Books. But the present and the near-at-hand speak forth again delightfully in Miss Edith Brower's " Is the Musical Idea Masculine?" and Mr. Bradford Torrey's " On the upper St. John's."
The people of the North have almost forgotten that their ancestors owned slaves. In an article on "The New England Negro," in Harper's Magazine for March, Mrs. Jane De Forest Shelton has collected some curious information regarding the Connecticut slaves and that unique custom, the annual election and inauguration of a "negro governor" of the State. This number is noticeably strong in short stories : "The Buckley Lady," a love-story of colonial New England, by Miss Mary E. Wilkins; "A Partie Carrie," a history of a yachting cruise in the Mediter ranean, by W. E. Norris; " An Undivined Tragedy," a romantic tale of English country life, by Laurence Alma Tadema, daughter of the well known painter; "At a Private View," a sketch of New York life, by Brander Matthews: and " Cache-Cache," a story of the French Revolution, by William McLennen.
Scribner's Magazine for March is filled with in teresting matter. The illustrated articles include "The High Building and its Art," "Subtropical Florida," "The Cable Street-Railway," and "The Sea Island Hurricanes." There is a bountiful supply of excellent fiction by such authors as George W. Cable, William Henry Bishop, and George A. Hibbard. Altogether the number is exceedingly read able and entertaining. The March number of The Century contains a great variety of points. The opening article is a sketch of the Tuileries under Napoleon III., written by a lady who was a governess in one of the court families. The accompanying portraits are especially interesting The announcement of the book on Lourdes by Zola gives timeliness to " A Pilgrimage to Lourdes" by Stephen Bonsai — a graphic record of individual experience at this famous shrine. Mrs. Van Rensselaer describes one of New York's most beautiful buildings, the Madison Square Garden; "Josiah Flynt" writes of "The City Tramp," and incidentally shows the crying need of organized charity; Prof. Edward S. Holden tells a good deal that is new about earthquakes, and how to measure them; the Rev. Dr. Washington Gladden writes of - ' The Anti-Catholic League " in a way that will at tract wide attention. Major Andre also is a "con tributor" to this number; his account of the " Mischanza," the famous festival given in honor of Sir William Howe in 1777, is printed from Major Andre's manuscript, heretofore unpublished.
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The complete novel in the March number of LlPpincott's is "A Desert Claim," by Mary E. Stickney. It is a charming tale of ranch life in Northern Colorado. Gilbert Parker's serial, " The Trespasser," reaches its ninth chapter. •• The Inmate of the Dun geon," by W. C. Morrow, is a story of uncommon power. Joel Chandler Harris, in " The Late Mr. Watkins of Georgia; His Relation to Oriental FolkLore, " compares a curious legend of his own State with one of India. In " A Prophet of the New Wo manhood," Annie Nathan Meyer considers Henrik Ibsen from an unfamiliar point of view. Emma Henry Ferguson tells "More about Captain Reid," the Confederate blockade-runner. John Gilmer Speed describes " The Training of the Saddle- Horse." Dr. Charles C. Abbott writes of " Bees and Buckwheat," and Charles Mcllvaine of " The Evolution of Public Roads." In " Talks with the Trade," the subject of "Literary Mendicancy" is presented.
Who are the most famous writers and artists of both continents? The Cosmopolitan Magazine is endeavoring to answer this inquiry by printing a list from month to month — in its contents pages. This magazine claims that notwithstanding its extra ordinary reduction in price, it is bringing the most famous writers and artists of Europa and America to interest its readers, and in proof of this claim, sub mits the following list of contributors for the five months ending with February : Valdes, Howells, Paul Heyse, Francisque Sarcey, Robert Grant, John J. Ingalls, Lyman Abbott, Frederick Masson, Agnes Repplier, J. G. Whittier (posthumous), Walter Besant, Mark Twain, St. George Mivart, Paul Bourget, Louise Chandler Moulton, Flammarion, Tissandier, F. Dempster Sherman, Adam Badeau, Capt. King, Arthur Sherburne Hardy, Georg Ebers, De Maupas sant, Sir Edwin Arnold, Spielhagen, Andrew Lang, Berthelot, H. H. Boyesen, Hopkinson Smith, Lyman J. Gage, Dan'l C. Gilman, Franz Von Lenbach, Thomas A. Janvier. And for artists who have illus trated during the same time : Vierge, Reinhart, Marold, F. D. Small, Dan Beard, Jos£ Cabrinety, Oliver Herford, Remington, Hamilton Gibson, Otto Bacher, H. S. Mowbray, Otto Guillonnet, F. G. Attwood, Hopkinson Smith, Geo. W. Edwards, Paul de Langpre, Habert-Dys, F. H. Schell. How this is done for $1.50 a year, the editors of " The Cosmo politan" alone know.
The March number of The Political Science Quarterly opens with "Some Ideas on Constitu tional Revision," by J. B. Uhle, of the New York Bar; Mr. A. D. Noyes, financial editor of the "Even ing Post," presents a critical study of " The Banks
