The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, November 15, 1896, Page 21

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, CHARMS OF PATER'S PROSE| ‘A Word-Artist Whose Works All Book-Liovers Pppreciate More as Jime Goes On THE “PATER CRAZE” WILL REACH US BEFORE LONG A Genius Slow to Mature—Originally Intended for the Church, Pater Drifted Away From Christian to Pagan Ideals and Became an Ardent Platonist 1t is morethan two years since Walter Pater © waslaid under English earth. Even in writ- . of words ing the words one recalls the admonitions of old Socrates, who reproved that disciple who asked him where he wished to be buried. The master, as. he was about to drink the cup of hemlock, answered that not he but his body was {0 be committed to earth, and added: “Be well assured, most excellent Crito, that to speak improperly is not only culpable as to the thing itself, but likewise occasions some injury to our souls.”” And #£0, even at the mo- ment of death, he asserted his own immortale ity and made his protest against a careless use And truly, words in composition are many times like mighty forces in weak hands, and are so used thatthe virtue and pewer are lost out of them. So then it 1s two years since Walter Pater's bodly was faid under English earth, and though the love and appreciation of his works have steadily increased among all book- lovers, strangely little has been known about the man himself. He was aloot in body and mind from most of his generation. He was in no sense of the word, nor can he ever be, a popular writer. People are in 100 great a hurry to-day to linger over those subtleties of expression that convey meanings which Pater alone could im- part and which are as elusive as the fragrance of & flower or a suggested sirain of music. Though it issafe enough to predict that the *‘Pater crage” which hes prevailed in the East- ern cities wil! reach the Pacific Coast before . long, true Pater lovers will always be rare. When Pater aied the usual press sketches and reviews were lacking. Yethe and Stevemson were ranked together by critics as the two great masters of style in their generation. The contrast between the silence which greeted the one msan's death and the world’s praise which blossomed over the grave of the other was singulerly striking. The reason lay prob- ably in the different personality of the men. Pater was reserved. Save to his few friends he lecked the genial kindliness which marked - Stevenson as a man and es a writer. Yet in the writings of Pater his readers find an ever-increasing charm. His work fulfills that most difficult requirement of trua art, the possession of & perpetually incressing in- terest, and so in Pater the student finds con- new beauties, new fascinations. It was not until the publication of Mr. Gosse's recent book that anything like a sat- isfactory biographical skeich of Pater has been givi us; though I recollect an article in the Atlantic by William Bharp, in which he speaks ot his first meeting with Pater and the rare attraction (so rarely exerted) of the man for his friends. The meeting happened in the following way: Sharp, then & young - “man and shy—a half-fledged critic—was on his ‘ Orange. first visit to London. He was taken by the blind poet Philip Bourke Marston to call at the home of the Robinsons, where those two talented sisters—one of whom afterward be- ‘came Mme. Darmesteter —had one of the most brilliant coteries in London about them. A number of guests were in the drawing-room when the two friends arrived; among the rest & quiet, dark man of medium height, stoutly built, standing near the piano. The pallor of his face was intensified by a heavy black mustache His eyes were deep- set, of & peculiar gray—“A variable hue, but .wherein the inner light was always vivid and sometimes strangely keen &nd penetrating.” The young Scotchman was quite thriTled upon -being told that this was Walter Pater. We may suppose that the older man was touched Dy the lad’s very evident sAmiration, for this the beginning of & life-long friendship. Willlam Sharp was & frequent visitor In after years at Pater’s quiet Oxford home, which was presided over by his sisters. Mr. Gosse, in his ““portrait’? of Pater, tells us that his family was of Dutch extraction, his ancestors having come over with William of They were clannish and tenacious of family traditions. For generations the sons “were reared in the church of Rome and the daughters in the Anglican faith. Walter, who was bLorn in 1839, and his brother William were the first Paters who were not brought up Catholics. Walter was not at all precocious and snowed no unusual ability as & schoolboy. Atcollege he gained only a second class and . his degree was a sore disappointment. Jowett wasapparently the only man in Oxford who discerned bis ability. He surprised Pater very much one day by saying: “I think you bave a mind which will come to great eminence.” His genius matured slowly. He was 27 be- fore he ventured into print. It was then that he published his fragmentary essay on Cole- ridge, which gave little indication of the dis- tinguished character of the work that was to .follow. The following year, having come under the influence of German calture, he wrote his famous essay on Winckelmann—that . Winckelmann to whom Goethe paid so high a tribue and who was the father of the Greek revival in Germany. Gosse says of Pater that - *it was with the study of Winckelmann that \ he became himself a writer.” Originally de- signed for the church he gradually driftea away from Chrisiian to pagsn ideals. He became an ardent Platonist and a lover of Greek