those pictures of intimate detail in which Hawthorne excelspictures of the weather, of churches, of churchyards, of fields, of lanes, of inns, of railway stations, of towns-all studied in their relations to daily human life. Pictures of this kind crowd upon us as we turn Hawthorne's pages: the description of some old bedesmen sunning themselves before the almshouses at Warwick; the description of Hatton, Dr. Parr's village; the description of the old lady with the shaking minatory head whom he encountered at a railway station and thought to put into some romance; the description of Stratford-on-Avon, so much less ponderous and hero-worshipping than Irving's; the description of Pusey crossing the street to go to service at Oxford-these are but a few quoted from ancient memory of books, and at random. In a word, Emerson described the Englishman, and Hawthorne, Englishmen. And it remains after all to be said for Hawthorne's "English Note Books" that few Americans of any education could read them without wishing to see England. Like other Americans, he notes English things too usual for English eyes to see; but, owing to his brooding, silent temper, notes them closer, more minutely.

Concerning these "Note Books," Mr. Woodberry says that "such composition was the opiate it had always been for his higher imaginative and moral powers" and elsewhere he remarks, "there may be some wonder that a mind of Hawthorne's powers should find its play in such literary journalizing." He had a great capacity for idleness," says his biographer; and makes these observations in different parts of his book, which we take the liberty to string together. "He clearly spent a great deal of his time doing nothing in particular; his habits included an element of large leisure; his intellectual interests were always limited in scope, and when not at work in imagination he was mentally unoccupied." The explanation then of the triviality of much of the "Note-books" would seem to be that in the rather long intervals between the visits of his Muse, he varied his idle hours by writing out most of the trifles and futilities he saw, or heard, or even thought. For, as we said above, he depended entirely on inspiration, and when not inspired he sat an ordinary man with listless hands. And it was with listless hands, and a head vexed with the

incongruous affairs of Custom House or Consulate, that many sheets of his journal were written; and then, at times, suddenly, just while he was at it, the spirit would enter into him, and a few pages would spring up under his pen making the preceding and following pages seem rather vapid and flat. An additional proof, if one were needed, of his inspiration-of the fact that when the spell was on him he was driven forward by the sheer force of his genius almost against his will-may be found in this, that he disrelished his own works, and would have preferred to write novels like those of Anthony Trollope. So much was Hawthorne's gift, inspiration, and so little, talent or dexterity, that a rougher world, a harsher, less protected life than he had to encounter, might have killed it altogether, as is shown by the droop and faintness of his powers while at the Custom House and the Consulate.

Scott

In any attempt to get at the exact value of a writer the question must arise whether the very greatest writers are not those who have left a deep mark on all civilized countries. Putting aside the ancients, Cervantes is the highest example of this international influence.;-himself a great writer influencing great writers in other lands, and actually changing by himself the tendencies of the literature of Europe. is an example of precisely the same thing. Rousseau was a great international influence, and certainly Byron; while if we look at rather modern England we might add Dickens, from his influence on Daudet and secondary Daudets. And where shall you find a man who has influenced more various kinds of literature in all nations than Hawthorne's countryman, Poe? On the other side of the question it may be stated that the current literature of France is largely influenced by three foreign writers, Doistoievsky, Tolstoi, and Frederic Nietzsche; and it may very well be disputed if any of these can be placed amongst the greatest writers amongst those we have just mentioned. Certainly, few will question that Hawthorne is a great writer; and yet, like Thackeray, he cannot be said to have any influence, or even fame, which reaches beyond people who speak English. Why this should be the case with Thackeray is easily understood, for his characters are often cast in the most tiresome form of British narrowness, and his point of view is not seldom that of the Victorian major in the club; but that it should be so with Hawthorne sets one musing.

