New-York tribune., 1878-12-20
LONDON TOPICS.
ART AND LITERATURE.

tlOn has an interest," WlucT tndn tno WOfl0
which cares for art; 1t has social interest
The Academy private views, the Academy re-
ceptons the Academy dinners. are all festivals oi
some importance, and for which invitations are
eagerly sought. Accordingly, it is urged rather
strongly that the new president ought to be not only
good painter, but man who knows the usages OF
the world. who can make speech IL need be, and
who has tact enough and familiarity enough with
great people to administer the Academy with sue.
cess and look after its relations with official mag.
mates and with the purchasing public. Mem
are good deal scattered just now, and
no formal canvass has been made. but 10
seems pretty clear that Mr.. Frederick Leighton 10
the popular candidate. One authority says the
contest lies between him and Mr.. Horsley; which
is absurd enough xplcabe the vagaries OF the
Royal AcadcmIcians are at times. Mr. Caide-
vons name is a more respectable and his friends
are putting IL forward. Mr. Mlais, as the ac-
knowledged head Of the most powerful and success
ful group of artists England, seems to be out Of
the running. should have thought the place would
naturally fall either to him or to Mr.. Leighton but
there appears to be some reason which makes the
choice of Mr.. Mlais unlikely. He is nevertheless.
reckoned good fellow among his comrades, and ia
something OF a celebrity in society. Mr.. Leightons
claims are manifold. He stands in the front rank
of English artists; SURPRISING all of them in ssme
Oh
cellence in art He is both painter and sculptor,
lnguist and orator, too and parsonage OF so many
accomplishments that too enthusiastic friends have
tried to call him the English Michael Angelo. If
he does not reach the stature Of the great Floren
tine he at least towers high above the mediocrtes
who practice painting as profession in England
In these DAYS. He has Continental reputationj
which can be said Of few English painters,
even now, when the exhibition OF English
art at Paris has distinctly increased its
position abroad and when one or two names have
been added to the short list of those English artists
who are esteemed by the connoisseurs OF other
countries. Mr.. Leighton's services IN collecting and
arranging English pictures for that exhibition
ought to count for something He did more than
anyone except the Prince of Wales, and he with.
drew bis own pictures from competition for re-
wards, otherwise, there can be no doubt that he
would have taken one of the two great medals
giyen 10 England. There was not in all the
exhibition more solidly and nobly painted
portrait than Mr. LeightOn's portrait OF
Captain Burton He is an artist and something
more; man of great intellectual gifts. OF unusual
culture, of wide sympathes. If he be elected
president of the Royal Academy, there will be rea-
son to hope that change may come over the spiris
which has too much governed it of late; that 10
will fulfil its duties to the State and TO Art In
catholic temper and Win nlRu arms.
An excellent contrast to the flimsy bOok-notcina
of The Athendeum may be found in the review Of
Mr.. Henry James, jr.s The Europeans" in this
weeks 1cademy / have already quoted some
of the emptiness out of the former journal
Mr. w. f. Henley the critic Of The Academy
saws of THE Europeans" that, while it is scarcely
80 touching as Mr. Jamess " Daisy Miller" which
he pronounces out and away the best thing OF Its
kind in recent English, it Is, nevertheless, piece
of work so capable and original, so vigorous aud TO
a certain point so telling as TO be worthy of equal
praise and study" And then
eft Is not possible to read The Europeans with.
out the admiration of absorption. 1t has all the
qualities of o rare etchng-of an etching, that is to
say the beauty Of which Is beauty of line and de-
pends In no measure property Of tone or an ar
ranpement of masses. The effect of the whole thing
Ia that of something colorless and cold, but so
subtle and right so skful and strong as to force
the attention first and aferward the respect OF thosa
who consider it. Mr. James has suth lent con.
tempt for prettiuess and obviousness His
purpose has been, not at all to write book, and
still less to write story, but to show off the spirit
ual machinery of some six or eight men and women.
all of whom are interesting from certain human
point of view, but none of whom ore in any degree
heroic or even extraordinary; aud to do this with
as much art and as little apparent excuse for ID as
has been altogether successful. The
book is, In fact remarkable book.
in it's merits as in its shortcomings.
As stands it is perhaps the purest piece of realism
ever DONE And there seems every reason to believe
that if Mr.. James could or would endow such
work o. in 1t he proves himself capable of with
the interest of a high tragic passion, he might be
not only one of the ablest but also OF the most
renowned novelIsts of his epoch"
This rather long extract quote not only Tor It's
interest to American readers as English estimate
of an American book, but as an extremely good cI-
ample of the best kind of purely literary work now
done in an English weekly. 1t is not necessary that
one should agree with every point in such eriti-
cism in order to respect it sincere and intelligent
II you have lately looked through q great many
English papers, of the lighter sort especially you
have noticed no doubt, that they have said good
deal about what they call tho decadence of The
Times. Not few people talk as If the great journal
had reached and passed the climax Of its fame ana
power and were now going steadily down hill. This
is said much too strongly, though 1t would be dim"
cult to deny that the editing Of it, since Mr. Delanes
retirement has left much to be desired IL Is even
alleged that its circulation has fallen of. avn
rather disposed to agree with the remark of jour
nalist who is friend to the paper, that 1t nishs
be printed in Hebrew without losing a Thousand
readers. But I heard an odd story yesterday.
man who was staying in country house,
remote from railway station, in one OF the
Southern Counties. where they did not take mo
Times told his host he particularly wanted to see
next days issue. ''Oh," was the answer. " there's
no difficulty in that. The carrier Who takes all tho
newspapers to my neghbors calls here first. VIII
look over his parcel and find out to whom ihs
Times goes, and send servant on pony to borrow
it for you from the nearest house" So next morn'
In th. rarcol ,uaa dnly anined IL contained in