The New York herald., 1875-06-07

tue pubic; 10 extract tne contents OF MS uoto
book, TO print them, and to label the result his
torcal novel. Historical novels always failures
unless they are written by literary masters.
THE VIKINGS
are already becoming literary bores One has
heard quite enough ABOUT them from Dr., Dasent
and others, and II Is unreasonable to expect one
30 ret through the antiquarian rechduGg which
Dr. Dasent now serves up.
AS for Mrs. Faw ,ett's book, am in doubt what
TO make o1if. When a lady VINO never writes at
all unless she writes with purpose, and who has
lately published q series OF tales for the young,
designed 10 Illustrate and enforce certain prime
truths In economic science, condescends to give
US novel. IT 10 natural 10 look for some pur.
Janet Doncastcrr is meant chiefly 10 warn
society against the mischief which match
making mammas and aunts or the mischier which
family drunkenness may work. "Janet Doncas-
teri may either be a temperance tale or society
tale, or, lastly, it may be tale written TO ex-
pose the evil effects OF the Institution OF marriage.
Janet Doncaster is q strong minded young woman,
OF considerable personal attractions who Is IN
duced TO marry gay patrictan tMr. Charles
Leightonl OF great wealth, but q hereditary
drunkard In ignorance OF what his relatives
amiably call his constitutional weakness This
weakhess-namely excessive addiction to the
brandy bottle, manifested itself within fortnight
after the marriage. His wife is disgusted, leaves
him. refuses his money, and makes her living
BY transatng French. All this while she ID Sc
cretly loved by the gentleman VINO has acted rs
her husbands secretary, MT Forsyth. But as Mr..
leighton will not die she cannot marry him.
Eventually Mr.. Leighton drinks himself TO death,
the lovers are united, and Janet DoDcas-
ter is happy. Sucn IS the subject OF pretentious.
dull and ill-vritten story which can excite no
interest and serve no end.
we are suffering from quite an outbreak OF Sec
ond and third rate poetry. Within the last month
Professor Nichol mas given 10 the world complete
edition OF the works OF the leader OF that mob
once known as the spasmodic school,
SYDNEY DoBELL.
In his exceedingly clever satire "Frmilian''
Professor Aytoun, who, with Mr.. Theodore Mar
tin, wrote the "Bon Gualtier Baadsn has
sketcned the salient charact eristics or these
hysteric bards and mas caricatured most happily
the violent imitation of their language, the
artificial hyperbole OF their metaphors, their
stralning after poctical erect and metrcal sensa-
tion, their assumption OF phiosophic profundity,
their endless iteration OF words ana their weari-
some repetition OF refrains sydney Dooelps
wrtings-bis "Balder.r his Roman and his
ballads s-are all marked BY these faults. He has
sore eloquence, It is true; he Is not without
fancy and Imagination. But In the exercise or
those gifts ne denes alike taste ana sense.
The chief OF little coterie OF halfeducated
young men In Edinburgh some tweny-nv
years ago Mr. sydney Doben was greeted as the
founder of school, though the real founder OF
the spasmodic school was +. Bailey, the author OF
"Festus.n Among his followers was the late Alex
ander smith, and the result OF their friendship was
that Alexander Smith gave up the honest but pro-
sale industry by which he made his living, and
f,Iror "A alx,T rafD Dnr
He never got any great distance. He wrote
neither better nor worse than sydney DobeIl. Like
Sydney Dobel he was puned into notice by the
Atheneunl. In the words ofJohn Watson he went
M ike a rocket and came down like a stick,
The spasmodic school was an organized literary
imposition which has long since been found out,
and now that Mr.. Dobell's poems are collected and
published It is improbable that iney should md
readers.
Something ike the attempt which was made In
the case OF sydney Doben BY the AthenGum is
now being made by othG critical Journals in she
case OF
Mr.. W. b. SCOTT,
who has just given us q daintily printed and
bound volume, which he is modestly sanguine
win be recognized as "nis credentials TO be con-
sidered a poet.u Mr.. Scott IL an artist, aged
stxty-two, the friend OF Dante Gabriel Rossetti,
OF Algernon Charles Swinburne and OF william
motifs. To the trio he dedicates his book. The
illustrations are By Mr.. Scott himself and N.
Ama-Tadema. One or two are pretty; but for the
most part they are ugly, scratcny etchings. The
verses them. elves are the approved jingle OF the
pre- -Raphaelte school. and with the members OF
that community they will ind approval,
aud with no one else. Among other
cent contributions TO modern poetry /
may mention = little voiume Of posthumous
ner work, never fulfilled IN her early womannood
tue promise OF ner giflnood; "Interleaves in the
working Prose OF Twenty Years. selection OF
inndel melodies, by Mr. Percy Grey; Aurora"
by, ! bencve-though published anonymously
Alaric watts and his vie, and containing much
that pretty and one or two things that are beau
tiiul. Ihave omitted 10 mention
Mr.. swINBURNE's NEW VOLUME
'ssongs Of Two Nations nothing OF which, how.
ever, now sees the light for the first time. The
odes to Italy and France were published some
years ago in the Fortnf0htv Rerfe,c. The sonnots
called .Divorcer were printed in the rdminsr.
weekly newspaper, think, IN 1874.
In the department OF
MISCELLANEOUS BOOK LITERATURE
we have, OF course. Macready's "Reminiscences,r
book which. though IL has been over reviewed
and overrated. IS not less interesting than vol
umes containing personal gossip OF eminent
men and popular fsvorites usually are, and the
nrst volume OF the Lite OF Loru Shelburne,"
which is disappointing, as It throws no new light
upon the secret history OF English statesmanship
in the Georgian era. UnquestionaoIy it's
THOMAS CARLYLE.
20 whom the irst place VIII oe given Ia public in
terest. His new book. The Earlv Kings OF Nor
way mas twoiod fascination-nrst, as coming
rom The pen OF the author OF "TIero worsnip ~
second, rs written IN mis- most characteristic
manner. Tue style shows no decline OF force or
nre, and the theme is one wnicn the author must
have found certainly congenial. To conquer some
part Of Chaos for Cosmos TO dlruse discipline, TO
subdue the rebellion, 70 organize communities--
SUCH as Mr. CaryIe's reauers know, Is the highest
function which the greatest OF men con fuldl, ana
that was the mission which the Norwegian kings In
their way discharged. Living at time when
their country was emerging fromthe sorder aud
anarchy OF Darbarsm TO the settled condition OF