The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-02-08
SOME NEW BOOKS.



rssShy" Is upon the whole less impor-
tant than the impression he made upon
nis contemporaries. which continues
St.ll for four years after his death.
There Is not one Of his books Of which
The general reader can fairly be
charged with knowledge perhaps
excepting the posthunously collected
and published "reminiscences" doubt
,,ss the most interesting and not far
rom the most Instructive OF them all.
That Is no exception to the rule that
an autobiography cannot he dull. All
tho same II IL written with so dry a
reserve and In so impersonal tone
that II does not greatly help the reader
who wishes to know about Goodwin
Smith the man. AS to personal rcvela-
lions, you may say that II Is too Oxo-
nian. Last year. however. appeared
the selection from his correspondence
made and edited by his literary eXecu-
tor who had been his literary secretary
and assistant for many years. This
was duly reviewed in these columns.
and gave a high notion of the cxecu-
tors capacity for his delicate task. And
now comes, from the same hand. Cold
apin Smith, His Life and Opinions, by
ARNOLD HAULrAiN (Dufficld & Company.
The volume consists in great part OF
Conversations and Comments" made
by the editor. though there liz subjoined
to Il, under the title OF ~. s. Notes"
t3mith's own journal Of his first visit
to America, made in 1864. This Is OF
an interest very minor to the main
themo. The notes are mere memo
randa made. apparently, for the note
takers own Subsequent use and never
elaborated into anything suitable for
publication. That Is a pity. The visit
Of such a man as Goodwin Smith, HIM
self differing from the majority OF
DnGlishmen OF his own class in being
= Sympathizer with the cause OF the
Union, in such a time as that II his
visit, when that cause was pretty clearly
destined to succeed when the begin
ming OF the end had arrived and the
end was plainly In view. ought to have
iss,,ed in something very interesting
and suggestive. II he had taken the
trouble to put his observations into
puolicaJbie form. TT appears that hs
met everybody. political and literary
whom he cared to meet, and 1t Is OBJ
scurely intimated that many Of then
walked to him without reserve. Onl,
t does not appear either what the!
said or what he thought Of what the!
said.
The book properly begins with his
second visit to America. which was The
beginning of his lifelong repatriation
Probably il was a mistake for his fame
certainly Il was a mistake for his in
aueuce. 4 brief exile. like that "
riough. would have done an Oxfor'
Ion no harm. and might have broad
med his outlook. But an emigration
was another matter. Why did he de
%? His own explanation, given In th'
"Reminiscences" and the letters. vas
very simple. almost too simple. as most
readers OF IL have felt, and as his pres
ent editor feels. It was that havini
resigned the regius professorship o
history at Oxford. the goal Of mis- AGA
denIic ambition. in order 10 look attel
an incurabiy invalid and OCCASIONAL,
insane father. when death came to enc
lis fathers suffer,ncs and his own an
s!avement ne fell in with President
Andrew n. White, then in quest o
scholars 20 take professorships AT III,
yet unopened Cornell University. an,
was taken by the proposal that h,
should teach history there II WIS no
Tor the salary. for he had ample pr!
vate means. and bequeathed back 4
che university at his death much NOR,
chan he had ever received from It IL
his lifetime. II was for the opportu
nifty But the opportunity he aban
Toned after a few years. so far as bein.
regular teacher went. hetook himsel
across the border, married a wife (,
Toronto. as he had omitted TO do II
England. and spent the remainder o
waters what lie believed to be the truth
and running pretty persistently coun
ter to the opinions and prejudices o
his immediate fellow citizens in Can
ada II does not seem that there wa
any want OF welcome awaiting him a
Oxford. IL he had chosen to seek i;
He was in fact offered the mastershi
Of University College. lie might hay
become don, and a high class Jour
nalist. as he had been In the days whel
the editor OF tho Old Saturday Rerie,
called him my most effective pen.
To be sure, his wife. whose connection
were all Canadian. would account 4
part for his refusal TO repatriate him
self in her lifetime. But ii seems the
the English atmosphere would hav
been far more congenal to him tina,
the American. and particularly tina,
tho Canadian. In the minds Of tn
men whose opinions he most value
no had thrown away a brilliant pros
poet after striking initial success
That was the opinion of the author c
"reminiscences Of oxford" ''Goldwi
Smith lowered above all his fellows q
undergraduate and bachelor. We a
saw in him the coming man: but h
married. settled in America and neve
came." Doubtless that was the Oxo
Man verdict. 1t Is we'll known tina
nothing is effectively done IN Englis
opinion unless Il is done In the BIRTHS
Islands. And IL was really Englis
opinion that was public opinion"
yhe exile until the end of his life
Mr. Haultain. as we have noted. find
the explanation Of his chiefs exile To
easy. and that the reasons for
were really many ana complex" II
devotes many pages to a detail of wTlt
ne supposes or infers them 10 HAY
been. The unhappy circumstances
his fathers death, which was by su
eide In a III OF insanity. were know
and published In England. and mu.
nave made his native island disagree,
able to a sensitive man and son. TIL
government OF England, still when h
eft 1t to all intents and purposes o
aristocratic as II no reform bill ha