VOL. XV.

No. 10

FRANCES POWER COBBE was born in Dublin on December 4, 1822. The story of her life, written in her own words, gives a wonderful picture of the position of woman in the world to-day as contrasted with seventy years back. In her preface she gives the keynote of her cheerful, useful life:

"Whether my readers will think, at the end of these volumes, that such a life as mine was worth recording, I cannot foretell, but that it has been a life worth living I distinctly affirm; SO well worth it, thatthough I entirely believe in a higher existence hereafter, both for myself and for those whose less happy lives on earth entitle them far more to expect it from eternal love and justice I would gladly accept the permission to run my earthly race once more from beginning to end, taking sunshine and shade just as they have flickered over the long vista of my seventy years. Even the retrospect of my life in these volumes has been a pleasure; a chewing of the cud of memories -mostly sweet, none very bitter-while I lie still a little while in the sunshine, ere the soon-closing night."

wise, honorable and honored; sound in body and mind. She was also well born in the conventional sense, and had all the advantages of edu

Miss Cobbe dwells upon the advantage she has had in being in the true sense of the words, "well born." Her parents were good and

fully, and learned to accept the theory of a personal God and an immortal soul, which she still clings to with a quiet mind. Miss Cobbe has come into contact with most of the celebrated men of her day, and the correspondence she refers to contains let ers from Sir Charles Lyell, Tyndall, Stanley, F. W. Newman, James and Harriet Martineau, John Stuart Mill, Lord Shaftesbury, Ernest Renan, and many others. Her great work was done for schools for all classes and against vivisection. (Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 2 v., $4.)

Rufus King.

IT cannot have escaped attention that, while most of the eminent statesmen of the half century succeeding the concession of American independence have been the subject of elaborate biographies, or, at least, of brief summaries in the American Statesmen Series, one of the most distinguished has remained unchronicled, at least upon a scale commensurate with his merits. It is a noteworthy fact that three of the men who played conspicuous parts in the State of New York during the earlier part of our national existence were emigrants, Alexander Hamilton coming from the West India Islands, and Aaron Burr and Rufus King from New England. We need not say that the last named has left a very different imprint upon the history of his country than that which was made by the third vice-president. Yet, thus far, his abilities and services have failed to receive from the biographer, if not from the historian, the recognition which they deserve. The omission is now to be made good by a work of which the first volume is published by the Putnams, "The Life and Correspondence of Rufus King," edited by his grandson, Charles R. King, M.D. We learn from the preface that nearly fifty years ago the duty of writing the life and editing the correspondence of Rufus King was assumed by his son, Charles King, then president of Columbia College, but nothing was accomplished beyond the collection of material, the exposition of a plan, and the composition of some valuable but scanty sketches of certain periods of the subject's life. It was not, we are told, until many years after the death of Charles King, in 1868, that the papers came into the possession of the present editor, who now gives them to the public. The latter's purpose is, in the main, to reproduce verbatim the letters and many summary statements by Rufus King explanatory of public events, and throwing light upon persons and the times. A continuous narrative is not attempted, but the gaps are filled up by correspondence, illuminated by explanatory remarks and notes. In the appendix to this volume are set forth some of the writings of Mr. King during the earlier part of his public career, and one of these claims particular attention. It appears that Mr. King took notes of the proceedings in the Constitutional Convention which met in Philadelphia in 1787, of which he was a member. These are now published for the first time. . . We must wait for the next instalment of this biography to follow Rufus King through the longest and busiest part of his public career. The volumes are similar to the Franklin and Jay collections. (Putnam. 3 v. v. 1, $5.)-N. Y. Sun,

The Sherman Letters.

THIS correspondence is unique in furnishing a familiar and intimate record of and commentary upon the events of American history during an important period, and the various actors in them, by two persons themselves participants and men of extraordinary power and penetration. Especially interesting and valuable is the fraternal discussion, often from opposite points of view, of the men and measures of the war epoch. The growth of public sentiment and the gradual formulation of principles which finally triumphed in the new Union are most advantageously traced, as they are, from the circumstances of the correspondence, impartially recorded, with no view of publication. Mrs. Rachel Sherman Thorndike, who has so ably edited the correspondence, says:

Soon after arranging my father's letters for publication, I found a series of letters which awoke my deepest interest. They covered a period extending from 1837 to 1891, and proved to be the complete correspondence between my father and his brother, John, during those (more than fifty) years. These letters, exchanged by two brothers of such eminence, and many of them written during the most stirring events of our country's history, seem to me unique. They form a collection complete in itself. They are of great historical value, and the expressions of opinion which they contain are so freely given as to furnish an excellent idea of relations that existed between my father and his brother. Realizing all this, I have decided to publish the correspondence by itself; and in so doing my chief desire has been to let the letters speak for themselves, and to put them in such form that they may be easily understood I feel sure that they will command a very general interest, and be accorded that ready sympathy that was as freely and lovingly expressed at the time of my father's death." (Scribner. $3.)

