Impressions 



pearean, and Darwinian. Probably, a few 

 more names might properly be used to mark an 

 epoch. Here, in America, we have Emerson- 

 ian. These are words necessity has coined. 

 They were called for because originality had 

 asserted itself. Only with them can we make 

 ourselves readily intelligible. 



The world has not been lazy in science; and 

 we are fairly stunned by the magnificent 

 achievements made in endless directions. The 

 triumphs of engineering skill in building cities 

 and bridging rivers, and the grand results of 

 biological research, leaving the mind no longer 

 groveling in ignorance as to the problems of 

 life's origin and destiny, are sufficient to show 

 what has been done in other phases of human 

 activity; but nothing in like exultant strain 

 can be said of literature. It is, at best save 

 here and there, a sadly-lonely page an echo 

 of an echo that, repeated and re-repeated, has 

 come down, century after century. It has only 

 been necessary to tell an old story, with trifling 

 change, to gain the world's plaudits, and be 

 called an "author." 



If this be recognized as a valid criticism, and 

 an honest desire for originality be created, 



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