New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1848-12-21

awarded % the intellectual s"ttihtte anu e"'
mora music Of his beautiful mind. " Words, IN
most original article indeed proved 70 he
"fbtngs" The terrific plstitude Of " James Is
coursseously and patiently trsyersed It's desolste
barenne,s - almost sublimely pictured yet our
Es.ayist does not pass hesth-blossom unnOtlced,
aud when he meets the simplest flower, like poor
Mungo Park in the African wilderness he is de-
lighted BY It's rarencss; he blesses God that an
ocean Of sand may be cheered by daisy. The
keen wit Of Sydney Smith, in wach every joke is
AL argument, and every argument Joke, meets
the finished edge Of analysis in wit almost keen.
With Webster, our Essayst does seem 70 labor
yet, some Of his most splendid writing is 10 the
article on that great man and great name To
critcise Webster is like climbing up mountain,
but Whipple is a hardy climber as well as q hardy
diver. Such minds as that OF Webster are not 20
be measured by standard manusliy applied /;
they 10 be guaged only by the shadows which
they project which they project on the living
affairs Of present men or on the plain Of posterty
With the " Purtans, Mr. Whippe is at once iust
aud solemn He looks over them lovingly. with A
charity which has eflioresced out OF the granite
rocks OF Puritanism itself bpt which yet seems
la strange contrast with the stern, the indomta-
BILE, the uncompromising one-sidedness Of these
same Puritans To say the open truth. Mr.. Whip
pie is better situated in Judging the Puritans than
he would if the Puritans were Judging him. We
should rather provoke the caustic scorching OF one
OF his own reviews than be in his place, with his
opinions, before acouncil Of these venerable fathers
In such position could only pray for mercy
on his soul II Is not pleasant 70 be roasted, nor
much better To be haDged-but Mr. Whipplc
evinccs boldness in this book OF his that might
have, those days Of sanity and stern conscience
subjected the volumes and the man to the fate OF
martyrs-in one or both OF the methods. Words
worth is delight 10 our author Byron al excite
mcnt Shelley, glory aud joy; Coleridee,
problem; Southey, IN poetry, evidently bore i
Moore, a mockcry; Campbell, a minstfsl; Tenny-
son, a rhyming Brahmin; Proctor, fine Fcact-stHg
cy. Keats, a consumptivc enthusiast Elliot,
bury, brawny, fro-ied versifer; Miss Barrett,
sphynx; and Festus Bailey, mailman. With
the old English Dramatsts,' he can discourse OF
quaint and fresh imagination as TO the manor born
aud with surly South he talks with rare felicity on
the wit OF the pulpit and the eloquent fury OF en-
ragged polcmics. Scarcely half through the list We
are already tired of individual specification; 50
long, So various, so diverse, the range of topics
aud of names, OF which the writer treats.
We have spoken Of Mr.. Whipples fertility as
an evidence OF his moral power But this owl
dcncc Is rs apparent IN his character as ia his ca
pscity. That child like simplicity which belongs
t. genius he has in an eminent degree Clear aud
Discriminate as is his intellect, his heart ia warm
with the blood Of boyhood. Pointed aud analytic
his STYLE often u.s. face to face and hand TO hand hc
is the most gracious and cordial OF companions.
Like every man of noble nature half his heart is
womany aud while his ideas are as lambent as
suubeams upon glaciers, his affections are as hot
and fragrant as field of clover IN the Summer
noontide. When he puts himself on the tribunal
OF criticism, I'm the living life of our imperfect
world, he is most ample of appreciation and ample
of affection. Needing no pardon for himself, much
in others he can praise, and much also he can par
don He is not one that walks in cloak OF dark
ness but he goes abroad in the honest and the open
light, in the fullncss of charity and the quiet con
seriousness of power No man can be met larger
in the bounty OF generous praise no man can be
met more embracing in the Wilderness OF a catholic
appreciation. He has attained an eminence which
provokes no envy and exercises an influence which
wins admiration without moving antagonism. 1t
is rarely that man excels without stirring the
disposition in his cotemporaries to censure and oil
all kinds of success that in criticism is the most
perilous 10 friendship but to those young men
who have kept company with Mr. Whipple along
the path of business and OF life, he IS a brother oil
their pleasures and their pride.
The moral qualities thus evinced in this calm
and wonderful industry are still more apparent
in the spirit of the productions themselves. No
quality of genius fails 10 meet dlscernmenti but
no force of genius blinds him with delusion. The
riittering ribaldries of Moore are scorched with
the honest heat of a manly indignation while the
msanthropy OF Byron is now smashed IN the tenn
pest of nvective or despiscd with the laugh OF
ridicue Merits exceedingly opposite are SIN
cerey appreciated and no real merit is lost to the
eve or 10 the pulse of the critic. Sects, creeds.
parties gather no mists 20 dim his sight and no
frosts to chill his heart With an Imagination as
free as that maiden that walked IN the pride OF
her purity, he rambles among authors and with
an intellect all-sagaoious, he can describe their
several pecuharites. There is truthiulness
which is iudcial-an honesty which is stoic IN his
searchines and his opinions and though often led
away by ardor or sxaggerauon, you always ieei
that the critic is not deceived by soPhisty nor made
vehement by passion, but rather that he Is con
sumed by some idea which has grow into his soul
as an affection and life.
The wide range and variety OF power displayed
in these Essays we should like exceedingly to eN-
anime. We would desire to seek the center OF
nature so finely gifted. We would take pleasure
in tracing il outward from the fountain OF rs
power. and point to the sources which lavished
over the land OF creative criticism streams and
rivers so abundant in fertility But tins We cannot
do with any satisfaction or suihciency within the
limits OF newspaper article. At random, We
would say, that Mr. Whipple had in high degree
the pow er of analysis. To this we would add,
mary elous compass Of sympathy comolnod 70
knowledge, to culture, and TO an imagination that
subserved all their purposes and was ready Tor ali
their demands. suppose case; Imagine that the
spirits OF departed great ones thronged around
Won. and asked YOU your opinion OF them at the