The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1879-04-13
SOME NEW HOOKS.
Mr.. james. Latest work.


Form of Man. by HENRY JAMES Boston:
HouRhton. Osgood & Col seem like tho utter
ance OF "A man born in a castle in the air living
in the clouds, and seeing the skies. the world
and human kind through the rack by which he
is enveloped. At times the voice from aloft
seems preternatural or incohercnt or like an
echo; at times II betrays the presence Of pain
and physical disorder; now 1t grows full OF
tumult, and now you hear sounds OF mockery
orof mlrth. But again aud often the voice 10
plain and the language solemn; you listen to
ideas that surprise 10y their novelty. quicken By
their wisdom. provoke by their audacity or be-
witch by their subtle charm-ideas that have
their roots deep in the authors nature and that
have grown with his being through these many
years OF meditation and OF speculation.
The theme or substance Of the book Is not 10
DO at once apprehended from its tito which.
moreover, Is not OF easy Interpretation. BY
society is meant man In his social quality or
being. free from the evils Of selfhood. existing
In divine harmony. and living openly the life
OF good. 1t II the incarnation Of the Creator in
the creature Thus alone the redeemed form Of
man is reached and this redemption s brought
about by the operation Of that divine humanity
revealed in Jesus Christ. The race OF man. on
human nature. In not the mere uncouth lump
ing OF our acrid selves. but the transformation
OF our natural selfhood intoHn inefTable unitary
order called society. The divine form OF nature
or creation Ia constituted by society-that word
meaning. in Mr.. James's Vocabulary, not any
such anarchy as the race Is now grooming and
sitting under. but the essential brotherhood.
fellowship. equality Of each man with all mon.
and all men with each man. in God. These
sentences may not satisfactorily elucidate tho
title OF Mr.. James's book but nothing less than
the book itself will suffice for that.
-. Ia L., - To-,
quiring friend. and the author makes full uso
OF the freedom Of language. address. and con-
fession which belongs TO this kind Of literature.
He il not afraid OF words that arc whimsical.
ugly. or ferocious. but startles the reader by
putting them In association with the loItiest
lucubratons. The most sacred IDEAS are often
clothed in fashion that must shock or alarm
the orthodox mind; and the frequent iuXtapo-
sition Of incongruites is apt to produce feel
ings not in keeping with the gravity Of the text
In hand. BY these means not only is the aten-
ton kept alive and alert. butthe effect ofnovelty
is secured ana on this ground Mr.. James's
admirers are sure to forgive much to the temper
and traits OF his mind. which have manifested
themselves prominently in all OF his various
works. from the time OF his Mordiism aud
Christianity. thirty years ago. to the date OF the
present volume. In the course Of these letters.
he occasionally takes depression into the field
OF spiritual autobiography. making revelations
OF himself that help us to see the origin of at
least some Of his views. He is familiar with tho
doleful dumps. He is. and appears always to
have been. in III health. man of sincere head
and heart. he yet makes confession OF moral
turpitude and pusillanimity that can be ac-
counted for only by those impoverished nerves
and many ailments 10 which h. once and again
refers; and there can be nothing queerer. in
view Of some OF his remarks. than when he says
that none but truly good man has courage to
avow himself knave.
Under the guise OF letters the book ls series
OF metaphysical and philosophical excursions.
II has substance. shape. and an informing
thought; but its author Is not. in tho vulgar
sense. a formal logician or system maker. In
his free way. he discourscs OF divinity and hui
manty. the world and the spirit. nature and re-
demption. the Church ana the State religion
and dogma. science and philosophy. life. free
dom. and destiny. He is more especially stu-
dent Of the operations Of the Divine Being in
man. and OF the purpose OF the Divine work
within the race upon the earth. He does not
seek 10 enforce by argument any position he
may take or thought he may express; and no
tells his friend TO cast away all apprehension OF
being reasoned into the truth. or having tho
understanding coerced against the hearts con-
sent. In his view. the truth here presented ia
great enough TO authenticate itself or furnish
its own evidence; II disowns all outward au-
thorty; and he even goes so far IA to say that
| he cannot offer a single reason. unprompted by
| the heart. why he himself believes the truth In
! question or any other truth for that matter;
and that the hearts sincere craving for truth Ia
the only thing that. In the long run. approves
to the intellect MANY minds will. OF course
revolt against such basis OF faith in the realm
of abstract conception. but they will seek in
| vain for any other from Mr.. james.
| While the fundamental postulato OF Mr.. James
Is the divine humanity OF Jesus Christ. and
while he accepts the Scriptures. the miracles
and the Christian facts. he yet uses language
about the current Church and State that will
seem TO many but rank sacrilege and sedtion.
| He never grows tired OF denouncing In ram
corous words the heathenish superstition and
| in1dety Of which they appear TO him to be tha
manifestation and embodiment Instead Of
exemplifying the divine life and service.
they are vapid. frivolous. and hellish. thd
teachers OF mere moralism. liberalism. legal
| ism. and selfhood. In his view. professional
re gion stamps itself the DEVILS subtlest device
! for ensnAring silly, selfish men, and keeping
! the human soul in bondage. This ugly beast
! has TO him two heads, one called Rituasm. in
tended TO devour men OF sentiment and
decorum; the other called Rcyvalism. with
great red mouth intended TO gobble up
coarser sort Of men. susceptible only OF tho
most selfish hopes and the most selfish fears.
lie loathes the hatulent Church and the dis.
honest State, hates the existing Infamous civil
ization. and would gladly beat the drum and
blow the trumpet for their final burial out Of
human sight He holds that the protesting
Christian Church reviles every quality and Inc
terest OF Christ whose very name in il has be-
come n synonym for the most signal dishonoT
shown to Gods spiritual perfection; and he
Woo was put to his death Of shame only by this
righteous men Of his day and generation, now
finds himself in ours rosuscitated to a doom in
hnitely more Infamous and helpless, in beinl
made the shibboleth OF the openrst nnl most
unconscious hypocrisy ever revealed uud's
heaven. Mr.. James delivers mailed tons
upon the current Church as death and damua-
ton TO every soul OF man that finds II life, as
the abominNtion Of desoaton, the refuge AMI
embodiment Of the frankest spiritual eg iism
and tho rankest spiritual cupidliy; and be- Lea
cares himself provoked to Alternate smiles
4 fAffH-