i msm m. pu.Lm.ii7--jaLac
384
Fiction and its vkoi'KU im.ack.
Vol. vn,
i
I
FICTION AND ITS PROP Bit PLAGE,
From limu immemorial, fiolion has
held mi important ami necessary place in
literature. Important, by reason of its
amount and its iullucncc; necessary, bo
cause man must draw largely on his im.
agination to find the material for bis lit
erary production.
There seems to be a prevalent opinion
Hint there is a broad deslinctlon between
real and fictitious writings. This is not
true. The former are based upon known
facts; the latter upon known principles;
yet principles sustain a vital relation to
facts. A novelist meets with a few in
cidents of everyday life that suggest to
him the groundwork of a story. His
knowledge, however, of ihe manner in
which these are interwoven is inite likely
to be far from precise. Hence, if he eon
fine himself to the facts, it will be almost
impossible to construct the novel, lie
can only supply the lack by drawing upon
his imagination for the details.
If this be done as they may fairly be
presumed to have happened, the novel
may be made the vehicle of a good deal
of varied ana useful information. It will
be presented, also, in a very popular and
attractive manner.
If the novel be true to life, the vividness
of its portraiture causes us almost to lose
sight of its unreality. We gain from it
an insight into the thoughts of men that
is rarely so well presented in what we call
real literature.
The latter is often misleading. History
is full of disputed points; abstract treat
iscs abound in wrong premises and incor
rect conclusion.-,. And again, the oppon
ents of fiction seem to forget that writers
in other departments of literature freely
employ invented illustrations. Fiction,
whether in this form or ns a novel, is in
dispensable, and opposition to it on gen
oral grounds, of little avail.
Though fiction in itself is indispensable,
it yet has its proper limits. Among large
numbers of people, it has fallen into dis
repute. This, wo think, is not so much
owing to the idea that unreal literature is
necessarily injurious, as because a large
amount of it steps outside the bounds of
truth, and deals chietly in the marvel
ous and absurd. In this case, it is
mere fabrication and deserving of nil the
censure which it receives.
True fiction does not necessarily have
an Injurious inlluonce on its readers. Be
cause crowds ot sensational writers stand
ready to Hood the newsmnrkct with llieir
llimsy stories, these need not pass into
general circulation. In fiction, as in other
departments of literature, wo should not
throw away the good because the bad is
mingled with it, but discriminate between
the two. Novel reading may bo carried
to an extreme, yet it is not the best plan
to read nothing else than what is called
"solid reading." Information is thus
lost which is scarcely obtainable in any
other way. Caius.
LIMITATIONS TO SUFFRAGE.
It is not my intention to go through the
whole rigmarole about women's suffrage,
but simply to show what I consider to bo
the inevitable in the matter and then to
sec what universal suffrage should be. Is
it at all likely that the time will come
when women will bo allowed equal rights
with men? This, I think, can hardly be
denied by any intelligent person, but
how soon or for what reason it will be
granted, I am unable to say It may be thai
the women will porsuade the men to give
it them. And if Hue women unite in per
sunding the men they will succeed, but
never, while they curse and browbeat the
men as some of the female advocates of
suffrage do.Tt may be that the men will vol.
untariij give it them without any restric
tions or it may be allowed, as Wendell
Phillips advocates, simply for an expert
ment. However they nuvyjjct it, I believe
that whon once it is within their grasp,thcy
