New-York tribune. [volume], May 05, 1907, Page 7, Image 23

About New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924

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"PEXDVCITIS."
'ji Xuzdist's Diagnosis of an Eng
lish State of Mind.
, rOFKTRT TIOr'SK. Ry John Oal<rwnrthy.
' ■ ■ viii. 307. G. P. I'utnam's Sons.
■ rRTTTSES. T.v W. W. J.-f^hs. Tllus
pp. viii, 23C. Charles BcrfboeCl
Mr. Galsworthy not only confirms. In The
Country House," the good impression he left in
•The Man of Property." but gives the reader
better measure, ■ cleverer and a stronger book.
He is still a satirist handicapped by a system,
a writer committed to a plan, and to that «
tent he falls short of the power of the matured
artist But hi.s art Is developing, and in this
took, even more than In its predecessor, he
makes you feel that, whatever his limitations,
he has considerable insight into human nature,
end a gift f>r writing amusing narrative anel
dialogue. The objects of his scorn upon this
occasion are the prosperous English people who
live in country houses according to the fashion
of bis central figure. Mr. Horace Pendyce, of
Worsted Skeynes. "They have strong, meat-fed
Instincts," says one of the shrewder men in the
book, "and what with the County Members, the
Bishops, the Peers, all the hereditary force of
the country, they still rule the roost. An.l
there's a certain disease to make a very poor
joke, call it ndycitis* — -which most of
these people art- infected. They're 'crass.' They
do things, but they do them the wrong way!"
Mr. Pendyce is exhibited to us in the character
of a country squire, devoted to the Interests of
his estate, ruling his family -with an iron hand
swathed 1n the velvet of genUemanhood. and
stirred to a kind of suffocating fury when his
Fon falls in love with a woman separated from
h.-r husband, and threatens to place an inef
faceable stain of scandal upon the name he
bear?. Pquire Pendyce is representative. The
re:id> r of this novel cannot escape the convic
tion that there- is many a Worsted Pkeyms to
b«» found every English county. and that the
masters of them all are men after Horace Pen
dyco's own heart.
It is tills fidelity to nature thnf is Mr. CJals
■n rthy'a chiefest virtue. He Interests ••- '••■-
rxuse hi.< types are so human an.l so true. Each
one Is portrayed with a multitude of minute
touch's, .-ir.'l these are laid on not only accu
rately, but with a sly humor that makes the
effect doubly satisfying. There Is variety, too.
In spite of the author's Intensely close preoccu
pation with a definite plan. Though he has a
fairly inartistic resolution to expose the foibles
of a class, he is .... some of the secrets of
Individuality, r.nd is more skilful in this than
In his earlier book in distinguishing between
bis different personages. Every man or woman
In tlio book has a character, and some of them
are untouched by "Pendycitls." The ptory
moves T!:rt!:r;h the interplay of character.
Hero, esp cially, rinps Mr. Galsworthy show i:n
p., :.t. His litt'.o comedy is played out in
an entirely r.ntural marker. f=o ... is v< -__
nearly induced to forget that the auth-.r has a
gasp x.> establish. The interest is admirably
rostained. It is Impossible to put the book down
until the tangle in it has been cleared ur>. If
any discontent remains it is due in part to the
essentially artificial nature of the author's
Frh«nv», and In part to Ilia want of the right
temper n v .! the last touch of Intimate knowl
edge. He is trying to do for this generation
■bat Anthony Trollope did for his, but where
the author of the Barsetshire novels treated his
subject from the inside Mr. Galsworthy treats
his from the outside, and where the older writer
had the understanding that meant qualities of
hear 4 . as well as of ! rain the younger writer is
altogether too anxious to Bhow his sardonic
superiority. Trollope's stories can never prow
tU. There is nothing about "The Country
House" that suggests permanence, Put these
sre the dnys of ephemeral fiction, and we need
r.ot worry about the durability of a novel which,
while it lasts, is as readable as this one.
