Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1883-11-09
LITERARY n0sTON.
What Authors and Publishers are Do
Ing.


Ing.
BosToX. Nov. 8.
To The. Editor OF the Free rr's, ard Tines.
Il ,raqspres that the unsuosu agtior Of
the absurd srial "A Castle In SPAIN In
Hdrpey's N0athLy was James DrMillc. That
is not m item of Boston news, and | mem
tion it Only because happen to he among
the 81 told YOU sos" and want it put on ra-
cord. That dona to return to my lcsitjmat,
field, Lee & Shepard have ssiicl two more
juveniles this time Of undisgusci fiction.
Oliver Optic begins it with 'Sllg llorbor,'
being the second volume Of u new series
which promises to hc Of son" valrc. lie
has seen the error Of Amcricnn ways, ani
ahvocnics In this manner the cause Of in,!ua
trial schools as opposed to high schools, 10
the hope that there may be more tkill.t.
workmen and less dry goods clelks. 1t
is in his usual style, except that
his heavy villain is rather too i'm.
probably unreasonable even for Il spoilec.
boy. That is fault Of his, of late. j. r.
Trowbridgc comes next with his story, re-
printed from the ToutNs Companion, "Ph..
and his Friends" That 1t appeared there Al
all is proof positive as to i's excellence, mpr.
ally and intellectually. Trow.Iidge is at the
top of the ladder, SO far as Juvenile storicsare
concerned. No one can look down at him,
unless it may be Miss Alcott. When an
hllODT Cun COinnl0u tnCpt lnluSuNl ufllldTb
for a serial in the St. Nicholas, aud then have
the right of republication besides, there are
not many that Can cl'im equality, and that is
what both the above mentioned writer's have
received. The present one. "Phil, - is very
good, but not the best of his boys stories.
His second best. however. Is still above The
| first of many aE other.
Rev Dr. Manning publishes through the
Lothrops very thoughtful little book, mot
Na,, l,,N sc III y 10
sermon as a witness to the good which the
Bible has done to nations as well as TO indi-
viduas, and a calm setting forth of its right
to claim an inspired origin. Written in the
even, Christian spirit Of man sure of his
ground, it is a book for the syman rathc:
han the lheoogian, Of one who would rather
lead men than drive them. Roberts Bros
have issued ''Indian Idvls," hy Edwi-
Arnold. whose "Light of Asia made such
stir. This is much the same in some ways
and quite unlike it in others. TO It identso'
the Orient it will be highly interesting, Civ
ing rs it does, translations of some Of tho
gems OF Indian poetry. The first selection
bears singular resemblance to the old Creek
myth of Orpheus aud Eurydicc, only in this
case it is the quecnly wife that follows Death
and quotes poetry and wise soyi'gs so Gu
chautn.lY that he grants her frs, one price
| less boon and then another, and ally yields
|
| life without the sacrifice Of her own,-a vast
y more satisfactory ending than that OF the
Greek myth, though perhaps not 50 PIC
turesque. 1t is pity that the poem is too
long to quote as it is very quaint and pretty.
They also announce The Story If My
Heart bv Richard Jeiferies n bloi some
thing after the style Of the Little Pilgrim"
Osgood & Co. have issued T. II. Under.
woods life of Whittier, which is not ut all ilk-
la,
but it is scholarly resume of the poets life
and times ond tia is well worth reading.
Underwood was evidently in position tc
judge, and has done his work well. He has
told much that was new, omitted title that
was important, and really gives n good idea
of the man Whittier as well AS the writer
winding up with a neat little bit OF persona
acquaintance by Nora Perry. There al
several illustrations, which do not q. all come
to my ideal ; and portrait that docs not givc
some idea Of the length Of the man, or ol the
long, stalking gait So different from the
dapper patter of Holmes little feet, or the
stately step of LOpgfellow must fail of i'm
pressing the personality, Of the man upon
the eye-almost an impossibility, by ia.
way. But that is no reason for such atrocl
ties.
They have also issued an old story of MIS-.
Burneit's in a new dress, like that other
| WIlh VI H'lS, Ht ill lDhlHhlihi, SuN-
cess If which under its new influences doubt
less had something to do with the issuing o.
this, although It is its own excuse. Dolly"
was the name, "Nagabondia, ii is called now,
"And Will not deny
With respect 10 the same
What the name might Imply
for it is delightfully."- bohemian t. til
very marrow, with a cJmmnis.ic way
of sharing bits of personal pror'
erty around among the members OF
the family that will strike many a. strangely
homelike. Dolly's experiences are very
pleasan' reading. as they doubtless were dis
tressng living, some Of it beng pathetic 10 Il
degree. | like Mrs. Burnett in these fs
novels best. The later one may be more at
tistic and scholarly, hut tLer- is Il Inc beyond
which it is not safe to 80 in TINT direction
and there is also such a thing as over. work.
She has been fortunate in being able to lie
these earlier works from lhe hands ot the
spoler aud to repubish them unier her "wn
eye, rewriting such parts as she deems hes.
She has rather a curious tas'c IN names, ny
the way "Esmeralda,' louisiana Va
nbondia.'
And now come to a book which | mu
approach reyerently, or not at all. for surrey
!. no work Of recent times has touched on tn
after.lte so freely, and in 81 intensely rsl a
way as This new book Of Miss Phrlps, 'B,
, youd the Gates" of which llonshtpn, Mf
nn & Co, sold the whole Of vely large
edition in advance Of public t'ipn. II u had
been written in another are from ours
should have sail, THIS womsn has seen
God and speaks from him ~ She TEL. III
story simply IN a style almost chill Hike M i
simplicity and dreCtness of purVoS-, wiring
MS woman of forty who had lived Ill
varied in IFS experience, and who was no"
down with brain fever. The scenes At
home during her Illness are given with
strong undercurcnt Of pathos, until she
awnkes and beholds her father long since
dead, sitting in the window lie tells her
to come to him, AMI she goes and with him
out into tie winter night. Then comes the
revelation of another world than this, one
not SO different il many ways as
to preclude the thought that 4
is but step in evolution.
But II gives TO men new theology, aud
new heaven one that is not down ia the
books She is directed to return home aud
does so and comforts her relatives IN many
unseen ways and returns after the funeral to
find that her father has prepared a house for
AMI is waiting the coming OF her mother, all
, of which is minutcly described. She finds
her dead lover there at last, aud has appar-
emily achieved unutterabe happiness, when
she finds herself still living, and the 7ak-
ening is bitter, indeed. Il is simply imposs-
! bic TO do justice TO this in the brief space OF
a literary letter. 1t deserves an essay by
, itself. When finished 1t, late at night,
I seemed to have been under spell, an listen
ing to some grand sermon Of overm s,ering
truths whose solemn notes Of calm and mas
4 sivc strength swellei in a mighty food that
I swept away all igmentS of false sight aud lett
> conviction. | doubt if there hes been a
purer, h'er heaven portrayed by mortal
: man aul from the great army Of the weary
- hearted v i'll throb an answering cry. "ftiS
I is the he zen that have sought sought 81
long. TpAe us, too, that we may he 2 rest, "