| 242 | https://historysoa.com/items/show/242 | The Author, Vol. 01 Issue 04 (August 1890) | <a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=%3Cem%3EThe+Author%3C%2Fem%3E%2C+Vol.+01+Issue+04+%28August+1890%29"><em>The Author</em>, Vol. 01 Issue 04 (August 1890)</a> | | | <a href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015031017927&view=1up&seq=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015031017927</a> | | | | | | | | <a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Publication">Publication</a> | 1890-08-15-The-Author-1-4 | | | | | 89–102 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | <a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=89&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1">1</a> | | | | | | | | | | | <a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=76&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1890-08-15">1890-08-15</a> | | | | | | | 4 | | | 18900815 | Vol. I.–No. 4.]<br />
:<br />
AUGUST 15, 1890.<br />
[Price, Sixpence.<br />
The Author.<br />
THE ORGAN OF THE SOCIETY OF AUTHORS<br />
(INCORPORATED).<br />
CONDUCTED BY<br />
WALTER BESANT.<br />
published for the Society be<br />
ALEXANDER P. WATT, 2, PATERNOSTER SQUARE,<br />
LONDON, E.C.<br />
1890.<br />
<br />
<br />
## p. 88 (#116) #############################################<br />
<br />
B Bertan lebt na 1878<br />
and trousands of lettus.<br />
Meu Matie, Foad Co.,<br />
Heee it in as o an one<br />
Gentlemen.<br />
... und and I hohe you all<br />
Thave sur me of your<br />
do the beach you can for in<br />
reus, to have a point mended though I have sin the mean<br />
rough New Horhe Luis<br />
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Ion may like to know that shake - Corrugatia macked C.<br />
I have made this seu constantly<br />
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formue han twenty Ecard,<br />
que cau hire this testimonial<br />
time the days of a book of min<br />
won't feel as if the pen when<br />
called "The Autonatop the<br />
han canied out to much of<br />
Breakfast talle "1857-8 mutie<br />
.. any trought and brought back<br />
last Friday without refrain and<br />
To much in basiese forms air :<br />
alway kiho heafect Dalesfachan<br />
return was enlitted to this<br />
I have wither with is halfa<br />
carojicut of ammala tecnce<br />
dozen or more volumes, a<br />
Sau, Gunthen Yous turly<br />
Jance neemba of Enrays the<br />
Diva Wonotele Homes<br />
Illustrated Price List will be sent, free and post paid, on application to Mabie, TodD & BARD, 93, CHEAPSIDE, LONDON.<br />
<br />
<br />
## p. 89 (#117) #############################################<br />
<br />
flbt Jttttljar.<br />
(The Organ oj the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly?)<br />
CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT.<br />
Vol. I.—No. 4-]<br />
AUGUST i5, 1890.<br />
- - [Price Sixpence.<br />
CONTENTS.<br />
PAGE 1<br />
PAGE<br />
News and Notes<br />
89 | The Annual Dinner<br />
90<br />
NEWS AND NOTES.<br />
IT has always been our custom to publish the<br />
proceedings at the annual dinner of the<br />
Society as a pamphlet, and send it round to<br />
our members, in order that those unable to be<br />
present on the occasion may benefit, equally with<br />
the guests, from the speeches, and may resolve not<br />
to absent themselves on a future occasion.<br />
There is a dearth of matter for Literary Notes<br />
and News in the month of August. The Author<br />
for this month has therefore been made to consist<br />
wholly of the proceedings at the dinner. We have<br />
received communications, which in the natural<br />
course of events would have been inserted in The<br />
Author this month, but have decided to delay their<br />
appearance.<br />
Several of these are so interesting, and so dis-<br />
tinctly have reference to our aims and objects that<br />
it would be the greatest pity to attempt to discuss<br />
them now.<br />
It is not fair upon any question of interest to<br />
submit it to the public—especially to a public<br />
largely made up of working litterateurs—at this<br />
season of the year.<br />
—*-—<br />
Paying for Production.—Thefollowingcutting<br />
from some unknown journal was sent to me :—<br />
"According to Mr. Besant's thinking, authors<br />
should not pay for the printing and publishing of<br />
their own books.<br />
"I am loth to mention names, but I can assure Mr.<br />
Besant that a great many of our now most popular<br />
vol. l<br />
authors did pay for the printing and publishing of<br />
their first books, including Mr. Besant and his<br />
clever partner, the late Mr. James Rice."<br />
This is one of the little paragraphs which contrive<br />
to tell the truth and to suggest a falsehood.<br />
It is perfectly false to say that my late partner<br />
and myself ever were such fools as to "pay for<br />
production."<br />
It is perfectly true that with many of our novels<br />
—certainly the first three—we chose to print and<br />
bind the work ourselves, and placed it ready for<br />
publication in the publisher's hands. He sold it on<br />
commission, which, in honest hands, is a very good<br />
way of publishing a book though it involves some<br />
knowledge of practical publishing and a good deal<br />
of trouble. The way to work it is—<br />
(1) To arrange with a printer and bookbinder.<br />
(2) Tofind a commission publisher and arrange<br />
about terms.<br />
(3) To make the time ofpayment to the printer<br />
fall at the time of receiving the first<br />
publisher's return.<br />
The advance or prepayment of money is thus<br />
avoided. What the author risks is the difference<br />
between the sales and the printers' bills.<br />
As in the case of those persons who insist on<br />
publishing what all the respectable houses refuse,<br />
it is perfectly easy to work in this way, I have<br />
always been amazed to find that they still fall into<br />
the trap of so much down towards "cost of pro-<br />
duction."<br />
The Committee wish to impress upon members<br />
of the Society, who are kind enough to interest<br />
themselves in obtaining new members, that only<br />
G<br />
<br />
<br />
## p. 90 (#118) #############################################<br />
<br />
90<br />
THE AUTHOR.<br />
such persons are eligible for membership who have<br />
at any time published work which may fairly entitle<br />
them to be described as authors, or those who have<br />
been or are at present engaged in journalistic work.<br />
♦<br />
In last month's issue of The Author by an over-<br />
sight the names of Professor Max-Miiller and<br />
Augustine Birrell, M.P., were unfortunately omitted<br />
from those who have consented to join our Council.<br />
A document called a Memorandum, in reply to a<br />
certain pamphlet which is exercising the mind of<br />
the Society for the Promotion of Christian Know-<br />
ledge by sweating Christian authors, has been<br />
received. It shall be published in the September<br />
number with a few remarks; meantime, it is sufficient<br />
to say here, that it does not answer a single point<br />
raised in that pamphlet, that it gives no figures,<br />
that it explains nothing, that it admits everything,<br />
and that it ends by denying everything.<br />
*<br />
THE ANNUAL DINNER<br />
OF THE<br />
INCORPORATED SOCIETY OF<br />
AUTHORS<br />
WAS HELD AT "THE CRITERION"<br />
ON<br />
Tuesday, July 8th, 1890,<br />
PROFESSOR JEBB, Litt.D., IN THE CHAIR. •<br />
TH ERE were about two hundred members<br />
and guests present at the dinner, amongst<br />
whom were the following:—<br />
T. Bailey Aldrich.<br />
Dr. Allon.<br />
J. P. Anderson.<br />
Miss Anderson.<br />
A. E. Armstrong.<br />
Alfred Austin.<br />
James Baker. F.R.G.S.<br />
W. Balestier.<br />
E. A. R. Ball.<br />
A. Barczinsky.<br />
Mrs. Batty.<br />
Dr. Beattie-Crozier.<br />
E. Bechmann.<br />
A. W. a Beckett.<br />
Mrs. Belloc.<br />
Sir Henry Bergne, K.C.M.G<br />
Oscar Berry.<br />
Walter Besant.<br />
Mrs. Walter Besant.<br />
J. A.-Blaikie.<br />
Herr Brand.<br />
C. Brookfield.<br />
Mrs. Brookfield.<br />
Oscar Browning.<br />
General Burton.<br />
Mrs. Mona Caird.<br />
A. C. Calmour.<br />
Mrs. Lovett Cameron.<br />
William Carey.<br />
Miss Childar.<br />
Professor Church, F.R.S.<br />
P. W. Clayden.<br />
Mrs. Clifford.<br />
Miss Clodd.<br />
Edward Clodd.<br />
W. Morris Colles.<br />
F. Howard Collins.<br />
W. M. Conway.<br />
Miss Roalfe Cox.<br />
Mrs. Roalfe Cox.<br />
Oswald Crawfurd, C.M.G.<br />
Miss S. Creed.<br />
Miss May Crommelin.<br />
A. P. Crouch.<br />
Miss Curtis.<br />
Mrs-. Cuthell<br />
Austin Dobson.<br />
Mrs. Edmonds.<br />
Charles Edwardes.<br />
John Eric Erichsen, F.R.S.<br />
Professor Michael Foster, F.R.S.<br />
G. W. Forrest.<br />
H. Gilzean-Reid, P.I.J.<br />
Mrs. Gilzean-Reid.<br />
Dr. Ginsburg.<br />
Dr. Goodchild.<br />
Edmund Gosse.<br />
Mrs. Edmund Gosse.<br />
