ty
the
ages, and in a narrower sense the inheritor for the new forces that were stirring the waters
of fifteen hundred years of English tradition of the world's thought. The Concord philoso-
and development. Our children study the his- phers were not toying with the discarded play-
tory of England as if it were the history of a things of old-world thinkers; rather were they
foreign people, although down to the seventeenth the pioneers of an intellectual movement in
century it is as strictly our own history as it is of which England lagged far behind. In literary
our kinsmen who have remained in the ancestral criticism throughout most of the nineteenth
home. It is true that we are a transplanted century, America marched distinctly in the
stock, and that means a certain temporary re vanguard. “It is probably not rash to say,"
tardation, but it does not mean a reversion to with Dr. Cairns, “ that the judgment of to-day
childhood. The transplanted tree does not be upon Byron, Wordsworth, Scott, and others was
come a seedling by the process; rather does it more accurately expressed by the best American
strike down its old roots in the new soil for a criticism than in any reviews of their works that
new phase of vigorous growth. So far from appeared in Great Britain during the same
acquiring new characteristics from the changed time.”
conditions, it tends to perpetuate the old ones And thus it has been ever since. What Poe
beyond their natural term. Our seventeenth said in all sincerity about Tennyson no English-
century American ancestors were belated Eliza man at that time had dared to say. This fact
bethans, and even in the early nineteenth cen- slightly dulls the point of our Saturday Re-
tury we were reproducing phases of life and viewer's slur about “anybody who has heard
thought that were characteristic of the England an American quote from Tennyson.” That
of a century before. To change the metaphor, great poet may be “exhausted" in the opinion
we emigrant Englishmen donned a new suit of of super-sophisticated modern Englishmen, but
clothes when we left the mother country, but the acceptance of Poe's verdict does not exactly
the youth who does that is by no means restored appeal to the sound critical sense as a mark of
to the conditions of the cradle. His forward juvenile ineptitude. There are other examples
growth may be checked, but he does not grow a-plenty. Carlyle first found a serious audience
backward.
on this side of the Atlantic, and England
Especially in our intellectual outlook, the learned from us the true greatness of that spirit.
“nice little boy” theory is a delicious absurdity. The gigantic intellectual synthesis of Herbert


1914]
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men.
Spencer might never have been achieved without a novel of seventeen hundred rather closely printed
the support that came to him from this country. pages. But for our part, we should be glad if the three
Omar Khayyám was discovered here more com-
volumes had been multiplied into thirty. Indeed,
pletely than in his own country, and FitzGerald
the same material, — the same wealth of character,
used to refer to himself as “the great American
the same reservoir of ideas,— might well have served
poet." Americans did rather more than English-
a less rigorous artist for thirty novels instead of one.
men to force the acceptance of Ibsen upon the
Into the making of “ JeanChristophe” has gone the
greater part of its author's life. The French original,
English-speaking world, and it was from Amer-
in ten volumes, occupied nearly a decade in the pub-
ica that the philosophy of pragmatism, under lishing; and M. Rolland has said that the book was
the banners of Pierce and James, marched forth in conception many years before the first page was
upon the invasion of the world of philosophical written,—“Christophe only set out on his journey
thought.
when I had been able to see the end of it for him.”
Somewhat to our surprise, we bave come out
“The writers of to-day,” says Christophe to his
just about where we intended to. It all depends friend Olivier, in one of their discussions,
upon how one gets started. Our starting- Waste their energy in describing human rarities, or cases
that are common enough in the abnormal groups of men
point was found in a vehement reaction from
and women living on the fringe of the great society of active,
the absurdities of our critic. But if his starting healthy human beings. Since they themselves have shut
point had been different, there would have been
themselves off from life, leave them and go where there are
no need for all this pother. Suppose, for
Show the life of every day to the men and women of
every day: that life is deeper and more vast than the sea.
example, that his opening sentence had been thus The smallest among you bears the infinite in his soul. The
framed: “The charm of Americans is that they in the lover, in the friend, in the woman who pays with her
infinite is in every man who is simple enough to be a man,
have an alert mental attitude which enables
pangs for the radiant glory of the day of childbirth, in every
them to grasp new ideas and recognize new man and every woman who lives in obscure self-sacrifice
forms of artistic beauty a little in advance of
which will never be known to another soul: it is the very
river of life, flowing from one to another, from one to another,
their mere cautious English brethren.” With and back again and round. ... Write the simple life of one
that preamble, the conclusions we have arrived of these simple men, write the peaceful epic of the days and
nights following, following one like to another, and yet all
at would have flowed from the Saturday Re different, all sons of the same mother, from the dawning of
viewer's pen as readily and as inevitably as the first day in the life of the world. Write it simply, as
from our own.
But then, we should have had
simple as its own unfolding. Waste no thought upon the
word, and the letter, and the subtle vain researches in which
nothing to write about.
the force of the artists of to-day is turned to naught. You
are addressing all men : use the language of all men. There
are no words noble or vulgar; there is no style chaste or
impure: there are only words and styles which say or do not
A GREAT CONTEMPORARY NOVEL. say exactly what they have to say. Be sound and thorough
in all you do: think just what you think,- and feel just
The first of the three volumes containing “Jean what you feel. Let the rhythm of your heart prevail in your
Christophe" in its English version appeared during writings! The style is the soul.”
the winter of 1910; the last, something less than a This is M. Rolland's literary creed, and out of it
year ago. If the book bore any relation to the gener has come “Jean-Christophe.” There is nothing of
ality of current fiction, some apology for dealing with conventional plot in the book. Its connecting thread
it so tardily might be in order. But when one has throughout is the history of a human soul, — the
to do with a work of genius, apologies may as well soul of Jean-Christophe Kraft, native of Germany,
be dispensed with. Compared with the great mass the descendant of several generations of musicians
of current novels, “ Jean-Christophe" is as an oak. and himself destined to be the greatest musician of
tree rising above a field of summer grass. We should them all. In physique and will he does not belie
like to have been among the earliest to proclaim its his surname; but his is the strength out of which
qualities; that privilege having been missed, we can comes sweetness, a strength that carries him
at least avoid a place among the tardiest.
unconquered, though not unscathed, through battle
Notwithstanding its recognition by Mr. Edmund with all the forces that can be sent against a man's
Gosse and other high critical authorities as “the first spirit, a strength that inspires and invigorates
great novel of the new century,” the book seems as all who come within its influence. Concerning the
yet to have found only a small fraction of its destined origin of his book, M. Rolland has written: "I was
English audience. Critical superlatives are too much stifling ... in a hostile moral atmosphere, I wanted
soiled by ignoble use to carry much force nowadays; to breathe, I wanted to react against a sickly civ-
and as much as ever in the past, genius is still left ilization. I needed a hero of pure eyes and
to make its own way as it can. No doubt the unusual pure heart, with a soul sufficiently unblemished to
bulk of “Jean-Christophe” has deterred many pos have the right to speak, and with a voice strong
sible readers. A generation that is accustomed to con enough to make itself heard.” Such a hero is Jean-
sidering its fiction, like its pills, the better for being Christophe; but his purity of eye and heart contains
readily bolted is not likely to look with favor upon no trace of pharisaism. He is a creature of stormy


168
[March 1
THE DIAL
sense.
impulses and emotions, who stumbles and blunders Jean-Christophe never fails to cry: "Truth! though
as frequently as any, yet who never makes terms the heavens crush me for following her: no False-
with the enemy, whether within or without.
hood! though a whole celestial Lubberland were
But the book as a whole is far more than a biog- the price of Apostasy." This high sincerity could
raphy of Jean-Christophe Kraft. It is an analysis, scarcely fail to be inherent in a book so largely the
a synthesis, a criticism of present-day life in all of distillation of spiritual experience, so little the pro-
its most significant phases. It is an illuminating duct of artifice. The work was conceived, as we have
estimate of European culture, a sane and penetra seen, in a spirit of intense reaction to falsehood and
tive discussion of social tendencies, an inspiring cant. Its author is one who has evidently known
handbook of ethics, a profound and eloquent treatise the acutest mental and physical suffering, but who
on music, - and much else besides. We doubt if yet has courage “to look anguish in the face and
any other writer since Tolstoy has been so success venerate it.” In a day when there is so widespread
ful in clarifying the welter of our contemporary a tendency not only to repudiate the moral value of
civilization, — " beneath the chaos of facts perceiv- suffering, but to fasten upon it a definite stigma of
ing the little undistinguished gleam which reveals shame, such a courage is as rare as it is salutary.
the progress of the history of the human mind.” It should not be inferred that “Jean-Christophe”
Weavers, all of us, of the great fabric of humanity, is any the less appealing and readable as a book of
we are taken for a moment from the tiny segment fiction because of the higher qualities emphasized
of our individual labor, and the wide tangle of loose in the foregoing,—though of course the book could
ends which shows for us as the collective labor of never interest those who are content with the staple
our generation, and are granted a glimpse of the product of our fiction-factories. Even should the
ordered design that is slowly taking form on the cultivated reader wish to skip rather freely, in the
other side of the fabric. And this, in our opinion, residue he will find a wealth of rare treasure. We
is the noblest service that literature can perform. know of few pages in literature more subtly and
“Jean-Christophe" is thus before all else an inter- | tenderly sympathetic than the record of Christophe's
pretation of life, a “novel of ideas” in the truest | early childhood, more deeply stirring than the spir-
But for all that, its chief concern is not itual battle depicted in "The Burning Bush," more
with the “intellectuals” but with commonest and poignantly beautiful than the account of Christophe’s
lowliest humanity. The kingdom it portrays is in- passing in the final chapter. And what a wonderful
herited not by the successful and the arrogant — the pageant of human character moves through the book,
so-called strong men who are held up so generally in what a gallery of vivid and varied portraiture!
life and in literature as patterns of human conduct, Who that has come to know them will ever forget
—but always by the meek and the poor in spirit. Jean Michel, Gottfried, old Schulz, Olivier, Chris-
Nothing in the book is more typical of its author's tophe himself, among the men; Louisa, Sabine,
spirit than such a passage as this:
Antoinette, Grazia, among the women?
“Christophe felt utterly weary of the fevered, sterile In conclusion, we shall venture the statement that
world, the conflict between egoisms and ideas, the little with this work M. Rolland takes his place in con-
groups of human beings deeming themselves above hu-
temporary literature as the spiritual and artistic
manity, the ambitious, the thinkers, the artists who think
themselves the brain of the world, and are no more than a
successor of Tolstoy. He becomes the standard-
haunting, evil dream. And all his love went out to those bearer around whom will rally the idealistic forces
thousands of simple souls, of every nation, whose lives burn of the new century. More profoundly than any other
away in silence, pure flames of kindness, faith, and sacrifice. yet offered by this century, the gospel he has given
the heart of the world.”
us will inspire and direct those who are toiling in
It is the ambition of M. Rolland's art to help the
the cause of human brotherhood, —" the free spirits
people to live, to correct their errors, to conquer of all nations who suffer, fight, and will prevail.”
their prejudices, and to enlarge from day to day their
That he assumes no authority, and claims no fol-
thoughts and their hearts.” Understanding as clearly lowers, only makes his leadership the more secure.
as any the futility and danger of many popular”
He would have us understand almost before all else
tendencies, he yet never reacts into that attitude of
that human progress, like life itself, is not a smooth-
harsh intolerance or brutal indifference so common
flowing development, but a series of metamorphoses
among the intellectual classes of to-day. It is his
or transmutations; that each generation must wage
belief that the individualist who cuts himself off
its own battle for its own truth, and then without
from sympathetic contact with the mass of mankind
bitterness give place to a younger generation which
repudiates thereby the first law of Christianity. “If
perchance will carry the combat to a far different
any man,” says M. Rolland, “would see the living quarter of the field. To fight is the great duty; to
God face to face, he must seek him, not in the empty
have fought, the only honor. The issue is always
firmament of his own brain, but in the love of men.”
in the future; the hope is always with the new gen-
As in every great work of art, this pervading eration. In no other way can we more fittingly take
quality of humaneness is here secondary only to the
leave of this noble book than in the words of its
quality of absolute sincerity. A love of truth as pas-
author, appended as a preface to the final volume:
sionate as Ruskin's, as uncompromising as Carlyle's,
“I have written the tragedy of a generation which is
glows through every page. With Teufelsdröckh, nearing its end. I have sought to conceal neither its vices


1914]
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99
nor its virtues, its profound sadness, its chaotic pride, its prize upon the aged Mommsen and the venerable
heroic efforts, its despondency beneath the overwhelming
Carducci, and upon “ the Pole, Sienkiewicz, who
burden of a super-human task, the burden of the whole
world, the reconstruction of the world's morality, its esthetic
resided in a knightly castle, and upon the Indian
principles, its faith, the forging of a new humanity. --Such patrician, Tagore.” But if fame is to be distrusted
we have been.
as an evidence of a man's desert in the sense in
“You young men, you men of to-day, march over us, which the prize-bestowers should look for desert,
trample us under your feet, and press onward. Be ye greater
how shall the suitable candidates be brought to the
and happier than we.
“For myself, I bid the soul that was mine farewell. I cast
attention of these Stockholm gentlemen? In this
it from me like an empty shell. Life is a succession of
wise: “The press of all countries should cooperate
deaths and resurrections. We must die, Christophe, to be here by taking a yearly vote among their circle of
born again."
W. R. B.
readers, to select a forceful, strenuous spirit that is
still struggling with fate, and raise him on his coun-
try's shield.” Even so it would be a miracle if modest
merit always or often got its desert; but it is to be
CASUAL COMMENT.
hoped that the words of Mr. Hwass, who professes
ENCOURAGEMENT TO POTENTIAL POETS and other
to have had intimate acquaintance with Nobel and
persons of bright promise, rather than the recognition
with his purpose in founding the prizes called by his
of completed achievement, is now declared by one
name, may not fall on deaf ears.
of the witnesses of Alfred Nobel's will to have been
the Swedish philanthropist's primary object in estab AN ARTIST IN TYPOGRAPHY, and a man of culture
lishing the series of prizes bearing his name. Mr. and fine sympathies, was taken from the world of
Leonard Hwass has contributed to the German books and publishing in the recent death of Theodore
newspaper, Die Woche, a noteworthy article, repub-Low De Vinne, head of the De Vinne Press and
lished in translation by the New York “Evening author of noteworthy books on the history and prac-
Post,” in which he deplores the failure of the ex tice of printing. “Mr. De Vinne was a kind man
ecutors to carry out the will and real intent of the as well as a great expert,” says Mr. S. S. McClure
great departed.” After coining the term "social of his one-time employer, in the autobiography now
economist”
as indicative of “the entire aim and appearing serially; and “the De Vinne Press was
spirit of the man,” the writer continues: “He was a one of the best, if not the best, printing houses in
quiet, high-minded, Teutonic aristocrat, an individ the world” — as it still is. “One of the world's
ualist of the first water, who never fixed his hopes foremost experts, a wide scholar as well as a great
upon the elevation of the masses, but upon the printer," is the further description of him by the
encouragement of individuals of high social value. same competent authority. Eighty-five years ago
To them he wished, through his will, to be an endur last Christmas Mr. De Vinne was born at Stamford,
ing friend and patron; because he recognized that Connecticut. Honorary degrees from Columbia and
they are the real dispensers of blessings and hap- Yale attest the acquisition of a good education on
piness to mankind. And because he knew from his his part, however limited his formal schooling. He
own bitter struggles how particularly difficult it is early learned the printer's craft, and entered the
for the noble-minded, often so sensitively and deli employment of Francis Hart in New York. Rising
cately organized, to make their way, he wished, as ere long to the position of partner in the business,
he repeatedly emphatically remarked, “to lighten and, upon Hart's death, organizing the firm of
the life of the dreamers.' . . . By these dreamers' Theodore L. De Vinne & Co., he became a recog.
he meant spirits bent upon high ideals, poets, and nized leader in the improvement of typography and
inventors, who, unpractical and devoid of means,
formed that association with the Century Company
often go to wrack and ruin in the fulness of their which appears to have been advantageous to both
mental powers.” Accordingly the Nobel prize, as the parties. He was an active member of the Typothetæ,
writer feels himself justified in asserting, “should of the Aldine Association, of the Grolier Club (at
never be bestowed as an honorary prize, but as a one time its president), the Authors' Club, and the
promotive prize for the encouragement of new and Century Club, while various foreign societies were
beneficent work.” And further: “According to my glad to extend to him the honor of membership. His
impressions, Nobel, who himself wrote some beau first book was a “ Printers' Price List,” 1869; then
tiful poems, unfortunately unknown, in the Swedish followed, at intervals, “Invention of Printing,”
and English tongues, meant by the term 'poet' “Historic Types,” “Christopher Plantin,” “ Plain
rather a noble-minded lyric poet, who lifts us to ideal Printing Types,” “Correct Composition,” “ Title
heights, and who rarely possesses much of this world’s Pages." " Book Composition,” and “ Notable Printers
goods, than a dramatist or novelist enjoying a large of Italy during the Fifteenth Century." His “Cor-
income. The deciding factor was, at all events, not rect Composition” is an excellent manual for both
to be fame, but a creative spirit evidently striving printers and authors; it supplied a real need, and
for lofty ends. In any case, world-renowned person will not soon be superseded. A good portrait of
alities, with an assured future, should be excluded.” this scholarly, broad-minded, progressive, and gentle-
Especially unwise, he thinks, was the bestowal of the mannered master of typography may be seen in the


170
[March 1
THE DIAL
February issue of “McClure's Magazine,” in the which our hearer’s thumbing of Cæsar and Virgil
chapter there printed of Mr. McClure's autobiog was cast, and then shape our pronunciation after the
raphy.
old or the new fashion as the case may seem to
THE SECRET OF LITERARY STYLE is perhaps much require. In doubtful instances, or before a mixed
less of a secret than most of us suspect. A manner
audience, we sometimes pronounce our Latin first
of written expression at once simple and forceful,
in the style of our grandfathers, especially if any of
lucid and picturesque, colored with imagination, our grandfathers or their contemporaries are present,
spiced with wit, and touched with humor, does not and then, turning with an indulgent smile toward
come by accident or heredity or as a gift from the our juniors, we render our Ciceronian eloquence in
gods; it is something achieved by diligent effort on the so-called Roman manner, for their benefit. But
the part of one who has first been kindled with this system has its obvious disadvantages, besides
enthusiasm for an unattainable ideal of literary art.
its waste of time and breath. In England, the strong-
The late Goldwin Smith was the master of a style
hold of conservatism in Latin pronunciation as in
so nearly perfect, in its kind, as to render the reader certain other particulars, the battle of the rival
all but unconscious of its presence: the writer's
schools is still in progress, although on this side of
thought conveyed itself to others almost without
the Atlantic the old pronunciation long ago yielded
their being aware of the medium of conveyance.
to the new At a recent meeting of the Classical
But this apparent ease of utterance was the result of
Association at Bedford College, the president, Sir
years of painstaking attention to verbal detail. His Frederic Kenyon, announced that the Roman method
secretary and literary executor, Mr. Arnold Haul-
was well in the lead. But Oxford clings stubbornly
tain, gives repeated instances, in his Boswellian to the English fashion, as was to have been expected.
account of the eminent publicist's daily life and con-
English Latin is, obviously, the furthest remove from
versation, of his scrupulous care in expressing him- Ciceronian in its effect on the ear, though no one
self for publication. Near the middle of his volume really knows how Cicero pronounced his words.
Mr. Haultain says: “It is great fun- and it is in-
Readers of Sir Walter Scott will recall that in “ The
structive — to watch these little things. I wonder
Fortunes of Nigel" King James vaunts the indisput-
if many octogenarian writers take this care in their able fact that Scotch Latin could be understood all
style. The astonishing thing to me is the extraordi over Europe, but English Latin nowhere outside of
nary simplicity of the product! The Chief will England. A universally intelligible pronunciation
think out an article, a little short article, for a news is certainly a desideratum.
paper; will then write it out in his own hand at
eight o'clock in the morning; will dictate it to me
THE LATEST FRENCH ACADEMICIAN, M. Alfred
at 9:15; will carefully, most carefully, go over my
Capus, is as popular a playwright in his own smiling,
MS., correcting, altering, adding, and excising; will gently ironical, always amusing vein, as is M. Eugène
demand proofs and revises to be sent to him (by a
Brieux (the next preceding writer for the stage
special messenger often at ten cents per special elected to membership in the same illustrious com-
messenger); will then go down to the newspaper pany) in his intensely earnest and morally purposeful
office and see another revise; will correct this; and,
dramatic compositions. The one writes for those
if he does not demand yet another revise, it is simply
who have seen the world and its follies, and who
because he relies upon my seeing to it that his ulti-
refuse to take life too seriously; the other addresses
mate revision is faithfully carried out by the printers
those who have the tremendous seriousness of youth,
in the composing room; and not until I come down. whatever their age may be, and are bent on reform-
stairs and report that “everything is all right' does ing their fellow-men. Of course, since the plays of
he slowly rise and totter out of the office. This at M. Capus are written for the sophisticated — and
eighty! What would I not give to have seen him that, too, the sophisticated Parisians — they contain
at work at thirty !” Surely, we have here one im much that the average Anglo-Saxon theatre-goer
bued with the belief that easy writing is hard reading. rightly regards as in questionable taste and not pro-
vocative of wholesome mirth. Moreover, their style
LATITUDE IN LATIN PRONUNCIATION has gone so is so emphatically French, their wit so merged with
far, with the Roman, the Continental, the English, the medium in which it is expressed, that the peculiar
and sundry other methods putting forth their claims, excellence of the original is largely lost in translation.
that no two Latinists, meeting by chance, can now Hence the fewness of the attempts thus far made to
feel any certainty of being understood by each other transplant the products of this clever Frenchman's
if the exigencies of the occasion should call for that genius, and hence, too, the inconsiderable success
famous Plutarchian quotation, Veni, vidi, vici, or if attending these attempts. But it is interesting to
one should wish to compliment the other by calling note, as an evidence of the rare quality of the pieces
him, justum et tenacem propositi virum, or if either that come so plentifully from the pen of M. Capus,
should desire to give expression to the profound truth, that the exacting M. Bourget praises him warmly,
qui facit per alium facit per se. Some of us, in our and even testified to his high opinion of the man by
occasional airing of such Latin as we possess, first urging his candidacy upon the Academicians. “He
rapidly figure out the probable decade or lustrum in thinks in French and he writes in French,” declared


1914]
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THE DIAL
M. Bourget; and no one will dispute him. A few the opportunity, so freely offered, “to read and
biographical details may be not out of place, in clos know books which open up a new heaven"; and she
ing. Vincent Marie Alfred Capus was born Nov. 25, hopes for an eventual fusing of “Norse enthusiasm,
1858; was educated at Aix-en-Provence, and at the German philosophy, French artistry, Russian mys-
Lycée Condorcet, Paris; is an Officer of the Legion ticism, and Latin emotion, into a new American
of Honor, and has published “Qui Perd Gagne," race, American literature.” Translators are fallible
“Monsieur Veut Rire,” “Anuées d'Aventure," mortals, and translations often leave much to be
“Notre Epoque et le Théâtre,” and many plays. desired, but few of us would have any
considerable
acquaintance with the world's literature outside our
THE CARLYLE OF MYTH AND THE CARLYLE OF
own language if we depended solely on our own
REALITY have by this time become inextricably knowledge of foreign tongues to help us to that
intertwisted, thanks largely to Froude's juggling acquaintance.
with the records, and also to the world's well-known
fondness for discovering or inventing faults and
UNSANCTIFIED USES OF SACRED LITERATURE are
foibles in the great. The Carlyle of unendurable
to be regretfully noted in reading the interesting
domestic asperities is the real Carlyle to many,
annual report of the librarian of the General Theo-
rather than the Carlyle described by Emerson as
logical Seminary. Even a collection of books de-
living in a state of beautiful harmony and mutual
signed primarily to meet the needs of prospective
affection with his brilliant and attractive wife.
preachers of the gospel is not exempt from losses due
Mr. J. P. Collins, in a London letter to the Boston
to unregistered borrowing – a permissible euphem-
“Transcript,” brings forward the testimony (new,
ism for a shorter and uglier term. A rare edition of
perhaps, to many readers) of the maid Jessie who
St. Augustine’s “Confessions,” for instance, would
waited on the Carlyles in the last years of their
have another beside its literary value that might
life together. “I could have lived with him all my
tempt to its removal from the shelves for purposes
days,” she asserted, “and it always makes me
wholly unconnected with those of study. But, what-
angry when I read, as I sometimes do, that he was
ever the cause, more than one hundred volumes that
'bad-tempered' and 'gey ill to get on with. He
have disappeared in the last fifteen years from their
was the very reverse, in my opinion.
I never
proper places in the Seminary library are now at last,
would have left him, bad I not been going to get
in despair of their reappearance, definitely stricken
married.” Another glimpse of a not unamiable
from the lists and mourned as irrecoverable. “They
Carlyle is given us by this same Jessie (later, Mrs.
have not been removed before now,” says the libra-
Broadfoot, of Thornhill, Dumfriesshire). An Amer-
rian, “ because it has been hoped that successive in-
ican lion-hunter insisted on seeing the great man,
ventories and the passing of time might reveal them
and would not be turned away.
Finally, in des-
or restore them, as sometimes occurs with missing
peration, says the quondam maid-servant, “ Carlyle
books. This hope has not been justified with the
told me to send him in, and when he went in Carlyle
volumes mentioned. The loss is very regrettable;
just stood up from his desk in the back dining-
the Librarian, however, has no theory to account for
room, in his long dressing-gown, and met him with,
it other than the devious and inexplainable weak-
*Well, here I am! Take a good look at me.' The
nesses of human nature.” Nevertheless, faith in
gentleman was very much taken aback; but he must
the honesty of mankind as a whole has not been
have pleased Carlyle, for I remember he stayed and
destroyed, and this library's praiseworthy system of
talked quite a long time."
unrestricted access to the shelves will be continued.
ACCESSIBLE FOREIGN LITERATURE OF OUR TIME A MAYOR WITH NO FONDNESS FOR LITERATURE
-accessible in the sense of translated and procur came pretty near balking the efforts of the Women's
able from any good bookstore or public library - Club of Owensboro, Kentucky, to secure a public
is richer and better worth reading than is suspected library for their city. In the “Second Biennial
by those whose habitual book-diet is the latest Report” of the Kentucky Library Commission is to
American or English novel. A pamphlet issued by be found the astonishing story of this mulish muni-
the Omaha Public Library and entitled “Foreign cipal officer. After the energetic women of Owens-
Literature in Translation,” by Miss Zora I. Shields boro had raised $3,500, bought a lot, secured a
of the English department in the Omaha High Carnegie building, and were on the point of opening
School, presents an inviting array of modern Euro the library to the expectant public, the city council
pean (continental) authors whom the translator's
(at the mayor's instigation, one suspects) refused to
art has introduced to the English-speaking public. grant the necessary appropriation for maintenance
Comment and criticism accompany the list of works, of the new institution. In fact, three successive
these being exclusively novels and dramas, and it councils proved obdurate, and when at last a fourth
is evident that the writer has read and enjoyed the had passed the ordinance“ the mayor refused to sign
books she invites others to read and enjoy. In the warrants and suit was brought and won in the
closing, she urges upon her readers as a duty, “to lower court by the Library Trustees to compel him
stop wasting time and money on our own empty to sign. The mayor then took the case to the Court
popular novels and magazine stories”; she points to of Appeals. The trustees won again. The warrants


172
[March 1
THE DIAL
were signed in March, 1913. In the meanwhile, hearing them. He was a member of Dr. Washington
the Women's Club, growing impatient at the delay,
Gladden's church, and there as everywhere else a wise
decided to open the library. A book reception re-
counsellor and willing worker. But to those who have
sulted in the gift of about 1,500 volumes; the women
had the privilege of coming into close contact with him,
volunteered service and the doors were then opened
the charm of his loyal personal friendship will be felt
as the greatest loss of all. Considering the ease with
to the public. During the year ending July 1, 1913,
which the finer and less obviously “paying " phases of
the circulation reached 11,593.” All honor to the
education may be swamped beneath the more material
women of Owensboro!
and “practical” in a great state institution, the author-
ities of the Ohio State University deserve especial credit
JAPANESE LITERARY LIKINGS tend more and
for maintaining for so many years at the head of one of
more toward occidental, and especially toward En-
its departments, and as an active force in its adminis-
glish and American, books. English is the foreign tration, so distinctive an apostle of “culture” in its
tongue most familiar to the people of Japan; hence higher meaning as Professor Josiah Renick Smith.
the considerable number of English and American
W. H. JOHNSON.
authors read by them and republished in their own Denison University, Granville, Ohio, Feb. 18, 1914.
country in translation. In drama Mr. Bernard
[The review by Dr. Smith included in our present
Shaw's plays seem to be decidedly popular, both for issue — the last of so much wise and graceful and
reading and for stage presentation. Professor
scholarly writing! was received only a few days
Eucken and Professor Bergson are finding favor before his death.— EDITOR.]
there as here. The useful part of the translator in
introducing these and numerous other foreign HAMLET'S “SOLILOQUY” AND CLAUDIUS.
authors to his fellow-countrymen receives insuffi-
(To the Editor of THE DIAL.)
cient recognition, fifty yen (a little less than twenty Dr. Tannenbaum, in his recent severe but scholarly
five dollars) being commonly paid for turning into
comments in your columns upon Mr. Stopford Brooke's
the vernacular a work of two hundred pages. No
second excursion into Shakespearean fields, makes some
won ler the critics complain that the rendering is
severe thrusts at this critic's interpretation of “ Hamlet,”
but fails to mention that Mr. Brooke is the first who has
not always quite what it ought to be.
taken note of the relation of Hamlet's “soliloquy” to
one of the “ lawful espials." Let me quote the passage
of Mr. Brooke's to which I refer:
COMMUNICATIONS.
“Hamlet comes in and thinks himself alone; and talks to
himself in that famous soliloquy-
JOSIAH RENICK SMITH.
“To be, or not to be: that is the question.'
To listen to it is not to listen to a madman,- and the King
(To the Editor of The Dial.)
knows this, and is not deceived when Hamlet, detecting that
Readers of THE DIAL will be pained to hear of the
he is spied on, changes his whole manner to Ophelia, and does
death of Professor Josiah Renick Smith, a regular con play the madman." (The italics are mine.)
tributor to its pages since, perhaps, about the year 1895. Dr. Tannenbaum, in a letter to me, says that the
As Professor of Greek in the Ohio State University, soliloquy is not heard by the espials. I claim that this
he was the oldest member of the Faculty in continuous
speech was intended by our playwright to be heard by
service, and always a man of great weight in its councils. Claudius even more deliberately than was Juliet's solil-
That a man should be a skilful teacher, well equipped
oquy intended to be overheard by Romeo (“ Romeo and
in his special department, is all that most people ask of
Juliet,” Act II. sc. ii.); that it is quite as grim in its
one who holds such a position, and somewhat more than eaves-dropping humor, distinct as it is in types, as was
is often secured; but it is not all that the Ohio State
the effect of the soliloquy of Prince Hal upon Falstaff,
University found in Professor Smith. He was born with when the latter simulated a dead hero at Shrewsbury
a natural affinity for the higher things of life, and his (“ Henry IV.,” Part I. Act V. sc. iv.); and certainly it is
power of appreciation was confined within no narrow
as impressive as an overheard soliloquy as was the effect
limits. With unfailing instinct his affections went out of the soliloquy of Enobarbus upon the soldiers when the
to sincere and genuine excellence in literature, music, former thought he was alone (“Antony and Cleopatra,"
and art, nor were his acquisitions in these fields treated Act IV. sc ix.).
merely as food for his own pleasure. Distilled through
But did Shakespeare intend Hamlet to believe him-
bis own mind, seasoned with the spice of his winning self alone when, as Mr. Brooke suggests, the soul of
personality, and fitly wrought into the web of his teach-
Claudius is affected by the soliloquy with doubt and
ing, he passed them on to generation after generation of dread? Did not Shakespeare intend to advise his
his pupils and so into the life of his time. But even a audience that Hamlet knew he was again entering a
great educational institution could not absorb the whole
trap, as Mr. Brooke fails to suggest, when the line was
of such a man. His taste in music, disseminated through written: “For we have closely sent for Hamlet hither"?
musical organizations, through the local press, and by What, if any, is the relation between this line and the
contact with individuals, has been by no means the least words in the preceding scene, “I am most dreadfully
factor in educating Columbus to the point where ade attended” and “Were you not sent for?”?
quate support can be safely assumed for a grade of I should like to see some communications from your
music entirely out of reach of many cities of the same readers discussing this point, i.e., the relation of Hamlet's
size. His talks on various phases of painting and sculp- soliloquy to Claudius. Mr. Brooke is the first critic I
ture, enriched by personal acquaintance with most of have read who has taken any notice of Claudius in this
the great collections abroad and at home, were always matter.
C. M. STREET.
a delightful stimulus to those who had the privilege of St. Joseph, Mo., Feb. 20, 1914.


