serves as a sufficient framework for the delineation of certain queer and amusing characters, and to give opportunity to not a little witty, epigrammatic, sometimes suggestive, and oftentimes absurd, dialogue, which, however, always fits well with the people who utter it. The leading motive of the story is found in the relations of two of the Pagans, a young woman who is studying modelling, supposed to be a widow, but really only separated from her husband, and her master, a sculptor. Of course these two fall in love with each other. The husband of madame turns up and declares that he has at last become really enamored of his wife, proposing that they shall then and there rectify their strained relations, which suggestion is promptly vetoed. The husband, who is a doctor, consoles himself by a little prussic acid. There is then no obstacle between the lovers. But the lady discovers that a certain ignorant Italian model-girl, who has the talent of a very shapely figure, had been in the old days in Rome the fiancée of her suitor, and had come to America to find him out and prove to him that he had parted from her under a gross misconception. She, rising immediately to the height of a sublime self-denial, compels her lover, after the exchange of certain preternaturally long and adhesive kisses, which she permits as a last concession to their mutual weakness, to marry the aforesaid Italian damsel, whereupon she herself departs for Italy to study art. Another minor element in the story and to our mind the brightest and most interesting is the defection of one of the Pagans, who had been the most brilliant and uncompromising of the railers against Philistinism, to the world again. This backsliding and the causes which lead to it are related with a good deal of unconscious humor and considerable subtlety of analysis. On the whole, the reader does not half blame him for returning to the flesh pots of Egypt, and cannot help suspecting that this descent from the high æsthetic pedestal into what may be metaphorically called the pig-sties of social order and established usage is about the most sensible thing done by any personage in the book. It is impossible to deny this novel the possession of a very distinct kind of cleverness, but we are afraid (though we shall be called Philistines for saying so) that the laxest of critics would never charge the story with being moral or having the slightest sympathy with that consensus of the world's best conclusions which we call social decorum and decency. But, to be sure, the modern canons of criticism forbid us to

Mr. Stevenson has given the world within a year or two several charming books, and in "Treasure Island he has contributed for the pleasure of young people and even of children of an older growth a very fascinating story, told with a freshness, a quaintness, and a go," which are simply irresistible. We would not give much for the lad who, once he settles down to read this narrative of buried treasure and ranting pirates of the true-blue school, and of stirring adventures by field and flood, which fairly make the hair stand on end, would permit himself to be torn from it till he had seen the business through. Of course we have all read the Pirate's Own Book" and innumerable other blood-curdling tales of buccaneering in boyhood.

The motive of the story in the beginning is furnished by the discovery, on the part of a boy, the son of an innkeeper in England, in the last century, of the whereabouts of a wonderful buried treasure, the revelation being made through a paper found in the chest of an old hard-drinking sailor man, who had died at the

tavern.

It is made known to the squire of the district, who proceeds to organize an expedition in search of the treasure. But the brotherpirates of the old wretch who had died got wind of the matter, and shipped on board. The imaginative reader, with this background for the romance, can now forecast a long series of the most thrilling adventures. We will not lessen his enjoyment by further describing the story of the book. The author has shown himself a great adept in character creation by his description of some of the pirates, particularly of Silver, the suave but bloodthirsty ringleader of the pirate gang, who hops about on his one leg with as much agility as the youngest of the crew. The author has shown his art by making us fascinated with his brutal buccaneers, desperately wicked as they are. Of course, the

story ends prosperously after a most exciting series of adventures.

PILGRIM SORROW. A CYCLE OF TALES. By (Carmen Sylva) Queen Elizabeth of Roumania. Translated by Helen Zimmern. New York: Henry Holt & Company.

The royal author of these allegorical stories, which, however, may properly be regarded as one and the same, is the daughter of a German princeling, who carried with her to her wild and romantic little kingdom in Eastern Europe a passionate love of poetry and nature, and a tender sympathy with distress and suffering, which speedily endeared her to her half-barbarian subjects. We find in this cycle of tales a warm love of nature and a tendency to idealize and embody it, a mental bias common to the German race, which has found vent in some of the most delightful and quaint features of their folk-lore. Carmen Sylva, as we will continue to call the author, aims in her congeries of stories to illustrate the mission of sorrow in purifying and redeeming the world, observing much the same method which Bunyan has im"" The mortalized in the "Pilgrim's Progress.' tender vein of melancholy, as of one who had had much disappointment and trouble in life and who feels irresistibly impelled to find expression for it in writing, is so far from displeasing that it quite makes one of the dominant charms of the book. Without it the atmosphere of the stories would lose its characteristic flavor. The translation appears to have been well done by Miss Zimmern.

