The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-01-20
A DISCOURSE ON AUTHORS.
Views Expressed in n Letter to n
LondOn Editor.

IRON the Pail Nall Gazctte-)
Mr.. Dear Pail Mall Gazette:" This IS
season of the year when papers are
less particular about their reputation for
dizziness. 1t is a season when topics Of
interest are discussed by readers rather
than by journalists, and when every man
who can string a sentence feels that he
has right to see himself in print. Per
maps then. you. who are so seldom dull,
may feel inclined to permit 4 regular
reader. but no professional scribe, to en-
ter into conversation with his fellow
readers on subject which for him pos
sesses a peculiar interest. 1t is the sub
ject of The Gentleman in Literature"
| am an old-fashioned fellow. and fond
of old volumes. but in the coz Sc Of the
last few years l have dipped into mod
ern books. and can now boast of nod
ding acquaintance with most OF your lat
ter-day writer's. Let me confess that
keep these modern books. If | ever keep
them at all. on other shelves THAI those
where sit my honored authors of the past
And why? That is my point.
Are your modern writer's men to love
and cultivate? When l take Laurence
Sterne upon my knee or get into an arm
chair with Fielding feel that l am hold
ing communion with gentlemen, men OF
breeding. Understand me, | refer only to
are. though / should not greatly care to
introduce them to any women folk. Gen
tlemen they are IN manner. gentlemen III
every thing that makes acquaintance pleas
| ant; of their morals. heaven be the judge;
not we who. in Lear's words. smell OF
mortality.
Some OF your modern scribblers make a
brave show and learn a certain trick OF
style which may impose upon readers who
rfe.f b. hon Eatr
there be among them whose breeding
shows in their writings naturally. grace
fully. and without effort. l can fancy the
hOnestest among them saying with Nike
Lambourne: Il viii say, and l care not
who hears me, there Is something ABOUT
the real gentry that few men come up TO
that are not born and bred to the mys-
terry l wot not where the trick les but
although l can enter an ordinary with as
much audacity. rebuke the walters and
drawers as loudly. drink as deep health,
swear as round an oath and fling my gold
as freely about as any OF the. jingling spurs
and white feathers that are around me
yet, hang me IL 1 can ever catch the true
grace of it, though have practiced hun
dred times
The true grace OF IT, There, my fellow
readers, lies the point Take your most
famous authors, are they not on the
whole, vulgarizing influences? By the soul
of Shakespeare, 1 swear they are. Litera-
ture has fallen into the hands of the yul-
| gar; We are become middle class in cur
taste for books. And what do the critics
to rescue literature from her sordid sur
roundings? They make merry concerning
a grammatical error. wax facetious over
split infinitivei Or else their criticism
takes the form of literary gossip" and
we are told what this author does. and
what that authoress drinks every night
before going to bed. Bah! it is sorry
trade.
/ would some Johnson might arise and
deal giant blows in our little self-satisfied
literary circles, making room for gentle
men to walk end breathe the air. But
my dreams are to myself. my Indignation
has run away with my pen.
What I would have you discuss is the
something" that makes a gentleman's
style in literature different from all 9TH
ers What is it? Why are all your bril-
liant men. and willingly 1 grant their
brilliance, separated by a wide gulf
from the grand old gentlemen of the past,
the Swifts. the Sternes, the Thackerays,
the SCOTS. the Walpoles. the Addisons,
the Steeles, the Calverleys?
Imagine to yourself a Daily Mall
journalist set to write up" q think that
Is the phrase) the death of Yoricki Can
your imagination bear that idea without
staggering?
One anecdote Illustrating in some meas
ure my contention. / had occasion the
other day to write to three well known
men-one an ex-Prime Minister. another
an ex-Cabinet Minister, the third a IA
nous author. The first two wrote to me
in their own hands charming and delight
full letters. The third set his secretary
OF rnaf