LITTLE LITERARY LIGHTSPER SONAL PREFERENCES

IN

ART LITERATURE FLOWERS MUSIC

AUGU STIN S .MACDONALDCa/iforniana, Verse by Californ ia Poets

Etc .

SAN FR ANC ISCO

JOHN J . NEWBEG IN

COPY R IGHT ,1 9 1 5 , BY AUGU STIN s. MAQD

-

n i b

SAN FRANCISCO : THE BLA IR - MU RDOCK COMPANY

CONTENTS

PO ETRY

E'

TCHER S AND ETCHING S

AMONG MY BOOK S

MU S I C

SOME NOV EL S

OUR GARDE N

LITTLE LITE RARY LIGHT S

RT doesn ’t mean much unless you havea love and apprec i a t i on for i t . A notedFrench autho r has defined i t a s

“Nature

V i ewed thro ugh a temperament i t i s aclairvoyant knowledge that cannot b e ea s i ly ac

qu i red by educati on,the sp i ri t o f i t may b e cult i

vated a l i ttl e but i t must b e inborn . Art , i n i tsel fi s the appl i ed res i due o fmeditat i on , contemp lat i on and insp irati on embodi ed in i deal sett ings .The story i s told o f Whistl er who , upo n hearinga cri t i c state that he coul d see noth ing in a certa inp i ctu re

,repl i ed

,

“ I fee l sorry for h im .

”

What memori es the very word art rev ives o fstudios—atel i ers—earnest and amb it i ou s and , a tthe same t ime , free and carel ess Bohem ian menand women—ri ch colorings— imaginat ive drawings—soul - sti rring effects—impress i on i st dreams—so ft tone s and struggl ing effort s to dep i ct insp i rati ons—gal l eri es , old masters and modernexh ib i t i ons

,—al l recal l in terest ing hours and

happy days , spent in a congen i a l a tmosphere"The highest art i s for the in i ti ated a lone ; i t i sonly p i cture s that appeal to the publ i c ta ste . Thefrothy drawing wi th s imply a sto ry and onewi th someth ing beyond i s th e principa l d i ffer

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LITTLE LITERARY LIGHTS

ence b etween a p i cture and art . The p i cture , thatim itates or exhib its the mere external s o f l i fe , i sth e product o f a pa inter and readi ly comprehended , bu t o f whi ch you soon grow ti red andca st as i de , whi l e the work of art wi th an origina lconcept ion that expresses someth ing , the compos i t i on o f an art i st w ith creat ive instin ct, youcan l ive w ith and constantly read into i t newmean ings

,for i ts pul se b eats carry many mes

sages for the recept ive .Art , i n i t s many phases , ha s no effect uponthose who fa i l to understand i t and no attra ct i onfor thos e wi thout sentiment . Many people pa ssa meagre , empty ex i stence , i nd i fferent to everything that does not affe ct the i r bare subs i stence .One must , indeed , b e a lover o f nature , with i tssp eculat ive p romi ses , poss ib i l i t i e s and contem

plative , superhuman insp i rat ions , to love art .I admire the free , 1mpressive work ful l o f suggest i on , wi th the poet i c el ement predominant ,g iving the imaginat ion ful l p l ay—s ay color andsuggesti on rather than deta i l . The i deal i st i ct inge pl eases m e more strongly than real i sm withi t s na rrow hori zon , which i s u sual ly e i ther stereotyped o r eccentri c .A man o f tal ent can portray in p a int a suggest i on o f the wonderful h i dden secrets o f nature ,V i ta l i z ing the i r sp i ri tua l and sensuou s values andforms—such canvases n eed no interpreter andare p erfectly pl a in to kindred sp i ri ts having anaflin ity for the beaut i ful , who ful ly understandthei r poetry ; on the other hand , convent iona l

[ 2 ]

ART

s cenes,even though true cop i es o f l i fe , do not

appea l to one—they revea l noth ing . Thei r etchedsubj ects l a ck the ri ch qual i ty o f mystery so dearto the mature Cult w ith sens i t ive organ i sms anddeep intu i t i on .

I t i s the s ense o f imagery, the el evating inst in cto f l i ght , the romance o f symbol i sm expressedin shading , outl in es and respl endent color o fthe sens i t ive dreamers tha t awaken del i c i ou sthoughts o f interpreta ti on , whose trans i t i on i sfel t rather than known or seen , and arouse thebetter feel ings o f the inner sel f .True arti sts w ith essent i a l mold ing force andinsp i red wi th a purpos e , i n the personal treatmentfrom the i r po int o f V i ew , express the best part o fthemselves in product ions o f th i s kind

,us ing

the i r l ine s rather i n a subs i di a ry way to conveythe i r real mean ing and present a p rophet i c vi s i on

,

radi a t ing sparks o f l ight,‘

that appeal s to theimaginat i on and reaches a respons ive chord thatlull s our soul s and harmon i z es with our sp i ri tu a lmedi tat i ons , a refl ect i on , making one forge t inth e proc ess , drawing, pa int and indivi dual andl os ing onesel f, without not ing the l in e o f demarcatio n , in the poet i c mystery o f color depicted on the canva s ; the i rs i s a materi a l rec i ta lo f impress i ons tha t utter o urwi st fu l fanci es .In th i s etherea l mood , one i s thri l l ed withfeel ings o f sat i s fact i on , rest and grat itude . I t i s ,un fortunately , however , a language that sp eaksin accents o f i ts own , understood by the few andresented by the many who nei ther see , feel nor

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Ll ITLI'

. LITERARY LIGHTS

en 9. p cture and art . The picture,that

e .ts the mere extemals of l i fe , is:t i f a painter and readi ly comprett fwhich yo u soo n grow tired andw" th e wo rk o fart with an original

expresses something, the com

f artist with creative instinct, your th a

“"co nstantly read into it new5 [us e beats carry many

mes" fl . \

i .

r ases. has no effect uponJerszand i t and no attraction

sen timent. Many people passexistence . indifferent to every

s . ect their bare subsistence .

l . l e a lover o fnature , with itsr . s. possib il ities and contem

g ri m En c

pin tions, to love art .

e ressive wo rk full of sugelement predominant,

10 ml] play—say color and

than detai l . The ideal isti c

e re strongly than real i sm with

1 hieh is usuallv e ither stereo

m e.

a n portray in paint a sugges

n sc id hidden secrets o f

ART

scenes,even though true cop i es o f l i fe , 0 not

appeal to one—they revea l noth ing . Thei r chedsubj ects l a ck the ri ch qual i ty o f mystery 3 dearto the mature Cult with sens i tive o rgan isrr anddeep intu i t i on .

I t i s the s ense o f imagery , the el eva ting irtin cto f l ight , the romance o f symbol i sm exprssed

i n shading , outl ine s and respl endent co lr o fthe sens i t ive dreamers that awaken de l 'io usthoughts o f i nterpreta tion , whose transitin i sfel t rather than known or seen , and arous thebetter feel ings o f the inner sel f .True arti sts w ith essent i a l mold ing fo rceandinsp i red with a purpose , in the p ersona l treanentfrom the i r po int o f V i ew , express the best pet o fthemselves in productions o f th i s k ind , singth e i r l ines rather m a subs i di a ry way to coveythe i r real meaning and present a prophet i c vion ,radi at ing spa rks o f l i ght , tha t appeal s to theimaginati on and rea ches a respons ive chord hatlull s our soul s and harmon i z es wi th our sp irualmedi tati ons , a refl ecti on , making one fo rgt inth e process , drawing , pa int and individualandl os ing ones el f, without not ing the l ine o fdemarcatio n , i n the poet i c mystery o f co lo rde

p icted on the canvas ; the i rs 1s a materi a l re ta lo f 1mpressio ns tha t utter o urwi st fu l fanci esIn th i s ethereal mood

,on e i s th

feel ings o f sat i s fact i on , res t and gratun fortunately , however, a l anguin a ccents o f i ts own , understoodresented by the many who ne

I

LITTLE LITERARY LIGHTS

understand the inten t o f the art i st . The idea hasb een beaut i fu l ly expressed in a Chinese lyri c byPa i Ta - Shun

,a transl at i on o f whi ch i s a s fol

l owsI wou ld not p aint a faceO r rock s or stream s or treesMere semb l ances of th i ngsBut someth ing more than these .

I wou ld not p l ay a tuneUpon the sheng or lu te ,Which d id not a l so s ingMean ings that e l se were mute .

That art i s best wh ich givesTo the sou l ’s r ange no bound ;Someth ing beside the form ,

Someth ing beyond the sound .

Good taste i s no t‘

always to be di scerned in therealm o f art any more than cultu re i s a lwaysfound in good soci e ty . As i de from the Impressio n ists whose eloquent proces s o f intangibl es tudi es in the express i on of l i ght and the Cub i sts ’

i dea o f revert ing to the prim i t ive methods o fblocking out figures

,an advanced set o f restl ess

enthus i a sts have ab andoned the old , convent i onals tandards and introduced a lot o f morb i d hysterical impress i ons , radi ca l i deas , ri otous coloring and osten tati ou s innovati ons tha t are fa i rlyrevolut i onary in the i r character ; thes e are kn ownunder the vari ous names o f “Moderns

,

” “PostImpress i on i sts” and “Futuri st s” whose p ecu l i a refforts a re carri ed to extremes and to many app ear decadent in the i r abnorm al phases .I f the ma in purpose o f a rt , whi ch touches every

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ART

s i de o f human l i fe , i s to have an el evating influence in educating the masse s in a love o f thebeauti ful

,i n the i r crude attempts thus far they

have fa i l ed in the i r m i ss i on and certa inly havenot solved th e probl em .

I t i s l ike ana lyz ing the t insel o f whi ch the costume i s composed , rath er than studying thehonest mot ive or effect a imed to b e produced bythe art i s t . What they are endeavoring to a ccentappears pu rposel ess and has already been ac

compl i shed by better and more intel l igent methods . They have met wi th l i ttl e respons ive en

co uragemen t from e i ther conno i s seurs or the

pubhc.

Art may be appl i ed to making the commonestdomest i c u tens i l b eauti ful , but there i s no roomin i t for cra zy- qu i l ts or ugly i llu s ions . Any puzzl ewi l l cau se one to think , i f that i s the po int , butthe t ime consumed in working i t out i s u sual lythrown away as th ere i s ne i ther educa t ion , benefitnor remunerat i on obta ined to compensate one forthe di agnos i s .Thei r yell ow , sensati onal attempt to v i sua l i z eforce and energy in bri l l i ant p ri smat i c effects andputt ing into form the refl e cti on or v ibrati on o fobj ects , imposs ib le to cl early define , i s lud i crou s .Thi s ab surd movement , cons i st ing o f fa inte choes o f di ss i pated emoti ons

,measures o f di s

cord , tu rp i tude o f gen iu s , and a mass o f compl icated, kal -eido sco pic hi eroglyphi cs , fu ll o f hypercri ti cal studi es and extravagant i dea s o f no b enefi t to human i ty, i s only a waste o f tal ent that

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LITTLE LITERARY LIGHTS

should b e e i ther housed in an internat io nalWurtz Museum or served a s fuel to -a crematory .

A masterp i ece in art i s the triumphant creat ionof a gen iu s who ha s su cceeded in di st i l l i ng theVery essence o f nature and blending with i t thesp i ritual , as a medium for unve i l ing a mira culous ,superhuman revel at i on for

POETRY

LL app reci at ive morta l s dwel l i n harmo n io us p eace , enj oy h i s r ivulets o ffancy and sm i l e with the natura l bornpoet . He i s the great interpreter o f the

se cret melodi es o f nature and the sp i ri t o f humannature as d i st ingu i shed from the purely materi a lor phys i ca l .He is a dreamer who strike s a chord near the

un iversal heart o f l i fe whose i deal i st i c hori zonis not bounded or influenced by mere pract i ca lproblems . He sees and hears b eyond the surfaceand appearance o f th ings and brings out the tender po s s ib i l i ti e s

,outs i de the boundari es or l im i

tatio n s o f the commerci a l wo rld , i n lyri ca l sweetnes s and rhyme . To him the subtl e charm of pa ss ion , low murmur o f the wind , vo i ce o f the trees ,the roar o fthe waves and s i l ence o f th e woods al lhave a personal i ty that st imulates insp i rat i on .

