The San Francisco call., 1897-11-14
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VI TITHIN the limits of q small and
wv exceedingly dainty volume Messrs.
Y Harner & Bros of New York have

published q collection OF about dozen es-
says written by the late George William
Curtis and contribute by him to 1.-The
Easy Chair N Harper's Magazine. The
volume is entitled "Ars Recte Vlvendl,
q name adopted at the suggestion OF
college professor in view of the TACT that
the writings therein contained cover the
vital questions of hygiene courtesy and
morality. Mr.. Curtis, in his day, held
faciIe pen, and his compositions were
highly esteemed as those of a man who
preferred the use of the rapier rather than
that of the bludgeon. Some fine speci-
mems of satire are interviewer with his
serious talk On minor manners and
morals the editor of Harper's possessed
fixed ideas, and these mainly of the ola
school. Evidence of this Is not lacking in
his Easy Chair" talks. so long feature
of the great magazine he conducted.
1t has been claimed that matter con-
tributed to newspapers or serial publica-
ions loses much of its value when placed
within the covers of q book, and in the
AAsse of some writers this is undoubtedly
true. Take, for instance, Mr.. Zangwill,
whose witty causerie, Without Preju-
dice" ran month by month for quite
long time in the Pail Mall Magazine,
The monthly chats were afterward repub-
lished, but what made excellent transient
copy acquired q certain jerkiness when
served up in book form. Other writers
could be cited who have suffered from
similar disadvantage, but the fault can
not be found with Mr.. Curtis Easy
Chair" essays, which are really models OF
what short compositions should be. Ap-
plying to them the infallible test OF time
they also come out creditably. Several
made their appearance as far back as 1874,
yet it is no exaggeration to say that were
they published for the first time to-day
they would find host of readers not
only On account of their appiica bility to
present-day conditions, but as well for
their intrinsic merit as examples of clean
cut English without prosiness or re-
dundancy. The young newspaper writer
could take Mr.. Curtis lars Recte
VlvendT' as a study IN writing English,
apart from the information it imparts re-
garding the ethical side of his calling.
The first essay in the collection before
US is entitled "Extravagance al College,"
comparing the condition of the student at
Harvard sixty years ago with that which
exists to-day. in some respects to the dis
advantage of the latter. The social in
huences of our colleges are held RESPONSE
bic for that barrier of excIusiveness erected
around himself by the rich mans son
which is CALLING to the pride of the student
who finds himself unable to compete with
his wealthy brother for lack of means.
Brains and Brawn" Is another article
touching university life and demanding
greater recognition for the studious col
egian. The third essay, "Hazing, " is a
r5werful attack on the petty bullying that
races many American colleges. The
raCuIiar ideas of seniors touching the in
PRODUCTION of freshmen to college life are
handled without mercy, though with
entire Justice, and Mr.. Curtis went so far
as to call hazers men to whom the training
and the instincts of gentlemen are IN
known incidentally the word 'fgentle-
man" is Illuminated with a directness
and simplicity that is charming. us
man a gentleman" asked Mr.. Curtis,
because he is honest and modest and
humane2 In describing Lovelace, should
we not say that he was a gentleman
Should We naturally say so of BurnsP
But, again, is 1t not a joke to describe
George " as a gentleman, while it woulde
be impossible 10 deny the name to Major
Dobbin."
By lar the most important essays in
"Ars Recte Vivendi" are those entitled
Newspaper Ethics" They are composed
of a series OF five articles contributed to
Harper's between the years 1880 and 1891,
and form COM pIete explanation OF what
oh ha hoy
the ideal journalist should conduct him
self both in his intercourse with men and
in his writings for print. Mr.. Curtis
thoughts on the subject in some respects
rese mbIe the theories advanced by the late
Charles A. Dana; nevertheless, it may be
said that the difficulties experienced by
Mr.. Dana in the first years of his conduct
of the New York Sun were trivialities
compared with those shat an editor would
- PASS through were he 10 manage his news
paper precisely on the lines ind icated by
\Nr Curtis. With the present svs1em OF
politics current in the United States, or for
the matter of that all over the civilized
world, it may be said that anything like
an absolutely non-partisan newspaper.
giving impartially both sides OF public
questions, is an impossibuily The ideal
newspaper, built on the Curtis plan. has
yet to make its appearance, and, given the
conditions of to-day, it could not success
fully survive few weeks of existence.
The question OF the employment of in
vective and satire by newspapers writers is
ably treated. Under certain conditions the
author of Easy Chair Essays" consid-
cred their use entirely aIIowab BILE, but. he
said, "the legitimate superlative must be
handled ike dynamite, with extreme
caution. Blackg guard1sm of every degree
is nuisance TO be summariIy discoun-
tenanced and abated by those who know
the difference between grandeur and big
ness, between Mercutio and Tony Lump
kin, between fair play and foul"
In conclusion Mr. Curtis put forward
the opinion (and in this he was not sup
ported by the great New York editor
named), that journalism is a pursuit
rather than a profession, for the reason
that 1t does not demand a certain course
OF study, which Is finally tested by an ex-
amintion and certified by degree. In
lecture gwen by Mr. Dana before the
students of an Eastern college lie said. on
tAe contrary that iOurna Iic m uas a nrO-