The New York Herald Newspaper, November 11, 1878, Page 5

ALFONSO’S ESCAPE The Attempted Assassination of the King of Spain ——_-___- INSECURITY OF THE DYNASTY. Insincere Supporters, Intriguing Politicians and Sullen People. BEARING OF THE YOUNG KING. Sa EES Mapai, Oct. 27, 1878. «fe news flashed across the Atlantic on Friday last of the dastardly attempt to assassinate King Alfonso XII. will have startled the American public. That “killing is no murder,” when applied to royal personages, is a doctrine which, as years roll on, seems to be gaining adherents. Few of the crowned heads of Europe have failed to pass through the pleasant ordeal of the assassin's dagger, bomb or ball, Queen Victoria, of England; Queen Isabella, of Spain; the late Emperor of the French, Napoleon TII.; Amadeus, of Savoy; and his father, the late King Victor Emmanuel, of Italy; the present Emperor of all the Russias and the venerable Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany, have all had their lives at- tempted by cowardly miscreants or infatuated mad- men, But, as Shakespeare says, “There is a divinity oth hedge a king,” and in none of these instances did success crown the regicidal attempt. Strange to say, but yet it is a fact, that the only two instances in our own days where the deadly bulict found its “billet” in the persons of the chiefs of the state were those of President Lincoln and General Prim—men who, though ruling — the destinies of their respective countries, had ao pretensions to royal blood and no desire to wear the purple. They paid the penalty of death for their disinterested loyalty to their fellow countrymen at the hands of suborned murderers, All of kingly race have hitherto escaped, and to the long list is now to be added the young Bourbon, who, nolens volens, has been thrust into the most rickety throne upon earth, against whom the dastardly attempt was made on the occasion of his return to the capital from his provin- cial tour. Providence has protected the lad, and it is tobe hoped that the event may help to awaken the popular sympathies toward him to a greater extent than they have hitherto been manifested. INSECURITY OF THE BOURBON DYNASTY. Discreet and painstaking as Don Alfonso has been from the very day when, as a Sandhurst pupil, he received the news that the throne of his ancestors was at his disposal, and many as are the enmities he has overcome, it is no secret to him or to anybody else that he has much yet to do ere he can feel that his throne is consolidated and his dynasty secure. A large part of those who now boast of him as their monarch only do so for the loaves and fishes he can throw into their laps. Some of his most ardent par- tisans are of those who egged his mother, the ex-Queen Isabella, on to ruin and then deserted her in her fall. Others of them, nay even some of his pres- ent Cabinet, took sides against that unfortunate and inisguided lady in 1868, and not only helped to drive her from the throne and into exile, but actually took Places as Ministers of the new King set up by the revolugion, Amadeus of Savoy, Could any monarch in his sober senses give a farthing rushlight for the loyalty of men like these? Then — outside the charmed circle in which he moves the malcontents aro legion, and nothing but time and the evidence of national prosperity and progress under his rule will ever induce them to cast in their lot with the restoration and to cease their enmity to the Bourbon race. Proof of this is the strong determination of the existing government to have no other shibboleth but their own and to allow of nothing like an opening of the safety valve of public opinion. The gagged press and the for- bid right of public meeting and association are but indications in the same direction. All this has but one effect in the minds of the unreflecting both in Spain and abroad—namely, to make them think all is peace when in reality there is no peace, and nothing but the forced absence of noise. All this is very much to be regretted, for if Spain must be true to her ancient traditions and remain monarchy she could not have a more worthy and ap- ropriate monarch than Don Alfonso. Young as he is, inthe little time he has reigned he has proved himself man enough to resist the extreme Catholic inspirations of his mother, grandmother and sister—- a veritable trinity of fanaticism «and intoler- ance—the impulses and suggestions of sun- dry wily bishops and archbishops, the intrigues of unseen politicians and the adulations of iuterested flatterers. Steadily and quietly be has held his own and done all that mortal could do to aed himself worthy of the throne of San Fernando. if the worm gnaws at the root of the tree the fault is not his, but rather of the institutions he represents. Those institutions are doomed to perish and it is but A question of time. THE KING'S HABITS. _ As soon as the traditional nine ‘8 of seclusion rescribed eae custom after a family atiliction faa ed, Don Alfonso, with saddened heart, betook himself to the Escorial, where day by day and night by night he might be seen fretting and weeping by the ide of the temporary mausoleum of his lost Mercedes in one of the bee, =r of that gorgeous edifice. That he mourned his wife deeply and sincerely there can be no doubt. “Would to God I had lost my kingdom rather | ae have lost my wife!’ was his petulant exclama- fion to one of his Ministers im the early days of his sorrow who chided him for fretting so unmanfully when care#'of state called for all his manhood. They ‘were an attached couplé, and if it were not so no ex- use can be pleaded for the early match. After his retirement to the Escorial the King only came to Madrid two or three times to attend the councils of his Ministers, always returning the same evening by rail to the lonely temple of Philip IJ. Small trips trom there to the old Palace of Riofrio, in the moun- tains, and the still older one of La Granja, filled up his time, At last he determined, like a wise man, to try to shake off his melancholy and bestir himself anew to the duties of his high position. His ad- visers were not long in finding an occasion. It was to be a visit to the northern cities, and a series of grand military man@uvres in \the plains near Vi- toria. Accordingly Avila, with its dingy cathedral, narrow streets and cloistered convents; Valladolid, with its ancient pile, its classic walks, its public square (the site of many an aulo de fe) and its unpre- tentious house where the immortal Cervantes lived and labored, were visited each in their turn. Warm popu- lar ovations greeted the sorrowing monarch as he dreamily sojourned in these fossil cities of old Spain, victim of countless official breakfasts, dinners, recep- tions, parades and third class theatrical performances. Once, and once only, did His Majesty seem at home, and that was on his visit to the time-honored and world, famous archives of Simanca. Vitoria at last was feached, and the miljtary “manceuyres” com- menced. A respectable