He i s rea lly gi fted wi th a tender,sympatheti c

,

sens i t ive s e cond s ight , capabl e o f recogn i z ing thefiner qual i t i es that l i e wi th in the inner world ,whi ch he procla ims in radi ant song , i n an earnestendeavor to chant the rapturous musi c b e fore theun in i t i a ted and arouse dormant thoughts towhi ch they otherwis e would b e insens ible .

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LITTLE LITERARY LIGHTS

He i s one o f the gl i ttering outposts o f c iv i l i z at i on

,read ing , transl at ing and fl ashing the world

’ sdivin e

,soul ful b eaut i es o f gen ius for the b enefi t

o f the mult i tude , whose l im i ted intel l ectual ca

pacity , not attuned to su ch advanced fl i ghts o fthe Muse

,i s s carcely cap able o f grasp ing the

stra ins o f h i s ethereal meaning ; but the cel e st i a l p ro cess o f refin ing must continue unt i l therei s a genera l awakening from the i r reveri e toan exa lted appre ci a t i on o f the cultu red es sen ceo f l i fe .In th i s mater i a l i s t i c age , where money- makingpredominates , a man i festati on o f sentiment seemsto demand some kind o f explanat i on , i f not anapology :There i s many a sel f- abnegated person withlo fty i deal s and an unattra ctive exteri o r who has ,down deep in h i s inner s oul , a poeti c streak o fsentiment, h i dden from the cold cri t i ca l world ,tha t no one suspects and i s kep t buri ed for fearo f r i di cul e . Some anonymou s l ine s I have expressthe feel ing I am attempting to describ e

There are poems unwr i tten and songs unsung,

Sweeter th an any that ever were heard,

Poems th at wai t for an ange l tongue ,Song s that bu t long for a Parad i se b ird ,

Poem s unnoted and h idden awayDown in the sou l s where the beau t i fu l th r ives,

Sweet ly as flowers i n the a i rs of the May ,

Poems th at on ly the ange l s above u s ,Look i n g down deep i n ou r hearts, may behold ,Fe l t

,though un seen , by the be ing s who love u s,

Wr i tten on l ives as i n l etters of go ld .

S i ng to my sou l the sweet song th at thou l ivest"[ 8 ]

POETRY

R ead me the poem th at never was pennedThe wonderfu l idyl of l i fe that thou givest

Fresh from thy sp ir i t, oh, beaut i fu l fr i end"”

Whil e poetry I have always cons i dered as anart , a t the same t ime I have l ooked upon i t , inth e l ight o f a l i tera ry hol i day, something to turnto in our l ess s eri ous moments ; for that reason , Ihave not a lways agreed with the standard au

tho rities ; for instance , whi l e u sual ly carry ing asmall copy o f Horace 1n my satchel , when o ffona j aunt

,Homer does not app eal to me a t al l . I

l ike M i chael Angelo but do not fan cy Dante ,and whil e adm i ring Shake sp eare , care nothingfor M ilton . I enj oy poems rather than poetsGray ’s “E l egy ,

” Burns’ “Cotter’s SaturdayNight , Wordsworth

’s “Early Spring , Moore’s

“Fire Worsh ippers ,” Scott ’ s “Lady o f the

Lake , Shell ey’s “So nnets ,” Keats ’ “Odes ,

”

Heine ’s “Songs ,” the first two chapters in the

Cant i cl e s o f Solomon , the courage i n Joaqu inM ill er ’s “Columbus ,

” and pathos in Bret Harte ’8“Luke” or “Miss Blan ch Says .”

To any rea l lover o f po etry , what a del ight fultreat i s suggested by the names o f Tennyson andLongfell ow, R ealf and Lan i er, Vi llon andBaudel a i re , Whitman and Po e , Col eri dge andBlake , Franci s Thompson and Hovey, Chri st ian i Rossett i and Mrs. Browning , Swinburne andMorri s , Verhaeren and S i l l

,Pushkin and

Arnold , Ayto un and Motherwell , Byron andPope , Herri ck and those from the Ori ent, l ikeFi rdaus i , Omar , Noguch i and Tagore , all o f

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LITTLE LITERARY LIGHTS

whom have produced songs tha t appeal to theheart and inner consci ou sness .

There i s no ques ti on that whether sung , spokenor writt en

,poetry i s the mo st refined form o f

human express i on and difli cult to ana lyz e . Thebest defin i t i on o f i t I know i s that o f Stedman ,who says

,

“Poetry i s rhythm i cal , imagina tive

l anguage,express ing the inventi on , ta ste ,

thought,pass i on and ins ight o f th e human soul .”

I t i s a real i z at i on a s wel l a s an interpretationo f the melody o f nature and the i deal s o f mankind . Shel l ey was insp i red to wri te

“The h ighest m o ra l pu rpose arrived at in theh ighes t speci es o f th e drama i s teach ing thehuman heart , through i ts sympathi es and antipath i e s , knowledge o f i tsel f ; i n proport i on to the

possess i on o f whi ch knowledge every human being i s wi se , j us t , s in cere , tolerant and kind .

”

And th i s sent iment i s appl i cabl e to poetry aswel l , for i t i s the very essence o f the materi a l s o fwhi ch l i fe i s compos ed , and i t is for th i s rea sonthat the poet ha s always exerci sed su ch a supremeinfluen ce over the imaginati on o fthe peopl e , forh i s song i s fu l l o fenl i ghtenment and the prom i seo f better th ings .The rare cha rm s o f poetry are only unfo l dedi ts imaginat ive power interpreted and i ts del icious s ecrets reveal ed to the favored few in

itiated i n the love and understanding o f theb eaut i ful in na ture , who read between th e l in esthe divin e , melodi ous obl iga to o f s entiment, accompanying the poeti ca l expres si on , that app eal sto the senses .

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ETCHER S AND ETCHINGS

F THE numerous typ es o f a rt , printshave

,undoubtedly benefited and ap

pea l ed to more human be ings than thoseo f any other form , fo r, a fter all , they

are so sati s fa ctory . A taste for etchings evincesa p redi l e ct i on in favor o f monotones and i sa lways an indi cati on o f culture , for a perso n wi tha comprehens ive percept io n and deep apprecia

t i on o f the del i ca cy and s i gn ifi cance o f th e l ine so f an etcher must have an ins ight and knowledgeo f the mean ing o f art and a love for the b eaut iful .The most commonpla ce scene or obj ect may b eful l o f p otent i a l poss ib i l i t i e s and clothed in s entiment and beauty i f pro perly handled and broughtout by an etcher , whose tru th ful concepti on andbroadened hor i zon can po int the way and makeothers s ee , through hi s eyes , the n atural el ementsand feel ings o f sens ib i l i ty underlying the i r exter1or. I t i s h i s province and priv i l ege to transl ate and carry the message heralding the b ea cono f clar i ty and revel at i on .

The zeal o f pursu i t in the i r a cqu i s i t i on,for

fi rst - cl a ss etch ings are by no means a s pl enti fula s go od pa1n t1ngs, 13 part o f the fa st id i ou s game ,

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ETCHERS AND ETCH INGS

and the poss ess i on o f a pri z e , the reward o fstudy , energy , tra in ing and di s crim inat i on .

In going through thi s coll ect i on , arti sts wi l l b earranged in a rambl ing rather than chronologi ca lorder . The great names that stand out in theearl i er p eri od o f old prints are Rembrandt ,Durer and Van Dyck , whi l e those o f mo dernt imes are Hayden and Whi stl e r ; the se are thea cknowledged masters o f the pro fess i on .

R embrandt i s one o f the immortal s ; he was alaw unto h imsel f ; his imperi shabl e wi tcheryadorned and penci l i l lum ined everyth ing hi s master hand tou ched ; hi s l ines have l i fe , a viva cityand personal i ty in the rendering eas i ly re cogn iz ed and are in fused wi th imagery and a s i gn ifican ce o f expres s i on and techn i ca l ski l l thathave b een unsurpassed . His l andscapes , l ike theThree Trees” with i t s striking contra sts , orsacred subj ects , a s

“The Annunci a t i o n”“Chri st Heal ing the S i ck ,

” are keen studi es i nl i ght and shade , whi l e p o rtra i ts a re usu al ly o fthose tender homely type s in whi ch he loved todel ineate character . The Head o f an Old Man”

fa i rly glows wi th the l i ght o f intell i gence and i sinvested with a sp i ri t and dign ity unrival ed 1n

perfecti on .

A contemporaneou s Flem i sh arti st was VanDyck, whose portra i t etchings , with the i r e conomy o f l ine and formal concentrat ion o f chara cter, rema in th e most p er fect model s 1n ex i stence .Thi s severe rufll ed neck h ead o f “JoannesB reughel” i s a fa i r s ampl e o f h i s free handsketch ing .

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LITTLE LITERARY LIGHTS

Germany was the b i rthpla ce o f etching andAlbrecht Durer

,endowed wi th an analyt i cal in

s ight into human natu re , the founder . Hismethods were in tense and work more complexin i ts nature , a seem ing stra in ing a fter el aborat i on , rather compl i cated , involved and ceremon ious with an emphasi s on the drawing and acerta in prom inent st iffness a s exempl ified in h i s“Melanchol i a” whi ch seems overcrowded , ob

s cure and surfe i ted wi th symbol i sm i n i ts l essonand rather an en i gma .

Claude Lo rrain was a Frenchman o f renownwho made “ a seri es o f V i v i d l andscap e studi es,some o f wh i ch have b een pro nounced the cho i cestever p roduced ; they appear, however, somewhatsuperfi ci al , to have l ittle mean ing ba ck o f thescenes they so fa i th ful ly portray. His acknowl

edged masterp i ece i s ent i tl ed “Le Bouvi er .”

From Spa in , we have the gi fted Fo rtuny,whose b ri l l i ant dexteri ty with the pen is p erfectly marvelo u s . He i s da inty, decorat ive andful l o f po etry , and hi s

“ Idyl l” o f a shepherdboy S1tt1ng on a ru ral p edesta l pl aying the lute ,with the sheep lying in conten tm ent at hi s feet , i ssup erb and the most gra ce ful figure I kn ow of inetch ing . I t fa i rly sparkl es.

Another Span i a rd wa s the errat i c Goya whowa s a lmost revoluti onary in hi s art and ful l o fi d io syncras i e s . He started an indep endent movement o f freer compo s i t i on tha t would have madehim more popula r i f he had adopted i t to l essgrotesque subj ects , but his evi l Bohem i an career

[ I 4 ]

ETCHERS AND ETCH INGS

l ed h im in to h ighly imaginat ive vi s i ons amounting at times to coarse cari cature tha t, howeverfa scinating

,were too exaggerated anamorphisms

to be al together su ccess ful . “The B i rdmen ,”

showing men flying through the a i r wi th hugeoutspread wings l ike bats , i s one o f h i s mostnormal , whi l e the cyn i ca l and cau sti c Ignoranceand Supersti t i on Prep aring to Depart b e fore theDawn o f Rea son ,

” carri es i ts own moral l esson .

Away to the Northl and i s a Scandinavi an whohas made h i s mark in the art world .

“There aretwo kinds o f art i sts— innovators and im i ta tors ,

”

to the fi rs t school o f whi ch belongs Anders Z orn,

the Swedi sh etcher . There i s noth ing set norphotographi c about h i s figure s ; they are not onlyluminou s bu t both narra tive and dramati c anddone w i th a s impl i ci ty and well - tra ined ease , inV i tal , vigorous free - hand l ines , that , unl ess somestudy i s g iven to the i r b o l d strokes , i s apt to m i sl ead one

,for there i s more than appears on the

surface . Excluding “The Toast ,” the cha ste ,

mythi cal figure o f Edo” ari s ing from the m i st

on an enchanted i sl and and “The Waltz” wherethe dancers a re fa i rly swaying in the i r appa rentmovements are among the b est . A co untrymano f hi s who has al so made his reputat ion i s CarlLarssen

,with h i s “Girl ’s Ba ck ,

” l ike a s i lhouette ,and “L i sbe th others are Mas- Ol le

’s

“Dalecarlia Peasants , a treasure , and Magnusso n

’s

“Viol in Player,” al ive with an imat i on .

