New-York tribune., 1908-06-21
LITERARY NOTES.

IT viii not have been the fault of the late
FRANCOIS Coppee if generations of Frenchmen
yet to come are not familiar with his lineaments-
He has left marble bust of himself TO the In
stitute of France; bronze bust to his doctor.
which he, in turn. is to bequeath to the Od"on
Theatre, and his statuette by MolInl to the
MuSee Carnavalet.
The ways OF the British novelist in dealing
with American characters are often fearful and
| wonderful. Here is one who makes his heroine
daughter of a duke, show her devotion to her
| ancient house by knocking down the son OF the
American President for referring to the family
portrait gallery as "a collection of the bul4yest
criminals in English history
| In his new book on the Court of Russia" Mr..
z. A. B. Hodgetts gives strange picture of
Alexander III, father of the present Car:
| He had only little self-control and would fly
| into paroxysms of when it was not even
| safe for his wife approach him. On one occa-
! sion he known to have nearly killed Ger
man nerYG his so1 ana Wth whose medSai opinion
! he profoundly dissatisfied He gave him
out of the
| MT Thomas Hardy. who has just passed his
! sixty-eighth birthday is said to have settled
down quietly as a country justice of the peace,
and it is added that it takes a great deal TO tear
him from the house at Dorchester, which no
built himself. There he leads the simple life,
which is occasionally invaded by crowd of lit
erary "trippers'' from London crowd whose
presence he would doubt willingly dispense
with.
| Writers of verse will proba bly, have a SYM
pathetic apprehension of the meaning OF a note
from Tennyson's hand which accompanies Tho
Revenge in the EVerSley edition OF tlitt
poem. He tells US that the line,
At Flores in the Azores Sir Richard Grenviile lay.
was on his desk for two years. Then il struck
fire as the poetic phrase is sure TO do, soon
or late and he finished the ballad all at once,
| in a day two
Another note in this volume has to do with
certain dream Il never saw any landscape he
says, that came up to the landscapes nave
seen in dreams:
The mountains of Switzerland insigni1-
cant compared with the mountains I have imas,
ned One Of the most G oIf man for
six weeks. living only vegetables. and at the
h@p shan never foTgs, s senspiion t Il nfse5 siss5
dreamed that / saw the vines Of the south.
with huge EshcoI branches, trailing over the
glaciers of the North.
Captain Margaret" is the title of the first
novel of that writer of stirring sea verse Mr..
John Masefeld 1t is romance of the sea, 0f
| the Virginia of the time of Governor Howard OF
Efingham. and Of the Muletas Islands Captain
Margaret is d French soldier who is described as
having made successful stand against Spanish
power in Darlen-
1t is reported by the "Dtpeche dOrient'' that
the retirement of the Marquis Salonj. the Prime
marquis. who has remarkably good know ledge
of the French language, had published Japan-
ese translation of Zolas Paris The MikadO,
it is said did not like the novel and prohibited
the sale of it in his dominions. Hence the resg-
nation of the Premier wounded alike in his
pride as statesman and author"
! The manuscript of Gray's ode to Eton Col
lege" has just become the property of the one
institution in the world which ought naturally
| to possess it-Eton herSelt She owes il to the
/ enlightened generosity of six British publishers
who combined to purchase the pOem-whlch
otherwise might have come TO America. Equal
| lv enlightened Americans Will be glad TO know
that it is to remain at EtOn forever, at least
until that tabled New Zeaander sits down
comforta bly, the ruins of London Bridge
| English paragraphers have been prematurc!y
expressing emotions apropOs of the publishers
announcement of n book by John Nor
Iey"-thev like the notion of keeping the honored
old name known to the world of letters. Ii ap-
uearS that they to be disappointed, Tor inc
name upon the title page VIII be Niscouna
| Morley of Blackburn"