New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-07-24


sketches the personality OF her critic' ci'ai az
terizes his work and gives few fragments VI
tbc latter. Altogether. her tacit observation 10
the effect that They order these Things fhucn
better in France" is justified and finds ready
acquiescenoe.
Mile Yctta Blaze de Bury neither persuades
nor pleages She inscribe5 her "French Litela
,uro ~ To-day" to NJ. Brunetiere. and includes
in the book an essay on that austcre Dogma
tizer Nevertheless. she has done nothing
worthy Of her master in these essays. He casts
bis naradoxes like flaming torches at MS
audience" she says of him. then jumps INTO
tho arena. gathers them in handouts, throws
them back again. one by one, burnihe' N't'u
flaming. in the teeth Of the shaken ana e''O'''
fed audience. We wonder II poor Bruhe''eie
has not WINGED as he has read this IL II, We
raorot 70 saw a characteristic passage. ihis
author has neither critical insight nor d
STYLE She repeats the stock judgments VI ,"'
rnagazinists. Lott is an experiiheh'ai'' " "
"To such men love Is only meanS
also a poet and a word-palhter' ma"
"psthetical temperament MaupaSS"''
rs Flaubert told him to- ana deslro!e" ''' -
ductions until his master SAID ne H's"'
zo,,,s hooks are all alike in their physiological
~ "C;crminic Laccrtcux" as "scupturcd slime
-, tho hook "sold like wildire'-Of course II
A., ,a Mile vita Blaze de Bury asks Win
- ARA ,vc an adolescent civilization to re-
coil ,i,,e children from the profound study OF the
,,,,,.s uso" Since "Germinic LacerteuX soid
.i,.o u,ii1Gra' our author seems su;icicnuy
,,e,corod She eagerly begs to remind US tha'
rorrcots social "milieu" is "the least rea"y
Lr.,ch that can be imagined" she cans NJ
1,,noitrc the Rcnan OF reviewers when Is
rr,nosterous But We must refrain from iur
thor citation The truth is that in these essays
~. find nothing more than the conventional III
tcrpretation OF the writer's whom IL Is 'ho
fashion TO admire, who have some brililah'
qualities. but whom it is very short-sB"''u '"
regard as the true conservators OF the pes. ia
diiions Of French literature. We appreciate MIN
d.. Bury's appreciation OF ii. bruhc'le'e' ou'
when she remarks that "the disciple d. 'o'i'
and Francis OF Assist are spontaneously e'on'u
J., ia. mind NJ the reader by the tender emu
si,rs ~ this heart exclusively loves slave, 10
xvit the heart OF Paul Verlaine we kho" he'
Tor another % the light-ballasted writers "ho
swallow without winking the more oo''ou'
r.putatons Of the day. There are pr'"'"''
many more spccous regulations IN France INA"
anywhere else In the world. ana since rIa"'c
herself is delighted. the admirers apr"dn VI
u,,,, II Hrunctiarc speaks are not. perhaps.
t. blame for accepting them. too But II see"H~'o
us no, unlikely that the day will come wheh
pt.,r. r,,i GUY de Maupassant Zola, the Con
courts. Rourgct. Lemai,rc. Anatole France ana
p.,,f I.ri,fn. OF ,.hon Nile. de Bury writes
o. ..,,,,iaceu,ly will bc put In inches no less
,,,,-,bl. but a good deal less conspicuouS
than ,hos. which they occupy At the present
finn. ". have now stcreotypcd form OF /
l,rd,tinn for everything literary that comes
on, = Paris Mile Blaze d. Bury sheds no new
light one way or the other on her subjects. !
and only promises - confirm an already fatu-
gu. and inliscriminate conception OF the liter
AIRY celebrities Of lattcr-day Paris.
Let US 20 quote a memorable phrase. ria our
selves u can't Even NJ Brunciiere rs not quite
the master that We gather he is believed to be
hy a great many submissive Americans. rms /
saear.ous Fr.nchman has lecturcd among US,
and lo,turcl admirably too. lie is an excellent
critic. on the whole. the best among living crit
IT,, In France. and even before his lectures his
merits were recognized here. But he has de
.,.I,d limitations and when Mr. II. Nichol smith. f
in a prcfatory note g. his translation Of a shcaf
IF his authors articles. talks about The cX- /
tromc importance Of the Essays" We feel in /
clincd 20 dispute the remark. What after all. /
should constitute the extreme importance" OF
this book? Original and powerful reflections. I
We venture to say. the subject OF French /
literature We have found a few such rehcc
tons. but whether because OF their limited !
number or because NJ Brunetierc's never very |
extraordinary though always scrvccablc style !
has been treated with no more than journey /
mans skill by the translator We find the vol |
umr disappointing. It lacks freshness. and it /