New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-10-04
LITERARY NOTES.


n year. J. X. Usgood Il Co. WIZ puoiisn 'n' '''''
In book form next Saturday.
Harry James, IT, has the quiet manners and the
nortcular sort of beard WHICH are supposed 10
distinguish tho Enghshman. portrait Oh
the novelist. accompanied by biographical sketch
nv Mr. Howels will appear in the next number OF
The Century The magazine will also contain an
enthusiastic paper onVenice by Mr.. James.
sTbe collected Works of James Abram Gar
6e,av in two volumes will be published IN few
months by ]. r. Osgood & Co. These volumes VIII
contain all GarGeds speeches and short addresses
with an article on the Census contributed 10 pop
Mar cyclopndia and his arguments made III the
Electoral Commission and before the Supreme
Court
The fourth part of the Winthrop papers, compiis-
ing letters from Governor Winthrops sons anu
qrandsons, with other documents covering uo
period IRON 1922 to 100, has Just been puonsheu
bv the Massachusetts Historical Society 1t is the
4sth volume Of the Socety's collections Nearly
all the letters appearing therein from John VIM
tbrop. the Governors eldest son, are now printed
for the first time The volume contains heiiotype
portrait of the younger John Winthrop.
Lopoman's Mqoasipe, the new serial publication
which Is to make its first appearance November l.
will contain articles by Mr.. Froude, Mr.. towels,
Professor 1yndal Mr.. Lang Mr.. Freeman, Mrs.
Oliphant aud other distinguished writer's. Mr..
James Pawn will contribute a novel entitled
"Thicker than Water" The magazine, which Is
to be published simultaneously mere and in London,
will consist of from 100 to 1913 pages, printed ID
deny Svo, and sold for % cents. The editor
announces that tho contents of the magazine may
be summed up in the lines
Ouicuuid agunt homines votuIn, tmor, Ta'
vOluptas, 49, =.
Gambia, discursus, nostri est farrago libelli.
There is not a little good sense in the opinions of
The Boston Courier in regard to the modern profuson
of frivolous books for children. 1t declares that
children are very apt to acquire the habit oil look
ING upon books exactly they regard their toys as
ero playthings designed to minister to their amuse-
ment and this end being accomplished, TO be thrown
aside. This way of looking at literature has al
ready too strong a hold upon American children
influencing not only their treatment of books, but
their selection of them. 1t is not wholly absurd to
suppose that in part at least the tendency ID our
young people to read only fiction, which is so often
deplored arises from the habit fostered In the
nursery of looking upon books as designed simply
for amusement. At least that fine old reverence
for books. that pleasure IN their company not I'M
like that experienced III the companonship OF high
bred friends all the old flavor OF book worship Is
departing utterly from among u.s."
correspondent of The Boston Transcript declares
that MIR. James Russell Lowell made no his
mind to play Joke upon The atlantic. and to that
end wrote all article called the Essence of Ameri-
can Humor." which was said by the friends to
whom he read it to he among the best of his writ
ings /" He employed some TO copy it, says
the correspondents " and sgned it w. Perry Paine
and sent 1t to The atlantic with the request that, as
il was hi alden effort, the editor would give an
opinion III writing to said Pane. He waited a fort
night but heard nothing from his paper, when
beiug in Boston, he dropped into the Office OF The
Atlantc and. meeting James L. Fields, adroitly
turned the conversation upon humor and remarked
1t was singular so little was written upon the sub
iect Fields replied We get great deal of manu-
script on humor but it poor that we cannot use
it, / threw INTO the waste basket the other day
long screed christened the Essence of American
Humor" which should have been styled the
Essence of Nonsense" for more absurd farrago
of stuff | have never SEEM Lowell, much to the
surprise of the editor, burst into roar OF laughter
and informed Mr. Fields of the authorship of the
article The editor turned all coloTs and swore it
was one of Lowes Jokes. Indeed il Isl responded
Lowell and the best joke ever played. never
thought highly of my scTibbling but by, Jove! l
didn't believe it was the most ridiculous farago OF
stuff you had ever SEEM BY way of self-defence,
Fields declared he did not read the thing, but that
lie did not believe that man who signed his first
name with tho initial and the second full could
write for The atlantic. That was about as ingen-
ious an excuse as he could make for his partality"
The term "chauvinism," of late frequently met
with in newspapers discussing French affairs, is of
comparatively recent origin. AS most readers are
aware it expresses that thirst toI military glory
with which the average Frenchman is credited by
his less warlike ncighbors 1t seems to have been
used in this sense for the first time by Bayard and
Dumanoir in of their plays called Les Aides-de-
camp" which was brought out at the Gymnase on
April l. 1S42. In it the wife of a general, though
herself the daughter of BANKER, displays a great
liking for the military" in the person of of
her husbands aide-de-camp. The general saysto her
In the second "VOus Ates sortie de la finance
mas depuis votre marriage vous etes entree dahs
le chauvinismc CONNIE lis dissent The latter part
OF the sentence shows that it must have been at
that time term of common parlance, though it is
not to he found in the edition of Molin's Die |
tionnalre" which appeared in 1872 While many |
have contended that the word is derived from the
name of soldier in wha. said to be Of
Scrbe's plays IL has recently been pointed out by
writer in the Augsburg AilGemeRe ZeituRg that the
comedy in which soldier named Chauvin figures
was the work of two brothers, Theodore and
hyppoyte Coeniard The name of the piece is d" La
Cocarde Theodore" and it given for the first time
at the Fuliss Dramatques March 10, 1881.
The plot is laid in Africa aud treats the conquest
of Algiers. The name ChauyIn is borne by young
recruit who talks great deal, displays consider
able courage and is made to sing couplets with the
refrain:
j. suis Francois. j suis Chauvin,
j. tape sur 10 Bedoun!
In its day this comedy great success and il is
not improbable that the origin of the word
" chauvinisme" lay in tho above couplet. The
authors. however, are not the inventors of the
This at least is said by writer in the Paris
Figaro, whose contributions over the signature
"Vieux Parisien well known for the knowl-
edge they display of the Paris of that day. He
In,