The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1882-10-15
a New Lirc OF sterne.

ton Of English Men Of Letters. we have one
Of tho most successful essays in criticism
which have appeared in the series. while In tho
concise biography are included all the really
valuable materials amassed by Mr. Percy Fitz-
gerald in his voluminous work. There Is no
man who enjoyed an equal literary reputation
in the last century about whom we know SO
little, for the reason that Sterne's life was an
obscure one up to the age of forty-sovcn. wien
lie acquired fame at one bound by the rublica-
ton Of the first two Volumes OF "Trstram
Shandy." lie lived but eight years aftorwnrd.
and. partly because much of this period was
spent out Of England and partly because in
tho multitude of his drawing-room admirers
he made very few friends. there is very little
information relating to him TO BIO cleaned from
the memoirs and letters of the time. We are.
In fact almost exclusively dependent for our
knowledge of the incidents Of his life between
1918 and 1760 on the outline Of an aut photography
which he drew up for the benefit OF his daugh-
ter. and nearly all the light we have on his
years of literary distinction and activity is de-
rived from his own letters n compilation Of
which was published by his daughter after his
dcath. Tho surprising literary phenomenon
in tho case of Sterne IS tho fact that his artistic
faculty burst all at once into splendid flower at
an age when most mon have either disciplined
or tested their powers Of composition by re-
pcated experiment. or have given up the
thought Of doing SO. But Stcrne Is not known
to have written SO much as Il sentence or line
which exhibits any forcgleams Of the aGmira-
bile qualities which sparkle and captivatc In the
Introductory volumes of "Tristram Shandy."
There is certainly no trace OF them in the ser
mons which Sternc is known to have written
before 1850. and which We're published with a
view OF specializing on public curiosity where
beginning of the Shandean epoch bear unmis-
taxable signs 81 the artists hand.
Laurence S,erne was the great grandson OF an
Archbishop of York. and his patcrnal grand
father married Yorkshire heiress. but his
father Roger Sterne. the youngest son of that
union. was q poor subaltern in q marching
regiment who married a suffers daughter. and
spent his life following the drum. 1t was one Of
his fathers brothers. who had received larger
share of the maternal estate. that assumed the
cost of educating tho boy Laurence. and sent
him first to Halifax grammar school. and af-
tcrward to Jesus College. Cambridge. where
by reason of his descent. he presently obtained
q scholarship founded by his groat-grand-
father. OF his life at school and college we
know next to nothing. and we are almost as i'm
perfectly informed regarding the next
twenty years. which he spent in Yorkshire
where. through the favor Of another uncle.
who had become Archdeacon of York, he re-
ceived several small preferments. II is plain
enough. however. from data which he himself
has furnished that he lived unhappily with his
wife. having begun soon after marriage TO in
dulgs tho propensity 10 philandering and
Irritation for which he was notorious to the
last, and Of which there are abundant indica-
tions in his writings. He eontrived also to
render himself extremely obnoxious to his
respectable neighbors for although the average
level OF clerical decorum was not high hun
dred years ago. Sterne fell considerably below
it, and his choice Of companions and general
mode Of life gave occasion for much scandal.
Although the Rev. Mr.. Yorick was believed by
his London readers to be counterpart Of the
Rev. Laurence Sterne, the lntters parish
toner's would certainly have failed to recognize
the portrait
On the other hand. there is no doubt that the
author OF "Tristram Shandy" gained in the
metropolis n literary triumph which for sud-
denness and brillancy can only be compared
to that obtained by the writer OF Childe Har-
old" Sterne became. In the strict sense. lion
an object OF intense curiosity and indiscrim-
mate admiration-and although the relish for
his writings. which was at first by no means
confined to those best able to appreciate their
merits began to flag when the Nth and sixth vol
umeS oil the long Shanueun chronicle appeared.
yet it was to some extent revived by the last
two volumes. containing. the episode OF Uncle
Toby and the Widow Wadman. SO that the
leonne epoch Of Sternc's career. during which
he had more than his share of ndulation.
lasted as long rs did his life. Indeed the in
imitable Mr.. Sterne was still favorte topic of
conversation in the spring Of 176S.whe in his
London lodgings, supported by hired nurse.
and under the inquisitive eyes OF fashionable
friends footman he breathcd his last Ac-
cording to one tradition. which there seems
to be no reason to reject. the hands which COM
posed his limbs remunerated themselves by
ahstracting the gold sleeve links from the dead
mans wrist and there Is another shocking
story. which tho present biographer Is scarcely
disposed to discredit. to the eject that ms re-
mains. which were attended to the grave by
only two monrncrs, anu were consigned 10
burying ground near Tyburn were stolen by
body snatchers. ana by them disposed OF TO
the professor OF anatomy at Cambridge.
In his critical estimate OF Stcrne rs Writer.
MIR. Trail calls attention TO the extent ot his
authors Obligations to haOelais ana Bishop
Hall, and especially to Burtohs Anatomy oil
Melancholy He insists, however, that IN mos,
f