New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1874-02-28

received an exceptionally enthusiastic vel
come. "AltOn Locke {" and Yeast" produced
almost IA marked an effect on tho cropping
ambitious mind OF Young America. as did
Werther or Childe Harold on the generation
Of German and English for which they wers
written. A young mind, if thoughtful at all.
is to a certain extent always morbid. ap.
to puzzle itself over some problem of life
which il is not yet strong CROUCH to grasp. II
pleased bIase young Englishmen who had
fallen into unwholesomo ways of thought from
lack of healthy work. to imagine themselves
warning with man ard God az Manfreds O,
Gaours. The moro emotional German found
his delightful misery in thwartcd love. But
the young American. taught from his cradle
to push himself to higher social levels, frets
and beats against whatever bars of birth, ed
ucatiOn. or wealth colspire to hold him down.
Such arbitrary barriers laid before him are the
problems that perDex his soul the talent 70,
which he cannot find recognition, tho succass
and power OF men less clever than himself-
here are his riddles OF life; Don Juan and the
Childe are in his opinion merely lazy. ill-con-
ditioncd follows; nor is he in the least DANCE,
of cutting his throat for any Charlotte.
To every such reader Canon Kingsley's FIRST
books were at once revelation and utterance
Here was man who cOmprehended by
intution-nOt, certainly, by experence-n0t
only the individual lOngings of the tbwarted
soul. but the great tentative essay Of down
tr0dden class cropping toward the light. Men
and women too, who foresaw the coming
religious revolution, kindled into fresh cour-
age with these books. The day of the Lord
was at hand here was a leader who saw that
Chivalry, Justice, and Truth had more TO do
with the winning of the battle than moral
precedent and dogmatism. 1t was the san
guine belief of all of his disciples that in
America Charles Kingsley would find an an.
swer for allitho problems which he presented
better than any other living man here, where
these social bars were weakest and where
precedent and dogmatism arc only demi-
gods through custom and not law. When
Mr.. Kingsley, in after years, failed to declare
that his were riddles solved in the working
out of our experiment. there was, we confess.
feeling in the breasts of his disciples here
that their oracle had either ceased to speak
at the divine bidding or else spoke without IL.
They are his disciples still, however. and
having grown Older with him and reached tho
broader charity of middle age, can under
stand how that very poetic temperament
which enabled him to enter into the soul
Of an individual or class and express
Its needs, would make him shrink from indi-
vidual or class when their needs made
them aggressive and intolerant. Alton
Locke, tailor and poet, wandering with his
sspring dreams through the scholarly clois-
ters, is very different parsonage from tho
tailor Congressman or President, as drunken
with self-conceit as liquor. The squire's serf.
Tregaron rebellious, gloomy, in love with all
humanity and one woman. is a picturesque
object; but tho same half-educated fellow.
coming thousands in a whisky ring or steal
ing it as a State legislator, is an object which
neither gods nor poets can endure.
Yet we believe that Mr. Kingsey's insight
is keen and his vision wide enough to com.
prehend the breadth and depth OF tho expert
ment now making for humanity IN this
country, as no other Englishmen probably has
vet DONE He at least will know that glimpses
of the social condition of NewYork and Bos-
ton bear az much proportion to tho real sum
total of American life and give as clear expo
sition of it, as a Lord Mayors feast does to
Great Britain and all the colonies, civilized
and savage. 1t has become so common
thing Tor our guests to pronounce verdict
OH our moral, political, and religious state in
the present, and a prophecy as to our future.
founded on three weeks sojourn in the sea-
board cities, and the addition perhaps of a
flying trip to San Francisco, that we havo
accustomed ourselves to receive such verdicts,
whether courteous or cOndemnatory, with
amused indifference. From Canon Kingsley
we hope for no verdict beyond tho earnest.
sincere word which such man can give to
great nation, making, however imperfectly. An
earnest and sincere effort to lift humanity
step higher.