The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1902-11-02
HoaueLLs on Public Taste.

| Mr., William Dean Howes still remains, with
all bis limitations, the most considerable man
Of letters in America-Henry James, greater
artist being self-elected Cosmopolitan" exile.
and Mark Twain, greater genius being distinct
ly Mr. Howes' inferior in general culture.
Therefore Mr. Howells double appearance this
| fall as the author of new juvenile and a new
collection OF sketches and essays is noteworthy
But neither avatar is notable in itself
The Flight of Pony Baker" Is the title of the
Juvenile Literature and Life is the title Of
the collected essays. Both are published by the
Harpers. The first is less sonorous repetition
OF the note struck in the still delightfully."- re-
verberant Boy of Boytown" The second is
reformation in less aggressive form Of the
critical heresies which in their militant fresh
ness possessed a certain tang of individuality
that awoke the old orthodoxics to contest which
was sometimes acrimonious and sometimes good
natured, but always, whether acrimonious OF
good natured, was invigorating and inspiring.
khe conflict has passed away into the lumber
room of literary curioSities. Both sides claim
the victory. At the Immediate present the ortho.
doxies, represented at this turn of times whirli-
gig by the protagonists of the romantic revival
have what Dante calls ii Rrido," which can
only lamely be translated as the cry of victory
In other words, the majority in the immediate
present Is with the ronauticists, and majoritics
rule in the republic of letters until new poll
us hltilkA dupll the ItdGllon winch is inevitable
in the immediate future But whether the Last
Man will face the final crash of matter and the
wreck of worlds singing the paeau of realism or
OF romanticism, is a question to which an I'm
inspired yatcinator like the present writer or
even minor prophet like Mr.. Howels, can give
no adequate answer
In truth, the question is only glanced at in
the present volume. and then with a cheerful
assumption that it has been settled in favor OF
the realists. Mr.. Howeils has ready, for ex
ample, an argument TO inyalidate the assertion
here made that the majorties arc with the TO
mantieists. He sets up a plausible counter
claim that the magazine audiences. which repre-
sent qualitative majority, side with the realsts
He tells us for example. that the authors who
sell the most widely in book form are often not
at all desired by editors with difficulty they
get serial accepted by any principal magazine
On the other hand there are authors whose
books, compared with those Of the popular
favorites, do not sell, and yet they are eagerly
sought for by editors; they are paid the highest
prices and nothing that they offer Is refused
These are literary artists and il ought 10 be
plain from what ] saying that in bellies lettros
at least, most of the best literature now first
secs the light in magazines and most Of the
second best appears first in book form. The
old fashioned people who fatter themselves upon
their distinction in not reading magazine fiction
and magazine poetry make a great mistake and
simply class themselves with the public whose
taste is so crude that they can not enjoy the |
best The most monumental example |
Of literature, az once light and good, which has
FIRST reached the public in book form is in the !
different publications of Mark Twain but Mr. |
Clemens has OF late turned 10 the magazines too |
and now takes their mint mark before he passes
into general circulation
To an uninspred vaticnator the answer seems /
ready enough TO hand The magazines having |
the fear of Paterfamas and the Young Person |
ever present before their eyes are OF necessity |
and Of necessity always have BEEN timorous and |
1t was the crude taste" Of the
public which FIRST welcomed Mark Twain as
il FIRST welcomed Walt Whitman (the two great
est Americans Of the latter half of the Nine
,eptance upon the tardy and recalcitrant maya
zines. II is quite safe TO say that Mark Twain
would have vainly turned to the average maya
zines in the later sixties or the earlier seventies
The Galaxy, it is true welcomed him in 1871,
put the Galaxy was an exceptionally radical pub
ieation in many respects. It was not until early
n the eighties that the Atlantic Monthly ac-
;epted his Mississippi Sketches" Many of US
itill remember the resultant wall Of agony that
vent up from the staider readers OF the Atlantic
Monthiy-a wall not unlike that which might
rave been awakened II some highly respectable old
ady had suddenly G-yiated from the paths Of
ectitude snd taken up with youthful folly.
May Il not be possible thsc the crude taste"
II the public Of today may justify faelf toner
ow and force similar editorial acceptanes Of
authors now looked upon a. net en.ifeiy coed
oEm' k--iNstg XeYk H0sid