Literary Gossip.

LITERARY GOSSIP .

""TUTIDNIGHT Scenes in the Slums of New York , or Lights and Shadows , " JxL is the rather erratic title of a book of sketches , chiefl y autobiographic , from the pen of the Rev . Fred . Bell , an evangelist labouring among the lower orders of the inhabitants of Nottingham . Mr . Bell is perhaps better known by the name of " the Singing Preacher , " from his practice of interspersing his exhortations with vocal melody—an innovation which has . secured for him

considerable pojralarity . The major portion of the volume consists of narratives of episodes in the author ' s life in England ; his conversion ; descrip tions of his method of mission work , which seems to have met with some success ; and of visits paid to London , Liverpool , and Derby . One third of the space is devoted to sketches of Mr . Bell ' s spiritual labours among the dwellers in the vilest haunts of sin and crime in the city of New York . The

author ' s graphic stoi-ies bring the reader face to face with many startlingscenes , full of sensation ancl thrilling interest . They are pictures of the deepest strata in human existence , drawn b y the hand of one who has toiled in the mine , and is familiar with its workings . As affording faithful glimpses of the dark side of our nature , these papers have a value apart from the reli gious phase . Mr . Bellin his prefacemodestl y disclaims any attempt at elaboration or

, , literary polish . The sketches , it seems , have been already printed , some of them in an American social journal , and others in the Midland Sitnbeam , oi which Mr . Bell is the editor . Kent and Co ., of Paternoster-row , are the publishers .

27 ie Academy announces that " some time ago Mr . Thomas B . Trowsdale published in the columns of the Lincoln Gazette a series of carefully prepared papers under the title of ' Gleanings of Lincolnshire Lore . ' He also edited in the same journal ' Local Notes and Queries , ' and it is now his intention to issue the whole in a volume . It will make a valuable addition to local literature . " With regard to the above work , we are in a rjosition to state that it will

contain much information of an historical and antiquarian character . The majority of the matter is from the pen of Mr . Trowsdale , who has had the assistance of numerous local archteologists of repute . The " Gleanings " are arranged under the headings ef Topographical and Historical Notes , Local Nomenclature , Antiquities , Castles , Records of Reli gious Houses , Churches , Fonts , Bell Lore , Epitaphs and Epitaphiana , Old Parochial Records ,

Lincolnshire in the Civil Wars , Parliamentary Elections , Curious Customs , Legends and Traditions , Superstitions and Superstitious Observances , Folk-lore , Lincolnshire Families , Lincolnshire Worthies , Eccentrics and Eccentricities , Remarkable Stories and Occurrences , and Historic Scraps . From the enumeration of the titles of the sections , it will be seen that the work is an extensive one , dealing with every branch of Lincolnshire lore , and one which will be

worthy of a place in the library of every person having an interest in local history . The volume is to be well illustrated , and will be issued to subscribers only , at five shillings per copy . Names of subscribers are now being received by Mr . Trowsdale , at his address , 91 , Caledonian Road , London , N . " "Lays and Romance of Chivalry , " by the well-known London journalist , Mr . W . Stewart Ross , is the title of a little volume of charming verse just