The Aspiration Of Poland, Ny Tribune, 27june 1897

leceteed <*ntry .«f Marl·-« t.· as E. ??··» r.-r tn·· stern·] auanc» ? «fan >t : la the ??. m ? Lato tb· ir capital, ? have BO ·· i» slew i. r r- man. ¦'¦¦ .· m-r A I« | th.· Partalans by the imf. reseen and the Impos¬ to tbe Imagination with a ? d uf th« ». d sible '.hat if I mairi d :!.·· Mad· nt:;· ??-y would al touch w« rh In the lives <->f men and women of Ihe IKlt be (J] |.| js. d.**· would have thought it necessary to palai Th«· asplratioaa "f Poland for an Ind· ?· I nt world, tht r v. or II as wt 11 as tinir OU ti baract« W. Mr «r*«anstttutlonal monarcb) burn «I s.> hotly in tb·· Glsslng leaves US to draw <>ur own conclusi ins ¦¡.ith« i'.s heart thai som·· nottee must here be t·» environing eau.*-· s ..f the .r ·; un among the duced l>y tb· pernlcloua system of electoral Yet he is noi an obscure writer. On the con¬ kingship, with its everlasting, «torruptina* fa·- trary, he leaves an Imprenslon «>f great thor¬ Uonnl strife, an.l made worse by tin presence of oughness and of even minute realism. Bui an ignorant, down trod len proletariat. Stanis¬ laus Pon lato wski, a foi*mer lover "f Catherine 111* knows that the realism of surfaces la one H su« ·¦«.' I ;·. (¡¡,. throne of Frederic Augustus III Complications arising from a Turkish war «?«*·". *¦*-"-«** .·:furnished the pretext for Bus i.:. Vustrla and Prua ¡a t«> despot] Poland The Flrsl Par¦¦·

*

··

>

LITKIÎ VUY N« rTES.

..

he

wh·«-

la th July ···;¦··«· b hard U n tun· Ilei up Wttk "A Ne : the Bubalyal uf «Dinar Kh yyaiu." Itlerlng la \· ··

-¦

¦

of lati

177'J

by

followed,

was

twenty-one

?

by

Iglest rom, Catherine'a brutal emissary. »pride and patriotism of the Polea would

Th··

have

r.

"f

none

a

second.

this

Warsaw

foreign

was

tyranny,

held

nnd

'f.

**l

Oh, corne,

n love, the spring Is In the land' Take win and t>n id and book of verse la hand,

huge conspiracy, directed by Koaciusako .:"? '. l b) the i·· il ? lo« d .-G the country, bi ke out iti 17M. Enormous were the private and public sacrifices made to arm, provision ..ml set afoot the rebel contingent Refusal t·« join the icaurgenl ranks w.,- accounted shameful. Th« revit thai exploded Pragu« end d In a mas¬ sacre, contrived by the terrible Suwarow. Koa clusxko, w in. |i d. was taken apth and Po¬

Ami ail with ii m tb gieeu shade, 'r· en lit!!. I, ..I ·,. ,[ rt -aril <:r« a bt;· bom« ? .-..? um there Is en« « evi ? otber «j ia:.: rain wl t etti r: l'i·, up wh ?.· parr I us' hoofs tamp heaven's ·-

Third Partition saw Poland reduced to third of it- original slxe. l'ut the ever courageous Polea lid not -«cognise their doom. Thetre still remained Fran e their enemies' ene¬ my, ;«« count i'!·«·!:. Kap« ;¦¦¦ n'a ascendant star became Poland's Mgln in her greal tribulation. »ibi µ.,,, ,.,., | ,«,] be open lo bis young, ti ustful all) 11.. .. infatuati .i w Uh the grandeur ol i:.: :¦¦'..,.'. liberator, whose botili..-ist :¦> ·. was flash) ai the u.... v ,,f t¡,. Hybla bees, Napoleon's generals, some of tii*m

