New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-10-30
THREE GREAT MEN.
MRS. RIrCHIE,S "REMINISCENCES OF TENNY-
son, RUSKIN AND BROWNING.


that there is somewhat in men Of genius obvious
even to a casual glance which marks them as
beings different from their fellow creatures One
thing" she writes. (which cannot fail to strike
us when we are looking over the records Of these
ALFRED iTcnnyson seems to have had from the very
first upon his contemporaries. even before his
genius had been recognized by the rest Of the
world Not only those of his own generation,
but his elders and masters seem to have felt
something Of this. / remember hearing one OF
Tennyson's oldest friends, DR.. Thompson. the late
Master of Trinity, say that 'Whewell. who was a
man himself, and who knew a man when he saw
him. used to pass in Alfred Tennyson certain
infOrmalites and forgetfulness Of combinations as
to gowI~. and places, and times, which in another
he would never have overlooked" 1t is not easy
for one in -~hom the faculty Of hero-worship has
been atrOphied, if il ever existed, to acknowledge
this divine imprcssiveness Of genius. How readily
reasons found, after greatness has been de
monstrated, for the homage which no human
creature willingly gives to another human creature
is matter OF familiar observation. Self-respect
demands some sort of excuse for yielding to a
superiority which is solely intellectual and there
fore intangible.
In the case of Tennyson there is downright
matter of-fact reason for the reverence shown him
in youth, aside from the question Of mental power
for he was one who could hurl crowbar farther
than any of the neighboring clowns" What else
could have 80 impressed Arthur IIallam that he
wrote Of Tennysons fame as COUGHING like a
panther? The figure is more direct and personal
than it looks at first sight. 1t would have been
silly II Tcnnyson had been an ethereal wcakling
instead of the strong, flexible physically master
ful man that he was. In the days when Tennyson
Al
and comfort for the Spanish revolutionists. he was
described as straight. with broad breast" Mrs.
Richie has an anecdote of the time which goes
nearer the mark than all the fnespun speculative
criticism that one might read in a winter night.
Il have heard" she writes, that when Tenny-
son had crossed over from the Continent and was
coming back, walking through Wales, he went
one day into little wayside inn. where an old
man sat by the fire, who looked up and asked
many questions. Are you from the army? Not
from the army? Then where do YOU come from !"
said the old man. I am just from the Pyrenees,'
said Alfred. All, knew there was something,
said the wise old man." 1t was not genius which
the old man saw. but, 1.-the: sinewy, erect man
hood. Such manhood wins fame and honor easily
whether in courter like Goethe. or a recluse
like Tennyson. Carlyle felt the influence OF this
physical power "One of the finest looking men
in the world" Lie wiotc to, Emerson. Only in
deep communion over pipe did he learn that
this strong mar with musical voice ut for
loud laughter and piercing wall and all that may
be between" was carrying bit Of chaos about
him, which he is manufacturing into cosmos"
1t was this strength underlying all that he did
which CAV, Tennyson from the outset that self
reliant poiee, which seemed even in the unknown
youth the assurance OF q man whose reputation
had been earned already But we must he care:
full rot to put or aiterthoughts tetorc the facts
We must remember that the young mans future
greatness was by means obvious that he
escaped the struggle With Wholesome poverfy
which brings the vayucness Of geniuS into con-
tact with reality, and teaches. better perhaps
than any other science, the patience. the fore
bearance and knowledge OF life which belong to
its But hope is to genius what certainty is to
the meacre imagination which dominates in prac-
teal life. 1t gives the power to speak as one
having authority even to the youth without en-
pcricncc, because it teaches To the few what
Others can only learn by experience. THE differ
cnce between those who speak with reality"
writes Mrs. Richie. and those VINO 90 through
life; fitting their second hand ideas I" other
peoples words, is one so marked that even child
may tell tho difference When the Lcarcate
speaks, every worl comes v Ike. -acy, absolutely
natural and sincere" That is 10 say in plain
words, greatness has the right TO I've dOrmatic.
The essayist recurs 20 tie same thought in
speaking of Ruskiu III, as have already said,
We compare the talk OF great men and women
who will causc this age 10 b" remembered one
clement is TO be found in them ala certain
dircctness, simplicity, and vivid reality: gift
for reaching their hearers at once, giving light
straight from themselves, and not in reflections
from other minds: Sunshine, in Short not moon
slime. Perhaps something Of this may he due to
the habit of selfrcspect and self-reliance which
success and strength OF purpose naturally create "
Without meaning any irreverence toward genius.
one must say that the cause tentatively put for
ward here is amply sufficient to account for all
the phenomena in question. How often does one
see men undoubtedly great in some field Of letters
or art, carry the self-confdcnce Of success into
fields where their knowledge is slight ard their
insight defective: Yet what Mrs. Richie calls
their convincing simplicity has sometimes won
ut least temporary victory over real knowledge
and real insight. In the case OF TennysOn, the
author Of these records illustrates the point by
this anecdote IL once heard Tennyson talking
to some actors, to 10 less a person Indeed than
to Hamlet himself, for after the curtain fell. the
whole play seemed to flow from of the stage into
the box where we had leen sitting. and could
scarcely tell at last where reality began and
Shakespeare ended. The play was over. and we
ourselves seemed part Of it still here were the
players and our own primes poet. in that familiar
simple voice we all know, explaining the art. going
straight to the point in his own downright fashion,
criticising with delicate appreciation by the simple
force Of truth and conviction carrying all before
him. You are good actor lost one Of these. the
real actor, said to him" What a consnrnmate actor
that real actor must have been. But Mrs. Ritch-
les blood is up in this matter of hero-worship Says
she: AS one thinks Of it, one recognizes that
q great man is greater than We ore because his
aim consciously or internationally is juster his
strength stronger and less straned his right is
moro right than ours, his certainty more certain
he shows us the best Of that which concerns him,