The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-01-01


any other hyphenated variety; that there
will no longer be whole wards of our large
cities in which the English language is not
spoken and that the traditions brought
from other lands may either be eliminated
or contribute valuable elements to our ma
tional life. We may hope that sectional
jealousy and ill-feeling may be less tnan it
is today, and that all petty rivalries VIII
De put aside when great national questions
come up for settlement We may hope,
in word. to see another step taken to-
ward the realization of that great ideal,
government Of the people, by the people,
Cor the people This phrase was coined
by Abraham Lincoln almost at the close
Of the war between North and South. 1t
could have been present only as half
| developed thought in the minds of the
fathers Of the Republic. for some Of them
assuredly did not accept the idea OF demo-
cratic government II took nearly hun
dred wears 10 formulate that thought, after
The Declaration OF Independence had put
it into the foundation of the infant Re
public. II may take nearly as long to in
corporate it thoroughly into our national
life. but we may reasonably hope that
those OF us who are living fifty years hence
will see this at least partially accom-
nlished
In the development of national char
acter certain things are likely to be ac-
| complished. perhaps more swiftly than is
now anticipated. The great scientific dis
coyeries and inventions of the past hun
dred wears have resulted in drawing all
parts Of the world into closer relations.
This country can no longer expect TO stand
alcof aid work out her destiny in compare
tive isolation. She must take her place as
a great world power. The events conse-
quent upon her advent into the battle Of
the nations can only be conjectured. II may
he that large American interests will de-
velop in the Orient in South America, in
South Africa, or on the high seas which
will need protection. and that protection
may involve war. II may be that the
struggle will be merely commercial de-
( pending rather on internal resources and
| power of endurance than on military skill
and strategy. Possibly the Armagedd0m,
which many imaginative novelists of the
day have pictured. will come within the
next generation, and will draw America
! into a war 10 the death. No one can surely
I pIophesy that this will not happen, and
/ no one can be certain that it will. These
.hings depend on the course and strength
! of currents far beneath the surface of
human affairs
But here and there. coming events cast
their shadows before in such a way that
prophecy is not 50 difficult. There are
tendencies in American life which ought
logically to result in certain Developments
Psychical laws are as memorable in real
ity. as the laws of mathematics; but their
workings are SO much more complicated
that they sometimes seem capricious and
unreliable. If these laws are not subject
to some quite unexpected variation some
special phenomena ought to take place in
American life during the next half century
as surely as an eclipse arrives a; the time
: set down in the almanac.
There should be in this period of time a
sort of Golden age of American literature
Following this, SO closely as to be almost
oontemporaneous with it, there should be
a tremendous development in the drama,
in architecture. in painting and in music.
This new renaissance should affect. more
or less. England and some other European
countries but the head and centre Of it
should be in America. The literary devel-
opment should be most marked in the Mis-
/ sissippi Valley, and perhaps on the Pacific
Coast, while the drama and other forms OF
art will reach their highest development
/ in New York. We should have in the COM
! ing fifty years the first great American
novel and At least two or three great
American dramas. It is possible that a
great poet may also appear on the scene,
} but 1t is more likely that we shall have
many lyric poets and novelists the quality
OF whose work is more or less poetic Chi
cago may come TO be the new literary cen
ire of the country. although New York
viii not lose it's prestige in tina; line This
unexampled literary and artistic develop
ment may be accompanied with great sci
entific discoveries, or it may not But
there has never, in the history of the
world, been any such fiction as we are
likely to have in this coming Golden Age
and the drama will reach a perfection
never before attained The third great art
Of the rio-architecture-wil be les.
marked in its development, but will reach
its blossoming point later on. This art
is a century plant, and needs time FOL
its growth. 1t is the expression Of tho
thought Of people not Of an individual
and reaches its perfection only when I'M
disturbed
The reasons for this theory are based OF
the history Of that other Golden Age o
literature which produced Shakespeare
Marlowe. and Jonson. Although there il
little outward resemblance between Eng
land in the time of Elizabeth and Americ;
in the closing years Of The nineteenth
century. similar forces have Influenced thu
thought OF both periods. In Shakespeare
day there had just been an awakening 0
interest in mechanical invention. du,
partly TO the commercial development
which followed the discovery Of the New
World The common people had hardly yc
learned to read Their imaginations ha'
been stirred and their emotions kindled b,
the stories which travellers brought Of III
rich lands beyond the seas. Their though,
confined Cor centuries in the narrow limit
of their little island. now found room L
expand. The language grew richer: tn
population of London was increased by
multitude of foreigners Of all natonalitie
and classes; there was money in the coun
Try: it was n time OF new ideas. TIL
I . -..,-s... ID. 81. 81 ,l.f- t,.I,..