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diff --git a/21272-h/21272-h.htm b/21272-h/21272-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..de86d6a --- /dev/null +++ b/21272-h/21272-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,7999 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /> + <title>The Bibliotaph and Other People, by Leon H. Vincent.</title> + <style type="text/css" media="screen"> + /*<![CDATA[*/ + + <!-- + /*General Document Styles*/ + body { font-family: Georgia, serif; margin: 0em 15%; } + p { line-height: 1.25em; margin:0em; text-align: justify; text-indent:1.75em;} + h1, h2, h3 { text-align: center; margin: 1em 0em; font-weight: normal; clear: both; } + + /*Page Number Styling*/ + .pagenum { position: absolute; left: 3%; right: 87%; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; color: gray; background-color: inherit; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-indent: 0em; } + a[title].pagenum:after { content: attr(title); } + + /*Frontmatter Styling*/ + #title_page { width: 90%; margin: 9em auto; } + #title {letter-spacing:.15em;} + #book_subtitle {font-size:1.75em;margin:1em 0em 2em 0em;} + #title_page p {text-indent:0em; text-align:center; line-height:1.25;} + .author {font-size:1.5em;margin:2em 0em;} + #device {display:block;margin:3em auto;} + .press, .dedication_emphasis {font-size:1.25em; font-family: "Lucida Blackletter", sans-serif;} + #copyright_page p {text-align:center;text-indent:0em;font-size:.8em;} + #dedication p {line-height:1.9;text-align:center;text-indent:0em;font-size:.9em;} + .dedicatee {font-size:1.25em;} + #authors_note {width:80%;margin:auto;} + #contents ul {list-style-type: none;margin-left:2em;} + #contents ul li {margin-bottom:.75em;text-indent:-1em;padding-left:1em;} + + + /*Sections and Essays Styling*/ + .section, .essay {margin:9em 0em;} + .first_word {font-variant:small-caps;} + .book_internal_title{font-size:2em;text-indent:0em;text-align:center;margin:5em 0em;} + .essay_title, .section_title {} + .essay_subtitle{margin:2em;} + .return_toc {font-size:.8em;text-align:right;margin:1.5em -15%;font-family:sans-serif;} + .emphasis {font-variant:small-caps;} + .verse {text-indent:0em;} + span.i10 {margin-left:5em;} + sup.note_marker {line-height:.9;} + .notes {width:80%;text-indent:0em;font-size:.9em;margin:2em auto;border:thin #bbb dashed;padding-right:1.5em;} + .notes p {text-indent:0em;} + .note_return {font-size: 10px; float:right;font-family:sans-serif;} + .notes li {margin-top:1em;} + .post_thoughtbreak {margin-top:2em;} + + /*Backmatter Styling*/ + #printers_page {font-size:.9em;} + #printers_page p {text-align:center; text-indent:0em; line-height:1;} + + /*The Beginning and The End*/ + #the_beginning { border-top: 2px gray solid; } + #the_end { padding: 3em 0em; border-bottom: 2px gray solid; } + + /*Link Styling*/ + a:link { text-decoration: none; } + a:visited { text-decoration: none; } + --> + + /*]]>*/ + </style> + + +</head> + +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Bibliotaph, by Leon H. Vincent + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Bibliotaph + and Other People + +Author: Leon H. Vincent + +Release Date: May 2, 2007 [EBook #21272] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BIBLIOTAPH *** + + + + +Produced by Barbara Tozier, Bill Tozier and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + <div id="the_beginning"> + + </div> + <div id="title_page"> + <h1 id="title">THE BIBLIOTAPH</h1> + <p id="book_subtitle">And Other People</p> + <p>BY</p> + <p class="author">LEON H. VINCENT</p> + <img src="images/device.png" width="154" height="202" alt="" id="device"/> + <p id="publish_info"><span class="publisher_city">BOSTON AND NEW YORK</span><br /> + <span class="publisher">HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY</span><br /> + <span class="press">The Riverside Press, Cambridge</span><br /> + <span class="published_date">1899</span> + </p> + </div> + <div id="copyright_page" class="section"> + <p id="copyright_statement">COPYRIGHT, 1898, BY LEON H. VINCENT</p> + <p id="rights_statement">ALL RIGHTS RESERVED</p> + </div> + <div id="dedication" class="section"> + <p>TO MY FATHER<br /> + <span class="dedicatee">THE REV. B. T. VINCENT, D.D.</span><br /> + THIS LITTLE VOLUME IS<br /> + <span class="dedication_emphasis">Dedicated</span><br /> + WITH LOVE AND ADMIRATION</p> + </div> + <div id="authors_note" class="section"> + <p><span class="first_word">Four</span> of these papers—the first Bibliotaph, and + the notes on Keats, Gautier, and Stevenson’s <i class="title">St. + Ives</i>—are reprinted from the <i class="title">Atlantic Monthly</i> by + the kind permission of the editor.</p> + + <p>I am also indebted to the literary editor of the + <i class="title">Springfield Republican</i> and to the editors of <i class="title">Poet-Lore</i>, + respectively, for allowing me to reprint the + paper on <i class="title">Thomas Hardy</i> and the lecture on <i class="title">An + Elizabethan Novelist</i>.</p> + </div> + <div id="contents" class="section"> + <h2 class="section_title">CONTENTS</h2> + <ul id="contents_list"> + <li><a href="#bibliotaph_1">THE BIBLIOTAPH: A PORTRAIT NOT WHOLLY IMAGINARY</a></li> + <li><a href="#bibliotaph_2">THE BIBLIOTAPH: HIS FRIENDS, SCRAP-BOOKS, AND ‘BINS’</a></li> + <li><a href="#bibliotaph_3">LAST WORDS ON THE BIBLIOTAPH</a></li> + <li><a href="#hardy">THOMAS HARDY</a></li> + <li><a href="#keats">A READING IN THE LETTERS OF JOHN KEATS</a></li> + <li><a href="#novelist">AN ELIZABETHAN NOVELIST</a></li> + <li><a href="#autobiography">THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A FAIR-MINDED MAN</a></li> + <li><a href="#waistcoat">CONCERNING A RED WAISTCOAT</a></li> + <li><a href="#vagabond">STEVENSON: THE VAGABOND AND THE PHILOSOPHER</a></li> + <li><a href="#st_ives">STEVENSON’S ST. IVES</a></li> + </ul> + </div> + <p class="book_internal_title"><a class="pagenum" id="page_1" title="1"></a>THE BIBLIOTAPH AND OTHER PEOPLE</p> + <div id="bibliotaph_1" class="essay"> + <h2 id="the_bibliotaph_a_portrait_not_wholly_imaginary">THE BIBLIOTAPH: A PORTRAIT NOT WHOLLY IMAGINARY</h2> + <p class="return_toc"><a href="#contents">Return to Contents</a></p> + <p><span class="first_word">A popular</span> and fairly orthodox opinion concerning + book-collectors is that their vices are + many, their virtues of a negative sort, and their + ways altogether past finding out. Yet the most + hostile critic is bound to admit that the fraternity + of bibliophiles is eminently picturesque. If + their doings are inscrutable, they are also romantic; + if their vices are numerous, the heinousness + of those vices is mitigated by the fact that + it is possible to sin humorously. Regard him + how you will, the sayings and doings of the collector + give life and color to the pages of those + books which treat of books. He is amusing + when he is purely an imaginary creature. For + example, there was one Thomas Blinton. Every + one who has ever read the volume called <i class="title">Books + and Bookmen</i> knows about Thomas Blinton. + He was a man who wickedly adorned his volumes + with morocco bindings, while his wife + <a class="pagenum" id="page_2" title="2"></a>‘sighed in vain for some old <i lang="fr">point d’Alençon + lace</i>.’ He was a man who was capable of bidding + fifteen pounds for a Foppens edition of + the essays of Montaigne, though fifteen pounds + happened to be ‘exactly the amount which + he owed his plumber and gas-fitter, a worthy + man with a large family.’ From this fictitious + Thomas Blinton all the way back to Richard + Heber, who was very real, and who piled up + books as other men heap together vulgar riches, + book-collectors have been a picturesque folk.</p> + + <p>The name of Heber suggests the thought + that all men who buy books are not bibliophiles. + He alone is worthy the title who acquires his + volumes with something like passion. One may + buy books like a gentleman, and that is very + well. One may buy books like a gentleman and + a scholar, which counts for something more. + But to be truly of the elect one must resemble + Richard Heber, and buy books like a gentleman, + a scholar, and a madman.</p> + + <p>You may find an account of Heber in an old + file of <i class="title">The Gentleman’s Magazine</i>. He began + in his youth by making a library of the classics. + Then he became interested in rare English + books, and collected them <i lang="it">con amore</i> for thirty + years. He was very rich, and he had never + given hostages to fortune; it was therefore possible + for him to indulge his fine passion without + stint. He bought only the best books, and he + bought them by thousands and by tens of thousands. + <a class="pagenum" id="page_3" title="3"></a>He would have held as foolishness that + saying from the Greek which exhorts one to + do nothing too much. According to Heber’s + theory, it is impossible to have too many good + books. Usually one library is supposed to be + enough for one man. Heber was satisfied only + with eight libraries, and then he was hardly + satisfied. He had a library in his house at + Hodnet. ‘His residence in Pimlico, where he + died, was filled, like Magliabecchi’s at Florence, + with books from the top to the bottom; every + chair, every table, every passage containing + piles of erudition.’ He had a house in York + Street which was crowded with books. He had + a library in Oxford, one at Paris, one at Antwerp, + one at Brussels, and one at Ghent. The + most accurate estimate of his collections places + the number at 146,827 volumes. Heber is believed + to have spent half a million dollars for + books. After his death the collections were dispersed. + The catalogue was published in twelve + parts, and the sales lasted over three years.</p> + + <p>Heber had a witty way of explaining why he + possessed so many copies of the same book. + When taxed with the sin of buying duplicates + he replied in this manner: ‘Why, you see, sir, + no man can comfortably do without <em>three</em> copies + of a book. One he must have for his show + copy, and he will probably keep it at his country + house; another he will require for his own + use and reference; and unless he is inclined to + <a class="pagenum" id="page_4" title="4"></a>part with this, which is very inconvenient, or + risk the injury of his best copy, he must needs + have a third at the service of his friends.’</p> + + <p>In the pursuit of a coveted volume Heber + was indefatigable. He was not of those Sybaritic + buyers who sit in their offices while + agents and dealers do the work. ‘On hearing + of a curious book he has been known to put + himself into the mail-coach, and travel three, + four, or five hundred miles to obtain it, fearful + to trust his commission to a letter.’ He knew + the solid comfort to be had in reading a book + catalogue. Dealers were in the habit of sending + him the advance sheets of their lists. He + ordered books from his death-bed, and for anything + we know to the contrary died with a catalogue + in his fingers.</p> + + <p>A life devoted to such a passion is a stumbling-block + to the practical man, and to the + Philistine foolishness. Yet you may hear men + praised because up to the day of death they + were diligent in business,—business which + added to life nothing more significant than that + useful thing called money. Thoreau used to + say that if a man spent half his time in the + woods for the love of the woods he was in danger + of being looked upon as a loafer; but if he + spent all his time as a speculator, shearing off + those woods and making Earth bald before her + time, he was regarded as an upright and industrious + citizen.</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page_5" title="5"></a>Heber had a genius for friendship as well as + for gathering together choice books. Sir Walter + Scott addressed verses to him. Professor Porson + wrote emendations for him in his favorite + copy of <i class="title">Athenæus</i>. To him was inscribed Dr. + Ferrier’s poetical epistle on Bibliomania. His + virtues were celebrated by Dibdin and by Burton. + In brief, the sketch of Heber in The<i class="title"> + Gentleman’s Magazine</i> for January, 1834, contains + a list of forty-six names,—all men of distinction + by birth, learning, or genius, and all + men who were proud to call Richard Heber + friend. He was a mighty hunter of books. He + was genial, scholarly, generous. Out-of-door + men will be pleased to know that he was active + physically. He was a tremendous walker, + and enjoyed tiring out his bailiff by an all-day + tramp.</p> + + <p>Of many good things said of him this is one + of the best: ‘The learned and curious, whether + rich or poor, have always free access to his + library.’ Thus was it possible for Scott very + truthfully to say to Heber, ‘Thy volumes open + as thy heart.’</p> + + <p>No life of this Prince of Book-Hunters has + been written, I believe. Some one with access + to the material, and a sympathy with the love + of books as books, should write a memoir of + Heber the Magnificent. It ought not to be a + large volume, but it might well be about the + size of Henry Stevens’s <i class="title">Recollections of James</i> + <a class="pagenum" id="page_6" title="6"></a><i class="title">Lenox</i>. And if it were equally readable it were + a readable book indeed.</p> + + <p>Dibdin thought that Heber’s tastes were so + catholic as to make it difficult to classify him + among hunters of books. The implication is + that most men can be classified. They have + their specialties. What pleases one collector + much pleases another but little or not at all. + Collectors differ radically in the attitude they + take with respect to their volumes. One man + buys books to read, another buys them to gloat + over, a third that he may fortify them behind + glass doors and keep the key in his pocket. + Therefore have learned words been devised to + make apparent the varieties of motive and taste. + These words begin with <em>biblio</em>; you may have + a <em>biblio</em> almost anything.</p> + + <p>Two interesting types of maniac are known + respectively as the bibliotaph and the biblioclast. + A biblioclast is one who indulges himself + in the questionable pleasure of mutilating + books in order more sumptuously to fit out a + particular volume. The disease is English in + origin, though some of the worst cases have + been observed in America. Clergymen and + presidents of colleges have been known to be + seized with it. The victim becomes more or + less irresponsible, and presently runs mad. + Such an one was John Bagford, of diabolical + memory, who mutilated not less than ten thousand + volumes to form his vast collection of title-pages. + <a class="pagenum" id="page_7" title="7"></a>John Bagford died an unrepentant sinner, + lamenting with one of his later breaths + that he could not live long enough to get hold + of a genuine Caxton and rip the initial page out + of that.</p> + + <p>The bibliotaph buries books; not literally, + but sometimes with as much effect as if he had + put his books underground. There are several + varieties of him. The dog-in-the-manger bibliotaph + is the worst; he uses his books but little + himself, and allows others to use them not at + all. On the other hand, a man may be a + bibliotaph simply from inability to get at his + books. He may be homeless, a bachelor, a + denizen of boarding-houses, a wanderer upon + the face of the earth. He may keep his books + in storage or accumulate them in the country, + against the day when he shall have a town + house with proper library.</p> + + <p>The most genial lover of books who has + walked city streets for many a day was a bibliotaph. + He accumulated books for years in + the huge garret of a farmhouse standing upon + the outskirts of a Westchester County village. + A good relative ‘mothered’ the books for him + in his absence. When the collection outgrew + the garret it was moved into a big village store. + It was the wonder of the place. The country + folk flattened their noses against the panes and + tried to peer into the gloom beyond the half-drawn + shades. The neighboring stores were + <a class="pagenum" id="page_8" title="8"></a>in comparison miracles of business activity. On + one side was a harness-shop; on the other a + nondescript establishment at which one might + buy anything, from sunbonnets and corsets to + canned salmon and fresh eggs. Between these + centres of village life stood the silent tomb for + books. The stranger within the gates had this + curiosity pointed out to him along with the new + High School and the Soldiers’ Monument.</p> + + <p>By shading one’s eyes to keep away the glare + of the light, it was possible to make out tall + carved oaken cases with glass doors, which + lined the walls. They gave distinction to the + place. It was not difficult to understand the + point of view of the dressmaker from across + the way who stepped over to satisfy her curiosity + concerning the stranger, and his concerning + the books, and who said in a friendly manner as + she peered through a rent in the adjoining + shade, ‘It’s almost like a cathedral, ain’t it?’</p> + + <p>To an inquiry about the owner of the books + she replied that he was brought up in that + county; that there were people around there + who said that he had been an exhorter years + ago; her impression was that now he was a + ‘political revivalist,’ if I knew what that was.</p> + + <p>The phrase seemed hopeless, but light was + thrown upon it when, later, I learned that this + man of many buried books gave addresses upon + the responsibilities of citizenship, upon the + higher politics, and upon themes of like character. + <a class="pagenum" id="page_9" title="9"></a>They said that he was humorous. The + farmers liked to hear him speak. But it was + rumored that he went to colleges, too. The + dressmaker thought that the buying of so many + books was ‘wicked.’ ‘He goes from New York + to Beersheba, and from Chicago to Dan, buying + books. Never reads ’em because he hardly + ever comes here.’</p> + + <p>It became possible to identify the Bibliotaph + of the country store with a certain mature + youth who some time since ‘gave his friends + the slip, chose land-travel or seafaring,’ and has + not returned to build the town house with + proper library. They who observed him closely + thought that he resembled Heber in certain + ways. Perhaps this fact alone would justify an + attempt at a verbal portrait. But the additional + circumstance that, in days when people with + the slightest excuse therefor have themselves + regularly photographed, this old-fashioned youth + refused to allow his ‘likeness’ to be taken,—this + circumstance must do what it can to extenuate + minuteness of detail in the picture, as + well as over-attention to points of which a + photograph would have taken no account.</p> + + <p>You are to conceive of a man between thirty-eight + and forty years of age, big-bodied, rapidly + acquiring that rotund shape which is thought + becoming to bishops, about six feet high though + stooping a little, prodigiously active, walking + with incredible rapidity, having large limbs, + <a class="pagenum" id="page_10" title="10"></a>large feet, large though well-shaped and very + white hands; in short, a huge fellow physically, + as big of heart as of body, and, in the affectionate + thought of those who knew him best, as big + of intellect as of heart.</p> + + <p>His head might be described as leonine. It + was a massive head, covered with a tremendous + mane of brown hair. This was never worn + long, but it was so thick and of such fine texture + that it constituted a real beauty. He had + no conceit of it, being innocent of that peculiar + German type of vanity which runs to hair, yet + he could not prevent people from commenting + on his extraordinary hirsute adornment. Their + occasional remarks excited his mirth. If they + spoke of it again, he would protest. Once, + among a small party of his closest friends, the + conversation turned upon the subject of hair, + and then upon the beauty of <em>his</em> hair; whereupon + he cried out, ‘I am embarrassed by this + unnecessary display of interest in my Samsonian + assertiveness.’</p> + + <p>He loved to tease certain of his acquaintances + who, though younger than himself, were rapidly + losing their natural head-covering. He prodded + them with ingeniously worded reflections + upon their unhappy condition. He would take + as a motto Erasmus’s unkind salutation, ‘Bene + sit tibi cum tuo calvitio,’ and multiply amusing + variations upon it. He delighted in sending + them prescriptions and advertisements clipped + <a class="pagenum" id="page_11" title="11"></a>from newspapers and medical journals. He + quoted at them the remark of a pale, bald, + blond young literary aspirant, who, seeing him, + the Bibliotaph, passing by, exclaimed audibly + and almost passionately, ‘Oh, I perfectly adore + <em>hair</em>!’</p> + + <p>Of his clothes it might be said that he did + not wear them, but rather dwelt at large in + them. They were made by high-priced tailors + and were fashionably cut, but he lived in them + so violently—that is, traveled so much, walked + so much, sat so long and so hard, gestured so + earnestly, and carried in his many pockets such + an extraordinary collection of notebooks, indelible + pencils, card-cases, stamp-boxes, penknives, + gold toothpicks, thermometers, and what not—that + within twenty-four hours after he had + donned new clothes all the artistic merits of the + garments were obliterated; they were, from + every point of view, hopelessly degenerate.</p> + + <p>He was a scrupulously clean man, but there + was a kind of civilized wildness in his appearance + which astonished people; and in perverse + moments he liked to terrify those who knew + him but little by affirming that he was a near + relative of Christopher Smart, and then explaining + in mirth-provoking phrases that one of + the arguments used for proving Smart’s insanity + was that he did not love clean linen.</p> + + <p>His appetite was large, as became a large and + active person. He was a very valiant trencher-man; + <a class="pagenum" id="page_12" title="12"></a>and yet he could not have been said to + love eating for eating’s sake. He ate when he + was hungry, and found no difficulty in being + hungry three times a day. He should have + been an Englishman, for he enjoyed a late supper. + In the proper season this consisted of + a bountiful serving of tomatoes, cucumbers, + onions, with a glass of lemonade. As a variant + upon the beverage he took milk. He was the + only man I have known, whether book-hunter + or layman, who could sleep peacefully upon a + supper of cucumbers and milk.</p> + + <p>There is probably no occult relation between + first editions and onions. The Bibliotaph was + mightily pleased with both: the one, he said, + appealed to him æsthetically, the other dietetically. + He remarked of some particularly large + Spanish onions that there was ‘a globular + wholesomeness about them which was very + gratifying;’ and after eating one he observed + expansively that he felt ‘as if he had swallowed + the earth and the fullness thereof.’ His easy, + good-humored exaggerations and his odd comments + upon the viands made him a pleasant + table companion: as when he described a Parker + House Sultana Roll by saying that ‘it + looked like the sanguinary output of the whole + Crimean war.’</p> + + <p>High-priced restaurants did not please him + as well as humbler and less obtrusive places. + But it was all one,—Delmonico’s, the Bellevue, + <a class="pagenum" id="page_13" title="13"></a>a stool in the Twelfth Street Market, or a + German café on Van Buren Street. The humors + of certain eating-houses gave him infinite + delight. He went frequently to the Diner’s + Own Home, the proprietor of which, being + both cook and Christian, had hit upon the + novel plan of giving Scriptural advice and practical + suggestions by placards on the walls. The + Bibliotaph enjoyed this juxtaposition of signs: + the first read, ‘The very God of peace sanctify + you wholly;’ the second, ‘Look out for your + Hat and Coat.’</p> + + <p>The Bibliotaph had no home, and was reputed + to live in his post-office box. He contributed + to the support of at least three clubs, + but was very little seen at any one of them. + He enjoyed the large cities, and was contented + in whichever one he happened to find himself. + He was emphatically a city man, but what city + was of less import. He knew them all, and + was happy in each. He had his favorite hotel, + his favorite bath, his work, bushels of newspapers + and periodicals, friends who rejoiced in + his coming as children in the near advent of + Christmas, and finally book-shops in which to + browse at his pleasure. It was interesting to + hear him talk about city life. One of his quaint + mannerisms consisted in modifying a well-known + quotation to suit his conversational + needs. ‘Why, sir,’ he would remark, ‘Fleet + Street has a very animated appearance, but I + <a class="pagenum" id="page_14" title="14"></a>think the full tide of human existence is at the + corner of Madison and State.’</p> + + <p>His knowledge of cities was both extensive + and peculiar. I have heard him name in order + all the hotels on Broadway, beginning at the + lower end and coming up as far as hotels exist, + branching off upon the parallel and cross + streets where there were noted caravansaries, + and connecting every name with an event of + importance, or with the life and fortunes of + some noted man who had been guest at that + particular inn. This was knowledge more becoming + in a guide, perhaps, but it will illustrate + the encyclopædic fullness of his miscellaneous + information.</p> + + <p>As was natural and becoming in a man born + within forty miles of the metropolis, he liked + best the large cities of the East, and was least + content in small Western cities. But this was + the outcome of no illiberal prejudice, and there + was a quizzical smile upon his lips and a teasing + look in his eyes when he bantered a Westerner. + ‘A man,’ he would sometimes say, + ‘may come by the mystery of childbirth into + Omaha or Kansas City and be content, but he + can’t come by Boston, New York, or Philadelphia.’ + Then, a moment later, paraphrasing his + remark, he would add, ‘To go to Omaha or + Kansas City by way of New York and Philadelphia + is like being translated heavenward + with such violence that one <em>passes through</em>—into + a less comfortable region!’</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page_15" title="15"></a>Strange to say, the conversation of this most + omnivorous of book-collectors was less of books + than of men. True, he was deeply versed in + bibliographical details and dangerously accurate + in his talk about them, but, after all, the personality + back of the book was the supremely + interesting thing. He abounded in anecdote, + and could describe graphically the men he had + met, the orators he had heard, the occasions of + importance where he had been an interested + spectator. His conversation was delightfully + fresh and racy because of the vividness of the + original impressions, the unusual force of the + ideas which were the copies of these impressions, + and the fine artistic sense which enabled + him to determine at once what points should + be omitted, and what words should be used + most fittingly to express the ideas retained.</p> + + <p>He had no pride in his conversational power. + He was always modest, but never diffident. I + have seen him sit, a respectful listener, absolutely + silent, while some ordinary chatterer held + the company’s attention for an hour. Many + good talkers are unhappy unless they have the + privilege of exercising their gifts. Not so he. + Sometimes he had almost to be compelled to + begin. On such occasions one of his intimates + was wont to quote from Boswell: ‘Leave him + to me, sir; I’ll make him rear.’</p> + + <p>The superficial parts of his talk were more + easily retained. In mere banter, good-humored + <a class="pagenum" id="page_16" title="16"></a>give-and-take, that froth and bubble of conversational + intercourse, he was delightful. His + hostess, the wife of a well-known comedian, + apologized to him for having to move him out + of the large guest-chamber into another one, + smaller and higher up,—this because of an + unexpected accession of visitors. He replied + that it did not incommode him; and as for + being up another flight of stairs, ‘it was a comfort + to him to know that when he was in a + state of somnolent helplessness he was as near + heaven as it was possible to get in an actor’s + house.’ The same lady was taking him roundly + to task on some minor point in which he had + quite justly offended her; whereupon he turned + to her husband and said, ‘Jane worships but + little at the shrine of politeness because so + much of her time is mortgaged to the shrine of + truth.’</p> + + <p>When asked to suggest an appropriate and + brief cablegram to be sent to a gentleman who + on the following day would become sixty years + of age, and who had taken full measure of life’s + joys, he responded, ‘Send him this: “<em>You + don’t look it, but you’ve lived like it.</em>”’</p> + + <p>His skill in witty retort often expressed itself + by accepting a verbal attack as justified, and + elaborating it in a way to throw into shadow + the assault of the critic. At a small and familiar + supper of bookish men, when there was + general dissatisfaction over an expensive but + <a class="pagenum" id="page_17" title="17"></a>ill-made salad, he alone ate with apparent relish. + The host, who was of like mind with his guests, + said, ‘The Bibliotaph doesn’t care for the quality + of his food, if it has filling power.’ To + which he at once responded, ‘You merely + imply that I am like a robin: I eat cherries + when I may, and worms when I must.’</p> + + <p>His inscriptions in books given to his friends + were often singularly happy. He presented a + copy of <i class="title">Lowell’s Letters</i> to a gentleman and + his wife. The first volume was inscribed to + the husband as follows:—</p> + + <p>‘To Mr. —— ——, who is to the owner of + the second volume of these Letters what this + volume is to that: so delightful as to make one + glad that there’s another equally as good, if not + better.’</p> + + <p>In volume two was the inscription to the + wife, worded in this manner:—</p> + + <p>‘To Mrs. —— ——, without whom the owner + of the first volume of these Letters would be as + that first volume without this one: interesting, + but incomplete.’</p> + + <p>Perhaps this will illustrate his quickness to + seize upon ever so minute an occasion for the + exercise of his humor. A young woman whom + he admired, being brought up among brothers, + had received the nickname, half affectionately + and half patronizingly bestowed, of ‘the Kid.’ + Among her holiday gifts for a certain year was + a book from the Bibliotaph, a copy of <i class="title">Old-Fashioned + <a class="pagenum" id="page_18" title="18"></a>Roses</i>, with this dedication: ‘To a + Kid, had Abraham possessed which, Isaac had + been the burnt-offering.’</p> + + <p>It is as a buyer and burier of books that the + subject of this paper showed himself in most + interesting light. He said that the time to + make a library was when one was young. He + held the foolish notion that a man does not + purchase books after he is fifty; I shall expect + to see him ransacking the shops after he is + seventy, if he shall survive his eccentricities of + diet that long. He was an omnivorous buyer, + picking up everything he could lay his hands + upon. Yet he had a clearly defined motive for + the acquisition of every volume. However + absurd the purchase might seem to the bystander, + he, at any rate, could have given six + cogent reasons why he must have that particular + book.</p> + + <p>He bought according to the condition of his + purse at a given time. If he had plenty of + money, it would be expensive publications, like + those issued by the Grolier Club. If he was + financially depressed, he would hunt in the out-of-door + shelves of well-known Philadelphia bookshops. + It was marvelous to see what things, + new and old, he was able to extract from a ten-cent + alcove. Part of the secret lay in this idea: + to be a good book-hunter one must not be too + dainty; one must not be afraid of soiling one’s + hands. He who observes the clouds shall not + <a class="pagenum" id="page_19" title="19"></a>reap, and he who thinks of his cuffs is likely to + lose many a bookish treasure. Our Bibliotaph + generally parted company with his cuffs when + he began hunting for books. How many times + have I seen those cuffs with the patent fasteners + sticking up in the air, as if reaching out + helplessly for their owner; the owner in the + mean time standing high upon a ladder which + creaked under his weight, humming to himself + as he industriously examined every volume + within reach. This ability to live without cuffs + made him prone to reject altogether that orthodox + bit of finish to a toilet. I have known him + to spend an entire day in New York between + club, shops, and restaurant, with one cuff on, + and the other cuff—its owner knew not where.</p> + + <p>He differed from Heber in that he was not + ‘a classical scholar of the old school,’ but there + were many points in which he resembled the + famous English collector. Heber would have + acknowledged him as a son if only for his + energy, his unquenchable enthusiasm, and the + exactness of his knowledge concerning the + books which he pretended to know at all. For + not alone is it necessary that a collector should + know precisely what book he wants; it is even + more important that he should be able to know + a book <em>as</em> the book he wants when he sees it. + It is a lamentable thing to have fired in the + dark, and then discover that you have shot a + wandering mule, and not the noble game you + <a class="pagenum" id="page_20" title="20"></a>were in pursuit of. One cannot take his reference + library with him to the shops. The + tests, the criteria, must be carried in the head. + The last and most inappropriate moment for + getting up bibliographical lore is that moment + when the pressing question is, to buy or not to + buy. Master Slender, in the play, learned the + difficulties which beset a man whose knowledge + is in a book, and whose book is at home upon a + shelf. It is possible to sympathize with him + when he exclaims, ‘I had rather than forty + shillings I had my Book of Songs and Sonnets + here!’ In making love there are other resources; + all wooers are not as ill equipped as + Slender was. But in hunting rare books the + time will be sure to come when a man may + well cry, ‘I had rather than forty dollars I had + my list of first editions with me!’</p> + + <p>The Bibliotaph carried much accurate information + in his head, but he never traveled without + a thesaurus in his valise. It was a small + volume containing printed lists of the first + editions of rare books. The volume was interleaved; + the leaves were crowded with manuscript + notes. An appendix contained a hundred + and more autograph letters from living authors, + correcting, supplementing, or approving the + printed bibliographies. Even these authors’ + own lists were accurately corrected. They + needed it in not a few instances. For it is a + wise author who knows his own first edition. + <a class="pagenum" id="page_21" title="21"></a>Men may write remarkable books, and understand + but little the virtues of their books from + the collector’s point of view. Men are seldom + clever in more ways than one. Z. Jackson was + a practical printer, and his knowledge as a + printer enabled him to correct sundry errors in + the first folio of Shakespeare. But Z. Jackson, + as the Rev. George Dawson observes, ‘ventured + beyond the composing-case, and, having + corrected blunders made by the printers, corrected + excellencies made by the poet.’</p> + + <p>It was amusing to discover, by means of + these autograph letters, how seldom a good + author was an equally good bibliographer. And + this is as it should be. The author’s business + is, not to take account of first editions, but to + make books of such virtue that bibliomaniacs + shall be eager to possess the first editions + thereof. It is proverbial that a poet is able to + show a farmer things new to him about his own + farm. Turn a bibliographer loose upon a poet’s + works, and he will amaze the poet with an + account of <em>his</em> own doings. The poet will + straightway discover that while he supposed + himself to be making ‘mere literature’ he was + in reality contributing to an elaborate and exact + science.</p> + + <p>The Bibliotaph was not a blind enthusiast on + the subject of first editions. He was one of + the few men who understood the exceeding + great virtues of second editions. He declared + <a class="pagenum" id="page_22" title="22"></a>that a man who was so fortunate as to secure + a second edition of Henry Crabb Robinson’s + <i class="title">Diary</i> was in better case than he who had + bothered himself to obtain a first. When it + fell in with his mood to argue against that + which he himself most affected, he would quote + the childish bit of doggerel beginning ‘The + first the worst, the second the same,’ and then + grow eloquent over the dainty Templeman Hazlitts + which are chiefly third editions. He + thought it absurd to worry over a first issue of + Carlyle’s <i class="title">French Revolution</i> if it were possible + to buy at moderate price a copy of the third + edition, which is a well-nigh perfect book, + ‘good to the touch and grateful to the eye.’ + But this lover of books grew fierce in his special + mania if you hinted that it was also foolish + to spend a large sum on an <i lang="la">editio princeps</i> of + <i class="title">Paradise Lost</i> or of <i class="title">Robinson Crusoe</i>. There + are certain authors concerning the desirability + of whose first editions it must not be disputed.</p> + + <p>The singular readiness with which bookish + treasures fell into his way astonished less fortunate + buyers. Rare Stevensons dropped into + his hand like ripe fruit from a tree. The most + inaccessible of pamphlets fawned upon him, + begging to be purchased, just as the succulent + little roast pigs in <i class="title">The New Paul and Virginia</i> + run about with knives and forks in their sides + pleading to be eaten. The Bibliotaph said he + did not despair of buying Poe’s <i class="title">Tamerlane</i> for + <a class="pagenum" id="page_23" title="23"></a>twenty-five cents one of these days; and that + a rarity he was sure to get sooner or later was + a copy of that English newspaper which announced + Shelley’s death under the caption <em>Now + he Knows whether there is a Hell or Not</em>.</p> + + <p>He unconsciously followed Heber in that he + disliked large-paper copies. Heber would none + of them because they took up too much room; + their ample borders encroached upon the rights + of other books. Heber objected to this as + Prosper Mérimée objected to the gigantic English + hoopskirts of 1865,—there was space on + Regent Street for but one woman at a time.</p> + + <p>Original as the Bibliotaph was in appearance, + manners, habits, he was less striking in what + he did than in what he said. It is a pity that + no record of his talk exists. It is not surprising + that there is no such record, for his habits + of wandering precluded the possibility of his + making a permanent impression. By the time + people had fully awakened to the significance + of his presence among them he was gone. So + there grew up a legend concerning him, but no + true biography. He was like a comet, very + shaggy and very brilliant, but he stayed so + brief a time in a place that it was impossible + for one man to give either the days or the + thought to the reproduction of his more serious + and considered words. A greater difficulty was + involved in the fact that the Bibliotaph had + many socii, but no fidus Achates. Moreover, + <a class="pagenum" id="page_24" title="24"></a>Achates, in this instance, would have needed + the reportorial powers of a James Boswell that + he might properly interpret genius to the public.</p> + + <p>This particular genius illustrated the misfortune + of having too great facility in establishing + those relations which lie midway between + acquaintance and friendship. To put the matter + in the form of a paradox, he had so many + <em>friends</em> that he had no <em>friend</em>. Perhaps this is + unjust, but friendship has a touch of jealousy + and exclusiveness in it. He was too large-natured + to say to one of his admirers, ‘Thou + shalt have no other gods save myself;’ but + there were those among the admirers who were + quite prepared to say to him, ‘We prefer that + thou shalt have no other worshipers in addition + to us.’</p> + + <p>People wondered that he seemed to have no + care for a conventional home life. He was + taxed with want of sympathy with what makes + even a humble home a centre of light and happiness. + He denied it, and said to his accusers, + ‘Can you not understand that after a stay in + <em>your</em> home I go away with much the feeling + that must possess a lusty young calf when his + well-equipped mother tells him that henceforth + he must find means of sustenance elsewhere?’</p> + + <p>He professed to have been once in love, but + no one believed it. He used to say that his + most remarkable experience as a bachelor was + in noting the uniformity with which eligible + <a class="pagenum" id="page_25" title="25"></a>young women passed him by on the other side + of the way. And when a married friend offered + condolence, with that sleek complacency of + manner noteworthy in men who are conscious + of being mated for life better than they deserve, + the Bibliotaph said, with an admiring glance at + the wife, ‘Your sympathy is supererogatory, + sir, for I fully expect to become your residuary + legatee.’</p> + + <p>It is most pleasing to think of this unique + man ‘buffeting his books’ in one of those temporary + libraries which formed about him whenever + he stopped four or five weeks in a place. + The shops were rifled of not a few of their + choicest possessions, and the spoils carried off + to his room. It was a joy to see him display + his treasures, a delight to hear him talk of + them. He would disarm criticism with respect + to the more eccentric purchases by saying, + ‘You wouldn’t approve of this, but <em>I</em> thought + it was curious,’—and then a torrent of facts, + criticisms, quotations, all bearing upon the particular + volume which you were supposed not to + like; and so on, hour after hour. There was + no limit save that imposed by the receptive + capacity of the guest. It reminded one of the + word spoken concerning a ‘hard sitter at books’ + of the last century, that he was a literary giant + ‘born to grapple with whole libraries.’ But the + fine flavor of those hours spent in hearing him + discourse upon books and men is not to be + <a class="pagenum" id="page_26" title="26"></a>recovered. It is evanescent, spectral, now. This + talk was like the improvisation of a musician + who is profoundly learned, but has in him a + vein of poetry too. The talk and the music + strongly appeal to robust minds, and at the same + time do not repel the sentimentalist.