LITERARY NOTES.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 110, 1 February 1908, Page 13

LITERARY NOTES.

.. "The Fires," reprinted- on this page,; is a' ImS' p ?. e M l by . Rudj'ard . Kipling, printed' in ilie Collected Verse of Eudyard Kiplinc," a new volume, recently,, issued; " .; ' •

lho Now York ''Bookman." rccalls anamusing story told 'by Dr. Conan Doyle oil his visit to America iiy IS94Not long before hi? .departure for Jinglaiid, tlio Aidino Club ill Noiy, York ga'vo him a farewell din-' ner where ho'made an off-hand speech. Ho began by telling now, 1 011 his arrival in Boston, tho cabman who drove him from the : station refused : to. accept . any faro but • •politely asked fcr a, ticket to tlio reading. • Dr. Doylo expressed surpriso that tlio cabman should havo recognised'him, and asked: "Tell mo how you found but Vho I am. and you shall havo tickets for your whole family and such cigars as you smoke lioro in America, besides." 'Whereupon, according to' Dr. Doyle, the tabman answered: "If you mil oxcuso : personal remarks, your coafc lapels aro badly twisted downward; whore l they, have been grasped by tho pertinacious Now York reporters. Your hair has tho Quakerish out of a Philadelphia barber,'and .your..hit", pattered at the brim in front" shows "'hero you -have tightly grasped it. in. the struggle to stand your ground at a Chicago literary ; luncheon. Ypur right overshoe has a large block of Buffalo mud just' under the instep; the odour of a TJtica cigar hangs about your clothing; and the overcoat itself shows the slovenly.' brushing of tho porters of the through sleepers from Albany/ Tlio crumbs of doughnut oil tho top of your, bag— pardon me, your luggage—could only have come thoro in Springfield; and stencilled* upon tho very end of the •'Wellington,''in fairly plain lettering, is tho name, 'Conan Doyle. : ..

At a recent' Now York dinner Mark Twain ntac|o the speech of tho evening, and in his brightest stylo ' poked fun " at his fellowguests., Ono" of thoso was Mr. Andrew Carnegie, who caino in for great deal of chaff from tho humorist on tho grouiid that ho was the financial backer of tho Spelling llcform Hoard, which a year or so ago tried to moderniso :'orthography. 1 Mark Twain genially questioned Mr. Carnegie's' spoiling abilities, and, suddenly sweeping round on tho great provider of libraries, to tho uproarious delight of tho 'company, ho challenged him to spell "tetradactyl" off-hand. Mr. Carnegio laughingly waved tho challengo asido, and Marj; Twain continued—"Why, your pestiferous simplified spelling, attacked orthography at the wrong end. Tho real disease lies in. tho vowels of indefinite sound and consonants of unfixed nronounciatidn. The alphabet, »ny way, was tho invention, of a drunken thief." Mark Twain wore his

famous white suit, and make a striking figuro at tho festive board. Ho said ho had ono 1 item of good news for them—ho did not intend to speak aga,in this winter. Some weeks ago there was-noticed on this pago a littlo dispute between Mr. A. C. Honson and a critic who printed ccrtain rudo things; concerning the prolific master of gently introspcctivo philosophy. Tho'dispute has attracted tho attention of tho Now i'ork "Bookman."' That hard-headed and hard-hitting journal deplores the declino in tho art of literary warfare. "Time and again" it complains, "what promises to bo a good fight ends in a mere _ skirmish of astqnishipciits. These are fair specimens of current literary warfare. No spirit.in either attack or defence; a flounce, a swish of skirts, tho banging of a distant door, and so tho battle ends, without interest to tho onlooker, pain to tho victim, or relief to tho assailant's feelings. Not that thero is any less bad blood than formerly. Thero is always'a small battlo going on in some corner of a literary magazine. But hatred is touched withl verbal impotence. Headers aro qlieated and the skins of minor authors are growing very thin.. What with criticism in its amiable' dotago, advertising in its lusty prime, praiso gushing like a geyser, literary mutual aid — is thero not,.taking it altogether, too much cotton-batting in tne 'literary lifo?'" "The two volumes of historical and literary essays by Lord Acton will contain a lengthy introduction, in which tho editors discuss Lord Acton's .view of history. As showing the riioral poiiit of view from which ho regarded it," s(iys tho "Nation," "tho following passages aro of interest: "Tho second tendency against which Acton's moral, sense revolted''had risen out of tho landable determination of historians to bo sympathetic towards, meii.of distant ages and of. alien modes of thought. /. .-. . It' becamo almost a triok of style to talk of judging men by the standard of their day and to allego the spirit of the ago in excuso Cor the Albigensian Crusado or tho burning of Hus. Acton felt that this was to destory the very baso's of moral ■ judgment and tq open tho way to a boundless scepticism. Anxious as he was'to uphold the doctrine of growth in theology, ho allowed nothing for it in tho realm of morals—at anyrato, m tho Christian, era —since" the thirteenth centurv. Ho, demanded a code of moral judgment independent pf place-and time; and not..merely, relativo to a particular civilisation.'" l'roMssor G. E. Woodbc-rry points out' in his now book l on,.''Tl(e Appreciation of Litoratu'ro" that .the primary iind elemental-form of tho; novel should bo ,tho novel of action, ."llobinaoti Crusoe" is tlio classic, typo of such fiction. The literary life of .thousands has begun; with it, ' A ' mofo . exalted type is found in the novels of Alexandre IJunias! ■'Nothing.could be better; than, Dumas,", says i'rof. Wpodberry, "to;aronso in a boy the: splise pf thu; pbwe.r. of life, tha ambition of doing, the wonder of the things'that can' bedone." But lifo only begins in action. It goes 011 to thought. In tho senso that it,is .more advanced, character is;a higher, in-, terest than action, and hence' to a mature mind inoro'engaging. Tho great novelists cannot afford to ignore either . character or action. Thoy show us'the,two combined. It is; this quality, that gives; to tho novels of Sir;."Walter Scott their universal appeal. The analysis-of'character , inevitably leads to what is called psychological interest.', This marks tho final stage of tho development of fiction, and demands' of tho reader iin intellectual interest perhaps stronger tlian- tho imaginative interest. ■ - / ' Even in Russia it does not often happen that a charge is brought against a book, and not tho author or publishers; thereof. Yet, a case of this kiiul was brought ■beforo the Warsaw Courts tho other day (says the Warsaw, correspondent of the "i'all Mall Gazette").' The charge was laid against a work by a certain Gustavo Bauinfeld- as being of a nature '.'likely to arouse its readers to revolutionary actions.",' Tho dock'was perfectly empty, and evidenco'was given by the'police', who had confiscated tho book. Tho verdict was pronounced against tho .book, and amounted..to an'.order, that it _ should be burned. Tho explanation of this peculiar incident: is that tho book ,in question was discovered by'tho polico whilst still in tho printer's hands, and that, as it had not 'yet been published neithpr tho' author nor tho publisher wag held responsible for its revolutionary tendencies. All tho blame was laid; on-the-'book; of wliiph every sheet has now; boon destroyed/ '

