New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-05-04
LORD BOWEN.
II.
HIS NATURAL GIFTS AS wRITER-Hm
UNIVERSITY LIFE-HTs FRIENDSHIP
THE BEAUTY OF HIS CHARACrrp

| UNIV Ef'olIf lrE-HlS FhlENQSHIPs-
THE BEAUTY OF HIS CHARACTER
| London. April p
I imagine that Lord Bowen would have 49,.
| not little surprised had he known that the ,r.
periodicals for which, in his lean days at the RI,
| he wrote articles, would have dwelt after NJ,
death on this episodical and. the whole nv.
| important part OF his career. But whateva.
! may be said OF journalism. which may be con,.,.
| with coarser tools. there can be no doubt ,b,.
Law robbed Literature OF master when Bow,
| took to the Bar. He had great scholarship ana
great reading and he had with these thar d,
| comparably more rare sense Of literary form
| It Is thing which most English writer's IA,
| Of the greatest excepted. get on comfortab,
| without. a lofty repu;ation-perhaps ephener,,
but still lofty-may be built up without II. Tn.
supreme instance at the PRESENT moment is NJ,
George Meredith, who has many fine intelec.u,
endowments. and either absolutely no notion q,
what is meant by form ann style. or else com.
plete Indifference to them, and perhaps hatred
Of them The deficiency does not prevent hin
from gaining an audience and a kind Of Dion,
respect from large companies Of persons who. ul
quite recently knew him not, or heard Of hin
only as an example of eccentr!city.
Such a reputation on such basis as Nr
George Meredlth's would be impossible in Frame
1t is not impossible here. Bowen would have
I will not say despised it. since 70 despise A
thing IS the cheapest Of critical attitudes-bu,-
rejected II for himself He had the right nature
and the right training. He was born with A
sense OF proportion. love Of symmetry. Of bal.
anca: With an instructive preference for the RICH,
way OF saving a thing A faulty sentence Jared
on him; of an illogical statement he was In
capable He had that literary conscentiousness
which impeled him 10 seek FOR the best expires.
sion of his thought lie was OF Ia Bruyere's
opinIon. that among all the different ways In
which we may express our thought there Is one
and one only, which is true and good Whether
he studied French literature carefully know
NOT hut his writing was Of the kind which In.
ncd either such studies or the possession Of thoN
Qualities Of mind which, In the Frenchman, make
his STYLE what 1t IS.
Bowen was a student Of classical literature
and a student on whom Greece and Rome had
the same kind Of influence which their owl
llteratures had each on their own race He
has left name az Balio never u be forgotten
There was hardly distinction u De Won at o..
ford which Bowen did not win. The same may
he said Of others III 0ugh not OF Yery many
others. and It is unhappily true that some Of
these gifted and laborlous beings squanter the
energies Of life on what Is. after all. or ought
10 be bur the mere training for the serious work
Of life Not 50 Bowen. Both at Rugby and at
oxford he became famous for the ease
and rapidly with which he acquired
knowledge; and ~; only acquired, but
retained it tor use. have been told by one who
was with him in those days that Bowen never
knew wha, regular hours were. He gave him
self little rest He hardly slept For days
and weeks he used not to 90 to bed at all. bu.
would lie down for an hour after many hours
If work wake without effort and resume his
task. He was at the same time an athlete. took
his full share in athletic sports. ani 50 tried his
constitution In two ways at once.
Probably he overra ted his strength and un.
dermined IT, But constant cerebral activity was
70 him a condition Of existence. Hard work
never seemed to stale the freshness OF his mind.
nor impair It's elasticity. The bow was always
bent yet IL was always Apollos. Philosophy
and the most abstruse metaphysics were the at
mosphere In which he lived The problems Of
science were his diversion: he seemed never 90
much at his ease as when he was working gu.
difficulties from which other men shrunk. or 10
which they applied themselves by an effort Of
handling Of the law He delighted in compiled
tons and subtleties. He never lost his way
among them Lord Bramwell used 70 try TO puz-
zle him; for the pleasure Of seeing him extricats
himself from entanglements which would have
kept most men fast bound
With all this. what left the deepest and most
permanent impress on Bowens mind was the
beauty Of the literature to which he devoted him.
self. The beauty sunk into his soul He was
above all else Virgilian. and the note Of Virgil
Is above oil else the note of beauty. II colored
his whole life II flowed along the years in one
unfailing stream between banks sparkling with
flowers: stream which took color from
the rich foliage which II nourished. The beauty.
the statellness of dicton. the elevation OF
thought. the serenity. the even views OF life
which he found on every page Of tie Mantuan
poet. charmed and fascinated Bowen. When ne
tried 10 reproduce all this in English verse. ht
was not wholly successful though. perhaps. more
successful than others. He tried 10 achieve the
impossible which he knew 10 be the impossible
Virgil in English ceases 10 be Virgil He was
however. so far from being discouraged by hh
Of part OF the Ened that he applied
himself to version OF the Georges; poem
which is In one sense. even more untrans.atab!e
than the Eneid. He said OF Dryden's Virgil
that the silver note OF the Latin had been
breathed through bronze by the great English
man. II Is an apt metaphor. Perhaps IL might
be said Of his own translation that while II pre-
served the clear sOfness Of the silver. X had os1
some of the ringing harmony. and something
OF the imperial dignity. OF the original
During all his life Bowen had the friendship
Of some Of the best men OF his time. The rea'
ton between him and the late Master Of Balllol
was Of the most intimate kind. The present
Home Secretary was his pupil Mr.. Gladstone
was his friend. and Lord Bowen was perhaps
one OF the few friends TO whom Mr.. Gladstone
lid not at times seem cold after they had de-
clined to follow him round the sharp curve
where the Home Rule signal was first displayed
Lord Roseberys attachment TO him was warm
Those two minds had much in common; the two
natures also. and foremost among the mourne"
1t the Memorial Service in London was ths