New-York tribune., 1900-03-25
Gbe Netu'})ork gribnne.
ILLUSTRATED SUPPLEMENT.
SUNDAY, MARCH %, 1900.

pI3Se Oh Iue SENSE OI HuulOT- 1Ddt 1T
events, is the form in which would prefer
TO apply the old saying to the case of Mr..
Kipling. Humor, which has enriched so many
of his little masterpieces seems to have de-
serted him. Toward this conclusion his readers ,
have been impeed by study of several OF his
later productions. In the presence Of the first
Of Mr. Kipling's letters from South Africa all
doubt disappears That the sense of humOr |
has, for the time at least forsaken the writer
of that amazing piece of nonsense cannot, alas!
be denied. Time when men and things, |
human nature and the human drama, left
strong impressions on Mr.. Kiplings mind and
in passing them to his readers he exercised |
all the powers OF fascination which the |
birthrght of genius. But now, with colossal
self-importance, he brushes aside everything in |
the South African spectacle that might be
humanity interesting to his readers and in
sentences eXcruciatingly labored and inflated he
tells US, by the rood! what he would do at the
end of this war if he were running the Empire.
Mr.. Kipling has nothing whatever. TO do with
the administration of the British Empire. He is
the last in the world who should be al
lowed to have anything to do with it. His
business in life is to write books and to write
them well. He will write them i'll indeed if he
continues to waste his time, and that of his
readers, with preachments superfuous as
they are peevish and impertinent
''IS it possible to tell good book fl ON bad
oneE When Mr.. Augustine Birrel addressed
himself to the consideration Of that question in
Edinburgh last November the press reports left
him not particularly inspiriting to the distant
reader. But he prints the address himself
in The Cornhil Magazine and one sees that
he was, after all, not only amusing but edify-
ing. He is well aware that if one is born with
,riti fr;f,
declares. Il am assuming we have no genius
and seeks to enghten the average man. To
that individual, pleading for help, he boldly
says: Go get thee understanding. become pos.
SeSsed of strong sense, if thou wOuldst know
how to tell a good book from bad ONE 1t is
4 golden saying Mr.. Birrell wisely sees that
there is such thing being too mystical and
hierophantic about matters of good taste by
taking thought we can add to our intellectual
stature" he insists. 'Delicacy NAV be ac-
CURED ana while these words express perhaps
little more than is meant, it is obvious from
the context that what Mr. Birrell maintains is
true If we will only take pains, if we will
only submit to some discipline, we can learn
how to tell good book from bad one. This
does not mean that TO every man who is at
pains to read with care, and to understand what
he is reading there will descend that felicity
which comes from the possession of critical in
stinct But at least he will know the difference
between Tennyson and Tupper.
OF course there would not he such difficulty
IN deciding between the good and the bad in
current literature if the authors would only
keep their energy within bounds. They bear Il
heavy load Of responsibility, for their deadly
laborS are inceSsant. In Germany. according to
DR.. Hans Fischer, writing in Leipsic paper
the year 1898 witnessed the publication of 2 739
works. Books, says DR. Fischer, "are becoming
as multitudinOus as cid coats" and, alluding to
the three thousand and more volumes brought
out in the department of "bees lettres' he
sOrroWfully adds that exceedingly few have
any worth or value Decidedly the authors are
the most to blame Through sheer force of
numbers they are bringing their craft into dis |
repute. But let us not forget the journalistic |
pedlers of inane personalities they too are |
responsible for much of the intellectual deteri-
Grafton which Mr. Brrell deplores. ''Mr Barry /
Pain says one of them, ''is removing from |
Primer, where he has lived for some years, to !
Bushcy. He has been working lately at Herne |
Bay, where at this period of the year absolute |
quiet can be counted upon" That is the kind |
of tWaddle the constant reading of which, in !
the literary Journals, keeps n poor human |
creature from learning how to distinguish be !
tween Il good book and bad one Why in the |