in any other, promises to be remarkably successful. The local committee of arrangements, having Mr. F. F. Browne as chairman, some time ago enlisted the services of an Eastern committee of the best-known American writers, with Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes as honorary chairman, and Professor George E. Woodberry as secretary. Largely owing to the efforts of this Committee of Coöperation, a very important programme has been drawn up, dealing with the commercial as well as the artistic aspects of authorship. The former of these aspects will be presented very forcibly by Mr. Walter Besant, who comes as the representative of the English Society of Authors, and who has awakened in his fellow-countrymen much interest in the Chicago Congress. Mr. Besant comes not only to speak in his own person, but also as the bearer of many important papers by English writers, among which may be mentioned "Some Considerations on Publishing," by Sir Frederick Pollock; "The Berne Conference," by Sir Henry Bergne; "Literature and the Press," by Mr. H. D. Traill; and The Future of the Drama," by Mr. Henry Arthur Jones. A fact of extraordinary interest in connection with this Congress is the expected presence of the greatest poet of modern Italy, Signor Carducci, although it is not yet known what part he will take in the proceedings. The subject of Copyright will have an important place in the work of the Congress, being discussed not only in the papers sent by English contributors, but also by Mr. A. L. Spofford, Librarian of Congress (who will preside), by Mr. R. R. Bowker of New York, and Mr. George E. Adams of Chicago. On the subject of Criticism, papers will be read by Messrs. Charles Dudley Warner (who will preside), John Burroughs, Moses Coit Tyler, H. W. Mabie, and others. On the subject of Fiction, there will be papers presented by Messrs. G. W. Cable (who will preside), Thomas Nelson Page, Joseph Kirkland, Mrs. Mary H. Catherwood, and Miss Alice French. Mr. R. W. Gilder, Mr. George E. Woodberry, and many other American writers of distinction are also expected to be present at the Congress, and take part in the work; but it is impossible at this date to give a more detailed account of the programme. Enough has been said, however, to make it clear that the gathering will be of great interest to all literary workers, and that important practical results may very probably remain as its outcome. The week of the Literature Congresses, taken as a whole, may be seen, even from the outline of facts presented in this article, to promise a degree of attractiveness to all sorts of intellectual interests that is rarely offered the public at any one time and place. After the Congresses are over, The Dial will again take occasion to summarize their features, and to point out what shall appear to have been significant in the results achieved by them.
CHRONICLE AND COMMENT.
The Comédie Francaise could not come to Chicago this summer, for reasons playfully set forth in a recent article by M. Sarcey, and it has, instead, gone to London, where it is to remain a month, and produce no less than forty-seven pieces of its repertory. The programme includes classical and modern plays in great variety, among which "Hamlet" is noteworthy, although we hardly recognize the tragedy in the description—“drame en vers en cinq actes par MM. Dumas et Paul Meurice.” But we have no doubt that it is our own Hamlet that M. Mounet-Sully will present to his audience. We must remember that it was Shakespeare's Cleopatra that was, after all, given us by Mme. Bernhardt, although disguised in lines that made no pretence of being Shakespearian. The opening performance of the French Play in London was signalized by a "Salut à Londres," written by M. Claretie, and recited by Mile. Reichemberg, from which we extract a few verses:
"Salut, pays du grand Shakespeare,
Au nom de Corneille le Grand;
Aux souverains d'un double empire
Où le génie accepte et rend;
"Ou, loin de la dent des couleuvres,
Il proclame — invincible et fier —
Le libre échange des chefs-d’œuvre
A travers les vents et la mer!”
Mr. Edgar Prestage writes to the London "Academy" to complain of the neglect of Portugese literature by English students. To say that Portugal has produced but one author of the first rank—Camoëns—is a statement as absurd, in his opinion, as "that England has produced no great poet with the exception of Shakespeare." He calls particular attention to three great writers of the present century Almeida Garrett, Anthero de Quental, and Joao de Deus saying of the latter that he is "without doubt, the greatest lyric poet now living." Curiosity should certainly be stimulated by so enthusiastic a description of a poet whose name means nothing at all to most English readers, but we fear that the case is a hopeless one. If the poet in question were a novelist, or even a dramatist, he might come into general recognition; but no lyric poet is ever appreciated outside the circle of those whose language he sings. Heine has come nearer than any other lyrist of the century to such general favor, but even Heine is known to most non-Germans chiefly for his humorous and ironical prose
