The sun., 1896-10-31

| Hume among the sloane MSS. In the British
Museum. The genial Richard has herein set
down record OF his daily actions during q
number OF years-his rufliinEs and roisterinEs
at the coffee houses. varied By occasional drink
ing bouts at the country houses OF his friends,
or visits 70 the public executions and other
amusements of that time; and ho has,
all unwittlngly, provided posterity with
. valuable historical document After
many years of good living. interrupted
by ever recurring periods of poverty, misun-
dorstandings with his creditors, and frequent
visits TO the paUnbroker, this jovial blade. at
the age Of forty mine determines 70 4 range
himself" as the French say. He meets one
Misc Lucy Boys, and. after the fashion Of that
day. he proceeds, without wasting time In un-
necessary dalllance AZ he writes, week later,
I've pledged to marry each other. and solemnly
| promised TO marry no one else"
| But alasi after q brief interval In which CONT,
| fever. and rheumatism conhne the would-be
Benedick to his bed, tho incident closes with
this pathetic entry:
went to sec tho slut Boys at Lord Poulets.
and the baggage denied ever having promised
| to marry me At all, and now she has gone and
married suffering parson."
| Mr.. w. d. Howells's volume of impressions
and Experiences" (IarperS opens with an
essay on Tho Country Printer" in which tho
distinguished author is at his best. This charm
ing picture OF life in an old-fashioned country
| newspaper ONCE is drawn with that skill and
| dslicscy Of touch that marked much of his
| earlier work; but some Of tho other numbers in
| the volume show q lamentable deterioration.
| when Mr.. Howells tells in commonplace lam
| guage, the all too common story Of drunken
ness and wife beating, with ite inevitable sequel
OF the police court and tho jail and labels II .
| laughable little interlude of habitual drunk
| enness." no approaches perilously near to the
methods Of that "ncw Journalism which he.
in common with all decent people, deplores
| We do not wish to draw any foolish comparison
| between Charles Lamb and Mr.. Howells, but
| we think that many readers of another of these
| essays. "Tribulations of o Cheerful Giver."
| will recall "A Lament for the Decay of Beg
| gars." Whereas, IN the one the gentle Ella
| touches tho heart and shows an exquisite SYM
| pnthy with the poor and the distressed. MIR.
Howclls. In the other leaves the somewhat
unpleasant impression that he is simply max
| ing copy"
In Tho Evolution Of the Art Of Music" the
latest number of the International Sclentifs
Series (Appletoa). Mr.. c. Hubert II. Parry
traces. step by step. the development OF this
| most sympathetic OF all the arts. from the wild
| howl of the primitive savage which stands on
the borderland between music and the mere
| spontaneous expression Of feeling, to the vast
and complex structure of the wagnerlan over
ture. with all its bewldering effects OF tone,
| color and dramatic climax Perhaps the most
| interesting chapter is that on the era OF pure
choral music: when, under the influence Of the
| Church in the sixteenth and seventeenth GEN.
turies the human voice was employed in the
| sacred hymn and the secular mad arigal, TO pro-
duce effects Of such beauty and simplicity as no
subsequent elaboration OF the art of music has
| been q ole to surpass. Mr.. Parry writes on his
subject with commendnble clearness. and his
work is the more valuable TO the general reader
| in that he carefully rcfrains from introducing
controversial matters.
| Under Quicken Boughs." by Nora Hopper
| (Richmond & Coz, Is one Of the most remark
able volumes Of verse published of late years
| Fashioned with perfect art, these poems are in
| stinct with melody, and some Of the love songs
have all the lit and wondrous rhythm of Swim
burne when he Is most musical. In Miss Hop.
pers verses. as in nearly all Irish poetry. there