Creek Cañon, from Squaw Valley to "Glacier Camp," has been made. This trail follows the route on which four members of my party were the pioneers, as explained in the article mentioned. Messrs. August Schick and George E. Bogue did the work, fired to the required enthusiasm by the OVERLAND's presentation of the idea.

To reach "Glacier Camp" from Sisson, it has heretofore been necessary to travel about twenty-five miles on horseback, over the Stewart trail, crossing Mud Creek Cañon at a somewhat dangerous point. Now intending mountain climbers can go by stage or private conveyance, via Elk Lawn, to August Schick's place, and thence horseback, up the new and easy trail, gradually ascending to camp at ten thousand feet elevation, much of the grandest scenery of Shasta before them all the way. The whole trip from Sisson to the summit and return can be made in from two to three days.

I have already fully described the trail from "Glacier Camp" to the monument.

The only natural route up Shasta being now easily available, the trip should be placed within the reach of many who have heretofore been deterred from attempting the ascent on account of the great difficulties to be overcome. You may now ride to within a mile and a half of the top of Mt. Shasta, finding yourself thus comparatively fresh for the climbing to follow.

Yours truly,

Geo. S. Meredith.

Henry S. Foote's Duels.

To the Editor:

In the December, 1894, number of the OVERLAND MONTHLY Mr. J. J. Peatfield in his article on "Famous Californians of other Days" refers briefly to the several duels in which Henry S. Foote took part. In the August, 1895, number Mr. George Baber also touches lightly on this phase of Foote's character in his remarkably interesting "Personal Recollections of Senator H. S. Foote." In spite of the fact that the day of the duello is past, there is still a sentiment of romance connected with the famous encounters of history, and we cannot but admire the superb courage of the participants while we deprecate the spirit of their times. Major Ben C. Truman in his well known work, "The Field of Honor, "" devotes a chapter to "Henry S. Foote's many duels." He says: Henry S. Foote, an

1The Field of Honor. By B. C. Truman. New York: Fords, Howard and Hulbert 1834.

eminent American statesman (deceased), born under the shadow of the Blue Ridge, in Fauquier County, Virginia, and who lived to honor many important positions, -among which were Governor of Mississippi and Senator in Congress,fought four duels,-the first with Edmund Winston, at Tuscaloosa, Alabama, in 1827, with pistols, both combatants being wounded at the first fire, Governor Foote in the shoulder and Mr. Winston in the hip. This affair grew out of a personal encounter between Mr. Foote and Stark and Pratt Washington on one side, and Edmund Winston and others of that celebrated family on the other, during which all the participants were more or less injured, the two Washingtons severely. Some few years later Governor Foote and the celebrated S. S. Prentiss had an encounter in the court-house at Vicksburg, Mississippi, arising out of a dispute over a law case, when Foote threw an inkstand at Prentiss.

A challenge to fight a duel followed, of course, and the parties met in Louisiana, on the opposite side of the Mississippi River, and Foote was wounded in the shoulder at the first fire. Shortly afterwards indiscreet friends of Mr. Prentiss said things which angered Governor Foote, and the latter challenged Prentiss to another encounter. The challenge was accepted, and the parties met, as before, with pistols, at ten paces, and Foote fell with a severe wound in the right leg, just above the knee, from which he narrowly escaped death. From this time on, until the death of Mr. Prentiss, these former foes, became intimate and affectionate friends, neither ceasing to regret that, as young and impulsive men, they had twice met in deadly conflict over a trivial quarrel, in obedience to the then pretty general public sentiment of that country (now happily obsolete) that an insulted man must vindicate his honor by endeavoring to take the life of the offender. The Governor's fourth affair, a few years later, was with Osman Claiborne (a retired naval officer), near Columbus, Miss. The parties fired at each other five times with pistols, Governor Foote wounding his antagonist slightly three times. This affair, like all the other of his combats of this character, occurred when Governor Foote was a man much below middle age. It is a curious fact, too, that he knew almost nothing of the use of dueling weapons and was really a miserable shot, and would have regretted in bitter agony to the day of his death had it ever been his misfortune to have slain a fellow man. He was often heard by his intimates to say that the bravest and most lovable as well as the most solidly and brilliantly intellectual man he had

991

Balfour on "The Foundations of Belief ""