braggart poseurs, like >, mself, mal·· havo< among female hearts, ««f which some, if we ai¬ to believe Mas-son, were offered at tin alta;· ..f .imi. .Mass, n. ¡n his mi romantic style of writing history, writing as if he wanted t«> please some one, gives a detail»! account >«f the Mans.·«, tions which led t«. Mm«·. Wal···.·, ska's fall all for the glory of Poland! A scandal of bk« color attaches vaguely t.. Anna Potocka'a name, but it -teems difficult t·· obtain historical warunit for it. Three legions of Polish soldier« mar· ind Into Busaia uader the French eagle In ISlt2 a moat convenient and cheap arrangeai« nl f««r the French eagle. Even the ruinous Bussia-i campaign, predicted by 'ral!··;, rand to lu¬ ¦-·

th· lieginning <«f th«> end,
the Elster. At the Congresso! Vienna In 1815 England, Austria aad Franc« protested loudl) for Polish Independence. Ol a sudden Napoleon land..¡ from Elbe, and the congress scattered h·· is. Alexander I of Bussia, unasked and un. .IP·«:.-·!, ?-lowm-.i bioi- 'f is::«:; ol Poland. Finis Polonke! The editor of the memoirs has mercifully spared ua the peel of notes. On Ihe other hand. be Imposes <«n ua a long introduction, which iiii more

than a

commonplace

¦·

«> on the con¬ one <···???<1 com¬

tents of the ?.k. such as an) pose wh·. :,.ok the trouble. The index Is Incom¬

plete, but, for

French book, satisfactory. Mar¬ hai·· been welcome ?·> those win· ? ad for Instruct!« n. The "Memoir· de la Comtesse rotocka" are to be mor« blghl) valu« ! as lit« rature than aa history. a

ginal dates w.,,i!d

RECENT FICTIOX. Mit.

GISSING'S POWERFUL LONDON LIFE.

STUDV

OF

THK win i:i.i.?. ?··· :¦¦ Ine. |»p. 138. London; Lawrenc A Hull« :i. A T «.LE >F THE TH AM IS Pi ? lib) With blutlon·· in *· ?

fili.-, n lllu trat! W. Hathervll. < » ni l'i ... Son.*·. lili; RI'RULAR Wllii MOVED

Herbert

th<

\:itt

nd Whll h) 'li irles S Tit»·

PARADISE

I!»

Ward. Duodecimo Boston: tlougb' '". THIRTY 9TRANOE STORIES, B) 11. «.' Wells. . >, :.i\... K.i w .«? «i .mold. The novel of sordid motives and prosaic «haracters haa ?·«¦· n made so revolting by SSola and his followers that the reader ? ho givea ;·. brief ton,

I·

Miltlin â

preliminar) glance t«« Mr. Hissing's "The Whirl¬ pool" f··. is tempted to pul the ?.k down. Bui

if he has rememb« red any of this author's other books he perseveres through the many pagea of the present volume and relinquishes it unwillIngl) at ih·· end. Foi Mr. Glsslng la one of those rare writers who, without professing to timi romane« .·? beauty In everyday lit'.·, neverthe less wrest from such unpromising material u

certain human and spiritual significance which i-, in its way beautiful and romantic, "The Whirl].l" Is persistenti) and superabundantly so.did l'i re are touches of such brilliancy as mlghl be expected In a book d allng more or less with fashionable society In a great city, bui a «hai» tone ultimately k.ils whatever color the novella! ma) have sought to secure. The fsct is he doea not .·-¦ m to have been In search of any Color at all. 11.· is vivi.I, but it is with the vivid¬

ness of

a

strong draughtsman

liis aim is for subtleties of

in

Mack and white.

feeluij-

and «-motion.

V. "'-.L^-akí^ ;·^>-.··? .··-¿

t|....r.

My

s .-.il Till .-? Cl« ar-·

kr:·

wi rit

ekln* at

«

the si 11!) t .? .i' h aven' yed I looked.and lau

.tv

dOOT,

fr

?

r -*·-^..

m. mol··.

t':

QU'

I '.·! M

?'..

