The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, June 28, 1896, Page 23

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, JUNE 28, 1896. ° 23 #—fi*—_——_—_—__l_—_———.—_——-— HISTORIAN LECKY $AYS ALEXANDER HAMILTON WAS WISER THAN JEFFERSON “Democracy and Liberty,” a History of Our Own Time In his recent book, “Democracy and Lib- erty,” Mr. Lecky, who established his fame as a bistorian of the eighteenth century, has undertaken an elaborate and exhausti view of the political and social conditions of our own time. The work has been carried out on an extensive scale and forms two octavo volumes of 600 pages esch. subjects treated is almos: equal to the number of iactors and forces in modern life, and the variety includes everything from the consti- tutions of nations to the minutim of recent sletion and the sirength and the weake of the new woman. work is not iniended as a mere desecrip- tion of existing conditions nor a formal sum- mary of contemporary developments. It is not written in the cledr, white light of impartial history. Mr. Lecky has a philosophy to pro- pound and a cause to uphold, and as a conse- quence eve age of bis treatise is colored by the light which radiates from his philoso- phy, and every event and tendency of the age is exhibi cords with che cause he has set up to defend. This charabteristic of the work must not be regardec 8s & defect. Mr. Lecky’s philosophy is always well reasoned, and in his treat- ment of them the facts of history, however he may colox them with lighter or darker shades, are vever misrepresented. We may in fact re. gard the coloring and the philosophy as valu- able qualities of the work, inasmuch as they ensble us to see how the developments of our modern life are regarded by one of the most studious, reflecting and penetrating intellects of the time. . One advantage resulting from giving the wokk the color of a particular cause and the form of an argument for a particular creed is that this mode of treating current events arouses antagonism and provokes criticism. Even the most indifferent reader will hardl read this work with indifference. in every chapter and on almost every page something that will set his own ideas in mo- tion and make him & reflecting as well as an interested reader. agrees with tne writer, he will feel himself moved by the book, as if itwere a campaign document. phrase, it is a campaign document, and was undoubtedly designed to influence the minds, and indirectly the votes, of men in the per. petual struggle going on in every civ tion between democracy and all other forms ©of governmeni ‘whatever. Whenever a man says Alexander Hamilton wes the greatest statesman and wisest thinker among those who founded our Republic and framed its constitution we know at once what his attitude is toward democracy and what he is going to say mbout the effects and the ten- dencies of universal suffrage. Mr. Lecky isa Hamiltouian. He says: “Hamilton, who was the greatest political thinker America has produced, was in the essentials of his political thought quite as conservative as Burke, but he never concealed his preference for monarch- | ical institutions. Democratic government he believed must end in despotism, and be in the meantime destructive ot public morality and | to the security of private property.” Whether this is a true statement or not of Hamilton’s political philosophy it is the conception Lecky has of it, and we can form a fair judgment of Lecky's philosophy from the fact that with this conception in his mind he considers Ham- ilton wiser than Jefferson. A salient feature of the argument of the book is the proposition put forward, with great emphasis and wealth of illustration, that governments cease to be ‘‘representative” ex- actly in proportion as they .become popular. He cites the conditions of politics and society immany countries toprove this, but his chief illustration is drawn from our own country. We have a nearer approach to absolute uni- versal suffrage than any other people, and there is also, he says, a greater contrast be- tween our society and our government than is to be found 1n any other nation. American broadly speaking, is about the most ent, the purest and most honest in the world, but our politicians are tne most ignor- ant, the least honestand the most corrupt to be found in any country that can be said to have anything like an enlightened govern- ment. By overlooking this feature of Lecky’s argu- eminent and most aggressive of his critics, falls into an obyious blundar. He points out that Lecky shows in his book that the national character of all civilized peoplés 1s improving, that the welfare of the poorer classes is more abundantly provided for than ever, that men- tally, morally and physicaliy, modern society in Europe and America is better than ever be- fore; and yet at the same time asserts that the tone of politics has been lowered, the strength of parlisments weakened and governments everywhere conducted