I hope he will not let
off any of his irritation on our poor little Scheherezade; but the truth
is, the first person a man of this sort (if he is what I think him)
meets, when he is out of humor, has to be made a victim of, and I only
hope our Young Girl will not have to play Jephthah's daughter.
And that leads me to say, I cannot help thinking that the kind of
criticism to which this Young Girl has been subjected from some person or
other, who is willing to be smart at her expense, is hurtful and not
wholesome. The question is a delicate one. So many foolish persons are
rushing into print, that it requires a kind of literary police to hold
them back and keep them in order. Where there are mice there must be
cats, and where there are rats we may think it worth our while to keep a
terrier, who will give them a shake and let them drop, with all the
mischief taken out of them. But the process is a rude and cruel one at
best, and it too often breeds a love of destructiveness for its own sake
in those who get their living by it. A poor poem or essay does not do
much harm after all; nobody reads it who is like to be seriously hurt by
it. But a sharp criticism with a drop of witty venom in it stings a
young author almost to death, and makes an old one uncomfortable to no
purpose. If it were my business to sit in judgment on my neighbors, I
would try to be courteous, at least, to those who had done any good
service, but, above all, I would handle tenderly those young authors who
are coming before the public in the flutter of their first or early
appearance, and are in the trembling delirium of stage-fright already.
Pages:
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190