We can safely compliment the author on many features of his pleasant book, but not on his selection of a nom de plume. And this little phrase reminds us that we are grateful to him for writing it correctly when he uses it, and for rising superior to the ordinary newspaper French of nomme de plume, esprit du corps, etc. etc. At the same time we decidedly object to his saying, (p. 104,) "Every thing is so blasé," because in French the person, and not the thing, becomes blasé. Of course, it was not Mr. Upton's fault that the Chicago printer had no accented é in case. Enthused, he will permit us to remark, is a wretched vulgarism, and we have our doubts about a thing that "would go a great ways."
Mr. Upton is right in praising Jefferson's Rip van Winkle. It is a personation as deserving of praise as the wretched dramatic version he renders is of blame. He is also right in saying, "The St. Elmos who start off as scoundrels always remain so—Miss Evans to the contrary notwithstanding." The chapters on the "Maiden Aunt" and the "Tenor" are good, and fashionable weddings, the fashionable minister, and petroleum and shoddy, are well handled. The book has generally a sound, wholesome tone, is straightforward in its dealing with sham and humbug, and possesses withal a dash of the spirit of the Potiphar Papers and a flavor of the Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table that make one feel as if among old friends.
Sybaris and Other Homes. By Edward E. Hale. 16mo, pp. 206. Boston: Fields, Osgood & Co.
The purpose of this little book is to show how town and city life ought to be arranged, how far certain experiments in improved social arrangements have succeeded, and how the poor are compelled to live and die in the crowded tenements of our great metropolises, such as Boston and other continental capitals. The solid chunks of wisdom which Mr. Hale has to impart on these subjects are conveyed in the pleasant disguise of short stories—in the telling of which he has very few rivals among American authors. The narrative of "My Visit to Sybaris" is a peculiarly happy specimen of his aptitude for that vraisemblance which is so important a part of a good fiction.
Mrs. Gerald's Niece. A Novel, by Lady Georgiana Fullerton. New York: Appletons.
Lady Georgiana Fullerton's novels are most of them productions of considerable merit. Their great fault has been too much intensity of passion, a quality which has been subdued sufficiently in the present novel to satisfy our critical judgment, without detracting from the vividness and warmth of conception and style so highly appreciated by the novel-reader. Those who want an exciting story to read, which is full of originality, and which abounds both in charming descriptions of natural scenery, and masterly delineations of character, while it is at the same time safe and sound enough to satisfy the most fastidious confessor, will probably be pleased with this one. Perhaps some of them will skip the elaborate discussion of Anglicanism and Catholicity; but whatever mere story-readers may think, we must say that they show, more than any thing else in the book, the great mental power and accurate knowledge of the accomplished authoress.
The Wonders of Pompeii. By Marc Monnier. Translated from the original French. Illustrated.