HISTORICAL ESSAYS. THIS! book is made up of a series of papers by the author of the recently-published "History of the United States," so called, but which is simply a more or less partisan view of the Jefferson and Madison Administrations from the standpoint of the historic Adams family. This particular Mr. Adams, as his more pretentious work clearly shows, is a man of unusual ability, great historical research and general information. The papers comprising the Essays are as follows: Primitive Rights of Women," a revised lecture, first delivered at the Lowell Institute in 1860; "Captain John Smith," originally printed in the North American Review, January, 1867; "Harvard College, 1786-1787," from the North American Review, January, 1872; Napoleon I. at St. Domingo," an original contribution to the French Historical Review, 1884; The Bank of England Restriction," from the North American Review of October, 1867; "The Legal Tender Act," the joint production of Mr. Adams and Francis A. Walker in the Review for April, 1870; New York and the Gold Conspiracy," Westminster Review, October, 1870; "The Session of Congress, 1869-70," the Review for July, 1870; also, "The Declaration of Paris, 1861," which here appears as original, but probably merely because of an oversight. All of these papers bear the characteristic stamp of exceeding care. They are ably written and cannot but be read with profit by the student of leading historical events. The essay on John Smith is peculiarly interesting on one account-namely, the apparent effort of the author to discredit the accepted tradition of Pocahontas-that is, the story of her heroic rescue of the English pioneer. The first paper, on the early rights of womankind, is a learned production, which shows how Christianity, with its noble principles and humanitarian influences, has operated to elevate man's partner in the joys and sorrows of life. (Scribner. $1.50.)-Philadelphia Evening Telegraph. CONDUCT AS A FINE ART. UNDER the title of Conduct as a Fine Art" have been printed in a single volume the two essays by N. P. Gilman and E. P. Jackson which were awarded the prize of one thousand dollars by the American Secular Union for the best treatise adapted to assist teachers “to thoroughly instruct children and youth in the purest principles of morality without inculcating religious doctrines." The two works are in a certain sense complements of one another, that of Mr. Gilman on "The Laws of Daily Conduct" being a direct and synthetic exposition of the motives that should govern right action, and that of Mr. Jackson on Character Building" being actual examples of concrete instruction in dialogue form. Both works are decidedly practical in aim and in method. Mr. Gilman does not concern himself at all with psychological or metaphysical problems, but confines himself strictly to what may be called the ethics of every-day life. He begins by explaining what a life governed by law is, and then takes up the significance of the moral law and the necessity of its mandates. obedience to Obedience, he urges, is possible mainly through the power of self-control, and through obedience truthfulness, justice and kindness become the ruling forces of character. The "great words" of morality, such as "duty" and "conscience," are next considered, and the author then passes on to a discussion of the duties pertaining to home, work, honor, personal habits and the obligations of citizenship. Chapters follow on the meaning of character and the scope of moral progress; and in conclusion there is a brief comment on the fact that the highest standard of conduct is to be derived from adherence to the golden rule. Hints for further study of the various subsidiary topics suggested are given in notes appended to the text. Mr. Jackson employs the form of the imaginary conversation between a schoolmaster and his pupils, and by vigorous, terse treatment 64 sincerity," of such themes as good boys and fun," "cleverness and courage," "when the good boy will not fight," "the chains of habit,” “nagging," "cruelty to animals," "politeness," and the relation of algebra to virtue, succeeds in presenting his subject in a way that will afford the intelligent teacher an abundance of hints for elaboration in the class-room. The book as a whole is sure to be of immense assistance to all who have any responsibility for the proper training of the young. The authors have to a certain extent broken with the traditional cut-and-dried methods, and have marked out new lines of thought which cannot fail to be beneficial. Their joint work will stimulate the zeal of conscientious instructors, and ought to make the inculcation of morality as practical and efficient as the teaching of geography, arithmetic or grammar. (Houghton, Mifflin & Co. $1.50.)