So hlberg ,the Norwegi an , i s a s r i ch and glori

o us in etching a s in color , ful l o f a sp i ri t that

LITTLE LITERARY LIGHTS

haunts and thri l ls and whi ch you remember ;there i s a necromancy in the s i lver b eams o f h i s“Moonl ight ,

” whi l e Th e Crippl e” is directlyoppos i te in its s impl e treatment and broad scop e .Kav li

’

s“L i ttl e Ch i l d” a ttra cts one by i ts l i ght

l ines carri ed to a consummate fin ish .

One of the most orig ina l arti sts in Europe wasM eryo n who l ived in poverty and d i ed in sane .He i s noted for the odd arch ite ctural setting o fh i s work wi th a s everi ty and cert i tude o f des i gn .

“L

’

abside de Notre Dame de Pari s” i s a modelo f i ts kind , encased in a framework o f gl i sten ingwat er and fl eeting clouds . Hi s “Le Stryge” i s thestudy o f a Gargoyl e p erched on the e ave o f abu i lding in Pari s cyn i ca lly contemplat ing theever- changing fl ow o f human i ty b elow . Baudel a i re , the poet , pronounced the

“Perspective o fSan Franci sco a s h i s masterp i e ce with “ thenatura l sol emnity o f a great cap i tal , the maj e sti e so f a ccumula ted stone and the sp i res p o inting afinger to the sk i e s .” Thi s ha s qu i te an interest inghi story inasmu ch as a p ioneer French banker ,F . L . A . Pioche , early in the fift i es , had a daguerreo type taken o f the ci ty , i n three parts ;these he forwarded to Meryo n in Pari s wi th acarte b lan che order to b e sketch ed , whi ch , desp i tethe diffi cult i es under whi ch he l abored , resultedin th i s excell ent presentat i on .

Many o f the members o f the Barb i zon s choolwere exp erts ; Jacque

’s famou s etching,

“La Bergeri e Béarn ise ,

” was crowned by the FrenchA cademy ; M il let

’s i ns ight into the factors that

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ETCHERS AND ETCH INGS

count a s The Woman wi th the Churn o r The

Gleaners .” Co ro t ev i dently b el i eved as Bj orkmanthat “Rul es are made for those who do notth ink . Hi s sylvan attempts never reached thefame that he made in color, and , although with abreadth and boldness that i s fearl ess , in h i s

“En

vi rons du Rome” the prim it ive preva i l s . R o us

seau,who wielded h i s pen wi th the vigor o f a

b rush in “The Fi sherman ’s Return” and Dau

bigny, i n h i s“Ferryman” with the ri ft in the sky

kindl ing an anaclast i c g l ow o f l i ght in the background showing a refl ex through the row ofgra ce fu l trees

,are dist ingu i shed for the i r meri t

and truth to natu re .Then L’Hermitte

’

s real i st i c studi es o f p easantl i fe , th e ta lented Legro s with h i s s trong , vigorous“Pass ing Shower ,

” the versat i l e Bracquemo nd’

s

wi ld outdoor l i fe o f b i rds and an imals,esp eci al ly

that enti tl e d “The Hare,

” wi th i ts smooth surfa cetexture , and Appian in h i s

“Mara i s de la Burbanche ,

” showing a b i t o f na tu re at twi l ight ,calm and peace fu l a s the even ing ’s qu i et ; butabove and beyond them all i s the i rre s i st ib l eLalanrz e with h i s l i ttl e genre gems , l ike epito

miz ed impress i ons tha t gradually di ssolve in thep ersp ect ive ; i t matters not whether i t i s a stretcho f b ea ch—a record o f harbors and quays o r agl eam o f rural l andscap e—they are al l da inty ,a ccurate , refined m in i ature s o f wh i ch one nevert i res . He has a concentrati on o f energy , subtl egradati on o f tone and supremely del i ca te bl endthat i s s cinti l la ting and e l egant . Hi s “R i ver

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LITTLE LITERARY LIGHTS

Se ine i s sus cept ibl e o f mu ch sent iment and feeling in i ts gentl e , poet i cal l ines , that one can l ivewi th always .The

“Vase Anti que o f Jacquemart i s the bestexample o f sti l l l i fe known— the m i rrored reflect i on i s cu ri ous and un i que . Lepere exh ib i t s mu chski l l and dexteri ty in his composi t i on , rap idlysketched wi thout loss o f valu e in a way that i sinteresting . For viva ci ous , cheerful work with anel aborat i on o f deta i l none excel Fe lix Buho t;even h i s “L i ttl e Funera l” i s attra ct ive , for i t i sreal l i fe , and there i s He l leu w i th h i s prettyheads , i f you l ike tha t k ind o f beauty, and Le

grand’

s Peti tes du Ball et ,” the s ame pl e a sing

kind , whi l e R ajan was a di stingu i shed po rtra i tetcherO f the Dutch - Flemi sh etchers , Van S

’

Graves

ande i s enti tl ed to th e h ighest p l a ce , and hi s pl ate ,“The Entrance to th e Forest

,one o fthe strong

est , most pro found and b est impress i on s i t ha sb een my go od fortun e to come a cross . Its vigorous l in es

,deep shadows and vi ri l e appearance

throughout a ttract and concentrate one ’ s a ttenti on immedi ately . J o ngk z

’

nd i s somewhat o f ad i lettante with a tendency to impres s i on i sm . Hissunset ,

“Antwerp ,” i s a fa i r exampl e , with a v is

i bl e fulness o f subj e ct and repl eti on o f l ine . Van

Muya'

en,who ha i l s from Switz erl and , i s a l over

o f wi ld an imals and has chosen etching,i n whi ch

he ha s b een eminently succes s ful,a s th e medium

of exh ib i ting th e i r na tura l hab i ts and chara cteristics . In th i s “Bengal Tigers” al l the fi erce

,wild

[ 1 8 ]

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LITTLE LITERARY LIGHTS

ground, s t i rs a sens i t ive admirat i on and forms ap i cture never to b e forgotten . I t IS ful l o f sent iment

,and the tran spos it ion o f l i ght and shade ,

in i ts suppleness and care ful sel ect ion o f l ine ,seem ingly pl ayfully arranged

,l ends a rather

fanci fu l mystery to the scen e . In i ts compl etenes s ,i t i s a p rophecy fulfil l ed and has a la st ing final itythat i s soul sa ti s fying .

Perhap s R uskin,equ ipped with h i s thorough

te chn i cal knowl edge o f art , i s on e o f the mosta ccompl i sh ed o f Engl ish etchers . Hi s “Pass o fFa i do” i s a cl ea r drawing o f the Swi s s Alp s inl i ght l ines

,without shadings or rel i e f , a perfectly

novel,harmon ious plate that 13 certa inly ori ginal

in i ts treatment , but in whi ch there s eems to b esometh ing impl i ed or l a cking . R o din

,who has

done some commendabl e sketches in bl a ck andwhi te

,l ike the charm ing “

Prin temp , for instan ce , sta te s that

“bal ance i s th e p ivot o f art ,”

and that to me seem s to b e what i s the matter .The dominant not e in Frank Sho rt’ s

’ “LowTide” i s s impl i c i ty ; i t i s excel l ent in i ts di stinctrej ect ion o f non ess enti al s and pure etch ing wi thbu t few s ign ifi cant strokes to outl ine the subj e ct .I t 13 fine 1n proport i on and one o f my favori tes .While h i s styl e 1s unpretenti ou s there 18 nothingsup erfi ci a l about i t

,but a sure s i gn o f the mastery

o f the art . Chatto ck draws pl eas ing l ands cap esw i th winding rivers , ca stl es and hi l l s in the b ackgro und , apparently for exh ib i t i on ; h i s p erspective i s good but , al together, he i s rather conven tion al and co nservative . Samuel Palmer

’s

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ETCHERS AND ETCH INGS

Ploughman i s d i sp layed in a low key and hasal l the spl endors o f a nocturne ; i t qu i te resemblesan engraving , and i s typ i ca l o f a l l h i s efforts .Brangwyn is colossa l and powerful and cer

tain ly ha s struck a new note . He impresse s onewi th h i s immens i ty in everything he undertakes—hi s structures are lo fty and figures al ive .Scotchmen who have made good a re Wil liam

S tranér w i th h i s figu re s , esp eci al ly that ent i tl edThe Orchestra and D . Y. Camero n in hisMeryo n like drawings . The Ros e Window i ssup erb and “Notre Dame D inant” a sa credanalogy that 1nspires reverence . M cBey 18 one o fthe com ing men . Color has b een attempted 1n

etch ing wi th indi fferent su ccess—the “Tambourin e G i rl” o f Le R at i s a cknowledged the mostb ri l l i ant representat i on .

Engraving , the transl at i on , i nterpretati on andreproducti on in expl i c i t t ext- book form of themasterp i ece s o f a rt , i s cons i dered rather oldfash i oned , st i l l there are many enthus i a st i c coll ectors and connoi s seurs interested in i t w ith wel lfilled port fol ios . I t i s o f two classificatio ns—thefine l ine , in whi ch most o f i t has been exe cu ted ,and the dot or st ippl e proce ss o f wh i ch Bartolo z z i was the l eading exponent . In th i s small coll ect i on are included “The Sleep ing Cat” o fVisscher o fwhi ch B ryan states ,

“Thi s p l ate ha snever been surpassed in the te chn ique o f l in e engraving ,

” and Sumner call s i t “ corypheus o f theart . ” “Napol eon” by R aphae lM o rghen ,

“Shakesp eare by Leo po ld Flameng ,

“L

’Homme a

I 2 1 I

LITTLE LITERARY LIGHTS

L’

Oeillet by Gail lard,Festival o f Spr ing by

Barto lo z z i and “Le B a i ser” o f D eblo is Fils,a ll

a re sa ti s factory, ski l ful exh ib i ts o f the correla tedversati l i ty and magi c influence tha t charms amateurs and pro fess ional s a l ike .A fter studying the sel ect European masterp i e ce s in etch ing , the unlearned has a fi rm b as i sfor hi s op in i ons , wh i ch , a fter al l , are a

‘ merematter o f pre ference , and a standard for h i sj udgment . Whil e in Ameri ca , we have not , a syet , ri sen to the h igh p lane atta ined abroad , s ti l lwe have done some very credi tabl e work ; buthave not a s yet establ i shed a nati onal typ eremoved from fore ign bu i ld ings and bri dges ,and appear to b e in the experimenta l stage ,esp eci a l ly a s far a s printing i s concerned . Bo rein

o f the West and Bernhardt Wall o f " the Ea stseem to have stru ck ori gina l notes tra ced fromnat1ve sources .The most em inent etcher tha t Ameri ca ha s pro

duced i s th e eccentri c Whistler,whose theori es ,

a ccording to h i s own est imate , were a lwaysrigh t ; a t any rate , hi s concentrated effort has estab l ished h im in the h ighest rank in the

"

a rtworl d and hi s spontaneous output cons i deredcl ass i cs ; whi l e some a re rather theatri cal , therecerta inly i s an i deal indiv i dual ity about h i s pl atesthat has created countl e s s adm i rers . I have before me three—“Adam and Eve Inn ,

” “L i ttl ePoul tn ey ,

” and Flo .