with less honesty, less firmness and less wisdom than in the days | which preceded universal suffrage. Mr. Morley declares this to be *a tissue of | incoherence and inconsequence.” The eritic, however, is wrong. So iar from being incon- sistent, the contrast between the improvements going on in society at large and the deteriora- tion going on in parliamentary governments ment that could be pos- sibly urged in support of the theory that gov- ernments cease to represent the better and improving elements of the social organism when they are composed of delegates elected by the majority, that vote being mainly com- posed of the worst and least improving class of people. Starting then with the theory that govern- ment by universal suffrage is not a truly rep- resentative government Mr. Lecky reviews at great length the tendencies of democratic gov- ernment in our time and finds that these are everywhere adverse to the true liberty of the citizen and the just rights of property. The sggressions made on liberty and property have as yet nowhere gone far enough to justify re- voit; but in one or two European countries this is sufficiently imminent to occasion no little anxiety. America he regards as virtually sufe from danger by reason of the wise pro- visions of our constitution which, in his judg- ment, are sufficient to prevent unjust laws from being enacted or enforced so long as the Supreme Court stands to declare unconstitu- | tional sny law which violates the rights of any class of citizens. The admiration which Lecky has for our constitution is not given to everything Ameri- can, nor is it our politicians only that come in for condemnation. The American millionaire as well as the mob is regarded as one of the evils of the country and of the time. Mr. Lecky say: Of all forms that great wealth can take I know of nome that gives greater opportunities of or temptations to abuse than that of toe railway king who controls for his own selfish purposes the chief lines of communication In the country. In no other country has this class of men been 80 promi- neot as in America, and in Do other has their power heen more hideously abused. Nowhere else have there been such scandalous examples of colossal. ostentations fortunes. built up by the sacquisition of gigantic monopolies, by a deadly and unscrupulous competition, bringing ruin inio countless homes, by a systematic subordination of public to private interests, by enormous polizical and municipal corruption. These evils are certainly not unconnected with political conditions. Ina country where there is no rank and where political eminence gives litt.e or no dignily, the thirst for wealth acquires a maddening power. Corrupt political organizations come in constant contact with great rafiway and industrial corporations and each can do much to assist and to demoralize the other. Even inde- pendently of these muiual services there Is an analogy between the two things. To run a com- pany is vers like running the machine, and the low standard which public opinion simits in the one is not unnaturally extended to the other. Among the changes for worse in parlia- mentary goverrment brought about by the extension of suffrage, Mr. Lecky notes the change in the attitude of representatives toward taxation and the public purse. The old idea that the representative chamber is pre-eminently a check upon extravagance, a jealous guardian of the people’s money, The number of | d under the aspect which most ac- | He will find | Whether he agrees or dis- | Indeed, in & broad sense of the | ilized na- | t, John Morley, who 1% at once the most | seems, he says, to have almost vanished in democratic countries; and he quotes approve | ingly the words of Leon Say that the modern | representative is hardly anything more than “an agent for instigating expense.” Each wishes to get an appropriation for his district, and to enable an increasing number of his constituents to secure a livelihood out of the | | public taxes. Governments are thus led into extravagance and wastefulness of the national resources, and corruptiou in official life in- variably follows. Another feature of government by universal | suffrage, which is noted as already tending to | the danger point, is that of multiplying re- strictions upon various forms of human action. | This means an increase of buresucracy, or in | other words, of the number and power of state officials. It means alsoa constant increase of taxation, which is itself a constant restriction | of liberty. One of the first forms of liberty, says Mr. Lecky, is the right of every man to dispose of his own property and earnings, and if taxes are multiplied for the purpose of carrying out a crowd of objects in which he | has no interest, and with many of which he | has no sympathy, his liberty is proportionately restricted. Speaking generally of democracy and liberty, Mr. Lecky says: To place the chief power in the most ignorant | classes isto place it in the hands of