The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, November 29, 1896, Page 21

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 1896 S8 ATTHEW ARNOLD, POET AND PHILOSOPHER, WITH WHOM 'CULTURE IMPLIED A TRULY RELIGIOUS MATTHEW ARNOLD. ‘Weary. of myself, and sick of askiog - "WhatT am, and what I ought to be, ‘At the vessel’s prow I stand, which bears me . Forward, forward, o'er the starlic sea. " And a 100k of passionate desire, O'er-the seaand to the stars I send: “ Ye who from m¥ chilahood up have calmed me, *’Calm me, ah, compose me to the end.” @A, once-niore;” I cried, “ye stars, e waters -On my heart yaur mighty charm renew; .tlll, still let me, as } gaze upon yoOu, | Féel my soul becoming vast, Hke you.” From the intense, clear, starsown vault of heaven, | Over the !\t sed’s'unquiet way, In (he rustling night air, came the answer; “ Would’st thoubs as :hese are? Live as they? ¢ Unaffrighted by the silence round them, Unaistfacted by tbe sights they see, * These demand not that tne things without them R Yieid them love, amusement, Sy mpathy. perform their shiping moon-siivered roll, ¥ live, nor pine with noting All the fpver of some differing soul. ves, ard unobservant, 50d's other works may be, " In their own tasks ali (helr powers pouring, These attain the mighty life you see.” « On, air-born Voice! long since, severely clear A cry iike tilne In my own heart I hear, Ive to be thyself: and know that he Wno finds himself{oses his misery.” \] Probably M; lished le tters:wi! proporsion tohis previous understand eppreciation of Arnold's life and wor. 1t is i doubtiul whether we of to-day realize how | much of what is taken &s & matter of course in | our modern way of thinking is due to the in- | fluence of -Matthew Arnold in the past—or | whether we are aware that many of the words | end phreses which are now used so gliply, | sich as “barbarians,” *Philistinism” ers, were first applicd in their present se by him. A part of his power and influ- | e lay in those *epoch-making phrases,” ich ‘were so trenchaut, which so keenly acterized a classor & tendency that they ¢kly became common projerty. John Fiske bew Arnold’s recently pub- interest the reader in exact ing and | q suamost of the later ethical writers speak of | tiié ‘power-‘which makes for righteousness,” | but Artioid Was thefather of the term. He it ourselves. which makes for righteousness.’ Hé:it' was who spoke of the function of eriti- cisy it realy fs.” It was he who said that. ligion 1s morality touched with emotion.” Ii wes, he who characterized the pagan and Christian ideals #s the reign on the one hand 0f the:“senses end the understanding,” and on thie-other of the “heart and the 1magination.” Itséems to have been his great desire to unite these two by the aid of the “1maginative oécasion” to foliow-in the footsteps of his siiblims Goethe; who “neither mdde man 00 nfich 8 God,.nor God too much & man.’ With him culture implied & truly religions ) and. sweetness of mind, as well as a tol- ncé and an-understanding of all the past. He.felt'the obligation of presching the gospel of-“sweetnéss and 1ight” to his generation Hé.desired to'{liumine, with the aid of his- | philesoph their Bibie and their re- ort of his lias been sa variously some he was considered little of agnostic and’ by others he was re- d.as'a great teacher. . e is remarkebly sparing in the use of ifony, consideTing the temptation his ability bat:direction must bave been to him. He ‘d fully the greater power of persuasion. In his designation ot the aristocracy as ‘‘bar- barians’ he does not use the word in, a con- y{uous ‘sense. He speaks of their culture % body, complishments, and he says: “Does not a subgle -criticism lead us to make, even on the - good looks and politeness of our aristocracy, - “and-oi even the most fascinating haif of tbat _¢lass—the feminine hali—the one qualifying remark that in these charming giits there yufd ‘perhaps be, for ideal perfection, & xdé more séul?” ©.° Itisimpossible to morz than suggest these “;few poinis of Mathew Arnold’s philosophy be- fore coming 1o the consideration of his letters. 1t was his express wish that no biography of _him'should be written. It is now eight years -since his desath and these are the first of his eTs to be published. They are mostly to his “.miother. and wife and sisters, and record the Jlabors and the achievementsof a well regu- :lated life. We find nothing tempestuous here, & nthe lettérs of poor Carlyle. There.is no aying bare of the heart, no revealing of the tragedy underlying the commonplace of life, .«Happy is that"country which hath no his- tory.” Mathew Arnold’s domestic life seems to have been singilarly serene and unevent- ful Ifit had not been we feel pretty certain be would have putno record of iton paper. He..was born in 1822. He showed marked ability at school, as was to be expected from the son of bis fwther, the great Thomas Arnold ‘of Rugby. At Oxford he took honors and won . ahé Newdigate prize for a poem on Cromwell. - After leaving col.ege he was appoiated pri- °* wvate secretary-to Lord Lansdown, His letters ~ at this time to his mother and sisters show his eéxtremely radical yiews. Inometo his mother, -.writlen in 1848, he says: “The hour of the - heréditary peerage and eldest sonship and immense propejties has, I am convinced, as Lemartine would say, struck.” His views became somewhat modified with - incredsing years, but his attitude was always fearless and uncompromising. In 1851 he wis appointed Inspector of Schools, and this | errabled him to marry. These earlier letters show us a good deal of his mind but very little -of his heart. The first letter to -Miss:Wight- :man, whosoon after became Mrs..Arnold, is a most extracrdinsry epistle, regarded-in the > “ight of & loye-letter. It coniains merely a .