Modern English Books of Power Part 7

[Ill.u.s.tration: THOMAS HARDY--A PORTRAIT WHICH BRINGS OUT STRIKINGLY THE MAN OF CREATIVE POWER, THE ARTIST, THE PHILOSOPHER AND THE POET]

Literary genius can work no greater miracle than this--to make the reader accept as a transcript of life stories in which generous, unselfish people are dealt heavy blows by fate, while the mean-souled, sordid men and women often escape their just deserts. Hardy is not unreligious; he is simply and frankly pagan. Yet he differs from the cla.s.sical writers in the fact that he is keenly alive to all the strong influences of nature on a sympathetic mind, and he is also a believer in the power of romantic love.

No one has ever equaled Hardy in making the reader feel the living power of trees and other objects of nature. You can not escape the influence of his scenic effects. These are never theatrical--in fact they seem to form a vital part of every story. The scenes of all his novels are laid in his native Dorsets.h.i.+re, which he has thinly disguised under the old Saxon name of Wess.e.x. In _Far From the Madding Crowd_ Hardy first demonstrated the tremendous possibilities of rural scenes as a vital background for a story, but in _The Return of the Native_ he actually makes Egdon heath the most absorbing feature of the book. All the characters seem to take life and coloring from this heath, which has in it the potency of transforming characters and of wrecking lives. And in _Tess_ the peaceful, rural scenes appear to accentuate the tragedy of the heroine's unavailing struggles against a fate that was worse than death.

Hardy's parents intended him for the church, but the boy probably gave some indications of his pagan cast of mind, for they finally compromised by apprenticing him to an ecclesiastical architect. In this calling the youth worked with sympathy and ability; the results of this training may be seen in the perfection of his plots and in his fondness for graphic description of churches and other picturesque buildings. One curious feature of this training may be seen in Hardy's sympathy and reverence for any church building. As Professor William Lyon Phelps very aptly says of Hardy: "No man to-day has less respect for G.o.d and more devotion to his house."

The antipathy of Hardy to any kind of publicity has kept the facts of his life in the background, but it is an open secret that much of the longing of Jude for a college education was drawn from his own boyhood. It is also a matter of record that as a boy he served as amanuensis for many servant maids, writing the love letters which they dictated. In this way, before he knew the real meaning of s.e.x and the significance of life he had obtained a deep insight into the nature of women, which served him in good stead when he came to draw his heroines. All his women are made up of mingled tenderness and caprice, and though female critics of his work may claim that these traits are over-drawn, no man ever feels like dissecting Hardy's women, for the reason that they are so charmingly feminine.

One may fancy that Hardy took great delight in his architectural work, for it required many excursions to old churches in Dorsets.h.i.+re to see whether they were worth restoring. When he was thirty-one Hardy decided to abandon architecture for fiction. His first novel, _Desperate Remedies_, was crude, but it is interesting as showing the novelist in his first attempts to reveal real life and character. His second book, _Under the Greenwood Tree_, is a charming love story, and _A Pair of Blue Eyes_ was a forerunner of his first great story, _Far From the Madding Crowd_. It may have been the t.i.tle, torn from a line of Gray's _Elegy_, or the novelty of the tale, in which English rustics were depicted as ably as in George Eliot's novels, that made it appeal to the great public. Whatever the cause, the book made a great popular hit. I can recall when Henry Holt brought it out in the pretty Leisure Hour series in 1875. Three years later Hardy produced his finest work, _The Return of the Native_. He followed this with more than a dozen novels, among which may be mentioned _The Mayor of Casterbridge_, _The Woodlanders_, _Tess of the d'Urbervilles_, and _Jude the Obscure_.

In taking up Hardy one should begin with _Far From the Madding Crowd_.

