davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New-York tribune., 1911-03-19

acters Of Dickens. the Cheeryble
brothers. The Manchester man had
known the two cotton merchants. Will
lam and Daniel Grant, from boyhood.
and had often talked to Dickens about
them. At last, when Nicholas Nickle-
by was on the stocks, Dickens and
Forster went to Manchester with intro
ductions from Ainsworth. and at din
ner given for them met the two Grants.
1t is pleasant TO be told that the old
brothers were in every respect as be-
nevolent and as lovable as they seem in
the novel. 1t was during this Man
chester visit that Dickens was much per-
turbed by an unfavorable criticism OF
one of his books, and stamping up and
down the room with the review In his
hand he cried out, "They shall eat
their words One who saw him then
describes him as reading the proofs OF
Nicholas Nickelby" and smiling at his
own wrtings-"he was then a smart
looking young man of rather effeminate
appearance, wearing long hair, very
much like the pictures of the hero Of his
story" The English author In the last
days Of the Sailor Kings reign and the
early years Of Victora's largely ran to
hair. In one of Ainsworth's letters We
get a glimpse of the whiskers-the lion
like ruff''-of Browning, then at the age
of twenty-four. The poet was full OF
genius, the novelist thought, also OF
"superabundant black locks" before
which the hirsute Maclise and Aims
worth himself hid their diminished
heads.
Ainsworth has said that he always had
sneaking liking in his boyhood for
Jack Sheppard, and with this notorious
thief for a hero he repeated the tre-
mendous popular success Of "Rookwood,"
, with its Dick Turpin. Eight dramatic
versions Of the bool, were actually pro-
duced in the autumn of 1892 and theat-
rical managers were reported to have
New-York tribune., 1911-03-19

defend Ainsworth against the charge OF
writing a criminal romance whose inf.u-
ence was evil. Forster, he assures US,
abused it because he was angry that
Jack Sheppard" should have eclipsed
even temporarily the fame OF oliver
Twist" and Thackeray. who was much
Of Forstsr's opinion, was annoyed at
the failure of his 'Catherine'-thc satire
which he intended should ridicule and
kill tho success OF Jack Sheppard. ~
The most preposterous argument ad-
vanced by the biographer is that OF anal
ogy-if, forsooth. Ainsworth Is to be
condemned for choosing a criminal for
a hero, let Shakespeare, who wrote OF
Hamlet, Macbeth and Othello, all muir
derers, stand in the same pillory.
The production Of Ainsworth's later
novels. Guy Fawkes,' THE Tower or
London" "Old st. Paul's' and their sue
cessors, stirs the biographer's pen 10
copious exercise. He is profuse also in
his dealings with the novelists expert
ences as a magazine editor; and he de-
votes a long chapter to the quarrel with
Cruikshank, who. in his foolish old age
publicly proclaimed himself to have been
the originator of three of Ainsworths s
novels. This episode was not worth the
space given to 1t. The same may be SAID
of the novelist's own letters, which are
almost invariably dull and commonplace
A monograph on Ainsworth by biog-
rapher less oppressed by sense of his
hero's greatness would be welcome, for
there is something in the mans career
and in his associations which deserves
frank and unprejudiced treatment from
the literary point Of view.
New-York tribune., 1911-03-19
MURGER so YEARS AFTER
Popular Delusions Aobut the
Author of a Famous Book.

Tho Abbe Dimnet, in the London Satur-
day Review.
1t was fifty years on January 2S since
Murger's death. and very few papers let
the date PASS unnoticed.
It Is curious how half century may
affect the fame OF a writer If you re-
fer 10 current histories of literature you
will not even find the name of MurGer
in them. The reason, or | should say the
cause is probably because Sainte-Beuve,
who took heed Of Champneury-ano
hoheman-and Of men like Alphonse
Karr ignored "la Vie de Boheme." But
this reason is no reason at all y critic
may neglect a minor: an historian ought
never TO do SO when this minors inllu-
cnre has been real. or when his work
lis mrrored an aspect OF life. And 1t
is n fact that-no matter how wrongly
the name of Murger has been and still
is Identified with 7 wor1-hohcmianiJr,-
which has been naturaliZed in every Eu-
ropean language and may live its indie
PENDENT and cvcr-dcvolopinc life for ages
10 come.
Certainly most people have quite
wrong notion OF Mur-ers works and OF
his individuality. | remember reading
New-York tribune., 1911-03-19

