arms, now carry Bourget instead, and read him without a blush. This is more than some of their brothers are yet able to do. However, there is no denying the enormous cleverness of the man, and since it has pleased the fair sex to be pleased with him, there is nothing for it but to bow down and be thankful that for

once the object of the idolatry of the hour has really literary qualities worthy to command profound admiration. To inquire too curiously whether these are the qualities which are appreciated by those who promote the cult would, I am afraid, savor of cyni

cism.

Arlo Bates.

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RECENT number of Harper's Weekly contained a long interview with the author of "Ben Hur," "The Fair God,” and The Prince of India," with a photograph, which is reproduced herewith. According to this article, General Wallace was born at Brookville, Franklin County, Ind., on April 10th, 1827, which makes him in his sixty-seventh year. At the time of the Revolution his family, which originally settled in Virginia, consisted of four brothers. Of these one died on a British prison ship in New York Harbor and two were killed in battle. The remaining brother, General Wallace's great-grandfather, settled in Pennsylvania, and later moved to Cincinnati, where he established the first newspaper of the place, the Liberty Hall Gazette, afterward the Cincinnati Gazette and now the Commercial Gazette.

Through the influence of General William Henry Harrison, General Wallace's father went to West Point, and served for several years at the Academy as Assistant Professor of Mathematics. Leaving the army, he went

of adventure and of mischief asserted itself, I became a terror to the community, and my activity did not cease with the daylight.

"Very fortunately for me I was a passionate reader, and my father had a good library, which I read with the eagerness of an omnivorous boy, though, of course, I had my favorites, of which a prime one was Plutarch's Lives.' I skipped the parallels, I must own, but I lost none of the stories; and when I went away, as I often did for two or three weeks at a time, with a dog and a gun, on excursions, during which I lived with the farmers, who all knew me, a volume of Plutarch was apt to be my other companion. As you may imagine, this course of life was inconsistent with a regular education. At ten I made a scholastic experiment, but it was not successful. My elder brother was already entered at Wabash College, and it occurred to me that it would be a good thing to join him. So I joined him by running away; but the studies naturally demanded both more maturity of mind and previous preparation than an idle boy of ten could possess, and at the end of three months I terminated my academic career by running away again and resuming my nomadic life.

"Of course this could not last forever, loth as I might be to have it come to an end. When I was sixteen my father called a halt and a conference. He showed me the twelve years' school bills that he had paid for me while I had not had a year's schooling in all, and said that he had done his duty in providing for me these advantages by which I had not profited, and that now it was time to make provision for myself. I recognized the justice of his position, but the outlook was not bright. My interests and my ambitions had been too various to admit of my mastering anything. I wanted, among other things, to be a soldier, a writer, and a painter, and I had made essays in these two latter directions. I had always been sketching, as well as scribbling, and perhaps I had a talent for art, though it was not a talent easy to cultivate in that time and place. After I had done what I could without instruction in black and white, I aspired to color, and confided my aspirations to the one professional artist that Indianapolis then possessed. His name was Cox. He gave me some pigments, but they

the inquiry as to what relation his appointment as Minister to Turkey had to his new

book, The Prince of India :"

"Why, I may almost say I was sent to Constantinople to write that book. When General Garfield became President he offered me, in the first place, a mission in South America, which I declined; but when the Turkish mission was offered, I felt the charm that Constantinople must have for every romantic mind. I had become acquainted with the President in the army, and he had read Ben Hur,' and liked it. As I was coming away from my visit of acknowledg ment at the White House, he put his arm over my shoulder in his cordial boyish way, and said: 'I expect another book out of you. Your official duties will not be too onerous to allow

you to write it. Locate it in Constantinople.' That was, of course, agreeable and a main consideration in accepting the place. The capture of Constantinople by the Turks is one of the most striking events in the history of the East, and one of the most striking in the history of the world. There could not be a finer setting for a historical romance.

"Picciola," translated from the French of

X. B. Saintine, with over one hundred drawings by J. F. Gueldry, will be one of the Appletons' attractive holiday books. The same firm has in press "The Country School," a study of New England school-boy life, written and illustrated by Clifton Johnson.

Edith Thomas is the author of a volume of poems for young people, with the happy title

In Sunshine Land," which Houghton, Mifflin & Co. will publish. Another charming juvenile book from the same house will be "Polly Oliver's Problem," by Kate Douglas Wiggin-the problem being how Polly could make a living.

