New-York tribune., 1909-06-06
XVIII.
London. May 81.

= ,-.uz York The latter statement may be
.r1eneA6 but the very men who take most
.,r,5e in the New York Of to-day ought 10 De
81 first TO accept 1t. For Manhattan was not
.hen The magnet, London has always beeh'
-. arevv 70 itself whatever best from
o,bar rarts of the land Boston was still the
.tbens Of America. There were excellent names
,..o-a and AT least one man Of genius who
- ,either birth nor culture to Boston; but
= a,,;+al of Massachusetts, was none the less
.,e literary capital of the United States. Ener-
- Holmes Lowell Longfellow, Agassiz'
" Dana jr were all living and all In the
t,,ase Of their powers Theodore Parker the
-.atest force in the American pulpit was JUST
Seod Chief Justice Shaw had been for thirty
,,ears the head of the judiciary Of his own state
.nd a revered authority throughout the Union
wendell Phillips had rival as an orator
,y.,vard was the first of American colleges. The
,..as NJ New England, which were the ideas OF
,,.,o, mad spread and taken root, and new
o,ornonwealths in the West were nounshed on
,4,ern- nav these ideas and these conceptions OF
lev and social order were the foundation stones
IN which new states were built No theologian
had arisen TO dim the fame-a great yet soInpre
fsme-of Jonathan Edwards Daniel Webster
.s..-,,ointed. defeated slept by the solemn
raves Of the Atlantic" but YOU cannot think
of BOSTON or Of Massachusetts without him;
nor did the disasters Of his last years much
,sssen the homage paid him at death or his
,or,ensa influence on the political thought OF
the whole country.
IF the intellectual pre-eminence Of Boston In
.hose days was somewhat grudgingly admitted
~ New York it was incontestable- New York
rresentlv redressed the balance not so much
bx her own creative efforts as by drawing much
of what there was hest in Boston to the banks
Of the Hudson. I believe Mr.. Howells's migra-
zion At q later period thought TO be the
decisive sign-one Of many. Commercial infiu-
.roes 7re,aiIed over the purer influences of
literature The publisher took command But
7 annrebend that Mr.. Howells did not forsake
tbe Charles for the Hudson without many re-
erets The atmosphere was not the same Oio
sbernethy used to say: IF you live In the best
air in the world. leave it and go to the second
best" Unconsciously perhaps, Mr.. Howells
ol,syed that medical prescription. He went 10
the second best.
Did he find a Tavern Club in New York?
Over the noCfes cGnGqUe of that pleasant COM
panv in Boston Mr.. HOwells used TO preside
with genial charm all his own. 1t was so long
sro that I NAV be forgiven IL remember in
,rnt rre Of those evenings which owed so much
20 his presfding genius. He spoke and was the
cause Of speaking in others. He had the tact
which drew from others more than they sup
posed they had TO give. He gently compelled
The most reluctant Of guests from their chairs
There was a brief eulogy on the victim Ii was
Mr. Hovells's art to paint a portrait so ViVld'
albeit Aattering. it needed no name to be recog-
rfzed If" said he you were in any doubt OF
his identity. you will recognize him by the look
nf determined Inconsistencies on his face
rrscl,on # among the highest Of Mr.. Howellss
-,.nv services that he has been at times an in
+e-n-eter between England and America; and In
more senses than There is sense ia
which every American writer who reaches an
English audience is an interpreter, or oetter
stsn an ambassador the business OF an amoas-
eador being 10 keep the peace. For when Lord
Dufferin was complimented on his diplomatic
fame he answered: "Ah. that is all mistake
So long as We succeed you never hear or US
II is when we have failed that the world begins
70 know Of our existence
That. however. is a ndIdpropos anecdote and
tells the other way; but in such papers as these
there must be anecdotes. Mr. HoweHs was net
9 silent ambassador and he would not have been
an ambassador had he been silent. His books
smoke for him The English thought and sui
think that his writings had some qualiues WHICH
II does not suit the parent stock 10 cohSiuef
distinctively American. They liked the reserve
the simplicity the continual though irnphcl'
reference TO English standards-to tne s'anu
ards that IS of English literature 1t was part
because
masters that they presently came TO accept MN
also as master. They were quite aware INC
his homage was sometimes reluctant When IL
r-ent further and as in his unlucky CRITICISM
Of the greatest Of English masters IN Hc'0'''
became caricature. they resented IT, Ou' ny
bore no malice How can YOU pear Hlaii'o
against a writer with much sweetness VI
nature as Nj Howells?
Besides. what he has written about hhsI "
syups thetic: and is thought syTnpathe'ic Os IL
English If it be also at times criIleoi' ',-' -,
ush accent the criticism as il is meant ->o'ii'.e
&c ,-,,o- about them than their indifference 10
criticism. They regard Mr- Howelss essays o'
so many studies; and these stndies as i"'e
,retatfve What he has lately been Wriuhg Oh
provincial towns is almost revelation 10 '"o
Londoner. who himself is sometimes caNeo pi'-
yincial, and does not mind
Another Eostonian, Mr.. Henry James, took
longer flight still; all the way from Boston ~
London; and SO 20 Paris and Italy' IN az oA
which be is equally home. 1t was L thlnk'
Colonel Higginson who, in his patriotic lnpa-
t,sncs ~ tba exnatriated American, winged
snsft al Mr. James. and at those who calIeo MN
sosmo2oltan In order be truly cosmopoh-
tan" said this eminent colonel. "a man ought
10 know something of his own country 10
which Mr. James has lately made the best pos
slbe reply by a book his own country "hch
is an appreciation like no other OF recent uaSs'
And will say this: that If Colonel Higg1nson
sunnoSss g., American or a Russian a jap
enese car win favour with the English by try
ing TO be English, he is profoundly mistaken
The English like an American to be an Amerl-
can II he is a writer. they like his writings to
be American.
Who are the American authors most popular
In England? 1 Will take the dead only. They
Hawthorne Emerson, Lowell LongfelloW'