art. He was in sympathy with the pre-Raphaelite movement, and had a great admiration for the then little known work of Edward Burne- “Jones. He became intimate with Swinburne, and the young poet was a frequent visitor in Pater's college rooms. That was “the time of singing birds,” when Christina and Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Morris and Swinburne were pouring forth their song. Pater resolved 1o write prose no less ex- quisite than their poetry. He was extremely painstaking. Gosse says, “I have known writers of every degree, but never one to whom the act of composition was such a travail and an agony as it was to Pater.” With increasing fame he became more— though stiil discriminatifigly—sociable. He entertained only those people whose lives touched his at some point of intere Miss Mary Arnold, who afterward became Mrs, Humphry Ward, was one of these. Indeed her girl’s privilege of friendship with eminent men, and being niece to an illustrious uncle, must have gone far toward making her the writer she has since become. Pater was kind and considerate, though always somewhat reserved in his attitude toward the young men of Oxford, to whom hic was a figure of copstantly increasing interest. He died on the 30th of July, 1894, in the fifty-fifth year of hisage. The work that he left is small in quantity; not more than five or six volumes. Such finish as his could not go with rapid workmanship. “Marius, the Epicurean,” is & psychological, semi-historic romance of pa- gan times. It is his oply work of fiction, unless “The Imaginary Portraits” could be ciassed as such. Itis called & great book by critics who are chary in their use of that ad- jective. Itis very long and is the most marked example of his introspective, analytical style. 8o that it s not the best first attempt for be- ginners in Pater. Nevertheless, no other book has so completely given us the spirit of the pagan world. We touch here upon the thoughts, the feelings, the aspirations of the men of that time; upon their dim gropings after the abstract truth in the midst of a life which is wholly dependent upon the outward expression of things, which 80 clung to what was evident and tangible to the senses. The melancholy of that time when the old gods were fading away and the new w yet for all what he still is for most the unknown goq, is apparent in Pater’s ‘own inary portrait into which he put so much of his own childhood, he says became more and more to be unable to care for or think of soul but as in an actuel body, or of any world but that wherein there are water and trees and where men and women look so and so and press actual hands.” In this he was very like Rossetti. Infact much of what Pater says of Rossetti in his essay on the poet and painter might be applied with equal truth to Pater himself. His other volumes are: “Renaissance Studies,” “Appreciations, With an Essay on Style,” “Imaginary Portraits,” “Plato and Platonism” and “Greek Studies.” In the first volume is that marvelous description of Leonardo’s “‘Lisa,” the beauty of which a keen art critic confesses impressed him more pow- erfully than the beauty of the picture itself. The description, every word of which is like a bit of mosaic fitted into its exact place, is too long for quotation in full, and yet 1t loses by the omission of a single part. It begins: *“We all know the face and hands of that figure. Eetin its marble chair in that cirque of fantastic rocks, &s in some faint light under sea.” And then the word artist goes on 1o speak of the “unfathomable smile, always with & touch of sometning sinister in it, which characterizes all Leonard’s work.” And egain, “The presence that there 8o strangely rose beside the waters is expressive of what, in the ways of a thousand years, man had come to desire. ® * * It is a beauty wrought out from within upon the flesh, the deposit, little cell by cell, of strange thoughts and fantastic reverie ana exquisite passions. Set it for one moment beside oae of those white Greek goddesses and how would they be troubled by thig bLeauty, into which the soul with all its mlaladies has passed. All the thoughts and experiences of the world have etched and molded there, in that which they bave of power to refine and make ex- pressive the outward form; the animalism of Greece, the lust of Rome, the reverie of the middle age with its spiritual ambitions and imaginative loves, the return of the pagan world, the sins of the Borgias.” This is but & part and the whole must be read, and more than once, to gain its full beauty and significance. Then and not tili then the splendor and cadence of the words set the blood dancing in the veins as certain poems are wont to do. Who, then, can forget that besuty “into which the soul with ali its maladies has passed”? Who can foreet that “reverie of the middle age, with its spiritual ambitions and 1maginauve loves”? Was ever a time 80 completely characterized by & single phrase? “Appreciations” contains nine essays, most of them on English writers. Four “Imaginary Portraits” are usually published in one vol- ume, though in the latest edition “The Child in the House,” which was published after Pater’s death, is added. The others are “A Prince of Court Painters,” “Denys L’'Auxer- rois,” Sebastian von Storck” and “Duke Carl of Rosenmould.” The first is a picture of Anthony Watteau. Whether real &s to facts or fanciful, it is true in the semse George Eliot meant when she said that fictfon is truer than history. If any can read it and not feel that they have been made to understand the spirit of that dainty and exquisite brush, the fault lies in themselves