Our American Cousins at Howe. By Vera, Author. of "'Under,
the Red Cross." (Sampson Low and Co.)—"Vera" seems to have been muoir pleased with her tour, which, however, did not -extend beyond the more civilised regions of the Union. There is no place, probably, in the world whore an " unprotected female" hae "a bettor' tiano than she has when travelling in the Northern and Eastern States. . No one can find fault with the hearty-expression of pleasure-anclgratitude. Sometimes, perhaps, she .gives our "American Cousins" credit- for convenient arrangements. which are :not. by any means unknown in this country. "Drop trains," for instance, are in conamon.use as
at New York, as any one who has travelled to Windsor by the Great Western may have learnt. On the other hand, she is not blind to the faults of some Transatlantic arrangements. On the whole, she has written a very entertaining book, which may not only amuse readers here, but also be of use to English ladies who may be inclined to follow her example. We must quote her testimony on one point of fact, about which there seems to be a strange
conflict of evidence. One rarely hears now, either in private or public speaking, pure English,—I mean that in which the choice and flow of words, pronunciation, tone, and accent combine to render it per feet." And she elsewhere complains of the prevalence of the nasal speaking. English, however, "generally," i.e., in common colloquial talk, is better spoken than in England, and the " h " is never mis- placed. We quote what seems to us a really remarkable instance of .aonitia. Edwin Booth, the actor, has, it seems, a remarkable resem- blance to his brother, the assassin of President Lincoln. Thus was occasioned the following dialogue between him and a Yankee farmer :— "Excuse me. Sir, but are you Mister Booth ?" "Yes." "What, Booth the actor?" "Yes." "Do you mean to say that you are actually the brother of the man who who who had the little difficulty with Abraham Lincoln ?" Finally, we would advise the Foreign-Office authorities to look at p. 210. When a Washington young lady has to ask her partner, a young diplomat, in despair, "Are there any good-looking and well-mannered men in your country ?" and than to exclaim, "Then why, in Heaven's name, don't they ever send over any here?" we must be but indifferently represented there.
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