those who natorally care least for political liberty and who are most likely to follow with devotion some strong leader. The sentiment of nationality penetrates very deeply into all classes, but in all countries and ages it is the upper and middle classes who have chiefly valued constitutional liberty, and those classes it is the work of democracy to dethrome. At the same time democracy does much to weaken among them | aiso the love of liberty. The instabliity and in- security of democratic politics, the spectacle of | dishonest and predatory adventurers climb- ing by popular suffrage into positions of | great “power in the state, the slarm whbich attacks on property seldom fail to produce among those who have something to lose, may easily scare to the side of despotism | 1arze classes who under other circumstances would | have been steady supporters of iiberty. A despot- ism which secures order, property and industry, which leaves the liberty of religion and private | life unimpaired, and which enables quiet and in- | dustrious men to pass tnrongh life untroubled and | unmolested, will always appesr to many very preferable toa democratic republic which is con- stantly menacing, disturbiug or plundering them. Mr. Lecky is not what is generally known as | 8 pessimist. Hehas faith in society. He sees that it is continually improving and he has | confidence that these improvements will grow | from more to more. In his judgment, how- ever, under government by universal suffrage these improvements must be made not | through the government, but in spite of it. | Little by little the chasm will widen between | the real governing element of the community and the politicians, until at last parliaments | | will no longer be regarded as the true repre- | sentative of the nation. He does not despair of what will happen then, nor does he believe | that despotism or anarchy are the only pos- sible outcome. He suggests & remedy for England, at any rate, and strangely enough it | 1s 8 limitea form of the referendum. He would | allow an appeal to society at large in order | to save society from the representatives of its lower elements. [For sale by Doxey; price $5.] JOHN MCNAUGHT. «ET DONNA FERENJES.” | [“The English press not only in Great Britaln, but throughout the British dep ndencies. mani- | fests a more conciliatory spirit.”—American Dally | Paper.] | In extended observations of the ways and works of man, | (From the four-mlle radius roughly to the plain of | | Hindustan), | T have drunk with mixed assemblies, seen the casual ruction rise, And the men of half creation damning half crea- tion’s eyes. | | 1 have watched them In their tantrums, all that | _ pentecostal crew, French, Itallan, Arab, Spaniard, Russ and Yank | and Dutch and Jew, Celt and savage, buff and ocher, cream and yellow, maave and white, { But it never really mattered till the English grew polite— | TH1 the men with glossy “toppers,” till the men In long frock coats, Till the men who do not duel, till the men who fight with votes, THll the breed that take their pleasure as St. Law- rence took his grid, Began to “beg your pardon” and — the wily | croupier hid. | Then the bandsmen with their fiddles, and the girls that bring the beer, Knew the psychologic moment, left the lit Casino | clear; i But the uninstructed alien, from the Teutonto | the Gaul, | Was entrapped, once more, my country, by that | suave, deceptive draw s el . . = - . As it was in ancient Suez or 'neath milder, wilder | skies, I “observe with apprehension” how the casual ructions rise, And with keener apprehension if I resd my Times aright, | Hear the old Casino order: be polite. Watch your man, but | “Keep your temper, never answer’” (That was why | they spat and swore). “Don’t hit first, but move together (there’s no hurry) to the door, Back to back and facing outward, while the lin- guist tells them how “Nous sommes ailong & notre batteau; mous ne | than vonlong pas le row.’ ” So the hard. pent rage eat inward uill some fdlot | went too far— 1 “Let ’em nave | was bloody Fist, umbrelia, cane, decanter, lamp and beermug, chair and boot, Till behind the fleeing legions rose the long hoarse ell for loot. and they had it, and the same Then the oflcloth with its numbers, as a banner fluttered free, Then the grand plano cantered, on three castors, down the quay— ‘White and breathing through their nostrils, silent, systematic..swift, They removed, effaced, aboiished all that man | ™ could fiing or it Oh, my country, bless the training that from cot to | castle runs— The pitfall of the stranger, but the bulwark of thy sons— Measured speech and ordered action, sluggish soul and unperturbed, | Till we wake our Island Devil, ten times worse for § being curbed! Build on the flanks of Etna, where the ficecy smoke-puffs float, Go bathe in tropic waters, where the lean fin tags the boat, Cock the gun thatls not loaded, cook the frozen | dynamite: But oh, beware my country, when my country grows