New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-06-04
Gbe 3Ien21urk Gribn,re
SUNDAY, JUNE 4, 1899.
ILLUSTRATED SUPPLEMENT.

Almost NJ. Falguiere persuades us to recant-
We have held, and still hold, that the frehch
authors who commissioned Nj. Kcdih I'd ihouei
a statue of Balzac were justified In reJectln9
the amazing production which he hhally put
before them But b6tise pour betise, we prefer
AZ Rodin's The statue which NJ. Falguiere has
cont 70 the Salon is doubtless n more lucid per-
formancc than the one which came Deiore IT,
lint os ., niece of portraiturc, what can one say
of Il? The art critic Of The SATURDAY he-
view" observing that NJ. Rodln SENDS i me
bust of NJ Faguiere to the Salon, cohcluueS
that the friendship of the two scuptors IS qui'e
unimpared by the BaZac incident, anu even
hints that they may have been accompllceS Ill
ian act of cOntemptuous VIII the one VINO WIS
called in 10 supersede the other agreeing HOT
only to tone down the rejected statue Dul u
ado il with n vengeance" One easily incnes
n such an Interpretation of the situation. Ior
while we do not share the alteration when the
eritic of the Saturday" has for Robins Baizac,
,,e are in perfect agreement with his charac-
terization of NJ Falguiere's as interviewer
sculpturc. the hcroicchatty." This BalZac may
suit the French authors who ordered it. we DO
not see how any lover of Balzac can endure IL
Conan Dovlc's protest, recently reprinted in
The Tribune, against the practice Of allowing
o reviewer To criticise a book in half dozen
different Journals. has of course, not suppressed
Dr Robertson Ncoll, whose dongs were
especially discussed in the letter; but it has
served the excellent purpose of getting the
nrarticc aforesaid talked about. And we think
that the Academy" expresses a pretty general
"would willingly send a book to Il critic who
"they knew was writing Of the same work 1Or
"another paper" There are naturally dlstlnc-
tons. One might rejoice to have dozen
articles on the same book from the same critic,
provided they were al signed, ana mat lhe
critic was competent. But even this would
have its disadvantages and at the Dest IL woud
fall far short Of establishing the principle OF
journalism in reviewing. If we are TO give 50
wide a scope to critics Of major significance
then we must acquiescc in the ubiquty OF
minor men. Without diSputng the views OF
those who want DR.. Robertson NicOlls opinions
on a new book published in many places. we
nav venture humbly Ia protest that his opinions
are not really Of such transcendeni lmporlAnc"
that they deserve unlimited circulation. we DO
not expect TO see any change in the methods
which Dr. Doyle attacks. These things always
have been and probably always will be, beyond
the reach of legislation "Unwrtten laws" may
have some influence, they are not without
weight now but they will be violated to the
end of the chapter. Some good may come from
DR.. D0ye's protest. however. lie may not
destroy "plUrllism," but lie may help to create
a mere eXaCting taste among readers OF re-
views. impelling them 10 ScrUtinize more
closely the snap Judgments, the personal gossip
about authors. the mawkish enthusiasm and the
many other fruits of a log-rollinS epoch which
pass in some quarters for literary criticism
correspondent of "The Boston Literary
World" sends from Florence this interesting
"'Casa Guidi has recently been bought by her
"s0n. who felt that he could not bear TO have
al house so associated with his mother and /
'fathcr belong to strangers" This only deep |
ems the mystery surrounding Mr.. Robert Barrett /
Brownng's publication Of the love letters that |
passed between his parents before their mar
rlage Are love letters less easily desecraed !
than walls of brick and mortar? This soci-
tude for the memories cDshrincd in Casa Gudl
ought 10 be in the last degree touching but we
must confess that it loses some Of its charm
when balanced with the fact that the inner
most feelings Of Robert and Elizabeth Barrett
Browning during one Of the most spiritual
cpOchS of their lives have been ruthlessly
Haunted before the whole world. In fact the
rescue Of the house from the possible encroach-
mcntS Of a prOfInc public seems now a little
comic. We can fancy an impaSsoncd tourist.
carrying Il volume of the Letters" under each