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We note nothing this year more thoroughly tasteful and dainty throughout than the "Kirriemuir Edition" of Mr. James M. Barrie's novel, "The Little Minister" (Lovell, Coryell & Co.), and the text, we need scarcely say, deserves its setting. The two little octavos with their lilac slip-covers, chaste lilac-and-gold bindings, red initial letters, and pliant hand-made paper, are gems of book-making. There are eight capital full-page etchings illustrative of the story, and an etched portrait of the author. The publishers also announce an édition de luxe, limited to 260 copies, signed and numbered.

The current volume of "The Magazine of Art" (Cassell) presents its usual attractive and varied array of wood-cut, process, and etched illustration, together with articles bearing more or less directly on art topics, paragraphs of current art news, authoritative reviews of art books, etc. The list of contributors is, as heretofore, an excellent one, embracing such names as Professor Baldwin Brown, Linda Villari, Mr. A. C. Swinburne, Mr. Theodore Child, Mr. Cosmo Monkhouse, Helen Zimmern, Mr. T. Woolner, etc., and these writers have treated their subjects concisely and not too technically. The volume makes an attractive gift-book of permanent value.

A chastely ornate and artistic volume is Lippincott's "Atlina," a poem by M. B. M. Toland, with full-page drawings, printed in photogravure on vellum, by Messrs. H. R. Bloomer, J. Alden Weir, F. S. Church, F. Dielman, and others, and various decorative designs in tints, by Mr. A. F. Jaccaci. Mrs. Toland has found a fruitful theme in Plato's "Atlantis," and her verses are graceful and not devoid of fancy. Some of the full-page plates, notably those by Messrs. Dielman, Church, and F. C. Jones, may be fairly pronounced exquisite, and the volume, in its delicate cover of white, pink, and gold, will not fail to catch the discriminating eye.

"Under Summer Skies" (C. L. Webster & Co.), by Clinton Scollard, is a collection of brief travelsketches from Egypt, Palestine, Italy, Bermuda, etc., acceptably illustrated with drawings by Margaret Landers Randolph. Mr. Scollard is known to the public as a writer of graceful verse, and his present excursion into prose will not disappoint his friends. The publishers have given the volume a pretty setting, the light-blue cover stamped in silver and gold having a pleasing effect.

We must dismiss the following Holiday publications with a few words,- in many cases far fewer than they deserve. The new edition (Lippincott) of "The Letters of Philip Dormer Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield" gives us Lord Mahon's text, and fills five beautifully-printed volumes. It meets all the requirements of a standard library edition, and, as such, will find a place in every large collection of books, as well, we trust, as in many collections of moderate size. Being only a reprint of the Mahon text, it does not, of course, include the Earl of

son.

Chesterfield's recently published letters to his godThe modern processes of photo-engraving have made it so easy a matter to illustrate a book now-a-days, that the stream of old favorites in new dresses flows steadily on, and shows no signs of exhaustion. So popular a work as Mr. Charles Dudley Warner's travels " In the Levant" (Houghton) was sure to be seized upon for illustration, and we now have it in two handsome volumes, with more than a score of full-page photogravures. There is also a new portrait of Mr. Warner. Another oldtime favorite is Mr. William Ware's "Zenobia " (Estes), to which the photogravures of the new edition, showing the ruins of Palmyra, add a very substantial interest. "The Life and Adventures of Peg Woffington" (Dodd), by Mr. J. Fitzgerald Molloy, is an attractive work in two volumes, with a great number of illustrations, most of them from old portraits. "Songs from the Operas" (Brentano) include three numbers, "Lohengrin," "Faust,” and Carmen." Each volume contains the words and music of one or two songs, with illustrations by Mr. Frank M. Gregory. · Onward, Christian Soldiers" and a "Magnificat" are two volumes published in the above series, and illustrated by the same artist. "Scenes from the Life of Christ (Putnam), edited by Miss Jessica Cone, has for text passages of Scripture, and for illustrations a great number of famous pictures by old and modern masters. In the series of "Literary Gems " (Putnam), published in vest-pocket volumes with flexible leather covers, we have such classics as Milton's "L'Allegro," Bryant's "Thanatopsis," Sheridan's "The Rivals," Gray's "Elegy," Irving's "Rip Van Winkle," and Thackeray's "Charity and Humor."

