The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-03-24

tion no longer possible Far away in
 more quiet seats, the wise and sincere
 lovers of good literature are still read
 ing good books the good old ones and sometimes the good new ones which are
 equals of the old and by some miracle
 creep in between the pushing and bla-
 tant hundred thousand editions of phe- nomenal and soon to be forgotten i works.
 What in general, is new book? It
 is one you do not care to read again.
 only another. newer one. Such books
 are printed to sell; they do not endure,
 and never do they depose the old.
 They may be kept on the surface of a
 shallow and rapid stream, but sink
 when they come to deeper and wider Waters-waters navigated by experi- l enced pilots, sailing by the sun and | stars. All the while these monstrous
 editions of popular books are being
 printed there goes on the quiet sale and | reading of those to which the seal of time and fame has been set, and from which the accidents of chance have been eliminated, The fact that certain | writers are relegated to the rear in cat alogues, and are no more mentioned by reviewers, is no indexto their real place in literature or to their permanent sale. A recent critic, in publication devo- ted incidentally to the review of books and chiefly to miscellaneous literary news and gossip, had the temerity to state. in effect that there was no longer any sale for Emerson's writings. He had his ready figures for these crit ics are mathematical in their distribu- tion of honors to authors and settle their position by the formula How many copies does he sell in a week?" They forget to inquire in regard to the steadiness of the demand or the class of readers-whch lat ter point is the most important of all for any just esti- mate O. the ultimate fate of book.
 As for Crabbe, I repeat that he Is read. l am very3obscure person, Hv- ing in one of the most remote corners of New England: yet I still read Crabbe with admiration, and I know of others who do. I cannot believe that we are eXceptional; nor can I doubt that among those of larger opportuni- ties and with an ambition to know the best in English literature, there must still be numerous readers of Crabbe's Tales" But whether there are or not makes no difference to us. We stand up boldly, and are not ashamed to de- clare that we read and admire these works, and that they ought to be read and admired. Ie we need an ally and defender, there is Edward FitzGerald, a man whose instincts were infallihle in poetry.
 I was very glad to see that the writer in "The Atlantic laid much emphasis | upon the atmosphere of the Tales This is true insight. To be sure, at mosphere" is rather a large and a | vague word. but there is none nearer the thing meant, and after reading | Crabbe one may feel the force of the term and need not try to analyze it. | Let him enjoy it, and give the poet his | due measure of praise. This "atmos- phere" is, I believe, the distinguishing | characteristic which Crabbe would l claim for his work; for, contrasting his own style--n the preface to the second series of "Tales'--with that of Pope he says that the poems of Pope are with out atmosphere.
 The style of Crabbe is simple enough; it has no concets and little embroidery: the plots are rather bare and loose jointed When he paints men, man. ners and things" which he says is his chief aim, his pen is truly his own, and inimitable. This is why I believe he is still read-such is my faith in the living and continuance of the attrac- ton which real literature possesses.-- John Alhee in the Chicago Dial
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