The Flippant Modern Attitude Where art leaves off and indecent exposure begins is a question often discussed in relation to the stage and frequently enough with regard literature. Numerous anonymous works purporting to be brutally frank and honest in their tales of people now or recently living have stimulated argoment on both sides. The propriety of publishing letter particularly love letter, has come again in connexion with John Drinkwater's "Book for Bookmen," recently published in England. A. critic refers. to the author as "perverse" because he says that the letters of Kea's to Fanny Bravne should: never have been published. This critic was on the side of those who are for publication of anything; Drinkwater finds it in better taste to draw the line somewhere, in a long defence of his position, printed in "The Manchester Guardian, " gives his reasons, Admitting that private cor: dence is often of great interes value in filling in the charac well-known persons, particularly writers, he insists that love letters do not belong to the public in any sense or at any time, A hundred years later they re to the writer and they were write Going still further, he main-that it is impossible for any person. to comprehend them, Whatever allowances are made for che mood of the writer, the reader to-day cannot be emotionally in accord with him, He himself read~ ing them later might find hia own words strange and out of keeping ith what he believes of his normal character, So Drinkwater argues that they are of no importance to renders who want more light on a beloved nther, and in fact are positively misleading.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.