Perkins, F. B. history. Check list for American local Physicus, pseud. Candid examination of theism. "I have endeavoured to fix the precise standing of the evidence in favour of the theory of Theism, when the latter is viewed in all the flood of light which the of modern science-physical and speculative progress shed upon it. And forasmuch as it is impossible that demonstrated truth can ever be shown untrue, and forasmuch as the demonstrated truths on which the present exam. ination rests are the most fundamental which it is possible for the human mind to reach, I do not think it presumptuous to assert what appears to me a necessary deduction from these facts, namely, that, possible errors in reasoning apart, the rational position of Theism as here defined must remain without material modification as long as our intelligence remains human." —- Preface. Poor, H. V. Manual of railroads of the U. S. for 1878-79; with an analysis of the debts of the U. S. and of the several states. Popular science monthly, suppl., July. Has an article on the social origin of nihilism and pessimism in Germany. Putnam, J. P. The metric system of weights and measures. 2d ed. Radical review; ed. by B. R. Tucker. Vol. 1. No longer published. Renan, E. Caliban, suite de La tempète; drame philosophique. "The interest of the little piece is much more political than literary, and thus one feels that a rather unjustifiable liberty has been taken with Shakspere. It is perhaps no wonder that the Republican party in France should have been bitterly annoyed at it. M. Renan's main design was to show the readiness of democracy to admit any leader, and the readiness of the leader to cool down in his revolutionary ardour when he is once arrivé. This object he has fulfilled happily enough, and at the same time he has gratified Voltaireans by a most stinging picture of the sycophancy of the clergy. Caliban will remind some people a little of 'Rabagas', and others a little of 'A soul's tragedy'. But it is a pity that a grand subject which, treated as M. Renan has in parts treated it, somewhat on the plan of the second part of Faust, might have been made a whole satiric drama of modern society, should have been thus insufficiently handled.". G. Saintsbury, in Acad., May 4. "Caliban is a type of the people, of the prolétaire, of democracy, of communism, or any other 'ism' that expresses discontent with things as they are. He is loud and bitter in his dissatisfaction with Prospero's treatment of him, and stirs up a revolution against his dreamy lord; but, when once he gets into power and assumes the reins of government, he adopts just the same principles as those of his defeated predecessor. The chief impression that 'Caliban' has left on us is that M. Renan began with the intention of being humorous and satirical-it is said, at the expense of a prominent politician — but that as he proceeded and got absorbed in his work old habitudes grew too strong for him, and he became serious in spite of himself, so that in the end he was left a little uncertain as to whether he had intended to be sober or jocose." — Exam., June 22. Mélanges d'histoire et de voyages. In an eloquent prefice M. Renan gives an account of his introduction to the Revue d. D. Mondes in 1852, of his distinguished associates, of the progress of historical and archæological studies since then, and of the political situation of France since the war. The latter discussion is short but full of interest. Robinson, J. Ferns in their homes and ours. L'esprit révolutionnaire avant la "Il a noté les plaintes, les murmures, les pamphlets, raconté les émeutes, signalé jusqu'aux affiches séditieuses placardées la nuit au coin des rues; en un mot, il n'a rien négligé de ce qui pouvait montrer la fermentation des esprits.... Il nous démontre que ce ne sont pas les philosophes qui ont créé l'esprit révolutionnaire; que, dès le milieu du 18e siècle, la nation était déja complètement tournée contre l'église et contre la royauté; que, dès l'année 1754, non-seulement la révolution était faite dans les idées, mais qu'elle était prête à passer dans les faits; que la violente haine manifestée alors contre le roi et le clergé avait une tout autre origine que le 'Dictionnaire philosophique', et que le moment ou Voltaire et ses amis se saisirent enfin de la direction de l'opinion est marqué, au contraire, par un apaisement des esprits et l'établissement d'une tranquillité presque inconnue dans les premières années du siècle." - Rev. pol. et lit. Romania; recueil trimestriel; consacré à l'étude des langues et des littératures romanes. année, 1877. Rome. Istituto Archeologico. graphica. Vol. 3. Ge Ephemeris epi Rosenkranz, K. Hegel as the national philosopher of Germany; tr. by G. P. Hall. Reprinted from the Journal of speculative philosophy. Rouveyre, E. Connaissances nécessaires à un bibliophile. Row, C. A. Christian evidences in relation to modern thought. (Bampton lect., 1877.) Royce, S. Deterioration and race education. Sanctis, F. de. Storia della litteratura italiana. 