New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-11-03

nav candidate IOr immortality mas
,resented herself TO the British public,
,Irs Janet Ross, author of book in
s.,o;touslv entitled The Fourth
coreration." Mrs. Ross published In
,Sss Three Generations of English
rro,ner." being an account Of her
.,o,berE grandmother and great-grand-
~,other. all women of mark. So it
'nos that her present book came to be
lied "The Fourth Generation; she
sorself being the Fourth" and this
ting really an Autobiography. She
Gems TO have chosen the title by adj
,,ice Of a publisher; who may generally
80 trusted to know what sort of title
q likely to help sell his wares. All the
came I think it a mistake. Whether
.he 'Three Generations" was sue
oossful book 1 know not. but it is a
,orgotten book. Who among the aV-
srage readers Of to-day remembers the
,ssues of four and twenty years ago?
Of any rate, did not remember THIS
nor probably ever heard Of it, nor OF
ether books by Mrs. Ross; all of merit
.or NJ Mrs. Ross. Among books lying
.bout on club tables, such title as
che present does not attract. 1t neither
.vnlains the book nor excites curiosity
- one of those two things ought to be
6one by a title. 1t was finally by an
aoo,aent that I came TO look at the
'.oIuroe All this I explain in the hope
- ,rducing the American reader to pay
m attention to the title but plunge at
o,ce into the book.
Ne will find himself at once in "a
land of enchantment. Whether he
srer before heard of Mrs. Ross or not
nil make no difference. The first few
,.oAs will make him hers. He VIII
.sod 70 the end: with each period Of
h.r life. or indeed almost on every
raee wondering that her name should
have been 10 him unknown. When the
and comes he will wish it had not but
:. will have added to his gallery of
we.portraits a dazzling figure whom
,s never will forget. Mrs. Ross is stu
living Inexorable dates fix her age
:, seventy. but she writes as If still
IN the plenitude Of her extraordinary
movers and gifts. She is a woman
vbo has lived every minute of her lie;
and lives them still; and can make
them, and does make them, alive for
you and for me and for all Of us,
And OH how you will wish you had
known her, or might still know her!
Mr. Bright once said to me Of Mr..
Arson Burlingame, then our Minister
n Russia. that he seemed to have
zone through life as a bird goes
tbrough the air. If he knew Mrs.
Ross he must have said the same
thing of her. II precisely describes
her No other image could so clearly
svnress the swiftness and buoyancy OF
her progress through the years. Be
ause I speak of her as unknown TO
ron or to me, do not imagine that her
lie or any part Of il was ever passed
IN obscurity. The exact contrary is
true She lived in a brilliant world
among brilliant people Of whom she
herself was surely one Of the most
brilliant She had made for herself
this place even in her girlhood. she
had surrounded herself with friends
ess youthful than herself. She was
dolized. Two names stand out on
hege luminous earlier pages; King
AXE and George Meredith whom she
zlls my Poet" Later come many
more of many worlds and races; royal
lies Of divers natiOnalities and such
great captains as de Lesseps, VINO
found in her. as she found in him,
kindred spirit Of adventure and Of.
splendid enterprise.
It was Kinglake's name which first
attracted me to the book; lying open
and that name appearing, signed TO
letter: Your affectionate A. w. King
lake" Now Kinglake was a man who
with great tenderness Of nature, had
tso a reserve Of nature from which
le seldom departed. I knew him lot
many years. well, and it came as
Grprise TO see such a signature. Al
Sctionate knew he was, but with
IN affection lying so deep that 1t sell
a5m came to the surface. The feellhg
vas there the expression Of it almost
never. And so I asked myself who can
his Janet Ross be whom he calls MY
lear Janet" and whose "affectionate
4. W. Kinglake" he was. read the
litter. / turned over the book and
read every other letter Of his. Then
began again and read the whole
book.
So far as Kinglake was concerned
stirred memories OF which / nave
iometimes spoken but never so tully
Is ! wanted 70. For II you knew
kinglake well some share Of his habit
u silent self-repression impaired ltSelf
10 you; at least, with reference to
him OF himself he would almost never
Ia!k- His regard for you he left you
% infer, yet never left you in doubt
bout Il. In these letters 70 his dear,
N sometimes dearest, Janet there Is
III Of his grave sweetness, and more
freedom Of emotion than was common
Fith him They are entirely charm
ng He was 80 years older than
he. His birth year was 1903: Tenny-
son's and Gladstones and Oliver
Wendell 1T,,,,.,.,, ,,aar Hers was