The Washington herald., 1906-12-30
How sweet the strange recall
From vast antiphones Of JOY and pain
Beyond the grave 70 these old books again,
The coy lamp those pictures on the wall
Alfred koyes.


attracting public attention nowadays is
"Garrick and His Circle by Mrs. Glenn
ent Parsons. Always a fascinating figure
in literature, Mrs. Parsons gives in her
new book about him some intimate
gIimpses that allow the reader a full
length portrait of the man-both on and
of his pedestal. Here the reader comes
to association with Kitty Give. Peg Wof
fngton. Samuel FOote. Burke. Reynolds.
DR. Johnson, and a host OF others OF
lesser fame. The author has evidently
made a close study OF Garrick-of course
from books. but there is a wealth Of lit
eratuTe on the subject. She shows that
he was a man Of varied moods, but not
unlike our star actors of to-day in that
he acted both on and of the stage. He
was alternately sincere and hypOcritical.
frank and reserved generous and stingy.
He was a man of humoT on occasions
and he frequently mingled humor with
his business. He had two set phrases
which he used for the purpose of dis
missing bores and impOrtunates: You
will remember Tuesday" and Mrs. Gar
rick is waiting" The character Of the
man Is pretty well exemplifed in his en-
-couragement TO an applicant for a posi-
ton in his company: Upon my word, sir,
you have got merit. And your conception
i like that last speech very well, ex-
ceedingly well, indeed, sir. Your voice,
too, I really think-but for this season
I assure you I am quite full. Leave
your address with my brother George,
and If any vacancy happens you shall
hear from me-" Mrs. Parsons very mild
" says that it is evident that ne was
more diplomatic than straightforward, but
this Is a charge that has been brought
against every theatrical manager that
ever lived. Mrs. Parsons says that he
always sought to justify himself to I'm
partial lookers-on: To them he played
as TO a gallery. and. as a result, We
ind how half-hearted sometimes were
his offers of service to those. who. like
Macklin, for example, had chosen to
break away from him. Garrick lacked
the simplicity of his friends, Burke, Rey-
nolds, and Johnson. He was not so
great a man" But that, perhaps, the
world knew before.
a feature Of the Bookman, published
in London every month, is the giving
Of prizes for the best quotation from
Shakespeare which may be aptly applied
10 any book which is reviewed in that
months issue Of the magazine. In Sep
TENDER the book chosen was The Jun
gle which offered a fine opportunity for
the hunter Of quotations. The one that
gained the prize was:
Titauia-say sweet love, what thou desr st to eat.
Bottom-I had rather have a handful OF two OF
dried peas.
-MidsummeT Nights Dream.
Other quotations that were submitted
as catching the spirit Of the novel about
the beef trust were;
And now about tho cauldron sing.
Enchanting all that you put in.
Macbeth.
Another good, but short one, was:
Sir. I VIII eat no meat.
Antony and Cleopatra.
And the last, which some will deem the
most apropos, is:
BY ny troth, / cannot abide the smell Of meat since
Merry Wives o. Windsor.
Not rapidly, but yet steadily, fiction
Is being replaced in popular favor by
volumes Of memoirs, and as a conse-
quence every great mans estate in let
ters is being raked over to find something
worthy of publication. The pity Of it is
that sometimes these publications shatter
such dear loved idols. For instance, It is
a matter of faith with the American
schOo!boy 10 believe that story about
George Washington and the cherry tree.
with its welI-knowu climax; Father, /
faf1 Ia 7 ne
Ratchet But now comes the icOno-
elastic memoir digger, and in Harpers
we have some of Cen Washington's let
tiers republished, and one of them, at
least, skaters his claim TO unimpeachable
veracity. Writing to one of his generals,
he says that he IS forwarding a corps Of
ritiemen, and he advises his correspondent
TO circulate news about them in such
way that it may reach the enemy, and
the Father Of his Country adds: Tt would
not be amiss, among other things, 10
magnify their numbers"
Lots of people fail 10 distinguish
whether It is an "e" or an "f'' in the
name Of Frances Aymar Matthews, the
author Of many good novels. and many
Of her correspondents. deeming that the
novelist is a man, write her the most Pc
culiar letters. A Danish clergyman, for
instance. wrote her and told her that a
lady Of his congregation who was herself
a poet, had fallen in love with Mr.
Matthews. and desired his acquaintance
A large Western publishing house wrote
TO her and begged her as a well-knOwn
and successful educauOnalist. college
man. &C, to write an article for their
an oil .rrsas 40 On
Matthews was in Paris, she found her
self invited 10 make one Of a merry party
10 a dinner given by Partisan editors
She had TO rise to the occasion quickly
here, and on the spur of the moment she
invented q sick wife az a reason for de
clining the Bohemian courtesy.
Although SwinbUTne is still strong and
mentally active IN his old age, and the re-
tlrement which he shares in common with
George Meredith, there are many writer's
Of to-day who insist on regarding him as
a man whose day is done and paying trib-
ute to his genius. as If it were a thing Of
the past, instead Of still flashing forth
brightly now and then. One can forgive
this, however, if the Characterization Of
the poet Swinburne is so delicate and ap-
propTlate as that Of George Sylvester
Vierecks, who, In the Century. writes Of
him:
The sea- Thy true love, taught thy lyric tongue
The mighty music Of her mutiny;
Thy voice. as hers. the ages shall Irolong
And pTaising numbers men shall ask Of thee:
Is II the that thunders in his song
Or is il his song reTerberates in the scar
Putnam'S Magazine has been investigat-
ing the prevalence Of the reading habit
throughout the United States, and. as
might have been expected. it finds the
habit more pronounced in New England