The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, February 14, 1897, Page 23

* ment. THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1897. A Life Full of Beauty. WELLBORN RUOT—By Harret Mon Houghton, Mifm & Co., Boston and New JomN York. ZEFENRY VAN BRUNT, writing in the # Inland Architect and News Record, VAN said that John Root was one of the Iost interesting personalities in the histo of modern architecture. opinion wili be indorsed by every one wh easure of ending tnis study of his 1i Tk by Miss Harriet Monroe, and tney will add to it the opinion that the book has enriched our litera- ture with one of the most attractively written biographies of modern times. It isa volume which should be read by architects, and by all those who expect to buila a home or Lave & voice in the selection of plans for any build ing, and by tnose diligent seekers after breadth of culture who would like to know some of the best that has been thought and said about *the most useful of the flue arts and the finest of the useful arts” by one of the foremost can architects. The his John Root will be of interest to the gen cader, because his was a char- ular strength and beauty, cter of si he make 1t doubly interesting to those who love excellence of style for its own sake and &s a e aside from the importance of the story Mr. Root was born In Georgia in 1850. His father was.a native of New Engiand, his mother & Southerner, and in his blood wss e puritan and the cavalier. Even rth his parents planned that this uid be artistic—he must love music, poetry and pictures—the gifts of Pallas were besought for him. His f ings to be an architect were to be fulfilied in the son, the n ution to the world’s loveliness. The wish of his parents was boun: ully grantcd. The aspisation planted in the breast produced s harvest of achieve- manhood. An enduring monument ¥ exists in the gracetul piles that ¥ of his thoughts. ty for making 1t was the which Mr. B st form in Root evinced his artistic tastes. t music came 50 easily to him that all his he made it bis play and recreation, while he devoted himself to architecture as the seri- ous business of his days. He was graduated with high honors from the University of New York, receiving the degree of bachelor of sci- ence and civil engineering. His working life was spent chiefly in Chicego, whither he went soon aiter the mreat fire with §300 capital His success is a story of persistent struggle against discouragements. It was four years before his talents found such recognition that his earnings amounted to $1500 a year. A story illustrative of his generosity while under thestress of hard times is that once being moneyless at the time of a friend’s marriage he pawned his watch for £20 in order to buy the bride s present. He put his music to p tical use in the first vears in Chicago by pla erary charm with which it is narrated will | er's baffled long- | s and beauty of build- | »de permanent in solid masonry the | dness for music and & most precocious | came the mty for these | higher opportunity of death.” To read the life of such a man as John Well- born Root must needs bs interesting and in- ructive, not only because of its illumination of the noble art of architecture, the buiiding of music and poetry into form to delight and inspire every beholder, but also because of its illumination of the fact that in the building up of cheracter poetry and music can find expression in the conduct of & life state! strong and beautiful, like some great arch tectural masterp The book which give the public the benefit of these two studies is so happy in its selections of what Root said about art and life, and in what it telis us pleasing literary style, that it will be found as ab: me great novel. bingly intere: ing s Miss Knapp’s New Book. The Royeroft Printing Shop of East Aurora, . Y., announces the publication on March 15 next of a new book by Miss Adeline Knapp, en- d “Uplaud Pastures.” book will consist of short outdoor es- | says, dealiag with the beeutiful things that spring and summer bring. Five hundred copies will bs printed on ish paper, bound 2 each; forty copies on Jspan | 5 eacn. | The book will be done throughout in the | best Roycroft style, which fact will be enough ure adm of artistic work. We have ady taken occasion in these columns to speak of the excellent taste displayed by Elbert Hubbard in the Royeroft publications. Miss Knapo is well known to readers of the reviews asthe author of numerous striking essays on economic subjects. To the public of San Francisco she will be remembered by her | charming s of the Field,” which have | appeared in TuEe CaLL. Her new venture will | Be aated with About Artists. | A STURDY BEGG Charies Carrington. |~ stone & Kim Price §1 For sale by Wilitam D i The £turdy Beg in this cleverly written | little book was sn artist who maintained that | & true genius of art could never do hireling wor He was a very talented man and 8 great art critic. One night he dropped into the studio of a young ulptor who had st finished after