OLD LADY MARY. A STORY OF THE SEEN AND UNSEEN. Boston: Roberts Brothers.

This remarkable ghost story, which our readers will remember as having appeared in the March number of THE ECLECTIC, is said to have been written by Mrs. Oliphant, and was originally published in Blackwood's Magazine. It may certainly be considered as one of the most unique and fascinating stories of its kind which has appeared, we were about to say, since Bulwer's "The House and the Brain." But, unlike the latter most ingenious produc⚫ tion, it does not excite, in the least, any sentiment of terror. On the other hand, it is full of gentle pathos, which touches the heart. The story is of an old lady of rank who, dying suddenly, entails on an orphan child, whom she had adopted, poverty and dependence, because she had, in a careless, freak, put her will where no one thought of looking for it. The spirit,

The

when it finds its place in the other world, suffers the deepest remorse for this neglect, and after much solicitation gains permission from the guardian of Hades to return to the earth that she might, if possible, communicate with the orphan and rectify the wrong. interest is painfully aroused in the desperate but unavailing attempts of the gentle spirit to perform her mission, her misery, and the vague consciousness of the living inmates of the house where she lingers of the presence of some mysterious being. The author has treated the matter with great art, and is certainly unique in her conception of a ghost story which revolves about the ghost as the central figure of interest, instead of human beings. We can most cordially praise this little book as one of the most noticeable efforts of its kind for many a long year.

ENGLISH POETESSES. A SERIES OF CRITICAL BIOGRAPHIES WITH ILLUSTRATIVE ExTRACTS. By Eric S. Robertson, M.D. New York: Cassell & Company.

Among her galaxy of poets, certainly no small or inglorious company, for no country, modern or ancient, can equal it, England numbers not a few woman-poets, who shine with a bright lustre. It is then well worthy the ambition of the appreciative critic to make a study of them, and collect such estimates where they may be read consecutively. Mr. Robertson has done this, and to make the work more thorough he has accompanied his text with such extracts as fairly illustrate the genius and characteristics of each poet. (En passant we may wonder that so clever and capable a man as the author shows himself to be uses such a vulgarism as poetesses' instead of womanpoets.) To cover the ground fully Mr. Robertson includes many women who are best known as prose writers, and only wrote occasional verses. This is, perhaps, as it should be, but it is, after all, a little misleading. For instance, we have Aphra Behn, Lady Mary Montagu, Mrs. Piozzi, Mrs. Opie, Mary Lamb, and others ranked in the poetic category, though the world knows them not in this way at all. The review is certainly thoroughly done, and we do not discover any woman, who has done even respectable occasional work in poetry, who has been omitted. The most space and attention, of course, are given to Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Then come in relative importance George Eliot, Felicia Hemans, Joanna Baillie, L. E. L., and Adelaide Procter. Mr. Robertson shows considerable critical acumen in his studies, and

the extracts given are very judiciously selected.

CREMATION AND OTHER Modes of SEPULTURE. By R. E. Williams, A.M. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Company.

Though the burning of the dead does not now arouse the interest in the public mind which was displayed some years ago, it seems to be certain that a belief in the desirability of such a method is slowly and surely gaining ground. The most bigoted opponents of cremation cannot very well dispute the fact that many strong arguments-religious, historical, and sanitary—can be adduced for this method of disposing of the dead. Certainly, on the latter side of the argument the argument is almost overwhelming. The main objection appears to be in custom and tradition, which have great force on the human mind. Mr. Williams has summed up the case in favor of incineration or cremation ably and fully, and it seems to us his conclusions are irresistible.

FOREIGN LITERARY NOTES.

selected as sculptor, and the total cost of the two busts is put at £300.

THE " Saturday Review" begins a review of "Gent Ouida's "Frescoes" with the following: wants a thinner and drier vintage, does he? We'll see how he likes this," says the waiter, in Leech's sketch, as he pumps water into a sherry decanter. Critics have always been telling Ouida that they liked a thinner and drier tap than she was in the habit of supplying. The Falernian vintages of Ouida's genius have been found too sweet and rich, though undoubtedly very "curious.” 'Strathmore" and "Under Two Flags," with many of Ouida's other samples, really seemed as if no amount of keeping would ever tone them down, and correct their luscious flavor and superabundant alcohol. In deference, perhaps, to numerous requests, Ouida, now presents us, in "Frescoes, etc.," with a beverage which is distinctly thinner and drier then Chandos" and Strathmore." But we fear reviewers will say that the dryness and thinness are only got by the waiter's expedient. The tap is not a new tap; it is only the old tap watered down. THE catalogue of the books and manuscripts

THE Volume of essays by George Eliot which Messrs. Blackwood announce for immediate publication was left by her ready corrected for the press. It will contain all her contributions to periodical literature that she was willing to have republished, together with some short essays and pages from her note-book that have not hitherto been printed. Among the reprinted articles will be "Worldliness and Otherworldliness," "German Wit," "Evangelical Teaching," "The Influence of Rationalism," and "Felix Holt's Address to Working Men."