—The Beacon. DOUBT. CREEDS grow so thick along the way, Their boughs hide God,-I cannot pray. TRUTH. The old faiths light their candles all about, But burly Truth comes by and blows them out. -From Reese's "A Handful of Lavender." (Hough ton, Mifflin & Co. $1.) The Literary News. EDITED BY A. H. LEYPOLDT. OCTOBER, 1891. WHO BUYS BOOKS? ALTHOUGH We are always reading, we make but little effort to get the thoughts that instruct, cheer or delight us in permanent shape. Many people, who never hesitate any longer than to decide what evening will be convenient for their purpose, spend $3 for two theatre tickets, which give them three hours' amusement, that would never think they could afford to spend $3 for a book that really tempts them and would be of lasting value to them. Look around your friends' houses to-day and figure up what the rugs, ornaments, curtains and other beautiful things cost, and notice that in many of these handsome rooms books are wholly missing or confined within a small bookcase about double in value of all the books it contains. It cannot be that these 'people, who have card-receivers, fans, paper-cutters, china, silver, crystal and brass bric-à-brac without end, have not the wherewithal to buy books. True, many of the beautiful things have been given to those with whom we see them. But why did not the givers think that books would be as much appreciated as statuettes, foot-stools, lamps, vases, etc.? Because neither giver nor receiver have yet been awakened to the true value of books and their important place in the furnishing of any house that is to be a home of happiness and progress. It is strange how general is the custom of borrowing books. The possessor of books that he truly loves and has collected at expense of time and money is almost expected to lend them. Why? You never think of asking a friend to let you enjoy his beautiful cast of a noted statue, his costly reproduction of an oil-painting in your drawing-room for some two, three or four weeks. When you want these things so much that you cannot do without them you devise ways and means to get them. But the average reader does not have the earnest wish to own books. He wants to read the latest novel and he looks for a friend who has bought it and borrows it. It is a great lack of proper education that makes people content to read each other's books. We are not preaching selfishness; on the contrary, we are pointing out that if the right spirit were in readers they would deny themselves many things to have books, and would spend less time reading newspapers and learn to desire more lasting mental food. We believe in all things that are beautiful, and are glad of the growing taste for home decoration and the collecting of fine furniture and pretty knick-knacks. But we wish these things to do their proper work, to inspire their possessors with a desire to know what these things really are, where they came from, who made them, why so many of them are almost priceless, etc., and to have the elementary education that enables them to find and want the books that can give them such information. In many things we are making giant strides towards better things. But the real love of books is still rather a weak seedling in our lives, and we are not training it as carefully as we should and as our domestic prosperity would enable us to do. There are no friends like books, and nothing is so calculated to make your friendship valuable as a well-stored mind and wide and varied interests that only come by reading good books. With the holiday shopping season coming on, think carefully of your friends and their special tastes and see how much real, lasting pleasure you can give them with books. Even should they not read them, the very atmosphere of books is far more invigorating than tidies, lamp-shades, easily-knocked-over nondescript vases and orna ments. Nothing grows so fast by what it feeds on as the taste for reading, which should always lead to an earnest desire to possess and hold fast what is truly of worth. GEORGE ELIOT'S MANUSCRIPTS.