promise, and is by no means to be treated flippantly as one of the May-flies of literature. Is to noiiselse boog a bas- Juil 2'yishooƐ Sandro bas eston ᏍᎩ George on lated by Katharine Prescott Wormley. ton: Roberts Brothers. figures than coat and gown. The pictures of the peasants in the flat farm lands about Nohant (that region so beloved by George Sand) and in the woods of the Bourbonnais have much of the sharp-cut vigor and grace of nude Bos- sculpture. People laugh and dance and sing with the joy and frankness of a primitive race; they love and hate with the naïveté of children, and we perceive the fragrance of the fresh wet earth, the austere beauty of forest colonnades, the sunlit glades, the luxuriance of swamp and thicket, the cruelties of thorn and pitfall which have injected the spirit they express into the souls of men and women. In such personages as Little Boulette, Joseph, Père Bastien, Tiennet, Thuence, and Hunil, we have mimic lives whose pulses beat with the richest red blood and bring into the magic light of fancy a realism more genuine than can be conjured out of the coarse photography of Zola and the whole rank school of modern naturalism. It is not our purpose to analyze the story of "The Bagpipers," but only to give some note of the quality of the work, a breath of an atmosphere scented with the balsam of fir and pine. Those who love nature in all its freshness and simplicity will not stray in their quest in the pages of this book of a story-teller who always undresses the doings of people to reveal what they are-an art in which she is only inferior to Balzac. PRINCE FORTUNATUS. A Novel. By William Black, author of "A Princess of Thule," "Macleod of Dare, etc. Illustrated. New York: Harper & Brothers. Unarvai adT Madame Dudevant's best genius found expression in pictures of rustic life and character. The delicacy of her perceptions were never so full and fresh as in dealing with those things the least formed and ordered by the artifices of civilization. She loved the country with the same amorous passion which in her youth exercised her ardent spirit in a different direction and gave such a ruddy blush to her pictures of sexual forces in men and women unbridled by social checks. George Sand became more healthy in her literary morals when her genius fully ripened, and those who shrink from the intensity and frankness of utterance with which she records her own early revolt from convention, find in her later books the sweetness and sanity of conception purified by the ferment which had once raged so violently. WysH -5 The Bagpipers' is a study of peasant life, and it contains abundance of dramatic incident, as would be inevitable in painting the ways and doings of hardy rustics free from the fears and restraints as well as the hypocrisy of city life, men and women wearing their hearts on the sleeve and as frank in their vices and passions as in their virtues. Yet the mere story, the collision of love and hate, the clash of greed and reckless impulse and fierce selfgratification striking with the clinic of swordblade against their opposites, do not so entrance the interest as the lovely visions of simple honor and chastity, the glimpses of nature moulding men and women to the quality of its own majesty or beauty. It is in the power of the inanimate to give a richer substance and fibre to the denizen of the farm or of the woods, and to shape creatures belonging essentially to their own habitat, that our author works with the skill of the master-potter. The clay assumes shapes which are vital, and we have modern fauns and dryads which come forth from myth into life. The novel before us is a gallery of men and women stripped of the garments of artifice, and the smock-frock and petticoat are made to drape more charming Given an artist or two (be it actor, singer, painter or whatnot), "swells" condescending to patronize Bohemia, a few dashes of city life, the Scotch Highlands, with plenty of deerstalking and salmon-fishing, or a yachting cruise-all these and similar elements, violently shaken together, kaleidoscope fashion, turn out a "Black" novel. There is a monotony in the personnel and scenery of Mr. Black's literary world which is sometimes slightly fatiguing. We meet the same people too often, the identical old Scotch gillie or Skye boatman is always to the fore, and we are sure of discovering the same dawdlers of fashion or artists under new aliases. Yet, like our own Howells, who devotes his precious skill to "carving cherrystones," the way he does it is delightful. Those who have read Black's previous stories can give the kaleidoscope a twist and not go far afield in guessing at the complexion of the present story. The hero is a genial and fashionable tenor singer who is the important man in a popular opera. He falls in love and out of it with tenor-like