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THE DIAL
A Semi-filonthly Journal of Literary Criticism, Discussion, and Information.
PAGE
.
13
THE DIAL (founded in 1880) is published on the 1st and 16th of
each month. TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION, $2.00 a year in advance, postage
SCIENCE IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS.
prepaid in the United States, Canada, and Mexico; in other countries
Professor N. S. Shaler, in a recent contribu-
comprised in the Postal Union, 50 cents a year for extra postage must
be added. Unless otherwise ordered, subscriptions will begin with the tion to “Science," tells the following story :
current number. REMITTANCES should be by check, or by express or
postal order, payable to THE DIAL. SPECIAL RATES TO Clubs and
“ The professor of mineralogy in Harvard University
for subscriptions with other publications will be sent on application;
one day observed two young women examining his min-
and SAMPLE COPY on receipt of 10 cents. ADVERTISING RATES furnished eral cabinet, one of whom was evidently searching for
on application. All communications should be addressed to
some particular species. Offering his help, he found
THE DIAL, 315 Wabash Ave., Chicago. that the object of her quest was feldspar. When shown
the mineral she seemed very much interested in the
No. 241.
JULY 1, 1896. Vol. XXI.
specimens, expressing herself as gratified at having the
chance to see and touch them. The professor asked her
why she so desired to see the particular mineral. The
CONTENTS.
answer was that for some years she had been obliged to
teach in a neighboring high school, among other things,
SCIENCE IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS
mineralogy and geology, and that the word feldspar
occurred so often in the text-book that her curiosity had
THE CYNICISM OF THACKERAY AND THE
become aroused as to its appearance.”
SADNESS OF GEORGE ELIOT. George Mer-
riam Hyde
9 Upon reading such a story, the first impulse
COMMUNICATIONS
10 of anyone having to do with educational work
The Puzzle of English Hexameters. W. C. Lawton, is to make it the text for a disquisition upon
Shakespeare in Chicago - A Correction. W. E.
the incapacity that our schools so often serve to
Simonds.
shelter. Undoubtedly, the gravest defect in
RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN. E. G. J. 11
our system of public education is that it gives
SOME RECENT BOOKS OF TRAVEL. Hiram M.
employment to, or rather that it is forced to
Stanley
put up with, teachers who have no scientific
Chanler's Through Jungle and Desert.- Knight's
Madagascar in War-Time.- Chevrillon's In India. knowledge of the subjects in which they give
Younghusband's The Heart of a Continent.— Whit what is called instruction. But this theme is
ney's On Show-Shoes to the Barren Grounds.-Cabre-
ra's Cuba and the Cubans.-Curtis's Venezuela.
so well-worn that we should despair of finding
anything new to say about it. There is, how.
STORIES AND STUDIES OF NATURE. Edith
Granger
16
ever, an aspect of the matter that is compara-
Torrey's Spring Notes from Tennessee.-Mrs. Miller's tively neglected, and upon which it may be well
Four Handed Folk.- Slade's Evolution of Horticul to offer a few reflections.
ture in New England.-Abbott's Notes of the Night.
Professor Shaler has a well-earned reputa-
RECENT FICTION. William Morton Payne
17
tion as a specialist in geology, but he proves to
Groome's Kriegspiel.-Stevenson's Weir of Hermis-
ton.-Black's Briseis.-Rutherford's Clara Hopgood.
be unlike most specialists in one very important
- Zangwill's The Premier and the Painter.- An respect. Instead of urging, as many men would
dreae's The Vanished Emperor.–Parker's The Seats
have done urider the circumstances, a better
of the Mighty.-Morton's Beyond the Palæocrystic
Sea.- Allen's Summer in Arcady.- Vachell's The
school equipment in geology, and the employ-
Quicksands of Pactolus.- Mrs. Burnett's A Lady of ment of carefully-trained teachers, he questions
Quality.- Mrs. Davis's Dr. Warrick's Daughters.
the advisability of including his subject at all
BRIEFS ON NEW BOOKS .
20 in the work of the secondary school. He says:
Origin and development of bird-songs. The standard
life of Sterne.- The Courtships of Queen Elizabeth.
“ For my own part, while it seems to me that some
-Famous law cases of New York.-A popular life of general notions concerning the history of the earth may
Charles XII. of Sweden.— The close of Prof. Tuttle's very well be given to children, and this as information,
History of Prussia.–Some famous English prisons. it is futile to essay any study in this science which is
“Sabine" edition of Eugene Field. - Sir Edwin intended to make avail of its larger educative influences
Arnold's “ East and West” papers.
with immature youths. The educative value of geology
BRIEFER MENTION .
23 depends upon an ability to deal with the large concep-
tions of space, time, and the series of developments of
LITERARY NOTES
24
energy which can only be compassed by mature minds.
BOOKS FOR SUMMER READING .
25 Immature youths, even if they intend to win the utmost
profit from geology, would be better occupied in study-
LIST OF NEW BOOKS
26
ing the elementary tangible facts of those sciences such
TOPICS IN LEADING PERIODICALS
26 as chemistry, physics, or biology, sciences which in their
.
.
.


8
[July 1,
THE DIAL
;
synthesis constitute geology, rather than in a vain en geology, physical geography, geography proper,
deavor to deal in an immediate way with a learning astronomy, physics, and chemistry. Now tem-
which in a good measure to be profitable has to be ap-
proached with a well developed mind. The very fact
perance physiology is added.” The sooner the
that any considerable geological problem is likely to absurdity of such an attempt is realized, and
involve in its discussion some knowledge of physics, the sooner our high schools throw overboard
chemistry, zoology, and botany is sufficient reason for two-thirds of this ill-assorted cargo, the more
postponing the study until the pupil is nearly adult."
likely science will be to justify the claims that
One of the most satisfactory features of the have so long been made on its behalf, and
discussion of which secondary education has that have thus far remained at ludicrous vari-
recently been made the subject is the tendency ance with its results, as far, at least, as three-
to concentrate the work in natural science upon fourths of our high schools and colleges are
a few subjects, in order to do fuller justice to concerned.
whatever work of that class is attempted. There Professor Tarr's suggestion for the reorgan-
is a growing recognition of the simple fact that ization of science work in the secondary school
science is a discipline and not a mere matter of is worthy of consideration, although we think
information, and those who best appreciate the that it makes too great a concession to an un-
value of science in secondary education are worthy popular ideal. He urges, in brief, that
coming to realize that better results may be each secondary school should make a specialty
gained by the serious study of two or three sub- of one scientific subject, teaching it in the most
jects than by the superficial survey of half a approved modern way, with the help of collec-
dozen. As long as science-teaching was an tions, apparatus, and laboratories. The other
affair of the text-book and the memoriter exer subjects, in response to “the demand of the
cise, it did not much matter whether the sub-people for information in the various branches
jects taught were few or many; in either case, of national science,” should be distinctly classed
they contributed next to nothing to the stu- (for that school) as “minor sciences,” and pur-
dent's intellectual growth. But we have got sued in the old superficial way. Meanwhile, the
distinctly beyond that primitive stage in our colleges should come to the aid of the schools
methods, and have learned to recognize the all- | by permitting a greater freedom of choice in
important character of the laboratory and the their entrance requirements, so that prepara-
note-book.
tory work done in one subject should be as
This being the case, we are brought face to available for admission as work done in any
face with the fact that few schools are large other, provided that it meet a somewhat rigid
enough or sufficiently well-supported to afford set of conditions as to methods and time em-
the luxury of half a dozen laboratory outfits, ployed.
and that the old-fashioned high-school curricu While some such plan as this may be found
lum, with its “ fourteen weeks" in this science necessary, as marking the transitional stage of
and its half-year in that, has become hopelessly secondary work in which we are likely to remain
antiquated. The reason why the young woman for some years yet, it can hardly be urged as a
in Professor Shaler's story had never seen a finality. Our ultimate aim must be, in all the
piece of feldspar was probably that she had grades of school and college work, to secure the
been set to teach, besides geology, a medley of best, even at the cost of a somewhat ruthless
such subjects as physics, chemistry, botany, treatment of the indefensible popular notion.
zoology, astronomy, and human physiology. We must resolutely seek to subordinate the
Under the circumstances it would have been ideal of information to the ideal of discipline,
unreasonable to expect her to know feldspar by and be willing to relegate to personal tastes
sight; or, for that matter, to dissect a cat, or and later opportunities the acquisition of knowl-
perform an operation in quantitative analysis. edge upon many subjects of the highest scien-
Professor Tarr, in “ The Educational Review" tific importance. What is all-important to the
for June, gives us a delightful bit of personal student is a comprehension of the method of
experience with the system that produces sci- science; he may safely be left, if this is once
ence teachers who have never seen feldspar to given him, to possess himself of as much of the
know it. He says: “A short time ago, I found matter as his inclinations and interests may
a teacher in a normal school in the State of demand. A narrow but thorough discipline is
New York, who, with the aid of an assistant, was vastly better than a wide and discursive range
obliged to try to train teachers to impart instruc- of information. This may be got without the
tion in physiology, anatomy, zoology, botany, stimulus of a strictly-ordered programme; that


1896.]
9
THE DIAL
will hardly be acquired except under guidance acter.” Thackeray inspected human nature pretty
at school or college. Perhaps the best evidence narrowly in parts. He caught the peculiarities of
of the value of such a training as is here advo-
individuals. The trend of things was beyond him.
cated may be found in the higher education of The world was a great spectacle that drifted care-
the traditional English system. That system always picturesque. He did not occupy himself
lessly before his eyes, alternately pathetic or gay,
has often been charged with ignoring many
with grand passions or mighty sentiments. We
important intellectual interests, and there is no
forgive his limited vision “ because of the telling.”
doubt that it has done so. But its vindication
Not a page but has the merit of being readable.
may be found in the tyre of trained intellect Some cynics, indeed, are very interesting, and, once
that it has projected into the arena of public roused to the pitch of enthusiasm, delight beyond
life, and amply satisfies the judicious observer. measure. Jacques was a cynic, and how admirable,
when he bursts upon us with his
"A fool, a fool! I met a fool i' the forest,
A motley fool; a miserable world !"
THE CYNICISM OF THACKERAY AND
which, apart from Arden, has a very Thackerayan
THE SADNESS OF GEORGE ELIOT.
ring
It would be useless to deny that in the novels of Now George Eliot, with her profound moral pur-
Thackeray and George Eliot, if you go deep enough pose and grasp of life as a whole, was less free to
and pause to reflect, there is an undercurrent of charm us by the way. Superficial attractions are
cynicism or sadness. But one is very unfortunately not often coupled with such originality and power.
constituted who can see nothing in the great tender Leaving out of the question the critics, who have
heart of Thackeray but a love of depicting human generally managed to find an overflowing humor in
failings and shams, or who can overlook George her novels with the possible exception of “ Deronda,”
Eliot's exquisite play of humor and imagination, and vaguely granting that she was at heart a pes-
and impute to her everywhere an impenetrable sad-simist, shall we let her gloomy philosophy so reso-
ness. What we think of these authors will depend, lutely concealed, her unparaded despair, be the cri-
I fancy, on our passing mood no less than on the terion of our literary judgment? Is every novel
view of life we may have formulated for ourselves. predominantly sad? Shall there be no discrimina-
We are all optimists and pessimists by turns. We tion between her early and her late work? Shall
have our gray days and gold. There are times “ The Mill on the Floss” and “ Silas Marner” be
when our spiritual eye is shut, if not blinded, when classed with “ Middlemarch” and “ Deronda”? In
we are inclined to believe that meanness and snob “ Adam Bede,” do the quaint, brusque philosophy of
bery and unhappiness prevail: then Thackeray is no the workshop and the sketch of Chad's Bess and the
cynic to us, nor even a satirist, but a veritable inimitable wit of Mrs. Poyger count for nothing
realist. After some lively experience of human against the dark screen of passion? Who will say
rascality or baseness, we believe for the moment that is Middlemarch " is not as full of humor as of
that he drew Becky Sharp and the Marquis of the ironies of fate, with its Mr. Brooke, “who had
Steyne from life. Then we patch up the vagrant travelled in his younger years, and was held to have
shreds of his wisdom into a "philosophy," and, hav contracted a too rambling habit of mind”; with its
ing no better, affect with him “the vanity of all Mrs. Cadwallader, the rector's wife, who was "obliged
things and the enjoyment of as much as you can.” to get her meals by stratagem, and pray to heaven for
But the majority are, or like to think they are, con her salad oil "'; with its pompous Mr. Trumbull, who
stitutional optimists. To them Thackeray is a sat went through his illness“ much sustained by appli-
irist. They begrudge him the title of humorist. cation of the thermometer which implied the import-
They see too plainly “ black care behind the moody ance of his temperature, by the sense that he fur-
horseman.” His mirth proceeds from his melan nished objects for the microscope, and by learning
choly, which they cannot discern is “relieved by an many new words which seemed suited to the dignity
always present capacity for instant frolic.” They of his secretions." True, the enigmas of existence
deprive themselves of a great deal of pleasure by and destiny are in the background, constantly puz-
dubbing him “cynic,” or “sceptic” (as Mr. Whipple zling the logical sense and the imagination; but, as
preferred); and, insisting on these names, which one reads, he is quite as susceptible to the author's
imply a more or less elaborate system of unbelief, graces of style, her humor, her eloquence, her graphic
they do him an injustice. For was there ever a portrayal of character. As in life, so in a novel, it's
novelist who had less conception of principles, who the little things that make or mar an hour's enjoy-
inquired less earnestly into the meaning and par ment. One must feel that he is in agreeable com-
pose of phenomena? As well might we expect a pany. Be the story blithe and tactful, sparkling
close analysis of motives from Scott, who intended cheerily on the surface, he will, for the moment, be
“ Ivanhoe” to be "a tale of chivalry, not of char lulled to forget distressful problems, like the child
acter,” and said, “The world will not expect from in the old German fable who picked the berries
me a poem in which the interest turns on char that grew in the cleft of the rock, oblivious of the


10
[July 1,
THE DIAL
verse
abyss beneath, and of the fierce dragon lying in wait But difficult though it be, and remote from its class-
on the firm ground above.
ical namesake, our hexameter, a stumbling-block and a
But no thoughtful reader can, in the long run,
torture to classi scholars (e.g., to your critic), is ap-
Probably all of us
neglect the interpretation of the scroll. Anthony parently a favorite with the folk.
know people who listen more eagerly to “ Evangeline"
Trollope went so far as to assert that the object of
than to any other form of verse. This fact, and the
a novel should be to instruct in morals while it
metre's convenient length, are important arguments in
amuses." There is truth in the assertion, though its favor with the translator. Even the Hellenist will
it reverses the natural order, and “amuse " is too
agree, that the ignorant barbarian might better have
light a word to convey the serious artistic purpose of indicated for him, in some way, the end of the original
one who would portray human society or character.
the actual pause in the rhythm and the sense.
So very much is required of a great artist. No Once concede that translations have any function or use
wonder Thackeray did n't take himself seriously as
at all, and you must fairly face the question: What
a moralist! Most of his stories, all but “Esmond "
English rhythm, sufficiently dignified, lending itself at
all to faithful transfusion of the thought, will also per-
perhaps, read as if he began them with no certainty
of how they should come out. And yet they are,
mit us to show approximately the length of the original
verse ?
part by part, nobly perfect. Rather than call “Van-
The clashing couplets of Pope, the long lilt of Chap-
ity Fair" an “outrage on the constitution of the
man, and the placid iambic monotony of the blank verse
world,” or go to the other extreme and declare its
translators, have filled the ears, and prejudice the aud-
moral to be that “the Amelias of the world, with itor against Homer in English dactyls. Perhaps a fairer
all their simplicity and ignorance, will, in the long test may be reached on less familiar ground. Let me
ran, succeed better than the Becky Sharps,” is it not offer here (from an unpublished volume) Hesiod's open-
better first to inquire if it had a moral? Shall we
ing lines:
love him less if we find that he sought merely to
"Muses who came from Pieria, giving renown by your singing,
transcribe life as he observed it, extracting what
Come ye, and tell us of Zeus, and chant yo the praise of the
Father:
measure of humor he could for our entertainment?
He, who to mortal men has apportioned fame or oblivion :
Generous, guileless soul! How many of the novelists Named or nameless are they by the will of Zeus the eternal."
of to-day have exerted so beneficent an influence ? The difficulties become almost insuperable in the
It was a law of the Medes and Persians, worthy of elegiac stanza. Yet even there the instinct of imitation
all homage, never to speak evil of a man who had is strong. To lessen the strain on your type-font and
given you pleasure.
proof-reading, let me set here, not a bit of Greek, but a
GEORGE MERRIAM HYDE.
sextette of Catullus, and ask your critic (after demol-
ishing my faint far Saxon echo) to show us in what form
he himself would present to a sympathetic unclassical
reader the tender thought of the Roman friend:
COMMUNICATIONS.
“Si quicquam mutis gratum acceptumve sepulcris
Accidere a nostro, Calve, dolore potest,
THE PUZZLE OF ENGLISH HEXAMETERS.
Quo desiderio veteres renovamus amores,
(To the Editor of THE DIAL.)
Atque olim missas flemus amicitias,
Of course all intelligent critics agree that English
Certe non tanto mors immatura dolori est
Quintiliæ, quantum gaudet amore tuo."
hexameters, conforming to Greek or Latin rules of
“quantity by position," etc., are extremely difficult to
“If there is aught, O Calvus, which out of our agony offered,
compose. In the very example quoted approvingly by
Unto the voiceless dead grateful or welcome may be,
your reviewer of my “ Art and Humanity in Homer"
When we revive with insatiate longing our ancient affection,
When for the ties we lament, broken, that once have been
(THE DIAL, June 1) there are, not one, but four, vio-
lations of this very law! With the important additional Though Quintilia grieve for her own untimely departure,
burden of faithful adherence to an original text, any Yet in thy faithful love, greater, be sure, is her joy.
such attempt becomes ludicrously hopeless.
W. C. LAWTON.
But everyone feels, too, that English syllables are not
Brooklyn, N. Y., June 18, 1896.
actually long or short in accordance with any such“ law."
Quantity, in a sense, we have still, but largely variable,
SHAKESPEARE IN CHICAGO- A CORRECTION.
with many gradations, affected greatly by accent and
cadence,– partly even within the control of a judicious
(To the Editor of THE DIAL.)
reciter. All English verse in such metres—e. g., “Loch-
The change of two or three dates by the management
invar,” which is “anapæstic”. are read in about 3-8 of Mr. Daly's company, the week before last, makes
time, instead of 4-8, the accented part of each foot pre-
necessary some alterations in the ecor
nake-
dominating, a “dactyl " becoming (circa) a quarter-note,
spearian plays as printed in THE DIAL of June 16.
followed by two sixteenth-notes. Hence the chief dan-
Miss Reban's repertory of Shakespearian roles dur-
ger in the rhythm is that we may force into the latter
ing this June engagement was as follows: June 17,
half of a “dactyl " syllables so clearly long that they
“ Twelfth Night”; June 19, “ Midsummer Night's
resist the process of clipping required by the metre.
Dream "; June 20 (twice), “ Taming of the Shrew."
Longfellow is a great sinner in this regard, though
This reduces the performances of “Taming of the
“ Miles Standish” shows a rhythmical improvement
Shrew" from ten to eight, and makes the total number
upon « Evangeline.” Clough has utterly impossible lines of Shakespearian plays presented eighty-eight instead
in the “Bothie," but comparatively perfect verses in the
of ninety.
W. E. SIMONDS.
brief preludes of the “ Amours de Voyage.”
Galesburg, Ill., June 20, 1896.
ours,


1896.]
11
THE DIAL
Paris Vaudeville Theatre in 1863. The play
The New Books.
reads like a parody on Charles Lever—though
it undoubtedly aims actually to portray the
RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN.*
dashing and versatile author of "The Rivals.”
A synopsis of this truly Gallic production will
A good Life of Sheridan, such as Mr. W.
serve to show the quaint general resemblance
Fraser Rae now gives us, has long been needed.
of M. Langlé's conception of Sheridan to that
In his Introduction to the work, Lord Dufferin, floating vaguely in the minds of not a few of
the great-grandson of the brilliant orator and Sheridan's own countrymen.
dramatist, alludes to the special pleasure with
The opening scene shows a tavern-garden at
which
he read, some years ago, Mr. Rae's book Richmond, adjoining a race-course. The usual
on “Wilkes, Sheridan, and Fox,” adding that habitués “smart” people, sharpers, jockeys,
he then determined, should opportunity offer, peddlers, and so on — are assembled, among
to suggest to the author that he write a com-
them one “Susannah O'Donnor," who is sell-
plete biography of Sheridan. Presumably the ing lace cuffs. A young man (appropriately
suggestion was made ; and Lord Dufferin now
wearing an Oxford cap and gown) reels in, calls
expresses his entire satisfaction with its present for gin, and is chastely reproved for his condi-
outcome, attesting that the work has been un-
tion by Susannah. In his gratitude he tells her
dertaken and carried out with the cordial ap-
that his name is Richard Brinsley Sheridan,
proval and coöperation of Sheridan's descend-
and that he has left his university with high
ants. Whatever, he says, the family could do honors; that his plays have been rejected by
to facilitate Mr. Rae's labors has been done ;
the managers and his articles by the editors,
accuracy and impartiality, tempered by that that he is starving, and that he has resolved to
benevolence of treatment of which the most
drown his sorrows in punch. Susannah counsels
blameless stand in need and of which Sheridan prudence, and tells him to take the “waiting-
has hitherto seldom received the benefit, being seat " where jockeys remain until they are en-
all that they bargained for.
gaged. He does this, and presently overhears
“Mr. Algernon Sheridan, the present representative
the Marquis " de Champrosé” tell “Commo-
of the house, bas placed all the Sheridan papers at his
disposal. A certain uumber of contemporary memoirs,
dore Dunbar" that he can bring down a mayfly
which had not been published in Moore's time, have still on the wing with a bullet. The Commodore
further assisted him; while his own indefatigable energy trumps this by boasting that he used to amuse
in ascertaining dates, in sifting the loose statements of himself by shooting away the bowl of a pipe,
others, and in hunting up and down through England,
the stem of which a Polynesian chief obligingly
Ireland, and Scotland for any vestiges of Sheridan's
correspondence which may have been hidden away
held between his teeth, and offers to back him.
among the archives of the great Whig houses, has led self for forty pounds to repeat the trick then
to the discovery of many new and interesting facts.” and there, if a man can be found to hold the
Sheridan has hitherto fared hardly at the pipe. Sheridan volunteers, and, when the feat
hands of his biographers. Watkins's bungling is performed, gets the forty pounds. The
Life is justly styled by Lord Dufferin“ a piece Commodore's jockey disappearing opportunely,
of bookmaking of the worst type "; Moore's Sheridan takes his place, wins the race, and
narrative is perfunctory, grudging, and often receives a splendid diamond brooch. This he
inaccurate; Smyth's sketch is a nestful of libels; promptly hands to the “ Duchess of Cardwell,”
“Sheridiana” has probably next to nothing who has torn her sleeve and asks for a pin.
authentically Sheridian in it; while later writ- She declines to take a gift of such value, when
ers (with two or three brilliant exceptions, such Sheridan (remembering Raleigh) pulls out the
as Mr. Brander Matthews), drawing perforce diamond and throws it into the river, where-
on the old more or less dubious sources, have upon the Duchess relents and graciously con-
too seldom deviated into sense or matter of sents to use the pin. At last Sheridan, having
actual information. Nor have the playwrights bestowed two pounds on an Irish cock-fighter
been behindhand in swelling and embellishing and thirty-eight pounds on the clerk of the
the Sheridan myth. The most surprising at course, ends the day as poor as he began it,
tempt in this way is perhaps M. Langlé's “ Un and falls asleep on the "waiting-seat," where
Homme de Rien,” which had a long run at the he dreams of “Susannah O'Donnor.” His
fortunes rise at a bound, however, and we pres-
*SHERIDAN: A Biography. By W. Fraser Rae. With
Introduction by the Marquess of Dufferin and Ava. In two
ently find him a leading dramatist, with the
volumes, with portraits. New York: Henry Holt & Co. Prince of Wales for his friend and the Duch-


12
[July 1,
THE DIAL
ess of Cardwell” for his patron. Though fam that he had every attention and comfort which could
ous, he is still poor, and the Duchess sends him make a death-bed easy. . . . My mother has of course
two thousand pounds anonymously. Guessing which she has gone through. She attended my father
been thrown back dreadfully by the affliction and fatigue
that it comes from her, he returns the money, to the last, though ordered not to move from a sofa;
and the Duchess, not to be outdone in magnan while the painful scene lasted, the anxiety of her mind
imity, pitches the bills into the fire, saying: gave her, in spite of the pain she was in, a degree of
“You threw your diamond into the Thames ;
strength which astonished me; but as soon as it was
over she completely sunk under it.”
now we are quits.” Susannah
Susannah is engaged as a
lady's maid ; the Irish cock-fighter becomes
What appears to us a very just and sugges-
Sheridan's valet; and after a number of other
tive summary of a debated side of Sheridan's
character is contained in a statement made in
equally stirring and probable incidents, the
writing by Mr. Mulock to the late Honorable
curtain falls upon Sheridan as Prime Minister
Caroline Norton :
of England and husband of Susan O'Donnor"!*
“ To extol Sheridan's unrivalled superiority over his
Such is the conception of the great Whig great contemporaries (with the single exception of his
orator and statesman which the French dram-
countryman Burke) is needless. In variform power of
atist managed to draw from long current au mind he excelled them all, and also in independence of
thorities. It is surely high time that a serious, spirit. Where he most failed as a public man was in
searching, and impartial Life of Sheridan
his Irish yieldingness to Anglo-Saxon assumption and
should be written -- one that may serve defin- grateful party, he became (unwittingly) a splendid
arrogance. Binding himself too implicitly to an un-
itively to disengage his image from the mass of drudge without permanent pay. Much of what is called
idle fable and party calumny which has so long Sheridan's improvidence arose ply from the fact that
encrusted it that, in the opinion of one author-
his position was always higher than his pecuniary re-
sources. He contracted debt, not in anticipation of real
ity, “the real Sheridan has disappeared for-
income, but on the strength of contingent expectations,
ever.” To this task Mr. Fraser Rae has very not often fulfilled; and yet, bis entire liabilities, if
successfully applied himself; and his book may summed up, would have been wiped away by a tithe of
be fairly styled a substantial addition to his the ostentatious bounty lavished on Fox and offered to
tory and literature. While his narrative is by helping hand to Sheridan. In his necessities he walked
Pitt. No one, as you justly remark, ever held out a
no means to be regarded as an apologia, due alone. .. Sheridan was not a dishonest man, but his
space is given to refuting in detail and with pride of place' (not however with a placeman's cer-
irresistible cogency calumnies for which Sher tainties) involved him in engagements which he failed
idan, as an active party man at a time when
to keep, and those failures, by constant recurrence, en-
such weapons were counted legitimate in polit-
gendered a fatal familiarity with promise-breaking.
The world past and present overflows with such in-
ical warfare, was a shining mark. One notable stances, but on a much larger scale of indebtedness than
story of the kind, which Mr. Rae explodes for
poor Sheridan's.”
all time, is Croker's familiar account (based on The fact is, Sheridan's debts were never con-
details furnished him by George IV.) of Sher- siderable, and at his death were not much above
idan's last days. This precious tale is replete five thousand pounds. This sum, however,
with revolting particulars, and represents the was owed to a great number of people — petty
dying Whig leader lying on a truckle-bed in tradesmen, mainly,
tradesmen, mainly, who had systematically
an attic, in want of the commonest necessities, robbed the large-hearted, easy-going Irishman
neglected by everybody, his wife included; and while he lived, and who moved heaven and
The real facts are set forth in a letter, earth with their plaints against him when he
now made public for the first time, from Sber was dead. Mr. Rae states that when Sheridan's
idan's son Charles, who was with him to the affairs were strictly investigated it was found
last, to an elder brother then at the Cape of that for every twenty shillings which he owed,
Good Hope. Charles Sheridan writes : his creditors had received thirty. Thus these
“You will be soothed by learning that our father's leeches, having sucked their victim dry, cursed
death was unaccompanied by suffering, that he almost
slumbered into death, and that the reports which yon
his incapacity to yield more blood.
That there have been few men more careless
may have seen in the newspapers of the privations and
the want of comforts which he endured are unfounded;
of the maxim “A penny saved is a penny
* 4 compatriot of M. Langlé, M. Fr. Febre, has recently gained” than Sheridan, and that the tradesmen
blundered amusingly about Sheridan. Writing from America, he dealt with were cheerfully ready to profit by
as special correspondent, he stated that soon after reaching the fact, certain extant accounts against him
New York he visited Daly's Theatre, where he saw "The
Critic,” by Sheridan. He adds: “La pièce est une adaptation
show. For instance:
d'un ouvrage Allemand — doux mélange de poudding et de “ William Smith charged him £3 15s. for pomatum
choucroute." (Le Gaulsis Aug. 18, 1895.)
and hair powder from May to December, while the
so on.


