Occasionally a paragraph goes the rounds of the press in which some remarkable instances are given of the prodigious memory of our public men. The record has been broken, and all former performances put entirely in the shade by the editor of To-Day, who, in a recent conversation, recalled the plot, characters and incidents of a short story submitted to him over two years ago, and which he returned three hours later as unavailable.

Verily, Mr. Trumble has plenty of material wherewith to mortify the spirit during Lent for years to come.

Spring styles in syndicate letters will probably run something like this:

"I saw a remarkable illustration some days ago of how little people that have never been introduced know each other. Boarding a Broadway car one morning I noticed Walt Whitman sitting in a corner. He looked about twenty-three years old. At Fifty-ninth street the car stopped and in tripped the Sweet Songster of Yorkville, looking as fresh and rosy as a girl of twelve. She sat gaily swinging her neat little feet and chewing tolu, and never observed the natty looking bard opposite her, who was evidently endeavoring to squeeze twelve dactyli into a hexameter. This would undoubtedly be a heroic measure. At Twenty-fifth street two little boys, dressed in shirt-waists and pleated skirts, jumped aboard and passed through the car to the front platform, where they stood swapping marbles and butternuts; they were Edgar Fawcett and Edgar Saltus, "les inséparables," as they are familiarly called, because they both wear dove-colored hats. No recognitions followed between the two and the previous occupants in their passage through the car. At Twenty-third street I saw the author of Psyche running wildly through Madison Square Park, with her nurse in hot pursuit. She looked about eight years old. Three blocks beyond the car stopped again, and in stepped James Russell Lowell, looking about eighteen years old. It is perhaps but natural that the Bostonese poet noticed not those in the car, but it did seem curious that not even a look of recognition should pass between five of our most popular authors, all riding in one horsecar, and each seen by the other. It struck me that such a sight could not be witnessed outside of New York free of charge, and when I recovered from the stupor in which I was thrown, I found myself gazing vacantly at the monkeys in Central Park. I had taken an uptown car without noticing it and wandered to the menagerie "

Latest French Books.

LA BELLE. Par René Maizeroy-Contains: La Belle, l'Idylle Suprême, Cierge Blanc, La Rançon de Foulques le Beau, La Bonne Amie, Au Crépuscule, Les Pantalons de Chantemesse, Le Mulâtre, La Dette, Les Vingt-Huit Jours de Rosa, and Fausse Alerte. The last named is the story of Count La Croix-Ramillies, who on returning home late one night, meets a burglar in his house, whom he mistakes for a gallant nobleman and challenges. The burglar declares himself perfectly willing to satisfy the outraged husband and leaves his address, but takes the Countess' diamonds.-Brentanos, 1.25.

LE BILLARD. Par Vigneaux.-This handbook of the noble game is absolutely complete, giving the rules for both the European and American way of playing. More than 200 carambolages are described, and 32 illustrations added in the text, which reduces billiards to an exact and highly serious science. An introduction by H. Desnar is written in a happy, pleasant vein, and contains moreover some very interesting speculations about the origin and antiquity of the game, which is mentioned, according to Mr. Desnar, in the XIV. Century. A portrait of Vignaux forms the frontispiece of the book.— Brentanos, 2.10.

LA COMTESSE HÉLÈNE. Par Charles Mérouvel.-Deeply in love with the beautiful countess Hélène de Mareilles, whose husband's affairs are in the greatest disorder, Baron Raynaud resolves to remove that husband from his path. To this end he engages an Alsatian, named Lazare Pidoux, and his son, both accomplished, finished scoundrels. They set to work and soon afterwards the Count de Mareilles is arrested for the murder of his rich, old aunt, a large amount of whose money is found in his possession. Not a single link in the chain of evidence is lacking. -Brentanos, 1.25.

LE DÉPUTÉ RONQUEROLLE. Par Hippolyte Buffenoir.-To oppose the candidate of the royalists, the marquis de la Tournelle, it is resolved be the committee in charge of the republican movement in Saint-Martin, to offer the candidature to Maxime Ronquerolle, a son of the people, who is slowly making his way in Paris as a journalist. Ronquerolle accepts, and discovers that the beautiful woman he has met in Paris on balls, and to whom he has addressed some impassioned verses, is the wife of his opponent. Shortly before the election he meets her in a park near the city and enters into conversation with her.-Brentanos, 1.25.

