22 Indiana University Studies 



more or less of a poet, and, to a certain extent, a moralist as well, 

 sometimes too paternal a moralist. His satire is delicate, playful, 

 kindly, distinguished, and his humor never indulges in exaggeration. 

 Furthermore, he is a finished artist. His art shows itself in his happy 

 choice of subjects, in the simplicity of his composition, and in the ex- 

 cellence of his style, which seems almost beyond criticism. It is 

 characterized by grace and delicacy, by fluency and simplicity, by 

 sobriety, by harmony, and by richness of vocabulary. The only de- 

 fect found in it is a certain lack of vigor. In originality he was some- 

 what wanting. He worshiped English authors and chose as models 

 Goldsmith and Addison. His works betray the influence of many 

 other writers, most of them English. And yet he found means to 

 preserve his own individuality. His success in France was such that 

 it destroyed the prejudices held against American literature and 

 caused his works to be studied in French schools. The best of his 

 imaginative works is the Sketch-book and the best of his sketches is 

 "Rip Van Winkle". The Alhambra and the Tales of a Traveler are 

 likewise popular. The merits of Bracebridge Hall and of the History 

 of New York, of the latter especially, are less generally recognized. 

 As to his place in literature, he is put in the first rank of classic authors, 

 and he is made to share with Cooper the honor of having created a 

 literature in the New World. 



IV. Comparison of French View with American and 

 English View 



A comparison of the French view of Irving, as set forth above, 

 with. that of his English-speaking critics shows that while on most 

 points there is substantial agreement between them, there are never- 

 theless some noteworthy differences. His pathos, for instance, is 

 not uniformily praised in America. George Parsons Lathrop affirms 

 even that it is "always a lamentable failure". He adds: "If Irving 

 had grasped the tragic sphere at all he would have shone more splend- 

 idly in the comic. ... In this sketch ["Rip Van Winkle"] there is 

 not a suspicion of the immense pathos which the skill of an industrious 

 playwright and the genius of that rare actor, Mr. Jefferson, have since 

 developed from the tale."^" 



The strictures placed by certain French critics upon the accuracy 

 of his observations, notably in his descriptions of rural life in England, 

 are surpassed in severity by those of certain of his American critics. 



'0 A Study of Hawthorne, 304. 



