New-York tribune., 1897-01-31
THE ESSAY ONCE MORE.
SPECIMENS GOOD, BAD AND INDIFFER-
ENT

THE RELATION OF LITERATURE TO IL LEE az
BY Charles Dudley Warner. Octave pp' 80"
Harper Brothers,
Hamilton Wright Mabe. Duodecimo' pp' SlO
Dodd. Mead Co.
BOOKS AND CULTURE 90 BY paad asmtond Mead e.
tsvo Pp 49, Charles 81 rg sons
THE pS 2 SF
THE UNCONSCIOUS HUMORIsT AND OTHER
ESSAYS By ,asn@oS H LacGn T. Watson va Octave pp
THE REAL AND IDEAL IN LITERATuRE;, gy
Frank Preston Stearns. octave. Pr. 2lS. u. T.
Putnam's Sons.
DORE. BY Frank Preston Stearns Octave. PIP.
276. c. p. Putnams Sons.
TALKS ABOUT AUTOGRAPHS BY George Blrk-
CO. ''
TALKS ON WRITING ENGLISH; BY Arlo Bates
Octave pp. 322 Houghton Mifiiin & CO.
The temptation nowadays Is to write pure
literature" to be literary artist strain
of bookishness runs through the minds or
vast number of authors. and for one essayist
who so much as pretends to make literature o.
human things there twenty who are con-
tent to lose themselves in the dusty ways OF
their library shelves The true essayist-who
has always been rare type-is to-day extinct,
and the writers who even remotely approach
his perfection may be counted upon the fingers
of orc hand. From time to time handful OF
new books Is turned over In the hope OF finding
some one worthy Of the tradition Of MontaiSne
or Of Lamb, but the search Is vain. II Is worse
than vain. 1t discovers more hippancy ana
mediocrity. almost than contemporary ncton
can boast-and that is saying great DEAL
There never was time like the present TOT
the publication of vapid ESSAYS" between ar
tistic" covers For this reason. as well as for
their intrinsic merits there are writers in the
group enumerated above whose ministrations
are to be signalized with more than usual cor
diality 1t is true that none In the long hs'
has masterpiece to offer But there are hints
of the true fire. there is strenuous pleading for
a closer connection between books and men, ana
some of the peaderc practise admirably what
they. preach
Mr.. Warmers volume is we'll named The re-
lation of literature to life is topic of living
interest He sees its vital point ignored by both
writer's and readers to-day. and he endeavors
TO bring them back to a sense OF how neces-
sary It IS to hold the balance true to give life
and literature an equal chance; in fact, to make
them one. To be sure. with something OF the
unconscious prejudice Of an author he himselr
threatens to destroy the balance. He compares
the statesman with the writer. and surmise3
that Dr. John Brown will leave a deeper i'm
pression on the centuries with "Rab and His
Friends" than Gladstone will leave with all his
contributions to the facts of English history.
But Mr. Warmers comparison here IS less arbi-
trary than It seems and In the last resort 1t
is seen to be just His contention is that lit
erature permeated with human feeling will ap-
peal perennially to humankind. and that the
deeds Of men may be forgotten-nay, though
they are remembered. being deeds which bear
be of such universal significance. Mr.. Warner
reminds his public that the business of the
author is to touch the sympathies with reali-
ties divine realities. keeping close to the sources
OF life, not OF mere literary devices. The reall-
ties he reiterates, are to be transmogrified by
all the powers of genius. and in paper on
modern fiction he scores the novels Of the day
which give a wholly unidealized view of human
society,"" but the essential conclusion Of his
volume is that the most romantic of romancers
must mark necessarily the human heart beats
Of the world. His own pages have obviously
sprung from observation OF life. as well as
from the reading of books. AS long ago as 1Si2
he was saying. In the address entitled what
Is Your Culture to Me?" here reprinted. that
1.-The American scholar cannot anord TO 1--we
for himself nor merely for scholarship and the
delights Of literature; and this conviction. made
manifest in all the essays OF this collection,
lends to his argument a refreshing sanity.
1t is a conviction which Mr.. Mabie holds with
equal tenacity and upon which he discourses in
both his books. The latter might indeed have
been put up in one binding. since the drift OF this
author is all in one direction. Mr. Mabie has
been unduly booksh in times past, but his two
latest volumes show perfect control Of his SYM
pathies. He no longer wanders off at the call OF
a pretty phrase or decorative passage. but fol-
lows consistently the development Of his theme.
In the papers on Mature and Culture" ne Is
true to the fact that "the discovery of the world
to the Imagination marks the beginning Of poe
try art and religion" and points out constantly
the artess roots Of the greatest art. In his COM
panion volume also he does not allow himself to
forget that literature Is "a revelation Of that
quality which we call art, and o revelation OF
that mysterious vital force which we call life"
He is still little more generous In quotations
than seems compatible with the aim to offer the
public original thought. yet II this is a defect, he
certainly succeeds in making 1t agreeable. In
fact. Mr.. Mabie is a deservedly popular essayist.
striking in his mosaic Of citations and individual
comments and suggestions just the right tone OF
pleasant. conversational instruction. He is not
profound, he is not exhaustive. but the reader
derives excellent suggestions from his books. and
after q perusal Of them will be toeraby certain
to look at nature and literature with clearer
vision and better taste.
Mr.. Joseph Jacobs does not seem likely TO be
so helpful. though his short studies Of George
Eliot and few others have the merit Of COM
mon-se The difficulty Is that common-sense
needs inspiration with 1t in order to fructify. and
Mr. Jacobs summarizes his authors cleverly
without shedding new light upon them. II there
is an exception 1t is to be found in his initial
say The Interpretation he gives Of George Eliot.
emphasizing the ethical aim Of her writings,
shows considerable insight and sympathy His
Judgment OF Arnold Is cool. but In the main
adequate, and If he is more than cordial to
Browning. he does not forget to remember that
the latter had poet some grave and almost