There Is something that Is almost uncanny
sto"t th? uniform excellence of the stories writ
ten by Mr. W. W. Jacobs. Writers of infinitely
greater ca!:Vr<"- have tl:<":r ups and downs and
bring forth good or indifferent work according
to their rcood. but this young humorist seems to
be aMe to go on Indefinitely, producing tales
that never riii>s their mark. The twelve pieces
In his latc-pt volume, 'Short Cruises," are twelve
examples of unadulterated fun. They turn, as
always, upon thr- unconsciously droll traits of
rr.en who follow the sea in small vessels or pur
sue their vocations in quiet villages. These
types are genial but slippery, always ready for
a Men By mug of ale cr for i mischievous dig
at the failings of a comrade. They are notori
ously susceptible to feminine allurements and
rsost of their troubles rpring from too ingenious
love affairs or furtive wanderings from matrl
r.-.onial placidity. The wives in the book are apt
to be quick tempered and suspicious. The
sweethearts ar.- kind. The widows are fear on <■
creatures, an], Incidentally, they are among Mr.
Jairbs's most entertaining performers. We
know all of his simple folk, but we never tire
of meeting them, for whenever they reappear It
1s to work out a n<--w farce, and then the author
is fertile beyond measure in those quaint terms
c? fpeech, those flashes of naive sarcasm. In
■*** ■« shews, better than In anything els .
l -- delightful oricinaiily. Ills Illustrator in iJn»
JvEW-YORK DAILY TRIBUNE, SUNDAY, MAY 5, l»07.
book, as m all the others, is Mr. Will Owen, who
was born to collaborate with him. "Short
Cruises" is a book to be warmly welcomed. It
makes for innocent mirth
.
EIGHTEEN TH CEN 77 Ii V A RT.
The Sale of the Muhlbarhcr Collection in Parix.
Some years ago thnro was sold in Paris a re
markable collection of eighteenth century French
art belonging to a M. Muhlbaeher. It was pre
sumably tho samo gentleman, M. Gustave Muhl
baeher. who formed the similar collection which,
since his death, has como Into the market and
is to be sold at the Georges Petit galleries, in
the Ruo do Size, on the afternoons of May' 13,
14 and jr.. A copy of the illustrated catalogue,
just received from li. Paul Chevallier, one of
the vommuMaires-prisatra identified with the sale
Bbowa that this will be one of the most Im
portant events of the season in Paris. The
beautiful plates reproduce obviously fine exam
■ ' ' brillianl master ■
:■ r - ! :!;i - In art at least was one of positive
••■ bantment
" : -■'■■ that type • f languid grace and
; ■ ntiment. Is npn sent* d by a p
veraj of those vivad >us and tender i m-
I tis In nhU hhe excelled. There . a charm
door nc with fn id s by Watteau, and
i i •■ ■ .: i In tliis Ciillrei ion. Th< -••
• I r.rtraits; by R I Van
: ■' ere i I other?, . . n» most mr
r to students of i I >rj a i : -
. ' i Catalani bj \. ; • 1..-
: !'■ 1 . i.• . ■ ;. . 1 I .- - L
...
■ ' t!S Of I ■ " •
■ : ' ! rt Rob"r( !:. |d< s the
■ • : ...
■ and fui
In v.. se Lion w notia • , ■ . ;i
"Xymphe et Satyre," In terra cotta, by Clodion.
Altogether the collection runs to 550 pieces, and
from the many that are illustrated we judge that
the average is high.
"-1 / "-WAT SAVED IS A I'L'.X.XY EARNED."
From Notes and Queries.
pro!,ablv 1O fn " theSe wisr ol<l Proverbs, this is
rorm-i „v v ' form or other - universal. In
Oerman) there are three forms of it "A penny
saved is a penny gained" (VErsparter PfenSle Ist
verd,>nt"V S.D Parte i ist zweimal
A penny spared is a penny saved " ("Qaien
Dutch > »^" Xa> r t;^ r.:,vv:r,. ;',;r ! ? fl "IS
Gained" ffe ffared? ared is belUr than a'florin
nB ■ Kiting" (" QU I .-.,.„„,„, ca ;.. „.:,"y ;„,;.,•.;:
"AMOUR."
(From the drawing 1 > Boucher.]
r>anL«h; "Money raved Is a- ..,.,, as mon
j,.un<.i ' "' " Penge man sparer er saa god som
;';:::, t ™p i ,*]'}"*?■ ltaiian - "- M ""<->- is* moneys
'.""••' (II danaro c rratello del danaro',').
