TheeventsofMr.James\'slife——asweagreetounderstandevents——maybetoldinaveryfewwords.HisraceisIrishonhisfather\'ssideandScotchonhismother\'s，towhichmingledstrainsthegeneralizermayattribute，ifhelikes，thatunionofvividexpressionanddispassionateanalysiswhichhascharacterizedhisworkfromthefirst.Therearenoneofthoseearlystruggleswithpoverty，whichrenderthelivesofsomanydistinguishedAmericansmonotonousreading，torecordinhiscase：thecabinhearth—firedidnotlighthimtotheyouthfulpursuitofliterature;hehadfromthestartallthoseadvantageswhich，whentheygotoofar，becomelimitations.
HewasborninNewYorkcityintheyear1843，andhisfirstlessonsinlifeandletterswerethebestwhichthemetropolis——sosmallintheperspectivediminishingtothatdate——couldafford.Inhistwelfthyearhisfamilywentabroad，andaftersomestayinEnglandmadealongsojourninFranceandSwitzerland.TheyreturnedtoAmericain1860，placingthemselvesatNewport，andforayearortwoMr.JameswasattheHarvardLawSchool，where，perhaps，hedidnotstudyagreatdealoflaw.HisfatherremovedfromNewporttoCambridgein1866，andthereMr.Jamesremainedtillhewentabroad，threeyearslater，fortheresidenceinEnglandandItalywhich，withinfrequentvisitshome，hascontinuedeversince.
ItwasduringthesethreeyearsofhisCambridgelifethatI
becameacquaintedwithhiswork.Hehadalreadyprintedatale——\"TheStoryofaYear\"——inthe\"AtlanticMonthly，\"whenI
wasaskedtobeMr.Fields\'sassistantinthemanagement，anditwasmyfortunetoreadMr.James\'ssecondcontributioninmanuscript.\"Wouldyoutakeit？\"askedmychief.\"Yes，andallthestoriesyoucangetfromthewriter.\"Oneismuchsecurerofone\'sjudgmentattwenty—ninethan，say，atforty—five;butifthiswasamistakeofmineIamnotyetoldenoughtoregretit.
Thestorywascalled\"PoorRichard，\"anditdealtwiththeconscienceofamanverymuchinlovewithawomanwholovedhisrival.Hetoldthisrivalalie，whichsenthimawaytohisdeathonthefield，——inthatdaynearlyeveryfictitiouspersonagehadsomethingtodowiththewar，——butPoorRichard\'sliedidnotwinhimhislove.Itstillseemstomethatthesituationwasstronglyandfinelyfelt.One\'spitywent，asitshould，withtheliar;butthewholestoryhadapathoswhichlingersinmymindequallywithasenseofthenewliteraryqualitieswhichgavemesuchdelightinit.Iadmired，aswemustinallthatMr.Jameshaswritten，thefinishedworkmanshipinwhichthereisnolossofvigor;theluminousanduncommonuseofwords，theoriginalityofphrase，thewholeclearandbeautifulstyle，whichIconfessIweaklylikedthebetterfortheoccasionalgallicismsremainingfromaninveteratehabitofFrench.ThosewhoknowthewritingsofMr.HenryJameswillrecognizetheinheritedfelicityofdictionwhichissostrikinginthewritingsofMr.HenryJames，Jr.Theson\'sdictionisnotsoracyasthefather\'s;itlacksitsdaring，butitisasfortunateandgraphic;andIcannotgiveitgreaterpraisethanthis，thoughithas，whenhewill，asplendorandstatewhichiswhollyitsown.
Mr.JamesisnowsouniversallyrecognizedthatIshallseemtobemakinganunwarrantableclaimwhenIexpressmybeliefthatthepopularityofhisstorieswasoncelargelyconfinedtoMr.
