New-York tribune., 1901-12-08
Gbe Aeu;Vork gr1bn''r'
! ILLUSTRATED SUPPLEMENT-
Sunday DECEMBER s, 1901.

,+rosting reading" In the current
number Mr. f. f. Benson, the author oi Douo'
opd Mr. William lie Queux are po'h 'ei'
STRONGLY in favor of the agent. But us We h'''
said before the question as 10 "he'iiei N
sbould be employed or not remains Il h'''
for personal decision, and we are less lii'e
in ar~uments specifically concerning hlm IMAM
in sucb general remarks as 'John oileei
uobbes' contributes to this symposium. "he
f,dS the agent useful, but that may pass. |
Hyh,t we like about her letter is ITS vigorous
oxnrassion of contempt for the Stiffness OF ao-
Docatinc in the literary man Il iol'A ui'u'i
toward the business side OF his WORK Ill 'ii'
world This snobbshness Mrs CfiiSle points
ont was never found at any time alhoh5 'n'
DISTINGUISHED. 'Michael Angelo Walteu LIS
money paid and his contracts arranged lh''iis
wears in advance Shakespeare, Moiieie i''i
1,c George Sand George Eliot, De MaupasSant
and Sir Walter Scott were never so vulgar aa 10
afcct Indifference to financial affairs. take
If that of all peculiar signs of an essential cohi-
nonness in an artist this one of prattllns about
ihe indicnitv of accepting money for art Is the
most striking | have never met person WIN
sucb insincere views who did not live on the
complaining generosity of relatives and friends. |
] In tAc presence of volume OF tWadule ihe
reader has not, as 81 rule. any duDlety us u
the for its existence Inc 't"tH'i' i' |
.oncludes is a person of twadlly mind, ana |
therefore could not write anything else IL ne
tried But sometimes a book of this sort con
stitutos 4 curious problem, for there may be
.rontradictory evidence outside Of it. Witness
tha ease of Miss Marie Corelli. In spite of Mr
Gladstones prophecy of a great future Tor her'
we believe we will be generally supported III
the contention that she has never shown III any
of her books any valid excuse for being granted
That kind of future Yet the Philosophical
Institution OF Edinburgh has lately thought 1t
worth while to ask her to deliver an address
under its auspices she spoke on WHAT she
chose to call The Vanishing Ght ny which
sEn meant imagination, that wonderful spir-
itual faculty which is the source of All great
creative work in art or literature and from
the rpnort in London newspaper 1t Is plaln
that what she had to say was worthy in every
r.snect of the most serious attention. She pro
tested against the modern disposition to live at
too high rate Of speed. so that many people are
not ashamed to declare that they have no time
to think; she dwclt upon the great truth that
in the works of men of genius the things that
are called imaginary are often more real than
what is called realism; she poured scorn upon
the little mean starvelingS OF Itcratur" who
would fain attempt to prove a mans work NOT
his own" and she castigated the cnvious fools
who are salways ready to believe that the great
are not so great, the heroic not so heroic. ana
that after all. they the fools, may be wiser
than the wiSest man. She paid her compli-
mcnts in stinging terms to the dec1dentS and
the writers of problem plays and books, and
from beginning to end spoke i'll praise of
the highest ideals without a hint of c1agccra
ton. with nothing but common sense.
One Of the conspicuous phenomena of the day
is the publication in English Of more and more
OF the works OF foreign writers, especially nov
cliStS. The translation of these works, be 1t
said TO the credit of the publishing fraternity,
and women. But it behoovcS that fraternity to |
Scrutinize with greater care than has hitherto
seemed necessary the manuscripts prepared |
even by apparently well qualified translatorS.
The publishers reader may be supposed to
possess a knowledge of French and German; he
may be asked. more less a matter OF
course, to have some acquaintance with Spanish |
and italian, and where these languages con
cerned the general public, also, need not be
assumed to he totally incaI able of checking the
work Of the translator by reference to the orig
nal. But who is to be blamed for ignorance
of the Slavic tongues? On the other hand, it
is always possible for publisher to submit Il
translation 10 professor of the language from
which it is made, just judicious editor
l1,,e,jf haI no