--All the MSS. of George Eliot's works with the exception of that of "Scenes of Clerical Life" (owned by Blackwood) are now in the possession of the British Museum. The copy was evidently treated by the printers with unusual care; and as soon as each MS. was returned to her, she had it bound and gave it to Mr. Lewes with an affectionate inscription prefixed. In "Jubal" she wrote: "To my beloved husband, George Henry Lewes, whose cherishing tenderness for twenty years has alone made my work possible to me. "And the last parting now began to send Diffusive dread through love and wedded bliss, Thrilling them into finer tenderness. "MAY, 1874." To these MSS. has been added that of Mr. Lewes Aristotle." It contains this inscription: "To my beloved Miriam. Where the heart lies let the brain lie also.”—G. H. Lewes, July, 1864."-N. Y. Tribune. TWO LITERARY MOBS.--To the mob of gentlemen who write with ease must now be added the mob of ladies. Women who in the last century would have left behind them a chest full of letters now consume their literary energies in the production of a shelf full of novels. But there are a thousand volumes to one book, a thousand echoes to one voice. Of the crowd of novels which annually issue from the press scarcely one in a hundred carries the reader out of the beaten track.—The Edinburgh Review. Survey of Current Literature. "Order through your bookseller.—“There is no worthier or surer pledge of the intelligence and the purity of any community than their general purchase of books; nor is there any one who does more to further the attainment and possession of these qualities than a good bookseller."-PROF. Dunn. Magazine Articles are from November Magazines unless otherwise indicated. * designates illustrated article. ART, MUSIC, DRAMA. BROWN, G. BALDWIN. The fine arts. Scribner. il. 12°, (University extension manuals.) net, $1. The whole field of the fine arts of painting, sculpture and architecture, their philosophy, function and historic accomplishment, is covered in Prof. Baldwin Brown's compact but exhaustive manual. The work is divided into three parts, the first considering art as the expression of popular feelings and ideas--a most original investigation of the origin and development of the æsthetic impulse; the second discussing the formal conditions of artistic expression; and the third treating the "arts of form" in their theory and practice and giving an exposition of the significance of the great historic movements in architecture, sculpture and painting from the earliest times to the present. JOPLING, LOUise. Hints to amateurs: a handbook on art. Harper. 12°, pap., 50 c. The chapter headings give an idea of the scope of the book. They are as follows: Black and white; Oil painting; Water-colors; Pastel-Photography-Sketching from nature; Anatomy; Perspective. The little book is, just as it claims to be, a manual of hints and suggestions to art amateurs. KNIGHT, W. The philosophy of the beautiful: being outlines of the history of æsthetics. Scribner. 12°, (University extension manuals, no. 3.) net, $1. This book originated in a course of lectures delivered to the Philosophical Institution of Edinburgh in 1889, and afterwards to a University Extension audience in London and at Cheltenham. Besides presenting an historical sketch of past opinions and tendency on the subject of the beautiful, Prof. Knight shows how these philosophical theories have been evolved, how they have been the outcome of social as well as of intellectual causes, and have often been the product of obscure phenomena in the life of a nation. SCHAFF, PHILIP, D.D. The Renaissance : the revival of learning and art in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Putnam. 8°, $1.50. SHERIDAN, R. BRINSLEY. Sheridan's comedies. The rivals; [Also.] The school for scandal; ed., with introd. and notes to each play and a biographical sketch of Sheridan, by Brander Matthews. [New popular ed.] Houghton, Mifflin & Co. por. 8°, $150. First published in 1884 by James R. Osgood & Co. at a higher price and with a number of illustrations. The volume is still a handsome one, with a finely etched portrait, good paper, etc., but without the illustrations. BIOGRAPHY, CORRESPONDENCE, ETC. BALL, T. My threescore years and ten: an autobiography. Roberts. 