The sun., 1880-11-21
A Life OF william Cuiien bryant.

mr. A. u. SYMINGTON, VINO mas given ue
several compact and attractive biographies. has
chosen subject OF especial interest to Ameri-
cans for his latest venture. The Life Of William
Cullen Bryant tHarpers). Neither this mol
either OF the other works from the same hand
gives token OF remarkable penetration or In
dependent judgment. Tho writer's aim is O
modest one. namely to tell story in a fluent
pleasant way. to make his book q compendium
Of facts and anecdotes as well as Of the COM
ments and opinions uttered by critics OF some
authority. Perhaps this superficial. unpreten-
tious treatment is we'll enough adapted to the
class OF themes which Mr.. Symington selects for
exposition. After oil that may be fairly said In
the way OF kindly and grateful appreciation, II
remains true that the lives OF Samuel Lover.
Tom Moore and we may add. OF Mr.. Bryant.
scarcely invite profound and exhaustive investi-
cation. They were not great poets or great men.
They belonged to the category Of literary work
ers whose products. though often charming
aud Sometimes admirable. are nowhere stamped
with the seal Of superior genius. 1t follows
that their Biographies. like the Life OF Dr. John
son. will tend to be valued as time rolls on less
for their portrayal Of the individual men than
for the light they throw on the social conditions
OF the world In which they moved.
1t seems to US that Mr.. Bryants career will
always have a large historical intereet. His
life was so long. and spans 80 wide an arc OF
our national development. being, indeed, con-
terminous with nearly the whole period OF So
cial, intellectual. and aesthetic growth from the
homely colonial era up to our own day. When
he was born Washington was President OF the
United States. and the first French republic was
rocking amid the commissions which followed
the death OF Robespierre. When he died. in
1878. the American Commonwealth had mount
ed In the scale OF population from five to fifty
millions. and France. after innumerable vics-
situdes and tribulatons. had returned for the
third time to free institutions. and seemed at
last to have established them on broad
and lasting basis. The future author
OF "Thanatopsis might have seen the flag
OF Spain waving over st. Augustine. and a
French garrison posted at the mouth OF the
Mississippi. and he lived to see not only the
bulk OF their American possessions lost to the
European powers. but the last shred OF Spanish
dominion in the New World we'll nigh wrenched
away by the Cuban rebellion. In his early years
the shadow Of the Holy Roman Empire lin
gered over central Europe. and in his old age
he beheld new German empire constructed
by the hand OF Bismarck. At the time OF his
birth there were slaves in every one OF the
United States. with the possible exception OF Mas
sachusetts. When he died there was not aslave
In the whole country. Meanwhile he had wit
messed every stage OF the long struggle between
the institution Of slavery and the movement for
abolition until II eliminated In the most gigan-
tic civil war OF which there is any record. Less
striking. but scarcely less profound. than these
political transformations were the changes
which took place in the United States during
Mr. Bryant's lifetime in the scope and aims Of
the higher education. in the rennements OF
social intercourse. and in the cultivation Of
aesthetic tastes and capabilities. The extent OF
the advance would be at once attested by COM
pairing the decorative appointments and works
OF art which set Off n modern drawing room
with the raw tints and shabby ornaments
OF New England paror three-quarters
OF a century ago. or 10y contrasting the
present curriculum OF a frst-rate American
university with the credentials OF a graduate
from Williams College at the date OF Mr.. Bry-
ants brief connection with shat institution In
1901. Few things are more suggestive than
the Rlimpses afforded by this volume OF the
standard OF excellence and plane of thought
characteristic OF the most intellectual and ele-
giant American society at that epoch. Some OF
MIR. Bryant's letters written at the time and
81. Sa collected disclose with naive uncon-
scioosness OF deficiencies what was held to con-
sttute adequate information and high culture
in the New England OF his YOUTH
The chapters in which tho biographer recites
Mr. Bryant's experiences at school. at college.
and in the early years Of his professional ca
reer and generally that part Of the book which
deals with the social and domestic side OF his
subjects life. may be heartily commended to
the reader. When Mr.. Symington on the other
hand. essays criticism he Is much less satisfac-
tory He pays very little heed to the most ap-
proved and obvious standards OF comparison.
or to nice discrimination and graduation Of
epithet. He sometimes accepts the judgments
OF quite incompetent critics. and continually
tends to fall into a vein OF adulation by which
sober minded persons. who care nothing
about national and local vanties. will be ir-
ritated and repelsd He gives, for instance.
altogether too much space and too high
praise to "Thanatopsis." which is undeniably
a creditabe work. the conditions OF time and
place being duly weighed. The poem made a
deep Impression on the contemporary Amerl-
can mind because 1t compared most favorably
with the native prolusions which had preceded
1t, We have different standards now, and can
not feel the Old rapture. Those who arc
specially enthusiastic over this composition
have sometimes described Mr.. Bryant as a
lesser Wordsworth. This is taking we incline
to think. q liberty with the larger name. For
while Thanatopsis." which is incomparably
the best thing Mr.. Bryant wrote. might perhaps
have been penned by Wordsworth in less
strenuous hour. much OF the latter's work
seems not merely beyond the reach but abso
lutely beyond the ken Of the American writer.
Another subject on which Mr.. Symington al
lows himself to speak in terms OF too glib anc
inconsidorate eulogy is tho alleged purity o
Mr. Bryant's prose style. He might have dom
better to subject some OF his authors pages t
rigorous. Independent analysis. than to quote a
great length the laudatory fustian OF fcertain ma
tive critics who at one time tried to reproduce II
| New York on reduced scale the society Of mu
tual admiration which formerly hourishod II
Boston. Some plain truths about Mr.. Bryant
prose regarded as model OF good English
have recently been told by Mr.. Fitzedward Hal
although in language, it seems to us. unneces
sarily harsh and duerulous The frequenc
and gravity OF the departures from good us
pointed out by Mr.. Hall in volume OF Or'