12
¦U7;derstar.<ling and compassion. Just so does
the spirit of man in its mundane harness devi
ate in and out of the straight and narrow path,
now conscious of the still small voice, now deaf
to it, and now in a curious state of ambiguity as
to whether. In Mr. Hardy's memorable phrase,
the atmosphere is blowing from Cyprus or from
Galil.e.
"Sister Teresa" opens with the heroine's
choice betwixt good sind evil practically made;
tile scene is laid almost throughout in the con
vent; but the soul's conclusive ratification of
its own aspirations is long In coming, and even
at the last Mr. Moore wisely refrains from put
ting too obvious a period to the story. Evelyn
remains herself, though she wears a different
r.Kme. There Is no finer touch in the whole his
tory of lur development than that which shows
her to us at the end, with her voice broken and
the religious life accepted voluntarily, happily,
v. t with that aid from forces outside the scope
of her own will which in her case ever was and
ever would be indispensable, as it is for so
many of the dwellers in this beguiling world.
With the instinct of the true artist, Mr. Moore
Hands apart and interprets Evelyn; he exhibits
h< :• as in the hands of fate, not as a puppet
whose destiny lie himself has moulded. His In
tellect acts like a solvent upon the material he
lias found in human life, clarifying it, making
it intelligible and fascinating to the reader, but
never forcing it to meet any theories or preju
dices of his own. The calling of the novelist is
full of opportunities for self-sacrifice. All along
th" line he is tempted to adopt situations that
would diversify his plot and make it the more
popular; hut if ho Is worth big salt, he puts In
vention from him and goes for the situations
that logically belong to the soul whose ad
ventures he has attempted to commemorate.
Mr. Moore is worth his salt. There is not a false
note anywhere in the story of Evelyn Innes.
lie owes this to the fact that he is resolute In
his search for the essential He tells us much
that at first seems trivial, but presently one per
ceives that he has mentioned nothing irrelevant,
that the subtle drama of Evelyn's conflict with
herself is being enacted in these pages, as
though without the intervention of any narrator
at all— a notable testimony to the reality of the
woman, as it Is to the authenticity of her
spiritual experience. There are some more than
painful rassigos in that experience, some from
which it seems almost pitiless to draw the veil,
and in drawing it. we may add. the author lias
only the edification of mature readers In his
mind. "Sister Teresa" Is not, any more than
"Evelyn Innes," a book for children, who could
not understand its profoundly psychological im
port. But if Mr. Moore Is candid, it Is with the
candor of absolute sincerity. He deals with a
great theme and he treats It with a high serious
ness, unflinchingly, but always with dignity and
noble feeling. We might touch at some length
Upon the lighter elements in "Sister Teresa,"
i;;~'n the exquisite portraiture of the nuns, upon
the dryly humorous handling of the private pol
itics of the convent, and upon the tine critical
insight with which, v in "Evelyn rnnep." the
subject of music is always approached, liut we
are always coming back to Evelyn herself. Her
personality fills the book, and it is the kind of
personality that it is impossible to resist. She
is never, even in her most transitory moods,
v.hut a 1.-. s- r novelist would have made her,
merely morbid and hysterical. She has char
acter and ideas, she has a touch of genius.
Her sufferings are those of a living being, a nd
in suffering with her we recognise the power of
a writer of sterling gifts. Mr. Moor.- has made
in "Kvelyn Innes" and "Sister Teresa" a con
tribution to literature which can only win
greater and greater honor as time goes on.
PIOBTINQ l'i:\\Y DREADFULS.
Prom The London Academy.
Mr. Stephen Wigney, secretary of the Metro
politan Tabernacle Colportage Association does
jiot believe in denunciation. His word i< sub
stitution. His colporteurs, numbering between
lijty and sixty, manage to turn over more than
1->,<»H) a year in selling hooks of distinctly moral
and religious tendencies. Their aim Is to offer
good literature in the place of had. The selec
tion of such literature must be a difficult i i-k.
How compete with the penny dreadful' \i :
Wlgney confessed. "It is very difficult, indeed,"
am] added:
"I sometimes spend hours skimming books and
periodicals to decide if we can admit them to
our list, of course, I hay. always the com
mittee, with Pastor Thomas Spurgeon as presi
dent, to refer to. Tea, it Is delicate and dim uli
to know where to draw the line.
