New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-12-20
TWO CRITICISMS.
ONE BY ARCHDEACoN FARRAR ON HIS
CRrrICS-oNE BY MR. IRVING ON THE IN
DEPENDENT THEATRE AND IBSENISM.

London. December 2.
A clerical gcourge fell once more yesterday on
the backs Of that wretched race, the critics The
hand that welded il was the hand Of Archdescon
Farrar. who thought the funeral Of Lord Lytton
a good occasion on which to avenge himself upon
those who do not admire him his writings
"The world said this sanity parsonage, :" is sell
dom fair 10 prolific intellect Of many-sded giits
and he was Systematically behttled by critics
who tried 20 look down on him from the whole
height of their inferiority." Can it he that the
Venerable Archdcacon bore his own grievances
in mind while dwelling on those OF the man VINO
for more than thirty years honored me with
warm and generous friendship?
do not think Lord Lytton dwelt on them
overmuch. But Archdeacon Farrar has for some
time been going about the world appealing Tor
sympathy and exposing the sores which nara
criticism has left in his sensitive soul All I'M
consciously, perhaps. he was describing himseiI
as ne sees himself His is the prolific intellect
Of manyeidcd gifts" Prolific it certainly is. and.
II YOU look down the column in which his pub
lished works are catalogued, YOU will not DOUBT
that be Is many-sided also. DR. Farrar, says
his biosrapber who seems to he DR.. Farrar, n
the author Of the following works Of fiction ; and
the catalogue follows He inserts 1t Is true, SUD
divisions OF his works Of fiction into
pathological works and theological WORKS.
but the distinction Is not important
II his Life of Christ" which reached it's twelfth
edition in a single year, he not work OF hcnon'
the werd fiction has no meaning Several Volumes
OF sermons are included in the list; and notably
that bold work Eternal Hope 1880, in which
Canon Farrar combats the doctrine of eternal
torture in hell' These, pefhaps, may be ex-
cepted
at WAS the fashion, continues the Venerable
A. L. irnpa
perfection Which Of us is not imperfect Ex-
oept Archdeacon Farar, hardly know Of any
body. But adds he in his genial way, "some
mems impcrfcctions are incomparably superior to
the attachments Of those who critcise them The
critic is simply the most abandoned of the human
race and Il was his just doom TO be excluded from
St Margaret's on this occasion. when, said the
Archdeacon in one of his finest periods he and
his friends came, mot coldy to criticise poet,
least Of all TO stretch our feeble hands to the
balances of God and pretend 10 weigh the merits
or dement's Of man"
sit not henceforth clear that an act of criticism
"a an act Of impiety? No truly good man will
again be guilty of it. He may have sinned I'M
awares till now but now he knows that TO ind
fault with Archdescon Farrars style (which the
profane have called Telegraphese, referring to the
London newspaper on whose leading articles ne Is
question his accuracy in matters of fact, or TO
doubt his taste 10 deny to him the qualities OF
reserve and discretion, is to stretch his feeble
hands 10 the balances of God and pretend TO
weigh the merits or dement's of a man.
Merit and demerit must henceforth go I'M
weighed In literature whether fiction or any
other form Of theology, whatever Archdeacon Far
rar or anybody else puts into print must be
deemed to he excellent We have nothing TO do
but fall down and worship IT and him. Let
Aristotle and Aristafchus perish, Longinus and
LEASING be forgotten. Sainte-Beuve and Matthew
Arnold pass into Oblivion as though they were
not So shall Archdeacon Farrar attain TO that
full measure Of fame which has thus far been
denied him by those who have no better OASIS lor
cavi than the laws of English grammar the rules
of rhetoric, the example Of great writers In 1he
past the dictates of good sense, of simplicity OF
sincerity: and respect fer the best traditions OF
English literature.
So close in these days is the tie between Church
and Stage that the transition from dlgnltarS
of the one to the admitted leader OF the other VIII
not seem violent; or will not unless IL seem 80
on personal grounds IL regard DE nad 10 inc
relative fitness of things Mr.. Irving's clerical
analogue should be the Archbishop OF Canter-
bury: not q mere ArchdeacOn, and certainly not
as one finds them. The Archdeacon happens 10
have made an unwise speech about the same time
that Mr. Irving made a wise one. and that is why
The two men, 90 unlike in themselves ana OF
positions in their respective professions WHICH
hardly admit of comparison, get bracKeted 10
Rether ArchdeacOn FaTars criticism is In real
truth criticism of his critics. lie enters the
ranks of those whom he tries to despise and sue
ceeds In detesting. Mr. Irvings criticism, on
The othef hand, is aimed chiefly at those VINO are
as he thinks bringing the Stage Itself into some
disrepute Nobody would say that the OhuTcn
was attacked because the literary shortcomings OF
q minor clergyman wore censuied. ANYBODY might
think the Stage likely to be discredted if some of
the new dramatic influences at work IN Lonooh
were not held up to public judgment. This Is
what Mr. Irving docs; with little preliminary
word on his own behalf TO which we may listen
Mr. Irving has in fact, been paying his respects
10 the independent Theatre, to Ibsenism. and some
other dramatic novelties He spoke on Saturday
IN the Pen and Pencil Club Of Glasgow, ana
touched incidentally on an old grievance OF those
who complain that, at the Lyceum, and ELSEWHERE
but notably at the Lyceum. the play ana the
author are swamped by the accessories. One oil
them said lately that it takes 100 nights to pay
for the upholstery Of a new piece " know some
thing OF stage expenditure, replies Mr.. irving
ulodestly, land this calculation is quite new to
me-" He contents himself with saying that an
average run of 100 nights n not a bad average,
and that a manager who, at the end, could only
pay his upholsterer's bill, could hardly be the
shrewd commercial genius he is supposed TO be.
The figures, had he chosen TO give them. might
have supplied still more complete answer The
Iyceum holds, to use the theatrical slang. nearly
or quite 81 300 a night. 1t costs on an average
about $500, sometimes more, to ring up the cur
tain. There is possible margin of 5000 nightly
profit As the theatre is not always full, let US
be moderate, and take it at $500. The profits of