Chapter 2
it is not worthy of Atrée, it is worthy of Thyeste_. CRÉBILLON'S "ATRÉE": Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon (1674-1762). A French tragic poet. His play, "Atrée et Thyeste," bears the date 1707.
NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE
Nathaniel Hawthorne, or Hathorne, as it was spelled before he changed it, was born in Salem, Massachusetts, July 4, 1804. His family, settled in New England since 1630, had played its part in the activities of the land in various capacities, including the persecution of so-called witches. His father, a sea-captain, died on a voyage when the lad was four years old. The excessive mourning then in vogue made the widow practically seclude herself in her room, throwing a consequent gloom over the household and affecting the boy's spirits. From this depressing atmosphere he found relief in an early developed taste for reading. In 1818 the family moved to a lonely part of Maine, where in roaming the lonely woods he gained a liking for solitude as well as for nature. He returned to Salem in 1819 to prepare for Bowdoin College, which he entered in 1821. After an undistinguished course he went back to his native town, whither his mother had also returned.
In Salem he remained for twelve years, a recluse in a family of recluses, devoting himself to reading and writing. In 1828 his first book, "Fanshawe," was published at his own expense. Its failure caused him to destroy all the copies he could find. Some of the stories which he wrote during this period were published in the annuals, then fashionable, and in _The New England Magazine_, but without making much impression.
This hermit-like existence was healthily broken in 1836 by his becoming the editor of an obscure magazine, though it was hack work and lasted but a short time. The anonymity to which he had stubbornly clung was also dispelled by one friend, and the publication of his "Twice-Told Tales" was arranged for by another, his classmate, Horatio Bridge. These two facts made him known and mark the beginning of the disappearance of his solitary depression, which was ended by his engagement to Sophia Peabody.
In January, 1839, he became a weigher and gauger in the Boston Custom House, a position which he lost in April, 1841, owing to a change in the political administration. Then for a few months he was a member of the Brook Farm Community, a group of reformers who tried to combine agriculture and education. In the Custom House and at Brook Farm he worked so hard as to have little energy for literature, publishing only some children's books. On July 9, 1842, occurred his marriage.
For the next three years Hawthorne resided in Concord at the Old Manse. In this retired town, where such eminent people as Emerson and Thoreau were to be met, he lived a very happy, quiet life, given to musing and observation. But he had lost a considerable sum of money in the Brook Farm experiment, the failure of _The Democratic Review_ prevented payment for his contributions, and he began to feel the pinch of poverty. At this juncture his college mates, Bridge and Pierce, came to the rescue, and on March 23, 1846, he was appointed surveyor of the port of Salem, that spot in which the Hawthorne family was so firmly rooted, whither he had previously returned with his wife and daughter, Una, born in Concord in 1844.
Though happy for a short time at getting into the stir of actual life, the routine and sordidness soon palled and he began to fret in the harness. This mood kept him from composition till he forced from himself, in 1848, the last of his short stories, including "The Great Stone Face" and "Ethan Brand." Despite the effort, the stories rank well. In 1849 he was dismissed from office by a change of political administration, not because of inefficiency. He took this dismissal hard because some of his townspeople had been opposed to him. Again he was in money difficulties from which he was released by a donation from his loyal friends. The leisure thus made possible was devoted to the production of his greatest work, a novel, "The Scarlet Letter," which is a study in the darker side of Puritanism. Its publication in April, 1850, brought him fame. In the same year he moved to the Berkshire Hills.
The year and a half in the hills was thoroughly happy. He had the incentive of success, the tranquillity of mind due to sufficient means, physical comfort, and a loving household now enlarged by the birth of a second daughter, Rose. During this time he wrote and published (1851) his novel, "The House of the Seven Gables," the study of an inherited curse, made pleasing as a story by means of its realistic portrayal of ordinary life. He also put many of the stories of classical mythology into a form understandable by children, publishing the results in "A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys" (1852) and "Tanglewood Tales for Girls and Boys" (1853). In 1852 appeared "The Snow Image and Other Twice-Told Tales," containing hitherto uncollected contributions to various magazines.
Believing the Berkshire air rather enervating, Hawthorne moved in November, 1851, to a temporary residence in West Newton, where he wrote "The Blithedale Romance," which was published in 1852. This novel, founded on his Brook Farm experience, is a study of the failure of the typical reformer. In June, 1852, the family moved to a place of their own, called "The Wayside" in Concord. Here the ideal family life continued. In the summer he brought out "The Life of Franklin Pierce," the biography of his old college mate, who was shortly after elected to the presidency of the United States, and made Hawthorne United States Consul at Liverpool in 1853.
The holding of office was never a congenial occupation to Hawthorne, though he was a good official. It always became irksome and dried up his creative power. The consulship was no exception, and when he resigned in 1857 he felt much relief. By this time he had obtained a competence which afforded him the gratification of paying back the money once raised for him by his friends. When in England he had seen much of the country; now he determined to see more of Europe. The family travelled through France to Italy, which they greatly enjoyed, staying there till 1859. For some months they had occupied the old villa of Montauto, where Hawthorne composed most of "The Marble Faun." The illness of Una compelling them to seek a different climate, they returned to England, where he finished the book, which was published the next year. "The Marble Faun" is "an analytical study of evil"; but despite the subject, the artistic effects and the interpretation of Italy lend it charm.
