or two other situations in this romantic narrative which lack the touch of art; but fortunately the good points in 'Monica' outnumber its weaknesses. Miss EverettGreen is admirable in her delineation of feminine virtues, and she doubtless feels the necessity of a contrast to the extreme sweet ness of her heroines. But she is not good at depicting men, and her villains are bogeys that never create a shudder. It is almost superfluous to remark that Mr. Barrie's is a story which no lover of Scotland will read without being rewarded. The tale is rather thin, but the old people of Thrums are as good as ever; and although Rob Angus would seem little likely in real life to have drawn such a prize as the colonel's daughter, yet there are men who "make themselves" in a single generation, and such prodigies are commonly found to have been bred amid simple surroundings, and not far from communion with mother nature. Rob's experiences as a journalist involve some amusing episodes. A happy thought is that invention of a profession, the furnishing of rooms for interviews. Altogether Dick Abinger is a more interesting figure than Rob, finer strung, feeling more intensely underneath his cynicism, apart from the fact of his being made the vehicle of some excellent gnomic sentences on journalism. We are inclined to think with Tammas, the stone-breaker, "at Rob was a lucky crittur to get sic a bonny wife." In spite of its title, the ghostly element in 'The Grey Lady' is reduced to a minimum, and that is harmless. A certain amount of mild love-making, a couple or so of hairbreadth a and escapes, a very inordinate quantity of theology from the Roman Catholic standpoint form its other main ingredients. The heroine, Alice Hardcastle, already Catholic by conviction" at the age of twenty, has a youthful enjoyment of burning discussions on the subject of her religious convictions, and her ritualistic young friends and relations share her taste for controversy. To the reader who has neither ritualistic nor Roman Catholic leanings the arguments are not likely to prove interesting, though somewhat curious historical statements are to be found in them. Miss Hardcastle seizes the opportunity of her father's supposed death by drowning to be received into the Roman Catholic Church, a step he had violently opposed; hence a little domestic persecution on the squire's unexpected restoration to his sorrowing family, followed by the final triumph of Alice and her union with her moribund, but converted cousin. Her influence, however, does not stop here, but also interposes a most unnecessary division between an otherwise united young couple who have the misfortune to be related to her. The book would certainly have a better chance of success if it were less heavily handicapped by a strongly marked dogmatic purpose. a 'Mondaine' is one of the best of M. Malot's books. It is pleasant to read, and contains a strong portrait, that of the wealthy bourgeoise married to man of family, whose leading idea in life is to advertise herself, her parties, and her dress in Paris newspapers. The novel ends with a melancholy situation, represented by the author as though it were tolerable, or even OUR LIBRARY TABLE. India, by Sir John Strachey, G.C.S.I. (Kegan Paul), consists of a series of lectures delivered by him in 1884 before the University of Cambridge, enlarged and corrected up to date. His object has been to present in a clear and definite form the main facts relating to India itself and our rule there: its justification, its difficulties, and its prospects. Those who seek a clear exposition of the system of our government in India need not go beyond the volume before Sir John Strachey is anxious to do equal justice to the Government of India and to the Council of the Secretary of State, to which he now belongs. Among the more ardent and the younger administrators in India there is a tendency to look upon the Council in Downing Street as obstructive and old-fashioned, and it is us. not uncommon to hear our rule described as "a benevolent despotism tempered by the indiscretions of a Secretary of State." Sir John Strachey, however, vouches for the fact that the interference of the Secretary of State with the action and is practically limited to matters of great of the Government of India is extremely small, importance. He urges that in such matters the control of the Indian Council, consisting for the most part of men who have seen much service, is absolutely necessary, owing to the incessant process of change in the personnel of the administration in India and the constant waste of mature experience. In respect to finances-as to which Sir John Strachey speaks with the authority of an ex-finance minister-India, he says, has become one of the great powers of the world. In 1840 the gross revenues of India were 21,000,000l. sterling; in 1857, the year before the assumption of the government by the Crown, they were 32,000,000l.; in 1886 they were 77,000,000l. In 1840 the total value of foreign trade was 20,000,0007.; in 1857 it was 55,000,000l.; and in 1886 it was 163,000,000l. In conclusion, we commend to the attention of all students of Indian history the timely remarks of Sir John Strachey as to the non-existence of any history of British India which is trustworthy and complete in its facts, and which at the same time possesses the essential quality of literary excellence. Since the earlier part of the present century the old stories of the crimes by which the establishment of our power in India was attended A few students know that for the most part these have been passed on from one author to another. stories are false, and that, in the words of Sir Alfred Lyall, the hardihood and endurance of the men who won for