The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1911-12-27
"The Long Ro,,r

! TO the Editor of The Times Dispatch.
sill have just read this remarku bic
| nook, and since. at this late day. no
! criticism can discourage nor any praise
increase Its triumph. there remains lit
tie 10 be said excepting such protest as
Il strong story or beautiful work OF
art eNcitcs by its compelling contrasts.
como othcrs have treated, not very in
teiiiScntly. of its minor fcatures-its
rank profanity, for eXample-but how
could Miss Johnston give us these NOV
/ ING pictures of camp life and OF the
. hurried march and of the fiery edge
Oh battle, seeing everything and hear
ing everything, without also letting lis
near now and then the profane en-
phatics of the soldiery? What art de-
inanded of the gifted authorcss here
may easily be condemned and disavow ed
by the commonest canons OF morality.
ana we must trust TO this to prevent n
possible recurrence of coarse vice
NO well-bred person swears nowadays
unless. indeed. he is horribly provoked
and In that case he is likely TO repeat
inc onehse by swearing at himself in
private for an ass.
While we are ,at liberty To rcprct
TINS stain upon the pages of The Long
ttol!, we may nevertheless dismiss all
further 'scussion OF it, since war. II
should be remembered. Is not Il reli-
Eious exercise. Battle and slaughter,
ire and sword, destruction and despair
inuulation and agony. the .hricks Of
me wounded and the gasp of the dying
arc not New Testament institutions
Nor arc they reasonable and logical
deductions from the teachings OF the
Man Of Nazareth. Far from it, AT
their very best. and Shorn OF all un-
necessary atrocity there can only be
seen in these things the resurgence OF
the savage and the brute, the fury of
the cave dweller. the rage of the tufted
war chief, and under the shadow of
these horrors how futile seems all the
piping we have heard against the lesser
incidents and the little transgressions
OF the story.
There are other and much more i'm
portant grounds Of criticism. for II IL
Is the chief function OF literary art TO
interpret life, the question arises
"hether II may find either in the hero
les or In the horrors of war hit material
TOT normal revelation of life In
the supreme hero of any story or OF
any national emergency there Is an
iirfesistibie charm which the author may
count upon to command instant ap-
pihuse. and Miss Johnston has not failed
to make the most abundant and con-
| tinuous use of these elements Of her
STORY so much 80 indeed that one is
49, III doupt Whetner she gravely es-
| timatcd the vast influence upon the
| minds OF the young. upon her own and
perhaps future generations. of that
| ialse glory which has Lrenched a thous-
ana or the fairest fields of the world
with the blood of her noblest sons.
1t is frightful responsibility for
! any one gifted with genius to attempt
10 hide the hideous features of Bellona
beneath the garish garlands of military
| glory. The gifted authoress of the
| DOOR under review did not attempt TO
| conceal the horrors of the battlefield.
| put 1t is reasonable question wheth-
er majority of her readers will Yield
| to the revulsion of these horrors or 10
| the infatuation of military glory, that
decciver of men since the world began.
{ We have not seen In our day another
| such vivid literary picture OF that
| iEnis- tUus glory arisinr out of az