facility. He is coddled and petted by the swells, hunts and fishes in the Highlands, makes an unsuccessful attempt to marry a lady of rank, and at last falls back on common sense and happiness in concluding to reward the devotion of a pretty Italian girl who had studied with him at Naples under the same maestro. The material is as well worn as Leghorn rags, but it is manufactured into fabric on which his genins has written the charm we always associate with his work. Once again, it is the way he does it, my young friend, monsieur or mademoiselle, you who indulge so freely in blood and thunder, murder, seduction and infidelity, and the thousand and one infernal things that people sometimes do to give your works that abundance of condiment which the good cook uses sparely. It is the style which is the man, and makes the book. to vi quryotuig spruce ody to dre FOREIGN LITERARY NOTES. duration of the action, and the costume, gives a list of the music-using the New Shakespeare Society's list, etc.-and a good selection of notes and criticisms. THAN An influential committee, consisting of heads of houses, professors, sors and tutors, has invited the members of the International Congress of Orientalists to hold their next meeting at Oxford. Professor Max Müller has been asked to accept the presidency of the congress. The invitation has been accepted; and the standing committee has elected an intern tional 1 committee, in which each European country will be represented by one scholar. Among these representatives are Kuenen, Dillmann, Whitney, Bühler, Schefer, Guidi, Lieblein, Von Rosen, Landberg, Naville, Midhat Bey, etc. The congress is to take place in 1892.outh domilih a at tionga sastra next horlo to AN interesting discovery has been made in Manchester. Mr. J. E. Cornish, the wellknown bookseller, possesses an extensive stook of old books and MSS., including a collection from which there came, some years ago, the original score of Handel's “Messiah," one of the treasures of Buckingham Palace. Mr. Cornish's hope of finding other Handel autographs has not yet been realized; but Dr. Henry Watson, in examining the musical MSS., has come across several in the handwriting of Mozart. There are two of the concertos written in his childhood, and several numbers of Mithridate, the opera which came into being when the musician was at Milan in 1770. These Mozart autographs, like the Handel MSS. already mentioned, form part of the collection formerly owned by Mr. now Thomas Kerslake, of Bristol, to goisillos ent THE Academy pays the following compliment to the American Shakespearian scholar, Dr. Howard Furness: With all Shakespeare students, we welcome eagerly the new volume of Dr. H. Farness's Variorum edition the eighth, containing "As You Like It." He has done his s work at it with more zest, we think, than in any of his previous volumes. Rosa lind has charmed him. And, though he has fleeted his time carefully, instead of careless ly, he has lived in the golden world of the heroine's bright smiles; and he tells us it is allas I like it, and as you like it too. This book is a pleasant message from over sea over sea from 1996 one of our kin, an honored worker for many years ars past at our great poet, and fully sustains the American selector's and critic's reputation, May he live long to edit every play of Shake's in like style! The failure of the Gerspeare's mans to understand and appreciate Rosalind makes Dr. Furness specially insist on the Englishness of her, and of the whole play; burg. and he humorously proposes to students In the town library of Augsburg anthropology one of Shakespeare's comedies found a a MS. of the ** Liber (or, more correctly. the as supreme and final test in determining Lampas) Triginta Statuarum. Incompliessor Stölzle, nationality, at least as between the G Gallic, the ance with a suggestion of Professor Teutonic, and the Ab Anglo-Saxon races. But this MS., IS., which is more complete and more though George Sand's fascination by Jacques correct than the Moscow one, has been sent is unaccountable, urely the elder Théophile to the editors of the works of Giordano Bruno, Gautier's fascination by Rosalind, in Mad- Messrs. Tocco and Vitelli, and will be printed emoiselle de Maupin," would satisfy even Dr. in the volume containing the Inedita. Furness; ; but he has evidently never heard of it. For the sources of the plot, he has reprinted much of Gamelyn', and all Lodge's Rosalynde;" he gives a full sketch of George Sand's "Comme il vous plaira," discusses the remarkable discoveriesTM concerning Giordano Bruno o have been made by Dr. Remigius Stölzle, professor of professor of philosophy at Würz da to avoir visvol sud at Jeroзni edt saЛBIÍ buro he has Again, the university library of Erlangen, Professor Stölzle has discovered MSS. (Nos. 1215 and 1279) containing