but not in Pater. The man and his time are illuminated. One can never see & Watteau fan or shepherdess_ agsin without a peculiar feeling of intimacy and tenderness for the painter. We under- standghis motives. We see what he really meant when he painted his artificial little men and women. We see that the airy grace and charm did not just happen, but came from a deeper sense back of the convention. And the beautiful, unselfish, high-vred girl of nearly two centuries ago, who loved him and wrote of him in her journal—did she really live and did her life pass quietly sad, and gray and unfulfilled? She lives to us who read of her atleast. We know that he too Joved her, but turned away to othermodes of thought and feeling, as men can, while she was left behind, between the old dead walls of familiar habit, with no outlook but the sky above. “Sebastian von Storck” is one of the subtlest psychological studies in all the world of printed words, It is a picture as fine as a cameo. : The portrayal of the young man’s character and the effect upon it of purely abstract specu- lations shows Pater’s conception of what must result from the loss of the tangible. Richard Le Gallienne says that “Sebastisn was hypno- tized by the universe.” Those who are interested in the beginnings of German culture will read “Duie Carl” with special pleasure. The chief value of these ‘‘portraits” is the quality they possess of imparting the very es- sence of the flavor of the time and place in which they are set. For those who seek the broader culture, which carries from compre- hending many modes of thought and from living the life of many times and peonles, Pater has done a lasting service. And for those whose ears are attuned to perceive the music io words, which is as much & gift or a faculty as the ability to perceive the music in tones, Walter Pater will ever have a rare and inex- pressible charm. GRACE 8. MUSSER. LOVE WILL NOT BE BOUND. A TRIUMPH OF DESTINY—By Julla Helen Twells Jr. J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadel- phis. For sale by William Doxey, Palace Hotel. This 8 & story of love at cross purposes with law afid religion, without involving any im- morality. Helen Wentworth, the heroine, is loved by her cousin, who has grown up with her, and wno has been selected for her by their aunt. She does not return his love and her next lover is & married man. He gains her af- fections by concealing the fact that he hasa living wife. This man, Loraine, is represented 8s feeling a tender and sincere love for Helen, who at first repulses him in a very in- dignant way, but later relents and feels un- able to resist his fascination and strong will. After the death of Loraine’s wife, Helen marries him. The next trick of destiny is to make a farmhand fall in love with her. She returns this love and confesses it to her husband. The farmhand turns out to be the son of & onetime lover of her mother, whose love ner mother had returned, but she could not marry him. The farmhand is found mysteriously killed. Helen and Lo- raine resolve, at her request, to renounce their marriage, and they go to a foreign couutry 1o Live as brother and sister. The story is well told. A MAN WHO WAS LIKED T00 MUCH THE o"rutznc.n nmouu_usy Henry James. The o A For sale by William Doxey, Fatace stoten, © O This 1s & fine story of English life. Itcon- sists almost entirely ot clever conversations, and those readers who prefer having charae- ters reveal themselves by what they say rather than by what the author says about them will be much pleased with the style of this work. As usual, Mr. James gives us some fine bits of description. Here is a brief one of Jean Mantle: *A slim, fair girl who struck herasa light sketch for something larger, a cluster of happy hints with nothing yet quite put in.” Another glimpse of a gir] is this: “This mes- sage was simply Rose Armiger’s whole face, exquisite and tragic in its appeal, stamped with & sensibility that was almost abject, a ‘tenderness that was more than eager.” A Slave. Somebody touched me as the crowd thronged by : A halt-averted face, a flashing eye, ‘An unframea word of bidding, and 1 knew The thing the plotting stars ordained is true— Iam a siave! Iam a slave! yet would no: sell my ciain For all the gold of Africa or Spain. 1 stand, a watcher, by that power held: I lurk, a shadow, by iha will compelied, anning the multitude with eager eye, Seeking my master where the crowd throngs by! CATHARINE YOUNG GLEX, in New York Sun. Once and Forever. Our own and our own forever, God taketh not back his gif:; They may pass beyond our vision, but our souls shall find them out When the waiting Is all accomplished and the deathly shadows lift, And glory 1s given for grieving and the surety of God for doubt. We may find the walting bitter and count the stlence long: God knoweth we are dust, and he pitieth our ain; And When falth has grown to fuliness and the silence changed to song We snall eat the fruit of patlence and shall bunger not again. So, sorrowing hearts, who dumbly in darkness and all alone 8it, missing a dear lost presence and the joy of & vanished day, Be comforied with this message, that our own are forever our own, Ana God, who gave the gracious gift, he takes it never away. SUsaAN COOLIDGE, in Sunday-School Times, A Trooper Rode at Midnight Hour. A trooper rode the mountain down, And quaffed a bowl in gle There was blood on his haad, And blood on his crown, And biood where the rein hung free, “I come,” cried be, “from the battlefield”— I come,” cried he, from the battlefield”— And T tei of victory.” The trooper rode to his lady’s bower, And