The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, June 7, 1896, Page 23

STEVENSON’S LAST NOVEL. The “Weir of Hermiston” Little More Than a Fragment. Its Author Designed It for His Greatest Work in Romance. The Character of the Hero Founded Upon That of the Great Scotch Judge. The fragment of “Weir of Hermiston,” an unfinished romance on which Robert Louis Stevenson was engzaged at the time of his death, will be of little interest to the general public. It is altogether too small a fragment to afford satisfaction to those who read for the sake of a story. Itdoes very little more than introduce the char- acters and suggest the plot of the romance that was intended to be. To the casuai reader therefore it will have but small at- traction and but little charm. To that large circle of people, however, who delight in literature as an art and to whom the smallest fragment of the work of a master is of more value than the com- vleted work of less skillful hands, this in- compiete work will be one of the most in- teresting publications of the day. It hasa value of no small worth in the very fact titis only a fragment, inasmuch as it reveals Stevenson’s mauner of doing his work and shows the care and study which be gave to the composition of those romances which have been among the chief delights of the readers of our time. In letters to his friends Stevenson de- clared that he designed this work to be his masterpiece. It hardly needed his declaration, however, to assure us of the fact. There is ample evidence of it in the chapters which he lived to write. In the i place, it is clear he had planned the tory on a much larger scale than any other he had written. In the space he has taken to introduce the characters of this tory he would haye told the fuli half of y of the other of hisromances. Thereis everywhere in it an elaborateness of detail which shows an evident intention to make the work a painstaking study of the times, the people and the customs of Scotland toward the close of the last century, and | he, no doubt, indulged the hope to achieve something 1n the way of a historical ro- nce that would take rank among the mmortal works of that classand have a perman:nt place in literature. Tue characterof his hero was founded uvon that of the historic personality of Robert Macqueen, Lord Braxfield, one of the great judges of Scotland, who has been for generations the subject of hundreds of Idinburgh tales and anecdotes. To those who have read Stevenson’s romances and know the type of men that fascinated him, will bardly be necessary to state that this o/d magistrate was one of those h , strong, forceful natures around om all gentle human septimerts seem > play as idly as the summer wind around e granite of the everlasting hills. Brax- field was known to his time as the "“hang- ing judge,’ and Wier of Hermiston is introduced to us in the same character. It was concerning a nature of that stern sort placed under circumstances of ex- treme trial that Stevenson essayed to write bis masterpiece. The hanging judge, however is by no means the only strong, romantic char- a of the book. In fact, in the fragment written, he is comparatively overshadowed v a family of Elliotts known as the “four | black brothers,” men of the type of that e breed that kept the borders ot Scot- W y to take the law into their own 1ds at any time when they thought fit. addition to these there was another character of the half savage type, of which 1 would doubtless have been made in 1e dramatic scenes that were to come. certain Christina Elliot, cousin black brothers, and housekeeper e hanging judge. Enough of her is n the fragment to show that she d have been altogether the most not- e of Stevenson’s women, and it is possi- hat had he lived to complete the work ght have been shown to be worthy ) take rank along with Meg Merriles and the wife of Rob Roy. rile the finished part of the romance no intimation of what the plot was e and what fate was aliotted to the characters, son had made his pur- pose clear to amanuensis and his friends, and they have added an appendix to the work giving full information on the mu subject. It was to be the old story of Brutus. The son of Weir of Her- miston was of a very different ure from his father. Of a gentle and 1ffectionate disposition, he had little sym- pathy with the judge, and on one asion openly denounced the hanging of | aman as a case of judicial murder. For | that offense his father sent him away | from Edinburgh to livein the country. There he meets the young and petted sister of the four black brothers and the play of the romance begins. Just here the fragment_ends. We are told in the ap- pendix that the plot involved a quarrel in which young Hermiston kills his rival and is brought before his own father to answer for murder. The stern judge per- forms his duty with a Koman firmness, but does not bear up