New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1878-11-02
LONDON LITERARY TOPICS.

woR1p-Nrw EDITIONS ON INDIA PAPER OF
STANDARD WORKS.
frRoM THE REGULAR CORRESPONDENT OF THE IRlBUNEl
LONDON. Oct 5.-Mr. Henry James, JUS, latest
novel "The Europeans" has been puOhshed IN
London by Messrs Macmillan, in two volumes and
has become the subject of reviews and a topic ot
conversation. The AthenGam remarks with fatuty
ALI its own that but for few local touches and
names the scene might be laid in an English coun-
try village, Why not say that but for few words
of Saxon origin the book might be written IN he
brewi 1t is, in fact one of its pecuharlties
that the book is saturated, II may
use the word, with local color and local
feeling That is gifts charms, audit Is so obvious
that one wonders how even an 1thenGum reviewer
sleepily reviewing an American book could nave
missed It, He complains that Gertrude Wentworth
Is not pretty enough, and that few signs OF her
character or temperament are displayed" III the
story This single piece of criticism leads the re-
viewer 10 the conclusion that " the author has
hardly employed the materials at his service to the
best advantage, and that even a sketch could
have borne somewhat more development of plot and
character" There is nothing malicious in this Wis
dom. The journal which emits 1t has heretofore
bestowed It's approval on Mr.. James, and Is KIND
enough 10 say even now that the tale is on the whole
pleasantly written. This is much III the manner OF
the celebrated critic who wont to observe that
the work might have been better had the artist
more pains Like the rest of the accomplished au'
tbor's books" continues the writer, it is defaccd
by remarkably few of what we commonly think
Americanisms." Almost the only expression which
strikes his sensitive English unusual lis when
st is said she touched her lips to a glass of wine
What Mr.. James ought to have said instead OF this
we are not told, and confess should never have
known without reviewers help that there was
anything wrong in the phrase.
haya cotA hornVpr
was raey with New-England cOllOquiaisms.
Gertrude and Charlotte Wentworth are what
the Baroness calls them-Puritans TO their
fnger-tips but Puritans of high Though not rare)
type. So IS their father, old Mr.. WentwOrth,-One
of the most life-hke portraits that ever seemed
ready to step out of a frame. None of the Went
worths talk as English people in similar rank OF
life talk. They as well-bred and as cultivated
but their breeding is of a simpler sort, and their
culture perhaps even more genuine that that
of their kin beyond sea-" In any case it
Is as unlike-the whole interior and life of the
Wentwortbs-that of an English country-hOuse as
chateau in France is unlike. The points of dissmi
larity Mr.. James has brought out with admirable
skill. He calls his book sketch, and sketch 1t is
no doubt, but he has done no work which reveals
more power than this or power of kind more sell
dom met with in English or American prose The
stamp of the artist is it. The patron of the cir
culatIng library who wants a book to read with
one eye shut and the other not Open, may complain
that the demand on his attention is too great, and it
Is true that this is not a novel in which the author
has relied on heavy strokes or garish contrasts
of color for his effects. A critic who had applied
his best powers to the discovery of Miss BraddOns
merits might find some of Mr.. James's escape him.
The delicate ingenuites of his style are moi more
subtle than the hints and suggestions by which Mr.
James is sometimes content to indicate his meaning
q acof1,i cto Nnur,
the relations between Acton and the Baroness
through conversation In which far more is meant
than meets the ear You perceive that the interlo-
tutors perfectly understand each other, but they
convey their meaning much as French actress indi-
rates an emotion. There is no attempt to express
Details. A great deal is taken for granted. The
Ellipses are those Of writer who knows his language
well enough to take liberties wihit, and who assumes
that his readers know it equally well. This habit
of mind this degree of culture, this mastery, which
are shown in the structure of sentence and in
style are shown equally in the conduct of a story.
Ii is only the novice who thinks it necessary TO put
every thing in. 1t must be said that Mr.. James has
carried this far rather not this but cOarser
process which consists in the eXcisiOn suppress
SION of some portion of the work which he must
have intended to make part of this sketch. There
Is want of proportion. The slight Irritation be-
tween Eugena and Clifford-which is but cpl
1nent between Eugenia and Robert Acton is too
abruptly uuravelled at the end. Faults Of this kind
may be due to the eXigences of editors
or to other mechanical causes. They do not
much diminish the excellences of the book, winch
have proved so impressive that find myself trav
cling quite out of my province, and in danger of
reviewing 1t myself whereas set out only TO quote
other mems opinions. The 1HenGWm stands alone
so far as know in its inadequate estimate of THE
no noi1t Aa,rQfp n I'm
different fashion, and feels thoroughly the interest
of this representation of the Wentworth family
with their plain living and high thinking, their
natural goodness and their Puritan traditions
And there is good notice of an unusual kind
In The UOrld paper which, whatever you may
think of its conception of journalism, is edited
with ability from its own point OF view.
Mr. James's position in England, ! may add, is no
longer dependent on reviews. He has public of his
own; large and increasing number of such readers
asare most sensible of that refinement and restraint
Of style which are among the least common quail
ties in English noveists Of the day. They have
discovered that here is with the power of
drawing character in few mastery stTokes-char-
acters moreover which bear little resemblance to
the conventional and hackueyed types in vogue; and
that he can tell a story. When no published his
volume Of French Poets and NOveliss one of the
secrets of his culture was disclosed 1t became clear
That he had studied in French schools. and studied
10 some purpose. Even The AthenGum was of opinion
that Mr.. Jamess essays in French literature had an
exceptional value. And it is known that the most
competent Judge in England, Mr.. Matthew Arnold,
expressed similar opinion. One of Mr.. James's
earlier novels has been reprinted here but The
American" whether reprinted not, seems diff
cult to procure and such copies have found their