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Title A name given to the resource The Author Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em> Description An account of the resource A digitised run of the Society of Authors' monthly periodical, <em>The Author</em>, 1890<span>–</span>1914, made available together for the first time.<br /><br />Currently users can browse issues and <a href="https://historysoa.com/items/browse?search=&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Index&amp;collection=&amp;type=&amp;tags=&amp;exhibit=&amp;date_search_term=&amp;submit_search=Search+For+Items&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CTitle">indices</a> (not available for all volumes). Full text search for all issues, and other additional search functionality, will be added in 2022. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1890–1914 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context The-Author-Issues Publication Date The date of an event (in YYYY, YYYY-MM or YYYY-MM-DD format) 1891-09-01 Volume 2 Issue 4 Pages Page range in volume 97–128 Ngram Date Version of the date in YYYYMMDD format for use by the Ngram plugin 18910901 Ngram Text Version of the text with no HTML formatting for use by the Ngram plugin Zhc Hutbor. (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vol. II.—No. 4.] SEPTEMBER 1, 1891. [Price Sixpence. CONTENTS. TAQE International Copyright— I. From the New York Critic 101 II. From Frank Leslie's Paper 103 Association Littcrairo ct Artistique International!' 05 Conference of Journalists at Dublin .. .. 105 Au Old New Word. By Professor Skeat 106 The Authors' Club 107 Notes and News. By Walter Besant 07 On a New Novelist 112 A Day at Olyinpia 113 Some Early Experiences 116 PAOE Enemies of Literature 19 Correspondence— I. "O Word of Fear" 1:1 II. Foreign Reprints, ill "At the Author's Head" 121 Women Booksellers 22 Some of the Indignities of Literature .. 123 Parisians and their Fiction 133 Night-Tempest 114 New Books and New Editions 124 EYRE AND SPOTTISWOODE. PLIOCENE DEPOSITS OK BRITAIN, THE. By Clf.mfst Rkid. F.L.S.. F.G.S. Five Plates (48 cuts), .<». 6<f. LONDON AND NEIGHBOURHOOD: Guide to the Geology of. Bv William Whitaker, B.A. is. LONDON AND OF PART OF THE THAMES VALLEY, The Geilogy of. Bv W. WniTAKER. H A., F.R.S., F.G.S., Assoc. Inst. C.E. Vol. I. DESCRIPTIVE GEOLOGY. 8vo. Cloth, 6*. Vol. II. APPENDICES. 8vo. Cloth, 5*. KEW BULLETIN, 1890. Issued by the Director of Kew Gardens. is. iorf. KEW BULLETIN, 1891. Monthly, 2<i. Appendices, id. each. Annual Subscription, including postage, 3.*. gti. DESCRIPl'IVE CATALOGUE OK MUSICAL INSTRU- MENTS recently exhibited at the Royal Military Exhibition. Compiled by Capt. Day. Oxfordshire Light Infantry, under the orders of Col. Sua w-Hei.likb. Commandant Royal'Militnry School of Music. Illustrated by a scries of Twelve artistically execulcd Plates in Heliogravure, and with numerous W(kxI Emiravines. 21*. "It affords information obtainable nowhere else, and it has been put together with so much care and thoughtfulncss that Capt. Day's volume will lie indeed welcomed by nil who have to deal with the wind instruments, nnd can lie accepted without question as the standard authority."—Musical Xews. PUBLIC RECORDS. A Guide to the Principal Classes of Documents preserved in the Public Record Office. By S. It. Scari.'Ill-Bibd, F.S.A. j». "The value of such a work as Mr. ScargillBird's can scarcely be over-rated."— Times. STATE TRIALS, Reports of. New Series. Vol. III., 1831—40. Published under the direction of the Stab1 Trials Committee. Edited bv .Ions Macdoxell. M.A. 10*. MANUAL OF BIRDS OF NEW ZEALAND. By Walter L. Bcllee, C.M.G., Sc.D., F.R.S. Numerous Plates. Rova] Hvo. 10*. INDIGENOUS GRASSES OF NEW ZEALAND. By Joinf Bi'CHANAN. Full-page Illustrations. Imp. 4to. Half Morocco. 15*. FOREST FLORA OK NEW ZEALAND. By T. Kibk, F.L.S., late Chief Conservator of State Forests, N.Z., 4c. Numerous Plates. Fcap. folio. Cloth. i2.«. id. HANDBOOK OK NEW ZEALAND FISHES. By R. A. Siirrrix. Demy Svo. Cloth, is. ORANGE CULTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. By G. C. At.UERTOjf. Demv 8vo. Cloth, is. MANUAL OK NEW ZEALAND MOLLUSCA. Prof. Hrnox. Royal 8vo. 3s. NEW ZEALAND i)IPTERA, HYMENOPTKRA, ORTHOPTERA. Bv Prof. HrTTON. Royal 8vo. is. NEW ZEALAND COLKOPTEBA. Parts 1 to 4. Captain T. Broix. Royal 8vo. is. 6d. THE LITERATURE RELATING TO NEW ZEALAND. A Bibliography. Rnval Svo. Cloth, is. M. POLYNESIAN'MYTHOLOGY AND ANCIENT TRA- DITIONAL HISTORY OF THE NEW ZEALAND RACE. By Sir George Grey. K.C.B. Illustrated. Royal svo. Cloth,». ANCIENT HISTORY OK THE MAORI. By John White. Demy Svo. Half Morocco. 4 vols. ioj. per vol. By AND By Monthly Lists of Parliamentary Papers upon Application. Quarterly Lists Post Free, id. Miscellaneous List on Application. Every Assistance given to Correspondents; and Books not kept in stock obtained without delay. Remittance should accompany Order. GOVERNMENT AND GENERAL PUBLISHERS. EYRE and SrOTTISWOODE, Her Hajesfy's Printers, East Harding Slrcft, Londou, VA.  ## p. 98 (#502) ############################################# 98 AD VER TISEMENTS. THE CENTRAL TYPE-WRITING OFFICE, (ESTABLISHED 1887,) 57 & 58, Chancery Lane, W.C. $3rtncq>aW; Miss M. E. DUCK and Miss I. B. LOOKER. Type-writing and Copying of every Description under- taken for the Literary, Dramatic, Clerical, Legal, and other Professions. Type-writing from Dictation a Specialty. Highest Testimonials for Excellence of Work and Promp- titude from AUTHORS and others. PRICE LIST ON APPLICATION-TERMS MOVERA TE. MISS H.. T7\ GILL, TYPE-WRITING OFFICES, 6, Adam Street, Strand, W.C, and 5, Air Street, Piccadilly, W. — — - Authors' and Dramatists' Work a Specialty. All kinds of MSS. copied -with care. Extra attention given to difficult hand-writing and to papers or lectures on scientific subjects. Type-writing from dictation. Shorthand Notes taken and transcribed. FURTHER PARTICULARS OX APPLICATION. TYPE-WRITING. Authors' MSS. carefully Transcribed. Writings by Post receive prompt attention. Scientific and Medical Papers a Specialty. MISSES 13, Dorset Strkkt, Portman Square, W. MISSES E. & S. ALLEN, TYPE AND SHORTHAND WRITERS. TRANSLATIONS and Scientific Work a Special Feature. 39, Lombard Street, E.C. Office No. 5(1 {close to Lift). MISS PATTEN, type-writer, 44, Oakley Flats, Oakley Street, Chelsea, S.W. Authors' MSS. carefully copied from Is. per 1,000 Words. One additional Copy (Carbon) supplied Free of Charge. References kindly permitted to George Augustus Sala, Esq. Particulars on Application. ASHWORTH & Co., 4, Abchurch Yard, Cannon Street, E.C. — Authors' MSS. type-written from Is. 3d. per 1,000 words. TRANSLATIONS. CITY TYPE-WRITING & SHORTHAND OFFICES, MANSION HOUSE CHAMBERS, 20, Bucklersbury, London, E.C. — — — Tho Department for Lady Pupils has unremitting attention, as evidenced by the unqualified Success which has attended it* management. The Course includes Shorthand, Type-writing. Book-keeping, and Commercial Correspondence, iind when Pupil;, have acquired proficiency— POSITIONS ARE GUARANTEED. Particulars on application to — MARY 33 .A. Y- ICUE IFt S. GILL, TYPE-WRITING OFFICE, ST. PAUL'S CHAMBERS, 19, LUOGATE HILL, E.C. Author's MSS. carefully copied from i*. per 1,000 words. One additional copy (carbon) supplied free of charge. References kindly permitted to many well-known Authors and Publishers. Further particulars on application. MISSES AIRD & WEDDERSP00N, SHORTHAND, TRANSLATING, and TYPEWRITING OFFICES. 4, SUN COURT, COBHHILL, E.C. Translations carefully and correctly made. Shorthand and Typewriting Clerks sent out on short notice. Type- writing of all kinds done with neatness, accuracy, and despatch. Special pains taken with Authors' MSS. Pupils trained in Pitman's System of Shorthand, and in Type- writing. All applications relating to Advertisements in this Journal should be addressed to the Printers and Publishers, EYRE & SPOTTISWOODE, East Harding Street, Fetter Lane, London, E.C.  ## p. 99 (#503) ############################################# ADVERTISEMENTS. 99 The Society of Authors (Incorporated). PRESIDENT. The Right Hox. THE LORD TENNYSON, D.C.L. COUNCIL. SIR EDWIN ARNOLD, K.C.I.E. I A. W. DUBOURG. THE EARL OF PEMBROKE AND ALFRED AUSTIN. JOHN ERIC ERICHSEN, F.R.S. MONTGOMERY. A. W. À BECKETT. PROF. MICHAEL FOSTER, F.R.S. SIR FREDERICK POLLOCK, Bart., ROBERT BATEMAN. HERBERT GARDNER, M.P. LL.D. SIR HENRY BERGNE, K.C.M.G. RICHARD GARNETT, LL.D. WALTER HERRIES POLLOCK. WALTER BESANT. EDMUND GOSSE. A. G. Ross. AUGUSTINE BIRRELL, M.P. H. RIDER HAGGARD. GEORGE AUGUSTUS Sala. R. D. BLACKMORE. THOMAS HARDY. W. BAPTISTE SCOONES. Rev. PROF. BONNEY, F.R.S. PROF. E. RAY LANKESTER, F.R.S. G. R. SIMs. LORD BRABOURNE. J. M. LELY. J. J. STEVENSON. JAMES BRYCE, M.P. REV. W. J. LOFTIE, F.S.A. JAS. SULLY. P. W. CLAYDEN. F. Max MÜLLER, LL.D. WILLIAM Moy THOMAS. EDWARD CLODD. GEORGE MEREDITH. H. D. TRAILL, D.C.L. W. MARTIN CONWAY. HERMAN C. MERIVALE. THE RIGHT HON. THE BARON HENRY MARION CRAWFORD. Rev. C. H. MIDDLETON-WAKE, F.L.S. DE WORMS, M.P., F.R.S. OSWALD CRAWFURD, C.M.G. J. C. PARKINSON. EDMUND YATES. THE EARL OF DESART. Hon. Counsel-E. M. UNDERDOWN, Q.C. COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT. Chairman--- WALTER BESANT. A. W. À BECKETT. EDMUND Gosse. J. M. LELY. | A. G. Ross. W. MARTIN CONWAY. H. RIDER HAGGARD. Sir FREDERICK POLLOCK. | Solicitors— Messrs. FIELD, RoscoE, & Co., Lincoln's Inn Fields. Secretary-S. SQUIRE SPRIGGE. OFFICES. 4, PORTUGAL STREET, LINCOLN's Inn FIELDS, W.C. PUBLICATIONS OF THE SOCIETY. 1. The Annual Report. That for January 1891 can be had on application to the Secretary. 2. The Author. A Monthly Journal devoted especially to the protection and maintenance of Literary Property. Issued to all Members. . 3. The Grievances of Authors. (The Leadenhall Press.) 28. The Report of three Meetings on the general subject of Literature and its defence, held at Willis's Rooms, March 1887. 4. Literature and the Pension List. By. W. MORRIS COLLES, Barrister-at-Law. (Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C.) 38. 5. The History of the Société des Gens de Lettres. By S. SQUIRE SPRIGGE, Secretary to the Society. 18. 6. The Cost of Production. In this work specimens are given of the most important forms of type, size of page, &c., with estimates showing what it costs to produce the more common kinds of books. 28. 6d. Out of Print, New Edition now preparing. 7. The Various Methods of Publication. By S. SQUIRE SPRIGGE. In this work, compiled from the papers in the Society's offices, the various kinds of agreements proposed by Publishers to Authors are examined, and their meaning carefully explained, with an account of the various kinds of fraud which have been made possible by the different clauses in their agreements. Price 3s. Second Edition. 8. Copyright Law Reform. An Exposition of Lord Monkswell's Copyright Bill now before Parliament. With Extracts from the Report of the Commission of 1878, and an Appendix containing the Berne Convention and the American Copyright Bill. By J. M. LELY. Eyre and Spottiswoode. 18. 6d. Other works bearing on the Literary Profession will follow. VOL. II. 7. The 25. od Page,  ## p. 100 (#504) ############################################ IOO A I) VEli TISEMENTS. The " Swim" is ii beautiful Gold Pen joined to a rubber reservoir to hold any kind of ink, which it supplies to the writing point in a continuous flow. It will hold enough ink for two days' constant work, or a week's ordinary writing, and can l>e refilled with as little trouble as to wind a watch. With the cover over the gold nib it is carried in the pocket like a pencil, to be used anywhere. A purchaser may try a pen a few days, and if by chance the writing point does not suit his hand, exchange it for another without charge, or have his money returned if wanted. , There are yarions points to select from, broad. Minn, aiiil fine, eyery handwriting can be snited, and the price of the entire instrument, with filler complete, post free, is only 10s. 6d. The Gold Pens in the "Swan" are Mabie, Todd, & Co.'s famous make. They are 14-carat tempered gold, very handsome, and positively unaffected by any kind of ink. They are pointed with selected polished iridium. The " Encyclopaedia Britannica" says:—"Iridium is a nearly white metal of high specific gravity, it is almost indestructible, and a beautifully polished surface can be obtained upon it." They will not jxmetrate the paper, and writer's cramp is unknown among users of Gold Pens. One will OUtwear 90 grOSS Of Steel pens. They are a perfect revelation to those who know nothing about Gold Pens. Dr. Outer Wendkix Holmes has used one of Mubio, Todd, & Co.'s Gold Pens siuce 185;, and is using the same one (his "old friend ") to-day. .Sydney Guundy, Kho,., says (referring to the Fountain Pen) :—" ft is a vast improvement on every Stylograph." Mobkrlt Bbll, Esq., Manager, The Times, says (referring to the Fountain feu) :—" One pen lasted me for six years." S. D. Waddt, Ksq., (i-C, M.P., says (referring to the Fountain Pen) :—" I have used them constantly for some years, and, as fur as t can remember, they have never failed me." Send Postal Card for Free Illustrated List (containing interesting Testimonials from the Best People, who have used them for years) to— MABIE, TODD, & BARD, S3, CHEAPSIDE, X-03XT1D03V.  ## p. 101 (#505) ############################################ ^Ibe Hutbor* (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vol. II.—No. 4.] SEPTEMBER 1, 1891. [Price Sixpence. For the Opinions c.vprcssed in papers that arc signed the Authors alone arc responsible. - +~»~* INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT. I. (From the New Vork "Critic.") Protection and Literature in France. "A MOXG the measures of reprisal proposed in f\ the Belgian Parliament last March," savs the Times, " when the new French protec- tionism with its discriminations against Belgian products was brought into the French Chamher, was a withdrawal of the property rights accorded French writers and artists. J11 fact, it was only a little later that the treaty between France and Bel- gium, negotiated in 1881, for the reciprocal guarantee of literary and artistic rights, was denounced by the latter country, and will consequently soon expire. . . . . Just about that time Switzerland came forward and gave notice of her desire to terminate the corresponding treaty covering the rights of authors and artists in existence with France since 1882 But it seems probable that the rights of workers in French literature and art are too securely guaranteed abroad to be imperilled even by so exasperating a law as the Bill brought in by M. Meline. Even in the case of Belgium and Switzerland, something more than the termi- nation of the existing treaties on the subject must Ikj done before French authors and artists will suffer. Belgium has had a law on her statute hooks since 1886 relating to Copyright, in which the same rights are accorded foreigners as those secured to citizens. This law would have to be repealed or amended in order to make the proposed reprisal of Belgium effective. And in Switzerland there is a Federal law dating from 1883, giving to foreign authors the same rights as natives, provided the country of the former has reciprocal legislation, as France has. "Moreover, both Belgium and Switzerland are signers of the Berne Convention of 1886. The second article of that agreement grants*to the citizens of any signatory Power the l ight to dispose of their literary and artistic productions in any other, under the same legal protection as that enjoyed by natives. True, Belgium and Switzer- land might withdraw7 from the Berne Convention, but they could not do it simply as concerns France; they would have to do it absolutely, and become outer barbarians to all the other signers. This is a step which they would hesitate to take. Espe- cially would Switzerland hesitate to take it, since it would necessarily involve the loss to Berne of the Bureau of the International Union, maintained there at present by the signatory States at an expense of $12,000 a year. Thus it would appear that whatever reprisals in other forms France may be subjected to on account of her rush into MeKinleyism, the property rights of her writers and artists are too thoroughly secured in other countries to be easily forfeited." Penalties for Violation of the new Law. The Secretary of the Treasury has prescribed the following regulations :— 1. Copyrighted books and articles, the importa- tion of which is prohibited by section 49,56, Revised Statutes, as amended by section 3 of said Act, shall not be admitted to entry. Such books and articles, if imported with the previous consent of the proprietor of the Copyright, shall be seized by the collector of customs, who will take the proper steps for the forfeiture of the goods to the United States, under section 3o82, Revised Statutes.  ## p. 102 (#506) ############################################ 102 THE AUTHOR. 2. Copyrighted books mid articles imported contrary to said prohibition, and without the previous consent of the proprietor of the Copyright, being primarily subject to forfeiture to the pro- prietor of the Copyright, shall lie detained by the collector, who shall forthwith notify such proprietor, in order to ascertain whether or not he shall institute, proceedings for the enforcement of his right to the forfeiture. If the proprietor institutes such proceedings and obtains a decree of forfeiture, the goods shall be delivered to him on payment of the expenses incurred in the detention and storage and the duties accrued thereon. If such proprietor shall fail to institute such proceedings within 60 days from date of notice, or shall declare in writing that he abandons his right to the forfeiture, then the collector shall proceed as in the case of articles imported with the previous consent of the pro- prietor. 3. Copyrighted articles, the importation of which is not prohibited, but which, by virtue of section 4965, Revised Statutes, as amended by section 8 of said Act, are forfeited to tin; proprietor of the Copyright when imported without his previous consent, and are, moreover, subject to the forfeiture of $1 or §10 per copy, as the case may be, one-half thereof to the said proprietor, and the other half to the use of the United States, shall be taken posses- sion of by the collector, who shall take the necessary steps for securing to the United States half of the sum so forfeited, and shall keep the goods in his possession until a decree of forfeiture is obtained, and the half of the sum so forfeited, as well as the duties and charges accrued are paid; whereupon he shall deliver the goods to the proprietor of the Copyright. In case of failure to obtain a decree of forfeiture the goods shall be admitted to entry. The Importation of Books in foreign Tongues. There appears to be no room for doubt that the new copyright law admits foreign books, of which only the translations are copyrighted here; and that it admits them duty-free. The free list of the new tariff law includes (paragraph 5l2) works 20 years old), (paragraph 5i3) "books and pamphlets printed exclusively in languages other than English," and l>ooks and music in raised print for the blind, (paragraph 614) works intended for use by the Government, and (paragraph 516) works owned, and in actual use for more than one year, by persons or families from foreign countries. The copyright law says tlistinctly that, "in the case of books in foreign languages, of which only translations in English are copyrighted, the prohibition of importation shall apply only to the translations of the same, and the importation of the books in the original language shall be per- mitted." An exception in this law suspends the rule against importing copyrighted works not re- printed in this country "in the cases specified in paragraphs 5i2 to 516, inclusive," as above. The Librarian of Congress kept busy. "Mr. Spofford, the Librarian of Congress, is kept very busy these warm days," says the Evening Post, "answering the corres])ondence which pours in upon him with every mail, most of it concerning the interpretation of the new copyright law. A surprisingly large number of persons manifest an interest in the subject of the 'catalogues of title- entries' which the law requires the Librarian to furnish to the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Secretary to print, at intervals of not more than a week, for distribution among the collectors of customs and postmasters at offices receiving foreign mails. These catalogues are designed, of course, primarily to inform the officers mentioned what publications are to lie excluded from entry; but incidentally they are of value to American authors, publishers, librarians, collectors, and persons other- wise interested in literature. Hence the Govern- ment proposes to accept subscriptions for them, at the rate of $5 a year, a sum which is expected nearly to cover the expense of getting them out. "The impression has got abroad that Mr. Spofford is designated to receive subscriptions, and he is deluged with applications and inquiries in consequence. To all he is obliged to send the uniform answer that the subscribing must be done through the collectors of customs, whose duty it is to account for the money so received, and instruct the Department how many copies will be necessary each week to supply their local demands." "It is a curious thing," observes the same paper, "that so large a number of professional writers, musicians, publishers, &c, who make it a part of their regular business to take out Copy- rights, should not feel enough interest in the protection of their own property to examine the statute and follow its language literally in furnishing the Librarian of Congress with the data on which they base their claims. Some of the provisions of the new statute are too blind for even an accom- plished lawyer to interpret with ease, but the par- ticulars required by the Librarian can be ascertained by any layman's intelligent reading. A great many applicants for Copyright—perhaps it would be not too much to say the majority—make their appli- cations in a way that would ascrilie to the Librarian  ## p. 103 (#507) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. clairvoyant [xnvers, or an acquaintance with the family history of persons ho has never heard of before." In the Case of Residents who are not Citizens. "Doubt has arisen," says the Tribune, "in respect to the proper construction of section i3 of the Act, so far as it may affect foreign-born residents of the United States who have not been naturalized. That section provides that the Act 'shall only apply to a citizen or subject of a foreign State or nation when such foreign State or nation permits to citizens of the United States of America the benefit of Copyright on substantially the same basis as its own citizens; or when such foreign State or nation is a party to an inter- national agreement which provides for the reci- procity in the granting of Copyright, by the terms of which agreement the United States of America may, at its pleasure, become a party to such agree- ment.' The old law in relation to Copyright has always been liberally construed for the benefit of unnaturalized foreigners resident in the United States, so that thousands of Copyrights have been granted to citizens of France and subjects of Great Britain, Germany, and other countries residing in this country. Now, what shall be done if a subject of Germany, Italy, or any other country not em- braced in the President's proclamation of July I, who is a resident of the United States, shall apply for Copyright under the new law?" The ooPYRiGHTrNG of foreign Music. "Mr. Spofford," says the Post, "stands firmly by his decision that foreign music may lx> copy- righted without reprinting in this country. He bases this view upon the fact that the new law makes the distinction, in plain terms, lx'twoen 'a lxx>k, photograph, chromo, or lithograph,' which it requires 'shall be printed from type set within the limits of the United States, or from plates made therefrom,' and the general list. , There will, doubtless, ta a contest over this, as certain American music publishers insist that the new law requires that foreign books shall be reprinted here in order to obtain the benefits of Copyright, and that a piece of sheet-music is, for the intents of the law, to lx> regarderl as a book. . . . The music publishers are evidently dis- turbed by the prospect. If they cannot get a decision in their favour they have little hope of getting relief from Congress for a good while to come. Moreover, by the argument they are making, they obviously intend to put a broader construction on the statute than could possibly have been in anybody's mind when the Bill was under discussion, for they claim that tlx.' word • type' should be held to include 'all punches and other devices by which books, and all publications construed to be books, are made.'" II. (From " Frank Leslie's Paper.") The brilliant gathering of British writers on Thursday night, July 16th, at the Hotel Metropole, in London, under the auspices of the Society of Authors, may Ira said to close the cam- paign of International Copyright. The British authors have now ratified, in a public and official manner, and with a significant emphasis, tho legislation of last winter, and that they have done this lx-speaks at once their magnanimity and their wisdom—magnanimity, lx»cause they undoubtedly are hampered by some of the restrictions of the Act as passed; wisdom, lx?cause in spite of these limitations, and, from a purely literary standpoint, these blemishes, the Act is a distinct step forward in the march of ideas. The veteran Laureate of England, and of the English speech, struck the keynote and summed the whole matter up in his concise despatch of greeting, wherein he said the Society congratulated the United States "on their great act of justice." It is as a "great act of justice" rather than as legislation, which will immediately benefit the pockets of authors and publishers, that the world feels its chief interest in the present International Copyright law. It was this consideration which prompted Henry Cabot Lodge to say at the recent Copyright dinner in this city, that perhaps the Fifty-first Congress would ultimately lx> best re- membered for the passage of this Act. Unregarded as the reformers were for many years, and reckoned of only small and incidental consequence, even at the very last, possibly their "little Bill" may yet reflect more lustre on the Fifty-first Congress than some others which now appear to lxi its most important legacies. The friends of the measure fought their tattles o'er again, and exchanged congratulations at Thursday's meeting in London, and the temptation is great to do so on this side also, for when all is said, scanty justice is done to that small and devoted tand of men, armed with the irresistible power of an idea, who besieged Congress for so many years, until finally their tireless efforts brought victory. Some of them are now receiving  ## p. 104 (#508) ############################################ 104 THE AUTHOR. the formal recognition which their labours deserve. If ever decorations were deserved, they are those that are worn by the Copyright veterans, and that eagle should be indeed a "proud bird of freedom" who furnished the quill with which President Harrison signed this "great act of justice"—this literary magna chart a—and which he so grace- fully presented afterward to the indefatigable secretary of the Copyright League, Mr. Robert Underwood Johnson. This particular pen was mightier than many swords. The world will not forget, however, the efforts of several men whose names have not yet won these formal honours. All the world of writers are under a deep obligation to Dr. Edward Eggleston for the patient and judicious campaigns, one after another, which that eminent writer made from an unselfish devotion to the interests of literature and of his fellow-workers in that field. It was entirely proper that, by an agreement among literary workers, his latest novel, "The Faith Doctor," received the unique distinction of obtaining the first Copyright under the new law. The name of ex-Senator Chace is also indelibly linked with the new epoch, as the law as it now stands on the statute books was practically drafted by him, and all the material amendments were submitted to him and had his cordial approbation and support. Without subtracting from the importance of the work in the two halls of Congress done by Breck- inridge, Adams, and Simonds in the House, and by Senator Piatt, of Connecticut, in the Senate, we still remember that it was "the Chace Bill" which finally became the International Copyright law. We have also to remember that but for the earnest efforts of such men as R. R. Bowker, Dr. Henry J. Van Dyck—who earned the sobriquet of "chaplain" of the cause.—of Messrs. Lothrop, Brauder Mathews, R. W. Gilder, Howard Crosby, Henry Cabot Lodge, Charles Seribner, the Apple- tons, and a host of other strong and devoted advocates, the efforts of the "rush line" at Washington would have been a failure. What a mighty scrimmage that valiant "rush line" had, and how gallantly they behaved them- selves in it! The literary world has not yet done talking about the bull-dog grip and the quick adaptability to every emergency which were dis- played by Senator Piatt, Representative Simonds, and Secretary R. U. Johnson, the triumvirate! who did the hand-to-hand fighting. A dozen times when every danger seemed passed, a new crisis suddenly stared them in the face, but their resources were infinite, and, aided by Madam Fortune, who always smiles upon such determined gallants, the goal was finally reached and the battle won. But aven after the President scratched his approval with the eagle's quill it was a question whether the law would be practically operative. Essentially it was reciprocal in its provisions, and would have fallen a dead letter, therefore, but for corresponding action on the part of foreign governments. Would this be given? Certain provisions in the law prejudiced it in the eyes of foreigners, and it required some breadth of view on their part to accept them. At this point the efforts of true friends of the reform in France and England were of much help. Men like Professor Bryce and the Count de Keratry proved themselves valuable allies, and their names should not be omitted in a list of the heroes of the war. In good time the necessary ratifications were made by England, France, Belgium, and Switzerland, so that now in five of the principal nations of Christendom Inter- national Copyright is in practical operation. It may now be a.sked, What are the fruits to date? In reply to such an inquiry, which is a very natural one, it must be said that thus far little appears in the way of changes at the business end of literature. Although several of the leading publishers are in negotiation for foreign works, we believe that only one of these transactions has been concluded. We understand that the Cassells have purchased tin; right to bring out an American edition of Zola's "La Guerre," and this work will be the first sold in our market under the new regime. Recent interviews with a number of New York publishers show that several important works are soon to follow, among them a volume by Pro- fessor Bryce. It will take some time, however, before the law modifies to any obvious extent exist- ing conditions, and, as we said at the start, the Act is of consequence more because it inaugurates a new era than because it involves any very dramatic change in the publishing business. That these changes will come in their proper time is now generally believed by both authors, publishers, and booksellers, but the habit of a trade is not often revolutionised at a blow. The official indorsement of the Act by the British authors comes in the nick of time to place in the right view the selfish opposition to the law de- veloped by certain elements of the printing and publishing trades in England. These interests are bestirring themselves to arouse a sentiment of hostility to the law, as they fear—with some reason- that what is known as the "printing clause" in the law will have the effect of transferring to New York a considerable part of the mechanical work in current, literature now done abroad. The friends of the Chace Bill have always maintained that one of its effects might be to make New York the centre of the publishing trade of the world. The anxiety of the craft in England would go to show that this claim may have some solid basis. To obstruct any such tendency, the English printers  ## p. 105 (#509) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. are demanding of their Government that Parlia- ment shall require that the printing of American works having an English copyright shall be done in tluvt country. Thus far, however, the Government has turned the cold shoulder to these demands. Sir Michael Hicks Beach, replying to a deputation who had an interview with him a few days ago on this subject, said he did not think that in the present state of the case it would be necessary for the Government to take any action; that the printing clause in the Bill affected only 5 per cent, of printed matter, and it was too early yet to see what its operation would be, even within this narrow area. The em- phatic ratification of the law by the authors, coming on top of this snub from the Government, will probably put a quietus on this movement, certainly until the law has a fair chance to show its merits. We may assume, therefore, that a new principle has l>een established and a new epoch opened. Intel-national property in literary ideas is recog- nised and imbedded in the law of the land, and America joins hands with the principal nations of Christendom in securing to authors the full and just reward of their labour. Henry B. Elliot. ASSOCIATION LITTÉRAIRE ET ARTISTIQUE INTERNATIONALE. AGENERAL invitation has been extended to the Members of this Society for the Congress which meets at Neufchâtel on the 26th of September and continues its sittings to the 3rd of October. It will be remembered that the Association held a Congress at London two years ago, which began by ignoring the existence of this Society, and in consequence was not attended by one single English man of letters. This omission, there is reason to believe, was not occidental but intentional, and suggested by certain warm friends of the Society. It is not probable that the omission will be repeated. As regards the journey to the Congress of this year, a reduction of 5o per cent, is made on the French and Swiss lines for Members, and the daily expenses at the hotels, the secretary informs inquirers, may be set down at a maximum of 10 or 12 francs. The following is the official programme of the Congress :— Programme des Travaux. i° Rapport sur les travaux de l'année. Rap- porteur: M. Jules Lennina. 