ABOUT BOOKS AND BOOKMEN.

Evening Star, Issue 10392, 13 August 1897, Page 4

ABOUT BOOKS AND BOOKMEN.

[From Our Special Correspondent.]

London, June 18. Considering how widely the works of DiukeDs are read and what a great people we are for anniversaries, it i 3 odd that his death day attracts so little notice. There is a Burns day, there is a Shakespeare commemoration every year. Dickens is as much to the Londoner as the ploughboy poet to the Scot, or as the Swan of Avon to the Midlauder. But there is no representative annual gathering in London at which the toast " The Immortal Memory of Charles Dickens" is honored in solemn silence. Few people, indeed, seem to have remembered the coincidence that the year Queen Victoria ascended the throne was also the year of the publication of the ' Pickwick Papers.' I can't consider that great novel, as some do, " immortal," but it has stood the test of sixty years uncommonly well. Of the sixpenny reprints of the classics of fiction only three or lour are in larger demand, and the numerous dearer editions also sell well. At the same time, one can't help noticing that the "young gentlemen" of the present generation don't guffaw over ' Pickwick' in the same way as we did as boys. That may be, however, because they are themselves deficient in humor. When one comes to think of it, a joke—a good joke—is the very last thing one expects to find in a popular boy'a book of to-day.

Mr Frederic G. Witton has rendered many valuable contributions to Dickens literature, and has a library of first editions, etc., which is second only to Mr Wright's. His new bibliography, just published by Elliot Stock, will be eagerly perused by Dickens collectors, and, besides, contains plenty of matter interesting to the general reader. The opinions of famous contemporaries of the novelist on his creations have never perhaps been more felicitously chronicled. Not everyone knows, for instance, how Dan O'Connell was overcome bythe pathetic story of ' Little Nell,' and how, on reading of her death, his eyes filled with tears, and he exclaimed : "He should not have killed her ' He should net have killed her ! She was too good." Macready begged Dickens to spare her life, and was grievously affected by the tragic ending of the story. Even the stern Jeffrey was entirely overcome by Nell's death, and " was discovered in his library sobbing terribly." Of 'David Copperfield Matthew Arnold was a great admirer. " What a pleasure," he said, " to have the opportunity of praising a work so sound, a work so rich in merits." Matthew Arnold is also responsible for the statement that Mr Gladstone once solaced himself with ' David Copperfield' after an illness, " and so set all good Liberals (of whom I wish to be considered one) upon reading it over again " Professor Ward looks upon this story as "a pearl without a peer among the later fictions of our English school," and as the most perfect, as a work of art, of all Dickens's factions; while to Dr Peter Bayne it seemed "to combine the burnished brilliancy of Charlotte Bronte with the ease of Goldsmith." Landor is, as is well known, the original of Lawrence Boythorne in «Bleak House. Mrs Lynn Linton once asked him if he had read 'Bleak House,' and he answered sharply "No, and never shall!" thus, it is held, proving that he himself identified the portrait. It is, however, understood that Landor did not seriously resent the hberty thus taken with his personality. The old crone m 'The Mystery of Edwin Drood was known in the East End as Lascar Sal, and the Rev. Harry Jones is the authority for the statement that she was living as late as 1875. The confessions of Archie, the old burglar who lucubrations have so often amused readers of the ' Westminster Gazette ' of late, were set down by most of us to Mr Anthony Hope Hawkins and the news that Mr Charles Morley was the perpetrator caused some surprise in literary circles. Mr Morley is the best "interviewer" on the 'Metropolitan,' as well as an editor of wide discretion. The Archie sketches are not fiction, but genuine tales from life selected from the experiences of a veteran burglar named " Dad," who has altogether spent forty years in H.M. prisons, and been twice followed. His many sins and brutalities are p-rtially redeemed by a keen sense of humor, of which Mr Morley has wisely made the most of.

The alleged Orange plot to set aside the claims to the throne of Princess Victoria in favor of her uncle, the Duke of Cumberland which is believed by some to have been in existence during the last months of William IV.'s reign, forms the subject of a smartly, written and apropos novelette called «God Save the Queen,' by Mr Allen Upward. This gentleman, as those who read his audacious * Stories of the Courts of Europe' in the ' Strand Magazine' are aware, never permits mere historical facts to stand in his way. Instead of squaring his romance to them he suits them to his romance. The result to persons unacquainted with the period must be chaos. If, however, you merely want amusement 'God Save the Queen' will be found quite readable, and it only coats a shilling. A far more solid Jubilee volume is Mr T. H. S. Escott's «Social Transformations of the Reign.' This is not a history, but a survey. Mr Escott naturally ranges over manysubjects.forthe "transformations" that I have taken place in the reign are both

