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 sweetness 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 escapes, and a very inordinate quantity of theology from the Roman Catholic standpoint form its other main ingredients. The heroine, Alice Hardcastle, already "a 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 his torical 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.

'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 a 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

pleasant. But the conventional ending, arrived at by killing people who are in the way, is even further removed from the

truths of existence than is that of M. Malot's Mondaine.'

'Alain de Kerisel' is as good a novel as has appeared for some time, and contains the most lifelike account of daily life at sea that we have met with of recent years. Punkahs off Crete on the "26th of October" are, however, out of place, and greatcoats would be far more useful to passengers returning from the tropics. We wish that M. de Tinseau had not charged England with attempting to prevent the annexation of Tonquin to France.

In her new volume Gyp leaves aside for once her well-known characters, and becomes more "presentable" to the British public. 'Petit Bleu' is a beautiful story of convent life which might pass muster almost anywhere, and the other stories are in modesty half-way between this one and those which, to use the author's own phrase, are "sans voiles." The later portion of the volume is a little "thin."

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 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 inter

us.

equalled only by the general justice and patience with which they pacified and adminis tered 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 "the English Ignatieff," and we are left in doubt as to the relation of Mr. Glad stone to 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 Eng

land, the Tzar" (why does Mr. Stead follow the Polish and not the Russian spelling?) "is the great disturber of the peace." There is an obvious 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

ference of the Secretary of State with the action | Russian official religious persecution. Mr. Stead's

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

20,000,000%.; 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 com-
plete in its facts, and which at the same time
possesses the essential quality of literary excel-
lence. Since the earlier part of the present cen-
tury the old stories of the crimes by which the
establishment of our power in India was attended
have been passed on from one author to another.
A few students know that for the most part these
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

believe is clearly exhibited in the following parachildlike 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 convert the Black Sea into an immense arsenal, from which, at a given moment, a new Armada might issue forth and join hands with the French to sweep the British flag from the Mediterranean?' Nothing of that, I was always assured, was dreamed of by the Russians."

BIOGRAPHIES Ccontinue to collect on ovar table The Life of William B. Robertson, D.D., Irvine, by Dr. J. Brown (Glasgow, MacLehose contains an account of a minister of the Unite Presbyterian Church who was not only a popu lar preacher and lecturer, but possessed a variety of tastes not common among Dissenting ministers in Scotland. He fluent versi

fier, if not a poet; he was something of a musi cian, he was interested in archæology, and he his was fond of pictures; and although loyal to

own communion he was tolerant, and created no little dismay at Irvine by proposing that some French sailors, whose bodies had been washed ashore, should be buried with the rites of the Church of Rome. - The Life and Letters of William Fleming Stevenson, D.D, by his Wife (Nelson & Sons), contains a memoir of an Irish Presbyterian who, like Dr. Robertson, studied in Germany, and held position of much influence in his own Church. He was greatly con

a

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 8l. 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, 200l. for 'The Birds of Australia,' and 60l. 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 35l., 58l., and 64l.; 'The Birds of Australia' for 136l. and 220l.; 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, 16l. and 19l., and the 'Trogonidæ,' 12l.

،

Without the slightest pretensions to rank with such collections as the Syston Park and Crawford, this library was, nevertheless, remarkable, as it contained nearly one hundred lots entirely devoted to Cruikshankiana, as well as some very choice examples of Dickens, Fielding, Smollett, and Rowlandson. Works on cockfighting and other forms of obsolete "sport" were also there in great profusion, and the prices obtained were inordinately high. The Douglas Stewart sale will long be remembered as the modern collector's chance, not only of one, but of several seasons, for securing the illustrated first editions of modern authors he covets, in the best condition and at the highest price.

The Aylesford collection, dispersed by Messrs. Christie in the same month of March, proved disappointing. The books were good of their kind, but of a class not much sought after at the present day. There were, of course, exсерtions, and among these may be noted Andrews's 'Engravings of Heaths,' 4 vols. folio, 1802-9, 131. 15s.; Arnold's 'Chronicle,' printed at Antwerp by Doesbrowe in 1502, folio, 88l.; Aubrey's 'Antiquities of Surrey, 5 vols., on large paper, 1719, 8vo., 34l.; the second edition of the Bishops' Bible, printed by Richard Jugge in 1572, from the library of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, with his arms on the sides, 90l.; and the Earl of Bute's 'Botanical Tables,' 9 vols. 4to., 1785, of which only twelve copies were printed, 60l. Whitechurche's Book of Common Prayer, 1549, 4to., is at all times an exceedingly scarce and valuable example of early typography; but with the rare leaf ordering the price of the volume, viz., 2s. 6d. unbound and 4s. bound, it becomes presque unique; 125l. was not considered too high a figure to pay under these favourable circumstances.

The number of Shakspeare folios offered for sale decreases every year. At the Aylesford sale the first folio realized 200l., the second folio, 140l., the third, 93l., and the fourth, 29l. Of these, however, only the last was perfect. Of the early quartos there was not a single specimen, and as a matter of fact only three, and these indifferent copies, have been offered for sale during the last two years.