1914]
173
THE DIAL
ANOTHER AUXILIARY LANGUAGE.
(To the Editor of THE DIAL.)
Will you permit me to supplement Mr. E. F. McPike's
interesting communication regarding an auxiliary lan-
guage? Esperanto and Ido are by no means the only
serious rivals in the field. I am sure most scientists
and scholars would prefer the simplified Latin evolved
by Professor Peano, the well-known mathematician and
logician, and by the Academia pro Interlingua.
As a document I beg to transcribe the “ Delibera-
tiones de Academia relativo ad Interlingua,” which suffi-
ciently define the proposed language:
“1. VOCABULARIO: Academia adopta omne vocabulo
latino existente in Anglo, et, quando es utile, omne alio
vocabulo latino.
“2. ORTHOGRAPHIA: Omni vocabulo internationale
que existe in latino, babe forma de thema latino.
“3. GRAMMATICA: Interlingua habe suffixos -S
(plurale), -re (infinitivo), -to (participio passivo).
“Lice supprime omni elemento grammaticale non
necessario.”
The Academy is open to everyone interested in the
problem of an auxiliary language. Its “decisions”
merely register the opinion of the majority. For the
yearly subscription of ten francs, the Discussiones' and
a number of other periodicals and pamphlets are sent to
all members. The Director and Treasurer is Professor
G. Pagliero, Via San Francesco 44, Torino, Italy.
The “ Academia * is of course heartily in favor of
the “ Association for the Creation of an International
Language Bureau."
A. L. GUERARD.
Rice Institute, Houston, Texas, Feb. 20, 1914.
and Major J. E. Hausmann, of the United States
Army, who reviews books dealing with the Philippines
and the Orient. It is absurd to intimate, as your cor-
respondent does, that these men write “tainted book
reviews."
While we do not know, we nevertheless venture to
say that this editorial department costs more for upkeep
than the literary review department of any daily news-
paper in the United States, not excepting even the
New York Times,” or the Chicago “Tribune.” This
is made possible as the result of coöperation on the
part of seven or eight newspapers.
Every newspaper on our list maintains a literary
editor who edits the syndicate matter sent out by us,
and adapts it to the policy and form of the newspaper.
We solicit book advertising for a list of newspapers,
some of which take our syndicate literary review ser-
vice. Some of our newspapers do not take it, and as
far as the advertising is concerned, it makes no differ-
ence to us whether tbey print our reviews or run their
own literary page, provided they produce a good book
review section. Our advertising and editorial depart-
ments are as distinct and separate as the editorial and
advertising departments of any newspaper or magazine.
Your correspondent says that our proposition seems
to him to be a sinister move. We think your corre-
spondent does not know what he is talking about.
With the possible exceptions of three or four of the
big dailies that make a specialty of literary news, the
book reviewing of the daily press is done by immature
reporters, and people out of a job, and narrow-headed
school-teachers, or by somebody who does it “on the
side.” There are innumerable instances of absolutely
worthless books being called “the book of the year,
and so on, by reviewers of this stripe because such
literary productions happened to strike the reviewer's
peculiar fancy. Then, we know of cases where really
great books were ignored or dismissed with a line or
two because the local reviewer had no literary stand-
ards or guides, and really had no idea of literature.
Then, there are many cases of the morbidly perverse
or immoral in literature being held up as wonderful
and epoch-making productions becanse they happened
to be handed out by the local editor to some long-haired
extremist.
Whatever may be the merits or demerits of our
syndicate service, we are sure that its productions are
characterized by sanity and true literary perspective.
The entire book publishing world has endorsed this
proposition. Our supporters and well-wishers include
every book concern of importance and standing in the
United States, without exception. Do you think this
would be so if we allowed advertising to “taint our
book reviews"?
Your correspondent states that our reviews are writ-
ten by a “hired corps of men in New York who are
paid practically by the [book] publishers.” This state-
ment is not true. The book publishers do not contribute,
directly or indirectly, to the support of our book review
service. It is supported entirely by the newspapers.
We do not want to take up any more of your space,
else we would occupy ourselves with making a few
more corrections, but think we have said enough to give
you a clear idea of our proposition.
WOODWARD & VAN SLYKE.
Per W. E. WOODWARD.
New York City, Feb. 16, 1914.
SYNDICATE SERVICE AND “TAINTED BOOK
REVIEWS."
(To the Editor of THE DIAL.)
On page 97 of your issue of February 1 you published
a communication entitled “Tainted "Book Reviews,”
from a correspondent who signs himself “ Book-buyer,"
which contains about as much misinformation as it is
possible to get in a half-page.
The undersigned are responsible for this syndicate
book review proposition and are able, therefore, to give
you all the facts necessary to an understanding of its
workings.
We maintain an editorial department which reviews
current books for a list of newspapers. These book
reviews are sold to the newspapers as a news feature.
Our editors are employed by the newspapers exactly as
a newspaper employs any writer or reviewer. “ The
Jonesville Eagle,” for instance, may pay the village
school-teacher to review new books, and every Friday
afternoon the pedagogue makes his way to the news-
paper office with his articles. That's exactly what we
do, except we are of the opinion that we do it vastly
better, for our editorial department costs several hun-
dred dollars a week, and we engage such writers as
Arthur Bartlett Maurice, editor of “ The Bookman ";
Charles Hanson Towne (to review verse); Kendall
Banning, of “System,” who reviews business books;
Albert Payson Terhune, of the New York “World ";
Sinclair Lewis, formerly associate editor of “ Adven-
ture
(who writes the leading review each week);
Simeon Strunsky (literary editor of the New York
“ Evening Post”); Edwin Bjorkman; William Rose
Benet, of “The Century Magazine "; Berton Braley;


174
[March 1
THE DIAL
The New Books.
pass his life rapidly in review and illustrate
some of its phases with passages from his book.
Born at Urbana, Ohio, March 4, 1869, the
AN IDEALIST IN PRACTICAL AFFAIRS.* son of Elias D. Whitlock, D.D., he was named
With a keen sense both of the little ironies after his maternal grandfather, Joseph Carter
and comicalities of life, and of its deeper tragedy Brand, a character rich in entertainment to the
and pathos, Mr. Brand Whitlock relates the story reader of his grandson's description of him.
of his struggles and successes in words that speak Public schools and private instruction provided
compellingly to our common humanity and hold
the boy with such formal book-learning as was to
the attention to the end. In a style that has
In a style that has be his portion, and at eighteen he entered upon
much of that ease and effectiveness that come
the work of a newspaper reporter at Toledo.
not by chance, but with long and devoted ser Three years later he joined the staff of the
vice to the art of literary expression, he carries Chicago “ Herald,” and after still another three
his narrative, “Forty Years of It," through years accepted the position of clerk in the office
nearly four hundred pages and leaves his readers of the Secretary of State at Springfield, Illinois,
regretful only of its too-early close.
- chiefly, it appears, that he might find time
A politician with an ardent fondness for to fit himself for the practice of law. His legal
poetry is not to be found in a long day's search, studies were pursued under the guidance of
nor is a poet with a decided bent for politics Senator John M. Palmer, and admission to the
very often to be met with; but in Mr. Whitlock
Illinois bar followed in 1894, and to the Ohio
we havė primarily the poet, the dreamer, the
bar in 1897, the year of his relinquishing his
idealist, and secondarily the practical man who post at Springfield. Since then he has been
knows how to turn politics to good account in engaged in the practice of his profession at
the realization of some of his visions of civic Toledo, in the writing of essays, stories, poems,
betterment and social welfare. Yet in the face and novels, and, from 1906 to 1913, in dis-
of all he has achieved as the head of a city charging the duties of mayor of his city, to the
government during four consecutive terms – evident contentment of a majority of its citizens.
eight years in all, with the apparent certainty His writings make a most creditable showing,
of reëlection and the prospect of indefinite con-
especially when it is remembered that they were
tinuance in office had he consented thus to serve
the product of his spare hours, labors of love in
his fellow-citizens longer- it is asserted of him
the midst of the exacting demands of less con-
by the one who prefaces his book with a few genial but more surely remunerative occupa-
introductory pages that he “is an artist, a born tions. The list includes “ The 13th District,”
artist. His natural place is in a world unknown
“Her Infinite Variety," " The Happy Average,”
and undreamed of by us children of an age com-
“ The Turn of the Balance," “ Abraham Lin-
missioned to carry out the great idea of industrial
coln” (in the series of "Beacon Biographies "),
and political development. He belongs by birth-
“ The Gold Brick,” “On the Enforcement of
right in the eternal realm of divine impossibili. Law in Cities,” and various essays, poems, and
ties, of sublime and delightful inconsistencies.
short stories contributed to leading magazines.
Greatly might he have fulfilled his destiny in Having now too long withheld attention from
music, in poetry, in painting had he been born
the book under consideration, let us demonstrate
at one of those periods when spiritual activity its worth and illustrate the distinctive character
was all but universal, when spiritual ideas were
of its style and method by some generous cita-
popular and dominant, volitantes per ora virum, tions from its pages. Here is a picture of the
part of the very air one breathed — in the Greece author's grandfather, Joseph Carter Brand,
of Pericles, the England of Elizabeth, or on
near the end of a life nobly lived in a spirit of
the Tuscan hills at the time of the Florentine sturdy independence and of steadfast loyalty to
Renaissance ! But this was not to be." Thus
truth and justice:
Mr. Albert Jay Nock, whose glowing eulogy of
“ He was always like that, following the truth as he
the spiritual qualities and the artistic tempera-
saw it, wherever it led him. But his active days were
not many after that; ere long he was kicked by one of
ment of Mr. Whitlock must not be allowed to
his horses, a vicious animal, half bronco, which he insisted
veil from us the warm human nature of the man on riding, and he was invalided for the rest of his days.
and the admirable catholicity of his sympathies. He spent them in a wheel-chair, pushed about by a negro
These characteristics will show themselves as we
boy. It was a cross he bore bravely enough, without
complaint, spending his hours in reading of politics, now
* FORTY YEARS OF IT. By Brand Whitlock. New that he could no longer participate in them, and more
York: D. Appleton & Co.
and more in reading verse, and even in committing it to


1914]
175
THE DIAL
memory, so that to the surprise of his family he soon prefer to be adorned with pictures of Chief Justice
replaced the grace he had always said at table with some Marshall - a strong man, of course, who wrote some
recited stanza of poetry, and he took to cultivating, or strong fiction, too, in his day --- and of Hamilton and of
sitting in his chair while there was cultivated, under bis Jefferson, indicating a catholicity or a confusion of prin-
direction, a little rose garden. He knew all those roses ciple on the part of the occupying proprietor, of which
as though they were living persons: when a lady called, usually he is not himself aware. There were a few law
- if the roses were in bloom,— he would say to his books, too, and on the desk a little digest of the law of
colored house-boy: "Go cut off Madame Maintenon, and evidence as affected by the decisions of the Ohio courts.
bring her here."
I had the noble intention of mastering it, but I did not
It must have been from this grandfather,
read in it very much, since for a long while there was
born in Kentucky of a slave-holding family, hours at my desk over a manuscript of " The 13th Dis-
no one to pay me for doing so, and I spent most of my
but hating slavery so bitterly that he forfeited trict," a novel of politics I was then writing, looking up
his patrimony and betook himself into the ad now and then and gazing out of the window at the blank
joining free State, that Mr. Whitlock inherited rear walls of certain brick buildings which made a dreary
many of his finer qualities. Brand, like his
prospect, even if one of them did bear, as I well remem-
ber, the bright and reassuring legend, • Money to Loan
grandson after him, achieved civic distinction,
at 6
per
cent.'
or had it thrust upon him, being introduced to
the reader as mayor of Urbana in the opening book contains of various more or less celebrated
Noteworthy are the pen-sketches that the
pages
of the book. What is said above about
men with whom the writer had been somewhat
his “following the truth as he saw it,” could
intimate, or whom he had at least beheld now
with equal truth be said of the writer of those
and then in their less studied attitudes. Goy.
words. While still in his 'teens he showed a
ernor Altgeld, Senator Palmer, James G. Blaine,
spirit of revolt against the sacred tenets of the
protective tariff system, catching this alarming
“Golden Rule” Jones, Mayor “Tom” Johnson
heresy from the congressman of his district, that Mr. Whitlock helps us to know better than
these are some of the interesting characters
Frank Hurd, a man of such brilliant parts before, and in sketching them be somehow, one
that, apparently, his free-trade principles did
feels, involuntarily but most graphically delin-
not do him much injury as a politician even
eates himself. Here is an illuminating page
with his high-tariff constituents.
from the latter part of the book, where the au-
“I was by this time a youth of eighteen, and in the
thor is looking back upon the din and turmoil
summer when he had come home from Washington I
somehow found courage enough to go to the hotel where
of his political experience:
he lived, and to inquire for him. He was there in the “I used to be haunted continually by a horrid fear
lobby, standing by the cigar-stand, talking to some that I should lose the possibility of ever winning the
men, and I hung on the outskirts of the little group power of utterance, since no such prudence [as the
until it broke up, and then the fear I had felt vanished politician's] is at all compatible with the practice of
when he turned and smiled upon me. I told him that any art. For art must, first of all, be utter sincerity,
I wished to know about Free Trade, and since there the artist's business is to think out his thoughts about
was nothing he liked better to talk about, and, too, life to the very end, and to speak them as plainly as
since there were few who could talk better about any the power and the ability to speak them have been
thing than he could talk about the tariff, we sat in the given to him; he must not be afraid to offend; indeed,
big leather chairs while he discoursed simply on the if he succeed at all, he must certainly offend in the
subject. It was the first of several of these conversa beginning. I am quite aware that I may seem incon-
tions, or lessons, which we had in the big leather chairs sistent in this notion, since I have intimated my ief
in the lobby of the old Boody House, and it was not that Jones was an artist; and so he was, in a way, and,
long until I was able, with a solemn pride, to announce if I do not fly to the refuge of trite sayings and allege
at home that I was a Free-Trader and a Democrat. It him as the exception that proves the rule, I am sure
could hardly have been worse bad I announced that I that I may say, and, if I have in the least been able to
had been visiting Ingersoll, and was an atheist. Cleve convey any distinct conception of his personality, the
land was president, and in time he sent his famous reader will agree with me when I say, that he was sui
tariff-reform message to Congress, and though I could generis. And besides it was not as a politician that he
not vote, I was preparing to give him my moral sup won his success. Had he ventured outside the political
port, to wear his badge, and even, if I could do no jurisdiction of his own city the politicians instantly
more, to refuse to march in the Republican processions would have torn bim asunder because he had not been
with the club of young men and boys organized in our • regular.' And that, I find, when I set it down, is pre-
neighborhood."
cisely what I am trying to say about the artist; he must
Passing over a dozen years, we chance upon
not be regular. Every great artist in the world has been
irregular, as irregular as Corot, going forth in the early
the following glimpse of the young man in his
morning in search of the elusive and ineffable light of
newly-opened law office in Toledo :
dawn as it spread over the earth and stole through the
“The little law office had a portrait of William Dean greenwoods at Barbizon, or as Manet, or Monet, or any
Howells on its walls, and in time the portraits of other other man who never knew appreciation in his lifetime.
writers, differing from those other law offices which And Jones and all like him are brothers of those incom-


176
[March 1
THE DIAL
no
parable artists; they are not kin in any way to the world's to that age to paint, by the help of traditions
politicians."
and ballads, its main features with very con-
And so, that he might be more truly and siderable exactitude.
.” In the Dark Age, 1100-
completely an artist, Mr. Whitlock announced
776 B. C., many things were done, but few
his decision not to be again a candidate for the records were left. It was a time of migrations
mayoralty an announcement received with and invasions, whose full significance was re-
incredulity by the politicians, because politi- vealed in later days. The Age of Colonization
cians so seldom mean what they say in making was the magnificent feature of Greater Greece.
similar announcements. But there was As Mr. Cotterill says: “Not only, as in the
mental reservation this time, and literature is case of our Elizabethan age, did the opening
likely to be the gainer by reason of the sincerity up of new worlds stir the imagination and
of the declaration. Readers of the book here | enlarge the vision of Greek poets and deepen
discussed, a book that cannot fail to be widely the insight of Greek thinkers, but the existence
read as a sincere and also a rather extraordi of Greater Hellas had much influence in devel-
nary piece of autobiographic writing, will rejoice oping, for good or for evil, the imperial policy
in the prospect of further productions from the of Athens in the days of her power, and in
same pen.
determining her fate.”
PERCY F. BICKNELL.
Over the beaten ground of the Age of
Peisistratos and the Persian invasions the au-
thor advances with alert and assured steps,
telling us no new facts, but revealing his own
RECORDS OF ANCIENT GREECE.* attitudes of mind toward nations and individ-
To write a single-volume history of Greece uals. It is interesting to see him saying a good
lays heavy demands on various qualities
word for the Persian character as superior to
courage, accurate scholarship, breadth of vision, that of the Greek in some important points.
and a sure sense of perspective. To these must
Stories are told of the Persian kings' acts of
be added close adherence to a definite plan. It magnanimity, and of their "contempt for the
would be too much to say that all these have
huckstering and rhetorical arts of the Greek
been fully met by Mr. Cotterill in his “Ancient agora, as well as for the venality and treachery
Greece." The range of the field — from Aegean
of not only the ordinary Greek but even of
times to Alexander the Great, i. e., from 3000
Greek leaders.” Father Herodotus is praised
B.C. to 330 B.C. -embraces all that is known
and sustained ; Demosthenes treated with scant
or inferred or conjectured about Greek civiliza- favor, and Philip with reluctant admiration.
tion through about twenty-seven centuries; and
Mr. Cotterill s paragraphs on the architec-
to cover this in a book of 500 pages might well
ture of Greece are perfunctory and defective.
give the most intrepid writer pause. In his
He speaks of the mutules of the Doric temple
approach to a succès d'estime, however, Mr.
as if they were the guttae; calls the Poseidon
Cotterill has done an interesting and useful
temple at Paestum simply " Paestum," ignoring
work, which represents the results of extensive
the temple of Demeter; and retains the tradi-
study and a liberal endowment of the qualities tional view of Corinthian as an independent
mentioned above.
order from Ionic. On the other hand, his
In his treatment of the Aegean period he
treatment of sculpture is satisfying and up to
makes full use of the readjustments necessitated
date ; and if picked out and published separately
by the recent discoveries in Crete and other
would make a good manual of the subject.
islands and helps us to feel the enchantment of
Some slight inaccuracies may be noted.
Minoan and Mycenaean art. Homer and the
Homer and the Syracuse and Megara (p. 118) are certainly not
Homeric question are lightly touched, Mr.
on the “south-western side" of Sicily; and
Cotterill giving his adhesion to the view that
Xenophon's birth is now generally accepted as
both the Iliad and the Odyssey “owe their
having taken place in 431 B.C., not 444: he
main structure and most of their details to one
calls himself with emphasis a "young man ” in
the Anabasis.
great poet, that the age which he depicted was
no mere fiction, and that he lived near enough
The book is sumptuously illustrated with re-
productions of Greek art, the colored vase plates
* ANCIENT GREECE. By H. B. Cotterill. Illustrated. being unusually fine; and is on the whole a
New York: Frederick A. Stokes Co.
ATHENS AND ITS MONUMENTS. By Charles Heald
welcome contribution in the field of Kultur-
Weller, Illustrated. New York: The Macmillan Co. geschichte.


1914)
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Somewhere about 160 A.D., old dry-as-dust
SYNGE AND THE IRISH THEATRE.*
Pausanias made that celebrated periegesis or
tour through Greece, and left his exasperating Of the two books before us, Lady Gregory's
but indispensable account of it, to be the vade is the romance of the Irish theatre, with Synge
mecum of all classical archæologists ever since. as the most strikingly romantic figure in it;
It would hardly be going too far to call Pro M. Bourgeois's is in part the biography of
fessor Weller the modern Pausanias, so far as Synge, with a matter-of-fact history of the
Athens is concerned. His recently published theatre. From the former work one gets an
volume may well take the place of the ancient impression of the struggle and strife, and yet
Periegete for those who have not access to withal the abounding joyousness, of those who
Frazer's monumental six-volume edition. Even labored in the cause; from the latter one comes
so, the book is physically too heavy (it weighs into close touch with the man Synge, one realizes
just two pounds fourteen ounces, avoirdupois) bis genius, and one comprehends in some meas-
to be carried round like a Baedeker. Too bad ure the effect of his plays upon the Irish dra-
that it could not have been printed on thin matic movement. (Lady Gregory also, perhaps
opaque paper and reduced to portable size. unconsciously, shows very plainly of what stuff
With these objections removed, Professor the workers were made, and why it was that they
Weller's work would be an ideal guide-book to ultimately attained success. No one can read
the City of the Violet Crown.
her book without being impressed by her indom-
He follows Pausanias's route with conscien- itable courage, her conscientious devotion to
tious though not slavish exactness; beginning at what she believed to be just and right, her
the Dipylon gate, working through the Hellenic, patience and faith in the face of seemingly insu-
Hellenistic, and Roman agoras, the south and perable obstacles. What Mr. Yeats once said in
south-east quarters, the Acropolis, Puyx, Areo a letter to her was characteristic of them both :
pagus, Cerameicus, and so back to the Dipylon. “ Any fool can fight a winning battle, but it
There is a supplementary chapter on the Peiraeus needs character to fight a losing one, and that
and the harbors. With scholarly reserve and should inspire us; which reminds me that I
caution Professor Weller conducts his readers dreamed the other night that I was being hanged,
through the ruins of the ancient city; presuming but was the life and soul of the party."
on their part a decent acquaintance with the re Both Lady Gregory and M. Bourgeois give
sults and conclusions of modern archæologists. virtually the same account of the history of the
The descriptions of the Acropolis and the older Irish theatre, though, of course, the former is
structures which preceded the Parthenon and much more personal and intimate. There was
the Erechtheum are illuminating; though as first the founding of the Irish Literary Theatre,
always, the study of the details of the Erech- by Messrs. Yeats, Martyn, and Moore and Lady
theum ends in a shake of the head.
Gregory, with the purpose of making a national
Professor Weller's style, like his plan, follows and a literary theatre to offset the unliterary
that of his Greek prototype - it is a bit dry. commercialism of the British theatre. Only En-
He leaves to others, like Mahaffy, Barrows, and glish actors were then available, and after three
Mrs. Allinson, the raptures so hard to leave out years the experiment came to an end. Then the
of a book on Greece, and attends strictly to his Fay brothers conceived the idea of having Irish
task, which is to prepare a precise and learned actors for Irish plays; and the Irish National
topographical guide to the architectural and Theatre Society, with Mr. Yeats as the first pres-
sculptural remains of ancient Athens; and this ident and with headquarters at Molesworth Hall,
he has done with complete success.
Dublin, was the result. A week-end visit to
The book is profusely illustrated with repro London in 1903 led to Miss Horniman's re-
duced photographs of every important monu modelling and enlarging the old Mechanics'
ment and many works of sculpture. The plans Institute in Abbey Street, which later became
are most helpful; the maps a little sketchy. In known as the Abbey Theatre. When, in 1904,
the matter of spelling there is some inconsist “Dame Augusta Gregory” secured the patent
ency: we have “choragus” and “choregus," rights necessary to give performances in this
the Calydonian hunt ranges
far afield to
*OUR IRISH THEATRE. A Chapter of Autobiography.
“Caledonian (p. 342); and Latin termina-
By Lady Gregory. Illustrated. New York: G. P. Putnam's
tions are very generally used, e.g., “ Dipylum,”
Sons.
John MILLINGTON SYNGE AND THE IRISH THEATRE.
“propylum, Heroum,” etc.
By Maurice Bourgeois. Illustrated. New York: The
JOSIAH RENICK SMITH. Macmillan Co.
>
"66


178
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theatre, the five-years' struggle with the Crown adventures is laid in the United States, and the
for theatrical independence in Dublin was at bone of contention is again “ The Playboy."
an end.
She gives a detailed account of her experiences;
The next kind of difficulty encountered was but they are all so recent that it is unnecessary
about the plays that should or should not be to review them here. She exonerates the native
presented. Already in 1899, when Mr. Yeats's American from all blame, and excuses the so-
“Countess Kathleen" was given a first perform- called Irish-American, who, she believes, was
ance by the Irish Literary Theatre, objections acting under instructions from the Irish in
were raised on the ground of the play's unor Dublin. She is slightly caustic towards Phila-
thodox character. There was “booing” and delphia, where they had a riot, as in New York,
hooting in the gallery on the part of some who and where the whole cast was arrested, as not in
saw in the play an “insult to their faith.” This
This New York. Altogether, the Irish in this country
opposition did not amount to much; it was found Lady Gregory too much for them, and the
merely a warning of what was to come later. later performances were as peaceful as those of
The next note came with the production of “The Old Homestead.”
Synge’s “ Shadow of the Glen ”; but here again
there was comparatively little trouble. The real The biographical and bistorical parts of M.
fight came when “The Playboy of the Western Bourgeois's work are very well done. We have
World” was put on the boards, in January of a plain unvarnished tale of the Irish theatrical
1907. “The audience broke up in disorder at and dramatic movement up to and including
the word shift,” as Lady Gregory put it in a Synge's part in it. We have, moreover, a very
telegram to Mr. Yeats at the end of the play. engaging picture of Synge himself, — of his
The battle continued every night during the unconventional ways, his picturesque profanity,
week in which the managers bad announced that his indifference to dress, and withal his manly
the play would be acted. “It was a definite fight and sympathetic soul. The volume has no fewer
for freedom from mob censorship,” says Lady than five portraits of Synge, so that one may
Gregory; and at the end of the week the battle judge as to the correctness of Mr. Shaw's re-
had been won.
The next fight was over the presentation by aThe critical part of the book is, however, not
the Abbey Theatre Company of Mr. Bernard so satisfactory. The question of the foreign
Shaw's “ The Shewing-up of Blanco Posnet.” influence in Synge's work is played with rather
It is refreshing to see with what vigor Lady than mastered. One is led to believe that there
Gregory fought in the cause she had so sincerely was some foreign influence, but exactly what it
at heart, whether it was with the mob or with was or how it manifested itself we are not spe-
the Lord Lieutenant himself. In this fight it cifically told. It is unsatisfactory and uncon-
was Dublin Castle, the representative of Majesty, vincing to leave the question thus: “ The foreign
whom she was to oppose; and again she was element was imbibed immediately and mingled
victorious. She and Mr. Yeats and, of course, with the substance of his inmost temperament;
Mr. Shaw refused to accept the Castle's opinion and in many cases there seemed to exist a sort
that a play should be banned in Ireland because of pre-established harmony which facilitated
it had been banned by the Censor in England. the blending and made the two terms practically
No Irishman or Irishwoman would stand that. indistinguishable.” In the criticisms of the
As Lady Gregory said to the permanent official several plays, moreover, M. Bourgeois does not
at the Castle, “ We did not give in one quarter show that grasp of his subject which should
of an inch to Nationalist Ireland at the Playboy, appear in so pretentious a volume as this. Great
and we certainly cannot give in one quarter of as is “Riders to the Sea,” it seems hyperbolic
an inch to the Castle. And they did not, criticism to call it “Synge's absolutely unques-
even though they risked losing their license and tioned and well-nigh flawless masterpiece,
being fined £300. Nothing happened. At the one of the most remarkable achievements in
end of the first performance there was a tre- British play-making, and a dramatic episode of
mendous burst of cheering, and they knew they exceptional human interest.'
Professor Wey-
Though still forbidden in England, gandt has well pointed out that the play is less
the play remains on the Abbey Theatre reper- representative of Synge than some others, for
toire, and is always played with success and it is written on one note — the note of the
without let or hindrance.
dirge,- it has no humor, and it is less original,
The last scene of Lady Gregory's battlesome being reminiscent of Maeterlinck, of Ibsen,
had won.


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.
and of Edward Martyn. Both “ The Playboy'
and “ Deirdre” have a vaster sweep. It seems
THE CONCLUSION OF TWO IMPORTANT
AMERICAN HISTORIES.*
also beside the mark to criticize - The Tinker s
Wedding” unfavorably because of “its ludi. The present generation has witnessed a won-
crous representation of a young tinkerwoman derful change in American historical writing,
as an earnest Catholic, its malignant portraiture both in quantity and in character. A gener-
of a covetous priest, the grotesque blasphemy ation ago the standard histories were those of
of its language.” Religious hypocrisy is a Bancroft and Hildreth; there were some others
legitimate subject for satire, and has been from of worth, but none as comprehensive or as well
Chaucer down. M. Bourgeois ignores the su known. Bancroft's work ended with the adop-
perb vitality of the characters, and the “ pathos tion of the Constitution, Hildreth's with the
so poignant of the quick passing of all good administration of John Q. Adams. Bancroft
things," as Professor Weygandt expresses it. saw everything from the point of view of intense
The criticism of “The Playboy” is also un patriotism and noble devotion, and in all and
satisfactory. The suggestion is put forward over all the directing hand of Providence; Hil-
that this piece is meant by Synge not only as a dreth was an intense Federalist, and tended to
humorous and allegorical impersonation of poetic Constitution-worship. These men set the pace,
and creative souls in general, but also as an and their successors have followed in their steps,
ironical vision of the dramatist's own personal - often attempting to follow both leaders.
attitude throughout his “comedy." The Play For subject matter these historians have con-
boy is Synge himself, who mystifies the public as fined themselves to details of war and politics.
the Playboy did the Mayo countryfolk, so that Men have fought bravely and died nobly in de
they have not yet been able to decide whether fense of our country and of the cause of freedom.
his comedy' is a work of serious portraiture or Others have come into the limelight of executive
of fanciful tomfoolery.” An allegorical inter power or legislative position, and there, debating
pretation is as dangerous as it is alluring, and over slavery, the tariff, nullification, secession,
such an interpretation of Synge is fatal. Synge foreign affairs, etc., have ground out the raw
was highly impersonal in his plays; he had no material of history. Few, if any, historians of
thesis to demonstrate, po point to prove. We a generation ago looked very far beneath the
have the Playboy's discovery of himself as “a surface of things to see if all this fighting and
likely gaffer in the end of all,” — and that is oratory and legislation were really prompted by
comedy; and we have the discovery of herself devotion to native land and the cause of human
by Pegeen Mike in her first disillusionment, freedom. Indeed, hardly anything other than
and that has in it the elements of tragedy. There the glory of war and the pomp of power,
in
is much riotous extravagance in the play, but
which the well-born had taken a leading part,
to think of it as mere “fanciful tomfoolery” is was considered worthy of notice.
absurd. It is the most original and striking of A generation ago American history was just
Synge's plays; and the sooner we free our minds beginning to secure recognition as providing a
of prejudices, national, religious, and moral, good basis for serious study in our scheme of
the sooner shall we come to a just estimate of its education. A few chairs for the teaching of this
worth.
subject had already been established; but now
“ Deirdre of the Sorrows,” “ being unfin- they began to multiply, and the holders of these
ished,” is given scant treatment by M. Bour chairs began to study seriously the sources, and
geois. Yet it differs so much from Synge's to write as well as to teach. One of these stu-
other work, while at the same time showing re dents was Professor John Bach McMaster, the
markable resemblances, that it deserves greater first volume of whose“ History of the People of
consideration. It comes more from Synge's own the United States” appeared thirty years ago.
personal emotions than any other play, since Instead of confining himself to the generals
while writing it he knew the pain of love in and warriors in the foreground, he purposed to
the presence of death. It is this fact, as M.
It is this fact, as M. bring out the people in the background. For
Bourgeois says, “that gives the play its su sources, instead of confining himself to speeches
preme beauty.”
* A HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES.
The appendices contain among other helpful By John Bach McMaster. Volume VIII., 1850-1861. New
things a very full and valuable bibliography of York: D. Appleton & Co.
Synge's work, and of the critical material relat-
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA under the
Constitution. By James Schouler. Volume VII., The Recon-
ing to it.
JAMES W. TUPPER.
struction Period, 1865–1877. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co.


180
[March 1
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and official documents, he depended largely building of railroads in the west, of “Nativismº
upon the most ephemeral of literature - the or "Bloomerism," of labor strikes or the de-
newspapers. The first chapter of his first vol mand for women's rights, it is an interesting
ume gives us a cross-sectional view, from top to tale that he tells. One reads with astonishment
bottom, of the nation at the close of the Revolu of the riots which broke out in certain cities
tion. It treats of population, the occupations when the railroads were trying to come to a
of the people, the kind of houses they lived in, common gauge; to-day we should come nearer
their furniture, the books they read, their edu a riot if they should attempt to adopt varying
cation, their diseases and doctors, their religion, standards.
amusements, method of travel, the condition of One of the most noteworthy features of this,
the laboring classes, including house servants, and indeed of all the preceding volumes, is the
and of convicts. Then follow matters of politics | impersonal tone of the text. Professor Mc-
and more of economic and social conditions, Master has given us a good deal of economic
sometimes separate, sometimes interwoven. history, but he can scarcely be called an econ-
This was something new in historical writing. omic interpreter. On the contrary, he is simply
Historians of the old school looked at it askance, a photographer. One cannot believe that this
declared the result bizarre, and pointed to inac is due to any limitations; rather, it is a matter
curacies due to the nature of the sources. of deliberate choice. Sometimes the interpre-
Errors in plenty have been found, but for the tation is clearly evident. For example, when
most part they are of minor importance and do the cab drivers and draymen and keepers of
not seriously affect the value of the work. Un pie-counters in Erie were tearing up the rail-
disturbed by such criticism, Professor McMaster road tracks of common gauge, it was because
has pursued the even tenor of his way, and now their business was being threatened, just as was
has given us the eighth and concluding volume of the case with Demetrius and the silversmiths at
his history, covering the period of 1850-1861. Ephesus. But the interpretation is not so
All the succeeding volumes since the first obvious in every case.
The interplay of politics
have followed the same general plan, and the and economics is not always on the surface.
last volume is no exception, though a relatively Professor McMaster has sought to push the
greater amount of space is devoted to politics. slavery question a little back from the fore-
On this theme of politics, it is difficult to see ground, so that it will not obscure the rest of
that the author has made any improvement the picture. Not everyone will see in slavery
upon what has already been written, especially simply a dominating phase of the world-old
on the work of Dr. Rhodes. The la ter bas labor problem. Other phases of this problem
indeed set a standard that will be difficult to were observable then, and since the abolition
surpass; yet it has been several years since he of slavery they have come into the foreground
covered this period, and a number of important of politics. Even the term “slavery” is now
papers have appeared dealing with particular often used in speaking of men, women, and
incidents. One cannot but ask if the last word children nominally free; and legislatures are
has been said, for example, on the repeal of the being called upon to make their freedom real,
Missouri Compromise and on the Dred Scott just as men were then calling for the freedom
Decision. Inevitably Professor McMaster has of the negro. In a sense, the condition of the
had much to say of slavery, both as a social master has improved. The slave-owner was sure
institution and as a political force. Among the of his labor supply, but was burdened with the
anti-slavery forces Helper s“Impending Crisis” care and support of his laborers; to-day the
certainly deserves attention; but one is particu- master is freed from this latter responsibility,
larly surprised that any man could write a his-though he is not always absolutely sure of his
tory of this period with no mention of Harriet labor supply. On the other hand, the laborer
Beecher Stowe and “Uncle Tom's Cabin." is not sure of food and shelter.
But if slavery was the dominating issue in
politics, it was not the only interest of the Another historian who has covered pretty
American people during the period dealt with; much the same ground as Professor McMaster
and Professor McMaster makes this clear in his is Mr. James Schouler, whose first volume
account of social conditions and economic activ- appeared three years before the first volume of
ities. Whether he is writing of the rush to McMaster, and whose third last” volume has
California or the Angel Gabriel in New York, recently come from the press. Originally his
of the introduction of horse cars in cities or the work closed with the fifth volume, which dealt


1914]
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THE DIAL
with the period immediately preceding the Civil for his defense was not used. Not only that,
War. Then a sixth was added to cover that but he was above nepotism, which ran riot
great struggle; and now, after a lapse of four under his successor; nor did he make any
teen years, the seventh and very last is added undue use of patronage.
to cover the Reconstruction period. Above and The “vindication” part of his work, Mr.
beyond “good general health, abundant leisure, Schouler has performed well, for he has had the
an active mind, and confirmed habits of indus good sense not to try to paint his hero as per-
try impelling to labor, the chief reason for fect. But as a history of the Reconstruction
this breaking silence, Mr. Schouler tells us, was period his book contains little that is new or an
a desire to vindicate the much misunderstood improvement over previous efforts. Indeed, it
and much maligned Andrew Johnson. The is hardly a history of some parts of the period,
material for this vindication he has found in the statement of facts having been replaced by
the recently-published Johnson papers and the controversial matter. Though Congress is thor-
“ Diary of Gideon Welles.”
oughly condemned, the work for which it is
The specific task which the author set for condemned is none too well described. The
himself has been well performed. It was not writer has attempted to deviate slightly from
difficult. Scarcely any first-rate historian would the well-worn ruts of political and constitutional
now be so hardy as to hold a brief for Congress history, dodging back and forth between the
during this period. Its folly and ignominy are national capital and the Southern States; but
well established. The legal-minded Professor he has not gone very deeply into other currents
Burgess accepts its theory, but utterly con which have become the main currents of to-day.
demns its acts; the legal views of Johnson (or of In most cases his judgment on the topics treated
Seward ?) he praises, but condemns his theories appears sound; but it is difficult to see how
and mixes ridicule with praise in speaking of his Garfield was “ vindicated” of his connection
character. Dr. Rhodes and Professor Dunning with the Credit Mobilier by his subsequent
are considered by Mr. Schouler as somewhat election to Congress and later to the Presidency.
fairer than some other historians, but he does Would any impartial person say that Governor
not believe that they give the President his due. Sulzer was vindicated by his recent election to
Dr. Rhodes, in common with Professor Burgess, the legislature of New York ?
makes much of Johnson's lowly birth and breed. Taken as a whole, however, this volume is a
ing as unfitting him for high station, and Pro- fitting close to a work which has already found
fessor Dunning's discovery that his first message a permanent place in American historical lit-
was largely the work of George Bancroft has erature.
DAVID Y. THOMAS.
been used to represent the President as too
ignorant to perform the duties of his office.
That Johnson was born in humble station and
had few advantages in early life, Mr. Schouler THE KAISER: His POLICIES AND HIS
finds undeniable, but adds that he had what is
ASSOCIATES.*
far better than the association of “gentlemen
The most interesting public figure in Europe
born," and that was an angel of a wife.” His
to-day is unquestionably the German Emperor,
steady rise in a society somewhat aristocratic is
and it is agreeable to discover that at last the
all the more to his credit, and could have been
Emperor has been made the subject of a book
based on nothing else than inpate ability. His
in English which itself is genuinely interesting.
lapse from sobriety on the occasion of being The author is Dr. Stanley Shaw, of Trinity
inducted into office the author is sure was the
College, Dublin. Nominally a biography, the
last, and his proof of this is as convincing as
volume contains a great deal of history, and, it
that of the President's detractors. That he
may be added, no inconsiderable admixture
was undignified on occasion is true; but in that
of sanely conceived political philosophy. It
supreme hour of trial, the impeachment, his
abounds in judiciously selected episode, and it
bearing certainly was superior to that of his
enemies, “gentlemen born” though some of * WILLIAM OF GERMANY. By Stanley Shaw. With
them claimed to be. In an age of nascent cor-
portrait. New York: The Macmillan Co.
GERMAN SEA-POWER: Its Rise, Progress, and Economic
ruption, he was so absolutely above reproach Basis. By Archibald Hurd and Henry Castle. With maps.
that not even a most suspicious Congress could
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
MEN AROUND THE KAISER. The Makers of Modern
find the least stain of this sort upon his char-
Germany. By Frederic William Wile. Illustrated. Phila-
acter. Even a draft contributed by an admirer delphia : J. B. Lippincott Co.