In 1860 the family returned to Concord. Hawthorne's health had been failing for some time, and now he became incapable of sustained work. However, in 1863 was published "Our Old Home," the theme of which is well expressed by the sub-title "A Series of English Sketches," which had been composed previously. He continued to do some work, and even promised a new novel to the press, but he came to realize that he would never finish it. In 1864 he went on a carriage trip with his old friend Pierce, during which he peacefully died in his sleep.
REFERENCES
BIOGRAPHY: WOODBERRY: Nathaniel Hawthorne. JAMES: Nathaniel Hawthorne.
CRITICISM: HUTTON: Literary Essays. STEPHEN: Hours in a Library.
NOTES ON "HOWE'S MASQUERADE"
This story was first published in _The Democratic Review_ for May, 1838, and was republished in 1842 in an enlarged edition of "Twice-Told Tales." It exemplifies the work in which Hawthorne was the pioneer--that of building a story about a situation. The idea of this particular one is found in the following entry in "American Note-Books": "A phantom of the old royal governors, or some such showy shadowy pageant, on the night of the evacuation of Boston by the British." Hawthorne was accustomed to jot down in his note-books hints for stories which often can be traced in his developed writings.
In "Howe's Masquerade" can be clearly seen the fact that he had not mastered the method of writing the short-story as we have it to-day. There is too much introduction and too much conclusion. He takes too long to get the story into motion, and he spoils the effect by tacking to the end a moral. These mistakes or crudities Poe did not make; however, each writer contributed to the development of the short-story some element of value, as has been pointed out in the Introduction.
This story is one of "The Legends of the Province House," stories joined together by the scheme of having an old inhabitant tell them to some visitor. Such machinery with its prologues and end-links, more or less elaborate, has been often used, as is seen in Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" and in Longfellow's "Tales of a Wayside Inn." The taste for this method has largely passed, though it has been recently revived by Alfred Noyes in "The Tales of the Mermaid Tavern."
PAGE 93. WASHINGTON STREET: the scene is laid in Boston. OLD PROVINCE HOUSE: the term Province House is used somewhat in the same sense as State House. The building was erected when Massachusetts was a province and served as the headquarters and dwelling of the royal governor. Hawthorne represents it as having descended to the condition of an inn or inferior hotel, the most important part of which was the bar for the sale of liquor.
94. LADY OF POWNALL: the wife of Thomas Pownall, a royal governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony. BERNARD: Sir Thomas Bernard, another royal governor.
98. STEELED KNIGHTS OF THE CONQUEST: persons dressed as cavalrymen in steel armor of 1066, when William the Conqueror became King of England. PARTY-COLORED MERRY ANDREW: an old term for a clown dressed in garments having several colors. FALSTAFF: an important character in several of Shakespeare's plays. He is always represented as fat and ridiculous. DON QUIXOTE: the chief character of the celebrated Spanish satire "Don Quixote" (1605) by Cervantes. Don Quixote is a simple-minded man, whose head has been turned by reading the extravagant romances of chivalry then current, in which knights ride forth to redress wrongs. He feels himself called to such a mission and, armed with various ridiculous makeshifts and accompanied by a humorous squire, Sancho Panza, whose sayings have achieved an immortality nearly equal to his master's doings, he sallies out upon a course of adventures, which caused the world to laugh the dying remnants of false chivalry into its grave. COLONEL JOLIFFE: an imaginary character. WHIG PRINCIPLES: the people belonging to the patriotic party in the colonies were called Whigs.
99. REV. MATHER BYLES: an actual person (1706-1788). He was imprisoned in 1777 as a Tory; that is, as an adherent of the king. WIG AND BAND: Protestant clergymen of that day wore wigs and a strip of linen, called a band, placed about the neck with the ends hanging down in front.
102. REGICIDE JUDGES: in the first part of the seventeenth century the people of England became dissatisfied with their king, Charles I, because of his illegal acts. They revolted, captured the king, put him on trial, and executed him, January 30, 1649. The judges are called regicide, because they tried and condemned a king. The royal party spoke of him as a martyr to the cause.
110. WHEN THE TRUTH-TELLING ACCENTS, etc.: Hawthorne has tried in this last paragraph to emphasize the contrast between the rather sordid real and the imaginary. He is entirely too successful, because he spoils the effect of the story--something for which Poe strove with such singleness of purpose as to permit of no such ending.
NOTES TO "THE BIRTHMARK"
This story was first published in the March, 1843, number of _The Pioneer_, a magazine edited by James Russell Lowell, and was republished in "Mosses from an Old Manse" in 1846. It belongs to the "moral philosophic" group of Hawthorne's writings (see Introduction).