Mrs. Egmont Hake.<br />
Egmont Hake.<br />
Professor Hales.<br />
Captain Harding, R.N.<br />
Henry Harland.<br />
Isaac Henderson.<br />
W. L. Hetherington.<br />
Mrs. Cashel Hoey.<br />
J. Hollingshead.<br />
H. M. Holman.<br />
Miss Eleanor Holmes.<br />
<br />
<br />
## p. 91 (#119) #############################################<br />
<br />
THE<br />
AUTHOR. ■ 91<br />
Mrs. Holmes.<br />
Rev. J. Inches Hillocks.<br />
Fergus Hume.<br />
Rev. W. Hunt.<br />
A. James.<br />
Mrs. James. (" Florence Warden.")<br />
C. T. C. James.<br />
Jerome K. Jerome.<br />
Rev. Prebendary Harry Jones.<br />
Major Jones, R.E.<br />
Mrs. Charles Jones.<br />
Mr. Jones.<br />
Miss Jones.<br />
C. F. Keary.<br />
H. G. Keene, CLE.<br />
Rudyard Kipling.<br />
R. B. S. Knowles.<br />
James Stanley Little.<br />
L£on Little.<br />
Mrs. Long.<br />
E. J. Martyn.<br />
Campbell McKellar.<br />
Dr. McKinney.<br />
Mrs. Middleton-Wake.<br />
Rev. C. H. Middleton-Wake, F.L.S.<br />
Mme. Mijiatovich.<br />
C. Mitchell.<br />
B. Mitford.<br />
J. Fitzgerald Molloy.<br />
A. Montefiore.<br />
H. J. Montgomery.<br />
George Moore.<br />
Mrs. Chandler Moulton.<br />
H. Naidley.<br />
Professor Nicholson.<br />
Rev. W. Robertson Nicoll, LL.D.<br />
Mrs. Goddard Orpen.<br />
J. R. Osgood.<br />
Mrs. Louisa Parr.<br />
Dr. Parker.<br />
A. Paterson.<br />
Mrs. J. Pennell.<br />
Miss E. Pollock.<br />
Mrs. Walter Pollock.<br />
Walter Herries Pollock.<br />
Sir Frederick Pollock, Bart.<br />
H. Campbell Praed.<br />
Mrs. Campbell Praed.<br />
Geo. Haven Putnam.<br />
Mrs. Rohlf. (" Anna K. Green.")<br />
Mr. Rohlf.<br />
A. Gait Ross.<br />
R. B. Ross.<br />
Mrs. Mary Rowsell.<br />
Mrs. Sala.<br />
T. Bailey Saunders.<br />
W. Baptiste Scoones.<br />
Sydney Scott.<br />
Professor A. Sedgwick, F.R.S.<br />
Mrs. William Sharp.<br />
William Sharp.<br />
Mrs. Olive Logan Sikes.<br />
G. R. Sims.<br />
Dr. Sisley.<br />
Professor Skeat.<br />
G. W. Smalley.<br />
G. Smith.<br />
Mr. Crafton Smith.<br />
Mrs. Crafton Smith. (" Nomad.")<br />
Rev. J. Smith.<br />
Miss S. J. Smith.<br />
S. S. Sprigge {Secretary).<br />
Dr. Balmanno Squire.<br />
Sir John Stainer, Mus. Doc.<br />
Lady Stainer.<br />
Captain Stannard.<br />
Mrs. Stannard. ("John Strange Winter.")<br />
James Sully.<br />
Miss Moy Thomas.<br />
W. Moy Thomas.<br />
A. W. Tuer.<br />
Mrs. Underdown.<br />
E. M. Underdown, Q.C.<br />
Edric Vredenburg.<br />
Arthur Warren.<br />
A. P. Watt.<br />
Theodore Watts.<br />
William Westall.<br />
Percy White.<br />
Rev. Henry White.<br />
Oscar Wilde.<br />
W. H. Wilkinson.<br />
Dr. C. J. Wills.<br />
T. Woolner, R.A.<br />
At the conclusion of dinner :—The Chairman<br />
(in proposing the toast of "The Queen") said:<br />
Ladies and gentlemen, the toast which I have the<br />
honour now to propose to you is ever the first<br />
where British subjects are assembled, and is ever<br />
received with sincere loyalty and reverential attach-<br />
ment,—sentiments justly inspired by a reign which<br />
has given to this Empire, in the fullest measure, the<br />
blessings of constitutional freedom, and which, in<br />
every sphere of thought and action, has been auspi-<br />
cious for the fruitful rivalries of peace. (Cheers.)<br />
I ask you to drink to the health of our most<br />
gracious Sovereign, the Queen.<br />
The toast having been duly honoured—<br />
The Chairman said: Ladies and gentlemen, the<br />
next toast which I have the honour to propose to you<br />
is that of the "Incorporated Society of Authors,"<br />
and I rejoice that I can commence by offering<br />
congratulations. During the past year, as the<br />
VOL. I.<br />
G 2<br />
<br />
<br />
## p. 92 (#120) #############################################<br />
<br />
92<br />
THE AUTHOR.<br />
Report shows, the prosperity of this Society has<br />
not only been fully maintained, but has been<br />
increased in a marked degree. There has been a<br />
very large accession to the number of members;<br />
in every sphere of work which the Society has<br />
entered, it has received fresh encouragement to<br />
persevere; and amongst the new forms of activity<br />
which it has developed, there is one which is<br />
especially deserving of mention. The Society now<br />
possesses a monthly periodical of its own in a<br />
journal entitled The Author, which was published<br />
for the first time in the month of May, and the<br />
second number of which we have had in June.<br />
It is an organ for the record and discussion of<br />
everything that concerns the profession of letters;<br />
it is also designed to be the medium by which<br />
the Committee of the Society of Authors may keep<br />
the other members informed of their proceedings.<br />
The inception and editing of this Journal is a new<br />
benefit which the Society owes to a member of its<br />
Council, to whom it has been indebted for so<br />
much else—Mr. Walter Besant. (Cheers.) I<br />
think one may say that the establishment of this<br />
Journal is a formal expression of the fact that this<br />
Society is now the recognised guardian of great<br />
and constantly growing interests. (Hear, hear.)<br />
It is well known to all of you that on the list of<br />
this Society's members are found some of the<br />
foremost names in every branch of literature,<br />
science, and art; and therefore in its corporate<br />
capacity the Society may claim that representative<br />
character which the appearance of this Journal<br />
indicates. (Hear, hear.)<br />
Literary property is no inconsiderable element in<br />
the wealth of the nation; and yet hitherto the<br />
producers of this wealth have, for various reasons,<br />
been too often careless of their rights, and some-<br />
times unable to defend them. This Society was<br />
formed for the purpose of diffusing clearer know-<br />
ledge regarding the nature and the value of literary<br />
property, and also for the purpose of adopting all<br />
possible means which may render such property<br />
more secure.<br />
In pursuing these aims there are, broadly<br />
speaking, two principal provinces of endeavour<br />
which such a Society as this is called upon to<br />
enter:—One is that of the relations which exist<br />
between authors and publishers; the other is the<br />
Law of Copyright. As regards the relations which<br />
exist between authors and publishers, the desire of<br />
this Society is simply to see those relations placed<br />
on a thoroughly intelligible and equitable footing<br />
(hear, hear), a footing equitable for both the<br />
partners in the joint enterprise. The Society<br />
w;-' :s to see literary business conducted on prin-<br />
■ similar to those which regulate business in<br />
Lther form. Simply to state this is to say<br />
that this Society has no quarrel whatsoever with<br />
any honourable publishing firm. (Hear, hear.) On<br />
the contrary, the work which this Society is attempt-<br />
ing must be not less welcome to such firms than<br />
it is to the authors themselves, for that work tends<br />
to eliminate from the publishing vocation any<br />
persons who may be likely to discredit it. It also,<br />
by securing the fruits of his labour to the labourer,<br />
encourages the deserving, and so seeks to elevate<br />
the standard of literary produce.<br />
It is fully and cordially recognised by the mem-<br />
bers of this Society—recognised with a pride natural<br />
to Englishmen—that the general history of publishing<br />
in this country has been marked by integrity, in<br />
many cases by enterprise, and in very many cases<br />
by generosity. (Hear, hear.) On the other hand<br />
it is undeniable that many authors are incapable<br />
of appreciating the merits of a bargain proposed to<br />
them by a trained man of business who regards the<br />
matter from a commercial point of view; and it is<br />
also undeniable that the details of the publishing<br />
trade have too often been surrounded with a<br />
needless amount of technical obscurity. (Hear,<br />
hear, and laughter.) We fully recognize that<br />
publishing is a useful, it may be a fine art, but we<br />
deny that it ought to be a mystery. (Hear, hear.)<br />
Now what have been the principal causes of such<br />
mystery as has existed? The first cause concerns<br />
what is termed the cost of production, that is to say,<br />
of printing a book and introducing it to the public.<br />
The Society has contributed to the elucidation<br />
of this subject, which is well within the range of the<br />
capacity conventionally described as "mean," by<br />
publishing a little work for the use of its members,<br />
called "The Cost of Production."<br />
The other great cause of the haziness to which<br />
I have alluded is of a subtler character: it is in<br />
fact the time-honoured doctrine of "risk," which<br />
might be described as the fundamental dogma of<br />