Problems of the Far East.

MR. CURZON has already published two excellent books, one on "Russia in Central Asia," the other on "Persia." The present volume is the first instalment of a work upon the kingdoms and principalities of the far East, or the countries that lie between India and the Pacific Ocean. These are Japan, China, Corea, Tonquin, Anam, Cochin China, Cambogia, and Siam. The volume, which includes Japan, China, and Corea, is published as apropos of the events in progress in Eastern Asia. It is needless to say that it is prepared with much of the thoroughness which characterized his former works, and with the same vigor of style.

Mr. Curzon's works are not, in the ordinary sense, books of travel; they are concerned very little with recording external impressions, but are occupied almost wholly by questions of a national character, natural resources, and the relations of the countries described to foreign powers.

In the quarrel between China and Japan, Mr. Curzon, as might be expected, takes the part of China, just as his countrymen commonly do. He considers that Corea is by nature a vassal of China, and that the safest course possible for her is to remain in that dependence.

In his chapter

on "The Political Future of Corea," however, he gives a very clear and fairminded comparison of the claims of China and Japan upon Corea. The Japanese were undoubtedly the earliest masters of Corea, and they have exercised suzerainty over that country during a longer period of time than China. It was as early as the third century A.D. that an empress of Japan, appropriately named Jingo, led a conquering expedition against Corea. From that time till the close of the fourteenth century Corea continued to be a vassal

of Japan. Throughout this period tribute missions sailed continually from Corea to the Court of the Mikado.

Mr. Curzon is even of the opinion that the real view of Japan has been, until lately, that the natural position of Corea is one of vassalage to China. This opinion is, of course, influenced by the sentiments with which he regards Russia. Nor does he claim to have any other criterion of judgment than the interests of the British Empire. He considers that the inter

In Cairo and Jerusalem.

MARY THORN CARPENTER delighted readers last year with a very bright description of A Girl's Winter in India." This year she again describes extensive travels under the title of "In Cairo and Jerusalen," showing the peculiarities of travel, and the life, manners, and customs of Egypt, as well as of Asia. She is a good observer, and has a retentive as well as receptive mind, and a very happy art of stating facts. Her publishers have done their share to make her book what it should be, and

Copyright, 1894, by A. D. F. Randolph & Co. A FEIYOOM MADONNA.

Diary of Anna Green Winslow.

A REALLY valuable contribution to knowledge regarding social conditions in Boston a century and a quarter ago, and a most entertaining one withal, is provided in the "Diary of Anna Green Winslow," edited by Alice Morse Earle. Anna was a direct descendant in the sixth generation from Mary Chilton of Plymouth, and the daughter of Joshua Winslow, who became commissary-general of the British forces in Nova Scotia after the capture of Louisburg in 1745. A "bright little girl of ten years of age," she came to Boston in 1770 to live with her aunt, Sarah Deming, and to be finished by

Boston teachers. She became one of the select circle who attended the Old South, and in spite of frequent illness took an active part in fashionable and religious activities of the day. The diary records her experiences for the benefit of her parents, to whom it was sent in frequent instalments, and as a quaint, amusing, and manifestly faithful picture of domestic life at the time, it is quite without a parallel. Little Anna Winslow, as one might expect from her Puritan ancestry and surroundings, did not neglect her " religious privileges," and she gives copious reports of the sermons she heard as well as of the religious conversations in which she took part; but she was a merry, whimsical soul, fond of dress and gayety, and these qualities, together with her unconscious charm of disposition, are abundantly reflected in her journal. She tells us all about the latest styles in feminine attire, expatiates wittily on the absurd mode of coiffure then prevalent, and describes her calls and visits, her teadrinking and other frivolities, and the dance parties" formal little routs," Mrs. Earle designates them" in the great, low - raftered chamber, softly alight with candles on mantelpiece and in sconces, with Lucinda, the black maid, 'shrilly piping,' and rows of demure little girls of Boston Brahmin blood, in high rolls and feathers, discreetly partaking of hot and cold punch, and soberly walking and curtsying through the minuet, fantastic in costume, but proper and seemly in demeanor, models of correct deportment as were their elegant mammas." But with all this gayety Anna Winslow found time for household tasks and the pursuit of the more useful accomplishments. She writes of the "pyes" she has made, of her "stents" at needlework and spinning, of her attendance at sewing-school, and her efforts at the attainment of good penmanship — efforts that were more successful than her endeavor to practise good spelling, as a fac-simile of a page from the diary clearly shows. For these things the "Diary" of Anna