1896.]
13
THE DIAL
99
charge for hair-cutting was ās. each time and 2s.6d. for
SOME RECENT BOOKS OF TRAVEL.*
dressing. In a bill of C. Weltje, dated 1784, three
bottles of champagne are charged at the same fancy Mr. W. A. Chanler, in his “ Through Jungle
price as a novel in three volumes is now, that is £1 11s.
and Desert,” describes a journey taken in com-
6d.; a • Perrigo pie'is £3 3s.; strawberries at the mid-
dle of July are charged 3s. a pottle, and cherries, when
pany with Lieutenant von Höhnel through
most plentiful, 5s. 6d. the pound.”
an unexplored section of Northeast Africa.
In fine, Sheridan seems to have paid his Though the expedition was “ purely in the
butcher, bis fruiterer, his wine-dealer, his
interest of science,” the book is chiefly a pop-
per-
ruquier, etc., in toto about a third more than
ular description, the only very obvious scientific
he honestly owed them; yet it is mainly the results being the fine maps prepared by Lieu-
recorded clamors of these gentry over their
tenant von Höhnel. But barring some minor
“ little bills ” outstanding at the time of his
criticism, this is a well-prepared book of travels,
death which have moved inconsiderate biog-
and describes some important discoveries, nota-
raphers to insult his memory with their misap bly that of the Rendile, who were straight-haired
plied moralizing. For Sheridan was an essen-
and blue-eyed, and seemed to the author “ the
tially honest (if often culpably heedless) man,
most original and interesting of all the strange
the life-long dupe of dishonest men ; an un-
and different peoples met in East Africa."
bought politician in an age when venality was
“ They are a tall, thin race, reddish-brown in color,
with soft, straight, and closely cropped hair, features
the rule; a statesman who could boast with
almost Caucasian in their regularity, and fierce blue
truth to his wife : “My price is not on this
eyes. They were clad in well-tanned robes of goat or
earth to do otherwise than what was right and sheep skin, which they threw gracefully over their
go straight forward.” It is easy, says Becky
shoulders. They were armed with short spears, or well-
Sharp, to be virtuous on five thousand a year.
made bows of a shape very different from those I had
heretofore seen in East Africa, the ends being curved
Sheridan's virtue as a public man had no such outward, as in the Asiatic bow; and their arrows were
comfortable prop. Dependent upon his own not tipped with poison. ... The warriors rarely car-
exertions for a livelihood, he had counted the ried shields; a few, however, had them. These were
cost of being true to his convictions, saying curious in shape; some were made of woven twigs, others
of oryx hide.... Nearly all the warriors painted their
once to Lord Byron :
faces with a white clay, which lent ferocity to their
It is
easy
for
my
Lord G. or Earl G. or Marquess B., appearance. They all wore their hair cut short, and I
with thousands upon thousands a year, to boast
was much struck by the fact that it appeared perfectly
of their patriotism and keep aloof from temptation; but straight and of fine texture."
they do not know from what temptation those have kept Mr. Chanler's style is clear and in general cor-
aloof, who had equal pride, or at least equal talents, and
not unequal passions, and nevertheless knew not in the rect, and on the whole he has given us a dis-
course of their lives what it was to have a shilling of tinctly valuable and entertaining work, both as
their own."
a detailed account of travel in unexplored ter-
Mr. Rae has told the romantic and diversified ritory and as a narration of remarkable adven-
story of Sheridan's career well and temperately * THROUGH JUNGLE AND DESERT: Travels in Eastern
- though perhaps his final conclusion that Africa. By William Astor Chanler, A.M. (Harv.), F.R.G.S.,
“Sheridan is the greatest dramatist since
Honorary Member of the Imperial and Royal Geographical
Society of Vienna. With numerous illustrations from photo-
Shakespeare, and the greatest orator who ever
graphs taken by the author, and maps. New York: Mac-
addressed the House of Commons,” is open to millan & Co.
exception. His book at once takes its place as
MADAGASCAR IN WAR-TIME. By E. F. Knight. With a
the standard one on the subject
the one in
map and illustrations. New York: Longmans, Green, & Co.
IN INDIA. By André Chevrillon; translated by William
which the real Sheridan, as contradistinguished Marchant. With photogravure frontispiece. New York:
from the half-mythical Sheridan of previous Henry Holt & Co.
THE HEART OF A CONTINENT: A Narrative of Travels in
memoirs, is portrayed with all attainable clear-
Manchuria, the Himalayas, etc., 1884-1894. By Captain
To release this brilliant and singularly Frank E. Younghusband, C.I.E. Illustrated. New York:
winning and humane figure from the region of Imported by Charles Scribner's Sons.
On Snow-SHOES TO THE BARREN GROUNDS. Twenty-six
largely calumnious fiction was a worthy task;
Hundred Miles after Musk-Oxen and Wood Bison. By Caspar
and Mr. Rae has done it so satisfactorily as to Whitney. Illustrated from drawings by Frederic Remington,
render fault-finding both difficult and ungra G. H. Heming, and from photographs. New York: Harper
cious. The volumes are handsomely made * CURL AND THE CUBANG. By Raimundo Cabrera; trans-
throughout, and contain a number of attractive lated by Laura Guiteras ; revised and edited by Louis Edward
portraits, several of them after originals by Levy. "Illustrated. Philadelphia: The Levytype Co.
VENEZUELA: A Land Where It's Always Summer. By
Reynolds, Gainsborough, and Hoppner.
William Eleroy Curtis. With map. New York: Harper &
E. G. J. Brothers.
66
ness.


14
[July 1,
THE DIAL
tures not only with wild men but wild beasts. narrates its author's experiences, impressions,
The most troublesome of the latter were the and opinions as correspondent for the London
rhinoceroses, which were numerous and aggres “ Times” during the late invasion of the island
sive. During one march of eighteen days more by the French. Mr. Knight had an interest-
than a hundred of them were seen, and twenty- ing overland journey of over five hundred miles,
five of them charged the caravan.
from Fort Dauphin to the capital, Antanana-
“One of these charges proved fatal. It was in the rivo, where he remained for some months, until
early morning. We were in need of meat, and seeing after its capture by General Duchesne. The
a giraffe in front I fired a shot at it from my Winchester.
account is written in the direct, matter-of-fact,
The report awoke two rhinoceroses taking a morning
nap, not fifty feet to the left of the caravan, and in close
aggressive, cocksure style of the English news-
proximity to the porters. In a moment loud cries of paper correspondent. However, the work has
* Faro! Faro!' (Rhinoceros!) were heard, and looking considerable value and interest as an evidently
back I saw my men scattering in all directions, but no fair and trustworthy report upon the country
rhinoceros. Soon from among the mass of my men I saw
one of their number shot up into the air to the height
and its peoples, and also upon the status of
of twenty feet, and presently there emerged from the
Christian missions in Madagascar. Mr.Knight,
crowd a rhinoceros with horn lowered to the earth. . . while he concedes a considerable value to the
Owing to the massing of my men, I was unable to shoot work of the missionaries, is severely critical,
until the fleeing negroes had passed within a few feet of
and finds little to praise in the character of the
me, and the rhinoceros was almost upon them. I
gave
him a shot from my Winchester; it seemed to have no
Hovas, who are the chief converts. However,
effect but to cause him to make a perceptible gain upon the Hovas quickly acquire certain aspects of
my men. His horn appeared to be within a few inches of civilization, and they show much taste for ora-
them, when a second and more fortunate shot from my
tory and music. Mr. Knight was also favor-
rifle broke bis fore leg, and brought him to the ground.
He fell but three paces from where I stood. Not know ably impressed by the school he visited, and by
ing where I had struck him, and seeing him fall, I
a dedicatory church service he attended. The
thought he was dead; but when I approached him he Queen bore herself with due dignity at this
rose on his hind legs and supported himself with his meeting ; but not so the ladies of her suite.
head, madly snorting all the while. Seeing he could
“ The
not move, I left him and ran back to see what had hap-
little maids of honor who surrounded me
poor
pened in the rear of the caravan."
were evidently not at all comfortable. They put on
their gorgeous Parisian attire only on great occasions,
The hunting-dogs were found very useful in such as this was, and never thoroughly accustom them-
these encounters with the rhinoceros, attacking selves to the confinement of stays, shoes, socks, and
the huge beast with great ferocity and holding gloves. Several of the young ladies fidgeted about, and
his attention so that the riflemen were able to
at last one, who sat immediately in front of me, could
support the pain no longer. After glancing over her
approach and shoot at close range. The only shoulder at me with a demure smile, she proceeded to
animal which filled the dogs with timidity was take off her shoes, and then tried to unbook the back of
the lion; though once the whole canine pack was
her dress. She found some difficulty in doing this, and
put to flight by a group of dog-faced baboons.
I was wondering whether it would be a breach of Hova
etiquette for me to assist her in the operation, when a
The curious incident is thus described :
fair maiden came to her rescue.”
“We first heard the baboons barking, and finally came
in sight of them, running along for all the world like M. André Chevrillon, in his book entitled
school-children on a holiday. The young ones were “In India,” presents a series of letters describ-
playing together, carefully watched by their elders, who
ing the usual round of tourist's sights, but writ-
preserved the most staid demeanor. Upon catching
sight of them, the dogs rushed at the band in a furious
ten with a certain Gallic intensity and origin-
manner. The young ones fled, but two or three old gen ality which will interest many. His sketches
tlemen with bushy whiskers and benignant eyes seated are slight yet artistic impressions, are full of
themselves upon their bams and gazed unruffled at the air and color, and are vivid, tense, and delicate
enemy. The dogs dashed on, but their barks became
in style, reminding one of M. Bourget's “ Outre
less determined, and their steps more cautious, as they
neared, and realized the dignity of the animals they
Mer.” The translation appears to be well done.
were to attack. These made no sign, but calmly awaited
M. Chevrillon is evidently an open-minded,
their charge. Having reached a point within fifteen cultured Parisian, and his observations, though
feet of them, the courage of the dogs seem to ooze rap in general none too accurate and thorough,
idly from them. Frightened perhaps by the steady and
philosophic stare with which the apes regarded them,
often show insight. Thus, this remark (p. 89)
they turned tail, and with crestfallen manner retreated
is full of suggestiveness :
to the caravan.
“ Every day, for more than twenty-five hundred years,
since Buddhism was a protest against the tyranny and
Another entertaining work on Africa is Mr. absurdity of rites, has this race mechanically passed
Knight's " Madagascar in War-Time,” which through this machinery, resulting in what mental mal-


1896.]
15
THE DIAL
formations, what habitual attitudes of mind and will, Shoes to the Barren Grounds," Mr. Caspar
the race is now too different from ourselves for us to be
able to conceive. A negro, a Terra del Fuegan savage,
Whitney gives us an account which is in the
resembles us more than do these people. The negro
main a reprint of his recent articles in “Har-
is
more simple than we, nearer to the life of the animals; per's Magazine.” Mr. Whitney's trip was an
but if we divest ourselves of the unstable acquirements unusually arduous one, being made in the win-
of our civilization, we discover, concealed, yet alive in ter; and he writes of it in such a graphic and
the contrary, the Hindu soul is as completely developed vigorous way that this volume is bound to ap-
the contrary, the Hindu soul is as completely developed peal strongly to lovers of travel. For instance,
tirely different. It is stupefying to see the crowd of his account of his killing of his first musk-ox
ideas, according to us incoherent and absurd, that form (p. 221) is very vivid. The musk-oxen, hav-
the substance of their minds."
ing been sighted, all his party were off pell-
Captain F. E. Younghusband's “ The Heart mell; but Mr. Whitney became separated from
of a Continent" is a very simple personal nar-
his Indians in the chase over the unending
rative of varied wanderings in Manchuria, ridges.
China, Chinese Turkestan, and in the Hima “As I reached the bottom of each ridge, it seemed to
layas, and these mostly in little known or un-
me I could not struggle to the top, even though a thou-
known territory. However, he has not suc-
sand musk-oxen awaited my coming. I was in a dripping
perspiration, and had dropped my capote and cartridge-
ceeded in presenting us with as valuable or
belt, after thrusting half-a-dozen cartridges into my
interesting a book of travels as his achieve- pockets. Everything waltzed about me. I ran on and
ments and experiences would lead us to expect. on in a sort of stupor, until, as I got to the top of a little
Much of the present book is a rather uninter- ridge, I saw two musk-oxen a hundred yards ahead, and
esting, condensed, matter-of-fact itinerary; and
running easily though directly from me. I swung my
rifle into position and dropped on my knee for surer aim.
even in describing his chief exploit, the cross Heavens ! my hand shook so that the front sight trav-
ing of the Old Mustagh Pass, he is much too elled all over the horizon, and my heart thumped against
modest and reserved a writer to make a very
my side as though it would burst. For a moment I
entertaining story. On the whole, the descrip- the fore sight for an instant held true--a quick aim-
rested to get my breath — and then another attempt -
tive chapter on Chitral, the suggestive chapter and I pressed the trigger. With what a feeling of ex-
on Christian missions in China, and the chap- ultation as I saw my quarry stagger and then drop.”
ter of “ Impressions,” will be found of most
“ Cuba and the Cubans " gives the Cuban
interest to the general reader. The book has
version of the causes of the present revolt, in-
a considerable value to the geographer, and the veighs with great fervor against Spanish abuses,
political student will find some light thrown on
and vindicates the Cubans against Spanish
the relations of China, Russia, and England in
aspersions. While this book is of interest as
the Himalayan region. There are also some
an expression of Cuban patriotism, it is neither
good descriptions of wild life, from which we
full nor trustworthy as a history and descrip-
will quote a short account of the manner in
which eagles are captured among the Kirghiz information in a bare statement only (p. 429),
tion. For instance we have the astonishing
- a nomadic tribe scattered through the open
that in the Cuban insurrection of the seventies
valleys of the Pamirs. These people use eagles - 200,000 Spanish privates” and “8000 Span-
for hawking purposes, even for securing small
ish officers' lost their lives ! The book is rather
deer ; and they capture the birds by the strange poorly printed and illustrated.
method of riding them down.
“When I first saw a man starting off to gallop down an
Mr. W. E. Curtis, in his work on Venezuela,
eagle, I thought he must be mad. We had seen two eagles presents a general sketch based mostly on per-
on the ground in the distance, and as soon as the Kirghizsonal observation. It is written in a fluent and
caught sight of them he set off wildly after them. They, interesting though often careless style, and the
of course, rose on seeing him, but he went careering
down the valley after one of them, till gradually the
tone is reportorial and superficial. The informa-
bird sank down to the ground. It was, in fact, gorged
tion afforded is sometimes patently inaccurate ;
with the flesh of the carcass it had been feeding on, and thus, the torpedo is called a “curious snake'
could no longer fly. The Kirghiz dismounted, seized (p. 224), and the Trinidad Pitch Lake is said
. hold of the bird, bound his waistcloth round and round
to furnish “ the world's supply of asphaltum ”
the body and wings till he had made it up into a neat
parcel, and then tucked it under his arm, mounted, and (p. 228). We also have the amazing state-
rode back to me. He said that if it turned out to be a ment that the Orinoco “ 240 miles from the
good one for hawking, he might get two hundred rupees sea” « is four and a half miles wide and 360
for it."
feet deep” (p. 233). But in the absence of
In the handsome volume entitled “On Snow more thorough books on Venezuela, this volume
.


16
[July 1,
THE DIAL
"A
is of considerable value and interest. The ap where they were seen.
A few of the papers
pendix contains the recent diplomatic docu first appeared in the “ Atlantic Monthly.”
ments on the Venezuelan controversy, viz., Mrs. Olive Thorne Miller departs somewhat
President Cleveland's message, Secretary Ol- from her usual path in “ Four-Handed Folk.”
ney's instructions to Mr. Bayard, and the reply Here she tells us about various members of the
of the Marquis of Salisbury.
monkey family, several of which have been
HIRAM M. STANLEY. pets of her own or of her friends. Among the
varieties mentioned are the kinkajou, the lemur,
the marmoset, the chimpanzee, and the spider
monkey. The sketches are most amusing, and
STORIES AND STUDIES OF NATURE.*
instructive as well, for familiarity and close
Mr. Bradford Torrey has added to his group observation have shown the author many new
of books on birds, the last of which was
facts concerning these interesting animals. We
Florida Sketch-Book," another, the fruits of a
are equally entertained, whether we read of
summer vacation spent in the South, with the pigmy marmosets, monkeys so tiny that two
title “Spring Notes from Tennessee." This
can carry on a battle royal in the palm of one's
time he has visited the battle-fields of Eastern hand, or of “ Mr. Crowley,” the famous chim-
Tennessee, the city of Chattanooga, and the panzee of Central Park in New York City, who
neighboring woods and bills. The titles of
sat at table and ate like a human being. Sev-
some of the chapters “ An Idler on Mission-
eral of the pets of whom these stories are told
ary Ridge,” “Lookout Mountain, ' “ Chicka-
were kept in a girls' school in South America
mauga, “ Orchard Knob and the National
- a country where such companions are far
Cemetery,
”“ A Week on Walden's Ridge' more common than here; and the adventures
will give an idea of the scope of the book. Like related are sometimes quite exciting. The pets
its predecessors, it consists of somewhat de- all received the tenderest of care, and became,
tailed accounts of days spent in the search for
we are told, very friendly and affectionate,
unfamiliar species of birds, or familiar ones in in many cases, too much so for the owner's com-
new haunts; and he who charmed us with the fort. Many mischievous pranks these favored
sights and sounds of " The Footpath Way “ beasties "played, as the following will show :
now charms us equally with what he saw and
“A favorite plaything with the lemur was a window-
heard in spots remote from his New England shade. He began by jumping up to the fringe, seizing
home, but no less beautiful. To what pleasant it, and swinging back and forth. One day he learned by
paths he has lured us will be seen from his
accident that he could set it off,' and then his extreme
pleasure was to snatch at it with so much force as to
own words :
start the spring, when he instantly let go and made one
“ The place, besides, was alive with singing birds. . . bound to the other side of the room, or to the mantel,
It was an exciting moment. Luckily, a man can look where he sat, looking the picture of innocence, while the
and listen both at once. Here was a fringe-tree, a noble released shade sprang to the top and went over and over
specimen, hung with creamy-white plumes; here was a the rod. We could never prevent his carrying out this
magnolia, with big leaves and big flowers; and here was little programme, and we drew down one shade only to
a flowering dogwood, not to be put out of countenance have him slyly set off another the next instant."
in any company; but especially, here were the rhodo-
dendrons! And all the while, deep in the thickest of
We leave the book with the feeling that we too
the bushes, some unknown bird was singing a strange,
for a little while — would like to have a tiny
breathless jumble of a song, note tripping over note." four-handed friend ; but perhaps, after all, such
To the student of nature, the book will recall companionship is more agreeable to read about
pleasant reminiscences of his own bird-haunts, than to experience.
and afford him also new facts for comparison.
Mr. Slade, in his " Evolution of Horticulture
The author has appended to the book a list of in New England,” has entered upon a some-
birds seen during this visit, both common and
what new field. His little book, which is most
scientific names being given, with localities attractively gotten up, is evidently the result
SPRING NOTES FROM TENNESSEE. By Bradford Torrey. of much patient research among old archives,
Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co.
and traces the history of horticulture from the
FOUR-HANDED FOLK, By Olive Thorne Miller. Boston:
Houghton, Mifflin & Co.
earliest attempts at planting in this country
EVOLUTION OF HORTICULTURE IN NEW ENGLAND. By down to the present day, with its fine park sys-
Daniel Denison Slade. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons.
tems, botanical gardens, and horticultural soci-
NOTES OF THE NIGHT, AND OTHER OUTDOOR SKETCHES.
By Charles Conrad Abbott, M.D. New York: The Cen-
eties. There is a preliminary sketch of the
art, showing how it had progressed in England
tury Co.


1896.]
17
THE DIAL
99
up to the time when our forefathers left the tramp “out of the beaten path,” to a pictur-
“old home,” and describing the authors and esque mill; of an old barn, and its inhabitants,
writings whose influence was upon them when plant and animal ; and of many other pleasant
they first began to make gardens in the wilder- saunterings, in the course of which sharp eyes
ness. The author quotes from many an old discovered and a ready pen has described many
document; and most quaint and readable are beautiful and odd things which the ordinarily
the accounts drawn from these sources, with unobservant pedestrian might never see. The
a bloom as of the old gardens of which they last essay in the book is on Thoreau, and in it
tell. Witness the following: “ This place hath Dr. Abbott defends from his friends the man
very good land, affording rich Corne-fields, and who was in some ways our closest student of
fruitefull Gardens : having likewise sweete and nature.
pleasant springs.” Coming down to more re “The quickest way to send the world to perdition
cent times, Mr. Slade describes some of the would be to make all men lead professional lives; and
chief show-places in and around Boston,- es-
the positive curse under which we now rest is that the
absurdity is taught by parents to infants, and by teach-
tates the beauty of whose grounds has kept their
ers to scholars, that the true or best life is that of the
fame alive. He also devotes some space to the preëminently learned, and that no dignity or honor or
three forms of modern landscape gardening, - worthy reward of any kind comes to him who lives clos-
the Beautiful, or Gardenesque; the Picturesque;
est to Nature, and so most remote from the centres of
civilization."
and the Formal, or Geometrical. “In the con-
EDITH GRANGER.
sideration of the gardening art,” he tells us,
“ wherever it is to be employed, it must be de-
termined how closely nature and art can be re-
lated to each other. ... The individual who
RECENT FICTION.*
truly loves nature will be guided by following “ The whole of this chapter may be safely
out her schemes, which vary indefinitely, and skipped,” says the author of “Kriegspiel” in a foot-
he will thus be led to the exercise of original note that occurs midway in the novel. We ventare
thought.” The book closes with a brief notice to say that no one who has reached the chapter in
of the work and value of the various horticul- question will be likely to take the advice, or feel
tural societies of to-day.
anything but regret at the prospect of ever finish-
“ Notes of the Night, and Other Outdoor ing so fascinating a volume. Nr. Francis Hindes
Sketches," by Dr. Charles C. Abbott, is a group
Groome, the author, is not a novelist by profession
and is little known to the general reader. The rem-
of delightful essays, three of which have ap-
iniscences of Edward FitzGerald, in “Two Suffolk
peared in “Lippincott's Magazine,” from an
Friends,” published a year or so ago, will be remem-
author whose words and opinions are always bered by those who were fortunate enough to come
welcome. Such a lover of out-of-doors life is
upon the book; while another work, “In Gypsy
he, such a keen observer, such a delver into Tents,” has found its way to the shelves of all who
out-of-the-way places, that we watch with much are curious concerning the Romany folk. As for
interest to see what he will find next to tell us.
KRIEGSPIEL. The War Game. By Francis Hindes
He never tires of giving us good advice, which Groome. New York: Ward, Lock & Bowden.
far too few of us follow. For example: “De-
WEIR OF HERMISTON. An Unfinished Romance by Robert
Louis Stevenson. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
termine beforehand whither you will ramble,
BRISEIS. A Novel. By William Black. New York: Har-
and make an early start.”—“No walk is so
per & Brothers.
successful as that in which we make a discov. CLARA HOPGOOD. By Mark Rutherford. Edited by his
ery.”—“It is a sad mistake to become only a
friend Reuben Shapcott. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co.
THE PREMIER AND THE PAINTER. A Fantastic Romance.
reader. One excellent book is the blank By I. Zangwill. Chicago : Rand, McNally & Co.
one, to be filled by our own hands"; and other THE VANISHED EMPEROR. By Percy Andreae. Chicago:
like words. But, since we cannot all leave our
Rand, McNally & Co.
duties in the dusty city, Dr. Abbott brings for
THE SEATS OF THE MIGHTY. By Gilbert Parker. New
York: D. Appleton Co.
our delectation the fruits of his own rambles, BEYOND THE PALÆOCRYSTIC SEA; or, The Legend of Hal-
and pleasant fruits they are. He tells us of fjord. By A. S. Morton. St. Paul: E. W. Porter Co.
moonlight strolls over fields and through woods,
SUMMER IN ARCADY. A Tale of Nature. By James Lane
Allen. New York: Macmillan & Co.
in summer and winter; of floating on the river
THE QUICKSANDS OF PACTOLUS. A Novel. By Horace
under the starlit sky, with an old recluse for Annesley Vachell. New York: Henry Holt & Co.
companion, identifying the notes of birds and A LADY OF QUALITY. By Frances Hodgson Burnett.
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
insects and fish; of adventures in a boat on a
DR. WARRICK'S DAUGHTERS. A Novel. By Rebecca
flooded meadow “when grass is green ”; of a Harding Davis. New York: Harper & Brothers.
.
.


18
[July 1,
THE DIAL
“Kriegspiel,” it is a Romany novel with an evident in, or rather drags in, most of the puns and other
basis of fact and even of autobiography. We do not witticisms that he has picked up at the clubs since
hesitate to say that it has but a single peer of its his last preceding story was published, and pakes
class, and that, it is hardly necessary to add, is of the whole an agreeable enough sort of pastiche.
Borrow's immortal “Lavengro.” The title is a There is a certain earnestness about the work of
mere whim, and is taken from the chimerical de “ Mark Rutherford” that commands respect and
sign of one of the characters, who has great preten- compels interest, despite the heavy solemnity of its
sions as a wire-puller, and who aims at nothing less manner, and the narrowness of the life with which
than the restoration of a Stuart to the English throne it deals. “Clara Hopgood " is a story of the for-
this, mind you, in the year of grace 1870, or ties, and the scene is laid in a small English town.
thereabouts. But the plan thus suggested is not of The people concerned barely escape being common-
the real texture of the narrative, which is for the place, and the motive that determines the course of
most part concerned with happenings that do not the heroine at a critical juncture is almost unintel-
transcend the limits of the possible, and with people ligible. Certainly, we can have slight sympathy
who might seem commonplace were it not for the with a girl who allows herself to be betrayed, and
extraordinary power and subtlety of their charac then refuses the reparation freely offered. The
terization. Although there is a good deal of Gipsy study of this situation has a considerable degree of
life in the book, and although this is its most dis- psychological subtlety, and perhaps that was about
tinctive feature, the interest is nevertheless richly all the author aimed to accomplish.
varied, for we have at once a tale of mystery, a Some ten years ago, there was published in En-
study of manners, a philosophical romance, and a gland, over the name of J. Freeman Bell, a novel
very charming example of prose style. There is entitled “The Premier and the Painter.” It now
about the whole affair an indescribable mixture of appears that the name of the author was assumed,
shrewdness, geniality, and penetrating observation, that the work was a joint production of two pens,
sufficient to furnish a dozen ordinary novelists with and that the greater part of it was written by Mr.
their stock-in-trade, yet here lavished upon
the
pages Israel Zangwill. An American edition of the novel
of a single volume. The book is one of the most has just been published, making it, for our public at
remarkable that has come to our attention of recent least, to all intents and purposes a new work of fic-
years.
tion. The story is extremely difficult of character-
We cannot agree with Mr. Sidney Colvin in ization. In the first place, it is inordinately long,
claiming for the “Weir of Hermiston” fragment and probably no human being could read, without
the highest place among Stevenson's writings. Had generous omissions, its five hundred closely-printed
the work been completed in accordance with the pages. It has, moreover, all the faults of prolixity,
design sketched out by his friend and literary exec confusion, bad taste, and feebleness of wit that are
utor it might, indeed, have surpassed "Kidnapped found in Mr. Zangwill's later work, and that debar
and “Catriona"; but the fragment which we pos the writer from any very serious consideration at
sess offers nothing more than a promise or a pos the hands of the critic. Yet it has, too, brilliant
sibility of such preëminence. In elaboration of passages and episodes, a plot of extraordinary inge-
style, we think it may safely be said that the frag- nuity, and bits of characterization that would not
ment equals, if it does not surpass, the best of Stev have been unworthy of Dickens. It is well described
enson's earlier work, but there the praise must end. a fantastic romance,” for nothing more fantastic
As far as it goes, “ Weir of Hermiston” is not strik was ever conceived than the “tangle of tragi-comic
ingly interesting, and it is marred by digressions situations” resulting from the confused identity of
that one is strongly tempted to skip, or, at least, to two men one the Prime Minister of England and
hurry over.
The element of dialect is more prom-
the other a man of the people - whose striking
inent in this tale than Mr. Stevenson was wont to personal resemblance makes it possible for each to
make it, and a glossary is actually required to make play the other's part for a time, until the assassina-
the text intelligible. This stumbling-block, together tion of the pretended statesman forces the real
with the others touched upon, makes it difficult to statesman to forsake his disguise, and reappear in
attribute to anything but personal friendship, deep- public life just after the consignment to the Abbey
ened by the sense of recent loss, Mr. Colvin's hasty of what have been supposed to be his remains. The
dictum concerning the rank of this book among its garrulity and riotous diction of the whole thing give
fellows.
constant offence to a reader of trained literary in-
Mr. Black's novels are always pleasant reading, stinct, yet in spite of the offence, the interest grows,
and now and then surprise us by the revelation of and his perseverence is rewarded by the tension of
an unexpected strength. “ Briseis ” is not one of positive excitement as he approaches the close. It
these exceptional examples, but simply a pretty love is a curious, and, whatever its faults, anything but a
story of the approved pattern, with plenty of High- conventional book.
land scenery, and enough perplexities to keep the Mr. Percy Andreae's “ The Vanished Emperor"
plot going. The hero is a very familiar friend, but has a plot that recalls, in a way, that of “ The Double
the heroine is given a slight dash of originality by Emperor” of Mr. W. Laird Clowes. In both stories,
her Greek name and parentage. The author works the Emperor of Germany is the central figure, and
as