England an empire were equalled only by the general justice and patience with which they pacified and administered it. This also was the opinion of Sir Henry Maine, who ascribed the perversion of history in question to the fact that at the beginning of the present century, when India was the chief topic of the great writers and rhetoricians-such as Burke, Sheridan, Fox, and Francis-English classical literature was saturated with party politics. MR. W. T. STEAD's Truth about Russia (Cassell & Co.) having for the most part already appeared in print- some of it, indeed, twice over-it is not necessary for us to discuss it at great length. A little less haste and it would have been a better book, but, as it stands, it is a remarkable proof of the ability of its writer. The journalistic habit of over-statement, intended to produce effect, is noticeable throughout, as well as some controversial un fairness, but the volume is well worth perusal. As a specimen of newspaper "slapdash" we may point to the description of General Igna tieff as "the Russian Mr. Gladstone," while in another chapter Sir William White is styled doubt as to the relation of Mr. Gladstone to "the English Ignatieff," and we are left in Sir William White. If, but for nationality, Sir William White = General Ignatieff, while General Ignatieff Mr. Gladstone, we should have thought that the conclusion Mr. Gladstone = Sir William White must force itself upon the mind. As an example of unfairness we may quote the declaration, According to popular prejudice in England, the Tzar" (why does Mr. Stead follow the Polish and not the Russian spelling?) "is the great disturber of the peace." There is an ob vious ambiguity in the words "the Tzar" and the prejudice, if prejudice it be, which makes of Russia a disturber of the peace is not met by the proof, admirable and convincing though it is, that the present occupant of the Russian throne is at the present moment peaceful. He may be conquered by a war party, as his father was; he may be removed by the hand of the assassin, as was his father. The general value of the book is shown by the fact that Mr. Stead has undoubtedly been instrumental in causing a true view of the excellent side of the character of the present Emperor of the Russias to prevail in England. Moreover, no other foreign writer on Russia-neither Sir Donald Wallace, nor Mr. Hepworth Dixon, nor M. Leroy-Beaulieu-has so well described the wickedness of Russian official religious persecution. Mr. Stead's believe is clearly exhibited in the following para childlike innocence in believing what he wants to graph: "That is all very well,' I replied, but do you want the keys of the Bosphorus in order to exclude the Black Sea from the arena of war or do you want to shut us out in order to conver the Black Sea into an immense arsenal, from which, at a given moment, a new Armada migh issue forth and join hands with the French to sweep the British flag from the Mediterranean? Nothing of that, I was always assured, wa dreamed of by the Russians.” BIOGRAPHIES continue to collect on our table The Life of William B. Robertson, D.D., Irvine, by Dr. J. Brown (Glasgow, MacLehose) contains an account of a minister of the United Presbyterian Church who was not only a popu lar preacher and lecturer, but possessed variety of tastes not common among Dissenting ministers in Scotland. He was a fluent versi fier, if not a poet; he was something of a musi cian, he was interested in archæology, and h was fond of pictures; and although loyal t his own communion he was tolerant, an created no little dismay at Irvine by pro posing that some French sailors, whose bodie had been washed ashore, should be buried wit the rites of the Church of Rome.- The Life an his Wife (Nelson & Sons), contains a memoir o Letters of William Fleming Stevenson, DD, b an Irish Presbyterian who, like Dr. Robertson studied in Germany, and held a position of muc influence in his own Church. He was greatly cor J cerned in superintending the missions of his Church, and was highly respected by men of various creeds. His widow has written his biography with considerable tact and taste. Ir is impossible for us to write at length with regard to so strictly political a volume as L'Irlande et l'Angleterre depuis l'Acte d'Union jusqu'à os Jours, by M. Francis de Pressensé, published by MM. Plon, Nourrit & Co., of Paris. M. Pressensé began to write upon the history of Ireland with a certain prejudice against the Nationalist party, but, as he himself states in his preface, by the time he reached the conclusion of his work he had a strong feeling the other way. The book will not, on the whole, be found very interesting or valuable by English readers, and is inferior to a series of twenty-five letters on Ireland which lately appeared in the République Française, and are to be reprinted as a volume. In the Educational Annual, 1889 (Philip & Son), the compiler, Mr. E. Johnson, assigns the first and most important place to the Royal Commission on Elementary Education. A long comprehensive résumé of reports and recommendations of the Commission is given, followed by the current code of the Education Department, and the chief instructions, circulars, &c., issued to Her Majesty's inspectors and others concerned with grant - aided schoois. More than half the volume is devoted to primary instruction, and our system of national education as it exists at present is fairly and fully described. The second part of the manual treats of secondary education. Mr. Johnson supplies a general sketch of its conditionat present by no means satisfactory-and then adds a mass of useful facts concerning "the schools and colleges of England and Wales intermediate in grade between public elementary