- brief and curt.record of his doings, and the { * . -fled. | reader sincerely hopes that some affeclionate assages miay have been eliminated .before putliation. We undergtand now, as never - betore, Arnold’¢ condempation of poor:Keats' loyé letters=those ardent, passionate, pitiful létters from the dying poet to hs sweetheast— "+ which scem hardly to merit so severe a’ judg- ment. We suspect that in his you.ger years Matthew Arnold ‘was one of those men who - . fear that to be demoustrative is Lo be undigni- His letters express little emotion, even though written under what must have been great stress of.fecling, ason the death of his *-. two sons. :The elder, a most lovable boy, who had_all his life’ been a great sufferer, died at -the'age of 16; “after & lingering illness. The . morning aiter hisdeath the friend who com- piled thesé letters tells us that ne found * Matthew Arnold consoling himself by reading ‘Marcus Aurelins. Fouryears later-the younger -« son diéd veryc suddenly, in his eighleenth ‘year. This second-bereavement’ was a terri- blegrief to both parents, yet Arnold writes of .1t to his;mother, in sternly expressed fashion. “What his 1étters do record fully are his mep- tal labors and aspirations. His sister Kathe- - rine and he were intellectually very congenial. His letters to her are far moie interesting than ‘those to his wife. He says in one letter to Katherine, “You and Clough are, I believe, - the two,people L in mv heart care most to .please by what I write,”” His pet name for this sister was “K.” In a letter to his mother he speeks of being glad that they all like his and ¢ ing ostly exterior cuiture—a care for. the ; r: outward gifts and graces and ac- latest pdem, “aiid my darling K., too, my first reader (or hesrer), and who even now has the " first piace in my heart as & judge of my “poems.” In writing to her he says: “People dd not understand what a temptation there is, if you’cannot ber anything not very good, to “transfer your operations to & region where form is everything. Perfection of a certain kind may there be attained, or at leastap- proaghed, without knocking yourse1f to pieces, but 10 attain or approach perfection in the re- 'DEPTH AND SWEETNESS OF MIND glon of thought and feeling and to write this with perfection:of form demands not merely an effort and a fabor, but-an actual tearing of oneself to pieces which one coes ot readily consent to unléss one can devote one’s whole life to poetry.”” His inspectorship of schools was sad drudgery, which vecupied some of the best years of his life. He was forced to con- tinbe in it because his ‘writing at that time brought him in very little money. Even after he became greatly distinguished he was hardly what counld be called & popular autpor. He gives an amusing stcount to his mother of his interview with the Income-Tax Commissioners, They assessed his' profits at £1000 a year because he wasa ‘‘most distin- guished literary man” and his “works were mentioned gverywhere.” Hc answered them, “You see before you, gentlemen, what you have often ‘heard. of, an unpopular author!” The tax was finally cut down to £200 a year. Even ihén he toid them he shounld have to write more articles not to be a_loser, and the cheirman snswered, “Then ine public will have reason to be much obliged to us, Mr. Arnold.” This incident recalls Carlyle’s in- terview with these same commissioners—or, rather, Mrs, Carlyle’s interview, for, as usudl, it was she who bore the brunt of practical affairs, In 1857 Arnold was elected professor of poe- try at Oxford. His influence in Oxford came to be very great, succeeding thatof Newman. In his laterlife his. writing was mostly prose. His “Literature and Dogma” and® “Culture and Aparchy” had a trémendous influence upon contemporary thought. He wasan affec- tionate'and, as he grew older, even a demon- strative father. His attitude toward his two dsughters is charming. He wrote long and- interesting letters from Amerida to his “Da: ling Nelly.” The eldesi daughter, Lucy, ac- companied him and “met her fate,” as the saying goes,in Néw York. They visited this country in the winter of 1883-84. Arnold lectured in most of the Eastern cities. He was received with great enthusi- asm, but his comments afterward on the United States were not entirely flattering. However, our seli-love need not be too much hurt when we remember that he wrote of his Own country as one possessing - “‘an upper class maferialized, a middle class vulgarized, and a lower class brutalized.” These words occur toward the end of his ““Clvilization in America.”” In speaking of .this country, its present limitation and its future possibilities, he says: “Distinction and beauty are needs, and a civilization' is insuflicient where these | needs are mnot satisfied, faulty where they are who“wrote of that “stream of tendency, not.| thwarted,” He had 8 very just estimate of lLls own work. Inaletter to his mother he says: “My as an endeavor “to see *he object s in | joems representon the whole the main move- ment of mind of the last quarter of a century, and thus they will probably have their day as people become consclous to themselves of what that movement of mind is,and inter- ested in the literary productions which reflect it. It might be tairiy urged that I navé less poetical sentiment than Tennyson, and less intellectual yigor and abundance than Brown- ing; vet, beeause I have perhaps more of & fusion of the two than either of toem,and have more regularly applied that fusion to the main line of modern development, 1 am likely enough to have my turn, as they have had theirs.’! 