136 INDOOR STUDIES 



not. And yet he has told us in his essay on Jou- 

 bert that this is the main matter; he asks, "What 

 is really precious and inspiring, in all that we get 

 from literature, except this sense of an immediate 

 contract with genius itself, and the stimulus toward 

 what is true and excellent which we derive from it ? " 

 Like all other writers, when Arnold speaks from the 

 traditions of his culture and the influence of his 

 environment, he is far less helpful and satisfactory 

 than when he speaks from his native genius and in- 

 sight, and gives free play to that wonderfully clear, 

 sensitive, flexible, poetic mind of his. And in this 

 verdict upon Emerson and Carlyle, it seems to me, 

 he speaks more from his bias, more from his dislike 

 of nonconformists, than from his genius. 



We have had much needed service from Arnold; 

 he has taught his generation the higher criticism, as 

 Sainte-Beuve taught it to his. A singularly logical 

 and constructive mind, yet a singularly fluid and in- 

 terpretative one, giving to his criticism charm, as 

 well as force and penetration. 



All readers of his know how free he is from any- 

 thing strained or fantastic or paradoxical, and how 

 absolutely single his eye is. His page flows as lim- 

 pid and tranquil as a meadow brook, loitering under 

 this bank and under that, but yet really flowing, 

 really abounding in continuous currents of ideas that 

 lead to large and definite results. His works fur- 

 nish abundant illustrations of the principle of evo- 

 lution in literature which he demands of others. 

 He makes no use of the Emersonian method of sur- 



