The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-02-27

his brilliant, yet most minute and accurate
descriptions OF nature. and the lifelike charac.
tiers he Ind created in his novels. what we loved
most In him was his presence. his delightful
stammer, his downright honesty. and tho per.
feet transparency Of his moral nature. He was
not n child. he was a man, but unspoiled by the
struggles Of his youth, unspoiled by tho expc.
riences Of his later years. He was an English
gentleman. perfect specimen Of noble English
manhood" 1t was, 1t seems, to his wifes niece.
Mrs. Max Muller, that Kingsley wrote some
pleasing verses. which we here reproduce.
NASTY jest I once lot fall
Az Jests are wont TO be. untrue
As II the sum of Joy to you
Were hunt and picnic, rout and ball.
Your eyes met mine; I did not blame;
You saw It; but I touched too near
Some noble nerve; a silent tear
Spoke soft reproach and lofty shame.
lido not wish those words unsaid.
Unspollt by praise or pleasure. you
In that one look to woman grew,
While with q child. l thought, I played.
Still better worth reading are tho authors
upon Froude. He was warmly at.
tached to the historian, yet he writos of him In
o discriminating way. Charles Kingsley is do.
scribed as a strong man. while in Froude are
recognized some feminine weaknesses, as, also,
some feminine excellencies. He was. we are
told. not only the most fascinating lecturer, but
also tho most charming companion and friend.
His conversation was like his writings. 1t mover
tired one, never made ono feel his superiority.
store of anecdotes was inexhaustiblc, and,
though, in his old age. they were sometimes re.
peated, they -ere always pleasant to listen to-.
He enjoyed them 80 thoroughly himself, he
chuckled over them. he covered his eyes, as IL
half ashamed of telling them. They are ali
gone now, and a pity it is, for most of
them referred to what he had actually
seen or heard. and he had seen and heard good
deal. both in Church and State. He knew the
little failings of great men, he knew even the
peccadilloes of saints better than anybody. He
was never illnatured in his judgments, he
knew the world too we'll for that. and 1t is well,
perhaps. that many things which he knew
should be forgotten. He, himself, insisted on
all letters being destroyed that had been ad-
dressed to him, and, from a high sense of duty,
left orders that his own letters addressed to his
friends should not be divulged after his death.
Though he left an unfinished autobiography, OK.
tremcly interesting to the few friends who were
allowed to read it, those who decided that 1t
should not BIO published have acted no doubt
wisely and entirely In his spirit
Max Muller. having followed all his life scien.
tifc methods. would be one of the last men to
defend an unscholarlike treatment of history
Nevertheless, he has but little patience with
the assailants OF Froude. He does not call a
man o scholar who simply copies and colletes
MSS, makes induces, or collects errata, and no
doubts whether the mere Investigation of orig.
inal authorities will make a historian. "Oucl-
lenstudium Is n sine qua non. but it is not every
thing; and, whereas the number of those who
can ransack archives and libraries is large, the
world has not been rich in real historians whom
n In n la1trht - ltota- g. o-l
Thucydides. Livy, and Tacitus, Montesqu ieu,
Gibbon, and. may We not add. Macaulay and
Froude. Mono Of these historians, not even
Gibbon. has escaped criticism, but how poor
should we be without them 2" Our author points
out that, as a matter of fact. when Froude
made up his mind to write q history Of England
In the reign of Henry Will. he set to work with
wonderful perseverance,. Few Of his critics
have given him credit for what he did at Siman-
cas- and at the record office in London. have
seen him at work morning and evening among
piles Of notes and extracts. I know how the
pages, which are such pleasant, light reading.
wore written again and again till he was salts
fed. He learnt Spanish. French. and Ger.
man 30 as to be able to read new and
old books in these languages" But it may
be said Froude did not write in a Judi
cial spirit; that he wrote like a partisan.
To this accusation. also. Max Muller has an
answer. Did not Herodotus. he asks, In describ-
Ing the conflict between Greece and Asia, clear. !
ly cspouse the cause of Greece Did not
Thucydides, throughout his history, write as tho
loyal son Of Athensf Was Tacitus very anxious
to find out all that could be said In favor of
Tiberiusf Was oven Gibbon quite impartialf
Was Macaulay. finally, at great pains to bring
out some Of the dark shadows on the face of
William I'LL Our author insists that, though |
Froude may have been wrong in embrac-
ing the cause OF Henry VIII. and In accept
Ing all the excuses and explanations which
could be given for his violent acts, he 10, at all
events. honest, In so far that no one cum fail to
sec where his sympathies lie. He seems, In fact, |
to have been 80 constituted that he could not
write about a person with whom he was unable |
to sympathize. This seems n fair Inference
from the authors statements: "If I understood
him rightly, he gave up the idea Of finishing the
reign OF Queen Elizabeth because. as an English.
man. he was disappointed in her character
the end of her lite."
1t will be that the publication OF
novel, Nemesis of Faith" exposed
him to long and bitter persecution. Not only
did he lose his fellowship at Exeter College. but
when he had accepted the head mastership Of a
far away in Tasmania his antagonists
did not rest till his appointment had been can.
celled. Even his father. a vel. Arch
uo"eoh' stoppon inc hlloWhnce which his son
had ormerly received. Froude had to sell his
books one by one. and. though he tried hard to
support himself by his pen. he found that this
not so easy n matter as 1t is now. II is
to learn how relief came In his
worst straits. AT that very time I received
q check for 1900 from an unknown hand, with
. request that / would hand II to Froude. to show
him that he had friends and sympathizers who
would not forsake him. 1t was not till many
years later that ] discovered the donor, and
Froude was then able to return him the money
which. Mt the time, had saved him from drown
Ing" We observe lastly. that while our author
stnnchly upholds the merits Of Froude's his
tory. he Ia inclined to regard his friend as funda.
n poet. "If ! call Froude n poet, IL
because ! do not consider rhyme ms essen.
.ial to poetry. For really pocticnl power, for
OF description. OF making the facts OF his.
alive, ~oflaying bare the deepest thoughts of
hen and tho most mysterious feelings OF women.
here was no poet or historian OF our age who
anne near him"