The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, June 20, 1897, Page 23

- 3 G THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, JUNE 20. 1897 23 LITERARY NEWS F NATURE AND LITERATURE. Itis now something over a hundred rears e Mme. de Stacl, voicing the feeling of her | ®ge toward nature, said that she would not Crossa room to look st the most beautifnl | View the world afforded. Since that day we have seen a great change in the literary taste of the world, but in no regard is this change | greater than in the attitude of fiction-writers towerd nature, and what we may call literss geography. Qur poets have always been granted a certain familisrity with nature and her haunis. Indeed, we have been rather in- d to leave th a clear field. At the ur fictionists have had but iistle use for nature, save to make her fit the conveniences | life. For them the flowers been merely handy pegs, The plants have grown and blossomed it call, regard.ess of clime or habitat. The birds have accom: blished habits, I diy singing he moontide, Never waitiug for the noontide, | the flowers that bloom in the spring” have not hesitated to prolong their season to mn, if thus they might serve the n. 10w to be noted in this direc- he most hopeful indications of the day for a real and permanent literature. It ct, be regarded as this genera- tion’s contribation to the literary iius of the century. Itis the true realism at seeks, uot to make nature subservient to the exigencies of the story-teller, but to bring the details of art into harmonic reiation with 1 sie reveals it. Not the least partof Thomas Hardy’s genius lies in the fidelity with which he keeps us close t0 nature. He hss done more than gi 1 and women. We have had them in fiction for nearly a cen- t Indeed, we have had them always, de- spite the fact that we have had, also, the pup- Ppetand the lay But Hardy, live for our s peopled the land omen in no way detracts tand reality of the land as a 2 Tardy's novels is as Row es Rotten r Forsyth street, or the Back Bay, or even North Beach at our own doors. From Downstaple Castle Royal, irom nster to Casterbridge we may trave s guide. and we know heath and down ond fen and upland as we know our because the master has r and lovingiy, sod re- aithf In fact, Hardy has ch more lovingly, thoush ully, than he bas peo- n themselves a re- moods and aspects and not she, plays the subservient eater tenderness, wl pon the human element, Robert son has also given us books th e resuit of Geep y witn nature { h a more genial ma . He shows u we learn, wi 1d play, where the deer 1 ds sbove the bracken, and where the b hrough the brush, and through ali thi know and love the human side of g life. 80, too, we have Blackmore 2ud Doyle, Barrie, Crockett and Hall Caine, udies of human life that are as 1 chronicles of that other life, everywhere about us, & running commentary upon and interpretation of our own life. On this continent the return to nature has been characterized more by a spiricof direct study thsn of indirect presentation rs have placed her in field and forest h bim, where tne eir Ou: the for - ¢ as background, and the result is a greater wealth in our iiter- ature, of ted and interesting, s almost any other country can mean of tific tre but we have w intime, of nature s. There | never anotner n Pond. Man # combina- | occur again, in this day of mmunication and elec- ity, bat Thozeau, beside Walden Pond, gave the clue that has lea a worthy foi- erican writers into the 1 through observe and chroaic nesr to nature's hea 15 of permanent de the Hudson Rive , Charles Conrad Abbott in New Jersey, Bradford Torrey in New Eagiand, John Muir in California, have ed to us a1d beautiful worlds beside doors, and their essays have unquesiton- bad a marked eff:ct upon oar more ction. Charles Ezbsrt Craddock in ntains, Cable in Louisiana, Gilbert Parker in the Canadian Provinces, Orne Jewett in New England, and a dozen others in the South and Westmight be g us not merely into human st continent, but as giving through their fiction, a certain loving liarity with nature’s signs and seasons in the fisldr, to e, and to bring us » literature that John Burroughs in the us, fas their various localities. But none of these has given us more than, Pernapsno writer of fiction, pure and simple, nes brought 1o usso much of, the subtle, pene- trating influence of “all out-doors™ as James Lane Allen has donme. His long-announced latest 1, ““The Choir In le,” juse s sued by the Macmillans, is & marked advance, s an interpretation of life and nature, over anytoing Mr. Allen has heretofore do Kentucky Cardinal,” by the same writer, has been aptly styled a porfect calendar of na- ture's year, with sigh'ts, sounds and fragrance for the senses, and a hint of deeper corresp ences for the soul, but this is even more of “The Choir Iavisible,” which is as a story of uature ss of life. the same tender human ve ad- true There is in it sympathy that characterized his beautiful story of Dolorosa,” but the insight in this latest work is deeper, the fellowship with nature broader and the human element § enurely subordinated to the feeling for the vivid, living, onward march of the inanimage | life amid which the human drama is played. Those who bave watched his work can feel no | surprise if, in his next book, Mr. Allen dis- cards altogether the unnacessary thread of narrative which he has heretofore carried with