The Washington weekly post., 1899-07-18

Thought per Sc Is no longer at pre-
MUM in American literature. An utter
ance owes its value chiefly to iss source.
IL need not emanate from one OF reputed
literary ability. Indeed. in these days the
soldier somewhat outTanks the scholar az
an author. genius originality. culture. all
the thousand gifts and arts from which
the charm OF literary thought and style
are wrought, are relegated 10 the back
ground
Homer sang the story Of Achilles and
his valor, and the poet was more esteem
ed for his recital than the nero for his
deeds. To-day Achilles must write his own
story. Like Caesar, he must BE- his own
historian The pen may be mightier than
the sword, but il must be welded by the
same hand. We want the story of the
fray from the lips OF one who IS not
cnly an eyewitness. but who can say with
Aeneas "A great part Of which l was
Roosevelt must tell the story of the
Rough Riders and their inpetuous
charges and valiant achievements.
Wheeler must put on record the intrepid
bravery of himself and his men. The
story Of Hobssn's daring exploit must
come from his own pen. Capt Philip
HllSL pt lIe fldiIdttI u tNE AtAktAtAsH
scenes in which he bore SUCH an cnviabie
part. and so on through a whole eata-
lcgue of illustrious names.
Tae Sword and the Pen.
So far. the hand whicn welded the
sword with so much force seems 70 have
an equally strong grasp upon The pen
But what right had we TO expect the men
tai attributes that went TO make great
soldier to go To the making OF skillfm
writer? Deeds and words do not common
Iy go.together Besides all this, in setting
them this task we are leaving out or the
question the modesty OF the heroes uor
heroes are always modeso- II is dif1cult
&c conceive of one of these brave men
writing, 81 led the charge with uneN-
ampled valor," or "the victory was whoi-
" due TO my own intrepid demeanor ana
the enthusiasm with which | inspired my
men
The result may be a sober recital ot
facts instead of a giorification of the he
roes and their deeds. Some special pas
sages of heroism may even be eliminated
| from the account by the modesty of the
writer's and their tendency TO self-eface-
uent. This lack. however. will be more
than compensated by the knowledge that
the written words are the words of the
heroes.
The matter of the writer's personality
becomes the pivot on which the CHIEF
| interest hinges If lot a soldier, he must
be in some sort a picturesque personality
! 1t has been remarked that Richard Hard
| ing Davis az a benedict viii lose much
| of his charm for the reading public. While
| Kipling was lowering on the boundary
| between two worlds the English-readins
| public demanded to know hourly whether
| he drew his breath with a little more or
| less ease.
| Take Personal Interest.
| It fs this appropriating interest that tho
| nublic takes in its favorites that tends
TO put the person before the thought. W.
must know all about the men and women
| who do our writing. We must see their
| portraits and know their environments.
! We must know what they eat for break
fast and when and how they walk and
| talk and sleep. This familiarity, 80 far
| from breeding contempt" seems to en-
dear them to US.
| "Junius" would be an impossibility i'm
our day. Thoughts as thoughts carry lit
| tie weight. We must know the sign
manual Of every new thought that Is
| launched or the sea OF current literature.
If it is Dewey's or Hobson's. or that OF
any other popular idol. 1t il passed from
mouth to mouth and becomes immortal.
But If it proves to be only the BRAIN
product of some quiet scholar who has
been thinking great thoughts all his life,
il passes into Oblivion. Who cares what
he thinks? He never took a city or sunk
a ship. The thought is nothing apart
from the man who thought 1t.
| on, foolish gencTatiOni not TO under
| stand that they who do great deeds are
not often Of those who greatly think
| Their great thoughts, at least, are OF the
kind that are translatable by action rath-
er than by word.
A weaker development OF this tendency
is found I'm the very un-AmeEican toady-
ism that demands articles from royal per-
sonagss without regard to literary ability
Value OF the Craze.
So a curious phase Of literature has beer
evolved by which the writing derives its
chief value from the personality Of the
writer, and is sought aftsr much in th'
same sort as his autograph or photo
graph II is not so much the writing a,
the ha1d that writes
| The explanation OF this condition I.
doubtless 10 be found for the most par
| in the fact that we are a nation OF hero
worshipers, which Is altogether pardon
able. We must have the story as i
comes from the lips of the hero himself
whether IL Is told ''in moving tr0Des,' o
only as "a plain. unvarnished ale"
, This i the latest outcome Of a restles
age IN wnich deeds are more thar
| thoughts. II can hardly be called 'IiteTa
. | ture." Yet II has its charm, as We ar
MARIA LOUISE EVE.