The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1891-03-22
Literary Notes.

The new biography of Thackcrav contains q
! paragraph written by ms friend Syuge a
! paragraph which viii deeply appeal To the
| hearts of those 10 whom the great Writcrs
memory is dear. His friend says: just be-
/ fore / sailed for the Sandwich Islands, and
when / was staying i'm Thackeray's house in
| Palace Green, my host and ! one day met IN
| the library. He said: i want 10 tell You
| that | shall never see yOu again. /
feel that am doomed. 1 know that
TINS. will grieve you; but look IN that
book. and you viii ind something
that am sure will please ard comfort you /
took from its shelf the book he pointed ont;
out OF II fell piece of paper on which Ihack-
cray had written a prayer, all of which ! do
not pretend 10 remember. ] only know that
he prayed that he might never write word
inconsistent with the love Of God or the love
of man: that he might never propagate his
own prejudces or pander TO those Of others;
that he might always speak the truth with his
pen, and that he might never be actuated by
a love Of greed. | particularly remember that
the prayer wound up with the words: For
the sake Of Jesus Christ our Lord
The extracts from the Talleyrand Memoirs
thus far printed IN The Century" emphasize
strkingly the many petty traits in Napoleon's
character. even while they reveal his undeni-
able greatness. But what may be said Of Tai
leyrands scf-revclatlOn thereinI There are
glmpses here and there that irresisubly re-
mind one Of Barry Lyndon" The Far
West papers Of The Century promise 10 be
among the most interesting American histori-
cal collections of the tlmo. Editors are every
day more keenly realizing that our. own
country j. for Americans decidedly
worth writing about. ana that the
actors in the startling transformation scenes
in American history are the men 10 write
about them Colonel Carter is charming the
delightful mixture of polished gentleman and
supplemented big baby 10 be found only IN
certain sunny regions of the United States
but why don't we have more of him. These
little glimpses are tantilzing. They are a
series of good stories and clever Suhouettes
strung on a thin thread OF narrative-storics
50 good and sIlhOuetteS so clever that one Is
10th 70 count the few pages they occupy The
volume III which these sketches Will finally
appear Will be notable addition 10 the studies
of the AmcTlcan-"ne birth of our new soil"
There is a characteristic glimpse of the
American of an old type IN Mr.. Pages short
paper on Robert +. Lee. Who would have
looked for "A Puritan among the Cavalier Lees?
Yet there he sat on a Sunday morning III Rich
mOnd when one came T. him on matter of
business The good man was courteous yet
terse 1T is my rule" said he, never TO
transact matters Of business on the Lords
day except in cases of necessity or mercy"
II must be said that the Ms. story left by
the late author IF The SparrOwgTass Pa
might reasonably have been kept in MS. II
is commonplace story OF the type prevalent
in the sos: a type cyolyedirom reading rather
than from study OF actual life and character.
MIR. C0zzens was WISE in forbearng 10 PRINT
it, II is not even curiosity.
Walt Whitman. in his somewhat incoherent
paper in The North American Review, observes
that the greatest feature in current poetry
"Gn literature. anyhow" is the almost total
lack Of frst-class power. and simple. natural
health. fiourishing and produced at first hand.
own era" may mean several things. Does it.,
for example. mean that n work Of noble ge-
MUS which might happen % "typliyn another
era would be secOnd-rate and ariificialy A
piece of high inspiration IN which human ma
iure breathes and burns is surely for all time.
is as much a man Of our day as
of his own. If Mr.. Whitman means that the |
supply of great poets lis short" he is at lib |
,rty 10 say w: Wen not quarrel with him.