New-York tribune., 1885-07-10
WHITE HOUSE LITERATURE
MISS CLEvELANDs BOOK.

has already been sold. lhere Ii ho'hhs e",
IN that undcr the circumstances. Few DOCKS nave
been more industriousy pulled in advance OF publ
cation and then very few books ever issued from
,be White House. TO great many people the one
fact that the author is President Cleveiands sis-
tef affords the necessary inducement to purchase
and to read and perhaps this may be the case
with the majority No doubt Miss Cleveland 1eels
the embarrassment inseparabe from this phase Oh
the situation. She must perceive that In 100 many
instances her work is treated from the poih' y,
view of her social position, and not from that u
her real literary merit Yet frank judgment VI
the latter is alone worth anything to an autnor'
and it is upon that alone the ultimate status Oh inc
book must rest.
OF course the only way to ascertain the ac'ua'
value of new book is to judge it from its con-
tents without any reference to externai circuoi-
stances. The mere fact that there Is brisk oe-
mand for q volume concerning which very few peo-
ple can possibly know anything simply proves tha1
the American public are as eager as the Athenlans
of old in their pursuit of new thing Besides
the question "Have you read Miss Cleyelands
book ~ is certain to be the vogue for time' anu
there are more people than ever who think IL neces
sary TO possess some personal knowledge VI 'no
subjects they discuss, and who are not contend 10
trust everything to the critical notices ana tuo
publishers advertisements So Miss Cleveiands
book is launched on the summer SEAS WIZ" sio"'
deal of pomp and circum stance
But the author must ask herself quite naturally
how il wond have been received had it been pup-
lisbed ANONYMOUSLY or had she not been the sister
of the President and the Mistress of the White
Houses and in order to crafty this very reasonable
curiosity an attempt shall be made here TO con-
sIder her work solely and simply on lts
merits. The book contains nine ESSAYS
of which the latter five styled historical Inc
first four are entitled George EiiOts Poetry
"Reciprocity,v "Altruistic Faith" and History"
The so-called Studies in the Middle Ages" wnlch
follow, are "Old Rome and New France" Char
lemagne,n "rhe Monastery" "Chvalry." and Joan
of ArcD 1t is understood that some, If not ALL OF
these essays were first written lectures to be de-
liyered before schools aud it does not seem that
thev have undergone much revision, though 1t
would perhaps have been better not to have re-
peated the same quotations quite so many times ana
some readers would prefer to have their Shakespeare
cited correctly for example the Bard of Avon did
not write All the worlds stage, and men ana
women are the actors ", and 1T Is somewhat care
less in Miss Cleveland to let such misquotation
escape her in the prOofreading
Among the mob of gentlcwOmen who write Win
ease in these days there is rapidly increasing class
who affect advanced views They have read much,
and usually without discrimination, though with
n bias toward what may be called "upsetting"
books They have dipped into Plato dabbled with
characterization played with HeIne. nibbled at
De Musset devoured Mrs. Browning found mean
ings in Shelley, and battened freely upon what may
be termed the pork-and-beans OF advanced Itera-
ture the swarm of aggressive but thin and super
fetal books whose authors, mostly feminine, recog-
nze an esoterlc circle of rsformers, prophets and
seers; the very names of whom are unknown to
Philistine and unresponsive world. There is a
which
the initiates is supposed to be the superna reward
of such intellectual disc pine. Its external and
exoteric marks should by this time be well under
stood. They consist in the felcitious conviction
that the "cultured" person has assimated all
knowledge in more or less enthusiastic bellef
that the Cause of Woman to regenerate the worlds
and in general readiness to review the judgments
of the ages upon every imaginable subject, and to
put forward the new analysis as being positively
the last word on that topic. The devetees OF cu-
ture" are no doubt perfectly honest and serious and
earnest and they are, equally without doubt, IN
spired by worthy motives and jealous to promote
good works Nor are their labors fruitess, for If
they do not bring about any revolution they create
a certain intellectual ferment which tends to en-
liyen thought and to prevent the stagnation born
of slavlsh defereuce to authority.
OF this class of modern women Miss Cleveland is |
a type, and her book therefore has more than an |
individual interest And she has a style which |
may fairly be called her own though it Is plainly
composite, Impressionabe, receptive, she has un- |
consciously borrowed both matter and manner. and |
vet she has added to the latter Indiyidualism |
which frees her from the suspicion of imitation. |
This yle of hers is bright, flexible, often horid.
but generally quite lucid. 1t has also much nervous
force and her thoughts expressed In appropri-
ate language and with graceful ease. In short she
writes pleasantly, clearly, and with proiusion of
feminine ornamentatiOn whichadds color and light
to her essays. Few who read them will be wearicd
by them-and yet fewer still will want to read
them second time. For when all has been said
that honestly be said in their favor, they must
be pronounced to be slight of material There is
indeed something quite refreshing even II surpris-
ing in the ingenious ntrepdity with |
which Miss Cleveland undertakes the treatment |
of large subjects Nothing is too lofty or if1cult
for her aspiration History, Altruism, Reciproc ity
Charlemagne, Joan of Arc. Chiyalry. Monasticism
Old Rome and New France-she handles each and |
all with the same calm determination to oxtinguish
the historians and philosophers of the past and
she bases her novel verdicts in nearly every in
stance upon crude and erroneous ideas, derived |
from partial stady of frequently untrustworthy |
writer's 1t is curious too. to note how conven-
tional many of her views are Notwithstanding her
yearning after fresh positions. Nothing can be |
more orthodox or less true, for example, than her
representations of Chivalry, of Buddhism and Of
Monachism She has indeed formed quite CO.
herent conceptions of these things, bat they are
purely fanciful conceptions. Perhaps her first |
essay, on George Eots Poetry, exhibits the truest
perception but there the conclusion reached is
simply obvious, and scarcely needed exposition or
elaboration.
To say that there probably $4,000 American |
school-teachers who could write as good series of
essays would be scarcely fair to Miss Cleveland. be-
cause after all style is much, and it 10 not credible
that there are $4,000 women teachers who possess