The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, May 30, 1897, Page 25

f | | i i ! THE 11 OF THE SEA By Captain A. In For sale 1n this Ciiy at all two volumes. Boston: L ttle, Brown bookstores. The pub! this cation country and in England of Captain Mahan's | simultaneounsly in “Life of Nelson” is the literary event of the vear. The book has been anxiously andim- patie; was felt that previous biographiesof England’s naval hero—those of Southey, of Nicolas and of Russell, to cite the three best were all more or less defective. The stud of maritime matters haslong been on the look out for a standard work free from technical tiesand couched in readable English, that would deal impartial justice to one of the mo: important characters in the history of land. Thbe volumes before us are evidence that the desired end has been reached, and it 1s not too much to say that, dating from 189 Captain Mahan's work will be accepted as standard. Captain Mahan possesses cations for the work ne hes unde is an officer of the United States navy also won co historian, t Inland Waters,” a histo: our navy during the Admiral Farragut”; “Tne Influ Power Upon Hist 1660-1783, he Influence of Sea Power Upon the French Revo- lution, 1793-1812,” all these being recognized &s au tive upon the subjects of which they t To this add & char English composition, combined fectly balanced and impartial m dling facts, and it will be readily sc have in Captain Mahan s w. fitted to act as sponsor { The idea of writinga in 1893, when he was ordered to t of the United States ship Chicago. then already formed the purpose has since carried out) of retiring from the navy st the expiration of forty years’ With this idea he had petiti ment to release him, continue with his lit auth ties, however, refu Tesignation, and a two ye The captain endeavored work after his hours can well re imagined sessed of the sligh on shipboard, he found The “Life of Nelson, here! written since Captsin Maban his cruise on the Chicago 1 the exception of the f pages, and these have been la and amended from the original partly to official dutfes as a naval war coliege and partl men he work was not begun ber, 1895. If there is one laudable charscteristic pos- sessed by the author of th view and manifested in hi: subject, it is & really libe: esty. Touse his own words present writer, while not sources of knowledge, has be son describe himseli—tell the inner life as well as of his ext To realize this object it h: no best way to insert numerous in the career of a man of ac commonly deals With a variety of s which besr to one another litdl except that, at the moment of w all formed part of the multifold ] was then leading. * * * method has been to make a ca: ’s voluminous correspondence, ing it in order to detect the lead of temperament, traits of thought snd m f, by gradual familiarity even more t formal effort, the character therein r vealed.” Such is the plan of the work as ou lined by its author, who, steadfastly adhering to his theories, has proved their s ority. In his work Capiain Mahan has been at particular pains tosetdown nothing in malice, while extenuating nothing. He pictures to us the man as he was, exhibiting both his many good traits and his undoubted failings. An invalid throughout his life, this fact is mentioned by Nelson’s biographers as & factor in his career which should not be lost to mind inssmuch as “on the one hand it explains in part the fretfnlness which at times appear: and on the other brings out with incresse force the general kindly sweetness of his temper, which breathed with slight abatement through such depressing conditions.” Of the mental characteristics of Nelson, Captain Mahan has this to say: “The breadth and acuteness of Nelson’s in- tellect have been too much overlooked in the admiration excited hy his unusually grand moral endowments of resolution and fearless- mess of responsibility. could be called an educated man he was oue of close and constant opservation, thersby gaining a great deal of information; sud to the use of this he brought a practical sagecity which coped with the civil or political ques- tions placed before it, for action, much as it did with military questions—for, after all, good generalship on its intellectusl side is simply the application to the solution of & military problem of & mind naturally gifted thereror end stored with experience, either personal or of others. Asa strategist and tactician Nel son made full proof of high native endow- ments, of wisdom garnered through fruitful study and meditation and of clear insight into the determining conditions of the various military situstions with which he bad to deal.” To & {rail body and a powerful brain Nelson united a dash and daring that were remark- able. Confirmstion of this is to be lound in his correspondence before the occurrence of the siege of Bastia under Lord Hood, who was himself feariul of hazarding the exveriment. 