polite! RUDYAED KrPLiNe. A Connecticut Yankee in King Ar. thur’s Court. The publication of a new library edition of Mark Twain's clever story, Connecticut ! Yankee in King Arthur's Court,” affords the | American public a first-class antidote for the excitemen s and passions of the political cam- paign to those who stay in town, and for the dullness and inanities of summer re- sort life to those who go into the country. The work is one of the best of Twain’s later books, both 1in concep- tion and in execution, and even those who read it when first published can find enjoy- ment in rereading it in this attractive new edition, which is enriched with a photogravure portreit of the author and many other illustra- tions. The story, while written in a strain of humor so0 broad as to be farcical, has none the less an under-current of truth running through it I And lilacs lean over, all purple and white, To make for the passing a path of delight— Though Fashion ignores with profoundest disdain The very existence of Marigold Lane. KNOW of a street on the edge of the town Where blithely the sunshine of spring-time looks down ] ) Y ) = So dreaming and hoping, I’m biding the day When ’round flies the news that there’s raising of pay; And then in the gloaming when Nellie and I, Arm over, arm under, go loitering by— It may be the sign will not hang out in vain On the cottage I covet in Marigold Lane. M. E. W. And often and often when homeward I’m bound I find myself taking the longes§ way ’round, With smiles at my thoughts as there comes into view A dear little house, that would just do for two, Announcing *‘To Let,” like a tender refrain Of songs that my heart sings in Marigold Lane. In fancy sometimes at the window I see Her curly head nodding a welcome to me, And sometimes at twilight she stands by the gate, Half-hid by the shadows, to listen and wait For footsteps she loves—Ah, the castles in Spain 1 build as I wander through Marigold Lane! [COPYRIGHTED BY THE PUBLISHERS OF LIFE.| that renders it almost as instructive as amus- mg. Hank Morgan, s Connecticut machinist and inventor, with all the knowledge of the nineteenth century and with the mechanical ability to construct all kinds of modern mechanism, finds himself suddenly trans- | ferred to England in the days when King Ar- thur ruled at Camelot and led the Knights of the Round Table in feats of chivalry. The contrast between the conditions of life in those days and in our own is strongly brought out, and in the descriptions of those contrasts Twain finds abundant opportunities for serious writing as well as for humorous extravagance. To most readers the serious passages will be found fully as entertaining as those which were designed to be funny. In fact, the fun is more like that of a farce that of a comedy, and not in- frequently seems strained and overdome. Still, as & rule, the most grotesque absurdities pess as excellent fooling when the mind is in the humor for them, and if there is any man:| living who can put the public mind into that | humor Mark Twain is the one to do it. The first impression of the Connecticut man on his arrival at Camelot is one of disgust for the whole concern. Circumstances force him to assume the role of & magician in order to save his life, ana by predicting an eclipse he wins such success as to completely discredit | Merlin at court and become the chief counselor of the King. Raised to power and distressed | by the wretchedness of the people, and exas- perated by the folly and the superstition of the nobility, he sets himself to the task of civil- izing the people with the intention of reform- ing the country and establishing a repuolic. 3 The story proceeds upon the broadest lines f of incongruity, and therefore the more fmprob- able the events narrated the more entertain- ing they are. Through these impossibilities, however, there is woven a thread of fairly realistic adventure, along which are strung an array of incidents that not inaccurately depict the conditions of life in those days. Between jest and earnest the tale proceeds on its way, | miugling passages in which there s a genuine | pathos with ethers in which fancy rans siily and sinks to about the ievel of the “Brass Monkey.” Such a book can hardly be con- sidered seriously, and yet there are certain aspects of it which fully deserve such con- sideration. [Harper & Brothers. For sale by A. M. Rob- ertson, Post street; price $175.] Summer in Arcady. James Lane Allen, author of the above- entitled book, calls it A Tale of Nature. A more appropriate name could hardly have been selected for it. Itis an idyl, perfect in expression, a pastoral, a study, designed to point a moral. Mr. Allen takes occasion, in a somewhat lengthy preface, to criticize the decadent lit- eratare of the past few years. He deprecates, in no uncertain terms, the morbid suggestive ness veiled in much of the literature that has recently appeared. “We know too well,” says Mr. Allen, “what exposures of the eternally