'•■•' money is no gain when it "advances mca
cocks ( " l> '" ' rs avanci n( Us bediers") Ei •■■
V.. '',!K, !K ' y :'MI: ' Ml '"'">' lai<l "P "■!' be many."
and Who win ,„„ keep a penny .• hal] m -. ( . r
have many ' - he who is prodigal of little can
never have a great deal.
— • ,
An,
St. John Lucas, In The London Academy.
When the summer twilight rinses
O'er the river, round the roses-
When the pnni s that kl«»\v«hJ.
I'uik. n, ••.■!< h a burnt-out < !'J <>r*
This ..ur sinking hearts remember
And forebode:
Pome wild autumn sunset burning
O'er the wanderer returning
Ragrr-cyed :«. find
Only faded roses, only
Vacant windows, and" the lonely
Moaning wind.
-LA PROMENADE."
CFrom tiie dru*lu ' tiy .Mo(aw '.«' JouneJ
LITERARY NOTES.
How spiritual rest may be achieved in tht»
time when many people think that the influence
or religion is waning this la what perturbed
spirits may learn from Mr. Frederic Harrison's'
forthcoming book. He calls it "The Creed of
a Layman: Apologia pro Fide Mea."
New editions of some of the best books of fh«
late Paul flu Chaillu are coming from the press
of the Harpers. Those who have perhaps for
gotten that cheery and hard-working little man
may be glad to be reminded of his "Lost in the
Jungle 1 and "Stories of the Gorilla Country. 1
The author of that fantastic and amusing
JiUle book. "The Admirable Tinker." hits in
The Book News Monthly" a fault of th) period
— the unreasonable craving for print, "Head
ing." he says, is without doubt an excellent
thing, "but it would seem that there is a danger
of its leading to a print habit which is bad.
we seem to be suffering from a plethora of
printed matter. I find it very hard to break
myself of the continual craving for it. to acquire
the power of being able to sit quiet and just
think. Vet that is a most valuable power.
After all, though you get knowledge from books.
you do not want to be always at them: The
digestion of that knowledge and the wisdom
which comes from it are only attained by self
communion. The race is losing that power ex
cuss in reading is destroying it."
Ihe Woman" is the title of Signor Antonla
Fogazzaro's new novel announced for publica
tion this iiiorith.
One of tho incidents attending tho issue of
current fiction— wbicb is a very different thing,
be i: remembered, from permanent imaginative
literature is the reported financial success of
Mr. t w. Lawson's novel. 5t is stated by the
publishers that r.n,<HM> copies of the book have
already been sold; that translations into Dutch,
Swedish, and German are being made; and that
it is proposed to translate it Into Prem h. Span
ish, Italian. Danish, Norwegian, Bohemian, Hun
garian and Japanese.
Articles, biographical and critical, on tho Kite
Thomas Bailey Aldrieh arc beginning t.. appear
In the magazines. The most interesting one of
the month tills several pages of •'The Atlantic"'
and comes from the pen of Mr l;liss Perry. He
gives this pleasant glimpse <>f the poet as a
\ litor in the office >>r the periodical which ho
once edited:
P«rehed upon tl f edge or a chair, as If .-i!...ut to
take fugl t. hi> would often linger b> th< hour to
Iglil ol his listentrs. His raustic «it played
around every topic ol conversation. He did not
disdain the veriest "shop t ;i !k" - concerning pi ■ • ■ • ■
errors and the literary fashions of the hour. • l^'i'k
: t th ■:■•• boys!" he exclaimed once, as he picked up
an illustrated periodical containing tt.n porti I
a couple >.f that month's U • .elists.
