The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-11-20

one CierEymnn Indignantly Answers apother..
Attack on the Good tray Peer.

Atthck on the GOOD Gray Paet.
To THE EDrroR OF TIN Sry-Sir. Seldom
have the pages OF any journal or poriodicnI of
repnte been 80 tainted with ungcutlemanly and
rancorous epithots as those employed by the
Rev. w. V. Kelley, ID. d., tho present editor OF
the Methodist Rericr, in an article upon Walt
Whitman. This publication, which hns N wide
circulation in its denomination and has bcen
uniformly courteous in all its criticisms bos Mt
last TO apologize for a bit OF fustiun and in.bred
vulgarity which should be a source of rcoret In
any publication. however provincial. The arti.
Gle referred to appears in its last issuc md "a en-.
titled Tho Whitman Craze in England" IL
proceeds, In the manner OF some Ignorant and
blatant dcmagogue of tho hastings. to bcrnte
not only Walt Whitman but all who admire
him, and to class both him and them as am onp
the enemies OF mankind.
Fortunately this absurd piece of rant, which
reveals a woful lack of acQuaintanccship with
Whitman at every step, is compelled, though
unwilllngly, to introduce a large number OF
quotations from authors of the highest rcpute
on both sides of the Atlantic, in which the value
Of the Bard is rightly and gladly accorded; and,
better yet, to include a few lines of the grand
old democrat himself, many Of which answer all
that this reverend, but cantRnkcrous critic re-
proaches him with. so far. the article is a gain
to sanity and common justice.
Indeed, tho world of admirers OF Walt Ia
world fast growing and including some Of the
purost and choicest minds) may we'll smilo Mt
this. would-be literary censor. who assumes, in
the interest OF virtue and u maudlin picty of n
type STEPPED in "iunocuous desuetudo" to
warn the British public that America docs not
confess her son and sage OF Camden as her own,
but casts him out as spawn and vcrmin, or an
ilegitimatc claimant Gn It's bounty. How well
might the members Of the ExpurgatIon Com.
mittee of the Roman Propaganda relish the in
PRODUCTION to its membership of this Divine
The ancient pharisees who viewed Jesus and
John the Baptist "a intolerable nuisances. both
for what, they taught and for their manner of
NE, would lind in the tone and spirit Of tho
% n%d could SeR WeIi CLASP ssi' hands { k Mj16 him soq Al.
such as Paul and Peter, who did not ask Mother
to wear. nor the chief priest what they should
think and write. The readers OF the Methodist
Reufeu. mostly. Methodist clUrgymen, we as
sumo, may we'll be cautioned. however. how
they dare TO buy or read Leaves OF Grass"
th asnc Ss fha s this " T9 nT II,o is to be avoided 6y
ing which. II they dare. they are to see tho judy
ment day of the editor of the Methodist Reciep
How pitiable and how weak. Alas. that natu.
lency married to man.millinerism is 30 often
allowed to speak in high places.
The truth is that Whitman is rightly appre-
ciated IN England and more than here.
Mt home and TennysOn abroad as his defenders.
and with the London BOOkmdn asserting that
Leaves Of Grass" leads in the sales of all lit
SAhiy jim III lht DltlTODDIlS III u TtCenU
month, tho sneers OF men who have lost all
sense Of literary criticism in the dark and cal
iGas n I'M or their prejudice and pas.
OF Grass" Is already among tho immortals. Its
part In the making Of q noble civilization, and
pure as noble, has only begun to be played. The
next century will welcome It as the greatest
single literary product of its. day in this coun-
author in his struggles with poverty and a
pharisaical public. and consign TO contempt the
slanderers of his name and fame.
There la. however. one bnSp inaippntfnn
made by this reviewer which should merit uni
versal reproach for its author; this is that Whit
man wrote in what he terms an indecent style
for the profit II would bring in the larger sale of
his work. This is the vilcst lie ever vet penned
table critic has never read the life of Whitman,
much less his writings in any true sense, and so
has no right to pass upon either. If so, lie would
earnings to buy articles OF comfort for the
dying soldiers in the hospital wards, among
which he moved as a veritable angel of comfort
and consolation, and in whose service he under.
mined his strong constitution, by contact with
the most loathsomc forms OF suffering. receiving
the appellation OF THE Wound Dresser" that
such a man; who despised gain except as he
could enjoy 1t in doing good. was the last man
motive, and especially from ono 30 base as
OF priesteraft and priGgism and dares to walk
without a nurse and especially, nurses of a COR
needs teaching, and the truth needs preaching,
that between goodness and goodiShness there is
u Nast gun HXeu.
/ suggest that henceforth the Rev. W, Y,
Kelley, ID. d., confine himself more strictly to
that part of his prescribed task which is more in
harmony with his apparent tastes. namely, the
editing and revising of all books in the cata-
logue OF Methodist Sunday school literature,
and permit some other than himself to rovicw q
work like Leaves of Grass" to whose breadth
and grasp and wholesomencss he seems as for
eign and un-American as some native OF Java.
Americans are proud of Whitman, with all his
faults. They want tho prophets OF the open
day. and give them full leave to letter their full
thought. II they do not speak after the manner
OF the past. nor after the patterns laid down in
the textbooks, no matter, IL only what they say
be true 10 their own experience and observation,
Their mouth must not be closed with n clerical
Kid glove. nor their music be drowned out by q
cistercian cackle.
The day for tho true Christian dawns; the
man who stands aplomb with both worlds, but
especially with this one. and who is big enough
to see that virtue is more than prudery, and
that the law Of charity is compatible with all tho
Decalogue.
It is such n Christianity OF love and life that
Whitman proclaimed and lived for; and il men
misJudRe him it matters not; he saw the future
secure. for he saw tho day as he wrote:
Reckoning ahead, o soul, when thou the time achieve.
The seas all crossed, wcathered the capes, the voyage
done,
surrounded, copest. frontost God. %yieldest. tho aim
attained;
As hllrd with friendship. love complete. the Elder
Brother found,
The Younger melts in fondness In his arms.
A CLERGYMAN.