1896.)
19
THE DIAL
may
in both, also, his disappearance from his capital re but examination of the book does not show Mr. A.
sults in grave domestic and foreign complications. S. Morton, its author, to be possessed of a very
Mr. Andreae, however, does not kidnap his hero, remarkable literary gift. The story is of a Norse
but withdraws him from his court to marry, under chieftain, forced by the victorious progress of Har-
an assumed name, the woman whom he loves, and ald Haarfager to seek a new home for himself and
who, as an ardent Hanoverian partisan, would have his followers, and finding for that purpose a land
scorned a suit conducted in his own person. The far to the North, within the sea that certain explor-
mystery of the Emperor's disappearance is well sus ers have imagined to exist about the North Pole.
tained, but the network of intrigue is a little too The story is the ultra-romantic type dear to youth,
complicated to be easily grasped even after the facts and is told in the most amateurish way. Both sen-
have been exposed. The story drags a good deal at timent and language are of the nineteenth century
times, and goes in for too much description and rather than of the ninth. The book is prettily
irrelevant detail. But it is a clever piece of work, printed and bound.
written in plain straightforward style, and having The unclean sort of fiction that has come to us in
much variety of interest. There is something fas 80 great a volume of recent years, sheltering itself
cinating about such studies in conjectural politics, behind such convenient phrases as “realism,” “ the
even when they have only a moderate literary value. return to nature,” and “art for art's sake,” has
Those who have wished that Mr. Gilbert Parker evoked many a protest from the moralist ; but pro-
might find in some work de longue haleine an op tests against any marked tendency in public taste
portunity for full display of the remarkable talents are apt to fall, for the time, upon unheeding ears.
evinced by his shorter stories and sketches of French Such tendencies have to work themselves out, and
Canada may now congratulate him upon the pub- there are happily in the present case indications of
lication of a novel that amply justifies their expec an approaching reaction. Better than any set pro-
tations. “The Seats of the Mighty” is one of the test is such a book as Mr. James Lane Allen's “Sum-
most noteworthy examples of historical fiction that mer in Arcady," which vindicates for art the right
have come to us, even in these years that have been to deal with the most delicate themes, and at the
80 prolific of good work in the field of romance same time shows that the power of suggestiveness
based upon fact. It has for its subject the most strik be used for good no less than for evil. Mr.
ing of all episodes in Canadian history - Wolfe's Allen frankly states that the purpose of his book is
capture of Quebec — and the treatment of this stir to aid in bringing back to literature more whole-
ring theme is simply masterly. That no doubt may some ideals than have seemed of late to dominate
be left as to the serious historical purpose of the the art of fiction-writing, and we should not know
book, the illustrations are such things as portraits of where to look for a finer statement of the question
Montcalm and Wolfe, reproductions of historically at issue than he has put into his brief but weighty
important buildings, and a map of Quebec and its preface. The words are well worth quoting.
“ We
surroundings. Yet there is nothing dull or pedantic know them too well - these black, chaotic books of
in the treatment, although it is everywhere under the new fiction - know what unhealthy suggestions
lain by faithful research among old maps, prints, they have courted, what exposures of the eternally
and manuscripts. “A piece of fiction which is not, hidden they have coarsely made, what ideals of
I believe, out of harmony with fact” is what the personal depravity they have scattered broadcast,
author claims his book to be, and as fiction it must what principles of social order they have attacked,
be accorded a high place. The adventures of the what bases of universal decency they have been
hero, an English hostage at Quebec during the years resolute to undermine. There is hardly a thing of
preceding the downfall of the French power, are as value to the normal portion of the race, in its clean
absorbing in their interest as any related in the advance toward higher living, that they have not in
novels of such men as Mr. Weyman and Dr. Doyle, effect belittled or insulted; there is scarce a thing
while Mr. Parker knows how to give to his narra that the long experience of the race has condemned
tive a poetic touch that is quite beyond the power of
and tried to cast off from itself as an element of
these his fellow-workers in a common field. The
The decay, that they have not set upon with approval
characters of hero and heroine, of the fascinating and recalled to favour.” Thus runs the indictment,
villain Doltaire, whose intrigues cast so sinister a and who shall say that it is over-severe? As for the
shadow upon their lives, even of such minor figures author's creative programme, the essential part of it
as Gabord the soldier and Voban the barber, are will serve, better than any words of our own, to ex-
delineated with an art that rarely weakens ; while plain the book under consideration. “It is against
the historical portraits of such men as Bigot, Vau this downward-moving fiction of manifold disorder
dreuil, and Wolfe are made equally life-like. The that the writer has ventured to advance a protest
story is perhaps a little too crowded with incident under cover of a story—a story, he is too well aware,
especially near the close — and invention sometimes that could not possibly carry with it the weight and
goes a trifle too far; but these are slight defects in measure of an opposing argument, but that should
what must, on the whole, be reckoned a masterpiece at least contain the taste and quality of healthful
of its kind.
repudiation. To this end, and with the use of the
Beyond the Palæocrystic Sea” is a taking title, weapons put into his hands, he has taken two robust


20
(July 1,
THE DIAL
young people in the crimson flush of the earliest certainly bold, and the work has a vitality so
summer of life; they are dangerously forefathered ; abounding as to atone in part for its lack of sub-
they are carelessly reared; they are temptingly tlety. But the interest never grows deep, and the
environed; they are alone with one another and passion never seems wholly genuine. The manner
with Nature; and Nature, intent on a single aim of the work is theatrical rather than dramatic in
directs all her power against their weakness. The the finer sense, and the stage mechanism is not skil.
writer has thus endeavored to charge this story fully concealed.
with as much peril as may be found in any of the A little old-fashioned in style and treatment, and
others — even more; he has ventured to lay bare all the better for being so, the new novel with which
some of the veiled and sacred mysteries of life with Mrs. Rebecca Harding Davis has broken her long
no less frankness than they have used, but using, as silence brings a sense of refreshment to readers
he hopes, full and far greater reverence; and, never steeped in the feverish literary fashion of the time.
theless, from such a situation he has tried to wrest The story of Doctor Warwick's Daughters” is one
a moral victory for each of the characters, a victory of strictly domestic interest, and its charm is un-
for the old established order of civilized societies, failing, although the grasp of character seems un-
and a victory for those forces of life that hold within certain, and the leading conclusions are not as dis-
themselves the only hope of the perpetuity of the tinctly foregone as they should be in the most
race and the beauty of the world.” These noble artistic fiction. The fine things about the book are
words have the ring of absolute truth and sincerity; its elevated and wholesome moral sentiment, its
there is nothing worth saying of the book that they study of society in a provincial town, and its re-
do not convey
except a few words of tribute to markable success in adopting the Southern point of
the beauty of its style, and to the warmth and vivid view when the scene is for a time transferred to a
ness with which it depicts the passion of the South Louisiana plantation. These things are quite enough
ern summer landscape. For the material element to make the book one of the best of the season, and
of the tale is not neglected on behalf of the spiritual, no one will be likely to suffer disappointment who
and the glow of the one enhances the radiance of includes it in the course of fiction laid out for the
the other.
summer.
“The Quicksands of Pactolus” is a capital story,
WILLIAM MORTON PAYNE.
and it comes from a region that has not furnished
good fiction in proportion to its possibilities. Cal.
ifornia is known to the novel-reader through the
BRIEFS ON NEW BOOKS.
work of Mr. Harte, but that is about all. Mr.
Vachell, who now enters the field, has given us a
Origin and
An interesting subject has been
picture of the intense commercial life of the Pacific development touched by Mr. Charles A. Witchell
Slope, of its unscrupulously acquired fortunes, its
of bird-songs. in “ The Evolution of Bird-Song
crudities, its excesses, and the promise of its new (Macmillan), and one not hitherto treated in a sys-
generation. The book is well put together, crammed tematic manner by any ornithologist. The author,
with incident, and animated from first to last. The one of the faithful and indefatigable corps of En.
treatment borders at times, perhaps, rather too glish men of science, has pursued his special line of
closely on the melodramatic to be wholly commend- investigations for nearly fifteen years, chiefly among
able, and the coloring is often harsh ; but a fine ideal British birds ; but birds are birds the wide world
of conduct informs the work, imparting to it a over, and serve as favorably for the illustration of
strength that is not unmixed with sweetness. a theory in one quarter of the globe as in another.
Readers of Mrs. Burnett's earlier novels, and Mr. Witchell attacks his subject at the very founda-
particularly of “Little Lord Fauntleroy,” will rub tion, beginning with the origin of the voice, which
their eyes before going very far in the story of “A he believes to have been slowly developed from a
Lady of Quality." A stronger contrast could not toneless puffing expressive of anger and induced by
well be imagined than that which exists between the passion and struggle of combat.
All life was
the exasperating little prig who figures in the one mute during the long ages preceding the evolution
book, and the superb creature of violent passions of the higher vertebrates, the birds and mammals.
who is the heroine of the other. The new story is Then out of a puff or a hiss arose a vocal sound, a
a romance of the time of Queen Anne, and attempts, battle-cry, which, valuable as a danger-signal, was
not very successfully, to depict the manners of that adopted with varied intonations by the different spe-
period. The stilted phraseology of the narrative cies. Out of the alarm-cry grew the call-note, the
will probably delude careless readers into thinking salutation between individuals, the recognition of
that Mrs. Burnett has succeeded in reproducing the kinship, the appeal of the social instinct. Gradually
form and pressure of a bygone age, but a more dis the call-notes of birds were linked together in simple
criminating judgment will find an almost complete songs beyond which many of the species have not
lack of the finer touches so necessary to the success yet passed in their tuneful utterances. The cries of
ful execution of such a task, and will be forced to alarm and defiance, characteristic of a race or a
pronounce the performance crude and the method species, are, according to Mr. Witchell, inherited.
· coarse. The author's conception of her heroine is Even the chick in the egg, pecking at the shell for


1896.]
21
THE DIAL
release from its prison and peeping audibly mean Swift, and Fielding, is futile, because he was so
while, will cease movement and sound at the alarm capricious and even fragmentary and disorderly in
cry of its parent, and wait for a note of assurance his system that comparison is impossible." He
before resuming its efforts. The perfected song of frankly admits that Sterne “often wrote what was
the bird is, on the other hand, the result of imita sheer nonsense to fill his volumes,” but contends
tion. It is learned in the nest. While the helpless that Sterne's fame rests upon his character creations,
youngling is still naked and blind, it hears and re the best of which are “My Uncle Toby” and “Mr.
members for repetition the language of love poured Shandy”; indeed, he even prefers the latter to the
forth near and continuously by the being which former, as being “more piquant and attractive ...
cherishes and sustains it. Only the small birds sing, because more original and more difficult to touch.”
those that are arboreal in habit; for, protected by Although Mr. Fitzgerald does not pretend to give a
their diminutive size and the leafy coverts in which critical study of Sterne's works, many illustrative
they hide, they may dare speak their happiness in comments on passages in “ Tristram Shandy” and
strains loud and prolonged. The larger birds are “ The Sentimental Journal” are to be found in his
silent from fear of attracting fatal attention, from volumes. He has succeeded admirably in his attempt
the necessity of stealth in seeking their prey, from to rehabilitate Sterne Sterne's social successes in
the lethargy which follows the strain of conquest, London and Paris, the most characteristic features
and from the habit of feeding to repletion. Birds of his life, form the subjects of the most interesting
must have leisure to sing, as well as vivacity of dis- chapters; the last of these contains an account of
position. Captives in cages sing not only in the Sterne's pathetic death. Mr. Fitzgerald is always
hope of calling a mate to relieve their loneliness, impartial; he shows sympathy to his hero where
but because they have nothing else to do. These sympathy is possible, and severity where severity is
few points from Mr. Witchell's argument give but necessary. There is a portrait of Sterne in the first
a hint of the suggestiveness of a book which in de volume; the “ Abstract of Contents” in the second
tail and construction is a genuine contribution to the volume, however, is not as serviceable as a good
science of ornithology.
index.
Mr. Percy Fitzgerald has re-written
The longest and most eventful com-
The standard
his “Life of Laurence Sterne," which
The Courtships of edy in the history of England is the
Life of Sterne.
Queen Elizabeth.
has continued to be the standard life
one played in the sixteenth century
of Sterne since its first appearance, in spite of a
with Queen Elizabeth as the leading lady. The va-
later attempt by Mr. H. D. Traill. In its new rious attempts to persuade the “ Virgin Queen” to
form (imported by Scribners), it is even more likely abandon her much-boasted celibacy furnish the mo-
to retain its supremacy, since Mr. Fitzgerald has tive of the plot, and her dextrous juggling through
added a considerable amount of new material, some a long course of twenty-four years is unexampled
of which is very important to a true estimate of in the history of government. The elaborate pre-
Sterne's character. The author prints for the first tence of marriage negotiations was, throughout
time some curious notes taken from one of the school Elizabeth's life, her great card, and always ready
books used by Sterne at Halifax; a lengthy letter to be played in the interests of England. There-
written by Sterne to his unfriendly uncle, which fore, the volume by Mr. Martin A. S. Hume, called
seems to entirely exonerate Sterne from the charge “The Courtships of Queen Elizabeth” (Macmillan),
of neglecting his needy mother; some extracts from though less a book of sentiment than of statecraft,
a journal written for the famous “ Eliza,” together is nevertheless both as interesting as a novel and as
with other letters of varying values. Furthermore, instructive as new facts and trained powers in col-
Mr. Fitzgerald has found it necessary to change lecting and presenting them can make it. That the
his entire attitude toward Sterne. “I have been making of England, and the establishment of Prot-
obliged,” he says, “to modify the too favorable estantism as a permanent power in Europe, were
opinion I entertained of Sterne's life and character, due mainly to the coldness, astuteness, and activity
and am constrained to admit that Mr. Thackeray's of Elizabeth, at the critical turning-point of Euro-
view — harsh as it may seem
- had much to sup-
pean history, has long been generally admitted; but
port it. Yorick's Journal, which I have read through how masterly her policy was, and how entirely per-
carefully, is fatally damaging ; exhibiting a repul sonal to herself, has perhaps never been so plainly
sive combination of Pharisaical utterances and lax exhibited as in this book. Indeed, it is more than
principle. This would seem to show that Mr. Sterne probable that she deceived Cecil and the rest of her
was something more than the mere “philanderer' advisers as to her matrimonial intentions as com-
he described himself to be. Mr. Elwin was long pletely as she did the suitors themselves, and that
ago constrained to adopt the same view. Indeed, it —except perhaps on two occasions—she never really
may be always fairly presumed that licentious writ-
meant to marry. In very many cases, neither the
ing is almost certain to be followed by life and wooer nor the wooed was in earnest, and the courtship
practice as licentious.” The author thinks that all was merely a polite fiction to cover other objects; yet
attempts at comparing and contrasting Sterne's to the end of her days she was able — painted old
methods of writing with those of men like Rabelais, | jezebel though she was—to act coquettishly the part


22
[July 1,
THE DIAL
of Charles XII.
of Sweden.
Famous law cases
of the peerless beauty whose fair hand might pos very little difference when the “smartness" consists
sibly reward the devoted admiration paid to her by merely in so stealing as to avoid the legal penalty for
the bright young gallants who (with tongues in their the act. Mr. Clinton's book presents many inter-
cheeks) sought her smiles. Capricious, even friv. esting points of practice and examples of skill in
olous, as the Queen's methods were, her main ob- legal fence, and should be greatly relished by mem-
ject - to play off France against Spain, and to hold bers of the profession.
the balance of peace and war in Europe in her own
hands — was rarely neglected or lost sight of. To A popular life
It is a very interesting and valuable
this end, her matrimonial negotiations were only a
addition that Mr. R. Nisbet Bain has
means; and the 340 pages of Mr. Hume's band-
made to the "Heroes of the Nations"
some octavo are none too many to tell the story of
series (Putnams) in his life of Charles XII. Mr.
the colossal vanity which set up a tradition of per-
Bain is evidently master of his subject, and of the
ennial beauty and decreed that most of the great
historical period in which Charles played his strange
men of England's richest period of greatness should
part; and in his volume, though it is unpretending
bow their august heads before it and accept it as a
and free from the impedimenta of scholarship, he
part of the national faith. Five portraits of the
carries along with him the judgment of the reader
leading characters are presented—Queen Elizabeth, by his fairness and critical ability. This volume sup-
Lord Seymour, Earl of Leicester, Duke of Sajou plies all that the general reader will care to know
Henry III.), and Duke of Alençon; Ind the
of this meteoric genius, and traces clearly his influ-
index and footnotes show the author's extensive and ence upon his unhappy country and her neighbors.
scholarly research.
The character of Charles XII. is one of the strangest
that all history discloses to us, and it does not need
Mr. Henry Lauren Clinton's book the dramatic fictions of Voltaire to make the « Lion
of New York.
of “Extraordinary Cases” (Harper) of the North” an attractive object for speculation
comprises sketches of certain historic and study. These fictions Mr. Bain clears away.
causes célebrès, in many of which the author, a dis- Charles is shown to have possessed astonishing mil-
tinguished member of the New York bar, was en itary genius, keen insight into political conditions,
gaged as counsel. The cases of Polly Bodine, Henri and many of the personal virtues that become a
Carnal, Otto Grunzig, Mortimer Shay, Moses Low- king. Nor was he the mad fool that he has been
enberg, the Forrest divorce case, the Lemmon slave called, for his most foolish course of action had rea-
case, the Jumel case, and the case of Millspaugh vs. son in it. The chief defects in his character
Adams, are among the noted ones cited.
defects that made his early successes end in dismal
thor's treatment is naturally and properly profes-failure, and inflicted upon Sweden disaster and dis-
sional and technical rather than literary ; legal de-
grace seem to have been an invincible obstinacy,
tails and the subtle and ingenious (if sometimes that persisted in its course when all circumstances
sufficiently puerile and pettifogging) shifts and had changed, and would not swerve to avoid evident
dodges of warring counsel forming the substance of disaster; and a passionate desire for vengence upon
the narrative. The book is intelligibly written, how all who had stood in his way. With his obstinacy,
ever, and there is a leaven of anecdotes of judges, there was a proud self-sufficiency that led him to
lawyers, journalists, and men noted or notorious refuse the most advantageous offers and rush on in
such as that peculiarly pestiferous blackguard, bis blind race to deserved failure. Yet he was able
“Mike” Walsh, for whom the author cherishes to keep Sweden, poor and sparsely populated, in the
rather more than a sneaking regard. “ Mike" rank of great powers, and to make the greatest of
Walsh, political trickster, libeller, mob-orator, leader these powers suitors for his favor.
of one of the worst gangs of political “thugs” that
ever cursed New York, after a long career of pic-
The close of
A melancholy interest attaches to the
turesque and successful rascality ended a “spree Prof. Tutlle's fragment that has been published as
by falling down an area and fracturing his skull-
History of Prussia, the fourth volume of the late Herbert
greatly to the relief of most decent people. The Tuttle’s “ History of Prussia” (Houghton). It
public, thinks Mr. Clinton, somewhat unaccount marks and emphasizes the loss to American schol.
ably," could have better spared a better man." To arship and scholarly achievement caused by his
our notion, the cynical complacency with which the lamented death in the early prime of his powers.
American public too often regard the prosperous
knavery of such characters as “Mike” Walsh is his power to subordinate it to the general sweep of
one of the most disquieting and ominous signs of his narrative, were never better shown than in this
the times that political prophets have to reckon with. volume. It describes the outbreak of the Seven
The extraordinary spectacle of bodies of taxpayers Years' War, and the events of the years 1756 and
year after year regarding with amused admiration 1757, giving spirited accounts of the great battles
the forays on the public purse of this or that polit- of Kollin, Rossbach, and Leathen that master-
ical cateran, is one, we believe, offered in no country piece of Frederick’s genius. The brilliancy and
but our own. The “smart man is the object of solid excellence of this fragment, as well as of the
the great national cult; and it really seems to make volumes that preceded it, give Mr. Tuttle an honor-
The au-
Professor Tattle's grasp of multitudinous detail, and
-


1896.]
23
THE DIAL
on
able place among the best American historians who “ The Triumph of Japan,” “ Buddha-Gya," “ The
have written upon European subjects. A complete Sword of Japan," etc. In “ Aspects of Life,” an
history of that great war from his pen would have address delivered by the author at Birmingham as
been a valuable possession to the English-speaking President of the Midland Institute, the inquisitive
world. The volume contains an appreciative memoir reader
may
find set forth, with abundant and char-
of Professor Tuttle, by Professor Herbert B. Adams, acteristic imagery and allusion, Sir Edwin's com-
and an excellent portrait.
fortable, if not specially definite or definable, views
“ In Jail with Charles Dickens” is
man, on nature, and on human life.” The vol-
Some famous
ume abounds in picturesque, if rather florid, descrip-
the rather startling title of a little
English prisons.
book by Mr. Alfred Trumble, de-
tive passages, and forms an acceptable addition to
the list of its author's published works.
scriptive of famous prisons — Newgate, the Fleet
Prison, the Marshalsea, King's Bench, the Tombs,
etc. It is based on the writer's personal knowledge
as a visitor (a “voluntary” one, he takes care to
BRIEFER MENTION.
say) to these houses of detention, supplemented by
references to the records. The author seems to have
“Every Bird" (Bradlee Whidden, Boston) is a little
volume prepared by Mr. Reginald Heber Howe, Jr.,
acquired his taste for jail-hunting from Dickens,
for the use of beginners in the study of ornithology. It
of whose novels he was an earnest student while
relies largely for its service upon an outline drawing of
they were appearing in serial form. Penology was the head and foot of the bird under notice; this is fol.
a hobby with Dickens. Some of his most powerful lowed by an account of the bird's haunts, notes, plum-
and dramatic work deals with prison life and char- age, and distribution, compressed into a half-dozen short
acter, and Mr. Trumble quotes him freely. Mr. sentences. The title is a little misleading, since the
Trumble does not go into the theory of his subject,
book speaks of only a hundred and seventy-three birds,
save incidentally; but his book contains some instruct | inhabiting the limited area of New England; but these
ive facts and is rather readable. The publisher,
include, of course, all the more familiar forms of bird-
life of woodland, beach, and ocean.
Mr. F. P. Harper, has provided it with several
With the republication of the “Christmas Stories,"
cuts, including a reproduction of a curious old print
the Macmillan Co. complete their popular edition of
representing the burning of the King's Bench prison
the novels of Charles Dickens. There are an even
during the Gordon Riots.
score of volumes altogether, accurate reprints of the
first editions with all the original illustrations. The
The “Sabine" edition of the works
" Sabine” edition of Eugene Field, reviewed in THE
valuable introductions written for each volume by Mr.
of Eugene Field.
Charles Dickens the younger are perhaps the most dis-
Dial of June 1, is now complete. tinctive feature of this edition, which may be commended
The most ardent admirers of the poet ought to feel to judicious purchasers for many reasons.
satisfied with these volumes. Messrs. Scribner's Two fresh volumes in Messrs. Scribner's attractive
Sons have done their part admirably; paper, bind series of books on “ Women of Colonial and Revolution-
ing, print, illustrations, are all such as would have ary Times” are “Dolly Madison," by Maud Wilder
given pleasure to the author. The later issues con Goodwin, and “ Eliza Pinckney," by Harriott Horry
tain the well-told and humorous story of “ The
Ravenel. The authors have acquitted themselves cred-
House," which has already been noticed in these col-
itably, the former one giving a readable biographical
sketch of her heroine, as well as an instructive study of
umns. Additional tales and poems, many of which
the social and home life of the period in the Old Do-
are now first presented in permanent form, and
minion; while as much may be said, mutatis mutandis,
extracts from the earlier“ Culture's Garland,” close of Mrs. Ravenel. The volumes are exceedingly taste-
the series. The frontispieces, many of them por ful in make-up, and fulfil in every way the fair promise
traits, add value to these books; and the memorial of the initial one by Mrs. Earle.
by Mr. Roswell M. Field, with the several introduc Mr. Thomas Sedgwick Steele is one of the innumerable
tions by Messrs. Stedman, Hawthorne, Harris, host of people who take summer trips, and then feel con-
Riley, Gunsaulus, Hopkinson Smith, Wilson, and strained to write books about them. Mr. Steele's trip
Hale, show us the man from diverse and generous
was the regulation excursion along the coast of Norway,
points of view. It is not often that an author ap-
and his book is called “A Voyage to Viking-Land”
pears in so fair a guise to a more appreciative public. / (Estes); We must commend the exceptionally interest-
ing and beautiful illustrations, which are made from
“ East and West” is the title of a photographs taken by the author, and are a real delight.
“East and West" rather handsome volume, containing
Mr. W. H. Rideing's little book," At Hawarden with
twenty-two papers reprinted from
Mr. Gladstone, and Other Transatlantic Experiences"
various sources by Sir Edwin Arnold, profusely (Crowell), which takes its title from the initial chapter
illustrated by Mr. R. T. Pritchett, and published giving an account of a visit to Mr. Gladstone at Hawar-
by Messrs. Longmans, Green, & Co. The contents
den, is a collection of slight but pleasant sketches of men
and things in the British Isles, concluding with an essay
of the volume are widely diversified in theme and
on “Old and New on the Atlantic.” It touches lightly
treatment, as may be inferred from their titles :
on many minor and little described aspects of life, in an
“ The Egyptian Thief,” “Astronomy and Religion,” entertaining, anecdotal way, and may serve as a very
“ The Indian Upanishads,” “Indian Viceroys,"
“ Indian Viceroys," | good book for odd half hours.
Sir Edwin Arnold's
papers.


24
[July 1,
THE DIAL
66
published by the Macmillan Co., who also send us a
LITERARY NOTES.
pretty booklet containing Arnold's essays on “ A Guide
« Artists' Wives " is the latest volume in the Dent to English Literature” and Gray, together with Mr.
Macmillan edition of M. Daudet's writings.
John Morley's essay “On the Study of Literature."
Mr. Wheatley's edition of Pepys has reached its A pleasant sketch of the “ North Shore of Massachu-
eighth volume, which we have just received from the
setts," written in approved magazine style by Mr. Rob-
Macmillan Co.
ert Grant, and illustrated by Mr. W. T. Smedley, is
From Diffluent to Disburden the “ New English Dic-
published by the Messrs. Scribners as the first volume
tionary” takes its way in the quarterly part just pub-
of their new “American Summer Resorts" series. “New-
lished by the Macmillan Co.
port,” by Mr. W. C. Brownell, “ Bar Harbor," by Mr.
Mr. Hardy's “ Wessex Tales” has been added to the
Marion Crawford, and “ Lenox," by Mr. George A.
library edition of that novelist in course of publication
Hibbard, are soon to follow.
by Messrs. Harper & Brothers.
Mr. W. M. Baskervill is at work upon a “Southern
“ Newton Forster” and “Jacob Faithful ” form the
Writers” series in twelve pamphlet numbers. The first,
third and fourth volumes in the new edition of Marryatt lished, and is both biographical and critical in character.
devoted to Mr. Joel Chandler Harris, has been pub-
now issuing from the press of Messrs. Little, Brown,
& Co.
The subjects of the remaining numbers are to be Lanier,
Irwin Russell, Messrs. Maurice Thompson, Cable, Page,
Three papers on “ The Adjustment of Wages to Effi-
Allen, and Peck, Colonel Johnston, Mrs. Preston, Miss
ciency” form the second number of the “ Economic
Murfree, and Miss Grace King.
Studies "published by the Macmillan Co. for the Amer-
ican Economic Association.
Four volumes have been recently added to the “Stu-
dents' Series of English Classics" published by Messrs.
The Macmillan Co. announce a translation of Mr. A.
P. Tverskoy's “Sketches from the United States of
Leach, Shewell, & Sanborn. They are: Books I. and II.
of “ Paradise Lost," edited by Professor A. S. Cook;
North America," a work that has been compared with
Books I., VI., XXII., and XXIV. of Pope's Homer's
Bryce's “ American Commonwealth.”
Iliad,” edited by Mr. Warwick James Price; Tenny-
Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin & Co. have added « The
son's “The Princess," edited by Mr. Henry W. Boynton;
Autocrat of the Breakfast Table” to their “ Riverside
and Longfellow's " Evangeline," edited by Miss Mary
School Library.” The volume is tastefully bound in Harriott Norris. All are abundantly annotated.
half leather, and the price is only sixty cents.
Nearly all of the leading publishers have adopted the
Sir Joseph Prestwich, the great geologist, died on the
pictorial poster as a means of book and magazine adver-
twenty-third of June, at the age of eighty-four. He tising, and large sums of money are expended yearly in
had been President of the Geological Society, and Pro- designing and printing these gay bits of paper. Messrs.
fessor of Geology at Oxford, and was the author of many Lamson, Wolffe, & Co., of Boston, have produced some
works in his chosen department of scientific investigation. of the most artistic and expensive examples of poster-
The William Elliot Griffis is at work upon a art that have yet appeared in this country, and their
biography of the late Charles Carleton Coffin, and so designs are among those most eagerly sought after by
licits help in the shape of letters and personal reminis collectors. They are nearly all the work of Miss Ethel
cences from any of Mr. Coffin's friends whom the appeal Reed of Boston.
may reach. Dr. Griffis may be addressed at Ithaca, N. Y.
The “ Poems of Uhland,” selected and carefully an-
The Robert Clarke Co. will publish, early in July, a notated by Dr. Waterman T. Hewett, are published in
life of Nathaniel Massie, by Mr. D. M. Massie. The a neat volume by the Macmillan Co. Other German
work will be, in a sense, a companion to the St. Clair texts are Kotzebue's “ Die Deutschen Kleinstädter"
Papers, and the two works together will give a fairly (Maynard), edited by the Rev. J. H. O. Matthews and
complete account of the beginnings of politics in Ohio. Mr. W. H. Witherby; “ Aus Herz und Welt” (Heath),
Mr. Francis P. Harper publishes a collection of two stories by Frau von Eschtrath and Frau Helene
“ Poker Stories" made by Mr. John F. B. Lillard. The Stökl, respectively, edited by Dr. W. Bernhardt, and an
stories are of all sorts, and most of them will be recog “ Elementary German Reader” (Ginn), by Dr. O. B.
nized as “ chestnuts." Devotees of the Great American Super.
Game will welcome the book, while others may read it Mr. A. C. Swinburne contributes to the London
with some degree of interest, if not of profit.
“ Athenæum "the following beautiful sonnet " In Mem-
Messrs. Harper & Brothers have published a band ory of Aurelio Saffi ":
some library edition of “ The Adventures of Huckle “Beloved above all nations, land adored,
berry Finn,” which is nearly, if not quite, the best of Sovereign in spirit and charm, by song and sword
the books that we owe to Mr. Clemens; and have fol-
Sovereign, whose life is love, whose name is light,
lowed it with “ A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's
Italia, queen that hast the sun for lord.
Court.” Such an edition has long been wanted.
“Bride that hast heaven for bridegroom, how should night
Veil or withhold from faith's and memory's sight
An important book sale, announced to take place in
A man beloved and crowned of thee and fame --
November, will be that of the library of the late Henry
Hide for an hour his name's memorial might?
F. Sewall of New York. The collection is very full in
old English literature (including the first folios of Shake-
Thy sons may never speak or hear the name,
Saffi, and feel not love's regenerate flame
speare), in Biblical and art works, and in books relat-
Thrill all the quickening heart with faith and pride
ing to printing. Messrs. Bangs & Co. will conduct the In one whose life makes death and life the same.
sale.
"They die indeed whose souls before them died :
Two more volumes of the “ Idyls of the King,” in Not he, for whom death flung life's portal wide,
the “People's” edition of Tennyson, and the Book of Who stands where Dante's soul in vision came,
Deuteronomy, in “The Modern Reader's Bible," are In Dante's presence, by Mazzini's side."