doffed his cloven casque, “0, my own true love, 0, my own fair flower, I have done thy grewsome task. “Icome,” cried he. “from the battlefield”— “I come,"” cried he, “from the batlefield, And I tell of victory.” The trooper swayed as he sat his horse, ¥For the casement opened not: And his face was pale as a soulless corpie, When he heard he was forgot. “Icome,” gasped he, from the battlefieid, “I come,” gasped he, *from the battlefield, AndIgoto death, I g0 to death, for thee, for thee.” The trooper rides at the midnight hour, His bones with his horse keep time, And ever he stops at bis 1ady’s bower, And moaneth with the chime— “Icome,” moaned he, “from the yawning field— “Icome.” moaned he, “from the yawniug fle.d, And I tell thy fa'si CHARLES MCTLVAINE, in Philadelphis Press. SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 15 1896 \)LBERT HUBBARD, the original of the above sketch, is the author of the introductory essays used by way of preface to “The Bong of V., Solomon” and “The Journsal of Koheleth” (Ecclesiastes), recently published by the Roycroft Printing Shop of East Aurora, N. Y. Mention has been made in these columns of the rare typographical beauty of this biblical edition de luxe, all the copies of which were immediately gathered in by enthusiastic bibliophiles. Mr. Hubbard's essays were especially notable for their originality. The Awakening. Behold, she is risen who lay asieep so 10ng, Our Engiand, our Beloved! We have seen ‘The swelling of the waters, we have heard The thundering cataracts call. Bebold, she is risen, Lovelier in resurrection than th® face 0f vale or mountain, when, with storming tears, At all Earth’s portals knocks the importunate Spring. We watched her sleeping. Day and night we strove With the dread spell that drowsed herheart. And thrice v In the unrest of her sick dreams she stirred, Half rafsed herselt, half oped her lips and lids, Ana thrice the evil charn prevailed, and thrice £he fell back forceless. But behoid she is risen, The hope of the World is risen, is risen anew. O England! O Beloved! O Re-born! Look that thou fall not upon sleep again, The sleep that s another's death and doom! ‘Thou art a star among the nations yet; Be thou a light of succor unto them That else are lost 1o blind aud whelming seas. Around them 1s the tempest: over them Cold splendors of the Inhospitable night. Augustly unregardfal: tHou alone Art still the North Star to the laboring ship, In triendless ocean the befriending orb, And if thou shine not, whither is she steered? thine.in thy glory, shine on her despair, Shine les: shie perish—lest ot her no raore Than some lorn flotsam of mortality Remaln to catch the firstaurors! gleam, When, in the East, flames the reluctant aawn, WILLIAM WATSON inthe London Chronicle. brilliant way of saying things maxes the book worth the perusal for the sske of the many sentences of wit and beauty. A NEW LOVE STORY. WON UNDER PROTEST. By Cella E. Gardner. New York: G. W. Dilllagham Company. For sale by the San Francisco News Company, Post sireet; price 81 60. This is a story as far removed from the sensa- tional as possible, yet in matter as well as style possesses a fascination which will recom- mend it to the general novel-reader. It nas no mission save to amuse; professes to be nothing more than a simple love story; is in fact not much more than astudyof a s beart—that of one who having loved rly womanhood with the love of a lifetime, and been disappointed, has fought herself into calmness; the bitter experience leaving, however, £o lasting an impression as to make her resolve never again to give her bappiness and peace of mind into the keep- ing of any man. After a lapse of ten years, her home being broken up by the death of her mother, she goes to a distant town to reside with an only sister, where, to her annoyance and conster- nation, she finds her old love, who has mar- ried immediately sfter the broken engage- ment, established with his wife as the near neighbor and intimate friend of the family ‘with whom she h&s come to dwell. The strug- gle to live her life in constant association with those who have done so much to wreck its happiness, and keep her heart free from the old thralldom, both before and after the wife obligingly takes her departure to another world, forms the subject of the story. When in due time her hand is sought in marziage by her old lover, she is still 5o re- luctant to put herself in the bondage of pas- sion, while confessing her ability to love him, and only him, and so assured that a marriage between them would notresult in happiness for either, that she gives him his conge ina letter that is perhaps the finest bit in the book. This, however, he refuses 10 accept as final, ané aiter & year’s probation she is at last, in spite of continued misgivings, “Won Under Protest.” The story is told in the first person, the tone is high and pure, the characterization goo ., the dialogue bright and natural; and though, if it were true, such a revelation of the work- ings of & woman’s heéart might be in question- able taste, it being in all probability merely fiction, will escape that form of criticism, BRITTANY AND THE HEBRIDES. GREEN FIRE—By Flona Macleod.” Harper & ‘Brothers, Price $1 25. For sale by A. M. Rob- ertson, Post street, City. This is a mystic slory, embellished with glowing descriptions of woodland scenery, and is full of strange legends and superstitions. The hero, Alan de Kerival, is in love with his cousin, Ynys de Kerival, and she loves him. The twin sister of Ynys, Annaik, also loves him. There is opposition to the marriage of the lovers, and they have to