New-York tribune., 1901-01-11
SOME MAGAZINE NOTES.
MEN. THINGS AND OPINIONS IN THE
CURRENT NUMBERS.


Riis's Century" article on "Hamlet's Castle
He has. Of course no proof that Shakespeare
one of the English players who visited
Elsinore. as the records show. in l5SJ. the year
IN which the Castle Of Eronborg was finished;
but these men. whose names are in the Elsinore
ledger were afterward Shakespeare's colleagues
and constant companions and might we'll have
talked to him Of grim Kronborg as a fit setting
for the tragedy suggested by SaXos Hamlet. X
is impossible that the dramatist might have
been with them in Denmark. and have seen with
his own eyes what Mr.. Riis has often seep-the
very rampant where the Ghost walked. the great
knights Hail. where hung the arras through
whic1 Hamlet stabbed Poonius. The tapestry
represented III ancient Danish kings. and what
is left of it hangs in the Copenhagen Museum
Of Antiquities. Did these royal figures suggest
Hamlet's command his mother:
Look here, upon this picture. and on this
The counterfeit presentmant Of two brothers.
II the poet did not Sc these arras portraits
himself Mr.. Riis thinks that they We're de-
scribed to him 10y some one very familiar with
sights not displayed to the general public.
contemporary travellers complain.
1t In Kronborg that Queen Caroline Ma
tilda sat imprisoned in tower room while her
favorite. the powerful Minister StrUensee suf-
fered under the hcadsman's axe. Mr.. Riis recalls
the scene, and recalls also the strange back
ground Of it ala room in New-York tene-
inent, with the sunset slanting through the win
dow. and touching something on the floor that
red and hideous. So seeking an expIana-
tion Of the familiar hut unusual name i'm the po-
lice reports. I had found him. the last Of the
Struensees. dead by his hand. He was
poor shoemaker; his great granduncle Minister
III State. favorite of queen"
Mr.. Garland ought TO revise the talk of his
English heroine-it is too American in atmos-
phere. Even in words for what English girl
would mention in rural England the stage-road
TO East Port "a look at the old tavern after
lunch"
There are two capital features I'm THE Cosmo-
Tpolitan" this month One is the collection of
vigorous character drawings by Mr.. Maxfield
Parrish. illustrating Mr.. Martins paper on New
Amsterdam; the other is Mr.. II. q. Wes's sur
prising account of the opening experiences of
''The First Men in the Moon" He does indeed,
manage TO give a remarkable air Of reality
his fantastic narrative. The reader is almost
3nclined 10 believe in the masses of gigantic
fungi growing with lightning rapidty; in the
horrible. big, fiabby moon calves. and their mad
believing: in the queer Selenite. the inhabitant
of the moon. being resembling more great
insect than a man. Mr. Wells is developing a
gift, unique in its way for exploiting and pursu-
ing the wild guesses of savans and of dreamers
and there appear 10 be bounds to the country
Of his imagination.
Writing in The Atlantic" of the late Rowland
Robinson. the chronicler of sam Lovel." Mrs
Julia c. r. Dorr says:
Let suppose that Mr. Robinson's
stories meant 10 be actual transcripts of the
life of Vermont to-day as il exists even in
her mountain towns They are stories of old
Vermont. the Vermont of sixty years ago, and
even earlier; before the railroad had penetrated
her Businesses. or the telegraph brought her into
close and vital connection with the outer world.
have heard the question asked-nay. more,
admit have asked il myself: Did New-Eng-
landers ever talk Hike Sam Lovel and Uncle
'Lisha and Joseph HNl2' a friend once said to
me: Il have known Vermont many years. and l
never heard any one say .julluck for just like
or seems 'ough,' or 'hayth' for height
sundry other queer expressions and pronunci-
ations that Mr.. Robinson gives as Yankeeisms."
Shortly after this I went into my garden,
where a of all work was removing some
bulbs. ErF
Say. Mis- Dorr'' he remarked don't them
roots look Julluck turnups? Seems 'Ough they
did,"
whereupon 1 concluded it was not proof OF
superior wisdom to question Mr.. Robinson's
o. Yankee dialect
The Child in the Library" brief paper by
Miss Edith Lanigan. puts in ingenious form
opposite plea for the good old practice of allow
ing young reader TO browse among books at
Will and thus develop his natural tastes.
Raffes delightful. wicked, humorous Raffes
comes to the surface again in "Scribner'S Maga-
zine" His villany as imagined by Mr.. Hor-
nung is Of conventional kind. but Raffles him
self is Of the most agreeable Of new rascals
IT is to be hoped that the career of the anna
teur cracksman will continue TO animate the
world of letters for some time to come
All the meditative charm of the Henry James
of twenty years ago reappears in his 'Scribner"
paper on "Winchelsea, Rye and Denis Duval.'
Mr. James addresses his reader almost di-
Tectly did the earlier novelist in his confiden-
Sial attitude. yet what difference Of manner!
How cool. impersonal fnicaIly careful is the
American! Could any apply the word
s'genial" 10 Henry James.
Jefferson DaVs's comment tine news Of the
assassination of Lincoln set down by the
Confederate Secretary Mallory. and is printed
sn "McClure's Magazine" Meeting him few
minutes afterward'' wrote Mallory. and hav-
ing in the mean time heard of the dispatch.
expressed my utter disbelief of the assassina-
fion He replied that il sounded him like
rsnard, but that in revolutionary times events
no less startling were constantly occurring. 7
expressed my deep regret. and. among other
views my conviction Of Mr.. Lincoln's modera-
tfon his sense of justice. and my apprehension
that the South would be accused Of instigating
his death To this Mr.. Davis replied, sadly:
q certainly have special regard for Mr.. Lin
coin; but there great many men Of whose
end would much rather have heard than his
] fear IL will be disastrous 10 people. and
regret Il deeply.
Has Mr. KipIing indeed written himself out"
as some commentators claim? 1t is yet too early