PAGE 112. NATURAL PHILOSOPHY: an old term for physics. SPIRITUAL AFFINITY: in chemistry certain elements show a tendency to combine with others, so an attraction of one human spirit for another, leading generally to marriage, is often called a spiritual affinity.
114. EVE OF POWERS: Hiram Powers (1805-1873). An American sculptor whose statue of Eve is one of his noted works.
118. PYGMALION: in Greek mythology a sculptor who made such a beautiful statue of a woman that he fell in love with it, whereupon in answer to his prayer the goddess Aphrodite gave it life.
121. OPTICAL PHENOMENA: sights which cheat the eye into believing them real.
122. CORROSIVE ACID: a powerful chemical which eats away substance. DYNASTY OF THE ALCHEMISTS: the succession of the early investigators of chemistry who spent most of their energy in seeking what was called the "universal solvent" which would turn every substance into gold. These men were sometimes legitimate investigators, but often cheats who made money out of foolish people. At one time they became so numerous in London that laws were passed against them, but it took Jonson's play "The Alchemist" to laugh away their hold.
123. ELIXIR VITÆ: (Arabic, _el iksir_, plus Latin, _vitæ_) literally, _the philosopher's stone of life_. Another fad of the alchemists.
125. ALBERTUS MAGNUS: "Albert the Great" (1193-1280), a member of the Dominican order of monks. CORNELIUS AGRIPPA: (1486-1535) a student of magic. PARACELSUS: Philippus Aureolus Paracelsus (1493-1541), a physician and alchemist. FRIAR WHO CREATED THE PROPHETIC BRAZEN HEAD: the legendary "Famous History of Friar Bacon" records the construction of such a thing. TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY: the volumes containing the discussions of the Royal Society and also the papers read before it. This association was founded about 1660 for the advancement of science.
BRET HARTE
Francis Bret Harte, or as he later called himself Bret Harte, was born in Albany, New York, August 25, 1836. He came of mixed English, Dutch, and Hebrew stock. The family led a wandering life, full of privations, till the death of the father, a schoolmaster, in 1845. In 1853 the widow moved to California, where she married Colonel Andrew Williams. Thither the son followed her in 1854.
As tutor, express messenger, printer, drug clerk, miner, and editor he spent the three years till 1857, when he settled in San Francisco, where he became a printer in the office of _The Golden Era_. Soon he began to contribute articles to the paper, and was promoted to the editorial room. In 1862 he married Miss Anna Griswold, and in 1864 he was appointed secretary of the California mint. He continued writing, and in the same year was engaged on a weekly, _The Californian_. In 1867 the first collection of his poems was published under the title of "The Lost Galleon and Other Tales." When _The Overland Monthly_ was founded in the next year Bret Harte became its first editor. To its second number he contributed "Luck of Roaring Camp." Though received with much question in California, it met a most enthusiastic reception in the East, the columns of _The Atlantic Monthly_ being thrown open to him. This success he followed six months later by another, "The Outcasts of Poker Flat." His next great success was the poem "Plain Language from Truthful James," which was in the September, 1870, number of the magazine. It made him famous though he attached little importance to it. In this year he was made Professor of Recent Literature in the University of California.
Debt, friction with the new owner of _The Overland_, and a growing lack of sympathy with the late settlers, caused Bret Harte to leave California in 1871. He came East and devoted himself entirely to writing, his work being published for one year altogether in _The Atlantic Monthly_. But his ever recurring financial difficulties becoming acute, he did some lecturing in addition. In 1876 appeared his only novel, "Gabriel Conroy," which was not a success. His money difficulties continuing, his friends came to the rescue and secured his appointment as United States Consul at Crefeld, Germany. Leaving his wife, whom he never saw again, he sailed in 1878. At this post he continued for two years, his life being varied by a lecture tour in England. In 1880 he was transferred to the more lucrative consulship at Glasgow.
In Glasgow he remained for five years, writing, meeting some eminent writers, and visiting different parts of the country. In 1885, a new President having taken office, he was superseded in his consulship. He then settled in London, devoting himself to writing with only an occasional trip away, once as far as Switzerland. In 1901 he died.
REFERENCES
BIOGRAPHY: MERWIN: The Life of Bret Harte. PEMBERTON: Life of Bret Harte.
CRITICISM: WOODBERRY: America in Literature.
NOTES TO "THE OUTCASTS OF POKER FLAT"
This story was first published in _The Overland Monthly_ of San Francisco in 1869.
PAGE 134. POKER FLAT: an actual place in Sierra County, California. The name is typical of a large class of western geographic names bestowed by rough uneducated men when the West was new. MORAL ATMOSPHERE: these western mining towns in 1850 in a region which had just become a part of the United States as a result of the War with Mexico, were largely unorganized and without regularly constituted government. The bad element did as it pleased until the better people got tired. Then a "vigilance committee" would be organized, which would either drive out the undesirables, as in this story, or would execute the entire lot.
135. SLUICE ROBBER: one way of separating gold from the gravel and sand in which it is found is to put the mixture into a slanting trough, called a sluice, through which water is run. As these sluices were sometimes of considerable length, it was not a difficult matter for a man to rob one.
