ch poorer by this inhospitality. Even tho a small subdivision of the
public shall find a keen pleasure in them, there are other things in
life than subtle thoughts and minute sensations; there are larger
aspects of existence than those we find registered either in the 'Wings
of the Dove' or in the 'Master-Builder.' The texture of Mr. James's book
may be more complicated than that of Ibsen's play; but this is not
entirely because one is a novel and the other a drama. Both works fail
in breadth of appeal; they are narrow in their outlook on life, however
skilful in craftsmanship they may be, each in its own way; they are
devised for the dilettants, for the men of cultivation, and for these
mainly; and that way danger lies. Taine dwelt on the disintegration
impending when artists tended to appeal to the expert rather than to the
public as a whole. "The sculptor," so he declared, "no longer addresses
himself to a religious, civic community, but to a group of isolated
lovers of the art." In the future as in the past, the appeal of the
playwright must be to the main body of his contemporaries, even tho this
may be at the risk of not fully satisfying one group or another.

The art of the dramatist is not yet at its richest; but it bristles with
obstacles such as a strong man joys in overcoming. In this sharper
difficulty is its most obvious advantage over the art of the novelist;
and here is its chief attraction for the story-teller, weary of a method
almost too easy to be worth while. Here is a reason why one may venture
a doubt whether the novel, which has been dominant, not to say
domineering, in the second half of the nineteenth century, may not have
to face a more acute rivalry of the drama in the first half of the
twentieth century. The vogue of the novel is not likely to wane
speedily; but its supremacy may be challenged by the drama more swiftly
than now seems likely.

(1904.)

THE LITERARY MERIT OF OUR LATTER-DAY DRAMA

In trying to present our own opinions upon a question at issue, we can
often find an advantage in getting first of all a clear statement of the
other side. This must serve as an excuse for here quoting a paragraph
(from a British magazine) which chanced to get itself copied in an
American newspaper:

The truth is, our dramatists have long since forgotten that the
English language is still the medium of the English drama, and that
no branch of literary art is worth a wor