army of fifteen to twenty thousand men had been gathered together, and dur- ing several days were put through their facings b; the King in person, in the presence of military del- egates from various of the European nations. Our own General Grant, invited by the King to Vitoria, witnessed these displ and to him, as to a practical man, rather than to myself as an unuuiformed civilian, Jleave all expression of opinion as to the efficiency or non-efficiency of the Spanish troops there engaged. All being over—the last redoubt taken, the last mine sprung, the last shot fired—a general breakup was the order of the day and the King resolved to return to his capital, stopping at Logrotio and Zaragora by the way. At Logrofio his interview with the veteran Espartero, Duke de la Victoria, was most affecting. In Zaragoza, the brave, he stayed four or five days, and dn Friday morning set off for Madrid. THE ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION. Nothing orig ular occurred to the royal train as it sped on to the ital save enthusiastic grectings at the depots, hastily passed, and triumphant manifesta- sions of buuting, powder and cloquence at the three orfour towns where # halt was arranged, At half- past three P. M. the roar of artillery announced the wrrival at the railway depot in Madrid, which was tastefully and appropriately decorated fur the occa- sion. Onthe platform His Majesty was received by the civil and military authorities, commissions from the Cortes, &c., in grand state, He looked jaded “and pale, In’ the midst of one of the most imposing military displays Lever witnessed he mounted horse and rode to the neighboring Church of Atocho, but ten short months ago he was joined in holy wedlock to Dofia Mercedes d’Orleans, is cousin, « ter of the Duke of Montpensier. At the gate of the church he was met by his sisters, the Princess of Asturias at their head. He looked the picture of misery and sadness. The solemn “Te Deum” over be again rewounted and with his brill- aut staff rode off to the palace. In among the “staff” I noticed Generals Primo de Riveros, Concha, Quesada, ‘Torellar, Azear and others. Most of the houses en ronte were gay ly decorated, and flags were hoisted on all the public buildihgs. Troops to the number of nearly fifteen thousand lined the streets, and the order was perfect. All along the line ‘the ladies in the balconies waved their handkerchiefs and threw flowers across the path of the youthful verrign, The Botanico, the Prado, the Calle Alcala «1 the crowded Puerta del Sol were all safely traversed, no one dreaming of danger. But now the cavaleade’ has entered the Calle Mayor. Two paces more and they are at the ce. Bowing and smiling to the “Viras!” he received, the King rides yal- lantly on. But aloud report is heard and a flash is seen from the sidewalk near the Ayuntamiento, It ix # pistol shot! Instantly the King stops his horse and ting out the assassin rides coolly on, Generals, ers, police, soldiers and people rush wildly up, and ere the misereant could fi the weapon from his hand be is seized. With difficulty he is treed from the angry crowd aud taken to the Civil Governor's, close by. He declares his name to be Jnan Oliva Moncassi, native of Tarragona, cooper by trade, xo- cialist and internationalist, married, one child,’ He states his age at twenty-two and says he haa no ac- complice, but that he came up from Tarragona four days ago expressly to do {he deed From the Civil Governor's he was removed to the Captain General's and see 4 bh fe app ‘errible is the popular indignation, but as have already trans- grossed limits I shall resume to-morrow, NEW YORK HERALD, MONDAY, NOVEMBER Ul, 1878—TRIPLE SHEKY AMONG THE BOOKS. LITERATURE OF THE WEEK—FACT AND PICTION— CHIT-CHAT AND NOTES—NEW INTELLECTUAL VENTURES—CRITICISM CURRENTE CALAMO-— THE WORLD OF THOUGHT. “New Greece,” by Lewis Sergeant (Cassell, Petter & Galpin), is a volume written as much to show the English nation what might be done by holding out friendly hand to that classic country as to record the history of its progress. The author thinks that Europe has borne hardly upon New Greece, and Eng- land most hardly of all. The reason for this he gives as the fear of weakening Turkey. There are, how- ever, many Englishmen who believe that the claims of Greece are above the claims of Turkey, and that a strong Greek kingdom would be more serviceable to England and to Europe than a strong Ottoman Em- pire, The author in this volume brings together the many reasons which have been or may be urged on. behalf of the Hellenic claims. The volume is divided into two parts, in the first of which are assembled a handful of sketches and statements on the material and intellectual progress of the coun- try during the past few years, and arguments to prove that their advance has been hindered by obstacles for which they are not responsible, In the second book the author inquires into the theory of intervention in general, and gives the result of his search through the pages of history for the mistakes which appear to have been made in the establishment of New Greece. Mr. Sergeant is very much in earnest in his espousal of the cause of Greece. One central truth, he says, stands out from the history of the past half century, which forces itself upon the consciences of the present generation, and which indicates a duty to the English government and people:—‘‘We have set up New Greece, not in mere benevolence, but after a long and gallant struggle waged by the Greeks against their oppressors. We compelled Turkey to acknowl- edge the independence of her former subjec and covered the latter with our guar- antce; but at the same time we fet tered them with such bonds and conditions that they were absolutely incapable of exercising their nominal freedom. We made Greece, but we* made her bankrupt. We have been benefactors to the Greeks, as they readily admit; but we have per- sistently and advisedly clogged their advance, par- alyzed their struggles and retarded their emancipa- tion. We have even pleaded their cause before other European Powers, but we have simultaneously grudged them every inch of progress which they have made at the expense of Turkey.” There are a great many wholesome.truths in Mr. Sergeant’s book which England will not altogether enjoy reading. RUFUS CHOATE. Rufus Choate has been recalled to our minds of late, first in 4 volume of speeches, and second ina little volume of ‘‘Recollections,” by Edwin P. Whip- ple, published in Harper's Half-Hour series. Mr. Whipple does not pretend to give a life of Choate, but simply to record a few memories illustrating the force and flexibility of his genius and the geniality of his nature. Mr. Whipple has the most sincere admiration for the dis- tinguished lawyer's abilities. Mr. Choate, he says, possessed the art of concealing the art by which he overcame opposition. In his steady pressure on the wills of the jury he appeared to be cosily arguing with them or lifting them into a