136. PARTHIAN: the Parthians inhabited a part of ancient Persia. It was their custom when retreating to continue to shoot arrows at their enemy.
142. COVENANTER: one of that body of Scotchmen who had bound themselves by a solemn covenant or agreement in the seventeenth century to uphold the Presbyterian faith. This act required force of character, since it was in defiance of King Charles I, and this force was shown in the vigor of their hymns.
144. ILIAD: the ancient Greek epic poem, ascribed to Homer, which tells the story of the war of the Greeks against Troy. ALEXANDER POPE (1688-1744), an English poet, who rather freely translated the poem.
147. DERRINGER: a pistol, so called from the name of the inventor.
ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON
Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson, the son of a man of some means, was born in Edinburgh, November 30, 1850. The _Louis_ form of his second name was merely a caprice in spelling adopted by the boy, and never altered the pronunciation of the original by his family. An only child, afflicted with poor health, he was an object of solicitude, notably to his nurse, Alison Cunningham, to whose loving devotion the world owes an unpayable debt. Stevenson's appreciation of her faithful ministrations is beautifully voiced in the dedication of his "A Child's Garden of Verses" (1885). After some schooling, made more or less desultory by ill-health, he attended Edinburgh University. The family profession was lighthouse engineering, and though he gave it enough attention to receive a medal for a suggested improvement on a lighthouse lamp, his heart was not in engineering, so he compromised with his father on law. He was called to the Scottish bar and rode on circuit with the court, but, becoming master of his destiny, he abandoned law for literature.
Literature was the serious purpose of his life and to it he gave an ardor of industry which is amazing. He worked at the mastery of its technique for years, till he gained that felicity of expression which has made his writings classical. His earliest publications were essays, often inspired by his trips abroad in search of health. On one of these in France in 1876 he met his future wife, Mrs. Osbourne, an American. Other such trips are recorded in "An Inland Voyage" (1878) and in "Travels with a Donkey" (1879). In 1879 he came to America, travelling in a rough way to California, an experience made use of in his book "An Amateur Emigrant." As a consequence of this trip, he fell desperately ill in San Francisco, where he was nursed by Mrs. Osbourne, whom he married in 1880. His convalescence in an abandoned mining camp is recorded in "The Silverado Squatters" (1883). Returning to Scotland, they found the climate impossible for his weak lungs, consequently they tried various places on the Continent. Throughout his ill-health he heroically kept at work, publishing from time to time books of essays and short-stories, such as "Virginibus Puerisque" (1881) and "New Arabian Nights" (1882), parts of which had already appeared in magazines, and in 1883 his first popular success, "Treasure Island."
In 1887 his father died and in the next year he came again to America, sojourning at various places, among them Saranac Lake, and then voyaging in a sailing vessel, _The Casco_, in the Pacific. It was not his ill-health alone that kept him on the move, but an adventurous spirit as well. Finally the family settled at Apia, Samoa, the climate of which he found remarkably salubrious. There he could work even physically without the long spells of illness to which he had been accustomed all his life. He was able to take an intense interest in the unhappy politics of the islands, endeavoring to alleviate the unfortunate condition of the natives, who passionately returned his interest. They built for him to his house a road to which they gave the significant name of "The Road of the Loving Heart," and they celebrated his story-telling gift by the name "Tusitala," the teller of tales. His efforts for Samoa resulted in a book entitled "A Foot Note to History" (1893), which showed the troubled condition of the islands. In this place, ruling over a large retinue of servants like a Scottish chieftain over his clan, he lived for three years, turning out much work and producing half of that most wonderful novel, "Weir of Hermiston," which bid fair to be his greatest achievement. Death came suddenly in 1894 from the bursting of a blood vessel in the brain, thus cheating his lifelong enemy, tuberculosis. Besides "Weir," he left almost completed another novel, "St. Ives," which was concluded by Quiller-Couch and published in 1898.
On a high peak of Vaea he lies beneath a stone bearing the epitaph written by himself:
"Under the wide and starry sky, Dig the grave and let me lie. Glad did I live and gladly die, And I laid me down with a will. This be the verse you grave for me: _Here he lies where he longed to be; Home is the sailor, home from the sea, And the hunter home from the hill_."
REFERENCES
BIOGRAPHY: BALFOUR: Life of Robert Louis Stevenson. RALEIGH: R. L. Stevenson.
CRITICISM: GENUNG: Stevenson's Attitude toward Life. PHELPS: Modern Novelists.
NOTES ON "THE SIRE DE MALÉTROIT'S DOOR"
This story of dramatic interest, which contains, moreover, much psychologic interest, was first published in _Temple Bar_, January, 1878, and reprinted in the volume "New Arabian Nights" in 1882.
PAGE 148. SIRE: obsolete French for sir. BURGUNDY: a section of eastern France bordering on the river Rhone. The Count of Burgundy by a treaty with the English recognized the claim of the English king, Henry VI, to the throne of France. Their troops at the time of the story were endeavoring to establish this claim by force of arms. Joan of Arc figures in this war. SAFE-CONDUCT: a passport. As Denis had one, he must have come from the French forces and consequently was among enemies.