4 feel for the honor o my country,” wrote Nelson at this time, “and had rather be beat than not make the attack. If we donot try, we can never be successful. 1own I have no fears for the final issue; it will be conquest. My reputation depends upon the opinion I have given, but I feel an honest conscious- ness that I have dome right. We must, we will have it, or some of our heads will be laid low. Iglory in the attempt.” And again: “What would the immortal Wolfe have done 7 As he did, beat the enemy, if he perished in the attempt.” St1ll again, a fortnight later: ““We are in high health and spirits besiexing Bastia; the final event, I feel assured, will be conquest.” The one great blot on the career of Nelson— the Lady Hemilton episode—is handied by Captain Mahan in & manner provocative of our highest praise. Indeed, after reading those portions of the book treating of the matter one {s almost inclined to forgive the liatson between the two. The incident is a singular contradiction of the ancient saw that twoof & kind never sgree. Nelson and Lady Hamilton, as described to us by their bi- ographer, were very similar in temperament and composition, especially in their common love of sdmiration and the flattery of courts. y awaited on both sides of the water, | Though scarcely what | accustomed to the | personsl charms and diplomats and adoration of public artists, it was_natural should have laid her nets for the successful naval commander whose name and jame were at this time (1796) the talk of Furope. Nel- son arrived at the court of Naples, met the | renownea wife of Sir William Hamilton and was conquered; but it mustnot be imagined | that their acquaintance was & simple love af- {fair. Through the relations of Lady Hamilton with the Queen of Naples, whose “real and | only confidential friend” she was, Nelson was hand upon the pulse of g feverishly. In 1801 Addington, the then we find time seen the corre- nd priva o their Governmeut aples, I am perfectly the several eapol 1 and to the Queen of acquainted with the views of it will be seen that whatever suc- cess Nelsou may,have had in the field of dipl it must be attributed to his experiences politan court under the tuition of namorata. That she was fully capable, apart from ner exclusive sources of informa- tion. of being his tutor may be judged from an estimate of her character made by Beck- ford, a contemporary writer, who said of her: “She wa and no wonder, she had been trained at the court of Naples, & fine school for an English woman of any stamp.'’ wifo, whom he had left be- 1, there can be little doubt that ment from her was caused by re serious than a lack of sympathy two. Yet several times in his f Ledy Nelson. Thus in & cent he writes: g which is valuable iu a concludes a letter 10 her: and later b every me, asever, your most affection- w to the closing scenes in the In the chapters of Captain led “The Antecedents of gar” a has narrated hi ts with consummate accu nt made and every ble manner with the use of dis smallest de even to the position of the wind on ble dey in October, 1805, orethe battie of Trafalgar, Nel- of his time on the poop of the Addressing himself to.a numbsr of midshipmen, the admiral said of promotion after a suocessful battle. company: “To- will give you you 10 tal and thin) lives, but I sh: orrow I will do that which about for the rest of your 11 not live to know about it my- sel.” He added that be expected to capture to twenty-iwo ol the hostile fleet. twenty This anecdote, it mey here be said, is related 7 Captain Mahan Dpresent when Nelson's prophecy was made. In fairness to the author we shall not dis- figure the t ings xcerpts from the same. that is strong even in death. Alwaysa , 1t seems strange to read of N solicity ke care of my dear Lady Hamilton, sinner. ton a5 & legacy to my country.” The substantial results of the battle having been mude known to him, Nelson was dis- tinetly heard to murmur, have done my duty,” and these words, says his biogrepher, “sealed the closed book of ry with truth broader and deeper duty was lson's & han he e