hidden they have coarsely made, what 1deals of personal depravity they have scattered broadcast, what principles of social order they have attacked, what bases of universal de- cency ihey have been resolute to undermine.” Strong words, these. and coming at & jime | bat that class of literature which delights to grovel in the mud for its ideals. “Summer in Arcady’’ is, as we have said, a pastoral. It treats of the love of Daphne, & farmer’s daughter, for Hilary, & farmer’s son. The book closes with the marriage of the two against the wish of Daphne’s father, whose main objection to the union appears to be the fact that Hilary once indulged in the sinful pastime of dancing. It is asimple story, but told in & manner that holds the reader’s atten- tion from the first page to the last. [New York: Maemillan & Co. For sale by William Doxey; price $1 25.] A Un.qu Ref-rence Book. To say that it contains information of nearly universal interest, and that is practically ob- tatnable by readers nowhere else, is but the simple truth concerning Alden’s Living Topics Cyclopedia. The second volume contains the latest iacts concerning the nations, Biazil, British Empire, Bulgaria, Cape Colony, Chile, Chinese Empire and others, and concerning three States, California, Colorado and Con- necticut; also concerning six large cities, Brooklyn, Buffalo, Charleston, Chicago, Cin- cinnati and Cleveland. The information is generaliy from one to five years later than can be found in any of the leading cyclopedias, and commonly & year later than the 1896 almanacs and annuals. The whole work com- | plete to date costs only $1 if ordered at once. Specimen pages may be had free by addressing the publisher, John B. Alden, 10 and 12 Van- dewater street, New York. Messrs. D. C. Heath & Co., Boston, announce for immedinte issue Shakespeure’s ‘‘Henry V,” when their forceful attack is needed to com- ; in the Arden series. race and religion.” THE EARTH, THE POND! ITS DESTINY- HEAVEN | LIFTING THEIR BY YONE NOGUCHI The Brave Upright Rains. The Mysteries of Night. The following remarkable verses, bold in metaphor, deep and mystical in meaning, jagged and uneven in rhetorical properties, are written by a protege of Joaguin Miller, & young Jap anese who works and thinks on Miller’s ranch. * of which, Gillette Burgess, thus describes their author: “I would have you think of him as I know him, yellow-jackets abandoned’—listening to the ‘tireless songs of the crickets on the lean, gray- haired hill, in the sober-faced evening.’ “An exile from his native land, & stranger in & new civilization—a mystic by temperament, They are reprinted {rom the Lark, the editor lone on the heights, in his cabin—‘even THE BRAVE UPRIGHT RAINS COME RIGHT DOWN LIKE ERRANDS FROM TRON-BODIED YORETIME, NEVER LOOKING BACK; OUT OF THE EVER TRAN- QUIL, OCEAN-BREASTED, FAR HIGH HEAVEN—YET AS HIGH BUT AS THE GUM TREE AT MY CABIN, WINDOW. : WITHOUT HESITAPION, THEY KILL THEMSELVES IN AN INSTANT ON SINGLE-NOTED' CHANTS—O TRAGEDY!— CHANTS? NAY, THE CLAPPING SOUND OF EARTH-LIPS. O, HEAVENLY MANNA, CHILLY, DELICATE AS GODDESS’ TEARS FOR THE INTOXICATED MOUTH OF THE SOIL, THIS GOSSAMER-VEILED DAY | THE UNIVERSE NOW GROWS SOBER, HEARTED, SPITEFUL-SOULED ; ALONE, FRIENDLESS, IT GROANS OUT IN THE FLUTE OF THE STONY-THROATED FROG. RESIGNEDLY, THE FLEETING MOUNTAIN OF TIRED CLOUD CREEPS INTO THE WILLOW LEAVES — WASHED HAIR OF PALACE-MAIDEN OF OLD. Lo, THE WILLOW LEAVES, MIRRORED IN THE DUST-FREED WATERS OF GAUNT, HUNGRY, FROZEN- THE FLAT-BOARDED EARTH, NAILED DOWN AT NIGHT, RUSTING UNDER THE DARKNESS. THE UNIVERSE GROWS SMALLER, PALPITATING AGAINST My CHILLY SOUL,—CENTER OF THE WORLD,—GIVES SEAT TO AUDIBLE TEARS,— THE SONGS OF THE CRICKET. I DRINK THE DARKNESS OF A CORNER OF THE UNJVERSE,—ALAS| SQUARE, IMMOVABLE WORLD TO ME, ON MY BED! GOD OR DEMON ?—FAR DOWN, UNDER MY BODY. I AM AS A LOST WIND AMONG THE COUNTLESS ATOMS OF HIGH . SUGGESTING WHAT— WOULD THE INVISIBLE NIGHT MIGHT SHAKE OFF HER RADIANT LIGHT, . ANSWERING THE KNOCKING OF MY SOFT-FORMED VOICE. ANOTHER EROTIG NOVEL BY ELLA WHEELER WILGOX «AN AMBITIOUS MAN’ “Lindsay’s Girl,” by Mrs Herbert Martin Ella Wheeler Wilcox has undertaken a char- acter study under the guise of a novel, but character study alone cannot very well carry a story that is positively lacking in vivid inter- est. “An Ambitious Man,” it may be said, is an endeavor in prose to maintain that attitude of eroticism exhibited in Eila’s ‘‘Poems of Pas- sion,” published a few years ago. The ex- ploitation of amorous sins and blunders seems to be to the liking of Mrs. Wilcox. Her novel ends in chaos, and the lot of everybody in it is untimely death or lingering misery. And yet Mrs. Wilcox writes well; better, in fact, than many who write better stories. Here are a few sentences from the book of “Impres- sions,” in which one of her characters makes daily entrances which reflect the changes that take place in the complexion of her mind: People talk about following a divine law