Persi

in or

can

s.u.

:*

I-

'..«"

OUt Of

head Of «course no Persian being such a difficult language. ?'··? on!) the other «lay another version of this quatrain was written arid the author claln to ? ve taken it fr« m the Persian, ¦!···

"out of 1

t s

|.

a

discrepan

¡ornes her·.

ran

??. that hla he '.' .· n-·· fot-

«

·-

more.

11.1.?iy thai li tin: "a \ ersi· in. '·

ri,%&\j .fî '>

-,,

X

;.

.·-

¥? ·' "-?^'?

Persian

as

Mr. Le Gal-

Mr F ?? ipkii ? ¡smith has written a new novel. ¦< ···! ? \\ «·.'" «hi« h i-; t·· l·« lauti, h« d In "The \·?. nt I« Monthli I* .!· als « Ith Ufe among he builder« ¦: liKhth >ui Some

hijch-sjiirlted «?.

it riting letters that John si· 11.nu and Emerson are ? t number o I 'Th< Atlantic." Carlyle hrouKhl th<» two men a 'luainted b) cor¬ respondence. The) never saw one another, but ,1'OKGK GiSSlNG. their letters reveal a close pymputhy and ·· happy concord of ideas on spiritual thi thine, the realism of human nature another, and Here and there .··!¦..·¦ piquant fragments, this vignette nf one of Emerson'a dear¬ th« ? are no wasted ··· ordì In his long story. Tht notabl) fin mis "Wi' shall tnl you." he uii'· ¡-hallow, ambiguous but fitfully brilliant woman est St· t m a large ?.f spiritual ?who is the ««ritrai ligure ir. th« book becomes a land. In the .?«?· :' A Bi nson Alcott, w ho If for London about April IM. and whom you striking proof that out of unattractive material tosali must not fall to see, If y«»u can compasa it ? Mordisi of A power may make an absorbing t) pe. .nan who «.inn« ? write, hut whose conversation Mrs. K"ir.· m weak, false, malicious, and. on the la unrivalled in its way; such Insight, such dlswhole, vulgar; bui «·> the analysis of her traits inm. nt of spirits, such pure intellectual play, Mr. Qlsslng ir· ts very near ·.. universal pas¬ such revolutionär) linpuli s of thought; whilst sions and universal truths He does noi make he sp.aks he has no peer, and yet, all men ssy, 'such partlallt) "f view.' I. who hear ti..· sa bis heroine heroic thai be would scorn t" do .'.ilia., s laid at my ..nn gate, do noi so but he makes h» r profoundly Inter« stm·,-. and bla «¦liare,·· readily ?.·, ? that fault in my friend. But l enskill has been hardly lees sure or lem fruitful treal you to s. this man. Since Plato and in his port rayad of the remaining personugea Plotlnua we hav« noi tm.i bis like." They are all alive ea< b is Individualised, and We had thai ?.; Bobert Louis etev while one may 1» gin by thinking it ratini- un- elisoli had thought «'. the worst at the h.-.mls of hi·· profitable t>> write a ?.k about what everybody fri«mis. buiSUIT« 11 ems lhal «|Ulte Ihe worst Is yet knows thai .»ur modern social life makes sadly t<· «come. Tin- Incomplete story, "St. Ives." la t«> for pretence and insincerity it is Impossible t>> lie completed and "thia honorable work." as the English "H ..km.:n" .all- It. Is to be «I ine b) Mr escape the conviction that Mr. Qlsslng sled'·, ?. T. Qulller-Cou« h, l« tt ? known as <· I »... s n.w light «m the well-worn subject, ll. sounds h.· reali) think ? an honor t" do thi·* thing? II·· new and unexpected depths, be understands and has been known as an ardent Stevensonlan, bul instead of making him eager to finish ins Interprets with new power several figures of fa¬ ibis, master's work, should uispir·- him t·. ? especi it miliar life which had aeemed heretofore unuttei w·· have much ami let ii a!·.m tor ably commonplace. In other words, Mr. Qlsslng "Q.'a" abiliti ·*, In verse ami prose herespect has .|??>· son·* admirable work, ami if anv one is t·« be is a realist In th.- best sense, one who Is a real for life's sake, not s realist for the sake ,,? "art." ii.· has not written a better book than

f

·? '·

MR SIDNEY

?

