New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1856-11-19
Newpurk Dailp T1ibnnr
.JEW PUBLICATIONS.
Mr.. CURTIS's WRITINGS.
THE COMPLETE WORKS OF GEO. wN CURT
i've xolu NE. Emo Dix EAx,rd. 4 Co

-
a. Nr. Curtis. 1t seems an easy thing in this
country 10 achieve distinction, but i, is not 80 easy
10 retain il. That very appropriateness and hove of
puyel,y in cur people which renders the one so Ugh,
a matter. also renders the other difficult. ANY
striking peculiarly, any eccentric or brian. mani
festa,ion. may gain a man vide notor-ty; but
,othirg short of the most genuine merit eau secure
him lasting rrputation. Byron was not the FRS,
nor the last per.On who awoke of a morHng and
found himself famous. Tue world of literature Is
full of such sudden Births but they are as epheme-
raj as they are sudden.
Mr.. Curtis. success, we think, will not be of his
kind b. cause Mr. Cur,s's qualities are altogether
NJ hipber order Along with those more vvacious
and dazzling tralts. which most apt 10 attssct
uublc atebti ID, he possesses deeper vein-a vein
If thought as well rs of art, and Of earnes. plr-
nose. which gives permanent vitality to the mind.
He Is able 10 fascinate and charm US bu. he Is also
Gamble If psIructng Us. Tie attaches Us 10 him
q bile be eD'er,a Us U.s. HIS gayety is no; of me
champagne sort, which is p'q'lant and agreeable,
but Without sentiment and substance. Like Thack-
cray hike Dickens, lise Jerro.d, in short, ike al
the more ELI n-pt Of our modecn authors, ais main
obisc. appears IN be TO anuse, but that amusemen
is made the vehicle Of more seroos me tnngs The
s;yle uay q tier and dauce hse stream in the sun
shine. but he upiercu.renl bears along a ri:h and
fer,iliz ~ deposit.
The first work Of Mr. Curtis, published anony
uousv at the time, full.toDei orchestral prelude
70 the barmones that awaited us, was the Nile
Notes of Howadjl;" on the whole the mos, on
oipsl of the uapy books about the Eas'. L. showed
at once no commonplace mind. The very con-
ceotion of book OH the Orient that should be
new, and yet interesting, was proof OF orgiud
force. Considering the extaut literature, The
most ingenious fancy might have been perplexed as
TO the possibility Of contrvlDg any hing new Of tne
Nile regions. Could anything in the way Of eradl-
tion be added to Lepsas and Wlkinson-any thi0g
in the way Of description TO Misunderstanding
fsncifu and brilliant to EOthen' Yet Mr. Curtis
did accomplish something which had not been al
ready accomplished by his numerous forerunhers
He was not exclusively learned like some, nor
merely descriptive ike Others sentimental sim
py like the most; but he was singular comblna-
ton of these, and yet himself locking at well
known things with bis own eyes, and travelling
beaten paths upon his own legs. He produced a
book which was more entirely sufused with the
glowing coors and the profound mysterious iDpor.
Of The region be depicts, than any other tina, we
know. The very spirit of Egypt brOOds over the
pages. the dreamy music of MemnOn awakeus again
in their harmoDies, while the gold aud purple sua-
sets stream down mockngly upon groups OF chat
terlpg Arabs and staring travellers from Cock
aipne. All the East is tbere-its prose as Well
rs its poetry the dirty, lazy natives, the
donk,ys and the camels The lying dragomen, the
abomIbSblc cook, the feas, the g0ssaDermsrale
Cawhazce, tie grave aud pompOus dlction, ID
low, HOMOGENEOUS chant, the green v"ysgers no les
than the silver moonlight, the golden sunlight, tn
vast dreamy desert with their austerc ramids and
g"Ig, Gus palns, and melancholy rdlDs-;he silence
III. spell The languid, luxuriant beauty, heoppress
i've memories, and that antique ystery which mt
'.suli. soen n and me xpllcable among the flower
fnuci.s aid bread, green fields Of your mind and o
contemporary life, as he Sphinx sits on the edge OF
tie grain. green PLAIN" It's sometimes BY bcoai,
luminous picture, sometimes by hssty sketch,
often hy a word, that Mr.. Curtis conveys TO Us his
i'm preston; but in whatever way he does it, we get
the v hole scene before hints whole past as We'll
as present fused in one rich and throngng spendor.
With The true Inag nation of the artist he with
the eyes of the e. and the eyes Ut the spir, AZ ouce,
| and The quaint and wOndrous forms that he con-
| juTes up are filed with a more qnalnt and WOE
| orous significance. Nor is he the painter or the
pet alone; be jests and CHATS with rare facility of
| ninth. md he nhilOsOpbizes (as witness the fine
r,maIks Oh the distinctions between Egyptian and
Greclan srt) with been, sympa.hizng Insight. The
critic is often ut loss to decide whether the po-
etry, the painting, the fun, the thought is most
| to be admired
The "HowaJji in Syria" Mr.. Curtis's seconi
book, was bu a continuation Of the Nile Notes,
mainly in the same key, but with change OF tone
btfttng transit out Of the glowing loom Of Egypt
into the sqIalid splendor Of Syria. IL cannot De
ssid however, that he always kept to the advice Of
bis tpigraph quoted from IIelne, " Fear NOT, pous
soul; for no profanlpg jest shall modest thy ear.
Many jest, il not profane at least dlsencnau'ng'
Gees mOles, the sacredness OF cur ASSOCIATIONS WIZ
the Holy Land. 1t is impossible, perhaps amid the
filthy surroundings which later superstition ha-
heaped about the cOnsecrated spots to refrain IRON
the whimsical or petulant expleti'e, but We, who
have never behe!d these surroundings, prefer %
know nothing Of them, and to keep tht - earh r.
loye.er image" 1T the loUd whico lie trod' or'guV
ana indebted of u ortal taDt. Yet We must do the
Howad the Justice To FAY that he is not unminfiu'
If the glory which gathers above these earth-oorn
n.ists, from The heavenly radiance once sued on