in the spectacle of university professors, themselves masters of a flawless style, themselves given to the nicest discrimination in the use of words and phrases -yet teaching, at least by implication, that there are no standards of style, that you may spell, pronounce, write, speak and argue as you please-it is all the same, because the majority must rule, and the majority is made up of the illiterate.

When Dickens was visiting the United States, in 1867, for the second time, he wished to buy some table sherry. A wine-merchant to whom he made application, with a question as to price, remarked: "Wal, if you want some sherry jest to muss 'round with, I can give you some at a low figger." Dickens regarded this remark as characteristically American; and it is, in fact, extremely characteristic of a vast number of Americans regarding matters of pure taste. With a sort of instinctive scorn of special training and expert knowledge, with a pathetic belief that what the

scholar, the artist, or the man of science gets by long and patient labour, can be acquired through some short cut, these persons ask only for something to "muss 'round with." They can attain the cheap and nasty in their education, in their reading, in their speech, and in their modes of thought. What delights them is to have some person in authority declare to them that what they have and do and think is admirable. But what a lamentable thing that gentlemen and scholars should seriously say this to the Great Half-Baked, and thus confirm them in their self-complacent crudity! Surely, there never was a time when the gospel of distinction was so woefully to seek. Surely, there never was a time when all that is finely discriminating alike in life and thought and language was so blazingly imperative. And never, surely, was there a time when men of light and leading could so swiftly vulgarise the people by seeming to approve the slipshod, to decry intellectual discipline, and to glorify the cult of "mussing 'round."

BROTHERS OF PERIL. By Theodore Roberts. Boston L. C. Page and Company. $.1.50.

It is an unusual pleasure nowadays to come upon a simple, straightforward story of adventure, written with no marked strain after the exceptional, either in style or plot, but moving with the dignity and sobriety of historical sequence through a series of quite probable fortunes to a joyful and sufficient close. We admire Mr. Roberts's modesty, and commend him for his temperate descriptions. It is so easy to run wild in a virgin forest, or swamp oneself on a moonlit lake, especially when consorting with such moving subjects as Indians and early settlers. We suspect, from some hints that Mr. Roberts throws out in his preface, that this evidence of good taste and judgment is due to the fact that he is personally acquainted with every hidden recess of the region he writes about, understands its traditions thoroughly, and loves it as an old inhabitant rather than a casual visitor seeking "copy."

Save for a tendency to pant in choppy sentences, which makes our author seem a trifle out of breath, we have enjoyed his account of sixteenth century Newfoundland and the now extinct race of Beothic Indians, who were the original inhabitants, and their interesting dealings with the merchant adventurers of England and of France.

THE SECOND WOOING OF SALINA SUE. By Ruth McEnery Stuart. New York: Harper and Brothers. $1.25.

The appearance of another collection of Mrs. Stuart's amusing character sketches is always good news to those who have a soft spot in their hearts for the coloured race; and her skill in reproducing the atmosphere of an old-time Southern plantation and the whimsical and picturesque darkey point of view, regarding both social and religious matters, is very satisfying. Mrs. Stuart is thoroughly versed in all those deft little touches which go to perfect a convincing and appealing picture

of human nature, and in her opening story, "The Second Wooing of Salina Sue," the best of the six, we have one of her happiest achievements. Salina's vocabulary is inimitable, and her "obstropulousness" distinctive and exhilarating.

"It all came about through the investigations of the Reverend Saul Sanders of the Buckeye Conference.

"Brother Saul was a man of power, with that magnetic quality that insures leadership, and his words were those that thunder. After

proceeding along the old, emotional lines until he had worked the people up to the highest pitch of religious enthusiasm, he calmly stepped down from the pulpit, and, . . . delivered for their edification what he was pleased to call 'a settin' fo'th o' de 'mortal law accordin' to de dispositions o' de Christian Chu'ch military.'"

Just what this was, and how it applied to Salina, and how her "proudness" rebelled against it and finally gave in is well worth discovering.

READERS' GUIDE TO BOOKS RE

CEIVED

NEW YORK CITY.

A. S. Barnes and Company:

Minerva's Manoeuvres. By Charles Battell Loomis.

