The sweep

every other people than with his own. and voluminousness of knowledge that is available to him for fiction are extraordinary, rang- Extensive ing from Indian occultism, Zoroaster, and Equipment the court of King Darius, to English rural life, American party politics and New York society, life in the Black Forest of Germany, ancient Rome and modern Italy, and the sacred penetralia of St. Peter's throne. Since the publication of his first novel, "Mr. Isaacs," in 1882, more than thirty volumes have appeared, the best upon Italian themes, the poorest upon American.

Son of the distinguished American sculptor, Thomas Crawford, he was born in Italy in 1854; he spent his early childhood in New York, studied at Harvard, at Cambridge University, England, at Carlsruhe and Heidelberg, and at Rome. He acquired a wide knowledge of languages and their respective literatures, including the Sanskrit. In 1879 he went to India, and for a time edited the Indian Herald at Allahabad, where he obtained the experience that led to his first romantic and singularly interesting story, "Mr. Isaacs." In 1884 he settled in a permanent home near Sorrento, Italy.

Like his compatriots, Howells and James, Crawford formulates his own recipe for a "perfect novel," which, as illustrated in his own practice, is a compromise between the romantic and the realistic method. A novel is "an intellectual artistic luxury," to begin with.

A Compro

of the Novel

"It must deal chiefly with love, for in that passion all men and women are most generally interested." It must be clean and sweet, for it must mise Theory tell its tale to all mankind." Its realism “must be real, of three dimensions, not flat and photographic; its romance must be of the human heart and truly human, that is, of the earth as we have found it; its idealism must be transcendent, not measured to man's mind, but proportioned to man's soul."

This rational view of the novel is consistently exemplified in Crawford's work. Sometimes he dares the scorn of the realists, as in the delightful "Roman Singer," with a romance of the old-fashioned type, with the lonely castle, secret passages, midnight escape, and other paraphernalia of wonderment. The best example of his theory, as well as the finest product of his genius, is seen in the trilogy, "Saracinesca," ," "Sant' Ilario," and "Don Orsino," in which the history of a noble Italian family is depicted with the finest effects of both romance and realism.

Reading and Discussion. - Saracinesca; A Roman Singer.

TWO MASTERS OF THE SHORT STORY

One comes upon an embarrassment of riches among contemporary short-story writers that makes discrimination exceedingly difficult. Comparison becomes odious where so many are excellent. Some,

Francis Rich

however, whose works have outlived their sensational success and settled into permanent fame, deserve special laurels. An entirely original vein of humorous and romantic, or fantastic, creation belongs to Francis Richard Stockton. He was born in Philadelphia in 1834, served an apprenticeship in New York journalism, was assistant editor ard Stockton, of St. Nicholas in its early years, and 1834-1902 finally withdrew from the turmoil of the city to a pleasant country home, there to devote himself entirely to literature. His reputation was established in 1879 with "Rudder Grange," and the quaintly humorous "Euphemia ' " and "Pomona " became at once universal favorites. His most celebrated fantasy is "The Lady or the Tiger?" in which the artful betrayal of the reader's confidence is a bit of humorous sagacity, exhibiting pure genius. His "special talent is for writing a tale which in a few pages and with the lightest of touches explicates an odd plot or delineates an odd character, dealing so gravely and logically with an absurd or impossible set of circumstances that they seem reality itself." His humor is sly, delicate, and pervasive, and his creations are always refined and wholesome; the reader is never ashamed of being found in the company of his characters. His style is mere simplicity, but that kind of artistic simplicity that defies imitation. He suggests DeFoe in his habitual method, but a distinct and unmistakable individuality marks all his work.

Edward

1822

A more veritable disciple of DeFoe is the author of that famous tale "A Man Without a Country," Edward Everett Hale, whose "appallingly Everett Hale, voluminous" writings extend to more than fifty volumes. He was born in Boston in 1822, was graduated from Harvard, and for more than half a century was one of the leading preachers of his native city. His "Ten Times One is Ten" led to the philanthropic movement among young people, carried on by the "Harry Wadsworth," "Lend a Hand," and other clubs, which now extends around the globe. He is a popular writer of history and biography, but his permanent literary fame rests upon his short stories, to which he imparts that peculiar quality of verisimilitude that imposes upon the minds of readers the most whimsical relation of invented facts as actuality. No other American writer has equaled him in this ability to make history out of fiction. "A Man Without a Country" has been quoted the world over as a record of facts. Like Stockton, Dr. Hale is not able to sustain his best qualities in a long story or complete novel. Their airy structures are not broad enough in the foundation of sentiment or character; the puzzle or the mystery must be solved before the interest flags. "In His Name," a story of the Waldenses, has been widely read on account of its historic interest. Next to Dr. Hale's abounding humor, one most enjoys his healthy optimism. The spirit of all his work is expressed in the motto of his young hero,

"Look up and not down; look forward and not back; look out and not in; and lend a hand."

Reading and Discussion. - Stockton's "Rudder Grange "; "The Lady or the Tiger?" "The Remarkable Wreck of the Thomas Hyde." Hale's "A Man Without a Country"; "My Double and How He Undid Me"; "The Brick Moon"; "Ten Times One is Ten."

A GROUP OF NEW ENGLAND WOMEN

Howells generously remarks, apropos of the short story, that "the sketches and studies by the women seem faithfuller and more realistic than those of the men, in proportion to their number." The present activity of women in literature is one of the most prominent facts of the age; indeed it Women in marks a historic epoch in the progress Literature of civilization. In imaginative literature women in America are probably at the present time producing more work than men, and of an average quality, possibly, quite as high in the scale of literary merit. It is natural that in intellectual New England the widest development of feminine genius should have appeared. The common life and scenery of New England, the home, childhood, the joys and sorrows of simple human hearts, have been described by these women with remarkable fullness and truth, with realistic force and idealistic purpose, and with a pure regard for the relations of the virtues of literature to the virtues of everyday life. The names of Mrs. Stowe, Miss Alcott,