Arizona republican., 1899-10-24

The fashion once set there were
pens enough to follow it and
to give a popular tone to lit
erature in England. which would be
initiated in America. provided it did not
clash with colonial tastes and princi-
pies. This. however, is an important
proviso. Perhaps the first movement t6=
ward independence that can be discov-
cred was the refusal to follow the liter
airy leading of Charles IFS drama fists
and poets Boston laid an embargo up
on them long before it pitched taxed
/ tea overheard. However, this was car
tied too far and books We're interdicted
that would have been good for New
| Englanders.
While. then. the coIenists were loyal
to British ideas. they never forgot that
they Were Bfitons with the national
habit of thinking for themselves. often
aloud and in black and White. This
! independence was fostered here by-
their distance from home. their isOla-
ton and devotion to a few principles
which they came here to maintain. AS
a consequence their writings became
intensely provincial. They could not
well be otherwise. The new country
was full of strange interest to pilgrini
and puritan.
They were aware that they were
committed to an enterprise with
boundless prospects for the future;
that the eyes of Europe were upon
them. Meantime their own world was
the little settlement between the wide
ocean and the wilderness.
Their vision gradually became linz
tied to the neighborhood with its meet
ing house, school. magistrate and min
of+ "
what they called him-their teacher.
He was expected to furnish ideas. to do
most of the reading. to be leader and
guide. critic and censor for the coIn-
murity. In return. they asserted the
right to discuss his propositions and
criticise his manner. But the discus
sion and the criticism. the word spoken.
and finally the word written. were
largely in theoIogic and polemic lines,
and at length in political
The remainder was personal and
town talk. The diary and the journals.
the narrative and the minutes OF the
assembly. had for them the Importance
of what is near. personal and present.
They could not distinguish the perish
able from the permanent in their ma
terials for history. Everything was in
the foreground, like a japanese land
scape. The death of an elders calf and
the drowning of his neighbor are chron-
icled in the same entry. The arrival of
belle from London and of a royal
charter create equal connections. Vari-
atoms from the sermon, the journal or
the narrative for English readers con-
sisted in poetic effusions which could
not be restrained even when poetry
was under ban. The early colonist
put his fancy in bottle. corked it.
wired it down and when it began to
fizzle put it under his cloak or carried
it into his cellar. Bound tc escape or
burst the bottle the muse was released
with the chOkings and gurglinss of a
strangIed culprit. She had a cracked.
nasa., doleful voice and uncertain gait
to the end. Her sober strains were
mournful and agonizing: her merry
moods like the gambolS of a hippo
pOtamus; her euIogistic performances
like the contortions of a juggler. Ger
tairly the glory CT colonial literature is
not in its verse.
Much can be said for its political
writings and the speeches which were
preserved by the scanty reporting OF
the time. In these directions the colo
mist won distinction at home ami
abroad Toward them the course of
events carried him inevitably. and the
strength of his mind and the impulses
of his heart went with pen and tongue
in high political discourse. The hber-
ties OF a nation were largely Won by
its mastery achievements in this kind
The readers of this brief and general
survey may wonder what there can be
in our colonial writings to enlist at
tention. The best answer is: Read
them and see. AS. however. they are
not all easily accessible. the best thai
can be done here will be to mention
representative writers and where their
literary remains may be found, Civ
ing extracts when worth giving and
noting changes for the better by which
the provincial advanced to the national.
Few always consider how long a pc
Rod was occupied in this evolution. or
the fact that the colonial years exceed
those of our national life thus far by
one hundred and siXty-eight |
against one hundred and twenty-four
But the relative growth of the last pc
riod cannot be balanced by the greater I
length of the first. nor the Improvement I
that has been made in letters as in |
every other art. Still. whether colonial |
1r national, American literature should !
appeal to Americans. The love and the |
study OF letters should begin at home. |
however widely they may broaden US
out in sympathy and attainment.
Whether English or American in any
particular stage of it's growth here, our
literature is the product of our race
and of our soil. and is something OF
which in any age we need not be
Editors Note.-Tbis is the first of
series of twelve papers which Professor
Lorenzo Sears of Brown university is
writing for the Arizona Republican on
he subject of EARLY American Litera-
ure." The next of the series will APP
Ear Tuesday next.
Other articles appearing in the series
ire on the subjects Of:
Mondays - Late and Important
phases of Child Study" by Colin A