run away to the Hebrides. Annaik is compared to Ynys as darkness to light. When Alan comes it is heaver. to Ynys, while Annaik, in jealousy, says it is ber hell. Annaik marries 8 woodsman, Judik Kerbas. tiou, and is killed by him after the birth of her child—because the child “bad nothing of the gypsy eyes and sywarthy da¥kness of Judik Kerbastiou, but was fair and with skin as white and eyes as blue as those of Alande Kerival.” AN OLD FAVORITE. UNDER THK GREENWOOD TREE — B; Thomas Hardy. New edition. Harper & Bros., New York. Price $150. For sale oy A. M. Rober son, Post sireet, City. This story derives its interest from its fine descriptions of quaint, old-fashioned Engiish | | o go. | Jie, In “The Child in the House,” that imeg- 1 Aside rom its character studies, Mr, James’ | peasant life. It is an old favorite, and was the author, His views of life became author's first step toward fame. One of the best passages describes the love of dress of Fancy Day and her wish to be thougnt beau- tiful by the young men. This offends Dick Dewy, who is engaged to her, for it appears to him that she loves dress and the admiration of other men better than she loves him. He goes one afternoon to ask her to make his half-holi- day heppy in & nutting expedition. She is too busy fixing an unnecessary new dress Dick goes off alone disgusted, but in the evening she meets him and very cleverly sets things to rights with Dick by declaring she will wear her old dress the next Sunday. Dick’s courtship is another good passage. There are some yery odd characters—among them an old, shoe- maker who claims that he can trace relation- ships and tell the qualities of men’s bearts by the look of their feet. WEALTH RENOUNCED FOR ART. LIMITATIONS—By E. F. & Brotbers. frice $1 25. Kobertson, Post street, City. This is the story of the son of a wealthy man who, renouncing the prospects of a fine busi- ness carcer, gave up all his energies to the study of Greek art. He executes a work too exquisitely fine to suit the popular demand oi the time and is compelled to abandon his am- bition. His father becomes impoverished, and, with his aspirations crushed, the young artist, with a wife and child on his hands, has to fight poverty in a chesp flat. The story is & stronger one than the famous “Dodo.” In a talk about the temptations of college life Tom Carlingford, the hero, declares that there are no temptations in college life except to sleep late in the morning. One of the fine passages is where Tom’s father tells him that leaving religion altogether out of the question immor- ality is the most supreme folly. The atory is not a very cheerfui one, it calls attention to the grinding of circumstances which com- pel men often to give up their ideals. ANGLO-SAXON UNITY DESIRED. WHY AMERICANS DISLIKE ENGLAND. By George Burion Adams. Philadelphia: Henry Altemus, publisher; price 30 cents. < This essay is the expansion of an article which appeared in the New York Independent of January 2,1806. The reason given for the dislike is the popular belief in America that in every emergency with which the United States has been confronted the British Goy- ernment has been our enemy. It restslargely with England to remove the grounds of such betief. *“As for ourselves, in the narrower sense,” concludes the author, “it isno doubt true that, in any possible future, our position is far more secure than that of England, and yet itis certain that our own best and highest interests, and those of all men everywhere, demand the unity and common action of the Anglo-Saxon race.” MATED WITH A PESSIMIST. ANDREA—By Percy White. George H. Rich- ond & Co. New York. For sale by Willism Doxey, Palace Hotel. This is & book full of unusually bright dfa- Jogue, and the reader is notapt to find & page Benson. Hi T For sale by Ar L. in it he will want to skip. The heroine is’ Andres, & beautiful girl, who is studying art, and so fascinates the artist, Peter Bens, that he persuades himself as well as her that she has a promising talent. She is undeceived by the frank criticism of an author named Otway. She learns that this man is right by his select- ing for praise some pictures which he sup- posed were her work. She thenks him for hay- ing led her out of a fool's paradise and mar- ries bim. The brilliant author killed an ariist and gained a wife by his feithful and unflat- tering criticism. Marriage for Andrea was ‘but one step from one fool’s paradise into an- other, for her life proved unhappy with the darker till he finally destroyed his fame by writing a morbidly bitter book. The tale ends happily, for Otway dies, leay- ing Andrea wealthy and youthful and free to marry the man she had once rejected but now loves. BY A CALIFORNIA WRITER. THE CAT AND THE CHERUB AND OTHER STORIES, by Chester Bailey Fernald, New York: The Century Company. For sale at the bookstores; price $1 0. Mr. Fernald's friends i Colifornia will wel- come this volume of sketches. His wide ac- quaintance with the Chinese and his apprecia- tion of their quaint characteristics are in am- ple evidence. Six of the stories have to do with the Mongolian, including “The Cruel Thousand Yeers,” “The Gentleman in the Barrel” and “The Pot of Frightful Doom.” Bnt Mr. Fernald is not limited to a single field. Some of the best of his stories are thosein which he depicts New England character. There are five of these tales, including “A Lit- tle Liberal,” “The Tragedy of the Comedy,” “Euater the Earl of Tyne,” and ‘'The Parlous ‘Wholeness of Ephraim.” Some of the talesin the book never have been publishea pre- viously. ANOTHER DETECTIVE STORY. THE BETRAYAL OF JOHN FORDHAM. By