Mr. Loomis's story is a mild satire on "nature study." The principal character is Minerva, a coloured cook who has gone into the country with her master and mistress simply because, at the last minute, the girl who was to have gone was taken with scarlet fever. Born and bred in New York, the country holds many terrifying drawbacks to Minerva's happiness, such as frogs, crickets, June bugs, etc. The family are subjected to all kinds of inconveniences in order that they may keep their cook with them. Nothing brings lasting contentment until James appears on the scene. The story is said to abound in humour.

G. W. Dillingham and Company:
Representing John Marshall & Co. By Earl
Underwood.

The sub-title, "Confessions of Edward R. Ward, Drummer," gives a very satisfactory idea as to the nature of this book. The Drummer describes the many and varied experiences through which he is obliged to pass, all of which are funny and amusing to the reader. One of his greatest trials is mistaken identity, when he has been taken for a bridegroom, a candidate for Congress, and the father of a strange baby. Hard luck follows him so closely that "if it were raining radium a block away I would get run over by

an asphalt roller and everyone else would beat me to it." The book is written in the vernacular of "the road" and is said to be a "keen, clean, witty story." Get Next. By Hugh McHugh.

The reader renews his acquaintance with "John Henry," learns the latest slang, and is "put wise" to race-track tipsters, amateur photography, bridge, summer haunts, etc. The humour of the book is aided by characteristic illustrations from the pen of Gordon H. Grant. Real Boys. By Henry A. Shute.

Plupy, Beany, Pewt, Puzzy, Whack, Bug, Skinny, Chick, Pop, and Pile, many of whom made warm friends when they appeared in "The Real Diary of a Real Boy" and "Sequil," endear themselves even more to the reader in "Real Boys." Judge Shute's latest book is written from a man's point of view, "but, I trust, a man who has not forgotten and never will forget a happy boyhood in a delightful old New England town." The author states that "many of the characters, who appear before the public under their true names and nicknames, and, I may also state, in their true light, are still living, and all are, strange as it may seem, my friends." The book is well illustrated.

The Greater Waterloo. By Robert Richard

son.

A tale of youth and love in a little Canadian province. The hero, who is a sensitive fellow, is often humiliated by the slights which he receives from his more fortunate neighbours. The heroine is a vivacious girl, wholly misunderstood by her maiden aunt, with whom she lives. The hero's outlook is particularly black when his rival, who has defrauded him

and attempted to kill him, is about to marry the only girl he ever loved. Through constant perseverance on the part of the hero, light is brought out of darkness, and hope and despair are crowned with the glory of success. The Secret Passage. By Fergus Hume.

Mr. Hume's latest mystery tale deals with the murder of an eccentric rich old woman, with no clue to the one who perpetrated the crime. There are a number of characters in the story and at one time or another everyone becomes involved, with the exception of the real culprit, and matters become extremely complicated. When the mystery is finally unravelled some startling events are brought to light. A double lovestory runs through the book.

Doubleday, Page and Company:

Claims and Counterclaims. By Maud Wilder Goodwin.

Dr. Dilke, one of the men in this story, finds himself in the unpleasant position of owing his life to Eustace Brandyce, to whom he has a strong aversion; he also finds that both are in love with the same girl. Just as Dr. Dilke finds out that he has excellent grounds for the decided dislike which he bears to his preserver, the girl's father asks him to vouch for the man's character. The problem which Dr. Dilke has to solve is whether it is his duty to remain true to the adventurer who has saved his life, or whether he shall insure happiness to the woman he loves. This is the pivot upon which the story turns.

A Southern Girl in '61. By Mrs. D. Giraud Wright.

In these recollections Mrs. Wright has described the great tragical events which occurred during her girlhood, treating the fighting side of the Confederacy as well as the social. The author, who was the daughter of Senator Wigfall of Texas, was brought into close contact with many Southern generals and statesmen. A fair idea of the book's scope may be had from the titles of the chapters: Childhood in Texas, From Village to City Life, The Makers of History. Feminine Spirit of the Confederacy, Southern Belles and Southern Soldiers, War Time Correspondence, The Winter of '62-'63. The Fortune of War, Suffering of the South, Lines from the Losing Side, Home Life of a Southern General, A Letter from the Front, Last Months of the War, and the Fall of the Curtain.

Fortune and Peterson:

Dreams of Life. By Timothy Thomas Fortune.

Florida is the State from which most

of the scenes for the fifty selections of verse comprising this volume are taken. The poems are of various lengths and upon various themes. Several are reminiscent and many deal with the State of Mr. Fortune's birth.

