152 LITERARY VALUES 



arbitrary distinctions, all pomp and circumstance, 

 count for less and less in the world. Art is less 

 and less ; nature is more and more. The extrinsic, 

 the put on, the ornamental, the factitious, count for 

 less and less ; theology, metaphysics, the sacredness 

 of priests, the divinity of kings, count for less and 

 less, while the real, the true, the essential, in all 

 fields, count for more. It is doubtful if art for art's 

 sake can ever be in the future what it has been 

 in the past. We are too deeply absorbed in the 

 reality ; we care less and less for the symbol and 

 more and more for the thing symbolized. The 

 monarchical idea is dwindling ; the throne as a 

 symbol has lost its force ; the old religious language 

 of supplication and praise begins to have a hollow, 

 archaic sound. The idea of the fatherhood of God 

 is fast taking the place of the idea of the despotism 

 of God. It has taken mankind all these centuries 

 to rise to the conception of a being with whom the 

 language of excessive flattery and adulation seems 

 out of place. The democratic idea will eventually 

 penetrate and modify our religious notions. We 

 shall no longer seek to propitiate an offended deity 

 by groveling in the dust before an imaginary throne. 

 The despot goes out, the Brother comes in. All 

 these things and many more cluster around the word 

 democracy. 



What is the import of the word as applied to 

 literature ? How far will it carry in this field ? 

 Is the democratic movement favorable or unfavorable 

 to the growth of true literature ? It has been often 



