The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-04-24

wife" printed in the Ladies' Home Jour.
nal, is Miss Anna Farquhar. formerly OF
Indianapolis, but now resident of Boston
It Is surmised that the aomesMc experiences
Mrs w. H. II. Miller. wife OF the attorney
general In President Harrison's Cabinet
Mrs. Sarah Grand is not pen name, az
some persons have supposed, though It is
an assumed name, being the one and only
name by which this authoress wishes to be
known" 1t was adopted some years ago
for all PURPOSES because the ladys husband
had a great dislike TO having his name as
eociated with her ideas. BY an adoption OF
g new name she therefore disconnected her
self from him, and relieved him from all re-
sponsibility.
Popularity of writer's is a strange and
sometimes a fearful thing" says the New
York Post 1.-THE two most widely circu-
lated weeklies Of Scotland recently asked
their readers to name the six greatest living
British authors. Barrie headed the list. and
no one need complain OF tn hb,. D gu second
in sending the syndicateS ana the publishers
and Dr. Robertson Nicholl hot foot after
Miss Swan, or it may simply leave them
ali Indifferent and smiling at the vagaries
of literary fame.
In conversation on literary topics with
a newspaper correspondent, Col. John Hay,
American ambassador at London, quotet
himself and thereby gives an inklng of his
views on modern realism. Colonel Hay said;
at asked q Frenchman OF letters once.
why doesn't one of your great writer's in.
dulge in the novelty of decent story1
French 1t would sell by hundreds OF thou
sands of copies in France, England and
America. His answer was; NO trenchman
could write such a book and retain his self
Mr.. Alden says in his London letter in the
New York Times: "It is always unfortunate
when a writer is not certain Of his identity.
and tries to be novelist and something else
at the same time. Mr.. Zangwill is in danger
of losing the position as novelist to which
he could easily attain, because he insists
upon being both story writer and leader
of Jewish thought. There was a great deal
of cant in the talk which we used to hear
about art for arts sake, put, AFTER all
there was a certain amount of truth in it.
A novel which tries to be some thing else
than novel is a mistake Even the
genius of Charles Reade could not combine
Social reforms and story telling success
fully, and 1t was only when he wrote a ro-
nance without any ulterigr mouve that ne
produced the one work that was wholly
worthy of him, THE Cloister and the
Hearth"
In his letter in this weeks Literature
Henry James speaks Of Hamlin Garland as
the soaked sponge of Wisconsin
term not being used in an offensive sense,
however. The explanation of it is this:
"There are moments when we are tempted
TO say that there is nothing like saturation
to pronounce it safer thing than tai
ent. I find myself rejoicing. for example,
i'm Mr.. Hamlin Garland, case OF satura-
ton so precious as to have almost the Value
Of genius. There are moods in which we
seem to see that the painter. of whatever
sort is most for us when he as most: so 10
speak. the soaked sponge or ms an allu
time This may be accepted as a very Just
estimate of Mr.. Garland. Mr. james
hastens to add chat saturaton is not IN
Compatible with talent, but he carefully re-
trains from expressing the opinion that the
two are united in the Wisconsin novelist.