LE LIVRE D'OR DE LA COMTESSE DIANA. Préface de Gaston Bergeret.-A series of answers to questions put in "le jeu des petits papiers" at the table of the authoress of L'Art d'être Aimée. Among the illustrious personages who have thus contributed to this symposium of wit and cleverness are: Joseph Bertrand, Henri Martin, and Sully Prudhomme of the Académy Française, Félix de Saulcy and Charles Tissot of the Institute, Gaston Bergeret, Carmen Sylva, J.-M. de Heredia, Lord Houghton, and many others. The Countess Diana's own definitions are among the brightest in the book.-Brentanos, 2.80.

LA MAIN GAUCHE. Par Guy de Maupassant. -Eleven short sketches, entitled: Allouma, Hautot Père et Fils, Boitelle, l'Ordonnance, Le Lapin, Un Soir, Les Epingles, Duchoux, Le Rendez-vous, Le Port, and La Morte. Each sketch covers only a few pages, but is written with all the talent of Maupassant. Their subject is more or less plainly indicated by the title. The first tale, Allouma, is told by a young settler in Algeria, and contains the story of the Arab girl whose name it bears. No aim is discernable in the book, which only seems to have been written to amuse or to shock.-Brentanos, 1.25.

MAXIMES DE LA VIE. Par la Comtesse Diana. Préface par Sully Prudhomme.-It has been said that all thoughts have been thought long ago, and that the thinkers of our time are only discovering new nuances, new shades of meaning, new aspects of the same questions which occupied the minds of the philosophers of old. The Maximes of the Countess Diana might be called the supplements to La Rochefoucauld's famous aphorisms, in that they define and trace the delicate shadowings, the subtle modifications and sub-divisions of the apophthegms in which the cynical Frenchman deposited his knowledge of men and the world, of women and their wiles.-Brentanos, 1.40.

NOUVEAU JOURNAL D'UN OFFICIER D'ORDONNANCE, LA COMMUNE. Par le Comte d'Hérisson.-Beginning with the demission of Trochu on January 21, 1871, the author describes the entrance of the Germans in Paris and then relates the genesis of the Commune, the flight of the government from Paris, the relation of Thiers and Bismarck to the insurrection, its horrors and final suppression. Especially interesting is the estimate of Thiers given by the author, who gives in this as in all his previous works, a new aspect to many episodes of history. An exhaustive index of names found in the first Journal d'un Officier d'Ordonnance, and an epilogue close the volume.-Brentanos, 1.25.

New Books.

THE ALPINE FAY. From the German of E. Werner, by Mrs. A. L. Wister.-Having vainly tried to persuade his brother-in-law to sell part of his estate on the Wolkenstein, a mighty mountain over which a railroad is in course of construction, Mr. Nordheim, the president of the company, resolves to make a last effort and sends his chief engineer, an ambitious, scheming young man, to his strong-headed relative. The latter dies of a stroke of apoplexy during the interview. His only daughter, Erna, goes to live with Mr. Nordheim, whose daughter becomes engaged to her father's assistant, Wolfgang Elmhorst.-Lippincott, 1.25.

AN AMERICAN VENDETTA. By T. C. Crawford. The narrative of the Hatfield McCoy feud in West Virginia and Kentucky. The descriptions of the wild mountain regions which were the scenes of the drama, are graphic and felicitous, and enable the reader to better understand the difficulties which impede the enforcement of the law. The series of cold-blooded, horrible murders which form the different episodes of the feud are described, and the impression the book makes is rather that of the story of a Corsican vendetta, than of the settlement of some difficulties between two families in the United States.-Belford, Clarke & Co., .25.

THE CHORAL BOOK FOR HOME, SCHOOL, AND CHURCH. Transl. by F. Tuchtmann and E. L. Kirtland.-A collection of ninety choral pieces, translated from the German. The aim of the translators has been to give to the home circle music easily mastered, and which contains means of the best musical culture; to the schoolroom suitable music for sight reading, and for devotional exercises at the opening or closing of sessions, and to the churches the restoration of the ideal music for congregations, and the ultimate displacement of the light and lively morceaux of the opera.-Ginn & Co.,. 70.