8°, $3. CARTER, ROB. Robert Carter: his life and work, 1807-1889. A. D. F. Randolph & Co. For. 8°, $1.50. Robert Carter, the New York publisher, was born in 1807 in Earlston, a little village of Scotland noted for its ginghams and occupied chiefly by weavers. He was brought up in the Presbyterian faith and remained a devout believer all his life. He came to New York in 1831. In 1834 he bought the stock of an insolvent bookseller for $600, and started his career as publisher. He died at the age of eighty-two, and during his long life made many friends. For these his daughter has gathered up the material for a comprehensive biography, which gives a faithful picture of a hard-working, conscientious business man and loyal friend. He died in 1889. CHILD, LYDIA MARIA. Letters; with a biographical introd. by J. G. Whittier and an appendix by Wendell Phillips. New ed. Houghton, M. por. 16°, $1.25. DYER, OLIVER. General Andrew Jackson, hero of New Orleans and seventh president of the U. S.; il. by H. M. Eaton. Bonner. il. 12°. $1. A new life of Andrew Jackson, popularly, and picturesquely written. The sketch of Jackson's childhood and early manhood, which reveals the secret of his character and marvellous career, is one of the most affecting and instructive chapters in biography. The picture of the wild frontier life of a hundred years ago and of General Jackson's Indian fights and his battles in the New Orleans campaign are vivid and graphic. Burr's conspiracy, the rise and fall of nullification, the theory of secession and the philosophy, the inherent nature and the paramount importance of the American Union are analytically and luminously treated. DOLE, NATHAN HASKELL. A score of famous composers. Crowell. il. 12°, $1.50. FITZGERALD, PERCY. The life of James Boswell Appleton. 2 v., 8°, $7. HARDY, ARTHUR SHERBURNE. Life and letters of Joseph Hardy Neesima. Houghton, M. por. 12°, $2. PHELPS, ELIZABETH STUART, [now Mrs. Herbert D. Ward.] Austin Phelps: a memoir. Scribner. por. 8°, $2. SCHURZ, C. Abraham Lincoln: an essay. Houghton, M. por. 12°, $1. This essay was originally published in the Atlantic Monthly as a review of Nicolay and Hay's "Abraham Lincoln, a history." VILLARI, PASQUALE. The life and times of Niccolo Machiavelli; tr. by Mme. Linda Villari. New ed., enl. and rev. Scribner. 2 v., il. 8°, $10. MAGAZINE ARTICLES. Mazzini's Letters to an English Family. Century. Hitchcock. My Father's Letters.* Maria Ewing Sherman. Cosmo politan. Five Friends.* (The Marstons.) 'Louise Chandler Moulton. Cosmopolitan. Some Colonial Love-Letters. Anne H. Wharton. Lip pincott's. An Interviewer Interviewed-Talk with George A. Townsend. Lippincott's. Judge Charles J. McCurdy. Mrs. M. J. Lamb. Mag. Am. History. James Curtis Booth. (Por.) Pop. Science. DESCRIPTION, GEOGRAPHY, TRAVEL, ETC. CHILD, THEODORE. The Spanish-American republics. Harper. il. 4°, $3.50. EARLE, Mrs. ALICE MORSE. The Sabbath in Puritan New England. Scribner. 12°, $1.25. HUTTON, LAURENCE. Literary landmarks of Edinburgh. Harper. pors., il. 12°, $1. There is no city in the world of its age and size so rich in literary associations as Edinburgh. Inspired by a reverential curiosity to learn something about the present condition of the homes and the haunts of the Scottish men of letters in their own metropolis, Mr. Hutton studied scores of local histories and hundreds of biographies, and spent many weeks in patient, painstaking examination of the hallowed nooks and corners of both ends of the town. This volume is the result, which describes with pen and pencil the homes and haunts of Boswell, Hume, Smollett, Adam Smith, Burns, Scott, Carlyle and other equally noted Scotchmen. The portraits and drawings of noted scenes are by Joseph Pennell. MULTUM (The) in parvo atlas of the world. 2d ed. Stokes. maps, 24°, $1.25. Contains 96 double maps, corrected in accordance with the latest explorations; also valuable statistical information as to every country in the world, including the latest census returns of the United States. SMITH, RONALD. The great gold lands of South Africa; a vacation run in Cape Colony, Natal, the Orange Free State and the Transvaal; from notes by Ronald Smith. Ward, Lock, Bowden & Co. map, il. 12°, $1. ROCKHILL, W. WOODVILLE. The land of the lamas; notes of a journey through China, Mongolia and Tibet. The Century Co. il. maps, 8°, $3.50. STODDARD, C. A. Across Russia from the Baltic to the Danube. Scribner. 8°, $1.50. The author is the accomplished editor of the New York Observer. He gives an intelligent and graphic series of pictures of the Russian centres of civilization, with their treasures of art and architectural wonders, of the character and way of life of the people, their institutions, religion and business. An important addition to litera ture about Russia. MAGAZINE ARTICLES. Count Tolstoy at Home. Isabel F. Hapgood. Chief City of the Province of the Gods. Hearn. Atlantic. Atlantic. (Matsue.) A Rival of the Yosemite.* Muir. Century. Cairo in 1890.*-II. Constance F. Woolson. Harper's. Ocean Steamship as a Freight Carrier.