"In publications for boys I abject to slant: and
vulgar language. The characters while ad
venturous, .should always be animated by a
noble spirit. Such books need not be always
preaching, hut they should breathe a pure at
mosphere. I know that a boy can and does
enjoy such a book as 'John Halifax. Gentle
man.' We have sold numbers of that book
very cheaply. We can now sell f,, r threepence
such hooks as 'Queechy/ 'Uncle Toms Cabin 1
and 'The Wide. Wide World.' Speaking meta
phorically, they will go on selling as long as the
World lasts. A very nice book for the family is
Ministering Children,' which we can sell for
threepence, in paper covers. I like the Tract
society's publications also some of Cassell's
Buch as The Quiver." "
I //.','/. \l\irs mom MENT.
from The Athenaeum.
The proposed monument to Wrlaine. whi h
was to have been erected in Paris this month, is
Indefinitely postponed, for many of those who
promised to subscribe have failed to do so. Toe
expenses in connection with the conferences in
countries other than Frame appear to have
swallowed up nil the receipts. There .ire al
ready the busts of three poets in the Luxem
bourg Garden, and the senateurs are under
stood to be against the number being added to.
After all. Vcrlaiiie was a very minor uul-1, a.;id
bis best monument is his v, ..ik.
NEW-YORK TRIBUNE ILLUSTRATED SUPPLEMENT.
LITERARY NOTES.
"The Fond Adventure" is the title of Mr.
Maurice Hewlett's new story. It is another
episode of a pilgrimage to Canterbury. It will
make its first appearance here in "Frank Les
lie's Monthly."
The early part if the twentieth century is the
period set for the a.tion of the characters in
Mr. Edmund Go3se's forthcoming book, "Hypo
lympia; or, The Cods in the Island." Those
characters are the gods of ancient Greece, who
deliver therein their ironical observations on
the life of to-day.
Mr. Henry Norman's book "All the Russias'"
and Mr. Harry De Windfa "Finland as It Is"
are coining out .simultaneously. Readers, will
be surprised at Mr. De Windt'a enthusiasm
about Finland as a fine country for tourists.
He is full of praises of the climate.
Another travel book. Mr. Archibald Col
quhoun'a "Mastery of the I'acific," is the outcome
BUST OF <: MIRKT \ IK ?HAUT.
By Fr.mk Edwin Klweil. recently placed in the S.iiato Chamber at Washington.
of the author's conviction that in that region
the great conflicts of the twentieth century will
be waged.
Miss Louise Imngen Ouiney, whose own coun
try does not seem to furnish her with congenial
subjects for books, is living in England and
is at work upon a monograph on R. H. Froude,
elder brother of the historian, llurreii Proude,
who died at thirty-three, was not a man of
commanding talent, and we do not <juite see
what moves Miss Guiney to writing about him.
A biography of Aaron rani is in course of
preparation by Mr C. P. Pidgin, the author of
the novel called "Blennerhassett." Before this
life is published, however, two novels continu
ing the defence nf Kurr will be brought "Ut by
this enthusiast.
Prescott's "Conquest of Mexico" is now one
of the numbers of the great Bonn Library. It
is a three volume edition.
Satire moves "The Saturday Review" critic
to whom has l n entrusted Mr. Baildon's
trivial book <<n his schoolfellow, R 1.. Steven-
Bon. "Tin le remains a period ¦>( his childh I."
says this reviewer, "to which even his own re
tentive memory did not reach hack, and over
this, the most formative of all in a man's life.
we encounter a baffling silence.. If it is too late
now to recover the testimony of the nurses
who carried or wheeled the future essayist about
the streets of Edinburgh there must be still
living many a one who. without being actually
welcome in the house ( persona grata t" Steven
son pere"). passed the door of No. 17 11.-iiol Row
in those days or paused at a little distance !•>
watch the infant tj.ke his place in bis perambu
lator. When such sources of Information have
been thoroughly exhausted, and not till then,
shall we have the dew to a really critical un
derstanding of the author of Treasure Island.'"
The satire is just. The multiplication of hooks
about Stevens. in lias reached a point beyond
toleration.
Mrs. Blissett, the author of "The Concert
Director," has joined the great body of writen
of historical novels She is about to publish a
book of this sort, the scene of which is laid
in France and the title of Which is "The Most
Famous l-oba."
The Rev. Mr. I'.lmit, the \.-nerable rector of
Chelsea, who has just retired after ¦ service <>r
forty-five years, eald the other day: "Carlyle
bad the key of my garden, and he used it " He
also visited the old rectory, which stands in
Church-si., where he "would sit after dinner
pipe in mouth, and his reflections would flow in
a brilliant and incessant stream. Bui when In
began t«. abuse anybody or anything it was no
us.- trying to stop him in particular he bated
Huxley's writings and detested all science. I
remember Huxley — who— character grew
sweeter and sweeter as years drew on — tell-
Ing DM that it was no use contradicting htm
He was so great and SO old. In fact, Carlyle
was a p.-asant to the end. Carlyle did not often
go to church, but somebody once took him to
see Westminster Abbey. He was Impressed
with the building. l>ut not with tl.e service; *aad
as for being buried In it,' he growled, 'I should
want a gaol delivery first before I'd lay :..;.
