New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-11-21

! who had not previously met one or TWO "
Mr. r,ohson's poems had already appeared III
,r,nt His first contribution to magazine ""s
! "a C,tv Flower" in Temple Bar. IL was az
! cented by Mr.. Edmund Yates. who SUBSEQUENT!
| exnressed keen pleasure in having been 'he III =
man Of letters to welcome new hhs"s" po''
ga Dead Letter was his second magazine coil'
, trjbu.lon. His frst volume OF poems Was oeui'
Gated 10 Mr.. Trollope and estabiished Ills iepu-
,o,io, az another Praed with a superior metnod
and more delicate refinement
Mr. Dobson had begun with WrltinS quaint
,dvIs and society verse of a bygone age ana ne
deliberately made the study of eighteenth cen
fury literature in France ana England 'he
recreation of his lifc. He revived ana popular
ize1 rondeau baladc willamette ana othef cna'
octeristic forms of old French poetry. ana II"
idealized the social life or Inc last ceh.uLE ~
the same idvllic sweetness and grace VIII WnIch
he sketched childhood in lovely poems IKE II
flo J2uo Ribhone" and THE Child Musician. n
Quarterly Reviewer describes him as a COZ
lcctor OF od-world curios.ies and brlC-a.prac,
and as frequG IiS r %, Teau Brocades.
Babettos Rosinas and old-school gentlemen ana
gentlewor1en are not Chnstiy "reminiscences vi q
past age nor like faded HowerS IN ',u i,o,
nages of old books. They are rea! ana NIlai
fpures which have come down from the picture
frames in old houses. or have stepped on. OF lhe
sedan chairs bepatchCd. bepo"uereu ano per
fnn,eh but with their hearts still beating fast.
They live anew because he himself has been Nv
Ing among them In his Civil Service work he
has been in touch with the England or TO-DAY;
but among his books ne mas perm """'i'0' 'e''
into a drean-life of the last century
The marvel OF industry remains, MI Donson
shyly describes himself az on or the STOVES. W
literary workers: yet when tne i,ss ~ e, scap~ned
cal critical and biographical works IS scanned
The results of his painstaking artistic ianors are
found to have a wide range as Wen as hisn
quality Behind his writings In prose ana verse
to l,A
hos hacome an acknowledged master or frencn
and English literature of the last century; ana
during these forty-onc years he mas Deeh daii! a.
his desk in the Board Of Irade TIM
routine work Of the Civil Service. Ihe mystery
~ such intense application to officla! work ana
literary labor is not so dense as tha' VI w; ~
Chamberlains scholarship and vide rea ",n'a,
NIr Dobson is at once an industrlous oii',di
ond a literary recluse He is in the civil service
nv daylight and he spends his nights among ms
hooks avoiding the distractions OF soclaI ~
Literary work is his rocreatioh-hiS III ''
POLICE COMMISSIONER OFF DUTY.
A,otber Instance Of literary industry In tho
r,,brc service "a the publication of the seventh
,boo,oc,cal work Of Dr. Robert Anderson AS
~i-to,+ Commissioner Of the Metropolitan Police
Scotland Yard is. perhaps. the last place IN
London whore one would look for a critical
Rib,e student who knows his Greek and He
subtIeties Of theological polemics as Calvin and
Knox derived in their time from disentanghns
the knots in St. Paurs argument. But con-
troversial,st Of this type is to be found there
enrrossed in unendnC police work and drudg-
cry and burdenod with all the secrets OF the
detective service at home and abroad. DR.
Anderson is not a favorite In Irish circles. and
whenever an outrage morger is arrested on
raised
mept over the continued imprisonment of po-
utical criminals he becomes the target TOT
hostile criticism II is easy in those cir
cumstances to identify the secret plotter ana
.'omnloyer Of hirelirg spies with the quiet,
courteous Woodworking Police Commissioners.
who employs his leisure in studying his Bible
and writing religious books
Dr. Anderson's new book Is entitled The
Silence Of God and is an ingenious and sub
tie attempt to meet scepticism on its own ground
and to explain why miracles have ceased ana
why Divine power never declares itself in the
affairs of the world. Reasons for a revolt
against faith are frankly and lucidly stated.
and when the case for miracles has been ration
ally defined and the devil Of Christendom has
been disposed OF as a myth a sil"nt Heaven
is converted into a powerful argument for the
truth OF religion. 1t is revealed not the silence
Of callous indifference or helpless weakness. but
a great sabbatic rest, which IS the pledge and
proof OF amnesty and peace The challenge
to break that silence is interpreted as involving
the withdrawal Of tho amnesty the end Of the
reign Of grace and the dawnng of the day Of
wrath. 1t Is a book which reveals deep learn
ing. afgumentative subtlety and spiritual
power.
This theological depression will be pardoned
/ hope. for the sake Of an additional iustra-
ton of the use which laborious public men and
officials are making Of their Vell-earned lei
sure. DIR. Anderson is one Of the busiest men IN
England and Is overwhelmed with a mass ~
official detail and detective organization; yet
he finds time not only for canter on horse
BACK every morning, but for laborl0us study of
religious questions. He is a conscientious Bible
student and is we'll read In all the theological
polemlcs or the ages. / asked him a dav or
two ago how he contrived to find the time for
study and literary work. 1T is my salvation"
he said. Il must get my mind off my ofYico
work an hour or two a day or at the end Of
the week. Otherwise 1t would XIII me-"
l. ~ F.