182
[March 1
THE DIAL
exhibits a lightness of touch, combined with into a vapid impartiality between the two coun-
sureness, which renders it entertaining as well tries, or that he seeks to heighten bis effects by
as trustworthy reading.
indulging in indiscriminate glorification of the
The book is not proclaimed as one having a Kaiser or of other men and things German. He
mission. Perhaps for that very reason it may points out the deep-seated differences between
wield more influence upon the public mind than English and German government, and in a
have other writings of its kind which have been briefer manner between English and German
more obtrusively educational. It is the belief of culture, and he makes it plain that his own
the author, none the less, that the tension which preferences are in large part for the forms and
exists between his country and Germany arises usages that are English. But he pleads that
from misconceptions which prevail upon both Englishmen shall recognize that what the Ger-
sides, and that if the character and policy of the man has may be best for the German, and that,
Emperor were but better known to Englishmen above all, the German has quite as clear a right
there would be no estrangement between the to his ideas, his methods, and his policies as
two countries, but, much more probably, mutual has anybody else. The plea is not made in so
respect and mutual good-will”; and it may be many words. Rather, it comes as a matter of
assumed that Dr. Shaw has hoped that his book general impression gained from a reading of the
will contribute to the early realization of this entire book. But it is none the less incisive and
improved order of things. That the highest stimulating.
national interests of Great Britain and Germany Dr. Shaw's characterization of the Emperor
are fundamentally irreconcilable, and that the as he is to-day exhibits a full appreciation of the
policies of their governments are fundamentally many-sidedness of the sovereign's activities and
opposed, are pronounced sheer delusions. Even interests. It is peculiarly striking, he says, that
the building of the powerful German fleet con a man so many-sided, so impulsive, so progres-
stitutes, in the opinion of the author, no just sive, so modern—"one might almost say so
ground for British criticism or apprehension. American ”- should have changed so slightly
The fleet may be, as Mr. Winston Churchill has either in character or in policy during a quarter
pronounced it recently, a luxury. But, says Dr.
of a century.
Shaw, if the German Empire deems the main |
“ He is to-day the same Hohenzollern he was the day
tenance of such a fleet advisable, and is willing he mounted the throne, observing exactly the same atti-
to spend money on it, why should she not supply
tude toward the world abroad and toward his folk at
herself with an arm of defense in proportion to
home, tenacious of exactly the same principles, enunci-
ating exactly the same views in politics, religion, morals,
her size, her prosperity, and her desert? Unless,
and art — in everything which concerns the foundations
and until, it is made clearer than it is to-day of social life. He still believes himself, as his speeches
that the German navy is intended for aggres-
and conduct show, the selected instrument of Heaven,
sion, its growth may be viewed by the rest of the
and acts toward his people and addresses them accord-
world with equanimity, and by the Englishman, ingly in de still opposes all efforts at political change,
as witness his attitude towards electoral reform, towards
as a connoisseur in such matters, with admira the Germanization of Prussian Poland, towards the
tion as well.
Socialists, towards Liberalism in all its manifestations.
“ The truth is that if our ordinary Englishman and
He is still, as he was at the outset of his reign, the patron
German were to sit down together, and with the help
of classical art, classical drama, and classical music.
of books, maps, and newspapers, carefully and without
He is still the war lord with the spirit of a bishop and
prejudice, consider the annals of their respective coun-
a bishop with the spirit of the war lord. He is still the
tries for the last sixteen years with a view to establish-
model husband and father he has always been."
ing the causes of their delusion, they could hardly fail
to confess that it was due to neither believing a word By general agreement, the rivalry of Great
the other said; to each crediting the other with motives
which, as individuals and men of honesty and integrity in the international situation of to-day, and it
Britain and Germany is the preponderating fact
in the private relations of life, each would indignantly
repudiate; to each assuming the other to be in the con-
need hardly be added that the principal factor
dition of barbarism mankind began to emerge from in this rivalry is the development of naval arma-
nineteen hundred years ago;
to both supposing ments.
ments. There is, accordingly, good reason to
that nations learn nothing from experience; and to each welcome the comprehensive treatise by Messrs.
supposing that he and his fellow-countrymen alone are
the monopolists of wisdom, honor, truth, justice, charity,
Hurd and Castle on the rise, growth, and eco-
in short, of all the attributes and blessings of civili-
nomic basis of German sea power. In this book,
zation. Is it not time to discard such errors, or must as in Dr. Shaw's, motives of a political nature
the nations always suspect each other ?”
are disclaimed; but the altogether reasonable
It must not be inferred that Dr. Shaw falls | hope is expressed that the work may aid in dis-


1914)
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THE DIAL
pelling some of the ruinous misconceptions which Germans as to outside peoples — is described
are current on the two sides of the North Sea. at length. And there is a careful examination
It is maintained, as it is by Dr. Shaw, that the of the economic basis of the Empire's present
British and the Germans are separated by no in naval policy, leading to the interesting conclusion
herent antipathy, and it is pointed out that the that, if present economic tendencies continue
relations of the two peoples have become strained unchecked, the Empire will, “ before long, be
only within the past fifteen years,— in other in a position to build and arm warships with
words, only since, under the great Navy Act of almost as great facility as the United Kingdom,
1900, Germany entered systematically upon her and to pay for them and man them with even
present course of naval aggrandizement. greater ease than this country.” Not the least
The growth of German sea power, it is as valuable portion of the volume is an appendix
serted, is not to be explained by sheer lust of containing digests of naval legislation, besides
domination. It is the fruit of no exotic policy. numerous summaries and tables and two care-
On the contrary, there lies behind it substantial fully prepared maps.
economic justification, mainly the necessity of
the defense of the Empire's ramifying maritime, A volume constructed upon a plan which,
colonial, and commercial interests. If battle- although simple and attractive, has not been
ship building has been carried considerably fur- followed by any earlier writer on modern Ger-
ther than the defensive needs of the Empire many is Mr. Wile's “Men around the Kaiser."
require, the fault is to be laid at the door of the Mr. Wile rightly says that the world at large,
somewhat over-zealous Navy League and of the fascinated by the Kaiser's kaleidoscopic and
Anglophobe press rather than at that of the
picturesque personality, is prone to accord him
government. The final and most aggressive ex almost exclusive credit for the Fatherland's
pression of German policy, embodied in the Navy “magic leap into Weltmacht,” and that, while
Act of 1912, is pronounced unjustifiable ; but there have been many makers of the Germany
responsibility for it is placed chiefly upon the of to-day, their identities and personalities,
man who, more largely than even the Emperor with rare exceptions, are unknown to peoples
himself, is the creator of the German fleet, beyond the German borders. In the volume in
Grand-Admiral von Tirpitz. In a recent con hand there are sketched the careers and char-
versation with a correspondent of the London acters of thirty-one men of eminence and lead-
“ Daily Chronicle,” Admiral von Tirpitz pro- ership in the Germany of the past decade, many
fessed to be “lost in wonder” at the German of them men who to-day are associated intimately
navy being regarded as a danger or a menace. with the Kaiser in the direction of the Empire's
It has, he declared, “a purely defensive function political, military, naval, and cultural affairs.
and no aggressive purpose.” The feeling of the Statesmen are represented principally by Chan-
average Englishman, however, is that German cellor von Bethmann - Hollweg, Prince von
explanations of German naval policy are differ Buelow, Herr Bernhard Dernburg, and the
ently phrased according as they are intended for Foreign Secretary, Herr Gottlieb von Jagow;
German or for English consumption. And very military and naval leaders by Field-Marshal
likely it will require something more than the Baron von der Goltz, Admiral von Koester,
assurances contained in such books as those and Admiral von Tirpitz; diplomats by Mar-
under review to overcome that feeling.
schall von Bieberstein, Herr von Kiderlin-
Three chapters of the volume by Messrs. Waechter, and Count von Bernstorff; princes
Hurd and Castle are devoted to a history of of industry, trade, and finance by Alfred Ballin,
German sea-power to the accession of the pres-
Arthur von Gwinner, Emil Rathenau, August
ent Emperor, one covering the rise and decline Thyssen, and Dr. Krupp von Bohlen; social
of the Hanseatic League, another the develop- reformers by August Bebel, Paul Ehrlich, and
ment of the Hohenzollern fleet, and a third the Count von Posadowsky; journalists and men of
growth of maritime interests during the nine letters by Maximilian Hardin and Gerhart
teenth century. There is a suggestive chapter Hauptmann; musicians and artists by Richard
on the influence exerted by Great Britain upon Strauss, Max Reinhardt, and Max Liebermann;
German naval policy, and an excellent analyti- educators by Professor Hans Delbrück; inven-
cal discussion of the great navy acts of 1898, tors by Count Zeppelin; and there are sketches
1900, and 1912. The rise to preponderating of two important members of the Imperial
power of Admiral von Tirpitz-a man who family, Prince Henry of Prussia and the Crown
fifteen years ago was almost as unknown to Prince William.


184
[March 1
THE DIAL
During the past seven years Mr. Wile has many commentators during the past two hundred
served as the Berlin representative of the New years ; an almost microscopically accurate reproduc-
York Times” and other newspapers, and it
tion of all the peculiarities of the original text; a truly
would appear that he has made excellent use of remarkable and almost awe-inspiring compilation of
his opportunity to acquire first-hand knowledge
the readings, guesses, conjectures, and misprints of
every previous editor of any importance; carefully
of the personal (often undoubtedly the most
selected abstracts from the comments of the best of
influential) factors in the current achievements
Shakespeare's critics; an exhaustive study of the
of one of the most interesting of nations. His questions of the date of composition and of the
sketches are of necessity brief, but they contain “sources” of the plots and incidents, etc. But more
an amazing amount of information, and his important and of greater value than all these are the
facts and comments are presented in a manner editor's introduction and his contributions to the
uniformly attractive. Each sketch is accompan elucidation of many hitherto obscure passages.
ied by a good portrait of its subject. Americans Shakespeare students will be very grateful to Dr.
who endeavor to follow the course of foreign
Furness for his discovery (pp. 226–227), through
affairs would be grateful for volumes of the
Father Clifford of New Jersey, that when Shake-
speare, in this play as in “Hamlet,” referred to a
same scope and quality dealing with the lead-
ing men of England, France, Italy, Russia,
canon against self-slaughter he referred to an actual
canon, and not, as has been generally assumed, to a
Austria, and even some of the minor countries.
law of natural religion. Other interesting and orig.
FREDERIC AUSTIN OGG. inal contributions to the understanding of this very
difficult play are too numerous for detailed mention;
but the chief of them may here be referred to. The
THE VARIORUM “ CYMBELINE.”*
note on Imogen's deathlike pallor (I. 7, 15) when
Pisanio announces the arrival of news from Posthu-
The reviewing of a posthumous volume is always mus is good not only in itself but as a specimen of
a delicate task for the conscientious reviewer. The the editor's ability to illustrate the poet's meaning
natural impulse to speak well of the dead is trans from other plays, and of his gentle, but none the
ferred to his works, and the critic finds himself in less biting, sarcasm. To Ingleby's suggestion that
volved in a conflict between this impulse and his Iachimo should have greeted Imogen with a low rev-
duty, a duty to the deceased as well as to the erence, saying, “Save you, madam," Furness adds:
living, -and not infrequently he ends by being silent. “ of course, he should have brought his heels together
The temptation to yield to this easy escape from a with a click.” Such flashes of wit and humor abound
dilemma is increased manifold when the writer of throughout the volume, and serve to relieve the
the posthumous volume is a man so generally beloved monotony of wading through seas of stale, flat, and
and so highly esteemed as was the late Horace unprofitable notes. More than once do we strongly
Howard Furness. Alas, neither our praise nor our suspect that many of these barren notes were lugged
censure can touch him further! But his book re in only because they gave the editor the opportunity
mains, and, considering its importance and its place to exhibit his humor and unchristianly to expose his
in the domain of letters, calls for a careful critical victims (Vaughan, Ingleby, Walker, etc.) to ridicule.
estimate. That part of the cultured public which is Through their occasional absurdities his sound com-
devoted to the study of the best in imaginative liter mon sense, his shrewdness, his good taste, his genuine
ature is entitled to a candid and impartial estimate appreciation of the dramatic situations, and his keen
of such a volume as the one before us. Were Dr. insight into human nature stick fiery off indeed. He
Furness with us, he would ask for no more and uses them as the stalking horse for his wit and
insist on nothing less.
wisdom. There is no good reason otherwise why
It is too late a day now to dwell on those features interpretations that had been withdrawn or comments
of “the Furness Variorum” that have established that in no way add to our understanding or appre-
for this edition of Shakespeare a position from which ciation of this or any other play should be perpet-
it can never be dislodged, and that have placed the uated in this edition or be permitted to distract our
modest, scholarly, genial, and painstaking Horace attention. Exquisite flashes of humor are to be found
Howard Furness in the forefront of Shakespeare's scattered throughout the volume: as when the editor
editors and commentators. In this new volume, as
says
that
anyone
who could meddle with the scansion
in those that have preceded it, we find a familiarity of a certain line “would have held the pail while
with the text, and the mass of native and foreign Malone whitewashed Shakespeare's bust”; or when
commentary that has grown up around it, that is Vaughan's suggestion that how, show, now, etc.,
simply amazing; a cautious weighing of the value should be pronounced dissyllabically—"thus, nowu,
of each word of the poem, and of the numerous and howu, showu,”—elicits from him this delicious com-
varied and often contradictory interpretations of the ment: “I prefer the Yankee haow, naow, myself -
* THE TRAGEDIE OF CYMBELINE, By William Shake-
with a sharp nasal twang.” But unfortunately his
speare; edited by Horace Howard Furness. “The Variorum pleasantries have not always this charm and affa-
Shakespeare,” Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Co.
bility; sometimes they are quite puerile, and even


1914]
185
THE DIAL
to grave
.
of a nature to cause pain to his victims — if the latter versification of the line, “ With that harsh, noble,
were alive.
Walker's statement that occasionally simple, nothing,” the Misses Porter and Clark re-
words like blowing are to be pronounced as mono mark that the time of the missing foot is supplied
syllables calls forth this burlesquing comment: by Imogen's "exasperated pause"; and Dr. Furness
“Ha’ng laid down this jew'l of a rule he is able to of course accepts this defence of the Folio text,
regard some po’ms written by po'ts as undy'ng without noting that the verse is not a foot short and
po'try.” Richard Grant White's “ washerwoman that there is no place within the verse for the missing
is resurrected twice — quite unnecessarily — for our syllable. Moreover, the principle so often invoked
merriment. To Walker's suggestion that a certain by Dr. Furness, that deep emotion will account for
verse requires either to be pronounced e'r, he says: many lacunæ in Shakespeare's verse, is
open
“If either is to be thus pronounced, why not, in objections: it can be carried to ridiculous excess; it
modern editions, give the reader warning and so would mean chaos in versification; gaps occur in
print it? And if it is to be printed e'r, why not save
verses where excessive emotion will not serve as an
ink and type and print it simply r?” To be sure, explanation; and the supposition is further negatived
this is humor of a certain sort; but is it literary by the fact that almost all of Shakespeare's most
criticism ?
impassioned speeches are faultlessly constructed.
But let us return to the enumeration of the more Shakespeare would not eke out his verses with pauses
important of Dr. Furness's original interpretations. like a nervous speaker his sentences with hems and
He is at his best -and how delightful is his best! haws. To what extent Dr. Furness will
go in this
in his comments on the singing of the crickets while regard is apparent in his suggestion that “a very
Iachimo is under the spell of the sleeping Imogen's timid pause” after the third foot would take the
beauty (p. 114), on Iachimo's removal of the slippery place of a foot and convert an imperfect verse
bracelet (p. 119), on the snatches in Cloten's voice (III. 7, 30) into a perfect one.
If dramatic poetry
(p. 143), on the location and time-analysis of Act 2, were written on this principle, dramatists would
Scene 4 (p. 147), on the symbolism of the hymeneal have to provide gaps in their verses for the actors'
torches which supported the Cupids of the andirons inspirations and expirations as well as for every
(p. 157), on Pisanio's phrase about “waking” gesture; or should they breathe only at the end of
his eye-balls (p. 231), on Imogen’s interrogation each verse? That Dr. Furness's ear is a very
“'Mongst Friends?” (p. 272), on the phrase "the untrustworthy guide to the music of Shakespeare's
way which they stopped eagles” (p. 363), on horse verse is perfectly evident, so it seems to me, from
racing in Elizabeth's reign (p. 192), on the use of the his suggestion that III. 4, 155 should read: “Hath
words “good” and “bad” in Shakespeare (p. 136), Britain all the sun that shines ? Prythee think.”
on the stuttering of German Hotspurs (p. 189), and And he makes matters worse in defending this read-
on spiders in Shakespeare's plays (p. 296). He is ing by referring to the extra syllable in the word
less happy in the supposition that when lachimo "volume" in the following line. But it must be
says “hell is here” he strikes his breast and thus admitted that many of his strictures against much
indicates to us his remorse and preparation for his meddlesome tampering with Shakespeare's verse is
final repentance; Iachimo meant no more than the quite justified by the antics of some of the com-,
torture of confinement in the trunk and fear of dis mentators.
covery. Imogen's words about “being so verbal” The fatal Cleopatra to Dr. Furness is the Folio
refer to herself, and may be paraphrased “ being so text. He expends his best ingenuity and all his
brutally frank.” The idea (p. 152) that Shake subtlety to read sense and rhythm into anything in
speare puts a brutal speech into Posthumus's mouth the Folio. The principle that the harder reading
with the object of creating in us "an aversion to should prevail leads him into all kinds of far-fetched
Posthumus, so that at the close of this scene our explanations. Anyone who has a word to say in
hearts will be duly hardened to endure the sight of the defence of a Folio reading finds a champion in
his misery,” is, to say the least, far-fetched. The him. The best illustration of this is to be found in
note (p. 159) on the letter that Iachimo delivered his interpretation of Imogen's words, “Think that
to Posthumus is very bad. When Iachimo says, you are upon a rock," as meaning that her unshaken
“She writes so to you?” he is not alarmed; he is devotion is a sort of granitic foundation for the
mocking his victim: he knows that Imogen had for-wavering Posthumus. And in this interpretation he
given him and trusted him and that she would not finds "a heightened poetic charm"! Another in-
mention his insults to her. If he had had
any
doubts stance is the desperate attempt to read a meaning
on that score he would have read that letter. Nor into the words, “Your pleasure was my neere
is it probable, as suggested by Dr. Furness, that offence,” (V. 5, 400) when it is almost certain that
Shakespeare intended the frantic Posthumus to rush “neere" is a misprint for mere” (only). So too
back into the room he had just left to deliver his his defence of “defended God," a misprint for
very dramatic and poignant soliloquy; it would have “ descended God," etc.
created a laugh in the theatre to see Philario and In a surprisingly large number of passages, Dr.
Iachimo go off to find Posthumus to prevent him Furness seems to have missed the poet's meaning.
doing himself bodily injury while he comes rushing He tells us that in the sentence, "The toil o'th'
into the room by another door. In discussing the war only seems to seek out danger I'th' name of


186
[March 1
THE DIAL
..
..
14;
fame,” only qualifies to seek, otherwise he cannot (againft 276: 7), say (say, 287: 44), foole (Foole
“comprehend the passage.” But it seems obvious 302: 157), sicknesse (sickenesse 305: 194). years
that only relates to “I'th' name of fame” (III. 3, (yeares 311: 260, Brui (Arui 314: 27), Female
56). Posthumus's words, " Is’t enough I am sorry?" (female 316: 284), lasts; (lasts. 317: 287), so (fo
he interprets “Can it be that I am sorry enough?” | 320: 300). curses (Curses 330: 393), ensorce..
when the plain meaning is, " Will it satisfy the good srom (enforce ..from 342:13), Must (Muft 345 :
Gods to know and to be told that I am sorry?” | 9), Not (Nor 346: 22), sull (full 371: 17), sinde
Where is Dr. Furness's sense of humor when he (finde 384: 135), sor (for 396: 79), fide (side 402:
reads sense into Cloten’s nonsensical remark about 159), Kitchen Kitchin 408: 211), of (os 415:
cutting Posthumus’s garments to pieces before his 300), kindred (Kindred 434: 511), Philharmonus
decapitated face? He very strangely objects to the (Philarmonus 434: 516), day (day, 181: 87). It
soliloquy spoken by Posthumus after he is convinced will be noticed that more than a third of these
of Imogen's infidelity as being andramatic and as hav are errors and misprints that do not occur in the
ing been intended only for the study, and that it is Folio. This volume also fails to reproduce numerous
inappropriate even there. To me it appears exceed "spaces,” letter misplacements, and type peculiari-
ingly well motived, and as a psychological master ties that occur in the original, besides introducing
piece with which only Hamlet's soliloquy, “What numerous letter displacements, etc., of its own. The
a rogue and peasant slave am I!” can compare. paging of the original is not reproduced or men-
The gaoler's words, “Your death has eyes in's tioned, although two pages in the Folio are incor-
head, then,” mean “Death, as you picture him, is rectly numbered (p. 379 is numbered 389, and
provided with eyes," not (as Dr. Furness para 399 is 993) and recent Baconians have turned this
phrases them) “ Your death has eyes in its head,” to account.
your being emphatic. In the sentence, “Her women The textual notes are extremely untrustworthy.
with wet cheeks were present when she finished” | They fail to point out certain errors in the text (e.g.,
(i. e., died), Dr. Furness defines finished as finished Mergan, arbiterment, Mistirs, rhat, ere for e'er,
her confession because it is hardly likely that her etc.), are marred by misprints (e.g., you for yon,
women would wet their cheeks for her death.” But IV. 2, 416; thee for the, I. 1, 66; vnsledg`d for
the poet meant us to understand that the wicked vnfledg d, III. 3, 31, etc.), and fail to record read-
Queen died immediately after her confession; her ings peculiar to cercain editors. Dr. Rolfe's edition
women were moved to pitying tears at the sight of contains five unique readings (you for your, I. 4, 155;
the madly dying woman suffering agonies of remorse who for that, III. 3, 25; That for This, IV. 4,
while confessing her villainies.
he for we, V. 5, 173; and at I. 3, 40 the name
For numerous very good reasons Dr. Furness Pisanio is omitted) which are not noted in the New
has set himself the almost impossible task of repro-
Variorum.
ducing the Folio text with almost microscopic exact The commentaries throughout the volume are
How well he has succeeded in this purpose marred by numerous errors in quotations from
in other volumes I do not know, but in “Cymbeline” Shakespeare, even from this play, and from other
he has signally failed. 'Tis true 't is pity, and pity writers, as well as by numerous misprints. A few
'tis 't is true. The following is a list of the more of these are: wroth (worth, 29), one (me, 108),
important textual errors that I have noted: thousand passagem (123), requisite (requite 129), lock
(for thousands, p. 58, 1. 129), Senfelesse (Senselesse (look 149), Malmutius (178), required (acquired
37:11), fpake (spake 37: 7), fo (so 36: 32), Nay, 187), Lettson (210), tone (line 212), illiteration
(Nay 30: 112). 08 (of 30: 114), Madame (Madam (213), illusion (allusion 242), has (was, 327),
39: 23), him, (him 39: 20), Highneffe (Highnesse penetration (punctuation 242), rapsodies (90),
42: 48), os (of 51: 59), Estate (Fstate 57: 120), time (line 271), doggrell (286), Arvigarius (287),
Yea Yea, 64: 18), stupefie (stupifie 67: 47), as (at 296), they (thy 313), laying (lying 334). hail
Madam, (Madam 85: 61), choose (choofe 87: 84), (hale, Pref., XV.), Lucree (406), fits (sits 338),
Cossers (Coffers 97: 148), 'mong'st ('mongst 103: flowers (leaves 339), thinking (peeping, 95), etc.
198), is (if 107: 241), left; (left: 113: 9), in.
Dr. Furness nowhere alludes to the almost cer-
clofed (inclosed 115: 27), Swist (Swift 121: 54), tain fact that this play was set up from the poet's
losse (lofse 125: 3), 80 (fo 130 : 36), Maiesty manuscript. The evidence for this is threefold: the
(Maiefty 131: 38), must (muft 133: 62), goodneffe textual errors are such as a compositor will make
(goodnesse 133: 64), Last (Laft 145: 166), of (os when he is setting up type from a not easily decipher-
150: 26 ), one of (one 160: 148), fure (sure 161 : able manuscript (e.g., Babe for Bribe, Honor for
156), Chaste (Chaste, 166: 210), Ancestors Humor, lowd of for lowdest, easilest for easieest,
(Anceftors 172: 24), strut (ftrut 175: 40), claspe Sleep for Stoop, etc.); the indication of elisions and
(clafpe 186: 42), first (firft 190: 63), often contractions where they are required by the versifi-
(osten 198: 23), unsledg'd (unfledg’d 202: 31), cation,—something that an early seventeenth cen-
Mnst (Must 205: 61), husbands (Husbands 213: tury compositor could not have done of his own
16), testimonies (Testimonies 214: 26), Mistresse accord (e.g., or's, o'rh', in's, th’more, i'th', thou'rt,
(Miftresse 258: 154), sor (for 264: 19), I'd (Ild y'are, on't, When't, l'encounter, pray’rs, do't,
271: 57), Comsort (Comfort 271: 55), against I ling'ring, T'enioy, eld'st, etc., etc.); and the com-
ness.


1914]
187
THE DIAL
i Can
-
paratively rare occasions on which the verses are putable evidence that Elizabethan poets intended
incorrectly divided. The matter is of importance as
these elisions, metatheses, apocopes, aphereses,
showing how punctilious Shakespeare was in the pre- apheses, syncopes, etc., even when they were not
paration of his MS., as throwing light on Elizabethan indicated in print.
habits of enunciation, and as aiding us in guessing The New English Dictionary is very frequently
at Shakespeare's meaning in obscure passages. and very wisely referred to by Dr. Furness, and in
This brings me to a subject of which Dr. Furness several instances he points out errors and omissions
always speaks very feelingly, viz., the elision of in those noble volumes. Students cannot be too much
letters to meet the requirements of an ideal verse impressed with the fact that Elizabethan English is
structure. Where the Folio does not indicate an
very
different from modern English, and that to guess
elision he resents any suggestion to shorten a word, at Shakespeare's meaning is not the way to read
and uses all his eloquence and sarcasm in the defence him. Dr. Furness has defined many words that
of the extra syllable, as in his comment on Vaughan's another editor might consider unnecessary, e.g., who
suggestion to substitute vi'nds for a word in V.3, 80, (whom!), for (because), as (as if), prefer (recom-
and on Walker's ha'ng for having. To Walker's mend), conduct (escort), tent (probe), weeds
proposal that in I. 6, 13, we read lang‘shing he says: (clothes), deem (judge), close (secret), etc., and
any lover of Shakespeare's musical language has left many really difficult words undefined. In
hear this without ang'sh?” He continually pleads for some instances the definitions do not seem to be
distinct enunciation, and forgets that our ideals in the best that might have been chosen. Why we are
this regard are very different from the Elizabethan treated to the etymology of andiron, primrose, and
ideal. Dr. Furness knew no one better - that for bastard I cannot guess. There is one passage in
the sake of their verse Elizabethan poets would do which reference to the New English Dictionary
almost anything with their words; they would decap- would have cleared up a hitherto unsolved enigma.
itate them ('stroy, 'bove,'lack, 'count, ’long, 'complice, Many critics have declared Shakespeare guilty of
etc.), add prefixes to them (e.g., apaid.) lop off the bathos in Imogen's words, “I would have broke
tail (e.g., refts’, gi', ha', marriage'. syllab , etc.), dis mine eye-strings, Crack'd them but to look upon
embowel them (e.g., o'er, ta’en, whe'er, de'il, or for him.” Staunton proposed to transpose the words
other, since for sithence, canstick for candlestick, broke and crackd; but this is unnecessary if we
marle for marvel, ling‘ring, etc.), elongate them know that in Shakespeare's day broke meant, among
(capitain, ocëan, rememberance, etc.), compress two other things, cracked, exhausted, cracked without
words into one (h'has, 'tother, ha't, but't, This's, complete separation ; and crack'd meant snapped,
i'th', unt' her, etc.), change the vowel (e.g., hild for split asunder.
held to rhyme with killed, than for then to rhyme Priscian does not escape unscratched in this vol.
with began, sawn for sown, parl for peril, o'erstraw d The following sentences could very easily
for o'erstrew'd to rhyme with fraud, etc.), and in other have been improved upon:
“Abbott would have us
ways distort words (e. g., thou’se, bankrout, etc.). pronounce this word ... into a monosyllable
There was almost no limit to what might not be done (p. 240); “ It was by the snatches in his voice.
for the sake of scansion or rhyme. There are in that made Belarius absolutely certain of his identity”
Shakespeare twenty-nine verses in which the scan (p. 255); "you may save yourself from this death
sion requires the word ignorant (or ignorance) to by only making a stand” (p. 362); “there was never
be pronounced as a dissyllable. Not one of Shake but one Phoenix at a time" (p. 77).
speare's editors has ever noticed it. In his magni As we know from extant records, the Shake-
ficent edition of “ Macbeth,” Liddell suggested that speare coat-of-arms played an important part in the
in I. 1, 58 we read “this ign'rant present,” poet's life, and if it is to be reproduced at all it ought
impossible combination of sounds. In “Cymbeline" to be depicted correctly. When in 1908 I called
this word occurs twice as a dissyllable (“Poor ignor Dr. Furness's attention to the
very
inaccurate
repro-
ant baubles ! on our terrible seas ” and “Dost seem duction on the covers of his Shakespeare, pointing
so ignorant, we'll enforce it from thee "); but one out its errors, he wrote me the following interesting
will seek for light from the editors in vain. A reply : “You have said the last word on the subject,
reference to the New English Dictionary makes all and though you may say it is a trifling matter, it
plain, for we find there that in the Jacobean period has been well said that perfection is no trifling
the word was also pronounced ingrant. In another matter.' As for my own delinquencies, let me plead
passage in this play the word exquisite has dissyllabic that when, nigh forty years ago, I adopted on the
value, and again the New English Dictionary tells covers of the New Variorum the coat-of-arms that
us that the word was at times pronounced and written has ever since remained there, every particular of
exquised. Shakespeare did not scruple to contract Shakespeare's life had not received that microscopic
have it to ha't (spelled hate in a Hamlet Quarto) investigation to which it is now subjected. Suppos-
and rime it with Kate. Such sarcastic comments, ing that Knight was trustworthy, I accepted Shake-
therefore, as those on languishing (especially if we speare's coat-of-arms as given in his Biography,'
consider that gu was then often sounded as in our with the improvement of giving the sable bend in
guess, languor, tongue, etc.) and having are as un true heraldic style, instead of the plain black band
scholarly as they are unnecessary.
There is indis which Knight gives.” SAML. A. TANNENBAUM.
ume.
an


188
[March 1
THE DIAL
we
BRIEFS ON NEW BOOKS.
work that plainly sets out to denounce its title-hero.
Dr. Carus's book shows the impossibility of escape
Nietzsche has never had a less chari.
Faint praise
from subjectivism: the noble statue of Friedrich
table critic than Dr. Paul Carus in
for Nietzsche.
Nietzsche by Klein reveals one man's point of view;
his “Nietzsche and Other Exponents
of Individualism” (Open Court Co.). To para-
the gruesome oil painting by Stoeving another.
Dr. Caras's presentation more nearly resembles the
phrase a certain French critic on Max Stirner's
latter. Typographically, the book shows only one
chef-d'æuvre, this is un livre qu'on quitte anti-
conspicuous error: on page 14, Professor Deussen
Nietzschien; and the uncompromisingly conserva is made to visit Nietzsche in 1907; the latter died
tive will welcome it. Originality is interesting, they in 1900. Whether the book is erroneous in other
will say; and to be suggestive is to be helpful, provided particulars is a different question. This much is
the suggestions can be carried out to the ultimate
certain: it resembles in no way those Rettungen
good of the less gifted. But when the suggestions
that Lessing used to write on famous men who, as
are either unfeasible or dangerous, they should be
he thought, had been unjustly maligned.
checkmated, especially if they are clothed in the
happy phrase that so easily deceives. Dr. Carus
Public opinion
During the past year the output of
looks upon the whole Nietzsche question as one to and popular
literature dealing with popular gov-
be refuted: the man belies his work, and his work government.
ernment, its character and limita-
is to be condemned as erratic. Concerning the tions, has been unusually large. One of the most
former, he uses such terms as “ sissy,” “goody. notable treatises of this kind is President Lowell's
goody," "bulldozer," "no philosopher," "not even “Public Opinion and Popular Government" (Long-
a thinker”; concerning the latter, he says
that 66
mans). The book is divided into three distinct
cannot help condemning his philosophy as unsound parts (grouped into four parts in the book itself).
in its basis, the errors being the result of an imma The author first analyzes in an acute manner the
turity of comprehension.” But if all this be true, nature of public opinion and the function of political
why write still another book on such a theme? Dr. parties in its expression. In the second part, he
Carus’s study has two justifications: the strength of deals with methods of expressing public opinion,
its refutal is original, and some of its facts are new. discussing somewhat briefly representative action
Other critics have refuted Nietzsche, but they have through legislatures and direct popular action through
not shown so clearly how, in his self-assertive the initiative and referendum. To this part of the
spirit, he was too proud to recognize the duty of author's discussion also belong two valuable appen-
inquiry, so that he adopted some exceedingly erro dices (of more than ninety pages) which give a
neous beliefs; how, by reason of his nominalistic complete record of initiative and referendum meas-
tendencies, he expressed these beliefs again and ures in Switzerland and the United States. The
again until we weary of them; how he preached third part of the book is devoted to the regulation
objectivity when he was the most subjective of of matters to which public opinion cannot directly
men; how the principles of his overman would apply,” and discusses in the main the position of
plunge even a powerful usurper into abysmal ruin; experts in popular government. In his treatment
how all his standards of valuation were subjectively of public opinion and the methods devised for its
acquired, and, since they have not been objectively expression, President Lowell confines himself to a
justified, were absurd; how his ethics, if accepted, broad general survey, paying little attention to
would only increase jealousy and robbery and mur detailed plans or to remedies for the difficulties
der; how, in short, his philosophy will not work, indicated. His discussion of the limits of public
despite the fact that it makes interesting reading, - opinion and of party action is one of the most acute
especially for malcontents, who like invective on pieces of political writing yet done in this country,
general principle. All of these things have been
All of these things have been and should be read by everyone interested in popu-
said before; but Dr. Carus argues, if he does not lar government. When the author comes to a close
prove, the correctness of his views by some hitherto study of the initiative and referendum he is not so
unused illustrations. The book throws new light successful; although here, also, he keeps an even
on Nietzsche's indebtedness to Max Stirner and his balance, and declines to condemn institutions because
inspiration to Mr. George Moore. It also points they may show grave defects. However, he perhaps
out his influence on the “nihilists of Russia, the fails to realize fully that one cannot measure the
socialists and anarchists of all civilized countries,” success or failure of an institution by the number
and gives a list of American, English, and German or even by the character of measures adopted or
periodicals that owe their origin and subsequent rejected, but must know somewhat in detail what
behavior to Nietzsche's teachings. Besides some its effect has been as a working instrument. So far
miscellaneous illustrations, there are reproductions as this discussion is concerned, President Lowell
of the familiar portraits and busts of Nietzsche. also apparently overlooks the fact that the constitu-
But there is one illustration that is not familiar, tional referendum is still the most used, and that
one that betrays the spirit of the writer: the “latest the statutory referendum cannot be studied sepa-
portrait” after an oil painting by C. Stoeving. It rately, especially when at the same election questions
is awful to look at! It should be included only in a of similar type are being submitted to the people


1914]
189
THE DIAL
of a State, — the one as a constitutional amendment, Sir Frederick Treves, Bart., in his volume entitled
and the other as a statutory referendum. The influ “The Country of The Ring and the Book”” (Funk
ence of ballot forms upon popular voting is not & Wagnalls Co.), is to bring the incidents of the
considered by the author, although its importance poem into immediate association with the places of
for his discussion is very great. In spite of these their happening. Considered thus, in the light of a
minor defects, the book is a distinct addition to the variorum appendix to a masterpiece, its three hun-
literature dealing with popular government, - in dred
pages of text and its one hundred illustrations,
some respects, indeed, the most valuable that has plans, and maps seem not excessive. When Brown-
been made by an American author.
ing, as he has told us, “ fused his live soul and that
inert stuff” which he found in the square old yellow
Noting the lack of “a popularly book, he was less concerned with the tragedy as
A history of
the followers written, well illustrated, condensed Rome witnessed it than with the way he would
of George Fox.
history of Quakerism as a whole, present it to the greater world of art, sentiment, and
from the birth of George Fox to approximately morality. He has made Pompilia as real to us as
1913, in one volume,” Dr. Charles Frederick Holder, Juliet, and Caponsacchi as actual as Othello. Sir
himself of noted Quaker ancestry, has essayed the Frederick Treves takes the same "inert stuff," and
task of supplying the need in his stout octavo, “The
one more contemporary account which Browning
Quakers in Great Britain and America” (McClurg),
never saw (found in Rome and published in English
wherein are set forth in attractive style the heroism, in 1900 by Mr. W. Hall Griffin), and makes the
the sufferings, the spiritual triumphs, and the more "old woe step on the stage again ” by leading us
material successes, of the indomitably persistent through the lands where the events actually took
disciples of him of whom Penn declared, “In all place. The topography of the gruesome tale is given
things he acquitted himself like a man, yea, a strong in vivid detail, and with great charm of description.
man, a new and heavenly-minded man.” The first
The Roman part may be visited by the tourist within
half of the book has to do with the Quakers in the a few steps of his favorite haunts, the Corso and
land of their origin, the latter traces their fortunes
the Piazza di Spagna; Arezzo is still much the same
in the new country to which persecution at home town as when the Franceschini lived there; and to
and other motives early drove a large number of follow the unfortunate lady and her soldier-saint in
them. Extending to nearly seven hundred pages, their flight through the stretch of hill and valley
the volume has space for much detail of historic that lies between Florence and Rome is to add a new
and especially biographical interest, representative charm to that lovely region. When Browning first
Friends like John Bright in England and Whittier found what he called his “murder story,” he offered
in this country figuring rather prominently both in it to two friends in succession as material for literary
the text and among the portraits with which the use. Only when both offers had been declined did it
book is generously embellished. Written evidently capture Browning's own imagination so completely
with a rapid pen-
as it must have been, in view
that he expended four years upon its development
of its author's fruitful labors in a variety of other into a masterpiece unique of its type in English
literary fields — the work suffers somewhat from a literature. Sir Frederick Treves now writes the
lack of well considered system in its arrangement chronicle of the facts, reconstructing and visualizing
and from insufficient attention to accuracy of detail. its scenes as they appeared to its participants. One
For instance, the significant facts in the lives of tempting opportunity in connection with the poem
such prominent early Quakers as Fox and Penn and still remains. As a tragedy in which four persons
Christopher Holder seem to be unduly scattered in
suffer a violent death, one vanishes into unknown
their presentation; and the founding of the first lands, and one ends his days in loneliness and sor-
society of Friends in America — that at Sandwich
row, it offers splendid material for the theatre of the
under Holder's and Copeland's leadership - is in future. But its successful adaptation for the stage
one place made to occur in 1656-7, and on a later would require a dramatist of real courage as well as
page in the month of August, 1656. A more nearly of great genius.
complete index, too, would have been a help to read.
But there is so much that is excellent and at
Such anthologies of Canadian poetry
An Oxford
the same time eminently readable in the volume, that anthology of as have appeared heretofore have
fault-finding seems ungracious and ungrateful. In
Canadian verse. been the work of compilers who were
richness and variety of matter, comprehensiveness critics rather than poets. The new “Oxford Book
of scope, wealth of illustration, and attractiveness of Canadian Verse,” however, is edited by one of
of style, the book leaves little to be desired. the principal Canadian poets, Dr. Wilfred Campbell.
It professes to cover the field of Canadian verse
More and more generally, as time from the earliest colonial days down to the present
In the footsteps
of Pompilia and goes on, is endorsed the view of an time. It would be idle to criticise the selection made
Caponsacchi. early critic that Browning's “The from the work of individual poets, as probably no
Ring and the Book” is “the most precious and pro two persons would agree upon a dozen short
poems
found spiritual treasure that England has produced that most satisfactorily represented the character
since the days of Shakespeare.” The object of and quality of the verse of, say, Archibald Lamp-
ers.