bibliopolic orthodoxy. The classical adage that<br />
"books have their fates" has been extended into<br />
the doctrine that the fate of most books is very<br />
nearly a toss up, and that, if a publisher has the<br />
intrepidity to take his chance of heads or tails, such<br />
heroism deserves a golden reward. (Laughter.)<br />
Well, we are very far from denying that, down at<br />
least to the early part of the eighteenth century,<br />
the business of the publisher was in fact very often<br />
an extremely hazardous one. But why was it so?<br />
Because the reading public for most books was<br />
then comparatively small; because circulation was<br />
not assisted by such agencies as Book Clubs or<br />
Literary Institutes; and because, for both those<br />
reasons, the publisher found it difficult to feel the<br />
pulse of the book-market. But before the end of<br />
the eighteenth century a considerable change had<br />
already occurred in that respect; and at the present<br />
<br />
<br />
## p. 93 (#121) #############################################<br />
<br />
THE AUTHOR.<br />
93<br />
day it is affirmed by competent persons, who have<br />
investigated the subject, that a publisher very<br />
seldom indeed brings out a book with the danger of<br />
losing much by it. A certain margin of uncertainty<br />
must of course always exist; but the authors of these<br />
original researches say that theamount of speculative<br />
element in the publishing trade has been greatly<br />
exaggerated. And yet how strange, how almost<br />
pathetic it is to reflect on the large part which this<br />
dreaded monster "risk" has played in literary<br />
destinies! There was a time when the average<br />
author, after receiving from the publisher that<br />
modest recompense which was appropriate to those<br />
who ventured nothing, beheld almost with awe the<br />
publisher pass within the veil, bound for those<br />
mysterious regions, "farin the unapparent," where,<br />
like Hercules or Sir Calidore, he was to meet single-<br />
handed that appalling bogey " risk," and to conquer<br />
or to fall. It must be our best comfort to reflect<br />
that by far the larger proportion of these daring<br />
publishers have survived the ordeal. And surely in<br />
their turn they will permit us to say that writers<br />
desire a revelation of this monster "risk" which<br />
shall be less in the manner of Milton and more in<br />
the manner of Dante. It it not enough for us to<br />
know that he floats many a rood. We should like to<br />
have some more exact measure of his dimensions.<br />
(Laughter.) Before leaving this topic of the relations<br />
between author and publisher, I would onlyadd that,<br />
when an author submits to the Committee of this<br />
Society a proposed but still unsigned agreement with<br />
a publisher, the Committee does him a service if it<br />
points out a flaw, but it does him a service also if<br />
it tells him that there is no flaw—that he has no<br />
just grievance, and that he is getting as much as he<br />
can fairly expect. (Hear, hear.)<br />
Now I will touch very briefly on the question of<br />
copyright. As you are aware, the International<br />
Copyright Act of June, 1886, enables this country<br />
to enter any International Copyright Union which<br />
may be established. But before this country can<br />
do so on equal terms it is desirable—it is even<br />
necessary—that the various existing Acts affecting<br />
Domestic Copyright should be amended and con-<br />
solidated. (Hear, hear.) The draft of a Bill for<br />
that purpose has been prepared by a Committee of<br />
this Society, of which the chairman is Sir Frederick<br />
Pollock. (Applause.) As regards International<br />
Copyright, the case of course in which it most<br />
directly affects British authors is that of protection<br />
for their works in the United States. (Hear, hear.)<br />
It was naturally with a certain feeling of dis-<br />
appointment that we lately learned that the House<br />
of Representatives in Congress had thrown out, by<br />
a majority of 28—by 126 votes against 98—the Bill<br />
which would have afforded such protection. But<br />
under our disappointment it is no small alleviation<br />
vol. 1.<br />
to know that everything that is soundest in American<br />
opinion deplores that result (hear, hear), and<br />
anxiously desires a correction of a state of things<br />
which is felt to be unworthy of a great country.<br />
(Hear, hear.) The present situation has been<br />
clearly described in the current number of the<br />
Fortnightly Review, by Mr. Edmund Gosse. (Ap-<br />
plause.)<br />
Among our guests this evening, the educated<br />
opinion of the United States on this subject is<br />
represented by some gentlemen who have been<br />
strenuous supporters of that much-needed measure<br />
of justice. One among them I may be permitted<br />
to mention—one who for a long series of years has<br />
been an indefatigable worker in that just cause—<br />
Mr. George Haven Putnam. (Applause.) We<br />
greet him and them, not as the champions of a<br />
defeated cause, but as the champions of a cause<br />
which in our hope and belief is destined to no<br />
uncertain and no distant victory. (Cheers.) The<br />
true interests of literature in the largest sense<br />
are always international; and it is a source of<br />
peculiar gratification to us that our meeting this<br />
evening should be graced by the presence of a<br />
representative of the German Society of Letters, to<br />
whom we offer a respectful and cordial welcome.<br />
(Cheers.)<br />
And now, ladies and gentlemen, before I sit<br />
down, it is my privilege to give you a message,<br />
which I know you will receive with deep interest<br />
and gratification. It is from the venerable an'd<br />
illustrious President of this Society (general cheer-<br />
ing), whose recent restoration to health has caused<br />
rejoicing, not only throughout the British Empire,<br />
but wherever the English language js spoken.<br />
Lord Tennyson desires to assure you with what<br />
sincere pleasure he learns of the continued and<br />
increasing prosperity of this Society, and how glad<br />
he is to know of the excellent work which it is<br />
doing, in trying to make literary property more<br />
secure. (Hear, hear.)<br />
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the toast of<br />
"The Incorporated Society of Authors." (Loud<br />
and prolonged cheering.)<br />
Sir Frederick Pollock, in acknowledging the<br />
toast, called attention to the practical work of the<br />
Society in matters of foreign and colonial copyright,<br />
and pointed out that the best and most certain way<br />
to make the Society still more useful to its members<br />
and to the world of letters, was for the members to<br />
exert themselves to procure recruits and diffuse<br />
knowledge of the Society and its operations.<br />
Mr. Alfred Austin (in proposing the toast of<br />
"Literature, Science, and Art") said: Professor<br />
Jebb, ladies and gentlemen, when somewhat to my<br />
surprise, and certainly very much above my deserts,<br />
I was invited by the brilliant and vigorous man of<br />
c 3<br />
<br />
<br />
## p. 94 (#122) #############################################<br />
<br />
94<br />
THE AUTHOR.<br />
letters, who is the Chairman of this Society, to<br />
propose this evening the toast of "Literature,<br />
Science, and Art," my first impression was that it<br />
would be difficult for any man, and for me well<br />
nigh impossible, to rise to the height of so great a<br />
task; but on further reflection it occurred to me<br />
that perhaps I was taking the toast, and myself as<br />
well, a little too seriously, and I remembered<br />
that in days less decorous, but perhaps more<br />
convivial than these, there invariably appeared in<br />
the programme of a festive evening the toast<br />
"Our noble selves." Well, sir, in an assembly<br />
consisting for the most part of men of letters, of<br />
men of science, and of artists, what after all is the<br />
toast of "Literature, Science, and Art," but the<br />
ancient toast "Our noble selves"? So far as<br />
science and art are concerned, I almost think that<br />
toast is superfluous. Science certainly has received<br />
abundant homage in this way: it has been hailed,<br />
justly no doubt as the master of the modern world,<br />
and art too it seems to me, still enjoys the favour<br />
of princes, and the deference and adulation of critics.<br />
But I feel sure that literature stands in poorer<br />
case. Whatever we men of letters may think of<br />
ourselves, I fancy the present age thinks very little<br />
of us, most pedple in the present generation it<br />
seems to me, being of opinion that the writing of<br />
great works is a thing no longer worth doing, or<br />
that writing is a thing that anybody can do. In<br />
