The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-11-06

novel. The scene Is laid in the United
States, and the title of the book is George
Markham: A Romance of the West"
A little album which Alfred Tennyson pre-
sented to a undergraduate when at
Cambridge was sold in London the other
day for $780, This price was, perhaps. not
excessive, for the little book contained the
original manuscript of ''St. Agnes's Eve"
as well as two other poems in the poets own
handwriting.
Gloria Mundi,'' the forthcoming novel by
Mr.. Harold Frederic, whose death was re-
corded recently, is a romance of English
life, dealing with the social development of
the present day and bringing into action
the principles of heredity and the influence
of descent. An influential English duke is
one OF the chief characters Mr. Frederic
mad for many years past made q hobby Of
the study Of the genealogy of great families.
Who would have thought, says the New
York Times, that the actual business of
that most delightful writer, Kenneth Gra-
Eame (author of that charming book 1.-The
Golden Age''). is to run up long columns of
hard figures and to strike balances? Mr..
Grahame is closely associated with that
wonderful dame the CD Lady of Thread
needle street, London. Do children run riot
and play hide-and-seek around the vaults
OF the bank of England? The former sec
rotary of the great financial center of the
world, having retired after more than forty
five years of service, Mr.. Kenneth Grahame
The literary editor of the Chicago Post
very sensibly objects to the fashion certain
writer's have of using 'foreword" when
what they mean is preface" or introduce
ton" He says: This is undoubtedly a
word of highly respectable lineage for which
something may be said on the score of it's
nativity, but the public, English and Amer
lean, has become so thoroughly accustomed
to the foreign article that 'foreWord' really
does it violence and causes nausea. The
man who says foreword' is as guilty of
verbal aHectation as the man who should
pretend to express his troubled feelings by
shouting, .Egad. sir! or 'Beshrew mel"
A recent English biographer of Dante has
collected divers anecdotes going to show
that the poet shared human weaknesses with
his brother men. He has his littlenesses
and infirmities of temper like the rest. Not
only could he go down into the internal
regions and come back when he pleased, but
he could personally beabor and anathema-
tie his stupid contemporaries when they Of
Tended. OF one intolerable bore he asked
What is the greatest beast in the wOrdY
To which the intruder replied that, accord
ing to Pifny: he thought it should be the
elephant Very well, rejOined Dante; o
Elephant, do not bother me- and with that
he departed"
Sabatiers Life of Saint Francis of AS
sisi has passed to its twentieth edition in
France. Canon Raunsley, in recent paper
on Assist, says of the biographer of St.
Francis that ''to read Sabatier is a pleas
ure; to speak with him is greater. The
finely chiseled face beneath his dark brows
lights up, the pensiVe brown eyes flash
fire, he pushes back the heavy crop of hair
from his brow with sort OF lmpetuos1ty
of excitement as he talks of the great re-
former-the noblest Christian of his time;
but it is not till one takes a walk with him
in his dear Assisi-the city of which he has
so lately been made a freeman by the COM
mon consent of the Podesta and Town
oil hot nTRn dor t1r II hnxuv a
real living companion Of his life st. Francis
is, or how at this day the Poverello is an
abiding presence in the place"
The poems of childhood of James Whit
comb Riley have at last found an illustrator
who can adequately interpret that accurate
insight into the spirit and point of view of
children which has made them so dear to
all of us. In Child Rhmyes," the new book
of Mr.. Riley's poems just published Mr..
Vawter has sent host of loVable children
scampering through the pages. AT one place
they are looking serious over thoughts of
the "gobble-unS." At another they are go
ing gaily out the road to "Old Aunt
Mary's." and everywhere they are real chill
and has been. Inc book is one of the most
beautiful of the holiday books of the year
and promises to be one of the most popular,
two large editions having been sold before
the day of publication. Mr.. Riley dedcates
it, ITO the children everywhere"
A London correspondent of the New York
Tribune makes this shrewd observation: ut
is one of the affectations of the day to
speak with bated breath and whispering
humbleness of the small but cultured public
for which books and magazines were once
published, and to lament the overcrowded
mob audience which now clamors for vulgar
sensationaliSm and has no adequate stand
ards of literary quality. The sincerity of
those who talk in this strain is an open
question. Neither literature nor dramatic
art would gain by the substitution of a
small audience for a large one. The dra-
matte taste of the pit and the gallery is bet
ter than that of the stalls in a London
theater where dilettanteism and cynicism
reign. 1t is the power Of writing books or
stories for q large public that puts the
modern novelist upon his mettle and in
spires him to do his best work"
Some one recently tried to get Miss Will
kns to give away the secret of success in
writing short stories. This is what he got:
"Of course it is understood that no one can
become a successful writer of short stories
or books unless they have a certain amount
of natural ability in that direction Other
wise all the advice in the world must be of
no avail. There must be a spark, however
small of genuine talent in order to have a
flame When this talent does exist, the
simplest road to success is the best. There
is really little to do except to provide your
self with good pens, good ink and paper, a
liberal supply of postage stamps, and more
liberal supply of patience sharpen ones
eyes to see and hear everything in the whole
creation likely to be of the slightest assist
ance, and set to work Then never cease
work for the pure sake of the work, and
never write solely for the dollars and fame
ilo ltxyac