New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-09-16

Selh Volume i.
yiii SIS Macmillan & Co.
These volumes do not bring the "reminiscences
If Lord Selborne down TO the time whe" "e
became an earl 1t Is only on nearing '"e ''o''
st.. y. "a dubbed knight coincident with MS
snnointment as Solicitor-Generai. AS ."
pnr,deu Palmer he was best known to Ameri-
cans They could hardly be ext ec'eu " NM"
eli even the foremost equity lawyer OF Eng
land. and probably have given Out ia''s u'N
t.rtion 70 Lord Selborne's dsquisit'ons on tne
Established Church or even to his more pop"'ai
studies of hymnology: but they were sure 10
at. deen interest in every name prominent IN
a.. srsrv controversies over Mason and Shdei
"a ~. Confederate warships that were puiit III
rnr,ond What was merely incidental 10 Loru
C.,horre.s career gained him international re-
rovn But after all, neither this nor 'he
other political matter in his autobiography rs
.dited by his daughter. gives to these Noiu'"cS
their greatest attraction. Ihere are 'ei
.tud,es OF character for which the book VIII De
sought long after its contributions 10 se"''"
history have been taken up into less per
writings Some Of the other persohases Ill inns
drama of a lifetime are more interesting .''"''
che protagonist. life that has no adVers.'es
.. an agreeable one 10 live personality that
has no serious imperfections Is satisfactory
one. but neither furnishes theme ior al ao-
sorbing narrative. 1t Is possible mat reaueis
NAV turn from the prosaic successes Oh INC
great lawyer to the glimpses OF restless, ""-
practicable genius embodied in William faifhe''
~ ~ that other eminently practical genius
which IN Mr.. Gladstone has given 10 parma
mentary career almost an epic grandeur
Rounded Palmer, to give him the name oE
which he Is known throughout the greater pai'
nj these thick volumes. was the son OF country
clergyman. He was prizewinner from s'"i' ~
finish In his first two years at OXFORD lie "oi,
MI the honors that were then open to him. and
In later years more substantial distinctions. No'
that he always won. But If he failed In one
a,r.c+,on he COMPENSATED himself in another. 1t
amused him in after life to think that he had
"a suhuit to an icnomnous pluck In Euchd.
ITO make the accident more ridiculous ne
odds ct had a party Of friends In my rooms
that evening as If to celebrate my passing anu
,vhen the expected testamur' did not come
xvent I'm person to the examiners lodgings TO IN
uuire about It. and had the satisfaction OF learn
ing from him the unpleasant truth. Later ne
discovered after some industrious reading tha'
Ne lacked an aptitude for abstract analytcai
science" He consoled himself with the prize
Latin poem for the year 1881. on the suo]ec' Oh
"Numanta" following this the next year WITH
the Newdigate prize for English verse ana the
Ireland Scholarship. a first class In CLASSICS TWO
vears LATER and the Eldon Scholarship and a
Fellowship at Magdalen. The list might be
lengthened but these particulars suince 10 sho"
the tendencies of youth who, according 10 MS
own view. had not yet begun to take Ire seri-
ousIv As man full Of years and honors he
confesses that in school and university success
was his watchword rather than duty He does
cd victories.
reader would not learn of some of them were II
not for a note by the editor. He does not pre-
tend that they came TO him easily and yet ne
treats them like the trumphs Of later life, as
matter Of course.
Any who happens on that coHecton OF
Oxford Latin poems beginning with John La
tham's "Trafalgar" and ending with Goodwin
Smiths "Numa Pompus." will be struck at
once with a certain contrast in seriousness De-
tween William Palmer's poem on Tyre and mat
of Rounded Palmer already mentioned. The
older brother betrays a turn for mysticism. for
odd learning. FOR noting the fulhlment OF
prophecy, even for superstition. when the
younger more cheerful man knows nothing OF.
Yet Tyre hardly more suggestive OF super
stitious lore than the long struggles or the
Numantans. Thinking of this contrast, one Is
hardly surprised at Rounded Palmers confes-
sion that it only in the last year or his
underestimate course that he began to take
any real interest in public affairs. and that IT
required the serious illness of his mother to
awaken within him higher and more lasting
spiritual aspirations than he had before known
II may be added that the "Numantia" indicated
two literary characteristics which were still
marked In Lord Selborne when he wrote his
memorials He preserved to his old age taste
for modern Latin verse-the most glowing
praise in his "reminiscences is given to Charles
Wordsworth and Lord Lyttelton on this account
and also for Southey's poems. The theme OF
his own youthful poem was suggested In pas
sage from Southeys Frederick" and in his last
years he still confessed the delight he felt in
reading "Thalaba" and The Curse Of Kehama,'
while he wondered at the adverse critics. His
surprise is doubtless shared by at least few
othera for THE Curse of Kehama' is struct-
urally one Of the most perfect poems in the Eng
Iish language These literary traits OF Lord
Selborne are noteworthy because they are In
keeping with the attitude he mainland In other
matters. He was never the kind Of man that
can be hypnotlzed by the crowd
His lack Of seriousness in youth his eagerness
for present success and his Indifference TO the
remote contingencies Of the future were no bad
things for him IN the end. Unconsciously he
made several experiments that might nave set
him of career very different from the one
which he chose. AS a boy, and even into the
university years. he took keen interest In nat
ural history. His collections of butterflies and
fossils seem to have rivaed those Of many a
lad who has grown up to be distinguished In
science. The attraction of these out-of-door
studies is evinced in later pages of the Me
MORALS" Perhaps the reader imagines that this
could be OWNED from the very title by which
Rounded Palmer chose TO be ennobled. There
was a certain White Of Selborne whom every
body knows The rest is easy but all wrong
Rounded Palmer. though he made collections o.
butterflies. not attracted by scientific litera-
ture- His turn a youth was for verse. and in