The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-01-06

f Such a letter could. hardly be called
a burden. It comes from a house with
which pleasant relations have been es-
tablished, and is accepted, as it is meant
to be, merely as n Of the amenities
Of business.
It was said above that the reviewer
must for the most part give snap iudg-
ment. One reason is the deluge Of
books. It is paralyzing to even a sturdy
reviewers energies the way the books
move upon him in the fall season. They
come singly and by twos, by squads,
and by cohorts, especially as the Holt
days draw near, and publishers, Of
course, are anxious to have their books
all reviewed before Christmas, in order
to catch the Christmas trade (Which
Is another Of the reviewers ~trials).
It was in the early stages of the high
book tide of the present season that
the Journals reviewer had a dream,
the result doubtless Of the receipt Of
several large shipments Of books and
an excess of energy, involving late
hours. In the dream he saw himself
about to be engulfed between two
mighty waves of books. Just as he be-
gan to feel resigned, seeing in the ap-
preaching cataclysm an end of his woes,
the, dream underwent a change. Instead
Of being a reviewer, prestol he was a
book. From force of habit. no doubt,
he glanced down his title page to see
who the publisher was. With a sense
of satisfaction he noted that it was a
Boston house. This being the record Of
an actual dream, the fact is given; it
is not necessary to give the disturbed
slumberer's reasons for his satisfaction.
Hardly had he discovered whose imprint
he wore, however, before a terror shook
him from cover to cover. He was in
the hands of a reviewer-and that re-
viewer had cloven hoofs and a~barbed
tail! Worse still, this fend lifted a
forked instrument, sharp on one side,
with which the book, with a horrible
quaking, realized that his pages were
about to be cut. He was saved the
pain, however, for a book pushed off the
arm Of his uneasy chair aroused the
slumberer and restored him to his right
mind.
The reviewer has since wondered
whether his dream was allegorical, and,
If so, what the meaning was. Did he
see himself in his dream as authors see
him always9 Or was his future state
being disclosed to him9 If the latter
was he to be the high %torturer of the
turede Or, after all, was the dream a
means of teaching the lesson of the
golden rule, as tho the books coming to
his hands would say: "You've had q
taste of the torture of being reviewed
now be good to us9'' Where is the
Daniel who will interpret the dreamq
Tennyson exclaims somewhere: go
You chorus of indolent reviewers!'' anf
his attitude, typical among authors, M
doubt, is another Of the burdens Of thu
reviewer, tho it is not allowed to weigh
very heavily. Still it is unjust, and i
the above narrated dream proves t,
mean that the reviewer who experi
enced it is to superintend the futur,
fortunes of authors, Tennyson will Ger
tainly be called to account.
However, Tennyson was, perhaps, no
f altogether to blame, for, no doubt, ther
d are Hindolent reviewers just as Their
are indolent poets. Tennyson, doubt
less, had had experience with some sue
reviewers. Nevertheless, he should no
+ have condemned so sweepingly.
n If Tennyson's fling testers in tn
mind of the reviewer, what shall b