numerous and important. In some of his chapters his treatment is not perhaps quite adequate; but the book as a whole is of considerable interest and value. There are chapters dealing with , the wealth and; wealthy men of the reign, social citizenship as a moral growth of Viotorian England, the new era in English paiAmes and counties, free education, public schools and universities, the drama, the House of Commons, Royalty as a social force, various departments of science, music, the Press, religion, and much else. In many of these! respects the changes have been considerable, and nearly all have taken what may be regarded as a favorable direction. Mr Escott, however, does not overlook defects in some of the new elements that have com* into play, and concerning these makes som«, very wise suggestions. The latest defections from the ' Pall Mail Gazette' are Mr Charles Duguid, the City editor, and Mr G. 8. Street, the dramafcc critic. They were the last of the brilliait band who clustered round Mr Harry Custin the early days of the Astor regime. A paper with the reputation the ' Pall Mill Gazette' had in Mr Stead's day takes a lot of killing, and I suppose a few thousaids are still dispqsed of daily. But as a pover in the land it has ceased to exist. On she other hand, the 'Daily Mail* carries all before it. A few years ago we had none of us heard of Alfred Harmsworth; to-day he stands forth undisputed king of the new journalism.

What was the secret of the success of ' Lorna Doone' ? According to the author the lucky accident which lifted one of the most popular books of the century out of obscurity and neglect to fortune was the similarity of its name to that of the Marquess of Lorne. Mr Naraton, the publisher, asked to give his account of the matter, has quoted Mr Blackmore's own words in the preface to the illustrated twentieth edition, issued in 1882 :

What a lucky maid you are, my Lorna ! When first you came from the Western Moors nobody, cared to look at you ; the leaders of the public taste led none of it to make test of you. Having struggled to the light of day, thrdfgh obstruction and repulses, for a year and a-half, you shivered m the cold corner, with a sun-ray. Your native land disdained your voice, and America tnswered No child of mine ! But, oh ! but let none of the many fairer ones who fail despond ; a certain auspicious event occurred-just then, and gave vou golden wings. The literary public found your name akin to one which filled the air, and as graciously as royalty itself, endowed you with imaginary virtues.

The latest interview with Mr Edison touches on what I believe was previously untrodden ground. I refer to the inventor's taste m literature. It seems that he haa a preference for Gaboriau's fiction, tte plan of Btarting with a mystery and working it out to a satisfactory solution recommending itself to Edison. He has been all bis life threshing out mysteries, and apparently cannot get away from it when he reads for recreation. Besides Gaboriau,. he is very fond of Edgar Allan Poe and Jutes Verne—truly a curious combination. His taste for poetry has not been developed, and he finds the works of Huxley, Faraday, and Tyndall sufficiently poetical.

The fac-simileß of the coronation numbers of 'The Times' and 'Globe,' which have been published, differ very much less than one would think from the present day issues of those papers. The printing, general get-up, and reading matter are very much what we are used to now, and it is only from such phrases as " the Paris papers of Wednesday (it was then Friday) have reached us but are literally destitute oF news, foreign or domestic," that we realise the advance that has been made. The advertisements perhaps show more than anything else the great changes of the last sixty years. One details the advantages of the " Taliy-ho" coach, which leaves the Saracen's Head daily for Birmingham. The other is of a Yorkshire school, at which youths are boarded and instructed "according to age, including clothes, books, and other necessaries. No extras and no vocations." Loth irresistibly recall Nicholas Nickleby and Mr Squeers. Considering the indubitable excellence of much of H. B. Marriott Watson's works, notably ' Galloping Dick,' ' The Web of the bpider, and ' Diogenes in London,' and the fact that keen critics like Henry James, George Meredith, and W. E. Henley praise him unsfntedly, it is certainly remarkable that he has never " boomed." Many, indeed, who do far inferiorrwork are much better known. One hopes, however, that this will shortly be changed, and that after many days Mr Watson—like Henry Seton Mem-man-may " arrive." I hear, as a matter of tact, great accounts of the new tale of adventure the New Zealander is now engaged on. The opening chapters so delighted the editor of ' Harper's Magazine * that he promptly secured the serial rights and it will run through that magazine next 7m r " ,„ tltle at Present registered is ireasure Trove."

