Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1906-03-28
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Dr. Henry Van Dyke, whose new vol
ulne, Essays in Application" has
been received in a way that remark
ably emphasizes his reputation as a
writer and thinker, has received a dis
tinguished honor from Johns Hopkins
University in Baltimore. He has been
asked to deliver at that university a
series Of lectures in the course on Eng
ish literature. This course was or
iGinally founded for Sidney Lanier a
few years before his death, and he de-
livcred the first lecture in it.
They have solved the problem of lit
erary censorship in China by furnishing
the reader, as we'll as the writer, of an
objectionable book. The latter is re-
Warded for his efforts by 100 blows
with heavy bamboo rcd and Danish
ment for life; and while the punish
ment of the reader is not SO severe, it
is sufficient strong to act as deter
rent1'he appetite for forbidden fruit is
apparently under much better control
III the land Of the Celestials than it Is
III this country, where everybody is q
literary law unto himself, and where
the suggestion that book is somewhat
off color generally results in its get.
ting into the lists as one Of the seasons
best sellers.
H. w. Boynton, author of "Bret
Harte,' in Contemporary Men of Let
ters Series, declares that the most
minute search of ali documents and
inquiries among persons who knew
Bret Harte have not enabled him to
fix definitely the rumors Of Harte's
Jewish ancestry. Clement Shorter, edi.
tor Of The Sphere, takes issue with
Mr.. Boynton and declares there is no
doubt about the matter. He writes to
an inquirer: Il may state that my
final authority for Bret Harte's Jew
ISL origin is his daughter, Miss Ethel
Fret Harte, for whom a fund was re-
Gently raised in London. Bret Harte
In his family circle recalled as a small
boy being taken to see the old grand
father who was very strict Jew and
never entirely forgave his son for mar
rying Christian
Probably no author whose writings
have SO great and definite q literary
value has worked and achieved distinc-
tiOn more quietly than has Mary E..
Wilkins Freeman. Indeed, she has al
ways been so averSe to self-adVertiSe-
ment of any kind whatsoever that even
now the general public knows but lit
tie of the personality and life of one
whose writings are read and loved all
over the world. Doubtless, Mrs. Free
mans taste for simple things and her
dislike to ostentation are her inheri-
lance from the Puritan colonists who
were her ancestors. Mary e. Wilkins
was born in Randolph, Mass, and re-
ceived her education there and at
Mount Holyoke seminary. Ten years of
her life were passed in BrattlebOro,
VT, but after the death Of her parents,
she returned to Randolph, where she
made her home until her marriage, in
1902, to DR.. Charles Manning Freeman.
Since then Mrs. Freeman has lived in
Metuchen, n. j., village that has I'M
doubtedly served as a model for the
cambridge of her latest novel. "The
Debtor" Mrs. Freeman's success, came
to her quietly with almost the first
story she ever wrote. and her circle
of readers has been increasing stead
lily for the past twenty years. AS to
her personality, Mrs. Freeman is a
rather small woman, who impresses
you as being singularly unaffected, cor
dial and frank One who knows her
we'll has described her as follows ga
little fail-loOking creature, with a splen-
did quantity of pale-brown hair, and
dark-blue eyes with a direct look and a
clear, frank eXpressiOn-eye that
readily grow bright with fun. She
has, indeed, a keen sense of humor,
which expresses itself quietly and
whimsically. She is fond of country
ways, but confesses to fears Of COWS,
caterpilars and all creeping things"