afterward with a Roman pride. The conclusion of Steven- son’s study of such a situation was that the hidden affections of the father should break out after the task of the judge bad | been performed and that the strong man should die of a broken heart. Meantime the four black brothers were to haye raised | iheir_friends, burst open the jail in which | young Weir was imprisoned, and enable him and their sister to escape to America, | where m all probabilty they lived hap- pily ever after. L The interesting point in the ex of the story is the care which Stevenson | took to devise some means by which | voung Weir could be brought before his father for trial without violating the prob- | abilities of Scotch' law. His letters show he was in communication with legal friends in Edinburgh on every feature of law involved in the story. He had written to Edinburgh for accounts of noted criminal trials of the period at which the story is supposed to have taken place, and was posting himself thoroughly on every step that woula have to be taken in a case like that of his romance so that it would have been in no wise a violation of historic probabilities. Up to the point where Stevenson had car- ried it there were no extraordinary inci- dents in the story, and his skill in work of that kind had iittle play. He introduces, however, one episode in the lives of the four black btrothers which serves to show that with failing health there was no feil- ing in the force of the genius of the man. In that respect he was still the same Stevenson who wrote the “Master of Bal- iantrae” and “Treasure lsland,” and as forceful as ever in depicting a fight or a scene of peril and passion. This episode which narrates the death of the father of the black brothers and the way in which it was avenged runs thus: He was due home from market any time from 8 st night to 5 _in the morning, and in any condition from the quarrelsome to the speechless, for he maintained to that age the goodly customs of the Scots farmer. It was known on this occasion that he had & good bit lanation | his guineas, and if anybody had but noticed it there was an ill-looking vagabond crew, the scum of Edinburgh, that drew out the market long ere it was dusk and took the hill road by Hermiston, where it was not believed that they had lawful business. One of the country- side—one Dickieson—they took with them to be their guide and dearly he paid forit. Of a sudden in the ford of the Broken Dykes, this vermin clan fell on the laird six to one, and him _three parts asleep having drunk hard. But it is ill to catch an Elliott. For awhile in the night, and the black water that was as deep as hiigsnddlb girths, he wrought with his staff like & smith 8t his stithy, and great was the sound of oaths and blows. With that the ambuscade was burst and he rode for home with a. pistol ball in him, three knife wounds, the loss of his front teeth, a broken rib and bridle and ady- ing horse. That was a race with death that the laird rode. In the mirk night, with his broken bridle and his head swimming, he dug his 8purs to the rowels in the horse's side, and the horse that was even worse off than himself, the Poor creature, screamed out loud like a person s he went so that the hills echoed it and the folks at Cauldstaneslap got to their feet about the table and looked at each other with white faces. The horse felldead at the yard gate, the laird won the length of the house and fell there on the threshold. To the son that raised him he gave the bag of money, ‘‘Hae,” said he. All the way up the thieves had seemed to be at his heels, but now the hallucination left him. He saw them again in the place of the ambuscade and the Ahirst of vengeance seized on his dying mind. Raising himself and pointing with imperious finger into the black night from which he had come, ne uttered the single command, “Broken Dykes,” and fainted. He had never been loved, but he had been feared in honor. At thatsight, at that word gasped out at them from a toothless and bleeding mouth, the old Ellott spirit awoke with & shout in the jour sons. “Wanting the hat,” continues my autnor, Kirstie, whom I but haltingly follow, for she told me this tale like one inspired—“‘wanting guns, for there was na twi gramns o pouder in the house—with nae mair weapons than tneir sticks in their hands, the fower of them took the road. Only Hob, and that was the eldest, hunkered at the door sill, where the blood had rin-fyled his hand wi’ itand hadditup to heaven in the way of the auld border aith, ‘Hell shall have her ain again this nicht,’ he raired, and rode forth upon his errand.” [For sale by Doxey, 631 Marketstreet. Price $1 50.] JOHN MCNAUGHT. A DEBT OF HONOR. Mabel Collins is the author of this novel, just issued in the Windermere series. Jack Falconer is the gay, reck- less son of the village squire, and he shocks his proud parents by falling