The herald., 1896-08-23
MODERN FRENCH FICTION.

From recent criticism upon his coln-
try'S literature, M. Reinach has the fol-
lowing to say: 1.-THE output of fiction is
as considerable as ever; judging from
the booksellers lists. at least two or
three novels must be published per
diem. A large proportion of these evil
IDENTIFY ind their use almost Immediately
as grocers ba P2ping 2p5 II napsGs 99a A4t stl
lie of today nourishes itself with novels
as well as bread.
Zola's Rome heads the list, and NJ.
Reinach's criticism is so just that we
must quote the whole of it:
"SiX weeks acquaintance with modern
Rome was enough for him to make
complete study of that complex entity.
The book combines the pith of all Bae-
deker's remarks upon the objects of in
terest in the Eternal City with the mar
row of the whole history of Rome, from
Romulus and Remus to Humbert and
Leo Kill, and a digest of all the eccleSl-
astical controversies that have taken
place from St. Paufs day to that of the
last encyclcal. All this is dull, heavy,
superficial and commonplace enough;
the plot itself is mediocre; and yet, in
spite of it, the whole work is powerful.
NJ. Zola possesses the gift of laying hold
of the reader with q hand-or, rather,
paw-of surprising strength; he holds
you in grip which he never relaXes till
the end is reached. Abuse him as you
will, you can seldom reproach him With
boring you
AS The Herald said, in its recent re-
view of Zola's Rome. while the reader
feels that Zola is simply editing mass
of matter swiftly gathered up, it is still
the most engrossing reading one finds in
modern fiction. The power of the man in
this line is simply marvellous.
A CHILDLIKE NATURALIST.
In his Life, Letters. etc, of Agassiz,"
Prof Marcou gives this sketch of Gress-
ly, one of Agassiz's early companions:
''Agassiz had to pay for his lodging,
which consisted of small bedroom
poorly furnished. and which soon became
a true pandemonium of the most sordid
kind He boarded when i'll Neuchatel
at 'third-rate inn. called lie Poison,
kept by the sister of the artist Jacques
Burkhardt When travelling - always
on foot-there was even less expense;
for Grossly entered the first farm on his
road and asked for food and lodging.
He had already roamed all owe.
the Swiss Jura mountains and WAS
we'll known personally or by reputation
by almost all the country people who al
ways received him kindly, giving him q
PLACE at their table and d bed to sleeI
in--or more exactly on; for he slept
with his clothes on, even with his shoes
on. The farmers liked Grossly extreme
ly, because he not only told good stories
but also gave good advice for finding
springs. digging wells, and he indicates
good places for marls and Clays used II
agriculture, and for stone quarries
Like a child as he was all his life Ii
played with the children, making cock,
and boats and dancing frogs out o.
pieces of old almanacs or newspapers
AS an example of his cheap way of trav-
cling, he once started with a small sun
of money in his pocket. then he forgo
that he had any money, and rema inel
two or even three months without spend
ing a penny, going from farm to farm
and returned loaded with the mos
splendid and rare fossils. And whel
asked why he had stayed so long with
out Writing-'Why.' said he, YOU forgo
to give me any money, and | was obige'
to do as well as | could with my friend
the paysans, who generally gave m
board and lodging as | went along
slow process he added, which too
much of my time But Grossly. I gay
you some money before you started
and I saw you, if | remember rightly
put it in that pocket indicating tn
pocket. Grossly put his hand in hi
pocket and brought out the gold piece
which had been there, forgotten, eve
since he started two months before"
THE BABE, B. a.. Being the Uneventf,
History of a Young Gentleman a
Cambridge University, by Edward I
Benson. G. p. Putnam's Sons. F'c
sale by Stoll & Thayer.
The author of Dodo and The Rubico
has here given US very readable bool
gotten up in excellent style especial
as to its illustrations. The volume b,
longs to the University series, and
uniform with Harvard Stories and va