New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-09-11
. PICTURESQUE ESSAYIST.
CHARLES WHITLEY ON SOME RARE
30 WRITER'S.


w. me perniciOus example OF the h"s' popular
w" leaders He has been a deVo'eo loio~er
W f. Henley, and his nrst voiume' "A
=, Scoundrels.' wa disiigured 10 certain
f"" nv defects traceable TO the innuence OF
,ocious rhetorician. But al pottom "A
mS' ., ccoundrels" is a brilliant book, because
boo' ~ start MI whitley had too instructive
hV' :, letters too much native strength OF in
NV and TOO imperious vein OF originality to
i''''| .,o,f utterly in the ideas or style Of his
kre ~" u threw both into the background
nas" ,he mere weight and charm OF his
'n'V. .o, gifts His essays have reasons OF their
na''' s,is,inc II these reasons were plaus-
e"" ,osuite Henleyan lapses, In the authors
Rf' "os how much more persuasive are they
"' So present volume, which is almost totally
:" If the old mannerisms? There Is, to be
n" one qualifying element MI whitley did
'O'N f. discourse as ANONYMOUSLY and as
p'' ,,u, As he does the cant Of the prude
So. from Jeremy Collier down To do this
ia, IN. slain and impcrils the authors
&C q man Of delicate and incisive humor
10 's.,;ca,ion of the gorgeous Griswod In the
u" - Poe is 10 an American reader posi-
co. rctifyinC in It's irrelevance. On this side
s,er the behavior Of Poes literary ex-
mas long since appraised at its true
- ~, Whibey's disgust is natural-but be-
Al the same time We have observed with
men, the disposition Of man! Of our
.-,cs countrymen TO belabor him for his
-'.o,auous excoriation of the unintellgent Puri-
This = only a detail Of Mr. Whibley's work
ao,an too Of comparative unimportancc.
Tho capitsl thing IN these essays is the writer's
lot ion nf
.o,u,ar and fascinating figures in literature
,,s very smack OF enjoyment is In the book
.na one IS grateful not merely for the pleasure
xh,ch one Is made TO share, but Tor the priv
usv, of participating in the warm, LIVING eAper-
.,ee from which that pleasure is derived. MI
whitley is no industrious student OF Wbat all
,s critics before him have said he has reao
hs authors for himself and forms his own opin-
inns II this has occasionally induced capri
,,ou, and rather doubtful judgment-as IN the
..s, Of his essay on Petronius-lt has, OF the
obey hand. lent 70 the bulk OF his Work SIN
eerty freshness and Vlgor IN the last oesree
stimulating He gets al the heart OF his subJec,
and he has the rare Gift of passing on 10 the
reader not alone his knowledge OF the writer
under discussion. but the sensation OF discoV-
sry the feeling Of personal intercourse. Though
he is obviously concerned, ana very deeply con-
eerned with The structure OF his sentences
with the turn Of phrase, he never allows MS
1--we of style 10 come between him and his love
O, what Is most alive and sympatheuo In his
s,hiec, Neither do the remote, bizarre ele-
mems IN that subject obscure in his pages the
living interest which has first attracted him 10
ts exploitatioD He is a connoisseur OF letters
hu h. is never content with mere literary curl
osities and while Sternc anc Poe are the only
broadly familiar names with which h deals IN
this book. he manages TO preserve an Amos
phere Of mOdernity from beginning to end We
would say an atmosphere Of practically If Mr..
whibley's tone were not 50 distinctly expressive
Of delight in the beauty Of literature for It's
own sake Perhaps the idea may safely be put
In another way. He is practical In the sense
that he brings his odd themes into the sphere OF
the readers usual tastes go that while the lat
ter shares with him, as We have SAID, certain
sensation Of discovery. be never thinks OF
Herondas VIC will say. and Of Sir Thomas Or-
suhart as fantastic individualities whom be VIII
never turr TO again. He regards them. instead
q writers whom he viii long remember This
the case not only with the two writers we
have just mentioned, but with the others VINO
are better known TO The student OF letters
pe,ronius Apuleius Lucian--these have been
discussed thousand times before. but Ia MT
wbibeys Interpretation We find more OF a gusto
for ther works. less Of pedantic scholarship
than one encounters il almost any university
commentator
This raciness we have already ascribed, IN
part, 10 Mr. Whibloy's unspoiled delight in good
literature and to his faculty for communicating
bis delight 10 the reader. 1t is due also TO his
Insight into The essentials o. his author, 90 that
be separates what Is human in the latter from
What is purely technical or historical ana