1896.]
25
THE DIAL
BOOKS FOR SUMMER READING.
A CLASSIFIED LIST OF SOME RECENT PUBLICATIONS.
Fuller descriptions of these books may be found in the adver-
tising columns of this number or of recent numbers of The Dial.]
FICTION.
Rome. By Emile Zola. Macmillan Co. $2.
Weir of Hermiston. By Robert Louis Stevenson. Chas.
Seribner's Sons. $1.50.
Briseis. By William Black. Harper & Bros. $1.75.
Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc By Mark Twain.
Harper & Bros. $2.50.
Tom Grogan. By F. Hopkinson Smith. Houghton, Mifflin
& Co. $1.50.
Embarrassments. By Henry James. Macmillan Co. $1.50.
A Lady of Quality. By Frances Hodgson Burnett. Chas.
Seribner's Sons. $1.50.
Battlement and Tower. By Owen Rhoscomyl. Longmans,
Green, & Co. $1.25.
The Reds of the Midi. From the French of Félix Gras. D.
Appleton & Co. $1.50.
Cleg Kelly. By S. R. Crockett. D. Appleton & Co. $1.50.
Tales of Fantasy and Fact. By Brander Matthews. Harper
& Bros. $1.25.
Pirate Gold. By F. J. Stimson. Houghton, Mifflin & Co.
$1.25.
Madelon. By Mary E. Wilkins. Harper & Bros. $1.25.
Summer in Arcady. By James Lane Allen. Macmillan Co.
$1.25.
The Puppet-Booth. By Henry B. Fuller. Century Co. $1.25.
The Mighty Atom. By Marie Corelli. J. B. Lippincott Co.
$1.25.
Flotsam. By Henry Seton Merriman. Longmans, Green, &
Co. $1.25.
Comedies of Courtship. By Anthony Hope. Chas. Scribner's
Sons. $1.50.
Adam Johnstone's Son. By F. Marion Crawford. Macmillan
Co. $1.50.
The Exploits of Brigadier Gerard. By A. Conan Doyle. D.
Appleton & Co. $1.50.
Cinderella, and Other Stories. By Richard Harding Davis.
Chas. Scribner's Sons. $1.
The Seats of the Mighty. By Gilbert Parker. D. Appleton
& Co. $1.50.
A Singular Life. By Elizabeth Stuart Phelps. Houghton,
Mifflin & Co. $1.25.
A King and a Few Dukes. By Robert W. Chambers. G. P.
Putnam's Sons. $1.25.
White Aprons. By Maud Wilder Goodwin. Little, Brown,
& Co. $1.25.
A Gentleman Vagabond and Some Others. By F. Hopkinson
Smith. Houghton, Mifflin & Co. $1.25.
A Strange, Sad Comedy. By Molly Elliot Seawell. Century
Co. $1.25.
The Cid Campeador. From the Spanish of D. Antonio Y La
Quintana. * Longmans, Green, & Co. $2.
The Life of Nancy. By Sarah Orne Jewett. Houghton,
Mifflin & Co. $1.25.
A First Fleet Family. By Louis Becke and Walter Jeffery.
Macmillan Co. $1.50.
Cinder-Path Tales. By William Lindsey. Copeland & Day.
75 ets.
The Vanished Emperor. By Percy Andreae. Rand, McNally
& Co. $1.25.
Maggie. By Stephen Crane. D. Appleton & Co. 75 cts.
George's Mother. By Stephen Crane. Edward Arnold. 750.
Will o' the Wasp. By Robert Cameron Rogers. G. P. Put-
nam's Sons. $1.25.
The Folly of Eustace. By R. S. Hichens. D. Appleton &
Co. 75 cts.
The Crimson Sign. By S. R. Keightley. Harper & Bros.
$1.50.
Jerry the Dreamer. By Will Payne. Harper & Bros. $1.25.
A Mask and a Martyr. By E. Livingston Prescott. Edward
Arnold. $1.50.
Yekl. By A. Cahan. D. Appleton & Co. $1.
Green Gates. By Mrs. K. M. C. Meredith (Johanna Staats).
D. Appleton & Co. $1.25.
Cameos. By Marie Corelli. J. B. Lippincott Co. $1.
The Courtship of Morrice Buckler. By A. E. W. Mason.
Macmillan Co. $1.25.
The Premier and the Painter. By I. Zangwill. Rand, Mc-
Nally & Co. $1.
Among the Freaks. By W. L. Alden. Longmans, Green, &
Co. $1.25.
Lovers' St. Ruth's, and Other Tales. By Louise Imogen
Guiney. Copeland & Day. $1.
Mark Heffron. By Alice Ward Bailey. Harper & Bros.
$1.25.
The White Rocks. From the French of Edouard Rod. T. Y.
Crowell & Co. $1.25.
Garrison Tales from Tonquin. By James O'Neil. Copeland
& Day. $1.25.
Those Good Normans. By “Gyp." Rand, McNally & Co. $1.
My Fire Opal, and Other Tales. By Sarah Warner Brooks.
Estes & Lauriat. $1.
The Supply at St. Agatha's. By Elizabeth Stuart Phelps.
Houghton, Mifflin & Co. $1.
The Carbuncle Clew. By Fergus Hume. F. Warne & Co.
$1.25.
The Wise Woman. By Clara Louise Burnham. Houghton,
Mifflin & Co. $1.25.
Sir Mark. By Anna Robeson Brown. D. Appleton & Co.
75 cts.
Alida Craig. By Pauline King. George H. Richmond &
Co. $1.25.
Lancashire Idylls. By J. Marshall Mather. F. Warne &
Co. $1.50.
Mrs. Martin's Company, and Other Stories. By Jane Barlow
Macmillan Co. 75 cts.
The Dream-Charlotte. By M. Betham-Edwards. Macmillan
Co. $1.25.
A Venetian June. By Anna Fuller. G. P. Putnam's Sons. $1.
The Broken Ring. By Elizabeth Knight Tompkins. G. P.
Putnam's Sons. $1.; paper, 50 cts.
In the Valley of Tophet. By H. W. Nevinson. Henry Holt
& Co. $i.
TRAVEL AND DESCRIPTION.
Through Jungle and Desert: Travels in Eastern Africa. By
William Astor Chanler. Macmillan Co. $5.
East and West. By Sir Edwin Arnold. Longmans, Green,
& Co. $4.
On Snow-Shoes to the Barren Grounds. By Caspar Whitney.
Harper & Bros. $3.50.
Pleasant Memories of Foreign Travel. By S. M. Burnham.
Bradlee Whidden. $3.
A Voyage to Viking-Land. By Thomas Sedgwick Steele.
Estes & Lauriat. $2.
The Ouananiche and its Canadian Environment. By E. T. D.
Chambers. Harper & Bros. $2.
In India. By André Chevrillon. Henry Holt & Co. $1.50.
A Parisian in America. By S.C. de Soissons. Estes & Lauriat.
$1.25.
Venezuela. By William Eleroy Curtis. Harper & Bros. $1.25.
American Summer Resorts. Now ready: Newport, by W.
C. Brownell, and The North Shore of Massachusetts, by
Robert Grant. Chas. Scribner's Sons. Per vol., 75 cts.
OUT-OF-DOOR LIFE.
Notes of the Night. By Charles C. Abbott. Century Co. $1.50.
Familiar Trees and their Leaves. By F. Schuyler Matthews.
D. Appleton & Co. $1.75.
The Hare. Edited by Alfred E. T. Watson. Longmans,
Green, & Co. $1.75.
Spring Notes from Tennessee. By Bradford Torrey. Hough-
ton, Mifflin & Co. $1.25.
* Every Bird." By Reginald Heber Howe, Jr. Bradlee
Whidden. $1.
By Oak and Thorn. By Alice Brown. Houghton, Mifflin &
Co. $1.25.
In New England Fields and Woods. By Rowland E. Robin-
son. Houghton, Mifflin & Co. $1.25.
Guides in Natural History. By Edward Knobel. New vols.:
The Night Moths, and The Fresh-Water Fishes. Bradlee
Whidden. Per vol., 75 cts.; paper, 50 ets.
By Tangled Paths. By H. Meade Briggs. F. Warne & Co.
$1.25.
Four-Handed Folk. By Olive Thorne Miller. Houghton,
Mifflin & Co. $1.25.
Key to the Water-Birds of Florida. By Chas. B. Cory. Brad-
lee Whidden. $1.75 ; paper, $1.50.


26
(July 1,
THE DIAL
TOPICS IN LEADING PERIODICALS.
July, 1896 (First List).
Africa, English Power in. G. G. Hubbard. McClure.
Alps, Climbing in the. William Martin Conway. Scribner.
Cleveland's Second Administration. G. W. Green. Forum.
Coney Island. Julian Ralph. Scribner.
Democracy, Real Problems of. E. L. Godkin. Atlantic.
English Elections. Henry Cabot Lodge. Harper.
Fiction, Recent. William Morton Payne. Dial.
Great Britain, Our Relations with. E. J. Phelps. Atlantic.
Happiness. Archibald Lampman. Harper.
Hirsch, Baron de. Oscar S. Straus. Forum.
Horseless Carriage, The. Cleveland Moffett. McClure.
Jefferson and Democracy To-Day. Wm. E. Russell. Forum.
Kipling, Rudyard. E. Kay Robinson. McClure.
Manning, Cardinal. C. C. Tiffany. Forum.
Milsand, Joseph. Madame Blanc. Scribner.
Moltke. J. von Verdy du Vernois. Forum.
Nature, Stories and Studies of. Edith Granger. Dial.
Ohio. Charles F. Thwing. Harper.
Pennsylvania and her Public Men. S. G. Fisher. Lippincott.
Presidential Outlook, The. Paul Leroy-Beaulieu. Forum.
Roosevelt, Theodore, as Historian. W. P. Trent. Forum.
Russian Literature, Modern, Decadence of. Lippincott.
Science, Century's Progress in. John Fiske. Atlantic.
Science in Secondary Schools. Dial.
Sheridan, Richard Brinsley. Dial.
Southern Ideal, The. Annie S. Winston. Lippincott.
Story-Teller, Speculations of a. G. W. Cable. Atlantic.
Taxidermy. J. Carter Beard. Scribner.
Travel, Recent Books of. Hiram M. Stanley. Dial.
United States and Anglo-Saxon Future. G.B.Adams. Atlantic.
Venice, Literary Landmarks of. Laurence Hutton. Harper.
A Guide to English Literature and Essay on Gray, by
Matthew Arnold, and On the Study of Literature, by
John Morley. 24mo, gilt top, pp. 152. Macmillan Co.
75 cts.
NEW EDITIONS OF STANDARD LITERATURE.
Novels of Captain Marryatt. Edited by R. Brimley John-
son. New vols.: Newton Forster, and Jacob Faithful.
Each, illus., gilt top, uncut. Little, Brown, & Co. Per
vol., $1.50.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. By Mark Twain.
New edition from new plates ; illus., 12mo, pp. 388. Har-
per & Bros. $1.75.
Poetical Works of William Wordsworth. Edited by
William Knight. Vol. IV., with portrait, 12mo, uncut,
pp. 283. Macmillan Co. $1.50.
“Sabine" Edition of Eugene Field's Works. Concluding
vols.: Songs and Other Verse, and Second Book of Tales.
Each, with frontispiece, 12mo, gilt top, uncut. Chas.
Scribner's Sons. (Sold only by subscription.)
A Bachelor's Establishment. By H. de Balzac ; trans. by
Clara Bell ; with Preface by George Saintsbury. Illus.,
12mo, gilt top, uncut, pp. 324. Macmillan Co. $1.50.
Traits and Stories of the Irish Peasantry. By William
Carleton; edited by D. J. O'Donoghue. Vol. IV., illus.,
12mo, gilt top, uncut, pp. 335. Macmillan Co. $1.50.
The Age of Reason. By Thomas Paine ; edited by Moncure
Daniel Conway, M.A. 8vo, uncut, pp. 208. G. P. Put-
nam's Sons. $1.25.
Christmas Stories. By Charles Dickens ; edited by Charles
Dickens the Younger. Illus., 12mo, pp. 622. Macmillan
Co. $1.
Kings in Exile. By Alphonse Daudet; trans. by Laura
Ensor and E. Bartow. * Illus., 12mo, gilt top, uncut, pp.
502. Macmillan Co. $1.
“People's" Edition of Tennyson's Works. New vols.:
Idylls of the King, parts IV. and V. Each, 24mo, uncut.
Macmillan Co. Per vol., 45 cts. net.
LIST OF NEW BOOKS.
(The following list, containing 63 titles, includes books
received by THE DIAL since its last issue.]
HISTORY.
The Paget Papers: Diplomatic and Other Correspondence
of the Right Hon. Sir Arthur Paget, G.C.B., 1794–1807.
Arranged and edited by his son, the Right Hon. Sir Au-
gustus B. Paget, G.C.B.; with notes by Mrs. J. R. Green.
In 2 vols., with portraits, large 8vo, gilt tops, uncut.
Longmans, Green, & Co. $10 net.
The Winning of the West. By Theodore Roosevelt. Vol.
IV., Louisiana and the Northwest, 1791-1807; with maps,
8vo, gilt top, uncut, pp. 363. G. P. Putnam's Sons. $2.50.
Ireland, 1494-1868; with Two Introductory Chapters. By
William O'Connor Morris. 12mo, uncut, pp. 372. Cam-
bridge Historical Series." Macmillan Co. $1.60.
With the Fathers: Studies in the History of the United
States. By John Bach McMaster, 12mo, pp. 334. D.
Appleton & Co. $1.50.
Guns and Cavalry: Their Past Performances and their Fu-
ture Prospects. By Major E.S. May, R.A. Illus., 12mo,
gilt top, pp. 220. Roberts Bros. $1.25.
BIOGRAPHY AND MEMOIRS.
The Life and Letters of Charles Bulfinch, Architect;
with Other Family Papers. Edited by his granddaughter,
Ellen Susan Bulfinch; with Introduction by Charles A.
Cummings. Illus., large 8vo, gilt top, pp. 323. Houghton,
Mifflin & Co. $5 net.
Cyrus W. Field: His Life and Work (1819-1892). Edited
by Isabella Field Judson. Illus., 12mo, gilt top, uncut,
pp. 332. Harper & Bros. $2.
GENERAL LITERATURE.
Shakespeare and Music. With Illustrations from the
Music of the 16th and 17th Centuries. By Edward W.
Naylor, M.A. With frontispiece, 12mo, gilt top, uncut,
pp. 225. Macmillan Co. $1.25.
The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine. Vol. LI.,
November, 1895, to April, 1896. Illas., 8vo, gilt top, pp.
960. Century Co. $3.
POETRY.
The Tale of Balen. By Algernon Charles Swinburne. 12mo,
gilt top, uncut, pp. 132. Chas. Scribner's Sons. $1.50.
The Purple East: Sonnets on Armenia. By William Wat-
son. 16mo, gilt top, uncut, pp. 49. Stone & Kimball.
75 cts.
My Rosary, and Other Poems. By Gustav Kobbé. 12mo,
pp. 36. Geo. H. Richmond Co.
Uncle Ben, and Other Poems. By James Stephenson, D.D.
Illus., 12mo, pp. 160. Cranston & Curts. *$1 net.
Robert Burns: An Ode. By Hunter MacCulloch. Illus.,
8vo, pp. 32. Brooklyn: Rose & Thistle Pub'g Co. 20 cts.
FICTION.
Briseis. By William Black. Illus., 12mo, pp. 406. Harper
& Bros. $1.75.
The Folly of Eustace, and Other Stories. By Robert S.
Hichens. 16mo, gilt top, uncut, pp. 175. D. Appleton
& Co. 75 cts.
Will o'the Wasp: A Sea Yarn of the War of 1812. By
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Poker Stories. Collected and edited by John F. B. Lillard.
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1896.]
27
THE DIAL
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28
[July 1, 1896.
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No. 243.
AUGUST 1, 1896. Vol. XXI. the “ Athenæum ” of July 4. The service ren-
dered to students of literature by this annual
feature of our English contemporary is of the
CONTENTS.
highest value, and we are glad to acknowledge
our great indebtedness for the material pre-
sented. As heretofore, we shall first discuss
A YEAR OF CONTINENTAL LITERATURE.-1. 57
the literatures of France, Belgium, Italy, Spain,
COMMUNICATION.
60
and Greece; leaving the countries of Northern
Theory versus Practice. W. H. Johnson.
Europe for a second paper. The authors of the
summaries from which we shall quote are M.
TRAVELS BY LAND AND SEA. E. G. J. .. Joseph Reinach for France, M. Paul Frederico
Gregory's The Great Rift Valley.-Bull's The Cruise
for Belgium, Signor Alberto Manzi for Italy,
of the “ Antarctic."- Gordon's Persia Revisited.-
Don Juan F. Riaño for Spain, and Professor
Traill's From Cairo to the Soudan Frontier.- Parr's
New Wheels in Old Ruts.
S. P. Lambros for Greece.
The French summary gives the first place to
BAYARD TAYLOR AS A MAN OF LETTERS. political literature, with mention of such books
Tuley Francis Huntington
64 as M. Michel's “L'Idée de l'Etat," M. de
Molinari's “Comment Résoudre la Question
EXPLORATIONS AND PROBLEMS IN THE
Sociale”; M. Reinach’s “ Démagogues et So-
GREENLAND ICEFIELDS. Rollin D. Salis-
cialistes," and M. Leroy-Beaulieu's four-volume
bury.
65
* Traité Théorique et Pratique d'Economie
RECENT NEW TESTAMENT LITERATURE.
Politique." The Counte de Luçay's historical
Shailer Mathews
. . 67 study of “Decentralization,” M. Yves Guyot's
Sanday's Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans. "Les Tribulations de M. Faubert” (an argu-
- Gould's Commentary on St. Mark.- Burton's Rec-
ment against the graduated income tax), and
ords and Letters of the Apostolic Age.- Ramsay's
the last work of the late Léon Say, “ Contre le
Saint Paul.
Socialisme,” are other works of importance.
BRIEFS ON NEW BOOKS .
70 “ The mine of history still yields richly,” the
Vernon Lee's latest volume.-Sixteen volumes of annual output including a new volume of MM.
Wordsworth.- Experiments in English criticism. Rambaud and Lavisse's “Histoire de France,"
The latest of Mr. Beardsley. - French views of
the last volume of M. Vandal's “ Histoire de
Germany. - College work in rhetorical criticism.-
Essays by Mr. Mabie. - More French impressions of
l'Alliance Russe sous le Premier Empire,” the
America.
third and fourth volumes of the Mémoires de
Barras," M. Lambert's Mariage de Madame
BRIEFER MENTION .
73 Roland,” and many other books dealing with
the Revolution and the Empire. A lively pro-
LITERARY NOTES
74
test is entered against the excessive attention
TOPICS IN LEADING PERIODICALS
75
now given to this epoch. “Intensely interest-
ing as that period of history is, the mere fact
LIST OF NEW BOOKS
75 of their being concerned with it is not enough
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.


58
(Aug. 1,
THE DIAL
by itself to entitle reminiscences and notes to XIII., and a digest of all the ecclesiastical controversies
the honours of publication.” Our own times
that have taken place from St. Paul's day to that of the
are not, however, neglected, as a number of
last Encyclical. All this is dull, heavy, superficial, and
commonplace enough; the plot itself is mediocre; and
works witness, the most important of them yet, in spite of it, the whole work is powerful. M. Zola
being Benedetti's “ Etudes Diplomatiques. possesses the gift of laying hold of the reader with a
The publication of a first volume of Renan's hand — or rather a paw — of surprising strength; he
holds you in a grip which he never relaxes till the end
correspondence is, of course, one of the major
is reached. Abuse him as you will, you can seldom
events of the year. Literary history and criti-
reproach him with boring you."
cism next call for mention. “A notable pub-
which M. Petit de Julleville has
lication upon which M. Petit
The remaining novels of the year are “L'Idylle
embarked, with the assistance of a number of Tragique,” by M. Paul Bourget ; “ Aphrodite,'
eminent thinkers and writers, is • L'Histoire de by M. Pierre Louys ; “ Après Fortune Faite,”
la Langue et de la Littérature Françaises des by M. Cherbuliez ; “ Dernier Refuge,” by N.
Origines à 1900. The work, which when com-
Rod; “L’Empreinte,” by M. Estaunié; “ L'Ef-
plete will occupy not fewer than eight volumes, fort,” by M. Margueritte ; and “Les Kam-
is fully illustrated. This first part deals with schatka," by M. Léon Daudet. “ As for poetry,
narrative religious poetry.” M. Jusserand has
it is lying very fallow,” is the concluding sen.
published a concise “Histoire de la Littérature
tence of M. Reinach's report.
Anglaise.” Other important works of general
Studies in local history and topography fig-
literature are M. Nourrisson's « Voltaire et le ure largely in the Belgian literary product, and
Voltairianisme,” M. Leo Claretie's “J. J. have, of course, slight interest for readers out-
Rousseau et Ses Amis," M. Stapfer's “La
“ La side the Netherlands. M. Fredericq tells us
Famille de Montaigne,” M. Filon's "Le Théâtre that “ Les Jeunes Belgiques ” are at outs with
Anglais Contemporain,” to which the writer one another. They “have become split up
pays a high tribute, M. Desjardin’s “ La Phil- | into two or three little hostile camps that vilify
osophie de Proudhon,” M. de Vogüé's “ Devant and assail one another with much fervor. Their
le Siècle," a collection of essays, M. de Frey members have even gone so far as personal as-
cinet's “Essai sur la Philosophie des Sciences,” sault in the streets, rendering judicial inter-
and M. Sully-Prudhomme's “ Que Sais-Je?" ference necessary.” Two of them, MM. C.
the work of a writer who has won his
spurs
Lemonnier and G. Rodenbach, have even fled
as a poet, and is now steadily building up a to Paris in disgust. M. Maeterlinck has con-
reputation for himself as a profound thinker.” | tributed “Le Trésor des Humbles, " "a work
Art literature claims Gounod's “ Memoires of pronounced mystical flavour,” to the litera-
d'un Artiste," the late E. de Goncourt's mono ture of the year. Three works of literary his-
graph on Hokusaï, M. Larroumet’s “ L'Art et tory are singled out for praise : M. Loise's
l'Etat en France,” M. Guillaume's " Etudes “ L'Histoire de la Poésie Italienne,” M. Gil-
d'Art Antique et Moderne,” and the magnifi- bert's “Le Roman en France pendant le XIXe.
cently illustrated work of MM. Hamdy Bey Siècle," and MM. Hecq and Paris's “La Poésie
and T. Reinach, “Une Nécropole Royale à Française au Moyen Age et à la Renaissance."
Sidon.” Coming at last to the subject of fic-
M. Eekhoud has made a good translation of
tion, we find this somewhat discouraging intro- Beaumont and Fletcher's " Philaster.” In the
ductory paragraph :
Flemish literature of Belgium, although “no
“ The output of fiction is as considerable as ever; really remarkable work has appeared during
judging from the booksellers' lists, at least two or three the past twelve months either in the depart-
novels must be published per diem. A large proportion
of these evidently find their use almost immediately as
ment of poetry or the drama,” the prose writers
grocers' wrapping papers; but a still larger number find
have“ produced a crop that is not only prolific,
readers. The public of to-day nourishes itself with
but rich and valuable as well." The veteran
novels as well as bread.”
M. Sleeckx, seventy-eight years old, has pub-
M. Zola's “ Rome” heads the list, and M. Rei- lished - Vesalius in Spanje,” a historical ro-
nach's criticism is so just that we must quote
mance of the sixteenth century. Mlle. Vir-
the whole of it:
ginie Loveling and her nephew, M. Cyriel
“Six weeks' acquaintance with modern Rome was Buysse, “ still occupy the position of the two
enough for him to make a complete study of that com- leading Flemish prose writers.” The latter has
plex entity. The book combines the pith of all Bae-
deker's remarks upon the objects of interest in the
published two new books, “ Wroeging " and
Eternal City with the marrow of the whole history of
“ Mea Culpa ”; the former has won the prize
Rome, from Romulus and Remus to Humbert and Leo of five thousand francs, offered quinquennially


1896.]
59
THE DIAL
“ for the encouragement of Flemish literature, inferior to the author's preceding volume, it
with "Een Dure Eed” (not a work of the past nevertheless furnishes us with fewer hopes con-
year, however), and has published “ Het Land cerning this elementary - school mistress of
der Verbeeldung,” “ consisting of two stories, Motta Visconti, singularly favored by fortune
in which her unfailing freshness of manner,
since her début, and now — to the surprise of
keen power of psychological analysis, and pic- her Socialist friends - married to a wealthy
turesque power of description are directed upon manufacturer.” Another leading event of the
life as lived in our typical Flemish villages. year in fiction is Sig. d'Annunzio's “ Le Ver-
M. L. Simons has published a Flemish transla- gini delle Rocce,” the first of a cycle to be
tion of “ Béowulf.” The last item in M. Fred called “I Romanzi del Giglio." "The com-
ericq's report is the following:
mercial success of the book has not proved its
“ M. Max Rooses, the well-known custodian of the alue, but simply testifies to the power of curi-
Musée Plantin, has issued two volumes of art criticismosity. This publication of the Vergini delle
under the title of Oude en Nieuwe Kunst.' In these
Rocce 'has laid bare a series of plagiarisms com-
he deals with the principal masterpieces of seventeenth
century Flemish and Dutch painting to be found in the
mitted by D'Annunzio, both in his verse and his
Louvre and the Antwerp and Vienna Galleries. He
prose, from French, Russian, and Italian au-
also includes excellent criticism of a number of Flemish thors, and these not amongst the least celebrated.
painters of this century, such as Leys, Lies, Verlat, The philosophical conception of his last novel is
bringing his survey up to the present day. Coming from
inspired by some ill-digested theories of Niet-
the pen of one who is not only our leading literary and
artistic critic, but also one of the most finished and
zsche, while its general structure is borrowed
charning of our prose writers, the book is as remarkable from a French work. The third novel of import-
for its manner as for its matter."
ance is Sig. Fogazzaro's “ Piccolo Mondo An-
Signor Alberto Manzi, writing of things tico," which“ has rightly been extolled every-
Italian, begins with a tribute to the late Rug where as a masterpiece. The author carries us
gero Bonghi, his predecessor as correspondent back to 1859; here the hopes and the struggles,
of “The Athenæum." His translation of Plato, the greatness and the meanness, the minds and
bis unfinished “Storia di Roma," and his great
the hearts of a little world, are set forth with de-
work for public education, will long be remem- lightful fidelity, without any striving after ob-
bered by a grateful country. Speaking of ed-
scure things,' without any posing, and yet with
ucation, we find the following deeply interest-
a certain grandeur and goodness of spirit, the
ing statement:
two characteristics of Fogazzaro's whole work.
“More enlightened ideas are everywhere coming to
He makes his '59 bear a strong resemblance to
the front, and the revolution extends from the writers the present year of grace in all that has regard to
of children's books to those who educate the youths un the freshness of hope and the desire for
a high
dergoing a course of higher education. From Carlo
standard of national morality.” Other novels
Lorenzini (Collodi) to Giosuè Carducci a new, practical,
and rational method has gained a hold in all ranks — a
are Sig. Rovetta's “Il Tenente dei Lancieri”
method which no longer repels the young, but invites
and Signora Serao's “L'Indifferente.” The
them to studies which, from being tedious, pedantic, and twenty-fifth anniversary of the complete inte-
of doubtful utility, have become in the highest degree gration of the Italian kingdom has naturally
practical."
called forth many books of recent Italian bis-
Sig. Carducci has published nothing during the tory, and the outburst of Napoleonic literature
year, but is engaged upon a poem to be called has been almost as great in Italy as in France.
“La Battaglia di Legnano ” and an eagerly- Sig. Tebaldo, in his “ Napoleone: una Pagina
awaited “Storia del Risorgimento Italiano.” Storico - Psicologica del Genio,” argues that
He has also promised “ a work in several vol. “ Napoleon was not epileptic in the proper sig.
umes dealing with the early Italian theatre.” nification of the word, although exhibiting sev-
In fiction, “ the great event of the year is the eral characteristics of epilepsy; he was neu-
new book by Ada Negri, entitled •
rotic.” A similar study of Byron, by Sig.
a book which has, however, “ all the defects of Mingazzini, “Sullo Stato Mentale di Lord
• Fatalità,' which time and study should have Byron,” argues that anyone who should at-
eliminated. The lyre of Ada Negri has but tempt to reduce to a definite morbid type
one string; the greater part of her movements the psychopathic manifestations that occur in
are well known, and the variations lack that Byron's life would fail in the endeavour," but
spontaneity and ingenuous inspiration which finds a lack of equilibrium, coupled with the
contributed so greatly to the success of Fa special effects of alcoholism and opium-eating.
talità. Though Tempeste' is not intrinsically Another great poet was undoubtedly epileptic,