him on his wanderings emid natural scenes,and contents himseif with portraying for us the marvelous, silent drama which, without human accessories, he can yet make 50 full of passionate, vivid human sympaihy and interest. This literature of nature is perhaps the best thing in literary art that the end oi the cen- tary has brought us. We're 80 mad that we love First when we see them painted, thiogs we have passed Perhaps a hundred times, nor cared to see, Seys Fra Lippo Lippl, and this holds good in books as in pictures. They do, in giving us true pictures of nature, bring us 1nto ereater sympathy with life, and this s, as much as it is anything, the object of & permaneat liter- ature. ON INI[RNATIONAI._MARRIAGES. HIS FORTUNATE GRACE—By Gertrude Ath- erton. New York: D. Appieton & Co. ror sale in this City by Wiliam Doxey, Palace Ho.el Price 31 50. In her latest book Mrs. Atherton has taken up for treatment the time-worn and thread- bare question of ailiahces contracted becween American giris and impecunious foreign noble- men. No new facts are adduced to show why these marriages should ot take place, and tho suthor of #His Fortunaie Grace” can advance noarguments of & value greater than those 2dduced by the brand of American commonly called Yankee Doodle. Tbe novel under review can be called a con- tinuation of “Patience Sparhawk and Her Times”—of that portion dealing with New York society women. The same characters sreintroduced and reference is made 1o inci- dents narrated in the former book. What we have before said of Mrs, Atherto! work can be confirmed at this writing. Sbe is simply wasting valuable time in turning out stuff of this kind in an attempt at getting it read. Let us have rest from her “fashion- cties” (whatever these things may be) ana let her give us some more fiction of “The Pearls of Loreto” kind. We noie a curious solecism on pege 188, to | 858 gilt, and it was & book by liseli—useful in | fought fully | which the attention of Messrs. Appleton’s proofreader is respectfully cailed. You look terribly” is not English, ana could not by any manier of means be placed in the mouth of an educated American girl OF RARE MERIT. CEHEART, TRE g OLDIER-By J. C. ith, New York: D. Avpleton & Co. For in this city by William Doxey, Paiuce Paper, 50 cents. 1tis safe to commend to lovers of fiction thisstirring story, which has aenieved consid- | erable success in Engiand. The reader will find in it & rare trest even in these days of cleverbooks. Itisa romance of 1745, and the | Stuart struggle to regain ihe crown has fur- nished the author with a foundatioa on which be bas coustructed a story of private lifeso in- | teresting and so dramatically told that ome | finds it more attractive than slumber, and is odatingly changed ail | tempted 10 rob nature of the night's repose rather than part company with the rare chal | acter 1t 50 vividly presents. The old soldler, with Fierceheart, who has aistinetion for his King |8t Blenheim, Ramiilies sod Malplaguet in the days of his prime, has his lion heart roused by ths rebeilion of the Stu- | art followers, and sgain takes up arms for King aud country in his seventy-first year. He has lost two sons in batile, and now all his love and pride are lavished on his one re- maining boy. Tnis youth upholds t | cause of the Stuarts, joining the ranks of the Pretender’s {ollowers. This to 1 his father isa shamefully traitorous ac:, and | the shock of surprise when he learns the bit- ter truth and sees his hitherto beloved son kneel to kiss the hand of the Stuart is told in & way that thrills the reader with sympathy for both father and son. The mingled senti- ments in the old soldier’s breast of duty and love, his pride in serving the King {loyally, his love for his wife, whose dread of the dangers of war tc husband end son he is forced to oppose, his fondness { for the boy he steels himself to spurn asa traitor, are all so strongly brought out asto |give the story that universal 1interest which belongs to every novel presentiug | buman nature in a natural way. There is much in the book that will remind the | reader of Sterne in his most perfect work. It is a portrayal of character done by a pen with Sterne’s power purged of Sterne's vulgarity, Tne old soldier so fineiy drawn is only oneof a group of people who rouse enthu: asm for the richness of their characiers. The old parson, Bl with his rude word and kindly heart; the soldier’s boy, Tom, with his nobility temporarily obscured by & Jiber- tine life; the witty, proud and loving Mol who teaches Tom to detest his sins; the of Scotch servant of the soldier, who is al- lowed the privilege of freely expressing his opinions at every crisis—all are studies of humanity sure to fascinate those fortunate enough to read the story. The fluency and strengih of the writer'sstyle would have made & less absorbing narrative well worth readin, d there are In {t many scenes which, if we placed upon the stage, would insure & symp: thetic audience. BY OCTAVE THANET. THE MISSIONARY SHERIFF — By Octave Ihane. New York: Harper & Biothers For sale in this City by A. M. Hobertson, Fost stree’ Price 1 25. Amos Wickliff, the Sherif’, whose character forms the chief interest in tLie six short stories that are otherwise unconunected, is modestly represented as & plain men who tried to do his duty, but he used the opportunities of his office to far more good in the world than most officers would