THE CONFESSIONS OF AN ABBÉ. By Louis Ulbach.-A stranger of clerical aspect calls upon a high official of the French government, and asks his help in preventing the marriage of Mademoiselle de Thorvilliers to the Prince de Lévigny. The official's curiosity is aroused, and he obtains from the mysterious stranger a written confession in which he tells of his love for a young and beautiful girl, and how he had been driven from her through the base machinations of a rival, of his priesthood and fall, and of the ties which bind him to Mlle. de Thorvilliers.-Peterson & Bros., .25.

THE COUNTRY COUSIN. By Frances Mary Peard.-Lady Millicent, the only daughter of Lord Waterton, hears at a reception that Miss Ashton's country cousin, Joan, the unsophisticated but beautiful daughter of Lord and Lady Medhurst, will come out during the season, and be presented at court. Lord Waterton gives a dinner in honor of the fair debutante, and invites Sir Henry Lancaster, a young member of Parliament, between whom and his daughter a feeling of sympathy has sprung up, which is growing into something warmer in Millicent's heart. Sir Henry takes the debutante in to dinner, and grows deeply interested in her lack of knowledge of the world-Harper's, .40.

DANIEL TRENTWORTHY. A tale of the great fire. By John McGovern.-Before he has finished his studies at Harvard, Daniel Trentworthy is forced to go out in the world and work for his livelihood, as his father, the great. Californian speculator, has suddenly failed and committed suicide, leaving nothing but debts to his only child. Daniel goes to Chicago and soon obtains a place in the fire department. He is told off to make a report on the state of the buildings in a certain part of the city, but in so doing incurs the displeasure of local politicians.-Rand, McNally & Co., .25.

EMIN PASHA IN CENTRAL AFRICA. Being a Collection of his Letters and Journals.-The invaluable information contained in the letters of the White Pasha is arranged under the following headings: I. First Journeys in the Madi Country, in Unyóry, and in Uganda. II. Journeys between the Victoria and the Albert lakes. III. The Monbuttu Country. IV. In the country of the Bari and Latùka. V. Travels to the West of the Bahr-El-Jebel. VI. On the Geography of Plants and Animals. VII. On the State of Civilization and Politics. Two portraits of Emin Pasha, and a map are added.— Dodd, Mead & Co., 5.00.

EUROPEAN GLIMPSES AND GLANCES. By J. M. Emerson. Illustrated.-The narrative of a trip through Germany down the Rhine to Switzerland, Italy and France. The sketches, descriptions and observations are clever and bright, while the cheery, sunshiny tone of the book indicates that the author enjoyed the holiday spent in the effete monarchies of Europe immensely. This enjoyment is very happily communicated to the reader. Legends and anecdotes are mingled with amusing plaints about hotel-keepers, whom Mr. Emerson has evidently studied deeply and successfully. The opening chapter gives a sketch of the late Lawrence Oliphant.-Cassell, 1.00.

FAIRY TALES IN PROSE AND VERSE. Selected from Early and Recent Literature. Edited, with Notes, by W. J. Rolfe, A. M., Litt. D. "English Classics for School Reading."Among the selections in this volume are: The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood, by Miss Mulock; The Sleeping Beauty, by Alfred Tennyson; A Midsummer-Night's Dream in Charles and Mary Lamb's version, Prince Cherry by Miss Mulock, Ariel's Song by Shakespeare, The Green Gnome, by Robert Buchanan, Poucinet, and the Fairy Crawfish, by Laboulaye, O, where do Fairies Hide their Heads? by T. H. Baily, etc. -Harper's,. 36.

