Newspaper Page Text
6 TIJROWN. BY KAU*II HODGSON. I'm down, good Fate, you've won the race; Bite deep and break a tooth in me; Now spit your poison in my face. An. l let me be; Ijeave trie an hour and come again Witli Insulta new and further pain. V«ir of your tooth I'll make a pen, And of your slaver ink, and will 1 I'ring a joy t'> being then T race y< v still, A laughing child with feathered be< Who .shall outspeed your cliai iol wheels. S! XDAY. NOVKMItKIt 11. The idea of iwuim; a hook In bandsouie form. s\t •■ good pri'e. an<l bringing it out a year or so later in a cheaper edition, has much to recom ih«'ih] it. Many ■.' I..lv Is thus made access! 11' t. th.Mi-..-'!:d- who might otherwise never tuni its p.T_" - I'ut the idea takes a new turn i:' the s< h im- jukl adopted in England by the j ii:>'i>lii-is of ••Tin' Rurlingti n Magazine.* 1 j'li«'y issue the Djonth's number in the form which has won this periodical so much apprecia tion mong lovers of art, and tney sell it at half a crown. A fortnight later they reprint tlif iek of the artides and illustrations i;i thinner, less sumptuous form and sell the Bum '.» r for a shilling. In this way two publics are reached, to the satisfaction of botli. What a boon it would bo if ihis idea could ho s> tended! In "Harper's** for this month, "one cf pui bi>st story tellers" is quoted as writing, "I at'ktmwledge, humbly, my besetting sin <:f t;ik i.':g too much room to say a thin,' in." A. Captain Cutili' was wont to say. "The hearings «•! this oliservation la.\s in the application on it." Nine out of ten of "our best story tellers" lake too much room to say a thing in. What j >y if, a fortnight after the publieati n of one of their masterpieces in a plump octavo at $i r>»>, we could buy the cream of the great work in a duodecimo of thirty or forty pages at tweuty-flve cents! We are sun- that there would be a tremendous demand for these tab loids of fiction, the author's returns would roll u\> liko magk', and every one would be happy. It i> Impossible to avoid rather frequent reference to the Battle of the BooJcb now Boinß forward in I>»ndon. The papers there fairly overflow with articles end letters. The nian- Bsersi of the "Times** Book Club are forever nrguing the 1 >iiit, the publishers fill columns with tJuir statements, .-tiul half the authors in tlir United Kingdom havo entered '"<• fray. More points are brought up ttiau wo <i>ulil think of even summarizing, but bobdc of them irre idstibly provoke comment. For example, there i> the question of "the readjac public.* 1 That Inoffensive, but, we should Imagine, Indispen sable entity, wui to be petting itself ground • \. -.Miiins siiia'.! between the upper and nether BiilJstoneß. The article by Mr. Lans which \ •■ reprinted the other day waa typical in its reflection of ■ large skepticism as to the inter est of the public In Bcrkmi literature. Another <;not:itioii we have made from Mr. K. V. Lucas has disclosed the same <i«<ul>t. There is a gen ern] disposition to regard the reading public hs addicted to novels and little »'ls»>. It is not at the masHeM alone that these criticisms are directed. In a publisher's letter we find an illusion to "the progressive deterioration in tlie taste of Ro-ralled educated people.* We have noticed that deterioration ourselves. I'.ut is it as far reacbins a^ the excited contributors t.. this debate would have us believe? That we taka leave to d:>ubt. Why all this fuss about t: •• distribntion of books if nobody buys them' A a matter of fact there is a large public for good literature, and it is unsportsmanlike, to s&y the le:ist, to h.