american literary centers-第2章

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light；　to　speak　more　accuratelyhas　been　rather　late　in　striking　this
ungainly　metropolis；　but　it　has　already　got　in　its　work　with　notable
effect　at　some　points。　　This　began；　I　believe；　with　the　local　dramas　of
Mr。　Edward　Harrigan；　a　species　of　farces；　or　sketches　of　character；
loosely　hung　together；　with　little　sequence　or　relevancy；　upon　the　thread
of　a　plot　which　would　keep　the　stage　for　two　or　three　hours。　　It　was　very
rough　magic；　as　a　whole；　but　in　parts　it　was　exquisite；　and　it　held　the
mirror　up　towards　politics　on　their　social　and　political　side；　and　gave
us　East…Side　typesIrish；　German；　negro；　and　Italianwhich　were
instantly　recognizable　and　deliciously　satisfying。　　I　never　could
understand　why　Mr。　Harrigan　did　not　go　further；　but　perhaps　he　had　gone
far　enough；　and；　at　any　rate；　he　left　the　field　open　for　others。　　The
next　to　appear　noticeably　in　it　was　Mr。　Stephen　Crane；　whose　Red　Badge　of
Courage　wronged　the　finer　art　which　he　showed　in　such　New　York　studies　as
Maggie：　A　Girl　of　the　Streets；　and　George's　Mother。　　He　has　been　followed
by　Abraham　Cahan；　a　Russian　Hebrew；　who　has　done　portraits　of　his　race
and　nation　with　uncommon　power。　　They　are　the　very　Russian　Hebrews　of
Hester　Street　translated　from　their　native　Yiddish　into　English；　which
the　author　mastered　after　coming　here　in　his　early　manhood。　　He　brought
to　his　work　the　artistic　qualities　of　both　the　Slav　and　the　Jew；　and　in
his　'Jekl：　A　Story　of　the　Ghetto'；　he　gave　proof　of　talent　which　his　more
recent　book　of　sketches'The　Imported　Bride　groom'confirms。　　He　sees
his　people　humorously；　and　he　is　as　unsparing　of　their　sordidness　as　he
is　compassionate　of　their　hard　circumstance　and　the　somewhat　frowsy
pathos　of　their　lives。　　He　is　a　Socialist；　but　his　fiction　is　wholly
without　〃tendentiousness。〃

A　good　many　years　agoten　or　twelve；　at　leastMr。　Harry　Harland　had
shown　us　some　politer　New　York　Jews；　with　a　romantic　coloring；　though
with　genuine　feeling　for　the　novelty　and　picturesqueness　of　his　material；
but　I　do　not　think　of　any　one　who　has　adequately　dealt　with　our　Gentile
society。　　Mr。　James　has　treated　it　historically　in　Washington　Square；　and
more　modernly　in　some　passages　of　The　Bostonians；　as　well　as　in　some　of
his　shorter　stories；　Mr。　Edgar　Fawcett　has　dealt　with　it　intelligently
and　authoritatively　in　a　novel　or　two；　and　Mr。　Brander　Matthews　has
sketched　it；　in　this　aspect；　and　that　with　his　Gallic　cleverness；
neatness；　and　point。　　In　the　novel；　'His　Father's　Son'；　he　in　fact　faces
it　squarely　and　renders　certain　forms　of　it　with　masterly　skill。　　He　has
done　something　more　distinctive　still　in　'The　Action　and　the　Word'；　one
of　the　best　American　stories　I　know。　　But　except　for　these　writers；　our
literature　has　hardly　taken　to　New　York　society。




IV。

It　is　an　even　thing：　New　York　society　has　not　taken　to　our　literature。
New　York　publishes　it；　criticises　it；　and　circulates　it；　but　I　doubt　if
New　York　society　much　reads　it　or　cares　for　it；　and　New　York　is　therefore
by　no　means　the　literary　centre　that　Boston　once　was；　though　a　large
number　of　our　literary　men　live　in　or　about　New　York。　　Boston；　in　my　time
at　least；　had　distinctly　a　literary　atmosphere；　which　more　or　less
pervaded　society；　but　New　York　has　distinctly　nothing　of　the　kind；　in　any
pervasive　sense。　　It　is　a　vast　mart；　and　literature　is　one　of　the　things
marketed　here；　but　our　good　society　cares　no　more　for　it　than　for　some
other　products　bought　and　sold　here；　it　does　not　care　nearly　so　much　for
books　as　for　horses　or　for　stocks；　and　I　suppose　it　is　not　unlike　the
good　society　of　any　other　metropolis　in　this。　　To　the　general；　here；
journalism　is　a　far　more　appreciable　thing　than　literature；　and　has
greater　recognition；　for　some　very　good　reasons；　but　in　Boston　literature
had　vastly　more　honor；　and　even　more　popular　recognition；　than
journalism。　　There　journalism　desired　to　be　literary；　and　here　literature
has　to　try　hard　not　to　be　journalistic。　　If　New　York　is　a　literary　centre
on　the　business　side；　as　London　is；　Boston　was　a　literary　centre；　as
Weimar　was；　and　as　Edinburgh　was。　　It　felt　literature；　as　those　capitals
felt　it；　and　if　it　did　not　love　it　quite　so　much　as　might　seem；　it　always
respected　it。