A COMMITTEE has been formed to place a marble bust of the poet Gray in the hall of Pembroke College, Cambridge, and a bronze replica in the Fitzwilliam Museum. Among the members are Lord Tennyson, Lord Houghton, Prof. Sidney Colvin, Mr. Gosse, Mr. Austin Dobson, Mr. Alma Tadema, and Mr. Boughton, with a branch committee in America, where Gray's popularity has recently been shown by three illustrated editions of the "Elegy." Mr. Hamo Thornycroft has been

State Library of France, has been completed. The Bibliothèque Nationale is said to be the richest, as it is the most ancient library in the world. It was founded in the reign of Charles V., "the Sage" (1364-80), whose valet Gilles Mallet, drew up a list of the books in 1367. This catalogue is preserved under a glass cover as a priceless relic. It refers to a collection of 973 articles.

ure,

"IT was shown in this column a short time since," says the Pall Mall Gazette," that a celebrated line in one of Lord Tennyson's poems has undergone more than one change. The other evening at the dinner of the "Odd Volumes," where several Oriental authorities were assembled to hear Mr. Quaritch's lectit was mentioned by a Chinese scholar that when Lord Tennyson wrote "Locksley Hall" he could not have been aware of the exact nature of a Chinese cycle. 'Better," he exclaimed, "fifty years of Europe than a cycle of Cathay." It being granted that Cathay is poetical English for China, it was stated, with the complete concurrence of an eminent mandarin who was present, that a Chinese cycle consists, and has for some centuries consisted, of sixty years. By these cycles the lapse of time has been computed in

"

China during the whole of the present dynasty. Our poet, therefore, was less complimentary to Europe than he probably intended to be when he said that fifty years of Europe were only equal to sixty years of China. Perhaps he was not so far wrong after all."

As a result of the International Literary Congress at Berne last September, the President of the Swiss Confederation, M. Ruchonnet, has issued a circular inviting the European Governments to send representatives to a conference at which the establishment of an international code of literary copyright will be discussed. Our own Government has agreed to take part in this conference, and Lord Granville has informed Mr. Blanchard Jerrold, the Chairman of the English Committee of the International Literary Association, that Mr. Adams, her Majesty's Minister at Berne, is instructed to attend as British delegate, but that he is to be present in "a purely consultative capacity, and with no power to vote or to bind her Majesty's Government to accept any views on the copyright question which may be adopted by the conference."

MR. LABOUCHERE'S Truth gives these interesting figures, showing the earnings of a number of well-known writers. Disraeli, it is stated made by his pen £30,000; Byron, £23,000; Lord Macaulay received £20,000 on account of three fourths net profits for his history. Thiers and Lamartine received nearly £20,000 each for their respective histories. Thackeray is said not to have received £5000 for any of his novels. Sir Walter Scott was paid £110,ooo for eleven novels of three volumes each and nine volumes of "Tales of my Landlord." For one novel he received £10,000 and between November, 1825, and June, 1827, he received £26,000 for literary work. Bulwer, Lord Lytton, is said to have made £80,000 by his novels; Dickens, it has been computed ought to have been making £10,000 a year for the three years prior to the publication of "Nicholas Nickleby;" and Trollope in twenty years made £70,000. The following sums are said to have been paid for single works; Romola," George Eliot, £10,000; Waverley," Scott, £7000; Woodstock," Scott, £8000; "Life of Napoleon," Scott, £18,000; "Armadale," Wilkie Collins, £5000; Lallah Rookh," Thomas Moore, £3000; “History of Rome," Goldsmith, £300; History of Greece," Goldsmith £250: History of England," Goldsmith, £600; "Vicar of Wakefield," Goldsmith, £60; "Decline and Fall," Gibbor, £10,000;

16

"Lives of the Poets," Johnson, £300; "Rasselas," Johnson, £100.

THE sketch of the life and times of Sydney Smith which Mr. Stuart J. Reid is engaged upon should prove an unusually interesting book. Mr. Reid has had some valuable papers intrusted to him by members of the family of the great wit; and the Marquis of Lansdowne, Sir Michael Hicks-Beach, M.P., Mr. R. A. Kingiake, and others, have placed unpublished letters at his disposal, while several old friends of Sydney Smith's have enriched the volume with personal reminiscences. The book will also contain a portrait, from a miniature never before engraved, belonging to Miss Holland; a view of Combe Florey Rectory, with Sydney Smith in the foreground, drawn by his friend Mrs. Grote, during a visit in 1840; and other illustrations specially executed for the work. The book will be dedicated, by permission, to Mr. Ruskin. Why, we do not know. One can scarcely imagine two men who had less in common than the genial wit and the “cantankerous" critic.