- perpetually heaving half bricks at the Innumerable readers witboul whom publishers and anthors would be lefl high him I dry. M lt is written with Mr. Blank's usual fluency and constructed with the e.-ise of a man wlio knows his business so well that he no looser \<--<\- to think about it." Thus a friendly but d:s.-riii)iPaUmj commentator on the new bowk of a well known writer. It is a good enough Illustration of the art of damning with faint praise. 15ut t!i<T" is no malieo in it. it is just, .unl it draws attention t<> a quality that ia, in it- way. ns precious ns genius. We value a workmanlike piece of writing even when it may '"'. on otlter ereands, open to severe crit icism. It is .Iways a pleasure to recognize the Increase in mere excellence of rraftwannniilil|i unions our own ant horn. The arerace book is i::m-. n.moiiiy well made. It is framed with Jmlsment m:>l thcagli \h.> Ensliafe ia rarely distinguished it is r..;:.i!iy s«;und. On the otiier hand the l.<>. that i s |h*)rly pal tosether is nol l>y any t;ic::.: ii'?knoa-B ti.<!ay. We hare been csitccially Btmcfc, of '.v.\«. by th<- inadeqaacy of tin- authors who compose historical memoirß, .-.!.; Ecttera kp.l tlio like. It Li true that the art of the biographer h;;-; always been one of the mest dluicult at v.'A tlu' arts, yet it wou'd seem u< if it niifct I •• eultivttixl with a little mor»> •/c:i! than we actu&iiy l.iv oeraston, as a rule, to erve. '>',-.• <;.•;>< Ls In the sort of book to which wa refer ar» cftea to b? tr:n c.i to noto }r ,• more than '.a '••, to a i:«sle.-:t of those lare ftil -t'iiiifs. nol . r.'y of ti:t> Biibj«c| in baud i.ut of the general literature of the period, which iitPMi^lien the tercinrp of a Uincr:>pher'H work. Blji.rjK»ii Ins sens.' of proportion, ut>d aid him ill ti;. iii Important matter of L;i.iii^ unity '<-> his YORK DAILY TRIBITNE, Tli'O 1)1 "H II WILLIAMS. With Some Notes on Two English Maries. COURT I. IKK IN THB DTTTW REPUBIJC, MB IO9 By the Baroneai ftosette vim Zuylen van Nyevelt. tvo, pp. IB E P. DuttMi Jf Co. The reader who exports t.. Bad in this volume 1 lively rnroniclc of manners and social episodes will be disappointed; for while it is not without those lighter elements of interest, i» is largely devoted to potttlesJ history. Its leading nguies are William 11. grandson of William the Silent, and iiis wife Mars Stuart, daughter <f • '• 1. tneir s.-n WilUan in later King oi England i r: ■ l hi- wife Mary, daughter of another Btn ■■'■ King, James II Th«- storj .>f thi-ir threa i-- more <>r less dramatic and it has been told lur.. \%uh tarrful reference to authorities, Dutch, French, and EnglLsh. Th. .:. is set in a perioil when the im portant, powerful, an«l prosperous States of the Dutch Republic were "feeling th>ir oats" and not at all disinclined to ml" their rulers, when MARY, rRIKCESS OF ORANGE, LATER QUEEN OP ENGLAND. (Trorri a miniature U-!oiu;ing to th.- Queen of the Netherlands.) the princes of th>^ Tl<'us-^ el Nassau had often a difficult caursi t.» steer, and when a largs share of their troubles ros«» out of the affairs of th.ir unhapp> English kmsnu-n. It i-; interest ing to conjecture what might have h:ipp>'::«-l to tha Netherlands if thai fat, double-ckinned, in : 'iioiinir. discontented ftanan lady. Mari • de Medicis, had not visited the Stadtbblder. Fretl eris'k Henry, in the y. ar 1628. Hera was a purely selfish errand— -h<- sought Mi. aid of the states General, allies of Rk'he'ieu, la order to obtain permission to return i< Prance. She did not find much satisfaction In this direction, but it was during her visit that the id' a was first ■iiggrrtwi of a marrtace between the son of las Prince, of Orange and Mary, her granddaughter and namesake, the eldest daughter of the Kn-: lish Kiii£. The Italian Was on her way ti> Kngland and offered to arranse the mat.