The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-03-31
NEW HOOKS.
Continued rom Sersnth Face,
IN the body OF the book, Talking OF unity m
nm pr.ssIon. for instance, he says:

window bnrk 10 Tvs llhfF, i'h . Wv"
o,hrrwis. should now the vine looks nov as A'A'
a., ,y,.x,i,,r . . N. pierre Lott. II seems
prob,ble, nigh, under my present circumstances
h,y, vivid associations Of the scratching OF the vine
on thr window. ~ the warm SCUM "lhd rom 'he
river. and Of the August sunlight on 'he lawn aho
tn. hsmlock hedge beyond.
m, statements In the p~refaccs are FULLY
horne out in tho contents. The DOCK isa
worthy continuation Of Prof. WendelIs Eng
li.h Composition" "A knowledge when WORK
IL presupposes In fact the names Wendei
and Gardiner should go linked together 10
schoolboy ~posteriry like those OF Andrews ana
s,oddard or Liddcll and Scott, Mr.. Gardiner
chats pleasantly for 100 pages about different
forms Of composition. He tells what he thinks
O, many books and authors and makes com.
ments. that are sometimes suggestive. on NUS
trative extracts. There seems to be no reason
why he should not have kept on for twice as
many pages more. He Joins to what ne mas %
say himself 300 pages OF long but well selected
examples. An extract may serve to show the
gulf that separates the modern way OF teach.
Ing Young men 20 write En- glish from the old.
time text books. Mr.. Gardiner divides prose
writing into the literature OF thought and the
literature of feeling. but thinks that criticism
lies on the border line. He separates 1t into
ONlpttlNt, tnht 10 ullNlui u''
cism and subjective criticism. which he ex.
plains rs follows:
AN. mode OF literature that is singularly charac.
,eristic Of this end oi the century with all It's tense
and carefully nursed self consciousness and It's
curious and tender study Of the inner lie. Walter
pater has been its chief h gh priest, and It's tendencies
are 10 morbldness. In this kind OF criticism how
ever. success Is not to he attained by the cutsory or
ouose study OF HIM who reads As he runs you muS'
be content 10 give patient hours Of study to your SUB
ject. and even more patiently repres> the itchihg oi
your fingers for the pen. Your Impression must be
Soberly and reverently clarified; and your expression
Of II Ia boriouSly aud dellcatcly wrought out; then, II
YOU care for IL. YOU may hope to gain some share Of
that nneness Of appreciation and eSqulsitenesS oil ex
preston which are the rewards and luStIfcaton Of
this most painstaking Of all kinds Of criticism. It's
two prime requisites are senSitivrneS> to artistic ef
fects, and the command Of an exceedingly reiined eA-
pressiveness u style,
OF these requisites the srnsitiveneSs " hich is largely
a Gift from above. must be scdulouNy cultivated. II
a picture or a poem OF a symphony set you vibrating
with emotion, you must le, your impression crystalline
he pat,en, study. = . = Then with your impression
duly and delica,ely crystallizcd in your own mind.
YOU have the further laborious task OF expression.
Here the problem is 50 intimately concerned with the
feelings that he connotation Of your wordNiSof higher
and more intrinsic Importance than the dcno,ation; In
these the irresponsible Sympathie> that seem to rest
on diyinaton" the element that can b. DEFINED by
single words Is small and insignificant beside that
which lies In the implication u thu phrases. Accord
ingly. for these subtle and elusive feelings about
your book or your picture, feelings 80 subtle aud
individual that they have never entered even that
stage Of metaphor which is the beginning II recorded
knowledge for these most impalpable impressions
your task is to mud phra ses that can carry fine aud
,xa, Lp,ulcdua In stpaI nf naming facts Won laNe
u suggest shades Of feelings; instead Of abs'' acting
~rthlcssly from the living body Of facts mere aspects
and qualities. y % have % set forth the evane>ceni
suggestion, OF the living reality
Quoting a passage from Mr.. Henry James
exemrlifying this mode Of criticism, Mr., Gar
diner is tempted to characterize it as temin-
inc. A similar dread OF the eternal female"
seemed to harass Prof. Wendell in his wall over
the weakening effect of teaching in Radcliffe
College upon himself and his colleagues. But,
is their psychology trueY II Is no woman's
frame OF mind that Mr.. Gardiner describes.
but rather that superinduced in Orientals by
the use Of the opium pipe. AMI which some
good people believe may be brought on by ex-
cessive cigarette smoking. The impression
II crystalli2rs is OF long-haircd, literary charla-
tanry with a London stamp. The Harvar UNI
dergraduate subjective critic. we imagine,
would soon nav" 10 give h''r'ousIy an" ueI-
cately wrought out explanation Of his def-
ciencles tothat ruthiess tac'' the Dean, MT Var
iners discovery tha' students must patlehtIy
repress 'he ltchlhg oi thelr hheerS 'ot Vhe pen
Is novel and interesting.
There Is much that Is entertaining as "ell"s
instructive in Mr.. GARDENERS book. Prof.
"endelFs warning 10 MS students whrh 'hey
attempt description We learn IS 10 not
compete win u Photoeraph' III reco'''c''oh
prooaoly OF a portrait ''"' a'o'hS p,'ou""y'
MI uatulherI u ihuch ihlprts9'' WIN nl.o'
IL. Greens eApIahat"h oil queen L''|apeths
character. one was ~ ONE .h' uauS"'e. VI
henry anu Vi 'Hne h"'',n' "a H,''"'". '""'
anu description IVA, 10 VT "art'ncf NaS
eats'ylhs IN us co'"p'''"ne's a. - Tue riga
dnhnitenrss Of a portrait oy iiolpe'h lie
breaks win 'rau'''oh III MS se'tc'ioh Vi 81
amples. drawing from se'erai ll''he au-
thors. As a moueI OF argument "e 'aAes
M 'noate 5 grra' pea III 'he ihcoH' TAX cdse'
Tor instance Inc use o' Articles ny MS mar
Saru colleagurs' eNcelrh' rs 'he' are m'ehe
nave. We shouId imagine 'he inconvenience OF
forcing a modest man 70 comment On MS own
WORK o+iore u coIieRe CLASS An eNtrac' from
MIR. Henry James calls up the omission IN the
book OF any treatment ol the dialogue form IN
prose- Tor SNlch Mr. h"we''s mlght lurh'sh a
specimen IL may De suggested 100 mat a. an
Instance OF description iull OF Ie'I'ng' a less
well-known piece IMAM Mr' huSHlns 81