New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1875-04-29
BOSTON LITERARY NOTES.
TRANSATLANTIC SKETCHES" BY HENRY
NAMES. JR.


ON 1ur tApK-"TuE WPECK or THE CHAN
crIIoR.n BY JULFs vERNE-ANOruER lII1LL
tJAssICr-"A PARAGRAPH HISTORY or TIE
UNITED STATES"
iFROM REGULAR CORRESPONDENT or Tlk Tribune
BosroN. April 27.-We have books enough
Of travel and too many OF thom yet tc'o Is room i
tho transatlantic ctehes" OF Henry James Jr "n
Osguod & Co have nearly ready. II that good oiu worn
"sentipental" had not boon 20 msuscd tbat II nov
means "spoony" to the popular apprehension sAo'u
can Mr. James sentimental tourist mean
that where other people SEQ things IA " hl'''o'
ofiact way he them like poet Nv
discerns tho sentiment OF scene-the soul OF Hhu
sca,,e ruin Is something more for him than p'ct"r
esoue pile OF stone grey with moss or green Win IVY
II ia the shrine OF poetic pasta spot where ghosts
nnger aud old voices call TO read his BOOK IT 10 Ioc
more OF the atmosphere and the significance OF INC P"S
he Describes than ~ IA could ever discern upon '
spo We are indebted 10 him for his clearer Vsloh DIS
deeper insight writing Of the commones thing ne seems
10 be always telling story; and the qualities ta' mos
tales present IN these sketches H
enters upon the places which song has gorlnod OF S
tory made memorable, IN the spirit OF ios' her oou"K
10 his own agn-a going back 10 the ola nome I" Hs
raco Yet he forget the present in the past ana
he has the very keenCst eye for AL varieties OF manner
and character He SAYS himself that the most jealous
observation keep but uneven pace with the me d
forcnces in national He bogus to feel sense
OF these subtle differences az Chester III the very
outset OK his Journey ings:
As YOU pass with bustilug current from shO! 10
shop Won feel local and tradioIl-the Iortasl
t,ne Of thiHcs-,rUsslng on you rom ever. sue nc
of things is somehow heavier ut'u WIZ i.i, 49,.
ners and modes are absolute ana POSITIVE iIA
TO swarm and 70 then inc e'nTs c ar thu
ours We seem loosely hung together at home ~ con-
IN ms pare II is not an IN ertut'a but pdp III. fact
that England a crowded country. There 10 stiffness
Whcre the Marquis of Westminster dwclls COR, J be
lievc, can afford to hunor ms notion o. ro v
rOyyh and
you 90 the population is overlooked You s,solI on
Won haunt the cathedral shades and dozen saunter-
ing morals temper your solitude. You glance up An
aey on sido street. and discover pOpulOus windows and
dooT-stes You roll along country roads, and fluid COM
less humble pedcstriaus dottug tue green way lne
English landscape " always landscape Win nSu rs
And everywhere you 60 You are accompanied 10y
vague of the British CHILD lowering about
You reflect, with sort of physical relief on Australia
Canada ana INDIA where tnIte al" -, t it ~, ~
course there are many needs which hes 20 JUSTLY ="
the phlOAOphc stranger tho vast numbcr ana the IRE
sstibe cO1uery Of the little shops which adorn these
lOw-browed rows. The shoI-tronts nave lwaNS see,u
10 the most aesthetic .iln6s III England ana "shle
more TINE than s4GG as care Tss 10 eaF pne b.
hind which tho neither integnments Of gentle
The manners Of the dealers in these comfortable wares
seldom li 20 confirm your agreeable impressions. 1ou
fact or deep Significance the truly analytic mind, an
certain Of Miss EigewOrt's novels pernsed In child
hood When YOU think of the small profits, the small
jcaOusies, the long waiting AMI the narrow margin Ton
cviI days Implied by this redundancy of shops nj
ellopmcn YOU hear afresh tie steady rumble Of that
deep keynote Of English manners, oyersooIrd So Often
and with such sweet bcgueuent, by finer haTnoIles,
but never eNtnsu.shed- "sL4usSe FOR eNsteuce.'
