The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1882-11-19

ter through the dirtest work? He does not
seem to know good from evil" 1t is plain
enough. from other hints in this correspond
ence. that Miss Milford was fond Of light not
to say ephemeral literature She admired Miss
Edgeworth. and Charles Lever seems to
have been her favorte among contem-
porary novelists. 1t is fair. however to recall
that she was one of the first OF English
readers to appreciate Hawthorne. She records
her opinion OF the "Bythedale Romance" to
the effect that the book. with all its faults. is
one that nobody but Hawthorne could have
written; that the construction is magnifl-
Gently tragic. and that there are certain scenes
Of wonderful power. especially the search for
the body by night. which is quite equal to that
in Guy Mannering." She Is mistaken. how
ever. in asserting that Hawthorne was raised
through the announcement and mediation OF
Mr.. James II. Fields from most miserable
restitution to comfort and aflluence. 1t is
absurdly false that Hawthorne was literally
starving" before President Pierce made him
Consul at Liverpool. BY the way. she pro-
nounces this dear friend Of mine. Mr..
Fields fine judge Of style" 1t would seem
that Longfellow was ratod much lower in Miss
Mtford's scale Of excellence. "Longfellow."
she writes. has beautiful bits but his prose is
trash, and / confess that think he owes his
success here quite as much to his faults. his
obscurity, his mysticism. and his little
dash Of cant. as to his merits" On the
other hand. DR.. Holmes appeared to her
the most charming little person under the
sun. what Moore was thirty years ago with
more pith and substance. singing his own
songs as nobody else can sing them, reciting
poems. delivering speeches. the most brilliant
and sparkling man Of society that ever lived"
Dr. Holmes ought to be grateful to Miss Nit
ford for these adjectives. for she has none to
spare for such writer as Charles Dickens.
Curieuslv enough she seems to have been an
noyed by the picture Of Mr.. Everett's library in
the Homes OF American Authors" ' The
ROOM" she says. would be superb in the
country seat Of an English nobleman." and she
adds. e" never can understand how these peo-
ole come by their money Edward Everett. for
instance, the person in question. has really
gone the role in point of employment. One OF
his avocations was the having been for four or
five years a preacher at one OF their churches.
and although lie has been subsequently Minis
ter from the United States in England yet
their highest embassies are so poorly paid
by the republic that l always heard
that their diplomatists lost money by their
functions l suppose" she concludes, 1T is
all right but one cannot look at that lordy
apartment with its splendid bookcases. pic
tures and busts. without wondering how such
wealth came to the poor student" Had the
somewhat sourcd maiden lady who pcnned tho
above passage lived in our country. she would
have reserved her suspicious for the sudden rise
to wealth achieved by some Of our Congress-
men. andwould have spared Mr.. Everett WHOM
need not say acquired his fortune (such az it
was in a perfectly Legitimate way. Another
American who failed to captivate this fastidi-
GUS critic Of men and manners was Mr.. Bayard
Taylor. very clever person and very re-
markable one is Bayard Taylor. and doubt not
as good as he is clever: but yet did not fancy
him. He is shy and gawky. long rather than
tall you know what mean. and with total
absence OF that strange. delightful thing called
charm. which is to conversation what scent is
to the rose We fear that Mr.. james IT. Fields
and Mr.. y. p Willis had spoiled Miss Milford
for the unrretentous ways OF their less dex-
ferrous, not to say obsequious. countrymen.
We find Willis. for example. writing to her in
this propttatory strain: Il know no one else
who could have written Rienz and felt
Charles L. to my fingers ends. as one feels no
other modern play. II werc to farm ont your
mind i could have u tragedy every year"
Here. too was a dulcet utterancc: You are as
distinguished in the world as the gentlcwo-
man among authorcsses as you are for your
rank merely in literature. have often thought
that you Were very enviable for the universally
OF that opinion respecting you. You share
it with Sir Philip Sidney. who was in his
day in the same way u gentleman among
authors Manifcsty the respectable daugh-
ter of Il respectable country surgeon
would have been less than woman il she
had failed to receive n favorable impression
of young American possessing so much in
sight and good taste. She makes a loyal but
wild effort to return it in kind by assuring one
OF her correspondents that Mr.. y. r. Willis is
very elegant young man. and more like one
of the best OF our peers sons (slcl than n rough
republican" We imagine that those who are
tolerably conversant with London society Will
be moved to smile by the selection of peers
son Us the accepted typo of consummate
breeding. This is the sort Of standard We
should expect to sec held up by writer's of tho
school of Mr.. q. W. NJ. Reynolds in whose cdi.
flying pages the innate depravity oil the peerage
is depicted as yelled to the aye of the commune
ty ut large by bewitching gloss Of hawless
refinement.
Miss Milford could never bring herself to ap-
prove Of Thomas Carlyle. He has had" she
says. the double misfortune Of writing ac-
cording to the humor-tat is the i'll humor--
OF tho moment. without the slightest regard
to consistency and truth. and to be surrounded
by none hut admirers or listeners borne down
by mere noise" She goes on TO dispose of his
reputation 10y affirming that in England his
fashion Is waning rapidly and have no doubt
that. like most ovcrrated men. he will live to
share the common fate Of idols Knocked down
by hi, former worshppers in revenge Of their
own idoatry.' This wns written in 1852
yet ii would seem that CarlYlc's fash
ion had life enough to last for another
generation, al any rate In the same let
ter Miss Milford quotes an anccdote which
Mr.J. I. Fields had told her. and which we be-
licvo he himself has printed somewhere Mr..
Fields happened. ii seems. to sit near Carlyle
at some great dinner and was thus accostod
by the Scotchman; so, sir. ye're IN Amcri-
can Mr.. Fields asscn,cd :" Carlyle
Went on. that : Il wrctch-d nation of your ain.
II : all wrong: 1t always has been wrong from
the vera beginning: that greet mon of yours
George say your gre, molt George was II
monstroUS bore and wants taking down few
hundred pegs Really. Mr.. Carlyle" rcjoin-
ed Mr.. Fields. no doubt with duo humility.
you are the last man in the world from whom
| should expect such an observation Look at