2 v. "L'œuvre est exquise. M. de Sanctis a un amour du beau si entraînant, qu'on ne peut lire ses chapitres sur Dante, sur Petrarque, sur l'Arioste, sans avoir envie de relire les chefs-d'oeuvre qui les ont inspirés. Poëte, il parle des poëtes comme ceux qui entendent la langue des dieux savent seuls le faire. Sa critique est élevée et pénétrante. Si elle mérite un reproche, c'est d'être trop Ingénieuse.". A. Barine, in Rev. pol. et lit. Saunders, J. Shipowner's daughter. 3 v. Stephens, L. Samuel Johnson. "The specimen which lies before us has for its raison d'être a presumed or ascertained inability on the part of some portion of the English reading public to master Boswell's 'Life of Johnson.' From lack of leisure or inclination, the number of people who read our classical writers for pleasure is steadily diminishing. We are drifting into an age of literary middlemen. As to the excellence of the workmanship in this case there is no possibility of question. No one, probably, could have been selected with better qualifications for dealing with Johnson than Mr. Stephen, whose knowledge of the 18th century is very complete, and whose sympathy with the personage he describes, if not very expansive, is still unmistakable." — Ath., July 6. "No writer could be more competent to supply what is wanting in Boswell, a comprehensive sketch of his hero's position in the literature of the 18th century, and he has also shown great judgment and dexterity in his illustration of Johnson's personal oddities and his powers as a talker." Exam., June 15. Tenney, E. P. The new West as related to the Christian College. Theuriet, A. La fortune d'Angèle. Mademoiselle Guignon. 2e éd. Le mariage de Gérard, suivi de Une ondine. For French reviews of Theuriet, see 'Les romanciers contemporains', by Topin, and, in the Rev. d. D. Mondes, déc. 1, 1876, an article by Montégut. Thiboust, L. Un mari dans du coton. "There are three English versions, of which the best, 'A husband in clover', by II. Merivale, is a neatly turned little play." Thierry, A. Nestorius et Eutychès; les grandes hérésies du ve siècle. "M. Thierry had so thoroughly studied the history of the Roman Empire in its days of decline that he manages to keep up our attention from one end of his work to the other, although the personages brought before us are far from being distinguished by heroic characteristics, and we are expected to take an interest in the subtlest problems of divinity." Sat. rev., May 4. "The picturesque history of pioneer railway achievements, and of the fresh and deep impressions made upon the first witnesses of the new marvels, form an admirable prelude to the author's able discussion of existing railway phases. The strong faith in the perennial and absolute beneficence of railway effects which inspired the strenu ous labors of projectors in the beginning, is in vivid contrast with the multitudinous social and commercial evils since begotten by the system, and so clearly por trayed in the closing portion of the work." Nation, Aug. 29. Andrews, I. W. Washington Co. and the early settlement of Ohio. Aristophanes. The revolt of the women; a tr. of the Lysistrata; by B. B. Rogers. Barnes, Rev. W: Outlines of English speech-craft. "This little book is put forth as one small trial towards the upholding of our own strong old Anglo-Saxon speech, and the ready teaching of it to purely English minds by their own tongue." - Preface. Baudelaire, P. C. Petits poëmes en prose: Les paradis artificiels. 3e éd. For notices of B. see Barbey d'Aurevilly's Les œuvres et les hommes, v. 3, J. A. Harrison's Group of poets, and H. James, Jr's., French poets. "His 'Little poems in prose' have become celebrated as dainty little statuettes or bits of fifteenth century carving." Harrison. "He tried to make fine verses on ignoble subjects, and in our opinion he signally failed." — James. "La poésie tourne dans cette imagination poétique, comme ces vins excellent, mais qui ne peuvent supporter certains conditions de localité ou d'atmosphère. B. ne peut aspirer une gorgée de poésie sans que cette gorgée s'impregne de venin ou d'amertume." Pont martin. Berger, F. K. Winter in the city of pleasure; or, Life on the lower Danube. British quarterly, July. Has an anti-evolutionary article on the 'Ethics of Evolution', with which may be contrasted "The place of conscience in evolution', by T. W. Fowle, in the Vineteenth century, and reprinted in the Pop. sci, monthly for Sept. Carapanos, C. Dodone et ses