In the course of some reminiscences of Dr Dale which recently appeared iV the ' New Age, the writer has much to say of the friendship between the Col6nial Secretary and the preacher, and beanrwitness to the admiration of the latter for the great politician. Dr Dale knew how admirable Mr Chamberlain was in his family relations, how true he was in his private life, how Jojal he was in hia friendships, • and he ./Vm' ,^ 00 ' how te nder-!ieitrted he was. ♦i. o £ > S^ id Dr Di,e ' " when fa e was on the bchool Board it was part of his duty to hear complaints against teachers, and sometimes they were female teachers, and occasionally there would be little scenes, the women would start crying, and Chamberlain came to me and begged me to relievo him of his work, for he could not stand weeping women." Dr Dale in the same article is described as one of the most genial of men Very vivid is the recollection, says the Wr i te £ ° f T! h , e last dinner P artv at wh 'oh he and Dr Dale were both present. "Dale was the life and soul of it. He had just returned from Australia, and was full of happy memories cf his visit. And then Cime stories one after another. His old friend Charles Vince was going home one evening when he came across a drunken man m the gutter. The kindly divine tried to raise the fallen man to his feet. But the drunkard, looking up and seeing who it was that was taking so much trouble, said: Don t trouble, Mr Vince, don't trouble • I don tb long to you-I b'long to Dr Dale.' Hearty was the laughter as Dale told this story against himself." Jubilee literature is of all sorts, qualities and varieties. With the purely ephemeral Btuff which forms the largest part I do not propose to deal, but there are one or two books being issued we should all like to possess. First and foremost comes Mr Alfred HarmßWorth's 'Sixtv Years a Queen, with letterpress by "Sir Herbert Maxwell, and an admirable collection of perfectly executed illustrations. The proprietor of the «Daily Mail' pledged his word that when this was complete it would be the cheapest and best work of the sort ever brought out. Such a claim sounds preposterously "fine and large," but I really almost expect it to be justified. Sir Walter Besant's «Rise of the Empire' should not be overlooked, nor Canon Farrar's Progress in the Reign of Queen Victoria.' Mr J UBtm McCarthy's final volume of he you will review at length, and if you can find much about the. colonies therein 1 shall be sorrowed. Mr McCarthy seems indeed sublimely unconscious of Australia's exist-

Mr Clement Shorter devotes a clever T\ A™,." 10 cu "enb 'Bookman' to showing that the literature- of the Victorian era hal « £" n th ? P ul P il fc yP e ' a » preaching —nne, healthy, inspiriting preaohing most ot it; moreover, one cannot doubt that it has been much better than more graceful, work would have been." Wordsworth, Tennyson, Browning, Mrs Browning, and Matthew Arnold werf ?tr c ° a^ nd8 > all Preachers. V What is Maud but a lo D g, beautiful, arTO eloquent ?K"i ? is a sermon ■LocksleyHall' is a sermon,'and whether we take the «Idylls of the King' as anX lZl° f U f? T it contains abundanceof what may betermed 'preaching.' That *.° b H e ° ha ™oteristic of Tetnyson's friend and rival Browning, need soaroely be Tt\tn*« Brown '^ 8 ? a .riy Nonconformity; his attendance on theministrations of anlnd'epGn;™lT ni l ter ' gaVe „ the . rin ß of th « PrfpTt to every line he wrote." Matttfew Arnold's case M? tt aß r-1T C l d ' and even Swinburne S£» «W* tW i? tß t0 h j" theory by viewing him chiedy as the apostle of freedom. When «l,w m ,?* 8 £ VS, Victo "an novelists the editor of the 'lllustrated London News' proceeds swimmingly. George Eliot, Charles

Bingsley, Charles Reade, George Macdonald, and Miss Mulochwere all preachers. " Charles Dickens published 'Pickwiok' in !837, and to find a moral in 'Pickwick,' it iiay be admitted, would be to place oneself in the position of the archaeologists who discovered ' Bill Stumps, His Mark.' From that point on, however, Dickens became impregnated with the spirit of the age. There is plenty of preaching in 'Oliver Twist,'' Nicholas Kickleby,' and 'The Old Curiosity Shop'; while 'Hard Times/ •Great Expectations,' and the «Christmas Carol' are all permeated with a zeal for reform. It was one of Dickens's limitations, doubtless, that he was a preacher; but it was that gift which gave him so boundless a control »ver the tears and the laughter of several generations. Thackeray published «Vanity Fair' in 1846, and followed it with a succession of brilliant novels, every one of which was a vigorous satire on society. Assuredly Thackeray in his own way was a preacher." Rudyard Kipling, though much less run after than he was a few years ago, can still command astonishing prices for his literary wares. The short story entitled «The Tomb of His Ancestors' has been sold to an English and American magazine for 300 guineas, the author retaining the copyright. ' Pearson's Monthly' is the English periodical, f The public favor accorded Mr Crockett's later work in Australia is surprising, as he has not a great vogue here now south of the Tweed. I see ' The Bookman' says ' Men of the Moss-Hags' has enjoyed a very marked popularity over the seas. Isbister and Co. have prepared for colonial distribution another large edition, to which a special interest is added in the shape of sixteen of the admirable illustrations drawn for the story by Mr C. E. Brock on appearance as a serial in ' Good Words. 5

Louis Becke tells me that his new story, written in collaboration with Mr Walter Jeffery, may not after all be called «The Mutineer.' It is to run serially through ' Lloyd's Weekly.'