think it their duty toat'empt. The characier is weli drawn and arouses our admiration. One of the stories, “His Duty,” involves a question as to whatconstitutes true duty. Octave Thanet is in happy mood in these short tales. ABOUT BIRDS. BIRD LIFE—By Frank M. Chapman. New York: 1. Appleton & Co. For sale i/ this City by Wiltiam Doxey, Palace fotel. Price $1 75. Lovers of nature will find in this book a con- | densed guide to the study of our common birds which will render easy the task of be. coming famiiiar with the varieties of those most commoniy seen in this country The author is the assistant curaior of the depart- ment of ornithology of the Americen Museum of Naiural History, and has written several works on birds. There are seveaty-five f page plates and numerous other drawings in the book. A PRETTY PIRATE. THE BEAUTIFUL WHITE DEVIL—By Guy Boothby. New York: D. Appleion & Lo. For s.de in this City vy Wiliam Doxey, Paiace Hotel. Price 50 cents. This story carries the reader into the region | of wild improbability from the first chapter. The beautiful white devil is & mysterious being who owns a swift schooner, and, being in league with many pirates and well informed as {0 the shipments of money, she is enabled to steal miilions of treasure. Princes, sultans and miliionaires are her victims. She lures ihem by ber extraordinary charms into traps and then robs them LOVED BY TWO WOMEN, WHICH LOVED HIM BEST—By Bertha M. Clay. New York: Rand, McNally & Co. Price 25 cents Lord K beautiful girl while traveling in Portugal. A marriage ceremony which leads the girl to suppose she is Kilmeyne's wife turns out to be iilegal, and the bitter griel of the girl on discovering it is one of the strongest passages in the book. Lord Kilmeyne saves his estate by marrying & wealihy English woman. The puzzle of the story is which of these two women loved him best. ‘ A CONDENSATION. TRE STORY OF OLIVFR TWIST— Dickens. Condensed by Elia Boyce Kitk Moo York: b, App eton & Co._ £0r saie Ls this City by William Doxey. Paiace Hotel. Price 80 cents Admirable as are the novels of Charles | Dickens, they are yet 8o prolix that many | youthrul readers shriuk from the task of read- ing them through, and on this account these masterpieces of the ianguage often give piace to inferior fiction. Such cause of meglect is | obviated by this condensation of s famous | story. The book is one of a serles arranged for school and home reading. TALE OF OLD VENICE. THE DAGGER AND THE CROSS—By Joseph | 1)‘4“‘&5311. New York: Peter Fenelon Coller. This story of a city whose name suggests romance takes the reader at once into the | titick of & plot in which love, jealousy and | preparations for a duel are mingied. It is a | story of » time when men had to guard thelr honor and their loved omes by the skillful | use of & steel blade. ! A LOVE STORY. THE THIRD VIOLET — By Stephen Crane, New York: D. Appleton & 0. For sale in this City by Willlam Duxey, Palace Hotel. Price £1. Stephen Crane, whose forte is supposed to lie in describing war scenes, is not limited to that particular line of literature, sbundantly proves. It isa love story with nothing in it more belligerent than the merry war of lovers not sure of each other's affec- tion. It is original and enteriaining and s marvel as an example of what 8 good story can be made of the simplest materials. The people whose talk and actions meke up the jale are truo to everyday life, and without J’:lng or saying anything improbable or extraordinary they keep the reader’s interest wide awake to the end of the tale, SUMMER READING PAST AND PRESENT. The resder of to-asy whose knowledge of booKs goes back twenty years must often have been surprised With the change that has come over books intended for summer reading. This is true not only of their literary quality, but of the printing and bindicg. The change is quite as remarkatle (though in other ways) as the change which bas so completely trans. formed the Christmas books. Formerly th Cnristmas book was a book intended pure; Charles eyne bacomes infstuated with a | thisstory | | | but as literature a thing for & season . Itsold on its gorgeous binding and i's pictures, and these were oiten so unwieldy snd commonplace that the wonder ever since has been that a taste existed which could iol- erate, not 1o say admire, them, The change which bas transformed our su mer reading is of another sort, though none the less admirable. Back in ihe seventies the | summer book was in the main a book of fic- tion, printed usually in small type, with two columis to the page, and bound in tssteless paper covers—a book 10 read and then roli up | for maiiing to distent friends or throw into the westebasket. It had a long and, for the publisher, a profitable reign, and more than one famous writer's books were thu 10 the knowledge of readers. It had its su | cessors in other paper-covered books, many of them rellow in covers, and not a few might have been described as yeliow as 1o their con- tents—unwholesome, unprofitable things, more fit to be read and forgotten than read | and zemembered. | Newe: times bave brought us mewer and better books. The book in paper covers b | almost entirely disappeared, and it is an e |not 1o be regretted. In France its still prevails, for in France customs change less readily than here. It is buckram that has emancipated us. It is & great debt weowe to buckram. With iis coming into dominance