New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1875-04-08
BOSTON LITERARY NOTES..
THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW" FOR
APRIL.

OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES RUSSELL LOWELL ON
TIE POET sPENsER."
IPROM AIEGUIAR CORRESPONDENT OF THE rRIBUNE.'
Boston, April 5.-The North american Re-
FOR April contains several papers OF Importance.
Thcy the light literature Of which the essence OF
n hundred pa ges can be distilled into newspaper let
ter as the sweetness Of a whole field OF Roses can he
imprisoned in one flask. Tie first paper Is on
Comtisn." hy f. Gryzanowski. and it gives the best
aud most Ineligible exposition OF the philosophy OF
COmte which have any where. From the gmrses
afforded OF COme himself. he seems to nave been q
uuecr fellow. I begin to think all men OF genius are.
He quarreed bitterly with his WIFE hut after he was
divorced from her lie wrote 10 her the most fctonate
letters. He had convenient theory that the men of
thought ought he supported by the of action 80
be lived unblusbngly on the contributions OF his
friends and the public. lie had God OF whom he felt
sure; he worshipcd woman. and an Imperfect one
at that. Corilce. His notion Of immortality for
that che should live in the memory OF the
man who had loved her. What brief future state 3"
that would promise u.s. my sisters Comics theories
full OF contradictions as his lif- was hut some
of item we're noble contributions TO the philosophical
thought OF The time. GTyzan0wsk ia sure that man
kind cannot dispense with noble FOOLS though 1t may
dispense with pucrile saScs and COme belongs
bOih these classes, can neither accept nor reject
him. such as he is. But may LET what is puere and
foolish In lin perish in tie aeuic OF tnc aud there
will be left a residuum OF n bic wisdom.
The second article IL long account Of The Recent
Revolution in Japan" with its by William T.
Gis Mr. Grif,s thinks that the presence of foreign
the soil OF Japan not the cause. but only the
occasion. Of the destruction OF that dual system Of
government which wcnld certainly have gone down.
later from tie operation OF causes already al
work before the foreign ARRIVAL. The presence OF tie
stranger only served hasten what inevitable.
The paDer on "Psupcrism," bv Charles L. Brace, Is
OF universal interest He shows the evil that has
the notion. which has especially prevailed In
England that the WORKING classes hal "a right to re-
ef the part of the governing classes or, in Ohcr
words, that charity fund which they could
hdcnly depend Theories with regard 70 the relief Of
the poor have always differed very widely in France
from those in England; and results have certainly
proved the French system to be much more intel
sent and successful. The rule of Napoleon recognized
the principle that the first duty OF charitable adj
iuisiratlon prevent the need OF charity and each
French administration since has proceeded on similar
principles in its dealings with the poor Tie experience
Of other nations forth by NJ Brce with reference
the hints it affords for cement OF
poor One pOlut Which il e0que0tly maintained s that
all paper children not diseased in mind or body, should
he Withdrawal from alnshouses and placed III private
families, order thus to prevent the evils Of Inherited
pauperisIn.
There is a long article :" TIE Granger Movement"
by G. F. Adams, jr In which tue movement is treated as
something already Ear enough the past To be hstoT
ically considered IL is good article; but far and
away the most valuable contribution TO literature in the
number is the rapar "Spenser." By James Resell
Lowell. Cnaucer had been in his one hundred and
fifty years ere England had secreed choice material
enough for the making of another great poet and then
Spenscr The three four pages concerning the
qualities which make poet great, universal de
lghtu reading; tioy should be. for Lowell is
ter Of prose st L. well poet vino has few peers.
Poems 90 not perish because they are written IN an
obsolete dialect, for IL Is the poem that keeps the IAN
gulge alive, and not the language that 'uoys up the
poem. IL IL not biz LATIN which ma zcs Horace
ing so. No hedge Of languag, however th"rnr, no
dragoncoi of centuries. VIII keep men AWAY IRON
cau2ht siGnt or scent OF tncm IL poems die, II -
DecdUsc there never true life IN tnen, tHat that
mss Of fancy 20 sincerity Of telling can Simsv rom
municate. hut winch leaps thrOobng al touch of that
shaping faculty the Imagination Take AriSote's ETH
les tue scholastic philosophy the theology OF Aquinas
the POlemdic syscm II astronomy, the small pOiucs
Of provincial city OF the Middle Ages, mix IA az viii
Grecau. Roman, aad Clrsiian mythology. aud icll
what chance there Is TO make 40 immortal poem Of
hve3 Yes, Dante can create snch soul unGer c.e
ibis Of death mat 80 editions of his poem shall lie
called for in there last 60 years the first ha OF tie
Elk. century since bis death Accordingly am apt
believe that the complaints one sometimes hears OF tie
negcTt OF older literature are the regrets OF archie
OOeists rather than Of critics One does not need
"dveItse Nc tqulrrsis where Tie nIlirees are, nor
their teeth on hollow nut.
How nne ana how characteristic is Mr. LoweIls def
milton OF a classic:
A classic is properly hook which maintains Itself by
that innate aud exquisite sympathy between the thought
that gives life amt tue form wnich Consents TO every
mood OF grace and dignity. which sIiuo wlthou
beiag vulgar elevated withou, being distant. when
i something neither aBcCnt uOT modem, always new
ana incapable OF growing old.
Nor can l turn away from these fascinating pages
without giving you the poets ideas about national liter
sture:
confess have little faith in that quality in literature
seldom gwen where there Is anything better saiG
Literature that loses its meaning: or the hest part OF
whrD II gets beJ Ond sight OF the parish steepe is n0t
what understand ny literature. II tell yJu whca yOu
cannot fully tnste BOOK thai II il neca,e II /, m innr
Ou.hy national. 10 condemn The book H. say II o.
N even worse. for Il IL 10 say that chOad be
ru. 10 the Whole COMPASS OF human nature true only
ders;aud The Nationality OF Frdu when. looking sadly
BACK the ulorrs of ms coumiry, he tells u.
that the Nightingale si sings old Persian :" can un.
Grrstaud the nationaliiy Of Barns when he his
may wriIe song or Two for dear aud Scotia SAKE
That sort of nationality belongs TO country Of whcl
we are all ciizhshat country OF the heart which has
40 boundaries land down the map. All poetry
must smack OF the oil for II mus Dc rooted Ia IT, must
suck lie and substance from IL bat IL NUT VITA
the aspiring Instinct OF the pine that climbs
vard diviner air. aud not ~ tue groveling fashion OF
the potato. Any verse that makes you and me foreign
ero Is not only not great poetry, Dut poetry at all
DuublI's works were dsintcrred ana GATED SOM. 30
years ago by Mr. Lung and whOSo Is national enough
TO like thiss DrO"se there To his hearts content
an inclined Tor other pasture, having long salts
lied myself by good deal OF dogaed reading that every
generation is sure OF It's Oan share vi b0res without
ROWING from the past.
We shall all be grateful 10 Mr.. Lowell for eag us
that first dny OF the Muse is to be delghtful-a
doctrine which few have more perfectly illustrated
than himself. OF course. Lowelrs opinion OF spenscr
gives him high seat in Parnassus As also, the
poet presents him pleasantly. He doubts II Spcnser
had grand passion in his life, and that
for his Faery Queen" But he fortunate In the
friendship OF be,t and OF his time. In
the secuson which made him free Of tue sIil better
society OF the past, In the loving recognition OF his
countrymen. All that VIC know Of him 10 amisble and