d weigh 400 weight"; that "the laylocks in the
Shaxpur yard being now in bloom filleth the air with delectable
smells, whereby the poet is mightily joyed in that he did plant and
nurture the same," etc., etc.

"Sweet were those declining years," writes the essayist; "sweet in
their homely moderate delights, sweet in their wholesome
employments, sweet in their peacefulness and repose. But sweeter and
holier yet were they in the loyalty of a friendship that, covering a
long period of endeavor, of struggle and adversity, survived to
illumine and to glorify, as it has been a quenchless flame, the
evening of the poet's life. An o'erturned stone, upon which the ivy
seeks to hide the ravages which time has made, marks the spot where
Wilwhite sleeps the last gracious sleep of humanity. Now and again
wayfarers, straying thence, wonder whose dust it is that mingles
with the warmth of Mother Earth beneath that broken tablet. And
while they wonder there amid the hush, which only the music of the
birds profanes, and with the fragrance of wild flowers all around,
love is fulfilled and loyalty perfected; for beyond the compass of
years they that wrought together and were true abide in sweet
companionship eternally."

EUGENE FIELD.
May 20th, 1891.

The review of Miss Abbott's fictitious autobiography needs no further
introduction, save the statement that the only parts of it that are
based on fact are those which refer to the high esteem in which its
subject--or shall I say its victim?--was held by Field and the names
and relations of the parties mentioned. If the reader cares to compare
some of the phrases used in this autobiography with others quoted from
the proceedings in the Vermont litigation in the early chapters of this
book, he will find striking evidence of the persistence of literary
expression in the Field family:

REVIEW OF THE MEMOIRS OF MISS EMMA ABBOTT.

The advance sheets of Miss Abbott's biography have been sent to us
by the publishers. This volume, consisting of 868 pages, is
entitled, "Ten Years a Song Bird: Memoirs of a Busy Life, by Emma
Abbott." It will be put upon the market in time to catch what is
called the holiday trade, and we hope it will have that enormous
sale to which its merits entitle it. It is altogether a charming
book--it reads like a woman's letters, so full is it of confidence
couched in the artless, easy, unpretentious language o