the covers of ourleast expensive books nave taken on permanent qualities and artistic appearances. Indeed, ihe sri of de- signing book covers has grown intoone of the most jamiliar arts of ibe day, though it is one of the latest. The splendid proportions it has reached were well se forth at the recent Aldine Club exbidbition. It cannot be untrue that thousands of bocks have been sold in late years because their covers were pleasing. It has been a delight tosee them and to hold them. come intothelife of the literary editor, who now meets the small boy with his daily losd sway of newly arrived books with an expectancy of | pleasure that formerly had become rare; the | burdensome prospect of & new sccumulation | of books to be reviewed has been so much | lightened by the seuse of pleasure the new covers will g.ve. Iu the present season’s list of summer books beautiful covers In buckram and cloth, eagh the product of &u artisy’s in- vention, shine in their number and variety. But it is not alone in covers that change has come. In the contents of the summer books | there has been great advance. | more remarkuble than in what are known as outdoor books, and especially those which deat exclusively with nature. Botany has | been wonaertully popularized. Bird lLie bhas | been made known to thousands who never | hoped to understand it. The lore of fields and | forests, the populations of the air, the streams and the ponds, the things to see at roadsides, | have acquired new values snd new meanings | for us ail. | Toinquire 1ato causes would take us far. | But as there has been & vast movement of | pupulstion cityward, so that farms are de- | serted and couniry land values fall, s, has the city population developed & marked fond. | ness for country life during vart of the year. Thousands from the ciues now live for months | 1n the country, where only hundreds aid { twenty years ago. And with the joys of tuis | change has come interest in gardeas, in the flowers and trees of the forests, in birds of the airand {o fish Of the sireams. Again some. thing is owing to the bicycle and the wonder. ful enlightenment it has spread- over the | whole iand concerning rural neigiborhoods Iying near us. | Any list of summer books would of ne- cessity have fiction for iis greater pari, but | this 15 not 50 true now as it formecly was. The increase in books desling with nature has proportionately been even greater. Noveis themselves exhibit this growth. The charms of life out of doors are more and more dywelt upon in fiction. Of this we have a striking example in James Lane Alien’s “The Cnoir In- visible,” that beautitul story of steadfastness, characier and pain, wherein the story proper charms us not more completely than do the suthor’s splendid pictures of wild nature 1n g new land—pictures possibie only to the pen of arare mind and a choice spirit. Mr. Allen’s book spe.ks everywnere of profound love for the forest aud its denizens. Society and civilization may take hope from the jmproved quaiity of the summer books, The more nature is understood the berter mort of us become. “To the solid ground of nature trusts the mind that bulids for aye,” wrote one of the wisest lovers of things on the eartt’s surface that ever lived. That other nature ficiion holcs up to us, the nature we call human, is now revealed by thousands of hands, and never before by so many. It truly scems as 1 all the world were writing novels, A new charm hes | It is nowhere | 1 With bad ones plentiful enough, how good the best ones are! In them readers are in- structed, and their hearts are moved by thoughtful and poetic minds. We are taught | 10 know our fellows better and to understand curselves as we have notdone before. More- over, we are made (o see again and again how our own nature is like the pature of all men that the world s kin, and that smong wha ever classes we view if, elemental human s ture is essentially ome and the same product eveeywhere. THE QUEEN'S chwumou. In the June Century there 1s an article on “Queen Victoria's “Coronation Roll,’” written ¥ Florence Hayward. The authot takes the owing secount of the coronation from the Oficial Gazette: Queen then made the first of her offer- ings—an altar-cloth of geld pleced upon the aitar, and an ingot of gold weightng & pound placed in the oblation dish. This done, the regaiis was placed upon the sltsr, where they remained during the Iitany, the communion service and the sermon, all being preiiminary to the taking and signing cf the coronation oath. After signing the oath the Queen wa anointed, and the mentsl picture one hascof her at this moment is one of the most vivid But little more than a child either in years or stature, “she sat in St. Edward’s chair, which were covered with a cloth of goid, with a tald-stool in front of her placed in front of the altar. pall of gold over her head, and the sub-dean of Westminster took from the altar the am- pulis, containing the consecrated ofl, and, | pouring some of 1t into the anointing spoon, anointed the Queen on the hesd and hands in the form of a cross.” The great spurs, ba ing, like every other partof the regalia, their | own symbolism in the ceremonial, were then delivered to the Queen, who returned them to be laid upon the aitar. | Indeed, if one may translate the meaning of the whole ceremonial, it was briefly this: That there was an intimate connection be- tween the church as typified by