Sir PHILIP SIDNEY was, as all the world knows, "a veray parfit gentil
knight." Possibility of this presupposition of knowledge is fortunate,
since Miss ANNA M. STODDART'S account of this heroic figure is not, my
Baronite sorrowfully says, likely to convey any adequate idea of its
personality. Mr. FOX BOURNE and Mr. ADDINGTON SYMONDS have written
biographies of the Elizabethan soldier, in which he boldly stands
forth. Miss STODDART modestly says her object is "in no way to compete
with" these standard works. But why write at all? The marvel is,
as Dr. JOHNSON did not exactly say in illustration of an argument
respecting another feminine achievement, not that the work should
not have been well done, but that it possibly could be done with such
wooden effect. If Miss STODDART had taken a sheet of paper and with
her pair of scissors cut out the figure of a man, writing across it
"This is PHILIP SIDNEY," she would have conveyed quite as clear and
moving a picture of the man as is found in the 111 pages of her book.
But then, Mr. BLACKWOOD would not have published the scrap of paper,
and we should not have had the charming portrait of SIDNEY, or the
sketches of Penshurst by MARGARET L. HUGGINS which adorn the daintily
got-up volume.
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My Baronitess writes:--S. BARING GOULD turns into delightful English
prose some of the ancient Icelandic Sagas, or songs, and shows us how
_Grettir the Outlaw_ was a Grettir man than was generally supposed by
anyone who had never heard very much about him. When he departed, was
he very much Re-grettir'd by all who knew him?
Messrs. MACMILLAN offer _My New Home_, provided by Mrs. MOLESWORTH,
which many of the little "new" women would like to see. Illustrated by
L. LESLIE BROOKE: "BROOKE" suggests "water colours,"--a new idea for
_next_ Christmas.
_Sou'-wester and Sword_, by HUGH ST. LEGER. A nautical and military
combination. The Sou'wester of a tar is not at all at sea when, after
a pleasant little shipwreck, he joins the forces at Suakim. The winner
of _this_ ST. LEGER was a rank outsider, with the odds against him,
but he wins the day by "throstling" (a new word) a few Soudanese; who
must have seemed quite forty to one!
A cousin, especially a Colonial, is such a very pleasant indistinct
sort of relative, that he is bound to be a hero of romance, though
perhaps a cousin at hand is worth two in the bush; at least, so thinks
the heroine in _My Cousin from Australia_, by EVELYN EVERETT GREEN
(HUTCHINSON & CO.); whilst the one whom she should have wed was
of course a wicked Baronet (does one often meet a good Baronet in
fiction?), who tries to upset his successful rival by giving him a tip
over an agreeably high cliff. It is a Christmas story, and so the "tip"
is just at the right time. How it ends----You'll see.
_Black and White_ has gone in for a shilling's worth of the truly
wonderful in _The Dream Club_, by BARRIE PAIN and EDEN PHILPOTTS. It
is quite an after-turkey, plum-pudding, mince-pie dinner story. How
authors and artists must have suffered, judging, at least, by the
delightful nightmare illustrations. And the picture-lady of the
cover--ahem!--she has evidently forgotten that she is supposed to be
"out" at Christmas.
Between the boards of LOTHAR MEGGENDORFER'S moveable toy-books (H.
GREVEL & CO.) lies genuine fun. _The Scenes of the Life of a Masher_
are simply irresistible. Little ones will be delighted with _The
Transformation Scenes_, besides, there is _Charming Variety_ with a
_Party of Six_. These books are a good tip for a Christmas gift for
the representatives of Tommy and Harry.
Had G. W. APPLETON'S _The Co-Respondent_--an attractive title--been
in the form of a short magazine story, it would probably have been
amusing from first to last. Now it is only amusing at first. Good idea
all the same. The old quotation about "Sir HUBERT STANLEY" is brought
in, and, of course, incorrectly. It is not "_Praise_ from Sir HUBERT
STANLEY," but "approbation." However, as it is said by a light-hearted
girl of a very modern type, it may be assumed that the misquotation is
intentional.