New-York tribune., 1910-06-19
Gbe Neln;alotk GTibaatta
SUNDAY, JUNE 10, 1910.

Reference was made in The 1rlpune ho,
long ago to "Etienne Mayran, the uhllliiSh
novel found in Taines desk and just ploiieneu |
in Paris According to the London Na'ion
describes the school life of its hero ana Is
largely autobiographical. NJ. Bourget In
nrof,ce to the fragment says that Ialne ue-
oidod NOT TO 90 on with the subject because VI
his inability to treat it in a suhclehtiy opJeo
five manner Tane told him that the ho'eiSlo
whom he most acknowledgements iauDei
ord NIaupassant-never explain or comment
on the words or actions of their cnaractels'
flat this attitude is essential to the art OIL III
tion and that as he bimscn could not acnie'e
if. the book was better left unfinished L nave
tried to write q novel; he says, "but nave
,von If m I found myself copying Stendhal
,r;+I,out heino aware of it." The English COM
1onntator points out that ''Etenne Mayran' Is
useful nasmuch as it throws light upon Ialhe
mind and recalls that a similar purpose hiis
been served by Sainte-Beuves "Noiuple anu
Penan's posthumous 'PatriCe" but while THESE
books have certain value for the student oi
perod in French letters they are Otherwise
Degligible 1t is the old story of the novelist
like the poet being born, not made Every
bodv finds Froude the historian as fascinating
as q ronlancer but we should be surprised 10
Hear that any one ever read his 1.-TWO Chiefs
of Dunboy"
Mr. Thomas Hardy has celebrated his seven
titth birthday without the public dinner tnat
lis friends would have liked to organize IN MS
honor but he has been the recipient OF many
warm tributes in print In one Of these an
old friend is quoted as saying to him that all
literary England was eager for another novel
from his pen. Eyes l know, 1 know, he re-
Piled in q musing fashion, and was silent for
long time. But have gone back to poetry,
nv first love-" he added, after a while, and
then he said no more 1t is reported tnat ne
is at work still but he never tells anybody on
what he is every day engaged a hint OF
more verse and possibly Of dramatlzatlon OF
one of his novels is all that can be obtained;
even that is at second hand, and is neither
confirmed nor denied by the author. Referring
to his quiet life in the country and to the fact
that no attempt was made at Dorchester to
celebrate his birthday, the London DAILY
Mail" explains that the rustic folk of Wessex
are Indifferent to the fame given to them IN
the novels. They do not know of their exist
ence there and thousands of them have never
heard of Mr. Hardy. "The MaiP' adds:
He does nothing to make himself known
locally. Genial though he is, his life is that OF
q recluse. He lives at his house, Max Gate,
mile or so outside the town, amid the daisies
and the songbrds, and seldom visits Dorches-
ter, except market day, when he walks to
the County Museum to see the newspapers and
to chat with his brother old friend in
the marketplace. He has none of the affecta-
tons of the artist His rough tweed suit and
his soft hat suggest the gentleman farmer
rather than the illustrious man of letters. He
goes quietly about if absorbed in his own
thoughts
Dr. Iadame prominent Swiss alienfSt, de-
1ivered an address not long ago at a meeting
of the scientific section Of the "Institut Ma
tional Genevois." His subject was the "Mani-
festations of Artistic Ability in the Case Of the