the altar and the power Of government as typified by the regalia. But the symbolism of what next fol- | lowed is too involved for inymen: “The sword | of state was now delivered to the Lord Chan- | cellor, who gave Viscount Melbourne another | in exchange for 1t, which Lord Maibourne de- livered to the Archbishop. This the Arch- bishop, after placiug it on the altar, deliverea 10 the Queen, saying ‘Receive this kingly sword,” etc. Whereupon the Queen placed the sword on the altar and it was then re- deemed by Viscount Melbourne for 100 shil- lugs and carried by Lim for the rest of the ceremony.” The mantle which tbe Queen had worn was now repiaced by the impefial or Dalmatian | mantle of cloth of gold, and after the ring had been placed on the fourth finger of the right hand, the sub-dean brought from the | altar the two scepters. Meantime the Duke of Norfolk presented her Majesty with a glove for her right hand, embroidered with the Howsrd arms—the giove that figured in the petition—which the Queen put on; and then “the Archbishop placed the scepter with the cross in ber 1ight band, saying ‘Receive the royal scepter,’ and the scepter with the dove in her left hand shyiog ‘Receive the rod of equity,’ and the Duke of Norfolk supported her Mejests’s r ght arm and held the scepter as oceasion requirea.” And now came the actual moment of coro- nation. ‘The Archbishop, standing before the altar and having St. Edward’s crown, consecrated and blessed It, and attended by the bishops and sssisted by the archbisnops and sub-deans of Westminster put the crown on her Majesty’s hend. Then the people with loud shouts cried ‘God save the Queen. And immediately the peers and peeresses put on their coronets, the bishops their caps, the Deputy Garter King-oi-AFmS his crown, the trump- eters sounding, the crums beaung, and the town snd park guns firing by sig- nals” Is not that fine! And must not the benediction and the Te Deum which im. mediately followed have voiced in a way that cou.d not have beén otherwise expressed the emotions of that spiendid moment? FOR SPORTSMEN. W RW n don a0 New ok Lawen ACRARRN Lon This story of exciting sport hunting big game in the wilds of Norway is the fourtn of & series on similar sudjects by & man who has had long years of experience with rifie.gun snd rod. For sixteen years the author has regu- | the first to enconrage her son to adopt a lit- larly visited Northern Furope on hunting ex- | erary career. She was in this country with peditions, and he clatms that though some | him and alterward ived iu Sazon, | Four Knights of the Garter held | | have had 8 longer experience he yfelds prece- | dence to none in keemness for the sport. | Hunting the elk is the main feature of the | book, but salmon-fishing, trouting and small. | | geme shooting are treated incidentally. The | st ry is superbly {llustrated, and the incidents | { are ‘so enthusiastically told as to rouse re- | newed desire in all Nimrods for ihesport | where nerve and strategy are called into con- stant play. THE WAR OF 1812, “ A LOYAL TRAITOR — By James Barpes. | New York. Harper & Brothers. ror sale 1o this City by A. M Robertson, Fost sireet. Price #1 50. | A story told in the first person, purporting | 10 be the memoirs of a sailor, John Hurdiss | He s a child of the French nobiiity, and after | ihe death of his mother, runs away 1o sea, and | | the book 18 an aceount of his adventures. His | dislike of England is intensified by some ex- | periencesof the methods of her impressment | service. There isa love story connected with { & aering venture. | THE SOLON'S WIFE. the Legislater’s over, | mighty glad, | Fer the ninety days ot absence makes & wom ern kinder sed. | When & husband’s gone, wife is leit alone, | There are thoughts that ha'nt her slumber, make her lie awake and groan. Yes, I'm feelin’ pretty tickled wiih thet han” some sealskin sacque, But I feel heap s:ght better since y our paw g0t back. an’ I own I'm M'randy, an’ the | | | | | Ninety days in any eity haint no good fer any man ‘ Who is used to country quiet, an’ bellevel | | never can Thet yer paw hez bin ez careful he told us he would be When we druv down to the station, where he | went from you and me Fer these statesmen in the city sometimes strike a crooked track, | S0 I'm feelin’ more contented since yer paw | got back. There's so muci thet’s mean an’ wicked in the cities nowadays, Thet yer paw wouid find some trouble keepin, | out of Satan’s ways. | He was aiways 50 good-natured thet he never | could say “No,” | An’ if some temptation offered he'd be a’'most | sure 10 go. S0 he’s safer in the wheatfleld from the danger of attack, And’ my mind is restin’ easy since yer paw got back. FRANKLYN W. LEE {n “‘A Bundle of Rushes.” The Body to the Soul. T Pure spirit, pure and strangely beautiful, What body fledst thou? Where in all this dull, Unlovely world was there such loveliness | That thou couldst wear it for thy feshly dress? | Betore this hour thon must have looked on me; As men look on old friends I loox on thes. It cannot be. Far-wondering music blown From heavea thy voice is. In what garden grown { Wert thou, too lovely blossom? in what vale? Who wert thou ere the flushing cheek fell pale? The quick winds change, and change the fields and sky Look well; thou mayest know me by and by. IL What hate despatched thee out of hell To mock me? Shapeless, smoky mass, | Thou hideous mist, I curse thee: passi | Time was when I was welcome to thy breast; | 1 knew it as the wild bird knows her nest. | Thou liest! never on that fell The sight that took not instant blight, Pass, pass! Go, blot upoun God’s light! Ay, through the portal whence this hour I stole; { Open thy breast to me, take back thy soul. . JORN VANCE CHENEY in the Century. Mrs. Stevenson, mother of the late Robert Louis Stevenson, the novelist, who died at her residence in Edinburgh on May 14, of pneu- monia, was about 70 yearsof age. the was | words, | gladly deserted for London, | hair is'almost white, but his face has a good | | thereupon lifts up his voice and observes: | Daude: and others written good sequels?” | HERE AND THERE. | Miss Beatrice Harraden is reported to be still more or less an {nvalid, and to besojourn- ing at Lugerfte. Heine's tomb at Montmartre s said to be in a deplorably neglected condition. A rusty iron wreath is the only tribute of respact to be seen there. STEVIE CRANE CHATTERS. I never saw a bartie titl 1 came to Greece to write ones But I can say I've bad my fili— 1'd rather write thau fight one. A new edition of the “Seventeenth Century Studies” of Edmund Gosse calls to mind the critical tempest which raged about this good book upon its first 1ssue. Mr. Gosse has ap- parently repented of his editorial sins and amended them. They talk in England of the peculiar head- lmesin American newspapers. Here is one taken from the London Westminster Gezette: | “LICKING” LICK —AND CREATION. FIRST USE OF THE YERKES ThLESCOPE. This must be a joke: Somebody sdvertises | in an English paper for a man to write “‘a his- | tory of California from information to be | gathered from the reading-room of the British | Museum. The length of the publication is to be 400,000 words.” The remuneration of- fered for this task is £10, or sixpence per 1000 | The “Leafy Devon,” which even Herrlck | s good enough for Mr. Rudyard Kipling, says the Daily Chronicle. Despitea more than ususlly wet season he has tound the neighborhood of Tor- quay a sufficiently agreeable place of residence to decide him to return to it sgain next winter. The New Haven Evening Re the things found in books coming from the public library. They consisted of hairpins, hatpins, postal cards, letters, scissors, photo- graphs. There were sometimes keys. A real esta.e mortgage and an insurance policy have been found and any number of bills, receipted and unreceipted. A movement has been set on foot by the writers of the Isaac Pitman system of short- hand in the United States to suitably com- memorate the services of the fnventor of the system, who died recently. A general com- mittee of one hundred has been formed and subscriptions are solicited. These may be sent to the editor of the Phonographic World, New York Cfiy. The English Bookman has had another sym- posium, this time in order to ascertain the views of publishers as to the best season for the publication of a book. The reply of the | Macmillans is brief but conclusive, and we wonder it d'd not oceur to the editor himsell, *‘[a our opinion,” observe tho writers of the note, “it makes no difference, if a book be a good one, whether it is published in the spring or sutumn.” “Ouida” evidently has a somewhat hazy idea of the mysteries of smithing. In her erticle in this month’s Fortnightly Review on the “Twentieth Italian Parliament” she is regret- | ting the fatlure of Rudiniand others to have seized upon a fine opportunity for action which offered itself last spring, and she goes on: “The time for such action h now | passed ; the anvil is now cold—when it wes hot 10 one was sirong enough to lift the hammer | and strike.” Protably Ouida” was thinking of the 0ld saw about striking the iron while it ishot. The idea of heating an anvil is de- lightn Rumors of Mark Twain's precarious heslth | and impoverished = condition have again Teached this country from London. As a | matter of fact, Mr. Clemens 15 in good health sgain, and liviog in & pleasant apartment in Chelsea. His book has been finishea and he intends to spend the summer in Austria with | his family. On May 27 Mr. Clemens dined | with a few friends, including Mr. Nelson, | editcr of Harper's Weekiy, and the London correspondent of the Associated Press. “His color, his eyes are bright and his figure is up- right and alert. He talked entertaiuingly all the evening about his travels, his book and his experiences 1n London.” | | bolisuc-musical ROM ALL SOURCES. LITERARY NOTES. R. H. Russell, New York, has just published “The Kuave of Hearts, a Fourth of July Come- dietta,” by Albert Lee with illustrations by Edward Penfield. L.C. Puge & Co., Boston. have made ar- rangemen s with Richard Mansfield, the well- known actor, to publish his fitst beok, to be entitled “Blown Away.” “From the Five Rivers” is the title ofa sine gularly delightful book of Indian fiction by Mrs. F. A. Steel, author of “On the Face of the Waters.” This book is published by D. Apples ton & Co. Tne Henry Clay Publishing Company of New York announces “The Works of Henry Clay,” with an introduction by the Hon. Thomas B. Reed, Speaker of the House of Reprasentatives. Tha edition will consist of seven octavo voiumes Mr. Hamlin Garland’s “‘A Member of the Third House” has been transiated and pub- lished in “La Revus de Paris,” and has been & “Wayside Courtships,’ Mr. arland’s new book, 18 to be published shortly by Messrs. D. Appleton & Co. Meyer