The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, October 17, 1897, Page 25

THE BOOK OF THE WEEK. .!r. Kipling’s * Captains Courageous. R. KIPLING'S latest book, “Captains Courageous,” is scarcely one that will challenge the admiration of th know and love the work of a :dmittedly first in the front rank of tory-tellers and poets of this genera- tion. pearance in the pages of a magazine, and it now comes to us in bound form from the press of the Century Company, New York. It is for sale in San Francisco by William Doxey, Palace Hotel *‘Captains Courageous’’ been her- alded far anda wide as Rud Kipling's first American novel, a somewhat gran- diose title for what is at best a mediocre work, apparently turned ou t a pot-boiler. The publisber’s description may deceive many into buying tl.e book in the velief that it affords pictures of life in the United States better than have been published so Disappointment is in store for the reader with hopes such as these, for if one will look on the titie page be will see the tale correctly captioned: “Captains Courageous; a Story of the G d Banks. The no different frc a by Mr. Kipl vthing beretofore writ- who has for the nonce ceased to elab te uron and advocate th imperialist policy of Great Britain. No rds of warning utters he to proud Al- sinst feel d by the pomp and majesty of ilee dgisplay. The mellifluous flow of nity popularly supposed 1o proceed irom Tommy Atkins’ mouth finds no echo pages of his latest work. It is a ale of the sea, having for its charac- orainary seamen who fish t of North America. Inter- woven with the thread of the story we tind a record of the conversion of one Harvey Cheyne, a type of American youth unfor- e 2common, introduced to us on board an Atlantic liner plying between pro st New York and Europe, and whose main | cceupation elaborate di appears to be that of giving juisitions on the amount of her’s fortune, which is counted in Master Cheyne endeavors f: the millions. 10 ape the manners of his elders as far as vossibe. He has traveled through the United States so often that, to use the words of one of his feilow-passengers, “he isn’t much better than a second- hand hotel clerk.” He smokes the seductive cigarette and on account of over-indulgence in order that he may caze upon the might waters of the deep with beneficial results to his stomach. A providential wind sweeps him overboard aand he is picked up by a passing fisherman’s boat, the “We're Here,”’ the crew of which have small respect for the youth born and bred For his part he adopts i;i1 manner of a millionaire, informing them that he has been 1n the habit of re- ceiving 00 per month pocket mone The statement is received a f an irresponsible lun old that he will have to take his chances in earning $1050 per month as supercargo. ose who | The story has already made its ap- | for profit as | 1 is based on a theme radically | ® | machine with the writing in p s of over-confidence | the weed goes aft in | be | Tneittieschooner was gamboling li around | er anchor among the silver-tipped waves. | | Backing with a start of affected surprise at the | sight of a sirained cable, she pounced on it | like a kitten. While the spray of her aescent | burst through the hawse-holes she would say: | “Well I'm sorry I can’t stay auy longer with | you. I'm going north,” and would slide off, | Lialting suddenly with & dramatic rattle of her rigging. “As 1 was just going'to cb\ervc:" | | she would begin as gravely as a drunken man addressing a lamp-post. The rest of her sen- tence (she acted her words in dumb show, of course) was lost in a fit of the fidgets, when | she behaved ltke a puppy chewing a string, | a clumsy womsn in a side saddle, & hen with | | her head cutoff, or a cow stung by a hornet, | exactly as the whims of the sea took her. “See her sayin’ her piece. She's Patrick ! enry naow,"” said Dan. he swung sideways on a roller and gesticu- lated with her jibboom trom port to starboard. “But—ez—fer—me, give me liberty—er give me—deatn.” { And, then, in the matter of what bhas aptly been termed ‘‘current slanguage,’”’ | | Mr. Kipling is able to furnish us with | much that is new. The man who doth besiride the earth, ejaculating remarkable colloguialisms as “you’re not-the only pebble on the beach,” or *you're not only sponge in the drugstore,” or “you're | not the only pyster in the stew,” will find | that these little pleasantries are mere | | platitudes compared to some which Mr. | Kipling employs in “Captains Cour- ageous.” In this his novel isdistinctly American, for in none other could we tind @ gem hike: “Oh, you are a high-grade | in sight. ; Tvpewriter firms might do worse than | copy in their next catalogues. | “Captains Courageouns’ on the whole is | adisappointment. It is not astrong piece of work, and in one part only does Mr. Kipling rise to his usual masterful man- ner. It is in