New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-05-13


His Inspectorship Of Schools gave him u moderate
income. his books brought him in something, ne
was paid high prices for those magazine artlcies
which he wrote rather freely late in life. When
he resigned his place in the Education Depart
ment he continued TO receive, under the ruIes
governing the English Civil Service, yearly sum
equal to two-thrds Of his salary. lie had pen
sion upon the civil list Of $3.50 year IN al
dition Twice in his life however. he sacrihced
brilliant opportunities. The first was when upon
his marriage he resigned his place as private
secretary to the late Lord Lansdowne, when ne
held from SAT to 1851. always understood thaS
he gave this up in order TO marry though why
private secretaryship should be thought incom-
patibe with matr!nony 1t is not easy TO Sec FER
haps it was a caprice of Lord Lansdowne. 10
be private secretary in those days to nooiemah
like Lord Lansdowne was to be sure Of preferment,
unless something happened to dsplease the noble
man. 1t was not natural that Arnold should
poss from such post TO q mere school inspector
ship But if he made any sacrifice to marry, as
suredly he never regretted 1t; he reioced In his
domestic life. lie second opportunity was DUP
ing Mr. Gladstone's Ministry OF 1880. Arnold had
then become recognized rs the great writer he was
His services to education had gone far beyond the
nature Of his Office and his reports on Continental
systems had impressed even the bureaucratic mind
Many men, and among them some Ministers, had
long felt that the failure to provide some better
place for man like Arnold was discrcdt to the
Government. A Charity Commissionership fell op
portunely vacant worth $4,000 year II was
not magnificent but 1t was reckoned prize IN
the Civil Service; pay fairly good, life berth,
and the duties not too laborious. Arnolds friends
bestirrcd themselves. Dir. Gladstone gave prom
ise The appointment was as definitely settled
,,ob in0 hn fha
made out and waiting for signature. Just then
came out in some review one of those articles in
which Arnold assailed the Dissenters with that
gentle and terrible ridicue which has SO often
Infatuated it's victims. They turned upon him.
Mr.. Chamberlain, believe, became their mouth
piece himself, Of course, Dssenter and pills
tine 1t is impossible to know just what was said
or done, or what influences were brought to bear
on Mr. Gladstone, but Mr.. Gladstone yielded-hc'
the Churchman OF Churehmen, sacrificed the ADJ
vocate and champion Of his Church to the wrath
Of the Church's enemies. The Charity CommlS
sionership was given to another lie never com
planned All through his educational work he did
the duties imposed upon him with cheerful 10y
atty. 1t was drudgery, but useful drudgcry What
he might have done had fortune showered her
favors on him, 1t is idle TO guess. There IL
theory that he abandoned poetry because he Ques-
toned whether his own sincerity and passion wero
sufficient or were quite irreprcssble in verse But
to one who once asked him why he wrote so little
poetry in his later days, he answered: " Ah, II
you knew how much harder 1t is than prose-
Arnold's place in English society was not per-
haps quite what his American friends may have
supposed. 1t is natural TO imagine that the COM
| pany Of a man so gifted would be sought every
where, and so 1t would have been everywhere
| but in England. In England it was sought but
not universally, until comparatively late
period He was, Of course, known TO ana liked Dy
many of the best people in the best circles OF
that huge whirlpool to which the name society Is
now given. Thirty or forty years ago he might
not have been much regarded by the merely fash
ionable world. Things have moved rapidly since
then and most rapidly Of all during the latter
part of that eventful period. Yet Hayward, who
knew IL any man knew what London society Was
| like, once selected Arnold as the type OF distn-
| guished man whom the butterflies did not care
| for. We were discussing one morning at break
| fast-it was in the days when breakfasts were
still given-the way in which society was MADE
up. Hayward said that literary men had no real
position there, and he related how he had lately
been asked TO compose list for lady OF great
rank, new to London. who wanted to give good
narties and dinners. "She would not have
thanked me-" said Hayward, " If / had put Mat
thew Arnolds name down" Some OF US dis
scnted; especially one man whose house had re-
| nown of its own for smart assemblies Hayward
turned on him sharply: Lady ---- gave
| PARTY last night to the Prince and Princess
OF Wales Whom had you there among oil
the writer's and journalists and painters you
| known The suddenness Of the assault took
him by surprise, but he contrived by good luck. to
indicate two or three OF the company then present
who had been invited by his wife, or, more
probably, by himself Well" growled Hayward,
you don't pretend you had Arnold?'
This little scene occurred some ten years ogo.
perhaps twelve. 1t remains true that among those
two or three sets Of fashionable and IsometimeSl
frivolous but generally charming women who
dispute among themselves precedence in smaTtness
Arnold was not very frequent guest. lhey
would, if they had thought on the matter have
said when challenged, " Oh. he is not in our set
| A lady who had met him said he frightened her.
and on being further Intercepted explained that
il was his gravity OF manner which caused this
state Of alarm. cor
still significant apecdote may DO re-
lated One of Arnold's friends WAS lunching on
Monday with a lady Of great social position
whose rank Is as high, nearly as high, as any
subject Of the crown can hold, and who bears en-
! illustrous name. The news Of Arnold's death
had just come, and this guest mentioned 1t TO his
| hostess She received 1t with blank faee-blank
but for the expression Of that effort toward polite
interest which good breeding induced Arnolds
name was clearly unknown to her. BY on effort
of memory she presently identified him US man
who had written books
He had. Of course, the society he cared most
for. lie was Ii favorte with many Of the most
cultivated and Intellectual people who make part
of the English arstocracy, and WAS to be met OF
dinners and even parties, for which perhaps be
did not greatly care, and in Of the most
delightful country houses in England. 1t is need
less to say that in the world Of letters and among
the people TO whom literature and art are more
than fashion he was something more than favor
lite; he held the place awarded TO master Any
| IL H. naSilr within his