Bros. & Co, New York, will publish shortly an authorized edition of Marcel Pre- vost's “Letters of Women,” translated from the filty ‘thousand by A. Hornblow. They have made arrangements for the rights in an English transiation of a new series of “Letters of Women” by the same author to be issued next fall. F. A. Stokes Company has received word that Edward Rose, who dramatized “The Prisoner of Z:nd has been at work upon “The Heartof Princess Osra’’ for some time, and is to dramatize “Phroso” as well. It is likely thatone or both of these plays will be upon the boards in this country during the coming season. The exchenge of souls, which is the theme of Robert Hichens’ novel, “Flames,” is not a new theme. It is to be found in Theophile Gautier's ““Avatar” and in Robert McNish's ““Metempsychosis.”” Bulwer-Lytton used it1m A Strange Story,” Stevenson in ‘‘Thrawm Janet,” and Mr. Anstey in “The Statement of Stella Maberly.” *The Battle of Harlem Heights"'will be the subject of a monograph to be issued in the fall by the Macmillan Company for the Columbia University Press. This one American victory achieved during the Revolution within the limits of Greater New York stands out in re- lief against a list ot disasters, and as a bit of local history a full and accurate account of it will be welcome. Edward Arnold aunounces for immediate publication “The Chances of Death and Other Studies in Evolution” by Karl Pearson, suthor of “Ethics of Free Thought,” and “Memories of the Moaths,” papers on topics of rural life; by Sir Herbert Maxwell, editor of the Sportsman’s Library. Mr. Arnold has im- ported for the American market the biography of Lord Cromer, by H. D. Traill. Little, Brown & Co. of Boston will publish George E. R. Rivers’ historical romance, enti- tied “Captain Shays, & Populist of 178, and als0 & new illustrated edition of Francis Park- man’s Historles. This republieation will be & remarkably fine one, with 120 photograyures | 8na with illustrations made by Howard Pyle, B. W. Clinedinst, De Thulstrup, Decost Smith, Remington, De Myrbach and others. That gloomily cheerful writer, George Eger- ton, hasadded another volume to the series in which she has shown such a fondnass for sym- titles. Having published “Keynotes” and “Discords,” she now issues, | through John Lane, s boox ealled “Sympho- nies”” Whether this is to complete the set or uotisas yet unkmown. Perhaps the whole gamut of musical form is to be run through. The blography of Tennyson is all in print and Lord Tennyson is engaged in correcting the proofs. It makes two large volumes, each of snich will have & number of illustrations. As might be thought a good deal of the story of Tennyson's life has been told by means of hisown letters. The precise terms of the titla do not appear to have been decided upon yet, only the field of choice in such a matter is not very wide. The Baliles and Town Councilors of the Scottish capital caunot even in their most generous moments be accused of the vice of prodigality. While desirous of displaying thelr loyalty in the most approved fashion, they are fully alive to the desirability of avoiding any unnecessary banging of sax- pences. Bonfires are to be liton the various hills in and around the city on the occasion of the forthcoming celebration, and the follow- ing adyertisement has been published in the | local newspapers: | (CITY OF EDINBURGH. CELEBRATION OF THE SIX JESTY'S KEIo) The MAG. OF THE COMPLETION ETH YEAROF HER MA TES and COUNCIL will be glau to accept of OLD MATER{AL suit- able for Boufires ties willug 10 supply ihe same will_please communicate with the Hurgn Engincer, Pariiamen: Square. Clearty, though, on pleasure bent, Edin- burgh, like Mrs. Gilpin, has a frugal mind. The fact that Authony Hope has in prepara- tion & sequel to ““The Prisoner of Zenda” has not unnaturally provoked considerable head- shaking on two continents. One loyal critic “Go to. Have there not been good sequels be- fore? Have not Dumes and Lewls Carroli and This is & specious retort. Not one of the | uthors named ever proved that a sequel was | really s good thing and Daudet, who ceme | near to making his second Tartarin volume as | good as the first, went to pleces utterly when he wrote “Port Tarascon.” Besides we have not heard that Mr. Hope with-all his talent is either a Dumas or a Carroli or & Dandet. We sympathize with those bigoted and misguided persons who wish that “The Prisoner of Zenda” were to be left fn isolation. After heving seen how many of his followers have fatlea Mr. Hope ought to panse befors taking t0 imitation himse The Chap Book very properly comments, and sharply, on such narrow fault-finding as is expressed in the Freeman and the Chris- tian Commonwealth relative to Nansen's “‘Farthest North.,” The distastefui quotation reads: “In all the hundreds of pages of Farthest North’ God is shut out! Dr. Nansen i3 full of admiration of nature, and some of his descriptions of the scemery of the polar realm are majestic fn their diction and poetic in their style. Oaly onee is God alluded to. That is something, of course, better than abso- lute athelsm, but no Christian can read the book without a consciousness that the writer seems to be utteriy regardless of a Creator as wellas of a creation. Indeed there are eyi- dences that he does not really believe in o personal deity or in any spiritual immortal- ity, for he calls eternity the great Nirvana! Thieis just