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MORE BOOKS FOR THE YOUNG.

A good story of adventure is sure of a hearty welcome from the boys, and perhaps no variety of book deserves it more fully. In this country especially, the acquisition of wealth is too often regarded as a sufficient ambition, and few boys are encouraged to risk poverty and privation. So it is through the imagination alone that they gain an outlook into a larger life, - a world where courage is the chief virtue, and danger is rather to be welcomed than feared. The love of excitement, which is a part of every boy's nature, is a saving grace, and should be guided and encouraged as a necessary part of his development. The ability to get away from himself, to accept a point of view distant from his own, to feel the emotions of another race and think their thoughts, is essential to a broad and healthy mind. Tales of other nations and stories founded on history and mythology, provided that they are well written, perform a distinct service for boys and girls, and inevitably, though unconsciously, widen their outlook upon life and nature, and intensify their sympathies. Several books of this kind have been issued for the Holidays this year, books that are natural and wholesome, and yet exciting enough to interest any youth. Two of them are written by Mr. G. A. Henty, who is one of the most vigorous of English writers for boys.

"Condemned as a Nihilist" (Scribner) relates the adventures of a boy of sixteen who is sent to Russia on business for his father, becomes intimate with Nihilist conspirators, though ignorant of their character, and is arrested with them and convicted of their crimes. His experiences as a prisoner in Russia and in Siberia are vividly described, and the picture of convict life is far less terrible than Kennan would lead one to expect, softened doubtless from the rigid truth. But the larger half of the book is concerned with Godfrey's escape from custody, his thrilling adventures through the northern summer and winter, his triumphant conquest of all difficulties, and final return to civilization. His loyalty, his high spirits, and his bravery in the midst of danger, make the book wholesome reading, and its style is straightforward and simple. "In Greek Waters" (Scribner) is even more instructive and elevating. With its pluck and dash and generous sacrifices, this story of the Grecian war for independence has action enough in it to inspire any boy with ambition. "The Thirsty Sword" (Scribner), by Mr. Robert Leighton, is a story of the Norse invasion of Scotland in the thirteenth century, filled with stirring incidents, with battle, murder, and perilous rescues. The conversations in stately archaic language are handled without affectation, and give a certain old-world charm to the book. "The Battle of New York" (Appleton) brings one nearer home, as Mr. William O. Stoddard has developed some of the dramatic possibilities latent in the time of the great war. An exciting tale is the result, one in which the sympathies are divided, as one brave boy works for the Union and another for the Confederacy. Dave's career as a spy seems too simple to be possible, but it is well-described. The style throughout is fresh and vigorous, and the book is well printed and bound, but badly illustrated.

Several other volumes are inspired by the events of the War, and no less than three of them relate to the greatest of its heroes. The most ambitious of these is the "Life of Abraham Lincoln " (Harper) by Mr. Charles Carleton Coffin, who has written many valuable books for boys. The present volume contains the inspiring story of Lincoln's life, told in a varied and rather jerky style, but living and picturesque. Lincoln's figure alone is drawn, and the presentment is not unbiased, nor is it as stirring and many-sided as the man. But the story will serve to enlighten and entertain many patriotic boys. It is well and profusely illustrated. "The Children's Life of Abraham Lincoln" (McClurg), by M. Louise Putnam, is written in a simpler and more straightforward style and appeals more directly to a child's sympathies. It is clear and, except in regard to Lincoln's infancy, concise. The writer wisely includes many extracts from the President's speeches and State papers, in the belief that the young also can understand and appreciate them. "In the Boyhood of Lincoln " (Appleton), by Hezekiah Butterworth, combines history, tradition, and fiction in an inextricable mass. Black Hawk and some brave relentless Indians are introduced to give zest to a recital of possible events in Lincoln's school-life, and much is made of the character of the boy's father. The book is conversational and written chiefly in dialect. "Tom Clifton" (Crowell), by Mr. Warren Lee Goss, also relates to the War, and especially to the Western boys in Grant and Sherman's army. Tom's experience in moving from the East to a Western wilderness is well described, and followed by his more dangerous adventures in the army. It is in

teresting reading, and boys cannot be told too often the heroic story of those exciting years.

