The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-07-26
TREND OF THOUGHT
 ALONG PATHS LITERARY

character. portray ,weird or splendid scenes, or present a moving play. It is only We Anglo-Saxons who are so stiff, so ugly and so shy. Can 1t be that we are afraid that we shall become artists and therefore disreputables? The danger Is slight. Or it may be that we fear a soulful outburst may proclaim us provin- cials. But. after all, souls are not exclu- sively suburban affairs. ''If the creative literary worker is so circumscribed, try to fancy in what cramped quarters the critic must abidei He is allowed but one activity-that of throwing cold water. His praise Is often as dampening as his fault-fnding. Pro- nouncing upon an earnest and eager book, he says, perhaps the author appears to be unduly agitated about his subject. He should learn to take we'll known facts and his own none too lofty fancies with more calmness.' Or, speaking of a glow ing biography, he utters this easy cynic- isem: The author has permitted himeslf to become an advocate for his subject. The book Is eulogistic, and not to be classed with serious works on this theme new poet appears and the critic is distinctly annoyed We fancy he writes, that we discern the influences of certain Victorians in this. young mans work. This Is we'll enough, and we com mend the tidiness of his versification; but we suggest more caution in sinnile and phrase and look to a moderation of ado- lescent enthusiasms.'
 "In the class room it is no better. There are exceptions, of course, but the aver age instructor in English is the Discour- ager of Genius, the Slayer of Talent. It Is a common thing for originality to be held up to ridicule before a class, and anything like passion of utterance would be considered a fit subject for profess sional mirth It is not in such places, surely, that inspiration will be found. It Is not here that the writer will learn to express himself with unreserve and de- light. =
 "The question is. How is the Anglo Saxon to accustom himself to beauty? Could he. by the wearing of smoked glasses, mitigate the glare until his eyes became strengthened sufficiently for him to look at beauty without blinking? Since he is an idealist in the matter of morals, may we not hope that he will presently cease to be a liberalst in the matter of art? If his imagination is ap- pealed to by the wizards of modern me- chanics, the practical masters of phys ics, the captains of commerce. can 1t not be touched also by the passioned and spiritual artist? Must the delineator of life forever feign that he finds the mor- tai experiences of men and women com monplace. snug. snug and trivial? If the geographer is permitted to tell tremen- ] dous tales, may not the poet be permit ted to do so much. If the machinist sets the pulses throbbing with his colossal engines, may -not the novelist be allowed to rival him?
 Side Lights.
 From Norris's "The Pit" "To be wom- anly?" repeated Laura. Why, I don't honey. It's to be kind and we'll bred and gentle mostly, and never to be bold or | conspicuous; and to love ones home and take care of 1t, and to love and believe in ones husband-or parents. or children. or even ones sister-above any one else in the world"
 An anarchists library has been pur- chased by Columbia University. It is made up of many newspapers, pamphlets and books, besides photographs and au- tograph letters. The most noted an- archists of all centuries are represented in some way. Of special interest is a death warrant of President Carnot of France, and which was the document of information for the society.
 There was printed in 140S. so we are told, volume, the Nuremburg Chroni- cles, in which it is said. the discovery of | America is mentioned-as news. The book is now in a private library in Chi cago.
 Motor intoxication" Is the name given | to new disease said to have been dis covered by the savants of Paris. Rapid ! motor locomotion appears to have an ex- ] hilarating effect upon speeding locomo- bilists which amounts to a temporary disorder. The mental and moral state | of the driver becomes abnormal, and he frequently grows vindictive, furiously ag-
 gressive and as reckless of conse-
 quences as a man under the influence of liquor. The physicians and psychologists
 of Paris are looking into this question | with keen interest.
 l Thirty lectures by thirty men-during
 this month of July in Boston and Con
 cord for the purpose of making, if pos | sible, a true and adequate estimate of
 Ralph Waldo Emerson.
 The Old Corner Book store in Boston
 which is to give way to a modern busi-
 ness block, has been the haunt of many
 famous literateur. The book store is
 the ground floor of a quaint wooden | building. The book lover is familiar with the site on the corner of School and l Washington streets, and the old store has
 many historic associations. The house
 of Anne Hutchinson.
 | Dr. Van Dyke in his baccalaureate ad-
 dress to the Princeton graduates made
 this estimate of the Puritans: T tell
 you, my brother men, it has become too
 much the fashion in these days to sheer
 and Jeer at the old-fashioned ways of the
 old-fashioned household. Something too
 much of iron there may have been in | the Puritan temper; something too little
 Of sunlight may have come in through l the narrow windows of his home, but | that house had foundations. and the vir- | tues lived in it. There were plenty of
 red corpuscles in his blood and his
 heart beat in time with the eternal blows
 Of right, even though his pulsations some
 times seemed little slow and heavy
 What beautiful writing this is from
 Van Dykes The Meaning of Pictures"
 in Scribners: This method of procedure, | wherein suggestion becomes such an im-
 portant factor, implies two people in the
 work of art, rather than one. The spec
 tator must do his part as well as the
 artist The latter suggests, the former takes up the suggestion and builds upon
 1t. When Velasquez painted Christ on
 the cross, hanging there alone in the
 night. the head bowed forward on the
 breast. and the long dark hair falling
 over the face and half covering it, he did
 not think to obliterate the face-to take
 1t out of the picture completely. He
 knew very well that the imagination of
 the spectator would go behind the veil | and picture that face more vividiy than