New-York tribune., 1884-03-09
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
,orHER FRENCH CRITIC ON ENGLAND.

n
IA ,,,,, IrrF Daryl paris: J. Hetzei & Co PIP 81.
This is A book of very different order from .iI"'
cf Max O'Ren The author has qualihed hlihScii ~
h,s task bv ten yea s residence In EhgHhu' anu ~"
observations have been made with pene'i
nnd \ philosophical candor and mpartiany "n'."
give weight to his conclusions. lndeed II may oo
questioned whether he has not got nearer W '"o
trutn tnan any ench critic OF EngIsh NC Ueioio
him NOT excepting Guizot and Tane, and we know
80 ~ rrencbron who has manifested anything like
his conscientious painstaking in seeking out the
,ctual facts. and in divesting himself as much as
,ossiple of national prcpOssessons and preJudlces
NJ Philippe Daryl has clearly not written Tor the
sake of saving smart sairica things but has made
an honest and in the main successful endeavor 10
draw faithful and uneXagCc,ated picture Of Eng
lish public life. lie divides his book into sections
treating succcssivey of Literature the Press the
Theatre Science and Poetry; Parliament and the
Municipal Corporations, the Queen, the Army and
Navy. the Courts and the Police
In the beginning he is struck with the univcrsaty
OF the reading habit among the English, and with
tbe range and extent of their literature. Z" They
read everything" he says 9" all that appears III all
languages" Journals reviews essays solid WORKS.
are constantly pouring from the press" sowing
ideas. popularizing new discoveries. eleVatng the
general character of the nation with unequaiieu
abundance and rapdty" Mudies circulating
library fills hlm with admiration, ana ne gives q"
graphic description of it. Then he comments on 'he
superior style in which English novels are printed,
and makes an unfavorabe comparison with those OF
France But what surprises him most is the purity
of English fiction:
They read more in England than anywhere he
saws and one result of tins Is that current ltera-
ture is not addressed to any particular class bHt 10
all the nation without exception. An Eng
lsh writer can never lose sight of the fact that nus
book will have the right OF entry to all houses, TO
every table and viii he as accessible to the eyes OF
fifteen as TO those of thirty. II by chance he iorges
this his publishers or the critics Will recall II 10
him sharply, and he will find himself summed.
lie adds quite Freuchily: 1t Is TO this motive
more than to the general purity Of morals that
the ordinary decency of the British novel must
be ascribed."
His reflections upon the fiction of his own coun-
try. however compel him to speak out more plainly
and hc proceeds
An author who respects his pen does not assert the
right to put in journal or a book what ne WO9Id
not saw before young girls or modest women IL"
knows that they form the best part Of ms Publlc, the
most honest and sincere and II his artistic wings
are clipped little 10y the necessity "l dlaPhg ms
statues he is easily cOusolcd 10y the thought that
there Is nothing doubtful or snNpcouS IN ms
sncccss and bv the assurance that the public do
not seek filth, but talent, m ms works Nor Is IL
tre to have readers and friends among an GLASSES
and in all ages. Independent OF the satisfaction
writer finds in communion OF ideas with the coming
as with the passing geheIal!ou; NIIa. piiuGNtLt Lt
stimulus this gives 10 his genius! Let us ADMIT thdt
the French novelist j. WITHIN MS rights rs an al
in systematically stirring up human mud; under the
preence that a final analysis everything III ma
ture is reduced to combinations OF oxygen, hydro
gen. aZOte and carbon. II Is not less true nor lcsS
deplorable that by a necessary result OF tins system
ali one class of a natOn-tne most plecous, the
most interesting the most sensitive to impressions.
the fondest of readmg-s cut OF from novels or
compelled to read them secretly, ana thus ie,t /"
seek the worst parts of them The young glri 20"
say nothing of the young man arrives at marriage
with an Imagination either void of true ideas Of the
resi- world, OT the contrary, filled with TOO real
istic ideas.
Our author further suggests that since his coun-
trymcn are fond of anatomy in fiction they ought
at least to discuss different parts of the body some
times lie says: :" If the novel ought to be study
in normal or morbid physiology, for phys sake be
complete and do not stop at this OF that region.
Write something about the sudorhc glands, the con-
duct of the nerves of hearing, or the organs Of
vision! These unhappy and prosecuted functions
ought not to be doomed to eternal silence and to
vnoos~'s in obgcuIity forever The English novel,
he holds, is great oviiizer 1t discusses current
issucs persuadeS, eonvlnces and all in the interest
OF good morals
To consider only the results, how excellent sys7
tenn The @ works Of p9pnr pTtS . ' % no2sli s IS,
on a poet is not something doubtful OF uucertaln
kind of shamefaced fame, for which one blushes aud
which is only spoken of under the breath or III the
corner 1t is a national property, III which all share
and upon which great and small can pass Judgment
in the full light of day and with complete under
standing.
NJ Daryl admres the press of England very
greatly and his description of the London journals
shows that he has had special opportunities for in
forming himself though he makes one or two mis-
takes such as are natural to foreigner. This part
of the work contains an elaborate eulOgy of Mr..
Forbes the famous correspondent but we can
hardly accept the following serious statement con-
cerning that gentleman's habits as being correct
Mr. Archibald Forbes, the type of a class j.
ALWAYS and at any moment at the disposal of hIs
editOr-in-ch Tie has at his house, always ready,
two campaigning equipments, The one for winter
or cold countries the other for or hot coun-
tries Arms, clothing camp eQulpageS. SaddleIY.
everything is there even 70 purse nlled with gold
even to passports ana letters of credit upon all the
capitals. 4 telephone order comes from Flcctst.,
and of he goes for Zanzibar for India OF for Russia.
This is interesting, but it is rather too melo-
dramatic for reality.
We cannot follow NJ. Daryl in Lis appreciativc
description of the rapid growth OF the London jour
mails, but 1t is worth while to set down his statement
that since the introduction OF the special wire sys
TEN, the people of London get every morning de
tailed accounts of Partisan affairs which the people
of Paris for the part know nothing about until
the afternoon. when the evening papers appear.
This an evidence of enterprise which ought to but
does not arouse Partisan journalism from its long
slumber
The absence Of personalities in the English papers
surprises our author. He says:
Personal attacks and disputes which unhappily
hold SO large place in the majority of our journals,
are almost unknown in the British press Forty
wears ago the latter discovered that tins sort of
thing was useless and III had taste. \ journal which
employed abuse instead of argument now would lose
Its readers. one which made business OF BLACK
guardism would very have to shut up shop
Our ncighbors have for half "a century understood
that principles everything and men nothing;
they in fact q" cured of mdiylduallsm." as poor
AnacharSis kloOtz when dying wished that France
might be one day
NJ Daryl finds it difficult 10 assign a place to
Journalists IN English society, and explains this
partially by the theory that in England contri-
butors TO the press come from all classes and that