The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-07-20
"rhe Pntho. of pistance.p

With tho unerring instinct OF the
man skilled In tho writing OF heads.
Mr.. Hunckcr has chosen an cye-ar-
resting phrase as tho tito to his latest
volume OF essays.
Nietzsche formulated the expression
and Mr.. Huneker employs it and
clucidates It by way OF Introducing tho
subject OF one OF his essays He says;
distance lends pathos. bathcs In rosy
entertainments the simplest events OF n
mean past: is tho painter. IN word,
who. with skilful. consolins touches
DISCUSSES all that was sordid IN our
youth. all that once mortified or dis
rusted. and bridges the inequality of
man and man. And TO our recollection
Of favorlte actors and actresses, tho
subconsciousness, in the dark room OF
which are stored NIL tho old negatives
OF on. life, adds glow that Is posi-
lively fasCinatnE.
whereupon he reviews IN this essay
all the Violas that he has seen, Mrs.
Siddons, Ellen Terry, Fanny DaNen-
port. Marie Wainwright. Helena Mod
teska Ada Rehan, Julia Mariowe. Viola
Allen and Edith Wynne Matthison Win
ke.r illuminating comment upon the
accomplishment and failure of each,
and. remembering the Nietzschcan
thought when he decides that Miss
Matthison Is mot a great Viola he
wh!m s!cally smiles. Again. YOU VIII
say. the pathos OF distance"
Rut II is not the pathos OF distance
re, lends cnchantment to greater
mart Of the book. Several of the essays,
II ,s true, relate 10 people and Things
tina, have faded into comparative on
SECURITY. but even those are reViFlne"
by the sparkle OF Mr. Hunckers rare
stvle arc made to live anew, to-day,
,,.nI1a the others treat OF things as
modern as strauss and Puccini have
yet dared 20 be. 49,
The mere words ESSAY and treat
have tendency to cause the Man IN
the street TO shy from book to which
they may be applied but If the Man IN
ne street who has other thoughts
than the street Itself allows his In
stinctive impulse to Tighten him away
from Tho Pathos Of Distance, IL Is
he who will be the loser. not the essay
True. in the fifteen essays OF which
The hook Is composed there Is much
that is caviare to the general. and, IN
decd only reader of exceptionally
wide and deep culture could walk Ia
r,iliarly with the author through every
moment of this Book Of Thousand
and one Moments" as he has APPLY de-
ecriben II. but, on the other hand, there
Is much that of necessity. must please
the million.
Remember that James Hunekcr Is a
famous music critic, dramatic critic
ar, critic and litterateur; that he has
lived more than nifty years. and has
lived Thorn fully; that he has read
much. seen much. heard much both in
THIS country and in England and on
the Continent: that he has retained
in his capacious memory most OF Wh"t
he has read. seen and heard, ana that
in this volume Of some $50 pages lie
talks about the theatre. music. art
books and those who represent them
upou the heights in n style that is
vivid piquant, epigrammatic and
coruscatinr. Then shuddcr. II you can
at the thought OF essays"
li.s mrs, chapter is devoted frankly
to tho purcst story tener's account OF
his last meeting With that rare, clair
voyant soul. Villicrs de llsle Adam
follows then "A sympathetic. yet clear
and judicious, opinion OF The Later
George Moore then a recounting OF
q tragic "Half-Forgotten Komance.
and what is doubtless tho most gen
orally interesting chapter in the vol
une. The Real Isolde
with no kindly hand. no draws
striking picture OF Wagner. the IL
tanLc musician, and Wagner, the
wretcned cad. Nor Is he enthusiastic
over the Lady Of Bayrcuth; Frau
Cosima seems rather to set his teeth
on .dge He quotes from letter
written by Wagner TO M3thildc Yves
endonck in which the musician says
THAT should have written Tristan
owe TO you. end thank for AL
eternity from me bottom u my heart
and lie lauvhs ii the later pretcnsions
put forward by Wagner and his fol
lowers. including Fran Cosima, whom
he took from his friend, Won Buoiow
that TO Coslma his well beloved, h.
owed ali And In doing so,' remarks
Mr. Hunckcr airly in passing, "h'
was only as human as the rest OF
his seN-inc last Woman usually
counts most in tho life OF q man, this
natural fac, possibly gave birth Z
the proverb about straws on the bach
or camels."
''Unmoral. reckless. consumed by th'
iottiest OF IDEALS. showing aside al
that opposed hIm, breaking fatth viii
man and woman alike turning HI!
sorrows into passionate song, vain
gloriuus and cowardly. lustful an'
outrageous for his ideal. always keep
ing his star in view, he was kin l.
Cclim AVID he was kin TO Goethe
Thus Mr Huneker describes K!char'
Wagner. and then proves him over
more hideous by convincing argu
IitNl AHA1' ia c'"'' W N''''"-'7'' 80
that he was the son Of man o
talent. he sought to nlackcn the nam
of his mother The author declare
that Nietzschc and Felix Motu bot
asserted that. before Wagncrs auto
biography had been edited by Bay
reuth, its nrst line had read: II al
the son Of Ludwig Geyer"
Lesser figures appear in the kaloido
ecopic pages OF the book whistle
%ra-isec picasSo Chatcauhriand i"Ih
Eternal Philanderer" Mr. Huneker call
this universal lover). Yeats, Syng
Maeteilinck, and dozens Of others.
Many poets. artists and musicians AZ
merely touched upon IN the chaptc
The Artist and His WIFE" in which b
reaches the conclusion that the scal'