The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1878-10-12

after his death by his son-n.law j. G.. Lockhart
lin ponderous volumes, containing about al
there was to be said on the subject. Subsequent
ly an infringement was prepared 10y Mr. Lock
hart, in Il volume of 500 closely printed octav
pages The volume before us processes 10 b
simply IN abridgcmcnt of the abridgcment, an,
presents us u view of the great poet and novel;.
in duodccimo volume of $50 pages. To tn
average reader doubtless this is quite enough.
tells us about SCOTS parcntagc and childhood
his youthful studies and neglect Of study; hi
disappointed love; his marriage; abandonment
of the law and choice Of poetry; his success an
resultant wild pccunary dreams and reckless
ness; the foundation Of Abbotsiord with Dor
rowcd money; the production of the Waver
novels, and failure OF the publishing firm Of JOIN
and james Ballantync with which hc unwiscl
connected himself and an unwisely attempted t.
control; his ruin in consequence, both in fortune
and health and his dying struggle to retriev,
his fortune until his death in 1892 and the pay
mcnt, II years after heath out Of the copyrgh
profits of his works, of the remaining liabilities
upon Abbotsford All this is told with us mucl
clcarness and detail by Mr. Hutton as the com
mon reader will care for. He also varies SO fal
from the beaten track of Mr., Lockhart rs to dc
justice to the Balantyncs, whom Lockhart had
treated with great injustice. The abridgemcnl
would have been incomplete without an attempt
also, to give some account Of SCOTS genius and
to weigh the critical value Of his works, and in
this one is not surprised to lind Mr.. Hutton again
dcvating from the too partial estimate Of the
son.in.law biographer and critic but while hio
criticisms are in the main fair and judicious they
are commonplace and crude by the side Of the
searching yet friendly analysis Of Ruskin, or the
mcisivc aud ,cyercr criticism Of Carlyle. The
book, however, is all it processes to be and ad-
mirably fills the niche in literature for which ii
was intended.
The Primrose PATH. \ chapter in the Annals
of the Kndom of Fife. BY Mrs Oiphant, al-
thor of The Chronicles of Carlingford, -
agnes" Miss MajOribanks,' &c. Harper
IL Brothers, New York Jansen, McClurg Il Co.,
Chicago; Osman " Hapeman, Ottawa. Price
30 cents.
Few novelist, Of this generation so volumnous
have written so uniformly well as Mrs. Oliphant.
The Library Of Select Novels" Of the Harpcrs
contains some thirty of her stories, yet in that
vast collection, now numbering over 60Ovoumes,
few stories are greater favOrites than "The Chro-
niccs of Carlingford," "The Athclings,' 'Lucy
Crofton," or dozen Of others we could name Of
Mrs Oliphant's In the story under review she
has lost none of her grace and purity Of style,
her elevated morality or keen analysis of human
motives and ambitions, though there is noticea-
Bile, as with most writers of fiction MS they ad-
vance in life, growing tendency TO prolixity
and morazng, that is at times Il WEAKNESS to tue
reader. The characters, however, are drawn with
wonderful vividncss aud individuality, and the
plot is well managed to the close Though far
from Mrs. ELEPHANTS best story, few other novel
lists Of the day have produced its equal
BLUSH Roses. Novel yClara Francis Morse.
iarpcrs ~ Brothers, New York; Jansen, Ne
Clurg ~ Co., Chicago; Osman II IIapeman, OF
tawa. Price 80 cents
This appears as No. Z in Harpers' American
Fiction series, and its appearance there is no
small attestation of its merit 1t introduces us
To bright group of girls-American, English,
German and French-hrst at II school in Paris
and afterwards in society at Dresden. The reader
is not expected TO fall in love with the French
girls, who are rather frivolous and unprinc-
pied, and therefore soon dismissed; the English
girl is staid and sensible, the American girl de.
cidedy lively; but the German girl is the sweet
csta and lovclicst, and therefore the heroine She
Is the subject OF Il rather weak conspiracy on the
part OF her guardian, the heavy villain" Of the
story, to marry her to his own relative, in which
he Is defeated and the lady is happily welded to
the choice of her heart. The plot is SO simple rs
scarcely to deserve the name, but the story is
lively and clever and pcrvadcd by thread Of
real sentiment.
CnuMs. Sntircal Sketch. BY Howard McSher.
rs. Jersey CITY: Chas. :. Clark, jr., Publisher
For sale by Osman * llapcman, Cash IL Co.,
and +. Y. Griggs, Ottawa.
Rodcrick lhurston is the hero of this story and
he is Il young lawyer as yet without a brief Kate
Preston is the heroine, the daughter of IL well-to
do retired business man of the Quaker CITY, and
the scene is ut the Delaware Water Gap, sup.
posed TO be summer resort somewhere on the
borders of New Jersey. Thurstom is in love with
Kate and Kate thinks there is no other fellow
like Thurston, but distrcsscs him beyond meas
urc by her persistent ayownls that she will never
no ncvcr-marry anybody. A bogus count is
introduced to pcrsOnutc the heavy villain, and
Ned Watson pirouctcs as the Mercutio OF this
vivacious drama The story has no plot that We
can discover The heroine rather aiircte the
strong minded female and makes some very
drcary speeches accordingly. but no more dresry
than Ncd's supposed salcs of wit. A hesrtle.s
book agent lures the hero ON II bootlc.s visit W
town, but ON his return to the Gap" he Is made
happy by finding the lady quite resigned TO her
fate, and the curtain drops with the witty Ned
eXclaiming in a Scrio.comic tone, Happy, hap
p hour. This agony is over at last" And the
reader will heartily rcpond, "Amen"
The TRAMP: Ills Tricks, Folies and Tell Tales
with all His Grips aud Passw ords Exposed BY
an Elk Tramp. Edited by Frank Bellcw. With
Illustrations. New York, Dick * Fitzgerald.
Ottawa: For sale by Osman ~ liapeman. Price
- cts
The tramp as an institution in this country is
still too new and his presence too disagrccablc
and commonplace fact 10 admit largely Of
casing about him the glamour Of poetry and ro-
nance. \ century hence, perhaps, when under
the benign influence of better times the race shall
died aud tlrir li.t,r,. t..,,,,.. . 4 a..