The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1899-06-04
Southern Litcrarature.

memphis NommeTclat Appeal
TO the Editor; IL IL not easy TO see how
there can he a Southern literature that Is not
sectional and In which our struggle for iudc-
pendeuce Is not the central event. But, as In
common paranec. that cause is lost and we
have come to be an Integral part Of the great
Yankee Nation now coutendlng with johnny
Crapaud for the sole rlght to place that ern-
blem Of expansion, the bullfrog upon tho os-
eutcteon of old Joe wheeler's new Union, we
should not be sectional But to be- Southern
our literature must survive and slority the
past. showing that a war conceived for the
constitutional rights developed Into one for
Independence. and must maintain without
shadow OF compromise the right and Justice OF
! the cause, with no apologies no retractons
and no regrets for anything but our failure
A literature In short rich and racy OF the
\ soil, as they say In Ireland OF anything thor
ourh,v Irish. which, like the light from the
sraye q, Michael Scott, or the living blaze
Eioal.a by the men OF 'as tlluminates and en-
hInyons tho past and lights the way TO fu-
ture Of a people wNo have aspirations as well
as memories. who are MS ready to unfurl the
conouered banner as to decorate the graves
NJ those who died for Il. But there Is no as
piration, no desire OF the kind, unless In come
silent breast which can only In the tumult OF
tho time brood over what IL has lost without
an opportunity to express n hope for its res
toratIon 1t Is n question how far this feel
Inc has Influenced Southern literature, FOR
" It's mast history In any way forcshadows the
future Il only teaches disbursement, for
, southern literature IA Southern publications
like milestones on the road to cemetery
, lead to nothing but premature graves the
? south has no aspiration to lead 1t Is content
, 20 play third fiddle In nearly all things, par
aiculerly In It's literary efforts, There Is ca9E'
for this but the writer thinks u IS due to
general rather than q particular cause Th'
tetnnle OF Janus was shut when Christ came
upon earth and when the millennium Gomez
I and universal peace prevails the end oil IN
b. world Is al hand In the meantime, MS VIZ
n chow lately stated ''lite comes from lrrita
I. ton" and contradictions, friction, combat
a opd wars are essential TO progress, better
q meut and perfection. A peoples IDEALS ar
q the sources whence spring these difference
q and contentious. and foremost among them
1. n yirlle patriotism whose sheet anchor Is ol'e
d fast In soldiers grave. But the south ma
Ie abandoned the aspirations OF the Conioderni
IA soldier and IS even about to SURRENDER o.
10 grave to consummate, as Joe Wheeler In 10
ono. hated uniform OF Yankee major ger
l. ,ral says a new Union, to bow to the none
iy n, ver and form another parallel to Enslan'
rs Rome and Babylon
N There is grandeur in gloom, there is glo'
il. In graves; but a people which has forgott'
A. It's past lts aspirations, It's hopes and
~ fears. its toys and lis sorrows, Its many 81
r. rious triumphs and inal failure, ana 10 1901
&c ing forward to a future destiny the very o
poslte Of what their fathers fought for n'
n are largely ready to surrender their father
,s graves to the keeping OF their fatherS' en-
= mics has lost the characteristics OF dlsun
IA, tive people, its aspirations traditions al
"a memories. whence springs the best literatn
"A of all people; has divested Itself OF eYerylniI
+, Int the commonplace Of provincial he
no Under these conditions with the abondo
ment Of the Confederate cause the gener
- Acknowledgement Of lost cause which was
some sonse an admission that tP cause was
false one; for In tho history OF the white ra
no good cause was ever lost
10 Freedoms battle once begun,
NV pequeathed from bleeding son 10 sem
los Though bafhed oft, Is ever won
lev Z, rmulnted by Byron, expresses thu VIII
,o mans faith in every land except these sou'
., orn states. where new departure has be
=, made in the light Of which lies probably
-. explanation OF the past failures and FOL
W. cas-, of the future Of Southern literature
s'' David Flanery
' Memphis, Tom May ~, 1893.