' 'Nothing seems to hay'o struck Mr. H. W. Lucy, during his ■ American ,trip -more than tho : ljomospun garb and' -homespun-" manner, in lyhich t|io .Speaker, of Congress'was elected. '11l his article called "Dollar Notes," , contributed. to ' t'no' December "C'ofnliill," ho says:— ' ■ ■ '.

"To ono who lias lived in tho Housq of Commons moro tliaii. thirtv years, lias known' and reyeronced three of our greatest Speakers, thero was something' 'furtivelypleasing' in Hearing the Speaker' of tho 58tlr Congress of .tho United-'States-.invariably 'alluded to in conversation as 'Uncle Joe,'', Tho wellconditioned mind shrinks' from tho 'thought of allusion to Mr. Speaker Peel during his tprnvoF office as .' Uncle Fred,? to Mr. Gull.v as 'Undo Bill,' or to tho. present occupant of tho chair as 'Un'clo Jim. 1 In Washington, alike in conversation, and newspaper gossip, Mr. Gannon, member .for Illinois, was ever 'Undo Joe,'' and no change in tho. friendly custom was made bccausq.ho.had grown to the .dignity of tjio Speakership. Having been sworn in, Undo 'Jo'o took to tho Chair, as a duck takes to water. As a preliminary to. reading his specolv, ho fixed on his", wise a pair of. glasses that had long.seen scrvico' vvhilo hp was.s(.ill a privatp member.. - But they would not -work. After a moment's struggle, watched. with kc?iy by i tho ci owded. Hous.e, lie, .dived into the recesses of his breast-pocket and fished forth-another pair. Tlieso apparently boro :the .Speaker's mark. Anyhow, they served.. In a voice iT trifle'tremulous, ho'.road a dignified speech,' : as warmly applauded on tho . Democratic',' benches as it was .by tho 1 Republican majoHaving finished., his reading, tho .Speaker, in qiiito another tone, reminiscent, of tho New York surfaco carman's 'Step lively I' said, 'I am ready to tako the oath of olhco.'

Before the "Atlantic Monthly'' drops back again into its normal placo in tho magazine list, you may be interested-.(writes a correspondont|of. thu "Manchester Guardian") to' have somo account of a visit' I onco paid to its oJhco .when Oliver Wendell Holmes wis my 'fellow-visitor; Its editor .then was Mr • ihomas .Bailey Aklrich, who had asked-mo to breakfast with him, his custom tfßini* to tako the meal, French, stylo, at twelve noon. I was to call for him first at liis editcrs ollice, which was a back room off Boston Common, overlopking, to tho best'of my recollection, ft ohurchyard • that , mi'dit havo been enwalled about by London or Manchester houses. By good luck, in tho doorway below I, ran against a small old boyish-looking gentleman, with a shade' over ono . eyp,\ tho author .of tho "Autocrat" whpso acquaintance . I/had made not long before. Ho had been, "as you: know; an indisper.sablo "Atlantic" contributor, and must have, climbed the stairs of its : offices hundreds of times. His spirit now, despito his threatened eyesight, was apparently undiminished, and-joyous as over', On his getting upstairs and Mr. Aklrich askiti" with concern after his health and tho state of his e.yos, lie replied gaily: "Whon I look iffi- . 1 m ' T bad . e y°" (raising tho shado a little) "you look liko a critic. But when I look at you with tho other you look like i poet." It should bo. told you. that Mr. Bailey Aklrich,' liko many .men of letters' cared much foi' his famo as a poet and little for his other reputation, as 'is common enough in thoso writors who practiso both kinds. Ono, was oddly reminded thero and in this way, as two generations of Americans singly mot in these men, of tho greater Boston and Concord group, including Emerson Thoroau, Hawthorne, .Longfellow, and Russoll Lowell, who had helped in ono way or another to feed tho "Atlantic" tradition. Of this tradition enough, you in'av think, has been said lately; but I am bound to admit in turning over and making tho most of so casual a reminiscence, that of all tho editors' dens and ollices I have pentrated this in Boston left .with mo the most distinct aroma of tho illusivo sort, that one associates with certain places, such as Tonson's and tho Mitro and tho original "Edinburgh" Reviewers' rooms in Georgo Square, Edinburgh.