schools and the universities." The schools and colleges will be found in alphabetical order under couraties, while institutions devoted to "agricultura 1, evening, medical, musical, or technical education have been placed under separate headinga' com "The list of schools, &c., is approximately plete, and the descriptive information given appears, so far as we have had opportunity of veriying it, trustworthy, although in several in stan com far but W Stree 1888 book and Des it should have been somewhat more prehensive. The general index is ample so s concerns matters in the Education Code, for outside matters enlargement is desirable. E have received from Messrs. Street & Co. t's Indian and Colonial Mercantile Directory -9, and have only to say that this usefu appears to be as well executed as usual; From Messrs. Kelly & Co. Kelly's Handbook to th Titled, Landed, and Official Classes, a work of which we have previously spoken in high praise, and which continues thoroughly to desuch praise. serve usual M SSRS. DEAN & SON have sent us their hand ome "royal edition" of Debrett's Peerage, Baro etage, and Knightage. The volume is, as brought up to date with remarkable care. The British Imperial Calendar (Warrington & Co.) has reached its eightieth year. It is a highly useful book, and its index makes it convenient to Consult; while the 'Companion' contains some hand lists.-The Service Almanack of Messrs. Harrison is cheap and useful. We may be excused for pointing out that The Chronological Synopsis of the British Army' has the common defect of leading the reader to believe that the British army was never defeated except at Alanza and Fontenoy. A Dutchman would probably give a different account of the naval fights of 1665-1673 from what is found on p. 3, and remember that his countrymen sailed up the Thames in triumph. The printer's devil marshal on p. 64. has povided the great Napoleon with a new We have received the Reports of the Cardiff, Cheltham, and Salford free libraries. Cardi The committee speak of their prosperity Green's (J. R.) Short History of the English People, Parts Baedeker's (K.) Greece, Handbook for Travellers, 18mo. 10/ and talk of opening branch libraries. They also send us a Catalogue of Music in their lending library (Cardiff, Owen & Co). At Cheltenham also and Salford things are prosperous, although from Salford comes the complaint of limited means; at Cheltenham the new building is nearly finished. Catalogues of the lending Parry's (Major G) Sketches of a Yachting Cruise, 8vo. 10/6 libraries at Belfast (Belfast, Carswell & Son) and West Bromwich (Oldbury, Midland Printing Company) are also on our table. The latter has reached a fourth edition. From Paddington we have received the first annual report of its free library, which is supported by voluntary contributions, as the ratepayers refused to adopt the Act. THE following booksellers have forwarded their catalogues: Mr. Baker (largely theological), Messrs. Dulau (zoology), Mr. Higham, Messrs. Jarvis, Mr. Marvell (a handsome catalogue on large paper of books on magic, alchemy, &c., introduced by a mystic preface), and Messrs. Sotheran (rather interesting); also Mr. Clay (chemistry) and Mr. Thin (Oriental literature mostly) of Edinburgh, Mr. Hopkins of Glasgow (fairly interesting), Mr. Simmons of Leamington, and Mr. Howell of Liverpool. Wingfield's (Hon. Lewis) Wanderings of a Globe-Trotter, 2 vols. cr. 8vo. 21/ cl. Philology. Clare's (E) First Elements of French Grammar, cr. 8vo. 2/ Hatch's (E.) Essays in Biblical Greek, 8vo. 10/5 cl. Hauff's (W.) Das Bild des Kaisers, edited by J. F. Davies, 12mo. 2/ cl. Lange's (F.) Concise German Grammar, First and Second Selecta ex Justino, Caesare, Cicerone in usum Regiæ Schola Course, cr. 8vo. 2/ each. Etonensis, cr. 8vo. 4/6 cl. Science. Andrews's (T.) Scientific Papers, with Memoir by P. G. Hasluck's (P. N.) Model Engineers' Handy book, cr. 8vo. 2/ Peattie's (J.) Steam Boilers, their Management and Working, cr. 8vo. 5/ cl. Reynier's (E.) The Voltaic Accumulator, an Elementary Treatise, translated by J. A. Berly, 8vo. 9/ cl. Sexton's (A. H.) Elementary Inorganic Chemistry, Theoretical and Practical, 12mo. 2/6 el. Stone's (T. W.) Notes on Water Supply in New Countries, cr. 8vo. 7/6 cl. General Literature. Curtis's (E. J.) A Game of Chance, 3 vols, cr. 8vo, 31/6 cl. We have on our table History of the Waldenses of Italy, by E. Comba, translated by T. E. Comba (Truslove & Shirley),— Imperial Germany: a Critical Study of Fact and Character, by S. Whitman (Trübner),-Lives of the Seven Sons of Gibson's (G. R) Stock Exchange of London, Paris, and New George III., by J. E. Ritchie (Charles & Co.), Juvenile Literature as It Is, by E. Salmon (Drane),-Col. Quaritch, V.C., by H. Rider Haggard, 3 vols. (Longmans),—Flowers and Fruit from the Writings of Harriet Beecher Stowe, arranged by Abbie H. Fairfield (Low), – Narrative and Legendary Poems, by John Greenleaf Whittier, Vol. I. (Macmillan),-Semblance, and other Poems, by C. T. Lusted (Kegan Paul),— Lyrical Dramas, Poems, and Translations, by E. Exon (Melbourne, Mullen),―The Grand Army Speaker, edited by G. M. Baker (Routledge), The Baglioni: a Tragedy, by F. L. Cartwright (Field & Tuer), -Ballads of the North Countrie, edited by G. R. Tomson (W. Scott),-Scraps by a Sailor, by W. M. Crealock (Wyman & Son), A History of the Independents or Dissenters at Mortlake, by J. E. Anderson (Laurie)-Great Thoughts, a Birthday Book (Marcus Ward),The Holy Scriptures in Ireland One Thousand Years Ago, translated by the Rev. T. Olden (Dublin, Hodges, Figgis & Co.),-Moffatt's Edition of the Gospel according to St. Matthew (Moffatt & Paige),-Christmas Eve, by L. S. M. (Bradford, Sewell),-Light through the Crannies, First Series (Longmans), -The