New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-07-25
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
rNcIIsU MEN OF LETTERS.

Professor Ward las done we'll III nah"s VA ''
volume ON Dickens history of the authors works
rather thar picture OF his life. Literary eHposf
fion much moro than biographical gossip " .no
function of handbook Of the series TO whc" inns
,,s,onos. and besides the world is already familiar
with nearly all that can properly be tod at preso
of the personal career of the great novelist OF "
that II would add TO our pleasure to know on u
few ponts Of minor importance Professor ""i%
surplements the information given in FORSTER
. ifey and the published volumes OF " Le'.'iS
Int tho narrative portion of his book Is u'""
principally from those sources. Its new '"'uo
wholly in its commentaries Win Soihc oN''
these are sound and sympathetic "o ". Az
Professor Wards admiration taxes i'll Linz .,..
:. ,.o 60, 81 Dickens" and il seems TO us 'ha'
T., h,s noin,ed ont with very delicate anu acou'
,ots tonch some of the finest traits Oh MS ""'"Vi
bu,,or and some of the strongest eSau'Pe' y. ~
lromatic mower To be sure lie makes s'i""eo
mistakes 1t lie a singular confusion Oh !""s"o
which pronOunces the whole Donhn' "'eS 90
WINS msiness extremely wearisome" We are
ouite ready 10 admit that Mr. Venus Is uil'r-
ticulated with the general plot" but we 40 ITO.
,,,,a.rstor1 bow ANYBODY who relIshes Dickens al
oil should find Mr. Bofiin wearlsome. OF DO ihscn-
sih,e 70 the humor of Sas Wegg. We cannot agree
with Professor Ward in his dsparagement OIL 'no
W,lfer family: nor on the other hand, do we 'h'hh
H.. las perceiyed the false ring OF great many "a
the pathetic passages, both il the earlier anu 'o
later books, or the great lnferior!ty vi o0
works. like Hard Times" and Inc ha"n'o.
Man" which are already beginning &c DC reonVn,u
.monc The failures of successful authors sum ~.
most Of his criticisms will generally be accepteo'
and yet they are not satisfying. sometimes 'no9
are refined TO such degree that we lose 'he' UNIV
On the whole they lack force, dlrectness anu "e'u
auce. There is one important point ID 'no S'u',
of Dickens which he touches repea''"S' 80
appears never to grasp. In his youth 'hc ho'on''
d;sn,avea both the humorous and the dramatic
Saorltv in n very marked degree; he never sue
ceeded in perfectly uniting them and in the course
~ fine the humorous was forced to give way more
a,d more TO the dramatic, not losing lis orlgliai
flavor Int becoming altogether subordinate even
when il WAS not forced This was IN part OWING u
tbe passionate love for theatrical art winch On
ercised such powerful and not altogether peas"hV
influence upon Dickenss later wears; DuV iiia'his ~
was the result of the system OF serial ptloi'oao"'
which injured his work far more, we peleVe' 'nan
Professor Ward is prepared to admit. An Eng"sh
publisher once impressed this direction upon INC
writer of some serial papers: On your uiieuie'
but give me good beginning and end III Decan'o
the aim of the novelist to open ana cIoSe eNoiJ
weekly or monthly number with STRONG eneo' ;
and thus the hGmor, in which he was uhaP
n,oached was sacrificed to theatrical situations IN
which he had many superiors
Mr. Gosse had peculiar subject IN tray ior
there was 10 full or good biography OF that poet III
cx,stence and there was great need of one The
author of the Elegyr led quiet and uneventfui
life passing most of his years between his college
lodgings at Cambridge and the modest nome a.
Stoke-Pogis which he shared with his widowed
mother and his aunts /" ! do not rememba r," says
the b,oqIapher, "that the history of literature
presents us with the memoirs of any other poet
favored by nature with so many aunts as tray
possessedv But it was a not unplcturesque lie
after all. cheered by notable friendships, and once
diversified by the grand tour OF the continent
An excursion which implied century ana hai
ago much novel adventure and intercourse WIN
brilliant society. The young poet made tns
memorable Journey in company with Horace wal
mole. who was nearly his own age and 1t lasted
two years and half. Mr.. Uosse makes the record
of 1t very entertaining bis sketch of the life OF the
two friends III Paris, where CIebilon tbe younger
introduced them to the world of literature ana
fashion is particularly vivid and sprighty, and the
characteristics of the "rose-cOlored Partisan
Arcadia" are set before us with a few quick but
telling strokes 1t was q charming world OF
fancy and caprice; world of milky clouds floating
in an INFINITE azure and bearing a mundane Venus
10 her throne on FreEchifed Cith9ron. And
what strange figures were bound 10 the golden car
generals and abbes, and elderly Academicians'
laughing philosophers and weeping tragedans IL
motley crew united in the universal cutie da Ie"dre
gliding down n stream of elegance and cheerfunesS
and tolerance that was by no means wholly
ipnobe" This experience was something more 10
GRAY than passing amusement, for it taught him
"the English deficiency in style and grace" and
cave him lasting fondness for what was rehhed
and ingenious. His life at Cambridge had an OBJ
yious connection with other qualities of his work
and this too Mr. Gosse describes with vvacity, in
tclgence and many touches of huinor; for there
were strange doings at Cambridge in those days.
and the university in some respects one OF tho
least con genial of homes for modest and serious
scholar Equally striking is the picture OF the
poets retreat at Stoke-Pogis. and the intercourse
which he maintained while there with friends In
tho great world. " 1t is pleasant to think OF Gray
reclining in the blue parlor over the supper-roonl
Mt Strawberry Hill, turning over prints with
Horace Walpole, and glancing down the garden 10
the Thames that flashed in silver behind the
syringas and honeysuckles or seated, with little
touch Of sententous gravity, in the library, ending
Chute and their host fol- their frivolous taste in
beraldry or melted by the dark panels and the old
brass crate to chat of architecture and decoration,
aud the new found mysteries of Gothic. 1t is per-
baps pleasanter still to think OF him dreaming IN
The garden of -POgis, or chatting over dish
OF tea with his old auntS, as he called his mother
and his aunt collectively, or stroliing with book
in his hand, along tho southwark ridge of meadows
TO pay Lady Gotham stately call. or hrt little
with Miss Harriet Speed" Altogether Mr.. Gosse
has produced a charming biography, setting his
subject in a most attractive light experimenting
the meagre information of his predecessors by dill
gent and fruitful researches among manuscripts at
Cambridge and in the British Museum, and enrich
ing the bright and entertaining narrative with
passages of excellent criticism.