” The first ha s a charm ingatmosphere , but h i s draughtsmansh ip i s ratheremphas i z ed and an undue attenti on given to de

[ 2 2 ]

ETCHERS AND ETCH INGS

ta i l—qu i te the ant i thes i s o f h i s l ate r work a sinstanced in the second on e ,

“L i ttl e Poultney ,”

where there are only a few ess enti a l l ines full o fqual ity and suggest i on . Such sa ti s fa cto ry resultscould only b e a ch i eved a fter l ong apprent i cesh ipto more el aborate attemp ts—th i s i s real ly a goodexample o f what he term s the art o f om i ss i on” ;the cl imax , however, i s rea ched in the figure o fthe young gi rl “Flo , with its th in , misty, emotio nal el ement , where he h as expressed h imsel f in a so ft , V ibrant tone th at i s etherea l andWhi stl er at h i s b est .Duveneck a l so has arrived and hi s work acredi t to the nati on . In the old Venet i an houseson the Canal , h i s texture and del ineat ions arewonderfully cl ever and rea l i st i c ; these pla tes arevery scarce . “The Glou cester Fi sh House” o fPlatt unquest i onably comes next . Then we mustnot overlook the women ; i t needs n o sp i ri t o fgall antry to pra i se “The Goose Pond” of MaryN immo M o ran whi ch has much el aborati on andpa instaking m inuti a , whi l e the del i ca te l ines andgra ce fu l curve s o f the fem in ine figures o f MaryCassatt are del i ghtful in the extreme . The mostorigina l studi es that have emanated fromAmeri ca are those o f Anne Go ldthwaite—herdancing gi rl s are ful l o f mot i on and fa irly l eapfrom the pages , while noth ing yet ha s appearedqu i te l ike Mo ntrnartre .

”

“The Sounding Sea” o f Thomas M oran i ssomethmg d1fferen t . His treatment o f the cresto f ro l l ing, foamy waves i s intensely interest ing

[ 23 ]

LITTLE LITERARY L IGHTS

and l i fel ike . The Cape Ann sketche s o f S tephenParrish have b een admirab ly done , but h i s

“MillPond

,with i ts dammed stream bordered on one

si de by the autumn fol i age and the other by anold m il l , i s a gl impse o f Arcady.

A Ra iny Day in Ven i ce” by Otto Backer,An

October Day” by Swain Giffo rd, and the veteranSmtill ie’s

“Good Night , and Sweet Dreams” are

pul sating wi th sentiment and al l to o wel l knownto need comment . The l ater productions o f J o sephPenne l l do not compare wi th h i s e arl i er workl ike th i s p l a te o f “San Ghimignano ,

” for ins tan ce , with its bri l l i ant burst o f l i ght l ike a haloba ck o f the anci ent towers or h i s Ameri canVen i ce .” “Sol i tude” by Vanderho of i s the finestpure dry - po int etch ing that has ever orig inatedin the Un i ted States—the rugged grandeur o fna ture in i ts vi rgin state i s impress ive and wel lexecuted . Maclaughl in ha s made s everal graphi cdel inea ti on s o f the Alp s , whi l e Pl owman , Pe terM o ran and Andre Smith are al l p rominent andworthy o f menti on .

Of more recent Ameri cans , there i s nothingthat surpasse s the “La Port Gu i l l aume” o f Al lenLewis

,wi th i ts v i sta o f l i ght through the dark

archway ; another pl ate o f h i s o f meri t that i s attractive for i ts deeply b i tten burin i s that o f “AnOld Woman Read ing .

” William1 Le fvy i n ThePatri a rch ’s Prayer,

” Wo o d’

s“St . Jerome and

N o rdfe ldt’s“The Jew o f Tangi er a re portra i ts

in whi ch the arti sts seemed to have breathed intothe i r subj e cts the breath o f l i fe and among our

[ 24 ]

ETCHERS AND ETCH INGS

best . The Si sters o f Sturg es shows ski l l anddel i ca cy

,whil e “Winter in Jackson Park ,

”Pear

so n ;“Sand- Dunes ,

”R eed ;

“A Chinese ,

” a dist inct typ e , Wall

,and “Midnight Duty, Hig

gins, are al l o f rel at ive impo rtance .In our comp i la t i on a coupl e o f Canadi ans, whoshould no t be overlooked , are Frank Arming to n ,with his “Portal am Ro thausho f, Rothenburg ,

”

and Gagno n’

s“Sant Agostino Canal , Veni ce ,

ful l o f poetry . Church’

s“Cold Morn ing , S i r,

and S lo an ’s Fi fth Avenu e Cri t i cs” cover thebreezy , humorou s fi eld tha t a lways appeal s toAmeri cans .On the Pac ifi c Coast , t he pro fes s i on b e ing ini ts in fancy, the work , to a certa in degree , hasb een rather inconsequenti a l ; th i s i s s imply anel ementary phase , however , for there are manyencouraging credi tab l e product i ons that command favorable cons iderati on ; among them wehave Partridge with h i s

“Dancing Water ,”

strong and broad ; Harshe“San Lorenzo ,

ratherWhistleresque ; B o rein s d i s t inctly western“Cowboys and Indi ans” ; Bo rro ugh

’s“Bohemi an

Grove” ;“Russ i an R iver,

”Lemo s ; S tackpo le,

Wilke,Pages, Piaz z o ni

,Sparks, Parting to n

and a number o f others , besi des Helen Hydeand Isabel le Percy wi th the ir p i ctori a l coloredprints , and X avierMartinez and PerhamNahl

’

s

wei rd monotypes . Two sup eri or pl ates , o f meni dentifi ed with Cal i forn i a , are Washburn

,who

shows to advantage in th e “Stone Bench , BordaGarden ,

” and Haskill,

“To the Southward .

”

[ 2 5 ]

LITTLE LITERARY LIGHTS

One th ing we have excell ed in are our woodcuts—cl ear, so ft , refined impress i ons w i th wellrounded ea sy flowing l ines and broken folds ; unfortunately , th i s does not enj oy the popul arity o fi ts s i ster art . F. S . King

’

s“The Sorceress” i s the

cl a ss i ca l b eauty o f them al l ; French’

s“Bedou in

G i rl ,” Wo lf

’

s“Morn ing Star ,

”Co le

’

s“La Ma

terin ite ,” Watt

’s“Russ i an Lady , and Wilhan’s

“Pi rate ’s Cove” are ornamental as well a s techn ical . The art i s rel i shed by those who appreci ateits broad sph ere and mysti c elements .I f there i s any cri t i ci sm to b e made o f American etchers , i t i s that some o f them , not al l , areto o prol ifi c ; with the i r eye more on the temporary do l lar

‘

than permanent reputati on and wherethey p roduce too much , they cannot producemuch good ; there fore , there i s l i ttl e chance formedi ocre , commerci a l i z ed offerings to l ive .We must not forget the art o f Japan , for mu cho f th e insp i rati on o f our foremost p a inters hasb een derived from these old prints and , omi tt ingth e exqu i s i te rar i t i e s previous to 1 800, thosespec i a l ly o f su ch men as Hiro shige, Utamaro ,Ho kusai

,Kaiyo naga and Haruno bu al l have a

p erfect un ity and harmony and are ful l o f themsthetic and Sp i ri tual man i festat i ons o f nature .In making sel e ct i on s , one should b e care ful aboutthe qual ity o f the paper a s wel l a s perfecti on inth e regi ster . L i thographs , l ike m ezzo - tints andaquatints , have rece ived some attent i on from b igmen , more a s a divers i on however . Ol ifverHal l

’

s“Moorland” is a fine mo dern sp ecimen .

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AMONG MY BOOKS

LOVE my books . They have affordedme so much pleasure and real enj oyment in l i fe that I would not p art wi thmy taste for reading for all the m i l l i ons

o f a Rocke fell er .Books are re ad for

‘

vari ous purposes—info rmation , enterta inment, i nsp i rati on or rel axat ion .

They are a m enta l p anacea for al l the i l l s towhi ch fl esh is h e i r ; i n l e i su re , travel ing , s i cknes sor sorrow—there i s cheer and sola ce to b e foundin some volume .I t i s w i th keen sat isfact i on that I l oo-k b ack andth ink o f the numberl e ss hours spent in the irp erusa l and brows ing in old shops—w i th whatdel ight I a lways took up a fresh tome and howgratifi ed i f i t p roved worthy o f preservati on .

The o ne thing that gri eved m e most aboutthem was when some goo-d fri end would borrowand fa i l to return a copy I had read and , p erhaps ,marked and valued beyond any other that co u l db e purchased .

I , somehow, always wanted to reta in the spec i a lbook I had read . I t b ecame compan ionabl e , sorto f reverenti a l wi th the thri l l o f p ossess i on andpersonal to me . There wa s a fr i endly bond o f

[ 2 8 ]

AMONG MY BOOK S

fam il i ari ty establ i shed and I could i dent i fy p assages ea s i ly tha t had interested m e , whereas anew one wa s not th e same . Pe ople who do notcare speci al ly for books cannot understand th i s .A book to them i s e i ther for re ference or someth ing to devour and fin i sh as so on as poss ib l eand then cast as ide .I t i s not now necessa ry to purchas e twentyvolumes to obta in the one part i cula r copy youwant . “Sets” are no longer fa shi onabl e as shel fde corat i ons, whi ch i s fortunate , a s there is no

author whose work as an enti rety is worth reading .

Apropos o f thi s , Ambrose B i erce once told methat when in London , the publ i shers kept a fterhim for materi al al l the time . He sa i d they wouldprint anyth ing he offered , even h i s l aundry l i sti f h e had sent i t , and there a re many wash b i l l so f authors printed .

Fads in fi rst edi t i on s and cho i ce , expens iveb indings s imply create and encourage art ifi ci a lcondit i ons fo r the sp eci a l pu rpose o f ob ta in ingh igh pri ce s . The story i s to l d o f a woman whopurchased al l her volumes bound in b lu e , i rrespective o f the subj e cts treated in them .

I have long s ince devoted my attent i on to thecontents o f books rather than the i r exteri or dressor other marks o f di st in cti on and am perfectlywi ll ing to share a good th ing , e sp ec i a l ly i f beneficial , with the rest o f human ity ; 1n fact , that 13one o f the grea t pl easures o f knowledge and possess i on . I b el i eve wi th George Ma cdonald that

[ 2 9 ]

LITTLE LITERARY LIGHTS

I f instea d o f a gem , o r even o f a flower,we

could cast the gi ft o f a lovely tho ught into theheart o f a fri end , that would b e giv ing, as theangels , I suppose , must g ive .Many l ists o f the best books have b een i ssued ,but wi th the “B ibl e ,

” “ Imi tat i on o f Chri s t” byThomas aKempi s ,

“Dissertat i ons” o fEp i ctetu s ,“Meditat i ons” o f Aurel iu s ,

“Ess ays” o f Mon

taigne , Bacon and Emerson ; Shakespea re , Thoreau ’s “Walden” and Bryant’ s “Coll ect i on o fPoems —these ten volumes a s reading matter, ap erson coul d l ead an i dea l l i fe , from a l i terarystandpoint .Great character bu i lders a re Resource s byKirkham ;

“The Human Machine ,” Bennett ;

“Every—

Man a King ,” Marsden ; Power o f

Truth ,” Jordan ;

“Do Someth ing , Kau fman ,and Sel f-Measu rement ,

” Hyde . No man canread thes e wi thout b e ing better, no woman without b e ing strong-er.

A fter the anci ent cl a ss i cs come that charminglot o f ol d Engl i sh e ssayi s ts—Lamb , Macaulay ,Hazl i tt , Hunt , Swi ft , Addi son , Johnson and DeQuincey ; the Germans—Heine , Goethe andR i chter ; the French—Sa int B euve , Lamart ineand Daudet ; Ma -eterl inck , the Belgi an ; Stevenson - and Carlyl e , the extreme o f Sco tchmen ;Tolsto i and Turgen ieff, Russ i ans ; Matth ewArnold

,Ruskin

,Walter Pater, Symonds , Car

penter, the Engl i shmen ; Sheehan , Sharp andYeats , I ri shmen , and our own B enj am in Frankl in

,Hawthorne , Lowel l , Al ger and Reverend

Spald ing .