Ia the Cathedral at Chester lie heard Canon Hiusslcy
preach a sermon which tender memories u "Wes.wAnt
Ho aud "Hypat" pre- vented him from criuoisur. out
which was not Of as fine quality as the architecture u
the Cathedral He cUnfcssee 10 tue sort OF se,lct sat-
faction natural TO the American mind on pcrVevius thar
man reared amid all this rich heritage OF aesthetic pTi'
nege If only man. for that
Prom hester our picturesque tourist goes 10 chhed,
and Warwick and Moth Devon, aud Wells, and Sails
bury and Switzerland, and France and Venice, and a
dozen other PLACES at his sweet WILL until, 81 last
be reaches Rome. believe Mt James born in Cam
bridge but HIS spirit must have had its birth in Rome
for there that ne fluids his true home No Roman ~
loves he docs gories in its faded slendors
10 delights In its picturesque effects revcs IN its air
aud 50 fnde himself home within its walls His NOM
ory and his Imagination are his tireesS companions,
and ho TO know Rome-as whoever
would really know IT must-by IN aimless
Gdnere which leaves free to follow caprioously
every hint Of entertainment every aluroment OF dis
tanoe the fashion say you disappointed in
tue size OF 81 Peters bat Mr. James gays that lac wasn't
From the very first il seemed 10 linn the hugest thin"
oonoeyaLe-a exatation Of on-s ideas Of space
ones entrance, from the great empty square
seems not much going in somewhere going out
There days which the vastcI
than on Others and the gorgeous ballachino longer
Journey beyond the far spreading tcsseatcd plain OF tho
pavement when the light has quality which lets thing
look their largest Then you have only stroll and stroll
and gaze and gazo and watch the baldachno Lift its
bronze architecture Ike temple within temple, and
feel yourself ut the Boz tom Of the abysmal shaft OF the
dome, dwindle TO "a crawling dot.
One Of the most fascinating chapters in the book is en-
titled Roman Rides" and here is biz Of description
brilliant TO Dc omitted:
Ones rides certainly make Rome richer place "a live
IN than most Others. To dwell I'm city which much
Csll II. H..
with crowds, and shops, aud theaters, and es aud
balls and receptions, and diunerm'rtes' and all the
confusion Of social pleasures and pains
yOUr door the good and evil Of II all, and yet tO bc
aIc III h,a "a, 1u 70 s1iyp T"y anu gaNo !. uuie
broom glowing GU lonely towertop in tine still blue
a. sfness and Tie -legoeI sheu.ris lo,nin1,
their sticks IN mUtiOnless brotherhood with the
staggering little kids uoading out wild desert
smells from the top Of hollOwfoundng mounds; and
then to back through of the great gates, and
couple Of hours later, hnd yourself in the word"
dreesed, introduced entertained, inqulrfng, talking
about MddeInaIch TO young Enghsh lady. or listen
ing 70 Neapobtan songs frOn gentleman III very low
shlrtall this ID 10 lead sort Of double life aud to
gather from the huIrying hours impressions than
MUD OF modest capacity quite knows how to dispose
Of touched lately upon this theme with fii nj whO
fancicd would understand me, and who Immediately
assured me that lac had Just spent day Which this
MINGLED diversity OF sensation made TO TIE days
spends elsewhere what IN uneommon good novel Is 10
anewspaper There vas an air Of dlcness about il, il
you Will" he said, land II cerJluly pleas ant
enough to have been wrong. Perhaps being, ator al
unused tO long stretches Of dissipation, this way
had half feeling That wa ling an odd chapter
tue history OF leison very much more OF a hdOs dc
than myself"
II must after such day this that Brown
ing wrote Two IN the Campag,a "-tnat Campagnu
which the Spring advances "snilos and waves with
flowers" spmugtimo IN Rome poetic than else
where What must il De- 10 listen amid such scenes 10
what Mr James calls the diseIn bodied voice Of tie
lark"
II with the early flowers the white and
the cyclancn the hlf6uried voI Is snd the palo ne
mones, and makes the whole atmosphere ring, like a