the seventh chapter, where Jason Oiley is washed overboard with his son in a squall. Olley is picked up by the | | *“We're Here,” but - wishes, like David, | that he could have died instead of his boy | There is a sailor named Penn, whose en- tire family had been swept out by the | | Johnstown flood. He is hall-witted, but the catastrophe is so similar to that which befell Lis family that it sobers him. Fenn spoke; they could hear that it was to strangers. “I have prayed,” said he. “Our | people believe in prayer. I have praved for | the life of thisman’s son. Mine were drowned | before my eyes—she and my eldest and—the others. Shall a man be more wise than hi Maker? I prayed mever for tneir lives, but I have prayed tor this man’s son, and he will | | surely be sent to him.” | Salters looked pleadingly at Penn to see if | | he remembered. “How long have I been mad?”’ suddenly. His moutn was twitehing. “Pshaw, Penn. You weren’t never mad, Salters began, “only a little distracted like. “Isaw the hoyses strike the bridge before the fires broke out. I do not remember any more. How long ago is that?” “I can't stand it,” cried Dan, and Harvey whimpered in sympathy. bout five years,” said Disko, in a sha ice. “Then I have been a charge on some one for every day of thuttime. Who was the man?” Disko pointed to Salters. “Ye hain't—ye hain’t,” cried the sea-farmer, tw his hands together. “Ye've more'n | earned your keep twice told, &0’ there's money owin’ you, Penn, be ides ha’af o’ my quarter- share in the boat, which value re- H, [ | | | Penn asked - is yours fi g | 23 1 i : L EER usin a recent issue of the Windsor magszine, the Tepository of the manuscripts of some few of her novels. writings, on for her correspondance and the Miss Braddon has two distinet | | ordinary bustness of life, and the other for her | novels. This latter is a backward hand, smaller, neater and clearer than the other. The neatness of her manuscriptds an impor- tant point in Miss Braadon's eyes, and it makes her unhappy to produce an unsightly page. She makes very few corrections, but the speed at which she writes is considerable. She produces on an average three closely writ- ten pages of manuscript, thatis to ssy sbout fifteen hundred words, an hour. Miss Braddon works nowadays in the morn- for a constituional before lunch. first applied 1i s it was hex habit to write * sometimes without knowing what was to be When she nsly to novel writing RUDVARD KIPLING. School opens at once, and here is the way in which lessons in navigation are im- parted to the luckless landlubber: For an hour Long Jack waiked his prey up and down, teaching, as he said, “things at the | sea that ivry man must know, blina, dhrunk, or asleep.” ton schooner with a stump foremast, but Long Jack had a giftof expression. When he wished to draw Harvey’s attention to the pesk hal- yards he dug his knuckies into the back of the boy’s neck and kept him at gaze for halfa minute. He emphasized the difference be- tween fore end aft generally by rubbing Har- vey’s nose along a few feet of the boom, and the lead of eacn Tope was fixed in Harvey's mind by the end of the rope itsel. The captain of the boat Wy're Here is one Disko Troop, who 1s b¥at upon im- parting a few lessons in com mon-sense to Zouung man urgently in need of the same. Tis nature are never *mistook,” and he read- ily perceives that Master Cheyne must be taken well in hand at the be- ginning of the voyage. As a first step in that direction he adroitly knocks him down, 'to take some of the shore blood out ¢f him.” By tne pedagogically per- suasi§ © methods of a “bemmeridge” is the yO man taught to respect his eld- ers, so that when hs eventually reaches land he is considerably more of a decent citizen than be was w en he left it. Mg Kipling, it is not too much to say, has ¥ver yet writien a book without giv- ing us some extraordinarily fine pieces of original description. “Captains Cour- ageous” is no excepiion. Here iz one that is positively luminous, illustrating the movements of a vessel on the water: There is not much gear to a 70- | jedgments” on matters of human | “You are good men. ces. But—"' 3other av mercy,” whispered Long Jack, an’ he's been wid us all these trips! He's ican bewiiched.” | | Aschooner’s bell struck up alongside and a | | voice hailed through the fog: O, Disko. | { Heard nbaout the Jennie Cushman? | | “They nave found his s03,” cried Penn. | | “Stand you still and see the salvation of the Lord!” “Got Jason aboard here,” Disko answered, butnis voice quavered. “There—warn’t any one else?” “We've fund one, though. Run acrost him snarled up in & mess o’ lumber thet might ha' bin foc’sle. His head’s cut some.” “Who is he?” The We're Heres’ heart beats answered one another. “Guess it's young Olley,” the voice an- swered. Itis to be sincerely trusted that Mr. Kipling will give us little, if any, more work