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No. 4413, May 25, 1912
THE ATHENÆUM
585
PAGE
585
1798)
587
MODERN DEMOCRACY
COPTIC BIBLICAL TEXTS
588
588
SCRIPTS
590
595)
591-595
596
596
LITERARY GOSSIP
OF New BOOKS; JOHN GRAY; SOCIETIES;
MEETINGS NEXT WEEK ; GOSSIP
597-599
FINE ARTS - - NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS; EARLY
MINIATURES AT BRUSSELS; ETCHINGS AND EN.
600-601
PERFORMANCES NEXT WEEK
602
GOSSIP
602-603
604
the General Assembly, which acquitted to an uneventful childhood and youth.
SATURDAY, MAY 25, 1912. him on the several counts of alleged The life at his father's manse did not greatly
heresy, and left him still free to act as a differ from many others, and his University
CONTENTS.
minister and celebrant, but expelled him career (entered upon at the age of fifteen
from his professorship on the ground of —he was Professor at twenty-four), with
WILLIAM ROBERTSON SMITH
A MODERN EPICUREAN (A Night in the Luxembourg) 588
the “ dangerous tendency” of his teach- William Minto as rival and contemporary,
TWO IRISH REBEL-PATRIOTS (Autobiography of Theo-
ing, reads like a mediæval record-except was spoilt by illness. His letters are un-
bald Wolfe Tone ; Some Notes of an Irish Exile of that in the Middle Ages he would have distinguished. His work as assistant in
FORERUNNERS OF THE ENGLISH Novel (some oiä been burnt at the stake. We have for the physical laboratory of Prof. Tait at
English Worthies) . .
tunately for the most part advanced be- Edinburgh is more interesting, if only as
589 yond such verdicts, in Scotland as well as showing that Smith had the capacity to do
SHELLEY AND BYRON AUTOGRAPHS; THE EARLY
CHRONICLES OF SCOTLAND; BOOKS AND MANU-
elsewhere ; but as a matter of history the original research of high quality in the most
trial was momentous, for it won for the diverse departments of knowledge; but it
NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS (Theology — Poetry, 691 ;
Bibliography-Philosophy-History and Biography
Free Church, once and for all, the right was a tápepyov which had no definite
-Geography and Travel -Sociology, 592 ; Political of free criticism of the Biblical documents. relation to the main bent of his career.
Economy-Education-Philology-School-Books-
Fiction, 593; General-Pamphlets, 594 ; Foreign,
As the authors justly say,
Indeed, in spite of much interesting in-
FORTHCOMING Books ::
“Prof. Smith's struggle for the freedom formation, the Life' fails to give a clear
SCIENCE-VIEWS OF AN ANTHROPOLOGIST; NOTICES of scholarship in the Free Church of Scotland conception of Smith's mind and the per-
is in their opinion an episode in the history manent significance of his studies. This is
of their country of abiding interest and
CHINESE PAINTINGS; SKETCHES BY RUBENS ; importance, which must be studied by all not surprising, for his peculiar charm, fully
GRAVINGS; RAEBURN PORTRAITS; GOSSIP. .
who wish to understand either the Scotland appreciated by all who knew him weli,
MUSIC — MASSENET'S 'DON QUICHOTTE'; GOSSIP; of 1843 or the Scotland of 1912. "
was not such as can be easily described.
DRAMA — LADY GREGORY'S FOLK : HISTORY PLAYS;
His warm friendship, singularly unselfish
It drew the dividing line between the old nature, buoyant spirits, and brave endur-
INDEX TO ADVERTISERS . .
and the new school of Biblical interpreta-ance of a painful disease which prematurely
tion, and for that reason the elaborate closed his brilliant career,
more than
discussion of the controversy rightly made amends for the pugnacity, conten-
holds the foremost place in the biography tiousness, and impatience of opposition
LITERATURE
of the protagonist.
which somewhat prejudiced superficial
At the same time scholars will be dis- observers against him. Dr. Sutherland
posed to rejoice at Smith's expulsion Black, his most intimate friend, and the
from Aberdeen. It took him to Cam- one who knew him best, has perhaps
The Life of William Robertson Smith. bridge, and this transplanting was fraught found his very friendship an obstacle to
By John Sutherland Black and George with brilliant results. Had he remained unreserved portrayal, in a natural feeling
Chrystal. (A. & C. Black. )
at Aberdeen, he might possibly have that his friend's heart should not be laid
Lectures and Essays of William Robertson continued to be only one among many Black has the gift of portraiture is evident
bare to the general public. That Dr.
Smith. Edited by the same.
.
(Same
publishers. )
to be satisfied with so narrow an outlet, from the numerous incisive character-
and his expulsion opened several new sketches he gives of Smith's Scottish
BESIDES a peculiarly interesting and paths. The Encyclopædia Britannica' professors and contemporaries, among
potent personality, Prof. Robertson Smith (the ninth edition), in which his heretical which his opponents in the celebrated
"case" stand out in repellent vigour.
had a double reputation. He was the sins had found him out, welcomed him
hero, or victim, of a famous heresy trial, in an editorial capacity, in which he was
The volume of 'Lectures and Essays,'
and he was a brilliant Oriental scholar: associated with Dr. J. S. Black, and though issued with the biography, calls for brief
The two characters were closely connected, he found the drudgery sometimes a weary notice. They all early, written
for he was persecuted not for righteous- burden, there is no doubt that he gained between the ages of twenty-three and
ness' sake-his life was blameless, and his in knowledge and experience as much thirty-one (1869–77), with the exception
faith unquestioned—but for scholarship’s. as he gave in learning and perspicacity. J of the two Arabian studies, one of
The “ Robertson Smith "—which
His appointment successively to the which on Animal Worship among Arab
roused intense excitement in the late Lord Almoner's Chair of Arabic, the Uni- Tribes and in the Old Testamentº
seventies, so that, in the words of W. E. versity Librarianship (in succession to (misprinted · Animal Tribes in the Old
Henley's organ The Scots Observer, which Henry Bradshaw), and Sir Thomas Adams's Testament in the table of contents) was
contained à savage onslaught on the Professorship of Arabic at Cambridge, the forerunner of the Religion of the
Professor, "all Scotland held him in with a Fellowship at Christ's College, Semites. The theological papers have
flattering respect, or still more flattering gave him the opportunities he needed to
a considerable biographical value, for
horror” seems very remote now, and some develope
his powers; and visits
to Egypt they show the slow and gradual growth
readers will be surprised that Dr. Suther- and Arabia, albeit too brief and limited, of Smith's advance to what are called
land Black should have filled half the helped to focus his insight into Semitic
emancipated” views, and they confirm
biography with so dreary a subject. The life and sociology, which found expression the biographers' contention that he re-
opinions which Robertson Smith pub- in his two most
notable works- "Kinship mained to all intents a believer in the
lished on various points of Biblical criti- and Marriage in Early Arabia’ (1885)
"evangelical” doctrine of his childhood,
cism were those which had long been and · The Religion of the Semites' (1889) as he remained a minister of the Free
accepted in Germany, and are now rethe latter, however, a
Church, till his death in 1894. All these
garded by the leading Old Testament never completed.
papers are marked by his characteristic-
scholars as mere commonplaces. The Important his books the ally logical method ; we may instance
only question was how far they could Old Testament, and especially on the that on the work of a Theological
be made to square with the “ Confession Prophets, were, these two volumes show Society,' and another on 'The Place of
of the Scottish Free Church, of which an originality and power of syn- Theology in the Work and Growth of the
Robertson Smith was an ordained minister, thesis altogether out of the common. Church. The one that will most in-
and with his position as Professor of Their influence upon the author of The terest non-theological readers is on ‘Poetry
Oriental Languages and Old Testament Golden Bough' is, of course, one of the in the Old Testament. But in all the
Exegesis at the University of Aberdeen- patent examples of literary fosterage; method is argumentative and didactic,
a position which bore an obvious relation but the biographers' account of these rather than poetic or illustrative. One
to the training of candidates for the really original works seems to us in- feels that Smith was an acute reasoner,
ministry. The half-hearted verdict of adequate, whilst too much space is allotted but no artist. It is difficult to be both.
are
case
66
as
on
a
## p. 586 (#438) ############################################
586
THE A THENÆUM
No. 4413, May 25, 1912
truth of illusion, and the like. M. de discourse. It throws into salient relief
Gourmont may vacillate between the the gentle, persistent irony, the rounded
A MODERN EPICUREAN.
egoism of sensibility and that of rational and jewelled self-consciousness, the com-
ism, but we are never for a moment in placency that is now benevolent and now
· A NIGHT IN THE LUXEMBOURG,' the doubt as to which attracts our argumenta- sinister. Its esoteric fragrance is con-
curious and exotic work of the famous tive virtuoso of pleasure. Concerning his veyed with a finesse and precision which
French symbolist, now for the first time own kindred and their Pantheon, the deity make us realize its innocent lucidity
translated into English, will perhaps is elusive enough only to let us peer over as the child of an almost diabolical artful-
engender an imbroglio of controversy in the outworks. They apparently cultivate ness. Comparison with Anatole France
this island. Our doctrinaires may buckle
à pose of indifferent superiority more is inevitable; but, though the wit is as
their armour ; our Philistines aggressively successfully than did the Olympians, aromatic and as finely tempered, we are
tremble for the foundations of society; who were certainly well tarred with
but the discerning will probably smile human weaknesses and idiosyncrasies, and Bonnard thrills us, by the brushing of the
indulgently at M. de Gourmont's trans- they are much less concerned with childish wings of “ the Spirit of the Pities," which
parent device of resuscitating a philosophy man and mortality. They differ from irradiates his otherwise pitiless exposure
of life, for many generations a plaything mankind in no essentials except a more of human frailty. M. de Gourmont is
of the more fretful and ennuyé mal- acute capacity for pleasure, more quanti- more chilly, and no emotional warmth
contents of letters.
