The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-01-05
THE Sun. SUNDAY. JANUARY

The tribe professional still fr0wnS al Pan and
ArHRopITE and CHIMERA from beside the oil stove
in the Mayfower. The Boston curfcw rings mclo-
diOusy in all BLISS PERRY s pages No midnight
literary frolic for BLISS We always feel that he is
somewhat ashamed of genius. SO much better TO go
home early with WASH IRVING and Fen COOPER
and light the lamp over the New Rep"blic.
Posting the Pioneers.
Bliss begins his book by posting the psychic
logical and physical bases Of our literature. We are
pioneering people. an adventurous people race
Of exploring landlubberS.
1.-The instinct of the camper has stamped itself
upon American life and thought Ncnture>omenesS,
physical and moral daring resOurcefulncsS in cmer
gencies Indifference TO negligible details, wasteful-
ness of materials bOundless hope and confidence in
the morrow are characteristics of the American. II
is scarcely exaggeration to say that the good
American has been he who has most resembled
good camper. says Professor PERRY.
Hence Kenmore COOPER. BRET HARTE and MARK
TWAIN. Ii was these three men who gave America
to the world in literature. Europe-and A>a-sat
up d nights to read them. These men narrated an
entirely new adventure of the human They at
tanned the vogue of MARCO PoIO and DANIEL.
DEFoE. They limned types and individuals and
spun sagas that something entirely new to the
world.
1t is useless to say that no such redskins as
COOPER portrayS existed. No one believes the
charge except the smart Alecs of juvenile icono-
clasms. 1t is true that no such Indians knOWn
until the imagination of FENIMoRE COOPER dScov-
cred them. He used the method of CUvIER. who
said he could recreatc an extinct bird with wing.
He discovered the heart and soul of the Indian. the
psychic vestge> of his ancient and lost civilization.
Fate of Some Dead Ones.
These men all had the camping spirit Each was
out on adventure bent. and with the exception of
PoE-who a radiant dark angel suddenly
dropped in our midSt-without formula of any
kind. No country so young as America. giving its
whole energy TO building its political and indus
trial house. has produced in such a short time
many revolutiOnistS in literature. Professor PERRY
glorifies them all-in his way-but what chance
would any one Of them stand to-day if he came,
manuscript in hand into an editorial Office in whose
sanctum scribbleorum reigned Professor PERRY
From JONATHAN EDWARDS (who might have
chance, having been college PRESIDENT to The
Mysterious Stronger of MARK TWAIN they would
have got the gate TOO highly hammered. - Lacks
the light touch. "Gruesome ending, Imperfect
workmanship ''Too vague "Our Office boy
says''-and so forth and so long
The good campers Of to-day are editorial
squatters with spite fences surrounding their dug
outs
They howl for ''gcniuses' to-day in the editorial
offices of the magazines and publishing houses.
What they are really bowling for circulation
writers. They do not want PoE, but o. HENRY;
they do not sigh for HAWTHORNE, but for REX
BEACH; they not scanning the West, East,
North and South for EMERSON but for Doctor
CRANE.
Comes a genius with the fire of PROMETHEUs. He
is given Jacket" TO wrte-'and this is the
style book of this Office STEPHEN CRANE, EDGAR
LEE MASTERS. EDGAR SALTUs (entirely ignored with
many others by Professor PERRY are not gray and
gum eyed when they present themselves. They
have no grave mould about them. They may
come from the ncighboring bar, all awash-dear
me!
The campers, the pioneers the Transcendcntalists
are gone, because aside from MARK TWAIN
nobody reads them. And blessed good thing, too,
Tyranny of Nonsense.
For there is no bunk like the old bunk WILLIAM
CULLEN BRYANT was not great poet and no
&c Ian AUTH 10