a Prophet?" exemplifie history. W. R. Lawson in Cranks "gives some specime Transatlantic oratory. Miss. of "African Folk-Lore," and in "Two Massacres in Asia Min the work of Diocletian and Abdul 66 1 method of Currency he calls writes msay res Mr. Arnold-Foster, in an articl 'Sisphus in Ireland: 25 Land Acts Years," in September Nineteenth Ce. attacks the Irish Land Bills collectively urges that a comprehensive purchase sche. is the only solution. Dr. Emil Reich (o Venezuelan fame) deals with the causes of Anti-Semitism. Mrs. Creyke's "Boat-sailing for Ladies" is specially fresh and attractive. Anna Katharine Green writes the opening story for the Pocket Magazine under title of "A Difficult Problem." Other complete stories are contributed by Charles B. Lewis, William Le Quex, Anna Roleson Brown and Stephen Crane. In the Looker-On the prominent features are "Henschel's Oratorio," by Alfred Remy; "Shakespeare's Dramatic Construction Julius Cæsar," by Wm. H. Fleming; "A Plea for American Musicians," by John Denison Champlin, and "The Sublime and the Sentimental in Piano Playing," by Alexander McArthur. The October Philistine has for contributors Stephen Crane, Elbert Hubbard, Charles G. D. Roberts, Frank W. Noxon and Prof. John H. Fierley, President of Knox College. The "Side Talks," conducted by the East Aurora School of Philosophy, make up sixteen pages -just one half of the magazine, and are full of bright matter. The current number of The Lotus is very attractive, and has among its contributors John Northern Hilliard, Frank Markward and Charles Bloomingdale, Jr. =Some years ago Mr. Hardy wrote a brief serial story which he called "The Pursuit of the Well-Beloved." It has never been published in book form. Now he thinks of expanding it into a regular long novel, and it may appear as such in the new collected edition of his works. Exchange. =A. C. McClurg and Company have in the press two new Italian histories by authors not unknown in this department of literature: the one is "A Short History of Italy," by Miss Kirkland, written in a fluent and easy style which adapts it alike for the old and the young; the other, "Italy in the Nineteenth Century," by Mrs. Latimer, is handsomely illustrated with portraits, and is in other respects uniform with that author's series of popular Nineteenth Century histories. BEST SELLING BOOKS. Popular appreciation cannot stand as safe or sound proof of a book's goodness and value, but the lists of "Best Selling Books" in three Philadelphia book stores are at least helpful to those who would keep in touch with the talkedabout books of the day. Comparison of these monthly lists shows that the number of new publications becoming widely popular is not eyond the grasp of the general reader. These s indicate the books selling most numerously uring the thirty days from August fifteenth to September fifteenth. At Wanamaker's, City Hall Square: The Damnation of Theron Ware," by Harold Frederic, $1.20. "A Singular Life," by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, 90 cents. "Seats of the Mighty," by Gilbert Parker, $1.10. "King Noanett," by F. J. Stimson, $1.50. Briseis," by William Black, $1.35. "The Honorable Peter Stirling," by Paul Leicester Ford, $1.10. "The Cavaliers," by S. R. Keightley, $1.10. "Mrs. Gerald," by Maria Louise Pool, $1.10. "The House Boat on the Styx," by John Kendrick Bangs, 90 cents. 66 March Hares, cents. by Harold Frederic, 90 REVIEWS. Pope Leo XIII. By Justin McCarthy. With a frontispiece. Public At the present moment there is no more im- The character of Pope Leo XIII. is of the deepest interest, not only to the worshipers of the Roman Catholic hierarchy throughout the world, but to all Christendom. No saintlier Pontiff than he has ever sat in the Holy Chair. Furthermore the venerable Leo has a reverend claim to distinction aside from his religious traits and aims. He has already surpassed the average age and length of the reign of the Roman Pontiffs. It was on the 7th of February, 1878, that Pope Pius the IX. died in the Vatican, just about a month. after the remains of King Victor Emanuel had been laid in the Pantheon; and on the 18th of the following April the conclave of cardinals assembled in the Sistine Chapel and chose Vincenzo Gioacchino Pecci, Cardinal Camerlingo, or Chamberlain, of the Holy Roman Church, as the new Pope. Vincenzo Pecci was born on March 2, 1810, at Carpineto, in the State of the Church. He was therefore but a month past sixty years old when he was elected to the Papacy, and he has now reigned eighteen years and a half. Next April he will celebrate est will be the account of the Pope's tastes, The biographer of Leo XIII. writes the history of a man rather than that of an era. His Holiness, Pope Leo XIII. the eighty-seventh anniversary of Frederick Warne and Company. To English readers the most interesting parts will be those