The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-07-03

Importance of the spot was undreamt Of b
hrst yenr's work, of which the present volume
treats, was, a. regards actual excavation. prao-
tically q failure. Difficulties arose between the
leader and the members Of his party, who
doubted the Importance of Nippur and the de- |
STABILITY Of oxoavating down to the founda-
tions; while hostile Arabs continually inter
ferod with tho work and finally set Ere |
to the camp and forced tho explorers to |
return to Baghdad. A second campaign I'M
der tho Same leader, which will form tho subject
Of another volume, was q complete success. Tho |
temple Of Bel, tho oldest In tho world, was dis |
covered. and q vast amount Of material, includ- |
Ing sarcophagi, pottery, implements. and in |
scribod stones, bricks and tablets. was secured.
These records show that a people in o high state
Of civilization existed In Babylonia some 5000 |
years before tho period assigned by Archbishop |
Ussher's chronology for the creation of the
world. I'VE now know, says DIR. Peters, that
in the times of the glory of Ninevoh and Babylon
tho name Of "Nippur" was as familiar to the
citizens Of those cities as the names of Nineveh
and Babylon are to us. and that Nippur exer-
cised on their religious life and religious devel
opmont an influence as potent as that of
Jerusalem on our own. The temple of Bel at
Nippur was to tho religion of Babylonia and
Assyria very much what the temple of Jerusa-
lem was to our religion"
1850 aHhNS pAh ~ Nv liOCly ~
tho histories of M. Nougaret and NM. Alloy
ct Luronne, has compiled an interesting volume
undor the title of Tho Dungeons of Old Paris
Being the Story and Romance of the Most Cole
brated Prisons Of the Monarchy and the Revolu-
ton" (Putnamsl. "1riste comne les portes
dune prison" says the old French proverb, and
in the dismal annals Of the Conciergcrie,
vinoennos, the Chatelet, tho horrible Bicetre,
Sainte Pelagie. the Bastille. and the rest.
there Is q vast store of gruesome ro-
nance to which Victor Hugo, Dumas, and
many others have gone for their material.
In those good old days, prior to tho revolution
Of 17s9, when tho exercise Of the Droit de
Justice was the privilege OF the King, the lord
Of the manor, the Bishop and tho able, Paris
was as we'll supplied with prisons as with wine
shops. But most of them have long since crum-
bled away, and. even Of the great historic dun
geons, whose annals are revived in tho present
volume. but one or two are standing to-day. One
Of the most interesting Of them all is the prison
Of Sainte Pelagie. originally founded in the
reign Of Louis XIV. by one Madame do
Miramion. q pious dame. who. having. as q
seventeenth century chroniclcr puts it,
mend joyeusc rie in the days of her youth,
thought to prepare for a future state by provid.
ing a shelter for young women whose virtue
was In need Of protection. And IL the chron-
iclcr, from whom also Mr.. Hopkins has Dor
rowed freely. docs the good ladies no injustice,
q queer lot seom to have been gathered into the
fold. a battalion Of whom all that need BIO said
is that they were more or less repentant.
In the revolution Of 1890 tho doors OF this
curious cloister were thrown open, It's occu-
pants turned loose. and Sainte Pelagie became
a prison destined for the reception Of debtors,
youthful offenders. and certain men Of letters
and Journalistic"
In bertrand Du Guesclin-Constable of
Franco: His Life and Times" Putnams), Mr..
Enoch Vine Stoddard tells. for modern readers,
the old story of the life OF one of the greatest
warriors of France. The amount of scientifically
acceptable historical matter available for such a
task Is small, but by blending the seIni-legendary
narrative derived from tho rhyming ChrOniQu0
de bertrand Du Gucsciin OF Cuvelhier, q
Trouvere of the fourteenth century. and from
Froissart, with some OF the detail given by NJ.
Simon Luce in his Historic de bertrand Du
Guesclin, MIR. Stoddard has written a very in.
t~eresting book. which the strain Of romance
makes none the less acceptable.
We have also received:
"Bolanyo.' Opie Read. WAY & Williams.)
"Arnaud's Masterpiece: A Romance OF the
Pyrenees." Walter Cranston Larned. lScrib-
ners.)
I'm Buff and Blue George Bridges Rodney.
Little, Brown s. Coz
The Real Condition OF Cuba To-Day
Stephen Bonsal. QIarpers).
Captain Shays; a Populist Of 1856" George
II. Il Rivers. little. Brown s. Coz
1.-THE Romance OF n Jesuit Mission" NJ.
Bourchicr Sanford. CThe Taylor and Baker
CompanyD
Wonderful Adventures on Venus" G. w.
Pope. Arena Publishing Company