SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK.
(Notice in this column does not necessarily preclude subseguent review.]
My Remembrances. By Edward H. Sothern. (Cassell and Co. 12s. net.)—Never surely was writer of memoirs so modest as Mr. Sothern. If we did not know better, we should gather from his book that ho was but the inconspicuous chronicler of the brilliant achievements of other people—chief among whom is his father, the celebrated creator of " Lord Dundreary." In the brief references to himself he records little but failures. Almost the only indication of the success we know him to have achieved is that the late Charles Frohxnan was willing to risk money on rum ; but even this is told more as a sign of the American manager's spirit of adventure than a tribute to his own merits. But if the book tells us amazingly little about Mr. Edward Sothern, we learn a great deal about a number of attractive people—Uncle Hugh, beloved play- mate of children ; " Ta," the name by which the imperturbable Sam Sothern was known as a child and his remarkable nurse, " Kluklums " ; Joseph Jefferson, the actor ; and other intimate friends of the Sothern family circle. Our author is an adept at anecdote. He reconstructs whole scenes and episodes from his own childhood and the life of his famous father, and if the wealth of detail in description and dialogue rather suggests that Mr. Sothern's imagination has aided memory, of what concern is that when the result is so entertaining Inevitably, perhaps, the stories chiefly concern the actor who gave us " Lord Dun- dreary," and incidentally, dramatic authors, or aspirants to the title, will find food for reflection in the story of how the celebrated nobleman grew to his important position in, or, as Mr. Sothern frankly puts it, " was superimposed upon," the play. Of the many anecdotes circling round the popular actor, we may note particularly that in which ho " paid for his supper " when entertained by a Militia regiment in London, how he disputed with Mr. James Ruggles as to the proper way to serve eggs, and how he masqueraded as the Grand Duke Alexis when visiting the poor of Boston. It must be confessed that Sothern was prone to practical joking, a form of wit for which we have no defence to make, but the jokes were often on such a heroic scslo and are told by his son with such vivacity that they become the most entertaining of adventures.
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