New-York tribune., 1884-11-02

form reaches much higher pulhl, ana w" h'N"l"P
ment of the tragedy prooeeis through The develop
menl of individual character III manner oi "hloh
the stage before Shakespeare furnishes no other
example.
EPuHoRION. Being Studies of the Antiqne ana lhs
Medayal in the Ien,is saneo By AthSN Lib =
vols. SvO PIP 2l3, 239. Roberts l'rniheis
Euphorion the name given by Goethe 10 the
child of Faust and Helena, is taken by vernon
Lee" as n personifcatOn of the Renaissance, be-
cause that phase of culture Is the offspring oI II
mystical union between the spirit of the Middle
Ages represented by Faust and the spirit of Antq-
uity represented by Helena. THIS idea of the don-
bic origin of the Renaissance is kept prominent
throughout the separate essays which compose the
book and gives a sort OF unity to what is rather
series OF striking papers than symmetrical treat
ise. The author has indeed made no attempt 10
treat her subject upon system; she has written only
of certain aspects of it which chanccd TO attract
her fancy, and even these she admits that she has
presented incompletey paying more regard TO her
subjective impressions than 10 the objective reality
She is so painfully conscious of this mperfect0n
that after oncc apOlOgzing for 1t in the introduc-
iOn she makes a still amper confession ami act OF
contritIon in eplogue where she even beats her
breast and cries nea calpa! cutpd because she
has spoken i'll of Fra Angelica considering only
certain qualities which that painter lacked and
shutting her eyes 10 what he had. 1t wonld have
been wiser doubt, since she knew that her crItI-
clsms III this particular case were faulty, to strike
them out and try again. Bat in truth the who.e
book is one-sided "Vernsn Lee" has studied with
n strange fascination the baser and more repulslve
phenomena of the Renaissance, and has such a IA
milarty with its worst literature she is careful to
say that she has read the works which she de-
scribes that one cannot help wondering what her
library must be like: of another side OF the subject
however, especially Of all manifestations OF the re-
lglous sentiment which in the midst of the corrup-
tions of the Middle Age and the Renaissance was
not only strong but fruful, she is careless or un-
appreciatve; and that is why she goes so absur0ly
astrav in her estimate of Fra AngclicO his distin
guishing charm does not appeal to her at all: she
prefers to rake over the dung hcaps--oi course in
the interest of higher morality and finer culture
and to call on us TO remark how hidcous and
nasty it all is In the first of the essays. "1he
SacrifceD she argues that the wickedness of the
Renaissance was necessary IN order that we might
be enlightened and good the rale of Nature being
that whole generations of men must be condemned
to moral uncertainty and error in order that other
generations may enjoy knowledge peacefully and
guiltlessv. In very higb-fiav0red essay Oh " Me-
diaval Love' she returns to the same idea. The
grossness of this philosophy, the preposterously
immoral principal that moral evil can ever be any
thing else than evil, that sin be part of the
natural and beneficial order of the universe, hardly
needs to be pointed out.
The essays of "Vernon Lee" have been widely
read and admired in England, aud have received
warm commendation from critical authorities We
cannot like them. They are characterized by femi-
nine acuteness of perception, but also by feminine
narTowness of view and feminine prepOnderance
of emotion over the judgement They show wo-
lava tba tha Qta rfli i'm md
the strenuous with a woman's propensity to crude
ness and haste The style is tumultuous and
rapid sometimes eloquent sometimes brilliant
generally ovcrstrained and sensuous. occasionally
vulgar while the liberties which the author takes
with the English language, in the manufacture of
words such as "beaic,' as a substitute for blessed
and carried" q for rotten, and the marrying of
incompatible nouns and adjecives are not a little
droll.