and he entr der date Oct ““Par self could suspect. Hi ts truth perfected.” al firing continued until 4 EMANUEL ELZAS, ‘ HERE AND THERE. died of his wound.” “Wolfville,” by Dan Quin (A. H. Lewis), will be published in June with numerous illustra- Mr. Lewis re- | cently wrote to his publishers that he wanted them to have unusual care taken in reading the proofs, es he desired the spelling to be t ns by Frederic Remington. consistently bad throughout the book. tionary hes finished with the five first letters, The words given are 89,591. use, |w | | The detective story, the slum story, the | treasure trove story, the great city in . the interior of Africa story have all had their run, and publishers are inclined to think they have | been run into the ground, and in Englana at least the gentlemen who buy manuscript ssem inclined to want something new. But what is there new? Tnere is the “Kail Yard story,” | with its Gaelic trimmings, and that, 1o, 50 the | publishers hint, 1s getting out of vogue, | That must have been en uncommonly | nice ainner Goncourt tells about which was one of aseries at which he was present, the other dinfier eaters being Flaubert, Tonrgue- neff, Zola and Daudet. The Cafe Riche was at first the place of reunion. After a while s res- teursntin the Place Favart wes where the table was set. The first to drop out was Flau- bert, whose death took place in-1880, and Tourgueneff passed away three years later. 2 obsolete and 2517 foreign. No nder that dictionary making is slow work. Dwell, 1f you can, on the number of pounds | 0f coal Miss Braddon has burned or caused to be burned in the production of her novels. How endlessly has the piston rushed to and fro, the fly wheel turned, and the presses clanged all in Miss Braddon’s behslf. What s pyramid of paper has been used, what a Dead Sea of ink has been exhausted to the last viscid drop for the lady’s requirements. Miss Brad. don's fifty-eighth romance, “Under Love's Rule,” is the last one, but let us hope it is not t0 be the very last. Zols, long ago in the Figaro, acknowledged how much he was indebted to Tourgueneff. It ‘was at the beginning of Zola's literary career. He hed written something sbout politics in Le Corsair, and the Ducde Broglie had exer- cised the censorship, and the article was sup- pressed. “Not a mewspaper would print & line of mine. I was perishing with hunger, and they were all throwing mud at me. It was then that Tourgueneff took me in hand and introduced me to Russis.” Those who have followed M. Zola may remember that “La Faute de I'Abbe Mouret” was published in Born of humble parents, possessed of greal Russian before it appeared in French, that Lady Hamiiton | , from all | ¢ took occasion to speak in | “Tem | na wish thata fond heart can | “Trafalgar—The Death ot Nel- | s of the attack are | “This day | o-morrow will be & fortunate one for you, | emen,” ailuding to their prospect | The same day at dinner he said to some of the ger gentlemen something | as a new one, it having been told to him by the son of & man who was descriptive of the actual battle, so ably and thoroughly done, by mak- One inci- dent, however, should be touched upon, view- | ing itas en illustration of the ruling passion rayer- | ison’s e for and_invocations to the Deity in behalf of the object of his unholy affection. he be- | Hardy continually; asd to the attend- | “Doctor, I have not been a | Remember that I leave Lady “Thank God, I | in the log book of the Victory un- | r 21, 1805, is brief snd rugged: 0, when a victory having been reported to the Rignt Honourable Lord Viscount Nelson, K.B., he Slowly, o the geologists tell us, were buflt up the earth’s strata, and now the Oxford Dic- An analysis of these words shows that 47,786 are in current | | HOW EPIRUS WAS LOST. Later reports indicate that the Greek col- lapse in Epirus was a miserable fiasco, and the people who paid to see some real generalship | and some clever infighting are entitled to have their money refunded at the box-office, says the Washington Post. The first day the Greeks had .much the best of the argument. Steve Crane led the profes- | sion with a beautiful two-column, double- leaded two-step and caught the Turks nap- ping. While Crane’s forces engaged the enemy in front Rudyard Kipling and his command at- tacked the Turkish rear, and by a syndicate prearrangement these two valorous leaders | worked the deadly paraliel column on the de- moralized foe. There was a bright Greclau streak in the | atmosphere, and the