2 Truly, when we regard-the increasing preva- lence of his views end of the philosophy which he taught, we are forced to:admit ‘that working With him is that “Time Spirit” for whose operations’ he himself had so greata respect. GRACE 8. MUSSER. AN EXIRA GOOD ONE | A_ROMANY OF THE SNOWS—By Gilbert Per . New York: Stone & Kimball. For sale by Williami Doxey, Palace Hotwl; pric $1 25. This can be recommendgd {o the reader with- out any hesitation.. Pt is clean as the white snow of the.far north, where its characters lived, and is writtesr with & coloring as warm es crimson. It is & collection of shortstories of happenings in lands whose cold has'made them an outer wilderness. * A brief description of one of these storfes will give some idea of what the book i 1k hree Commundments in the Vulgar Toneue” tells the sterv of a young.man in the serviee of the Hudson Bay Company, who offended the governor of the company.and iwas sent by him to take charge of ‘a lonely post & thousand miles from any- where, and there for & quarter of a censury “lived like 8 aog on the porch of the world.” This man Fawdor was thought to have splen- | did prospects of rising in the company’sser- | vice. Onesummer the governor brought®his | niece and nephew out to make a tour of the great lakes. The nephew is described as a | young man “who had a mind .for raillery and was now -and again guilty of some witty impertinence; but this was hard to bring home: to -him, for he could assume & fine cnildlike look when he pleased, confusing to his accpsers.” He was one who takes “pleasure in dropping netties more to see the weakness of human nature than from | malice.” The niece is described as *‘a girl who had & face that would be finer old than young.” Fawdor is intrusted to take charge of the expedition.” On the trip he has the misfortune to differ with the governor, who is & well-read man'and proud of his reading, about a quotation from Shakespeare. This piques the governor and leads to Fawdor's banishment to a far-off post in Labrador, where he is forgotten by thé tyrant. After twenty-five years the governor dies. Then camea letter from the niece, of Which a part is tous described by Fawdor: “Then came another thing so strange that it seems like the lsughter of the angels at us. ‘And, dear Mr. Fawdor, you were both wrong in. that quota- tion.’ She was right.”” Twenty-five years be- fore the worldly wise nephew of the .governor had told Fawddr: “I'd give a hundred editions thelie, but I'd read the text according tomy chief officer. The words of a King are always wise while his head ison.” * _MID SYLVAN SCENES. LOVE IN THE :BACKWOODS—By Langdon Elwyn Mitchell. “Harper & Bros. New York. rice 81 25. For sale by 4. M. hoberison, Post et,-Cily. This book cofitiins two stories, “Two Mor- mons From Muddety” and “Alfred’s Wife.” The scene is laid ‘in West Virginia. The first has been published in Harper's Magazine, and the second appeared in the Century under the name of “Lucinda’ o ag The first of these stories, to use a common colloguialis, is “rich.”” A gigantic back- woodsthan, who.is & widower with & weak digestion and ‘a sirong appetite, grows weary of" his .lonely life and decides to ride to a neighboring settiement and get him s wife., Hé “just reckoned he'd ride across and see if{ she looked the same.ss she did that day,” when years before-he had admired her-asa pretty cniid. The girl chosen, Delista, “‘could do most anything that was no use to ao. She looked {rail, but whipcord wasn’t in it.” After a month’s courtship the backwoodsman se- cured his prize and_carried her ©oms to nis log cabif. She was happy, for this was her dream of a happy.life, which .she had formed from reading ine life of Daniel roone and simi ar tales. by The first night at their cabin home Nic Barr, tie husband, asks his wife to cook some sup- per for them. “Of tourse I will,” she replied, “butIcan’t.” Now Nic Barr himself wag ‘“the @lumsiest creature in the world where victuals were concerned.” He taught her all he knew abou! the culinary arty and then she settled down to ruin his digestive apparatus as a reg- ular business. Nic could not eat her food ana began to get so hungry that he could feel the “ravifi’ in the back of his head.” He.was & kind man, however, “and had po mind that she should guess how empiy he was.” “If she tried her best to cuok for him he ‘certainly must try his best to eat what sne prepared,” but “be wishes to God his hens would lay.” Desperate hunger drives Nic to go get his dinners away from home. His wife misunder- stands his visits to another woman and jeal- ousy -and estrangement follow. Next come two Mormon saints to try to work on the wife’s unhlppln.en and induce her to go away. They get & most laughable and terrible panishment from Nic, which is deseribed in one of the Tichest scenes of the story. The end is & beautiful reconciliation be- tween husband and wife after Nic has rea- soned over the situation and remarked to himself, “I might have had Reuben’s wife come and lessoned her some.” “Why didn’t I forgive her when she asked?”’ “Wny didn’t I kiss her?” The other story, “Alfred's Wife,” tells how the wife lefi Alfred to live with another man. Alfred restrains his desire to kill the seducer by the consideration that the death would leave the woman destitute, as neither he nor her father would take her to his home again. Butwhen the scoundrel forsakes her Alfred fol- lows him up and shoots him through the heart. 5 DANGEROUSLY DOWERED. THE FATAL GIFT OF BEAUTY AND OTHER STORIES—By C. E Raimond. herbem 8. Stone & Co., Cnicago. Price $1 26. For sale by William Doxey, Faace Hotel, City. This little book contains about half a dozen very reasonabie short stories. It can be guar- anteed to drive away melancholy. The first tale in the collection, which gives its name to the book, is alone worth the price to those who like to laugh. It tellsof Mrs. Tours, a widow, who was a lady of shy demeanor and uncer- tain aspirates and jorty-six summers. She considers herself a second Helen of Troy as a disturber of masculine hearts. She was more honorable than Helen, however, and conse- quently imagined that she was driving men distracted with her beauty, so unreachably starlike. She keeps a lodging-house for single gentlemen, and her descriptions of how they all fall in love with her, and with what decor- ous prudence she behaves under the various exciting ordeals, are smile-makers of a rare sort. Her friends did not like her taking lodgers— “they would ‘ave 1t that the military com- promised me by their marked attentions.” She sends the poor men quite out of their senses with her sweet face, butshe comprehends they are not responsible tor what they rashiy do when thus bewildered by her beauty, and has a way of acting good-naturedly depressive to their ardor. As she expresses it, she “knew 'ow to guard her honor without ’arshness.’ One night she is trying to siip by Captain 0’Bally’s room to that of his rival, Mr. Cooper, “with the coffee-cup in one ’and and me shoes in the other, so that Mr. Cooper shouldn’t ‘ear.” But her stealthy steps are heard by the keen ears of jealovsy and a big row between the rivals resuits. She pacified them tempo- rarily, but that night “afier we'd all gone 10 bed they fought aduel down in the’all.” Nos body was killed, but says the distracting widow, “There would 'ave been, but I hurried down justyas I was—in a case like that you can't th nk of what you ’ave on—and there I was begging them not to bloodshed, in my nightgown, with embroidered ruffles ana pink felt slippers.” That calmed them; but “they 'ated each other after that.” Whoever would be made merry with an hour’s reading let him try this book, FULL Or LESSONS THE CITY OF REFUGE—By Sir Walter Be- sant. Frederick A. Stokes Company, New Yor< and London. Price $1 50. For saie by the Em- porium Sook Department. Here isanother good story from the prolific pen of Sir Walter Besant. It is well illustrated by F. S. Wilson. On the cover is the symbol of folded wings surmounted by a crown with the motto “Pax.” Gilbert, one of the charac- ters we are introduced 1o, has the singular power of making every woman who is not especially mean his friend in an exceedingfy short space of time. He was a man who coula in all serlousness make up his mind to kill a man iu order to give fréedom to a woman whom he has reverence for. ‘'When he meets his intended victim he is willing to give the man a fair chance for hislife and so they have an ordeal by cards. They lay a revolver be- fore them on the table and play cards for the possession of 1t. Whoever wins is to take the weapon and kill the other. Gilbert wins, but his heart forbids the murder, and he hands the pistol to his adversary. Gilbert’s lady friend is freed soon after by the suicide of her husband. Here is a picture of the woman which gives a sample of the author’s descriptive power: “A tall and handsome woman; something reginal in Ler appearance; & woman born for authority and high place. Her neck looked as if diamonds would grace it; her hair looked asif it wanted the gleam of a coronet; upon ner shoulders lay the queenly drapery of costly lace. In Tudor days they wouid have written poetry about the sunlight in her eyes ana the tangies of her hair and the blinding splendor of her face.” DONE IN UIALECT. ROBERT ERQUHART—By Gabriel Setoun. R.F. Fenne & Co.; price 1. New Y For sale by Wiiliam Doxey, Palace Hotel, Cit; This is snother of the many books written after the style of J. M. Barrie’s successful stories. Because the Ecottish diatect is so pleasing when Barrie makes his characters K Anw“ ) A \ufiu‘;pv o e i Ul ! A it I 1y I i ol MATTHEW ARNOLD. To the Literary Editor of the Call—DEAR STR: Iwould request the privilege of your columns to answer the charges of plagiarism brought against the young Japanese poei, Yone Noguchi, by the Rev. Jay Thomas Hud- son of Oakland. My claims to & hearing in the matter are fourfold: to-wit, as a friend of Mr. Noguchi, as a collaborator with Gelett Burgess in the editing and publishing of Mr. Noguchi’s poems, as a devout admirer of Poe upon whose poems the charges are based, and #s & contemner of plagiarism and plagiarists. 1 am moved o0 reply to the attack upon my friend Ly an appreciation of his ideas anc ideals which areboth elevated above the com- mon, aid hope to show that this is not an ex- ception to the rule that there are two sides to every question. Mr. Hudson cites & poem by Mr. Nogushi posating out parallelisms between it and “The Sleeper,” by Poe. The similarity is marked, the apperent plagierism undenisble, yet vlagiarism it s not, ad I think may be proved. There is nothing in the charges that Mr. Bur- gess, myself and others did notknow. When Mr. Noguchi’s poems were first given to the public by Mr. Burgess-in the Lark, I called Mr. Noguchi’s attention to the phrases he had evi- dently learned from reading Poe, and pointed out the inevitable misjudgment they would earn forhim in the eyes of critics. Although unaware of his indebtedness to Poe he readily acknowledgea the possibility of such similari- ties, which, however, he insisted should stand, since, as far as he was concerned, the poem ‘was complete, and the words used expressed to the full his thought, which was not Poe’s, but essentially his own. There are reasons why we should judge this young Japanese writer differently trom those who are born and bred 10 cur own tongue, and my defense of him is ‘ounded upon something more than the partiality of irfendship. I maintain that there 18 nothing in the charge and this disclaimer that may not be reconciled if one or two peculiar aspects of the ONE NOGUCHI, THE JAPANESE POET, IS : DEFENDED FROM A CHARGE OF PLAGIARISM. case are taken into account. Primarily the manner of Mr. Noguchi’s education should go far to establish this claim. His remarkablevo- cabulary has been acquired through wide reading of English poetry, which has been-to him a rich mine and from which he has taken words to utilize them with results that are often marvelous. But if he take