SUCH a book as this, prepared in the midst of an exceedingly busy and exacting life, coming from one engaged ceaselessly in the strife of England's politics, is a remarkable evidence of what constitutes the real power, on the hustings, on the platform, and on the floor of the senate chamber, of so many of the great men of every age. Here is a philosopher, a profound student of Cause and Effect, a careful delineator of Mind, one who with ease and accuracy plays with terms which by the multitude are supposed to be within the range of the specialist alone; and yet all along he has been before his fellows simply as a strong leader in the everyday affairs of men. Little wonder it is that when they turn their attention to the nation's needs and the

The Foundations of Belief. By the Right Hon. A J. Balfour. Longmans, Green and Co.: London and New York: 1895.

crises of the days that call for prompt action, such thinkers show a mastery of situations and a capability as to handling affairs which fairly astound their adversaries.

The book itself is not, as might be surmised from its title, a theological work; but certain essays and lectures, some of them long time prepared, now thrown together to serve as an introduction to the study of theology. The writer lays no claim to being a theologian, but declares that theology has had of late years to enlarge its borders until it has included subjects both scientific and philosophical. Purely theological doctrine sought for in this book, will mean disappointment to the seeker. The object of the writer is, "to recommend a particular way of looking at the world-problems, which, whether we like it or not, we are compelled to face; to lead the reader up to a point of view whence the small fragments of the Infinite Whole of which

we are able to obtain a glimpse, may appear to us in their true relative proportions." And again Mr. Balfour says, "I have tried not to write a monograph, or a series of monographs upon theology; but to delineate, and if possible, to recommend, a certain attitude of mind."

On the very threshold of theology, as men understand the term, we are halted; but we rise from the perusal of a book, which taxes the brain power far more than the desultory readers of this age will care to have call made upon their store thereof, with a very much clearer notion than before of how to build up into a shapely temple our dogmatic faith; and recognizing more forcibly than ever that it is the part of extremest folly to profess agnosticism, simply because of certain obscurities, incoherences, and defects of proof, in what we have learned to know by the name of Christian theology.

Heart of the World.1

WHILE there is a sameness of plot and handling between Rider Haggard's last novel and one of his best known African tales, Heart of the World is fully as fascinating as "She" or any of the stories that gave him fame. Read without regard to any of his former works, it is a novel of the purest and most thrilling imagination. Its scene is Mexico, and its plot the search for the hidden treasure of the Aztecs. The narrator of the wonderful trip to the lost city is one Ignatio, the heir of the last Emperor of the Aztecs. The author has made a close study of the dress, religion, and habits, of the Mexicans of Montezuma's time and has painted a picture of a city on an island in a lake that might well make Cortez green with envy. Its treasures, temples, palaces, and citizens, become far more real than those that adorn the Spanish Conquistador histories.

The love passages between Maya, the beautiful Indian princess, and James Strickland, the Englishman and companion of Ignatio, are as modern as the balance of the scenes are ancient. The tone of the book is healthy and clean. There is not a stupid chapter in it after the City of the Heart is reached, and the scene in the Sanctuary when the three are on trial for their lives makes one hold his breath. Whatever may be said by lovers of realism against Haggard and his class it cannot but be admitted that there is something that stirs the blood and brightens the eye in such superb flights of imagination as are found in this book, and that

Heart of the World. By H. Rider Haggard New York: Longmans, Green, and Co.: 1895. $1.25.

there is a great body of readers that do not object to a mental stimulant from time to time.

Ropes's Napoleon."

AFTER reading two or more lives of the great Napoleon, lives that treat his wonderful career from the day of his birth to the hour of his death, it will be found a decided benefit to the student to take up Mr. Ropes's masterful study. The author touches but lightly on Napoleon's acts, he rather discusses their causes and effects. While he is a great admirer of the Emperor, he sees clearly his mistakes and points them out without regard to his own feelings. Napoleon, he considers the greatest man of all times and believes that his work was of the greatest benefit to France and Europe. He maintains that, with the single exception of the war in Egypt, Napoleon was forced into every war by the jealousy of rulers and the supporters of the divine right of kings.

Mr. Ropes sees, too, the great and glaring mistakes that were made by the allies and shows that their hatred of Napoleon was really the hatred of oligarchy for democracy. The policy of the English he especially shames and handles Nelson at Naples and Wellington at Paris without gloves. The book is only interesting to those who are familiar with the life of Napoleon, but to those it is indispensable.

