The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1921-05-05

Many rebellions have been organ
lied against the domination Of Mr..
Howells; but they have always sput-
tered out. One reason for their fu-
tility has been the fact that those who
tried to break the chains of what they1
called his tyranny were themselves
conspicuously feeble; for, quarrel with
his reticences and his superficial Mites
as we may, from the very staft he
possessed the secret of style. He
seems always to have known how to
write-a fundamental thing in liter
ary art, though contemporary poets
and novelists may not all think so.
Even his chronicles Of very small
beer-"Annie Kilburn," for example
are exquisitely done. It is easy ap-
parently for his adverse critics to
make the mistake of identifying his
|%creations with himself of supposing
because he deliberately chose to write
of commonplace characters. and trivia!
incidents, that therefore he himself
was trivial and commonplace. But it
was quite otherwise. He hated melo-
drama, he hated sentimentallty, ne
hated everything popularity understood
by the word romance; ne therefore
wrote of those aspects Of life which
are samples, where people OF average
| intelligence, average characteB aver
age income,s,pass through average ex-
periences.
4 Although he was twenty-three when
his first volume of poems was pup
lisied, his first novel did not appear
until he reached the age of thirty-four.
During the intervening eleven years
1 he was storing observations and i'm
| pressions of Italy and Europe. and by
constant practice had obtained COM
| mand of the art of writing English
prose, proved in four separate publ
! cations, dealing with foreign travel
4 and suburban sketches at home His
! first novel and the two that shortly
! followed it were satisfying evidence
! that a new master of the art Of fiction
1 had appeared in America. These three
! books. "Their Wedding Journey" "A
/ Chance Acquaintance" "A Foregone
Conclusion exhibit variety Of Dual,
I. tiles that unite in a general effect OF
i irresistible charm. Real characters
/ steadily if slowly advancing nara
:! tive, brilliant dialogue, sailed with
4 genuine hunaor- these are the invar-
j liable features of Mr.. Howells early
4 stories. The novels of his first decade
4 the seventies-reached a climax IN
\ "The Lady of the Aroostook," publish
4 ed in 1879. Unquestionably, the best
4 part of his career was the decade be-
tween 1880 and 1890. for, although he
was to write steadily for thirty years
after the close of this period, he never,
with one exception, came near the
i heights again. AS has happened SO
i frequently with other creative artists
j he produced in rapid succession works
i that constitute his surest claim on the
| future. He was in the vein, and must
i have known it. In short space of
time. he published "A Modern In
! stance" sThe Rise Of Silas Lapham,' y
!, "indian Summer" and "A Hazard of
I New Fortune books too familiar to
I need any particular comment here, ex.
cept to remark that the first two OF
the quartette are perhaps the most
i purely American of all his produc-
i lions. Although "The Rise OF Silas
! Lapham" is almost universally re-
! garded as his masterpiece, (Mr. VIM
i Lyon Phelps, thinks it inferior to "A
Modern Instance")-the most tragic
the most powerful, the most deep
i rooted Of all his novels.
j Here Mr.. Lee quoted Mr.. Phelps:
4 who gives us an exquisite picture OF
! the personality of Howells. Phelps
i because of his intimate acquaintance
and comradeship with Howells, came
to know the high character of the nov
1 elist and his judgment :ef its true ring
can be accepted at It's 1ull value.
I A dinner in honor of the seventy
] fifth birthday of Mr.. Howells was
! given by Col. George Harvey, at
I Sherry's New York, on March End
:i1912. A, reception was held at half.
I past six o'clock and more than four
4 hundred man and women prominent, = IN
letters congratulated Mr.. Howells
and wished him many added years
| Practically every literary celebrity II
the United States was present-neve1
before in America have SO many 1T
i erarv people been gathered under one
roof: and President Taft came over
i from Washington to do honor to the
venerable author In his Introductory
i remarks, Col. Harvey spoke as FOL
lows:
i s'The first realization that springs
i from glance at your birthday party
i sir, is that of your own amazing yer
satility. One needs only to recall the
4 titles Of your books to paint the pic
! ture. The unique gathering itself, fol
4 example might be designated with ex,
4 actitude as "a Modern Instance on
i find yourself primarily among Liter
! ary Friends and Acquaintance" BE.
4 hold, sir, with qualification and delight
- - Il II &c E;n+inr,O and rest as