the face of such an attitude towards letters, is it<br />
not natural, nay indeed, is it not necessary to ask<br />
ourselves the question—What is literature? But<br />
the moment we propound that question we find<br />
ourselves confronted by two principles, two opinions,<br />
that are a little hard to reconcile. Is literature<br />
whatever people may choose to write and publish,<br />
or is it that finer breadth of knowledge, that finer<br />
spirit of thought, that finer form of expression,<br />
which, as we all know, is the secret of only a<br />
minority of those who write? In a word, is<br />
literature something refined, elevated, fastidious—<br />
allow me the word exclusive—or is it on the other<br />
hand something broad, comprehensive, familiar,<br />
and in which anyone, if so he chooses, may share?<br />
The man who in these days seeks to be the<br />
champion tif exclusiveness, or indeed of superiority<br />
in any form, sets himself a difficult, an invidious,<br />
and certainly a most unpopular task. Yet in an<br />
assembly like this—an assembly consisting of men<br />
who are proud of literature, proud of being men of<br />
letters, and to whom the only patent of nobility<br />
that they would think of for a moment, is literary<br />
distinction—perhaps I may be allowed to add, in<br />
which, so far as I can observe, any belief in any<br />
other form of aristocracy, is well nigh dead—it may<br />
still be desirable to maintain an aristocracy; it may<br />
be a natural, but withal a recognisable aristocracy<br />
of letters. Of course, by "aristocracy," I mean<br />
the influence and recognition of what is best, and<br />
I think that in this age an aristocracy of letters<br />
might well be maintained. But, sir, if it is to be<br />
maintained, is it not the fact that it must be imbued<br />
with a deep reverence for tradition. Whatever<br />
position we men of letters may occupy in the<br />
present age, we at least have had great ancestors,<br />
and the greatness of those ancestors, it seems to<br />
me, compels us in our turn, whether we succeed or<br />
whether we fail, at any rate to try to be great, or<br />
they will reproach us if we fail to do so. But what<br />
was it that made the distinction of those ancestors?<br />
Surely it was the manner in which they presented<br />
their thoughts, the methods by which those great<br />
writers contrived to insinuate their thoughts at<br />
once, and to make them abide for ever in the minds<br />
of men. In a word it was the style, style, which is<br />
the most aristocratic of all things, because it implies<br />
absolute self-respect on the part of the writer, and a<br />
most perfect consideration and deference for those<br />
whom he addresses; surely without style, before<br />
these days, no one would have supposed that there<br />
could have been such a thing as literature at all.<br />
Nevertheless, I suppose we shall all be of opinion<br />
that even the claims of style may be pressed too<br />
far. Everything in this world most readily and<br />
most rapidly tend to degeneration and to decay,<br />
and it is conceivable that a select class of writers,<br />
animated by a passionate attachment to style, may<br />
end by caring for nothing else.<br />
Now, substance without form is better than form<br />
without substance; and is it not possible that in<br />
our search for that harmony, that common ground,<br />
of which I spoke, between the champions of easy<br />
going comprehensiveness on the one side, and<br />
fastidious exclusiveness on the other side, with<br />
regard to literature, is it not possible that we may<br />
now have come upon that very thing of which we<br />
are in search? The barbarians destroyed the<br />
Roman Empire, but in that very act they renovated<br />
the world and sowed the seeds even on the fields<br />
they devastated, of the love of literature in the<br />
future. And may we not be seeing at this moment<br />
something akin—something analogous? I think<br />
the masters of style whom I see around me to-night<br />
will concur in the observation that in this age there<br />
has been a tremendous irruption of barbarians into<br />
the domain of literature; but instead of reviling<br />
them should you not receive them with open arms?<br />
They bring with them I suppose the modern spirit.<br />
Their baggage may be sometimes rude and<br />
occasionally perhaps a trifle scanty ; but at any rate<br />
it is new and it is their own. Nor do I think there<br />
is any fear of their overwhelming you, the masters<br />
of style. At any rale they will not overwhelm you<br />
permanently nor for ever keep back from mankind<br />
<br />
<br />
## p. 95 (#123) #############################################<br />
<br />
THE AUTHOR,<br />
95<br />
that in you which deserves to be perpetuated and<br />
when the fear of their onset, the onset of these<br />
barbarians, has passed away, style, like Shelley's<br />
cloud, will " silently laugh at its own cenotaph," and<br />
changing, but never dying, will arise after a time<br />
and re-assert its perpetual fascination.<br />
Therefore I am sure I shall most faithfully carry<br />
out your behests if in proposing the toast of<br />
"Literature, Science, and Art," I regard literature<br />
in no narrow spirit, but in the broadest possible<br />
signification, heartily sympathising with all those,<br />
whether they may be masters or apprentices, whether<br />
poets or novelists, historians or artists, dramatists<br />
or journalists, who aspire to be regarded as men<br />
of letters.<br />
Many of us are of opinion that the state of<br />
English Society with its infinite variety and easy,<br />
endless gradations, is the most satisfactory, as<br />
assuredly it is the most natural that the world has<br />
ever seen. And is not this infinite variety—are not<br />
these easy, endless, elastic gradations represented<br />
in literature? It is no question of high and low;<br />
it is no question of superior and inferior; it is only<br />
a heterogeneous but harmonious company, ani-<br />
mated by a common animation, and marching on<br />
to a common end under the banner of a generous<br />
brotherhood.<br />
And here, sir, I think I might cease to occupy<br />
your attention, were it not that 1 find that in this<br />
toast science and art are coupled with literature,<br />
and I should gladly testify, however inadequately,<br />
to the close kinship which subsists between litera-<br />
ture and science, and between science and art.<br />
Many persons in these days have expressed grave<br />
anxiety lest science, with its hard-headed temper<br />
and practical spirit, should prove to be the enemy<br />
of literature. Surely, sir, there never was a more<br />
idle or more unfounded fear. Astronomy, I sup-<br />
pose, is the oldest of the sciences; but surely the<br />
definite and helpful discoveries of Kepler and<br />
Copernicus, or of Newton and Galileo, have in no<br />
degree diminished the magic and" mystery of the<br />
stars. But there is a still more helpful relation<br />
between science and literature. It is more than<br />
250 years since Harvey published his celebrated<br />
treatise on the circulation of the blood, but I<br />
suppose that neither lovers nor men of letters<br />
discourse less effectively or less fervently about<br />
the heart than they did in days of old when Helen<br />
was killed, or Dido was abandoned.<br />
With regard to the connection between literature<br />
and art, I prefer that Professor Conway should<br />
discourse upon that subject. Therefore, ladies and<br />
gentlemen, I propose to you the toast of " Litera-<br />
ture, Science, and Art," coupled with the names of<br />
Professor Hales, Professor Erichsen, and Professor<br />
Conway. (Cheers.)<br />
Professor Hales: Professor Jebb, ladies and<br />
gentlemen, at this late hour of the night I will<br />
not waste your time. Though I am sorry that no<br />
more worthy name than my own could be selected<br />
to respond to this toast, I thank you sincerely for<br />
the honour you have done me. One thing strikes<br />
me forcibly, however. I can imagine the amaze-<br />
ment with which the authors of the last century<br />
would have contemplated such a sight as we are<br />
witnessing here to-night, downright regular authors<br />
dining in state as wre are dining this evening.<br />
(Laughter.)<br />
Projessor John Eric Erichsen: Mr. Chairman,<br />
ladies and gentlemen, when the history of the<br />
nineteenth century comes to be written, the future<br />
Lecky of another generation will have the task<br />
before him of endeavouring to show the great and<br />
deep influence that science has exercised during<br />
the Victorian age, and not in its academic, or so<br />
to speak, its scientific relations alone, but in all<br />
that concerns the improvement of the social con-<br />