</p> + + <p>It is not to be supposed that the Bibliotaph + pleased every one with whom he came in contact. + There were people whom his intellectual + potency affected in a disagreeable way. They + accused him of applying great mental force to + inconsidered trifles. They said it was a misfortune + that so much talent was going to waste. + But there is no task so easy as criticising an + able man’s employment of his gifts.</p> + </div> + <div id="bibliotaph_2" class="essay"> + <h2 id="the_bibliotaph_his_friends_scrap_books_and_8216bins8217"><a class="pagenum" id="page_27" title="27"></a>THE BIBLIOTAPH: HIS FRIENDS, SCRAP-BOOKS, AND ‘BINS’</h2> + <p class="return_toc"><a href="#contents">Return to Contents</a></p> + <p><span class="first_word">To</span> arrive at a high degree of pleasure in + collecting a library, one must travel. The Bibliotaph + regularly traveled in search of his volumes. + His theory was that the collector must + go to the book, not wait for the book to come + to him. No reputable sportsman, he said, would + wish the game brought alive to his back-yard + for him to kill. Half the pleasure was in tracking + the quarry to its hiding-place. He himself + ordered but seldom from catalogues, and went + regularly to and fro among the dealers in books, + seeking the volume which his heart desired. + He enjoyed those shops where the book-seller + kept open house, where the stock was large and + surprises were common, where the proprietor + was prodigiously well-informed on some points + and correspondingly ill-informed on others. He + bought freely, never disputed a price, and laid + down his cash with the air of a man who believes + that unspent money is the root of all + evil.</p> + + <p>These travels brought about three results: + <a class="pagenum" id="page_28" title="28"></a>the making of friends, the compilation of scrap-books, + and the establishment of ‘bins.’ Before + speaking of any one of these points, a word on + the satisfactions of bibliographical touring.</p> + + <p>In every town of considerable size, and in + many towns of inconsiderable size, are bookshops. + It is a poor shop which does not contain + at least one good book. This book bides + its time, and usually outstays its welcome. But + its fate is about its neck. Somewhere there is + a collector to whom that book is precious. They + are made for one another, the collector and the + book; and it is astonishing how infrequently + they miss of realizing their mutual happiness. + The book-seller is a marriage-broker for unwedded + books. His business is to find them + homes, and take a fee for so doing. Sugarman + the Shadchan was not more zealous than is + your vendor of rare books.</p> + + <p>Now, it is a curious fact that the most desirable + of bookish treasures are often found + where one would be least likely to seek them. + Montana is a great State, nevertheless one does + not think of going to Montana for early editions + of Shakespeare. Let the book-hunter inwardly + digest the following plain tale of a clergyman + and a book of plays.</p> + + <p>There is a certain collector who is sometimes + called ‘The Bishop.’ He is not a bishop, but + he may be so designated; coming events have + been known to cast conspicuous shadows in + <a class="pagenum" id="page_29" title="29"></a>the likeness of mitre and crosier. The Bishop + heard of a man in Montana who had an old + book of plays with an autograph of William + Shakespeare pasted in it. Being a wise ecclesiastic, + he did not exclaim ‘Tush’ and ‘Fie,’ but + proceeded at once to go book-hunting in Montana. + He went by proxy, if not in person; the + journey is long. In due time the owner of the + volume was found and the book was placed in + the Bishop’s hands for inspection. He tore off + the wrappers, and lo! it was a Fourth Folio + of Shakespeare excellently well preserved, and + with what appeared to be the great dramatist’s + signature written on a slip of paper and pasted + inside the front cover. The problem of the + genuineness of that autograph does not concern + us. The great fact is that a Shakespeare + folio turned up in Montana. Now when he + hears some one express desire for a copy of + Greene’s <i class="title">Groatsworth of Wit</i>, or any other rare + book of Elizabeth’s time, the Bishop’s thoughts + fly toward the setting sun. Then he smiles a + notable kind of smile, and says, ‘If I could get + away I’d run out to Montana and try to pick + up a copy for you.’</p> + + <p>There is a certain gentleman who loves the + literature of Queen Anne’s reign. He lives + with Whigs and Tories, vibrates between coffee-house + and tea-table. He annoys his daughter + by sometimes calling her ‘Belinda,’ and + astonishes his wife with his mock-heroic apostrophes + <a class="pagenum" id="page_30" title="30"></a>to her hood and patches. He reads his + <i class="title">Spectator</i> at breakfast while other people batten + upon newspapers only three hours old. He + smiles over the love-letters of Richard Steele, + and reverences the name and the writings of + Joseph Addison. Indeed, his devotion to Addison + is so radical that he has actually been guilty + of reading <i class="title">The Campaign</i> and the <i class="title">Dialogue on + Medals</i>. This gentleman hunted books one day + and was not successful. It seemed to him that + on this particular afternoon the world was + stuffed with Allison’s histories of Europe, and + Jeffrey’s contributions to the <i class="title">Edinburgh Review</i>. + His heart was filled with bitterness and + his nostrils with dust. Books which looked inviting + turned out to be twenty-second editions. + Of fifty things upon his list not one came to + light. But it was predestined that he should + not go sorrowing to his home. He pulled out + from a bottom shelf two musty octavo volumes + bound in dark brown leather, and each securely + tied with a string; for the covers had been + broken from the backs. The titles were invisible, + the contents a mystery. The gentleman + held the unpromising objects in his hand and + meditated upon them. They might be a treatise + on conic sections, or a Latin Grammar, and + again they might be a Book. He untied the + string and opened one of the volumes. Was it + a breath of summer air from Isis that swept + out of those pages, which were as white as snow + <a class="pagenum" id="page_31" title="31"></a>in spite of the lapse of nearly two centuries? + He read the title, <i class="title emphasis">Musarum Anglicanarum + Analecta</i>. The date was 1699. He turned + to the table of contents, and his heart gave + a contented throb. There was the name he + wished to see, J. Addison, Magd. Coll: The + name occurred eight times. The dejected collector + had found a clean and uncut copy of + those two volumes of contemporary Latin verse + compiled by Joseph Addison, when he was a + young man at Oxford, and printed at the Sheldonian + Theatre. Addison contributed eight + poems to the second volume. The bookseller + was willing to take seventy-five cents for the + set, and told the gentleman as he did up the + package that he was a comfort to the trade.</p> + + <p>That night the gentleman read <i class="title">The Battle of + the Pigmies and the Cranes</i>, while his wife read + the evening edition of the <i class="title">Lurid Paragraph</i>. + Now he says to his friends, ‘Hunt books in + the most unpromising places, but make a thorough + search. You may not discover a Koh-i-noor, + but you will be pretty sure to run upon + some desirable little thing which gives you + pleasure and costs but a trifle.’</p> + + <p>One effect of this adventure upon himself is + that he cannot pass a volume which is tied with + a string. He spends his days and Saturday + nights in tying and untying books with broken + covers. Even the evidence of a clearly-lettered + title upon the back fails to satisfy him. He is + <a class="pagenum" id="page_32" title="32"></a>restless until he has made a thorough search + in the body of the volume.</p> + + <p>The Bibliotaph’s own best strokes of fortune + were made in out-of-the-way places. But some + god was on his side. For at his approach the + bibliographical desert blossomed like the rose. + He used to hunt books in Texas at one period + in his life; and out of Texas would he come, + bringing, so it is said, first editions of George + Borrow and Jane Austen. It was maddening + to be with him at such times, especially if one + had a gift for envy.</p> + + <p>Yet why should one envy him his money, or + his unerring hand and eye? He paid for the + book, but it was yours to read and to caress so + long as you would. If he took it from you it + was only that he might pass it on to some other + friend. But if that volume once started in the + direction of the great tomb of books in Westchester + County, no power on earth could avail + to restore it to the light of day.</p> + + <p>It is pleasant to meditate upon past journeys + with the Bibliotaph. He was an incomparable + traveling companion, buoyant, philosophic, incapable + of fatigue, and never ill. Yet it is a + tradition current, that he, the mighty, who + called himself a friend to physicians, because + he never robbed them of their time either in + or out of office-hours, once succumbed to that + irritating little malady known as car-sickness. + He succumbed, but he met his fate bravely and + <a class="pagenum" id="page_33" title="33"></a>with the colors of his wit flying. The circumstances + are these:—</p> + + <p>There is a certain railway thoroughfare which + justly prides itself upon the beauty of its scenery. + This road passes through a hill-country, + and what it gains in the picturesque it loses in + that rectilinear directness most grateful to the + traveler with a sensitive stomach. The Bibliotaph + often patronized this thoroughfare, and + one day it made him sick. As the train swept + around a sharp curve, he announced his earliest + symptom by saying: ‘The conspicuous advantages + of this road are that one gets views of + the scenery and reviews of his meals.’</p> + + <p>A few minutes later he suggested that the + road would do well to change its name, and + hereafter be known as ‘The Emetic G. and O.’</p> + + <p>They who were with him proffered sympathy, + but he refused to be pitied. He thought + he had a remedy. He discovered that by taking + as nearly as possible a reclining posture, he + got temporary relief. He kept settling more + and more till at last he was nearly on his back. + Then he said: ‘If it be true that the lower + down we get the more comfortable we are, the + basements of Hell will have their compensations.’</p> + + <p>He was too ill to say much after this, but his + last word, before the final and complete extinction + of his manhood, was, ‘The influence of + this road is such that employees have been + known involuntarily to throw up their jobs.’</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page_34" title="34"></a>The Bibliotaph invariably excited comment + and attention when he was upon his travels. I + do not think he altogether liked it. Perhaps + he neither liked it nor disliked it. He accepted + the fact that he was not as other men quite as + he would have accepted any indisputable fact. + He used occasionally to express annoyance because + of the discrepancy between his reputation + and appearance; in other words, because he + seemed a man of greater fame than he was. + He suffered the petty discomforts of being a + personage, and enjoyed none of the advantages. + He declared that he was quite willing to be + much more distinguished or much less conspicuous. + What he objected to was the Laodicean + character of his reputation as set over against + the pronounced and even startling character of + his looks and manner.</p> + + <p>He used also to note with amusement how + indelible a mark certain early ambitions and + tentative studies had made upon him. People + invariably took him for a clergyman. They + decided this at once and conducted themselves + accordingly. He made no protest, but observed + that their convictions as to how they should + behave in his presence had corollaries in the + shape of very definite convictions as to how he + should carry himself before them. He thought + that such people might be described as moral + trainers. They do not profess virtue themselves, + but they take a real pleasure in keeping + you up to your profession.</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page_35" title="35"></a>The Bibliotaph had no explanation to give + why he was so immediately and invariably accounted + as one in orders. He was quite sure + that the clerical look was innate, and by no + means dependent upon the wearing of a high + vest or a Joseph Parker style of whisker; for + once as he sat in the hot room of a Turkish + bath and in the Adamitic simplicity of attire + suitable to the temperature and the place, a + gentleman who occupied the chair nearest introduced + conversation by saying, ‘I beg your + pardon, sir, but are you not a clergyman?’</p> + + <p>‘This incident,’ said the Bibliotaph, ‘gave me + a vivid sense of the possibility of determining + a man’s profession by a cursory examination of + his cuticle.’ Lowell’s conviction about N. P. + Willis was well-founded: namely, that if it had + been proper to do so, Willis could have worn + his own plain bare skin in a way to suggest + that it was a representative Broadway tailor’s + best work.</p> + + <p>I imagine that few boys escape an outburst + of that savage instinct for personal adornment + which expresses itself in the form of rude tattooing + upon the arms. The Bibliotaph had had + his attack in early days, and the result was a + series of decorations of a highly patriotic character, + and not at all in keeping with South + Kensington standards. I said to him once, + apropos of the pictures on his arms: ‘You are + a great surprise to your friends in this particular.’ + <a class="pagenum" id="page_36" title="36"></a>‘Yes,’ he replied, ‘few of them are aware + that the volume of this Life is extra-illustrated.’</p> + + <p>But that which he of necessity tolerated in + himself he would not tolerate in his books. + They were not allowed to become pictorially + amplified. He saw no objection to inserting a + rare portrait in a good book. It did not necessarily + injure the book, and it was one way of + preserving the portrait. Yet the thing was + questionable, and it was likely to prove the first + step in a downward path. As to cramming a + volume with a heterogeneous mass of pictures + and letters gathered from all imaginable sources, + he held the practice in abhorrence, and the bibliographical + results as fit only for the libraries + of the illiterate rich. He admitted the possibility + of doing such a thing well or ill; but at + its best it was an ill thing skillfully done.</p> + + <p>The Bibliotaph upon his travels was a noteworthy + figure if only because of the immense + parcel of books with which he burdened himself. + That part of the journeying public which + loves to see some new thing puzzled itself + mightily over the gentleman of full habit, who + in addition to his not inconsiderable encumbrance + of flesh and luggage, chose to carry + about a shawl-strap loaded to utmost capacity + with a composite mass of books, magazines, + and newspapers. It was enormously heavy, and + the way in which its component parts adhered + was but a degree short of the miraculous. He + <a class="pagenum" id="page_37" title="37"></a>appeared hardly conscious of its weight, for he + would pick the thing up and literally <em>trip</em> with + it on a toe certainly not light, but undeniably + fantastic.</p> + + <p>He carried the books about with him partly + because he had just purchased them and wished + to study their salient points, and partly because + he was taking them to a ‘bin.’ There is no + mystery about these ‘bins.’ They were merely + places of temporary rest for the books before + the grand moving to the main library. But if + not mysterious they were certainly astonishing, + because of their number and size. With respect + to number, one in every large city was + the rule. With respect to size, few people buy + in a lifetime as many books as were sometimes + heaped together in one of these places of deposit. + He would begin by leaving a small bundle + of books with some favorite dealer, then + another, and then another. As the collection + enlarged, the accommodations would be increased; + for it was a satisfaction to do the Bibliotaph + this favor, he purchased so liberally and + tipped the juvenile clerks in so royal a manner. + Nor was he always in haste to move out after + he had once moved in. One bookseller, speaking + of the splendid proportions which the + ‘bin’ was assuming, declared that he sometimes + found it difficult to adjust himself mentally + to the situation; he couldn’t tell when he + came to his place of business in the morning + <a class="pagenum" id="page_38" title="38"></a>whether he was in his own shop or the Bibliotaph’s + library.</p> + + <p>The corner of the shop where the great collector’s + accumulations were piled up was a + centre of mirth and conversation if he himself + chanced to be in town. Men dropped in for a + minute and stayed an hour. In some way time + appeared to broaden and leisure to grow more + ample. Life had an unusual richness, and + warmth, and color, when the Bibliotaph was + by. There was an Olympian largeness and + serenity about him. He seemed almost pagan + in the breadth of his hold upon existence. And + when he departed he left behind him what + can only be described as great unfilled mental + spaces. I recall that a placard was hung up + in his particular corner with the inscription, + ‘English spoken here.’ This amused him. + Later there was attached to it another strip + upon which was crayoned, ‘Sir, we had much + good talk,’ with the date of the talk. Still + later a victim added the words, ‘Yes, sir, on + that day the Bibliotaph tossed and gored a + number of people admirably.’</p> + + <p>It was difficult for the Bibliotaph not to emit + intellectual sparks of one kind or another. His + habit of dealing with every fact as if it deserved + his entire mental force, was a secret of + his originality. Everything was worth while. + If the fact was a serious fact, all the strength + of his mind would be applied to its exposition + <a class="pagenum" id="page_39" title="39"></a>or defense. If it was a fact of less importance, + humor would appear as a means to the conversational + end. And he would grow more humorous + as the topics grew less significant. When + finally he rioted in mere word-play, banter, + quizzing, it was a sign that he regarded the + matter as worthy no higher species of notice.</p> + + <p>I like this theory of his wit so well that I am + minded not to expose it to an over-rigid test. + The following small fragments of his talk are + illustrative of such measure of truth as the + theory may contain.</p> + + <p>Among the Bibliotaph’s companions was one + towards whose mind he affected the benevolent + and encouraging attitude of a father to a budding + child. He was asked by this friend to + describe a certain quaint and highly successful + entertainer. This was the response: ‘The + gentleman of whom you speak has the habit of + coming before his audience as an idiot and retiring + as a genius. You and I, sir, couldn’t do + that; we should sustain the first character consistently + throughout the entire performance.’</p> + + <p>It was his humor to insist that all the virtues + and gifts of a distinguished collector were due + for their expansion and development to association + with himself and the writer of these + memories. He would say in the presence of + the distinguished collector: ‘Henry will probably + one day forget us, but on the Day of Judgment, + in any just estimate of the causes of his + success, the Lord won’t.’</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page_40" title="40"></a>I have forgotten what the victim’s retort + was; it is safe to assume that it was adequate.</p> + + <p>This same collector had the pleasing habit of + honoring the men he loved, among whom the + Bibliotaph was chief, with brightly written + letters which filled ten and fifteen half-sheets. + But the average number of words to a line was + two, while a five-syllable word had trouble in + accommodating itself to a line and a half, and + the sheets were written only upon one side. + The Bibliotaph’s comment was: ‘Henry has a + small brain output, but unlimited influence at a + paper-mill.’</p> + + <p>Of all the merry sayings in which the Bibliotaph + indulged himself at the expense of his + closest friend this was the most comforting. A + gentleman present was complaining that Henry + took liberties in correcting his pronunciation. + ‘I have no doubt of the occasional need of such + correction, but it isn’t often required, and not + half so often as he seems to think. I, on the + other hand, observe frequent minor slips in his + use of language, but I do not feel at liberty to + correct him.’</p> + + <p>The Bibliotaph began to apply salve to the + bruised feelings of the gentleman present as + follows: ‘The animus of Henry’s criticism is + unquestionably envy. He probably feels how + few flies there are in your ointment. While + you are astonished that in his case there should + be so little ointment for so many flies.’</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page_41" title="41"></a>The Bibliotaph never used slang, and the + united recollections of his associates can adduce + but two or three instances in which he sunk + verbally so low as even to <em>hint</em> slang. He said + that there was one town which in his capacity + of public speaker he should like to visit. It was + a remote village in Virginia where there was a + girls’ seminary, the catalogue of which set forth + among advantages of location this: that the + town was one to which the traveling lecturer + and the circus never came. The Bibliotaph + said, ‘I should go there. For I am the one + when I am on the platform, and by the unanimous + testimony of all my friends I am the + other when I am off.’</p> + + <p>The second instance not only illustrates his + ingenuity in trifles, but also shows how he could + occasionally answer a friend according to his + folly. He had been describing a visit which he + had made in the hero-worshiping days of boyhood + to Chappaqua; how friendly and good-natured + the great farmer-editor was; how he + called the Bibliotaph ‘Bub,’ and invited him to + stay to dinner; how he stayed and talked politics + with his host; how they went out to the + barn afterwards to look at the stock; what + Greeley said to him and what he said to Greeley,—it + was a perfect bit of word-sketching, + spontaneous, realistic, homely, unpretentious, + irresistibly comic because of the quaintness of + the dialogue as reported, and because of the + <a class="pagenum" id="page_42" title="42"></a>mental image which we formed of this large-headed, + round-bellied, precocious youth, who at + the age of sixteen was able for three consecutive + hours to keep the conversational shuttlecock + in the air with no less a person than + Horace Greeley. Amid the laughter and comment + which followed the narration one mirthful + genius who chose for the day to occupy the + seat of the scorner, called out to the Bibliotaph:—</p> + + <p>‘How old did you say you were at that time, + “Bub”?’</p> + + <p>‘Sixteen.’</p> + + <p>‘And did you wear whiskers?’</p> + + <p>The query was insulting. But the Bibliotaph + measured the flippancy of the remark with his + eye and instantly fitted an answer to the mental + needs of the questioner.</p> + + <p>‘Even if I had,’ he said, ‘it would have + availed me nothing, for in those days there was + no wind.’</p> + + <p>The Bibliotaph was most at home in the + book-shop, on the street, or at his hotel. He + went to public libraries only in an emergency, + for he was impatient of that needful discipline + which compelled him to ask for each volume he + wished to see. He had, however, two friends + in whose libraries one might occasionally meet + him in the days when he hunted books upon + this wide continent. One was the gentleman + to whom certain letters on literature have + <a class="pagenum" id="page_43" title="43"></a>been openly addressed, and who has made a + library by a process which involves wise selection + and infinite self-restraint. This priceless + little collection contains no volume which is + imperfect, no volume which mars the fine sense + of repose begotten in one at the sight of lovely + books becomingly clothed, and no volume which + is not worthy the name of literature. And + there is matter for reflection in the thought + that it is not the library of a rich man. Money + cannot buy the wisdom which has made this + collection what it is, and without self-denial it + is hardly possible to give the touch of real elegance + to a private library. When dollars are + not counted the assemblage of books becomes + promiscuous. How may we better describe + this library than by the phrase Infinite riches + in a little book-case!</p> + + <p>There was yet another friend, the Country + Squire, who revels in wealth, buys large-paper + copies, reads little but deeply, and raises chickens. + His library (the room itself, I mean) is + a gentleman’s library, with much cornice, much + plate-glass, and much carving; whereof a wit + said, ‘The Squire has such a beautiful library, + and no place to put his books.’</p> + + <p>These books are of a sort to rejoice the heart, + but their tenure of occupancy is uncertain. + Hardly one of them but is liable to eviction + without a moment’s notice. They have a look + in their attitude which indicates consciousness + <a class="pagenum" id="page_44" title="44"></a>of being pilgrims and strangers. They + seem to say, ‘We can tarry, we can tarry but + a night.’ Some have tarried two nights, others + a week, others a year, a few even longer. But + aside from a dozen or so of volumes, not one of + the remaining three thousand dares to affirm + that it holds a permanent place in its owner’s + heart of hearts. It is indeed a noble procession + of books which has passed in and out of those + doors. A day will come in which the owner + realizes that he has as good as the market can + furnish, and then banishments will cease. One + sighs not for the volumes which deserved exile, + but for those which were sent away because + their master ceased to love them.</p> + + <p>There was no friend with whom the Bibliotaph + lived on easier terms than with the Country + Squire. They were counterparts. They supplemented + one another. The Bibliotaph, though + he was born and bred on a farm, had fled for + his salvation to the city. The Squire, a man + of city birth and city education, had fled for + his soul’s health to the country; he had rendered + existence almost perfect by setting up an + urban home in rural surroundings. It was well + said of that house that it was finely reticent in + its proffers of hospitality, and regally magnificent + in its kindness to those whom it delighted + to honor.</p> + + <p>It was in the Country Squire’s library that + the Bibliotaph first met that actor with whom + <a class="pagenum" id="page_45" title="45"></a>he became even more intimate than with the + Squire himself. The closeness of their relation + suggested the days of the old Miracle plays + when the theatre and the Church were as hand + in glove. The Bibliotaph signified his appreciation + of his new friend by giving him a copy of + a sixteenth-century book ‘containing a pleasant + invective against Poets, Pipers, Players, + Jesters, and such like Caterpillars of a Commonwealth.’ + The Player in turn compiled for + his friend of clerical appearance a scrap-book, + intended to show how evil associations corrupt + good actors.</p> + + <p>This actor professed that which for want of + a better term might be called parlor agnosticism. + The Bibliotaph was sturdily inclined + towards orthodoxy, and there was from time to + time collision between the two. It is my impression + that the actor sometimes retired with + four of his five wits halting. But he was + brilliant even when he mentally staggered. + Neither antagonist convinced the other, and + after a while they grew wearied of traveling + over one another’s minds.</p> + + <p>It fell out on a day that the actor made a + fine speech before a large gathering, and mindful + of stage effect he introduced a telling allusion + to an all-wise and omnipotent Providence. + For this he was, to use his own phrase, ‘soundly + spanked’ by all his friends; that is, he was + mocked at, jeered, ridiculed. To what end, + <a class="pagenum" id="page_46" title="46"></a>they said, was one an agnostic if he weakly + yielded his position to the exigencies of an + after-dinner speech. The Bibliotaph alone took + pains to analyze his late antagonist’s position. + He wrote to the actor congratulating him upon + his success. ‘I wondered a little at this, remembering + how inconsiderable has been your + practice; and I infer that it has been inconsiderable, + for I am aware how seldom an actor can + be persuaded to make a speech. I, too, was at + first shocked when I heard that you had made + a respectful allusion to Deity; but I presently + took comfort, <em>remembering that your gods, like + your grease-paints, are purely professional</em>.’</p> + + <p>He was always capital in these teasing moods. + To be sure, he buffeted one about tremendously, + but his claws were sheathed, and there + was a contagiousness in his frolicsome humor. + Moreover one learned to look upon one’s self + in the light of a public benefactor. To submit + to be knocked about by the Bibliotaph was in + a modest way to contribute to the gayety of nations. + If one was not absolutely happy one’s + self, there was a chastened comfort in beholding + the happiness of the on-lookers.</p> + + <p>A small author wrote a small book, so small + that it could be read in less time than it takes + to cover an umbrella, that is, ‘while you wait.’ + The Bibliotaph had Brobdingnagian joy of this + book. He sat and read it to himself in the + author’s presence, and particularly diminutive + <a class="pagenum" id="page_47" title="47"></a>that book appeared as its light cloth cover was + outlined against the Bibliotaph’s ample black + waistcoat. From time to time he would vent + ‘a series of small private laughs,’ especially if + he was on the point of announcing some fresh + illustration of the fallibility of inexperienced + writers. Finally the uncomfortable author said, + ‘Don’t sit there and pick out the mistakes.’ + To which the Bibliotaph triumphantly replied, + ‘What other motive is there for reading it at + all?’</p> + + <p>He purchased every copy of this book which + he could find, and when asked by the author + why he did so, replied, ‘In order to withdraw + it from circulation.’ A moment afterwards he + added reflectively, ‘But how may I hope to + withdraw a book from that which it has never + had?’</p> + + <p>He was apt to be severe in his judgment of + books, as when he said of a very popular but + very feeble literary performance that it was an + argument for the existence of God. ‘Such intensity + of stupidity was not realized without + Infinite assistance.’</p> + + <p>He could be equally emphatic in his comments + upon men. Among his acquaintance + was a church dignitary who blew alternately + hot and cold upon him. When advised of some + new illustration of the divine’s uncertainty of + attitude, the Bibliotaph merely said, ‘He’s + more of a chameleon than he is a clergyman.’</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page_48" title="48"></a>That Bostonian would be deficient in wit who + failed to enjoy this remark. Speaking of the + characteristics of American cities, the Bibliotaph + said, ‘It never occurs to the Hub that + anything of importance can possibly happen at + the periphery.’</p> + + <p>He greatly admired the genial and philanthropic + editor of a well-known Philadelphia + newspaper. Shortly after Mr. Childs’s death + some one wrote to the Bibliotaph that in a + quiet Kentucky town he had noticed a sign + over a shop-door which read, ‘G. W. Childs, + dealer in Tobacco and Cigars.’ There was + something graceful in the Bibliotaph’s reply. + He expressed surprise at Mr. Childs’s new occupation, + but declared that for his own part he + was ‘glad to know that the location of Heaven + had at last been definitely ascertained.’</p> + + <p>The Bibliotaph habitually indulged himself + in the practice of hero-worship. This propensity + led him to make those glorified scrap-books + which were so striking a feature in his collection. + They were no commonplace affairs, the + ugly result of a union of cheap leather, newspaper-clippings + and paste, but sumptuous books + resplendent in morocco and gilt tooling, the + creations of an artist who was eminent among + binders. These scrap-books were chiefly devoted + to living men,—men who were famous, + or who were believed to be on the high road to + fame. There was a book for each man. In this + <a class="pagenum" id="page_49" title="49"></a>way did the Bibliotaph burn incense before his + Dii majores et minores.</p> + + <p>These books were enriched with everything + that could illustrate the gifts and virtues of the + men in whose honor they were made. They + contained rare manuscripts, rare pictures, autograph + comments and notes, a bewildering variety + of records,—memorabilia which were + above price. Poets wrote humorous verse, and + artists who justly held their time as too precious + to permit of their working for love decorated + the pages of the Bibliotaph’s scrap-books. + One does not abuse the word ‘unique’ when + he applies it to these striking volumes.</p> + + <p>The Bibliotaph did not always follow contemporary + judgment in his selection of men to be + so canonized. He now and then honored a + man whose sense of the relation of achievement + to fame would not allow him to admit to himself + that he deserved the distinction, and whose + sense of humor could not but be strongly excited + at the thought of deification by so unusual + a process. It might be pleasant to consider + that the Bibliotaph cared so much for + one’s letters as to wish not to destroy them, + but it was awful to think of those letters as + bound and annotated. This was to get a taste + of posthumous fame before posthumous fame + was due. The Bibliotaph added a new terror + to life, for he compelled one to live up to one’s + scrap-book. He reversed the old Pagan formula, + <a class="pagenum" id="page_50" title="50"></a>which was to the effect that ‘So-and-So + died and was made a god.’ According to the + Bibliotaph’s prophetic method, a man was made + a god first and allowed to die at his leisure + afterward. Not every one of that little company + which his wisdom and love have marked + for great reputation will be able to achieve it. + They are unanimously grateful that he cared + enough for them to wish to drag their humble + gifts into the broad light of publicity. But + their gratitude is tempered by the thought that + perhaps he was only elaborately humorous at + their expense.</p> + + <p>The Bibliotaph’s intellectual processes were + so vigorous and his pleasure in mental activity + for its own sake was so intense that he was quite + capable of deciding after a topic of discussion + had been introduced which side he would take. + And this with a splendid disdain of the merits + of the cause which he espoused. I remember + that he once set out to maintain the thesis that + a certain gentleman, as notable for his virtues + as he was conspicuous for lack of beauty, was + essentially a handsome man. The person who + initiated the discussion by observing that ‘Mr. + Blank was unquestionably a plain man’ expected + from the Bibliotaph (if he expected any + remark whatever) nothing beyond a Platonic + ‘That I do most firmly believe.’ He was not a + little astonished when the great book-collector + began an elaborate and exhaustive defense of + <a class="pagenum" id="page_51" title="51"></a>the gentleman whose claims to beauty had + been questioned. At first it was dialogue, and + the opponent had his share of talk; but when + in an unlucky moment he hinted that such + energy could only be the result of consciousness + on the Bibliotaph’s part that he was in a + measure pleading his own cause, the dialogue + changed to monologue. For the Bibliotaph + girded up his loins and proceeded to smite his + opponent hip and thigh. All in good humor, to + be sure, and laughter reigned, but it was tremendous + and it was logically convincing. It + was clearly not safe to have a reputation for + good looks while the Bibliotaph was in this + temper. All the gentlemen were in terror lest + something about their countenances might be + construed as beauty, and men with good complexions + longed for newspapers behind which + to hide their disgrace.</p> + + <p>As for the disputant who had stirred up the + monster, his situation was as unenviable as it + was comic to the bystanders. He had never + before dropped a stone into the great geyser. + He was therefore unprepared for the result. + One likened him to an unprotected traveler in + a heavy rain-storm. For the Bibliotaph’s unpremeditated + speech was a very cloud-burst of + eloquence. The unhappy gentleman looked despairingly + in every direction as if beseeching + us for the loan of a word-proof umbrella. There + was none to be had. We who had known a + <a class="pagenum" id="page_52" title="52"></a>like experience were not sorry to stand under + cover and watch a fellow mortal undergo this + verbal drenching. The situation recalled one + described by Lockhart when a guest differed + on a point of scholarship with the great Coleridge. + Coleridge began to ‘exert himself.’ He + burst into a steady stream of talk which broadened + and deepened as the moments fled. When + finally it ceased the bewildered auditor pulled + himself together and exclaimed, ‘Zounds, I + was never so <em>be-thumped</em> with words in my + life!’</p> + + <p>People who had opportunity of observing the + Bibliotaph were tempted to speculate on what + he might have become if he had not chosen to + be just what he was. His versatility led them + to declare for this, that, and the other profession, + largely in accordance with their own personal + preferences. Lawyers were sure that he + should have been an advocate; ministers that + he would have done well to yield to the ‘call’ + he had in his youth; teachers were positive + that he would have made an inspiring teacher. + No one, so far as I know, ever told him that in + becoming a book-collector he had deprived the + world of a great musician; for he was like + Charles Lamb in that he was sentimentally + inclined to harmony but organically incapable + of a tune.</p> + + <p>Yet he was so broad-minded that it was not + possible for him to hold even a neutral attitude + <a class="pagenum" id="page_53" title="53"></a>in the presence of anything in which other people + delighted. I have known him to sit through + a long and heavy organ recital, not in a resigned + manner but actively attentive, clearly + determined that if the minutest portion of his + soul was sensitive to the fugues of J. S. Bach + he would allow that portion to bask in the sunshine + of an unwonted experience. So that + from one point of view he was the incarnation + of tolerance as he certainly was the incarnation + of good-humor and generosity. He envied no + man his gifts from Nature or Fortune. He was + not only glad to let live, but painstakingly + energetic in making the living of people a pleasure + to them, and he received with amused + placidity adverse comments upon himself.</p> + + <p>Words which have been used to describe a + famous man of this century I will venture to + apply in part to the Bibliotaph. ‘He was a + kind of gigantic and Olympian school-boy, … + loving-hearted, bountiful, wholesome and sterling + to the heart’s core.’</p> + + </div> + <div id="bibliotaph_3" class="essay"> + <h2 class="essay_title"><a class="pagenum" id="page_54" title="54"></a>LAST WORDS ON THE BIBLIOTAPH</h2> + <p class="return_toc"><a href="#contents">Return to Contents</a></p> + <p><span class="first_word">The</span> Bibliotaph’s major passion was for collecting + books; but he had a minor passion, the + bare mention of which caused people to lift + their eyebrows suspiciously. He was a shameless, + a persistent, and a successful hunter of + autographs. His desire was for the signatures + of living men of letters, though an occasional + dead author would be allowed a place in the + collection, provided he had not been dead too + long. As a rule, however, the Bibliotaph coveted + the ‘hand of write’ of the man who was + now more or less conspicuously in the public + eye. This autograph must be written in a + representative work of the author in question. + The Bibliotaph would not have crossed the + street to secure a line from Ben Jonson’s pen, + but he mourned because the autograph of the + Rev. C. L. Dodgson was not forthcoming, nor + likely to be. His conception of happiness was + this: to own a copy of the first edition of + <i class="title">Alice in Wonderland</i>, upon the fly-leaf of which + Lewis Carroll had written his name, together + with the statement that he had done so at the + Bibliotaph’s request, and because that eminent + <a class="pagenum" id="page_55" title="55"></a>collector could not be made happy in any other + Way.</p> + + <p>The Bibliotaph liked the autograph of the + modern man of letters because it <em>was</em> modern, + and because there was a reasonable hope of its + being genuine. He loved genuineness. Everything + about himself was exactly what it pretended + to be. From his soul to his clothing he + was honest. And his love for the genuine + was only surpassed in degree by his contempt + for the spurious. I remember that some one + gave him a bit of silverware, a toilet article, + perhaps, which he next day threw out of a car + window, because he had discovered that it was + not sterling. He scouted the suggestion that + possibly the giver may not have known. Such + ignorance was inexcusable, he said. ‘The likelier + interpretation was that the gift was symbolical + of the giver.’ The act seemed brutal, and the + comment thereon even more so. But to realize + the atmosphere, the setting of the incident, one + must imagine the Bibliotaph’s round and comfortable + figure, his humorous look, and the air + of genial placidity with which he would do and + say a thing like this. It was as impossible to + be angry with him in behalf of the unfortunate + giver of cheap silver as to take offense at a tree + or mountain. And it was useless to argue the + matter—nay it was folly, for he would immediately + become polysyllabic and talk one down.</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page_56" title="56"></a>It was this desire for genuine things which + made him entirely suspicious of autographs + which had been bought and sold. He had no + faith in them, and he would weaken your faith, + supposing you were a collector of such things. + Offer him an autograph of our first president + and he would reply, ‘I don’t believe that it’s + genuine; and if it were I shouldn’t care for it; + I never had the honor of General Washington’s + acquaintance.’ The inference was that one + could have a personal relation with a living + great man, and the chances were largely in + favor of getting an autograph that was not an + object of suspicion.</p> + + <p>Few collectors in this line have been as happy + as the Bibliotaph. The problem was easily mastered + with respect to the majority of authors. + As a rule an author is not unwilling to give + such additional pleasure to a reader of his + book as may consist in writing his name in the + reader’s copy. It is conceivable that the author + may be bored by too many requests of this + nature, but he might be bored to an even + greater degree if no one cared enough for him + to ask for his autograph. Some writers resisted + a little, and it was beautiful to see the + Bibliotaph bring them to terms. He was a + highwayman of the Tom Faggus type, just so + adroit, and courteous, and daring. He was + perhaps at his best in cases where he had + actually to hold up his victim; one may imagine + <a class="pagenum" id="page_57" title="57"></a>the scene,—the author resisting, the Bibliotaph + determined and having the masterful air + of an expert who had handled just such cases + before.</p> + + <p>A humble satellite who disapproved of these + proceedings read aloud to the Bibliotaph that + scorching little essay entitled <i class="title">Involuntary Bailees</i>, + written by perhaps the wittiest living English + essayist. An involuntary bailee—as the + essayist explains—is a person to whom people + (generally unknown to him) send things which + he does not wish to receive, but which <em>they</em> are + anxious to have returned. If a man insists + upon lending you a book, you become an involuntary + bailee. You don’t wish to read the + book, but you have it in your possession. It + has come to you by post, let us suppose, ‘and + to pack it up and send it back again requires + a piece of string, energy, brown paper, and + stamps enough to defray the postage.’ And it + is a question whether a casual acquaintance + ‘has any right thus to make demands on a + man’s energy, money, time, brown paper, string, + and other capital and commodities.’ There are + other ways of making a man an involuntary + bailee. You may ask him to pass judgment on + your poetry, or to use his influence to get your + tragedy produced, or to do any one of a half + hundred things which he doesn’t want to do + and which you have no business to ask him to + do. The essayist makes no mention of the + <a class="pagenum" id="page_58" title="58"></a>particular form of sin which the Bibliotaph + practiced, but he would probably admit that + malediction was the only proper treatment for + the idler who bothers respectable authors by + asking them to write their names in his copies + of their books. For to what greater extent + could one trespass upon an author’s patience, + energy, brown paper, string, and commodities + generally? It was amusing to watch the Bibliotaph + as he listened to this arraignment of his + favorite pursuit. The writer of the essay admits + that there may be extenuating circumstances. + If the autograph collector comes bearing gifts + one may smile upon his suit. If for example + he accompanies his request for an autograph + with ‘several brace of grouse, or a salmon of + noble proportions, or rare old books bound by + Derome, or a service of Worcester china with + the square mark,’ he may hope for success. + The essayist opines that such gifts ‘will not be + returned by a celebrity who respects himself.’ + ‘They bless him who gives and him who takes + much more than tons of manuscript poetry, + and thousands of entreaties for an autograph.’</p> + + <p>A superficial examination of the Bibliotaph’s + collection revealed the fact that he had either + used necromancy or given many gifts. The + reader may imagine some such conversation + between the great collector and one of his dazzled + visitors:—</p> + + <p>‘Pray, how did you come by this?’</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page_59" title="59"></a>‘His lordship has always been very kind in + such matters.’</p> + + <p>‘And where did you get this?’</p> + + <p>‘I am greatly indebted to the Prime Minister + for his complaisance.’</p> + + <p>‘But this poet is said to abhor Americans.’</p> + + <p>‘You see that his antipathy has not prevented + his writing a stanza in my copy of his + most notable volume.’</p> + + <p>‘And this?’</p> + + <p>‘I have at divers times contributed the sum + of five dollars to divers Fresh Air funds.’</p> + + <p>The Bibliotaph could not be convinced that + his sin of autograph collecting was not venial. + When authors denied his requests, on the + ground that they were intrusions, he was inclined + to believe that selfishness lay at the + basis of their motives. Some men are quite + willing to accept great fame, but they resent + being obliged to pay the penalties. They wish + to sit in the fierce light which beats on an intellectual + throne, but they are indignant when + the passers-by stop to stare at them. They + imagine that they can successfully combine the + glory of honorable publicity with the perfect + retirement enjoyed only by aspiring mediocrity. + The Bibliotaph believed that he was a missionary + to these people. He awakened in them a + sense of their obligations toward their admirers. + The principle involved is akin to that enunciated + by a certain American philosopher, who + <a class="pagenum" id="page_60" title="60"></a>held that it is an act of generosity to borrow + of a man once in a while; it gives that man a + lively interest in the possible success or possible + failure of your undertaking.</p> + + <p>He levied autographic toll on young writers. + For mature men of letters with established reputations + he would do extraordinary and difficult + services. A famous Englishman, not a + novelist by profession, albeit he wrote one of + the most successful novels of his day, earnestly + desired to own if possible a complete set of + all the American pirated editions of his book. + The Bibliotaph set himself to this task, and + collected energetically for two years. The undertaking + was considerable, for many of the + pirated editions were in pamphlet, and dating + from twenty years back. It was almost impossible + to get the earliest in a spotless condition. + Quantities of trash had to be overhauled, and + weeks might elapse before a perfect copy of a + given edition would come to light. Books are + dirty, but pamphlets are dirtier. The Bibliotaph + declared that had he rendered an itemized + bill for services in this matter, the largest item + would have been for Turkish baths.</p> + + <p>Here was a case in which the collector paid + well for the privilege of having a signed copy + of a well-loved author’s novel. He begrudged + no portion of his time or expenditure. If it + pleased the great Englishman to have upon his + shelves, in compact array and in spotless condition, + <a class="pagenum" id="page_61" title="61"></a>these proofs of what he <em>didn’t</em> earn by + the publication of his books in America, well + and good. The Bibliotaph was delighted that + so modest a service on his part could give so + apparently great a pleasure. The Englishman + must have had the collecting instinct, and he + must have been philosophical, since he could + contemplate with equanimity these illegitimate + volumes.</p> + + <p>The conclusion of the story is this: The + work of collecting the reprints was finished. + The last installment reached the famous Englishman + during an illness which subsequently + proved fatal. They were spread upon the coverlid + of the bed, and the invalid took a great and + humorous satisfaction in looking them over. + Said the Bibliotaph, recounting the incident in + his succinct way, ‘They reached him on his + death-bed,—and made him willing to go.’</p> + + <p>The Bibliotaph was true to the traditions of + the book-collecting brotherhood, in that he read + but little. His knowledge of the world was + fresh from life, not ‘strained through books,’ + as Johnson said of a certain Irish painter whom + he knew at Birmingham. But the Bibliotaph + was a mighty devourer of book-catalogues. He + got a more complete satisfaction, I used to + think, in reading a catalogue than in reading + any other kind of literature. To see him unwrapping + the packages which his English mail + had brought was to see a happy man. For in + <a class="pagenum" id="page_62" title="62"></a>addition to books by post, there would be bundles + of sale-catalogues. Then might you behold + his eyes sparkle as he spread out the + tempting lists; the humorous lines about the + corners of his mouth deepened, and he would + take on what a little girl who watched him + called his ‘pussy-cat look.’ Then with an indelible + pencil in his huge and pudgy left fist + (for the Bibliotaph was a Benjaminite), he would + go through the pages, checking off the items + of interest, rolling with delight in his chair as + he exclaimed from time to time, ‘Good books! + Such good books!’ Say to him that you yourself + liked to read a catalogue, and his response + was pretty sure to be, ‘Pleasant, isn’t it?’ This + was expressive of a high state of happiness, + and was an allusion. For the Bibliotaph was + once with a newly-married man, and they two + met another man, who, as the conversation + proceeded, disclosed the fact that he also had + but recently been wed. Whereupon the first + bridegroom, marveling that there could be another + in the world so exalted as himself, exclaimed + with sympathetic delight, ‘And <em>you</em>, + too, are married.’ ‘Yes,’ said the second, + ‘pleasant, isn’t it?’ with much the same air + that he would have said, ‘Nice afternoon.’ This + was one of the incidents which made the + Bibliotaph skeptical about marriage. But he + adopted the phrase as a useful one with which + to express the state of highest mental and + spiritual exaltation.</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page_63" title="63"></a>People wondered at the extent of his knowledge + of books. It was very great, but it was + not incredible. If a man cannot touch pitch + without being defiled, still less can he handle + books without acquiring bibliographical information. + I am not sure that the Bibliotaph + ever heard of that professor of history who + used to urge his pupils to handle books, even + when they could not get time to read them. + ‘Go to the library, take down the volumes, + turn over the leaves, read the title-pages and + the tables of contents; information will stick + to you’—this was the professor’s advice. Information + acquired in this way may not be profound, + but so far as it goes it is definite and + useful. For the collector it is indispensable. + In this way the Bibliotaph had amassed his + seemingly phenomenal knowledge of books. + He had handled thousands and tens of thousands + of volumes, and he never relinquished + his hold upon a book until he had ‘placed’ it,—until + he knew just what its rank was in the + hierarchy of desirability.</p> + + <p>Between a diligent reading of catalogues and + an equally diligent rummaging among the collections + of third and fourth rate old book-shops, + the Bibliotaph had his reward. He undoubtedly + bought a deal of trash, but he also lighted + upon nuggets. For example, in Leask’s Life + of Boswell is an account of that curious little + romance entitled <i class="title">Dorando</i>. This so-called + <a class="pagenum" id="page_64" title="64"></a><i class="title">Spanish Tale</i>, printed for J. Wilkie at the Bible + in St. Paul’s Church-Yard, was the work of + James Boswell. It was published anonymously + in 1767, and he who would might then have + bought it for ‘one shilling.’ It was to be ‘sold + also by J. Dodsley in Pall Mall, T. Davies in + Russell-Street, Covent Garden, and by the + Book-sellers of Scotland.’ This T. Davies was + the very man who introduced Boswell to Johnson. + He was an actor as well as a bookseller. + <i class="title">Dorando</i> was a story with a key. Under the + names of Don Stocaccio, Don Tipponi, and + Don Rodomontado real people were described, + and the facts of the ‘famous Douglas cause’ + were presented to the public. The little volume + was suppressed in so far as that was possible. + It is rare, so rare that Boswell’s latest + biographer speaks of it as the ‘forlorn hope of + the book-hunter,’ though he doubts not that + copies of it are lurking in some private collection. + One copy at least is lurking in the Bibliotaph’s + library. He bought it, not for a song + to be sure, but very reasonably. The Bibliotaph + declares that this book is good for but one + thing,—to shake in the faces of Boswell collectors + who haven’t it.</p> + + <p>The Bibliotaph had many literary heroes. + Conspicuous among them were Professor Richard + Porson and Benjamin Jowett, the late master + of Balliol. The Bibliotaph collected everything + that related to these two men, all the + <a class="pagenum" id="page_65" title="65"></a>books with which they had had anything to do, + every newspaper clipping and magazine article + which threw light upon their manners, habits, + modes of thought. He especially loved to tell + anecdotes of Porson. He knew many. He had + an interleaved copy of J. Selby Watson’s Life + of Porson into which were copied a multitude + of facts not to be found in that amusing biography. + The Bibliotaph used to say that he + would rather have known Porson than any other + man of his time. He used to quote this as one + of the best illustrations of Porson’s wit, and + one of the finest examples of the retort satiric + to be found in any language. One of Porson’s + works was assailed by Wakefield and by Hermann, + scholars to be sure, but scholars whose + scholarship Porson held in contempt. Being + told of their attack Porson only said that ‘whatever + he wrote in the future should be written + in such a way that those fellows wouldn’t be + able to reach it with their fore-paws if they + stood on their hind-legs to get at it!’</p> + + <p>The Bibliotaph gave such an air of contemporaneity + to his stories of the great Greek professor + that it seemed at times as if they were + the relations of one who had actually known + Porson. So vividly did he portray the marvels + of that compound of thirst and scholarship that + no one had the heart to laugh when, after one + of his narrations, a gentleman asked the Bibliotaph + if he himself had studied under Porson.</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page_66" title="66"></a>‘Not <em>under</em> him but <em>with</em> him,’ said the Bibliotaph. + ‘He was my coeval. Porson, Richard + Bentley, Joseph Scaliger, and I were all students + together.’</p> + + <p>Speaking of Jowett the Bibliotaph once said + that it was wonderful to note how culture failed + to counteract in an Englishman that disposition + to heave stones at an American. Jowett, with + his remarkable breadth of mind and temper, + was quite capable of observing, with respect to + a certain book, that it was American, ‘yet in + perfect taste.’ ‘This,’ said the Bibliotaph, ‘is + as if one were to say, “The guests were Americans, + but no one expectorated on the carpet.”’ + The Bibliotaph thought that there was not so + much reason for this attitude. The sins of + Englishmen and Americans were identical, he + believed, but the forms of their expression were + different. ‘Our sin is a voluble boastfulness; + theirs is an irritating, unrestrainable, all-but-constantly + manifested, satisfied self-consciousness. + The same results are reached by different + avenues. We praise ourselves; they + belittle others.’ Then he added with a smile: + ‘Thus even in these latter days are the Scriptures + exemplified; the same spirit with varying + manifestations.’</p> + + <p>He was once commenting upon Jowett’s + classification of humorists. Jowett divided humorists + ‘into three categories or classes; those + who are not worth reading at all; those who + <a class="pagenum" id="page_67" title="67"></a>are worth reading once, but once only; and + those who are worth reading again and again + and for ever.’ This remark was made to Swinburne, + who quotes it in his all too brief <i class="title">Recollections + of Professor Jowett</i>. Swinburne says + that the starting-point of their discussion was + the <i class="title">Biglow Papers</i>, which ‘famous and admirable + work of American humour’ Jowett placed + in the second class. Swinburne himself thought + that the <i class="title">Biglow Papers</i> was too good for the + second class and not quite good enough for the + third. ‘I would suggest that a fourth might + be provided, to include such examples as are + worth, let us say, two or three readings in a + life-time.’</p> + + <p>The Bibliotaph made a variety of comments + on this, but I remember only the following; it + is a reason for not including the <i class="title">Biglow Papers</i> + in Jowett’s third and crowning class. ‘Humor + to be popular permanently must be general + rather than local, and have to do with a phase + of character rather than a fact of history; that + is, it must deal in a great way with what is always + interesting to all men. Humor that does + not meet this requirement is not likely, when + its novelty has worn off, to be read even occasionally + save by those who enjoy it as an intellectual + performance or who are making a + critical study of its author.’ The observation, + if not profound, is at least sensible, and it illustrates + very well the Bibliotaph’s love of alliteration + <a class="pagenum" id="page_68" title="68"></a>and antithesis. But it is easier to remember + and to report his caustic and humorous + remarks.</p> + + <p>The Country Squire had a card-catalogue of + the books in his library, and he delighted to + make therein entries of his past and his new + purchases. But it was not always possible to + find upon the shelves books that were mentioned + in the catalogue. The Bibliotaph took + advantage of a few instances of this sort to + prod his moneyed friend. He would ask the + Squire if he had such-and-such a book. The + Squire would say that he had, and appeal to his + catalogue in proof of it. Then would follow a + search for the volume. If, as sometimes happened, + no book corresponding to the entry could + be found, the Bibliotaph would be satirical and + remark:—</p> + + <p>‘I’ll tell you what you ought to name your + catalogue.’</p> + + <p>‘What?’</p> + + <p>‘Great expectations!’</p> + + <p>Another time he said, ‘This is not a list of + your books, this is a list of the things that you + intend to buy;’ or he would suggest that the + Squire would do well to christen his catalogue + <i class="title">Vaulting Ambition</i>. Perhaps the variation + might take this form. After a fruitless search + for some book, which upon the testimony of + the catalogue was certainly in the collection, + the Bibliotaph would observe, ‘This catalogue + <a class="pagenum" id="page_69" title="69"></a>might not inappropriately be spoken of as the + substance of things hoped for, and the evidence + of things not seen.’ Another time the Bibliotaph + said to the Squire, calling to mind the + well-known dictum as to the indispensableness + of certain books, ‘Between what one sees on + your shelves and what one reads in your card-catalogue + one would have reason to believe that + you were a gentleman.’</p> + + <p>Once the Bibliotaph said to me in the presence + of the Squire: ‘I think that our individual + relation to books might be expressed in this + way. You read books but you don’t buy them. + I buy books but I don’t read them. The + Squire neither reads them nor buys them,—only + card-catalogues them!’</p> + + <p>To all this the Squire had a reply which was + worldly, emphatic, and adequate, but the object + of this study is not to exhibit the virtues of the + Squire’s speech, witty though it was.</p> + + <p>One of the Bibliotaph’s friends began without + sufficient provocation to write verse. The + Bibliotaph thought that if the matter were taken + promptly in hand the man could be saved. Accordingly, + when next he gave this friend a book + he wrote upon a fly-leaf: ‘To a Poet who is + nothing if not original—and who is not original!’ + And the injured rhymester exclaimed + when he read the inscription: ‘You deface + every book you give me.’</p> + + <p>He could pay a compliment, as when he was + <a class="pagenum" id="page_70" title="70"></a>dining with a married pair who were thought + to be not yet disenchanted albeit in the tenth + year of their married life. The lady was speaking + to the Bibliotaph, but in the eagerness of + conversation addressed him by her husband’s + first name. Whereupon he turned to the husband + and said: ‘Your wife implies that I am a + repository of grace and a bundle of virtues, and + calls me by your name.’</p> + + <p>He once sent this same lady, apropos of the + return of the shirt-waist season, a dozen neckties. + In the box was his card with these words + penciled upon it: ‘A contribution to the man-made + dress of a God-made woman.’</p> + + <p>The Squire had great skill in imitating the + cries of various domestic fowl, as well as dogs, + cats, and children. Once, in a moment of social + relaxation, he was giving an exhibition of his + power to the vast amusement of his guests. + When he had finished, the Bibliotaph said: + ‘The theory of Henry Ward Beecher that + every man has something of the animal in him + is superabundantly exemplified in <em>your</em> case. + You, sir, have got the whole Ark.’</p> + + <p>There was a quaint humor in his most commonplace + remarks. Of all the fruits of the + earth he loved most a watermelon. And when + a fellow-traveler remarked, ‘That watermelon + which we had at dinner was bad,’ the Bibliotaph + instantly replied: ‘There is no such thing + as a <em>bad</em> watermelon. There are watermelons, + and <em>better</em> watermelons.’</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page_71" title="71"></a>I expressed astonishment on learning that he + stood six feet in his shoes. He replied: ‘People + are so preoccupied in the consideration of + my thickness that they don’t have time to observe + my height.’</p> + + <p>Again, when he was walking through a private + park which contained numerous monstrosities + in the shape of painted metal deer on + pedestals, pursued (also on pedestals) by hunters + and dogs, the Bibliotaph pointed to one of + the dogs and said, ‘Cave cast-iron canem!’</p> + + <p>He once accompanied a party of friends and + acquaintances to the summit of Mt. Tom. The + ascent is made in these days by a very remarkable + inclined plane. After looking at the extensive + and exquisite view, the Bibliotaph fell + to examining his return coupon, which read, + ‘Good for one Trip Down.’ Then he said: + ‘Let us hope that in a post-terrestrial experience + our tickets will not read in this way.’</p> + + <p>He was once ascending in the unusually + commodious and luxurious elevator of a new + ten-story hotel and remarked to his companion: + ‘If we can’t be carried to the skies on flowery + beds of ease, we can at least start in that direction + under not dissimilar conditions.’ He also + said that the advantage of stopping at this particular + hotel was that you were able to get as + far as possible from the city in which it was + located.</p> + + <p>He studied the dictionary with great diligence + <a class="pagenum" id="page_72" title="72"></a>and was unusually accurate in his pronunciation. + He took an amused satisfaction in + pronouncing exactly certain words which in + common talk had shifted phonetically from + their moorings. This led a gentleman who + was intimate with the Bibliotaph to say to him, + ‘Why, if I were to pronounce that word among + my kinsfolk as you do they’d think I was + crazy.’ ‘What you mean,’ said the Bibliotaph, + ‘is, that they would look upon it in the light of + supererogatory supplementary evidence.’</p> + + <p>He himself indulged overmuch in alliteration, + but it was with humorous intent; and + critics forgave it in him when they would have + reprehended it in another. He had no notion + that it was fine. Taken, however, in connection + with his emphatic manner and sonorous + voice he produced a decided and original effect. + Meeting the Squire’s wife after a considerable + interval, I asked whether her husband had been + behaving well. She replied ‘As usual.’ Whereupon + the Bibliotaph said, ‘You mean that his + conduct in these days is characterized by a plethora + of intention and a paucity of performance.’</p> + + <p>He objected to enlarging the boundaries of + words until they stood for too many things. + Let a word be kept so far as was reasonable to + its earlier and authorized meaning. Speaking + of the word ‘symposium,’ which has been + stretched to mean a collection of short articles + on a given subject, the Bibliotaph said that he + <a class="pagenum" id="page_73" title="73"></a>could fancy a honey-bee which had been feasting + on pumice until it was unable to make the + line characteristic of its kind, explaining to its + queen that it had been to a symposium; but + that he doubted if we ought to allow any other + meaning.</p> + + <p>The Bibliotaph got much amusement from + what he insisted were the ill-concealed anxieties + of his friend the actor on the subject of a future + state. ‘He has acquired,’ said the Bibliotaph, + ‘both a pathetic and a prophetic interest in + that place which begins as heaven does, but + stops off monosyllabically.’</p> + + <p>The two men were one day discussing the + question of the permanency of fame, how ephemeral + for example was that reputation which + depended upon the living presence of the artist + to make good its claim; how an actor, an orator, + a singer, was bound to enjoy his glory while it + lasted, since at the instant of his death all tangible + evidence of greatness disappeared; he + could not be proven great to one who had never + seen and heard him. Having reached this + point in his philosophizing the Bibliotaph’s + player-friend became sentimental and quoted a + great comedian to the effect that ‘a dead actor + was a mighty useless thing.’ ‘Certainly,’ said + the Bibliotaph, ‘having exhausted the life that + now is, and having no hope of the life that is to + come.’</p> + + <p>Sometimes it pleased the Bibliotaph to maintain + <a class="pagenum" id="page_74" title="74"></a>that his friend of the footlights would be + in the future state a mere homeless wanderer, + having neither positive satisfaction nor positive + discomfort. For the actor was wont to insist + that even if there were an orthodox heaven its + moral opposite were the desirable locality; all + the clever and interesting fellows would be + down below. ‘Except yourself,’ said the Bibliotaph. + ‘You, sir, will be eliminated by your + own reasoning. You will be denied heaven + because you are not good, and hell because you + are not great.’</p> + + <p>On the whole it pleased the Bibliotaph to + maintain that his friend’s course was downward, + and that the sooner he reconciled himself + to his undoubted fate the better. ‘Why + speculate upon it?’ he said paternally to the + actor, ‘your prospective comparisons will one + day yield to reminiscent contrasts.’</p> + + <p>The actor was convinced that the Bibliotaph’s + own past life needed looking into, and he + declared that when he got a chance he was + going to examine the great records. To which + the Bibliotaph promptly responded: ‘The + books of the recording angel will undoubtedly + be open to your inspection if you can get an + hour off to come up. The probability is that + you will be overworked.’</p> + + <p>The Bibliotaph never lost an opportunity for + teasing. He arrived late one evening at the + house of a friend where he was always heartily + <a class="pagenum" id="page_75" title="75"></a>welcome, and before answering the chorus of + greetings, proceeded to kiss the lady of the + mansion, a queenly and handsome woman. Being + asked why he—who was a large man and + very shy with respect to women, as large men + always are—should have done this thing, he + answered that the kiss had been sent by a common + friend and that he had delivered it at once, + ‘for if there was anything he prided himself + upon it was a courageous discharge of an + unpleasant duty.’</p> + + <p>Once when he had been narrating this incident + he was asked what reply the lady had + made to so uncourteous a speech. ‘I don’t + remember,’ said the Bibliotaph, ‘it was long + ago; but my opinion is that she would have + been justified in denominating me by a monosyllable + beginning with the initial letter of the + alphabet and followed by successive sibilants.’</p> + + <p>One of the Bibliotaph’s fellow book-hunters + owned a chair said to have been given by Sir + Edwin Landseer to Sir Walter Scott. The + chair was interesting to behold, but the Bibliotaph + after attempting to sit in it immediately + got up and declared that it was not a genuine + relic: ‘Sir Edwin had reason to be grateful to + rather than indignant at Sir Walter Scott.’</p> + + <p>He said of a highly critical person that if + that man were to become a minister he would + probably announce as the subject of his first + sermon: ‘The conditions that God must meet + <a class="pagenum" id="page_76" title="76"></a>in order to be acceptable to me.’ He said of a + poor orator who had copyrighted one of his + most indifferent speeches, that the man ‘positively + suffered from an excess of caution.’ He + remarked once that the great trouble with a + certain lady was ‘she labored under the delusion + that she enjoyed occasional seasons of sanity.’</p> + + <p>The <i lang="la">nil admirari</i> attitude was one which he + never affected, and he had a contempt for men + who denied to the great in literature and art + that praise which was their due. This led him + to say apropos of an obscure critic who had + assailed one of the poetical masters: ‘When + the Lord makes a man a fool he injures him; + but when He so constitutes him that the man + is never happy unless he is making that fact + public, He insults him.’</p> + + <p>He enjoyed speculating on the subject of + marriage, especially in the presence of those + friends who unlike himself knew something + about it empirically. He delighted to tell his + lady acquaintances that their husbands would + undoubtedly marry a second time if they had + the chance. It was inevitable. A man whose + experience has been fortunate is bound to + marry again, because he is like the man who + broke the bank at Monte Carlo. A man who + has been unhappily married marries again because + like an unfortunate gamester he has + reached the time when his luck has got to + <a class="pagenum" id="page_77" title="77"></a>change. The Bibliotaph then added with a + smile: ‘I have the idea that many men who + marry a second time do in effect what is often + done by unsuccessful gamblers at Monte Carlo; + they go out and commit suicide.’</p> + + <p>The Bibliotaph played but few games. There + was one, however, in which he was skillful. I + blush to speak of it in these days of much muscular + activity. What have golfers, and tennis-players, + and makers of century runs to do with + croquet? Yet there was a time when croquet + was spoken of as ‘the coming game;’ and had + not Clintock’s friend Jennings written an epic + poem upon it in twelve books, which poem he + offered to lend to a certain brilliant young lady? + But Gwendolen despised boys and cared even + less for their poetry than for themselves.</p> + + <p>At the house of the Country Squire the Bibliotaph + was able to gratify his passion for croquet, + and verily he was a master. He made a + grotesque figure upon the court, with his big + frame which must stoop mightily to take account + of balls and short-handled mallets, with + his agile manner, his uncovered head shaggy + with its barbaric profusion of hair (whereby + some one was led to nickname him Bibliotaph + Indetonsus), with the scanty black alpaca coat + in which he invariably played—a coat so short + in the sleeves and so brief in the skirt that the + figure cut by the wearer might almost have + passed for that of Mynheer Ten Broek of many-trowsered + <a class="pagenum" id="page_78" title="78"></a>memory. But it was vastly more + amusing to watch him than to play with him. + He had a devil ‘most undoubted.’ Only with + the help of black art and by mortgaging one’s + soul would it have been possible to accomplish + some of the things which he accomplished. + For the materials of croquet are so imperfect + at best that chance is an influential element. + I’ve seen tennis-players in the intervals of + <em>their</em> game watch the Bibliotaph with that + superior smile suggestive of contempt for the + puerility of his favorite sport. They might + even condescend to take a mallet for a while + to amuse <em>him</em>; but presently discomfited they + would retire to a game less capricious than croquet + and one in which there was reasonable + hope that a given cause would produce its + wonted effect.</p> + + <p>The Bibliotaph played strictly for the purpose + of winning, and took savage joy in his + conquests. In playing with him one had to do + two men’s work; one must play, and then one + must summon such philosophy as one might to + suffer continuous defeat, and such wit as one + possessed to beat back a steady onslaught of + daring and witty criticisms. ‘I play like a + fool,’ said a despairing opponent after fruitless + effort to win a just share of the games. ‘We + all have our moments of unconsciousness,’ + purred the Bibliotaph blandly in response. + This same despairing opponent, who was an + <a class="pagenum" id="page_79" title="79"></a>expert in everything he played, said that there + was but one solace after croquet with the Bibliotaph; + he would go home and read Hazlitt’s + essay on the Indian Jugglers.</p> + + <p class="post_thoughtbreak">Here ends the account of the Bibliotaph. + From these inadequate notes it is possible to + get some little idea of his habits and conversation. + The library is said to be still growing. + Packages of books come mysteriously from the + corners of the earth and make their way to + that remote and almost inaccessible village + where the great collector hides his treasures. + No one has ever penetrated that region, and no + one, so far as I am aware, has ever seen the + treasures. The books lie entombed, as it were, + awaiting such day of resurrection as their + owner shall appoint them. The day is likely to + be long delayed. Of the collector’s whereabouts + now no one of his friends dares to speak + positively; for at the time when knowledge of + him was most exact THE BIBLIOTAPH was + like a newly-discovered comet,—his course was + problematical.</p> + + </div> + <div id="hardy" class="essay"> + <h2 class="essay_title"><a class="pagenum" id="page_80" title="80"></a>THOMAS HARDY</h2> + <p class="return_toc"><a href="#contents">Return to Contents</a></p> + + <h3 class="essay_subtitle">I</h3> + + <p>‘<span class="first_word">The</span> reason why so few good books are + written is that so few people that can write + know anything.’ So said a man who, during a + busy career, found time to add several fine volumes + to the scanty number of good books. + And in a vivacious paragraph which follows + this initial sentence he humorously anathematizes + the literary life. He shows convincingly + that ‘secluded habits do not tend to eloquence.’ + He says that the ‘indifferent apathy’ so common + among studious persons is by no means + favorable to liveliness of narration. He proves + that men who will not live cannot write; that + people who shut themselves up in libraries have + dry brains. He avows his confidence in the + ‘original way of writing books,’ the way of the + first author, who must have looked at things + for himself, ‘since there were no books for him + to copy from;’ and he challenges the reader to + prove that this original way is not the best + way. ‘Where,’ he asks, ‘are the amusing + books from voracious students and habitual + writers?’</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page_81" title="81"></a>This startling arraignment of authors has + been made by other men than Walter Bagehot. + Hazlitt in his essay on the ‘Ignorance of the + Learned’ teaches much the same doctrine. + Its general truth is indisputable, though Bagehot + himself makes exception in favor of Sir + Walter Scott. But the two famous critics are + united in their conviction that learned people + are generally dull, and that books which are + the work of habitual writers are not amusing.</p> + + <p>There are as a matter of course more exceptions + than one. Thomas Hardy is a distinguished + exception. Thomas Hardy is an ‘habitual + writer,’ but he is always amusing. The + following paragraphs are intended to emphasize + certain causes of this quality in his work, the + quality by virtue of which he chains the attention + and proves himself the most readable + novelist now living. That he does attract and + hold is clear to any one who has tried no more + than a half-dozen pages from one of his best + stories. He has the fatal habit of being interesting,—fatal + because it robs you who read + him of time which you might else have devoted + to ‘improving’ literature, such as history, political + economy, or light science. He destroys + your peace of mind by compelling your sympathies + in behalf of people who never existed. + He undermines your will power and makes you + his slave. You declare that you will read but + one more chapter and you weakly consent to + <a class="pagenum" id="page_82" title="82"></a>make it two chapters. As a special indulgence + you spoil a working day in order to learn about + the <i class="title">Return of the Native</i>, perhaps agreeing with + a supposititious ‘better self’ that you will waste + no more time on novels for the next six months. + But you are of ascetic fibre indeed if you do + not follow up the book with a reading of <i class="title">The + Woodlanders</i> and <i class="title">The Mayor of Casterbridge</i>.</p> + + <p>There is a reason for this. If the practiced + writer often fails to make a good book because + he knows nothing, Mr. Hardy must succeed in + large part because he knows so much. The + more one reads him the more is one impressed + with the extent of his knowledge. He has an + intimate acquaintance with an immense number + of interesting things.</p> + + <p>He knows men and women—if not all sorts + and all conditions, at least a great many varieties + of the human animal. Moreover, his men + are men and his women are women. He does + not use them as figures to accentuate a landscape, + or as ventriloquist’s puppets to draw + away attention from the fact that he himself is + doing all the talking. His people have individuality, + power of speech, power of motion. He + does not tell you that such a one is clever or + witty; the character which he has created does + that for himself by doing clever things and + making witty remarks. In an excellent story + by a celebrated modern master there is a young + lady who is declared to be clever and brilliant. + <a class="pagenum" id="page_83" title="83"></a>Out of forty or fifty observations which she + makes, the most extraordinary concerns her + father; she says, ‘Isn’t dear papa delightful?’ + At another time she inquires whether another + gentleman is not also delightful. Hardy’s resources + are not so meagre as this. When his + people talk we listen,—we do not endure.</p> + + <p>He knows other things besides men and + women. He knows the soil, the trees, the sky, + the sunsets, the infinite variations of the landscape + under cloud and sunshine. He knows + horses, sheep, cows, dogs, cats. He understands + the interpretation of sounds,—a detail + which few novelists comprehend or treat with + accuracy; the pages of his books ring with the + noises of house, street, and country. Moreover + there is nothing conventional in his transcript + of facts. There is no evidence that he has + been in the least degree influenced by other + men’s minds. He takes the raw stuff of which + novels are made and moulds it as he will. He + has an absolutely fresh eye, as painters sometimes + say. He looks on life as if he were the + first literary man, ‘and none had ever lived + before him.’ Paraphrasing Ruskin, one may + say of Hardy that in place of studying the old + masters he has studied what the old masters + studied. But his point of view is his own. His + pages are not reminiscent of other pages. He + never makes you think of something you have + read, but invariably of something you have + <a class="pagenum" id="page_84" title="84"></a>seen or would like to see. He is an original + writer, which means that he takes his material + at first hand and eschews documents. There + is considerable evidence that he has read books, + but there is no reason for supposing that books + have damaged him.</p> + + <p>Dr. Farmer proved that Shakespeare had no + ‘learning.’ One might perhaps demonstrate + that Thomas Hardy is equally fortunate. In + that case he and Shakespeare may felicitate + one another. Though when we remember that + in our day it is hardly possible to avoid a tincture + of scholarship, we may be doing the fairer + thing by these two men if we say that the one + had small Greek and the other has adroitly concealed + the measure of Greek, whether great or + small, which is in his possession. To put the + matter in another form, though Hardy may + have drunk in large quantity ‘the spirit breathed + from dead men to their kind,’ he has not allowed + his potations to intoxicate him.</p> + + <p>This paragraph is not likely to be misinterpreted + unless by some honest soul who has yet + to learn that ‘literature is not sworn testimony.’ + Therefore it may be well to add that Mr. Hardy + undoubtedly owns a collection of books, and + has upon his shelves dictionaries and encyclopedias, + together with a decent representation of + those works which people call ‘standard.’ But + it is of importance to remember this: That + while he may be a well-read man, as the phrase + <a class="pagenum" id="page_85" title="85"></a>goes, he is not and never has been of that class + which Emerson describes with pale sarcasm as + ‘meek young men in libraries.’ It is clear that + Hardy has not ‘weakened his eyesight over + books,’ and it is equally clear that he has + ‘sharpened his eyesight on men and women.’ + Let us consider a few of his virtues.</p> + + <h3 class="essay_subtitle">II</h3> + + <p>In the first place he tells a good story. No + extravagant praise is due him for this; it is his + business, his trade. He ought to do it, and + therefore he does it. The ‘first morality’ of a + novelist is to be able to tell a story, as the first + morality of a painter is to be able to handle his + brush skillfully and make it do his brain’s intending. + After all, telling stories in an admirable + fashion is rather a familiar accomplishment + nowadays. Many men, many women are + able to make stories of considerable ingenuity + as to plot, and of thrilling interest in the unrolling + of a scheme of events. Numberless writers + are shrewd and clever in constructing their + ‘fable,’ but they are unable to do much beyond + this. Walter Besant writes good stories; Robert + Buchanan writes good stories; Grant Allen + and David Christie Murray are acceptable to + many readers. But unless I mistake greatly + and do these men an injustice I should be sorry + to do them, their ability ceases just at this + point. They tell good stories and do nothing + <a class="pagenum" id="page_86" title="86"></a>else. They write books and do not make literature. + They are authors by their own will and + not by grace of God. It may be said of them + as Augustine Birrell said of Professor Freeman + and the Bishop of Chester, that they are horny-handed + sons of toil and worthy of their wage. + But one would like to say a little more. Granting + that this is praise, it is so faint as to be + almost inaudible. If Hardy only wrote good + stories he would be merely doing his duty, and + therefore accounted an unprofitable servant. + But he does much besides.