it to be one of the strongest novels ever written by an American." This almost disarms criticism. Mr. Dole is a New Englander, born in Connecticut, I believe. He intends shortly to resign his position as Deputy Attorney-General of Hawaii, and devote his whole time to literary work. I wonder nothing has been said about it, but Hawaii is one of the best markets for a limited number of magazines and books. Every family has its score of periodicals, and I have never come across a better read people than the old residents; people versed in current literature, especially verse and fiction. Every new book is sent for, and where you would least expect it, is an Atlantic or N. A. Review. Yes, and BOOK NEWS among the rest. A woman said to me, "I can't understand why there is so much said against book-agents in your country. We are eager for them here, and when we have bought their books we invite them to dinner." After some months' residence here, I must confess to the same weakness, or right-mindedness. When the foreign mail arrives, generally once in two weeks, it is a sort of feast day, wherein all manner of excesses are permitted; mysterious wrappers are torn from new and fragrant magazines, and we are across seas once more in tears or laughter. I suppose one reason why so much is read, is because Hawaiians have ample time and money. The cheaper literature does not come so far, and, in general, parents and children alike have cultivated a taste for good literature. As Mrs. E. S. P. Ward said in a recent letter to me, "Your distant group of thoughtful and educated people." A bookseller in Honolulu told me some time since that any book with a mere mention in it of Hawaii would sell readily here; that some of our families bought everything on Hawaii without regard to cost. This must be true when such a book as Julius A. Palmer's "Again In Hawaii" has found a sale here. Dr. Emerson, of Honolulu, connected I believe with the Emersons of Concord, is engaged upon a Hawaiian novel, soon to be issued by a New England house. "The Romance of a Midshipman," by W. Clark Russell, will be published in September by R. F. Fenno and Company. Hutchinson and Company will publish shortly a new novel, entitled "Father Hilarion," by K. Douglas King, the author of The Scripture Reader of St. Mark's." The story depicts the struggle between asceticism. and human passion. London Academy. MAGAZINES Harper's contains several notable features, including the last chapters of Du Maurier's serial, The Martian," and the opening chapters of a serial by E. F. Benson, entitled The Vintage; also the first instalment of "The Kentuckians," a novel by John Fox, Jr. W. D. Howells contributes a paper on "The Modern American Mood." The Century opens with a sketch of William Hogarth, whose painting of "Garrick and His Wife," in a wood engraving, is frontispiece and leads Cole's new series of "Old English Masters." H. W. Seton-Karr, in a group of papers, describes his experiences hunting. elephant, rhinoceros, and tiger, and also describes hunting with an Indian Prince. William Willard Howard writes of "Hunting the Jaguar in Venezuela." Scribner's brings the college articles to a close with Henry E. Howland's account of "Undergraduate Life at Yale," in current issue. The fifth paper of the Great Businesses Series deals with "The Modern Business Building," by J. Lincoln Steffens. An article on "John Cabot," by the Marquis of Dufferin, Chairman of the Committee of the Cabot Celebration, is commemorative of the four hundredth anniversary of the discovery of the mainland of America. Woodrow Wilson contributes to the Atlantic a sketch of the growth and development of the American national feeling in an article entitled, "The Making of the Nation. Edward Waldo Emerson gives a sketch of John Sterling, also some of the hitherto unpublished Sterling and Emerson correspondence. A valuable contribution is that of E. L. Godkin's Decline of Legislatures," in which he traces their development and general decline in character. "The Smallest Republic in the World," that of a forty-eight acre farm near Elmira, N. Y., where children from tenement districts of New York City are given an outing during the summer, leads in McClure's. Mary Gay Humphreys gives her "Observations of a Visit to the Little Republic." There is a sketch of Professor Henry Drummond, written by Rev. D. M. Ross, and his portrait is frontispiece. "Andrew Jackson at Home" is a contribution by his grand-daughter, Rachel Jackson Lawrence, which is followed by a series of life portraits of Jackson. "A Mountain Moloch," a tale of adventure by Duffield Osborne, is the complete novel in Lippincott's. Of general interest, are articles dealing with "The Evolution of Newspaper Advertising," by Oscar Herzberg; The current number of Godey's celebrates its sixty-eighth year by the issue of an anniversary number, the cover being a reproduction of the first cover ever used by the magazine. Among features of special note are the following articles: "In Quiet Canyons," by Idah M. Strobridge; "Some Women Writers of Canada," by M. Bourchier Sanford; "The Colored Woman of To-day," by Fannie Barrier Williams; and "California Poets at Home," illustrated with portraits and scenes. The current number of The Pocket Magazine presents a distinguished list of contributors, prominent among them being Max Pemberton, "OVER THERE IS THE COAST OF AFRICA." who contributes "At the House of the Scarlet Witch"; Ian MacLaren, "The Wedding of Kate Carnegie"; Sarah Orne Jewett, "A Village Patriot": Stephen Crane, "The Victory of the Moon." EDUCATIONAL. The Chautauquan presents a variety of articles and illustrations of special appropriateness for the mid-summer programme number. William Eleroy Curtis writes of "The Seven Chief Justices of the United States," with portraits. Charles Benoist discusses the relations of "Spain, Cuba and the United States.' Caroline H. Stanley contributes a story written in the dialect of Southern Missouri, entitled "The