New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-08-31
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
MATTHEW ARNOLD.

MATTHEW ARNOLD. limo, PIP. VIII S'S' NAV
milan & Co.
Mr.. Matthew Arnold quotes an oblectoh '"'''.
70 his writings OH the score of q want OF coherent
pbilosophic method There arc fixed anu pnio
sophie ideas obvious enough in ths whole genera.
tendency of bis critical essays and II he does ho'
think il worth while to protest against the charge W
which he good naturally refers. it is perhaps oc,
cause lie considers the systematic arranse"ich' VI
his principles a matter of very niue cohse
ouence in n publication like the present
volume of short extracts, seldom overpasslng one
or two pages could hardly he taken rom .he
works of more rigidy methodicai phiiosopner
without committing injustice But inc seiecuo'S
now before MS. since they are put forth by MI
Aruold's publishers. must have been made WIN MS
approval if not by his own hand. and they may DC
assumed TO give not only fair sample of his pol
ished and graceful style and the delicate and acute
+urn of his mind but also faithful exhibition OF
his principles of criticism. What he says OF sys
tematc judgments" deserves 10 be read at the Dc
ginning:
Many and diverse must he the judgments passed
upon every great poet. upon every cohsitcrapi9
writer. There is the Judgment oil enthusiasm "u
admiration, which proceeds from aidtht YOUTH
easily fired. eager to find hero ana 10 woIsn'p
him. There is the Judgment OF gratitude ana SYN,
no.Iy which proceeds from those VINO ma III IN
author what helps them, what they want, ani w no
rate him at a very high value accordingly.
There is the indnGnt S St u ,9EUaV Of envy
and jealousy. Finally there is the systeinaIc
Judgment, and this Judgment Is The most voorhees,
of ALL The sharp scrutiny OF envy ana jealousy
may bring real faults to light. The judgments oi
iucomp,tinility and ignorance are Instructive
whether they reveal necessary clcitS OF separation
between the experiences of different SORTS OF peope,
or reveal simply the narrowness and bounded view
OF those who judge But the systematic Jnnshent
is altogether unproftablc. Its author mas noV
really his eve upon the professcd object OF ms CRU
.iSm AT all. but upon something else when ne ne
wants TO prove 10y means of that object lie
neither really tells us, therefore, anythihg noona
the object nor ANYTHING about his own ignorance
of the object. lie never fairly logs AT II, nc IS
looking at something else Perhaps II ne oohtu az
il straight and full looked at II simply, ne light
bc able TO pass sood judgment on IT. AS u Is an
he tells MS is that lie is no genuine criuc' out ma"
with "A system, an advocate.
Here is the fault of Professor Hermann irimm.
and of his Berlin lectures on Goethe. Inc IIo-
niece of advocacy. Professor Grimm Is not looking
straight at the greatest poet oil all tnies ana oi
all peoples p; he is looking ut the necessities as 70
literary glory, of the new German empire -iiAcu
Essays
Mr. Arnold as we all know is the apostle OF high
culture and he applies the same test indicated by
that tenn not only to literature, bat to po'ltcs'
society philosophy and religion. All these helds
of thought and action are represented III TINS vol
uIne of Passages" and closely are they con-
nected i'll his mind that the distribution OF the eX-
tracts among the catcgories into which he has dl-
yidcd them seems now and then to be somewhat
arbitrary. Culture he says in one place, is TO
know the best that has been thought and sad III
the world" and this definition justifies his asser.
tion that the thing which Europe most desires
il criticism"-a commodity of which England fur
nishes little because England lacks literary con
science
LITERARY CONSCIENCE.
ain France" saws NJ Sainte- Beuve, {" the first
consideration for MS is not whether we are amused
and pleased bv work OF art or mlnd nor is IL
whether we are touched by it. What We seek
above all to learn is whether right Ill being
amused with it. and III aprlaudng IT, ana Ill belng
moved by it, Those are very remarka;oie wor"S
FrcnchInan has, TO considerable degree. what one
NAV call conscience in intellectual matters he
has an active belief that here Is a right ana
wrong in Them that lie is bound to honor and obey
the right. that he is disgraced by cleavlng TO the
wrong. All the world has, or PROCESSES to have
this conscience in moral matters: lhe WORD con-
science has become almost confined, IN popular
use to the moral sphere. because this nvely
susceptibility of feeling is. Ill the mpra
sphere so far more common than In the
intellectual sphere. The Hyclier, i'll the moral
sphere, this susceptibility is, the greater be,
comes q mans readiness TO admit high STANDARD
Of action an ideal authOrltatvey correcting MS
every day moral habits here. such willing adnls-
sion of authority is due to sensItlveneSs or con-
science And like Difference 10 a standard higher
than ones own habitual standard in intellectual
matters "A like respectful recognition OF Il supe-
rGr ideal Is caused III the intellectual sphere by
scnsitivcness of intelligence. Those whose inteiil-
gencc is quickest openest most sensitive are read
lest with tins Difference: those Whose intelligence
is less delicate and sensitive are less disposed 70 H.
-" ESSAYS III Criticism"
France finds a standard Of taste and authority
in her Academy but it would be impossb le TO set
up such an institution in England. Everyone
who knows the characteristics OF our national
life knows exactly what an English academy
would be like One can the happy family in
ones minds eve distinctly as If 1t were already
constituted" There would be Lord Stanhope, Dean
Milman. Bishop Wilbcrforce. Lord Houghton, Mr..
Gladstone Dean Stanley, Mr.. Froudc. Mr.. Henry
Reeve" everything which is influential. accom-
pshed and distinguished; and then, some fine
morning a dssatisfactiOn of the public mind with
this brilliant and select coter,e flight of CORN
titan leading articles and Eruption of Mr.. u.
A. S,la. Clearly this not what will do us good.
The very same faults.t want of scnsitlvcness oil
intellectual conscience. the disbelief in right
reason. tue dislike of autlorty.-which have hill
dered orr having academy and have worked ILL
,uriously in literature. would also hinder us
from making our academy. if we established it, one
which wonld really correct Them" The subject is
touched again in the following passage:
THz MOLE oY PRoVINCIALITY.
Tn . production which we have all been reading
lately nroi"ction stamped thronghout WIN
literary quality very rare IN TINS county,
,rbanify in this production, the work o. man
never to he named 10y any son OF oxford without
eylnI,atny a man who alone i'll Oxford OF his gen
Grafton alone of many generations conveyed In us
Ia his genius that same charm. that same ILL
efalic sentiment which this exquisite place ITSELF
con,cys-I mean Dr. Ncwman.-an expression is
frequently used which liz more common III theo-
logical than in literary language bnt which seems
10 re fitted To he of general scIV cc the note OF so
and 40, the note of cathcicity, the note of an
tieui:y the Notc of sanciiy. and Adopting
this prcSsivc word. SAY that III the bulk of The
intclirt tnal work of nation which has 10 centre
no intellectual metropolis like academy, like
NJ Sainte- lierve's "sovereien organ of opinion"
ike NJ Rcuan's recOgzrd authority in matters of
tone ard taste there is observable a note of
proyinciaty. Now. to get rid of proyincaity is "a
certain stage of culture; n stage the positive re-
In Of