New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-10-23
MIXING THE BEST or OyEs SELF

M1hINb mr. BLNI VI w T. - NI.LI.
Perhaps the death Of 10 other American
author would have touched rs large a number
of readers with sense of personal loss Is that
Of Dr. Holland, whose quiet departure we
chronicled last week His life and work were
literally of the people and for the people and IN
thousands Of homes where Emerson and Lowell
were unknown the author o. Katrina" and
the "Titcomb Letters" WAS rcycrcnccd Us
guide, philosopher aud friend.
DR.. Hollands was an exceptionally successful
lirc and now that it is closed it may be to our
advantage to study the secrets Of its success.
Nobody would urge the wisdom Of such study
upon us more quickly than the prudent, slircwd
Timothy TitcOmb, nor would more willingly
offer his own closed history for moral disScc-
ton He was as prudent and shrcwd for others
rs for himself. The secret of his success, them as
it appears tons, was that he knew his limitations
and worked to their furhc,t bounds but not one
line beyond. He did not aim to be Il Shelley in
poetry, Thackcray in fiction, or Jean Paul
III philosophy. He was content to be j. G..
Holland, and to hc all that was possible to that
person He knew to an atom the value Of his
own keen common sense, tender domestic feel
ing, and pure morality; hc knew, too. that
these were distinguishing trait, Of Americans,
particularly of the great educated middle class,
and he appealed directly to them. His books
were for years almost unknown To the critics or
publishers yet they had Il circulation beyond
that of any other American author. He made
the best of his abilities and chances, and what
more can any of lis do Many asu-callcd genius
or sensitive critic, TO whom Biltcrswcct" or
Bonnicaste" seems insipii and COMMONPLACE
will utterly fail to make any impression on
his generation, while this man was, while
living Il potent energy in the mind and heart of
his time, and always an energy for good. Nor.
even now that he is dead, will his work cease 10
he effective. 1t was too thorough of its kind
and too wisely aimed to sink soon into an i'm
potent conclusion.
Let any of our readers critically examine his
own accomplished work or that of other men if
lac wishes to see how high Is the praise which
we have accorded to d.. ;:5lland. He has
planned to speak high, stirring words, but has
he spoken them The inspired prophets and
leaders of the world speak, we suppose, when
and as the Spirit gives them uttcranc,. They
are not to ask whether their words snt their
audience or not. If not, they will very prob
ably be roughly handled. Yet sometime. as
suredy, the uttered truth will find It's appointed
nearer. FlOrcntine street urchins pelt Dante
with mud, and their children build colleges t.,
cXpound his words. Jewish kings drive Isaiah
into the wilderness, and nearly three thousand
gears aftcrward his uttcranccs are read in every
church throughout the world, and the lives of
modern Englishmcn and Americans are helped
by them.
But how many Of Us are Dantes or Isaiahs
We are not prophets nor Oracles at all. We
may make p our minds that there is no Use in
waiting for any divine vapOr to rise to our
brains, nor for any appointed season for us 10
begin TO affect the world. Each of us has his
little share of moderate talent; aud the first
thing he ought To do is to find ont carefully and
exactly what it is the second to use il fully;
and the third to bring it 10 bear in precisely the
right place. Nine-tenths OF the human lives i'm
the world come to naught for want of attention
to one or all of these three things. I'm the
States as nowhere else, the way is open for n
man to fill his proper niche but what do We
see Men who would have been useful and re-
spected rs petty tradesmen or backsmiths are
pleading at the bar crOwding into Congress, or
practising rs physicians, and are useful or re-
spected nowhere Men fail, too, not only from
overrating themselves, but from the highest
motives. A young fellow who zealously desires