The story of Bathsheba Everdene's relations with her three lovers, Sergeant Troy, Boldwood and Gabriel Oak, moves one at times to some impatience with this charming woman's frequent change of mind, but she would not be so attractive or so natural if she were not so full of caprice. His women all have strong human pa.s.sion, but they are dest.i.tute of religious faith. They adore with rare fervor the men whom they love. In this respect Bathsheba is like Eustacia, Tess, Marty South or Lady Constantine. Social rank, education or breeding does not change them. Evidently Hardy believes women are made to charm and comfort man, not to lead him to spiritual heights, where the air is thin and chill and kisses have no sweetness.

In his first novel Hardy lightened the tragedy of life with rare comedy. These comic interludes are furnished by a choice collection of rustics, who discuss the affairs of the universe and of their own towns.h.i.+p with a humor that is infectious. In this work Hardy surpa.s.ses George Eliot and all other novelists of his day, just as he surpa.s.ses them all in such wholesome types of country life as Giles Winterbourne and Marty South of _The Woodlanders_. No pathos is finer than Marty's unselfish love for the man who cannot see her own rare spirit, and nothing that Hardy has written is more powerful than Marty's lament over the grave of Giles:

"Now, my own, my love," she whispered, "you are mine, and on'y mine, for she has forgot 'ee at last, although for her you died. But I--whenever I get up I'll think of 'ee, and whenever I lie down I'll think of 'ee. Whenever I plant the young larches I'll think none can plant as you planted; and whenever I split a gad, and whenever I turn the cider-wring, I'll say none could do it like you. If I forget your name, let me forget home and heaven! But, no, no, my love, I never can forget 'ee, for you was a good man and did good things!"

_The Return of the Native_ is generally regarded as Hardy's finest work. Certainly in this novel of pa.s.sion and despair he has conjured up elements that speak to the heart of every reader. The hand of fate clutches hold of all the characters. When Eustacia fails to go to the door and admit her husband's mother she sets in motion events that bring swift ruin upon her as well as upon others. At every turn of the story the somber Egdon heath looms in the background, more real than any character in the romance, a sinister force that seems to sweep the characters on to their doom. _Tess_ is more appealing than any other of Mr. Hardy's works, but it is hurt by his desire to prove that the heroine was a good woman in spite of her sins against the social code.

What has also given this work a great vogue is the splendid acting of Mrs. Fiske in the play made from the novel.

In _Jude the Obscure_ Hardy had a splendid conception, but he developed it in a morbid way, bringing out the animalism of the hero's wife and forcing upon the reader his curious ideas about marriage.

But above and beyond everything else Thomas Hardy is one of the greatest story tellers the world has ever seen. You may take up any of his works and after reading a chapter you have a keen desire to follow the tale to the end, despite the fact that you feel sure the end will be tragic. Nothing is forced for effect; the whole story moves with the simplicity of fate itself, and the characters, good and bad, are swept on to their doom as though they were caught in the rush of waters that go over Niagara falls. Hardy's style is clear, simple, direct, and abounds in Biblical allusions and phrases. In nature study Hardy's novels are a liberal education, for beyond any other author of the last century he has brought out the beauty and the significance of tree and flower, heath and mountain. They may be read many times, and at each perusal new beauties will be discovered to reward the reader.

KIPLING'S BEST SHORT STORIES AND POEMS

TALES OF EAST INDIAN LIFE AND CHARACTER--IDEAL TRAINING OF THE GENIUS THAT HAS PRODUCED SOME OF THE BEST LITERARY WORK OF OUR DAY.

Rudyard Kipling cannot be cla.s.sified with any writer of his own age or of any literary age in the past. His tremendous strength, his visual faculty, even his mannerisms, are his own. He has written too much for his own fame, but although the next century will discard nine-tenths of his work, it will hold fast to the other tenth as among the best short stories and poems that our age produced. Kipling is essentially a short-story writer; not one of his longer novels has any real plot or the power to hold the reader's interest to the end. _Kim_, the best of his long works, is merely a series of panoramic views of Indian life and character, which could be split up into a dozen short stories and sketches.