The most important biography in the fall list of the Scribners is the long awaited" Life and Correspondence of Arthur Penryhn Stanley," by R. E. Prothero, with the co-operation of Dean Bradley. It will be published in two large volumes with portraits. The same publishers also have nearly ready four volumes giving series of character sketches of men who have won success in life by their own efforts. The general title of the series will be "Men of Achievement," and the volumes will be Explorers and Travellers," by General A. W. Greely, U.S.A.; "Men of Business," by W. O. Stoddard; "Inventors," by Philip G. Hubert, Jr., and Statesmen," by Noah Brooks.

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LONDON, September 5, 1893.

NOTABLE landmark dear to all lovers of art, all collectors of pictures, of curios, of old plate and of bric-a-brac has just disappeared from London-namely, the front of Messrs. Christie & Manson's establishment in King Street. That modest entrance, with its ordinary, unobtrusive porch, has shown the way to some of the most famous collections, and the two simple pillars at the doorway have supported the catalogues of the most notable galleries in the world. It is difficult to understand why this memorable entrance was not photographed or why some pictorial recollection of it did not appear in the illustrated papers before its demolition. It would be interesting if one could catalogue the number of notable people who have passed through the portal that has only just disappeared during the greater part of the present century. The uninitiated would be surprised to learn of the vast amount of business that has been done and the importance of the works of art that changed hands and the value of the galleries that were dispersed behind that unassuming frontage. The frequenter of these famous sales-rooms, however, need be in nowise dismayed; they are not about to be disestablished; the adjoining house has been acquired by Messrs. Christie & Manson and an important façade is in course of erection that will probably be finished before the next sale-season com

mences.

The Pall Mall Magazine-over which some of the wiseacres shook their heads and said there was no room for another shilling magazine--has proved a very great success. Indeed, there was no room for a shilling magazine of commonplace character filled with amateur work, but this magazine is of a very different character. The first number was. excellent, and that excellence has been steadily maintained up to the present issue. The editors, Lord Frederick Hamilton and Sir Douglas Straight, seem to have a

able to select for the partic

wondrous faculty of being exactly the very best men ular articles they require. The result is a monthly publication which is for the most part thoroughly readable from beginning to end.

The enthusiasm for Charles Dickens, his works, his relics and his associations does not wane in the least. Indeed, I am inclined to think it is rather on the increase. It is prosecuted with as much vigor, I fancy, on your side of the water as it is here. The other day I had the pleasure of going through a series of volumes that would fill with envy the breast of the American collector. It was Forster's "Life of Charles Dickens," grangerized into many big volumes, and it has been the work of many years of Mr. Alfred C. Harmsworth. No trouble, time or expense has been spared in making this as perfect as possible, and its proprietor considers it very far from complete even now. It contains an enormous quantity of portraits of Dickens-some now extremely rare. It is curious to see how varied many of them are and how often he must have been sketched in the period previous to the age of photography. There must also be well-nigh eighty letters of the great novelist-some of them of surpassing interest; there are in addition many letters of his contemporaries, and all kinds of pictures, views and memoranda bearing on the subject of the biography.

Never has there been such keen competition in illustrated journalism as at the present time. Every day are there fresh candidates, weekly or monthly, arising for public favor. People are becoming so critical that anything that is not of the best is not likely to be a suc

few days ago, showed, I understand, most sat. isfactory evidence that the Daily Graphic is inheriting the success of its mother, and the shareholders were observed to leave with a smile of content on their faces, which argued well for their satisfaction.

It is sincerely to be hoped that something may be done to mend the manners of our House of Commons. It was once spoken of as the best club in England. That was long ago. A high authority on such matters was the other day dilating upon the deterioration of all London clubs in consequence of relaxing the stringency of the qualification. Possibly this is the reason for the rowdyism that has been recently witnessed in the best club in England. The free fight or something very like it which not long ago occurred between some of the members has been succeeded by a silly and puerile attack by an Irish member in the lobby on Mr. Harry Furniss, the wellknown artist of Punch. It is difficult to understand the thin-skinnedness of some people. When Mr. Gladstone and Lord Salisbury in the present, and Lord Beaconsfield, Lord Palmerston, Lord John Russell and others in the past, have continually been themes for caricaturists without appearing to notice the fact, it is strange that any one should think himself called upon to retaliate by a personal attack. It is sadly to be feared this thinskinnedness is on the increase. In the healthy times of long ago people laughed goodhumoredly when they saw themselves caricatured or when anything uncomplimentary appeared concerning them in a newspaper. Now they either make a personal assault or bring an action for libel.

