New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1907-01-26
The Character and Career of the
author of "The Temple"

That unknown Persian who perhaps had ex-
persencsd certain common difficulties with his
tenants or other creditors. and was driven
thereby 20 advise the world 10
Take the Cash, and let the Credit 20
Nor heed the rumble OF a distant Drum!
,-obahiy ala not realize the ambiguity OF these
DISTRACTIONS II he had been either a good bust
ness man or-what is nearly the sane-& philos-
ouhsr, ne would have taught us how to distin-
ru,sh between cash and credit To separate the
ons from the other is not merely q trick OF
bookkeeping. 20 be learned at a business COL
iege: e is one Of the prime problems OF exist
snce, and its solution spreads over every page
N the Book OF Life. Few are the men. and
happy who can read the answer clear before the
last lines have been blackened by the endless
figuring over the puzzle. Most OF US develop
writer's crArnp in the midst OF the reckoning
and resort 20 guesswork Hence. the vast num-
Der Of poets, reformcrz and metaphysicians
But others, luckier than the rest OF us in some
ways. are helped at the task by q stern but sue
ossEful schoolmaster: they solve the problem
early and turn IL 90 profit while their cornpan-
ions are stu toiling. Such fortunate ones men
call inspired, even though time should prove
their ready answers wrong. Quickness and
certainty command our respect, even when the
Eu1ft word misses the mark
n George Herbert, the religious poet ~. fms
q man who marked OF cash from credit very
differently at different times OF life. Il was a
cruel master who made him scratch out HIS
first solutions and write in another one Look
ing back upon the poets whole career, we may
suspect that the view OF life he finally taught
was no more correct than his earlier phIloso-
phiesi and yet admire him. not for his
thoughts so much es for the humility and easy
grace with which he learned tho lesson Of re-
nunciatiOn. We pity him. too. for the breaking
Of his ambitious spirit by disease. and for the
thwaFting OF his hopes by the sudden deaths
OF many powerful friends. In Judging his verso
We become charitable critics as soon as We real
iEe that here Is poetic fire checked by dozen
campers.
Mr.. Hyde makes the reader familiar with
the circumstances which moulded Herbert,
though he leaves their Interpretation too COM
pletely 70 our mercy. In doing this he proves
himself a conscientious historian: but he fails
20 compel interest and enthusiasm. Informa-
ton about Herbert's life Is scant and indirect;
his correspondence and notes, long preserved by
his widow, were burned by Puritan soldiers in
the Gays OF the pietistio reaction against Lsud.
Good old Izaak Walton has written a rather
poetic biography OF the poet, charming but not
searching: aside from this. only rragmentary
records are 10 be found. But what objection is
there 10 a more or Less impressionistic biog-
raphy? Why should Mr.. Hyde have thought
dulness a virtue. when accessible facts point
clearly 20 a human character and career easy 20
resurreot and make fascinating7 II is not hard
20 pun with warm breath into the urn OF ashes
sno send up a cloud that takes on human shape.
What difference Il the departed soul has not
really rsturned7 Though less than man. a
br1Sht. suggestive cloud Is better than an ash
heap.
A few OF the lasting and pervading influences
II Herbertss life tell what manner OF man he
was First he had domineering mother. who
ruled him absolutely up 70 his thirty-third year,
rot by the birch, 20 be sure, but by beauty, I'M
relenting discipline and religiosity Even when.
q Trinity Fellow, he felt his health giving
away perilously fast, he could not md the cour-
age 20 drop HIS work IN the face Of his mothers
command 10 stick Il out" Not until the tn
roads OF consumption made all arguments vain
did he 6isobey this mistress OF his destiny. A
second influence was the life he led as a student
fn the clammy cloisters OF Westminster Abbey.
Let the modern comfort worshipper imagine. II
he can, the effects produced upon boy not
overstrong by rising every morning at B. spend
ing two hours at devotions before breakfast
then indulging in a repast OF bread and beer,
and spending the rest OF the day over Latin.
Greek, religious chants and prayers. Imagine,
too, the effects produced upon an imaginative
youngster by the mystical. gloomy beauty OF
the Abbey the ghostly echoes and the vistas as
long and dim as Time itself. Is IT any wonder
that Herbert's health was ruined at the thresh-
old OF life or that, when once vanQuished by
sichness the poet became a gentle mystic a
lover OF the rich Journalism in religion. and a
sticlier for method and discipline In daily lifef
Finally IS IL not easy to account for the alb
suraly classical cast Of his poetry, its Stiffness
its sar-fetched metaphors and hard-hunted COM
parisons7
The poet seems to have been typical ambi-
tious practical Englishman. eager for life full
OF hard work and political renown- His accept
snce OF the Cambridge oratorship. his unrelent-
ing efforts TO gain favor ct Court by promis-
cuously indulging in the licensed mendacities Of
nattery, and his later connection with the Court
Of King James, all reveal what he would have
been but for the laws OF bacteriology. His pitt
fal cry, MY wit is too sharp for my body!" re-
yeals the man blockaded by his own weak
breast Herbert IS living testimony to the disil-
lusioniny theory that bad body often makes
poet out Of a politician. The great crisis came
with an unexpected crash: within brief year
the poets three best friends at Court died and
his own health gave out utterly. With political
prospects darkened forever and with the hope OF
an active career stiied, the unhappy man was
thrown back upon such resources could be
used by one handicapped like himself The only
credit he could turn 70 cash was that religion OF
which hs was little more than q human Infusion
The impulse 20 work was still strong In him. but
the need OF quiet work was equally strong
What labor iu ell the world combines activity
and ease as well as that OF the ministry? In this
field more than anywhere else weightless words
and efrortless deeds carry far and strike hard.
Here q man with proper skill can work the least
and effect the most George Herbert, with the
a. ~ Of nfq