New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-11-24
IN SOCIETY.


IN SOCIETY
It is true that Arnold did not care much for
mere social diversion. Did he not give the aris
tocrats OF his nation their famous name Of the
Barbarians? But like and dislike are pretty
equally divided In the following extract from
letter to his mother. aprOpos Of some dinner party
he had attended. These occasional appearances
in the world like-no. l do not like them but
they do one good. and one learns something from
them: but, as a general rule. agree with all the
men Of soul from Pythagoras to Byron in think
ing that this type Of society Is the most drying
wasting depressing and fatal thing possible"
In the long run ne went on dining and the reader
of these letters can only be glad that he did So
For Arnold. at any rate, society was not fatal.
for II never wore away the clear outlines OF that
ideal Of living which he seems to have set up
from his earliest youth He Is just as sincere,
just as artless, just as much the bantering and
delightful comrade, In the dra wing-room Of Lon
don and Paris, where he welcomed with
eagerness as though enjoying himself among the
inmates of his fathers old home. He keeps,
moreover, the critical touchstone. the quick i'm
aginaton. the desire to see and know the thing
or the idea as II really is, which can never be
disassociated from his character. His judgments
on the personages he runs across are the enforced
outcome of his habit OF thought and sympathy,
and so we'll trained Is that habit OF thought so
just that sympathy that his conclusions hit the
mark within the very centre. Take, for example,
the note on Blacke. 81 am glad you saw Blacltie.
| believe he is animated pleasant man. with
liking for all sorts of things that are excellent.
Au reste an esprit as confused and hoity-toty
possible and as capable Of transating Homer
as Of making the Apollo Bevedere." Not every
admrer Of Blacke could perhaps accept this
incisive estimate but 1t is probably the most
pregnant utterance on the distinguished Greek
Professor of Edinburgh which has yet found its
way into print These books are crowded with
vignettes interesting and as authoritative in
expression Gradually" he says in letter
written in 1860, II mean to say boldly the truth
about great many English celebrities Much Of
what he meant to say he says in his letters. Swim
burne ne calls with refreshing bluntness. "a sort
of pseudo Shelley; and when "Atalanta in Caly
dom is published he has this suggestive note
on the work: The moderns will only have the
antique on the condition Of making II more
beautiful according to their notions OF
beauty than the antique; /. e. something wholly
different" or one Of Ruskin's new volumes he
says that 1t is full OF excellent apercus, as
usual, but the and character too febre.
irritable and weak to allow him to possess the
ordo concatenatioque veri" He says OF Tenny-
son. "the real truth is that. with all his tempera-
ment and artistic SKILL he Is deficient in intellect
ua power; and no modern poet can make very
much Of his business unless he Is pre-eminently
strong in this"
It may be observed that these verdcts
usually severe. They seem TO warrant that pic
;ure of Arnold sitting down on the banks OF the
Thames to sing a woful Jeremiad which has been
in existence for long time. He made no bones
of running counter to the general verdict but hit
lard when he felt that he had grasped the truth.
Even were il necessary to disagree with his
opinions one would have to recognize the air
which, In their context perhaps more than when
isolated they all possess the air of sincerity, Of
impersonality. Arnold Is personal and
least OF ALL 1t may be added, when he Is abiding
TO himself For instance. in a letter to Mrs. Fors
ter he is talking about Renan. between whose
line of endeavor and my own imagine there is
considerable resemblance. The differ
ence is perhaps" he goes on, that he tends to
inculcate morality. In high sense OF the word
upon the French nation as what they most want
while | tend to inculcate intelligence. also in a
high sense Of the word. upon the English nation
as what they most want; but with respect both
to morality and intelligence think we are sim
guarIy at one in our ideas. and also with respect
both TO the progress and the established religion
Of the present day" Who shall say that there Is
assumption in this comparison? 1t is really
as keen a passage on Arnold and Renan as might
have been written by some highly competent
critic who had weighed them both. Arnod's re-
solve Ito know" extended to himself object
OF knowledge, and some Of the most Interesting
things he has to say are about himself, or rather
about his ideas Take his judgment on his own
poetry my poems represent the whole. the
main movement OF mind Of the last quarter Of a
century and thus they Will probably have their
day as people become conscious to themselves of
what that movement Of mind is. and interested
In the literary productions which reflect IT, 1t
might fairly be urged that have less poetica
sentiment than Tonnyson, and less intellectual
vigor and abundance than Browning; yet, be-
cause have perhaps more OF a fusion OF the two
than either Of them. and have more regularly
applied that fusion to the main line Of modern
development. am likely enough to have my turn.
as they have had theirs