30 J

AMONG MY BOOK S

The Journals o f Mauri ce de Guerin , Ami el ,Bashk irtseff and that ent i tl ed “Journal o f aR eclus e

,

” Boswell ’ s Johnson and Evelyn ’s“Diary” ; the Letters o f St . Franci s and St .August ine , and those del i ghtfu l studi es o f natureby Burroughs, Thoreau , Whitman , Muir,Mitchell

,Jefferi es, White , Walton , Mab i e and

Van Dyke .Books tha t enterta in a s wel l a s a fford muchpleasurable reading and are ful l o f culture , sent im ent and refinement are “Humor o f the Underman

,

” Franci s Gri erson ;“ In the Key o f Blue ,

”

Symonds ;“Miscel l aneou s Studi es ,

” WalterPater ;

“E cce Puella,” Sharp ; Winged Des

t iny,

” Fiona Macleod "Sharp"; “ Iol au s or“Towards Democracy , Carp enter ;

“The Boo ko f Tea

,

”Oko kura ;

“Gitanjali,

” Tagore ;“Un

der the Cedars and Sta rs ,” Sheehan ;

“ProseFanci es , Le Gall ienne ;

“Pea ce and Happ iness ,”

Lord Av-esbury ;“Lauru s Nob i l is,

” Vernon Le e ;“Sesame and L i l i es ,

” Ruskin ;“Virgin ibus Puer

i sque ,” Stevenson ;

“Wisdom and Destiny ,”

Maeterl in ck ;“Gl impse s o f Truth , Spalding ;

“De Flagel l o Myrter,” Garnett ;

“Fri endshipso f Women and “Genius o f Sol i tude ,

”Alger ;

“The Celt i c Twi l ight,” Yea ts ;

“White Hyacin ths, Hubbard ; Dreams ,

” Schre iner ;“Rev

eri es o f a B achelor,” Mitchel l ;

“Sketch Book ,”

I rving ;“ In a Club Corner ,

” Russel l ;“Autocrat

o f the Breakfast Tabl e ,” Holmes ; E arth to

Heaven , Vaughan ;“Fantasti cs and Other Fan

ci e s,

” Hearn ;“Kakemono ,

” Edwards ;“Mus i

L ITTLE L ITERARY L IGHTS

cal Sketches , Polko ; the p ros e o f Edward Rowland S i l l ;

“Bes i de Sti l l Waters ,” Benson ; My

Musi cal Memori e s ,” Haweis ;

“Strenuous L i fe ,Roosevel t ;

“Memo i rs ,” Moore ;

“The PrivatePap ers o f Henry Ryecro ft,

”Giessing ;

“Ad

ventures in L i fe and Letters ,” Monahan "

“Studi e s in Shakespeare ,” R i chard Grant Wh ite ,

and “Chara cters and’ Events o f Roman His

tory , Ferrero .

Or, those touch ing upon nature l ike Fi eld andHedgerow, Jeffri e s ;

“B i rds and Poets ,” Bur

roughs ;“Dreamtho rp , Sm ith ; Natu ral Hi s

to ry Selbourne ,” White ; Soci a l L i fe o fInsects ,

”

Fabre ;“ In the S i erras , Muir ;

“Under th e

Trees ,” Mab i e ; My Study Window,

” Lowell ;“Specimen Days ,

” Walt Whi tman ;“Complete

Angl er,” Walton ;

“L i ttl e R ivers,

” Van DykeAudubon ’ s “L i fe” ;

“Outdoor Papers,” Higgin

son ;“Gray Days and Gold , Winter ;

“TheHive , Maeterl in ck ;

“Kinsh ip o f Nature , Carman ;

“Poeti c Interpreta ti ons o f Nature ,”

Shairp ;“Country By

—Ways,” Sarah OrneJewett, and

“Adventures in Contentment, Grayson .

In drama one shoul d fam i l i a ri z e hims el f w i th :fEschylus,

“Prometheus Bound” " Sophocles ,“Anti gone Eurip i des ,

“Medea Aristo ph

ane s ,“The Clouds” ; Shakesp eare , Hamlet,

“Romeo and Jul i et,” “Merchant o f Veni ce” and

King Henry the Fourth” ; Goldsmi th , SheStoop s to Conquer Sheri dan

,

“R i va l s andSchool for S candal” ; Lytton , The Lady o f

[ 3 2 ]

AMONG MY BOOK S

Lyons Mol i ere,

“Tartu ffe” and The M isanthrop e Ra cin e ,

“Phedre” ; Corne i l l e ,“Th e

C id” ; Rostand ,“Chantecler Goethe ,

“Faust” ;Less ing

,

“Minna Von Barnhelm”

; Sch i l l er ,“Wilhelm Tell” " Hauptm ann ,

“The SunkenBel l” ; Ibsen

,Ghosts” and “The Doll ’s

House Strindbe rg ,“Swan White Gogol ,

“The Insp ector- General Lo'p e de Vega ,“Star

o f Sevi l l e” ; Calderon , Mayor o f Zal amea”

;

Maeterl in ck,

“The Blu e B i rd” ; Shaw ,

“Manand Superman Kennedy ,

“The Servant in theHouse” ; Brown e ,

“Everywoman” ; Noyes ,“Rada Synge ,

“R i ders to the Sea” ; d’

Annun

z io , Francesca da R im in i”

; Roberts ,“The Foo t

o f the Ra inbow” ; McGro arty,“The M is s i on

Play,” and the farces o f Wm . D . Howel l ,

“TheMouse Trap” ; Henry James , Da i sy M il ler,

”

and John Kendri ck Bangs ,“A Proposa l Under

Difliculties”—in these suggesti ons may be found

action , pa ssi on , chara cter and humor in al l th ephases o f comedy and tragedy . I have om ittedtho se dramati sts whose eternal i ron i ca l s ea rcho f vi ce and cyn i ca l analys i s o f p ro b lems o f lusta re noth ing rrio re nor l es s than s ensati onal l i terary di ssect i ons ca tering to unhealthy

,morb id

appet1tes .

I t i s not the p rovince o f th is paper to tou chupon no vel s or general l i terature . Suffice i t to s aythat for pure di ct i on and analys i s

,I cons i der

Henry James our foremost Ameri can novel i st,

with Mari on Craw ford and Wm . D . Howell sclos e se conds . I remember one t ime co ngratulat

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LITTLE LITERARY LIGHTS

ing a fore igner on h i s correct u s e o f the Engl i shlanguage . He in formed me he had acqu i red i t byreading the works o fHenry James .Those who are fam i l i a r wi th Cal i forn i a au

thors have much a dm i ra ti on for them . Al l theworld knows o f Ambrose B i erce , Bret Harte ,Joaqu in M i ll er

,Mark Twa in , Charl es Warren

Stoddard,John Phoen ix and John Mui r, but

how few have read the “Outdoor Ph i losophy”

o f Kirkham,

“Comfort Found in Good OldBooks” o f Fi tch ,

“Meditation s” o f Griggs , TheEpheb i c Oath

,

” McAdie ;“Tra in ing o f the

Human Plant,

” Burbank ; Poems o f S i l l , Realf,Markham

,Sterl ing , Coolbri th , Cheney , Bash

ford and Smith,or

‘a host o f other wri ters o fwhom the State may well b e p roud , whose workand reputati ons promis e much for the l i tera ryfutu re o f the commonwealth .

Many enterta in ing volumes may b e found inpsychology , econom i cs and soci ology whi ch arenot tou ched upon here . I do not enter upon a ful lnarrat ion o f my cho i ce o f books , but most o fthem are tender, sympatheti c, opt im ist i c studi e so f nature and human nature , ava i l ab l e to all , thatwi l l a fford o ne , o f a reciprocal character , an extended knowledge and full e r a chi evement o f thesubtl e truths , duti es and doctrines underlyingl i fe . Th ere i s no more sat i s factory th ing in existen ce than to enj oy the good th ings the Lordha s provi ded for u s and to know and understandour own kind .

“Without a love for books , the ri chest man iso o -r.

”

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LITTLE LITERARY LIGHTS

steal ing over us the vagu e , t imbre , modulatedop en ing stra in s o f the V i ol in s awaken ing areveri e o f fa iryl and , l ike fan ci ful clouds , fi l l i ngus with emot i on .

Away a cross the dress - ci rcl e , i n the shadows o fth e dim l ight, you could see the eager, stra inedfa ce s o f those who l i stened wi th respons ivehearts , beating in un ison wi th the sl ow divin emelody , magi ca lly performed , whose heavenlysp ir i t made one dream o f Paradi se—all s eemingly bound by a s ingl e , sympathet i c consci ousti e unti l the final note s o f the ’cel lo , followed byth e death song o f the v i ol in s— then a pause—a

flutter—a s igh o f rel i e f from the b ewi tch ingtone s and mysteri ous rhythm s ; we rel axed ,stra ightened up , rel eased from the i r magnet i cinfluen ce and al ive to our surroundings .I t i s s i gn ifi cant that mus i c i s i dentified w i thGod"The church es have ab sorbed some o f themost soul - st i rring , heart- rea ch ing songs andpens ive e ccl es i ast i ca l measures to express and 1n

terpret the mean ing o f the i r s e rvi ce and m pra i s eo f the Alm ighty .

Two o f the b est defin i t i on s o f mus i c I haveever heard are by churchmen . B i shop Spauldingsays

,

“Musi c i s the food o f the soul in al l i tsmost exalted moods whi l e R everend Sheehanha s expressed h i s admi rat i on o f i t i n Mus i c i sthe lost chord that has strayed h i ther fromII eaven .

There i s so much to choose from , where one’s

m i s s i on i s s imply introdu ctory, tha t i t is diflicult

[ 3 6 ]

MU S IC

to state a pre ference , but, i f l im i ted to a fewp i eces for a l l t ime , those that awaken the senses ,stimulate the imaginat ion and establ i sh a feeling o f kindred are , for instance , on the deeptoned ’cell o

,my favori te instrument, Bre il

’

s

“Song o f the Soul , Rub inste in ’ s “Melody in F ,”

Schubert ’s “Ave Mari a” and Hauser ’s “Cradle

Songf’

Viol in—Schumann ’s Traumerei, Dvo rak’s

Humoresqu e ,” Mendel ssohn ’s “Concerto in E

Minor,

”Kreisler

’s

“Capri ce Vienno i s ,” Herbert ’s Y estertho ughts,

” Massenet’

s“Medita

t i on ,” Raff ’s “Cavatina , and Sa int - Sa en

’s “LeCygne .Pi ano L i s zt ’s L i eb e straum , Chop in ’sNocturne in E Flat , McDowell

’

s“To a Wild

Rose , Cham inade’

s“The Flatterer,

” Ra chmanino ff

’

s“Prelude

,and Seel ing ’ s “Lorel ey” ; any

o f these haunting harmon i es, in the hush andsti l ln ess o f a tw i l i ght mood , shoul d sati s fy theinnate cravings o f the heart .There is su ch a wealth o f ha rmony in symphony mu s i c th a t I o ften wonder why those

pi eces tha t comb ine melody wi th techn i que andinsp ire enthus i a sm in s incere l i steners are notmore frequently played , i f only s imply to awakeninterest in the unenl ightened and serve a s a h intand introduct i on to the more compl i cated compos i ti ons ; l ike , for instance , Schubert

’ s “Unfin

ished Symphony,” Mendel s sohn ’s overture

,

“Midsummer Night’s Dream , Beethoven ’sMoonl ight Sonata ,

” Bach ’s “A i r in G String ,”

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LITTLE LITERARY LIGHTS

Wagner’s prelude Lohengrin , Rub inste in ’ s“Reve Angel i qu e , Tscha ikowsky ’s “FourthSymphony

,

”Grieg s

“M o rn ing , Haydn ’ sM i l i tary Symphony, Mozart ’ s G M inorSympho ny, Dvo rak

’

s“Largo” and other s im i

l a r themes.

A l l a re more or l ess p arti a l to b and musi c ,reed instruments wi th so ft undertone s l ike the“Dance o f the Wood Nymphs” by Sak andDanse Cho ino ise” by Tscha ikowsky .

String orchestra Offenb ach ;Intermezzo , Mascagn i ;

“Hungari an Rhapsody No . L i sz t , and

“Veneti an Love Song ,Nevin , al l o f whi ch have a soul in them pouringi tsel f o ut in enrap tu red thri ll s .Ball et Mus i c is un iversally enj oyed , especi a llythe waltz from “Faust” ; al so ,

“Amaryll i s ,Ghys ;

“Kossak Dance ,” Ascher Pi zz i cato ,

Del ib es ;“Minuet

,

” Mozart ; Fi rst HeartThrobs ,

” E i l enb erg ;“Sca rf Dance ,

” Chaminade ;

“The Butterfly , Bendix ;“Dance o f the

Hours , Ponch i el l i , and“Funeral March o f a

Mari onette ,” Gounod .