B, L. Farjeon. New York:; R. F. Fenno & Co., publishers: price, 50 cenis. This is a detective story in which a deep murder mystery is cleverly unraveled. John Fordham awakenS one dayas from a night- mare dream to see before him the damning evidence of a horrible crime. He is led to ac- cuse himself, but he cannot tell how the deed cameto be done or whether or not it wasin seif-defense. His mind is tortured; he cannot sleep; be is willing to suffer the dread penalty of his awful act. The work of the detective 1ifsing the black veil from Fordham’s life re- veals the latter innocent of the crime charged against him and the 18w is avenged when the men who had posed as Fordham’s betrayer is himself shown to be the guilty one and brought to justice. SOME TRIFLING SKETCHES HE EPISTOLARY FLIRT, IN FOUR EX- sroemu:s. By Ksmerie Am Chicago: Way & Wiilisms. Forsalein this City by Wil- liam Doxey; price $1. A series of four sketches written in play form, wherein three characters take part: Ernestine, & woman who writes verses; Irwin, a man who writes verses, and Philip, a man who writes poetry. These characters indulge in morsels of wit, evigrammatic and other- ‘wise, at each other’s expense, and write letters one to another in equally brilliant style. The ‘book is a pleasant trifle, scarce worthy of hav- ing more than & tew idle minutes devoted to it. BARR'S SHORT STORIES REVENGE. By (‘:‘nmnnm;r'; 919'0; YD@‘: Fred- Thicd ateeet For sale L ‘this City by William 3 price 81 25. This is & collection of short stories by Robert Barr, contributed by him to various maga zines. Mr, Barris one of the newer generation of autbors, who has done some good work in periodicals both in Eugland and in tbis country. The present issue contains tales hinging upon revenge as & motive for dark and bloody deeds. The covers are elaborately ornamented with revolvers, cutlasses and & skull, which, 1n themselves, suggest the char- scters of the storles therein contained. Richard Kendall! Munkittrick’s humorous verses have long been familiar to readers of Puck, Judge, Life, Truth and other periodicals. The best of these have now been collected un- der the felicitous title, “The Acrobatic Muse,"” and will be published in November by Way & ‘Williams, 21 THE HIGHWAYS OF LITERATURE A New York Octogenarian Writes a Book to Swell the Jealous Pride of Gotham. lGOJ\!‘I‘ES‘I'S BOSTON'S TITLE TO “CRADLE OF LIBERTY.” New York Had a Revolutionary “Tea Party” of Her Own and Shed the First Blood of the War for American Independence. REMINISCENCES OF AN OCTOGENARIAN. By Cnarles H. Haswell. Harper & Bros. For sale by A. M. Robertson, City. Price $3. The book covers the period between 1816 and 1860. The author is the compiler of the well-known civil engineers’ and machinists’ manual called “Haswell.” It contains many interesting memories of the metropolis. The writer starts out by surprising us with a tale of the “New York Tea-Party,” which destroys Boston’s monopoly of fame on that line. The New York party, without the cover of Indian disguise, sent one of the tea ships back to England and upset the cargo of another into the bay. Healso claims for New York the distinetion of having shed the first blood of the Revolution. This was &t the batile of Golden Hill, which was two months earlier than the Boston massacre. Among the honors claimed for the city are that it was the scene of the first victorious fight for the liberty of the press, the birth- place of the Sons of Liberty, organized to re- sist the stamp act, and ten years before the revolution it was the meeting place of the first American Congress of nine colonies. A few samples of the interesting reminis- cences of old New York, culled at random from the book’s pages, will give some idea of its historic treasures. The story is told of how Mrs. Murray's excellent Madeira, by detaining General Howe in the enjoyment of her hospi- tality at a critical time, saved the Revolution- ary army from capture in New York. An amusing story is told of the first attempt to in- troduce anthracite coal. It was mined in Rhode Island, end samples were distributed among well-known citizens to test and report on its merite. One of them, Martin S. Wilkins, made the following report: *Iam willing to certify that, under favorable circumstances, this coal is capable of ignition, and Iam will- ing to further certify that, if Rnode Island is underlzaid with such coal, then, at the general conflagration which our ministers predict, it will be the last place to burn.” It is related that as late as 1838 hair on the face was so much disapproved of that when Consul Glidden returned from Egypt one of his commentators wound up his praise with the remark, *‘What a pity he should wear & mustache.” In 1816 a beard was such a rarity that the wearer would attract attention as a curiosity and be followed down the street by & crowd of boys. Even in 1850 the writer avers that he heard mustaches termed ‘‘mon- strous” by persons of taste, culture and sober judgment. In 1825 it was officially estimated that 20,000 hogs were at large on the streetsof New York. The year 1821 was a time of very rapid building, and on the present corner of Hammond and Fourth streets corn was growing on a Saturday ana the next Monday one Sykes had completed a house there big enough to accoramodate 300 boarders. On April 20, 1831, William C. Bryant, who was then editor ot the Even- ing Post, had & rencounter with William L. Stone of the Commercial and struck him with & cowhide. Friends separated them, and Stone triumphed to the extent of possessing the whip after the battle. In 1829 Delmon- fco's name and address first