[Ill.u.s.tration: RUDYARD KIPLING A STRIKING LIKENESS OF THE AUTHOR IN A CHARACTERISTIC POSE]

But in the domain of the short story Kipling is easily the first great creative artist of his time. No one approaches him in vivid descriptive power, in keen character portraiture, in the faculty of making a strange and alien life as real to us as the life we have always known. And in some of his more recent work, as in the story of the two young Romans in _Puck of Pook's Hill_, Kipling reaches rare heights in reproducing the romance of a bygone age. In these tales of ancient Britain the poet in Kipling has full sway and his visual power moves with a freedom that stamps clearly and deeply every image upon the reader's mind.

The first ten years of Kipling's literary activity were given over to a wonderful reproduction of East Indian life as seen through sympathetic English eyes. Yet the sympathy that is revealed in Kipling's best sketches of native life in India is never tinged with sentiment. The native is always drawn in his relations to the Englishman; always the traits of revenge or of grat.i.tude or of dog-like devotion are brought out. Kipling knows the East Indian through and through, because in his childhood he had a rare opportunity to watch the native. The barrier of reserve, which was always maintained against the native Englishman, was let down in the case of this precocious child, who was a far keener observer than most adults. And these early impressions lend an extraordinary life and vitality to the sketches and stories on which Kipling's fame will ultimately rest.

The early years of Kipling were spent in an ideal way for the development of the creative literary artist. Born at Bombay in December, 1865, he absorbed Hindustanee from his native nurse, and he saw the native as he really is, without the guard which is habitually put up in the presence of the Briton, even though this alien may be held in much esteem. The son of John Lockwood Kipling, professor of architectural sculpture in the British School of Art at Bombay, and of a sister of Edward Burne-Jones, it was not strange that this boy should have developed strong powers of imagination or that his mind should have sought relief in literary expression.

The school days of Kipling were spent at Westward Ho, in Devon, where, though he failed to distinguish himself in his studies, he established a reputation as a clever writer of verse and prose. He also enjoyed in these formative years the friends.h.i.+p and counsel of Burne-Jones, and he had the use of several fine private libraries. His wide reading probably injured his school standing, but it was of enormous benefit to him in his future literary work. At seventeen young Kipling returned to India, where he secured a position on the CIVIL AND MILITARY GAZETTE of Lah.o.r.e, where his father was princ.i.p.al of a large school of arts.

The Anglo-Indian newspaper is not a model, but it afforded a splendid field for the development of Kipling's abilities. He was not only a reporter of the ordinary occurrences of his station, but he was constantly called upon to write short sketches and poems to fill certain corners in the paper, that varied in size according to the number and length of the advertis.e.m.e.nts. Some of the best of his short sketches and bits of verse were written hurriedly on the composing stone to satisfy such needs. These sketches and poems he published himself and sent them to subscribers in all parts of India, but though their cleverness was recognized by Anglo-Indians, they did not appeal to the general public. After five years' work at Lah.o.r.e, Kipling was transferred to the ALLAHABAD PIONEER, one of the most important of the Anglo-Indian journals. For the weekly edition of this paper he wrote many verses and sketches and also served as special correspondent in various parts of India.

It was in 1889 that the PIONEER sent him on a tour of the world and he wrote the series of letters afterwards reprinted under the t.i.tle _From Sea to Sea_. Kipling, like Stevenson, had to have a story to tell to bring out all his powers; hence these letters are not among his best work.

Vividly do I recall Kipling's visit to San Francisco. He came into the CHRONICLE office and was keenly interested in the fine collections which made this newspaper's library before the fire the most valuable on this Coast, if not in the country. He was also much impressed with the many devices for securing speed in typesetting and other mechanical work. The only feature of his swarthy face that impressed one was his brilliant black eyes, which behind his large gla.s.ses, seemed to note every detail. He talked very well, but although he made friends among local newspapermen, he was unsuccessful in selling any of his stories to the editors of the Sunday supplements. He soon went to New York, but there also he failed to dispose of his stories.

