Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1902-09-07

Garlbaldi's friend
Even thy name Is as the splendor OF 3
/ sun-briBht sword,
! While the boys heart beats In man, thy
fame shall find not end;
! Time and dark oblivion bow before thee
as their lord,
Youth acclaims thee gladdest OF the gods
that Eild his days;
I Age gives thanks for thee and death
lacks heart to quench thy praise.
am told by booksellers here that
Augusta Evanss new story "a Speckled
Bird, has had a remarkably good sale,
in spite of the fact that her style of story
| telling Is long out Of date, and her won
derful popularity a thing of the past.
"A speckled Bird" Will never, however,
gain the success Of est. Elmo" for it Ia
said that that very romantic and stiltcd
| tale was surpassed only in popularity by
Uncle TOMS Cabin" and ben Hur,' y
a writer in the Bookman has very aptly.
| said Of 'St. Elmo" that '.it is a para
dox.' It is utterly and fatty absurd.
| and yet it is a noble work Of a noble
| woman" And In this opinion many read
ers will agree for there are few Of US
| who do not now laugh at the story's abb
surdities, and yet not one of us, perhaps,
but will recall with pleasure the devotion
once ElaFlShed upon 1t.
The death of James Tissot in Paris
only a few weeks ago, recalls wildly to
mind that artists strange and haunting
conceptions OF 1.-The Life of Christ" It
will be remembered that Tissot went to
the Holy Land to find among the actual
scenes of Palestine, the background and
setting of his paintings, and that he
studied there ten years before he felt
confident of being able to paint his pic
lures as he conceived them. When he
had finished his work, his series consist
ed of $50 paintings and Ill pen drawings,
the whole covering. with many details
the entire life of Christ. These produc-
tons are now the property Of the Brook
lyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, but
series of volumes giving copies Of the
entire collection Of pictures together with
explanatory notes and descriptions was
some time ago published by the McClures,
and In this way the work has become
more or less familiar to the entire coun-
try.
It is not likely, however, that the pic
lures will ever become popular in Ameri-
ca. They do not make the same familiar
and personal appeal to the majority OF
people Of our traditions that Is found in
the sacred paintings of Holman and
Plockhorst, and their following Of Roman
Catholic legend rather than the simple
Bible narrative finds an answer in our
interest more than in cur faith. Yet
no student of this pictured story can
fail to find in it g. wonderful and per-
suasive power of realistic presentation.
One sees here with the bodily eye rather
that with the eye of the spirit and finds
Christ as a man dwelling and working
among the actual towns and waysides
and hills Of Palestine and in the midst
OF men no more human than himself
His figure. as well as the figures Of the
people among whom he lived, is portray
ed with a humanness that is almost I'M
couth, and it is only In tho graneudr
Of the story that is told, that the SUBJ
lime truth OF His divinity is made EVIL
dent. But this humanizing and making
realistic Of the old story does not find
ready response among the majority Of
those who follow its teachings, and 1t will
doubtless be long before popular approval
will give to the pictures the consideration
which they merit.
ANNE PENDLETON
Doubleday. Page & Co. have announced
volume Of poems by Miss Ellen Glas-
gov. The poems are for the most part,
collected from the various magazines In
which they have appeared and are issued
in a luxuriously printed little ok worthy
in outward garb of the inner grace of it's
contents.
Few writer's of our day have been read
with more genuine pleasure and affection
than Edward Eggleston, and his. death
can but be a matter Of sincere regret
throughout the entire country, while in
Virginia and the home Of so many Of his
people, sense Of personal loss is joined
f1@, -.
down of this well-loved pen.
Mr.. Esgleston, began his literary life
in the early sixties, but was only known
in small way Till be became editor Of
the New York Independent in 1871. Later,
as editor OF the Hearth and Home, he
contributed the story Of THE Hoosier
Schoolmaster" to the pages OF that jour
nal and by it grew into the widespread
favor which he never afterwards lost.
His literary activity covered more than
forty years and his gifts to the reading
public during that time, took many forms,
but it is as a teller Of tales and a his
torlcal writer that he Is held in highest
respect. AS novelist he DEALS in his
best books with the Middle West, and in
and manly fiction he has set
forth the characteristics of that region
since pre-empted according to overful-
some critics by Booth Harrington and
Mrs. Catherwood, but still abundantly
his own as "The Circuit Rider Roxy
The Graysons," and others Of his stories
bear ample testimony.
In mis- historical studies he writes, for
the most part, Of the Colonial period Of
our national history. and his works are
remarkable not only for their vividness
and light but also for their sane and
attitude towards the SUBJ
jects Of which they treat. His object
is not so much to state historical facts
as to study the causes and results of
these facts and to bring his readers into
intimate sympathy with the people who
mako history. His Beginners OF Ma
ton Of which. the first volume was
published In 1885,. was his most ambitious
work, and in this he writes Of the
various colonists of the Atlantic coast in
a style that Is strong and convincing at
at the same time that it is almost poeti-
cal in its appreciative discernment. Two
chapters in this first volume The James
Rive. Expeditions and 1.-THE Procession
Of Motives dwell with large interest !
Oh the beginnings Of our own State
and discuss with characteristic insight,
the odd fate which here, as in other set
Elements, perverted the motives Of the !
colonists and established their prosperity
long lines contrary to their well planned |
AS an author Mr.. Eggleston possessed
HE perfectly united qualities Of a story