2° Etude sur le projet de loi anglais. Copyright. Rapporteurs: MM. Henri Morel et Rothlisberger. VOL. 11. 3° Etude sur la nouvelle loi Copyright, pro- mulguée aux Etats-Unis. Rapporteurs: MM. Darras et Maillard. 40 De la propriété artistique. Peinture et sculpture. Ripporteur: M. Armand Dumaresq. 5° De la propriété artistique. Musique. Rap- porteur: M. Victor Souchon. 6° De la propriété artistique en matière de photographie. Rapporteur: M. Bulloz. 70 Essai de législation en matière de contrat d'édition. Rapporteurs: MM. Ocainpo et Max Nordau. 8" De l'état de la propriété intellectuelle dans les pays qui n'ont pas adhéré à la Convention de Berne. Rapporteur: M. Frédéric Bœtzmann. 90 De la revision de la Convention de Berne. De la Conférence diplomatique de 1892, à Paris. Rapporteur: M. Eugène Pouillet. Réunion préparatoire, Samedi 26 Septembre, à dix heures du matin, au Cercle du Musée. La séance solennelle de réception des membres du Congrès aura lieu le Samedi 26 Septembre en présence des autorités, à la Salle «les Etats, au château de Neuchâtel. Tenue de soirée. Le soir réception et concert, au Cercle du Musée. Les séances plénières et les Commissions se tiendront dans l'ancienne salle du Conseil d'Etat et des annexes. Dimanche 27 Septembre. Excursion sur le lac de Neuchâtel, à l'île Saint-Pierre. Du Lundi 28 Septembre au Samedi 3 Octobre. Séances de travail. Mardi. Banquet offert par la ville de Neuchâtel. Jeudi. Excursion à la Chaux-de-Fonds et au Saut-du-Doubs. Samedi. Séance de clôture et banquet (l'adieu. La langue officielle du Congrès est la langue française: mais chacun a le droit de s'exprimer dans sa langue nationale. Des programmes seront imprimés chaque jour et adressés par la poste aux congressistes, à la première distribution. THE DUBLIN CONFERENCE OF THE INSTITUTE OF JOURNALISTS. fl^HE Conference of Journalists in the Irish I capital, which took place on August the 20th and following days, proved to be one of the most interesting meetings the Institute has ever held. The Dublin Reception Committee had made strenuous efforts to enhance the pleasure of their visitors, and the military, civic, and learned autho- rities seconded them so ably, that the whole time of five days was fully filled with the most pleasur- able incidents. On the day of arrival visits were H  ## p. 106 (#510) ############################################ io6 THE AUTHOR. made to the historic and commercial monuments of Dublin, and in the evening the Royal Hibernian Academy gave a charming reception in their rooms, which were hung with the work of the members especially for the occasion. Many knotty points of journalistic laws were acutely and thoroughly discussed at the meetings held in the City Hall; upon one or two points, especially upon the Orphans' Fund question, ladies taking a noteworthy part. Miss Drew's sj>eech upon the system of foster parents versus large orphanages, eliciting much sympathy and applause. At the Annual Dinner most of the principal dignities of Dublin were present, the Lord Mayor being on Mr. Gilzean Reid's right, whilst upon his left-hand sat the Lord Chancellor of Ireland. From Lord Ashbourne's lips fell one of the brightest and wittiest speeches that it could fall to the lot of journalists to listen to, and yet it embodied much sound and useful advice as to the usage of the mighty power of the Press. The Royal Dublin Society met the members at their premises at Ralls Bridge, and conducted them over the admir- able premises which were prepared for the great horse show. On the Saturday evening the Lord Mayor gave a banquet to some 5oo guests in the great circular hall of the Mansion House, which was built to entertain George the Fourth, and a most interesting sight was this crowded hall, when the Lord Mayor from beneath the canopy, above which in light blazed the Irish Harp and Shamrock, gave most heartily the toast of " The Queen "; that was received with ringing and renewed cheering. On the evening before, this toast was accompanied by the singing of the first two verses of the National Anthem. ' The Sunday was devoted by some of our members to visits to the Cathedrals and Churches of Dublin, and by others to short excursions to such spots as Bray, and the Seven Churches of Qlendalough. One of the most marked instances of Irish hospitality to the United Journalists was the invitation of a large body of them by Lord and Lady Wolseley to lunch at Kihnainham Hospital. Lady Wolseley afterwards receiving a still larger number of the meml>ers at an " At Home," giving all an opportunity to inspect the Hospital grounds and pictures under the guidance of Lord Wolseley. This brought the Dublin proceedings to a close, but Irishmen had not vet exhausted their generous, cordial greeting to the "Strangers within their gates," for the great railway companies had signified their wish that all members should visit other parts of Ireland, and hail placed free passes at their disposal to the Western Highlands and to Belfast; and the Cork ami Bandon Railway also threw open the Glengariff route to Killarney. The Great Northern Railway even provided lunch at the Giant's Causeway. In short, all Ireland welcomed the English, Scottish, anil Welsh press- men with true Irish generosity and warmth, hoping only in return for fair, generous descrip- tion and criticism of Ireland and her people; and most assuredly those who had the pleasure of being at the Conference must leave Ireland with increased knowledge of her country and her people, and with hearty longings for the happiness of so warm- hearted a people, and with pens steeped in friendship towards their generous hosts. James Baker. ♦■»■» AN OLD NEW WORD. IREGRET to see that there has been some talk, in late numbers of the Author, about "a slating with slates." It looks as if some people actually suppose that "to slate " means " to pelt with slates." That is not it at all. I cannot go into the whole matter, as I regret to say that it involves delicate questions of vowel- gradation, in which the general public cannot be expected to take much interest. I will merely sav that I "happen to know"; because, though the verb is not in any Anglo-Saxon dictionary, it happened to turn up in an Anglo-Saxon text which it was my business to edit; and I can give chapter anil verse for every statement I shall make. The net result is just this : There was once a verb to slitc (now obsolete), past tense slotc, past parti- ciple stiffen. It now remains only in two deriva- tives; one, is, to slit, and the other is to slait or sleat (rhyming with great), or (phonetically) to slate. To slite meant to tear; to slit means much the same. To slait was the causal verb, to cause to tear. It is precisely parallel to bait, the causal of bite. To bait a bull is to set on dogs to bile him. The Anglo-Saxon text I spoke of talks of slatting a bull, or setting on dogs to slite or rend him. That's just what it means, viz., to set on dogs to harass, worry, and the like ; much the same as bait. But to talk of slatting " with slates " is mere igno- rance. Thev would be quite ineffectual as against a bull. Nevertheless, the word slate is ultimately from the same root; but that is a lucre chance, and does not justify the use of a slip-shod expression. By all means let us use good old words, but let us do it intelligently. There would be a mighty fuss if we were to misuse a word of Greek origin; but when it is only good English, why, then——■ Walter W. Skeat. ■  ## p. 107 (#511) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. THE AUTHORS' CLUB. AGREAT many letters have been received on the subject of the proposed club. They will all be placed in the hands of the com- mittee, and will be duly considered by them. One or two contributors are anxious that ladies should be admitted. Well, it must be understood that the Resolutions published in the last number of the Author were preliminary and tentative onlv. Meantime, two or three ladies, Meml>ers of the Society, have written to ask for a reconsideration of this point, but only two or three. Many more have stated their inability to pay a five-guinea sub- scription. Clearly, an ideal club of authors should admit women as well as men. Literature is, above all others, a profession open to both sexes. Yet literary women are even more mercilessly sweated, especially by religious societies, who pretend not to know that this sweating was specially contemplated in framing the Eighth Commandment; and the number of ladies who live by their literary work, and can afford even so reasonable a subscription as five guineas, is very small. A learned Professor, whose works are manv, writes to invite a reconsideration of Clause VIII. He says, " Instead of a ride that all members are to give copies of their works, let it Ik: worded that members be invited to give copies of their works." In any case the rule could not be retrospective, and the ease might arise of a costly work with a limited edition, the presentation of which would be onerous. These notes are only meant to mark the tirst stage. We are still in full vacation, and it is enough that the Authors' Club is no longer a mere suggestion, but has advanced to the stage of practical consideration. The American Club, it may be noted, is not an Authors' Club, but an Authors Club. NOTES AND NEWS. LET the Author, though late, lay a wreath upon the grave of James Russell Lowell, if only as a personal friend of many of our Members, and a strong well-wisher to the Society. As a writer, he was the lineal descendant of the good old English stock; he might have contributed a paper for Addison's Spectator, or, later on, he might have added a chapter to Washington Irving's Sketch Booh. He had nothing in common with the modern writers of his own country—Bret Harte, Mark Twain, Howell, Stockton, and others who have broken off with the old English traditions. Lowell was an Englishman, who was lwrn, and mostly lived, in America. Yet an Englishman who was attached to republican principles, and never ceased to see in his own country the beginnings of every kind of greatness. It will be remembered that he made a speech at one of our dinners, a speech whose common sense, humour, and simple eloquence deeply impressed themselves upon all who heard it. It should be reprinted for our own keeping. He came to that dinner from the couch where he had been confined by gout; it was a greater effort than most of the guests suspected for him to stand up at all. Yet he came out of pure love for literature, and liecause he wanted to encourage those who follow literature to unite for their own advantage, and to form a corporation for their own protection. He could speak. That fact alone placed him above the British author, of whom it may 1m> said, as a general rule, that he cannot speak. There are brilliant exceptions, but, as a rule, the English author cannot speak. The fact is a difficulty which constantly faces us when we meet. The English author cannot speak. If he rises to pro- pose a toast, he says what he has to say without art, without preparation; he stammers, he boggles, he hesitates. Nay, sometimes he refuses abso- lutely to speak. For example: we were once anxious that a certain well-known writer should preside at a certain gathering. We represented to him that it was his proper place, that he ought to be in that chair; that he should claim the prece- dency he had won. He refused; he said that he could not speak. He came to the meeting, but he sat down below with the rank and file. As for the exceptions: Lord Lytton is a statesman, and there- fore accustomed to speaking; Mr. James Bryce is also a statesman; Professor Jebb is, or was, the. Public Orator of Cambridge, and therefore always speaking; Mr. Edmund Yates is well known as one of the best after-dinner speakers that we have; Mr. Hermann Merivale is an eloquent speaker; Mr. George Augustus Sala is full of wit and anec- dote; Professor Michael Foster s[>eaks genially and cordially. There are, of course, many others, but the broad fact remains—the English author cannot speak. Why not? Simply because he will not take the trouble to study the art of elocution, and to practise a little. Authors are always getting up subjects for their own purposes. Sometimes they know a great deal more than the mass of mankind. What an addition to their strength and their influence it would 1k> if they could speak upon their subjects as well as write aliout them! All educated men—that is, all those who ought to lead—should practise the art of speaking. Not to ir 2  ## p. 108 (#512) ############################################ io8 THE AUTHOR. do so is to leave the leading of the people to the uncultivated—the men who can speak, but do not know—who mislead because they do not know. Lord Cranbrook sends to the Times some grace- ful lines written to him by Lowell, apropos of his own lines: Life is a leaf of paper white, Whereon each one of us may write His word or two—then conies the night. They arc called " Cuivis cunque " :— On earth Columbus wrote his name: Montgolfier on the circling air: Lesseps in water did the same: Franklin traced his in living flame: Newton on space's desert bare. Safe with the primal elements Their signatures august remain: While the fierce hurtle of events Whirls us and our ephemeral tents Beyond oblivion's mere disdain. Our names, as what we write are frail, Time spunges out like hopeless scores, Unless for mine it should prevail To turn awhile the faltering scale Of memory, thus to make it yours. Qcivis. Many notices, biographies, and appreciations more or less critical have appeared on James Russell Lowell since his death. That written by Mr. Theodore Watts for the Athenaum of August 22nd, stands out above all those that I have seen. It is simply an excellent paper. It is especially valuable for its analysis of the Puritan element in the man, and of what that Puritan element really means — the teaching of self- restraint and self-governance as opposed to the Pagan instinct of self-indulgence. It is a paper filled with admiration of the man, yet capable of acknowledging weak points in the poet. In spite of the occasional ruggedness of his verse, the world will continue to read Lowell when they have quite forgotten poets of greater dexterity and finer music, and this, for the sake of the things he has to say. Once more our old friend Bogey turns up. The Spectatoi; in a little notice of "The Cost of Pro- duction "—better late than never; it is just in time for the third edition—reproduces this