The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-05-06

| invented and n library Of books more than
five hundred %voluunes) has been "il'l'h "a
nd yocate II. This theory VIII DO dlsilh--'u
in n moment Nv any one who takes IA" iih',
TO marshal parable passages from Bacon Rin
Shakespeare. The man, Who Mro,r NE w..
vanCcnlent Of Learning" never wrote the lllh-
the versifier Of the Psalm, never, Hr9ls nv
Sonnets But the existence Of this lihtar}
proves that there ~ n mystery ipht cNphlnru
The world in general has dHre'b INA, llal-
vellous and minute ACQUAINTANCE with oil these
matters was acquired by n method oi M oWh'
His mastery of Them ~ a UNIQUE phei.oilruom'
II: i, % Tmpnfanel Slf b "H' be Ti S not a 'mifacs
We have now 10 seek Tor parallels ! ornr'u
that Al lea-t two may be found N our own
generation.
The first j. Eudyard kipIing Md her"
| must again insist on the distinction, lc-
tween a mind, an intellect, and ~ i,rth"d
II Is not cnutendrd thu, kipling, N" man, Il
=: parallel 80 Shakespeare, nor that hio Rrllus
is comparable 10 that oi NllakeoLeare ~ 1,"ir
and Dover il !. conlrndrd ,nat hIn'Tpik ke
quality, and that, taking account OF "bNl"I7
differences IN scope and power, his methods
are similar.
Il i nearly three centuries since Shahr>-
peare wrote. In three centuries from NOW
II Mr.. kipline's stories live so long, Who wohln
aurS o I2 say 'hGt be- Ss nIT not ' ThTea" 'n1 or TiHe Is,
Mulvnney and Iearoyd are as We'll known
as Ahos. Portho' and Aramls, or as
Any t1ldlrr, i %l Inf SGSEedrrlI :" ,hil "EfE in-
' lfl WV ga wv -.
ling, the man Of future time VIII say. I've
must have made many a wet marCh 10 nay"
q figure Of .peech like III; rl.e naturally IN
castings Drip Who bIt u soldier would know
that the color- We're kept IN waterproof caslpg.,
and who but a goet soldier would Use sue"
He must have served his time az a Light
house keeper, to%o-wltneNs his poem, on The
Coastvise Lights" The Bel: Buoy, his eerie
tale of "rhe pi-,urber of Traffic, and a dozen
ptlar. INIrpyrulhpr'S assistant he surely
Java and ccipbes ]preci-,ly as il IRON long
! happen to know that he has studied them on
the Admiralty charts. Who 80 bold ~ to
maintain that he was not q sailor lhrt,
is no ship that ever foated that he does not
know through and through, from the Crock
trireme and the Scandinavian, NiNlrH snip
("Ihe Finest Story in the World down 70
the old sailing friga'e and th'ee-dscker' ,'he
shallow-r,ver gulbOat C~"JudSun and the tlll-
pirr"), tho liner, the cruiser, the modern, nat
tleship. lie knOSS them IRON the k"iil"dce
on the kel-on 70 'hr sling. upon thG xa,d
are familiar to him dOwn to the 'pOwdered
cork spread on the inside mint Of an iron
ship to keep her from sweating. \ thousand
minutiR likethl- VIII prove HIM IN every sailors
mind TO have been himself a sailor, II orr
successors, three C%cttulirs hence. rCad, car
tains Courageous" VIII they NOT conclude WIN
certainty that he learned bis business IN a
fishing smack on the Grand Bank:
When We come to n closer -%crutllF II is clear
that his Spa-goiug was in the engine room.
"McAndrnw'- Hymn" taken alone would prove
this. aud the theory is confirmed by u hundred
other Instances. Who but an engineer 'ould
write
From coupler aaugc to spindle SHid. see Thy
Prcdrstinauon in IN" stride Of yCG c~onnectln' rod'-
or mark his ancient tins
Clsc OK and repeat Hike valves half fed
some engineering on land he must have
done rs THE Brldgc-Bpilders" proves. The
Ship That Found Herself"riumphantly estah-
fishes his apprenticeship 10. a naval architect
Machinery OF al kinds was his %iavorite study
as medicine and law were Shakespeare. lie
knows il like a master. Figures OF speech
dependent On this special knowledge rise spon-
taneously to his Fps at every moment. They
give TO his style, ~ 10 shakespeare, the dis
tinction of MASTERY, They are o~verwhelin-
ingly convincing Of long apprenticeship,
Not only does he know the exact pressure
on the gauges, but le : famL!lar "ith me name
Of parts of engines In French. The seven
Seas" page 40. line 81 No wonder that TO the
popt-enginecr machinery in action sings Law,
Order Duty and Restraint Obedience Di'ci-
pline.'