Buryin' of Zeb Holt," "At Sea on the Atlantic," rich in illustrations, is is by Henry Hall. ART. The most recent number of The Quartier Latin, a monthly periodical devoted to the arts, is attractive from an artistic standpoint, the cover being designed by Henry G. Fangel. The frontispiece, "On the Boulevard," is drawn by A. Campbell Cross. An effective drawing is that of "And the rain, it raineth every day," by Alfred Jones. Spicy chat is indulged in by Thomas Seaton under the head of notes. FAMILY. The cover and frontispiece of The Ladies' Home Journal are attractive works of art particularly adapted to the season. Among the noteworthy features of the number are: "When Dolly Madison Saved the Declaration of Independence," by Clifford Howard; "The Personal Side of the Prince of Wales," by Geo. W. Smalley; "The Greatest Nation on Earth," telling of America's territorial magnitude, natural advantages, its products and marvelous progress, by William George Jordan. Table Talk contains the usual number of helpful hints for progressive housekeepers. An article on "Some Pretty Luncheons" is contributed by Mrs. Burton Kingsland; seasonable Canning and Preserving," and other choice recipes and menus are by leading authorities, as well as articles on "Summer Vegetables,'' and Chutneys and Foreign Sauces." JUVENILE. St. Nicholas is young patriots' number, specially adapted to the season. It opens with a sketch by Ella Sherman Partridge, descriptive of "How Grandmother Met the Marquis de Lafayette," and is followed by "The Last of the Drums, by Lieutenant Con Marrast Perkins. William Abbott contributes" The Chesapeake Mill," and Charles Sydney Clark, "Honors to the Flag in Camp and Armory." Apropos of the great celebration in England, James Cassidy writes of the "Girlhood Days of England's Queen.' =Fleming H. Revell Company will publish shortly two books of unusual interest to college men in Strategic Points in the World's Conquest-the Universities and Colleges as Related to the Progress of Christianity," by John R. Mott, and "The Culture of Christian Manhood-Sunday Mornings in Battell Chapel, Yale University," collected and arranged by Mr. W. H. Sallmon. for bicyclers, The new road books Fifty Miles Around New York" and "Fifty Miles Around Brooklyn, upon which the Road Book Committee of the New York State Division of the L. A. W. has been at work so long, are now in the hands of the printer. The work has been toilsome and exacting, and the officers of the division state that a fair valuation upon the work and material in these books would amount to about $15,000. These books will not be sold at any price, but will be given free of charge to all members of the League. Publishers' Weekly. Mother Song. Soft sleeps the earth in the moonlight blest; About thy dream the drooping flower BEST SELLING BOOKS These monthly lists of best selling books are based on the relative numerical demand for current publications in several retail bookstores. A comparison of the lists of several months will show that one need not be an omniverous reader of fiction to keep up with the talked-about books, for many books keep in the realm of the chosen ten for several months. For instance Quo Vadis" and "On the Face of the Waters," which were leaders in favor a month ago, are in the present lists, as is " Miss Archer Archer." 66 REVIEWS French Literature in the Nineteenth Century. The Literary Movement in France During the Nineteenth Century. By Georges Pellissier. Authorized English Version by Anne Garrison Brinton. With general introduction. 504 pp. Indexed. Svo, $2.60; by mail, $2.80. The author pronounces this book no less the picture than the history of contemporary French literature. In addition, it is also the philosophy, or rather describes the evolution, of the literary movement of our century.' The book is a history, because it treats the products of literary art as documents bearing on æsthetic development. It is a philosophy because the author grasps what is general in the revolutions of thought, without omitting what is particular in reactions or individual in talents. He traces from their origin the causes of the triumph and decline of adverse theories, thus outlining the course of nineteenth century French literature. Passing the hundred years in review, he points out that we first have classicism, with its relentless suppression of the ego and inherent optimism; indifferent to the real in respect to details and often limited in its conception of the ideal ; servile in the observance of rules; formal and superficial in its Catholicism. Then we have Romanticism, with its ascendant ego and incurable nelancholy; more general in its admittance of the details of reality and always universal in its conception of the ideal; liberal in the application of formulas, as well as spiritual and sentimental in its Christianity. Finally, we have Realism, with its triumphant ego and enervating pessimism; as exclusive in its acceptance of the real as it is arrogant in its suppression of the ideal; no less scrupulous in its superstition for form than absolute decadent in its negation of truths which do not admit of empirical verification. We are reminded in the introduction that ancient and classic art dealt only with mankind. The nineteenth century, on the other hand, has given to outward nature full æsthetic expression, first in a more subjective, later in a more objective form. Indeed, the constant advance of nature in modern art is one of the distinguishing marks of our epoch. Generally speaking, we see in Classicism the triumph of art over nature; in Romanticism, an aim to conciliate art and nature; in Realism, the triumph of nature over art. There is, to be sure, no such thing as purely objective art. Artistic production implies both man and nature, both the subjective and the objective. Hence it is evident that Realism ་་ 64 has never consistently applied its precepts. One other matter should be glanced at by way of premise. Synthesis, of course