However, be all that as it will, whether international influence be the test of the greatest writers or not, Hawthorne, without it, is one of the very great writers of the last century, and even of all time. He remains for us a seer, an inspired man. America has in her annals three men who are perfectly original, Poe, Hawthorne, and Whitman: and of these three, Hawthorne is perhaps, on the whole, the chief. Let us conclude with a compliment to Mr. Woodberry. In the prospectus of the American Men of Letters Series we do not notice that any arrangements have been made for a biography of Whitman: we hope then, having regard to the perfect emotional tone of Mr. Woodberry's present volume, that the task will be entrusted to him, and that he will add to his excellent lives of Poe and Hawthorne an equally excellent life of the third great original, Walt Whitman.

VINCENT O'SULLIVAN.

EACHE

A BELGIAN SCHOOL EXHIBITION.

III.

THE AGRICULTURAL SECTION.

ACH moment brought us fresh evidence of the extent of the work carried on at the school. Our way to the Third Section, in a separate part of the building, lay through the grounds, where graceful plants and gay-coloured varieties of summer flowers, blooming in artistically contrived harmony and contrast, gladdened the eye. These were growing in separate plots-the pupils' gardens, each girl owning one which she cared and arranged according to her taste.

We had a peep at a large and well-stocked kitchen-garden. where the pupils were exercised in fruit and vegetable growing, both in the open and under glass. In later life some of them hoped to turn this training to profitable account in marketgardening. Of the smaller farm products, such as fruit, vegetables, fowl, butter and the like, the success lies, we were told, with the woman who can turn these things to profitable account, the attention of the men folk being engaged by the heavier farm work.

To the south of the garden a large plantation of fruit trees in model condition, proved that arboriculture was not neglected. Close by, a roomy enclosure, divided by wire netting into several runs, was allotted to numerous varieties of poultry. Here every modern contrivance was provided for this industry. The girls make use of the incubator, and delight in fowl-rearing, goslings and ducklings being especial favourites.

Further on were clover-scented meadows, fields teeming with summer crops, where the pupils, accompanied by efficient teachers, superintended the operations peculiar to the season, and pasture land, where cows were lazily browsing. Coming from those sections, whose exhibits suggested the art and refinement of the city and household duties, the charms of an Arcadian atmosphere offered a refreshing change. Hitherto our idea of rural maidenhood had been that of an artless damsel, but the artful young person whom the exhibits of the Agricultural

Section, which we now entered, revealed, gave proof of an amount of science that seemed almost uncanny in a country lass. It appeared as if in the twentieth century the reign of Phyllis was over in Arcadia; she had been ousted by Minerva's wiles.

A large table draped in the Belgian colours standing in the centre of the Exhibition Room was laden with a wealth of farm produce. Butter showed off its superior qualities in forms of delicate design, as well as in some more substantial samples. Cheeses were there in bewildering variety. Of these, there were many kinds with which we in Ireland are not familiar, some being of the Dutch family, others of the unfermented kind, made simply from the curd.

It interested us, and it may interest other Irish girls and those concerned in their welfare, to get a glimpse of the way in which Flemish girls between the ages of 15 and 18 set about their dairy work. They are not taught the cheese-making process by mere rule of thumb. They are required to understand the chemical changes which take place under their hands, to analyse into their chemical constituents the several varieties of cheese, and to compute the percentage of each ingredient which enters into the substance of the cheese. The note-books containing the result of their observations and analyses would surprise most of our Irish dairy-maids. Turning over one of these note-books I observed the following particular entered in tabulated form in reference to the making of Camembert cheese :-Date kind of Camembert, milk used, quantity of cream -, skim milk, temperature at which rennet was added quantity of colouring matter, of rennet -, time of coagulation -, of draining, of pressing —, quantity of salt, temperature of dairy, temperature of drying apparatus —, length of time in drying apparatus-, temperature of refining cellar degree of humidity of cellar —,

time in cellar.

The same details were given in reference to other cheeses, Alpine, Heverlé, Mont d'or, Fromage de Foin, etc.

The chemical constituents of the several cheeses were tabulated in percentages under the heads :--Water-, fats, soluble caseine, insoluble do. -, mineral matter monia —, butyric acid..

am

The cheeses which had been manufactured and analysed as thus indicated, were all exhibited. The list was somewhat