Napoleon III.

66

Napoleon III. and Lady Stuart is, as Pierre De Lano facetiously styles it, an Episode of the Tuileries," but in plain English it is a scandal which, true or untrue, is hardly worth narrating but for one phase, the author's estimate of Napoleon III. Lady Stuart is the nom de guerre of a beautiful Irish adventuress who became one of the many friends of the Emperor. Her love affair had its tragic side, but a woman of her class could hardly expect the sympathy of anyone, even admitting that Eugenie was as bad as painted. To Eugenie the author charges the war that drove Napoleon from the throne. Napoleon he makes the victim of a dissolute court and a high-tempered wife. The picture of the Emperor's last days he draws is pathetic in the extreme and lends dignity to a scene that historians have made a farce.

The First Napoleon. By John Codman Ropes. Houghton, Mifflin and Company: Boston: 1895.

3 Napoleon III. and Lady Stuart. By Pierre De Lano. New York: J. Selwin Tait & Sons: 1891.

To the Golden Goal.1

The wife of the late Dr. J. C. Tucker of Oakland has collected in book form ten of her husband's stories and sketches of life on this Coast in early times. The book opens with the old, though ever new, narrative of the trip around the Horn to the gold fields in '49. Dr. Tucker came in and was surgeon of the ship Tarolinta, aboard of which was a company of young men many of whom became famous in California history, among others was Wm. S. O'Brien the partner of Flood. The tale of life in San Francisco and the State in the early '50's is graphically told, but probably the most interesting chapter in the book are those that deal with Gen. Walker in Nicaragua, Dr. Tucker being his Surgeon-General for a time. As a whole the book is a valuable addition to California literature. It is handsomely printed and bound by Wm. Doxey.

The Story of Bessie Costrell.2

MRS. HUMPHRY WARD has shown her admirers that she can write a short story. Bessie Costrell is the story of Adam and Eve, the apple and the serpent, in a new setting. It is as crisp, tragic, and 'boiled down," as her long stories are wordy and prolix. The temptation and the woman's fall are pictured with an intensity that leaves no question as to the author's ability. One almost forgives Bessie for betraying the trust of the old miser and for a few short weeks enjoying the seventy-one pounds that represented the savings of a lifetime. John Bolderfield should not have exposed her to the temptation and her tragic death more than satisfies all the demands of the law. There is no love interest and the tale is somber and unlovable.

The Prisoner of Zenda.3

The Prisoner of Zenda belongs to a class of stories that is popular from the start. It is made up out of new cloth and is original in plot and treatment from beginning to end. Like Lew Wallace's "Ben Hur" and Rider Haggard's "She," it has made its author famous and created a demand for anything he may write. But no matter how good his next novel may be it will never contain the surprise to the jaded novel To the Golden Goal. By Dr. J. C. Tucker. San Francisco. William Doxey. 1895.

The Story of Bessie Costrell. By Mrs. Humphrey Ward. Macmillan & Co. New York and London: 1895. Price

75C.

For sale by The Popular Book Store.

3The Prisoner of Zenda. By Anthony Hope. New York: Henry Holt and Co.: 1894. 75C.

reader that lies between the small covers of The Prisoner of Zenda. The story is short, full of action, and very much to the point. Its very impossibilities are made real, and the surprising adventures of the narrator seem quite natural enough. It seems, however, that his sense of honor toward a king and country for which he had sacrificed so much was a little strained. He certainly deserved the hand of the fair Flavia.

Mary and Other Poems.*

Mary is a blank verse tale, dramatic in form, of the last days of Mary, the scriptural "She that hath loved much," in prison, condemned to die on the morrow for murder. She tells to the one faithful friend left to her the story of her life, of her father, one of the Wise Men of the East, of her loves, and of the strange One that spoke the strange words of forgiveness to her. The dramatic force is there and many fine lines, but the conception is perhaps too new and striking, to be entirely pleasing.

In the lyrics that follow, the mood is much the same, it is the poetry of doubt, of sorrow, of mournful strivings against the inevitable, with a “dumb, chained, immortal, hopeless, hoping God." The somber meanings are clothed in musical words and the play of the imagination is often to be commended for a fine and original figure. Perhaps the best is the final quatrain:God thought, and the thought was Man, And Form gleamed out of strife,

And as æons of ages ran,

God dreamed, and the dream was Life.