good old fraud "If," it says, " the author of a shilling shocker receives £o on a thousand copies, the publisher receives a little more. Not more, it may lie readily admitted, than is fair, considering the risk." What risk? My dear Spectator, you have been told over and over again that there is very, very seldom any risk, and that there need be none at all. Again, suppose there was risk. What is the pub- lisher's risk compared witli the author's? The author risks his labour, risks months of hard work and time. Is that a less or a greater risk than tin- publisher's £100, which, mind, he docs not pay until the returns of the book come in? Now, tin; author does advance his risk beforehand. As we have pointed out and proved over and over again, the great mass of published books carry no risk. But I suppose it is quite impossible to drown this Bogey in the Bed Sea. It was the Spectator which, after admitting a letter by me, signed, on this very subject—a letter in which I advanced the undeniable fact that nowadays publishers take very, very few risks, and that many publishers simply cannot afford to take any—published a letter which stated that " the man who says that publishers never take risks must be insane." The writer did not sign his name. But observe: his letter conveyed a falsehood: he meant people to believe that I had said that no publishers ever take; any risks. It was not worth while to complain or to explain. At the sauie time two questions arise: (i) Howr far an editor is justi- fied in allowing an anonymous writer to attack a man who openly signs himself? and (2) How far an editor is justified in inserting a letter which is carefully worded so as to convey a falsehood? The season is approaching when the lists of new books will appear. We will then again proceed with the analysis of the new books published, in order to find out what is the proportion of books which ma}' carry risk. Meantime, here is a very good illustration of what they sometimes call risk. A correspondent writes to us: "Among publishers who do sometimes take risks, you must include Mr. A. B. The book called , recently published, was actually bought by him at a good price. He gave £— for it. Yet it was the work of a perfectly unknown writer. If this was not risk, what is?" Very good. Let us see. The publisher bought the book for a certain sum. He then ran it through his magazine. The sum given for the book was about half that which he would have had to pay at the current, rate of payment per page. The other half, which he saved, paid for the printing, paper, and binding of the book. Thus,  ## p. 109 (#513) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. you see, lie brought out the book for nothing, and got all the credit of a publisher who dares to take a new writer in hand and to give him a start. It was good business all round: very good for the new writer, who got a capital start, for which he must thank the publisher; and since, if he turns out well, he will be under an endless debt of gratitude to that publisher, it will prove very good business for him as well. But, you s<«, it is not taking a risk. I wonder if English as well as French hooks are going to be put up for auction in New York. Zola's last work is reported to have l)cen offered in this way and to have been knocked down for £2,000, or £400. This is not much, as it includes the right of selling it in French as well lus in English. If the practice is to lie extended to English books, there will be, I fear, considerable bumbling and considerable shamefaeedness, because there arc writers who wrap up the question of dollars in mystery which magnifies. Certain Americans are said, by the Critic of New York, to be patriotically indignant because Lord Tennyson has been invited to write an ode for the opening of the Chicago Exhibition. The President of the World's Congress Auxiliary thus explains the invitation: "I thought it was not improper to make some allusion to his long and splendid career of half a century as Wordsworth's successor in the office of Poet Laureate of England, and I added the hope that it might please him to send a song to be sung at the opening of the great Exposition. This, to my mind, was certainly a becoming courtesy. It by no means excludes from the list any other poet of the world. It always has been and still is the intention to extend a similar invitation to other adepts in the divine art of poesy." At the same time, one would have thought that the Americans were prepared to ac- knowledge that the greatest living figure in English poetry is Lord Tennyson. The Spectator, I read somewhere, thinks that a great proportion of the upper and middle classes of England never buy a book from one year's end to another. I do not remember the paper saying this. If it did say so—if it does think so— it is quite wrong, as readers of the Author will understand. The investigation which we recently conducted into the extent of the home lxjok trade proved conclusively that the upper and middle class buv books very largely. There are, of course. many houses where the head of the family never reads a book, but even there his wife, his daughters, his sons read and buy. For whom are the six-shilling books published? For the poor? For the lower middle class? And when we read of 10,000, 20,000, copies of a six-shilling liook being sold, who, pray, are the buyers? The lower middle class? Look again at the lwokstall—say, at the Great Western—a line which seems to l>c. used by the upper class more than any other. All day long the books are being taken by passengers. Look at Stoneham's place in the Poultry, in the City, or at Glaishers in the Strand. All day long the passers by are dropping in for books. Not the poor passers by, if you please, but the better sort. The truth is, that people are enabled to read a great deal more than they would otherwise afford to do, by the existence of the cir- culating library; they do not, certainly, buy as much as they should, but Ihey buy a great deal, and they are learning to buy more. The opinion that middle-class people never buy books is one of the numerous conventional opinions which arc a kind of stock-in-trade of journalists who are too lazy or are unable to examine for themselves. The notion that every book involves an awfid risk to publish is another. The Spectator certainly believes that as an article of Christian faith. I wish someone would make a little collection of stock conventional opinions. Mr. H. Schiitz Wilson reminds lovers of Germany and German poets that on .September the 21st, the centenary of the birth of the patriot poet Theodor Korner is to be celebrated. Here is an excellent opportunity for a paper on the young soldier who died fighting in the liefreiungs Krieg. Such a life as that of Korner, with such a death after such achievements, needs to be told for every generation. Especially does his verse need to be re-translated, or in some way brought ljefore the world at a time when people are asking why German is so little read. The fact is certain: German liooks are not asked for in libraries so much as they were 20 years ago, although German is taught in schools more extensively and more thoroughly than at that time. There are several reasons for this falling off. One is a prevalent belief that when one has read half-a-dozen great German writers, there remain no more worth reading. I refer to belles lettres, because German is indispensable to scientific men and scholars. Next, German historians mav be valuable, but they are certainly heavy to read. Thirdly, the reviews which try to follow modern  ## p. 110 (#514) ############################################ I IO THE AUTHOR. German literature do not, somehow, succeed in attracting people to read the books. Perhaps, if some of them were to adopt the plan of recom- mending special books withan account of them, the reader might be stimulated to order them. Lastly, our own literature, with American literature and French literature, is so rich that it takes all our •time to read even the most remarkable books. The administration of the Free Libraries in Paris recently made the deplorable discovery that their readers prefer novels to any other branch of literature. They thereupon instructed the librarians to coax, guide, lead, and persuade the people into more serious reading. The librarians obeyed and exhorted. All the people walked out. The librarians desisted. All the people came back. They are now again diligently engaged in read- ing nothing but novels. Humanity is the same everywhere—both otheial humanity and natural humanity. Official humanity laments the tendency to read novels, because oflieial humanity cannot understand that the average man reads for amuse- ment, and that when he lias done his day's work he does not want to work any longer at anything. Also official humanity has never arrived at the least conception of the fact that fiction is the greatest of all the forces now in existence for refinement of manners and for edu- cation in ideas. Official humanity never gets beyond the copybook maxims. Natural humanity, no doubt, learns these and straightway forgets them. The copybook view of a public library is of a place where the eager youth, longing for art and letters and learning for their own sakes, sits every evening—or, as the schoolboy hath it, swots every evening after a hard 12 hours' day. The simple and unconventional truth is that the average man finds here only a place of amusement which has the advantage of being warm, quiet, light, and costing nothing. The Victorian Exhibition is to have a portrait gallery of 400 distinguished persons, belonging to the present reign, now deceased. Four hundred is a considerable number. Probably the whole of the period covered by Gibbon's " Decline and Fall " does not contain many more, yet here we have 400, all adorning a period of one short half-century, so that we ought to be a proud and happy nation indeed. Nay, since none of the living are included, and there must be a great many more than 400 capable of calling themselves illustrious, the Victorian age is, indeed, in advance of all preceding ages put together. The Victorian literature shows, among the dead: Browning, Landor, Tom Moore, Southev, Words- worth, Carlyle, Dickens, Thackeray, Charles Reade, Wilkie Collins, George Eliot, Charlotte Bronte, Rogers, Grote, Hallam, Mill, Lightfoot, Trench, Stanley, Wilberforce, Liddon, Keble, Newman, Arnold, Darwin, Faraday, Herschel, Lyell, Mur- ehison, Fox Talbot, J. R. Green, Mark Pattison, Mrs. Gaskell, Edward Fitzgerald, Lord Strangford, Edward Palmer, not to speak of a mighty host of men of every science and art who have by their books adorned this great and wonderful Victorian age. It is, of course, absurd to confine the word literature any longer to poetry, fiction, and essays; it now includes every kind of book on every kind of subject — scientific, technical, educational—I think one would only except BraiLshaw, the Army and Navy lists, the Law lists, the Oxford and Cambridge Calendar, Crockford's Clerical Dire torv, and the Report of the S.P.C.K. This splendid growth of science and of letters—the true glory of the Victorian period—will, one hopes, be adequately illustrated bv the portrait gallery. One also hopes that no one will ask the very awkward question of how the Court has been advised to recognize and to honour the men by whom the time and the reign have been made famous. The fashion of advertising publishers' lists at the end of books seems falling into disuse. This is a pity for one reason: namely, that the lists a few years later afford such excellent food for reflection. Here, for instance, is a book issued in the year 188-3 by a publisher who at that time produced much, in quantity at least. At the end is his current list of works. It contains 40 new three- volume novels. Many of these books are by writers then, and now, more or less known, who have continued to write novels, and, therefore, it is pre- sumed have found their practice of the art remune- rative, or at least pleasant. Out of the 40 which were all apparently published in the years 18S2 and |883, there are one or two which had then advanced to a second edition. But not one of the whole 40 has ever made the least impression 011 the mind of the public. Every one of them is stone dead. So that of 40 average novels not one has managed to live in memory or on the bookshelves for eight years. I do not put this forward as a proof that they were all bad. Many novels, of good workmanship are written with no other object than to amuse for the moment. It is, however, pleasing to read some of the extracts from friendly reviewers on these immortal works : — " Fresh, free, powerful "; "The work of a master-hand"; "A romance of the most fascinating description "; "Will be received with delight by all classes": these praises seem, after this short lapse of time, somewhat extravagant. They are better, however,  ## p. 111 (#515) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 111 than the work of the scarifier. The authors should at least be thankful that their critics were easily pleased. The French " Syndicat pour la protect ion de la proprietd litteraire et artistique " has presented a gold medal to Senator Piatt for the part which he has taken "in the triumph of a just cause." Certain American publishers have presented a loving cup to Mr. Robert Underwood Johnson for his exertions in the cause of International Copy- right, and the French Government has conferred upon Messrs. Johnson, Putnam, Adams, and Simonds the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour. What have we done? What had our Government done? Nothing. Yet the benefit conferred upon us by this Act are a thousand times greater than those conferred upon the French. It is useless, I suppose, to think that any English Government will ever act, under any circumstances, as if Literature and Art were things of any value or importance. No other country so deeply indebted to four foreigners as we are to the four gentlemen who have received the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour would neglect them; no other country could afford to be so boorish; in every other country thev would at least l>e offered something equivalent to our knighthood of the Bath. Such an act of courtesy, such a sense of gratitude, we may expect in vain. It is not, however, too late for ourselves to do something. Let us do it, and that at once. The time approaches when we shall be all back in our places; let the first step taken by the Society after the vacation be one of simple justice and acknowledgment of gratitude. The Folk Lore Congress of October promises to be the most literary event of the year. Mr. Andrew Lang, the President, will open it with an address. Mr. Sidney Hart land is tin; Chairman of the Folk- tale Section; Professor John Rhys, of the Mytho- logical Section; Sir Frederick Pollock, of the Institutions Section. At the meeting of the Mytho- logical Section there will be a representation of an old English mumming play, with children's games, sword dances, savage music, and folk songs. The savage music ought to prove very attractive. I hope the Society is increasing in numbers and support. No transactions of any society are half so interesting as those of the Folk Lore. The wonder is that they keep up and show no abate- ment in material or in interest. But the Society deals with an inexhaustible mass of subjects. Con- sider, for instance, how one single fact, the existence of the king of the Arician Grove, has been shown, in "The Golden Bough," to require two great volumes full of illustrations, explanations, and history. This wonderful work, as interesting as any novel, should have been kept for the Folk Lore Congress. A general invitation to the Members of our Society has been received from the Council of the German Authors' Society—iDeutscher Schriftsteller- Verband. The Association holds a Congress at Berlin on September 12th, i3th, and 14th. The programme is a business-like document. The members will be chiefly occupied with various changes in their statutes. With them we are not greatly concerned. Two or three proposal*, how- ever, are interesting:— That the Council shall every year offer a prize for an original novel and one for a drama. That strenuous efforts shall be made to receive the recognition of the State. That all German writers of eminence shall be urged to join the Society. I do not think that any prize which the Society could offer would do much to advance the cause of dramatic or fictional art. We cannot imagine a good writer competing for a prize unless it was a prize in four figures. And there seems to us something ridiculous in the "crowning " of a work by a writer of established reputation. But I have sometimes thought that a gold medal bestowed, not every year, but whenever a really good first work by a young writer appeared—which is not every year—might do something in smoothing the way for that young writer's future success. The German Society has local centres and local committees. Some time ago we asked for and received the names of Members willing to act as honorary secretaries in their own centres. We shall probably ask for their services this Autumn. Will any others willing to help us, should the occasion arise, send up their names? The Germans will vary their dry business with a little festivity. On Sunday they propose to have a dinner and a ball; on Monday they will meet at the opera; on Tuesday they will go for an excursion. If we have a Congress, which has been some time suggested, let us have these good things as well. Walter Besant.  ## p. 112 (#516) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. ON A NEW NOVELIST. UNTIL Mr. Edmund Gosse's delightful intro- duction to "The Footsteps of Fate," of Louis Couperus on the, Dutch Sensitivists, with other ignorant people I had l>een under the impression that Holland possessed a language that was inarticulate, and that the Dutch had found Art their only medium of expression. Their grait traditions of painting, like those of the Flemish, have eclipsed any claims they may have had to a literature.. While the names of the Maris Brothers, Josef Israels, and others are known throughout Europe, the young men of whom Mr. Gosse writes so pleasantly (and, alas, so briefly) are almost unknown in England, except to those enviable persons who can master the northern languages of Europe. Apparently, we have been wronging the Dutch in denying them the parts of speech. They have been having literary revolutions and aesthetic movement*!, and slashing reviews like any other Christian nation. It will, doubtless, shock many respectable English critics when they learn that much of this morbid, unwholesome, intellectual activity is due to a deal of "poisoned honey" stolen from England! Our authors it seems can corrupt another nation no less than the insidious writers of another land are able to do. Now our insular appreciations have been roused by the appearance of two novels in English by a Dutch writer, Maarten Maartens: " The Sin of Joost Avelingh," and "An Old Maid's Love." They are two novels which promise to place their author in the first rank of English novelists now living. I say English, for these are riot translations from the Dutch as some reviewers had supposed, but were written in English—in a style which some of our native writers would do well to emulate. Though it is not given to everyone to form a style so exquisite as that of Maarten Maartens; who, furthermore, is endowed with that rare faculty of writing with felicity in a foreign language—in a manner, that is to say, that will deceive a foreigner. Raging Anglo-Saxons may not find in his books a phrase or idiom not to be found in Beowulf, but for reasonable Englishmen the language is as pure as Buskin's, as English as Thackeray's, as facile as Fronde's. In " The Sin of Joost Avelingh '' the author has, consciously or unconsciously, proposed a conun- drum. It is a story of moral murder, but as to whether Joost was guilty or not, psychologists and theologians might argue till Doomsday. To avoid all sensation, this author deliberately gives the ma]) of the plot in a prologue, and the story is simply a study and development of character. In absolute narrative power it is deficient, as in the pictures of the author's great compatriots we do not look for a story, but for the purely pictorial—characteri- sation, light and shadow, or the incidents of daily life around us. Mutual antipathy like that of Baron van Trotsem and Joost Avelingh, where one's sympathies are enlisted for the antipathy of each for the other though a common combination in life has not often been treated of in fiction. The Baron is not a brute, but a charming old- fashioned Dutch landowner given to drinking and swearing a little too hard, perhaps. Yet his temperament is entirely opposed to that of his nephew Joost, of whom he is the guardian, that their dislike of each other is conceivable and natural. For the murder of his uncle, Joost would have had every excuse. He had refinement, edu- cation, and something of the idealist, things which the Baron considered vices. The misunder- standings of uncle and nephew are told with consummate skill, always bringing out some new trait or idiosyncrasy. Bound the dignified and gracious character of Joost Avelingh, the minor characters group themselves naturally from the members of the Hessel family to the untidy black- guard, Van Asvcld. While the book throughout is a perfect picture of contemporary life and landscape in Holland, it would be mere cavilling to quarrel with the author about the public confession of Joost, but he seems to hold some theories on the ethics of murder which he has not elaborated suffi- ciently to be entirely convincing in either of his stories. In "An Old Maid's Love" we are asked to believe that a respectable and upright, country Dutch lady does not hesitate to murder a French woman with whom her adopted nephew is carrying on a flirtation. Until the attempted murder we are not given to understand that any immoral intercourse has taken place between them. Yet, where is the book in which we could not find something to alter or elaborate? Not even that great trilogy of Shakspeare, Bradshaw, and the Bible would answer the question. "An Old Maid's Love," if not so strong a storv as "Joost Avelingh," shows the great gifts of Maarten Maartens to a better advantage. The characterisation is even more varied, while the humour, which he has to a high degree, is more frequent. By a sentence, a speech, or an incident, the author gives us all the individualities of half-a- dozen people. We know Mynheer Van Donselaar and Jakob te Bekel directly they are introduced to us—a dangerous quality in real life, but in art and fiction an indispensable one. The author does not indulge in stale analysis, nor does he come forward as a kind of chorus to help on the story, or give a lift to characters who cannot explain themselves. There is no tedious word-painting, so dear to the  ## p. 113 (#517) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. "3 second-rate story-teller. Mr. Maarteiis is a master of descriptive writing; but he is always restrained, and never takes up the camel's-hair brush in mistake for the grey goose quill. In brief, let those who still doubt his place among English novelists purchase and read "The Sin of Joost Avelingh" and "An Old Maid's Love." They will at least make the acquaintance of some of the most delightful people in the most reputable Dutch society. The Widow liarsselius has never been excelled even by Dickens, while Mynheer Van Donselaar is the most diverting paterfamilias I ever met. The British matron will find heaps of things in common with Mevrouw van Hessel, a lady who does not think braces lit subjects for conversation, or fit objects for presentation. Those who, like Arnout Oostrum, prefer even lighter company, will meet that dangerous enchantress, Dorine de Mongelas, whose charms melted even the cynical Calvinist pastor, Jakob te Bekel. Like all live people, Dorine is just a little unreal. If ever I meet her again, I must ask her whether she really thought the proprietor of the hotel at Lugano believed that Arnout was her brother. If so, she was not so bad as Miss Varelkamp believed her to be. I shall never forgive the author for having killed the Widow Barsselius. I should like still to have thought of her, quarrelling with Adelaida Vonk, disinheriting Arnout, or altering her will every three or four months, scolding Sussana, and lecturing Dorothy Donselaar. C. P. A DAY AT OLYMPIA. MAY had just set in. The brushwood of the Peloponnesus wore its softest vesture: each fertile valley exhaled the fresh odours of early Spring. As I drove out of Pyrgos in the early sunshine, I saw around me a region richer and more beautiful than any I had hitherto explored in Greece. The road to Olympia at first extended itself across a plain festooned with tender garlands of the vine, where the carefully cultivated fields imparted now an unwonted air of civilisation to this visually wild and barren country, which here never- theless might rival with its vegetation an Italian landscape in the marshes or by the fat city of Bologna. Then, winding over the hills it passed through several hamlets, that clung to the heights like eagle's nests, and breathed beyond reach of malaria from the valleys, the fresh cool breath of the sea. We rested the horses awhile at a wayside inn, where some dozen dark-haired brown-featured peasant* were eating lentil soup and dry bread, for it was the Thursday Wore the Greek Easter. A fierce light darted from their black eyes, as they conversed jauntily among themselves. Caricatures of the reigning family and M. Tricoupis pasted on the walls proclaimed the political sympathies of the usual customers. These pictures very much resembled in their style of draughtsmanship I lie cartoons of United Ireland, and gave another proof of the curious likeness I had discovered in many ways between the people of the Morea and my unconquerable fellow-countrymen of Erin. I had by this time penetrated far into the region of blue mountains, through which the road some- times climbed tortuously, and sometimes flew straight as an arrow along low-lying level meadows radiant with wild flowers in the sunlight, and shrill with the voices of secret fertilizing streams. Thus, having driven in all about 12 miles, I at length reached the plain of Olympia bounded on the south by the famous river Alpheios, and on the west by its tributary the Kladeos, and enclosed by chains of wooded hills which guard from its sight the modern dwellings of men. The first impression on the beholder of this revered site, where our civilization may be said to have parsed the golden days of its youth, is an impression of sublimity, desolation, and repose. For fifteen centuries these grand ruins lay buried in the earth, and are now, thanks to the scholarly disin- terestedness of the great German nation, exhumed to bask once more beneath that same sun, whose white brilliance in the beginning inspired the happy genius of their architects. Not a voice, not a sound disturbs their monumental stillness, save perchance the hum of a solitary bee, as it wanders among the briars and poppies that grow out from the clefts of ancient wall or pavement. Verily here, more than anywhere on earth, a resurrection of old Greek life has been accomplished—life public and patriotic, not private and domestic, as Roman life is revealed to us at Pompeii. For here, as through the rest of the land, there remains no trace of any private dwelling of the Hellenic age. Thus, it seems that the Greek must have been content with a fragile, temporary house, passing most of his time in the sunlight, or among those beautiful public edifices, upon which he chiefly prided himself. In truth, he knew of no existence apart from that of the. State. At Olympia then, in this secluded vale the Hellenic States assembled every four years for the celebration of those sacred games, which compelled their divers peoples to cease from all strife, and united them in one grand body politic, the Greek Race. Here, therefore, we are brought into the dead presence of a civilisation, whose incomiKirable beautv has imralyzed all subsequent rivalry in the realization of the beautiful in life or art. And the incomparable beauty in Greek art still lives. It has  ## p. 114 (#518) ############################################ I [4 THE AUTHOR. re-arisen here with the Hermes of Praxiteles, which stands in the museum hard by, rescued from the long night of centuries. You see it, and are at once convinced that it is the greatest statue in the world, so perfect its type, so faultless its execution. For like all works of the highest class, such as the Laocoon, the ceiling of the Nistine Chapel, the Virgin among the Rocks, its superb qualities at once strike the eve, and ever increase in excellence with prolonged attention. In order to experience these sensations, the original must, of course, be examined. No cast of this great statue throughout Europe adequately reproduces the marvellous modelling of the chest and body, which fashioned in marble, delicate as alabaster, seem to throb with the life of eternal youth. All the intense vitality of Michael Angclo's figure of Night pulsates in the triumphant execution that has here lent substantial being to an ideal type of beauty, loftier, more perfect, than any portrayed in extant representatives of the human form. Beautiful, indeed, is this fleet messenger of Olympos — fresh as a white sunbeam in the morning, piercing the green and sombre shade of the olives, in the philosophic groves of Hellas. There is a subtle charm in a youth's protection of a child, a charm born of the ethereal purity and idealism which gleam through the clean gold light of fairyland. The old Greeks knew this sentiment by their delicate instinct, that fathomed the philo- sophy of the l>eautiful to its secret depths. Thus it is that their most exquisite artist, in his delinea- tion of Hermes with that half affectionate, half amused smile, as of an elder brother, upon the confiding childish Dionvsos, has recorded but one instance of the poetic feeling of his luminous When lH'holding this treasure, preserved for us from the fairest days of Greece, it is impossible not to think of the Apollo of Belvedere, which espe- cially, in the masterful beauty of workmanship on the torso, approaches nearer to this Hermes, than any other statue I have ever seen. The arrival of the Elgin marbles in our midst with their reve- lation of austere idealism and stern execution, led archa'ologists to look somewhat contemptuously upon the Vatican masterpiece, and to censure Winckelmann for his sublime eulogy of its perfec- tions. But the discovery of this incomparable work bv Praxiteles has proved how inspired was the sentiment of the supremely beautiful manifested bv that great Father of Archaeology, whose mag- nificent imagery and glowing eloquence, arc a continual welcome relief to the student, from the colourless and prosaic diction of his learned successors. As I stood in the lonesome plain I pictured to myself what that noble spirit Mould see, if he were to wander through the ruins of Olympia. We read in those volumes of vast information and erudition, published by the German Government, what modern archaeologists have seen. But Winckel- mann would have discovered meanings loftier and truer in the fittest sense. With prophetic insight into the genius of antiquity he would have read the dead features of each monument here, laid bare of its shroud of clay ; and his wistful gaze would have charmed them to answer his soul. From their silent voices would he not have learned a mystical tale of this fair deail region? And then, breaking into periods of sublime impassioned poetry, he would have told of glorious sights, as one who himself had witnessed them, and had risen from the grave to tell. What a description his might have been of the famous Temple of Zeus, that lies shivered by a mighty earthquake 011 the pavement of the Altis, like a huge vase fallen from its pedestal. What interest would he not have given to this shrine of the wondrous chryselephantine Zeus by Pheidias, about which he has written so luminously in his monumental History of Ancient Art? How he would have descanted on those grand pedimental groups by Alcamenes and Paionios, whose sculptures massed in bold outline and splendid proportion lent majesty to the archi- tecture, as a diadem heightens the dignity of a king! What a fascination he would have found in the stones of the old Heraion that guarded for our delight the Hermes of Praxiteles! How subtle woidd have been his appreciation of the colossal "Victory " that alights on the earth with such swift aerial grace! Then standing in the partially exca- vated Stadion, what would have been his emotion, as he thought of the beautiful contests that inspired the matchless art of Greece! These