long labor a statue of “Prudence,” for which he wa receive a big sum of mo; Tne Sturdy | gar convinced the am young man that he ought to work, and he was just about to a friend came in ana stopped tk The caustic and learned cr be a madman who had escaped from a lunatic tious his pwith & hammer whe destroy ash it e destruction. m. | Triumphant Fraud. | LADY BRAMBER'S GHOST—By Charles Char- g rington. Stone & Kimball, New York. Price ing the organ in a church to help out his in-| g1 For sale by William Doxey, Palace Fondics Tiotel, Ciy The future held great things in store for | The Laay Bramber in this tale is a great him, however, and as soon as it was discovered | focial success, aud in addition to that glory what he could do he was crowded with re- | she makes & big reputation &san author by niunerative work. nned buildings that have been ej He pl m,$400,000 to §1,000,000. The catalogue of his creations covers five large pag. ings i Chicago, he has to his credit a number distant cities. Among them fs the Monte- ma Hotel New Mexico, which is the ma- alization of an architect’s dream of beauty. bther is the Equitable building in Atlants, ch surpasses anything in that fair city. Mills building in San Francisco was de- signed by him and is considered a fine ex- ample of his power. Itis said to be one of the most successful of all that class of his bui'dings which the commercial ides alone demanded xpression. The temple he designed for the Womean’s Cnristian Temperance Union in Chicago is said 10 combine the elements of & motive of senti- -ment and aspiration and the commercial idesl in & wonaerful harmony. Mr. Van Brunt says of it: “As an expression of strength and dignity crowned worthily by beauty and grece no nobler example has been given in modern times.” The great archway in the Western Union building in Chicago is one of his mesterpieces and the balconied poreh of the Insurance Exchange another. But theie are far too many to enumerate. Mr. Root formed s partnership with David H. Burnham early in career, and the firm of Burnham & Root worked harmoniously for cighteen years and was only dissolved by the death of Root in 1891 Root had charge of the department of design. The big office force ‘was so well organized and worked with such sympathetic accord and ambition that it ac- complished work astonishing in its combina- tion of quantity with perfection of detail. Root designed with facile speed and had un- usual powers of appiication and endurance of mental strain. It was only at the last he real 1zed that he had overworked himself. Notwithstanding the extent of the work done by this prolitic designer his biographer tells us that he never became absorbed in his work so completely a5 to dwarf to dispropor- tion the other parts of life. She tells us that 10 hum life was more than art. He succeeded in meking himself 5o well beloved that strong men wept when death came to him in the prime of his career. The most remarkable thing about him is said to have been the com- plete harmony of his whole being. He was d veloped at all points aud his character per- fectly rounded. His fellow-artists bore wit- ness to his modesty—*“in onc 5o great final | proof of greatness.” The social side of his nature made him the life of many clubs aud he was instrumental in founding & number of these. His biography is the story of & joyous life. He had sympa- thy es well as strength, and men whom he had sided sobbed like children when they heard of his death. One trait of his character was his subordination of his personality to the great forces behind the progress of events; he seems to ve regarded himself es a mere in- strument played upon by unseen powers, and made the music of & happy and highly useful life with no thought of individual merit. Tne esteem of Mr. Root’s fellow-craftsmen is evidenced by his having been made president of the Western Association of Architects, ana 1 they were merged into the American Institute o1 Architects he was appointed to the important duties of secretary of that associa- tion. He was consulting architect of the World’s Fair at Chicago, and to him was en- trusted the selection of the board of architects who planned the wonders of the White City. Inthe division of labor he was assigned the g of the fine arts building, which of courge had (o be the most artistic of all that creation of grace and grandeur. HIs pre- Yeution by death from participating fully in ° great work was deplored as a calamity by *het galaxy of genius which made the dream of the World's Falr a reality. Competent judges of the glory of architec- ture regret that an esrly death deprived America of the fully ripened fruit of his kenius. His aspirations lacked much of fulfiil- His biographer says: “The large com- mercial structures, which must be pronounced his most important contribution 1o architec- ture, in w certain way do violence to his memory. He was deeply an artist, a poes; profoundly a lover of his kind, a dreamer of uod. Temples of art, of music, of religion, “were what be chiefly longed 10 