DEDICATIONS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1587, 2 November 1912, Page 9

DEDICATIONS.

.-,■■■•.'.'.The.-"welHmown author" who has been ./ .-advertising-that.he/is.willing to dedicate ■• ■_-'••■ v his book to .whoever will lend him ;£l5O '.'P u ts ?ne-o'u thinking of many things. He. • •.:.;;"has,:if one Inay.giiess, written a book in 1 which the publishers see no money; he . -has not "a ( sufficiently ..ivido circle, of . friends to secure publication by subscrip- .•'-.. -non, so he.has bethought'-him of the ex-. '"'■ -': -rPedieat of. offering .to immortalise in a. :., dedication, anyone'''who will advance .'.■.-. fenough.to defray the expenses of produc-:;-.tion::. ": ■■• •' \.. •.-"• : : ;-- ; ■■'■.-■■ ''.-•'.■ ■Whether the plan succeeds or not prob- ' ably tho .public'.will never, know, but'it is odd'at this : tinie: of-day to come upon ••.■;• what is a rovcr'sian, in : a modified 1 form, to the old practice of patron and dedication,, a. practice which,prevailed in England until the day when Johnson wrote a' certain.memorable letter to Lord Chester- ■■•■• field .instead .of.the flattering address .-.which thatinbbleman had angled-for and expected.'. It . arose from the circum- ... stances of the ..time. Readers were not - numerous enough to.make writing worth ■ " an ordinary author's while, so he turned for help to the wealthy. The nobles were pestered by mendicant authors' who expected a purse of gold for a dedication. •They often got more than their' copy- ' . , .right: would .have fetched, :so that books . were written for the. sake of the dedication' alone. . The ..'authors could only repay with compliments; and each vied, with his ... neighbour. to pitch tho note of eulogy as ■'.■''' . high as possible. "This traffic in praise,'' says Macaulay, "produced the eli'ect : ' ...which might have been expected. Adulajfion pushed "to the'vergo - sometimes of .nonsense andi sometimes of impiety was ~' . not thought to disgrace a, poet. Inde-peridence,-'..'veracity,.. self-respect wore '■'■•-'.•. things not. required by tho \vorld from hini.. In truth ho was lih' morals soinc- •'"'" thing between a pander and aj. beggar." '■". This' is, as usual, pretty strong, but '. V it is generally: true, and the poet and his (dedication' were.of ten the subject' of ■-'■-■ satire. 'A good:.instance 7 'occurs in Garrick's forgotten farce of "Lethe." There ■ Pluto, on tho solicitation of'Prosperine, has consented to grant access to Lethe to ■"':' suffering mortals, '■ and 'has appointed iKsopto examine: candidates. Among others comes a poet who wishes: to drink oblivion of the painful circumstances ac- - _' compa.nying the production "of his play. One of the bitterest drops in his cup was ' that the young nobleman.'whp had accepthis dedication had not paid'.him for it.' "I did not -receive one' Farthing for '•■'-' my .'last ■ Dedication," he says, "and yet—„ would you believe it?—l absolutely gave '■-. all the-Virtues in Heaven-to one of .the ' : '_y Lowest' Reptiles.-o- Earth."- ..Moreover, • :.-. '.when,.the piece was damned, ho one enjoyed the poet's discomfiture more than ■" tho young nobleman, "His Ldrdshiu