ruines. "No centre of old Greek religion is fitter to excite interest and curiosity than Dodona. Its site has been sought in most of the ruinous places of Epirus. Whether M. Carapanos has really found it or not is a question which we may expect to be eagerly discussed. The results of his excavations are set forth with scientific austerity; he does not fill up his magnificent volumes with anecdotes of diggers, pashas, peasants, and consuls. He writes for no popular audience, but for philologists and archæologists, who may not admit all his conclusions, but must honor his industry, his learning, and modesty. In an age of archæological claptrap he has not advertised his discoveries in the Times, nor nightly to the listening grocers has he repeated the story of his birth. He has recovered a fragment, blotted and mutilated indeed, but still authentic, of the history of Heilas. We could scarcely help wishing that he would add to his scientific statement a more popular volume, containing some account of the life led by modern peasants in the remote and distracted land where Mandylas kept his sheep before the gods were named by the lips of Pelasgians." Coffin, C: C. Hist. of Boscawen and Webster from 1733 to 1878. Conant, Rev. T. J., D.D., and Blandina. General and analytical index to [Appleton's] American cyclopædia. Conder, C. R. Tent work in Palestine. "Though extremely interesting, the book is by no means light reading. To be read with profit it frequently requires constant reference to the Bible, involving as attentive a study as would be necessary to pass an examination. But the study is fruitful, and can seldom be prosecuted far without encountering some picturesque detail. The author is endowed with very considerable descriptive talent, and although he never forgets the surveyor in the word-painter, the business-like character of his narrative is continually relieved by some graceful piece of still life or glowing landscape." Ехат., Aug. 3. Cornhill for August. Mr. Leslie Stephen discusses the first Edinburgh reviewers. "Every one," he says, "who turns from the periodical literature of the present day to the original Edinburgh review will be amazed at its inferiority. It is generally dull, and, when not dull, flimsy." Contemporary review, Aug. "One of the most interesting articles is Prof. Max Müller's memoir of Julius Mohl. There is, indeed, a special appropriateness in the fact of the German scholar who has made his home in Oxford writing in honor of the German scholar who has made his home in Paris; in the translator of the Vedas paying honor to the translator of the Shah-Nameh."- Academy, Aug. 10. Cox, G: W., and Sankey, C: history. Epochs of Roman Note condensed from the Contemp. rev., August. 1. Beesly, A. H. Gracchi, Marius, and Sulla. 'Wonderfully successful in the disposition of his materials. All the necessary facts are stated, but there is no over-crowding. There is a just appreciation of the comparative importance of events; the facts are well grouped, the characters are well drawn. The style is vigorous without effort, and fluent without prolixity. The introductory chapter, 'Antecedents of the Revolu tion', is especially praiseworthy. And the Gracchi certainly have full justice done them by Mr. Beesly. We are especially grateful to him for his eloquent vindication of the elder brother. Mommsen's cynicism is never more displeasing than in his caricature of Tiberius Gracchus, and Mr. Beesly shows good reason why it should be considered, in this instance, not only displeas ing, but misleading. But if Mr. Becsly's estimate of Tiberius is just and generous, he has made up for it by his depreciation of Scipio. Mr. Beesly is a good historian, but he is a bitter partisan. Advocacy of the popular cause is a sure passport to his favor; hostility, or even qualified support, is the equally sure road to condemnation." ... ... 2. Merivale, C: The Roman Triumvirate. "Dr. Merivale is far more impartial than Mr. Beesly, and consequently, if less interesting, also less assailable." 3. Capes, W.W. The age of the Antonines. -The early empire. "In the latter Mr. Capes has briefly but admirably sketched the great but unobtrusive constitutional changes which gradually trans. formed the Roman oligarchy into the most absolute despotism which the world has ever seen. In dealing with Tiberius, Mr. Capes displays not only great fairness, but a remarkable sagacity in discriminating between false and true accusations; and the same acumen is shown, in "The age of the Antoines', in dealing with the difficult character of Hadrian. But Mr. Capes' chief success in both books is in the later chapters, where he deals with that part of his subject which is at once the least known and the most important the life of the Roman