New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-05-27

with the spiritual world the reply In ready that re-
ligion at bottom is very practical thing closely
related to the affairs OF common sense that mystery
and symbolism not religion but the wrappihgs
which man has put upon It. These young phiioso-
piers. who were also artists. possibly never founc
the kernel Of the which they undertook 70 crack
Their carvings simply ornament the she'll AS long
they dealt In symbols they could not reach iacs'
II does not add to their permanent value as inter-
prefers Of theology that much OF the controversy
about them has been religious In It's character. Ihey
challenged controversy In these matters and there
always have been people. and always VIII De, VINO
think that to breathe against any form OF relg0n
is 10 destroy It, The author OF this book outlines
vast changes that have occurred In Christianity
within the last half-century. II is now, as sne
II. a sort Of modified Posltivism. Some revoiu-
lions have doubtless occurred in London drawing
and elsewhere. but. taking the world over the
transformation does not seem so important whether
wholesale notifications useful Is not the question
here. but simply whether they have taken place
II IL doubtful II they have; and 1t is positively GER
tain that they never will come by puzzles on can
vas nor by any form OF symbolism. On the other
hand. when a writer Is composing book or an
essay on religious or social reform. he finds many
things Of overshadowng significance. which ne would
never have considered at all under ordinary circun-
stances The author OF this volume takes the troupe
TO retute book written by clergyman VINO man. I'm,
Atheism or course, In the heat or controversy
years ago. some eXaggeratiOn was natural ana par
donable But now In cold blood, the clergyman
proposition Is 70 border the ludicrous. was
the Church really in danger. because some very
brilliant young men took to painting grass green ana
70 introducing modern realism into pictures or scenes
from the Gospels?
Reserving thus the right 10 think that the Pre-
Raphaelites were rather weak minded than other
wise In the matter of symbolism, one VINO KNOWS
little Of art can. nevertheless. accept the concuslops
OF this book as apparently some and reasonable
II is impossible 10 withhold admiration from fig
ure so remarkable that of Rossetti. II seems
wonderful that prejudice was ever strong
against him Not merely painter and poet OF high
rank. he Is pictured also In these pages as leader
OF men. His forces were NOT numerous, yet II -
clear that he had generalship In future the vexed
question VIII doubtless be, not his relation to re-
lgIon, but his relative rank poet and an artist
passed upon himself. namely, that he was a bet
ter poet than painter. In the first place, most Of
his verse and with n single exception the best or
T. belongs 10 n comparatively late period in his
life when he had outgrOwn some notions that 10
less Inspired minds certainly seemed fantastic
He had a painters skill with words and the IDEAS
which could only be imperfectiy told In light and
shade and color were easily expressed In all COM
pleeness in verse. This thought 10 thoroughly ex
empllhed where he has tod the same theme as
painter and poet. His interpret themselves
but when one turns to the pictures one invariably
wishes for the poems as an explanation Of his pur-
pose. The present volume Is haprily done with an
enthusiasm moderated by a careful study of Eng
lish and history from the middle OF the nineteenth
century onward The beautiful illustrations ap-
pear 10 have been chosen with care to support the
argument OF the text They OF course. all from
Rossettis works.