New-York tribune., 1885-07-12
LITERARY BOHEMIA.
THE OLD WAYS AND THE NEW.
Coouri1hf. 1888.


t,,ro 20 Tine ot tbe long "churchwarden " pipe
he held in his right hand. 81 have survived all my
ballucipat,ons. lam a poor, frayed, worn-out
morsel on the ragged edge of your accursed gen-
ti,ity One consolation alone remains to me, that
Bohemia once existed, and that l belonged to IL.
Humpb, won't you try pipei No, of course you
prefer cigar! What will | drink Champagne
Not if know it John, give NE pint OF your very
hest ale in the pewter. . That, sir. was thc liquor
we used to drink in the old days. IL was good
eDongh for Thackcray and Jerrold, and its good
enough for me"
Old Jack (who still exists. and long may he
remain, to brighten the sunshineo was III one OF
his retrospective, not TO say grumoling, moods
His rubicund weatherbeatcn face, rougn as
pppin, shone angry under his hairo frosty silver;
his neck moved impatienty within Its oid-fasn
ioned stock his double-breasted waistcoat was han
open revealing glimpses OF somewhat questiohanlc
linen. On the table beside him lay his widcawake
hat. and By the side Of the fire stood his we'll
known gngham umbrella. He was seated in the
smoking room of the old Cheshire Cat" in Fleet
ST.. with its grime-encrusted windows. its we'll
worn mahogany tables and its boarded floor strcwn
with clean sand. Before him bazed good Old
English iire for tho month was December and the
weather without bitterly cold.
Facing him was q young man OF about thirty
with sandy hair and whskers. and pinchs-nes on
his nose. He was attred in the height offashon, III
clothes of West-End cut and irreproachable linen
He looked rather ill-at-ease in that old-fashoned
room and glanced from time to time solicitousy at
the sawdust clingng to his patent leather boots.
This was the well-known Mr.. Franklyn Phlpps,
novelist journalist, essayist and lcadcr-wrter VINO
was known to the public as a ferocious Radical
and who dated his correspondence from the Reform
Club.
"You must dine with me some day soon at the
club" SAID Mr.. Phpps selecting cigar from an
elegant case embiazoned with his initials.
"No, dear boy I'd rather not responded the old
Bohemian "Your modern clubs are too genteel
for old Jack Farringford. Even the Garrick, they
tell me, Is now gwen over to the snobs. In tho old
days we used to dine together here. or at the Pig
ard Whistle. Chops and potatoes wera good enough
for us; such chops such potatoes Then pipes
and grog to follow with plenty of frce-and-casy
talk. and now aud then song There were giants
in those days, and they didn't live on kickshavs.
"Come, Jack. be honest said Phipps when the
waiter had left them. In the days you speak of,
the old Bohemian days, the literary man was not
q gentleman"
"You mean he was not snob, sir" growled
Jack, after a long phil at the pewter quart.
Phipps-I mean nothing of the kind. mean
that he was a loafer and night-brd with many
dsreputab.e proc lyitles. To begin Win, ne never
washed.
Jack Ghumpiag the table That's libel -
Pmpps-Well, he lived chiefly on borrowed
money, and never paid his debts.
Jack.-Humph! What are you driving at,
younescr
Phpps-Why, this. old man. The literary man
of the last generation was impccunous and disrcp-
utabe for several reasons: o. because he was i'm
proydent and too fond of like this; (2l be-
cause his want of caste made him lose self-respcct;
thirdly and chiefly, because. unless he had by some
miracle achieved great reputation, he was badly
paid for his work. Just take your prime favorte
Douglas Jerrold rs an example He never earned
an absolute independence and one OF his plays
brought him in-something under ten pounds
sterling.
Jack.-And that ten-poundcr is worth all the
thousand-pounders you modern buffers nave ever
written Men worked for fame, then, sir, not
money
Phipps-L MS keep to the point. if you please
Your extinct Bohemian for | grant you he is ex-
tinct) being of convivial habits generally, knew
nothing of business. Instead Of taking his goods to
the best market. and insisting IN adequate
remuneration, he was perpetually discounting his
future, and borrowing money from the publisher
i'm the shape of advances at ruinous interest hat
was the result He coad not would not buy
decent clothes. he could not would not meet hi s
pecuniary Obligations. lie neglected all sanitary
precautions by turning night into day, and so he
became a social outlaw. Now. social outawry
means mpecuniosity for society is invariably
liberal in giving money to the individuals whose
work commands its respect. In fact. the standard
of a profession is, after all, the extent OF It's
pecuniary emoluments.
ii tItr
Lucre" Jerrold called him, punning on hisname and
abiding to his general appearancc that literature
would become merely vulgar trade as soon as
literary men ceased to be class apart, with a
freemasonry OF its own And by the Lord Harry,
what the dear old boy said was true!
Phipps-Try and follow he to the end Of my
argument
another pint of beer and another screw OF tobacco.
Phipps- If you will carefully examine the liter
ature of your sO-caled Bohemia, one pecullarity
will strike you forciblytllat, with all It's clever
ness IL was remarkably SLOPPY" great deal,
for instance, of what Reach aud the Broughs left
behind them written in sort OF ficet-st argot
only to be cOmprehended by the adept Zach little
unwashed Bohemian wrote IN fact. as II fleetst.
were the centre of the and he himself one
of the suns of the only actual solar system. Con-
seouently the literature of Bohemia is narrow with
all its pretence of brOadness, Affected and selfish
with all its good-humored swaggcr Nowadays, OH
the other hand. we literary men perceive that there
| is world beyond the little one in which we work,
and when we go into society take oil our work
| ing clothes and avoid talking Shop
Jack lhotly)-The literary man who is ashamed
of his profession is cad. sir know the precious
! animalcqle. Met one of them at dinner the
| other day; was begued into going, and found
myself among nobs and snobs. Little brown, who
wrote the Adventures of Younger son " and
composed those fiery poems about Italy was there:
| | was ass enough to congratulate him. 80 yaas."
he drawed, fixing his eyeglass" do little of that
| a Suffolk man. Mr.. Farringfordl was down there
| last year. staying with Lord Mangold- Wurzcl.
DoOsid good shooting. assure your
Phpps QaughingD-Br0wn is a snob. grant you.
Still society honors literature. in him. Turn
now TO the modern newspaper man. and see how he
| has emerged into allnence and influence. modern
editor, instead Of writing his copy in debtors