Books Of The Day.

BOOKS OF THE DAY .

Books , Music , & c . intended for review , should be addressed to the Editor of the Freemason ' s Chronicle , at Fleet Works , Mew Barnet . — : o : — New Century Library ( 2 s net per vol . ) . —T . Nelson and Sons . The Works of SIR WALTER SCOTT , BART . Vol . ii ., Guy Mannering .

The pleasures of memory are many , and our recollections of the scenes and incidents and persons in "Guy Mannering . " are among the happiest of them all . Lacking the knightly deeds rnd valorous emprise of " Ivanhoe , " the tragic strength of "The Heart of Midlothian , " or the incomparable humour of " The Antiquary , " it is nevertheless full of good things , and shrewd as few save the

wizard of the north could have rendered it . When , just now , we opened this beautiful edition that Messrs . Nelson have sent us , we were back in thought by the riverside at St . Albans , where we first met the Dominie Sampson and Meg Merrilies , and laughed loudly over the doings of Dandie Dinmont and his dogs . We allowed Squire Recollection to keep the upper hand during his

pleasure , which lasted long enough for us to cast an eye upon the gipsies upon the estate of Ellangowan , to hear again the sound of the flageolet from the skiff upon , the lake at Mervyn Hall , to shake piir fist in dumb show at the rascal Glossin , to see the famished dominie devour the steaming stew proffered by Meg , to spy upon Dick Hatteraick in the cave , and to listen again to the sweet voice

or Lucy Bertram . When a writer leaves behind him as many as twenty-two long novels and half a dozen short ones it is no easy task that the critic attempts when he endeavours to point out the singular and distinctive merits of any one of them . We are disposed to think that the sovereign merits of " Guy Mannering •' ¦ are its uniformly pleasing narrative , its quiet , unostentatious humour ,

its genial sketches of country life and manners . The old Highlander who narrated the ori ginal story to Scott had , as the great romancer assures us , but one fault in life—he preferred whisky to less potent liquors . We would like to have grasped that Highlander by the hand , and to have thanked him for having supplied the foundation upon which was built ' Guy Mannering , " or " The Astrologer . "

My Lady Marcia . A Story of the French Revolution . By Eliza F . Pollard . With illustrations . —Thomas Nelson and Sons . THE French Revolution has always attracted the novelist . When , in search of stirring incidents and heroic action he turns instinctively to that lurid period which may be said to have commenced when

the States General met , and to have finished when Buonaparte ordered the discharge of the famous " whiff of grapeshot" ; and he is a dullard indeed if he fails to find ample material for a good story .. The volume before us is written by a hand that has acquired considerable cunning , and the historic scenes therein adapted to the requirements of romance have lost nothing in the re-telling . Nobody

save a wretched bungler could fail to make an entertaining novel out of materials drawn from the lives of Marie Antoinette and Robespierre , to say nothing of the numberless others—some saints , some villains—who crowd the pages of that bloodly epoch . Mrs . Pollard has , we think , succeeded admirably in her efforts to put before us a fresh version of an old story , and we hardly know if

her powers of invention or her general fidelity to history deserve the greater praise . We by no means share that extravagant estimate of the character of Marie Antoinette which usually obtains among lady writers , and which reminds us of Pope's 'remark that " a saint in crape is twice a saint in lawn "; and we strongly recommend readers of " My Lady Marcia" to consult the first volume of

Carlyle's " French Revolution , " and Mr . Morley ' s essay on Robespierre , as wholesome correctives in regard to their estimate of the famous queen . There are a few excellent illustrations to this book : the one entitled " As she talked she kept filling his mug" strikes us as being particularly well conceived . This should become a favourite

gift book , and nobody to whom it is given will readily find a dull page between its covers . We have seen nothing so readable on the days of the French Revolution for a long time , and we think the writer would be amply justified in attempting another story of a similar character . '

Men of Men . By C . Fox Smith . —Sampson Low , Marston , and Co ., Limited . THERE are verses in this little volume that show Mr . Fox Smith to be a true poet . But as a true poet he knows how difficult an art he has espoused , and he will pardon us if we say that we think his verse of very unequal merit . Most of the stanzas in the

"Peninsular Ballads" are . so spirited and patriotic that all who read will be pleased ; moreover , there are many lines which are excellent alike in composition and in sentiment . We have noticed a rather rare merit in this volume ; for whereas many writers can handle any measure save blank verse , we think " The Quest of the Queen "

is superior to anything else by the same pen . The influence of Tennyson is apparent in almost every line of this fine poem , but we have not noticed any slavish imitation of mere diction Anybody who has read "The Idylls of the King" will know the master who inspired such lines as these :

"But at last They pressed him backward slowl y from the gate , Till in the darkening hall he stood at bay For one last bout of battle . Once again Thro the high traceried windows , all at rest He saw the golden moon , the glimmering mere And hills on fire with sunset . ''

Books Of The Day.

We are grateful to any poet who so manages his verse as to remind us of a greater master than he . Mr . Fox Smith will sympathise with us when we say that we are not often reminded of Tennyson when reviewing contemporary poetrv . The Language of Handwriting . A text-book of Graphology . By Richard > Dimsdale Stocker .,, With 113 illustrations and 5 plates ( 3 s 6 d net ) . —Swan Sonnenschein and Co ., Ltd .

THE subject of this volume is in part too wonderful for our comprehension ; it is high , we cannot attain unto it . Mr . Lang has recentlv expressed the opinion that we " shall soon cease to believe in anything scientific . " On the contrary , we apprehend that there will soon be nothing else left for us to believe in , for everything is reduced to a science nowadays . There is much in Mr . Stocker's

treatise which is both ingenious and plausible , but we certainly think he pushes his deductions to their uttermost verge . We regard graphology as a subject worthy of study , but do not see that Mr . Stocker , or any other writer whose work we have seen , has demonstrated that his conclusions are anything more than conjecture . It is surely well known that the handwriting of persons of

remarkably similar character and abilities is often as diverse as handwriting can well be ; in fact , this is so frequently the case that we wonder how even the perseverance and ingenuity of Mr . Stocker can suffice to marshall an orderly theory out of such conflicting elements . However , we can heartily advise our readers- to buy a copy of this book and examine it for themselves . Even if thev share our

opinion that the cases instanced are often not proven '; they will admit that the rich collection of facsimile autographs is alone worth the three and sixpence . Most of these signatures are exceedingly well reproduced .

On 18 th March MT . Fisher Unwin is to publish a novel by Dr . William Barry , entitled " The Wizard ' s Knot . " It is a story of the south-west of Ireland , and if as good as Dr . Barry ' s novel of Italian life , " Arden , Massiter , which we reviewed in these columns early last year , it is very good indeed . We hope it may prove a success .

Messrs . Swan Sonnenschein are to publish a work eminently characteristic of our age . It is entitled "A Descriptive Guide to the Best Fiction , " and its author is Mr . E . A . Baker , M . A . From all we can learn we believe Mr . Baker will prove no blind guide , even in a vast territory where the most experienced can easily go astray .

Messrs . Hutchinson ' announce "A Little Grey Sheep , " by Mrs . Hugh Fraser , and "According to Plato , " by Mr . Frankfort Moore . A welcome addition to that boon of the poor clerk , the sixpenny novel , is promised by Messrs . C . A . Pearson .. It will form the eleventh edition of" My Japanese Wife , " by Mr . Clive Holland , who has , we believe , written a sequel to it which will also be shortly published ,

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