The Christmas Century.

It is truly as great a delight as one often experiences in these days to review anything like the Christmas Century. One has difficulty in finding phrases to express the pleasure of an hour or two's perusal of the magazine gives him. There are so many good things, and all in so happy a holiday mood, that one is at a loss where to begin.

First of all we wish to commend very highly the plan of printing a number of pictures especially appropriate to the Christmas-time and above all the pictures by Americans. There are reproductions of no less than five paintings by our own artists. One which we at Harvard should be interested in the "Mother" by Edward E. Simmons, himself a Harvard man and the author of the window in Memorial which the class of '84 put up. The others are by Abbott H. Thayer, Mary L. Macomber, E. H. Blashfield and F. V. Drumond.

The frontispiece is from Dagnan-Bouveret's painting of the "Madonna and Child." After this is an article by Mrs. Van Rennselaer, bearing the somewhat surprising title of "Picturesque New York." The surprise wears off, however, when one looks at the etchings accompanying the article.

One of the most interesting things in the number is the first installment of "Benefits Forgot." It is the long-heralded posthumous novel of Walcott Balestier, who died before he could keep the promises of literary greatness which he made. And more continued fiction is found in Mrs. Harrison's "Sweet Bells out of Tune."

Of the delights of the issue, the latest of F. Hopkinson Smith's ever-fascinating sketches is not to be counted last. It is very happily called "A Knight of the Legion of Honor" and is a thoroughly good story. Thomas Nelson Page also has a good short story entitled "My Cousin Fanny." and Mr. Sterner's illustration to it is arranged in a very unique way.

Stopford A. Brooke writes his "Impressions of Browning and his Art." Tomaso Salvini contributes some "Leaves from his Autobiography" and Archibald Forbes has a paper on "War Correspondence as a Fine Art."

Miss Wilkins has a bit of a "pastel in prose" entitled "After the Rain." It is very simple; it is rather pretty; it is printed because Miss Wilkins wrote it.

And the other pleasant things in the number are not mentioned, only because space lacks.