Surely we should judge of a man’s progress by inquiring what he has
been rather than by his present stage alone:
Men march toward civilization in column formation, and by
the time the van has learned to admire the masters the rear
is drawing reluctantly away from the totem-pole. Anywhere in
the middle you may find a veneration for china pugdogs or an
enthusiasm for Marie Corelli--still an advance. Literary people
seem to think that every time a volume of Hall Caine is sold,
Shakespeare is to that extent neglected. It merely means that
some semisavage has reached the Hall Caine stage, and we should
wish him godspeed on his way to Shakespeare. It is only when a
pretended Shakespeare man lapses into Hall Cainery that one need
be excited.--FRANK MOORE COLBY, “Imaginary Obligations.”
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