The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-02-25
NEw Bo0HA


"fo cdmpedf In a tentr
"'weli. II was pahtly atent and pahtly bank
"'I should have thought you would have died
1.-THE girl laughed. oh, no. NO all kept fust rate.
We slept in the tents-ve had two-and we cooked in
tho shAnty.' She smiled 1t the notion in adding;
AT fust the neighbas thought we wee Gypsies; and
tho summa folks thought we wee Indians. and
wanted to get baskets from u.s."
At first glance IL might be thought that Mr..
Howells was also trying to write n dialect
story. This Is n wrong impression. however.
He has noticed that New EnGlanders do not
pronounce the letter +. and has taken pains
throughout his book. whenever New England
ers. particularly those not we'll educated. con-
verse, to substitute for the unspoken letter
phonetic symbols. such ms apostrophes and "a
or "ah." To the eye this Ia rs effective as the
best Scotch or Southern brands. Perhaps. II
his essay meets with approval. Mr.. Howells
may in later books extend his phonetic system
to all sounds or adopt the ingenious alphabet
OF the American Dialect Society.
Clementina. the young woman whose adven-
lures are related here, is an evcn-tempered
young person, endowed with an innate sense
OF her duty to herself and to those about her
that enables her. Notwithstanding defects in
pronunciation and grammar and a very limited
education. to 1T gracefully and without en-
barrassin ent into diversified and quickly chang
ing social environments. She is not a church
member, as she states repeatedly. though. OF
course. she attends church: nevertheless she
knows and does instinctlvely what Is right.
without talking about II. in gratifying contrast
to the theological student. who is forever argu-
ing about his duty and doing the wrong thing.
Her attractions Of person and OF mind are
unusual, drawing to her many women and all
the men she meets, After a quick succession
OF adventures she is landed safely in Italy.
Nyhnra on familiar ground Mr. Hpwalla alo\ve
UP. allowing his readers to regain their breath
and his heroine to listen to the declarations Of
love from the young men she meets. There
are five Of these declarations. without counting
repetitions by the refused or those unspoken
by men who see they have no chance.
Clementina narrows her choice to two
only, whom she marries. in succession, OF
course. the method selected for eliminat-
ing one husband being death and not
divorce. The elimination OF her adventures
comes so suddenly after a long spell OF
comparative ~inaction that 1t requires a strong
effort to grasp the fact that the husbands are
successive in Clementina's mind. This seems
a valuable addition to the stock OF examinations
for romantic stories. Other heroines. doubt
less, have been married twice in fiction before:
does not Thackeray marry Amelia to Dobbin =?
1t means usually the taking up with a second
best when the first best is lost, or is the compen-
sation for a mistaken first venture. The idea
Of deciding between two equal candidates
for favor by practically taking both opens
up new and promising vistas. 1t was
not to be expected that Mr.. Howells
should drop all old habits at once. and
here and there stray bits of his local color will
be found. a street name with hidden Boston
associations. or the mention OF locally known
Boston t~radesmen: yet he has succeeded in
keeping this down in his new experiment. 1t
was impossible for him to leave out. however.
many bright and amusing hits. There is a
young Russian Anarchist who stands on the
Ponte Necchio at night in q storm determined
to commit suicide. rs it would carry out a dra-
matte situation. but who changes his mind be-
cause his hat blows off and he has to chase it.
There is a stranded ~Nice-Consul. on whom a
cantankerous old lady pours out her story Of
bodilyills. who says: Il don't want to hurt her
feelings. or not to help her: but ] know ten
times rs much about Mrs. Iander's liver
as l do about my own. nor There is a
Boston man who makes himself objec-
tionable to other Americans abroad. Yes"
he says. he's at our hotel. and he airs his
peculiar opinions at the table d'h6te pretty
freely. He's a revolutionist Of some kind. 1
fancy" He pronounced the epithet with an
adherence beftting a citizen OF a State born
of revolution and a city that had Graded the
revolt. ne = Il NlnillSI. J. helleNe. ragged
Lady" will not dctract from Mr.. Howells's repu-
tation it promises to give him back to us as he
was before he went in pursuit Of strange gods.
Though she speaks of financial prosperity
and of the delight of establishing a successful
magazine. Mrs. Richie in her introduction to
Tho Adventures Of Philip" volume NJ. of
The Biographical Edition OF Thackeray's
Works" tHarpersl, cannot avoid the sadness
that her fathers brief editorship Of the Corn
hin Magazine evokes. Both she and her readers
know that the end is near. Her Introduction is
brief. and the story of the foundation of the
CornhM was told long ago, but she publishes a
very intimate letter touching the subject.
which in all probability led Thackeray to re-
quest that his biography might never he
written.
married at your age with E4oo paid by 3 naws-
paper, which failed six months afterward. and al
ways love to hear of a young fellow testing his
fortune bravely in that way. And although my own
marriage was a wreck, rs you know. Iwould do It
once again. for behold Love Is the crown and com
plection of all earthly good. Tho man who is afraid
of his fortune never deserved one.
A curious incident in his editorial career was
his rejection. on the ground of its being i'm
proper. Of a poem by Elizabeth Barrett Brown
ing called Lord Walters Wife," This is his
letter to her:
My dear. kind Mrs. Browning-Has Browning ever
had an aching tooth which must come out-1 don't
say Mrs. Browning. for women are much more cour-
ageousJ-a tooth which must come out. and which
he has kept for months and months away from the
dentist2 I have had such a tooth a long time. and
have safe down in this chair and never had tho cour-
age to undergo the pull.
This tooth is an allegory Il mean this onel. It's
your poem that you sent me months ago-And who
am | to refuse the poems of Elizabeth Barrett Brown.
ing, and set myself UP as a judge over her? Ican't tell