ILLINOIS, HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL, comprising the essential facts of its planting and growth as a province, county, territory, and state. By JOHN MOSES. Vol. I., illustrated, 8vo, pp. 551. Chicago: Fergus Printing Company, 1889.

The great state of Illinois, which comprises a larger territory than England, and has several counties almost or quite as extensive as the state of Rhode Island, has found in Mr. Moses a conscientious and accomplished historian, a scholar and investigator admirably fitted for this particular work through fifty years' residence in the state and from a long and varied experience in the judicial, legislative, and administrative departments of public life. He is at present the secretary and librarian of the Chicago Historical Society. The first volume of this history treats at considerable length of the beginnings of the state-the early explorations, missionaries, French government, Indian forays, British claims and rule, capture by Virginia under George Rogers Clark, the Spanish expedition into Illinois, the organization of the region into a territory of the United States, and its admission as a state into the Union. The progress of the state until 1847 is also carefully traced, and the second volume, which is nearly ready, will bring the narrative down to date.

Mr. Moses has had access to many documents not hitherto published, and has been able, through the judicious handling of fresh mate. rial, to present new facts and recent events in such accessible form and manner that they may be readily consulted and employed in every field of labor, professional as well as mercantile, official as well as manual. It is an exceptionally valuable contribution to American history. Concerning the success of the enterprise of Clark, the author says: "Had the undertaking never been conceived, or had it failed, American possession and control of the great northwest might never have been realized, and the treaty of 1783 might have named as the western boundary of the new nation the ridge of the Alleghanies rather than the channel of the Mississippi." The Chicago massacre in 1812 is treated fully, also the boundary controversies and the establishment of government. The tenth general assembly of Illinois convened in 1836. Mr. Moses writes: "It was one of the most remarka le bodies of law-makers which ever assembled in the legislative halls of Illinois or of any other state. Not only in numerical strength did it surpass all preceding legislatures, but none of its successors has even approached it in respect of intellectual calibre, nor has the roll of any included so many names destined to

become historic in the annals not only of the state but of the nation. Here sat side by side Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas." Nearly a page of well-known names is given, such as John Logan, the father of General John A. Logan; Richard M. Cullom, father of Senator Cullom; O. H Browning, a prospective senator and future cabinet officer; Colonel John J. Hardin, William L. D. Ewing, and the gal lant Edward Dickinson Baker.

At the date the first volume closes, the author tells us that "Illinois was in a crude and unde

veloped condition. She had not yet come under the magic influence of the electric telegraph nor feel, and had received but little benefit from the of the steam railway which she was soon to inventive genius of the American mechanic. Chicago, already the largest city in the state, could boast only a population of 16,859. The 6,000, with Galena and Peoria not far behind. next largest city was Quincy, reaching about There were but five daily and forty-five weekly papers published in the state. But two of the state benevolent institutions had been established, and those on a small scale. The land was still plowed by the cast-iron plow with wooden mold board, the corn planted by hand, the golden grain gathered by sickle or cradle, threshed by flail or horse power and winnowed by hand." We shall look for the issue of the second volume with great interest.

THE HAKES FAMILY GENEALOGY. By HARRY HAKES, M.D. Second edition, with additions and corrections, 8vo, pp. 220. 1889. Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania.

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We had the pleasure of noticing Dr. Hakes's first volume of this genealogical study, in March, 1887, in which we predicted that through such a creditable beginning, the author would obtain further valuable information in a variety of directions involving a revised edition. has proved to be the case. Investigations have stimulated further interesting investigations, and many recently discovered names will be found arranged in their proper places in the new volume important omissions are supplied and errors corrected, with added data of great worth which might never have come to light but for the former issue. The plan of this genealogical work is an excellent one, and seems to have been original with Dr. Hakes. The generations are traced in only the male line of descent, and every statement is so clearly expressed that the future historian will have no excuse for ambiguously mixing the generations. One of the notable results of the publication of the first edition of this genealogy was the establishment

of an annual family reunion. Thus after a lapse of one hundred or more years the living of many branches of the Hakes family were for the first time brought face to face. A finely engraved portrait of the author forms the frontispiece to the volume, of which a few copies are for sale at $3 in cloth, or $5 in one-half morocco binding.

