WALKING-STICK PAPERS ***
Produced by Al Haines
WALKING-STICK PAPERS
BY
ROBERT CORTES HOLLIDAY
1918
AS A CAT MAY LOOK AT A KING
SO I DEDICATE THIS LITTLE DOINGS TO
THREE FINE MEN:
W. C. BROWNELL
HILAIRE BELLOC
ROYAL CORTISSOZ
BECAUSE THEY REPRESENT TO MY MIND
THE BEST THINGS GOING:
THE PURE MILK OF THE WORD
FOREWORD
These little records of some excursions made by what Mr. James called "a visiting mind" first saw the light of public countenance in the pages of various publications. "On Going to Art Exhibitions" has been much expanded since its appearance in _Vanity Fair_. In _The Unpopular Review_ the original title of "That Reviewer 'Cuss'" was brought into harmony with the dignity of its setting by being changed to "The Hack Reviewer." "A Clerk May Look at a Celebrity" was printed in the New York _Times_ under the head "Glimpses of Celebrities." This paper has been included in this collection at the request of several distinguished gentlemen who have been so unfortunate as to lose their newspaper clippings of the article. That several of the personages figuring in this and one or two other of these papers have passed away since these papers were written seems to be thought an additional reason for reprinting these essays here. _The Bellman_ fell for "Caun't Speak the Language"; the New York _Tribune_, "Humours of the Bookshop"; _The Independent_, "Reading After Thirty," "You Are an American" appeared in the New York _Sun_; where the head "An American Reviewer in London" was substituted for the title of "Literary Levities in London." The following papers were contributed to the New York _Evening Post_: "The Fish Reporter," "On Going a Journey," "A Roundabout Paper," "Henry James, Himself," "Memories of a Manuscript," "Why Men Can't Read Novels by Women," "The Dessert of Life," "Hunting Lodgings," "My Friend, the Policeman," "Help Wanted," "Human Municipal Documents," "As to People," "A Town Constitutional," and "On Wearing a Hat." "On Carrying a Cane" appeared in _The Bookman_. I thank the editors of the publications named for permission to reprint these papers here. R. C. H.
New York, 1918.
CONTENTS
PROLOGUE: ON CARRYING A CANE
I THE FISH REPORTER II ON GOING A JOURNEY III GOING TO ART EXHIBITIONS IV A ROUNDABOUT PAPER V THAT REVIEWER "CUSS" VI LITERARY LEVITIES IN LONDON VII HENRY JAMES, HIMSELF VIII MEMORIES OF A MANUSCRIPT IX "YOU ARE AN AMERICAN" X WHY MEN CAN'T READ NOVELS BY WOMEN XI THE DESSERT OF LIFE XII A CLERK MAY LOOK AT A CELEBRITY XIII CAUN'T SPEAK THE LANGUAGE XIV HUNTING LODGINGS XV MY FRIEND, THE POLICEMAN XVI HELP WANTED--MALE, FEMALE XVII HUMAN MUNICIPAL DOCUMENTS XVIII AS TO PEOPLE XIX HUMOURS OF THE BOOK SHOP XX THE DECEASED XXI A TOWN CONSTITUTIONAL XXII READING AFTER THIRTY
EPILOGUE: ON WEARING A HAT
WALKING-STICK PAPERS
PROLOGUE
ON CARRYING A CANE
Some people, without doubt, are born with a deep instinct for carrying a cane; some consciously acquire the habit of carrying a cane; and some find themselves in a position where the matter of carrying a cane is thrust upon them.
Canes are carried in all parts of the world, and have been carried--or that which was the forefather of them has been carried--since human history began. Indeed, a very fair account of mankind might be made by writing the story, of its canes. And nothing that would readily occur to mind would more eloquently express a civilisation than its evident attitude toward canes. Perhaps nothing can more subtly convey the psychology of a man than his feeling about a cane.