letters. The tale is given an
tative, it would seem, than qualitative and is allowed to flood in and mollify the in-
ingenious, a deliberately ingenious and durable.
exorable hardness of his artistry. The
romantic setting, as a casket for its suave It would be churlish to literature, to thousand graces. Its accomplishments are
style is decorative, garnished with a
challenge to theological, moral, and emo-
M. de Gourmont, and to our own enter- manifestations of the structural whole.
tional values. In an empty church in tainment to brandish the cudgel against They retain and intensify the unity of
the Luxembourg, on a wintry evening, a this soi-disant philosophy of life. To impression. Unlike Hugo, M. de Gour.
anathematize him as heretic, rebel, and mont is no spendthrift of language, and,
reincarnation of Christ or Apollo. He is subversive of the cherished convictions again, he lacks humanity of thought and
conducted into an enchanted garden, as
Arcadian as the Provence of the jongleurs, not only to snatch at the bait he cunningly any rate, if his Epicureanism is but the
either of the few or the many would be spaciousness of imaginative diction. At
there to partake of a Virgilian breakfast dangles before us, but also to give his disser- play of a supple intellect, which is at
with the three goddesses who appear be- tation the undue prominence of a prosely- times perfectly conscious that it is only
fore him. Here, in elegant apophthegm, tizing | philippic. It would require no manœuvring, we cannot but admire the
the “ Master" expounds the Epicurean penetrating sagacity to undermine this mould into which it is cast.
philosophy, interspersed between idyllic neat little paper edifice of thought. We
and sensuous interludes. Towards the
Mr. Arthur Ransome's translation is
close the link with the supernatural is prefer to regard it as what it is an extra-
vaganza, an audacious excursus of fancy one of the best things he has done. In
dead in his lodgings, seated before his pieced together
with the fertile skill of a the truest sense he has captured the
dead in his lodgings, seated before his consummate artist. When the deified quintessential spirit of the book with rare
unfinished manuscript, among evidences Epicurus blandly refers to his sojourn on felicity and sensitiveness of expression.
of the whilom presence of his sublimated Mars“ as a resting place, for a great His polished, nervous English, ever fas-
paramour.
number of centuries, we gladly respond tidious for the mot juste, has real dis-
The main interest of the book, to the ludicrous and smile in company, tinction. We quote an example :
however, in spite of this macabre back we imagine—with
we imagine with the author. He is
ground against the roses, lies in the dic- indeed divertingly careless with his ideas, and to teach the men of to-day what my
“Yes, I wish you to be a new Epicurus,
tates and reflections of the stranger. confounding pagan, mediæval, Renais-
friend taught long ago to the Athenians.
Upon evolution, humanity, progress ; upon sance, and modern sentiment, and creating Apostles have spoken in my name who
utilitarian and ascetic morality; and an intellectual gallimaufry with absurd | have succeeded in spreading over the
the whole fabric of civilization, as the and supercilious catholicity.
The atmo- earth & doctrine of despair. They taught
majority have made it and as the minority sphere is that of the garden of Boccaccio, the scorn of all that is human, of all that
would wish it, he turns the rays of a
is genial, of is
Unfitted
blank nihilism. “I have never," he high wind of actuality, though denser and for natural pleasures, they sought pleasure
in their own misery and in the misery in
declares, “ desired the reign of equality more heavily scented. Through it mur-
which they plunged their brothers. They
or that of sanctity. I would rather murs that soft undercurrent of perisha-called the earth a valley of tears, but the
breathe your flowers than your souls, bility to which our early singers gave tears those whose abundant flow
your women than your intellects. ” Virtue such luminous artistic expression. M. de was caused by their own malignity. Baleful
is happiness, sin only born of the con- Gourmont carries us to no altitudes and to themselves, they were baleful to the
men who became the slaves of their sombre
sciousness of it. The atomic theory is airily offers us no poignant revelations; he is
used to dismiss the significance of the uni- simply the merchant of relaxation, spinning eternity of chimerical joys in return for
dreams. After promising their faithful an
the product of a series of acci- fine conceits and displaying choice wares
the true and simple joys they stole from
dents. ” The dominion of fatality is supreme. for our delight. The style is the man, them, they took even hope from the heart
Rebellion is “ugly”; it is the violation not the speculation or the prophecy, of man, they imagined hell. Sons of the
of the canons of æsthetic harmony. Man- which is the prop of the style.
ancient priests of Baal, they set up in my
kind is prisoned by the irrevocable laws
name the cruel idol of their fathers, and
of chance and destiny. Infinity; the
We feel, indeed, that this style has been made of me the hideous and prescient
relation of man to the universal ; 'of his forced somewhat harshly into a mariage creator of those whose destiny was damna-
personal to his cosmic self—these are but de convenance with matter that is flimsy: | discourage me, and I sustained by my
tion. These monsters, however, did not
metaphysical abstractions, just as ethics, academic, and mannered. For that reason
inspiration every effort of natural wisdom
responsibilities, and philosophies are but it has to undergo Procrustean curtailments that I saw among all these horrors. "
adroit intellectual structures. ” And so
of its freedom and energy, and to ally
this incorrigibly romantic divinity pro- itself with a brother-in-arms only partially We think, however, that Mr. Ransome
ceeds in his dialectical subtleties, telling congenial to it. This is the more re considerably over-estimates the force of
us—under the delightfully impertinent grettable in that its pellucid and crystal the discussion, enchanting as it is. M.
masquerade of unveiling profound dis- qualities illustrate with peculiar fidelity de Gourmont belongs to the dragon-flies
coveries--of the illusion of truth, of the what is perhaps the finest product of the of literature, iridescent but ephemeral.
French literary genius—the masterly ex-
A Night in the Luxembourg. By Remy
position of its prose. Its transparent
de Gourmont. With Preface and Ap. clarity is a more appropriate medium
pendix by Arthur Ransome. (Swift & Co. ) I for the spirit than the substance of the
were
66
verse as
66
## p. 587 (#439) ############################################
No. 4413, May 25, 1912
THE ATHENÆUM
587
in
SO
a
wife and his dear babies. But the key where near Belfast. For here the sturdy
to his life is given in his own words :- Presbyterians were the real strength
TWO IRISH REBEL-PATRIOTS.
“For my own part, I think it right to of the so-called “United Irish Society,”
We cannot say that we welcome the re- mention, that, at this time, the establish and these men could be easily drilled
publication of Tone's memoirs, for reasons
ment of a Republic (in Ireland] was not
into a dangerous fighting force. This
man who
to be given presently, but it is our first [as it was with Napper Tandy) the immediate conclusion, though that of a
object before me.
duty to criticize the value of the work, and the independence of my country under be modified in the light of subsequent
My object was to secure had thought it out with anxious care, must
the way in which it has been edited. As any form of government, to which I was history. Tone rightly considered that the
regards the latter, we consider that Mr. led by the hatred of England, so deeply South-Western Irish would never make
Barry O'Brien has done his work better rooted in my nature, that it was rather
an impromptu army to help a sudden
than at first sight appears. For the daily an instinct than a principle. "
notes of Wolfe Tone are full of repetitions, If so, it was not an early instinct, but with careful drill and strict discipline,
invader, but it is only fair to add that,
the same arguments being addressed over
and over again to the people he met from lashed, by that turgid eloquence which done as brilliant service as any in the
created by lashing himself, and being Munster and Connaught regiments have
day to day. From the point of view of was the bane of all the Nationalist clubs. British Army.
the impatient reader, these repetitions If the English Government could have
should have been cut out. Excision would foreseen the future, he might have been have wholly overlooked another part
It is more curious that Tone should
have made the book far more readable secured by a good promotion in early of Ireland, which proved even to him
and less tedious. But if the editor had youth, as he was not above valuing wealth that there were fine rebels to be found
shortened it, a certain quality in it would and dignity very highly in compari- outside Ulster. The men of South-East
have been lost, and it would not have
been nearly so convincing as it now is. embark in politics, he became a most of Bargy and Forth, east of the Slaney,
son with ideal objects. When he did Wexford, especially from the baronies
For the artless, setting down day by day active and dangerous foe, and more than showed in 1798 that with extempore
of what the author said, and what was
once brought England into very great leaders-most of them Roman Catholic
said to him, by its very monotony and peril. That was the opinion of the Duke priests—they could behave with signal
perfect consistency of character, comes of Wellington, whom the editor quotes.