HISTORY OF THE NORTH MEXICAN

STATES AND TEXAS. Vol. II. 18011889. [The Works of HUBERT HOWE BANCROFT.] San Francisco. 1889. The History Company. Mr. Frank M. Derby, General Agent, 149 Church Street, New York.

This volume opens with a very interesting chapter, entitled, "Texas claimed by the United States," the period under discussion being 1800-1810; and the account of how the neutral territory became the asylum of a large number of desperadoes and marauders, who organized themselves into a community under a system not dissimilar to that of the old buccaneers, reads like fiction. These land pirates preyed upon all who came in their way, and had their rules and regulations, their headquarters and their outposts. The Spanish authorities made every effort to eject them, and twice the forces of the United States drove them off and burned their houses. But they were not suppressed. During the greater part of the next decade the condition of Texas was deplorable. All efforts failed to occupy and colonize that country by force of arms. Later on a colonization scheme found favor, and industrious colonists from the United States came into some of the productive localities, bringing with them the principles of law, liberty, and religion which prevailed in the country of their birth. But the suspicious Mexicans thought all this point

ed toward future annexation to the northern republic. Their oppression exasperated the colonists. Then came revolts.

The whole history of Texas is exciting in the superlative degree, but no chapter in this volume is more stirring than the tenth, entitled, "The Alamo and Goliad Massacres," in 1836, unless it may be the following chapter, "Santa Anna's Humiliation." We then come to "The Republic of Texas," which soon presented to the world the extraordinary spectacle of a nation voluntarily surrendering its nationality, of a sovereign people laying down its sceptre of autonomy, and Texas became one of the United States. The events of the war between Mexico and the United States are narrated in another volume; but the effects of that war, the progress of settlements, and the part which Texas played in the late civil war, are traced with care in these pages. The twentieth chapter relates to Institutional and Educational Matters," and "Industries,

Commerce, and Railroads " form the subject of the twenty-first chapter. The author says: "Although older than any of the more northern Pacific states, Texas has developed more slowly, and has avoided many of their mistakes. The great curse of California is not here entailed. The people are still freemen, and the lawmakers and public officials are their servants. A system

of free schools in Texas has firmly fixed itself in public esteem. Short as has been her life, the commonwealth of Texas has had a varied experience; first, as the borderland of contending colonies, then a lone republic, as member of the great federation, member of the southern confederacy, and, finally, reinstated as one of the still unbroken Union. The annals of her career are replete with stories of romantic events, and persevering struggles to shake off the leaden weight of impeding influences and elevate herself to the proud level of advancing civilization.”

THE WASHINGTONS AND THEIR CONNECTION WITH WARTON. By HENRY WHITMAN. Square 8vo, pamphlet, PP. 18. With pedigree of the Washington family. Damrell & Upham, Boston. E. and J. L. Milner, Lancaster, England.

This little brochure treats of a subject of permanent and general interest, particularly in view of the traditions and controversies con

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cerning the Washington family. Its purpose in part is to show that` Warton was one of the original "homes" of the Washingtons. A picture is given of the old mansion, and also of the Washington "Arms on the Warton church, about eight miles north of Lancaster. author thinks that the immediate ancestors of President Washington lived at this place, and from here emigrated to America in 1659, and introduces some interesting arguments to support his belief. The pedigree of the Washington family is one of the notable features of the work.

CHICKAMAUGA. [Noted Battles for the Union.] By JOHN B. TURCHIN. Illustrated with eight maps. 8vo, pp. 295. Chicago, 1888 Fergus Printing Co.