Harper and Brothers:

The Coming of Billy. By Margaret West

rup.

Billy comes from India to live with his four maiden aunts. He has his full share of the fun and mischief which Nature metes out to healthy boys, and his pranks cause the ladies much agitation. He eventually assumes the rôle of matchmaker and succeeds in disposing of the love affair of his youngest and prettiest aunt to his entire satisfaction. Sonnets and Songs. By Helen Hay Whit

ney.

Mrs. Whitney's third volume of verse is a collection of thirty sonnets and forty songs. The sonnets are said to deserve special mention, particularly "As a Pale Child," "The Forgiveness," "Eadem Semper," and "After Rain.""

Henry Holt and Company:
American Insects. By Vernon L. Kellogg.

The aim of this work is "to foster an interest in insect biology on the part of students of natural history, of nature observers, and of general readers; it provides in a single volume a general systematic account of all the principal groups of insects as they occur in America, together with special accounts of the structure, physiology, development and metamorphoses, and of certain particularly interesting and important ecological relations of insects with the world around them. Systematic entomology, economic entomology, and what may be called the bionomics of insects are the special subjects of the matter and illustration of the book." The volume is profusely illustrated.

Russia from Within. By Alexander Ular.

"An account of the general conditions prevailing at the outbreak of the Russian Revolution." While the author admits that his book will come as a shock to some very sincere friends of Russia, and that the facts as he has told them "do not make pretty reading," he claims that it is authentic, historical, exact. "My aim," he says, "is only to give those who have not had the opportunity of studying the internal machinery of Russian political life a statement of facts, by which they may interpret and judge the disturbances of the present movement, whence we may be sure that a Free Russia will emerge."

The Life of King Henry V. Edited by W. H. Hudson.

An additional volume to the "Temple School Shakespeare" series. The editor has included notes, introduction, glossary, and a biography of Shakespeare. Seven drawings by Dora Curtis illustrate the book.

Selections from Emile Zola. Edited by A. Guyot Cameron.

A collection of fourteen selections from the pen of Émile Zola. The French text is supplemented by English notes, bibliography, and introduction. A photograph of the author appears as a frontispiece.

Waterloo. Par Erckmann-Chatrian. Edited by Victor E. François.

This book is recommended as "a first reading book in colleges and for those pupils in secondary schools who have already studied Latin or German and as a Second reading book for all others. With this view in mind, the vocabulary has been made as complete as possible.' Although the edition has been shortened, the text is unaltered. It contains that portion of the original story which deals with the battles of Ligny and Waterloo. The usual notes, introduction, etc. are included.

Schiller's Poems. Selected and edited by John Scholte Nollen.

ex

The chief purpose of this volume is to present Schiller's personality as pressed in his poems. The notes, preface, biography, and introduction are in English; the poems are in German. Rhetoric in Practice. By Alfonso G. Newcomer and Samuel S. Seward, Jr.

Educational. The four purposes of

this volume are to supply a text and exercises that will be helpful to the student in the creative task, to arrange the subject-matter in such a manner that it may be constantly and readily referred to by the teacher, to bring the composition work of the student into direct contact with his everyday life, and to arrange the parts of the work so that they will be flexible and capable of adjustment to the needs of particular classes.

Our Philippine Problem. By Henry Parker Willis.

An attempt to review "our experience as a nation in governing the Philippine Islands" and to present "an appreciation of the main elements of the Philippine problem as it now presents itself." The subjects discussed are: The Philippine Problem, The Beginning of Civil Government, The Philippine Civil Service, Local Government, The Legal and Judicial System, The Constabulary and the Maintenance of Order, The Control of Public Opinion, Political Parties, The

Church Problem, American Education in the Philippines, Social Conditions, Economic Legislation, The Business Situation, Rural and Agricultural Conditions, The Exploitation of the Philippines, Income and Outgo, The Future.

John Lane Company:

Heretics. By Gilbert K. Chesterton. Reviewed elsewhere in this issue of THE BOOKMAN.

Life Publishing Company:

"If"-A Guide to Bad Manners. By James Montgomery Flagg.

A volume of verse both humorous and epigrammatic. To each stanza there are two characteristic drawings. "Through all the fun of the verse and pictures, there is an underlying stratum of good sense, which, properly assimilated, may cure some of the bad manners the book professes to teach." The book is similar to the author's "Tomfoolery." Longmans, Green and Company: Shakespeare's Christmas. By A. T. QuillerCouch.