played tho best Catcall the • first night; and was the merriest Person in tho whole Audience." What the poet now wished was complete forgotfuluess of tho play and all.-.concerning it, but /Esop, refused the draught for this delightful reason—. "If, when you drink to tho Forgetfulness of your own Works, you should unluckily, forget those of other people too, your next pieco will certainly bo tho worse for it/' ' • Thero are few exceptions to the rule that recent dedications aro somewhat tame. ; Mark Twain once talked of dedicating a book to John Smith, on the ground that if e,ick dedicatee bought a copy ho ,was- a'-mado man. If Dr. .Johnson's' schoolmaster, who dedicated his grammar to tho Universe, had a like.purpose, ho was casting his net wider, for Mars may bo inhabited. A lady recently '.addressed'her book, in lapidary.style, "To ■•my.-.dear: Mother, Who. frequently interrupts, And to My sister Fanny, Who says 'Sh-slt-sh'/outside-my door." In moro serious .vein, nothing could excel Renin's dedication of his "Via do Jesus," and many have found pleasure in Baudelaire's offering of his "Flenrs dn Mai au parfait magicien os lettres/Francaises." In re-' qent itimes. noiie havo practised the art. better. than Stevenson arid >Mr. W. B. Yeats. •'. Stevenson's dedication of "Across tho Plains" to Bourget is not, perhaps, very, striking, although tho compliment is .prettily turned, but that of "Prince Otto," with its reminiscence of the garden house which, although it seemed integral' with its'present.surroiindings ; "had come! round the- Horn piecemeal in ' the' belly of a' ship," is. thoroughly Stevensonian, while the address that ushers in "Virginibus Puerisiiue" is, within its space, like one of the most charming of the essays. Mr. Yeats excels both in prose and verse. The dedication/of tho two volumes of Irish plays to Lady Gregory has all the charm of his exquisite style; there, is a set of noble verses' 'ushering in. "The Shadowy Waters," while he addresses the recipients of "Poems" in the unforgettable lines headed "To Some I Have Talk.ed;Witbby,therire"-:-.: . | While I wrought out these fitful Danaan rhymes, .'■■■' My heart would brim with dream,s about ..; the'tithes '■' ■' . ' •;'; ' -. ; When we ;hoht down above the.; fading I', '.'coal's;'':' :''/--/'-; -'/.:"'■'/:/•/.' '■"■ ■ And 'talked, of'the dark'folk,; who live in ■ ,■•''souls:'-..''-. .:>. '.■..■■'■.■•-■■■■'■-■•-,'• ! ,0f passionate.' irjen.jlrke bats 'in the dead /''trees///;. '■?'/ /:'"■':/:•'//' /"".'" .'" ■And of the'wayward twilight coinpanies, ' Who sigli'with.-mingled''sorrow; arid,con- ; •; tent,;. ■"'''■ .: ■'•.'■' ; , •..' ■ - / : Because, their/blossoming dreams, have 1 - never bent: ■;- '■'■ :/'/':';;'"■ ■ Under the.fruit of evil and'of good; •And .of'the embattled' flaming/multitude Who.riso.'.wing.above ..wing; name above ; , ilame,:..'•..'■'" '■'■' "■' ' ■'/'•'•,- ■Arid/like a'storm,' cry .the ineffable l Name;. : i Ah , d,'with:' , th.e: clashing;'of. :tiieir;"sword- :• .'blades make.',"'.':': '-/;■:'•./■ '•' ': :A'rapturous' nriisic, tillthemorning, break, •And the white hush; end all,;but the loud ;;'-■'■ibeafc:-'---/--.'.'::'''.■'■,;•■!'■'' '", '••'/'-.-'. '.Of 'their'long, wings;.'tho. flash-of ; tneir ! white'-feet/ -'// .' .'.'/ ' •''::""'■■'.', / '—Manchester "Guardian," .■ MEREDITH'S LETTERS, Th 9 last instalment of .George Meredith's letters 'in "Soribner's Magazine" covers the twenty years-from 1888 to his death. In these, letters, : brief for the most part, .vigorous, kindly,: .optimistic, we come across; (says the. Jfew..York "Nation"): many ■ /valuable bits of /criticism , on contemporary writers.... In June,' 1888, he writes to-W. E. Healeyy-acknowledging the receipt of the "Book qf.-Verses".: "Dear Mr.' Henley,'—Th'e>rude. realism of • your verses,; 'In'-, Hospital,', .has. braced .me. And with.thi's'breath of the dart; iess : ,of;life you giye-a note 1 — • . : ;'Out-ofthe night that covers mo'— : jwhich-.has.'a/manful'ring to clear and .ilift.us,',w;hatever.:the .'oppression that may. •;hav©.-'beeri:,caused.-."No. realism frightens it;as a' correc- : tibri/of tho : flimsy, ;tb/which oiir literature [has a constant tendency to-recur ! Even : the lowest-appears/to, me more, instruc- , five,' than*.Byrbmtfss.fßut. ; ;when;- : ;out; .of,, 'hospital, you, cry/but in ecstacy bf the" -'smell of, the mild in the nostrils;'; you strike profoundly—beyond the critical ;6enses;' V;:'//''.:'//'/' :•"-."; .'. T ;-:,■/,>; / //"I, thank 1 you for the volume;;,-.lt has ; the tons of a,.voice in the ear-;as near, to ■ life'as that." ■''/..'•,■•-"■•■' '■' New Year's of 1890' he writes to -Frederick- Greenwood:. "Yesterday' I 'was at 'Browning's funeral.' ..:."■ sweeter' the grass turf than, the Abbey pavements. But the. noble poet was deeply with his. fellows, and it may be appropriate that he should be among them in hearing of tho roar." ' Barrie's "Little Minister" .drew his warm praise: "How I envy you! —-not the deserved success of the book,, but your pleasure "in ■writing it.' Thecon■jurationof. Babbia must have been an'. •hour of enchantment.". To. Frederick; Greenwood, he : analyses/Thomas/Hardy's "Tess." He. finds'the work open to'criticisiri, butWery ' interesting: -"All.'of the Dairy Farm' held me fast. ■':■But from:the moment of the meeting again of-Tess and Alec, I grew ; .cold, "and' should say- that there is,a depression of ; power, up to the .'end, save for the short .scene on the;'plairi of ' Stoneherige. /'lf the author's.; minute': method had been sustained, we should' have had a finer, book. It is. marred by' the sudden hurry.to round the story. And Tess, out of the arms of Alec, into (I suppose) those of tire Illy-necked Clare, and on to the Black Flag waving over her poor body, isi a smudge' in'.vapour— she at one time 60 real to me." . i The last letter Meredith wrote was to ' Theodore ■ Watts-Dunton, on the death of Swinburne:. ■•• ": •.■-.,-'' "The blow was heavy on me. I had such confidence in his powers of recovery. - The end has: come! That -brain of the vivid illumination is extinct. I can I hardly realise it when I revolve the inariytimes 'when, at the: starting of an idea :the whole town.was instantly ablaze with ! electric light.' Song' was his natural voice.: He was the greatest of our lyrical poets—of the world, I could say, considering what .a language he had to wield."; This is dated/April 13,. 1909. Meredith died.on May 18. ;■. ~ ■';..") ~