In the present scramble to enlighten the world in regard to Columbus and his discoveries, the children are fortunately not forgotten. Elizabeth Eggleston Seelye has written "The Story of Columbus" (Appleton) with admirable clearness and discretion. It is a fascinating narrative, rich in the picturesque situations that appeal to children old and young. The picture of the discoverer himself is attractive without being unfairly flattering; and one gains from the book a fair idea of the difficulties that he was obliged to meet and conquer. The book is well printed, and charmingly illustrated by Allegra Eggleston with drawings that are full of character and artistic feeling. The compilers are daughters of Edward Eggleston, who provides the book with a good introduction.

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Several other historical and semi-historical volumes are published this year. Little Arthur's History of Rome" (Crowell) is one of these; and it is written by Hezekiah Butterworth, who hardly makes the most of the great old tales. He commits the fault of writing down to the comprehension of children, an unnecessary condescension, as they would be quick to appreciate a more fluent and vivid style than this. It aims to cover the field from the Golden Age to Constantine, and is well illustrated with reproductions of photographs. "Pictures from Roman Life and Story" (Appleton) is less ambitious in its purpose, but it reaches a higher plane than the other. Written by the Rev. A. J. Church, who is the author of "Stories from Homer," it contains detached sketches of some of the great figures of Roman history and of certain dramatic episodes. The descriptions are well written, and there is so little ambiguity in the characterizations that any child could gain some definite impression from them. The "Tales of Ancient Troy and the Adventures of Ulysses" (Estes), edited by Walter Montgomery, are intended for younger readers. The stories are made graphic and interesting; and though the book is disfigured with badly-drawn illustrations, it is a good introduction for very young children to the study of Homer.

It is a far cry from Troy to Japan, but the next book on our list deals with the land of the cherry-tree and the chrysanthemum. This little volume on "Japan in History, Folk-Lore, and Art " (Houghton), by William Elliot Griffis, gives one an insight into a strange and fascinating civilization. Many of the myths and traditions of the Japanese are made interesting here, and Mr. Griffis describes some of the more entertaining episodes in their history. His style is lucid, and older children can gain pleasantly through this book much valuable information. Charles F. Lummis, on the contrary, has carefully explored parts of our own country, and brings back from his travels stories stranger than the strangest, and more foreign than the Japanese themselves. His book, "Some Strange Corners of Our Country" (The Century Co.), deals with nature as well as man, and contains descriptions of the American Sahara and the great cañon of the Colorado, besides its vivid characterizations of the Indians. The houses of the cliff-dwellers are accurately pictured, and the remains of the caves in New Mexico. Much space is given, too, to Indian customs,- to their dances, their magicians, their names, and the weaving of their blankets; and there are few boys who would not delight in these chapters. Still another corner of our country is explored in "Along the Florida Reef" (Appleton), by Charles

Frederick Holder. The life of a party of boys on one of the islands to the south of Florida, is the thread upon which much valuable information in natural history is strung. The character and habits of innumerable creatures of land and sea are described as the boys discover and investigate them; and they are made interesting to the dwellers in other climates who have not the same opportunities. The book is profusely and helpfully illustrated.

Mr.

