New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-01-12
THE True ESSAYIST.
Some Pages PrOUing I'hot lie Still
.CarUiUeS.

THE GENTLE READER. BY samuel Mcc1 R91s
hin & Co.
II would be easy TO show that the essayist in
all epochs has thrlved bookisAness. But it
would be perhaps easier 20 show that IN
our own age bookishuess has more often than
not betrayed him and made him bore II is
a matter OF perspective. OF self-consciousness.
Montague and Lamb. the most enchanting Of
al essayist>. bring thoughts OF professional
ism 10 their discourse. They mount no tripod.
When they talk OF book they take neither
the book nor their own judgment too seriously.
The occasion Of their talk is not for them. the
day of judgment For the essayist the want OF
something TO say IS. OF course fatal. and it is
this want which makes SO many modern writers,
using this form Of literature, SO deplOrably dull.
But 10 feel too keenly, when you are sitt!ng
down to the composition OF essay. that YOU
have something TO say is TO be in almost as
sad a case. Take, for example. one OF the
younger writers Of the day. Mr.. C. X. Chester
ton. He seems TO have arrived at the cOnclu-
sion that most literary subjects the world
is dwelling IN a state OF confusion and that he
was born TO set it straight. The result is that,
in all his little pieces he gives the impression
of shrin. overheated and pathetically
humOrless. Mir. Chesterton is type. Essays
ting themselves written. All this causes us to
take a nvelier pleasure in Mr.. Crothers.
THE Gentle Reader is a delightful book, de-
Eghtful because the author is a true essayist
and instinctively avoids the pitfalls into which
one critic after another has Of late years been
tumbling. He is bookish, no doubt but his
booldshness serves simply to flavor his pages
IT sometimes fear" he says, that reading, in
the old fashioned sense, may become lost art
Nowadays, he fears. too many people turn to
book simply for information. "A person wants
something and knows where to get it He goes
TO a book just he goes TO department
store. knowledge is a commodity done up in
d neat parcel So that the article is well made
he does not care either for the manufacturer or
the dealer" We are grateful TO Mr.. Crothers
for administering this rap upon the knuckles OF
@ very characteristic figure in contemporary lfe
But we are more grateful TO him for making US
feel throughout his book that his own reading
has been pursued in the right spirit that he
has apprehended his authors with sympathy
and has impressions to convey that are worth
the sharing Moreover. he has engaging
way of passing from books to other things.
Thus, In a chapter on THE Honorable Points
of Ignorance" he talks Of his liking for certain
books which he has neither time inclination
TO read. and. by natural transition, takes UP
another charmingly suggestive theme. the JOY
of exploration. and goes on in this wise:
The heart leaps up at the very title of Sebas-
tian Cabot's joint stock company. Merchants
Adventures of England for the discovery OF
lands territories isles and signOries, unknown
There knowing beforehand which was
island and which was the mainland. All
they had to do was 10 keep on. sure only OF
finding something which they had not expected.
When they got TO the mainland they were as
likely as not to stumble on the great Khan him
self OF course. they might not make a dis
coyery Of the first magnitude like that OF the
Spaniards the Peak in Darien-but II IL was
not thing il was another!
Two or three miles back Of Plymouth, Mass,
is a modest little pond called Billington's Sea.
Ellington. adventurous Pilgrim, had climbed
a tree. and, looking westwards, had caught
sight of the shirnmering water He looked a ii
with a wild surmise, and then the conviction
flashed upon him that he had discovered the
goal Of the hardy mariners-the great South
Sea. That q great moment for Ellington!
OF course the spaniards were more fortunate
IN their geographical position. 1t turned out
that II was the Pacific that they from their
Peak in Darien, while Billington's Sea does not
grow on acquaintance
But my heart goes out to Ellington. He also
discoyeTer, according TO his lights He
belonged TO a hardy breed, and could stare on
new scenes with the best OF them. 1t was not
his fault that the Pacific not there. If il
had been, Ellington would have discovered It.
We know perfectly well that the Pacific Ocean
does not lave the shores OF Plymouth County
and so we should not go out into the woods
On fine morning TO look for II. There is where
Ellington had the advantage Of US.
The book is full Of passages like these. Mr.
Crothers writes Of The Mission of Humor" Of
''The Evolution OF the Gentleman" OF 'Quixot-
ISM of half dozen other inviting subjects,
and practically always his common sense is
failing his deInure vivacity is Irresistible In
one Of HIS essays. THE Enjoyment Of Poetry"
there is a hint OF the wrong kind Of artiice
He sets up a man of straw. the man who
cepts poetry "as mental discipline" and smites
him with unnecessary zeal. But this is the only
case in which he disappoints For the rest
his work has a charm Of blended wisdom ana
humor. a note Of originality. by virtue Of which
his book takes rank as one OF the best collec-
lions OF essays published in years.