[Ill.u.s.tration: RUDYARD KIPLING FROM A CARTOON BY W. NICHOLSON]

Finally Kipling reached London in September, 1889, and after several months of discouragement, he induced a large publis.h.i.+ng house to bring out _Plain Tales From the Hills_. It scored an immediate success. Like Byron, the unknown young writer awoke to find himself famous; magazine editors clamored for his stories at fancy prices and publishers eagerly sought his work. It may be said to Kipling's credit that he did not utilize this opportunity to make money out of his sudden reputation. He doubtless worked over many old sketches, but he put his best into whatever he gave the public. He married the sister of Wolcott Balestier, a brilliant American who became very well known in London as a publishers' agent, and after Balestier's death Kipling moved to his wife's old home in Brattleboro, Vermont, where he built a fine country house; but constant trouble with a younger brother of his wife caused him to abandon this American home and go back to England, where he set up his lares at Rottingdean, in Surrey. There he has remained, averaging a book a year, until now he has over twenty-five large volumes to his credit. In 1907 Kipling was given the n.o.bel prize "for the best work of an idealist tendency."

In reading Kipling it is best to begin with some of the tales written in his early life, for these he has never surpa.s.sed in vigor and interest. Take, for instance, _Without Benefit of Clergy_, _The Man Who Was_, _The Drums of the Fore and Aft_, _The Man Who Would Be King_ and _Beyond the Pale_. These stories all deal with Anglo-Indian life, two with the British soldier and the other three with episodes in the lives of British officials and adventurers.

_The Man Who Would Be King_, the finest of all Kipling's tales of Anglo-Indian life and adventure, is the story of the fatal ambition of Daniel Dravot, told by the man who accompanied him into the wildest part of Afghanistan. Daniel made the natives believe that he was a G.o.d and he could have ruled them as a king had he not foolishly become enamored of a native beauty. This girl was prompted by a native soothsayer to bite Dravot in order to decide whether he was a G.o.d or merely human. The blood that she drew on his neck was ample proof of his spurious claims and the two adventurers were chased for miles through a wild country. When captured Daniel is forced to walk upon a bridge, the ropes of which are then cut, and his body is hurled hundreds of feet down upon the rocks. The story of the survivor, who escaped after crucifixion, is one of the ghastliest tales in all literature.

Other tales that Kipling has written of Indian life are scarcely inferior to these in strange, uncanny power. One of the weirdest relates the adventures of an army officer who fell into the place where those who have been legally declared dead, but who have recovered, pa.s.s their lives. As a picture of h.e.l.l on earth it has never been surpa.s.sed. Another of Kipling's Indian tales that is worth reading is _William the Conqueror_, a love story that has a background of grim work during the famine year.

One of Kipling's claims to fame is that he has drawn the British soldier in India as he actually lives. His _Soldiers Three_--Mulvaney, the Irishman, Ortheris, the c.o.c.kney, and Learoyd, the Yorks.h.i.+reman--are so full of real human nature that they delight all men and many women.

Mulvaney is the finest creation of Kipling, and most of his stories are brimful of Irish wit. Of late years Kipling has written some fine imaginative stories, such as _The Brushwood Boy_, _They_ and _An Habitation Enforced_. He has also revealed his genius in such tales of the future as _With the Night Mail_, a remarkably graphic sketch of a voyage across the Atlantic in a single night in a great aeroplane.

Another side of Kipling's genius is seen in his _Jungle Stories_, in which all the wild animals are endowed with speech. Mowgli, the boy who is suckled by a wolf, is a distinct creation, and his adventures are full of interest. Compare these stories with the work of Thompson-Seton and you get a good idea of the genius of Kipling in making real the savage struggle for life in the Indian jungle.

Of Kipling's long novels _The Naulakha_ ranks first for interest of plot, but _Kim_ is the best because of its series of wonderful pictures of East Indian life and character. _Captains Courageous_ is a story of Cape Cod fis.h.i.+ng life, with an improbable plot but much good description of the perils and hards.h.i.+ps of the men who seek fortune on the fis.h.i.+ng banks.