like that which forms the bulk of ““Captains Courageous,” and that he is not being draggzed by mercenary publi:hers into that vortex from which few authors have emerzed with credit to themselves or satisfaction to the reading public. A couple of novels less per annum from Mr. Kipling’s pen will obviate the necessity for remarks such as these in future no- tices of his work. Creative ability largely depends upon the proper meed of rest given to the brain, and he who disregards the warnings of nature can hardly expect todo himself justice. Emaxver Enzas. HOW MISS BRADDON WORKS. Ican see thatin your A fine Chippendaie cabinet 1n Miss Bra don’s house at Richmond is, Miss Dickens tells the end of her story. But gradualiy her method changed. She took to making “‘skele- tons” —arough outline of plot and characters— and to-day she makes extensive sketches be- fore she actually begins to work. Sometimes a plot has turned outso entirely refractory that it has had to be left severely alone; on | more than one occasion Miss Braddon bas found herself unable to finish a story, has put itaway for many months, and has then taken itup and found it work out smoothly and easily. Pernaps the most interesting, because the most unusual, feature in Miss Braddon's method lies in her occasional adoption of a piece of advice given her many yearsago by the first Lord Lytton. He advised her to at- tack her third volume after finishing the first, aua to bring 10 bear all possible thought and work upon the denouement, aiterward filling ih the middle and less dramatic part of her story, and thus avoiding the hurried manner and air of fatigue so often found in the tyro’ concluding chepters. This course Miss Brad. don has pursued, not invariably, but more than once or twice. A SARATOGA IDYL. AN OPEN-EYED CONSPIRACY —By W. D. Howells. New York; Harper & Bros. A capital story, told with the charm and humor one expects and finds in Mr. Howells’ books, and with some observations almost pro- found in their truth. It has coustant but seldom exuberant mirthfulness, the outcome of & faculty for viewing everything on its humorous side, which 1s the distinguishing trait of so many of our best American prose- writers. Our 0ld acquaintance, Basil March, and his very feminine wife Isabel, while stay- ing at one of ihe summer hotels in Saratog casually meet a yousg girl called Miss Gage. Along with 2 married couple of friends she is trylng to have a good time and failing con- spicuously, because, being people from s from 11 to 1 o’clock, and then she goes | traight off the reel.” | | the | brarian and the st | lishers who brought them to light. | Adams yieldea. small country town, they don’t know how to setabout it. Circumstances call the married couple away, and Mr. and Mrs. March out of the kindness of their hearts undertake to chaperone Miss Gage ana give her the enjo; ment for which she hoped and was not get- ting. Their subsequentembarrassmentsand final success are best told by Mr. Howells. Of course, & young man is introduced to at once complicate ana simplify matters, and he, like the other six characters in the book, is drawn with a life-like fidelity USEFUL FOR REFERENCE. A DICTIONARY OF By Uscar Fay Adams. Bostou and New York. N AUTHORS Mifiin & Co, AMERT nuscript has yet to win the publicity of jrint will derive but little consolation trom this book, but 1o | editor and the newspaper man, the L- ient of national literature it will prove invalucble. Within the limits of @ handsome and not over large volume Mr. Adams has collected the names of not tess than | 6000 American authors, living and Further than this he gives us, whenever the perticulars are obtainable, a brief biography of erch writer, ing his Dbirthplac career, list of works and the names of the pub- | Though the notices in ench case are neces- | sarily brief. a surprising number of details | have been filled in, and it is only in instances where the intormation is unattainable that we are left in doubt as 1o the age, or it may be the date, of death of the writer. Of course, in & compilation of this extensive character, ex- tending over nearly 450 closely printed pages, errors must occasioually ocecur, but Mr. Adams may claim to have furnished, 1f not an exhaustive, &t least a fairly inclusive list of American authors. In his preiace he ex- piains that the volume is the outgrowth of s “Handbook of American Authors,” which was published in 1884, all the features of the earlier work which met with public approval having been retained in this later and more extensive volume. In a few, and it certainly must have bzen & very few instances,some exceptionally modest author requested the | omission of his name and obligingly Mr. Yet, though he aoes not tell us s0, we imagine that his trouble was mainly in the other direction amd that he must have | been at infinit: pains to exclude the many | who would