The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-08-06
More literary Criticism.

Editor of The Times Dispatch
c Sr 6arves eS nssaon are Ds nfavorablo
that intellectual calm which is sSsentia!
TO a discriminating literary, crltieis n,
nevertheless | may venture WIN an tne
aware of the rather Fundamental dit
ference between romance on tho one
hand and biography or history on on, ,th g
other. It Is the province 81 history ~ ~
nara te the bald facts with as mucn
fidelity 10 truth as the prejudices OF INC
historian viii allow. It Is the function ION
Of romance to idealize the facts, ana the
Hen, with glnmor OF illusion touched
With that magic OF genius which
suggests a thousand res emp ,,s
TO sane proba bility. j L 4 rs ~ we
X is the secret of the romancer. Inc
mere history OF rather humdrum com
munity like the Dunkards ana so, ,,o
molIotonous in the extreme" but the ND ,
den lifts of that same community, lne
manifold play Of thought, Of purpose pose ! o. Q,
passion Of hope Of triumph or nteresi
most graphic and vivid. Perhaps no
secret as Mr.. James Lane Alec, VINO
s,Je than any living, novelist. Life it.
life, more fe,''is his theory Of the
story; and the theory Is sound tor me /,
s well 50 desn nr,a Wjae 80 beayen
a an s,,h III sonnati1nes hell so aw
ful--thut you require only eyes 20 see
< it. a pen to 5trnnscribe IT, anu NoIl
NJ n ed mage will nuttcr on all the winds
\ that blow.
very much the fashion, Is most St, Tempt s1,lai,
+ material found therein lends Itself SO
readily to ldealizatIon. And almost any
Kind OF scriber can do cruder Work t ,i,;a
tf,- tyr.r MI 1ip hDOkS roll IN Dig
ger balances in bank The popular stories
81 Alr. Winston Churchill. DO violence !, , to
nearly every canon of critical taste-lne
out With meat axe and kicked together
with brogans-hut what matters so long
4 rs they pay the author fifty thousand and
nH aaern VICE. Eferz rs Se I e apy
10 the commercialism OF the times, which
s Eeams TO be soiling everything with us
dirty fingers. What swarm anoa OF ut, ,,era rc
p nan nan Doyle and II: G. Wells type has has
been spawned in the warm ooze or ms
same bog of commercialisln. the innum-
ing in emulation Of these moro dlstin-
f guIshed specimens Of the genus bizarre.
And what dsgusts me beyond az ren e.
son;lblc endurance Is the insutteraolc
egotism OF these same, o-called move
lists who no sooner sell n prepostcrous
tale for a lew thousand dollars than
they mmeda,s as Gs,!nssi 9Fne omen an
Il usually select religion for their ignor-
AMI and insocnt Trades, as, at least, tMc
OF the gentlemen above mentioned nave
taken upon themselves TO do
America Is not rich in contemporary
rolnancers Of the first order OF genius
4 but we, ut least, have Booth IarkinS'
ton, and the Castles, Agnes and Egarton
whose perfect charm Is a well,,sprlns 81
perpetual delight. For a long tune noih.
Ing has appeared crowned With W IS s Ilci
ana Poses of Trianon." And what, per
hans, lends an added charm TO- the eX
uuisite creations of these children o
genius Is the impression you get OF N
{. exhaus tibe vitality, which you feel VII
Vet burst into radiant bloom OF incom
parable romance. This vitality IS m
duality OF genius: and genius has beef
& mnnivZed by some one as an infinite ca
pacity for work, an infinite capacity fo
taking pains, traits not as dlstine'i;
manifest In the Southern character as u
he Northern. Is this the reason tina
Ina sunny land Of romanca has yet pro