in love with the handsome daughter of the village innkeeper. Jack’s sister is en- gaged to marry & nobleman, who is Jack's creditor to an enormous amount. The | debt is worthless, and trouble of a most serious nature for Jack is impending. At this juncture the nobleman’s sister, Dres- cilia, proposes througi: Miss Falconer to | pay oft all Jack’s indebtedness pro- viding be will make her his wife. Jack scorns the proposition at first, and tells the story to the innkeeper’s daugh- ter, who grows pale, but tells Jack to save himself, by all means, if his name is | threatened with irreparable injury. A double wedding takes places, Miss Fal- coner and the nobleman, Drescilla and Jack. As the procession comes from church, a crowd 1s seen by the way. Jack springs from the carriage to find that it | is the body of the innkeeper’s daughter, | who has drowned herself. His debt of honor was paid at the cost of a life he had blighted, and the murriu%e proved a tale of double misery. [New York: American Publishers’ Corporation, publishers. Price 50 cents. | MAP OF YOSEMITE VALLEY. | The Sierra Club of San Francisco has re- | vised and republished for public sale its | lithographed map of the Sierra Nevada | Mountains in Central California. It is | claimed to be by far the most accurate | map ever made of the Yoemite Val- |ley and surrounding country. Parties intending to_ visit the Yosemite, and | particularly those desiring to drive there, will find this map of great value. It is, in | fact, designed to serve as a practical | guide for residents of the valley towns and | foothills, as well as for other travelers, | particular care having been taken to ex- | hibit with clearness and accuracy all roads, trails, bridges, fords and meadows, and the position and height of peaks, lakes and other objects of scenery. The map ap- pears just in time for use by this year's tourists to California’s wonderland. ~ [San Francisco: T. S. Solomons, publisher. For sale by Hartwell, Mitchell & Willis; price, on bond paper, folded between covers, $1 50.] THE PICTURE OF LAS CRUCES. This isa romance dealing with an artist’s adventures in Mexico, and is an excep- tionally well written novel, by Christian Reid. Ralph Ingraham, an artist, is visiting Mexico and is engaged in painting the | scenery of that beautiful country. While thus occupied he is accosted in English by a stranger, Gilbert Rose by name. Rose | informs him that he knows where a genu- | ine Velasquez can be obtained. Ingra- { ham thinks it might be a profitable speen- lation to secure the painting, if it be genu- ine, with a view to a resale in one of the | art centers of Europe. | Despite a very natural distrust of the | plausible English-speaking stranger, In- | graliam accompanies Rose to an ancient | castle, where his doubts as to the genuineness of the find are removed. | His further experiences both in search of artistic themes for his brush and in other directions are told in a bright, breezy and entertaining manner, which it might be uafair to the publishers to reproduce here. The book is one of the best summer novels we have seen this season It is issued in Appleton’s “Town and Country Library.”” [New York: D. Appleton & Co. For sale in_ San Francisco by William Doxey; price 50 cents.] THE ROMANCE OF GUARDAMONTE. Arline E. Davis has written a girl’s sum- mer story in “The Romance of Guarda- monte.” Two American girls, Elba and Marion Van Estade, go to Italy on a two years’ visit to an aunt who had married into the Italian nobility. The girls are beautiful, rich and romantic, and each has an ideal picture of a husband in her mind. Elba wants an Italian Marquis and Marian an Englishman with a villa near Florence. Elba finds her noble Italian and Marian her Briton of classic taste. Itturns out that the Marquis is a base intriguer, and just before thecontemplated marriage the father of the girls orders them both home, where he intends they shall marry worthy Americans. Marian’s Englishmen confesses that he is an American, edu- cated at Oxford, and that he owns a ranch in the latd of brave and free men and beautiful women. Those two wed, but | Elba has to wait till an American who suits her comes along. She lives to thank her stars that she never wedded her Italian “ideat” [New York: J. Selwin Tait & Sons, publishers.] y THE FAT KNIGHT. A mock-heroic poem on President Cleve- land and his contemporaries comes to us under the title of “The Fat Knight.” We find mention of neither the author's name nor that of the publisher. There. are some 130 pages, fine print, to the poem, which covers a range of men and matters extending from Maine to California and from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. We have been especially charmea with one sentence, descriptive of an editor. That sentence covers ten pages and ought to as- sure the author’s immortality. Denis Kearney receives