The herald., 1897-03-07
RQQIG ANp 2s 1s'ttesE:TlH t HEM
n -. WvfIp MAKE Y 1E5e.a
EDITED BY ENocH KNIGHT

Past
Lingering enthroned demands to be
Across the seas the nations war-arrayed
Still stand at gaze, and hearken for the vast
And harsh call unto strife. the thunderous
blast
OF trumpets while the fields are sore dis
mayed;
In Times great balance such rule duly
Has been found wanting, it's sure doom
forecast;
For two strong peoples shape the newer
with Joined might invoke the reign of
peace,
Seeing each mans fatherland is where is
Some nobler hope for true lifes brigh.
increase,
And of one blood is goodness. and release
From world-care by the whole worlds toll
is wrought!
Still the dearth of new books contin-
ues, and it is not every week that The
Herald can probably give UP these col
umns to literary notes. Until the season
of summer reading is being provided
for, the publishers will do little issuing
of new volumes, especially fiction. But
meantime there are comparatively no
volumes whose excellence is only just
now being appreciated, like "Quo Vadis,"
1.-The Somers," THE Courtship of Nor
rice Buck.er," "The Reds of the Midi"
etc. Nobody should miss any of these
to say nothing of many more commend
ed in these columns
The Atlantic Monthly for March is
a splendid number-by far the richest
periodical of the month if we take real
solid worth into account. There has
been no such contribution to the dis
cussion of the arbitration treaty as
TOl tell
Wilson, Arthur ]. Hadly, Percival Low
ell and Irving Babbitt have articles of
remarkable interest. From the latter's
paper on Modern literature" we note
the following extract; -
We may say, to paraphrase an utter
Rnce of Cha amforts, that the success of
some contemporary books is due to the
correspondence that exists between the
state of Thea thor's nerves and the
state of the nerves of the public. Spir-
itual espondency, which under the name
of acedia was accounted one of the seven
deadly sins during the middle ages, has
come in these later days to be one of
the main resources of literature. Life
itself has recently been defined by one
of the lights of the French deliquescent
school as IAN epileptic fit between two
nothings." 1t is no small resource to be
able to escape from these miasmatic ex-
halations OF contemporary literature
into the bracing atmosphere of the
classics. For of him who has caught
the profounder teachings of Greek lit
erature we may say, in the words of the
Imitation, that he is released from a
multitude of opinions. We may apply
to authors like Sophocles and Plato, and
to those who have penetrated their
deeper meaning, the language the Bud
dhists use to describe their perfect sage.
Language which will at once remind
the scholar of the beginning Of the Sec
ond book of Lucretius: when the
learned man has driven away vanity by
earnestness. he, the wise, climbing the
terraced heights of wisdom, looks down
upon the fools, serene he looks upon the
toiling crowd, as one that stands on
mountain looks down on them that
stand upon the plain"
A ROMANCE OF OLD NEW YORK.
By Edgar Fawcett. Lippincott Com
pany.
This is not the best work Mr. Fawcett
has done, and perhaps 1t is because it is
a prize Tstory-prize stories generally
falling short of the best work. Aaron
Burr has much to say and do in the
whole affair. and one gets an illustra-
ton of the estate of the man who had
come back to New York broken in purse
and spirit to practice law in Reade
street The story relates to the Ver-
plank family, whose daughter, Char
lotte, was engaged to Mark Frankland.
But when 1t was discovered that the
sister. Pamela. was dying Of love for
Mark, the latter was prevailed upon to
reciprocate her love, or pretend to, to
save her life; whereupon she did grow
we'll, which made greater complication
than ever 1t is not, a story with grace
full transitions and easy flow of action,
but is rather crude and hurried in plot
and incident.
THE COMING OF CHLOE. BY 1.-THE
Duchess" ]. B. Lippincott Com
pany.
This is Mrs. Hungerford's penultimate
novel, the very last one being now in
course of publication by the Lippincott
company and is to be called "Lovice."
In our mention of Mrs Hungerfords
death "a few weeks ago, no account was
taken of these two volumes, it not being
then known that they had been left |
in finished state. 1t now appears that |
The Duchess" had written between
thirty and forty novels, a somewhat |
greater number than we had Supposed. |
All of these have had certain popular
qualities that have commended them to
the general reader. The characters of
amusing swells, grand danes and poor
relations have been from real life and
full of fascinating though quickly pass
Ing interest.
The volume under consideration fully |
sustains the authors reputation for gay
and amusing plot, and pictures of social
life which shall not be portrayed here
IT. advance; nor shall the reader be
cheated of finding out for himself the |
really pretty outcome of the lively |
story.
ECONOMICS. By Hell
en- Campbell. author of Prisoners OF |
Poverty, Women Wage-Earners |
etc. G. p. Putnams Sons.
This fine large volume contains the |
substance of a course of lectures in the |
school of economics in the University of |
Wisconsin, to which is added a very in
teresting appendix and a most excel
lent index.
We are inclined to agree with the
author that perhaps Household Econ
omies' might have been more FORUM
ate title, but it matters little to those
who take up the book with the purpose
Of understanding it. 1t is a volume for
The nome, 10 be studied and followed in
the household. 1t is, too, for all classes
lnd conditions, and yet it's tone and
high standard hint at helps for the
larger interests Of women of education
and in important lines as teachers and
leaders in the world. The whole ques-
tion of the household and what ought to
be done in and through 1t is discussed
under appropriate headings of chapters:
The House. The Building of the
House." "Organism," Decoration"
FURNISHING" Household Indus
tries" Nutrition" Food and Prep
H.