bookmakers were giving | remarkable odds on the fight. | When the second day’s fighting opened everybody said 1t was a Grecian cinch ina walk, and Grecian money went begging. When the firing opened between the out- posts at Pentepighadia the welcome word wa | carried to the managing eaitors of the battle that Richard Harding Davis, fully provisioned and highly pajamaed, was bearing down on the enemy on the right at the head of a bana of Evzones, who were armed with the Reming- ton strip. At this juncture of the struggle the Turks began to feel like 30 cents and other small | change. | The strategic *riangle was playing to beat | the band, and the Turks were fanning the at- | their men to fight. (To describe this scene properly would be a gross plagiarism on John L. Sullivan’s story of Mrs. Fitzsimmons’ heroic work at Carson City.) The roar of the Mergenthalers was terrific as they poured the hot lead into the matrices and made history at the usual space rates. There was an occasional pause, when the sharp clicking of the typewTiters showed they were getting in their work on the Turks in much the same manner they did up that Chi- cago banker. In the last half of the ninth inning, with two men out, two strikes on Edhem Pasha, not a Turk on the bases and the crowd leaving the grand stand, came the blow that killed father. Edhem was desperate and, making a vicious swipeat a paragraphic inshoot, he caught it for three bascs. A sickly yellow kiddish expression took pos- session of the face of the Greek pitcher. It was plain to be scen that he had contracted a complication of the glass arm, charleyhorse and punctured nerve. A passed ball, a base on balls, another hit, & wide throw by the shoristop, and the Greek demoralization was complete. The Turks trotted around the bases like intoxicated sailors on a merry-go-round. The score and the plot thickened like news- paper office paste in Warm weather. The groans'of the dead and wounded were remark- able, particularly those of the dead. (Ar- rangements are in progress to have these new things in groans produced on the phomo- graph.) But why prolong the awful recital? There was nothing for the Greeks to do but fall back THE TYPICAL AMERICAN NOVEL. We are not looking for an American novel as distinct from an English or a French or a Scandingvian or an Itaiian or a Greco-Roman novel. We think that the resources of fiction- writing are just as theroughly well known as they ever will be; that all the appliances of the art have been discovered and tested long 8g0; thatno amount of taking thought will add & single item to the technical equipment which isat the service or every movelist to- day; and thst whenever a really great novel is produced, it is great because of the man be- hind the book and not because of any fine-spun theory which the book itself exemplifies. Nevertheless, from another point of view, one may truly speak of the American novel as & thing apert, because of the great difficulty in the conditions that attend its successful com- position. The American novel, as we under- stand it, is not to be a novel constructed on hitherto unheard-of lines, or by some new formula thoughtfuily evolved by American writers; but a novel that shallgive an ade- quate and accurate delineation of the life that is lived only in this huge, loose-hung, colossus of a country—a kind of life to which the his- tory of the world affords no parallel whatever. When the Englishman or when the French- man sits down to write a novel his back- ground is, in & way, already filled {n, and itis only figure-painting that he has to do. But how strangely different is the cess with one who seeks to fix upon his canvas a true impression of American life, A vast kaleido- scopic mass of color lies before him, shifting and changing with every touch, a society ina | CAPTAIN ALFRED T. MAHAN, Who' Has Written What Will Standard Life of Nelson. in Future Be Regarded as the mosphere in great shape, going out in one- two-three order. Up to this time it was what Hazel Kirke would call pretty work. Then came ths crisis. It was none of your off-hand, special-sale- day crisis. Nor did it partake of the stereo- typed, the villain-approaches stage effect. It was one of those deliberate, well written ana carefully revised affairs, and it marked the turn in the battle with a ghastly, blue-pencil appearance. When victory had secured a little airship exhibition, and was about to utilize the Grecian banners for perching purposes, the startling announcement was made