Messrs. BLACKWOOD have got as far as _Felix Holt_ in the re-publication in popular form of the works of GEORGE ELIOT. It would be interesting to know how the venture has fared with the popular fancy for which it was designed. It is said young men and maidens of the present date cannot read the CHARLES DICKENS whose books enthralled their fathers and mothers. How does GEORGE ELIOT, who in her day held a position with the novel-reading public second only to CHARLES DICKENS, withstand the changes of fancy and fashion? My Baronite has been trying the experiment on himself by reading again, after the lapse of many years, _The Mill on the Floss_. He reports that he finds the first volume flag a little, by reason of the minute record of childhood's troubles and schoolday tasks. But in the second volume, where the tragedy of love is worked out with surpassing power and infinite skill, the old spell is woven again. _The Mill on the Floss_ is certainly one of the best of GEORGE ELIOT'S novels, being completed before the malign influence of schoolmaster GEORGE HENRY LEWES made itself felt. To this extent, it is not a fair test of the problem suggested. But the collection as a whole is rich in value. In "the Standard edition" Messrs. BLACKWOOD present it in daintiest form, and at a marvellously cheap price. [Illustration] _The Shoulder of Shasta_ is not a new joint from an entirely new animal, as those who are tired of "the Shoulder of Mutton" may be sorry to hear; but, it is a charming romance, in one volume, written by BRAM STOKER at his best. The heroine's name is "_Esse_"; and the whole interest of the story lies in the question, "_Esse_ or _non Esse_"--"to be or not to be" the wife of "_Mr. Dick_." For there is a "_Mr. Dick_"--not in any way related to DICKENS'S "_Mr. Dick_,"--who is a kind of Buffalo Bill among the Indians. There is a _Miss Gimp_, a governess, whose peculiarities certainly do recall those of _Mrs. Nickleby_. Mr. BRAM STOKER'S plot is a _boîte à surprise_, and yet a most simple and natural story. Go to your butcher's and order _The Shoulder of Shasta_, to be served up "_à la_ STOKER." N.B.--For "butcher's" read "bookseller's"; 'tis published by "A Constable" who "knows what subjects to take up," says the thoughtful BARON DE BOOK-WORMS. * * * * * Cursory Rhyme. (_By an Elderly Victim of Cyclomania._) Rush-a-by, rush-a-by, biking man! Kick up a shindy as loud as you can. Frighten me, floor me, then chortle with glee, And fly away fast from the gutter and me. * * * * * RACING NOTE.--"_Fiorizel II._" seems to be an unfortunate name for a horse expected and intended to be "_Fiorizel the First_." * * * * * [Illustration: UNLUCKY SPEECHES. "WHAT A LOT OF PEOPLE THERE WERE AT THE WORTLEBURYS LAST WEEK--AND YET HOW DULL IT WAS!" "YES, DEAR. BUT IT WAS MUCH BRIGHTER AFTER YOU LEFT."] * * * * *