to be so persuasive that we cannot believe
valour. Had Humbert's little expedition
the harsh judgments which make him
If we inquire how a man without money landed here, instead of at far west Killala,
or influence could effect such important there would have been a different story to
an impostor and a villain. This was
the opinion of the late Duke of Argyll, things in the politics of Europe, we must tell
. The point of likeness between North-
who in his Irish Nationalists set him attribute it to his persuasiveness in urging East Ulster and South-East Leinster, in
down as a pure Jacobin, bent on up-
a deep conviction, and his good fortune both of which the people were brave and
securing important
setting all society, and ready to commit
man sturdy, is also most suggestive. In both
any crime in the process. He did, in-
as Hoche, whose death was fatal to these tracts the body of the population was
deed, when little more than a boy, and
his hopes. For the rising Bonaparte, not Irish, but either Scotch or English,
des perately poor, offer to Pitt to occupy not take up his ideas, but adopted the
who was very jealous of Hoche, would with some admixture, perhaps, of North-
men. For the Roman Catholic peasantry
Spaniards, and he says his real object attacking England, not through Ireland, through the eighteenth century under the
Spaniards, and he says his real object far wilder and more hopeless scheme of in Bargy and Forth, who prospered all
was to turn buccaneer, this type being but through India. It has always been penal laws, are known to be an early
not be taken seriously. He passed through recognized that at this moment Ireland English settlement,
that did not tolerate
Trinity College, Dublin, with considerable
was England's weak spot. The narrative
an Irish population among them. The
credit, being not only Auditor and Medallist of the various attempts of the French English fleet was, of course, more likely
of the famous Historical Society, but also a these attempts, through the dilatoriness east coast of Ireland, but in those days
and Dutch to invade it; the failure of to check any attempt to land on the
scholar of the House. His daily writing and incompetence of the French War it seems that it was a mere chance whether
frequently from the classics and from Department, through the miserable state the
guarding ships would find the
invaders.
,
Shakespeare, and the friends he made of the French finances, and lastly through Most of the attempts made by the French
in college were highly respectable-George in favour of England—all this, over which fleet.
the marvellous interference of the elements
were not balked by meeting a hostile
Knox (Lord Northland's son), Whitley Tone frets and fumes in his diary like
Stokes (a Nationalist of high character),
&c. It is interesting to add that in the if the French and Dutch could have before us. It is a cheap reprint of part
a caged lion, is deeply interesting reading.
now to the second book
list of scholars elected in 1784, his name
appears next above that of William Magee, Nore, when they were nearly, but not in 1907 in two thick volumes by Mr.
invaded Ireland during the Mutiny of the of the memoirs of Miles Byrne, published
grandfather of the Archbishop of our quite ready, it seems possible that Ireland Stephen Gwynn, when it was duly noticed
would have been, for a time at least, in these columns (Sept. 7, p. 264). The
time. But not only had he most re-
spectable friends; he also enjoyed their lost to England. But here the winds present extract concerning the author's
society, and he speaks with affection of again interfered, and it was the thirty, adventures in Ireland in°1798, and his
his old college all through his life. Yet five days of “ foul wind ” at the Texel escape to France, might appear to be
that college was then considered the which exhausted the patience, the supplies, very similar to the diary of Tone. But
preserve of the ascendancy party. Though and finally the discipline of the Dutch the likeness is superficial, so far as the
there are hints in his confessions that he armament, and caused the expedition method of the two books is concerned.
was not very strict in his conduct during battle of Camperdown, which Tone wonders
to be abandoned a fortnight before the
“It is to-day (says Tone) upwards of
two months since I made a memorandum,
his family (which he had left in America), at as an unnecessary, and therefore fatal, which is downright scandalous. For many
he was a most affectionate husband and blunder. He himself had already left important circumstances have happened
father, always thinking of his beloved the fleet, as the chance of invading Ireland in that time. The only good in my journals
had passed away.
is that they are written at the moment, and
Autobiography of Theobald Wolfe Tone, 1763– If we consider Tone's estimate of the represent things exactly as they strike me,
whereas, when I write after the interval
1798. Édited, with an Introduction, by probable success of a landing, we find that of some time
R. Barry O'Brien. 2 vols. (Dublin, more than once he speaks with contempt
Maunsel & Co. )
of the fighting qualities of the South-Exactly so, and here is the vital difference.
Some Notes of an Irish Exile of 1798 : being Western Irish, and thinks the only Byrne's recollections were set down years
Chapters from the Memoirs of Miles Byrne good chance is to make for the North- after the events, when he had become a
relating to Ireland. (Same publishers. ) East, and begin the campaign some. I distinguished soldier, and no doubt a
We
come
## p. 588 (#440) ############################################
588
THE ATHENÆUM
No. 4413, May 25, 1912
mere
very popular talker
in Paris, and Elizabethan literature was confined to tion was paid to Bacon's works in Oxford
delighted his friends with the account of two main outlets for its expression, right up to half a century before the
his early adventures. But his reminis- poetry and the drama : the period of Reformation, and we should be grateful
cences were not accurate—such things English prose had not yet arrived. This to any one who would make a serious study
never are, as Goethe pointed out long ago. is, of course, not to say that no great of this legend with a view to determining
its sources and relation to Bacon himself.
most of the facts ; the memory fails, and written had not great qualities; but In the meantime Miss Senior has given
omits others; the result is that the temper the normal rhythm of our prose was not us a charming book, well designed and
and feelings of the diarist control them, so established in the popular ear as to
so established in the popular ear as to well printed, though somewhat carelessly
and he produces an untrustworthy picture. create a standard for those who had “ read ”—one that may be confidently
There is plenty of evidence of these something to say, but no rule as to how to recommended to the ordinary reader.
omissions and commissions in Byrne's say it. Writers of some education, as is
memoirs. He sets down at length every- their wont, seized on the non-essential
thing discreditable to the English; he and more obvious characteristics of style Modern Democracy: a Study in Tendencies.
glozes over the crimes of his own friends. in the fashionable works of the time, and Modern Democracy: a Study in Tendencies.
In only one feature the two books are served our language by making them
By Brougham Villiers. (Fisher Unwin. )
perfectly agreed. They are both animated first ridiculous, and then impossible. As we said in our short notice of Mr.
with a deadly hatred against England, and Writers less well equipped were forced Villiers's book, its chief utility will be in
regard absolute separation from her as the to put more reliance on their own re- consolidating and giving articulate form
only chance of making Ireland great sources, supplemented by the popular to the thought underlying the progressive
and free.
educator of the day—the stage.
spirit of the age. In order to crystallize
We will not argue
whether this * Thomas of Reading 'is a good example tendencies into one word, our author
view is justified or not, reasonable or of the book produced by men of this terms the new policy“ Guarantism," by
unreasonable, but surely the present class. It is composed in two quite dis- which we understand him to mean the
moment is the most inopportune for such parate veins—the realistic and the ro- insuring to each member of society (with
publications as these. They are likely to mantic. In the former the author is a small 8) the possibility of living, in
call forth reprints of equally prejudiced writing from his own experience, going to contradistinction to
existence.
loyalist accounts of the rebellion of 1798 popular tradition for his characters, to. This policy, as he says, pervades every
by way of reply, and cannot but tend to a well-known everyday life for his action stratum of society, and is not the preserve
exacerbate the feelings of mutual dislike and dialogue, and the result is excellent of any particular “ism,” though it is
which we had hoped recent legislation was
--so excellent that one of our most dis- the driving force of many; rather is it
beginning to allay. In the larger edition tinguished critics is able to mention the evidence of the growing and democratic
of Miles Byrne Mr. Gwynn tells us he last hours of Master Cole beside Macbeth. will of the people.
was encouraged to publish it by the His style is simple, direct, and clear ; We are not sure that Mr. Villiers
recommendation of Mr. John Dillon, who his old wives' chatter admirably heard sufficiently appreciates the need for ex.
thinks it one of the best books on Ireland. and reported. But, as soon as the story tremists, and a more exact knowledge of
We think it one of the very worst, unless escapes from the narrow field of Deloney's statistics relating to the poor of our
it be the object of politicians to encourage personal experience and becomes romantic, large towns would enable him to
sourness and rancour, instead of mutual he is forced to rely on the theatre, and strengthen his case; but his warning
toleration, and deep contrition at the the result is pure bombast. Miss Senior, that, until the minimum level of sub-
faults of the past on both sides. We for example, seems to think highly of the sistence has been raised, we must expect
believe there are but few Irish politicians Margaret episodes ; to our mind, the sole the individual to be a great deal keener
who will not agree with us in regarding endurable one among them is that of on what affects his own class, how-
the promoters of ill-feeling as the active her engagement as a servant to Gray ever small it may be, than on schemes
enemies of their country.
of Gloucester. M. Jusserand's account which affect the whole body politic, is
of the English stage and its action on well timed. Incidentally, our author
even so great a mind as that of Shake- sums up for us the reason why Campbell-
speare is still fresh in the recollection of Bannerman never became a great man;
the student of literature; its effect on he had intense sympathy, but he certainly
FORERUNNERS OF THE ENGLISH that of a simple soul like Deloney was in- was not in his latter years “a great
comparably greater and more destructive, thinker”-or, we should be inclined to
NOVEL.
in style as well as in matter : indeed, of add, while admitting his other great
Miss SENIOR has given us, under an in-
all the tales in this book it may be said qualities, at any other time.
appropriate title, an interesting selection that the story-telling is contaminated by
Mr. Villiers does good service in pointing
of the popular stories of late-Elizabethan
the stage.