I t i s these l ight gay tones wi th a gra ce anddel i ca cy o f movement that enl iven and keep upo

’

ne s sp i ri t s and appea l to the taste o f the average p erson .

Cal i forn i a i s n o t l a ck ing in mus i ca l gen iu samong our orig inal composers who have createdmelodi ou s stra ins tha t wi l l l ive , are Edgar S .

Kell ey , Will i am J . McCo y , Edward F . Schneider, Walla ce Sab in , J . W . Metcal f, H . J . Stew

[ 3 8 ]

MU S IC

art,Fredri ck Zech , Cl i fford Pa ige , E . G . Stri ck

l and and UdaWaldrop , whi l e a popular l ibrett i sti s Joseph D . Redding .

The term “Musi cal C i rcl e s i s a phrase thathas impressed me wi th more p ro found meaningthan tha t usua lly intended . To me i t appears a sa ser i es o f sphere s encompassed w ithin ea chother and having l i ttl e k insh i p or influence uponthe i r independent ne ighbors , representing thekn owledge , sent iment and appreci at i on o f thevari ous strata o f musi ca l human ity . The outerci rcl e i s the bas i s and embra ces the l argest numher, fo r i t i s made up of thos e , unsophi st i cated ,who enj oy melody mingl ed wi th j oy and mirth ,o ften conta in ing much that i s trivi al in cha racter ;then comes those fi l l ed wi th intens i ty struggl ingto comprehend and study its vari ou s forms , foll owed by the amb i t i ou s dest ined fo r a ca reer ;then the soul fu l sp i ri ts lost in dreams o f insp i rat i on , and so on , to th e inner, small er and moreexclu sive c i rcl es , made up o f the masters o f techn i que , some o f whom attempt ori gina l work andothers sat i sfi ed to paraphras e or add vari a t ionsto the compos i t i ons al ready in ex i s tence o f thegreat composers .A s you approa ch the center ring

,the chords

apparently grow more sombre and techn i cal andrequ i re a proper interpretati on to b e appreci atedby an untra ined ear but the most overwhelmingly popula r ci rcle wi l l a lways rema in the outer ,for there 13 to b e found the s impl e mus i c o f express i on that rea ch es the heart o f mankind and

[ 39 ]

L ITTLE LITERARY LIGHTS

tha t, a fter al l , i s more l a sting and sati s fying , i fn ot b enefi ci a l , to the world in general than thewe i rd chords o f any gen ius .Musi c i s not a luxury but a God - given qual i tyth at p enetra tes a ll ci rcl es o f human i ty , creatinggenu ine human happ iness , o f ines timabl e value ,tha t i s inst i l l ed into the hea rts o f the p eo pl ew i thou t di scrim ina ti on .

How cold , tame and ins ip i d in express i on arewords in compari son with mus i c"

[ 40 ]

SOME NOVELS

HAT a world -wide recreat i on novelshave afforded the mult i tude"There i smuch sol ace , a s wel l as enterta inment ,obta ined from themr

—perhaps much o fthe i r amusement i s a ccounted for in the fa ct thatthey dep i ct l i fe

,del inea te character and describ e

s i tuati on s and emoti ons that mo s t o f us havedreamed for ourselves or sim i l ar experi en ce s forwh ich we have secretly longed and conta in mu chde l i ght fu l uncerta inty that create s romance .A s a rul e , however, the i r mean ing l i e s on thesurfa ce and there i s an ab sen ce o f the deeperpurpose o f l i fe—the i r prin cipal a im app ears tob e to invest the ordinary ma tter- o f- fa ct deta i l so f l i fe wi th compl i ca ted i deal s and vari ed ro

man ces that awaken interest and arouse curi o s i tysuffici ent to peru se a volume to th e end .

They analyze , cri ti ci s e and ri di cule l i fe in i tsva ri ous asp ects but, a s a rule , give no i l lum ina ting theori e s o f re fo rm nor offer any solu ti on o fthe many problems involved

,l e av ing one in an

unsati s fa ctory , perplexed state—the exposureo f an evi l b e ing held al l suflicien t ; someth ingmore , however, should b e demanded in the wayo f a suggesti on for a remedy .

[ 4 1 ]

LITTLE LITERARY LIGHTS

Peopl e o f l i ttl e or no knowledge or ta ste i nl i terature make up the maj ori ty o f the vast aud ience served by the wri ters o f sensati ona l fi ct i on ;the un folding o f a del e ctabl e tal e , who s e p lot i scommonpla ce and cl imax predeterm ined , imp resse s them l ike a galvan i c spell , soon , however , exhausted ; th a t these readers suffer menta lindigest i on and are fi ckl e is shown by the earlyrel egat i on o f th i s much adverti sed , overworked ,pern i ci ou s foo d , whi ch discrimihating booklovers don ’t buy and whose popul ar i ty 13 soontested , to the rea r rows and the accumulat i on , ma few months , o f a huge quantity o f back numbers in the s econd - hand shop s with a constantdemand for fresh materi a l to devour, for thetrans i ent l i fe , depending upon adverti s ing andforcing , o f a

“B est sell er” i s short and strenu

ous , a s i t l a cks l asting , permanent qual i t i es .I t i s only the novel s w i th dramat i c, analyt i cand syntheti c powers tha t p a int human nature asi t i s that su rv ive

,and those offered recently seem

to be dev i s ed more for the cereb el lum than thecereb rum .

Thi s i s not a cri t i cal di ss ertat i on on l i terature ,for the world i s fi l l ed wi th books on books , butover a w ide range o f read ing I have s el ected thefol l owing a s the most interesting and enterta ining to chat abou .tIn j uven i l e l i terature there i s a quartet o f boy’sbooks : Defoe ’s “Rob inson C ru soe ,

” MarkTwam

’

s“Tom Sawyer,

” Jul es Verne ’sLeagues under the Sea

,

” Ma rryat ’s “Masterman

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LITTLE LITERARY LIGHTS

with h i s masterp i e ces Le Pere Gori ot and“Eugen i e Grandet ,

” and then George E l i ot ’sAdam Bede” and “Mill on the Flos s .” InM ari on Crawford ’ s “Mr . I saa cs” i s a sol i l oquyon l i fe and death that i s exqu i s i te and may beread and reread . Fi elding’s “Tom Jones” i sthought by many to be the b est novel ever written , but I pre fer

“The Three Musketeers” o fDumas or Victo r Hugo ’s “Les Miserable s .There i s a long l in e o f hi stori ca l novels o fwh i ch the b es t a re Bulwer Lytton

’

s“La st Days

o f Pompe i i ,” a poeti ca l p i cture o f the l i fe i n that

ci ty j us t b e fore i ts doom ; Di cken s’ “Tale o f Two

C i t i e s ,” a wonderfu l descrip ti on o f Paris and

the French Revolu ti on , without a s ingl e Frenchphrase in i t . Scott ’s works a re full o f hi stor i ca lre feren ces

,p erhaps the most a ccu rate p i cture

b e ing that o f th e times o f Lou i s X I i n “QuentinDurward B en Hur” by Wall a ce , a b ibl i calta l e ;

“A sp as i a” by Hamerl ing , showing the l i feo f the Hell en i c p eopl e a t the he ight o f the i rglory ; Eber

’ s “Uarda,”a tal e o f an ci ent Egypt ;Marius by Wal ter Pater , a prose poem ofRoman l i fe wri tten in the purest Engl i sh .

The “Semiramus

” o f Peple ,“Sal ambo o f

Fl aubert and “

Q uo Vadi s” of S i enki ewi cz a re allgoo d , a s a re al so Po rter

’s “Scotti sh Chi e fs ,Reade

’

s“Clo i ster and theHearth ,

” Thackeray’s“E smond , Muhlbach

’

s“Empres s Joseph ine ,

”

Abbott ’s “Mary , Queen , o fScots ,” and Fronde ’s

“Caesar , whi le Churchi l l’s “R i chard Carvel ,

”

Irving ’s Astori a , Lummis’

s“Span i sh Pi o

[ 44 ]

SOME NOVELS

neers and Parkman’

s“Oregon Tra i l rep resent

interest ing Amer1can peri o ds .An amateu r lover o f h i story who reads thesenovel s w i ll ob ta in more enterta inment and b etteri dea s o f the p a st centuri es than he can get frommost h i s tori es, for the p erio ds , cha ra ct ers andevents have been d i scriminately sele cted forthe i r p i cturesqueness as wel l as for the i r a ct i onand the fa cts rel ating to them and handled andpresented with a semblance to tru th in a readabl e

,enterta in ing manner . I t is an ea sy way o f

a ss im i l a ting knowledge whi ch , a fter al l , i sga ined by the general reading publ i c more froml i tera ture than h i sto ry . Thei r trend i s dramati cand ca rri es one fa r away from one ’s immedi a tesurroundings .Books ful l o f adventure and strategi c man eu

vers , that keep o n e i n a cont inuou s state o f excitement, are numerous. I pla ce th e “Three Musketeers” by Dumas at the head o f the l i st ;Cooper’s “La st o f the Mohi cans” and ThePi l ot ,

” Weyman’

s“The Gentl emen o f France

,

”

Dana ’s “Two Yea rs Be fore the Mast,

” Patti e ’s“Narrat ive” are fu ll o f fi re ; then there are theold romance s o f “

Do n Quixote,

” Cervantes ;“Gull iver’s Travel s , Swi ft ;

“Sentimenta l Jou rney,

”Sterne , and

“Travels o f B aron Mun chausen .

Those o f Bohem i an l i fe a re : Tri lby by DuMauri er and “The Beloved Vagabond byLocke , and for humor none surpas s Charl esLever ’ s “Harry Lo requer

” or “Tom Burke o f

[ 45 ]

LITTLE LITERARY LIGHTS

Ours , Lover ’s Handy Andy, and MarkTwa in ’s “Rough ing I t . Thri l l ing detect ivetal e s that a rouse your curi os ity and keep you ina fever o f exp ectat i on are Gabori au ’s “Fil e No ;

Conan Doyle ’s “Sherlock Holmes,

”and

Katherine Green ’s “House wi th the Green Shut

ters .Of chara cter analyS1s , the most popul ar arethose o f George Meredith ,

“The Ego i st” and“Ordeal o f S i r R i chard Feverel” whi ch al so conta in much humor—“Dr . Jekyl l and Mr . Hyde”

by Stevenson ,“Jane Eyre” by Charlotte B ronte ,

the “Anna Karen ina” o f Tolsto i and “On theEve by Turgen ieff. The best o f the Germanworks a re Goethe ’s Wilhelm Mei ster, R i chter ’s Fru i t , Flower and Thorn Pi eces andHein e ’ s “

Reisbuilder.

” Others novels worthreading are , Blackmore

’ s “Lorna Doone ,Hardy ’s “The R eturn o f the Nat ive ,

” “TomBrown ’s School Days ,

” Weir M itchel l ’s “Characteristics

”

;“Macleod o f Dare ,

” Bla ck ;“A

Window in Thrums ,” Barri e , and those s impl e

charming chara cters i n “The Fear o f L iv ing” byBordeaux , th e sweetest tal e o f mother love infi ct i on ;

“Abbe Constantin” by Halevy ,“An

Att i c Phi l osopher,”So uvestre ; Paul and Vi r

g in i a , de St . Pi erre , and“Crime o f Sylvester

B onnard” by Anatol e France . A tragedy i s“Crime and Pun i shment o f Do sto ieffsky .

