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


cient mariner. To the impetus given to
commerce. learning, and enterprise of all
kinds by this awakening may be traced
more or less directly. the brilliant imagi-
native literature of the Elizabethan age
During the past generation we have seen.
though we may not have recognized, de-
velopmCnts in the world OF thought quite
as important as the discoveries OF Colum-
bus and Cartier in the material wor d. THE
thinkers of the present day have been ex-
ploring in realms of psychology, ethics and
metaphysics. They have broken down the
Chinese wall of thought and worked toward
intellectual freedom. They have sought for
truth instead OF the proof OF some theory
or dogma. The greatest men OF all ages
have done this. because they could mt help
it, but their thought has never reached the
multitude as promptly as it does today.
The light has been let in on superstit on.
All subjects are freely handled by the
writer, certain that he will have at least a
small audience for his mos dar ng concsp-
ton. What the ships OF the sixteenth cen
fury did for the material wealth of Eng
land, the thinkers of the nineteenth have
done for the intellectual treasure of the
civilized world. For the first time in tn
history of Europe and America. men are
free 10 think. Here and there, in ia cor
ners, where the old traditions still prevail
they are prosecuted for adherence 10
some dogma, but the Irresistible forces of
the time are toward the frank expression
Of opinion and the earnest search for truth
as truth, whatever traditions may be UPSET
by its discovery.
This tendency cannot fail to have its in
iluence on the fiction of the coming cen
fury. The novelist of the future will be
free TO handle any topic, in whatever way
he likes; and he will be absolutely Tncon-
trolled save that he will be required 10
telr the truth as he sees it, There have
been great novelists today. foIerunners of
the men of the future who have done this;
but they have necessarily been hampered
more or less by the conditions under which
they worked. There are some things which
will be done in the future which could TO
more have been done by these great men
OF the past than Piers Plowman cOud have
written The Tempest" The new novelist
will have wealth OF material so tremen
dous that he must needs be transcendent
genius to cope with it all. He will have
store Of incident gathered from all lands
and all peoples: he viii be able to observe
human nature under unparalleled eondi-
lions he will have the most magnificent
subject ever offered to artist since the first
saga man told his tale of heroes and mon
sters-the struggle bstween civilization and
barbarism, between primitive humanity
and the infinitely complicated development
Of the human brain and character. Such
conditions have never before confronted a
generation Of writers. and when the fields
are white for the harvess, the laborer al
WAYS appears sooner or later.
There is every reason TO suppose. more
over, that great writers will come from
this country. We have here, within our
borders. Infinite opportunity for the study
of humanity. and the life of the average
American youth is such that he can avail
himself Of this. Take one Of our Western
farm bows, who is cowboy, brakeman,
hunter. clerk. capitalist on small scale,
and. perhaps tramp, all in the course Of
a few short years; he has lived stories
enough for whole series OF Dumas move .
before he is fifty years old. If he chances
TO have education enough to give him lit
erary ambition. he probably tries his hand
at newspaper work among other things.
and the next step may be the writing of a
book or a play. Among the hundreds OF
men. with talent and without it. who are
now writing more or less Indifferent liter
ature. there is a chance that one may prove
10 be the genius This wealth of talent
is TO be found very largely in the Middle
West. along the line OF the Mississippi
Valley. The reasons for this are simple.
The fathers a1d mothers Of the people
LOW living in this region were pioneers
a primitive. sturdy stock. mingled 10 some
extent with representatives Of the most in
telligent class OF Eastern people, where
doctors, clergymen, lawyers. and scnool-
teachers came to the West as At was
then called. TO grow up with the coun-
try" Thus we have Intellectual ambition
mingled with spontaneous emotion and
simple habits and ideals, and # may be
even now observed that every poet Of any
consequence who has appeared in the last
fifteen years. and a good share OF the most
/ promising young fiction writers, come from
( this very region. The country village and
/ farm give us our poets and many OF oul
novelists, perhaps the best Of them, and
/ this valley is a farming country.
The great natural highway Of the Mis-
/ slssippi River. and the overland trek tc
; California in the hfties. has also some
thing 20 do with this, and gives 1llinoi;
/ and Indiana an advantage over the North
/ west The constant passing and repass'
1 ing Of this great current of travel help.
TO stimulate the imagination and add cS
porience of human nature. II prevents
stagnation. which is quite as fatal to lit
erary development as too much excitement
The country was the borderland Of civil
ization for twenty years, and the characte
Of the people was affected by that fact.
Another factor in the development o.
American literature Is the new interest II
human nature. Is such which has beer de-
veloped in the present generation. Tn,
first fruit OF this was the dialect story
and in the work OF various writers OF re
ton who have used this medium we hav'
an accurate picture OF American life as i
exists in various corners Of tire country to-
day. Fifty years ago no such collection
wod.d have been possible. The dialect o
the iliterate was rarely given with com
plete accuracy, and when an author under
took to portray foreigner he usually mad
ludIrroue or maddening mistakes VIII