New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-10-12

letter to scores Of others like 1t is pres
emily 10 acquire full and enriching
sense of a greatly loving and greatly
lovable heart. 1t is. we believe, In
their revelation Of Merediths profound
tenderness that the letters will do most
TO enlarge his circle. There was moth
ing Of the mere sentimentalist about
him. That there was hard metal in
him is clear from his sons brief note
on his separation from his first wife:
Two highly strung temperaments-
man and wife-each imaginative, emo
tional, quick TO anger, cuttingly satiri-
cal in dispute, each an incompatible
wielder Of the rapier of ridicule, could
not find domestic content within the
narrow bounds Of poverty and lodg-
ings." But this increases instead OF
diminishing our belief in his capacity
for passion, his warm sincerity, his
quickness in feeling his way to the
root Of things. 1t is good to follow him
in his family life, to observe the hearth
ness Of the parental instinct in him,
and it is good to be with him in his
dealings with his friends. For infec-
tious high spirits 1t would be hard to
beat his letters to William Hartman.
letters fairly boyish in their fun. And
through 1t all the reader Is every now
and then catching glimpses Of the nov
elist exercising his function.
There is an early hint in one Of his
letters to Mrs. Ross Of the origins Of
his work. Writing to her Of book he
has in hand, he says: II gave you
once. sitting on the mound over Cops
ham, an outline Of the real story 1t is
taken from. OF course. one does not
follow out real stories; and this has
simply suggested Emilia to me-" He
used the suggestion according to his
own genius, but the suggestion was
pretty nearly indispensable. To DR..
Jessop he writes Of his poems, and
says:
One result OF my hard education 9. 4.
has been that ! rarely write save from
served. l mean, that l rarely write verse
Thus my Jugglers. Beggars. etc, l have
met on the road, and have localized but
slightly i desire to strike the poetic
In doing so l have the fancy that I do
solid work-hetter than carol In midair.
The letters, IL not precisely full Of
life, are full Of his instinct for 1t, which
spurs him in his rhapsodies on nat
ure, crops out in his few references to
religious matters, gives kind of tang
to all his excursions among every
day human relations, and commune
Gates a throbbing energy to his not In
frequent criticism, His criticism, we
may add, is all compact OF his candor
and his gusto for men and women as
they are. There are many instances
which II would be interesting to cite.
But we must be content with this
letter to his friend Maxse. on Tenny-
son:
The Holy Grail" is wonderful, isn't II
The lines are satin lengths, the figures
Sevres china. / have not the courage TO
things. To think Its in these days that
the foremost poet OF the country goes on
fiuting OF creatures that have not
breath OF vital humanity In them, and
doles us out his regular fve-feet with the
old trick OF the vowel endings-The
Euphuist's tongue, the Exquisite's leg. the
Curates moral sentiments, the British
matron and her daughters purity Of tone;
so he talks. so he walks, so he sDuffies,
30 he appears divine. / repeat with my
Grannam,---to thlnkl--and TO hear the
chorus Of praise, too! Why. this stuff is
not the Muse, it's Nursery. The man has
got hold OF the Muses. clothes-line and
hung II with jewelry.
But the "Lucretius" is grand. can't
say how much ! admire II and hate the
Sir Pandarus public which has corrupted
this fine (naturap singer In his de-
graded state ! really believe he is useful
for he reflects as much as our Society
chooses to show Of Itself. The English
notion OF passion. virtue. valour. Is In
his pages, and the air and the dress we
assume are seen there. turn TO Rabelais
and Montaigne with relief. See what
gentleman Boccaccio Is in his narration,