Thumb Bible, by Bishop Jeremy Taylor (Hodder & Stoughton), -The Divine Unity and Trinity, by H. H. Jeaffreson (Kegan Paul),—Le Mari de Lucienne, by Yves de Noly (Paris, Lévy),-and Volksbuch über die Kunst glücklich zu Werden, by N. Grabowsky (Würzburg, Kressner). Among New Editions we have An Introduction to French Authors, by A. Charlin (Hachette),-Corinna, by Rita (Spencer Blackett),-Dulcibel's DayDreams, by E. Marshall (Nisbet),—and Roots, a Plea for Tolerance (Bentley). LIST OF NEW BOOKS. ENGLISH. Theology. Farrar's (Archdeacon) Lives of the Fathers, 2 vols. 8vo. 24/ cl. Oman's (J. C.) Indian Life, Religious and Social, cr. 8vo. 6/ On the Book of the Prophet Daniel, Brief Comments, 2/6 cl. Shedd's (W. G. T.) Doginatic Theology, 2 vols. 8vo. 25/ cl. Taylor's (Rev. W. M.) Elijah the Prophet; Daniel the Beloved, cr. 8vo. 3/6 each, cl. Law. Bigelow's (M. M.) Elements of the Law of Torts, cr. 8vo. 10/6 Rudall (A. R.) and Grieg's (J. W.) The Trustees Act, 1888, cr. 8vo. 2/6 cl. Poetry. Kenworthy's (J. C.) The Judgment of the City, and other Poems and Verses, cr. 8vo. 2/6 cl. Somerset's (Lord H.) Songs of Adieu, 6/ parchment. Wordsworthiana, a Selection from Papers read to the Wordsworth Society, ed. by W. Knight, cr. 8vo. 7/6 cl. History and Biography. Casquet's (F. A.) Henry VIII. and the English Monasteries, Vol. 2, 8vo. 12/ cl. York, cr. 8vo. 4/ cl. Hogan's (J. F.) The Australian in London and America, 6/ cl. Kavanagh's (J.) Two Lilies, cr. 8vo. 2/ bds. Nottim's (G. E.) A Loyal Heart, a Story of the Crimean War, cr. 8vo. 2/6 cl. O'Hanlan's (A.) Change? or Fate? 3 vols, cr. 8vo. 31/6 cl. Pask's (A. T.) The Eyes of the Thames, cr. 8vo. 6/ cl. Phallism, a Description of the Worship of Lingam-Yoni, 7/6 Robinson's (F. M.) Mr. Butler's Ward, cheap edition, 2/ bds. Sheringhams (J. W.) Stromata, cr. 8vo. 2/6 el. limp. Winter's (J. S.) Harvest, cr. 8vo. 2/6 cl. Wood's (H. F.) The Englishman of the Rue Caïn, cr. 8vo. 6/ Wright's (J. C.) Outlines of English Literature, cr. 8vo. 2/ cl. Zola's (E) A Soldier's Honour, and other Stories, cheap edition, cr. 8vo. 3/6 cl. FOREIGN. Theology. Hesse (F. H.): Die Entstehung der Neutestamentlichen Marti (K.): Der Prophet Jeremia v. Anatot, 1m. 20. Wirgand (A.): August Neanders Leben, dargestellt f. Stu- Dubuc (P.): Essai sur la Méthode en Métaphysique, 5fr. History and Biography. Bertrand (P.): Lettres Inédites de Talleyrand à Napoléon, 1800-1809, 7fr. 50. Daniel (A): L'Année Politique 1888, 3fr. 50. Wallon (H.): Les Représentants du Peuple en Mission (1793-94), Vol. 2, 7fr. 50. Geography and Travel. Petersen (E.) u. Luschan (F. v.): Reisen in Südwestlichen Kleinasien, Vol. 2, 150m. the book sales of 1888 fall, both in quality and in extent, much below those of the preceding six or eight years. According to Book Prices Current, the number of high-class auctions which take place during an average season may be calculated at about seventy; the one that has lately closed has only forty-nine to its credit, and the lots disposed of were, with exceptions, remarkable for their mediocrity. It is quite possible that accidental circumstances may regulate the market to a greater or less extent; but the question of a gradual absorption into the numerous public libraries now springing up all over the country is one that cannot be overlooked. Should this prove as important a factor as it would seem at first sight, the tastes of the majority of collectors will be forced into other channels, and the modern book of limited issue will then take the place of those relics of antiquity which drain the purse in proportion to the difficulty in obtaining them. The season 1887-8 opened with the Husk sale, on the 7th and 8th of December of the former year. The books were good of their kind, but not valuable, the highest price realized being 81. 10s. for a copy of Nichols's 'Literary Anecdotes,' 17 vols. 8vo. 1812-58. The only lot of much note at the Stourhead sale, which took place a few days later, was an extra illustrated specimen of Hoare's 'Modern Wiltshire,' in 6 vols. folio, large paper, 1822-43. The amount paid (2001.) shows that admirers of the barbaric system of "Grangerizing" are not yet extinct, though doubtless competitors would have been more numerous forty years ago. Gould's ornithological works invariably bring large sums-in fact, the bidding commences at a high figure, and varies but little, whenever examples occur for sale. 50l. for the Trochilidæ,' 2001. for 'The Birds of Australia,' and 601. for 'The Birds of Europe' are average prices, condition as usual having everything to do with any material variation that may exist in particular cases. This average was during the season amply maintained, the first-named book selling for 351., 581., and 641.; The Birds of Australia' for 1361. and 2201.; and 'The Birds of Europe' for 571. and 70l. respectively. The Birds of Asia' brought 12l. and 10l. at different sales, 'The Birds of Great Britain,' 36l., Birds from the Himalayas,' 167. and 19l., and the 'Trogonidæ,' 121. · If Lodge's 'Portraits,' in 4 vols. royal folio, 1821-34, large paper, 581., and Dugdale's 'Monasticon,' 1817-30, folio, 247. 10s., be noted, there is positively nothing further worthy of mention during the remainder of the year 1887, and it is not until we advance far into the following year that choicer examples become numerous. A passing reference may, however, be made to 'Bentley's Miscellany,' 1837 to 1868, in all 64 vols. 8vo., 271. (Carter sale, January, 1888), and the Oriental Translation Fund Publications, 30 vols. 4to. and 33 vols. 8vo., 1829-42, 21. 10s. (ibid.). The first edition of Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy,' if possessing the leaf of errata at the end, is scarce. A good example with this desirable addition realized 251. 