New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1911-04-29
A Brilliant Example of the Art OF
Journalism.
ANGLO-AMERICAN MEMORIES. BY
George W. Smalley; Fronuspiece. "o
pp. tx, AL G. =. Putnam's Sons.


Ar Smalley observes that they are, In
some slight degree, autobiographical' ne
could not very we'll have written the let
ters TO The Tribune of which his volume
Is composed without bringing in his own
relation to the famous people whose
characteristics II has been his chief pur-
nose 10 portray. But. studied from
certain point of view. the book would III
any case draw attention to the anthor
for his own sake. Bringing together the
recollections and impressions with which
our readers have been made famiiiar
through successive Sundays in the last
wear or two. it demonstrates with weight
and briliancy the singular authority Oh
Mr.. Smalley as literary craftsman
Merely as contributions to current jour
nalisnn these chapters have a hlgh IN
terest
The writers of books who like to as
tineuish between the Journalist ana the
man NJ letters are wont TO base their
argument upon a distinction between 'ie
respective functions o. the two. 1hese'
of course. have next to nothing 10 90
with the matter The Journalist ap-
nroves himself man Of letters by the
simple processes Of exercising intellectual
power and writing well. Moreover dong
this. II is in his way TO leave his place III
the hierarchy Of the writing profession
10 take care of itself. The point is I'M
portant Spontaneity, a complete Tree
dom from circumstances, are lndis-
pensable to the best journalism. right
instinct. TO say nothing of the practical
conditions Of newspaper work, has al
ways led the journalist to reject the
Stevensonian ideal Of literary practlce'
Vitality. above all things, is essential 10
an article in a newspaper. and TINS is IN
peril when you begin too curiously to
consider the turning of a phrase. Inc
Journalist has peculiarly, no doubt the
temptation TO indulge in that heightened
and telling way Of stating things which,
81 we recollect Alright. Matthew Arnold
deprecated in Macaulay. 1t seems only
Yesterday that Mr.. Kipling had set
swarm of his imitators to the cultivation
If those staccato effects which reached
their extreme point Of development IN
the clever but specious writings or the
late G. w. Stevens. The maturest,
most finished masters of Journalism
must not infrequently grant themselves
something in the nature OF a purple
patch. or at all events a stroke of pictu-
resqueness, OF color. When Mr.. Smalley
describes in this volume how he came TO
meet Bismarck, in 1866. he says: For
the first time looked into the pale blue
ewes whence had flashed the lightnings
that had riven the power of Austria on
the field Of Sadowa." But we do not
need to cite the context TO show how the
letter in which this sentence occurs is
"all Of a piece" bit of portraiture into
which that almost romantic impression
makes its way quite naturally and with
absolute artistic fitness. In other words.
the gift of the Journalist is, as we have
said to use rich resources artlessly and
as belonging all in the days work. He
makes literature then. as it were. with
out knowing II, the way in which, after
all. most real literature is made. We
find an apt illustration in the first Of
Mi Smalley's chapters on the New Eng,
land notabilities of half century ago,
his chapter on Daniel Webster. He says:
When l heard Webster in Faneuil Hall,
where he was perhaps at his best and
most at home, II seemed TO me II mat
tered little what he said. The authority
Of the man was what told. Before he had
uttered word he had possession of the
minds Of the three thousand people VINO
for the words we knew would be words
OF wisdom.
Twice / have seen a similar effect by
very different artists. once by Rachel
a the Boston Theatre. as Camille in Cor
neile's Horace, when the mere appariuon
of that whte-robed figure and the first
rays from those deep-burning eyes laid
q spell on the audience. Not once but
many times. by Aimee Desclee, at the
Princess's Theatre in London and at the
Gymnase in Paris. OF her ] shall have
her now because she had that rarest of
gifts, the power OF gathering an audience
into her two small hands while still, silent
and motionless; and thereafter never let
ting them go In her II was perhaps a
magnetic force Of emotion, for she was
the greatest Of emotional actresses In
Webster it was the domination of an ir-
yosistible personality, with on unmatched
intellectual supremacy and the prestige
of an unequalled career.
Only born journalist could have writ
ten that We can fancy the plight OF
the grave historian asked to ponder his
impression OF Webster in the light Of q
performance by Rachel, and his humor-
less assertion that the thing would not
be possible. But how simply Mr.. Small
ley's parallel justifes itself, and how
much he gains by this entirely human
play Of experience and thought about
his theme! He has style wonderfully
suited TO his treatment Of subject, a
style OF notable clearness and simplicity
Its success is due in great part to the
fact that he always makes sure OF his
and infallibly knows what TO leave out
and when to stop. One would surmise
that he had been all his life a reader Of
Sainte-Veuve, whose Portraits" we
may add. his letters often recall. They
have much the same kind OF vividness
that belongs 10 the work of the great
French critic. the kind that is accompa-
MED by tact. measure. a suavity half
artistic and half worldly-wise. Indeed.
Mr. Smalley may be said to have
achieved the prodigiously difficult feat
Of fusing French delicacy Of taste and
touch with American vigor and direct
ness
IN the foregoing remarks stress has
deliberately been laid upon the way in
which Mr.. Smalleys work is done, for