190
[March 1
THE DIAL
psychical
man, Mr. Charles G. D. Roberts, Mr. Bliss Carman, lary, therefore, 'prest' money stood for what is
or the editor himself. One is, however, a little nowadays, in both services, commonly termed the
troubled to reconcile Dr. Campbell's views (as set •king's shilling,' and the man who, either voluntarily
forth in his preface) of what should and what should or under duress, accepted or received that shilling
not be regarded as Canadian poetry, with the selec at the recruiter's hands, was said to be prested' or
tions included in his anthology. He severely con- | pressed. In other words, having taken the king's
demns previous editors, who, he says, have included ready money, he was thenceforth, during the king's
in their anthologies not only the work of writers pleasure, 'ready' for the king's service.” An ingen-
born in Canada and writing on Canadian subjects, ious piece of etymology, certainly. In closing, the
but also those who born in Canada have lived and author warns the present-day advocates of a return
done the bulk of their work in other countries, to conscription that “a people who for a hundred
those who though not born in Canada have come to years patiently endured conscription in its most
that country and written about it, and those who cruel form will never again suffer it to be lightly
coming to Canada in maturity have written verse inflicted upon them.” The book is suitably illus-
which has no relationship to the life of the country. trated, chiefly from old prints and from paintings.
Yet on turning to the anthology we find Dr. Camp-
More gropings
bell giving examples of the second class in Roberts,
Dr. James H. Hyslop's name is
in the fog of
Carman, and Cameron; of the third in McGee,
known to many readers largely by
Moodie, and several others; and of the fourth in research. reason of the assiduity of the daily
Heavysege (despite the definite statement in the press. Following its nose for news, it relieves the
preface that “the mere merit of Heavysege's work
tedium of dull days by announcements of his investi-
does not warrant us in considering him a Canadian gations upon supernormal individuals of questionable
writer”). “Curioser and curioser,” as Alice would integrity, proving once again the fact of communi-
say, the editor includes verses by the Duke of cation with the spirits of the departed. The vol-
Argyll, whose only connection with Canada is the ume which he has lately added to the array of his
fact that he spent five years there as Governor-
contributions, “ Psychical Research and Survival”
General. To paraphrase the preface, would it not (Macmillan), is a summary of his views,-a mix-
be consistent to include also Longfellow, Whittier, ture of unconvincing philosophy and unphilosophical
Goldsmith, and Moore, who also wrote poems very
conviction. Much of it is either an insincere quibble
distinctly relating to the life or history of Canada? or a genuine muddle. The assumptions of tolerance
While unquestionably no Canadian anthology would
as a substitute for clarity of thought, and of intricacy
be complete without some of Dr. Campbell's own
of relations for avoidance of elementary distinctions,
work, it does seem a little doubtful in taste for the are an annoyance to the discerning and a snare to
editor to give the largest space in the collection to
the readily deluded. With or without permission,
his own verse.
opinions will be formed concerning Psychical Re-
search and concerning the possible survival of per-
With all the evils that militarism is sonality; and with or without warrant, books will be
Old-time
methods of still inflicting upon a long-suffering written on these themes. Opinions and books that
recruiting.
world, there is at least one of its
are plainly extravagant reveal their propagandist
old-time iniquitous practices that has fallen into
motives and are rarely seductive. Those like Dr.
desuetude; and that is the violent and wholesale Hyslop’s, that misrepresent scientific interests and
impressment of men into the naval service. The philosophical aims, have a fog-like efficiency in
history of this method of recruiting, so far as Great obscuring the plainest truths and the most familiar
Britain is concerned, forms the subject of Mr. J. R. landmarks of the mind. Fortunately, the recognition
Hutchinson's happily-conceived and engagingly. is becoming common that the vapors thus diffused
written book, “The Press Gang Afloat and Ashore” are not the sign of inspiration, but of intoxication;
(Dutton). Its beginnings lost in the mists of the and that the interest in the revelations which they
past, this system of maintaining the fighting force induce is swinging back after a long aberration to
of the British navy continued into the fourth decade the normal equilibrium characteristic of the Anglo-
of the nineteenth century, when the protests of an Saxon sturdiness of mind.
outraged public brought it to a close. Mr. Hutch-
inson, not content with the customary derivation of
To the very end of an unusually long
A compelling
“press” in this special meaning, explains its origin plea for
life, the late Alfred Russel Wallace
thus: “Originally the man who was required for
social justice. continued to manifest a zealous in-
the king's service at sea, like his twin brother the terest in social and economic problems. In fact, his
soldier, was not pressed in the sense in which we approach to the great all-receiving inn seemed to
now use the term. He was merely subjected to quicken his heartfelt solicitude for the wayfarers he
a process called 'presting.' To 'prest' a man was leaving behind; and it is most fitting that his
meant to enlist him by means of what was techni- last book, written after he had passed his ninetieth
cally known as "prest' money—“prest' being the milestone, should be a zealous appeal for the poor
English equivalent of the obsolete French prest, and unfortunate. In “ The Revolt of Democracy”
now prêt, meaning ready. In the recruiter's vocabu (Funk & Wagnalls Co.) the distinguished scientist


1914]
191
THE DIAL
novels.
voices a sweeping demand that the workers of instance the thing that has changed is the sound of
England shall have a fair share of the wealth they the word — the pronunciation. If there is to be
produce; and that no hapless being, however help- reform, then, we should go back to the old sound
lessly incompetent, shall be allowed to suffer the ex - not make a further change by altering the spell-
treme penalty of poverty, in the form of starvation. ing.” Hardly in the same wisely conservative spirit
Naturally it is not easy to urge anything new in the does the author express himself on the subject of
way of general arguments on these vital questions; capitalization. “We are dropping useless punctua-
but the author's opinions do carry the prestige of a tion and we have already dropped much capitali-
great name, and he does offer some detailed sugges zation. Probably the rest could be spared also.”
tions of compelling interest. For example, he pro Admirable are the simplicity and directness, the clear-
poses that the British government should raise the ness and conciseness, with which Dr. Bostwick pre-
wages of its huge army of civil servants, to encourage,
sents what he has to say. (A. C. McClurg & Co.)
or perhaps ensure, an improved wage scale for em-
ployees in general; that an increasing tax on great The scenes of
Impressing upon his readers at the
fortunes should be collected partly in land, thus mak-
Mr. Hardy's outset that the 66 Wessex” of Mr.
ing provision for those workers who can be induced
Thomas Hardy is not, as many have
to return to the soil; and that young men should be supposed, limited to the county of Dorset, but “is
taught something about farming or gardening, in ad practically identical with the Wessex of history,
dition to two of the pursuits commonly called trades.
and includes the counties of Berkshire, Wilts,
Or again, he renews an earlier recommendation that Somerset, Hampshire, Dorset, and Devon, either
free bread be supplied to all who want it,—“not as
wholly or in part,” Mr. Hermann Lea proceeds to
charity, not as poor relief, but as a rightful claim identify, as accurately as possible, many of the
upon society for its neglect to organize itself so that scenes presented in the fascinating works of fiction
all, without exception, who have worked, and are
that have made Wessex almost an actual geograph-
willing to work, or are unable to work, may at the ical division of modern England to thousands of
very least have food to support life.” Even from
readers. “Thomas Hardy's Wessex” (Macmillan)
these few sentences it will be seen that the volume is written with knowledge as well as zeal, and with
is as radical as the title would indicate, and each painstaking care as well as ardent enthusiasm.
reader will have his opinion about the feasibility and
Excellent camera views, to the number of two hun-
desirability of the remedies suggested. As to the
dred and forty, as well as a frontispiece portrait of
need for reform in the general direction urged by
the novelist, a pencil-sketch of his birthplace, and a
the author, there can of course be no question. photo-engraving of his present abode, make the
The text proper is preceded by a fairly full and volume a veritable picture-book, while the abundant
convenient sketch of Wallace's life.
reading matter addresses itself potently to the lover
of the incomparable Wessex novels. An index of
“ Earmarks of Literature: The Things
Some of the
names, in two kinds of type to distinguish real from
qualities of That Make Good Books Good”.
fictitious designations, is appended, followed by a
good literature. thus runs the title, including the sub “Map of the Wessex of the Novels and Poems.”
title, of a useful and readable little manual by Dr. The author has given us what must be adjudged the
Arthur E. Bostwick, who describes his work as
most thorough and trustworthy guide to Mr. Hardy's
“an attempt to gather and group together many Wessex that has yet appeared.
things that are discussed more thoroughly and at
greater length in other places, but nowhere, the
That biological laws condition the
Biology and
writer believes, all in one place, or in a style that the Feminist relations of the sexes, and underlie
will commend them to the general reader.” Pri-
Movement.
the structure of human society and
marily the chapters were designed for pupils in its present evolution, is the contention of Mr. Walter
library economy, being “based on a series of lectures Heape in his book entitled “Sex Antagonism
given first to the training class of the Brooklyn (Putnam). As his title hints, the author views with
Public Library, afterward to that of the New York alarm the disruption of the established equilibrium,
Public Library, and finally to that of the St. Louis especially since in his opinion the disturbance is
Public Library,” of which the author is now libra- wrought by the militant spinsters, whose aims and
rian. The book treats of such topics as the follow social needs are quite distinct from those of the larger
ing: the nature of literature, style, special literary and less aggressive maternal element of society. The
forms, the reading of poetry aloud, our two lan intra-class warfare thus initiated is, in the author's
guages (spoken and written), the structure of liter view, likely to escape observation by the complacent
ature, literature as a form of art, its appreciation and non-combatant male, but is nevertheless fraught
and preservation, its makers, some formalities of with ill for his normal place in society. The author
written speech, the context in literature, the samp bases his opinions on the data of anthropology, and
ling of literature, and the sum of the matter. A upon his study of reproductive processes in their rela-
timely word is uttered on so-called spelling-reform. tion to health and disease. Primitive savage society
“Reform is, or should be, the restoration of some evolved two antagonistic tendencies: exogamy, driv-
good thing that has been changed or lost. In this ing the roving male afar for his mate, and totemism,


192
[March 1
THE DIAL
restricting and limiting inter-marriage in the inter age”) is told in a little book "published for the friends
ests of mother and child. These two antagonistic of Doubleday, Page & Co.," and bearing the title, “The
tendences our author regards as basic still in the Country Life Press, Garden City, New York: Its Gar-
sex relations of modern life, and the feminist move-
den, its Home, its Sun Dial.” Illustrations and reading-
matter vie with each other in interest.
ment tends to augment the antagonism. He takes
issue with Dr. Fraser's idea that totemism had its
Two reference manuals of decided appeal to literary
origin in the ignorance of savage peoples concerning
workers are the “Dictionary of Synonyms and An-
tonyms” and “ Handbook of Quotations" compiled by
human paternity, and seeks rather to link it to
Miss Edith B. Ord way and published by Messrs. Sully
primitive ideas of spirit conception and its more
& Kleinteich. Both works seem carefully prepared,
modern homologue— the idea of maternal impres-
are well printed, and issued at moderate prices. The
sions. The fact that the author considers the theory arrangement of the quotations is by subject.
of maternal or primitive impressions worthy of Mr. John Cotton Dana's “Modern Library Economy"
serious discussion will raise skepticism regarding (Elm Tree Press) has advanced to the consideration of
the entire argument in the minds of most scientific “ The High School Branch of the Public Library,” in
critics, for this idea has long since been relegated to which Miss Elizabeth B. McKnight coöperates with the
the limbo of superstitions by the advances of modern author-in-chief. In thirty-nine pages and under forty-
biology. The casual reader will find much in this seven section-headings, with the usual illustrative
book to stimulate his thinking in rather unusual direc-
equipment, the subject is treated in the thorough man-
ner characteristic of the work as a whole. This instal-
tions; but he will finish it with the feeling that the
ment constitutes Section 2 of Part VII.
author is strangely remote in his argument from the
world of customs, ideas, and ideals of to-day, which are
The general literature of bookplates is apparently
sufficient to meet the demands of collectors, and now
perhaps quite as potent in shaping human evolution
the tendency seems to be towards monographs dealing
now as were brutish instincts or savage superstitions
with special classes of ex libris. Of this character is
in the past.
Mr. A. Winthrop Pope's handsomely-printed brochure
The popularity of Lord Avebury's on “Theatrical Book plates," which contains ten fac-
Records of
“ Prehistoric Times ” (Holt) is well similes of bookplates related to the dramatic profession,
primitive man.
attested by the fact that a seventh a brief essay on the delights of collecting bookplates,
edition has now been issued of this comprehensive
and a check list of theatrical bookplates in the author's
and succinct account of the ancient remains of pre-
own collection, numbering about 125. The work is
historic man in all lands and of the manners and
issued in an edition limited to 150 copies by Mr. H.
Alfred Fowler, of Kansas City.
customs of contemporary savage peoples. This last
edition is the result of a complete revision made
The dull facts of poverty and struggle become lumin-
just prior to the death of the author, involving the
ous at the touch of one who, like Dr. Graham Taylor, the
author of " Religion in Social Action " (Dodd), writes
resetting of the entire work and the inclusion of
out of his own experience. There are writers who con-
new material especially the remarkable records
descend to visit the districts of trouble to exploit them
of prehistoric man and quaternary mammals in the
for literary purposes, and we feel that the result is
interesting cave paintings recently brought to light superficial and hollow. Here is a work written by a
in France and Italy. Several colored plates repro man who has brought the facts of his faith to bear at
duce these unique and spirited portraits of these all points on the facts of life; he takes us into a real
mammals now long since extinct. The author's
world. The biographical introduction by Miss Jane
utilization of American sources is, perhaps natu-
Addams interprets and authenticates the message. The
churches are rapidly growing in appreciation of their
rally, somewhat limited. He has, for example,
new tasks, and this volume will help them to see and
failed to avail himself of the later and more critical
to act.
evidence regarding the authenticity of the Calaveras
The ideal of social science is to discover from obser-
skull reputed to occur in auriferous gravels of Cali-
vation the significant facts of human association, the
fornia. Many new illustrations are added or replace
causes revealed by a series of facts, the desirable or un-
older ones, and the work is considerably extended desirable tendencies, and the wisdom of associated efforts
over earlier editions by the new material added. as judged by accepted standards. Professor J. R.
Its wide scope, its lucid discussions of controversial Commons, the author of " Labor and Administration
matters and of interesting points raised by the (Macmillan), has kept in close touch with the conditions
fragmentary evidence of primitive man, and its which he describes and interprets, and he has held
abundant and well chosen data and illustrations,
steadily to bis purpose to be fair to contending parties.
make it a mine of anthropological information.
The chapter on Standardizing the Home" offers an
ingenious and fruitful method of social observation in
relation to domestic life. The book deals chiefly with
the policies of trade unions. Especially valuable is the
BRIEFER MENTION.
discussion of the Industrial Commission of Wisconsin,
The story of the building of a great publishing plant, and the function of investigation in administration.
of its ideal situation and beautiful surroundings, of its That the public library in England lags a little behind
rapidly growing manufacture of books and magazines, the public library in America, in scope and efficiency,
and of its famous sun-dial (" dedicated to that fair art we feel ourselves justified in maintaining. For instance,
which doth allow man's mind to fix its thought upon the information desk or bureau is still unknown to the
the virgin page, and so transmit itself from age to English library system, and the cumbersome "indicator"


1914]
193
THE DIAL
is even to this day a part of the equipment of some En-
NOTES.
glish public libraries. Mr. Walter C. Rae's little book
on “ Public Library Administration” (Dutton) is espe-
Mr. Edmund Gosse is to write a volume on Swinburne
cially interesting to American readers as incidentally for the “ English Men of Letters,". a task for which
illustrating some of the differences here hinted at. Mr. few living writers are better qualified.
Rae is Chief Librarian of the Fulham Libraries, London, George Brandes's study of Nietzsche is to be issued
and an experienced lecturer and teacher in his depart- in an English translation this Spring, according to an
ment of learning. He speaks with authority and deserves announcement of the Macmillan Co.
a respectful hearing Bound in limp leather, and well A uniform collected edition, in five volumes, of Mr.
printed and illustrated, the book is a little treasure of Edmund Gosse's essays and criticism is announced for
its sort.
early publication by Messrs. Scribner.
A convenient reissue of Lionel de Fonseka's suggestive Miss Mary E. Waller, author of “ The Wood-carver
little “ Dialogue between an Oriental and an Occidental of 'Lympus,” etc., is at work at her home on the island
on the Truth of Decorative Art” is published by Messrs. of Nantucket on a book of impressions and observations
Holt. The author, himself a native of Ceylon, is nearer which will bear the title “ From an Island Outpost."
than he would admit to the creed of the Post-Impres-
• Figures Famed in Fiction,” a collection of studies
sionists in his disdain for the actualities of representa of fourteen heroes or heroines of the world's greatest
tion which
pass
for art in Europe. In a style that savors novels, is announced for Spring issue by Messrs. Rand,
of Oscar Wilde, he inveighs against Wilde’s dictum of
McNally & Co. The author is Dr. H. G. Pillsbury.
“ Art for Art's Sake,' and insists on “ Art for Life's
“ Studies in the Odyssey,” by Mr. J. A. K. Thomson,
Sake," on art as the adornment of life, “the vindica-
is announced by the Oxford University Press. This
tion of the ways of man to man.
." How the vindication
house has also in press « The Age of Erasmus," by Mr.
is to be accomplished by the merely conventional and
P. S. Allen, and “Oxford Libraries," by Mr. Strickland
universally understood symbolism which the Oriental
Gibson.
uses in his art forms is not made entirely clear; though
A “Dictionary of Madame Sevigné," prepared by
there is plenty of material provided for a much longer
Edward ("Omar") Fitz rald, has been edited for
debate on the subject than the author reports for us.
the press by May Eleanor FitzGerald Kerrick, a great-
Research and diligence and a good deal of labor in
niece of “old Fitz,' and will comprise two volumes in
copying have gone into the handsome volume entitled
Messrs. Macmillan's “Eversley Series."
“Dedications: An Anthology of the Forms Used from
The success of Hon. James Bryce's fine study of South
the Earliest Days of Book-Making to the Present Time"
(Putnam). Miss Mary Elizabeth Brown is the compiler,
America has led to the preparation of a new and revised
and a pathetic interest attaches to her work from the
edition of the work, and also of a translation into Spanish
fact, as appears in her preface, that she has been for
made by Guillermo Rivera. Both volumes are to appear
two years so nearly blind as to be forced to depend on
very shortly, with the Macmillan imprint.
Dr. Morton Prince's “The Unconscious: The Funda-
the good offices of others in the clerical labors of her
undertaking. From the dedicatory prologue to the
mentals of Human Personality,” being an introduction
“ Ludus Saccorum” of Cessolis, translated into French
to the study of abnorinal psychology, will be ready
by Jean de Vigny, 1360, to the much shorter and less
within a few weeks. While based on sound research and
formal dedications of the present time, the selected
experiment, the work is said to have a decided popular
interest.
specimens illustrate the approved modes of inditing one's
book to the Deity, to the Virgin Mary, to kings and
It is pleasant news that Mr. Henry James is continu-
princes and nobles, to prelates and statesmen, to friends ing his autobiography so delightfully launched in the vol-
and relatives, and even to oneself, and to many others ume of a year or two ago entitled “ A Small Boy and
either individually or collectively Three facsimiles
Others.” A second instalment, “ Notes of a Son and
add interest to this rather unusual volume, which is also
Brother,” is promised for Spring issue by Messrs.
equipped with a bibliography and an author index.
Scribner.
The Bibliophile Society, of Boston, issues “ The Early
Mrs. Robert Louis Stevenson died at her home near
Life of John Howard Payne,” by Mr. Willis T. Hanson,
Santa Barbara, California, on February 18. She met the
Jr., in “a limited number of copies ... printed privately
writer on the continent in 1876, and four years later
for the Editor, for complimentary distribution.” The
they were married in California. Thence until Steven-
value of the work lies in its reproduction of letters, or
son's death in 1894 she was his devoted comrade,
parts of letters, written by Payne in his boy hood and nurse, and literary collaborator.
youth, and never before made public. A fortunate chance
“ Three Great Russian Novelists" is the title of Mr.
placed these letters, as copied in a letter-book by their
Edward Garnett's study of Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and
writer, in Mr. Hanson's possession, and from them he Turgenev, to be published shortly. Mrs. Garnett's
gleans many new items of interest concerning the rather translations of these three novelists are familiar to all
stormy early life of the gifted actor, playwright, and
English readers of Russian fiction, and it will be remem-
poet. But though he strives to dispossess his readers
bered that her versions of Turgenev were produced under
of the notion that Payne's life was, on the whole, a
her husband's editorial supervision.
failure, the impression left by the book itself is that of A discussion of the problem of intemperance from a
unusual powers misdirected and frittered away, more somewhat new stand point is promised in Dr. Joseph
through the unwisdom of his elders, at the outset, than Henry Crooker's “Shall I Drink?” which the Pilgrim
by his own fault. Nevertheless, or therefore, the youthful Press of Boston will publish this Spring. The work
Payne is a fascinating subject for biographical research, embodies a wide survey of facts from scientific labora-
and Mr. Hanson's book would easily find favor with a tories, insurance observations, medical records, and
wider circle of readers than it is likely to reach in its industrial experiences, and will contain about a score
present restricted edition.
of instructive charts and diagrams.


194
[March 1
THE DIAL
Disease,
An interesting announcement of the Spring season is
that of Mr. G. Lowes Dickinson's “ Appearances.” Mr.
Dickinson has recently made a tour in China and Japan,
and he has written his impressions of these countries as
well as of India and America. In the concluding chap-
ters Mr. Dickinson will discuss the points of contrast
between Eastern and Western civilization.
Mr. Raymond B. Fosdick, formerly Commissioner
of Accounts of New York City, is at work on a volume
discussing European Police Systems,” based upon
intimate personal study extending over a period of a
year and a half in twenty-two European cities. This
will be the third in the series of books published for
the Bureau of Social Hygiene by the Century Co.
.
66
Readers of Mr. Henry James's - Partial Portraits," do
.
.
.
“ French Poets and Novelists,” and “Essays in London
and Elsewhere,” will be pleased to hear that a further
collection of his critical essays is in press. The studies
in the coming volume have appeared in various maga-
zines and journals during the past twenty years, and
include appreciations of R. L. Stevenson, d'Annunzio,
George Sand, Flaubert, Balzac, and Zola.
Dr. Robert Kennedy Duncan, author of several
widely read books in popular science, died at his home
in Pittsburgh on February 18, at the age of forty-six.
Since 1910 he had been Director of the Mellon Insti-
tute of Industrial Research at the University of Pitts-
burgh. He was the author of "The New Knowledge,”
“The Chemistry of Commerce,” and “Some Chemical
Problems of To-day," and editor of the “ New Science
Series."
Mr. H. G. Wells's forthcoming volume of essays,
“ An Englishman Looks at the World,” will cover a
wide range of subjects, and is said to be daring and
outspon en in its criticism. Among the topics handled
will be « The Labor Unrest,” “ Education,” “ The Ideal
Citizen,” “ Divorce,” « Will the Empire Live ?
Collapse of Civilization," « The Contemporary Novel,"
“ The Coming of Aviation,” and “The Common Sense
of Warfare."
.
Christian Science, Christianity and. Randolph H.
McKim
North American
Colony, The Price of a. Charles W. Furlong World's Work
Uncle Sam Fighting. William Atherton
Du Puy
Review of Reviews
Dramatization of Novels and the Novelization
of Plays. Brander Matthews
Lippincott
Dublin. Brand Whitlock
Century
Education, Dynamic. John L. Mathews
Harper
Education of the Girl. Mary L. Harkness
Atlantic
French Court Memories, 1879. Mme. Waddington Scribner
Gambling and Gamblers, American. H. S. Fullerton Amer.
Gorgas, Colonel, Panama, and the World's Sanitation.
John B. Huber
Review of Reviews
Government- Making It Efficient. V. E. Danner . Forum
Government by Good People, Failure of. Lincoln
Steffens
Metropolitan
Haikai Poetry. Gertrude Emerson
Forum
Health Universities, Two New York. William H.
Allen
Review of Reviews
Hearn, Lafcadio. F. Hadland Davis
Forum
Herd, The Spirit of the. Dallas Lore Sharp Atlantic
Immigrants, Our Recent, as Farmers. Lajos
Steiner
Review of Reviews
Industry, College Students Humanizing. F.H.
Rindge, Jr..
World's Work
Insurance, Conquest. Leavitt A. Knight Everybody's
Irish Home Rule Bill, The. James D. Kenny Forum
Matutum of Mindanao. E. R. Heiberg
Harper
Military Camps for College Students. Arthur Wallace
Dunn
Review of Reviews
Monopoly, President Madison's Views on
Harper
Monroe Doctrine, The, and Latin America. F. Garcia
Calderon
Atlantic
Montgomery and Stone. Peter C. Macfarlane . Everybody's
Movies, Breaking into the. Richard H. Davis Scribner
National Fences, Qur. Huntington Wilson North American
Necromancy in Brittany. Frances W. Huard Century
Newspaper Morals. Henry L. Mencken
Atlantic
Norton, Charles Eliot. Walter Littlefield
Century
Opera in English. Reginald de Koven
Century
Panama Canal, The, and the Pacific Coast Ports.
Forbes Lindsay
Lippincott
Parliaments, The Disease of. H. G. Wells Metropolitan
Prison Reform, Next Step in. Richard Barry Century
Privacy, A Plea for, Robert J. Shores
Forum
Professorial Quintain, The. F. B. R. Hellems Forum
Pure Food, How Idaho Got. Isaac Russell. World's Work
Railways, The Valuation of. Samuel 0, Dunn Atlantic
Republicans and Progressives — Can They Unite?
Peter S. Grosscup
North American
Reticence, Repeal of. Agnes Repplier
Atlantic
Rihbany, Abraham Mitrie, Autobiography of Atlantic
Russia. James Davenport Whelpley
Century
Sardis and the American Excavations. Howard C.
Butler
Scribner
Science and Immortality. H. Addington Bruce American
Science and Literature. John Burroughs North American
Sea, The, in the Greek Poets. W. C. Greene No. American
Socialism and Religion. John A. Ryan . Everybody's
Steinmetz, The Socialism of. A. H. Gleason Metropolitan
Strathcona, Lord. Agnes C Laut Review of Reviews
Suffrage Mistakes, Two. Molly E. Seawell No. American
Suffrage Movement, The English. J. S. Schapiro . Forum
Super-Democracy. Benjamin I. Gilman. North American
Teeth and Civilization. Lewis M, Terman
Forum
Tougourt, North Africa. G. E. Woodberry Scribner
Trust Policy, A New. Burton J. Hendrick World's Work
Wage-Earners. Randolph S. Bourne
Atlantic
War and the Interests of Labor. Alvin S. Johnson Atlantic
Winter Landscape. Birge Harrison
Scribner
“Wireless," Girdling the Earth by. J. F.
Springer
Review of Reviews
Woman's Wasted Years. Fanny H. Eckstorm · Atlantic
Women, New, New Jobs for. Virginia Roderick Everybody's
Women and the Vote. George Creel
Century
" " The
.
.
.
.
.
.
TOPICS IN LEADING PERIODICALS.
March, 1914.
Alaskan Railroad, The. Owen Wilson World's Work
American Dinners and Manners. Wu Ting-Fang. Harper
American Liberty and Equality. Mary Antin . American
American People, Origins of the. Edward A. Ross Century
Amritsar, The Golden Temple of. E. F. Benson Century
“Annie Laurie, Bonnie.” J. Cuthbert Hadden Century
Apple-Trees, Under the. John Burroughs
Harper
Art, Our Most Belated. Cora Lyman
Forum
Athlete, The Obvious. Edward H. Butler Atlantic
Australian Open, A Night in the. Norman Duncan Harper
Bakst, Léon. Ada Rainey
Century
Bergson and Common Sense. Albert L. Whittaker Forum
Bergson's Philosophy. Louise C. Willcox . No, American
Bryan, Mr., Rides Behind. George Harvey No. American
Business — If It Were All in the Open. Waddill
Catchings
World's Work
Business, Better - IV. William Hard .. Everybody's
Business, Teaching, at Harvard. Benjamin
Baker
World's Work
Business Success, Secrets of — V. E. M.
Woolley
World's Work
Cancer, Treating, with Radium. James
Middleton
World's Work
Cats. A. Donald Douglas
Forum
China, “Drumming” Revolutionary. Bartlett G.
Yung
. World's Work
.
.


1914]
195
THE DIAL
LIST OF NEW BOOKS.
[The following list, containing 104 titles, includes books
received by The Dial since its last issue.]
Plays. By Björnstjerne Björnson; translated from
the Norwegian, with Introduction, by Edwin
Björkman. Second series; 12mo, 284
pages.
Charles Scribner's Sons. $1.50 net.
BIOGRAPHY AND REMINISCENCES.
Cecil Rhodes: The Man and His Work. By Gordon
Le Sueur, F.R.G.S. Illustrated, 8vo, 345 pages.
McBride, Nast & Co. $3.50 net.
G. Stanley Hall: A Sketch. By Louis N. Wilson,
Litt.D. With portraits, 8vo, 144 pages. G. E.
Stechert & Co.
Abu'l Ala, the Syrian. By Henry Baerlein. 12mo.
99 pages.
“Wisdom of the East.” E. P. Dutton
& Co. 70 cts. net.
HISTORY.
Annals and Memoirs of the Court of Peking (from
the 16th to the 20th Century). By E. Backhouse
and J. 0. P. Bland. Illustrated, 8vo, 531 pages.
Houghton Miffin Co. $4. net.
A History of England. By Edward P. Cheyney.
Volume I., From the Defeat of the Armada to
the Death of Elizabeth. Large 8vo, 560 pages.
Longmans, Green & Co. $3.50 net.
Panama: The Creation, Destruction and Resurrec-
tion. By Philippe Bunau-Varilla. Illustrated,
large 8vo, 568 pages. McBride, Nast & Co.
$3.50 net.
Voyage aux Etats-Unis de L'Amérique, 1793-1798.
By Moreau de Saint-Méry, edited by Stewart
L. Mims. With frontispiece, 8vo, 440 pages.
Yale University Press. $2.50 net.
GENERAL LITERATURE.
In the Old Paths: Memories of Literary Pilgrim-
ages. By Arthur Grant. Illustrated, 8vo.
Houghton Mifflin Co. $1.50 net.
Essays and Studies by Members of the English
Association. Volume IV., Collected by C. H.
Herford. 8vo, 182 pages. Oxford University
Press.
Marlowe's Edward II. Edited by William Dinsmore
Briggs, Ph.D. Large 8vo, 220 pages. London:
David Nutt.
Clear Grit: A Collection of Lectures, Addresses,
and Poems. By Robert Collyer; edited by John
Haynes Holmes. With portrait, 12mo, 328 pages.
American Unitarian Association. $1.50 net.
Das Gerettete Venedig: Eine Vergleichende Studie.
Von Fritz Winther. Large 8vo, 246
pages.
Berkeley: University of California Press. Paper.
$1.50 net.
Crowds: A little Introductory Run through
"Crowds." By Gerald Stanley Lee. 12mo, 145
pages, Doubleday, Page & Co. 50 cts. net.
BOOKS OF VERSE.
The Minor Poems of Joseph Beaumont, D.D., 1616-
1699. Edited from the autograph manuscript
with introduction and notes by Eloise Robinson.
With photogravure portrait, 8vo, 463 pages.
Houghton Mifflin Co. $5. net.
The Chief Middle English Poets: Selected Poems.
Edited by Jessie L. Weston, 8vo, 396 pages.
Houghton Mifflin Co. $2. net.
The Foothills of Parnassus. By John Kendrick
Bangs. 12mo, 200
pages. Macmillan Co.
$1.25 net.
Out of Bondage. By Fanny Hodges Newman. 12mo,
93 pages.
Paul Elder & Co. $2.50 net.
Sonnets from the Trophies of Jose-Maria de
Heredia, Rendered into English by Edward
Robeson Taylor. Fifth edition; 12mo, 193 pages.
San Francisco: Privately printed.
An English Dante: A Translation in the Original
Rhythm and Rhymes. By John Pyne. 12mo.
New York: Albert & Charles Boni.
DRAMA AND THE STAGE.
Studies in Stagecraft. By Clayton Hamilton, 12mo,
298 pages.
Henry Holt & Co. $1.50 net.
The Idol-Breaker: A Drama. By Charles Rann Ken-
nedy. With portrait, 12mo, 178 pages. Harper
& Brothers. $1.25 net.
FICTION.
When Ghost Meets Ghosts. By William De Morgan.
12mo, 862 pages. Henry Holt & Co. $1.60 net.
The Precipice. By Elia W. Peattie. With frontis-
piece, 12mo, 418 pages. Houghton Mifflin Co.
$1.35 net.
The Forester's Daughter. By Hamlin Garland. Il-
lustrated, 12mo, 287 pages. Harper & Brothers.
$1.25 net.
Angel Island. By Inez Haynes Gillmore. Illus-
trated, 12mo, 351 pages. Henry Holt & Co.
$1.35 net.
Burbury Stoke. By William John Hopkins. 12mo,
328 pages.
Houghton Mifflin Co. $1.25 net.
The Wanderer's Necklace. By H. Rider Haggard.
Illustrated, 12mo, 341 pages. Longmans, Green
& Co. $1.35 net.
The Rocks of Valpré. By Ethel M. Dell. With
frontispiece, 12mo, 516 pages. G. P. Putnam's
Sons, $1.35 net.
The Masks of Love. By Margarita Spalding Gerry.
Illustrated, 12mo, 271 pages. Harper & Brothers.
$1.20 net.
The Honey-Star. By Tickner Edwardes. 12mo,
344 pages. E. P. Dutton & Co. $1.35 net.
Fine Feathers. Novelized from Eugene Walter's
drama of the same name by Webster Denison.
Illustrated, 12mo, 312 pages. A. C. McClurg &
Co. $1.25 net.
The Shears of Delllah: Stories of Married Life. By
Virginia Terhune Van de Water. With frontis-
piece in color, 12mo, 312 pages. G. P. Putnam's
Sons. $1.25 net.
Yermah, the Dorado: The Story of a Lost Race. By
Frona Eunice Wait Colburn. 12mo, 433 pages.
Alice Harriman Co. $1.35 net.
Ezekiel Expands. By Lucy Pratt. Illustrated,
12mo, 228 pages. Houghton Miffin Co. $1.25 net.
Lord London: A Tale of Achievement. By Keble
Howard, 12mo, 351 pages. McBride, Nast & Co.
$1.25 net.
The Treasure. By Kathleen Norris. Illustrated,
12mo, 186 pages. Macmillan Co. $1. net.
Buddhist Stories, By Paul Dahlke; translated by
the Bhikkhu Silacara. 12mo, 330 pages. E. P.
Dutton & Co. $1.25 net.
The Diary of a Minister's Wife. By Anna E. S.
Droke. Illustrated, 12mo, 259 pages. Eaton &
Mains. $1.25 net.
PUBLIC AFFAIRS.-SOCIOLOGY, ECONOMICS,
AND POLITICS.
How France Is Governed. By Raymond Poincaré;
translated from the French by Bernard Miall.
8vo, 376 pages. McBride, Nast & Co. $2.25 net.
The Governance of England. By Sidney Low. Re-
vised and enlarged edition; 8vo, 320 pages. G. P.
Putnam's Sons. $2. net.
The Operation of the New Bank Act. By Thomas
Conway, Jr., Ph.D., and Ernest M. Patterson,
Ph.D. 8vo, 431 pages. J. B. Lippincott Co.
$2. net.
In Freedom's Birthplace: A Study of the Boston
Negroes. By John Daniels. 12mo, 496 pages.
Houghton Mifflin Co. $1.50 net.
Democracy in New Zealand. By André Siegfried;
translated from the French by E. V. Burns, with
Introduction by Downie Stewart. 8vo, 398 pages.
Macmillan Co. $1.75 net.
Studies in Water Supply. By A. C. Hou on, D.Sc.
8vo, 203 pages.
Macmillan Co. $1.60 net.
Actual Government in Illinois. By Marie Louise
Childs. 12mo, 224 pages. Century Co.
50 cts. net.
Interstate Commerce and Railway Traffic Series.
First titles: The Industrial Traffic Department,
by W. N. Agnew; Bases for Freight Charges, by
C. L. Lingo; Freight Rates, by C. C. McCain and
William A, Shelton; Statistics of Freight Traffic,
by Julius H. Parmelee, Ph.D. Each 8vo. Chi-
cago: La Salle Extension University. Paper.


