New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-11-28


! their final utterance. They show, as Lord Hol-
land said. that Walpoe's resentments blinded
his Judgment" but not, he added. that they
"disfgure his narrative" Few passages IN the
language are neater than the one just quoted.
That 1t may be far from the truth matters little
to those who know Wapole too well to trust
| him in any case where malice and literary skill
combined to give him brilliant sentence. But
his hatred of Lord Hardwicke did not end with
the latter's death. Neither did his obituary end
| there. In another sentence he carried II on 10
| the next generation: ITO conceal all knowledge
OF his vast wealth. his sons die not prove MS VIII
TIL the memory Of him was faded away. IL
would DC voluminous task to recall all the pas
sages which show how the genius OF the man
served and yet transcribed his personality FOR
this delicate and powerful writer had innumeraoie
diskes. He was says Mr. Barker "a charm
| ing correspondent but touchy companion. lie
had the manners of fop. His entrance INTO
ROOM" wrote Miss Mary Berry was in that style
of affected decacy which fashion had made al
most natural chapeau bras between his hands ~
If he wished to compress it. or under MS arm;
knees bent, and feet or tiptoe. as II AFRAID OF
wet floor" He was 100 much OF a triiier' poth
by nature and education for real work ei'her III
politics or literature" remarks Mr.. Barker; never
than he.
johnson has already been excepted from 'he
class Of writer's whose personality less sig
nificant than their work. Only this fact would eN
cuse his being brought into contrast with wal
pole For the opposite reason. namely. likeness on
this point Boswell, JOhnsons biographer may
! well be classed with Walpole He also Shared
Walpoles indetatgable curiosity about triiles and
his love Of gossip In the present edition OF the
immortal Life of Johnson Mowbray Morris $
introduction is devoted in part to rescuing the
personality of Boswell from the contempt into
which it has fallen compared with his literary
work The editor refuses to so again over "A
more than thrice-tod tale to the discredit OF ore
who had so bountfuy contributed to the IN
struction and the gayety Of mankind lie was
a busybody. but he was well-meanng; RIDICULOUS.
but entertaining; persistently annoying by his
opportunities and ind!scretions. yet Invariably
laughed at and forgiven. And against his fail
ings must be set off his cheerfulness. his good
temper, his real fordness for his friends. the
| meekness with which he bore the reproois
he so often earned. his admiration for all that
was good ana great. which. though often ludi-
crously expressed nor always capable Of pre-
serving him from admiration for other things that
were neither great nor good. was undoubtedly
! gearne" That perhaps. is az much as can be
said for Boswell. That Johnson had certain
affection for him is certain. Johnson would gave
been something different from human being
II he had not beer touched by the wonderful
loyalty Of his little satellite But there IS an
aspect Of the case in which the bographer has
done his subject the most fatal injury that can
happen to the memory Of man Of letters
Everybody reads Boswell Who reads Johnson?
Surely IL is the few rather than the many who
know anything Of JohnsOn's works beyond the
dim Renaissance OF an evening over "Rasselas.
or some glimpses Of the Rambler. and perusal
barely possible Of the Lives Of the Poets" 1t
is always said that the picture Of Johnson
which Boswell gives is better than that shown
! in his own works. Better II may be
the point might be argued-but it IS not
the same The man who knows Boswelrs
Johnson by heart does not yet know all OF John
SON His power over his contemporaries when he
| was not among them. when he was clOseted with
his own gloomy thoughts an his nervousness and
his dread of solitude. when he gave them no proof
| Of his existence aside from the written page
this power needs to be explained. 1t Is now the
fashion TO depreciate Johnson's literary achieve
ments. But the facts do not warrant the modern
attitude toward him. 1t can only be corrected by
a little study Of his writings In the light OF the
| time when they were written. Boswell does not
I give us this. He absorbed in the char
acter Of one man that he forgot the environment.
Sir" said Johnson 10 him IN one occasion. you
have only two topics yourself and me; am sick
Of both"
How his historical surroundings affected John
son must be learned from his writings. and when
these are studied in their due relations to affairs
he RECEIVERS in the mind Of the reader some of that
vitality which has been withdrawn by Boswell.
no her
on the oak tree. He has given picturesqueness
to its FORM but its beauty is that Of decay
ing trunk and not OF living organism. Those
who are in danger Of forgetting this need to be
reminded that the oak has a grandeur and
beauty Of its own. II is needless to urge looking
after the vine. Everybody will read Boswell.
and they will find Mr. Morriss edition convenient
in lieu Of those which are more elaborate. The
American editor adds that In his reprint Of
Morriss text he has quoted much from the notes
Of Dr. Brkbeck Hills edition and has followed
DR.. HIS example ''n restoring TO the letters OF
Dr. johnson and his friends the quaint and
peculiar spelling that characterized them" The
volumes are enriched with portraits. 1t should
not be forgotten that the pictures in the new
edition OF Walpoe's memoirs copies Of por-
traits that are illustrated not only by their own
| merit but in their ownership. Those Of George
III. Princess Augusta and the Marquis Of Rock
ingham from originals In Buckingham
Palace while others are from paintings In the
possession Of the Duke Of Rutland. the Marquis
Of Hartford, the Earl Of Whanclihe and VS.
count Dillon.
Sir John Tenniers Punch" cartoons OF tho last
twenty years are to be collected and brought out
in two fine volumes in strictly limited edition OF
five hundred copies The CARTOONS are to be printed
directly from the original wood blocks: The col
lection will be really pcturehsfory or the period
Some of the serious cartoons are as STIRRING
as heroic verse may be, but not one is theatrical
Mr. Swnburne in his book. Studies in Prose
nd - baq hiS N JOWett