To　be　quite　clear　in　what　I　wish　to　say　of　the　present　relation　of　Boston
to　our　other　literary　centres；　I　must　repeat　that　we　have　now　no　such
literary　centre　as　Boston　was。　　Boston　itself　has　perhaps　outgrown　the
literary　consciousness　which　formerly　distinguished　it　from　all　our　other
large　towns。　　In　a　place　of　nearly　a　million　people　（I　count　in　the
outlying　places）　newspapers　must　be　more　than　books；　and　that　alone　says
everything。

Mr。　Aldrich　once　noticed　that　whenever　an　author　died　in　Boston；　the　New…
Yorkers　thought　they　had　a　literary　centre；　and　it　is　by　some　such　means
that　the　primacy　has　passed　from　Boston；　even　if　it　has　not　passed　to　New
York。　　But　still　there　is　enough　literature　left　in　the　body　at　Boston　to
keep　her　first　among　equals　in　some　things；　if　not　easily　first　in　all。

Mr。　Aldrich　himself　lives　in　Boston；　and　he　is；　with　Mr。　Stedman；　the
foremost　of　our　poets。　　At　Cambridge　live　Colonel　T。　W。　Higginson；　an
essayist　in　a　certain　sort　without　rival　among　us；　and　Mr。　William　James；
the　most　interesting　and　the　most　literary　of　psychologists；　whose　repute
is　European　as　well　as　American。　　Mr。　Charles　Eliot　Norton　alone　survives
of　the　earlier　Cambridge　groupLongfellow；　Lowell；　Richard　Henry　Dana；
Louis　Agassiz；　Francis　J。　Child；　and　Henry　James；　the　father　of　the
novelist　and　the　psychologist。

To　Boston　Mr。　James　Ford　Rhodes；　the　latest　of　our　abler　historians；　has
gone　from　Ohio；　and　there　Mr。　Henry　Cabot　Lodge；　the　Massachusetts
Senator；　whose　work　in　literature　is　making　itself　more　and　more　known；
was　born　and　belongs；　politically；　socially；　and　intellectually。　　Mrs。
Julia　Ward　Howe；　a　poet　of　wide　fame　in　an　elder　generation；　lives　there；
Mr。　T。　B。　Aldrich　lives　there；　and　thereabouts　live　Mrs。　Elizabeth　Stuart
Phelps　Ward　and　Mrs。　Harriet　Prescott　Spofford；　the　first　of　a　fame
beyond　the　last；　who　was　known　to　us　so　long　before　her。　　Then　at　Boston；
or　near　Boston；　live　those　artists　supreme　in　the　kind　of　short　story
which　we　have　carried　so　far：　Miss　Jewett；　Miss　Wilkins；　Miss　Alice
Brown；　Mrs。　Chase…Wyman；　and　Miss　Gertrude　Smith；　who　comes　from　Kansas；
and　writes　of　the　prairie　farm…life；　though　she　leaves　Mr。　E。　W。　Howe
（of　'The　Story　of　a　Country　Town'　and　presently　of　the　Atchison　Daily
Globe）　to　constitute；　with　the　humorous　poet　Ironquill；　a　frontier
literary　centre　at　Topeka。　　Of　Boston；　too；　though　she　is　of　western
Pennsylvania　origin；　is　Mrs。　Margaret　Deland；　one　of　our　most　successful
novelists。　　Miss　Wilkins　has　married　out　of　Massachusetts　into　New
Jersey；　and　is　the　neighbor　of　Mr。　H。　M。　Alden　at　Metuchen。

All　these　are　more　or　less　embodied　and　represented　in　the　Atlantic
Monthly；　still　the　most　literary；　and　in　many　things　still　the　first　of
our　magazines。　　Finally；　after　the　chief　publishing　house　in　New　York；
the　greatest　American　publishing　house　is　in　Boston；　with　by　far　the
largest　list　of　the　best　American　books。　　Recently　several　firms　of
younger　vigor　and　valor　have　recruited　the　wasted　ranks　of　the　Boston
publishers；　and　are　especially　to　be　noted　for　the　number　of　rather　nice
new　poets　they　give　to　the　light。




V。

Dealing　with　the　question　geographically；　in　the　right　American　way；　we
descend　to　Hartford　obliquely　by　way　of　Springfield；　Massachusetts；
where；　in　a　little　city　of　fifty　thousand；　a　newspaper　of　metropolitan
influence　and　of　distinctly　literary　tone　is　published。　　At　Hartford
while　Charles　Dudley　Warner　lived；　there　was　an　indisputable　literary
centre；　Mark　Twain　lives　there　no　longer；　and　now　we　can　scarcely　count
Hartford　among　our　literary　centres；　though　it　is　a　publishing　centre　of
much　activity　in　subscription　books。

At　New　Haven；　Yale　University　has　latterly　attracted　Mr。　William　H。
Bishop；　whose　novels　I　always　liked　for　the　best　reasons；　and　has　long
held　Professor　J。　T。　Lounsbury；　who　is；　since　Professor　Child's　death　at
Cambridge；　our　best　Chaucer　scholar。　　Mr。　Donald　G。　　M