Let these few Instances stand a. examples
Of Mr.. Kipling's special knowledge and vast
acquaintance with iechnicallties Of all trades
and professions. IL is as extended, rs accurate,
as minute as Shakespeare. II Is used In
similar ways TO accomplish like purposes. II
IL q literary method.
the world over and children have received
them like a gospel. All animals with which
they come in contact will lead miserable lives
unssss they acI IKE yer pTo, 70 l pes ,h la ' cSiIe
drcn, so far as they are effective agents. Will
tend to preserve all the animals Ike those
IN the jungle Books and TO eAtsrminate al
those that differ. Hence. whether Mr.. kipling's
interpretations of the animal soul were night
or not IN the first place, the children Will prove
him to be- right IN the end. Given time enough.
a tame bear on the earth who Will dare TO differ
materially from Baloo, the brown bear Of the
Jungle: and all the captive wolves must act
Ike Akcla. or die u a too strenuouS education,
Commentators are filed with admiration for
Shakespeare's knowledge Of woodcraft II
is OF the same kind a., k~ipling's acquaintance
with the animals Of India. There he has been
and studied Their Biographies and their civil
polity are set forth in the Jungle-bookS. His
study OF the animals of India has given him a
philosophy Of the animal soul, and he wrlte>
nearly as well lbut not quitel OF animals with
which no j. not familiar. The White Seal"
was composed ont Of books furnished 10y. the
Smithsonian Institution. II is very vivid,
AID il smells Of the lamp no more than some
Of Shake,peare's descriptions OF cities, where
he had never been, or Of scenes with which he
had only a book acqusintance,
and Scottish people thoroughly, and the French
well. Mr.. Kipling's experience has been IN
many lands and his acquaintance Is world
vide. He knows the Englishman al home
aud in the colonies C'1he Native Born, and
each Of the cities of the Empire Experts are
agreed that lac comprehends the Moslem cone
View OF Inc QutS'lol , anu Alt Illltll I llt
last detail Iii, poem, An American was
written at the time Of the great railway strike
Of 1894 and really refers 10 a very spccial set
~ conditions. But where shall We Americans
find a keener and. on the whole, n kinder III
sight who, before him, has so clearly discov-
cred the spirit in the Americans blood
That bids him nog' the law he makes,
That bids him make the the Law he fou'S"--
or who ha, better expressed the Americans
untroubled mastery Of the instant need Of
,hinas?" The whole poem. at hrst sight I'M
Mnd l. on further reading, discovered 10 he
full Of sympathetic and philosophic insight Like
too much Of Mr.. kiplinS's work. II l. uncouth
and unfinished. 4 finer artistic form would
give il the authority II deserves. Here a.
elsewhere | am insisting that the method ~
Mr.. kipling IN hi study OF the nations Is the
method Of Shakespeare.
1t would be easy 10 go on 10 accumulate eX-
amplcs. II IS unnecessary TO do so. II the
contention OF this PAL er Is correct every reader
seems To be hey ond Il doubt that va have, in
Mr.. Kipling's method, an uncon scious copy
OF the method Of Shakespeare. Making every
allowance Tor the difference OF scope and power
the two writer's NE a similar method in the
same way 10 produce like literary effects. II
this be indeed So, Mr.. Klping's writings, al
ready 20 important q Iart Of English literature,
take on a new significance, They VII be stud
sectcd to find a key to q greater genius.
On n very different plane We seem To have
another parallel 10 the UNPARALLELED Shakes
peare IN at, least ono character OF the Polish
author Sienklewic2, On the first appearance
Pan Michael" IN" critics remarked the SINH
larity between Zagloba and Sir Jotn Fnistdf.
A careful study Of these two porsonagrS has
convinced the writer, and II may convince any
Falstar is worked out with n veri,imilitudr.
a mastery. quite comparable 10 that of Shake--