world, as distinct from the capital, during the two first centuries of the empire. The trade, politics, and society, the morality and religion of the muchneglected Provinces, here occupy the writer's attention, and are dealt with by him in the spirit of the philosophic historian. The good use which he has made of the invaluable evidence of monuments, medals, and inscriptions, is most visible in this part of his work. chapter entitled 'Life in the Provinces', with its bright but not exaggerated representation of industry, prosper. ity, and contentment, of modest but genuine patriotism, affords a pleasing contrast to the well-known picture of imperial Rome. The chapter on Christianity and the Empire' is very likely, from the same reason, not so interesting as the rest of the book, not near so interesting, for instance, as the account of the later forms of the old faith, and of the position of the philosophers, some what analogous to that of the clergy in later times." Cushing, W. Index to the North American review, vol. 1-125, 1815-77. ... The Dering, E. H. Memoirs of Georgiana, Lady Chat terton; with some passages from her diary. "Lady Chatterton's records of fashionable life are seasoned with visions, prophecies, spiritual intimations, second-sight, and a fearless familiarity with that section of the unseen world which frequents the houses of the older nobility and gentry. Of the 308 pages of which' the volume consists, nearly one hundred are devoted to letters by Bishop Ullathorne, discussing the difficulties of Romanism." Sat. rev., June 29. Lady Chatterton produced novels continuously for forty years, which have hardly reached the present generation of readers. She was converted to Catholicism by Bp. Ullathorne, Father Newman, and her husband. Edgeworth, T. Y. New and old methods of ethics; or, Physical ethics' and 'Methods of ethics'. "Contains in a compressed form a vast deal of interesting criticism of current ethical speculations."-Examiner, Jan. 19. Egleston, N. H. Villages and village life, with hints for their improvement. Evans, A. J. Illyrian letters; a revised selection of correspondence from the Illyrian provinces of Bosnia, etc., addr. to the Manchester guardian during 1877. "He has a spirit of adventure, restless craving for information, the determination never to state facts on hearsay without verifying them, and an admirable gift of descriptive power. He expresses his conviction repeatedly and decidedly that the only hope for these provinces of Turkey lies in their incorporation with Austria." — Acad.. May 18. Fisher, F. E. (pseud. C. Reid). A summer idyl. A pleasant, unexciting love story, with good descrip. tions of North Carolina mountain scenery. Five years penal servitude. Familiar "Told in a frank, clear, lively manner. ises the reader with the strange, sad world within prison limits, the busy, monotonous routine of each day as it is lived through by the convicts, whether in the isolation of their solitary cells, or in workshops where trades are carried on, or on the wild, bleak moors of Devonshire, where convict labor is expended in quarrying and farmworks." -M. E. Mayo in Acad. Fortnightly review, Aug., Sept. "Of pure literature there is only Mr. Saintsbury's study of Henry Mürger and Mr. Hartshorne's 'Chapter of Buddhist folk-lore'. The former is perhaps less striking than many of Mr. Saintsbury's former articles, because, when all is said, Mürger is less important than many of the men of whom the critic has treated. Still, Mr. Saintsbury does good service in his protest against the silly misuse of the terms Bohemia and Bohemian, and in his clear statement that it is melancholy and not joy, discontent and not content, that is the note of Mürger and his circle." Acad., Aug. 10. "In the Sept. no. we have two papers of the character of literary criticism. Mr. Minto writes on Mrs. Gaskell's novels', and Mr. Barnett Smith on 'Brocken Brown's a little-known American novelist, and the first who displayed the singular American tendency towards the weird. The point in Mr. Minto's emphatically lucid' paper is the establishment in a satisfactory way of the fact that one novelist is the literary progenitor of another. "Tom and Jerry' led to the 'Pickwick papers'; 'Sybil' was the mother of 'Mary Barton'; George Eliot owes a good deal to Mrs. Gaskell." Gairdner, J. History of the life and reign of Richard III. "Mr. Gairdner's new work displays the preference for traditional as opposed to sceptical views of history that might have been expected from his previous writings. Conservative students will welcome it as a timely check upon the tendency to the rehabilitation of criminals." Acad., June 8. "Few and meagre are the contemporary historians of the wars of York and Lancaster; and