that, owing 10 the breaking down of the press, Bylvester Scovel would be unabie to msake the expected attack on tne Turkish left flank. It was & orisis that tried the space-work souls of the entire command. Retreat without an effort meant dishonor, while an advance under the circumstances might mean annihilation. After a short con- fereuce it was decided there would be no back pedaling, and the order toadvance was tele- phoned up and down the ling. Blucher Bcovel could have saved the day, but his messenger-boyishness prevented. With & mignty roar the contendingZforces clashed, and the sight that followed would have caused & circulation war to go off in some quiet nook and weep highly salted tears over its own insignificance. Above the terrible din of battle could be heard the 1inspiring black-face, double-pica | sbrieks of the valorous leaders as they ur aj to Arta. Thus was the horrible retreat inau- gurated. The quarters of these gallant commanders looked as if they had been visited by one of those individusis who occasionally drop in to whip the editor. All was confusion and next morningish. As the demoralized column approsched the supurbs of Arta and managed to fight through the lines of the fakers engaged in selling war relics, there burst upon them a specter of the flluminated supplement variety. For & few moments they were dazed. As it approached it grew nearer, and sud- denly they recognized General Miles. He was accompanied by his full uniform and staff of stenographers, topographers and photogra- phers. Reluctantly they told General Miles of their defeat. He wanted them to turn and makea final rally against the Turks, but they respect- fully and firmly declined to respond to the encore. This is the true story of the rout at Epfrus. Historians and General Miles’ official re- port may be able to make a better showing for the Greeks, and some peo- ple who are continually poking about in war records may try to squars Sylvester Blucher Scovel, but these are the stubborn anda tantalizing facts. The next day the Grecian sugar market slumped eight points, and there were heay, Gccithos il slong the line. 3 ‘The price of the Overland Monthly has been fixed at 10 centa. & 4 fiuid state, heterogeneous, anomalous, bizarre and shot all through with & million piquant incongruities. The boundless wealth and the squalid poverty, the spiendor and the crudity, the magnificence and the cheapness, the recl lessness and conservatism, the cynicism and the faith, the intellertual keenness and the unpseakable fatuity, the strong common-sense and the foolish gullibility, the defiant arro- gancoand the patient meekness, the comm cial acuteness and the political stupidity—can any one bring outall these wonder!ul contrasts in the National character and yet preserve the slightest trace of verisimilitude and probabil- ity? And the strange medley of humanity —the washerwoman of the diggings blossom- ing out into the grand dame who entertains kings and gives her daughters in marrisge to Pprinces, the young girl with her ‘‘chaste de- pravity,” the emancipated woman, the canal- boy fighting his way 10 the headship of the nation, the keen-eyed business man who is to- day cornering the market and to-morrow haranguing the Senate and the day after bringing out an edition of & classic, the curi- ous bits of foreign life and custom embedded in the midst of an Anglo-Saxon people, and underneath it all a great compact mass of strong and simple and conservative men and women, bearing up the rest and giving cohe- sion and stability to the whole structure. Any one can tell of all these things; any one can sketch them separately and in detail; but who 1s able and who will ever be able to give one luminous picture of them as & single entity, each in its true relation to the rest, with & sease of proportion and relatiyity, andn such | | published by the Century Company, 2 way as to make one see and feel the truth of it all? No such problem ever before confronted the movelist: yet 1t is not until his problem has been solved that the American novel in its largest sense will have an actual existence. To begin with, there is not even such s thing 83 an American type. There is a New England type, aud there is a Southern type, and there is a Far Western type, but even these are not perfectly defined, but shade off into each other, while between them lie all sorts of 1ndi- vidual and quite distinctive groups which an American easily recognizes, even though he cannot 80 easily describe them. These