New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-08-12
WRITER'S AND BOOKS.
THE LATE MR.. WALTER PATER AND HIS
srYLE-MR. GLADsTONES NEW AR
T1CLE ON HERESY AND sCHISM-
Nj. ZOLA's LOURDEs - MR..
FRANK LOCKwOOD's PICK
WICK LAWYERS.

London. August l.
Mr. Walter Paters death may well enough pe
regretted even by those who set no great value
on his books. He one Of the select ana never
very numerous band of Engshmen who devote
themselves sincerely TO literature, and have a real
sense of what il means and a real gift Tor IT, IL
has for some time past been the fashion to speak
of him as a stylis His style has been praised
and praised TIL you begin to think no style could
quite deserve all that was said Of his. l DO not
think his deserved quite ALL His visiting had
many qualities. but lacked the first quality OF an
lucidity The demand for lucidty is, no DOUBT 10
q great extent modern. but as Mr.. Pater was d
modern writer he must be content to accept 'he
conditions of modern l.fe and be tried by the
standards which prevail in these days ana not D!
those Of earlier days.
Modern English dates as Mr.. Matthew Arnold
was the first to point out. from DIR. Johnson In
his writing simplicity OF structure first became
the rule for the framing Of a sentence. His use
of long words obscured his merit as writer ana
caused him to be thought obscure when he was
really plain. That, however was fault OF die
ton. not OF structure. Ever since his time people
have been writing simply. Not all people Of
course. There Is always reaction There are
always those who prefer the involved and the
r..
fences are often so many pieces Of cunningly
dovetailed mosaic. He did not like a straight line
Beauty to him resided. doubt to all Of us a.
times in the curve Tn. more sinuous the move
ment the more attraction it had for him If he
lacked directness he abounded In ornament lie
liked to make a sentence hold all II could. All
his capitals were Corinthian. To read him Is
often a task so intricate the paths by which
he conducts you. He leaves upon the reader the
impression that the act OF writing has been labor
ious; which makes the act of reading laborious
Also
Whether style ought to be cultivated for its
own sake has long been question. Mr. Pater
never had any doubt on that nont. He not only
cultivated II. he sacrificed great deal else, OF
equal or greater Importance, to style If his ideal
had been pure one. the sacrifice need not have
been regretted. In the high sense OF the word,
style Is the rarest form of literary effort in Eng
lish He was perhaps misled by the extent ana
variety Of his accomplishments. He had great
knowledge Of literature. and very considerable
knowledge OF art. lie had studied painting and
music in their relation to literature well for
their own sake. He had stock Of images. OF al
lusions. of apt references and illustrations drawn
from these and other branches of art. and he had
views of art as whole Independently of any
and other causes certain luxuriance in his
manner.
Indscreet admirers-they are the people who do
a mans reputation most harm--have coupled Mr..
Paters name with Mr.. Ruskns. They had. no
doubt, one thing in common. Each OF them TOOK
immense pains. The same may be said OF two
artists, but 1t does not follow that the result Is
always the same. Mr. Ruskin has himself told
as how hard NJ tots to bring his ;enerces - per
lection. His manuscript Is a mass OF erasures
and interneations and rewritten phrases. But
Mr. Ruskin, florid as he Is and elaborate as he Is,
has aimed. and for the most aimed success
fully at clearness. He was tremendously in ear
nest and he cared first Of all to be understood. He
came to preach the gospel Of art as he conceived
It, and he felt that In preaching there is little use
unless you reach the mind of your hearers. He
Is direct and definite even when the rhythm Of
his prose is like the long roll Of the Atlantic.
Not so Mr.. Pater He seems to have cared first
of all to fix the attention OF his reader on the
form OF his thought. rather than on the thought
itself. He Is too much Of an artist to lose HIM
self, as Mr. George Meredith continually does. IN
a labyrinth of mere conceits or TO be letting off
fireworks for the sake Of the sputter and sparkle
He does not conceive of the years OF man as one
prolonged Fourth Of July. But he does embroider
till you are doubtful whether there is anything
but embroidery. He overloads the phrase with
ornament and the use Of ornament for ornaments
sake which Is Mr.. Pater's besetting sin. Is one
OF those faults against which any good and sane
writer will warn you both by precept and ex-
ample.
That Mr. Pater had considerable influence on
the younger minds OF oxford may be admitted.
He appeals to the immature with success. He
appeals also to the love Of novelty: Of something
different from the everyday writing OF, for ex-
ample, the newspaper: in which the necessity OF
copious and probably overcopious. production
makes research and deicacy extremely difficult Of
attainment;-let us say frankly. impossible. His
book on THE Renaissance gave him a place
IN the world OF letters; ne had hit upon a con-
genial subject and his treatment Of 1t had all his
best qualities "Marius the Epicurean," twelve
years later created q sort OF sensation, but was
more talked about, perhaps. than read; fate
not infreouent with modern books and especially
books of bellies lettres and Of aesthetic criticism
most Of all. The taste for criticism is not WIDE
spread II the criticism be dffuse.
Yet on the whole, Mr. Pater had a critical mind
His "Appreciations with an Essay on Style" will
bear reading jealousy. To take Mr.. Pater as a
Guide in such a matter is to avow a belief in his
success as writer. plato and Platonism.
acute as II sometimes Is. and sympathetic Is an
attempt upon a subject too large A page OF the
Republic or Of the Apology will teach good
reader more about Plato than Mr.. Pater can.
Or one of Dr. Jowett's introductions will show the
difference between the dilettante estimate OF the
amateur. and the sound learning and analysis OF
the true Platonist.
The worth OF Mr.. Pater's influence on young
Oxford was seen in his imitators. His manner
isms were copied. perhaps because they were
what most impressed his admirers. 1t does not
much matter. young writer who sets himself
deliberately to copy anybody is on the wrong
road II he succeeds. he will remind us OF HIS
original by reproducing his faults. and the faults
will look worse In caricature than they did In
their author. Notwithstanding all which. we