The Washington herald., 1908-02-09


tury France. in the days when Louis XV
was but a boy and Philip of Orleans his
regent on the throne 4 romantic char
acter in the background is the painter
Watteau.
As part Of the programme for the cele-
bration Of the tereentenary OF the birth
of Milton. the British Academy suggests
that "Comus." written by the poet for
production at Ludlow Castle by the chill
dren of the Earl of Bridgewater. be again
produced.
A life of Thomas Chatterton is in prep
aration by Charles Edward Russell, and
it viii be published in this country next
winter by Moffat, Yard & 90 Among
the material accessible to Mr. Russell
were Chattertons manuscript diaries
wherein he kept a record of each Dassng
day. Among these is an exact statems ut
of the amounts due him from London
publishers, recently contributed to the
Bristol Museum by LondOner who
bought it at a sale.
At the time when Sir Gilbert Parker
went into Parliament it was prophesied
that ne would neglect literature, and that
his imagination might be affected by the
material surroundings Of political life.
The actual difference seems to have been
only that he has produced fewer books
and fewer stories. and has become con-
vinced that slower production is better
for MS work "The Weavers," still an
other edition of which the HaTpers have
cess of this method for Sir Gilbert at
least. whether or not other novelists can
afford il in the face of tempting present
day rewards for best sellers.
A history of postal reform is TO be
found in the recent life of Sir Rowland
Hin a. Vessels & Coz. Early in the
days-of penny post, one learns from an
anecdote in the book well-to-do man
went into the office at Ambeside TO buy
a stamp for a letter he held in his hand.
rs this new reform going TO last" Sc
asked the postmaster. Certainly" WIS
the reply: 1t IS quite established" "Oh.
Well, then, said the man, resolved 20
launch his fortunes on the rising tide,
give me three stamps,
Writing Of Leigh Hunt in the February
Atlantic Monthly, Arthur Symons re-
marks:
Hunts miscellaneous mind was active symua-
thetic foragug; he made discoveries by some ready
instinct which had none a. the certainty of the
dUmmg-TOd, he was a freebooter. who caIasued
various tracts Of the enemy but could not guard
or retain them. He among the first 70 help
in breaking down the eighteenth century Journalism
in verse. in letting loose free and natural speech
H. I'd.
mastered many separate tricks and even felcities tn
verse. and acquired a certain hghtness and deft-
ness which Is occasionally almost wholly successful.
as In an actual masterpiece Of the tTifuE. ike
Jenny kissed me-" What he really brings into
poetry Is tone of ehatty collo4ualsl meant to give
ease, from which, however, the vulgar idioms are
not excluded. lie introduces a new manner. smooth.
free, and easy melting cadence. which he may
have thought lie found 10 sTeuser, whom he chooses
among poets "f1r Injury. The least lofty OF Eng
sh poets, he went TO the loftiest among them only
for his sensitiTeness to physical delight.
Lord Cromer has chosen for his book.
Modern Egypt" three notices. The
first is Napoleon's well-known dictum,
Egypt is the most important country
i'm the world the second "a quotation
from Aulus Gellius concerning the man
of action as his own historian; Thucy-
dides supplies the third and longest. Tt
is the majestic description OF his own
historical methods. Il determined 10
write the history Of what was actually
done in the war not by casual infoTma-
uon or my own imagination. but on the
evidence Of what I saw myself and i'm
other matters after the most accurate
inquiry into each detail
AIessrs. Houghton, MfHin & Co. prom
Use some pleasant things for the spring
The New American Type and Other
Essays" by Mr.. Henry d. T. Sedgewick.
comes first and will be followed by
Tragedy" by Prof. Ashley 5. Thorn
dixie, .in Prof Neelsen's THE Types Of
English Literary Series" A new novel
by Miss Mary Johnston viii come some
time this Year. and possibly also the
novel which Mr. G. Hanford Henderson
is now completing in California. where
he has spent the winter. Mr.. Mason g
THE ROte' viii come with its title
to Home from Sea" which.
thanks to Stevenson's use of the phrase.
suggests an epitaph. Miss Alice Browns
Rose Macleod" will appear, when fin
ished, in the Atlantic.
Announcements for production from time
10 time. but always postponed for some
unexplained reason, Percy MacKaye's s
prose drama. THE Scarecrow' is now
first TO reach the public through the
medium of print. The Macmillan Com
pany is publishing it, and it promises
something of picturesque psychological
interest i'm its presentation OF character
and incident in seventeenth century Mas
sachusetts witchcTaft days. Mr.. MacKaye
drew his inspiration for the play from
story, 'Feathertop.
Percy Mackaye is Iecturing this month
on ''The Drama of Democracy" at Co
lumbia, Harvard, Yale, and Chicago Uni
versities.
Paul Gilmore More will publish a new
volume Of Shelburne Essays. including
studies Of Dickens, Mrs. Gaske1. Phillip
Frenau, and the Longfellow Centenary.
The first novel Of the new year to be
published by the Lippincotts will be
brought out this month. It is Marcia
Schuyler and is the work of Grace
Livingston Hill-Lutz, a wel-known writer
for religious papers, and a niece of Mrs.
q. r. Alden, who has written much popu-
lar fiction under the pen name of
'Pansy. The story is set in the time Of
$780, much of the action centering about
the introduction of the steam railroad iii
New York State.
Pursuing his wanderings still further
abroad. Francis MiltoW has voyaged
across the Mediterranean into Northern
Africa, and the picturesque sights that he
encountered have been described by him
in a volume entitled In the Land of
Mosques and Minarets: Rambles In Al
geTia and Tunisia." The illustrations
will be supplied by Blanche McManus.
who has collabOrated with Mr. Miltoun
in his previous books OF travel and its
publication by l. c. Page &, Co. is an
nounced for the current month.