people do not even speak an absolutely identical lan- guage, but display such dialectic variations as make the difference of habita: immediately perceptible to the ear of a native. Our writers understand the complicated difficulties that | beset the one who tries to limn in a large way the life and attributes of the Ameri- can people; snd hence it is that they have given us, in the main, mnot the American novel, but novels written in America, which s & very different thing. It is not likely that any better work will be done | than much of that which already reveals some oi the strange nooks and corners of American life. No one, for example, could show a subtler knowleage of New England than Miss Wilkins brings to her intensely vital delineations; no one will ever make us feel more intensely the spirit of the Northwest than Hamlin Garland does; no one will betier draw the dull, raw life of the little towns of Central and Western New York than Harold Frederic; no one will have a fuller under- standing of certain phases of existence in the American metropolis than has Brander Mat- thews. But who is to come forth equipped with the knowledge and the insight and the vivid power necessary to draw the picture as s whole and with a master's touch to fling before us the gieat National cosmos in its entirety — vital, convincing, real? — Harry Thurston Peck in the Bookman. LITERARY _ NOTES. The Fourth Napoleon, which was snnounccd by Herbert 8. Stone & Co., for spring issue, has now been put off uniil the autumn. In McClure's for September Anthony Hope's “The Constable of Zenda"” will appear, and C. D. Gibsou is to make the pietures for it. Bishop Potter just before he left for Europe | read the final proofs of & volume entitled “The Scholar and the State,” snortly to be The book is made up of essays discussing sociolog- ical and civic questions. The success of Mrs. Sarah K. Bolton’s “Poor Boys Who Became Famous” and “Giris Who Became Famous” has been unprecedented. The publishers, T. Y. Crowell & Co., announce the twenty-third edition of the first book and the twenty-second of the other one. A new book by Jerome K. Jerome, an- nounced for immediate publication by Henry Holt & Co., Is “Sketches in Lavender, Blue and Green,” written mainly in the manner of the author’s “Three Men in a Boat” and “Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow,” but in a less bur- lesque mood. The same firm will issue at the same time “Svengali’s Diary.” The Century Company is preparing a new edition of “The Autobiograpny of Joseph Jefferson,” which has had & large sale. This edition will contain an additionsl chapter, in- | cluding Mr. Jefferson’s poem, “Shakespesre vs. Bacon,” delivered by the professors of Yale Ignatius Donneily’s ¢ tor before the niversity in answer to ryptogram.” Messrs. Lamson, Wolffe & Co. announce a historical novel by Mrs. Harrison, the title of which is “A Son of the Old Dominion.” The story belougs to the pre-Revolutionary period, and s & Colonial novel. There will be intro- duced incidents having to do with the life of Wasnington, and there will be references to other prominent characters. Theissue of “The Son of the Old Dominion” will take place | about the close of May. “Wayside Courtships,” Hamlin Garland's new book, is to be published shortly by D. Appleton & Co. There are also to be new edi- tlons of Mr. Garland’s “Spoil of Office,” “A Member of the Third House” and *Jason Ed- wards,” which will be uniform with “Way- side Courtships,’” and the Appletons, who published Mr. Garland’s “A Liitle Norsk” a fow years since, will now be able to present five of Mr. Garland’s book: The demand for *‘The Damnation of Theron Ware” continues. A report seems to have gone the rounds, by the way, that the Messrs. Scribner had acquired this book from Stone & Kimball. This report is not true, but it prob- ably grose from the fact that the Scribmers | had recently issued the four of Mr. Frederic's books of which they were the publishers uni- form in make-up with “The Damnation of Theron Ware.” This edition wasmade with the knowledge and consent of Messrs. Stone & Kimball, & “Elementary Drawing, a Series of Praciical Papers for Beginners,” by klizabeth Moore Hallowell, is the name of & work soon to be published by the Macmillan Company. The basis of the work was a series of papers originally printed in one of the art magazines, but so great was the value placed upon them and the interest shown in them that it was soon seen to be desirable o give them the