A Little Book about Ushers. By Frederick Feeder, B.A. (Remington
and Co.)—Times have changed for the usher since Goldsmith sketched him in the Bee as an ignorant and ill-treated animal ; bat still his lot in life is by no means an enviable one. Mr. Feeder's readers will find in his little book some humorous descrip- tions of the thankless and trying duties of a modern usher. He evidently writes from experience ; and it is not surprising, therefore, that he cannot resist the temptation to magnify the schoolboy's dulness and the usher's hardships. But his extravagance is generally introduced with touches of wit. If it were not for this playful inclination, the book might have contained something touching the importance of an usher's work which, with all its unpleasantness, mast be regarded as responsible and truly honourable. The author deals a sly hit at scholastic agents, and shows some power of observation in his sketches of the different types of ushers. Be mentions, too, what, in his opinion, are the qualities of an ideal usher. Bat, alas ! the ideal usher must be the ideal smatterer, since, in our time, the usher is better according as he knows a little of most things.
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