The Portland daily press., 1878-03-16
SATURDAY MORNING, MARCH le,
printers hands. This volume covers TIL

MI S"inourne new series OF Poems ana
Ballads will appear almost Immediately. There
are flfty-four poems, original and translated.
Several have been written during Mr.. SWIM
burne's present stay in Scotland, among them
dedicatory verses to Captain Richard Burton.
"Rococo" is the the title which Messrs. Rob
erts Brothers have selected for their No Name
volume of original and hitherto unpublished
poetry by the best of our poets. 1t promises to
be work of great literary interest. Not only
American but English poets will contribute to
thlsinew guessing game of authors.
In the next number of st. Nicholas, Mrs.
Mary Mapes Dodge will have poem entitled
The Man Who Didn't Know Where to Stop;''
Lizzie Champney tells Chow to Get to Paris;"
Clsrence Cook contributes a household article
for the children, and there is an abundance of
other mattoer Interest to the young folks
The Rev. Mr. Cook asks what Colonel Inger-
soil, "a serious man of age meant by coming
into the field of controversy witt bows and
arrows whitfield by Paine in the last century.
This style OF attack was as much out of date as
windmill where a steam engine should be
employed. He believed Mr.. Moody represented
the West better than Ingersoll"
The era of csrpet-bag government in the
South had some picturesque phases, of which
Miss Constance Fenimore Woolson avails her.
self in story called King David in the April
number of Scribner's Monthly. Bret Harte
contributes story, and Mr.. George B. Pres
colt in an illustrated paper describes the tele-
phone and the photograph.
In his recently published History of the
English People, Mr.. Green tells us that the
great work which Wat Tyler's rebellion set
before it was to purge the kingdom of lawyers.
mot till all these were killed would the land
enjoy the old freedom again." All lawyers
who were taken were killed and their new inn
was burned down.
The Dickens dictionary, which was published
in this country years ago by the predecessors of
Houghton, Osgood & Co., has come to the no.
tice of Charles Dickens, the son of the author
and he has found the book SO valuable that it
is now being reprinted in England. 1t has a
full list of all the characters in Dickens's
novels, with references to the places where
they appear.
M. Adolphe Belot, the popular French
novelist in his last romance painted the
African King Mounza, and toward the
end of the Volume made the savage die
in very dramatic manner. Curiously
enough he has just received from NJ de
Lesseps letter saying that Mounza has per-
ished in an expedition against neighboring
nation, and that his death in all its circum.
stances agreed perfectly with the imaginary de-
tails described by NJ Belot.
The literary critic of the New York Times
says of Joseph Cook: MIR. Cook has yet to
show that he can carry all his weight of learn
ing lightly like flower and keep level head
In this country he has certainly done more
than any man of his generation to stimulate
religious thought and turn tie rising rational
ism of the day in the direction of positive re-
ligion. If he shall prove himself, in his own
grasp of the truth and in the wisdom with
which he teaches it. to be able to lead men to a
reasonable belief in Christianity, which is the
evident purpose of. his lectures, he will accom-
plish great and lasting work. He has certain
ly been able, in an unusual degree, to arrest
the attention of the general public.
The fairy tales of the late Hans Christian
Andersen have been translated into Arabic for
the benefit of the nomadc tribes of Bedouins
that roam about the outskirts of the great Sa-
hara. Mr.. Carlo Landberg, Dane, residing
in Upper Egypt, writes to Copenhagen paper
of the enjoy ment of the swarthy sons of the
desert when listening at their campfire to the
reading after the Oriental fashion, of the famil-
lar stories. The frequent comments and ex-
clamations. show that they appeal strongly to
the imagination of the listeners Of all, "The
Emperors New Clothes" appears to have made
the greatest hit, though the stupidity of "The
Sultan" seemed incomprehensible to a MAORI.
ty. An old sheik finally settled the question
by deciding that ga Sultan may be as big a
fool as anybody
During the latter part of last December the
Rev. Octavius Brooks Frothinghams Life of
Gerrit Smith was published by Messrs George
P. Putnam's Sons, and on Friday last that
firm announced that the biography had been
withdrawn from publication. The reason of
the suppression of the work, which was hailed
as noteworthy and valuable addition to Amer
lean biography, is the refusal of the family of
Gerrit Smith to accept as history the story Civ
en- by Mr.. rockingham of the great abolition
lists connection with John Brown. Mr.. Froth-
ingham explained the matter last night to a
Times reporter. The stereotype plates of the
biography, according to Mr.. rockingham, be-
long to Mrs. Miller, q daughter of Gerrit Smith
who lives in Geneva. By the terms of the agree.
ment between Mrs. Miller and the Messrs.
Putnam, either party had the right to with
draw within thirty days. If the owner of the
work wished to stop its publication she could
do so by acquaintng the publishers with her
desire; and the publishers could send back the
stereotype plates whenever they chose within
the period of time specified. Mr. rockingham
said that he passed a great deal of time in COL
Letting materials for the biography; he lived
for time at the old homestead in Peterboro, and
worked slowly Either Mrs. Miller or Mr..
Cochrane, Mr.. Smiths nephew, could have
read the manuscript if either had desired to do
So As for the facts, Mr.. Frothngh ham saws
they are unimpeachable Gerrit Smith was
intimately acquainted, he insists, with John
Browns general plan. OF the particulars in
the harper's Ferry matter nobody but Brown
himself knew until after it was over.
Mr.. rockingham finds no difficulty in ex-
planning Smiths denial of his coz nection with
Brown. After the capture of the old warrior,
most of his associates fled to Canada. Gerrit
Smith was at Peterboro, toe ill to leave his
home. He had been suffering from a nervous
disorder and soon afterward he went to a pri-
vate asylum near Utica, where he passed
month. When he left the asylum the country
was still agitated about the John Brown raid,
Mr.. Smith denied specifically any knowledge
of the Harper's Ferry matter, and his
denial was literally true. But that was merely
incidental, and Mr.. Smith had thorough knowi.
edge of Mr.. Browns plans in general This
Is Mr.. Frothingham's explanation. Mr. f.
b. Ssnborn's Life of John Brown contains
statements which support Mr. Frothingham.
Only the first edition of the Life of Gerrit
Smith had been published, comprising one
thousand copies. These have nearly ali been
sold, SO that the book will become rare within
few months after it was given into the print
er's hands. Mr.. rockingham does not know
whether or not Mrs. Miller and Mr.. Cochrane
intend to buy up the copies of the work extant.
1t is probable that the public libraries are fnr.
uished with coDes, which will be jealously
guarded. Mrs. Miller did not demand the sun
preston of the volume until the second week in
February.-N. Y. Times.
R0nkS RpcpiVad