The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1909-06-20
SOME z ROCKS.
Sterne.

Sterne.
The latest book about the author OF
'Tristram Shandy' is q volume published
by the Macmillans and entitled The Life
and Times OF Laurence Sterne. The au-
thor, Mr.. WILBUR l.. Cross, professor OF
English in the Sheffield scientific school
ri Yale University, has undertaken here
to give us a biographical rather than a
critical estimate. He has a good reason
for thinking that the task needed to be
performed. He points out that the cur
rent biography OF Sterne in two volumes
is SO untrustworthy in all details that any
reliance upon II wouid have meant dis
sster. Moreover, the sketch OF Sterne
by Mr.. Sidney Lee in the Dictionary OF
National Biography, while admirable in
those parts for which the author consulted
nu-auscripts near at hand. suffers else
where from a repetition Of old errors
which once in print seem destined to
liva forever. Because. however, the au-
thor believes that there was for a
new biographical sketch it is not to be
inferred hat he omits acknowledgment OF
many obligations to the numerous per-
sons who have written about Sterne since
the time of Scott.
Although Prof. Cross has not found it
easy to write a life OF Sterne he expresses
the opinion that the materials while not
abundant are quite adequate. Thus for
his childhood we have the memoir which
he wrote out for his daughter just before
his death. For the period covering his
life as prebendary Of York and vicar Of
Sutton we have a series Of letters to q
friend. q long letter to an uncle amount
ing almost to an autobiography. a body Of
anecdotes collected by a friend who as a
boy tagged at his heels and listened to his
jeets by the freside after supper. and a
series Of local pamphlets in an amusing
warfare to which the Yorkshire parson
contributed the chief merriment. About
Sterne in the day OF his fame there are
eYtant nearly 200 letters written by him to
various friends, many references to him in
the newspapers of the day and in contem-
porary memoirs and correspondence. a
journal extending over six important
months Of the year before his death and
finally the observation Of a French Aoad-
emician who closely watched him in and
out of the Partisan salons, conversed with
him on various occasions and wrote down
bis impressions Of the Chevalier Sterne.
Then, too. there are the portraits OF
Sterne by several great painters Of his
time who studied him under favorable
conditions. Those by Reynolds. Gains
borough and Carmontelle are reproduced
in the book before us,
By turning all these sources OF infor-
nation to account Prof, Cross has en-
deavored to answer the questions: What
sort of man was Sterne? How did he
conduct himself in the days Of his OBJ
sourity and after he had come into his
fame? What did he do and what did he
say? What books did he read? What
were his pastimes? Who were his
friends? Who were his enemies, II
he had any, and what did they say or
think Of him? In a word, wherein lay
the secret Of the man whose speech
and conduct filed the Imagination OF
all who knew him intimately whether at
York, London or Paris? 1t is true enough
that these questions would be without
much interest were not Sterne the author
Of two books which give him a place in
modern literature by the side Of Rabelais
and Cervantes. Should it turn out, how
tNoIp 80 OdISdutiioA ploiiioto tide ~ "ih'
that @Tristram Shandy' and the @Senti-
mental Journey are in part autobiog-
raphy and that the writer was as strange
a compound Of whims as are they Prof.
Cross is doubtless justified in claiming
that new points of vantage may be gained
for viewing and judging Sterne stage
by stage in his career and for presenting
a final portrait Of the man in relation to
his works.
On his fathers side Laurence Sterne
came Of good stock. 1t may well be
that Danish blood flowed in his veins. as
in those Of the imaginary Yorick. for he
belonged TO a family which sprang from
the minor gentry Of old East Anglia.
where the Danes settled in great num-
bers. Thence various members Of the
family migrated northward until York
shire became their chief home. Thu
first Sterne 10 achieve distinction was
L~aurence's great-grandfather, Richard
Sterne, born 1898, who after matriculat-
ing at Trinity College, Cambridge, became
successfully Fellow Of Corpus Christi,
Master Of Jesus College, Bishop of Car
Isle and Archbishop Of York. The prel-
ate'e third son. Simon Sterne, married
Mary jacques. the heiress to a great
estate at Ellington, near York. Simon
Sterne's second son, Roger, entered the
army in 17o2 and remained in it, though
he seems never to have reached a rank
higher thar that Of Ensign until 1881,
when he died from an attack Of malarial
fever in Jamaica. Alone of his family.
Roger Sterne made an unfortunate mar
rage. choosing for a wife the daughter
Of a sutler, an ill bred woman with whom
none Of his family could associate.
II wat at Clonmel IN Ireland that Roger
Sterne's son Laurence was born, on
November "a, 1918, Having learned to
raad and write while he lived with his