Century.

While the Harvard man in search of special articles bearing on some special course would find little to his liking in the Christmas Century, the general reader, - be he Harvard man or not - cannot but be delighted with the contents of the December number of this magazine. The Christmas number is something more than the usual number under a holiday name. It is founded with the spirit of Christmas, and both directly and indirectly touches upon the Christian celebration. In some respects, it might be called a Christmas art number; for the frontispiece is a reproduction of the painting of "The Holy Family" by Du Mond, a young American artist, who presents in this picture an original conception of the subject. The number also contains engravings of modern pictures relating to Christmas as follows:

"The Arrival of the Shepherds," by H. Lerolle (with a poem by Edith M. Thomas); "The Appearance of an Angei to the Shepherds," by P. Lagarde; "The Annunciation to the Shepherds," by J. Bastien Lepage; "Holy Night," by Fritz Von Uhde, and a Madonna by Dagnan-Bouveret, accompanied by a poem by Mrs. Mary Mapes Dodge, entitled "An Offertory." Quite appropriate to the season also is Mr. Stillman's article on "Raphael," accompanied by Mr. Cole's engraving of "The Madonna of the Goldfinch," made especially for this number, and three other examples of Raphael's work - the AEneas and Parnassus groups from the Vatican, and the portrait of Maddelena Doni - all of which will be of interest to Fine Arts 4 men.

The Mozart centenary is the occasion of a paper by Mrs. Amelia Gere Mason, entitled "Mozart - After a Hundred Years," which is fully illustrated, and appeals to a very wide and general interest in music, it being the first of a number of articles of high character on music to appear in the Century during the coming year. Mrs. Gere draws an exquisite comparison between Burns and Mozart which every lover of poetry and music should read. Says Mrs. Gere: "The genius of these men was unlike, and they differed widely in character as well as education, but there is a certain kinship in the spirit that underlies the pathetic ballads of the one and the great tone-poems of the other. It is the spirit of love and humor, the intense humanity, the irrepressible sympathy with all living things that has brought them so near to the heart of the world. Both were poet-singers, both were clear, simple, tender, natural, and true."

Besides the above mentioned articles, there is a sheaf of delightful Christmas stories, - "The Christmas Shadrach," by Frank R. Stockton; "A Christmas Fantasy, with a Moral," by Thomas Bailey Aldrich; "Wulfy; A Waif," a Christmas sketch from life by Miss Vida D. Scudder, and "The Rapture of Hetty," by Mrs. Mary Hallock Foote, the last dealing with a Christmas dance on the frontier, and a number of general articles. The poetry of the number is of a high order.