liberal notice in the work. The style of the author is familiar. It is none other than Citizen George ¥rancis Train. [Paper covers; price 50 cents.] ON SNOWSHOES TO THE BARREN GROUNDS, The narrative of a six months’ winter jodtney “On Snowshoes to the Barren Grounds” of Northwestern British Amer- tca appeared, for the most part, originally in serial publication in Harper’s Maga- zine. The author, Caspar Whitney. went thither to shoot the musk-ox and the of money to bring home, for the word had gone round Joosely. The laird had shown wood-bison, the rarest kind of game AN ORIGINAL DESIGN FOR A MODERN ART POSTER, BY A “CALL” ARTIST. A BOU WOMAN'S FINAL TRIUMPH. I note that women’s voices raise At church more often than the men, In songs of joy and prayer and praise And glad thanksgiving, and, again, Her work in a religious way Surpasses man’s, and is sublime; While she grows better every day He’s apt to stumble any time. What righ has he to stay her hand, Who bears the brunt of churchiy cares, And say she doesn't understand Ecclesiastical affairs? 1 tear the church without her aid Would crumble in a little while: *Twould be t0o slow on dress parade, No life, no hope, no strength, 1o style. The preacher’s salary would lapse, The c «difice would rot, Attended by a few old chaps Who think they’re saved when they are not. I fancy when we quit this scene Of earthly pain and grief and care And wander off to pastures green And crystal cities over there; When we have shuffled off the coil That keeps the sonl imprisoned here And found up there a finer soil And less polluted atmosphere, There, T imagine, we shall see, Awaiting us upon the shore, A few like Lazarus and me And women by the miilion score. And those who now aver with scorn In conference she’s out of place Will be, when Gabriel blows his horn, A-scorching in the other place. ebraska State Journal SRS iy AN OUTLAND VOYAGE. The tall ships come and the tall ships go Across the purple ba; But there’s never a ship so fair and fine, Never a ship so brave as mine, Asmine that sailed away. QUET OF CURRENT VERSE FOR SU Bright in the light and gray in the shade, | And white when the waves glow dua : The gulls go by with their great wings spread; But the sails of my ship were gold and red, And they shown lise the setting sum. They maka cheer in the tavern here, T he sailors home from sea; But the crew of my ship, they feast with kings, In emerald crowns, and opal, rings, And coats 0 the cramoisie. Fine is the freight their ships bring in, But mine bears finer far, Pearls and roses and links of gold, Myrrh, and amber, and rich bales rolled, As bright as the morning star. "Twas Mayday morn that my ship set sail, With the dew on her figureheaa: Her bows were wreathed with the hawthorne | bloom, As she stole through the dusk of the drawing gloom. Like & ghost, or a bride new-wed. The Maydays dawn and the Mayd And the hours draw near. I kno The day when my ship shall come to me To carry me back to my own countrie, East of the sun by the outmost sea. s die, In the heart of the Long A go. —Romance. SR LOVE CAME TO ME. Love came to me when I was young; He brought me songs, he brought me flowers; Love wooed me hightly, trees among, And dallied under scented bowers. Andloud he caroled, “Love 18 king!” For he was riotous as spring And careless of the hours— When 1 was young. Love lingered near when T grew old; He brought me light from stars above And consolation manifold. He flitted (0 me like & dove, And love leaned out of paradise Aud gently ki-sed my faded cyes Ana whispered “God is love” When I grew old. ' FRANCIS HOWARD WILLIAMS. MMER READING. MEMORY CHILDREN. - 1see them when eve-time cometh, ‘Where misted meadows glow— The beautiful fair-hatred children From fields of lon g ago. Softly they gather about me, Each with a rose {n her hand, And glints of gold on thelr tresses Of a tar-off sun-kissed land. But they will not stay—the children, Though fondly I call each name, Fade where the misted meadows Bord ron seas of flame: And singing still as they vanish, Calling me fondly by name, The beautiful fair-haired children That scem forever the samc. Sometimes in the care-worn faces 1 pass on the busy street 1 see a look of the children— | A gleam of their smiling sweet. 