do; buv along | ccted 1n meny citles and are con- | divorced pieces, some of them ranging | eater, Tepresenting as her own the work of her husband, who is a morphine- but & literary genfus. This wretched man is the “ghost” of the story, A young newspaper man discovers the fraud, but Sesides the many magnificent build- | the managers of the papers ail think he is try- | ing to fake a story on them, or are afraid of the | power of Lady Bramber. Finally the journalist is decided to be mentally unbalanced, the ghost dies and the literary fraud’s triumph is | complete. AT THE SIGN OF TH By Carolyn W. Wells. Stone & Kimball, New York. Price §125 For sale by Willlam Doxey, Palace | Hotel, ¢ This book of charades contains queries cal- culated to quicken tne brain by the exercise of answering them correctly, and the language used in asking them is qui vpreity and often | poetical. It contains & table by which the | suswers may be put to proof for their correct- | ness, but without gt g any hint of what | they are before being guessed. 2o Ruskin’s Philr;;thrupy. From time to time references are made to the sacrifice of his fortune made by Ruskin for the benefit of the poor. The Home Jour- | nal gives some of the interesting and fnspiring | detals af this eacrifice | “Through his fataer Mr. Ruskin fell heir to | mearly $1,000,000, to which must be added | the income of his writings. But this man "couulcd his treasures as & trust fund, held in | the interests of suffering merit or youth’s promising talent. That he was on the London committee for the victualing of Paris in 1871 proves that his benevolence wasas well known | &3 Penbody’s or Lady Burdett-Coutts’. Taxing | himsels first a tentn, then half, he finally gave | his entire income. If he needed botanical | and art works ‘or his studies he crippled him- | telf rather than refuse his last spare 20 | guineas to the widow of a dead artist. If for | health’s sake and art’s sake he wanted to take a trip to Switzerland, be would forego it | that he might contribute £100 to the Cruikshank memorial. If others would not encourage the study of ert in | schools, he would buy ten water-color draw- | ings of William Hunt, paying for each $375, nd give them to the public schools of Lon- | don. Inoneof hisletters to the workingmen | of Great Britain he told them what he had | done and was doing with his money in carry- | ing on his St. George’s Guild and his pians for | rent reform. Up to 1877 he had given away ail his fortune suve $250,000. But, in view ot the needs of Lis workingmen’s clubs, this amount seemed much 100 large for his per- sonal wants. He therefore determined to dis- tribute all save £12,000 worth of consols, the interest of which would bring him some £300. Upon this interest he now lives, the Income of his books being distributed smong his ser- vants, his old vensioners and his various plans for social reform.” He bestowed his art treasures, we are further told, with like gencrosity, on institutions where the poor would have accsss to them. He anticipated General Booth by founding a guild to redeem waste lands and regenerate ruined lives. Under his influence the his- torian Green spent several years in work among the London poor. The best lectures of the great art critic, it is said, have never been given where wealth and social prestige were represented, but before working-girls’ and workingmen’s associations. The Value of the ¢ Times.” Any one who wants to get an idea of the value of & big newspaper may take as & basis the estimated profit of shareholdersof the London Times, as suggested in a recent trial, Mr. Adams bought one-fourteenth of two- thirds of oue-ninth -of two-sixieerths (or 1-1512) of the Times from Mr. Brodie tor £353, on the assurance that this minute share was worth £25 per annum. According 1o him, aiter he had purchased the share he found it only to be worth £17 a year. Oa this he asked for damages. A jury assessed the damages at £65. Assuming this share to be wortn £18 per annum (which seems about the average value), it1s clear, says London Truth, that the net diviaend on sharesis £27,216. Mr. Adams, Yelieying 1t to be worth £352, pald for it 14,1 | About his personality, and is written in such | | { JOHN WELLBORN ROOT. CLEVER BITS OF VERSE BY CURRENT RHYMESTERS Uncle Silas and the Universe. ! “Whats all this thing about?” seyshe. | i | “Wall, 1 dunno,” says I. “What good is all this worl’ to m This lan’ an’ sea an’ sky? The same ol’ thing! Git up an’ dress. An’ eat an’ work like sin; Then go to bed, git up en’ dress, An’ eat an’ work ag'in. What's all this thing about?” says he. | Says an’t tell ye, John; | | t, as for me, 1 like to see To see the thing go on. B “There ain’t no end to this machine, An’ no man hereabout. S0 fur as I have seen, | Can tell what it grinds out; | Its belts are hitched to far-off gears, | Far out be-end the sun. An’ I've no doubt "twili run for years The way it allus run.”” “But what's the thing about?” says he; Says I: “Can’t tell ye, John; But, as for me, I like to see. To see the thing go on.”’ “'Tis day an’ night an’ night an’ day, The same ol’ thing,” says Johu. “I guess it 15,” says I, “but say, Let’s watch the thing go on. For all the grass an’ things that grow, AD’ stars, it seems to me, Are jest a free-for-nothin’ show, For us deadheads to see. An’ Tain’t tired of it yit, 1ts pretty middlin’, John; An’, as for me, I like to see, To see the thing go on. “I like to see the thing, my friend, | "Tis healthy sport for man, | Though I can’t tell ye where 'twill end, or where the thing began.” “Wha's all the thing about?” *Tis fun enough for me To jest Iay back an’ see the show An’ wonder; yes, sir-ce! An’ 50 I guess that we are hero And thav's our business, John, “Dunno; To work an’ git ourselves in gear 1 To help the thing go on.” SaM WALTER Foss in New York Sun. To My Pipe. Oh, I love the merry gurgle of my pipe, Brter pipe; When the flavor of the weed within is ripe; What e lullaby it purls As the smoke around me curls, Mounting slowly higher, higher, As1dresm before the fire, With & flavor in my mouth Like a zephyr from the south, And my favorite tobacco By my side— Near my side, With the soothing necromancy | Sweetly linking {act to funcy In & golden memory chain To the gurgle, sweet reirain, | Of my pive, orier pipe, To the fancy-breeding gurgle of my pipe. Oh, what subtle satisfaction in my pipe, Brier pipe: Nothing mundane can fmpart Such contentment to my heart; She's my idle, shé’s my queen, Is my lady Nicotine. When 1n trouble how I yearn For the incense which I burn At her shrine. How I pive For the frugrance of her breath; Robbed of terror e'en is death By her harmless hypnotism Healed is every mortal schism, Foe and friend Sweell At the burning of the brier; Greed, cup dity, desire | Fade away within the smoke, In the fragrant, fleecy smoke From my pipe, magic pipe, From my glowing, peace - bestowing, gurgling pipe. S1GEL Rovse in New York Sun, | How calm thy lot, forever bles The Broken TJoy. A broken toy! what memories cling Around this half-forgotten thing; What baby laughter seems to rise, Like old, delighttul metodies ; What shuuts of wordiess, tuneful joy, Atsight of this poor broken toy! Oh, tiny feet that would not rest! Oh, dear head pillowed on our breast, What would we give to hold again The form we lost, mid tears and pain! Ah, child! the empty cot is ours, But thine the sunshine and the flowers! What could we give thee, shouldst thou come To smile again upon thy home? Such little pleasures as we know In this, our twilight life below: Some fragments of earth's paltry joys A handful of i1s broken toys! How exquisite thy happy rest! How changeless, joyful and serene “ompared with what thy lot had been With us, whose fleeting, clouded joys Are at their bes: but broken toys. J. H, in Chambers’ Journal. A Pen Portrait: Hair whose goid was deitly spun By viewless spindles of the sun. Eyes whose silken fringes seem The curtains of & fairy’s dream, 0 mischief bent, yet half demure— The home of thoughts and fancies pure. Where heavenly lights have equal sway In union of the blue and gray. Words whose sweetness cannot wane From lips like rosebuds aiter rain, A heart whose softly rhy thmic beat Is timed to all things true and sweet, WiLLIAM H. HAYNE in Leslie's Weekly. years' purchase. The jury valued it at £288, which, taking the annualreturn at £18, would | be sixteen years’ purchase, making the Times | worth £435456. This, however, does not quite correctly, I belleve, represent value, for Mr. Walter, as printer, derives a large profit | on an'old contract. This coutract, in point of | fact, represents what may be called preference shares. while those of the shareholders may be | termed ordinary shares, the value of the Times being the sum total of both, Barrie Hard Hit. This s how the “Chap Book” comments upon J. M. Barrie’s latest work, “Margaret ogllvy”: When Forster published his “Life of Charles Dickens” it was said that the proper title for | the book should have been *Lite of Forster | With Reminiscences of Charles Dickens.” | Pretty much the same may be said of “Mar- garet Ogilvy,” Mr. Barrie’s memoir of his mother. The book should have been called, “James M. Barrie as aSon; how he carried shawls and made beds and scoured plates in his own home; and went to London; and wrote books about his friends and relatives; and the strange faces he made while writ- ing them; what he thought of things in general and himself in particular; with full qetails of his daily habits and domestic life and occasional glimpses of His Mother.” Nothing less would give a true 1dea of Mr. Barrie’s quiet way of creeping to the front of the stage himself. The book is not about his mother; it is about Mr. Barrie. No one who knows Mr. Barrie—a more modest | or more refined man never lived—will hoid him consciously to blame for this mishap. He started out to give us a sketch of his mother; to make the picture & true one he was com- pelled to bring himself in; and quite vy acci- dent—these things will happen somehow—he has made himself the central figure in the