region of impas- sioned sentiment and imagination where he was at home, and where the jury were made to feel that they shared with him all the delights of such a lofty com- munion with everything beautiful and sublime. In his arguments for persons who had become compli- cated in seemingly criminal acts, of which they were at least not so guilty as they were accused of being, his masterly way of putting himself, by imagination, in the place of his clients, and exhibiting all the pathos that could be elicited from their embarrassments and struggles, often drenched his clients themselves in irrepressible tears, Mr. Whipple has accomplished his pleasant task welland given us a capital idea of New England's great lawyer. BENJAMIN DU PLAN. To mest reeders the name of Benjamin du Plan, gentleman, of Alais, conveys no meaning beyond the fact that he was at one time Deputy General of the Reformed churches of France, and Bonnefon, pastor of the Reformed Church at Alais, the birthplace of Du Plan. He was born in 1688, and very little is known of his family or his infancy. At the age of twenty- two he laid down the sword and devoted himself en- tirely to the Church. It was not long before he be- came the representative of the Huguenot churches in France. The material for this biography has been found in original letters written by its subject and family papers. They have been arranged in consecu- tive form, accompanied by a running commentary, which offers an explanation to them. The book is one to be eagerly read by all who are interested in the his- tory of Protestantism in France, and is written with an earnest devotion to the memory of Du Plan. THE HAUNTED HOTEL, In “The Haunted Hotel” (Rose-Belford Publishing Company), Wilkie Collins has let run riot a taste for the supernatural that crops out in nearly all of his novels, ‘The Woman in White” is a most comfort- able ghost compared to the one that figures in this story. The heroine of the tale is the Countess Narona, the hero, if a ghost can be called a hero, Lord Montbarry. The countess is a woman whose com- plexion has been made white by poison in her youth, her eyes have an unnatural brightness, and she is a very wicked person. She wins Lord Montbarry away from his honest English sweetheart, marries him and murders him. His ghost comes back to the scene of the murder and haunts a hotel in Venice. Mr. Collins has been very success- ful in painting the horrors of a haunted room so that one feels as though he could not get a comfortable night’s rest in @ Venetian hotel. One's flesh creops as he reads of the bodiless head that hung over the Englishwoman’s bed and the mad countess ‘who sat unconscious in the chair, We would not rec- ommend the reading of the “Haunted Hotel” to a nervous person after sundown, unless we wished him to pass a sleepless night. The detail is so carefully worked out that one is made to feel the story real and his flesh creeps as he reads. There is no great liter- ary cleverness displayed in this story, the whole yol- ume of which is not worth any one chapter in the “Woman in White.” Fora right down sensational story it has its uses, and we have no doubt that it will send many a young person trembling to bed. “HELENE.” Mrs, Mary Neal Sherwood is doing for the modern French novelist what Mrs. Wister has done for the German, She more than trauslates—she edits for American readers. In her latest translation, “Héléne,” & love episode by Emile Zola (T. B. Peterson & Broth- ors), she uses the pruning knife with a proper appre- ciation of the limit of American forbear- ance in the matter of morals. Kmile Zola is one of the most powerful of the young French novelists. He is like Balzac in his minu- tie, but where Balzac is psychologival he is physico- logical. His truths are naked truths, and he thrusts them at the reader on every page. He is a realist in the accepted meaning of the term, and is to literature what Courbet is to painting. He takes w passion from its earliest bud and describes it until it is full blown, Mra, Sherwood has pruned the most objectionable features from “Héléne,” yet there is enough of the original left to prove what we have stated. When the story opens Héléne is a young widow, with an only child, living in Paris. Her companions are an old curé and bis brother. Her little daughter is taken ill, and she calls in Dr. Dubellle, ® physician, who lives near by, In her anxiety for her child she forgets that she is in hor nightdtess, and that her shapely figure is ex- posed to view. Dr. Duberle is not long in falling in love with this beautiful woman, notwithstanding the fact that he has wife at home. Héléne returns his passion, Jeanne, he ld, hates the doctor and is jealous of her mother’s love and she finally dies of a broken heart. Tho various stages through which Héléne passes in her passion are carefully analyzed. ‘We see all the workings of her conscience and are gradually prepared for the worst. The only amusing thing about the story is Héléne’s indignation when she discovers that Mme, Duberle has a lover. With little plot Zola has made s most absorbing novel, His conversations are exceedingly clever, and his dis- nections of character often cruel. Mrs, Sherwood has been singularly successful in preserving the color of the original, which is sur- prising considering ita very characteristic manage- ment. “MACLEOD OF DARE.” From “Héléne” to ‘Macleod of Dare" is like step- Ping from the Rue de Rivoli to the top of Ben Lomond. In this, bis latest novel (Harper & Brothers.) Mr. Black gives us a greet deal of that breezy atmosphere we found so enjoyable when we travelled with him through England in s phaeton. Macleod of Dare is @ young Scotchman who leaves his castle walls to see the world. He begins in London—not « bud place for # beginning—where he is petted by society in general and by Miss Gertrude White, an actress, in particu- lar. She is heartless and cruel and makes furious love to him, ‘The lad’s head is turned and he wor- ships her as a man of his wild, rugged nature would worship such a woman. She plays with him for @ while and then drives him away so that she may marry one of her own kind. Macleod’s brain reels. The men of his race, when they love, cannot unloye easily. He leaves Miss White for a while, balf stunned by the blow, and shows little sign of life un- til he hears that she is about to marry; then he con- ceives the wild plan of carrying her off. He sails down to London and anchors his yacht in the Thames. On a false representation he gets her aboard, spreads sail to the breeze and heads for the north, Of course he is mad; no sane man would do anything so theatri- cal. Within sight of Castle Dare he sends his men ashore and stays aboard the yacht with his destroyer. A storm comes up and they die together. ‘This end- ing is unlike Mr. Black, but it is in keeping with the character of the last of the Macleods, There is, per- haps, a little too much rhapsodizing in the last chap- ters, but altogether the story is