</p> + + <p>He fulfills one great function of the literary + artist, which is to mediate between nature and + the reading public. Such a man is an eye + specialist. Through his amiable offices people + who have hitherto been blind are put into condition + to see. Near-sighted persons have spectacles + fitted to them—which they generally + refuse to wear, not caring for literature which + clears the mental vision.</p> + + <p>Hardy opens the eyes of the reader to the + charm, the beauty, the mystery to be found in + common life and in every-day objects. So alert + and forceful an intelligence rarely applies its + energy to fiction. The result is that he makes + an almost hopelessly high standard. The exceptional + man who comes after him may be a + rival, but the majority of writing gentlemen + can do little more than enviously admire. He + seems to have established for himself such a + <a class="pagenum" id="page_87" title="87"></a>rule as this, that he will write no page which + shall not be interesting. He pours out the + treasures of his observation in every chapter. + He sees everything, feels everything, sympathizes + with everything. To be sure he has an + unusually rich field for work. In <i class="title">The Mayor + of Casterbridge</i> is an account of the discovery + of the remains of an old Roman soldier. One + would expect Hardy to make something graphic + of the episode. And so he does. You can + almost see the warrior as he lies there ‘in an + oval scoop in the chalk, like a chicken in its + shell; his knees drawn up to his chest; his + spear against his arm; an urn at his knees, a + jar at his throat, a bottle at his mouth; and + mystified conjecture pouring down upon him + from the eyes of Casterbridge street-boys and + men.’</p> + + <p>The real virtue in this bit of description lies + in the few words expressive of the mental attitude + of the onlookers. And it is a nice distinction + which Hardy makes when he says that + ‘imaginative inhabitants who would have felt + an unpleasantness at the discovery of a comparatively + modern skeleton in their gardens were + quite unmoved by these hoary shapes. They + had lived so long ago, their hopes and motives + were so widely removed from ours, that between + them and the living there seemed to + stretch a gulf too wide for even a spirit to + pass.’</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page_88" title="88"></a>He takes note of that language which, though + not articulate, is in common use among yeomen, + dairymen, farmers, and the townsfolk of + his little world. It is a language superimposed + upon the ordinary language. ‘To express satisfaction + the Casterbridge market-man added to + his utterance a broadening of the cheeks, a + crevicing of the eyes, a throwing back of the + shoulders.’ ‘If he wondered … you knew it + from perceiving the inside of his crimson mouth + and the target-like circling of his eyes.’ The + language of deliberation expressed itself in the + form of ‘sundry attacks on the moss of adjoining + walls with the end of his stick’ or a ‘change + of his hat from the horizontal to the less so.’</p> + + <p>The novel called <i class="title">The Woodlanders</i> is filled + with notable illustrations of an interest in minute + things. The facts are introduced unobtrusively + and no great emphasis is laid upon + them. But they cling to the memory. Giles + Winterbourne, a chief character in this story, + ‘had a marvelous power in making trees grow. + Although he would seem to shovel in the earth + quite carelessly there was a sort of sympathy + between himself and the fir, oak, or beech that + he was operating on; so that the roots took + hold of the soil in a few days.’ When any of + the journeymen planted, one quarter of the + trees died away. There is a graphic little + scene where Winterbourne plants and Marty + South holds the trees for him. ‘Winterbourne’s + <a class="pagenum" id="page_89" title="89"></a>fingers were endowed with a gentle + conjurer’s touch in spreading the roots of each + little tree, resulting in a sort of caress under + which the delicate fibres all laid themselves out + in their proper direction for growth.’ Marty + declared that the trees began to ‘sigh’ as soon + as they were put upright, ‘though when they + are lying down they don’t sigh at all.’ Winterbourne + had never noticed it. ‘She erected one + of the young pines into its hole, and held up + her finger; the soft musical breathing instantly + set in, which was not to cease night or day till + the grown tree should be felled—probably + long after the two planters had been felled + themselves.’</p> + + <p>Later on in the story there is a description + of this same Giles Winterbourne returning with + his horses and his cider apparatus from a neighboring + village. ‘He looked and smelt like + autumn’s very brother, his face being sunburnt + to wheat color, his eyes blue as corn flowers, + his sleeves and leggings dyed with fruit stains, + his hands clammy with the sweet juice of apples, + his hat sprinkled with pips, and everywhere + about him that atmosphere of cider + which at its first return each season has such + an indescribable fascination for those who have + been born and bred among the orchards.’</p> + + <p>Hardy throws off little sketches of this sort + with an air of unconsciousness which is fascinating…. It + may be a sunset, or it may be only + <a class="pagenum" id="page_90" title="90"></a>a flake of snow falling upon a young girl’s hair, + or the light from lanterns penetrating the shutters + and flickering over the ceiling of a room in + the early winter morning,—no matter what + the circumstance or happening is, it is caught + in the act, photographed in permanent colors, + made indelible and beautiful.</p> + + <p>Hardy’s art is tyrannical. It compels one to + be interested in that which delights him. It + imposes its own standards. There is a rude + strength about the man which readers endure + because they are not unwilling to be slaves to + genius. You may dislike sheep, and care but + little for the poetical aspect of cows, if indeed + you are not inclined to question the existence + of poetry in cows; but if you read <i class="title">Far from + the Madding Crowd</i> you can never again pass + a flock of sheep without being conscious of a + multitude of new thoughts, new images, new + matters for comparison. All that dormant section + of your soul which for years was in a + comatose condition on the subject of sheep is + suddenly and broadly awake. Read <i class="title">Tess</i> and + at once cows and a dairy have a new meaning + to you. They are a conspicuous part of the + setting of that stage upon which poor Tess + Durbeyfield’s life drama was played.</p> + + <p>But Hardy does not flaunt his knowledge in + his reader’s face. These things are distinctly + means to an end, not ends in themselves. He + has no theory to advance about keeping bees + <a class="pagenum" id="page_91" title="91"></a>or making cider. He has taken no little journeys + in the world. On the contrary, where he + has traveled at all, he has traveled extensively. + He is like a tourist who has been so many times + abroad that his allusions are naturally and unaffectedly + made. But the man just back from a + first trip on the continent has astonishment + stamped upon his face, and he speaks of Paris + and of the Alps as if he had discovered both. + Zola is one of those practitioners who, big with + recently acquired knowledge, appear to labor + under the idea that the chief end of a novel is + to convey miscellaneous information. This is + probably a mistake. Novels are not handbooks + on floriculture, banking, railways, or the management + of department stores. One may make + a parade of minute details and endlessly wearisome + learning and gain a certain credit thereby; + but what if the details and the learning are + chiefly of value in a dictionary of sciences and + commerce? Wisdom of this sort is to be sparingly + used in a work of art.</p> + + <p>In these matters I cannot but feel that Hardy + has a reticence so commendable that praise of it + is superfluous and impertinent. After all, men + and women are better than sheep and cows, + and had he been more explicit, he would have + tempted one to inquire whether he proposed + making a story or a volume which might bear + the title <i class="title">The Wessex Farmer’s Own Hand-Book</i>, + and containing wise advice as to pigs, poultry, + <a class="pagenum" id="page_92" title="92"></a>and the useful art of making two heads of cabbage + grow where only one had grown before.</p> + + <h3 class="essay_subtitle">III</h3> + + <p>Among the most engaging qualities of this + writer is humor. Hardy is a humorous man + himself and entirely appreciative of the humor + that is in others. According to a distinguished + philosopher, wit and humor produce love. + Hardy must then be in daily receipt of large + measures of this ‘improving passion’ from his + innumerable readers on both sides of the Atlantic.</p> + + <p>His humor manifests itself in a variety of + ways; by the use of witty epithet; by ingenious + description of a thing which is not strikingly + laughable in itself, but which becomes + so from the closeness of his rendering; by a + leisurely and ample account of a character with + humorous traits,—traits which are brought artistically + into prominence as an actor heightens + the complexion in stage make-up; and finally + by his lively reproductions of the talk of village + and country people,—a class of society whose + everyday speech has only to be heard to be enjoyed. + I do not pretend that the sources of + Hardy’s humor are exhausted in this analysis, + but the majority of illustrations can be assigned + to some one of these divisions.</p> + + <p>He is usually thought to be at his best in descriptions + of farmers, village mechanics, laborers, + <a class="pagenum" id="page_93" title="93"></a>dairymen, men who kill pigs, tend sheep, + furze-cutters, masons, hostlers, loafers who do + nothing in particular, and while thus occupied + rail on Lady Fortune in good set terms. Certainly + he paints these people with affectionate + fidelity. Their virile, racy talk delights him. + His reproductions of that talk are often intensely + realistic. Nearly every book has its + chorus of human grotesques whose mere names + are a source of mirth. William Worm, Grandfer + Cantle, ‘Corp’el’ Tullidge, Christopher + Coney, John Upjohn, Robert Creedle, Martin + Cannister, Haymoss Fry, Robert Lickpan, and + Sammy Blore,—men so denominated should + stand for comic things, and these men do. William + Worm, for example, was deaf. His deafness + took an unusual form; he heard fish frying + in his head, and he was not reticent upon the + subject of his infirmity. He usually described + himself by the epithet ‘wambling,’ and protested + that he would never pay the Lord for + his making,—a degree of self-knowledge which + many have arrived at but few have the courage + to confess. He was once observed in the act + of making himself ‘passing civil and friendly + by overspreading his face with a large smile + that seemed to have no connection with the + humor he was in.’ Sympathy because of his + deafness elicited this response: ‘Ay, I assure + you that frying o’ fish is going on for nights + and days. And, you know, sometimes ’tisn’t + <a class="pagenum" id="page_94" title="94"></a>only fish, but rashers o’ bacon and inions. Ay, + I can hear the fat pop and fizz as nateral as + life.’</p> + + <p>He was questioned as to what means of cure + he had tried.</p> + + <p>‘Oh, ay bless ye, I’ve tried everything. + Ay, Providence is a merciful man, and I have + hoped he’d have found it out by this time, living + so many years in a parson’s family, too, + as I have; but ’a don’t seem to relieve me. + Ay, I be a poor wambling man, and life’s a + mint o’ trouble.’</p> + + <p>One knows not which to admire the more, + the appetizing realism in William Worm’s account + of his infirmity, or the primitive state of + his theological views which allowed him to look + for special divine favor by virtue of the ecclesiastical + conspicuousness of his late residence.</p> + + <p>Hardy must have heard, with comfort in the + thought of its literary possibilities, the following + dialogue on the cleverness of women. It + occurs in the last chapter of <i class="title">The Woodlanders</i>. + A man who is always spoken of as the ‘hollow-turner,’ + a phrase obviously descriptive of his + line of business, which related to wooden bowls, + spigots, cheese-vats, and funnels, talks with + John Upjohn.</p> + + <p>‘What women do know nowadays!’ he says. + ‘You can’t deceive ’em as you could in my + time.’</p> + + <p>‘What they knowed then was not small,’ said + <a class="pagenum" id="page_95" title="95"></a>John Upjohn. ‘Always a good deal more than + the men! Why, when I went courting my wife + that is now, the skillfulness that she would + show in keeping me on her pretty side as she + walked was beyond all belief. Perhaps you’ve + noticed that she’s got a pretty side to her face + as well as a plain one?’</p> + + <p>‘I can’t say I’ve noticed it particular much,’ + said the hollow-turner blandly.</p> + + <p>‘Well,’ continued Upjohn, not disconcerted, + ‘she has. All women under the sun be prettier + one side than t’other. And, as I was saying, + the pains she would take to make me walk + on the pretty side were unending. I warrent + that whether we were going with the sun or + against the sun, uphill or downhill, in wind or + in lewth, that wart of hers was always toward + the hedge, and that dimple toward me. There + was I too simple to see her wheelings and + turnings; and she so artful though two years + younger, that she could lead me with a cotton + thread like a blind ham; … no, I don’t think + the women have got cleverer, for they was + never otherwise.’</p> + + <h3 class="essay_subtitle">IV</h3> + + <p>These men have sap and juice in their talk. + When they think they think clearly. When + they speak they express themselves with an + energy and directness which mortify the thin + speech of conventional persons. Here is Farfrae, + <a class="pagenum" id="page_96" title="96"></a>the young Scotchman, in the tap-room of + the Three Mariners Inn of Casterbridge, singing + of his ain contree with a pathos quite unknown + in that part of the world. The worthies + who frequent the place are deeply moved. + ‘Danged if our country down here is worth + singing about like that,’ says Billy Wills, the + glazier,—while the literal Christopher Coney + inquires, ‘What did ye come away from yer + own country for, young maister, if ye be so + wownded about it?’ Then it occurs to him + that it wasn’t worth Farfrae’s while to leave + the fair face and the home of which he had + been singing to come among such as they. + ‘We be bruckle folk here—the best o’ us + hardly honest sometimes, what with hard winters, + and so many mouths to fill, and God-a’mighty + sending his little taties so terrible + small to fill ’em with. We don’t think about + flowers and fair faces, not we—except in the + shape of cauliflowers and pigs’ chaps.’</p> + + <p>I should like to see the man who sat to Artist + Hardy for the portrait of Corporal Tullidge in + <i class="title">The Trumpet-Major</i>. This worthy, who was + deaf and talked in an uncompromisingly loud + voice, had been struck in the head by a piece + of shell at Valenciennes in ’93. His left arm + had been smashed. Time and Nature had done + what they could, and under their beneficent influences + the arm had become a sort of anatomical + rattle-box. People interested in Corp’el + <a class="pagenum" id="page_97" title="97"></a>Tullidge were allowed to see his head and hear + his arm. The corp’el gave these private views + at any time, and was quite willing to show off, + though the exhibition was apt to bore him a + little. His fellows displayed him much as one + would a ‘freak’ in a dime museum.</p> + + <p>‘You have got a silver plate let into yer + head, haven’t ye, corp’el?’ said Anthony Cripplestraw. + ‘I have heard that the way they + mortised yer skull was a beautiful piece of workmanship. + Perhaps the young woman would like + to see the place.’</p> + + <p>The young woman was Anne Garland, the + sweet heroine of the story; and Anne didn’t + want to see the silver plate, the thought of + which made her almost faint. Nor could she + be tempted by being told that one couldn’t see + such a ‘wownd’ every day. Then Cripplestraw, + earnest to please her, suggested that + Tullidge rattle his arm, which Tullidge did, to + Anne’s great distress.</p> + + <p>‘Oh, it don’t hurt him, bless ye. Do it, corp’el?’ + said Cripplestraw.</p> + + <p>‘Not a bit,’ said the corporal, still working + his arm with great energy. There was, however, + a perfunctoriness in his manner ‘as if the + glory of exhibition had lost somewhat of its + novelty, though he was still willing to oblige.’ + Anne resisted all entreaties to convince herself + by feeling of the corporal’s arm that the bones + were ‘as loose as a bag of ninepins,’ and displayed + <a class="pagenum" id="page_98" title="98"></a>an anxiety to escape. Whereupon the + corporal, ‘with a sense that his time was getting + wasted,’ inquired: ‘Do she want to see or + hear any more, or don’t she?’</p> + + <p>This is but a single detail in the account of + a party which Miller Loveday gave to soldier + guests in honor of his son John,—a description + the sustained vivacity of which can only be + appreciated through a reading of those brilliant + early chapters of the story.</p> + + <p>Half the mirth that is in these men comes + from the frankness with which they confess + their actual thoughts. Ask a man of average + morals and average attainments why he doesn’t + go to church. You won’t know any better after + he has given you his answer. Ask Nat Chapman, + of the novel entitled <i class="title">Two on a Tower</i>, and + you will not be troubled with ambiguities. He + doesn’t like to go because Mr. Torkingham’s + sermons make him think of soul-saving and + other bewildering and uncomfortable topics. + So when the son of Torkingham’s predecessor + asks Nat how it goes with him, that tiller of + the soil answers promptly: ‘Pa’son Tarkenham + do tease a feller’s conscience that much, that + church is no holler-day at all to the limbs, as it + was in yer reverent father’s time!’</p> + + <p>The unswerving honesty with which they assign + utilitarian motives for a particular line of + conduct is delightful. Three men discuss a + wedding, which took place not at the home of + <a class="pagenum" id="page_99" title="99"></a>the bride but in a neighboring parish, and was + therefore very private. The first doesn’t blame + the new married pair, because ‘a wedding at + home means five and six handed reels by the + hour, and they do a man’s legs no good when + he’s over forty.’ A second corroborates the remark + and says: ‘True. Once at the woman’s + house you can hardly say nay to being one in + a jig, knowing all the time that you be expected + to make yourself worth your victuals.’</p> + + <p>The third puts the whole matter beyond the + need of further discussion by adding: ‘For my + part, I like a good hearty funeral as well as + anything. You’ve as splendid victuals and + drink as at other parties, and even better. And + it don’t wear your legs to stumps in talking + over a poor fellow’s ways as it do to stand up + in hornpipes.’</p> + + <p>Beings who talk like this know their minds,—a + rather unwonted circumstance among the + sons of men,—and knowing them, they do the + next most natural thing in the world, which is + to speak the minds they have.</p> + + <p>There is yet another phase of Hardy’s humor + to be noted: that humor, sometimes defiant, + sometimes philosophic, which concerns death + and its accompaniments. It cannot be thought + morbid. Hardy is too fond of Nature ever to + degenerate into mere morbidity. He has lived + much in the open air, which always corrects a + tendency to ‘vapors.’ He takes little pleasure + <a class="pagenum" id="page_100" title="100"></a>in the gruesome, a statement in support of + which one may cite all his works up to 1892, + the date of the appearance of <i class="title">Tess</i>. This paper + includes no comment in detail upon the + later books; but so far as <i class="title">Tess</i> is concerned it + would be critical folly to speak of it as morbid. + It is sad, it is terrible, as <i class="title">Lear</i> is terrible, or + as any one of the great tragedies, written by + men we call ‘masters,’ is terrible. <i class="title">Jude</i> is psychologically + gruesome, no doubt; but not absolutely + indefensible. Even if it were as black a + book as some critics have painted it, the general + truth of the statement as to the healthfulness + of Hardy’s work would not be impaired. + This work judged as a whole is sound and invigorating. + He cannot be accused of over-fondness + for charnel-houses or ghosts. He does + not discourse of graves and vaults in order to + arouse that terror which the thought of death + inspires. It is not for the purpose of making + the reader uncomfortable. If the grave interests + him, it is because of the reflections awakened. + ‘Man, proud man,’ needs that jog to his + memory which the pomp of interments and + aspect of tombstones give. Hardy has keen + perception of that humor which glows in the + presence of death and on the edge of the grave. + The living have such a tremendous advantage + over the dead, that they can neither help feeling + it nor avoid a display of the feeling. When + the lion is buried the dogs crack jokes at the + <a class="pagenum" id="page_101" title="101"></a>funeral. They do it in a subdued manner, no + doubt, and with a sense of proprieties, but + nevertheless they do it. Their immense superiority + is never so apparent as at just this moment.</p> + + <p>This humor, which one notes in Hardy, is + akin to the humor of the grave-diggers in <i class="title">Hamlet</i>, + but not so grim. I have heard a country + undertaker describe the details of the least attractive + branch of his uncomfortable business + with a pride and self-satisfaction that would + have been farcical had not the subject been so + depressing. This would have been matter for + Hardy’s pen. There are few scenes in his + books more telling than that which shows the + operations in the family vault of the Luxellians, + when John Smith, Martin Cannister, and old + Simeon prepare the place for Lady Luxellian’s + coffin. It seems hardly wise to pronounce this + episode as good as the grave-diggers’ scene in + <i class="title">Hamlet</i>; that would shock some one and gain + for the writer the reputation of being enthusiastic + rather than critical. But I profess that I + enjoy the talk of old Simeon and Martin Cannister + quite as much as the talk of the first and + second grave-diggers.</p> + + <p>Simeon, the shriveled mason, was ‘a marvelously + old man, whose skin seemed so much too + large for his body that it would not stay in + position.’ He talked of the various great dead + whose coffins filled the family vault. Here was + the stately and irascible Lord George:—</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page_102" title="102"></a>‘Ah, poor Lord George,’ said the mason, looking contemplatively at the huge coffin; ‘he + and I were as bitter enemies once as any could + be when one is a lord and t’other only a mortal + man. Poor fellow! He’d clap his hand upon + my shoulder and cuss me as familiar and neighborly + as if he’d been a common chap. Ay, ’a + cussed me up hill and ’a cussed me down; and + then ’a would rave out again and the goold + clamps of his fine new teeth would glisten in + the sun like fetters of brass, while I, being a + small man and poor, was fain to say nothing at + all. Such a strappen fine gentleman as he was + too! Yes, I rather liken en sometimes. But + once now and then, when I looked at his towering + height, I’d think in my inside, “What a + weight you’ll be, my lord, for our arms to lower + under the inside of Endelstow church some + day!”’</p> + + <p>‘And was he?’ inquired a young laborer.</p> + + <p>‘He was. He was five hundred weight if ’a + were a pound. What with his lead, and his + oak, and his handles, and his one thing and + t’other’—here the ancient man slapped his + hand upon the cover with a force that caused a + rattle among the bones inside—‘he half broke + my back when I took his feet to lower en down + the steps there. “Ah,” saith I to John there—didn’t + I, John?—“that ever one man’s glory + should be such a weight upon another man!” + But there, I liked my Lord George sometimes.’</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page_103" title="103"></a>It may be observed that as Hardy grows + older his humor becomes more subtle or quite + dies away, as if serious matters pressed upon + his mind, and there was no time for being jocular. + Some day, perhaps, if he should rise to + the dignity of an English classic, this will be + spoken of as his third period, and critics will be + wise in the elucidation thereof. But just at + present this third period is characterized by the + terms ‘pessimistic’ and ‘unhealthy.’</p> + + <p>That he is a pessimist in the colloquial sense + admits of little question. Nor is it surprising; + it is rather difficult not to be. Not a few persons + are pessimists and won’t tell. They preserve + a fair exterior, but secretly hold that all + flesh is grass. Some people escape the disease + by virtue of much philosophy or much religion + or much work. Many who have not taken up + permanent residence beneath the roof of Schopenhauer + or Von Hartmann are occasional + guests. Then there is that great mass of pessimism + which is the result, not of thought, but + of mere discomfort, physical and super-physical. + One may have attacks of pessimism from a + variety of small causes. A bad stomach will + produce it. Financial difficulties will produce it. + The light-minded get it from changes in the + weather.</p> + + <p>That note of melancholy which we detect in + many of Hardy’s novels is as it should be. For + no man can apprehend life aright and still look + <a class="pagenum" id="page_104" title="104"></a>upon it as a carnival. He may attain serenity + in respect to it, but he can never be jaunty and + flippant. He can never slap life upon the back + and call it by familiar names. He may hold + that the world is indisputably growing better, + but he will need to admit that the world is having + a hard time in so doing.</p> + + <p>Hardy would be sure of a reputation for pessimism + in some quarters if only because of his + attitude, or what people think is his attitude, + toward marriage. He has devoted many pages + and not a little thought to the problems of the + relations between men and women. He is considerably + interested in questions of ‘matrimonial + divergence.’ He recognizes that most + obvious of all obvious truths, that marriage is + not always a success; nay, more than this, that + it is often a makeshift, an apology, a pretense. + But he professes to undertake nothing beyond a + statement of the facts. It rests with the public + to lay his statement beside their experience + and observation, and thus take measure of the + fidelity of his art.</p> + + <p>He notes the variety of motives by which + people are actuated in the choice of husbands + and wives. In the novel called <i class="title">The Woodlanders</i>, + Grace Melbury, the daughter of a rich + though humbly-born yeoman, has unusual + opportunities for a girl of her class, and is educated + to a point of physical and intellectual + daintiness which make her seem superior to + <a class="pagenum" id="page_105" title="105"></a>her home environment. Her father has hoped + that she will marry her rustic lover, Giles Winterbourne, + who, by the way, is a man in every + fibre of his being. Grace is quite unspoiled by + her life at a fashionable boarding school, but + after her return her father feels (and Hardy + makes the reader feel) that in marrying Giles + she will sacrifice herself. She marries Dr. + Fitzspiers, a brilliant young physician, recently + come into the neighborhood, and in so doing + she chooses for the worse. The character of + Dr. Fitzspiers is summarized in a statement he + once made (presumably to a male friend) that + ‘on one occasion he had noticed himself to be + possessed by five distinct infatuations at the + same time.’</p> + + <p>His flagrant infidelities bring about a temporary + separation; Grace is not able to comprehend + ‘such double and treble-barreled hearts.’ + When finally they are reunited the life-problem + of each still awaits an adequate solution. For + the motive which brings the girl back to her + husband is only a more complex phase of the + same motive which chiefly prompted her to + marry him. Hardy says that Fitzspiers as a + lover acted upon Grace ‘like a dram.’ His + presence ‘threw her into an atmosphere which + biased her doings until the influence was over.’ + Afterward she felt ‘something of the nature of + regret for the mood she had experienced.’</p> + + <p>But this same story contains two other characters + <a class="pagenum" id="page_106" title="106"></a>who are unmatched in fiction as the + incarnation of pure love and self-forgetfulness. + Giles Winterbourne, whose devotion to Grace + is without wish for happiness which shall not + imply a greater happiness for her, dies that + no breath of suspicion may fall upon her. He + in turn is loved by Marty South with a completeness + which destroys all thought of self. + She enjoys no measure of reward while Winterbourne + lives. He never knows of Marty’s love. + But in that last fine paragraph of this remarkable + book, when the poor girl places the flowers + upon his grave she utters a little lament + which for beauty, pathos, and realistic simplicity + is without parallel in modern fiction. + Hardy was never more of an artist than when + writing the last chapter of <i class="title">The Woodlanders</i>.</p> + + <p>After all, a book in which unselfish love is + described in terms at once just and noble cannot + be dangerously pessimistic, even if it also + takes cognizance of such hopeless cases as a + man with a chronic tendency to fluctuations of + the heart.</p> + + <p>The matter may be put briefly thus: In + Hardy’s novels one sees the artistic result of + an effort to paint life as it is, with much of its + joy and a deal of its sorrow, with its good people + and its selfish people, its positive characters + and its Laodiceans, its men and women who + dominate circumstances, and its unhappy ones + who are submerged. These books are the + <a class="pagenum" id="page_107" title="107"></a>record of what a clear-eyed, sane, vigorous, + sympathetic, humorous man knows about life; + a man too conscious of things as they are to + wish grossly to exaggerate or to disguise them; + and at the same time so entirely aware how + much poetry as well as irony God has mingled + in the order of the world as to be incapable of + concealing that fact either. He is of such + ample intellectual frame that he makes the + petty contentions of literary schools appear + foolish. I find a measure of Hardy’s mind in + passages which set forth his conception of the + preciousness of life, no matter what the form + in which life expresses itself. He is peculiarly + tender toward brute creation. In that + paragraph which describes Tess discovering + the wounded pheasants in the wood, Hardy + suggests the thought, quite new to many people, + that chivalry is not confined to the relations + of man to man or of man to woman. + There are still weaker fellow-creatures in Nature’s + teeming family. What if we are unmannerly + or unchivalrous toward them?</p> + + <p>He abounds in all manner of pithy sayings, + many of them wise, a few of them profound, + and not one which is unworthy a second reading. + It is to be hoped that he will escape the + doubtful honor of being dispersedly set forth in + a ‘Wit and Wisdom of Thomas Hardy.’ Such + books are a depressing species of literature and + seem chiefly designed to be given away at holiday + <a class="pagenum" id="page_108" title="108"></a>time to acquaintances who are too important + to be put off with Christmas cards, and + not important enough to be supplied with gifts + of a calculable value.</p> + + <p>One must praise the immense spirit and vivacity + of scenes where something in the nature + of a struggle, a moral duel, goes on. In such + passages every power at the writer’s command + is needed; unerring directness of thought, and + words which clothe this thought as an athlete’s + garments fit the body. Everything must + count, and the movement of the narrative must + be sustained to the utmost. The chess-playing + scene between Elfride and Knight in <i class="title">A Pair + of Blue Eyes</i> is an illustration. Sergeant Troy + displaying his skill in handling the sword—weaving + his spell about Bathsheba in true + snake fashion, is another example. Still more + brilliant is the gambling scene in <i class="title">The Return + of the Native</i>, where Wildeve and Diggory + Venn, out on the heath in the night, throw dice + by the light of a lantern for Thomasin’s money. + Venn, the reddleman, in the Mephistophelian + garb of his profession, is the incarnation of a + good spirit, and wins the guineas from the + clutch of the spendthrift husband. The scene + is immensely dramatic, with its accompaniments + of blackness and silence, Wildeve’s haggard + face, the circle of ponies, known as heath-croppers, + which are attracted by the light, the + death’s-head moth which extinguishes the candle, + <a class="pagenum" id="page_109" title="109"></a>and the finish of the game by the light of + glow-worms. It is a glorious bit of writing in + true bravura style.</p> + + <p>His books have a quality which I shall venture + to call ‘spaciousness,’ in the hope that the + word conveys the meaning I try to express. It + is obvious that there is a difference between + books which are large and books which are + merely long. The one epithet refers to atmosphere, + the other to number of pages. Hardy + writes large books. There is room in them + for the reader to expand his mind. They are + distinctly out-of-door books, ‘not smacking of + the cloister or the library.’ In reading them + one has a feeling that the vault of heaven is + very high, and that the earth stretches away to + interminable distances upon all sides. This + quality of largeness is not dependent upon + number of pages; nor is length absolute as + applied to books. A book may contain one + hundred pages and still be ninety-nine pages + too long, for the reason that its truth, its lesson, + its literary virtue, are not greater than + might be expressed in a single page.</p> + + <p>Spaciousness is in even less degree dependent + upon miles. The narrowness, geographically + speaking, of Hardy’s range of expression is + notable. There is much contrast between him + and Stevenson in this respect. The Scotchman + has embodied in his fine books the experiences + of life in a dozen different quarters of + <a class="pagenum" id="page_110" title="110"></a>the globe. Hardy, with more robust health, + has traveled from Portland to Bath, and from + ‘Wintoncester’ to ‘Exonbury,’—journeys + hardly more serious than from the blue bed to + the brown. And it is better thus. No reader + of <i class="title">The Return of the Native</i> would have been + content that Eustacia Vye should persuade her + husband back to Paris. Rather than the boulevards + one prefers Egdon heath, as Hardy paints + it, ‘the great inviolate place,’ the ‘untamable + Ishmaelitish thing’ which its arch-enemy, Civilization, + could not subdue.</p> + + <p>He is without question one of the best writers + of our time, whether for comedy or for + tragedy; and for extravaganza, too, as witness + his lively farce called <i class="title">The Hand of Ethelberta</i>. + He can write dialogue or description. He is + so excellent in either that either, as you read + it, appears to make for your highest pleasure. + If his characters talk, you would gladly have + them talk to the end of the book. If he, the + author, speaks, you would not wish to interrupt. + More than most skillful writers, he preserves + that just balance between narrative and + colloquy.</p> + + <p>His best novels prior to the appearance of + <i class="title">Tess</i>, are <i class="title">The Woodlanders</i>, <i class="title">Far from the Madding + Crowd</i>, <i class="title">The Return of the Native</i>, and + <i class="title">The Mayor of Casterbridge</i>. These four are + the bulwarks of his reputation, while a separate + and great fame might be based alone on that + <a class="pagenum" id="page_111" title="111"></a>powerful tragedy called by its author <i class="title">Tess of + the D’Urbervilles</i>.</p> + + <p>Criticism which glorifies any one book of a + given author at the expense of all his other + books is profitless, if not dangerous. Moreover, + it is dangerous to have a favorite author + as well as a favorite book of that favorite + author. A man’s choice of books, like his + choice of friends, is usually inexplicable to + everybody but himself. However, the chief + object in recommending books is to make converts + to the gospel of literature according to + the writer of these books. For which legitimate + purpose I would recommend to the reader + who has hitherto denied himself the pleasure of + an acquaintance with Thomas Hardy, the two + volumes known as <i class="title">The Woodlanders</i> and <i class="title">The + Return of the Native</i>. The first of these is + the more genial because it presents a more + genial side of Nature. But the other is a noble + piece of literary workmanship, a powerful book, + ingeniously framed, with every detail strongly + realized; a book which is dramatic, humorous, + sincere in its pathos, rich in its word-coloring, + eloquent in its descriptive passages; a book + which embodies so much of life and poetry that + one has a feeling of mental exaltation as he + reads.</p> + + <p>Surely it is not wise in the critical Jeremiahs + so despairingly to lift up their voices, and so + strenuously to bewail the condition of the literature + <a class="pagenum" id="page_112" title="112"></a>of the time. The literature of the time + is very well, as they would see could they but + turn their fascinated gaze from the meretricious + and spectacular elements of that literature + to the work of Thomas Hardy and George + Meredith. With such men among the most + influential in modern letters, and with Barrie + and Stevenson among the idols of the reading + world, it would seem that the office of public + Jeremiah should be continued rather from + courtesy than from an overwhelming sense of + the needs of the hour.</p> + </div> + <div id="keats" class="essay"> + <h2 class="essay_title"><a class="pagenum" id="page_113" title="113"></a>A READING IN THE LETTERS OF JOHN KEATS</h2> + <p class="return_toc"><a href="#contents">Return to Contents</a></p> + <p><span class="first_word">One</span> would like to know whether a first reading + in the letters of Keats does not generally + produce something akin to a severe mental + shock. It is a sensation which presently becomes + agreeable, being in that respect like a + plunge into cold water, but it is undeniably a + shock. Most readers of Keats, knowing him, + as he should be known, by his poetry, have not + the remotest conception of him as he shows + himself in his letters. Hence they are unprepared + for this splendid exhibition of virile intellectual + health. Not that they think of him as + morbid,—his poetry surely could not make + this impression,—but rather that the popular + conception of him is, after all these years, a + legendary Keats, the poet who was killed by + reviewers, the Keats of Shelley’s preface to + the <i class="title">Adonais</i>, the Keats whose story is written + large in the world’s book of Pity and of Death. + When the readers are confronted with a fair + portrait of the real man, it makes them rub + their eyes. Nay, more, it embarrasses them. + To find themselves guilty of having pitied one + <a class="pagenum" id="page_114" title="114"></a>who stood in small need of pity is mortifying. + In plain terms, they have systematically bestowed + (or have attempted to bestow) alms on + a man whose income at its least was bigger + than any his patrons could boast. Small wonder + that now and then you find a reader, with + large capacity for the sentimental, who looks + back with terror to his first dip into the letters.</p> + + <p>The legendary Keats dies hard; or perhaps + we would better say that when he seems to be + dying he is simply, in the good old fashion of + legends, taking out a new lease of life. For it + is as true now as when the sentence was first + penned, that ‘a mixture of a lie doth ever add + pleasure.’ Among the many readers of good + books, there will always be some whose notions + of the poetical proprieties suffer greatly by the + facts of Keats’s history. It is so much pleasanter + to them to think that the poet’s sensitive + spirit was wounded to death by bitter + words than to know that he was carried off by + pulmonary disease. But when they are tired + of reading <i class="title">Endymion</i>, <i class="title">Isabella</i>, and <i class="title">The Eve of + St. Agnes</i> in the light of this incorrect conception, + let them try a new reading in the light + of the letters, and the masculinity of this very + robust young maker of poetry will prove refreshing.