The greater number of the books of travel, however, relate to other lauds, and one of the best of them, because one of the strangest and truest, is E. J. Glave's "In Savage Africa” (R. H. Russell & Son). Glave was one of Stanley's officers in 1883, and was for six years chief of a station on the Congo. In his introduction to the book, Stanley says that he is "a man who relishes a task for its bigness, and takes to it with a fierce joy." Some of this spirit, which must animate every discoverer, is reflected in the present book, and makes it inspiring to an energetic and ambitious boy. The illustrations are numerous and very good. "The Story of the Life of Mackay of Uganda" (Armstrong), told for boys by his sister, deals with the same kind of subject. Mackay was the pioneer missionary in Uganda, and though his letters are not free from bigotry, his bravery and his continual sacrifice of self make him a notable figure. His experiences among the savages are described in detail, chiefly through his own journals and letters. But one cannot help wondering at the end whether this devotion really benefitted the natives, after all. The same doubt enters one's mind after reading "The Story of John G. Paton" (Armstrong), who was for thirty years a missionary among the South Sea cannibals. The perils of such a life, however, are enormous, and the courage required to face them calls forth one's admiration.

Many other travellers have been active in the search for amusement for the young. Col. Thomas W. Knox continues his instructive series with a large and profusely illustrated volume called "The Boy Travellers in Central Europe" (Harper); Elizabeth W. Champney's trio journeys to the far East and entertains us gallantly on the way through the pages of "Three Vassar Girls in the Holy Land" (Estes); Mr. Hezekiah Butterworth turns this year to America and includes a chapter on the World's Fair in his " Zigzag Journeys on the Mississippi" (Estes); under the guidance of Mr. Fred A. Ober, we follow the "Knockabout Club in Search of Treasure" (Estes) through the Mexican mines and ruins; Harry W. French takes us "Through Arctics and Tropics" (Lothrop) in an exciting endeavor to right a wrong; and in "Frank Fairweather's Fortunes" (Morrill, Higgins & Co.) True Williams shows us buffaloes and Indians, tigers and bandits, monkeys and rebels, all in the course of wanderings through South America.

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The series of ten volumes called "The Roundabout Books" (Boston: C. E. Brown & Co.) is very well selected, interesting both to boys and girls, and in the main well illustrated. Three of them, "The Young Colonists," Fighting the Saracens,” and "The Fall of Sebastopol," are written by Mr. G. A. Henty, who understands the art of fascinating boys. There is excitement enough in all three books to satisfy the most exacting, and the first especially, describing life in South Africa, contains many battles with the Boers and Zulus. Mr. Harry W. French describes the adventures of "Our Boys in India" and "In China"; and Capt. C. W. Hall writes

"Drifting Round the World," relating with gusto a boy's experiences in a journey to Greenland, Labrador, Russia, and Alaska. Three books were also contributed to the series by Mr. Edward Greey, who knows whereof he speaks in writing of Japan. These "Young Americans in Japan," "In Tokio," and in "In Yezo" see something of the life and study the habits of the Japanese in work and pleasure. They are instructively illustrated with many views and reproductions of drawings by Japanese artists.

Margaret Deland's "Story of a Child" (Houghton) is a book for the old rather than the young,—a book filled with the finer emotions, the more subtle reveries, of youth. It is the inner history of an imaginative child who is governed by a practical grandmother and comes under the influence of a selfish and worldly friend. The vicissitudes of the sensitive girl, whom no one understands or sympathizes with, have much in them of pathos; and the writer gives eloquent expression to the capacity for sorrow and for joy that resides in the mind of a visionary child. The moral of the book is chiefly for mothers, who may learn from it that many a child errs through the want of the right kind of encouragement and sympathy, and that his crimes are often the result of misdirected enthusiasm. If one could reach the child's point of view, as Mrs. Deland has done with exquisite tenderness in this book, what a revolution there would be in our judgments, and what a loss of that comfortable selfrighteousness that we feel in dealing with them! Mrs. Deland's comprehension of the childish dreams and fancies is in itself imaginative and poetic. So unerring is her instinct and so intense her sympathy that we cannot forbear from quoting a part of Ellen's experience after running away, when the reaction has come with the yearning for home: "She became vaguely conscious of the companionship of the kind, silent earth, with its intimate sky clasping it like a dark hand jewelled by the moon and stars. A sense of comfort and security came over her,—an ebbing of identity; fear and penitence fell away from her like heavy weights. It was as though the little human creature vibrated with the sonorous rythmic march of the whole, and could not know so small a thing as self. Once she lay down, and looked up into the clear moon-flooded depths, and into the broad kind face of the moon itself. She thought that children who could lie on their mother's knees must feel as she did now, lying here in the warm still fields, lying on the earth's friendly lap, safe, and warın, and cared for, swinging among the stars! She was sure she should be taken care of; she wondered, with not too keen an interest, what the moon was saying to the listening earth. She sighed with comfort. It seemed to her that she would never get up, but lie. here like a little mound, that would melt somehow into the field and grass. Perhaps it was the pagan in the child, this instinct for the Great Mother; very simply, without knowing why, there in the silence and peace, she knelt down and laid her cheek against the earth, and kissed it softly. Then she rose and trudged on in the moonlight."