describing the Pope's action in regard to Ireland, the famous " Apostolic Letter" to the English people, and the Archbishop of Canterbury's reply. Next in inter It is From "Fope Leo XIII." to be regretted that the writer of a "History of Our Own Times" did not write the history of the era, rather than the biography of a man whose life he was in no special sense qualified to undertake. We also find too much of the biographer and too little of his hero. The constant interruptions of the narrative by the interpolation of little sermons on Home Rule are tedious and provoking. This is as we expected, but we are disappointed at the attitude Mr. McCarthy takes on the still burning question of the temporal power of the Pope. We should have welcomed either a strenuous defence of Italian unity or a resolute attack on the Kingdom of Italy. Mr. McCarthy does neither one nor the other. He simply evades the question. London Academy. Literary Landmarks of Venice. By Laurence Hutton, author of "Literary Landmarks of London," etc. Illustrated. 71 pp. Indexed. 12mo, 75 cents; by mail, 83 cents. Mr. Laurence Hutton is an admirable compiler of what have been called "servant books"the sort of books which bring together laboriously and carefully a host of facts that otherwise you would not know where to look for. A work of this sort does not require a very high order of abilities; it gives no right to nobiliary rank in literature, no matter how well it may be done, but it is praiseworthy, respectable and useful. This will be a welcome book to those who appreciate the peculiar genius of this active intellectual spirit with its scintillating electric flashes of perception, its quaint expressions, and its deep understanding of things we call human. Many of the verses in this volume are brief, mere flashes they seem, done in a second of inspiration and probably never needing the alteration of a word. Only one printed before and the collection thus adds to or two of the pieces in this book have been our acquaintance with the gifted writer as well as increases our wonder at her prodigious accomplishment. Life, love, nature, and time and eternity are the headings under which the verses are grouped, and on almost every page the reader will find words which speak to his own experience, showing him values and purposes never before appreciated, it may be, and supplying, mayhap, some new encouragement, some new point of view. The following lines entitled "Disenchantment," are a good example of the peculiar charm in these lines of the young poet : It dropped so low in my regard And go to pieces on the stones At bottom of my mind; Yet blamed the fate that fractured, less Than I reviled myself For entertaining plated wares Upon my silver shelf. Hartford Post. Miss Marguerite Merington, the author of Mr. Sothern's play, "Captain Letterblair," will publish through The Century Company this autumn the libretto of her opera "Daphne; or, the Pipes of Arcadia." It won the $500 prize awarded by the National Conservatory of Music for the best libretto for a comic opera, the judges being T. B. Aldrich, Eugene Field, and others. The Roxburghe Press will issue, almost immediately, Mr. Arthur Syke's new volume, "Without Permission," a book of dedications. Mr. Syke's previous work, "Verses and Sketches from Punch," upon whose staff he is a contributor, will doubtless cause "Without Permission" to be looked forward to with interest. A Hungarian Story. Black Diamonds. A novel. By Maurus Jókai. Translated by Frances A. Gerard. With a portrait. 458 pp, 12mo, $1.10; by mail, $1.22. Maurus Jókai is one of the great writers of the world, worthy of taking rank with Fielding, Scott, Dickens, and Thackeray. The opening chapter, "Underground Darkness," is something quite unique. It bears the stamp of that individuality which differentiates Jókai from other great writers of fiction. The work is interesting from start to finish, and therefore the reader has no right to complain; but the reviewer may object to the Stock Exchange figuring too largely in the work. We naturally desire more imagination and less commercial swindling, more humour and less realism. But then Maurus Jókai is a Hungarian, and a Hungarian is nothing if not practical. Jókai is not only a man of letters, but of parts. London Academy. Maurus Jókai, the most conspicuous figure in Hungary's world of letters, has achieved a following on the Continent, and is fairly well known in England, but the novel-loving American confesses unfamiliarity with his work. Some of his stories have been smoothly Englished, and received an enthusiastic reading in a narrow, but important, circle here; but there is no Jókaian cult on this side the Atlantic. He is an old man of seventy, the author of more than 200 books, and still an indefatigable writer. Indeed, the literary fecundity of Jókai is amazing, few authors of any age having reached the measure and merit of his work. He has achieved distinction not only as the foremost romancer of Hungary, but as a statesman, financier and journalist, he holds an honorable and enviable position. His career has been stormy and romantic. Marrying at twenty-three, Jókai joined the Revolutionists, fell into prison, was sentenced to be shot, but through the courageous conduct of his wife an escape was fortunately effected. Jókai has long lived in beautiful Budapest, and is to-day the idol of all Hungary. Philadelphia Bulletin. The Puritans. The Puritan in England and New England. By Ezra Hoyt Byington, D. D. With an introduction by Alexander McKenzie, D. D. With a portrait. 