New-York tribune., 1902-12-28
CHE Neso;Tlor3s 0r1bmaa&
ILLUSTRATED SUPPLEMENT-
SUNDAY. DECEMBER %, 1902,

u,to oIoSo of the Christmas season Oh pooA
salling involves a certain pause IN the pusihess
of nubIishing, but this does not mean that 'ne
counters now offer lean browsing 10 the io'N
of literature On the contrary, we shouiu s".
t,,o+ tbe recent period of holiday actvity-and
great prosperity-among the puphshei'' ha r.
tba market in better condition than ever peIore
a. this time of the year. The reason is simple
enough. AS we have more than once poihteo
ont of LATE the Christmas book has been stead
a.. inoroasinp in intrinsic value Even In those
oaSas whore abundance of pictures ana oeco-
rative treatment generally have seemed TO inuf-
cate the Christmas gift in essence, there haVe
heen elements of permanent interest poth III the
taxt and in the illustrations. Moreover lhe
season has witnessed the publication ol al u
usual number of good works OF historical re-
search memoirs and literary studles' oi oooA''
in short to be read and preserved. oo iian'
Of these indeed, have been printed tha' lhes
nromise to fill in the most acceptable manner
the gap that lies between the winter anu tns
snrinc seasons, giving the publishers chah@e
70 breathe after their efforts, to take STOCK anu
to nrepare themselves for the activities OF Apfh
and May.
>,u I-inl,o,s depunciation of the AnglO-Ger-
man alliance in the Venezuelan business is dis
+rocsino enough merely in tone 1.-The RoWers
offars one more proof of his inability to touch
no1i+ical themes without showing ILL temper, anu
the worst kind of provinciality. But we are
ranidly becoming resigned to his fatuity ~hefe
things of this sort are concerned Like great
MANY Colonials he is more BrltISn lliah 'he
British themselves, and must De clanoilnS
about the Empire in season and out OF seaSon.
His admirers must endure his tub-thumplng
whether they like it or not But there is point
at which our resignation fails US, the point at
which Mr.. Kipling becomes SO 1hhaineo o'e'
the mismanagement Of public affairs that in
the effort to put things right he 1ofgets the
dutv of q poet to write poetry. Even though we
were delighted, instead of being dlsSustea' WIN
tbp foolish scolding in "The Rowers,'' we would
have to confess that as verse 1t fails ABOUT Us
far beneath Mr.. Kipling's standard as his most
malignant foe could desire. The situation 1or
his genius is threatening. By dint of meddllng
with the South African trouble he has caused
his prose to suffer in a lamentable degree Inc
same Dreoccupation has hurt his verse, ana ne
has proceeded to damage it still further Wheh-
ever other complications have given him the
onDortunity Anxiety about the Russians leo
him TO produce one unsatisfactory set OF
rhymes the posture of affairs in Venezuela now
invites him to another performance similarly
DISTRESSING and, no doubt he means to continue
his egregious campaign. Those who care most
for his great gifts are the ones who grieVe most
sincerely.
The bumptious journalese of Mr. G. K. Ches-
terton that infant Hercules of literary London,
as Max Beerbohm has called him, contains, as a
rule little to arrest attention. But in some dis