LITERARY GOSSIP.

Southland Times, Volume VII, Issue 531, 1 August 1866, Page 3

LITERARY GOSSIP.

(Erom the " Home Newa " 2nd June. Mr Howells, who represented the American government in Venice for a neriod of three years, has published a little volume about the city of gondolas, which will be read with special interest at the present moment. It is called by the significant and comprehensive title of "Venetian Life." An ordinary observer could hardly have lived so . long in so singular a place as Venice without gathering materials worthy of being put into a book ; but Mr Howells brings more that ordinary qualifications to the undertaking, and his book consequently possesses a higher interest than usually attaches to such journals. The writer is a man of taste, and is of the right temperament io be touched by the dreamy beauty, and strange melancholy of the famous city, in whose heart, under a still and sad exterior, rages a social war such as, perhaps, has no parallel elsewhere. Mr Howells is, also, a practical man. Not being overloaded with wealth, for American representatives are not luxuriously salaried, he was obliged to economise both as to house and board, and therefore entered very closely into the modes of living by which the Venetians are enabled to extract the largest possible amount of enjoyment out of the amallest possible expenditure. The results of these conditions are very happily brought out in his book, which shows us Venive under all her aspects, her inner j life, her out-of-door life, her domestic features darkened by political feuds, her architecture, her cafes, canals, and galleries. Under the title 'of " The Journal of a. London Playgoer," Professor Morley, of University College, has collected into a volume a number of criticisms upon the London stage which he originally published in the Examiner ' newspaper. These criticisms cover a period of fifteen yaars, from 1851 to 1866. The design is excellent. In no branch of art or literature are we so manifestly deficient as in the history of the stage, and whoever contributes trustworthy materials towards it does good work in his generation. These criticisms are the productions of a ripe scholar and a sound critic, and will instruct as well as delight the reader. They are marked all throughout by a desire at once to elevate the drama, and to help artists by treating them gently and encouragingly, Professor Morley is of Hamlet's opinion as to the kind of reception which should be given to the players, and while he does not spare censure where he thinks it deserved, he is always ready to recognise merit amongst the most obscure actors, and in the smallest scraps of character. This is the true secret of that kind of criticism which has a direct tendency to foster and improve the stage. Our newspaper critics in theatrical matters may learn a valuable lesson from Professor Morley's book, which shows how it is possible to be both generous and just to the stage, to be lenient without' a compromise of truth, and to excercise a large toleration in this most difficult of all judicial offices, without sacrificing a jot of principle. The vice of newspaper criticism upon the stage is that it has the air of being written behind the curtain, instead of before it, and is not only of no earthly value to actors or dramatists, but has an inevitable tendency to sink them both below contempt. To turn from these writers to Mr Morley, is like the enjoyment of a breath of fresh mountain air after the loaded atmosphere of a hothouse. Mr Morley's papers are not confined to the English stage ; they embrace, also, the G-erman, Erench, Italian, and all bear equal evidences of thought, knowledge, and judgment. The Suez Canal, keeping in view the difficulties to be overcome, the expenditure incurred, still incurring, and to be incurred hereafter, and the perils to be apprehended even after the work itself shall have been accomplished, supposing that it ever shall be accomplished, may be fairly described as the most . stupendous piece of engineering that has been attempted in modern times. Everybody is interested in its progress, whatever opinion may be entertained of its practicability, or of the uses to which, if completed, it is intended to bo turned; and the world is always eager for the last authentic intelligence from the scene of operations. We can commend to the reader not only the latest news worth having from the whole line of the Canal, but, beyond comparison, is the most interesting sketch of the labors performing on that wonderful route, and the life that gives vitality to its borders and resting places. The book is written by Mr. T. K. Lynch, and it is entitled "A Visit to the Suez Canal," the time being 1865. Mr. Lynch upon landing at Cairo was fortunate enough to meet M. de Lesseps, le President fondatewr, to whose kindness and affability he was indebted for introductions to all the officials along along the line of works, with instructions that all necessary modes of transport should be placed at his disposition, free of charge. Mr Lynch, therefore, visited the Canal under peculiar advantages, and was, moreover, lucky enough to be with M. de Lesseps and his party, including some " charming " ladies, nearly the whole time. Crossing I from Cairo, he struck the Canal at I Ismalia, where the outlines of the city that is to be are already laid down by the enterprising genius who has persevered in his faith against all omens to the contrary. Here, too, at this point, which is halfway between Suez and the Mediterranean i is to be the grand harbor of Egypt, in which ships from the Indian seas and the far-western Atlantic are to meet, ultimately rendering this place the emporium of the world ! Erom Ismalia Mr Lynch sailed up to Port Shid, stopping at all the noticeable points by the way, till he arrived on the shore of the Mediterranean. He gives a graphic account of the place, and especially of the pier, against which all the elements appear to have combined without shaking in the least the courageous theory of M. de Lesseps. After exhausting that end of the Canal.

Mr Lynch returned in the samei^ggurely and well-provided way to the other end, jotting down as he went on' crisp outlines, clear and brief, uf everything he saw and heard. The volume is richly illustrated with colored lithograpns, and brings the scene very distinctly before our eyes as well as our understanding. " The Dayrells, a Domestic Story," by the Viscountess Enfield, is a picture of English life, which may be commended for its truth of portraiture and purity of treatment*. The writer is guided by an excellent spirit ; sound social moralities and religious truths may be gathered like flowers by the wayside ; and the reader becomes gradually impressed by the good sense and practical knowledge of character everywhere displayed. . Lady linfield, however, may be usefully warned against one fault which pervades this book, and to a great extent mars whatever merit it possesses. It is overloaded with figures. The stage of so crowded with people who, for the most part, have nothing to do with the play, that you cannot see the actors ; and the actors themselves are so numerous that it is impossible to remember which is which, or to bear in mind, if you have ever been able to comprehend, their relations to each other. This confusion is fatal to the dramatic interest of the fable, which in so small a compass ought to lie amongst a few well-marked characters, and be, above all things, clear and simple. The writings of the " Old Bushman " j in the ' Pield,' and other periodicals of a similar character, are well known. Horace William Wheelwright was a familiar name amongst sportsmen of every rank ; and the impression he made upon his public of honesty, reality, and practical acquaintance with out-of-door life — the bush being to him a sort of domestic retreat — surrounded with interest every article that came from his pen. To collect some of his principal papers was, therefore, a just tribute to his merit, and the volume entitled " Sporting Sketches, Home and Abroad " may fairly be said to need no recommendation. In this volume will be found some of the " Old Bushman's " best minor writings, such as his description of the fauna, agricultural and field sports of Sweden ; his sketches in the Australian bush ; his paper on Gun Accidents ; and his Last day in the Pen.