The times., 1898-02-27

said: Are you going to eat your
| own ancestor? I stared; everybody
else stared. AT last we gave it up and
| Thackeray, looking very grave and learn
| ed said: Surely you the son of the
| Dorian Muller--the Muller who wrote that
awfully learned book on the Dorians: and
| was not John Dore the ancestor of all
| the Dorians?' There was a general oh,
! OH but the ice was broken. and no one
after this horrible pun was afraid of say
| ing anything.
| Muller relates with considerable amuse-
\ ment the unpleasant experiences of Ten
nyson with sightseers. The great poet
| had most intense dislike for being star
| cd at and, ii seems, once complained to
| the Queen, and said that he could no
longer stay in the Isle of Wight. on ac-
count OF the tourists who came TO stare
at him. The Queen. with kindly irony,
remarked, that she did not suffer much
from that grievance. but Tennyson, not
seeing what she meant, replied: No,
madam, and if / could clap n sentinel
wherever i liked. / should not be troub-
led either. 1T must be confessed, says
Muller that people were very inconsid-
crate. Rows of tourists sat like spar
rows on the palings of his garden, waiting
for his appearance. The guides were ac-
tually paid by sightseers, particularly by
those from America, for showing them
the great poet. Nay, they went so far as
to dress up Il sailor 30 look like Tennyson
and the result was that, after their trick
had been found out, the tourists would
walk up to Tennyson and ask him, Nov,
are you the real Tennyson? And nat
urally Tennyson was enraged. Mr.. Null
Ter is OF the opinion that those tourists
who We're extremely anxious TO shake
the hands of living poets would do much
better TO go and visit tie tombs of dead
an ha t,Iv tlar hnt ha
writes to Il man who is an authority ON
any special subject for information that
ii is possible to get elsewhere, even If he
has to spend several hours looking it up
in library. and the eminent authority
could answer the question in five min
utes.
Muller was visited at various times.
while living in Oxford. by Lowell, Emer-
son. Holmes. and many other eminent
people, and among his "reminiscences of
these distinguished men appears little
poem, written by Lowell in Miss Beatrice
Muller's autograph album. 1t was writ
ten impromptu. on the oath of June, 1886:
Ger the wet sands an insect crept
Ages man earth Known
And patient Time. while Nature slept
The slender tracing turned TO stone.
Twas the first autograph; and ours?
PTithee how much of prose song,
In league with the Creative powers,
Shall 'scape Oblivions broom SO long?
j. r. LOWELL.
The "Recollections of Royalties are
especially to an American, less interest
ing than the Literary Recollections.
There is a characteristic story of Hum
boldt, however, which is worth quoting.
Humboldt and Muller had been attend |
ing together royal function at Potsdam.
at which Humboldt, who was then an old |
man of eighty, was obliged TO stand for |
several hours like the other guests. |
When we drove home" says Muller. 'it |
was very late, and ! could not help re- |
marking on the great sacrifice he was |
making of his valuable time in attending |
these court functions
We'll he said. the HohenZollernS |
have been very kind to me, and / know
they like TO show this old piece Of fur
niture Of theirs. So l go whenever they
want me- " There are also some pleas
ant stories of the kindness with which
Humboldt interested himself in young
The last division of the book. that on
'Beggars.'' is the least interesting of all,
though some curious tales are told of the
way in which INSCRIPTIONS pseudo-anti-
luarians have at one time or another |
been able to hoax great unive. stiles and
museums. But the book is altogether a
mosaic of interesting anecdote told In a
liscursive, unfinished. almost colloquial |
style, and dealing with things just as
lne does in ordinary conversation, with
out an attempt at literary form The |
is a fine photogravure ofNthe
author tNew York: Charles Scribner3
Sons. Washington: All booksellers)