60
[Aug. 1,
THE DIAL
O
0
sea.
according to Sig. Patrizi's “Saggio Critico is the • History of Ali Pasha,' by Spyridon
Antropologico su G. Leopardi.” These Italian Aravantinos. It comprises not only the
disciples of Professor Lombroso seem unwilling life and deeds of the tyrant of Epirus, but also
to allow that any man of great genius can be his surroundings and contemporary events as
wholly sound mentally. A far more serious well; and, besides, it depicts the manners and
and well-balanced work is Sig. Morselli's customs of the time.” Professor George Hatzi.
“L'Eredità Materiale, Morale, e Intellecttuale dakis, of the University of Athens, "adduces
del XIX. Secolo," in which this distinguished in his treatise on · The Hellenism of the Ancient
scholar “examines separately and impartially Macedonians' indisputable proofs, historical
the phenomena of the struggle for existence, and philological, of the identity of the country-
intensified and rendered almost ferocious by men of Philip and Alexander with the Greek
the increased means of resistance and combat. nation." The best imaginative work of the
On the one hand, we see an increase in the year is the volume of “Poems New and Old”
number of lunatics and suicides ; on the other, by Mr. A. Provelengios.
by Mr. A. Provelengios. “A native of the
morality is steadily emancipating itself from island of Siphnos, he is most at home on the
the theocracy, and sociology is preparing a Hence that part of his poems of which
better future for the disinherited.” The study the title is • Thalassa ’ is the most beautiful.
of sociology in Italy, as everywhere else, is as Yet there are many gems to be found in • Au-
suming large dimensions. Sig..de Amicis, it tumn Harmonies,' his "German Reminiscences,'
is said, has been converted to socialism. Among his sides of Life," his Funeral Flowers.'
the books in this department are “Società, Whether he sings of love, or bewails the death
Socialismo, e Anarchia,” by Sig. Augias ; “ Il of his young wife, or admires antiquity or a
Socialismo e la Scuola,” by Sig. Pancera ; and little deserted church covered with ivy, be
“Socialismo Cattolico," by Sig. Soderini. always soothes his readers by his sound poetical
Spain reports a long list of works historical feeling and his lovely descriptions. But when
or otherwise erudite in character, but hardly he repeats a sailor's song or describes the even-
deserving of enumeration here. Señor Men- ing light and the setting of the sun at sea,
éndez y Pelayo is carrying on his monumental when he brings softly before his readers the
edition of Lope de Vega, his “ Antologia de legions of mariners and their heart struggles,
Poetas Hispano-Americanos,” and his edition he charms us irresistibly.”
of Quevedo. “Regarding poetry, fiction, and
the drama, there is, unfortunately, little to be
said. Poetry is in a languid state. A certain
COMMUNICATION.
amount of verse on the old lines is produced ;
but there is certainly nothing published that is
THEORY VERSUS PRACTICE.
in the least degree likely to astonish the reader,
(To the Editor of THE DIAL.)
or indicates a new departure of any value, or The construction of a certain class of verbs in the
is likely to add a new name to the well-known passive voice, with an object, is inevitable, as its very
list." The only exception to this general state- opponents testify by usage when off their guard. The
ment is furnished by the sonnets and madri-
“ New York Sun was recently caught in its own trap;
and now comes another. The American Book Company
gals of Señor Rodriguez Marin, “who imitates
has just issued a new “ Practical Rhetoric" by Profes-
the models of our golden age to perfection.” sor Quackenbos. On page 242 is the strong statement
The theatre has witnessed new plays by Señores that "passive verbs cannot properly govern the object-
ive case.
.. The construction has been tolerated as
Echegaray, P. Galdós, Dicenta, and Feliu y
onvenient, but is protested against by all who respect
Codina. Among novels, the “Nazarin ” of
pure English.” On page 10, however, we have the state-
Señor Galdos stands first, followed by the ment that “the writer is shown how to express his
- Juanita la Larga ” of Señor Valera, the “ Los thoughts,” etc., in which the words “how to express his
Magos de Cadiz” of Señor P. Valdés, and thoughts” are of course the object of " is shown.”
Señora Bazán's four-volume collection of short
It is time that critics, and especially editors who
adopt for their motto the words of Lowell, “I am a
stories and miscellaneous sketches.
bookman,” thus laying claim to a wide knowledge of
From Greece we do not expect very much literature, should throw aside a rule whose formulation
in the way of literature of general interest. The is due to faulty logic and narrow induction, and enjoy
Olympic Games have naturally given rise to a
a privilege which is theirs by the genius of Indo-European
number of books, the more important of which speech, the laws of thought, and the usage of good
writers and speakers of the English tongue.
are enumerated by Mr. Lambros. “Of his-
W. H. JOHNSON.
torical publications, by far the most important Granville, Ohio, July 20, 1896.


1896.]
61
THE DIAL
sea.
that the long ones lie, like fiords, between high
The New Books.
precipitous cliffs. The map shows, also, that
these two types of lakes are ranged on a def-
inite plan — the long fiord-like ones occurring
TRAVELS BY LAND AND SEA.*
on two lines which pass one on either side of
“ The Great Rift Valley," a rather stout,
a rather stout, the Nyanza and meet at Basso Narok (Lake
handsomely-mounted volume of some four hun- Rudolph), the line running thence northward
dred pages, contains the story of a scientific (as a strip of low land, dotted with lakes and
and exploring expedition into British East old lake-basins) to the lower end of the Red
Africa, told by a leading participant in the ven Sea, which repeats on a larger scale the struc-
ture, Mr. J. W. Gregory of the Natural His ture of the fiord-like lakes. The Gulf of Akaba,
tory department of the British Museum. The at the northern end of the Red Sea, leads to a
Expedition was undertaken in 1892-3, and similar valley or strip of low land, and from
Mr. Gregory accompanied it as naturalist. this the Dead Sea and the Jordan valley “ con-
The interest of the volume is scientific rather tinue the same type of geographical structure,
than literary; for while the author presents till it ends on the plains of Syria.” Thus, says
many useful facts as to the flora and fauna, the Mr. Gregory, from the Lebanons almost to the
geology and anthropology, of the regions vis- | Cape there runs a valley, unique both on ac-
ited, his style is as matter-of-fact as his journey count of the persistence with which it maintains
was comfortably devoid of the “ hair-breadth its trough-like form, and also from the fact that
'scapes " and privations that usually fall to the scattered along its floor is a series of over thirty
lot of the African explorer. Since the discov- lakes, only one of which has an outlet to the
eries of Burton and Speke and of Livingstone The question whether portions of this
verified the native reports of great inland seas remarkable valley were formed independently
toward the interior of the Dark Continent, and successively, or whether it was all formed
the investigation of the East African lake sys at once and by the same process, must be finally
tem has been the branch of exploration in which answered by geology. History, however, gives
the widest general interest has been taken. some useful hints.
Mr. F. Galton pointed out, in 1884, that the “ Along the line the natives have traditions of great
great depression in which lakes Naivasha and changes in the structure of the country. The Arabs tell
Baringo lie is really part of one “ which begins
us that the Red Sea is simply water that did not dry
with the Dead Sea, extends down the Red Sea,
up after Noah's deluge. The Somali say that when their
ancestors crossed from Arabia to Africa there was a
and ends at Lake Tanganyika"-a view which land connection between the two, across the straits of
has been often repeated, but has remained as Bab el Mandeb. The natives of Ujiji, at the southern
a hazy speculation until Professor Suess of
end of the line, have a folklore that goes back to the
Vienna recently gave it scientific expression. ing of a fertile plain, rich in cattle and plantations.
time when Lake Tanganyika was formed by the flood-
.
Turning to a map of the East African lake sys And at the northern end of the valley we have the ac-
tem, we find that the lakes may be classed counts of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah."
under two widely differing types, some rounded The structure, therefore, of the Rift Valley, as
in shape, as the Nyanza; others long and nar Mr. Gregory conveniently terms it, has
very va-
row, as Tanganyika and the Nyassa ; while the ried interests—geological and geographical, by
description of explorers show us that the shores
reason of its connection with the history of the
of the round ones are low and shelving, and eastern basin of the Mediterranean; and eth-
* THE GREAT RIFT VALLEY: Being the Narrative of a
nographical, on account of its explanation of
Journey to Mount Kenya and Lake Baringo. By J. W. Greg some of the best-known stories in our folk-lore.
ory, D.Sc. Illustrated. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
The author suggests that the exploration of
THE CRUISE OF THE “ANTARCTIC" TO THE SOUTH POLAR
REGIONS (1893–1895). By H. J. Bull, a Member of the Ex-
this region may possibly furnish some explan-
pedition. Illustrated. New York: Edward Arnold. atory hints as to certain features in the surface
PERSIA REVISITED IN 1895. With Some Remarks on the
of the moon
the long narrow clefts known as
Present Situation (1896). By General Sir Thomas Edward “ rills," for instance. “If all the air and water
Gordon, K.C.I.E., C.B., C.S.I. Illustrated. New York:
Edward Arnold.
were removed from the earth, then the Rift
From CAIRO TO THE SOUDAN FRONTIER, By H. D. Traill. Valley would present much the same aspect to
Chicago: Way & Williams.
an inhabitant of the moon that some of the
New WABELS IN OLD Ruts. A Pilgrimage to Canterbury | larger of the lunar rills present to us. Mr.
and-Ink Sketches by F. W. R. Adams. Philadelphia: J. B. Gregory's matterful book is well provided with
Lippincott Company.
maps and illustrations.


62
[Aug. 1,
THE DIAL
“ The Cruise of the · Antarctic,'” by Mr. Ross three suppositions are possible: (1) That
H. J. Bull, tells the story of an expedition, pro- Sir James mistook the blue, or finned, whales
jected and conducted by Mr. Bull, and
organ for right whales ; (2) that the right whales
ized by the Norwegian whaling pioneer, Svend have, since his voyage (1840–41), changed
Foyn, to the South Polar Regions. Its pri- their route of migration; or (3) that wholesale
mary object was to prove whether the right capture of right whales since 1840 has reduced
whale or the sperm whale could be successfully their number to an insignificant quantity. The
hunted off South Victoria Land ; secondarily, third supposition is accepted by the author as
or rather incidentally (for the expedition was the most plausible one. The direct scientific
essentially a private commercial venture), it results of the expedition were rather meagre-
was proposed to learn more of the mysterious as might have been expected, the voyage being
regions to the far south, and if possible to effect primarily a whaling voyage, and there being
a landing on the South Polar Continent itself no one of fair scientific attainments on the ves-
—which was accomplished, the author and his sel. Fortunately, a lichen of some interest to
companions landing at Cape Adare, the east botanists was found growing at Cape Adare.
ern extremity of the Continent, on January 24, “ As it was previously held that no vegetation,
1894. The “ Antarctic” was a small sailing even of the lowest order, was possible in the
vessel, with auxiliary steam, of two hundred rigorous climate of Antarctica, this interesting
tons. This small craft had a voyage of four-lichen has created a great sensation.” Sea-
teen thousand miles before her, before the real weed collected at Cape Adare was also carried
work of the expedition could fairly be said to be to Europe. It may be proved, Mr. Bull thinks,
gin. Sailing from Norway in September, 1893, that this sea-weed was actually growing when
the “ Antarctic " touched at Tristan D'Acunha found ; so that “the number of Antarctic bot-
on November 24, made the Kerguelen or Des-anic species will be doubled — there will be two
olation Islands (where six weeks were spent in instead of one." As a tale of adventure the
sealing) on December 19, and reached Mel volume will be found very readable. There are
bourne at the end of February, 1894. After a number of illustrations by Mr. Burn Mur-
a thorough overhaul, the vessel started for the doch after photographs taken by the author ;
Campbell Islands on a sealing trip, which and Mr. Wyllie, A.R.A., supplies a clever front-
proved a disastrous one, the “ Antarctic” going ispiece.
aground in a gale and sustaining damage which The recent political tragedy at the shrine of
necessitated a return to Melbourne for repairs. Shah Abdul Azim, near Tehran, invests Gen-
In September a start was made for South Vic- eral Sir T. E. Gordon's " Persia Revisited
toria Land. The first iceberg (six hundred feet with a certain melancholy timeliness. The au-
high and several miles in length) was sighted thor, who was for some years military attaché
on November 5, but within forty-eight hours to the British legation at Tehran, revisited
from this an accident to the propeller compelled Persia last autumn; and the news of the assas-
an immediate retreat to Dunedin, seven hun-sination of the Shah, Nasr-ed-Din, was received
dred miles away. Thus nearly a month was by him while the present volume, which is
lost before the ship again encountered the ice. mainly the outcome of the autumn journey, was
How she eventually fought her way for five hun preparing for publication. “I little thought, ”
dred miles through the “pack”; how the lead says General Gordon, “ when I had the honor
ers were disappointed in their hopes of finding of conversing with the Shah in October last,
right whales (reported half a century ago by that it was possible a king so admired and loved
Sir James Ross as abounding in these seas); by his people, and then looking forward with
how the battered little “ Antarctic" returned pride and pleasure to the celebration of his
at last to Melbourne, unprofitably “clean," approaching jubilee, should perish in their
but with all the honors of her successful fight midst by the hand of an assassin within five
with the long dreaded South Polar ice-belt, — days of the event.” The Shah's death created
all this, and much more, is graphically told a somewhat critical situation in Persia, which
by the author. ,
Commercially, the expedition the author discusses in two supplementary chap-
was a failure ; but it had the important nega ters that throw some timely light on Persian
tive result (bought at a cost to Norwegians of politics and dynastic questions. The bulk of
£5000) of showing that right whaling in Ant the volume consists of a general survey of the
arctic waters is not a paying venture. To har Persia of to-day, duly enlivened with anecdotes
monize this result with the reports of Sir James and incidents of travel, which enables the


1896.]
63
THE DIAL
reader to form a fair idea of the economic, “The shopkeepers like to have their pet birds by
industrial, and social status of the country, and
them, and in the nesting season these may be heard all
of its prospects as a possible future participant partners they know of by instinct, but never meet.”
over the bazaars, singing sweetly and longingly for the
in the onward march of progressive nations.
It is wrong, the author thinks, to suppose that
The cages are brightly decorated with bits of
colored cloth and flowers in season :
the Persians are dead to all desire for
progress,
“In November I saw quite a dozen cages thus bright-
or that their religion is an effective bar to such ened, each with its brisk-looking nightingale occupant,
desire. The Moullas (priests) are naturally put out in the sunshine in the courtyard; and on asking
opposed to popular education, in which they about such a collection of cages, was told rather shyly,
plainly see the beginning of the end of their as if fearing a smile at their sentimental ways, that there
was an afternoon tea that day in the neighborhood, to
own undoing. As one of them frankly said,
which the nightingales and their owners were going."
“The people will read the Koran for them-
selves, and what will be left for us to do ?”
A tempting little book, whose fair exterior
But there has always been much liberty of by no means belies its contents, is Mr. H. D.
Traill's " From Cairo to the Soudan Frontier."
speech and opinion in Persia. Six hundred
years ago Hafiz and Omar Khayyam freely ex-
The text is reprinted from the London “ Daily
pressed their contempt of the “ meddling Moul- Telegraph,” and it pretends, says the author,
“ to no other character than that of a record
las ”; while not very long ago, our author notes,
of impressions derived from a couple of brief
would vent their scorn and voice the popular tours 1995. The sketches, if slight in fibre,
the graceless donkey-boys of the great towns
feeling by shouting injuriously, “ Br-r-r-o ak- and 1895-6.” The sketches, if slight in fibre,
hound!" (Go on, priest!) when they saw a
are very agreeably written, and merit reprint-
spiritual father ambling along on his donkey. | ing: Mr. Traill's style savors of literature
In fine, Persia is advancing, slowly indeed, but
rather than journalism though, as a writer
not halting, still less sliding back, as some say.
for the Conservative press, he finds it incum-
The late Shah was a liberal man, and concilia-
bent on him to glance casually at past Liberal
tory and just toward his Christian subjects. Gladstone and Labby” rather spitefully for
shortcomings in Egypt, and to “prod ” Mr.
Christian missionaries are protected in their
their share therein. The sixteen chapters
work—that is, so long as they do not show what
the Moullas might term a “ pernicious activity” my’s Egyptian Christmas,” “ A Theban Race
“Life at Sea," “ The Streets of Cairo,” “ Tom-
in proselytizing Mohammedans. The Amer-
ican Presbyterian Mission is the only mission
Meeting,” “A Raided Village,” “A Khedi-
vial Progress,” etc.—are studded with striking
in Tehran; and, says the author, “it carries
on its work so smoothly and judiciously that descriptive passages ; for example, the follow-
the sensitive susceptibilities of the most fanat | ing picture of a dancing dervish at the Mosque
of Mohammed Ali in Old Cairo:
ical Moullas are never roused nor ruffled. They
“Without any preparation he has stepped quietly
have succeeded well by never attempting too into the ring, a thin anæmic youth of barely twenty,
much.” This is true praise. General Gordon's clad in the sort of long striped soutane which these mys-
opinion of the present Shah is a favorable one; tics affect. Extending his arms at right angles to his
and there seems to be good reason to believe body he begins to twirl, and for five and twenty mortal
that under him the equable and fairly enlight- he continues to do so. Every now and then, at inter-
minutes, by the independent testimony of many watches,
ened and progressive régime of his father will vals of about ten minutes, the speed of his revolutions
be continued. The author does not omit to tell (say, one hundred and fifty times a minute) would
us something of the nightingale—the pet cage-
slacken, like that of a spent humming-top, and you might
bird of the Persians, the red rose's Endymion, have thought
he was gradually coming to a halt from
exhaustion. But no! At the moment the pace had
the bird sung by bards of Shiraz and of Dub-
slowed down almost to stopping point, it would rapidly
lin,- for Mr. Moore's bulbul (warbling by the quicken again to its former pitch. : : . This man has
Liffey) is no less tuneful than those that sang all the air of a genuine mystic. It is impossible to con-
* by the calm Bendemeer.” The nightingale template the countenance of this twirling fanatic, and
the contrast of its strange quietude with the ceaseless
is the favorite singing-bird of the Persians, the
motion of his body, without being powerfully impressed
young male birds being captured from the nests
by it. As the endless gyrations continue the position
when fully fledged, brought up by hand, and of the arms is repeatedly varied. Now both are ex-
then sold in the towns, where there is a brisk tended at full length; now one is dropped at the side
demand for them — as General Gordon learned
while the other remains stretched out; now one, now
from two small boys engaged in picking roses
both are bent till the tips of the fingers touch the shoul-
ders. But all the time the eyes remain closed and the
for the attar-essence manufacture near Yezd. face wears the sam e expression of perfect and imp


64
[Aug. 1,
THE DIAL
turbable calm. ... The world of sight must long have cause told by Taylor himself in his justly fam-
disappeared from his view; the whizzing universe would
ous books of travel — preferring rather to
be a mere blur upon his retina were he to open
his
.
But does he see nothing beyond it through their closed emphasize his literary history at home. For-
lids? Has he really twirled himself in imagination to
tunately, however, in emphasizing the literary
the Gates of Paradise? Are the heavens opening in life of Taylor the author has avoided becoming
beatific vision to that human teetotum? After all, why at any time either prevailingly over-critical or
not?”
prevailingly over-eulogistic.
Why not, indeed ? May not the twirling der-
But if Mr. Smyth has avoided the two great-
vish's mode of juggling sense and inducing an
est dangers that confronted him, he has in one
agreeable religious exaltation be as potent as instance at least seriously laid himself open to
another's? Have we of the West so far out-
criticism. I refer to the introductory chapter
grown the saltatory or Corybantic stage of
on Pennsylvania in Literature.” The chap-
ritual as to warrant us in flouting the artless
ter was written, he says, because this is the first
devotee who thinks to please his Maker by biography of a Middle States writer to appear
spinning before him like a teetotum ? Mr.
in the “ Men of Letters " series ; and possibly,
Traill's book is rather timely, and should serve
too,—although Mr. Smyth does not say this, –
to beguile an evening or so very pleasantly.
because it gave an excellent opportunity to draw
“ New Wheels in Old Ruts" is a humorous attention to the fact that at one time Philadel .
account of an up-to-date Canterbury pilgrim- phia, and not Boston or New York, was com-
age, via the ancient pilgrim's way-a deserted monly called the Athens of America : a pres-
track running through the heart of Kent, which tige which that city enjoyed until about 1820,
is traditionally associated with the historic way. when, the author thinks, the centre of literary
farers to the shrine of the martyred St. Thomas. culture passed to New York. Now, undoubt-
In the present case the pilgrimage forms the edly this is true ; but is it wise to devote even
summer vacation jaunt of a party of young a very short chapter of a biography like this
Londoners (rather of the “ Bank Holiday to the parcelling out of literary husks ? To
class, one fancies, judging from their pranks anyone who looks closely at the literature pro-
en route), who are out for a good time and have duced in America before 1820, its real insig-
it, “ doing" the antiquities after the manner nificance must be apparent. Franklin's “ Au-
of their kind, and beguiling the journey with tobiography” and Irving's “Sketch Book
stories according to the precedent of Chaucer are almost the only books written before this
and Erasmus. Oxford, Kemsing, Wrotham, date that are now extensively read; and I am
the Stone Circles, Kits Coty House, Boxley, not quite sure that either of these books will
etc., are described, and a route map is furnished take a very high rank among the masterpieces
for the behoof of future pilgrims. The author's of the world's literatures. But since Franklin
humor recalls Mr. Jerome K. Jerome — that was a native of Massachusetts, and Irving a
is, it is “ Mark Twain ” with a little more water. native of New York, Philadelphia can only
Mr. F. W. R. Adams's pen drawings are occa claim the honor that comes from the former's
sionally rather funny.
E. G. J. later residence in that city. That “the Sus-
quehanna flows freely through European liter-
ature," or that“ nearly every memorable name
BAYARD TAYLOR AS A MAN OF
in our literature confesses some connection with
LETTERS.*
the Philadelphia press," will hardly suffice to
Mr. Albert H. Smyth, in writing his “ Life immortalize the literature of Pennsylvania, or
of Bayard Taylor” for the “ American Men of to restore to that state its former literary pres-
Letters” series, seems to have adopted the sug- tige. It seems unwise, then, to centre the at-
gestion made by Plutarch, in his “Life of tention on the literature of any one colony or
Alexander,” that it is not always in one's most of any one state, when even at this date that
distinguished achievements that one's vices or of all America will hardly bear a critical inspec-
virtues are best discerned, but very often in tion. Finally, since all readers of biographies
the actions and sayings of one's private life. are impatient of introductions of every sort,
Mr. Smyth frankly admits that he has not at one cannot but wish that a carefully written
tempted to give a detailed account of Taylor's paragraph had been substituted for the eleven
travels an account the more unnecessary be- pages of this introductory chapter, or that Mr.
* BAYARD TAYLOR. By Albert H. Smyth. (American
Smyth had begun his book with the admirable
Men of Letters.) Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co. chapter on Taylor's “Early Life.”


1896.]
65
THE DIAL
Besides this observation, we cannot make
EXPLORATIONS AND PROBLEMS IN THE
many adverse criticisms of this book. It is true
GREENLAND ICEFIELDS.*
that one occasionally comes across a clause or The literature on Greenland is gradually be-
a sentence with which one is not quite satisfied.
coming voluminous. Each of the many Arctic
The taste, for example, of such expressions as
expeditions and explorers has made a report,
these is questionable : “ Their sense of art was
and some of the Danish officials resident in
apoplexed.” “ He ... found himself three
Greenland have taken the pains to write up
thousand dollars to the good,” etc.; and of such
the land and its people. The work on “Green-
a figure as this : “In like manner Bayard Tay- land Icefields, and Life in the North Atlantic,”
lor ... drove his new tandem'— prose by by Professor G. Frederick Wright and War-
day and poetry by night — smoothly and well,
ren Upham, so far as it pertains to Greenland,
and with glad content.” There are likewise is to be looked on as a sort of summary of that
two criticisms from which we should like to dif.
which has heretofore appeared in English, with
fer. It is certainly too much to say that Tay-
lor died with more unfulfilled renown and senior author, who, as a passenger on the ill-
a few chapters based on the observations of the
unaccomplished growth within him than any
fated “ Miranda,” in 1894, spent about two
other man in American letters," although one
weeks on the coast of Greenland, in the vicinity
accepts unqualifiedly the first part of Mr.
of Sukkertoppen.
Smyth's statement, that “the really great things
Professor Wright's account of his experi-
of which he was capable were still before him
when he died.” Furthermore, it seems hardly with the people, is racy, and gives many an
ence, and especially the account of his contact
sane to say of Taylor : “ It appears that other interesting glimpse of life in Danish Green-
poets of America have surpassed him in parts, land; but when the author extends his remarks
but that no one has equalled him in all."
on the people to the inhabitants of the island
Putting aside faults like these, which are
in general, he falls into the errors of some of
few and trifling when compared with the many his predecessors on whom he was dependent
and important merits of the book, Mr. Smyth's for information. The volume conveys the im-
“Life of Taylor” must take a very high place pression that the inhabitants of North Green-
in this truly admirable series. It is a lucid land and Danish Greenland are pretty much
and vivid record, told for the most part in the
the same, though the former are probably the
author's own language, which not only shows only Eskimos of the island whose blood is un-
Taylor's connection with the environing life
mixed with that of Europeans. Not only this,
that did so much to mould his character, and
but the conditions of life in North Greenland
which was in turn, and to no small degree,
are so unlike those in that part of the country
influenced by his healthful and vigorous career,
over which Denmark holds sway, that a hasty
but also reveals in a remarkable way those
visit to the latter gives no accurate idea of the
“ inward springs and relations of his character”
former.
with which Carlyle said every biographer ought Some of the erroneous ideas which have here-
to acquaint the public. It gives much of the
tofore been current have been given, it is to be
literary, and something even of the political, feared, a new lease of life by their republica-
history of the period in which Taylor lived.
tion in this work. Thus, it is stated (p. 144)
On finishing the book one has a distinct impres- that the houses of the North Greenlanders are
sion that he has been in the presence of the built of snow,
built of snow, while as a matter of fact their
very man of whom Berthold Auerback said :
“He was born in the New World, but ripened their winter dwellings (igloos) are usually of
summer dwellings (tupiks) are skin tents, and
in the Old.”
stone. Lack of familiarity with the matters
TULEY FRANCIS HUNTINGTON.
discussed is again made evident when Professor
Wright states (p. 153) that guns are said to
EDMOND DE GONCOURT was born in Nancy, May 26,
be of no avail in hunting the walrus. This reads
1822, and died in Paris on the sixteenth of last month. strangely to one who within a few months has
In collaboration with his brother Jules (who died in
seen about forty of these animals killed with
1870), he produced a number of naturalistic novels and
these
many historical studies of the eighteenth century. The
of " no avail.”
weapons
brothers also did much to interpret Japanese art to the
The junior author - whose name, strangely
European world. The “ Journal des Goncourt," is one *GREENLAND ICEFIELDS, AND LIFE IN THE NORTH AT-
of the most remarkable examples of reminiscent litera LANTIC. By G. Frederick Wright and Warren Upham. New
ture in existence.
York: D. Appleton & Co.


