New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-12-18
A GROUP OF ESSA Us.
NOTES OK ROCKS AND WRITERS.

ing company
F,sANS N LITERARY INTERPRETATION ny
Hamilton Wright Mabe. l2m'' PIP. 40 D'd''
UNDER THE EvENING LAMP. ny Richard Henry
sloddard. 12mo. PIP 2-l Charles >crhh'r
som.
IL is encouraging to note that the demand
for good literary work in the form Of ESSAYS
seems TO be growing steadily though no doubt
the immense increase of periodical literature
has much 10 do with tho present stat" Of the
case. Most of thcs" essays have jus, appeared in
magazines and newspapers ard OF a majority of
them il may be said that they deserve to be
reproduced in more permanent form. Most
uooplc io-dnv read more p"riOdi, ais than any
thing else. but it is evident that an Increasing
proportion Of such readers like 10 possess the
essays which have pleased them in book form,
and this is the final reason Of the r"pubca-
ton Of this class 81 by means necessarily
phcmcral literature.
The volume which ncars the name OF" Eighteenth
Century N1cncttc-' il collection Of ESSAYS by Nr.
Austin Dob-on. most Of which exhibit a dis
tinctivcly literary flavor, ~ IL" citation OF
= few titles will indicate. Thus We haN"
ton Of Few titl.S will indicate. Thus W" has"
manners on "Stcclc'- Letter" Prors kitiy.'
/. Snencc's Anecdotes "Giays Library. "A Day
al strawberry Hill" "Gold>mth'' Library,
Hcwcl;'s T lpiccc-." Ficdnc's Voyage 10 lAs-
Ion" "a l. ret in Go1eh square. etc Nr
Dobson is everything bat heavy. He pleas"
himself and his readers hv go@~ippng cl-ily AZ
cntcrtainingly. vet with sufficient knowlrdf" AMI
an attractive enthusiasm. about the men az l"'-
tcr,, poet. and artists Of the lest century. They
are seen in Mr. poh-on'- PAGES -
most people best like 10 500 thcn;
that l.. with their fmilt"S not To-
clearly vcilcd in their domestic relations, with "l
their crring humanity upon them The world
thinks mo-, warmly Of its great men
when IT, is made "a feel that despite their great
ness they were full Of faults. Goldsmith Wa
Away, "A great favoritc: not imposshy because
he did ~ IN foolish things that b" Was Character
lied ~ IAN inspired IDIOT" We all IN our hcart-
prefer famous man who i mot too great and
GOOD for human nature. daily fool" IS Words
worth puts IT, Wordsworth himself Wa, not very
Iiiahlc for h" Wa always posing and his concert
was. a, Domni" sampson would h1v" sail, Pro
diciou- !" Mr. Doh,oa. however is never malicious
beyond the accepted standard of polite society -
which indeed makes allowance, upon OCCASION
for good deal of cruelty. But these essays are
ON the whole quite Genial and They deal with pr
sonaiiic- all II us know NOR" or less about, an.
are interested in. The author, moreover, write,
delightfully."- and his first volume of sly, SHOULD
receive "a wclcom" which Will encourage him 10
duplicate the venture.
Those who relish thc fine Scotch favor Of Mr.
Bnrrc's writings will h. pleased 10 pos-"e the
mods collection of hir ESSAYS which APPEARS under
the titc a Holiday IN Bed Certainly the
sketch which gives this title is calculated 10
encourage the supposedly pcrnicious habit of pass
ing the day in bed when one is not really i'll :;
hut the saving reflection occurs thar not many
mems wives disposed 10 cos-ct and pampcr
their husbands upon such occasions. after the
manner Of the lady in the sketch Most of the
essays here printed have 10 do with specially
Scotch TOPICS, such ne life in a country marsc
upon which there are two papers. II must be-
acknowledged that some Of the sketches aIc al
most too brief but all Of them possess some dry
humor, and all Of them are interesting. aud rs
rule present novel points Of view. short
biographical notice % the author il prciiNcd TO
the book. but il is rcrlunctory n we'll a, anony-
nous. and might IS well have nccn omitted
Mr.. Mabc's book is more ambitious, and in every
way more serious. II" treats. for example Some
Aspects Of Modern Literature. Personality in
Literary Work" The Signihcanc" of Modern Crit
csm" The Poetry Of Dante Gabriel Rossctt7
Robert IroSnirg John Keats Poet and Man, "
Some Modern Ecadincs from Dante"
u
The essay upon Browning is the longest in the
volume. and it. is also, &c think, the most pcnc
trating and apprcciItiyc The paper on the sig
nincan6c Of modern criticism We do not consider
altogether iclicitons in some of the examples
given, though on the whole the writer's positions
are sound and his Illustrations we'll chosen. IT,
is needless 10 say that Mr. Mlbic is an earnest
and an honest thinker and he possesses a sense Of
Justice which, as in the cas-. of Keats imprls him
TO help clear away tin" log of misrepresentation
which 80 long oycrhung the reputation Of that
unfortunate poet
Mr. Richard Henry Stoldards volume of essays
possesses a special interest, IN that the subjects
selected for treatment have been men IN some way
unfortunate. The author observes in his preface
THE story Of happy lives Is soon read. There
have been happy lives, even among poets but thors
are not many for il is true Of poets above all men,
that many are called, but few are chosen
There are among these papers studies of some of
thes. unfortunates, and, | dare say, there is a
lesson in these studies though | have not sought
TO find it. ! have been more interested in their
lives than in their writings. my object being
biographical rather than critical"
The essays are concerned with James Hoge.
William Motherwell, Clifford. Robert Bloomfield.
John Clan, Ebcnezcr Elliott, Daniel Grey, William
Blake, Hartley Coleridgc. Thomas Lowell Bed
docs, George barley, Thomas Love Peacock,
Edward Fitzgerald, and Lord IIoughton. IL is
somewhat surprising TO find several Of these
names in the class Of unfortunate poets. espc-
cially such names AZ those Of Peacock. Fitz-
gerald and Moncton Mines but Mr.. Stoddard
evidently considers that they belong where he
has placed them. As TO Bcddoes, the question
put by Mr.. Stoddsrd at the end of his essay,
namely, Was Bcddocs mad" >? must. beyond
pcradventlrc, lr answered in the affirmative. The
biography preiixcd TO the most recent editions Of
his works appears to settle that point definitely,
thought in truth. his whole career breathea Of