The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1901-02-17
Literary View
OF Our Policies by
Kentucky Author.
Ths 80 York HsraId &c:

The New York Herald says:
The author CT the Choir Invisible
"a Kentucky Cardinal ana 5sher stories
about which he has woven a veil Of ex-
euisite posey told in prose has NJ emo
tional frenzy popularly applied to The aD-
pearance OF poets. Hs locks Ike naval
officer, or q hnancier, or a merchant with
the chill OF eaIcalating integrity III his
tail. upright figure. 7 was particularly
asked not 70 Indulge in any personal
criticism Il could avoid II, and I shall re-
sFect this request because IL proceeded 50
evidently from a keen sensitiyeness To-
ward any pronounced pose for the sake
Of fame.
This much feel It necessary TO say en-
PEASANT. that this proposition may Be
made in behalf Of ideals ard tdeaEsts.
VIZ. that behind the music and rythm Of
beauty as II stirs our senses OF soothes
them, in books. in art OF on the stage.
there IS always ONE literary hermit who
IN dedieatng his life and his vanity to the
devotional worship of-seriousness. The
hippant are for day the sensual are
are overtaken and destroyed by the gods
they have set up, the sensational are soon
forgotten, but the devotee Of serious pur-
pose survives them all
The serious man is IN earnest, and 7
found Mr.. Allen very much in earnest
when he finally consented TO be vicdmized
IN the modern fashion Of newspaper re-
search
He did not wish 10 speak about himself
or his books, past or to come.
He quoted Thoreau with approval
+Thoreau said that nauthor should
stay on his side Of a high wall and throw
his books over 10 the world on its side
he remarked
But the curious would climb the wall"
I suggested
"Then let them climb he replied.
laughing, and also let them climb back
Before I did so. however, we stumbled
on subject that had ripensd in the au-
thor's mind Iately-natonal literature
''You know the old saying" he observ-
ed, that trade follows the flag. and you
are aware that pending before the su-
preme court just now is the most import
ant question # has ever been called upon
TO decide-whether or not the constitution
follows the flag; but there IS a certain
truth in this matter more important still
and far above the Jurisdiction of any
court, and that is this: National lit
erature follows the flag whenever it can,
and when it cannot there is something
wrong with the flag"
what do you mean by that" 7 asked
It mean that the flag Of a country sums
Up its ideas and ideals If they are right
literature IS eloquent; If they are wrong
literature Is silent. II these are worthy.
rational literature may be worthy; II
they are worthless national literature
must be worthless. The two rise and fall
together. English literature has followed
with enthusiasm whenever it has been
possible. every movement Of the flag Tie
same has been true in the United States.
The development OF our national Itera-
ture reflects the great movements Of our
history"
Slowly. deliberately, with the quiet log
ic Of man who has grasped his subject
so eagerly that he has to look carefully
to see that no part of it is missing MI
Allen outlined the birth and future OF our
national literature.
What do you mean here by our ma
tlonal Hterature2" 1 asked
Y mean that part Of our literature
which deals with national ideas and ide-
ais. But. of course. we are nav speak
ing only Of fiction and poetry. The novels
Of a country and the poetry Of a coun-
try are two ways IN which its life IS -
corded and always recorded with refer
ence to its best deeds and highest ideals.
And in modern civilization these two are
never silent. History may long be silent
but modern fiction and poetry are ire
pressible forces. fncessantly active, and
whenever it is possible intensely patriot
ic- II they cannot find in their own coun-
try and time. the ideals they delight 10
celebrate. then they seek these in other
countries and mother times; or they turn
away from national ideas altogether. But
remember this. as great general prin-
ciple national fiction and national poetry
always follow the flag if they can"
what was the beginning Of national
literature in this country
"Tha American Revolution And thu
first mar to write the American novel
on a national scale was Fenimore Coop
er He was true child Of that revo-
luton. and though he did not always
celebrate he always felt the great hui
man forces which had made the Arneri-
can people independent and made them
one. which had created a new nation and
a new flag among the nations and flags
of the world. Tt was a great time and
Mace for e uoveIist-a fresh earth. a
Young republic Of AnglO-Saxan fresmen
d home II the oppressed, a sp0Uess flag.
waving VIGOROUSLY on land and ocean
The first national movement in our licera-
ture was inspired by the Revolution and
followed the flag It did not die out till
toward the close OF the first half ~ the
niretee1th century. for Cooper himself
lasted tin then and he worked While he
lasted
what was the second movement
without hesitation the author epitomiz-
e1 an exhaustive subject. SO long had he
thought about il: so ripe was the fruit
Of his knowledge
.-The second movement began some
time after the Revolution. r turned
awav from the entire American past %
deal with other national IDEAS which BE-
San ~ threaten ard 6arken the Ameri-
can future. The country had already be-
come divided on rhe subject ~ slavery
the Introduction by the Young Republic
Of its OWE great writ q human iHse-
7 pendence- the first wrong inflicted ~ t7e
American people on their own ty2a e
government am not row speaking 81
1 the south 1T North. brt u The American
F RepuhHc. conceived IS The unlt ~ state
by the sntira American people. wien I
say that The presence II slavery wsthin
TIE nation gave rise Is second move
ment n American literature. Which was
national IN ideas hut sectional - feeling,
which began soon after the Revolution