New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-11-05
Il MODERN PROTEUS.
The Author of an -4muSing CoUec-
ton Of Essays.

PoTaN PAP 5 Ry W III 1I6 Do@ie ec ine
pp. '. Is. c. p. Putnams sons.
The Ola Man OF the Sea was accustomed to
rise 70 the shore at midday and sleep in the
shadows OF the rocks along the coast surround
Cd by his pet monsters His function. but not
his inclination. was prophecy. Whoever de-
sired TO extract prophecy from him came upon
him unaxares at this hour and grappled him
Then. 10 avoid the burden Of prophecy. he would
change into every conceivable shape. an OLD
illustration OF the work lazy people make for
themselves II the inquirer held on through
every transformation. Proteus would give up the
struggle prophesy as desired. and return TO the
sea When we seized hold o. the author OF these
"Protean Papers" he tried these old famlilar
tactics at once. At first he became a spelloinoer-
He got out OF material. caJoled audiences an
suered questions. told stories. inspired OraSs
bands to discourse patriotic music, acquired IN
won titles. ratified" at the close OF the cam
paign and went to sleep with dreams OF post
snasterships oonectorships and other falr
forms OF continuing and increasing pr0sfe''''-
But we held on 70 him
Then he su6derly became a genealogy Of the
17ouIlzs family. showing in various tables race
rsously interpreted q descent from such wen
tnovvn figures as Glouyw Glwao Lyoah ellU
Rrochwel Ysgythrog, King Of PoNys' not 10
mention Bleddyn alb Cynfyn and GrufIyd
rrchan. Baron OF Glyndnrdwy. Stil We held
on. In a moment he was Prince. a dog Wnlch
seemed TO At Stevenson's description OF most
clsrespectable dog. far lilzer a cat" The change
10 Drapeau- another dog. q St Bernard, i'm
sunuseL tan colored, short haired with enormous
snlles and shoulders, was not so surprising
we held on for dear life. II was well we did.
6or IN & moment we were being dragged up and
dcv-n the mountains OF Mexico. Ajusco. Toluca
md Popocatepetl- Then Proteus hit on Goethe
and we had p keep hold through comparisons
with Shakespeare as a dramaust' Win f1oll'eI
and Dante as a poet. with Thackeray as
novelist and with no one IN particular as
rrsentist- This being Ineffective. the Old Nan
OF the Sea brought Goals 70 Newcastle and de-
cried literary criticism But here he made
tactical error by plainly implying that critics
ra--ly read books through Of course. we clung
the tighter.
II seemed almost a failure IN invention when
De assumed the guise Of college man and set
as 20 wrestling with the question as to what
real education consisted in. But the transfer
suatiop TO an entire summer baseball team from
BLOCK Island renewed interest Then there
came two reversions. one tc Central America
m the uncomfortable hotels and impassan4e
n,oxlder covered roads OF YuCatan; and another
20 history IN the colony Of William Penn see
sae the contradiction 81 act and character OF
.hss embodiment Of non-resistance It was dis
.-n-oxes as q practical expedient in life, and
we has in our determined hands Grey Wolf, a
chief of the winnebagoes IN the plains beyond
she Mississippi had him testifying in frontier
courtroom in a murder case, as an expert IN
scalping stin we held But Proteus broke
through the rules Of the game. Proteus plunged
snto the sea and was gone, and we were left
Eainfy demanding q prophecy.