Books Of The Day.

BOOKS OF THE DAY .

Books , Music , & o . intended for review , should be addressed to the Editor of the Freemason ' s Chronicle , at Fleet Works , New Barnet . — : o : — The Survivor . By E . Phillips Oppenheim . Illustrated by Stanley L . Wood ( 6 s ) . —Ward , Lock and Co ., Limited .

READERS of " The World ' s Great Snare " expected great things from the author ' s next venture . They will not be disappointed . Mr . Oppenheim has in . one sense at least bettered all his previous work . "Mysterious Mr . Sabin " was powerful , but it was not a book for everybody ; and the same may be said even more truthfully of " A Millionaire of Yesterday . " But " The Survivor " is a book for every

class of readers . Like all good prose fiction , it may be read rapidly for pure love of the story , which is exceedingly interesting ; but it should also be more carefully read a second time , for it contains some wholesome truths , some clever scenes , and much knowledge of the world . Of the two chief characters figuring in its pages , Douglas Guest and Emily de Reuss , we prefer the lady . Mr . Oppenheim has ,

we think , imparted more originality to her than to her lover . Douglas Guest is in London to-day under the coat of many a literary gentin fact , he is typical llather than orginal ; but the lady , regarded from all standpoints , is an unique personalit )' . There is adventure in this book , and adventure of a surprising character too—as when Joan

Strong fails to notice the object of her search seated a few yards off , but sees , instead , a long lost brother upon the next bench . The struggles of Douglas in the bathos of the literary world are described in Mr .. Oppenheim ' s best manner , and his ultimate success is led up to skilfully . If you would enjoy a wet afternoon , read " The Survivors . " You will thank the elements for keeping you indoors .

Ballad Stories of the Affections . From the Scandinavian . By Robert Buchanan . —Sampson Low and Co . MR . ROISERT BUCHANAN performed yeoman service to literature when he translated these ballads from the Scandinavian . The ballad is a more potent factor in a nation ' s history than many , suppose . Mr . Buchanan has reminded us that these metrical stories were transmitted

orally from father to son . This , of course , is the usual history of the evolution of the ballad , from the days when the Greek rhapsodist recited Homer to eager crowds , to the days of the minstrelsy of the Border tribes of Scotland . Messrs . Sampson Low's edition of these ballads is so lavishly printed and bound that it is pleasant to the eye , and may well be coveted for the library even by those careless of its

contents . We would , however , strongly recommend these poemsso strong , so pathetic , so human in the English of Mr . Buchananto the careful consideration of all lovers of literature . They cannot fail to find much to interest them . One of the very best of these ballads is beyond ' question that entitled " The Treasure Seeker , " in which the gruesome nature of the story is only less apparent than the

exquisite choice of the language in which it is rendered . " Scorn not the sonnet " wrote Wordsworth . We would add , " nor the ballad " ; for nowhere is the character of a country more faithfully reflectedunless indeed it be in the early drama . Readers who doubt this should turn to the pages of our old friend " The Spectator , " and see what Joseph Addison had to say upon the subject .

New Century Library ( 2 s net per vol . ) . —T . Nelson and Sons . The Works of SIR WALTER SCOTT , BART . Vol . iii ., The Antiquary . CAN any reader of the FREEMASON ' CHRONICLE need an introduction to Jonathan Oldbuck ? Is there one who has not walked beside the gabcrlunzie Edie Ochiltree , nor sat in the cottage of Luckie

Mucklebackit , nor smiled at the roguery of Dousterswivel ? It is no mean testimony to the uniform excellence of most of the novels of Sir Walter Scott that they are each in turn pronounced the best of all . " The Antiquary " is no exception to this rule . The quaint humour and almost infantile credulity of Monkbarns have been the deli ght of multitudes of readers for three quarters of a century , and the verbal

niceties displayed in much of the dialogue in this novel should go far to condone any offence in regard to the English language committed by the " Author of Waverley . " The rescue of Miss Wardour on the coast is an incident so incomparably narrated that it would make the reputation of a lesser novelist ; but such chapters are of so frequent occurrence in the romances of Scott that we take but small account

of them . Of still greater tragic strength is the thirty-first chapter , concerning the funeral which Monkbarns attended at the fishercottage at Mussel Crag . Well might Scott write that Wilkie alone could have painted , the scene ! "The Antiquary : '' is not a book to be skipped ; it is rather , as Bacon puts it regarding certain volumes , Si book to be digested .

The Commonwealth Pictorial . A monthly social and commercial Review of Australian matters . Edited b y Chas . S , Rutlidge , F . R . G . S ., F . R . L .. I . ( IS ) . —The Commonwealth Pub-, lishing and Advertising Co ., Limited . THIS new monthly , of which . three numbers have already appeared , should meet with unqualified success . We are all

interested in matters Australasian now , and the " Commonwealth Pictoral " is just the publication to keep that interest alive . Nobody will doubt that if the editor can maintain the high standard of excellence which he has attained hitherto a large circulation will reward his labours ; we see no reason why he should not be able to do this . He has

himself lived in Australia ; he has studied her resources ; he has thought much concerning her future ; he has conversed with many of her ablest sons . His knowledge of the salient features of Australasian life is shown to great advantage in the pages of the " Commonwealth Pictorial , " where he has provided paragraphs which every Australian would like to read , and pictures which every Australian would like to

Books Of The Day.

see . He has , as he so felicitously expresses it , " put his little boat to sea upon the dark waters of the unknown . " May the voyage be-long and prosperous , and may the boat frequently touch at some desired haven . The numerous illustrations , which are printed in colours , are beautifully reproduced .

BOOKS RECEIVED . Industrial Social Organisation . By J . C . Van Marken . Translated by S . de Jastrzebski . —Swan Sonnenschein and Co ., Limited .

Malcolm . By George Macdonald ( 6 d ) . —George Newnes ; Limited . French Life in Town and Country . By Hannah Lynch ( 3 s 6 d ) .- —George Newnes , Limited . At the Gates of Song :- Sonnets , by Lloyd Mifflin . —Henry Frowde .

A Path of Thorns . By Ernest Alfred Vizetelly ( 6 s ) . —Chatto and Windus . Martyred Missionaries of the China- Inland-Mission . With a record of the perils and sufferings of some who escaped . With portraits , maps , and illustrations . Edited by

Marshall Broomhall , B . A . ( 5 s ) . —Morgan and Scott . Highways and Byways in East Angrlia . By William A . Dutt , with illustrations by Joseph Pennell ( 6 s ) . —Macmillan and Co ., Limited . The Naulahka . A story of West and East . By Rudyard

Kipling and Wolcott Balestier ( 6 s ) . —Macmillan and Co ., Limited . Souvenir of the Siegre of Mafekingr . Being fac-simile reproductions of the most interesting general orders issued to the garrison of Mafeking by General Baden-Powell during the siege . With introduction by Chas . E . Hands , War Correspondent

for the " Daily Mail " ( 6 d ) . —John Lewis and Co . New Century Library ( 2 s net per vol . ) . —T . Nelson and Sons The ' . Works of CHARLES DICKENS . Vol . x ., Bleak House .

Days of' Doubt . B y Alice Maud Meadows . Illustrated by G . Demain Hammond ( 3 s 6 d ) . —Ward , Lock and Co ., Ltd . The French Revolution . A history by Thomas Carl yle . Three volumes complete in one . With an introduction and full page illustrations ( 2 s ) . —Ward , Lock and Co ., Ltd .

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