-bones there.' "
"The Monomaniac" is the title of tho EngUat
translation, just issued, of Zola's novel "I.a
Bete Humaine." Edward Vizetelly is the trans
lator.
A limited edition of "The Personality of
Thoreau," by Mr. F. H. Sanborn. is to contain
some heretofore unpublished verse by trie New-
England naturalist. As a poet Thoreau never
quite attained, of course, to his own conception
of poetry. It is r- membered that Emerson once
said to him that "lie was always looking out for
new poets and orators, and was sure the new
generation of young men would contain some."
and that Thoreau answered that "he had found
one in the Concord woods— only it had feathers
and had never bsea t« Harvard CotfcMSt; still it
had a voice and an aerial lacttaatloa and uttta
more was needed." Kmerson's suggestion, "Let
us cage a." only called out from There** Urn
mournful comment "That is the way the wurld
always spoils its poets."
Mr Owen Wister. an American writ - from
whom we do not hear often enough, has written
a pap.r on the President's college life for "The
Satm.li> Evening Tost."
Why. we would like to know, has Mr. Wtste*
n.v.r pursued that charsalng vein of humor re
vealed in his slight hut delightful little tah
about a certain Dragon of Wantley?
Mr. W K. Henley has collected a number of his
essays on art subjects published in the last tlf
teen years, and intends to bring them out in a
volume entitled -Views and Reviews. Essays in
Appreciation: Art." This is t.. be a companion
to his former volume of "Views and Reviews."
treating of literature
Of all Charks Dickens's children, Henry PleM-
Ing Dickens, who has just celebrated his siivei
wedding, has I nin a worldly sense the m>>st
Buccessful. He Is Recorder of Maidstone-, and
is one of the m..st popular members of the Eng
lish bar. He declined some years ago to sit In
Parliament as the representative of Rochester
the scene of "Edwin Droo I."
It was to this s,.n Henry that the novelist once
wrote these golden words: l should never
have mad.- my success in life if 1 had been shy
of taking pains, or if I had not bestowed upon
the least thing I have eve.- undertaken exactly
the same attention and car.- that i have be
stowed upon the greatest l>o everything at
your best."
A booh dealing largely with life in Urn Sooth
"before the war" has been prepared .> Mrs
Caroline Merrick, wife of a Louisiana Judge.
These reminiscences will bear the title ol ¦¦ >i i
limes in 1 >i\ie Land."
An odd means of popularising n,e study of
Dante In England has been adopted by the
University Extension Guild. After preliminary
lectures and discussions, tableaus arranged from
Rossettl's representations ol scenes in the "Vita
Nuova" have I n .ui\eii and with great suc
cess. The pictures chosen are (1) Beatrice's
• v;ilul - 11 "" 1 '"' Dante, >\i> bet repudiation of
him. CD his dn ma 4 her death .l> Dai t«
drawing an angel, and (5) the meeting of Dante
aad Beatrice it. Paradise. Hen is an idea lot
the PttbHsaers of the •¦(.,.m " novel
Mr. Leslie Stephen's edition of the letters of
John Richard (Jreen will soon he followed it
is to be hoped. i, y his biography of the his
torian. It has been said of Green that no liis
orian of our tim -s. .xc.pt possibly Macaulay.
tedaa busy ¦ Ufa r ow that threw M much
light on the problems with which he dealt ia
his work. His widow tells us that "h ¦ lo k- d
on his Lnodosj i '¦¦ ts having given rim. hia
best If now in history. It was with his (h :• h
ward.-ns. his schoolmasters, in vestry mi- ÜBOT
in police courts, at boards of guardi:: n.-. M I f
viee in Chapel or churih. in the daily '.>' I
the dock laborer, the tradesman, the >
monger, In the summer visitation of chol'-ru,
in the winter misery that followed ¦ ¦*!
• .: •B, thai he learn- 1 uhat the life of the
people infant as perhaps no historian ha<;
¦ ¦. J it before."