a good one, and well depicts the homely and faithful traits in the Scotch character, WHAT BOSTON PUBLISHERS ARE DOING—-PREPA- RATIONS FOR THE HOLIDAYS—THE COOKING QUESTION--ART IN LITERATURE—BOOKS OF ALL SORTS, Boston, Nov, 9, 1878, The Christmas book trade, which always begins im- mediately after election, will start off this week with Mrs. Whitney’s “Just How: a Key to the Cook Books,” a volume which all the young women of Boston are expected to read, except those who are steeping their souls in decorative art. The struggle between the school of writers and women of society who believe in making home comfortable, and those who are in favor of making it beautiful, is to be very lively this winter, if one may judge from the eager- ness with which those belonging to one set flock to the cooking school, while the others go to the Museum of Fine Arts and take lessons in modern embroidery and in carving in wood and modelling in plaster. Mrs. Whitney, of course, appeals to the former set; but she says in her preface that she does not madly propose to add to the number of recipe books, whose name is Legion, but she does mean to make a little grammar of cuisine; to take up the very A BC of its etymology; to give its parts of speech; to show the elementary princi- ples of its syntax. “In no recipe that I ever mixed by,” she says, “‘has the mystcrions élement of ‘knack,’ ‘judgment,’ ‘gumption’ been alowed, resolved and measured with the least attempt at precision; yet it should be more than, even instead of ingredient, weight or proportion.” Mrs. Whitney thinks that there are in cookery, as in all things, three definite stages of doings, and they are the stages of the chil- dven’s play rhyme:— One to make ready, Two to prepare, Three to go slambang, ‘And you are there. “Ifyou can make ready and prepare,’’ she says, “you may go slambang with the most delicious con- " The closing pages are entitled, ‘Last and begin with this characteristic sentence :— “It is certain that a woman cannot want the last word, simply because nobody seems to know so well as a woman that there can be no last word, Other people suppose that there is such a thing as a finality; & woman perceives that there is always more to be said or done on any side of any thing. For that very reason she is always struggling with a last word.” The book is really very, good, and, as far as can be jndged from examination, entirely practicable. An early number of Wide Awake, Fila Farman’s magazine, is to contaim a sketch of ‘Lady Betty’s Cooking Class, the History of an English Cooking School,” by Lucy Ceil White; and, by way of bending tho twig both ways and inclining the tree of young Boston's intellect in different directions, it will also have some papers on “Our American Artists,” written by S. G. W. Benjamin, and illustrated by portraits and by sketches drawn by artists from their own pictures. “Little Miss Mischief and Her Happy Thoughts,” translated by Ella Farman, and ‘Little Miss Muslin, of Quintillion Square,” which appeared in Wide Awake last year, will soon be published by D. Lothrop & Co., and also “Sidney Martin’s Christmas,” by “Pansy” (Mrs. Alden). HOUGHTON, O6GOOD & Co. Next Saturday Houghton, Osgood & Co. will bring out a new and slightly enlarged edition of Clara Erskine Clement's ‘Painters, Sculptors, Architects, Engrayers and Their Works,” the long promised “College Book,” the four volumes of “Ballads” in the British Poets, and “Fra Angelico”’ in the Artists’ Biog- raphies. Holmes’ “Schoolboy,” which comes next week, is to be the holiday book of the season, and is to be illustrated by’J. Appleton Brown, Merrill, Waud, Sheppard and Hitchcock. LEE AND SHEPARD. Lee & Shepard have in press u few books besides those announced early in the season, and among them are;—‘*The Land of Burns,” a small quarto, by Wal- lace Bruce; “Young Folks’ Opera,” by Elizabeth Par- sons Goodrich; “Ike Partington,” by B. P. Shillaber; “Mog,” by Mrs. Zadel Barnes Gustafson; “Spiritual Manifestations,” by Charles Beecher; “Daisies,” by William Brunton; “Elements of Design,” by Dr. William Reinmer, and “Midnight Marches Through Persia,” by Henry Ballantyne. “Little Pitchers,” by Sophie May, is nearly ready for publication, It is a very jolly little history of a funny pair of twins who were in mischief all the time, jointly and sev- erally. KINDERGARTEN MUSIC. “Mother Play,” by Friedrich Frovbel, translated by Fanny E. Dwight and Josephine Jarvis, is a thin folio, containing Froebel's songs, with their music and ac_ companying pictures, and is invaluable to mothers who believe in Froebel’s methods, ‘The pictures, which are full page illustrations, show the positions of the hands, by which mothers are ex_ pected to teach and also tell the story contained in the songs. The explanations are very full and clear and rather amusing to @ person who does not believe in them on account of their extreme simplicity and the stress laid upon small things. The American preface, written by Miss E. P. Peabody, is a solemn document, laying great stress on the beauties of the kindergarten system. ‘FKE PARTINGTON’S” ROMANCE. “Ike Partington,” Mr. Shillaber's book, is a sex. decimo volume of 225 pages, containing the history of a year in Ike's life at Clam Corner, whither his aunt retired with him, partly for the benefit of his health and partly because he was too popular—so popular that he was credited with all the mischief done by other boys. There are many really good jokes in the story ,which is as well adapted to the boyish mind as “Knitting Work” was to the in- tellect of older persons. It is hardly possible to avoid comparing the book with Watner’s. “Being a Boy,” but the city bred lke is @ person very different to the quiet hero choseu by the Connecticut author, and Mr. Shillaber prefers to study the surface manifestations of his nature rather than bis inner feelings. Now and then one finds a touch of philosophy in the book; as, for instance :—‘‘Who ever knew @ boy that was mor- bidly sensitive or cared # continental copper what people said about bim? He lives ina world of his own—a sort of Ishmael on a small seale.” But the general tone of the work is simply funny. ‘THY FOREST GLEN SERIES. «Burying the Hatchet,” by Elijah Kellogg, is the closing volume of the Forest Glen Series, and tells of the final triumph of the settlers whose trials were re- corded in the preceding volumes. One of the boys rans away, becomes an Indian chief and comes to grief—a measure which young readers may condemn as a matter of morality, but of which they will like to read, unless modern American boys are too refined in their taste for “Injin stories.” The book contains some directions for brick making and gives its readers 4 little insight into the potter's art. LITERARY CHIT-CHAT. The English in South America’ is the title of o volume by Michael G. Mulhall, published in Buenos Ayres. The plan of Mr. Mulhall’s book is to give an idea of the number and character of the Englishmen who have distinguished