110ng to say as they pass me, Dear hearts, let us not forget The love and trust of eur child-time Will keep us like children yet. Pray God, whenmy eve-time cometh, The gray of life's afterglow, The beautiful fair-haired children From meadows of 10ng ago May gather blithely about me, A star-eyed and laughing throng, Voicing the hush of my eve-time With faint, sweet echoes of song. Soruie Fox THE HAPPIEST HEART. Who drives the horses of the sun Shall lord it but a da; Better the lowly deed were done, And kept the humbie way. The rust will find the sword of fame; The dust will hide the crown; Aye, none shall nail 8o high bis name, Time will not tear it.down. The happiest heart that ever beat Was in some quiet breast That found the common daylight sweet And left to heaven the rest. JOHN VANCE CHENEY. sma | known to hunters and the most difficult of access. He brought down several musk-oxen, ‘but the wood-bison escaped him. The character and manners of the Indians of the far north are described and discussed as the result of a careful study. This full history of Mr. Whitney's pene- tration beyond the Arctic circle is replete with interest. The privations and suffer- ings undergone by the explorer seem al- most incredible. The letter-press is en- riched with numerous illustrations. [New York: Harper & Brothers, publishers. For sale by A. M. Robertson.] HUCKL;B}IRBY FINN. An elegant new library edition of Mark Twain’s popular book, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’’ (Tom Sawyer's com- rade) has just been issued. Old boys, as well as young boys, have spent the best part of many a night following the vary- inz fortunes of Huck (the son of ‘“poor white trash,” who away from home on account of a drunken father), and Jim, the runaway slave. The operation of the two deadbeats, the Kin and the Duke, who figure quite promi- nently in the story, are highly amusing. It is a tale of a civilization now ended— the scene being laid in the Mississippi Valley, forty or fifty years ago. It abounds with humorous and pathetic pic- tures. [New York: Harper & Brothers, publishers. For sale by A. M. Robertson; price $1 75.] A WOMAN WITH A FUTURE. Mrs. Andrew Dean’s “Woman With a Future” is not the kind of a creature who can be held up as an example for emula- tion. Hesperia Madison is one of the “heroines” who snare a young man with an income into marriage for the sake of convenience, but who comes to regard the. marital union as an enslavement, and re- bels at its restrictions. Her husband tries to please her in vain, and is con- stantly worried by reports concerning her actions that he scorns to believe. He falls sick while engaged on a literary work, and while he lies at death’s door Hesperia de- serts him fora man who suits’her, and is forced. to run | with whom life, she expects, will be full of lazy, delightful drift, full of flash ana Inxury, gems, horses, frocks and cham- agne. The rest of the story may be judged from_ this extract from a letter in the concluding chapter, written by one man of the world to another: “Sup- pose the beautiful Hesperia had stayed with the excellent Troy, nursed him, caught the malady, died herself. She would not now be a woman with a future. What is hfe to those who refrain? Even as a cup of wine that a thirsty man puts from him—a torment—a waste.” It istoo bad that modern fiction is so numerously po pulated with characters of such a type. [New York: Frederick A. Stokes Com- pany, publishers. For sale by Doxey; price 75 cents.] TRAMP TALES OF EUROPE. In this pleasing volum e, Edgar Magness guides the reader through the Tyrolean and Swiss Alps and the Italian lake re- gion, and entertains him on the way with many amusing anecdotes, He voices the practicability, healthfulness and charm of traveling on foot in Europe, and in his bo- hemian journey introduces merely a record of personal experiences. The trip of three | months, jncluding expense from the mo- | ment the author left his homein Alabama, until his return thereto, cost exactly $357 90. The tour from Munich to Geneva, includine occasional railway and diligence 1rips and museum bills, was $1 75 a day. Ten days in Pars cost $1897. In London for $6 25 a week’s “board and lodging in a nice family was obtained. Mr. Magness was, moreover, convinced that a Kuro- pean trip of wider range could be enjoyed *or less on the average than $100 a month. [Bufl'a)o: Charles Welis Moulton, pub- ishers.] ~ BRISKEIS. Those who have read with delight “A Princess of Thule” and ‘“Highland Cousins” know what to expect in William Bluck’s latest novel, “Briseis.” The story is marked by all the charm of description for which Mr. Black is noted, and he has drawn a very noble woman in the hero- ine. Briseis Valieri, traveling with her un- | expected happens. cle, John Elliott, meets Sir Francis Gordon in Scotiand. Elliott dies, and Briseis goes to live with her aunt, Mrs. Elliott, in Lon- | don, where she becomes a household drudge. Sir Francis meets her again and falls in love with her, despite the fact that he is engaged to Georgie Lestrange. When Andreas Argyriades, a Greek, who knew Briseis in her childhood, attempts to black- mail the heroine she appeals to Sir Francis, and the two find that they love each other. Sir Francis tells Briseis of Georgie Les- trange, and the nobleman and the heroine separate, as they feel, forever. But the | Georgie goes to America, and on her return meets an old bean, Jack Cavan, with whom she had uarreled. They ‘“make up,” and, Sir| rancis being