New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-12-23
NOTES on BOOKS.
THE GIRL OF THE PERIOD-MAGAZlNES
MISCELLANEOUS.

If"O ~ LONDON December |.
Mrs LYNN Linton lfls republiShcd IN two octave
volumes Bentley &, Sonl the Social Essays which
during many years past she has contributed 10 me
SATURDAY. Reriac The one which gives ITS name 10
these volumes is one of the most successful ESSAYS
of modern times. The Girl of the Period. Inc sur
which that singing satire made ut the time mas no"
vet heen forootten nor is it forgotten how holly the
nuestion of it's authorship was debated. MIS-. LIN
ton tells MS in her Preface that she twice intro
dpced TO the writer ofThe Girl of the Period. "Ihe
first time he was a clergyman who had boldly told
NV friends that he had written the paper; the
second she was q lady of rank well known IN Lon
don society and To this hour believed by her own
circle to have written this and other al tue afioeS
included in the present collection And yet u was
an article as Mrs. Linton truly says. which was
mich disked by many to whom women were inc
Sacred Sex above criticism and beyond rcDukc;
and many of her friends denounced 1t Is lbei ana
an untruth. 1t is a pity that Mrs. Linton does not
give us the dates when this and the other ESSAYS
were published The truthfnness OF the picture o'-
neuds ON the time when II was painted If, indeed
there were ever a time when IL was true. Society.
il is thought has been gong of late years from bad
% worse certain section of society, # not society
in general. And yet in reading this too famous
essay am disposed to think it as much too highly
colored as the face of the girl it is supposed to de-
,,ict There were and such girls and they are ot
the period, but they do not represent the period
They are not types; they are not the majority
Possibly Mrs. Linton's sweeping censnre on them
did something TO diminish their number.
There are other essays in these volumes qnite az
we'll worth reading ~ The Girl Of the PERIOD
Modern Mothers. The Epiccnc Sex, The Shriekihg
Sisterbood. and many another whose title seems Of
l,.,I b..fs tll tnN ma
than ever convinced that she has struck tho right
chord of condemnation and advocated the best vir
tines and most valuable characteristics of women.
To great extent she is perfectly right and the ser
vice she has done IN ridicung the ecccntrlcitcs Of
the modern strong-mindcd woman i'll pursuit 81
what she calls her rights deserves hearty ac-
acknowledgement. Says Mrs. Linton;
One of the modern phases of womanhnod-hard,
nnloyipg merccuary, ambitious, without domestic
facnIty and devoid Of healthy natural instincts -it
still 10 me a ptiable mistake and grave national
disaster And | think now az ] Thought whcn
wrote these papers, that public ana professional
life for women is Incompatible with the discharge
of their highest duties or the cultivation 0I men
noblest qualities. ! think now, rs thought tlrn.
that the sphere Of human action IS drtcrmln"l nv
the fact of SEX and that there does exist both MAIN
raj limitation and natural direction Tins creed
which summarizes all that have SAID ~ c''"so,
| repeat with emphasis. aud maintain with the con-
| victiOn of long years of experience.
There is no lack Of courage of sincerity in that.
There il possibly there is In the essays too much
of that emphasis which mere men sometimes stig-
Matte as feminine, and which is, whether feminine
Or masculine, a rhetorical bemish. But whatever
the blenishes these essays will still be found spicy
enough to please the most faded palate. Most of
them are still readable; and many Of them arc
sparkng and original in thought and treatment.
It has been remarked before now that the maya
zines are usurpng function which used to be- per-
H., r,,plt HON,
ready and sure way Of reaching audiences on any
urgent question of the day. The Housing of the
Poor question is of the most striking instances
of this new tendency toward setting up Magazine
Parliament | haze SAID all need say on these
articles in another letter, except that omitted 10
sneak Of Miss Octavia Hills contribution "a II de-
served That energetic lady is always ready with
new suggestions she Is with faithful work Ill the
most disageeabc fields, and nothing she has to say
can well be neglected.
Not quite in the same category comes the perform
ancc of Mr.. Alfre, Austen. The very oldest of all
the remedies for misery yet suggested his. in The
National RcUieO for December lie dscourses, In
that cock sure and er cdthedra which is his
specalty on Rich Mems Dwellings, explaining that
he means to include under this title rich mems
pcndture their comforts their luxury. their osten
tation IN a word their general manner of living.
He declares the principal cause OF the existing
social discomfort to be not 50 much the poverty OF
the poor or the limited wages of the industrious. as
the extraordinary and ever-waxing splendor Of the
1ch and the astounding Ostentaton Of the idle.
And what he proposes is that considerable number
OF the leaders OF English society should form them
selves into Company of Wise ana Reasonable
Men" should set their faces against profuse expend
| iture frown upon unbrdled luxury and vulgar and
offensive ostentation, and impose return to sim
pier and nobler ways upon their wives. their
| daughters their sons, and all who are dependent
| on them A faving would be the result and a sat-
plus and with this surplus of the Company of Wise
| and Reasonable Men would come the means Of abol
ishing rookeries, buying land and erecting dwell
ings 10 be let TO aborers and artisans at reason
able and yet sufficiently remunerativc rate And so
should the interference of the State and Government
Loans and all dangerous experiments Ill State SO
cialism become unnecessary. In short there to DO
| New Atlantis Mr.. Ruskin had very much the
same -colored views when lie founded the st.
Georges Society some ten years ago. But where is
the st. Georges Society," What has il donef
What ever came Of the splendid gifts Mr.. Ruskin
| himself made TO his own Utopiaf Mr.. Alfred
Austen's name il all but unknown to the world I'm
x,bfh NJ Puvtfn,s he haen honored lonQ before be