For more than twenty-five years the public has been familiar with the products of the skill and genius of John Rogers, in which he has illustrated a variety of social, domestic, literary, and political subjects. During the War of the Rebellion, when the hearts of the people were quickly reached by anything that brought vividly before them the scenes of soldier life or the experiences of the "brave boys in blue," the artist won his way to a wide circle of admirers by his stirring representations of those scenes and experiences. His illustrations of Rip Van Winkle touched another chord in the public heart and increased the number and the enthusiasm of those who acknowledge the charm of his rare and facile power. He has produced three groups illustrative of scenes in Shakespeare, of which the latest, representing the interview between King Lear and Cordelia,[F] described in Act IV. Scene VII., is one of his best. The king had discarded and banished Cordelia, and divided his kingdom between his other two daughters; but their ingratitude and ill-treatment had driven him crazy. He had been brought in and laid on a couch by his old friend Kent,--who is disguised as a servant,--and the doctor. Cordelia, who still loves him truly and tenderly, tries to recall herself to his wandering mind. The whole group is conceived with remarkable power and truthfulness, and in it nothing is more noteworthy than the expression of filial love and sorrow on the face of the daughter. This group will both sustain and increase the artist's well-won reputation as an interpreter of life and its experiences. * * * * * The first two or three books of "Charles Egbert Craddock" secured to their author a most enviable literary reputation, and the writer's latest book[G] will be regarded with no less interest because it is now known that "Mr. Craddock" is Miss Mary Murfree. As in her other works, the book before us deals with the peculiar characteristics of life in the mountains of Tennessee, and is largely in the dialect of that region. Her rendering of this dialect has been strongly criticised by some, but we do not know who can be better authority than Miss Murfree herself, who has spent years among the people, engaged in careful and intelligent observation and study. The _Prophet_ is eminently a readable book, and is charming to those who like stories in dialect. The Prophet, which one would expect to be a very strong character, is not brought out to such a degree as the writer, it would seem, could have easily done; but there are many word pictures which will long remain vivid in the reader's memory. We think Miss Murfree's literary reputation will be still further enhanced by the _Prophet of the Great Smoky Mountains_, and the book may be wisely selected for reading, even by those who take time for only a very few stories. * * * * *