I'tint· «? in the

curt

volumes on Landor and l<·· its In the Bng ? Men »1 i.· tters" ser I "G the l- at ?* grapha In that noble series Altogether, !.. ord has beet that of a man from whom the ut« most discretion might have ?.? expect« I, but he seems to have 1« t his head In his adi tra«· ti,,? ..i Stevenson's affairs »n;r p- r:r«:i of 1 is taken from one exhibit· ¦! at t·:· K» > al \ tn) thi >·.«: by Sir iSdward ? «ynt« r, ? R A. Mr i:. hard Mansfield haa ·¦.·*!. "lilown Away." win, h Is pr· sen! y be ? ;ali.shed Ly Page »*.- «'«.. «,f Bust n.

··

s.

.

·

In

-ur·.· \

n

glories ««f the Queen's

ini-r the

ri"t unnatural f..r

cbaugrin.

some

.·

nt

nient has t..

m

be

ara

··

l.nlliant «>a. lu« 11-

n

,,f <>.'

llonar) aph) »^ w ·

Mr-

rk

·,

?

ri)

Majesty's th·· prj>

the 1». National

Tin- gri .·.: as proje« ted I «;.·.,-·,-.· Smith, f

Smllh a

r··.

t.. the last beloatging of h« r

as

km.···.

«v

i_h!

:·

first Volum.·

:M

B, and was

tha t...

pub¬

lished In INKS Mr. Leslie St« pben aras tit.· 111.,r >,f tha original I;. IV·»· the twent) s.. nd volume Loi.· the name "f Mr Sidri· > Lee a.*· ase« »elate editor, and in the following year, with the twenty-eighth volume, that tleman undertook the entire direction gen¬ of th·· w..rk. The forty-ninth volume, carrying the w,.ik down t·» Sir William Oldn·!! Russell, . "hi. f .lii-t.. of I!· ncal 17*·-. I **.".".». was pub¬ lished .« ah, p time since, and i»nl) the other «la«. Mr «'. :^. Smith gave a banquet :·· bis numerous st-holarl) contributors ?.lebrate the oinpi. 11, -? of the ii*; ol names t.« ?.mhnieed in il· few concludins vttlumes Th· y will Ik» published within a year ·? two The nary' pract leali) complete. It Is, on il.· whole, one of the n«»blest monuments of ICngllsh llteratun Leslie Stephen poured .1 his enthusiasm uu«. the schemi h· fixed Us high bara« t ·? and has ever ? Inee bet n a ? ·?· nt Influì n< in its evolution No Pantheon like :r e\;*ts m an) other language It i-* mor,· than ? work ..f reference It Isa c lit tlon of delight¬ ful e*· a) «, a m» of them lielns. poaltlvei) brill¬ iant. «' ?· a- the hi ¦-;!.·; hi, .·.··¦ th« !.. ;!.¦ ?.. ? drawn up on liberal lines, ling each writer opportunity for some i-ritli -m as well aa for the statement of facts. in Loth directions t!.·· utmost care has I. and it In doubtful If any of tbe illdatt'd In many a long lay. lb laj. sty h;,* numi ¡ ts things to be thankas she ? un triumphs of ),· r reign but few .>f the ? plnlts of her subjects tn ?.id warmer admiration .,r more earnest ide than she must :.. I for thla stupendous dl ???? arj The Macmillan l'umpanj has in*: brought oui .? Ml ?? Ion · "l S ? fi t d's :? ? ·

Whirlpool."

