New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-10-07
WHEN no BEGIN.
THE WORK OF YOUNG WRITERS

From The St. Jamcss Gazette. ii, 49, -
people in France willing TO follow the advice recently
offered them by NJ Renan than have Is IN ther po" yer
To do So The vivacous old lttcracur progresses me
ruin of French literature from the youth OF inc
writer's. lie says that on no accoun, should lhey
begin before they forty. iii then the time sroud
Lc occupied with reading and thinking IL NJ.
Aphonse Daudet were questioned on this point no
would probably remark that NJ Renans opinion o ma
nctoa ~ nrobation but that when he arrived in
FarI. wearted TO death with the lie OF schoolusher,
pcnnless and possessed OF no other Of earning
livelihood, he obliged either to plunge into liter
allure at once staIvc In the same way VI. Zola
would very likely declare that II was wrong OF him
to publish his Contes Nlnon' 1T the early age OF
livelihood lay hard upon him. Not only this, but
devoecs of literature have an inconvenent habit OF
becoming husbands and fathers before The age alluded
to- that unless they happen to be me posscssors
of exceedingly rich and generous guardians this long
s. i however e. e. an Interesting inquiry What S he hes,
time to beglni rhe usual belief Is that. in England
has rendered it almost impossible for man to do
so very early In our time no brilliant young Dickens
writes another L" PickwcF at twenty-One.
vscrs Of the thinning youth Of last generation
worth reading before. he is thirty. 10 that rule,
however there are many exceptions When 70 begin l
Gift Poetry, for instance usually ripcns long be-
fore thirty. Mr. Robert browning published Para
The immature Pauline written when he was twen-
,y-one Nothing that Mr.. swlnburne has done Is
Written Write much other verse Christina Rossetfi pub
Whsn she s0S was 'O" ony sIzee% The
Gyinsvers' was gwen to the World by Mr. oo w Mr
Coventry Patmorc was already contributor TO many
leading reviews when at me age o nay9 ms
are well known; and though DR.. Oliver Wendell
Holmes Sa not ver fame as 0e bs s ar
days. Even that profound classic PIoveroial
Philosophy published when the author was
40 hc Inference
an early Towering plant IS more than confirmed II
We turn from ne LYING to the deda ana o cd a 20
Burns and FERGUSON: shelley and BYRON. 10 none oe
forever
1t is generally admitted of the novels's calling that
as IL is the most rcmunclatvc form Of literature,
I the most crowded. and therefore the one at whose
doors The aprant must knock Longest for recogpt on
ccpon Of Dickens, did their best WORK when 'heIr
Iroach M that limit Such was the with Scott
and Thackcray and Fielding and George Eliot At
RI Fd' II Baohmor, Who gave The world Iorna
Doonc" when he was forty-hve But many extremely
period Mr. George Meredith wrote The Ordeal Of
Richard Fevercl' before he was ihirfy-one: M, pr
Thomas Hardy has never done anything better than
Far from tho Madd ng Crowd published when he
thiry-four. At twenty-four MI; James Payn be
or fallen below the level on which he started. Mr.. r.
Louis stevenson his first success when he was
that success had TO be unrcasonaby waited for, Il
take into account that novelist invariably Degns
by learning some other profession.
But perhaps NJ Renan meant his advice 70 DC es
pecialy applicable 10 tho thinkers whose work Is des
tined to have great effect In shaping the Influences
Of their time Here certain amount OF maturity Is
absolutely necessary. though the career Of William Pitt
remains record to show that The rule Is not without
exceptions. Yet Cardinal Newman was but little over
thirty, when from The pulpit Of st. Mary's be began,
though the music OF his voice. the charm OF his elo
qucncc. and his earnest austerlty 10 assume the com
handing position which he has never lost since To
take name almost equally rcvcrenced by a different
class Of disciples Herbert Spencer had Just passed
thirty when his spurs won with Il" Social Stacs."
Mr. Frederick Harrison. however. appears to have an
tcipatcd NJ Remains advice and Mr. Leslie Stephen
thirty nine when he brought out HIS Play grounds
Of Europe Mr. Froude did not take up the serious
work Of his life till he thirty eight; thus contrast
ing with his rival. MI. Freeman. who gained his first
aurcls when he was only tvcntysiX The genius
who gets earliest to work Is the musician. and next TO
him comes the painter Holman Hunt began To
hlbt when he was nineteen and painted " The Light
Of the WOrds al twenty five while the late Mr. Frank
Holl had finished his "Fern-G atherers" before his
twentieth birthday. Among composers Sir Arthur
Sullivan was cmown al nineteen and Mr.. Mac
farrcn produced his first symphony at twenty-onA
two years afterward bringing out the overture 10
Chevy Chase But II is questionable II. after ALL
much guidance Is 10 be obtained from examples. The
best advice to the aspiring genius probably that
given by Carlyle TO ono Of the many pilgrims who I'm
his latter days found their way Chelsea. son the
you ready"