New-York tribune., 1910-11-27
LUMINOUS CRIITCISN
,notoLc France an His Most BesHat-
ing Tein,

-, -,o moment in which Mr. Lane s'''t'eu
,,,,ish an English translation of the ooli-
- Ills of Anatole France We have wished
-to ,r-o5ect well but At ne stage of IFS oeNelop-
- has Il been more delightfully."- provocative
80 ez-r7tat,y than At the one just re4c"'u' h'i
+f,,e- ,,s the first series Of La We Lltlel'AIie
-5=s EDITION gives Us the author IN per1e'Il"h-
.,-,,ir,.ss in his imaginative writings. IL 0hit
ectjon of his which is half fiction and hall dell
.-+o1v ironical philosophy, An2tole France VIII
-, -, = 7-assace marking him as. in his own
7,e-s.liar fashion, dec71cent But IN MS cri'l-
,, he fs almost never that type Of intellectual
,,-o'-,+fo77. lie is instead, just lambent lntelh
.-,-, and besides he is his noblest self There
;; . stain of tenderness in him that manifests
f-.7f oer,,ars better in i bookish world than
,-,v1bere else He is always winning When
-, 4ea1s with literature he is l0Vable-
Il l. cood to read again in the volume before
- that famous preface in which he enumerated
the theory hat the good critic IS he VINO re
la-es the adventures of his own soul among
-. .-,--7ocos~ The principle has been contested
and MI always have its opponents, but IL You
sock = tangible Justification Of it you nave II III
-,,a authors own work IN this same preface he
,-,o.ss = good saying of his friend, NJ CuV1Ilef-
T-e--- who showed him his modest library Will
a. o----7enr: Sir, eloQuence, literature,
y
,r not T. mention criticism, which includes all
rba others Yes. sir. the critic is IN turn an
orator. : philosopher and an historian Anatole
&c Going on brilliantly TO illustrate his
f;on7.s 1,,1othesis, approved himself not only
-, --ss-5Ia man contemplated by NJ CuTlIlier-
F-1..,-z, bGt one of the most charming indiTldu-
,-5t5es known in the annals OF criticism An
Other friend II his, NJ. Hebrard, the editor or
Il. TEMPS" in which all these essays were
printed. once described him as a paWky Behe-
.7iorfre~ - You are always remembering this
h,4G- rh-ase. In other words, you are always
f.7ne.abe-ing the man. the personality hehlnd
The learned judge. Indeed, the learning ana lhe
indiclaI authority are disclosed, so TO say, be
tween the lines The reader Is chiefly aware OF
IN eulearing voice. pausing gently and with a
KIND OF gracious wit upon a pleasing theme.
Literature in the hands of this critic is moth
.-s il not pleasing. a thing 10 love, q thing for
ideal lovaties Anatole France is, in his cpl
grean way. the slave OF beauty, and it is sug
aestiye to observe that among the twenty-five
OF thirty subjects treated in this volume there
.~. few which involve meditation ugliness.
Y,t he is the last man IN the world to shirk his
Obligations. l. conceive OF criticism as only a
e.-t # selfish daIliance among di1ettante inter
ests When il is necessary for him 10 speak out
h. does 50 with exhilaratins directness and
Read MS SCOrINllS CnaTIef on La
Te-re-: a chapter all the more terrible for NJ.
Zsla because i Is written with such exquisite
url,arity. Remark too his castigation OF NJ.
Abel Hermant for the brutal falsity OF his mill
tary novel. lie Cavalier Niserey.' You see then
that Anacele France IS. among other things, d
patriot, an5 that not in any merely sentimental
sense. but t1ouz ltflIll- and manfully. He could
r.t le q fanatic II he tried. For the life OF him
he could nar Muse patriotism with the things
or the mind. Emotion saturates his intellect,
set never dominates il Hence an extraordinary
business about all his conclusions, hence
e--- d ----. Guon every statement that he
makes. s.e- when It is touched with the passion
= E---=L T.ae. for example, his damning cpl
-a-- upon E-Foleou's heartless c0nsoTt, Marie
L.-.ze Mediocre. though OF exalted
<.----e. sa- Was neither good nor bad, he says;
-zee belongs u the numberless flock Of those
r.-ld souls whom Heaven rejects and whom, as
tt- poet says, Hen Itself vonlits forth in dis
-.st." The words burn with a deadly scorn.
Who shan say that they were undeserved, that
tley denote lapse Of critical judgment?
w hate glanced more particularly at the
.-Iler stun IL the criticism Of Anatoe France
because It is interesting 70 recall that this fas
t5.eGs seeker after beauty is nevertheless
...a I thoroughly masculine and powerful in
-.-ae- Bat i we rejoice in his essays il is,
above an. for the play in them OF mind bent
uIon high. enkindng things. The temptation