New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-12-16
a SkiIfuIIy Painted Portrait Of
James anthony Froude.

zr LIFE OF FRoUDB. BY Herbert Paul. svo.
DID, tx. 49, (Charles scribners Sons)
:. these days of the official biography"
..,ch IS nothing If not prompt, IT is little
;s,ne that we should have had to wait for
,.,,en wears after his death for life of Froude.
Taw Of the notabilities who have passed away
!. that period and have been duly honored with
--,entous memorials. most Of which have run
:. two volumes, have provided their celebrants
,.h material half as rich that which has
"a, so long neglected In the history of this
,-siiant man of letters. His career was. no
aopbt. uneventful. if we compare it with that Of
ons valiant soldier of the Empire; but it was
-. by any means dull career, and, what Is
more he had personality making an uncom-
,,only strong appeal to the painter Of literary
-ort-aits Mr.. Paul has not hitherto enjoyed
s;eh rank such painter. In fact his book
~ Matthew Arnold is remembered by devoted
sa,6srs of that distinguished critic and poet
..b kind of shudder. But If anything could
rscA the impression left by the unhappy vol
r,. TO which we refer it is this biography OF
v,-ou6e It has its faults but it is the work OF
= writer fully in sympathy with his subject
which Mr.. Paul was not when he dealt with
,-noId-and besides being authoritative it Is
,s interesting a composition of the sort as any
rce have read in long time.
Though Froude never had what could falrly
,s called an adventure, his life was not coioriess'
On the contrary. his very childhood embraced
opneriences calculated to stir his soul, to make
-, s,re-ent from most individuals. His mother
aas when he was very young, and his iather'
Tory Archdeacon of the old school, was driven
a. b1oxv into q f-absorption which he did
-. allow to interfere with his duties as
as,rcbrnan and a magistrate. or with his pleas
IS es hunter but from which he only
,ereed where the young Anthony was con-
.-,ed for the purpose of subjecting him 10 d
snartan discipline. Incidentally, the lads older
b-other did his best to make him unhappy III
,he firm belief that he was doing MN goou'
aconceiving that the child wanted spirit says
AZ PAM +'FIurreu once took him up by the heelS
end stirred with his head the mud at the DOT
.oro of q stream Another time he threw MN
into deep water out of a boat to make him man
= Invoking the aid of the prefer
natural he taught his brother that the holloW
,ebtr5 the house was haunted by monstrous
and ralevolent phantom. to which, in the plenl-
tuda of his imagination, he gave the name OF
psn;ngre" Thousands of other children have
prohahlv been as roughly handled and as des-
n.ratelv scared but one feels as one turns Mr..
PauTs pages that Froude received peculiarly
dificult start in life. ParadoXically, While MS
father and brother caused him intense surfer
ine. he enormously admired them both, ana the
upshot of their doubtless well meant but &C
tueIlv cruel rninistrations was neither onhd
revolt nor a stunting of the boys character put'
rather. a strengthening Of the latter, and great
stimulation of his mind and Imagination. Inc
love of books was born in him, and with II an
instructive literary faculty. At school ana at
orford his gifts only ftfuIly declared them
selves but in some strange way they went oli
dgve1oping, and when the time came for him 10
7iaH he G6SIiD6Q
found him prepared. Meanwhile. he had the
,,sc,ous advantage Of including real love OF
,eture and of sport among his resources,
Tsys fathers son was bound TO like gooo
,orsa. he yas a devoted angler: and indeed al
his life long he seems to have had passion lor
the omen air rare enough in the annals OF me
historians A great taIker. jealous in the as
cussion of religious and other grave TOPICS ana
quick to feel the influence of thoughduI men,
such as Newman, Carlyle or Emerson ne might
have grown to be a merely boolish man If he
had not had q way Of feeling as well as 'iiiilh-
ing He learned from human experience as
well as from books. It was love affair that
reused him from his Incidence at Oxford and
set him with renewed ardor upon his studies
and throughout this biography Mr.. Paul shows
what vivid vitalized temperament Froude
had how he put emotion as well as thought into
everything he did. In G. letter written IN MS
thirtieth year he alludes to the comments OF
"The Spectator on the politics Of the moment
and says that the paper exasperates him with
its id cold water cure for all enthusiasm
Not all the cold water in the world could nave
dashed his enthusiasm for any object When II
was once aroused. Writing to Charles Kingsley
about his Nemesis of Faith he says: There
is something IN the thing, know; for 1 cut
hole In my heart, and wrote with the biood-
che cte While 1t might
have seemed a little overweight If it had come
from any other writer. it was perfectly sincere
coming from him. The church thought to claim
him by the purely fortuitous train of crcum-
stances involved in his relations with Oxford
&c q Fellow Of Exeter he was practically COM
mitted to take orders-but fate was klnd ana
as events worked out he found himself free to
devote himself to literature.
Aienated from his father, who held MS re-
hgious IDEAS In adherence. he nevertheless
found happiness for he won the hand Of MISS
Charlotte Grenfeu sister-in-law of kingsley's'
and with her small fortune to keep the pair
going they settled in a beautiful corner OF
Wales, where Froude could fish and rample 10
his hearts content and do sterling work for the
magazines He had no lack of opportunity, for'
as Mr. Paul observes, "ne wrote an incompara-
be style" The equipment with which he en-
barked 11non the literary career is thus traversed
by his biographer:
The origin Of Froudes style IS not obscure. i0o