New-York tribune., 1901-01-13

| tacitIy asked his friends TO observe guarded
also the secret Of his mental processes There
! is a capital anecdOte. preserved by Professor
| Allen. of BrOoks's reticence about his methods
of work.
| A clerical friend entering his study took up
| from the table the plan of a sermon Just IN
ished. "Oh is this the way you do it,? Put
I that paper down." said Mr. Brooks. sterniy
how it's done" Put that dOWH or iedre the room
| To some extent because of the attitude illus
trated by this episode. and still more because Of
the unwieIdy and discursive character of Pro
! fessor Aliens biography il is difficult to sum
marize with teTseness and lucidity the develop
ment of BrOOkss thought But of the original
ity and of the sinewy strength of that thought
the reader cannot remain in any doubt. From
his very earliest days he presents the spectacle
of a intelligence playing around serious
problems. and fortified necessarily for the oceu-
patton by omnivOrOus reading. At the Latin
School in Boston. to which he was sent as a boy.
he laid the foundations for a store Of classical
learning which he greatly increased at Harvard
and adding to throughout his career. Pro
fessOr Allen is of the opinion that Brooks would
have made valuable scholar. He himself first
thought that teaching his forte. and though
his youthful failure in this field of activity
soreIy discouraged him-his inability 70 enforce
discipline in his class causing him TO abandon
! to think of the pleasures of an instructor.
Twice. after he had achieved distinction in the
ministry. he was tempted TO leave it for pro-
| fessOr's chair. He resisted the temptation. II
am preacher to the end" he wrote TO a friend
in 1880. faithful. as every one must be grateful
in realizing. to the destiny that was prOphesied
for him in his youth. when DIR. VintOn said:
HE breaches better sermons than did at his
age. or have ever preached since. He is an
orator" To survey the fruitful life that is
recorded in Professor Aliens pages is to accept
ii something which could not have been
otherwise. Its triumphs of spiritual teaching
and of inspiring eIoquence We're SO great and
at the same time normal. naturally and
thoroughly the outcome of the mans whole nat
ure. But if we are grateful for his preaching
we also grateful for that breadth of intel
Iect which made Phillips Brooks in his utter
ances on most topics. suggestive and interesting.
\ He made frequent voyages to Europe. where
he gradually increased the number of his friends
until they seemed TO make for him literally
other public. congregation supplementary TO
that vast one which he swayed in this country
while nominalIy addressing only the parishiOn-
ers OF Trinity Church in Boston. And each trip
yielded experiences. thoughts. impressions.
which make the correspondence Professor Allen
gives us nearly always worth reading Some OF
it could be spared. containing little calculated
/ to be of moment TO readers outside the family
circle. but there is no lack of letters which are.
in way another. of lasting value. AT
times he sketches the celebrities he meets. There
is a vivid glimpse of Browning "one of the nice
est people co pass evening with in London
y clear headed and particularly clear
eyed man of the world devoted TO society. Gne
of the greatest diners out in London cordial and
hearty a dear old uncle-shakes your hand as
il he We're really glad to YOU He seemed
/ TO me very like some of the best of Thackeray's
London men. \ fun souled American" Tenny-
son he knew in very candid mood, reading his
own poetry and calling attention the two
lines in "LOcksley Hall" beginning Love took
up the glass of time" giving the most perfect
poetic image in his poems. There are illusions
10 Dean Stanley. who, by the way. was very
far from objecting to the extraordinary speed
ut which Brooks delivered his sermons. He
compared him to IAN express train going to it's
appointed terminus with majestic speed. and
sweeping every obstacle one after another out
of his course" Another interesting souvenir of
his jOurneyings abroad is this passage on the
Sphinx:
think there might he comparison drawn
between the Sphinx and the Dresden Madonna
as the highest art expressions of the two great
religions, the East and the West FataIism and
Providence. for that they seem to mean. Both