The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1902-06-15
a Plea for the Silence fine N,,,st;st

a Flea Tor the Silence of the Novelist
against the yoes that have been raised in protest
various are the remedies prposcd ~ OF me noye, -
I Iy prooem. Maxwell GRAY" Of Toudn, ,h hi t
80 n9venst seriously states it as her onnion tba,
y uiu oe matter Of small moment Is no ,ro,s ,o,els
we're written for the next fifty wears" if 80, go 80
g. Term OF silence, she adds il would be a boon II
which .;.,,e novels say for twenty years during
Ill Eeeauon might be reared with taste ror SONG
ming nober than novels or at all events f ~ So [
% Ion mat already exist and are so seldom read or
Review, May): oi''iueS YIN me Nauoha'
~ ~ not that all the tales have been told hey had
az pee tod many times long before letters we're
otber ~ ' Always viii be told in some form or
tL 4" p9se or IN verse, in speech or in writing till
e eha OF time and they will always these same old tales
W. peasant 70 tell and pleasant to hear till the end Of
oecause they tell Of things that can never grow old
OF the relation Of to man ami of thc stat;on ~ 49,
70 ne seen ana TO the that surrounds and molds
MN Nlso OF the relation OF to his time for though
No: the ,s@ 1i'l'n 10 ms ",.. 10
rom every point OF view and in every variety of detail and
d WIN every embroidery of thought and fancy
w "ii!ITia beauty OF setting, and fail to charm
nor II rightly told to edfy and instruct though amse
"en ana not edihcation is the noveiss proper aim"
me root trouble is rather that the majority of those who
essay fiction either unable or twins 70 write novels
that are entitled to rank literary productions And
~ We nave novelties hewspapercorner serials made by
tne YARD ana magazine stories with nothing TO recommend
em BEYOND knack OF putting together what the
haecid attention Of and spcss Incidence unable
10 endure second without external diversion from inward
loHotoy' II Is weariness think of these productions
the sight OF the empty stuff piled on railway bookstas
produces moral and mental nausea The writer declares
IT was sad moment for literature when the notion that
noVel-wrting was lucrative first got about thanks
partly to papers by James Payu suggesting the training
OF average mdde-cass youth for this simple inexpensive
and wepaid professions partly the genial and large
hearted Sir Walter Bcsan who tired OF representing
the literary profession like any other be learned and
pracsed as an exclusive means of gaining livelihood by
the moderately endowed such as swell the lower ranks
ic3In A man
with no marked aptitude Tor his special profession and of
general ability even beneath the average may still be
respectable and useful lawyer doctor soldier clergyman
great numbers Of which needed carry the ordinary
affairs OF life the exceptional power and genius is
requisite in the higher walks Of these vocaon But while
the rank and Tile OF most calings do very well with
industry training and moderate intelligence no wants
mediocre novel poem picture unlike the Woodworking
doctor in a difficulty the Woodworking nove-writer can
not call in recognized head OF the profession olsen
tange plot supply conception OF character give
sparkle and music to dull and dragging style. And
feeble novel is serious evil
What blessing it would be- exclaims the writer, If it
were only be for the world escape for while from
the present LUCE Of thrd-rate fiction! She goes to
say:
In the this hastily desired temporary silence
of the novelist becoming reality, the novel manufacturer
would probably disappear and beake himself
muneratve trades while the creator of character the
of style the builder of webalanced story and tremendously
linked incident the magician, under whose subty
spells enchanted palaces and gardens Of exquisite
delight arise unddenha IS to say the maker or inventor
distinguished from the manufacurer-would take breath
and waning strength after undue toll No longer
forced his conceptions would silently his humor
mellow his wit brighten his imagination elasticity
and strength Of wing The pageant of life whether in
tragic robe comic mask would unfold itself before eyes
leisure observe and enjoy and preserved in memory
would silently mpegnate brains that in due time would
unconscousy reproduce the slowly developed pictures
There would be leisure only study but to assmate
the past and of other countries and classes time
to enrich overweight minds by learning and meditation
Even the reviewer might be made something Of Relieved
from the necessity of noticing novels day in paragraphs
Ia doc
OF fiction and instructed in the elements of literature and
first principles Of criticism People with views might convey
them to mankind by suitable channel than that OF
fiction the present conduit for everything and this would
he equally good for the views and the fiction Readers
would have time discriminate and select from the
NOUS mass already before them and many of the best works
at present hurried through altogether passed in the
headonr gallon down the sred ranks of fresh publications
now necessary might emerge from undeserved and undes
able obscurt The newly risen generation might be intro
duced to the immorta Scott Jane Austen Thackeray
Dickens Charlotte Bronte, George Eliot all of whom II
il said are strange the young goddesses who cycle and
NAV hockey and such astonishing variety
nj hats and gowns and the young morta cigarette in
mouth who earn opprobrou ephes at wickets and goals
many hurts at polo and much satisfaction golf links
and who wear hats and coats OF no variety at all Even
poetrv might once form part OF the reading OF the
better educated classes the OF leisure created
h., = few years suspension of nove-wrng and in that
case poetry might once be produced By some mute
ngIoriors' Tennysons and Keats now keeny aware that
e but nrccosity brutality, slang, and doggere charms
the public 4,
.,d; could become a real OF popular education
hccase II would give the power to enjoy literature
The Literary Digest.