New-York tribune., 1901-01-06
LITERATURE AND ART.
NOVEL WRITER'S AND LANDSCAPE
= PAINTERS LEAD.

books, OF this movement in verse, of that one In
prose. II would entail an analysis too compIi-
Gated 20 be attempted here The other method
would look simply TO the disentanglement from
a thousand different elements of the thing
which, Irrespective OF intrinsic worth, has
doomed largest the horizon In the first
we might consider the development Of
modern thought, with reference to Darwin's
Origin Of Species" probably the most signih-
cant book Of the century. In the second we
avoid philosophical critical discussion and go
for facts, as, in mechanics, the relation Of
steamships to the growth Of intercourse between
nations might be ignored and the question OF
shpbuiding, pure and simple, be studied instead.
To the French functionary's boast that at
certain hour all the school children of his coun-
try were recting the same lesson-with all of
National temperament that the boast implies
we might retort that among English speaking
peoples greater variety of literature. In school
and out Of II, IS being read at given hour than
before in the history OF the world That is
a spiritual phenomenon, susceptible of elaborate
illustration. But what is the typical product OF
modern literature? What is il that everybody,
thoughtful or thoughtless, is constantly reading.
after the newspaper? The novel. That, too, has
spiritual bearings. but it is chiefly bald fact.
like the use Of matches the consumption OF
bread. and as such is forced upon a point
Of departure.
Henry Fielding cannot be mentioned in the
same breath with Darwin as contributor TO
modern thought, but, although he died in 1854
long before the great naturalist was born, he
must take precedence of the latter in our brief
survey. In inventfng the modern novel he be-
queathed TO us the literary form in the cultiva-
tion OF which the nineteenth century has shown
most aptitude and has won its most popular
triumphs. The revolutionary epoch, with its re-
passion, assisted, if it did not provoke. the ef-
horescence of more than genius in more than
one sphere ot literary effort II witnessed the
humanitarian zeal Of Shelley, the speculative
raptures Of Coleridge and the militant splen-
dor of Byrons plunge into a world OF ideas
half romantic, half practical, and all tend
ing toward the apotheOss of liberty. 1T
witnessed wordsworth's uplifting Interpretation
Of and his problems in the light of long,
serene communings with his beloved lakes and
mountain tops. Other names still bright recur
from that wonderful seedtime in English letters
Burns, southey, Lamb. Keats, Hunt. Landor
and Hazlitt But neither then thereafter is
il poetry, history criticism that can claim TO
have struck the note which will stand as most
characteristic Of the century. With new writer's
came new methods, and the spirit of the
reading world experienced inevitable changes
The thoughts of men are widen'd with
the process of the suns'-but if put
aside questions OF constructive thought, as of
intrinsic merit, and think only of the thing
which has prevailed with men, interesting them
continuously and more deeply than anything
else ii is a case OF the novel first and the rest
nowhere.
IL is true that, especially in later days fiction
has been used as vehicle for theological. utili-
tartan and similar purposes: that IL has become
polenical and hortatory.s but a consideration Of
these facts would leaG lls 100 far. 1t is simply
as symbols Of the chief literary activity and OF
the universal taste Of the nineteenth century
that we cite the names of Fielding Richardson
snlollet. Scott Maria Edgeworth Jane Austen.
Thackeray. Dickens. Lytton, Lever, the Brontas,
Mrs Hrs: Gaskell Disraens .George Eliot, Charles
Wilkie Collins, Cooper, Hawthorne. George Mere
9th, Thomas Hardy and Robert Louis Steven
OF the novel is supreme Though we could
not exhaust the fingers of hand count
the giants of the past-Hardy is per-
haps the only whose claim is indis-
putable-the development Of mere facility in the
teAling OF stories is paralleled in the century's
history alone by the development of mechanical
contrivances. means of transportation and COM
nunication, etc. II may be noted in passing that
despite the big checks drawn to the order of
Macaulay, Moore and two others in the
earlier decades of the century il has been the
novelist who has pre-eminently succeeded in
bringing about great increase in the rewards
OF literature
Only two critics of the highest class have -four
ished-Sainte-Beuve in France and Matthew
Arnold in England. The historical muse has
been more fortunate If she has had follow
ers since Gibbon so faithful to her grandeur as
Gibbon was, she has az least been served by
men as able as Macaulay. Carlyle and Froude
Bancroft. Prescott and Parkman. In the closely
related field Of biography the names of nine
teenth century writers skilled in literary por-
traiture are past counting. OF English literature
IN all ITS branches during the century IL may be
said that il began with a healthy rejection OF
the dry oivagations about Man-with a capital
letter-which distinguished the eighteenth CEN
tury; came TO close quarters with him in his
most intimate aspects, thus infusing the Juices
OF human nature into poetry fiction, history
biography and criticism; and for some years
past has been putting its house in order with
the aid of science.
The vast multiplication of periodicals the wide
circulation Of countless encyclopedias and the
popularizafiOn, through both channels OF rinufe
information about nearly all things under the
sun. nave all reacted upon the literature OF the
century. III was born in time of imagination
and social enrhusiasms; IL is preoccupied now
with an anxiety TO square fits most daring fan
eies with truths scientifically ascertained and
" tests all the old generous aspiratio with a
weary dread that they may turn out 10 be after
an, only dreams and nothing more. The paradox
OF the century is that while mankind absorbs
Itself In fiction ii is yet at bottom in love with
Rracrcality and every day more dsdainful of
illusion
found its source in John Constable. the English
landscape painter, who died I'm 1887 His free
lnoiyldual, penetrating and powerfully realistic
treatment Of nature bore little fruit in his native
land. but IL influenced the school of naturalistfc
painters rising across the Channel and combined
with the French romantic movement 10 give the
death blow 10 arid classicism in the country des-
tined TO lead all others in the artistic activity of
the century
The human interest which engaged the creative
genius OF Baizac and touched the calm svrnpa-
thies OF Sainte-Beuve; the romantic passion
which actuated the elder Dumas and Victor
Hugo, were potent among the painters and
STANDARDS were erected by Gericault Delacroix
and Millet, 10 name only three out OF a consid-
erable company which are still honored throuph-
out the world Rousseau, Corot and Daubigny
carried on the tradition OF Constable so we'll
that they are sometimes magnffed while he Is