New-York tribune., 1896-05-03
DECORATED HEADLINES"
THE CLEVER YOUNG MAN AND III:
WORKS.
RETROSPECTIVE REVIEWS. a Literary Log
octave pp. XIX PSI. 2S2. London: John Lane.
The Bodev Head New-York: Dodd. Mead e.

RETROSIEtsTIN II KEN vs.. Ilternfy Log
by Richard I;e Ga.lienne. In Two Volumes
Ss oS PD XIX M @ a2Haqp pod 5oAR Mead d"S
In one Of his papers on the Elizabethan dram
ats,s Mr. Lowell Introduces passage
matter for which he had no great taste by say
ing: Il find question continually coming back
invincible as fly with a strong sense OF duty
which I shall endeavor to fan away by a little
discussion 1t would be nice If Mr.. lie Gal
lienne could be famed away in this manner.
1t would be nicer II the whole race Of invlncible
clever whom he typihes could be disposed
of as easily and as conclusivey. For Mr.. II
Gaienne himself is after all. not portentous
parsonage nor particularly troublesome one.
1t is in hi5 repre- sentative character that he
gives the reader pause and awakons that sense
Of critical impatence to which Mr. Lowell al
lude1 1t is bad enough that Mr.. lie GallIenne
should publish "A Literary Log an affair of
two volumes containing each nearly three hun
drod pages Of literary" disqusiton. II Is more
than bad. It is appalling. that he should stand
as he does conspicuous In yerteble army Of
writer's Ike himself
There IS 4 dedication printed In the first ~
these volumes 1t IS inscribed. 10 the person
"who first gave me the opportunity of earning
my bread in the pleasantest Of tho professions"
III
seer, 10 indicate sufficiently ;hat Mr.. L. Call
erncs benefactor was among those editors VINO
gave him books to review. 50 far everything Is
as II should be- But having written the reviews.
having seen them in print in the various jour
nails with which 1t has been his happy privilege
to- be connected, why In the name OF all that
is grateful should Mr.. Ie Galllernc ask those
editors. as he ,acitly does ask ther. 10 review
his reviews? Why should the prbllc be asked
TO read again Mr.. lie Gallienne's reviews. suppos-
ing that the public read them in the first place?
There Is nothing contemptuous In these ques-
tlons. The matter Is one Of cold fact. as the
statisticians say. There are reviews and re-
views Some of them are calculated to be read
orce twice thrice. and again In book form
innumerabc times Such reviews. which have
been printed in times PAST by men Ike De
Quincy or MacaulNy or Matthew Arnold have
been really essays. and the fact that they were
for time associated with journalistic at
mosphcre that they were printed first In the
pages of a magazine. never made mere Journal
ism Of them. Like all the fine work that has
been printed In magazines and newspapers. they
literature to begin with. they would have
been literature II they had been printed in
almanac Now, Mr.. lie Gallenne apparently
thinks that he can make literature out Of his
made as dalnty as the press OF The Bodley
Head" very nest OF affectation, could possibly
permit The real result Of his presumption Is
that he excites hllarity where he would Ike
to command respect. Who has ever commanded
respect by doing this sort Of thing? Better
men than Mr. lie ,iallienne have tried II and
failed In the year 1890. Mr. william Ernest
Henley whom Mr. lie Gallienne calls "a very
20 nuine poet" whatever that may mean. printed
a collection Of literary snapshots called Views
and Reviews: Essays in Appreciation" They
we're beautiful considered as snapshots. They
are beautiful to-day. Mr.. Henley had civilized
underneath his bartGrous cocksure-
ness and he snortei on gloriously. assuring his
public that the backbone and mrsce OF Eng
lS nd and English literature were safe In his
hands, II only the awful effeminacy OF these
II odern days could be checked In fact. he
fancled he would do some Of the checking him
self Where is that volume now?
Perhaps 1t has gone into IA second edition, or a
third But 1t never was fructifyng force II
is rarely heard Of to-day. 1t Is doubtful II Mr..
Henley himself who has been soberly sitting
down to edit Byron and Burns. would
be quite ready as he was in 1850 10 listen to
those judicous friends who suggested the coec-
ton OF his snapshots. and even put 1t together
Tor MIN ana Tor the publisher Ana yet Mr..
Henley is only just emerging from that state in
which II has pleased the world of London to rec
ognize him perhaps the cleverest OF them all"
Cleverness! 1t Is that that does the mischief.
Men with first-rate powers don't put literary
scrap bags into circulation. They hold their
peace until they have something to say, and then
they say 1t with all their might. When they
are clever they talk In season and out Of sea-
son about things concerning which they may or
may not know something. Here is Mr.. lie Cal
lienne He is undoubtedly a very clever man. |
He Is the author of one production, "The Book |
Bills of Narcissus which is distinguished by
such good judgment and such gentle feeling by
such delicacy of fibre. that 1t almost wins him
forgiveness for his various literary msce-
fneanors. But he Is Clever" lie publishes
his books at THE Bodey Head where other
clever men publish theirs. And as he pub
fishes one the Bodey Head people make 1t so at
tractive, the other Bodley Head authors say such
urbane things about ii, that he must needs
bring out another and another until finally we
get Retrospective Reviews: A Literary Log"
Several reasons for our having this particular
treasure set forth In the preface. The seiec.