Worcester morning daily spy., 1898-03-28
LITE RARY TOPICS.
Cheerful Yesterdays" by Thom-
as Wentworth Higginson.
The Pilgrims in Their Three Homes-A
Number of New Novels-The New
Editions of Dickens and Scott
hpril Magazines.


with greatest pleasure by Massachusetts,
people of the civil war generation, than
those written by Thomas Wentworth
Higginson, which have appeared at
short intervals in the Atlantic Monthly.
These "reminiscences have been no less
pleasurable reading for the people Of
Worcester and its Vicinity than those of
the Hub and nearby places, with which
Col. Higginson's life has been most in
timately associated. Cheerful Yester-
days" has now appeared in book form,
carefully revised and with few adds
tons. OF the additions some are taken
from a sketch Of the authors mother,
published originally in the Ladies
Home Journal"
Few writer's take their readers SO COM
pletely and gracefully into their conf
dence as Col. Higginson, and this char
acteristic lends infinitely to the charm
OF the narrative which passes in review
various notable epochs and many nota-
Bile people both before and since the civil
war. The period following the civil war
is, however, except the furitful impress
slons Of visits to London and Paris,
much more briefly treated than the ante
bellum and war days when the author
was more strictly public man.
The stirring scenes with which Col.
Hlgginson was connected in his capa-
city as reformer and emancipator-the
anti-slavery days, the fugitave
slave epoch, the Kansas and
John Brown days and the years of the
rebellion-are led up to by some delight
full accounts of the people and character
istic Of his early life. The authors boy
hood in Cambridge and his Harvard
days before the boisterous and pictur-
esque college life Of romance had ceased
to be a thing of the past, together with
his subsequent life in Brookllne so rich
in social and literary memories of par
ticular interest, form by no means the
least readable portion of Cheerful Yes
terdays"
Gifted women and men of national or
world regulations, conservatives and
radicals, actors in great public events
scholars of retiring ives-a whole ga
laxy Of people worth knowing pass be-
fore the readers eyes; and their quail
ties and characteristics are clearly pre-
serted through the skill Of a peculiarly
able pen. 1t Is pen which does not
hesitate to deal openly and frankly with
all things. Col. Hlgginson's Worcester
life cannot fail to interest hundreds In
this city, for various people and events
of living interest here are presented.
OF course the most valuable part of
the book is that dealing with the ahoH-
ton and civil war days. This Is very
absorbing, even to the most Indifferent
reader; and the authors style, always
conversational, never pedantic or dull,
and lighted with many flash of humor
and an occasional note of pathos, here
brings back the past in all it's realism, as
indeed it does throughout the volume.
Cheerful Yesterdays'' is one of the
books which one cannot afford to allow
to remain unread. Its literary excellence
and Its ever-present striving after truth
render it even now biographical classic
despite it's newness.
Published by Houghton, Miffiin & Co.,
Boston. For sale by Putnam, Davis &
Co.
HOMES OF THE PILGRIMS.
A more delightfully."- told or more ac-
curate account OF the history OF the
Pilgrim fathers who settled Plymouth
than that contained in William Elliott
Griffis' new book, 1.-THE Pilgrims in their
three homes" The author has brought
to bear upon his task the results of his
extensive studies and travels. He does
not attempt to go into all the details,
but to tell the main facts in an un-
prejudiced manner, without fear or fa-
vor. In so doing, Mr. Griff1s has found
restatements of facts which have be-
came perverted sometimes necessary.
After most readable account of the
Pilgrim country in England-Scroly
and its vicinity-the cradle Of the peo-
pie who were later to lay the founda-
tions Of the great American republic
the long sojourn in Holland of the
people whom English persecution had
1piN kI,of,.
a full manner. This Dutch part of the
Pilgrims history-very important, but
too often slightly treated by historians
is the most notable portion Of Mr..
Griffis work.
Then, after the life at Leyden come
the departures from Delfshaven and
Plymouth for the new world, the land
Ing at Cape Cod, and the settlement of
Plymouth.
Though the book may be regarded as
continuous narrative which young as
well as old may read with pleasure and
profit, there is much information about
the times in which the Pilgrims lived.
the social and political conditions in
England and Holland, etc.
The illustrations are of more than
ordinary interest. The frontispiece,
from an Old Dutch painting, represents
the departure Of the Pilgrims from
Delfshaven. Then there are a picture
of the Scrooly church, facsimile 81
Robinson's family record in the Leyden
city census of 1922, portrait of Wins
low, maps showing the voyages of the
Pilgrims, etc. There is an index.
published by Houghton, Miff1in &
Co, Boston. For sale by Putnam, Da-
Wis & Co.
SOME NEW STORIES.
A series of short stories of unusual
finish Is contained in a volume by Henry
B, Fuller. entitled From the Other
Side In each Of the sketches a little
plot is elaborately developed into a we'll
rounded and complete work bright in
coloring and accurate in construction.
The stories make no pretence to depth
of thought, or any particular illustration
Of truths or virtues. The author, how
ever, set out to be entertaining, put
conscientious labor in the task, and
succeeded admirably. The scenes are
placed in Europe, as the subtitle,
"Stories of transatlantic travel" indi-
Gates.
From the Other Side" is published by
Houghton, Miffiin & Co. For sale by
Putnam, Davis & Co.
Persons in search of love stories may
find something to their liking in "a Pas
sionate Pilgrim" by Percy White. 1t
really is quite a vigorous story, without
any element Of weakly sentimental
gush Mr. White devotes a good many
pages, scattered here and there, to un-
folding his philosophy, the quality Of
which each reader must Judge for him
self. 1t is light at any rate, and not the
sort that bores
Published by D. Appleton & Co., New
York.
Virna Woods has taken advantage Of
the stock idea Of dual personality that
49,