149. CHATEAU LANDON: an ancient town southeast of Paris.
150. BOURGES: a city in the Department of Cher, west of Burgundy.
154. RUSHES: In those days the floors of rooms were covered with rushes into which people were accustomed to throw refuse. Cleaning was done by removing the old rushes and putting a fresh supply in their place.
155. LEONARDO: Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), a famous Italian painter who did much portraiture, particularly of women. One of his best-known works is the "Mona Lisa."
156. DAMOISEAU: obsolete French word denoting rank.
163. SALLE: (French) _hall_.
164. CHARLEMAGNE: the French form of _Charles the Great_ (742-814), a great king of the Franks and Emperor of the Romans.
169. HERCULES: a great personage in Greek mythology, famous for his strength. SOLOMON: king of Israel, 993-953 B.C., noted for his wisdom.
NOTES ON "MARKHEIM"
This psychological study was written in 1884 and published in _Unwin's Annual_ for 1885.
PAGE 179. "TIME WAS THAT WHEN THE BRAINS WERE OUT": a misquotation from Shakespeare's "Macbeth," Act III, scene iv, lines 78-79. In full this most apposite reference runs:
"The times have been, That, when the brains were out, the man would die, And there an end; but now they rise again, With twenty mortal murders on their crowns, And push us from our stools: this is more strange Than such a murder is."
180. BOHEMIAN GOBLETS: drinking glasses of glass made in Bohemia, the most northern portion of the Empire of Austria-Hungary. Its glassware is famous.
182. BROWNRIGG: Elizabeth Brownrigg, a notorious English murderess of the eighteenth century. Pictures of such persons were common at country fairs. MANNINGS: other murderers, man and wife. THURTELL: another murderer and his victim.
185. OTHER MURDERERS: compare the agonies of Bill Sykes in "Oliver Twist."
186. SHERATON SIDEBOARD: Thomas Sheraton (1751-1806) was a well-known English furniture maker. JACOBEANTOMBS: graves of the times of the English kings named James of the seventeenth century.
187. A FACE WAS THRUST INTO THE APERTURE: This was not a real person but one born of Markheim's troubled mind. The conversation shows the dual nature of man, containing both good and bad, and how a man excuses his wickedness. The subject was used again by Stevenson in "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde."
RUDYARD KIPLING
Rudyard Kipling is the son of John Lockwood Kipling, successively Professor in the Bombay School of Art and Curator of the Government Museum at Lahore, India, and of Alice Macdonald, the daughter of a Wesleyan minister. He was born at Bombay, December 30, 1865. His given name commemorates the meeting-place of his parents, a small lake in Staffordshire.
In accordance with the custom dictated by the needs of health and of education in the case of white children born in India, he was taken in 1871 to England, where he stayed with a relative at Southsea, near Portsmouth. The experiences of such little exiles from the home circle are feelingly shown in "Baa, Baa, Black-sheep" and in the beginning of "The Light that Failed." When thirteen he entered The United Services College, Westward Ho, Bideford, North Devon. Here he stayed from 1878 to 1882, taking part in some at least of the happenings so well narrated in "Stalky and Co." (1899).
On leaving college in 1882 he went to Lahore, India, where he became sub-editor of _The Civil and Military Gazette_. In 1887 he joined the editorial staff of _The Allahabad Pioneer_. To these papers he contributed many of the poems and short-stories soon collected in the volumes named "Departmental Ditties" (1886) and "Plain Tales from the Hills" (1888). All of these writings come near to actual occurrences, and give a fascinating glimpse of conditions in India. In the same year of 1888 he published in India six other volumes of tales.
Leaving India in 1889, he returned to Europe via China, Japan, and the United States, sending back to the two papers travel sketches which have since been collected under the title of "From Sea to Sea" (1899).
On reaching England he found himself a celebrated man. There he met in 1891 Wolcott Balestier, an American, to whom he dedicated "Barrack Room Ballads" (1892) in an introductory poem filled with glowing tribute. In the same year he made further journeys to South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.
He married Caroline Balestier in 1892, the year of publication of "The Naulahka," which had been written in collaboration with her brother. The travelling continued till they settled in Brattleboro, Vermont, where their unique house was named appropriately "The Naulahka." The fruit of his American sojourn was, among other writings, "Captains Courageous" (1897), a story of the Atlantic fishing banks, full of American atmosphere and characters. In the meantime, in various periodicals had appeared short-stories and poems, which were quickly put into books. One of the stories is "A Walking Delegate," which is so wonderfully accurate in the local color of Vermont as to be worthy of special mention. It forms one of "The Day's Work" group (1898). In it is seen Kipling's power of observation, which he possesses to such a remarkable degree. To this period belong those famous collections, "The Jungle Book" (1894) and "The Second Jungle Book" (1895), containing the beast stories which seem so plausible, and a book of poems, "The Seven Seas" (1896).