were some of my reflections, as I wandered a livelong day among the ruins of a region where beings once assembled, and sights were witnessed, the fairest our aged world has ever known. The genius of the place stirred strange sensations of contentment within my heart, such as I have never felt in other lands and scenes. For here were enacted those deeds that lent soul to my ideal of plastic perfection. For this reason, other centres of art outside of Greece shine in my imagination with a paler interest; nor indeed am I very curious to travel more, knowing that I can never discover a spot with memories of human beauty so sympathetic, and so sublime. And what made the old Greek civilisation the most beautiful of all civilisations? Was it not their profound love of nature which they shrank from distorting, with a sort of religious awe? Were not all their works designed in obedi- ence to the lessons learned of her? Look at the Parthenon of Athens. Does it not rise from the living rock as a thing of nature itself? hook at  ## p. 115 (#519) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. the people's garments. Are they not absolutely subordinate to the natural human form, and thereby most lit, most rational? Whereas the costume of after ages and modern times, in that it is a dis- tortion of nature, is barbarous ami abominable, and every whit as grotesque an that of the commonest savages who wear rings in their noses, and pad their persons in order to create odious, lM'cause artificial, excrescences. None of the ruins around awake more regretful interest than those of the Palaistra, an army of pale Ionian columns standing in pathetic stateliness, like ghosts of the glorious athletes, who once frequented these halls, and with their fair civilisation have passed for ever from the world. Here, leaning against one of the columns, which doubt- less of yore gave support to many a tired youth after the toils of the contest, I gazed long and earnestly upon the fallen majesty of Olympia. The wrath of the white sun which at mid-day had lit up the broken architecture like blocks of crystal, gradually grew pacified, and over the western hills and distant sea the saffron light of a Greek evening borne on the fluttering wings of a cool breeze, gilded the desolate plain. The genius of the place stirred within my soul a host of images,and strange emotions of joy and [Miin strove for mastery in my heart. I thought of the high deeds that graced these sacred precincts, and of the many beautiful beings who flourished here awhile and faded—exquisite blossoms that bloomed and fell. I thought of each bright fascinating scene here long ago, which thrilled with its poetry the beholder for one rare moment, and then passed away into the inexorable gulf of time, never, never to return. And bitterly I thought of this cruel Time, the destroyer of all our sweetest impressions on earth. Thus haunted with visions of the glorious pictures these silent plains had witnessed in the past, my mind brooded on the antique life of this revered centre of Hellenism, where grew and developed that incomparable natural beamy I lane ever desired to behold—in vain. And, as the moving shadows, amid fitful gusts of the night, spread their dark wings, like angels of death, over the valley, forel>odings of ghostly visitations filled my imagination, and 1 felt as if transported to the golden age of Greece. I gazed at the scene before me in wistful contemplation, until gradually growing in harmony with its sublime associations, I seemed to see the ruins transformed, and the glory of Olympia re-arise from the dust of the years. Then stood the Temple of Zeus and the Heraion once more in antique majesty, and the portico of the echo resounded with the footfall of fluttering crowds. Impatiently their faces turned towards the Sladion, while the variegated and gold- embroidered draperies throbbed in the waning light like the diamond embers of a log-lire beneath the dogs. A joyful shout arose, and from the tunnel of the Stadion came forth the competitors at the boys' Pentathlon, whose voices, as thev talked together, rang like the chiming of silver bells. Anon a great concourse of spectators appeared overhead, which, opening in twain, made way for the youthful victor. He advanced dreamily, as one not realising the splendour of his achievement which Pindar should immortalise in an ode, and slowly descended to the Altis, where, when he paused and looked at his garland, I saw in him a model of the Praxitelcan Hermes. Then white-robed choristers, and youths with festooned flutes, and hoary priests formed themselves in procession before him, and chanting oriental melody they led him towards the Temple of Zeus. And as the victor passed the statue of Victory, raising the wreath of bay leaves from his golden hair, he laid it at her feet, and so passed onward to the temple amid the chorus of quivering basses and sweet-voiced boys. Next, I was surrounded in the Palaistra by athletes, who practised for the contest of the coming day. Presently one of them came and leant against a pillar near to where I was standing. Wearily, with the distant gaze of a figure in a sepulchral relief, he lookeil towards the temple that sheltered the victor, and as he laid his cheek upon the cool marble, his features glowed with pale transparency, like the cameo of a god. I watched him and knew the sorrow that lav on his heart. I read in those sad features the soaring ambition of youth, that builds for itself a palace in a world of phantasm, and is ever thwarted, and vexed, and harassed in the life men call realitv. I saw how that one passion had mastered him and withered all faculty for pleasure; how the sight of this lieautiful ceremony caused him only a keener pain. And sorrowful at the thought that so bright a season as boyhood should thus be changed to bitterness and gloom, I looked with pity upon this youthful toiler, and sighed because of the lot of them that nourish the sublime aspirations of life. A rough hand on my shoulder shattered this fair picture of Olympia. Then I understood I must have slumbered after the heat and fatigue of exploring the ruins, when I saw beside me my guide, who announced that the sun had already set and that now the vallev, as if to defend itself from the encroachments of modern man, exhaled a cold and pestilential dew. With a last regretful look I returned to my carriage, and was borne away swiftly through the gathering shades of night. And as I watched the purple silhouette of the hills against the yellow sky, and breathed the damp air of twilight, I drew my cloak closer around me with a chill sense of loneliness,  ## p. 116 (#520) ############################################ ii6 THE AUTHOR. for I knew that the man who yearns for the ideal of other ages, while lie still walks among his con- temporaries, yet breathes a rarer atmosphere, and dwells in a far-off world. Edward Maktyn. SOME EARLY EXPERIENCES. MY passage into the world of literature was made through the gateway afforded by the "system of prize competitions—a humble enough entrance in very truth, but one which lias undoubtedly been the means of bringing to the front several very good men of letters, whose talents might otherwise have been lost to humanity. My feelings, on seeing my first essay in print, can be better imagined than described. To those of mv readers who have gone through that ex- perience, it were useless to waste words in the telling of so familiar a story. Needless to say, I passed through all the phases of thought usual on such an occasion, from the hilarious exultation of the first sight right down to the dee]) disgust and awful despair felt when, in a more critical moment, my work appeared sadly incomplete and unsatis- factory. Nevertheless, my ambition had now been fired, and, come failure or success, I speedily found myself launched upon the stormy seas of life in the vessel of literary endeavour, struggling for some foothold whereon I might take my stand with others around me wTho were winning fame and fortune by their daring exploits. The only special qualification which I possessed for the work set. before me was some slight ability in the art of composition, coupled perhaps with a fair share of common sense. When I set out on my literary career, some two years ago, I fortunately (lid not do as many others before me had done, give up the employment which had hitherto been my principal means of subsistence, and expect that, by writing an article about once a week, the remuneration received would at once render me perfectly independent of any other support; on the contrary, I knew a little, to begin with, about the great difficulties which had to be contended with, and the very slight acknowledgment which seems the usual remuneration for the work of unknown authors. Consequently, I very wisely decided to retain my ordinary occu- pation, and, for a while at least, to spend only mv leisure time in the new pursuit which I had taken up. One other thing I feel it my duty to mention before proceeding further: From the very begin- ning of mv acquaintanceship with " the black art," I determined that, amateur though I was in otic sense, I should never pay for the insertion of my contributions in any magazine, but would demand to be remunerated for my work in every possible instance. The adoption of this policy may be somewhat unusual, and it will probably be thought by some that such a course of action as I had decided on was essentially grasping, and, therefore, extremely foolish for a mere tyro to take. I feel sure, however, that this resolution is one which should be taken by every literary aspirant to-day; and I trust to be able to prove in this paper the wisdom of mv decision, and the justice of the principle upon which it is based. During the first six months, I wrote about a dozen articles and short stories, and sent them on the rounds. I met with better success than I expected; for, by the end of the time .specified, seven of my contributions had been accepted, published, and paid for. Six of these were ac- cepted by the first editors to whom they were submitted; the seventh was only out twice; but the rest of my dozen were not so eagerly snapped up, some of them being on my hands still. The next 12 months I did very badly indeed, as my leisure time was very fully occupied with other matters than the pursuit of my literary inclinations. I certainly wrote some eight or nine papers on various social and political topics, but only three were destined to secure editorial approbation that year. The others were declined in various fashions; sometimes being returned without comment of any kind, sometimes with a curt note, "Declined with thanks," written or printed on an accompanying slip; and now and again with a letter or memo- randum containing either a short criticism, a word of praise, or a half promise for future offers of work. In October 1890 I received a circular letter pur- porting to lie from the sub-editor of a periodical which I will call the Literary Mantrap. The receipt of this communication was my first direct contact with advertising publishers. I had heard a little about them and their curious methods before, but I now had the pleasure of a more intimate acquaint- ance. The letter before me announced that this Review had been established with a view to obviating the difficulty experienced by unknown writers in obtaining publicity for their literary efforts, and proceeded to further explain the reason for its existence as follows: "It is common know- ledge that much undeveloped talent exists anioug the English-speaking Dices—young writers of talent, and possibly genius, do not find the ordinary and more noted periodicals hospitable to them at  ## p. 117 (#521) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. li7 the commencement of their career, and the best publishing firms arc extremely shy in entertaining proposals emanating from new comers. Hence the urgent necessity for the establishing of a Review— for the purpose of bringing to public notice the productions of unknown writers—conducted upon the only honest and possible basis, viz., co-opera- tion." The "co-operation" referred to is then unblushingly described in manner following, that is to say: "All authors whose contributions are accepted for publication are, therefore, required to pay a sum, ]>ro rata to the amount of matter inserted, to cover the cost of printing, paper, editorial revision, &c. As a set-off against this charge, 5o per cant, will be allowed on all copies of the Review sold by the respective authors, i.e., for every 5o copies sold through his agency, 25s. goes to the author." Now, prettily worded though this communication was, and notwithstanding the fact that it contained much of consolation, and smacked of hope for those whose talents were yet unappreciated by the reading public, I considered its propositions "a bit thick," ami, consequently, declined to be made " fish" for this "net." Had the hook not been so plainly visible, and the bait been less clumsily arranged, I might have very speedily been properly dressed for the carving-knife of the literary chef who headed the establishment. As matters stood, I was not "having any." In December of the same year, a popular weekly journal, belonging to what good churchmen call "The Down-Grade School," and which I shall name, the Religious Republic, attracted mv attention as a likely medium for the publication of some of my work. This paper had a sub-title, which intimated that it existed for the advance- ment of various Christian virtues; so I thought I would be all right in the hands of its editor. I sent him a short paper without any accompanying note, as I did not deem such necessary in this ciisc. On looking through the Christmas number of the journal-a fortnight later, I found that my essay had been utilised as an editorial, and without any indication as to its authorship. I made no com- plaint on that score at the time, but simply wrote stating that 1 was glad to note the acceptance and publication of my contribution, and requesting the editor to inform me, when he sent me a remittance in payment, whether he considered another article which I named would be suitable for his columns, and if I might submit it for his perusal. I waited for a month, but, as no reply or even remittance arrived, I wrote again—this time in terms less likely to be misunderstood. Within four days, what I considered a very curious reply from the editor came to hand. After remarking on the fact that I had sent my contribution without indicating that I expected remuneration for it, and stating that it had, along with hundreds of other communi- cations, passed under editorial notice, and been approved and printed accordingly, this worthy gentleman summed up the case in the following terms: "It appears that you immediately wrote asking for remuneration, and as to sending other contributions. This was regarded as very unusual (!), and so your letters were laid aside. My personal attention being called to the matter, I now wish to say that our rule lias always been to pay for matter when payment is arranged for previously. When articles are sent without any pre-armngement or stipulation, they are used or rejected without any regard to remuneration what- ever. Most persons who are strangers are willing to serve an apprenticeship to our paper before they expect remuneration, &c., &c. Trusting that this explanation may prove satisfactory, I am, yours truly, the Editor." On perusing this hitter, I found two alternative courses open to me: either to quietly submit to the editor's decision and thus forego the just principle which I had determined should guide me in these matters, or to fight the battle out at all costs. The adoption of the first course seemed the best policy to pursue, as the letter lwfore me suggested that if I was willing to work for nothing for a short period, arrangements for remuneration for future contributions could then be made; but I felt that to do this would be to do not only myself, but my fellow-craftsmen an injustice, and I therefore resolved to throw over policy for principle. In my letter in reply, I argued that the fact of my not specially indicating that payment was expected when sending my MS. did not alter the reasonableness or legality of my claim, and pointed out that such a specific statement was not necessary, as unless it was announced to contri- butors that remuneration was not given, a reason- able amount was always payable, and was