New-York tribune., 1901-05-01

! Pigs is beast as is very hard to drive; alone
many OF them, very. is pig as professional H1
pig driver has observed: We do not know tDm 1pis
| the demon expressed his objections; on Inns
point Socrates kept his own counsel; but ., .lS
| untutored Maors of New-Zealand nave InSia
own demons. Maori coming to a pain III @ lLs
| forest, and seeing a Hfeless body lying , across
| it, takes another path. The body is hol q i tr
BODY. merely phantom an' familiar with
! this experience but oddly enough, only IN the
Highlands; only in the vicinity OF certain inns.
and only on Saturday afternoons. Celtic bodies
| then strew the roads: they are visible. tangible.
| and appeal to the sense of smell by strong
perfume of whiskey- Ihese warnings unllhe
| Socrates and the Maoris, 1 neglect, regarding
| them as susceptible of physical explanation.
| However in the matter Of new books. and in
| that alone believe that do possess a guardian
| angel and even that this is a very common
| der of demon Beholding a new book am
often conscious of an internal monitor which
| excIaims Don't read it," and I obey. In the
| case of volumes Of new poetry the voice almost
! invariably makes itself distinctly audible
When the friends of the poet in addition to re-
viewing him early and often, personally insist
that 1 must read him, then 1 have. now and
again. attempted to disobey my unseen monitor.
But he is always right; experience proves that,
however often. early and enthusiastically the
poet has been reviewed. he does not make on me
favorable impression. How does the mystic
voice of warning ONE to know that this will be
the case? The problem deserves the attention of
philosophers. The same phenomenon occurs in
the case of NM. Maeterlinck, Ibsen, Tolstoi, and
that advanced German philosopher, Herr
Netzsche. / know not how it is but in these
and other fashionable cases. amid the surge and
thunder of the "Room.' l hear a still, small
voice murmur such archaic phrases as "Bosh!
and mo go"' Disregarding the whisper OF the
literary guardian angel, l have adventured on
the works of these distinguished aliens. The re-
SUIT mas been boredom, or improper laughter' or,
ike the friend of Socrates. l have been, as 1t
were, trampled IN the mud by droves of pigs or
ideas of a porcine character. The guardian
angel knew beforehand what was likely TO nap
peE-to me, at least. Disregarding him, have
encountered scene in which a Muscovite hus-
band attempting TO stab his wife, complains of
Inconvenience caused
arbitrary consequences of a corrupt CIVILIZATION
Hence think he deduced an argument IN IA
vor Of a return TO the state of nature. mere
appears to be lack OF humor, suptLy uelecteu H
beforehand by the monitor, in the works of these
celebrated foreign authors.
The monitor or demon with similar decisive
ness debars from the modern historical
novels Of America when they appeal to us by a
guaranteed circulation of over hundred thou
sand. But in this instance 1 have never been
disobedient to ;he still, small voice Inc oooh
may meet me at every turn. as some DOCKS uo
every one must have noticed the pertnaclty or
such volumes They get into house, you know
not how. and whenever the hand reaches fortn
TO a book behold il is The Choir Invisible or
David Harum.' or something else; WnlcI, ~.
his own deep reasons. the demon Will NOT permit
ore to open. How does this klnd or oooh
multiply itself and appear on every IduIeI III ~
every shelf Of house? I know house whlcn
is haunted by The Cloister and the HearIR
ito which the demon has no objection In ltSelIl'
that romance appears to be omnipresent On
the other hand a book that you really happen 10
want can never he found at all! 1t hath the
secret of fern seed. and lies invisible.
The monitor has extreme aversion from
love letters whether those published oy 1rienoS
% the deceased warblers. or feigned' ana at
trihuted 70 an eminent British washerwoman OF
& Portuguese nun. In the element or huInor IoFe
letters -areiy shine Even those OF butHs ii T., -
C,arindA are only unconsciously comic Whlie IN
the love letters attributed to Mary Stuart there
is not spe-kle uf wit. Indeed, they seem 10 De
from two hands: one tnat OF lady penl on
hrsiness--"When and wnere shall We cut my
husbands th-oat?' she asks; the other author
writes Ike a person devoured by culture as tnen
-.,vS1N1. irin
love letters of Boutwell, to several ladies at the
same time. alasD cannot but have been enter
tanning, and If carefully forged might reach
second edition of five hundred. To these II
announced. my demon would not OBJECT II
know him.
To all novels breathing Of a purpose. lone un-
ceasing purpose" the monitor refuses his assent.
There was a book called The Heavenly Twins"
The demon would not permit me to open it. But
here I think I can throw some light on MS
method of forekaowledge. He had perceived
that the novel much recommended by ear
nest natrous to husbands whose natural bent
not literary. but sporting. The demon was
thus led, I fancy, to detect a purpose and a
purpose has often some very disagreeable con-
comitants.
hood. as. believe. the with Socrates.
In early years he let rush, unwarned. on
volumes which were tracis in the least artificial
disguise, or on histories Of the distressing Nero
vingian kings He did naturally shy from
'"Telemaque," ucr lift up his voice against THE
Fairchild Family -'Sandford and Merton"
both CT them decidedly books with a purpose
and the attendant disagreeable details. Indeed,
/ never heard the demon speak out loud and
clear till John Inglesapt" appeared. Then he
said "No." and to this day do not know why.
Passions have died down: posterity mus. have
given her verdict. from which there is no ap-
peal. One ought now to read John Inglesant"
with calm. receptive mind. If I found myself
In some boundless contiguity of space" a lodge
IN vast wilderness, absolutely devoid Of any
printed matter except John Inglesant" would
try a fall with my demon, and adventure my
self on the romance. But in a lodge a shooting
lodge at least there usually dozen copies
of Round the Bonny Kaiyard," against which
the demon hath hitherto set his fiat, and one
Is unlikely to meet John, and nothing but John
Why should the monitor have hitherto been
firm against the poetical works of Coventry
Patmcre? They are like Yarrow, and "The Ex-
cursion," by me 'unvisited." / doubt IL l ever
opeLed ''The Excursion" yet have tried Mr.
Tupper, and even Walt Whitman, and the
very minor camp followers of Mr.. Rossetti The
imperative Don't"
The demon is not invariably right One emf
nent modern novelist he protested against for
years, but he was wrong. Having studied the
demon as he works IN others l often find him
wrong. To many he VOWS that Dickens is totally
unreadable, and fear that to most he says the
same thing about Chaucer Spenser Shake
speare, Dryden. Pope, and the Scandinavian
saeas. At least, one never does find these au-
thors much thumbed, Or in the hands of persons
OF taste and culture. Thus there can be nothing
absolute or universal in the warnings of the
literary guardian angel. He is clearly not the
infallible, all pervading anima mundi of the
world OF books. He says different things to
different people. There be some both men and
women. whom he warns off my own productions
and they not disobedient They make no
effort, or if they do fand they tell me that they