In 1896 the Kiplings returned to England, taking a house at Rottingdean. While England has remained his permanent home, he has continued to take journeys. During a trip in 1899 he was seriously ill in New York with pneumonia. While ill, his condition was a constant source of anxiety to all classes of people. He recovered, but his little daughter Josephine died of the same disease. One cannot fail to note the intimate touches reminiscent of her in "They," published in "Traffics and Discoveries" (1904). Another trip, in 1900, was to South Africa, while the Boer War was in progress. The results are to be found in many poems and stories about the struggle.
In late years honors have come to him. The Nobel Prize of Literature and an honorary degree from Oxford were both awarded him in 1907. He has taken some part in politics, but he continues to write, though not so prolifically as before. His more recent books are: "Kim" (1902), a vivid panorama of India; "Puck of Pook's Hill" (1906), and "Rewards and Fairies" (1910), realistic reconstructions of English history; "Actions and Reactions" (1909), a series of stories, among them "An Habitation Enforced," a rare story of the charm of English country life; and "The Fringes of the Fleet" (1916), relating to the European War. His son John has had the misfortune to be captured in the present war.
One book, "The Day's Work," deserves particular mention, as it contains some of his best stories, such as "The Brushwood Boy," and exhibits especially the three cardinal points of his philosophy of life--"Work," "Don't whine," and "Don't be afraid."
REFERENCES
BIOGRAPHY: CLEMENS: A Ken of Kipling. KNOWLES: A Kipling Primer.
CRITICISM: LE GALLIENNE: Rudyard Kipling, A Criticism. FALLS: Rudyard Kipling, A Critical Study. HOOKER: The Later Work of Rudyard Kipling, North American Review, May, 1911.
NOTES TO "WEE WILLIE WINKIE"
PAGE 196. WEE WILLIE WINKIE: the name is taken from the Scotch poem of William Miller (1810-1872). Below is given Whittier's familiar version of the poem:
Wee Willie Winkie Runs through the town, Upstairs and downstairs, In his nightgown! Tapping at the window, Crying at the lock, "Are the weans in their bed, For it's now ten o'clock?"
"Hey, Willie Winkie, Are you coming then? The cat's singing purrie To the sleeping hen; The dog is lying on the floor And doesn't even peep; But here's a wakeful laddie That will not fall asleep."
Anything but sleep, you rogue! Glowering like the moon; Rattling in an iron jug With an iron spoon; Rumbling, tumbling all about, Crowing like a cock, Screaming like I don't know what, Waking sleeping folk.
"Hey, Willie Winkie, Can't you keep him still? Wriggling off a body's knee Like a very eel; Pulling at the cat's ear, As she drowsy hums; Heigh, Willie Winkie! See! there he comes!"
Wearied is the mother That has a restless wean, A wee stumpy bairnie, Heard whene'er he's seen-- That has a battle aye with sleep Before he'll close his e'e; But a kiss from off his rosy lips Gives strength anew to me.
"AN OFFICER, etc.": this quotation refers to the time when the holders of military rank also held social position. AYAH: Anglo-Indian for "nurse." BABA: Oriental title of respect. SUBALTERN: a commissioned officer of lower rank than captain, _i.e._ lieutenant. COMPOUND: an enclosure, in the East, for a residence.
197. COMMISSIONER: a civilian official having charge of a department. STATION: a military post. MESS: a group of officers who eat together, hence the officers. RANK AND FILE: the non-commissioned officers and privates.
198. AFGHAN AND EGYPTIAN MEDALS: it is customary for medals to be struck off in commemoration of campaigns and for them to be called after the places in which the campaigns occurred.
199. HUT JAO: native expression equivalent to "go away at once."
200. BELL, BUTCHA: dogs' names. _Butcha_ = butcher.
201. OLD ADAM: it is a religious belief that Adam, supposedly the first man, committed sin, the tendency to which he handed down to all men as his descendants. Hence when one does wrong it is said that the Old Adam comes out. QUARTERS: house or rooms of an officer.
202. BAD MEN: childish name for hostile natives. BROKE HIS ARREST: an officer under arrest is his own keeper. SAHIB: a term of respect, equivalent to Mister, used by East Indians toward Europeans.
203. TWELVE-TWO: the unit of measurement of the height of a horse is called a hand, which is equal to four inches. Hence twelve-two means twelve hands and two inches. WALER: a horse from New South Wales.
205. PUSHTO: sometimes _Pushtu_, the language of the Afghans.
206. SAHIB BAHADUR: Sahib = Mister. _Bahadur_, title of respect equivalent to "gallant officer."
207. SPOIL-FIVE: a game of cards. COLOR SERGEANT: in the British army, he is a non-commissioned officer who ranks higher and receives better pay than an ordinary sergeant, and, in addition to discharging the usual duties of a sergeant, attends the colors (the flag) in the field or near headquarters. PATHANS: (pronounced Pay-tán) an Afghan race settled in Hindustan and in eastern Afghanistan. DOUBLE: to increase the pace to twice the ordinary; double-quick.
208. CANTONMENT: (in India pronounced can-tóne-ment) part of a town assigned to soldiers. PULTON: native expression equivalent to "troops."