foreground. The impression left by the me- moir is that Mr. Barrie was & most dutiful and well-behaved young man. As & work of art the book is undoubtedly a very Qainty piece of literature. But it is im. possible for the reader to rid himself of the impression of artificiality—not so much in the execution, as in the idea of the thing; the insdnet that it 1s unnaiural for & man 1o sit down and turn his home life into public copy and sell for money a description, however pa- thetic, of his mother's and sister’s deathbed. Thbre is something 100 theatrical about iti; | task; but if books of tue “Margaret Ogfivy” | Scotsman, the most literary of all Scotch papers, | ingly oda book, that smacks too much of the set funeral ora-one whom I am sure all would gladly honor, tion over the grave of an eminent Frenchman. Mr. Barrie, by tact and sheer literary ability, has concealed the innate deceiifulness of his style become cowmon, feebler hands will notso conceal it. And itisinteresting tonote that the condemns the motif of the book as “alien and repulsive to the Scottish nature” If that 1s 80, the Scotch are for once in harmony with the rest of the world. We commented in the last number of the “Chap Book” on the dex- terous methods by which the Americau pub- lishers of the book have shiited its interest from Margaret Ogilvy to Mr. Barrie, booming it as purely personal gossip, end already the that such end such & character is Mr. Stead and so.and so is Lord Rosebery, and this editor is Mr. Frederick Greenwood and that kind friend s of course Dr. Robertson Nicoll. Whatever on earth has all this to do with Margaret Ogilyy? Who Is the Author? The following letter was published in are- | cent issue of the Cleveland Leader: To the Editor of the Leader: In that charm- ‘A Club of One," by A.P. Russell, under the heading, “The Perfect Ballad,” I find the following, which I thiuk interesting enough 1 quote, hoping some reader of that great Northern Ohio journal, the Leader, may be able to identify the writer of so beautiful a verse: “John Anderson, my Jo, John,” all the world has been in the habit of regarding as another perfect ballad, tilla verse lately (1887) added to it by & gentleman in Northern Ohio proved it far from being per- fect. The additional verse was sent to mein manuseript, as taken from the lips of the au- thor, and should make his name famous if he never wrote another line. I have copied it into the margin of my Burns slongside the poem, and alsa copy it here to preserve it fur- ther in case the book should be spirited away: John Anderson, my Jo, John, We winna mind that sleep: The grave sae cauld and still, John, The spirit canna keep; But we'll wake in heaven, John, Where young again we'll grow, And ever iive In blessed luv | Jonn Anderson, my Jo, How Burns and the author of this stanza will shuke hands on the other shore! 1should like to witness the meeting of the two bards. Can- not some reader of this give us the name of world is being t though now to most unknown. C. A P. Cleveland. Mr. I Zangwill, famous as the suthor of ““The Children of the Ghetto,” hes completed another book concerning Jewish life, which will be entitled “Dreamers of, the Ghetto.” From a business point of view this second title 18 not chosen happily, and it is to be feared that comparisons, always odious in themselyes, will be made between the books bearing names so nearly similar. ““The Chil- dren of the Ghetto” {snot the only fiction Mr. Zangwill has produced, but ivs the only one 50 far which could have given him any dis- tinction. “Dreamers of the Ghetto” wili be awaited eagerly—and somewhat anxiously— by those who recognize in its author some- tning quite out of the ordinary so far as liter- ary ebility is concerned. The English papers are still discussing the new masterpiece, as they classify Mrs. Steel's wonderful novel of tiie great mutiny, “On the Face of the Waters.” The Macmillan Company have aunounced their edition of it for publi- cation the 20th inst., but are forced by delays in press to postpone it for a week. It will surely be ready by the end of the month. It is a compact book (the Euglish edition has about 430 pages, the American about 479, the inerease being due merely to a difference of type), but in its intense unwavering interest its length is unnoticed. The scene is for the 1most part in Delhi, and her marvelous palace, the Cantonment, the Ridge, or the narrow streets, even the noise of the bazaar, are de- scribed with a vivid vitality which is rarely equaled and cannot be surpassed. Mrs. Steel has the rare gift of writing in colors. Among the several works left by Robert Louis Stevenson unpublished at his death, un- doubtedly the one of completest and widest interest is a romance entitled “St. Ives.”” Un- like ““Weir of Hermiston,” the only other novel left by Stevenson unpublished, “St. Ives” was lef: ail butcomplete, and it is, those y who have read it, a siraight-away, honest tale of adventure, related in Stevenson's most spirited and charming vein. It is a love story, and records