New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-10-27

today and the England of 1905, as regards
| literature is accidental Since the golden age
of Coleridge and Wordsworth public has
| grown up. The readers of a hundred years ago
We're Few i'll number and leisurely of habit.
| Those who had tincture of learning left
| literature alone and those who read read not
/ in haste, but with understanding. A book was
not a thing to borrow from q circulating library
and throw aside; nor was the popular Judgment
expressed on the day of publication. to be for
gotten on the morrow. The contemplation OF
printed matter-books, match boxes or paper
bags-had not yet become a vice, and the people
USED lhelf eyes to better purpose than in the
declpherlng of rubbish But to-day all is
changed Readers commensurate with the
populatlon and no book achieves genuine sue
cess that is not tossed aside as hastily as it is
gobbled up Size and speed the two shining
virtues IN the world of letters as elsewhere-size
In editions, speed in oblivion. And the vic
tory always goes to the biggest circulation,
authors and publishers alike keep a steadfast
eye upon the masses The consequence is that
the number of books that are no books in
creases daily vulgarity masquerades as humor,
and the grossest sensationaliSm is mistaken for
pathos. Meanwhile, the most popular criticism
is pictorial, and may be the hoardings.
BUT 1t must be seen at once. or it is too late
We are all 'hustlerS'' now; we cannot wait for
the reasoned opinion Of a quarterly review. The
surer guide: Books once were rare treasures
kept carefully upon a busted shelf for the of
future generations. To-day, six weeks is said
TO be the limit of their life, and the most of
them do not deserve to be so long at large.
When the famous Education act was passed,
the unforeseen happened, as always happens
after the thoughtless work of sanguine legisla-
tors The vision of a contented. intelligent peo-
pie, bent upon learning and eager for the diff
fusion of useful knowledge, not realized
We found instead a restless, nervous mob, which
could not keep its attention fixed for than
two minutes at time, and to whose tastes a
thousand ingenious persons We're ready to pan
der And then, strangest episode of ALL the
printed stuff contrived for the ignorant, in
stantly captivated those who should have known
better. The levelling process went on
enough but, as is usual with levelling processes,
in downward. not an upward, direction.
Curiosity and the scientific spirit, then are
dominant influences But the fact that liter
allure suggests influences and not men is an
eloquent testimony to the poverty of these
times. Leaving fiction out of the question: and
forgetting poetry, which is moribund, may
comfort ourselves with the modest reflection
that the general level OF literary workmanship
is excellent. If we have but few masters
may boast that our journeymen know perfectly
we'll how to use the tools of their craft. And
there are more journeymen to-day than any
other age has known. But literary excellence
seems TO be like butter spread upon bread, the
more widely it is diffused the thinner it be-
comes. And we cannot profess sincere pleas
ure in our busting age. After ali, epoch is
known by its grandeur, not by its mediocrity.
and we shall have but a poor bequest to make
to our children's children.
Our only hope for the future is in reaction.
Maybe the folly of newspaper and cheap fiction
will wear itself out; maybe our readers will
grow wiser and less numerous. For, though the
one thing necessary to produce great literature
is great writer, great writer is all the better
Tor a wise encouragement We have no faith
III the cant which says that man Of genius
is the product of his age; but man Of genius
will have an easier chance of accomplishing his
destiny if he is born in world that feeds its
mind something better than chips, and bits,
and snippets And when the man of genius ap-
pears, he will have no lack of material. The
curiosity which uncovers the past is matched
by the curiosity which makes the present rich
in enterprise and invention But the very
wealth of material is perpleXng. and the path
of originality is hard to find The avenues are
blocked; the ways of speech have beer trodden
by pattering feet until they are worn and dusty.
VINO then, shall find a road yet unbeaten and
still fragrant with fresh flowers?
Je cherche une formule.' once said French
poet. Those among our writer's who are sincere
are also looking for a formula. He who finds It.
as Sir Walter found it, as Wordsworth found it,
as Byron found it. will discover means of ex-
pressing anew the old emotions of huma nknd.
And he alone will be able to show us from
which direction will come the salvation of Eng
fish literature.