out in his chapter on 'l'he Single Tax
times—the true forerunners of the English While we know who wrote ' Thomas of that the profits from commerce are now
novel. They have long been familiar to Reading,' we can form no probable guess higher than from the land, ergo that the
readers through the reprints of Thoms, even at the authors of George a Green,' idle shareholder is in a better position than
and the best of them, Thomas of Read Roger Bacon,' and 'Friar Rush,' the the idle landlord, though we think he
ing,' is included in Mr. Mann's admirable other tales reprinted here. They are, no might have given more attention to one
edition of Deloney's Works,' recently doubt, mainly strings of anecdotes strung contributory cause - the abnormal cost
published by the Clarendon Press. The together on a very slender framework; of of distribution, one of the great and
editor's Introduction and notes are inter- ballad tradition in the case of George rapidly increasing evils of our modern
esting in themselves, as showing the a Green’; of University memories quick-
frame of mind in which she undertook ened into life by the enthusiasm of Dr. however, strongly point out the possibilities
her task, rather than likely to be of Dee in that of The Famous History of inherent in the decentralizing power of
use to the general reader. It is, perhaps, Friar Bacon
Friar Bacon’; and of German chapbooks electricity, and advocates the immediate
unfortunate that the publication of the in that of Friar Rush. The most socializing of this force, so that it may
edition referred to so nearly synchronizes interesting of them is undoubtedly the be made truly beneficent before its utility
with her own, since a comparison of Bacon story, and even after we have is circumscribed by private ownership.
editorial treatment, which she would be removed from it the Faust contaminations We fear that he shows lack of knowledge
the last to desire, is inevitable.
and the folk-tale anecdotes, a certain sub- in his assertion as to the uniform level of
stratum is left testifying to the existence prices. They are no more level than the
Some Old English Worthies. Edited, with of a popular tradition of Bacon. We rate of wages, though in the former case
Notes and Introduction, by Dorothy know that, contrary to the ordinary the inequality is far more to the advan-
Senior. (Swift & Co. )
notion, a considerable amount of atten- 'tage of the poor. Another matter in
## p. 589 (#441) ############################################
No. 4413, May 25, 1912
THE ATHENÆUM
589
once
we
one
which we think Mr. Villiers wrong is severe to the end will be rewarded by his any copy now in existence of any sub-
in stating that
chapter on ‘Nation-Building. ' Here the stantial part of the Bible. ”
idealist, the enthusiast, is allowed
" the typical Liberal or Socialist who gets
The importance of a Biblical MS. which
into Parliament becomes more and more
to encourage visions of the future in point of date takes rank with the three
conformed to the likeness of his master, with its international co-operation, and great uncial codices known as the Vatican,
the average British working man. "
the fulfilment of the idea, now dimly the Sinaitic, and the Alexandrine can
The atmosphere of what was
entering men's minds, that if a divine hardly be over-estimated; but there is
called the best club in London will purpose be granted in the making of our
even more in it than may appear at first
want changing before that can be true. world, then surely it was made for man-
sight. The codex bears valuable and
Mr. Villiers's statement on p. 131 that not man for it.
decisive testimony to the high antiquity
“the man who enters politics will end Our differences with the author are of the Coptic version of the Holy Scrip-
-a politician " is more to the point. those of opinion. Of actual mistakes tures, and it also strongly supports the
He puts very fairly, too, what case have not detected any, though general accuracy of certain traditions
there is for those who are always here and there the author is hardly regarding the history of Christianity in
clamouring for more work for the people sufficiently up to date-for instance, in Egypt, which a number of critics have
without specifying the sort of work, and giving prominence to The Morning Leader, been much inclined to doubt. On the
who advocate as the first essential the circu- and omitting all mention of new Labour former point Dr. Kenyon, whose contribu-
lation of money_rather than the right dailies.
tion to the present volume will be specially
spending of it. Here are his words :- -
referred to presently, writes as follows :-
“ If there be any slackening in the demand
Since the character of the mistakes in
for an anti-social thing, the people employed Coptic Biblical l'exts in the Dialect of bility of its being an original translation,
this Codex is such as to preclude the possi.
.
There will be unemployment and poverty,
Upper Egypt. Edited by E. A. Wallis it is fair to argue that the version itself must,
all the weight of which will fall upon them ; Budge. (British Museum. )
in all probability, have come into existence
while even if the money saved be spent Egypt is the land of literary discoveries
before the end of the third century; while
in some more useful ways, other people
it may, of course, be yet older. ”
and not they will get the benefit of it. par excellence. Besides the mummies,
Their interests, their personal and immediate the monumental inscriptions, the pyra of certain traditions, Dr. Budge, with
On the question of the authenticity
interests at least, are bound up with the mids, and the stelæ, which it possesses in
evil thing; the success of their lives depends such rich abundance, that ancient land
equal emphasis, declares that
upon its growth and prosperity: When holds embedded in its soil, or secreted in the evidence afforded by our papyrus
their daily bread is threatened, it is no use
talking platitudes to them about the
its antique buildings, large quantities of Codex tends to confirm early monastic
'interest of one being the interests of all. priceless papyri capable of throwing floods traditions concerning the spread of Chris-
They see clearly how a change will affect of light on topics in which humanity tianity in Egypt,”
them, only dimly the good it may do to will never cease to be deeply interested. so that there is, to take the most salient
the world as a whole. They know very | At
time a
new papyrus of the instances,
well that if their trade is ruined, they and Book of the Dead comes to light; at
those they love will be ruined also ; and another an ancient mathematical work is
good reason for believing that Anthony
the very strength of the Guarantist instinct unrolled before our eyes ; on another
did hear the Scriptures read in his village
within them, the instinct on which we must
church in his native tongue, and that many
normally depend for the advance of demo- occasion, again, compositions like the of the earliest monks in the deserts of
cracy itself, will compel them to resist. ” Aristotelian treatise on the Constitution Nitria, the Red Sea, and Upper Egypt,
of Athens or the poems of Bacchylides learned to repeat the Psalms and whole
Such sentimental pleading is hard to
are added to our literary treasures ; and Books of the Bible by heart from Coptic
eradicate, but people do not deserve to be
considered educated until they realize Aramaic papyri of the fifth century B. C.
a few years ago, quite suddenly, Jewish and not from Greek manuscripts. "
For a detailed description of the codex
that fault lies in using even the minimum
were unearthed at Elephantinê in Upper we must refer the reader to the printed
of energy wastefully, when the maximum Egypt. Such finds make one wonder volume itself
, which also offers a most
used to the best advantage will not free what further things may yet be in store for useful aid to appreciation in the shape
the country of evil for many a long year us in the near or distant future. One of of excellent photographic reproductions
to come.
the several not unreasonable expectations of several pages of the MS. , including
We cannot agree with Mr. Villiers that
that may be entertained is that some the Coptic note in a Greek cursive hand
Government departments, when slack, day a pre-Massoretic form of the Old at the end of the Acts of the Apostles,
should be allowed to compete with private Testament text will be found, such as which has been a decisive factor in the
enterprise; we prefer the idea that such
was used by the Septuagint translators determination of date. Our own task
a period should be the opportunity of at Alexandria. If that should ever hap- must rather be to furnish an account,
the Development Commissioners. Perhaps pen, Bible students all over the world will together with an appraisement, of the
the fact that some of his statements are so
be presented with a great sensation in work accomplished by the learned editor
bald as to be misleading may be accounted this literary field.
and those who have given him their
for by the attempt to deal with such
The find with which we have to deal on active, scholarly support.
Crown 8vo, 28. 6d. net each.
an unusual setting, its scenes being laid in
IN THE MEASUREMENT OF ADVERTISEMENTA, CARE
the rooms of the house-surgeon of a hospital ;
Chartres : The Cathedral, and other Churches.
but it is distinctly farcical in tone, and
Rouen: The Cathedral, and other Churches.
stretches over three acts material that is
Amiens : The Cathedral, and other Churches.
Paris : Notre Dame-Mont 8. Michel-Bayeux.
little more than adequate for one.
It would be cruel to analyze Mr. Martin's
BELL'S MINIATURE SERIES
little joke too closely. The “ love" part
INDEX TO ADVERTISERS.
of his title concerns the rivalry of two
OF PAINTERS.
young doctors for the favours of a nurse,
AUTHORS' AGENTS
who jilts them both to become the wife of
WITH 8 ILLUSTRATIONS.
an elderly, but rich and distinguished con-
Pott 8vo, 18. net each, or in limp leather with Photogravure
BELL & Sons
sulting physician. The playwright works his
Frontispiece, 28. net.
BOOKBINDING
550
two threads ingeniously and often divertingly,
Edited by G. C. WILLIAMSON, Litt. D.
but they are thin-drawn. He owes much to
the charm of the nurse, Miss Edyth Goodall.
Alma Tadema-Rosa Bonheur-Botticelli--Burne-
DENT & SONS
Jones – Constable - Correggio - Fra Angelico-
The programme for the third week of
Gainsborough - Grouze - Hogarth-Holbein-Hol-
EVERETT & Co. . .
Miss Horniman's season at the Coronet
Hunt-Landseer-Leighton-Leonardo Da
EXHIBITIONS
will include several of the plays that havo
Vinci-Michael Angelo - Millais - J. F. Millet-
GAY & HANCOCK
proved most popular. "Widowers' Houses,'
Murillo Raphael Rembrandt Reynolds
by Mr. Bernard Shaw, will be given on
Romney-Rossetti-Rubens-Titian-Turner-Van
LONGMANS & Co.
