New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-11-24
RICHARD STEELE.
AN IMPERFECT BIOGRAPHY.
THE LIFE OF RICHARD STEELE. by george q,
Aiken In two volumes. Svo., pp' AM' %ie ;
I'm A.

yindicatlOn
men,s of Macaulay and the deprecatory sympathy
., Tbackeray 1t was his ambition also TO
oxhaust the subject to leave no room for sub
seoucnt inquiry, to bring together such mass
~ facts as might serve for all time as magazin
of reference The results of this intention have,
however, been little less than disastrous. for the
biographer proceeding with truly German
natScnce and thorou ghness, has hcaped together
so immense a quantity of dry archival bones as
no obscure the life they meant TO Illustrate
and TO deaden the interest and delay the move
ment of the narrative, TO the ntoerable WEAKNESS
and vexation of the reader. 1t may be confidently
asserted that if enough of this useless and utterly
uninteresting matter had been omitted to reduce
the bulk Of the work to single volume, 1t woulo
have been a very much better biography talan 10
is AS the case stands, the reader must eNade
and skip pcrpetualy in order TO keep In touch
with the action, and he Is forever being checKeu
by the cumbrous presentation of prollx ana
infinitely dreary law-papers and other docunien'0'
the printing of which in eXtenso' serves ho
useful purpose whatever but most seriously inter
feres with the unity and continuity OF the RECITAL
Nor is this the only fault of Mr. Atkehs wori,'
which, indeed, is marked by almost every oeioo'
a good biography should be free from' Ai'e'
struggling through these two large volumes oHo
energies finally without having obtained one cio'r
and graphic impression Of the man oteeE as III
lived and moved. OF his externaliues there is
abundant evidence, though it is far from peihs
exhaustive, and even when fullest u lacks pre-
cisely the kind Of information which Is nios'
needed. There is no excuse for this, 1nasmuch
as there is plenty of contemporary evidence aoouO
Steeles intimate life. But Mr.. Aitken has con-
trived, apparently with the instinct OF Dry
asdust. to eliminate the interesting Clements from
his biography. lie appears TO think that II nc
dumps into his pages every record Of every acuoh
for debt every brief in every suit, every scrap OF
genealogical matter about Steeles uncles, cousins
and aunts, it is unnecessary 10 supplement sucn
matter with any attempt to show the man as he
moved and breathed among his contemporaries
as he went about and talked and dined and
caroused and joked and fell in debt and quarreleu
with his friends and cursed and swore and tried
to be a Christian, and kicked over party traces
and pulled down with one hand what he had built
up with the other and submitted to he henpecked,
and wore his heart upon his sleeve for DAVIS TO
neck at. and revolted at the sycophancy exacted
from all who courted the great through sef-inter-
est. and showed himself the frankest, cheerfullest
least sophisticated least polite, most loyal, gen.
erous, improvident brilliant and unstable or
human beings. Steele. indeed, was very human,
and his faults have been as influential as his
virtues in endearing him to posterity There
is no man who needs TO be exploited on the purely
human and sociable side more than he and here
again Mr. Aitlzen has failed He seems almost to
shun anecdote and tradition. Half the time
even when he speaks of some story he omlts the
particulars. In ali his pOndcrous work he does
not give an idea of Steele to be compared either
for graphic force or probably for appreciativc in
sight. with Thackeray's lghthanded but pict-
uresque and sympathetic sketch.
As TO the contemporaries of Steele who figure
in Mr.. Athens volumes, they are shades as blood
less as ever foated through the Stygian Fields.
Swift and Addison, Pope and Ton
son, johnson, Congrevc Cibber, Dennis.
st. John, and all the rest of the
celebrities of the period. drift about in an mani
mate fashion, and even the enmities most of them
served so briskly fail under this treatment TO
rouse them into lifeikeness. One tint of the age.
indeed. is brought out distinctly enough aud it
is tint calculated to bring consolation to those
who imagine that modern politics are dreadfuly
personal and INSCRIPTIONS and vituperative In
the pampheteering era during which Steele lived,
the ferocity of faction exceeded anything known to
the present generation. The strongest minds at
that time habitualy subordnated argument to the
most outrageous personal abuse. When Dick
Steele undertook to counterfeit the reasonable
Vaccinations of Bolingbrolle by defending the
Hanover Succession, Dean Swift thought it not
beneath him to twit the author of q" The Crisis
with his alleged low birth. with his impecuni-
osity with his pers nal fraties generally, Others
of his political opponents deemed it a sufficient
answer 10 his reasoning 10 aver that he was a
"black-faced" fellow, that he was short of stature,
that be was born in Ireland and so forth. They
were not ashamed 10 drag the name of his wife
into the mud. In truth, 1T must be averred that
not only Grub Street, but the Republic of Letters
generally, in the England of Anne and the first
George. were sadly deficient in both sweetness and
light
There is one other aspect of Steeles life which
we owe IL to Mr.. Atken 10 say he has given
deserved emphasis 20. 1t has been too much the
custom to regard tho principal writer Of The Tat
Ter, as an amiable ne'er.do.weel," who pursued
no conscious or persistent aims. but lived from
hand 20 mouth in a reckless way. This biog-
raphy makes il clear that. on the contrary Steele
WAS guided by an intelligent and distinctly high
ethical purpose in all his non-political literary
work; that he did succeed in raising the moral
tone of the society of his day that he inculcated
respect for higher ideals than had been held since
the Restoration that he purified and strengthened
the stage: that he set the keynote for VEIN
of discussion reflection and criticism much more
rational, dgnified and impersonal than had pre-
viously existed His influence was great through
the Tatler,7 Guardian" and the many other
periodicals which he founded or to which he
contributed, and that influence was always ex
erted for good. IT. indeed we chose to institute
comparisons, difficulty would be found IN demon
stratng that as ethical and social force Richard
Steele counts for more than many imposing per-
sonages of his time Bolingbrolze. for example.
was held TO be master of style and a profound
philosopher but his literary and moral influence.
even apart from his scepticism, was scarcely worthy
to be named beside that of the man who half
his life was sneered at and lampooned as
writer for bread.
1t is to be regretted that the material does not