New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-05-30
HAMERTON AND FREEMAN.
TWO posrHUMOUs BOOKS OF TRAVEL.


ton: Roberts Brothers
SKETCHES CF TRAVEL IN NORMANDY AND
MAINE BY Edward A. Freeman. Win Az, ilIIs
preface by " H. Hutton. b. ID. octave. PIP Xxx
2i3 The Macmillan Company
The late Philip Gilbert Hamerton was severely
criticised FOR :he matter-of-fact point OF we"
from which he seemed to regard art ana nature
and some OF his detractors were even disposed 10
accuse him OF deliberately writing down 10 d
mediocre public. The truth Of the matter IS tha'
Hamerton wrote his most important BOOKS lor
generation less "advanced' than our own 1or
one nearer to Academic traditions. and wholly
unsympathetic to the impressionistic movement
say. or TO any Of the schools which have paseo
.,.rsslves on moro or less eccentric and inse-
cure foundations Hence the criticism to when
we refer a criticism which ignored his many
,terling qualifications as Interpreter OF beau
t,fuI and interesting things in the works or nat
lire and OF man. The little posthumous volume
embodving his observations OF an archeoios'cai
enterprise In Burgundy. known TO scholars put
almost entirely unknown to the general reader'
is a perfect illustration OF his method IL must
disappoint the ultra-modern reader. we suppose
The impressions Of landscape are so simple as
to be almost commonplace. The notes on the
ancient Gaulsh ruins are not In the least teen
r,cal But the narrative IS nevertheless delight
full.
Hamerton and NJ. Buliot were the best Of
friends NJ. Bulliot, antiquery OF distinction
had made up his mind. in opposition to many
arcb@ologists tnnt on Mount Beuvray. and not
at the neighboring city Of Autun would De
found the remains OF the ancient hill town OF
Bilracte mentioned by Cesar and Strabo Lit
tie by little he persuaded others to adopt his
idea some OF his sympathizers being high In au-
thority Napoleon III among them. and. IN the
long run. he was able to make excavations which
confirmed his hypothesis He erected first nut
and then a stone cottage on the summit or the
mount There he established a servant who
kept the place neat against his coming ana
cooked for him during the long visits That he
made to superintend the digging. The terms or
his arrangement with the proprietor Of the
mount compelled him TO replace the earth re-
moved from the ruins after he had studied and
measured the latter and had removed all the
portable relics to the Museum OF St Germans.
The antiouary did not mind this recovering OF
the ruins he exposed The earth would preserve
them for future generations. he said and he was
content with drawing a comprehensive plan OK
the city. Incidentally. this book gives captivat-
ing portrait Of NJ. Bulliot. type Of the ideal
archaoogist, working for the works sake and
thoroughly happy in his improvised residence on
the scene Of his labors. Hamerton paid him
many visits and watched with him the progress
Of the work His book tells Of exciting moments
Of discovery. but still more Of delightful nights
spent IN the rude cottage before blazing fire OF
huge logs, with primitive but sufficient comforts
all about him. with the best OF good company at
his side and with the remnants Of an old civil
ization Turing them to ever new experiences be-
yond the cottage walls There something
idyllic In the life, and Hamerton treated 1t in
idyllic fashion in his narrative, speaking always
TO the point as was his custom. but making the
reader feel the charm OF the open air. the pict-
urescueness Of the work. He is never the
archeologist. but is always the interested idler,
watching the achievements of his friend with an
educated but entirely unprofessional eye. The
result is that this is one OF his lightest and yet
most agreeable productions
One evening in NJ. Bulots cottage must have
been singularly inspiring. though the Gauiish
ruins were not discussed. The antiquary had
been talking OF the Middle Ages and had sung
some Of the ballads of that period. The talk
turned on poetry in general and then on the
poems Of Rossett in particular Hamerton was
called upon to extemporize translations. In ordi-
nary circumstances the feat would have been
impossible. but the occasion was magnetic. The
effect. both myself and everybody present.
he says was most remarkable. | felt trans
ported into the highest realm Of poetry. and be-
came for that one hour French poet endowed
with Rossettis genius. which passed through me
as electricity passes through conductor In
this way l translated-if such spontaneous ut
terance Is to be called translation at all-the
Blessed Darnozel' Sister Helen and 'Stratton
Water and Doth and every present were
In a state Of intense emotion the whole time
indeed, for the audience. l never saw an au-
dience moved by poetry in my life; and the
next day, when prosaic reason returned 10 US,
we were all very much astonished at the
chanted evening we had passed together. When
look over these poems to-day they seem to me
utterly untranslatable. and cannot conceive
through what medium OF equivalents the power
Of them reached my hearers" The episode
In the last degree curious. yet it wholly
natural. too the time. the place. and. above all.
the weird atmosphere OF the mount in which
ancient and modern elements to meet and
become fused with uncommon ease. conspirng
with the imaginative and artistic temperament
Of the takers to spur them all on to exceptional
efforts.
One Of the best things in this narrative Mr.
Hamerton owed to Pauchard. the cook and
housekeeper Of NJ. Bulliot This humble ndivid-
ual had no education, but ne responsive TO
the appeal Of a well-imagined story. That tale
which accounted for the song Of the nightingale
must have been pleasant to hear from his lips.
when he told 1t. Hamerton describes. on a
summers night. with the niehtingales answer
ing one another among the trees. Those little
BIRDS" said Pauchard have not always sung
like that in the nighttime. Long ago they sang
in the day, but one of them had been singing so
hard all day long. whilst his mate was sitting on
her eggs that when evening came he was very
weary. and went to roost on the vine where he
fell asleep directly. Now. 1t was a warm night
Irxi,A 80 ,,ip