Monday ; Mr. Galsworthy's 'The Silver Box'
Dyck-Van Eyck-Volasquez-Watteau-Watts-
MACLEHOSE & SONS
on Tuesday and Saturday evenings; Mr.
Whistler.
MACMILLAN & Co.
554, 579
Arnold Bennett's What the Public Wants'
MAGAZINES, &c. . .
at the Wednesday matinée ; ‘She Stoops MiscellaneoUS . .
HANDBOOKS OF THE
to Conquer' on Thursday; and “The
Younger Generation,' by Mr. Stanley NOTES AND QUERIES
578 G R E A T M A S T E R S
Houghton, at the Saturday matinée.
PROVIDENT INSTITUTIONS
IN PAINTING AND SCULPTURE.
PUTNAM'S SONS
The Return of the Prodigal,' one of St.
REEVE & Co.
John Hankin's best plays, is to be played
Edited by G. C. WILLIAMSON, Litt. D.
on Wednesday evening for the first time
SHIPPING . .
With 40 Illustrations and Photogravure Frontispiece.
this season, although it has previously been
SITUATIONS VACANT
31 vols. large post 8vo, 38. 6d. Det each.
given here by the company.
SITUATIONS WANTED
Full List upon application.
On Friday evening Mary Broome,' by
SOCIETIES . .
Mr. Allan Monkhouse of The Manchester Guar.
TYPE-WRITERS, &c.
G. BELL & SONS, LTD. ,
dian, will be seen in London for the first
time.
WILLIAMS & NORGATE
York House, Portugal Street, London, W. C.
.
78
::::
£ 1. d.
0 3 6
1 16 0
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A Page
Pearl Type beyond.
SHOULD BE TAKEN TO MEASURE FROM
RULE TO RULE.
JOHN O. FRANCIS and J. EDWARD FRANCIS,
The Atheneum Office, Bream's Buildings, Chancery Lane London, E. O.
PAGE
ARNOLD
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EACH
BAGSTER & SONS
.
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CATALOGUES
CHAPMAN & HALL
EDUCATIONAL
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SALES BY AUCTION
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551
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UNWIN
:
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## p. 585 (#437) ############################################
No. 4413, May 25, 1912
THE ATHENÆUM
585
PAGE
585
1798)
587
MODERN DEMOCRACY
COPTIC BIBLICAL TEXTS
588
588
SCRIPTS
590
595)
591-595
596
596
LITERARY GOSSIP
OF New BOOKS; JOHN GRAY; SOCIETIES;
MEETINGS NEXT WEEK ; GOSSIP
597-599
FINE ARTS - - NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS; EARLY
MINIATURES AT BRUSSELS; ETCHINGS AND EN.
600-601
PERFORMANCES NEXT WEEK
602
GOSSIP
602-603
604
the General Assembly, which acquitted to an uneventful childhood and youth.
SATURDAY, MAY 25, 1912. him on the several counts of alleged The life at his father's manse did not greatly
heresy, and left him still free to act as a differ from many others, and his University
CONTENTS.
minister and celebrant, but expelled him career (entered upon at the age of fifteen
from his professorship on the ground of —he was Professor at twenty-four), with
WILLIAM ROBERTSON SMITH
A MODERN EPICUREAN (A Night in the Luxembourg) 588
the “ dangerous tendency” of his teach- William Minto as rival and contemporary,
TWO IRISH REBEL-PATRIOTS (Autobiography of Theo-
ing, reads like a mediæval record-except was spoilt by illness. His letters are un-
bald Wolfe Tone ; Some Notes of an Irish Exile of that in the Middle Ages he would have distinguished. His work as assistant in
FORERUNNERS OF THE ENGLISH Novel (some oiä been burnt at the stake. We have for the physical laboratory of Prof. Tait at
English Worthies) . .
tunately for the most part advanced be- Edinburgh is more interesting, if only as
589 yond such verdicts, in Scotland as well as showing that Smith had the capacity to do
SHELLEY AND BYRON AUTOGRAPHS; THE EARLY
CHRONICLES OF SCOTLAND; BOOKS AND MANU-
elsewhere ; but as a matter of history the original research of high quality in the most
trial was momentous, for it won for the diverse departments of knowledge; but it
NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS (Theology — Poetry, 691 ;
Bibliography-Philosophy-History and Biography
Free Church, once and for all, the right was a tápepyov which had no definite
-Geography and Travel -Sociology, 592 ; Political of free criticism of the Biblical documents. relation to the main bent of his career.
Economy-Education-Philology-School-Books-
Fiction, 593; General-Pamphlets, 594 ; Foreign,
As the authors justly say,
Indeed, in spite of much interesting in-
FORTHCOMING Books ::
“Prof. Smith's struggle for the freedom formation, the Life' fails to give a clear
SCIENCE-VIEWS OF AN ANTHROPOLOGIST; NOTICES of scholarship in the Free Church of Scotland conception of Smith's mind and the per-
is in their opinion an episode in the history manent significance of his studies. This is
of their country of abiding interest and
CHINESE PAINTINGS; SKETCHES BY RUBENS ; importance, which must be studied by all not surprising, for his peculiar charm, fully
GRAVINGS; RAEBURN PORTRAITS; GOSSIP. .
who wish to understand either the Scotland appreciated by all who knew him weli,
MUSIC — MASSENET'S 'DON QUICHOTTE'; GOSSIP; of 1843 or the Scotland of 1912. "
was not such as can be easily described.
DRAMA — LADY GREGORY'S FOLK : HISTORY PLAYS;
His warm friendship, singularly unselfish
It drew the dividing line between the old nature, buoyant spirits, and brave endur-
INDEX TO ADVERTISERS . .
and the new school of Biblical interpreta-ance of a painful disease which prematurely
tion, and for that reason the elaborate closed his brilliant career,
more than
discussion of the controversy rightly made amends for the pugnacity, conten-
holds the foremost place in the biography tiousness, and impatience of opposition
LITERATURE
of the protagonist.
which somewhat prejudiced superficial
At the same time scholars will be dis- observers against him. Dr. Sutherland
posed to rejoice at Smith's expulsion Black, his most intimate friend, and the
from Aberdeen. It took him to Cam- one who knew him best, has perhaps
The Life of William Robertson Smith. bridge, and this transplanting was fraught found his very friendship an obstacle to
By John Sutherland Black and George with brilliant results. Had he remained unreserved portrayal, in a natural feeling
Chrystal. (A. & C. Black. )
at Aberdeen, he might possibly have that his friend's heart should not be laid
Lectures and Essays of William Robertson continued to be only one among many Black has the gift of portraiture is evident
bare to the general public. That Dr.
Smith. Edited by the same.
.
(Same
publishers. )
to be satisfied with so narrow an outlet, from the numerous incisive character-
and his expulsion opened several new sketches he gives of Smith's Scottish
BESIDES a peculiarly interesting and paths. The Encyclopædia Britannica' professors and contemporaries, among
potent personality, Prof. Robertson Smith (the ninth edition), in which his heretical which his opponents in the celebrated
"case" stand out in repellent vigour.
had a double reputation. He was the sins had found him out, welcomed him
hero, or victim, of a famous heresy trial, in an editorial capacity, in which he was
The volume of 'Lectures and Essays,'
and he was a brilliant Oriental scholar: associated with Dr. J. S. Black, and though issued with the biography, calls for brief
The two characters were closely connected, he found the drudgery sometimes a weary notice. They all early, written
for he was persecuted not for righteous- burden, there is no doubt that he gained between the ages of twenty-three and
ness' sake-his life was blameless, and his in knowledge and experience as much thirty-one (1869–77), with the exception
faith unquestioned—but for scholarship’s. as he gave in learning and perspicacity. J of the two Arabian studies, one of
The “ Robertson Smith "—which
His appointment successively to the which on Animal Worship among Arab
roused intense excitement in the late Lord Almoner's Chair of Arabic, the Uni- Tribes and in the Old Testamentº
seventies, so that, in the words of W. E. versity Librarianship (in succession to (misprinted · Animal Tribes in the Old
Henley's organ The Scots Observer, which Henry Bradshaw), and Sir Thomas Adams's Testament in the table of contents) was
contained à savage onslaught on the Professorship of Arabic at Cambridge, the forerunner of the Religion of the
Professor, "all Scotland held him in with a Fellowship at Christ's College, Semites. The theological papers have
flattering respect, or still more flattering gave him the opportunities he needed to
a considerable biographical value, for
horror” seems very remote now, and some develope
his powers; and visits
to Egypt they show the slow and gradual growth
readers will be surprised that Dr. Suther- and Arabia, albeit too brief and limited, of Smith's advance to what are called
land Black should have filled half the helped to focus his insight into Semitic
emancipated” views, and they confirm
biography with so dreary a subject. The life and sociology, which found expression the biographers' contention that he re-
opinions which Robertson Smith pub- in his two most
notable works- "Kinship mained to all intents a believer in the
lished on various points of Biblical criti- and Marriage in Early Arabia’ (1885)
"evangelical” doctrine of his childhood,
cism were those which had long been and · The Religion of the Semites' (1889) as he remained a minister of the Free
accepted in Germany, and are now rethe latter, however, a
Church, till his death in 1894. All these
garded by the leading Old Testament never completed.
