The record-union., 1898-05-29

chapters of which appear in the new
number of "Chapman's Magazine" A
young wife pays fifty pounds for the
possession of a blue eyed child, pro-
cured for her through the agency, not
of Mr.. Stead, but of West End physi-
clan. The incident opens up a whole
world Of dramatic possibilities"
Those who love the art of the pot
Ter never tire of searching for legends
about its origin. One quaint myth is
that which accounts for the creation of
Satan. 1t states that God, after Great
ing man, was so pleased with the re-
suit that he bade the creature ask for
anything he wished, whereupon the
wise being asked that he might make
objects in clay God, unwilling to give
up this art to mortal, turned the crea-
ture into an evil spirit, and banished
him from His presence"
The Chinese claim that 200 years
before Christ the gods worked in clay
and gave the art to man. The Japa-
nese have similar legend, and also
the Egyptians. The Greeks claim
'Keramos,' the son of Bacchus and
Ariadnes, as the patrons of potters,
Eden, when Jehovah, after having pro-
nounced all things beautiful in His
sight. formed man out of the dust of
the earth, of clay"
In an essay full of bitterness against
modern poets and composers, entitled
"On Poetry and Composition" publish
ed in 1879, Wagner wrote: Touching
the 'deutschen Dichterwald, one latter
ly finds that despite the need of keep
ing their presses going the publishers
are growing more and more averse to
pure lyricism since the musical lyric
poets content themselves with compos
ing over and over again 'Du bist vie
cine Blume' or 'Wenn ich dein holdes
Augesicht' and such like songs" How
often the second song has been COM
posed it would be difficult to guess, but
we have interesting statistics touching
''Du bist vie cine Blume" in an ar
ticle contributed recently to the 'Neue
Freie Presse" of Vienna, by Georg
Brandes. According to this article, the
musical settings of Heine's poems num-
Der 5000, and as everybody knows,
among them are some of the most beau
tiful songs of Schubert, Mendelssohn,
Schumann, Franz and Rubinstein. "Du
bist vie cine Blume," Herr Brandes
says, has been composed twice as often
as any other Heine lyric, and by 100
different composers-which we warrant
is several hundred per centum below
the true mark, unless Herr Brandes re-
fers to composers who have made suffi-
cient reputation to command the inter
est of publishing houses of standing.
We believe it would be difficult for any
one in the habit of associating with
composers to name one who had not at
one time or another made a setting Of
Heine's. poem Two other poems by
Heine have been composed eightythree
times They are ''Ich had i'm Traum
geweinet'' and s"Leise zieht durch mein
Gemuth" But it is a safe thing to say
that Heine's "Lorelei," with Silcher's
music, has been sung oftener than all
of the other poems Of his put to-
gether.
rs not the business of painting to
initiate? Walter Crane in his book en-
titled The Claims of Decorative Art,
answers this question most satisfac-
tory; only part of the business, he
says, and only insofar as imitation con-
tributes to expression, whether of
beauty. or thought, or story, or phrase
of nature, in which it ceases to be mere
Iy limitation and becomes an art-that
of representation. Where would be
either use of enduring pleasure in art
if 1t did not express something besides
the mere accidents or superficial fact?
AS we'll might the poet deal in nothing
but description or the musician limit
himself TO reproducing the noises of the
l.x~ ~,-5 he int ha ant 70
ignore invention and design. story and
poetic suggestion In these things it is
these qualities that give life and en-
durance to art"
It is not usual to consider Mr.. Spen-
Ger as a humorist. But he is able to
be. such at his own expense. says the
New York Evening Sun" When one
of the commissioners suggested that If
his books sold cheaper. in consequence
of a shorter copyright, he might dis
pose of more of them, and so make up
in that way, he replied: Let me use
an illustration. Take such a commo-
dity as cod liver oil, which is a very
necessary thing for certain limited
class Suppose it is contended that,
out of regard for those to whom it is
so necessary, retailers should be COM
PEELED to take a smaller profit, and
you rduce the price by fifteen per cent.
The consumption would be very little
influenced, because there would be none
but those who had it prescribed for
them who would be willing to take it,
and they must have it. No, take one
of my books, say the Principles of
Psychology Instead of calling it
scavaire to the general let us call it
cod liver oil to the general. I think
II probable that if you were to ask
aninety-nine people out of 100 whether
thev would daily take a spoonful of
cod liver oil or read a chapter of that
book. they would prefer the cod liver
oil''
: The Nineteenth Century tells a
story about the sub-editor of an Eng
lisb paper He had been frequently
warned by his chief TO avoid possible
libel suits by refraining from categor-
ical statements, and so one day he
turned in the following paragraph:
ALLEGED Mad Dog Scare at Hamp-
stead.-An alleged mad dog, said to be
the property of an alleged butcher
named Frost. of Atlantic avenue, is al
legged to have broken his chain yester-
day afternoon and attacked the alleged
daughter of Thomas Drewsbury, who
claims to be a tailor in the same street.
The girl is alleged to have been treat
ed by DR.. Tupper, an alleged local
practitioner, for the alleged severe oltes
on hands and legs. 1t is further al
legged that the alleged butcher was last