willingly bave had their names | enrolled on this national register of iiterary | fame. In orthographic matters Mr. Adams is evi- dently a purist, for, contrary to the recognized | practice in the United States, be has seen fit | toretain the “u” in such words as colour, | favour, etc., except where they occur in titles, | | in which case the spelling of the original has | | been followed. Ancther and still more marked | | establish & new class peculiarity of the compiler is his attempt to | ication for writers of | poetry. He discriminates between poets and | verse writers, explaining his reesons thus “To apply the name of poet (0 each and every writer of verse would have been manifestly unjust. The poets of a generation are not nu- | merous, but the yerse-makers are very many. | 1f the term poet be loosely applied it loses | significance, while to deny that name to many | a writer of excellent verse i3 10do him 1o in- | justice, but rather a zervice, as it is no dispar- agement to a private soldier not to be ad- | dressed as “Colonel.’”’ | Obviously the task of making an arbitrary | | | classification of this kind is extremely diffi cult, not to say delicate, and Mr. Adams hus | found it hard to iive up to his preface. Often | he dodges the question of an author’s claim to poetic laurels by using qualifying terms, such as “writer,” “litterateur,” ‘*journalist, etc. Thus, although Joaquin »iller is a “poet and prose writer,” Bret Harte is merely a “Caiifornian writer.” C. F. Adams, the author of “Leeale Yawcob | Strauss” ana other poems, is on the other | hand simply “a humorous verse-writer of Bos- | ton.” Whittier, Holmes, Emerson, Longfel- | low are, however, unhesitatingly classed as poets, but with regard to Walt Whitman Mr. Adams loses confiderce in his own judgment and assumes & non-committal attitude: A voet, regarding whose claim to the title much controversy has raged.” Norin dealing with | prose writers is Mr. Adams more lenient. As an example we quote his opinion of Julisn Hawthorne: “A novelist who has inherited much of his father's originality, but whose work 1s often careless and hasty in coustruc. tion and of ephemeral interest only.” THE ANTI-PHILISTINE, We have received from the publishers, Messrs. John and Horace Cowley of Granviile House, Arundel street, London, a copy of the fourth issue of the “Anti-Philistine,” which js “A Monthly Magezine and Review of Belles Lettres”; also “A Periodical of Protest.” Ip its general makeup the “‘Anti-Philistine” re. sembles Mr Elbert Hubbard's East Aurora publications, that s, typographically, Jts contents are even more vitriolic. Talk of iconoclism and iconoclasts! The book reviewer of the Anti-Philistine is a rec. ord-breaker in this particuiar line. He is a com. pound of Pnilistine, New York Sun and Chi. cago Chapbook. We have seen the uniucky author and aspiring poetaster burnt up before our eyes, but the climax of gibbeting by pub- lication is reached in the “Anti-Philistine.” | We note from iis pages that Mr. Hall Caine has “wantonly debauched our noble, flexible, virile English tongue™; that “for a decade he has been very successful in fooling the fifty thousand asinine bipeds who comprise the British book-buying pubhc.” Hard words these, my masters! The Messrs. Crowley are evidently desirous of placing the work of American writers prominently before English readers. In the | World. issues before us we notice wo by Ambrose Bierce, Gertrude Atherton and Walter Biack- burn Harte. If the ‘“‘Anti-Philistine’’ keeps up the pace at which it started. we may look for lively times in London’s literary circles. A READABLE LITTLE BOOK. FROM A GIRL'S POINT OF VIEW—By Lillan Fell. New York: Harper & Bros. Price $1 25. For sale in this city by A. M. Kobertson, Aoything coming from this author's pen is ore likely to deserve praise than censure. e Love Affairs of an O!d Maid.” “The Un- Side of Things” and “A Little Sister to the Wilderness” were all so meritorious, both for their healthiness of tone and their originality of style, that the reader can safely plunge into the new book and emerge tnereirom feeling healtnier in mind. *‘From a Girl's Point of View” consists of fourteen little essays dealing chiefly with men in their relations to women. Atter a careful perusal of them we have come to the conclusion that were all girls as sane as one expressing her views, a marked differ- ence would soon be noticeable in the average man. The writer's cpinion that women are what men want them to be is opex to discus- sion, for there are many of us who belfeve that a wise woman can do with & man just what she pleases. The | chapter on “Men as Lovers” is written with & purpose. It teaches that a woman wants mors than mere theater-tickets or valuable diamond rings, and that 2s & romantic streak . runs through every one of them, they expect more than indifferent wooing. The chapter on “The New Woman'” is, perhabs, the finest of the coilection, and it is to be regrettea that there are not more writers capable and willing to do the subject such ‘justice. The, little quotation with® which our author starts this chapter, and which reads ‘*You bave taught me to be in love with noble thoughis,” gives ter estimate of the truly new woman. These essays can be recommended to old and young slike, more particularly to “The Untrained Man Under Thirty-five,” who is honored with a chapter all to himself, and for whom, if we err not, the book was most considerately written. FOR LOVERS OF ROMANCE. THE ROMANCE OF DISCOVERY—B; Elliot tis. Boston: W. Price $1 50 This volume should become a popular contri. bution to American history. Itwill be ap- preciated not only by the boys and girls to whom it is dedicaied, but by older readers the country over. Ther: is an eiement of ro- Willlam A. Wide & Co. meance in the driest of historical facts, and to i tell history properly the romantic element must be recognized and due weight given to it. Tnis Mr. Griffis has done, and for this rea. son his work gains in charm while stinl re. maining reliable. In “The Komance of Dis- covery” there appears a just estimate of ex. actly the amount each European nation con. tributed 10 the work of discovering the New Mr. Griffis 1s a forceful writer, and has his data well in hand. The numerous illustra- tions are executed in the best style possible. FOR THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR. TACTICS AND MONITOR FOR KNIGHTS OF THE ORDEK OF THE TEMPLE—By Frank Wiliiam Sumner. San £rancisco. This volume is an authorized textbook on ariil regulations, laws, ceremontes, forms and instructions of the Knights Templar and was prepared by direction of the Grand Command- ery of that order. In it are set forth the Templar and military drill regulations neces- sary for ritualistic work and pablic parade. To this are added descriptions of uniforms, in- signia of rank, crosses, standards and banners of the ditferent orders of knighthood ana. in fact, everything that may be divulged. Nu- merous illustrations appear throughout the book, which is handsomely bound and should undoubtedly be owned by every Sir Knight 1n the State. A YARN FOR BOYS. MASTER SKYLARK, A STORY OF SHAKE- SPEARE'S TIME—By John rennett. New York: The Century Company. $1 50. In “Master Skylark” Mr. Bennett has told a stirring story of the days of Good Queen Bess of Engiand. Ayoungiad with a marvelous voice is lured away from home and taken to London by strolling players. The. boy at- tempts in vain to return home, but is kept elose prisoner by his capiors. Finally ne sings before Qaeen Elizabeth, who is the means of restoring him home to his parents with the aid of the great Shakespeare himself. Among the characters introduced are Ben Jonson, Cecll, Lord Burleigh and dozens of others known to boys the world over. The illustra- tions are well executed and cannot fail to give the reader & zood idea of the times and people depicted in the story. THE DEDICATION OF BOOKS. Antoine Furetiere, who wrote a Erench dic- tionary early in the eizhieenth century, de- clared that the first iventor of dedications to books must heve been a beggar. This was hardly true; for the author had, as a rule, something to offer for the patronage of the man of wealth, whose name appeared en- wreathed with garlands of rhetoric. The | Tatler defines the practice more justly in the following words: “In ancient times it was the custom [for authors] to address their works to some eminent for their merit to mankind, or particular patronage of the writers themselves, or knowledge in the matter of which they treated. Under these regards it wasa memo- rable honor to both parties, and a very agree- able record of their commerce with esch other.” The dedicating of books to patrons is s very ancient practice. Horace, Virgil, Cicero aud others practiced it, and the satirical Martial asks one of his books whom it would like to have for a patron. The dedication isa cloth that has allowed itself to be cutinto garments of all sizes and patterns. According to periods, to suthors, 1o patrons, to nations or to the demand of the book iiself, it has been variously long, short, simple, osten- tations, wise, foolisn, modest, ridiculous, humble, cringing, delicate, charming, stupid, vulgar, ingenious, pompous or graceful. One could almost aare (o write a character sketch of the ratron whose name appears above the author’s psnegyric; yetwe havea few examples of men whose vauity refused to Dbreathe the aromatic incense. Forexample, Tasso dedicated “Jerusalem Delivered” to the Duke of Ferrard, who ciassed him as a fool and sent him to a dungeon, and when Ariosto 1aid Orlando at the feet of Cardinal Oppolite’ d’Este, the latter rewarded him for his eulo- sistic dedication with: *“Where in the devil, Master Ludovico, did you