New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-04-21

that contradict each other. and to group those
which are allied into q single logical series" The
trouble with current discourse upon these matters
10 that 1t Is not criticism at I'll, even In its least
c5ncated mood. The degeAeracy OF an author or
an artist lr left untouched, even BY those who feel
vaguely that something is wrong. In conse-
quence we have writer's imposed upon us VINO
with all their virtues are yet undenably Vicious
undeniably degenerate. Water Pater is one OF
these. a man Of really distinguished gifts fine In
Imagination. and often remarkably penetrating IN
his critical views. but. nevertheless, thinker
whose processes were often go vacillating. so fog
gy, that even the mood 70 which his mystical ten
den cics caused him TO grav.tate was swallowed
up in the dlmmed edges OF many moods. Nordau
might have given US al interesting estimate Of
Pator, as ne might also Of william Ernest Hen
ley. one of the most pronounced degenerates now
writing.
Tostoi and Ibsen excite some of the German
most wrathfu passages. Against the former ne
charges confirmed mysticism. and against the
Scandinavian playwright an ego-mania equally
destructive of sanity. The ethics OF To-
stoi subjected to a severe investigation, reveal
compete incert!tude Of mind coupled with
dogmatlc reliance upon hypothesis which he Is
none the less confident of because they have no
sound Intellectual basis. Ibsen rides the hobby
of heredity without knowing more than the rudi-
ments Of that great science and while his adj
mirrors praise the truthiulness Of his plays, the
marvellous logic of his arguments Nordau hnGs
nothing in him more conspicuous than the as
toundingly chaotic nature OF his thought Con-
tlnulng IN his scorihcatiDn OF Ibaen our author
says: "Ore cannot believe ones eyes while read
ing how his fusomc natterers have had the au-
dac!ty to extol him for the clearness and pre-
cisiOn Of his thought. DO these .ndlvlduas
then Imagine that ~ ono 'apable of forming
a Judgment will eyer read a line Of fbsen?
clearly defined thought Is Al extraordinary rar-
tv in this Norwegian Gramatist. Everything
floats and undu,ates. nebulous and anonymous,
such as we are accustomed to see in weak
Drained degencrates. And II he once succeeds,
with toll and stress. In grIsping anything. ana
expressing IT In a moderately intelligent manner.
he unfailingly hastcns few pages later. or IN
n subsequent piece T. say the exact opposite.
\ talk Is made OF Ibscn's IDEAS on morality, and
Of his philosophy. He has not formulated a
single proposition on morality. a single con-
ccption Of the world AMI life. that he has not
himself either refuted or lt,ingly ridiculed. On
top of all this Nordau accuses Ibsen Of abysmal
Ignorance. and after proving his point with much
animation and force. he adds: This malignant
anti-s,cial s,mplc;on. highly gifted. it must be
admitted in the technique Of the stage. they
have had the aulacity to try to raise upon the
shield as the great world poet OF the c.osing
century,, Upon this exclamation we may take
leave u the impetuous German. To the right
minded reader It must commend Itself as a
somewhat app sltc quotation.