Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-03-05
LITERARY GOSSIP
FROM LONDON
Special Correspondents Of The star.

SRtcisi Correspondence OF The star.
!. LONDON. February 2a.-Who was Carl
Joubert? The question. which is now puz
zling London. does not seem likely to be
answered for some time to come. On the
other hand. an almost complete mystery
surrounds the antecedents of the vehement
writer who suddenly appeared In England
from nowhere, published three sensational
books against the czar and czardom. and
recently suecumbed to an illness OF which
practically no details have been made pub
lie.
Even his real name, or title, is unknown.
the author having informed his publishers
that the name he used was an assumed
one and that it would not be SAFE for him
to reveal his real Identity. 1t IS declared,
too, that "Joubert' was not Russian, al
though he had lived in the cars country
for many years and evidently knew 1t from
end to end. One thing Is certain. however,
and that Is that Jcubert-who was a COM
paratiyely young man-was in close touch
with the inner circle OF the Russian revo-
iutiOnary party, for the forecasts In his
books had an extraordinary way Of coming
true, and his intimate knowledge CT the
ruling powers in Russia was unmistakable
In appearance "Joubert" was the typical
stage revolutiopist-tail and slender. with
well-cut features and jet black hair. lie
came to London little over two years
ago and soon afterward published the book
which made 30 great a sensation On both
sides of the water-"Russia as 1t Really
Is. This was followed something like a
year later by still more startling work,
The Truth About the Gar" and for this,
Joubert stated in predatory note. he
had been supplied with special Information
by officials then in the encourage Of Mich
olas IL. "Joubert's' last book was pub
lished In both England and the United
states only week or so ago. 1t was
called 1.-The White Hand and took the
form of a novel, though 1t served mainly
to set forth the convictions and beliefs or
Its mysterious author
Meanwhile 1t is probable that "Jcubert"
died as the result of a severe Operation
which he was obliged to undergo last No
vember. While confined in bed at that
time he issued q staten snt in which he
said he had received information from tie
revolutionary party In Russia that the i'm
perial family were in imminent danger OF
their lives"
Rider Haggard has evidently decided that
the shoemaker should stick to his last
and the novelist to writing novels For a
while Mr. Haggard persisted in writing
BOOKS about farming and such like matters
that his readers began to despair of ever
having any more romances from his pen,
and even when he did begin to turn out
fiction again he mixed it up with advocat-
iHS eAiO onSh 10 the idEQ movement In
way that did not please his public. Whether
or no the public retaliated it would not be
polite to say, but at any rate Mr. Haggard
seems to have made up his mind to stick
10 STORYTELLING hereafter. It is now re-
ported that the author has completed a
new novel, the scene OF which is laid partly
IN England and partly in the Soudanese
DESERT Briefly, 1t Is the history of an Eng
llSh ofncer who, in his youth, commits a
serious moral error and who registers a
VOW that thenceforth his life shall be kept
unspotted. He keeps his OATH too though
under circumstances of great trial and diff
Guilty, and the success of his great platonic
experiment is shared by an eastern woman
of high rank. Meanwhile having written
hnls to this novel, the author of king
Solomon's Mines has straightway en-
Spanish romance of the period of Fert1i-
nand and Isabella,
II
There are few better read men than John
Burns, the president of the local govern
ment board and the first working man to
De given seat in a British cabinet He
has the most extensive private library re-
lating to labor conditions and social prob
lens to be found in England His reading
In other directions covers a wide range of
literature. 1t is natural that among poets
he should prefer his Scottish namesake and
IS not little proud of the fact that he is
X.
my favorite lines in all our poetry" he told
an interviewer the other day, ARE the
four, coming very near the spirit of the
sermon on the mount, where Burns wrote:
To make happy Preside cline
For weans and wife,
That's the true pathos and sublime
OF human life."
The champion of democracy is not so en-
thusiastic over Shakespeare because he
SHOWS so little sympathy with the toiling
masses. I'VE do not find in his ha
says, any true reflection of the working
classes There may be few exceptions to
this. but, as usual, these merely emphasize
what is the rule
His collection includes a great historic
treasure. 1t Is copy of the answer of
King Charles to the deputation of parlia-
ment stating his reasons why he thought
ne should not be executed. The inscrip-
ton shows it once belonged to John Brad
shaw. the president of the tribunal that
condemned the king