The Washington herald., 1908-01-19

side of Jane Austen, because her talent,
/ though doubtless inferior, was of exactly
/ the same kind" He points out that the
/ two writer's are alike inasmuch as there
/ is the same silent and unexplained as
sumption of the feminine point of view.
! He adds: "One thing Is very certain, that
the books are good. very good, from both
a masculine and feminine standpoint"
Admirers Of William Morton Payne 5
recently published Greater English
| Poems of the Nineteenth Century" (HolD
/ may be interested TO know that the seq
ond part of his translation Of Bjorn-
| stjerne Bjorson's medieval Morse trilogy.
/ "Sigurd Slembe," has been announced
for production in Chicago. Commenting
on this leading Chicago paper further
says Of Dir. Payne, he is the recognized
/ BiornsOn authority of America, and be-
/ sides casting 1SiguTd Slembe' into Eng
! lsh verse form, ne has written In a criti-
| cal vein on the Norwegian dramatist. his
study of him published on the occasion of
his sixtieth birthday being a mastery ap-
/ probation. He is one OF the editors of
! The Dial and some OF the most sug-
| gestive criticism Of the drama as litera-
ture that has been written in this country
appears in his little volumes entitled 'Edi-
torial Echoes and Little Leaders
/ Chatterton viii have his first AmeTi-
can blographer in Charles Edward Rus
/ sell. In a book soon 20 be issued by
| Monat. Yard & Co., Mr.. Russell relates
the strange and tragic story OF the boy
poets life, throwing It may be said,
much new light upon It, While he was
! preparing for his work, Mr.. Russell made
many visits TO Bristol, where Chatter
/ ton was born and educated, and studied
! there and elsewhere all the available
! records Of this strange genius whom R0s-
/ setu placed among the FIVE lights Of
/ English song, The book aims 20 dem
onstrate that this gifted boy has been
/ unjustly treated. and having been ac-
| cused, without evidence. Of faults that
he had not committed. According TO Mr.
Russell. 1t was another hand that made
the sO-called "ChattertOn FOTgeTies.'
The narrowing circle OF history's vii
lains and reprobates loses another MEM
Der in the person OF Louis XI. Of France.
of whom Christopher Hare publishes a
lie Charles Scribner's Sons) which IS a
thOrOughgOing rehabilitation. The mall
ice Of Burgundian and other foreign
chroniclers is largely responsible for the
dire reputation with which Louis XI has
come down 10 our own days but partly
responsible, too is his UnpOpularity with
the different classes of his own subjects
who found the burdens of kingdom
building. in which Louis was so actively
and successfully engaged, a heavy one:
Unfortunately for tho king it was not only with
the great mobiles as a class that he unpopular
nIt also with the bouTgeoIsle ~ France the mass oi
the common people FOR whom he had iab0red and
struggled all through his reign and on whose behalf
me had spent himself. lived a life Of personal Toy-
erty and sacrifice. and grown old before his time.
They could not forgive him the heavy taxation. Sc
Te7ey enIorced, which the inevitable prics they
had % pay FOR peaceful security in thsr lives and
Their homes. freedom from their opprcssCrs. the
proud ieuda lords and equal justice for rich and
poor. Men soon forget the s0uovs Of the past and
az the death n Louis u was almost 2 generation
since the horrors Of war had ragged IN their midst.
and the unpaid mercenaries, the "ec0rcheu-s' Tav-
aged al they held dear. looking uron 81 as their
right TO ''maHger le b0nhomme" " All this had he
come DIM memory a btgons days. while the hated
collector Of taxes grim reality in their midst.
There was no glamour about King Louis y 90 ap-
PEAL 60 the Imagination AZ his subjects He labared
SO earnestly for peace that they had no glorious VIC
tories to applaud bought with the bitter PAYMENT Of
taer blood and tear. The people bad no gay and
splendid 1OuTt % gape az and admire very few
costly entertainments aud no extrayavance paid for
hy their labor. Homss in person and badly dressed
Louis, 10 was said, corld not afford a new hat but
there was always money forthcoming for tie good Of
the country.
The AthenaeUm announces that Sir
Charles Brooke has engaged the Rev.
S. Barin-Gould to write his life. While
the career OF the second Raiah Of Sara
wax has hardly been as exciting as that
or his uncle. who established himself as
ruler over half a million souls in Borneo,
it is sufficiently romantic 10 furnish "a
stirring subject for the North Devon
writer,
The recent death Of Nary J. Holmes
now leaves Augusta J. Evans Wilson the
only remsininE figure in the groupe Of
old-time popular authors. We are fond
I'm these days Of talking about our best
sellers yet feu of the modern writer's
Of iict0n-indeed, perhaps none-can show
records equal 10 Mrs Holmes, L. p. Roe.
and Mrs. Wilson. The sales OF each OF
these authors novels We're phenomenal.
and still continue 10 ast0nish their pub
fishers. At the time when these writer's
y =
il must be remembered that they had
few rivals, and the magazine field was
decidedly limited Everybody read one
particular book, and talked Of it inces-
sanity.
Mrs. Wilson's first novel, 'Inez." met
with little favor: but an interesting story
is told Of "Beulah," her second novel.
-
and she left her bulky manuscript with
the HarpeT's one afternoon. Three or four
days later when she had been promised
decision, she called TO inquire about
her fate, and was blandly told that the
manuscript had been lost I'm the office
She explained that there was no other
copy OF 1t in eXistance and insisted that
q thorough search be made for it. stating
that if II was not restored TO her on the
following morning at her hotel she would
take some action against the publishers
That very evening she found a large
package in her TOom-the precious story
had been recovered. She then took il
to Mr.. Carleton, who accepted il at once;
and in a few months Mrs. Wilson (then
Miss Evansl found herself famous. For
FER next novel "Vashti," Mr. Carleton paid
her the enormous sum Of So, coo before
ne manuscript was even read: and to-
day after so many years have elapsed. [
Mrs. Wilson's royalties amount 20 $4,000.
+. r. Roe is said to have earned $25 900
from THE Opening Of a Chestnut Burr
alone. Mrs Holmes died a rich woman,
AID so did Mrs Southworth. To-day an
author is fortunate and popular IL he
ma--.s $4,000 "a year--for two years
The Bo0kman for January draws a
between the best sellers of |
1851 and those of 1906.
One rather singular feature Of these yearly e5mplla
ti0ns is the comparative absence Of change in the
number of books represented in the lists There |
were 50 titles ia 1917. and there 30 titles in 1906
Going back year ly year we ind respectively g. 81 /