g commentaries, by Jordan by Jordanus Brunus Nolanus, upon Aristotelian works on physical and meteorological "Camaracensis'' science. From the word (in No. 1279) it appears that these notes were made in the Cambrai College at Paris-whether during the first or the second sojourn of Bruno at Puris it is at present impossible to decide. The commentaries are in the main short expositions of the Aristotelian books in question; but, in some cases, Bruno, thinking that Aristotle had not gone deeply enough into natural philosophy, advocates the views of Empedokles and Demokritos. No. 1279 is written by Hieronymus Besler, as Professor Stölzle can prove from letters and other writings of Besler which he has found at Erlangen. The writer is unknown of No. 1215. Both MSS are copies of what Bruno had composed. No. 1279 further contains Bruno's "Magia Physica" and his theses thereto. Finally, Professor Stölzle has found two letters of Besler, containing curious details, apparently referring to Bruno's farewell to the Academy of Helmstadt, his visit to Wolfenbüttel, his studies in medicine, and the printing of some work of his at Magdeburg. All these documents will be published by Messrs. Tocco and Vitelli. MR. WHISTLER has been persuaded to confound his enemies by publishing a portion of the pirated letters which he has successfully suppressed, in a volume which will immediately be issued in London and New York. It will contain a reprint of one or two early pamphlets of Mr. Whistler's, not taken into consideration by the editor of the spurious edition, and also of the "Ten o'Clock" lecture. It may, possibly, be also adorned by an etching from the graver of the artist. THE first part of "Luther's Werke für das Christliche Haus,' the publication of which we announced some time ago, has just appeared. It contains the "Reformatorische Schriften," The editors of the serial publication are, as we mentioned before, the well. known theologians Buchwald, Kawerau, Köstlin, Rade, and Schneider. L'ABBÉ BATIFFOL, of Paris, has just discovered in a manuscript in the National Library the Greek original of the apocryphal " Ascensio Isaiæ," which was only known from the Ethiopic version edited by Professor Dilmann. The Abbé proposes to publish this Greek text in one of the fasciculi of his "Studia Patris tica," the first of which contains the " Pray ers of Aseneth." DR. JOHANN BERNOULLI, of Bâle, was sent to Rome in the autumn of 1888 to make re searches in the Vatican Library for documents bearing upon the history of the city of Bâle. Bâle is the first of the Swiss cantons which has availed itself of the liberality with which the present Pope has opened the Vatican Library to historical students. The results of Dr. Bernoulli's labor will be found in the first volume of the new' Urkundenbuch." He found the documents expressly relating to Bâle to be fewer than he had expected; but as he examined and noted down as many as seven hundred, up to the pontificate of Clement IV., relating to Switzerland, and of great importance to the elucidation of the history of the Swiss Federation, he is particularly anxious that the Swiss Federal Council should appoint a commission to examine and report upon the Swiss documents in the Vatican. He states that they are rich in illustration of the morals of the clergy, the rise and progress of the mendicant orders, the conflict over celibacy, the legitimation of the children of priests, the history of local heresies, and the " literally countless endeavors for ecclesiastical reform. DR. F. W. ROTH, of Wiesbaden, announces his discovery of three remarkable treasures during his researches in a private collection : (1) four folio sheets, in a manuscript of the eleventh century, of the beginnings of Book XVIII, and Book XIX. of the history of T. Livius Patavinus;" (2) detached fragments of a fourteenth-century edition of the "Rolandslied," by the Pfaffen Kvonrad;" (3) fragments of a hitherto unknown edition by Gutenberg of the "Euriolus and Lucretia." It is either an Entville or Mainz impression in the types of the "Katholikon." Dr. Roth will give a full account of his finds in forthcoming numbers of two philological serials. THE Académie Française has awarded a prize of 400 francs (£16) to M. Félix Rabbe for his translation of Marlowe (Paris: Albert Savine). M. Rabbe is already known in England by his translation of Shelley. The former, like the latter, is entirely in prose, including prose versions of "Hero and Leander" and "The Passionate Pilgrim." But the work, which forms two volumes, at the moderate price of seven francs, is more than a translation. Besides a preface by M. Richepin, it also contains an introduction, eighty-eight pages in length, upon the life and works of Marlowe, in which M. Rabbe shows himself to be fully acquainted with the latest English literature on