New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1884-02-23
LITERARY NOTES.

,l. consists and has consisted for many centuries
~ s;xtv wears. When Tennyson, therefore, OK
claimed BETTER fifty years of Europe than cycio
of Cathay" he was not saying much ior TuioP0'
Mr. Ercene schuyler's :" Peter the Great" now IN
The press of the Scribners. has IN the process VI
writing been greatly amplifed Since the o,'s 'n"i
nublioation of the work in serial form MI ocnuy'ei
has collected much new material wnich no n
woven into his two volumes. Tho beautiful Illus
trations which accompanied the text when II nrs'
appeared will be included in these volumes.
Sealed unto Him. is tho title OF Mormon
story" founded on facts"-whch Mr.. joaquin
Miller s about TO publish in The Springfield Republic.
The hero is a Mormon Elder, fanatical leader OF
tho Dan,tes and the story is tragical one.
"supdav under Three Heads" rare little tract
of Dickens's, is being reproduced IN 1ac-s'nlio ~
Jondon A COPY of the original edition cannot 10
bought for less than $50.
The limited large-paper edition OF Poes "orhS
which is to be brought out soon by y. T. u'n'"i
Sons will be in eight volumes the first volume APP
,,oar;ro in March The title of the edtion-the
"Amontillado"-is not particularly happy ont us
noke-up promises to be admirable. III VIII,
printed from new type on linen paper ana VIII ~
richly illustrated
Mlton,s vocabulary is put down at 7'ooo "oiuS'
are TO be found that number.
rhe hook Of poems by Mr.. Andrew Lang whlGh
,ho Ccrhners will soon publish is intended Ior 'ho
American market exclusively.
Tho Iopdon Spectator-whch some enthusiastic
,eaders have called the "best literary weekly IN inc
world r-recenty put itself IN an odd position L"S'
month # reviewed certain book WIN soIho sc
verify. limiting that the author had maze hoi'o,'
r;diculous and mentioning " the exceedingly loP"'
siye features of a novel which mas 10 a''i"''
onesD week or two ago 1t returned again " NV
subject and entirely ignoring its former reNlo"'
declared that the work was e very nVeiv s'oiS'
which we have read with much pleasure anu Ca"
recommend anyhow to Olderreaders ana that 'ho
effect of the book generally is good ana It's tone
sound and wholesome"
The persons who were reported one al'er 'no
other. to have written the much-talked-oi Oook Oh
Berlin society have all denied the authorship Vi tno
same.
The Daily Nelcs, of London, mentions that II was
found necessary to anghcse, almost 10 lhe "a
rewriting it, the dialogue of the play recently PIo-
drcod in that city by Mr. Brander Matthews, OF
New-York; and it refers to tins as renlark@"lo
nroof of the divergence of the everyday language
Of the two greatest English-speaking coun-
+;as in the world Perhaps" 1t adds-ln
donbtfpl grammar-the most remark
ohle instance of this divergence of language
"a that of the Englishman who was dumbfounded
nv statement made to him by one OF the pest
housewives in the state of Massachusetts, Sud
she; Il had a lovely gray squirrel qu'e cIeEcI
and cunning but one day it turned ugly ana pl'
me, How, was his first thought, could loVel'
squirrel turn ugly moments thought, however
Will tell anybody that ugly in NeW-En8iaHn IS
used in the same sense as that IN when we SUN
sneak of disagreeable, dangerous fellow as an
nglv customer, colloquial phrase III which an
otherwise obsolete sense OF the worn
survives among us. Clever and cum
Ming, also are used In the speech quoted
above in an entirely different sense from that I'M
derstood by us at present, with one exception a
clever hack which does not signify horse
which can perform circus tricks or even Jump cl7V
erlv but a handsome, aforementioned animal
'CnnninC' however, appears to be clear case o.
transatlantic imitation, for in the language spoken
I'm the Northern States it has nothing to do with
artfulness 1t signifies pretty, graceful, or engag-
inc and is applied to children. clever man is
in Roston parlance what a fine man is in New
York. fairly wellooking, genial, good-natured
and of high moral character, the latter quail
Ties being more distinctly connoted
lv fine, Ethan actual good looks All
This solemn explanation will be exceedingly divert
ing TO the American TO whom these uses OF the
words mentioned are nowadays unknown. Inc
fashion in which the average British Journahs
barps upon ancient and very cracked strings IS al
WAYS amusing as a remarkable instance OF learned
ignorance"
Tn n letter written by a friend of Byron and re
Gently printed for the first time appears TINS para
graph concerning the poets delight IN Scott work
"He was very fond of SCOTS nOvcls-yOu VIII nave
observeJ they were always scattered about his
island happened 10 receive copy Quentin Dur
ward which put into his hand, knowing that he
lad not seen il and that he wished to obtain the
ncrnsal of il. He Immediately shut himself IN hl'
room and in his eageruess to indulge in II, refuseo
70 dine with the officers of the Sth Regiment a.
their mess or even to join US at the table bu mere
lv came ont once or twice to say how much he was
entertained returning to his chamber with plate
of FIGS in his hand. He was exceedingly delighted
with Quentin Durward said ii was excellentes
pecally the first volume aud part Of the second On
that il fell OF toward the conclusion, IKE all th'
moro recent of these novels it might be, he added
owing to the extreme rapidity with when they
were extraordinarily conceived aud as well ex
ecnted at the outset but hastily finished OIL"
Mr.. John Dimitry is the author Of the short story
which has won the $500 prize offered by the pro
,retors of Seintoas Story teller. 1t is the painful
story of a Louisiana lcper; and though not in al
respects an artistic work il is powerful portIaya
of mental and physical suffering under the mos
horrfyiug of human maladios
lip. Fellows has written, and Cuppes, Uphan
& Co. will shortly publish, an account Of seyera
floating Trips Or New-England Rivers"
THE AMERICAN "ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITAIN
MICA"
HOW THE ORIGINAL Is IMPROVED"