The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1877-06-17
SOME NEW BOOkS.


Of Hdrpers Magazine during the past ycar. has
now been issued In book form by the Ilarpor-
and no one. probably. who has road it. will be- mt
all surprised 10 soc the name of CHARLES RGADE
upon the ttlc-pagc There is but one English
novelist now living whose works are moro con-
spicuousy invested with the character Of lit
crary events. or challenge moro respectful at
tcnton.
The man must have n duh eye and cold
hcnrt who can have followed the performances
Of this writer during the past thirty ycnrs with
out cordial sympathy and sincere admiration.
lie has worked ~ hard in his vocation Of man
Of letters M ever southcy worked. yet he shows
no sign Of exhaustion; he has produced ~
much us that versatile. voluminous. and we'll
nigh forgotten writer. but, unlike him. has not
inflicted one prosy sentence on the render. Mr..
kcndc seems to have begun with n modest.
underestimate Of his own abilities. and a Just
estimate OF the scope and requisites OF his art.
and few things are more interesting or instric-
tive than to mark the gradual unfolding Of his
talents and the patient improvement ~ lis
workman ship. under the pressure OF II rcsclute
will and tho beacon light of clear and we'll
placed aims.
Those who choose TO judge nm author by the
hasty letters which he occasionally indtcs Tor
the newspapers in burst Of not unreasonable
which cmbody his deliberate and conscientious
effort may not be- prepared to see humility cited
IA a characteristic trait Of Mr. Rcadc. As "A mat
ter Of fact. however. a timid sclf-appraisemcnt
Is the key to his earlier va4surics in matt r. uf
type and pun tuation. and il has been the mnin-
spring of his growing success. lie may per
haps find In it, too. an index uf the quality and
limitations Of his talent What dstinsu shed
this man from other noyiccs in his beginning
wns the distinctncss. VIZ might say the piercing
and dcpro s-ing distin tncss. with which he per-
ccived the essential. IN 'urabc defects Of the
written word ~ an instrument Of transmission
or portraiture. Anybody can see how far most
w"hvers OF English prose fall short in their
power of IMPRESSION of Bacon. or Swift. or Rus
kin; hut few discern how far these very models
fall short Of their own conceptions No stud
OF style. II il Doe not Losing. has deserted more
k""nly the inscparahl" shortcomings NJ written
Language. than the author Of " Never Too Late 10
Mend" Now 1t is obvious that one who rould
lay finger 50 surely on the flaws Of the lite
rary medium. could hardly fail to grade ursht
the skin ~ thos" who had found means 10
man ipulate II. and therefore could not share the
blind nssurnn'c of most tyros. or conceive HIM
SELF competent at the start. II ever. To- vie with
tho great masters Of pictorial diction. In
word Nj. Eeade's short-liycd attempt TO COM
by the adv.ntitous aids Of mixed type novel
punctuation. broken sentences or any other de-
Vic" which should hit the readers sense. and
dart the meaning into his brain. really att.-t"d
an auspirlaus sincerity OF purpose and a pro-
founi diihden'e in the writer's powers OF oll-
cient work in the normal wny-not the ecccn-
tricty and charlantry which silly people saw
in ii. But Whatever might hc said for such
mechanical helps To the projection Of ideas. II
they had long been naturaizsd on the printed
page. il soon became evident 20 the innOyator
himself that their present application frustrated
his main purpose. their strange and grotrsguc
aspect diNerting the readers mind from the
thought to the nero vehicle Of ut,erance
Accordingly Mr. Readc soon SIT himself 10
toll ia the old ruts and In eNtort from tn. verbal
apparatus handed down Ia us what potency Of
expression lay IN Il. He does not seem "a have
been born an artist in language; perhaps no
man IL, and yvt We cannot tut think Stcrnc and
Thatkeray must have owed to nature. and not
study. their ninhle un"rrins f"li ity indeed.
th" aroma 81 their humor often seems too
subtle aud 'vune-cont to consent to any hut an
iniuItiSr ennis, lmeni. II is safer. however. t.
minimize the share Of intuition and to mag
Nifty the share Of industry IN every artistic
achievement. and if We are lei to dwell with
special emphasis on the pains' king habits ci
TINS particular author. It = hcnuusr in his ini-
tIal ventures the workman did not always hide
his too.s-his IDEAS and images moved some
what stlfly ia their dress OF words. although
the latter was uniformly trim and fresh. never
ccoud-hand n sloveny But looking at his
| later books-for example. this new conner. the
Wuupu- IIatrr"--we nnd bis command of the
| English tongue almost unique among contcm-
/ porary writer's His management OF is stru.-
| ture and idiom II ns dcn ana supple as Matthew
| Arnold's. and his vocabulary Will be- found
| upon comparison. To have u " der range than
George Elot-. II hers in some directions seems
to he more richly stored. Ii W. except certain
dainty. ethereal kinds Of IRONY and humor aud
also the oti,s and least selfish slrivings OF hui
man nature tubout whose absence ia the work
OF THIS author We may like To saw aWur,n there
| IL scarcely any theme conceivable. short II ab-
strni, science. or technical art, 10 which Mr.
! H. ade style does not happily lend itself in th"
| present volume. We como here on bits Of
scenery 10 Watrh whose cleanliness AMI vivid
ness of touch We should have to 20 10 Ruskin
| and Waiter Scott. and while both of those
| famous landscape painters would have used
| NOR strokes of Tia" brush. there are dialogues
| whose dash and spark" an cNquis t. 4 .unouiy
OF words might he parallced. perhaps. in Con
| grove. hut ur'cly in any later Eng -A drama
u-i ur novelist; and. finally. there arr, embodied
| characters. human beings. which. on fhr -ln--
what homrY plano of thought and purpose
| WI r." they dwell. are ~ Sharply outlined. as
| SNOWY aud as instln, with lie. 49, ar the tx
| ur,r. of Curror i II. Such Arm amt exhaustive
control oNel the resources of our language may
| lave b-'n gained. Us the author mor.thau once
| frankly tells u hy intense. motnoIical AMI un-
RENTING labor. but It is not tho loss a sY4,n44d
| proof of genius.
THIS mastery Of lirlion is well cycmplincd in