</p> + + <p>The letters are in every respect good reading. + Rather than deplore their frankness, as + <a class="pagenum" id="page_115" title="115"></a>one critic has done, we ought to rejoice in their + utter want of affectation, in their boyish honesty. + At every turn there is something to + amuse or to startle one into thinking. We are + carried back in a vivid way to the period of + their composition. Not a little of the pulsing + life of that time throbs anew, and we catch + glimpses of notable figures. Often, the feeling + is that we have been called in haste to a window + to look at some celebrity passing by, and + have arrived just in time to see him turn the + corner. What a touch of reality, for example, + does one get in reading that ‘Wordsworth went + rather huff’d out of town’! One is not in the + habit of thinking of Wordsworth as capable of + being ‘huffed,’ but the writer of the letters + feared that he was. All of Keats’s petty anxieties + and small doings, as well as his aspirations + and his greatest dreams, are set down here in + black on white. It is a complete and charming + revelation of the man. One learns how he + ‘went to Hazlitt’s lecture on Poetry, and got + there just as they were coming out;’ how he + was insulted at the theatre, and wouldn’t tell + his brothers; how it vexed him because the + Irish servant said that his picture of Shakespeare + looked exactly like her father, only ‘her + father had more color than the engraving;’ + how he filled in the time while waiting for the + stage to start by counting the buns and tarts + in a pastry-cook’s window, ‘and had just begun + <a class="pagenum" id="page_116" title="116"></a>on the jellies;’ how indignant he was at being + spoken of as ‘quite the little poet;’ how he sat + in a hatter’s shop in the Poultry while Mr. Abbey + read him some extracts from Lord Byron’s + ‘last flash poem,’ <i class="title">Don Juan</i>; how some beef + was carved exactly to suit his appetite, as if he + ‘had been measured for it;’ how he dined with + Horace Smith and his brothers and some other + young gentlemen of fashion, and thought them + all hopelessly affected; in a word, almost anything + you want to know about John Keats can + be found in these letters. They are of more + value than all the ‘recollections’ of all his + friends put together. In their breezy good-nature + and cheerfulness they are a fine antidote + to the impression one gets of him in Haydon’s + account, ‘lying in a white bed with a + book, hectic and on his back, irritable at his + weakness and wounded at the way he had been + used. He seemed to be going out of life with + a contempt for this world, and no hopes of the + other. I told him to be calm, but he muttered + that if he did not soon get better he would + destroy himself.’ This is taking Keats at his + worst. It is well enough to know that he + seemed to Haydon as Haydon has described + him, but few men appear to advantage when + they are desperately ill. Turn to the letters + written during his tour in Scotland, when he + walked twenty miles a day, climbed Ben Nevis, + so fatigued himself that, as he told Fanny + <a class="pagenum" id="page_117" title="117"></a>Keats, ‘when I am asleep you might sew my + nose to my great toe and trundle me around + the town, like a Hoop, without waking me. + Then I get so hungry a Ham goes but a very + little way, and fowls are like Larks to me…. + I take a whole string of Pork Sausages down + as easily as a Pen’orth of Lady’s fingers.’ And + then he bewails the fact that when he arrives + in the Highlands he will have to be contented + ‘with an acre or two of oaten cake, a hogshead + of Milk, and a Cloaths basket of Eggs morning, + noon, and night.’ Here is the active Keats, + of honest mundane tastes and an athletic disposition, + who threatens’ to cut all sick people if + they do not make up their minds to cut Sickness.’</p> + + <p>Indeed, the letters are so pleasant and amusing + in the way they exhibit minor traits, habits, + prejudices, and the like, that it is a temptation + to dwell upon these things. How we love a + man’s weaknesses—if we share them! I do + not know that Keats would have given occasion + for an anecdote like that told of a certain book-loving + actor, whose best friend, when urged to + join the chorus of praise that was quite universally + sung to this actor’s virtues, acquiesced + by saying amiably, ‘Mr. Blank undoubtedly has + genius, but he can’t spell;’ yet there are comforting + evidences that Keats was no servile follower + of the ‘monster Conventionality’ even in + his spelling, while in respect to the use of capitals + <a class="pagenum" id="page_118" title="118"></a>he was a law unto himself. He sprinkled + them through his correspondence with a lavish + hand, though at times he grew so economical + that, as one of his editors remarks, he would + spell Romeo with a small <em>r</em>, Irishman with a + small <em>i</em>, and God with a small <em>g</em>.</p> + + <p>It is also a pleasure to find that, with his + other failings, he had a touch of book-madness. + There was in him the making of a first-class + bibliophile. He speaks with rapture of his + black-letter Chaucer, which he proposes to have + bound ‘in Gothique,’ so as to unmodernize as + much as possible its outward appearance. But + to Keats books were literature or they were + not literature, and one cannot think that his + affections would twine about ever so bookish a + volume which was merely ‘curious.’</p> + + <p>One reads with sympathetic amusement of + Keats’s genuine and natural horror of paying + the same bill twice, ‘there not being a more + unpleasant thing in the world (saving a thousand + and one others).’ The necessity of preserving + adequate evidence that a bill had been + paid was uppermost in his thought quite frequently; + and once when, at Leigh Hunt’s instance, + sundry packages of papers belonging + to that eminently methodical and businesslike + man of letters were to be sorted out and in + part destroyed, Keats refused to burn any, ‘for + fear of demolishing receipts.’</p> + + <p>But the reader will chance upon few more + <a class="pagenum" id="page_119" title="119"></a>humorous passages than that in which the poet + tells his brother George how he cures himself + of the blues, and at the same time spurs his + flagging powers of invention: ‘Whenever I + find myself growing vaporish I rouse myself, + wash and put on a clean shirt, brush my hair + and clothes, tie my shoe-strings neatly, and, in + fact, adonize, as if I were going out—then all + clean and comfortable, I sit down to write. + This I find the greatest relief.’ The virtues + of a clean shirt have often been sung, but it + remained for Keats to show what a change of + linen and a general <em>adonizing</em> could do in the + way of furnishing poetic stimulus. This is better + than coffee, brandy, absinthe, or falling in + love; and it prompts one to think anew that + the English poets, taking them as a whole, + were a marvelously healthy and sensible breed + of men.</p> + + <p>It is, however, in respect to the light they + throw upon the poet’s literary life that the letters + are of highest significance. They gratify + to a reasonable extent that natural desire we + all have to see authorship in the act. The processes + by which genius brings things to pass + are so mysterious that our curiosity is continually + piqued; and our failure to get at the real + thing prompts us to be more or less content + with mere externals. If we may not hope to + see the actual process of making poetry, we + may at least study the poet’s manuscript. By + <a class="pagenum" id="page_120" title="120"></a>knowing of his habits of work we flatter ourselves + that we are a little nearer the secret of + his power.</p> + + <p>We must bear in mind that Keats was a boy, + always a boy, and that he died before he quite + got out of boyhood. To be sure, most boys of + twenty-six would resent being described by so + juvenile a term. But one must have successfully + passed twenty-six without doing anything + in particular to understand how exceedingly + young twenty-six is. And to have wrought so + well in so short a time, Keats must have had + from the first a clear and noble conception of + the nature of his work, as he must also have + displayed extraordinary diligence in the doing + of it. Perhaps these points are too obvious, + and of a sort which would naturally occur to + any one; but it will be none the less interesting + to see how the letters bear witness to their + truth.</p> + + <p>In the first place, Keats was anything but a + loafer at literature. He seems never to have + dawdled. A fine healthiness is apparent in all + allusions to his processes of work. ‘I read and + write about eight hours a day,’ he remarks in + a letter to Haydon. Bailey, Keats’s Oxford + friend, says that the fellow would go to his + writing-desk soon after breakfast, and stay + there until two or three o’clock in the afternoon. + He was then writing <i class="title">Endymion</i>. His + stint was about ‘fifty lines a day, … and he + <a class="pagenum" id="page_121" title="121"></a>wrote with as much regularity, and apparently + with as much ease, as he wrote his letters…. + Sometimes he fell short of his allotted task, but + not often, and he would make it up another + day. But he never forced himself.’ Bailey + quotes, in connection with this, Keats’s own + remark to the effect that poetry would better + not come at all than not to come ‘as naturally + as the leaves of a tree.’ Whether this spontaneity + of production was as great as that of + some other poets of his time may be questioned; + but he would never have deserved + Tom Nash’s sneer at those writers who can + only produce by ‘sleeping betwixt every sentence.’ + Keats had in no small degree the ‘fine + extemporal vein’ with ‘invention quicker than + his eye.’</p> + + <p>We uncritically feel that it could hardly have + been otherwise in the case of one with whom + poetry was a passion. Keats had an infinite + hunger and thirst for good poetry. His poetical + life, both in the receptive and productive + phases of it, was intense. Poetry was meat + and drink to him. He could even urge his + friend Reynolds to talk about it to him, much + as one might beg a trusted friend to talk about + one’s lady-love, and with the confidence that + only the fitting thing would be spoken. ‘Whenever + you write, say a word or two on some + passage in Shakespeare which may have come + rather new to you,’—a sentence which shows + <a class="pagenum" id="page_122" title="122"></a>his faith in the many-sidedness of the great + poetry. Shakespeare was forever ‘coming + new’ to <em>him</em>, and he was ‘haunted’ by particular + passages. He loved to fill the cup of his + imagination with the splendors of the best + poets until the cup overflowed. ‘I find I cannot + exist without Poetry,—without eternal + Poetry; half the day will not do,—the whole + of it; I began with a little, but habit has made + me a leviathan.’ He tells Leigh Hunt, in a + letter written from Margate, that he thought so + much about poetry, and ‘so long together,’ + that he could not get to sleep at night. + Whether this meant in working out ideas of his + own, or living over the thoughts of other poets, + is of little importance; the remark shows how + deeply the roots of his life were imbedded in + poetical soil. He loved a debauch in the verse + of masters of his art. He could intoxicate himself + with Shakespeare’s sonnets. He rioted in + ‘all their fine things said unconsciously.’ We + are tempted to say, by just so much as he had + large reverence for these men, by just so much + he was of them.</p> + + <p>Undoubtedly, this ability to be moved by + strong imaginative work may be abused until it + becomes a maudlin and quite disordered sentiment. + Keats was too well balanced to be carried + into appreciative excesses. He knew that + mere yearning could not make a poet of one + any more than mere ambition could. He understood + <a class="pagenum" id="page_123" title="123"></a>the limits of ambition as a force in literature. + Keats’s ambition trembled in the presence + of Keats’s conception of the magnitude + of the poetic office. ‘I have asked myself so + often why I should be a poet more than other + men, seeing how great a thing it is.’ Yet he + had honest confidence. One cannot help liking + him for the fine audacity with which he + pronounces his own work good,—better even + than that of a certain other great name in English + literature; one cannot help loving him for + the sweet humility with which he accepts the + view that, after all, success or failure lies entirely + without the range of self-choosing. There + is a point of view from which it is folly to hold + a poet responsible even for his own poetry, and + when <i class="title">Endymion</i> was spoken of as ‘slipshod’ + Keats could reply, ‘That it is so is no fault of + mine…. The Genius of Poetry must work + out its own salvation in a man…. That + which is creative must create itself. In <i class="title">Endymion</i> + I leaped headlong into the sea, and + thereby have become better acquainted with + the soundings, the quicksands, and the rocks, + than if I had stayed upon the green shore, and + piped a silly pipe, and took tea and comfortable + advice. I was never afraid of failure; for I + would sooner fail than not be among the greatest.’</p> + + <p>Well might a man who could write that last + sentence look upon poetry not only as a responsible, + <a class="pagenum" id="page_124" title="124"></a>but as a dangerous pursuit. Men who + aspire to be poets are gamblers. In all the + lotteries of the literary life none is so uncertain + as this. A million chances that you don’t + win the prize to one chance that you do. It is + a curious thing that ever so thoughtful and + conscientious an author may not know whether + he is making literature or merely writing verse. + He conforms to all the canons of taste in his + own day; he is devout and reverent; he shuns + excesses of diction, and he courts originality; + his verse seems to himself and to his unflattering + friends instinct with the spirit of his time, + but twenty years later it is old-fashioned. + Keats, with all his feeling of certainty, stood + with head uncovered before that power which + gives poetical gifts to one, and withholds them + from another. Above all would he avoid self-delusion + in these things. ‘There is no greater + Sin after the seven deadly than to flatter one’s + self into an idea of being a great Poet.’</p> + + <p>Keats, if one may judge from a letter written + to John Taylor in February, 1818, had little + expectation that his <i class="title">Endymion</i> was going to be + met with universal plaudits. He doubtless + looked for fair treatment. He probably had + no thought of being sneeringly addressed as + ‘Johnny,’ or of getting recommendations to + return to his ‘plasters, pills, and ointment + boxes.’ In fact, he looked upon the issue as + entirely problematical. He seemed willing to + <a class="pagenum" id="page_125" title="125"></a>take it for granted that in <i class="title">Endymion</i> he had + but moved into the go-cart from the leading-strings. + ‘If <i class="title">Endymion</i> serves me for a pioneer, + perhaps I ought to be content, for thank + God I can read and perhaps understand Shakespeare + to his depths; and I have, I am sure, + many friends who if I fail will attribute any + change in my life to humbleness rather than + pride,—to a cowering under the wings of great + poets rather than to bitterness that I am not + appreciated.’ And for evidence of any especial + bitterness because of the lashing he received + one will search the letters in vain. Keats was + manly and good-humored, most of his morbidity + being referred directly to his ill health. The + trouncing he had at the hands of the reviewers + was no more violent than the one administered + to Tennyson by Professor Wilson. Critics, + good and bad, can do much harm. They may + terrorize a timid spirit. But a greater terror + than the fear of the reviewers hung over the + head of John Keats. He stood in awe of his + own artistic and poetic sense. He could say + with truth that his own domestic criticism had + given him pain without comparison beyond + what <i class="title">Blackwood</i> or the <i class="title">Quarterly</i> could possibly + inflict. If he had had any terrible heart-burning + over their malignancy, if he had felt + that his life was poisoned, he could hardly have + forborne some allusion to it in his letters to his + brother, George Keats. But he is almost imperturbable. + <a class="pagenum" id="page_126" title="126"></a>He talks of the episode freely, + says that he has been urged to publish his <i class="title">Pot + of Basil</i> as a reply to the reviewers, has no idea + that he can be made ridiculous by abuse, notes + the futility of attacks of this kind, and then, + with a serene conviction that is irresistible, + adds, ‘I think I shall be among the English + Poets after my death!’</p> + + <p>Such egoism of genius is magnificent; the + more so as it appears in Keats because it runs + parallel with deep humility in the presence of + the masters of his art. Naturally, the masters + who were in their graves were the ones he reverenced + the most and read without stint. But + it was by no means essential that a poet be a + dead poet before Keats did him homage. It + is impossible to think that Keats’s attitude towards + Wordsworth was other than finely appreciative, + in spite of the fact that he applauded + Reynolds’s <i class="title">Peter Bell</i>, and inquired almost petulantly + why one should be teased with Wordsworth’s + ‘Matthew with a bough of wilding in + his hand.’ But it is also impossible that his + sense of humor should not have been aroused + by much that he found in Wordsworth. It was + Wordsworth he meant when he said, ‘Every + man has his speculations, but every man does + not brood and peacock over them till he makes + a false coinage and deceives himself,’—a sentence, + by the way, quite as unconsciously funny + as some of the things he laughed at in the works + of his great contemporary.</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page_127" title="127"></a>It will be pertinent to quote here two or + three of the good critical words which Keats + scattered through his letters. Emphasizing the + use of simple means in his art, he says, ‘I think + that poetry should surprise by a fine excess, and + not by singularity; it should strike the reader + as a wording of his own highest thoughts, and + appear almost a remembrance.’</p> + + <p>‘We hate poetry that has a palpable design + upon us…. Poetry should be great and unobtrusive, + a thing which enters into one’s soul, + and does not startle it or amaze it with itself, + but with its subject.’ Or as Ruskin has put + the thing with respect to painting, ‘Entirely + first-rate work is so quiet and natural that there + can be no dispute over it.’</p> + + <p>Keats appears to have been in no sense a + hermit. With the exception of Byron, he was + perhaps less of a recluse than any of his poetical + contemporaries. With respect to society + he frequently practiced total abstinence; but + the world was amusing, and he liked it. He + was fond of the theatre, fond of whist, fond of + visiting the studios, fond of going to the houses + of his friends. But he would run no risks; he + was shy and he was proud. He dreaded contact + with the ultra-fashionables. Naturally, his + opportunities for such intercourse were limited, + but he cheerfully neglected his opportunities. + I doubt if he ever bewailed his humble origin; + nevertheless, the constitution of English society + <a class="pagenum" id="page_128" title="128"></a>would hardly admit of his forgetting it. He + had that pardonable pride which will not allow a + man to place himself among those who, though + outwardly fair-spoken, offer the insult of a hostile + and patronizing mental attitude.</p> + + <p>Most of his friendships were with men, and + this is to his credit. The man is spiritually + warped who is incapable of a deep and abiding + friendship with one of his own sex; and to go + a step farther, that man is utterly to be distrusted + whose only friends are among women. + We may not be prepared to accept the radical + position of a certain young thinker, who proclaims, + in season, but defiantly, that ‘men are + the idealists, after all;’ yet it is easy to comprehend + how one may take this point of view. + The friendships of men are a vastly more interesting + and poetic study than the friendships of + men and women. This is in the nature of the + case. It is the usual victory of the normal + over the abnormal. As a rule, it is impossible + for a friendship to exist between a man and + woman, unless the man and woman in question + be husband and wife. Then it is as rare as it + is beautiful. And with men, the most admirable + spectacle is not always that where attendant + circumstances prompt to heroic display of + friendship, for it is often so much easier to + die than to live. But you may see young + men pledging their mutual love and support in + this difficult and adventurous quest of what is + <a class="pagenum" id="page_129" title="129"></a>noblest in the art of living. Such love will not + urge to a theatrical posing, and it can hardly + find expression in words. Words seem to profane + it. I do not say that Keats stood in such + an ideal relation to any one of his many friends + whose names appear in the letters. He gave + of himself to them all, and he received much + from each. No man of taste and genius could + have been other than flattered by the way in + which Keats approached him. He was charming + in his attitude toward Haydon; and when + Haydon proposed sending Keats’s sonnet to + Wordsworth, the young poet wrote, ‘The Idea + of your sending it to Wordsworth put me out + of breath—you know with what Reverence I + would send my well wishes to him.’</p> + + <p>But interesting as a chapter on Keats’s + friendships with men would be, we are bound + to confess that in dramatic intensity it would + grow pale when laid beside that fiery love passage + of his life, his acquaintance with Fanny + Brawne. The thirty-nine letters given in the + fourth volume of Buxton Forman’s edition of + <i class="title">Keats’s Works</i> tell the story of this affair of a + poet’s heart. These are the letters which Mr. + William Watson says he has never read, and at + which no consideration shall ever induce him + to look. But Mr. Watson reflects upon people + who have been human enough to read them + when he compares such a proceeding on his + own part (were he able to be guilty of it) to the + <a class="pagenum" id="page_130" title="130"></a>indelicacy of ‘listening at a keyhole or spying + over a wall.’ This is not a just illustration. + The man who takes upon himself the responsibility + of being the first to open such intimate + letters, and adds thereto the infinitely greater + responsibility of publishing them in so attractive + a form that he who runs will stop running + in order to read,—such an editor will need to + satisfy Mr. Watson that in so doing he was not + listening at a keyhole or spying over a wall. + For the general public, the wall is down, and + the door containing the keyhole thrown open. + Perhaps our duty is not to look. I, for one, + wish that great men would not leave their + love letters around. Nay, I wish you a better + wish than that: it is that the perfect taste of + the gentleman and scholar who gave us in its + present form the correspondence of Carlyle and + Emerson, the early and later letters of Carlyle, + and the letters of Lowell might have control + of the private papers of every man of genius + whose teachings the world holds dear. He + would need for this an indefinite lease upon + life; but since I am wishing, let me wish + largely. There is need of such wishing. Many + editors have been called, and only two or three + chosen.</p> + + <p>But why one who reads the letters of Keats + to Fanny Brawne should have any other feeling + than that of pity for a poor fellow who was + so desperately in love as to be wretched because + <a class="pagenum" id="page_131" title="131"></a>of it I do not see. Even a cynic will + grant that Keats was not disgraced, since it is + very clear that he did not yield readily to what + Dr. Holmes calls the great passion. He had a + complacent boyish superiority of attitude with + respect to all those who are weak enough to + love women. ‘Nothing,’ he says, ‘strikes me + so forcibly with a sense of the ridiculous as + love. A man in love I do think cuts the sorryest + figure in the world. Even when I know a + poor fool to be really in pain about it I could + burst out laughing in his face. His pathetic + visage becomes irresistible.’ Then he speaks + of that dinner party of stutterers and squinters + described in the <i class="title">Spectator</i>, and says that it + would please him more ‘to scrape together a + party of lovers.’ If this letter be genuine and + the date of it correctly given, it was written + three months after he had succumbed to the + attractions of Fanny Brawne. Perhaps he was + trying to brave it out, as one may laugh to conceal + embarrassment.</p> + + <p>In a much earlier letter than this he hopes + he shall never marry, but nevertheless has a + good deal to say about a young lady with fine + eyes and fine manners and a ‘rich Eastern + look.’ He discovers that he can talk to her + without being uncomfortable or ill at ease. ‘I + am too much occupied in admiring to be awkward + or in a tremble…. She kept me awake + one night as a tune of Mozart’s might do…. + <a class="pagenum" id="page_132" title="132"></a>I don’t cry to take the moon home with me in + my pocket, nor do I fret to leave her behind + me.’ But he was not a little touched, and + found it easy to fill two pages on the subject + of this dark beauty. She was a friend of the + Reynolds family. She crosses the stage of the + Keats drama in a very impressive manner, and + then disappears.</p> + + <p>The most extraordinary passage to be met + with in relation to the poet’s attitude towards + women is in a letter written to Benjamin Bailey + in July, 1818. As a partial hint towards its full + meaning I would take two phrases in <i class="title">Daniel + Deronda</i>. George Eliot says of Gwendolen + Harleth that there was ‘a certain fierceness of + maidenhood in her,’ which expression is quoted + here only to emphasize the girl’s feeling towards + men as described a little later, when Rex Gascoigne + attempted to tell her his love. Gwendolen + repulsed him with a sort of fury that was + surprising to herself. The author’s interpretative + comment is, ‘<em>The life of passion had begun + negatively in her.</em>’</p> + + <p>So one might say of Keats that the life of + passion began negatively in him. He was conscious + of a hostility of temper towards women. + ‘I am certain I have not a right feeling toward + women—at this moment I am striving to be + just to them, but I cannot.’ He certainly + started with a preposterously high ideal, for he + says that when a schoolboy he thought a fair + <a class="pagenum" id="page_133" title="133"></a>woman a pure goddess. And now he is disappointed + at finding women only the equals of + men. This disappointment helps to give rise + to that antagonism which is almost inexplicable + save as George Eliot’s phrase throws light upon + it. He thinks that he insults women by these + perverse feelings of unprovoked hostility. ‘Is + it not extraordinary,’ he exclaims, ‘when among + men I have no evil thoughts, no malice, no + spleen; I feel free to speak or to be silent; + … I am free from all suspicion, and comfortable. + When I am among women, I have evil + thoughts, malice, spleen; I cannot speak or be + silent; I am full of suspicions, and therefore + listen to nothing; I am in a hurry to be gone.’ + He wonders how this trouble is to be cured. + He speaks of it as a prejudice produced from + ‘a gordian complication of feelings, which must + take time to unravel.’ And then, with a good-humored, + characteristic touch, he drops the + subject, saying, ‘After all, I do think better of + women than to suppose they care whether Mister + John Keats, five feet high, likes them or + not.’</p> + + <p>Three or four months after writing these + words he must have begun his friendly relations + with the Brawne family. This would be + in October or November, 1818. Keats’s description + of Fanny is hardly flattering, and not + even vivid. What is one to make of the colorless + expression ‘a fine style of countenance of + <a class="pagenum" id="page_134" title="134"></a>the lengthened sort’? But she was fair to + him, and any beauty beyond that would have + been superfluous. We look at the silhouette + and sigh in vain for trace of the loveliness + which ensnared Keats. But if our daguerreotypes + of forty years ago can so entirely fail of + giving one line of that which in its day passed + for dazzling beauty, let us not be unreasonable + in our demands upon the artistic capabilities of + a silhouette. Not infrequently is it true that + the style of dress seems to disfigure. But we + have learned, in course of experience, that + pretty women manage to be pretty, however + much fashion, with their cordial help, disguises + them.</p> + + <p>It is easy to see from the letters that Keats + was a difficult lover. Hard to please at the + best, his two sicknesses, one of body and one + of heart, made him whimsical. Nothing less + than a woman of genius could possibly have + managed him. He was jealous, perhaps quite + unreasonably so. Fanny Brawne was young, a + bit coquettish, buoyant, and he misinterpreted + her vivacity. She liked what is commonly + called ‘the world,’ and so did he when he was + well; but looking through the discolored glass + of ill health, all nature was out of harmony. + For these reasons it happens that the letters at + times come very near to being documents in + love-madness. Many a line in them gives + sharp pain, as a record of heart-suffering must + <a class="pagenum" id="page_135" title="135"></a>always do. You may read Richard Steele’s + love letters for pleasure, and have it. The + love letters of Keats scorch and sting; and the + worst of it is that you cannot avoid reflecting + upon the transitory character of such a passion. + Withering young love like this does not last. + It may burn itself out, or, what is quite as + likely, it may become sober and rational. But + in its earlier maddened state it cannot possibly + last; a man would die under it. Men as a rule + do not so die, for the race of the Azra is nearly + extinct.</p> + + <p>These Brawne letters, however, are not without + their bright side; and it is wonderful to see + how Keats’s elastic nature would rebound the + instant that the pressure of the disease relaxed. + He is at times almost gay. The singing of a + thrush prompts him to talk in his natural epistolary + voice: ‘There’s the Thrush again—I + can’t afford it—he’ll run me up a pretty Bill + for Music—besides he ought to know I deal at + Clementi’s.’ And in the letter which he wrote + to Mrs. Brawne from Naples is a touch of the + old bantering Keats when he says that ‘it’s + misery to have an intellect in splints.’ He was + never strong enough to write again to Fanny, + or even to read her letters.</p> + + <p>I should like to close this reading with a few + sentences from a letter written to Reynolds in + February, 1818. Keats says: ‘I had an idea + that a man might pass a very pleasant life in + <a class="pagenum" id="page_136" title="136"></a>this manner—let him on a certain day read a + certain Page of full Poesy or distilled Prose, + and let him wander with it, and muse upon it, + … and prophesy upon it, and dream upon it, + until it becomes stale—but when will it do so? + Never! When Man has arrived at a certain + ripeness in intellect any one grand and spiritual + passage serves him as a starting post towards + all the “two-and-thirty Palaces.” How happy + is such a voyage of conception, what delicious + diligent Indolence!… Nor will this sparing + touch of noble Books be any irreverence to + their Writers—for perhaps the honors paid by + Man to Man are trifles in comparison to the + Benefit done by great Works to the Spirit and + pulse of good by their mere passive existence.’</p> + + <p>May we not say that the final test of great + literature is that it be able to be read in the + manner here indicated? As Keats read, so did + he write. His own work was</p> + + <blockquote> + <p class="verse"><span class="i10">‘accomplished in repose</span><br /> + Too great for haste, too high for rivalry.’</p> + </blockquote> + + </div> + <div id="novelist" class="essay"> + <h2 class="essay_title"><a class="pagenum" id="page_137" title="137"></a>AN ELIZABETHAN NOVELIST</h2> + <p class="return_toc"><a href="#contents">Return to Contents</a></p> + <p><span class="first_word">The</span> fathers in English literature were not a + little given to writing books which they called + ‘anatomies.’ Thomas Nash, for example, wrote + an <i class="title">Anatomy of Absurdities</i>, and Stubbes an + <i class="title">Anatomy of Abuses</i>. Greene, the novelist, entitled + one of his romances <i class="title">Arbasto, the Anatomy + of Fortune</i>. The most famous book which + bears a title of this kind is the <i class="title">Anatomy of + Melancholy</i>, by Robert Burton. It is notable, + first, for its inordinate length; second, for its + readableness, considering the length and the + depth of it; third, for its prodigal and barbaric + display of learning; and last, because it + is said to have had the effect of making the + most indolent man of letters of the eighteenth + century get up betimes in the morning. Why + Dr. Johnson needed to get up in order to read + the <i class="title">Anatomy of Melancholy</i> will always be an + enigma to some. Perhaps he did not get up. + Perhaps he merely sat up and reached for the + book, which would have been placed conveniently + near the bed. For the virtue of the act + resided in the circumstance of his being awake + and reading a good book two hours ahead of + <a class="pagenum" id="page_138" title="138"></a>his wonted time for beginning his day. If he + colored his remark so as to make us think + he got up and dressed before reading, he may + be forgiven. It was innocently spoken. Just + as a man who lives in one room will somehow + involuntarily fall into the habit of speaking + of that one room in the plural, so the doctor + added a touch which would render him heroic + in the eyes of those who knew him. I should + like a pictorial book-plate representing Dr. + Johnson, in gown and nightcap, sitting up in + bed reading the <i class="title">Anatomy of Melancholy</i>, with + Hodge, the cat, curled up contentedly at his + feet.</p> + + <p>It would be interesting to know whether + Johnson ever read, in bed or out, a book called + <i class="title">Euphues, the Anatomy of Wit</i>. It was published + in the spring of 1579 by Gabriel Cawood, + ‘dwelling in Paules Churchyard,’ and was followed + one year later by a second part, <i class="title">Euphues + and his England</i>. These books were the work + of John Lyly, a young Oxford Master of Arts. + According to the easy orthography of that time + (if the word orthography may be applied to a + practice by virtue of which every man spelled + as seemed right in his own eyes), Lyly’s name + is found in at least six forms: Lilye, Lylie, + Lilly, Lyllie, Lyly, and Lylly. Remembering + the willingness of <em>i</em> and <em>y</em> to bear one another’s + burdens, we may still exclaim, with Dr. Ingleby, + ‘Great is the mystery of archaic spelling!’ + <a class="pagenum" id="page_139" title="139"></a>Great indeed when a man sometimes had more + suits of letters to his name than suits of clothes + to his back. That the name of this young author + was pronounced as was the name of the + flower, lily, seems the obvious inference from + Henry Upchear’s verses, which contain punning + allusions to Lyly and Robert Greene:—</p> + + <blockquote> + <p class="verse">‘Of all the flowers a Lillie once I lov’d<br /> + Whose laboring beautie brancht itself abroad,’ etc.</p> + </blockquote> + + <p>Original editions of the <i class="title">Anatomy of Wit</i> and + its fellow are very rare. Probably there is not + a copy of either book in the United States. + This statement is ventured in good faith, and + may have the effect of bringing to light a + hitherto neglected copy.<sup class="note_marker"><a href="#note_1" id="fnm1" title="The writer of this paper...">1</a></sup> Strange it is that + princely collectors of yore appear not to have + cared for <i class="title">Euphues</i>. Surely one would not venture + to affirm that John, Duke of Roxburghe, + might not have had it if he had wanted it. The + book is not to be found in his sale catalogue; + he had Lyly’s plays in quarto, seven of them + <a class="pagenum" id="page_140" title="140"></a>each marked ‘rare,’ and he had two copies + of a well-known book called <i class="title">Euphues Golden + Legacie</i>, written by Thomas Nash. The Perkins + Sale catalogue shows neither of Lyly’s + novels. List after list of the spoils of mighty + book-hunters has only a blank where the <i class="title">Anatomy + of Wit</i> ought to be. From this we may + argue great scarcity, or great indifference, or + both. In the compact little reprint made by + Professor Arber one may read this moral tale, + which was fashionable when Shakespeare was + a youth of sixteen. For convenience it will be + advisable to speak of it as a single work in two + parts, for such it practically is.</p> + + <p>To pronounce upon this romance is not easy. + We read a dozen or two of pages, and say, ‘This + is very fantastical humours.’ We read further, + and are tempted to follow Sir Hugh to the + extent of declaring, ‘This is lunatics.’ One + may venture the not profound remark that it + takes all sorts of books to make a literature. + <i class="title">Euphues</i> is one of the books that would prompt + to that very remark. For he who first said + that it takes all sorts of people to make a world + was markedly impressed with the differences + between those people and himself. He had in + mind eccentric folk, types which deviate from + the normal and the sane. So <i class="title">Euphues</i> is a + very Malvolio among books, cross-gartered and + wreathed as to its countenance with set smiles. + The curious in literary history will always enjoy + <a class="pagenum" id="page_141" title="141"></a>such a production. The verdict of that part of + the reading world which keeps a book alive by + calling for fresh copies of it after the old copies + are worn out is against <i class="title">Euphues</i>. It had a vivacious + existence between 1579 and 1636, and + then went into a literary retirement lasting two + hundred and thirty-six years. When it again + came before the public it was introduced as + ‘a great bibliographical rarity.’ Its fatal old-fashionedness + hangs like a millstone about its + neck. In the poems of Chaucer and the dramas + of Shakespeare are a thousand touches which + make the reader feel that Chaucer and Shakespeare + are his contemporaries, that they have + written in his own time, and published but yesterday. + Read <i class="title">Euphues</i>, and you will say to + yourself, ‘That book must have been written + three hundred years ago, and it looks its age.’ + Yet it has its virtues. One may not say of it, + as Johnson said of the <i class="title">Rehearsal</i>, that it ‘has + not wit enough to keep it sweet.’ Neither may + he, upon second thought, conclude that ‘it has + not vitality enough to preserve it from putrefaction.’ + It has, indeed, a bottom of good + sense; and so had Malvolio. It is filled from + end to beginning with wit, or with what passed + for wit among many readers of that day. Often + the wit is of a tawdry and spectacular sort,—mere + verbal wit, the use of a given word not + because it is the best word, the most fitting + word, but because the author wants a word + <a class="pagenum" id="page_142" title="142"></a>beginning with the letter G, or the letter M, or + the letter F, as the case may be. On the second + page of Greene’s <i class="title">Arbasto</i> is this sentence: + ‘He did not so much as vouchsafe to give an + <em>eare</em> to my <em>parle</em>, or an <em>eye</em> to my <em>person</em>.’ + Greene learned this trick from Lyly, who was + a master of the art. The sentence represents + one of the common forms in <i class="title">Euphues</i>, such as + this: ‘To the stomach <em>quatted</em> with <em>dainties</em> + all <em>delicates</em> seem <em>queasie</em>.’ Sometimes the balance + is preserved by three words on a side. + For example, the companions whom Euphues + found in Naples practiced arts ‘whereby they + might either <em>soake</em> his <em>purse</em> to reape <em>commodotie</em>, + or <em>sooth</em> his <em>person</em> to winne <em>credite</em>.’ + Other illustrations are these: I can neither + ‘<em>remember</em> our <em>miseries</em> without <em>griefe</em>, nor <em>redresse</em> + our <em>mishaps</em> without <em>grones</em>.’ ‘If the + <em>wasting</em> of our <em>money</em> might not <em>dehort</em> us, yet + the <em>wounding</em> of our <em>mindes</em> should <em>deterre</em> + us.’ This next sentence, with its combination + of K sounds, clatters like a pair of castanets: + ‘Though Curio bee as hot as a toast, yet + Euphues is as cold as a clocke, though hee + bee a cocke of the game, yet Euphues is content + to bee craven and crye creake.’</p> + + <p>Excess of alliteration is the most obvious + feature of Lyly’s style. That style has been + carefully analyzed by those who are learned in + such things. The study is interesting, with its + talk of alliteration and transverse alliteration, + <a class="pagenum" id="page_143" title="143"></a>antithesis, climax, and assonance. In truth, + one does not know which to admire the more, + the ingenuity of the man who constructed the + book, or the ingenuity of the scholars who have + explained how he did it. Between Lyly on the + one hand, and the grammarians on the other, + the reader is almost tempted to ask if this be + literature or mathematics. Whether Lyly got + his style from Pettie or Guevara is an important + question, but he made it emphatically his + own, and it will never be called by any other + name than Euphuism. The making of a book + on this plan is largely the result of astonishing + mental gymnastics. It commands respect in + no small degree, because Lyly was able to keep + it up so long. To walk from New York to + Albany, as did the venerable Weston not so + very long since, is a great test of human endurance. + But walking is the employment of + one’s legs and body in God’s appointed way of + getting over the ground. Suppose a man were + to undertake to hop on one leg from New York + to Albany, the utility or the æsthetic value of + the performance would be less obvious. The + most successful artist in hopping could hardly + expect applause from the right-minded. He + would excite attention because he was able to + hop so far, and not because he was the exponent + of a praiseworthy method of locomotion. + Lyly gained eminence by doing to a greater extent + than any man a thing that was not worth + <a class="pagenum" id="page_144" title="144"></a>doing at all. One is more astonished at Lyly’s + power of endurance as author than at his own + power of endurance as reader. For the volume + is actually readable even at this day. Did + Lyly not grow wearied of perpetually riding + these alliterative trick-ponies? Apparently not. + The book is ‘executed’ with a vivacity, a dash, + a ‘go,’ that will captivate any reader who is + willing to meet the author halfway. <i class="title">Euphues</i> + became the rage, and its literary style the fashion. + How or why must be left to him to explain + who can tell why sleeves grow small and + then grow big, why skirts are at one time only + two and a half yards around and at another + time five and a half or eight yards around. An + Elizabethan gentleman might be too poor to + dress well, but he would squander his last penny + in getting his ruff starched. Lyly’s style bristles + with extravagances of the starched ruff + sort, which only serve to call attention to the + intellectual deficiencies in the matter of doublet + and hose.