free, follows Briseis and makes her a happy bride. [New York; | Harper & Broshers, publishers. For sale by A. M. Robertson; price $1 75.] LITERARY NOTES. OQuting for June, while a bicycle num- ber, does not neglect other branches of | sport. Francis Trevelyan writes of “Our Turf’s Transition,” W. B. Curtis discusses the subject of ‘“Yale at Henley,” R.B. Burchard tells the amateur yachtsmen-the mysteries of “‘Getting Into Commission,” while other clever pens handle cricket, angling and the long list of popular sum- mer sports. The W. L. Allison Company, publishers, are soon to issue “The Social Crime,” by George N. Sceets and Minnie L. Arm- strong. It is said to be bold in its ideas and aggressive in its character. It deals with a vital question, and treats the sub- ject in a practical way. Miss Armstrong is a cousin oi Robert G. Ingersoll. “An_Army Wife,” by Captain Charles King, U. 8. A.,18 to be 1ssued some time in June. Its chief interest is centered in the jealousies of officers’ wives at one of the forts of the Northwest and of the com- plications that arise therefrom. The first number of the Roycroft Quar- terly, issued by the Roycroft Printing Shop, East Aurora, N. Y., is at hand. It isa “Stephen Crane number,” and tne title page very properly shows some fierce 23 black riders mounted on hobby horses in pursuit of a man who is chasing the hori- zon. The textincludes a sketch of Mr. Crane's life and opinions as to his work from a fine list of eminent wits and wise men, including W. D. Howells, Charles | Dudley Warner, K. C. Steadman, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Miss Guiney and various lesser luminaries in the galaxy of letters. Then asa taste of Mr. Crane’s quality there are seven choice symbolistic poems and a prose sketch, all in the high- est style of the Crane art. It has peen decided to call Mr. Blossom’s book, shortly to be out with Herbert S. Stone & Co.’s imprint, ‘‘Checkers, A Hard- Luck Story,” instead of “The Boy Called Checkers,” as first planned. The June number of Charles F. Lum- mis’ magazine, “The Land of Sunshine,’” which begins the fifth volume, is beauti- fully and lavishly illustrated in two colors, and has a particularly interesting table of contents. Amoue the articles are one on the wonderful basket-weaying of the coast Indians; a Chinese story by the daughter of a Chinese lady of rank; a graphic description by Charles F. Lummis (the editor) of the largest city of ‘‘Cave- Dwellers’’ in the worllf: recipes for savory Mexican dishes; the extensive work of the Landmarks Club in preserving old mis- sions; *“Echoes of California Fiestas” ; the pungent editorial departments, and much other interesting matter. Life_has come out with a “Vacation Book Number,” in which the books of the greyem day, under the heading of “Lite’s 'ips to Summer Readers,” are well treated by Brander Matthews, Edward S. Martin and “Droch.” Dr. Albert Shaw gives his impressions of “St. Louis; This Year's Convention City,” in the June Review of Reviews. With all due concessions to Chicago, Dr. Shaw succeeds in making out a strong case for the Missouri town. Among other interesting facts he shows that St. Louis is now more thoroughly under Republi- can control than any of our larger cities, not even exceptiny Philadelphia. The June Arena opens its sixteenth vol- ume, appearing in a new dress and being printed by Skinner, Bartlett & Co. It opens with a brilliant Dn};er by Rev. Sam- uel Barrows, D.D., on “The First Pagan Critic of Christian Faith and His Antici- pation of Modern Thought.”” Justice Wal- ter Clark of the North Carolina Supreme Court contributes an instructive paper on Mexico; Professor Parsons of Boston Uni- versity Law School continues his mas- terli papers on “The Gov rnment Control of the Telegraph'; B. 0. Flower writes in a_ captivating manner of Whittier, and Horatio W. Dresser has a learned article on “The Mental Cure in Its Relation to Modern Thought.” There are other at- tractive features. Miss Kate Sanborn’s book, ‘My Literary Zoo,"” is described as.an amusin? and pic- turesque account of animals in literature. Messrs. D. Appleton & Co. will be the publishers, “Maggie” is the title of Mr. Stephen Crane’s next book, which is to be pub- lished immediately by D. Appleton & Co. Swinburne’s forthcoming poem, ‘‘The Tale of Balen,” is deaicated to the poet’s mother in the following lines: | “Love that holds life and death in fee, Deep as the clear unsounded sea ‘And sweet as life or death. can be, Lays here my hope, my hear , and me, Before yo u, silence in a song. Since the 0ld wild tale, made new, found grace, When half sung through, before your face, Jt needs must live a springtide space, While April suns grow strong.” “Lounger,” in the New York Critic, says: “The New York World paid Rudyard Kip- ling $500 for the privilege of publishing his bicycle poem. There are many people who