New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-12-23
ARNOLD, English poet

/ i
M and literary critic, was born on
I've December "a, 1922, ninety-fiye
years ago tomorrow, at Laleham, in the
valley of the Thames. He died suddenly
Of heart disease on April 10, 1883, at
LIVERPOOL. He was a son of the famous
DR.. Thomas Arnold headmaster of Rugby,
and Winchester, Rugby and Balliol Col
lego. oxford, contributed their best tow
ard his education.
Calling attention to the fact that "A full
academic training has its disadvantages
as well as its gains" Theodore Watts
Dunton in a biographical sketch OF Arnold
makes the following comment:
"1o Arnold the waters Of life came dis
titled so carefully that the wonder is that ne
had anv originality left A member Of the
upper stratum Of that middle class when
he despised, or pretended to despise-the
eldest son Of one Of the most accomplished
as well as one of the most noble-tempered
men of his time-Arnold from the moment OF
his birth drank the finest distilled waters
that can be drunk even in these days. Per
haps, on the whole, the surprising thing Is
how little he suffered thereby"
After leaving Oxford, where he won q
scholarship and the Newdigate prize for
a poem on Cromwell, Arnold returned to
Rugby, where he taught for short time.
Two years later, 1S47, he was appointed
secretary to Lord Lansdowne, serving in
this position until 1851, when he was made
inspector Of schools. The inspectorship
he held for thirty-fve years.
/ Recognition of his worth as poet and
critic is to be found in his appointment
in 1857 as professor of poetry at Oxford.
/ Arnold, whose personality was always
/ somewhat Of a surprise to those who,
knowing his work, met him for the first
time, is described by Mr.. Watts-Dunton as
"a broad-shouldered, manly, almost burly
/ Englishman, with a fine countenance,
bronzed by the open air Of England,
wrinkled apparently by the sun, wind
worn as an English shippers, open and
frank as a fox-hunting squire's-and yet
a countenance whose finely chiselled feat
ures were as high-bred and as command
ing as Welington's or Sir Charles Ma
piers. The voice was deep-toned, fear
less, rich and frank, and yet modulated to
/ express every nudnce Of thought, every
movement of emotion and humor."
One of Arnold's notable essays pursues
the theme of democracy. It stands first
in a volume of Mixed Essays, published
by Macmillan, and reveals many interest
/ ing points Of character while outwardly
Analysing the Importance of the state and
the encroaching demands Of democracy
upon the long-intrenched aristocracy Of
the day in which Mr.. Arnold wrote.
The time, he thought, had arrived when
it was no longer possible for the aristoc-
racy Of England any longer to conduct and
WELD the English nation. A great change
had come upon the face of the national
life, and of it he writes as follows:
"This change has been brought about by
natural and inevitable causes, and neither
/ the great nor the multitude are TO be blamed
for it. The growing demands and audacious-
ness of the latter, the encroachng spirit OF
democracy, are, indeed, matters of loud COM
. pldIhJ WIN ooHe peiSoHS' DuC 'heoe per
sons are complaining Of human nature itself,
when they thus complain of a manifestation
OF its native and ineradicable impulse. Life
/ itself consists, say the philosophers, in the
effort to affirm ones own essence; meaning
by this, to develop ones own existence fully
and freely, to have ample light and air, TO be
neither cramped nor oyershadowed. DemOc-
/ racy is trying 70 affirm its own essence; to
| live, 10 enjoy, to possess the world, as aris-
tocracy has tried, and successfully tried, be-
/ fore It,. Ever since the condition of the
common people began a little to improve,
/ ever since their minds began to stir, this
! effort Of democracy has been gaining
strength, and the more their condition i'm
proves the more strength this effort gains.
SO potent is the charm of life and expansion
upon the living, the moment men are aware
! IL .hnrn thn.. Ln1.ir, L. Lncirn .-nr., La