The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-12-13
BOOKS AM

The first fiction story sold for publica-
ton by William Wallace WhitelOck, author
~ when Kings Go Forth 20 Battle was
purchased by a fashion magazine. Whether
owing To oysrCrowding Of its columns or a
roo conscientious regard for the and
Of the title the editor did not publish the
story until after six years. and then the
check was for $3.50. when Kings Go Forth
to Battle has gone into a third edition.
All but the concluding chapters OF Grace
s. RichmOnd's Juliet" we're written in
England. Il spent six months thers to do
the work." Miss Richmond writes, living
a number Of weeks in each place which l
have described under somewhat similar
conditions in many ways as to mOd Of
life, although the characters, Of course,
are imaginary. | can hardly conceive a
more delightful way Of combining work
and play than such a living in the back
ground of one own story-so to speak!
Work in the mornings, explorations in the
afternoons, rest in the evenings. should
like to do il all over again-if l could only
do it better"
In the Memoirs Of Monsieur Claude"
the chief Of police of Paris under Napoleon
Ill. is described the elaborate system OF
spies with which the Emperor surrounded
himself. The chdmbre ROire at the Tuileries
was their headquarters, and NJ. Claude says.
The informers. plotters or brGUi who
came to get their pay in this secret room
for services rendered had a singular way
Of presenting an order for the sum due.
They breathed on the glass of the door OF
the chGmbre pcirs, and then wrote their
names on the mist left there. together with
the sum 20 be paid. Reading This novel
cheque. the cashier Of his Majesty paid
the money. the creditor wiped OF the mist
with the sleeve OF his coat and no trace re-
NAMED Of the passage Of the spy. who was
never. at the Tuileries. a parsonage Of a
low order"
Mr.. Marion Crawford's Soprano" which
ran serially in an English periodical. occa-
stoned the writing Of many letters to the
author asking for the sequel. So many
reAdeVs felt that il would be unsatisfactory
TO leave The beautiful young prima donna on
the threshold Of her career and with her love
affairs in an unsettled state that the author
has prepared the further history of the
heroine and will publish il seriaIlv in the
hew year under the title Of The Diva's
Rubies."
Mr.. II. q. Wells in a recent lecture on
Life in a Socialist State" drew a picture
Of the socialist lady in the socialist state
going shopping. II would be a business
like performance in a big building conducted
by municipal authorities. where everything
that a woman could desire would be pro-
durable and would bear the hall mark of
the municipality. Mr.. Wells makes two
interesting exceptions. the milliner and
the dressmaker These he diferentiates
as artists, creating, designing. constructing.
and they would be paid not the tradesnan's
price but the artists fee.
Sir Gilbert Parker writing OF "~Fiction-Its
Place in the National Life" says that il is
one Of the most curious phases Of our
modern life. Everybody tries his or
her hsnd at il. Men Of many professions
practise il and ladies' use il almost az a
bi%rthright. II is the medium of grave
sociologists like MallOck. the afectation
of historians like the late Mr.. Froude.
Of the scientist astronomer like NJ. Flam-
marion. Of the naturalist like the late Mr..
Grant Allen. Of the scientific student like
Mr.. Wells. Of the millionaire like Mr.. Aston.
Of the natural mechanician like Jules Verne.
Il il re recreation Of the Duchess beset
by eHrui. who. lowered with a coronet
and the strawberry leaves, still reaches
| ont discontente1 fingers for the bays. il is
the outrageous dissipation Of the popular
~ArchdeaCon; il is the secret ambition OF
coming Lord Chief Justices. " A" To
the novelist you com for a story first
and before all and it is the frs, and les,
thing he should give you. Genius tells
the story and reaches the universal heart
! "a swell
Apropos of the one hundredth ami
versary of the birth of John Greenleaf
Whittier, which occurs on Tuesday of next
week. william Lyon Phelps Of Yale con-
tributes TO the december number OF the
North American ReuieT an appreciation Of
the poet In which he says Of him: He was
essentially a lonely man. Romantic by
temperament. susceptible to feminine
charms and exactly constituted for the
happiness Of love and domestic life. he
was doomed to austere celibacy. Filled
with curiosity for distant places and having
a. contemporaries Irving. who spent over
twenty years Of his life in Europe; Cooper,
who. besides his voyages. lived abroad
seven successive years; Bryant, who made
six excursions to the Old World; Long
fellow. who knew Europe perhaps better
than his native land-Whittier's travels
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