ADVICE to those who are about to give Easter presents--send to
MACMILLAN'S for "The Nursery 'Alice,'" who re-appears "as fresh as
paint," that is, with twenty-four of "Our Mr. TENNIEL'S" illustrations,
coloured by Miss GERTRUDE THOMSON, under his direction.
The _Universal Review_ is specially noteworthy for a short play by Mr.
W. L. COURTNEY, entitled, _Kit Marlowe's Death_. Mr. BOURCHIER of the
St. James's, so it is stated, is going to add this "Kit" to his
theatrical wardrobe. Some of the stage-directions,--such, for instance,
as "_They pour out wine in his cup, which he swallows_," and "_The
others laugh at_ NASH'S _expense_,"--are well worth all the money that
the spirited purchaser may have paid for this almost priceless work. In
the same Magazine, the coloured frontispiece of "_Count Tolstoy at
Home_," showing the Count, not labouring in the fields of literature,
but simply guiding the plough, is as good as the article on the
_Kreutzer Sonata_ is interesting; and interesting also is the paper
entitled, "Musings in an English Cathedral," by the Dean of
GLOUCESTER,--henceforth to be known as "A Musing Dean."
Mr. ANDREW LANG in _Longman's_--or rather _Lang-man's--Magazine_, is
still stopping at "The Sign of The Ship"--[The Baron moves "that the
words 'and Turtle' be inserted after 'Ship'"]--and as he has recently
been delighting us with wanders in the land of Ham, it will gratify his
readers to learn that he is now ceasing to be "All for 'Hur,'" in order
to join the author of She in a plot for a new romance. They are
undeterred by the eye of Detective RUNCIMAN. I wish success to Merry
Andrew Languid in this collaboration. In this same _Lang-man's Mag._,
Mr. VAL PRINSEP, A.R.A., having temporarily dissociated himself from the
paint-brush and canvas, by which he has made his name and fame,
continues his novel _Virginie_. In the present chapter he incidentally
gives a description of the service of Mass in the good _Abbé Leroux's_
parish church, which is a triumph of imagination and subtle humour. No
wonder "the _Abbé Leroux_ was scandalised," when the service had been
turned topsy-turvy, the _credo_ put before the _gloria_, and a young
person among his congregation, topping all other voices, was singing a
solo! Where was the Beadle? or a Churchwarden? or an Aggrieved
Parishioner? Three cheers for Facile PRINSEP'S novel!
In _Plain Tales from the Hills_, by Mr. RUDYARD KIPLING, the jaded
palate of the "General Reader" will recognise a new and piquant flavour.
In places the manner suggests an Anglo-Indian BRET HARTE, and there is
perhaps too great an abundance of phrases and local allusions which will
be dark sayings to the uninitiated. But the stories show a quite
surprising knowledge of life, a familiarity with military, civil, and
native society, and a command of pathos and humour, which have already
won a reputation for the author. Few can read _Beyond the Pale_, _The
Arrest of Lieutenant Golightly_, _The Story of Muhammed Din_, _The Germ
Destroyer_, and _The Madness of Private Ortheris_, for example, without
admiration for the versatility which can cover so wide a range, and
impress, amuse, or touch with the same ease and epigrammatic
conciseness.