"Oh Willow! Willow!" Mr. GRACE's memories of Forty years of Cricket
are full of interest, of enthusiasm, and of good stories. "My Early
Cricket Days" will hugely interest young would-be Willow-wielders.
"Cricketers I have Met" is excellent reading, the Champion being as
generous in appreciation as keen in judgment. On the science of the
game he, of course, speaks as one having authority. THACKERAY said he
never saw a boy without wishing to give him a sovereign. The "Co." for
some time to come will not look on an athletic lad without longing
to give him a copy of "Cricket; by W.G. GRACE." He hopes that lots of
other "dasters" will feel the same yearning, and act upon it.
One of the "Co." reports that he has been reading a work on
_Decorative Electricity_, by Mrs. J.S.H. GORDON, and a very pretty
and original little book he found it, full of suggestions, ingenious,
fanciful, and practical, all at once--a rare combination. "Those
about to" instal--and most of us will find ourselves in that position,
sooner or later--will gain some invaluable hints and ideas from
this volume, which, in addition to its other merits, is charmingly
illustrated. Before very long we shall all be modern Aladdins,
and summon our Slave of the Lamp as a matter of course. But there
is plenty of scope for imagination in devising the form of his
appearance, notwithstanding, and Mrs. GORDON's book shows us how the
Genius may be compelled to present himself in a variety of pleasing
and fantastic shapes.
The Baron is of opinion that _The Seal of Fate_, by Lady POLLOCK and
W.H. POLLOCK, is an interesting but somewhat discursive novel. Will it
be followed by _The Fate of the Seal_, a tale of the Fishery Question?
BARON DE BOOK-WORMS & Co.
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[Illustration: LORD RANDOLPH--PAST, PRESENT, AND TO COME-BACK.]
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