It is said that Professor Kuenen's revision of his introduction to the Old Testament is to be translated from the Dutch by a well-known English clergyman. The chapter relating to the Pentateuch and Joshua were translated by the late Dr. Colenso.

MR. FROUDE is writing the preface to a new work on the massacre of Protestants in Ireland in 1641.

ture.

AN interesting account appears in the London World of the respective conversational powers of some of the lights of French literaAlexandre Dumas "has a tendency to stand in corners, with arms folded and nursing his chin between the thumb and the index of his right hand, while he relates some anecdote of himself or of his father, in a roughish, hoarse voice, and with a certain brusqueness of language." Augier is a nervous and incisive talker, "joyous, gaulois at times, and gifted with a communicative laugh." Renan is "urbane, unctuous, priestly, and unaffirmative." Alphonse Daudet retains the awkwardness of Bohemian antecedents; Sardou "will talk your head off a single word is sufficient to start him." Edmond de Goncourt talks "well and elegantly, and with great originality of language." Victor Hugo" used to be reputed an excellent talker." Barbey d'Aurevilly who is one of the lions of the Baronne de Poilly's salon, is a master in the art of causerie, both

as a narrator and in repartee. About "of course, is a capital talker." Zola is a 'boor in all respects; he never appears in a salon, and when by chance he visits one of his colleagues in naturalism he invariably talks about the circulation of his books and the scurvy thievery of those American publishers who translate his novels and never pay him a cent."

MR. CHARLES LEWES, it is said, writes that it is untrue that George Eliot left many notebooks behind her dealing with numerous subjects. When the biography upon which her husband, Mr. Cross, is now engaged, and the forthcoming volume of essays, are published, there will remain almost nothing unprinted.

MISCELLANY.

RINGS IN THE UNITED STATES.-Owing to several circumstances, rings," as they are called in the United States, or combinations of speculators, are able to effect much more at the other side of the Atlantic than they could in Europe. These rings are a kind of temporary partnership formed for a special purpose, and often only for a brief space of time. They by some means or other get command of large amounts of capital, and they operate upon the Stock Exchange for the purpose of getting control of great industrial undertakings. Their mode of operation is first to spread rumors disadvantageous to the property which they wish to get possession of. They usually fix upon some time when there exists partial or general commercial discredit; when a failure of the harvest, great floods, or excessive speculation have excited apprehensions. They then take advantage of this state of feeling to spread rumors disadvantageous to the property they wish to acquire. When the price of the property is sufficiently lowered, they are able to buy such an amount of shares, as practically enables them to vote themselves into the direction and management of the company. They follow up this step by bringing out glowing reports shortly afterward showing that their management has put an end to the unsatisfactory state of things that previously existed, and that the future of the company promises to be most brilliant. They succeed in this way after a time in running up the price of the shares to an extravagant height, when they take care to sell out and once more resort to the tactics which frighten shareholders and bring down prices. Thus they go on alternately buying and selling, and at each move increas

ANGLO-FRENCH AND

FRANCO-ENGLISH.— There is an ancient and musty merry jest about a City madam who spoke only the French habitually used in young ladies' schools, and who rendered into English the familiar ris de veau à la financière as "" a smile of the little cow in the manner of the female financier." But this is not more startling than many other things to be discovered by those who search the cook-books diligently. We remember a bill of fare in a far Western hotel in the United States in which all the familiar dishes were translated into unfamiliar French, the climax being reached when ginger-snaps, the sole dessert, appeared transmogrified as gateux de gingembre. Perhaps it is in revenge for repeated insults like this that the Parisians now advertise on the windows of the cafés on the boulevards that Boissons Américaines are sold within, the only American drink particularized being a certain Shery Gobbler," warranted to warm the heart of all vagrant American humorists who may chance to visit Paris while alive and in the flesh. In essence shery gobbler is but little more comic than rosbif, or than bifteck, which are recognized French forms of the roast beef of old England and of the beefsteak which plays second to it. Both rosbif and bifteck are accepted by Littré, who finds for the latter a sponsor as early and as eminent as Voltaire. And shery gobbler is not as comic as "cutlete" and "tartlete," which we detected day after day on the bill of fare of a Cunard steamer crossing from Liverpool to New York a few months ago. When we drew the attention of a fellow-traveller to the constant recurrence of the superfluouse at the end of cutlet and tartlet, the active and intelligent steward, who anticipated our slightest wants,