of love, when they wish to ~xcuse their brute impulses and break social and civil codes. No love is sanctioned by God which shatters human hearts. Fathers are only distantly related. to their chil- dren; love for the male parent is a matter of edu- cation. Love is a mushroom, and lust is its poisonous counterpart. It is a pity that people who despise clvilization should be so uncivil as to stay in it. There is ways darkest Africa. The extent of a man’s gallantry depends on the goal. He follows the good woman to the borders of Paradise and leaves her with a polite bow; but he follows the bad woman to the depths of hell An envious woman is a spark from purzatory. When the fruit must apologize for the tree, we do not care to save the seed. It is only when God and man have formed a syndicate and agreed upon their laws that mar- riage is a safe inves:ment. When we say of people what we would not say to them, we are either liars or cowards. The enmity of some people is the greatest com- pliment they can puy us. [Chicago: E. A. Weeks &.Co., publishers; for sale at the bookstores. ] Lindsay’s Girl. Here is another fresh novel for the girls by the seaside or in the mountain resorts. Its author is Mrs. Herbert Martin and its heroine is a Scatchman’s daughter, Valentine Lindsay, who is a little wild in her waysand -creates talk among the gossips. Fate throws Lord St. George and Valentine together and they marry against the wishes of the man’s noble family. The country place is dull and the couple take up auarters in London, where Valentine dances and enjoys herself more than she ever did in her unmarried days. The lord goes back to his bachelor pleasures. Valentine is much sought after by an ola lover, and their com- panionship arouses more talk. A coldness grows between lord and lady. They quit the dissipations of London, and on their arrival in the country an accident happens to St. George. He lies for weeks on the brink of death, and then it is that the wife finds her abiding love for him. St. George recovers as if by a miracle, and after that they are the happiest couvle in England. In fact, Lady St. George became such an exceptionally ideal wife and adorable mother and such an esteemed member of the | highest society that people who knew some of the old tales shook their heads and exclaimed, “Who would have ever expected it of that girl of Lindsay’s?”’ [New York: R.T. Fenno & Co., publishers. For sale at the bookstores.] The Victory of Ezra Girdner. Miss Tmogen Clark has given us a charming idyl, the scene of which islaid in one of New England’s quaint islands. Ezra Gardner is & finely drawn character. His only companion and friend is his pet pony, “Baby,” and the affection between the two is touchingly por- trayed. Ezra has suffered with humility the scorn of the world eversince the war. It was in war time that he got the name of being & cow- ard, and he admitted that he was afraid of going to the front, and that when be went he was “‘choked up with the fear through every- | thing.” But when Ezra Gardner braved a monstrous sea while others stood appalled and white—when Ezra Gardner saved from death a “college professor” in spite of tremendous ! odds of death against life, battiing like a giant with the awful breakers, but holding up the drowning man with a strength like iron, when the twain were pulled ashore uncomscious, after a struggle that for heroism was never surpassed—then came ‘‘The Victory of Ezra Gardner.”” All the island was proud to honor him, and everywhere he was received with ex- pressions of kindness, admiration and love. The rescue scene is highly dramatic, ana the volume is replete with pictures of unaffected reaMsm. [New York and Boston: T. Y. Crowell & Co., publishers. For sale at the bookstores; price 75 cents.] Magazines for July. HARPER'S. The July number of Harper's Magazine opens “ with a paper on General Washington and the | period of the Revolution, by Woodrow Wilson. i Rarely has & historic personage been made so real and human as Washington here appears, in camp and on the battlefield no less than in the Virginia House of Burgesses or at his | Mount Vernon plantation. In commemora- tion of the centenary of the settlement of Cleveland the number contains an illuswrated | paper on the distinctive characteristics of | Ohio, as shown in the development of the State, by President Charles F. Thwing of the Western Reserye University. A piquant description of English elections, by Hon. Henry Cabot Lodge, gives the resuit of some | personal observations in England last sum- mer, showing that the United States is not alone in its need of political reforms. Laurence Hutton will contribute an attractive article on “Literary Landmarks of Venice,” with illustrations by Frank V. Du_Mond, including the houses in which Byron, Browning and Pe- tratch lived. There 1s presented the opening chapters of “Two Mormons From Muddlety,” & three-part novelette, by Langdon Elwyn Mitchell, whose scene is laid among