LITERARY NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2565, 13 May 1903, Page 66

LITERA RY NOTES.

— Messrs A. Mid C. Black will publish shortly '•'ihe Diary A a Turk," a volume dealing with social, political, and religious matters in Turkey, and containing a :onsidcrnblc amount of information on subjects frequently misunderstood, fho author is H. Halid Effendi, M.A., M.R.A.S., who, after having retired from the service of the Sultan's Government on account of his liberal views, settled in England. Mr H. Hahd is now teacher of Turkish to Student Interpreters (for the Levant) in the University of Cambridge. — Miss Ada Cambridge, he Australian novelist, tell;, us that every year, for more than 30 years, her aspiration has been, "Oh, to be in England now that April's there." She says this in her Australian reminiscence-, whu-h Mce&rs Methuen will publish and she add*, that she has never seen England since she left it. It wa,s May, 1870, that Mrs Cross, as :« the authoress's name outside hei boeJcs, sailed from Plymouth in a "fine powerful, .-Upper ship." with a saloon which the timers described as a "'very spacious apartment." — An important autobiography, that of Sir A. Henry Layard, is to be published by Mr John Murray. Layard had a remarkable ."areor. He was traveller, archaeologist, politician, diplomat, and student of the fine arts. Before ho. was 23 he had travelled extensively on the Continent, in spite of Lie tenniy means; had made friends with young Cavour, seen Benjamin Disraeli in boxing gloves, and had been admitted to rlie intimate regard of Crabbe Robinson. Before he was 25 ho had made adventurous journey? : he saw the Crimea during the war, India during the Mutiny, Italy in rhc war of Liberation. He was associated with many notable- diplomatic event*. The book closes with his appointment »c Ambassador at Madrid. He has left p. full account of his Kmbas.-y litre ami at Constantinople, but in are-ortlatice with his wish it will not be published until there is no risk of its givincr offence. — The world baa almost always acknowledged the fascination of any writer who could take it completely into his confidence. For the sake of candour men will -forgive almost anything, so intense is the natural desire to analyse the human heart. It is the story of a man's thoughts, not his art.-, thai we all want to know : and it is jr..-' this story which co few men have powor to icll. Perhaps ii was mever better told than 2300 yfflr- age- the date Prsipned by the latest Hebrew scholar;: to the Book of Ec-t-lesia«tes. Wr> know what the writer thought about lifp and about death, about the poor and thf rich, about irfm and about women : bow tho eternal problems of reJisrion tortured hi* spirit in his voutli. and what he Mnic t«> in his old ape. His conviction tha f there is nothing now wilder thr. sun ip etraneely illustrated ljpfore our eyes as we road his work to-day. The (ruth if the ono thing that keens fresh. Any affprtation L like a fly in the ointment. — Sppetatcr. — Now that the third aod la=t volume of "Living T/vndor:" (Caerel! smc! Co.) has been publiohotl we« .ire in a position to stair that a urcmioe made has been well kept.. Maov-