the subject; and the same may be seen in the numerous notes. Apart from a few par donable misprints, it is altogether a very scholarly book, worthy to be compared with M. James Darmesteter's popular sketch of Shakespeare in French. MR. ELLIOT STоOK has just issued the third volume of Book-Prices Current, covering the period from December, 1888 to November, 1889, though why the calendar year should not be adopted we fail to understand. It is pleasant to believe that compiler and publisher have received encouragement to continue their enterprise, which must become more and more valuable as years roll on. The sales here recorded were not of a very exceptional character. The most notable was that of the Perkins Library, famous for its quartos, which realized altogether £8222 for 2086 lots. It was here that Mr. Quaritch paid £415 for the first folio of Shakespeare, £225 for the quarto of “Henry IV., Part II.," £164 for the quarto of "Romeo and Juliet," and £130 for the quarto of "Othello." The same buyer gave £2000 for the Mentz Bible in Lord Hopetoun's sale, and £650, £470, £365, and £195 for four Caxtons belonging to the Duke of Buccleuch. The highest average of prices seems to have been reached by the second portion of the Earl of Crawfurd's library-£7734 for 1105 lots; but the sale which most clearly attested the modern phase of biblomania was that of Mr. J. M. Mackenzie, of Edinburgh, who had had his first editions of Dickens so carefully illustrated and bound that "Sketches by Boz" fetched £30, and "Pickwick" £22, while choice Cruikshanks realized even more. MR. W. S. LILLY's new book will consist of ten chapters entitled: The Crisis of Ethics, Materialistic Ethics, Evolutionary Ethics, National Ethics, The Ethics of Punishment, The Ethics of Politics, The Ethics of Journalism, The Ethics of Property, The Ethics of Marriage, and The Ethics of Art. The author has, indeed, drawn in the earlier part from four articles he has contributed to the Fortnightly, and a portion of the latter pages of the book has appeared in the United States; but the book was planned some considerable time ago as an organic whole. It is intended to treat a practical subject in a practical way, suited to intelligent men of the world. The volume is dedicated to Canon Creighton. THE lives of Giuseppe Martinengro, Nino Bixio, the Cairolis, and other makers of "New Italy," have been included in a work entitled "Italian Characters in the Epoch of the Unification," from the hands of the Countess Martinengro Cesaresco, published in England by Mr. Fisher Unwin, and at Milan by the Fratelli Tréves. MISCELLANY. A KING'S WIVES.-The King of Whydah's wives were objects of special care to himself and of enforced veneration to his people. The favorite ones lived in the palace with him; the others were accommodated in adjoining buildings. No men were employed in the royal household, and the king was served solely by his wives. When visitors came to see the king he received them alone, taking way. good care that his wives were out of sight. It was, indeed, held a sacrilege to so much as look at any of these royal spouses. When repairs, which could not be done by them, were needed in the palace, they migrated from the affected portion, and the plumbers and glaziers coming in had to keep on shouting out the whole time they were at work, in case any of the wives, not acquainted with the fact of their presence, should happen to pass that When the king's wives set out to work in the plantations, which they did every morning in batches of three to four hundred at a time, they used to cry "stand clear," as they went, and any men who were in their path prostrated themselves, and did not dare to raise their eyes till they had passed. On account of the awe in which his wives were held, the king found them a very useful and speedy executive to carry out his commands. If any person was found guilty of a crime the king sent a detachment of his wives round to the man's house in order to strip it of its goods and pull it down. This was usually very soon effected, for on the approach of the king's wives the man was unable to remain and de fend his property. One instance, however, is related by Bosman, in which a native was clever and bold enough to thwart this powerful authority. Hearing that he had been accused before the king, and that a company of the king's wives had been sent to wreck his house, he collected all the gunpowder he pos. sessed, and placing it in a heap just beneath his doorway, he awaited the arrival of his spoilers, firebrand in hand. When they ap. proached and cried in the usual formula, "Make way for the king's wives," he replied that he would not stir from the spot on which he stood, and that if they attempted to cross his threshold he would blow himself and all of them up together. This threat brought the good