The times., 1901-05-20
Liternturc for the silly season.

TIE public seems to be waking up to
the fact that the various volumes of
love letters published within the last
two or three years are literature fit cniy
for the silly season, and hardly good
enough even for the silliest moods of
intelligent people. a writer in one of
the New York papers expresses the
opinion that it would be better to give
a young girl "Sapho" for Sunday read
ing than to give her AN English
woman's Love Letters" because she
would not be likely to initiate the eX-
ample of Fanny lie Grand and would
be extremely likely to model her corre-
spondence after that of the unknown
Englishwoman. Another New York
paper publishes a burlesque announce
ment of The Love Letters of Chorus
Girl" said to be on the way to publi-
cation. and gives samples of the same.
Perhaps this satirical volume, should it
ever appear, would be the most read
able of all the collection.
The fact is that love letters, either ac-
tual or fictitious, are scarcely suited for
publication in bulk. The novel reader
can stand 4 few of them, introduced in
the course of the development of plot.
and the biography of a great man or
woman is made more interesting by a
small sample of this kind of corre-
spondence, but a whole book full is too
much In the first place, the average
person is not in a position to write in
teresting things when he is in love. He
is surrounded by vague and delightful
fog of emotion, through which he sees
everything: and it is the dearest wish
of his inamorata, who is walking in the
same heavenly mist, to know that he
shares her inability to see or hear any
thing in the universe but love. The rest
of the world, being outside the fog, does
not look at things in just the same
way: and there are ten chances to one
that the lovers description Of the world
will seem, to the non-lover, unintelligi-
BILE and vague. If not worse.
Even when the writer of the love let
ters is an intellectual person, this rule
holds good, and it is a sad fact that
some moderately intellectual people
have written wretched trash when they
were in love- The most horrible exam
pie of this is Bulwer-Lytton, whose
love letters were published some years
ago. and read more like a satire than
like actual correspondence. The novel
ist refers to himself as "OOr own Poo
die" and talks baby-talk in a way
which would delight the most inane in
fant worshipper.
There is, of course. a strong reason
why real love letters should not be pub
lished, in the fact that they are essen
tally private correspondence. and as
such, should not be seen by anyone eX-
cept the person to whom they are ad-
dressed and the writer. People Of deli
cate and sensitive natures would not,
one would suppose, wish such CORE
spondence to be given to the world, but,
unfortunately. the thing usually hap
lens when they are dead and cannot
help themselves. At any rate, the
reader is particeps criminis, for if there
were no demand for this literature it
would obviously not be published, be-
cause there would be no profit in it. Il
is to be hoped that the recent orgy in
which publishers and public have in
dulged viii have the effect of creating a
safety which will last at least till this
generation has passed away.