gos- samer from Tennyson instead of from the dictionary, or surgeful trom Whitman instead of from Roget’s *‘Tnesaurus,” shali we accuse him of plagiarism? As he has daken single words so has he unwittingly appropriated col- locations of words and phrases which he fits in here and there to express his indiviaual thoughts, innocent of the fact that therein he is committing what, from the view-point of cold, narrow criticism, is a literary sin. His Mnocence has been his misfortune, for it can- not be expected that all will understand him as those well acquainted with him do, The phrases in the poem cited are undoubt- edly from Poe, and the poem was undoubtedly wrilten whnea they were fresh in his mind, but it was one of his earliest attempts put out be- fore he developed the strongly individual style that his later work evidences. -So well aware was he of its shoricomings that ne wished to withdraw it from the Philistine, but & correspondence extending over several months fajled to get for him the return of his manuseript, and the poem was finally pub- lished against his will. The discourtesy which he was subjected in the matter by Mr. Elbert Hubbard of the Philistine has since been ventilated in several Eastern papers. In later poems of Mr. Noguchi which have ap- pesred from time time in the Lark and have been quoted B8 vour columns, the author abundently demonstrates his ability to stand alone. and his collected writings under the, titie of “Seen and Unseen,” which are to be published shortly, wiil convince even Mr, Hudson of the strength and originality of his talent. I am, dear sir, very truly yours, PORTER GARNETT, T speak in it, the fashion is set for a perfect flood of imitators. Take a story which told in ordi- nary everyday English would interest nobody very much and change the most commonplace expressions about the weather into broad Scotch, and immediately it has 8 fascination. No doubt the profits of this method of story- making are very large, and so long as a real genius does something in this line occasion- ally to keep the fad going these profits will continue. LOVE AND WAR. THE SCARLET COAT—By Clinton Ross. Stone & Kimball, New York. Price $1 25. For sale by Willlam Doxey, Palace Hotel, City. This is a story of the American Revolution- ary War. It describes the siege and cepitula- tion of Yorktown when the British army marched out between the lines of French and American soldiers to the tune of the‘‘World Turned Upside Down.” The main interest in the story lies in the love affair and the adventures of Captain Kenneth. While on his way to Governor Jef- ferson bearing important dispaicnes from General de la Fayette hig horse gets lame in the darkness and rain and mud. Heseeks shelter in a neighboring Virginian mansion, where he finds himsel!f unexpectedly in the company of s scariet-coated young officer and his sister. They are both Virginians and both Tories. Soon afterward the British colonel Tarleton arrives and takes Kenneth prisoner. He escapes by climbing through the big old- fashioned chimney. Shortly afterward the Tory girl is captured and Kenneth volunteers to be her escort home. He falls in love with his fair enemy. They carry on very sactive verbal hostilities on this ana several other oc- casions, but in the end, when Washington eap- tures the British army, Captain Kenneth cap- tures the heart of the Tory girl and allends happily. VERY WORDY. LOST COUNTESS kALKA—By Richard Henry Savage. Rand, McNally & Co., Chicago snd New York, This is written in very stagy style—“the villain still pursued her” sort of staginess. There is such a profusion oi adjectives crowd- ing each other through the sentences that the mind gets almost dizzy with the swiri of them. Nearly every paragraph is wildly declamatory. On every page the exciamation points appear as thick as falling water drops on a rainy day. There is such a continuous attempt at being dramatic that the mind wearies of it. Any- where you open the book such exciting elo- quence as this can be found: *‘Onesudden suspicion, one single alarm, and the poor child’s tender body would be thrown out in fragments as carrion to their dogs! Else, de- graded, dishonored, she would be sent off tobe the sport of some brutal Pasha,such as the beastly Vali of Erzercum!” “His face as pale as marble Serge Soltykoff bore the senseless woman into the open door of the nearest lodge. Denton, quick-witted and alert, his senses tuned to the crash of bat- tle and the ’scapes of the field, had caught the startied efy, ‘My God! That man here! and he sprang quickly down the sculptured staircase 1n search of the tall intruder who had seemed to menace the Austrian beauty.” DEBT LEADS TO DISHONOR. THE UNJUST STEWARD—By Mrs. Oliphant, J. B Lippincott Company, Phiiade phia: price $1 25. For sale by Joseph A. Hotmann, 120 Sut- ter street, City. A Scoteh story, teaching that a well-meaning charac'er with many noble traits can be strangely mixed with frailty anddishonor. In this taie the minister owes a debt which he is tempted, while in sore straits, to let go unpaid by a worldly wise inactivity of his tongue ata time when breve and thorough honesty would have spoken out. This prevarication is compared to that of the unjust steward in the New Testament parabie, upon which the pastor has bestowed mtch re- flection. iis stricken conscience tries to con- sole itself with the thought that the sin of act- ually sitting down quickly and writing 80 when the debt was really 100 was not actually committed, but the similarity of the offense gradually forces itself upon his con- sciousness, and then he realizes what hell means. Speaking of the Calvinistic creed the author- ess says that the literary class holds itas the origin of all evil, but she has not found it to be 8o, “perhaps because dogmatic tenets hold, after all, but & small piace in human hearts, and the milk of human kindness flows inde- pendent of all the rules of theology.” MISS UNDER 1 ISTLETOR. A_TAME SURRE R—By Captain Charles King, U. & A. J. B. Lippincott Company, | hi- sdelphia: price 75 cents. For sale by Joséph A. Hotmann, Cliy. Here is another of the many good military stories by Captain King. It tells of the troublous times of the great Chicago strike and riot, but the title of the book has refer- ence not to the quick quelling of thatmob, but to the capture of girl’s heart. This cap- ture was not eflected speedily, nor was the heroine very tame that made the surrender at last. When this happened she was under the mistletoe and he said: “If it were only, Christ- mas time again 1'd claim the privilege of the mistletoe.” Her capitulation was couched in these terms: “Is it potent only at Christmas?"