Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1889-10-12
BOOKS AND AUTHORS.


A HARDY NoRsEMAS, by Edna Lyall,
author of Donovan" ave Two" etc. ID.
Appleton 4 Co., New York.
al was one
To whom the touch OF ali mischsnce but came,
To him that sitting on hill
Sees the midsummer, midnight Norway sun
Set into SUNRISE"
Frithiof Talck, the "Hardy Norscmsn,"
of Miss Lyslrs last book, had many mis-.
fortunes before he was able to quote these
words of Tennyson's. In the tale the
authors desire was not TO tell US Of the
struggles Of the lower class, the hungry or
destitute, the people that the missions
and the many charitable societies reach,
not Of the class who are educated TO
q point which makes them infinitely
more sensitive than those of the slums,
the shop women and men, those whose
life is one weary struggle for existence.
Miss Lyall has the especial gin Of bringing
the aspect of her characters, their move
ments and surroundings, before tho eye !;
each scene is portrayed with such graphic
accuracy, che quiet and peaceful Norwegian
life, the hurry and rush of the London
world, and again the romantic and pic
turesque Norseman. Frithiof Is a hero
whose faith in love, both human and d.
vine, had been crushed out of him by
great wrong, and whose troubles arc not
all crowded into six or eight months, but
cover q period Of five years; one reads
with interest the way Miss Lyall builds up
his character, how after each hardship ho
is more capable of meeting the troubles
which seem TO roll In on him one after an
other.
But we must give just praise TO her
heroines, for both Sigrid and Ceril are not
to be passed over without remark. Sigrid
with her quie, common sense, her ready
sympathy and her brave and helpful man
ner towards her brother, and Ceril, with
her love for Frithiof which she so well
concealed all through those gloomy times |;
in fact, all of tho characters are well drawn,
and by a person who one feels must havo
In her own life gono through some Of tho
phases which she so well describes TO us.
Miss Lyall evidently has a great fond
ness for her first hero, Donovan, and cam
not bear the thought Of parting from him,
for he constantly reappears In her later
novels, as In a Hardy Norseman, but no
doubt I'm time she will be forced to do TO
him as Thackeray did TO his pet hero; ono
day friend, who noticed him walking
along the street crying, inquired what was
the matter. He answered, "I have killed
Colonel Ncwcome."
FRANKLIN SQUARE soSa COLLECTION,
No. o, two hundred songs and hymns,
Brother, New York
Il 1nff. ,c
too well known for thorough aud excellent
work TO mako any praise of this book
necessary. and It will be enough to say that
No. il quito equal to the well known
preceding numbers, and the short literary
and musical essays, with which the pages
are filled out, add greatly to the valuo and
interest of the collection. The eye runs
down this list of songs so slowly by reason
of meeting old friends that it will not do 10
mention any in particular, and no one who
cares at all for singing can fail to be pleased
with the collection. Those who do not sing
are referred to eight good reasons why they
should, which arc quoted from book OF
1883, on the back of the title page. The
third of these reasons may appear most
G'reillc TO the songless, at doth strengthen
al past, of the breast and doth open the
pipe.
FIsHIS' JIMMIE by Annie Trumbul
Slosson, with illustrations by q. +. Il. ant
A. +. b. Anson u. F. Randolph & Co.
New York.
Annie Il. Slosson has given shor
pathetic tale of Fishin' Jimmy, a man who
had spent his whole life among the hill,
around Franconia Valley, whose constant
and dearest companions were the birds ant
fishes. But there was one thought tha
troubled Fishn' Jinny-ho wanted to be
"fisher of men " from the day he had heart
"the preacher from the city" telling of oul
| Lords life among the Galilean fisherman
| The author has drawn touching pictur,
| of the mans desire to help his fellow
men, and finally the sad death of thi
| humble and good man.
s|s
Professor Edward Arber, tho editor o
| Old Books, says the story of Pocahonta
| is absolutely true. "Nobody doubted it til
1866, when Charles Deane started the pres
ent scepticism on tho point. Henry Steven
believed Smith implicitly, and he is tn
greatest authority of our age. Before
edited Smiths works l knew OF all thi
doubt; and went coolly and warily int,
the matter, determined to find out tn
truth Bit by bit the evidence accumulate,
until the honesty of statement and higl
character of the Lincolnshire captain cam
| out refulgently. OF Pocahontas' existenc
| and services 10 the English colony no MAJ
doubts. The question is, Did she rende
this peculiar service TO Smith? No on
was present there but himself. Did h.
invent II atterward? Was he "a liar gener
ally7 Certainly not. In my reprint man,
greater hairbreadth escapes than that ar
recorded In his life and in later Indiai
stories captive men have often been save,
from death by Indian squaws. Such a.
incident is almost commonplace. So. ate
most rigorous test, I was happy to be
love that the Pocahoniu, = ~ Is not
myth, like the William Tell one, but
solid, historical fact"
| .%s
| BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, by John T. Morse
ir., author of Life of John Adams" ALI
Of Thomas Jefferson" otc., Houghton
Mifllin Il Co., Boston and New York.
Benjamin Franklin, by John Il. Morse
forms another volume in the "America
Statesman Series" The author apologize
for venturing to sketch Frankin's life ate
Parton's excellent work and Franklin
autobiography, which to this day not onl
remains one of the most widely reat
books in our own language but has III
distinction of enriching the literature c
nearly every other. Mr.. Morse's excus
for writing this book is that without II lii
Franklin this series would have appeare
as absurdly imperfect as a library {
English fiction with Scott or Thackera
absent from the shelves" But why nee
any excuse be given for writing of thi
Cnlalrafnl W hnLa