196
[March 1
THE DIAL
The Railroad, the Conqueror. By Theodore D. Jer-
vey. 12mo, 44 pages. Columbia: State Company.
Paper.
Jurisdiction in American Building-Trades Unions.
By Nathaniel Ruggles Whitney, Ph.D. 8vo, 182
pages. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press. Paper.
TRAVEL AND DESCRIPTION.
Unvisited Places of Old Europe. By Robert Shackle-
ton. Illustrated in color, etc., large 8vo, 320
pages. Penn Publishing Co. $2.50 net.
The Ascent of Denali (Mount McKinley). By Hud-
son Stuck. Illustrated, 12mo, 188 pages. Charles
Scribner's Sons. $1.75 net.
ART.
Art in Flanders. By Max Rooses. Illustrated,
12mo, 341
pages. Charles Scribner's Sons.
$1.50 net.
The Art of Nijinsky. By Geoffrey Whitworth. Il-
lustrated, 12mo, 110 pages. McBride, Nast & Co.
$1.10 net.
RELIGION AND THEOLOGY.
Theological Symbolics.
By
Charles Augustus
Briggs, D.D. 8vo, 429 pages. "International
Theological Library." Charles Scribner's Sons.
$2.50 net.
The Faith of Japan. By Tasuku Harada, LLD.
12mo, 190 pages. Macmillan Co.
Not Lawful to Utter, and Other Bible Readings. By
Dan Crawford. 12mo, 176 pages. George H.
Doran Co. $1. net.
India, Malaysia, and the Philippines: A Practical
Study in Missions. By W. F. Oldham. 12mo,
299 pages.
Eaton & Mains. $1. net.
The Haskalah Movement in Russia. By Jacob S.
Raisin, Ph.D. With frontispiece, 12mo, 355
pages. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication So-
ciety of America.
Amos, Hosea, and Micah: A Commentary. By John
Merlin Powis Smith, Ph.D. 12mo, 216 pages.
Macmillan Co. 75 cts. net.
Christianity and Sin. By Robert Mackintosh, D.D.
12mo, 231 pages.
Charles Scribner's Sons.
75 cts. net.
Creed and Curriculum. By William Charles O'Don-
nell, Jr. 12mo, 119
pages.
Eaton & Mains.
75 cts. net.
Buddhist Scriptures: A Selection Translated from
the Pāli. By E. J. Thomas, M.A. With Intro-
duction; 12mo, 124 pages. E. P. Dutton & Co.
70 cts, net.
Jesus Christ's Men: A Progress, 1813-1913. By
Caroline Atwater Mason. With frontispiece,
12mo, 163 pages.
Griffith Rowland Press.
50 cts. net.
A Boy's offering, and Other Bible Stories. By
Oliver Oldman. 12mo, 78 pages. American Tract
Society.
Teacher Training Essentlals. By H. E. Tralle.
Part I., 16mo, 142 pages. American Baptist Pub-
lication Society. Paper, 25 cts.
BOOKS FOR THE YOUNG.
Blossom Babies: How to Tell the Life Story to
Little Children. By M. Louise Chadwick, M.D.
Illustrated, 8vo, 169 pages. Eaton & Mains.
75 cts. net.
The Bedtime Story-Books. By Thornton W. Bur-
gess. New volumes: The Adventures of Peter
Cottontail, and The Adventures of Unc' Billy
Possum. Each illustrated. 12mo. Little, Brown
& Co. Per volume, 50 cts. net.
EDUCATION.
A Study of Education in Vermont: Prepared by the
Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of
Teaching. Large 8yo, 214 pages. New York
City: Carnegie Foundation. Paper.
Bill's School and Mine: A Collection of Essays on
Education. By William Suddards Franklin.
12mo, 98 pages. Franklin, Macnutt & Charles.
50 cts.
Readings in American History. Edited by James
Alton James. 12mo, 584 pages. Charles Scrib-
ner's Sons.
BOOKS OF REFERENCE.
The American Year Book: A Record of Events and
Progress, 1913. Edited by Francis G. Wickware,
B.Sc. 8vo, 892 pages. D. Appleton & Co.
Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics. Edited by
James Hastings. Volume V. 4to. Charles Scrib-
ner's Sons.
The
Manual of Heraldry. Edited by Francis J.
Grant. Revised edition; illustrated, 12mo, 142
pages. Edinburgh: John Grant.
Subject Index to the History of the Pacific North-
west and of Alaska. Prepared by Katharine B.
Judson, M.A. 8vo, 341 pages. Olympia: Frank
M. Lamborn.
MISCELLANEOUS.
English Domestic Clocks. By Herbert Cescinsky
and Malcolm R, Webster, Illustrated from draw-
ings and photographs by the authors; 4to, 354
pages. E. P. Dutton & Co. $10. net.
The Press Gang Afloat and Ashore. By J. R.
Hutchinson. Illustrated, large 8vo, 349 pages.
E, P. Dutton & Co. $3. net.
Geriatries: The Diseases of Old Age and Their
Treatment. By I. L. Nascher, M.D.; with Intro-
duction by A. Jacobi, M.D. Illustrated, large
8vo, 517 pages. P. Blakiston's Son & Co. $5. net.
The Beginnings of Libraries. By Ernest Cushing
Richardson. Illustrated, 12mo, 176 pages.
Princeton University Press. $1. net.
Cambridge Manuals of Science and Literature. New
volumes: Natural Sources of Energy, by A. H.
Gibson, D.Sc.; The Fertility of the Soil, by E. J.
Russell; The Life-Story of Insects, by G. H.
Carpenter; The Flea, by H. Russell; Pearls, by
W. J. Dakin; Naval Warfare, by J. R. Thurs-
field; The Beautiful, by Vernon Lee; The Peoples
of India, by J. D. Anderson; The Evolution of
New Japan, by J. H, Langford; A Grammar of
English Heraldry, by W. H. St. John Hope.
Each illustrated, 12mo. G. P. Putnam's Sons.
Per volume, 40 cts. net.
Success with Hens. By Robert Joos. 12mo, 234
pages. Forbes & Co. $1. net.
The Industrial Training of the Boy. By William A.
McKeever. Illustrated, 12mo, 72 pages. Mac-
millan Co. 50 cts. net.
Eight Secrets of Happiness. 12mo, 60 pages. W. A.
Barnes & Co. 50 cts.
Stories and Toasts for After Dinner. By Nathaniel
C. Fowler, Jr. 12mo, 216 pages. Sully & Klein-
teich. 50 cts, net.
Bluebeard: A Musical Fantasy. By Kate Douglas
Wiggin, With frontispiece, 12mo, 58
pages.
Harper & Brothers. 50 cts. net.
A Silent Peal from the Liberty Bell. By Adaline
May Conway, Ph.D. 12mo, 64 pages. George W.
Jacobs & Co.
Boy's Books on Logic: A Talk, not a Treatise.
By
William Timothy Call, 18mo, 97
pages.
Brooklyn: W. T. Call. 50 cts.
American Red Cross Abridged Text-Books on First
Aid. In 4 volumes, as follows: Police and Fire-
men's Edition, Miner's Edition, Railroad Edition,
and Woman's Edition. 12mo. P. Blakiston's Son
& Co. Each, paper, 30 cts. net.
Sexology of the Bible. By Sidney C. Tapp. With
portrait, 12mo, 181 pages. Kansas City: Burton
Publishing Co. $3.
Pertinent Prose and Poetry. By John L. Perham,
with portrait, 18mo. Published by the author.
THE STUDY - GUIDE SERIES
FOR USE IN COLLEGE CLASSES
STUDIES OF THE HISTORICAL PLAYS OF SHAKESPEARE. Set of
four, $1.00. Single copy, one play, 40 cents. Special price
for use in classes.
STUDIES OF THE HISTORICAL NOVELS. Romola, Henry Esmond.
For advanced classes, clubs, etc.
THE CREATIVE ART OF FICTION. An essay for advanced students,
writers of short stories, etc.
THE STUDY OF IDYLLS OF THE KING. Advanced and critical
study of poetic narrative art.
List for secondary schools on request. Address
H. A. DAVIDSON, THE STUDY-GUIDE SERIES, CAMBRIDGE, MASS.


THE
DIAL
A Semi-Monthly Journal of Literary Criticism, Discussion, and Information
NEW LAMPS FOR OLD.
THE DIAL (founded in 1880) is published on the 1st and 16th of
each month. TERMS or SUBSCRIPTION, $2. a year in advance, postage
prepaid in the United States and Mexico; Foreign and Canadian
postage 50 cents per year extra. REMITTANCES should be by check, or
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Unless otherwise ordered, subscriptions will begin with the current
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scription is received, it is assumed that a continuance of the subscription
is desired. ADVERTISING RATES furnished on application.
Published by THE DIAL COMPANY, Fine Arts Building, Chicago.
Entered as Second-Class Matter October 8, 1892, at the Post Office
at Chicago, Illinois, under Act of March 3, 1879.
No. 666.
MARCH 16, 1914.
Vol. LVI.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
“Poetry is the breath and finer spirit of all
knowledge; it is the impassioned expression
which is in the countenance of all Science.”
The quotation is so hackneyed that we are
almost ashamed to recall it to the attention of
our readers, who must have known it by heart
all their lives, but there are times when the im-
pulse to go back to first principles becomes an
mperative mandate. “ A frequent recurrence
to the principles of civil government is absolutely
necessary to preserve the blessings of liberty."
These noble words of the Illinois Constitution
remind us of a similar urgency of obligation in
other spheres of thought than the political, and
wherever the fundamentals are flouted or ig-
nored, it behooves those who stand for sanity
and the acceptance of the ripe fruits of the
world's experience to rally around the old
standards. The parlous times in which we
live afford occasions innumerable for thus call.'
ing out the old guard, for it has become the
fashion with young people to reject everything
that has been tested in the alembic of reflection,
and to offer us in its stead all manner of raw
and fantastic imaginings. Whatever is old
must perforce be outworn; whatever is new
must be deserving of serious consideration just
because of its novelty, and the more freakish
the form of expression, the more assured the
triumph.
What we
are about to say is concerned
mainly with the art of poetry, which accounts
for the Wordsworthian text, and also for the
following collocation of words descriptive of
Chicago:
Hog Butcher for the World,
Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat,
Player with Railroads and the Nation's Freight
Handler;
Stormy, husky, brawling,
City of the Big Shoulders."
Here a word of explanation is needed. The
typographical arrangement of this jargon cre-
ates a suspicion that it is intended to be taken
as some form of poetry, and the suspicion is
confirmed by the fact that it stands in the
forefront of the latest issue of a futile little
periodical described as “a magazine of verse.”
This, then, is what the coterie responsible for
.
NEW LAMPS FOR OLD.
. 231
CASUAL COMMENT
233
A great cartoonist of the Victorian age. — The writ-
ings of the new Johns Hopkins President. - The
revival of a vanishing art. - An author's helpmate.
- The comparative delights of literature and farm-
ing. — The true cause of Dickens's death. – Public
appreciation of public libraries. — Governmental
unfairness to publishers. — A strange taste in pseu-
donyms. - A noticeable fact about juvenile fiction.
COMMUNICATIONS
236
Theodore Low De Vinne. George French.
Anti-Babel. Edgar Mayhew Baçon.
A Case of Wrongly-Ascribed Authorship. William
B. Cairns.
Precursors of the Present-Day Heroine. Floyd
Adams Noble,
“G. B. Lancaster.” William Nelson.
THE CRUISE OF A PIONEER YACHTSMAN.
Percy F. Bicknell
. 239
NEW INVESTIGATIONS OF THE MEXICAN
WAR. Frederic Austin Ogg .
240
THE LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES. Martha Hale
Shackford .
242
LABOUCHERE OF "TRUTH." Laurence M. Larson 244
THE LIFE AND ART OF THE MIDDLE AGES.
Sidney Fiske Kimball
246
RECENT FICTION. William Morton Payne
247
De Morgan's When Ghost Meets Ghost. - Cannan's
Old Mole.- Phillpotts's The Joy of Youth. – Ma-
son's The Witness for the Defence.- Hichens's The
Way of Ambition.– Mrs. Humphry Ward's The
Coryston Family.- Mrs. Wharton's The Custom of
the Country.- Mrs. Watts's Van Cleve.-Webster's
The Butterfly.- Home.
BRIEFS ON NEW BOOKS
252
A new estimate of Luther and the Reformation.
An approach to Aristotle for college students.
Christina of Denmark. - Studies of six European
dramatists. - Conservative views of popular govern-
ment.-Interesting by ways of mediæval life. -A pop-
ular preacher's miscellany.-Rural England as seen
from a motor-car. – Rambles in well-trodden liter-
ary paths.—The poetry and charm of common things.
BRIEFER MENTION .
255
NOTES.
256
ANNOUNCEMENTS OF SPRING BOOKS
257
A classified list of books to be issued by American
publishers during the Spring and Summer of 1914.
.


232
[March 16
THE DIAL
the conduct of the magazine take to belong in being set upon the bad eminence of the reviewer
the category which also includes:
who advised Keats to go back to his pills and
“Yet once more, O ye laurels, and once more ointments, we are inclined to suggest that this
Ye myrtles brown, with ivy never sere,
author would be more at home in the brickyard
I come to pluck your berries harsh and crude;
than on the slopes of Parnassus. We have
And, with forced fingers rude,
Shatter your leaves before the mellowing year.”
always sympathized with Ruskin for the splenetic
And
words about Whistler that were the occasion of
« The woods decay, the woods decay and fall,
the famous suit for libel, and we think that such
The vapours weep their burthen to the ground,
an effusion as the one now under consideration
Man comes and tills the field and lies beneath, is nothing less than an impudent affront to the
And after many a summer dies the swan."
poetry-loving public. If the “ Ahkoond of
Well, there is poetry and poetry, and it is some Swat” type of verse is to be accepted as a nor-
times instructive to place the worst in juxtapo mal form of the lyric, all the old æsthetic canons
sition with the best for the sake of the contrast, must go by the board.
just as Conductor Stock recently sandwiched a The eternal law of art as of character is
composition by Schoenberg between symphonies Goethe's
by Beethoven and Brahms in a concert pro “In der Beschränkung zeigt sich erst der Meister,"
gramme which he must have planned with a
and the aspirant for poetic laurels should be
diabolical chuckle. One was in doubt, at the
under bonds to accept its salutary tyranny.
end, whether any definition of the category Any other way lies æsthetic anarchy. Mr. Yeats
could possibly be framed comprehensive enough has recently been talking to us about the art of
to embrace the examples; and one is equally in
doubt whether the broadest definition of poetry oric must be eschewed. But rhetoric is simply
poetry, and his message seems to be that rhet-
could be made to embrace the three specimens the fine art of expression, nothing more nor less
of composition cited above, but we have to deal
than that. There is splendid rhetoric and there
with the simple fact that certain persons obvi.
is tawdry rhetoric; there is the rhetoric of ex-
ously and honestly think that the characteriza-
alted emotion and the rhetoric of conceit and
tion of Chicago blurted out in such ugly fashion fancy, but both species pay homage to some
may possibly have some relation to the divine guiding principle of expression. To condemn
art which Wordsworth defined, and Milton and all rhetoric off-hand is to condemn nearly all
Tennyson exemplified.
great poetry, to condemn, for example,
For our part, we deny the relation altogether.
« O here
The definition which should allow admission
Will I set up my everlasting rest
of these chunks of inchoate observation to the
And shake the yoke of inauspicious stars
sacred precincts of the muse would not be a
From this world-wearied flesh,'
definition of any form of art at all, for all defi- which is simply rhetoric of the most magnificent
nitions of art must say or imply that beauty is sort, for Shakespeare was the most consummate
an essential aim of the worker, and there is no rhetorician of the modern world. The thing
trace of beauty in the ragged lines we have to do is, not to deny to rhetoric its valid claims,
quoted or in the whole piece of which it is the but to learn to distinguish its nobler from its
opening. It is not even doggerel, for doggerel baser forms. Mr. Yeats is quoted as saying,
at least admits the claims of rhythm, and this at a recent literary dinner in London: “One
composition admits no æsthetic claim of any may admire Tennyson, but we cannot read
description, and acknowledges subordination to him.” This is a most damning confession of
no kind of law. We are told that the author limitation.
limitation. We hold Mr. Yeats to be a very
“left school at the age of thirteen, and worked noble poet, but he never, at his highest, achieved
in brickyards, railroads, Kansas wheat fields, a passage that could match the opening verses
etc.,'' which we can well believe. That educa of “Tithonus," above quoted, and if he “cannot
tion might have made him a poet we will concede; read” such poetry, it augurs ill for the perma-
that these unregulated word-eruptions earn for nency
of his fame, and shows his critical judg.
him that title we can nowise allow. There are ment to be well-nigh worthless.
many ways of acquiring an education, no doubt, Sir Gilbert Murray, writing the other day in
and the academic path is by no means the only “The Saturday Review," said some very wise
one that leads to culture, but in these “ hog- things about the present experimental age in
butcher" pieces there is no discernible evidence poetry, with its craze for novelty, its determi-
that culture has been attained. At the risk of nation to be original at any cost, its strident


1914]
233
THE DIAL
means of arresting attention, and its contempt Lincoln are still remembered by those whose mem-
for poetic greatness as hitherto understood. ories
go back to the war between the States; but
The passage is lengthy, but it is just what we he later acknowledged the error of his ways in
need for the close of this discussion, and we
respect to that great man, and “Punch” itself did
reproduce it in full:
the handsome and the befitting thing in both verse
and illustration when Lincoln died. It is claimed
“ The great difficulty that weighs on a poet at the
present day is, I believe, his relation to the tradition
for Tenniel's sagacity in public affairs that he only
that lies behind him. If he is the possessor of a lucky
once made a mistake in his graphic forecasts of
temperament or great genius he will probably never
events to come; and that was when he pictured
think about that relation at all. He will create what General Gordon, at Khartoum, clasping the hand
he wants to create; he will use such traditional ideas of the commander who had hastened to his relief.
and forms as come naturally to bim, and will probably That cartoon, entitled “ At Last!” was hardly
love them because he happens to love poetry. But the printed when tidings of the sadly different reality
young poet who lacks these exceptional gifts will be
of the matter reached England. Sir John has been
troubled by a thousand small devils shouting in his ear.
When he likes some poem they will say, Pooh! That
described as a typical gentleman of the old school,
went out of fashion in 1908.' When he feels a large bearing the ills of life with philosophical composure,
or high emotion they will murmur, .For heaven's sake
and endeared to the host of friends who had become
don't be Victorian! When he thinks of a good story
attached to him.
they will shiver, · Ugh! Melodrama.' When he makes
THE WRITINGS OF THE NEW JOHNS HOPKINS
a clear or wise judgment upon life they will shriek in
real alarm, • Puritanism and the end of all things!' If,
PRESIDENT, Dr. Frank Johnson Goodnow, show
discouraged, he turns to them for guidance, then
him to be a close student of municipal problems and
heaven help him! They will tell him to be at all costs
administrative law; and the record of his activities
original; to be unlike everybody else; to eschew care proves that he is no mere theorist, no studious
fully all the qualities that he finds in the good poets of recluse, no shirker of difficult duties connected with
the past. They will say to him privately, • Do not try municipal government and even larger administra-
to achieve beauty. It is hard, and no one knows it tive affairs. He served on the New York Charter
when they see it. Do not try for wisdom; people do
Revision Committee, on the Efficiency Commission
not like it. Achieve something new.
We can all tell
when a thing is new. The verses of the good old poets appointed by President Taft, and two years ago
would generally scan, let yours never scan.
Their
rendered important service in investigating the New
stories were moving, let yours be dull. Their charac-
York school system. Finally, and most important
ters were interesting, let yours be scrupulously the
of all, he has been for nearly a year special adviser
reverse. They kept an eye on truth or else on ideal on legal and constitutional questions to the President
beauty, do you carefully avoid either. They loved of the new Chinese republic. He is the author of
poetry, do you hate it. Then as long as you are new, “Comparative Administrative Law," "Municipal
you will be successful, perhaps for as much as six Home Rule,” “Municipal Problems," " Politics and
weeks.''
Administration,” “City Government in the United
States," and Principles of Administrative Law in
the United States.'
CASUAL COMMENT.
Also he has edited “Selected
Cases on the Law of Taxation,” “Selected Cases on
A GREAT CARTOONIST OF THE VICTORIAN AGE, Government and Administration,” “Selected Cases
born only a year later than Queen Victoria, and on the Law of Officers,” and “Social Reform and
knighted by her in 1893, died near the end of last the Constitution.” His college education was re-
month, full of years and of honors. Sir John Ten ceived at Amherst, whence he was graduated in
niel will long be remembered for the masterly and 1879 at the age of twenty; he then studied law at
often shrewdly-prophetic political cartoons which Columbia, and afterward continued his studies at
he contributed to “Punch” for more than forty
the Ecole Libre des Sciences Politiques in Paris,
years; but perhaps his best claim to immortality is and at the University of Berlin. In 1883 he was
to be found in his famous illustrations to those appointed instructor at Columbia, where he con-
joyous juvenile classics, “ Alice in Wonderland ” tinued to teach and lecture on administrative law,
and “Through the Looking-Glass.” A pathetic in municipal science, and kindred subjects, until his
terest attaches to the story of his life and artist call to China. He comes to Johns Hopkins well
activities from the fact that he lost the use of one equipped to guide the destinies of that great and
eye in his youth while fencing with his father, and growing university on the new site which it hopes
thus was seriously handicapped in his chosen pro-
before long to occupy.
fession; and his latter years were passed in total
blindness. “Do they suppose there is anything THE REVIVAL OF A VANISHING ART, one to which
funny about me?” he asked when he was invited literature owes an incalculable debt, was attempted
to join the staff of “Punch" in 1851. It had been by William Morris when he made a diligent study
his ambition to become a great painter, not a car. of the best examples of calligraphy and illumination
toonist and caricaturist, as proved to be his ultimate that have come down to us on parchment and vel-
destiny. His merciless caricatures of our President lum and papyrus, and turned these researches to


234
[March 16
THE DIAL
account in the making of some beautiful printed most interesting books in the world. ... A sick man
books and some choice manuscripts. More recently of letters never married into a family so well fitted to
another Englishman, Mr. Edward Johnston, of help him make the most of his powers. Mrs. Steven-
London, has been doing his part toward restoring son and both of her children were gifted; the whole
this declining art to favor. And now, on this side family could write. When Stevenson was ill, one of
of the ocean, the officials of the Newark (N. J.) | them could always lend a hand and help him out.
Public Library—or, more particularly, of the Whenever he had a new idea for a story, it met, at
Museum Association connected with the library and his own fireside, with the immediate recognition,
using a part of its building - have interested them- appreciation, and enthusiasm so necessary to an
selves in this branch of art, and are at present artist, and which he so seldom finds among
his
own
exhibiting some examples of it as executed by the blood or in his own family.” But how few of Ste-
deft hand of Miss Elizabeth H. Webb. In a brief venson's admiring readers have ever stopped to
printed announcement of the exhibition, sent out by reckon up their debt of gratitude to this exceptional
the Newark Museum Association, we read of Mr. woman, who for fifteen years held so large a place
Johnston's work in restoring this neglected craft: it his life and work.
“He is teaching it by the direct method instead of
THE COMPARATIVE DELIGHTS OF LITERATURE
by the laborious and indirect method of copying the
texts of old MSS. His theory is that with the same
AND FARMING, of menticulture and agriculture, as
tool which the old writers used, a quill pen so cut
one might express it, are presented to view in a
as to gives strokes like those found in old MSS., graphic table accompanying the current Report of the
Registrar of the University of Illinois - an elaborate
and by a careful study of each stroke made in form-
document, rich in meaning to the discerning eye.
ing letters, and by long and patient practice, present-
The table referred to does not confine itself to the
day writing can disclose the same freedom and
two branches of education named above; it shows
feeling, can be as sensitive to the writer's
power
and
the increase or decrease of enrolment by depart-
mood, and can possess the same beauty, as did the
old. These results are obviously impossible by the
ments, or colleges, during the past two decades, and
incidentally illustrates the steady and considerable
indirect method of blocking out the letters with a
growth of the college of agriculture and that of lit-
pencil and then filling in with ink.” That we are
erature and arts, as contrasted with the inferior vigor
not yet incurably corrupted by the type-writer and
or the more marked fluctuations noticeable in the
the printing press is evidently Miss Webb's and
other schools. As might have been predicted in this
Mr. Johnston's hope. A list of forty-two historic
age of extraordinary advance in the mechanic arts,
styles of lettering illustrated by Miss Webb, and of
the department of engineering shows the greatest
“ books written” by her, follows the intro-
ductory matter.
present strength; but its growth has been chiefly
within the last dozen years, and for some reason a
AN AUTHOR'S HELPMATE is seldom more truly sharp decline took place in the final year of the
helpful to her husband than was Mrs. Robert Louis record. The line denoting the ups and downs of
Stevenson, whose death has recently been reported.
the college of literature and arts registers but one
Mr. S. S. McClure, who knew the Stevensons well,
year of decline, and that a very slight falling-off,
warmly praises her in the current instalment of his while in general its course is an even ascent, neither
autobiography. “The more I saw of the Stevensons," excessively steep, nor unduly gentle. Next below
he says, “the more I became convinced that Mrs. it, and almost parallel with it, but tending in recent
Stevenson was the unique woman in the world to be years to approach and perhaps promising ere long to
Stevenson's wife. . . . When Stevenson met her, pass it, runs the line of the agricultural school, a climb-
her exotic beauty was at its height, and with this ing line without a single downward slope in its twenty
beauty she had a wealth of experience, a reach of years' course. Much else of significance might be
imagination, a sense of humor, which he had never pointed out in this rich pamphlet, but for the present
found in any other woman.
Mrs. Stevenson had it must suffice to call attention to the flourishing
many of the fine qualities that we usually attribute to
condition of literary and agricultural studies at our
men rather than women: a fairmindedness, a large State University. Surely there is fair promise for the
judgment, a robust, inconsequential philosophy of community that devotes itself largely to the tillage
life, without which she could not have borne, much of the soil and the highest culture of the intellect.
less shared with a relish equal to his own, his wander-
ing, unsettled life, his vagaries, his gipsy passion for THE TRUE CAUSE OF DICKENS'S DEATH, or at
freedom. She had a really creative imagination, least a contributory factor, has possibly seemed to
which she expressed in living. She always lived with others beside the present writer to have been a har-
great intensity, had come more into contact with the rowing perplexity over the “mystery” of Edwin
real world than Stevenson had done at the time when Drood -a mystery that the late memorable trial
they met, had tried more kinds of life, known more before Mr. Justice Chesterton has in no wise helped
kinds of people. When he married her, he married
And now there comes to notice some
a woman rich in knowledge of life and the world. comments by Mr. Clement K. Shorter in his paper,
Mrs. Stevenson's autobiography would be one of the / “The Sphere,” in which the opinion of Edmund
seven
to clear up.


1914]
235
THE DIAL
Yates on this head is cited. Some time in the seven GOVERNMENTAL UNFAIRNESS TO PUBLISHERS,
ties of the nineteenth century Yates was questioned and so, indirectly, to the buyers of those publishers'
by Mr. Charles Noverre as to the solution of “The books, is no new thing. A particular instance of
Mystery of Edwin Drood,” and the questioner has stupid and unjust taxation of literature is at present
now made public, in a letter to “The Eastern Daily exciting vehement protest from the American Pub-
Press,” the answer given by Yates; and this answer lishers' Copyright League; and all fair-minded
re-appears in “The Sphere.” “To my surprise," readers, on having their attention called to the
writes Mr. Noverre," he replied that even Dickens matter, will join in the chorus of remonstrance.
did not know, and that he really thought the trouble A recent ruling of the Treasury Department affects
to find a satisfactory solution hastened his end. He and, if it remains unreversed, is likely to prohibit
informed me that Dickens never concocted a plot, the American sale of English publications hitherto
although he had a pervading motive — such as the imported by publishers on the payment of a duty
abuses of the Court of Chancery in Bleak House' based on the actual cost to them of the imported
- when writing his novels, and positively looked edition. Now our government, feeling that it is not
for inspiration at the time when the monthly part exacting the utmost penny legally due, issues orders
had to be issued. Such a system, or want of sys-
that such books be taxed on the basis of their
tem, was bound to land him in difficulty sooner or “market price in England,” not on that proportion
later.” Who knows but it may have helped to land of the cost of production which the American dealer
him in his grave? It is a significant fact that his agrees to pay to the English publisher in return for
death occurred very soon after an urgent call from a corresponding proportion of the total issue. Is
the printer for the remaining manuscript of the there a determination in high places to reduce this
unfinished novel.
country to a condition of savagery? The penalty
PUBLIC APPRECIATION OF PUBLIC LIBRARIES is
imposed on buyers of certain works of art and pro-
gauged by the statistician in various ways: 'some-
ducts of the printing press almost inclines one to
believe this to be the case. Will it avail nothing
times he compares the population of a town with its
library registration, again he quotes the number of
to point out that the above-mentioned ruling is ut-
volumes circulated in one year for each inhabitant, terly contrary to the spirit and purpose of the late
reduction of duties on books as enacted in the
or he notes the amount of annual appropriation for
each inhabitant, or, finally, he may cite the yearly
Underwood tariff bill? Against stupidity the very
circulation of each volume in the library (estimated gods themselves contend in vain-as has been re-
marked several thousands of times since Schiller.
by dividing the total circulation for twelve months
by the number of volumes owned). Noticeable in
the current Report of what is virtually the public A STRANGE TASTE IN PSEUDONYMS was displayed
library of Baltimore — the Enoch Pratt Free Library by the enormously prolific author who wrote more
– is the closing page, which is devoted to compar-
than two hundred novels under the rather common-
ative library statistics of thirty-seven of our prin place name of “Bertha M. Clay,” and who was under
cipal cities, including Baltimore. Dr. Steiner's plea contract to continue writing them at the rate of four
for an enlargement of the central building and for a year, and also to furnish two short stories each
increased annual appropriations deserves to be heard month, for a large publishing house in London,
and heeded; and the fact of the rather niggardly when death from overwork (small wonder!) stopped
treatment which his library receives at the hands his output a few days ago. His real name, known
of the city fathers may largely account for the poor probably to not one in a thousand of his readers, was
showing it makes in some respects in the statistical Thomas W. Hanshew, and he was born in Brooklyn
table. For instance, its registration appears to be in 1857, but for the last twenty-five years had lived
considerably less than one-tenth of its population - in England. An early passion for the stage led to
a low percentage as compared with most of the other an engagement when he was but sixteen at Worth's
cities on the list. But registration figures are ad- Theatre, on the site of the present Daly's Theatre,
mittedly open to a false interpretation, active card in New York; and a few years later he played with
holders being not always distinguished from inactive. Clara Morris and Adelaide Neilson, after which he
In the circulation column we find a record equival appeared in juvenile parts, with Miss Ellen Terry.
ent to an annual lending of each volume twice and Eventually he abandoned the stage for the roman-
a small fraction over, whereas San Francisco, for cer's pen, and his popularity with a certain class of
example, and Portland (Oregon) lend each volame readers in both England and America seems to prove
almost seven times, Cleveland five times and a frac that he was not unsuccessful in his attempt to im-
tion, Chicago nearly six times, and Philadelphia prove
his fortunes. Was it in the hope of attracting
nearly five times. Boston, with its great library and the every-day sort of woman reader that he chose
comparatively small registration, shows a circulation to write under an every-day sort of woman's name?
of about one and three-quarters for each volume, If so, he apparently was not disappointed. How
and Providence a circulation of less than one and many other novelists of the sterner sex can one
one-half. New York has a creditable figure — name, off-hand, who have disguised themselves
almost five. So much for statistics.
under feminine pseudonyms?