think that it would have been money in Mr. Kipling’s pocket had he paid the ‘World $500 not to publish if. Asa parody of ‘Hans Breitman,’ however, it was not without merit.” An edition of “Select Poems of Robert Burns,” with irtroduction, notes ana glossary by Andrew J. George, is intended to present “the best of Burns’ worksin the order, and under the light of those influ- ences in which it originated.” It will be published by Messrs. D. C. Heath & Co. Messrs. George W. Jacobs & Co. of New York will shortly publish “Taking a Stand,” a book for boys, by Amy E. Blanchard, which is “‘full’ of incident and suck adventure as may excite boys to courage and valorous conduct; but not to such undertakings as might encourage a spirit venturesome without judgment.” It will be illustrated by Ida Waugh. Governor Morton of New York has signed the legislative bill to preserve the Poe cottage at Fordham by laying out a park to be called “Poe Park,” and to re- move thereto the Poe cottage. The plan is also to erect there a bronze statue of the poet, and to keep the cottage always open as a memorial, Messrs. William Andrews & Co., London and Hull, England, will publish at an early date “The Quaker Poets of Great Britain and Ireland,” by Mrs. Evelyn Noble Armitage, herself a poet as well as a critic, and a member of the Society of Friends. Examples of Quaker poetry will be given. The June Ladies’ Home Journal is excep- tionally interesting and attractive—both iu its literary and pictorial features. The front cover, in perfect harmony with the fragrant sentiment of the month of roses, is a Salon painting by M. Albert Aublet, a celebrated French artist, in a decorative frame of striking beaut of natare is supplemented by A, B: Frost's characteristic drawing illustrating James Whitcomb Riley’s poem, “‘Cassander,” and lv)g groups of posies, among which Miss addle’s muse sings with charming fresh- ness. The June Journal makes it evident that its editor’s promise, made in Decem- ber, to give his readers the best twelve is- sues of the magazine they have ever had, is being wholly fulfilled. [By the Curtis Publishing Company, Philadelphia; $1 per year, 10 cents per copy.] In's few days will be issued the Hon. John Boyd Thacher's monograph on *“The Continent of America, Its Eiscovery and Baptism.” The voiume is a handsome quarto of nearly 300 pages, illustrated with many maps and printed at the De Vinne Press. The publisher is William Evarts Benjamin of New York. He proves from contemporary records that those who gave the name ‘“America’ to this conti- nent knew what they weredoing, and in cor- recting the nross-covered error of the school i geognplnes he gives Columbus full credit or his srent achievements; Mr. Thacher’s book adding to, rather than detracting from, the discoverer’s glory. M. Augustin Filon, a well-known writer on English subjects in the Paris Debats and other publications, has completed a series of essays on the English stage, The contents of the volume are partly histori- cal, partly devoted to English drama at the present day, and include finally a series of considerations upon the future of the theater in England. The late M. Leon Say has left behind him thecompleted manuscript of a volume written for a series of works appearing under the title, 'The National Life of France.” The work in question is a com- plete account intended for general readers of the French financial system. Messrs. Chatto have published in Lon- don ‘‘Tales of Our Coast,” the volume to which Mr. Crockett, Gilbert Parker, Clark Russell, “Q.” and Harold Krederic con- tribute stories. They have also ready “Dorris and I,”” John Stafford’s volume of stories. In America this book will be is- sued under the title *0ld World Idylls.” M. Michel Salomon is publishing in Paris a volume of Jiterary essays. Among the subjects treated of in “Etudes et Por- traits Litteraires” are Barbey d’Aurevilly, Jules Tellier, Taine, Amiel and Pere Olii- vier. John Murray (London) is publishing a volume by the Rev. W. H. Carnegie en- titled *Some Principles >f Religious Edu- cation.” It is based on a series of ad- dresses delivered in Worcester Cathedr: A volume, ““Where to go for a Holiday, with contributions by Sir Herbert Max- well, Justin H. McCarthy and other well- known Eeople, is_soon to be issued by Messrs. Chatto of London. “The Romance of the Sea; Its Fiction, Facts and Folk-Lore,” is the title of a new volume of some 500 pares, which will shortly be issued by the British Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge, from the pen of Frederick Whymper, the author of “Travel and Adventures in Alaska,” the “Fisheries of the World” and of an elaborate work in four volumes, entitled “The Sea.” This rich touch | ABOUT WAGES AND CAPITAL. ProfessorTaussig’s Solu- tion of the Social Question. The Harvard University Man Takes Issue With the Economists. A Very Interesting