* One of the good things in the book is where the incident is described of the regular troops sternly repressing all temptation to use their bayonets or bullets on a disobedient and jeer- ing crowd, but nevertheless triumphantly conquering by getting the hose in readiness to cool off the crowd and clear the space with water. The splendid discipline of the regulars in the face of most exssperating insults is told in & way to excite our admiration for the men who guard property against mob violence, MUSICU'S POWER. A MATTER OF TEMPERAMENT-By Ed- ward Irenmeus Stevenson. American Pub. lishers’ Corporation, New York Price 81, This book deals with the probiem of the re- lation of music to morals. Love, music and the stage all take part in the production of great moral tragedy. The time is the middle of the nineteenth century. when the great suc- cess of Meyerbeer was having so much influ- ence on composers. Meyerbeer himself is a vart of the story. The book is a study of a grave {mpeachment of music, as also directly and indirectly against its exponents. There is no doubt about the good influences of music in the earth. Itrouses religious feeling sometimes where no words could do any benefit. Again, some kinds of it stir up high resolves to do arduous and dangerous dutles. But it seems thag there is a bad side to it as well. The claim is mude that there is music which with- out words excites the baser possibilities of the human heart. Also there is a sort of intoxica- tion in it which should be avoided as excess of the wine cup. The rousing of immoderate emotion resuits in weakness. Its powers for good and evil should be closely studied as a moral question by those who teach it and by those who move men “with eoncord of sweet sounds,” NO REPENTANCE WITHOUT RES. TITUTION. JAMES; OR VIRTUE REWARDED. Anony- mous. Stone & Kimball, New York. Price 150, LyFur sale by William Doxey, Palace Ho- The title of this book must be used in irony. It should otherwise be called “Rascality Re- warded,” for James, who is a consummate ri cal, ends his series of betrayals by getting a farm and the farmer’s daughter for a wife, witn the addition of the respect of his neigh- bors, and his “walk is considered the most edifying in the State of Illinois.” The virtu- ous wife of his former days of prosperous ras- cality gets the worst of the story. The story is rather commonplace, forcing upon the reader’s attention a lot of contempti- ble, petty peonle, who are not worth the know- ing. Tom Walton and his wife are exceptions, but there is not enough of them to d to meke a full offset to the weary, unbrilliant wick- edness of the others. The book’s main merit is the writer’s exceeding fluency. Some pages of itare worth the reading just for the sake of the great flow of language. If the author had known a betier story his abundance of words ‘wherewith to tell it might have made a combi- nation of considerable literary charm. ¢ Conan Doyle’s new novel, “Rodney Stone,” will be publishéd immeaiately by D. Appleton & Co. The Prince and Deau Brummei, the dandies of Brighton and the heroes of the prize-ring reappear in the pages of the stirring and fascinating romance. 21 BOOKS OF YULETIDE In the December Overland Rounsevelle Wildman devotes his “Sanctum Talk” to the present fad of forming societies ot ‘‘sons” and ““daughters” of the Revolution, the French and Indian wars and other wars. The leading article of the month is by Rev. W. Beiton, A rector of the Church of St.Mary the Virgin of San Francisco, who writes of his Te- cent explorations and discoveries on- the island of Vancouver under the caption of “Exploring the Northern Jungles.” Thearticle is the first oi a series and is illustrated from photographs by the author, which are the first ever taken. Edward Steptoe relates a thrilling and unwritten incigent in Utah’s history, of “How Brigham Young Was Ar- rested for Polygamy.”” * Charles E. Naylor con- tinues his powerful attacks on ‘Compulsory Pilotage in San Francisco;” accompanying the series are a valuable set of half-tone reproduc- tions of harbor views. W. J. Corbet, member of Parliament, concludes his remarkable ar- ticle on “England and Ireland” that has at- tracted so much attention among the Irish throughout -the country. Among other con- tributors are Dr. L. G. Yates on “Indian Pic- toglyphs,” Joaquin Miller, Verner Z. Reed and Batterman Lindsay, The artistic end of the *‘Overland” is taken in hand with pronounced success by Pierre N. Boeringer, who contrib- utes several noteworthy sketches to this issue. The make-up of the magazine is much im- proved, too. in the December issue of Lippincott's, the following are articles of interest: “The Whip- ping of Uncle Henry,” a tale of Georgia before the war, in that original and effective vein which 1s peculiar to Will N. Harben. Pguline Shackleford Colyar tells a Thanksgiving story, of “Two Old Boys.” “How Timmy Saved the Piece.” by Livingston B. Morse, records a re- markable event in theatrical annals of the humbler sort. The methods of “Shutting Out the Sca’” are