The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1912-10-08
LITERATURE n
THE NEW SOUTH
Sarah Barnwel Elliott Talks About
the Literature and the Mental
Attitude Of the South.
IN. J. NJ. in New York Times Re-
view of BOoks.)

IN. J. NJ. in New York Times Re-
view of Books.)
a numbef Of years before the war
there was held a literary convention
in Georgia, and a committee was ap-
pointed to plan a series OF textbooks |
which would not DO inimical to the |
peculiar civilization Of the South, |
Bishop Elliott. Of Georgia, WIS on his
committee. With others he Vac If
the hrm conviction that the %institu-
ton Of slavery would afford time to
the leisure whites for the cultivation
OF the fine arts; with others, he held
the belief that literature was an ac-
conplishment which should never be
degraded into a profession. In other
words. Bishop Elliott was a gentleman
OF the old regime, with the culture of
the Old World behind him. He had
agents abroad who bought his books;
he upheld a code of honor that gave
stamp TO the whole social fabric Of
the South.
Today, his daughter, Miss Sarah
BarnWell Elliott, heads the Tennessee
movement for suffrage Of Southern
women from that very chivalry shown
them by Southern men, which has
made them dependent both in thought
and action. There never was quite
such a suffrage party as the present
writer was invited to. in Sewanee. the
home centre of the University of the
South. A sloping back lawn, bios
soming with old-fashioned hoWers-a
cluster of blue and gold, and pink and
red. and within range Of a laden plum
tree, u generous wicker table beside
which stood Miss Elliott, author Of
many books. Behind her. some hun
cred yards from the house, rose a
dlminutive los cabin within which the
author loses herself whenever she
would escape the multifarious small
things or village life. And the small
Things mean this: In Sewanee there
As a scarcity Of trade save that which
Is uOne with the mOuntaineers, who
bring their produce along the coun-
Try roads and beSiege the kitchens of
every person. Several times during
my talk with Miss Elliott we were in
terrupted by these circuit grocers
THAT'S the way we market" she said
up in the clouds we near the call OF
Irish potatoes"
AT the suffrage party, Miss Elliott
consented to talk for The Times. vel
her modeSty could not make her Sc,
wherein her views would be of much
interest. I'm out of the literary
world here. she Misunderstanding al
around her, two thousand feet above
the level Of the sea, and after she hae
greeted some visiting. BiShop-fOr Sc
vance is the Summer centre for thu
Episcopal South-she resumed, blu
come in some afternoon"
SO | went. up a small winding path
hedged in by bushes. A negro mat
called to Miss Sada" in a drawl, an,
books Of all ages filling the shelve
and piled upo the floor. My ey
ran along h titles-Herodotus, Mil
ton, and all the classic matter whic1
used to delight the heart Of the oil
South. / was asked to sit in an an
cestral chair by an ancestral liable
There was nothing musty about tn
room: purple grapes hung on vine
about the windows; the odor Of gree
grass swept across the lawn, and, tn
nttle lady on the settee before m.
with her white hair, her clearcut fea
lures. her quick wit, and her signif
cant laugh full Of hunor and of sad
ness. lent a quality to the. room thu
challenged the questioner's curiosity.
In the atmosphere Of the old Sou
Miss Elliott grew into Womanhoot
until now she is an interesting mn
ture Of unreconstructed rebel. Of goo
American. and of uncompromisin
Enslish. Nowhere but in Sewane
could such a temperament 1ouris
anti remain unchanged. Yet she do<
not accept placidly the elements
her makeup. Being a woman, "
she agrees with Nietzsche's structure
blaming the manner in which wome
nave been trained. w need a M
raj uplift.' she declared, but in tt
change we must guard against the d.
sire Of becoming like the smart sc
Undoubtedly the salvation of tt
southern woman will be to get avs
from too good treatment"
Being a Southerner, Miss Ellio
nevertheless is alive to the faults
the SOuth's mental attitude. / heal
her undertOne comments one morniI
while a lecturer was cOndemning Il
unhistorical methods of some Soutl
ern historians, and she approved
MS philosophical criticisms; yet 81
IS jealous Of any severe handling
southern civilization. Being
author, she writes for money, y
there is more than humor I'm her ey
when she says that to Bishop Elliot
manner Of thinking, to write t
money would have bee simple des
Grafton. TO ak with Miss Ellie
necessitates a constant comparison
the present with the past. She is
contradiction, because of her aliv