236
[March 16
THE DIAL
A NOTICEABLE FACT ABOUT JUVENILE FICTION, practiced, that does not owe something substantial to
and one often pointed out, is the considerable excess the persevering industry and insight of Mr. De Vinne,
of good story-books for boys over similar works for
except the machine composition of type. That process,
girls. Supply and demand always tend, automati-
though he recognized its inevitability and its utility for
certain work, he always resisted as applied to good
cally, to balance each other. Does, then, the compar-
book and magazine work; but he lived to see it su-
atively small supply of good books for girls betoken
preme, even in his own shop and for the periodicals he
a correspondingly small demand? In partial proof
had made models of good typography. But he was
that this
may be the case, there comes to our notice, practically through with his active work before the
in the current annual Report of the Buffalo Public machines drove the hand work out of the periodical
Library, the following statement: “The regular field, and he was not personally obliged to modify his
Saturday morning story hour has been held as ideals to allow the machines the right of way. Up
usual, with throngs of children, mostly boys, in
to the time of the adoption of machine work for
attendance.” Why were these boys present rather
“ The Century Magazine ” and “St. Nicholas," these
than out in the ball-field, or skating on the ice, or
periodicals were models of typographical excellence.
On the “Century,” Mr. De Vinne had lavished himself.
spinning tops, or engaged in any one of a score of
He had years before devised a display type, known
favorite boyish pastimes? And what were the girls
then and now as “De Vinne," which began the revolu-
doing meantime? Was their hunger for romance tion in display typography that has not yet quite com-
appeased by their dolls and baby-carriages and play. pleted its beneficent work. He designed a type for
houses and mud-pies? And do they lack the ability the magazine that embodied many of the ideas he had
to enter into the world of make believe as presented imbibed and evolved froun his experience and study.
to them in cold print? Of course there are hun-
It was called “Century Expanded,” and for a number
dreds and thousands of book-loving girls, but as a
of years it was held for the exclusive use of the maga-
class girls do seem to show less zest for books than
zine. When it was put in use the attempt was made
to use the French form of quotation marks with it, and,
is displayed by their brothers. Here is an open
though these marks are really much more sensible and
field for research and perhaps for the discovery of harmonious than our awkward apostrophes and inverted
some significant facts and the deduction of a few
commas, readers objected to them and they were dis-
interesting general truths.
continued. This type was discarded by the magazine
some ten or twelve years ago, and was then put on the
market by the type founders. It was at once taken up
COMMUNICATIONS.
by the newspapers for advertising purposes, and has
since been one of the more popular and extensively used
THEODORE LOW DE VINNE,
body types. It is perhaps as near an ideal face as it is
(To the Editor of THE DIAL.)
possible to get, embodying extreme legibility with those
Of the men who have contributed to the development qualities of form and tone which have been found more
of the processes of printing during the last half of the agreeable and easy for the eye.
nineteenth century none is more worthy of the intelligent Mr. De Vinne's theory of printing would now be re-
appreciation of all the people than Theodore Low De garded as somewhat too conservative. His scheme for
Vinne, who, in the ripeness of a worthy life, has recently type composition was thorough, and his main idea was
passed away. His service to printing covered the entire to produce a readable page. He attained this through
period of its modern development, from the time of the careful handling of accepted forms, rather than through
practical utilization of rotary presses to the introduction innovations. He led the way in the development
and perfection of machines for setting type. About the of presswork, and from his shop came a large pro-
time he entered the printing business, some attempt was portion of the improvements in method and practice
being made to apply steam power to the operation of following the general utilization of the cylinder press.
printing presses, and it was his own firm of Francis To a certain point, he refined the processes of type-
Hart & Co. that first began to print on dry paper. setting, though as to basic principles he was a conserv-
Only a few years before he became an apprentice, Harper ative. Given the fundamentals of Caxton and the early
& Brothers used but one rotary press, and drove it by masters, he secured his distinctive results by means of
horse power, the horse (or mule) being raised by means carefully studied proportions, fitness of paper, excellent
of a tackle to the upper story where the new and novel presswork, etc. He was ultra in nothing, and was
press was installed, and let down to terra firma at night reluctant to assent to the newer ideas evolved from
in the same manner. When Mr. De Vinne started to and based upon universal principles of art, so that
learn the printing business, type-setting machines were some of his best pieces of work give one the impression
only a dream, there were but very few cylinder presses, that he was making a great effort to justify, through
nobody thought of trying to print on dry paper, and his careful and skilful employment of the older methods
only a few of the more venturesome dreamed of any and forms, the work of the old masters, rather than to
thing but man power. In his own shop, that of Francis exemplify and introduce the newer ideas of those stu-
Hart & Co., the first successful attempts were made to dents who based their convictions upon the principles of
use the cylinder press for anything but newspapers, art and the requirements of the eye. He did not sym-
cheap pamphlets, almanacs, etc. Fine printing on pathize with the extreme conservatism of William
cylinder presses was considered impossible until this Morris, for example, whose ideals all belonged to the
concern persisted in experiments, and finally discovered | eighteenth century; nor did he accept the extreme for-
how to make a form ready and produce good job work ward look of such men as Mr. D. B. Updike and Mr.
on a cylinder press.
Bruce Rogers. His were the ideals and the methods
Thus there is no department of printing, as now of the Chiswick Press, in England, which has perpetu-


1914]
237
--
THE DIAL
97
ated the work of those early printers who were obliged
ANTI-BABEL.
to obtain their results with one series of type, and who
(To the Editor of THE DIAL.)
had always before their eyes the artistic forms and
As noted in one of your recent issues, the labor of
fundamentals of the manuscript books of the highly
Ivar Aasen sixty years ago seems at last likely to result
developed artistic period before the invention of mov-
able types.
in the adoption by the people of Norway of “ Landsmaal,"
which we understand to be a reconstruction of the ancient
Mr. De Vinne's great merit was that he promoted his
language of that country.
good ideas. He was not content to be a good printer,
The rôle of prophet is not an attractive one in this
but he was always trying in his way to make other
age. The sophisticated public of to-day has a way of
priaters good printers. He was an evangelist in print- recording prognostications, and pointing the finger of
ing. He had scarcely become settled in his work before
he began to publish books about printing, and gradually
scorn at any pretended soothsayer who guesses wrong;
so that the Ezekiels and Daniels of our generation
the list became long and important. He was a writer
incline rather to staking their dollars, which they are
to the last. After his retirement from active business he
likely to lose anyway, than their reputation for sagac-
produced several books, notably the series upon “The
ity, which may be needed for the accumulation of more
Practice of Typography," comprising four volumes,-
dollars.
“Plain Printing Types,' "«Correct Composition,” “Title Therefore I shall not prophesy that the attempt to
Pages,” and “Book Composition.” He published a
book on “ The Invention of Printing” in 1876, the year
induce the people of Norway to adopt “ Landsmaal”
cannot be permanently successful; but I would like to
before he acquired the business of Francis Hart & Co.
point out that such an attempt runs counter to the trend
and made it Theodore L. De Vinne & Co.; and he has
of modern thought and economic energy, which is
been responsible for many volumes since then, the more
towards unity, and it is therefore likely to be relegated
notable being, besides the series above mentioned, “His-
to the dump-heap of pleasing but futile plans.
toric Types” and “ Christopher Plantin.” In 1910 he
We are instructed that Norway is a somewhat idyllic
issued a work on “ The Notable Printers of Italy during little monarchy where an unostentatious king may stray
the 15th Century." He wrote innumerable articles for
at large without risk of personal violence, where state
magazines and the printing trade papers, and was much
functions of the first class are conducted without undue
in demand as a speaker. He gathered a fine library of
pomp and ceremony, where titles of nobility are unknown,
works relating to printing and allied arts, and he was
and where one may roam from Christiansand to Nordkyn
acquainted with everything that happened anywhere in
without encountering either of those antipodal bugbears
the world that was of consequence to printing. It was
of civilization, the millionaire or the pauper. From this
his especial delight to show his fine books and historic
somewhat cursory view one gains the impression that
examples of the printing of the old masters. He was
Norway, if not behind the age, is certainly not conspic-
very kind to his fellow craftsmen, taking advantage of
uously travelling with it. It suggests a quiet eddy, for
every opportunity to encourage and assist them. He
a time untroubled by the turbulent current of a powerful
delighted in helping young men and boys who were
and persistent stream.
entering the business, and never wearied in counselling
Viewed in this light, Norway seems to be a likely
and directing them. He was generous to prodigality field for such an experiment as the adoption and use of
with his great store of knowledge concerning the history
and practice of printing.
a unique tongue. She is apparently not yet entered for
the world's Marathon. While her neighbors and kindred
Mr. De Vinne was for many years the most vital
are competing for the prizes in contests that demand
force in the printing business in America, dragging it not only individual preparation, but knowledge of the
out of the slough of imperfect education, bad precedent, training methods of each competitor; when men are
and commercial false doctrines. In the day of his
everywhere else awakening to the fact that progress
meridian he was the supreme authority as to correct to-day means correlative effort, Norway may for a time
typographical form and style, and his work was for
isolate herself by the adoption of a language that does
many years the best extant. To-day, even less than a
not promise to be merged in a world-language.
decade since he abandoned active control of his Press,
The exigencies of philosophy and science, no less than
he is a man of the past in the printing world. He did
of trade, are promising to compel the development of a
his work with remarkable ability and steadfast devo-
universal speech throughout the world. This impulse
tion, and he held rigidly to his ideals. When the time
will not depend upon what philologists and lovers of
came that he could not go on with the flood he anchored literature desire or demand: it will be brought about
his craft. When he died the other day we all felt keen by what the world needs to complete the great enter-
regret at the loss of the man, while realizing that a prises now begun. Already the scientist is impatient
great master printer of the near past had finished his
because of the delays incident to the necessity for pur-
career, his work having already been completed. suing his studies in several languages; the philosopher
Personally, Mr. De Vinne was a very charming man. is impatient at the opportunities for misunderstanding
He was full of the milk of human kindness, always which beset the translator; the merchant is impatient
seeking opportunity to befriend his fellows. He was
of delays and losses that are inevitable where business
popular in the craft, and in every contact with others. must be done through interpreters.
He was a big-brained and big-hearted man, and the This is not in the realm of prophecy. The late effort
success be achieved was much more than the success to invent a polyglot world-language, ingenious as it
he made of his business – he made a success of him-
was, was foredoomed to failure. . «Pidgin" has had a
self, and he helped many of his fellowmen to make
wider vogue. On the other hand the increasing preva-
successes of themselves. Nothing much better can be lence of English and German, particularly the former,
said of anyone, when the time comes that he must lay during years which some of us can recall, suggests the
down the life that has been such an opportunity for him. employment of one or both of these tongues as the
New York City, March 4, 1914.
GEORGE FRENCH. basis of a language universal. To-day about a third of


238
[March 16
THE DIAL
the earth's accounted inhabitants live under the gov ment, but it seems perhaps worth while to call attention
ernment of English-speaking nations, and with possibly through your columns to the confusion which has arisen.
not more than one exception the other tongues of Nothing is harder to correct than a false tradition con-
Christendom and Heathendom are either at a stand cerning the authorship of a brief poem, particularly
still or are actually losing ground. What is most vital when this owes its origin to a similarity of names. In
in them the English language has been for some time this case there is especial danger from the fact that the
assimilating
• Dryad Song” has a lyrical movement conspicuously
It seems no more than reasonable to expect that the wanting in most of the verse of the elder author, and
universal speech of mankind in the future will combine is just the sort of thing that a critic looking for a tak-
all that is strongest in all the living languages of the ing extract would welcome. That two critics find in
present, even as our speech has been reconstructed this end-of-the-century poem a notable expression of
from the ruined edifices of the past. Experience has the transcendentalism of 1840 is, I suppose, only an-
taught us that language is a vital, voracious, omnivorous other indication of what an intangible thing that tran-
organism. It feeds in strange pastures, and fattens scendentalism really was.
WILLIAM B. CAIRNS.
upon unreckoned food. From the Aryan Ur, and Ak,
and Om, it is a far cry to the vocabulary of a twentieth
The University of Wisconsin, March 11, 1914.
century philologist, whose storehouse is filled with the
riches of every land and of all the ages. Experience
should also teach us that the tendency in language, as
PRECURSORS OF THE PRESENT-DAY HEROINE.
in government, education, religion, manufactures, and
(To the Editor of THE DIAL.)
trade, is toward concentration.
The tendency of women in the modern novel to balk
Can we think that this movement of the centuries, at marriage is interestingly anticipated by two late-
away from Babel, will be reversed?
Victorian heroines who express themselves in a strik-
What then are the indications? If Norway attrac ingly similar way. In George Meredith’s “ The Egoist,"
tive, simple, enviable Norway — adopts a language of when De Craye mentions the supposedly-approaching
her own, a language that the rest of the world is too marriage, Clara Middleton replies: “Girls have grown
busy to learn, wbat position will Norway occupy in the sick of it.” And Sue Bridehead, in Mr. Hardy's “ Jude
general scheme of things when the next half century the Obscure," tells Jude: “ Fewer women like marriage
mark is reached? Will someone who is not afraid to than you suppose."
prophesy please answer?
EDGAR MAYHEW BACON.
“I cannot conceive a claim on anyone's life as a claim:
or the continuation of an engagement not founded on
Wingdale, N. Y., March 7, 1914.
perfect, perfect' sympathy,” says Clara Middleton.
And to Sir Willoughby she adds: “ Does not one look
like a victim decked for the sacrifice the garlanded
A CASE OF WRONGLY-ASCRIBED AUTHORSHIP.
heifer you see on Greek vases, in that array of jewelry?”.
(To the Editor of THE DIAL.)
“What tortures me,” says Sue Bridehead, “is the
I was surprised on referring recently to Mr. Reuben dreadful contract to feel in a particular way, in a matter
Post Halleck's excellent “ History of American Litera whose essence is its voluntariness.” And in witnessing
ture to find the following stanzas credited to Margaret how “ a new husband and wife came into the open day-
Fuller, later Marchioness d'Ossoli, and cited as an ex light,” she sighs: “ The flowers in the bride's hand are
pression of one of her transcendental moods:
sadly like the garland which decked the heifers of
“Come, let us mount on the wings of the morning,
sacrifice in old times."
Flying for joy of the flight,
Of course the new way of projecting the characters
Wild with all longing, now soaring, now staying,
of a novel as mere stereopticon slides that illustrate the
Mingling like day and dawn, swinging and swaying, author's lecture is hardly comparable to the creative
Hung like a cloud in the light.
genius of Hardy or of Meredith. But when one con-,
" Chance cannot touch me! Time cannot hush me!
siders some of our contemporary novels, it does not
Fear, Hope, Longing, at strife,
seem that Mr. Hardy lacked foresight when he made
Sink as I rise on, on, upward forever,
“Everybody is getting to feel as we do. We
Gathering strength, gaining breath, - naught can sever are a little beforehand, that's all."
Me from the Spirit of Life ! ”
FLOYD ADAMS NOBLE.
I was again surprised when, in response to an inquiry,
Harvard University, March 5, 1914.
Mr. Halleck cited as his authority George Willis Cooke's
“ Poets of Transcendentalism,” -- a work which, while
not very profound in its criticism, I had always sup-
“ G. B. LANCASTER.”
posed reliable as to matters of fact and texts. Mr. Cooke
(To the Editor of The DIAL.)
not only prints the poem in his selections from Margaret
Fuller d'Ossoli, but refers to it in his comments on that
I do not wonder that your reviewer used the pronoun
author.
“his” in referring to the author of that stirring and
virile story, “The Law-Bringers.” But though pos-
The stanzas quoted are from the “ Dryad Song” by sessing a most masculine pen, “G. B. Lancaster" is in
Miss Margaret Fuller of Norwich, Connecticut, and
date from a time nearly fifty years after the death of
reality a lady of very shy and reserved demeanor, Miss
the transcendental Margaret. The poem is given with
Littleton by name. Her stories of life in her homeland,
proper credit in Stedman's “ American Anthology."
New Zealand, are as vivid in their way as “The Law-
Mr. Halleck will doubtless change the plates of later
Bringers.” I wish they were available for the Amer-
editions of his book. Miss Fuller informs me that
ican reading public.
WILLIAM NELSON.
Cooke's error was the subject of some newspaper com-
Paterson, N. J., March 2, 1914.
Sue say:


1914]
239
THE DIAL
The Mew Books.
child of his teeming brain, the beautiful daughter
of his rich fancy. Crowds of welcome visitors
inspected her splendors in the weeks preceding
THE CRUISE OF A PIONEER YACHTSMAN.* her maiden voyage, and the stream of sight-
A most engaging though whimsical and wilful seers that flowed through her gangway in foreign
personality is encountered in the leading char- ports was a veritable flood. She
was,
in fact,
acter of “The Story of George Crowninshield's the first American sea-going yacht, probably
Yacht, Cleopatra's Barge, on a Voyage of Pleas the first under any flag to breast the broad
ure to the Western Islands and the Mediter-Atlantic; and only the “Jefferson," a much
ranean, 1816-1817,” which is compiled, from smaller craft built also by George Crownin-
log-book, journals, and letters, by a Crownin- shield, takes precedence of her in our yachting
shield of the present day (Mr. Francis B.) and annals.
annals. Yet her tonnage was not quite two
privately printed in sumptuous form, with inter- hundred, her length on the water line but eighty-
esting facsimiles and with illustrations from three feet, her beam a little short of twenty-
water-color sketches and other contemporary three feet, and her depth eleven feet five and
sources. “Captain George,” as we learn to one-half inches. Fifty thousand dollars was
know him in the book, was of an old Salem her then unprecedented cost, her furnishing and
sea-faring and ship-owning family, the eldest of wood-work being of the choicest quality and
six brothers, all but one of whom commanded most artistic design.
vessels before they were twenty, and at one time Of the man who caused all this magnificence
all six were on the high seas, five in command of to come into being we read that he was short
ships in the East Indies. This practical appli- in stature, five feet six inches in height, of
cation of strenuous studies in boyhood in the robust physique, and famed for his courage and
science of navigation was intended to lead event boldness. His especial pastime was to sail forth
ually to a desk in the family counting-house and after a storm in his yacht, the “ Jefferson,'
a partnership in its extensive importing business. “ taking with him extra men and stores with
But the embargo of 1809 was a death-blow to
which to render assistance to vessels which
the prosperity of the Crowninshield firm, and might have been disabled. Such duty, now done
the War of 1812 completed the ruin of Salem's by revenue cutters, was to him an exceeding
commerce. To these untoward events, however, pleasure.” Strangely enough, with all this
we are probably indebted for the conception of
hardihood and physical vigor, “Captain George
the splendid yacht that served to amuse her was a great swell and dandy. His clothes were
builder's leisure, and so led, almost a century of the latest cut and the most advanced pattern.
later, to the preparation of the volume, equally He dressed in small-clothes and Hessian boots
splendid in its way, which celebrates her first and with gold tassels. His coat was wonderful in
most memorable cruise.
cloth, pattern, trimmings, and buttons, and his
Who with a particle of romance in him could
waistcoat was a work of art." He wore a pig-
fail to take kindly to a shipmaster so enamoured
tail and a bell-crowned beaver hat, and his
of his yet unbuilt craft and her prospective per-
chosen vehicle on land was a curricle, painted
formances that he seriously purposed calling her yellow, a wonderful equipage, in which he drove
the “Car of Concordia,” and only reluctantly about to the admiration of all beholders. It is
consented to the adoption of a slightly less fan recorded to his credit that he thrice leaped over-
tastical name.
“Cleopatra's Barge” is more board at sea to rescue persons from drowning,
than any present-day yachtsman could stomach, and for one of these exploits he received the
but Captain George delighted in this product gold medal of the Massachusetts Humane So-
of his invention, and also took such pride and ciety. He also was “a skilful fireman and
pleasure in the vessel herself that he made his made several brave rescues from burning dwel-
home on board he was a care-free bachelor lings.”
as soon as she had taken on sufficient shape to The sailing of the new yacht, greatly delayed
be babitable. In design, equipment, ornament by the unusual rigors of the season, took place
ation, and every detail of outfit, she was the
March 30, 1817 — though the “story” of the
enterprise, as indicated on the title-page, begins
*THE STORY OF GEORGE CROWNINSHIELD'S YACHT,
Cleopatra's Barge, on a Voyage of Pleasure to the Western in the preceding summer. Twenty persons, all
Islands and the Mediterranean, 1816-1817. Compiled from told, were on board, including the owner of the
Journals, Letters, and Log-book, by Francis B. Crownin-
shield. Illustrated. Boston: Privately Printed. [D. B. yacht, his cousin Benjamin Crowninshield, who
Updike, Merrymount Press.]
acted as captain, the latter's son, Benjamin, Jr.,


240
[March 16
THE DIAL
who appears on the list as "
passenger," but
tions to the narrative they are of course quite in
played the important part of chronicler of the place. A good index follows the reading matter.
cruise, and Samuel C. Ward, “clerk,” wbo A concluding word on the untimely death of
also, in his master's name, wrote of much that Captain George and the ultimate fate of his
occurred, being probably the actual scribe yacht must be added. He died on board the
in
most of the letters written in the yacht-owner's 26,1817, when he was planning a second voyage,
name. There were two mates, ten seamen, and this time to England, the North Sea, and into
four boys. Touching at Fayal, Funchal, Gib- the Baltic as far as St. Petersburg. “Cleopatra's
raltar, Barcelona, Marseilles, and other Medi- Barge” was dismantled the following year, sold
terranean ports, the vessel proceeded as far as at auction for about a third of her cost, and re-
Civita Vecchia, and, after a tedious and un fitted as a mercbant vessel for the coasting service.
eventful return voyage, cast anchor once more Afterward she ran for a time as a packet between
in Salem harbor on the third of October, of the Boston and Charleston; then made the passage
same year.
The once prevalent suspicion that around the Horn to the Sandwich Islands, where
Captain George's real object in this saunter King Kamehameha I. bought her and recon-
over summer seas was to effect the escape of verted her to a yacht for his private use. But
Napoleon from St. Helena fails of anything like in a short time she was run upon a reef and
confirmation in the chronicle presented. What wrecked. Sic transit gloria maris.
we do find in the book is a good deal of rather
PERCY F. BICKNELL.
ingenuous and often amusing observation and
comment from “Philosopher Ben,” as the ship-
master's son is called, and a sufficient amount
NEW INVESTIGATIONS OF THE
of more concise and less entertaining matter
MEXICAN WAR. *
from the vessel's log-book. Also letters and
No chapter in the history of the United States
editorial intercalations and other miscellaneous
is being rewritten more assiduously in our time
items go to round out the history of the great than that relating to the war with Mexico; and
undertaking. A chapter is added on the death
it may be added that none has stood in greater
of the admirable originator of the enterprise,
need of being rewritten. The superior results
and the book closes with an account of the
which are now being attained by students of the
“ Jefferson” when she was sailing as a privateer subject are to be attributed to three new and fav-
and, despite her insignificance in size, made three oring conditions. In the first place, the lapse of
gallant captures.
time has made possible the opening of archives
As a specimen of the florid style characteristic
which contain indispensable but hitherto inac-
of “ Philosopher Ben,” the following will suffice, accessible diplomatic and other documentary
written at Barcelona:
materials. In the second place, there has grown
“ Yesterday morning I had congratulated myself on up a group of historical investigators, largely
the new regulation that was to give us a respite from
but not wholly resident in the Southwestern
the turmoil of company, whose curiosity could not be
repressed, and whose imagination had been excited into
states, who have taken it for their task to bring
wonder by the marvellous accounts circulated on shore. to bear upon the history of the Southwest the
If a supernatural being had descended from heaven to same critical acumen that other scholars have
work miracles; if an archangel had lighted on this earth; brought to bear upon the history of New En-
such things could not have been more wonderful than gland and that of the Mississippi Valley. Finally,
the arrival of the Cleopatra's Barge at Barcelona.
“ In all parts of Spain we have visited, the people the motives and consequences of the war with
have never been taught the difference betweon Ameri Mexico bore such vital relation to slavery and
cans and the inhabitants of Europe. We always pass the Civil War that no generation earlier than
as Englishmen, and it must be an enlightened man, or
our own could be expected to view them with
at least a traveller, who can make the distinction.
“ Americans are universally thought to be negroes or
entire composure or to appraise them with
ferocious savages. Accordingly the crowd asks — Was becoming judiciousness.
this built in America ? Was the furniture made there?" According to the older books – such books,
The views of various harbors visited are from at least, as were written and circulated north
water-color paintings made by someone, artis * THE UNITED STATES AND MEXICO, 1821-1848. A
tically inclined, on board; probably one of the History of the Relations between the two Countries from the
Independence of Mexico to the Close of the War with the
stewards, surmises the editor. As works of art
United States. By George Lockhart Rives. In two volumes.
they leave much to be desired; but as illustra With maps. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.


1914]
241
THE DIAL
of Mason and Dixon’s line—the annexation of illuminating but such as are not likely to sug-
Texas and the Mexican War were of a piece, gest themselves to the casual student of the sub-
and both were the products of a Southern conject. The history of the Texan question from
spiracy whose object was the acquisition of ter Jackson's attempted purchase to the admission
ritory in which the institution of negro slavery of the Lone Star State in 1845 is told in a series
might take root and flourish. This interpre- of seventeen chapters. The political and diplo-
tation of events was formulated and given cur matic issues of the period 1845–1846, relating
rency by the Free Soil statesmen of the forties to Oregon, California,
to Oregon, California, Mexican vengeance, and
and fifties. It found eloquent expression in the slavery extension, are discussed in five chapters.
writings of Lowell, Whittier, and other mid- And the remainder of the work, nineteen chap-
century anti-slavery men of letters. And it was
ters, is taken
up
with the most detailed political
embedded solidly in such contemporary histories and military history of the contest with Mexico
as those of Ripley, Livermore, and William Jay. which has ever been put in print.
Historians of a subsequent generation, notably The purpose of the author has been, in his
Von Holst, approaching the subject in a temper own words, not to pass moral judgments upon
which inclined them always to believe the worst the conduct of those whose actions have been
of the slavocracy,” took at its face value the described, but rather to endeavor to state the
word of writers whose last claim for themselves
relevant facts and allow these to speak for
was impartiality; and the distortion of facts, themselves.” This purpose has been adhered to
instead of being corrected, tended rather to be strictly throughout. The tone of the book is
aggravated.
never argumentative. The reader is brought
In the fulness of time there came the critics, face to face with certain great conclusions, but
who sought evidence, weighed conflicting testi- those conclusions follow naturally from the pro-
mony, made due allowance for prejudice, and cession of facts mustered before one's gaze, not
were at last successful in arriving at the truth from the effects of overt controversial dexterity.
of their subject. The pioneer among them was The conclusions which stand out most sharply
the late Professor Garrison. But they have
are two. The first is that the annexation of
come to be a goodly number, and not the least Texas to the United States was not the result
of them are men whose antecedents and places
of a conspiracy to extend the area of slavery.
of residence relieve them from any possible
Says Mr. Rives :
imputation of sectional motive. Indeed, the
“ The evidence is quite clear that the first occupation
ablest books that have been written to disprove of Texas by settlers from the United States was due to
the slavery conspiracy theory are both from the circumstances with which the leaders of public opinion
hands of Northern men. One is Mr. Justin H. in the South had nothing to do, and that prior to the
Smith's “The Annexation of Texas,” published
defeat of the Mexican army by the Texans at San Jacinto
there was no combined or organized movement on the
in 1911; the other is Mr. George L. Rives's
part of any political faction in the United States to
“The United States and Mexico."
encourage annexation.
The movement for annexation,
Mr. Rives's book, aggregating more than four when it began, began in Texas itself; and it was carried
teen hundred pages, is the product of laborious through, not by the South, but rather by the people of
research extending over a large number of years.
the whole Mississippi Valley. There was at all times
a strong minority in the South, and especially in the
The first impression which it yields is that of a
South Atlantic states, which was opposed to the annex-
colossal mass of facts; and although as one gets ation for the very good reason that it was feared the
into it one finds it by no means devoid of the effect of annexation would be to increase the fast-growing
quality of readableness, its final evaluation must
Northern sentiment against slavery."
be as a minute chronicle of events rather than the second important conclusion is that,
as a history laying claim to literary distinction. while the Mexican war may be regarded as, “in
Chronologically, the work begins with the nego a sense,” a war for conquest, the territory which
tiation of the Spanish treaty of 1819; it closes was sought was New Mexico and California
with the ratification of the peace of Guadalupe territory which, by the free admission of Cal-
Hidalgo. Ten chapters are consumed with houn and other pro-slave leaders, was entirely
general developments from 1819 to the rise of unfitted to support the institution of slavery.
the Texan insurrection, the most valuable be The war was a contest for territory, but not for
ing two in which there are drawn comparisons slave territory. Portions of the lands in ques-
between the social and economic conditions of tion had been sought by Jackson as president
Mexico and those of the United States. Many and by Van Buren and Webster as secretaries
of the aspects here brought out are not only 1 of state. Besides the fact that the practice of


242
[March 16
THE DIAL
civilized nations at the middle of the nineteenth “ Hematite procures for the wearer a favorable
century was not opposed to wars of sheer con hearing of petitions addressed to kings and a
quest, there were the extenuating circumstances fortunate issue of lawsuits and judgments.'
(1) that the owners and inhabitants of Califor Such are a few of the superstitions commented
nia and New Mexico had failed utterly to upon in Dr. George F. Kunz’s “ Curious Lore
develop the natural resources of the country, so of Precious Stones," — the most comprehensive,
that “every justification which could attend the scholarly, and satisfactory discussion ever printed
settlement by European nations of countries in English on the subject of precious stones and
inhabited by uncivilized races, or which could their properties.
be offered to excuse the expansion of the United The book is a treasure-house of fascinating
States over Indian territory, would in principle material, historical, critical, and anecdotal. A
apply to the conquest of California by the United widely varied list of topics is treated, including
States,” and (2) that for the conduct of the histories of famous gems, accounts of collectors,
United States in this instance there was an exact records of superstitions still alive not only among
precedent, i. e., the acquisition of the Floridas savage or backward races but among the most
from Spain upon the very grounds which here civilized peoples. We read that Madame Maeter-
applied — indebtedness for outrages committed linck “ wears a diamond suspended on her fore-
upon American citizens, inability to give satis head because her husband believes that this brings
faction in money, the derelict condition of the good fortune to the wearer.”. The significance
country sought, and the urgent desire of the of various colors is explained : “ Blue on a man's
United States for expansion to a natural frontier. dress indicated wisdom and high and magnani-
The conduct of the United States in relation mous thoughts; on a woman's dress, jealousy
to Texas, Mexico, and the Mexican dependen- in love, politeness and vigilance. Friday and
cies may or may not be defensible. Mr. Rives
Venus were represented by blue, and the
considers that it is defensible. But the matter celestial-hued sapphire was the stone in which
of present moment is that responsibility for that this color appeared in all its beauty.” There
conduct shall be placed, and that the motives is very full treatment of stones in relation to
controlling it shall be interpreted, in accordance religious observances, and in connection with
with the preponderance of impartially consid medicine.
ered evidence. This service Mr. Rives must be Those who have an instinctive feeling for the
regarded as having rendered. The credit is not glowing color of precious gems, and those who
wholly his; for other students of the subject enjoy whatever is associated with quaint and
have established independently a good many of potent superstitions, will delight in this volume.
his points. But by no one have the best results Belief in the occult virtues of precious stones is
of scholarship within the field been amassed so of great antiquity, and for centuries these beliefs
industriously or with equally telling effect. have been handed down, varying in many ways
The foot-notes abound in references to man yet preserving their essential outlines. Students
uscript and printed materials in English, French, of folk-lore have ignored this subject, strangely
and Spanish. In a bibliography appended to enough; and so, too, have students of literature.
the second volume the books which are cited in In Dr. Frazer's “Golden Bough,” superstitions
the course of the work are listed. There is, also, about stones are dismissed with very slight
an excellent index.
FREDERIC AUSTIN OGG.
notice, almost no effort being made to penetrate
their significance in human history. Critics of
mediæval and of Renaissance literature pass by
allusions to precious stones, giving only vague
THE LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES.*
explanations which do not even hint at the far-
“Emerald sharpens the wits, confers riches reaching nature of the allusions.
and the power to predict future events. To Dr. Kunz, who is a scientist of eminence, a
evolve this latter virtue it must be put under
well-known authority on minerals, and the
the tongue. It also strengthens the memory.'
author of various learned articles and treatises,
“If a piece of malachite is attached to an in- has for twenty-five years been collecting mate-
fant's cradle, all evil spirits are held aloof and rial in this field; his pronouncements are there-
the child sleeps soundly and peacefully.” fore of the greatest value and interest. His
attitude towards the subject is free from preju-
* THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES. By George
dice. He tells us that in his investigations he
Frederick Kunz, Ph.D. Illustrated in color, etc. Phila-
delphia: J. B. Lippincott Co.
“has never found the slightest evidence of any.