Mr. Ashbj Sterry lias done better work than appears in bis "Tal. of the Thames." but h< la t-adiLl, in the long run. if only for the sake of the humorous fillip given t«· bis pages at Inter¬ vals Then the rhymes scattered through th on the Thames has somehow µ««? into Loth

r

the literary bistort·! , condition of their vith The giants are allprovince g ne Bul one spi« ndM

"

si«·. Wh·!··, in the ions course ««!' Ihe furious, un«b Id« «l Volk« ??« blacht. he perish« d In the floods "Th.·

c«r

mm »»^¡¡aI?* -**·'·

,

lb« a ful l".r··. y ho« .¦·.' .i·!,·. :· ??'ß ?··· 'G. Till in the silly depths he found his lair. Cea ·>? then t.. trouble, "wrote," and "sang." no

níalo-- ski fore« d to abdl« ite. Th··

·

.

«

supp

t.

?

«

thci The lim

a

.

·

nés

.

yeai

.»

'

¦

·

·

itaisiil, >·:·

in 1MB V.r «t-.·« Prof»asor >,f Kit..« Art« il aad waa at ,?.··.· ·? au «,.r nt .,; /.wiiii.im Muaeum In ??", ii MM he w.i* k per "f th«* I». ,· irti I ?*· ai o In the British Maas« etra, ai '. t. has r**I thei ever stai ll- a-.-'* boon ? eoi s rrittrr on art and « » rmtui ·

'

·

.·

-f

«

prose and verse, as though In s pit·· of th author's tendency i" adopt tli«· style of a ·p?<)··book. Sin.·. Mr. Hatherell's pictures are unus¬ ually pretty, an Idle half hour may be not unwlsel) spent over the adventures of Dora, '.»ivi·}·? ,'Z ''?-'?/??/? Phyllis, the Colonel and Ins wife, the two young men from London, and the ubiquitous servltoi \\ at h« r row. ?'*¦ The humor In Mr Ward's littl« book la not sporadic. It Is encountered ? nearly every page and it Is invariabl) fresh and persuasive, li rtquired tact t,> write a narrative of such sweet ntlmenl without becoming sentimental. Mr. Wai»I has had the tact. He writes of a bridal couple, writ,.*, of Corona and Alexander In the y. r:. ut'II.LER ·; most p. rsonal wa) bui ?.« never rubs the bloom off their roman,·.·. he Is dr. II, but not familiar: h««· n at all to .'H "St. I ·. s" !:.· is alKiut round he Is whimsical, but ? t grotesque as he tt:·· ? st man be f «und. Itul ai noi th»' threat« na t·» be, it must be a«lrr:i;t. d, :; the pi- ?· ? ince I··· 1· :'t as Stevens ? I. .t h> it? \.. doul I aode of the house-moving and though the tale tl-, i.· ale .¡at.: enough f«»r <'." to Wllte 11:·· e «a «hail.·;·.·, bul he cannot hope t.« write is of the most unpretentious sort, ,t has much eluding them with st venson's art; and if he could, to sound sense In It, with much keen and l lient. h .?.· «¦.-.¦? a friend touch h: ·.. ,rk ···· aid ?···, «ve Imagine, Jus! the sort of Indignity t·. make St. t) mpath). i-i >n turn In his grave Hi «van willing that the If Mr. Wells had ?.? content t" writ.· fifteen "Valllma letters" should he put In ship, hj. on··, but Indication« that he ? it the ame strange stories Instead ol thirty, h<· might have some Ir difference aboul his fiction are lacking He maule ? more satisfying ?.k As it i*-. there is had humility, aa we ma) jml.¦«¦ from th- d-fer no serious objection to be brought against his entlai way In which h«· i-onault« 1 th« opinion ol «oiiection of short tales, it is merely that one his friends, but that is a verj different thin** from do what them having like ihey with Ins or two couis.s of graveyard mould are usually work pride of the craftsman, ami enough for an ordinary palate. It is nice t·« nothing Hethathadan)theother man could do with hi» sup u horrors from tini to time, but when Mr. manuscript, unless m a. inai collaboration nub Wells asks us ?»» hav.· them for breakfast and him, could ever hav« sal sOi ·? hin sa« ting tante "Q i-, a darin.; man Of course, he will do Ins dinner, too, with tit-bits of ghoullshness to give task reverentially, and will wreak himself upon the appetite stimulus between meal-·, it is ir with tact and sympath) snd care and all the natural to pretest. Granting him h\" other virtues. But how much more edifying an predi! ima:·.· would he make, resolut« «.. d lining "this lion for strange diseases, luna y, murder, orchids work" ind (»rot· itinjt frankl) aj-ainsi that kill men as devil-fish might kill them, nnd honorable (..m hing "St. Ii es" at all. for the wildest latitasti, aliti, s of the bottom of the sea and "the roof of the world" granting We presume that, as Stevenson's literary «\ <·« u toi. Mr. Sidn· ? « ·¦ ·:? m will lie linn all this, we say. there remains only partly prsl thia addii ion t "St d s," andresponsi we are for his ingenuity and for his narrative gifts. .soni that he Fthouhl hla give »naenl t<· ii«· can make the most forbidding monstrosit) und ? !.«king 11 Is a« tl« ? s, however, in respe«*!the t·« plausible. He passes from one Kiisly theme t«« St« ..iisoti's literar) mains have been of a the other, shocking th»· Imagination ever with rather unexpecttd character, li.· has certainl) facilitât· d. more or ss, the lamentable post¬ newer and more extraordinary thing· But the humous exploitation of Stevenson by tin.s. who shock pusses and a belief In Mr. w. iis stays. should hai«· been most earnest In guarding his If lie «rere more of a poet and leas "f a sci .ntist fame. He Mr, Colvin is a :uan who. all In- life long, has been distinguished In minor ? US be can well afford to be be vvuuld «.'lUal 1*0 letters for tact and s serious Ideal ll«· was on his own gmind elected a fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge,