Of o ur Ameri can novel s , Henry James u sesthe cho i cest di cti on . His b est a re , The Ambassado rs,

” “Portra i t o f a Lady,” and Spo‘1l s o f

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SOME NOVELS

Poynton . One may obta in a goo d i dea o fHowell by reading An Indi an Summer” and“The R i se o f S i l a s Lapham ,

” and Marion Crawford in “Saracine sca . Hawthorne ’s “Scarl et Letter” i s th e New England tal e ; Page

’s “ In OleVi rgin i a” o f Vi rgin i a ; Cabl e

’s “Old Creol eDays” o f Lou i s i ana ,Westco tt

’

s“Davi d Harum”

of the M iddl e West . “Ramona by Hel en HuntJackson belongs to Cal i forn i a , and Bunn er

’

s

Story o f a New York House” i s typ i ca l o f l i fein the metropol is ; wh il e

“Colonel Carter” byHopkinson Smi th is a regul ar Southern chara cter .Novel s o f Western adventure include Overthe Pass ,

” Palmer ;“L i ght o f Western Stars ,

”

Grey ;“Whi spering Sm ith ,

” Spearman , and“Go -1d, Stewart Wh ite .The Last Ameri can , by J . A . Mitchell , i s a

s tudy which every Ameri can sho uld read . Twopo l i t i ca l no vels are “The Pri ce o f Pla ce bySamuel B lythe , expos ing pol i t i ca l methods inWash ington , and

“The New Mayor” by B road

hurst, showing civi c corrupti on in mun i cip al i t i e s ,Whi l e tho se w i th a keen analys i s o f modernsoci ety a re “The Goldfi sh” by an anonymousauthor ,

“The Husband’ s Story,” Phi ll ip s

,and

Edi th Wharton ’s “House o fMirth .

Pro fessor Leonard , o f Harvard , state s thatthere has been produced in the Un i ted Statesduring the past twenty- five years but three novel senti tl ed to rank as cla ss i cs : “The Octopus” byFrank Norri s , Call o f the Wild

” by Ja ck Lon

[ 47 ]

LITTLE LITERARY LIGHTS

don and The Conquerors by Gertrude Atherton— a ll Cal i forn i a authors , by the way .

When you are t i red o f p roblems , h i story andadventure , tu rn for com fort and ease to Goldsm i th ’ s “Vi car o f Wakefield ,

” Jane Austen ’ s“Pride and Prejudi ce ,

” Geo rge Macdonald ’sAnnal s o f a Qu i e t Ne i ghb o rhood ,

” AnthonyTrol lope ’s “Dr . Thorne ,

” and how restful youwi l l find these old- fa sh ioned stori es o f a bygoneage in wh i ch , neverthel ess, human nature wa spretty much the same as i t i s to - day"

[ 48 ]

CNJ RJ GATUDEDI

ORD BACON wrote , God A lm ightyfirst pl anted a garden , and , i ndeed , i t i sthe purest o f human pleasures ; i t i s thegrea test re freshment to the sp i ri ts o f

man,wi thout wh i ch bu i ldings and pal a ce s are but

gross handiworks .I t wa s the Rev . P . A . Sheehan who sa i d ,Flowers are the sweete st th ing God has madeand forgot to put a soul i n , and to those wholo ve them what a wonderful source o f recreat ion they are and what a com fort and pl easurein our hours o f ease"They speak a l anguagethat i s only interp reted by those who unders tandand appreci ate the i r beauty and mod est sent iment .In al l her fo rm s , Nature makes no more b ri ll i ant d i sp lay than in the almost cont inuou skale idoscop i c coloring o f the i r blossoms whi ch ,added to the i r so ft , redol ent fragrance , give s onea s close a tou ch o f Paradi s e a s i t i s p erm i ttedmortal s to enj oy .

Our garden cons i sts o f about an acre o f sweets cented trees , shrubs , vines and flowers—on e o fGo d ’s a cre s i t m ight appropri a tely b e termed

,

fo r i t is a tract dedi cated to show o ff the b est in

[ 49 ]

LITTLE LITERARY LIGHTS

m and The Conquerors by Gertrude Atherm— a ll C a l i forn i a authors , by the way .

When you are t i red o f p roblems , h istory andlven ture , tu rn for com fort and ea se to Goldn ith

’

s“Vi ca r o f Wakefield ,” Jane Austen’s

"ri de and Prej udi ce , George Macdonald’s\nnals o f a Qu i e t Ne i ghborhood ,

” Anthonyro l lo pe

’

s“Dr . Thorn e ,

” and how restful you.l l find these ol d fa shi oned stori es o f a bygonee i n wh i ch , neverthel ess , human nature wasrettv much the same as i t i s to - day"

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LITTLE LITERARY LIGHTS

Nature He has provi ded for us to fea st our eyesupon .

How many del ight ful hours i t has afforded us ,from the first fl owering o f the orange - coloredKerri a Japon i ca , in early spring , to the l ingeringfarewel l o f the purpl e bloom o f the Heather inw inter"I am thankfu l to b e gi fted with a senseo f the i r valu e and feel sorry for those so denseas to b e dul l or i gnorant o f the i r pl ea sure - giving qual i t i e s .What a song o f contentment they sing to theinterested, what a fi el d o f wonder and revel at i onto those who have penetrated the i r s ecrets"Fo rfl owers we should b l ess the Lord every day ofour l i ves . How dreary l i fe woul d b e wi thoutth em— a vo i d ’twould b e imposs ibl e to fi l l , andcan only b e est imated by imagin ing the i r totalann ih i l at i on .

With the awaken ing o f sp ring , the garden sudden ly take s on new l i fe—evi dence s o f renewedvigor are shown everywhere in the bursting buds ,peep ing l eave s and del i ci ous a romati c odors o fthe season .

Abou t the first o f the shrub s to fl ower i s theKerri a Japon i ca , a deep , ri ch orange in color,clo sely fol lowed by the Tamarix A fri canu s , al ight p ink flowery shrub w ithout l eaves ; with i tcomes the l ight gra ce ful Forsyth i a or GoldenB ell

,a cana ry yel low , and then the Deutz i a and

Ros eaWe i gel a , a mass o f p ink , then the Syringaor mock orange and the Sp i rea Mari e VanHauteii i n the i r whi te blossoms , and the red and

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OUR GARDEN

yellow wild currants ; the l avender L i l a cs and thetal l yellow Laburnum and purpl e Canadens i s o rJudas tree , with the i r grap e - l ike bunches o ffl owers hanging in great clusters , and the flowering Japanese Quince and Crabapples .The Genestas or Broom , the yel low Span i shand maroon Andrea ; then the Abuti l on orGolden Fleece , wi th i ts b el l - shaped fl owers ; theever- bloom ing vari egated Lantanas ; the bluePlumbago and the Datura or Angel s ’ Trumpet,and Viburnum or snowball with i ts whi tebal l s ; th e sweet - s cented yell ow Jasm ine , p inkOleander, the dark yellow Berberi s Darwin i,Hales i a or S i lver B el l , Habro-thammus E l egansvari egated , yel low Cestrum and red Call i stemonor Bottl e B ru sh , the Crata egus or Chri s tmasB erry, and then the shrub s noted for the coloringo f thei r l eaves l ike the Mahon i a or OregonGrape , Golden E lder and S i lver Tho -rn .

L ik e al l others , we take much pri de in ourroses , of whi ch we have several hundred vari eti es . A grea t favori te i s the s ingl e shel l - p inkI ri sh E l egans , the red Jacqueminot and Mari eHenri etta , p ink Carol ine Testaut, and LaFrance , yellow Marechal N i el and Cloth o fGold , the copper Gold o f Ophi r and Sole d

’

Or,

the wh ite IVIadame Druski ’ and La Marque ; thela rgest o f them all , red Pau l Neyro n and whi teM i ldred Grant ; the small est C eci l Brunner andBankshires ; the cl imb ing red Olga de Wurtem

burg , yellow Cloth o f Gold and p ink clu steredDoro thy Perkins.

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LITTLE LITERARY LIGHTS

Scattered al l abo ut the pl ace , over the fencesand about the bu i ldings , are the vines . The bri ll i ant Bouga inv i l l i a , purple Cl emati s , red Trumpet Vine , vi ol et Wista ri a , Honeysu ckle , Dutchman ’s Pip e , Pea and Cl i anthus ; and then the annuals l ike Dahl i as, Hollyhocks , Sunflowers andSweet Peas ; the old- fa shi oned pl ants

,such a s

Hel iotrop e , Rosema ry, Lavender, Mignonette ,Margueri tes , Geran iums , Carnati ons , Fuchs i a sand Call a L i l i es .Sca ttered here and there a re the fl owering trees—the red Japanese Cherry, pu rp l e Paulown i aImperal is, and whi te A lmo nds , p ink and blueLocusts , red Eucalyp tu s , yel low Aca ci a , p inkAlb i zz i a , red Chestnut , and whi te Az iria ; al somay b e included those wi th b eauti ful ly coloredl eave s l ik e the purpl e B ee ch , s i lve r B i rch andJapanese Maple ; and we must not forget the tal lp rivet hedge that enci rcl es th e yard or the everblooming yel low border l eading to the house o fyel low Hyperi cum whi ch attracts the attenti ono f cal l ers

,or the Viol et , Da i sy and Pansy beds .

There i s a lways much to do , but then the plea sant hours o f budding , gra fting , pruning andtransplanting and the fun o f watching th ingsgrow and bloom and the interest you take in theweather condi ti ons , to say noth ing o f the houseful o f blo ssoms , wil l amply reward you . I t i s adel ight fu l

,rest ful , health - giving occupati on ,

mental ly a s wel l a s physi cal ly .

In Japan they never a sk fo r a man ’s house , butinqu i re the way to h i s garden .

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LYTTTJ EI JTTHLARXTLHSEKHS

HORT s tori es I have always cons i deredthe vaudev i ll e o f l i teratu re , to b e indulged in during our moments o f l e i sure . They are a regu l a r panacea for

ennu i and the i r bri e f , effici ent , p i thy , a ct ive compos i t i on a to n i c for the weary , mentally or phys ica lly .

We start in ch i ldhood w i th lul l ab i e s , fablesand folk lore and a rea l a dm i rer o f narrat ivenever ou'tgrows the form or t i re s o f v iv i d ,homeopathi c sketche s o f a rt . They conta in thees sence o f l i fe in an abbrevi ated shap e and i l lustra te rather than deta i l the i r i nci dents , presenting a V i ew rather than a’ descripti on o f th e subject under di s cuss i o n , whi ch , i n th i s busy age , i squ i te satisfa ctory to the maj ority o f readers whowi sh th e mass o f trivi a l deta i ls offered in themodern novel , through whi ch they re fus e towade , el im inated , and a re looking for the maximum quantity o f p lot In the m in imum amounto f spa ce ; and there are many gems among thesepastel s appreci ated by l overs o f go od l i te rature .Turgen ieff i s the recogni z ed l eader in theshorter form o f pros e . In his “Old Portra i ts hegives an excel lent vi ew o f the anci ent Russi an

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LITTLE LITERARY LIGHTS

customs , bu t h i s b est efforts a re what i s te rm edh i s “Poems in Prose ,

” ep i tomes o f sent iment .S im i la r in styl e and qual ity is Gorky with h i sTales o f Two Countri es . Of the other Russ i ans , Tolsto i , to me , with h i s tragi c real i t i e s , hasalways b een ponderous . I t i s a cknowledged thath e ha s had a hard road and up - h i l l fight and hi sefforts show i t in h i s p i e ce s l ike “Where Love I s

,

There God I s A lso ,” and A Candle . Push

kin i s p opular , and on e o f hi s b est i s“The Shot .

A younger author i s Andreiyeff, whose tal e ent i tl ed “S i l ence” i s one o f the strongest and mostpowerful I have ever read .

Not any o f the stori e s from the North havemuch , i f any, humor in them . From Scotland weget Stevenson ’s psycho-l ogi ca l ta l e o f

“Markhe im” and Maclaren

’

s Doctor o f the OldSchool

,

” one o f s entiment ; the S candinav i anFi sher Lass i e” by Bj ornson ,

“Love and Bread”

o f Str indberg ,“Adventures o f N ils” by Selma

Lagerlo f,and The Two Fri ends” by Ki el land ;

the German Mari a Franci sca” o f Heys e , and“Founta in o f Youth” o fBaumbach .

