New-York tribune., 1880-02-15
BITS OF CRITICAL OPINION.

wholly ignores the fact practical English sense
IN which personal character and capacity are OF sn
pFeme Dortauce. But perhaps the worst feature or
the work persistent vitupemti0n OF those who
resisted the competitive system Whatever may be
thought Of the merits of tie controversy, only proiound
ignorance upuOu7 partisanship can nave Fus-
gcsted what Mg. Eaton t1olgbOut assulnes-that the
opposition OF the permane oelas was otnerwlse ,nan
dsinteIested ana bfsed Npon plarued co1siuerauonS
affecting solely tue good u the service. Thai mele
politician. appointed to tnc Shaii mansnip ol deaPa s
IN Commission 10y ffslueht VINO caLt,eu 'he ayuso
reformed to ITS extreme height shoudDe mistaken
on such points might seem matter OF course,
ana would hardly be worth noting IL Mr. Eaton did not
stress the opportunities ne has enloYed or acl
ing zeal knowledge of those facts OF Engsh ire anu
administration OF when he Il most sgnaiy 'ghoiaI
The value the treatise from an American point OF
view may he Judged by Que single fact The warmest
American reforiners would be we'll content with that
old Euglsn stem against which the book one long
gous with the To be reformed would almost con-
tent the highest asprations would more tnan sat'iy
the utmost hopes OF those who are iaborng 10
-lrhe saturday Review
RusKIN's BEST STYLE.-Mr. Ruslin, when he
is mos aid ictic has teasing OF writing Of which
The FOL owing quotation from Mr. Bayss's book strongly
reminds us : See how much IS contained IN the word
Beauty Fret, that which gives pleasure 10 tue eyei
second. tnat which pleases the mind synshecay,
ordeT-symmstry or nncn
sciousy follow Ruskn's style. would surely DO wen
TO remember that II i not when he leases a that no
Jus nes bis power over u.s. but wnen MS siye Mlnss
away from al tiresome lessonclyDg, with hne I'M
pulse OF poetrywhcn. in his unversed poetry ne sings
SONGS OF ura Sc 10 truth and beauty With power so
subtle and forcihe that they eaye US almost as lu OF
Mr.
THE QUALITIES OF COOP ILLUSTRATOR
There qualities In the Illustrator oi Hhoner
mans ideas that we require beyond All O,heTs anu tne
first Of scfms to be suppression OK Inc ustia
tors personality, at all events subordnahSn oi y 10
tho personally OF the author whose WoIhs he - aoVt
TO illustrate. Thus, for example, we do not want Mr..
Miass IDEAS OF Thackera, characters, so much as an
embodii5ent OF hat Tnack~ray's VII ideas were con-
Ceruiug then and 1t Is quite conceivable that ,esse.
arts, may b. better illustrator than greater one II
only he possesses this power OF. for the moment,
tbr9virg himself side and entering entirety into
nyr ia nor wholly or indeed chiefly Imag nation.
We should prefer call II rather the power % ind1na-
create IN the powers Of the artist wOrkncout OF ideas
received anol her medumthat OF prose-in similar
way to that In which sympathy is rightly understood TO
he a workinGout in ones own person OF IN pam or
pleasure suffered or enjoyed by another The pleasure,
FOR instance which who have passed the days
vi of gr,tiacation to Others as when we take
children 10 pautomnes, is "A good conimon-pace In
of this feeling In It's more prosaic aspec-iIhe
Spectator.
JUSTICE TO BoswELL.-There are still good
MANY people who agree with Maoauay that Boswell
was one of the smallest men that lived.""a
Of the meanest ana feeblest utellect more foolish
literary Judgment was probably never uttered. Any
one who adopts Il ought TO make experiment OF
producing conversation IN which he has taken part or
cover thar the effects produced by Boswell IN his fe
OF johnson due quite much 70 hrs literary skill
as 10 excellence OF MS subject The truth is that
Notwithstanding the innumeraole absurdities Of bis
character he possessed real genius and Is exhioed
hardly less strikngly IN the Journal OF Tour 10 Cor
sca than his work. although OF course not In
mature form Boswell mad none Of the Qualities
giving form to his personal ooseryations-lIhe he Pail
Mall Gazette.