66
[Aug. 1,
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enough, does not appear on the cover of the adequate basis, will read with pleasure that the
volume, though nearly half of it, and much the scene of this transformation from anthropoid
weightier half, is from his pen—has never been to man has been finally determined.
to Greenland. His contribution to the volume So far as concerns the criticism of partisan-
consists of a discussion of the flora (living and ship, it should be stated that Mr. Upham holds
fossil) and fauna of Greenland, of a summary views concerning the glacial period and its
of the various explorations of the inland ice, phenomena which seem very singular to those
and of a general discussion of the glacial period who hold different views. In the chapters be-
and of those things which, in his judgment, were fore us, he is plainly trying to make a case,
connected with it.
though it is often clear that the effort is uncon-
Mr. Upham has rendered a service to the scious. In order to make his case, he does what
student of Greenland by presenting a readable partisans commonly do—he sometimes ignores
digest of the reports which have been made facts that do not serve his purpose, and espe-
from time to time by explorers of the inland cially those that are incompatible with it; he
ice. It is convenient, too, to have so readable sometimes states them in such a way that they
a summary of previous publications on the seem to lose their force; and sometimes, appar-
plants and animals of the island, though some ently for the sake of making his point, he puts
of the author's speculations as to the meaning interpretations upon them which they will not
of the facts may not meet with the general ap-
bear. As an illustration of a forced interpreta-
proval of biologists.
tion to fit an hypothesis, a single instance may
Apart from the criticisms that may be made be cited. Mr. Upham has long held what many
on the subject matter presented by Mr. Upham, believe to be an exaggerated idea of the amount
two general criticisms apply to his part of the of debris carried by glacier ice up in its mass.
volume. In the first place, it is partisan ; and Professor Chamberlin found the ends of certain
in the second, it is pervaded by a tone of final- North Greenland glaciers to be from a hundred
ity which comports strangely with the unsettled to two hundred feet thick, and the lower third
condition of the problems discussed. A strik or half of the ice well charged with debris.
ing instance of the latter point is the following: From this Mr. Upham infers (p. 308) that
“ Near the end of the latest Tertiary period, or more
the same ratio would hold in the great ice-cap,
probably well forward in the Quaternary era, almost to which might then be filled with debris from a
the epoch where the increasing uplift of the northern
countries brought on the Ice Age, men, having been thousand to two thousand feet above its base.
created through evolution from the anthropoid apes,
Thus, from the facts given by Chamberlin, Mr.
spread outward from their native tropical portion of the Upham finds confirmation of one of his pet
old world, to all parts of the great land areas of that doctrines. But the inference is unwarranted.
hemisphere and to America" (pp. 215-6).
Indeed, all the phenomena open to observation
This, it will be seen on analysis, is a very meaty in North Greenland, and physical considerations
sentence. No less than four momentous ques as well, point to a different conclusion. The
tions seem to be settled by it: (1) an impor. sides and ends of the North Greenland glaciers
tant question in geological chronology ; (2) present vertical faces on a magnificent scale, and
the cause of the ice age; (3) the ancestry of these vertical faces often affect the sides of the
man; and (4) the place of his origin. As a glaciers several miles above their ends, so that
matter of fact, geologists have never agreed to the full section of the ice may be seen, both at
a classification of time which allows the Quat- the end of a glacier, where the ice is relatively
ernary era to be well advanced before the be thin, and further up the valley, where it is rel-
ginning of the ice age; nor have they agreedatively thick. Passing up the valleys, these
that the elevation of northern lands was the lateral sections of the ice show that the debris-
cause of the glacial period, while some of those bearing stratum at the base of a glacier does
best qualified to judge of this hypothesis re not thicken at the same rate, or at anything
gard it as about the weakest of all the attempted like the same rate, that the ice does. Indeed,
explanations of the ice period. Evolutionists it frequently does not thicken at all with the
have long suspected that the ancestors of the increasing thickness of the ice, and in some
human race had more resemblance to anthro cases is actually thickest at the extreme end of
than to any other living animals, but the glacier. Professor Chamberlin’s facts do
the boldest of them would hardly have ventured not support Mr. Upham's hypothesis, and
so unqualified a statement; while those who are should not be forced into such uncongenial ser.
fond of having things settled, with or without vice. Professor Chamberlin might have said,
poid apes


1896.]
67
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with equal truth, that the ends of some of the Indeed, this earlier and greater elevation, if
North Greenland glaciers are from fifty to a we understand Mr. Upham correctly, is sup-
hundred feet thick, and full of debris from bot- posed to have been at a time when the climate
tom to top, and that their surfaces, at the ends, was notably mild !
are sometimes well laden with debris besides. Without going into details, the reader is
From this statement, by the same logic, Mr. warned that the time-relations of the various
Upham might have inferred that the whole ice- uplifts and subsidences which have doubtless
sheet of Greenland, to its very top, is charged affected the North American continent in the
with debris, and that in addition its surface past, to the glacial period, have not been made
is covered with it. Thus he would have had out with any considerable degree of certainty.
confirmation of another of the doctrines he has This is a problem the solution of which belongs
persistently advocated for many years, namely, to the future.
that the ice-sheets of the past carried a large Mr. Upham seems to us not to do justice to
amount of drift on their upper surfaces. alternative hypotheses as to the cause of the
Mr. Upham is an advocate of the doctrine glacial period, and he still clings to the idea
that the glacial period consisted of a single that the great ice-sheet of the glacial period
epoch, though he recognizes the fact that there finally caused its own dissolution, by sinking
were more or less considerable advances and the land beneath it; although the apparently
recessions of the ice during this epoch. Others irrefragable argument against this doctrine has
believe that these several advances, considered never been met.
in connection with the inter-current recessions, The chapter on the stages of the ice age can
were of such extent as to divide the glacial pe- hardly hope to meet with favor among geolo-
riod into distinct epochs. Mr. Upham has not gists. Old terms -e. g., Champlain—are used
concealed his desire to minimize the distinctions in new ways, and in ways that are sure to lead
between the several stages which many others to confusion. Classification is pushed to an
regard as separate epochs, and in this connec extreme which existing knowledge hardly seems
tion we find an illustration of a statement of to warrant; and while Mr. Upham's ideas on
fact in such a way that it seems to have little this point are of interest to geologists, who will
significance. Thus he says (p. 354) that be not misunderstand them, it seems unfortunate
tween the first two principal stages of the gla- that they should have been put forward in a vol.
cial period thus far recognized the maximum ume not intended, as we infer, for specialists.
retreat” of the ice was, in New Jersey, “ 25 In spite of all these criticisms, the book has
miles or more "; all of which is true enough, merit, and will interest various classes of readers.
but it is a good deal like saying that “ the max-
ROLLIN D. SALISBURY.
imum age of the earth is a thousand years or
more,” when every geologist believes it to be
many millions.
This is not the place for a consideration of RECENT NEW TESTAMENT LITERATURE.*
the technical objections to the hypotheses which Two distinct characteristics mark modern scien-
Mr. Upham advocates, or of the evidence on
tific study of the Scriptures. The exegete is not only
which they rest. He has given much attention to be a philologian, but he is also to be a critic and
to glacial geology, and his views are entitled to
an historian.
To a considerable degree, of course,
respect. But the reader of the volume should
*A CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL COMMENTARY ON THE
know that the views there set forth do not rep EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. By the Rev. Wm. Sanday, D.D.,
resent the views of the majority of specialists LL.D., Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity, and Canon of
in this field. One does not need to be a geol-
Christ Church, Oxford ; and the Rev. Arthur C. Headlam,
B.D., Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. New York:
ogist to see some of the difficulties and incon. Charles Scribner's Sons.
sistencies in which Mr. Upham involves him-
A COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MARK.
self in his account of “ Pleistocene changes of Scribner's Sons.
By the Rev. Ezra P. Gould, S.T.D. New York: Charles
level,” in connection with his advocacy of the sot
THE RECORDS AND LETTERS OF THE APOSTOLIC AGE.
hypothesis of northerly elevation as the expla The New Testament Acts, Epistles, and Revelations, in the
Version of 1881, arranged for Historical Study. By Ernest
nation of the glacial period; for while he main-
DeWitt Burton, Professor of New Testament Literature in
tains that it was the uplift of northerly lands the University of Chicago. New York : Charles Scribner's
that brought on the glacial period, he supposes
Sons.
SAINT PAUL THE TRAVELLER AND THE ROMAN CITIZEN.
these same lands to have been much higher at
By W. M. Ramsay, D.C.L., LL.D. New York: G. P. Put-
an earlier time, without inducing an age of ice. nam's Sons.


68
[Aug. 1,
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..
these three functions are mutually involved ; but ogy, but it is to-day far more symptomatic of the di-
within recent years the especial emphasis has been rection in which critical biblical thought is setting.
laid upon the determination of the text, the integ- It is, therefore, a phenomenon that cannot fail to
rity and the historical setting of the New Testa be noticed by one familiar with New Testament
ment literature. There have been numberless works scholarship, that the evangelical tendency so strong
that have dealt specifically either with history or in the work of a conservative and at times apolo-
criticism, but few that have attempted from a dis getic scholar like Sanday, is also perceptible in con-
tinctly modern point of view the application of both temporary German thought, especially in such men
to interpretation.
as Beyschlag, Wendt, and, in certain particulars,
If we except Bishop Lightfoot, there is no man Loofs. In matters not purely dogmatic there are
among English scholars who has done more for the also to be seen evidences of a conservative reaction
constructive side of critical scholarship than Pro in Stilgenfeld, Harnack, Krüger, and Jülicher. It
fessor Sanday. His works upon patristic literature is, indeed, not too much to say that, notwithstand-
and upon inspiration have been universally recog- ing many unessentials are being rejected and many
nized as of the utmost value. Of all men, he is the essentials are being redescribed, the centre of Chris-
best fitted to prepare a commentary upon the Epis- tianity is being increasingly felt to be the work and
tle to the Romans,— the one work in the New Tes character of its Founder. At any rate, it is cer-
tament demanding preëminently a judicial mind, tainly true that the constructive purpose so domi-
critical insight, logical intuition, and an historical nant in this output of the critical theologian is in
sense. It is therefore with peculiar satisfaction that keeping with the new positive method that is now
we welcome, as the first instalment on the New prevalent
among
New Testament scholars.
Testament side of the “ International Critical Com A commentary on one of the Gospels, and espe-
mentaries,” the work by Professors Sanday and cially upon Mark, calls for special critical attain-
Headlam. For such a work, the preface is remark ments. The time has long since passed in Germany
ably modest: to judge from their own language, when the commentator would think of neglecting
one would
suppose the only excuse for the new vol the modern theories of the relations and origins of
ume was the need of completing this series of com the synoptic accounts. And yet, until Professor
mentaries. But the reader is inclined to be more Gould's work on “The Gospel According to St.
appreciative. The merits of this work may be said Mark” appeared, English and American scholars
to be, in addition to independent scholarship and had been content with separate works upon the
encyclopædic acquaintance with the literature, the higher criticism of the gospels and with the type of
recognition of the Jewish training of Paul as a mod commentary in vogue a couple of generations ago.
ifying for in the formulation of his theology; the It is true that the various English translations of
attempt to interpret the Epistle from a standpoint, German writers—notably those of Weiss and Meyer
not of to-day's theological questions, but from that - partially atoned for the lack, but none the less
of the theological conditions of the first century; the absence of such works was not creditable to our
and, finally, the attempt to construct an exegetical biblical scholarship. It is therefore with special
background by the use of that mine of information, interest that one examines the work of Professor
the Jewish Apocrypha.
Gould.
As far as exegetical processes are concerned, the We are inclined to believe that as far as textual
work is of singular excellence. Not only does it criticism and well-balanced exegesis is concerned
have the orderly arrangement that pedagogical ex this commentary will rank with the best of those of
perience enforced, but the perspective in the rela the moderate critical school. Professor Gould has
tive importance of the questions discussed is well shown not only a painstaking scholarship, but also
preserved by the mechanical make-up of the work. a gratifying readiness to restrict his opinions to his
It is, of course, impossible to discuss all the exeget- data. Accordingly, his exposition of the text is sin-
ical positions taken by the authors, but attention gularly free from bias, and, in general, such as must
should at least be called to the philological discus commend itself to other students. We miss, indeed,
sions of such terms as “gon of God,” justification, the wealth of scholarship shown by Professor San-
law, and that crux of all interpreters, Romans 3:25. day, but the gospel does not so naturally suggest
It is gratifying to find so distinct a recognition as studies of special topics. And even if one is inclined
that given in the note upon the Doctrine of Mys- at times to question certain points (as the transla-
tical Union with Christ (p. 162) of that central tion of the aorist 14:41 and the account of Judas
teaching of Paul which Matthew Arnold, and even 14:44), it cannot be denied that in general the inter-
such an anti-ecclesiastical writer as Thomas Hild pretation is admirably done.
Green, have done so much to clarify and enforce; It is to be regretted that we cannot express quite
the former in his “St. Paul and Protestantism," the same satisfaction with the higher criticism of
and the latter in the long sermon so well known at the work, and especially with the author's handling
second hand to readers of “ Robert Elsmere." But, of the synoptic problem. Professor Gould accepts
after all, the significance of the book lies largely in naturally the two-source theory of the synoptics, but
its profoundly conservative temper and tendency. he is not especially concerned with the bearing of
A commentary is not a treatise on systematic theol such a position upon the interpretation of the gos-


1896.]
69
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pel. In fact, although we hesitate to say it, not place the view so long held by virtue of the argu-
only is the critical introduction disappointing, but ments of Lightfoot. On historical and geographical
the author's theory as to success seems superimposed rather than purely literary grounds, this view (which
upon an already prepared exegesis. This is by no by the way is by no means new) seems certainly the
means what we should expect in a critical commen more tenable.
tary. Especially after the work of Wendt is it In a work intended for popular use, it would not
surprising to find so little appreciation of the possi be perhaps altogether wise to introduce critical dis-
bility of a predominatingly topical and so unchro cussion in regard to the composition of the book of
nological order in Mark, and utter silence as to the Acts; and yet we cannot help wishing that the au-
theory of a double apocalypse in chapter 13. Then, thor had seen best to add a note upon the various
too, it certainly would be expected that there would theories as to the sources of that work. Just at
have been more attention given to relations of the present, the Acts is especially under investigation;
synoptic with the Johannian account of the Passion and it is not altogether impossible that even the
Week. Is it altogether impossible that Mark's ac unprofessional biblical student would get new light
count of the events of that week is derived from an from the presentation of possible sources of the
other than the Petrine source ? And in other work. For after all, the work of a New Testament
cases one cannot but feel disappointed that Profes book, like that of any historical work, rises and
sor Gould should not have given to the higher crit falls with the worth of the sources whence its author
icism the same attention and independent judgment
drew his information. But this, of course, is a mat-
he has bestowed upon the text. An example of ter which by no means affects the value of the book
what he is capable of is to be seen in his discussion for the work which it was intended to perform as
of the Appendix to the gospel.
a sort of harmony of the Acts and the Epistles.
Yet taken altogether, although hardly to be classed The criticism of Acts is just at present among the
with the works of Professors Sanday and Headlam, most vital matters in New Testament study. The
this volume is sure to be ranked as among the best older view which accepted it as of coördinate his-
commentaries upon the second gospel — if indeed it toricity with the Pauline epistles has gradually lost
be not counted the best commentary on Mark writ its hold upon scholars, and the tendency has been
ten in English
to regard it with Clemens as composed of various
Closely in line with the spirit indicated in the bits of information which have been grouped to-
work of Professors Sanday and Headlam is the little gether and subjected to various redactions, or, with
volume on “The Records and Letters of the Apos Spitta, to regard it as a combination of two main
tolic Age,” by Professor Burton, whose similar vol sources, one of which is soberly historical and the
ume, prepared in conjunction with Professor Ste other is almost entirely legendary and untrust-
vens of Rochester, on “The Life of Christ,” is well worthy. And yet there is also a tendency on the
known. The purpose of the present work is to treat part of certain scholars just at present to treat' this
the Acts and the Epistles of the New Testament as remarkable book with somewhat greater respect.
so many historical documents which may be ar Weizsäcker, for instance, although often question-
ranged on a reasonable chronological basis, and so ing the book's historical accuracy, and always ready
furnish data for the historical student. Passages to discover contradictions between it and the state-
dealing with the same historical circumstances are ments of Paul, nevertheless discovers many elements
arranged in parallel columns, whether they come which he regards as genuinely historical. But the
from the Acts or from some epistle ; while the dif protagonist of the defenders of the book's histo-
ferent epistles are introduced into the harmony ricity is the indefatigable Professor of Humanity in
thus formed at such points as correspond approxi- Aberdeen. In a certain way, Professor Ramsay,
mately to the time in which they were written. In author of “St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman
such an arrangement there must be, of course, cer Citizen," is doing for Acts what Professor Sayce
tain presuppositions in regard to the chronology of claims to be doing (one can hardly say more) for
the apostolic age. Such points as require detailed the Pentateuch. But because of his archæological
mention are discussed in a series of admirable notes, knowledge, he has not so far swung away from lit-
introduced as an appendix to the volume. In these erary criticism as not to be convinced of the exist-
notes we have an impartial discussion of the various ence of sources older than the book itself, and of
chronological arrangements advanced, with litera the existence of other elements in the book which
ture and such conclusions as seem warranted by the are younger than a larger part of the book as it
evidence. Special students of the New Testament now stands. Thus, the succession of remarkable
will perhaps be interested in Professor Burton's incidents allotted to Paul's stay in Ephesus (Acts,
adoption of the South Galatian theory, and his as 19:11-20), the story of Judas Iscariot, the account
signing the time of the composition of the Letter to of Annanias and Saphira, the speaking with tongues,
the Galatians to the period which intervened during are regarded by Professor Ramsay as popular stories
the time between Paul's second and third mission which have somehow crept into an otherwise thor-
ary tours. Thanks to the discussion inaugurated oughly trustworthy historical work.
by Ramsay's "Church in the Roman Empire," Of the latter fact, Professor Ramsay is beyond
this position seems now fairly on its way to dis suspicion. It is, indeed, delightful to watch his de-


70
[Aug. 1,
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votion to the historical skill of Luke, about whose sor Ramsay altogether in his use of the Codex
authorship of the Acts he is equally without shadow Bezæ. In this work, as in his previous book upon
of doubt. It may be that this devotion is the zeal the Church and the Empire, Professor Ramsay uses
of a new convert, for Professor Ramsay declares this codex constantly to establish or illustrate
that formerly he held to the views of the Tübingen (mainly, it is true, correctly) the point of view of
school, from which his archæological investigations the second century, as contrasted with that of Acts.
turned him. But be that as it may, he finds in the But sometimes the Acts seem to be given a too
Acts the characteristics which belong to the first prominent position, and its text to be rather arbi-
grade of historical works, at the head of which stand trarily regarded as superior to that of the three
the histories of Thucydides. “Every minute fact great MSS. And then, too, one would like the au-
stated in Acts has its own significance.” There can thor's authority for his characterization of the Jews
be no possibility of contradiction between Luke and at Corinth as a self-administering community (p.
the Epistles ; and, indeed, the ingenuity with which 259), and for his certainty that sacrifices before the
Professor Ramsay overturns apparent difficulties, gates at Lystra are improbable (p. 119). Further,
or makes them serve the purpose of harmonization, the book as a literary product is very uneven. Some
is truly marvellous. It is, of course, not altogether points are altogether omitted which we should ex-
a novelty to identify Paul's second visit to Jerusalem, pect to be treated, while others are discussed most
mentioned in the Epistle to the Galatians, with the exhaustively. The author's style is fortunately
second visit mentioned in Acts; but everyone had vivacious and reasonably clear, but one could wish
supposed that the question had been finally settled that the work had been undertaken somewhat more
by Lightfoot in favor of the contrary view. But systematically and somewhat less from the purely
then, so too had everyone thought that the question apologetic point of view.
as to the location of the Galatian churches had been And yet as a whole this book bears out the prom-
answered by the same great authority. Professor ise of “The Church in the Roman Empire.” What
Ramsay, although admiring Lightfoot, finds plenty we now ask of Professor Ramsay is, that instead of
of opportunities to differ with him, and does not re-casting semi-popular lectures, he shall give us as
hesitate to charge him, so far as this question is con technical and systematic a study of the apostolic
cerned, with having "led English scholarship into age in the light of archæology as is his “Historical
a cul de sac” (p. 6). Having with considerable suc Geography of Asia Minor." It is high time for an
cess attacked the traditional theory as to Galatia, English or American scholar to produce a work
he now with equal enthusiasm establishes not only upon this key to the New Testament history, which
the possibility but the certainty of the identity of shall rank with the volumes of Clemen and Spitta
the second visit of the Galatians letter with the in critical acumen, and at the same time shall sur-
visit of Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem at the pass them in historical learning.
time of the famine. It must be confessed that his
SHAILER MATHEWS.
assurance is not altogether unjustified. In fact, the
more one considers his position and works upon
Paul's own words in the Epistle to the Galatians,
BRIEFS ON NEW BOOKS.
the more one is tempted to agree with it. It would
be remarkable if for a second time an untheological
It is now sixteen years since the ap-
scholar, as Professor Ramsay claims to be, should
pearance of “Studies of the Eight-
thus again reverse a supposed unquestionable opinion.
eenth Century in Italy," a book which
It is worth noticing that Professor Ramsay, while excited much interest and admiration in the English
holding to unity of authorship in the work, discov and Italian critical journals. In that time, the lady
ers within it traces of a variety of sources. Chief who writes under the name of Vernon Lee has
among these sources is the “travel document” which become a figure in the world of art and letters, as
embraces practically the second half of Acts. This distinct, if not as widely known, as Mr. Pater or
again is not altogether homogeneous, but embraces Mr. Symonds. Her work is mainly critical, and of
Luke's diary, notes of conversations with Paul, and high value. Although most familiar with painting
possibly other matters. As to the first half of Acts, and music, and almost always finding her subjects
the author's opinion is somewhat cloudy. He re in Italian art, chiefly of the Renaissance, her inter-
gards it as inferior, decidedly inferior, to the sec ests are by no means confined, but reach out into
ond half; but although admitting the possibility of general æsthetic inquiry, and more widely into ques-
tions on the conduct of life. In “ Baldwin” and
Vernon Lee's
latest volume.
inclined to regard it as essentially the work of the Althea," dealing with aspirations and duties, she
author of the “ travel document” who here was seemed farthest from home; in “ Belcaro " and
forced to use sources of varying value. Here again “ Juvenilia” she is perhaps of most general inter-
Professor Ramsay seems upon solid critical ground. est. Her latest volume, “Renaissance Fancies and
Various questions, however, suggest themselves, Studies ” (Putnam), like “ Euphorion,” is more es-
-less, it is true, in regard to the general positions pecially directed to something of a critical treatment
of the book than in regard to certain incidental of a definite artistic and historical period. Rarely,
points. Especially do we hesitate to follow Profes however, does Vernon Lee discuss any work of art


1896.]
71
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or any artistic development for itself alone; and in stantially
stantially as follows: The notes are better classified,
this book, although the separate subjects are not and carefully distinguished as to authorship. All
mere points of departure for more theoretic discus the prose works, as collected by Dr. Grosart, are
sion, there is never lacking the breadth of view and given, and will occupy two volumes, following the
the general bearing on men and things which makes eight devoted to the poems. The greater part of
the author something more than an art-critic. As Dorothy Wordsworth's journals will be printed,
a historian of art, as one who seeks to render the filling two volumes. The correspondence, in three
temper of the Italian Renaissance in a scientific volumes, will be arranged chronologically, and will
reproduction, Vernon Lee may not be as successful include much new material. The bibliography will
as some other writers. But as a criticism of a most be greatly expanded. The life, owing to the elim-
interesting part of human development, her work ination of the letters, will be confined to a single
cannot be neglected. She has been called a follower volume, the sixteenth and last of the edition. The
of Mr. Pater or Mr. Ruskin ; but although her illustrations are to be a portrait and a vignette for
interests have probably taken certain channels in each volume. This brief description will indicate
result of those men's writing, she is by no means a the thorough and painstaking character of the work
continuer of the work of either. Vernon Lee is a with which the editor is now crowning his lifelong
clearly-cut and independent personality, and her Wordsworthian labors, and will show to the student
works are original contributions, to our thinking, how indispensable the new edition must become to
on the subjects which she handles. Those who have him, however well he be supplied with earlier ones.
followed her earlier work know with each new vol-
ume what excellences they may expect and what
The leading French critics who con-
Erperiments in
drawbacks they must encounter. This present vol-
tribute literary causeries or feuille-
English criticism.
ume is hardly one of her best; there is a good deal
tons to the newspapers collect their
of the quality which has made her later writing dif-
matter into volumes about as fast as it accumulates,
ficult to enjoy. Still, "The Valedictory" and "The a fact which makes it possible for the student of
Love of the Saints” will be read with great interest contemporary criticism to stock his library more
by those who have followed her work so far; and largely from French sources than from any other.
although the book as a whole will not be remem-
Indeed, one would miss sadly the many volumes of
bered like “ Euphorion," of which it is a sort of
this sort of work that bear the names of such men
sequel, it is one which readers of art-criticism will as Gautier, M. Francisque Sarcey, M. Jules Le-
desire to know and think over.
maître, and M. Anatole France. The practice of
these men would be worth imitation in England
Professor William Knight is a faith and America if- a significant proviso - we had
Sirteen volumes
ful Wordsworthian, although not ex a similar body of entertaining and well-equipped
of Wordsworth.
actly a brilliant exponent of his fav critical writers. Perhaps the only way to find out
orite poet, and is probably the most competent man whether we have them is to try the experiment on
living to prepare a definitive edition of Wordsworth. a considerable scale. But we doubt if Mr. Richard
The work is now well under way, and four volumes Le Gallienne was exactly the person to begin. His
have already been received by us. They are volumes two volumes of "Retrospective Reviews” (Dodd),
of the “Eversley" series (Macmillan), so acceptable taken from the English newspapers to which he has
in every mechanical way, and already associated contributed current criticism for the past five years,
with so many of the greatest names in nineteenth cover the most important works in belles-lettres that
century English literature. Professor Knight's have appeared during that period, but are not dis-
eleven-volume Wordsworth (1882–1889) has here- tinguished for either profundity or scholarship. Mr.
tofore been the standard library edition of the poet, Le Galliene is preeminently a phrase-maker, and is
but the editor takes care to inform us that the pres often deluded by the ring of the verbal counters
ent edition is by no means to be a mere reproduc- that he has coined. He says a good many graceful
tion of the earlier one. We summarize his state things, and also not a few foolish and bumptious
ment of the features to be embodied in the sixteen things. Altogether, his volumes hardly seem to
volumes to which the new work will extend. The have been worth making. Mr. A. T. Quiller-Couch's
arrangement of the poems is to be chronological in “ Adventures in Criticism” (Scribner), which is
the order of composition, not of publication. Words also a collection of reprinted reviews, has decidedly
worth's own changes of text, in successive editions, more value than the work already discussed, although
are given in foot-notes, as well as other changes sug in the very first chapter we come upon the Philis-
gested by the poet, but never put into print by him. tine notion that Chaucer should be read with the
The notes dictated by Wordsworth to Miss Isabella pronunciation of the nineteenth century, and this
Fenwick are reprinted in full, and topographical pronouncement is not unmatched by others equally
notes are also supplied. Poems not published dur depressing scattered throughout the pages. But Mr.
ing Wordsworth's life, a bibliography of works and Quiller-Couch is, after all, a highly interesting per-
editions, and a life of the poet, are supplied. Thus sonality, which can hardly be said of Mr. Le Gal-
far, the new edition corresponds with the earlier lienne, and his criticism is touched here and there,
eleven-volume work. The new features are sub as his fiction is, with something much like genius.


72
[Aug. 1,
THE DIAL
now.
rhetorical criticism.
Of course, the criticism is of the subjective sort, but between Germany and France during that time.
that is also true of the French criticism alluded to Like its companion volume recently reviewed in
at the beginning of this notice. At any rate, it these columns, Count Benedetti's “ Studies in Di.
is literature, in its fashion, and needs no further plomacy,” it makes imperious Prince Bismarck its
excuse for being.
central figure, and presents him as a malignant plot-
ter against poor France, ready to see in every sign
The chief present interest in the re-
The latest of
of returning strength, and in innocent measures of
Mr. Beardsley.
cent edition of “ The Rape of the
Lock” (imported by J. B. Lippincott
reconstruction, only a burning desire and purpose
of revenge. It is hardly to be expected that a public
Co.) lies presumably in the illustrations of Aubrey
man of the war and reconstruction period can judge
Beardsley. Without some such help, it is to be
feared that Pope's famous poem would hardly come
Bismarck justly; and it cannot be denied that there
to much of a market nowadays. It is interesting against him. Though he is one of the greatest states-
is too much of truth in some of the French charges
to think what will be the case a hundred years
from
Will Aubrey Beardsley continue to support
men of the century, if not the greatest, his career has
showed too much of the bully and of the unscrupulous
Pope, or —? Still, Mr. Beardsley's drawings
schemer to be wholly admired. The Duke de Broglie
are interesting; these particular ones not less 80
writes with much more of calm self-possession than
because they are rather different from those that
Count Benedetti, whose grievance and passion were
we have heretofore considered characteristic. Com-
too evident, and the Duke's work consequently makes
pare, if you will, the portrait of himself, of a year or
a stronger impression than the Count's hot invec-
so ago, with Belinda reading the billet-doux in the
tive. The liberation of the territory from German
present volume. Or, better, compare “ The Toilette
troops, the fall of Thiers, the failure of the scheme
of Salome” with “ The Toilet” of Belinda. In each
to restore the Monarchy, the Kulturkampf, the
case we have a woman, a maid, and a toilet-table.
Eastern Question, and the final establishment of the
The composition is rather different, but the chief
difference is in the manner.
Republic, with the negotiations and crises that at-
Instead of the broad
tended these developments, are the leading topics
indications, the striking combinations of black and
of the work.
white, the management of large masses, we have
painstaking attempts at drawing, judicious use of
When Minto's "Manual of English
College work in
contemporary local color, and careful efforts at the
Prose” was published, a great step
rendering of materials. Indeed, this last seems to
was made in that rhetorical criticism
be the chief effort. The rendering of lace and vel of good authors which has of late had a consider-
vet, of woodwork and tapestry, these are the artis able place in the English work of our American col-
tic triumphs. Mr. Beardsley calls his work em leges. That book supplied a definite method based
broidery; and so it is. There are, however, some upon a very generally accepted rhetorical analysis,
things even above embroidery; the glimpse of the and thereby rendered far more common the useful
garden from the windows of Hampton Court, the inter-play of rhetorical teaching and criticism of
bit of river bank on the Thames, these are rather literature. The idea was emphasized that one can-
more charming than anything else that we remem not learn to write by writing only, but that one must
ber of Mr. Beardsley's. Least successful of all the read carefully as well. In the last decade much
pictures is “The Cave of Spleen,” where he seems work of this kind has been done, but usually by
to return to older ideas, without the older simplic- individual teachers, or else in one or another of the
ity. Mr. Beardsley's early work marked an epoch, many editions of particular texts recently published.
or rather was an epoch an epoch which is now We have now, in “Studies in Structure and Style,"
perhaps farther from us than the age of Queen by Mr. W. T. Brewster (Macmillan), a book which,
Anne. Wisely, then, does the artist disdain the although it has not the scope of Mr. Minto's, either
artifices of ancient history, and proceeds with the in subject-matter or in method, has, in its more
times to develope as genius directs.
limited sphere, great excellence. It offers seven
essays by recent masters of English prose, and a
The overwhelming difficulties in criticism upon each, both as to structure and as to
French views
which France found herself after the style ; and thus it shows the way in which such
of Germany.
catastrophe of 1870, the three-fold work is done, and how it may be done with other
necessity of reëstablishing a permanent government authors. Its method lacks something in system,
out of warring parties and factions, of paying the but gains as much in its particular applications. The
enormous indemnity exacted by Germany with the study of structure is rather better than that of style ;
design of crippling her exhausted rival, and of re the subject is more easily handled. But both parts
covering her position in European politics, are all are the result of sound and careful study, and will
clearly indicated in the recent work by the Duke de give the teacher many ideas and the student new
Broglie, “An Ambassador of the Vanquished' insight into the possibilities of prose. The book not
(Macmillan). While this is in form an account of only shows what good work in English has been
the Viscount de Gontaut-Biron's mission to Berlin, done so far in our colleges, but renders possible
1871-77, it is in fact a discussion of the relations more of the same character.


