New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1907-10-19
CII1RM.
T'sco Boohs of 1t Prepared by Mr.
4. j. LucaS.

CHARACTER AND COMEDY. By j.. '. Lucas.
lsuo PIP viii, 259 The Macmillan Company.
THE GENTIEST ART a I4oiee 4I Is''T Ig7ca oy
I5Ino pp. xvi 80 The Macmillan Company.
In af,yorld which seems somehow favorable TO
the DEVELOPMENT of almost every literary form
save that Of the essay. Mr. e Y. Lucas never
thclcss coutrives TO keep alive the true eSsayists
genial fame. Never was there among our
modern men of letters a writer more bookish
or more succe ssful in avoiding the dusty at
moepLere of mere boolg.shness. OF all the read
ers Of Charles Lamb VINO have striyen to emu
late him Mr. Lucas comes nearest to being
worthy Of him Perhaps It IS because he does
not too knowingly strive. Perhaps it is be
cause II is natural to him to look upon life and
letters and all things with something Of Lambs
gentleness, sweetness and humor This is high
praise. but we DO not believe that Its justice VIII
be questioned by any sympathetic reader OF the
first half of character and Comedy" The
imaginary cpistlcs which fill the second hair
under the general tple of "I-ife's Little DIfll-
cuties" are individually amusing. we read
these sRits with relish when they were printed IN
"ppncb But though they answered well
enough in that place, they have heither the
originality nor the wit required to make them
harmonic with the essays precedlhs uleih III
the present little volume.
In these essays Mr.. Lucas discourses play
fullv. and with no attempt at system, on the
simplest themes His opening pages are de-
voted 10 a reconstruction OF the personality OF
cousin Of Lambs about whom we know pracu-
cally nothing There is characteristic al!usion
to him in one of Lambs letters: on am so
noorrv! / walked ii at my cousins the DOCK
hinder who Is now with Cod Mt Lucas H"N''
this obscure Iinsman Of Elias i've again ana
sneak He fingers in the old mans shop ana
eqcs him on to talk of Lamb mus "f' near
ogair Of saint Charles" and his sister see
-, - homo and 90 with them to that disas-
-, ,,.rsorrrance Of MIR. H" "All his friends
5,5 ,,lat we could for it," says the bookbinder,
80 tho gentlemen from the great offices
becred and cIapped, but the Noes got 1t. L
never heard such kissing. l climbed up on the
seat to see how poor Miss Lamb and her brother
were taking it,-they were right in 'front.' just
-, the orchestra-and there was he. Kissing
awav louder than any Think of it, kissing
his own play! It's one OF the best jokes 1 ever
heard But she, poor dear, she was just cry
ing il is an old story. but Mr.. Lucas gives II
a new life This whole paper is saturated in the
sentiment Of Ella. and not once In the course of
It is there false note struck.
whatever MI Lucas touches he handles with
sincerity. That is one explanation of his charm.
From the grave sweetness of MY Cousin the
Rookbinder" and the tender truth OF "a
Funeral" he passes to drolleries about the Zoo,
and offers us some 'Meditations Among the
Cages that are in their way, beyond praise
He is enchanting the hippopotamus. For the
life of him he cannot understand the feelings
OF the sportsman who would slay this ri
diculous mammoth. How" he asks, 'how
can one kill a creature that wallows?"
The orang-outang has never seemed to us
10 be a lovely beast. but the scales have
fallen from our eyes; we have read Mr.
Lucas on Della" He has fondness for quaint
characters, be they possessed of two legs or