New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-06-10
NEW PUBLICATIONS
pss.xsny GEORGE ELIOT.

nm,
m, ,r;tic,sus contributed by George Eliot 10
s,.,;ss,,y e,;e,c of which periodical she was
...oc;a,e editor from 1861 to 1853. have been mnch
..,s.d since Ter death and Dir. Sheppard has graf
C., natnrai public curiosity by bringing them
1890 in :, y oune and for the first time printing
sho,, over her name. We are told nothing ABOUT
tlrir date except that the first OF them appeared
,xbe, she was trty-three gears old, that IL 10 say
81. wears before the beginning Of her splendid
,.recr as a novelist. This fret essay Is Driei re-
view of Carlye's Life Of Sterling" " book no
tic.p Of somewhat common type, when was uh
admittedly useful to the magazine for whco IL us
v,ittcn, but would hardly deserve reproduction
exce,,t for The sake OF making the collection com
nlrts We can say more than this iof the last
essay a short and unimportant notice OF owen
1ones's Grammar e Ornament" But between
tbeee two extremes are reviews of broader scope
aud moro decided merit. They belong TO type oil
literary articles familiar in the pages OF tho quar-
,arlies A general introduction sets forth the
writer's views some aspect oil llie literature ai'
history or philosophy. and leads up or down as .ie
case may DO to a discussion Of the book whioh mas
been taken as a text. and survey Oh JUS con'eh''
with illustrative citations. This is NOT tho i"o''
ambitious style of essay 1t belongs 10 io"er ouoi
of composition than the best OF Macauiays con''i
lu,ions 10 The EdRbmgh or the acute ana orliii'nV
fn1i n
,ts valuable qualities as well as its practical uses
- wak,ov of few better specimens Of it than
Ceorge Fliot,s Three of the papers in this volume
~. ,,;,iclsr,s of the slsshing" kind. The review
q, tina works of the Rev. Dr. John Cumming Is an
exceedipqly damaging as well as an extremely
amusing attack upon an Evangelical divine whose
popuar dscoufses aud other loose publications. oper
a tempting mar, 10 bold adversary. Inc charge
that one Of tie most striking characteristics OF
Dr. Cummings writings IS unscrupulosity OF state
ment IS certainty serious one Dut canuor VIII
comusi Ire admission that the critic makes out u
strong case Nobody can have paid much attention
TO controversial literature. especially IN the 40
main of theology. without realizing that unvera-
city As an intellectual habit rather than personal
ooliuulty is one of the commonest defects OF con-
teutious men, We shall hardly follow George
Eliot. however in describing this fault as the con-
seouepce of Dr. Cummings religious views. The
sens5 of alarm and haste, tie anxiety for personal
tafety which DIR. Cumming insists upon as the
proper religious attitude, humans the nature ana
allows no thorough calm thinking, no truly rOble'
aisiuterested feeling. Hence we by no means sus-
meet that the unscrupulosity OF statement Win
which we charge Or. Cumming extends beyond the
,pbere of his theological preiudlces; we do not
acub. that religion apart he appreciates and prac
fises veracity" That is almost smart enough for
see much good in preacher ike DR. Cumming
Her crsed is exhibited q, very bare altruism for
the supernatural in religion she shows decided
contempt: and in her eyes the natural virtues are
not elevated but degraded when they are practised
with an eve to Z" the glory of God" These sentl-
ments appear still mvre plainly in her review OF the
poet Young entitled "WOrldliness aud Other
Worldlinessn in the course of (which she describes
the poets attitude toward the Almighty as that OF
scrawhng adulatiOn Va censule which seems TO
ms the highest expression of intellectual pride
we have encountered in literature The last
paragraph of the essay gives the key to the whole
sIE Young We have the type of that deficient
human sympathy. that impiety toward the present
and the visible which flies for Its motives, its
sanctsies and It's religion to the remote, the vague
and the unknown; in COwper we have the type OF
that genuine love which cherisbes things In pro-
portion 60 their nearness and feels its reverence
grow in proportion to the intimacy OF It's knowi-
edgsn Yet as literary essay The paper on Young
is admirabls. The life and character OF the some
what unspritual divine are sketehed with amusing
yigur Whatsoever may be thought OF George Ell0ts
theory of virtue wellinformed reader can enter
tain very high respect for DR.. foungs. lie is
equally impressed with the momentousues, of death
and of burial fees; he languishes at once for i'm
mortal life and for ivngs; he has fervd attach
mept TO patrons In general but on the whole pre-
fers the Almighty. lie will teach. with something
more than official conviction, the nothingness OF
earthly things; aud he will feel something more
than private disgust if his mertorious efforts IN di~
recting mems attention to another world are not
rewarded by substantial proferment IN this" The
insncerity of the man. rather than the Inherent
qualities of other worldliuess. will amply Suhco
to account for the hollowness OF much OF his NOR
Atty and the false ring of much of his poetry.
I'll, In eI6a ia
srecise and acute. "0ns of the most striking
characteristics OF Young" she justly remarks, is
his radical insincerity poetic artist. This
added TO the thin and artificial texture of his wit,
is the true explanation of the paradeJ-tbat poet
who is often inopportuney witty has the opposite
vice OF bombastic absurdity. The source of all
graudiloquence is the want OF taking for criterion
the true qualities of the object described or the
emotion expressed. Tho grandioquent man is
never bent Oh saying what lie feels or what he sees
hut on producing certain effect on his audience !;
henre he NAV float away into utter inanty without
meeting any criterion to arrest him. Here lies the
distinction between grsndllOquence and genuine
fancy or bold imaginativencss. Tho fantastic or
boldly imaginative poet NAV be as sincere az the
most realistic; he is true to his own sensbties or
inward vision. and in his widest flights he never
breaks lDose from bis criterion-thc truth OF his
own mental state. Now this disruption OF Ian
guage from genuine thought and feeling is what we
are constantly detecting in Young; and his insin
eerity Is the likely to betray him into absurd
10y because ne ahitualy treats of distractions and
not of concrete offsets OF specific emotions. He
descants perpctuaIIy OIL virtue. religion, the good
man. life, death, Immortality, etcrnity-snbjects
which are apt To give Fictitious grandeur to
empty wo-diness. When q poet floats in the
empyrean, and only takes 5rds-eye view OF the
EARTH some people accept the mere fact OF his soar
ing for sublmity, and mistake bis dim vision OF
earth for proximity TO heaven"
The discussion Of Youngs defects AS poet is very
sharp, very able. very thorough. and often very
dfoll The survey of a group of Silly Novels by