A charming little book is the autobiography of a foxterrier, called "Vie" (F. J. Schulte & Co.), by Marie More Marsh. It is daintily bound and printed, and written clearly and simply, and with a sympathetic warmth and vivacity that will appeal to any child who loves dogs. "Herminie's Triumphs" (Appleton) by Madame C. Colomb, is a much longer narrative, written with much tenderness and grace. The plot is in

teresting, and the style has a rare touch of freshness and delicacy. There is something French in its sparkle, and something French, too, in its pathos, and in the delightful little drawings inserted here and there in the text. "The Bunny Stories" (Stokes), by Mr. John Howard Jewett, have been collected from "St. Nicholas" and form an attractive volume. The little tales are charming, and the many drawings by Mr. Culmer Barnes of the bunnies in costume are exceedingly clever. Among the other stories for girls and boys are "A Young Knight Errant" (Lee & Shepard), by Oliver Optic; "Cab and Caboose" (Putnam), a railroad story by Mr. Kirk Munroe; "The Lord of Dynevor" (Nelson), a picturesque tale of the time of Edward I. by Evelyn EverettGreen; "The Hot Swamp" (Nelson), a romance by R. M. Ballantyne, which travels twenty centuries back into the mists for its subject; "The Girls and I" (Macmillan), by Mrs. Molesworth; "Maggie Bradford's Fair" (Stokes), by Joanna H. Matthews, the story of a girl who is handicapped by the name of Gladys; "Dr. Dodd's School" (Dodd), by Mr. James L. Ford; "Lost in the Wilderness (Price-McGill Co.), an exciting story of Southern California, by Lieut. R. H. Jayne; "In the Queen's Navee" (Brentano), the adventures of a cadet, by Commander C. N. Robinson, R.N., and John Leyland; and "Sherburne House" (Dodd), a vigorous story in which Amanda M. Douglas has shown much skill in character drawing.

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Several volumes of fairy tales must also be added to those mentioned in our last issue. One of the best is "Baron Trump's Marvellous Underground Journey (Lee & Shepard), in which the author, Mr. Ingersoll Lockwood, displays an ingenious fancy through a quaint and charming style. The land of the transparent people is particularly interesting, and the "little man with the frozen smile" is certainly novel. The drawings by Mr. Charles Howard Johnson add much to the attractiveness of the volume. Some interesting "Scenes in Fairyland" (Macmillan) are also recorded by Canon Atkinson for the entertainment of the little people. Three volumes are added to "The Children's Library (Cassell), "The Brown Owl," by Mr. Ford Madox Hueffer, "An Enchanted Garden," by Mrs. Molesworth, and a collection of beautiful Welsh stories, edited by Meta E. Williams, and called "Tales from the Mabinogian." Four dainty little books by Florence and Edith Scannell are issued by Messrs. Estes & Lauriat to illustrate Christmas in England, France, Italy, and Germany. "The Little Musician," "Jean Noël," "Dulce's Promise," and Lischen and the Fairy" are the titles of these prettily written and attractively decorated little books.