Wal Waltz, 4to., 4 1813

philes, which advocates the payment of 78l. for the 'Prognosticatio' of Liechtenberger, printed at Cologne in 1526, not because the book is in trinsically worth any such sum, but on account of the inscriptions in letters of gold, "Io Gr et amicorum" at the bottom of the cover, and on the reverse "Portio mea Domine sit in Terra Viventium." It is a known fact that books from the library of the famous Grolier are worth their weight in gold, no matter what the intrinsic value may be. It would be a misnomer to call the Kilmarnock edition of Burns's 'Poems a curiosity, but the price paid for it (1117.) certainly merits that appellation. This is the highest figure ever paid for this small, but rare work, and perhaps the magic of "some uncut leaves" had much to do with the result; 50% also seems an enormous price to give for the first edition of Byron's Saxton's 'Maps of England and Wales,' published in 1579, is another curious book, which, when perfect, sells for somewhere about 50%.; the Gibson-Craig copy had a modern reprint of the portrait, and therefore only brought 311. A copy of the princeps Walton was sold for 23l., as fourteen leaves were absent, this making a difference to the estate of perhaps 40l., and, under certain conceivable circumstances, more. The total number of lots at this sale was 5,364, which realized 7,9071. 1s. 6d. The first portion of the same library consisted of 2,927 lots, and realized 6,803l. 8s., a very much better record. 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 58l. The collections of the Powys-Land Club, in 13 vols. 8vo., 1868-80, brought 11l.; and Eyton's 'Antiquities of Shropshire,' 12 vols. 8vo., 1854-60, 31l. 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 60l.).

The Turner sale (Sotheby, June 18th and eleven subsequent days) was productive of some good lots, for which competition ran high. 'Los quatros Libros del Efforçado y Virtuoso Cavallero Amadis de Gaula,' printed at Salamanca in 1519, brought 56l.; and another edition of 1533in folio, 28l. Another book of the same class Arthur King of Britaine and Acts of his Valiant Knights of the Round Table, 3 vols 4to., 1634, sold for 14l. Brandt's 'Stultifera Navis, Paris, 1498, realized 271.; Coryat' 'Crudities, hastily gobled up in five Moneth Travells,' 1611, 4to., 40l. 10s.; and Glanvil 'Batman uppon Bartholome his Booke,' 35 The most astonishing price certainly seems t be the 61l. paid for Rogers's 'Italy' an 'Poems,' in 2 vols., 1830–4; but it must be note that both volumes were splendidly bound b Bedford in morocco extra, covered with minut gold tooling, relieved by variegated leathers i the Grolier style, and this makes a wonderfu difference.

The highest figure reached during the seaso was 555l. paid for twelve tracts bound in or small quarto volume. As might have been ex pected, these brochures related to America, an comprised such rarities as Hamor's 'True Di course of the present Estate of Virginia,' 1615 Cotton's 'Abstract of the Laws of New En land,' 1641; and Ashley's 'Relation of Cochi China,' 1633. At the same sale (the Wimpo Library) nine other tracts, also relating America, sold for 66l.; Caxton's 'Game Play of Chesse,' imperfect, 1475, 260l.; and th same printer's 'Myrrour of the Worlde, ve imperfect, 1481, 60l. All the lots at this which together did not number 250, were the rarest description, but a great many of t books were imperfect.

ar

sa

After the Wimpole dispersion the Beas 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

steadily increasing in value and should still in

crease. 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

gives no authority; and in the absence of evi

dence for so strange a tale, the somewhat different account of the matter given by the Abbé Dancoisne in his 'Histoire des Etablissements 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 Grands Anglais."

"Les

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

considerations appear to be stationary, so are illustrated first editions of modern authors, such Ainsworth, Dickens, Lever, and Thackeray,

38

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 illustratedsuch, 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 Atheneum 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 rightful owners, but, on the ground that such property was devoted to "superstitious purposes," was spent by the British Government in paying off the debts incurred by the Prince of

Wales in building the Brighton Pavilion. This story is a current tradition among Roman

Catholics, and may be found in print in Weale's 'Handbook to Belgium' (1859), where the exact sum paid by the French to the British Government is set down at 90,000l. Mr. Weale also

to be undertaken under the superintendence of his widow, and in the mean time premature attempts at biographies, which must necessarily 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.

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 marriage to the period when his fame was about to be established by the publication of his 'French Revolution.' Messrs. Macmillan 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.

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. BARRIE, the author of 'Auld Licht Idylls,' is engaged upon a life of the late Mr. Russel, of the Scotsman, the most influential journalist of his day in Scotland. Mr. Barrie would be obliged by the loan of letters, which should be sent to him, 7, Furnival's Inn, E.C., and any other

aid.

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 published by Messrs. Allen & Co. in the course of the present year.

MR. DU MAURIER has just finished the illustrations for the édition de luxe of Mr. 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.

MR. EBSWORTH is at work on the preface and index to the sixth volume of the Roxburgh Ballads. The index is especially full. 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 461. 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 principles 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

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 | report of the committee.