THE LONDON ACADEMY
The Leading Critical Literary Journal of London, in a long review of “Meditations in Motley,” by Walter Blackburn Harte, says, among other things:
“When any book of good criticism comes it should be welcomed and made known for the benefit of the persons who care for such works. The book under notice is one of these. It is, so far as I know, the first from the author’s pen; but his writings are well known, and those who read his present book will, with some eagerness, await its successor. For it is a book in which wit and bright, if often satirical, humor are made the vehicle for no flimsy affectations, but for genuine thought. Mr. Ruskin has affirmed that the virtue of originality is not newness, but genuineness.
“In this true sense Mr. Harte’s book is original. Here is his own thought on several topics, pleasantly displayed, and no mere echo or second-hand production of the ideas of others. If Mr. Harte continues to act up to this sentiment, Price in Handsome Cloth, $1.25. For sale by all Booksellers, or sent Postpaid on receipt of The Arena Publishing Co., Some wicked nurses lull crying, starving children by putting the rubber bulb of an empty nursing bottle into their mouths. This fills the babe with evil wind and destroys its judgment, character, digestion and intellect. The old fashioned popular periodicals do the same thing for inquiring and curious minds, seeking nourishment and amusement. They give them a bottle of windy pap, called nice, pure domestic literature, and the result is the same as with the poor baby—only aggravated. The Fly Leaf is a robust, masculine, periodical for grown-up, common sense young men and women. It takes the point of view of the young man of today in literature and life. It is new, but sane. Its audacity is integrity of opinion and not mere eccentricity. It advocates greater freedom in American literature, and it discusses the aims and tendencies of the new movement and new writers. The Fly Leaf is young, but not such a cherub that it lacks wisdom teeth, and those who appreciate waggery are laughing over its little ironies. It is certain the new babe can live by its wits very well in a community which appreciates wit as keenly as does the great American public. THE FLY LEAF, TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES: Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized.
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