The San Francisco call., 1897-04-25

the Senate into the House. Here he hid
away behind a mass of women and was
glad for spell. But they dragged him
up into the Speakers desk; and, the
same as before. We got down and out OF
there into the woods, and 1 don't want 10
sse any one go through that again. Long
fellow came nearer to Riley in this than
any one else that 1 ever saw. Whitman
did not suffer so, and heard man say,
as Riley stood on The steps wiping his
face, why, you couldn't scare Eugene
Field or Bill Nye that way with dozen
cannon"
And now, how we walked and talked |!
Squirrels, birds, broons, snow, red beech
trees and yellow maple. 1t is dull, level
land about here. but Riley sees wondrous
change and color and "go'' in it ALL and
says so in the fewesr, briefest, best-chosen
words in the world.
Now 1 am not eager to proclaim with
Lowell, Holmes and Howells that Riley
is entirely great. He is great as Ware n
was great at Bunker Hill. Warren fell, we
lost tae fight and the ground where he fell !;
then long war, Washington, and for all
that we were never quite emancipated till
Lincoln. We may have even a longer
and harder fight fer freedom, emacipa-
tion, than that which lasted from Warren
to Lincoln, but we will be emancipated
from words, words sooner or later. The
greatness OF Riley is in his contempt for
words; in his showing that great men use
small words, and, by inference, that small
men use big words.
Please compare a state paper of the
Ert,a al
paper Of a man who lately left the White
House. Why. Lincoln could and would
have pu. a whole column of Cleveland in
single paragraph.
When the Messiah of American litera-
ture comes he will come singing, so far as
may be, in monosylIa bles. And there is
no reason why, in this republic, state
paper may not be, as Lincoln indicated, as
fresh, plain and simple as a song. The
man who intrudes big word, or a new
word, or an obsolete word when a sim pie,
brief word will do, is to that extent a rob-
ber OF my time. He is doing it, too, not
to teach or tell me anything. He is doing
it 10 air his own vanity and fancied i'm
portance.
Riley, the law student, must have ever
had a whole army Of words at beck, but he
uses only the bare and the sharp, sharp
blade. The Romans fought on foot, nearly
naked and with only the short Roman
sword; the barbarians fought on horse
back, a-glItter with gold and steel, and
with the long, tasseled lance in the air.
But it was the short Roman sword that
went to the heart and Won the world
And yet shall 1 say l have not adored
and do not still revel in luxuriant litera-
ture? love it, but it is the love of wine;
a delirious intoxication that is not for the
best unless it be wine of the very best.
And we have more dealers in bad words
and bad wine. | know of but one man in
California whom L would license 10 use
words entirely as he pIeases.
When Riley and parted that first day
| it was dark. We had to dress tor the show.
was to talk in a church and he was 10 in
troduce me. He came promptly, to the
minute, most elaborately dressed and
pale, so pale, his black dress suit and
shining patent feathers and black silk
stockings making his white face seem as
l white as his linen.