New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1884-07-13
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
otts LATEST carrie.

UntenttaVsN wilt tansinhaf the amusing plainhess
ef spaeeh with which 10 hi7 supplementary chsp'
tat Ne Richard ufaHt Wh'tA, addresses mm'e't '"
tbs aHeslias WIN Is slf Lepsl uHmhf lhs an-
swsr is thit sif iepal urirn Ia not much ~ any
bndv that he saw nobody who Is anybody dHfiHI
his visit 10 America, ant that he had 100
spportuniy to learn more of American
mmners ami society than can ha ohssrFeh
hetween drinks In hotel baT-ro0ms We now nave
Sir Lepel Griffin asking who Is Mr. II e. Whlief
an inquiry 90 which he replies that Mi WHITE Tor
Mr. Whites latest work. IS rs good Az illustration
as could be found Of the worst type of American
critic-ignOrant and presumPtuous- from the
internal evidence Of his hook, could never nave
crossed the ocean, discussing English life ana ma"
ners" Now Mr.. White is great aInWer Oh ing
lsb life and manners AS one finds them IN England
and we must take il for granted thar ta'S "t'0 ca
nlos,on Of temper was provoked by our country
nome criticism upon the life and man
nors of the English tourist, "a one
finds HIM in Arerica-a criticism for which any~ot
ne can sea ample justification without gong lar
from his own doors Sir Lepel Griffin certainty ms
some of the most disagreeable characterlsticS"i
the British traveller. His contempt for every
thing un-Euglish" is bonndless. Ills inacce'Si-
bilitv to nm En- gsh ileas is absolute lie zoos hu'
know when his critics are laughing at him lie
does not recognizes joke when he sees it. He
nrcmises lie has an Unsuitable appetite
for thnmping falsehoods. lie proponndS
the most INDUSTRIOUS plumbers with dogInalc
assurance. OF all the foreigners who nave
recently written about the United states ne IS pY
far the most ignorant and the thickest-headeh the
most unfit bv nature and the least qualified by op
servatiOn.
Fortunately Sir Lcpe seems to have PAID niue
attention to American society. and he records only
IN ia 1ar,ar tnpn q
that in New-York and Boston it is customary for a
younp dehutantc in her first year to be adopted
Inv one of the professional male Arts" who o<tenta-
tiousv protects her through whole season. VI
Art and literature he says as little rs he does oi
fashion but that little is enough to show thar he Is
not interested in such subjects. lie complains
that in hundred years we have produced hel'het
n poem. q painting nor a musical composition wmcL
could Justly be placed in the first class but ne
forgets to ask whether any nation has produced
mem Of the first rank during that time, or whether
England has ever produced irst-class painting at
any time or q frst-class piece of music. In music
to Ice surc he thinks we m " 10 something before
1onp " as the hest Of so-called English music, now
taking high place IN the artistic history "i we
century Is lfish IN origin. and ~ mere
are more lri shmcu In America than IN ltelanu
itself" That the dramatic art is at low oop
IA America (evou llnpth and Jefferson nte no great
skakosl is owina to the unoongeuinl aimnsph'i'
moro ia "a 90 the actor, hcctuao the majority ni
American actors nto Engliah 81 Irish bv origin aud
indeed tho American stare is ~ rich ~ htofhr
astf il were recruited dnrct from Cnrl,' TUE ".
tohponco will bo received ~ inmm NV lllll wi'
n doi lht hardly los. tH2tutoUH ia - tho abatement
that nos' Kell, being able "to defend hlH poH'lI'"
with spiritunl ~ well ~ temporal welpons' com
pels the whole irish Catholic population to vote
solid ne he hlds thcm' Sir lcpei's nav taste ~
architecture Ia illustrated by hN declaration
that "with the exception of tho Post
ONCE N and the unfinished Calhouc
Cathedral which Is neither IN size nor design
Cathedral at ALL" there IA scarcely a building In
Ncw-Yurk which repays visit 1t "a cheering I"
know that Mnctt has an admircr nj Last but pray
vhat ia Sir lenc's notion OF the attributes "i a
cathedral. aud what docs he suppose to he the
minimum sizo which will Justify our calling u
bishops church by IT, proper nanet Ihat Niagara
H. only ucst Of uuisauccs that Lake 'hWnp'ih
aud AXE George are poor things TINT we nave
very httle Aoouciy except IN the loliowSi"hN,Nh'h
IA visited only hy Euglishmcu, that our women dc
not beautiful that nclmoncosS not u go"dehing.
house that New York hasno largrp iyaohou,"s that
the Brooklyn Bridge was bluudcr since sub
way would have bccn more convenient tShld0 "l
Brnucl has he never heard of the Thames tnnnolh
i1ot the Mississippi is nasty stream OF mnI thh
the General Park is magnificent eNpln'e NJ VIII
derness III the centre of no hing, aud That the only
reason why We Sre not disliked on the Continent
as much as Englishnen Is that are not 50 well
known these some or the genial judgments by
which Sir Lepel displays his Expensive mind and
his sunny temper He s.such charming type Of
Englishman that we shall never cease to reg,
missing his personal acquaintance.
We presume that Mr.. Richard Grant Whites
conjecture "a to the class of people from whom Sir
Lepel form Il his opinion of the United states is
nearly'eorrect. The book is rcdolent of the air o.
hotel rotundaS AID echoes Of the reckless CONVEX
sation OF the smoking-car and the wild rhetoric OF
the cheap newspaper. The author declares that
his chief purpose is to warn English liberals
against the dangers of dem )cracv. and he has con
sequentlv paid more attention 20 ths con ltlOn OF
our politics than to other phases OF Amer
lean life. What he thinks Of or voters,
our Government aud public men may be
inferred from what we have already said Of his
temper lie has borrowed some gross exaggera-
tions from the sources we have indicated above;
he has accepted literature of The Ldtd"sicW GG''ut
specics for sober history; he has apparently ill.,
vented few small ISLANDERS, such as tn" statement
that corporation bribcd the officials of the State
Of New York to give it the right to build paper
mill in the middle Of Niagara Falls that in the
last Presidential contest the in thirty States,
commanding POS electoral vOteG, were unable to
road -; or that whether the 10000 men on the
rolls of the United States Army really exist pr not
sextremely doubtful nobody whom SIR Lepel has
met having ever them, aud the presumption
being that az least half the money appropriated for
their pay is stolen. But the authority upon which
he most relies Is satirical work entitled solid
for Mulhooly," published some two years ago in
New-York anl not greeted by English politicians
with the attention which it undoubtedly de-
served" The opinion of Sir Lepel ilenry Griffin,
X {. 5. l., upon any literary production t. entitled
70 so much weight that we cannot contemplate
without crushing sense Of shame the comp city