Briefer Notice.

PROFESSOR PAINTER has presented to the students of literature a work which he styles an Introduction to English Literature3 that is a decided advance on the usual manual used in our schools. The author has done more than compile, he has embodied his own ripe ideas and expressed them in well chosen English. He leads up to each of the great authors with a sketch of the times, showing clearly the main springs of their work. Like Taine's great work, Painter's less pretentious one is as interesting as a novel and prepares one naturally for the classic selections illustrative of the masters. It does more, it ex4 Mary and Other Poems. By H. H. Cergrian. G. P. Putnam's Sons: New York: 1895.

5 Introduction to English Literature. By F. V. N. Painter. Boston, New York, and Chicago: Leach, Schewell, & Sanborn: 1895.

cites an ambition to know all their works and widens one's course of reading and study in a way that would be gratifying to the author. In brief, it is by far the best work of its kind that has appeared.

THE Biochemic System of Medicine, as developed in Doctor Carey's book' of that name, seems to be an outgrowth from homoeopathy. Doctor Carey claims that the efficacy of homoeopathic remedies, as administered in high dilutions and triturations, and of mineral springs as well, is caused by the fact that in making these high "potencies" the organic nature of the remedies is entirely lost and they are resolved into their unchangeable mineral constituents. These constituents, the real curative agents, are few in number (twelve in this system) and may, it is claimed, be much better administered by themselves. His book gives a chapter to each, and follows with an enumeration of diseases and their remedies, a repertory of symptoms, and a full index. Surely, if twelve remedies are enough, it is well to have that fact known, for medicine might then be reduced to a comparatively simple and exact science.

"St. Paul led a double life, even when plunged in the vortex of great London. A turbulent, vast, black hole it was, and the blaze of its lamps only made darkness more plainly visible." The reader becomes painfully conscious that the author might be "more plainly" clear in explaining the foregoing and the following lines:

"Oddly enough, a tender little melody made of starlight, inspired by the ever willing theme of love, rang its anxious chime through the actor's brain." A melody made of starlight ringing an anxious chime, is something not often heard, and the author must be credited with unusual inventive powers. "The marble fragments of other days had been for years stowed away in the deep-veined hollows of the past." From this it is inferred that Paul, being a "selfmade man had, at some time in his career the 'The Biochemic System of Medicine. By George W. Carey, M. D. St. Louis: F. August Luyties: 1894. Paul Saint Paul. By Ruby Beryl Kyle. Kerr & Co.: Chicago.: 18.5.

Charles H

brilliant idea of going into the marble dust sodawater business or possibly these "deep-veined hollows" of the past were contiguous to a cemetery and the marble fragments might be turned to profit as head-stones.

The unhappy reader becomes sad and tired when he reaches the extraordinary climax to the twenty-sixth chapter:

"The lines of fate become tangled in the hoofs of time, and St. Paul's ship of life was lost at sea." This is really beautiful, and were it not known that the writer is a lady, it might be inferred that the author's early education was acquired in a livery stable on an ocean grayhound. The book is in its second edition.

The Rending of the Solid South3 gives a succinct and clear idea of why the South was unified politically, and ascribes to this condition its rapid advancement commercially and industrially. It ascribes to the same conditions the existing upheaval in thought and the division of the Democratic party into two clearly defined factions. Having been lulled

into a belief that the new South is about to throw off the rule of the brigadiers, the reader is startled by a grand finale, a plan which the anonymous author claims is the only way in which the Democracy may win the fight two years hence. If Mr. Horr and Mr. Harvey have left anything of the silver question as a result of their jawsmith work, the New South and the New North may be expected to assert themselves in no uncertain way as regards that and other burning questions of the hour.

THREE of George Meredith's short stories have been published in book form under the heading of A Tale of Chloe. The stories are of English life, and while they may interest Engglishmen and a few Anglo-maniacs, there is nothing about them that calls for their translation into United States and republication on this side. The stories are as forced, involved, pointless, and dry, as a joke from "Punch.” However, the book is handsomely printed and illustrated with a portrait of its author and may find admirers.

3The Rending of the Solid South. The Gossip Printing Co.: Mobile, Alabama.

4A Tale of Chloe. By George Meredith. Ward, Lock & Bowden, Ltd.: New York: 1895.