New-York tribune., 1895-02-17
SWEET MELANCHOL \.
\ NEW STUDY OF THE DISEASE OF CON
TEMPLATivE EGOTIsM
THE MELANCHOI.Y OF STEPHEN ALLARp.-
A private Diary Edited by Garnet Smth
Pm yiu yS Macmillan 4 60.

THE MELANCHOLY OF STEPHEN AL.ARni1 A., s,Si,n
Private Diary. Edited pF ""rhe' "'"''''
Pp VIZ 80 Macmillan x 60.
whether 1t be truly private diary or only
makc-bolicve this book belongs TO the class OF
confessions OF which Ausustne's Is the nobies''
Rousseau'S the meanest. and Amiels the most
lackadalsical Even though stephen Allard be
ngment and not person the thoughts ana moous'
the wisdom and Stiffness attributed to him must
have passed through somebody's mind. Ihey
h,,. cons,i,u,4d a part Of this somebody's expert
enc. AT least after tn. quality OF those second IN
ten,lons which are the only food offered by haoe-
las TO his pet chmcra buzzlng IN vacuum - j.
, nltv that Rabelais never settled the question
whether the chmera was to live or die' Tor th"h
he nleh, have gone ON TO inquire II the chimera
was guilty OF cannibalism. II second intentions
v,r. c,rable Of pain. II they found their vdcuous
but logical world uncomfortable To ther APP
perceived cgotlsm as some OF their ahu'SP's III"
the real world to be- to their real esotlFm' III
short he might have anticipated All the Wo'''n
puzzcs about the experience Of an experience
about ones believing that one believes what one
believes so as to believe 1t worthy TO be believed
and then II he could come out OF his grave-that
is supposng he ever existed or ever had a grave
all such questions being now more or less In abey-
ance-hc might glance over the present genera
ZION and .xclaiu: These are the people. then.
who dcsplse scholastcisn'' He might well IN
oulre which was the more useless. 10 speculate on
the number OF levs that could dance on the point
of a needle or on the power of Will that may
or may not be free to accomplish what 1t Wits IN
"A world which may or may not prove 10 DE- an
illusion The hero Of this BOOK Illustrates Dy
argument by criticism. and by "A tenuous thread
n, narrative the character OF person wholly ab-
sorbed In the paradox OF life who Is without voll-
,iou because n, has no object NOR" attractive To
him than the rest. but with a throns OF anti
thetcal IDEAS on every topic OF life. lie differs
from most OF those whose confessions OF mental
uncertainty have been given To the world by rea-
son OF hs youth While others have mingled
much personaI experience with their medtations
,non the utility or useessncss OF life, the trust
worthness Of faith and the merits of action he
frankly acknowledges that he knows nothing or
the world and that the causes Of his melancholy
lie wholly within himself In his early years
he discovered in himself the capacities Of an
artist But he foresaw that TO enjoy the
life OF an artist he must have money.
and his poverty was extreme. So he turned to
books. Hore his impractical disposition asserted
itself. lie neglected the matters which examiners
insisted upon. but devoted himself with enthusi-
asm TO books which few read and fewer stll un-
derstand At oxford he was known a. "A man OF
strange learning to such OF his contemporaries as
knew him at ali. He talked little but willingly
sanc or played for his companions his skill and
taste in music being far above the ordinary. The
lack OF comfort in his room led him to discourage
visitors and he had neither friends nor enemies.
rlor strength but from lack OF the power TO at
tract others Disappearing from the university
almost unncticcd he continued his mcagre studious
life in a place remote from those VINO had known
him. He earned enough TO pay for his lodging
and food and clothes to buy "A book or an en-
craving. a piece OF music for his violin and to
visit the seaside for a fortnight In summer. \
small legacy enabled him to drop his employment
for year and to while away the time In the coun-
try. There II is TO be understood, this book
written.
The attrdctiveness OF such book depends largely
upon the style in which II Is written and upon the
skill with which the author his learning Since the
times OF Robert Burton and Sir Thomas Browne.
II has been an nvioable tradition that the English
OF such book shall be peced oui with smart
show OF Greek. Latin and In fact all the languages
the author can master. Proper form requires that
most OF these classical and foreign tags shall he
paraphrased 50 that even the unlearned reader may
glance along the page without being overwhelmed
by sense OF mystery. The style should have
mere suspicion OF antique flavor with n strange
word and then like those which Sir Thomas
Browne wrought so cleverly from classic material.
These things go further with readers than the
philosophy which IL almost certain to be monot-
onous. In all these points OF excellence The Mel
ancholy OF stephen Alard" stands very high. The
author has displayed varied erudition In the most
interesting way. Only very small number ~ his
quotations open to the charge OF being hack
neyed commonplace. Many OF them will give
experts sensation OF novelty. This fact sug-
gssts argument respecting the realism OF the diary
The place In Dsvonshire where 1t IL supposed to
have been written must have been well furnished
with books. some OF them rarely found outside Of
well-apponted Libraries. else the author must
have had prodleious memory. Another point to be
considered is the rarity Of personal "reminiscences