The Evening dispatch. [volume] (Provo, City, Utah) 1891-1895, 1894-11-21
ANTICIPATING FAME,
eEsANT's PATHETIC sToeY OF "PAuL
THE WANDERER."

Fhe Quiet Dignity of Man Who Was L,v-
ing For Posterity--A Pretty Little Skit
writtcn In the English Novelist's mimi
table Style.
knew him for several years before
his death. When first made his ao
quaintance, ha was already an old man
He was also, as was evident from tho
frst, a very poor man. He went about
shabbily dressed. He carried biscuits
in his pocket to the reading room on
which he lunched or took snacks at in
tervals during the day. Perhaps he had
dinner afterward, but always suspect
ed his dinner to be an uncertain and a
movable feast 1t was understood that
he was something in the literary way.
[ got to know him by sitting next to
him day after day. We exchanged the
amenities Of the reading room, apollo
gized for crowding each other with
books, abused the takers, remarked on
the impudence of those y7ho go to the
room in order to -firt and so forth.
When got to know him better. l
made little discoveries about him, as.
for instance, that be liked glass OF
beer in the middle of the day and that
he could not afford the twopence. Imay
say, not boastfully, that | was able to
offer him this little luxury. We used
to go out together for the purpose. He
was good enough to take an interest in
my work. He proved to have a consider
able knowledge Of books and gave me
considerable help in this way.
One Sunday met him III the stree6.
We stopped TO speak, He lamented the
closing of the museum on Sunday. For
his own part, he said, he would have
the reading room open every day in the
week Why close the avenues of knowl-
edge? Why damn the fountains and
springs of wisdom? So we walked and
talked He was perfectly dignitied IN
his manner, though his great coat was
so thin and shabby that enc might be
ashamed TO be seen with him. He stop
ped presently at the door of house i'll
high street, Holborn.
81 lodge here he said ''Will you
come up stairs aud see my hermitage"
remember that he called it grandly
/ his hermitage He led the way; the
stairs were dark and dirty; he took me
to the fifth, or fifty fifth, floor. He liv-
e. in the back attic.
This" he said, is the cell of the
ger. use. live here quite retired. There
are other dodgers, l believe, but l do
not know them. l live here with my
library in simplicity. The air iswhoie-
some at this height. -
He threw open the window and sniff
ed the fragrance of the neighboring
chimneys. The room was clean; the
furniture was scanty; there was no fire
in the CRATE; on shelf were about 20
books-his library. The man looked per-
fectly contented with his hermitage
There were no papers on the table,
nothing to show that he was writer.
l do not know how he lived-certain-
" he did no work at the museum-but
he never borrowed. In one corner stood
wooden chest. He lifted the lid and
nodded and laughed.
"AhaI', he said, ''now am going to
reveal a secret. You didn't know, no
body at the museum knows, the people
in the house don't know, that l am
what 90 you think?-a poet. It is 80
years since l paid for the publication
of my collected poetical works. Yes,
sir, and l am going not only to commu-
nicate this secret to your honor-in safe
keeping-but to present you with a
copy There, my young friendl" He pro-
duced thin volume. 81 am Paul the
Wanderer In fact, the title page bore
the legend, COLLECTED Political Work
If Paul the Wanderer. .
Thirty years, - he repeated. '"Therf
we're 500 copies. The press received so,
the public bought four; there remained
446. 1 have now given you one. There
now remain AS. 1 have bequeathed
these to the public libraries of the ma.
ton. Sir, you are young. You will
yourself perhaps publish your poems.
Remember for your comfort that il
takes so years, or two generations,
for the noblest poets to take their
proper place Greatness-true, stable,
solid greatness, not the empty applause
given to an ephemeral favorite-re
quires so years at least. Go, sirl Take
the book l have given you, and in after
years. when 1 am gone, tell the world
that you knew-Paul the WandererP
1 wrung his hand IL silence and left
him. More than so years have passed
since he published that work. No one
has yet spoken to me of Paul the Wan
derer But now understood his digni
ty, his self respect aud his content Ht
was anticipating and enjoying his fu
ture fame He was living for posterity
Present poverty and neglect were moth
;ug. Walter Resant in London Queen
aRA5ShUPPERs DESTROYING CROPS
Swarms In Western New York RavaginI
the Potato, Cat and Corn Fields.
GraccboTono,,c GRO 7,r0vinp a crreat nos