Field\'sassistant.Theyhadcharacteristicswhichforbadeanyeditortorefusethem;andtherearenoanecdotesofthrice—rejectedmanuscriptsfinallyprintedtotellofhim;hisworkwasatoncesuccessfulwithallthemagazines.Butwiththereadersof\"TheAtlantic，\"of\"Harper\'s，\"of\"Lippincott\'s，\"of\"TheGalaxy，\"of\"TheCentury，\"itwasanotheraffair.Theflavorwassostrange，that，withrareexceptions，theyhadto\"learntolike\"it.Probablyfewwritershaveinthesamedegreecompelledthelikingoftheirreaders.Hewasreluctantlyaccepted，partlythroughamistakeastohisattitude——throughtheconfusionofhispointofviewwithhisprivateopinion——inthereader\'smind.Thisconfusioncausedthetearsofragewhichbedewedourcontinentinbehalfofthe\"averageAmericangirl\"
supposedtobesatirizedinDaisyMiller，andpreventedtheperceptionofthefactthat，sofarastheaverageAmericangirlwasstudiedatallinDaisyMiller，herindestructibleinnocence，herinvulnerablenew—worldliness，hadneverbeensodelicatelyappreciated.ItwassoplainthatMr.Jamesdislikedhervulgarconditions，thattheverypeopletowhomherevealedheressentialsweetnessandlightwerefuriousthatheshouldhaveseemednottoseewhatexistedthroughhim.Inotherwords，theywouldhavelikedhimbetterifhehadbeenaworseartist——ifhehadbeenalittlemoreconfidential.
ButthatartisticimpartialitywhichpuzzledsomanyinthetreatmentofDaisyMillerisoneofthequalitiesmostvaluableintheeyesofthosewhocarehowthingsaredone，andIamnotsurethatitisnotMr.James\'smostcharacteristicquality.As\"frostperformstheeffectoffire，\"thisimpartialitycomesatlasttothesameresultassympathy.WemaybequitesurethatMr.JamesdoesnotlikethepeculiarphaseofourcivilizationtypifiedinHenriettaStackpole;buthetreatsherwithsuchexquisitejusticethatheletsUSlikeher.Itisanextremecase，butIconfidentlyallegeitinproof.
Hisimpartialityispartofthereservewithwhichheworksinmostrespects，andwhichatfirstglancemakesussaythatheiswantinginhumor.ButIfeelprettycertainthatMr.Jameshasnotbeenabletodisinherithimselftothisdegree.WeAmericansareterriblyinearnestaboutmakingourselves，individuallyandcollectively;butIfancythatourprevailingmoodinthefaceofallproblemsisthatofanabidingfaithwhichcanaffordtobefunny.Hehashimselfindicatedthatwehave，asanation，asapeople，ourjoke，andeveryoneofusisinthejokemoreorless.Wemay，someofus，dislikeitextremely，disapproveitwholly，andevenabhorit，butweareinthejokeallthesame，andnooneofusissafefrombecomingthegreatAmericanhumoristatanygivenmoment.ThedangerisnotapparentinMr.
James\'scase，andIconfessthatIreadhimwithareliefinthecomparativeimmunitythatheaffordsfromthenationalfacetiousness.Manyofhispeoplearehumorouslyimagined，orratherhumorouslySEEN，likeDaisyMiller\'smother，butthesedonotgiveadominantcolor;thebusinessinhandiscommonlyserious，andthedrollpeoplearesubordinated.Theyabound，nevertheless，andmanyofthemareperfectlynewfinds，likeMr.
Tristramin\"TheAmerican，\"thebill—payingfatherinthe\"PensionBeaurepas，\"theanxiouslyEuropeanizingmotherinthesamestory，theamusinglittleMadamedeBelgarde，HenriettaStackpole，andevenNewmanhimself.ButthoughMr.Jamesportraysthehumorousincharacter，heisdecidedlynotonhumoroustermswithhisreader;heignoresratherthanrecognizesthefactthattheyarebothinthejoke.
Ifwetakehimatallwemusttakehimonhisownground，forclearlyhewillnotcometoours.Wemustmakeconcessionstohim，notinthisrespectonly，butinseveralothers，chiefamongwhichisthemotiveforreadingfiction.Byexample，atleast，heteachesthatitisthepursuitandnottheendwhichshouldgiveuspleasure;forheoftenpreferstoleaveustoourownconjecturesinregardtothefateofthepeopleinwhomhehasinterestedus.Thereisnoquestion，ofcourse，buthecouldtellthestoryofIsabelin\"ThePortraitofaLady\"totheend，yethedoesnottellit.Wemustagree，then，totakewhatseemsafragmentinsteadofawhole，andtofind，whenwecan，anameforthisnewkindinfiction.Evidentlyitisthecharacter，notthefate，ofhispeoplewhichoccupieshim;whenhehasfullydevelopedtheircharacterheleavesthemtowhatdestinythereaderpleases.