venturous as himself, and as nothing been heard from this mad eme n, I wrote his publishers, and receive following letter from Mr. Harise th: am sorry to say that with the rest of the e Leif Ericson he seems to be lost, and most optimistic are now inclined to giv aint hope that remained. He was last hear September 8th, when the yacht was repe ng Greenland. Since then there has becs of any sort, although a government ve -een up North and fishermen and traders Tewfoundland coast have been warned on Bay Company has been given aft 1 by Hildebrand's yachting friends to sex pedition, but I am afraid that it is pr Ess. It is particularly dreadful for me as an old friend of "Hilly's," but als as watched his work and believed th last on the threshold of success as a lit He had the toughest sort of struggle t to the point where his writing was me nd it seems rather pitiable that he sh ear just when his latest book was publishe hur Hildebrand ought not to be fr , for he was a devildare seam the soul of a poet. His " -" and "Magellan" are too good on. It was neither the career 2 ccess of Magellan that appea to Hildebrand; it was the spint n. This biography, though sh result of long study, was write he heart. Friend Clarence Day, Jr., sends of The Sewanee Review for January 1924, in which a young wo Frances Theresa Russell, of t Stanford Junior University, to add to the prestige of Brow ing that he was a pessimist. mments shrewdly: "Doesn w that in a great author eve 5 what they want?" It d interesting thing to me is th should add to any one's inter Dutation. I have no doubt the Reverend Doctor Inge takes the appellation "the glo Suppose he were called " ean"! What an insult! Ther - a certain percentage of heal but DC AS I LIKE IT feared and those who wish to be loved. At the semiannual examination, Clar- Every teacher worth his salt hopes that One of the most thrilling plays of the to discourage those who believe all its sins, is nearer the Founder ity and religion; but surely, our tianity than any other epoch. N there a time when He received t age of so many different minds. ligion in this play by Don Marq For my part, I find more gen I do in many of the works of the sional theologians. To revert a to the gloomy dean. He has a s mind; he writes English with dist he has earned the intellectual res the world; but although he occup of the greatest pulpits in Christen am never quite sure, after reading his brilliant essays, whether he d does not believe in the Christian re Possibly the reason for his gloom the church, but-well, just imagine the sins of the world, or the inefficie self sick or in prison, and sending for "The Dark Hours," I am glad to see Speaking of plays quite different the New York World, whose admi editorial page has brought about needed reforms, is making a determ effort to check the growing indecenci the New York stage. This is a ma not for literary and dramatic critics for popular opinion, but for the po We have just had a pretty illustra of it here in Augusta. The papers nounced that "Simon Called Pet would be produced in a theatre in city. I have not seen this play, but, and vulgar novel of that name, it ou less it is quite different from the ch not to be produced anywhere; in read it was a greater insult to morality or the book I could not determine wheth literature. the play would not be given here; b The mayor of Augusta announced th with cynical disregard for his opinion, an hoping that the mayor's objection wou simply advertise the piece in the way dear to some theatre-managers, the ad vance agent countered with the stat ment that the play would be given a the appointed time. Advertiseme One of the most interesting men I have met in the last sixty years is William J. Matheson, of Long Island and Coconut Grove. I had many good talks with him during my visit to Florida last December. If he would only accede to my request, and write an autobiography, he would produce one of the most interesting books of our time. The story of his life is amazingly dramatic. Instead of sitting down, as he ought to have done, and writing Chapter I, he advised me to read P. W. Wilson's Life of Robert C. Ogden, called "An Unofficial Statesman." I am ashamed to say that I had never heard of Ogden, but I now recommend the book to all Scribnerians who are interested in the romance of business, and who wish to become acquainted with the career of a man who combined success in selling goods with unselfish devotion to national ideals. Two of the most important books of the year are Amy Lowell's "Life of Keats" and Professor Tinker's "Letters of Boswell." It is a pleasure to me to find in Miss Lowell's preface that she would not have written this mighty work if I had not invited her to Yale to deliver a lecture on the Francis Bergen Memorial Foundation, on the occasion of the hundredth an Bergen was a brilliant lost his life in the World ber her lecture very wel ment of the students at Club when Miss Lowell phatically her opinion Tagore.) The chief value of t biography lies in its ne all students of Keats the remain indispensable. E ell had done no creative she would still have achie in this book alone. She h correct many errors in p phies, and to supply an in of new information. H criticisms are full of valual The only defect of the wor it is a kind of glorified doct in her absorption with her in her hatred of mushy she is sometimes over-min times careless. But she has of all students of poetry. Keats is the most astor world's poets; never has a vidual written so much sup tiful verse in so short a time the age of twenty-five. The his life came home to me w Miss Lowell to deliver this when I had for some years be of the Yale faculty, I delive commemorating the hund versary of Keats's birth. A right in saying, comparing th the life of such a man and t of another, who is of no imp "But you were living befor And also you are living af Well, I can't help it. I would I could bring Keats back; but I am fain to live as long as wrote that sentence to illustra rect uses of the word fain, a wo monly used incorrectly. Miss Lowell's "Life of Keats portly volumes of over 600 pa there is an abundance of valu trations; the appendix will be value to