1914]
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THE DIAL
thing transcending the acknowledged laws of only be discovered by night- an old fancy -
nature. Still, when we consider the marvellous so was the Incarnation a hidden mystery; it
secrets that have been revealed to us by science gave forth a great light, just as Jesus illumined
we are tempted to think that there may be the depths of Hades when he descended thither;
something in the old beliefs, some residuum of it was unconquerably hard, and who can resist
fact, susceptible indeed of explanation, but very the might of God ?”'
different from what a crass scepticism supposes The student of literature would be glad if a
it to be.” Written from such an open-minded final chapter in Dr. Kunz's volume had been
yet scholarly point of view, the book possesses devoted to allusions to precious stones in English
the caution that should belong to scientific literature. There is much material for such a
writing, together with the charm that surrounds chapter, and scant justice has been done by
occult matters.
previous commentators to passages where Dr.
Sir Thomas Browne's “ Inquiry into Vulgar Kunz could add some interesting notes. Much
Errours" is a work to be mentioned in connec- might be said, for instance, about the carbuncle.
tion with Dr. Kunz's. He of the seventeenth A mediæval lover, writing a lyric to his lady,
century who in matters of religion agreed with compares her to ten different gems, and con-
Tertullian that “Certum est quia impossibile cludes by choosing the carbuncle for his supreme
est was strangely concerned about the credu- metaphor. Allusions to the carbuncle in the
lity of his age in the matter of occult powers of “Romance of the Rose,” in the metrical ro-
herb and stone and beast, and he endeavored to mances, and in Chaucer's works are to be
bring his generation out of bondage to supersti- found. Shakespeare, in “Coriolanus” (I., 4.
tion. Dr. Kunz, reflecting on the too rigid 55), makes one of the characters speak thus of
sanity and rationalism of our day, endeavors to Coriolanus :
quicken our sense of the mystery and romance “ A carbuncle entire, as big as thou art,
in these symbolic stones. Here is a paradox
Were not so rich a jewel.”
after Browne's own heart!
In “ Antony and Cleopatra” (IV., 8. 28) we
The sources of Dr. Kunz's information are find “carbuncled like holy Phoebus' car," and
various. He has expert knowledge of the stones in “Cymbeline" (V., 5. 189) “a carbuncle
themselves, and he has a famous collection of of Phoebus' wheel.”
of Phoebus' wheel.” The ever-luminous and
treatises on various phases of the subject. He glowing hue of this stone, often identified with
has studied the works of the early writers, the the ruby, and its power to give its wearer
pseudo-Aristotle, Pliny, Isidorus of Seville, success in battle and to endow a man with
Albertus Magnus, Bartholomæus Anglicus, lordship and mastery,” are not pointed out by
Camillo Leonardo, Thomas Nichols, Robert commentators.
commentators. It is a sign of good omen that
Boyle, C. W. King, and others who have en the New Variorum edition of "Cymbeline” does
deavored to give scientific worth to their discus discuss the ancient lore of the carbuncle ; but
sions in this field. Another series of compositions, the treatment is by no means adequate. Haw-
the lapidaries, or stone books, affords material thorne's “The Great Carbuncle," also, should
more distinctly uncritical and fanciful. The surely be read with some remembrance of these
most famous of the lapidaries was that of Mar-old traditions.
bodus, the twelfth century Bishop of Rennes, The Middle English poem, “The Pearl,” has
who discoursed in Latin verse on the appearance,
aroused discussion in this respect, and by a few
properties, and virtues of fifty stones. His scholars the lore of stones has been inquired into
material was drawn from popular mediæval rather industriously.
rather industriously. Much more ought to be
tradition, probably of remote Eastern origin; done, however, especially in connection with the
and so wide was the interest in his subject that Renaissance. Through the influence of Italy
many translations were made into Old French, and of Spain, where special manifestations of
often with additions of Christian symbolism. interest in stones were evident during the Re-
The vogue of the bestiary, of the volucrary, naissance, not only Shakespeare, but Spenser,
and of the lapidary was widespread in the later Lyly, Greene, Lodge, and others were touched
Middle Ages, and ecclesiastics were not slow to by the fashion. The “Diana" of Montemayor
take advantage of this situation to point out gleams with precious stones; “ Euphues” con-
sermons in stones. “ The religious symbolism tains many an allusion, by way of simile or
of the diamond was a favorite theme with the metaphor, to the subject; and an investigation
thirteenth century lapidaria.' Just as it could of the period from 1550 to 1650 would doubtless


244
[March 16
THE DIAL
reveal some very significant truths regarding stranger to the nation: he was widely known for
this aspect of the New Learning.
his connection with various newspaper ventures,
The book is fully illustrated. Some of the the “Daily News," the “World,” and “Truth."
plates in color are unusually successful, and add The chapter on Labouchere as a journalist is
very greatly to the value of the treatise. There contributed by Mr. R. Bennett, the editor of
is also an ample index.
“ Truth.” In this, and incidentally in other
MARTHA HALE SHACKFORD. chapters, we are given full information as to
the history, aims, and editorial methods of
“Truth,” — which, by the way, Labouchere at
first intended to call the “Lyre.” “Truth”
LABOUCHERE OF “TRUTH.”*
was the terror of all who tried to humbug the
In 1880 there appeared in the English parlia- public; frequently the plain speech of the editor
ment a man whom Justin McCarthy once char- led to suits for libel, and occasionally Labou-
acterized as “the most amusing speaker in the
chere had to pay heavily for his amusement;
House of Commons.” This member was Henry but as he was very wealthy, he did not mind a
Labouchere, who had been returned from the loss now and then.
radical borough of Nottingham. There have, no
The author feels called upon to explain why
doubt, always been wits at St. Stephen's; but a man of Labouchere's type should desire a seat
Labouchere's humor had a quality of its own.
in parliament. “Curiosity had been his induce-
He seemed more like a jester than a wit: he never ment in the first place, and secondly, a conviction
seemed to speak in real earnest; and yet his
that the House would benefit considerably from
hearers soon came to realize that few members contact with so sound a radical as himself.”
were more serious and more persistent in their Curiosity was a very real ingredient in Labou-
aims than the terrible radical from Nottingham. chere's make-up. It had led him into a great
For twenty-five years the House listened to his variety of fields and had brought him a great
droll speeches, till be withdrew from parliament many interesting experiences. In the words of
in 1905. He died in January, 1912.
Mr. Bennett,
Mr. Algar Labouchere Thorold, a nephew
“ When he first took up journalism he was nearly
of Henry Labouchere, has recently published a
forty, and he had had an unrivalled experience of all
phases of life, extending from Jerusalem to Mexico.
biography of this unusual man. It happens too
Among other things, he had spent ten years as an
often that memoirs and biographies written by attaché in six or eight different capitals; he had gambled
near kinsmen show less judicious treatment than in nearly every casino in Europe; he had travelled with
one should wish to see: praise is often too freely
a circus in America; he had run a theatre in London;
he had sat in the House of Commons; he had dabbled
bestowed, and unpleasant facts are overlooked
in finance in the city."
or suppressed. Mr. Thorold's work, however, To complete the list, we may add that he had
seems to be entirely free from these common
faults ; his narrative appears to be candid, spent several months with the Chippewa Indians
somewhere in Minnesota; perhaps this, too,
straightforward, and honest. Labouchere lived
counted in the preparation for public life in
through a great age in English history; he
shared in the discussion and solution of many
England.
problems of tremendous importance; he was one
Mr. Thorold gives a chapter to the exposition
of the most prominent members of the British
of his uncle's radical creed, which should be of
some interest to American readers, inasmuch as
parliament. It is, therefore, bis public career
that Mr. Thorold is most interested in, and which
his radicalism had an American origin.
he deals with at greatest length. His private
“I was caught young and sent to America; there I
imbibed the political views of the country, so that my
life, his strange personality, his many eccentrici-
Radicalism is not a joke but perfectly earnest. My
ties and peculiarities, are also duly considered; opinion on most of the institutions of this country is that
but the author is not tempted to give them of Americans -- that they are utterly absurd and ridic-
undue importance.
ulous."
Labouchere was not a stranger to the House
Labouchere believed in republicanism, but real-
when he took his seat in 1880; he had served a ized that monarchy could be rendered harmless
brief term earlier, but his parliamentary career and might serve a useful purpose; he believed,
really begins with the later date. Nor was hea however, that the institution should be made
less expensive, and that the court ceremonial
*THE LIFE OF HENRY LABOUCHERE, By Algar Labou-
chere Thorold. With portrait. New York: G. P. Putnam's
should be simplified. He would abolish the
Sons.
House of Lords, and preferred a single chamber


1914]
245
THE DIAL
government.
The duration of parliament, he and factions during the five months before
thought, should be reduced to three years, and Gladstone's first Home Rule Bill met its defeat.
the members should be paid. The Anglican This is one of the most illuminating chapters
Church should be disestablished, and its rev in the volume. It shows Labouchere in the
enues used to finance a system of public schools. capacity of “political broker”; for almost every
His ideal public school system was that of shade of opinion finds expression in these letters.
Illinois, the excellences of which he described With the genial editor of “Truth” all could
in “The Fortnightly Review” (1884). On the deal, and through him opponents were able to
subject of land reform he also held advanced enter into new relations. Many of the letters
and decided opinions. He was, for a time, were written to Mr. Chamberlain, and the effort
almost the only prominent Englishman who seems to be to find some ground on which all
favored Home Rule for Ireland. In a speech the radical factions could stand. The letters
delivered in 1885 he summed up his beliefs in also throw much light on the genesis of the Bill.
a sentence that was also borrowed from the It cannot be said that the correspondence shows
West: “Coming to his Radical creed he said Mr. Chamberlain's part in the Liberal split in
that England should become a democracy, by the most favorable light: he evidently had given
which he meant the rule of the people by the his radical friends some reason to think that a
people and for the people.”
Home Rule Bill which would be satisfactory to
We should expect ideas of this sort among himself could be framed; but later his efforts
members of the Labor Party, but coming from appear to have been directed toward making
an English gentleman of great wealth and such an outcome impossible. The letters also
social standing they have a strange sound. But show that there was much dissatisfaction among
the author assures us in the preface that La- the radicals with Gladstone's leadership at this
bouchere was not an Englishman. He was of critical time.
Huguenot ancestry, and French “he remained The author has given several chapters to
to the day of his death, French in his method | Labouchere's connection with Irish affairs, and
of formation of opinion, in his outlook on life, in these, too, much important documentary ma-
in the peculiar quality of his wit.”
terial has been included. It is made perfectly
“ He once observed to me, in his whimsical way, of a
clear how the radical leader, who was at one
colleague, that the mere denial of the existence of God time, if anything, opposed to Home Rule, so
did not entitle a man's opinion to be taken without
soon became such a staunch supporter of the
scrutiny on matters of greater importance. No 'mere
Englishman could have said that."
Irish cause : it was the injustice that Ireland
suffered that drove him into the Nationalist camp.
Labouchere did not expect to see his radical
A full account is also given of his part in the
programme carried out by the Liberal Party; exposure of the Piggott forgeries. The Brad-
which was still dominated by an influential
Whig element. Nor did he hope much from laugh incident is discussed in a separate chapter.
Mr. Bradlaugh was Labouchere's colleague and
the great statesman whom he was the first to
the genial radical was one of his ablest sup-
speak of as “the Grand Old Man.” His hopes
centred about Joseph Chamberlain, who would Socialism” is chiefly a report of a debate at
6. Labouchere and
porters. The chapter on
surely, he thought, succeed Gladstone as prime Nottingham between Labouchere and the So-
minister; and his plan was to organize a radical cialist leader, Mr. Hyndman.
party which, in alliance with the Irish, would
The author has also discussed his uncle's
be strong enough to take up the fight with the
attitude toward Gladstone's Egyptian policy and
Lords and the Established Church. But Cham-
the South African war,— or Mr. Chamberlain's
berlain proved a great and bitter disappoint-
ment, and after the Liberal Unionist secession Jingo. He was sympathetic toward the Mahdi,
Labouchere was never a
war, as he called it.
Labouchere's aggressive spirit left him.
and had some slight correspondence with the
“ He continued the war with abuse of privilege, ab-
surdity consecrated by tradition, and the other heads of
exiled Egyptian leader, Arabi Pasha; the letters
the hydra with which his party fought, but the tone of
are included in the narrative. In the South
his attacks was not the same as before the Home Rule African struggle his sympathies were with the
split.”
Boers, and he held that the war was immoral as
The chapter on the split in the Liberal Party well as expensive. He was a member of the
is composed exclusively of letters, most of them select committee that was appointed to investi-
from Labouchere's pen, dealing with the nego- gate the circumstances of the Jameson Raid, and
tiations that were carried on between parties he dissented very strongly from the findings of


246
[March 16
THE DLAL
the majority. He had a suspicion that the colo ing to the personal form in which the book
nial office had guilty knowledge of this raid; originally appeared. A niece or nieces are
but his efforts to have the investigation turned imagined, to whom (though they are soon enough
in this direction were blocked by the committee. forgotten) the various aspects of the Middle
As Labouchere's parliamentary activities Ages are supposed to be interpreted. Readers
touched nearly all the great problems of his are warned that they also must enter into per-
long career, a complete history of his life would sonal relations with the author - that for the
have to include a great deal of political history. moment they must become nieces. “St. Michiel
But the biographer has not yielded to the de la Mer de Peril,” “La Chanson de Roland,”
temptation to write at length on Labouchere's “The Court of the Queen of Heaven," "Les
6 times." “I have endeavored to concentrate Miracles de Notre Dame,” are the appetizing
my own (and I hope my readers') attention on titles of certain of the chapters set before them.
Labouchere himself.” In this he has succeeded; Mont-Saint-Michel and Chartres are chosen as
and yet a slightly fuller statement of the prob- supreme embodiments of the time in art; con-
lem and the factors that contributed to its solu- sideration of their architecture, their glass, and
tion would in almost every instance help the their carving provides a filament on which are
general reader to understand more thoroughly strung, somewhat loosely and arbitrarily, the
the part that bis subject took in the discussion. | jewels of mediæval literature and thought.
In his preface the author has introduced a The fundamental unity of the book is not in
splendid characterization of Labouchere, which its method or in its title, but in its real sub-
is a very interesting and valuable part of the ject — the Middle Ages as a whole. Its im-
work.
LAURENCE M. LARSON. plicit idea is that the different manifestations
of the Middle Ages, more perhaps than of any
other period, are each intelligible only in the
THE LIFE AND ART OF THE MIDDLE AGES.* light thrown by the others. Architecture must
be elucidated by poetry and religion, religion
In the edition of Mr. Henry Adams's “ Mont | by chivalry and art and philosophy. If here
Saint-Michel and Chartres,” just issued, a book and there fragments are thrown pell-mell into
privately printed ten years ago and modestly the crucible, it does not prevent their fusion,
esteemed by its author is now given to the and the sympathetic reader will not be disturbed.
public under the distinguished patronage of the To a certain extent the old chroniclers and
American Institute of Architects. Within the the modern writers are left to speak for them-
limited circle which has hitherto been privileged selves, even in their native tongue, with Mr.
to read it, few books have aroused a more in Adams to act as interpreter. More often they
tense enthusiasm. The fascination of the Middle
are condensed and paraphrased, with plenteous
Ages, with their devotion, their ardor, their comment of the author's own. A scholar might
faith, shining through its pages, has revealed a prefer his Viollet-le-Duc or Abbé Bulteau,
world not ours.
his Roland, Aucassin, Abelard, or Thomas of
In the prefatory note, Mr. Ralph Adams Aquino, taken clear; or in his own mixture
Cram, to whose
energy
the
present publication compounded with judicious footnotes. But the
is due, has himself reviewed the book to the book is not written for scholars, and most read-
admiration and the despair of a reviewer: ers will perhaps welcome a method which intro-
“ To say that the book was a revelation is inadequately duces them to so many interesting worthies they
to express a fact; at once all the theology, philosophy, might not otherwise meet, and which places them
and mysticism, the politics, sociology, and economics,
the romance, literature, and art of that greatest epoch
together at their ease.
of Christian civilization became fused in the alembic of
Of architecture Mr. Adams could not deal as
a unique insight and precipitated by the dynamic force intimately as he does without some technicalities.
of a personal and distinguished style."
If these confuse, one will be wise to postpone
“ And it is not a thin simulacrum he raises by some
doubtful alchemy; it is no phantasm of the past that
certain parts of the book to be read, as the
shines dimly before us in these magical pages; it is the
author intended, on the spot. As a picture of
very time itself in which we are merged."
Mont-Saint-Michel easier to realize, though
The means by which this result is accom-
more general in its traits, some may enjoy
plished have a trace of whimsicality, correspond-
comparing Maupassant's, which makes not the
least delightful part of “Notre Cæur.”
* MONT-SAINT-MICHEL AND CHARTRES. By Henry
Adams. With Introduction by Ralph Adams Cram. Illus-
Mr. Adams is concerned not so much with de-
trated. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.
scription as with vitalization. He interprets the


1914]
247
THE DIAL
entire life of the Middle Ages as an assertion, in
RECENT FICTION.*
defiance of evidences of relativity and dissonance,
that the world is an obvious and sacred harmony.
Whatever else may be said of Mr. De Morgan's
St. Thomas declared this in theology, as the
new novel, “When Ghost Meets Ghost,” it must be
cathedral builders declared it in art.
admitted to be “filling.” There are no less than
862 closely-printed pages, running to something
Every inch of material, up and down, from crypt to
approximating half a million words. This implies
vault, from man to God, from the universe to the atom,
had its task, giving support where support was needed,
an exaggeration of the sort of genial garrulity with
or weight where concentration was felt, but always with
which the author has supplied us from the first, but
the condition of showing conspicuously to the eye the
we cannot find it in our heart to blame him for it,
great lines which lead to unity and the curves which con-
the sum total of the effect being as delightful as
trolled divergence; so that from the cross on the fleche acquaintance proves it to be. Mr. De Morgan's
and the keystone of the vault, down through the ribbed later performances have proved sadly disappointing
nervures, the columns, the windows, to the foundation to lovers of “Joseph Vance," but the new work
of the flying buttresses far beyond the walls, one idea brings back the old charm, and we revel in its
controlled every line; and this is true of St. Thomas's
excursions and divagations as belonging to the lei-
Church as it is of Amiens Cathedral.”
surely Victorian manner which it restores to our
“ The trouble was not in the art or the method
literature of fiction. It will not do to skip anything,
or the structure, but in the universe itself, which for the author delights in supplying the clues to his
presented different aspects as man moved.” intricate plot in a casual or even furtive way,
and
Even this instability, which the builders thought the most seemingly insignificant detail may turn
they had conquered, is implicit in their work. out to have been a signpost for our feet as they pur-
“The peril of the heavy tower, of the restless vault,
sue their devious way through the labyrinth of his
of the vagrant buttress; the uncertainties of logic, the
invention. The scene of the story is laid in the
inequalities of the syllogism, the irregularities of the fifties of the last century, and its roots strike back
mental mirror, — all these haunting nightmares of the into the soil of the century before. Two octogena-
Church are expressed as strongly by the Gothic cathe rian women, who make their appearance under
dral as though it had been the cry of human suffering, unrelated sets of circumstances, are soon surmised
and as no emotion had ever been expressed before or is
likely to find expression again."
to be twin sisters, separated early in life, and each
persuaded through certain villainous machinations
“Truth indeed,” says Mr. Adams, “may not that the other has long since passed away. Slowly
exist; science avers it to be only a relation; but the narrative works its way toward revelation of
what men took for truth stares one everywhere the chapter of fateful accidents, toward mutual dis-
in the eye and begs for sympathy." Nowhere covery and recognition. Thus is the puzzling title
is this more true than at Mont-Saint-Michel and justified. It requires nearly seven hundred pages
at Chartres. The miraculous vision above the
to lead to this consummation, and then many pages
waters is only less moving than the solemn,
more to complete the process of enlightenment and
hushed retreat within the jostling town. For-
adjustment. During the process, we make many
fresh starts, and accumulate a bewildering collec-
tunate will he be whom the book may lead as
tion of loose ends, but finally they are all shown to
a true pilgrim to these shrines.
be in relation, and the pattern becomes complete.
SIDNEY FISKE KIMBALL. Humble folk and people of high station alternate
in claiming our interest until in the end the interest
is seen to be common to both groups. The figures
An instructive and valuable report on “ The People
of the Eastern Orthodox Churches, the Separated
drawn from humble life are the most sympathetic
Churches of the East, and Other Slavs,” prepared by a * WHEN Ghost MEETS Ghost. By William De Morgan.
Commission of the Missionary Department of New En New York: Henry Holt & Co.
gland, and presented at the Council of the Department OLD MOLE. By Gilbert Cannan. New York: D. Apple-
held at Providence in 1912, is published by the Com-
ton & Co.
mission and obtainable from The Young Churchman
THE JOY OF Youth. By Eden Phillpotts. Boston:
Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Carefully prepared
Little, Brown, & Co.
accounts are given of the Greeks, Syrians, Slavs, Arme-
THE WITNESS FOR THE DEFENCE. By A. E. W. Mason.
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
nians, and Albanians, with reference to their religious
THE WAY OF AMBITION. By Robert Hichens. New
and also their educational status and the extent to which
York: Frederick A. Stokes Co.
they are represented in our immigrant population. The
THE CORYSTON FAMILY. By Mrs. Humphry Ward.
tables of statistics and the bibliographies present in New York: Harper & Brothers.
compact form much that will be especially helpful to
THE CUSTOM OF THE COUNTRY. By Edith Wharton.
those library workers and others who are engaged in New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
uplifting and Americanizing these in-flocking aliens
VAN CLEVE. By Mary S. Watts. New York: The
seeking to better their lowly condition in a new country. Macmillan Co.
The pamphlet, one hundred and twenty pages in length, THE BUTTERFLY. By Henry Kitchell Webster. New
holds a mass of information not to be found in any other York: D. Appleton & Co.
single publication.
HOME. New York: The Century Co.


248
[March 16
THE DIAL
and appealing, owing to the Dickens-like quality of novels under false pretenses, but their brilliancy as
the author's powers of characterization and humor essay writing saves them from failure. They are
ous description. The flow of quips and conceits is primarily vehicles for the expression of ideas —
unceasing, and enlivens the narrative at every point. a pale reflection of life — rather than of life itself.
No summary of the plot may be attempted in any Mr. Candan shows us that he can do this trick with
space at our disposal, and we must be content with the best of his fellow-writers, and the result is clearly
the hints above given concerning the ingenuity and worth while, but it is not what we expect from such
lovable human quality of this voluminous work. It a brilliant opening as that with which he has pro-
is worth a whole wilderness of the popular novels vided us in the present instance.
of the day.
A wide departure from his accustomed style and
"Round the Corner" established the position of setting is offered us by Mr. Eden Phillpotts in
Mr. Gilbert Cannan among the half dozen or so of “The Joy of Youth.” From Dartmoor to Florence
living English novelists who count the most. It is, is a far cry, and the substitution of sophisticated
then, with unusual flutterings of expectation that art jargon for peasant dialect further emphasizes
we turn to his new novel, “Old Mole,” further de the contrast. The artist hero casually stumbles
scribed as “The surprising adventures in England against the heroine in the British Museum, and
of Herbert Jocelyn Beenham, M.A., sometime starts a conversation with her.
sixth-form master at Thrigsby Grammar School in “I love art,' she said.
the County of Lancaster.” The opening chapters
"• Do you? I love apricot jam, and a girl, and several
certainly relate a surprising adventure. Beenham,
other things — not art. That's too big a business for love.
Art's my life.'
after a blameless life of twenty-five years spent in "• Well, you can love your life,' she said quickly.
teaching the classics to grubby schoolboys who unan "Good !, he answered. “You're right and I'm wrong.
imously resent this attack upon the citadel of their You can love art - in the same large sense that you can
ignorance, finds himself one day in a railway car-
love your life or your religion — if you've got one.'
“I'm an artist myself,' she deliberately declared; but he
riage, and attempts to console an obviously distressed
regarded her doubtfully.
damsel who is the only other occupant of the com “You hardly fill the bill too much the very, very latest
partment. His benevolent intentions are miscon- | thing in clothes.'
strued; she raises a cry which resulte in delivering The acquaintance thus breezily begun develops
Beenbam into the hands of the police, and the re into a romance, and eventually into an exchange of
sulting scandal blasts his career as a mentor of youth. pledges, although the girl is betrothed to a country
The prosecution having been dropped, Beenham gentleman who is an embodiment of all the phil-
cultivates the acquaintance of the young woman,
istine virtues, which his speech from time to time
and she gives herself up to his protecting care. She sets forth in ironical terms of the author's choosing.
has a mountebank uncle who heads a company of
Her queer acquaintance is frowned upon by her set,
strolling players, and with this company the two and he shocks them by the freedom of his speech.
join their fortunes, the girl as an amateur recruit, But he prevails upon the girl to visit Florence, and
the man as capitalist patron, adviser, and friend in there he constitutes himself her cicerone and mentor,
Beenham undertakes the girl's neglected enlarging her vision considerably, and emancipating
education, and soon establishes with her a tenderer her from her conventional ideas. She keeps up the
relation than that of pedagogue. As his wife, she pretence of her engagement until its continuance
developes dramatic talent, and rises from humble becomes obviously impossible, and finally breaks
beginnings into stellar prominence, her husband away from all the old routine of comfortable respect-
being her faithful attendant and travelling com-
ability. The hero is a very fighty youth, fed up
panion. The rest of the story has to do with the on Schopenhauer and Nietzsche and Bergson, and
advent of a young man, one of Beenham's former spouting his ideas with great volubility. His talk
students, who falls in love with his wife. After about art is packed with vital thought, and his gen-
little inward raging, which results in no violent de-
violent de- uine passion for Italy is imparted to the reader as
monstration, Beenham accepts the situation, and lets well as to the girl. There are some beautiful pages
the pair depart with his blessing. The story is a about the city of the Arno, and altogether much
thin one, for this is the whole of it, and the reader succulent rhetoric upon many themes. It is not at
must console himself for the lack of moving incident
all the métier of Mr. Phillpotts, but we are glad
and dramatic action by his enjoyment of the ironical
that he has taken it up by way of variety.
commentary upon life, as reflected in Beenham's It seems to us that Mr. A. E. W. Mason gives us
consciousness. This is the real substance of the something less than the best of his craftsmanship in
work, much as it is the substance of the masterpieces “The Witness for the Defence.” The story is inter-
of M. Anatole France, or of the later books of esting, as a matter of course,
and holds us in suspense
Messrs. Wells, Locke, and Galsworthy. All the until the end is neared, but it leaves an after taste
books of this type, now so prevalent, are snares for that is not quite pleasant. Stella Ballantyne, the
the novel-reader, luring him by a dramatic opening heroine, is married to an Anglo-Indian official of
into regions of psychological analysis and social high rank, who is a confirmed drunkard, and who
philosophy that he would not be likely to explore abuses her when in his cups. After life has thus
at all if presented in formal fashion. They are been made a hell for her for eight years,
she shoots
a


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THE DIAL
him (presumably in self-defence) one night when flown phrases about helpfulness and devotion and
they are in encampment. She is brought to Bombay the like. Having got him into her clutches, she
for trial, and at the last moment a witness appears cajoles him into attempting commercial success with
who gives evidence that results in her acquittal. He an opera,
and the main part of the story is given to
is a man who had loved her in her girlhood, and the composition of this work, and to the intrigues
who had visited her at the encampment for an hour connected with its production. It is taken up by
just before the commission of the crime. His per an American impresario, given a presentation in
jured testimony runs to the effect that Ballantyne New York, and falls flat.
New York, and falls flat. The moral of the story
lived in constant terror of assassination at the hands is that the failure is deserved, because the composer
of natives, and that upon the night of the visit in has been persuaded to adopt a vehicle unfitted for
question, both he and his guest had seen a dark hand his genius.
The efforts of his ambitious wife are
and arm reaching under the flap of the tent in the well-meant, but they divert his powers into wrong
effort to seize a despatch-box. This was a drunken paths, and make him false to his deepest convic-
delusion on Ballantyne's part, but Thresk, the witness, tions. The chastening that results is probably a
accepts it as something seen by himself. The scene good discipline for his spirit, but we feel that it
then shifts to England, where Stella is once more might have been spared him without real loss. Of
living in her childhood home, treated more or less course, Mr. Hichens is a brilliant novelist, and has
as an outcast because of her notoriety, in spite of the made much of this thin material, but we miss the
fact that she has been legally cleared. A young creative power displayed in “The Garden of Allah.”
army officer makes her acquaintance, champions her A searching and poignant study of the conflict
cause, and wins her love. Family opposition to the between the older and the younger generations is
match forces him to contract a secret marriage, and given us in “The Coryston Family,” by Mrs.
just after this, Thresk intervenes, saving her from Humphry Ward. The milieu of the novel is that
suspicion by appearing again as a “witness for the which the author knows best - the English society
defence,” this time in the family circle instead of in of government leaders, titled gentry, and aristocratic
a court of justice. Then, in a private interview, he families. It goes without saying that this society
puts it up to Stella that she cannot marry the officer is described from accurate observation and with
unless she reveals the whole truth. As the marriage essential truthfulness, and that the technique of the
has already taken place, this plea does not do very performance is in every respect admirable.
much to clear up the complication, but Stella makes over, Mrs. Ward is a fair-minded writer, and, if her
a clean breast of the affair to her husband, and he own sympathies incline toward the conservative
decides to accept the situation. This conclusion is ideals that make for social stability, she is not inca-
as tame as it is abrupt, and we think that the novel pable of doing full justice to the disintegrating
needs about a hundred more pages before reaching ideals which are active in directing the current of
such an adjustment. All through there runs as an English contemporary life. Her Lady Coryston
undercurrent the thought that Thresk is really the typifies the old order. She is a tory by tradition
one responsible for Stella's married misery and con and conviction, and holds with grim determination
sequent guilt. In the opening chapters, he is repre to the ideas upon which she has been nurtured.
sented as having won her love, and as having then Her life is made a spiritual tragedy by the way.
renounced it at the beck of ambition. In becoming wardness of her children, but she uses her power,
her defender in later years, he is doing what he
may
while it is still hers, with the severe sense of duty
to atone for the cold-blooded conduct of his early of a Roman matron. Her eldest son is a rank
manhood.
socialist, and she disinherits him as a matter of
The novel which centres about the career of a conscience; she coddles her youngest son into accept-
worker in the creative arts is usually a very unsatis ance of a seat in Parliament as a standard bearer
factory type of book. The struggles of a novelist, of tory principles, writes his speeches for him, and
a painter, or a musician, to secure recognition for makes him her puppet. For her daughter she plans
his genius are confined within so narrow a sphere a marriage with a landed proprietor who makes the
of life that they cannot evoke the broad and sym stiffest ecclesiasticism his rule of conduct, and will
pathetic interest at which a writer should aim. not be shaken from the course of duty by any
There is necessarily a great deal of "shop" about merely human appeal. But the old lady's plans
them, and this is not an engaging ingredient of fic- topple over like a house of cards when the favorite
tion. Even so accomplished and subtle a writer as son casts aside the political garments with which he
Mr. Robert Hichens has not triumphed over this has been fitted, and announces his determination to
obstacle in “ The Way of Ambition.” It is musical marry the daughter of the radical leader of the
“shop” that here enlists our interest, and there is government, while at the same time the daughter
a great deal too much of it. Claude Heath is a com revolts from what seems to her the inhumanity of
poser of genius (so we are assured) who shrinks her lover, and breaks off the engagement. There is
from publicity. Certain designing women wish to no doubt that the strongest characters in the novel
exploit him, that they may shine in society with the are these two-the Roman mother and the Anglican
reflected lustre, and one of them marries him with zealot; they at least have convictions, and shrink
that intent, although she disguises it under high at no sacrifice in giving them effect. We may


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DIAL
repudiate the ideas upon which their lives are based, ravages fill every thoughtful person with alarm. In
but we cannot, unless we are hopeless sentimental. her efforts to “get on," Undine first marries, and
ists, refuse them the tribute of respect and even of then promptly divorces, a flashy youth in Apex
admiration. The children appeal to us deeply upon City. Her second marriage is with the scion of an
the human side, but at the best they are actuated old New York family, a man who does not discover
by personal selfish motives, and we doubt if either her steely and calculating selfishness until too late,
of them would be capable of sacrificing the objects an idealist who wears himself out in the effort to
of their respective desires for the sake of any sort satisfy her mean ambitions. Freeing herself from
of an abstract principle. So the older generation this entanglement, she spreads her net to capture a
wins a moral triumph, although utterly routed in New York bounder of the wealthy fast set, whom
the battlefield of actual existence. The mother dies she permits to lavish his attentions upon her in
of a broken heart, and the Anglican lover embraces Paris. Failing at the critical moment to land him,
the cloistered religious life-in either case the only she takes for her third husband a French aristocrat,
possible outcome.
outcome. It is a spiritual tragedy, as we but soon chafes under the restrictions imposed by
have already said, and each reader must judge of the conditions of his caste. Released from this bond,
the right in accordance with the promptings of his she finally takes up again with her first husband,
own nature.
who has become a multi-millionaire in the game of
In the list of Mrs. Edith Wharton's published high finance as played in Wall Street, and in his
volumes, her latest novel, “The Custom of the hands we leave her, wallowing in the vulgarity of
Country," is the fifteenth, — a somewhat impressive
a somewhat impressive unbounded wealth. The only fly in the ointment is
fact, serving to remind us how large a place this the knowledge that even her husband's fortune is
accomplished artist occupies in our contemporary not large enough to purchase an ambassadorship,
letters. It seems safe to say that no other woman because, as he informs her: “Because you're di-
novelist has achieved such distinction in American vorced. They won't have divorced ambassadresses."
literature, or won such high praise from those who How her life gutters out after that is left to the
are competent to judge. Large as the amount of imagination. This story is one of the finest preach-
her work is, none of it has ever been hurried or ments we have ever read, although Mrs. Wharton
scamped; every page of it gives evidence of the is too consummate an artist to obtrude her moral
artistic conscience, as well as of a high degree of upon us; she leaves it entirely implicit, which makes
creative power and stylistic perfection. We are it all the more effective.
almost inclined to say that the new novel is the Mrs. Watts now has three novels to her credit,
finest of the whole series, so deeply has it impressed and “Van Cleve” is quite the equal of its two prede-
us by its felicity of phrasing and by the incisive cessors. This writer composes slowly and carefully;
quality of its characterization. Yet it is a novel for she writes of matters with which she is familiar, and
the most part about very unpleasant people, for but comments upon them with a shrewd and profound
one of the characters enlists our sympathy, while of knowledge of human nature. Her scenes and char-
the others we can only exclaim in Matthew Arnold's acters may be called commonplace, but they give a
phrase: “What a set! What a world!” And yet the deep sense of reality; they present a faithful tran-
set and the world are fairly typical of one of the script of life, viewed through the medium of a sober
most conspicuous phases of our civilization, the and penetrative intelligence, and their art is not
pbase which is represented by our so-called society," artifice. Ohio is the scene of the new novel, with
with its mad pursuit of wealth and sensual pleasure a diversion of interest to the camps of the Spanish-
at the cost of every decent instinct and worthy American war, which statement also serves to desig-
ideal, and with a recklessness which makes the rush nate the period of the action. Van Cleve is not a
of the Gadarene swine seem the only suitable simili romantic hero; he is simply a straightforward and
tude. Undine Spragg may be a little more coarse industrious youth, burdened with a collection of
grained and repellent than the average young woman
shiftless relatives, whose support he takes upon his
who uses her physical charm as the means whereby shoulders, working for them with determination, in-
she seeks to accomplish her miserable ambition, but dustry, and efficiency, and finding in this charge his
her case must find many parallels in the circles natural function, not to be evaded or made the sub-
which fix wealth and social uselessness as their ject of complaint. His character is of the admirable
entrance credentials. Undine is a climber by instinct, sort which, multiplied by many thousands, is at the
practicing the art, first in Apex City, then in New basis of our national stability and good sense. He
York, and then in Europe. The moral of her career is much such a hero as Freytag conceived in bis im-
(if it have any moral) is that the fruit which she mortal “Soll und Haben," and will be found wholly
grasps turns to dust and ashes in her mouth, and sympathetic by all readers who are not swayed by
that, when she has acquired one object of her eager sentimentalism, or blinded by the romantic glamor
and vulgar ambition, she at once discovers another of passion or adventure. His excursion into the
just beyond her immediate reach. “The custom of field of war is not made for the purpose of waving
the country” which makes possible her series of the flag or winning glory upon the battlefield, but
sordid adventures, is the custom of irresponsible for the more prosaic purpose of rescuing a friend
divorce, that cancer of the social tissue whose who has weakly gone astray and got lost in the scrim-


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THE DIAL
mage. It is plain goodness of heart that supplies ful story will awaken many responsive echoes.
the motive, although it may be said incidentally that Those of us "exiles” who have had the experience
the wastrel in question is the brother of the girl of visiting, after many years, the place in which our
whom Van Cleve has secretly loved for years. He lives were first rooted, know full well the indescrib-
wins the reward of her affections in due time, but able and unanalyzable feelings with which our eyes
is in no hurry about it, for he feels that his first duty rest upon the dear familiar objects, the eagerness
is to meet the demands that life has made upon him. with which we fill out the details of the blurred -
Slowly and surely he makes his way in the world of mental image which we have brought back with us,
business, doing his plain duty as he sees it, and win the deep instinctive sense that we are again where
ning the respect of all his associates. One must not we really belong, and that all the years we have
think from this account that the story is a dull one, spent afar have been shadowy in outline and empty
for it is rich in dramatic incident and in scenes that of emotional content. And when our thoughts re-
illustrate the clash of character. It is the kind of vert to "home" in that childhood sense, there comes
novel that is worth reading all through, and has a tugging at the heart-strings, and a yearning to
something for us in every paragraph. It makes us behold it once more that demands to be appeased
feel hopeful for American fiction, which is by no at almost any sacrifice. The feelings thus aroused
means the feeling aroused by the hectic and intense do not necessarily depend upon any contrast be-
styles that seem to be most in fashion. Certainly, tween the fever and fret of manhood and the calm
this book and its two predecessors give to Mrs. happiness of childhood, for the earlier experiences
Watts a high place among our woman povelists - may not have been particularly happy, and the later
a rank which Mrs. Wharton and Mrs. Deland are ones may have been filled with material and spirit-
perhaps the only others to occupy.
ual contentment. Even a stunted and starved child.
Mr. Henry Kitchell Webster is an adept in the hood
may draw us back to the scenes amid which
writing of "mystery" stories, and he has never done it was spent, for even in that unhappy case it was
anything at once more captivating and absorbing a period in which the world was wonderful, and the
than “The Butterfly.” It is absorbing because the imagination free to dwell in the realm of boundless
key to the complication remains concealed until the possibilities. Sentiment may be a dangerous and
reader's tension has about reached its limit, and it morally disintegrating influence if permitted to act
is made captivating by its delightful humor and as the mainspring of conduct, but cherished for its
sprightly allusiveness. Nothing could well be more own sweet sake it is one of the precious things of
entertaining than the story of the series of catas life, and the sentiment attached to the idea of home
trophes that overwhelmed the modest existence of is a source of pure joy to the reflective mind. The
the professor of dramatic literature in the university work of fiction now under consideration is attuned
town of Monroe after the advent upon the scene of a to this key, but the sentiment never for a moment
famous dancer, come to fulfil a professional engage becomes mawkish or is permitted to lapse into
ment. Unwisely seeking to make her acquaintance, sloppiness. An illustrative quotation will serve to
with the best mind in the world to act discreetly, make our meaning clear:
indiscretions are forced upon him until he finds “ And then the peace of home descended upon him. On
himself an object of dark saspicion on the part of
his scarred spirit he felt the touch of the healing hands of
his fellow-townsmen and academic associates, and an
home. Its sweetness and its power, its love everlasting de-
outcast pursued by the law for supposed complicity
manding love forever knocked at his waking heart and found
the door open. Far, far had he wandered in the world of
in a mysterious murder. His escapades with the
mind and the world of men, but in the end he had come back
dancer (who is really a nice girl) lead him far like a Wayne to the eternal mother of the Waynes. Tonight
from home and get him into a precious mess, but he he knew that his drifting soul had dropped anchor at last."
is shameless enough to enjoy them, and lets dignity The “home” in this case is a New England town.
and reputation go hang. His character is eventually But many other “homes” are suggested in the
rehabilitated, but it is with a sense of something course of the narrative, and all have the same ap-
missing that he resumes his prosaic labors, and a pealing attraction. The American consul stranded
postscript serves the purpose of contriving his in a Spanish-American republic, the escaped bank-
emancipation. He writes a play in which his fair defaulter on a Brazilian ranch, the orchid-hunting
quondam companion discovers just the vehicle that cowboy of the plains, the Barbadian in his island,
she needs for her talent; she promptly accepts it, and the Russian cosmopolite in Africa and elsewhere,
and annexes the author into the bargain, from which - all these, as well as the two exiles from the home
we infer for him a joyous future career as his wife's in New England, afford revelations of the same
husband in her professional peregrinations.
mystic spell. But there is much more than senti-
“ Nobody but an exile will ever read into 'Home' ment in the composition of this book. There is an
all that I have tried to put there," writes the author extremely vivid and dramatically interesting tale of
of the anonymous serial whose recent publica the human relations of real men and women, as well
tion in “The Century Magazine” has attracted as much exciting adventure in many parts of the
wide attention. Since most of its readers will be world. It is a book peopled with strong individu-
men and women living far from the scenes “where alities, with men and women who save their souls
childhood knew the way,” the appeal of this beauti after well-nigh losing them, with characters curiously


