The Barbarians Within

The Atlantic this year marks its 100th anniversary, and in celebration thereof it has brought out a massive jubilee issue. Founded in the ripe autumn of the New England Renascence, it was for many years a thoughtful and authoritative journal. In recent decades it has become simply another purveyor of slick ideas, a little higher-browed than Life, a little lower-browed than Partisan Review. The jubilee issue is rather glossier than usual, both in format and in the illustrious gamut of well-established names which decorates it.

Putting out anniversary issues is an innocent enough occupation. One can understand the pride of the editor, Mr. Edward Weeks, and smile tolerantly as he enumerates his distinguished predecessors: James Russell Lowell, William Dean Howells, Walter Hines Page, Ellery Sedgwick. He has an ancestry of which any editor might be proud. One reads along, pleasantly hypnotized, congratulating Mr. Weeks upon his heritage and his cultured understanding in a world where so many corners are rough.

FS

About the Author

Frank S. Meyer

Frank S. Meyer was a senior editor of National Review.

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The Atlantic this year marks its 100th anniversary, and in celebration thereof it has brought out a massive jubilee issue. Founded in the ripe autumn of the New England Renascence, it was for many years a thoughtful and authoritative journal. In recent decades it has become simply another purveyor of slick ideas, a little higher-browed than Life, a little lower-browed than Partisan Review. The jubilee issue is rather glossier than usual, both in format and in the illustrious gamut of well-established names which decorates it.

Putting out anniversary issues is an innocent enough occupation. One can understand the pride of the editor, Mr. Edward Weeks, and smile tolerantly as he enumerates his distinguished predecessors: James Russell Lowell, William Dean Howells, Walter Hines Page, Ellery Sedgwick. He has an ancestry of which any editor might be proud. One reads along, pleasantly hypnotized, congratulating Mr. Weeks upon his heritage and his cultured understanding in a world where so many corners are rough.