It is the duty of many British publishers—they are, indeed,
too numerous to mention—to read and (if they can) reply promptly to the sweeping and serious charges brought against them by Mr. Brander Matthews in his "American Authors and British Pirates," Which is the most striking article in the new number of the New Princeton Review. It is a formidable to quo quo, to say the least of it. What have Messrs. Frederick Warne and Co. to say to this ?— " When General Lew Wallace was last in London, he went to Warne's shop and bought a copy of 'Ben Her.' He examined it for a minute, and then asked to see the head of the firm, whose attention he called to certain alterations made in England without any authority from him. 'I see you have changed my title,' said General Wallace, 'and you have written an entirely new preface and signed my name to it.' The publisher hesitated, and at last stammered forth that they thought they could improve upon it. And have you taken any ether liberties with my book ? pursued General Wallace, and Mr. Warne answered that they had left out the story of 'Ben Mar' and made a few minor changes. And the British publisher who made this confession has never offered to make any payment to the American author whom he had despoiled, and whose work be had disfigured." Mr. Matthews, we may mention, expreesly excludes by name several of our leading publishers from his list of "British Pirates." Independently of Mr. Matthewe's paper, the new number of the New Princeton Review is a very good one. "A. Greek Girl's Outing," by Julia C. Doer, reminds one, in point of style, of Pro- fessor Church. Mr. Alexander Johnston's "The First Century of the Constitution" is an excellent politico.historical paper from the pen of an American publicist. There is actually some originality, too, as well as "affluence in discursive talk," marred, however, by inaccuracies in "The Essay as a Literary Form and Quality." Mr. Eli. Stoddard's paper on Lord Byron is disappointingly thin ; it is a series of echoes.
We are glad to note the reverse of fallingeoff in the Journal of Philology. The new number is at least as notable as any of its pre- decessors both for the excellent quality and for the variety of its contents. Even "the ordinary reader" will appreciate Mr. Nettle. ship's elaborate paper on "The Life and Poems of Juvenal," if not also Mr. Jevona's "Kin and Custom." As regards the more purely philological papers it is only necessary to say that Messrs. Mayor, Postgate, Robinson Ellis, and Robertson Smith are among their authors.
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