The New York herald., 1921-02-20

first and last literary god Flaubert.
master of orchestral prose Read the
glowing pages on this author in over
tones" He begins:
'"The maker of a great style, a lyric
poet, who selected as an instrument the
other harmony of prose. a master OF
| characterization and the creator of inn
| perishab bic volumes. Gustave Flaubert Is
indeed the Beethoven of French prose.
A little further on we come to the kernel
Of the matter.
"Flaubert was above all q musician, a
poet. The ear was his final court of APP
peal. and to make sonorous cadences in
language that lacks essential richness
lit is without the great diapasonic
undertow of the glo-SaXon-was just
short of the miraculous. Until Chateau
brands and Victor Hugos time the
French tongue was rather a formal pat
tern than a plastic, liquid collocation of
sounds They blazed the path for Flau-
bert, and he. with almost Spartan re-
straint and logical mind, made the Ian
guage richer, more flexible, more musl-
CAL polished and precise"
The parenthetic reference to the SUI
perority of English as medium for
| prose lyricism is the betrayal of Mr..
! Huneker's secret aspiration. Flauberts
achievement in compelling French prose
to sing might at least be equalled, II not
surpassed. In reading many of Mr..
Huneker's pages one cannot escape the
conviction that he gloried in the power
to treat the English tongue not merely
as an instrument but rather as an or
chestra What gorgeous effects of tone
color, of clashing and mingling an1
changing vocal timbres, Of subtly sug.
gested harmonies even linguistic fugues,
his writings contain. The chaste smpli-
city and cool sculpturesque quality of
Bunyan were not for him., The Doric
order was too severe for his Venetian
spirit. Even Corinthian elegance was in
| sufficient for his needs. Form and pat
terms fell short of his ardent desires.
There must be color, rich, luxuriant,
luscious.
The eager search after new revela
tions and the Unsuitable appetite for
splendor in prose were the moving forces
of Mr. Huneker's art. These two i'm
pulses of his mind. incessant and ire
sistible, drove him through the whole
field Of the seven arts and through vol
une after volume OF sensuous word
music Taking him all in all. he was
unique personality In the critical world.
and his intellectual vitality made Itself
felt wherever art was discussed His
books have permanent worth because of
the vast amount of information con-
tanned in them about artists, literary.
graphlc. theatrical. musical. They VIII
live as a record Of our time. and doubt
less many future readers viii be moved
10 something like ecstasy as we have
been, by the intoxication of his enthu-
sIasms and their rhapsodic expression.
Sylvester Rawling. who wrote music
comments for the EUenin0 World ana
who I'm Just weeks time Followed MS
colleague Of the morning paper into the
silence. was not a student of music or
a musician. He was a newspaper man
OF large general training. He had done
about everything in the business Years
ago. while serving as makeup editor ol
the EroninO World. he felt that the
paper was behind the time In that y
had no musical department. He mace
a plea with the managing editor for the
establishment of one and the reply was
"why don't you do 1t yourself2
For several years MIR. Rawling wrote
reports of musical doings while continu-
ing TO make up the paper Finally the
duties of musical recorder became go
onerous that he gave up the other work
and devoted himself entirely 60 music.
Ry continual attendance at musical per-
formanccs and his sincere devotion 10
the art he cultivated knowledge, taste
and discrimination. He was one OF the
most conscientious laborers IN the field.
He covered pretty nearly everything
that went on and often kept at work
when he was so III that he ought TO have
been in bed.
For years past his health had been
bad and what he suffered none or MS
friends knew for Mr.. Rawling never
was without a smile. never pessimistic
in manner. always hearty cheerful and
full Of courage As one Of the pallbear-
ers he followed Mr.. Huneker's body on
Sunday last. He was at work on Mon
day He was stricken with his last heart
/ attack--he had had many--early Tues
day morning. and went TO rest on
Wednesday His bllthe personality viii
be greatly missed by tho men who
worked so long beside him.