A Hew Poet, by name L : sephare. la
proclaimed fan San Francisco. Out;.- -
printed cori.-.-rning his "great strer.-th. oritri-ial
ity and imagination," and N is ¦ • > BsaAsd
that he is an aspirant for the fe g] sal hasj Ml
of literature. And yet it ia aaH Um4 it is ha*i
for Xew I'o-.ts to yet a hearing:
Mrs. Mary St. I.eger Harrison, otherwise
"I.uoas Malet," and the author of the just pub
lished "History of Sir Richard Calmady." is a
Widow and lives In I-^ndon. The younger daugb-
KltlgtltJ. the author, Si . i
the Rev. Mr. Harrison, one of her fat! - ;
curates. The young man was the son si W :\
iam Harrison, of Pyne & Harrison, the famous
firm of operatic impresarios. Mrs. Harrison.
who Is now nearly fifty, has in the last t
years published eight books. She is said to
have been largely Influenced fan her work hy
Balzac, IV Maupassant. I>aul.-t. Tolstoy and
Ibsen. She is a wsassn of strong character.
i;-..:> or.-- eas have whatl he wants in this
world," she once said, "if he only has the tour
a_'e la t.ik>* it wlkii it comes. It doesn't do to
heatt !'• ass] U you are afraid, why. it's all
over with you!" She mf-an: in early youth to be
a, pa;nt.r.
Mr. Chart* ¦ W. Chestmnfk forthcoming novel,
"TK-- MJari— Of Tradition." <l--.ils with th* : "
un.-s Of two S.. ¦:!.• rri American fami:: .i
white one and a Mack one. A leading char
¦Ctefl bj H educated colored man who seeks by
wise methods to elevate his race. The book is
described as having dramatic situations.
There appears t-i be uncertainty in England
as to the authorship of the two books "The
Martyrdom of an Kmpress" and "The Tribula
tions of a Princess." '"The London Chi
declares f hat the writer is "an American who
marri.-d i Kuropean prince belonging to one of
the lesser royal families."
What promises to tx» an interesting volume
on the Scottish men of letters in th* eighteenth
century ia to be brought out by Mr. H. G.
Graham.
George Archdale. an old man who for most
of his life was a contributor to English period
ical literature, has just died. He was the friend
of many celebrities, and was a repository of
stories old and new. Of Rogers he had made a
special study, and he was fond of recalling that
once when Henry Reeve (whose unbounded self
satisfaction was not his least characteristic)
asked Rogers to walk home with him from a
dinner party, he received the withering reply:
"Walk home by yourself, sir; I am sure you
will be delighted with your company."
Mr. Rider Haggard's gossip about his recent
journey through Palestine. Italy and Cyprus is
coming out soon under the title of "A Winter
Pilgrimage."
.4 HfST OF UAKHKT A. UOIiART.
Tin-: NEW marble BY MR. ei.wkix. rUCED IN
THE SENATE CHAMBER AT WASHINGTON*.
Washington. Oct. 12.— A marble bust of the
late Vice-President Hobart has this week
been placed in the Senate Chamber. It is the
work of Frank Edwin Klwell. the NVw-York
sculptor, who thus furnishes the second of the
busts which adorn the niches in the gallery of
the Senate. The other bust by Mr. Elwell is
that of Lev! P. Morton. Mrs. Hobart praises
the likeness and says it reflects accurately the
character and nature of her husband. Elliot
Woods, the acting architect of the Capitol, has
put the work in one of the best places in the
gallery, where it enjoys a good light and can
be seen to advantage. Mr. Elwell is a well
known sculptor of New -York. The statue of
"Intelligence" in front of the New-York state*
Building and the "Fountain of Kronas," .• the
Pan-American Exposition are by this artist.
Tin: i.nn.h: -<\
BT MOIUA O'NKILU
When my little son is born on a sunny summer
morn,
I'll take him sleepin" in my arms to wake be
side the sea.
For the windy watbsn blue mil be dancin'
if they knew.
An* the weeny waves that wet the sand corns
creeps*' up to me. •
When my little son is here in the noonday warm
an* clear,
I'll carry him so kindly up the glen to Craiga*
wood ;
In .i green an* tremblin* shadow there I'll hush
my tender laddo.
An' the tlittin' birds'll quet their songs as It
they understood.
When my pretty son's awake, och. the care o'
him I'll take!
An" we'll never pass a gentle place between
the dark an* day;
If he's lovely in his sleep on his face a. veil
I'll keep.
Or the wee folk an' the good folk might be
want In' him away.
When my darlin' comes to me he will He upon
my knee —
Though the world should be my pillow he
must know no harder place;
Sure a queen's son may be cold in a cradle
all tV gold.
But my arm shall be about him an' my kiss
upon his faccL