the common ambition is to unite these titles
and add a few others--to enjoy, in fact, a free range over the whole
field of literature, exclusive only of the most arid or least attractive
portions. Taylor's versatility exceeded that of all his competitors: he
attempted a greater variety of tasks than any of them, and he failed in
none. And his writings, while so diverse, have a distinct and pervading
flavor. Though he travelled so extensively, imbibed so deeply of foreign
literature, and wrote so much on foreign themes, his tone of thought and
sentiment not only remained thoroughly American, but was always
suggestive of his early life and surroundings, his quiet Pennsylvania
home and its sober influences. His pictures of these are not the least
noteworthy portion of what he has given to the world, but in all his
productions the same spirit is visible--not flashing and impulsive, but
habituated to just conceptions and exact performance; not to be startled
or dazed by novelties, but capable of measuring and assimilating
whatever best suited it. On the whole, his nature, while retaining its
individuality and poise, was rather a highly receptive than a strongly
original one. Its growth was a steady accretion of knowledge, ideas,
experiences and aptitudes, without the exhibition of that power
which in minds of a rarer order reacts upon impressions with
a transforming influence. There is more appearance of freedom, of
spontaneousness--paradoxical as this may seem--in his translation of
_Faust_ than in any of his other performances, while deliberate,
conscientious workmanship is a leading characteristic of all, not
excepting the short notices of books reprinted from the New York
_Tribune_ in one of the volumes now before us. The matter of both these
volumes is chiefly critical, and the characterizations of men as well as
of books are always discriminating, generally just, often happily
expressed, but seldom vivid. The articles on Rueckert, Thackeray and
Weimar, which deal chiefly with personal reminiscences, are especially
pleasant reading; but the lectures on Goethe, however well they may have
served their immediate purpose, contain little that called for
preservation, being neither profound nor stimulating. While, however,
these volumes may add nothing to their author's reputation, they are no
unworthy memorials of a laborious, well-spent and happy life, of a
nature as kindly as it was earnest and sincere, and of talents that