Speaking of _Reynart the Fox_, I was made, by a slip of the printer's
hand--I am accustomed to seeing slips _from_ his hand, which is quite
another thing--to say that this mediæval romance "presents a truer
picture of life than novels in which vice is punished and virtue
patiently rewarded." After considering for some time what on earth
I could have meant by "patiently rewarded," I remembered that I had
written "patently rewarded." The printer put my "i" out; and without
an "i" it was very difficult to perceive the sense of the phrase.
[Illustration]
_Nutshell Novels_, by that crack writer--no, not "crack'd"--and poet,
whose verses send a frill right through us, Mr. J. ASHBY-STERRY, are
coming out. Capital title. As SHAKSPEARE says, "Sermons in stones,
novels in nutshells, and good in everything." SHELLEY'S poems might
be brought out in pocketable form under a similar title, _Nut-Shelley
Poems._ I have not yet seen the volume in question, only heard tell
of it, and should not be surprised to hear that the central novel and
the best was a short military novel, entitled _The Kernel_. Messrs.
HUTCHINSON & Co. are the publishers. I hope Mr. STERRY has illustrated
them himself. He can draw and paint, but he won't, and there's an end
on't. He must follow up the _Nutshells_ with a volume of _Crackers_,
about Christmas time.
Just been looking through _London Street Arabs_, by Mrs. H.M. STANLEY,
published by CASSELL & Co., which firm--whose telegraphic address is
"Caspeg, London," and a good name too--writes to the Baron thus:--"_In
forwarding you an early copy_"--small and early--"_of Mrs. Stanley's
book, we will ask you to be good enough_"--("I am 'good enough'" quoth
the Baron)--"to _confine your extracts from the Introduction to an
extent not exceeding one-third of the whole_." "Willingly, my dear
'Caspeg,'" replies the Baron, who does not like being dictated to,
and, to gratify your wish to the utmost, he will make no extracts
at all from the book, a proceeding which ought mightily to delight
"Caspeg, London." What next? Will publishers send to the Baron, and
request him not even to breathe the names of their books? By all
means. He has no objection, as, whether sent to him for review, or
purchased by him _pour se distraire_, the Baron only mentions those he
likes, or, if he mentions those he dislikes, 'tis _pro bono publico_,
and there's an end on't. Mrs. STANLEY appreciates humour, as the
following anecdote will show--But, dear me, the Baron is forgetful--he
begs "Caspeg's" pardon; he mustn't quote. Mrs. STANLEY can be truly
sympathetic with sorrow, as the following story proves--no, "Caspeg,"
the story must _not_ follow. Never mind--the Baron's dear readers
will read it for themselves if they feel "so dispoged." The Baron
supposes that all this was written and drawn while Mrs. STANLEY was
Miss DOROTHY TENNANT, because her recorded opinion, probably, as a
spinster, is (and here the Baron "quotes" not, but "alludes"), that
you can find better artistic material in this line at home, than you
can obtain by seeking it abroad; yet when she married, off she went
to Milan, Venice, and so forth. For pleasure, of course, not work;
but work to her is evidently pleasure. May happiness have accompanied
her everywhere! The drawings are pretty, rather of the goody-good
"Sunday-at-home-readings" kind of illustrations. And what on earth has
a sort of pictorial advertisement for "Somebody's Soap" got to do with
Street Arabs? "_Washed Ashore; or, Happy At Last_," might be the title
of this mer-baby picture, in which two naked children, not Street
Arabs, or Arabs of any sort, are depicted as examining the inanimate
body of a nondescript creature, half flesh and half fish, which has
been thrown up by the waves "to be left till called for" by the next
high-tide, when, perhaps, its sorrowing parents, Mr. and Mrs. MERMAN,
or its widowed mother, Mrs. MERWOMAN, arrayed in sea-"weeds," may
come to claim it and give it un-christian burial. But that the Baron,
out of deference to the wishes of "Caspeg, London," does not like to
quote one single line, he could give Mrs. STANLEY'S own account of how
this picture of the Mer-baby came to be included in the Street Arab
Collection. For such explanation the Baron refers the reader to the
book itself. "Caspeg," farewell!
I have, the Baron says, commenced the first pages of _The Last Days
of Palmyra_. Good, so far; but several new books have come in, and
_Palmyra_ cannot receive my undivided attention, says