10s. at the sale of a miscellaneous collection in February, and at the same time no less than 12. 10s. was obtained for the 'Pickwick Papers' in the original parts. Had these parts been carefully bound the book would not have brought more than 4., and possibly not even that. Heywood's works in 4to., 1562, brought 10l. 15s., a small price, sufficiently accounted for when it is explained that the last leaf was in facsimile. At this miscellaneous sale a unique copy of Paradise Lost' sold for 15. It was the first edition of 1668, but there were seven preliminary leaves not previously observed by any bibliographer. It may safely be predicted that a few years hence this copy will be worth five or six times the amount given for it. On March 1st and two following days the library of the late Mr. Douglas Stewart was brought to the hammer in Wellington Street. Without the slightest pretensions to rank with The Aylesford collection, dispersed by Messrs. The number of Shakspeare folios offered for "run" There is at present what is known as a We now come to what is generally con- philes, which advocates the payment of 781. for The remaining sales up to the end of May show nothing of importance. The Breese Library, dispersed on the last day of that month, contained a number of Welsh printed books, among which is noticeable the 'Testament Newydd ein Arglwydd Jesu Christ,' 1567, 4to., which sold for 58. The collections of the Powys-Land Club, in 13 vols. 8vo., 1868-80, brought 117.; and Eyton's 'Antiquities of Shropshire,' 12 vols. 8vo., 1854-60, 31. It will be remembered that the year 1888 was the tercentenary of the publication of the first Bible in the Welsh language (Morgan's Bible, London, Christopher Barker, 1588, a good copy of which sold by auction in June, 1887, for 601.). The Turner sale (Sotheby, June 18th and eleven subsequent days) was productive of some good lots, for which competition ran hig) quatros Libros del Efforçado y Virtuos lero Amadis de Gaula,' printed at Salar 1519, brought 561.; and another edition in folio, 281. Another book of the sam 'Arthur King of Britaine and Acts Valiant Knights of the Round Table, 4to., 1634, sold for 14l. Brandt's ' Navis,' Paris, 1498, realized 271.; Coryat's Crudities, hastily gobled up in five Moneths Travells,' 1611, 4to., 40l. 10s.; and Glanvil's Batman uppon Bartholome his Booke,' 35. The most astonishing price certainly seems to be the 61. paid for Rogers's 'Italy' and Poems,' in 2 vols., 1830–4; but it must be noted that both volumes were splendidly bound by Bedford in morocco extra, covered with minute gold tooling, relieved by variegated leathers in the Grolier style, and this makes a wonderful difference. of 15 10 с The highest figure reached during the season was 5551. paid for twelve tracts bound in one small quarto volume. As might have been expected, these brochures related to America, and comprised such rarities as Hamor's True Discourse of the present Estate of Virginia,' 1615; Cotton's Abstract of the Laws of New England,' 1641; and Ashley's 'Relation of CochinChina,' 1633. At the same sale (the Wimpole Library) nine other tracts, also relating to America, sold for 661.; Caxton's Game and Play of Chesse,' imperfect, 1475, 260; and the same printer's Myrrour of the Worlde,' very imperfect, 1481, 607. All the lots a this sale, which together did not number 250, were of the rarest description, but a great m any of the books were imperfect. After the Wimpole dispersion the season languished to its close, showing nothing out of the common, and hardly meriting notice at all. Reference may, however, be made to a sum of 351. paid for a copy of Lamb's 'Poetry for Children,' London, 1809. It is said that only one other copy of this infantile production is known to exist, and I cannot help thinking that if Lamb had burnt the entire stock it would have been better for the purchaser. Now that attention has been called to the book further discoveries are almost certain to be made, and with the inevitable result. Though the larger dispersions are more interesting to wealthy purchasers, there is much to be learnt from the smaller and less important sales, because it is from them that the popular fancy can most certainly be gauged. At the larger auctions bidders are apt to raise their prices, and frequently pay more than the normal value of what they buy, thus setting an example which more often than not proves contagious, and affects the humbler class of purchaser. From a comparison of the prices realized at these smaller auctions I draw the following conclusions; and if there is any reliance at all to be placed on such evidence, or any possibility of foretelling the course of events dependent upon mere caprice, then the truth should not be far distant. Early printed books relating to America are steadily increasing in value and should still increase. The same remark applies to works printed in Scotland during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Art books are decreasing in value, the works of Ruskin, Hamerton, Turner, and a few others being exceptions, and it is predicted that they will fall still lower. Old English works which derive their interest from typographical considerations appear to be stationary, so are illustrated first editions of modern authors, such as Ainsworth, Dickens, Lever, and Thackeray, the probability being that these latter have at last reached the zenith of their fame and value. Old Bibles are, as usual, much sought after, but the prices paid are stationary. Books on witchcraft, magic, and kindred subjects realize high prices, and a few years hence will be difficult to procure at all, unless, indeed, Mr. Redway or some other astute purchaser cares to duplicate