set forth by George Ethelbert Walsh. D. C. Macdonald writes on “The Land of Taffy,” the other name of which is Wales. George J. Varney gives the history of “Our First Silver Mine,” and David Bruce Fitzgerald describes ““An old Virginia Fox Hunt.” ‘The Evolution of the Poster” is traced by Agnes Carr Sage from the beginnings of advertising, so far as known. Arthur Inkersley discusses “Anagrams.” Jean Wright bas a lively essay on “Flirtation as a Fine Art.” The poetry of the number 18 by, Elizabeth Crooks, Grace F. Pennypacker, Emma C. Dawd. and Arthur D. F. Randolph. There is said to be new biogrephical matter about Charles and Mary Lamb, as well as hitherto unpublished letters from the brother and sister, in & book which W. C. Hazlitt has sent to the press. The volume is to be entitled “‘The Lambs, Their Lives, Their Friends and Their Correspondents. Godey’s Magazine for December has an especial Christmas-time flavor. The irontis- piece is a reproduction of the splendid paint- ing of GRerardo della Notte, “The Adoration of the Shepherds,” a picture never before given in an American magazine. Following this is an illustrated series, *“The First Christ- mas,” by C. F. Lester, who builds his pictures upon the text of the Scriptures, “And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night, ete.,” a noble theme to which the artist has added the charm of his art with fine effect. To those who dwell upon the coming of the Christmastide with reverence these pictures will apveal very strongly. They certainly compose a fine collection gnd are worthy to be preserved. The Forum for December will contain a noteworthy symposium on “The Election—Its Lessons and Its Warnings.” The first paper in the group 1s contributed by the Horm. Andrew D, White, who, 1n a very valuable and suggestive article, sets forth some of “The Practical Lessons of the Recent Campaign.” Dr. White is followed by D. MacGregor Means, a well-known publicist of New York, who, under the title ““Will Government by the People Endure?” analyzes the causes of discontent which led to the recent crisis. Professor Gold- win Smith completes the trilogywith a paper entitled “The Brewing of the Storm,” in which he discusses the recent crisis from the point of view of an outsider. Mme. Virginie Demont-Breton, daughter of the celebrated French artist, Jules Breton, her- self an artist arid the wife of an artist, 1s the only woman painter since Rosa Bonheurto re- ceive the cross of the Legion of Honor. Mrs. Henry Bacon contributes a sketch of Mme. Demont-Breton to the Christmas Century under the title of “A Painter of Motherhood.” The article is accompanied by reproductions of a number of the artist’s noted pictures of child life. The publisheis of McClure’'s Magazine an- nounce & Christmas number of quite extra- ordinary quality, both in its reading matter and its pictures. Among the contributors will be Rudyard Kipling, Ian Maclaren, Harriet Prescott Spofford, Frank R. Stockton, Hamlin Garland, Henry Seton Merriman, Cyrus C. Adams of the New York Sun, and William Canton, aathor of “W. V. Her Book.” In the Christmas Century there will be hith- erto unpublished piciures by Meissonier, De- taille, Gerome, Munkacsy, Menzel, Seymour Haden, Domingo, Madrazo, the Leloirs, Rico, Dagnan-Bouveret, Rosa Bonheur and other great artists. These were drawn or painted in the album of Samuel P. Avery, and accompany an article by William A.'Coffin, entitled “Sou- venirs of a Veteran Collector.” Jacob A. Riis has for years been engaged In philanthropic work in the New York tene- ment-house districts, For the Christmas Cen- tury he written a paper on “Light in Dark Places,” showing the reforms that have been accomplished under recent legislation in clearing out the worst of the congested spots in New York. . Frank Leslie’s Popular Monthly is the first of the Christmas magazines to appear, and is in every respect a beautiful number. BOOKS FOR THE HOLIDAYS. Henry T. Coates & Co., Philadelphia, have'| an interesting list of juverfile books ready for the fall season. . They snnounce three new stories by Harry Castlemon, ‘‘The Mystery of Lost River Canyon,” “The Young Game Warden,” and “The Houseboat Boys.” Two new Stories by-| Horatio Alger Jr., “Frank Hunter’s Per!l” and.| “The Young Salesman,” and two new stories by Edward 8. Ellis, “Shod With Silence” agd «The Phantom of the River.” X No living authors have won boys’ hearts more completely nor held them so long ashas this trio of-Castiemon, Aiger and Ellis, and it is said that no juvenile books are more in demand at the libraries. Popularity is per- haps not & test of merit, but boys are ‘dis- criminating readers and are not easily de- ceived by books of an inferior order. We therefore conciude that these writers have qualities that make their works worth reading. The only genuine Chatterbox, containing & great variety of original stories, sketehes and poems for the young. All the illustrations contained in it are expressly designed for it bv the most eminent Euglish artists. This, the acknowledged king of all juvenile books publisbed in the world, both g3 to merit and amount of circulation,is fully up to its standard of excellence this year. In fact, it seems to grow better every year, and is eagerly looked forward to by tens of thousands of young people as the holiday sea- son approaches. It contains over 400 pages, and 200 original illustrations by great Eng- lish artists, and is not only & most interesting but a very instructive book, and its healthy moral tone has always been acknowledged. Six handsomely colored plates will be added to the volume this year. A. 8. Barnes & Co., 156 Fifth avenue, New Yeorx, publish for the holidays this year ““The Externa sof Modern New York,” by Mrs. Bur- ton Harrison (110 pages, small quarto, cloth, gllt top, one volume, price $3), a beautifull; illustrated book on