New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1911-12-10


tod O small lump Of ice The author al
.crs,e takes his water plain-that is, with
out ice.
THINKS BENNETT A FAD.
THIS was remedied, and by then the ONO
,o,,o had arrived IT was done 10 the
,ronor brown. the toast was all right, too.
b,t Sir Gilbert munched, instead. his pre-
di.cgted biscuits and slipped his tea.
II was brought to the authors attention
how Arnold Bennett. only recently depart
cd from our shores. had relegated with con-
siderable nonchalance Thackeray and
Dickeps TO the large number Of artists who
crowd the second grade.
Sir Gilbert was panied After moment
NJ this feeling he became angry. His voice
,ibrated with the intelligence that America
might take it from him there were more
NJ Tbackcrays and Dickens's books read
ny tho British public in the last twenty
Eve wears than at any time since they were
written.
and who. pray. is Mr.. Bennett" Sir
Gilbert inquired. "Mr Bennett will be eX-
tremely fortunate If. at the expiration OF
twenty-five years, he is read at all
..Whv." Sir Gilbert continued, crescendo,
there IS more in one page Of Dickens than
in the whole Of a Clayhanger. Bennett Is
fad; a passing craze
With q tense diminution in tone, the au-
thor continued:
do you know. IL I had one-tenth the
ability that Dickens possessed I would con-
slider myself the most fortunate OF LIVING
men"
a wave Of the statesman's hand dismissed
Bennett as a conventional topic, and the
rcporter tried Berlin. Sir Gilbert noted the
recent remarks in the ReichstaS by Chan
,ccIIor Won -IIollweg. in which
England was criticised as having failed 30
demonstrate her desire for peace with Ger
many i'm a sufficiently positive manner.
Two powerful nations. such as Great
Britain and Germany, will never be any
thing else than jealous" Sir Gilbert said.
After all is said and done, it is simply
question of human nature
This brought the member of the British
House Of Parliament to the subject of
speechmakirg. the Moroccan question, the
Persian question. the Chinese situation and
European politics generally, resulting, Sir
Gilbert said. with smile. in quite lot
Of speechmaking all around
McmorizlnC his speeches was, he had
found. an impossibilty This might be
considered strange, he said. when he point
ed out that before he was eighteen years
old he had, among a great many other
things. committed TO memory nine of Shake
spcares plays.
WITH BET AS A STIMULANT.
For bet OF 500" Sir Gilbert continued,
81 would agree 10 rccite for YOU by to-
morrow night the whole Of Macbeth
say. or Hamlet" or any of those nine
plays that l learned by heart before my
eighteenth year The strange thing about
It Is this. however that ! could not, if YOU
paid me $1,000. commit to memory two
Iagcs Of Henry W." it being one Of the
things that ] did not memorize I'm my
youth.
"What / mcmorized during that period Of
my life still retain. Then I swan in Swim
burro. Byron Tcnnyaon-drank them up,
absorbed them"
Tho business Of life had produced tho
change m his verbal memory, Sir Gilbert
explained With tho birth of creative
forces. le said, tho receptive faculties, in
q manner Of speaking, resigned; at least.
won't ou part time. and have thus remained
unto The present day.
not many literary men have exhibited
marked facility as arthmetcans But
from his youth Sir Gilbert has retained an
unusual power to multiply in his head.
surprising proof Of this faculty was shown
at the breakfast table
Ask me to multiply something" he said,
earnestly.
sixty-sevcn times forty-fve suggested
themselves, without the reporter knowing
why.
Right" said Sir Gilbert. and placed the
fingers OF his right hand quite firmly
against his forehead.
place the figures j shall call off 10 you
from right 10 left" he instructed. Five
he said without delay; then almost immcdi-
stely. zone, naught, three. There you have
it, OBJ
Dligent operation Of the pencil by the
reporter showed that IL was even So
By his political enemies and personal
friends Sir Gilbert Parker IS known I'm Eng
land as an extreme imperialist. Ii is his
belief that the business Of England is not
10 acquire more property, but 10 hold what
She has-not 10 expand. but TO retain.
After remembering both walters with the
change that they were awaiting. Sir Gil
-. Tent TO his sitting room on the eighth
floor. IL was as large as tho average apart
ment Of the upper West Side, and was
fragrant with the odor Of red and white
roses
you have known the United States for
good many years Sir Gilbert, probably
more intimately than most British public
men, said the reporter. what salient
changes have you noticed during that
time?'
DO you mean political. social or CONNER
cial changes% asked Sir Gilbert
"Oh, all, but chiefly political and social"
y notice immense changes-changes for
the better 1 believe, though every coun-
Try has its own critics. and your own cOun-
Try cannot have entered upon new political
development without having TO face sharp
internal challenge. Since / first visited the
United States in 1888 you have entered into
the held Of world politics in an absolutely
new sense. Rightly or wrongly. as people
may view II, you have been forced by cir
cumslances into an imperial policy and
With your 100000 of people and terrific
<'es far removed from your shores, around