.

¿-¿ta

&3L,

«

"

.-¦

.,

¦'¦«¡..»I

..

··

.

of V» stenla) ; ·?· Weir Mitchell' -.erial st»»ry. "Hugh Wynne«, ?? ·: been '.";. running in "Thi «' ntury Magazine." «Mill be published In booil form bj ihe Centur) Compari} in the autumn, "

.;

,? Herl it Paul, writing In the "Nineteen*" ·. ..· ut ) ut i upothéoste of 11«. novel .:· dor Queen Victoria, observes that while In th* earl) Victorian novel there may have been toe much sentiment, In the late Victorian nove; there Is api to be t. much of everything. ? ;.snio..tit tal.·, generally of love, has become a crowded epitome of universal Information. The ¡.je· lion will be received with sympathy ? man·, readers. It Is quite true thai th· romance of adventure is having Its Innings Jusi now. ai 1 thai what with Impressionism and decadence and end «»f the century Ism generally, we are voucl ifed a ^I'.n many si t. s which nr. Information about anything thai anybodygive carca two -trans about But it is also true that what ?? ?? nie; nnee called the novel disguised «as ·¦ treatise, or the treatise disguised as a novel. Is pi ut« ? f. rtb In sad.I« nlng abundance. No ti. 1.1 <

..

endeavor nowadays, whether it be pathology, ornithology, or any other :·» without Its romancer. This is perhaps aology, tributs to our modern enterprise, but it gives the novel« read« r many a bad quarter t ari hour. .«f hu.nan

Scrlbnera brim: oui a new story by Mr. Thomas Mela m Page. It is published the .li »ry Serles" ?? small pocket volumes Inandes the title of "The Old Gentleman of the Black Stock." ? ? Martian" having been brought to a cl«is*i In the Jui) number of 'Harper's Magasta*»«" th«| novel wni app-ar iu book ferai ou UM tirsi el

UM

m

iati.