Sir John Gilbert, who has recently made the magnificent gift of some of his best pictures to the Corporation of the City of London, also to Birmingham and Liverpool, has been in indifferent health during the past few months of this year. I am glad to be able to report that he is very much better, and hopes soon to be hard at work again. I had the pleasure of a long talk with him down at his charming residence at Blackheath a few days ago, and was delighted to find he had made such satisfactory progress. We had a long chat in the

studio, and looked at his pictures; we walked round the pleasantly wooded grounds, and had a gossip about art and artists. Sir John has all the enthusiasm of a young student, and it seems hard to believe that he was well known as an illustrator before the starting of the Illustrated London News, and that he appeared in its first issue. The number of illustrations he has done in addition to his pictures in oil and water-colors, during his long career, must amount to countless thousands.

J. Ashby Sterry.

A new Popular Edition is to be issued of the 'Cyclopedia of Music and Musicians," a standard reference book, with more than 1000 illustrations, the édition de luxe of which attracted wide and favorable notice. It will be published by the Scribners in three large octavo volumes.

In the course of an interview recently with a representative of the London Bookman Kate Douglas Wiggin gave some interesting particulars of her life:

I was born in Philadelphia, and spent my childhood in New England, where I lived much in literary circles. Afterward I went to California, where the real work of my life began. I have always taken the greatest interest in the psychology of childhood, and may claim to have done some practical service to the children of America. I organized the first free Kindergar ten west of the Rocky Mountains, the Silver Street Kindergarten in San Francisco, from which have grown hundreds of other kindergartens on the Pacific coast. I was also successful in establishing a training school for teachers in San Francisco, and to the classes in this school I gave two talks a week for many years. "The Story of Patsy' was the outcome of my association with the free Kindergarten at San Francisco, and was founded on fact. I am third vice-president of the New York Kindergarten Association, of which Richard Watson Gilder is president and Mrs. Grover Cleveland first vice-president.

After my marriage I was naturally unable to give so much time to this work, but I never lost sight of it, and when visiting the kindergarten I used often to join in the children's games and tell them stories. To the experience gained in this way I owe the inspiration of my literary work.

Mrs. Wiggin is also quoted as saying that of her books "The Birds' Christmas Carol" is the favorite in America and "Timothy's Quest" in England. The latter charming story was written in a Maine village, Hollis, where Mrs. Wiggin is passing the autumn at work upon a new book.

ABOUT FORTHCOMING BOOKS.

Andrew Lang's Christmas book this year will be "The True Story Book," with numerous illustrations. It will be published by Longmans, Green & Co.

Professor Henry Van Brunt, of Columbia College, is the author of a volume, "Greek Lines, and Other Architectural Essays," which Houghton, Mifflin & Co. will publish.

A new edition, largely rewritten, of Andrew Carnegie's "Triumphant Democracy,''including the facts and figures of the census of 1890, is in the press of the Scribners.

The leading illustrated books which the Harpers will publish this fall will be The ChristChild in Art," by Dr. Henry Van Dyke; “Italian Gardens," by Charles A. Platt, and "Riders of Many Lands," by Colonel T. A. Dodge, the last named being illustrated by Remington.

Professor George E. Woodberry's life of James Russell Lowell, in the American Men of Letters, will be published in two volumes. Edward Cary, of the New York Times, has in preparation for the same series a life of George William Curtis, which will occupy one volume.

The Century Co.'s list of new books includes "Balcony Stories," by Grace King, illustrated by Sterner, Blum and others; "An Embassy to Provence," by Thomas A. Janvier; "The Brownies at Home," by Palmer Cox, and "The White Cave," by W. O. Stoddard.

"University Football," edited by James R. Church, contains chapters by Cowan, Irvine, George and Poe, of Princeton, Lee and Hallowell, of Harvard, and Bull and Winter, of Yale, each of whom explains the play of the position in which he has won fame. The book will have portraits and illustrations of plays. It will be published by the Scribners.

W. J. Fletcher, Librarian of the Amherst, Mass., College Library, has written a historical and descriptive account of "Public Libraries in America," which Roberts Brothers will have ready this month. In a book entitled "The Barberry Bush," Susan Coolidge has gathered eight stories about girls for girls, which this firm has about ready.

A new volume of stories by Mary Hallock Foote, "In Exile, and Other Stories;" a new volume of verse by Louise Imogen Guiney, "A