The Washington herald., 1907-03-31

YOU o books are the golden vessels q ne tenn
ple. The arms OF the clerical militia with which
the missiles Of the most wicked destroyed fruit
fui olives, vines Of Bnssddi. fig trees knowing no
sterilits; burning lamps to be ever held IN the
hand
We are apt to think of Thackeray ana
Dickens as old-fashioned, and somewhat
far removed from our time, and yet we
are constantly reminded that it was only
a brief yesterday ago that they were
writing. Many of Us can remember that
it was with something of a shock that
we learned in 1884 of the death of Mrs.
William Makepeace Thackeray, so long
had she, the poor unfortunate, outlived
her distinguished husband Last week
at the Kent Assizes in England there was
witnessed the spectacle of two genera
tions of Charles Dickens family taking
opposite sides in a forensic battle, in a
case where five men were charged with
"c0nspiring TO steal" a quantity of lead.
Henry +. Dickens, K. c., a son of the
great novelist was the leading counsel
for the prosecution. and Henry's son, II.
c. Dickens. conducted the defense of one
Of the accused men. The proceedings were
enlivened by some lively legal Tits be
tween father and soma situation which
undoubtedly would have appealed huge
ly to Charles Dickens, who made 50 much
fun out OF the stolid legal procedure OF
his country. Dickens took so much de-
light ia poking fun at the legal prOfes-
sion that it seems singular that his eldest
surviving son should have achieved pros
perity and distinction in that very pro-
fession. The eldest son, Charles Dickens.
jr-. essayed TO follow his distinguished
fathers steps in the fields of literature,
but he had none Of his fathers gift: lit
erature brought him in no money and
he died. leaving large family in strait
ened circumstances. These grandchildren
Of Charles Dickens have had to work
hard for their living. One OF the girls
is a dressmaker, another conducts a type
writing business, and the third is kin
deTgarten teacher "PiOrn, dickens
third son, emigrated - Australia, where
he is now an honored member of the
government; and another of the novelist s
sons went TO sea and was drowned
There is to be a book sale in London
shortly. at which the most interesting
items to be offered for sale viii be a vol
ume of Mohere's works which was pre-
sented to Lady HamiltOn-the lady who
did so much for Lord Nels0n-by a Miss
COrnelia Knight What lends particular
value TO the volume is the fact that Lady
Hamilton has recorded her opinion OF the
giver of the book on one side of its blank
pages. She wrote as follows.
Given 20 By Miss Knight whom I thought
good and sincere sucC0Ted, cherished, and pro
tected her and her mother Lady knight and
brought them from Naples % Sicily. We gage shell
Ter % Miss n. for near two years We brought
her free II expense 70 EHgiand- What has she
done iu Tetumt IngTatitude. God forgive her: for
although she is clever and learned she is dirty i'll
bred. HHgrateUl. bad-manneTed false and deceiFing
Bat my heart takes n0bler vengeance forgive
hU' EMMA HAMILTON.
a strange forswearing Of revenge. this
pOst-mOrten biographical sketch. II be-
comes now a literary curiosity, and will
probably fetch a high price.
Hester Ritchie, a granddaughter of
Thackeray, is writing about Americans in
London, I'm Putnam's, and she recalls
Lowell who was American minister 10
England. who compared the flow of life
IN the LONDON streets 20 the tides of the
sea. Lowell wrote: Il love to stand IN
The middle of the park and forget my
self In the duh roar of ever-circulating
life, which bears burden to the song of
The thrush ! am listening to. It is far
more Impressive than Niagara. which has
nothing else 20 do, and can't help itself
I'm this vast torrent all the drops are
men"
Iu another letter Lowell wrote: Lon
don / like beyond measure; the wonder
fui movement of life acts as a constant
stimulus. The climate also suits me bet
ter than any / ever lived in. / have only
10 walk a hundred yards from my door
to see green grass and hear the thrushes
sing all the winter long. These are a
constant delight and 1 sometimes shud-
der TO think of the poor dead weeds and
grasses i have seen shiveriHg in the cast
iron earth at home But ! shall come
back TO them 10 comfort them out of my
own store OF warmth with as hearty a
sympathy as ever"
Mrs. Marion V. Dudley, now in Wash
Ington, has edited and gathered together
the lectures and ex tempore discussions
about Goethe. delivered before the MIL
waukee Literary School, in August, 1886.
The discussion ranged over a week and
was devoted entirely to Johann WoIfgang
Goethe, who was viewed from many as
poets. As the president, John Johnston,
said Ia his address Of welcome 10 the lee
turers: "GOethe's muse was anchored to
no single field, but scared over the whole
wide domain of poetry Song, epigra,n.
ode eiegy, ballad, opera. comedy, trag-
cdy, and the mighty epic, all engaged his
aens nay, more. he undertook excursions
into the realms of mineralogy. coTupara-
tive anatomy, biography optics, novels
both sentimental and phllOs 1phical-and
the fine arts. The discussion was very
thorough and engaged many minds.
All of the papers are reproduced,
and they offer a wealth of interesting
material, not alone to the student of
Goethe, but also to the student Of litera-
ture in general. The German poet IS dis
cussed in his relation to English litera-
tUre, the mythology of his poems is can
vassed and his works criticised Among
the contributors to the discussion are:
Prof. w. T. Harris. Mr.. James McAIlis-
ter, Mr.. Z. b. SanbOrn. Miss Caroline X.
Sherman. Prof Denton Snyder. Mrs.
Maria A. Shorey, Prof. w T. Hewitt. Mr..
Horace Rublee, Miss Aubertine Wood
3 ward, and Mrs Hattie Tying Griswoll.
Chicago: S. NJ. C. Griggs & Coz
THE Kinsman," by Mrs. Alfred sidg-
wick. IS a humorous story that is well
told, and which makes enjoyable read
ing In plot It is something after the
fashion OF The Masqusrader. but. while
that novel trod close on the heels Of
tragedy THE Kinsman" is sheer comedy.
Its sceHe is laid in England. and "The
kinsman' is a poor cockney bank clerk.
who is down on the south coast for hol-
day. There he meets a cousin from Aus
trala. a man who looks 90 much like
himself that no one could tell them
apart The cousin is very rich: the bank
clerk miserably poor; the cousin is q