the West Virginia hills and whose characters are the rude population of a primitive community, enlivened by the visits of two Latter-Day Saints engaged in proselyting. The story will be illustrated by Gilbert Gaul. John Kendrick Bangs’ numorous romance, “A Rebellious Heroine,” is concluded. Archi- bald Lampman contributes an_essay on “Hap- piness,” and Charles Dudley Warner in the Editor's Study discusses a popular belief that everybody is an undeveloped author. The Editor’s Drawer opens with an amusing lecture by Kate Douglas Wiggin on & supposedly new ‘Wagnerian opera, with examples of the music. LIPPINCOTT'S. ‘The complete novel in the July issue of Lip- pineott’s is “A Judicial Error’’ by Marion Manvilie Pope. It is a strong story based on & murder for which the wrong man was con- victed and hanged. He hasa friend who de- termines to prove his innocence and does it. “A Twenty-Doliar Bill,” by Algernon Tassin, is a pathetic iale of honesty among the very poor and in the face of the strongest possible temptation—to save a sister’s life. Giilam W. Ford tells about “The Rector's Game- cock,” which came to the minister in a singular way and was thenceforth s bird of peace. Jean Wright relates briefly “An Old Story”—which is not a familiar or commonplace one at all—of the army. A Russian, who for various reasons with- holds his name, writes forcibly on the ‘‘Decsd- ence of Modern Russian Literature.” His array of facts shows clearly the bénumbing effect of despotism when vigorously exercised through a censorship of the press. “Pennsylvania and Her Public Men,” by Sydney G. Fisher, is au- other startling article, presenting facts which, though common property, are enough to set one thinking. “My Rural Experiences” isone of the last papers which the lamented Profes- sor Boyeson wrote, and one of the best. He loved his summer home on Long Island, | reveled in his peaceful vacations there, and Trade” instances some of the unadvised efforts, requests and_woes of beginners in literature. The poetry of the number is by Florence Earle Coates, Margaret Gilman George, Jenny Terrill Ruprecht and Grace F. Pennypacker. M'CLURE'S. In the opening paper in McClure’s Magazine for July E. Kay Robinson, with whom Kip- ling was intimately associated in the editor- ship of & newspaper in India, gives a wealth of interesting personal facts about Rudyard Kip- ling. But perhapssurpassing thisin abundance of new personal detail is a paper of recollec- tions of Longfellow, Whittier and Holmes, by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps. Whittier was, in his lust years, much oppressed by loneliness; and Holmes, outwardly so merry a man, Was &t heart grave almost to melancholy. Both papers are fully illustrated with por- traits and other pictures; and, form- ing an independent article, is a comprehensive series of portraits of Longfellow. A woman's account of her own experience in climbing to the very top of the Matterhorn—a feat which very few women have proved equal to; an illustrated article by Cleveland Moffett, indi- cating the revolution that is already beginning to be wrought in travel, traffia and war by the horseless carriage; a paper of reminiscences and anecdotes from personal associates of Abraham Lincoln at the bar, showing Lincoln’s life and methods as a lawyer; and a paper by W. H. Low on the present state of painting in Germany, with reproductions of recent cele brated German paintings—are other note- worthy features. GODEY'S. Godey’s Magazine for July begins the one- hundred and thirty-third volume of the well- known publication and is a good specimen of the pioneer in modern form. The initial article is from the pen of a traveler in Persia, and describes, with the aid of numerous ple- tures, some of the characteristics of that country, which is always an important factor in the Eastern question, and has recently come into prrticular promirence on account of the assassination of the Shah; while no less interesting is a description of the training and thelife in the New York Fire Department. There are continuations of the reminiscences of operatic singers by Albert L. Parkes, and the critical series of ‘‘“Music in America” by Rupert Hughes, the subject of the latter being “The Manuscript Society and Its President, Gerrit Smith.” That Godey’s has not lost its individuality as a lady’s book is shown by the articles on “The Silk Indastry of Japan” and “Elzabeth Cady Stanton,” number VII of “Talks by Successful Women,” and the usual fashion department, SCRIBNER'S. ‘The July number of Scribner’s is one of un- usual excellence. The place of homoris ae- corded to an article by Julian Ralph on Coney Island, which 1s a peculiar New York product. Mr. Ralph cails it “our sunbath and icebox combined, our excra lung, our private, gigane tic fan.” He sXetches its development trom the early seventies down to its present com- plex and impressive charms—a resort which 8,000,000 people have visited in one year. Brander Matthews