The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1874-01-13
NEWS MISCELLANY.
LITERARY NOTES.

has made its appearance.
Frothingham's Life of Theodore Parker"
will not be out until February.
A writer in Macmillan renders LOngfel-
lows EXCELSIOR into pigeon English"
which is exssperatingly ludicrous.
Whittier has declined, on account of ill
health, to be the poet at the next commence
ment OF Dartmouth College.
Gail Hamiltons new book of social and
domestic sketches has the curious title of
Twelve Miles from Lemon"
'sThe Inferior Sex" meaning men, have
been written about in new novel by De
Thew Wright, a witty Cincinnati lawyer.
1t is stated that Mr.. r. L. Farjeon and Mr..
Justin Mccarthy will both begin new serial
stories in the January number of Tinsley's
Magazine.
Mr.. Motley expects TO spend the winter at
Cannes, France. He is suffering from ner-
vous disorder, and his physician forbids any
indulgence in law study.
NIautiee Sand, son cf George Sand, is one
of the best feuilletoDists in Paris. His wife
is an American lady, and Maurice per con-
sequence both writes and speaks fluent En-
glish.
Mr.. +. J. Farniysl has found in the record
Office an entry that King Edward III. paid
GIG on the lst of March, 1860, toward the
ransom of the poet Chaucer, who had been
taken prisoner in the war with France in
1880.
Alexander Balm has edited some of the
%'aiiDor Works" of the historian Grote, with
extensive critical comments of his own; IN
fact, with good deal of Balm. Mr. Grote
was great admirer Of Mr.. Mill, but did not
accept ms religious beliefs.
DR. T.. VI. Clarke's new book on "Sex in
Education" is making great noise. 1t
takes the broad ground that the education
and work Of the feminine sex can not be
continuous as with men without producing
the utter deterioration of American women.
The learned Barrow, theOlogian and math-
ematician, who regarded poetry as ingenious
nonsehce, wrote of the author of paradise
Lost" as zone Milton" Sir Isaac Newton
acknowledged paradise Lost" was a fine
poem; "but," he added, "what does it
proven
De Candolle's great work on Dieotyledons,
containing a diagnosis of every known
species, has been completed. The publica-
ton of the work was begun in 1878, and has
given occupation to three generations Of DO =
anists. The Horticultural Society of Berlin
has awarded N. de CandOlle special medal.
Prof Droysen has contributed a paper to
the last volume Of the Transactions of the
Royal Society of Berlin. 1t refers to the
political state of Europe during the time of
Frederick the Great, and bears on the condi-
ton of Holland, the intervention of Eng
land, and the warlike tendencies of the
the Court of Venice. Professor Droysen
traces the connection of the great king with
fEaSo rOlffipal rnioeivQg thrOnph the TnodiuD
OF his old tutor, Duhan.
A good story is goin the rounds of the
British Museum just now. 1t appears that
a gentleman named Tucker, finding in the
library catalogue, under the head of "His-
tories" work by name sake, asked one
OF the Attendants to bring it. The official
bowed and retired to ful6ll the mandate.
He was very long time away, but on his
return, after an interval of two hours, he
handed Mr.. Tucker very thin volume,
which proved to be "The History of Little
Tom Tucker" Mr.. Tucker has not again
turned up in the reading room.
The English critics are savage in their
treatment of Miss Broughton's last effort,
Nancy. The Saturday Review says: And
there is one fault more Objectionable than
any venial fault of style. Nancy, speaking
of the German Blutworst, remarks, "How
the Germans do caD aspade q spadeV 1t
would have been well had Miss Broughton
paid more heed to these words in her
heroine's mouth. There is an offensive pru.
derry which obtains TO certain extent in the
present day, and il is good to avoid this;
but it is not good to fall into the opposite
error. II is best to call spade by its own
name, but there are things more ignoble
than spades of which il is bost not to talk
pnder any name.
Prof. Colt Tyler Gays it is Characteristic
OF our time to prefer to read about our great
authors rather than to read the authors
themselves. We revel in critiques upon the
zhe text and let the text go. We study Eng
1lsh literature by proxy. Such bewitching
lectures as Mr.. Fields Is giving this year,
and as Mr. Weiss gave last year, do actually
lnll into laziness, and into certain self
-complacent content with their small stOck
of second hand information about English
literature, more persons than they stifnu-
Iats TO read that literature for themselves.
And taking Shakespeare as the elimination
.and the representative of all that is magnifi-
cent and precious in English literature, he
perpetrates the following capital epgram:
Shakespeare! august, resplendant name;
Rich the race that did bat breed him
His works We buy; we shout hts fame
suppose some day we read him."
Edmund About says the state of literature
in FraEce, compared with what it was, indi.
Gates depression, He writes: The number
OF English publications which see men
toned each week in the Athaenum reminds
me that we, too. three or four years ago,
printed novel day without prejudice to
critical historical, philosophical works.
We hardly find time now DAYS TO publish
one or two books. heavy and light put to-
oether, in a week. Our political journals.
which in the eyes of the weaker sex, have
no reason for existing except the novel cut
into sandwiches. / mean inlo feuilletons, do
not offer even that unsubstantial food regu-
Larry TO their readers. Their excuse is that
there is so much news, political debates are