* Gould. Scribner's. Proposed Trans-Saharian Railway. Ney. Scribner's. DOMESTIC AND SOCIAL MAGAZINE ARTICLES. Southern Womanhood as Affected by the War. Tillett. Century. To Nell Vansittart, a school kept by three lovely maiden ladies in one of the most beautiful spots of England always seems the Land of Beulah. After meeting with the usual disappointments of life and being hurt to the quick by the duplicity of "one familiar friend" she again drifts back to this haven of rest, where after a season she enters upon her life's happiness. ALLEN, GRANT. Dumaresq's daughter: a novel. Harper. 12°, (Harper's Franklin sq. lib., new series, no. 710.) pap., 60 c. Dumaresq is a great philosophical writer, whose pecuniary returns from his works have been so small that his old age is a life of poverty and privation. He has a beautiful daughter whom he hopes will marry wealth, and he takes opium to forget his disappointments. The daughter is admired by a young artist named Liunsell, but Dumaresq separates the young people, as he believes Liunsell is poor. Liunsell, however, is the centre of a mystery and is a rich man, who wants to be loved for himself. He goes to the Soudan, has many adventures and is reported dead. Many other characters and events fill in the background. ALLEN, GRANT. Recalled to life. Holt. 16°, (Leisure hour ser.) $1; pap., 40 c. ་ Mr. Grant Allen has, in Recalled to life,' struck out quite a novel idea. It is that of a young girl who, being the sole witness of a murder, falls, through the shock, into a condition of lapsed memory. That is to say her whole antecedent existence is blotted out, only the picture of the final scene of the crime remaining to haunt her, but throwing no light whatever upon the crime. The story is ingeniously devised to cast suspicion upon a certain person as the probable murderer, and the search for him, undertaken by the heroine when she has imperfectly recovered, is described very vividly and with careful attention to the curious psychological implications of the situation. It may be predicted safely that very few readers will guess the final solution of the mystery, which is concealed nearly to the close with creditable adroitness."-N. Y. Trib une. BARR, AMELIA E. The beads of Tasmer; il. by Warren B. Davis. Rob. Bonner's Sons. 12°, (The choice ser., no. 45.) $1.25; pap., 50 c. The beads of Tasmer compose a rosary which has been an heirloom in the house of Torquil since the days of the Catholic Stuarts. The heir of the reigning Torquil falls in love with Roberta, the only daughter of a Free Kirk minister who has a little parish in the extreme north of Scotland. After many years of waiting the beads show their secret significance and lead to the long-opposed marriage between Catholic and Protestant on a basis of pure spiritual religion. A picture of the heroine Roberta appeared in the October LITERARY NEWS, and was by oversight accredited to "Stephen Elliot's daughter." BARRETT, FRANK. Olga's crime. United States Book Co. 12°, (Lovell's international ser., no. 174.) $1; pap., 50 c. Olga Zassoulitch and her grandfather, who have been confined in Siberia in consequence of theft, make their escape and pose as Russian martyrs. They are received in the best London society, where they pose as a Russian poet prince and his granddaughter, and where the old man again follows his calling and robs his host of diamonds. Olga captures the affections of the nobleman and makes him wretched. BARRIE, J. M. Auld licht idylls. Cassell. 12°, $1.50. "J. M. Barrie, who displayed a charming style in two very dissimilar books, 'My Lady Nicotine' and 'A window in Thrums,' is author of 'Auld licht idylls,' which is a series of sketches of life in an out-of-the-way hamlet in Scotland. All of the people are industrious, slow of wit, but irrepressibly curious about their neighbors' affairs. Almost any one else would have found them a lot of boors and bears, yet the author makes them interesting by making himself humorous and sympathetic. It is like meeting a new circle of acquaintances to find a number of people so patiently described and vivisected.”