New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-11-20
The Critic Explains

There are few American critics whose
judgments upon past literature are better
worth listening TO than Mr.. William e.
Rrownell's: and few, TO judge by his ad-
dress before the National Institute of Arts
and Letters. who understand less Of the
reasons for the present day course OF
American writings. standards" was his
subject. and his wit at the expense of sun
drv American authors seems to have great
" enlivened the sitting Of the institute.
There is no softer morsel for the satirist
than the experimental art Of young ma
ton cropping for its path to the light 1t
has all the humorous clements of boys
voice changing from soprano to bass and
breaking into falsetto--or Of any fapper
letting down her skirts for the first party.
A philosopher or an historian might find
immortal indications, not in the achieve
ment, but in the growth. But never a
criticl His is the business of weighing fine
cold with a fine balance. Woe to the i'm
mature lummox who submits crude ore!
Our modern age has abandoned its heri-
tage and its standards, according to Mr..
Brownell. Item one, the vers florists.
Item two. our literature Of cleverness, our
O. Henry, our Edna Ferber. And why
have we fallen so low? The elective sys-
TEN in our colleges, for one thing. And
a general surfeit of cleverness, Of a ma
tional distaste for learning, for conven-
tionality, for any intellectual standard Of
severity, for another.
No one will care to dispute Mr.. Brown
ellis rating of o. Henry or Miss Ferber.
His expert judgment stands far better
chance than most Of enduring-though the
percentage Of accuracy Of even the great
est Of contemporary critics is always sadly
low. Of course. The regret will be that
so intelligent an American should so ut
terly miss the point. Our great modern
experiment with democracy is not only po-
htical, but social and artistic as well. 1t
is the biggest thing of the time, so big
that only a literary critic could dream Of
ignoring it. 1t is not lessening but in
creasing in scope. 1t has back of it all the
faith that a great European artist once ex-
pressed:
l never could understand the reason
why one-tenth part of our people should
be cultured and the other nine-tenths
must serve as the material support of the
minority and themselves remain in igno-
rance. l do not want to think or to live
with any other belief than that our
ninety millions of people land those who
shall be born after us) will all be some
day cultured, humanized and happy.
While such revolution is in process it
is idle to talk Of critical yardsticks. Eter-
nal standards Of art there are, yes; but
to treat of them as controlling or affecting
the democratic growth Of the present is
like citing Euclid 70 an earthquake.
Life is the first essential Of art, and it is
to be found not in our American authors
who write in Paris and London, but eX-
actly in the men and women in the thick of
the American melee whom Mr.. Brownell
condescendingly pats on the shoulder. Mr..
Brownel is an excellent botanist, wise and
deft in classifying dead flowers. The bust
ness Of gardening, Of handling seeds and
live plants, is quite another matter.