New-York tribune., 1884-03-09
MR.. HAYWARD.
ANoTEs ON THE CAREER OF A LONDON
CELEBRITY.

line of this letter will ask Who was MI nay
ward - The question is one ] nave he'iu
Americans il London when they "eIo '"'N
were 70 meet Mr. Hayward al dinner II y o"' -
Ioudoner would have put nor any Iore'-"0i -.
second visit here Mr Haywards ian,e ""U -
tiou are the most striking example 'u",
ouoted of the extr me narroWneSs u P'iO'J -
renown. Who in London was AnV"u ~ '''
of Ton,Ion M one was known So little though e1-
"a - Ia made in favor of Paris. where his
,,;,torce was very large Nor was his celebrity
80 +o,d,v For a generation he has had no rival
Fer tvvo generations he has been figure. tie was
+ba contemporary of sydney smith of sam Rog-
crs of Macaulay and held his own with the best
Of them. And be d.ed only last Saturday Nobody
who ever met him will forget him; hut suppose
among those who knew him not his memory may be
only transient
Abraham HAYWARD was born in 1902. He never
had what Is called in this country start In NE.
lie went to no public school and 10 neither uni
Verstv He debut was made IN solicitors once :
thence 10y not very usual transition nc made iilS
wayto the Bar. 10 which, however be was not called
fin he was nearly thirty years old. He made no
effort for practice though he edited law loUIha
and was ultimately made O. c. He had neither
fortune nor family. One of his grandparents was q
lew. and thence he got his first name Abraham J;
b, no means then passport to society ht
translated Faust into English prose and 1t is SUI
the best translation for those who want 10 learn
the exact meaning Of the original. lie wrote lor
The Morning Chronicle. From an early period ne
was a frequent contributor to The td"0urgH ana
Coarierly Eerie,cs, and his essays have been re
publisbed But none nor all Of these incidents IN
his personal history gives the least crew. either 10
the origin of his social career or TO MS eAuaoluI-
nary ascendancy i'll the world amid Wnlch ne nVeu'
Nor do know nor can ind any body VINO ooeS
know. how Hayward got his first 7tep IN the lite he
led so brilliantly. / always meant to ask him. and
he would have told without hesitation But II IL
too late.
Three series of Hayward's Essays have been col
Iected: fourth and last appearing under the title
Eminent Statesmen and Writers The first, issued
in 1855. was 50 far from being successful that foi
wears the two svo volumes could be bought fOrhve
smllings Afterward the demand grew they be-
came scarce and copy in good condition IS dlfh-
cult TO procure for five times five shlllngs. The
subseauent series sold fairly well but nothing Hay
ward has published can be called popular Yet in
their kind his Essays are among the best IN the
English language. They are admirable critical
studies. They abound in anecdotes derived from
his personal intercourse and experience. They
abound equally IN a kind of knowledge rare among
English writer's a knowledge Of the Continent ana
epochs or periods Hayward authority. He
was saturated with the terstureo of the last century
French and English both and he had at
his fnCcr-ends everything that had happened
during his own time. The details Of the JuninS
controversy were as familiar TO him as its general
ties are TO most men. The same may be said Of the
various questions raised about Byron. Nobody dld
81 much as Hayward toward exposing and discred-
iting Mrs. Beecher Stoves reckless cslumnes on
great writer. Nor ne ever so overloaded with
his facts as to be unable to handle them. His pace
is never sluggish. Directness and ucidlty are per
haps the chief merits of hls style for which tbeTe
is wanting the indeiiuable something which con- !
stitutes charm. But he is always and emiuently |
readable. Dulness was a goddess TO whom he never /
offered the smallest homage. Mr.. Matthew Arnold |
intimates somewhere that Hayward might have !
done higher order of work in literature, and no I
doubt he might But what he did was excellent OF I
its kind. and you must 20 to his essays for /
a great deal of interesting and valuable /
and delightful knowledge not to b.
found elsewhere. This is not slight praise. The /
papers on the Art of Dancing on Whist and others,
are classics. lie edited the Letters and Literary !
Remains of Mrs. Piozzi and the Diary of a Lady OF /
Quality and later in life wrote monograph on /
Goethe which Is sound piece of work. And he |
was Tor quarter Of a century a contributor Of Ikt
VI.
MI. Hayward befrIcnded the late Mr.. Cbenery, /
when he became editor, in many ways.
II is to be added that Hayward is the author Of /
some of the mos polished rcs dc ,Oceif in the Eng
Ish language. They have never been published, /
and 1t must / suppose. depend ON the directions he (
left whether they ever viii be. But they were [.
printed for private distribution tie used to say lie .
never gave copy to male friend. he made no /
exception IN my favor yet copy hes before N.
which did not buy nor borrow nor come by in any /
irregular way Yet. though it does not absolutely 1
belong to me. hope not 10 part with it wholly.
Hayward never entered Parliament or gave him
self up 10 political life, bul he born poll
tIcian, and knew every move on the board Though
q regular writer literary topics in The Qaarteriy
W hch is Tory. he was steadfast Liberal nd the
{ lose personal friend of Mr Gladstone, to whom he
was equally devoted and useful. Their relations
may be denoted by single incident. When Mr..
G. adstone was forming his present Ministry, Nj. |
Hayward was one of the two or three friends, not !
colleagues. whom the Prime Minister consulted. |
He was in Harey-st. day and night, and was the /
means of communication between Mr. Gladstone [
and The Times. Nobody knew better than Hay
ward on 50 well, what said and thought IN the
world he lived in. 1t is the fashion to dis
parage the political opinions of London So
cety; but il is none the less
a force great force which no Minister
can afford to leave ont of account Until Mr.
Chamberlain invented the caucus ! say invented
because the English machine Is very different from
what is supposed to I've It's American prototype and
q more formidable and dangerous weapon no body
OF opinion could be brought to bear on a Govern
nent 50 directly or powerfully that Of London
Itself. The clubs the dinner-tables. the drawing !
rooms Of the West End have made aud unmade
Ministries before now; and may again, spite of
Mr. Chamber aims elaborate precautions 10 counter
work the forces which to hun were perhaps unman-
ageable
What made Hayward famous beyond all other
things was his genius for society Genius Is not too
strong a word. man who without any help but
his own aptitudes and force Of character makes his