the critical spirit of modern times is unwilling to accept without investiga. tion and proof the mass of floating traditions which were embodied in the Chronicles of Hall and Holinshed, and out of which in later days were formed the plays of Henry VI. and Richard III. Mr. Gairdner has already in his admirable edition of the Paston letters done much to throw light upon the reigns of 'the meek usurper' and his Yorkist conqueror; and the volume now before us may be read as a sequel to the Paston prefaces." - Sat. rev., July 20. Gibbon, C: Life of George Combe. "Mr. Charles Gibbon the novelist is at his best when he pourtrays retiring, reserved, nervous, conscienceworshipping natures, forced by duty and circumstances into publicity, Of such emphatically was George Combe. If compression is a virtue in a biographer, Mr. Gibbon deserves a high place. Combe's missionphrenology apart - was 'to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly', and to tell the world how he succeeded; and be fulfilled that mission in a business-like fashion, in every action of life, and even at death, subjecting sentiment such as he had — to reason." Acad., Aug. 10. Hamerton, P. G. Modern Frenchmen. Contents. Vict. Jacquemont, traveller. -H: Perreyve, young republican priest. -F. Rude, sculptor.. Ampère. H: Regnault, painter. "All Mr. Hamerton's five chosen subjects are peculiarly French in their excellence. It is where they are strongest that they are most unlike the ordinary sort of Englishman. They differ from each other in opinion, in profession, in mode of life; but all are simple, averse from luxury, industrious, affectionate, and not afraid to put their affection into words. The tale of their works and days, told in Mr. Hamerton's strong, simple, and pellucid style, reminds one of the histories of Plutarch's men." Acad., June 29. ... "Mr. Hamerton takes even more prominently the part of the interpreter and the peacemaker than Mr. Saintsbury's critical articles or Mr. James's studies have done, a worthier aim than to lash our neighbours into a rage by such malicious sketches as give piquancy to 'German home life' and 'Saxon studies', books the cleverness of which is far outweighed by their mischievous tendency. It is wonderful that so bright and fresh a writer can become so dull as he does in describing Ampère. But, of his studies on Jacquemont, Rude, and Regnault, it is difficult to say which is the most competent, readable, and enjoyable; all three introduce us in the pleasantest fashion to men whose very contemplation seems to invig. orate and elevate the intelligence." Exam., June 22. "Mr. Hamerton imparts the pleasure which he himself feels in his heroes." - Sat. rev., June 15. Haweis, Mrs. H. R. Art of beauty. A very unequal book, defaced by some tawdry writing, yet showing in parts artistic perception, admirably expressed. The better parts are well worth reading. Hawthorne, J. Mrs. Gainsborough's diamonds. Repr. from the New quarterly, Apr., and Appleton's, "The reader is interested from the start, and the wellpreserved mystery, which is only cleared away at the end, is a very piquant surprise to a well sustained curiosity." Lit. table, Sept. 14. Hay, M. C. Hayward, A. Hinton, J. Back to the old home. Goethe. Mystery of pain; a book for the sorrowful. New ed. Howell, G: The conflicts of labour and capital; a history of the trade unions of Gr. Brit. "At the time of the great strikes in the London building trades, in 1859-60, this author, then quite a young man, was a bricklayer, and a member of the Council of his Union." Acud., June 1. "Consists, with the exception of one chapter, of a temperate and accurate account of the origin of trade unions, their aims, and the methods by which they work to attain them."- Ath., June 29. Hutton, R: H. Sir Walter Scott. English men of letters.) (Morley's "We do not miss fine workmanship and delicate analysis in the sculpture of a figure so rugged and so simple as that of the great romancer. Mr. Hutton has caught and thrown boldly on the page the main lineaments, and the ardour of sympathetic admiration with which he has imaged his subject has enabled him to produce a speaking likeness. Mr. Carlyle considers Scott purely as a denizen of the 19th century, and judges his romances by their suitability to the higher needs of his contemporaries. From this point of view they seem hollow, unreal, artificial, born out of due season. Mr. Hutton approaches Scott from a more sympathetic point of view when he shows, without seeking to appraise the ethical value of Scott's work, through what influences of ancestry and early circumstances it came to be what it was."