ditions and the well-being of man, and in much<br />
thatconcerns the political and international relations<br />
of the civilized communities of the world. Every<br />
century is an epoch or presents an epoch peculiarly<br />
characteristic of itself in which some dominant<br />
method of thought has found expression and has<br />
influenced the feelings and the work of mankind;<br />
and one may truly say that science in the nineteenth<br />
century governs that expression. If we compare the<br />
position of science as it was in the first decade of this<br />
century with that which it now occupies in the last<br />
decade, we cannot but be struck with the enormous<br />
progress that it has made and the enormous<br />
influence that it is exercising upon all classes and<br />
all conditions of the community. If we look back<br />
to what natural and applied science was in the<br />
earliest period of this century—in the first decade<br />
of this century—and compare it with what it is<br />
now, we shall be struck with this enormous<br />
difference—we shall see that in the early period<br />
of this century what is called Natural History or<br />
Zoology was really nothing but a description of<br />
animals, the collection of stuffed beasts, the<br />
classification of plants, and the giving, as it was<br />
somewhat cynically termed, of " barbaric names to<br />
worthless weeds," we shall find that more than half<br />
a century had to elapse before that great doctrine of<br />
evolution which has exercised so deep an impres-<br />
sion, not only upon the scientific, but on the<br />
philosophic and religious thought of this generation<br />
had been put forward by Darwin. If we look<br />
at the other natural sciences, and I shall not<br />
attempt to lead you through them—we shall<br />
find the same remarkable fact—that chemistry,<br />
which was only getting into the position of a<br />
science under the guidance of Davy and Wollaslon,<br />
<br />
<br />
## p. 96 (#124) #############################################<br />
<br />
96<br />
THE AUTHOR.<br />
has now become not the handmaiden but the master<br />
of every technical art, of every manufacture, and<br />
has contributed largely to the comfort and happi-<br />
ness of mankind. We shall find if we look back<br />
to physical science, greatly advanced as it was,<br />
that the professors of it had not the remotest<br />
conception of the enormous strides it was destined<br />
to take in days antecedent to railways and locomo-<br />
tives—still more was it impossible, in the wildest<br />
dreams of science, to think of locomotives not only<br />
running along a level plane but ascending moun-<br />
tain sides, tunnelling through Alpine chains for many<br />
miles, carried aloft on gigantic structures many<br />
hundred feet high above arms of the sea, and founded<br />
upon bases that were buried a hundred feet below<br />
the surface of the tide. If we look to the other<br />
sciences, to electricity, for instance, which at that<br />
period was simply a toy to amuse schoolboys, or<br />
to instruct the audiences of mechanics' institutes,<br />
we find now, beating gas as an illuminant, that other<br />
great power which has been created almost within<br />
our own time, that it has in the electric telegraph<br />
connection in every part of the world, that by<br />
telephone it conveys, not only the voice, but the<br />
very tones of that voice, to a distance of hundreds<br />
of miles, that by the phonograph it records on<br />
almost indelible tablets the accents in which those<br />
words were spoken. And if we go to other<br />
departments of Science—to that with which I<br />
am the most conversant—we shall find that by<br />
those inestimable chemical agencies pain has been<br />
rendered a thing of the past, that surgery has been<br />
deprived of its terrors, that procedures which<br />
appalled the stoutest, the most heroic breast, are<br />
now submitted to by the most timid person with<br />
complacency and without a murmur. These great<br />
triumphs of science are enduring; they are perma-<br />
nent, and can never be lost to mankind. There is<br />
no such thing as retrogression in science; science<br />
never moves in circles, but ever in advance; year<br />
after year some fresh position is conquered, often<br />
it is true, after a hot conflict, though happily not a<br />
sanguinary one; and once having been obtained,<br />
it is never lost. There is no finality in science.<br />
Art may be final—it may be final, if not in its<br />
conception, at all events in its perfection; but<br />
science is illimitable alike in its conception and in<br />
its execution. What oi)r ancestors knew we well<br />
know, and we know much more than they did.<br />
What they could'db we can accomplish, and more<br />
—more than they ever dreamed of accomplishing.<br />
The same will be the case with our successors<br />
undoubtedly. They will stand in the same relation<br />
to us that we now stand in in regard to our<br />
predecessors.<br />
Great as the triumphs of science have been, there<br />
are yet, in all probability, greater triumphs still in<br />
store for science. Any day may bring forth a<br />
discovery that may revolutionize the world. We<br />
are ever on the threshold, as it were, looking over<br />
boundless plains of research, great fields of know-<br />
ledge which may yield most fruitful results.<br />
Whatever may happen in the future, if we may<br />
judge from the past, we may be sure that nothing<br />
but benefit from science will accrue to mankind—<br />
that his social condition will be improved, that his<br />
intellectual status will be raised, and that he will<br />
have a wider horizon of knowledge constantly<br />
spreading before him in the field of science.<br />
(Cheers.)<br />
Professor Conway: Ladies and gentlemen, I<br />
will only detain you for one moment, and during<br />
that moment I will express my astonishment at<br />
"Art " having been included in this toast. I have<br />
been debating in my own mind during the course<br />
of dinner for what reason it has been done, and it<br />
was not until I heard the words of the Chairman<br />
with reference to the art of publishing that I under-<br />
stood why art should be included in our toast list.<br />
Unfortunately, I am no representative of that art.<br />
The only art I know is the art of listening, and I<br />
hoped that I should not have been called upon<br />
for an after-dinner speech.<br />
Professor Michael Foster (in the absence of Mr.<br />
George Augustus Sala) then proposed the toast of<br />
"The Guests." He said: Mr. President, ladies<br />
and gentlemen, I am very sorry—it is not necessary<br />
for me to say—that I am not George Augustus<br />
Sala. Why George Augustus Sala is not here and<br />
where he may be at the present moment I do not<br />
know; but I am very sorry that he is not here—<br />
sorry for those whose health he was about to pro-<br />
pose, sorry for those who were about to listen to<br />
him, and sorrowing still more for myself who have<br />
to put my diminutive feet into his somewhat roomy<br />
shoes. (Laughter.) Who I am does not, I think,<br />
concern you to know; it is sufficient to say that I<br />
belong to a large class, to those who cannot say<br />
"no" when Walter Besant asks you to do a thing,<br />
and I do it under circumstances of great difficulty.<br />
Just before dinner in the room down below, when<br />
we were expecting the time when the clock would<br />
strike half-past seven precisely, I was talking to<br />
one of our distinguished members, and he drew the<br />
conversation towards speeches after dinner, and I<br />
thought then that I had no speech before me. I<br />
do not like to quote his exact words—in my scien-<br />
tific memoirs I always quote the exact words of<br />
authors—in this assembly I feel a diffidence in<br />
doing so, but I will give you the effect, and it was<br />
that instructive speeches after dinner are detestable.<br />
Now I must unfortunately, be instructive, because<br />
I have to propose to you "The Guests," and<br />
although they are known to all the world they are<br />
<br />
<br />
## p. 97 (#125) #############################################<br />
<br />
THE AUTHOR.<br />
97<br />
not all of them known to all of you. In the first place,<br />
there is Mr. Gilzean Reid, who is the President of<br />
the Institute of Journalists, which is a kindred<br />
Institution with similar aims and identical objects.<br />
If that is so Mr. Gilzean Reid is not a guest but a<br />
brother. Then there is the German Society of<br />
Authors, represented by Herr Brand, who has<br />
already been referred to by the Chairman, and on<br />
the principle that bis dat qui cito dat and therefore<br />
qui bis dat cito dat, the toast will get to him all<br />
the earlier if I ask you to repeat what has been<br />