-h. That she subsequently tried to marry the little girl to the Spanish Infante was a characteristic per formance. Young William of Nassau was nearly mated with M.ir>'s sister, Princess Eliza beth, aged five; but the Spanish saarriage .s.-jieme ending in smoke, the more important Mary. Princess Roya!, aged te-n. fell to his lot The Btadtbolder*a only son wai then Bfteen and a very proper youth. AI twelve years old he had accompanied his father to the wars and mitiition wa-> mad" <>f his f.rav<ry «>n Tariom occasions, In the Dutch archives there is a let ter addressed to his proud mamma. Princess Amelia, by his father's secretary, describing one tjf William's exploits at the immature age of seventeen "At the head of .1 troop of cavalry he surprised a portion of th- Spanish army, and, after .1 sharp light, made a 1.-.r. ■ number of prisoners. Unong them were about forty oifi oers. men of bigii military and personal rank. Tlit'y dsdared that th. ir commander, Cantelino, Intended to return with the v. bole army. \".. prince laughed arid said be would await them at dinner. Table* were spread on tne heath and Lhe captive i pan) it.: , ent 1 fain -.1 by their • hivalron foe." \\ ■:■ n : ■• fifteen the prince went to London to mat 1 his Mary he showed himself ti» be a man in dignity, good s. -n.-- . •. tn.t commanding force. There ar. still prea rved SUNDAY. XOVIOIP.ER \\, 1.90(1 the quaint letters which ha wrote to hl3 father While he was in England. What, asked Frederick Henry, were Ms boy's si nthuasrti towards ass bride? William answers that at first "they wer« very serious t<-«»th»r. but now were iiuit at home with each other, that she :s more beau- ! tiful than h«r picture, that he loves her and thinks she loves him." The younK bridegroom returned aJans to Hol land a few wsetai after the wedding; the father and mother of the little bride becag unwttltng to let her leave them then. liut .us the relati >ns between Charles and Ins Parliament came to a dangerous head. Henrietta Maria, in the follow ing year, resolved to take her daughter to Hol land, and to incidentally .|uir.- from the Stac!t bolder his backing for her husband and a goodly amount of tli.- sinews of war. Sophia, the daughter of (he Queen el Bohemia and lit tte Mary's cousin— that shrewd S-'orhia wh» afterwards became EJectresa of Hanover and "mother of a race of Kinss"— has left in her memoirs an odd description of Henrietta Maria, fhan seen by h-:r ror the first time. T: por traits of English ladie.? by Van Dyck, aIM says, "had given her sai a high opinion of th ir beauty and that of the Queen in particular that she was ijuit. surprised to see 'a. small woman. perched on hitrh h.-'s. with !on?, thin arms, unequal -houM- rs. and Mefk protnsdsaai ' tusks.' 'However.' she eontlaass, *nftei l bad looked at her weU, I found .sh" had very ti:i>- eyes, a well shaped nose, and an admirable complexion.' " The r>riilt- had uirfhaai of her mother*a fascination, though she h:id her h a'iti ful dark eyes This greajt-granddauajbti rof th.» famous Mary Stuart had derived little fruni that ancestress. Her intellect was narrow, her outlook selfish, and she was far more concerned in getting aaalßtssMßS from h>-r husband for her falling family in England than in nobly playin?? her part as the wife of the Stadtholder. She never cared for Holland, it hi snht fee.ins her self always to be an alien there. She was fond of h. r husband, who often neglected bur, but she had not Is complain oi any lack of sym pathy for her filial sorrows. H« strained his own resources to help the r«.ya!ist cause In Kns land an 1 there were few ■aassMU from her to which be did not respond. When at twenty four ho died of smallpox thi' widow of nineteen was broken-hearted. The states General, cor nlzant <>f the youn< man's efforts to acquire greater powers than they were wWhsg to cede to him, mourned less bitterly. In tess than a fortnight ift.