New-York tribune., 1894-03-25
dTJOrRAT AND NATURA LIST.
STUDIES OF DIR. HOLMES AND RICHARD
JEFFERlES.

foLIvER WENDELL. HOLMES BY Walter Jer- F.
re- T9d: t.,Et!r,nss MA!s rIHoran! Hbrarys p ''''
: 'RfCIiARD SEFFERfEs. a Study, By H. $ sat.
Dllctante Library
Neither If these two books is a biography
in the strict sense of the term. though IN
zach is given a sketch OF the more important
incidents in the lives Of the two men of genius
who arr, the subjects Of study. The parallel be-
tween the two essays Is obvious in the divisions
Mr. Jerrold writes OF the man. the poet the
novelist the autocIat. the teacher and the DOCTOR
and Mr.. Salt in his turn discusses JeherleS ~
man. as naturalist. as poet-naturallst as ul'iNe'
o r.ri,ar. while both critics add photography
Here. of course the comparison ends IneTe IL
y small group Of authors 10 which Jeneries De-
longs He is compared al once with m'e o
Selborne with Thoreau. with Jonn EufToushS'
But comparison is possible only incidentdHE III
the case OF DR.. Holmes. As humorist poet
writer of fiction and genial philosopher ne ''"s'
no considered by himself. Al first glance over
Mr. Jerrolds pages. the reader who happens "p'"
a particular passage may feel like questioning 'he
au,bors nuali6cations for detecting humor and
c,;, r,voryhc,lv remembers that footnote 10
"Enp,ish Rards and Scotch Reviewers IN whlrh
p,ron uuoted Professor Porson as saying thit Il
. contain noe $ works would be reaG when Homer
and Virgil are forgotten" Rogers. VINO kne" a
good thing when he heard ii. always deciarei
that His Lordship spoiled the wtticism by aou'he
"but not till then" Person would certain! never
have thought Of putting such gloss o'' Ms
trenchant phrase. But what are we l" 'hl'N u
= u,i,er who saws that the point Of the epigrain
les in Lord Byron's explanation? II Is 'hus '"a'
Mr.. Jerrold puts IT. The criticism which consists
! r, Swing sT4is will live when Homer Is io'-
, potteu'-'snd not till then as VIII II repor'eu
| to have added-is Of course sweeping ho"
r,i,ich brandy 1t would take to console forsoh i"'
.oi,,, tbus treated only he himself could tell.
But this accident. 81 one may call IL So II "o
,r,of ~ . nermanent defect in ~. Jerrold's ap-
| nreciation Of humOr. Though he Is nihisei PI"-
foundjv serious h4 delights in his grave way IN
tho airy mockery OF Dr. Holiness verse He
aus in a charming manner on the patnos III
noens that have SO CHEEKY ring. II Is through
an atrosnbore of humor that the pathetic aspect
NJ things Is seen: and he puts his readers III ''nu
~ the lines which Lincoln thought among '"e
most pathetic in literature:
ON the lips that he has prest
-, IN Ino 'nei1 ne ,nas oGT,"i be loved to hear
Haye been carved for many year
! On the tomb
r. 10 u.eu said that generally the humor In
|
- ..,,r,r,er ueh,ning bringing what it illumines
reorer to us" Where humor Is absent aI'o-
ga,ber for example in "Od Ironsides." ne finds
that something wonderfully better has taken ITS
Mace "a sharp defiant. yet eXuitant' f'rvor;
or a terseness of expression. 'much riches oi
! ,bougbt in a little room OF words The critic
,y,llingIv seas here and there something that re-
minds him Of Hood OF Moore, or even of fraed'
| and halter still Of earlier poets, ADrahd"
covIev. Andrew MARVEL and kindred souls.
Ru, these isolated passages do not ahect the
poets title to originality; Indeed. early az her
criticism was formulated Miss Milford was not
far wrong in hailing Holmes as one OF the HrSt
Of Americas peculiarly national poets. Long
fellow and Lowell. Whittier and whitman each
represents some particular phase OF the Nauohai
! life. character, traditions or pecuiiartes' put
/ Holmes draws upon all these and subtly yet
consistently interweaves in his work any snch
real difference as may exist between the Amerl-
can Nation and the parent race from which II
has mainly sprung" Turning to the novels. he
remarks that the discursiveness which mars the
symmetry Of DR.. Holiness fiction was the nat
tlral result Of taking TO such composition at the
age Of fifty with prose style. formed by those
| inimltable talks at the breakfast table The
Autocrat could not avoid turning aside for this
!
movement OF his story. AS novelist and as
Autocrat his purpose to teach is not disguised
but the lessons never come like a moral at the
/ end The reader Is rather inclined to give d..
Holmes credit for all the pleasure he has had
! and 10 fancy MAT the teaching has been done by
himself. Only reflection convinces him that fun
y and teaching have come to him together
I Mr. Salt is by no means indiscrminate ad-
! Ir,oira Of no writ of Taking them
as whole he treats with scant ceremony the
earlier works, especially the novels, though he
| finds PASSAGE mere and there that presaged the
/ achievement Of later years One difficulty with
/ Jcfferies as novel writer was fatal huency.'
! He could not constrain himself to that labor
| upon which excellence depends and his critic
/ points out that when he came TO the business
/ for which he had fitness of mind the words no
| longer came easily In any case. "he was an
| essayist and not novelist at all. nor under any
! circumstances could he have become a novelist.
! Even when ne was well equipped with material
/ he was quite unable to give any vivid dramatic
life to his stories" He could describe character.
[ but he could not create living personality. Mr..
/ Salt finds the same defect in Jefferies's treat
ment Of animals. Even his landscapes
! pictured in his best writings lack unity d" JEFF
feries-hnd does not impress itself on the readers
-.mentl vision In the way Whites Selborne' does;
IT is too vague and disconnected. series Of
brilliant pictures but not dramatic whole"
But when he gave up. as he did in his later
novels. the effort 10 construct plot.f and con-
tented himself with rambling from fscene TO
scene. then he showed some Of his powers Thus
his individuality had az free play as 10 his es-
says. and he was even successful In creating two
.personages that have in them the breath Of life.
| Felise the heroine Of The Dewy Morn" and
| BeNfs. the boy-hero Of Wood Magic"
i If Jseries until late In hfs erred In the esti-