VICES IN VIRTUES:I' "FROM their character, these essays," says the
author of Vices in Virtues, and other Vagaries, "might be expected to be preceded by a note acknowledging the kindness of some editor in allowing them to be reprinted; but they have never been even offered to any editor." They are very clever and amusing; more suited, perhaps, to journalistic than book form. They • St. John annaseen e Barlaant and rewash. Translated by the Rev. G. G. Woodward and R. Mattingly. ..Loeb Library." London LIelnentann. [des net.] t Vim in Virtue., and other ramie. IR the Author of The We cis Prig, ass laacca; hm4Psai tin' nuSi
are, in fact, " vagaries," the fruit of an hour's whimsical speculation of no permanent value, but productive all the same of passing delight. "The Ungentlemanliness of Ladies" rouses in the present writer an intense desire to contradict ; all the same, he is constrained to smile. "Talking to Think" is to his mind the best, the most sparkling, and also the most profound of the collection. " Talkers, that is to say, people who talk much, may be roughly divided into two classes, namely, those who think in order to talk, and those who talk in order to think." This is perfectly true. The good talkers of to-day almost all belong, we personally believe, to the latter category, and that is why we are sometimes told there is no more good talk. It has changed its character. There is not time to-day to think and to talk unless the two processes can be accom- plished simultaneously. Our author maintains that the man who "talks to think" may have an intellect as good as, may even have a better intellect than, the man who "thinks to talk." The point of view is new and original, and we feel sure it is the true one.
Previous page
