New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1875-06-15
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
CALvERTs ESSAYS.
ESSAYS ESrIETICAI. BY GEORGE II. CALVERT
lerno. Pr. 20i Lee shepard

Tie contents of this unpretendng volume betray
the ripe cultnreof many years laden with the choice
fruits of studious life devoted TO the pursuit OF lot
ters. II is the production Of a writer evidently
more intent on the attainment and calculation of
truth than on any purposes Of personal ambition.
Mr.. Calvert is an original thinker always aiming to
do justice TO his own thought by accurate EXPOSE
ton and apt illustration rather than to display II IN
a favorable light for the acceptance of tho public
His intellectual habits those of seeker of TRUTH
rather than champion Of doctrine: he IL more of
student than rhetoresn aud challenges attention
IL his calm and lucid statements by their innate
sonudness and force instead of using the arts OF pop
ular effect. There arc few branches of elegant
literature in which Mr.. Calvert does not exhibit the
taste of cornoisseur; in the higher criticism which
penetrates beneath the surface TO foundations, which
not only observes phenomena but detects principles
which seeks for the revelation of positive beauty,
morc than the exposure of faults, he may claim the
position of master. Mr.. Caverts fidelity to his
own mental instincts may, indeed in some instances,
have impaired tho brillaucy of his career as
writer His STYLE is not formed on any eonvcn-
tonal models. lie rarely makes use Of the YER
bal blandishments which lap the soul OF the
reader ia an airy Elysiup, and bewitehes tho ear
with the magic harmony Of words. His dletion Is
lees remarkable for seductive sweetness than Tor
rugged force. With him expression is the Key u
Thought, ratDer TidD toilH W sS i'O
words ms vent for subjective ideas, rather than as
an electric medium between himself and his readers
Still his style often presents marrowy flavor ana
freshness which makes q stronger impression both
ON the IMAGINATION and the mcDlory than is posi-
he 10 any dainty rcfnements Of compositions Inc
present work. il may frankly be conf 'ssed, 's OF
smoother and moro flexible texture than some OF the
preyicns productions Oi the author. IL is compare
lively Tree from the gnarled and knotty sentences
u. ,.fh .l.aacs IN N
Of his writings and made their perusal more of an
effort than q luxury. The peculiar charm OF this
vo,r,ne, however, is the spirit of fine literary al'-
pr,cia.on whose delicate arenas pcrDeate its pages
In its treatment of cardinal literary questions, 1t
combines the wisdom Of the sage with the eDt'iu-
siasm of tho scholar. There Is raey zest III It's us
c,lssious, eYincing rare sincerity OF devotion 10
the cultivation Of letters, and freshness and ex-
uberance of knowledge that can only be attained
as the Quordon of chiyarOuS literary eonsecra-
ton.
Tho first paper IN tie volume presents
some significant suggestions on the principles
Of beauty, without attempting TO exhaust the
subject or TO reach the heart of the wonder
full mystery. Beauty is universal presence.
ITO him who has the gift 10 feel its presence,
nature tesns with beauty. WbherSoevcr the senses
reach, whenever emotion kindes, wherever the mind
seeks food for its finer arpetites, there is beauty
IL expects us at the dawn it is about us, an hourly
neighbour through the day. at night 1t looks
down Oh US from star-pe0l,cd universities. Chit
tering on green lawns, glowing in sunsets, fash
ing through storn-clouds, gliding our wakeiul
hours, iIradiating sleep, it is ever around
within us eager to sweeten our labors, to purify
orr thoughts Nature is o vast treasurc-house
of beauty whereof the kew il III the human heart"
Bat many hearts have never opened far enough TO
disclose the precious key EMBODIED in their depths
At this moment whole peoples are ignorant that they
live amid such wealth. For long time, nature was
almost spcerhless to man. Until the blgeyed
Greek and the deep-sOulcd Hebrew gradually grew
up the earth scarcely more than vide hunt-
ing ground or pasturage and human life than
round of petty animal circles, not sweeping be-
yond the iel of the senses. Then one liCle corner
of Europe became radiant. and the valley Of Tempo
ard the wooded glens OF Parnassus shone for the
fist time on the vision of men, The groves
and streams were pcopled with beau;eous shapes.
The high places were crowned with tenn
PIES which looked as though they had been
placed there from above by heavenly
hands. The dim past was revived in glo-
rious trsnsfguraiion by the fruitful might
Of sculptors and painters and poets. 20" In
Asia, too, a chosen people early made reyela-
ton of the beautiful. The Hebrews were introspec-
tive At once ardent and thoughtful, passionate and
spri.ual their vigorous natures charged with
fiery materials for inward conflicts Out of the
secret chambers of troubled souls their poets and
rrophes sent forth cries Of despair and OF exulta-
ton of expostulation and selfreproach, that ever
find echo in the conscience-sinitten sorrow-iadcn
bosom of man. The power and wisdom OF God they
saw Us other ancient people had seen them. In
the grandeurs and wonders of creation they cOuid
behold the being and the might and the goodness OF
the Creator The strong rich hearts of their soers
yearned for diyner life in tho deep, true con
scousness they felt that there can be peace and
Joy to man only through Ieconciiement with God
And feeling their own unwOrthness and inn
purity as well as that of their people, they uttered
their spiritual Desires and their aspirations
and distppointmeDts and indignatiOns and huinil-
iasions, in strains that make their great writings
sound like one long, impassioned, rhythmic
wall through the bars of dungeon Gloomy, wrath
full and intense, their utterances grand and pa
thetic and subline but tho beautiful plays through
them, and gills their highest points a. the white
crests DO the pillows of q black, tempestuOus sea-.
The truth that beauty is to be sought i'll the sphere
Of emotion and is not a subject of intellectual per-
eeption, Ia happily illustrated by the author. If it
were c0gnizable by the understanding the Hot
tentot would learn something of it in the forest
with the grosser qualities Of trees and valleys II
it could be seized by the logical faculty the most en-
iuent statesman lawyer would excel in its appre
citation. The Roman would have shone in arts
less than in arms The Spartan would not have
been 80 barren where tho Athenian was 80 prolific.
The beautiful then is not subject TO the intel
lect We cannot demonstrate coldly discover
1t; we cannot weigh measure it, Further to
illustrate this position: do not see with our
outward eye any more than do with spectacles.
The apparent ocular apparatus is but the passive,
unconscious instrument to transmit images thrown