The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1875-04-01
J.itarary Notes.

Tors from tbe French for the New York Tri-
bune.
MI ,;+or. ,ure of horrors, says the London
Aoadomv. is likely to be soon enriched by the
,tI;cation of a work that has unaccountably
hitherto escaped the keen eye of translator and
bookmaker. This disinterred gem is the Me-
moirs of Samson, the hereditary French execu
,ioner who oficiated at the decapitation of
Touis XVI. 1t is said that Sanson's son, who
was also on the scaffod on the memorial lie Dist
of January had at the Restoration secret in
,erview with Louis XVIII, to whom he re-
counted infinitely the death of the last French
King The, memoirs have become very rare
even in France. They are written in the tur-
old and vulgarly sentimental style of philan-
tbropist whom fate has condemned to ,officiate
az the guillotine. Before he died Samson
founded a perpetual anniversary mass for the
renose of the soul of Louis XVI The memoirs
will be published by Messrs. Chatto and Win
dus
OWING TO the enterprise of the editors of
American magazines, several important books
bavo been written lately. Senior Castelars
great work on The Republican movement In
T,,ono " which is generally accepted as one of
the most brilliant, extensive, and profound po-
1,tical treatises written of late years, had its
immediate origin in suggestion of the editor
of Harpers Monthly; although it has far out
GROWN the original plan. Our Sketchlng
Climb" by Mr.. Ruskin's chosen Edisciple, the
Rev. st. John Tyrwhitt, was written for publl-
cation in Old and New, at E. E. Hales sugges-
t;on and all of tho leading magazines could
show like record.
Mr.. Howells is lavish in his praise of Henry
James's new book, ga Passionate Pilgrim"
He saws: ''In richness of expression and splen-
dor of literary performance, we may compare
him with the greatest, and find none greater
than he"
A story of the telegraph will be given in an
carly number of Scrbner's Magazine under
Az t;tla of g. =" 1.-THE heroine
;s a telegraph operatorsand her name, Kate
is constantly sounding through the story in the.
clicks of the instrument and the whistles OF
the locomotive on which the hero rides,
An important essay on the Especial Effects
of Certain Forms of Employment upon Fe-
male HEALTH formed a section of the last re-
mort of the Massachusetts Labor Bureau. lts
antbor, DR.. Azel Ames, has continued his IN
ouiries since its publication. and has reached
MANY important and startling conclusions.
He will now extend his paper into volume on
asex 10 Industry" which james r. Osgood &
Co. will publish.
The third volume Of the Count de Paris's
History of the Civil War in America is printed
in Paris. and the anthor has nearly completed
The fourth volume.
Apropos of Paul Fevaps new edition of his
novels. the Paris writer for Appleton's Jour
nal. tells an amusing anecdote OF Ponson du
Terrail whose nterminable romances used to
he the delight of the fashionables of his day.
He had a great number of wooden puppets
constructed, each with the "phiz" and dress of
the personages il was to represent, and had
them mounted and strung on wires before him
each morning Whenever he found that par
ticular character had been off the stage too
long, the next chapter would see him brought
forward. if only TO be killed. The dresses of
these puppets were always changed to accord
with the situation of the characters they rep
resented The new crowned queen was put in
oval robes, the new-made widow donned her
black; the rightful heir received his better gar
ments when he was restored to his station, etc.
Mr. Howells received this merited compl-
meat from the London Academy: 1--WE have
read "A Foregone Conclusion once for duty; it
will not be our fault If we do not read it again
(and more than once) for pleasure"
A selection from the correspondence OF the
late Mrs. Henry M. Field will be published
Immediately by G. P. Putnam's Sons, under
the title of tHome Sketches in France" Mrs.
Field was known to her large circle-of friends
as lady of wide and keen powers OF observa-
tion. broad in sympathy and graceful and
viyacious in expression, and her pictures OF
French life are, therefore, lkelysto be attract
iyet to the general public, and to form pleas
and fitting memorial for her friends
Mr. FL. Van Laun, the translator of Taine's
English Literature is at work on new
translation of Moliere, who has not been put
iuto English since 174S
Rabelais is said by Martin, in his History
y of France, to have done the same work for
the French language that Dante did for
Italian.
DIR. Diapers "History of the Conflict Be-
tween Religion and Science" has already
reached its thirteenth thousand.
Kingsley's "Hypatia" has been dramatized
Mr.. Wills. the author of "The Man o. Airie,
has done it for Mrs. Fairfax, woman de-
scribed as having 1.-THE loveiest dark eyes in
the world"
Ribots Heredity, translated from the French
will be Appleton's next contribution TO our
Darwinian literature. 1t is psychological
rather than a physical study, and is said to in
clude comprehensive view of the facts, laws,
causes, and consequences of heredity. The
subject has more or less engaged the attention
of most thoughtful minds, and M. Ribot's
work is sure of wide reading.
The Might and Mirth of sLitersture by John
w. V. Macbeth, which Harper & Bros. have
preparation, promises to be a curious and orig
inal book. 1t is treatise on fgurative Ian
gUage, by which the author proposes "to create
and fully equip a new branch of study" maxi
ing the whole subject las laughter exciting as
it is instructive" 1t will present general sur
yey of English and American literature, with
historical notices of the progress of the Ian
euage, anecdotes of authors, and discussions of
the fundamental principles of instruction and
of "the weapons of oratory." Upwards of 600
writers will be referred to- and 220 figures will
be illustrated. The book will not be ready I'M
til late in the spring