New-York tribune., 1909-05-30

tram shandy,' the dregs Of nonsense have uni
versalIy met the contempt they deserve; genius
NAV be exhausted;-I see that 1oIly invention
NAV be So too" But by the time the Iorces OF
encouragement were to come into play Sterne
80 I,oe,, staa1ed against them by the applause
of n host of new friends. Against the III Will
of UaInoIe or Dr. Johnson he could always cite
tho 1raise of other judges not by any means 70
ba despised Garrick took him 70 MS hearI-
REYNOLDS insisted upon painting MS portrait
and would take fee There was hoIiliHs al
the smallest degree naive about Sterne, yet one
discerns a sort of childIike glee IN his eXcianla-
tions over the petting he got In LOnuoh So-
c;a+ writing to Miss Fourmantelle, he says.
From Morning to night my LOdsines' "l----
by tbe bv. are the genteeIest in Town. are iuIl
% tho greatest Company" and a list OF those
r,bo entertained him would make calendar Oh
tho 5i.ti,e,,isbed figures OF his time How dld
| be carry himself in all this brilliant company
He gained mixed repute. AS MS eApeiLei'0
wtdened he became more and moEe TIC 1-1'
man of the world, but he was ever VIII anu
his not tnfrequent Enthusiastically II thd' IOi0
would seem to have caused some OF MS con-
| temporaries to think OF him, little slgntIl8ly'
as tust a chartered Jester. WHAT "Oulu one
| not give to observe at first haho suOH ''-e
IF "a mt forward sufficiently IN this book' Dut
one reason why Professor Cross Is especlaAE 70
no commended is that he cOntrives' without aI
all forcing the point, to exhibit the cncOl-SCiO-7
natbos OF sterne's history. The very super
abundance of humor in 'Tristram Shandy' us
r.cinass and its freedom, which did so much 10
vIn the author partisans, contributed also U
inAarne the billiards, and they found plenty %
| bitter things to say about the parson VINO cou-u
indulge In such literary vivaclues- his mar
rage too had proved a failure, ana 10 nlaAI
| matters worse Sterne notably trall con
| sunptive battling with i'll health all his lie
| long. He needed those quick spirits OF MS %
carry him through periods Of suffering and de
| rression In his domestic relations he was, per
hans a facile sentimentalist rather than man
| of profound and tenacious feeling he was
| altogether too susceptible to the charms OF the
! ladies' and his various hirtatiOns are no doubt
1 to be regretted. Decidedly Sterne was not
model of what 4 parson should have been, even
| In his easy-going age Nevertheless' as FTo-
| fessor Cross remarks, "it would be unjust to
charge Sterne with gross fnnoralities. for there
was nothing of the beast about the sublimated
| Yorick" He seems a lightly irresponsible but
never a corrupt type In his least engaging lev
| itjes he excites compassion rather than scorn,
| and mostly his behavior, as he goes feverisEIy
| up and down the world. seems harmless enough
| When fate sent him into the Church he did his
| duty there according to his lights 1t was nor
his fault if fate had stumbled, If he was actu-
| ally intended to write "Tristram Shandy' and
| "a Sentimental Journey and TO make himself
| agreeable among the kindred spirits OF Lon
don and Paris. Though it is impossible 20 take
| him In any large heroic sense, though you can
| not think of him a great man. he was gal
liant and indomitable. after his fashion, faulty
! but somehow not unlOvable- Professor Cross
neither extenuates Sternes shortcomings nor
places undue emphasis his better traits He
| inst hal
| In accomplishing this he has made serviceable
as well as a charming book The reader who
wishes to apprehend famous sentimentalist
without sentimentality will find in these pages
precisely the aid that he seeks