A Baronite warns me thusly: In opening _The New Standard Elocutionist_,
selected by ALFRED H. MILES (HUTCHINSON & CO.), you may think there is a
mistake somewhere, as on the first page you are confronted with an
anatomical sketch of a cheerful-looking gentleman with his chest laid
open for inspection. Don't be afraid, it's all right, the gentleman's
countenance is reassuring, still, it makes me wonder if all reciters
come to that. But after reading a little of LENNOX BROWN'S chapter, we
find it is an object lesson teaching the usually inflated reciter how to
work his diaphragm as it should be worked. Perhaps its advantages may be
felt when the elocutionist wishes to rouse an admiring but slumbering
audience with a little thundering out of "Rise! sleep no more." If the
average recitation has a soporific effect, PHIL MAY'S drawings in _Fun,
Frolic and Fancy_, by BYRON WEBBER will soon wake you up. The annual of
three F's quite fulfils the "promise of May."
Though _Kitty Alone_, by S. BARING GOULD, runs through _Good Words_ this
year, edited by DONALD MACLEOD, D.D., she does it surrounded by
excellent company. Just imagine how a child's preconceived notions of
euphonious spelling will be upset by teaching _Artful Anticks_ spelt
with a _k_, by OLIVE HERFORD (GAY AND BIRD). Such a frivolous liberty to
take with any word in these days of solid moral educational principles.
There always exists a certain sneaking friendly feeling for ghosts,
especially at Christmas time, but it's nothing to the Paddies who
experience a hurtful resentment if you won't listen to their familiar
banshee yarns, and _Banshee Castle_, by ROSA MULHOLLAND is full of their
sighing and wailing; they like to make themselves heard.
_À propos_ of Christmas numbers, my Baronitess writes: _The Queen_ and
_The Gentlewoman_ present themselves beautifully "got up." They are both
decidedly smart, and, like their titles, their stories are by a very
select company. By-the-bye, in _The Gentlewoman_ the little bird says
that her New Year will open with an exciting serial, _Sons of Fire_,
from the indefatigable pen of Miss BRADDON. There is a hearty, warm
sound in it, agreeable at this time of the year.
According to the researching remarks of JOSEPH JACOBS, who has arranged
a new and selected edition of _Æsop's Fables_ (MACMILLAN & CO.), one
gathers that the "modest violet" is not in it with the retiring manner
in which every other writer of fable have hidden their worth under the
sheltering leaves of the ever green laurels of Old ÆSOP. Their number
might be termed fabulous. But SHERLOCK HOLMES has not lived in vain.
With unerring instinct the true mythical authors have been tracked, and
their deeds brought to light. The immortal genius may at last enjoy his
own wealth, which he finds fits better now that it has not to be
stretched. Quaint little pictures, done by RICHARD HEIGHWAY, adorn the
pages.
"A pretty volume of fairy tales," writes one of the Assistant Readers,
"comes from Messrs. SEELEY & CO. It is called _Lily and the Lift_, and
is not only written, but also illustrated, by Mrs. HERBERT RAILTON.
_Lily_ herself, the little heroine, who is wafted in the magic
hotel-lift through the regions of Fairyland, is a darling. Beautiful
butterflies, wonderful birds, quaint dwarfs, and lovely fairies abound
in the marvellous country visited by _Lily_. Mrs. RAILTON writes with
delightful fancy and quiet humour, and her illustrations add a great
charm to a book which is bound to please the little ones for whom it is
intended."
[Illustration]
_In Furthest Ind_ (BLACKWOOD) purports to be the narrative of Mr. EDWARD
CARLYON, of the Honourable East India Company's service, comprising his
escape from the hands of the Inquisition at Goa, his journey to the
Court of the Great Mogul, and much else. It all took place some two
hundred years ago, and was "wrote by his own hand in the Year of Grace
1697." As for Mr. SYDNEY C. GRIER, he simply "edits the narrative with a
few explanatory notes," which is very modest of him. The narrative is a
moving one, full of local colour, plastered on pictures of the outskirts
of India in John Company's day. Mr. EDWARD CARLYON is a properly
pragmatical person, with true British obstinacy knocking his head
against any wall that comes in his way. He makes my Baronite almost
think kindly of the Inquisition. And this is genial at Christmas time,
when we like to think well of everybody, "and so bless us all,
Pen-and-Inkysition included," quoth TINY TIM, alias