far beyond his reach. The situation oe-
tween these two alone on the island WIN
their native laborers furnishes the SUD-
ject of the story. The conveh'io"a'
Englishman-conventi even IN their
primitive environment-cannot uhuer-
stand this frank, energetic young wo'''an
who treats him as man to man. ho'
merely ignoring the fundamental d'ilet-
ence between them. but utterly uico'
scious of it. Still. she is In reality con-
yention herself, found in much A'he''
can fiction. To keep things going' 'he'e
are the dangerous natives to De ru'eu
with a strong hand. In fact, there Is
great deal Of them In the raw. Ihere 10
also another Englishman who ofers "
fight an Indian duel" with the Ameri-
can girls Englishman. the anair De
ing merely a variation Of the head NUM-
ing Of the natives. The book Is not one
of Mr. I.ondon's best.
New-York tribune., 1911-03-19
Literary .Nese,s and Criticism

they liked 1t or not-and apropos of this
arbitrariness a story would follow. Aims
worth had discovered fine set OF Ho-
garths engravings which was held at
Is. a sum which he said II could not just
then spare, or, at least, did not thinK L
ought to spare
took John Forster down TO see the
Hocarths. whereupon he actually said that
he would and must have them himself, ana
as he had not five pounds of loose money
at that moment, ] should lend that sum TO
Kim I pointed out the absurdity of the
position-that | wanted the engravinGs for
myself and could not afford TO lay out tne
money: how. then, could | lend ito him?
1t was of no use. He overruled me. had
the five pounds of me. and bought the
Hogarths j was longing for.
The author Of these two volumes
makes 1t clear that to Ainsworth we
owe two of the most delightful char
New-York tribune., 1911-03-19

far more than a mere guidebook. 1t
abounds in the enthusiasm OF the true
lover Of nature and the beneficial. quiet
delights OF life in the open, and In pas
sages Of eloquent description. Mr.. Chase
is interested in all he sees. In Indians
and the memories of the vanished hum
ter and sheepman. in place names and
their significance or lack thereof as well
as in rock formations, fora and fauna.
His topography Is not dry but vivid, and
when he reaches the conifers and the
sequoia, he speaks not as an arboricult-
urist but a, lover of trees. their beau
ty and dignity. He tempts TO quotation.
as where he pays tribute to the red fir,
whose "stem is a fine shaft of dark blue
green foliage. edged as II with an eifer-
vescent spray or frOth by the silver-gray
OF the young growth, giving the tree
special richness and nobility Of color
One shares the delights of his easy.
observant. keenly approaching walk
along the wooded Pocono trail seven
thousand feet above sea level, and shares
also the majesty Of the view spread be-
low him and away in the distance by
sudden emergence OF the path to the
brink Of the precipice. Then the Sc
new picture 10 Mr. Chase that appeals
to the imagination and the memory:
The spectator experiences among the So
quotas something. / imagine. OF the awe
OF an Egyptian who should he introduced
l.xtx % l.. H. xHst..
he would sec ranged on all sides the
colossal figures of the king-Cods o. his
ace, the awe of unutterable rye. ire
SiStible power and INFINITE rcpOS". II
might be called. in fact an Egyptian i'm
preston that is made BY these mighty
trees upon the behodcr. They are Egyp
ity; I'm their color which Is Egyptian red
in the stems Of mature trees. while the
great limbs far overhead are OF strange
flesh bronze hue. round. smooth and gleam-
ing, like Cleopatra's arms.
One must cut short this quotation.
which ends in the cathedral mood sung
by Bryant, and glance for a moment at
the authors protest against the names
bestowed on the most beautiful spots Of
the Yosemite Valley by some inoppor-
tune feat of humor (or the lack of it,. or
some inept sentimentality." The Nir-
gins Tears. the Widows Tears. In
spraton Point, the Bridal Veil-Mr.
Chase would 90 away with them all
Yet. when he came TO inquire into orig
inal Indian names. the perplexity that
confronted him was as great as that en-
countered by Professor Whitney long
ago In a similar quest for his guide
book to the Yosemite. Mr.. Chase con-
suited an old Indian who had been born
in the valley. and might be supposed to
speak with the knowledge OF traditions:
Miguel averred that many Of the Indian
words which I propounded to him had no
meanings whatever One after another
was declared 10 be lust name. all same
your name: not mean nothing" In vain
labored with him. Now and then ne
would verify one OF my examples. the next
moment he declared some supposed inter-
probation To be white man story, no good.
And II was not reassuring TO be told.
when I put II to him that. after all. the
versions / proposed TO him had certainly
New-York tribune., 1911-03-19
IN THE SIERRAS
Camping and Tramping Amid
Natures Grandeurs.