appeared. The brothers commenced in asingle room at 23 William street, in which they and the female members of the family dispensed coffee, cakes, liquors and confections. In 1831 the first street railroad was putin operation. On Sep- tember 21, 1824, the Advocate, a lead- ing paper, published the fact, accompanied with expressions of its disapprobation, thata young man had been seen smoking on the streets so ear'y as 9 o’clock in the morning. It is astonishing to note that Mr. Haswell says that all men of hisage may look back to the customs and conveniences of the pastas more rational, creditable and comfortable than many of the present time. A HISTORICAL ROMANCE. QUO VADIS. A Narrative of Rome of the Time of Nero. By Henryk Slenkiewicz. Author of “With Fire and Sword,” “The Leluge,” “Pan Michael.” etc. Transiated from the Potish by Jeremiah Curtin. Crown, 8vo. Cloth, $2. Lit- tle, Brown & Co., Boston. This is a beautifully written historical ro- mance, which brings vividly before the reader’s imagination the cruel days of old Rome and the terrible ordeals triumphantly borne to which the early Christians were subjected. The chief interest of the story lies in the grad- ual conversion of Vieinius, a luxurious and profigate Roman, to the new faith. Through the instrumentality of his ardent love for Lygia, a Christian girl of such fresh loveliness that *‘be- neath & statue of this maiden one might write ‘Spring,” ”” he is drawa to the love and accept- ance of Christ. Lygia is the daughter of the King of the Suevi, and had been sent to Rome a hostage. Vicinius attempted to get pos- session of her by force, but is baffled 1n this method and compelled to woo her like a Christian should. He isdangerously wounded and nursed back to lite by the faithful tend- ance of the woman he wishes. Surrounded by Christians be begins to admire the magna- nimity which forgave his attempted wrong in seeking to snatch instead of pleading for his desire. His love for Lygia grew with the difficulty of gaining her. From his sick bed ‘‘he looked &t her profile, at her drooping lashes, at her hands lying on her knees; and in his pagen head the idea began to hatch with ditficulty, that at the side of naked beauty, confident, and proud of Greek and Roman symmetry, there is another in the world, new, immensely pure, in which a soul resiges.” Saint Peter and Paul of Tarsus are intro- duced into the narrative, and in an interview with them Vicinius says “your virtue and your religion, though I do not profess it, have changed something in my soul, so that I do not venture on violence. Give Lygia to me as wife, and I swear that not only willI not for- bid her to profess Christ, but I will begin my- self to learn his religion.” He learns and wins. Atthe end of the story a letter to a friend tellsthat he is sitting in the shade of an almond tree with his wife beside him spinning Wwool. There isalong and fine description of the conflagration of Rome when it sseemed to Vi- cintus that not the city only but the whole world was burnine. Among the bool ttractions is a sermon by St. Peter. There isa lesson in loving in the letter of Petronius to his friend Vicinius. The cnaracter of Nero is finely drawn, and one of fine touch is where Poppoea’s management of the ‘tyrant'is partly accounted for, because she knew “that Nero may be blamed on condition that tos smali criticism a great flattery be added.’ % The end is a dramatic description of the death of the cruel and cowardly Emperor. Those readers who bave enjoyed Canon Far- rar’s “Darkness and Dawn”” will find a similar pleasure in this tale of a gleam of light in the darkness. TALES FROM THE FRENCH TALES FROM A MOTHER-OF-PEARL CASKET. By Anatole France. George Rich- mond & Co., New York. For saleat all book- stores. Price 81. This is & collection of short stories by Ana- tole France, translated by Henri Pene du Bois. M. France was for some years a jonrnalist en- gaged in conmtributing eritical articles to La Vie Litteraire, Le Globe, Les Debats and Le Temps. He is mainly recognized, however, by his novel, published in 1881, entitled “Le Crime de Sylvestre Bonnard.” M, du Bois, spesking of the auidor of the present sketches, says: “‘He is a book-lover, he is young, he is a philosopher, he is very learned and he knows men. There were never qualities more difficult to reunite in one per- son; there was never an artist more skill- ful at using their combination than Anatole France. In this book, a eycle of human progress is inclosed. There are in it the end of paganism and the end of the monarchy in France. There are in it the naive ways of the saints of the Golden Legend and those of the revolutionists at the end of the eighteenth century. There are in it tolerance, sympathy, intelligenca anda faultiess artifice.”” All of which may be true, but the sketches appear to have ratner thatquality of making themselves acceptable to the Parisian fenilleton devourer than to the average American reader of short stories. That, however, is not the fault of the translator, who appears to have performed a difficult task in & creditable manner. A FINE CHEAP EDITION. FATHER STAFFORD. By Anthony Hope. New York: F. Tennyson Neely, publisner. For sile by Emporium Book Department; cloth price 76 cents. ‘The appearance on the local stage with ate tendant success of the dramatized version of “The Prisoner of Zenda” has served to create a livelier {nterest in the writings of Anthony Hope. The edition of that masterful author’s late book, “Father Stafford,” now at hand, is at the same time cheap and elegant. The story, it need hardiy be repeated, is one of Mr. Hope’s