New-York tribune., 1879-11-13
LONDON LITERARY TOPICS.

A LOSS TO LIIERAIukE-liL iLrh ii'7i"'
AN ARTICLE BY THE LATE LEONARD MoNitfio"h
pUBIIsuED-BRILLIANT PROSPECTS ENDED bf
HIS uNTIuELY DEATH-THE SPECTATOR RE-
VIEWS PROFESSOR NJ. c. TyLER's history Of
AMERICAN LITRRATURE-rwo VOLUMES III
HENRY JAMES. JR.. PUBLISHED.
irRoM THE REGULAR CORRESPONDENT OF THE rRiBuNEl J
JoSnoS Nov LIN the November number OF
The Nineteenh Century will be found careful ana
interesting article on " "Alsace-Lorraine since loh,
by the lamented writer who dicda Newport hhoue
Island in the early part of last month. lhe dea'n
OF Leonard Montefiore put an end to career Oh
singular promise. He was but twenty-six years of
age he took his degree at Oxford only last year;
ne had published no book. he had done no
crcat thing in public life, vet his loss has
bcen widely felt He belonged TO n race
which is steadily charging its share in English
public hfe and to one of the most ancient and hon
orable families of that race. The name OF ms
fathers uncle Sir Moses Montefoye, is known the
world over and Sir Francis Goldsmid. his uncle on
the other side. was hardly less distinguished. The
Mon:efiores and Goldsmids are of that aristocracy
which owes its distinction in part TO ancient line
age and great wealth, but still more TO the
splendor Of their charities and their pure
life. Among all the Jewish people in
England there was, | suppose, no young man who
had such start IN life as Leonard Monteiiore.
Many of the best traditions his family were per-
sOnifed in him. and along with these peculiar inlu-
ences went other incentives such as to-day touch
the ambition Of well-born yoang EngIishmen. Al
Oxford he worked mainly on German and History.
winning the Iaylorian Exhibition, and missing
the scholarship, for which he stood his',
by an accident for which he was not
responsible. To the classical studies for which OK
ford reserves her great prizes he paid little aten-
tol. But once heard an Oxford Don say that
a.. sffh lao fe.y
well on all subjects. Perhaps to a Hebrew, the
learning of Greece and Rome seems nearly as mod
ern as that of what we call modern Europe and so
he went In for German. lie had applied himself ca
eerly TO literature and politics. and in politics espe-
cally TO German politics. Like most young men who
have much stuff in them. he took radical views OF
public life. lie had passionate love of liberty, aud
apassonate hatred. not of tyranny merely, as one
writer remarks. but of every form of authority
which he deemed excessive. and every limitation OF
freedom to his mind not absolutely necessary. In
his love for Germany this led him to set greater
store by the freedom of the individual German than
by the political union of the German states. His
articles IN The NRtCeRM Century on Liberty IN Ger
many were saturated with this feeling-this
last article not less than the others; and
so were his letters from Berlin 10
The TYmcs. which made their mark at once. What
ever he wrote was full of knowledge, with good
promise Of literary power. For his age, he had writ
ten much. He frequent contributor to The
AtLenaaa and to The Spectator had published
paper Hcine in The FOrtaighy and was one of the
winters on the new edition of the Encyclopedia
Britannica. There was something better than mere
cleverness abont his work. lie wrote freshly, and
with all his industry in mastering subjects his facts
did not overload his mind or hinder him from think
ing on lines Of his own.
He went TO America, many young English
men now 60 to advance his political education. 1t
was settled that he was TO enter Parliament and he
would have stood for Weymouth al the next general
election. You would haze been sure to hear more
of him. Among the many classes of people who i'll
England deplore his loss none have lost more than
the poor ot his own race. HIS charities of that
graceful kind in which TO generous giving is added
personal effort aud kiudliness, and genuine interest
in the lot of those whom he helped With all this he
delightful associate, whose spirits
never failed, ana who was good company In all
companies You perceive, doubt. that i am
writing of a friend, and it is for that reason that
write of him with more reserve than if were sum-
ming up the character of stranger But there were
few men who knew Leonard Montefore at all who
did not think OF him rs friend, and who do not re-
gret him sincerely. That his family deeply
grateful for the kindness shown him by so many
persons in so many ways during his illness need
hardly be stated.
In the course of a review of Mr.. Tylers History
Of American Literature" a writer in to-days Spec
tdOr remarks that nothing but the persistent
American hallucinatiOn as 10 the significance OF
small American work. by reason of the youth and
freshness of the National genius could have induced
any author to enter upon a labor of such scrupuous
thoronghncss" lie adds that "Mr Tyler
has done "a service to history; whether he has done
service 10 literature which already too self
i,a IN
of this sort are worth a moments attention, when
they appear in a paper like The Spectator; in The
Safardoy Rerictr, which Tcves most things Amer
lean because they are American, they would deserve
none But the writer's article proves him neither
ignorant nor itempered il is written with knowl-
edge and vigor, and Mr.. TylcI's work gets as much
praise as can with the theory that " history OF
American literature must inevitably be that unat-
tractivo thing heavy collection of small matters
heavy, not weighty-a mass of mediocrities."
Part of this criticism is answered In advance in
Mr. Tylers preface aud first chapters but the topic
is one which deserves fuller treatment. Anybody
who has leisure and space may put number of
questions. and answer them in some detail, with
certainty OF having audience for the discussion.
For example Is It true that an American ballucna-
tiOn exists TO the significance Of small American
worki If it exists, is il based-tO any and what
extent-on conviction that the National genius is,
or ought TO be, youthful and freshf Does
this haucination-if hallucnation IT be-diier
from that which exists in England touch
ing the significance of small English work,
or in France as to small French work. IL we
neglected our own early literature, small or great,
would It he more or less likely to become greater,
aud should we incur more OF less reproach for that
neglect than falls TO lot for the present degree
of attention We give to iti With the International
Copyright Law IN its present state. are really in