"When I began to write, we waited twenM years
before we had our pictures printed; but n< vailays
■ • ■ owa bave it • m •' . ; |
In fi>n they even sit down to wnr. ; . ■
ii in • f .i fastidious comj.oser and revi Mr.
was severely critical "f current m
ire. "That w;is a well written es
■ i "f an "Atlantic" contribul ■ n v
; kej, "but you will Hnd a superfluous "of upon
second page." it wn \<ry rarelj
I ;■•.•. ]. .. i.!. Mr. S. \
\ i M . . ■ of the e\,|',i ,(..
bj Father Tabb are the i t ■!>• v. rses ol r< ent
y< irs which 1 now recall :i- having «
■on M..r ■tl an once ] li«ard
■■ that ho would have reji t- d Ml Ki| -
i: lonal" if it had 1- en <>tt- red to the
• Ir. in.- v. a«i his dif like for i I »r
llni s in that justly ■ i■• ::l
■ ■ Vm< rii an poi m whli h he would I - t
:.i • i •
- I . , there ai «:ly
■ ■ i nough.
thrr fortheominß 1 k devoted to th< N:i-
I , . „ ■ i ; ■ . . . . m \
H'T Krii ■ TI : m« moir uf ! . tep
■'■■"■ ■ f French
• VWat .;. in, . bj M. aQ. A. 1 ... .or.
' .•■•-;■. • ■ . „, , y >r
■.■ ■ •
; ■ • tuinis
■ i:
< if Pop* lie was a warm admirer, and the a.uthor
of the VfJunciad" was one of t;.- few English potts
whom «*ver quoted. Tulkinjrof Scott, Ik- ...
thought "Mi I intlet" was one of his Jim-:;! crea
tions, If not the very tin-'st. i»f contemporary
»r::<-rs I do not recollect hearing him naj much.
II- asked me if I did not think that both L>i k( ua
.ii. -1 Thackeray bad written themselves out.
Here is a sketch of Disraeli in the Houmc -
a sketch which, in the pacsagc of time, it was
well to preserve: —
Lord Beaconafleld had once been a dandy, and
hud lived with the dandies; and how completely
he had caught ' '■• tone of them may t>e seen from
'*« i -.mushy " Bui u.s he advanced in the poll I '
stage he left hla dandyism behind him. His dress
was always In ii ■ best taste- black frock coat, grey
trousers, and well-iltting oca on his well-sii.ip>d
•• ■• t. His garment never looked either old or n**w,
Atid as lie walked up the House of Common? *wtr>
his coat buttoned he li>>«krd. men would sometimes
Kay. us If pleased i !..it he I ad "kepi his w.ii>t." #
He oped n little In his later days, but otherwise
he had a very neat figure. 1 have said that h>
was not a dandy. But there was our thinK al»'t:t
which he was very particular, and that was Inn
■>•. f. When any Conservative member, in pawing;
to his seat on the bench Just above the front one,
disturbed the arrangement of his leader's "ti.irk
hair" there was always) a little Impatient sroture
and a hand hastily rai i-d ...;.l ;>aj •>l round ti lim
nape of the uevk to repair the disorder if there
were any.
It Wilhelm Bode's work on "Italiin Bronze
:': ituettes ol it!.- Renaissance" 1 i--- to be pul :
in ten parts and the I
Hii in-lude .'>""
. . . . . . .
i • . aid tii.ii Ittn is« :. ■■
: . , , ■ till • .I'- 1 I■ ■ ■ ' r
..; | fie I tei lin Musi inn, and Ihis book i :
thi labors of manj years*. He will give, it ia
paid, a full tof all the notable I tiutt.s
that are scattered up and down Europe, and it
. ;. d that he h;ts ; ■ • • ■
accord ' ' ■•■ ■ da. !■'■-■ inning \» i. i. I ■ r
Florenl Ine worl i 'y I K>natello and Pi
and the older I'udu .■ ■■ by I
a to the bronz« s < f Riccio and
Sperundiu, bronzt-a after the anliqu< and
1.i,.,i/,..i of animals, and conc-ldding vvitl the
small Florentine and Ven»t in bmwi >nw i '■:■ MUh
ael Angelo, Ct-Hin , Sansovino and others.
A new periodical which Is coniins out in Eng
land is intended *" provide (»xfi>rd and Oam
l.i id ;e « Ith ;■ i nmmon i m-: g I ... i i- :
form ;■•: the discussion ol nuesttons afl*< ling
t!..- welfun ol both, and to ''.■ cuss withoui
partisan feelings or sectarian prejudice all tht>sa
topics religious, political, educational, literary,
social, retrospective which make up tb< -
phx life and thought of the two universities,
it la i" be entitled "The Oxford *»nd Cainbrid^N
Keview."
7