—N. Y. Herald. BISHOP, W. H. The yellow snake: a story of treasure. United States Book Co. 12°, $1.25. Most of the action takes place on the southern slope of the great central table land of Mexico. A young New York girl there meets Walter Arroya, a young man under an assumed name, who is hoping to find gold and be able to make restitution to a savings bank in New York defrauded by his father. Mexican scenery, the neglected Roman Catholic mission stations, the sudden earthquakes, the women who have once been nuns and have learned self-control and devotion, are artistically wrought into a lively story. The secret of the golden snake enables Walter to become a self-respecting citizen of New York once more. First published in Lippincott's Magazine in July, 1888. CAINE, HALL. The scapegoat. United States Book Co. 12°, (Lovell's international ser., no. 179.) $1; pap., 50 c. CARMEN, SYLVA, [pseud. for Pauline Eliz. Ottilie Louise, Queen of Roumania.] Edleen Vaughan; or, paths of peril. Cassell. 12°, (Cassell's blue lib.) $1.50. Edleen Vaughan is the mother of a prodigal son who cannot get on with the noble step-father she has given him. He robs his mother, gambles, drinks, breaks the hearts of several women and is without one redeeming feature. In strong contrast to the family whose home he almost breaks up is the rector's family, through whom pleasure and peace come to Edleen Vaughan's pretty daughters. A poet is introduced, which enables the Queen of Roumania to weave many artistic little poems into her text. The scene is England, in the vicinity of London. CARPENTER, EDMUND JAMES. A woman of Shawmut: a romance of Colonial times; il. by Frank T. Merrill. Little, B. 16°, $1.25. CHENOWETH, Mrs. C. VAN D. Stories of the saints. New ed. Houghton, M. 12°, $1. The saints whose quaint and marvellous legends are recorded are St. George, St. David, St. Christopher, St. Denis, St. Catherine, the Hermit saints, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Elizabeth of Hungary and St. Patrick. DOUGLAS, AMANDA M. House. Lee & S. "Bradley House was an old house that had been tenanted by many generations of Bradleys, until the death of Miss Joanna, when it became the possession of Mrs. Halford. The story tells of what happened to the old homestead after she went there to live-of Jasper Bradley's treachery and Regina Halford's romance. The heirs of Bradley 8°, $1.50. DROSINES, GEORGIOS. Amaryllis. Cassell. nar. 12°, (The unknown lib., no. 7.) 50 c. A graceful love-story of modern Athens. EGGLESTON, E. The faith doctor: a story of New York. Appleton. 12°, $1.50. FARRAR, F. W., D.D. Darkness and dawn; or scenes in the days of Nero: an historic tale. Longmans, G. 8°, $2. FENN, G. MANVILLE. A golden dream. United States Book Co. 12°, (Lovell's international ser., no. 172.) $1; pap., 50 c. Story of Hayti just after the emancipation of the slaves. A young octoroon is married by a French planter, who is killed by his friend for the France and educates her as a lady, then brings her home. The contrasts of life in a rich convent and the life at her mother's, who keeps a "cabaret," are strongly pictured. The mystic celebrations of the Voudou worship brought over by savage slaves from Africa play a great part in the plot. This is a kind of idolatrous fetichism full of horrors, mysteries, revelry and debauch. GORDON, JULIEN, [pseud. for Mrs. Van Rensselaer Cruger.] Vampires: [also.] Mademoiselle Réséda. Lippincott. 12°, $1. Elsa. GRAY, E. MCQUEEN. Harper. 12°) (Harper's Franklin sq. lib., extra, no. 711., pap.. 50 c. sake of the wife. The woman sends her child to GRIGOROVITCH, DIMITRY. The cruel city; after the Russian; with a sketch of the author by Ernest de Lancey Pierson. Cassell. 12°, (Cassell's sunshine ser., no. 84.) 75 c.; pap., 50 C. Grigorovitch is a confirmed optimist, he sees the humorous side of everything, and while drawing contemporary types with unquestionable fidelity he contrives to get out of the most commonplace situations a great amount of innocent fun. Mr. Ernest de Lancey Pierson, who contributes an introduction to the present volume, describes the author as leading an ideal existence at the Russian capitai. He is now about seventy years old, is a patron of young writers, a director of the literary committee of the imperial theatres, and rejoices in the favor of the aristocracy. He has published novels ever since he was in his twenties, and The cruecl ity' may, we suppose, be taken as a fair sample of all of them. It is a story of modern life in St. Petersburg. The charm of the book is in its portrayal of a group of clearly-defined and well-individualized characters and its direct and lucid style, which even a crude and badly-worded translation cannot wholly obscure."-The Beacon. HABBERTON, J. Out at Twinnett's; or, gnawing a file: a story of Wall st. ways and suburban mysteries. Taylor. 12°, (The Broadway ser., no. 2.) pap., 50 c. "One of John Habberton's best stories. It |