New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-02-07


saying what is not true OF any one you do not
ike. and IL Win be the object Of this letter TO
cure you OF il. You say What you please OF
others; il is time you were told what you are
" doing this, give me leave TO borrow the
samiIiarity Of your style-for the fidelity OF the
q cture I shall be answerabe.' There is more
which il is tempting to quote, hut the opening I
.afiices to show the fortnight way in which .
Iazlitt used his pen. His sincerity was without
-aw. PrejuGiced he might be, but he would
q write for effect. and for that alone We ought
love him. Look into his essay Byron, in I
The Spirit Of the Age" 1t has often been cited F..
Illustration Of his critical fallibility. but il is
t5rious TO note the number OF good things that 4
40 coutriyes 10 say Of his subject, in this very
Say; prejudiced as he was against Byron he
r,verthcless could admit that we always fms
.- spirit Of the man Of genius breathing from
BE- verse" Best or all. he had the courage TO
So in this vein:
Ne had written thus lar when news came or
death OF Lord Byron and uut an md at once
- a strain Of somewhat peeviSh inreotve. which
intended TO meet his eye. noi 10 Insult hLs
emory. Had We known that Ne were NilllhS
as euftalh We must have done il with differ
ut feeling AS il is. We think t better ana
core he himself 10 Jet what we haa Mil't-il
tInd ihan 90 take up our l'.oeh ShallS anu
.ry 10 melt them into tears 90 senslhiiItA. OF
mould them into dun praise and an Affected
show II candour We were uet silent during the I
uthof-s lifetime. either for his r-proot or en- /
tnlr8 cement tSugh We could -I.- ana d.. dl9 I
r.. Gisiain to accept. nor cam Ne now turn /
-.r. lertakers' men TO fix the 2t-ernE plate upon
DIS coffin OF fan into the procession q pol l-aF
voc.
The man of letters who holds this view Of
what he owes TO himself wei as TO his sub /
t..t has an engaging way Il getting, as a rule, I
az the root ~ the matter or course. being hui 1
man, ne falls into error. j is tie simplest
ding in the world TO put your finger on mis- /
I'M is q D 81
pest Thing lad the world. also. to Put your finger
ca passages in him that are as true as they
are individual and interesting. Dip into his
Lectures on the English Poets and turn, say, /
to his remarks on Pope. Read him on the old /
dramatists read him on any OF the varied topics
which he treated in The Plain Speaker You
viii find some definite instruction but you VIII
find more Of a kind Il general stimulus, more
OF the pleasure Of being ia the company OF a
man Of brains 1t is decidedly mixed fare THAI
t1ase volumes put before the reader. HazIu
viii tackle anything He VIII discuss Mallhus
on Formulation. or DE viii talk at large GA mat
tors ~ art with Northcote. He VIII draw you
.,haraeter- Of Burke or FOX. colorcd with live
li-t r.fti-al feeling or De viii hit of slishter
theme IN a yielette that is al harmless vivacity
and charm. In the essay he wrote on The co4-ec-
ton II Fcuthn Abbey he brings in bfleI
sketch Of CosUay; he whose miniatures were
not fashionalle-they were fashion itself In
scarcely more than a page CosWay is painted /
10 the life That was Hazlitt's way, 10 be gen /
uiue and vivid, trimming over with the atnos- 4
-here. the quality Of the man or the thing /
about which he was talking. Mr.. Henley seems 4
10 have thought il necessary to be particularly 4
,s~efu, ia his appraisal Of Hazliu as a writer /
oa art He had been painter. but he "as' |
when all is said. a man OF letters, therefore, We
must be vigilant for lapses in his art Of crit
ieisu Il Is a mistake 10 be too yigilant, 10 be \
Ter7etuaUy trying him by the standard or the 4
critic saturated in questions Of pure technique |
40 one who knows anything about art is going |
10 be disturbed by Hazlitt's admiration for the
Carracci or by any other OF his foibles. And
who. whether layman or expert, viii be the
worse FOR reading some such characteristic page
OF Hazlitt on art the one, given TO famous
lost masterpiece, which we quote below2
We once happened to have the pleasure Of see
irs Mr.. Beckford in the Great Gallery OF the
Isuvre-he was very plainly dressed in a loose
great coat and looked somewhat pale and thin
-lut what brought the Circumstance 10 our
minds was that were told on this occasion
one of those humping matter-of-faCt lies. which
arc r,-ortv common to other Freuchmen besides
Gascous, viz. That he had 0H0cd The FtrH Con-
sll no less sum than tC0 hundred thousand gUiHcGs
fa- the rHrchGSe Of me st. Peter Martyr. Would
that he had, and that Napoleon had taken hlm
~ fis vorGl which we think not unlikely With
l.o hundred thousand gulneas ne might nave
t.Lan some almost iWpregnable fortress.
..kre-7ahurg" said Buouaparte. us worth a
hundred queens: and he would have