naturally expected. I submitted that if it was not intended to pay me for my article, it was the editor's duty to inform me |of that fact before such article was published; thus giving me an opportunity to withdraw it if I thought proper. As matters stood, I held that if an article was worth publishing in a journal like the Religious Republic, it was also worth paying for. I pointed out that the allegation that I immediately wrote for remuneration was untrue, and that when my article was published I knew nothing of the "rules " which guided the editor in literary matters, and consequently could not be expected to concur in or agree yvith them so far as they related to my contribution. In conclusion, I asked that the matter might be reconsidered in all its bearings. I waited for over a fortnight, but no reply came to hand. As my claim was evidently being treated  ## p. 118 (#522) ############################################ 118 THE AUTHOR. with contempt, I then gave the editor notice that, unless it was paid within a week, I would proceed to extremities. I told him that I was determined to light this question if necessary, not because of the small amount at stake, but on account of the principle involved. I intimated that I had con- sulted legal authority, and was advised that be wan clearly liable to pay me at the current rate for the article which he had utilised, and that his dealing with it as owner, without previously informing me that he did not intend to pay for it, legailv im- plied a promise on his part to pay me its market value. I hoped, therefore, that he would settle my claim immediately, in order to avoid the disagree- able publicity and other unpleasant consequences which would inevitably ensue on my taking legal proceedings. Within the time mentioned the editorial answer came to hand, and with it the amount of my claim. The editor had evidently found himself in a bad place, and his last letter was, from first to last, a miserable attempt to extricate himself from his difficulties with some show of dignity. He said he was not in the. least disturbed by mv threats, and thought it would do him good to appear in court and say a few words about men like myself who wished to secure a hearing before the public, and then demanded pay for the insertion of their articles! He would like to expose such men to the public! However, he had no time for this unlovely sort of business, and therefore sent the amount asked for in settlement. He intimated that the amount sent wa-s more than the article was worth, "but," he went on, "I suppose you are hard up and I am sending you this as a matter of charity." (How truly Christ-like !) He con- tinued, "Now a word of candid advice. I have been connected with the Press for over 3o years, and have never had dealing before with such a bore. Had you treated the matter in the right spirit you might have secured permanent work on the lieligioxts Republic at a reasonable remune- ration, but (mark how calmly, how deliberately the man lies) I am not in the habit—nor is any editor — of paying contributors for articles until they have won their spurs, unless some prior arrangement is made. Then follows this charming piece of hypocrisy: "I am taking up considerable space in the hope that it may do you some good. You have some ability, but your love of money is the root of your evil." In conclusion, the editor makes another attempt to justify himself, and, at the same time, to insult me, and once more ho fails ignoniiniously: "I hope you will not consider my sending you the money is the result of your threats. I simply have a contempt for your plea on legal grounds, but I am tired of getting letters from you, and suppose you are actually in need or you would not take the course vou are taking." I have taken the trouble to record the last experience very fully, because I now know it to be typical of many more. Since the time when the case described came before me I have often had occasion to remember that publishing is a business which is conducted for the sake of prolit alone, and that in the pursuit of it men's con- sciences are apt to become very elastic indeed. Many a time have I been very forcibly reminded that with many publishers the virtues of philan- thropy, justice, and even common honesty arc practically unknown. I have had dealings with several men—editors as well as publishers—whose ideas of right and wrong had become so hopelessly confused that they would actually steal your goods, and believe in their inmost hearts that by so doing they had done you a great favour. Others, not so well versed in the tricks of their trade, satisfy their consciences by paying merely a nominal acknowledgment for your good services. For some time I worked for a magazine which paid me at the rate of io#. for articles of from 1,000 to l,5oo words. As a proof that they were worth much more a reviewer once said of one of them that my four columns had arrested his attention in a way which even the elaborate criticism of a very popular writer had failed to do, while other papers would copy or take extracts from my articles as they appeared. It is scarcely necessary to say that in due time I "struck" for a higher rate of remuneration, and, as my reasonable demand was refused, I declined to work any longer on the old terms. I was very much shocked and surprised once at the way in which the prize competitions of a "Labour " paper were carried on. I hail written for information as to whether I might send a cer- tain article for the editorial consideration, and also as to the remuneration offered for such work. The reply I received was to the effect that they did not "order" contributions in advance, but I was at liberty to start a competition. I found that this really meant that my article would be published along with many others on the same subject, but that only one would be paid for. Of course I could not, with a good conscience, work under any such conditions, and I therefore declined the offer with thanks. In my reply I endeavoured to point out to the editor the iniquity of the system which he had adopted, and illustrated my argument a.s follows: "If I was successful in the competition which vou propose, I should feel that I had deprived others of their righteous reward; if I was defeated, I would know that I had been robbed of the fruits of my toil. In conclusion, allow me to express my surprise that you—of all men most  ## p. 119 (#523) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 119 enthusiastic in the cause of labour, in endeavouring to gain for the workers 'a fair dav's wage for a fail- day's work '—should stoop to such a method of filling the pages of your paper." Unfortunately, this direct appeal failed to awaken the editorial conscience, and only served to harden his heart. He even went so far as to denounce my strictures as unjust! I never doubted the honesty of his intentions, but" evil is wrought by want of thought as well as want of heart." I still maintain that competitions in literature, conducted in the fashion referred to, are a direct encouragement of literary "blacklegs," who arc willing to work for nothing, and thus take away the bond fide workers' livelihood. I have yet another instance in proof of the theory that editors and publishers are specially subject to jH'culiar temptations, which need all a man's respectability and honesty of purpose to overthrow. In March of this year I received a note from the editor of one of the minor monthly reviews, which was attracting the attention of the reading public at the time, explaining the terms on which he accepted contributions. He intimated that all his contributors had agreed to allow their fees to stand over until profits began to be realised, and that, if I agreed to these terms, he would insert such of my contributions as he found suitable for the magazine. In reply, I stated my acceptance of the terms men- tioned, subject to a satisfactory answer being given to the following queries, which, considering the vague nature of the proposil, I thought it neces- sary to make: "What is the amount which you propose to put to the credit of your contributors in return for each of their contributions; that is to say, what sum will represent the 'fee' to which you refer, when the magazine begins to pay? Will the contributors be paid for their articles in the order of publication? How long do you think it will be before any profits are realised?" The only answer I ever received to these questions was of a very significant character: my MS. was sent lmck, apparently unread, and without a word of comment, by return of post. I am, however, very glad to be able to sav, also from experience, that all editors are not like those whose treatment of their contributors I have just deseriU'd. I have treasured up in my memory a few instances of most kindly actions on the part of editors towards me in my struggle for recognition by the reading public. In one case, on the sus- pension of a weekly magazine to which I had been contributing, the publishers refused to pay the contributors a farthing for their work; but the editor took up their cause, and, after a great deal of trouble, necessitating the employment of a solicitor, succeeded in wresting from these sharks a portion of their ill-gotten gains, with which he settled the righteous claims of those whose labours had created the wealth in the first instance. Many, too, are the eases in which editors, being unable to accept my work, have returned it to me as soon as possible, together with a letter containing a few words of encouragement, a kindly- expressed criticism, or a useful suggestion for improvement. Here, for instance, is a letter which I received some three or four months ago from Mr. Arthur Stannard, who conducts " John Strange Winter's" correspondence in connexion with her new venture :—" The editor has carefully read your article, and much regrets that she cannot make use of it in Golden Gates. She would like to do so (if only because of the beautiful manuscript), but the subject is not treated in a way that appeals to her sympathies, and it may cause undesirable controversy if she puts it in." This sympathetic and kindly treatment has several advantages; it quite takes the sting out of the editorial rejection, costs nothing, and helps to maintain that feeling of interdependence and mutual good will iK'tween author and editor which is so essential a feature of good magazine work. In conclusion, let me say that I trust this faithful record of my adventures "on the troubled sea of letters" will not lie without its effect. If the literary aspirant who reads it is made to think twice before launching out on a similar errand; if those already embarked will take to heart the hints which it contains, and determine to adopt a similar course to that which I have pursued; and if I have suc- ceeded in pointing out to editors and publishers the dangers which beset them on every hand, and they resolve to be more rigid in their attitude towards amateurs, and more tolerant, more charitable, more just towards the true worker, this which I have written will not have been written in vain. C. E. M. ENEMIES OP LITERATURE. WHO are the enemies of Literature 'i Time, fire, indifference, ignorance, bigotry, and such notorieties as the Caliph Omar, the handmaid of John Stuart Mill and of Mr. War- burton. The late Mr. Matthew Arnold woidd have added Puritanism, Lord Grimthorpe would add Popery, and Freethinkers, religion of all kinds; while the talented and popular novelist Ouida would unhesitatingly write the "Society of Authors." Then; are, of course, Optimists who believe tbit the Literary millennium has begun at  ## p. 120 (#524) ############################################ 120 THE AUTHOR. last—that Puritan orgies in the Bodleian—mobs destroying ducal libraries, Popes burning the classics, and reforming Monarchs dispersing monastic collections are things of the past. Puritanism will, perhaps, exercise the principle of selection when it next gets into the Bodleian. The people, already prepared by Mr. William Morris, when it attacks Althorpe, will only convert it into a free lending library or a committee room for the Fabian Society, while its quondam owner will supply, free of charge, a catalogue. The Pope, instead of sending a Jesuit mission to England " to consign to the flames all works of heresy," will giye his emis- saries full power to purchase the minute books of the Church Association and the works of General Booth. He will then be elected an honorary member of the S.P.C.K. for his services to our national religious literature. Authors and pub- lishers will never quarrel about prolits, the former will write for nothing and the latter will publish for love. Filthy lucre shall no longer stain these ancient and honourable professions. It will be a question not of half profits but half expenses; while Ouida, if she is still spared to us, will supply gratis, serial and short stories to all the magazines, including the Author. Drowsy governments, who arc already awakening to a literary sense, will levy a tax on ink to support the profession of letters. Those who are murmuring the words of Shelley (if they have the time) will murmur still—■ "The world's great age begins anew." Society, of course, must lead the way instead of playing baccarat. It will try to answer papers on Bowdler's Shakspere, and on Marlowe, set by extended University lecturers. All this is, of course, only a hasty peep into the future, the pleasant side of the picture, for I confess to taking a more gloomy view. I also take the vulgar view of literature. I think an author or poet has as much right to put a price on his work as a painter does on his picture, a lawyer on his opinion, a doctor on his diagnosis. Literature is a market where bad things and good things are sold. There are pickpockets and pirates walking round like any other market, and critics are strolling in the bazaar. Some are grave, full of good advice (a thing we all dislike), others arc gay and flippant (we like them, however wrong they may be). Then there are those conceited fops who go about talking a jargon no man can under- stand; they deal in catchwords, and their pens are made of slate pencil. Their affected phraseology, hybrid epithets, and ridiculous mannerism is mis- taken for style, their vulgar personalities for scholarly invective. They admire nothing and none, and can abuse their friends with little compunction, thanking God they arc not as other men, Logrollers. These are some of the enemies of literature; the bastard offspring of Gifford and Christopher North. Budding genius, especially when it lakes to authorship, is not to be encouraged, and no one should l>e scared into admiration of a writer, because two or three centuries have praised him; but personal abuse of the dead or living, interlarded with literary shibboleths, is not criticism, and merely degrades a public palate that even relishes the aroma of Mr. Pater's delightful essays. I believe that this writer reminds us how short our time for intellectual excitement is. Then why should we waste this short time in finding out only what is indifferent or bad? And the critics of whom I speak should remember that it is as ea«y to be funnv over Professor Buskin as over the Bible, and that the humour is not of a very fine order in consequence. A certain section of English people go into a far extreme by a kind of stupid conservatism in taste. They believe that English literature began with Spenser, and ended with Byron ; that Shakes- peare never wrote a bad play; that Maeauluy was the only English critic by virtue of his judicial summing-up of the English language. They will give nothing for an idea that was not stale when Charles Land) wa.s in his cradle. They read nothing more modern than "The Excursion," and try to end all discussions by saying that Pope was a greater poet than Shelley. No less dangerous, and more numerous, are those who hanker after annotated Miltons, and read Shakespeare only through the medium of a text-book. They are anxious that everyone should go through a " course of the Poets," asking and answering questions on Robert Browning, and reducing our writers to schoolroom classics. Not content with making boys hate Chaucer as much as Csesar, they want to spoil Lord Tennyson for them too. Shakespeare has been ruined long ago by the Clarendon Press Series, and our modern poets, too, must be sacrificed to the pedagogic fetish. Mr. Kipling will live to see the day when Civil