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Susan Coolidge's "Rhymes and Ballads for Girls and Boys" (Roberts) is almost the only volume of poetry that is issued for the young. The verses are charming, however, inspired by a delicate fancy, a sweet reverence for the beauty of nature, and a sympathetic knowledge of childish likes and dislikes. The drawings by Mr. Edmund H. Garrett are very decorative. Prose and verse are united in Ella Wheeler Wilcox's "Beautiful Land of Nod" (Morrill, Higgins & Co.) It is a compilation for very little folks, and one which is fanciful enough to give them a great deal of pleasure. “A Book of Cheerful Cats and Other Animated Animals" (Century Co.) will delight children of all ages. It is written and illustrated by Mr. J. G. Francis with great originality and spirit. Nothing could be more cheerful, to use the author's well-chosen word, than these mirth provok

ing kittens. The character in them is inimitable, and the ideas delightfully ludicrous. A fascinating book is "The Dragon of Wantley" (Lippincott), by Mr. Owen Wister, for it holds the witchery of the olden time, with its chivalry, its gallant knights, and its ladies of high degree. Even were the story less good than it is, the decorative illustrations would be enough to attract one, so clever are they and so full of character, originality, and beauty of line. "The Admiral's Caravan" (Century Co.) is a charming story for younger children by Mr. Charles E. Carryl. It is modelled upon "Alice in Wonderland," but it is clever and contains some amusing verses. The illustrations by Birch are capital. Frances V. Austen has written a book called Elfie's Visit to Cloudland and the Moon" (Estes), which is also good fun; and there is a "Treasury of Pleasure Books for the Young" (Lippincott), which contains the old favorites like "Puss in Boots." A new illustrated edition of the "Tales from Shakespeare," by Charles and Mary Lamb, is also published by Porter & Coates.

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An excellent book for those young people who delight in amateur science and parlor pastimes is M. Arthur Good's " Magical Experiments; or, Science in Play "(Worthington), translated from the French by Messrs. Camden Curwen and Robert Waters. Most of the familiar tricks, as well as not a few that we have never met with before, are to be found in this attractive volume. Illustrations admirably supplement the printed directions given for performance of the tricks.

Several books for very little people remain to be mentioned. These are "Dorothy Darling" (Pott), by Mrs. George Paull; "Short Stories About Animals (Cassell), by Gertrude Sellon; "Little Ways and Great Plays" (Worthington), by Elizabeth S. Tucker; "A Cup of Tea" (Worthington), by the same author, whose drawings are much better in this than in the other; "Bits of Prominent People" (Worthington), a set of divided pictures which are not as funny as they try to be; and "Our Little Men and Women" (Lothrop), a collection of verses and stories. The usual periodicals also appear in bound volumes, "Worthington's Annual for 1893"; "Harper's Young People for 1892;" "Wide Awake" (Lothrop); "The Pansy" (Lothrop); and "Babyland" (Lothrop).

BRIEFS ON NEW BOOKS.

Scientific criticism as applied to modern music.

A VERY noble and valuable book of higher criticism, as applied to music, is that entitled "Studies in Modern Music," written by W. H. Hadow, M.A., Fellow of Worcester College, Oxford, and published by Messrs. Macmillan & Co. The main body of the work is devoted to expositions of three modern musicians and their places in the evolution of musical history,-namely, Hector Berlioz and the French Romantic Movement, Robert Schumann and the Romantic Movement in Germany, Richard Wagner and the Reform of the Opera. These are by far the best accounts of these matters of which we have any knowledge, yet interesting as they are, they are still less notable than the four chapters which precede them, and which deal with the general principles of musical judgment. Musical crit

