. Backgrounds of literature. story, the carelessness of a born ra-conteur who has more incidents at commandthan he can wisely use. These faults are soobvious that it is unnecessary to recall is, however, something humorous in thepatronizing attitude of a little group of verymodern, deft, expert framers of sentences to-ward this large, friendly, affluent mind, thiswarm, generous, gracious spirit, who shares withShakespeare, Lope de Vega, Dumas, and Vic-tor Hugo the indifference of the possessor ofa great fortune to the details of his bequests tohis kind. Scott ought to have been more
. Backgrounds of literature. story, the carelessness of a born ra-conteur who has more incidents at commandthan he can wisely use. These faults are soobvious that it is unnecessary to recall is, however, something humorous in thepatronizing attitude of a little group of verymodern, deft, expert framers of sentences to-ward this large, friendly, affluent mind, thiswarm, generous, gracious spirit, who shares withShakespeare, Lope de Vega, Dumas, and Vic-tor Hugo the indifference of the possessor ofa great fortune to the details of his bequests tohis kind. Scott ought to have been more stu-dious of form, more fastidious of style; heought to have written with more deliberationand revised with more rigor; but when all thesedefects are charged up against him, how heavilythe language and the race remain indebted tohim, and how painfully lacking in perceptionis the criticism which reports the shadows butignores the light which streams from this great-hearted man! If the claim of the author of Quentin Dur-250 W. THE LAND OF SCOTT ward to a large place in the literature of theEnglish-speaking peoples could not be estab-lished by putting his works in evidence, thecharm of his personality and the story of hisheroic struggle to die with honor would investhim with a human and romantic interest of thekind which gives wings to certain names andsends them on a level flight with time. The sensitiveness to form as form, the deli-cacy of taste in detail, the nice feeling for thesubtle relations between thought and speech,the light touch on the magical elements in lan-guage, which constitute the artistic equipmentof Poe, De Maupassant, Pater, and HenryJames, are not to be found in Scott; he belongsto another order of artists, another class of thosewho minister to the needs of the spirit. Eventhese accomplished writers present large aridsurfaces and are at times unconscionable of-fenders against the very taste they permits himself the most repulsive detailin the
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectauthors, bookyear1903
