New-York tribune., 1901-12-11
SOME MAGAZINE NOTES.
ARTICLES WORTH READING IN THE
CURRENT NUMBERS.

Amid many good things. "Scribner' has d
vivid salt water story by Mr.. A w. Norse- Inc ne
Making of a Pilot" Waves surge unoer H.
winds blow over if, manly strength and patienee
and courage fill IT with spirit as whoiesohe
as the keen sweet air of the sea
The nuaint elusive beauty of Mr.. Maurice
IJevlett's romances has often been celebrated
IN these columns. No one in these days. we
hold writes more beguilingly than ne But an
author il may be conceded, is not always a
his best: an0 Hewlett in his mediaVal slory III
-Iiarper's' is more or less Disappointing 1t mas
atmosphere and poetry, but IL is soHe"lid. .
labored too, and here and there 1t srnaehs VI VI
affectation 1t is to be feared that Mr.. HeWiett
is writing too much for tie good OF ms rare anu
delicate art.
Mr. t1osse as a critic is far from infallble ana
is often uninteresting. but there is sooo sense
and there is entertainment in his Llpplncotl
naDer on that well worn subject, THE Best
Books" He advises, and with reason, against
adnittin, into our lists Of such books the
mushrooms of the moment:
I derrecate the inclusion into lists of best
books" of any writings over which thlrty OF
forty years at least have not washed their waves
of indifference and their sands of shifting fash.
ion A book must possess vitality. 1ndeeu, IL
il can resist the changes of taste Tor Two gen
erations, and remain attract1Vely reaoapie
its ways of thought become old fashloned ana
ridiculous. Many are called TO pass through
this ordeal, and few are chosen TO survive IL
Therefore am not happy TO see placed among m
the best books" alongside of Tom Jones ana
Paradise Lost" the poems and novels whlch
happen be exciting curiosity or giving pleas
ure at the present moment.
Why should the combinations of words by Mr.,
zangwiu which appear in this number of Lip
pircott'' be called poems" Anything more COM
pietely and exasperatingly unpoetic could hard
" be found. One is tempted to believe that the
poet is playing practical joke on his readers
There is not much that is new IN the text Of
General James Grant Wilson's Century pa
per on Thackeray, but it is illustrated by some
of the novelist's delicious little sketches not
before published. Was there ever draughts-
man who put so much of character into such
family drawings as Thackerayi The writer OF
the article remembers the novelists visit to this
country, and pictures him as delivering his lect-
ure on Swift: His breadth Of shoulders was
quite in keeping with his six feet three inches
He was in his forty-second year, but his Sill
vered hair and gold spectaces gave him the ap-
pearance Of a person past fifty HIS ex-
ceedingly fine presence, combined Win MS
charm of manner and the melody of his rich
tenor voice created most favorable impress
sion. Never rising into the declamatory. the
lecturer read with quiet, graceful ease, and
few notes above the conversational level. He
occupied about an hour but there was no sense
Of the lapse of time with at least one youthful
listener. Many years later, in comparing the
readings of Thackeray and Dickens George
William Curtis remarked: The style Of Boz
was that of the perfectly trained actor; Of Tit
marsh, that Of the accomplished gentleman
amateur" 5"
BY the end of the year which is soon to ar
rive tourists will be rushing across Europe and
A Stead, who has lately made the journey by
rail from Pekng to st. Petersburg. tells us in
THE Review of Reviews On the authority Of
the Russian Minister at Peking, that the trip
will presently be made in fourteen days That
Will mean that the American who spends his
summer abroad can have couple of months in
England and France, and another two months
in China and Japan, without exceeding his six
months allowance of leisure.
Mr.. F. c. Bostock's article in Frank Leslies
Monthly the brute in captivity is at once
practical and picturesque. 1t is the work of
trainer who appreciates a fine beast but has no
pretty illusions concerning its qualities. He ex-
plodes belief which has been the basis of
many sentimental stories:
Wild animals do not like children and a child
has little control them. My own little
daughter viii play all day long with the lion
Books aun Publications.