New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-11-17

period, in any blossoming period Of any
artistic or literary nation. but II the
art Ia genuinely national the leader
ship must take advantage Of and must
follow the trend OF the marked cur
rents IN the life Of the people
Prosperity Not Enough
Latin literature was not really an
expression Of the soul OF the Latin
race at all. and this will seem strange
TO the men who have not succeeded In
freeing their thought from the narrow
type Of scholastic education. from the
scholastic type in our universities and
schools in the present day. That Is
brief tribute. | pass that by.
at behooves US IN tho United States
not 20 be content with repeating on
larger scale the history OF commercial
materialism of the great Phen;cian
commemorative. This means that here
in America. IL we do not develop
serious art and literature Of our own.
we shall have a warped national life.
Most certainly | do not mean that art
and literature are worth developing
unless they are built on a national life
which IA strong and great in other
ways, unless they are expression for
that valor OF soul which must come ae'
fore beauty.
"lf n nation is not proudly willing
and able 10 fight for a just cause, for
the lives Of its own citizens. for the
honor Of its flag, even for the rescue
OF some oppressed foreign nationality,
then such nation will always be an
ignoble nation, and this whether or not
IL achieve the sordid prosperity OF
those who are merely successful buck.
sters.
"Now. conditions in this country arc
such that a certain number OF our peo-
pie are lost to us from time TO time.
Some painters go TO live in France,
some writer's in England, some must
clans. and even occasionally some sci
entists"-
Here the Colonel paused, and those
in the audience expecting the phrase
ain Germany" to follow, laughed heart
lily when he concluded, elsewhere IN
Continental Europe"
Wants One Thing or the Other
Occasionally these men may indi-
vidually benefit themselves, in which
case all can say is: trust they cease
calling themselves Americans. | don't
want TO call them American-Frencho or
Americana English. Let them be frankly
English or French and stop being Amer
lean. They represent nothing but loss
from the standpoint Of national achieve
ment. and must be disregarded in any
study of our development.
81 care little for the cubist school in
patriotism any more than ! care for it
in art or in poetry. The effort to be
original by being fantastic is always
cheap. Second rate work is second rate
work, even il it is done badly"
The Colonel mentioned three recent
books as typically national in spirit
and declared they should be read by
every person in the country. These
were Gustavus Ochlinger's Their True
Faith and Allegiance" Owen Wister's
"Pentecost of Calamity" and BODIES
"The Study of the Old Testament" He
eulogized Frederic Remington and his
work as typically American. and
brought prolonged laughter by his de-
scription of Professor Joel Barlow's
great American epic"
Good Joel Barlow" he said, found
we had new nation and no epic, and
he figured to himself that Homer had
self-consciously written the epic Of
Greece, and he knew about Milton. SO
he sat down and wrote an epic OF
America, couched in the same spirit
that made us put Washington naked to
the waist and with a toga around him
in front of the Capitol-the same spirit,
if our guest will pardon me, which
made some Of the sculptors put Louis
XIV in a Roman corselet. Poor Joel
Barlow wrote this columbiad, and !
have one Of the copies of the original
edition. | wouldn't have it out OF my
library for any consideration, unless
] were required TO read it. Id sur
render II il | had TO read It,"
The Colonel predicted that Marcus
Simons, who is little known TO the av-
erage American, will come TO be known
as the greatest imaginative colorist
since Turner. In conclusion, he sarcas-
tically referred to the millionaires
whose pocketbooks lead them to art
Ordinary people, as they grow
wealthy and become vaguely conscious
of new needs. or, if that is too strong
an expression, grow vaguely TO feel
that they ought to show some evidence
of growth in taste to parallel their
growth in wealth" he said, find 1t
easier to import not only their ideas
but their material surroundings. When
our multi-millionaires become wealthy
enough they are apt to build Old
World palaces and fill these palaces
with painting also brought from the
Old World. If the millionaire is sum
GENTLY primitive he will explain to you
with pride that the paintings are hand
made"
Following his address those in the
room crowded forward TO shake MS
hand, and he was kept busy extending
greetings and answering compliments
for a good half hour.
Winston Churchill was to have
spoken, but failed to appear.
Writers and Artists Present
Among those who attended were
Hamlin Garland, George W. Cable, DR..
Arthur Twining Hadley, William NJ.
Sloane. John Burroughs, Admiral +. r..
Chadwick. Dr.. Nicholas Murray Butler
Augustus Thomas, William Gillette,
Robert Grant, Clayton Hamilton, John
Luther Long, Hamilton Wright Mabie.
Brander Matthews, Charles Dana Glib
son. Hobart c. Chatfeld-Taylor, dorado
Taft. Alden Weir, Howard Brockway,
Charles r. Miller, Henry Osborn Iay-
lor, Robert |. Aiken, James Earle
Fraser, Edwin II. Blashfield, Arthur
Whiting, William Lyon Phelps, Ripley
Hitchcock, Herbert Croly, W. l.. Cross,
John II. Finley, william j. Henderson,
Robert Underwood johnson, Percy
Mackaye, Meredlth Nlcholeoh' S1i"ea
Ford Rhodes, Paul Shorey, William
Roscoe Thayer, Ashley Thorndike, John
c. Van Dyke, Herbert Adams. Paul
Bartlett, Daniel Chester French, Carr
Melchers, w. T. Smedley and G. w.
Chadwick
Chancellor William NJ. Sloane, who
presided in the absence of William
Dean Howells, president. announced a
Gift of $4,000 from a woman to pre-
serve the beauty of our English tongue
and enrich its vocabulary as modern
ideas demand modern expression"