said. Then we come to a whole group which,<br />
in the instructions that Mr. Walter Besant has<br />
kindly given me, is spoken of as our American<br />
friends, and here again I must commit an act of<br />
reduplication. The first name I have to mention<br />
is that of Mr. Geo. Haven Putnam, the greatest<br />
friend of American Copyright. I have further to<br />
mention Mr. Harry Harvey, who is well known all<br />
over America—and perhaps I might venture to<br />
say in the obscure little island of England—as<br />
Sydney Scott. Then there is Mr. Bailey Aldrich,<br />
an American poet, whom an English poet dares<br />
to welcome as his guest. Lastly there is Mrs.<br />
Chandler Moulton, the American poetess, with<br />
whose poems all of us are familiar. Then I come<br />
to one of whom, perhaps, though she is last is not<br />
least Arriving at King's Cross this afternoon I<br />
had an opportunity of a hurried word with a lady<br />
who is not distantly connected with your Chairman.<br />
I spoke to her of the interest attaching to ladies<br />
dining in public with gentlemen. She said she<br />
always thought that ladie s were in the way; she<br />
then rushed into a cab before I had time to say<br />
that that way was in all cases a shining way. But<br />
perhaps Walter Besant will allow me to say that<br />
with all respect for the great deeds that you have<br />
done of late, I am inclined to think that the great<br />
work of this Society of Authors has been that<br />
they have instituted the practice of ladies dining<br />
in public with gentlemen. (Applause.) I do not<br />
know how the ladies have stood the severe baptism<br />
of smoke, as my friend near me calls it, to which<br />
they have been subjected; but I trust that in spite<br />
of that and in spite of the speeches to which they<br />
have listened and to which they are listening, they<br />
have passed a pleasant evening. (Hear, hear.)<br />
Ladies and gentlemen, I propose to you "Our<br />
Guests," mentioning particularly the names of Mr.<br />
Gilzean Reid, the President of the Institute of<br />
Journalists, Herr Brand, and Mr. George Haven<br />
Putnam. (Cheering.)<br />
Mr. Giltean Reid: Mr. Chairman, Professor<br />
Foster, ladies and gentlemen, I can assure you that<br />
I shall not occupy your attention very long. A<br />
friend has reminded rae that this is only the three<br />
hundred and thirty-ninth time that I have responded<br />
to the toast of the Institute of Journalists, and you<br />
may rest assured that I am as anxious to get rid of<br />
it as you are to get rid of me. I must protest<br />
against being classed as a guest. I may claim in<br />
one respect to be an author, as I wrote a book<br />
which had a circulation of 1,400, which was sold to<br />
the public at 6s., and which brought me the hand-<br />
some recompense of £2 \2S. 3d. I also wrote<br />
another book which had a circulation of 100,000,<br />
and which never brought me a farthing profit. And<br />
therefore I think I can claim to be one of your-<br />
selves. We have not present here to-night George<br />
Augustus Sala, and I always feel that a meeting of<br />
literary men is defective without his genial sparkling<br />
picturesque personality, which has added lustre to a<br />
great profession. (Hear, hear.) Let me say we,<br />
the Institute of Journalists, are entirely in sympathy<br />
with the Society of Authors, and you may rest<br />
assured that we shall continue, as we have been<br />
doing, to work together for common and bene--<br />
ficial ends. There are many common ends to<br />
which we can co-operate, and to which we<br />
have co-operated with this Society of Authors in<br />
seeking to promote an equitable distribution of the<br />
property in literature, and we have agreed to co-<br />
operate in trying to establish an equitable inter-<br />
national scheme of copyright, and I hope we<br />
journalists shall also co-operate in exposing those<br />
publishers—for a few still remain—who, whether<br />
they be artists or not, know something about being<br />
artful dodgers. (Laughter.)<br />
Let me say that our Institute has made consider-<br />
able progress. A few years ago we had only a<br />
handful of members; to-day we have between two<br />
and three thousand; and I can fairly say that our<br />
membership represents nearly all that is best and<br />
certainly all that is thoroughly representative in<br />
Journalism. A friend has hinted here that the times<br />
have changed. In the days of Queen Anne Acts were<br />
introduced to restrain and repress and tax news-<br />
papers. The press of the country was even then<br />
becoming too powerful for the powers that were.<br />
But a great change has taken place since that time.<br />
Within the last few months another monarch,<br />
good Queen Victoria, has given the journalists of the<br />
Empire a royal charter, which enables them to define<br />
their position, to secure privileges, and to establish<br />
a scheme of administration and education; and we<br />
shall work on as we have worked with this Society<br />
of Authors, and other kindred institutions, so that<br />
we may establish that which will be in truth a real<br />
and healthy brotherhood of the pencil and the pen.<br />
(Cheers.)<br />
Herr Brand: Ladies and gentlemen, I beg to<br />
thank you for inviting me to this charming assembly<br />
to-night. I shall not fail to report it in the proper<br />
quarters, hoping that if any of you were ever to come<br />
<br />
<br />
## p. 98 (#126) #############################################<br />
<br />
98<br />
THE AUTHOR.<br />
to our assemblies, you would be made to feel welcome<br />
in the veryheartiest manner as we have been made to<br />
feel welcome amongst you here to-night. I am afraid<br />
we could not offer you such a splendid banquet, but<br />
we would try to make up for that in the extension<br />
of our festivities. Our annual assembly actually<br />
extends over three whole days and part of the night<br />
as well. (Laughter.) It is chiefly devoted to the<br />
transaction of the business of the Society, but still<br />
there remains some time left, as there was last<br />
summer in Frankfort-on-the-Maine, for a festival<br />
performance at the Opera one night; for an<br />
excursion to the Rhine; for an excursion to<br />
Wiesbaden, and for a few other entertainments.<br />
With those exceptions the time was strictly devoted<br />
to business. This summer, next month, the gather-<br />
ing will take place at Breslau, and if any of those<br />
present here to-night should be there, we shall offer<br />
them a hearty welcome. (Cheers.)<br />
Mr. George Haven Putnam: If I remember my<br />
Scriptures, directly Daniel was able to get safely out<br />
of the Den of Lions he made a speech; but I do<br />
not think he was asked to make a speech before he<br />
got out. (Laughter.) I am conscious of being a<br />
publisher; however, I am not come here to speak<br />
these words to-night in the rdle of a publisher; but<br />
only because my business happens to be associated<br />
with international copyright. On behalf of the<br />
associated trades of authors and publishers of the<br />
United States, who have been doing very hard work<br />
under circumstances of some little discouragement<br />
and difficulty, I have to express to this Society<br />
that it is their fixed intention to carry on that work<br />
with the hope that in the future international<br />
copyright will be put in a proper position of<br />
solidarity, and that the relations of authors and<br />
publishers will be put on a proper footing. I need<br />
only say with regard to the work already done, and<br />
in connection with the discouraging vote in the<br />
House of Representatives a few weeks back, a great<br />
deal has been done in the United States. As you<br />
Englishmen know, we have used English books<br />
very largely during the last century, and not paid<br />
for them. A great many of the States have instructed<br />
their representatives to vote in behalf of authors,<br />
both English and American, and the middle States,<br />
and the greater portion of the States of the North<br />
West, voted solidly in support of that Bill. So that<br />
we have won over communities, and the work of<br />
winning over communities will still go on, and will<br />
not be so long a task as people here dreaded. I<br />
look forward to the day when all these difficulties<br />
between authors and publishers will be settled on<br />
a mutually remunerative basis. Publishers will<br />
soon I expect have an association of their own, and<br />
we shall hear of the grievances of publishers against<br />
authors, and we shall then have our own organs on<br />
the other side. But these are practically, as between<br />
honest publishers and honest authors, matters of<br />
detail. I look forward to the day when authors all<br />