in particular the exploits of a very cool, audacious, aitractive French soldier who becomes a prisoner of war in Edinburgh Castle. Tne exclusive right of serial publica- tion of *St. Ives” for America was purchased soon sfter Stevenson’s death by MeClure's Magazine, and the pubiication will begin in the March number of that periodigal, | . Englishman’s make-up? Can it be that this Warning Voice of Albion’s Bard. THE YEAR OF SHAME—By W Watson. New York: John Lane pubisher. The Bodiey Head. For sale in this City by Willlam Doxey, Paiace Hotel. Price $1. This book consists of about two dozen short poems and sonnets, most of which are reprints from Mr. Watson's pamphlet, “The Purple East.” The others have from time to time appeared in the columns of London newspa- pers. To the present collection the Bishop of Here- | ford contributes a preface. He points out that | thes poems were written more as a patriotic Ppe alto Englishmen than merely as & poet’s | impassioned utterance, The appeal 15 specifi- cally addressed to those Britons who, seated at warm firesides in comfortable homes, shake their heads negatively at the ideaof any of the great European powers interfering with the course of Armenian massacres on account | of the commercial or financial disturbances such action would entai!. ““The commercial jingo,” says the Bishop of | Hereford, “isunbappily becoming very promi- nent in English life, and is very militant if any material interests are threatened, bat all | for peace and patiencd and concerted action when the only thing concerned is a question of old-tashioned houor and moral obiigation.” Much as the average business man offects to despise the criticism of the churchman, the carcful reader of events of the past twelve | months cannot fall to perceive the truth of | the English cleric’s words and to agree with | him in his sssertion that the “siand by and | bands off” policy adopted by the powers result of the prompting of the bondholder and | the speculator. This being so, what becomes of Britain’s claim, iterated and reiterated, that she is the {riend of the oppressed? Where is | the old-fashioned, chivalrous idea of assisiing | the downtrodden of the earth, so often ad- vanced as one of the component parts of the tradition will not be carried down to posterity as one belonging to the present generation of Englishmen? “The Year of Shame,” it can safely be proph- esied, will not meke pleasant reading to resi- dents of the United Kingdom nor the colonies. directness and power, as if their writer were in deadiy earnest, meaning every word that he uttered, warning Englishmen that national honor and tradition must at all risks be pre- served from sacrifice at the altar of mercenary | consideration. What, for instance, do Albion's sons think of this appeal ? A HURRIED FUNERAL, A little deeper, sexton. You forget Ehe you would bury 'neath so thin a crost Ut loam s fiery-souled, and ev'n in dust =he may lie restless, she may toss and fret, Nay, she might break a seal too lightly set, And vex, unmannerly, our ease! She must Leneath no lack of English earth lle thrust, Would we unhaunted sleep! Nay, deeper yet. Quick, friend, the cortege comes. There—thatwill serve: Deep enough now; ana thou'lt need all thy nerve 11, 1n her coffin, at the last, amid The mourners in the costomary suits, And to the scandal of these decent mutes, This corpse of ikngiand’s Honor burst the lid! Englishmen aro sturdy and materfalistic, not sentimental; but lives there the Briton who would not biush at the imputation con | tained in the last haif a dozen 1ines? Another remarkable poem in this collection is the ome entitled “Repudiated Responsi- bility,” wherein the callous {ndifference of Engiand to Ottoman atrocities is lashed: REPUDIATED RESPONSIBILITY. I bad ot thought to hear it voiced 5o plan, Uttered 80 foriaright, on their ps who steer Thia nation’s course: 1 had not thought to hear That word re-echoed by an English thane, Guliv's malden speech when firsta man ay slaia, “Am [ my brother's keeper Yot full near 1t sound-d, and the syliab es rang clear As the tmmortal rhetoric of Cata. “Wherefore should we, sits, more than they—or tney— Unto these helpless reach a hand to save An Englicn thane, in this our English air, Speaking for England? Then indeed her day Slopes to its twil ght, and, for Honor, tuere 18 needed but & requiem and a grave. Verily, to quote again {rom the Bishop of Hereford's introduction, It s the spirit of Isalah that is represented in this book of poems * * * making us feel that behina these desolated Armenian homes, those tor- tured and murdered men, those dishonored and heart-broken women, there stands the vision of & stern and unavoldable reckoning for those who might have saved and would not or dared mot.” It is & relief to turn from versesof 50 de- nunciatory a character as those quoted to ones no less earnest, but breathing a more frater- nalspirit. In the following lines it will ve seen that the poet, disdaining t recognize the independent English jingo, extends the hand of