The San Francisco call., 1904-04-24

ing about the unfortunate people rouno-
about you" Don't" she answers.
now you've made me lose my place"
The music worries her. When they let
down the curtain and turn up the lights
she is happy.
The Creevey Papers is not a book
to be taken up and read straight
through. II would be like sitting down
to read through "Pepys' Diary" or the
Percy Anecdotes, / heard of a man
once who, starting al page one and fin
ishing at page four hundred and thir-
teen, read through conscientiously, not
missing a line, a work entitled One
Thousand and One Gems of British
Humour" Like poor King Henry, he
never smiled again. 1t was not the
fault of the book: il was the fault of
the darned fool himself. The book was
an exhaustive, comprehensive compen-
dunn. 1 have never heard a joke be-
fore or since that was not in IL. On the
shelves of thousands of hard working
men and women ii remains to this day.
a valued and serviceable friend. But
like Betsy Prigg's bottle, it should be
reached down only when the reader
feels so disposed. This man sat down
before the fire with it, took il up TO
bed with him, read it through without
a break, one gem of British humor after
another. 1t is alphabetically arranged,
commencing with the free translation
OF a Hebrew joke against Adam and
ending with a witty anecdote told by
a famous statesman in the course OF
a speech advocating the adoption of an
imperial zollverein. The largest divl-
sion comes under the letter c, which
contains all the jokes ever made
about cats and all the funny things
that have ever been or that ever Will be
said by children. But d, embracing all
the best known British humor con-
nected with dogs, runs it pretty close.
Often, after merry evening, when
friends have sat around recounting
stories beginning: Il must tell you
what George said the other night" or
We'll, speaking about retriever dogs,
I have reached this book down from its
shelf. It is admirably indexed, the
groups being carefully arranged and
divided into their proper subsections,
and with patience l rarely fail to trace
what George said or what the re-
triever did, to its original source. But,
as have said, it is a book to be dipped
into, not read.
THE Creevey Papers" is book to
be read for half an hour and then laid
down again. 1t has not the spice Of the
"Greville Memoirs nor the charm of
Lord Hervey's "reminiscences" Her
vey was keen observer, a fearless dis
sector and a brilliant man of letters.
Creevey was merely an amusing Paul
Pry, a gossip-menger of the valet or
der. But the valet is of more service
~ fa
gets the credit of being. To his valet,
il is said, no man is hero. When the
hero mounts his prancing horse he dis.
appears from the Wallets view. When
the valet sees him is when he is pulling
off his socks. If one wishes to under
stand mankind it is necessary to know
not only the hero but the man. To act
the hero on the stage with the lime
light turned upon one is comparatively
easy. The same actor can be hero
off the stage also. BUTT does not fol-
low Of necessity; the two things are
distinct. A man can be brave on the
battlefield and yet be a poor thing at
. o'clock in the morning. Phil Mays
henpecked lion tanner, crouching behind
the king of the forest, while his terma-
CANT wife outside the cage exclaims,
Come out, you coward!'' is quite a
natural character. Belisarius and the
Duke of Marlborough in their own
homes carried meekness TO the verge
of imbecility. Statesmen, excellent at
teaching firmness to a nation, have
proved themselves mere fretful children
when face to face with personal dis
appointment. If the proper study of
mankind be man, the study must be
complete. We want to know how our
philosophers behaved when suffering
from the toothache.
OF course there is a certain class of
reader who should never attempt biog-
raphy. Il would rather not learn
anatomy" an art student once told me.
Knowing what the firm flesh was
made of-the structure of the shapely
limbs-the cause of natures wondrous
red and white upon a young girls face
would rob me of all delight in nv
work" For such knowledge is harm