The author of this work was born and educated in Russia, and was in the campaigns with the Imperial Guards during the Hungarian war in 1848-1849, and the Crimean war of 18541856. He came to this country and was one of the most thoroughly trained, intrepid commanders in our late civil war. In this historical work before us he writes of what he saw and was a part of giving a vivid narrative of the movements of the contending armies in 1863. chief purpose has been to decipher the campaign and the battle of Chickamauga, in order to ex

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plain its various phases in the light of military science. He says: "It was one of the most diversified and complicated campaigns known. There was a large river to be crossed in the face of the enemy; there were several lofty ranges of mountains, 2,000 feet in height, to be crossed on roads as rugged and precipitous as can be imagined, principally through an exceedingly wild and sparsely populated country, deficient in forage and water; there was an unavoidable scattering of our forces, and imminent danger of their being destroyed in detail, without any possibility of their supporting each other if attacked; there was a fierce attack made by the enemy before it could be formed in a proper position; there was an unpreme ditated battle, which con tinued for almost a whole day, in which the army, not being in position, was obliged to fight by piecemeal-without any pre-arranged plan but simply for its existence; there was another battle fought during the next day, when the army was in a faulty position, that gave great advantage to the enemy's attacks; there was a complete rout of the entire half of that army, resulting in broken and shapeless lines and tremendous losses; and, finally, there was a wonderful courage and unsurpassed heroism displayed by the rank and file, which stood all that bloody ordeal and returned all the blows of the enemy with fearful interest, then deliberately withdrew from the field of slaughter three miles to the rear, as if only to pick up its stragglers, and in the morning again presented a defiant front to the enemy, who dared not then or afterward attack it." Of this gigantic struggle the author has drawn a picture of surpassing interest. He says: Notwithstanding the most fearful odds that were against the army of the Cumberland, its soldiers, as the fighting representatives of the people of the north, developed in the highest degree those staying qualities of character which dangers cannot quail nor reverses subdue. In that battle the Northern soldier showed conspicuously what a heroic defender of the institutions and freedom of this Republic the people had in him. He proved on that battlefield. beyond the shadow of a doubt, that in a dark hour the country could implicitly rely on him."

BIRTHDAY OF THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT. Celebration of the two hun

dred and fiftieth anniversary of the Adoption

of the first Constitution of the State of Connecticut, 1639-1889, by the Connecticut Historical Society, and the towns of Windsor, Hartford, and Wethersfield, Thursday, Janu ary 24, 1889. 8vo, pp. 98. Hartford, 1889: Connecticut Historical Society.

This memorial of the celebration of a notable event in American history contains the several

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addresses delivered on the occasion, and many of the letters of regret which were received from distinguished men who were unable to be present. The Rev. Joseph H. Twichell described in a masterly manner the convention which met in the town meeting-house in Hartford, in 1639. to provide a permanent general government for a people, in which the people all took part-the first assemblage of its kind in the world. said: "Two hundred and fifty years ago to-day there were assembled in this town a company of men, probably somewhat above two hundred in number, the same being the body of the male adults of the three plantations of Wethersfield, Windsor, and Hartford, constituting the Connecticut colony, then less than three years old. They were present in their capacity of freemen of their several towns, and for the purpose of framing for themselves an orderly and decent government.' The Connecticut constitution of 1639 was the first, the original, practical assertion on earth of a democratic idea of government, of the principle that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed.' In none other of the American colonies had this principle, at that time, any place." The eloquence that thrilled the audience in the old Hartford church was worthy of the occasion, and it would be well for our young students in American history to read each address which has been permanently preserved in this record of an impressive celebration. The story of "the planting of a state is generally one of adventure and heroism," said Mr. John Hooker, "and we read it as we would a romance-when mere temporal advantage was the ruling motive. But the subject becomes one of profound interest when there has predominated a great moral purpose, such as entered into the planting of our state and of all New England. These noble founders were wise men in their day, and we may study the history of the time for the mere wisdom that it teaches. But we miss its great lesson if we do not study, and understand, and become inspired by, the spirit of those grand men."

THE TRAGICAL HISTORY OF AARON BURR. A play written by LEON DEL MONTE. 16mo, pp. 82. 1889, Cincinnati. This play reveals an unusual amount of historic study and embraces thirty-one characters. It is a powerful dramatic work, and if produced with a proper caste, promises to prove one of the great successes of the century. It opens with a stirring conversation following the announcement that Alexander Hamilton had been shot in a duel by Aaron Burr. Burr appears upon the scene, and arrangements are made for his escape from New York city. Burr's remarkable career is followed from that hour, with marked ability; his Mexican scheme is well portrayed.