406 pp. Indexed. 8vo, $1.50; by mail, $1.71. The writer starts by tracing the growth of the Puritan party in England, and shows the radical difference between the Pilgrims and the Puritans from the beginning. This is not a mere compilation of facts, not a mere narration of events, but a philosophical study of the factors which evolved the Puri From Literary Landmarks of Venice "-Copyright, 1896, by Harper & Bros. Byron's Palace, Venice. men and their work has ever before been projected. The author comes to his task with a generous equipment of scholarship, patience and industry. He is never brilliant, he never excites you into enthusiasm, but, on the other hand, he never bores you. His style is sober, vigorous and lucid, but it has none of the lighter elegancies. As a compilation of facts about the Puritans, their manner of life, their method of government, their churches and forms of worship, their homes and their domestic concerns; their books and schools, their charities and their sports, this book is to be commended unreservedly. N. Y. Herald. One distinction is fairly drawn by Dr. Byington which historians rarely make as plain as it should be made-namely, the distinction between the Puritan and the Pilgrim. The Pilgrims were the first comers, emigrating, not from England, but from Holland, and establishing the independent Plymouth Colony, the first independent white community ever set up on this side of the sea. The Puritans came Shakespeare the Boy. affected boys. He has described the games Shakespeare played, the amusements of the country-side, the school and the lessons taught, the training at home and the town life. He From "Shakespeare the Boy." Copyright, 1896, Harper and Brothers. eight years later, and established the English crown colony of Massachusetts Bay. The Pilgrims were English, but long separated from England when they came to Plymouth. They owed no allegiance to the English King, and were not connected with the English Church. They made their own laws and governed themselves, and formed their own church on the Apostolic model. The Puritans were subjects of the Crown, were governed from England, and were members in good standing of the English Church. Philadelphia Telegraph. Shakespeare the Boy. With sketches of the Home and School Life, the Games and Sports, the Manners, Customs and Folk-Lore of the Time. By William J. Rolfe, Litt. D. Illustrated. 251 pp. Indexed. 12mo, $1.13; by mail, $1.27. Dr. Rolfe has achieved distinction as a Shakespearean scholar, and the measure of information embodied in his work may be regarded, therefore, as both exhaustive and authoritative. He has combined all we know of the youth of the poet, with all on record of the life of the time, as it in gives a picture of Stratford-on-Avon as it must have been then, and incidentally calls attention to the influences which affected the character of the great dramatist while growing up. The book is valuable, not only for this side of it, but as showing under what conditions our ancestors lived in the time of Henry VIII. Philadelphia Press. Canadian Mountain Climbing. Camping in the Canadian Rockies. An Account of Camp Life in the Wilder parts of the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Together with a description of the Region about Banff, Lake Louise, and Glacier, and a Sketch of the Early Explorations. By Walter Dwight Wilcox. With twenty-five full-page photogravures and many text illustrations from photographs by the author. 283 pp. Indexed. Quarto, $3.00; by mail, $3.24. Mr. Wilcox's beautiful book is the outcome of several years of travel and camping out in the Rocky Mountains of Canada. The Mountains are not among the world's highest. Indeed, they are far inferior to some others mere altitude. The highest of them rise only from 5000 to 7000 feet above the valley, and from 11,000 to 12,000 feet above the sea, but they at the same time have attractions superior to the world's other mountains. They are more accessible than the Himalayas, are far more attractive than the Andes, and afford much greater variety of scenery, together with more beauty of vegetation, than the Alps. If picturesque hamlets are wanting, . |