Mrs. Shelley. By Lucy Madox Rossetti. "Eminent Women Series." (Allen
and Co.)—Mrs. Rossetti has been unfortunate. Last year Mrs. Marshall's Life of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley appeared in two large volumes, containing all that a reader would care to know of the poet's second wife, and much superfluous matter in addition. In those ample pages, the miserable, mourn- ful story was told once more of poor Harriet, of Fanny and Claire, of Byron's brutality, of Shelley's strange perversities, and of Godwin's contemptible meanness. Mrs. Marshall's elaborate eulogium of Mary Shelley, written with the sanction of the family, has there- fore left little room for a later writer, and the most striking feature of the present volume is the enthusiasm of the biographer. Mrs. Rossetti writes frequently in the" high-falntin "style dear to Shelley-worshippers, and in her ardour she occasionally disdains
the laws of syntax. We find, too, in the narrative what we should not have expected to find,—a number of moral maxims not readily to be distinguished from platitudes. Some of Mrs. Rossetti's sentences fail to convey a meaning, and when an author writes of the relentless will of Fate, of the workings of Fate, of a victim sacrificed on the altar of Fate, and asks, "Who would alter the workings of destiny ?" conventional phrases supply a substitute for sense. Mary Shelley had many noble qualities, and will have a lasting place in literature as the poet's wife; but if we except "Frankenstein," her own writings are forgotten, and the careful abstracts of her novels given by Mrs. Rossetti will satisfy the curiosity of most readers.
Five books dealing with various though kindred topics, but having the common quality of practical utility, may be put together. In Wrinkles and Notions for Every Household, by Mrs. de Sails (Longmans), we have first a quantity of miscellaneous information about such matters as postage, weights and measures, tables of wages, and the like; and then, alphabetically arranged, what the author is pleased to call "Wrinkles and Notions." A very curious collection they are. Here, for instance, are the four items which meet us on the first page : "Ale Posset," "Ambassadors, their Privileges," "Ancient Remedy for Cough" (give the patient a decoction of snails, but do not let him know it), and "Animals, the Ages they Live to" (but who found out that whales live "about three hundred years" P—and the tortoise does not get his due in "a century"). In fact, the volume combines entertainment with information in a way not always, perhaps, intended. But its usefulness is beyond all doubt. —In How to Make Common Things (Religious Tract Society), Mr. Charles Peters, as editor, with a number of expert con- tributors, puts together a "handy book for girls." Here a young lady may learn how she may dress herself or her doll, may make all kinds of fancy things, may make a garden beautiful, paper a room, frame a picture, and even bind a book ! We may specially commend this last chapter to the notice of our readers. There are a vast number of periodicals or pamphlets which are lost or spoiled as it is, but may be most conveniently bound together in a simple way. Binders' prices are prohibitive for single volumes, though low enough for an edition. The only thing on the other side is that you may find that the things that you have bound together would have been ten times more valuable if you had left them alone. How many have regretted that they thus dealt with their numbers of Dickens !—A similar book from the same publishers, and under the same editorial care, but with a more distinctly artistic object, is Home Handicrafts.—Homes of Taste : Economical Hints. By J. E. Panton. (Sampson Low and Co.)—Mrs. Panton prefixes to her " Hints " an admirable motto, Festina lenle. A really well-furnished house must be the work of years. The very longest purse cannot create it in a hurry. Mrs. Panton begins with laying down some "General Principles," and then considers in succession, "Halls and Passages," "The Dining- Room," "Drawing-Room," "Bedroom," "Nurseries and Bath- rooms," and "Servants' Rooms." All the chapters abound with good sense and useful hints. But we see nothing about a study or library. Perhaps Mrs. Penton thinks that these lie outside the woman's province ; but as they will meddle with them, why not some judicious advice, even if it did not go beyond the simple "Leave them alone" P—Home-Washing. By Louisa E. Smith. (Bemrose and Son.)—This "Practical Guide to the Housewife" is the work of an expert (Miss Smith is " Instructress " at the Forsyth Technical College). She goes into all the necessary details, even to suggesting the dinner that may be prepared with the least trouble on "Tuesday," the most laborious of washing- days. One point—alas! the most important—she does not, and, indeed, could not, deal with. How can you get servants who will consent to do this same " home-washing "? 'Do you wash at home, M'm I' Yes." Then I am afraid that your situation will not suit me.' How many housewives have gone through this dialogue many times, till they have given up the struggle in despair !
Previous page
