They are pioneers, with the faults
of intellectual pioneers, over-seriousness, over-emphasis,
dogmatism, and intolerance. Yet it may be said fairly that their
chief duty, as with the editorial pages of newspapers, is to be
consistently partisan. At least they have proved that the American
will take thinking when he can get it. And by inference, one
assumes that he will take strong feeling and vigorous truth in his
literary magazines.
The reviews also show how the wind is blowing. The review, so-
called, is a periodical presenting articles of some length, and
usually critical in character, upon the political, social, and
literary problems of the day. The distinction of the review is
that its sober form and not too frequent appearance enable it to
give matured opinion with space enough to develop it.
Clearly a successful review must depend upon a clientele with time
and inclination to be seriously interested in discussion, and that
is why the review, until recently, has best flourished in England
where it was the organ of a governing class. In America, an
intellectual class who felt themselves politically and socially
responsible, has been harder to discover.
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