St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1895-06-14
LITERARY Y.

/
Davis, is a charming southern story,
told in a pleasing style, which holds
the readers attention until the last
page. Anexplanation of the title will
doubtless be welcome to those who
want to know what the Man-Fig"
is This was the appcllation given to
an enormous old hg-tree, whose
gnarled and knotty branches over
hung one corner OF an abandoned
door.yard," under which some of the
male gossi ps OF the town OF Thornham
were in the habit Of meeting to talk
over the affairs OF the place, and rack
their neighbors' regulations. The
web of The story hangs upon the
thread twisted under the man fig,
suspicion brcathed against a good
man, and circumstances so Wiley con-
splred to make that story seem true
and be believed by the community,
that the lite Of Van Herring and his
family was poisoned. The characters
are strongly sketched, and very en-
joyabIc humor permcates the book.
The JOlibois dancing academy de-
serves to rank with some OF Dckcns'
ever memorable creations, and Lib
erty, the faithful old slave, and willing
SlrvitOr after the war, Will win Il
place for himself with every new
reader. Mrs. Davis has not made
her villains abhorrent, they were
simply foolish and weak,-a mans
Idle babblng caused all the suffering.
Russian Rambes," by Isabel +.
Hapgood, is a book opened with
some mlsgivlngs, Russian names
present lorbiddlng aspect and augur
tresome reading, but soon after start
ing on trip between the yellow GOV
erS OF this handsome volume, one has
a pleasant feeling that ii is really eX-
ceedingly interesting. and resolves to
settle down tor a ltlsurely peruSal OF
the thirteen descriptive articles which
are SO well brought together, Miss
HapgOod, who is a native OF Worcrs'
ter, we believe, first became interested
in Russia through the literature of
that country. She studied the Ian.
guage aSsiduously for two or three
years. and then began the work OF
translation. Later she went to Rus
sia, travelling extensively, but max
ing her longest stay at St. Petersburg.
In introducing her book to the public
she saws, 1t has seemed to me that
there is room for book which shall
impart an idea OF few of the oidi-
nary conditions of lite and of the
characters of the inhabitants, illus
trated by opposite anecdotes from my
own personal experience. She sets
out to clear away many mlsappre-
tensions about Russia and Russian
customs, and having had personal
experience OF the matter, she speaks
whereof she knows, and makes a
good story OF it too. The table OF
contents will give the seeker for in
formation regarding the scope of the
book better idta of what is treated
of than anything else, so here it is:
Passports, Police, and Post Office in
Russia; The Nevsky Prospekt; EN-
perience with the Russian Censor;
B rgaining in Russia; Experiences ;
Russian Summer Resort; A Stroll
in Moscow with Count Tolstoy
Count ToIstoy at Home; A Russian
Holy City; A Journey on the Volga
The Russian kumys Cure; Moscow
Memories; The N,zhni,Novgorod Fair
and the Volga. a pretty good pro-
gramme this, aud each number we'll
rendered. The style is SIMPLE and
chatty as a general thing, but occa-
siOnaIIy our author scars above the
ordinary and becomes quite eloquent,
as when speaking OF Those marvel.
Gus white nights when darkness
never de>cendSto depth beyond the
point where it leaves all objects with
natural forms and colorS, and only
spirItualizes them with the gentle
vagucness of a translucent vail.
Space forbids the giving OF many
interesting extracts, so those who
would widen their horizon must pro-
cure the book and read tor themselves.
Under the Man-Fig and Russian
Rambles are both published by
Messrs. Houghton, Mtflln & Co., OF
Boston, who never turn out anything
but welImade and artistic books.
Miss Julia Magruder, whose story
of " The Princess Sonia" in the Cen
fury, is attracting such favorable
comment, has given her new novel to
the Ladies Home Journal. 1t is
called The Violet" and deals with
the question of second marriage. MIR.
{. d. Gibson, the illustrator, is max
ing a series of pictures tor the novel.
Times are improving, but still we
must all retrench Formerly wecould
afford to subscribe for halt a dozen
newspapers and magazines. Now we
must get along with two or three
Our home paper we must have-can'
get along without that anyhow. We
always found a good dealt in the other
papers and magazines that we didn'l
especially care tor. If we could just
get good weekly journal that woulc
give us the cream OF all these othel
papers and magazines, the thing.
best worth reading and preserving
we could save both money and time
and still keep up with the world
doing and thinking. Well, you cal
get just such journal-Public Opin
ion nnhlished In New Nnrk o. "