Volume—The Me- moirs of Maria Mitchell, Astronomer. A valuable contribution to the discus« sion of the wages fund doctrine is fur- nished in a new volume by F. W. Taussig, professor of political economy of Harvard University. It is divided into two parts, the first consisting of five chapters devoted to an elaborate statement of the author’s views of the problem of the relation of wages to capital, and the second of nine chapters containing a summary of the wages fund discussion from its peginning to the present time. The arrangement of the two parts differs from the plan usually adopted in such cases of giving the history of the subject first and the author’s con- clusions last, but Professor Taussig gives good reason for his course in the state- ment that as criticism and comment pro- ceed inevitably from the thinker's own point of view, 1t is only fair to the reader to have that point of view explained before the criticism begins. The principal point in the discussion is whether wages are paid from capital out of a so-calied ‘‘wages fund,” or are the concurrent produce of the labor itself. Professor Taussig holds that the answer to this question depends on what is meant by the term capital, and declares the most consistent and significant meaning of that term is ‘“wealth not yet in enjoyable shape.” 1If that definition be accepted la- bor clearly is not paid from capital, for by definition things yielding satisfaction or constituting real income are not capital. Labor is steadily putting the finishing touches to wealth not yet in enjoyable form, and so advancing it to the stage where it becomes a source of real wages and of real interest and real rent. It will be seen that this definition of wealth and wages eiiminates money from the problem altogetner. All wealth is capital up to the time when it is enjoyed by the consumer. When it is thus enjoyed it becomes wages, interest or rent as the case may be. It happens, however, that a considerable portion of the working class is dependent upon others to give them employment and their portion of real ‘wages is paid them in money. They have, therefore, to make a bargain with an em- ployer as to the money income they are to Teceive, and as this money income is paid out of the real income which the independ- ent workers of all classes receive, it may be saia in some sense to proceed from a wages fund. Such a wages fund, however, is auite different from that which the older economists had 1 mind when they in- vented the phrase. Itdoes not imply a | fixed fund which in relation to a particu- lar community at a particuliar time can | be neither increased mnor diminished. Hence it does not sustain what has been | called the “‘iron law of wages.” Instead of {a wages fund there is really a “wages | flow” with a considerable degree of elas- ticity in the volume of the current. The con- clusion of the matter is that wages are de- rived not wholly from stored up capital | nor yet wholly from current product. They are the result of both of these, and to form a true theory of the relation of wages to capital we must direct attention to that relation in time between exertion and re- sult which was so lightly passed overin the older literature on the subject. [New York: D. Appleton & Co. For sale by William Doxey; price $1 50.] A chatt; and comprehensive memoir of the late Maria Mitchell, the noted astron- omer, has just been published. It is edited and compiled by her sister, Phebe M. Kendall, and is especially timely at the period of writing, viewing the interest now manifested in all women who have exhibited their powers of successfully com- peting with men in their chosen voca- tions. It is interesting in this connection to note that tois comet (which is constantly called “Miss Mitchell’s comet” in the Journal of the Royal Astronomical So- ciety) was not seen in Burope till several days after Miss Mitchell's discovery. Then it was observed by Father de Vico of the Papal Observatory at Rome. Imme- diate recognition of the young American's priority of claim led to her being awarded the prize. Miss Mitchell’s reminiscences are told in the present work in a fascinating man- ner. The book will be welcomed by her old pupils at Vassar as a fitting memorial of their preceptress, and to students of astronomy generally for the valuable data which it contains. ard. ] Boston: Lee & Shep- For sale by William Doxey; price NEW TO-DAY. The long Winter days are neatly over. A succession of Colds, Coughs or Pneumonia has weakened the system and strength doesn’t seem to come back again. You re- main pale and weak. You have a slight cough in the morning and perhaps a little fever in the afternoon. You need A Food as a Spring medicine, not a mere tonic. Such a food is Scott’s Emulsion of Cod-liver Oil with Hypophosphites which will healinflamed mem- branes, make good blood and supply food for sound flesh.