-r the Prince's death his son waa born to Miry, and the gvrl was Inert- by cast into a sea of quarrels. She wished to be .-«'!-• guardian of ti'.' boy and bet mother-in-law vehemently opposed this. Kven the child's name was a suhjert of bitterness, ami two thousand peop> were kept waiting fos houra in the church and around it while Ihs princess in the palace delayed the. christening ceremony by a battle over slary'a desire ti> add her father's name t.. the nece-sary 'William. " The future of th«s boy !...,\ .1 very dark- for years be powerful nnti-4>rar.gi.*i party In the States made little of his rijr;t ; ami i>. i\ !.•-,•<. The mass** of lhe peeptc, however, « r- de voted t>> him and resented everj effort t> il<- fruud him. The •<• nerul opinion was heartl in a popular sons continually sun:; in the sin- t>>: ■ IV oar ;i if. dim; ixrwr -*■> wee, Vel hit St i.1t.:01.!.r h* . h.ii! t>.\ >*hr*>U] bout liis childhood • •\Villcm" 1., .1 ia a storm #>U»SBtJI and faction (Ignts never reaaed. What did the "wee princeiini^* who wa,s to become a great king look lik ? Mil face was. on the whole, attractive, with a soft ened resemblance to th« Stuarts — If. however, the BSM had beauty In early lif*, .-ip.-.iully in its expression of wistful infelliK f 'nce. the same mnol ■■■■■ said of the figure. Tn spite of r i ; ri _r. fenrinK unl nihiT healthful exercise, he r. m.iir ■ narrow oriesteij. ami rarher below tIM mj<J.il« height. Som#> contemporaries speak as tf he had been slightly deformed. 1I« was. in>l»»-<t. severely han<li:-nppe.J by i!!-r.«-alth. In n. private Ifttnr from the llague, written in 1«51, he i* «poken <-f us very «i«*lirau\ sul>j»^t lo f;uritins? fits anft ■hon-biwathed; it U added thai his .J.-nth woild her a r<;li»-f to many of 'he ruling f.iction. Eta rt m;tin»*ii a martyr trj asthma and heixUache all als life. Even aa a child, however, ho rose raperfoc tn bodily sufft-rinsr. It Ls said that a sense of his historic destiny f-ariy took hold of his active brain and in infancy he played hia part wel! on the political stage: — An amusing tnstanra of his perfect adaptatton to his role ix?ci:rrfii ti*-rnre ho had fnmrletcil his ninth year. An emhassy from the Hult-'tn of Morocco in K7) hr'>u<^hr present! tr> the States General, Amoni? th«-m was a pair of hf>rs«»<i <if the purest Ar:«.b biorxj, wbieV th*ir Mi^h Miirbtiaesaea desfnd to bestuw on th»- Uttta F*rin'-«* Tho nob!» animals si-re prt-s^-nted ti> him in the r«iurty:ir<j of Prince Ala'-iri'-^'s housf. anil, small and ulighl as* Prince William was. he .yet, it vyus .3 \'vU "took th>-in by the hrir!!<» 5n A'• m.'mty f^shinn.**"" IT«* trravt-ly exfir»-sst-.! hia thanks far the sift. a<! lir.C the hup*- that ht» mi^ht h«> able to make use of them in the service of the St-ite! It is said of the boy that he waa never y"'jn^ except in y*-ars. His mind sr^w mpi>!!y, and surrounded by enemies who "did their b^st to fashion him into a rasss and ■■.•!..;■ servant of the al!-po'.v. rfu! States of Holland" ha learned to hide a passionate and impulsive na ture under a surface of cold reserve anil dig nity. His education was defective so fir na literature, science, and art were concfrncd, but he jrpol seven !an.<rua;? o? ». he wns proficient ;R; R narhemaii and a trained so'dier. He hi ! na low tastes. He was in short at sixteen as prom ising a youth as Kurope had to show. Be had not to thank the mother wh.fMied In her thir tieth year for any m. nta! and spirit lal dis i plin.