his stock while there is time and keep it under lock and key, for the benefit of the next generation. County histories and other topographical works are improving, so are treatises on antiquarian subjects. Sporting books never grow out of date, and, it may be added, never sell for less than they are worth. First editions of modern authors which are not illustrated such, for instance, as the works of Byron and Scott-have, as a rule, been selling for a few shillings each, but a sharp upward tendency is clearly observable in them at last. I have had occasion to point to this class of work before as one of the best investments in the market. They are still cheap and easily attainable, and will be valuable hereafter, though Probably they will never be so eagerly sought after as the earliest editions of Shelley in their Covers of green. J. H. SLATER. DOUAI COLLEGE AND THE BRIGHTON PAVILION. Signet Library, Jan. 28, 1889. THE review of Mr. Gillow's Haydock Papers' in the Athenæum of last week very justly calls for proof of the editor's statement that the money paid by France in 1815, by way of indemnity for the property lost by the English College at Douai, was not handed over to the Fightful owners, but, on the ground that such Property was devoted to "superstitious purPoses," was spent by the British Government in aying off the debts incurred by the Prince of Vales in building the Brighton Pavilion. This tory is a current tradition among Roman atholics, and may be found in print in Weale's Handbook to Belgium' (1859), where the exact paid by the French to the British Government is set down at 90,000l. Mr. Weale also gives no authority; and in the absence of evidence for so strange a tale, the somewhat different account of the matter given by the Abbé Dancoisne in his 'Histoire des Établissements Religieux Britanniques fondés à Douai,' &c., may be perhaps accepted as authentic. At the armistice which preceded the peace of Amiens the proprietors of the college obtained restitution of the buildings by virtue of a letter from the Minister of Finances, dated September 17th, 1801. They then rented the college for a spinning factory, and finally, in 1834, ceded it to the State for the modest sum of 80,000 fr. The buildings are now used, as is well known, for an arsenal of artillery under the name of "Les Grands Anglais." As to the college which the English Benedictines possessed in the same town, it appears that by an ordinance of Louis XVIII., September 4th, 1816, all their property, movable and immovable (except what had been already sold, and the church of St. Gregory of which the ownership was a disputed point), was restored to Thomas Lawson, the former prior; and accordingly in 1818 the English Benedictines returned to their old quarters in the Rue St. Benoît. What was the precise form in which compensation was made to the Scotch College I am unable to say, but it may reasonably be doubted if any portion of the proceeds found its way to the Treasury or to the pockets of the creditors of George IV. Literary Gossip. T. G. LAW. AN authorized memoir of the life and work of the late Mr. Laurence Oliphant is to be undertaken under the superintendence mature attempts at biographies, which must of his widow, and in the mean time prenecessarily be imperfect or misleading, are deprecated by his representatives, who will be grateful for the co-operation of any of Mr. Oliphant's correspondents in their task. Copies or originals of any of Laurence Oliphant's letters will be received by Messrs. William Blackwood & Sons, 45, George Street, Edinburgh, and safely transmitted to Mrs. Rosamond Dale Oliphant. Subsidy Rolls, the Episcopal Registers, and perhaps some of the principal parish registers in the county might be taken in hand. If two hundred subscribers will guarantee half a guinea each, Mr. Phillimore is prepared to an once undertake a quarterly series, to be styled the "Gloucester and Bristol Record Series," which shall give not fewer than two hundred pages annually in similar style to the "Index Library." THE new edition of Mr. Wemyss Reid's 'Life of the Right Hon. W. E. Forster," which Messrs. Chapman & Hall are going to issue, is in one volume, and will contain additional matter and a new portrait. MR. J. M. COWPER will have his fourth Canterbury register, viz., of St. Alphage, ready for the press in a few days. It will extend from A.D. 1558 to 1800. MRS. OLIPHANT's new novel, 'Neighbours on the Green,' will be published immediately by Messrs. Macmillan & Co. THE English-Persian Dictionary,' upon which Mr. A. N. Wollaston, C.I.E., has been for many years engaged, is rapidly approaching completion, and will be pubof the present year. lished by Messrs. Allen & Co. in the course illustrations for the édition de luxe of Mr. MR. DU MAURIER has just finished the F. C. Philips's As in a Looking - Glass,' which is to be issued in March by Messrs. Ward & Downey. 