by Japanese artists, — with other fiction, essays, and poems. Among the artists represented in this beautiful issue are Carroll Beckwith, Will H. Low, Theodore Robinson, Howard Pyle, Harry Fenn, and Otto Bacher. Among the authors are John Hay, T. J. Nakagawa (late Consul-General of Japan in this city), Eugene Schuyler (U. S. Consul-General at Cairo), Francis Lynde Stetson, and Harold Frederic.
The Century for May, the month of Memorial Day, is made notable by the number and variety of articles it contains which concern our national life and history.
Mrs. Edith Robertson Cleveland writes of "Archibald Robertson, and his Portraits of the Washingtons." William Armstrong and Edmond Law Rogers contribute two articles on;' Some New Washington Relics;" and these papers are supplemented by a short one on " Original Portraits of Washington," by Charles Henry Hart. All of these articles in the Washington series are profusely illustrated.
The first instalment of Mrs. Amelia Gere Mason's valuable series on "The Women of the French Salons " opens in a delightful way, and is finely illustrated. Mr. Stillman, in his "Italian Old Masters," writes of Andrea del Verrocchio, to which Mr. Cole has added a magnifi cent engraving of a detail from Verrocchio's "The Baptism of Christ."
Mr. Jefferson's Autobiography continues its charming course, this month relating his expe riences in Australia; and Mrs. Barr's "Friend Olivia " grows in interest.
Articles which will have a wide reading are George Kennan's striking paper on the methods of the Russian censors, entitled "Blacked Out," with which is given a fac-simile of two pages of one of Mr. Kennan's Century articles on Siberia erased by the Government censors; " Chickens for Use and Beauty," by H. S. Babcock, profusely illustrated; " Two Views of Marie Bashkirtseff," with portraits, and pictures by Mary Bashkirtseff; Prof. H. C. Wood's striking paper on " A Study of Consciousness; " and Major J. W. Powell's valuable contribution on " Institutions for the Arid Lands."
Other articles of interest are "George Washington and Memorial Day," "The New Movement in Education," " The Lingering Duello," "The Churches and the Poor," in " Topics of the Time."
Importance and novelty belong to almost all the contributions in Harper's Magazine for May. Theodore Child opens the number with " Some Modern French Painters," stating clearly the distinguishing traits of contemporary French artists, and with the help of elaborate engravings, giving an exposition of the new art influences initiated by Corot, Millet, and Courbet. Paul Renouard supplements the biographical details of the article with portraits of MM. Puvisde Chavannes, J. C. Cazin, Aime Morot, Dagnan-Bouveret, and Henri Lerolle. Prof. S. H. Butcher, LL.D., of the University of Edinburgh, contributes an article on "The Evolution of Humor." Quaint historic imaginings are the twenty-six drawings in which Howard Pyle makes visible the life of the olden time, described by John Austin Stevens in his paper on " Old New York Taverns." William Sharp, in an illustrated paper entitled " Through Bush and Fern," describes the contradictions and fascinations of the fauna and flora in " the oldest land in the world." Louise Imogen Guiney gives a summary of the lives and works of the " charming old poets " who wrote " English Lyrics under the First Charles." Mary E. Wilkins and Aubrey De Vere contribute poems; and there are three short stories, — one by Edward Everett Hale, revealing what a Boston girl can do without an escort; another, by S. B. Elliott, having reference to business booms in the South; and the third, by E. H. Lockwood, making a new departure in transferring the scene of "international episodes " to Germany. W. D. Howells concludes his dramatic analysis of a remarkable complication in " The Shadow of a Dream." The contents of the Editorial Departments are characterized by the same novelty as the body of the magazine.
In the May Atlantic, Agnes Repplier in an article on " Literary Shibboleths." makes a plea for the people who resemble that " unfortunate young woman who for years concealed in her bosom the terrible fact that she did not think ' John Gilpin ' funny." It is a plea for an honest confession of our real tastes in literature, and a warning against being carried away by literary