is the method of Idealism; analysis is the method of Realism, as defined by its expounders. It is certain, however, that synthesis rather than analysis is the method of art; while analysis rather than synthesis is the method of science. Nevertheless, Realism, considered apart from scholastic exaggeration, is as necessary to art as is Idealism to science. As a matter of fact, at no time can Romanticism be said to have proceeded solely by synthesis; on the other hand, in no instance has Realism applied exclusively the analytical methods. Touching the latter assertion, M. Pellissier observes: With the latter half of the century we set out to combat abstractions, and we prescribed all beauty in things and all virtue in souls. We but broke away, however, from the idealization of the beautiful and the good, to substitute the idealization of the ugly and the evil." He believes that the one phase of thought is moribund as truly as the other is defunct. Romanticism and Realism, the latter more properly called Naturalism, both in turn express two fundamental tendencies of the human soul; the first, its need for ideal aspiration; the second, its taste for concrete realities. Romanticism and Naturalism are now dead; the former consumed by its fervid ardor, the latter sterilized by its arid method; the first for having substituted sentimental rhetoric for human reality, the last for having reduced reality to what is most stupid, vulgar, and abject." When explaining, finally, the causes of the decline of these two mutually adverse theories, our historian says : The exaggerations into which Romanticism and Naturalism deteriorated must be attributed to schools rather than to principles, for Idealism and Realism will always remain the two essential principles of art. That the two schools have been exhausted by their excesses does but attest the fact that these principles cannot be divorced without resulting in extravagance and absurdity on the one hand and insignificance and vulgarity on the other." The culmination of the present reaction against Naturalism cannot yet be foreseen. Consequently it matters little whether this reaction be called new Idealism or new Realism. All that the author is willing to affirm concerning the outcome of the latest movement is that the Ideal will have fuller scope, that there will be a deeper conception of life and a broader philosophy. N. Y. Sun. Archbishop Benson's Last Work. Cyprian: his Life, his Times, his Works. By Edward White Benson, D. D., D. C. L. With an introduction by the Right Rev. Henry C. Potter, D. D., IL D., D. C. L. Illustrated. 636 pp.. Indexed. Svo, $5.25; by mail, $5.47. The conditions in which this book have been produced are calculated to endow it with a pathetic interest. For more than thirty years Archbishop Benson had concentrated his holiday thoughts on the powerful personality of the great martyr-Bishop of Carthage, and positively so long ago as 1865 portions of the work were in existence. The author had so completely steeped himself in the consideration of the saint that his progress in his critical task was positively hindered by his familiarity with side-issues and by-paths of controversy. At last, late in the autumn of 1896, he completed his life-long task. To a friend who was aware of his intense pre-occupation Doctor Benson wrote so recently as last September, "I believe that my book will be a complete and final corpus Cyprianicum.' Before leaving Addington for Ireland he corrected the last proofs, and it is known that within a few hours of his sudden and noble death his thoughts were dwelling on the book which he had been so long preparing, and which he was never to behold in its finished form. A prefatory note, admirable alike in form and spirit, tells the reader all that it is necessary for his comfort to be told, and is signed by the Archbishop's eldest son, Mr. Arthur Christopher Benson. The "Cyprian," then, of which so much had been reported, and from which so much has been expected, lies in our hands at last. It is a very strange book-odd alike in its style, its attitude, and its construction. It suffers, let us confess at once, from the results of a literary superfetation. There has been, it is evident, an original conception of the task, rather similar in character, and then a much more detailed and elaborate one super-imposed. In consequence, the Archbishop is for ever drawing himself up, pausing in the narrative, even when its elements are uncontroversial, in order that he may array before us his documents, or argue about the genuineness of a fragment. It was supposed that the book would be a text and a translation, or a translation of the text of Cyprian, illustrated with notes. It proves, however, to be something much more interesting than this. It is an exhaustive monograph on the martyr, carried to such an extremity of perseverance that it seems unlikely that a single fact or a single aspect has been omitted. What there is to be known about Cyprian is certainly here, if only we have the wit to find it and the patience to unravel it. For it cannot be said that Archbishop Benson is an author for him who runs to read. His style is curiously hard and stiff, and the reader is not unfrequently brought up sharp by a sentence which requires to be repeated twice or thrice before its exact meaning is discovered. The style is one which reminds us of that of the best English divines who wrote just before the Restoration. deed, the manner of Doctor Benson so often resembles that of Cudworth in the machinery of the phrase as to raise the question, which his biographer will doubtless solve, whether he was a particular admirer of the "True Intellectual System." Apart from these two objections-namely, that the apparatus is somewhat confused, and the style somewhat rocky-we have no feeling but admiration for a work of high critical accomplishment, fully worthy of so learned and so admirable a friend of letters as its lamented author. London Saturday Review. In |