252
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THE DIAL
Aristotle for
A new estimate
compounded of good and evil impulses, as life so at the thesis that the sole victory of the Reformation
often presents them to us. It is a human novel, lay in a new attitude toward truth: it taught that
compactly and beautifully put together, and in all nothing is to be accepted as truth because it is old;
the varied phases of its interest entirely free from there is but one authority, — that of truth itself.
dulness. We predict that the author of such a book Aside from the value of the admirably arranged
will not long be able to hide his head under a bushel. appendixes, it is a pleasure to commend this volume
WILLIAM MORTON PAYNE. as an unobtrusive display of originality, insight, and
scholarship
Professor Lane Cooper's amplified
BRIEFS ON NEW BOOKS.
An approach to
English rendering of Aristotle's
By showing that Luther taught noth college students. “Poetics” (Ginn) has a larger edu-
of Luther and ing new, that he was poles removed cational significance than immediately appears.
the Reformation. from saintly greatness despite his For what is likely to impress one, first of all, is
secular achievements, that the Reformation was a that the work fulfils adequately the modest aim
political rather than a religious affair, and that it which the editor and translator announces: “It is
did almost nothing for the immediate social and designed for certain students of English that I meet
civil betterment of the world, Professor Henry C. with, who are capable of deriving profit from the
Vedder's “The Reformation in Germany" (Mac substance of the treatise, but gain less on a first
millan) throws anything but a dim religious light acquaintance with it in any modern translation
on the old story that Protestants love to tell; it is than their efforts commonly deserve.” In Butcher's
therefore just they who should read this book with excellent translation, for instance, the average col-
care, because they can read it with the enduring lege student of English would be nonplussed by
satisfaction that comes from seeing a familiar figure the sketchy nature of the treatise, as it has come
neither whitewashed nor blackmailed. There may down to us, and by its unfamiliar terminology and
be nothing new about the statement that where allusions ; nor would he be able, or willing, to help
Wyclif in England and Hus in Bohemia and Sav himself by continual reference to the translator's
onarola in Italy all failed, Luther, inferior to each ensuing explanatory essay. For this student, Pro-
of them in some important respects, succeeded in fessor Cooper's deliberate expansions within the
Germany because he had a larger opportunity; text (for instance, in the case of the famous defini.
but there is something decidedly new in Professor tion of tragedy in Chapter 6) are not in the least
Vedder's most readable explanation of this oppor over-done, however likely to shock devoted Aristo-
tunity,- in his economic interpretation of sixteenth telians. Concise and adequate, also, are the frequent
century Germany, done here for the first time. One bracketed expositions of difficult points. To be sure,
reads with a flush of elation the story of the Renais a teacher employing the book will need, for most
sance, of Humanism, of the printing-press without of his students, to make the illustrations from mod.
which the Reformation could hardly have occurred, ern literature much more explicit, and to supple-
and of the almost incalculable wealth of the towns in ment them with further examples. And the trans-
Saxony,--the state in which, by no mere accident, the lator's general introduction to the text carries the
Reformation started. What Luther actually did was virtue of concision too far in three or four passages.
to unlock ecclesiastical directorates that controlled The unqualified assertion that the drama should be
the soul and the purse of the average burgher. The regarded always as a branch of poetry will not
reader of this book learns that Luther did not invent contribute clear-mindedness in the case of stud.
German hymnology, that the Church did not dis ents accustomed to hearing the term “drama”
courage the art of printing, that Luther must have applied to the modern prose play; especially when
known there was a Bible before he went to Erfurt, and they find, early in the text, a pertinent and appre-
that he did not translate the New Testament into ciative insistence on Aristotle's refusal to attach the
German in about ten weeks (January-March, 1522) term “poetry” to non-metrical imaginative litera-
but simply revised an older translation. The reader ture. Nor will the mental darkness of the student
learns, also, numerous facts about Luther's person of Browning, who has innocently come to suppose
ality,—that he was a consistent bigot, that he would that the dramatic monologue is a distinct and legit-
tolerate only followers, that he knew more about the imate type of art, be lightened by what Professor
devil than he did about God, and that when the one Cooper says of this poet's " hybrid" methods. On
devil of popery went out the seven devils of secta the whole, however, this small book provides, for a
rianism came in. In short, those accustomed to look far wider constituency than the editor cares to claim,
upon the Reformation in Germany as a wholly good so direct and attractive an avenue of approach to
movement will find some slightly disagreeable in- Aristotle that one wonders why the way should
struction in this book. They may be pleased to see have remained practically unopened until now.
their hero's “ Address to the Christian Nobility of Perhaps the work may be regarded as indirectly an
the German Nation” referred to as “the greatest outcome of the movement, still weak in this country
political pamphlet ever issued.” But they may wince but obviously gaining in vigor, toward that more


1914]
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THE DIAL
Christina
see
humane and critical study of English literature with attention that it deserves. A number of excellent
which there must always go hand in hand a keener portraits, including a fine photogravure reprodaction
perception of the significance of the Greek classics. of Holbein's famous painting, add to the pleasure
to be derived from the book.
When Henry VIII.'s third wife
died, the king remained a widower
Mr. Archibald Henderson's
of Denmark
in-
Studies of
very
for two whole years. This was not six European teresting volume entitled "European
out of consideration for the memory of Jane Sey.
dramatists.
Dramatists” (Stewart & Kidd Co.)
mour, however, for we are told that he began to consists of a collection of essays on Strindberg,
negotiate a fourth marriage the day after Jane's Ibsen, Maeterlinck, Oscar Wilde, Bernard Shaw, and
death. Among the princesses who were regarded Granville Barker. The first of these papers appears
as eligible was Christina of Denmark, the widowed here for the first time; the others are largely revis-
duchess of Milan. It was probably this momentary ions of essays that have been already published. The
connection of Duchess Christina's career with En method of treatment is sufficiently autobiographic
glish history that attracted the attention of Julia to make clear the spiritual development of each
Cartwright (Mrs. Ady), and led to the writing of dramatist's genius; and Mr. Henderson shows much
her latest biography, “Christina of Denmark, skill in making clear the personality of the man and
Duchess of Milan and Lorraine” (Dutton). The the individuality of the artist. The criticisms of
Duchess was a most attractive woman, and Mrs. their work are keen and lucid, and have the advan-
Ady's narrative of her varied experiences makes tage of coming from one who has studied the plays
pleasant reading. Her part in history was only a exhaustively and in some cases in their native en-
lesser one, however. She was the daughter of the vironment. It was Mr. Henderson's privilege to
erratic Danish king Christian II., who was deposed
“ Pelléas and Mélisande" acted at Maeterlinck's
by his subjects and kept in close confinement for own home, the ancient Abbey of St. Wandrille; to
twenty-seven years; and a disinherited princess has witness a performance of “Ghosts” at Christiania;
but small opportunity to play a rôle on the stage of
and to have associated with Mr. Bernard Shaw as
history. But she was also a niece of the Emperor his biographer. Each dramatist is made to stand
Charles V., and her uncle found her very useful as out as a dominant personality. Strindberg is “the
a pawn in the game of European diplomacy. In supreme universalist of our modern era in
the sixteenth century, when the State was still essence an analyst, a research-worker in the domain
looked upon as the private property of the monarcb,
of the human spirit”; Ibsen is the emancipator of
matrimonial alliances were very important political human society by means of life-struggles shown in
events: treaties were often given an added sanction dramas resting “upon the indestructible foundations
by a marriage between the families of the contract of permanent, enduring art”; Maeterlinck is essen-
ing parties. Very often negotiations looking toward tially the celebrant and interpreter of love”; Wilde
that end might serve the same purpose, as is shown is the “arch enemy of boredom and ennui .
in the history of England during the reign of purveyor of amusement and a killer of time"; Mr.
Elizabeth, whose search for a husband at times Bernard Shaw is “the most versatile and cosmo-
seems almost pathetic. When only twelve years old, politan genius in the drama of ideas that Great
Christina was married to the Duke of Milan, who Britain has yet produced”; and Mr. Granville
died the following year. The youthful widow was Barker is an innovator in the drama and the theatre
again married five years later, this time to the Duke who dares to “leave Aristotle out” and to experiment
of Lorraine; but after four years the Duke died, with any materials he chooses. Around such con-
and Christina was a widow for the second time at ceptions as these Mr. Henderson builds his excellent
the age of twenty-three. “Her beauty was in its criticisms.
prime, her charms attracted lovers of every age and
Conservative
Eight lectures delivered at Yale
rank; during the next ten or twelve years she was views of popular University by Ex-President Taft,
courted by several of the most illustrious personages
government.
with two addresses given by him
and bravest captains of the age.” But she refused before the American Bar Association at its meeting
to marry a third time. More than one-half of Mrs. in Montreal last September, make up a little volume
Ady's account is devoted chiefly to Christina's mar entitled “Popular Government: Its Essence, Its
riages and to the negotiations that led up to them; Permanence, and Its Perils" (Yale Press). The
the remainder deals with her long widowhood of general subject of the Yale lectures is representative
forty-five years, with her many difficulties as regent government; the addresses before the Bar Associa-
of Lorraine, and with the marriage of her children. tion deal with standards of admission to the bar and
One phase the author has neglected: as daughters the selection and tenure of judges. In the main,
of the deposed Danish king, Christina and her sis Mr. Taft's discussion of representative government
ters had “hereditary rights” to the crowns of Den is devoted to a criticism of such newer democratic
mark and Norway, and it was their refusal to experiments as the initiative, the referendum, the
renounce these rights that forced the Danes to keep recall, and the direct primary. He dwells upon
the
their father in such long and severe confinement. physical impossibility of pure democracy in a coun-
But the Danish phase of the story is not given the try like this, and points out the defects and obvious
a


254
[March 16
THE DIAL
limitations of the initiative and referendum. He as the author wrote them, in order to obtain the
admits that representative government, like all most complete satisfaction. Desultory and miscel-
forms of government, has its defects; but he denies laneous as they are, they yet touch on many im-
emphatically that it has proved a failure, as is as portant phases of historical and literary interest in
sérted by some representatives of the “new scbool of the crooked byways of English life. The volume
philosophy.” From an analysis of the operations of is very sympathetically illustrated by Mr. George
the initiative and referendum in a number of states,
E. Krager.
he attempts to show that the results have failed to
A collection of the late Robert Coll.
justify these institutions in the extreme form in which
A popular
preacher's yer's lectures, addresses, and poems
they have usually been introduced; although he ac miscellany.
has been edited by Mr. John Haynes
knowledges that the referendum when applied under
Holmes, who “for seven happy years," as he says
proper restrictions and limitations may subserve a
in his preface, enjoyed the privilege of being asso-
real purpose in our democracy. The employment of ciated with Dr. Collyer in the ministry of the Church
the recall, especially as a means of removing judges of the Messiah. “Clear Grit,” the title of the open-
and of over-ruling their decisions, he pronounces a ing selection, is also that of the book. Only this
vicious expedient, and one that will result in the de-
first lecture has ever before been published; the
struction of the independence of the judiciary. He
others appear now for the first time, though all
predicts that in the end the good sense of the Amer have been many times delivered orally from plat-
ican people will assert itself, and all such radical
form or pulpit. The half-dozen poems, however,
expedients will be abandoned and a return made to
which close the volume have all, except that on
the representative institutions under which we have
Lucretia Mott, been printed and reprinted, times
grown and prospered so long. Barring a certain without number; for Dr. Collyer's poetic gift re-
evidence of impatience, not to say intolerance, with
ceived warm recognition, and at least one of his
the views of those who advocate the extreme prin: hymns (“Unto thy temple, Lord, we come”) is by
ciples of the new democracy, Mr. Taft’s treatment of
this time a classic in hymnology. The prose pieces
the subject with which he deals should not be with of the book, instinct with their author's vigor,
out value in an age when there is a widespread de
directness, native charm, and wealth of illustrative
mand for radical changes in our governmental system reminiscence and anecdote, treat of great men
and the introduction of expedients some of which
known by the writer in life or through the medium
are of doubtful practicability and utility.
of literature and tradition, and of famous cathedrals
Mr. L. F. Salzmann's leisurely essays
visited by him. Charles and Mary Lamb, Robert
Interesting
byways of collectively entitled “Mediæval By. Burns, “ the human George Washington,” the poet
mediæval life.
ways" (Houghton) are concerned
Whittier, the Pilgrim Fathers, and some old Uni-
chiefly with those mental byways and lanes which
tarian worthies,” are thus dealt with. It is to be
lead into quaint regions of mediæval life. The
regretted that more careful attention could not have
author has jotted down matter which he has gained
been given to the proof-reading. “Mary Watstan-
from researches among documents “preserved be- croft," for example, offends the eye; and a badly
tween Chancery Lane and Fetter Lane,” and has tangled sentence (on page 208) makes Wellington
brought together much interesting material regard-
the son of George III. A lifelike portrait of Dr.
ing the delusions, the misadventures, and the enjoy. Collyer faces the title-page. (American Unitarian
ments of our ancestors in the late Middle Ages.
Association).
The subjects treated in these six papers are various,
Rural England
From an unnamed point in Sussex to
including, as they do, alchemy, astrology, "nigro as seen from Aberdovey on the Welsh coast Mr.
mancy," the perils and pleasures of travel, doctors a motor-car. James John Hissey journeyed for
and their repute, coronations, the ill-conduct of pleasure, by devious ways and with many zig-zags,
bailiffs and other officers who emptied the purses in his motor-car, with his faithful fox-terrier for
of the poor, and a final chapter concerning the companion; and he returned by other devious and
strange imports, the “ivory, apes, and peacocks,” crooked courses, writing en route a book about the
dear to that age. All of these topics are discussed whole adventure. “A Leisurely Tour in England"
in a genial and entertaining style. Mr. Salzmann (Macmillan), a mingling of topography and historic
writes without footnotes, yet we feel that behind anecdote, of personal experience and literary allu-
his smiling interpretation of incidents is ample sion, generously illustrated with the help of the
documentary evidence. The tone of the volume is author's camera and also of his brush, follows much
one of bland enjoyment of the human spectacle, the same plan as Mr. Clifton Johnson's travel-books
and nothing which bears ironic suggestiveness as to in our own country. The distinctive character of
the naïveté of private or official life is passed by. each district visited is set forth in bits of description
For example, we read: “It is pleasant to note that and scraps of conversation with the natives, helped
in an instance when the body of a man struck by out by the trusty camera and the deft drawing -
lightning was first found by his wife, the jury ex mere brush notes” Mr. Hissey modestly calls these
pressly exonerated her, saying, she is not sus unstudied sketches by the way. Among the inter-
pected.'” One should read these essays as casually l esting persons encountered in this holiday jaunt is
66


1914)
255
THE DIAL
a Cirencester tobacconist with a soul superior to to say. She faces the humdrum of life with a fine
tobacco, who, unprofessionally, proves to be an courage, and her penetrating glance goes at once
enthusiastic and well-informed antiquary, with a to the hidden meaning of things commonly held
special knowledge of Norman doorways in the insignificant.
churches of the region. If we say in closing that we
like Mr. Hissey the author rather better- or let us
BRIEFER MENTION.
put it, even better — than Mr. Hissey the artist, we
hope that any slight offense given to the latter will As much Chaucer as a student can read in a year's
be more than balanced by the implied compliment college course is given in “The College Chaucer,"
to the former. A sketch-map of the traveller's route
edited by Dr. Henry N. MacCracken, and published at .
and a three-page index close the volume.
the Yale University Press. The spelling of the text is
neither normalized nor modernized, for which we give
Rambles in
In a gracefully illustrated, pleasingly thanks, and an adequate glossary is provided.
well-trodden printed, and every way attractive “ The Chief Middle English Poets ” (Houghton) is a
literary paths. volume, Mr. Arthur Grant brings
collection of texts edited by that competent scholar,
together a score of papers already published in part
Miss Jessie L. Weston, whose work in this field is well
known.
in “The Scotsman” and “The Atlantic Monthly."
It includes examples of all the principal
branches of medieval English literature, including
They are reminiscences of travel among favorite
Layamon, Barbour's “ Bruce,” the legends of the saints,
haunts of England, and bear the well-chosen collec-
such typical romances as “King Horn,” “ Havelok the
tive title, “In the Old Paths" (Houghton). Their
Dane,” and “ Amis and Amiloun," tales like “ The Fox
style and their sub-title show them to be “memories and the Wolf” and “The Land of Cockaigne," di-
of literary pilgrimages," and they conduct the reader
dactic poems like “The Owl and Nightingale," the
through parts of Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, “ Ormulum," and many religious carols and lyrics.
and Oxfordshire, to Shakespeare's Arden and Cow The text is modernized, which makes it of little value
per's Olney, to the Cotswold country and elsewhere, to scholars, but brings it within the reach of a wide
as the author's fancy dictates. The genial character
circle of student beginners.
of these ramble-sketches may be inferred from the
A manuscript recently unearthed at Paris among the
following passage: “I recollect The Autocrat of the
Archives Coloniales has provided Professor Stewart L.
Mims with the text now published at the Yale University
Breakfast Table, dear old Dr. Oliver Wendell
Press, entitled “Voyage aux Etats-Unis de l'Amérique,
Holmes (who always somehow reminds me of Dr.
1793-1798.” It is the work of Moreau de Saint-Méry,
John Brown), remarking that it was not the great
and is the author's diary during his sojourn in the new
historical events, but the personal incidents that, world. Certain parts of it have before appeared in print,
after all, appealed to us most. "Something intensely but the entire work is now published for the first time.
human, narrow, and definite,' he writes, “pierces to Moreau fled from the wrath of Robespierre in 1793, and
the seat of our sensibilities more readily than huge sailed with his family to America, landing at Norfolk.
occurrences and catastrophes.'” It is the human, After many wanderings, he settled in Philadelphia,
definite, personal quality in these memories" of where for four years he maintained a book shop and
printing press. He also became an important writer
Mr. Grant's that one especially enjoys. The sixteen
drawings scattered through the book, and signed
upon geographical subjects. Threatened with deporta-
tion under the infamous Alien Act of 1798, he ended his
“D. C. Bluatt,” show an artist's eye and a delicate
exile in that year, and returned to Paris. The document
touch.
is one of great historical and economic value, and con-
The poetry and
The capacity for seeing the beautiful tains many passages of vivid pictorial quality and lively
charm of in what we call the commonplace, interest.
common things. the poetry and charm in simple, un In the twenty-two years that have elapsed since its
obtrusive things, has been given in marked degree original publication, Thomas Kirkup's “History of
to Miss Zephine Humphrey, whose nature studies
Socialism has attained the position of a standard
and miscellaneous essays, written with a light and authority in its field, and has at three different times
graceful touch and instinct with fine feeling, are
been given a thorough revision by its author. A fifth
edition, revised and largely rewritten, is now published
favorably known to many magazine-readers. A
by Messrs. Macmillan. Kirkup having died in 1912,
volume of these papers has been put together under this revision is the work of Mr. Edward R. Pease, a
the title “The Edge of the Woods” (Revell), and long-time Fabian and Labourite. He has expanded
in it the reader will find matter worthy of thoughtful some chapters of the book, rearranged others, and con-
perusal on such themes as wood magic, the love of tributed several that are almost entirely new. The
places, the church and the mountain, springs of life, result is a most satisfactory and interesting hand book,
the decline of melancholy, a portrait of the devil, in embodying not only a history of Socialism but a criti-
praise of everyday, the peril of friendship, and many
cism and interpretation of the movement also. What
will chiefly impress the uninitiated reader of this book
more. Even on such a forbidding subject as the
is the remarkable evolution of Socialism, during little
little railway station known as Hoosick Junction, a
more than a half-century of time, from the narrow
forlorn enough spot, surely, as we know by personal
economic dogmas of Karl Marx to a conception of hu-
experience, Miss Humphrey, in her large tolerance man relationships against which the most insistent
and charity and with her saving grace of humor, can objection to be urged is that it is too idealistic ever to
find something fresh and significant and stimulating be practicable.


256
(March 16
THE DIAL
ment,” and “ Notes on the Hebrew Text of the Books
NOTES.
of Samuel.” He was also joint author of “A Hebrew
“ Responsibilities” is the title of a new volume of
and English Lexicon of the Old Testament.”
poems by Mr. W. B. Yeats, which will be issued in a Part II. of Mr. R. A. Peddie's “Conspectus Incuna-
limited edition from the Cuala Press of Dublin.
bulorum,” including entries from C to G, is announced
We understand that an authorized biography of the
by Messrs. Grafton & Co. of London. This work is a
late Alfred Russel Wallace has been undertaken by catalogue of all known books printed before the year
Rev. James Marchant, and is now in active preparation.
1501, and is an invaluable reference work for librarians,
A little book of selected passages from George Gis-
booksellers, and those who handle early printed books.
sing's “The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft” is soon
Mrs. E. H. Chadwick, whose successful book on Mrs.
to be issued by Mr. Thomas B. Mosher, under the title
Gaskell appeared a couple of years ago, has now in
of " Books and the Quiet Life.”
press a work of a similar kind, to be called “ In the
Mr. Edwin Björkman is now engaged upon a history
Footsteps of the Brontës.” She has spent some years
of nineteenth century Scandinavian literature, from and
collecting material, and she promises us much fresh in-
formation about the lives and work of the famous sisters.
including Ibsen, with a sketch of the earlier literature
of Scandinavia. Messrs. Holt will publish the work.
The Winning of the Far West,” by Dr. Robert
A new novel by Mrs. George Wemyss, author of
McNutt McElroy, is the title of a volume which the
« The Professional Aunt,” will be published immedi-
Messrs. Putnam have in train for publication in the
ately by the Macmillan Co. Its title is “Grannie,”
autumn. Professor McElroy includes in the volume a
and it tells of a charming old lady and her family of
history of the Texas revolution, the Mexican war, the
grandchildren.
Oregon question, and the extension of American domin-
ion to the Pacific coast.
“ Arthur Rackham's Picture Book,” which the Cen-
“ Three Modern Plays from the French," just an-
tury Co. will issue the last of this month, brings together
reproductions in color of forty-four of this well-known
nounced by Messrs. Holt, will include Lavedan's “Prince
artist's delightful pictures. The volume has an intro-
d'Aurec,” Lemaître's “ The Pardon,” and Donnay's
duction by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch.
“ The Other Danger.” The first two are translated by
Mr. Theodore Watts-Dunton's essays on “ Poetry
Mr. Barrett H. Clark, the third by Charlotte Genney
David; while Mr. Clayton Hamilton will supply a
and “The Renascence of Wonder,” those two remark-
preface to the volume.
able critical studies which have heretofore been acces-
The forthcoming study of Nietzsche by Dr. George
sible only in the pages of encyclopædias, are to be issued
Brandes, to whicb we referred in our last issue, will
in a separate volume during the Spring.
contain all that Dr. Brandes has written on the subject
A collection of “The Correspondence of Mary Rus-
from the lectures which he gave at Copenhagen in 1888
sell Mitford," edited by Miss Elizabeth Lee, is in
down to those delivered last year in London and other
preparation for Spring issue. It will embody interest-
English towns. An interesting correspondence between
ing personal reminiscences of many of the greater Nietzsche and the author will also be included.
Victorians, from Cobden to Ruskin and Hawthorne.
Readers of Mr. William R. Thayer's “Life and
A book on Japanese poetry by Mr. Yone Noguchi
Times of Cavour,” recently published, will be interested
will shortly be added to Messrs. Dutton's “Wisdom of
in the announcement from Florence that the national
the East" series. It will contain a series of lectures
committee on the history of Italy's rise into being as a
on the great poets of Japan, translations of a number of
nation is planning for the publication of the complete
their poems, and a chapter on the famous “No” plays. writings of Cavour. A volume of memoirs by a close
Volumes of short stories and sketches by two promi associate of Cavour, Giovanni Visconti Venosta, will
nent European dramatists are to be published immedi-
be published in April by Houghton Mifflin Co. under
ately by Messrs. John W. Luce & Co. in Arthur
the title, “ Memoirs of Youth.”
Schnitzler's “ Viennese Idylls" and Frank Wedekind's
A new historical review, to be issued quarterly and
“ Princess Russalka.” Each volume contains a portrait.
to be known as “The Mississippi Valley Historical
Arrangements have been made in London for the
Review," will soon make its appearance under the
publication of a new volume of Dostoieffsky's letters.
managing editorship of Professor Clarence W. Alvord,
This correspondence is said to throw much light on the
of the University of Illinois. The Mississippi Valley
celebrated quarrel with Tourgueniéff, and the volume Historical Association, organized in 1907, is supporting
also contains recollections of the novelist by personal
this worthy enterprise, which will attest the Association's
friends.
rapid growth and present strength. The Secretary-
To his splendid series of monographs on American Treasurer of the Association, Mr. Clarence S. Paine,
artists, Mr. Frederic Fairchild Sherman is soon to add Lincoln, Nebraska, will have charge of the magazine's
a volume on Ralph Albert Blakelock, prepared by Mr. business details. June 1, 1914, is set as the date of
Elliott Daingerfield. The same publisher has also in issue of the first number.
press
“ The Later Years of Michel Angelo,” by Dr. Major-General Joshua L. Chamberlain, author of
Wilhelm R. Valentiner.
numerous books dealing with historical and political
The Rev. Samuel Rolles Driver, D.D, regius pro subjects, died at Portland, Maine, on February 24. He
.fessor of Hebrew at Oxford, and canon of Christ Church was born in 1828, and was graduated from Bowdoin
since 1883, died on February 26. Dr. Driver was born College in 1852. He served with unusual distinction
in 1846, and was educated at Winchester College and through the greater part of the Civil War. From 1866
at New College, Oxford. He was the author of numer to 1871 he was governor of Maine. Before the war
ous treatises on Biblical and Hebraic subjects, among General Chamberlain was professor of rhetoric and
which may be mentioned : “ Isaiah: His Life and Times," oratory at Bowdoin from 1856 to 1862, and at the close
“An Introduction to the Literature of the Old Testa of the war he served in the same capacity, and from


1914]
257
THE DIAL
ANNOUNCEMENTS OF SPRING BOOKS.
Some eleven hundred titles, representing the out-
put of more than fifty American publishers, are
included this year in THE DIAL's annual List of
Books Announced for Spring Publication, herewith
presented. We have not endeavored to list works
of strictly technological or medical character; and
new editions are not included unless having new
form or matter. Otherwise the list is a fairly com-
plete and (80 far as the data supplied us by the vari-
ous publishers may be depended upon) an accurate
summary of American publishing activities from the
beginning of February well into the summer.
1871 to 1883 he was president of the College. He was
United States Commissioner to the Paris Exposition in
1878. General Chamberlain was a member of numer-
ous historical societies, and since 1900 has been Sur-
veyor of Customs at Portland.
American admirers of the late Alfred Russel Wallace
should be glad to know of the opportunity now open to
them for subscribing to a Memorial Fund, intended to
perpetuate in various fitting ways the great scientist's
memory. A few months before his death, Dr. Wallace
had consented to sit for his portrait, and Mr. J. Seymour
Lucas, R.A., had undertaken to execute the work for
presentation to the Royal Society. An extension of this
scheme is now under way; and if a sufficient sum can be
raised, the following memorials are proposed: (1) A
Medallion to be offered to the Dean and Chapter of
Westminster Abbey. (2) Portrait. (3) A copy of the
Portrait for presentation to the Nation. (4) A Statue
to be offered to the Trustees of the British Museum for
erection in the Natural History Museum. Mr. Lucas is
willing to paint a portrait from the best available photo-
graphs, and it is estimated that a sum of £350 will cover
all expenses, including the provision, for each subscriber
of one guinea and upwards, of a reproduction in photo-
gravure signed by the artist. It is estimated that an
additional sum of £750 will permit the scheme being
carried out in its entirety. Subscriptions will be received
and acknowledged by Prof. R. Meldola, 6 Brunswick
Square, London, W. C.; Prof. E. B. Poulton, Wykeham
House, Oxford; Sir Wm. Barrett, Kingstown, Co.
Dublin; and the Manager, Union of London & Smiths
Bank, Holborn Circus, London, E. C.
Preliminary Spring announcements from the Pilgrim
Press of Boston include the following titles of general
interest: “The Real Turk,” by Mr. Stanwood Cobb;
“Life of George William Puddefoot,” by Mr. Joseph G.
Clark; “ Joseph Ward of Dakota,” by Mr. George Har-
rison Durand; “The Young Woman Worker," by Miss
Mary A. Laselle; “Shall I Drink?" by Dr. Joseph H.
Crooker; “The Prize of Life,” by Dr. Wilfred T.
Grenfell; “To-morrow, and Other Poems,” by Miss
Mary Chandler Jones; “ The Animal School, and Other
Stories,” by Miss Frances W. Danielson; “ Bird Friends
of a Country Doll,” by Miss Caroline S. Allen; and
“ Josephine, a Story of the Civil War," by Mrs. George
R. Pierce. In the field of religion this house has in
press: “Church Publicity," by Mr. Christian F. Reisner;
“ Christ's Vision of the Kingdom of Heaven,” by Mr.
James Stirling; “ Modern Values,” by Mr. Philip C.
Walcott; “ With Open Mind," by Dr. J. W. Bradshaw;
“A Minister's Manual,” by Mr. James Burns; “ The
Work of the Preacher," by Professor Lewis 0. Brastow;
« The Young Man's Jesus," by Mr. Bruce Barton; “The
Church School,” by Professor Walter S. Athearn;
“ Effectual Words,” by Mr. John Reid; “ Present Day
Theology,” by Dr. Washington Gladden; “ The Well at
Bethlehem's Gate," by Mr. William Allen Knight; “A
Little Book for Every Day,” by Rev. Charles M. Shel-
don; “ He Took It upon Himself,” by Miss Margaret
Slattery; “The Dream of a Far Away Hill Top," by
Miss Jean Christie Root; “ The Life and Ministry of
Paul the Apostle," by Miss Eleanor D. Wood; “The
Youth of a People-Genesis to Kings,” by Mr. Benjamin
S. Winchester; « The Work and the Way,” by Messrs.
J. H. Wimms and Frederick Humphrey; “ Paul's Fight
for Galatia," by Dr. C. H. Watkins; and “ The Modern
Speech New Testament," by Mr. Richard Francis
Weymouth.
BIOGRAPHY AND REMINISCENCES.
Notes of a Son and Brother, by Henry James, illus.,
$2.50 net.—Maximilian in Mexico, by Percy F.
Martin, illus., $5.25 net.—My First Years as a
Frenchwoman, 1876 to 1879, by Mary King Wad-
dington, illus., $2.50 net.— Turkish Memories, by
Sidney Whitman, $2.25 net.—The Lives of the
Presidents of the United States, edited by James
Grant Wilson, new edition, 4 vols., illus., $7.50 net.
(Charles Scribner's Sons.)
Hail and Farewell, Vale, by George Moore, $1.75 net.
-Forty Years of It, by Brand Whitlock, $1.50 net.
-The Life of St. Augustine, by Louis Bertrand,
illus., $2.50 net.—Beating Back, an autobiography,
by Al Jennings and Will Irwin, illus., $1.50 net.
(D. Appleton & Co.)
Our Friend John Burroughs, by Clara Barrus, illus.,
$2. net. George Borrow and His Circle, by Clement
King Shorter, with frontispiece, $3, net.-Memoirs
of Youth, things seen and heard, by Giovanni, Vis.
conti Venosta, trans. by William Prall, D.D., illus.,
$4. net.—Thomas Wentworth Higginson, the story
of his life, by Mary Thacher Higginson, illus., $3.
net.-Elizabeth and Mary Stuart, the beginning of
the feud, by Frank A. Mumby, $3. net.-Confeder-
ate Portraits, by Gamaliel Bradford, illus., $2.50
net.-Commodore George Hamilton Perkins, his life
and letters, by Carroll Storrs Alden, illus., $1.50
net.—A Child of the Orient, by Demetra Vaka, Mrs.
Kenneth-Brown, $1.25 net. —Modern Biographies
Series, new vol.: A Life of Tolstoy, by Edward
Garnett, 75 cts. net. (Houghton Mifflin Co.)
The Life of Nietzsche, by Mrs. Foerster-Nietzsche, Vol.
II., The Solitary Nietzsche, trans. from the German
by A. M. Ludovici, illus., $4. net.—Modern Heroine
Series, new vols.: Heroines of the Modern Stage,
by Forrest Izard; Heroines of Modern Adventure,
by W. D. Foster; illus., per vol., $1.50 net.--Me-
moirs Relating to the Empress Josephine, edited by
E. J. Meras, illus., $1.50 net. (Sturgis & Walton
Co.)
Frémont and '49, the story of a remarkable career and
its relation to the exploration of our Western Ter-
ritory, by Frederick S. Dellenbaugh, illus. in color,
etc., $3.75 net.—The Autobiography of Thomas Jef-
ferson, 1743 to 1790, with a summary of the chief
events of Jefferson's life from 1789 to 1826, with
Introduction by Paul Lester Ford and Foreword by
George Haven Putnam, $1.50 net.-Heroes of the
Nations, new vol.: Cavour, and the making of mod.
ern Italy, 1810 to 1861, by Pietro Orsi, illus., $1.50
net. (G. P. Putnam's Sons.)
My Autobiography, by S. S. McClure, illus., $1.75 net.
(F. A. Stokes Co.)
More about King Edward, by Edward Legge, illus.,
$4. net. (Small, Maynard & Co.)


258
[March 16
THE DIAL
Nietzsche, by George Brandes. (Macmillan Co.)
Henry Lee, collected and edited by James Curtis
Cecil Rhodes, the man and his work, by Gordon Le
Ballagh, Vol. II., $2.50 net.-Roman Imperialism,
Sueur, illus., $3.50 net.—The Autobiography of
by Tenney Frank, Ph.D., with maps, $2.50 net.-A
Charlotte Amelie, Princess of Aldenburg, 1652 to
History of the National Capital from Its Founda-
1732, trans. and edited by Mrs. Aubrey Le Blond,
tion to the Adoption to the Organic Act, by W. B.
illus., $4. net.-A Court Painter and His Circle,
Bryan, Vol. I., 1790 to 1814, with maps, $5. net.-
Francois Boucher, 1703 to 1770, by Mrs. Bearne,
The Establishment of State Government in Cali-
illus. in color, etc., $4. net. (McBride, Nast & Co.)
fornia, 1846 to 1850, by Cardinal Goodwin, $1.50
net. (Macmillan Co.)
Wagner, as Man and Artist, by Ernest Newman, $3.50
The Battle of Gettysburg, the crest wave of the Civil
net. (E. P. Dutton & Co.)
War, by Francis Marshal, illus., $2. net. The
Nollekens and His Times, by Wilfred Whitten, 2 vols.,
Strategy of Robert E. Lee, by J. J. Bowen, illus.,
illus., $10. net.-The Chronicles of Erthig, by Al.
$2. net.-Pilot Knob, the Thermopylae of the West,
binia Cust, 2 vols., illus., $10. net.—Behind the Veil
by Cyrus A. Peterson and Joseph Mills Hanson, $2.
at the Russian Court, by Count Paul Vassili, illus.
net.—The Valley Campaigns, by Thomas A. Ashby,
in photogravure, etc., $4.50 net.—On the Left of a
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net.—Modern Battles of Trenton, by William E.
With Walt Whitman in Camden, by Horace Traubel, Sackett, Vol. II., From Werts to Wilson, illus., $3.
Vol. III., $3. net.-John Addington Symonds, by net.—The Facts of Reconstruction, by John R.
Van Wyck Brooks, $1.50 net.-Joseph Pulitzer, by Lynch, $1.50 net. (Neale Publishing Co.)
Alleyne Ireland, $1.25 net. (Mitchell Kennerley.)
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