New-York tribune., 1903-06-02
LITERARY NOTES.

Mr. Maurice Hewlett's new novel, The queen ;
OMAR" which has just been launcheo as
80 - .,e naces of the Pail Mall Magazine.
&c IN he published in this country IN Inc NC"
Natronolitan Magazine" starting In the july
,ne- NJ the latter periodical quar-
~ uez,le++ EXPLAINS in his prologue, Is
h,a- onire a little book" and continuing
he saws in one such q certain KING ~iO'e
fairly the tale of his love business ana mere
IN this other 1 pretend TO show you ali lhe
tragic error. all the pain. known only 10 he'
that moved it of that child OF his children
children Mary of Scotland
Anronos OF Mr.. Hewlett's new romance ano
tbe field Of history from which its principal
Ne1,re is drawn we may note that LongrnShs'
GO, e. GO have lust reprinted in con-
,-e,,ien+ octave the text of Mr.. Andrew Lang
contribution to the sumptuous series OF mono
sraphs published by. the Goupls' ri
charles Edward Stuart. the Young CheVahei-
To the book in its earlier form We paio "ii W
.rfhute when il first appeared ana we are
glad 20 reiterate our approval OF IL no" 'ie'
!, is made accessible TO a wider audience MI
lang has always had a soft spot IN ms ne0i'
for The most romantic of all the Stuart princes
and he made this biography LABOR OF ioFe'
He has shown in it that capacity for the care
o., String of documents and the clear state
-,en+ of facts which at time seemed un-
,,lelv ever 10 mark the work of so viVac'ous
q writer But he has shown in II also the glIt
Of the picturesque narrator, Dreaming ne"
life into old papers. and humanlzlng all the
elements Of historical research we miss VI
course the numerous and nagnihcent Plates oi
IN. Coupil edition of the book, but the latter
IS worth having in any form. and. pesioes' we
are vouchsafed at least one illustration Oh uAe
present occasion, q frontispiece reproouc'ion
3n photogravure OF the charming miniature oi
the prince owned by Lady Currie
Three other new editions reach US from Charles
scrfbners Sons, inportations from the LONDON
7ress Of Sir George Newnes. One Of these is
70 .a7-be Diary Of John Evelyn in the 'Cax-
-on,, series Of reprints on thin paper How the
publishers ccntrive TO make book OF the sort
IS q marvel. Evelyns immortal work is mere
compressed into such form that one may easlly
carry il in the pocket, but the eight hunoreo
pages are printed in type so clear that one
turns them with much comfort ana pleasure
as though one were reading a substantial oc-
+avo There is the usual beautiful frontispiece
portrait drawn by that brilliant draugntsnan'
Mr.. Edmund J Sullivan. and the binding OF
limp larnbslzin is, always, delight TO see
and TO touch. Poe's Tales Of the Grotesque
erd Arabesoue" appears in a similar form, and
again Mr.. Sullivan gives us exactly the right
kind of portrait for a frontispiece. The third
of these Newnes reprints is one OF Loro Ly'ton
Night and Morning" we'll timed for the
hundredth anniversary of the authors birth
4 fortnight ago. commenting upon passage
in the inaugural address Of Professor j. B. Bury
the successor Of the late LORD Acton al
Cambridge we protested against the ultra
-, en+ fort
II is interesting TO find THE Athenaum'' in
leading article on the, subject devoting most
Of its space to the same point The reviewer
sacaciously remarks that from Herodotus TO
Gibbon the art OF presenting facts in an artistic
literary form has preserved far more history
than II has obscured or defaced," solid fact
which is the best of all answers TO Professor
Bury's contention that history is a science
and nothing more We take from The Athe-
nazurl' these other wise words:
Far from defining history as science and
nothing more we should rather argue that
from the strictest point of view IL can never
be science. for ii deals with facts which, as
such cannot be demonstrated and which can
MOI even he scientifically established we nave
nof hinsc better trust than human reports;
and who VIII guarantee that human reports,
even contemporary and engraved stone. are
accurate? An exact science. therefore, history
can never be Il consists Of probabilities.
stronger or weaker according as the chain is
corrchcrated by sister chains and supported by
a multiplication Of competent witnesses. On
the other hand, history is far more than mere
science for il is also an art, and We will not
concede that this aspect of il is in any sense
foreign or adventitiOus to its inmost nature.
Let take the simplest case To illustrate our
meaning 1t is impossible that any history
worthy OF the avoid the reproducing
Of great men-of those who have at least
most adequately expressed, If they have not
rnoul7ed. their age and its highest development.
Is il reasora hle that in this reproduction We
should consider II the only duty Of history &c
gather the facts of such lives and print them
with scientific accuracy We might as well
maintain that the only portrait worth having
4 photogra ph
An anonymous journalist in London has been
making his confessions in the columns OF To
Day." and he explains the art of success in
his profession the art of tacIing ones self
70 a great mans shadow. He tackled himself
10 Gladstone's and tells a curious anecdote of