The sun., 1881-01-30

ehrapk from tho law. MILITARY history. now
ever he had studied with great interest. and ne
ALWAYS fnncied that ho had talents for COM
mand; and thoro Is little doubt that II. at this
time u791. he could havo procured commits
slon he would have entered the army. II now
seems to us almost inconceiyable that the au-
thor of The Excursion might have been
merged in a captain OF Dragons; but to those
who had been familiar with Wordsworth's
childhood. there would have been nothing sur
prisng in tho phenomenon. His mother used
10 say that tho only one OF her five children
about whose future life" she was anxious was |
William who would be remarkable" sho added.
either for good or for evil" Ho had. 1t seems.
n stfr. moody. and violent temper. 40 much 30 |
that on ono occasion, when como indignity had |
been put on him. lie went UP into the attic OF his
grandiather's house with the intention OF de-
stroying himself with one OF the foils he knew |
were Kent there. |
We come to another turning point in Words |
worti's career during his residence In France |
in 1872. Nothing but tho abrupt suspension of
n stipend allowed him by n relative would
seemingly have hindcrcd him from publicly
casting in lis lot with the French Republicans
aud seeking. like Tom Paine and Anacharsis
Cloot2 admission 10 tho National Assembly He
has himself described tho feeling with which ho
regarded tho massacrcs OF September, 1872 and
such worldwide dcstinics swaycd by hands.
for The most part. incompetent. He was, he
tells us on tho point of putting himself forward
us Il lender OF the Cirondist party. In tho con-
yiction that his Observation-Disclosures Of aim would
make him. in spite OF foreign birth and i'm
perfect speech. n point round which the con-
fused instincts OF the multitude might not i'm
possibly rally. Ii is by no means inconceiva-
bic that Wordsworth might havo played con-
siderable role in the Convention. but he would
certainly have recoied from the red handed
measures demanded by the Jacobins. and such
a course OF action would have conducted him TO
the Guiotine with his Glrondlst friends in
May. 1893.
| In his literary career Wordsworth was to find
ample en- mploymcnt for that reasoned sei-conf-
| denco and deliberate boldness which are most
frequently exhibited In political or military life.
! No writer. probably. who has afterward achieved
| a reputation at all commensurate with his has
| been so long represented by reviewers rs purely
ridiculous. At least thirty years elapsed after
the publication OF his first volume and his best
work had long been done. before he began 10 be
treated with adequate respect Thore is no
| doubt that this first volume contained some
trivial, not to say silly poems. ae. for instance,
The Idiot Boy" OF which Byron said the
reader would he apt to think the bard
| tho hero Of his story. Even Tho Excursion"
| Byron characterized rs q drowsy. frowsy
poem" and JefTrey's we'll known dlctum. This
will never do" was by no means an extreme
specimen OF the current verdict pronounced
upon that work. Mr. Myers thinks that in
Wordsworth's manner OF receiving the violent
detraction which formed so largo an ingredient
in his life we may discover oil tho strongth. and
something OF the stiffness. which his mother
had perceived in her boys nature. The bioG-
ns,ln does rapDguiya ideal
perfection in the poets attitude under the
shafts of unmeritod oboGuy. Il is true that
Wordsworth never alludes TO Byron at all. and
he Seems never 10 have read Shelley smpoon
while 10 all the violent attacks OF the Scotch and
English Reviews he opposed n dignned
silence. But whilo Wordsworth could wholly
forgive. and almost wholly forget. he did
not take the further stop OF accepting
such serviceable hints as almost any crit
| cism, however harsh or reckless. can
afford. On tho contrary the perversity and
persistency OF the assaults upon him produced
a recoil which aggravated the native stubborn.
ness OF his character. and led him 10 treat ev-
erything which he had once written down rs II
II were special revelation To tho last he in.
sisted on reprintng such trihinE pieces as
Tho IDIOT Boy" within the same cover as thu
: remarkable Limos Written About Tintern Alb
boy" which have become, SO 10 speak. conse
crateu 1OrInulAry OF Tue W NOTUSNOrlulRn ldltn
8 Mr. Myers suggests that sense OF hunor l.
apt TO be the first grace which is lost under per
b secution. and that much OF the hoaviness anC
. stiff exposition oi oommonplsoas. conspicuou
o in Wordsworth's later work. may be traced TO
e feeling that all day long he had lifted UP hi
Q voice 10 a peryerse and gansaying generation.
S Amateur verse makers may do well to not
= that while 1t canno. bs said that any OF Words
n worth's poems were written with a speciH
Wow 10 pecuniary profit. yet none. at all events
o were published except from hope OF oarnini
: money. The poet was poor and no silly vanit
n Withheld him from confessinR that he woul,
r have liked to augment his narrow income b
o his writings. Ho was sensible to the pecuniar
Il loss inflicted on him BY adverse criticisms. 70
I he felt that tho laborer was worthy of his hire
Q He referred with regret in 1920 to the fact tha
d tho whole OF his returns from tho writing trad
d pursued for twenty-five years had not amounted
!. to $500. On another occasion he declared tina
lie should never have vontured to send fortl
any verses to the world il it had not bseu done
on the pressure Of personal occasions. Had h
been q rich nau al his productions wonld prob
: ably have hsen confined 10 mqnuscript:a MS wa
3 the case with those writings which he himsel
. known that Tho Prelude" was no, prnte
nn,il H r ni,er The poets deah & Thio one DoGk
:, is yet unpublished.
~ II' MybEb NOu'uCs UlUlOsl 100 Tt'NcTenliy, W
IS think. for discriminative and suggestive criti
N cism. tho curious pau,hoism into whicl
Wordsworth was drawn hy his profound an
D. subtle sympathy with nature. In tho poet
8 mystical nature worship he recognizes, how
,e ever. pr imeyUi instinct. the modified Outrom
- Of those impulses which prompted our fore
u fathers 70 pCOile earth and air with deitics O
III u yivify tho vii le universe with q single sou
ro 1t Is 10 tho WORKINGS o' the mind OF tho chill
~ that tho philosopher arpoals who wishes I
IN provo that knowledge is recollection. aud thu
Of our recognition. for eb ample ol geomctre,
,e truths depends on our having been actual
~ familiar with thom i'll an earlier world. Tn
lu bicEraphGr points out that Wordsworth nnvG
n. weQries Of cOmnonting on tho text, I'll
Of ch.ld is father, ot the man" md OF stci,
W. ing through the recollection aui observe
'k tion. Of carly childhood % trace ou
10 spiritual ancestry. From tho halo of uuro an
n vivid emotions %;h which our childish yeni
- arc surrounded, md ths close connection
u, this emotion with external nature. which
s. Elurlil"s and transforms, Wordsworth infer
10 that tho soul has eulryel elsewhere an eA IL
- cnco superior To- That Of earth. hut nm CYstenC
IA OF winch external nature retIinb for tins III
I'd lDwer OF reminding her Not cOUtrut wit
II merely recording and HnHlyzins childish in
" pr"'Sions, ho lnplI"s. or even E-scrts. ihj
no tscsm lancics from RHr arc brOught'-tlat III
N. ! cA.ni d Wow of he world reveals 90 him truth
q, | which tho man with difficulty retains or TnrO