strongest, vividly portraying the strife between the obligation of a vow of celibacy and the promptings of true love. LITERARY NOTES. Jules Verne has been sued by a man who claims $10,000 aamages for being introduced as one of the characters in his new novel. Cape Cod folks, s a rule, will sympathiza with him, A list of the private libraries in the world, with a description of their contents, is about to be published in Leipzig. The first part de- scribes over 500 libraries in the United States and Canada; the second part will take up the private libraries of Great Britain. William Allen White’s book of Kansas stor- ies, ¢ The Real Issue,” is announced for pub- lication by Way & Williams on November 15. Mr. White’s editorial, “ What's Wrong With Kansas?” which was reprinted from his paper, the Emporia (Kans.) Gazette, and used as a campaign document, has already introduced him to a large circle of readers. His stories are original and sincere and interesting. T. Y. Crowell & Co. of New York and Bosion have republished in attractive form George Sands’ “Fadette.” “La Petite Fadette’ was written about the time of the Revolution of 1848 when the state of Europe seemed most gloomy and uncertain. The gifted author sct herself to work to create a little circle of cheer, & light in darkness. This charming story was the result. The translation has been done by Mrs. James M. Lancaster, who has rendered the author's French into unexceptional Eng- lish. The value of the new ‘Century Science Series” is more strongly marked with every new volume which the Macmillan Company publishes. In compact form most welcome to those who have not time to read long blographies, they contain interesting narratives of the lives of the men who bhave done most to develop modern sciences. The writer of each book is an authority on the science whose history is traced; for example, Sic Henry Roscoe writes of “John Dalton and the Rise of Modern Chemistry,” R. T. Glazebrook of “James Clark Maxwell and Modern Physics” and Professor Sylvanus P. Thompson is preparing “Michael Faraday, His Life and Work.”” The most recent issue is Edward B. Poulton’s ““Charles Darwin and the Theory of Natural Selection.” Outing for November is superbly illustrated and contains the following excellent articles: “Prominent Trotters and Pacers of the Sea- son,”” by E. B, Abercrombie; “The Story of a Penny Pencil” (complete), by Sarah Addison ‘Wedderburn; “In the City of the White Dove,’” by Annetta Halliday-Antona; “‘Over Decoys on the Mississippi,” by F. E. Kellogg; “The Canoe Camp at Grindstone,” by R. B. Barchard; “An Adventure with African Lions,” by Traher Genone; ‘“Lenz’s World Tour Awheel”’; “Tur- Tracking,” by Ed W. Sandys; “A Gossip on ” by Horace G. Hutchinson; “American Amateur Athletes in 1896,” by W. B. Curtis; “Racing Schooners,” by R. B. Burchard; “Foot- ball of '96,”” by Walter Camp; and the “Na- tional Guard of Maine,” by Captain C. B. Hall, The editorial and record departments sre very interesting. The Critic of October 31 contains a halfe hundred book reviews, an account of the ses. quicentenary at Prineeton, with a list of those honored with degrees and portraits of five of the six men of letters who received the title of doctors of letters honoris causa (Professor Baird, Richard Watson Gilder, Professors Lounsbury and Mareh and Messrs. Horace E. Scudder and Charles Dudley Warner); a view of George du Maurier’s new house at 17 Oxford Square, London, which he purchased when “Trilby’’ had brought him wealth, only to die there; a portrait of the late Cyrus W. Field, sccompanying & review of his daugh- ter’s blography of him; and an interesting ac- count by Dr. Howard Horace Furness of “The Town of Trilby,” in Florida, which has been named after Du Maurier’s heroine, and hasits streets, squares, etc., named after the princi- pal characters of the novel. Another book of which it is said that its first editiog (in this case fifteen hundred) was sold on the day of publication, is & volume of “0Old English Ballads,” {llustrated by George Whar- ton Edwards, with en introduction by Hamil ton W. Mabie. Surely this is an instance to comfort the hearts of those who croak that the genuine love of 'literature is dying out, for here we have simply the ola familiar ballads beginning with Chevy ~Chace, closing with Sir Patrick Spens, with Mr. Mable's scholarly introduction and Mr. Ed- wards' sympathetic artistic interpretation; and the book receives such a reception as is rarely granted to anything else than a new book from that novelist who happens for the time being to lead in the scale of popularity. The book referred to is one which collectors will soon value, and for these an edition on large paper has been specially prepared by the publishers, the Macmillan Company. It is s little whimsical perbaps to assume that Mrs. Mabel Osgood Wright, when she gave the beast and bird characters in her new story, ‘‘Tommy-Anne,” their Indian names, knew that the book would come 0 the chil- dren on just such a perfect Indian summer day as greeted its publication last week, but certainly nothing could have been more fit- ting. It would seem that it was appreciated also, for the first edition (not a specially small one since the number of copies reached more nearly two than the usaal one thousand) scarcely outlived the day of publication, and asecond is belug prepared as rapidiy as pos- sible. Such & report is precisely what one would look for and quite in the line of the expectation voiced by this month’s Bookman, that the story would be ‘“one of the most ate tractive books for children.” It is published by the Macmilian Company,