As a poet Kipling appeals strongly to men who love the life of action and adventure in all parts of the world. In his _Departmental Ditties_ he has painted the life of the British soldier and the civilian in India, and his _Danny Dever_, his _Mandalay_ and others which sing themselves have pa.s.sed into the memory of the great public that seldom reads any verse unless it be the words of a popular song.

The range of his verse is very wide, whether it is the superb imagery in _The Last Chantey_ or the impressive Calvanism of _McAndrew's Hymn_. His _Recessional_, of course, is known to everyone. It is one of the finest bits of verse printed in the last twenty years.

Kipling, in spite of his many volumes, is only forty-six years old, and he may be counted on to do much more good work.

If he turns to historical fiction he may yet do for English history what the author of _Waverley_ has done for the history of Scotland.

Certainly he has the finest creative imagination of his age; in whatever domain it may work it is sure to produce literature that will live.

_Bibliography_

_Short Notes of Both Standard and Other Editions, With Lives, Sketches and Reminiscences._

_These bibliographical notes on the authors discussed in this volume are brief because the s.p.a.ce allotted to them was limited. They are designed to mention the first complete editions--the standard editions--as well as the lives of authors, estimates of their works and sketches and personal reminiscences. A ma.s.s of good material on the great writers of the Victorian age is buried in the bound volumes of English and American reviews and magazines. The best guide to these articles is Poole's "Index."_

_The most valuable single volumes to one who wishes to make a study of eighteenth and nineteenth century English writers are: "A Study of English Prose Writers" and "A Study of English and American Poets" by J. Scott Clark. (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. Price, $2 net a volume.) These two volumes will give any one who wishes to make a study of the authors I have discussed the material for a mastery of their works. Under full biographical sketches the author gives estimates of the best critics, extracts from their works and a full bibliography, including the best magazine articles._

MACAULAY

The editions of Macaulay are so numerous that it is useless to attempt to enumerate them. A standard edition was collected in 1866 by his sister, Lady Trevelyan. Four volumes are devoted to the history and three to the essays and lives of famous authors which he wrote for the _Encyclopedia Britannica_.

Macaulay's essays, which have enjoyed the greatest popularity in this country, may be found in many forms. A one-volume edition, containing the princ.i.p.al essays, is issued by several publishers. Sir George Otto Trevelyan's _The Life and Letters of Lord Macaulay_ in two volumes (1876) is a more interesting biography than Lockhart's _Scott_. The best single-volume estimate of Macaulay is J. Cotter Morison's _Macaulay_ in the English Men of Letters series. Good short critical sketches of Macaulay and his work may be found in Sir Leslie Stephen's _Hours in a Library_, volume 2, and in Lord Morley's _Critical Miscellanies_, volume 2.

SCOTT

The edition of Scott, which was his own favorite, was issued in Edinburgh in forty-eight volumes, from 1829 to 1833. Scott wrote new prefaces and notes for this edition. Another is the Border edition, with introductory essays and notes by Andrew Lang (forty-eight volumes, 1892-1894). The recent editions of Scott are numerous for, despite all criticisms of his careless style, he holds his own with the popular favorites of the day.

Of his poems a good edition was edited by William Minto in two volumes, in 1888. _The Life of Scott_ by his son-in-law, J.G.

Lockhart, is the standard work. This was originally issued in seven volumes but Lockhart was induced to condense it into one volume, which gives about all that the ordinary reader cares for. This may be found in Everyman's library. Scott's _Journal_ and his _Familiar Letters_, both edited by David Douglas, contain much interesting material. The best short lives of Scott are by R.H. Hutton in the English Men of Letters series and by George Saintsbury in the Famous Scots series. Among the best sketches and estimates of Scott are by Andrew Lang in _Letters to Dead Authors_; Sir Leslie Stephen in _Hours in a Library_; Conan Doyle in _Through the Magic Door_; Walter Bagehot in _Literary Studies_; Stevenson in _Gossip on Romance_ and in _Memoirs and Portraits_, and S.R.