The first of this collection of seven stories gives the book its title. "Will" Shakespeare's father, John, comes to London on Christmas Eve to see a comedy which his son has written. In giving an account of this visit the author has included a mythical description of the poet's father, as well as the poet himself, Tom Nash, and Ben Jonson. The second story, "Ye Sexes, Give Ear!" deals with the annual regatta in Saltash, in which the men were outrowed by Sally Hancock. "Captain Wyvern's Adventures," the third story, is an historical romance. "The Rain of Dollars" and "The Lamp and the Guitar" are tales of the Peninsular War. The titles of the other two are "Frenchman's Creek" and "The Man Behind the Curtain." The book contains eight full-page illustrations.

The Neale Publishing Company:

The Romance of Gentle Will. By Clyde C. Westover.

The story of William Shakespeare's life woven into a romance. The progress and hindrances of the great dramatist's early love for Anne Hathaway furnish the plot for the tale, although the wooing and winning of Juliet Florio by the youthful Earl of Southampton is said to be a "pretty accompaniment for the main story." Some of the most charming of the well-known historical characters are gathered around the central figures. The story includes duels, ac

counts of poachers, crimes, etc. In a short prelude the author gives his authority for any deviation from published recorded dates of certain events in the life of the famous poet, as the diary of Henry Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton.

Yourie Gardenin. Anonymous.

A Russian character study in which Yourie Nikolaevitch Gardenin, a wealthy Yourie young man, is the chief figure. has philanthropic ideas, but, like others of his countrymen, they are visionary and indefinite. Conjugal matters are frankly discussed, and intrigue and infidelity are the prevailing features of the book.

The Land of the Rising Sun. By Gregoire De Wollant.

A description of the general geography of the country is included in this history of Japan and its people. In Part I. chapters are devoted to the origin of the people, to their prehistoric condition, their cosmogony, the beginning of Japanese history, the first arrival of Europeans, the passing of the nominal power of the Emperor to the Shoguns, the Japanese awakening, the reign of the present Emperor, and their religious conditions; Part II. is devoted to personal impressions of Northern and Southern Japan; Part III. to the language, the theatre, architecture, art, etc.; Part IV. deals with the economical and financial situation of Japan; while Part V. discusses the internal and foreign policy.

Religion of the Ancient Egyptians. By Georg Steindorff.

A series of five lectures delivered under the auspices of the American Committee for Lectures on the History of Religions-a committee organised in 1892 for the purpose of instituting "popular courses in the History of Religions, somewhat after the style of the Hibbert lectures in England, to be delivered annually by the best scholars of Europe and this country, in various cities, such as Baltimore, Boston, Brooklyn, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, and others." These lectures describe the religion of Egypt in the earliest times, the development of the religion, the temples and ceremonies, the magic art of life after death, and the graves and burials of the Egyptians.

America to England. By Minot J. Savage.

The title of this book is derived from its first poem, which was read at a banquet given to Ambassador Whitelaw Reid on the evening of his departure for the court of St. James. The volume consists of numerous selections from the hymns and poems of Dr. Savage, and are said to represent his best work. The Child and Religion. Edited by Thomas Stephens.

These eleven essays, by eleven wellknown men, are the outcome of a friendly discussion, at a deacons' meeting, on the place of the child in the Christian Church. The titles are "The Child and Heredity." "The Child and Its Environment," "The Child's Capacity for Religion," "The Child and Sin,' "The Conversion of Children," "The Religious Training of the Child in the Church of England," "The Religious Training of Children in the Free Churches," "Baptists and the Children," "New Church Training," "The Religious Training of Children Among the Jews." and "The Child and the Bible." It is the eleventh volume in the "Crown Theological Library."

The Upton Letters. By T. B.

These letters were written by "T. B." to a friend who had gone to Madeira for his health. They are published in compliance with a wish expressed a few days before the friend's death. Many phases of religious, social, and intellectual life in England are dealt with in the letters, in which "T. B." is said to have attained the art of simplicity and reality.

Fleming H. Revell Company:

The Mother. By Norman Duncan.

Because the child was terror-stricken at the thought of his father, Dick Slade, being "planted" after dying in one of the top rooms in a tenement building, the mother took him to the very "grand"