</p> + + <p>Of plot or story there is but little. The + hero, Euphues, who gives the title to the romance, + is a young, clever, and rich Athenian. + He visits Naples, where his money and wit + attract many to his side. By his careless, + pleasure-seeking mode of life he wakens the + fatherly interest of a wise old gentleman, Eubulus, + who calls upon him to warn him of his + danger. The conversation between the two is + <a class="pagenum" id="page_145" title="145"></a>the first and not the least amusing illustration + of the courtly verbal fencing with which the + book is filled. The advice of the old man only + provokes Euphues into making the sophistical + plea that his style of living is right because + nature prompts him to it; and he leaves Eubulus + ‘in a great quandary’ and in tears. Nevertheless, + the old gentleman has the righteous + energy which prompts him to say to the departing + Euphues, already out of hearing, ‘Seeing + thou wilt not buy counsel at the first hand + good cheap, thou shalt buy repentance at the + second hand, at such unreasonable rate, that + thou wilt curse thy hard pennyworth, and ban + thy hard heart.’ Euphues takes to himself a + new sworn brother, one Philautus, who carries + him to visit his lady-love, Lucilla. Lucilla is + rude at first, but becomes enamored of Euphues’s + conversational power, and finally of + himself. In fact, she unceremoniously throws + over her former lover, and tells her father that + she will either marry Euphues or else lead apes + in hell. This causes a break in the friendship + between Euphues and Philautus, and there is + an exchange of formidably worded letters, in + which Philautus reminds Euphues that all + Greeks are liars, and Euphues quotes Euripides + to the effect that all is lawful in love. Lucilla, + who is fickle, suddenly dismisses her new cavalier + for yet a third, while Euphues and Philautus, + in the light of their common misfortune, + <a class="pagenum" id="page_146" title="146"></a>fall upon each other’s necks and are reconciled. + Both profess themselves to have been fools, + while Euphues, as the greater and more recent + fool, composes a pamphlet against love. This + he calls a ‘cooling-card.’ It is addressed primarily + to Philautus, but contains general advice + for ‘all fond lovers.’ Euphues’s own cure was + radical, for he says, ‘Now do I give a farewell + to the world, meaning rather to macerate myself + with melancholy, than pine in folly, rather + choosing to die in my study amidst my books + than to court it in Italy in the company of + ladies.’ He returns to Athens, applies himself + to the study of philosophy, becomes public + reader in the University, and, as crowning evidence + that he has finished sowing his wild oats, + produces three volumes of lectures. Realizing + how much of his own youth has been wasted, + he writes a pamphlet on the education of the + young, a dialogue with an atheist, and these, + with a bundle of letters, make up the first part + of the <i class="title">Anatomy of Wit</i>. From one of the letters + we learn that Lucilla was as frail as she + was beautiful, and that she died in evil report. + The story, including the diatribe against love, + is about as long as <i class="title">The Vicar of Wakefield</i>. + It begins as a romance and ends as a sermon.</p> + + <p>The continuation of the novel, <i class="title">Euphues and + his England</i>, is a little over a third longer than + Part One. The two friends carry out their project + of visiting England. After a wearisome + <a class="pagenum" id="page_147" title="147"></a>voyage they reach Dover, view the cliffs and + the castle, and then proceed to Canterbury. + Between Canterbury and London they stop for + a while with a ‘comely olde gentleman,’ Fidus, + who keeps bees and tells good stories. He + also gives sound advice as to the way in which + strangers should conduct themselves. A lively + bit of writing is the account which Fidus gives + of his commonwealth of bees. It is not according + to Lubbock, but is none the less amusing. + In London the two travelers become favorites + at the court. Philautus falls in love, to the + great annoyance of Euphues, who argues + mightily with him against such folly. The two + gentlemen expend vast resources of stationery + and language upon the subject. They quarrel + violently, and Euphues becomes so irritated + that he must needs go and rent new lodgings, + ‘which by good friends he quickly got, and + there fell to his <i class="title">Pater noster</i>, where awhile,’ + says Lyly innocently, ‘I will not trouble him in + his prayers.’ They are reconciled later, and + Philautus obtains permission to love; but he + has discovered in the mean time that the lady + will not have him. The account of his passion, + how it ‘boiled and bubbled,’ of his visit to the + soothsayer to purchase love charms, his stately + declamations to Camilla and her elaborate replies + to him, of his love letter concealed in a + pomegranate, and her answer stitched into a + copy of Petrarch,—is all very lively reading, + <a class="pagenum" id="page_148" title="148"></a>much more so than that dreary love-making + between Pyrocles and Philoclea, or between + any other pair of the many exceedingly tiresome + folk in Sidney’s <i class="title">Arcadia</i>. Grant that it + is deliciously absurd. It is not to be supposed + that a clever eighteen-year-old girl, replying to + a declaration of love, will talk in the language + of a trained nurse, and say: ‘Green sores are to + be dressed roughly lest they fester, tettars are + to be drawn in the beginning lest they spread, + Ringworms to be anointed when they first + appear lest they compass the whole body, and + the assaults of love to be beaten back at the + first siege lest they undermine at the second.’ + Was ever suitor in this fashion rejected! It + makes one think of some of the passages in the + <i class="title">History of John Buncle</i>, where the hero pours + out a torrent of passionate phrases, and the + ‘glorious’ Miss Noel, in reply, begs that they + may take up some rational topic of conversation; + for example, what is <em>his</em> view of that + opinion which ascribes ‘primævity and sacred + prerogatives’ to the Hebrew language.</p> + + <p>But Philautus does not break his heart over + Camilla’s rejection. He is consoled with the + love of another fair maiden, marries her, and + settles in England. Euphues goes back to + Athens, and presently retires to the country, + where he follows the calling of one whose profession + is melancholy. Like most hermits of + culture, he leaves his address with his banker. + <a class="pagenum" id="page_149" title="149"></a>We assume this, for he was very rich; it is not + difficult to be a hermit on a large income. The + book closes with a section called ‘Euphues + Glasse for Europe,’ a thirty-page panegyric on + England and the Queen.</p> + + <p>They say that this novel was very popular, + and certain causes of its popularity are not + difficult to come at. A large measure of the + success that <i class="title">Euphues</i> had is due to the commonplaceness + of its observations. It abounds + in proverbs and copy-book wisdom. In this + respect it is as homely as an almanac. John + Lyly had a great store of ‘miscellany thoughts,’ + and he cheerfully parted with them. His book + succeeded as Tupper’s <i class="title">Proverbial Philosophy</i> + and Watts’ <i class="title">On the Mind</i> succeeded. People + believed that they were getting ideas, and people + like what they suppose to be ideas if no + great effort is required in the getting of them. + It is astonishing how often the world needs to + be advised of the brevity of time. Yet every + person who can wade in the shallows of his own + mind and not wet his shoe-tops finds a sweet + melancholy and a stimulating freshness in the + thought that time is short. John Lyly said, + ‘There is nothing more swifter than time, + nothing more sweeter,’—and countless Elizabethan + gentlemen and ladies underscored that + sentence, or transferred it to their commonplace + books,—if they had such painful aids to + culture,—and were comforted and edified by + <a class="pagenum" id="page_150" title="150"></a>the discovery that brilliant John Lyly had + made. This glib command of the matter-of-course, + with a ready use of the proverb and the + ‘old said saw,’ is a marked characteristic of the + work. It emphasizes the youth of its author. + We learn what could not have been new even + in 1579, that ‘in misery it is a great comfort to + have a companion;’ that ‘a new broom sweepeth + clean;’ that ‘delays breed dangers;’ that + ‘nothing is so perilous as procrastination;’ that + ‘a burnt child dreadeth the fire;’ that it is well + not to make comparisons ‘lest comparisons + should seem odious;’ that ‘it is too late to + shut the stable door when the steed is stolen;’ + that ‘many things fall between the cup and the + lip;’ and that ‘marriages are made in heaven, + though consummated on earth.’ With these + old friends come others, not altogether familiar + of countenance, and quaintly archaic in their + dress: ‘It must be a wily mouse that shall + breed in the cat’s ear;’ ‘It is a mad hare that + will be caught with a tabor, and a foolish bird + that stayeth the laying salt on her tail, and a + blind goose that cometh to the fox’s sermon.’ + Lyly would sometimes translate a proverb; he + does not tell us that fine words butter no parsnips, + but says, ‘Fair words fat few,’—which is + delightfully alliterative, but hardly to be accounted + an improvement. Expressions that + are surprisingly modern turn up now and then. + One American street urchin taunts another by + <a class="pagenum" id="page_151" title="151"></a>telling him that he doesn’t know enough to + come in when it rains. The saying is at least + three hundred years old, for Lyly says, in a + dyspeptic moment, ‘So much wit is sufficient + for a woman as when she is in the rain can + warn her to come out of it.’</p> + + <p>Another cause of the popularity of <i class="title">Euphues</i> + is its sermonizing. The world loves to hear + good advice. The world is not nervously anxious + to follow the advice, but it understands + the edification that comes by preaching. With + many persons, to have heard a sermon is almost + equivalent to having practiced the virtues taught + in the sermon. Churches are generally accepted + as evidences of civilization. A man + who is exploiting the interests of a new Western + town will invariably tell you that it has so + many churches. Also, an opera-house. The + English world above all other worlds loves to + hear good advice. England is the natural + home of the sermon. Jusserand notes, almost + with wonder, that in the annual statistics of + the London publishers the highest numbers + indicate the output of sermons and theological + works. Then come novels. John Lyly was + ingenious; he combined good advice and storytelling. + Not skillfully, hiding the sermon amid + lively talk and adventure, but blazoning the + fact that he was going to moralize as long as + he would. He shows no timidity, even declares + upon one of his title-pages that in this volume + <a class="pagenum" id="page_152" title="152"></a>‘there is small offense by lightness given to the + wise, and less occasion of looseness proffered + to the wanton.’ Such courage in this day + would be apt seriously to injure the sale of a + novel. Did not Ruskin declare that Miss + Edgeworth had made virtue so obnoxious that + since her time one hardly dared express the + slightest bias in favor of the Ten Commandments? + Lyly knew the public for which he + acted as literary caterer. They liked sermons, + and sermons they should have. Nearly every + character in the book preaches, and Euphues is + the most gifted of them all. Even that old + gentleman of Naples who came first to Euphues + because his heart bled to see so noble a youth + given to loose living has the tables turned upon + him, for Euphues preaches to the preacher + upon the sovereign duty of resignation to the + will of God.</p> + + <p>A noteworthy characteristic is the frequency + of Lyly’s classical allusions. If the only definition + of pedantry be ‘vain and ostentatious display + of learning,’ I question if we may dismiss + Lyly’s wealth of classical lore with the word + ‘pedantry.’ He was fresh from his university + life. If he studied at all when he was at Oxford, + he must have studied Latin and Greek, + for after these literatures little else was studied. + Young men and their staid tutors were compelled + to know ancient history and mythology. + Like Heine, they may have taken a ‘real + <a class="pagenum" id="page_153" title="153"></a>delight in the mob of gods and goddesses who + ran so jolly naked about the world.’ In the + first three pages of the <i class="title">Anatomy of Wit</i> there + are twenty classical names, ten of them coupled + each with an allusion. Nobody begins a speech + without a reference of this nature within calling + distance. Euphues and Philautus fill their + talk with evidences of a classical training. The + ladies are provided with apt remarks drawn + from the experiences of Helen, of Cornelia, of + Venus, of Diana, and Vesta. Even the master + of the ship which conveyed Euphues from + Naples to England declaims about Ulysses and + Julius Cæsar. This naturally destroys all dramatic + effect. Everybody speaks Euphuism, + though classical allusion alone is not essentially + Euphuistic. John Lyly would be the last man + to merit any portion of that fine praise bestowed + by Hazlitt upon Shakespeare when he said that + Shakespeare’s genius ‘consisted in the faculty + of transforming himself at will into whatever + he chose.’ Lyly’s genius was the opposite of + this; it consisted in the faculty of transforming + everybody into a reduplication of himself. + There is no change in style when the narrative + parts end and the dialogue begins. All the + persons of the drama utter one strange tongue. + They are no better than the characters in a + Punch and Judy show, where one concealed + manipulator furnishes voice for each of the + figures. But in Lyly’s novel there is not even + <a class="pagenum" id="page_154" title="154"></a>an attempt at the most rudimentary ventriloquism.</p> + + <p>What makes the book still less a reflection + of life is that the speakers indulge in interminably + long harangues. No man (unless he were + a Coleridge) would be tolerated who talked in + society at such inordinate length. When the + characters can’t talk to one another they retire + to their chambers and declaim to themselves. + They polish their language with the same care, + open the classical dictionary, and have at themselves + in good set terms. Philautus, inflamed + with love of Camilla, goes to his room and pronounces + a ten-minute discourse on the pangs of + love, having only himself for auditor. They + are amazingly patient under the verbal inflictions + of one another. Euphues, angry with + Philautus for having allowed himself to fall in + love, takes him to task in a single speech containing + four thousand words. If Lyly had set + out with the end in view of constructing a story + by putting into it alone ‘what is not life,’ his + product would have been what we find it now. + One could easily believe the whole affair to + have been intended for a tremendous joke were + it not that the tone is so serious. We are + accustomed to think of youth as light-hearted: + but look at a serious child,—there is nothing + more serious in the world. Lyly was twenty-six + years when he first published. Much of the + seriousness in his romance is the burden of + <a class="pagenum" id="page_155" title="155"></a>twenty-six years’ experience of life, a burden + greater perhaps than he ever afterward carried.</p> + + <p>Being, as we take it, an unmarried man, Lyly + gives directions for managing a wife. He believes + in the wholesome doctrine that a man + should select his own wife. ‘Made marriages + by friends’ are dangerous. ‘I had as lief + another should take measure by his back of my + apparel as appoint what wife I shall have by + his mind.’ He prefers in a wife ‘beauty before + riches, and virtue before blood.’ He holds to + the radical English doctrine of wifely submission; + there is no swerving from the position + that the man is the woman’s ‘earthly master,’<sup class="note_marker"><a href="#note_2" id="fnm2" title="Lady Burton’s Dedication...">2</a></sup> + but in taming a wife no violence is to be employed. + Wives are to be subdued with kindness. + ‘If their husbands with great threatenings, + with jars, with brawls, seek to make them + tractable, or bend their knees, the more stiff + they make them in the joints, the oftener they + go about by force to rule them, the more froward + they find them; but using mild words, + gentle persuasions, familiar counsel, entreaty, + submission, they shall not only make them to + bow their knees, but to hold up their hands, + not only cause them to honor them, but to + stand in awe of them.’ By such methods will + that supremest good of an English home be + brought about, namely, that the wife shall stand + in awe of her husband.</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page_156" title="156"></a>The young author admits that some wives + have the domineering instinct, and that way + danger lies. A man must look out for himself. + If he is not to make a slave of his wife, he is + also not to be too submissive; ‘that will cause + her to disdain thee.’ Moreover, he must have + an eye to the expenditure. She may keep the + keys, but he will control the pocket-book. The + model wife in Ecclesiastes had greater privileges; + she could not only consider a piece of + ground, but she could buy it if she liked it. + Not so this well-trained wife of Lyly’s novel. + ‘Let all the keys hang at her girdle, but the + purse at thine, so shalt thou know what thou + dost spend, and how she can spare.’ But in + setting forth his theory for being happy though + married, Lyly, methinks, preaches a dangerous + doctrine in this respect: he hints at the possibility + of a man’s wanting, in vulgar parlance, to + go on a spree, expresses no question as to the + propriety of his so doing, but says that if a man + does let himself loose in this fashion his wife + must not know it. ‘Imitate the kings of Persia, + who when they were given to riot kept no + company with their wives, but when they used + good order had their queens even at the table.’ + In short, the wife was to duplicate the moods + of her husband. ‘Thou must be a glass to thy + wife, for in thy face must she see her own; for + if when thou laughest she weep, when thou + mournest she giggle, the one is a manifest sign + <a class="pagenum" id="page_157" title="157"></a>she delighteth in others, the other a token she + despiseth thee.’ John Lyly was a wise youth. + He struck the keynote of the mode in which + most incompatible marriages are played when + he said that it was a bad sign if one’s wife giggled + when one was disposed to be melancholy.</p> + + <p>An interesting study is the author’s attitude + toward foreign travel. It would appear to have + been the fashion of the time to indulge in much + invective against foreign travel, but nevertheless—to + travel. Many men believed with + young Valentine that ‘home keeping youth + have ever homely wits,’ while others were rather + of Ascham’s mind when he said, ‘I was once in + Italy, but I thank God my stay there was only + nine days.’ Lyly came of a nation of travelers. + Then as now it was true that there was no + accessible spot of the globe upon which the + Englishman had not set his foot. Nomadic + England went abroad; sedentary England + stayed at home to rail at him for so doing. + Aside from that prejudice which declared that + all foreigners were fools, there was a well-founded + objection to the sort of traveling usually + described as seeing the world. Young + men went upon the continent to see questionable + forms of pleasure, perhaps to practice + them. Whether justly or not, common report + named Italy as the higher school of pleasurable + vices, and Naples as the city where one’s doctorate + was to be obtained. Gluttony and licentiousness + <a class="pagenum" id="page_158" title="158"></a>are the sins of Naples. Eubulus tells + Euphues that in that city are those who ‘sleep + with meat in their mouths, with sin in their + hearts, and with shame in their houses.’ There + is no limit to the inconveniences of traveling. + ‘Thou must have the back of an ass to bear all, + and the snout of a swine to say nothing…. + Travelers must sleep with their eyes open lest + they be slain in their beds, and wake with their + eyes shut lest they be suspected by their looks.’ + Journeys by the fireside are better. ‘If thou + covet to travel strange countries, search the + maps, there shalt thou see much with great + pleasure and small pains, if to be conversant in + all courts, read histories, where thou shalt + understand both what the men have been and + what their manners are, and methinketh there + must be much delight where there is no danger.’ + Perhaps Lyly intended to condemn traveling + with character unformed. A boy returned + with more vices than he went forth with pence, + and was able to sin both by experience and + authority. Lest he should be thought to speak + with uncertain voice upon this matter Lyly + gives Euphues a story to tell in which the chief + character describes the effect of traveling upon + himself. ‘There was no crime so barbarous, + no murder so bloody, no oath so blasphemous, + no vice so execrable, but that I could readily + recite where I learned it, and by rote repeat the + peculiar crime of every particular country, city, + <a class="pagenum" id="page_159" title="159"></a>town, village, house, or chamber.’ Here, indeed, + is no lack of plain speech.</p> + + <p>In the section called ‘Euphues and his + Ephœbus’ twenty-nine pages are devoted to + the question of the education of youth. It is + largely taken from Plutarch. Some of the + points are these: that a mother shall herself + nurse her child, that the child shall be early + framed to manners, ‘for as the steele is imprinted + in the soft waxe, so learning is engraven + in ye minde of an young Impe.’ He is not to + hear ‘fonde fables or filthy tales.’ He is to + learn to pronounce distinctly and to be kept + from ‘barbarous talk,’ that is, no dialect and no + slang. He is to become expert in martial + affairs, in shooting and darting, and he must + hunt and hawk for his ‘honest recreation.’ If + he will not study, he is not to be ‘scourged + with stripes, but threatened with words, not + <em>dulled with blows</em>, like servants, the which, the + more they are beaten the better they bear it, + and the less they care for it.’ In taking this + position Lyly is said to be only following Ascham. + Ascham was not the first in his own + time to preach such doctrine. Forty years before + the publication of <i class="title">The Schoolmaster</i>, Sir + Thomas Elyot, in his book called <i class="title">The Governour</i>, + raised his voice against the barbarity of + teachers ‘by whom the wits of children be + dulled,’—almost the very words of John Lyly.</p> + + <p><i class="title">Euphues</i>, besides being a treatise on love + <a class="pagenum" id="page_160" title="160"></a>and education, is a sort of Tudor tract upon + animated nature. It should be a source of joy + unspeakable to the general reader if only for + what it teaches him in the way of natural history. + How much of what is most gravely + stated here did John Lyly actually believe? It + is easy to grant so orthodox a statement of + physical fact as that ‘the Sunne doth harden + the durte, and melte the waxe;’ but ere the + sentence be finished, the author calls upon us + to believe that ‘Perfumes doth refresh the + Dove and kill the Betill.’ The same reckless + extravagance of remark is to be noted whenever + bird, beast, or reptile is mentioned. The + crocodile of Shakespeare’s time must have been + a very contortionist among beasts, for, says + Lyly, ‘when one approacheth neere unto him, + [he] gathereth up himselfe into the roundnesse + of a ball, but running from him, stretcheth + himselfe into the length of a tree.’ Perhaps + the fame of this creature’s powers grew in the + transmission of the narrative from the banks of + the Nile to the banks of the Thames. The + ostrich was human in its vanity according to + Lyly; men and women sometimes pull out + their white hairs, but ‘the Estritch, that taketh + the greatest pride in her feathers, picketh some + of the worst out and burneth them.’ Nay, + more than that, being in ‘great haste she pricketh + none but hirselfe which causeth hir to + runne when she would rest.’ We shall presently + <a class="pagenum" id="page_161" title="161"></a>expect to hear that ostriches wear boots + by the straps of which they lift themselves + over ten-foot woven-wire fences. But Lyly + used the conventional natural history that was + at hand, and troubled himself in no respect to + inquire about its truth or falsity.</p> + + <p>There is yet another cause of the popularity + of this book in its own time, which has been + too little emphasized. It is that trumpet blast + of patriotism with which the volume ends. We + feel, as we read the thirty pages devoted to the + praise of England and the Queen, that this is + right, fitting, artistic, and we hope that it is tolerably + sincere. Flattery came easily to men in + those days, and there was small hope of advancement + for one who did not master the art. But + there is a glow of earnestness in these paragraphs + rather convincing to the skeptic. Nor + would the book be complete without this eulogy. + We have had everything else; a story for who + wanted a story, theories upon the education of + children, a body of mythological divinity, a discussion + of methods of public speaking, advice + for men who are about to marry, a theological + sparring match, in which a man of straw is set + up to be knocked down, and <em>is</em> knocked down, + a thousand illustrations of wit and curious reading, + and now, as a thing that all men could + understand, the author tells Englishmen of + their own good fortune in being Englishmen, + and is finely outspoken in praise of what he + calls ‘the blessed Island.’</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page_162" title="162"></a>This is an old-fashioned vein, to be sure,—the + <i lang="la">ad captandum</i> trick of a popular orator + bent upon making a success. It is not looked + upon in all places with approval. ‘Our unrivaled + prosperity’ was a phrase which greatly + irritated Matthew Arnold. Here in America, + are we not taught by a highly fastidious journal + that we may be patriotic if we choose, but we + must be careful how we let people know it? + We mustn’t make a fuss about it. We + mustn’t be blatant. The star-spangled banner + on the public schools is at best a cheap and + vulgar expression of patriotism. But somehow + even this sort of patriotism goes with the people, + and perhaps these instincts of the common + folk are not entirely to be despised. Many a + reader of <i class="title">Euphues</i>, who cared but little for its + elaborated style, who was not moved by its + orthodoxy, who didn’t read books simply because + they were fashionable, must have felt his + pulse stirred by Lyly’s chant of England’s + greatness. For Euphues is John Lyly, and + John Lyly’s creed was substantially that of + the well-known hero of a now forgotten comic + opera, ‘I am an Englishman.’</p> + + <p>In the thin disguise of the chief character of + his story the author describes the happy island, + its brave gentlemen and rich merchants, its fair + ladies and its noble Queen. The glories of + London, which he calls the storehouse and + mart of all Europe, and the excellence of English + <a class="pagenum" id="page_163" title="163"></a>universities, ‘out of which do daily proceed + men of great wisdom,’ are alike celebrated. + England’s material wealth in mines and quarries + is amply set forth, also the fine qualities of + the breed of cattle, and the virtues of English + spaniels, hounds, and mastiffs; for these constitute + a sort of good that all could appreciate. + He is satirical at the expense of his countrymen’s + dress,—‘there is nothing in England + more constant than the inconstancie of attire,’—but + praises their silence and gravity at their + meals. They have wise ministers in the court, + and devout guardians of the true religion and + of the church. ‘O thrice happy England, + where such councilors are, where such people + live, where such virtue springeth.’</p> + + <p>In the paragraphs relating to the queen, Lyly + grows positively eloquent. He praises her + matchless beauty, her mercy, patience, and + moderation, and emphasizes the fact of her virginity + to a degree that would have satisfied the + imperial votaress herself if but once she had + considered her admirer’s words: ‘O fortunate + England that hath such a Queen; ungratefull, + if thou pray not for her; wicked, if thou do not + love her; miserable, if thou lose her.’ He calls + down Heaven’s blessings upon her that she + may be ‘triumphant in victories like the Palm + tree, fruitful in her age like the Vine, in all + ages prosperous, to all men gracious, in all + places glorious: so that there be no end of her + praise, until the end of all flesh.’</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page_164" title="164"></a>With passages such as these, this interesting + book draws to a conclusion. A most singular + and original book, worthy to be read, unless, + indeed, the reading of these out-of-the-way volumes + were found to encroach upon time belonging + by right of eminent intellectual domain to + Chaucer and to Shakespeare, to Spenser and + to Milton. That <i class="title">Euphues</i> is in no exact sense + a novel admits of little question. It is also a + brilliant illustration of how not to write English. + Nevertheless it is very amusing, and its + disappearance would be a misfortune, since it + would eclipse the innocent gayety of many a + man who loves to bask in that golden sunshine + which streams from the pages of old English + books.</p> + + <div id="novelist_notes" class="notes"> + <ol> + <li id="note_1" class="footnote"> + <p> The writer of this paper once sent to that fine scholar + and gracious gentleman, Professor Edward Arber, to inquire + whether in his opinion one might hope to buy at a modest + price a copy of either the first or the second part of <i class="title">Euphues</i>. + Professor Arber’s reply was amusingly emphatic: ‘You might + as well try to purchase one of Mahomet’s old slippers.’ But + in July of 1896 there were four copies of this old novel on + sale at one New York bookstore. One of the copies was + of great beauty, consisting of the two parts of the story bound + up together in a really sumptuous fashion. The price was + not large as prices of such books go, but on the other hand + ‘’a was not small.’ + <span class="note_return"><a href="#fnm1" title="Back to text">Return</a></span> + </p> + </li> + <li id="note_2" class="footnote"> + <p> Lady Burton’s Dedication of her husband’s biography,—‘To + my earthly master,’ etc. + <span class="note_return"><a href="#fnm2" title="Back to text">Return</a></span> + </p> + </li> + </ol> + </div> + </div> + <div id="autobiography" class="essay"> + <h2 class="essay_title"><a class="pagenum" id="page_165" title="165"></a>THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A FAIR-MINDED MAN</h2> + <p class="return_toc"><a href="#contents">Return to Contents</a></p> + <p><span class="first_word">It</span> is by no means necessary that one be a + man of letters in order to write a good book. + Some very admirable books have been written + by men who gave no especial thought to literature + as an art. They wrote because they were + so fortunate as to find themselves in possession + of ideas, and not because they had determined + to become authors. Literature as such implies + sophistication, and people who devote themselves + to literature do so from a variety of + motives. But these writers of whom I now + speak have a less complex thought back of their + work. They do not, for example, propose pleasure + to the reader as an object in writing. + Their aim is single. They recount an experience, + or plead a cause. Literature with them + is always a means to an end. They are like + pedestrians who never look upon walking as + other than a rational process for reaching a + given place. It does not occur to them that + walking makes for health and pleasure, and that + it is also an exercise for displaying a graceful + carriage, the set of the shoulders, the poise of + the head.</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page_166" title="166"></a>To be sure one runs the risk of being deceived + in this matter. The actress who plays + the part of an unaffected young girl, for aught + that the spectator knows to the contrary may + be a pronounced woman of the world. Not + every author who says to the public ‘excuse + my untaught manner’ is on this account to be + regarded as a literary ingénu. His simplicity + awakens distrust. The fact that he professes + to be a layman is a reason for suspecting him. + He is probably an adept, a master of the wiles + by which readers are snared.</p> + + <p>But aside from the cases in which deception + is practiced, or at least attempted, there is in + the world a respectable body of literature which + is not the work of literary men. Its chief + characteristic is sincerity. The writers of these + books are so busy in telling the truth that they + have no time to think of literature.</p> + + <p>Among the more readable of these pieces is + that unpretentious volume in which Dr. Joseph + Priestley relates the story of his life. For in + classing this book with the writings of authors + who are not men of letters one surely does not + go wide of the mark. There is a sense in + which it is entirely proper to say that Priestley + was not a literary man. He produced twenty-five + volumes of ‘works,’ but they were for use + rather than for art. He wrote on science, on + grammar, on theology, on law. He published + controversial tracts: ‘Did So-and-So believe + <a class="pagenum" id="page_167" title="167"></a>so-and-so or something quite different?’ and + then a discussion of the ‘grounds’ of this belief. + He made ‘rejoinders,’ ‘defenses,’ ‘animadversions,’ + and printed the details of his + <i class="title">Experiments on Different Kinds of Air</i>. This + is distinctly uninviting. Let me propose an + off-hand test by which to determine whether or + no a given book is literature. <em>Can you imagine + Charles Lamb in the act of reading that book?</em> + If you can; it’s literature; if you can’t, it isn’t. + I find it difficult to conceive of Charles Lamb + as mentally immersed in the <i class="title">Letter to an Anti-pædobaptist</i> + or the <i class="title">Doctrine of Phlogiston + Established</i>, but it is natural to think of him + turning the pages of Priestley’s Memoir, reading + each page with honest satisfaction and pronouncing + the volume to be worthy the title of + A BOOK.</p> + + <p>It is a plain unvarnished tale and entirely + innocent of those arts by the practice of which + authors please their public. There is no eloquence, + no rhetoric, no fine writing of any sort. + The two or three really dramatic events in + Priestley’s career are not handled with a view + to producing dramatic effect. There are places + where the author might easily have become + impassioned. But he did not become impassioned. + Not a few paragraphs contain unwritten + poems. The simple-hearted Priestley was + unconscious of this, or if conscious, then too + modest to make capital of it. He had never + <a class="pagenum" id="page_168" title="168"></a>aspired to the reputation of a clever writer, but + rather of a useful one. His aim was quite as + simple when he wrote the Memoir as when he + wrote his various philosophical reports. He + never deviated into brilliancy. He set down + plain statements about events which had happened + to him, and people whom he had known. + Nevertheless the narrative is charming, and the + reasons of its charm are in part these:—</p> + + <p>In the first place the book belongs to that + department of literature known as autobiography. + Autobiography has peculiar virtues. The + poorest of it is not without some flavor of life, + and at its best it is transcendent. A notable + value lies in its power to stimulate. This + power is very marked in Priestley’s case, where + the self-delineated portrait is of a man who met + and overcame enormous difficulties. He knew + poverty and calumny, both brutal things. He + had a thorn in the flesh,—for so he himself + characterized that impediment in his speech + which he tried more or less unsuccessfully all + his life to cure. He found his scientific usefulness + impaired by religious and political + antagonisms. He tasted the bitterness of mob + violence; his house was sacked, his philosophical + instruments destroyed, his manuscripts and + books scattered along the highway. But as he + looked back upon these things he was not + moved to impatience. There is a high serenity + in his narrative as becomes a man who has + <a class="pagenum" id="page_169" title="169"></a>learned to distinguish between the ephemeral + and the permanent elements of life.</p> + + <p>Yet it is not impossible that autobiography + of this sort has an effect the reverse of stimulating + upon some people. It is pleasanter to + read of heroes than to be a hero oneself. The + story of conquest is inspiring, but the actual + process is apt to be tedious. One’s nerves are + tuned to a fine energy in reading of Priestley’s + efforts to accomplish a given task. ‘I spent + the latter part of every week with Mr. Thomas, + a Baptist minister, … who had no liberal + education. Him I instructed in Hebrew, and + by that means made myself a considerable proficient + in that language. At the same time I + learned Chaldee and Syriac and just began to + read Arabic’ This seems easy in the telling, + but in reality it was a long, a monotonous, an + exhausting process. Think of the expenditure + of hours and eyesight over barbarous alphabets + and horrid grammatical details. One must + needs have had a mind of leather to endure such + philological and linguistic wear and tear. Priestley’s + mind not only cheerfully endured it but + actually toughened under it. The man was + never afraid of work. Take as an illustration + his experience in keeping school.</p> + + <p>He had pronounced objections to this business, + and he registered his protest. But suppose + the alternative is to teach school or to + starve. A man will then teach school. I don’t + <a class="pagenum" id="page_170" title="170"></a>know that this was quite the situation in which + Priestley found himself, though he needed + money. He may have hesitated to enter a profession + which in his time required a more extensive + muscular equipment than he was able + to furnish. The old English schoolmasters + were ‘bruisers.’ They had thick skins, hard + heads, and solid fists. The symbols of their + office were a Greek grammar and a flexible rod. + They were skillful either with the book or the + birch. It has taken many years to convince + the world that the short road to the moods and + tenses does not necessarily lie through the + valley of the shadow of flogging. Perhaps + Priestley objected to school-mastering because + it was laborious. It was indeed laborious as he + practiced it. One marvels at his endurance. + His school consisted of about thirty boys, and + he had a separate room for about half-a-dozen + young ladies. ‘Thus I was employed from + seven in the morning until four in the afternoon, + without any interval except one hour for + dinner; and I never gave a holiday on any consideration, + the red letter days excepted. Immediately + after this employment in my own + school-rooms I went to teach in the family of + Mr. Tomkinson, an eminent attorney, … and + here I continued until seven in the evening.’ + Twelve consecutive hours of teaching, less one + hour for dinner! It was hardly necessary for + Priestley to add that he had ‘but little leisure + for reading.’</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page_171" title="171"></a>He laid up no money from teaching, but like + a true man of genius spent it upon books, a + small air-pump, an electrical machine. By + training his advanced pupils to manipulate + these he ‘extended the reputation’ of his + school. This was playing at science. Several + years were yet to elapse before he should acquire + fame as an original investigator.</p> + + <p>This autobiography is valuable because it + illustrates the events of a remarkable time. + He who cares about the history of theological + opinion, the history of chemical science, the + history of liberty, will read these pages with + keen interest. Priestley was active in each of + these fields. Men famous for their connection + with the great movements of the period were + among his friends and acquaintance. He knew + Franklin and Richard Price. John Canton, + who was the first man in England to verify + Franklin’s experiments, was a friend of Priestley. + So too were Smeaton the engineer, James + Watt, Boulton, Josiah Wedgewood, and Erasmus + Darwin. He knew Kippis, Lardner, Parr, + and had met Porson and Dr. Johnson. His + closest friend for many years was Theophilus + Lindsey. One might also mention the great + Lavoisier, Magellan the Jesuit philosopher, and + a dozen other scientific, ecclesiastical, and political + celebrities. The Memoir, however, is almost + as remarkable for what it does not tell + concerning these people as for what it does. + <a class="pagenum" id="page_172" title="172"></a>Priestley was not anecdotal. And he is only a + little less reticent about himself than he is + about others. He does indeed describe his early + struggles as a dissenting minister, but the + reader would like a little more expansiveness in + the account of his friendships and his chemical + discoveries. These discoveries were made during + the time that he was minister at the Mill-hill + Chapel, Leeds. Here he began the serious + study of chemistry. And that without training + in the science as it was then understood. At + Warrington he had heard a series of chemical + lectures by Dr. Turner of Liverpool, a gentleman + whom Americans ought to regard with + amused interest, for he was the man who congratulated + his fellows in a Liverpool debating + society that while they had just lost the <i lang="la">terra + firma</i> of thirteen colonies in America, they had + gained, under the generalship of Dr. Herschel, + a <i lang="la">terra incognita</i> of much greater extent <i lang="la">in + nubibus</i>. Priestley not only began his experiments + without any great store of knowledge, + but also without apparatus save what he devised + for himself of the cheapest materials. In 1772 + he published his first important scientific tract, + ‘a small pamphlet on the method of impregnating + water with fixed air.’ For this he received + the Copley medal from the Royal Society. On + the first of August, 1774, he discovered oxygen. + Nobody in Leeds troubled particularly to inquire + what this dissenting minister was about + <a class="pagenum" id="page_173" title="173"></a>with his vials and tubes, his mice and his + plants. Priestley says that the only person + who took ‘much interest’ was Mr. Hey, a surgeon. + Mr. Hey was a ‘zealous Methodist’ and + wrote answers to Priestley’s theological papers. + Arminian and Socinian were at peace if science + was the theme. When Priestley departed from + Leeds, Hey begged of him the ‘earthen trough’ + in which all his experiments had been made. + This earthen trough was nothing more nor less + than a washtub of the sort in common local + use. So independent is genius of the elaborate + appliances with which talent must produce results.</p> + + <p>The discoveries brought fame, especially + upon the Continent, and led Lord Shelburne + to invite Priestley to become his ‘literary companion.’ + Dr. Price was the intermediary in + effecting this arrangement. Priestley’s nominal + post was that of ‘librarian,’ and he now and + then officiated as experimentalist extraordinary + before Lord Shelburne’s guests. The compensation + was not illiberal, and the relation + seems to have been as free from degrading elements + as such relations can be. Priestley was + not a sycophant even in the day when men of + genius thought it no great sin to give flattery + in exchange for dinners. It was never his + habit to burn incense before the great simply + because the great liked the smell of incense and + were accustomed to it. On the other hand, + <a class="pagenum" id="page_174" title="174"></a>Shelburne appears to have treated the philosopher + with kindness and delicacy, and the situation + was not without difficulties for his lordship.</p> + + <p>Among obvious advantages which Priestley + derived from this residence were freedom from + financial worry, time for writing and experimenting, + a tour on the Continent, and the privilege + of spending the winter season of each + year in London.</p> + + <p>It was during these London visits that he + renewed his acquaintance with Dr. Franklin. + They were members of a club of ‘philosophical + gentlemen’ which met at stated times at the + London Coffee House, Ludgate Hill. There + were few days upon which the Father of Pneumatic + Chemistry and the Father of Electrical + Science did not meet. When their talk was + not of dephlogisticated air and like matters it + was pretty certain to be political. The war + between England and America was imminent. + Franklin dreaded it. He often said to Priestley + that ‘if the difference should come to an + open rupture, it would be a war of <em>ten years</em>, + and he should not live to see the end of it.’ + He had no doubt as to the issue. ‘The English + may take all our great towns, but that will + not give them possession of the country,’ he + used to say. Franklin’s last day in England + was given to Priestley. The two friends spent + much of the time in reading American newspapers, + <a class="pagenum" id="page_175" title="175"></a>especially accounts of the reception + which the Boston Port Bill met with in America, + and as Franklin read the addresses to the + inhabitants of Boston, from the places in the + neighborhood, ‘the tears trickled down his + cheeks.’ He wrote to Priestley from Philadelphia + just a month after the battle of Lexington, + briefly describing that lively episode, and mentioning + his pleasant six weeks voyage with + weather ‘so moderate that a London wherry + might have accompanied us all the way.’ At + the close of his letter he says: ‘In coming + over I made a valuable philosophical discovery, + which I shall communicate to you when I can + get a little time. At present I am extremely + hurried.’ In October of that year, 1775, Franklin + wrote to Priestley about the state of affairs + in America. His letter contains one passage + which can hardly be hackneyed from over-quotation. + Franklin wants Priestley to tell ‘our + dear good friend,’ Dr. Price, that America is + ‘determined and unanimous.’ ‘Britain at the + expense of three millions has killed 150 yankees + this campaign, which is 20,000 l. a head; and + at Bunker’s Hill, she gained a mile of ground, + all of which she lost again, by our taking post + on Ploughed Hill. During the same time + 60,000 children have been born in America.’ + From these data Dr. Price is to calculate ‘the + time and expense necessary to kill us all, and + conquer the whole of our territory.’ Then the + <a class="pagenum" id="page_176" title="176"></a>letter closes with greetings ‘to the club of honest + whigs at the London Coffee House.’</p> + + <p>Seven years later Franklin’s heart was still + faithful to the club. He writes to Priestley + from France: ‘I love you as much as ever, and + I love all the honest souls that meet at the + London Coffee House…. I labor for peace + with more earnestness that I may again be + happy in your sweet society.’ Franklin thought + that war was folly. In a letter to Dr. Price, + he speaks of the great improvements in natural + philosophy, and then says: ‘There is one improvement + in moral philosophy which I wish to + see: the discovery of a plan that would induce + and oblige nations to settle their disputes without + first cutting one another’s throats.’</p> + + <p>Priestley lamented that a man of Franklin’s + character and influence ‘should have been an + unbeliever in Christianity, and also have done + as much as he did to make others unbelievers.’ + Franklin acknowledged that he had not given + much attention to the evidences of Christianity, + and asked Priestley to recommend some ‘treatises’ + on the subject ‘but not of great length.’ + Priestley suggested certain chapters of Hartley’s + <i class="title">Observations on Man</i>, and also what he + himself had written on the subject in his <i class="title">Institutes + of Natural and Revealed Religion</i>. + Franklin had promised to read whatever books + his friend might advise and give his ‘sentiments + on them.’ ‘But the American war breaking out + <a class="pagenum" id="page_177" title="177"></a>soon after, I do not believe,’ says Priestley, + ‘that he ever found himself sufficiently at leisure + for the discussion.’</p> + + <p>Priestley valued his own scientific reputation + not a little for the weight it gave, among skeptics, + to his arguments in support of his religious + belief. He found that all the philosophers in + Paris were unbelievers. They looked at him + with mild astonishment when they learned that + he was not of the same mind. They may even + have thought him a phenomenon which required + scientific investigation. ‘As I chose on + all occasions to appear as a Christian, I was + told by some of them that I was the only person + they had ever met with, of whose understanding + they had any opinion, who professed + to believe Christianity.’ Priestley began to + question them as to what they supposed Christianity + was, and with the usual result,—they + were not posted on the subject.</p> + + <p>In 1780 Priestley went to Birmingham. In + the summer of 1791 occurred that remarkable + riot, perhaps the most dramatic event in the + philosopher’s not unpicturesque career. This + storm had long been gathering, and when it + broke, the principal victim of its anger was, I + verily believe, more astonished than frightened. + The Dissenters were making unusual efforts to + have some of their civil disabilities removed. + Feeling against them was especially bitter. In + Birmingham this hostility was intensified by + <a class="pagenum" id="page_178" title="178"></a>the public discourses of Mr. Madan, ‘the most + respectable clergyman of the town,’ says Priestley. + He published ‘a very inflammatory sermon … inveighing + against the Dissenters in + general, and myself in particular.’ Priestley + made a defense under the title of <i class="title">Familiar + Letters to the Inhabitants of Birmingham</i>. + This produced a ‘reply’ from Madan, and + ‘other letters’ from his opponent. Being a + conspicuous representative of that body which + was most ‘obnoxious to the court’ it is not surprising + that Priestley should have been singled + out for unwelcome honors. The feeling of + intolerance was unusually strong. It was said—I + don’t know how truly—that at a confirmation + in Birmingham tracts were distributed + against Socinianism in general and Priestley in + particular. Very reputable men thought they + did God service in inflaming the minds of the + rabble against this liberal-minded gentleman. + Priestley’s account of the riot in the Memoir + is singularly temperate. It might even be + called tame. He was quite incapable of posing, + or of playing martyr to an audience of which + a goodly part was sympathetic and ready to + believe his sufferings as great as he chose to + make them appear. One could forgive a slight + outburst of indignation had the doctor chosen + so to relieve himself. ‘On occasion of the + celebration of the anniversary of the French + revolution, on July 14, 1791, by several of my + <a class="pagenum" id="page_179" title="179"></a>friends, but with which I had little to do, a mob, + encouraged by some persons in power, first + burned the meeting-house in which I preached, + then another meeting-house in the town, and + then my dwelling-house, demolishing my library, + apparatus, and as far as they could everything + belonging to me.… Being in some personal + danger on this occasion I went to London.’</p> + + <p>A much livelier account from Priestley’s + own hand and written the next day after the + riot is found in a letter to Theophilus Lindsay. + ‘The company were hardly gone from the inn + before a drunken mob rushed into the house + and broke all the windows. They then set fire + to our meeting-house and it is burned to the + ground. After that they gutted, and some say + burned the old meeting. In the mean time + some friends came to tell me that I and my + house were threatened, and another brought a + chaise to convey me and my wife away. I had + not presence of mind to take even my MSS.; + and after we were gone the mob came and demolished + everything, household goods, library, + and apparatus.’ The letter differs from the + Memoir in saying that ‘happily no fire could + be got.’ Priestley afterwards heard that ‘much + pains was taken, but without effect, to get fire + from my large electrical machine which stood in + the Library.’</p> + + <p>It is rather a curious fact that Priestley was + not at the inn where the anniversary was celebrating. + <a class="pagenum" id="page_180" title="180"></a>While the company there were chanting + the praises of liberty he was at home playing + backgammon with his wife, a remarkably + innocent and untreasonable occupation. Mr. + Arthur Young visited the scene of the riot a + few days later and had thoughts upon it. ‘Seeing, + as I passed, a house in ruins, on inquiry I + found that it was Dr. Priestley’s. I alighted + from my horse, and walked over the ruins of + that laboratory which I had left home with the + expectation of reaping instruction in; of that + laboratory, the labours of which have not only + illuminated mankind but enlarged the sphere + of science itself; which has carried its master’s + fame to the remotest corner of the civilized + world; and will now with equal celerity convey + the infamy of its destruction to the disgrace + of the age and the scandal of the British + name.’ It is not necessary to supplement + Arthur Young’s burst of indignation with private + bursts of our own. We can afford to be + as philosophic over the matter as Priestley was. + That feeling was hot against him even in London + is manifest from the fact that the day after + his arrival a hand-bill was distributed beginning + with the words: ‘Dr. Priestley is a damned + rascal, an enemy both to the religious and political + constitution of this country, a fellow of a + treasonable mind, consequently a bad Christian.’ + The ‘bad Christian’ thought it showed + ‘no small degree of courage’ in Mr. William + <a class="pagenum" id="page_181" title="181"></a>Vaughan to receive him into his house. ‘But + it showed more in Dr. Price’s congregation at + Hackney to invite me to succeed him.’ The + invitation was not unanimous, as Priestley with + his characteristic passion for exactness is at + pains to tell the reader. Some of the members + withdrew, ‘which was not undesirable.’</p> + + <p>People generally looked askance at him. If + he was upon one side of the street the respectable + part of the world made it convenient to + pass by on the other side. He even found his + relations with his philosophical acquaintance + ‘much restricted.’ ‘Most of the members of + the Royal Society shunned him,’ he says. This + seems amusing and unfortunate. Apparently + one’s qualifications as a scientist were of little + avail if one happened to hold heterodox views + on the Trinity, or were of opinion that more + liberty than Englishmen then had would be + good for them. Priestley resigned his fellowship + in the Royal Society.</p> + + <p>One does not need even mildly to anathematize + the instigators of that historic riot. They + were unquestionably zealous for what they believed + to be the truth. Moreover, as William + Hutton observed at the time, ‘It’s the right of + every Englishman to walk in darkness if he + chooses.’ The method employed defeated its + own end. Persecution is an unsafe investment + and at best pays a low rate of interest. No + dignified person can afford to indulge in it. + <a class="pagenum" id="page_182" title="182"></a>There’s the danger of being held up to the + laughter of posterity. It has happened so + many times that the unpopular cause has become + popular. This ought to teach zealots to + be cautious. What would Madan have thought + if he could have been told that within thirty + years one of his own coadjutors in this affair + would have publicly expressed regret for the + share he had in it? Madan has his reward, + three quarters of a column in the <i class="title">Dictionary of + National Biography</i>. But to-day Priestley’s + statue stands in a public square of Birmingham + opposite the Council House. Thus do + matters get themselves readjusted in this very + interesting world.</p> + + <p>Rutt’s Life of Priestley (that remarkable illustration + of how to make a very poor book out + of the best materials) contains a selection of + the addresses and letters of condolence which + were forthcoming at this time. Some of them + are stilted and dull, but they are actual ‘documents,’ + and the words in them are alive with + the passion of that day. They make the transaction + very real and close at hand.</p> + + <p>Priestley was comparatively at ease in his + new home. Yet he could not entirely escape + punishment. There were ‘a few personal insults + from the lowest of the rabble.’ Anxiety + was felt lest he might again receive the attentions + of a mob. He humorously remarked: ‘On + the 14th of July, 1792, it was taken for granted + <a class="pagenum" id="page_183" title="183"></a>by many of my neighbors that my house was + to come down just as at Birmingham the year + before.’ The house did not come down, but + its occupant grew ill at ease, and within another + two years he had found a new home in the new + nation across the sea.</p> + + <p>It is hardly exact to say that he was ‘driven’ + from England, as some accounts of his life have + it. Mere personal unpopularity would not have + sufficed for this. But at sixty-one a man + hasn’t as much fight in him as at forty-five. + He is not averse to quiet. Priestley’s three + sons were going to America because their + father thought that they could not be ‘placed’ + to advantage in a country so ‘bigoted’ as their + native land was then. ‘My own situation, if + not hazardous, was become unpleasant, so that + I thought my removal would be of more service + to the cause of truth than my longer stay in + England.’</p> + + <p>The sons went first and laid the foundations + of the home in Northumberland, Pennsylvania. + The word ‘Susquehanna’ had a magic sound + to Englishmen. On March 30, 1794, Priestley + delivered his farewell discourse. April 6 he + passed with his friends the Lindsays in Essex + Street, and a day later went to Gravesend. + For the details of the journey one must go to + his correspondence.</p> + + <p>His last letters were written from Deal and + Falmouth, April 9 and 11. The vessel was + <a class="pagenum" id="page_184" title="184"></a>six weeks in making the passage. The weather + was bad and the travelers experienced everything + ‘but shipwreck and famine.’ There was + no lack of entertainment, for the ocean was + fantastic and spectacular. Not alone were + there the usual exhibitions of flying-fish, whales, + porpoises, and sharks, but also ‘mountains of + ice larger than the captain had ever seen before,’—for + thus early had transatlantic captains + learned the art of pronouncing upon the exceptional + character of a particular voyage for the + benefit of the traveler who is making that voyage. + They saw water-spouts, ‘four at one + time.’ The billows were ‘mountain-high, and + at night appeared to be all on fire.’ They had + infinite leisure, and scarcely knew how to use + it. Mrs. Priestley wrote ‘thirty-two large + pages of paper.’ The doctor read ‘the whole + of the Greek Testament and the Hebrew Bible + as far as the first book of Samuel.’ He also + read through Hartley’s second volume, and + ‘for amusement several books of voyages and + Ovid’s Metamorphoses.’ ‘If I had [had] a + Virgil I should have read him through, too. I + read a great deal of Buchanan’s poems, and + some of Petrarch’s <i lang="la">de remediis</i>, and Erasmus’s + Dialogues; also Peter Pindar’s poems, … + which pleased me much more than I expected. + He is Paine in verse.’</p> + + <p>On June 1 the ship reached Sandy Hook. + Three days later Dr. and Mrs. Priestley ‘landed + <a class="pagenum" id="page_185" title="185"></a>at the Battery in as private a manner as possible, + and went immediately to Mrs. Loring’s + lodging-house close by.’ The next morning + the principal inhabitants of New York came to + pay their respects and congratulations; among + others Governor Clinton, Dr. Prevoost, bishop + of New York; Mr. Osgood, late envoy to Great + Britain; the heads of the college; most of the + principal merchants, and many others; for an + account of which amenities one must read + Henry Wansey’s <i class="title">Excursion to the United States + in the Summer of 1794</i>, published by Salisbury + in 1796, a most amusing and delectable volume.</p> + + <p>Priestley missed seeing Vice-president John + Adams by one day. Adams had sailed for Boston + on the third. But he left word that Boston + was ‘better calculated’ for Priestley than any + other part of America, and that ‘he would find + himself very well received if he should be inclined + to settle there.’</p> + + <p>Mrs. Priestley in a letter home says: ‘Dr. P. + is wonderfully pleased with everything, and + indeed I think he has great reason from the + attentions paid him.’ The good people became + almost frivolous with their dinner-parties, receptions, + calls, and so forth. Then there were + the usual addresses from the various organizations,—one + from the Tammany Society, who + described themselves as ‘a numerous body of + freemen, who associate to cultivate among + them the love of liberty, and the enjoyment of + <a class="pagenum" id="page_186" title="186"></a>the happy republican government under which + they live.’ There was an address from the + ‘Democratic Society,’ one from the ‘Associated + Teachers in the City of New York,’ one from + the ‘Republican Natives of Great Britain and + Ireland,’ one from the ‘Medical Society.’</p> + + <p>The pleasure was not unmixed. Dr. Priestley + the theologian had a less cordial reception + than Dr. Priestley the philosopher and martyr. + The orthodox were considerably disturbed by + his coming. ‘Nobody asks me to preach, and + I hear there is much jealousy and dread of me.’ + In Philadelphia at a Baptist meeting the minister + bade his people beware, for ‘a Priestley had + entered the land.’ But the heretic was very + patient and earnest to do what he might for + the cause of ‘rational’ Christianity. The widespread + infidelity distressed him. He mentioned + it as a thing to be wondered at that in America + the lawyers were almost universally unbelievers. + He lost no time in getting to work. On + August 27, when he had been settled in Northumberland + only a month, he wrote to a friend + that he had just got Paine’s <i class="title">Age of Reason</i>, and + thought to answer it. By September 14 he + had done so. ‘I have transcribed for the press + my answer to Mr. Paine, whose work is the + weakest and most absurd as well as most arrogant + of anything I have yet seen.’</p> + + <p>Priestley was fully conscious of the humor of + his situation. He was trying to save the public, + <a class="pagenum" id="page_187" title="187"></a>including lawyers, from the mentally debilitating + effects of reading Paine’s <i class="title">Age of Reason</i>, + while at the same time all the orthodox divines + were warning their flocks of the danger consequent + upon having anything to do with <em>him</em>.</p> + + <p>Honors and rumors of honors came to him. + He was talked of for the presidency of colleges + yet to be founded, and was invited to professorships + in colleges that actually were. He went + occasionally to Philadelphia, a frightful journey + from Northumberland in those days. Through + his influence a Unitarian society was established. + He gave public discourses, and there + was considerable curiosity to see and hear so + famous a man. ‘I have the use of Mr. Winchester’s + pulpit every morning … and yesterday + preached my first sermon.’ He was told + that ‘a great proportion of the members of + Congress were present,’ and we know that + ‘Mr. Vice-President Adams was a regular attendant.’</p> + + <p>In company with his friend Mr. Russell, + Priestley went to take tea with President Washington. + They stayed two hours ‘as in any private + family,’ and at leavetaking were invited + ‘to come at any time without ceremony.’</p> + + <p>About a year later Priestley saw again Washington, + who had finished his second term of + office. ‘I went to take leave of the late president. + He seemed not to be in very good spirits. + He invited me to Mt. Vernon, and said he + <a class="pagenum" id="page_188" title="188"></a>thought he should hardly go from home twenty + miles as long as he lived.’</p> + + <p>Priestley was not to have the full measure of + the rest which he coveted. He had left England + to escape persecution, and persecution followed + him. Cobbett, who had assailed him in + a scurrilous pamphlet at the time of his emigration, + continued his attacks. Priestley was + objectionable because he was a friend of France. + Moreover he had opinions about things, some + of which he freely expressed,—a habit he had + contracted so early in life as to render it hopeless + that he should ever break himself of it. + Cobbett’s virulence was so great as to excite + the astonishment of Mr. Adams, who said to + Priestley, ‘I wonder why the man abuses you;’ + when a hint from Adams, Priestley thought, + would have prevented it all. But it was not + easy to control William Cobbett. Adams may + have thought that Cobbett was a being created + for the express purpose of being let alone. + There are such beings. Every one knows, or + can guess, to what sort of animal Churton Collins + compared Dean Swift, when the Dean was + in certain moods. William Cobbett, too, had his + moods.</p> + + <p>Yet it is impossible to read Priestley’s letters + between 1798 and 1801 without indignation + against those who preyed upon his peace of + mind. He writes to Lindsay: ‘It is nothing + but a firm faith in a good Providence that is + <a class="pagenum" id="page_189" title="189"></a>my support at present: but it is an effectual + one.’ His ‘never failing resource’ was the + ‘daily study of the Scriptures.’ In moments + of depression he loved to read the introduction + to Hartley’s second volume, those noble passages + beginning: ‘Whatever be our doubts, + fears, or anxieties, whether selfish or social, + whether for time or eternity, our only hope + and refuge must be in the infinite power, knowledge + and goodness of God.’</p> + + <p>Priestley was indeed a remarkable man. His + services to science were very great. He laid + the foundations of notable structures which, + however, other men were to rear. He might + have been a greater man had he been less versatile. + And yet his versatility was one source + of his greatness. He clung to old-fashioned + notions, defending the doctrine of ‘philogiston’ + after it had been abandoned by nearly every + other chemist of repute. For this he has been + ridiculed. But he was not ridiculous, he was + singularly open-minded. He knew that his + reputation as a philosopher was under a cloud. + ‘Though all the world is at present against me, + I see no reason to despair of the old system; + and yet, <em>if I should see reason to change my + opinion, I think I should rather feel a pride in + making the most public acknowledgment of it</em>.’ + These are words which Professor Huxley might + well have quoted in his beautiful address on + Priestley delivered at Birmingham, for they are + <a class="pagenum" id="page_190" title="190"></a>the perfect expression and symbol of the fair-minded + man.</p> + + <p>He was as modest as he was fair-minded. + When it was proposed that he should accompany + Captain Cook’s expedition to the South + Seas, and the arrangements were really completed, + he was objected to because of his political + and religious opinions. Dr. Reinhold + Foster was appointed in his stead. He was + a person ‘far better qualified,’ said Priestley. + Again when he was invited to take the chair of + Chemistry at Philadelphia he refused. This for + several reasons, the chief of which was that he + did not believe himself fitted for it. One would + naturally suppose that the inventor of soda-water + and the discoverer of oxygen would have + been able to give lectures to young men on + chemistry. But Priestley believed that he + ‘could not have acquitted himself in it to proper + advantage.’ ‘Though I have made discoveries + in some branches of chemistry, I never gave + much attention to the common routine of it, + and know but little of the common processes.’</p> + + <p>Priestley still awaits a biographer. The two + thick volumes compiled by Rutt more than + sixty-three years ago have not been reprinted, + nor are they likely to be. But a life so precious + in its lessons should be recorded in just terms. + It would be an inspiring book, and its title + might well be ‘The Story of a Man of Character.’ + Not the least of its virtues would consist + <a class="pagenum" id="page_191" title="191"></a>in ample recognition of Joseph Priestley’s + unwavering confidence that all things were + ordered for the best; and then of his piety, + which prompted him to say, as he looked back + upon his life: ‘I am thankful to that good Providence + which always took more care of me + than ever I took of myself.’</p> + </div> + <div id="waistcoat" class="essay"> + <h2 class="essay_title"><a class="pagenum" id="page_192" title="192"></a>CONCERNING A RED WAISTCOAT</h2> + <p class="return_toc"><a href="#contents">Return to Contents</a></p> + <p><span class="first_word">Hero-worship</span> is appropriate only to youth. + With age one becomes cynical, or indifferent, + or perhaps too busy. Either the sense of the + marvelous is dulled, or one’s boys are just + entering college and life is agreeably practical. + Marriage and family cares are good if only for + the reason that they keep a man from getting + bored. But they also stifle his yearnings after + the ideal. They make hero-worship appear + foolish. How can a man go mooning about + when he has just had a good cup of coffee and + a snatch of what purports to be the news, + while an attractive and well-dressed woman sits + opposite him at breakfast-table, and by her + mere presence, to say nothing of her wit, compels + him to be respectable and to carry a level + head? The father of a family and husband of + a federated club woman has no business with + hero-worship. Let him leave such folly to + beardless youth.</p> + + <p>But if a man has never outgrown the boy + that was in him, or has never married, then + may he do this thing. He will be happy himself, + and others will be happy as they consider + <a class="pagenum" id="page_193" title="193"></a>him. Indeed, there is something altogether + charming about the personality of him who + proves faithful to his early loves in literature + and art; who continues a graceful hero-worship + through all the caprices of literary fortune; + and who, even though his idol may have been + dethroned, sets up a private shrine at which he + pays his devotions, unmindful of the crowd + which hurries by on its way to do homage to + strange gods.</p> + + <p>Some men are born to be hero-worshipers. + Théophile Gautier is an example. If one did + not love Gautier for his wit and his good-nature, + one would certainly love him because + he dared to be sentimental. He displayed an + almost comic excess of emotion at his first + meeting with Victor Hugo. Gautier smiles as + he tells the story; but he tells it exactly, not + being afraid of ridicule. He went to call upon + Hugo with his friends Gérard de Nerval and + Pétrus Borel. Twice he mounted the staircase + leading to the poet’s door. His feet dragged + as if they had been shod with lead instead of + leather. His heart throbbed; cold sweat + moistened his brow. As he was on the point + of ringing the bell, an idiotic terror seized him, + and he fled down the stairs, four steps at a + time, Gérard and Pétrus after him, shouting + with laughter. But the third attempt was successful. + Gautier saw Victor Hugo—and + lived. The author of <i class="title">Odes et Ballades</i> was + <a class="pagenum" id="page_194" title="194"></a>just twenty-eight years old. Youth worshiped + youth in those great days.</p> + + <p>Gautier said little during that visit, but he + stared at the poet with all his might. He + explained afterwards that one may look at gods, + kings, pretty women, and great poets rather + more scrutinizingly than at other persons, and + this too without annoying them. ‘We gazed + at Hugo with admiring intensity, but he did + not appear to be inconvenienced.’</p> + + <p>What brings Gautier especially to mind is + the appearance within a few weeks of an amusing + little volume entitled <i class="title">Le Romantisme et + l’éditeur Renduel</i>. Its chief value consists, no + doubt, in what the author, M. Adolphe Jullien, + has to say about Renduel. That noted publisher + must have been a man of unusual gifts + and unusual fortune. He was a fortunate man + because he had the luck to publish some of the + best works of Victor Hugo, Sainte-Beuve, Théophile + Gautier, Alfred de Musset, Gérard de + Nerval, Charles Nodier, and Paul Lacroix; and + he was a gifted man because he was able successfully + to manage his troop of geniuses, + neither quarreling with them himself nor allowing + them to quarrel overmuch with one another. + Renduel’s portrait faces the title-page of the + volume, and there are two portraits of him + besides. There are fac-similes of agreements + between the great publisher and his geniuses. + There is a famous caricature of Victor Hugo + <a class="pagenum" id="page_195" title="195"></a>with a brow truly monumental. There is a caricature + of Alfred de Musset with a figure like + a Regency dandy,—a figure which could have + been acquired only by much patience and unremitted + tight-lacing; also one of Balzac, which + shows that that great novelist’s waist-line had + long since disappeared, and that he had long + since ceased to care. What was a figure to + him in comparison with the flesh-pots of Paris!</p> + + <p>One of the best of these pictorial satires is + Roubaud’s sketch of Gautier. It has a teasing + quality, it is diabolically fascinating. It shows + how great an art caricature is in the hands of a + master.</p> + + <p>But the highest virtue of a good new book + is that it usually sends the reader back to a + good old book. One can hardly spend much + time upon Renduel; he will remember that + Gautier has described that period when hero-worship + was in the air, when the sap of a new + life circulated everywhere, and when he himself + was one of many loyal and enthusiastic + youths who bowed the head at mention of Victor + Hugo’s name. The reader will remember, + too, that Gautier was conspicuous in that band + of Romanticists who helped to make <i class="title">Hernani</i> + a success the night of its first presentation. + Gautier believed that to be the great event of + his life. He loved to talk about it, dream + about it, write of it.</p> + + <p>There was a world of good fellowship among + <a class="pagenum" id="page_196" title="196"></a>the young artists, sculptors, and poets of that + day. They took real pleasure in shouting Hosanna + to Victor Hugo and to one another. + Even Zola, the Unsentimental, speaks of <i lang="fr">ma + tristesse</i> as he reviews that delightful past. He + cannot remember it, to be sure, but he has + read about it. He thinks ill of the present as + he compares the present with ‘those dead + years.’ Writers then belonged to a sort of + heroic brotherhood. They went out like soldiers + to conquer their literary liberties. They + were kings of the Paris streets. ‘But we,’ + says Zola in a pensive strain, ‘we live like + wolves each in his hole.’ I do not know how + true a description this is of modern French literary + society, but it is not difficult to make + one’s self think that those other days were the + days of magnificent friendships between young + men of genius. It certainly was a more brilliant + time than ours. It was flamboyant, to + use one of Gautier’s favorite words.</p> + + <p>Youth was responsible for much of the enthusiasm + which obtained among the champions + of artistic liberty. These young men who did + honor to the name of Hugo were actually + young. They rejoiced in their youth. They + flaunted it, so to speak, in the faces of those + who were without it. Gautier says that young + men of that day differed in one respect from + young men of this day; modern young men + are generally in the neighborhood of fifty years + of age.</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page_197" title="197"></a>Gautier has described his friends and comrades + most felicitously. All were boys, and all + were clever. They were poor and they were + happy. They swore by Scott and Shakespeare, + and they planned great futures for themselves.</p> + + <p>Take for an example Jules Vabre, who owed + his reputation to a certain Essay on the Inconvenience + of Conveniences. You will search the + libraries in vain for this treatise. The author + did not finish it. He did not even commence + it,—only talked about it. Jules Vabre had a + passion for Shakespeare, and wanted to translate + him. He thought of Shakespeare by day + and dreamed of Shakespeare by night. He + stopped people in the street to ask them if they + had read Shakespeare.</p> + + <p>He had a curious theory concerning language. + Jules Vabre would not have said, As a + man thinks so is he, but, As a man drinks so is + he. According to Gautier’s statement, Vabre + maintained the paradox that the Latin languages + needed to be ‘watered’ (<i lang="fr">arroser</i>) with + wine, and the Anglo-Saxon languages with + beer. Vabre found that he made extraordinary + progress in English upon stout and extra stout. + He went over to England to get the very atmosphere + of Shakespeare. There he continued + for some time regularly ‘watering’ his language + with English ale, and nourishing his body with + English beef. He would not look at a French + newspaper, nor would he even read a letter + <a class="pagenum" id="page_198" title="198"></a>from home. Finally he came back to Paris, + anglicized to his very galoshes. Gautier says + that when they met, Vabre gave him a ‘shake + hand’ almost energetic enough to pull the arm + from the shoulder. He spoke with so strong + an English accent that it was difficult to understand + him; Vabre had almost forgotten his + mother tongue. Gautier congratulated the exile + upon his return, and said, ‘My dear Jules + Vabre, in order to translate Shakespeare it is + now only necessary for you to learn French.’</p> + + <p>Gautier laid the foundations of his great fame + by wearing a red waistcoat the first night of + <i class="title">Hernani</i>. All the young men were fantastic + in those days, and the spirit of carnival was in + the whole romantic movement. Gautier was + more courageously fantastic than other young + men. His costume was effective, and the public + never forgot him. He says with humorous + resignation: ‘If you pronounce the name of + Théophile Gautier before a Philistine who has + never read a line of our works, the Philistine + knows us, and remarks with a satisfied air, “Oh + yes, the young man with the red waistcoat and + the long hair.” … Our poems are forgotten, + but our red waistcoat is remembered.’ Gautier + cheerfully grants that when everything about + him has faded into oblivion this gleam of light + will remain, to distinguish him from literary + contemporaries whose waistcoats were of soberer + hue.</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page_199" title="199"></a>The chapter in his <i class="title">Histoire du Romantisme</i> + in which Gautier tells how he went to the tailor + to arrange for the most spectacular feature of + his costume is lively and amusing. He spread + out the magnificent piece of cherry-colored + satin, and then unfolded his design for a ‘pour-point,’ + like a ‘Milan cuirass.’ Says Gautier, + using always his quaint editorial <em>we</em>, ‘It has + been said that we know a great many words, + but we don’t know words enough to express + the astonishment of our tailor when we lay before + him our plan for a waistcoat.’ The man + of shears had doubts as to his customer’s sanity.</p> + + <p>‘Monsieur,’ he exclaimed, ‘this is not the + fashion!’</p> + + <p>‘It will be the fashion when we have worn + the waistcoat once,’ was Gautier’s reply. And + he declares that he delivered the answer with a + self-possession worthy of a Brummel or ‘any + other celebrity of dandyism.’</p> + + <p>It is no part of this paper to describe the + innocently absurd and good-naturedly extravagant + things which Gautier and his companions + did, not alone the first night of <i class="title">Hernani</i>, but at + all times and in all places. They unquestionably + saw to it that Victor Hugo had fair play + the evening of February 25, 1830. The occasion + was an historic one, and they with their + Merovingian hair, their beards, their waistcoats, + and their enthusiasm helped to make it an unusually + lively and picturesque occasion.</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page_200" title="200"></a>I have quoted a very few of the good things + which one may read in Gautier’s <i class="title">Histoire du + Romantisme</i>. The narrative is one of much + sweetness and humor. It ought to be translated + for the benefit of readers who know + Gautier chiefly by <i class="title">Mademoiselle de Maupin</i> + and that for reasons among which love of literature + is perhaps the least influential.</p> + + <p>It is pleasant to find that Renduel confirms + the popular view of Gautier’s character. M. + Jullien says that Renduel never spoke of Gautier + but in praise. ‘Quel bon garçon!’ he used + to say. ‘Quel brave cœur!’ M. Jullien has + naturally no large number of new facts to give + concerning Gautier. But there are eight or + nine letters from Gautier to Renduel which + will be read with pleasure, especially the one in + which the poet says to the publisher, ‘Heaven + preserve you from historical novels, and your + eldest child from the smallpox.’</p> + + <p>Gautier must have been both generous and + modest. No mere egoist could have been so + faithful in his hero-worship or so unpretentious + in his allusions to himself. One has only to + read the most superficial accounts of French + literature to learn how universally it is granted + that Gautier had skillful command of that language + to which he was born. Yet he himself + was by no means sure that he deserved a master’s + degree. He quotes one of Goethe’s sayings,—a + saying in which the great German + <a class="pagenum" id="page_201" title="201"></a>poet declares that after the practice of many + arts there was but one art in which he could be + said to excel, namely, the art of writing in German; + in that he was almost a master. Then + Gautier exclaims, ‘Would that <em>we</em>, after so + many years of labor, had become almost a master + of the art of writing in French! But such + ambitions are not for us!’</p> + + <p>Yet they were for him; and it is a satisfaction + to note how invariably he is accounted, by + the artists in literature, an eminent man among + many eminent men in whose touch language + was plastic.</p> + </div> + <div id="vagabond" class="essay"> + <h2 class="essay_title"><a class="pagenum" id="page_202" title="202"></a>STEVENSON: THE VAGABOND AND THE PHILOSOPHER</h2> + <p class="return_toc"><a href="#contents">Return to Contents</a></p> + <p><span class="first_word">A certain</span> critic said of Stevenson that he + was ‘incurably literary;’ the phrase is a good + one, being both humorous and true. There is + comfort in the thought that such efforts as + may have been made to keep him in the path + of virtuous respectability failed. Rather than + <em>do</em> anything Stevenson preferred to loaf and to + write books. And he early learned that considerable + loafing is necessary if one expects to + become a writer. There is a sense in which it + is true that only lazy people are fit for literature. + Nothing is so fruitful as a fine gift for + idleness. The most prolific writers have been + people who seemed to have nothing to do. + Every one has read that description of George + Sand in her latter years, ‘an old lady who came + out into the garden at mid-day in a broad-brimmed + hat and sat down on a bench or wandered + slowly about. So she remained for hours + looking about her, musing, contemplating. She + was gathering impressions, absorbing the universe, + steeping herself in Nature; and at night + she would give all this forth as a sort of emanation.’ + <a class="pagenum" id="page_203" title="203"></a>One shudders to think what the result + might have been if instead of absorbing the + universe George Sand had done something + practical during those hours. But the Scotchman + was not like George Sand in any particular + that I know of save in his perfect willingness + to bask in the sunshine and steep himself in + Nature. His books did not ‘emanate.’ The + one way in which he certainly did not produce + literature was by improvisation. George Sand + never revised her work; it might almost be said + that Robert Louis Stevenson never did anything + else.</p> + + <p>Of his method we know this much. He + himself has said that when he went for a walk + he usually carried two books in his pocket, one + a book to read, the other a note-book in which + to put down the ideas that came to him. This + remark has undoubtedly been seized upon and + treasured in the memory as embodying a secret + of his success. Trusting young souls have + begun to walk about with note-books: only to + learn that the note-book was a detail, not an + essential, in the process.