FROM JAPAN TO GRANADA. Sketches of Observation and Inquiry in a Tour around the World in 1887-8. By James Henry Chapin, Ph. D. The countries visited and described are: Japan and its inhabitants, China, Singapore, the Isle of Ceylon, India, Egypt, Palestine, Zenobia's Capital, Malta, Sicily, Algiers, Tunis, Morocco, and Spain. The observations and inquiries cover a wide field, and embrace political economy, sociology, religion, and history. Especially interesting are the chapters on Historic scenes in Palestine, on the Knights of St. John, and on "greater Greece" and its blooming cities of antiquity.-Putnam's Sons, 1.50.

HALIBURTON: the Man and the Writer. By F. Blake Crofton, B. A.-This study of Judge Haliburton as a writer, thinker and observer, does not embody a biography. It has principally been written on account of the very slight knowledge which Canadians in general and Nova Scotians-for whom he did so much-in particular have of his life and work, and to establish firmly for him in his native country the reputation he has obtained already in England and the United States as the most prominent man of letters British America ever produced. Haliburton's works, character and opinions and literary traits are entertainingly discussed.-J. J. Winslow, Windsor, N. S.,.50.

THE HISTORY OF HAPPINOLANDE, AND OTHER LEGENDS. By Oliver Bell Bunce.-Happinolande is an island situated in the Pacific Ocean. By an unaccountable omission it is not found in any chart of the seas. Its inhabitants are happy, contented people, but the discovery of gold in large quantities overthrows the entire state of affairs. The situation grows serious as nobody can be found, who is willing to work. The other legends are: A Millionaire's millions, The city Beautiful-A sharp hit at the shortcomings of New York, and John's Attic. The ingenuous stories are told with fascinating simplicity and indiscribable charm.-Appleton, 25.

HOMER'S ODYSSEY. Books I-IV. Edited on the Basis of the Ameis-Hentze edition by Prof. B. Perrin.-An adaptation of Karl Frederick Ameis's school-edition to the requirements of American college classes. Considerable material has been furnished for the higher criticism of the poem, but sufficient assistance of an elementary sort has been provided as well, which will enable a good teacher to use the edition in introducing students to the study of Homer. In the Appendix the editor has collected the principal variations of the best MSS., the readings of the most prominent modern editors, etc.-Ginn & Co., Boston, 1.50.

AN HOUR'S PROMISE. By Annie Eliot.-On his way South to the bedside of his dying friend, Leslie Owen sees at one of the small, lonely stations on the road through Georgia, a young, graceful amazone, who watches intently the meager contents of the mail-bag, and gallops off without the letter she evidently expected. Leslie arrives in time to hear the last wishes of his friend, and discovers after the latter's death that his fiancee lived in the hamlet where he had seen the young woman on horseback. Some years later he makes her acquaintance at a party. Cassell, .50.

HOW TO MESMERIZE. By James Coates, Ph. D., F. A. S.-A manual of instruction in the history, mysteries, modes of procedure, and arts of mesmerism. A historic outline of mesmerism prior to Mesmer opens the book, which then gives instructions about the modes of procedure, how to mesmerise, curative mesmerism, the giving of entertainments, phrenomesmerism, and the mesmerising of animals. The difference between the theory of Mesmerism, or Animal Magnetism, and the theory of Hypnotism, or Suggestion, is plainly delineated throughout the book. The historical outline treats shortly of the existence of mesmerism among the Hebrews, Assyrians, Greeks, Romans, and ancient Gauls.-Brentano's, .50.

THE IDEALS OF THE REPUBLIC; or, Great Words from Great Americans. 'Knickerbocker Nuggets."-The volume contains: The Declaration of Independence, 1776; The Constitution of the United States, 1789; Washington's First Inaugural, 1789; Washington's Second Inaugural, 1793: Washington's Farewell Address; Lincoln's First Inaugural, 1861; Lincoln's Second Inaugural, 1865; Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, 1863; an Appendix containing a note by Paul Leicester Ford on the brevity of Washington's Second Inaugural Address; and an exhaustive index to the Constitution.-Putnam's Sons, 1.00

THE INDEX GUIDE TO TRAVEL AND ARTSTUDY IN EUROPE. By Lafayette C. Loomis, A. M., M. D.-This guide fills a want no other book of travel has ever tried to supply. The compiler has judiciously eliminated the great amount of advice which ceased to be useful years ago, and given in its place a compendium of geographical, historical, and artistic information for the use of Americans desiring to enjoy their travels in Europe and to study its art treasures. Plans and catalogues of the principal art galleries, tables of routes, maps, and illustrations, make this guide invaluable. -Scribner's, 3.00, Brentano's, London, Paris.