themselves in the army and navy of South America or in mercantile pursuits in that country. ‘Phe book is divided into three parts— first, from the Spanish conquest to the war of inde- pendence; second, the war of independence, from 1810 to 1826; third, the period of commercial activity since the war. The suthor has done his work care- fully, and we are enabled to study the traits of char- acter that made the subjects of these biographical sketches so successful. There is not a little romance to be found in this volume, for many of the men whose lives are here recorded were unquestionably heroes. ‘The latest addition to the Putnam's “Art Hand- books” is a little volume on ‘Flower Painting,” by Mrs. William Duffield, edited by Mrs. Susan N. Car- ter, principal of the Woman's Art School of the Cooper Union, The book gives practical instruction in the art of flower painting, telling the colors to use and the way to use them, and also gives twelve de- signs made by Dalziel. The “Memoirs of Mrs. Anna Jamison," noted for her writings in biography and art, are in Roberts Brothers’ press, Boston, “The Reces of European Turkey,” is the title of Rey. Edward L. Clarke's forthcoming book, which Dodd, Mead & Co. will print. The inexhaustible mine of the French Revolution still gives birth to biographies and private journals, ‘The latest is the “Diary of Count Fersen,”” who was aid-de-camp of General Rochambeau during the French expedition to America, and afterward close to the royal family in the midst of the revolutionary horrors that succeeded, ‘The latest contribution to Shakespearean literature is by a Frenchman, Professor Paul Stappér, of Gre- noble, who, under the title of “Shakespeare and Con- tiguity,” will discuss in two volumes the plays founded upon ancient subjects, and the influence of the antique genius on Shakespeare. Poet Laureate Tennyson receives a salary of £100 a year, in addition to the traditional “Butt of Malm- sey Wine.” Carl Weyprecht, commander of the Austro-Hunga- rian Arctic expedition, has anew book in press en- titled ‘Die Metamorphogen des Polareises.”” Dr. John C. Buchnill, in a little book on “Habitual Drunkenness and Insane Drunkards,” denies that the American inebriate asylums cure half the drunkards who enter them. The great book on “The History and Principle of Weaving by Hand and Power,” written by Alfred Barlow, is in the press of Henry C. Baird & Co., Phila- delphia. Estes & Lauriat, Boston, announce the Gladstone cartoons from the London Judy, uniform with the Beaconsfield cartoons from Punch. Roberts Brothers, it is said, have sold 50,000 copies of Miss Alcott’s new story “Under the Lilacs.” Shelley's “Minor Poems,” carefully revised from original manuscripts, are in the press of Little, Brown & Co, A new life of John Wiclif and his English precur- sors, translated from the German of Professor Lech- ler, makes use of newly discovered writings of the great reformer, and manifests most thorough knowl- edge of the subject. ‘The latest African book is by Herr Heinrich Brug- schikey, who writes an interesting narrative of travels through the great Oasis and the Libyan Desert. Mr. N. B. Dennys has gone thoronghly into the question of Chinese Folk-lore, and has found the pro- totypes of many ® modern Mother Goose among the prehistoric Celestial England has lately swarmed with books about India, to which Dr. W. Wakefield adds one, entitled “Our Life and Travels in India,” which is descriptive of those everyday matters concerning the country and the people which it is most interesting to. know. Jules Janin, when he found a friend taken with the Dbibliomania, thus congratulated him:—‘You are a happy man and a ruined one for the rest of your life.”” ‘The question of eternal fire has not yet burned out in England, new bodks and pamphlets being conting ually printed on all sides of the question. Rey. 8. J. Whitmer has actually written a “Diction- ary of the Samoan Language,” containing 11,000 words, whieh will soun be printed. Tn “Stories from the History of Rome” (Macmillan & Co.), Mrs. Beesley gives history the interest of fairy tales, She has written simply, so that the in- fant standing by its mother’s knee may understand, and she has selected the stories with a view to illus- trate the two sentiments most characteristic of Roman manners—duty to parenta and duty to coun- try. This beginning will probably lay the founda- tion for # course of Macaulay in the nursery, Roswell D. Hitchcock, D. D., has written # volume on “Socialism” (A. D. F. Randolph & Co.), that will probably attract considerable attention at this time. It is divided into four parte—socialism in general; communistic socialism; anti-communistic socialism and Christian socialism. There is a great deal of good sense iu Dr, Hitchcock's work which deserves consideration, Those who expect to find in “The Blessed Bees” (8. P. Putnam’s Sons) ® dry manual of bee keeping, will be agreeably disappointed in a perusal of Mr, John Allen's work bearing the above title. The writer deals pleasantly with his subject, and ends by proving bee keeping to be @ profitable and agreeable pursuit, with small expenses and large returns. He writes with such intelligence and confidence that one feels like going immediately to work to build bee- hives. T. B. Peterson & Brothers announce Prosper Méri- mée’s “Carmen,” the story upon which Bizet's opera is founded. Messrs. A. E. Lancaster and George Edgar Mont- gomery contribute cach a couple of graceful poems to the current number of the Evolution, The bound volumes of Scribner's Monthly and St. Nicholas for the year 1878 are storehonses of art aud literary treasures, Anthony Trollope’s best novels, those in which our old friends Archdeacon Grantly and Mrs, Proudie ap- pear, are to be reprinted under the general title of “The Chronicles of Barsetshire.” ‘The “George Eliot Birthday Book” ia a little vol- ume containing extracts from that author's writings for each day in the year, John H. Ingram, the English editor of Poe, says that the portrait purporting to be Dr. Brunsby, in Gill's Life of Poe, is that of one William Cook, D. D, Lady Anne Blunt, whose ‘Winter Residence Among the Bedouin Arabs” is announced in Loudon, is the granddaughter of Lord Byron. A sofa, formerly belonging to Shelley, is to be seen at the house of W. M. Rossetti, and is the property of Mr. Trelawny. A translation of the “Arsbian Nights” from the original Arabie, without omission or retrenchment, is being made by Mr. John Payne, of London. Emile Zola is writing the theatrical and literary re- view for Le Voltaire, the new Paris daily. “Sketchss of Animal Life and Habits’ is the title of & little volume by Andrew Wilson, published by W. & R. Chambers, of Edinburgh. The plan of the book is to afford the general reader trustworthy ideas re- garding some of the most interesting groups of the animal world, and it has been successful. “Deterioration and Race Education,” by Samuel Royce, is a work full of facts and strong arguments and a