The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1882-07-09
SOME NEW BooHs.
Mrs. o,,pA.u,.. History or Literature.

millans) Mrs. OIIPHANT has undertaken opor-
tray the new epoch in literature which dawned
in the end OF the last century and stretched
forward into our own, not only creating now
code of artistic aims and regulations but
changing the scene and atmosphere Of literary
effort and introducing a rurcr morality and
| higher soul. The scope Of her task excludes
an appreciation OF living writer's, while. on
| the other hand. she begins with an ac-
| count of Cowper and Burns whom she
properly considers the precursors OF the new
axe. That the authors judgments will always
! commend themselves to the reader is not
| to be expected. nor will the omission.
OF certain figures from her gallery OF portraits
seem altogether reasonable; yet. on the whole.
| the purpose which she has set herself has been
tolorably we'll attained. and we know Of no
other work in which the change from the
| literary methods and models OF the last CEN
fury to those which bear sway in our own can
| be found more lucidly and faithfully described
| Mrs. ELEPHANTS diction cannot be pronounced
| accurate and finished but 1t is marked by a
| fuency and careless grace characteristic OF the
talk of q well-bred woman. and is happily
adapted to long narrative in which more
precise aad elaborate style might overtax at
| tenton
The authors praise OF Cowper is admeasured
with singular judgment and crcumspecton
! She recognizes the profound difference be-
| tween the accomplishment and destiny OF the
| man and OF the poet. Cowper's life was harm
| less enough. yet it was full Of trouble to HIM
self and to all who were personally concerned
| in him q most unsatisfactory existence. But
although the man was trammellcd in many
| ways. his genius evinced a freedom which had
not been exhibited by any other man Of his
| generation: for we must bear In mind that
| Cowper though his Table Talk was not pub
! lfah Cd harm hrl n
earlier. He saw with eyes as clear as truth
| itself what was before him in the fresh outside
| world and he refused to bring in any foreign
| images being satisfied with the modest land
scape he beheld and tho genuine humanity
| that peopled IT, He was bold enough to utter
what was in him and to say it in his own way
shrinking and timid as he was in life, lie had
| in art the courage to take long step backward
and to choose his pattern from older and high
err sources than those Of Annes Augustan
age. 1t was he who first of Englishmen broke
the spell Of Pope. and opened the way to Words
worth and all the singers that were being born
while he languished and aGonzcd.
| Burns began publishing about the same time
| with Cowpcr. though he was twenty-eight
years younger. having been born in 1859. the
year which Witnessed the birth of Napoleon
Bonnparte. Mrs. Ophant dwells upon the
strange fact that these two poets should have
| worked contemporaneously in absolute uncon-
sciousncss Of their joint mission. Burns, be-
ing son Of the soil without education. and
the creature OF impulse, was emanciPated by
nature and circumstances from all bondage to
| accepted rules and models. When in the latter
part Of his short life-he died at 37-he strug-
| gled into some acquaintance with general
| literature his mind had already taken its form.
and almost everything that was dictated by
what his contemporaries thought to be better
taste has been condemned by the judgment Of
postcrty. With new phases OF human existence
to elucidate. and all the primary passions and
impulses OF humanity 10 furnish him with
poetic themes. he was really far better OF in his
ignorance than were the cultivated critics who
patronized him and presumed to make allow
ances for his rusticity. He was at the fountain
head OF life and had nothing in him TO obscure
that vviness OF sight which is the poets
prime qualification. Mr.. Oliphant can see no
serious drawback in the fact that Burns used
q dialect which had not followed the laws Of
progress and was no longer the language OF the
wellbrcd and cultivated classes 1t is certain
that the Lowland Scotch has its felicities as
we'll az its disadvantages. and we agree
with the author in thinking it an in
fnitely better medium for Burns. hav-
ing, at all events. the breadth and vigor
Of a national idiom. than would have been the
dialect Of Lancashire or Yorkshire Mrs Oil
uhant hcsitates 70 accept Carly.es conclusion
that Burns was the greatest man O. his gcncr-
alton. the man most ut to rule and command
She nevertheless Acknowledges that he was by
far the greatest poet. She has placed Cowper
beside him in her survey Of literature not be-
cause Of anything like equality in genius. hut
simply because ofthe common function fulfilled
by the two writer's. Remote a. they were from
one another intellectually and socially, they
~, lo
OF English poetry her right to see things as they
are and to express herself as she likes. No harp.
no I've. was longer necessary. and We got rid
. of the antique invOcations of the Muse"
or Crahbc whose right to figure among the
precursors of the nineteenth century cannot be
questioned. Mrs. dip Mt writes with dscrim-
ination. pointing out what his merits were and
precisely where his mission lay. Cowper had
taken England back TO the spontanety and
ease Of nature. and showed how much more
beautiful and perfect was the real landscape OF
her hills and fields, how much nearer 10 the
heart the incidents and accidents of daily life.
than any high pitched antithesis Of savage
mountains and smiling valleys OF rapture and
despair Burns for his part. had brought out
the sweetness Of the humble human heart,
its tender musings. its compassion. Its love and
mirth. the high thoughts the joys and sorrows.
that abide In all the dwelling places OF man.
These men had been the apostles OF an equali-
ty such az needed no blood or tears to establish
its benencent reguations-which bound to-
gether the highest and the lowest. not by cast
ing down one or lifting up another. but by re-
vealing each TO each. Crabbe's task was a far
less grateful one. but ii was the Indispensable
supplement OF their work. His mission was to
dispel the ialse light which had separated the
peasant artifcialy just as much as pride Of
i place had separated the peer, from the general