209. PUKKA: native expression meaning "real," "thorough."
The Academy Classics
The works selected for this series are such as have gained a conspicuous and enduring place in literature; nothing is admitted either trivial in character or ephemeral in interest. Each volume is edited by a teacher of reputation, whose name is a guaranty of sound and judicious annotation. It is the aim of the notes to furnish assistance only where it is absolutely needed, and, in general, to permit the author to be his own interpreter.
All the essays and speeches in the series (excepting Webster's Reply to Hayne) are printed without abridgment. The plays of Shakespeare are expurgated only where necessary for school use.
The series is handsomely bound in blue cloth, the page is open and clear, and the paper of the best quality.
ADDISON. De Coverley Papers. Edited by Samuel Thurber. Cloth, 35 cents. This volume contains thirty-seven papers of which twenty have Sir Roger as the main theme, and seventeen mention him in such a way as to throw further light on his character.
ARNOLD. Essays in Criticism. Edited by Susan S. Sheridan. Cloth, 25 cents. The essays are those on The Study of Poetry, on Keats, and on Wordsworth.
Rugby Chapel. Edited by L. D. Syle. (In _Four English Poems_. Cloth, 25 cents.)
Sohrab and Rustum. Edited by G. A. Watrous. (In _Three Narrative Poems_. Cloth, 30 cents.)
BURKE. Conciliation with the Colonies. Edited by C. B. Bradley. Cloth, 30 cents. This book contains the complete speech, and a sketch of the English Constitution and Government.
BURNS. Selections. Edited by Lois G. Hufford. Cloth, 35 cents. The selections are forty-five in number and include The Cotter's Saturday Night, Tam O'Shanter, The Vision, The Brigs of Ayr, and all the more familiar short poems and songs.
The Academy Classics--Continued
BYRON. The Prisoner of Chillon. Edited by L. D. Syle. (In _Four English Poems_. Cloth, 25 cents.)
CARLYLE. Essay on Burns. Edited by H. W. Boynton. Cloth, 25 cents.
Essay on Boswell's Johnson. Edited by H. W. Boynton. _Out of print._
COLERIDGE. The Ancient Mariner. Edited by G. A. Watrous. (In _Three Narrative Poems_. Cloth, 30 cents.)
COWPER. John Gilpin's Ride. Edited by L. D. Syle. (In _Four English Poems_. Cloth, 25 cents.)
GEORGE ELIOT. Silas Marner. Edited by W. Patterson Atkinson. Cloth, 30 cents. The introduction contains a brief life of George Eliot, an account of the writing of Silas Marner, and a short list of works on the author.
EMERSON. Select Essays and Poems. Edited by Eva March Tappan. Cloth, 30 cents. The Essays are those on Compensation, Self-reliance, and Manners. There are also nine of the best-known poems. A feature of the book is the suggestive questions at the bottom of each page which keep the pupil's attention on the alert and at the same time aid in the interpretation of the text.
GOLDSMITH. The Vicar of Wakefield. Edited by R. Adelaide Witham. Cloth, 40 cents. The introduction to the work contains a Bibliography of the Life of Goldsmith, a Bibliography of Criticism, a Life of Goldsmith arranged by topics, a Table of Masterpieces published during his life, and an appreciation of Goldsmith's style.
The Traveller and The Deserted Village. Edited by George A. Watrous. (In _Selected Poems_. Cloth, 30 cents.)
GRAY. Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard and The Progress of Poesy. Edited by G. A. Watrous. (In _Selected Poems_. Cloth, 30 cents.)
The Academy Classics--Continued
IRVING. Life of Goldsmith. Edited by R. Adelaide Witham. Cloth, 40 cents. The editor has furnished a life of Irving arranged by topics, with references to Pierre Irving's life of his uncle. There is also an arrangement of the text by topics, for convenience in assigning the reading. The book has a useful list of the works of Irving side by side with Contemporary American Literature.
Selections from the Sketch-Book. Edited by Elmer E. Wentworth. Cloth, 35 cents. This book contains The Voyage, The Wife, Rip Van Winkle, Sunday in London, The Art of Bookmaking, The Mutability of Literature, The Spectre Bridegroom, Westminster Abbey, Christmas, The Stage Coach, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Stratford-on-Avon, To My Books, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
LOWELL. Selections. The Vision of Sir Launfal and Other Poems. Edited by Dr. F. R. Lane. Cloth, 25 cents. There are fourteen poems in all, including such passages from the Fable for Critics as refer to prominent American men of letters.
MACAULAY. Edited by Samuel Thurber.
Essay on Addison. Essay on Lord Clive. Essay on Johnson. Essay on Milton. Cloth, each, 25 cents. There is a map of India in the Essay on Clive.
Essay on Chatham. Boards, 20 cents.
Essays on Milton and Addison. One volume, cloth, 35 cents.
MACAULAY. Essay on Warren Hastings. Edited by Joseph V. Denney. Cloth, 40 cents. This edition will be found especially useful to pupils in composition who are studying Macaulay for structure. The essay affords conspicuously excellent illustrations of all four forms of discourse--narration, description, exposition, and argumentation. The book has a map of India, a sketch of Macaulay's life, and a bibliography.
