CURRENT LITERATURE.
THE MINOR MAGAZINES.
It is alike unfair and unwise to judge a new periodical by its first number. All that can safely be said, therefore, in the mean- time, of St. Peter's, a new sixpenny magazine, written and published, as its name implies, from the Roman Catholic point of view, is that its contents indicate the desire of the promoters to compete—in a quiet and chastened way, it is true —with other ventures of the cheap and up-to-date kind. Thus we have the apparently inevitable papers on fashion and needlework, and odds and ends for children and cooks. While the leading story, "The Sons of the Church," is evidently intended especially to please Roman Catholic readers, some of the shorter sketches in fiction might have appeared in any ordinary secular monthly. Thus "Two Sisters," by Katharine Tynan, is simply a pleasant and characteristic story of an Irish girl passing on her insufficiently appreciated lover to her sister. The special constituency, which St. Peter's will no doubt seek to cultivate, is appealed to, however, by such papers — which are quite as good and almost as lively as most of the class to which they belong— as "Cardinal Vaughan at Home," "Rimini and its Cathedral," and "The Order of St. Benedict," and by such a really exquisite picture as that of "S. Augustine and S. Monica." The editor of St. Peter's draws special attention to an article by Mr. Clement Scott on "Catholicism and the Stage." There is nothing very remarkable, however, in the paper, which is largely as attempt to make good the author's belief that" Catholicism, when conscientiously practised, is the amulet or charm to defend its wearers from the dangers of all sorts and conditions of professional life." Considering what a man of war in criticism Mr. Scott has been, it is rather curious to read that "Catholic journalists have been, on the whole, very modest, unaggressive, and have persuaded by gentle and unassailable argument rather than by dogmatic force." St. Peter's is well printed and fairly illustrated as cheap monthly magazines go. On the whole, it has an air of solidity which is of hopeful omen.
It has been said of late that the dominance of certain athletic exercises, more particularly of golf and bicycling, has seriously affected the popularity of yachting as a sport. It may be so, but this view is certainly not confirmed by the issue from the Yachtsman office of the Yachting Monthly Magazine. It is beautifully printed on fine paper and profusely illustrated, yachting being an amuse- ment which lends itself very readily to the art of the photo- grapher. The "technical" articles, such as "A Probable Revival of Schooner Racing" and "Thames Sailing Punts," are very read- able, and the " designs " of yachts, which are admirably repro- dnced, will be very interesting to experts and enthusiasts. The stories are, however, rather poor. "A Channel Pirate" gives us nothing better than a rather thin and boyish practical joke.
The Home University, issued from the Educational Museum, Haslemere, is described by its editors very correctly as "a maga- zine and note-book of all-round knowledge and aids to memory." This is true, and to a surprising extent The second number, which is now before us, contains articles—rather snippety, it is true—on all sorts of subjects, from "A Medical Student Poet' and "The Physician to Marcus Aurelius" to "Horns and Antlers" and "French Proverbs," not to speak of paragraphs thrown in to eke out a page. short lectures, and essentially educational puzzles such as "Polyglot Conversations." There is very much in the magazine to interest, instruct, and even amuse, but the editors should beware lest in their enthusiasm for edification by tit-bits they encourage what Matthew Arnold described and dreaded as "useless knowledge."
The new number of the Lady's Realm is very readable. That is to say, it contains a goodly number of more than average stories— though Miss Braddon's serial is flagging somewhat—and articles abounding in attractive photographic illustrations, and dealing chiefly with "life in society." The most notable of the articles is Lady Jenne's on "The Salon, and its Revival." It is rather disappointing, however, for while Lady Jeune evidently thinks that the salon should and might be revived, she does not, indicate any really practical method by which the revival can be accom- plished. Of the short stories, perhaps "A Little Aversion," by Miss Violet Hunt, is the best. It is quite original, skilfully constructed, touching at the close, and free from that acridity of tone which this very clever writer occasionally affects.
The Queen's Empire, which is one of the best—and best illus- trated—of the serial publications that were called into existence by the Diamond Jubilee celebrations, has reached the eleventh number. This deals with the second line of national defence, and shows, by means chiefly of photographic illustrations, the number and variety of forces that are now included in the Imperial Army, and the number and variety of services these are expected to perform. "The Jersey Artillery," "The Parade of the Hong Kong Police," "Road-making in Chitral," and "A Gallery of Contrasts," certainly help materially to give a bird's-eye view of modern British Imperialism. The letterpress accompanying and explaining the illustrations is succinct but sufficient.
It must be difficult to secure adequate variety in the contents of even so long established a Sunday magazine as The Sunday at Home. The attempt has been, on the whole, very successfully made in the March number, which is exceptionably readable. While the ordinary and necessary provision is made for the regu- lar constituency of a periodical of the kind by such contributions as the Rev. A. R. Buckland's "Musings for Sunday Mornings" and "Love Thyself Last," which, as the title indicates, is a study in self-sacrifice, that section of the religious public which appreciates essays on history and literature ought to be satisfied with papers like "A Glance at the Year 1799," in which are stated the reasons for the founding of the Religious Tract Society; "Christina Rossetti," a careful and sympathetic study ; and "New Italy." In the last, the third of an excellent series, the Rev. Henry J. Piggott, of Rome, tells with admirable lucidity the story of the Italian risings of 1820 and 1831. In this part Silvio Pellico 010O0 more suffers, and the still more unfortunate Ciro Menotti again endures martyrdom. "God's Outcast," which is the chief serial fiction in the magazine, is one of the best stories that have come from the pen of the now veteran Silas Hocking. The Baptist Minister is a good sketch, and the jealousy of Martha Blake is brought out with ultra-feminine subtlety,—a subtlety which is not quite devoid of malice.
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