how a theosophist or a Buddhist | would write.” Evidently religion or faith in God is to be expressed, according to these cler- feal critics, in the style of the Salvation Army, with & cornet-a-piston and a big drum. ’‘Can a man make & living by writing fic- tion?”" I was asked the other day for perhaps the five thousandth time in the course of the last five years, says Lounger in the Critic. To this question there is but one reply: “It depends upon the msn. It depends also, I might add, somewhat tpon the definition of ‘aliving.” What one man might cail a liy- ing, another. would call absolute waut. What would satisfy Miss Wilkins, perhaps, would not satisfy Mr. Richard Harding Davis. Miss Wilkins lives a simple life in a quiet New Eag- 1and village, while Mr. Davis lives the luxur- ious life of aNewY.rk bachelor and man-about- town. What he would regard as the mere necessarfes of Iife Miss Wilking wouid prob- ably regard as the superfluities. To one per- son §3000 & year means a comfortable living; to another $10,000 per annum would be Dareiy enough to struggle along upon. There | are not mauy men, or women either, in this country, making even $3000 a year out of fiction. The person who makes $10,000 & year out of that branch of literary work may count himself fortunate. T do not balieve there are | the Years 1657-17 “Woodward's Book on Horticulture” is the title of a small volume of seventy-one pages by R. T. Woodward of Boston, giving the net re- sults of the author’s experience of forty-four years’ employment in the cuitivation of trees and fruits. His experience includes fruit- raising {n California as well as in the Easu States and much of his information is, there- fore, of value to our growers. For sale by the San Francisco News Comvany. Price, 25 ceats. Dodd, Mead & Co. bring out in a limited edi- tion of one hundred copies a curious book, in- teresting to all students of Americana. 1t is entitled “Some Correspondence Between the Governors end Treasurers of the New England Company in London and the Commissioners of the United Colonies in America, the Mis- sionaries ot the Company and Others, Bo tween ' The collection in. ciudes letters from John Eliot, “Apostle to the | North American Indians,” Increase Mather, Rev. Experience Mayhew, Cotton Mather and many other of our early celebrities. Messrs. Maynard, Merrili & Co., New York, have in press for immediate publicatior, “The Young American,” by Dr. Harry Pratt Judson, professor of political scieace in the University of Chicago. The took, which is intended for supplementary reading in schools and for gen- eral circulation, is written in a style that will interest young people, and contains a great abundance of patriotic literature of the best quality. Ina verysimple and interesting way | it presents a clear and satisfactory outiine ot the origin, nature and functions of eivil gove ernment. It will be handsomely illustrated. Most timely, indeed, is Colonel F. V. Greene's review of H. C. Thomson’s book on “The Outgoing Turk,” in the June Month. Colonel Greene is an authority on the intri- cate, troublesome and ever-changing Eastern question ana his article presents the history of that great problem (on which hinges the future of the world to a greater extent than most puople are aware) since the first quarier of this century. As to the future, he can only suggest aud surmise. The great powers them- selves seem to be blindly feeling their way. Frederick Saunders, the nonagenarian ex librarian of the Astor Library, contributes to the same number his reminiscences, covering a period of nearly forty years. R. F. Fenno & Co. will publish shortly an edition ia paper covers of W. Clark Russell's vopular movel, “What Cheer! They have secured Mr. Russell's mew storr, “The Ro- mance of & Midshipman,” which they will pub- lish probab.y not unti, Séptember or October. In July they will publish a detective siory by Juies Claretie, entitled “The Cr.me of the Boulevard.”” They have in preparstion a story entitled “The Man Who Was Good.” by Leone ard Merrick, of wnose “A Daughter of the FPhilistines” they sold two ed tions in sixty days; also, “The King’s Assegai,” an exciting account of Zulu warfare, by Bartram Miford, with illustrations by Stanley L. Wood. They have secured the American rights of & new story by Bertha Behrens (“M. Heimburg") called “Defiant Hear:s.” This will te first issued seriaily, and in book form In S:ptem~ ber. Not since Losting gathered his material for the **Pictorial Field Book of the Revolution,” which was published in 1855, has any book been issued which iliustrates the battlefieids of the American Revoiution. The Century Company is provosing to supply this want so far as boys and girls are concerncd ana will tssue in the autumn ““The Century Book of the American Revolution,” by Eibridge S. Brooks, an account of the trip of & party of boys and girls to all_the famous Revolutionary battie- nelds from Lexington to Yorktown, inciuding the Southern fields of Eutaw Springs, Guiliord Courthouse, Kings Mountain, ete. It will be richly illustrated with more than 200 pictates, many of them from photographs of the flelds, historie_houses, monuments, ete. Chauncey M. Depew has written an_introduction and the book will be Issued under the auspices of five writers of fiction in this couniry who make as mugh by their pens along, | the Empire State Society of the Sons of the Amerigan Revolution,