'THE WYVERN MYSTERY,' a novel written many years ago by the late Sheridan Le Fanu, and published in three volumes, will shortly be issued in a single volume, with illustrations by Mr. Brinsley Le Fanu, a son of the author of 'Uncle Silas.' It is the only one of Le Fanu's novels which has not been reprinted. THE two new volumes of Letters of Carlyle' which Prof. C. E. Norton has edited are mostly addressed to the various members of Carlyle's family, and afford a tolerably continuous account of his life from his MR. EBSWORTII is at work on the preface marriage to the period when his fame was about to be established by the publication and index to the sixth volume of the Roxof his French Revolution.' Messrs. Mac-burgh Ballads. The index is especially full. millan are to publish them speedily. THE LIFE OF STEELE,' by Mr. G. A. Aitken, to which we referred some time ago, is now in the printer's hands, and will be published by Messrs. Isbister during the autumn. The work, which will be in two volumes, will contain, it is said, a large amount of fresh information, and will be illustrated by several unpublished portraits of Steele and his family. MESSRS. CHAPMANN & HALL are about to publish a short work entitled 'Galileo and his Judges,' by Mr. F. R. Wegg Prosser. It is in reply to various criticisms on the case of Galileo. MR. W. P. PHILLIMORE, editor of the "Index Library," proposes to publish a series of "Gloucester and Bristol Records." Mr. Phillimore will begin with the calendars of wills at Gloucester and Bristol, the marriage licences at Gloucester, and the 'Feet of Fines,' such as those printed by Mr. Walter Rye for Norfolk. Later on, the Gloucestershire Inquisitiones post mortem, the Ar the general meeting of London and provincial newspaper proprietors held on Monday, Mr. Edward Lawson in the chair, the committee submitted a report regarding the new Act, and presented a statement of accounts, showing that it had a balance still in hand of over 467. After the formal adoption of the committee's report, discussions took place upon the various subjects mentioned in the circular convening the meeting, and a resolution was passed "That this meeting, whilst of opinion that the new Act should receive a fair trial before further legislation is attempted, reaffirms the prin ciples embodied in clauses 5 and 7 of the Libel Bill as introduced into Parliament by Sir Algernon Borthwick." It was also resolved to form a permanent association, and the Libel Law Reform Committee was reappointed, with instructions to prepare a scheme for the formation of its Association. An adjourned meeting of the conference will be held at a future date to receive the report of the committee. MESSRS. BELL & BRADFUTE, of Edinburgh, have arranged for the immediate publication of a handbook to the new Local Government Bill for Scotland, upon its becoming law, by Mr. William George Black. Mr. Black is author of Local Government in Scotland,'The Parochial Ecclesiastical Law of Scotland,' and other works, and has been for several years a member of the Parliamentary Bills Committee of the Commissioners of Supply for Lanarkshire. An article on the Law of Libel Amendment Act of 1888, by Mr. W. F. Finlason, editor of Reeves's History of English Law,' will appear in the new edition of the Newspaper Press Directory. MISS FANNY FOWKE is to edit the en larged edition of Miss F. Davenport Hill's 'Children of the State' which Messrs. Macmillan are going to publish. MESSRS. FIELD & TUER write:"A correspondent in last week's Athenæumwho is certainly justified in asking for an explanation-wishes to know how it is that 'Ken chemistry they mostly seem ignorant, they could not draw, and the examiner in geography seems to be almost the only one who appears to be able to report favourably. Out of forty-nine candidates but eight obtained certificates. AN "investigation" into the administration of the Civil List pensions for the last fifty years has been completed for the committee of the Incorporated Society of Authors by Mr. W. Morris Colles. The list, giving the reasons for each grant and the amount, has been reprinted with some comments and suggestions, and will appear in a few days under the title 'Literature and the Pension List.' graphic facsimile reprint of Immerito,' the MR. NIMMO is going to publish a photooriginal edition of Spenser's 'Shepheardes Calender,' printed by Hugh Singleton, London, 1579. Dr. O. Sommer will edit it and contribute an introduction. L'ABBÉ HENRY HYVERNAT, professor at the Papal University at Rome, and author Dickens will shortly be added a French work, entitled 'L'Inimitable Boz: Étude Historique et Anecdotique sur la Vie et l'Euvre de Charles Dickens,' by M. Robert du Pontavice de Heussey. It will be illustrated with portraits and engravings. THE venerable Bishop of Funen, Dr. Christian Thorning Engelstoft, who died in his palace at Odense on the 24th of January, in his eighty-fourth year, besides being a prominent Churchman, has enriched Danish literature by a variety of works, chiefly in ecclesiology. He published a history of the city of Odense in 1862, and he was the first editor of the leading Church review in Denmark, the Theologisk Tidsskrift, which he founded in 1837. He has been Bishop of Funen since 1852, with the exception of a short interruption in 1864, when for six months he accepted the portfolio of a cabinet minister during the war with Germany. In the January number of the German Magazin für das Ausland has appeared a sington: Picturesque and Historical,' published of a splendid work on Coptic palæography translation by Mrs. Freiligrath Kroeker of by subscription at 28s. 6d., can now be had at a bookseller's for the same price, although the prospectus stated that the published price after the subscription list closed would be 45s. He further asks how the stores were able to take orders for this book at 27s., and how at least one bookseller is now selling copies at a trifle less than the subscribed price. The explanation is this. For the trouble of sending out prospectuses and booking orders we allowed booksellers and the stores a special (very small) commission from the subscribers' price of 28s. 6d. One of them, with a reputation for cheapness, took a shilling off, another followed with eighteenpence, and the mischief was done. Before the subscription list was closed some of the booksellers, including wholesale houses in the Row, speculatively subscribed for a certain number of copies, and it is these which are now being offered at 28s. 6d, and by cutting booksellers at even a slightly lower rate. So