wider circulation possible only by their publi- cation {n book form, Any one who expects to take advantage of the coming holiday season to ada to the treasures of his sketch book will find fn this work many valusble hintsand suggestions. The Macmillan Company is about to pubdlish s volume of which the titie, “The Boston Browning Society Papers,” selected to repre- sent the work of the society from 1886 to 1897, speaks for itsell. A few only of the papers contained in it are as follows: “The Blography of Browning’s Fame,” by Thomas Wentworth Higginson; *Brown- ing’s Theism,” by Josiah Royes; ‘*Brow. ing’s Art in Monologue,” by Percy Stick- ney Grant; “Caliban Upon . Setebos,” by Charies Gordon Ames; “Browning's Theory of Romantic Love,” by George Wiilis Cooke; ‘‘Browning’s Philorophy of Art,” hy Daniel Dorchester Jr.; “The Uncalvulating Soul,” by Jenkin Lloyd Jones; “Browning’s Mastery of Rhyme,” by William J. Rolfe, eic. In magazine circles the complefe novel de- partment of Lippincott’s is considered the most enviable place to which a writer of fic- tion may attain. Several circunistances serve to make it such. The Lippincotts are excep- tionally careful in their selectivns of storfes; they believe in advertising their contributors to the fullest extent that their respective de- grees of merit or importance may entitle them to, and their magazine novels are read seri- ously by critics of fiction and frequently pro- moted into publication in book form by their favorsble verdicts upon thera. In yiew of these considerations, it is ~ matter of con- gratulation to Californians to note that the complete novel for iay is from a Californis ‘weiter—Miss Virna Woods of Sxcramento. Miss ‘Woods has made s phenomesel start in litera- ;\;;e. and evidently hasa primrose path before — ON DESULTORY READIN A man of greatintellectual vigor declared not long ago that he had foresworn newspaper and novel reading and taken up the stiffest sort of metaphysics because he found he was losing the habit of proionged attention. Too much newspaper and novel reading had begun to show their evil effects. Itis a serious ques- tion whether the ability to hold the mind to one line of thought has not been diminished by the inconsequence of frivolity of too much of the matter which appears in the average newspaper. Asaruie, men who do serious intellectual work give & very limited time to the newspa- per, and read novels—apart, of course, from the masterpieces—as & recreation. Bright- ness, cleverness and quickness are very enter- | taining when one is dealing in a discursive fashion with a variety of unrelated subjects; but when it comes to real grappling with any question or subject, one ounce of concentra- | tion is worth a pound of versatility. This 18 one reason why 5o few people rela- tively read the great books. With such uu- caiculated resources within reach it seems | strange that the half dozen of books of the first class should remain closed to an in- numerable company who have only to put out their hands to possess them. The expla- nation lies in the fact that these great books make certaln demands on their readers and that the great majority of those who read are not willing to put forth any energy. They do not expect to co-operate with a writer; they expect to be diverted or carried along by him. Nothing which goes below the surfaca of the mind awakens any response in them, be- cause they have never developed the power of attention; or, if they have possessed it, they | have lost it by too mnch desultory and discur- sive reading. Such readers have lost the fac- ulty of following s line of thought. “One may be a devourer of books,” writes Jobn Morley, “and be actually incapable of reading a hun- dred lines of the wisest and most beautiful. * * * To the besotted gambler on the turf the lonely hillside glowing with heather ETOWS to be as dreary as a prison; and so, too, a man may listen nightly to burlesques till Fidelio’ inflicts on him intolerable fatigue.’” The newspaper disperses attention, so 1o speak, over a wide field by presenting a great number ot subjects on the same plane of in- | terest; the average novel re!ieves the mind of | any necessity of co-operation with the writer; it asks the reader to be entirely vassive; to sit on a cushioned seat at the stern while another rows the boat. No wise man will leave his newspaper unread; and no man who cares for literature or who needs diversion will put the novel out of his library. The trouble with the newspaper is that