New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-02-16
LITERARY NOTES.

Roberts turns out be as pquant As was eApe..e"
Nhe calls the book. not inaptly. sympno"'
,ca. in two Volumes but she is less amiaoie IL, us
.uss,nr his account Of the Mutny. seeming 20 'h,ih
.ha, ne has taken too lenient a we" oi p''
osnors,h,Ii,v She admits that he states the fac's
\, tho case with Justice but observes that MS po'"'
" view Is not impartial enough. Inc eN".
8Ifaculty" she says. "of justly esu"a'iis ~.
hearings Of outward facts in the turmoii OF % my
he shown once and for all by LORD kooer's s''o'''
accurate account of the circumstances OIL oo'o"'
spottiswoode's suicide. This ofhcer' we e
s-orn tho narrative shot himself when IL peca'e
na,naby necessary TO disarm the regiment ne nav.
trusted He did. Yet he did not shoo' i''"s'
from disappointment in II, or despair at NE w.
crsdu,i,v There was another factor in the tras-
a., ch,ch ord Roberts omits. He had. rlghtiy OF
wrongly given solemn promise 10 MS mo" ,''"'
,,ay should not be disarmed; and when-wi'h Il
brigade marching on them for the purpose-theE
came 10 their colonel and upbraided hlm' '"..0
seemed no other course whereby TO Vihoca'e n'
own truth his own honor. In ms incident II "''
he observed the bare facts remain the same ou.
Inc knowledge Of motive changes mere PERSONA
aesnatr and moral cowardice into. maybe, last
supreme effort to make men believe ana remain
loyal And So to the present writer II seei"' -,
many another incident. The balance IL helo justly
enough; but the weights are made in England
Mrs Steel concludes with shrewd BIT OF renee
zion on the question which has given LORD foDefls
much trouble the reflection that the Indian PROB
lem Is not vet solved Her opinion Is that all sug
gestions looking to reform and the removal Oh
native dissatisfaction are after all suoservieht 10
calm acceptance Of the fact that there must heeds
be dissatisfaction. India at present may DE oes'
,kened 10 a nursery during the periodical invasions
~ Master Tommy from school. Emancpated
Tommy free Of tuck-shops rebellious against Kind-
ly despotism. clamorous for Jam at tea, raining
against autocratc nurse, who. with an eye 10 'he
future dgestions Of her younger charges. decneS ~
allow unlimited brandy-bals and general rfedom'
the result 10 the babes (who look up to Tommy as
a glorifed SELF being tears. To quit s'mie, IL IS
inevitable that our highly educated native youth
should feel itself unduy limited: Inevitable that
those still tutelage should Join in like cutlery 80
10 a certain extent, our safety Hes IN autocrac! III
remembering that the one raison d'etre OF our eX-
istence In India Is tutelage."
The latest contribution to the symposium on
suitable memorial TO Robert Louis Stevenson has AT
least the merit of originality. Some one wants 10
erect gaslamp 10 him. because. forsooth. he has IN
more than one place written Of lamps and lamp
posts!
Mr. Ruskin has Of course. been translated into
MANY languages but il Is doubtful II there has been
until now any version of his works in Hungarian
The Hungarian Academy Of Sciences has lately
taken up THE Stones of Venice" and Is publishing
q translation.
Another interesting piece Of news from the Cont
men. Is 10 the effect thai the Russian lmperiai
Academy is preparing National biographical dc
@ionary of Russian men of letters and scientists
NJ Venrueroy who has written already the bulk OF
the work. has accumulated no less than 100000
pages OF manuscript.
new volume Of short stories by Mrs Ohphant
will soon be published under the title Of The Ways
of Life"
Mr. Laurence Hutton has just published his Lit
erary Landmarks OF Florence" Harper Brothers..
the book forming part of the series In when ne
has already treated the literary landmarks OF
Jerusalem Venice and Rome. His pages are read
ah,e and useful He has a generous sprinkling Of
anecdote and he will give the traveller very clear
notion Of how to find the salient literary shrines Of
Florence There several artistic illustrations.
The late Archbishop Benson left manuscript
work which he said TO friend shortly before his
death was intended 10 be "a complete Corpus
Cypranicum'" 1t will he published very soon.
DR. Benson worked on this life Of ST. Cypran for
,nany years He began II as brief treatise so far
back as 1867, but 1t grew under his hands. and in
its completed form II promises TO be bulky
volume.
The Macmillan Company publishes the fifth vol
,ime of Biographies Of Eminent Persons COM
posed Of obituary notices originally published in
1.-The London Times" The record is carried from
the death Of Kingake in January. 1891. to that Of
Sir Richard owen. in December. 1892 The volume
will be Of special interest American readers. since
II contains sketches of Whittier. Whitman. General
Sherman and Lowell. Concerning the latter there
is the remark that none of his generation could
dstil moro skilfully the subtle aroma Of the finest
literature Many minds the rich washings of
many streams. ores from far countries. and the
dust Of diamonds bequea:h he'd by the past impaired
to his style its ridescence and sparkle" These
obituaries from The Tines necessarily brief,
but they remarkably minute and accurate.
Furthermore, they have the permanent value of
good criticism well expressed. As books of refer
ence the volumes deserve a respected place on the
shelves Of literary workers.
What promises 10 become one OF the rarites of
the book collectors list is the Samoan version of
Stevenson's story. The Bottle Imp" This version.
printed by him in a missionary paper for the bene
fit Of the natives. was much enjoyed by them. and
one result of its publication was their bestowal on
the author of the name of 'Tusitala the teller Of
tales. The paper on which the story printed
was OF grevously poor quality, and most of the
copies have dsappeared-only two sets Of the paper
containing the serial are known to survive.
There have been many authors crotchety as
Herbert Spencer. but few as frank. The Hazlitt Of
to-day says OF the Spencer of two or three years
ago: He had conceived an intolerance of remarks
of commonplace and unfruitful character. and
had brought with him apparatus which he could
at pleasure slip over his and which spared
him the pain of auricular contact with.less gifted
mortals"
Mr. Francis T. Underhill takes his theme with
rather amusing seriousness in Driving for Pleas
ure" the sumptuous octave which the Appletons
have published for him. There Is something conf
cal about the gravity with which he discourses Of
the details of THE harness stable and its appoint
ments" When the illustrations are brought to in
ciude front and vews'' Of servants In livery
we begin to feel that Mr. Underh is rivalling the
cook who presides like a pontif over the evolution
of a pate But In the end this volume proves an in
teresting compendium, with much In 1t that will be