th&t the Judgment would be
in favor of to-day. Therefore it is that
IL says that the moderate 5alent of a
great numberais more to be exulted over
than the great talent of moderate
number and that
blessed h. ,,al;oor;t,,g