sided London is within the pagea of this work depicted in a manner which is both entertaining acd instructive. Various phasea of life in London are known to most of we, but to the great majority much of whab appear* in these volumes will appeal as a new lesson. The information will certainly help them to a knowledge of how the "other j half" lives, for, though some of the subjects dealt with are not, perhaps, of an entirely exhaustive character, the contents as a whole are fully entitled to the praise conveyed in the term- comprehensive. Tha editor, Mr G. R. Sims, has a wide acquaint tance with London life, and those men upon whom he has called for assistance are, with scarcely an exception, also possessed of the necessary knowledge to fit them for tha task which was imposed' upon them, and which they have successfully perfomerft. The name of Casaell is sufficient to indicate that the work has been excellently produced.: Tt is well and profusely illustrated, has. a capital index, and it is at once useful- and oraiamental. — Field. : — One of the newspapers has been discussing the question whether Dickens ever drew a gentleman, writes W. L. Alden. , Phe majority of those who take part in the discussion seem to take the negative, though one man considers Lord Frederick "Verisopht as » fine portrait of a gentleman/ " Evidcmtly none of tho contributors to the discussion have ever read "Pickwick." someone would surely have instanced Mr Pickwick as a thorough gentleman in bia way as Colonel Newoome himself. " Some of these days the question whether Dickens himself was a gentleman, ar.d was capable of conceiving lh« id?a of a gentleman, t will sound as absurd •as would the question whether Shakesooare ever drew a woman. The fact that Dickens, in his early youth, wore, loud waistcoats still convinces many people that he could never have been ; gentleman. No one over wore waistcoats that were as sonorous and deafening as those worn by Disraeli in his youth, but it would sound rather preposterous were any one except a Little Englsnder of unconquerable prejudices to suggest that Lord Beaconsfinkl was not a gentleman. The truth is that when Dickens was young loud waistcoats and loud neckties were in the fashion, and that is all there is of the terrible story tha.*Dickens and Disraeli wore waistcoats the colour of the raimbow. —In the death of Mr H. J. Palmer, editor of the Yorkshire Post, the newspaper world has lost one of the ablest, most conscientious, and industrious of journalists. Mr Palmer, indeed, may be said to havo died a martyr to the strain which (*aily journalism makes upon any man who, having the control of a great paper, entertains am ideal estimate of his responsibilities, loves his work, and has the courage of the opinions and mission with which his journal is associated. Not a mere party man in his political views if it became necessary to oppose p Ministerial scheme which seemed to him subvei - sive of the ; best interests cf the country, Mr Palmer, nevertheless, stood by his party with an energy and sincerity that appealed to ' the strongheads and brave hearts of the Yorkshire people. Coupled with his earnestness in the treatme-nt jf public questions, he had the prescience that covers the entire field of an editor's regard for the general usefalfless and attractiveness of his paper. Trained under ihat brilliant journalist; tlte late Sir William Leng, he had, on occasion, something of the fire and wit of his master, v-olnn he always regarded as his favourite • journalistic hero. His ad/niration of tho famous editor of the Sheffield Daily Telegranh was complimentary to his judgment and his capacity to appreciate good work and fine character. Mr PaJmer has made hie mark on a bright page of the hietory of British journalism, and left behind a. large circle of friends, whose grief at his early death is in sympathy with that of hk devoted wife and family— London People. — Tho ways of artistio society, and the multiplicity of novels and poems, the growing lommonness of the capacity to act ami lecture and sing and ' make conversation." as the saying is, have, I fancy, done to death the kind of entertainments that were in vogue when Dickens was at the zenith of his fame. What, author nowadays invites his friends to hear him read chapters of his new novel? What poet ventures to bring out a manuscript from ihis coafc pocket and proceed to read you one of his own works? Ycu say. "Ah, but there 13 no Dickens to-day, and Tennyson was the last of our great poets." It is possible that posterity may discover geniuses no less groat, who are vainly trying to reveal themselves through their worke. Perhaps they lack the art of reclame, or are too dignified to use it : and must wait. In the early days of the Vagabonds' Clu-b only a few years ago a group of young authors determined to entertain and instruct each other by reading paners. artiolcs, and poeirs to each other. They included several men or distiiie«iwhed merit, mostly on the staff of The Teller, which \va* then a novelty among monthly publications. But the- men who had to listen soon found themselves bored; and I question if we have any author who. try his hardest, could rival the Gadr Hill gatherings, or who would dare to attempt it; and yet there is plenty of audacity among the tamous pens of our day. "Afc one- of tlm Tavistock House theatricals, say* Mrs Keelcy, '"T fat in a nice place, and in front of me- wa3 Macieady, with Lord T.yndhurst reding against the tragedian's k"g=. Edwin Landseer was also present, t-gether with Oeorge Cruikshank, Augustus Kg*, S'ansfield (whe nainted the scenery), ml, I think. John Forster. I recollect: that Dickens ' Tapped ' a good Jeal as twual. in a piece called 'Uncle John,' and that Macreidy, who disapproved of such things, kept growling out, eotto voce, 'Oh, yen shouldn't, gas.'" Many of nn amateurs to-day could, I dare say. imitate Dickens so far as gaoling goes. I remember a certa;m •■omed-an threatening a oertain author that if he made himself troublesome he would leave out of his play every sag lie had tak<Mi the liberty of adding to ft.— Joseph Hattoi, in "Cigarette Papers."

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