great deal of tuteresting material on a subject that the author seems to be well posted in. The book is written with humanitarian intentions, and should command a respectful hearing. The Princetm Review, which now holds a place among the foremost reviews of the country, is im- proving with each number, In the November issue we find an article on “The Duties of the Higher To- ward the Lower Races,” by Canon Rawlinson, of Ox- ford; “The Recent Solar Eclipse,” by Professor Young, of Princeton; ‘Eclipses of the Sun,’ by Simon Newcomb, of the United States Nayal Observatory; “The Rights avd Duties of sci- ence,” by Principal Dawson, of McGill University; “National Morality,” by Edward A. Freeman, of Eng- land; “The European Equilibrium,” by ex-President Woolsey, of Yale College; “Man's Place in Nature,” by Professor Le Conte, of California, and three papers on metaphysics, by President Porter, of Yale College; President MeCosh, of Princeton College, and Robert Flint, D. D., of the Universit of Edinburgh. Dr. | Flint’s article is an able plea for philosophy as the middie and proper grounds for finding the reconcilia- tion of revelation and science. Dr, McCosh’s article is a controversial one on tho critical philosophy and Dr. Porter's on the study of philosophy in phyet- ology. FINE ARTS. NEW PICTURES IN THE GALLERIES. Several new pictures have been recently placed in the gallery at 8. P. Avery's art rooms. An excellent work by Kowalski is “The Post,’ a winter scene in Poland, It is just after sunset, and a four horse caleche is being drawn slowly through the slush and mud of @ post road, ‘They are, it is to be hoped, near the end of the stage, for the horses, harnessed abreast, seem tired. The driver on the box is well muffled up, but shivers as he braces himself against the icy cold breeze, which whistles across the drear, flat, snow- covered landscape. Under the hood of the carriage is seen the traveller, an army officer. The equipage is coming toward us, and on the crest of a rise in the road is walking in an opposite direction an old man on crutches, accom- panied by a little girl. The weary uction of the well individualized horses as they trudge through the mud is excellently given; the driver's appearance verges slightly on the grotesque, and the reflection of the already lit side lights of the carriage in the little pools on the road are made good use of. Paul Viry is represented by one of his peculiar can- vases called ‘he Falconer,” which is painted with great skill, but for what art object it would be hard to say. ‘The richly dressed man stands, with two dogs at his feet, instructing a falcon, perched on a chair. Another is on the floor by some dead birds. There are vases on a table near by, and the rich interior is full of careful, and, we may say, almost purposeless work. ‘The terrier dog is admirably painted. By Loustaunau, a pupil of Vibert, there is a picture of a cardinal who dabbles in art, exhibiting to a visitor a picture which he is painting. All that can be said is that the drawing is good. A neat little Meyer von Bremen represents a little child on her way to school, There is a really admirable little work, ‘Feeding Time,” by Chialivia, an Italian settled in France, who promises to become well known. Just ontside of the door of a farm house are two children; one, a little girl, stands knitting, while on a baby chair by her is a younger child, Around them in the yard, eating the meal which has just been thrown on the ground, are turkeys, geese, ducks, chickens and pigeons, and beyond is a delicately treated landscape. The figures of the children are excellent, that of the older girl being charming; the fowls and birds are painted with much skill, and the color throughout is clear and pleasing. By William 8. Chase there is a young lady with a pallid, worn face, in Middle Age costume, seated in church. The face hag. excellent work in it. A landscape, strong in general effect—but in which we do not like the treat- ment of the buildings—is by A. L. Munthe. Along a slushy road, which runs through ‘a snow-covered landscape, rendered more drear by the winter sunset, come two women. The sky is excellent, and the re- flections in the melted snow, which filis the ruts of the road, are well rendered ‘An interesting piece of J. G. Vibert’s work is a life size study for the head of the burgomaster, in the picture called “The Painter's Rest,” owned by Mr, Jordan L. Mott, and now in the Loan Exhibition, In the rooms on the second floor are a number of new pictures, among which we note first a dainty delicious little head by Jacquet of his little beauty of @ model. “A Party; time Louis XVI.,” by Escosura, has some figures in it which are much better than®is usual. The members of the group formed by the musicians on the right have a good deal of life and expression. There is a Diaz, and an excellent picture by Merle called “The Rose of Trianon’’—a lifelike, admirably modelled head of a pretty, bright-eyed, langhing girl. A painting by Goubie, from the late Salon, called “Tho Horse Market in Normandy,” has a good deal of char- acter, and the horses are well painted, The figuves, as usual, are the weak point, One of the best Baugniets which we have seen for some time is “The Waning of Widowhood,” a beauti- ful woman seated in her weeds trying on » ring which, with a bouquet of violets, has just been sent her. The face aud pose are expecially admirable. Gaetano Cherici, whose picture in the Corcoran Gal- lery is so well known, is represented by “Warming Dolly,” an excellent child story. The figures of the girl and boy are solidly painted, and the accessories are remarkable for their realism. Of Ziem we have an unusual motive—a river scene in Holland—notice- able for the excellent quality of light. A good-sized water color, carefully and well painted, called “The Beturn from the Fields,’ is by D, RoKnight, “The Seller of Arms,” by Alvarez, ix, in subject and treatment, much like a Gérdme, but without the hardness always seen in that master's works. The figures of the two buyers are excallont, and the depth into the stall of the seller is Lg given. The color- ing is pure and brilliant; there is much finish, and we wise Alvarex’s usual opacity of color, At M. Knoedler & Co.'s thero have been hung in place of Carolus Duran’s portrait (?) of Madame jeska, which has been sent to its final destination, the Phila- delphia Academy of Fine Arts, several smail pictures. ‘These are a small example of Van Marcke's sterling cattle work; a pair of excellent De Neuville’ ‘ingle figures of French soldiers, with groups in the back- ground, evidently painted out of doors; a couple of well painted fox pictures by Leblinz, of Munich, and a Seignac, good of its kind, but with too mach canvas for the size of the figures. STUDIO NOTES. Winslow Homer has made, during the summer, a number of very admirable water colors and pencil drawings of sheep, with shepherds and shepherdesses, The sheep are exceedingly well grouped and given, and the