A CURIOUS VIEW OF ANDRE.-There are GER
tain historical details In the volume fe ot be edlcs
Intercourse with Arnold which are OF considerable im
poranee as 1t seems imp9ssoe' WIN & te evI@ncS %
officer properly regarded and treated as spy AMI
would so have been regarIru anu reaeu ~ any e'
zcd nation IN the world II Is curious 1act that, II
Andie had not been arrested the treason OF Arnold
woud no doubt have been thoroughly successful, and
the efforts Of the Americans for INDEPENDENCE tem
pOrarily II not permanently frustrated Major Andre
NAV De regarded as III certain sense, the
saviour their country, and is perhaps this sentiment
that has produced the enormous amount OF sympathy
always enterta ned for him which eliminated during
the last year III the erection OF monument 10 hls
memory. on the spot where he lost bis hfe, by the
Iorce OF events to take it-tCoonel Chester In The
Academy.
SwINBURNE'S GREATEST SUCCESS IN CRITI-
CIsM-Ine book Is simp,y running commentary upon
the plays. As such 1t must be pronounced Mr.. SWIM
burnes greatest success in criticism: He has written
satisfactorily upon Shakespeare he viii ASK no higher
praise. Besides knowledge OF snakspeares text
which even among experts Is remarkable ana besides
kind OF analyticdl power which his previous writings
dd not lsad us TO expect sno%s more W 1n any ea, @
Lamb that variety of sympathy which Is the frst re-
qulsIte In any man VINO would write about the most
various Of poets and OF men, The remarks on lago are
exceedingly subtle 80 are those upvn the doubtful
plays TO nave suggested so much and 10 have said so
little is a great feat.-iThe Atheneum.
SwINBURNE's SPECIAL DANGER.-It is the
special danger OF Mr. swnburne To become 1nre adsbo.
aud this entirely his aut for what he has say
is very seldom wanting interest. Among the tricks
that his pose style faguDg place his abusive
ness his ave O reference He Is learned thinker;
his mind is stored with memories OF parallel events in
literature, many OF which have never presented them
selves hitherto any mind but his own. He takes for
granted that his reader Ia not only as learned az him
self but ia exactly tie condition OF sympathy and
memory he lightly touches on The distant reference
that has occurred him. and negects 20 give the puz
zled enough cew 20 prevent nis being Obliged
TO break his reading and try 10 suInmon the object
so dmly hInted at (rhe Saturday Review.
NOVELS AND THE RELIGIOUS CIRCLEs.n-It
is thirty years-it Is not tweldy years
since the condemnation OF the novel, IN what were
unre>erved. How the change practre and sentiment
1--WE careful not 10 the word onion) abont
Is another matter one that Will fal 20 be considered
by almost Immediately. But We might almost say
that IL brought surreptitiousy- the New
Fiction different from the Old. made good ITS footing
the teeth Of reasons which remained the same, ana
jOrity OF the stricysodetned religious pu3lic have,
IN admitting the novel, "sinned against hght aud
knowledge" tus they would sayl. When wri.
ters such Charles Kingsley, Miss f"nge and
George Mac Donald have written novels, which
have been read and reished bs millions OF good
and pure souls within distinctly sectarian enclosures
when such books awaken all but universal Of de-
light and gngltude-when that Is the common love
ofapprobauOn (which is usually very IN certain
They do want tO be laughed al, that ali but their
(nOre less) secret opinions remain unaltered the
judgment condemnng works OF fiction Is held exten-
sivey among the serious classes nov incrimi-
will do them more Justice than they, by their
shame faced retcence, do themselves, and VIII boldly
condemnation OF fiction ought 70 stand. Robert Hall
has left it on record that writings did him
much those OF Maria Edgew0rth.-fThs Con-
temporary Review.