The Portland daily press., 1878-02-21
TERMS $500 PER ANNUM, IN ADVANCE

don his intrusiveness. The Frenchman's
fashion of using his great powers for
the purpose of making pain is unfavorably
contrasted with the ''marvelous pessimism of
Tourgueneff''. He is accused of being pho
tographist, ,of "harsh imitation of the actual,
just as it stands" of using tracing paper of
huge size, ''his forcibleness due merely to de-
scriptions CT people exactly as he has seen
them." 1t is denied that Daudet has a great
lesson to teach. "For him to claim to be
moralist seems to be about the same as for
man to point out to me a smoking ruin:
Scene of the late accident, what phioso-
pher ami or for newspaper man to read
to me his summary of recent swindles, crimes
and infamies and then say, Haven't de-
scribed hideous things? That's because Pm
great moralist.'"
Thus the Contributors Club. For boufe
the atlantic has an amusing absurdty by
Mark Twain, tale of troth plighted by tel.
ephone the best thing in which, however,
the description of woman's dress, is an i'm
itation of Swifes purposely confused use of
marine terms in the storm at sea in Gulliver.
One end of the telephone wire is in East
port, thus giving US the proper "local COLOR"
Charles Dudley Warmers "Fight with a
Trout Is a charming sketch in the mock
heroic vein His remark that "Fish always
lose by being got in and dressed; it is best to
weigh them while they are in the water" re-
calls the wise saying of one of Miss behring's
boys that Gold iron always weighs more while
you are carrying it to the iunkshop than it
does after you get it there" Mr.. Bishops
'Detmold," which is more commentary and
description than story, advances a chapter.
Mr.. Knight discourses of pottery with much
knowledge and as much prolixity. George
Parsons Lathrop has something he calls a
poem. Mr.. Whittier offers his tribute to the
late General Bartlett. Mr.. Longtellow strings
another Rosary of Sonnets, good enough for
any poet to tell, and versifes in the grace
full and indolent way which he rather affects
of late, the legend Of the White Gar. Ar
thur Venner tells the story of James Fazy,
sort of porcelain Boss Tweed who once
plundered Switzerland. W. G. Langdon says
some proper things about Victor Emmanuel,
and Gideon Welles some improper ones about
Gen. Grant. The late Secretary OF the Navy
however, disproves Gen. Dick Taylor's SEN
sational story of the council of war and the
march to Richmond, made public in the
North American. Col. Williams tells some
unpleasant truths about the staff of the
United States Army, and Miss Sarah o.
Jewett, one of Names most promising
writers, charming fiction about A Lost
Lover. The Open Letter from New York
gives us rather Indifferent gossip about New
York theatres, and the writer goes out of his
way to sneer at Mary Anderson.
The strength of the number is in the two
articles, "Mr. Stedman's Poetry" by j. j.
Piatt, and "a French Poet of the Old Regime
by w. D. Howells. The French Poet is Jean
Francois Marmontel, and the paper an ex-
quisitely phrased eulogy rather than criti-
cism. Mr.. Piatt takes his seat on the bench,
and passes judgment. This is his judgment:
''Mr. Stedman is, undoubtedly, poet,-a
poet whose most original vein is, perhaps, in
light and essentially lyrical poems, but pos
sessing occasional imaginative power, fine
fancy, some dramatic vigor, true and tender
sentiment, the quality of poetic passion with
knowledge to command and artistic skill to
treat worthily many of the higher themes of
poetry" This is neither broad nor exact
enough to be accepted as even provisional,
much less a final judgment.
On the whole the atlantic holds its own
wonderfully we'll. To many of us it may not
seem to sustain the almost ideal excellence
of its first year, but very likely we think so
because that was so long ago. If in the new
hands its succeeding numbers are as good as
the current one, its readers will be content.