papers are marked by his characteristic-
scholars as mere commonplaces. The Important his books the ally logical method ; we may instance
only question was how far they could Old Testament, and especially on the that on the work of a Theological
be made to square with the “ Confession Prophets, were, these two volumes show Society,' and another on 'The Place of
of the Scottish Free Church, of which an originality and power of syn- Theology in the Work and Growth of the
Robertson Smith was an ordained minister, thesis altogether out of the common. Church. The one that will most in-
and with his position as Professor of Their influence upon the author of The terest non-theological readers is on ‘Poetry
Oriental Languages and Old Testament Golden Bough' is, of course, one of the in the Old Testament. But in all the
Exegesis at the University of Aberdeen- patent examples of literary fosterage; method is argumentative and didactic,
a position which bore an obvious relation but the biographers' account of these rather than poetic or illustrative. One
to the training of candidates for the really original works seems to us in- feels that Smith was an acute reasoner,
ministry. The half-hearted verdict of adequate, whilst too much space is allotted but no artist. It is difficult to be both.
are
case
66
as
on
a
## p. 586 (#438) ############################################
586
THE A THENÆUM
No. 4413, May 25, 1912
truth of illusion, and the like. M. de discourse. It throws into salient relief
Gourmont may vacillate between the the gentle, persistent irony, the rounded
A MODERN EPICUREAN.
egoism of sensibility and that of rational and jewelled self-consciousness, the com-
ism, but we are never for a moment in placency that is now benevolent and now
· A NIGHT IN THE LUXEMBOURG,' the doubt as to which attracts our argumenta- sinister. Its esoteric fragrance is con-
curious and exotic work of the famous tive virtuoso of pleasure. Concerning his veyed with a finesse and precision which
French symbolist, now for the first time own kindred and their Pantheon, the deity make us realize its innocent lucidity
translated into English, will perhaps is elusive enough only to let us peer over as the child of an almost diabolical artful-
engender an imbroglio of controversy in the outworks. They apparently cultivate ness. Comparison with Anatole France
this island. Our doctrinaires may buckle
à pose of indifferent superiority more is inevitable; but, though the wit is as
their armour ; our Philistines aggressively successfully than did the Olympians, aromatic and as finely tempered, we are
tremble for the foundations of society; who were certainly well tarred with
but the discerning will probably smile human weaknesses and idiosyncrasies, and Bonnard thrills us, by the brushing of the
indulgently at M. de Gourmont's trans- they are much less concerned with childish wings of “ the Spirit of the Pities," which
parent device of resuscitating a philosophy man and mortality. They differ from irradiates his otherwise pitiless exposure
of life, for many generations a plaything mankind in no essentials except a more of human frailty. M. de Gourmont is
of the more fretful and ennuyé mal- acute capacity for pleasure, more quanti- more chilly, and no emotional warmth
contents of letters.
letters. The tale is given an
tative, it would seem, than qualitative and is allowed to flood in and mollify the in-
ingenious, a deliberately ingenious and durable.
exorable hardness of his artistry. The
romantic setting, as a casket for its suave It would be churlish to literature, to thousand graces. Its accomplishments are
style is decorative, garnished with a
challenge to theological, moral, and emo-
M. de Gourmont, and to our own enter- manifestations of the structural whole.
tional values. In an empty church in tainment to brandish the cudgel against They retain and intensify the unity of
the Luxembourg, on a wintry evening, a this soi-disant philosophy of life. To impression. Unlike Hugo, M. de Gour.
anathematize him as heretic, rebel, and mont is no spendthrift of language, and,
reincarnation of Christ or Apollo. He is subversive of the cherished convictions again, he lacks humanity of thought and
conducted into an enchanted garden, as
Arcadian as the Provence of the jongleurs, not only to snatch at the bait he cunningly any rate, if his Epicureanism is but the
either of the few or the many would be spaciousness of imaginative diction. At
there to partake of a Virgilian breakfast dangles before us, but also to give his disser- play of a supple intellect, which is at
with the three goddesses who appear be- tation the undue prominence of a prosely- times perfectly conscious that it is only
fore him. Here, in elegant apophthegm, tizing | philippic. It would require no manœuvring, we cannot but admire the
the “ Master" expounds the Epicurean penetrating sagacity to undermine this mould into which it is cast.
philosophy, interspersed between idyllic neat little paper edifice of thought. We
and sensuous interludes. Towards the
Mr. Arthur Ransome's translation is
close the link with the supernatural is prefer to regard it as what it is an extra-
vaganza, an audacious excursus of fancy one of the best things he has done. In
dead in his lodgings, seated before his pieced together
with the fertile skill of a the truest sense he has captured the
dead in his lodgings, seated before his consummate artist. When the deified quintessential spirit of the book with rare
unfinished manuscript, among evidences Epicurus blandly refers to his sojourn on felicity and sensitiveness of expression.
of the whilom presence of his sublimated Mars“ as a resting place, for a great His polished, nervous English, ever fas-
paramour.
number of centuries, we gladly respond tidious for the mot juste, has real dis-
The main interest of the book, to the ludicrous and smile in company, tinction. We quote an example :
however, in spite of this macabre back we imagine—with
we imagine with the author. He is
ground against the roses, lies in the dic- indeed divertingly careless with his ideas, and to teach the men of to-day what my
“Yes, I wish you to be a new Epicurus,
tates and reflections of the stranger. confounding pagan, mediæval, Renais-
friend taught long ago to the Athenians.
Upon evolution, humanity, progress ; upon sance, and modern sentiment, and creating Apostles have spoken in my name who
utilitarian and ascetic morality; and an intellectual gallimaufry with absurd | have succeeded in spreading over the
the whole fabric of civilization, as the and supercilious catholicity.
The atmo- earth & doctrine of despair. They taught
majority have made it and as the minority sphere is that of the garden of Boccaccio, the scorn of all that is human, of all that
would wish it, he turns the rays of a
is genial, of is
Unfitted
blank nihilism. “I have never," he high wind of actuality, though denser and for natural pleasures, they sought pleasure
in their own misery and in the misery in
declares, “ desired the reign of equality more heavily scented. Through it mur-
which they plunged their brothers. They
or that of sanctity. I would rather murs that soft undercurrent of perisha-called the earth a valley of tears, but the
breathe your flowers than your souls, bility to which our early singers gave tears those whose abundant flow
your women than your intellects. ” Virtue such luminous artistic expression. M. de was caused by their own malignity. Baleful
is happiness, sin only born of the con- Gourmont carries us to no altitudes and to themselves, they were baleful to the
men who became the slaves of their sombre
sciousness of it. The atomic theory is airily offers us no poignant revelations; he is
used to dismiss the significance of the uni- simply the merchant of relaxation, spinning eternity of chimerical joys in return for
dreams. After promising their faithful an
the product of a series of acci- fine conceits and displaying choice wares
the true and simple joys they stole from
dents. ” The dominion of fatality is supreme. for our delight. The style is the man, them, they took even hope from the heart
Rebellion is “ugly”; it is the violation not the speculation or the prophecy, of man, they imagined hell. Sons of the
of the canons of æsthetic harmony. Man- which is the prop of the style.
ancient priests of Baal, they set up in my
kind is prisoned by the irrevocable laws
name the cruel idol of their fathers, and
of chance and destiny. Infinity; the
We feel, indeed, that this style has been made of me the hideous and prescient
relation of man to the universal ; 'of his forced somewhat harshly into a mariage creator of those whose destiny was damna-
personal to his cosmic self—these are but de convenance with matter that is flimsy: | discourage me, and I sustained by my
tion. These monsters, however, did not
metaphysical abstractions, just as ethics, academic, and mannered. For that reason
inspiration every effort of natural wisdom
responsibilities, and philosophies are but it has to undergo Procrustean curtailments that I saw among all these horrors. "
adroit intellectual structures. ” And so
of its freedom and energy, and to ally
this incorrigibly romantic divinity pro- itself with a brother-in-arms only partially We think, however, that Mr. Ransome
ceeds in his dialectical subtleties, telling congenial to it. This is the more re considerably over-estimates the force of
us—under the delightfully impertinent grettable in that its pellucid and crystal the discussion, enchanting as it is. M.
masquerade of unveiling profound dis- qualities illustrate with peculiar fidelity de Gourmont belongs to the dragon-flies
coveries--of the illusion of truth, of the what is perhaps the finest product of the of literature, iridescent but ephemeral.
French literary genius—the masterly ex-
A Night in the Luxembourg. By Remy
position of its prose. Its transparent
de Gourmont. With Preface and Ap. clarity is a more appropriate medium
pendix by Arthur Ransome. (Swift & Co. ) I for the spirit than the substance of the
were
66
verse as
66
## p. 587 (#439) ############################################
No. 4413, May 25, 1912
THE ATHENÆUM
587
in
SO
a
wife and his dear babies. But the key where near Belfast. For here the sturdy
to his life is given in his own words :- Presbyterians were the real strength
TWO IRISH REBEL-PATRIOTS.