1896.]
73
THE DIAL
The essay seems hardly one of the lionaires, newspapers, art, architecture, literature,
Essays by
staple literary forms nowadays, un music, the World's Fair, the American woman (she
Mr. Mabie.
less explained by something special is, he says, “not only fin-de-siècle, but even more
in treatment or thesis, something authoritative in than that -fin-de-globe!") in a sprightly, chatty
the point of view. Mr. Hamilton Wright Mabie way, and his book may be pronounced a favorable
justifies his “ Essays on Nature and Culture” (Dodd) specimen of its class.
by the particular quality of sincerity. To him, Na-
ture is what she was in the poetic childhood of the
race, and what he believes she will “some day be-
BRIEFER MENTION.
come in the vision of science - a sublime analogy
of the growth of man.” Art and science are not
“ Those Good Normans,” by “Gyp,” translated by
strange words in his pages, but they are subservient;
Miss Marie Jussen (Rand, McNally & Co.), will prob-
the arts are comprehended in the art of living, and
ably be found in some degree amusing by all readers.
the sciences, over and above their material phenom- Although based on the not unusual theme of semi-
wealthy people trying to make themselves considered in
ena, are only making toward a finer faith in the ulti-
society, yet the setting, if we may so call it, as well as
mate wisdom of it all. The dedicatee of the volume, the development and the dialogue, is so cleverly man-
it is to be noted, is Mr. John Burroughs, for whom aged as to be the source of much pleasure. It must be
Mr. Mabie would hardly have concerned himself allowed that a good deal of the sprightly Countess's
to collect evidences of what is evil or unadmirable satire loses point if one be not somewhat familiar with
in nature. Instead, the wonder of the growth of
French life; and the translation will not always, we
trees, the unfolding of flowers, are still miracles to think, give the right idea to one unacquainted with the
teach the illimitable prophecies of the world, the
French language. Still, the inexhaustible invention and
“unfolding of all the possibilities of the spirit,”
cleverness of “Gyp" will overcome even these draw-
backs, so that those for whom the translation is ob-
which is culture. Forty years ago, in this country,
viously made will probably enjoy it, while it will not
this book would have been written very differently, materially injure those who could read the book in the
or not at all; to-day it multiplies initiative and original.
corrective influences among people who only need Mr. Raymond A. Robbins, of Boston, is the publisher
their own impulses re-worded to be wakened into of the book of the “ Captive” of Plautus, prepared for
better things. The style now and then seems to the presentation of the play last spring by the students
grow impersonal, like a sermon, and just a bit rhe of the Boston University. The book gives the Latin
torical; but that may well be because it moves on
text and English translation on opposite pages; the lat-
so high a plane.
ter, by Professor Joseph R. Taylor, being extremely
modern and colloquial in diction. For example: “Abi
More French
in malem rem, ludis me,” becomes “ To perdition !
Of the making of French books on
America, there has been no end since
You're making game of me."
impressions
.” Greek phrases are repro-
of America, “ Max O'Rell ” set the pace for his
duced in German, to get the effect of the foreign lan-
compatriots with his “Brother Jonathan.” So far
guage. The English version is extremely readable, and
has caught the spirit of the play most happily.
as our experience goes, he who has read “ Brother
Mr. Charles Johnston, of the Bengal Civil Service,
Jonathan " has virtually read the rest ; for the rest
has made a little volume of selections “ From the
mainly ring the changes on their original. One is Upanishads” (Mosher) which will be welcomed by
merely more or less smart, flippant, ejaculatory, or amateur orientalists. They contain the very essence of
patronizing (and the spectacle of one small French Indian philosophy, as embodied in its deepest books. In
man patronizing this country rather recalls Mrs. a beautiful dedication to Mr. G. W. Russell (the A. E.
Partington's adventure with the Atlantic), than the of “Homeward ") the translator says of the books of
other; and that is all. The latest Gaul to point
Indian Wisdom: “ I have found them wise, beyond all
his quill at us and favor us with his airy patronage
others; and, beyond all others, filled with that very light
is M. S. C. de Soissons, author of “A Parisian in
which makes all things new; the light discovered first
within, in the secret place of the heart, and which brim-
America” (Estes & Lauriat). From this book one
ming over there fills the whole of life, lightening every
gets the impression that M. de Soissons is extremely
dark and clouded way.” It is not so much the scholar-
well satisfied with himself and pretty well satisfied ship displayed by the book as the taste shown in the
with us. He treats us kindly, on the whole-though selection and the exquisite delicacy of the English ver-
with that " certain condescension " which we have sion that will make those cherish it iuto whose hands it
long ceased to be truly thankful for, and which we
have known to bring more than one usually sane
In the series of “ Periods of European History
citizen to the verge of Jingoism for the time being. (Macmillan), of which Mr. Arthur Hassall is the gen-
Our national good-humor (despite Mr. Lodge and
eral editor, three of the eight volumes projected have
his friends) is proverbial, and Mr. Bryce has made
been for some time published, and the editor himself
much of it; but no democratically-minded man can
now contributes the fourth, taking for his subject the
stand being patronized. Better abuse than conde-
period 1715-1789, and calling his volume“ The Balance
of Power." The history of Europe in the eighteenth
scension ; better the undisguised vinegar of down-
century is at best "a tangled skein," and Mr. Hassall
right Mrs. Trollope, than the treacle of, say, Sir has been unusually successful in his effort to bring order
Edwin Arnold. M. de Soissons discusses our mil out of the seeming chaos.
may fall.
99


74
(Aug. 1,
THE DIAL
wards at Berlin. He was chiefly responsible for the
LITERARY NOTES.
German excavations at Olympia. Besides his great
« Bar Harbor,” by Mr. F. Marion Crawford, appears
“ History of Greece," he wrote many other works in the
in the “ American Summer Resorts " series of Messrs. department of classical history, philology, and archæ-
Charles Scribner's Sons.
ology.
« The Facts of Life" is a book of conversational ex The sudden death, in the prime of life, of William
ercises in the French language, prepared by Messrs.
Hamilton Gibson, is a loss to American art and litera-
V. Bétis and H. Swan, and published by the Scribners.
ture alike. He was born October 5, 1850, and died on
Mark Twain's “ The Prince and the Pauper” is the
the sixteenth of last month. He first became widely
third volume in the handsome library edition of our
known through the natural history articles, illustrated
chief American humorist now in course of publication
by himself, that appeared in “ Harper's Magazine
by Messrs. Harper & Brothers.
some years ago. These articles, and others, were after-
Mr. W. J. Jordan has severed his connection with
wards collected in a number of the most charming books
“Current Literature," and will devote himself to the
of natural history ever written, of which “ Sharp Eyes"
completion of “ Jordan's Guide to Poetry and Prose,”
and “ Nature's Serial Story” are perhaps the best
an index of the chief English anthologies.
known. His last book was the beautifully illustrated
Joseph Wesley Harper, who died on the 21st of July,
volume on “Our Edible Mushrooms," one of the most
conspicuous holiday publications of the past season.
at the age of sixty-six, was for many years a member of
We are glad to call the attention of our readers to
the firm of Harper & Brothers, being the son and name-
the “Cumulative Index to a Selected List of Period-
sake of one of its founders. He retired from active
Business only two years ago.
icals,” now being issued in monthly parts by the Cleve-
land Public Library. Over fifty English and American
The edition of Marryatt which Messrs. Little, Brown,
& Co. are now publishing in this country progresses
periodicals are regularly indexed, while important arti-
cles in a number of others will also be noted. The “ In-
apace.
Japhet in Search of a Father," « The Pacha
dex ” is on the plan of a dictionary catalogue, authors
of Many Tales,” and “Mr. Midshipman Easy" are the
and subjects being included in a single alphabet. The
latest volumes received by us.
most valuable feature of this work is, however, that
Mr. S. C. Griggs, the oldest general publisher is Chi-
indicated by the first word of the title. Each monthly
cago, has retired from business on account of failing
issue of the “Index” will contain not only the entries
health, his entire stock being sold to Messrs. Scott,
for that particular month, but also all the others that
Foresman & Co. Mr. Griggs had been engaged in the
have accumulated during the year. Thus, the Decem-
book business in Chicago for nearly half a century. ber number will refer to the contents of the selected
Charles Dickens, the son of the novelist, died on the periodicals for the entire year. Although publication
20th of July, and his sister Mary on the 24th. Charles of the work began with June, it is promised that the
was editor of “ All the Year Round” after his father's issue for next December shall be for the year 1896 com-
death, and, later, of “Household Words.” He was very plete. This plain statement of the work to be done by
successful as a reader from his father's works, both in the “ Index" will show, better than any words of praise,
England and the United States.
how great a help it will be to all literary workers, and
The Macmillan Company publish “ Macbeth” and how deserving of support is the enterprise.
“Antony and Cleopatra,” in the Temple "Shakespeare; William Henry Smith, author of “The St. Clair Pa-
a concluding volume of the “ Idyls of the King," and pers" and other historical works, died at his home in
“ The Lover's Tale,” in the “ People's ” Tennyson; and Lake Forest, Ill., July 27, in his sixty-third year. Mr.
“Biblical Idyls” (Solomon's Song, Ruth, Esther, Tobit), Smith was a life-long student of history, especially the
in « The Modern Reader's Bible.”
political history of his own country, with which he was
The Right Rev. Arthur Cleveland Coxe, Bishop of
very familiar, and on which he made numerous contri-
Western New York, died on the 20th of July, at the
butions to the magazines and periodicals, including
age of seventy-eight. He was the author of numerous many valuable reviews in the pages of The Dial. He
contributious to theological controversy, edited nine
was also a life-long journalist, one of the better class
volumes of the “Ante-Nicene Fathers," and wrote a
whose work and influence can ill be spared from Amer-
considerable quantity of religious verse.
ican journalism. He began as editor of a country news-
Miss Jane Minot Sedgwick’s “ Songs from the Greek,”
paper in Ohio — the friend and fellow-worker of Mr.
W. D. Howells in that humble field,-- and rose to the
published by Messrs. George H. Richmond & Co., is a
position of General Manager of the Associated Press,
pretty little book of translations, gracefully done and
which he held for over twenty years, resigning it in
including selections from the choruses of the tragedies,
1893 in order to devote his time to the historical work
the fragments of Sappho, the Alexandrian poets, and
the Anthology. All have been done before, and many
that so much engaged his scholarly interest. The rest and
relief from business which he had so long promised him-
of them better done, but the book is still welcome.
self came, however, too late; his health, already under-
Two new volumes in the Scribner series of “Stories
mined, failed rapidly under the shock of the loss of his
by English Authors ” have been published. They have
wife and daughter, occurring in swift succession. His
for their subjects “Scotlavd” and “The Orient." The
death leaves unfinished the most important work of his
former volume leads off with Messrs. Barrie, Crockett, life, “The Political History of the United States," as
and Watson, while Aytoun, Stevenson, and Sir Walter
also a life of President Hayes, whose literary executor
bring up the rear. “ The Orient" is illustrated by Mr.
Mr. Smith had seen much of public life and
Kipling, Miss Mitford, and a number of nonentities.
men, having been Secretary of State of Ohio during the
Ernst Curtius, who died on the 13th of July, had Civil War, and Collector of the Port of Chicago from
nearly completed his eighty-second year.
He was a
1877 to 1883. He was a man of singular elevation of
professor at Göttingen from 1856 to 1868, and after character, and of dignified and engaging personality.
he was.


1896.]
75
THE DIAL
Poems of William Wordsworth. Edited by William
Knight. With portrait, 12mo, uncut, pp. 399. Macmillan
Co. $1.50.
The Prince and the Pauper. By Mark Twain. Illus.,
12mo, pp. 309. Harper & Bros. $1.75.
"Temple" Shakespeare. Edited by Israel Gollancz, M.A.
New vols.: Antony and Cleopatra, and Macbeth. Each
with frontispiece, 24mo, gilt top, uncut. Macmillan Co.
Per vol., 45 cts. net.
"People's" Edition of Tennyson's Works. New vols.:
Idylls of the King, Part VI., and The Lover's Tale. Each
24mo, uncut. Macmillan Co. Per vol., 45 cts.
Biblical Idyls. Edited by R. G. Moulton, M.A. 24mo, gilt
top, pp. 149. “Modern Reader's Bible." Macmillan Co.
50 cts.
HISTORY.
King and Parliament (A. D. 1601-1714). By G. H, Wake-
ling, M.A. 16mo, pp. 135. “Oxford Manuals of English
History.' Chas. Scribner's Sons. 50 cts, net.
TOPICS IN LEADING PERIODICALS.
August, 1896 (First List).
Australia, Federation of. Owen Hall. Lippincott.
Barbary, Peeps into, J. E. B. Meakin. Harper,
Bicycle, Influence of the. J. B. Bishop. Forum.
Bird Notes in Southern California. H. L. Graham. Overland.
Bryan, William Jennings. W. J. Abbot. Rev. of Reviews,
Barnt Wood in Decoration. J. W. Fosdick, Century.
College Problems, Present. D. C. Gilman. Atlantic.
Continental Literature, A Year of. Dial,
Don Quixote, On the Trail of. A. F. Jaccaci. Scribner.
Economics, Altruism in. W. H. Mallock. Forum.
Financial Bronco, The. T. S. Van Dyke. Forum.
Flower Gardens, Old Time. Alice Morse Earle. Scribner.
Free-Silver Epidemic, The. Justin S. Morrill. Forum.
Gladstone at Eighty-Six. W. T. Stead. McClure.
Glave in Nyassaland. From his journal. Century.
Godkin on the West. Charles S. Gleed. Forum.
Greenland Icefields. Rollin D. Salisbury. Dial.
Heraldry in America. Eugene Zieber. Lippincott.
Immigration Evils. Rhoda Gale. Lippincott.
Indian Medicine Men. L. G. Yates. Overland.
Italian Painters, Contemporary. Will H. Low. McClure.
Japanese Art, Faces in. Lafcadio Hearn. Atlantic.
Li Hung Chang. John W. Foster. Century.
Literary Production, Present. Paul Shorey. Atlantic.
Longfellow. W. D. Howells. Harper.
Matrimonial Market, The. Edward Cary. Forum.
New Testament Literature, Recent. Shailer Mathews. Dial.
Pharaoh of the Hard Heart. Flinders Petrie. Century.
Poetic Rhythms in Prose. E. E. Hale, Jr. Atlantic.
Stowe, Harriet Beecher. Julius H. Ward. Forum.
Stowe, Harriet Beecher. Review of Reviews.
Stowe, Mrs., Days with. Mrs. J. T. Fields. Atlantic.
Taylor, Bayard, as a Man of Letters. Dial.
Travels, Recent Books of. Dral.
Vatican, Tho. F. Marion Crawford. Century.
Woman Question in Middle Ages. Emily Stone. Lippincott.
Yosemite and the Big Trees. Rounsevelle Wildman. Overland.
BIOGRAPHY AND MEMOIRS.
Nathaniel Massie, Pioneer of Ohio. With Selections from
his Correspondence. By David Meade Massie. With por-
trait, 8vo, pp. 285. Cincinnati: Robt. Clarke Co. $2.
Famous Scots Series, new vols.: John Knox, by A. Taylor
Innes, and Robert Burns, by Gabriel Setoun. Each 12mo.
Chas. Scribner's Sons. Per vol., 75 cts.
LIST OF NEW BOOKS.
[The following list, containing 72 titles, includes books
received by The DIAL since its last issue.]
GENERAL LITERATURE.
Studies Subsidiary to the Works of Bishop Butler. By the
Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone. 12mo, pp. 370. Macmillan
Co. $2.
Social Forces in German Literature: A Study in the Hig-
tory of Civilization. By Kuno Francke, Ph.D. 8vo, gilt
top, uncut, pp. 577. Henry Holt & Co. $2.
Thus Spake Zarathustra: A Book for All and None. By
Friedrich Nietzsche; trans. by Alexander Tille. 12mo,
uncut, pp. 479. Macmillan Co. $2.50.
The Authorship of the Kingis Quair: A New Criticism.
By J. T. T. Brown. 8vo, uncut, pp. 99. Macmillan Co.
$1.50.
Prose Fancies, Second Series. By Richard Le Gallienne.
16mo, gilt top, uncut, pp. 201. H. S. Stone & Co. $1.25.
Lovers Three Thousand Years Ago. By Rev. T. A.
Goodwin. 12mo, pp. 41. “Religion of Science Library.”
Open Court Pub'g Co. Paper, 15 cts.
NEW EDITIONS OF STANDARD LITERATURE.
Johnson's Lives of the Poets. Edited by Arthur Waugh.
Vols. III.. and IV.; each with portraits, 16mo, gilt top,
uncat. Chas. Scribner's Sons. Per vol., $2.50.
The Novels of Captain Marryat. Edited by R. Brimley
Johnson. New vols.: The Pacha of Many Tales, Mr. Mid-
shipman Easy, and Japhet in Search of a Father. Each
illus., 12mo, gilt top, uncut. Little, Brown, & Co. Per
vol., $1.50.
Spenser's Faerie Queene. Edited by Thomas J. Wise ;
illus. by Walter Crane. Part XIV.; large 8vo, ancut.
Macmillan Co. $3,
FICTION.
The Master Craftsman. By Sir Walter Besant. With por-
trait, 12mo, pp. 354. F. A. Stokes Co. $1.50.
Tales of Fantasy and Fact. By Brander Matthews. With
frontispiece, 12mo, pp. 216. Harper & Bros. $1.25.
In the Wake of King James; or, Dun-Randal on the Sea.
By Standish O'Grady. 12mo, gilt top, uncut, pp. 242.
J. B. Lippincott Co. $1.25.
Yekl: A Tale of the New York Ghetto. By A. Cahan.
12mo, uncut, pp. 190. D. Appleton & Co. $1.
The Crimson Sign. By S. R. Keightley. Illus., 12mo, pp.
356. Harper & Bros. $1.50.
The Island of Doctor Moreau: A Possibility. By H. G.
Wells. 16mo, gilt top, uncut, pp. 249. Stone & Kim-
ball. $1.25.
The Silk of the Kine. By L. McManus. 12mo, pp. 195.
Harper & Bros. $1.
Sir Mark: A Tale of the First Capital. By Anna Robeson
Brown. 16mo, pp. 159, D. Appleton & Co. 75 cts.
A Stumbler in Wide Shoes. 16mo, gilt top, uncut, pp. 411.
Henry Holt & Co. $1.
The Finding of Lot's Wife. By Alfred Clark. 12mo,
pp. 314. F. A. Stokes Co. $1.
Blind Leaders of the Blind: The Romance of a Blind Law-
yer. By James R. Cocke, M.D. With portrait, 12mo,
pp. 487. Lee & Shepard. '$1.50.
Checkers: A Hard-Luck Story. By Henry M. Blossom, Jr.
16mo, gilt top, uncut, pp. 239. H. S. Stone & Co. $1.25.
The Sentimental Sex. By Gertrude Warden. 12mo, uncut,
pp. 207. D. Appleton & Co. $1.
Lady Val's Elopement. By John Bickerdyke. 12mo, pp.
311. J. B. Lippincott Co. $1.
Some Correspondence and Six Conversations. By Clyde
Fitch. 18mo, gilt top, uncut, pp. 150. Stone & Kimball. $1.
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pp.


THE DIAL
A Semi-filonthly Journal of Literary Criticism, Discussion, and Information.
No. 242.
PAGE
.
.
THE DIAL (founded in 1880) is published on the 1st and 16th of THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO.
each month. TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION, $2.00 a year in advance, postage
prepaid in the United States, Canada, and Mexico; in other countries The youngest of the great universities has at
comprised in the Postal Union, 50 cents a year for extra postage must
be added. Unless otherwise ordered, subscriptions will begin with the
last grown old enough to have a special cele-
current number. REMITTANCES should be by check, or by express or bration in commemoration of a rounded period
postal order, payable to THE DIAL. SPECIAL RATES TO CLUBS and
of its existence. The period is only a lustrum,
for subscriptions with other publications will be sent on application;
and SAMPLE COPY on receipt of 10 cents. ADVERTISING RATES furnished
to be sure, and matters had to be stretched a
on application. All communications should be addressed to
little to justify even a quinquennial celebration,
THE DIAL, 315 Wabash Ave., Chicago.
but if we add to the four years that the Uni-
versity has been in running order the prelim-
JULY 16, 1896. Vol. XXI. inary year of building and organization, we get
the full tale of five. For the first time in the
history of the institution, also, there was grad-
CONTENTS.
uated a class of students who had taken four
years' work in the University, and this fact was
THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
31 in itself sufficient justification for a little extra
ceremony.
JULY (Poem). John Vance Cheney
33
The programme for Convocation Week was
LITERARY CRITICS AND LITERARY CRITI-
one of varied interest. A great tent was put
CISM. Duane Mowry
33
up on the campus for the larger gatherings of
spectators, and a still greater one would have
COMMUNICATIONS
33
been filled had it been provided. The Convo-
Journalistic Retribution. Caskie Harrison.
cation orator was Dr. George Adam Smith, of
Words, Words, Words. F. Horace Teall.
Glasgow, and his address was one of the ablest
A BRITISH DIPLOMAT OF NAPOLEON'S
to which the University has ever had the pleas-
TIME. E, G. J. .
34
ure of listening. The formal opening of the
Haskell Oriental Museum was one of the leading
GLEANINGS IN AMERICAN FOLK LORE. Fred events of the week, and was made the occasion
erick Starr
36
of an eloquent address by Dr. Emil G. Hirsch ;
THE SOUTHERN QUAKERS AND SLAVERY.
of a representation of the synagogue service of
George W. Julian .
the times of Christ, conducted in the Hebrew
38
tongue and in Oriental costume by the Semitic
“THE RED PLANET MARS.” T.J. J. See . 42 Department; and of special conferences on
Oriental subjects, with addresses by Dr. D. G.
BRIEFS ON NEW BOOKS.
44
Lyon of Harvard, and Dr. A. V. Williams
A pleasant book of literary essays. — In a Puppet
Booth” with Mr. Fuller.— The Spirit of Tuscany.-
Jackson of Columbia. While the completed
Music in Shakespeare. — “Buddhism in Transla-
Oriental Museum was thus dedicated, the cor-
tions."— A sympathetic biography of Leigh Hunt. ner stones were being laid of the Hull Biolog-
A lively book on America, by a Frenchman. — The ical Laboratories, four in number (zoology,
Laureates of England. - Two volumes of collected
verse. - More Utopian Sociology.- Two books for
botany, physiology, and anatomy), and the prin-
the Burns Centenary. - A good Life of Cyrus W.
cipal address upon this occasion was made by
Field.- Cavalry and artillery in action.
Professor George L. Goodale of Harvard. The
celebration ended on the Fourth of July, with
BRIEFER MENTION .
48
the formal presentation of a United States flag,
LITERARY NOTES
48
the gift of the First Regiment of Illinois Infan-
try to the University, by Colonel Henry L.
TOPICS IN LEADING PERIODICALS
49
Turner, and with a scholarly oration on “The
Conditions and Prospects of Democracy,” de-
LIST OF NEW BOOKS
49
livered by Professor Bernard Moses of the
.
.
.
.
.


32
[July 16,
THE DIAL
University of California. This oration was of particularly under such distressing external
the sort that jingo newspapers call pessimistic, conditions as obtain at Chicago, is a matter for
which means that it was a serious and sober solemn reflection ; and the sight would give
discussion of the grave problem with which it pause to Mr. Herbert Spencer, making him
dealt — the kind of thing, in short, of which wonder at the vitality of the ceremonial in-
our excitable young men and women, with their stinct. The very forms and symbols that are
tendency to the display of an unbalanced en so impressive when they are really survivals,
thusiasm, are most in need.
and consecrated by the unbroken tradition of
An interesting incidental feature of this centuries, become little more than childish
quinquennial celebration was provided by the toys when they are deliberately assumed for
presence of the founder of the institution. Mr. the sake of the dignity imagined to go with
Rockefeller had often been urged to make a them, and thus fail in large measure of the
personal inspection of the University which his effect desiderated.
munificence has brought into existence, but had The true dignity of a university is not to be
hitherto declined all such invitations. At last, sought in features which, even if cherished upon
however, he consented to come, and it need historical grounds, are still only incidental to
hardly be said that the reception accorded him its life. The spirit of the institution, and the
was of the most enthusiastic nature. He seriousness of the aims which it pursues, are
marched in the Convocation Procession, and the real index of its significance. The Univer-
sat in the tent during the programme of exer sity of Chicago has shown, as the Johns Hop-
cises, listening, among other things, to the Presi- kins University showed twenty years earlier,
dent's airy enumeration of the millions that that age is not essential to an educational insti-
were still wanted to meet the more pressing tution of the highest type. The University of
needs of the University. He was even pre- Chicago is to-day a great influence for good,
vailed upon to make a few remarks of his own, because, with large property and substantial
and scored one very neat point upon his audi- equipment, it enlists the services of a distin-
ence. Enthusiasm rose to a frantic pitch when guished body of scholars in its teaching, and
he casually remarked, “ This is only a begin- attracts to its walls a great number of earnest
ning,” and promptly subsided with the conclu- young people in search of culture. It is also a
sion of the sentence, “You will do the rest." power for good because it has espoused a large
But he must have taken peculiar satisfaction in conception of the university ideal, its tentacles
viewing the noble group of buildings, and the reaching out to all classes of the community in
imposing group of men and women in scholastic which it has taken up its work. We think of
garb, resulting, for the most part, from his gen the octopus as a malignant and destructive
erous initiative, and all testifying to the power creature, but there is no reason why the name
for good that it rests with a man of wealth to should bear associations of this kind alone.
exercise.
The University of Chicago, with its systems of
So young a university could not fail, upon a extension - work and correspondence-teaching,
festal occasion like this, to exhibit startling its efforts to raise the standards of lower edu-
contrasts. The newness of the institution, as cation throughout the surrounding country, its
exemplified by the unfinished condition of the coöperation with the work of public and pri-
campus, the makeshift tent erected for the cele vate schools, its public lectures and expanding
bration, the brass band requisitioned for the press, its missionary work done in settlements
purpose, and the restive self-consciousness of and experimental schools of pedagogy, is fas-
the men in their unaccustomed raiment, was as tening itself with clear-sighted and beneficent
apparent as, let us say, the newness of the Ger- energy upon the civic life of the community
man Empire to a sojourner in Berlin during with which it is associated, and in calling it an
the seventies. Neither an empire nor a univer- octopus we do no violence to correct metaphor.
sity, with the stamp of the mint still sharply That its reach may become greater and its grasp
impressed upon it, can put on the trappings more firm with every year of its life must be
and the suits of antiquity and feel wholly at the wish of everyone who has at heart the inter-
ease, or so wear them as not to arouse in the ests of culture and civilization. It is, indeed,
philosophical observer some sense of incon as the founder remarked, only a beginning that
gruity or imperfect adjustment. To see the has thus far been made, but it is a good be-
youngest of universities thus trying to outdo ginning, and one that promises much for the
the oldest in the matter of form and ceremonial, I future.