over the world will be receiving the highest<br />
remuneration. Then authors will become princes<br />
of finance, as well as princes of literature.<br />
Mr. Oscar Wilde: Ladies and gentlemen, I<br />
confess that I am of opinion that in the case of<br />
authors while speech is silver, writing is gold, and<br />
that on the whole those of us, who claim at all the<br />
distinction of being men of letters, should not<br />
get up after dinner and make serious speeches,<br />
except for the purpose, so necessary in a great re-<br />
ligious country like England, of conveying in a<br />
certain popular manner the sense of the tediousness<br />
of eternity. But on the other hand when I was<br />
invited by the Committee of this Society to pro-<br />
pose the health of our Chairman this evening, I<br />
felt that no incorporated author could attempt to<br />
draw back. This is, ladies and gentlemen, our<br />
third banquet. We had first Mr. Bryce, and I<br />
think it was a privilege to us to have as guest<br />
on that occasion a man so loved and so honoured<br />
amongst the people of the largest English-speaking<br />
country in the world, as Mr. J. Russell Lowell.<br />
Lord Pembroke, an author and a man of<br />
culture, and one whose name being so intimately<br />
connected with English literature, going back in-<br />
deed to Elizabethan days, conferred distinction<br />
upon our Society. And to-night we have to wel-<br />
come as our Chairman Professor Richard Claver-<br />
house Jebb, who is known, not merely in England,<br />
but certainly in Germany, France and Holland, and<br />
everywhere where Greek and Latin literature is<br />
read, as a scholar and a man of letters. (Cheers.)<br />
I must confess, sir, if you will allow me to address<br />
you personally, that I think that you, in confining<br />
yourself to the wide sphere of University life, have<br />
chosen the better part. The man of letters, on<br />
the whole, should live in a University and with<br />
University surroundings. We have constantly be-<br />
fore us the irresistible temptations of modern life,<br />
and now and then a dreadful rumour appears in<br />
the papers that many of our most popular writers<br />
are tempted to abandon literature for other things.<br />
I remember the pang that shot through many of<br />
us when we read in the Times one morning that<br />
Mr. Walter Besant was going to become a member<br />
of the County Council. Subsequently there ap-<br />
peared a statement that Mr. Rider Haggard, de-<br />
siring to find a fuller scope for the mendacity of<br />
Allan Quatermain, intended to seek distraction on<br />
a political platform, and that charming and graceful<br />
writer, the author of "Obiter Dicta," has lately<br />
joined the minority in the House of Commons.<br />
Yes, sir, you have chosen the better part. A<br />
scholar—a man of letters—should not live in<br />
<br />
<br />
## p. 99 (#127) #############################################<br />
<br />
THE AUTHOR.<br />
99<br />
the turmoil of modern life. With us Ariel<br />
comes too rarely and Caliban criticizes our books.<br />
You have written, sir, upon Homer. Alas! in our<br />
life there is nothing that is Homeric except the<br />
uncouth Thersites. Sir, we look upon you as one<br />
who has realized the ideal and as one who has<br />
devoted himself to literature. When I was at<br />
Oxford I was always consoled for the extraordinary<br />
and, as it seemed to me at the time, the deliberate<br />
dullness of my tutor, by the fact that one could<br />
loiter in the grey cloisters at morning listening to<br />
the voices singing, and lie in the garden on the<br />
grass and see the sunlight reflected on the towers<br />
and gilded panes, or wander up the staircase of<br />
Christ Church beneath its vaulted ceilings, and<br />
stroll across the College of St. John's and see the<br />
house that Laud built for his pleasure. You, sir,<br />
have surroundings no less lovely and beautiful;<br />
and those are the surroundings that a man of<br />
letters should have. Nor is it a question of sur-<br />
roundings merely. The great eras in English<br />
literature have been those when the Universities<br />
have been in immediate touch with the literature<br />
of the times; one imperishable thing we have in<br />
our literature—the work of Milton, which shows<br />
what I mean.<br />
I remember, sir, having the pleasure some years<br />
ago of reading a book of yours upon the Attic<br />
orators, a book, I need hardly say, distinguished<br />
by the highest scholarship j and in those days<br />
it seemed that the literary man was also able<br />
to make a speech. I am inclined to think that<br />
now that is the one thing we should never do.<br />
But as I have touched upon the definite work<br />
that you have done, not merely for your own<br />
University, but for all of us, allow me to remind<br />
the company present of other things you have done<br />
also. That great scholar, Richard Bentley, seems<br />
to me to have left the mantle of his critical insight<br />
to that scholar who now holds the position of Regius<br />
Professor of Greek in the University of Cambridge,<br />
and who has written a monograph on his great<br />
predecessor that is a little masterpiece of style and<br />
method. It is said sometimes of those scholars who<br />
deal critically with minute work that they deal merely<br />
with words. Sometimes I think that words are<br />
the only reality, and I wish that the English critics<br />
whom we have now working amongst us would<br />
expend upon the linguistic criticism of the English<br />
language one-twentieth part of the care and trouble<br />
that a scholar of Oxford or Cambridge gives to the<br />
language of the Greek or the Roman. What is the<br />
mission of criticism but to preserve language pure<br />
and uncorrupted, to test every new intruder, to keep<br />
the old words from getting old-fashioned, and to<br />
always keep before the eyes of the writer that language<br />
is precious material. Our ordinary books have passed<br />
into uncouth realism or into what is not literature at<br />
all, and when one remembers what the Universities<br />
do for us in keeping alive the Greek and Latin lan-<br />
guages and Greek and Latin modes of thought, and<br />
then takes up some ordinary and possibly evening<br />
newspaper, one is tempted to think that the only<br />
dead language is the English language. (Laughter.)<br />
And finally, sir, you will allow me to remind the<br />
audience of authors who are present here to-night<br />
that your work is not merely confined to perfect<br />
scholarship, to the delicate traditions of the most<br />
perfect literature of the world, but that by your quick<br />
insight into modern culture you have been the link<br />
between the life of our own time and the life of<br />
the Greek; and that you yourself have also con-<br />
tributed to modern literature a work that no one<br />
would ever dream of parting with—that beautiful<br />
translation of Sophocles that enables us to hear<br />
the imaginative voice of music that once stirred<br />
the people of Athens. There is an Italian proverb<br />
"tradittori traduttori." I think the translation of<br />
the work of the creator of CEdipus Tyrannos shows,<br />
so far as we are concerned, that our withers are<br />
unwrung. There have been beautiful translations<br />
in verse of Greek and Latin things and one, a gentle<br />
and most courteous man of letters, Lord Carnarvon,<br />
whose death we all deplore, did recently into verse<br />
a translation of the "Odyssey," but your transla-<br />
tion, sir, is a classic. And so, sir, let me felicitate<br />
you in that you have chosen the better part: let<br />
me felicitate the University that has had so dis-<br />
tinguished a son: let me felicitate the Society of<br />
Authors in that we have as our Chairman one who<br />
is not only a perfect scholar but also a brilliant man<br />
of letters.<br />
Ladies and gentlemen, I ask you to drink to the<br />
Chairman of the evening. (Loud cheers.)<br />
The Chairman: Let me ask permission to<br />
thank you most sincerely for the kind words<br />
you have spoken, words which I felt to be most<br />
deeply sympathetic, and to thank this distinguished<br />
company for the very kind manner in which those<br />
words have been received.<br />
Allow me simply to say from my heart that it<br />
has been felt by me as the greatest possible honour<br />
and pleasure to be here this evening. I thank<br />
you.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
## p. 100 (#128) ############################################<br />
<br />
IOO<br />
AD VER TISEMENTS.<br />
"THE LITERARY HAflDJKAID OF THE<br />
CHURCH-"<br />
HENRY GLAISHER, 95, STRAND. Price ONE SHILLING.<br />
NOW READY.<br />
This pamphlet is a reply to the invitation issued by the Publication Committee of the Society for<br />