fine paper with embossed cover. In it the author tells the story of the last fifth of & century by “thumbs: nail”s sketches of the various departments of thecity’s work, and by a brief summary of progress in social developmen:. They also publish a new edition of the “History of the City of New York,” by Mrs. Martha J. Lamb (three volumes, cloth, octavo, price $15), con- taining the chapter on “The Externals of * Modern New York,” by Mrs. Harrison. Other books suitable for the holidey: issued by A. S Barnes & Co., are Guerber's*‘Legends of the Rhine,” containing 40 full.page illustrations, a most interesting reminder of travels abroad or for the study of folklore. Price $2. ‘‘Crowns”’—the Crown of Gold; the Crown of Thorns ; the Grown of Life, and the Crown of Glory—with twenty-two Cartoon illustrations, by Blanche McManus. Price $§1. In the line.of tiction they publish “Rev. John Henry,” by Percival R. Benson, the story of a young minister who encountered some unlooked-for difficulties. Price 75 cents. “The New Minister,” by Kenneth Paul, the story of the lights and shadows of a first pas. toral charge. Price $1. “Looking Within,” by J. W. Roberts, the story of & young scientist Who skips over in a trance some of the years to come, and awakens in the year 2027 to a much more peaceful condition of things than exists to-day, or is promisea for the immediate fu- ture. Price $1. HAPPY CHILDREN—By Mrs. Ella Farman Pratt. New York: T. Y, Crowell& Co. Price 81 50. Mrs, Ella Farman Pratt is known to thou- sands of readers as the editor and creator of Wide Awake: She is now the editor of Baby- land. Noone hasa more sensitive apprecia- tion of the requirements of young children in the way of literature, snd the short storles which she has gathered into the beautiful book with the above happy title are exactly adapted to appeal to their imegination, to help them in overcoming the little faults of childhood, to inspire them with & love for all lovely things, Each story is illustratea with a full-page picture by W. A. McCullough, printed in col ors. Miss Cbriftmas, Peggy, Gretchen, Dorothy, Patty, Rosette, Esther and Little Hope, who are Mrs. Pratt’s dainty herdines, have further illustrations to their sayings and doingsin theform of exquisite vignette pene and-ink cuts which &iversify the beautifully printed pages. The binding is ‘artistic and at- tractive and the price of the volume consid- ering its merits is phenomenally low. As a Christmas token for a little girl noth. ing more excellent could be found. TOMMY-ANNE AND THE THREE HEARTS. By abel Osgood Wright. The slacmillan C ny, New York. Price $150. For sale by the mporium Book Department. This is a presty gift-book for the youngsters, consisting of a nice collection of short stories about birds and animals which talk entertain- ingly. The tales are told in such a way as to be instructive in natural history, and are fairly crowded with amusing illustrations. Here is some talk from Mr. Robin: *“I think in the beginning,” continued the Robin, piacidly, “the reason the House People liked me was. because I was somehow confused with my English. relative, Robin Redbreast, who is famous’in history for having so kindly fur- nished aleaf quilt to the poor Babes in tihp Wood, and who, later on, was the victim of the tragedy we are now celebrating. Now amy. cousin Robin Redbreast had the advantage of me in personal beauty, as his children have to this day, being smaller, sleeker, brighter in color, in shape more like the Bluebird.” AN ELEPHANT'S TRACE, AND OTHER STORIES—By M. E. M. Davis New York: Harper & Bros. ~ For sale by A.M. Roberison, Post street: price $1 50, These stories have seen the light before in various journals controlled by Messrs. Harper. Some are dialect tales, written in bright style; others possess a foreign flavor. Among these that entitled ‘At the corner of Absinthe and Anisette” iz distinctly the best. The remaining contents of the book are: “A Snipe Hunt,” “The Groveling of Jenny Trim- ble,” “The Song of the Opal,”? “At La Glori- euse,” “The Soul of Rose Dede,” “A Miracle,” “The Cloven Heart,” ‘A Heart Leaf from Stony Creek Bottom,” “A Bamboula,” “Mr. Benjamin Franklin Gish’s Ball,” ““The Center Figger,” “The Zark,” “The Love-Stranche.” TOM SAWYER ABROAD AND OTHER STORIES—By Mark Twain, New York: Harper & Bros. For sale In this City by A. M. Robertson, Post street; price $1 75. This forms the fifth volume of & new edition of Mark Twain’s works issued by Harper & Bros., mention of which has beiore been made in these columns. In the volume under review there appears for the first time in book form “Tom Sawyer, Detective,” this having only recently been published as a serial in Harper’s Magazine. We also notice reprints of several favorite sketches, “Punch, Brothers, Punch,” among the number. Like the other books in the series, “Tom Sawyer Abroad” is well bound, printed and lustrated. “The Seven Seas” is the title of Rudyard Kip- ling’s new volume of poems, which is pub- lished by D. Appleton & Co. Mr. Kipling’s new volume is one of special importance, in that it represents in an admirable anad coneclu- sive manner notonly the verse of the soldier’s life, but also the poetry of patriotism, of ad- venture, and of the ses, and of modern fleld, to be termed roughly the romance of applied science, which the autnor has made his NEW TO-DAY. IF YOU ARE IN DOUBT ‘What to purchase for the HOLIDAYS! Take a stroll throiigh our immense establish= ment, where we have onexh ibition an endless assortment of CUTLERY, PLATEDWARE, CROCKERY, i ONYX TABLES, PIANO LAMPS; TOYS, " DOLLS, 5 GAMES and FANGY GODDS of Every Description. PRICES ALWAYS THE LOWEST W 818820 MARKET ST. R The most certaln and sate Pain Remedy. Instantly gellaves and son k Stpeaif Cokds. Hoermeniom Sase ‘Throat, Bronc! ngestions and Inflammar tions. BUC per botile, Sold by Druggists