Literary Gossip.

LITERARY GOSSIP .

DEATH has been busy of late in the literary world . Only the other day we mourned the loss of gentle "George Eliot ; " then silver-haired Anna Maria Hall was borne from the side of her equally honoured husband ; and , latest ancl greatest loss of all , grand old Thomas Oarlyle has been called to quit for ever the scene of his earthly labours . " George Eliot " limned with almost unsurpassed power the lights and shadows of human life ; Mrs . Hall , the authoress of a hundred books , brought bright intellect and untiring

industry to bear in the cause of morality ; ancl the rugged Scotsman who sleeps in his native North " traced with his golden pen on the deathless page " many a word of wisdom which will influence the world ages hence . Working in widely different positions in the great republic of letters , each of the talented trio sought to further , " so far as in them lay , " the interests of honour , truth , and sincerity . Success crowned their efforts , ancl they have earned a right to be ranked high on the roll of earth's untitled nobility .

Alexander Anderson , the author of " Songs of the Rail , ' and one or two other collections of simple , yet much-admired poems , has , in the February issue of Good Words , a stirring rythmical story of a brave fellow whip laid down his life on the altar of duty . He tells how a heavy slab of stone slipped down an embankment into the track of the fast-approaching " Flying Dutchman ; " ancl how a poor platelayer , Jack Ohitty by name , realizing the imminent peril of the passengersunhesitatingly leaped on to the lineancl b

, , y an almost superhuman effort succeeded , not a moment too soon , in turning the stone out of the train ' s way . Scarcely had Ohitty clone the heroic deed ere the steaming engine hurled him to the ground , ancl instamtly crushed the life from his prostrate form . On whirled the uninjured express , its wheels wet with the heart ' s blood of its brave preserver . Though the incident occurred some years ago , it is forcibly recalled by Mr . Anderson ' s vivid word-picture .

A pleasant volume , pourtraying the every-day doings of the inhabitants of the hill-side hamlets and picturesque dales of Cumberland and Westmorland , reaches us from a Yorkshire publisher , Mr . T . Holderness , of Driffield . The book , which is rendered additionally attractive by being enveloped in a thin veil of fiction , is entitled "Nellie Glenn , a tale of the English Lake District , " ancl is from the pen of Mr . George T . Rossa gentleman alreadfavourabl

, y y known as a graphic delineator of rustic life ancl character . His clever sketches of Lakeland life shew him to have a keen eye , ancl the power of aptly expressing whatever he has witnessed . The story , which serves to string together the more substantial portion of the work , is interesting and well-written .

One of the best of modern magazines is Hamper ' s Monthly , emanating from across the Atlantic . Its literary contents are of a high order of excellence , and the accompanying illustrations are many of them simply exquisite . Were our American cousins to challenge us to point out two such well " got-up " serials as their Scribner ' s and Harper ' s amongst our multitudinous array of English magazines , we are afraid we should find ourselves at a loss to do so . Let Fleet Street ancl Paternoster Row look to their laurels .

Novelties continue to flow from the periodical press . Many of them " come like shadows , so depart ; " others attain to a more or less permanent and important position in the journalistic world . Last month we alluded to Mr . Harry Blyth ' s enterprising story paper , The Blue Bells of Scotland , which , we are pleased to learn , is meeting with much favour amongst our brethren be-