"THE BANKER IN LITERATURE"

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1013, 31 December 1910, Page 9

"THE BANKER IN LITERATURE"

That inspiration is not confined to gutter or. garret is the astonishing pica urged by the State Librarian of lowa, who is now ready with statistics and exhibits to confute the statement .of President Hepburn of the Cliaso ■ National, Bank of this'city that tho pursuit, of wealth cuts the American .man of business off from the old-fashioned relish of books. Tho title of Mr. Briglwm's volume,:'"Tlio .Banker ' in Literature" emphasises tlio strangeness of this self-appointed task, and conjures up all sorts of confused notions, orever one has. time to open tho. cover, out of which emerges tho fear as from : a threat —what. is. going to happen, to' literature? The Banker and Literature would havo called to mind plenty of rich patrons of letters from Atticus down. But in it, starts vaguely the thought of anything from Nero's poor verses to tho need of again driving out the money-changers from the temple. In the first place, why banker rather than merchant or chief? Offhand 0110 would never think of going to Wall Street for. a poet. Yet it was Mr. Stedman, wo believe, himself a banker, who 0110 fine clay found "Pan in Wall 'Street" piping while danced the bulls .'and bears. Besides, by turning: to the ebiinting-housc directly Mr. Brigham could display not . only-the pursuit but the wealth itself, visible to' the eye. Wo aro ready for his exhibits. Of poets there havo been few, and fowcr still of any note. . .In.England there was William Barnes' Rhodes, whoso most effective lines seem to be : • Who dares this pair of boots displace Must meet Bombastes face to face. Thus do i challenge all the human race. And thero was Samuel Rogers, a contemporary, who might have ■ succeeded Wordsworth as poet-laureate if he had chosen, though it ispretty difficult nowadays to'make any of his linos stick in one's memory, even those on. the "Pleasures of Memory." In this ' country, besides Stedman, the name of FitzGreene Halleck everyone will recall, and especially one stanza of his.. '"Marco lJozzaris," tho invocation to Death: But to the hero, when his sword Has won the battle for the free, Thy voice sounds like a prophet's word; And in its hollow'tones'are heard The thanks of millions yet to lie: This has tlio martial spur of IVtaous and Simonides themselves. An enum-

erAtioil of..thd ; banker-proso' writers, in England and. Amorici includes R\c'ardo,, Grote, Bagejiot, -■ the author,'of . 'jD'avid and 'Kenneth Graluiirfo. • Tho result-of . aU'.:this. figuring is surely as conclusivb. as'it'was intended .to be. For, "though.;"hero.aro.few. ■;writers of first-class' importance, tho chance's of literary facility appearing in tho' ranks of bankers aro isliown to bo about as 'good as in any other trade or profession. ' Tho impression of their writings as something of a'tour do forow'inusc bo dismissed.

Statistics, too, aro' of quito as much valuo as any philosophical of tho matter. Even if literaturci. bo limited fort tho moment to the imaginativo 'sort,, it'is impossible to decide what calling in life is best qualified to foster it. Theoretically, tho scholar and the clergyman, because thoy converse so much with the abstract, are not likely to,-have ready to hand the concrete experiences through which all creative work'must be oxpresed. And members 'of other professimis and trades, lacking generally historical perspective, could not. furnish that universal appeal which makes art truly great. , The ideal 'creator would therefore seem to bo a jack-.o_f-all trades and professions, or, pracftically:speaking, a writer who'"by.force :<if syinpathy penetrates to the heart of individual situations, however various, :and sees their meaning.- This is really ■the impression which one gets from • great masters. Shakespeare was in a better, senso ,than, his critics intended a "Johannes factotum." Such aro the evidences of his wide knowledge that lie has been thought to be not only ; a bankei 1 ,. but a lawyer, a butcher, " a scholar. . ' '

On the i whole, we are content that both statistics, and reason .look so fav-ourably-upon the bankers, because':it means : that' the rest of us may also '-have a show,: ..Tliero' lias been 'a; ten-, dency of late'to corner the mu's'o scientifically. The science of poetry has been elaborately worked, out in this country, and . there is, 011 record also tho case of tho Englishman who catalogued happy lines "and phrases.in tho hope of. finding an accurate recipe. ' Then tliero aro classes in poetic and dramatic composition, .If all such ventures should really succeed,ivo should be.confronted by schools of literature Which everybody must attend before he could profess to write. ' 'Fortunately, "Tho Banker in Literature" has'dono moro than anything to restore our belief that science lias in. literature ■ met more than its equal. . Not, to bo sure, that the latter is a hit-OMniss art. But it is, an art requirinc: inspiration; -and ..it' is pleasant still to know that in some ways the most fascinating power which the world .offers—to create, and for the nonce to .live in, one's own word—is his who has it, regardless of much olso. The bankers have nev'or taken' literature too seriously, aiid are not ) kcly to, now; , in spito of tho of might which this book must bring to . them. But for fear that they should, .wo repeat the advice Charles Lamb gave to tho banker-pcet Barton :' "Keep to your bank, and the bank will keep you."—New York "Post."