1896.)
33
THE DIAL
justice, who delight to see real literary merit reach
JULY.
the heights of enduring fame. So, too, literature
The ravishment is over.
desires that the literary sycophant who praises with-
Love her fill
Has taken; slowly, slowly, all the day,
out reason, and the literary cynic who condemns
She wanders up and down yon sunny way,
without justice, should alike be held up to public
Hands folded, silent. But the robin, still
scorn, ridicule, and abhorrence.
He sings; and, in the willows by the mill,
DUANE MOWRY.
The catbird tricks it yet 'twixt squeak and lay.
Come are the yellow lilies and full clover,
The oxeyes and stanch yarrow; there's a hum
In the elder bushes, and some plucky rover
COMMUNICATIONS.
Pipes from the milkweed. But with surfeit dumb
Are Love's own lips: the ravishment is over.
JOURNALISTIC RETRIBUTION.
JOHN VANCE CHENEY.
(To the Editor of THE DIAL.)
“ The Bookman" for July takes account of my recent
remarks on “who was given a seat ” (The DiAL, May 16)
in a characteristic fashion: it ignores my name and falsi-
fies my argument — the two familiar weapons of jour-
LITERARY CRITICS AND LITERARY nalistic retribution. It charges me with defending the
CRITICISM.
English locution by (1) Latin and Greek usage; and
(2) exceptional English error. In the twenty lines of
What is literary excellence? To whom shall we my Dial letter I briefly defend the locution by (1) the
look with respect and confidence as conservators of authority of grammarians, who are unanimous; (2) his-
all that is best in contemporaneous literature? If tory; (3) universal usage of English writers and speakers
the foregoing questions are answered comprehen not sophisticated by misapplied logic or narcotic predi-
sively, we shall meet satisfactory definitions of the lections and prejudices — Latin and Greek being cited
true literary critic, and of painstaking and conscien-
only to illustrate the pervasive naturalness of the con-
tious criticism. Undoubtedly, a just criticism is the
struction even in synthetic languages. Nobody knows
better than the editor of « The Bookman" that I am
intelligent expression of a just literary judgment. guiltless of his charges, and his adjectives, and his hypo-
Fulsome praise and biting sarcasm are no part of thetical characters.
CASKIE HARRISON.
the language of a critical judgment. These quali-
Brooklyn, N. Y., July 4, 1896.
ties may come from the smallest and the narrowest
of intellects, and are usually worthless in the world
WORDS, WORDS, WORDS.
of letters. They absorb the prejudices and eccen-
(To the Editor of THE DIAL.)
tricities of their environment, and put into definite Professor Dodge says, in your issue of June 16, that of
literary form the baser feelings of the human mind. five quotations in my article on “Shakespeare in Lexi-
They do not seek the pure atmosphere of the higher cography,” two are incorrectly given (though this is not
life. They invest in none of the lofty sentiments
what he means), “the passage from Cymbeline' being
from the third instead of the fourth scence of the first
which befit the true man.
act, and the same being true of the extract from • Meas-
The critic of contemporaneous literature must be
ure for Measure. The first of these two passages is
in touch with his age. It will not be enough for
in the third scene in the Riverside (White's) Shake-
him simply to know a truth when he sees it. He
speare, but in the fourth scene in the Leopold edition,
must also know the conditions which have evolved and the other is in the fourth scene in both these edi-
the truth, or have made such evolution possible. He tions.
must be able to judge relatively as well as abstractly. Another critic thinks a knowledge of Schmidt's
His success will largely depend upon his ability to
“Shakespeare Lexicon” would have prepared me for a
grasp present-day problems as they are presented more intelligent discussion of the vocabulary of Shake-
for his clearer literary vision. It is not necessary
speare, and is surprised to see such an article as mine
with no mention of that lexicon. My article was just
for him to take a position in the clouds in order
what it was meant to be, and reference to Schmidt was
that nothing of an earthly nature should obscure
not needed. I know his work well enough to assent un-
his view. Rather let him stand among his fellows, reservedly to my critic's estimate of it. It may be pos-
in order the better to catch the inspiration of the sible that “great” in “of great admittance” meant
hour, and to form an intelligent estimate from that “great people,” but this merely shifts the ellipsis. “Ad-
point of view, 80 essential and so indispensable to mittance” certainly means what I and Schmidt and my
the true critic of contemporaneous literature.
critic say it means, whether the ellipsis be before or
Literary excellence must prevail whenever and after it, which is uncertain. Timon's apostrophe is cited
wherever criticism is taken out of the wallowing
in favor of “that which separates " as a meaning of
divorce -—“O thou sweet king-killer, and dear divorce.”
mire of literary mediocrity and commonplace, and
Is this not metonymic or elliptical for “ dear instrument
transferred into the pure and clear air of a broad
of divorce," and is not the real sense of the word that
and generous culture, of a lofty ideal, and of intelli-
which Shakespeare had in mind? I still believe it is,
gent and just literary opinions. Literature seeks to and that it is not advisable to define an effect as a cause.
secure and retain the approval of those high-minded
F. HORACE TEALL.
persons whose judgment is founded in reason and Bloomfield, N.J., July 8, 1896,


34
[July 16,
THE DIAL
From Westminster Sir Arthur went to Christ
The New Books.
Church College, Oxford, whence he proceeded
in 1790 to the Continent, with the view of learn-
A BRITISH DIPLOMAT OF NAPOLEON'S ing foreign languages, and of otherwise equip-
TIME.*
ping himself for the diplomatic profession. A
Historical students will find in the Paget letter written to him at this period by Lord
Papers useful clews to the tangled skein of Con- Henry Fitzgerald, brother of Lord Robert
tinental politics during the changeful period Fitzgerald who was then secretary of the Em-
extending from a little before the fall of Robes- bassy at Paris, touches interestingly on current
pierre, July 27, 1794, down to some four events at the French capital.
months after the Peace of Tilsit, July 7, 1807. “ All has been confusion again at Paris, owing to the
The volumes contain the diplomatic correspond- folly of the poor King, who took the Sacrament Easter
ence of Sir Arthur Paget, edited by his son,
Sunday from one of the nonjuring clergy—all the heads
of which he has harbored and protected in his palace.
Sir Augustus B. Paget, who supplies a brief
This instantly gave a general alarm, and the cry was
sketch of his father's public career, together that the King had deserted his people, et qu'il était
with some elucidatory matter, historical and devenu aristocrat, that his conduct was insincere. In
personal. Sir Arthur Paget played a promi- such a ferment was all Paris that the King attempted to
go to St. Cloud, and was actually in the carriage with
nent part in the shifting political drama of
the Queen. He was prevented by the mob, and sat in
which Bonaparte was the protagonist. One of his carriage two hours determined not to get out. Upon
the ablest diplomatists of his time, he was ac this La Fayette told him he could not answer for any-
tively engaged during the period covered by thing unless the King ordered him with the militia of
Paris to fire. This the King would not hear of, and
the correspondence in guarding English inter-
ests at such centres as Berlin, Munich, Vienna, they would not obey any such order, supposing it had
La Fayette was told by his soldiers in plain terms that
and Palermo; and his letters present a pretty been given. The Queen attempted to harangue the mob,
continuous record of the development of affairs
when she was saluted with, • Tais-toi, coquine, ce n'est
as seen through British eyes—intensely British pas à toi de donner des ordres ici !' La Fayette, enraged,
ones, be it added, for it is clear throughout that resigned, and the King was obliged to give up the jour-
ney. The next day he went to the Assembly, made a
no Briton was ever more firmly fixed in the
fine speech, but has not quite regained the confidence
national faith that Nature, in forming the En hitherto reposed in him of his being a friend of the
glishman, had fairly outdone herself and out Revolution — though he has discarded all the nonjuring
clergymen and aristocratic officers of his household.
stripped her own ideal, than was Sir Arthur
This transaction, foolish on his part, and really out-
Paget. As his son gravely puts it, “No one
rageous on the part of the people, has cost the Royal
was ever more earnestly impressed with the
brother
says, many tears and dreadful mo-
superiority of British institutions over those of ments of anxiety."
any other nation, or more thoroughly appre Late in 1791, or early in 1792, Sir Arthur
ciated the privilege of having been born an was temporarily employed in Mr. Ewart's Mis-
Englishman than Sir A. Paget." sion at Berlin, whence he was presently trans-
Sir Arthur Paget, third son of Henry ferred to St. Petersburg as Secretary of Lega-
(Bayly) Paget, who was in 1784 by Patent tion under Lord Whitworth. In 1794 he
created Earl of Uxbridge, was born January returned to Berlin, where he acted for several
15, 1771, and died July 26, 1840. He was months as Chargé d'affaires during the absence
educated at Westminster School a rather of the temporary envoy, Lord Malmesbury. A
severe ordeal, as we gather from the following: letter of this date from Mr. Paget to Lord St.
“Those were rough days for boys at public schools, Helens, Ambassador at the Hague, regarding
the system of tyranny and bullying of the small boys by the proposed marriage between the Prince of
their seniors having been frequently revolting and atro-
cious. I remember my father mentioning that his
Wales (afterwards George IV.) and Caroline
brother Edward had undergone such a thrashing from
of Brunswick, may be quoted as showing the
one of the bigger boys that it was for some time doubt- promising perspicacity and initiative of the
ful whether he would recover from the injuries inflicted young diplomatist (he was then twenty-three),
upon him, but that he absolutely refused, either at the who evidently used all his address to prevent
time or afterwards, to reveal the name of his assailant."
the ill-starred match. After some cautious pre-
*The Pager PAPERS. Diplomatic and other Correspond-liminary fencing, Mr. Paget goes on to say:
ence of the Right Hon. Sir Arthur Paget, G.C.B., 1794–1807.
With two Appendices, 1808 and 1821–1829. Arranged and
“I will not conceal from you then, My Lord, that this
edited by his son, the Right Hon. Sir Augustus B. Paget, intelligence [of the impending treaty of marriage] has
G.C.B. (Late Her Majesty's Ambassador in Vienna). With given me the most serious uneasiness, and it is palpable
Notes by Mrs. J. R. Green. In two volumes, with 24 por that the choice which (it appears) has been made is the
traits. New York: Longmans, Green, & Co.
cause of it. I will not now take upon me to mention who
Family, my
.
.


1896.]
35
THE DIAL
have been the promoters of this union, but this I will “ After this long prosing sermon, which I hope you
venture to say, that it has been undertaken by persons, will forgive me for, my dear Arthur, though you may
who have had an interest, not perhaps in making this rate it a bore, I must write you in order to extort a
particular choice, but in preventing its having fallen smile before I conclude some little account of Chig [a
elsewhere. Obvious reasons point out the necessity of Mr. Chester, a boon companion of the writer]. He ar-
not committing to paper the received character of the rived on the Saturday in the last week, from Ireland, on
Princess (Caroline) above alluded to, and I am sure that Sunday he dined with me and a party to commemorate
your lordship is too well acquainted with it to make how happy we used to be with you last year, and hope
that necessary. I cannot, however, avoid saying this to be for many years to come, the party were, viz., Bath-
much, that I conceive it to be more calculated to ensure urst, Brummell, Chig, and Bob Mongomery. After the
the misery of the Prince of Wales, than promote his first Glass after dinner every Round was a Bumper to
happiness, and at a future period the nation's welfare." you in the very best Claret I had; Chig thought it too
Concluding, Mr. Paget (forgetful evidently of
weak. Of course stronger, the old Queen's House Claret,
was produced for him which he swore was the b-pup-
the precept touching the casting of pearls be-
fore swine) takes upon himself to suggest a
pup-pup-pest Cha-a-a-teau Margeau he had ever ta-a-
asted and tumbled about ten o'clock smack on his face,
bride worthier of the chaste patron of Beau and was obliged to be carried off between two servants.
Brummell and putative husband of Mrs. Fitz- The rest were bad enough, God knows, except myself,
herbert, than the shady Caroline of Brunswick : though my every Glass was a Bumper to your health, I
can safely swear I never flinched one, dear Arthur, and
“ It will immediately occur to your lordship that the
Princess I allude to is the Princess Louisa of Prussia -
you well know I am not even upon indifferent occasions
a Shirker. Since that day, the old Girl * has never
a woman in every respect worthy of so great an alliance,
inferior to few as to the beauties of her person, and
ceased being tipsy twice a day, first at dinner and on -
but after supper – for she always makes a regular sup-
endowed with an understanding which in every scene of
life is calculated to distinguish her. ... What I have
per first — and a couple of Bottles of iced Champagne,
said will sufficiently prove my entire aversion to this
after a couple of quarts of Beer which she calls, you
projected marriage, and if I could flatter myself that it
know, a Swig of Beer, has completed about six in the
morning the old Gentlewoman since she has been with
would appear to you in the same point of view, I should
us here."
feel perfectly secure that the representations you may
have it in your power to make upon the subject would
The widespread horror of “ French principles,”
be attended with the success they deserve. ..." then (thanks largely to Burke) supposed to
Unfortunately, Mr. Paget's wise interposition have reached their true concrete expression in
came too late. Lord St. Helens replies : the Jacobin excesses at Paris, but no more to
“ Lord Bacon advises us to be wary in our dealings be finally condemned for those excesses than the
with kings and princes, for that their reason (when they Reformation is to be repudiated on account
have any) is a different kind of reason from that of
other men,'— and the truth of this maxim is without
of the Bedlamite doings of the followers of
doubt most strongly confirmed by the courtship to which
Thomas Münzer and John of Leyden, shored
you allude; since tho', in a case like this of a pretty up more than one rotten throne of the period,
woman with an indifferent reputation, a man might nat and none more so than that of the writer of the
urally enough be so much captivated by the sight of her above elegant and coherent epistle.
person as to be willing to marry her notwithstanding the
stain on her reputation, it is in truth utterly inconceiv-
Sir Arthur Paget remained at Berlin till
able that he should fall in love with her reputation only, early in 1795, when he proceeded to England,
and without having seen her person. I am afraid, how- remaining there until 1798, and entering Par-
ever, that the engagement is too far advanced to be now
liament as member for Anglesey. In 1798 he
dissoluble, and therefore we must endeavor to make the
best of it, and to hush up all bad stories. The other
was appointed Envoy Extraordinary and Min-
young lady you mention is indeed a jewel of the very
ister Plenipotentiary to the Elector of Bavaria,
first water, and without a flaw.”
and two years later to the Mission at Palermo,
How worthy the future George IV. (whose use-
where he resided till May, 1801, when he went
fullest recorded deed on this earth is the inven- to Vienna as successor to Lord Minto, remain-
tion of a shoe-buckle) was of this “ jewel of the ing until 1806. In 1807 he was sent on a spe-
very first water,” the world knows. An epistle cial embassy to the Dardanelles, to persuade
of his, of 1799, to Mr. Paget contains some inti- the Turks to break with France and conclude.
mations of his then pursuits and character, and peace with England and Russia, Count Pozzo
of his qualifications for the station to which it | di Borgo representing Russia. The Peace of
had pleased Providence in an unusually inscru- Tilsit being concluded in the interim, the joint
table mood to call him. After a rambling pre- negotiations with the Turk were broken off —
amble, in which he complains that a letter of Sir Arthur waiting, however, with character-
his “ of sixteen or eighteen pages” has remained istic tenacity for several weeks off Tenedos in
long unanswered (unread, one fancies he might the hope of inducing the Porte to name a Plen-
have said with equal truth), “Prince Florizel”
The identity of this particular "old Girl" is left to sur-
concludes, in sprightly vein :
mise by the editor.


36
(July 16,
THE DIAL
ipotentiary to treat with him alone. With this and refreshment will be all that many readers
Embassy Sir Arthur Paget's diplomatic career will derive from “ Current Superstitions”; to
came to an end. He married, in 1809, Lady the student, however, will come much more.
Augusta Fane, daughter of the Earl of West- For him there are here bits of past philosophy,
moreland, and seems to have passed the remain-much of savage psychology, shreds of rude reli-
der of his life chiefly in yachting, having pur- gious belief.
chased, with a view to that end, a place called Mrs. Bergen does not pretend to have ex-
Hamble Cliff, on the banks of Southampton hausted the material. The book can make no
Water,— and, observes his son, with some feel claim to fulness. A rich collection of plant and
ing, “ A more ill-chosen spot for yachting pur animal lore is reserved for another publication.
poses, if I may say so, with all the respect, affec-
all the respect, affec- Bụt even of the kind of material presented, we
tion, and veneration I cherish for my father's have but a fraction. The public will be disap-
memory, could hardly have been selected.” pointed in its small amount; but it is well that
Notable among Sir Arthur's correspondents the collection is published now and in its incom-
are Lords Grenville, Harrowby, Hawkesbury, plete state. The material is fairly varied ; Mr.
Malmesbury, St. Helens, Wellesley, Whit- Newell's introduction is suggestive; the matter
worth, Sir G. Leveson Gower, Admirals Keith is carefully classified and arranged. While
and Collingwood, Mr. Fox, Mr. Canning, Mrs. Bergen might have been gratified by the
Counts Stadion and Pozzo di Borgo, etc. Diplo- delay in publication until double the amount
matists, in those days of slow and difficult com-
of material had been secured, the appearance
munications and rapidly shifting events and of the book in its present form will probably
policies, were charged with great powers and call out four or five times its mass for future use.
laden with heavy responsibilities, a more than
Each item is numbered. Fourteen hundred
average share of which fell to the lot of Sir and seventy-five numbers are presented. Many
Arthur Paget. He acquitted himself credit of them are simply local variants of others.
ably - at times brilliantly; and his correspon While the book aims to be English lore, some
dence throws some new light on the political German and negro superstitions appear. If we
transactions of the time, and especially on the suppress slightly differing variants and this
attitude of the minor courts. His letters are foreign matter we reduce the bulk probably by
necessarily for the most part somewhat formal one-half. It seems as if it would have been
and businesslike, and contain little of the chit better not to separately number each variant of
chat which appeals to the taste of the general a theme, as if it were a really new idea ; of
reader. The volumes are handsomely made, course all variants should be presented, but
and contain a liberal number of well-executed they should hardly be given the prominence of
portraits.
independent themes.
The presentation of “projects” is well done.
“ Projects” are the popular attempts to divine
the future. While “now made in a sportive
GLEANINGS IN AMERICAN FOLK LORE.*
manner and only with partial belief,” they are
Mrs. Bergen's book on “Current Supersti- real broken-down remnants of once serious cer-
tions” is the fourth volume of the “ Memoirs of emonies. Naming apple-seeds and counting
the American Folk - Lore Society.” Quaint them out to find the future is wide-spread.
expressions, terse sayings, curious superstitions, No. 170 describes a curious project tried in
apparently unmeaning practices of the past, New Hampshire which is quite like Cherokee
linger tenaciously, even into the busy present bead-conjuring. “ An apple seed was placed
of bustling America. No intelligent reader is on each of the four fingers of the right hand.
.so far removed from them as not to find inter- They were named, and the fingers so worked as
est in hearing the old ideas expressed again. to move slightly. The seed that stayed on
We all heard signs and knew charms and tried longest indicated the name of your future hus-
“projects” when we were young, and to be band.” A sport among white people, such con-
reminded of them is refreshing. This interest juring is in earnest among the Cherokees. To
* CURRENT SUPERSTITIONS. Collected from the Oral Tra-
count buttons for one's fortune is child's play,
dition of English-Speaking Folk. Edited by Fanny D. Ber but until recently an important Christian de-
gen, with Notes and an Introduction by William Wells Newell.
nomination left all important decisions to the
Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co.
WHAT THEY SAY IN NEW ENGLAND. Collected by Clifton
lot. No. 241 runs : 6 Write names on three
Johnson. Boston: Lee & Shepard.
pieces of paper, throw them up in the air in
E. G. J.
:


1896.]
37
THE HE
DIAL
The ques-
the dark); feel for one, put it under the pillow, often spit on a stone, place the wet side down-
and in the morning look for the name of the ward on the ground and put the foot of the
man you are going to marry.” Ridiculous, but affected side thereon (cf. No. 100). Both of
the great Goethe is said to have left a life deci these remedies are often efficient.
sion to the fall of a knife. School children tion in all such cures" is just how the action
often write two names, one of a boy and one of comes. In the first of these cases there
may
be
a girl, upon paper and then cancel the letters a real physical result, actually due to the prac-
common to them; those left are counted out tice; in the other the result is probably due to
with the words “ love, friendship, indifference, superstition, it is a case of mind acting on body,
hate (cf. 244), to find the feeling existing be expectancy overcoming a physical condition.
tween the two parties. Underneath this there It would be a good piece of work for someone to
must lie a queer mixture of ideas among which analyze these popular“ cures "into three groups
must be these two belief in beings destined -one reasonable, based on real physical opera-
for each other, conception of mystic power in tions, the second explainable as mind-cures,
names.
the third clearly superstition or magic. The
The world will ever judge men by appear. whole subject of warts is suggestive. Popular
ances. To physiognomize is natural. The child belief explains their appearance by sympathetic
with some unfortunate characteristic will be magic. To milk a cow with a warty bag, to
noted and some comment made.
“ Give a dog touch blood from a wart to the tongue, to touch
a bad name and hang him.” The comment or irregular knobby growths on trees, to handle a
the prediction based upon the peculiarity is toad, to touch certain toadstools, all these may
likely to be justified. The poor child, from cause warts. Things so uncanny in origin must
nagging, constant repetition of the unpleasant be treated by magic. The means used may or
saw, and the popular disfavor, has much against may not transfer them to some other victim.
him. Fortunately sufficient difference, in the “ Find an old bone in the field, rub the wart
meanings attributed to such peculiarities, exists with it, then lay it down exactly as you found
to rob these signs of much of their bad result. it.”—“ Rub a wart with a stolen dish-cloth, and
Thus while small ears show stinginess, they also then hide or bury the latter; as it decays the
indicate truthfulness. “If the eyebrows meet, wart will disappear.” — Steal “pork from the
one is ill-tempered." This peculiarity is so family barrel of salted pork, rub the wart with
generally connected with unreasoning dislike it and throw it into the road. The person who
that its presence is a real misfortune. What picks it up will get the wart.” The list might
inducement has a superstitious mother to care be carried far beyond Mrs. Bergen's forty-
properly for the poor babe whose blue-veined seven remedies. Warts are really cured by
forehead destines it to early death ? Red-haired most of these cures. The reviewer has experi-
people, no matter how amiable naturally, are mented upon scores of cases. All that is needed
likely to become fiery-tempered. Popular ob to cure warts, which are curiously nervous
servation is keen — face, features, hair, hand, troubles, is to gain the confidence of the patient
foot, beauty-spots, wrinkles, dimples, all are in the remedies used. Plant-milk, acids, tonics,
mercilessly noticed; all have meaning. Care- touching, counting, transfer,- all succeed if
ful study only can separate what is really true only the warty victim has faith.
in folk physiognomy from what is resultant to Most of the superstitions herein discussed
belief and what is purely superstitious. are “pagan "; some of them run back to stone-
Faith in amulets is by no means dead among age times. When metals came into use and
Metals cure ; gold is good for throat Christianity was established the symbol of the
troubles, brass for rheumatism. The doctrine of new religion and the objects of the new culture
signatures — a forerunner of the homeopathic were set against the practices and implements of
dogma that like cures like, and a phase of sym the ancient faith. Iron and the cross are charms
pathetic magic-often appears. Thus for nose against evil. Some very simple childish prac-
bleed red beads should be worn; blood is red, tices no doubt point back to such ideas. The
the beads must be so. Popular cures, through sign of the cross, once potent in exorcism, re-
some formula to be repeated or by some simple mains a guard or charm in play. A boy crosses
practice to be observed, are numerous. In his fingers, elbows, or legs when telling a false-
some cases such cures may really be expected. hood to free himself from responsibility, he
Thus (No. 855), to cure nose-bleed chew brown crosses his breath in asseveration, he draws an
paper.
To cure side-ache after running, boys | X with his mallet in croquet between his ball
us.


38
[July 16,
THE DIAL
cross
:
and that of an opponent about to aim to “ many reminders of the time when the world
luck."
was young to them. We are sure that we may
Mrs. Bergen has been one of the first to call beg readers to send Mrs. Bergen further ma-
attention to certain practices which she claims terial, which they may recall from their own
show former sun-worship. They are at least experience. It will be gratefully received and
fragments of old ceremonial circuits. Among properly used.
some barbarous people— notably among many
Mr. Johnson's little book, “ What They Say
of our Indian tribes — and even among the in New England,"covers much the same ground
modern Jews, it makes a profound difference as Mrs. Bergen's. Its geographical field is more
in what direction a circular movement in a re limited, but its literary field is wider. In it
ligious ceremony is made. A set direction must we find not only current superstitions but
be observed. The order affects processionals, counting-out rhymes, tricks and catches, nur-
movements, distribution of objects, etc. That sery tales and “old stories.” It is all good
such ceremonial circuits were once observed by folk-lore and well told. Most of the material
the ancestors of English-speaking peoples is is from Western Massachusetts. To institute
abundantly shown by a considerable series of a fair comparison between the two books, we
little superstitions and practices. Thus : « To have numbered the items of current supersti-
make good bread stir it with the sun.”—“In tion in Johnson's book, finding more than six
cooking soft custard the stirring must be con hundred and fifty. As he gives few variants
tinued throughout in the direction in which it and not much in plant and animal lore, it ap-
was begun, otherwise the custard will turn to pears that he gives nearly as many independ-
whey.” -“ In greasing the wheels of a carriage, ent bits as Mrs. Bergen. This good gleaning
always begin at a certain wheel and go round from one part of one state emphasizes our claim
in a set way.”—“In rubbing for rheumatism, that Mrs. Bergen's collection will be multiplied
etc., rub from left to right” (sunwise). These several times by careful gathering over a wide
observances are uncanny reminders of ancient district.
FREDERICK STARR.
beliefs.
It is easy to claim that faith in these old
things is past. We may not, however, dismiss
them too lightly; faith is terribly persistent. THE SOUTHERN QUAKERS AND SLAVERY.*
Most projects and signs must have failed so
Quakerism in Virginia, the Carolinas, Ten-
often that confidence ought to be rudely shaken.
nessee, and Georgia, constitutes the subject of
But failure in mystic performances rarely
a timely and valuable contribution to American
makes skeptics; one success makes up for a history. The Quakers were a migratory peo-
thousand miscarriages. The most curious thing, ple, and they came to America as early as 1656.
however, in some of these superstitions is their They formed a part of the population along the
currency in spite of the absolutely impossible Atlantic coast, and their numbers so increased
conditions to be used or ends to be gained that at the end of the seventeenth century they
Thus, how could this ever have become cur-
were the largest and only organized body of
rent?“When a person wishes to remove warts Dissenters in the Southern colonies. In the
from his hand cut as many notches on a stick eighteenth century a great wave of migration
as you have warts, and standing on a bridge southward appeared, which had its chief source
throw the stick over your left shoulder and turn
in Pennsylvania, but was increased by emi-
your head ; they will go off before you leave the grants from New Jersey, Maryland, and Nan-
bridge.” Certain promises are based upon psy- tucket. The fortunes of these people in the
chical impossibilities. Children everywhere in
South, and their subsequent removal to the
the United States believe that a tooth of gold States of the Northwest in which they sought a
will replace a lost tooth, if the cavity left is not refuge from the evils of slavery, are admirably
touched with the tongue. A somewhat similar
set forth in this volume. They found life a
promise in Massachusetts asserts, “ if you cut
serious business in the New World. Mr. Weeks
your finger-nails on a Monday morning with-
calls Quakerism “the flower of Puritanism ";
out thinking of a red fox's tail, you will get a but it was Puritanism without its persecuting
present before the week is out.” Such show a spirit. The Quakers believed in the rights of
keen popular insight into human limitations.
*SOUTHERN QUAKERS AND SLAVERY. A Study in Institu-
Mrs. Bergen's work is plainly of value to the
tional History. By Stephen B. Weeks, Ph.D. Baltimore:
serious student. Casual readers will find in it The Johns Hopkins Press.
-


1896.]
39
THE DIAL
conscience, but they would not withhold these bidden to worship. A minister or a layman
rights even from their persecutors, whose intol could not offer a prayer at the bedside of the
erance and cruelty they patiently and meekly dying if there were five grown persons present.
endured.
Dissent from the established religion was re-
“In July, 1656, Ann Austin and Mary Fisher, the garded as a social evil, and there was no escape
vanguard of a Quaker army, appeared in Boston from
from responsibility save in flight to the estab-
Barbadoes. They were the first Quakers to arrive in
lishment (p. 19). The Quakers believed in
America, and they were imprisoned and sent back. In
October of the same year a law was passed which pro-
the rights of conscience and the total separa-
vided a fine for the ship-master who knowingly brought
tion of Church and State ; but they were com-
in Quakers, and obliged him to carry them out again. pelled to pay tithes, and in case of refusal they
The Quaker was to be whipped, and committed to the
were collected by distress. They were also
house, of correction. Any person importing books or
“writings concerning their devilish opinions,' or defend-
liable to fine and imprisonment. Under such
ing their “ heretical opinions,' was to be fined, and for legislation great hardships were endured by
the third offense banished. The law of October, 1657, Friends in Virginia and North Carolina, but
imposed a fine for entertaining a Quaker. If a Quaker they were steadfast in their long struggle for
returned after being sent away once he was to lose one
relief, which they finally secured.
ear; if he returned a second time, the other ear; and
the third offense was punished by boring the tongue.
Their experience was equally trying in main-
The law of October, 1658, banished both resident and taining their testimony against war. They
foreign Quaker on pain of death. In Massachusetts, refused to take any part in the Indian wars, or
Quakers bad their ears cut off; they were branded; they to attend private or general musters. For such
were tied to the cart-tail and whipped through the
streets; women were shamefully exposed to public gaze;
refusal they were fined, and the fine collected
and in 1659–60, three men and one woman were hanged by distress. They constantly protested against
on Boston Common such was the welcome of the first the hardships of these military exactions, which
Quakers to American soil ” (pp. 5–6).
from time to time were modified and mitigated,
Mr. Weeks mentions the case of George but never relinquished. During the Revolu-
Wilson, who visited Virginia about the year tionary struggle they refused to take any part.
1661.
Some Friends refused to pay the State levies
“He had been imprisoned in Cumberland for reprov for war purposes, and as the Continental cur-
ing a priest. He had been cast into jail in Boston, and rency was issued for such purposes many de-
was whipped through three towns and banished. From
clined to receive it. This action aided the
Puritan New England he turned to Cavalier Virginia.
Here he was cast into a dungeon, very loathsome, with-
decline of this money, and gave the influence
out light, without ventilation. Here, after being cruelly of the society to the British, but it does not
scourged and heavily ironed for a long period, George impeach the loyalty of Friends to the American
Wilson had to feel the heartlessness of a persecuting
cause ; for no body of people could have been
and dominant hierarchy; until at last his flesh actually
more devotedly attached to their country.
rotted from his bones, and within the cold damp walls
of the miserable dungeon of Jamestown, he lay down They had no sympathy with royalty, and were
his life, a faithful martyr for the testimony of Jesus" thoroughly democratic in their opinions and
(p. 20).
policy. But their attitude was exceedingly em-
An equally revolting case was that of Mary barrassing and vexatious. They were constantly
Tompkins and Alice Ambrose, who had been misun