

LITERATURE, BRITISH, IN 1808. 



Register" came from T. F. Thiselton Dyer, the au- 

 thor of "Church Lore Gleanings"; "'Records of 

 Old Times : Historical, Social, Political, Sporting, 

 and Agricultural," from J. K. Fowler (Fowler); 

 " Life in an Old English Town," by Mary Dormes 

 Harris, appeared in the " Social England Series," 

 and Vol. II was issued of " A Calendar of the In- 

 ner Temple Records," edited by F. A. Inderwick, 

 covering the period between 1603 and 1660. "Cu- 

 riosities of a Scots Charta Chest," edited by the 

 Hon. Mrs. Atholl Forbes, and " The Grange of b>t. 

 Giles," by Mrs. J. Stewart Srnuth, dealt with two 

 Edinburgh mansions; " Scottish Life and Humor" 

 were discussed by William Sinclair, and Capt. E. C. 

 Ellice wrote on "Place-Names in Glengarry and 

 Glenquoich." Ernest Law wrote " A Short History 

 of Hampton Court," condensed from his monumen- 

 tal and valuable " History of Hampton Court Pal- 

 ace," and Edward Robins told of " The Palmy Days 

 of Nance Oldfield." "Elizabeth and her German 

 Garden," by Benjamin Kidd, contained charming 

 studies of Nature, while " By Roadside and River " 

 was the title of gleanings from Nature's fields by H. 

 Mead-Briggs. James E. Whiting rambled "Where 

 Wild Birds Sing," and J. Arthur Gibbs told allur- 

 ingly of " A Cotswold Village." Henry B. Wheat- 

 ley wrote on " Prices of Books " for " The Library 

 Series," and " Pages and Pictures from Forgotten 

 Children's Books " came from A. W. Tuer. " Un- 

 addressed Letters," edited by Frank Athelstane 

 Swettenham, contained " generous self-revelation of 

 uncommon candor in a form sufficiently unfamil- 

 iar to preserve the charm of novelty,"' and from 

 Jerome K. Jerome we had "The Second Thoughts 

 of an Idle Fellow." "Leaders in Literature," by 

 P. Wilson, was a collection of short studies of great 

 authors in the nineteenth century. 



Fiction. Several novels of 1898 possessed un- 

 usual merit. "Helbeck of Bannisdale," by Mrs. 

 Humphrey Ward, and "Evelyn Innes," by George 

 Moore, dealt with the deeper questions of life, and 

 in the literary world an event of great importance 

 was the appearance of "Aylwin," the romance which 

 Theodore Watts-Dunton had so long withheld. Its 

 freshness, its pure romance, entitled it to a high and 

 permanent place in literature, aside from the por- 

 traiture it was held to contain of that circle of the 

 author's friends which comprised all that was most 

 interesting in the literary and artistic worlds. To 

 the world of pure romance belonged also " The For- 

 est Lovers," by Maurice Hewlett, one of the marked 

 successes of the year, and " The Sundering Flood," 

 the last tale of William Morris. Two other novels 

 that created much comment were " Concerning 

 Isabel Carnaby," by Ellen Thornycroft Fowler, and 

 " The Open Question," by Elizabeth Robins (C. E. 

 Raimond). One of the books which had the widest 

 sale was " The Day's Work," a collection of twelve 

 short stories of Rudyard Kipling, and " Dreamers 

 of the Ghetto," by Israel Zangwill, was pronounced 

 by critics a notable book in its portrayal of the 

 characteristics of the Jew. Historical novels were 

 numerous, as usual. " The Admiral : A Romance 

 of Nelson in the Year of the Nile," came from Doug- 

 las Sladen ; "The Castle Inn" and "Shrewsbury " 

 from Stanley J. Weynian; "Across the Salt Sea," a 

 romance of the War of Succession, from John 

 Bloundell Burton, who published also " The Scourge 

 of God," a romance of religious persecution under 

 Louis XIV of France; "The Pride of Jennico," by 

 Agnes and Egerton Castle, appeared early in the 

 year, and was one of the favorite books ; " The Bat- 

 tle of the Strong " was a romance of two kingdoms, 

 by Gilbert Parker, and from S. R. Crockett we had 

 'The Red Axe" and "The Standard Bearer." 

