The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-09-05
An,ong the Books

YORK. about the middle OF September.
The best personal article on this ia
nous author that has yet been pub
lished appears In the London Book-
man for August, and Is written by a.
ST. John Adcock The illustrations for
this article. In addition 70 the last
and best photograph OF William de
Morgan. include others OF him In va.
rious places and at various times; OF
his father, Augustus de Morgan; his
sister. Mary Augusta de Morgan, who
died az Cairo in 1906; OF William dc
Morgan,s birthplace, the Cover Street
house in London: OF the University
College school. where Augustus dc
Morgan was professor OF mathematics.
dent; OF the house OH Merton Road.
Primrose fill, London where Au-
9ustus de Morgan died; Of the house
in Fttzroy Square, where william lie
Morgan worked as an artist in stained
glass, the original OF the haunted
house In Alice for short: OF tho
house on Great Marlborough Stroet.
containing large ballroom on tho
ground floor that is described On
"Alice for Short; OF "The Vale" In
Kings Road. where Mr.. de Morgan
lived until last year, and OF his pres
cnt home on Church Street, Chelsea.
London.
william de Morgan was born in Mo-
vember of 1899 Mr.. Adcock says:
"His father, Augustus de Morgan,
was a very remarkable personality.
brilliant mathematician and logician.
who took an active Interest in the
founding OF University College, Cover
Street. where he was the first profess
sor of mathematics, and held his chair
for some five and thirty years.
"on his fathers side Mr.. de Morgan
~ the grcat-great-grandson or
Frerchman. who and whose descend.
ahts down to Augustus de Morgan's
generation were soldiers in the East
india Company's seryice; that earliest
OF these ancestors being some time
Governor OF Fort George. Madras. He
had Joined the army as private SOL
der In 1745: was presently Sergeant DO
Morgan. and shortly afterwards cap
TAIN having diHting uiBhed himself In
action. On the same side, one OF Mr..
de Morgan's female ancestors was 2
Dane; otherwise he Is as true born an
Engllshman as ever Defoe was It
seems probable that his father In
herited his mathematical faculty from
...s mother. who was Il granddaughter
OF James Dodson, noted matheMa-
tician in his day, mathematical mas
ter OF Christs Hospital, and author
OF the Mathematical Canon The
family of Mr.. de Morgan's mother.
Sophia de Morgan, has been described
as intensely English-she came of the
Trends, OF Canterbury. and the Black
burnes. .of Yorkshire. numbering
among her relatives Archdeacon
!. Blackburne, who was in turn connect
ed with that picturesque personality,
Launcelot Blackburne, aforetsme Arch
bishop OF York.
1.-THE mother of William de Morgan,
Sophia Elizabeth Friend. was woman
of fine intellectual gifts and consider
able literary capacity. In addition to
writing a biography OF her husband
she wrote a volume dealing with
spiritual phenomena, From Matter to
Spirit. and delightful book OF per-
sonal "reminiscences. 'Three-Score Years
and Ten which was edited by her
daughter. Mary. and published in 1895.
After her marriage she had large
share in the formation OF Bedford
College. was always in sympathy with
the movement for the higher education
OF women, and persuaded her husband
to Join her in advocating female SUI
Sfrage. Whilst they lived in Camden
Street she took very practical in
terest In the subject of workhouse re-
form: from the poor people or the
neighborhood,' her daughter says in
heard piteous accounts or the treat
ment they received at the poorhousc.'
She used to visit the workhouse wards.
and formed a committee OF women
who arranged to make such visits
periodically. and she initiated So
ciety for providing Fairgrounds Tor
the poor of the slums.
william de Morgan's mothers work
in the slums and the warehouses;, those
oh has I'd 10
poor-you may depend he has had
UNITS and promptings from these
things for those mastery pictures OF
mid-Victorian poverty and hardship
that fill memorable pages in Joseph
Vance and .Alice-for-Short.' Ana
when I read In Somehow Good how
the octogenarian Colonel Lund in his
last illness sees his old friend, Major
Roper, by his bedside minute after
the major had been killed out OF doors
In the fog. or in 1T Never Can Happen
Again. how Blind Jim hears little
I.izerann cry Pilot as usual when she
comes to lead him home. and rushes
out to meet her, at time when she
is lying dead far off. am reminded OF
how Sophia de Morgan in her girlhood
and that actuary friend OF Augustus
de Morgan Were also revisited by the
dead: of that similar story or how
his other friend. DR.. Briggs, at Madras
saw the ghost Of his sister and knew
that she had died.
'Mr. de Morgan makes his stories
satisfyingly plausible and realistic by
his ingrained habit OF looking before
and after. This is the Justification. II
they need any, for the Exceptional
length of his books; the art and the
magic of them lie so largely in the
aggregation of biographical and de.
scriptive detail that to condense then
would be to rob them OF half thed,
charm and most Of their living reality
Even the restless, the impatient. the
overbusy, once they have surrendered
themselves to his spell can enjoy his
leisurely calm. become absorbed in tne
interests of his people. and look for.
ward to the new novel he promises
for this autumn. ..An Affair OF Dis
honor and wish 1t may not be a-sln
gle chapter, shorter than his longest
His Increasing popularity speaks to1
itself. and when l meet an occasional
reader. who puts William de Morgan.
name down again on a library list ant