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VOL.. 9. No. 35.
LINCOLN, NEB., SATURDAY, AUGUST 18, 1894.
PRICE FIVE CENTS.
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to the
interesting letter
"A ," who this time gives his
real name, continues the discussion
of "Marcella'' and didactic Action
in general, reiterating his position
in favor of novels that are written
for a purpose. He writes the follow-
editor of Ihe Courrek:
You are right in saying that I was mistaken in stating that
"S" said the novelist's chief end should be the love story. I see
from reference to his statement that he did mention other stories.
When I wrote that I had in mind "S's" illustration of John
and Mary, and his objection to having their love story interfered
with bv discussing the regeneration, of mankind, and to the fact
that the. novelist depends upon the love story as that having the
greatest inetrcst to the reader. Allow me to Bay that you are also
mistaken in saying that I have an antipathy for the love story.
I stated distinctly that I had a great respect for the love of
John and Mary. lam not so churlish; I enjoy the love stop
when set forth in due proportion and with good taste as it is in
the novels of Walter Scott and the best of our modern.authors.
The question is as you state do we want lessons in our fiction?
I say yes. Tn regard to Walter Scott, economic and social prob
lems had no public interest in his day, so he gave them no
attention in his works. But the reading public were interested
in the themes of love and war, and these were his subjects.
But Scott's lame does not rest entirely on his story telling
powers, which were great. The intelligent reader is interested
in his delineation of character, in his descriptions of the man
ners and customs of a past age, in his pictures of life in Eng
land in feudal times, how the Norman baron lived,, and in what
relation to the Saxon etc. Emerson is right when he says,
"As an eminent antiquary who has shed light on the history of
Europe and the English race, Walter Scott has high claims to
our regard." In regard to Charles Dickens: He was far more
than a mere story teller. Before his time the heroes of fiction
were all found in the uprer class. Dickens maae his from the
middle and lower classes. He brought child life into the novel,
and whatever good or bad taste there is in combining social
questione with the story of fiction, to Dickens belongs the merit
or demerit of their introduction. His first novel, Nicholas Nickle
by, aimed at the" cruelties inflicted upon the unfortunate pupils
of Yorkshire boarding schools, was the first social novel. In
other works he attacks social wrongs in behalf of the poor, as
in Oliver Twist, the poor workhouse child, drew attention to
wrongs suffered in workhouses by the lowest strata of human
it'. Thackery in his works wrote for a purpose; he exposed the
shams and utter vacuity of much of what is termed high life,
and was a great delineator of character. Now you may say,
could Dickens not have attacked these social wrongs direct, and
kept them out of his books? He might have written some
newspaper articles on the subject which could have been read by
some hundreds or thousands of the subscribers, and that would
have been the end of it. Instead of which ho put them in stories
so interesting that they were read wherever the English language
is spoken, and were effectivo in righting the wrongs ho aimed at.
In doing so I think he was wise and good. I know it is claimed
by others besides "S" that these social questions derogate from
the value of the novel, from an artistic point of view, as it is
claimed that John Whittier's voico of freedom injures him as
a poet. He did wisely in retaining them in his book of poems;
ho will be more admired as a man for them by the people. I
I have a poor opinion of the artist who can witness great pub
lic wrongs, and having a power within him to to help right
such wrongs, and yet, who, for the sake of art, will ignore it.
It reminds me of Nero fiddling when Rome was in flames.
And why complain? The social novel is here to stay it is an
accomplished fact and "S" knows that tho people appreciate
it it is a step toward the goal of civilization. There is a pas
sion for humanity growing wider with the years. James Aitkes.
Some surprise has been expressed by those who have read
and admired Du Maurier's latest work at Professor Sherman's
review in the Evening Neics. That the author of the "Analytics
of Literature-' should not have shown a keener appreciation
of the real merit of of "Trilby" is more than passing Btrange.
Professor Sherman reviewed the book as follows: "Trilby is no
doubt a.great book, yet it is regrettable that it was ever printed
in America. To a Frenchman, or anyone who has ever lived
upon the continent and grown cosmopolitan enough to endure the
peculiar ethics of atelienand artists, both atmosphere and inci
dent may seem normal. Perhaps also to the average Londoner
this story will"appear as wholly rational and natural, for England,
the England of the towns, is fast absorbing again that contin
ental flabbiness in general and salacity in particular which made
the Restoration a well-defined era of its own. England Knows
better than to play with pitch. It has always been traditional
there'that pitch defiles. Hence, while there has from time im
memorial, been a Trilby now and then, it has not been usual to
write books about them. It is un Saxon, un-English to begin, in
these days of purer types, of severer ideals, writing novels of
this kind. In France," whore Trilby's are a staple commodity, it
is quite different. Human experience there has never discov
ered anything unpleasant about pitch, and we find it taken for
granted everywhere. We expect to find it on the hands of novel
ists all years and all the year. The story of Trilby is strangely
like the typical fiction of Revue des Deux Mondes, which is stacked
away in the heavy tomes of that magazine untranslatated to English
eves mainly because too refined and mild in suggestiveness for our
coarser public, and too Gallican for literary palates of the best sort.
There is nothing essentially bad in Trilby. Men and women whq
know the world will not be much scandalized by it. Perhaps in book
form it is well enogh to have the story within reach just as we
Warranted the BEST FLOUR in America.
Any Grocer can get it' for you.
None Genuine without cut
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J. K!. Ives 4te Co., Wholesale Agts.
LINCOLN.
NEBRASKA
