New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1884-04-11
NEW PUBLICATIONS
UNWORTHY LIVES OF AMERICAN WORTHLESS.

UNWORTHY LIVES OF AMEhiSAN " ON'hiiAA@S'
GEORGE WASHINGTON BY JOIN ON HABhkRIoN'
Henry.Holt & Co. PIP 3so'
The convention of the burlesQue biographical
series to which this book belongs was an unfortu-
nate one. With the exception Of the Life OF John
Smith. il has resulted thus far in vulgarizng Its
subjects; that and nothing more, unless indeed II
be something TO have associated the VAR,
Gus writer's with very ignoble type VI
literary bunoonery. The pretence tha' V"o
public need lives of prominent Americans
couched in homely style is irrelevant, inasmuch as
vulgarity is not LONELINESS. Mr.. Habberton IN MS
preface says: 90 The excuse for the uncohNei.io""i
form of this Life is that the author ana NOT hho"
how to write it in any other way" II this state
ment be made seriously it is no excuse NJ all All"
it is not made seriously it is equally imper'neht
for il is no apology for bad book to say thaC inc
author could not do better he certainly could nave
refraned from writing it, Mr. Habbertoh' now
ever evidently thinks that it is the lha'ichaoie
right of the American citizen not only 10 Wii'e o""
books ad Hbitum, but also to claim exemption ito"
criticism for them. For In his preface nc lcouho'
the critics who have found fault with the preoouns
volumes of the series and observes, speaking ioi mo
colleagues that il has never occurred 10 lhc" '''
10 write of famous men in the manner that is the
rule in familiar conversation about historic char-
acters is TO be contemptuous." This seems to snow
that the rule in familiar conversation about his
toric characters" is q rule with many EXCEPTIONS
Where is it, for example. that intelligent and eau
Gated people talk about historic characters Ill INC
tone employed in this seriesf 1t Is possible 'ni'
some Gnlicked cubs at college may ahec' IT, anu
that very young and rather coarse persons may cur
tiyate il as an evidence of smartneSs, anu 'l"'
people without any culture may regard u as H'ely'
but where Is there any educated society III "iio"
the introduction of the sangy. hppaht' Vuig"i
N.fo- mi
recatedf
Tn. tr,tb ia that the series Of |" American
Wortbesp has been criticised because its eftect Is
To vitiate the public taste and TO bring into con
TEMPT the men whose lives are thus distorted ana
trayestied And il must be SAID further that II IL
was intended to give humorous cast to the llVes'
the purpose has altogether miscarrled. Noth'ns
could be more dIeary and stupid than MI haoueI-
toms attempt TO write a comic life OF George "ash-
ington. for instance. There is not spark OF genu-
inc humor between the covers of the book me
author has apparently striven to AVOID DOWNRIGHT
disrcspect to Washington and has soaced himself
with the notion. that he was engaged IN rehaoih-
tatina the character of his hero by insisting upon
his "jovialiy and good-felowship. But the result
is rough. sketchy, incomplete and inaccurate out
line of the Life of Washington, made offensive with
slangy phrases and vulgarized by reflections aud
comparisons such as are encountered in what some
people are pleased to call spicy paragraphs OF the
period The monotonous hppancy, the equally
monotonous assumption of cynicism, the constant
imputation of base and venal motives to officials
and legislative bodies are only too familiar but
good taste would have excluded them from any
series dealing with American worthless
No gift of humor is capable of the strain put upon
ii by an historical narrative moreover mat was
long ago demonstrated by the lugubriOus failure of
III &C oil md he
tory of Rome George Washington with "a clown
accompaniment does not look well. There is moth
ing funny in his life, and nothing funny can be put
there without producing painful impression OF III
congruty Mr. HabbertOn, however, really has no
conception of humOr. We will give a few specimens
Of his style:
Time and circumstance often change the sgnifi- |
canoe of words; even politician" was once an |
lie was fond of throwing stones but as there
were tTamps nor lightnng-rod men In the coup
Rappahannock River.
Such mothers are rare were it not so, the country
would be completely Oyenun by great ana goOd
No alluson TO Plymouth Rock can be found in
WashiugtonS writings OF this period So proceeding
according TO distinguished presidents in modern
criticism, it is entirely safe to assume that there
never such place.
Wars generally find numerous men very glad OF
nm excuse to leave home, but Washington had not
even a cross wife on a creditor TO escape.
These extracts are quite equal to the best of Mr.
Uabbertons alleged humor, and it can be conceived
how inexpressibly wearisOme a biography written
IN this style must be- 1t is incumbent upon the un
happy author to make his recital jaunty and light.
1t is supposed TO be intended for the people who will
not OF cannot read real literature. 1t is sort OF
cross between the kind of essays which appear in
Pecks Sun and serious writing To sustain such an
unnatural style through three hundred and odd
pages must have been exceedingly painful to the
writer if we may Judge from the effect upon the
reader We regret to see it announced by the pub
fishers that more of this kind of rubbish is to be in
ficted on the public. We hope this determination
will be reconsidered. There is really excuse for
the publication of such books. They meet no de-
mand, supply no want, fill gap. They are not
amusing they are not suggestive, they are not in
structive By Harvesting American humOr to I'M
congenal and inappropriate work they create the
impression that il has ceased to exist. BY vulgar
ling the great men of the Republic they encourage
that spirit of irreveIence which tends to make
large proportion of modern society Philistne, IN
lovely and harsh In short, it is impossible to see
that they subserve useful or worthy end, and
we are obliged to express the opinion that Mr.. Hab
bertOn's volume the most thorough failure of the
series, besg. neither history nor burlesque lbut
crude and ne!icitous mixture of the two calculated
10 offend and disgust alike the serious student and