New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-07-29

n,oreland Wlndermere and the fiaunts vi
| worth. Pp. xl, 232; VII. 30. Macmillan N w.
There Is a significant note on fly lear al 'he
end Of the second volume Of MI Rawnsleys
| interesting work. The volumes are 80 arrauseu
that each Is complete In itself. But there is
| map of the Lake Country in the first volume ior
which purchasers OF the second volume must
nav n sum additional The book might we'll nave
been hound I'm n single cover. In lieu OF better
reason one NAV we'll tpke the separation into TWO
| 10 be q concession to n very vulgar pre)uoice. IL
seems that the majority OF those persons "ho
read are still supposed to be afflicted with mat
dislike Of Southey which has been one OF 'he
literary diseases OF the present generation. POS
sbly they are. How difficult 1t Is to cure an
abnormal tendency Is well known 10 physicians
particularly II the disease IL one that anects the
| reason The simple fact Of the case was thht
! Southey knew more in a minute than most Oh
his acuualntances In Westmoreland-CoierdSe
! Wordsworth and De Quincy inclhded-eFer
| learned. or course one VIII be toid "h"' "
Crock De Quincy was The answer Is pat that
| in the entire mass OF his essays on Greek topics
there is only one that contains a thoroughly
original idea and the writer OF this article wouiu
NOT concede as much as that II he could lay his
hands on all the books and articles That nave
been written in Germany about Herodotus. DE
ou,ncov was an unconscionable "cribber." and
l
he had the advantage ine 10 the form In wh'ch
! most Of his writing put. that he was not
| Obliged TO own his debts The man who couId
| calmly cut pages out OF a book. Whatever Hs
| value or whoever owned H. because ne found IN
! them useful material. was capable OF any sort oil
! literary depred lions Not but what ~ quincy
adorned everything he touched. To DO this ~ '"e
privilege and the merit Of the all-round man OF
letters He was unquesiionahly right IN one oi
tho few Instances where he acknowledged In
Saskatchewan way hts Indebtedness to Ter
man author. in saying that he washed inc
wretch's face and made him presentable In Eng
FISH society. But It was the very perfection OF
u-rnanners for him 10 say so IN the face OF tho
man who furnished him every idea he mad
on the theme he took ia hand. His Infinite fund
Of language made II possible for him to repro
ducc borrowed IDEAS in a form wholly new But
they were borrowed all the same
Southcy was also borrower bu' ne '''h
Mains IN most eases 10 acknowledge the debt
Subsequent criticism on his more serious works
took n curious turn. There books In every
generation which sell AT n tremendous rate Tor
n few years and are never heard OF aNer"1ri
one " the most extraordinary examples ~ THIS
evarcs-cu' popularity Is furnished by fo"irc's
"Choice" poem published AZ tho very close of
tn. seventeenth century, which was reai 10y
evcr,bolv n, the time ard 80 neglected by
evervholv aficrwarl that Brklrck Hill the
bipgrapher Of hnson. opincl I'm recent years
that he was perhaps the only man now HVinH
who had read Il. n his statement was ~ sweep
ing. he was mistaken But IN any case Pomfr"rs
"Choice" remains - show that book thhn
which mo composition in @lr language has been
ofrencr perused' to use Or. Johnson's words
may fall into almost complete oblivion. Irnmedi-
80 ~ ten - a.
value q n book But It was made a criterion
bv which to Judge Southey's history II Brazil.
And the fact that this work has never been
,opt,lar from the day Il was published until the
present momen, has been used ns II II were
proof that II lacked permanent value. NJ greater
mistake could BE- made The man VINO sh"ulu
attemp, T. write even a sketch of the history 81
brazil now or In the future. without consuming
Southey's work would simply display hlT inca
pacitv The book lives In fOotnOtes and illusions.
an Immortality denied T. the majority ~ prose
works: and Il will probably De quoted when its
critics have been forgotten even In those GENE
teries OF literature the biographical dictionaries
The Doctor and the "Ccmmonplace Book
have chcaply fitted ont many an migrate WIN
learning These are only suggestions 81 "hht
Nigh, be said FOR Southey on the one point ~
his hilarious study II is useless 70 defend his
But the longer pieces will in the end prove 70 he
their own Justification. Southey had conc"p-
ton Of epic form which will be useful to the
noe,s who will come 10 rejuvrnate English
p.ctry now falling into scniliiy and decay lie Is
a man to be studied by those who hope TO do
something which has not already been done 10
death. Tcnnyson and Wordsworth may be said
to have exhausted the possibilities OF the poetic
art in all the fields which they cultivated. An
irnitator 81 either will find that he has been
either a bad Tennyson and bad Wordsworth or
that no has been n complete failure. To follow
the lines which they have marked out and yet
to do something novel Is impossible. because
they have worked out all the metrical problems
that were presented 10 them. II liz still an open
question: or at least a disputed question. az TO
the tendency OF the musical wordiness OF Tenny-
sons successors but II Is not at all Irrational 10
surrnise that Swinburne and Rossetu and Morris
and a few others have practically exhausted the
resources OF English In their own special vine
yards The future Is largely n matter OF expert
ment and the student OF Southey has chance
of doing something unusual. even II he falls 10
hit the popular taste. which, Judging from the
reports Of both poets and critics. Is almost In
variably wrong when II comes TO deciding on a
novelty. Southey's most obvious technical de-
feet Is dcton which comes nearer to that OF
Times" leader OF half n century ago than 1t does
to that Of any poet living or dead. 1t Is no won
der that he was offered place on THE Thun-
derer" He would never have needed n schedule
OF forbidden words and his essays would prob
ably have been printed just as they were writ
ten But from the modern point Of view there
IS this 10 be said. that every decade brings the
world nearer TO the rough and ready speech Of
the newspaper The studious dallying OF Shen-
h. ola NJ Tlhp tha
spiritual ngurations Of Shelley the rustic but
pretentious simplicity Of Wordsworth. the sin
gular crystallizations Of Tennyson things OF
the past. The whole tendency OF the prcsent-re-
gret Il as we may-appears to be toward "A
The nnIr.