Winslow will be read, but more than all, perhaps, for the delightfully human quality of its revelations. The author of it was endowed with a sympathetic heart, keen wit, and tireless energy, and she stands forth self-portrayed, as one of the permanently lovable characters of Mrs. Earle has autobiographical literature. provided a charming introduction for the work and a number of edifying notes, genealogical and antiquarian; and the publishers have recognized their responsibility by giving the book The a particularly handsome appearance. cover, in imitation of an old-fashioned sampler, is irresistibly "taking." (Houghton, Mifflin & Co. $1.25.)- The Beacon.

Napoleon and Historical Romance. THE series consisting of The Whites and the Blues," two volumes; "The Companions of Jehu," two volumes; "The She-Wolves of Machecoul;" and The Corsican Brothers," two volumes, are works of romanticised history. Alexander Dumas is as careful of his historic facts as if he were writing real history instead of romance. It adds largely to the real value of the books, while it detracts nothing from the charm of their romance. In another series -The Marie Antoinette Romances "-Dumas wrote the complete history of France from the first appearance of Maria Therese's daughter upon French soil as the betrothed wife of the Dauphin, down to the day of her death upon the scaffold as the dethroned queen. In these romances the same service is performed for The Man of Luck" or "The Man of Destiny," as we may prefer to mark him. It was in the year 1793 when this remarkable man, by seeming chance, dropped down on Toulon when the republican army was besieging that city. and demonstrated his wonderful power. It was later on in the Egyptian campaign that France acknowledged him as her head. It was in 1797. when his name was being sung as the hero of the bridge of Lodi, and Arcole, that he took leave of the army in Egypt and hurried to France, seeming to know instinctively that great events were ripening. What did occur attracted the profound attention of the civilized world. We shall make no attempt to even summarize. Romance can bind isolated historical facts together and make them more entertaining, but the real facts of French history of the period are as exciting as the best romance. Given such themes with characters made to hand, and with such an author as Dumas, the volumes could scarcely be less than they are, as grand specimens of romantic history as ever were penned. (Little, Brown & Co. ea., $1.25.)-Chicago Inter-Ocean.

sessions, slowly pounding to pieces. Ere the wreck became complete, the intrepid master managed to save his compass, chronometer, charts and stores, and, after paying off his crew from an attenuated purse, cast about for some means to escape from exile. The captain and his brave mate held a consultation, when it was decided to build a boat, which project was cheered to the echo by tho two Slocums, "who bent their energies in a practical direction," and set to work like veteran ship-constructors. After some five months' labor, the Liberdade was brought forth, and launched on the day the Brazilian slaves were freed, May 13-hence the name "Liberty." She was 35 feet in length, 7.6 feet beam and 3 feet hold, the model being borrowed from the recollections of Cape Ann dory and the Japanese ampan, rigged after the style of the latter. And this was the craft to which four lives were to be entrusted in a fivethousand-mile voyage to North America; this was the craft that successfully accomplished

Timar's Two Worlds.

MAURUS JÓKAI stands not only at the head of Hungarian literature, but he has won a claim to be entitled one of the leading novelists of Europe. Although a veteran in the republic of letters, it has not been so very long since his name became widely known on this side of the Atlantic, but his fame has spread to rapidly that his work bids fair to be appreciated almost as widely as Tolstoi's, even if not as closely criticised.

"Timar's Two Worlds" demands our special attention as a work of genius, drawn with firm strokes, depicting phases of life foreign to our experience, describing, graphically, an unfamiliar country and with an excellent narrative attractiveness. The characters have the breath of life in them, although they live not as we live.

Timar is a remarkably strong conception. As a humble skipper in the opening scene he is not particularly interesting, but the gradual change