women to a halt, and after a consultation among themselves they determined to return to the king and inform him of the reception they had met. But their intended victim was too quick for them. Slipping round another way, he reached the king first, and cleared himself of the accusation so satisfactorily that the order against him was countermanded. This attempt, Bosman remarks, was a very bold one, requiring great nerve to carry it through successfully, considering that if it had failed a painful death would have been the punishment. The king's supply of wives was kept up to the full number by three of his chief captains, who had very little else to do than select and procure for him the most beautiful virgins. A fresh wife, after pres entation, lived with the king three or four days, after which she was relegated to the quarters occupied by the other wives, and became, practically, a nun for the rest of her life, with the unenviable privilege of working like a slave on the king's estate. Under these circumstances it is not a matter of surprise that the honor of a royal alliance was little coveted among maidens, some of whom had even been known to prefer a speedy death to the distinction. Bosman mentions the story of a young girl who, having been selected for this purpose by the captains, ran away, and, on being closely pursued, in her despair jumped down a well and was killed. "I leave her case," remarks the sage historian, "to be determined by the ladies." When each man was so well provided in respect of wives, it was but natural that his children should be proportionately numerous. Bosman had heard, in several cases, incredible numbers ascribed to one man; but, doubting the truth of the statements, he one day took aside a chief, on whose word he could rely, and asked him to tell him candidly how many children he himself possessed. This was evidently a tender point with the chief, for he seemed pained, and at length with a sigh, apparently of regret, he said: "I must confess that I have only seventy children now living, but I have had as many more who are dead.” A hundred and forty was evidently a small num. ber in his estimation, and quite unworthy of a captain of his rank, most of his compeers possessing at least two hundred. Indeed, he assured Bosman that there was one man who, with his sons and grandsons alone, rose up and defeated a powerful enemy who was com ing against the king. This family numbered two thousand men, besides women and children and many who had died.-Cornhill Magazine. WAR STRENGTH.-The great disparity that may exist between the war strength of a nation and its armed numbers is nowhere better shown than in this country, which boasts of a regular army, a reserve, a militia reserve, a militia, and a volunteer army. Together these five classes constitute Great Britain's sufficiently imposing array of armed numbers, while her European war strength is restricted to a portion only of the first, strengthened by the reserves, in which is absorbed the best part of the fourth class. The fifth need not be taken into account in calculating the country's war strength, for it can only be called into existence under conditions which would be more accurately described as war weakness. The difference, therefore, between Britain's armed numbers and strength is enormous. In 1868 the French army, as reorganized, figured on paper 1,200,000 men, but in July, 1870, the army fit to take the field at the outbreak of the Franco-German war reached hardly 400,000 soldiers scattered broadcast over the country, with the final result that the force available for despatch toward the Rhine mustered something under 270,000, or little more than onefifth of the war strength on paper. In Germany the discrepancy is far less accentuated. War strength there being just double peace strength, the doubling process is accomplished in a few hours by calling up the reserves, who not only exist on paper, but who actually are present in the body-troops who have every year since their service with the colors done their month, or fortnight, or week's drill, as the case may be, and whose clothing and complete equipment are ready waiting for them in the arsenal of the territorial district to which the men belong. The fusion, therefore, is immediate and complete. Behind this force, or rather level with it, the Landwehr springs into existence by the mere stroke of a pen, a militia, but a militia that formerly was a reserve, and still further back an active army. Behind this, again, comes the Landsturm, a former Landwehr, an earlier reserve, and a still earlier active army. Armed numbers and war strength thus run each other very closely indeed. It may be assumed in these days of intelligence departments no nation is frightened or even deceived by the paper organizations of its neighbors.—Broad Arrow. |