The times., 1898-01-09
LITERARY NOTES.

ture has rational editorial on slang.
1t points out that change and novelty
are their own excuse In this hunldrum
world. The burden of proof for right
to exist should not be dumped on any
thing new. Rather should 1t
be necessary for the conserva-
tive to prove why the novel
city shall not prevail. Asserting the
physical benefits Of change, they are
applied to the mental relaxation in
freshness of speech.
Slang is tative and expeTime nta1
iitehature. IL mas every. right TO a fair
VINO are writing with one eye on pos
teTity which VIII in nine cases out of
ten not cast even one glance their way
writer's or this class may do well to be
cautious in their use of new phra ses,
nut people VINO write for their own time
and country and think it glory enough
TO nave pleased their little aay, satirists,
magaznists editorial writers, reporters,
paIaerapners ana all commentators on
contemporary affairs should shake off the
SHY dry as-duSt canon that slang Is
undgnirled. Snakespea re is sgenerailytaken
as the final aut nority in methods of
handling the language, ana he, like all
his feliow-writters OF the Eiizabethan
time, thought the slang phrases OF his
time Were racy, and the users OF item
bully good fellows. So they packed into
tneir Immortal iitera turc about everything
they could find an excuse for No modern
musical comedy could be more up to-date
or colloquial. To the student OF litera-
ture everyone OF THESE w nims OF the
language is a Juicy iaisiu in a good
pudding. IL has been shown, OF couISe,
unat many OF the words the English and
the Anglomaniac try To damn with the
tag -CJlioqu:al u. s., are IN reality among
preserved here, though host sight OF in
the mot ner country. But why, in the
name OF progress and independence and
self respect, is it necessary for us al
a Va tn fn
our authority = hall we be allowed to in
vent nothing but trulley-cars and X-Fays?
snail We take every Keep off he Grass
sign stuck up about our language as an
authorized comma ndfnent? Or shall We
claim our tongues s orr own and EnElish
as a great. beautiful park and noble
COMMONS Tor every freeman 10 wander
i'll and reyel in at his Will. or course,
there is slang and slang blt so there are
epics and rplcs- why snouid the common
people be allowed the monopoly of sla ns.
and the good wits and scholars be barred
out from its delights?
The editorial says several other
things in this buoyant and convincing
manner which rather makes one given
to writing within the straight and mar
row path of conventional English de-
sire To throw off restraint and gam
Dol about in this pasture with the
merry step of slang.
Slang f. the theritoIneter of the time.
IL not only indicates the pubic mood put
10y its vivldness and catchinesS II can al
feet it, As the lazy P99Tt9guese a;t say; ty .
day" and in that proverD cOnuense ma =
tional biography and epitaph-so the
pushing Yankee wants TO get there
and be I'm it He pnnctGIes bubble
of optimism with pointed Rats or
cemipresses al cynical phil3ssophiy, i,-l IN =.
reiterat ion with a gruft 'ChestnutS!'
or a sharp ''Aw forget it," He enters a
uiSclaluiei of anything YOU may say with
litoteS Il Cont Think or Tyrolean
mil" lie squelcheS your 'eoncelt or
castle 'Oh, there are othersi' or he va
RES this infinitely by vivid metaphors
ike You're not the only pebble on the
beach"
Mr.. Zangwill's "Dreamers of the
Ghetto will be published during the
present month. Some of the stories
have not appeared anywhere and some
of them are revised or changed
Lord Rosebery is said TO be an al
most daily visitor to the British Mu-
scum. where he is engaged in re-
searches connected with an important
historical work.
Mark Twain More Tramps Abroad
t"Following the Equator''} has already
sold over 10000 copies in England. Mr..
Clemens has just sent to London for
quantity of the copy" paper which he
Is in the habit of using. 1t is quarto
size and rather thin. Like most au-
thors in these days, he has his manu-
script typewriter before sending it to
the printer. Perhaps he appreciates
the value of his autograph to the col
lector and wants to keep it for his
heirs His new humorous story, which
he is now writing in Vienna, is to go
to The Ladies Home Journal.
There is an error in the dedication of
THE Kentuckians, to which the Critic
calls attention. 1t reads ITO My Faith
er and NY Fathers Kentuckians, and
what Mr. Fox wrote and intended was
ITO My rather and My Fathers-Ken-
tucSfans" In other words the author
intended to dedicate the book to his
father, his grandfathers, and great
grandfathers on both sides, who We're
all kentuckians.
Mr.. Charles Lowe, a well-known sec
ond-hand bookseller. of Birmingham,
recently gave utterance to an interest
ing interview. Among other things he
told how three famous purchasers or
der books. Gladstone returns the cata-
logue marked Send these" Joseph
Chamberlain is a valuable customer
and he buys books of reference. useful
books As to Ruskin's popularity, he
said, We'll, if he bought 8 pounds 16
shillings worth of books, he would
send me a check for 10 pounds and say,
give the change to the packer.
The Stokes Company will hereafter
publish all the works of John Oliver
Hobbies.
Marion Crawford has written story
bearing the grewsome and forbiddinS
title THE Dead Smile
The well-defned renaissance of Whit
mania is added to by a splendid article
on the poet in the current number of
the Bookman Some rare and decid-
edly interesting illustrations accom-
pany the text. There is one particu-
larly expressive picture of Whitman,
taken in 1858.
The manuscript which Alfred Tenny-
son left to the late Lord simeon has
been presented to the Trinity College
Library. of Cambridge, by Lady Ten.
nyson, in accordance With the wish of
the poet which only recently found its
way to her. 1t shall restlin the library
in perpetuity with only tone proviso,
and that is that the variations in it
from the published text of the poem
shall never be used.
The fifth centenary of Gutenberg is
to be held at Mayence some time in
1900. Supposedly Gutenberg (some
times spelled with one ''t") was born
In 1400, but the proofs as to the exact
year are wanting. and the discussions
about 400 or 1410 have been constant.
The program of the celebration is now
being made up. Of course, there will
go to Mayence an American deputa-
4i,c, Maui Xo,l. YriIaala- s.,,tr