long as they remain undisposed of we are helpless; but the copies still in our hands being very few in number and the type distributed, 'Kensington' will eventually be raised by us to a much higher figure than the published price of 45s. The proof copies, over which there was no speculating, are now at a heavy premium. The terms of publication were the result of much deliberation, and it was only when too late that the one weak spot was discovered. Should we ever publish another book by subscription, a clause will be inserted in the prospectus to the effect that every order must be accompanied by name and address of subscriber, and that orders from booksellers for stock, except on the usual trade terms based on the full published price, will be declined. THE Sussex Express, published at Lewes, has been purchased of the executors of the late Mr. W. E. Baxter by a limited company. The negotiations and valuations were arranged by Mr. W. Wellsman, of Messrs. C. Mitchell & Co. THE philosophical writer Eduard von Hartmann will shortly issue a politico-historical work under the title of 'Zwei Jahrzehnte Deutscher Politik und die Gegenwärtige Weltlage.' THE report on the examination for commercial certificates held by the University of Cambridge is not encouraging. Few of the candidates knew much of arithmetic or modern languages, their handwriting was often bad, and many of them could not express themselves in their own language passably. Of mechanics and just published, has started for a literary tour in the East before settling at Washington, where he has been invited to take the Professorship of Biblical Archæology in the Catholic University. It will, perhaps, be of extract from a letter written to one of our interest to our readers to see the following correspondents, dated Djesireh Ibn Omar, December 14th, 1888 "Nous voici, mon compagnon l'Abbé Muller et moi, à la fin de notre cinquième mois de voyage. Nous nous sommes rendus à Constantinople par Vienne. Après quinze jours de séjour dans la capitale du puissant empire ottoman, nous avons filé sur Tiflis par Batoum et Kutais. Nous avons parcouru tout le Caucase dans sa plus grande largeur de Vladi Caucase à Djoulfa. A ce dernier point nous avons franchi la frontière de Perse, avec l'intention de nous rendre à Talmas et à Ourmi, pour aller ensuite à Van par le Hakiari et revenir plus tard en Perse afin de visiter Tauriz, Teheran, Hamedan et Kirmanchah, d'où nous devions nous diriger sur Baghdad. Il en a été autrement. A Van nous avons, malgré nos lettres vizirielles, été pris pour des espions, qui disait de la Russie, qui disait du Pape, pour soulever les arméniens. Il en est résulté un retard de quatre semaines et demie, qui a été fatal au parfait accomplissement de ma mission. Car la neige est arrivée et nous a fermé l'accès de plus d'une inscription inconnue jusqu'alors. Je reviens néanmoins avec une dizaine de photographies d'inscriptions, pas mal d'observations topographiques et géologiques, quelques monnaies anciennes et plusieurs manuscrits, dont un MS. arménien des évangiles de premier ordre à cause des miniatures qu'il contient. Pour nous rendre à Djesireh Ibn Omar, d'où je vous écris, nous avons contourné la partie septentrionale du lac, par Ardjiche, Aklat et Tadwan, toujours dans la neige. Le Trojet de Bitlis ici a été des plus pénibles à cause des horribles montagnes qu'il Mais, Dieu merci, nous sommes tous les deux faut franchir et de l'inclémence du temps. aussi bien portants qu'au jour de notre départ. Nous nous rendons maintenant à Moussel, Baghdad, Basra, Bombay, l'Egypte et la Palestine." M. BOURGET's friends are a little astonished to find him writing in the Vie Parisienne on the lightest subjects in that which is politely called the lightest style-at any rate, general report attributes the articles to M. Bourget. To the already large number of books on Matthew Arnold's 'Heine's Grave.' This Arnold's into German. is the first attempt to render a poem of Mr. THE Hebrew texts relating to the Ten Tribes in the Middle Ages to be found in MSS. and rare books, of which Dr. Neubauer makes use in his essay with the title of Where are the Ten Tribes ?' (Jewish Quarterly Review) will appear in the original in the next "Sammelband" of the Mekitze Nirdamim (Society for Publication of Hebrew Texts) at Berlin. MESSRS. KERR & RICHARDSON, of Glasgow, are going to bring out A Complete Concordance to the Poems and Songs of Robert Burns,' compiled and edited by Mr. J. B. Reid. The words of the 'Concordance number over 8,000; the quotations over 40,000. THE second volume of the 'Marriages at St. George's, Hanover Square,' 1788 to 1809, which Mr. J. H. Chapman has just finished editing for the Harleian Society, contains the marriage of the late Duke of Sussex with the daughter of the fourth Earl of Dunmore, which was afterwards declared null and void; and that of the twelfth Earl of Derby with Miss Farran, besides many other entries of note. THE deaths are announced of M. R. Saint Hilaire, of the Sorbonne, well known by his writings on Spanish history, and of Dr. W. Schott, the Berlin Orientalist. THE chief Parliamentary Papers of the week are Public Records, Forty-ninth Annual Report (38. 3d.); Royal College of Surgeons, Supplemental Charter, Correspondence (10d.); and Consular Report on the Trade of St. Petersburg for 1887 (3d.). SCIENCE BOTANICAL LITERATURE. The Flowering Plants of Wilts. By the Rev. T. A. Preston. With a Map. (Wiltshire Archæological and Natural History Society.)—This systematic list of the wild plants of Wiltshire is preceded by some details as to the topography, geology, and climate of the county, matters in the discussion of which Mr. Preston has had the assistance of Mr. Boulger, Mr. Sowerby, and |