YOSEMITE TRAILS. Camp and Pack
Train in the Yosemite Region of the .;i"r-
ra Nevada. By J. Smeaton Chase. With
illustrations from photographs and a
map. Svo. PIP. x S5i The Houghton
Miiilin Company.
Mr. Chase declares in the preface TO
this, his first book, that his chief pur-
pose in writing it has been 10 direct the
attention of nature lovers to chain Of
mountain lakes in the High Sierra Of
richly diversified beauty. whose existence
is as yet unknown to all but the few.
He is an excellent guide 10 this lake
country, as he is in lis earlier pages TO
the Yosemite Valley but his volume is
New-York tribune., 1911-03-19
UNDER CANVAS.

THE BRASSBOTNDER. BY David w
Bone Illustrations by the author lZmo'
PIP. 293. T.. Il. Dutton d co.
A novel in form. this book Is in reality
the narrative OF a voyage from Glasgow
around the Horn to San Francisco ana
return. made by a "brassbounder," or
apprentice, aboard a Scotch bark. Inc
story offers about all that life under sail
held. and still holds. as seen from the
fo'csle-hard work. bad food. the iron
discipline Of captain and mates, storm.
a burning cargo. danger in gale on
rocky lee shore. the sights OF san Fran
cisco on "shore leave" the ways Of ship
ping masters and crimps, the awakening
of drugged landlubbers signed on as able
seamen, all the strange. hard life OF the
New-York tribune., 1911-03-19
The Laureate of Dick Turpin and
Jack Sheppard.

WILLIAM HARRISON AINSWORTH
AND HIS FRIENDS. BY 5. NJ: Ellis.
Illustrated Two vols. Svo. PIP. 1872, 45S
The John Lane Company.
This biography has one extraordinary
feature at least-its size. The two large.
fat volumes are strangely dispropor-
toned to the ability and the fame Of Its
subject. Ainsworths semi-historical ro-
mances were, in truth. little more than
rIorified dime novels. 1t must be ad
nnitted that they were enormously popu-
lar in their day. in spite of their abb
surdly stiff. pretentious and bourgeois
style. They had "go" and thrill and
New-York tribune., 1911-03-19
BENJAMIN CONSTANT
A vindication of the Friend OF
Nine. de Stael.
Paris. March IL.


"BenIamin Constant ct La Paix'
,,,t,e hook p1blished by Flicker. complied
and annotated by Benjamin Constant
descendant Baron d'Estournelles oe
Constant-who by the way. has just lelt
Paris to deliver course OF poii'''''
lectures in the United States-giVes "s
vivid portrait of the man VINO may pe
described as the French Jefferson he
ras stanch. enlightened republican
after the best American conception OF
the term, but for eighty years he 'ia'
been perslstently misunderstood ana ''ii'
renresented by his own countrymeh'
Although a Swiss by birth, Benjamin
Constant who had been educated at Va"
,ord Erlangen and Edinburgh, was
naturalized French citizen. In carry ",o
ne became acquainted with MH,e w
staal. and, fascinated by the o'n''""'
obaracter Of the daughter Of Necker' ah
intimacy ensued which lasted ior SUN
..oaro ue was the leading spirit IN tha'
;,,o,,ectual and constitutional co'erie
NJ the Hotel de Salm-the peauliiu' liz
sion on the Quai dOrsay that Is ilo" -"
D,,oco ~ the Legion Of Honor-dlrec'eu
-, >,me de Stael, Talleyrano anu
s,ovas A member Of the Leeisia.i'e
,sso,nblv after Bonaparte's coup e'a'
of the eighteenth Brumaire' be"'''' r,A
Constant remained in opposi'loh'
was hanished. together with Nine ue
c.ou .rd her friends. but returHihs W
,,ro,ce IN 1914 he became a correspoiu
=, tho Journal des Debats. Nd
- uho after his return from LIDO
,,dsbed 70 secure the good VIII %
,ben liberal opposition maoe ','"
Ca,,noi,,or of State, and intrusteo INN
NTH the task Of drawing up INC
.,dd,,ional Act Of the Constitution =.
49,, r,,,ire" He was elected Deputy VI
Tho sarthe. a post which, by s'he u.a.
coincidence. was filled eighty years OF
-. h,s descendant, Baron dEstourhe'ieS
cas,ort to-day Senator OF the same
department. .,;,,os not
unlike those Of Fox. He was vi iii''"',''
convincing. liberal orator ana al in'e
crate gambler. Politically ne was DIV"
,.,c,,ro of circumstances. He was III
rranc. at least. the first champion OF
no.ca and Of the principles OF lhter"d.
80, arbitration. But this policy fouhd
no favor with Napoleon, nor with those
uho ruled France after the Bouroo"
pos,oration. After his death, In 1851 the
roonIe of Paris embarrassed the horseS
., tho hearse and dragged the BODY 70
tho cemetery Of Pere la Chaise. a COM
mi,tee was appointed to honor the mem.
orv Of the great liberal with natlohal
monument A marquette in plaster OF
this work. was executed by the sculptor
BRA and exhibited in the Salon OF lcoo.
The monument was 10 have been placed
in a public square in Paris. But this
idea was bitterly opposed by the reac-
tionary politicians of the day. who reared
the posthumous influence of Benjamin
Constant. The trend Of feeling that set
In later. and prepared the way Tor the
coup d'etat Of Napoleon III. was hostile
70 his teachings The lessons OF Water
loo of Sedan and of a century OF resist
ance TO liberal ideas were needed before
French public opinion was able to revise
the calumnies heaped on the memory or
Reniamin Constant by malicious writer's
New-York tribune., 1911-03-19

