New-York tribune., 1896-10-18

Of beauty by impossible explanations and den-
r,,;ors is unknd THE exhilaration which
comes with pure and refreshing air has
uavked influence on our appreciatons. NO
doubt Rut to say that ito 1t is largely due the
beauiv of the morning, and the entirely diifer-
ont charm II has from the evening" seems 10
MS one Of the most udicrous propositions ever
advanced by an aesthetic theorist
The trouble with those theorists Is apt 10 pe
tha. they scorn illusions, they cannot take th'hs'
on faith They suspect one OK living IN io"'
paradise the moment one gives in allegiance ~
A loveness strictly for its own sake. They pro-
tes, that that is Just the stand they take 'he''
selves but all the time they arc trying 10 "'s-
cover the secret Of the charm whose whoie power
lies In it's having secret. In having a cNi''''S
A something beyond us. finer higher IMAM o"i
selves. Here is Mr.. Matthews He quotes 1eorse
Sand approvingy. when she says tha' '''' ~
only form" He sets forth all sorts oi dehs"'-
fully Obvious thoughts about truth ana peau'S'
and then he goes on To make the foi'"""s wv
laration: Just ~ the modern literature" are
rearer To us than the ancient because We on
selves are modern: just as Enghsh literature Is
nearer TO US than French, because we ourselves
sneak English SO the American DIVISION oi 'ia'
literature is closer to us than the Brltish' IL
he,na us io md ,rstand one another and 1t eX-
,,,irs ne to ourselves If we accept the state
ment that after all literature IL only cr'i'cish
of life IL Is Of value in proportion as us critcish
Of life is truthful. Surely 1t needs no argument
to chow that the life it is most neediui Tor us
Americans To have criticised tru'h'ul'y IL o"'
own II is only in own literature that we
can hope 10 learn the truth about ourselves anu
this indeed is what wc must always INSIST uPo"
h in our Iiteraturethc truth. the whole trulh anu
nothing but the truth" That last observation
has trite and virtuous sound but IL comes al'er
a tissue of profound banalitios. Where ala Mt
Matthews get the idea that literature Is 'chiv
"A criticism, Of life'? And supp0sihg that he
can find warrant for the sentence, IL ought -
be plain to him that what any penetrating cri'c
means by 1t. such n critic as Mattne" AThou'
for example. who hal 60 much to say about
poetry as a criticism OF life. is that life Is here
taken to imply the general life OF mankind. the
universal life which is nourshed by the univer-
sal writer's When Mr.. Matthews says that "it
Is only in our own literature that We can nope 10
learn the truth about ourselves" he misses the
whole point Of literature which is not tina; New
Workers should profit by a pcrusal Of Mr.. Mat
the,vs's "Vignettcs of Manhattan. say. but that
men everywhere should learn the broad lessons
"
A local revelation: 1t il a solvent which serves
the same purposes III StuyNes3h' square Hi" d"
African jungle.
But Mr.. Matthews was lonS ago bitten ny an
ambition TO dinerentiate the 'teratures" Of the
United states and the United Kingdom. nisiak-
Inc verbal diss.milartics for divergent ideas, and
he never tires o. dragging in his protest that We
belong to English literature. but are neverthe-
less a na,lon by ourselves. that that literature
has n British mouth" and American. He
takes his mission very seriously. No one else Is
worry ing about the question At all We all of us
remember Mr. Whistlcr's cp.y-mathcmatics IS
mathematics. art is art-and feel tempted to add
literature is literature. \ good book written In
English and Inspired by the genius which sprang
fom an English root. will belong to English
literature. To attempt - make two literatures
now on, ~ American and English books Is a
piece ~ fatuous labor whcn may delight half
baked students. but it seems merely irrelevant
t. any mature reader Mr. Matthews talks Of
other things In this new book Of his. But Mr.
Matthews ms literary critic Is long way from
the secret of litcratur.. He says IT helps us to
understand one another" Literature ministers
Ia our sense of delight. We are not arguing.
We telling him.
\ listener is Judged by the things he listens to.
Mr. Chamberlin heark"ns to thc whippoorwlll
In tho country. which shows some taste and i'm
town n incline. his car 10 the perambulatlng
aandwich-mnn. nattering himself that 10y So doing
be- h getting clo'e to tho heart ~ humanity.
Neither in the country nor in the ciiy does he
touch thai heart al all. IL wants to " whimsi-
cal lie wants to surprise the reader by an ar
tstic handling ~ familiar things He tries. with
out know ing IT, perhaps. to do sonnet hing IN TN"
vein II Mrs Mcyrcll in England. But t. reveal
tho beauty In common things ono must II
there first and NJ Chambcrlin's vision does
rot pierce far beneath .he surface His tiny es-
says were good enough in The Boston Tran
script" whore II was not necessary tn read them
wt,h any special care. In his two little fastiiious
volumes h" seems to plead for entrance into
the library. and there ho is hopclcsslv fiat Pos
sihly iher" IL something funny In tho Idea of a
Kicking Company. mn association fpr tn" redress
~ wrongs suffered at the hands Of railroad em-
pioyes. and others of kindred opportunities to
abuse. hut Mr.. Chambcrlin does not. IN LIS es-
say on "co-Opcrativo Kicking" dcvelop so much
as tho paest ray ~ a smile He emphasizes the
conviction which begins - grow in the mind
NIr s'antayana's bpo. is read. and Develops
rapidly rs Mr.. Matthews is p'odded through He
shows that We have mon dealing with An essay
ISIS themes. trying to make them attractive
irving 10 explain and enrich them. when abun-
dance of ideas and fccitcs of style are essential
to the task and the. arc poveri stricken on both
counts Mr.. Santayana is fogCy and infertile.
Mr. Matthews IL shallow and commonplace. Mr.
Chambrrin Is perky and cheap. Why have they
written? II s""ms great waste o! time.
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