The Iri sh tal es in themselve s are rather we i rd ;a s

,for instan ce ,Wi l l i am Butl er Y eat ’s “Ki dnap

pers” or “The Wayfarer” o f Will i am Sharp"F i ona Macl eod". The more typ i cal stori es a rethose o fWi l l i am Carleton .

In the sunny South there i s more dreamy ac

t i on . Take “A Tragedy” by Anton i o More , and“The Poet ’s Chri stmas Eve by Pedro de Alcarean from the Span i sh ,

“The End o f Candi a

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LITTLE LITERARY LIGHTS

by Gabri el l e d’ Annunz i o , or Coll ege Fri ends

by Edmando De Ami ci s from the I tal i an .

The home o f the short story, where it thrivesand has rece ived the attent ion o f the greatestart i sts , i s France— for i t i s there looked upon asan art and cons i dered a school or pro fess i on ini tsel f . To name the masterp i eces i s to enumeratethe renowned authors o f that country .

Fi rst comes Alphonse Daudet in h i s in im itabl estyl e with “The Death o f the Dauphin ,

” “TheFrancs -Tireurs ,

” and many others too numerousto menti on . L ike h im follows Guy de Maupassan t wi th “The Neckla ce” and “The Pi ece o fString” ; Balza c

’s “The Hidden Masterp i e ce ,

”

Gauti er ’s “The Mummy ’s Foot , Merimee’

s

“The Venu s o f I l l e ,” Hugo ’s “Fight wi th a Can

non ,”So uvestre

’

s“The Vi rgin ’ s Godchi ld ,

” Coppee ’ s “The Lou i s - D ’or then Halevy who hassketched in “Bla cky” and “The C i rcus Charger”

—del ight ful ane cdote s o f an imal s o f wh i ch hewas , evidently , fond ; or , the da inty b i t by Bertrand enti tl ed “Madame De Mo n tbaz an , or

“ Itake Supper wi th my Wi fe” by Gustave Droz .

The French create an atmosphere , whose artificial con structi on i s so master ful , that one b ecomes ab sorb ed in i t a s though in fa ct i t was ana ctual real i ty and fol lows the trend of the inc ident to the end .

The Engl i sh , too , l ike the abbrevi ated tal e andhave many excell ent wri ters . With them ,

though,

It ha s b een more o f sub j ect than styl e to wh i chthey have devoted the i r l aborious attention .

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LITTLE LITERARY LIGHTS

Di ckens ’ “Chri stma s Caro l and Cri cket onthe Hearth wi l l l ikely rema in for al l t ime themost popu lar o f Engl i sh short stori es , as al soGe orge Macdonald ’s “The L i ght Prin cess ,

”

“Walton R ediv ivu s” by Thomas Hood ,“The

O’

Co nno rs” by Trollope ,

“The Snob s byThack eray, Rab by Dr . Brown , The TwoHouseholders o f Qu i ll er—Cou ch , Dilemmas”by Dowson , and

“The Happy Prince” by Wilde .

Old fashio ried stori es are Mrs . Gask ell ’s “Cranford” and M iss Mit ford ’s “Vil l age Tales .”“The Caldron o f O i l” byWi lk i e Coll ins , “TheSti cki t M in i ste r” by Crockett,

“Passing o f theThi rd Floor B a ck” by Jerome , and

“Magpi eOver the Hil l” by Galsworthy a re al l goo d ,whi l e “

Alpyarius I sl and” by H . G . Wells ,

“AB enefi t Perfo rmance” by Jacob s , and Hope

’ s“Dolly D ialogues” are tru ly humorous .Much o f the sent iment and l i fe o f Japan hasb een brought out in the sketches wri tten by La fcadi o Hea rn , two o f the be st o f whi ch a re

“TheSoul o f the Great B el l” and “The Case o fO Da i . R edesdale

’

s“Tales o f Old Japan” are

more typ i ca l . An i dea o f the Chinese stori es mayb e h ad from the transl at i on s by Geo . Soul i e o fthe “Ghost in Love” and “Chi ldl ess ” Whil eHea rn brought out th e nat ive sentiment o fJapan , Kipl ing confined himsel f p rincipal ly tothe fore i gn l i fe o f Indi a . His tal e s have b eenmade famous , esp eci a l ly

“The ManWhoWouldb e King ,

” “The Courting o f D inah Shadd ,

” andR ikk i - Tikk i - Tavi .”

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LITTLE LITERARY LIGHTS

Al l an Poe , The Murder in th e Rue MorgueMark Twa in ,

“The Celebrated Jump ingFrog” ; Thos . Nel son Page ,

“Marse Chan”,

Bret Hart e , The Luck o f Roaring CampCharle s Warren Stoddard , Chumming with aS avage” ; Frank R . Sto ckton , The Lady or th eTiger” ; R i chard Harding Davi s ,

“Gallegher” ;Charles Dudl ey Warner,

“A Fight wi th aTrout ’“ Mary E . Wilkins , The R evol t o fMother J . S . Stimson ,

“Mrs . Knollys” ; Ambros e B i erce ,

“A Horseman in the Sky” ; JosephG . Baldwin ,

“Ovi d Bolus , George W .

Cabl e ,’S i eu r George” ; Ruth M . Stuart ,

“TheWidder Jo hn sing

”

; Henry Cuyl er Bunner ,“Love in Old Clothes” ; Thomas B . Al dri ch ,Marj ori e Daw Bayard Taylor,

“The Chiro pod i st” " Joel Chandler Harri s ,

“R abb i t and theFox .

These a re merely a pre ference to whi ch m i ghtb e added “The Mounta in and the Sea” of Eugene Fi el d ;

“Next to R eading Matter, by O .

Henry ;“The B achel or ’s Chri stma s ,

” RobertGrant ; Mule Art i l l e ry,

” John Phoen ix ;“The

Ploughed Land ,” Mary Austi n ;

“Breaking IntoSoci e ty ,

” George Ade ;“Chimmie Fadden , E .

W . Townsend ;“New Year’s Resolut i ons , by

Mr . Dool ey ; The Corpus Delecti,” Melvi l l e

Post ;“Battl e o f Acoma ,

” C . F . Lummi s , and“The Gi lded Man ,

” by Bandel i er .A man enj oys a ct i on and mystery . The bestmen ’s s tori es are : “The Two Householders , byA . T . Qui l l er—Couch ; “Youth , Joseph Conrad ;

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LITTLE LITERARY LIGHTS

In the M idst o f L i fe , Ambrose B i erce ; Withthe Night Ma i l , Rudyard Kipl ing ;

“Love o fL i fe , Jack London ;

“The Permanent Sti l etto,

”

W. C . Morrow ;“The Celebrated Jump ing

Frog , Mark Twa in ;“The Sheriff o f Gull

more , Melvi l l e D . Post ;“Murder in the Rue

Morgue ,” Edgar Al l an Poe ;

“Alpyarius

I sland ,” H . G . Wells ;

“The Diamond Len s ,”

Fitz - Jam es O ’

Brien , and The Contented Man ,Ivan Turgen ieff.Women pre fer sent iment and problem s . Thebest women ’s stori es a re : Death o f the Dauphin ,

” by Alphonse Daudet ; Meh Lady ,”

Thos . Nelson Page ; The Revol t o f Mother ,Mary E . Wilkins ; A Ca se o f Consci ence ,Mary Austin ;

“The Wi dder Jo -hn sing ,” Ruth

McEnery Stu art ;“The Neckla ce ,

” Guy deMaupassant ;

“Case o f O - Dai ,” La fcadio Hearn ;

“The Lady or the Tiger ,” Frank R . Sto ckton ;

S i l ence ,” Leon idas Andreiyeff;

“Pass ing o f theThi rd Floor B a ck , Jerome K . Jerome ;

“AChri stma s Carol ,

” Charles D i ckens , and“Ruth

from the B ibl e .I have avo ided sel e ct i on s from long works a s i ti s a fi el d in i ts el f and woul d take in an army o fwri ters . The fo rego ing covers reading for al lmoods and in clude s everyth ing from the tragi cto the humorou s . They are a s del ightfu l almosta s p ersonal intercours e and certa inly more restful and compan i onabl e and serve th e purp ose o fmaking a spare hal f- hour p rofi tab l e and enj oyable .

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LITTLE LITERARY LIGHTS

Al l an Poe , The Murder i n the Rue MorgueMark Twa in ,

“The Celebrated Jump ingFro g” ; Thos. Nelson Page ,

“Marse Chan”

Bret Harte , The Luck o f Roaring CampCharle s Warren Stoddard , Chumming wi th aSavage” ; Frank R . Sto ckton , The Lady or th eTiger” ; R i chard Harding Davis,

“Gallegher” ;Charl es Dudl ey Warner,

“A Fight wi th aTrout” " Mary E . Wi lk in s , The R evolt o fMother J . S . Stimson ,

“Mrs . Knol lys” ; Ambrose B i erce ,

“A Horseman in the Sky” ; JosephG. Baldwin ,

“Ovid Bolu s , George W .

Cabl e ,’S i eur George” ; Ruth M . Stuart,

“TheWidder Jo hn sing

”

; Henry Cuyler Bunner,“Love in Old Clothes” ; Thomas B . Aldri ch ,Marj ori e Daw Bayard Taylor,

“The Chiro podi st” ; Joel Chandler Harri s ,

“Rabb i t and theFox .

”

These a re merely a pre ference to whi ch m ightb e added “The Mounta in and the Sea” o f Eugene Fi eld ;

“Next to Reading Matte r, by O .

Henry ;“The Bachelor’s Chri stm as,

” RobertGrant ; Mule Art i l l e ry,

” John Phoen ix ;“The

Ploughed Land ,” Mary Austin ;

“Breaking IntoSoci ety,

” George Ade ;“Chimmie Fadden , E .

W . Town send ;“New Year’ s Resolut i ons , by

Mr . Doo l ey ; The Corpus Delecti,” Melvi l l e

Pos t ;“Battl e o f A coma ,

” C . F . Lummi s , and“The Gi lded Man ,

” by B andel i er .A man enj oys a ct i on and mystery . The bestmen ’s stori es are : “The Two Householders , byA . T . Qui ll er- Cou ch ;

“Youth , Joseph Con rad ;

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LITTLE LITERARY LIGHT—

S

In the M idst o f L i fe , Ambrose B i erce ; Withthe N ight Ma il , Rudyard Kipl ing ;

“Love o fL i fe , Jack London ;

“The Permanent St i l etto,

”

W . C . Morrow ;“The Ce l eb rated Jump ing

Frog , Mark Twa in ;“The Sheriff o f Gull

more , Melvi l l e D . Post ;“Murder in the Rue

Morgue ,” Edgar Al l an Po e ;

“Alpyarius

I sland ,” H . G . Wells ;

“The Diamond Lens ,”

Fitz - James O ’

Brien , and The Contented Man ,Ivan Turgen ieff.Wom en pre fer sent iment and probl ems . Thebest women ’s stori es are : Death o f the Dauphin ,

” by Alphonse Daudet ; Meh Lady ,”

Tho s . Nel son Page ; The Revol t o f Mother ,Mary E . Wilkins ; A Ca se o f Consci ence ,Mary Austin ;

“The Widder Jo hnsing ,” Ruth

McEnery Stu art ;“The Neckl a ce ,

” Guy deMaupassant ;

“Case o f O - Da i ,” La fcadio Hearn ;

“The Lady or the Tiger,” Frank R . Stockton ;

S i lence,

” Leon idas Andreiyeff;“Pass ing o f the

Thi rd Floor Ba ck , Jerome K . Jerome ;“A

Chri stma s Carol ,” Charl es D i ckens , and

“Ruth ,from the B ib l e .I have avo ided sel ect i on s from long works as i ti s a fi eld in i ts el f and woul d take in an army o fwri ters . The fo rego ing co vers reading for al lmoods and includes everyth ing from th e tragi cto the humorou s . They are a s del ight fu l almostas p ersona l intercou rs e and certa inly more restful and compan i onabl e and serve the purpose o fmaking a spare hal f- hour profi tab l e and enj oyabl e .

[ 5 9 ]

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