also shows a picturesque American element for the use of the literary man in his discussion “On the Poetry of Place Names.” He quotes the criticism of Matthew Arnold on the ugliness of our place names, and the entirely opposite opinion expressed by Robert Louis Stevenson that *there is no part of the word where nomenclature is so rich, poetical, humorous, and picturesque as the United States of America.” In fiction this number is made notable by one of the last short stories of the late H. H. Boyesen, entitlea, “In Collusion With Fate.” It is the charming love siory of an ocean voye age. There s also a shortstory of the Amerie can Revolution, by Clinton Ross, entitled “The Confession of Colonel Sylvester.” Mr. Ross hasmade a study of ‘his pericd for purposes of fiction. Among the other articlesare: “A Thousand Miles Through the Alps,” by Sir W. Martin Conway; “Sentimental Tommy—The Story of His -Boyhood,” by J. M. Barrie; “Ars et Vita,” by T. R. Sullivan; “A New Art,” by J. Carter Beard, with illustrations of the work of American taxidermists from drawings by the author; some portraits of J. M. W. Turner; and “A French Friend of Browning—Joseph Milsand, by Th.’ Bentzon (Mme. Blanc). Among the poetry is abit of verse by Charles Edwin Markham, entitled “The Hidden Val- ley.” The various departments are as com- plete and interesting as usual. ST. NICHOLAS, Californians have frequently read in THE CALL notices of the remarkable traveling dog “Owney,” the pet of the United States Postal Department. A description of “Owney’s” trip around the world by Charles Frederick Holder of Pasadena is publishad in the July number of St. Nicholas, and a right good narrative it makes. “Owney’” has more medals than a modern rifle expert ora bicycle champion of the amateur class. Charies Henry Webb speaks in verse “A Few Words For the Old Fourth,” suggesting what so many of us have been thinking, namely, that the drums used to sound louder and that firecrackers had a more vicious snap in the days gone by. Boys of the present will have similar views of the current events twenuy years hence. “Toby Hinkle, Patriot” is a story apropros of the month. The articles in St. Nicholas are artistically illus. trated. LADIES' HOME JOURNAL. Mark Twain’s “Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc” may not prove & success from a business standpoint, but the volume has at least aroused renewed interest in the marvelous Maid of Orleans, the Ladies’ Home Journal for July devoting two pages to that heroine’s his- tory. The text is by Emma Asbrand Hopkins, John Gilmer Speed has a dull article on “‘Feed- ing a City Like New York.” The subject is un- interesting except to readers of market re- ports and the like. Ex-President Henjamin Harrison continues his essays on the workings of our National Government. “The Wife of Ben Bow’’ is a strong psychological sketch by Hezekiah Butterworth. Arthur Warren de- votes a chapter to the beautiful side of the character of Robert Burns, the Ayrshire poet, ‘whose fame grows and mellows with the years. LITERARY NOTES. Ex-President Harrison will discuss our ;lr tional finances in an article on “The Secretary of the Treasury” which will appear in the August issue of The Ladies’ Home Journal. He will tell briefly of the origin of our fina: cial system; its expansion or development; how the Nation raises its revenues and dis- burses its moneys, and detail the faults of our system of financiering. “The Landlord at Lion’s Head,” & new novel by W. D. Howells, will be begun in the issue of Harper's Weekly dated July 4. Illustrations for this story have been made by W. T, Smedley. In Harper’s Round Table, published June 28, an article appears by W. J. Henderson, en- titled “Blind-man’s Buff at Sea.” Mr. Hender- son describes the difficulties and the methods of ascer taining positions at sea during foggy weather. In the same number is an excellent story by James Barnes, entitled *“The Hidden Treasure of King Oban,” and the second part of & humorous story by R. K. Munkittrick, entitled ‘‘Slambangaree.” “A Virginia Cava- lier,” the new serial by Molly Elliost Seawell, grows more interesting. The Outlook’s seventh annual recreation number contains nearly a hundred pagesand scores of illustrations. Nearly all of the special articles relate to outdoor life, sport, recreation and vacation possibilities. Among the writers are Ian Maclaren, the Rev. Dr. Henry Van Dyke, the Rev. Dr. Charles H. Parkhurst, Kirk Monroe, General A. W. Greely, Poultney Bigelow, and many others. Mr. Gladstone has suspended for a while his philosophical studies, in order to give to the public in greater detail, through the Nine- enjoyed to the full his communion with ‘Nature, escaping from the man-made town. John Sheridan Zelie supplies a little essay, “On Being Fond of One’s Thoughts.”” *“With the teenth Century, what he has stated privately about Fraser ’s biography of Sheridan and about Sheridan himself, in’ whom he hasak ways taken a keen interest,