The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1909-05-02
some NEW BOOKS.
aaante.Reuve-Frrst Notice.

some NEW BOOKS.
a. Gainte.Reuve-P1rst Notice.
There arc two curious thin 20 about
Sainte-Beuve first. that the influence
which a. q critic he exercised in France,
and n might almost say in Europe,
. during his lfetime did not perish with
him, but OF the contrary the last six
or seven years have see a revival OF in
tsrest In his life and work: secondly,
that although his criticism became a more
~pervading force in English speaking
countries than anywhere else outside Of
bis native land there has never been
hitherto a book in the English language
devoted to ths subject. The want Ia
now supplied in a volume entitled Cho,les
'Au0ueftn Sdinte.Beuoe, by GEORGE
McLKAN HARPER, professor of English
'lftAsatars at Princeton University (Phila-
delphia, j. B. Lippincott Company. or
the eight chapters comprised in the book
before US the last seven are biographical,
while the first is critical, or, as the author
would himself describe it, eulogistic.
II was. Of course, Sainte-Beuve, with his
unsuooessful poetry and his novel called
svolupte,' who was held in mind by the
author Of the inquiry: DO you know who
the critics are? The men who have failed
in literature and art Certainly the fate
Of those ventures in poetry and prose
fiction seems unfortunate compared with
the ~reeplendent success Of the -Cdusertes
du Lundi,' which for many years in
terpreted the history and .mirrored the
intellectual life Of France. Certainly.
as Prof. Harper claims for him, none Of
hia contemporaries can 50 truly be said
TO have portrayed his age. Nowhere
else Is 80 large a variety Of French thought
reflected as In the immense chronicle
which his essays constitute" Our au-
thor adds that when we remember the
advantageous position Of France through
out the period from 1926 to l%sea-oon-
sidered az a field for social and political
experiment Of interest to the entire world
the importance of his work, viewed simply
a. q record, is readily seen. Conceivsbly,
indeed. II would be possible to read Sainte-
Beuve's writings in this light only simply
AZ a report Of the thought Of his time.
Prof. Harper recognizes, however, that
for us to restrict ourselves to such a point
81 view would be TO do injustice to Sainte-
Beuve's personal strength and distinc-
ton. Although he did mirror the thought
sof France in his time, and with moro SELF
ahnegation than most men would have
been capable Of, he just as certainly COL
orcd in his own way the light which he
transmitted. "He was all the while
converting to a peculiar purpose Of his
own every ray Of information that fell
upon his mind and focusing it on a GER
tain dark spot in human destiny. To
illuminate this spot was his cherished
hope, as he frequently avowed and as
he always with more or less conscious
distinctness felt
What was the problem which he strove
necessarily TO solve? The problem was
the relation between two ever present
realities, the sensual and the spiritual
elements in human life. If that appears
rays the biographer, ian unimportant
inquiry not deserving the lifelong atten-
lion Of a man of ~lettors, let us ask our
selves whether there be any other to which
more attention was paid by Shakespeare
toward the end OF his career and by
Goethe in the middle part Of his. Prof.
Harper goes on to recall that greatly or
meanly, according to their several ma
lures, almost all French writer's since
The break up Of classical convention have
studied this question too exclusively.
Some Of them have written out Of the
shallownees Of a merely bohemian ex-
peTience; others have given free rein {
imagination; others have dogmatized.
Ante Beuve wrote with a more abun-
dsnt knowledge Of personal history than
any Of his contemporaries Possessed;
he was the competsnt biographer Of
hundreds Of passionate men and women,
the secretary OF their Intimate relations
Finally his personal experience was suf-
fciently diversified. In addition to all
he accomplished as a reporter the con-
rrfbution which he made out Of his Utmost
being Is Of deep significance. Accord
ingly, as m the last seven chapters Of
the biography Prof. Harper studies the
progress Of Sainte-Beuve's life in connec-
tion with his works, he discerns and ex-
hfbits a slowly evolving and frequently
modified view Of the alliances and sutsg-
onisms between spirit aud flesh.
F.. Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve wss
born at Boulogne-sur -NIer on Decem-
ber %, 1904. His father, Charles Fran
co.'s de Sainte-Beuve, vas born in Pi-
about twelve miles southeast Of
some fifty years earlier. The par
ticle de" which in this case as in many |
another under the ancient regime did
not indicate that its bearer belonged to
the nobility, was dropped probably for
reasons during the Revolution, !
though 1t was resumed afterward upon
occasions. Charles Francois held sue
ceesively several minor positions in the
excise and town customs Office before
their suppression in 1891. Under the
First Republic he vas Administrator Of
the Department OF Pss-de- Calais. Sub
he was restored to Office in the
municipal customs OF Boulogne and pro-
NOTED to the position Of Chief Controller
Of the consolidated duties, which he re-
tanned till his death on October I, 1904.
The son, who had never seen his father,
,-as proud to know that the latter had
owned and was familiar with a handsome
copy Of yergil. The elder Sainte- Beuve
seems u have been a grave. practical
man, accustomed 10 view events from
the point Of view Of an official to whom
regularity and order appeared worth
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