New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-08-28
LITERARY NOTES.

In a letter to 1.-The Academy" Mr. A. W. Upcher
gives some slight but characteristic "reminiscences
Of George Borrow zone summer day during the
Crimean war" he says, we hao can ii
George Borrow who had not enjoyed Nisl' u
Anna Quincy so much as he had expected III d
walking tour round Norfolk he had given her
short notice of his intended call, and she was
re.av N receive him. When according to his ac-
count he had been but very short time In hep
presence, she wheeled her chair round ana reacheu
her hand TO one of her bookshevcs and took GOWN
an Arabic grammar. and put it into his hand' ASK
ing for an explanation Of some difficult point
which he tried TO decipher but meanwhile she talked
IN him continuously; when said he, i coud not
study the Arabic grammar and listen 10 her at inc
same time. so | threw down the book ana ran ou'
of the ROOM He seems not TO have stopped run
ming till he reached Old fuckers Inn at Cromer'
where he renewed his strength. or Gained MS tenn
per- with five excellent sausages, ana theh came VII
10 Sherngham He told there were three per-
sonages in the world whom he had always ueSie
10 see two Of these had slipped through his iheers
so he was determined to see the third Pray MI
Borrow who were they?' He held up three fingers
OF his left hand and pointed them OF win 'ie
forefnger of the right the first. Daniel oCohhei''
the second, I.amplghter Uhe sire Of Phosphorus
Lord Berner winner OF the Derby; the u"iiN
Anna Quincy. The first two were dead anu He
had not seen them; now he had come to see Anna
Quincy and this was the end Of his visit TOOK
occasionally doubling his fist, and giving sort
Of warning like that OF his Isope Berners IN
'Lavengro) to give the flaming Tinman Long Nei.
ford with his left hand. AS soon as we reacheu
the Hall a battle piece by Wouvermans was ,he
first thing that caught his eye and greatly In
terested him. He told me of descendant OF Nou-
vermans-an officer in the Austrian army-whom
he knew Then entering the drawng-roon anu
looking out Of the bay window through the oak
wood the deep blue sea beyond ne seemed Ior
some time quite entranced by tie lovely peace
full view till at last felt must arouse him. ana
said: A charming view. Mr. Borrow" With
deep sigh, he slowly answered. Yes!-Please Goa
the Russians don't come here.
II Is said that Henrik Ibsen is faddy almost to
the point Of old-maidism," and cannot endure dis-
order One of his fads is to be very secretive In
his work no one ever knowing what he is doing
until the last sheet of his MS. is in the printers
hands He is apparently not without behef IN a
mascot" A recent visitor says; by the sue OF
the inkpot on the table which so many re-
markable books have been written, there stood a
little tray and on the tray one of those small
carved wooden bears common in Switzerland
Beside 1t was a little black devil for holding
match and two or three little cats and rabbits in
copper. one of the former of which was playing
o VIOLIN
"'What are these funny little things? we queried
az never write a single line of any Of my dramas
without having that tray and its occupants before
me on the table | could not write without them.
It may seem strange-perhaps ii is; but | cannot
write without them he repeated but why / use
them is my own secret and he laughed quietly
Are these little toys. with their strange fascina-
ton, the origin of those much discussed dolls in
The Master Builder? Who can tell. They are
dbsens secret.
Mr. Charles w. Johnson, the secretary of the late
Republican National Convention at Minneapolis.
was directed by that body Ito prepare and have
nblished the proceedings of the first three Republic
can conventions. viz, of the years 1856, at Phia-
uelphia 1860 at Chicago. and 1864, at Baltimore
In complying with this order Mr.. Johnson has in
cluded the proceedings of the antecedent National
Convention held at Pittsburg in the February OF
1856 as reported by Horace Greeley, who was one
of its prominent deputies. This volume. which is
Issued by Mr. Johnson, at Minneapolis, is a his
torcal record of inestimable value. The chronicle
of these great Republican Conventions is more than
a history of the Republican party in its first years.
though it is that 1t is a history of an epoch in
the Nations life only second in importance TO the
epoch of it's birth Nowhere else except in the files
of the great dailies which not accessible to
the public, can there be found a full verbatim re-
port of these mOmentous conventions, a fact which
gives this volume a unique historical value. And
Mr. Johnson deserves the thanks Of the country
for compiling it. A copy of 1t ought to be placed
In every library of the country To read some of
the stirring speeches of the old Republican war
horses delivered in these conventions, cannot fail
TO stir the blood of even the most sluggish patriot
IN these latter days Of peace. Boys who desire to
learn something of that heroic era in the history
of the country could not do better than read the
report of these conventions.
M