</p> + + <p>He who writes while he walks cannot write + very much, but he may, if he chooses, write + very well. He may turn over the rubbish of + his vocabulary until he finds some exquisite and + perfect word with which to bring out his meaning. + This word need not be unusual; and if it + is ‘exquisite’ then exquisite only in the sense + <a class="pagenum" id="page_204" title="204"></a>of being fitted with rare exactness to the idea. + Stevenson wrote so well in part because he + wrote so deliberately. He knew the vulgarity + of haste, especially in the making of literature. + He knew that finish counted for much, perhaps + for half. Has he not been reported as + saying that it wasn’t worth a man’s while to + attempt to be a writer unless he was quite willing + to spend a day if the need were, on the + turn of a single sentence? In general this + means the sacrifice of earthly reward; it means + that a man must work for love and let the ravens + feed him. That scriptural source has been + distinctly unfruitful in these latter days, and + few authors are willing to take a prophet’s + chances. But Stevenson was one of the few.</p> + + <p>He laid the foundations of his reputation + with two little volumes of travel. <i class="title">An Inland + Voyage</i> appeared in 1878; <i class="title">Travels with a + Donkey in the Cevennes</i>, in 1879. These books + are not dry chronicles of drier facts. They + bear much the same relation to conventional + accounts of travel that flowers growing in a + garden bear to dried plants in a herbarium. + They are the most friendly and urbane things + in modern English literature. They have been + likened to Sterne’s <i class="title">Sentimental Journey</i>. The + criticism would be better if one were able to + imagine Stevenson writing the adventure of the + <i lang="fr">fille de chambre</i>, or could conceive of Lawrence + Sterne writing the account of the meeting with + <a class="pagenum" id="page_205" title="205"></a>the Plymouth Brother. ‘And if ever at length, + out of our separate and sad ways, we should all + come together into one common-house, I have + a hope to which I cling dearly, that my mountain + Plymouth Brother will hasten to shake + hands with me again.’ That was written + twenty years ago and the Brother was an old + man then. And now Stevenson is gone. How + impossible it is not to wonder whether they + have yet met in that ‘one common-house.’ ‘He + feared to intrude, but he would not willingly + forego one moment of my society; and he + seemed never weary of shaking me by the + hand.’</p> + + <p>The <i class="title">Inland Voyage</i> contains passages hardly + to be matched for beauty. Let him who would + be convinced read the description of the forest + Mormal, that forest whose breath was perfumed + with nothing less delicate than sweet brier. ‘I + wish our way had always lain among woods,’ + says Stevenson. ‘Trees are the most civil + society.’</p> + + <p>Stevenson’s traveling companion was a young + English baronet. The two adventurers paddled + in canoes through the pleasant rivers and + canals of Belgium and North France. They + had plenty of rain and a variety of small misadventures; + but they also had sunshine, fresh + air, and experiences among the people of the + country such as they could have got in no other + way. They excited not a little wonder, and + <a class="pagenum" id="page_206" title="206"></a>the common opinion was that they were doing + the journey for a wager; there seemed to be + no other reason why two respectable gentlemen, + not poor, should work so hard and get so + wet.</p> + + <p>This was conceived in a more adventurous + vein than appears at first sight. In an unsubdued + country one contends with beasts and + men who are openly hostile. But when one is + a stranger in the midst of civilization and meets + civilization at its back door, he is astonished + to find how little removed civilization is from + downright savagery. Stevenson and his companion + learned as they could not have learned + otherwise how great deference the world pays + to clothes. Whether your heart is all right + turns out a matter of minor importance; but—<em>are + your clothes all right?</em> If so, smiles, and + good beds at respectable inns; if not, a lodging + in a cow-shed or beneath any poor roof which + suffices to keep off the rain. The voyagers + had constantly to meet the accusation of being + peddlers. They denied it and were suspected + afresh while the denial was on their lips. The + public mind was singularly alert and critical on + the subject of peddlers.</p> + + <p>At La Fere, ‘of Cursed Memory,’ they had + a rebuff which nearly spoiled their tempers. + They arrived in a rain. It was the finest kind + of a night to be indoors ‘and hear the rain upon + the windows.’ They were told of a famous + <a class="pagenum" id="page_207" title="207"></a>inn. When they reached the carriage entry + ‘the rattle of many dishes fell upon their ears.’ + They sighted a great field of snowy table-cloth, + the kitchen glowed like a forge. They made + their triumphal entry, ‘a pair of damp rag-and-bone + men, each with a limp India-rubber bag + upon his arm.’ Stevenson declares that he + never had a sound view of that kitchen. It + seemed to him a culinary paradise ‘crowded + with the snowy caps of cookmen, who all turned + round from their sauce-pans and looked at us + with surprise.’ But the landlady—a flushed, + angry woman full of affairs—there was no + mistaking her. They asked for beds and were + told to find beds in the suburbs: ‘We are too + busy for the like of you!’ They said they + would dine then, and were for putting down + their luggage. The landlady made a run at + them and stamped her foot: ‘Out with you—out + of the door,’ she screeched.</p> + + <p>I once heard a young Englishman who had + been drawn into some altercation at a continental + hotel explain a discreet movement on his + own part by saying: ‘Now a French cook running + amuck with a carving knife in his hand + would have bean a nahsty thing to meet, you + know.’ There were no knives in this case, + only a woman’s tongue. Stevenson says that + he doesn’t know how it happened, ‘but next + moment we were out in the rain, and I was + cursing before the carriage entry like a disappointed + mendicant.’</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page_208" title="208"></a>‘It’s all very fine to talk about tramps and + morality. Six hours of police surveillance + (such as I have had) or one brutal rejection + from an inn door change your views upon the + subject, like a course of lectures. As long as + you keep in the upper regions, with all the + world bowing to you as you go, social arrangements + have a very handsome air; but once get + under the wheels and you wish society were at + the devil. I will give most respectable men a + fortnight of such a life, and then I will offer + them twopence for what remains of their morality.’</p> + + <p>Stevenson declares that he could have set + the temple of Diana on fire that night if it had + been handy. ‘There was no crime complete + enough to express my disapproval of human + institutions.’ As for the baronet, he was horrified + to learn that he had been taken for a peddler + again; and he registered a vow before + Heaven never to be uncivil to a peddler. But + before making that vow he particularized a + complaint for every joint in the landlady’s + body.</p> + + <p>To read <i class="title">An Inland Voyage</i> is to be impressed + anew with the thought that some men are born + with a taste for vagabondage. They are instinctively + for being on the move. Like the + author of that book they travel ‘not to go any + where but to go.’ If they behold a stage-coach + or a railway train in motion they heartily wish + <a class="pagenum" id="page_209" title="209"></a>themselves aboard. They are homesick when + they stop at home, and are only at home when + they are on the move. Talk to them of foreign + lands and they are seized with unspeakable + heart-ache and longing. Stevenson met an + omnibus driver in a Belgian village who looked + at him with thirsty eyes because he was able + to travel. How that omnibus driver ‘longed + to be somewhere else and see the round world + before he died.’ ‘Here I am,’ said he. ‘I + drive to the station. Well. And then I drive + back again to the hotel. And so on every day + and all the week round. My God, is that life?’ + Stevenson opined that this man had in him the + making of a traveler of the right sort; he + might have gone to Africa or to the Indies + after Drake. ‘But it is an evil age for the gipsily + inclined among men. He who can sit + squarest on a three-legged stool, he it is who + has the wealth and glory.’</p> + + <p>In his <i class="title">Travels with a Donkey</i> the author had + no companionship but such as the donkey afforded; + and to tell the truth this companionship + was almost human at times. He learned + to love the quaint little beast which shared his + food and his trials. ‘My lady-friend’ he calls + her. Modestine was her name; ‘she was patient, + elegant in form, the color of an ideal + mouse and inimitably small.’ She gave him + trouble, and at times he felt hurt and was distant + in manner towards her. Modestine carried + <a class="pagenum" id="page_210" title="210"></a>the luggage. She may not have known + that R. L. Stevenson wrote books, but she + knew as by instinct that R. L. Stevenson had + never driven a donkey. She wrought her will + with him, that is, she took her own gait. ‘What + that pace was there is no word mean enough to + describe; it was something as much slower + than a walk as a walk is slower than a run.’ + He must belabor her incessantly. It was an + ignoble toil, and he felt ashamed of himself + besides, for he remembered her sex. ‘The + sound of my own blows sickened me. Once + when I looked at her she had a faint resemblance + to a lady of my acquaintance who had + formerly loaded me with kindness; and this + increased my horror of my cruelty.’</p> + + <p>From time to time Modestine’s load would + topple off. The villagers were delighted with + this exhibition and laughed appreciatively. + ‘Judge if I was hot!’ says Stevenson. ‘I remembered + having laughed myself when I had + seen good men struggling with adversity in the + person of a jack-ass, and the recollection filled + me with penitence. That was in my old light + days before this trouble came upon me.’</p> + + <p>He had a sleeping-bag, waterproof without, + blue sheep’s wool within, and in this portable + house he passed his nights afield. Not always + by choice, as witness his chapter entitled ‘A + Camp in the Dark.’ There are two or three + pages in that chapter which come pretty near + <a class="pagenum" id="page_211" title="211"></a>to perfection,—if there be such a thing as perfection + in literature. I don’t know who could + wish for anything better than the paragraphs + in which Stevenson describes falling asleep in + the tempest, and awaking next morning to see + the ‘world flooded with a blue light, the mother + of dawn.’ He had been in search of an adventure + all his life, ‘a pure dispassionate adventure, + such as befell early and heroic voyagers,’ and + he thinks that he realized a fraction of his daydreams + when that morning found him, an inland + castaway, ‘as strange to his surroundings + as the first man upon the earth.’</p> + + <p>Passages like these indicate Stevenson’s quality. + He was no carpet-knight; he had the + true adventurer’s blood in his veins. He and + Drake and the Belgian omnibus-driver should + have gone to the Indies together. Better still, + the omnibus driver should have gone with + Drake, and Stevenson should have gone with + Amyas Leigh. They say that Stevenson traveled + in search of health. Without doubt; but + think how he <em>would</em> have traveled if he had + had good health. And one has strange mental + experiences alone with the stars. That came + of sleeping in the fields ‘where God keeps an + open house.’ ‘I thought I had rediscovered + one of those truths which are revealed to savages + and hid from political economists.’</p> + + <p>Much as he gloried in his solitude he ‘became + aware of a strange lack;’ for he was + <a class="pagenum" id="page_212" title="212"></a>human. And he gave it as his opinion that ‘to + live out of doors with the woman a man loves + is of all lives the most complete and free.’ It + may be so. Such a woman would need to be + of heroic physical mould, and there is danger + that she would turn out of masculine mould as + well. Isopel Berners was of such sort. Isopel + could handle her clenched fists like a prizefighter. + She was magnificent in the forest, and + never so perfectly in place as when she backed + up George Borrow in his fight with the Flaming + Tinman. Having been in the habit of taking + her own part, she was able to give pertinent + advice at a critical moment. ‘It’s of no use + flipping at the Flaming Tinman with your left + hand,’ she said, ‘why don’t you use your right?’ + Isopel called Borrow’s right arm ‘Long Melford.’ + And when the Flaming Tinman got his + knock-down blow from Borrow’s right, Isopel + exclaimed, ‘Hurrah for Long Melford; there + is nothing like Long Melford for shortness all + the world over!’</p> + + <p>But what an embarrassing personage Miss + Berners would have been transferred from the + dingle to the drawing-room; nay, how impossible + it is to think of that athletic young goddess + as <em>Miss</em> Berners! The distinctions and titles + of conventional society refuse to cling even to + her name. I wonder how Stevenson would + have liked Isopel Berners.</p> + + <p>And now his philosophy. Yet somehow + <a class="pagenum" id="page_213" title="213"></a>‘philosophy’ seems a big word for so unpretentious + a theory of life as his. Stevenson didn’t + philosophize much; he was content to live and + to enjoy. He was deliberate, and in general + he would not suffer himself to be driven. He + resembled an admirable lady of my acquaintance + who, when urged to get something done + by a given time, usually replied that ‘time was + made for slaves.’ Stevenson had the same + feeling. He says: ‘Hurry is the resource of + the faithless. When a man can trust his own + heart and those of his friends to-morrow is as + good as to-day. And if he die in the mean + while, why, then, there he dies, and the question + is solved.’</p> + + <p>You think this a poor philosophy? But there + must be all kinds of philosophy; the people in + the world are not run into one mould like so + much candle-grease. And because of this, his + doctrine of Inaction and Postponement, stern + men and practical women have frowned upon + Stevenson. In their opinion instead of being + up and doing he consecrated too many hours to + the idleness of literature. They feel towards + him as Hawthorne fancied his ancestor the + great witch judge would have felt towards <em>him</em>. + Hawthorne imagines that ghostly and terrible + ancestor looking down upon him and exclaiming + with infinite scorn, ‘A writer of storybooks. + What kind of employment is that for + an immortal soul?’</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page_214" title="214"></a>To many people nothing is more hateful + than this willingness to hold aloof and let + things drift. That any human being should + acquiesce with the present order of the world + appears monstrous to these earnest souls. An + Indian critic once called Stevenson ‘a faddling + Hedonist.’ Stevenson quotes the phrase with + obvious amusement and without attempting to + gainsay its accuracy.</p> + + <p>But if he allowed the world to take its course + he expected the same privilege. He wished + neither to interfere nor to be interfered with. + And he was a most cheerful nonconformist + withal. He says: ‘To know what you prefer + instead of humbly saying amen to what the + world tells you you ought to prefer is to have + kept your soul alive.’ Independence and optimism + are vital parts of his unformulated creed. + He hated cynicism and sourness. He believed + in praise of one’s own good estate. He thought + it was an inspiriting thing to hear a man boast, + ‘so long as he boasts of what he really has.’ + If people but knew this they would boast ‘more + freely and with a better grace.’</p> + + <p>Stevenson was humorously alive to the old-fashioned + quality of his doctrine of happiness + and content. He says in the preface to an + <i class="title">Inland Voyage</i> that although the book ‘runs to + considerably over a hundred pages, it contains + not a single reference to the imbecility of God’s + universe, nor so much as a single hint that I + <a class="pagenum" id="page_215" title="215"></a>could have made a better one myself—I really + do not know where my head can have been.’ + But while this omission will, he fears, render + his book ‘philosophically unimportant’ he hopes + that ‘the eccentricity may please in frivolous + circles.’</p> + + <p>Stevenson could be militant. His letter on + Father Damien shows that. But there was + nothing of the professional reformer about him. + He had no hobby, and he was the artist first + and then the philanthropist. This is right; + it was the law of his being. Other men are + better equipped to do the work of humanity’s + city missionaries than was he. Let their more + rugged health and less sensitive nerves bear + the burden; his poet’s mission was not the less + important.</p> + + <p>The remaining point I have to note, among + a number which might be noted, is his firm + grasp of this idea: that whether he is his + brother’s keeper or not he is at all events his + brother’s brother. It is ‘philosophy’ of a very + good sort to have mastered this conception + and to have made the life square with the + theory. This doctrine is fashionable just now, + and thick books have been written on the subject, + filled with wise terms and arguments. I + don’t know whether Stevenson bothered his + head with these matters from a scientific point + of view or not, but there are many illustrations + of his interest. Was it this that made him so + <a class="pagenum" id="page_216" title="216"></a>gentle in his unaffected manly way? He certainly + understood how difficult it is for the well-to-do + member of society to get any idea not + wholly distorted of the feelings and motives of + the lower classes. He believed that certain + virtues resided more conspicuously among the + poor than among the rich. He declared that + the poor were more charitably disposed than + their superiors in wealth. ‘A workman or a + peddler cannot shutter himself off from his less + comfortable neighbors. If he treats himself to + a luxury he must do it in the face of a dozen + who cannot. And what should more directly + lead to charitable thoughts?’ But with the + advent of prosperity a man becomes incapable + of understanding how the less fortunate live. + Stevenson likens that happy individual to a + man going up in a balloon. ‘He presently + passes through a zone of clouds and after that + merely earthly things are hidden from his gaze. + He sees nothing but the heavenly bodies, all in + admirable order and positively as good as new. + He finds himself surrounded in the most touching + manner by the attentions of Providence, + and compares himself involuntarily with the + lilies and the sky-larks. He does not precisely + sing, of course; but then he looks so unassuming + in his open landau! If all the world dined + at one table this philosophy would meet with + some rude knocks.’</p> + + <p>In the three years since Stevenson’s death + <a class="pagenum" id="page_217" title="217"></a>many additions have been made to the body of + literature by him and about him. There are + letters, finished and unfinished novels, and recollections + by the heaping handful. Critics + are considerably exercised over the question + whether any, or all, or only two or three of his + books are to last. The matter has, I believe, + been definitely decided so that posterity, whatever + other responsibilities it has, will at least + not have that one; and anything that we can + do to relieve the future of its burdens is altruism + worthy the name.</p> + + <p>Stevenson was one of the best tempered + men that ever lived. He never prated about + goodness, but was unaffectedly good and sunny-hearted + as long as he lived. Of how many + men can it be said, as it <em>can</em> be said of him, + that he was sick all his days and never uttered + a whimper? What rare health of mind was + this which went with such poor health of body! + I’ve known men to complain more over toothache + than Stevenson thought it worth while to + do with death staring him in the face. He did + not, like Will o’ the Mill, live until the snow + began to thicken on his head. He never knew + that which we call middle age.</p> + + <p>He worked harder than a man in his condition + should have done. At times he felt the + need to write for money; and this was hostile + to his theory of literature. He wrote to his + friend Colvin: ‘I sometimes sit and yearn for + <a class="pagenum" id="page_218" title="218"></a>anything in the nature of an income that would + come in—mine has all got to be gone and + fished for with the immortal mind of man. + What I want is an income that really comes in + of itself while all you have to do is just to + blossom and exist and sit on chairs.’</p> + + <p>I wish he might have had it; I can think of + no other man whose indolence would have been + so profitable to the world.</p> + </div> + <div id="st_ives" class="essay"> + <h2 class="essay_title"><a class="pagenum" id="page_219" title="219"></a>STEVENSON’S ST. IVES</h2> + <p class="return_toc"><a href="#contents">Return to Contents</a></p> + <p><span class="first_word">With</span> the publication of <i class="title">St. Ives</i> the catalogue + of Stevenson’s important writings has + closed. In truth it closed several years ago,—in + 1891, to be exact,—when <i class="title">Catriona</i> was published. + Nothing which has appeared since that + date can modify to any great extent the best + critical estimate of his novels. Neither <i class="title">Weir + of Hermiston</i> nor <i class="title">St. Ives</i> affects the matter. + You may throw them into the scales with his + other works, and then you may take them out; + beyond a mere trembling the balance is not + disturbed. But suppose you were to take out + <i class="title">Kidnapped</i>, or <i class="title">Treasure Island</i>, or <i class="title">The Master + of Ballantrae</i>, the loss would be felt at once + and seriously. And unless he has left behind + him, hidden away among his loose papers, some + rare and perfect sketch, some letter to posterity + which shall be to his reputation what Neil Paraday’s + lost novel in <i class="title">The Death of the Lion</i> + might have been to his, <i class="title">St. Ives</i> may be regarded + as the epilogue.</p> + + <p>Stevenson’s death and the publication of this + last effort of his fine genius may tend to draw + <a class="pagenum" id="page_220" title="220"></a>away a measure of public interest from that + type of novel which he, his imitators, and his + rivals have so abundantly produced. This may + be the close of a ‘period’ such as we read about + in histories of literature.</p> + + <p>If the truth be told, has not our generation + had enough of duels, hair-breadth escapes, post-chaises, + and highwaymen, mysterious strangers + muffled in great-coats, and pistols which always + miss fire when they shouldn’t? To say positively + that we <em>have</em> done with all this might + appear extravagant in the light of the popularity + of certain modern heroic novels. But it + might not be too radical a view if one were to + maintain that these books are the expression of + something temporary and accidental, that they + sustain a chronological relation to modern literature + rather than an essential one.</p> + + <p>Matthew Arnold spoke of Heine as a sardonic + smile on the face of the Zeitgeist. Let + us say that these modern stories in the heroic + vein are a mere heightening of color on the + cheeks of that interesting young lady, the + Genius of the modern novel—a heightening of + color <em>on</em> the cheeks, for the color comes from + without and not from within. It is a matter of + no moment. Artificial red does no harm for + once, and looks well under gaslight.</p> + + <p>These novels of adventure which we buy so + cheerfully, read with such pleasure, and make + such a good-natured fuss over, are for the + <a class="pagenum" id="page_221" title="221"></a>greater part an expression of something altogether + foreign to the deeper spirit of modern + fiction. Surely the true modern novel is the + one which reflects the life of to-day. And life + to-day is easy, familiar, rich in material comforts, + and on the whole without painfully striking + contrasts and thrilling episodes. People + have enough to eat, reasonable liberty, and a + degree of patience with one another which suggests + indifference. A man may shout aloud in + the market-place the most revolutionary opinions, + and hardly be taken to task for it; and + then on the other hand we have got our rulers + pretty well under control. This paragraph, + however, is not the peroration of a eulogy upon + ‘our unrivaled happiness.’ It attempts merely + to lay stress on such facts as these, that it is + not now possible to hang a clergyman of the + Church of England for forgery, as was done in + 1777; that a man may not be deprived of the + custody of his own children because he holds + heterodox religious opinions, as happened in + 1816. There is widespread toleration; and + civilization in the sense in which Ruskin uses + the word has much increased. Now it is possible + for a Jew to become Prime Minister, and + for a Roman Catholic to become England’s + Poet Laureate.</p> + + <p>If, then, life is familiar, comfortable, unrestrained, + and easy, as it certainly seems to be, + how are we to account for the rise of this + <a class="pagenum" id="page_222" title="222"></a>semihistoric, heroic literature? It is almost + grotesque, the contrast between the books + themselves and the manner in which they are + produced. One may picture the incongruous + elements of the situation,—a young society + man going up to his suite in a handsome modern + apartment house, and dictating romance to + a type-writer. In the evening he dines at his + club, and the day after the happy launching of + his novel he is interviewed by the representative + of a newspaper syndicate, to whom he explains + his literary method, while the interviewer + makes a note of his dress and a comment on + the decoration of his mantelpiece.</p> + + <p>Surely romance written in this way—and + we have not grossly exaggerated the way—bears + no relation to modern literature other + than a chronological one. <i class="title">The Prisoner of + Zenda</i> and <i class="title">A Gentleman of France</i>, to mention + two happy and pleasing examples of this type + of novel, are not modern in the sense that they + express any deep feeling or any vital characteristic + of to-day. They are not instinct with the + spirit of the times. One might say that these + stories represent the novel in its theatrical + mood. It is the novel masquerading. Just + as a respectable bookkeeper likes to go into + private theatricals, wear a wig with curls, a + slouch hat with ostrich feathers, a sword and + ruffles, and play a part to tear a cat in, so does + the novel like to do the same. The day after + <a class="pagenum" id="page_223" title="223"></a>the performance the whole artificial equipment + drops away and disappears. The bookkeeper + becomes a bookkeeper once more and a natural + man. The hour before the footlights has done + him no harm. True, he forgot his lines at one + place, but what is a prompter for if not to act + in such an emergency? Now that it is over + the affair may be pronounced a success,—particularly + in the light of the gratifying statement + that a clear profit has been realized towards + paying for the new organ.</p> + + <p>This is a not unfair comparison of the part + played by these books in modern fiction. The + public likes them, buys them, reads them; and + there is no reason why the public should not. + In proportion to the demand for color, action, + posturing, and excessive gesticulation, these + books have a financial success; in proportion + to the conscientiousness of the artist who creates + them they have a literary vitality. But + they bear to the actual modern novel a relation + not unlike that which <i class="title">The Castle of Otranto</i> + bears to <i class="title">Tom Jones</i>,—making allowance of + course for the chronological discrepancy.</p> + + <p>From one point the heroic novel is a protest + against the commonplace and stupid elements + of modern life. According to Mr. Frederic + Harrison there is no romance left in us. Life + is stale and flat; yet even Mr. Harrison would + hardly go to the length of declaring that it is + also commercially unprofitable. The artificial + <a class="pagenum" id="page_224" title="224"></a>apartment-house romance is one expression of + the revolt against the duller elements in our + civilization; and as has often been pointed out, + the novel of psychological horrors is another + expression.</p> + + <p>There are a few men, however, whose work + is not accounted for by saying that they love + theatrical pomp and glitter for its own sake, or + that they write fiction as a protest against the + times in which they live. Stevenson was of + this number. He was an adventurer by inheritance + and by practice. He came of a race of + adventurers, adventurers who built lighthouses + and fought with that bold outlaw, the Sea. He + himself honestly loved, and in a measure lived, + a wild life. There is no truer touch of nature + than in the scene where St. Ives tells the boy + Rowley that he is a hunted fugitive with a price + set upon his head, and then enjoys the tragic + astonishment depicted in the lad’s face.</p> + + <p>Rowley ‘had a high sense of romance and a + secret cultus for all soldiers and criminals. + His traveling library consisted of a chap-book + life of Wallace, and some sixpenny parts of the + Old Bailey Sessions Papers; … and the + choice depicts his character to a hair. You + can imagine how his new prospects brightened + on a boy of this disposition. To be the servant + and companion of a fugitive, a soldier, and a + murderer rolled in one—to live by stratagems, + disguises, and false names, in an atmosphere of + <a class="pagenum" id="page_225" title="225"></a>midnight and mystery so thick that you could + cut it with a knife—was really, I believe, more + dear to him than his meals, though he was a + great trencher-man and something of a glutton + besides. For myself, as the peg by which all + this romantic business hung, I was simply idolized + from that moment; and he would rather + have sacrificed his hand than surrendered the + privilege of serving me.’</p> + + <p>One can believe that Stevenson was a boy + with tastes and ambitions like Rowley. But + for that matter Rowley stands for universal + boy-nature.</p> + + <p>Criticism of <i class="title">St. Ives</i> becomes both easy and + difficult by reason of the fact that we know so + much about the book from the author’s point + of view. He wrote it in trying circumstances, + and never completed it; the last six chapters + are from the pen of a practiced story-teller, who + follows the author’s known scheme of events. + Stevenson was almost too severe in his comment + upon his book. He says of <i class="title">St. Ives</i>:—</p> + + <p>‘It is a mere tissue of adventures; the central + figure not very well or very sharply drawn; + no philosophy, no destiny, to it; some of the + happenings very good in themselves, I believe, + but none of them <i lang="de">bildende</i>, none of them constructive, + except in so far perhaps as they make + up a kind of sham picture of the time, all in + italics, and all out of drawing. Here and there, + I think, it is well written; and here and there + <a class="pagenum" id="page_226" title="226"></a>it’s not…. If it has a merit to it, I should + say it was a sort of deliberation and swing to + the style, which seems to me to suit the mail-coaches + and post-chaises with which it sounds + all through. ’Tis my most prosaic book.’</p> + + <p>One must remember that this is epistolary + self-criticism, and that it is hardly to be looked + upon in the nature of an ‘advance notice.’ Still + more confidential and epistolary is the humorous + and reckless affirmation that <i class="title">St. Ives</i> is ‘a + rudderless hulk.’ ‘It’s a pagoda,’ says Stevenson + in a letter dated September, 1894, ‘and you + can just feel—or I can feel—that it might + have been a pleasant story if it had only been + blessed at baptism.’</p> + + <p>He had to rewrite portions of it in consequence + of having received what Dr. Johnson + would have called ‘a large accession of new + ideas.’ The ideas were historical. The first + five chapters describe the experiences of French + prisoners of war in Edinburgh Castle. St. + Ives was the only ‘gentleman’ among them, + the only man with ancestors and a right to the + ‘particle.’ He suffered less from ill treatment + than from the sense of being made ridiculous. + The prisoners were dressed in uniform,—‘jacket, + waistcoat, and trousers of a sulphur or + mustard yellow, and a shirt of blue-and-white + striped cotton.’ St. Ives thought that ‘some + malignant genius had found his masterpiece of + irony in that dress.’ So much is made of this + <a class="pagenum" id="page_227" title="227"></a>point that one reads with unusual interest the + letter in which Stevenson bewails his ‘miserable + luck’ with <i class="title">St. Ives</i>; for he was halfway + through it when a book, which he had ordered + six months before, arrived, upsetting all his + previous notions of how the prisoners were + cared for. Now he must change the thing + from top to bottom. ‘How could I have + dreamed the French prisoners were watched + over like a female charity school, kept in a grotesque + livery, and shaved twice a week?’ All + his points had been made on the idea that they + were ‘unshaved and clothed anyhow.’ He + welcomes the new matter, however, in spite of + the labor it entails. And it is easy to see how + he has enriched the earlier chapters by accentuating + St. Ives’s disgust and mortification over + his hideous dress and stubby chin.</p> + + <p>The book has a light-hearted note, as a romance + of the road should have. The events + take place in 1813; they might have occurred + fifty or seventy-five years earlier. For the + book lacks that convincing something which + fastens a story immovably within certain chronological + limits. It is the effect which Thomas + Hardy has so wonderfully produced in that little + tale describing Napoleon’s night-time visit + to the coast of England; the effect which Stevenson + himself was equally happy in making + when he wrote the piece called <i class="title">A Lodging for + a Night</i>.</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page_228" title="228"></a><i class="title">St. Ives</i> has plenty of good romantic stuff in + it, though on the whole it is romance of the + conventional sort. It is too well bred, let us + say too observant of the forms and customs + which one has learned to expect in a novel of + the road. There is an escape from the castle + in the sixth chapter, a flight in the darkness + towards the cottage of the lady-love in the + seventh chapter, an appeal to the generosity of + the lady-love’s aunt, a dragon with gold-rimmed + eyeglasses, in the ninth chapter. And so on. + We would not imply that all this is lacking in + distinction, but it seems to want that high distinction + which Stevenson could give to his + work. Ought one to look for it in a book confessedly + unsatisfactory to its author, and a book + which was left incomplete?</p> + + <p>There is a pretty account of the first meeting + between St. Ives and Flora. One naturally + compares it with the scene in which David Balfour + describes his sensations and emotions when + the spell of Catriona’s beauty came upon him. + Says David:—</p> + + <p>‘There is no greater wonder than the way + the face of a young woman fits in a man’s + mind and stays there, and he could never tell + you why; it just seems it was the thing he + wanted.’</p> + + <p>This is quite perfect, and in admirable keeping + with the genuine simplicity of David’s character:—</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page_229" title="229"></a>‘She had wonderful bright eyes like stars; + … and whatever was the cause, I stood there + staring like a fool.’</p> + + <p>This is more concise than St. Ives’s description + of Flora; but St. Ives was a man of the + world who had read books, and knew how to + compare the young Scotch beauty to Diana:—</p> + + <p>‘As I saw her standing, her lips parted, a + divine trouble in her eyes, I could have clapped + my hands in applause, and was ready to acclaim + her a genuine daughter of the winds.’</p> + + <p>The account of the meeting with Walter + Scott and his daughter on the moors does not + have the touch of reality in it that one would + like. Here was an opportunity, however, of + the author’s own making.</p> + + <p>There are flashes of humor, as when St. + Ives found himself locked in the poultry-house + ‘alone with half a dozen sitting hens. In the + twilight of the place all fixed their eyes on me + severely, and seemed to upbraid me with some + crying impropriety.’</p> + + <p>There are sentences in which, after Stevenson’s + own manner, real insight is combined + with felicitous expression. St. Ives is commenting + upon the fact that he has done a thing + which most men learned in the wisdom of this + world would have pronounced absurd; he has + ‘made a confidant of a boy in his teens and + positively smelling of the nursery.’ But he has + no cause to repent it. ‘There is none so apt + <a class="pagenum" id="page_230" title="230"></a>as a boy to be the adviser of any man in difficulties + like mine. To the beginnings of virile + common sense he adds the last lights of the + child’s imagination.’</p> + + <p>Men have been known to thank God when + certain authors died,—not because they bore + the slightest personal ill-will, but because they + knew that as long as the authors lived nothing + could prevent them from writing. In thinking + of Stevenson, however, one cannot tell whether + he experiences the more a feeling of personal + or of literary loss, whether he laments chiefly + the man or the author. It is not possible to + separate the various cords of love, admiration, + and gratitude which bind us to this man. He + had a multitude of friends. He appealed to a + wider audience than he knew. He himself + said that he was read by journalists, by his fellow + novelists, and by boys. Envious admiration + might prompt a less successful writer to + exclaim, ‘Well, isn’t that enough?’ No, for + to be truly blest one must have women among + one’s readers. And there are elect ladies not a + few who know Stevenson’s novels; yet it is a + question whether he has reached the great + mass of female novel-readers. Certainly he is + not well known in that circle of fashionable + maidens and young matrons which justly prides + itself upon an acquaintance with Van Bibber. + And we can hardly think he is a familiar name + to that vast and not fashionable constituency + <a class="pagenum" id="page_231" title="231"></a>which battens upon the romances of Marie + Corelli under the impression that it is perusing + literature, while he offers no comfort whatever + to that type of reader who prefers that a novel + shall be filled with hard thinking, with social + riddles, theological problems, and ‘sexual theorems.’ + Stevenson was happy with his journalists + and boys. Among all modern British men + of letters he was in many ways the most highly + blest; and his career was entirely picturesque + and interesting. Other men have been more + talked about, but the one thing which he did + not lack was discriminating praise from those + who sit in high critical places.</p> + + <p>He was prosperous, too, though not grossly + prosperous. It is no new fact that the sales of + his books were small in proportion to the magnitude + of his contemporary fame. People + praised him tremendously, but paid their dollars + for entertainment of another quality than that + supplied by his fine gifts. <i class="title">An Inland Voyage</i> + has never been as popular as <i class="title">Three Men in a + Boat</i>, nor <i class="title">Treasure Island</i> and <i class="title">Kidnapped</i> as + <i class="title">King Solomon’s Mines</i>; while <i class="title">The Black + Arrow</i>, which Mr. Lang does not like, and + Professor Saintsbury insists is ‘a wonderfully + good story,’ has not met a wide public favor at + all. <i class="title">Travels with a Donkey</i>, which came out + in 1879, had only reached its sixth English edition + in 1887. Perhaps that is good for a book + so entirely virtuous in a literary way, but it was + not a success to keep a man awake nights.</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page_232" title="232"></a>We have been told that it is wrong to admire + <i class="title">Jekyll and Hyde</i>, that the story is ‘coarse,’ an + ‘outrage upon the grand allegories of the same + motive,’ and several other things; nay, it is + even hinted that this popular tale is evidence + of a morbid strain in the author’s nature. + Rather than dispute the point it is a temptation + to urge upon the critic that he is not radical + enough, for in Stevenson’s opinion all literature + might be only a ‘morbid secretion.’</p> + + <p>The critics, however, agree in allowing us to + admire without stint those smaller works in + which his characteristic gifts displayed themselves + at the best. <i class="title">Thrawn Janet</i> is one of + these, and the story of Tod Lapraik, told by + Andie Dale in <i class="title">Catriona</i>, is another. Stevenson + himself declared that if he had never written + anything except these two stories he would + still have been a writer. We hope that there + would be votes cast for <i class="title">Will o’ the Mill</i>, which + is a lovely bit of literary workmanship. And + there are a dozen besides these.</p> + + <p>He was an artist of undoubted gifts, but he + was an artist in small literary forms. His + longest good novels are after all little books. + When he attempted a large canvas he seemed + not perfectly in command of his materials, + though he could use those materials as they + could have been used by no other artist. There + is nothing in his books akin to that broad and + massive treatment which may be felt in a novel + <a class="pagenum" id="page_233" title="233"></a>like <i class="title">Rhoda Fleming</i> or in a tragedy like <i class="title">Tess + of the D’Urbervilles</i>.</p> + + <p>Andrew Lang was right when he said of + Stevenson: He is a ‘Little Master,’ but of the + Little Masters the most perfect and delightful.</p> + </div> + <div id="printers_page" class="section"> + <p class="press">The Riverside Press</p> + + <p>CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, U. S. A.</p> + <p>ELECTROTYPED AND PRINTED BY<br /> + H. O. HOUGHTON AND CO.</p> + </div> + <div id="the_end"> + + </div> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Bibliotaph, by Leon H. 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