LIBER'S NOTE-BOOK.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2205, 18 July 1914, Page 9

LIBER'S NOTE-BOOK.

Mr. A. R. Astridge (Trentham) writes as: follows t-rrS'Deai* ; !Liber,'—ln'reading through your remarks to-day in regard to P. H. Ditehfield's 'London Survivals ' I notice you refer to St. OWs Church, Hart Street, as being in the vicinity of Tooley Street, of 'three tailors' fame. 1 note you were speaking from memory, ■ and, therefore, 1 am taking the liberty of; informing you the exact position of St. Olave's. 'Tooley Street is the turning to the left immediately after crossing London Bridge, anil there is a church not many yards down there, although! cannot name it./ From the little sketch map enclosed, you will see that St. Olave's is close by Fehchurch Street station", and is in hear proximity to All Hallow's, Barking, which , latter place marks the eastern extremity of the Great Fire. Thus, you will notice that the church you had in mind and the real St. .Olave's are separated by the river Thames.' • : English papers I>y recent mails report the death on. May 19 of Dr.- William Aldis Wright;.of Cambridge.. The name of-Aldis AVright has always been familiar to- me through its. connection with two famous editions of Shakespeare, and as that of.'the editor of those delightful'books, "The Letters of .Edward FitzGorald." Away hack in the 'sixties, Aldis''.Wright made the acquaintance of Alexander Maemillan (the founder of the great publishing firm of Maemillan and Co.), who was then a bookseller and publisher at Cambridge. For Macmillans ho edited'.,in conjunction with W. G. Clark, the scholarly and handy Globe edition of Shakespeare, in the pages of which so many of us have made their first real acquaintance with the Bard of Avon., I .have had a greenbacked Globe edition of Shakespeare on my shelves.these twenty'years or more, nnd tattered and .battered as it is, I would still turn to it in preference to all other editions were , the print but a little larger. ■ Later oh, Wright 'edited that superb,. that truly standard' edition of Shakespeare, the. Cambridge edition,, in nine stalwart octavos, the edition: par excellence of Shakespeare. He was also' a high authority on Biblical literature-and , on early ..English. To me, however, it was Aldis Wright's long'friendship with Edward Fita.Gerald, of "Rubiayafc" fame, : and hi.; editorship of FitzGerald's letters, which are of most, importance.' Born at Becclcs, with which the "Laird of Little Grange," as. I'itzGerald liked to,call .himself, had also a personal connection, Wright, being then at Trinity College, Cambridge (where he was amongst the Wranglers in 1854), made FitzGcrald's acquaintin 1867. The two men.',, so oddly different in thought and life, became great friends, and it was to Aldis' Wright that FitzGerald, before he dic.d, entrusted the arrangement, and, .if he thought it desirable, the' publication, of his letters to his friends. ■" The result has .been foiir volumes, "The Letters of Edward. Fit ; zGcr'ald" (two volumes), "Moro-Letters of Edward FitzGerald," and "Letters of Edward.FitzGerald to Fanny Komble." . ' ' In his elaborate biography of Edward FitzGerald, Mr. Thomas Wright (no. relation, 1 believe, of Aldis Wright) claims that as a letter-writer Edward FitzGerald, the eccentric old recluse of a little: dull town in Suffolk, "transcends such recognised. masters as ■ Walpole, Pope, and Gray." Mr. Thomas Wright places : "dea,r old Fitz,"- as Thackeray affectionately called him, below Cowpor. But many who know both Cowper's and FitzGerald's Letters will take leave to disagree with this verdict. To "Liber," the' four volumes of FitzGcrald's Letters,'with Mr. Aldis Wright's running biographical commentary (somewhat similar to if shorter than that sunplied by Sidney Colvin to Stevenson's Letters), must ever remain an, inexhaustible mine of good sense, true human charity,-and ripe, literary and artistic judgment. These four' books can be purchased in Macmillan's "Eversley" series (New Zealand price, ss. each). They deserve the attention of all who like to read of

such men as Dickons, Thackeray, Spedding, Arthur Hallam, Tennyson, and others, described by a man who was their and in most cases a trusted personal iriend. Aldis Wright, at the time of his death, w.ns, I.see, still living in Neville's Court, at Trinity College, where, writing to tho American, Charles Eliot Norton, FitzGerald tells how ho found his friend (in August, 1881), and ''felt at home in the rooms thero, walled with books, largo and cool." For many years Aldis Wright acted as Librarian aud Vice-Master of the college. I am somewhat surprised to see that so omnivorous a reader as Sir Robert Stout should nave only just recently made i his first acquaintance with the works of the Manx poet, Thomas Edward Brown, author of "Foc'sle Yarns," "Betsy Lee," and other poems. I rejoice, however, to find Sir Robert enthusiastic over Brown's work, so human; so gfenial, so flnel) dramatic and inspiring. Sir Robert has practically his enthusiasm by an article in the Christchuich "Press" (July 1), 'which ■ should not be missed by those who already, know and admire Brown's poetry, and which will, I trust, enlarge the circle of his admirers in New Zealand. Sir Robert is, howovor, a trifle over-severe upon Henley's introduction to the. "Collected Poems." If Sir Robert has read Henley's "Views and Roviows," as no doubt he has long tigo, he will surely recogniso that Henley was.therein, at least, no "puzzleheaded critic, , ' for there is no other volume of literary criticism to .equal it for critical insight and brilliance of literary etylo. But Sir Robert's article is so generally delightful that I- can forgivo him the remark about Henley. Apropos to T. E. Brown, many who know the volume of "Collected Poems" to which Sir Robert alluded, may not have met with the two volumes of "Letters'of Thomas Edward Brown" which, were edited, with an introductory memoir by bis old friend Sydney T. Irwin, and published (by Constables) in 1900, seven years after Brown's death. I was writing'just now about the cbarin of "Fitzgerald's Letters." I will not foreswear my allegiance to "dear old Fitz.."' but Brown's "Letters" make delightful reading. They were warmly praised o'n their publication by Mr. Irwin, by men lite v - Arthur Quiller Couch and the late Andrew Lang. One special characteristic.'they display is what Mr. Irwin, whose "Memoir" gives so much interesting information about Brown, calls the iimeersal quality of his literary sympathy' and its intensity." Brown, I may remark, was a great admirer of FitzGerald's "Letters." I turn up my copy of Brown's "Letters," and. find him writing, from Ramsay, to Irwin:— . : "Ho (FiteGerald) takes you with ; him, exactly accommodating his pace to yours, walks through meadows so tranquil and yet so abound-' . ing in the - same delicate surprises. And these surprises seem :so familiar, just as if they had originated with yourself. What •' delicious blending! . What a perfect inter-, weft of thought and diction! What : a' sweet companion! - ■ , 'Brown was a great admirer of certain French authors. Hβ liked Flaubert's novels, thought Victor Hugo-"the greatest poet since, Shakgspearo," and could find- joy in Alfred ': De' Musset'e "Confessions." ' Daudet's "Lettres do Mbn Moulin" was one of his favouriteo, but'he was ; disgusted with tho "simply straightforward lubricity" of De Maupassant. '.Brown's "Letters" aro well worth-: a place, alongside ■ his'' 'Collected Poems." , '■'■'....■ ''