fellowship to the *nali-brother of the world": BNGLAND TO AMERICA, O towering daughter, Titan of the Wes*, Behind a thousand Jeagues of foam secure; Thou toward whom our inmost heart is pure ©Of ill latent; although thou threatenest With most unfilial hand thy mother’s breast, Not for one breathing space may earth endure The thought of war's Intolerable cure For such vague pains as vex to-aay thy rest! But if thou bast more sirength than thou canst spend In tasks of peace, and find’st her yoke too tame, Help us to smite the cruel, to befriend ‘The succorless, and put the false to shame, S0 shall the ages laud thee, and thy name_ Be lovely among nations to the end. ExANUEL Erzas, Literary Notes. Captain A. T. Mahan, U.8, N, will contribute to the March number of Harper's an article entitled “Preparedness for War,”” in which he will both urge the view thatour consistent en- forcement of the Monroe doctrine involves greater probability of conflict with European powers, and outline ascheme for defense by sea. Of “the biggest books in the world” there 13 no end, hut it is believed that the blank book of greatest weight, size and. bulk belongs to an eccentric physician of Baltimore, Dr. Fahr- ney. It was made in Chicago in 1891. It weighs exactly 280 pounas and 7 ounces, and has Jeaves made of the very best rope manilla. The cover of this gladit of books weighs fifty pounds, and is provided with two complicated padlocks. The book cost the doctor $63. Among the books which Messrs. Harper & Brotners announce for publication in Febru- ary or March is Dr. Fridtjof Nansen’s “Fartnest Nortn,” a work which, in addition to 1ts popu- lar inierest, may be presumed to have a scien- tific vaiue beyond that to be found in other records of Arctic exploration. The expedition was not & mere feat. In physical geography, in biology, in meteorology, the results ob- tained will imark a new departure in the varlous sclences concerned. The work on Byron on which Clement K. Shorter is engaged is not likely to see the light for some considerable time yet. Itwill be a volume about the size of his Bronte book. It will not contain any letters and, therefore, its interest will be in no way affected by any suc- cess which may attach to Mr. Henley’s edition of Byron or by Lord Lovelace's “Life and which Mr. Murray is to publish. Mr. Bhorter proposes to set forth the details of Byron's career in chapters. The first chapter l will be entitled “The Mad Byrons,” thesecona “The Gay Gordons,” vhe third “Chuldhoed in | ptece; one by | George toward the unspeakable Turk is merely the | following books next wee Aberdeen.” In these more stress will be laid than has ever hitherto been done on the part played by heredity tn Byron’s lifeand ou the ear y influence of his Celtic originand of the Scotch surroundings of his early years. Mr. Shorter has aiready examined much hitherto uspublishea material and the work promises 10 be one of great interest. Outing for February is seasonable, interest- ing and superbly illusirated. *’'Way Beyon’ de Saskatchewan’” is an entertaining story by Therese Guerin Randall, which proves her to be well acquainted with the halfbreeds of the North. “Sportsmen’s Dogs,” by Ed W. San- dys; “Grouse-shooting in the Snow,” by R. B. Buckham; “Horn and Hound in Louisiana,” by A. Wilkinsen; “Under the Snow,” by W. B. Cameron, and the conclusion of Ssra Beau- mont Kennedy’s admirable story, “Redcoat and Continental” are prominent features of an excellent number. The Aldine Club of New York is the subject of an article in the February number of the Month. Three drawings illustrate it—one by Rudyard Kipling, which forms the fronts- the late C. S. Reinhart, cox memorating the Aldrich dinner, and one by Wharton ' Edwards, celebrating tho dinuer to Dr. Conan Doyle. This is the first extended account we have seen of New York's club of publishers, authors, artists and jour- Dalists. It is written by Mr. William W. Ells- worth of the Century Company, who hLas contributed much to the success of the Al- dine’s entertainment Messrs. Harper & Brothers will publish the “Bound in Shal- | lows,’* by Eva Wilder Brodhead; In the 0ld Herrick House, and Other Stories,” by Ellen Douglas Deland; “The Last Recruit of Clare's,” by . R. Kelghtley; “Beauty and Hygiene,” Anonymous; “A Previous Engagement.” by V. D. Howells; “Six Cups of Chocolate,” by Edith V. B. Matthews; “Literary Landmarks of Florence,” by Laurence Hutton, and “The- ory of Physics,” by Joseph S. Ames. Dr. Henry Sweet, autuor of an Anglo-Saxon primer and Anglo-Saxon reader, the new Eng- lish grammar and other works on the hisiory of the English grammar, besides being editor The poems are written with an almost brutal | of various editions of early English texts, has further increased the indebtedness to him of the scholastic world by preparing a “Stu- aents’ Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon.” The head words are given in their early west Saxon spellings, the meanings given in plain con- cise modern English, brevity with clearness being aimed at