The San Francisco call., 1897-08-29


finished his structures by remarking: "But,
after all, l have no right to talk about Mr..
| Moore, for l have not read anything he has
written, not even his .La.la Rookh'r' George
Moore, writes The Bookman, IN his article on
| Stevenson incidentally makes the admission
| that he cannot say anything about Montaigne
because he has never read him and Edmund
Gosse, after writing at some length on the Pol
| ish novelist. SienkiewicZ, winds I'D by admit
| ting that he has not yet read Quo Vadis."
Colonel Noble D. Preston of Philadelphia
| has just completed q emarkab BILE book. Ex-
cept or some photographs and one or two
| Autographs the entire book is the work OF
the authors pen. 1t took Colonel Preston
most OF his leisure time of eight years to COM
! plete 1t. 1t is all pen-work, done with very
! fne-pointed pen. Each letter is separate.
| At the heads OF the chapters are bits OF SCROLL
work, done in inks of various co.ors. Under
| the heading of Preface" which IS in itself
| an exquisite bit of penmanship the author
! says: II made this novel volume with pen and
| ink Tor my children, 'by special request 1t
! possesses no literary merit and little OF any
other. The edition is limited to one volume
| and is not copyrighted" The main body OF
the volume is taken up by "reminiscences and
incidents of the authors career as a member of
the Tenth New York Cavalry.
| The supporters of that well-worn fad, an in
| ternational language. have determined to
make last and desperate attempt to persuade
| an unsympathetic world to listen to the
claims of Volapuk. Mr.. Samenhof, the Rus
| sian linguist, who started an improved form
of Volapuk in a language OF his own inven-
tion, called Esperanto, has hit upon happy
| plan of a congress of lntelects to settle the
! question. Circular letters are being sent from
! the headquarters of the Volapuk committee
| to all the principal newspapers in the world
asking for an opinion from the vast army of
many tongued readers in the form of an essay
on the question of an international language.
All these essays are to be carefully considered
and finally, without exception, printed and
published in book FORM But this is not the
end of this novel convention by post. Every
one who has written on the subject will be
asked to vote on the principal solutions for
| the creation of an international language.
And after that? Those who need further in
| formation had better apply TO Mr.. Samenhoff,
Grodno Russia.
In the March Pail Mall A. T. Quiler-Couch
| offered a prize OF one guinea to that reader of
| his department From q Cornish Window"
| who should divine the name of the man or
woman "wEo is Tor has been during the past
ten years. master Tor mistress) of the best
style in English prose-" 1t was in reality a
| guessing contest, for Mr.. Quiller-Couch had
made his choice, and his guinea was to be
awarded to the person or persons who agreed
with him. The result of the voting was: Wal
ter Pater 81, Thomas Hardy 13, Robert Louis
| Stevenson -, John Ruskin IL, Andrew Lang
8, James Anthony Froude aud Mr.. Barrie z
| each George Meredith and Rudyard Kipling
| (amaZing coincidence) each; Henry James
and-this is lovely !-Matthew Arnold and
Marie Coreln each, likewise Sir Walter
Besant and DR.. Doyle. Among those who re-
| ceived only two votes each were: Huxley,
Bierell, Caine; and among those receiving
| only one: Mrs. Humphry Ward, Olive
schreiner Cardinal Newman, DR.. Jowett,
James Russell Lowell, DR.. Holmes, P. G..
Hammerton. John Addington Symonds, Will
liam Morris, Leslie Stephen, Mr.. Zangwill,
Mr.. Gladstone and Mr. Baltour. Mr.. CUTLER
Couch's choice was Andrew Lang, SO the
guinea was divided among nine admirers
| two and fourpence per admirer.
| 1t has been bruited abroadthat MIR. Thomas
Hardy has talked of returning to the pastoral
| and idyllic manner of his earlier novels.
Whether on his behalf or not, but Ger tainly
| with a tone OF assurance, the English journals
! speak OF this as ''some con cession to that Sec
| tion OF the pubic which is opposed to the
| treatment OF sex problems in felton," If this
means that Mr.. Hardy fears to continue in the
|
! deed, but it is to be hoped that the rumor is
no more than the famili ar thing-i. e., thing
as ba seless as it is impertinent. Why should
Mr.. Hardy turn his back upon the secret of
making masterpieces2 Let him be as pastoral
as he likes, of course, and let him turn twenty
| times to the manner of his earlier books. If
he wants 10 give us another "Far From
the Maddipg Crowd" the world will re-
joice But if he tells us at the same time
IL
| that he wishes TO please himself, if he con-
! fesses that he is afraid to write another
Jude" then he will go down 10 pos;erity as a
moral weakling and one unworthy OF his
! noblest gifts. Mr.. Hardy has done things as
beautiful as Jude" or "Tess," but nothing
nobler or more inspiring. They mark his
highest level, give him the rank CT a great
tragic poet, and it is difficult to imagine any
| thing ore unedifyiDg than that the novelist
should abandon this high plane of his at the
behest of any portion of the reading public.
Let him follow Lambs example, if it comes to
the worst Let him bid the public go hang
while he writes for posterity. But, after all,
| it may be that there is no occasion for alarm.
Mr. Hardy may have uttered no such senti-
ments as are attributed to him. At any rate,
we will belieye that he is his own master un-
til he himself announces that he is ruled by
the public.
Very little is heard nowadays of John Rus
| kin, but the venerable sage is still living in
| retirement at Bran twood, while the years
| pass on and art increases without his heed.
| He is dreaming away the last days of MS life
peacefully, planning always for more work to
| be done "to-morrow." His twilight time is
| pas sed by q wide window looking out from his
! library across the English landscape, SO beau
| tiful always in his sight lie receives no visit
ors excepting a few old friends, aud these
| come but rarely. His hair and long beard are
!, white but his features scarcely show his great
| age while his eyes are as keen and brilliant
as when they gazed upon the beauties OF Italy
| or the fresh canvases of Turner. The public
has known but little OF Ruskin's private life,
and there has always prevailed an idea that it
was filled with sorrow, from the fact that he
was divorced from his wife because OF her hav-
ing fallen in love with Sir John Millais his
friend. The story is really sad one. and yet
it was not taken to heart by Ruskin. 1t should
| be remembered that the young Mrs Ruskin
was not his first love, the object OF the ardent
sion of his youth having married another.
That was when the heartbreak came. Years
after his divorce Ruskin met another woma an
| whom he loved and to whom he was engaged
or several years. but the engagement was
b,otan because Of Ruskin's unor hodoy reli-