" that
"All is not Shaw that Bernards;" that "Better Yeates than Clever;" that
words are so inexpensive that there is no moral crime in robbing Henry
to pay James.

Firmly believing all this, abjuring all atom-pickers, slab furniture,
and woodchuck literature--save only the immortal verse:

"And there the wooden-chuck doth tread;
While from the oak trees' tops
The red, red squirrel on the head
The frequent acorn drops."

Abjuring, as I say, dinkiness in all its forms, we may still hope that
those cleanly and respectable spinsters, the Sister Arts, will continue
throughout the ages, rocking and drinking tea unterrified by the
million-tongued clamor in the back yard and below stairs, where thumb
and forefinger continue the question demanded by intellectual
exhaustion:

"L'arr! Kesker say l'arr?"

D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK.

* * * * *

THE MASTERPIECE OF A MASTER MIND.

The Prodigal Son.

By Hall Caine. 12mo. Ornamental Cloth, $1.50.

"The Prodigal Son" follows the lines of the Bible parable in the
principal incidents, but in certain important particulars it departs
from them. In a most convincing way, and with rare beauty, the story
shows that Christ's parable is a picture of heavenly mercy, and not of
human justice, and if it were used as an example of conduct among men it
would destroy all social conditions and disturb accepted laws of
justice. The book is full of movement and incident, and must appeal to
the public by its dramatic story alone. The Prodigal Son at the close of
the book has learned this great lesson, and the meaning of the parable
is revealed to him. Neither success nor fame can ever wipe out the evil
of the past. It is not from the unalterable laws of nature and life that
forgiveness can be hoped for.

"Since 'The Manxman' Hall Caine has written nothing so moving in its
elements of pathos and tragedy, so plainly marked with the power to
search the human heart and reveal its secret springs of strength and
weakness, its passion and strife, so sincere and satisfying as 'The
Prodigal Son.'"--_New York Times_.

"It is done with supreme self-confidence, and the result is a work of
genius."--_New York Evening Post_.

"'The Prodigal Son' will hold the reader's attention from cover to
cover."--_Philadelphia Record_.

"This is one of Hall Caine's best novels--one that a large portion of
the fiction-reading public will