Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 1.djvu/185

 12 S. I. FEB. 26, 1916,]

NOTES AND QUERIES.

179

The Peace of the A ugustans : a Survey of Eighteenth- Century Literature as a Place of Rest and Refreshment. By George Saintsbury. (Bell & Sons, 8s. Qd. net.)

WE give the title of this book in full, as it may save the reader some trouble in discovering among he earlier pages what precisely is the novelty of the author's views. Something more portentous seems to be promised. Here, as elsewhere, Dr. Saintsbury uses a multitude of words which fail to convey to the present reader, at any rate any exact impression. It is sincerely to be hoped that none of the pupils who sat under him at Edinburgh has chosen his later style as a- model, while all of them have been doubtless amazed at his wonderful range, of knowledge. For the reader moderately acquainted with the eighteenth century Dr. Saintsbury's brief survey in his ' Short History of English Literature ' (!898), might, we think, be preferable to this volume ; for it lacks the extravagances of style, and the clumsy and roundabout methods of expression, which flourish here. " He that useth many words shall be abhorred," saith the son of Sirach.

Yet ' The Peace of the Augustans ' is a book which deserves to secure a wide appreciation. It is the work of the most learned man of letters in the country ; it has a gusto which goes far to vivify moribund reputations : and it should do genuine service in rehabilitating a century which has been unduly disparaged. The virtues of these Augustans might well be studied by the twentieth century, and not the least trenchant part of this book is its denunciation of the twaddle, slipshod work, and cheap " rotting " which find a large audience to-day.

Dr. Saintsbury's idea of " refreshment " (not to speak of " rest ") does not preclude lusty thwacks at several professionals hi his own line. He is fond of asking what the great author would think of this or that critic if he knew him. What, \ve wonder, would a great stylist think of Dr. Saintsbury, and, if his book were approved for its quality of " cut-and-come-againness," would that portentous compound be used ?

The merits of the period rather than its defects are (rightly enough for the author's purpose) emphasized ; but we are somewhat surprised to find no carte d" pays in the matter of sentimen- talism and " enthusiasm." The author leaves the last word as if all his readers understood it. and in dealing with perhaps the greatest figure, as man and man of letters, of the whole of his century, he makes no point of the marked protest against sentimentality which is an essential part to us of that greatness. We are not, however, inclined to cavil at details of the survey. Our midriffs are not seldom tickled, and our withers are rarely wrung by Dr. Saintsbury's judgments and nbifcr dicta, the latter including various hearty ap- preciations of wine and the praise of cats and bulldogs. The book was written, we should say, at a fine speed, which may account for some lapses such as the use of " moreover " twice within a few words, or a phrase like " a not easily tiring or tired-of diversion," in . which the second, adjective seems to add nothing. It is hopeless, at this date, to protest against such a characteri-

.ation as "the what-shall-any-man-in-a-single- vord-call-it of North," for these extensions of our anguage have become a habit with the author.

Many of his lesser lights are, as he admits, not 'eadily procxirable, but we gladly recognize that others are, and can respectfully follow our learned, guide in maintaining that much of the good sense and good wit of the unread eighteenth century is. preferable to the popular stuff of the present day levoured by the half -educated. Here Walter Scott's neglected critical work is of leal value,. s he points out.

As for the poetry. Dr. Saintsbury's obvious and omnivorcms delight should infect others ; and, if he occasionally overrates it, the opposite process has ?een so common that we cannot object. He ascribes to the " goose-step tramp of the eighteenth, century " the fact that " the public ear at large las no't been really spoilt." We wish we could say as much of present knowledge or aptitude,, tor we see clear evidences that the elements of rhythm, alike in prose and poetry, are nothing like so \\ell appreciated as they were by the public as a whole. Advertisements and recruiting posters have been hideously deficient in this respect.

On most of the greater figures of the century Dr. Saintsbury is at once enthusiastic and judicious, and he often throws side-lights of great interest on the period, as when he maintains that Grub Street was largely a fiction, a point on which there is no sufficient evidence, perhaps, to- form a secure opinion. The present writer does not easily tire of Pope, but would have no such confidence in coming on good things in a casual' perusal as Dr. Saintsbury cherishes. ' The Dunciad ' is for a highly polished piece somewhat obscure, and dare we add ? ineffective. The splendid and miserable genius of Swift is hit off in. memorable phrases ; but is it fair to say that " man, pure and simple, man as he is, has always not far from him " the Yahoo ? The French Revolution, a Trade Tnion agitator, and a millionaire who gives " freak " suppers are Dr. Saintsbury's examples of Yahooism. That is not quite our view of the essential quality of tbe Yahoo. He has a positive delight in dirt and mere nastiress, which concerns the pathologist more than the literary historian. The normal ma,n is not such, we hope and believe.

Prior we are glad to see praised, for he is commonly neglected, and began, we note, that long line of light academic versifiers who, taking Horace as their model, have added so much to the delight of the world. The new things of Prior given to letters recently by Mr. A. R. Waller are of piime importance ; but we think the ' Dialogues or the Dead,' though admi'-able in patches, have their longueurs. The account of Johnson and his circle is one of Dr. Saintsbury's best things, for in a brief space he is both vivict and illu- minating. A modern Johnsonian a breed the- author rather deprecates might suggest a point or two of value for consideration, but the man in all his true colours is there, and the reasonable side of his prejudiced views is well exhibited. Justice is done to Goldsmith's admirable style,, and his essays are wisely commended. The defects of heightened colour and political pre- judice in Macaulay (probably still the most popular guide to the period) are fairly and firmly set down.

" Rest and refreshment " are not so easy to find in satirists whose victims are long since-