……Oh，fortunate，Mysisters，whointheheroicdawnOfracessung!TothemdiddestinygiveThevirginfireandchasteingenuousnessOftheirland’sspeech；and，reverenced，theirhandsRanoverpotentstrings。\"ItwillneverdotoallowthatweareatsuchadesperatepassinEnglish，butsomethingofthisdivinedespairwemayfeeltoointhinkingof\"thespacioustimesofgreatElizabeth，\"whenthepoetsweretryingthestopsoftheyounglanguage，andthrillingwiththesurprisesoftheirownmusic。Wemaycomfortourselves，however，unlesswepreferaluxuryofgrief，byrememberingthatnolanguageiseveroldonthelipsofthosewhospeakit，nomatterhowdecrepititdropsfromthepen。
Wehaveonlytoleaveourstudies，editorialandother，andgointotheshopsandfieldstofindthe\"spacioustimes\"again；andfromthebeginningRealism，beforeshehadputonhercapitalletter，haddivinedthisnear—at—handtruthalongwiththerest。Lowell，almostthegreatestandfinestrealistwhoeverwroughtinverse，showedusthatElizabethwasstillQueenwhereheheardYankeefarmerstalk。Oneneednotinviteslangintothecompanyofitsbetters，thoughperhapsslanghasbeendroppingits\"s\"andbecominglanguageeversincetheworldbegan，andiscertainlysometimesdelightfulandforciblebeyondthereachofthedictionary。Iwouldnothaveanyonegoaboutfornewwords，butifoneofthemcameaptly，nottorejectitshelp。ForournoveliststotrytowriteAmericanly，fromanymotive，wouldbeadismalerror，butbeingbornAmericans，Ithenuse\"Americanisms\"whenevertheseservetheirturn；andwhentheircharactersspeak，IshouldliketohearthemspeaktrueAmerican，withallthevaryingTennesseean，Philadelphian，Bostonian，andNewYorkaccents。Ifwebotherourselvestowritewhatthecriticsimaginetobe\"English，\"weshallbepriggishandartificial，andstillmoresoifwemakeourAmericanstalk\"English。\"Thereisalsothisseriousdisadvantageabout\"English，\"thatifwewrotethebest\"English\"intheworld，probablytheEnglishthemselveswouldnotknowit，or，iftheydid，certainlywouldnotownit。Ithasalwaysbeensupposedbygrammariansandpuriststhatalanguagecanbekeptastheyfindit；butlanguages，whiletheylive，areperpetuallychanging。Godapparentlymeantthemforthecommonpeople；andthecommonpeoplewillusethemfreelyastheyuseothergiftsofGod。OntheirlipsourcontinentalEnglishwilldiffermoreandmorefromtheinsularEnglish，andIbelievethatthisisnotdeplorable，butdesirable。
Infine，IwouldhaveourAmericannovelistsbeasAmericanastheyunconsciouslycan。MatthewArnoldcomplainedthathefoundno\"distinction\"inourlife，andIwouldgladlypersuadeallartistsintendinggreatnessinanykindamongusthattherecognitionofthefactpointedoutbyMr。Arnoldoughttobeasourceofinspirationtothem，andnotdiscouragement。Wehavebeennowsomehundredyearsbuildingupastateontheaffirmationoftheessentialequalityofmenintheirrightsandduties，andwhetherwehavebeenrightorbeenwrongthegodshavetakenusatourword，andhaverespondedtouswithacivilizationinwhichthereisno\"distinction\"perceptibletotheeyethatlovesandvaluesit。Suchbeautyandsuchgrandeuraswehaveiscommonbeauty，commongrandeur，orthebeautyandgrandeurinwhichthequalityofsolidaritysoprevailsthatneitherdistinguishesitselftothedisadvantageofanythingelse。Itseemstomethattheseconditionsinvitetheartisttothestudyandtheappreciationofthecommon，andtotheportrayalineveryartofthosefinerandhigheraspectswhichuniteratherthanseverhumanity，ifhewouldthriveinourneworderofthings。Thetalentthatisrobustenoughtofronttheevery—dayworldandcatchthecharmofitswork—worn，care—worn，brave，kindlyface，neednotfeartheencounter，thoughitseemsterribletothesortnurturedinthesuperstitionoftheromantic，thebizarre，theheroic，thedistinguished，asthethingsaloneworthyofpaintingorcarvingorwriting。Theartsmustbecomedemocratic，andthenweshallhavetheexpressionofAmericainart；andthereproachwhichArnoldwashalfrightinmakingusshallhavenojusticeinitanylonger；weshallbe\"distinguished。\"
XXII。
Inthemeantimeithasbeensaidwithasuperficialjusticethatourfictionisnarrow；thoughinthesamesenseIsupposethepresentEnglishfictionisasnarrowasourown；andmostmodernfictionisnarrowinacertainsense。InItalythebestmenarewritingnovelsasbriefandrestrictedinrangeasours；inSpainthenovelsareintenseanddeep，andnotspacious；theFrenchschool，withtheexceptionofZola，isnarrow；theNorwegiansarenarrow；theRussians，exceptTolstoy，arenarrow，andthenextgreatestafterhim，Tourguenief，isthenarrowestgreatnovelist，astomeredimensions，thateverlived，dealingnearlyalwayswithsmallgroups，isolatedandanalyzedinthemostAmericanfashion。Infact，thechargeofnarrownessaccusesthewholetendencyofmodernfictionasmuchastheAmericanschool。ButIdonotbyanymeansallowthatthisnarrownessisadefect，whiledenyingthatitisauniversalcharacteristicofourfiction；itisrather，forthepresent，avirtue。Indeed，IshouldcallthepresentAmericanwork，NorthandSouth，thoroughratherthannarrow。Inonesenseitisasbroadaslife，foreachmanisamicrocosm，andthewriterwhoisabletoacquaintusintimatelywithhalfadozenpeople，ortheconditionsofaneighborhoodoraclass，hasdonesomethingwhichcannotinany，badsensebecallednarrow；hisbreadthisverticalinsteadoflateral，thatisall；andthisdepthismoredesirablethanhorizontalexpansioninacivilizationlikeours，wherethedifferencesarenotofclasses，butoftypes，andnotoftypeseithersomuchasofcharacters。Anewmethodwasnecessaryindealingwiththenewconditions，andthenewmethodisworldwide，becausethewholeworldismoreorlessAmericanized。Tolstoyisexceptionallyvoluminousamongmodernwriters，evenRussianwriters；anditmightbesaidthattheforteofTolstoyhimselfisnotinhisbreadthsidewise，butinhisbreadthupwardanddownward。’TheDeathofIvanIlyitch’