New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-12-10
Ibe Gets+l2ork 0risraaes
SUNDAY. DECEMBER 10. 1905.

George PASSIONS recently published book, "B.
R Hayden and His Friends" hiss suggested to
mfr G. S Street an interesting topic for de
bate In the London Outlook" he wonders
whether the life of the painter, who struggled
endlesSIy against debt and other woes, and
ultimately committed suicide, could not, never
thelesS, be called q happy life. There is some
thing in his question BE recalls the letters
which Hayden wrote to 1.-The Times" about
Reform, and quotes what the writer said Of
them: ''When my colors have faded. my can
vas decayed and my body mingled with the
dust, these glorious letters, the best things
ever wrote will awaken the enthusiasm Of my
countrymen 1 thank God lived in such
time, and that He gifted me with talents to
serve the great cause" This outburst helps
Mr.. Street to support his case. There spoke
a man." he says whom no material misfort-
me, except physical pain-and he had admit
rabe health-could make unhappy. Hayden
had true artists joy-the joy that Is Of pain
and travail-in creation It is heart
breaking life to read, being that Of a generous
fighter against odds too strong for him. But
the man who wrote those glorious letters lived
happily, however he died" OF course, we re-
alize how easy It is to talk like this long
after the event The comfortable commenta-
tor Illuminating in his library over a pipe,
with nothing to worry him save the compile
ton Of an article on Hayden ION time" can
philosophize most optmisticaIy over a dead
mans troubles and never turn hair. Yet We
cannot help feeling that Mr.. Street takes the
right view of the matter.
Nobody wants TO inf1ict worries Of any kind
upon any human being; but that the artist or
the author should be tapped In luxury If he is
to produce good work is the last hypothesis In
the world TO demonstrate with success at least
in our day. If the modern author suffers from
anything at this time, it is from too much
prosperity. One of the craft is credited with
the saying, apropos of the immense returns
from one of his novels that TO gather IN those
returns was "Hke picking up money from the
gutter This candid confession was uttered
with air, as Of one having no illusions
about the true character OF his work, but we
have not heard that the speaker has turned
over a new leaf and put the writing OF a good
book before the writing OF Balable one. It
is customary for authors 10 talk yaIiantIy
about "art" and the highest standards but
this does not keep them from writing as many
pot-boilers as are necessary to I'LL the orders
which they receive from editors and publishers
eager to exploit the popularity Of their names
In the preface to 'SThe Drawings of Adoiph
Won Mcneil" just published by the Sribners
Professor Singer quotes the famous German
draughtsman as saying to one Of his young
correspondents that there was no such thing
as e 1pot-boiler," that the true artist made
even a thing done from necessity, for money,
work OF art Too much money has caused
many a man TO fly IN the face of this prin-
EipIe
There is. after an, something fascinating
about Mr.. Henry James's way, something
which, whether we like it or not, fills Us with
n growing wonder. he has long paper IN
fHThn North American Reviews fhis month