Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1896-05-29
OF LOCAL INTEREST.
LITERARY NOTES.

Paragraphs OF Local Interest from the
June Number ''The Bookman" CNew
York;.
What on earth possessed Rudyard Kip
ling to write and actually to allow to be
published the bicycle poem that appears
over his name in recent issue of Sun
day newspaper? 1t was vulgar. 1t was
dreary. 1t was dull. The intensity of
our admiration for Mr.. Kiplings other
works is the measure of our disgust for
such prostitution of his name. Doubt
less he received for this poor drivel
large sum of money; but if he puts forth
many more such bits of doggerel the mar
ket value of his writing will sink to that of
any constituencies literary hack. Mr..
Kipling should take the advice that we
gave him a year ago, and return to India
and drink once more at the source of his
original inspiration. 1t is positively apall-
ing to think of this brilliant genius de-
scending to such cheap fun as canbe de-
rived from incongruous wallowings in
Pennsylvania Dutch.
"Shrewd Remarks"
Mr.. Kipling will spend the summer in
England, and if he finds the weather en-
durable will probably winter there also.
During a recent visit to New York he
made some shrewd remarks about the
comparative points of view of the English
man, the Frenchman and the American.
'The Englishman," says Mr.. Kipling,
twill die for liberty, but he doesn't care
straw for equality. The Frenchman, en-
the other hand, doesn't really know what
liberty means, but he must have equality.
AS for the American he is Indifferent to
both liberty and equality, and goes heart
and soul for fraternity. This is really the
bane of the American nation; so long as a
man is "a good fellow he can do anything
and people will approve, or, at least will
tolerate it," There is really a considerable
amount of profound truth in these few
sentences.
Miss Vilkins's "MadeIOn."
We have a deep and sincere admiration
for Miss Mary f. Wilkins's work, and
were among the first to recognize its dis
tinctive merit elsewhere, when "a humble
romance and other stories" was published
several years ago Indeed, long before the
stories had been gathered into book form
the writer had come upon "a humble ro-
nance" in a Scottish weekly where it
had been copied, doubtless, from the
American periodical in which it originally
appeared-and although the author was
then unknown, the remarkable power of
the story was sufficient to mark one sum-
mer Saturday afternoon indelible in life
and to relegate the precious clipping to a
scrap-book. Then came Pembroke"
which, if we mistake not, Mr.. Hamilton w.
Mabie was the first to pronounce "the
greatest piece of fiction in America since
The scarlet letter." 1.-THE long arm" we
viewed mainly as an experiment and a sort
of by-play to the authors legitimate art;
but our disappointment is keen after read
ing Miss Wilkins's new book. 1t is a
thousand pities that after such work as
pembroke" so inferior a production as
'Madelon" should have been published:
and it has been with mature deliberatiCn
and clear discrimination that the review
which appears On another page has been
written. But we shall not yet lose faith
in Miss wilkins, and we wish her speedy
recovery from her recent illness and fresh
conquest in the field which is still her own