the Promotion of Christian Knowledge in their Report of last year, for any suggestions, which they "will<br />
gladly receive," on the best way of making "the Venerable Society the most efficient literary handmaid<br />
of the Church of England throughout the world."<br />
The suggestions offered in these pages contain, first, some of the elementary principles which guide<br />
honourable men in the administration of literary property. The writer next advances three cases, as<br />
illustrating the methods adopted by the Society. A copy of this pamphlet will be sent to any member of<br />
the Society by application to the Office, including two postage stamps.<br />
THE METHODS OF PUBLICATION.<br />
BY S. S. SPRIGGE, B.A.<br />
READY IN OCTOBER.<br />
This book, compiled mainly from documents in the office of the Society of Authors, is intended to<br />
show a complete conspectus of all the various methods of publication with the meaning of each; that is to<br />
say, the exact concessions to publishers and the reservation of the owner and author of the work. The<br />
different frauds which arise out of these methods form a necessary part of the book. Nothing is advanced<br />
which has not been proved by the experience of the Society.<br />
<br />
<br />
## p. 101 (#129) ############################################<br />
<br />
ADVER TISEMENTS.<br />
101<br />
NEW BOOKS.<br />
A New Translation. By W. F. Smith, M.A., Fellow<br />
\ and Lecturer of Saint John's College, Cambridge.<br />
\ Issued to Subscribers in a limited Edition of 750<br />
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\ this country and 250 for America. In two hand-<br />
\ some 8vo vols. Price 25*. the set. The aim of<br />
\ the above translation has been to render more<br />
\ accessible, to explain and illustrate a book which<br />
\ has exercised a wide influence on the French<br />
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\ A system of marginal reference has been<br />
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RAREI AIQ I t0 ^e historical aspect of the book, and<br />
flHDLLHIO. J points bearing on the political and religious<br />
/ affairs of the times have been carefully<br />
/ noticed. As the work must be presented as<br />
/ a whole, and as certain passages and parts<br />
/ can no longer be presented in English, these<br />
/ have been left in the original old French, where<br />
/ they can be read by such as desire it. The work<br />
/ will be accompanied by a life of Rabelais, a notice<br />
/ of the translators, Urquhart, and Motteux, a map of<br />
/ the environs of Chinon, the part of France where<br />
/ Rabelais was brought up, notes on the language and<br />
/ style, and on other points. It will be, in fact, an entirely<br />
I new and complete presentation of the great French master.<br />
Prospectus giving full details and ail information to be had on<br />
application from the Publisher.<br />
A BOOK NECESSARY TO EVERY AUTHOR.<br />
SLANG AND ITS ANALOGUES — Past and<br />
Present. By John S. Farmer, Author of "Americanisms—Old<br />
and New/' sc. A new and absolutely unique Slang Dictionary.<br />
In three volumes, foolscap 4to,printed antique style, on thick paper,<br />
large margin, to the number of 500 copies for England and 250 for<br />
America, each copy being numbered and signed, to Subscribers<br />
only as follows: The Set (3 vols.) £$ $s. net. In half-calf, parch-<br />
ment sides. The price will be raised on completion as in the case'of<br />
"Americanisms—Old and New." A Dictionary, Historical and<br />
Comparative (on the lines of Dr. Murray's New English Dictionary)<br />
of the Heterodox Speech of all Classes of Society for more than<br />
300 years, the whole presenting a Curious Picture of Social Life<br />
and Manners of the English People.<br />
Notes and Queries says—'* For the first time in a dictionary the subject<br />
of V. ntflish slang is seriously treated. Recent works have been catchpennies,<br />
and Mr, Farmer is the first to treat the subject of slang In a manner com.<br />
mensuratc with its importance. . . . Very full is Mr. Farmer's list, the<br />
first volume extending to over four hundred double columned pages. . . .<br />
His book commends itself warmly to our readers, and its progress cannot be<br />
otherwise than interesting. As it is issued in a limited edition it can scarcely<br />
fail of becoming a prized possession."<br />
Prospectus and all information to be hadfrom the Publisher.<br />
AMERICANISMS: OLD AND NEW. By John<br />
S. Farmer. In 1 vol. Foolscap ato, printed in antique style, and<br />
bound in vellum. £2 2s.<br />
A book for the library, desk, or general reading; for journalists.<br />
Members of Parliament, public speakers, and all professional men. It is<br />
a dictionary of words, phrases, and colloquialisms peculiar to the United<br />
States, British America, the West Indies, Sic, Sic, together with their<br />
derivation, meaning, and application.<br />
"Certainly the best and complctest dictionary of Americanisms at<br />
present existing."—Athenaum,<br />
THREE NEW BOOKS ON THE<br />
HOLY LAND.<br />
PALESTINE UNDER THE MOSLEMS. By<br />
Guy le Strange, With Map, and numerous Plans and Drawings<br />
specially executed for this work. Handsome post 8vo, pp. 604.<br />
Cloth extra, 12*. 6d.<br />
** A work intended to render the mass of interesting intormation about<br />
Palestine, which lies buried in the Arabic texts of the Moslem geographers<br />
and travellers of the middle ages, available to the English reader."<br />
".... is written throughout with a sort of loving care which<br />
proves how thoroughly the author has felt the fascination of his subject."—<br />
Saturday Review.<br />
Third Edition y now ready.<br />
THE BIBLE AND MODERN DISCOVERIES.<br />
By Henky A. Harper. With an Introduction by Walter Besant.<br />
Coloured Map and numerous Illustrations, demy 8vo, i6r.<br />
"Instructive, interesting, and in many ways admirable . . . enables<br />
the reader so to revise his impressions of Scripture typography as In many<br />
cases to throw quite a flood of new light upon a hitherto obscure narrative.<br />
—Ma nchater Examiner,<br />
"Supplies a long-felt want by connecting in a popular and vivid manner<br />
the work, which has Deen done by the Society with the Bible narrative."—<br />
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NORTHERN AJLUN, "Within the Decapolis,"<br />
By Herr Schumacher, Author of "Across the Jordan," &c.<br />
With Maps, Plans, and over 60 Illustrations, crown 8vo, 35. 6d.<br />
"Altogether we have to thank Mr. Schumacher for an important<br />
addition to our knowledge of what has long remained a terra incognita.' —<br />
Saturday Rei-iev.<br />
THE SURVEY OF WESTERN<br />
PALESTINE,<br />
Only 17 sets of this magnificent work new remain. It will<br />
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set is 25 guineas. It consists of the following in seven<br />
uniform and handsomely bound volumes, qto.<br />
THE MEMOIRS. Being the Notes taken in the Field<br />
by Major Conder, D.C.L., R.E., and Colonel Kitchener, C.M.G.,<br />
A.D.C.R.E., re-written and arranged after their return. With<br />
thousands of illustrations of tombs, ruins, &c, drawn expressly for<br />
these volumes, aud not to be found anywhere else. 3 vols.<br />
THE NAME LISTS. Transliterated from the Arabic<br />
with translation by Major Conder, R.E.,and edited by Professor E.<br />
H. Palmer. 1 vol.<br />
THE VOLUME OF SPECIAL PAPERS, Con-<br />
swing mostly of reprints of important papers from the '1 Quarteily<br />
Statement," by Col. Sir Charles Wilson, K.C.B., K.C.M.G., F.R.S.,<br />
D.C.L., LL.D..R.E. ; Col. Sir Charles Warren,G.C.M.G..K.C.B.,<br />
F.R.S., R.E.: Major Conder, D.C.L., R.E.; M. Clermont-<br />
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THE FLORA AND FAUNA OF PALESTINE.<br />
With many Illustrations (hand-painted). By Canon Tristram,<br />
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THE JERUSALEM VOLUME. With a Portfolio<br />
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Publishedfor the Palestine Exploration Fund by<br />
London: ALEXANDER P. WATT, 2, Paternoster Square, E.C,<br />
<br />
<br />
## p. 102 (#130) ############################################<br />
<br />
102<br />
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## p. 102 (#131) ############################################<br />
<br />
A D VER TISEMENTS.<br />
iii.<br />
THE BAR-LOCK TYPE-WRITER saves the eyesight<br />
THE BAR-LOCK TYPE-WRITER prevents writer's cramp.<br />
THE BAR-LOCK TYPE-WRITER prevents ronnd shoulders.<br />
THE BAR-LOCK TYPE-WRITER enables yon to keep pace<br />
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## p. 102 (#132) ############################################<br />
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