New-York tribune., 1910-11-05

quite like the Lucas touch. In TINS e.
ond series of delightful letters ne 81 -.
again positively miraculous
not simply for quotation, but loi
| rangement When he selects the Is
gem he puts it in the right place si'''9
1t the right setting The very tltle pao
bears evidence of his delicate insei
Nothing could be happier for the mn
of companion volume TO "The
Art than "The Second Post, anu
| meath those perfectly chosen "orus
inscribes these: IT'S all very we"
| talk of your Beethovens and MoHal
Very good in their way. no DOUBT
for the music that counts give me ''o
| double knock"
The thing that makes Mr.. Lucas 50
| felicitous could not quite accurately W
| described as taste, though he mas pieh''
| of that precious quality. IT is, rathei'
| sentiment, his quick response to huiii"ii
feeling, his natural love for the s"eo'
and wholesome things of life. rake ioi
| example, the opening note. so to say VI
| this collection, note of that TENDERNESS
| which a. ge has for youth. He could Io'
| have hit upon a more Deguiling ldea
than that of showing us the epistolarv
art in it's most unself1sh phase. His hrst
letter is little gem OF mingled affectloh
and humor from Sydney Smith 10
| young friend, and then we have Landor
and his son, Arnold, exchanging mis-
sives. The poets loving kindness al
most brings tears to the readers eyes
We must quote at least part of his let
ter to his boy:
| 1 shall never be quite happy until l see
you again and put my cheek upon your
| head. Tell my sweet Julie that If | see
Twenty little girls will not ronp with VIII any any
your two dear brothers for me. You must
always love them as much as l love you;
boys, which 1 cannot do as we'll as you can.
God preserve and bless you. my own Ar
mold! My heart beats as If It would ny 10
soon meet. Love your BABBO.
But Mr.. Lucas is not the man to harp
upon one string. In the diversity of his
astrological style lies much of it's charm.
In the second division we mix with his
| travellers, listening while Shelley de-
scribes to Peacock his life at Leghorn
or Dickens sends news of America to
his American friend FELTON,, and then
we pass on to "Adonais Garrolous.
| which is to say to a sheaf of the letters
Of Keats. Is not the Lucas touch a
magical key to the unlocking of unex-
! pected pleasures? After Keats comes
"our English Omar and after him, very
aptly, Charles Lamb. But the anthol-
| Ogist does not need the ease of that
transition to work out all the steps in
his epistolary progress. 1t is with all
the matter in the world that
| he introduces us, in due course, to Nine.
de Sevigne, and afterward to Carlyle
and his wife. So down to- the end his
linked sweetness is cunningly harmo-
nized. On nearly every page there is
something which one would like to
quote. Landor, by the way, must yield
us another treasure, one in the chapter
of ''Laconics," which is not only Joy in
itself, but comes in piquant contrast
after the passage cited above. Writing
to Lord Normandy, who had cut him,
he says:
My Lord: Now am recovering from an
| illness Of several months duration. aggra-
waited no little by your lordship's rude re-
ception of me at the Cascine. in presence
| OF my family and innumerable FIorentines,
must remind you In the gentlest terms of
! the occurrence.
| We are both of us old men. nv lord, and
are verSing on decrepitude and mbeclity.
Else my note might be more energetic. l
am not unobservant of distinctions. You
! by the favour of a, minister are Marquis OF
Normandy. by the grace of God am
WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR.
| 1t is odd, by the way. that Mr.. Lucas.
eagled-eyed Autolycus that he is. should
not have discovered for this chapter one
of the neatest of all laconic corre-
spondence. When Quin, the noted old
actor, heard that his friend Rich, actor
and manager, too, was opening house
in London, he felt that all he needed to
| do in order to get an engagement was
to write, Dear Rich. l am at Bath.
j. Quin.' Back came this reply. Dear
! Quin. Stay there and be damned. J.
Rich" Still. there are numerous brill
liant examples of the same terseness coll
lected by Mr.. Lucas. Here is one on
the heroic plane, in Captain WaIton's
historic report to Admiral Byng:
| Sir: We have taken and destroyed all tho
! Spanish ships and vessels which were upon
| the coast, the number as per margin. I
am etc, @. WALTON
Taken-Admiral Mari and four men-of
war, of 30. 81, 10 and "a guns: a. ship laden
! Four men-of-wsr. of "a. 40 and so guns, a
| fire ship and bomb vessel
Canterbury off Syracuse, Aug. 10. Ills.
Following that there is but one flash
of genius to choose, the inquiry made by
commercial traveller after bolster
Gus absence from work, Dear Firm: Am
1 still with you?"