- Exam., Aug. 3. Keary, A. A. York and a Lancaster rose. "A pretty story of quiet home life." "The 4th series of the "Théâtre de campagne' and the 3d of the somewhat rival 'Saynètes et monologues' have appeared almost simultaneously. The comparison is altogether to the advantage of the earlier work, which, although it no longer bears the name of M. Legouvé as its editor, continues to be conducted with skill, while the field of 'Saynètes et monologues' seems to be rapidly exhausting itself. Perhaps the liveliest little scene in the Monologues is the rather extravagant but undeniably comic 'Dame de Niort' of Quatrelles. By far the best of the eight comedies in the Théâtre is 'Volteface'. "Nation, Aug. 15. None of the French plays is as good as "Apples, a comedy," in Blackwood for July; reprinted in Littell's liv. age, Aug. 24. Lights of the old English stage; from Temple bar. Contents. Richard Burbadge and other originals of Shakespeare's characters. -The Cibbers. The modern Roscius. Charles Macklin. Peg Wof fington and George Anne Bellamy. - John Kemble and Sarah Siddons. - George Frederick Cooke. Edmund Kean. Charles Young. Mrs. Dora Jordan. - The story of "Perdita". "Their style is light, entertaining, and somewhat slipshod withal; but they are full of amusing anecdotes.". Library table, Aug. 31. Lockhart, L. W. M. Mine is thine. American agriculture with ref. to the beef production and importation to Gr. Britain. Mr. Macdonald says that the Americans have the food supply of England in their own hands if they will pay. Macmillan's magazine, August, Sept. "The Angel in the house' is a psychological study of the influence of the sights and sounds of childhood upon the mature man. At least as much labor has been bestowed upon the form as upon the thought, Mr. Pater having tried apparently to produce a dreamy kind of word-music by an elaborate choice of vowel-sounds and rhythm. Sweet as Mr. Pater's elaborate rhythm is, in spite of the occasional affectations which break its charm, it is a relief to turn to Mr. M'Carthy's bright, clearly written paper on Mr. Hueffer's Troubadours."- Exam., Aug. 3. There is also a timely article (continued in the Sept. no.) on Cyprus by R. H. Long, late consul there, which is reprinted in Littell, Sept. 7. After Mr. Pater's paper it is worth while to read "The cultus of impressionability" in the Spectator, Aug. 10. In the Sept. no. Mahaffy writes on recent Homeric studies. Martin, Mrs. H. Bonnie Lesley. "The author has the happiest talent imaginable for pourtraying and conveying flirtation. It is all of the harmless, innocent, aerial kind - though a good deal of very real passion, with at least the potentialities of heartbreak, comes into the story also and it is touched off by the lightest of hands, with plenty of fun, but never a touch of vulgarity." - Spectator, Aug. 24. Morison, J. C. Gibbon. (Morley's English men of letters.) An excellent introduction to "The decline and fall', and an animated sketch of Gibbon's life. "Histories soon pass out of date. Gibbon is the one English historian to whom this does not apply, and Mr. Morison ascribes it mainly to Gibbon's pictorial insight into his subject and entire devotion to it. The scientific historian of our own days will share the same fate as other scientific discoverers, and his work will be taken as the point of departure for a new investigator, whose fame will eclipse his predecessor's memory. But Gibbon's stately narrative is not likely to be surpassed, and even in points of detail it is marvellous to note how true his instinct has been, and how many things he has mentioned incidentally which other men's writings bring into greater prominence, but which, when once seen, are found to be adequately and proportionately treated by Gibbon." Athenæum, Aug. 24. Morley, J. English men of letters. "English literature never ought to be studied impersonally. No man comprehends rightly a writing unless he knows something of the writer, and English men of letters' will furnish a capital aid to the study of English literature, as well as a series of interesting though quiet biographies.". Harper's, Oct. Musset, P. E. de. Le nouvel Aladin, suivi de La Frascatane, du Biscéliais et de la SaintJoseph. 