scholars; and the ana dex covers more than 50 pages. the great length of the work, it i gen was a brilliant Yale graduate vi he chief value of this monume s is the most astonishing of you were living before that, 't help it. I would fain de each pendix will be of great tical in AS I LIKE IT ality of the man, and the vivid personality The death of Keats was the greatest Professor Tinker's edition of the "Letters of Boswell" has been reviewed both in England and in America not only with enthusiasm but in a manner that ought to give the editor every reason for justifiable pride. Schopenhauer said that letters revealed an individual more intimately and accurately than conversation; Boswell has completely given himself away. The universal interest in both Johnson and Boswell-universal, I mean, among English-speaking peoples-has never been so great as in the year 1925. It is not easy to explain, but the answer lies somewhere in das weite Land, Personality. Ben Jonson and others have said that in order to stand high in creative literature, one must be a good man. It is not true. One may be a murderer, a traitor, a coward, or an ass, and yet be a literary genius. Imagine what the Literary Club would have thought if some one had maintained that Boswell greater writer than Doctor Johnson such is the fact. Both Boswell and Johnson are in ing chiefly to English-speaking p The Russians, Germans, Austrians ians, and French care little about Boswell's "Life of Johnson" is one supreme works of art in English ] but it has had comparatively little on foreign literature. The reason, 1 pose, is that Johnson was one hu per cent British, and his talk ap mainly to Anglo-Saxons. Goethe's " versations with Eckermann" appe every intelligent person, no matte what nationality. Delightful as the of all English biographies is, if I ha choose, I would take Eckermann. J son is interesting partly because of faults-his insularity, obstinacy, and udices; Goethe is interesting becaus had "the most spacious mind since totle," because he illuminated everyt he touched except mathematics, and cause he was so far ahead of his time he is more modern than we. It is often said that high-grade co professors can be divided into two cla those who are good teachers and who excel in original research. Prof Tinker proves that it is possible to ach eminence in both. His work on Bo is a permanent addition to English s arship, and I have never seen in any d room a better teacher. ginning. It was an inva I have been a devoted decoration all my life, a ments all over the wor nothing has made the p esting than the memory onstration that a wall-pa cessful, must be adjusted wall. Whatever its int must have a relative sig look well in its place. THERE was an interes revert to the subjec when the National So Painters organized at the seum its first independent was a little odd that we s to wait so long for it. Th corporated as far back as to the works of its mem shown in the big miscella tions of the Architectural they have been playing an in the development of Am it was high time for such affirmation as was made Appreciation of it when it the establishment of some s tive in which to view the exhibition as an exhibition cisely exciting. It did no many outstanding product wanted to see. And if I wer in detail now, I would have contributions to mention w came within an exact definit painting as a craft by itself. general aspect it was full of ment for the observer looking mural decoration historically. how far we had travelled in a century or so, for that is the b of the life of the art in this co date. It showed how sophis had become, how adroit and The decorative idea is becoming O OF ART ORTISSOZ inning. It was an invaluable experie have been a devoted student of ecoration all my life, analyzing its ments all over the world, and, as I othing has made the process more i ting than the memory of Titian's stration that a wall-painting, to bes ssful, must be adjusted absolutely all. Whatever its intrinsic ment ust have a relative significance, ok well in its place. .. 'HERE was an interesting occasi revert to the subject last Febr en the National Society of nters organized at the Brookly n its first independent exhibiti a little odd that we should have ait so long for it. This body orated as far back as 1895, but he works of its members have e n in the big miscellaneous agg of the Architectural League. F have been playing an important development of American ar 3 high time for such a substa ation as was made in Brook ciation of it when it came req ablishment of some sort of per which to view the subject. ion as an exhibition was not p exciting. It did not contai outstanding productions as to see. And if I were review ! I would have quite a now, tions to mention which had hin an exact definition of m as a craft by itself. But in spect it was full of encourage he observer looking at Ameri ration historically. It sho had travelled in a scant ha for that is the brief meas ntry up A Moses on the Mount. From the cartoon for a decoration by John La Farge. to be firmly fixed in our cosmos, a habit of mind. The battle isn't entirely won by any means. The notion still lingers in some quarters that a decoration is a picture painted on a large scale. On the other hand, it is apparent that there is a steadily increasing realization of the character of a decoration as a design fitted to fill a given space. The Brooklyn show was full of testimonies to the growing force of this idea. It advanced not only familiar traditions of veterans like La Farge and Blashfield, but the newer evidences supplied by such juniors as Ezra Winter and Arthur Covey. to pursue one train of thought sta the affair. The committee had happy inspiration to bring over son mens of modern French decoration by Maurice Denis, G. L. J ulmes, guste Gorguet, and especially som tant cartoons by Besnard and I Chavannes. I was very grateful for eign contingent. The older men i men of great powers. But though none in admiration of Puvis, I could thinking a little amusedly and a li fully that one hears of his Ameri as seldom as one hears of him. distant and legendary. La Farge i Apropos of the veterans, it amused me us, a mere American, and has no |