pick up so much rubbish?” During the age of Anne almost everybady in England, except Pope and Swift, dedicated his book to Lord Halifax, who began life with literary ambitions and ended by being a patron. Compliments to him generally brought a substantial reward in money ora good office. Thomas Gordon wrote a satire, entitied “‘Dedication, to a Great Man Con- cerning Dedications,” in which he says: “I bave known an author praise an earl, for twenty pages together, though he knew noth- ing of him, bus that he had money tospare. He made him wise, just and religious, for no reason in the world but in hopes to find him charitable, and gave him & most bountiful heart, because he himself had a mostempty stomach.” During his life everybody dedicated to Car- dinal Richelieu, and Disraeli gives a good sample in his “Curiosities of Literature”: *Who has seen your face without being seized by those soitened terrors which made the prophets shudder when God showed the beams of his glory? But as he whom they dared not to approach in the burning bush and in the noise of thnnders appeared to them sometimes in the freshness of the zephyrs, so the softness of your sugust countenance dissi- pates at the same time and changes into dew the small vapors which cover its majesty.” Perhaps the greatest height to which the flattering dedication attains is1in these words addressed to Charles 11: You, sir, such blessings (0 the world dispenss, We scarce perceive the use of Providence. People began to protest against flattering dedications quite early. For instance Eras- mus, in his “Praise of Folly,” which he dedi- cates to Sir Thomas More, says: “What is done by several seemingly great and wise men, who with a new feshioned modesty employ some paltry orator or scribbling poet whom they bribe to flatter them with some high-flown characier that shall consist of mere lies and shams, and yet the person thus extolied shall bristle up and peacock-like spread the plumes, while the impudent parasite magni- fies the poor wreich to the skies and proposes him as complete pattern of all virtues, trom each ot which he is yetas far distant as heaven from hell. Whatisall this in the meanwhile but the tricking up a daw in stolen feathers, a laboring to change the blackamoor’s hue and the drawing on & pigmy’s frock over the shoulders of a giant ?” Thackeray dedicated his “Paris Sketch- book” toa tailor who had lent him money; Dickens wro'e a most graceful tribute to S.muel Rogers in “Master Humphrey’s | Cloek™ ; Sir William Napier said beautifully to the Duke of Wellington, in his “History o the Peninsular War,”” *This history I dedicate to your Grace, because I have served long enough under your command to feel why the soldiers of the Tenth Legion were attached to Caesar.” Among the best poetical dedications are Shelley’s, to Mary W. Sheliey, in ““The Re- volt of Islam™”: B:owning’s, to Elizabeth B. Browning, in “Men and Women,” and Ten- nyson’s inscription to her Majesty in “The Idylls of the King.” The Golden Age of Dedication lasted from the Restoration to the end of the seventsenth century. Pepys writes in his Diary that he went “in all haste to St. Paul's Churchyard to cause the title of my English Mare Clausum to be changed and the new titie dedication to the King to be put to it, because I am ashamed to have the other seen dedicated to the Com- monwealth.” Dryden embodied in his dedications the spirit of the flattering age. He was only equalea by Alphra Behn, who prefaced a ridic- ulous tribute to Nell Gwynne to a poem. Sterne laughs at the whole svsiem by leaving the page of “Tristram Shandy” blank, with the words: tor :old for fifty guineas.” the Connoisseur say “The hum- ble dedicator loads his great man with virtues totally foreign to his nature and disposition, which sit as awkwardly upon him as lace and embroidery upon & chimrey-sweeper: and so overwhelm him with the huge mass of learn- ing with which he graciously aubs him a scho'ar that he makes as ridiculous a figure as the ass in the Dunciad.” Pope and Dr. Johnson gave the deathblow to the old-fashioned aedication, although the latter wrole many pompous and fulsome ones to order. Boswell remarks: “What an ex- pense, sir, do you put us to in buying of books to which you have written prefaces or dedications.” Johnson: *Why, I have dedi- cated to the royal family all around.” Gold- smith: “Aund, perlaps, sir, not one sentence of wit in a whole dedication.” Johuson: *Perhaps not, »i WHERE ALL ENDS WELL. SUE OR( UTT—By Chariotie M. Vaile. Boston: W. A. Wilde & Co. Price 81 50. Since the publication of “The Orcutt Girls” alarge number of young readers have taken an interest in the doings of the two sisters, Bertha and Sue. In the volume before us the former story is continued in & way that cannot fail to win for the author many new friends. Sue, who is the central figure in the present romance, is & dreamy, studious and imagine- tive New Englana girl, with an appetite for | knowledge. She finally marries a man she preferable to devoting herself to a literary carcer. The story is heaithy in tone and is well told througho MUSIC FOR YOUNG FOLK. THREE OPERETTA~—By Henry C. Bunner. New York: Harper & Bros. This volume contains three dainty little operettas by the late Henry C. Bunner. The music is the work of Oscar Wetl, the many illustrations being done by C. D. Weldon and C. J. Taylor. The names of the operettas The Three Little Kittens of the Land ot Pie “The Seven Old Ladies of Lavender Town" ana “Bobby Shaftoe'’—are suggestive of the quaint humor ot the libretto. The score is simple and can easily be mastered by young musicians. A STORY FOR BOYS. MIDSHIPMAN JACK—By Charles Noiton Boston and Uhicage Co. puclishers. Cloth $1 25. This is the third volume of the “Fighting for the Flag” series, 1n which a young lad who enters the navy as a “first-cluss” boy becomes a midshipman and istewarded for gallantry in the cause of hiscountrs. In the volume be- fore us Jack has his share of fighting in the Gulf and has many adventures among the Confederates. Thestory isa capital one for boys and even older people can read it with enjoymeat. Strict regard is had to historical facis and the language used is excellent. The story is illustrated with five pictures by George Gibbs. BROWNING’S BEST POEMS. For the benefit of those who may desire some direcfion in resding Robert Browning this list of his pest fifty poems, the resultof a plebiscite in the Pail Mall Gazette, muy be of value. The poems in the order of their popu- larity are: “How They Bronght the Good News,” “Evelyn Hope,” **Abt Vogler,” “Saul,” “Rabbi Ben Ezra,” “The Lost Leader,” “The. Pled Piper of Hamelin,” *‘Prospice,” “Harve Riel,” “Andrea del Satro,” “The Last Ride To- gether,” “A Grammarian’s Fnneral,” “Home Thoughts From Abrosd,” “Ihe Boy and the Angel,” “Epilogue to Asolando, 'By the Fireside,” *“Fia Lippo Litpi,” «Cali. ban Upon Setebos,” “One Word More,” “Any Wife to Any Husband,” “An Epis- tle of Kershish,” “Incident of the French Camp,” ““The Guardian Angel,” Love Among the Ruins,’”” “Apparent Failure, A Forgive- ness,’”” *‘A Death iu the Desert,” “A Woman's Last Word,” “Count Gismond,” “In a Gon- ) Ledyard W. A. Wilde & | loves aud decides that the duties of a wife are | | | | dola,” “The Patriot,” “A Toccato of Galuppis, “My Last Duch The Worst of it, “Youthand Art,” “The Statve and the Bust,” “The Bishop Orders His Tomb,” “Cristin; “Clive,” “‘Confessions,” “Two in the Cam- pagna,” “Summum Bonum,” “After,” “Holy Cross Day,” “The Italian tn Eagland,” U a Villa, James Lee's Wite, oquy of the Spanish Cloister” and *Oid Pl tures in Florence.” This list shows the com- parative popularity of Browning's shorter poems, as none of his longer works are lne cluded. SPANISH SCRIPTURAL NAMES. Las Virgenes, the virgins. San Pedro. St. Peter. Laguna de la Merced, lake of mercy. San Pablo, St. Paul. Las Llagas, the wounds. Santa Ana, St. Ann. San Vincente, St. Vincent. San Francisquito, St. Francis (diminutive)* San Dieguito, St. James (diminutive). San Augustin, St. Augustine. San Lucita, St. Lues (diminutive). Canada de San Miguel, St. Michael’s ravine, Senta Maria, St. Mary. Vallecitos do San Marcos, St. Mark’s small valleys., Lomos del Espiritu Santo, hills of the Holy Ghost. Santa Ana y Quien Sabe, St. Ana and who knows. Jesus Marla, Jesus Mary. Las Cruces, the crosses. Bolsa de San Felipe, St. Phillip's pocket. Cabeza de Santa Rosa, head of Si. Rose. San Benito, Holy Blessed. Rio de Jesus Maria, Jesus Mary's river. San Pedro y Gallinas, Holy Peter and chicke ens. San Juan Bautista, St. John the Baptist. In the cases of the following descriptive names were used: Toro, bull. Las Posas, the wells. Cueros del Venado, deerskins. Punta de Pinos, pine point. Pescadero, the fishing place. Sausalito, the willow. Ojo del Coche, pig’s eye. Arroyo de las Nueces, nut creek, Valle Despolbiado, deserted valley, La Soledad, solitude. Salsipuedes, get out if thou canst. Los Almitos, the elms. Pasa de Bartolo Viejo, old Bartolo’s pass. Los Aromas, the odors. Laguna Seca, dry lake. Monte del Diablo, devil’s mountain, Cienega de las Ranas, frog swamp. Piedra Blanca, white stone. Laguna de las Calabasas, calabash lake, Los Gatos, the cats. Los Burros, the jackasses. Poso de los Ositos, little bears’ well. La Postora, pasturage grounds. Canede de la Brea, pitch ravine. Pajaro, bird. Arroyo Grande, large creek. San Luis Obispo, St. Luis the Bishop. El Paso de Robles, the pats of the oaks.