 "John Splendid," by Neil Munro, told the tale of a 

 poor gentleman and the little wars of Lorn, pre- 



senting a strong picture of the Marquis of Argyll ; 

 " John Gilbert, Yeoman," was a romance of the Com- 

 monwealth, by R. G. Soans, and "In the Shadow of 

 the Three," by Blanche Loftus Tottenham, carried 

 us to Venice in the latter part of the eighteenth 

 century. "The Vintage" was a romance of the 

 Greek War of Independence, by Edward F. Benson, 

 who published also " The Money Market," more in 

 line with his previous work in its cynicism concern- 

 ing woman ; while " The Broom of the War God," 

 by Henry Noel Brailsford, was a story of the recent 

 war between the Greeks and Turkey. Sir Walter 

 Besant published " The Changeling," and Anthony 

 Hope (Anthony Hope Hawkins) "Simon Dale," a 

 story of the days of Charles II and Nell Gwynn, in 

 which Louis le Grand also figures, and " Rupert of 

 Hentzau," a sequel to " The Prisoner of Zenda," to 

 which, however, it was much inferior. Henry Seton 

 Merriman (Hugh S. Scott), who scored such a suc- 

 cess last year with " In Kedar's Tents," touched 

 upon the corruptions of English political life in 

 " Roden's Corner," his only novel published during 

 the year; "Doctor Theme," by H. Rider Haggard, 

 had vaccination for its theme ; George Gissing was 

 represented by " The Town Traveler," and Richard 

 Le Gallienne by " The Romance of Zion Chapel," 

 pessimistic in tone, and Benjamin Swift (W. R. 

 Paterson) by " The Destroyer," which in his opinion 

 was the passion of love. " Her Memory " was ten- 

 derly and touchingly commemorated by Maarten 

 Maartens (J. M. W. van der Poorten Schwartz), and 

 " Wild Eelin " was the last of William Black's 

 novels, full as ever of the wild beauty of Scottish 

 scenery. "A Voyage of Consolation," by Mrs. Sara 

 Jeannette Cotes (Mrs. Everard Cotes), claimed to be 

 in the nature of a sequel to the experiences of " An 

 American Girl in London," and " Poor Human Na- 

 ture " was a musical novel by Elizabeth Godfrey. 

 From Maxwell Gray (Mrs. M. J. Tuttiet) we had 

 "The House of Hidden Treasure " and " Ribstone 

 Pippins," the latter a love-story of Devon ; W. Pett 

 Ridge published "Mord Em'ly" and "By Order of 

 the Magistrate"; David Christie Murray, "This 

 Little World"; Frank Frankfort Moore, "The 

 Millionaires " and " The Fatal Gift," presumably of 

 beauty, possessed by the famous Gunning sisters 

 whom the author chose for the heroines; W. E. 

 Norris wrote but one novel, " The Widower " ; A. 

 Conan Doyle but one, " The Tragedy of the ' Ko- 

 rosko ' " ; and W. Clark Russell also was represented 

 but by one sea story, " The Romance of a Midship- 

 man." "A Forgotten Sin " and " The Impediment " 

 were by Dorothea Gerard (Madame Longard de 

 Longgarde) ; " A Passionate Pilgrim," by Percy 

 White; "Sunset," by Beatrice Whitby; and "The 

 Lust of Hate," by Guy Boothby, while from Ernest 

 Hornung we had "Young Blood" and "Some Per- 

 sons Unknown," the last a collection of short stories 

 of London literary life and the Australian bush. 

 "The Looms of Time" came from Mrs. Hugh 

 Fraser; "The Incidental Bishop" from Grant 

 Allen ; " Dicky Moriteith " from T. Gallon ; " Mater- 

 familias " from Mrs. Ada Cambridge Cross ; " Poor 

 Max " from Mrs. Kathleen Mannington Caffyn 

 (Iota) ; " The Crook of the Bough " from Mrs. Henry 

 Norman (Menie Muriel Dowie); "A Valuable Life 5 ' 

 and " Margaret Wynne " from Adeline Sergeant : 

 " Torn Sails," a tale of a Welsh village, from Allen 

 Raine, the author of "Mifanwy": "The Lake of 

 Wine " from Bernard Capes ; "The Lady of Castell 

 March " from Owen Rhoscomyl ; "A Fiery Ordeal" 

 from Mrs. Jessie Fraser Couvreur (Tasma), and 

 " The Potentate " from Frances Forbes Robertson. 

 "John of Strathbourne " was by R.'D. Chetwode ; 

 " Miss Balmaine's Past " and " Peggy of the Bar- 

 tons," by Mrs. Bertha M. Croker; "Wheat in the 

 Ear," by Alien, " Fighting for the King," by W. 