“For my own part, I think it right to of the so-called “United Irish Society,”
We cannot say that we welcome the re- mention, that, at this time, the establish and these men could be easily drilled
publication of Tone's memoirs, for reasons
ment of a Republic (in Ireland] was not
into a dangerous fighting force. This
man who
to be given presently, but it is our first [as it was with Napper Tandy) the immediate conclusion, though that of a
object before me.
duty to criticize the value of the work, and the independence of my country under be modified in the light of subsequent
My object was to secure had thought it out with anxious care, must
the way in which it has been edited. As any form of government, to which I was history. Tone rightly considered that the
regards the latter, we consider that Mr. led by the hatred of England, so deeply South-Western Irish would never make
Barry O'Brien has done his work better rooted in my nature, that it was rather
an impromptu army to help a sudden
than at first sight appears. For the daily an instinct than a principle. "
notes of Wolfe Tone are full of repetitions, If so, it was not an early instinct, but with careful drill and strict discipline,
invader, but it is only fair to add that,
the same arguments being addressed over
and over again to the people he met from lashed, by that turgid eloquence which done as brilliant service as any in the
created by lashing himself, and being Munster and Connaught regiments have
day to day. From the point of view of was the bane of all the Nationalist clubs. British Army.
the impatient reader, these repetitions If the English Government could have
should have been cut out. Excision would foreseen the future, he might have been have wholly overlooked another part
It is more curious that Tone should
have made the book far more readable secured by a good promotion in early of Ireland, which proved even to him
and less tedious. But if the editor had youth, as he was not above valuing wealth that there were fine rebels to be found
shortened it, a certain quality in it would and dignity very highly in compari- outside Ulster. The men of South-East
have been lost, and it would not have
been nearly so convincing as it now is. embark in politics, he became a most of Bargy and Forth, east of the Slaney,
son with ideal objects. When he did Wexford, especially from the baronies
For the artless, setting down day by day active and dangerous foe, and more than showed in 1798 that with extempore
of what the author said, and what was
once brought England into very great leaders-most of them Roman Catholic
said to him, by its very monotony and peril. That was the opinion of the Duke priests—they could behave with signal
perfect consistency of character, comes of Wellington, whom the editor quotes.
to be so persuasive that we cannot believe
valour. Had Humbert's little expedition
the harsh judgments which make him
If we inquire how a man without money landed here, instead of at far west Killala,
or influence could effect such important there would have been a different story to
an impostor and a villain. This was
the opinion of the late Duke of Argyll, things in the politics of Europe, we must tell
. The point of likeness between North-
who in his Irish Nationalists set him attribute it to his persuasiveness in urging East Ulster and South-East Leinster, in
down as a pure Jacobin, bent on up-
a deep conviction, and his good fortune both of which the people were brave and
securing important
setting all society, and ready to commit
man sturdy, is also most suggestive. In both
any crime in the process. He did, in-
as Hoche, whose death was fatal to these tracts the body of the population was
deed, when little more than a boy, and
his hopes. For the rising Bonaparte, not Irish, but either Scotch or English,
des perately poor, offer to Pitt to occupy not take up his ideas, but adopted the
who was very jealous of Hoche, would with some admixture, perhaps, of North-
men. For the Roman Catholic peasantry
Spaniards, and he says his real object attacking England, not through Ireland, through the eighteenth century under the
Spaniards, and he says his real object far wilder and more hopeless scheme of in Bargy and Forth, who prospered all
was to turn buccaneer, this type being but through India. It has always been penal laws, are known to be an early
not be taken seriously. He passed through recognized that at this moment Ireland English settlement,
that did not tolerate
Trinity College, Dublin, with considerable
was England's weak spot. The narrative
an Irish population among them. The
credit, being not only Auditor and Medallist of the various attempts of the French English fleet was, of course, more likely
of the famous Historical Society, but also a these attempts, through the dilatoriness east coast of Ireland, but in those days
and Dutch to invade it; the failure of to check any attempt to land on the
scholar of the House. His daily writing and incompetence of the French War it seems that it was a mere chance whether
frequently from the classics and from Department, through the miserable state the
guarding ships would find the
invaders.
,
Shakespeare, and the friends he made of the French finances, and lastly through Most of the attempts made by the French
in college were highly respectable-George in favour of England—all this, over which fleet.
the marvellous interference of the elements
were not balked by meeting a hostile
Knox (Lord Northland's son), Whitley Tone frets and fumes in his diary like
Stokes (a Nationalist of high character),
&c. It is interesting to add that in the if the French and Dutch could have before us. It is a cheap reprint of part
a caged lion, is deeply interesting reading.
now to the second book
list of scholars elected in 1784, his name
appears next above that of William Magee, Nore, when they were nearly, but not in 1907 in two thick volumes by Mr.
invaded Ireland during the Mutiny of the of the memoirs of Miles Byrne, published
grandfather of the Archbishop of our quite ready, it seems possible that Ireland Stephen Gwynn, when it was duly noticed
would have been, for a time at least, in these columns (Sept. 7, p. 264). The
time. But not only had he most re-
spectable friends; he also enjoyed their lost to England. But here the winds present extract concerning the author's
society, and he speaks with affection of again interfered, and it was the thirty, adventures in Ireland in°1798, and his
his old college all through his life. Yet five days of “ foul wind ” at the Texel escape to France, might appear to be
that college was then considered the which exhausted the patience, the supplies, very similar to the diary of Tone. But
preserve of the ascendancy party. Though and finally the discipline of the Dutch the likeness is superficial, so far as the
there are hints in his confessions that he armament, and caused the expedition method of the two books is concerned.
was not very strict in his conduct during battle of Camperdown, which Tone wonders
to be abandoned a fortnight before the
“It is to-day (says Tone) upwards of
two months since I made a memorandum,
his family (which he had left in America), at as an unnecessary, and therefore fatal, which is downright scandalous. For many
he was a most affectionate husband and blunder. He himself had already left important circumstances have happened
father, always thinking of his beloved the fleet, as the chance of invading Ireland in that time. The only good in my journals
had passed away.
is that they are written at the moment, and
Autobiography of Theobald Wolfe Tone, 1763– If we consider Tone's estimate of the represent things exactly as they strike me,
whereas, when I write after the interval
1798. Édited, with an Introduction, by probable success of a landing, we find that of some time
R. Barry O'Brien. 2 vols. (Dublin, more than once he speaks with contempt
Maunsel & Co. )
of the fighting qualities of the South-Exactly so, and here is the vital difference.
Some Notes of an Irish Exile of 1798 : being Western Irish, and thinks the only Byrne's recollections were set down years
Chapters from the Memoirs of Miles Byrne good chance is to make for the North- after the events, when he had become a
relating to Ireland. (Same publishers. ) East, and begin the campaign some. I distinguished soldier, and no doubt a
We
come
## p. 588 (#440) ############################################
588
THE ATHENÆUM
No. 4413, May 25, 1912
mere
very popular talker
in Paris, and Elizabethan literature was confined to tion was paid to Bacon's works in Oxford
delighted his friends with the account of two main outlets for its expression, right up to half a century before the
his early adventures. But his reminis- poetry and the drama : the period of Reformation, and we should be grateful
cences were not accurate—such things English prose had not yet arrived. This to any one who would make a serious study
never are, as Goethe pointed out long ago. is, of course, not to say that no great of this legend with a view to determining
its sources and relation to Bacon himself.
most of the facts ; the memory fails, and written had not great qualities; but In the meantime Miss Senior has given
omits others; the result is that the temper the normal rhythm of our prose was not us a charming book, well designed and
and feelings of the diarist control them, so established in the popular ear as to
so established in the popular ear as to well printed, though somewhat carelessly
and he produces an untrustworthy picture. create a standard for those who had “ read ”—one that may be confidently
There is plenty of evidence of these something to say, but no rule as to how to recommended to the ordinary reader.
omissions and commissions in Byrne's say it. Writers of some education, as is
memoirs. He sets down at length every- their wont, seized on the non-essential
thing discreditable to the English; he and more obvious characteristics of style Modern Democracy: a Study in Tendencies.
glozes over the crimes of his own friends. in the fashionable works of the time, and Modern Democracy: a Study in Tendencies.
In only one feature the two books are served our language by making them
By Brougham Villiers. (Fisher Unwin. )
perfectly agreed. They are both animated first ridiculous, and then impossible. As we said in our short notice of Mr.
with a deadly hatred against England, and Writers less well equipped were forced Villiers's book, its chief utility will be in
regard absolute separation from her as the to put more reliance on their own re- consolidating and giving articulate form
only chance of making Ireland great sources, supplemented by the popular to the thought underlying the progressive
and free.
educator of the day—the stage.
spirit of the age. In order to crystallize
We will not argue
whether this * Thomas of Reading 'is a good example tendencies into one word, our author
view is justified or not, reasonable or of the book produced by men of this terms the new policy“ Guarantism," by
unreasonable, but surely the present class. It is composed in two quite dis- which we understand him to mean the
moment is the most inopportune for such parate veins—the realistic and the ro- insuring to each member of society (with
publications as these. They are likely to mantic. In the former the author is a small 8) the possibility of living, in
call forth reprints of equally prejudiced writing from his own experience, going to contradistinction to
existence.
loyalist accounts of the rebellion of 1798 popular tradition for his characters, to. This policy, as he says, pervades every
by way of reply, and cannot but tend to a well-known everyday life for his action stratum of society, and is not the preserve
exacerbate the feelings of mutual dislike and dialogue, and the result is excellent of any particular “ism,” though it is
which we had hoped recent legislation was
--so excellent that one of our most dis- the driving force of many; rather is it
beginning to allay. In the larger edition tinguished critics is able to mention the evidence of the growing and democratic
of Miles Byrne Mr. Gwynn tells us he last hours of Master Cole beside Macbeth. will of the people.
