New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1874-08-08
rur Gossip ~ LIlERATCRE.
rryy NEW NOVELS - MOTIFS on Ai>hKf-ShC"Sp
COUSIN sARkH-THE BEST OF hOsBA>p>-ihh
living IISK-FoREIGS GOSSIP.

TIE NEW NOVELS MOTIFS on NisERH-sEcoSp
,,-s,x s,P,g-rHE BEST or HCsBANDs-THE
living IISK-TOREIGS GOSSIP
-Rp1curoy. Au,. 1.-The novels Of the
- -, =, ,or,r,u. ADD rather commonplace company.
r. o. ~. Of course because Oh one side Is the
,,,e rorslar appetite for tcton AMI on the other
,oo- fellows with little inasihaion' some executive
,alAnt and an equally frantic appetite Tor AF!AR'
r. hava none OF the masters magic they don't know
awning OF the fascinating art that sets FIVd nres OF
men and women folIosing ou' ma 'uFA laws Of ehf
80 al tenerameBt through the three or four humid
"a ,,gss az great novel Here are three stories from
the Uarper press" Second Cousin sarah, "Iae Best
~ Uusbands" and Toe LIVING L'uk'-Euh
No rositiys emphatic nesh-and-blood personality
in any one Of them. The characters are set Of
wooden people who might exchange circumstances and
conditions with each other without much incongruty
The heroine Of Second Cousin Sarah" has such
family likeness 10 the heroine OF The Best OF Hls
hands, that she might slip into her shoes and seni
nens with no OF trouble. AL these books are 10
state OF misery They lend vel to be sure-tlat u
necessary concession the feelings o. the reader
posed TO be narrowed Second Cousin sarah Is young
woman surrounded by a number Of the unpleas
ant and eccentric scarecrows who are al
ways loungng around the baek-door Of fc-
tion waiting for employment She has a highly
dsagreeable grandmother. scamp for brother, the
sourest OF elderly madens for friend ana an exceed
pgly obstinate aud Dad-tempcre1 man % fan IA love
ylth and marry. There kiiaapp.nss and sudden
deaths; there bothers about Wills there are lovers
ds.ereements told without sparkle or spirit. Yet with
all this the book not poor as the acreage.
1.-THE Best OF Husbands" IL an excellent man with
weak streak In his not at all unlike the other
excellent men IN fiction with weak streaks HIS wife Is
the usual stron g-m.nded young lady OF the ordinary
novel possessing ex gserated seli-w and snperuat-
ural beauty The story turns upon the uuintennonal
- tfa~ H.r f.f.f
brother-whch a cheerful and exhiiaratns Keynote
II is gloomy recital OF remorse, Enlightened 81 any
thing quaint, witty, or picturesque
As for The Living Link" it Is fun Of horrors. II -
a yoefu labyrinth through which It's characters wander
popping up in agonizng and unexpected places Is
complications inseniou. that 1t !; not until near
the end that Que becomes acquainted with the im-
portant facts the heroine has papa LIVING wneh
she ght she had nj and that she is Mt married to
wretch as she thought she was; and likewise hat al
most everybody is Mt somebody else.
Oh unhappy story writer's what VIII become Of them
when they can more substitute horrors Tor genus
when all the artificial combinations of misery aad err
ror are exhausted. aud only the tempered uSheSs auu
generous grace Of nature are left 70 hcton :
The Hon Roien Noel has from future epic poets
the honor OF first putting the life OF David Livingstone
into verse He does it IN seven cantos, Which, II inc
Atendum may be believed exceedingly sleepy ana
unnatural BY the way this journal says OF the Ehs'h
Mr. Frank L. BeDcdct- translation OF W tha' u y
"yile." and-3t,erest Of critcism-,hat MI Birnand
has given In Punch d OF the novel fuly as Va
liable as Mr. Benedicts this version Is ridiculous
burles1ue IT is not probable tha- the statement VIII
have soothing aud sustaining effect upon the trans
lator The saturday Repieo is severe upon another
American writer; 1t declares that sake Holm
stories belong to class OF books over sdue iOi i""
ming and bad for blessing
The Petrarcnlan Concentration at Aviglon last
month AZ described by the latest foreign weekes, ap
prars 10 have something between Della CrdscaJ
festival ana circus The PrOvenc1 Mnstrel gathered
AL the Railway station welcome tine French and Italian
poes there were mounted heralds ali over the town,
and there were pageants OF medieval characters and
costumes carefully studied Petrarch, enthEoued upon
gded chariot the signOr smtherini style. drawn by
eight mlk-wnlte palfreys and surrounded by famous
ghosts ended a cavalcadc " knights aud halberdiers
which would have inspired Mr.. Barnum with raging
envy.
The SDeetli0r Is wise when il says OF Mrs Mliock-
Crak that .he mas injured by working IN mario"
groove and by the popularity which she has acquired
with readers of more sentiment than Judgment One
book OF the John HaifaX" sort was very We'll but
when Il comes to endless procession OF them al! alike
in uaudlin gush and pOus tvaddle, II j. too much.
There nothing in the novel readers expert
enee than 10 turn from Tia pretty, eneryatng valley
of such sentiment as fill. MY Mother and Il " to the
healthy breezy upands where the characters that
ThackerAy touched 10 fire. People have grown into
the habit OF praisiug Mrs Craik's mik-and
atty that II a positive enjoyment to ud the critic I've
quoted calling divers OF her puppets solemn MINES"
VI. II.