a model. The students at
JULIEN'S fall back aghast before his magnificent figure, and now, in
every gallery in Europe, sculptures and paintings of Mr. TITTERTON are
to be seen by the vulgar crowd, very often for no charge at all; and
that, of course, is delightful for Europe. And, according to his title,
that is doubtless the final impression that the author wishes to convey.
I intend on my next trip abroad to search for Mr. TITTERTON in all the
galleries. My only means of discovery are the pictures of the author
with which his book is filled, and here, if the illustrator (a very
clever fellow) is to be trusted, I am frankly puzzled by the attitude at
JULIEN'S towards their model. There is very little in these
illustrations to justify it.

* * * * *

If I am not mistaken, _The Jam Queen_ (METHUEN) marks the first
incursion of Miss NETTA SYRETT into humorous fiction. In that, or any,
case, she has written a story which deserves a considerable success.
_The Jam Queen_ is to a large extent what would be called in drama a
one-part affair. There are plenty of other characters, many of them
drawn with much unforced skill, but the personality of the protagonist,
the Jam Queen herself, overshadows the rest. _Mrs. Quilter_ is an
abiding joy. There have been plutocratic elderly women, uneducated but
agreeable, in a hundred novels before this; but I recall few that have
been treated so honestly or with so much genuine sympathy. Mind you,
Miss SYRETT is no sentimentalist. Ill-directed philanthropy, Girtonian
super-culture, the simple life with its complexities of square-cut
gowns and bare feet--all these come beneath the lash of a satire that is
delicate but unsparing. Yet with it all she has, as every good satirist
should have, a quick appreciation of the good qualities of her victims.
Even _Frederick_, the pious, as contrasted with the flippant, nephew of
aunt _Quilter--Frederick_, with his futile institute for people who want
none of it, his blind pedantry, and his actual dishonesty in what he
considers a worthy cause--even he is punished no further than his actual
deserving. Perhaps in telling you that _Mrs. Quilter_ has two nephews,
an idle and an industrious one, I have told you enough of the scheme. It
is, after all, no great matter. _Mrs. Quilter_ must be the reason for
your reading the book, and your reward. She is real jam.

* * * * *

The tales Miss ETHEL