—EL Barbareno. LITERARY NOTES AND NEWS. Mme. Sarah Grand has named her forthcom- ing novel, which Messrs. Appleton will Pub- lish in November, ‘‘The Beth Book.” There are enough unpublished poems by the late Lord Tennyson given in the Memoir by his son to cover thirty-six pages. With a lit- le padding, they would make quite & good- sized volume by themselves. Mr.Crawford’slatest novel in his Saracinesca sequence will soon be brought out by the Mac- millan Company, in two volumes. “Corleone’™ deals largely with the adventures of Don Orsino and his cousin, San Giacinto, among the mountains of Sictly, where they encounter the Mafia smong other perils. The sixth American Colonial Tract, pube lished by George P. Humphrey, Rochester, is entitled “Nova Britannia,” and is a reprint of a strange little pamphlet issued in London in the year 1609, setting forth the advantages of- fered by the colony of Virginia for fruit cul- ture, and calling on all good Britons to help further thatindustry. The pamphlet is well printed and sells fo cents a copy. A translation of the sonnets of Jose-Maria de Heredia, by Edward Robeson Taylor, will appear shortly from the press of William Doxey. Judging by the edvance sheets the transiation is all that can be desired, the au- thor being well up in the Spanish language and apoetof nomean ability himself. As s usual In works issued from The Sign of the Lark the typographical detail has been well considered. For the works of Washington Irving there appears (o be always a demand. New editions are constantly being published, ana it is probabie that Irving is better appreciated to- dey thun he ever was before. Hisis a fame that lasts. G. I. Putnam’s Sons have pre- pared a new edition of “:Astoria,” which is the most sumptuous edition of that book ever published. and have &iso got out a new “Knickerbocker edition” of Irving’s complete works in forty vo.ume Mr. Davis' “Soldiers of Fortune” has gone into its fiftieth thousand; so hus Mr. Allen’s “Choir Invisible”—two stories which have almost nothing in common, save the fact that they are tne work of young American writers. Mr. Davis was in Eungland when his book made its great success there and here. Mr, Allen is about to go abroad (if he has not slready started), and will find a cordial wel- come awaiting him, for the English press hus lauded his work as highiy as tne papers in this country. Dr. Weir Mitchell, whose novel “Hugh Wynre” proved to pe one of the most successe ful serials the Century has printed, has writ- ten another novel that wili appear in this magazineduring the coming year. Itiscal'ed “Tae Adventures of Francois: Foundling, Ad- venturer, Juggler, Fencing Master and Servant During the French Revolution.”” The scene of the story shifis from Paris to the prove inces and back again, following the wander- ings of the eccentric hero, who participates I many of the thrilling scenes of the revolution. Andre Castaigne, the French-American artist, will tllustrate the novel, Charles fcribner’s Sons will be the American publishers of the new edition of the Waverley Novels, published in England by Mr. Dent Clement K. Shorter, who wiil furaish the biographical introductions to the novels, has at his command, we leary, the unique collece tion of fcott materials accumulated by the late Dykes Campbell. The first two volumes will be ready on October 25. The edition 1s to be in forty-eight volumes, to which Herbert Ratlton willcontribute about forty topographie cal drawings, and there wiil also be & series of portraits of Sir Walter Scottand others who were intimately associated with him. The volumes are to be of pocket size, The memoirs of Rubiustein, just issued in Russia and Germany, contain the following remarks: “I am a Cnristian in the eyes of the Jews, a Jew {n the eyes of Christians; Ruasisns regard me asa German, the Germans say that Iam a Russian. Those who believe in classic music claim that I compose music for the future; the Waguerites call mea rencgade, Consequently 1 am nejther flesh nor fowl—a nondescript individual.” “An artist giving a concert should not demand an entrance fee, but should ask the public to pay, just befors leaving. as much as they like, Fromthe sum taken he would be able to judge what the pub- Iic think of him, and we would have less cone certs, anyhow.” Mr. Barrie is quoted as saying to s lecturer who wisbed to spesk in public of his experie ences in Nottingham on the staff of the Ex- press of that town: “Ithank you for your letter, and wish you had a better supject for your lecture. Idon’t know of any personal article about myself that is not imaginary and largely erroneous. But there is reaily nothing to te!l that would interest any one. Yes, I wasin Noitingham for a year and liked it well, though I was known to scarce any one, If you ever met an uncouth stranger wan- dering in the dark around the castle, ten or twelve years ago, his appearance unimpres- sive, & book in each pocket, ana his thoughts three hundred miles due north, it might have been the subject of your Jecture.” This re. calis to an English commentator another an- ecdote of Mr. Barric. “I am always at Thrums,”” he said, “except when the papers say lam.