IRELAND UNDER COERCION. The Diary of an American. By William Henry Hurlbert. Second Ed.-The record of things seen and of conversations had, during a series of visits to Ireland between January and June 1888, by the author, who wished to obtain information not about the proceedings and aims of the Irish Nationalists, but upon the social and economical results in Ireland of the processes of political vivisection to which that country has been so long subjected. A prologue gives a review of the Irish agitation and the relations of America to it, and ascribes its origin to Mr. Davitt and Henry George. A map of Ireland is printed on the cover.-Brentano's, .80.

THE ISLE OF PALMS. By C. M. Newell.— The story of the good ship Fleetwing and of its crew while wrecking for gold and whaling. A terrific encounter with a mad whale forces the captain to find a harbor in the Island of Palms to repair his vessel which has been almost entirely disabled by the huge monster. Mermaids, devilfishes, sperm whales, pirates, and typhoons are among the actors in this story of adventure, while a mystery, a lady passenger and love at first sight help faithfully to keep alive the interest of the young reader. illustrations adorn the book.-Dewolfe, Fiske & Co., Boston.

Seven

JOHN CHARÁXES: A Tale of the Civil War in America. By Peter Boylston.-Early in the thirties Henry Brewster, the son of a Congregationalist minister, began to practice law in Boston, and soon gained a reputation as an able barrister. He was introduced by his senior partner to Mr. Bradshaw, to whose daughter Isabella he became engaged. Isabella suddenly broke off the match, and married the younger son of a poor English peer. Brewster went West. About the same time John Charàxes, a man of the world whose nationality is unknown, landed in New York, and became interested in the abolition movement.-Lippincott, 1.25.

THE LION'S SHARE. By Mrs. Clarke Waring. Though she is only the daughter of a poor farmer, Melville Creecy has received an excellent education, which principally shows itself in her discontent with her lowly surroundings. She makes the acquaintance of Jerome Devonhough, a young gentleman of leisure, who is staying at the country home of the Rutlands. She resolves to marry Jerome, and behaves with great dignity towards this worthy, who is however more than her match in knowledge of the world and its ways. At a picnic, however, he is forced to ignore the poor farmer's child entirely. His friend and host, young Rutland, falls in love with the handsome peasant girl.— Belford, Clarke & Co., .25.

A MAN OF THE NAME OF JOHN. By Florence M. King. As the contents of old Sir James Hurst's will were perfectly well known to all interested in his life and death, no especial interest was felt in what would happen when he finally died. The man to whom his fortune would fall had been known for years, and even the legacies accurately been mentioned. Only, the will can not be found, and when it is discovered at last, it is unsigned and therefore void. Advertisements for next of kin bring a reply from a man of the name of John, a clerk in a Liverpool house.-Cassell, .25.

A MANUEL OF HISTORICAL LITERATURE. By Charles Kendall Adams, LL. D. Third Ed., Revised and Enlarged.-This manuel contains descriptions of the most important histories in English, French, and German, and practical suggestions as to methods and courses of historical study. Many alterations and additions have been made in this edition, which has been completely brought up to date. New editions have been noted, some of the older books been excluded to give place to works of greater importance, and a new section has been added to each chapter of the Suggestions, giving the titles of recent works.-Harper Bros., 2.50.

on

IS MARRIAGE A FAILURE? A Modern Symposium. Edited by Harry Quilter, M. A.—The book contains, besides the preface, an article What Mrs. Caird Thinks," in which the gist of her article in the Westminster Review is given, and the letters in the London Telegraph on the subject, grouped under the headings: "Case of the Plaintiff, and Case of the Defendant." A chapter on Marriages abroad, Amici Curiae, Mrs. Lynn Linton's article on the Philosophy of Marriage, a discussion of the Causes of Success and Failure, The Remedies Proposed and an Appendix form also part of the book.-Rand, McNally & Co., .25.