little figures of the shepherdesses are charm- ing. The light and shade are admirably managed as usual, and the little drawings are extremely chic, Among the best we note « girl standing under a stormy sky with her sheep by her; agirl and boy seated in the shade with their dog by them and the sheep near; a girl lying by her charge on a hillside, aud two girls standing in the sunlight with their faces in the shadow of their hats. Among the other sketches is ® very picturesque one of willows by & river side, a distant mountain and a sunset sky. There are some good studies in oil of oaks at Waverley, near Boston, and a scene under a cloudy sky, on some hills, near Leeds, Greene county, in this State. A stady of turkeys in a buckwheat field is inter- esting. Mr. Homer has started and has weil under way a water ‘color drawing taken from his atudies, which is admirably composed. In shadow on the crest of aridge in gently rolling country lies, stretched on the grass, a young girl, surrounded by her sheep. The adjoining rixe,on which are a fow trees, is in full sunlight, up against which the fore- ground figures are sharply defined. Another drawing, also under way, shows # man and team ploughing in the foreground shade, a-house on a hill and a sunset sky. J: G, Brown has on an easel “Selling Apples''—a boy, excellently posed, offering some in his upraised hand to the second story of a house on the op omite side of the street from which he stands. “His Own Best Customer” shows a little fellow, seated by an ash barrel, eating up some of the apples which form bis stock in trade. dames M. Hart has nearly finithed his picture of “Cattle on the Beach,” near Northport, L. 1. The cows are feeding on the scant herbage’ and a calf, very naturally posed, stands bleating near. A view on the Farmington River has cows exceliently placed among the foreground rushes, well treated trees on either bank and a good distance, V. Stieperich has been lately at work on a pleas- ingly treated nude figure of @ woman seated on the bank of a stream. A life size half length figure of a Greek girl, standing with her hand to her necklace, promises well. The expression is good. He has commenced for the next Academy # subject called “The Good Priest.” The curé stands on a bridge in the Alps, holding in his arms a tired and shivering child, while its sister, standing in the snow, tells where they live, M. F. H, de Haas has finished and will send ina few days to California a large and vigoronsly painted canvas, “A Stormy Day on the Coast.” The cliffs to the left, on rocks, below which the surf dashes, are admirably graded in color; the sky is good and the water in excellent motion, the sweep of the waves being finely drawn. A few ‘guile fly overhead, a sper floats in the forewater, and in the distance the sails of # loop. trying to keep off shore, are seen. Arthar on is painting a good sunset effect on the Ausable River, The sun strikes naturally on the crest of the Haystack Mountain, h rises in the distance. He is also at work on jew of Loch Lo- mond,” which promises well, William F, de Haas has under way some scenes off ks eo of Maine and about the Isle of Shoals, . Humphrey Moore is painting 4 Moorish woman, dancing in the court of a house to the music of a guitar, which @ man seated cross-legged in the fore- ground is touching. GENERAL NEWS. Several paintings of John Lafarge are advertised for sale in Boston on the 19th and 20th inst. The Cleveland Loan Exhibition is doing well. William Keith’s recent sketches of Mount Shasta are well spoken of in San Francisco, Rix has been sketching about Puget’s Sound and along the Columbia River, ‘The first lecture on perspective by Professor Diel- man will be given to the members of the Art Students’ League, at four P.M, to-day. necessity of at- tendance i bs! hice y Fomine a it to all students, for a thorough kuowledge of perspective is an indispensable part of an artist's education. Mr. Cusach's drawing “The Fashionable Dance of the Future,” in Saturday's is #0 good that it suggests the 5 bane’ AHA J don't he do more of that sort of work 7" ere is certain me of material. in this city here- Thomas Moran will have a stu The University building bids fair to become again studio bul ; Shirlaw, Alden Weir and Mubrman have taken sti there. Randolph ' piece of statuary “The Lost 5 — Pleiad,” executed for the San Francisco lady wha omen Story’s “Deilils,” is now on exhibition in thas city. FOREIGN ART NOTES, An exhibition illustrative of the art of engraving from the earliest times of the practice of the art, down to the middle of the present century, is to take place at Edinburgh this winter. The Academg notices very favorably W. C. Brown- ells’ article “Art Schools of New York,” in a late number of Scribner's Monthly. Speaking of the schools it says:—""We will hope that as an outcome of all this energy a truly great national painter will some day be produced by America. M. Guillauime, the Freach Director General of Fine Arts, is to execute a statue of Theirs for the Musée at Versailles. Two busts for the Institute and the statesman's native town are to be by M. Chapu and Mine. Claude Vignon. It is likely that Lord Rosebery’s late st in: reference to the inauguration of an indust exhibi- tion at Glasgow will be acted upon, Cabanel, who has lately been made commander of the Legion of Honor, is the third French artist who has risen to that grade in the Order. For the first time in France diplomas of honor have been awarded to deceased artists. Among the native artiats so honored for their pictures at the Exhibition ave Carot, Diaz, Millet, Rousseau and Promentin. The English deceased who have been awarded these di- lomas are Sir E. Landseer, Messrs. G. H. Mason, J. ilip and F. Walker. Paul Viry, whose tapestry-like pictures, full of minute detail, are adimired for the care and skill dix- played in them, is said to paint only about three canvases 4 year. SITTING BULL SPEAKS. THE RED-HANDED WARRIOR DOESN'T LIKE THE ATTRACTION OF CANADA, {Correspondence Chicago Tribune, Nov. 7.) Portar River, M. T., Oct. 26, 1878, Having just returned from a visit to Wood Moun tains, Northwest Province, a post of the Canadian mounted police, where I saw and conversed at length with Sitting Bull, Spotted Eagle, Black Bull, White Guts, White Eagle, The Gaul and several others of the leading spirits of the Teton camp, Which is at present on Frenchmen’s Creck, a tributary of Milk River, the Indian name of which is We-Saw-Wackepold, or White River, so called from the white (or pie) clay which is found on its banks, I send you the result. Sitting Bull I found at first quite reticent; but, under the influence of a cup of coffee with sugar ad libitum and the soothing influence of asmoke, he at last opened out. He said that the White Mother was good, and that the Long Lance (Major Walsh) was a good man, and that the half breeds were good, but that this was hot such a good country as the Yellowstone and Black Hills, and that often he thought