Morris tribune., 1905-09-16

attitudes If we spend that thirty minutes per
day in reading the daily crimes or in literary
day dreams it is an irreparible loss.
Next to these come books of common facts,
such as the formation of earth, it's crust, it's
soil the romance of it's rocks, it's ores and gems.
Then fishes birds, seeds, animals, and the
compacted summary of all the inferior life
which is called man.
i The books of human life open to the reader
the wonderful story of mans body, the nature
of his brain, the city of his soul. AS much as
the man who thinks, and sings, and prays, and
weeps, and constructs is higher than the clod
so much higher is the knowledge of men than
other earthly knowledge.
In biography the reader is lifted into the
company of earths famous men, becomes
familiar with the crises in these great lives,
| lie ans what makes men great. See Bunyan
constructing, with bible and prison, the
Pilgrim Progress" See Lincoln reading only
the life of Washington and the life of Christ,
and thus educated for craftsmanship and i'm
mortality. Read Froudes portrayal of Caesar,
or Plato's recollections of Socrates or Johns
"reminiscences of Jesus, and thus commune
with immortals.
In fiction let us read books of the higher
| ideals. The only reason to be, the plea for a
work of fiction is to set before readers the high
er, nobler, more worthy ideals of life, The
meanness, the shame, the corruption, the degra-
dation is common. 1t is in all hours of all
days of all years It is altogether too real and
too common, and too disheartening. Give us
something novel, show how one in these condi-
/: =: L.
risen above the temptations, followed higher
ideals, lived the life of hero. My friend who
under the plea of portraying things as they are
in real life have been describing the mentally
and morally sick, in whom the nobler qualities
are almost dead your book is like visit to a
lazaretto. swamp is real but grainheld is
ideal A NANCY, flea bitten mop of starving
yellow dog is real enough but great St. Ber-
nard saving the life of his little mistress is an
ideal one. A horse, knee sprung in front, |
spawned behind, wind broken in the middle, /
hardly able to be led to the bone yard is real, |
the horse with perfect limbs in the very poetry
of motion, with arched neck, with flashing eye, |
"Who paweth in the valley and rejoiceth in his I
strength" is as real and much more ideal A |
little stunted scrub oak is real but we prefer I
the ideal oak whose fibre is strong enough for
ship timber, whose wide arms defy the tenn
pest Your little stunted heroines, more than L
half silly, who tamely descend into moral 4
mire, wear spotted regulations, drink the cup
of shame; are too real too tame, too un1nterest-
ingly common, too disgusting. They are no
more like the ideal men and woman the
world to inspire readers to nobler living than
toad is like All angel novelist is great
in proportion as he can portray the higherI
ideals. Victor Hugo i'll his great work shows
the redemption of a human soul. Hawthorne
in THE Scarlet Letter. shows the power of
conscience Harriet BeeC her Stowe in "Uncle E
Toms Cabin portrayed human slavery. Shakes
Deare portrayed ideals in his leading charac- il
Eers Roe and Sheldon and Gordon preach
mora! ideals in their fiction.
Poetry, that art of playing upon the chords
Of the human heart, and rousing the finer feel
ngs till the coarser are submerged, has been IN
demand since David was sent for to get the devil
Of encouragement out of Saul Tennyson
proved master in expression of delicate sentl-
nents Browning makes long to "lnterpose
at the difficult minute snatch Saul the mistake
the failure he seems to be and bid him
awake" Ours the immortal bards OF
Greese and Rome, the heroes OF Niebelungen-
Love-" and Elizabeth Browning's Loved
Ones,' aud Lathburys Lift up thy voice with
and Longfelow "Chrstus" has +
shown us in how the Gospel is to /
perfect poetry The greatepics are ours
to read over aud over till in our
measure partake of their thought, feeling, I
love ,.lld superhuman heroism. ALL songs OF !
the ages, songs of love and lovers, songs win /
which t,I- mother inspires her child, songs OF |
patriots and battle fields songs of mighty en-
deavor, and of consolation, of victory over
like ministry of angels to mankind.
Thpro q