New-York tribune., 1895-10-19

| gard for the rules of French orthography. You
are right In saying that New Years Das
stupid thing. The word stupid thus carry II"
troduced into F1aubert's correspondence never
| left 1t. but was employed henceforth WIN uh-
failing regularity and ever-increasihg intensity
of accent.
1t is not infrequently the case that youth Is
pc ssimisc. Flaubert's case Is rare oriy In thdt
he never outlived this callow mood and one cam
not help Identifying the persistency OF th's
mood with certain sluggish non-receptivity OF
mind This is the second paradox in the psychol-
ogy Of this exceptional man-that for all his
tremendous industry, his mind was essentially
sluggish The evidence OF his letters points 10
growth only In one direction. which was the re-
fnement and perfection Of literary style con-
sidered In the narrow sense In which Flaubert
construed It, You ask me for information about
our work. Maxime's and mne,' he writes to
friend you must know then that am driven
wild by writing; style. which is thing that
take very much in earnest agitates my nerves
horribly ! myself. ! prey on myself. there
are days when am quite Ill from 1t. and when
am feversh at night. The further | go the less
capable I find myself OF expressing the idea.
What a quaint mania 1t is to pass ones life
wearing ones self out over words, and sweating
all day long over arranging sentences! There are
| occasions, IL lS true, Wnen one feJolSes H"Sc''
| but the pleasure is bought at the cost Of how
much bitterness? To-day. for example. have
| spent eight hours In correcting five pages. and
| | think that have worked WE'LL Judge the rest.
| II Is pitifu." Industry OF this narrow sort
| F1aubert had in abundance. sacrifice was too
| great: but outside this constituencies to mere
| verbal harmony his brain was hard and irrespon-
| sive True. he contrived to crowd a consider
able amount Of learning into lis books. but such
| knowledge was hastily and specifically acquired.
| and in all probability soon forgotten. AT all
events the letters leave no doubt that In spite
| Of his omniverous reading CF1aubert read ana
| annotated 1,5OO books to produce 400 pages of
| manuscript. his mind remained permanently
| closed against mos. external influences. Having
| discovered at the age of ten that New Years
| Day was stupid thing" ne spent the re-
mainder of his life searching for stupidity else
where. The quest of the stupid and the gro
| tesque-such was his consuming mania. In Jeru-
| salem, for instance, he vas persuaded by
chance acquaintance to look into a volume OF
Ccmtes Positive Philosophy" and he writes to
| his friend Bouilhet II turned over some pages OF
| it: 1t is consumngly stupid and, indeed. was
| not mistaken. There are in II immense mines OF
comedy, quite a California OF the grotesque
Art was the beginning 1t was the end OF
| his philosophy. Beyond 1t there was nothing
| but nsapped effort with the inevitable result
| Of imbecility and grotesqueness Such point
| Of view naturally precluded the play OF those
| social affections which is upon any sane theory
| Of existence quite as necessary to the artist as
| TO the more numerous mddle-class citizens whom
| Flaubert go heartily detested. Looking to his
| correspondence for a hint OF spontaneous senti-
| ment one will find no more than a shadow in
his affection for his mother and his sister Caro-
| line. He had his admiratons his favorites
among his literary associates, and for Louis Bou-
| ilhet and Maxine Ducamp he had something
which. at a pinch might pass for unpremeditated
| affection; but closer scrutiny such bond Of
association as there was will be found to rest
| on the ground Of ART. II Is doubtful whether
the idea Of liking a man for his sake. for
his faults, we'll his virtues ever entered
into Flaubert's consciousness: for art. AS his
mother was at pains to tell him. had dried up his
heart. Moreover. the congenital difficulty of exc
cution which was partly 1ue to his transcenden al
and impracticable ideas Of perfection. and partly
we suspect, to the gradual inroads of the disease
| which was finally to carry him off. tended 10
| drive him more and more into himself, until his
mood can scarcely be distinguished from selfish
! ness Suffer es much you like, in the
| back In the head; have chillblains. rashes. what
notr' he writes to his sister from Paris. but act
| so as TO make the house comfortable to me-.
| To Flaubert a friend. and intimate. was person
who harassed your nerves less than others;
nothing more nothing less.
That man Of this stamp should fall in love
would have been pleasant irony. but Flaubert's
self-absorption proof against this weakness.
| although after his own awkward fashion he did
bow the knee to a certain Nine. Colet, ard lived
to regret the condesc ens.on. BY courtesy the let
TORS xrriff m this Partisan blue-stOCking
called love letters but they are so only In name
| However, to the student OF F'laubert's character
| they will be found full Of significance. and MT
| Tarver gives them the prominence which they
| deserve although with his usual gaucherie he
| has introduced several of them In the fore part
! OF his volume without explaining to whom they
| are addressed: the result being that when finally
Nine Colet is revealed. the reader, who is pre-
surnebly learning Of Flaubert's life for the first
| time through Mr.. Tarver's volume. naturally
| SUP poses that there are two women In the ques-
| ton. There can be no doubt that Flaubert was
| in love with Nine. Colet az much as he could be
| with any woman. He honored her with MS liter
ary condolences and persisted in discussing at
great length and to that ladys infinite disgust
the most recondite questions Of literary
technique. She who had enmeshed Victor Cousin.
and. according to the report. had even beguiled
| Victor Hugo wished 10 lay siege TO Flaubert
| with the same batteries Her ignom1ious failur"
| Is graphically set forth In Flaubert's letters. and
forms a chapter in the grotesque. which If 1t had
| not come SO near home. would have moved the
| author OF "Bouvard ct Pecuchet' to titanic
| laughter There is nothing more significant In
| his correspondence than this love episode.
| Mr. Tarver has mdnag ID to cover dispropor-
| tionate number of pages with minute analysis Of
Flaubert's novels and stories. The work is su-
perfiuous for Flaubert in his quality as novelist
is scarcely the novelty to English readers that
Mr.. Tarver would have us suppose.