A PASSIONATE CRITIC.*
Sum voluminous praise has been given to Mr. Murry as a critic that one is tempted, knowing the lavish tendency of modern literary manners, to approach him with prejudice, and to demand of him some outstanding quality that shall merit this unaffected chorus. The inquiry will not bring disappointment. Mr. Murry is unique to-day, for his mind, while being keenly sen- sitive to the crepuscular and nervous moods of the modern spirit, yet persists in seeking for a method of thought that can be conventionalized into a code by which aesthetic and moral com- parisons and measurements may be obtained. Moral 1' Yes ; dreaded though the word be nowadays, Mr. Murry is courageous enough to bring it into the artistic arena, as a red rag to the psycho-analytic, cynical, dada-vorticist bulls. Indeed, his greatest strength lies in this brave effort. It may be that, possessed of a mind not quite vigorous enough to systematize within a complete survey the multi-dimensional efforts of the moderns, he has desperately climbed the walls of this moral tower the better to trace a path of order through our troubled lands. For Mr. Murry's singleness of mind, the earnest- neat and intensity of his effort, create an atmosphere of enthusiasm and passion which gives all his critical-writing a sense of rich unity that is peculiarly acceptable to those who come to him for stimulation. He believes, and states his beliefs ; and it remains for his readers to protest or acquiesce. For no man ever puts his foot down firmly without making someone angry, though the anger is often only a desire to stand on the same spot, affording thereby a sort of back-handed affirmation. Yet who could take exception to this, his creed : " A system of laws is necessary to the critic ; it is a record of all his past impressions and reactions ; but it must be his own law, his own system, refined by his own effort out of his own experience " That, surely, is a creed for creative as well as critical aspirants, one that will bring into their work stability and architectonic values which are so much to be sought amongst our generation. But Mr. Murry is no mere preacher. Often he preaches, and sometimes narrowly and wrongly, as all sincere people must do. His sensitiveness to beauty hovers like a flame over his words, informing his prose style, and enlarging his sympathies, so • Countries of the Mind. By J. Middleton Murry. London: Conine. 1103. Cd. net.]
that he is ready to welcome with eagerness any coiner, famous or obscure, who will offer him fuel to feed this sacred fire. So, in this volume, he ranges from Shakespeare and Burton through the centuries to Collins and Clare, wanders oversea to meet Flaubert and Baudelaire, and returns to the modern England of Doughty and De la Mare, seeking this eternal fuel and shedding light as he goes ; giving and receiving, as all living beings should.
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