The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1912-11-05
G.. X. C.'S TRIBUTE
TO ANDREW LANG
The Charge OF Mere L.sity icaial
ans Not Sound-Expianatiun Of
His CombatI,cns~.
:. thesterton IT the London
illustrated News

= HI rpCCH Of solemn and
insane %triflinE: such at~mospherea
generally undcrra,e the cheerful and
"ell-bal1nced Misunderstanding when
he isn't really I ~trifter. Andrew
Lang suffered from three rrca, dis
advantages in the disputes uf tuda..
he was universal. he Us a-,xn~
ana he was lucid. For tho arst
point, the universa!ity. II certainly
confused the minds OF his critics ans
EaNe them al impression " being
pEayed with. That a man shasti
WRITE about Homer and blue ,ra,xrry
ahoAt cricket ANA Joan ~ .Nr, 4aant
splfiJ-rapping ana the Stutrts. about
I"4h-i"fe ana about t>h3ns. this wss
dlStTasting 10 any one anxious 10 Ia
me his achievement - one places.
an oFdinary authority on Greek or
galf. especially as IL did not touch
those things as We all d@ aa mere
topics II conversation hut always lit
least with some nttle accumulation e
special Information ur training. such
bethan age.
There Is now not enough concern
about the universe ~ 4 whole to per
mt people IL Svt til, connection. lit
would he useless. | suppose. t. tell the
modern critics that j man cannot
really he Interested III Homer with
out being a little Interested IN
Chinese tea pots. 1t would be- called
paradoNical 10 say that every man
who really thinks abont the Stuarfa
must sometimes think about Spiritual
ism. You cannot really like cricket
without liking something in the clean
striving Of the young. II ypu can
not like that without liking Joan II
Arc. Folklore and fishing ar really
+ VERY np:r each other lnfE IN f{.4
deeper mysteries Of nature and tho
superficial DEVELOPMENTS OF lying.
For a man really lIlgns. the hardest
task Of life is not to he Interested
in everything in il, Nor is the jud9-
nent really impaired by sIch GRANT
Investigations: not. at least. 50 much
as il is by the blinking concentration
Of specialists. a man may and maui
{ things III i'apuan mythology that my
prevent his going mad about Scotch
history. 1t IS in the SINAI subjects
, that a man loses himself. rot in the
0 large ones.
I The second qualification cor dis
{ Gualiication(-that iS, being anus
4 inG-connects itself with the third.
4 which is lucidity. There are many
: porterIous and p~retcntious experts
f today in whom the only proof Of ais-
/ dom is the absence Of Wit. Hut II
: most Of such cases. | think. the hin
8 is not only dull. bat dcceitful Cor
t tain material things cannot bear be-
: ing handled heavily or roughly. But
Of weak intellectual things il Is trusf
to say that they will not bean being
handled lightly. The old proverbs
always Use the most low and farcicat
images. merely because they are the
frankest and the most clear. They
s talk of buying a pig in a poke, not
of buying a megatherium IN a me
tallic. freproof safe. they talk =
words breaking bones. not causing
single or compound fractures, they
h talk of words buttering pa"snirS, not
of their tossing up a dish OF panais
beurre. They do this. not only be-
cause It is %funnier, but because 1t -
clearer-and, above all. shorter. All
real literature is rooted IN suca
0 popular nlaxims; and the hrst Of hu-
nan books was a book Of proverbs.
9 That Is the sense IN which breNlty
is the soul OF wit, and also Of Wis
dom.
But in an elaborated and special-
r lied society, the learned are actually
proud Of the length Of time II takes
them to get to the point. Wits are
paid by ~piecework. and therefore
have to do something. scholars arc
paid by time work. aud naturally 10
n0thins at all. But men much larger
u han the mere low pedant gain ny
their Very righteousness or hesitation
\ dignity and consideration Wa=el
more easy writers may miss Brown
G ing, great as he really was. o.'7
something TO the reluctance OF h47
u readers to admit that they AYE tak'h
so much trouble for nothing. CARVE.
great as h. really *. owes something
10 his smoke as we'll as his fidfIf.
$ In COMPARISON with sIcn burning 90
securities. the light Greek citnGof oI
such critics as Lang lends itself I" To