-. H.-r exiled brother rbarles filled th» first place in the Princess RoyaTs affections and moil of her later y.-n- were spent in a straggle to help him to the English throne. Her son grew up apparently without much thought of fBB intrusion of women into his life, and nii mar riase to his cousin, another Mary Stuart, was made for political reasons. H.- was th n twenty-seven and she was eight yars young* — '!"!.•■ I'-in.'.- ■ 111 certain -.vll-.!- notions on the subject nf matrimony, in.l he had taken pain.l to tin.l out whether the younfi l.iily was likely to come up to his r*<;uir>'me:it.s. It cannot l>« si;l that he ail a 1..t! y enm ■••;. r iofi '>f marrio«l life. He il.i.-s not s>-.-iii to MYM ha. l riri ■•'• expectation of atlilinjj thereby to his own happiness, nor nr,!'"» sense of his own J.11.01l tO bestow ,«s miKli ia it lay in his power to sjive. on the youn< s:ir! w':.> must leave home and country for his sake. Tn«s qualities he snujjht in her were more m.-;;:iti\e lium positive. His iili-as, as expres.seiT in conversation with Temple, ml . be thus epitonrz--*!: He could not be bothered with a wife who nisjht prove trou hlesorre. eith» r by a hisjh temper, or a will nf her <-wn. He waa likely to have plenty of tn»»lili» in his life, and he i-ouM nol run tha risa at having a wtfa who mi^ht .i.1.l to it. Xor must she be ex acting in ;my respect, for he was awan tfi.it tie miirt.t r.ot be "very e;tsy for a wife to live wif>." In fact the suspicion is justified that he regards 1 matrimony us ■ ilisnsrrpeahle ncecsstfjr, of whi.-h it was dtsirable t> nummiae the inevitable :n convenienv es. .Ml: was told him nn inquiry eOßcernms tho T.nly Mary was very rea.ssurin^. ;in<! when he saw her shortly after hia arrival in Kn«lanii. t ■ no iloubt fell that, if niarrv he must, she was the rwhl wife for him. Possibly, too. th.- beanO and .harm tarribMl t.> her by all her contemporaries made m.' inipr.-ss;on upon him. He. was not a gaawal or gvarasus urn i an I Mary spent much si hr time before tho w-1 din? in tear 3. But a.s a matter of fact this mar- ri;u,-'\ entered Inte on on.- . ■ ; •■ and on the other with t..;irs. turned out t.i ! •■>. as royal marriages sro, . n .- of the most success ful in history. Mary's serene sweetness^ her unselrlsh consideration for her husband, and her r.-al strength of character could not but win up- a man whos.- mind was able to dis cern excellence even tf his heart w;vs SBMi to submit t.> it. I:i her SISVSU years of resider.ea in Holland she became genuinely popular, partly perhaps because she carefully abstained from any meddling in politics. A survivi piece of her writing s. t down lon<? after she and Will iam were summoned tn th.' throne of England, reveals in a vivid fashion her feminine point of view:— My opinion having ever bfen that women should not meddle in Kovernment. I have never gilts my self to be. inquisitive into th .-se kind si matters. I have ever used my self not to ■■wanes the Kinj? about bussiness) since ! ■ us married r,. him. for I saw him so full of it th»t I fhoiißht. and he has told me so him«e'f. t.*Mt when he could pet from it. he was tr! id to come to me and have his tnouffht* diverted by other discourse, and I found thus so reasonable; and seeing it please.l him. I. who desired nothing . lse. have continued still to live so with him.- If Mary was not the psVUi which this author represents her as bein^. if BSrSMBS some e'e ments of pettiness were mixed in her sw< et na ture, it is neverthetess certain th.ir she was tht» gcritlest and wis.-st of all the Stu.irt princesses^ SCHOOL OF IRISH LEARXIXG. From The Atberunxin. ■ ■■ X I ■ ■ ■1 th