New-York tribune., 1906-05-27

may Judge from Mr.. BensOns portrait OF him
and from his work Mr. Benson. no doubt
would protest against this conclusion; but. then.
Mr.. Benson is not unnaturaIly pretudiced in
favor Of the man whom he has set out TO com
memorate with every circumstance Of good wrC
For example he quotes Pater as saying: Il al
rnire Poes originality and imagination. but
cannot read him In the original He is 50 rough;
read him in Baudelaire's translation" Mr.
Benson takes this showing that Pater was
very fastidious about the style even Of authors
whose matter and treatment he admired" IN
prejudiced readers will take it as showing that
Pater could be as limited and affected as the
silliest of those precious writer's whom h did
so much to form All along the line We find this
biographer exhibiting the same want Of critical
balance.
He speaks Of Pater as "a great man Of let
ters." and of 'Marius the Epicurean" as "thlI
great book" Again, he says Of ~Marius" that Il
lifted its author into a position in the very
front ranks OF English prose writer's" Almost
one is inclined TO forget the amenities Of crici-
cisrn in the face Of deIiverances like these. We
value this monograph for the clear, concise and
graceful account that it gives Of Paters private
history. and of the facts OF his literary career.
Here the reader may learn just when the ESSAYS
were written and published, and. since extracts
from them are freely made, the student craving
Information is admirably served But in his
estimates and interpretations Mr.. Benson is an
almost vaIueless guide. for he begins and ertis
with a ridiculOusly overwrOught notion ot
Pater's Importance. Pater was not great man
of letters, "AIarius" is not great book. and %
talk about its author being in the very front
ranks of English prose writers" is TO show
fairly preposterous insensitiveness TO the true
glories of English prose. We speak Strongly,
because this attempt TO take Pater in hand a5
master vividIy illustrates the tendency in cur
rent literature to debase the standards TO d-s-
tort the perspective in which literary tyre
should be considered, and TO break down SIN
further the already weakened barriers erect
by the sound taste of generations to prevent tie
confusion of minor men with the classics
Walter Pater was endowed. to a certain ex-
tent, with the artistic temperament He vas
never rich in exact knowledge Mr.. Benson
himself points out that his art criticism was
distinctly of literary and traditional type"
and that he was no scholar in the Technical
sense of the word" He had taste and tmasi1a-
ton. and he wrote susgestively on literary and
artistic themes His mode of writing IN
questionabIy his own, but it is sheer nonsense -
rank him among the great or even among the
merely fascinating exemplars of style rs
ideas are interesting. but never really mem
orabIe. Both in substance and in form he has
the vague sense of dealing with exquisite things
on esOteric grounds which is an irresistible lCTe
to the sophomore. That clllov type has had h.s
vanity immensely fattered by the feeling II
secret initiation which Paters books have
aroused in him. and UnnUmbered youths have
gone through Paterism as they have srEe
through the measles. But the mature read-r
throws of the mental he throws of the
physical disturbance He knows that Pater has
won, in his clever. thoughtful and original way.
modest place .n English literature and that
the handboOks complied years hence by his
torians having prejudice in the matter VIII
contain an aniable page or two about him. He
knows also that the helpful reflections. the
flashes of critical Insight. the CLEANS of philo-
sophie inspiration. the dainty meIodious pas
sages. which Pater put TO his credit. are all en-
tangled with elements of preciOsity. and mixed
with prOdgious quantities of intellectual saw
dust In short. rational criticism is generously
aware of Pater's merits. but insists that they be
kept in their place 1t recognizes interesting
qualities in "Marius" but refuses TO overlook the
fact that the book a whole is fOrnless.
morbid. empty of the juices of human nature
and. in its hyper-oesthetic. fine drawn. lanEuor-
Gus treatment of solemn things. as inpertireat
as 1t is artificial Paters sincerity may pass
unchallenged. but since il was in his nature to
reduce everything that he touched to the level
of epicurean discussion. of delicate toying with
ylo-a -,yl