2e éd. Nineteenth century, Aug., Sept. "L. Montefiore has a careful study on Liberty in Germany, the first of a series of articles, and W. H. Mallock a Familiar colloquy on theatres, art galleries, poems, and other topics of fashionable information. His characters talk exactly such nonsense as may often be heard in real life, though seldom so clearly expressed." "Contains the second of Mr. C. T. Newton's valuable papers on 'The religion of the Greeks as illustrated by Greek inscriptions', a paper, which of course derives its merit from the number of details that it can dexterously. weave together." -Acad., Aug. 10. In the Sept. no. "the brightest papers are Mr. Ralston's, on Gréville's Sketches of Russian life'; and Mr. Holyoake's on The new principles of industry'. Mr. St. John Tyrwhitt, in The limfts of modern artcriticisms', administers a rebuke not strong enough, however to Mr. Mallock for his recent crude and slightly vulgar 'Colloquy on art'." — Spectator. Sept. 7. "The Russians", says Ralston, "may be described after three fashions. There are the Russians as they really are, the Russians as they themselves think they are, and the Russians as they appear to foreigners. It is enough that the present works represent them graphically after the third fashion. No foreign author has ever before drawn so generally correct a series of Russian female portraits; no one has made so clear to foreign eyes the inner life of Russian homes." Plays for private acting; tr. from the French and Ital. Contents. Droz, G. The registered letter; -The cardinal's illness. - Sollohub, comte W. His hat and case. - Legouvé, E., and Mérimée, P. The flower of Tlemcen. - Theuriet, A. The old homestead. Hervilly, E. d'. The soup tureen; Silence in the ranks. Narrey, C. Sophronisba oh! He and she. Guillemot, J. The unlucky star. Gastineau, O. Lelia.- Sollohub, comte W. The serenade.- Goetschy, G. The professor of elocution. Monselet, Č. A trip through my pockets. Cros, C. A journey to ***. - Hervilly, E. d'. From Calais to Dover. Durandeau, E. Sergeant Bridell's letter. - Biez, J. de. The first love-letter. - Marthold, J. de. On the eve of the wedding. Supersac, L. The door is locked. - Quotes from Quart. jour. of science W. S. Duncan's "Feeling and energy alternate affections of matter." Reybaud, Mme. H. E. F. (A.), wife of C: goldsmith's wife. The A story of the 18th century, with a chivalrous bandit, an abduction, etc. Roquette, 0: The curate of Orsières; adapted from the German by M. A. Robinson. (Harper's half-hour ser.) "A tragedy of the time of the First Consul. Jealousy and fratricide give it its coloring; and we have found it rather gloomy and depressing in effect, without adequate - Lit. world., Sept. compensation.". Saturday review, Aug. 17. The article on "Some points in Miss Austen's novels" should be read by those who might accept them as pictures of contemporary English life. Senior, W: N. Conversations with M. Thiers, M. Guizot, and other distinguished persons "Mr. Senior had a social position which gave him admission into the best literary and political circles of Paris. He was a cultivated and sensible man, who knew how to take full advantage of such an opening. And, above all, he had by long practice so trained his memory as to enable it to recall all the substance, and often the words, of the long conversations which he was always holding. These conversations he wrote down with a surprising accuracy, and then handed the ms. to his various friends, that they might correct or modify his report of what they had said. The conversations with M. Thiers are the most memorable, for M. Thiers was, of course, the most remarkable not merely of Mr. Senior's friends, but of the Frenchmen of our time, and M. Thiers spoke to Mr. Senior with the utmost frankness and openness."- Ath., June 22. Mr. Senior, a doctrinaire himself, herded chiefly with doctrinaires, as was only natural; but the fact diminishes the value of these volumes as a broad and complete picture of French opinion during the second Empire." Acad., Aug. 24. It is surprising to find that interviewing, like so many other Americanisms, is of English origin. Severance, M: S. Hammersmith; his Harvard days. "Far above the boyishness of 'Fair Harvard' and the vulgarity of 'Student life at Harvard'. ... It is marred by what is apparently a studied imitation of Thackeray, both in the characters and even in the trick of phrase.' Nation, Aug. 15. Tom "The inward college life is highly colored. Brown at Oxford was a faithful college picture; Hammersmith at Harvard is a pure college romance." - Harper's, Sept. Shaw, F. L. Castle Blair; a story of youthful days. 2 v. "A book which it is scarcely possible to praise too highly for the thorough vividness of conception and skill of execution which mark it."