of old times. ‘What he wanted was for all the soldiers and agents to 0 away, and he would go back to his old home. All e wanted was traders. They were good; agents and | soldiers were acktishney"’—a word hard to trans- late, but which means particularly bad in a general sense. Black Bull spoke to me privately, and told me he did not like to stay in Canada, and would come back to the agencies at the first chance, but that the rest prevented him. I found this to be the sentiment of a great many, but that the Indian soldiers would not allow them to come back. It looks as if the Indians would have a hard time this winter. The buffalo are all travelling south of the Missouri, and without buffalo starvation must ensue. Very erroncous ideas as to the traffic of ammuni- tion (fixed) seem to prevail generally among whites on, this side of the line. The sule ig by no means indis- criminate; no ammunition is sold’ without a permit from the commanding officer of the Mounted Police. Ot course he is best able to decide the requirements of the Indians,gand_of course without ammunition they cannot kilt buffalo, and while there I saw several agency Indians refused the permit to trade, Major Walsh refusing them on the ground that they were not residents, ften see reports of the liability of Sitting Bull to the whites on this side of the line. Such is not the case, and the scare that periodically comes in tl eighborhood of Benton arises from the fertile imagination of some would-be hero. Sit! Bull and all the chiefs that I talked with (and this is the opinion of the police who have daily intercourse with them) said that the idea of war with the United States is not at all thought of by the Indians, who are smart enough to realize that they would lose the present position with the Canadian government, and eould gain nothing from the United States. While at the Wood Mountain a young buck came up from acamp of runaways from the Spotted Tail Agency, who had crossed the Missouri just at the mouth of Milk River. He said that his camp con- sisted of thirteen lodges, and that a it many would attempt to get north this winter. He said that the Cheyennes would break out in a short time. Tho Cheyennes he referred to were those who surrendered to General Miles last year, and if they do it will be ‘bad for the white settlers, HOW ‘TO CONTROL INDIANS, GIVE THEM A SWEET LITTLE ISLE OF THEIR OWN OFF THE PACIVIC COAST—RAISING CHICK« ENS INSTEAD OF Hark. ToOMPKINSVILLE, Staten Island, Nov. 8, 1878, To ras Eprror oF THE Heratp:— It is downright sickening to read the reports of the shocking atrocities ever and anon committed in the far West by the Cheyennes, Bannocks and other equally ferocious tribes of Indians. Our government appears to be utterly incapable of preventing these hor- rors by taming or rendering otherwise harmless these fiends in human shape; yet it seems to me that far more difficult tasks than this one can possibly be have been accomplished, Will you kindly permit me te suggest through the medium of your most influential paper the only practical plan, barring extirpation of these savages, to render effectively and forever inot fensive all Indians of the stripe and proclivities of the band of Cheyeunes whose diabolical exploits you re corded in your issue of November 3? Uncle Sam owns, on the coast of Southern California, a group of nice little islands—viz., San Miguel, Santa Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, San Nicolas, Santa Catalina, San Cle- mente and several others of smaller size, Four of those mentioned have each an area of more than ono hundred and fifty square miles, while the remainder vary in extent between thirty and seventy-five square miles, The entire group of islands must measure nearly cight hundred square miles. Some of them are situated within twenty miles of the main land, while others are trom forty to eighty miles off tha coast. ‘These islands I would earnestly recOmmend the government to make exclusive use of as asylums— places of exile, of safe » or whatever Fig ma; Sas anv nergy tops encanto ela Tndiang ey are any enoug! 10,000 eoebtortatay and furnish sustenance too for all ot them after a few years. Of course buffalo hunting could no longer be indulged in by “the noble savage;” but no matter how far the soil these islands might prove to be suitable for agriculture and stock raising he need heve fear of starvation, for there is no region of solid. ground between latitude 65 . north aud 50 deg. south, where some kind of eatable vegetable matte as well as some species of animal fit for human cannot be raised. Ifthe Indians cannot raise corn and potatoes on those islands let them raise lentil and millet, which will grow almost anywhere in dry, sandy soil; if they cannot raise ponies and cattle let them raise asses and goata, or sheep or rabbits, or ture tles, or pigeons, or the pin-tailed (an in credibly prolific game bird, well known and seen in myriads in arid regions all over the world); in short, let thein raise anything but other people's hair. Do not suffer either rifle or revolver to remain in their hands, for there they will have no use for them, buf provide them with a moderate number of = relled muzzle loading shotguns to kill and implementa, &c., an and small game. Supply ti clothing, agricul absolutely necessary; also with wood, coal where there is uone on these islands. Construct larg@ cisterns for the reception of rain water where water is scarce, Furnish them with school teachers and instructors in agriculture and the necessary trades. ‘Take the care of these wards of the nation out of tie & hands of private or so-called Indian ents «and pues entirely in the hands of the navy, who, by keeping # small aan boat or two constantly cruising around islands, can not only Prevent escape, but frustrate attempts of rascally traders to communicate with and supply the exiles or captives with vile rum, improved firearms, boats, &c. Ladmit that some of the is! mentioned are rather too near the main land for the pe ye ted, but Uncle Sam is decidedly poor in islands of suitable size, climate and location. A single island 200. miles or more from the nearest terra firma would, of course, be easier to isolate, and the smaller the the easier it is controlled; but, taking rom into consideration, L do not believe more suitable convenient American islands could be selec’ his particular purpose, The Indians, a aught, might easily be shipped by rail to cisco and thence by vessel to their of tion. The expense of capturing and obnoxious Indians to these islands and keeping there in the manner suggested, even if they had Iyercuny. even i's reward of $100 would have to ve—nay, even if ® woul ve offered for the te of each of these Indians—wor be far less than cost the government now, not to speak of the saving of all those human lives which will continue to be sacrificed as lon, if z 4 as these sculk~ ing, murderous scoundrels are sul to live on tha main land of the United States. AL. MASONIO FUNERALS.