throughout. Every Month for February contains an al- bum of celebrities, including the late Mrs. Hangerford, author of “Phyliis”; Rose Par- sons Lathrop, who is devoting her time to the poor cancer patients of the New York slums; Samuel Gompers of the American Federation {of Labor; “Bob” Ingersoll, Maude Adams; | Hannah G. Solomon, the new president of the National Council of Jewish Women; and Her- man H. Kohlsaar, the rising editor of the Chi- cago Times-Herald. These photos, with their comprehensive comments beneath, are a fea- ture of interest, and are- evidently selected with great care and a just comprehension | s to the really important individuals promi- nent at the time the world over. New York: Howley, Haviland & Co. Ten cents. ““American History as Told by Contempo- raries,” by Albert Bushnell Hart, Harvard Une iversity. In four volumes, Vol. I, *Discovery and Colonization’” (1492- 1689). ' Vol. 11, “Making the Republic” (1689- 1783). Vol. 111, “Growth of the Nation” (1783- 1845). Vol. 1V, “Welding of the Nation” (1846- 1896). This series is made up entirely from | the original sources of American history, the* records and narratives of men who wit nessed and shared in the events which they describe. Extracts long enough in each case 10 give some idea of the writer's style are arranged 1n s logical sequence, so &s to make up a general account of the times from the first voyages to the present day. To each volume is prefixed a practical introduction on the use of sources by teachers, students, pupils, libreries and readers, with a bibliography of the most valuable sources and collections. The Peter Paul Book Company of Buffalo have in press a -volume of poems by Irving Browne, who was for many years editor of the Alpany Law Journal. Few of them hsve been published, but those have had a popular ac- ceptance tnrough several of the leading literary newspapers. Thevolume will contain none of his numerous legal poems, but only lyries and ballads, grave and hu- morous, end the title and arrange- ment are quite novel and ingenious. Under the title, “The House of the Heart,” they are distributed under the following sub- headings, according to their pertinency: the Windows Looking Over Sea, on the Street, the | Woods, the Churchyard; By the Hall Fire; In the Bedroom, the Nursery, the Library, the Garret, the Tower. Theedition for sale will b limited to 300 coples, will be printed from type, and in the very neat form which might be expected from a person of Mr. Brown's well« known bibliophilic taste. The February Ladles' Home Journal opens with & striking article—“When Kossuth Rode Up Broadway”—the fourth of its “Great Per- sonal Events” serles. In it Parke Godwin re- calls the unprecedented demonstration and enthusiasm with which the Hungarian exile was welcomed to New York; also his patriotic but vain mission to this country. Charles Dana Gibson’s second drawing of Dickens’ peo- ple—portraying Dick Swiveller and the Mar- chioness—worthily occuples a prominent place in the excellent magazine. The splendor and sumptuousness which marked the festivities incident to & double royal wedding in the imperial palace of the Germen capital is glowingly reflected in a *Page at the Ber- iin Court” In a delightful vein Edward Page Gaston writes of the winsome belles of Mexico and the restraining barrfers that so- clal customs of the land interpose between lov- ersduring courtship. An article that will ap- peal to women is Mrs. Talcott Williams’ sketch of “The Most Famous Cook in America.” The February Journal also presents the first of Mrs. S. T. Rorer’s Cooking Lessons: “Ideal Cooking” and “How to Make Soups.” These are the initial contributions to thedepartment she will heresfter conduct in the Journal—the only publication for which she writes. “The Senate and House of Representatives” is tho subject of ex-President Harrison's *This Coun- try of Ours” paper, and he expresses himselt very forcibly upon several points. Edward W. Bok writes in vigorous denunciation of the “wishy-washy” books to be found in Sunday- school libraries, and points an easy way (o secure better literature for Sunaay-school chil- dren. “Daughters of Our Presidents’ is an attractive series of skeiches of surviving danghters of Chief Executives, and “The Origin of Our Popular Songs,” by William George Jordsn, relates the interesting circum. stences in connection with the writing of many of our favorite melodies. Diwight L. Moody addresses his Biole Class on Atonement, and Ruth Ashmore writes a help- ful article addressed to girls on “Casting the First Stone.”” An admirsble sketch by Miss Mary E. Wilkins portrays “A Quilting Bee in Our Village” with charming fidelity, “The Burglar Who Moved Paradise,” Herbert D. Ward’s serial. is fairly overflowing with hum- orous interest as it is unfolded. There are also articles on nmateur photography, sweet | pea cuiture, plans for “A $1500 Summer Cot- tage,” matters pertaining to dress and the usual departments. The magazine is bound. less in the scope and interest of ils articles, |