as
YALE ALUMNI WEEKLY
THE BOOK SHELF.
[Conducted by ALBERT LEE, '91.] .
The publication, after his death, of
Mr. James Sager Norton’s ‘‘Addresses
and Fragments in Prose and Verse,”
(Chicago: A. C. McClurg & Co.) makes
us feel all the more keenly the loss of
a Yale man who could have been, had
he chosen, as prominent in literature
as he was in the law; and, as we
read these fragments, we cannot but
regret that such a clever poet and
witty essayist should have thrown
himself away into that hospitable
profession which absorbs almost every
man who graduates from college with-
out a taste for any particular calling
in life. When I say that he threw
himself away, I do not wish it to be
understood that I consider Mr. Nor-
ton’s energies were wasted in the fieid
that he selected, (for we know only
too well how much good he did and
how much success he reaped as a
lawyer); but I feel, after reading this
posthumous collection of Mr. Nor-
ton’s writings that the fate which
gave Chicago an able lawyer robbed
American literature of a brilliant
ornament. Even from the few metri-
cal selections included in this
volume, it is plain to see that Mr.
Norton vossessed the gift of rhythm
and rhyme to an unusual degree, and
a versatility beyond the ordinary. To
say which of. the poems is the best
would be a difficult task, but one
which especially appeals to me is that
addressed to the late Eugene Field.
There is a trick of versification in it
that I do not remember having seen
before in English, although I think
Victor Hugo in an echo lyric, adopted
a similar method. The play upon the
words comes in an expansion of a re-
peated exclamation, as ‘‘Alas! Alas!
a lass she is!’ and, ‘‘So made, so
made, so maidenly !”
The final stanza reads:
‘“‘But having seen your face, so mild,
So pale, so full of animus,
She can but cry in accents wild,
Eugene! Eugene! You genius!’’
The prose fragments have a dis-
tinct literary value, and the addresses
delivered upon. certein Yale occasions |
are almost models of after-dinner |
oratory. According to Mr. BE. G. Ma-
son, who contributes an introduction —
to the volume, James Russell Lowell.
was of a similar opinion. Perhaps
one of the cleverest allusions in any
of the speeches was made at a dinver
of the Harvard Association at which
Mr. Norton prefaced his remarks by
thanking his audience for the unex-—
pected opportunity afforded him of
beholding so many Harvard men
“pure” and “simple.”
Miss Alice E. Sawtelle, who took her
degree of Ph. D. in the English Deé-
partment of Yale in 1896 has published
her doctoral thesis, “The Sources of
Spenser’s Classical Mythology” (Bos-
ton: Silver, Burdett & Company.)
Prof. Cook, who is the head of our
English Department at Yale, and to
whom the little volume is dedicated,
has contributed a short prefatory
note in which he says he thinks there
ought to be ‘fa modest place in col-
leges and schools for a work of this
rature; certainly where Spenser is
studied, * * *”’ and I guess he is
right. The thesis appears to cover
the ground, and it must represent an
immense amount of labor and fre-
search into ‘‘sources.” But from the
point of view of one who prefers the
thyme of Omar to the wisdom of the
world’s philosophers, it seems. that
this young woman has put a vast
amount of thought and energy into
a labor that will really make no man
happy,—and it is one of the provinces
of women to make men happy. There
died in Germany not long ago a pro-
fessor who had devoted the greater
portion of his life to the study of the
Noun. On his death bed he said that
the only thing he regretted was that
he had not given up all his time to
the Dative Case.
When I go to the theater I like to
see a play that will make me laugh,
not one that will bring the lumps to
my throat and cause the lady “Sitting
in front of me to sniffie. This same
leads me tog.
characteristic doubtless
prefer a novel in which the pathetic
eiement. is limited. or,
Co.) and ‘‘Mademuiseile Bianche,”’
Pa.
better, getic
wholly absent. Persons similarly con-
Stituted will therefore probably not
care ch about reading “Grip,” by
John nge Winter,” (New York:
‘Stone & imball), although, aside
from the pleasantness of the sub-
ject, the story, as such, is interesting.
