" A light-fingered poet would find many a temptation in his prose.
But it is not merely our fancies that are pleased. Mr. James tempts us
into many byways of serious and fruitful thought. Especially valuable
and helpful have we found his _obiter dicta_ on the arts of painting,
sculpture, and architecture; for example, when he says of the Tuscan
palaces that "in their large dependence on pure symmetry for beauty of
effect, [they] reproduce more than other modern styles the simple
nobleness of Greek architecture." And we would note also what he says of
the Albani Antinoues. It must be a nimble wit that can keep pace with Mr.
James's logic in his aesthetic criticism. It is apt to spring airily
over the middle term to the conclusion, leaving something in the
likeness of a ditch across the path of our slower intelligences, which
look about them and think twice before taking the leap. Courage! there
are always fresh woods and pastures new on the other side. A curious
reflection has more than once flashed upon our minds as we lingered with
Mr. James over his complex and refined sensations: we mean the very
striking contrast between the ancient and modern traveller. The former
saw with his bodily eyes, and reported accordingly, catering for the
curiosity of homely wits as to the outsides and appearances of things.
Even Montaigne, habitually introspective as he was, sticks to the old
method in his travels.
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