New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-09-05
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
ENGLISH LETTERS.


lions from the correspondence of $50 writer's. from
the Period OF the PASTOR Letters 90 he Present pay
Edited and Arranged by W BArrlsrE scooNIs iA"o'
DIP. xix. 573 Harper Brothers
Mr. Scoones remarks iu his brief preface that Tue
quality of English episoary correspondence Is "o'
surpassed by that of any other European nation :
and although some viii no doubt be disposed to as
sert preemincnce for the French. we are inciineo
upon the whole agree with the editor OF thisr
collection. Nor is the art OF letter-wrlting app"
renty in its decline. We hear many Complaints Oh
the decay of what was once considered among the
most elegant of accomplishments. and 1t is no douot
true that the importance formerly attributed to this
snecjcs of compcsition has been diminished by the
multiplication of newspapers and books, while, at
The same tine certain copiOusness and polish oil
epistolarv style has gone out of fashion along with
the formaty of manner which prevailed IN the last
century But we have only to survey the contents
of a volume like thisstrangely meagre though II Is
in contemporary specimens-to be satisfied that Few
better examples of correspondence have been pro-
duced in any age than those which illustrate the 1T
eraturc OF our own day. Ii is remarkable that the
service which Mr.. Scoones has now done us was not
undertaken long ago In such an anthology. ar
ranged as this is in the order OF time, we can NOT
only enjoy the company Of wits and scholars, and
study the display of character. but we can
trace the progress of literary style and the revou
men and women Of past ages in their familiar ana
oonfdeutial communication with friends than it is
possible 10 do in the addresses which they pnned
for the press under the consciousness Of public oh
servatiOn and in many cases 1t Is only when their
books are read by the light of their letters that we
can understand their exact relation 70 the spirit OF
their time etc Ii is in the books that we hud the
best thoughts of The best minds it Is in the letters
that we look for traces of the general thought OF
society, and the manner of speech OF cultivated
persons. Mr.. ScOOnes has done well to adopt the
chronological arrangement instead of attempting
classification by subjects. ANY other plan than the
one he has chosen would have robbed the letters Of
half their significance. His editorial laboTS have
not gone far beyond the work of selection. Brief
notes prcfxcd to most of the epistles give some
account of the writers and the circumstances under
which the letters were penned. Short as these in
lrodGotOns are, many of them might he shorter
with advantages: aud yet there are numerous allu-
sions IN the text which ought to be, and are not.
explained. For instance, we have a letter of Cow
pers written to the Rev. John Newton shortly
after the publication of THE Task and in it is the
following Iassagc, the meaning of which is as
doubtful as the syntaX: Il know no more than yon
what kind of market my book has found; but this
blieve that had not Henderson died, and had
it been worth my while to have given him hun
area pOuNuS 10 nave Itdi ~ III IL NVuiu III"
been more popular THANH is" Tue interest of these
lines would have been greatly enhanced if Mr.
Scoones had explained III foot-nOte that the
popularitv of John Gilpin" was largely owing
to Henderson, the actor. who read ii to crowded
audiences in London. The point. however. upon
which the editor of such collection must expect TO
he most severely assaulted the wisdom of his choice
Picking out Jour hundred and fifty letter, from the
literature OF four hundred years, he may be sure TO
displcase critics. both in what he takes and i'll what
he leaves behiud. Purely political letters he has,
rule, rejected; of purely religious letters the
examples are very few; letters unfit for family
reading have been vigorously excluded. 1t cannot
be said that the specimens of the best letter
writers are satisfactory there are letters which
have no clam TO admission, either because Of their
origin or because of thir merit; and the letters of
"Junlus" and Peter Plmley." which poti-
cal tracts written for publication. clearly should
have place in such collection. The book. upon
the whole, is q little disappointing; yet it is
good that we are rather disposed to praise the
Industry of the compiler than find fault with his
Judgment.
In turning over the pages the reader viii be
struck by the long interval that passed before
epistolary correspondence began to be marked by
literary STYLE The Pastor Letters, with which Mr..
Scooues opens his budget, have purely historical
- tolary correspondence tif may call it sol seems
to be entirely unknown. We do not mean that the
value of the letters covered by this period 1450
1850 is wholly antiquarian bat that we read them
only for their contents not at all for any polish of
manner Often. indeed, the cumbersome manner Of
the age TO be for while forgotten, but II is
only the mOmentary manifestation of strong emo
ton or q strong character. The beautiful Christian
spirit of SIR Thomas More gives certain grace of
expression to his letter 1929 written to his wife
on the destruction of a part of his property at
Chelsea-a grace quite foreign TO the style Of the
time:
Mistress Alyce.--In my most harty will,
recommend TO yOu And whereas l am en-
fouImed by INV son Heron Of the loss of our narnes
ana our neighbours also. with all the corne that
was therein albeit Saving Coils peasurel IL is grrt
ptie Of so much good come lost, vet sith 1t hath
liked hym to send Us such chance. we must not
only be content. but also he glad of his visitation.
lie sent us all that have lost and slth he hath
by q chance taken II away agane, his pleasure
he fulfilled. Let MS never grudge thereat, but
take ii in good worth, and HARTLEY thank HIM, as
well for advcIsitie, as for prOspcnte And par
adventure have more cause 10 thank hun for
our 'Osse. than Tor our winning. For his Nisedom
better sccth What il good Tor Us than we do our
selves Therefore | pray YOU he of good checrc.
aud take all the howsoid with you TO church and
ther, thank God both Tor that he hath given us,
and for that he hath left US which ii 1t please yn.
he can increase when be Ill. And If II please
him 10 leave lis vet Jesse. at hyS pleasure he 1t.
prayc Won 10 make some good enscaiChe what my
poor neigh ours have lose, and hddc them take
no thought therefore, and il | shold not leave my
self a spOne there shah no poore neighbour of mine
berc 10 los,e by any chance happened in my housr:
! pra. you be with my children and household
merry in God. And devise somewhat with your
trends. what way wcr best 70 take, for provision
to be made for for household and for sede
thvs we're coming, if We thnke il good that
kerpe the ground still in our handles.
There IS an elegant and tender letter. also. of
Roser Ascnaln'~ n5Gsl written to his wifo on the
OCCASION OF the death If their son. There are ex-
ccllent letters from Bacon. Raleigh, Sir John Eliot,
aud Robert Herrick Still il Is not until reach
the times Of Milton, OF lsaak Walton, of Edmund
Waller of Jeremy TAYLOR OF Sir William Temple