Sonnets Of The Greek Mythology, No. 6.

Sonnets of the Greek Mythology , No . 6 .

TO MELPOMENE . MELPOMENE , thou tragedaio queen , No roseate hues bestrew thy way with flowers , No ambient tints enlight thy darksome hours—Thou sing'st of nought jocundous or serene . Thou but depicts a stern and sombre scene , Full of tempestuous wailings of despair

Which hang around the dull and heavy air Bedimming—like a storm-cloud—the terrene . Thou ; sing'st of falseness , treachery , deceit , Of love ' s fair passion twined to hate and scorn , Nor givoth hope that on a brighter morn Glad songs shall come to make thine obsolete . And yet , Melpomeno , thy power is grand—Thy teachings pregnant—over all the land . CHAS . F . FOESHAW , M . A . Bradford .

Books Of The Day.

Books of the Day .

The Age of Johnson ( 1748-1798 ) . By Thomas Seccombe ( 3 s 6 d ) . —George Boil and Sons . HANDBOOKS of literature are now very numerous . This is , perhaps , fortunate ; for according to many critics very few new works of sterling merit in prose or verse have been produced recently , and it is therefore a fit opportunity for the making of catalogues and the writing of literary history , in short , for a general stock-taking . The activity of professors and the ardour

of private students have already yielded a rich harvest ; and publishers have done well in looking around for men of ability to gather in the sheaves . True , such books as " The Age of Johnson " would have had no charm for Charles Lamb . He would have put Mr . Seccombe ' s fine volume into his catalogue of "books which are no books—biblia a-biblia . " Many men , many minds . Tho gentle Elia loved volumes of a different class . We love his favourites too ; but would iusist upon the supreme utility of such books as these issued

by Messrs . Bell . Nor are such books easily put together , even by persons with the requisite attainments . Several qualifications are essential to the historian of literature . He must be sufficiently shrewd to read between the leaves ; he must possess the gift which Macaulay attributed to Leigh Huntthe power to appreciate very diverse literary excellencies ; ho must have a searching and profound knowledge of the entire epoch which he undertakes to record . We & re not given to indiscriminate laudation , and have no

very high opinion of certain ' Epochs " and " Ages " with which writers have recently favoured us ; but we think any candid readers of " The Age of Johnson " will admit that Mr . Seccombe is admirably equipped for the task which he has discharged . He tells us much within the compass of this small volume , and does so in a manner which convinces us that he understands the things whereof he speaks . To name only the central figure of Mr . Seccombe ' s subject : his shrewdness and critical sagacity are apparent in almost all his

remarks on Dr . Johnson . He brings fresh insight and original criticism to bear upon a well-worn theme . Even those acquainted with Boswell , Hawkins , Piozzi , and the vast mass of editorial impedimenta , Crokerian and otherwise , which these writers have elicited , may derive profit from Mr . Seccombe at this—the eleventh hour of literary criticism—of the eighteenth century . We are glad to find such appreciative language bestowed upon Boswell and his book ; and the pages devoted to Gray and to Churchill are also worthy of

particular commendation . The treatment of Cowper—always more or less a bone of contention—is singularly appreciative and comprehensive . Mr . Seccombe ' s strictures concerning Smollett , Fielding , and Sterne are open to some objections on the score of inconsistency ; but we have derived so much p leasure from his book that we will not finish by particularising his shortcomings . The student who may desire to thoroughly master this volume will find his labour greatly facilitated by a chronological table , and an index of ideal completeness .

Holmby House . A tale of old Northamptonshire . By G . J . Whyte-Melville . Illustrated by Lucy E . Kemp-Welch ( 3 s 6 d ) . —Ward , Lock and Co ., Limited . MB . WHYTE-MELVILLK needed no introduction to English readers during his lifetime , and his books certainly need none now . It afforded much p leasure to many to learn that Messrs . Ward , Lock and Co . were to bring out a library edition of his novels , and that pleasure has been enhanced bv

the illustrations , which have been executed by several eminent artists . It is hardly possible that the mere typography of the volume before us could be improved , and those whose duties compel them to read extensively know how great a merit this may be . Miss Lucy E . Kemp-Welch has treated her studies very successfully . We commend her rendering of " a lovely ride they had " to the attention of such as wield a less facile pencil , and possess a smaller share of artistic instinct . Of " Holmby House " we may remark

that it exhibits largely many of the author ' s well-known characteristics . His love of . Nature , strong as Kingi-lcy's , and minutely sympathetic asThoreau ' s ; his dramatic gifts , hardly excelled , by any of his contemporaries ; his exquisite tenderness of touch , frequently shown in his delineation of Grace Allonby and Mary Cave ; his masterly handling of passages of rnise-en-scene , not infrequently suggestive of Scott ; his splendid honesty , shown in his treatment of all his historical heroes , despite strong personal convictions , —