made huge profits-profits in which, ow-
ing to the extraordinary copyright law
Of the time. the author of the novel had
no share beyond a scanty Ego. No part
Of this little sum came from Buckstone's
famous version, which ran fo- many
months. II was Mrs. Keeley-who died
In 1899 at the age of ninety-to whom
the part Of Jack in this version was in
trusted. She was the most fascinating
little robber imaginable in her Georgian
coat and breeches. her lace ruffles and
close cropped wig. and she played with
a spirit and an audacious realism that
enchanted the town. That thieves jar
gon song of hers. Nix my dolly. pals.
fake away" was sung and whistled
everywhere; Sir Theodore Martin tells
us that II was even chimed at midday
by the bells of st. Giles's Cathedral. in
Edinburgh. The twentieth century read
er who may feel some curiosity about
this noble ditty will find the words and
music in this biography. Mr. Ellis, by
the way. attempts. lamely enough. to
New-York tribune., 1911-03-19
Baron d'Estournelles de Constant has ac-
complished a good and patriotic work by
bringing out this excellent little book.
&. I. 3.

There was once medical man In
Paris. POumies de la Siboutie by name.
who lived from the reign of Louis XVI
tn that OF Napoleon III. He saw much
Of the monstrous tragedy Of the Revo-
luton In Paris. One Of the scenes
which passed before his eyes at later
day was the execution OF Marshal Ney
He wrote down his "reminiscences. some
o. which are dramatic and some anus
Ing in the way OF gossip An English
translation entitled "Reminiscences Of a
Paris Physician" will soon be published.
New-York tribune., 1911-03-19

drama. bad as It Is. It Is at least 40
as the English drama OF the miouie
the last century. We cannot say W.
surprised that Americans are toos1.
when accused Of intellectual inferiority'
Openings for Stories.
Novelists try nowadays to find uneo'
ventional openings for their stories %.
they generally succeed. We are w.
that Robert Louis Stevenson ana y"
cousin, the art critic, r. A. NJ. ste's
son. used to discuss this question, "a "a
novelist ever holding out for seap0s
as the scene of an opening. The e ,sI
sang the praises of wayside 'nn 80 -.
warm and cosey and conyivial on
ter night. ~
New-York tribune., 1911-03-19
TWO ON AN ISLAND.

ADVENTURE. by Jack London l2mo.
PIP. fOj. The Macmillan Company
Into the primitive again with Mr.. Lon
don, but this time he takes us to the
burning tropics instead of TO the frozen
north. a young Englishman Is running
a oocoanut plantation on one of the Solo
mon Islands running 1t with natives who
are cannbals and head hunters. and rul-
ing them with the lash. a revolver and
a Winchester rifle. TO him comes
young American girl. soft hat on her
braided trcssos. revolver on her hin.
"Cannibals' she exclaims. "how ro-
mantle" She. too. Is in search of fort
une. intent on carrying out the plan by
which her father had hoped to amass it
copra. Her father has died on the way
from Hawaii. where she was born and
grew up on horseback and In the surf,
more like boy than girl She pro-
poses partnership to the Englishman. he
accepts. and the result Is a success thus
New-York tribune., 1911-03-19

sea shorn Of all its fictitious romance
by the realism Of to-day. Mr. Bones
realism is sober. not adventurous. To
those having knowledge OF the life the
took will appeal strongly. for II Is real
from first page 10 last. The master Is
Scotchman. so Is the "brassbounder." so
are others In the story. The consequent
addition OF n Scotch dialect 10 that OF
ecamanship is at first little bewilder-
ing. Mr.. Bones Scotchmen are real.
however. and Scotch character Is one
Of the assets Of contemporary literature.
He leaves the Florence in dock. driven
out OF the trade by the tramp steamer.
New-York tribune., 1911-03-19
SINGLE LIFE.

