The Sun.
London, England, 1857-01-10 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

Queen Locta and the Mistletoe. By George Raise.

Addoy and Co.

Among the many little gift books for the holiday
season which make their annual appearance with
the holly, the etrennes, or the twelfth-cakes, the
present elegant little volume is not insignificant.
It is called "A Fairy Rhyme for the Fireside,"
and the introductory sketch informs us that it is
a legend of New Year's Eve. The prefatory chap-
ter is in prose, and presents us to a family group—
Mr. Doughty and his son and daughter. Their
conversation turns upon the mistletoe, and not-
withstanding their father's indignation, Frank and
Amy become fully convinced that a decided con-
nection exists between the white berries and the
world of fairies. Having arrived at this sage con-
clusion they proceed to put their ideas on the sub-
ject into verse, and a short time after they display
to the astonished Mr. Doughty a formidable manu-
script, relating the history of Queen Loota and the
Mistletoe. It is a graceful fairy tale, pleasantly
told in verse, narrating the endeavours of the
kindly spirit to disseminate gladness round the
hearths that sheltered the favoured plant. How she
gathered her attendant sprites 'together—how she
gave them solemn warning to beware of the gloomy
spirit that obstructed their endeavours—what suc-
cess they met, and how the truant fairy became a
spider, we leave the reader to learn. Tae follow-
ing graceful passage is the conclusion of the poem.
The speaker is little Minnie, the gatherer of the
magic branch, just awoke from a slumber in which
the fairies were busy whispering to her :

"Sister !" she cried ; " Oh, I have had a dream ;
I saw a crowd of creatures, all with wings,
About my head ; and, sister, they did seem
To whisper in my ear most pretty things ! „
I think I hear their loving voices now,—
They seem to flutter still around my brow.
" One said, Pair child ! be evermore a child
In meekness and in gentleness and truth;
Be still, as thou art now, so pure, so mild,
And Time shall never rob thee of thy youth
Another said, May Care thy bosom spare !'
But, Sister, what is Time ? and what is Care ?
"Another said, Sweet sleeper, may the grace
Of heart and feature which is thine to-day
Through Sin or Sorrow never lose its trace,
Or suffer early trial, or decay !'
And then again she said it o'er and o'er ;
Sister, I never heard these things before !
" Another whispered, 'May thy joyful way
Be ever sunned by long-enduring love,
As true, as fond, and earnest as to-day ;
And Death forbear one friendship to remove !'
But what is this the pretty Spirit saith ?
What is it, darling Sister,—what is Death ?"
And loving little Minnie clapped her hands
With gushing laughters, while the watchers place
The chaplet on her brow, and, 10, she stands
Embodied happiness and childish grace !
. . . Must such bright lineaments of Gladness fade ?
Life's uses such a thing of light o'ershade ?

And thus the New Year dawned upon the Old,
And thus those lovers had their wish, and parted.. .
We too give place, our halting numbers told,
To Darkness and the Cricket, merry-hearted,
Whose "cheer-up I cheer-up !" sung with all his might,
Makes echo to the pulses of the night.
The volume is suitably illustrated on steel by the
author, who merits the thanks of all the lovers of
fairy lore for his pleasing and appropriate legend.

Notices to Correspondents. Houlston and Stone-

man.

The industrious compiler of this rare compen-
dium of multifarious information has presented a
most interesting and useful store of every-day in-
formation on all sorts and manners of topics, in a
volume of 320 pages, containing 3,050 paragraphs,
each of which, on an average, affords editorial an-
swers to three or four questions, selected from the
best authorities in the Weekly Metropolitan Press.
As a library, a fireside, or a railway companion, the
little book bids fair to become a favourite, in great
demand as a pocket-book of practical philosophy,
amply realising the assertion in the preface, that
"uo Dictionary, no Encyclopedia, no work of
Reference whatever, will be found to supply infor-
mation upon the varied and singular points of
inquiry that are crowded into this volume." An
elaborate analytical index is prefixed, by which any
piece of information in the contents can be found
without trouble or delay.