I don’t like to read about people in
hard luck; give me the feliow who has
money to burn and an inelination to
burn it, green fields, fair women and
music. You can make just as good
literature out of these materials as
you can out of want and misery. Bet-
ter—for the first kind will pro-
mote the gaiety of nations. In ‘Grip’’
there is a poor devil of an: English-
man whose best girl marries a French-
man, and the Britisher goes to Paris
to revenge himself on the lucky man.
He gets into a fight with the Paris
police and cracks one fellow’s head.
(By the way, Mr. Winter, or Mrs.—,
“gens’’ is a collective noun, and if
you insist upon using French when
“policeman” is a very good English
word, vou snould avoid saying a
“gens de police,’—a police ‘“people.’’)
Well, to return to our unfortunate, the
Englishman is sent to the penitentiary
for fifteen years, and a good part of
the book is taken up with a descrip-
tion of his sufferings in the Toulon
prison. Of course, we know all the
time that the hero is going tc get out,
and he does, but it is unpleasant to
hear of his experiences. The charac-
ter study throughout the book is
excellently done, and the main schenie
of the plot is strong. It is to be re-
gretted that the author’s' resources
were not sufficient to avoid the use
of the old device of having the little
sister who looks just as the older sis-
ter used tc look; but so long as every-
body is happy in the end, we should
be satisfied. The cover that contains
this story is another of this publish-
ing house’s successes.
We have also received ‘‘A Christmas
Masque of Saint Roch,” by M. E. M.
Davis. (Chicseor:. 4. C- McClurg &
John D. Barry, (New York: Stone &
Kimball.)
<><
ie SB ie
John Penn Brock, 1900, of Lebanon,
has been appointed temporary
‘captain of the Freshman. crew.
py —
TIFFANY & CO.
Makers of Corporate and Frater=
nity Seals and Dies Silver Testi-
monials Athletic Prizes Class Pins
Society Emblems Engraved Invi-
tations and Stationery for the
Leading Universities Colleges and
other Educational Institutions.
Cuts of Watches
and Chains sent
upon request.
UNION SQUARE
NEW YORK.
A Memorial to Nathan Hale.
Revy.:3... BD. -Burrell; - D... D.,,.~ °87,
preached in chapel Sunday morning
and addressed the University meeting
in the evening in Dwight Hall. At the
Uniiversity(meeting he spoke on Nathan
Hale and during the course of his re-
marks said:
“T understand that a iowernent is
on foot to memoralize, in some proper
way, the distinguished sons of Yale.
If this shall be done I sincerely trust
that Nathan Hale who was gradu-
ated in the Class of 1773, will not be
forgotten. The most eloquent preacher
in New York City is the silent,
bronze figure of Hale, standing in City
Hall Square, bound for execution, and
declaring to the multitudes who pass
along Broadway such truths as duty,
moral heroism and manhood. What
could be better for the inspiration of
our undergraduates than to place on
the Colleze Campus a similar statue
of the patriot spy?”
<p Lin
eee atl
Contents of January “ Lit.”
The January number of the Yale Liter-_
ary Magazine was put on sale about a
week ago and contained the following
articles: ‘“‘The House of Rad,” by F.
Tilney, ’°97; ‘In Clear Dream,” poem by
F. Wickes, °98; “Lowell’s Critical Es-
says,’ by N. A. Smyth, ’97; ‘““God’s Will,’’
poem by R. L. Munger, ’97; “In Shadow,”’
Dv to. P. eeeconed, eae “Song,” poem by
R. L. Munger, 97» Savannah La Mar,”’
Wickes, °’98; and _ portfolios
Streeter, 98, D. DeF. Burrell,
Hincks, ‘os, 11. D; Gallaudet,
,
ee
. B. Moore, ’99, and R. Hooker, ’99.
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This is indeed an era of unread books.
In this bustling, feverish age of ours
few are the favored individuals who can
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vast niajority of educated people finish
lay claim to being ‘‘ well read.”
their ‘‘serious” reading just as they
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The Need of Condensation.
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Although Charles Dudley Warner is the
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A Few of the Famous Contributors.
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A Literary Education.
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How to Secure this Great Work.
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Club No. 2, now forming, will close in
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The introductory sets available will be
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