The Academy Classics--Continued
MILTON. Minor Poems. Edited by Samuel Thurber. Cloth, 30 cents. L'Allegro; Il Penseroso; Comus; Lycidas; Arcades; On the Nativity; On Shakespeare; At a Solemn Music; Sonnets.
Paradise Lost, Books I and II. Edited by Henry W. Boynton. Cloth, 30 cents. This edition has the first two books of Paradise Lost complete and a résumé of the rest of the epic, with quotations of notable passages. The introduction has two plans and a description of the Miltonic universe.
POPE. The Rape of the Lock. Edited by L. D. Syle. (In _Four English Poems_. Cloth, 25 cents.)
An Essay on Criticism. Edited by George A. Watrous. (In _Selected Poems_. Cloth, 30 cents.)
SCOTT. The Lady of the Lake. Edited by G. B. Alton. Cloth, 30 cents.
Marmion. Edited by Mary E. Adams. Cloth, 30 cents.
SHAKESPEARE. Edited by Samuel Thurber.
As You Like It. Julius Cæsar. Macbeth. Merchant of Venice. The Tempest.
Cloth, each, 30 cents.
Hamlet (with Pearson's _Questions on Hamlet_). Cloth, 35 cents.
STEVENSON. Treasure Island. Edited by W. D. Lewis. Cloth, 50 cents. This edition has a short introduction and a life of Stevenson. Very few notes are provided. A complete glossary explains all the unusual terms used in the story. The book contains illustrations and a map.
TENNYSON. Enoch Arden. Edited by G. A. Watrous. (In _Three Narrative Poems_.) Cloth, 30 cents.
Idylls of the King: Selections. Edited by H. W. Boynton. Cloth, 30 cents.
The Academy Classics--Continued
WEBSTER. Reply to Hayne. Edited by C. B. Bradley. Cloth, 25 cents.
* * * * *
Four English Poems. Edited by L. D. Syle. Cloth, 25 cents. The Rape of the Lock, John Gilpin's Ride, The Prisoner of Chillon, and Rugby Chapel.
Selected Poems from Pope, Gray, and Goldsmith. Edited by George A. Watrous. Cloth, 30 cents. The poems included are Pope's Essay on Criticism, Gray's Elegy and Progress of Poesy, and Goldsmith's Traveller and Deserted Village.
Three Narrative Poems. Edited by G. A. Watrous. Cloth, 30 cents. The Ancient Mariner, Sohrab and Rustum, and Enoch Arden. A feature of this book is a map, which makes plain the geography of Sohrab and Rustum.
* * * * *
The Literature Note-Book
By Professor F. N. SCOTT, of the University of Michigan, and F. E. BRYANT, of the University of Kansas. Price, each, 6 cents; per dozen, 60 cents; per hundred, $5.00.
This is a blank-book for book reviews and reports on home reading. On the front cover are seventeen numbered questions, each suggesting a possible treatment for the book review. The purpose of these is to enable the teacher with the least labor to prescribe the scope of the essay he wishes the pupil to write. The teacher indicates a question, or series of questions, by number, and the pupil understands that his review is to answer these questions. There are directions for both teacher and pupil. On the back cover is a list of books for home reading.
Journeys in Fiction
By ALFRED M. HITCHCOCK, High School, Hartford, Conn. Paper, 42 pages. Price, 10 cents.
Select Essays of Macaulay
Edited by SAMUEL THURBER. 12mo, cloth, 219 pages. Price, 50 cents.
This selection comprises the essays on Milton, Bunyan, Johnson, Goldsmith, and Madame D'Arblay, thus giving illustrations both of Macaulay's earlier and of his later style. The subjects of the essays are such as to bring them into close relation with the study of English Literature.
The notes are intended to help the pupil to help himself. When an allusion is not easily understood, a note briefly explains it, or at least indicates where an explanation may be found. In other cases the pupil is expected to rely on his own efforts, and on such assistance as his teacher may think it wise to give.
Historical Essays of Macaulay
Edited by SAMUEL THURBER. 12mo, cloth, 399 pages. Price, 60 cents.
This selection includes the essays on Lord Clive, Warren Hastings, and both the essays on the Earl of Chatham. The text in each case is given entire. A map of India, giving the location of places named in the essays, is included.
These essays are annotated on the same principle that is followed in the notes to the Select Essays.
Select Essays of Addison
With Macaulay's Essay on Addison. Edited by SAMUEL THURBER. 12mo, cloth, 340 pages. Price, 60 cents.
The editor has aimed to bring together such papers from the _Spectator_, the _Tatler_, the _Guardian_, and the _Freeholder_ as will prove most readable to youth of high school age, and at the same time give something like an adequate idea of the richness of Addison's vein. The _De Coverley Papers_ are of course included. There are seventy selections in all. They have to do with the Spectator Club, the Stage, Manners, Politics, Morals, and Religion. There are selections from Addison's Stories and his Hymns. The book contains also Macaulay's Essay on Addison.