4 QUESTION OF MARRIAGE. BY Mrs.
George de Horne valley. limo, PIP.
395. G.. l.. Putnam's Sons.
This is a study OF the consequences OF
heredity in the person OF n young
woman. rich. beautiful and greatly gifted,
whom a physician forbids to marry.
madness running in her family. The
great specialist accompanies his inter-
dict with some obvious wisdom on the
conduct of her lonely life. and by its
light she begins TO make the best of her
lot. But no sooner has she steeled her
self against her fate than she falls II
love for the first time In her life. Under
the sway Of her feeling. and at the sug-
gcstion of the man, they agree upon the
half measure of an engagement that Is
to have no ending in marriage, the girl
stipuating. however that her lover shall
be free to marry another sho Ild his af
fecton wander. interviewer with this
situation is the story of the marriage OF
one of the girls friends. which at first
poignantly shows her what she is miss
ing of highest happiness, but in the
course of time gives her d glimpse also
Of the other side OF matrimony. The
authors outlook upon life Is not wide
nor her insight deep. She floats on the
sentimental surface. but even so her
story may convey a message.
New-York tribune., 1911-03-19
LITERARY NOTES.

A large numbes-the majority, indssA
of the letters Of Richard Henry -.
which the Macmillan Company will ~.
publish have never been printed. ~.
editor of the collection, Professor Al
lagh. has found many Of them in ~.
possession Of private owners and oth...
in national or state archives. There -.
no fewer than five hundred letters i.
this collection, and they are historian,
important.
New-York tribune., 1911-03-19

THE VOW. BY Paul Trent: frontispine,G,e
in color by John Rae. l2mo: PIP OIL
Frederick A. Stokes Company.
Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1911-11-18

tle the Olympia was Admiral Dewey's flagship
at Manila Bay. and the Raleigh. also of the Ma
Mia squadron, under command of Capt Jo
seph B. Coghlan of -Hoch der Kaiser fame The
Olympia is at the Naval Academy, the Brooklyn
Mare Island
The armored cruiser Brooklyn, built at Phil
adelphia in 1866. is the largest of the vessels
named. She is of 9,215 tons displacement and
was completed at cost of s3.067. 915. The next
largest of the four vessels is the Saratoga lex
New York;, armored cruiser of $500 tons dis
placement, built at Philadelphia in 1891 and
ing almost much the Brooklyn The OIym-
pia is a second-class cruiser. built at San Fran
cisco in 1S92-95. The Raleigh Is third-class
cruiser. built at Norfolk at about the same time
Both of the protected type.
Some of the big armorclads but recently
out of commission. or IN reserve'-that means
headed for Davy Joness locker, though yet
the marked-down price tag has not been attached
Others-for instance the s2O.OOO.0OO job lot OF
monitors-woud probably be unstable at any
price foatable fighting vessels.
Admiral Jack Philips old battleship Texas.
which bore the brunt of the fighting at Santiago,
was rechristened the San Marcos, that her
state name might be given to of the
dreadnoughts. Then, last spring. the venerable
war-horse was towed out into Chesapeake Bay
and up a target the New Hanpshire's
big guns and dynamite shells to batter into scrap
IRON What comedown from twenty-five years
ago, when the Texas, constructed at a cost OF
$4.202.121 was a beauty of the squadron!
Simpsons old flagship is the Saratoga
having surrendered her name to the newer New
York. She has been rebuilt at cost of
than half million dollars. and is the
Philippines-the only of the Santiago fighters
in actual commission today.
Schleys famous Brooklyn. in her declining days
reposes peacefully in the League Island navy
yard. Philadelphia The Iowa. Fighting Bob"
Evans Ship Is in reserve also the Mas
sachusetts, the Indiana and the Oregon-the gall
| liant battleship that Captain Clark brought half
ay around the world in record time without
break
These and other good od-timers are not yet
-all in" by any Still they couldn't hold
their own in the fighting line with such husky
youngsters as say. the Connecticut or the North
Dakota, today, much less with the superdread-
roughts of the Florida type of tomorrow There
fore. according up-to-date standards they are
in the obsolete class When vessel once gets
there. rule. the rest is silence.
Even tho proud Atlantic fleet hast.esnips cz