[Illustration]
The Baron is delighted with MONTAGU WILLIAMS's third volume of
_Reminiscences_, published by MACMILLAN & Co. His cheery after-dinner
conversational style of telling capital stories is excellent. He is
not writing a book, he is talking to us; he is telling us a series
of good things, and, quoth the Baron, let me advise you to light your
cigar and sit down in your armchair before the fire, as not only
do you not wish to interrupt him, even with a query, but you feel
inclined to say, as the children do when, seated round you in the
wintry twilight, they have been listening to a story which has deeply
interested them--"Go on, please, tell us another!" The following
interpolated "aside," most characteristic of MONTAGU WILLIAMS's
life-like conversational manner of telling a story, occurs at page
8, where giving an account of a robbery, of which he himself was
the victim, and telling how a thief asked to be shown up to his, the
narrator's room, he says, "The porter, like a fool, gave his consent."
The interpolated "_like a fool_," carries the jury, tells the whole
story, and wins admiration for the sufferer, who is the real hero of
the tale. But beyond the book's merit as an interesting and amusing
companion, it contains some valuable practical suggestions for
relieving the ordinary distress in the poorest districts which ought
to receive attention in the highest quarters.
To some readers interested in theatrical life, _Polly Mountemple_
must prove an interesting work of fiction, if a story can be so styled
which, as its author assures his readers with his latest breath, I
should say in his last paragraph (p. 291), "Is a true tale." It is the
story of a "ballet lady" who rises in "the profession" to the dignity
of a speaking part, and is on the point of being raised still higher
in the social scale, and becoming the wife of a real live young
nobleman, when she sensibly accepts a considerable sum of money,
consents to forego her action for breach of promise, and finally
marries a highly respectable acrobat, and becomes the landlady of
the "Man of Kent." The earlier portion is entertaining, especially
to those who are not altogether ignorant of some of the personages,
sketches of whom are drawn by the author, Mr. CHARLES HOLLIS, with, it
is not improbable, considerable fidelity. They are rough sketches, not
by any means highly finished, but then such was the character of the
original models. Before, however, it can be accepted by the general
public as giving an unexaggerated picture of a certain sort of
stage-life, it ought to have the _imprimatur_ or the _nihil obstat_
of some generally acknowledged head of the profession; for "the
profession" is Hydra-like in this respect--a republican creation, with
many heads. THE BARON DE BOOK-WORMS.
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[Illustration: ENCOURAGEMENT.
_Professional Golfer_ (_in answer to anxious question_). "WEEL, NO,
SIR, AT YOUR TIME O' LIFE, YE CAN NEVER HOPE TO BECOME A _PLAYER_; BUT
IF YE PRACTISE HARD FOR THREE YEARS, YE MAY BE ABLE TO TELL GOOD PLAY
FROM BAD WHEN YE SEE IT!"]
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