was encouraged to publish it by the His style is simple, direct, and clear ; We are not sure that Mr. Villiers
recommendation of Mr. John Dillon, who his old wives' chatter admirably heard sufficiently appreciates the need for ex.
thinks it one of the best books on Ireland. and reported. But, as soon as the story tremists, and a more exact knowledge of
We think it one of the very worst, unless escapes from the narrow field of Deloney's statistics relating to the poor of our
it be the object of politicians to encourage personal experience and becomes romantic, large towns would enable him to
sourness and rancour, instead of mutual he is forced to rely on the theatre, and strengthen his case; but his warning
toleration, and deep contrition at the the result is pure bombast. Miss Senior, that, until the minimum level of sub-
faults of the past on both sides. We for example, seems to think highly of the sistence has been raised, we must expect
believe there are but few Irish politicians Margaret episodes ; to our mind, the sole the individual to be a great deal keener
who will not agree with us in regarding endurable one among them is that of on what affects his own class, how-
the promoters of ill-feeling as the active her engagement as a servant to Gray ever small it may be, than on schemes
enemies of their country.
of Gloucester. M. Jusserand's account which affect the whole body politic, is
of the English stage and its action on well timed. Incidentally, our author
even so great a mind as that of Shake- sums up for us the reason why Campbell-
speare is still fresh in the recollection of Bannerman never became a great man;
the student of literature; its effect on he had intense sympathy, but he certainly
FORERUNNERS OF THE ENGLISH that of a simple soul like Deloney was in- was not in his latter years “a great
comparably greater and more destructive, thinker”-or, we should be inclined to
NOVEL.
in style as well as in matter : indeed, of add, while admitting his other great
Miss SENIOR has given us, under an in-
all the tales in this book it may be said qualities, at any other time.
appropriate title, an interesting selection that the story-telling is contaminated by
Mr. Villiers does good service in pointing
of the popular stories of late-Elizabethan
the stage.
out in his chapter on 'l'he Single Tax
times—the true forerunners of the English While we know who wrote ' Thomas of that the profits from commerce are now
novel. They have long been familiar to Reading,' we can form no probable guess higher than from the land, ergo that the
readers through the reprints of Thoms, even at the authors of George a Green,' idle shareholder is in a better position than
and the best of them, Thomas of Read Roger Bacon,' and 'Friar Rush,' the the idle landlord, though we think he
ing,' is included in Mr. Mann's admirable other tales reprinted here. They are, no might have given more attention to one
edition of Deloney's Works,' recently doubt, mainly strings of anecdotes strung contributory cause - the abnormal cost
published by the Clarendon Press. The together on a very slender framework; of of distribution, one of the great and
editor's Introduction and notes are inter- ballad tradition in the case of George rapidly increasing evils of our modern
esting in themselves, as showing the a Green’; of University memories quick-
frame of mind in which she undertook ened into life by the enthusiasm of Dr. however, strongly point out the possibilities
her task, rather than likely to be of Dee in that of The Famous History of inherent in the decentralizing power of
use to the general reader. It is, perhaps, Friar Bacon
Friar Bacon’; and of German chapbooks electricity, and advocates the immediate
unfortunate that the publication of the in that of Friar Rush. The most socializing of this force, so that it may
edition referred to so nearly synchronizes interesting of them is undoubtedly the be made truly beneficent before its utility
with her own, since a comparison of Bacon story, and even after we have is circumscribed by private ownership.
editorial treatment, which she would be removed from it the Faust contaminations We fear that he shows lack of knowledge
the last to desire, is inevitable.
and the folk-tale anecdotes, a certain sub- in his assertion as to the uniform level of
stratum is left testifying to the existence prices. They are no more level than the
Some Old English Worthies. Edited, with of a popular tradition of Bacon. We rate of wages, though in the former case
Notes and Introduction, by Dorothy know that, contrary to the ordinary the inequality is far more to the advan-
Senior. (Swift & Co. )
notion, a considerable amount of atten- 'tage of the poor. Another matter in
## p. 589 (#441) ############################################
No. 4413, May 25, 1912
THE ATHENÆUM
589
once
we
one
which we think Mr. Villiers wrong is severe to the end will be rewarded by his any copy now in existence of any sub-
in stating that
chapter on ‘Nation-Building. ' Here the stantial part of the Bible. ”
idealist, the enthusiast, is allowed
" the typical Liberal or Socialist who gets
The importance of a Biblical MS. which
into Parliament becomes more and more
to encourage visions of the future in point of date takes rank with the three
conformed to the likeness of his master, with its international co-operation, and great uncial codices known as the Vatican,
the average British working man. "
the fulfilment of the idea, now dimly the Sinaitic, and the Alexandrine can
The atmosphere of what was
entering men's minds, that if a divine hardly be over-estimated; but there is
called the best club in London will purpose be granted in the making of our
even more in it than may appear at first
want changing before that can be true. world, then surely it was made for man-
sight. The codex bears valuable and
Mr. Villiers's statement on p. 131 that not man for it.
decisive testimony to the high antiquity
“the man who enters politics will end Our differences with the author are of the Coptic version of the Holy Scrip-
-a politician " is more to the point. those of opinion. Of actual mistakes tures, and it also strongly supports the
He puts very fairly, too, what case have not detected any, though general accuracy of certain traditions
there is for those who are always here and there the author is hardly regarding the history of Christianity in
clamouring for more work for the people sufficiently up to date-for instance, in Egypt, which a number of critics have
without specifying the sort of work, and giving prominence to The Morning Leader, been much inclined to doubt. On the
who advocate as the first essential the circu- and omitting all mention of new Labour former point Dr. Kenyon, whose contribu-
lation of money_rather than the right dailies.
tion to the present volume will be specially
spending of it. Here are his words :- -
referred to presently, writes as follows :-
“ If there be any slackening in the demand
Since the character of the mistakes in
for an anti-social thing, the people employed Coptic Biblical l'exts in the Dialect of bility of its being an original translation,
this Codex is such as to preclude the possi.
.
There will be unemployment and poverty,
Upper Egypt. Edited by E. A. Wallis it is fair to argue that the version itself must,
all the weight of which will fall upon them ; Budge. (British Museum. )
in all probability, have come into existence
while even if the money saved be spent Egypt is the land of literary discoveries
before the end of the third century; while
in some more useful ways, other people
it may, of course, be yet older. ”
and not they will get the benefit of it. par excellence. Besides the mummies,
Their interests, their personal and immediate the monumental inscriptions, the pyra of certain traditions, Dr. Budge, with
On the question of the authenticity
interests at least, are bound up with the mids, and the stelæ, which it possesses in
evil thing; the success of their lives depends such rich abundance, that ancient land
equal emphasis, declares that
upon its growth and prosperity: When holds embedded in its soil, or secreted in the evidence afforded by our papyrus
their daily bread is threatened, it is no use
talking platitudes to them about the
its antique buildings, large quantities of Codex tends to confirm early monastic
'interest of one being the interests of all. priceless papyri capable of throwing floods traditions concerning the spread of Chris-
They see clearly how a change will affect of light on topics in which humanity tianity in Egypt,”
them, only dimly the good it may do to will never cease to be deeply interested. so that there is, to take the most salient
the world as a whole. They know very | At
time a
new papyrus of the instances,
well that if their trade is ruined, they and Book of the Dead comes to light; at
those they love will be ruined also ; and another an ancient mathematical work is
good reason for believing that Anthony
the very strength of the Guarantist instinct unrolled before our eyes ; on another
did hear the Scriptures read in his village
within them, the instinct on which we must
church in his native tongue, and that many
normally depend for the advance of demo- occasion, again, compositions like the of the earliest monks in the deserts of
cracy itself, will compel them to resist. ” Aristotelian treatise on the Constitution Nitria, the Red Sea, and Upper Egypt,
of Athens or the poems of Bacchylides learned to repeat the Psalms and whole
Such sentimental pleading is hard to
are added to our literary treasures ; and Books of the Bible by heart from Coptic
eradicate, but people do not deserve to be
considered educated until they realize Aramaic papyri of the fifth century B. C.
a few years ago, quite suddenly, Jewish and not from Greek manuscripts. "
For a detailed description of the codex
that fault lies in using even the minimum
were unearthed at Elephantinê in Upper we must refer the reader to the printed
of energy wastefully, when the maximum Egypt. Such finds make one wonder volume itself
, which also offers a most
used to the best advantage will not free what further things may yet be in store for useful aid to appreciation in the shape
the country of evil for many a long year us in the near or distant future. One of of excellent photographic reproductions
to come.
the several not unreasonable expectations of several pages of the MS. , including
We cannot agree with Mr. Villiers that
that may be entertained is that some the Coptic note in a Greek cursive hand
Government departments, when slack, day a pre-Massoretic form of the Old at the end of the Acts of the Apostles,
should be allowed to compete with private Testament text will be found, such as which has been a decisive factor in the
enterprise; we prefer the idea that such
was used by the Septuagint translators determination of date. Our own task
a period should be the opportunity of at Alexandria. If that should ever hap- must rather be to furnish an account,
the Development Commissioners. Perhaps pen, Bible students all over the world will together with an appraisement, of the
the fact that some of his statements are so
be presented with a great sensation in work accomplished by the learned editor
bald as to be misleading may be accounted this literary field.
and those who have given him their
for by the attempt to deal with such
The find with which we have to deal on active, scholarly support.