Service candidates may be asked to analyse Mrs. Hunksbee's character, and an Extension lecture on the Ethics of Plain Tales as applied to the Russian question in India. Tom Moore burning the autobiography of Lord Byron is a less melancholy event than a number of half- educated graduates turning English literature into a round game of conundrums. In Constantinople, the dogs who scavenge the streets become such a nuisance that occasional holocausts of those well-intentioned animals are necessary. In England the so-called Purity societies, who institute proceedings against the vendors of Zola are no less harmful. Like the  ## p. 121 (#525) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 121 niun with the muek rake, they draw attention to an evil formerly unapparcnt, and literature ia practically chained by a false morality, the relic of that old Puritanism that purged the Bodleian in the 17th Century. The enemy of literature is with us always, be he Puritan or Prig. CORRESPONDENCE. I. "O Word of Feab." TN last month's Author it is noted that a letter I from the Secretary of the Society may cause an unwilling editor or proprietor to discharge his liabilities. In my ca.se even so slight a measure was unnecessary, and the mere mention of the name of the Society was sufficient. I had three short stories accepted by a certain weekly journal, but when I suggested remuneration, my letters remained un- answered. Finally, I wrote saying that unless I received a prompt and satisfactory reply I should place the matter in the hands of the Society of Authors. It was, clearly, a word to the wise. Almost by return of post came a cheque which— had the Society been non-existent—would have been signed somewhere in the Greek Calends. Ignotus. II. Foreign Reprints. It may interest our fellow Meml>ers of the Society of Authors to learn that the Excise is awakening to their interests. On arriving on the Cornish coast last week in a small schooner from the coast of Spain, the excise officer specially inquired after, and searched for, foreign reprints of Copyright works. I have reached this country by most possible routes, and never before had such an examination made. Naturally, therefore, I was much gratified, and in reply to inquiries I learned that particular directions had been recently issued to the officers with regard to such works. This is the practical and tangible proof of the attention being directed to Copyright since the Society of Authors took the matter up with spirit. W. Anderson Smith. ■ "AT THE AUTHOR'S HEAD. MR. Lewis Morris writes to the Times as follows :— Tlie paragraph which you copy from the Athcnmtm with reference to my ]>oem "A Vision of Saints" is only partially correct. The idea of doing for the Christian legends and records what had been done so often for the mythology of ancient Greece occurred to me very soon after the publication of the "Epic of Hades," when the legend of St. Christopher appeared in Fraser's Magazine, about 10 years ago, and the other stories composing the "Vision of Saints" were written subsequently. Last summer, after the book was finished, Cardinal Manning most kindly suggested that I should write such a book, and I was happy to be able to inform him that I had already done so. The death of Miss Jessie Fothergill is a distinct loss to modern literature. Her best novel, "The First Violin," was very good indeed, without having any pretensions to first-rate work. She belonged to a small class, which seems to be growing, but not very rapidly, of those whose work is natural, wholesome, and pure, without being strong. It is like a school of painters who have at least learned to avoid convention, and who try to paint what they see, and have acquired a creditable amount of dexterity. The Victorian age has, for the first time in literature, produced such a school of novelists. No one perhaps would read their works twice; there is nothing to carry away; there is no character to live in the memory; there are no wise or witty things to quote; one is never moved to tears or laughter; yet their novels are readable, interesting, and cleverly constructed. To such a school belonged Miss Jessie Fothergill. Miss Robina Hardy, a well-known writer of stories connected with Scottish life, is dead. Miss Mary E. Wilkins's "New England Nun" appears in a second English edition. It is pub- lished by Osgood, Mcllvaine, & Co. Very few writers have so rapidly stepped to the front as Miss Mary Wilkins. Her stories have the great charm of sincerity; they are true pictures; they are pathetic in their fidelity; and they represent a set of people who are not in the least like any we know. It remains to lie seen whether she will keep up to her present level, and whether she is capable of a stronger flight.  ## p. 122 (#526) ############################################ I 22 THE AUTHOR. Messrs. Hutchinson are about to issue Vols. II. and III. of "Poets and Poetry of the Century." Among the contributors of critical articles are Mr. Austin Dobson, the Hon. Roden Noel, Mr. Buxtou Forman, Dr. Garnett, and Mr. Mackenzie Bell. The Society has sent round for signature a Petition to the First Lord of the Admiralty for a pension for the widow and the children of James Runciman, one of its Members. The Petition was suggested by Mr. Ruuciman's friend, Mr. W. E. Henley, editor of the National Observer. It is stated that Dr. Ullathorne, late Roman Catholic Bishop of Birmingham, has left behind him an autobiography. Dr. Ullathorne was chaplain to the convict establishment of Sydney during the last years of that horrible institution. This should make his reminiscences more interesting than those of most Catholic priests. Everybody ought to read Mr. Howells' little 1kx>1c called " Criticism and Fiction "; first, because it. is a very clever book, and, secondly, because it illus- trates the real weakness in American literature. This is shown in the fact that a man of Mr. Howells' ability cannot write about literature without con- tinually measuring himself and comparing his stature with that of our English masters, and mis-stating the inches of the latter so as to bring himself the nearer. Thackeray's six feet, for instance, must be brought down to five feet five to get anywhere near the stature of Howells. Mr. Stanley Little contributes an article entitled, "The Future of Landscape Art," to the August number of the Nineteenth Century. Mr. Arthur Dillon will publish a book of verse shortly, which will contain his drama in blank verse: "King Cophetua and the Beggar Maiden." Mr. Rennell Rodd has two volumes in the press, "The Customs and Lore of Modern Greece," and a volume of poems ul>out Greece, entitled "The Violet Crown." Mr. David Stott is the publisher. Mrs. A. Phillips, author of "Benedicta," " Man Proposes," Ac, will produce early in October a romance called "A Rude Awakening." The publishers are Trischler and Co. It is significant of recent controversy that the motto chosen for the title page is from the verses of Mr. T. L. Harris, the poet and "prophet," with whom Laurence Oliphaut's life was so closely connected. All seeming goods that end in self are base: Stay thou, O man : then meet God face to face. Two men were discussing a book that had just been handed to them by the newsboy. First Man: "That's a great l>ook, sir, a masterpiece of work." Second Man: " I wonder how it is selling." First man: "Selling? I never saw anything like it. You see I am the publisher, and ought to know." Second Man: "Your informa- tion delights me. I am the author." First Man (with fallen countenance): "Well, that is, it hasn't had much of a side yet, hut I think it will have. A great deal of risk, you know, getting out this sort of book." ■+•*•■* WOMEN BOOKSELLERS. IN New York City there are at least two women who deal in second-hand books. They are itin- • erants—peddlers, if you like—but dealers in second-hand books, nevertheless, shrewd and enter- prising, with a scent for rarities and bargains as keen as that of a Stevens, Philes, Sabin, or any modern book-hunter regularly established in business. They are characters, too, each in her own way. The older one—and the senior in the business, if we are not mistaken—is a typical bookworm, tall, spare of build, with a piercing, nervous eye. The other is short, stout, and phlegmatic in everything excepting the striking of a bargain. Both have their headquarters in some second-hand bookstore; that is, a place where letters may be addressed to them, and where, they leave an occasional parcel; but their business is done "out of hand," if we may- use the expression in this connexion. Making specialties of certain lines, they keep track of what their customers want, and supply them as they pick 14) bargains and desired volumes. This necessi- tates their being on the wing nearly all the time, so that they would have very little use for a shop of their own. Both realize, a handsome income. Then there is another woman who figures as the "company" of an anything but insignificant second-hand book business in New York, but who  ## p. 123 (#527) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 123 is really the mainspring of the establishment, if buying ami selling the stock, and looking after the finances single-handed, may be considered doing the business. She has an unerring eye for a mre book, and most decidedly " knows beans when the bag is opened." There is still another woman in New York City who is making an experiment in dealing in old art works. Thus far her efforts have met with encouragement if not success; but as she is only a beginner we will not yet count her as belonging to the ranks. In addition to the above, we are safe in saying that there are over a dozen women in the United States who, while not dealers exclusively in second- hand books, deal more or less in them in connexion with the book and stationery stores, of which they are the sole proprietors. We do not feel justified in giving the names of the women alluded to, because we have misgivings as to how they might take to notoriety thrust upon tlieui in this manner. All of them, while eschew- ing consideration for themselves on account of their sex, are extremely modest, but women nevertheless. And women—well, they sometimes will be women, and no one can foresee where it will break out. American Paper. • SOME OP THE INDIGNITIES OF LITERATURE. IT is observable that in all these points we are becoming a little more candid, and in this respect our country is beginning to take the lead. Our leading journals, for instance, are learn- ing to criticise frankly the works of their own contri- butors, a thing formerly unknown in America, as it still seems to be in Europe. This helps greatly to keep up the dignity of the literary profession, though not always the felicity of the individual author. The greatest indignity which he and his vocation have now to suffer, lies in the constant assumption, even by otherwise well-informed people, that it is a profession of tricks and adver- tising devices, and that the main object of the author is not to do good work, but to keep himself as much as possible l>efore the public. The author receives, not merely an annoyance, but a distinct indignity when it is assumed by enter- prising publishers that he is willing to pay money to have his picture appear in their forthcoming work; to buy a l>ook he does not want, liecause his name occurs in it; to supply a new biography of himself for each new cyclopaxlia, as if the old facts were not sufficient, and the public wished him this time to select a new birthday and birth- place for this publication only; to furnish particulars as to his height, weight, and the colour of his hair, with the same particulars as to his wife, children, and grandparents. These discourtesies would not be so bad, were they not based obviously on the assumption that all these requests are a favour to the author himself, and the carrying out of his most cherished desire. It is hard enough to keep one's privacy, amid the publicity of our modern life; but it is still harder to have all preference for privacy dismissed as a base hyprocrisy. It may happen at last that as some one felicitously defined "society people" as including only those whose names one never sees in the "society columns," so we may at some future day. limit the department of celebrated authors to those of whose personality we know almost as little as if they had written the Letters of Junius. New York Independent. PARISIANS AND THEIR FICTION. PARISIANS—if we are to judge from some statistics published—do not take so kindly at present to fiction in book form. Formerly the yellow-covered novel, which costs usually about half- a-erown, or a little more when just issued, was to l>e seen on every table, and in the hands of numerous travellers by boat, rail, or car. There is now, how- ever, a crisis threatened in the lx>ok trade, and novels are at a considerable discount. It is estimated that there are from fifteen to twenty popular authors, whose books fulfil the requirements of the pub- lishers. To attain this end, at least 3o,ooo copies of a work must be sold. Zola and a few others reach this point easily, but it has happened lately that one of the most celebrated of the latter-day fictionists had the misfortune to find that 40,000 copies of his last production were returned to the publishers by the Maison Hachette, which has the monopoly of railway bookstalls. It is stated, furthermore, that one publisher in Paris has on hand three millions of volumes which he cannot sell. The fact is, that the authors themselves are to blame partly for this threatened crisis in the book trade by allowing their works to appear in serial form in newspapers and reviews before linal publication. People read feuilletons as eagerly as ever in France, and, what is more they cut them out and sew them together, so as to avoid having to buy the stories eventually in book form. Pall Mall Gazette.  ## p. 124 (#528) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. NIGHT-TEMPEST. Wild night of mists and driving flakes of foam! The south-west Tyrant of the Deep unbound Rendcth thy breast; with grim discordant sound Piles up the mountainous waters, till thy home (Sands, rocks, and caverns where I love to roam) Seems held by demon voices, which resound From crag to crag, from cliff to cliff, and bound Afar once more across the waste of foam. Storm-ruled and cruel is thy voice, O Night; The breakers boom on yonder sea-girt rock And dark thy mantle hides the sight of Death: From thy black depths, O Night, the tempest's breath Bears wail of souls and one long quivering shock: And onlv thou hast seen, O cruel Night! * JO Thomas Folliott. NEW BOOKS AND NEW EDITIONS. Theology. Brook, A. The Creed of the Christian Church. Mowbray. 2S. Canning, A. S. G. Thoughts on Religious History. Eden, Remington, & Co. 5s. Dix, M. The Authority of the Church. W. Gardner. 2.V. 6(/. Hamilton, Kkv. W. F. Words of Peace, Sermons, edited by Kcv. J. A. Alloway, 8vo. \V. H. Allen & Co. 7». 6d. Nye, G. H. F. The Story of the Church of England. Illustrated. Fifth Edition. Griffith, Farran. Cloth, is. Owen, J. W. Common Salvation of Our Lord. I'etherick. 5s. Singer, Rev. S. The Authorized Daily Prayer Hook of the United Hebrew Congregations of the British Empire. With a new Translation by the. Published under the Sanction of the Chief Kubhi. Second Edition, carefully revised. Wertheimer Lea, Circus dace, London Wall. Soden, J. J. Six Sermons on the Apostles' Creed. Skeffington. is. 6rf. History and Biography. Baigent, F. J. The Crondal Records : a Collection of Records and Documents relating to the Hundred and Manor of Crondal, in the county of Southampton. Part [., Historical and Manorial. Simpkin, Stationers' Hall Court. Brett (Robert) of Stoke Newington, his Life and Work. By T. W. Belcher. Cheaper Edition, Cr. 8vo. 3.«. 6//., cloth. Home, David Milne. Biographical Sketch, by his Daughter, G. M. H. Cr. 8vo. 3s. 6d., cloth. Johnson, Samuel. 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Title A name given to the resource The Author, Vol. 02 Issue 04 (September 1891) Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em>, Vol. 02 Issue 04 (September 1891) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015031017927&amp;view=1up&amp;seq=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015031017927</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Publication Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1891-09-01-The-Author-2-4 publications The Author