The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1875-02-27
Literary Notes

Literary Notes.
"Paul Massey" novel which made hit in
England, anonymously. some few years since,
now proves to have been written by Justin Nc
Carthy.
A Shakespearean relic of a singularly curious
kind has come to light. 1t is a fragment of an
edition of the first part of Henry the Fourth,
anterior to the one of 1893, which has hither-
to been always considered the first impression.
The text of this fragment preserves a word
which has been accidentally omitted in all the
subsequent editions
Mr.. Henry G. Bohn, OF London, whose well .
known series of libraries of standard works
has popularzed good literature throughout the
world, has retired from business Many col
lege students will entertain the kindliest feel
ings toward this publisher, whose "ponies"
have enabled then to ride easily over the man
fold difficulties of the Latin and Greek cassc+
In clever and original book Oh social life in
Greece, just published in London, Rev. j. z.
Mahaffy draws striking parallel between the
Athenians of the age of Pericles and the Eng
lish of to-day. The English in mode of thought
and special culture have no sympathy with
their ancestors of the middle ages, but much
in common with the Periclean age: 'The satire
and skepticism of our modern society, the de-
cay Of fixed belief, the omnipotence of free
discussion as shown by press and platform, the
rule of private interest over patriotism aud
sslf-sacrifce,-all these features would be very
congenial to the Greek, while they would shock
and perplex the crusader. Commerce and spec
ulation, debate and diplomacy would delight
A. ak
however, between the two periods, lies in the
different position of woman, now and then.
Mr.. Mahaffy shows that the high civilization
of Athens was behind its ruder age, the Ho-
meric, in this respect. In the time of Pericles
woman could do no business, make no will, and
was put under her sous guardianship when
widow; in fact the woman of responsibility was
absolutely devoid of influence, and ''the edu-
cation and admiration of which she was de-
prived were the exclusive lot of the Aspasias of
the day. This clause is from the Atheneum,
which does not seem to accept the recent re-
habilitation of Aspasia. 3l tHt
The Indian papers announce the death, at
Agra, of Mr.. /. 7. Pritchard, author of Eng
lish Administration in India, one of the dri-
est of books, and ''The Chronicles Of Bulge
pore, one or the most am using
Vice President Wilson expects to finish the
third and last volume of his Slave Power his
tory next summer. tGfl au
The Concord Centennial will form the SUBJ
ject of two papers in Harper's Magazine for
May and June. Frederick Hudson will write
the first, on the Concord fight, which will be
issued just in time for the celebration, and will
be illustrated with fac-similies of the MSS
of Emerson's famous hymn, at the previous
celebration, and of part of Longfellow's "Paul
Revere" In the following number Miss II. r.
Hudson, niece of the writer of the first article,
will have a paper on Concord books, which
will be illustrated with portraits of the writers
who have made the little village famous, pic
lures of the interiors of their homes, and views
of the new Concord library building.
The Tribune finds the charm and justifca-
| ton of the Biic-a-Brac volumes inlthe natural
desire we all feel to discover a common ground
on which we can stand with the great dead.
Even Thackeray," it remarks, ''is already al
most myth to the incoming generation-a
| power rather. than man, who with keen
scalpel dissected human nature to the very di-
viding of bone and marrow; but when we hear
him chanting Little Billee, or see the tears roll
over his face as he bids his little girls goodbye,
we shake hands with him at once across the
gap of years, and stand side by side with him
thereafter, and are sure that we too, had some
thing to do with the Icreation OF DObbn, and
were old friends once with Thomas Newcome. 3"
"The Swiss Family Robinson" was written
by Johann Rudolph Wyss, a Swiss preacher
and published at Zurich, in 1912. He was born
at Berne, 1881, and died in 1850. A short con-
| tinuation of the work was written by Jeanne
Isabella Pauline, Baronne de Montalieu, and
| published in Paris, 1924.
So goes the rumor in London, Mr.. Hayward,
| who has just written down the Greville Me-
moirs, did so at the instigation of and after in
terviews with Queen Victoria; and Mrs.
Guelph" too, is said Ito have convinced Mr..
| Reeve that he'd better print no more of his
| notes. All which, of icourse, does not exactly
stop the sale of the already published portions
The seventh volume of the Little Classic sis
Romance, and contains The Story of Iris, from
DIR. Holmes Professor at the Breakfast Table;
The Roscrucan. by Miss Muloch; The South
Breaker, by Harriet Prescott Spofford; The
Snow Storm, by John Wilson C'ChristOpber
North") and The King of the Peak, by Allan
Cunningham. This volume will make the
charming little series yet more popular.
Mr.. Charles G. Leland has in the press a
work entitled Fu-Sang. or the Discovery of
America by Chinese Buddhist Priests in the
Fifth Century 1t win be published in London
and New York simultaneously.
Leslie Stephens essays on books and authors
Hours in Library, the sixth Brio a-Brac vol
ume, on Moore and Jerdan, with four of the
Maclise portraits: the French Revolution in
the Epochs of History series, with President
Whites appendix of courseIof study; and "A
new cheaper edition of Craiks English Ian
guage, in two volumes, 12mo, will be published
next week by the Scribners.