we give it too much time, and the trouble with the novel is that it is generally without literary quality, and that we read it too oiten. The great novels, being literature, cannot be read too frequently; they demand something of the resder; they do r:ot pauperize him in- tellectuslly by giving without exacting a re- turn. Readers who have accustomed theme selves 1o habitual reading of inferior stories find “Henry Esmond” dull, and “The Cloister and the Hearth” prolix. To ruch readers ‘Wilhelm Meister” and “On the Heights” are stretches of arid sand. They care for nothing Which they cannot possess by merely glancing at the page. Now, this dissipation of the power of the mind to do its proper work is due unguestion- ably, in many cases, to the habit of newspaper and novel reading. When a reading public has lowered its taste and its intellectual vi- tality to such a point that it asks only to be amused and resents any endeavor to awaken thought it has lost the power of appreciating real literature and shut itself off from the higher educational influences. The reading habit is often spoken o in this country as if it were & good thing in itself; as & matter of fact it is often a ready means or mental demorall zation. The people who read nothing but the trivialities ana vulgarities which fill the col- umns of too many American newspapers, or | Who stupefy themselves with & succession of trashy novels, would better not read atall. The illiterate man of good powers of natural observation s a far more intelligent person | than the man who resds the padding snd stuffing of the average newspaper which falls into his hands. It is at this point that cheap journalism and fiction come into direct collision with liters- ture; theycannot touch its quality, but they can and do diminish the general capacity to understand and enjoy it. They develop such slovenly mental habits and they so relax the muscles of the mind that mental activity of every kind seems a hardship and becomes, in t00 many cases, impossible. Audiences which have grown accustomed to cheap humor or tawdry declamation lose the power of appre- clating or enjoying really noble speaking. A certaiu audience, in a remote quarter, accus- ‘omed to the old-fashioned flamboyant ora- tory, once expressed deciCed disapproval of ‘Wendell Phillips’ manner and matter. From their standpoint he did not know how to speak! Danieand Shakespeare are incredibly dull to those who have lost the power of concen- trating all the faculties and bringing them to Dear on & subject. In_order to understand and enjoy the great writer one must be will- 1ng to think with him; aud if one is unwilling to think the great book remains a sealed book. Itwould bo well for all who read in these days of countless publications of all Xinds, and of countless appeals v interestand attention, to keep at hand some book which Tequires close thinkin some discussion which must be follows4 step by step with ab- solute sbsorptior. of the mind. Most of us need the braciny effects of s & mental gymnastic. The time is m=ch more favorabie 10 breadth of interest and information than to depth and power of intslis:inal life.~Current Literature. NEW PUBLICATIONS BY DOXEY. Doxey's new “Guide to Ssan Francisco and the Health and Pleasure ltesorts of California® will be out by June 1. It s concise, complete, pieasantly descriptive and amply illustrated. It will msst the needs of the Christian En- deavorers and other tourists, and be a stand- ard for all who seex imiormation and direc- tion. Itis Mr. Doxey’s intention to revise and rejssue this Guide yearly, if necessary, to keep it up to date. Mr. Doxey has in press “Idle Hours fn s Library,” by Professor Hudsou (English liters. ture, Btanford), consisting of three ossays: “Samuel Pepys and His Diary,” “London in Shakospeare’s Time” and “The Novelists of the Restoration.” Professor Hudson’s literary \raining makes him master of his work, and his felicity of expression is a gift perfected by culture. “The Missions of Californis,” by Laura Bride Powers; will follow {mmeaately. The story is well told and amply illustrated. This will be 4 book for the tourist-collector to place with his treasures. Life has taken up the question of What are the ten best short poems in the English lan- guage? and offers & handsome prize for the one whose list comes the nearest to the com« bined popular judgment. The result of this contest will be interesting, asshowing what is the popular taste among the discriminsting | readers of Lite,