The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-10-31
CoCKRAN'S bow TO HOPE.
A TRIBUTE, FULL OF GRACE. G1rEy
ar THE LorOA CLUB DINNER.

Vvr,tsr the Oni, Ssan who Can Sctir,s
areat Success without Nnrrn'nS Others.
Al the Lotos Club dinner TO Antony Hope
the novelist, on SATURDAY. night oct. ~, i,s
Hon. William Bourke Cochran made Il speech
that will long be remembered by tliose whn
llstened to II. II was a typical Lotos Club after.
dinner speech. OF the kind that Is heard with
close attention and applAuded with enthusiasm.
MIR. Cochran said:
MIR. PRESIDENT y G~ESTLEMES or Inn
Ioros CLUB: Thcro have been many features
Of this banquet which will survive In tho mono.
rios OF every person present, but pe-bSps tie
meet remarkable has been Mr.. Depew's ref.
orenos TO the things that might DO observed and
overheard on tho platform OF tho Saratoga
Hdtei. tLaughter.1 DIR. Savage may have scnn
and heard things that would Inspire a sermon,
hut I Inay say, from my own observation, that
Mr.. Depcw's experiences In Saratoga would
md no place in q sermon in n Christian church.
iLauHhter.l
II an very glad, indeed 1 am profoundly
grateful TO tho L,atos Club for this opportunity
TO participate In It's welcome to the distinguished
guest of the evening. Among the many obll.
cations which / owe 10 the late Charles A. Dana
1 count among the chiofest hia introduction Of
Mr.. Anthony Hope to me through the medium
Of q copy OF The Prisoner of Zenda.' 1t was
hO hAdN INV ~ WI IVY Noh Apt sb'A
that act opened to me q field Of pure delight
which I have shared with tho whole English
speaking race. And because we have all 90
oup!ed that field together and rcjoiced In 1t, I
am glad. Mr.. Chairman, that you have not as.
signed to any Of us any particular toasts this
evening, for whatever oratorical purpose we
might have formed In rising to our feet, I am
sure that ono toast would have dominated all
others, that the inevitable tendency and the
ultimate destiny Of our thoughts would be to
wish continued and wider success in the field Of
Anthony Hope. lApplause.l And in EXPRESS
Ing this wish we are not merely hospitable to
our guest; we are selfish and careful of our
selves. We are wishing a wider sphere Of in-
teilcctual enjoyment to each one of US. Zap
plause.l We are doing more. We arc Wishing
a distinct advance to English l.erature; for,
In my Judgment. there is no living writer whose
works can be compared with those of Mr..
Hope. Standing as he does in tho forefront OF
literary excellence, to wish him wider success
is TO wish that the standard Of literary perfec-
ton BIO lifted higher and advanced TO nobleR
Aims IApplausc,l
Il believe 1t is no disparagement OF living
writer's to say that, since the hand of Charles
Dickens fell helpless by his side. no one has
welded a pen of equal power, no one has
drawn characters SO forceful. SO remarkable.
and yet SO natural. [Applause.l No one has
breathed into pages of equal pathos as lofty o
spirit or virtue and of honor. [Applause.1 I
believe that Mr.. Hope occupies Low In the
literature OF this period the place which Charles
Dickens occupied in the literature Of another
generation. [Applause.l But the resemblance
Of Dickens to Hope is u resemblance Of popu.
larity, and not OF the style or quality Of their
works. tApplause.l
Anthony Hope has made for himself a niche
in the temple of fame. He occupies 1t alone;
he shares 1t with nobody. Many con trasts can
be made between the style of his work and that
OF Dickens. Dtckens's plots were always
simple; his sentiment was sometimes exae.
geratea. Hopes sentiment Is always natural,
simple and true. while his plots are sometimes
fantastic and perhaps extravagant. But he
differs from Dickens and Thackcray above all
in thistle modesty of the man, which we have
admired here tonight. and which is displayed
in his literature by completely effacing the au.
thor. Dickens was delightful TO meet, buu
Dickens often paused in his stories for a digres-
sion which gave us the impression that he was
trying to show us how well he could write.
lApplause.l Thackeray, too. gave us tho inn
preston, none the less, that he paused 20 talk
with us because he liked us. [Applause.l Hopes
work, every single sentence OF II, contributes
to the progress of the century, and never once
Is the personality of the writer intruded upon
the attention of the reader. [Great applause.l
1T is no dispnragement of these great au-
thors to compare them with this their worthy
successor. 1t Is not necessary to belittle them
our guest. is entitled. iApppiaHse.j Dichen:;
and Thackeray each occupies "a field and domi-
mates It 70 the exclusion u ali rivals. Both
We're gentlemen whose works will remain to
the end OF time monuments in the field OF liter
ature. lApplause.l Anthony Hope. with a
q charm which is peculiarly his own. His aro
Is carried to q point that neither of them
and Judgment to his genius as, by every simiii-
tude OF detail, he induced us to recognize the
inhabitants OF this terrestrial globe. Was NOT
moro triumphant than Anthony Hope in plac-
ing a fifteenth century romance at tho close Of
Of Phroso liberated from the dangers tina that ss sur.
island; the adventures Of Count Antonio, Who
managed to triumph Mt last over every form
love and war, the favor of his prince. are ex.
am agst IF Il b his n Gsn a;nno ll Il PRn rsSa;Do,,,ao
Mr.. Hope cScels. He performs a nobler and
6ss ,v ssrv ce1t r l9r Ill, iiter sdrr ~ writer that
world has ever handled a purer pen. No man
has ever treated love with more delicacy or
literary works o. Ht that f wc rrosn Wiz shiiRRp saeses, T aps
the tests of our own morals and our own tastes.
for praise proves the quality Of our own judg.
ment and The standard or our own civilization.
y man Coulu Tcau any OF the works which 0uP
guest has contributed 10 the civilization of tho
world without feeling that here was an author
who could be witty without being gross. who
could bring to the service of virtue a genius
which too often Is prostituted to the service OF
vice. lApplause;l have often wondered why
1t is that virtue is left to the defence OF III, serf.
GUS, the sober, and even OF the dull; why vice
seems able to assume in its own behalf the sub
tie, dangerous, and effective weapon OF wit. In
the guest that we have welcomed tonight We
1nd an author that can keep our interest awake
of grOssness. lApplause.l
w hat could DO more artistic than that story
OF tho long siege OF the heart OF the Princess
Osrai such dramatic scenes and humor, Love
at last triuInphinY, over every obstacle of rank
and, condition, lApplausc.l Who has ever
read y more splendid story than the rescue a
the Princess hy that militant Bishop, who han.
died the sword, rs efectually as any Episcopal
gentleman could handle the CroZlcr} liz Wa
assailed by the temptation common to ali our
mesh; yet mat story is free from al suggestion
And so, Mr.. Chairman, as we read these
Works, these contributions TO the literature Of
selves me question, What place in The %civiilza.