The Portland daily press., 1877-01-20


still be called good, could one subdue his esti.
mate OF what must be expected from a "late
President of Harvard COLLEGE" THAR sinh.
]ects are, for the most part, of the practical
order, relating to the conduct of life; they
show considerable acumen in analytical argu-
ment; their tone is positive, wholesome, and
sound" They appear to aim simply at prac-
tical instruction on the plane of common sense
They are honest. manly. earnest and eminently
sensible. And yet, 1t must be confessed, thew
are slow. They belong to period when time
was long and art was short. A mind yery
much at leisure can perhaps follow them at
tentively, but slight mental pre-oecupation
suffices to distract the readers attention from
these slow moving sentences until he ia
brought to by some indication of new depart
ure;-"my next general remark" ;" ''my second
inference" again" "Once more" etc.
those welcome mile-posts so judiciously placed
in slow sermons to indicate progress.
1t may be well imagined that, in their day,
when church-goers were not 50 busy as they
are now, and delivered by him as his own fresh
utterance. and supported by the prestige Of his
academic position, and emphasized from point
to point by that wide-eyed, CLASSY, unearthly
stare with which in awful pause he seemed to
challenge opposition from distant. upper cor
ner OF the auditorium, and which, to younv
minds, considerably relieved the monotony of
his DISCOURSE these sermons might have been
to many hearers valuable and effective. In
the cold light of the printed page they may be
seen to contain great amount of solid and
useful matter. Nevertheless, it was scarcely
just to the memory of DR.. Walker to put them
into print even though with the implied res
ervation that it,was done aganstihis will.
O. w. B.
THREE MEMORIAL Poems: By James Russell Low
ell. Boston, j. r. 0sgood s. Co. Portland: Loring,
Short s. Harmon.
Three odes-one read at Concord, April
10, 1875, that written for the celebration be-
meath the branches of the "Washington Elm
In Cambridge, and the Centennial ode for the
4th OF July, 1S76-form the contents of this
volume. The Concord ode is brilliant and en-
trely poetic in conception, the verse is ringing
and msuical as peal of bells, and the figure
OF Freedom is at once powerful and inspired
with winged grace and movement Mr.. Low
ellis manner in this, as in the following
ode, and occasionally in the Centen.
NAL poem, shows somewhat the infiu-
ence OF the more modern school of poets, while
the native directness and wealth of of his origi-
nal gift remain unaltered. The superb sweet
ness, the delicately accumulated power of the
goddess OF the Concord ode recalls the poise of
RaphsePs "Hours", and the verse compels in.
slant delight by its spontaneous beauty. The
Cambridge poem is in more serious and stately
vein, and contains some of the noblest lines
that Mr.. Lowell has ever written. His charac-
terization of Washington is so unhackneysd,
80 rounded and thorough in its fine fathfulness
that it has the worth of statue from life, and
deserves to te lasting memorial through
"The winged years that winnow praise and blame".
The Centennial ode is less fortunate in treat
ment than the two poems which precedo 1t. In
it the Massachusetts, politician stiles the utter.
ance of the national poet. Mr.. Lowell In
mounting his platform deserts for while his
Parnassus. 1t must be this poem which has
suggested the propriety of dedicating the vol
ume to the editor of the Nation newspaper. 1t
may be allowable to speak here very briefly Of
the apparent ambitions and fats acconpHs of
that journal. 1t was proposed to fur nish the
public with opinion ready made, to set up a
dictatorship similar to the English rule OF the
Times, and Mr.. Godkin-born in the purple of
an Olympian nona-de-pIame.t that with its pretty
Saxon dminutive implies the demi-deity, the
miniature Jove able and willing to WELD the
terrors of this reduced copy of the "Thur-
dererers' bolts-was selected as its editor.
Great is the weight Of disaffection constant
and all-smbracing, especially when EN- phasized
by so admirable literary style as is his
The criticisms of the Nation, political and lit
erary, are of discouraging and paraly zing
tendency; before its bar men and measure are
held guilty until proved innocent; and it, es.
pecially in literary matters, is too apt rather to
deal with technical imperfections than to give
credit for high, if imperfectly fulfilled aims
aud to appreciate the motives and tendencies
of an author. The Nation has acquired by its
persistent policy of non-admiration an absolute
influence over o certain class of readers-the
the timid, the dyspeptic, the disappointed In
politics, and above all the large class of men
who like their opinions ready-made, and believ-
ing honest expression to consist in universal
condemnation, do not reflect how easy it is to
say how things should not be and how hard to
say how they should. These politicians are
Utopians; they blink in the crank prose of
undissembling noon" and long that
$50 would light, not reasons sharp-edged ray,
Trance them in moonshine."
Yet moonshine-poli tical or actual-s made of
uncertain light and sharp shadows. 1t is a
slantwise hold upon worth to dispraise what
ever is, 1t argues wisdom cheaply. Apprecia-
tion is the substance Of which fault-6ndng is
the shadow. The really admirable qualities of
the Nation are precisely those which its
policy has somewat masked-its fearlessness,
honesty and tha wide range of learning aud
talent which its contributors represent. So far
a depression, suggested by the hints Of politi-
cal opinion that Mr.. Lowelrs Centennial ode
affords. In q literary point of view, the ode is
not nearly so fine as the parallel work Of Mr.
Bayard Taylor. 1t has not the harmony and
strength Of design, the fine metrical variety
and subtle music, or the tree, generous move
ment of that model of occasional verse; but il
contains many noble lines, much depth Of
thought and full measure of emotion and Wig
orous impulse. Some passages have wide
sweep, grand, unlimited flow, as of mighty
fast flowing waves, and one recognizes the
touch of the master. A fne sonnet which il
the enuoi of the volume, attests the poets right
to sing in warning and in praise of his country
Yet let him have full faith in her future, be-
| lieving in her as he loves her, and trusting
more to men who are working with her, than
| to the political sect who stand aside with gar
ments held away from the dust of her toll.
TRoUBADoURs AND TRoUvxREs. By Harriet W
Preston. Boston: Roberts Brothers. Portland
Bailey s. Noyes.
The essays which are comprised ia this vol
| ume have already appeared in the Atlantic
Monthly; and lose nothing of their freshness
of interest in their temperance in collective
form, but serve to support and illuminate eacf
other. The gai saber, the glad spontaneous art
of the Troubadours, 1rouatori, Minnesngers-
for they changed their name with their skies
as do all birds of passage-was the beautifu
widespread beginning of all that is richest an(
most musical.in modern poetry. With ma
tive gift, inspiration of high deeds, beauty an'
praise-what wonder that the wandering SINCE
often found chordssthat are sweet in our ear
of to-day.
Miss Preston's familiarity with the Proven