icism has seldom made any effort to advance beyond the bounds of a hazardous dogmatism. The laws of the plastic arts have been expounded by Lessing and Winckelmann; literature has had its prophets in Sainte-Beuve and Matthew Arnold; but musical ideals have been upheld or scouted, as the case might be, without the least reference to any general code of artistic laws. Mr. Hadow makes a bold, but scientific and highly suggestive, attempt to lay down some canons of musical judgment, to introduce some method in the reign of uncertainty and chaos. He grants at the outset that musical criticism is preeminently difficult to express with clearness and certainty, that no law of musical science is to be taken as final, and that there will always be a difference of taste in musical matters. But, these facts notwithstanding, it is still possible to establish certain principles of criticism which may enable us to discriminate good from bad; while at the same time making but slight appeal to the technicalities of the art. These main principles are four in number: (1) Vitality. The composer must be the parent of his ideas, not their fabricator; if these ideas are spontaneous and genuine, they fulfil all we have a right to demand of them. (2) Labour. The composer who stands in any true relation to his idea will spare no pains to present it in its most attractive aspect, and to deck it with the utmost ornament that it can legitimately bear. (3) Proportion. The factors of a composition must be held together, not as isolated units, but as members of a single organism. There must be one central idea, to which the others must be subservient; the successive ideas must lead up to some definite and intelligible climax; if repetition be employed, the expression must be studiously simple; the spiritual element must predominate over the sensuous. (4) Fitness. The style must be determined to some extent by the nature of the form employed. The neglect of this principle is one of the surest marks of a bad musician; while the truly great dramatic composer will recognize that even the legitimate splendors of the best operatic art should be subdued in psalm and oratorio. Following these general rules, is a plea for a larger spirit on the part of musical critics. Music is a young art, and as such is essentially progressive. By the laws of its being, by the laws of human nature on which it rests, it is irrevocably committed to the discovery of new paths. In a more manly and straightforward attitude towards artistic questions, in less reliance on outworn tradition or prescriptive usage, is to be found the hope of the future for music in England. The record of England's national music has been in abeyance for the past two centuries. Once there was no musical form to which she did not contribute her share of development. To the growth of the symphony, the quartette, and the sonata, she contributed virtually nothing. The period of decadence is now at last ended. The day of England's music is near at hand; even now the first blow has been struck;

let us indeed form our judgment by a study of the great masters, but also let us apply it to a generous appreciation of the art of our own day.

The historical truth of Barbara Fritchie."

was

"BARBARA FRITCHIE" (Roberts), a study by Caroline H. Dall, is the literary outcome of the author's efforts to come at the historical truth of the central incident of Whittier's popular poem. It is well known that the story itself has been denied; Mrs. Jackson has declared it unfounded, Whittier himself openly regretted his ballad, and some doubting Thomases have even asserted of Barbara-as Mrs. Prig profanely did of Mrs. 'Arris that there "no sich a person." Skepticism can go no farther. In quest of truth, and perhaps of literary material, Mrs. Dall went to Frederick, looked the debatable ground over, searched the records, "interviewed" the oldest inhabitant, and has reached the verdict that there was, at any rate, sufficient truth in the Fritchie tradition to measurably justify the poem. That Barbara was not a mere figment like Mrs. Gamp's friend, that she was quite capable of acting as reported and of roundly abusing the "rebel horde" into the bargain (for she was a bit of a shrew, it seems), and that there was some irregular firing on the flag in the Frederick streets, is put beyond the shadow of a doubt. To clinch the matter, Mrs. Dall has seen the identical banner that was rent" with seam and gash." The most dramatic event of the ballad, its pith and marrow, is, however, apochryphal, as General Jackson was

not in the line of march when the incident is said to have occurred. Mrs. Dall has made a good book, giving ample data of her heroine, her ancestry, married life, personality, etc., and the publishers have put it in attractive form. A copy of the poem, riddled (almost as thoroughly as the famous" pane and sash") with italics denoting false statements, is appended. By the way, is there not an innate absurdity in supposing a general officer (presuming him to have been compos mentis) to halt a division for the purpose of wasting a round of ammunition upon a small flag at the window of a private house? Such a volley must, at least, have blown Barbara, flag, house, and all into limbo. We leave it to the military reader.

A good work for the amateur book-collector.

ORIGINALLY published (in 1881) as one of the "Art at Home Series," Mr. Andrew Lang's entertaining little volume entitled "The Library" (Macmillan) now makes its appearance in a second edition enlarged by an additional preface, and a postscript to the chapter on " Illustrated Books" by Mr. Austin Dobson. The original prefatory note is retained, but new full-page illustrations of bindings have been substituted for those used in the first edition. There have been many changes in tastes since 1881. Experience, always a dear teacher, must enlighten the collector, but he will do well to take the advice of the sage, who says: It is far wiser to buy seldom, and at a high price, than to

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