The San Francisco call., 1895-11-17
LITERARY DISCUSSIONS.

Among the scholarly essays read before
the ChiU-Chat Club the other evening and
reproduced in this issue OF THE CALL are
two which bear. with peculiar force, upon
the idea that the character of the literature
OF an epoch is an expression of the moral
ity of the time. The first OF these is Pro-
fessor Clapp's essay on Classics Of Ancient
and Modern Times" The particularly
valuable part of the paper is the declara-
ton that the literature of ancient Greece
is still unsurpassed and still serves as
model of excellence.
The essayist would have performed an
additional valuable service had he inquired
more closely into the reasons for this re-
markable fact. 1t cannot be admitted
that the ancient Greeks possessed, as indi-
viduas higher and finer order of native
talents than those of succeeding and now
living individuals of civilized nations. For
the excellence of their products we must
look to certain peculiarities of their social
compact. These peculiarities, proceeding
from and reacting upon the body of the
people, produced an intellectual and moral
tone which stimulated the creating of ex
quisite works OF art. These peculiarities
were of q social and only secondarily of an
individual sort. Were they in existence in
any civilized country of the present time
there would undoubtedly be seen such
high and noble art as that which Greece
produced.
The second essay, the one by Professor
Hudson on Modern Fiction" indirectly
throws some light on the subject. Profes-
sor Hudson, like all other intelligent OBJ
servers, has discovered that modern fiction
has degenerated from art to utilitarianism.
He states the idea with much greater care
ana elaboration than this, but this is the
vital part of it. The view of the ancient
writers of Greece was wholly different from
that of modern times. Briefly it was this:
Art is the expression of all that is finest
and purest in human nature. 1t is SUBJ
jective, not objective. tits merely the evil
dence of conditions which it has served no
part in producing, but which it does serve
to encourage, elevate and conserve. In
short, since morality is intelligence, and
since intelligence proceeds from efforts to
acquire wisdom, wisdom must be acquired
before art can be produced, and art is high
in proportion to the extent of wisdom.
The things destructive of wisdom and
therefore of morality are avarice, undue
haste, political corruption, lack of patriot
ism, improper living and the erection of
money as the standard of all values.
These happen to be the very things
which oppress modern civilization and
which were measurably absent from the
social affairs of ancient Greece. The last
thing that a Greek sculptor, writer or
philosopher took into account was the
profit which he might secure from his
effort; that is the first thing that concerns
the modern writer, sculptor, painter or
philosopher. That is to say, since the
moving principle of art in modern times is
the self-aggrandizement of the artist in.
stead of the elevation of the people, it is
perfectly opposite to the principle which
inspired the ancient Greeks, and must
therefore fail and be mean and distorted.
The republcanism of Athens was ideal
and it is in the application of its principles
to the welfare and happiness OF the people
that we must seek an explanation of their
incompatible and enduring art. 1t may
be something to the point that very likely
its noble and ideal culture was the cause
of its downfall, that the lower instincts OF
the race cannot be too far repressed with
out danger to the public safety, and that
the strongest and most enduring races are
those in which there is going on fierce
struggle between good and evil. That
would be discouraging view to take, but
we cannot ignore the fact, taught by the
experience of the ages, that, in the absence
of obstacles to overcome, both the indi-
viduai and the nation are likely to de-
teriorate.
These considerations did not properly
fall into the treatment which Professors
Clapp and Hudson gave their subjects.
Within the limits which they imposed
upon themselves they exhibited the high
est mastery of their themes. This meeting
of the Chit-Chat Club, taking into account
the splendid scholarship of all the essay
lists and the fine accomplishments OF the
club members and of their invited guests,
give evidence of an intellectual force here
about of the most valuable order. It's
influence, though not aggressive, is quietly
at work for the elevation of the COM
munity and correction of some of the
social evils of which the weak character
of modern polite literature gives abundant
evidence.