these are but a few of the well known traits of this writer . They may be traced in all his work , and are very prominent in " Holmby House . " But perhaps the picturesque " setting " of many of his incidents is particularly noticeable in this volume ; a feature which , if we remember rightly , was xematked by many on its first appearance . It is difficult to choose where abundance prevails , but among the passages which particularly interested us we may mention the arrival of Humphrey Bosville , the scene in which Goring wins the last Jacobus from Villiers , the long discourse of Caryl ,

worthy of Kettledrumle or Stoimheaven , the fight at Naseby , the incident regarding the " fisherman " in chapter xxx , and the whole series of events , towards the end of the book , leading up to the death of Charles Stuart . " Holmby House " is , we surmise , as lengthy as " Peveril of the Peak . " We may conscientiously affirm , however , that there is no dull page from start to finish . Whjte-Melville certainly possessed , in an eminent degree , the powers of nairnting even commonplace matters ineuch a manner as to render them of interest to all . Like Horace , he could have rendered tho slightest detail of a "Journey to Brundusium " amusing . Will his fame be lasting as

Books Of The Day.

that of the great Roman satirist ? Many Englishmen will hope as much , 'lis a consummation devoutly to be wished . Through fire to fortune . By Mrs . Alexander , author of "Brown , V . C ., " " A Winning Hazard , " & c . ( 6 s ) . —T . Fisher Unwin . SOME contemporary critics are complaining of the dearth of really good new novels . But what would they have ? Do they expect a Don Quixote , a Gil Bias , an Ivanhoe , or an Esmond at every turn ; or hope to run against

Cervantes , Le Sage , Sir Walter Scott , or Thackeray at any street corner ? In truth , there is but little cause to lament over our lot ; the lines have fallen unto us in pleasant places in the past , and because we may still enjoy our goodly heritage we have the less cause to look askance at the fictions of our contemporaries . Now we have here before us a novel from the pen of the lady who gave us " A Winning Hazard . " Those who like a story handled by a modern realist , who has more than one angle of resemblance to Mr . George

Moore , will be delighted with " Through Fire to Fortune . " Mrs . Alexander has some winning graces of expression , a shrewd insight into human motives , a keen eye for the salient features in a character , and a gift for artistic presentation which can only be acquired by long and careful study . We have , of course , the man who , finding life in London a failure , goes to Africa , acquires a fortune , and returns in quest of love ; we have the fascinating actress , now past her prime , who patronises and brings out her maid as an

actress , and is very much a woman of the world ; we have the heroine herself , Cara , who goes through fire to fortune in a manner which provides eminently entertaining reading ; we have , too , the gentleman of literary aspirations who , in love with Cara , contrives to hide the fact from self and friends , and does so for some time very successfully . But murder will out , and love will declare itself ; and it is no great matter of surprise that Trevelyan married Cara and , presumably , lived happily with her for ever . If we may point out

a promineut merit in this book it lies in the writer's power of investing commonplace incidents with very uncommon interest and attractiveness ; if we may select a fault we will remark that Mrs . Alexander describes nothing . There are thumb-nail sketches , silhouettes , partial-portraits , but no finished pictures . Shakespeare , however , tells us that brevity is the soul of wit ; the

disciple of Phidias insists that drapery may be as suggestive as the figure itself ; and the old Hanoverian ' s advice to the novelist to " keep moving " was doubtless sufficiently sane . Mrs . Alexander , consciously or unconsciously , has acted in accordance with the advice of poet , sculptor , and wit ; we are sure she has given us a good book , and hope she will keep a strong hand for her next work .

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Just published , Crown Svo ., Cloth , 5 s . MILITARY LODGES . The Apron and the Sword , or Freemasonry under Arms ; being an account of Lodges in Regiments and Ships of War , and of famous soldiers and sailors ( of all countries ) , who have belonged to the Society , together with biographies of distinguished Military and Naval Brethren , and anecdotes showing the influence of Masonry in warfare . By Robert Freke Gould ( late 31 st Foot , barrister-at-law ) Past Senior Grand Deacon of England , P . M . Nos . 92 and 2016 London , 153 ' Gibraltar , 570 Shanghai , and 743 1 st Batt . East Surrey Regiment , & e . Author of " The History of Freemasonry , " and other Works . Gale and Polden , Ltd ., 2 Amen Corner , London ; and Aldershot .

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