- Acad. "No one is more than half educated till he has laughed with Alice in Wonderland, and wept over the sorrows of the 'Misunderstood'. In Castle Blair we have another treasure. For once more we are brought face to face with living, healthy children, full of gaiety and roguishness, yet with the pathos which underlies not only the real child life, but all true humour. Miss Shaw's story is as original as it is interesting." - Sat. rev. Stanley, H: M. Through the dark continent. "Mr. Stanley's narrative is very animated; sometimes it is a mere concise record of facts, sometimes there are dreamy and poetic passages, telling of dreamy and tender moods. Oftener there is something of what we call Indian eloquence and picturesqueness, pages that might be mistaken for Ossian, or dramatic narrative and conversation worthy of Victor Hugo. The reader knows that Stanley got through to the sea, knows that he has been lionized in Europe, but all that makes no difference; the dangers are so fearful, the suffering so inconceivable, that the reader is breathless till the end comes, and exhausted by even the record of the miseries." Boston d. Advertiser, Sept. 16. Trafton, Miss A. His inheritance. "Some passages holding our closest attention, and others letting the eye slip over them rather easily." Literary world, July. Trelawny, E: J: Records of Shelley, Byron, and the author. 2 v. "This new edition of Mr. Trelawny's interesting book (published twenty years ago) contains many fresh records. ... Among other things, the volumes show very strikingly how devoid of metaphysics, how free from anything like teleological inquiry, was the mind of Shelley, who is popularly supposed to be so metaphysical. Since the publication of Hazlitt's 'Conversations of Northcote', perhaps, certainly since the publication of Humboldt's Letters, - there has never appeared a book so genuinely cynical, so unaffectedly sour as this, excepting always when it speaks of Shelley himself. Then, in a moment, it becomes as warm with enthusiasm as if it had been written by a poet-worshipper of eighteen. The cynicism is not that of Diogenes, - not that of but the cynicism of Northcote or La Rochefoucauld, Timon the cynicism that is born of crushed ideals, the cynicism of strangled enthusiasm." - - Ath., May 4. "We will only add that Trelawny's merits as a biog rapher consist mainly in clear insight, the power of saying exactly what he means in language that is at once plain, terse, and pointedly descriptive, without any amplifying or circumlocution; and a wholly unconven tional tone and temper of mind." Acad., June 15. "The enlargements affect the bulk rather than the character of the work. Mr. Trelawny is more outspoken about some of the members of the Pisan circle and their relatives in England than he permitted himself to be before; but in the main, as a contribution to the understanding of the two principal characters, the work remains as it was. Mr. Trelawny has set himself, in this new edition, to soften the asperity of some of his most disagreeable remarks about Byron.". Exam., April 27. Wedmore, F: Pastorals of France. "In their tenderness, their simplicity, their truthfulness to the slow and remote life which they picture, in the quaint accuracy of their slight touches, in their atmosphere, these Pastorals' are almost perfect. The four bells of Chartres' is very highly-finished study, so done as to preserve an appearance of simplicity, while close examination shows the minute care which has been be stowed upon it. The three sketches are sad, with all their quaintness and colour; the third is the saddest of the three. Certain experiences, certain incidents of human life which are common to all humanity, and unaf fected by the restlessness of the age, are the materials of which the author constructs his stories; their scenes are places in which existence is a slow and sluggish affair, a thing of old traditions, of rooted customs, of unchanging local colour, sober-tinted, with a lasting beauty; such places as Pornic, Croisic, and the upland country on the edge of La Beauce. There are some admirable touches of French character, as true as they are carefully slight." Spectator. "Essentially fresh, simple, and filled with a delicate artistic perception of the feeling and beauty of France. All these stories are intensely melancholy, but the feeling of sorrow is never strained or forced, and their sentiment is real, unaffected, and sincere. There is nothing in the literature of the day in England to which they can be fitly compared; the nearest approach to a resemblance is to be found in some of the writings of A. Daudet, whose shorter stories surpass for sweetness and delicate pathos anything of their kind in contemporary Parisian letters. The admirable descriptive power which gives Mr. W. so deservedly high a position among art-critics stands him in good stead here, and is made good use of. The subtle appreciation of form and colour by which he is able to present the beauties of a picture to his readers so that they may almost see it with him when he is treating of schools of art or of the exhibitions of the day, is no less accurate and artistic when he is writing of the actual scenery of France, and the glow and colour of a Breton sea-coast town or the Chartrain, is given as faithfully and as unobtrusively as when he is writing of Turner or Corot." Exam. |