540 



LITERATUEE, BRITISH, IN 1885. 



win A. Abbot's study of the life of Francis 

 Bacon, and Dr. Alexander Nicholson's " Mem- 

 oirs of Adam Black," were among the lives of 

 noted Englishmen; while lighter writings of 

 a biographical sort were Mr. Masson's study of 

 Carlyle " Personally and by his Writings " ; 

 "The Bronte Family," by Francis A. Ley- 

 land; Mr. Jeaffreson's "The Real Shelley, 

 with New Views of the Poet's Life"; and 

 Mr. Dolby's recollections of Charles Dickens. 



The list of autobiographies included a most 

 interesting series the Rev. Mark Pattison's 

 " Memoirs," Rev. T. Mozley's " Reminiscences 

 of Towns, Villages, and Schools," Mr. Edmund 

 Yates's "Memoirs," Sir Henry Taylor's and 

 Earl Malmesbury's "Autobiography," and the 

 impressive " Journals " of Gen. Gordon. The 

 " Souvenirs of a Diplomat," by Zanini, and 

 Gallenga's " Adventures," are entertaining 

 sketches, dramatic and interesting, as were 

 also the "Souvenirs " of Mr. Archibald Forbes. 

 The "Autobiography of Berlioz" attracted 

 general attention among those specially inter- 

 ested in music, and Mrs. Calderwood's " Let- 

 ters and Journals" delved among reminis- 

 cences of the last century, interesting to all. 



The field of historical biography was well 

 covered, and added many valuable works to 

 general literature. Among these were the 

 second part of the now famous " Greville Mem- 

 oirs," Legge's " Life and Times of Richard III," 

 Mrs. Higgins's " Women of Europe in the Fif- 

 teenth and Sixteenth Centuries," Mr. Masson's 

 " Richelieu," " The Public Letters of John 

 Bright," collected and edited by Mr. H. J. 

 Leech, and Cox's " Greek Statesmen." The bi- 

 ographies of women include, also, those of Miss 

 Martineau and Mary Godwin, among " Emi- 

 nent Women," the " Famous Women of the 

 Day," by Miss Hays, and memoirs of Miss 

 Havergal, Eliza Fletcher, and Dora Green- 

 well. 



Religious biography includes the " Lives of 

 Robert and Mary Moffatt," Brown's new life of 

 Bunyan, and biographies of Bishop Gobat and 

 Dr. Sand with. Finally, among the lives of 

 men distinguished in science or in the profes- 

 sion of arms are those of Darwin, by Grant 

 Allen, biographies of Louis Pasteur and Frank 

 Buckland, " Malthus and his Work," by Bonar, 

 Leslie Stephen's life of Mr. Fawcett, and mono- 

 graphs, including brief sketches of the Ste- 

 phensons, Gordon, Turner, and Handel, under 

 the general title of " The World's Workers." 

 Besides these should be mentioned Mr. Leslie 

 Stephen's "Dictionary of National Biography," 

 of which several volumes have appeared, Mr. 

 Gillou's biographical dictionary of "English 

 Catholics," and, among dictionaries, the " En- 

 cyclopaedic Dictionary," Halkett and Laing's 

 "Dictionary of Anonymous and Pseudony- 

 mous Literature," a "Dictionary of English 

 History," and Mr. Platt's "Dictionary of Class- 

 ical Hindi and English." 



Poetry. Mr. Tennyson produced one or two 

 short "poems during the year, contributed to 



the magazines, and toward its close his "Tire- 

 sias," a collection of his more recent writing?. 

 The production of his dramatic effort, " Beck- 

 et," was also a feature of the year. The pres- 

 entation of Robert Browning's "Colombe's 

 Birthday" by the Browning Society, should 

 be noted, and a dramatic work, "Marino 

 Faliero," by Mr. Swinburne, also marks the 

 tendency toward stage representation of the 

 leading poets. Matthew Arnold published a 

 collection of his poems in three volumes, and 

 Edwin Arnold his " Song Celestial" and "The 

 Secret of Death," both from his favorite San- 

 skrit sources. Mr. Austin Dobson issued a 

 collection of his verse under the title of " At 

 the Sign of the Lyre," and Mr. Alfred Austin 

 another entitled "At the Gate of the Con- 

 vent." Jean Ingelow printed " Poems of the 

 Old Days and the New " ; Mr. J. Addington 

 Symonds offered some Latin student-songs of 

 the twelfth century in an English dress in his 

 " Wine, Women, and Song " ; Mr. Andrew 

 James Symmington published a volume of 

 "Poems," Owen Meredith's " Glenoveril" ap- 

 peared, and the "Shelley" of the late James 

 Thomson completes the rather meager list ot 

 English poetical works. 



Fiction. The sudden popularity, followed so 

 closely by his untimely death, of Mr. Fargus 

 (Hugh Conway), was the event of the year in 

 fiction. His " Called Back " and " Dark Days " 

 attracted general interest by a weird original- 

 ity, and these works have been followed by a 

 number of other novels, including " A Family 

 Affair," "Slings and Arrows," "At what 

 Cost 1 " and " Carriston's Gift." Quite as valu- 

 able contributions to this class of literature 

 were the works of F. Warden, a lady, whose 

 "House on the Marsh," published in 1884, has 

 been improved upon in "Deldee," "A Prince 

 of Darkness," and " A Dog with a Bad Name." 

 Mr. Anstey brought out his "Tinted Venus" 

 and "Black Poodle," which, however, did not 

 fulfill the promise of his previous work. Lucas 

 Malet(Mrs. Kingsley-Harrison) published "Col- 

 onel Enderby's Wife," Grant Allen a three-vol- 

 ume novel called "Babylon." Mr.WalterPator's 

 " Marius, the Epicurean," attracted attention as 

 the philosophical novel of the year, and Mr. 1 

 Hall Caine appeared in the "Shadow of a 

 Crime." 



Mrs. Macquoid is responsible for two books, 

 "Louisa," over her name, and "At the K 

 Glove," published anonymously; and Mrs. 

 Oliphant two, "Madam" and "The Open 

 Door," under the same conditions. Miss Yonge 

 brought out " Two Sides of a Shield " ; Ouida ? 

 "Othmar" continues the history of ' 

 Princess Napraxine," and "Mrs. Keith 

 Crime " and " White Witch " appeared anon 

 mously. 



Mr. Norris gave us "Adrian Vidal," a well- 

 written but not agreeable novel. Mr. F . 

 Robinson brought out "Lazarus in London,^ 

 Robert Buchanan " The Master of the Mine, 

 Mr. James Payn "The Talk of the Town,' Mr. 



